Historical Samurai Combat. No Plot Armor. Pure Brutality | Manga Monday

Summer 2026 is here and it is absolutely loaded. This episode, I'm counting down my top 10 most anticipated anime of the season — Ghost in the Shell, the Bleach finale, 100 Girlfriends Season 3, and a few picks that might surprise you. Plus some honorable mentions that almost made the cut. Tune in and let me know your top picks too.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday! This week we're diving into Dai Dark by Q Hayashida, the creator of Dorohedoro, and if you loved that unhinged masterpiece then buckle up because she did it again but in space. Zaha Sanko is a 14 year old kid cursed with bones that can supposedly grant any wish, which means every alien, space pirate, and cult fanatic in the galaxy wants to rip him apart. Armed with a shapeshifting weapon made of pure darkness and his skeletal best friend Avakian, Sanko fights his way through the cosmos looking for whoever cursed him in the first place. But here's the thing, despite being hunted by literally everyone, this guy is mostly just vibing. He's baking bread on abandoned pirate ships and inventing spaghetti sandwiches between murder attempts. The art is raw, gritty, and overflowing with Hayashida's signature chaotic energy, and the world building is so bizarre and detailed it feels like it shouldn't work but absolutely does. Nine volumes deep and ranked seventh on Kono Manga ga Sugoi. This one's a fever dream you don't want to wake up from.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manhwa Monday!This week we're diving into The Spark in Your Eyes by MURO, a historical fantasy romance on Webtoon that sets up one of the most gut wrenching slow burns you'll find anywhere.Erkin is a young pharmacist from the north, orphaned by the war between the Northern Nations and Mormeratta, who's spent his whole life quietly hunting for one person: the Witch of the Sun, the infamous war hero who killed his parents. When he's summoned to a remote castle to treat a mysterious patient no one has ever seen, he takes the job hoping it'll bring him closer to his target. The catch? The witch has been by his side all along. What starts as a revenge story becomes something far more painful, a story about two people on opposite sides of a war finding trust, friendship, and something deeper, all built on a lie that will eventually shatter everything. The art is gorgeous, the character writing is sharp, and the tension of knowing what Erkin doesn't makes every warm moment between them ache.If you want a romance that makes you feel like you're watching a beautiful disaster in slow motion, this is it.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Strap in, the anime world is going wild this week! Let’s talk about it.Massive updates on Solo Leveling, a Vampire Survivors and Jujutsu Kaisen crossover, Black Clover, BLUELOCK, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners x Wuthering Waves.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday!This week we're diving into MAD by Yusuke Otori, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi horror running on Shonen Jump+ that plays like Alien meets Chainsaw Man and refuses to let you breathe.Alien life forms have invaded Earth and wiped out most of humanity. John, his sister, and a handful of survivors are just trying to stay alive in a world that has absolutely no interest in letting them. After a fanatical group of soldiers feeds him alien meat, John gains the ability to transform into one of the creatures himself, but at the cost of his own humanity. The art is raw, minimalist, and cinematic, with pages that say nothing and communicate everything. Every time John finds a moment of connection or hope, the story rips it away. It's bleak, it's brutal, and underneath all the body horror and xenomorph energy is a story about what it means to keep surviving when you've already lost every reason to.Seven volumes deep and still climbing. Don't sleep on this one.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Strap in, the anime world went mad this week. Let’s talk about it.Massive updates on The Apothecary Diaries, Gachiakuta, Smoking Behind the Supermarket With You, Mushoku Tensei, Wasted Chef, and Kadokawa CEO being tone deaf.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

The anime world went crazy this week. Let’s talk about it.Massive updates on Bleach, Tekken 8 AND Baki, Dorohedoro, You And I Are Polar Opposites, and Takopi’s Original Sin.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday!This week we're diving into RuriDragon by Masaoki Shindo, a slice of life manga running in Shonen Jump that proves you don't need a single fight scene to be one of the most captivating series in the magazine.Ruri Aoki wakes up one morning with horns growing out of her head. Her mom's response? "Oh yeah, your dad's a dragon." And Ruri, in the most relatable move possible, just goes to school anyway. What follows is essentially dragon puberty, an introverted teenager navigating high school while her body keeps doing new and terrifying things like breathing fire when she sneezes. It's quiet, it's warm, it's funny, and it treats the anxiety of feeling different with so much genuine empathy that it hits way harder than it has any right to.Ranked first in Japan's Recommended Comics 2023, a KyoAni anime adaptation is in production, and it earned all of that off vibes alone. Sometimes the bravest thing a manga can do is just be gentle.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Strap in. The anime world did not come to play this week. Let’s talk about it.Bigtime updates on Kagurabachi, Studio Ghibli, Gigantic (from the mind of the creator of Gantz), The Book of Human Insects, Bocchi the Rock, and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, which is one of the greatest manhwa of all time.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday!This week we're diving into Tenkaichi - The Greatest Warrior Under the Rising Sun, written by Yosuke Nakamaru and illustrated by Kyotaro Azuma, an alternate history martial arts manga that asks one question: what if Oda Nobunaga unified Japan, found out he was dying, and decided the most entertaining way to choose his successor was a sixteen fighter death tournament featuring the greatest warriors in Japanese history?Miyamoto Musashi at sixteen years old. Honda Tadakatsu, the general who never took a wound. A blind swordsman. A kunoichi wielding an oversized fuma shuriken. Every fight is anything goes, death is encouraged, and the art goes so absurdly hard on every single panel that you'll forget to breathe. It's Record of Ragnarok meets Sengoku era Japan, except every fighter actually existed in some form, reimagined here as absolute monsters. An anime adaptation has been announced. If you want beautiful people doing terrible things to each other with historically inspired martial arts, this one delivers.If you enjoy the show, please rate, review, like, and subscribe to Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast — and any other podcasts you love. It takes seconds, costs nothing, and means everything to us creators. (The algorithm only accepts 5 stars, just so you know.)Stay up to date with me on Bluesky | Instagram | TikTok | TwitterJoin our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like youFollow my anime Spotify playlistMy amazing sponsors:Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipmentIced Tea Aesthetics — anime streetwear done right (use code SAKURASOCIETY5 at checkout to save $5)Japan Crate — Japanese snacks and treats delivered to your door (use code ATEBIT15 at checkout to save 15% + get free shipping)Affiliate links:Captivate.fm - the best podcast hosting platformKomi.io - the best linkinbio websiteRiverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform