1 - Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist's Journey by Akiko Higashimura

To kick off the podcast officially we're beginning with Samu’s all-time favourite manga - Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey (Kakukaku Shikajika) by Akiko Higashimura - and Enzo’s reaction to reading it for the first time.

Timestamps:

0:00 Introduction

3:04 Why is this Samu’s favourite manga?

6:47 Enzo’s perspective on Blank Canvas

12:51 Melancholic reflection felt throughout and building up to ‘something’

14:28 The difference between the Japanese and English titles, how they both represent the series

16:31 Samu’s vision for an Noitmamina anime adaptation

17:08 Akiko’s brother, Takuma Morishige, the mangaka of “Tonari no Seki-kun (My Neighbour Seki)”

18:31 Similarities to “Look Back” by Tatsuki Fujimoto

21:11 Spoiler discussion begins

21:31 Our favourite moments of the series (spoilers)

25:38 The emotional ending

32:09 Spoiler discussion ends

33:43 Samu’s Recommendation: Silver Spoon by Hiromu Arakawa

35:07 Enzo’s Recommendation: Look Back by Tatsuki Fujimoto

36:10 Enzo’s (other) Recommendation: Blue Period by Tsubasa Yamaguchi

37:20 Overview and final scores