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Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Latest Picks

June 27, 2022

Pick of the Week: Dances and Houses

June 20, 2022

Pick of the Week: Keep Smiling

LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS

July 3, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

The Festivities of Marielle Clarac

By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Shukusai” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben. We’re nine volumes into Marielle Clarac, and she’s been happily married for quite a few of them. That said, the audience is still more interested in her as the heroine of a mystery/thriller than it is her as a socialite and wife. Which she would probably think is a good thing, as Marielle is starting to doubt herself as a socialite and a wife. Growing up inevitably means feeling that you have not grown up enough, and Marielle is worried that she is not really bringing to her marriage the things that wives should be doing. Instead, she’s getting kidnapped, solving…

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July 2, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 6

By Mizuumi Amakawa and Mai Okuma. Released in Japan as “Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Maurice Alesch. The last volume of Fushi no Kami finally resolved the burgeoning romance that’s been in this series since the first volume, as Ash and Maika are now old enough, at least in Ash’s opinion, so that he can’t get away with “she’s too young for me to be attracted to”. As such, they are now engaged, though not yet married, and apparently haven’t really consummated anything, despite Maika’s murmurings about wanting a baby. That said, fear not, romance is still in the air, as beta couple Reina and Hermes are still working on it… mostly because they’re essentially carbon…

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July 1, 2022 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi

Manga the Week of 7/6/22

SEAN: July, and the fireworks are here. Oh god. They’re everywhere. *whimper* MICHELLE: Someone in my neighborhood actually set off fireworks for Father’s Day. My cat was not amused. ASH: Goodness! And here I thought my neighborhood was overenthusiastic with explosives. SEAN: Yen On gives us I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 3. Two debuts for Yen Press. The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend (Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta) already has the light novels from Yen On, and this is the manga adaptation that runs in Manga Up!. The plot is the title. The manga has to struggle with art not being by Fly. The other debut is Studio Apartment,…

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July 1, 2022 By Katherine Dacey

The Manga Review, 7/1/22

Good news: The United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S) achieved a major victory this week when the company agreed to recognize their union. Though management has not yet spoken to the press, the UW7S Twitter feed posted the following statement on June 24th: “This decision by Seven Seas eliminates the need for an NLRB conducted election and will pave the way for a more expedited path to bargaining a first contract. At a time when many employers continue to fight the unionization of their employees, we appreciate that Seven Seas decided to respect the voices of the majority of staff and recognize us. We look forward to developing a mutually beneficial relationship and reaching a collective bargaining agreement in the near future.” The path to a better contract and better…

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June 30, 2022 By Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith

Bookshelf Briefs 6/30/22

Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 5 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – I really like the fact that Sarasa is choosing the more difficult option. They’re doing auditions for a five-minute Romeo and Juliet, with singing, and Sarasa, who would make a much better Romeo, resolves to try for Tybalt again, as she wants to figure out the role and how she can make it not what the actress she emulated had done. This ends up impacting Ai, who’s going for Juliet, but realizes that she has absolutely no idea what being a girl who falls in love at first sight is like… until she starts thinking of Sarasa, and how they first met in a very romantically charged scene, and the bulb lights up. This may not be a…

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June 30, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Unnamed Memory, Vol. 5

By Kuji Furumiya and chibi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Tangney. The six books in this series are divided into three books each, and this is the middle one of the second arc. As such, it tends to mirror the middle one of the first arc, in that it’s a bunch of shorter events that happen to our two leads rather than one big storyline. Of course, there’s a lot going on in those shorter events. The author describes this book as the lighter, fluffier one before the final book, and that does make me a bit worried, because this book was not all THAT light and fluffy. That said, there are many sweet moments in here, as Oscar…

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June 28, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 6

By Reia and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Andria Cheng. It would be more accurate to call this volume, and apparently the two following it, “Accomplishments of the Duchess”, as we now begin an extended side story telling us about Iris’ mother Merellis. Featured in the first few books of the main series as a caring mother who seemed the sort to speak with her mouth behind a fan, the final book in the series showed us that behind all that etiquette is a dangerous swordswoman who will cut you down as soon as look at you. I said I wanted to hear her story, and it turns out iris does as well….

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June 27, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 12

By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen It was about 18 months in Japan between Vol. 11 and 12, and it’s been about the same here in the West as well. I was briefly worried that I’d forget literally everything that had been happening before, but that was before I remembered what series I was reading. Arifureta is not particularly interested in its own plot, or even that much in its characters. Arifureta is interested in people powering up and getting new special moves. The author has clearly drowned himself in Jump series as a kid, and as a result this book, especially the back half, can be summed…

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June 26, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 14

By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon. The subtitle of this volume could be summed up as “At Long Last”. At long last, we have finally caught up with where we left Shun, Katia and the rest of the human cast in Book 5. At long last, we get several extended flashbacks explaining to us the origins of Ariel, Potimas, and Guli-Guli… erm, Guliedistodiez. But perhaps most importantly, at long last, Potimas is dead dead dead. Yes, technically this is a spoiler and it happens at the very end of this volume, but I think most readers of the series won’t blame me too much, because every single…

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LATEST POSTS – SITEWIDE

  • The Festivities of Marielle Clarac
  • Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 6
  • Manga the Week of 7/6/22
  • The Manga Review, 7/1/22
  • Bookshelf Briefs 6/30/22
  • Unnamed Memory, Vol. 5
  • Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 6
  • Pick of the Week: Dances and Houses
  • Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 12
  • So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 14

From the Archives

October 25, 2007 By Melinda Beasi 1 Comment

5 centimeters per second

I'm home sick. Have been sleeping much of the day, and watching a little anime. My husband was ...

[Read More...]

May 21, 2013 By Sara K. 2 Comments

It Came from the Sinosphere: Khóohái Lúsînliông

PUPPETS! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh4jEyGVDbI Ever since I started this column, I've ...

[Read More...]

October 5, 2015 By Ash Brown

My Week in Manga: September 28-October 4, 2015

My News and Reviews A few different things were posted at Experiments in Manga last week. First ...

[Read More...]

April 4, 2013 By Sean Gaffney 5 Comments

Manga the Week of 4/10

SEAN: Yes, that's right, after catching up digitally this week, next week will see the debut of ...

[Read More...]

December 21, 2012 By Sean Gaffney 1 Comment

JManga the Week of 12/27

SEAN: The final week of 2012 gives us some interesting stuff from JManga: 2 recurring volumes, and ...

[Read More...]

More Posts from the Archives

Recommended Reading

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  • The NANA Project
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  • 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 ...

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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 ...

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MORE DRAMA DIARY

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