Glaeolia, Vol. 1 | Edited by Emuh Ruh and zhuchka | Glacier Bay Books – One of the newest and smallest publishers of manga in English translation is Glacier Bay Books. Glaeolia isn’t its first project, but the planned series is its most ambitious so far. As stated in the introduction, “this publication originates from a desire specifically to shine a light on the small press and indie manga scenes and the literary power that resides there.” The first volume succeeds magnificently in doing this by presenting twelve short manga with a wondrous range of artistic styles and expressive narrative techniques. It’s a fascinating, engaging, and arresting collection in which many of the creators are making their English-language debut. For anyone interested in contemporary independent and alternative manga, this series and Glacier Bay Books’ other publications are well-worth seeking out. As for me, I am eagerly anticipating the next installment of Glaeolia, whenever it may be released; the first volume was remarkable. – Ash Brown
A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2 | By Umi Sakurai | Square Enix – “All the feels” may be the most overused phrase in the English language right now, but I can’t think of a more succinct way to explain A Man and His Cat‘s appeal: it will make you smile, laugh, and cry big, ugly tears, mostly because the title characters have sad backstories. Volume two delves a little deeper in Kanda’s marriage (he’s a widower) and childhood (it was unhappy), helping us understand why he’s developed such a strong attachment to Fukumaru. Interspersed with these sniffle-inducing vignettes are jokes about hairballs and cat paraphernalia, as well as a few flashbacks to Fukumaru’s kittenhood. The tonal shifts are jarring and the artwork somewhat crude—Fukumaru looks more like a bowling ball than a cat—but Umi Sakurai still manages to convey the warmth of Kanda and Fukumaru’s interactions with a direct simplicity that’s hard to resist. -Katherine Dacey
The Misfit of Demon King Academy: History’s Strongest Demon King Reincarnates and Goes to School with His Descendants, Vol. 1 | By Shu and Kayaharuka | Square Enix Books – I hadn’t even realized the anime had debuted when I was reading this first volume of the manga, and so found I was echoing folks’ concerns about the title as they watched it: this book is all about the overpowered protagonist, and is not only proud of that it’s smug about it. Our hero is reincarnated and grows to adulthood in a month because he wants to, goes to magical academy, passes the test by literally killing and resurrecting a man over and over again, and immediately makes a fast friend of the school’s Rei Ayanami clone, whose dark past we will no doubt get into in book two. The parents are very silly, and I liked them, but honestly, this is only if you like ludicrous heroes. – Sean Gaffney
The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 11 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This is a volume of two halves. The first half finally gives us the backstory of the quintuplets, and shows us that it was Yotsuba who met Futaro… mostly. And seeing that her relationship with him can easily be faked by one of the others, decides to make herself different. Sadly, her overconfidence regarding academics destroys her self-worth, which explains why she spends so much time helping anyone but herself. The other half of the book has Itsuki, oddly enough, still being the only quint not in love with Futaro (oddly as she was first girl) and Ichika making a career-based decision to leave school, though she is at least convinced to make it a leave of absence. Still fantastic. – Sean Gaffney
The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 12 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s School Festival time! Futaro and Yotsuba are overworked, the class is having a rivalry between pancakes and takoyaki, and Itsuki’s college prep is… not going so hot. Miku isn’t doing college at all; she wants to go to culinary school, which ends up being fine with Futaro. Most importantly, Futaro admits he loves all the quints… but knows that’s not the answer they want. He asks them to each get a focus arc till he can decide. Thus we get each of the sisters getting a “what we did at the festival” arc, which features two sisters in this volume, and no doubt has the other three next time. We also get kisses. That said, it’s still up in the air, as Futaro doesn’t think he’s going to choose ANYBODY. That never works in harem manga, guy. – Sean Gaffney
The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 13 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The majority of this volume is the other three quintuplets having their arcs. Miku’s arc involves her gaining courage and self-confidence, never a good sign when you’re in a harem manga. Yotsuba’s involves her literally collapsing from overwork and having to take the last day off (to apologize to everyone for collapsing), and learning to stop blaming herself, which goes… sort of well-ish. Itsuki has the best arc, confronted with her real father, who immediately tries to control her life and gets obliterated by nearly the entire cast in epic fashion. That said, I wouldn’t blame anyone for only thinking of the last 20 or so pages, when Futaro makes his decision on who he wants to spend his life with, and the fandom, no doubt, goes berserk. – Sean Gaffney
Ran and the Gray World, Vol. 7 | By Aki Irie | VIZ Media – I didn’t anticipate that I’d be reading Ran and the Gray World in its entirety, but here we are. The battle against the bugs concluded in volume six, and taken solely on its own merits, volume seven is a pleasant denouement. Ran finally wakes up and her sorrow over Otaro’s fate makes the whole town cry. From there, time accelerates as we see her beginning to mature for real, becoming more conscientious and eventually leaving home to work on her magic. By the end of the volume, it’s years later and Ran purposefully refrains from telling her nephew about the magic shoes that could turn him into an adult before he’s ready for it. I like this growth in her (and her age-appropriate romance with Hibi) but it’s impossible to forget the problematic Otaro stuff that led to it. Still, I would read more by Irie in the future. – Michelle Smith