Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Latest Picks

LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS

By , , , and

Manga the Week of 6/3/20

SEAN: June is busting out all over, and while the schedule is not back to normal yet, it’s better than May was. ASH: Huzzah! SEAN: First, an apology to a new publisher, Tentai Books, who have their first release out this week and I missed it. They’re publishing in both Spanish and English, and their debut is a light novel, There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?. Seems to be targeting the Oregairu/Tomozaki crowd. As for next week, Ghost Ship has a 9th Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs. J-Novel Club has a lot. In print, we get the debut volume of Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!, which I recommend to absolutely everyone. ASH:…

Read More

By

A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga, Vol. 1

By Kisetsu Morita and Kaito Shibano. Released in Japan as “Oda Nobunaga to Iu Nazo no Shokugyou ga Mahou Kenshi Yori Cheat Datta Node, Oukoku o Tsukuru Koto ni Shimashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alex Wetnight. Another in the many examples we’ve seen lately of “how can I get my webnovel to rise to the top of the rankings when it’s just a basic power fantasy?”, A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga is by the author of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years but is almost its polar opposite. It oozes cocky masculinity from every page. Honestly, also like many light novels I’ve read lately, its gimmick is somewhat irrelevant. Oda Nobunaga is in our hero’s head, talking to him about…

Read More

By

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, Vol. 12

By Nagaru Tanigawa and Puyo. Released in Japan as “Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuutsu” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Shonen Ace. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Paul Starr. And now, the end is near. And so we face the final curtain. Since the Haruhi Suzumiya novels began in Japan in 2003, we’ve seen two manga, two anime series, a movie, two manga spinoffs, and two anime of said manga spinoffs. In 2006, Haruhi was the hottest franchise around. But in 2020, quietly, the last Haruhi spinoff has come to an end, and as far as I can tell there’s nothing out there to replace it. The novels are effectively finished, as the author apparently has massive writer’s block. The main manga ended, and Nagato Yuki-chan’s…

Read More

By

Bibliophile Princess, Vol. 2

By Yui and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Mushikaburi-hime” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. The second volume of Bibliophile Princess also consists of three stories, but the biggest (and best) takes up the first 2/3 of the book. Prince Chris has to go away on kingdom business for several days, and so Elianna will be representing him at a noble’s hunting-dancing-and-being-rich party. Naturally the party turns out to be a web of intrigue, from the expected (Elianna, despite being officially engaged to the Prince, is still not very popular with many young women, leading to a lot of catty remarks) to the dangerous (Elianna is almost killed by a runaway boar, knocked from her horse, threatened with violence…

Read More

By

Shortcake Cake, Vol 8

Shortcake Cake, Volume 8 By suu Morishita Some shoujo series have fast-paced drama, and others have stories that unfold much more slowly like Shortcake Cake, which finally gets around to hinting at more details between the oddly hostile relationship between Riku and Rei. Morishita’s is so great at presenting her story with a slow, slice of life feel that I don’t feel annoyed at all that I was waiting until volume 8 to get a few more clues about Riku’s past. This volume is set during Christmas and New Year’s and Ten decides to take Riku on a date to her hometown, where she gives him a tour of all the places that were meaningful to her during her childhood, and they drop in on her parents and her older…

Read More

By

Accel World: The Snow Sprite

By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Everyone has things they’re good and bad at, and realizing that is one of the best ways to stop being frustrated. To Reki Kawahara’s credit, I think he’s aware of his strengths. He writes good battle scenes. Especially these days, when he’s got years of experience that Sword Art Online (which, let’s remember, is mostly ported from his almost 20-year-old webnovel) does not. And this, the 21st volume of Accel World, finally gets to the big fight against White Cosmos that we’ve been waiting for for about a year now. As such, it should not be too surprising that this is one of the stronger volumes we’ve had…

Read More

By

The Weakest Manga Villainess Wants Her Freedom!

By Kazuki Karasawa and Masami. Released in Japan as “Maou-gun Shitennou no Saijaku Reijou wa Jiyuu ni Ikitai!” by the author on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website. Released in North America digitally by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Charis Messier. This book does not want to be messing around with the heroine’s past life – Truck-kun is on Page 1. In fact, because Elle doesn’t remember anything about her past life except the manga she was obsessed with, it’s mostly irrelevant. This leads to what I think is the strongest reason that I enjoyed Weakest Manga Villainess so much: Elle, our heroine, is a selfish, overdramatic tsundere twintail brat before she gains memories of how she’s killed, and afterwards… she’s exactly the same, only her selfishness (which the narrative hints…

Read More

By

Urusei Yatsura, Omnibus 6

By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan in two separate volumes by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Camellia Nieh. Every fan has their obsessive favorite minor character. Usually more than one. I have two when it comes to Takahashi’s work. I’ve already discussed Akari Unryuu, Ryouga’s girlfriend in the later parts of the manga in my reviews of that. As you might have guessed, my favorite Urusei Yatsura character makes their debut in this volume. No, not Kotatsu-neko, though he sort of amusingly stoic. No, not the school principal either, though it is funny that both he and Kotatsu-neko debuted around the same time. No, it’s Shutaro Mendo’s younger sister Ryoko, introduced here as essentially an agent of chaos in…

Read More

By

Love Me, Love Me Not, Vol. 2

Love Me, Love Me Not, Volume 2 by Io Sakisaka At two volumes in, I’m not feeling quite as connected to the characters in Love Me, Love Me Not as compared to Strobe Edge, but Sakisaka is still doing a great job setting up a complicated and thoughtful teen romance drama. Yuna is still processing her feelings about the complex relationship between step-siblings Akari and Rio as she also deals with her own attraction to Rio. Yuna’s hesitation and introspection is prompted by the fact that she’s never experienced love outside of books. Rio also seems more attuned to Yuna than he is for girls who he has a more superficial relationship. He notices her being less shy around him, and figures out a way to set up their study…

Read More

More Features & Reviews