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Latest Picks

January 30, 2023

Pick of the Week: Atomic Devastation

January 23, 2023

Pick of the Week: Finding Gems

LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS

January 31, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, Vol. 4

By You Fuguruma and Nama. Released in Japan as “Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim. This series remains ongoing in Japan – both as a light novel series, which has 7 volumes to date, and as a webnovel, last updated 2 weeks ago – which makes it odd that the series really feels like it’s going to be ending in the next book. Most of the drama in this volume involves other people – first there’s the wrap-up of the Annelie and Dennis arc, and then there’s an arc that points out the somewhat rocky relationship between other adventurers and knights. It’s definitely building more of the world that Alec…

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January 29, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke, Vol. 3

By Ichibu Saki, Nemusuke, and Ushio Shirotori. Released in Japan as “Moto, Ochikobore Koushaku Reijou desu” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Andrew Schubauer. When an author has a favorite character to write for, and you love that character, it’s always a treat whenever they show up. Unfortunately, when they are NOT your favorite character, it cam prove excruciating. This book’s antagonist, Charlotte, has been difficult to read since the start of the series. Clearly she’s also reincarnated from Japan, but we get no details about that except her utter rage at the fact that the route is not going her way. Worst of all, this book features a lot more Charlotte than the first two, and her scenes are a lot harder…

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January 28, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Lady of the Sword’s Lament and the War in the South

By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian. As the author has noted in previous books, Lydia has by far the biggest advantage among the other girls who are in love with Allen, and judging by comments I’ve seen on the original webnovel site (the webnovel is still ongoing, by the way), fans seem to prefer Lydia as well. Our author said that he’d try writing Lydia out of the plot for a bit, but that didn’t even last one book. Now we have this solution, which is to make the reader feel that having Allen and Lydia end up together would be bad for her. The front half…

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January 27, 2023 By Katherine Dacey

The Manga Review: Lost in Translation

If you were on Twitter this week, you may have seen folks talking about Titan Comic’s Kamen Rider Kuuga for all the wrong reasons. Gizmodo’s James Whitlock summarized the controversy succinctly, noting that fans were upset by “a consistent pattern of errors and awkward phrasing in the English translation of the manga. From clunky syntax to inconsistent name romanization, from awkward line breaks to printing errors cutting off art and dialogue, both volumes of Kuuga showcase a pattern of sloppiness that make them difficult to read at best.” Titan Comics’ initial response stated that both books “were worked on by two highly respected translators in the business,” though readers expressed skepticism over the company’s claim. Within 24 hours, Titan posted a new response acknowledging the shoddy translation and production, this time promising…

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January 27, 2023 By Sean Gaffney

I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!, Vol. 3

By Reina Soratani and Haru Harukawa. Released in Japan as “Kondo wa Zettai ni Jama Shimasen!” by Gentosha Comics. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee. Adapted by T. Anne. I remember when I read the first volume of this series, I was impressed at its ability to take a stock plot, “villainess goes back in time to try to avoid her fate”, and seriously examine what traumas they might actually carry back by doing so. In the second volume, I was impressed (but also a bit wary, as it’s clearly the end pairing) at showing how disturbing and obsessive Yulan’s love for Violette is, and also at how the series shows that even if you do have a “safe haven” at school, and make new…

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January 26, 2023 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and Melinda Beasi

Manga the Week of 2/1/23

SEAN: It’s February 1st, but as readers of Manga the Week of know, that really means January. ASH: That it does. SEAN: It also means no Yen Press, and no Viz Media. Instead we start with Tokyopop, which has Her Royal Highness Seems to be Angry 4 and Yuri Espoir 3. Square Enix Manga gives us Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 6 and My Dress-Up Darling 7. MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of Cherry Magic!. Hopefully this’ll be the release where I get caught up. ASH: I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read so far, too, but am likewise a bit behind. SEAN: No debuts for Seven Seas. But we do see The Evil Secret Society of Cats 2, Happy Kanako’s Killer Life…

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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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LATEST POSTS – SITEWIDE

  • Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, Vol. 4
  • Pick of the Week: Atomic Devastation
  • Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke, Vol. 3
  • Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Lady of the Sword’s Lament and the War in the South
  • The Manga Review: Lost in Translation
  • I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!, Vol. 3
  • Manga the Week of 2/1/23
  • 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~

From the Archives

August 26, 2011 By Melinda Beasi 11 Comments

BL Bookrack: August 2011

Welcome to the August installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Melinda and Michelle take a look at ...

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August 10, 2013 By Melinda Beasi 1 Comment

BL Bookrack: Totally Captivated, MMF Edition

MELINDA: Back in the spring of 2010, I undertook a digital marathon read of Totally Captivated, a ...

[Read More...]

April 7, 2017 By Jocilyn Wagner

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 1

It's been some time since Experiments in Manga has hosted a guest post, but my friend Jocilyn was ...

[Read More...]

January 20, 2011 By Melinda Beasi 16 Comments

3 Things Thursday: ‘ships ahoy!

So, I used to be in fandom. No, I mean, Fandom. The kind with a capital "F." Of course, anyone ...

[Read More...]

January 14, 2021 By Sean Gaffney Leave a Comment

Manga the Week of 1/20/21

SEAN: Well, that was a nice break this week, huh? Next week is back to a giant pile, I'm ...

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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 ...

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MORE DRAMA DIARY

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