Manga Bookshelf

May 16, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World, Vol. 2

By Tamamaru and Kinta. Released in Japan as “Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Linda Liu. One thing that I’m not sure I say often enough here is that you don’t need a reason to like something. There are, of course, numerous reasons to NOT like something, but sometimes, let’s face it, you just vibe despite yourself. My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World is, on paper, something that hits a lot of the wrong buttons. Our hero has mad cheat skills. He constantly puts himself down at every opportunity, while everyone around insists he’s the best. He’s not just a blacksmith but a brilliant swordsman (which he will not admit). Last book he accumulated three women who…

May 15, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 2

By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey. Last time I had asked myself how the first volume, which was excellent but felt very much complete in one volume, would become a long-running series. The answer, at least judging from this second volume, is to do more of the same. More mushrooms, more relationships that end up in betrayal and then reverse betrayal, more of Bisco and Milo being as gay as possible, and more love interests who could also function as family who are there to reassure the macho Dengeki Bunko reader that it doesn’t have to be TOO gay if they don’t want. Fortunately for all concerned, there’s one other thing which is…

May 14, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 5

By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. This is the fist volume to take place post-anime (while a 2nd season was immediately announced, there has been no word about it ever since), and as such I imagine it has a few folks reading the series for the first time to try to see what happens next. That said… does Bofuri have an ongoing plot? We’re still entirely inside the game, with the most important real-life event in this volume being Kaede getting the flu. The plot of the books is basically “watch everyone slowly move to new levels and see what they do”….

May 13, 2022 By Katherine Dacey

The Manga Review, 5/13/22

April sales figures are in, and manga continues to dominate the NPD Adult Graphic Novels list. Though the list includes some perennial favorites–Berserk, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia—Spy x Family saw a big jump in sales after its anime debuted on Crunchyroll last month. ICv2’s Brigid Alverson points out that “April marks the fourth consecutive month that manga has completely filled the chart of the top 20 Adult graphic novels in the book channel.” Manga sales aren’t quite as robust in comic book stores, but three titles made ComicsHub’s Top 20 Graphic Novels for April: Chainsaw Man (4), Kaiju No. 8 (16), and Spy x Family (20). For additional insights into the current state of the manga, check our Madeline Dunnett’s recent post at Anime News Network. MANGA NEWS Kodansha just announced the…

May 13, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, Vol. 1

By Tofuro Futsukaichi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Gendai Shakai de Otome Game no Akuyaku Reijou wo Suru no wa Chotto Taihen” by Overlap Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns. One of the most common afterwords in light novels, particularly when a book was originally published on the web, is the author talking about how they were only writing this book to amuse themselves and they had no idea it would get fans, or get published, or get an anime, etc. Usually I take this with a grain of salt, particularly when the book ends up having all the most popular cliches that are currently selling. With Modern Villainess, though, I 100% believe the author was not writing this for anyone but themselves,…

May 12, 2022 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N and Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 5/18/22

SEAN: It’s May, but the winds are blowing here like it’s March. What manga is blowing our way? Airship debuts The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Natsu e no Tonneru, Sayonara no Deguchi), the latest in a long line of “kind of depressing romance novels with a sci-fi bent” light novels that have been out here lately. For once it’s not based on a film, though one is coming soon. ASH: I’ll admit, it’s a subgenre I frequently enjoy. SEAN: Also in print: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 16 and Reincarnated as a Sword 10. We also get early digital volumes of Adachi and Shimamura 9 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 4. From Cross Infinite World we get The Dragon’s Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess!…

May 12, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 8

By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher. As you might expect, there’s a lot of serious stuff going on in this volume of Torture Princess. We’re going to war, and one side does not really have a goal that is not “kill everyone in the most appalling way imaginable”. We get to see this world’s equivalent of last resort weapons, only for the enemy to respond with their own. Characters that we have seen since Book 1, who have died before but always seem to come back, finally die. And, of course, the entire book is asking the question: why are we even bothering to save a world like…

May 11, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 5

By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. It’s been several books since we’ve had to deal with the revelation that we got at the end of Book One, which is to say it’s been a while since Oliver and his allies have tried to murder a teacher. Good news! We get that here, as the academy’s resident mad scientist is next on the chopping block. More good news is that we also get a lot more explanations and backstory for exactly what is going on. Being Seven Spellblades, of course, it’s complex, and its discussion of Gnostics and Gnostic Hunters is very reminiscent of the battle for…

May 10, 2022 By Sean Gaffney

Rascal Does Not Dream of His First Love

By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Hatsukoi Shoujo no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. One of the things I like best about this series, which sets it apart from many of its contemporaries, is its use of short, quick sentences. The book reads fast, with dense paragraphs kept to a bare minimum and most of its page count being dialogue or inner monologue of some sort. However, this does not mean that it sacrifices any emotional impact – in fact, in many ways it’s heightened. The start of this book was always going to be a killer, and the prose makes it even more so. The sheer despair that Sakuta…

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