Sakura Society | An Anime Appreciation Podcast

The Anime & manga worlds did WHAT this week?! Massive news from some of the industries biggest titles, including: One Piece Jujutsu Kaisen Overgeared Fall in Love You False Angels Vampire Hunter D Bluebox 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Ichi the Witch , written by Osamu Nishi, the creator of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun, and illustrated by Shiro Usazaki of Act-Age fame. In this world, living creatures called Majiks are the source of all magic, and only women can become Witches by completing a Majik's trial. Then Ichi shows up. He's a feral hunter raised alone on a mountain who stumbles into a battle between the strongest Witch alive, Desscaras, and the terrifying King Majik Uroro, kills it, absorbs its power, and accidentally becomes the first male Witch in history. Now he's dragged out of his mountain life and into the Witches Association, paired with Desscaras in a blood oath that ties their fates together, and prophecy says he's the messiah destined to stop a world ending threat at the cost of his own life. Winner of the Next Manga Award 2025. This one's building into something special. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The Climber , also known as Kokou no Hito, illustrated by Shinichi Sakamoto and based on a novel by Jiro Nitta inspired by the life of real solo climber Buntaro Kato. Mori Buntaro is a deeply introverted kid who transfers to a new high school, gets dared into climbing the school building, and in that moment discovers the only thing that's ever made him feel alive. What follows is a lifetime of chasing higher and harder peaks, from high school climbing clubs all the way to K2. But this isn't really a sports manga. It's a character study about isolation, depression, obsession, and what happens when the only place you feel at peace is somewhere that can kill you. Winner of the Excellence Prize at the Japan Media Arts Festival, ranked in the top 100 on MyAnimeList, and now being published in English by VIZ. If you want a manga that makes you feel the cold, the height, and the loneliness all at once, this is the one for you. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manhwa Monday ! This week we're diving into Fog Land by POGO, an action horror series on Webtoon that takes Dante's Divine Comedy and turns it into a supermax prison nightmare. Dante Kang is a science teacher who believes everyone deserves education, even the worst criminals on Earth. So he volunteers to teach inside Fog Land, a mysterious international prison built in a meteor crater that houses the world's most dangerous inmates. His first class ends in a violent riot that kills most of his fellow teachers, and now he's trapped inside with no way out. Fog Land isn't just a prison though. It's an entire city unto itself, drenched in a mysterious substance called Fog that transforms people into superhuman monsters and keeps them addicted, with withdrawal sending them into a comatose state called Limbo. Now Dante has to navigate through nine circles of literal hell to escape, armed with nothing but his brain and the belief that even the people in here are still human. The author has planned nine seasons to match the nine circles, potentially spanning a decade of storytelling. If you want a manhwa that goes full Dante's Inferno with body horror, incredible world building, and a protagonist who refuses to stop caring, this one's already being called a masterpiece in the making. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

The Anime & manga worlds did WHAT this week?! • Kingdom Hearts anime series ANNOUNCED (Disney + Nomura!) • Tenkaichi: The Greatest Warrior first trailer + cast • Chained Soldier Season 3 confirmed • Tower Dungeon hits 1 MILLION copies • McDonald’s x Hello Kitty x Godzilla collab 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected , Wataru Watari's light novel series better known as OreGairu, with a manga adaptation by Io Naomichi. Hachiman Hikigaya is a high school loner who's turned cynicism into an art form. He thinks youth is a lie, friendship is performative, and romance is a scam. So naturally his teacher forces him into the Service Club, where he has to help other students with their problems alongside Yukino Yukinoshita, a girl who's brilliant, beautiful, and has the warmth of a freezer. Then there's Yui, the bubbly, kind hearted girl who genuinely wants to be friends with both of them. What starts as a comedy about a bitter kid slowly becomes one of the most psychologically sharp character studies in the genre. Hachiman's self-sacrificing methods of solving problems by making himself the villain work, but they hurt everyone around him, and the series never lets him off the hook for it. Three seasons of anime, 14 volumes of light novels, and over 10 million copies sold. If you want a rom-com that actually interrogates what it means to connect with people, this is the 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

The anime and manga worlds went WILD this week. Let’s talk about it. Huge updates and announcements on Gachiakuta, Marvel x Kadokawa, Kabaneri and the Iron Fortress, KonoSuba and Kohei Horikoshi returning with a new one shot manga! 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The Apothecary Diaries , based on Natsu Hyuuga's light novel and adapted into manga by Nekokurage, a mystery series set in an imperial court that shouldn't work as well as it does. Maomao is a 17 year old apothecary raised in the red light district who gets kidnapped and sold as a servant in the emperor's rear palace. She plans to keep her head down and survive her term quietly, but when the emperor's infant children start dying, she can't help herself. She figures out the cause, leaves an anonymous tip, and immediately catches the eye of Jinshi, the impossibly beautiful palace official who promotes her from laundry maid to poison taster. What follows is a medical mystery series wrapped in court intrigue, where Maomao solves cases with pharmacology, logic, and an unhinged enthusiasm for poison that borders on concerning. She's blunt, stubborn, and completely immune to Jinshi's charm, which only makes him more obsessed. The anime adaptation became a global hit, season two has already aired, and the manga has over 30 million copies in circulation. If you want a protagonist who's more interested in testing toxins on herself than romance, this is your series. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

This was one of the biggest anime weeks of the year. Grab a seat, we’ve got lots to talk about out. A brand new Mobile Suit Gundam universe was announced, more live action Parasyte, LEGO One Piece, a new romcom called Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow Up is on the way, and Steel Ball Run is FINALLY returning in September! 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Choujin X by Sui Ishida, the creator of Tokyo Ghoul returning to manga entirely on his own terms. Tokio Kurohara has spent his whole life as a bystander, stumbling along in the shadow of his best friend Azuma who's better at everything. When the two are attacked by a superhuman mutant called a Choujin, Tokio injects himself with a transformation serum to save them both and is thrust into a world where superhumans are feared, policed, and hunted. But this isn't just another power fantasy. It's about a passive kid learning who he actually is when he stops living in someone else's footsteps. Ishida publishes on his own schedule after burning out on Tokyo Ghoul, and you can feel it. The art is rawer and more experimental, the tone swings from unhinged comedy to gut punch horror without warning, and it reads like an artist finally making exactly what he wants to make. Over 2 million copies in circulation. This one shows. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

The anime world was on a whole other level this week. Let’s talk about it. HUGE updates on Solo Leveling, The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy At All, Delicious in Dungeon, Jurassic Shadows, and Grotesqqque 🙀 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into The Color of the End by Haruo Iwamune, a post-apocalyptic seinen running in Harta that reads like the intersection of Blame! and Mushishi in the best way possible. Fifty years after alien creatures called Executioners wiped out most of humanity, a young researcher named Saya walks alone through the beautiful, empty ruins of civilisation. Her mission is simple: find survivors and cleanse the land of the toxic disease the aliens left behind. Every chapter is a quiet, devastating encounter with what's left, abandoned robots still performing tasks for masters who died decades ago, pockets of survivors clinging to reasons to keep going, and a world that is simultaneously breathtaking and completely hopeless. The art is stunning, the pacing is patient, and it treats loneliness not as a plot device but as something you physically feel on every page. Ranked on Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2024 and licensed by Yen Press. If you want something that sits with you long after you put it down, this one will. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

You won’t believe what went down in the world of anime this week! 🤯 let’s talk about it. Massive news and announcements on Cyberpunk Edgerunners 2, Fool Night, Witch Hat Atelier, Kill Blue, Wistoria Wand & Sword, Rent-a-Girlfriend, Eleceed and Bugle Call: Song of War. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Welcome to Manga Monday ! This week we're diving into Make the Exorcist Fall in Love , written by Aruma Arima and illustrated by Masuku Fukayama, a supernatural action romance on Shonen Jump+ that has no business being this emotionally devastating. Joshua is a 16 year old boy chosen by God to be the world's strongest exorcist, trained and abused by the Church since childhood to fight Demon Lords. All he actually wants to do is bake sweets and live in peace. Then Imuri enters his life, a warm, loving girl who becomes his reason to keep going. The catch? She's a succubus sent by Satan himself to make him fall in love. What starts as a premise that sounds like a rom-com becomes something far deeper, a story about a broken boy learning he's allowed to want things for himself, wrapped in a bloody holy war. The art is gorgeous, the action is brutal, the romance is genuinely earned, and the way it critiques religious extremism and the weaponisation of children is sharper than most seinen even attempt. Fifteen volumes in and it just keeps getting better. This one's a rare gem. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

Strap in, the anime world is going crazy this week! Let’s talk about it. MAPPA’s 15th Anniversary event delivered massive news and announcements for Jujutsu Kaisen, Chainsaw Man, Fall in Love, You False Angels, Dorohedoro, Ranma 1/2, and Oblivion Battery. We also had a live action version of Kiki’s Delivery Service announced as well as updates on the Kagurabachi manga and Great Teacher Onizuka. 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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform

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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.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 | Twitter Join our Discord — a community full of anime and culture fans just like you Follow my anime Spotify playlist My amazing sponsors: Audio-Technica — the best in audio equipment Iced 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 platform Komi.io - the best linkinbio website Riverside.fm - the best remote video/podcast recording platform