Beauty and the Feast, Vol. 1 | By Satomi U | Square Enix Manga – I was worried this would turn romantic, and it still may, but for the moment my fears are unfounded, as this is mostly sweet and devoted to food. A young widow who loved to cook for her late husband rediscovers its joys by cooking for her neighbor, a baseball-playing teen with a bottomless stomach. He’s earnest and doesn’t talk much, she’s earnest and a bit older-sister type… the manga would risk being dull except we also have his childhood friend, who’s clearly in love with him and upset that he has not realized this at all. (His lack of drive is a plot point; the coach sees it too.) The food also looks very tasty, and makes me curious about those really huge rice cookers. Sweet. – Sean Gaffney
I Think Our Son Is Gay, Vol. 1 | By Okura | Square Enix Manga – Having enjoyed That Blue Sky Feeling, I was happy to have the chance to read another work by Okura. The first volume of I Think Our Son Is Gay is an absolute delight. The story unfolds in a series of short, largely humorous vignettes told from the perspective of a loving mother who has some very good reasons to believe her oldest son is gay. Hiroki hasn’t explicitly said as much, but he’s very easy to read and becomes adorably flustered, so the fact that he likes boys becomes obvious to both his mother and younger brother. However his father, who isn’t home much, unfortunately hasn’t come to realize it yet—his unthinking expression of casual homophobia is unintentionally hurtful. I Think Our Son Is Gay doesn’t ignore this sort of tension and pain, but as a whole the work comes across as overwhelmingly supportive and accepting of the endearing Hiroki. – Ash Brown
In/Spectre, Vol. 13 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – In/Spectre tends to work best when it invests the reader in the solution to the mystery, so I can see why some people might be annoyed with the resolution of the plot from the previous volume, which is very much “I asked my ghost friends, and they said the character you’ve totally forgotten about did it.” That said, this is more of a “whodinnadunnit” and how to avoid getting framed. After that we get a one-shot whose point is “other yokai find Kuro terrifying” (the previous story touched on that as well), and then the start of a new arc, which looks fascinating as Kotoko is forced to have Rikka as her Watson rather than Kuro. So, good volume, but I want to read fourteen more. – Sean Gaffney
Our Teachers Are Dating!, Vol. 3 | By Pikachi Ohi | Seven Seas – If you think that good stories rely on conflict and discord, you probably didn’t even bother to try reading this in the first place, but it’s definitely time to get off the train now. This series is built on “aaawwwwwww,” and it’s not letting up. Hayama and Terano are still hideously in love, to the point where they can barely stand to be apart from each other—so why not move in together? There’s a skiing holiday (oh no, we are trapped in the lodge and must make love!), bathing together (as the cover demonstrates)… heck, the series even manages to make a quickie in the back of a car seem adorable. It will never be deep, but it does what its readers want very well. – Sean Gaffney
Sex Ed 120%, Vol. 1 | By Kikiki Tataki and Hotomura | Yen Press – The title and concept don’t really inspire confidence, but this turned out to be really good. Part of it is a sex ed manual of sorts—if you don’t know what a dental dam is, you will by the end of this book—but it’s also the story of a very curious teacher who wants her students to be informed and the students themselves who take in her lessons. One is into BL, one is seemingly asexual but very much loves animals (non-sexually), and the third is a lesbian trying to hide her relationship, though everyone knows by the end of the volume. It’s also an all-girls’ school, so a lot of plots I was worried about don’t apply here. I also like the other teacher, aka the Voice of Reason, a lot. Give this a try, you’ll be surprised. – Sean Gaffney
Species Domain, Vol. 9 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – In this volume, we see the growth of Kazamori’s character in many ways, showing off her maturity and the fact that she’s now a major part of the school—it’s no surprise she joins the new Big Four. Ohki is more of a surprise, especially as he has to be added as a secret “fifth” member. He’s always been difficult to get a handle on, and Kazamori almost seems to have stopped bothering, but her disinterest in his latest inventions seems to be hitting him a lot harder than we’d expect. Meanwhile, Tanaka is still trying to get himself to appreciate Dowa’s full beard, trying to start small and work his way up. It’s dorkily awkward. I’m far behind on this series, so expect my review of volume ten a little sooner. – Sean Gaffney
We’re New at This, Vol. 6 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This is not quite the cishet version of Our Teachers Are Dating!, but it comes close, as this newlywed couple continue to run on sweet schmoopy moments and bouts of really good sex. Even discussing a friend who’s getting a divorce, Sumika ends up turning it into a romantic moment for the two of them. Here we see more of their childhood, where it’s clear the two have loved each other since elementary school, and also get more insight into Sumika’s father, who thankfully is less abusive than I feared, and more “communicates badly with his communication-challenged daughter.” There is SOME conflict here, but it’s easily resolved, and there’s less of the dumb humor we saw in Ao-chan Can’t Study. Fun. – Sean Gaffney