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Manga Bookshelf

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

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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June 25, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 5

By Hayaken and Nagu. Released in Japan as “Eiyu-oh, Bu wo Kiwameru tame Tensei su. Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kisi ♀” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mike Langwiser. I am deliberately not reading prior reviews of this (which I normally do), because I know I will be typing the exact same goddamn thing again. There’s just no avoiding it. So here we go: This series only has one joke. It’s STILL a good joke. That said, the dichotomy between Reborn to Master the Blade as amusing reading about a meathead and her slightly less meathead sister and Reborn to Master the Blade as a dark fantasy with a lot of casual death is widening, and it does not always mesh together well….

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June 24, 2022 By Katherine Dacey

The Manga Review, 6/24/22

Hi, all! Its been a relatively slow news week manga-wise and a crazy week for me work-wise, so I’m going to dispense with the snappy introduction and get right to the links! As always, if there’s a great blog, podcast, or YouTube channel that you think should be featured in The Manga Review, leave a comment below or contact me through Twitter. Your suggestions have already helped me make this a more inclusive and representative space, so keep ’em coming! NEWS AND FEATURES The folks at J-List have posted a thoughtful article explaining the steps the United Workers of Seven Seas will need to take in order to unionize. If you don’t know much about the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and its role in “mediat[ing] between the employer, union,…

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June 24, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Slayers: Hatred in Selentia

By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis. At last, I have something to talk about. That is not a good thing. The Slayers novels are fast-paced, action-packed, have some interesting fantasy plotting, and Lina and Gourry are fun, but let’s face it, the reason this series is beloved is that the anime took the characters and fleshed them out, made them human. Character development and deep emotional pain is not something that Kanzaka specializes in or is good at. And that’s going to be a problem with this book, whose second half relies entirely on the death of a beloved character and said death driving another character to an extended murder spree, one…

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June 23, 2022 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi

Manga the Week of 6/29/22

SEAN: As June winds to an end, manga companies are watching closely, because July means the start of a new fiscal year. What manga will balance their books? ASH: So many calendars to keep track of! SEAN: Airship has some new print volumes. We see Adachi and Shimamura 9, Classroom of the Elite 11.5, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6. Digitally, we see an early debut for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei), a mystery light novel series for women that has already gotten an anime. It is another of those series I say is “not BL, but BL-adjacent”. MICHELLE: I was…

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More Features & Reviews

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LATEST POSTS – SITEWIDE

  • 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
  • Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 5
  • The Manga Review, 6/24/22
  • Slayers: Hatred in Selentia
  • Manga the Week of 6/29/22

From the Archives

November 25, 2010 By Melinda Beasi 5 Comments

3 Things Thursday: Thanksgiving

It's Thanksgiving day here in the US, a day in which we consume a great deal of pie. It's also a ...

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October 5, 2017 By Sean Gaffney 1 Comment

Manga the Week of 10/11/17

SEAN: The fields are full of dancing, full of singing and romancing, cause the manga never ...

[Read More...]

August 28, 2010 By Michelle Smith

Let’s Get Visual: Warm-Up Exercises

MICHELLE: Welcome to a brand-new Feature here at Soliloquy in Blue: Let's Get Visual! Each month, ...

[Read More...]

October 31, 2008 By Michelle Smith

A Definitive Guide to Ghost Hunt

When Mai Takiyama breaks an expensive camera belonging to ghost hunter Kazuya Shibuya, he tells her ...

[Read More...]

November 17, 2014 By Ash Brown

My Week in Manga: November 10-November 16, 2014

My News and Reviews Last week I posted two reviews at Experiments in Manga. The first review of ...

[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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