Coming to you a few hours late, edited LIVE somewhere in the swamps of New Jersey, it's the penultimate episode of Urasawa Boy's inaugural season on MONSTER! Join Matt and Quinn on the rollercoaster once again as we round the corner and begin barreling down the hill into a peaceful and unsuspecting town somewhere in the mountains of southern Germany. We dig into what it was that Johan saw, and what that means for him, and all of our other favorite characters that have gotten caught in the black hole that swirls around him.

Aside from that, all of your favorite things are here - long digressions to talk about other podcasts and media consumption habits, the two of us saying "we'll probably speed through the rest of these chapters," an hour into the podcast, Quinn providing context about which locations are actually real, and Matt making wildly big conceptual and narrative swings and then hedging those bets with plot ignorance. Folks, it's a good one!

If you have questions, or topics of discussion that you think would be fun for our wrap up episode, please send them to [email protected]!

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 142 - 151)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 152 - 162) - FINAL READING!

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

A tragic assassination attempt; a stunning piece of detective work; three heroes racing against time to stop a horrible plan - but whose plan is it really? The rollercoaster stalls for a second, before entering free-fall, as all is revealed. MONSTER is loading the last of its narrative bullets into Chekov's gun, and aiming directly at a shocking conclusion. This week's episode of Urasawa Boys (which also features a long discussion of Quinn's ambitious mech decorating project in Armored Core VI, and a fun "what's Matt wearing" segment) is not to be missed!! Folks, it's a good one!

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 132 - 141)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 142 - 151)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Folks, we are in the small dip that the rollercoaster does before it crests back up the hill and climbs for the final breathtaking scramble - this is Monster at its most exciting, locking into place for a nailbiting conclusion. Join us this week as Martin becomes the main character, and then watch along as Nina's tragic flashbacks sum up all of the subtext from the past couple of readings. We're heading back to the scene of the crime in more way than one, as we draw on some long forgotten (and cut) theories about what this all means. Matt and Quinn have a grand old time puzzling through what the devil is and how he works, y'all - this is a good one!

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 123 - 131)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 132 - 141)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Another late episode? Couldn't be URASAWA BOYS, your favorite podcast covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. (Thanks for your patience with this one, Matt and Quinn were both on the road for a few weeks.) Anyways - this is a killer section. We do some all time media analysis, and then do some media analysis about media analysis; there's some incredible reveals, some more very scary picture books, incredible spreads, ridiculously late title cards, and the coolest bad dude to ever exist. Monster is working it's way up the big bad rollercoaster hill that will soon have us barreling into some sick-ass loops and twists and turns in what's shaping up to be an all-time ending. Folks, it's a good one.

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 114 - 122)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 123 - 131)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Lucky Number 13!! Matt and Quinn had to record this episode twice, because the original recording was annihilated, and hoo-boy; what an episode to have to redo, because this reading was not very good! We spend some time trying to figure out what makes this chunk feel over-stuffed and rushed; simultaneously spreading the stuff we like too thick and too thin. After that, we work our way through Tenma's time in prison as he deals with with a master escapee, a wunderkind lawyer, and the return of a trusted friend! This one ends with two absolute goobers and a hell of a bang, and maybe just for that, I can return to our constant refrain - folks, it's a good one!

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 105 - 113)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 114 - 122)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Just in time for your drive back from any 4th of July barbecues, it's the next episode of Urasawa Boys! Matt and Quinn relish in the Friday energy of this recording, and open by doing some real fun thinking about narrative theory, serialization, and how to deal with story events in and out of context. (That's not a joke, it's really fun!) From there, we launch into the next set of happenings with Grimmer and Tenma in Prague, spend some time with Lunge on vacation, and finally start to unlock (or uncover? unbury? un-wall?) the mysteries of Johan's origins. Where do we go from that shocking ending? Who knows, but I'm sure we'll find a way that will involve 3-5 more memorable characters with unique backstories. Folks, it's a good one!

CW - In-depth discussion of children in peril, depictions of sex work as horror, more transphobia, and exploitative stories / "cheap heat" in genre fiction from 01:13:00 - 01:32:00

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 96 - 104)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 105 - 113)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Hoo boy! Matt had to update the content warnings again. This episode features a long discussion of transphobia (from 00:11:00 - 00:21:00) that references a Lindsay Ellis Video about the topic and really tries to unpack what this means for the story, and for the era as a whole. Afterwards, we spend a lot of time here in Prague, figuring out what happened last time, and setting up some landmines for next time, but overall - just really doing a whole lot of mixed analysis for this previously extremely good story (no caveats) that has become an extremely good story (many caveats). Matt and Quinn both agree that this "bombshell" just sucks, and then spend some time talking about some of the "western" comics revelations that they like (and hate) and figuring out where MONSTER goes from here. Folks, it's a bad one, but also - it's a real good one.

CW - In-depth discussion of transphobia from 00:11:00 - 00:21:00

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 87-95)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 96-104)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Urasawa Boys is back, and we're off to Prague! In this chunk of chapters, we're introduced to some new plot threads and some new characters, and we've got a new friend along with us to talk about it! In honor of making it to our 10th episode, we were thrilled to welcome special guest Tyler Crumrine of Possible World Games. Listen along as we talk about the shifting financial realities of the podcasting marketplace, Gundam, 1980s horror movies, being single, the mechanics of a fictional moral universe (and its rules on accepting candy from strangers), and how much we like this manga. Folks, it's a good one!

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 78-86)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 87-95)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

We've arrived at the halfway point of MONSTER, and what a mid-season finale this one is! Matt and Quinn got together to do a morning recording covering the explosive events of this reading - we dig into some new themes, revisit some old ones, and spend a lot of time talking about just how awesome the action sequences in this bit are! There's dark and spooky revelations from a fairy tale, and hints that another one awaits us further east. Join us for this absolute rollercoaster of a reading, it's a good one!

Material Covered: Monster (Chapter 69-77)

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 78-86)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

The dark ambient music that plays during the intro this week is Track 3 from DARK LITANIES OF TERRA by Monasterium Imperi - check them out!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!

Whoops! The schedule got messed up again. Very sorry about this, but the semester is over now and I got a good grade on my data mining paper, so the strep throat was worth it? Quinn and I will be back next time with the thrilling conclusion to the first half of Monster, but today - please enjoy the first episode of Mattaining Balance! It's a good one!

Material Covered: BONUS - House of the Dragon / Rings of Power / Wheel of Time

Next Time: Monster (Chapter 69-77)

Urasawa Boys is a podcast hosted by S. Quinn Morris and Matt Fennell covering the collected works of Naoki Urasawa. You can follow the show on Twitter and support us on Patreon. Thanks for listening!

CONTENT WARNINGS

We're currently reading Monster, which contains scenes of gore, violence, bodily fluids, child abuse, gaslighting/emotional abuse, racism, Nazis, terrorism, death, suicide, hospitals/surgery, alcoholism, drug abuse, weapons/guns, and transphobia. Please proceed with caution!