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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Latest Picks

January 23, 2023

Pick of the Week: Finding Gems

January 16, 2023

Pick of the Week: Soda, Idols, and PTSD

LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS

January 26, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Bride of the Barrier Master, Vol. 1

By Kureha and Bodax. Released in Japan as “Kekkaishi no Ichirinka” by Kadokawa Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Linda Liu. Sometimes you get the feeling that you’re reading something in the wrong medium. Bride of the Barrier Master is a shoujo manga. Everything about it screams shoujo manga, and the personalities of the two leads are designed so that we can watch the expressions on their faces as they react to each other. Unfortunately, while there *is* a manga adaptation of this light novel, this isn’t it. I mean, I get it. Sometimes the written word is all a creator has. It’s fine. The problem here is that without visuals, everything just feels a bit too harsh. We’re supposed to admire the perseverance of the…

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January 25, 2023 By Ash Brown, Katherine Dacey, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith

Bookshelf Briefs 1/25/23

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 17 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa | Seven Seas – After briefly wrapping up the previous arc (and, sure enough, glossing over the fact that Uiharu developed story-breaking powers), we end up flashing back to Mikoto’s first year in middle school. She’s just turned Level 5, and lacks the confidence she’ll gain later. We also see Misaki, who has the same problems (though now that Junko’s spinoff has finished, we can officially see her kicking ass in Railgun proper). As for the plot, well, it’s a turf war between the school’s three cliques, who are being manipulated by some unknown factor. Meaning this is basically now a delinquent manga with middle school girls. To be fair, that’s par for the course with this…

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January 25, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Sasaki and Peeps: Psychic Battles, Magical Girls, and Death Games Can’t Contend with Otherworldly Fantasy ~Or So I Thought, but Now a Storm Is Brewing~

By Buncololi and Kantoku. Released in Japan as “Sasaki to Pi-chan” by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse. It’s getting better. There are still a few times where I wince while reading the series, mainly whenever the neighbor girl is trying to manipulate Sasaki into sexually assaulting her (he doesn’t), but for the most part the series is doing what it does best: mashing up genre after genre and watching our deadpan salaryman crush all of them as he flies past. Sasaki may be a bit of a stoic sad sack, but the series wouldn’t work at all if the protagonist were, say, Kazuma from KonoSuba. It not only requires his experience as a Japanese salaryman to drive a lot of the plot,…

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January 24, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 11

By Toshio Satou and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shonen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. While I would not say that the cast of Last Dungeon Kid are as bad as Seinfeld, a series where the creators had as one of their series rules “no hugging, no learning”, it is certainly true that any time one of the characters almost reaches a point where they will come to their senses and mature as a person, they immediately backslide horribly for comedic effect. Usually that person has been Marie, and it’s Marie here as well. She’s reaping what she’s sown, as Lloyd is now convinced that…

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January 23, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta, Vol. 2

By Toshizou and Kuro Shina. Released in Japan as “Yuri no Ma ni Hasamareta Watashi ga, Ikioi de Futamata Shite Shimatta” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan K. Hill. “Sean,” my readers say to me. “I’m happy that we’ve gotten a lot more yuri titles in the last few years, but what about fans of incest? Is there a book out there that looks closely at younger sisters who love their older sister and tries hard to do a deep analysis about whether it’s OK or not?”. OK, no. My readers never say that to me. That said, if that’s what you want, I have good news, the second volume of Yuri Tama is all about said feelings, and whether Yotsuba will decide…

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January 22, 2023 By Anna N

Honey Lemon Soda Vol 1 by Mayu Murata

Honey Lemon Soda Volume 1 by Mayu Murata I was aware that there was a great deal of anticipation when Honey Lemon Soda was licensed, and the first volume lived up to the hype! Popular boy inexplicably adopting an incredibly awkward girl is a familiar plot in most shoujo manga, but Honey Lemon Soda takes this premise and runs with it, making the reader feel instantly sympathetic with the introverted heroine in question. Uka Ishimori’s gets in the way of an errant blast of lemon soda wielded by Kai Miura. She freezes up and is unable to respond to his friends’ expressions of concern and she runs away when Miura apologizes to her. His friends comment “It’s kinda like she’s living out a different genre than the rest of us”…

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January 22, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 4

By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey. This review really cannot happen without spoiling the end of the book, so beware if you do not want to be spoiled, though I will try not to exactly spoil. Throughout most of this volume, this has the feel of a “makework” volume in the series, as events happen but it lacks the striking imagery of previous books, which was one of the major reasons we read it. It also is not as gay, which is the other reason we read it, mostly as Bisco and Milo spend most of the book separated from each other, and there’s only one or two moments, such as brief princess…

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January 21, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

High School DxD: Lionheart of the Academy Festival

By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell. Generally speaking, when harem series have to ask the question “why is the guy not understanding that all these girls who are literally naked in his bed saying “take me now, big boy!” kinda like him?”. The reason for that is that in most of these stories the answer is the same. It’s a variation on “don’t be silly, no girl will ever like me.” Harem protagonist never comes without a heaping helping of self-loathing, it would seem. Fortunately for High School DxD, it can actually give Issei a real reason for all that self-loathing beyond “because the plot requires it”. His first girlfriend, the one who…

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January 20, 2023 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Anna N

Manga the Week of 1/25/23

SEAN: The heavy part of January has passed us by, but there’s still lots of titles still to go. ASH: Woohoo! SEAN: No print for Airship this week, but we do see a 4th volume of Survival in Another World with My Mistress! in early digital. Ghost Ship has Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 5. J-Novel Club has a debut. These Legs Don’t Lie! Harumi’s Legacy as the Strongest Mimic (Bikyaku Mimic, Harumi-san: Tensei Monster Isekai Nariagari Densetsu) stars a young woman who seems to have been reincarnated as… a mimic? One of those treasure chests that’s really a trap? Fortunately, she’s essentially Fantasy Betty Grable. ASH: Wait, do mimics even have legs? SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Ascendance of a Bookworm 23, Full Clearing Another World under a…

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More Features & Reviews

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LATEST POSTS – SITEWIDE

  • Bride of the Barrier Master, Vol. 1
  • Bookshelf Briefs 1/25/23
  • Sasaki and Peeps: Psychic Battles, Magical Girls, and Death Games Can’t Contend with Otherworldly Fantasy ~Or So I Thought, but Now a Storm Is Brewing~
  • Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 11
  • Pick of the Week: Finding Gems
  • Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta, Vol. 2
  • Honey Lemon Soda Vol 1 by Mayu Murata
  • Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 4
  • High School DxD: Lionheart of the Academy Festival
  • Manga the Week of 1/25/23

From the Archives

January 25, 2017 By Ash Brown

Manga Giveaway: Please Tell Me! Galko-chan Giveaway

I realize that it's the end of the month rather than the beginning, and that I've probably already ...

[Read More...]

May 25, 2011 By David Welsh

The Josei Alphabet: Q

“Q” is for… … not very much at all, but there is one title that sounds potentially ...

[Read More...]

January 14, 2016 By Sean Gaffney 1 Comment

Manga the Week of 1/20

SEAN: Next week’s releases really run the gamut of styles and genres. Let’s see what we’ve ...

[Read More...]

January 6, 2022 By Sean Gaffney 1 Comment

Manga the Week of 1/12/22

SEAN: 2022 is only just beginning and already the manga feels like it's getting away from ...

[Read More...]

October 18, 2012 By Sara K. 7 Comments

It Came from the Sinosphere: The Love Eterne

Example Scene Liang Shanbo is on his merry way to see his sweetheart, with cheerful music ...

[Read More...]

More Posts from the Archives

Recommended Reading

  • Off the Shelf: Fullmetal Alchemist
  • Off the Shelf: Moon Child
  • Off the Shelf: Basara
  • The NANA Project
  • Breaking Down Banana Fish
  • Roundtable: Hikaru no Go
  • BL Bookrack: Wild Adapter
  • Off the Shelf: Tokyo Babylon
  • Please Save My Earth with Melinda & Michelle (at The Hooded Utilitarian)

DRAMA DIARY

By Anna N

Skip Beat! the drama

I recently marathoned 14 episodes of the Tawainese live action version of Skip Beat! which is airing now on ...

[Read More...]

By Anna N

Drama Diary: IRIS Episodes 1-5

I tend to watch mostly romantic comedies when I am viewing k-drama, but IRIS is a bit different. This is a ...

[Read More...]

MORE DRAMA DIARY

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