Boy Meets Maria | By PEYO | Seven Seas – Taiga is a high school student who falls in love at first sight with a fellow drama club member. Initially he assumes the person is a girl, but is later told his new crush is a boy. Delightfully, he promptly decides it doesn’t matter to him one way or another. It should be noted, however, that at least some of his classmate’s complicated relationship with gender is deeply rooted in psychological abuse and sexual assault, and these are things that are shown and not just hinted at in the manga. Ultimately though, Boy Meets Maria focuses on hope and love while acknowledging past traumas. What really makes the manga work so well is its cast, but Taiga in particular. He has a sort of ridiculous personality and an oblivious nature, allowing him to be inherently honest with and open to others, which in turn allows them to be free. – Ash Brown
Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 3 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – Having spent a while introducing us to the two leads, we now get to flesh out the rest of the cast of Kageki Shojo!! in this volume, starting with the twins, who are, needless to say, dealing with twin issues. Which is to say that Chiaki is feeling down about being unable to get into the school on the first try like her sister, and her sister then gets mistaken for her, and… it’s a mess, but you can probably guess how it goes. There’s also some friction among the second years, as Sarasa’s flakiness is starting to upset the others, who are taking it out on her mentor for not disciplining her more. Basically, it’s a big Takarazuka soap opera, and that’s exactly what we signed up for, so I’m happy. – Sean Gaffney
Murcielago, Vol. 17 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – I forgot to review this when it came out, only noticing when eighteen was released. The dangers of getting everything digital thanks to COVID now. In any case, my favorite part of this volume is probably the relationship between Chiyo and Kuroko. It looked a bit questionable at the start of the series, but as we’ve gotten to know both of them (OK, mostly Kuroko) we see that Chiyo is a bit different from her usual bedmates. Most of this volume revolves around a yakuza ally of Chiyo’s who is out of prison… and another man from a rival gang who now wants to fight him. It uses Kuroko more as a spice, which works very well. This is still filled with sex and violence, but I still enjoy it. – Sean Gaffney
The Savior’s Book Cafe Story in Another World, Vol. 1 | By Kyouka Izumi, Oumiya, and Reiko Sakurada | Seven Seas There’s not much in this we haven’t seen in other shoujo isekai series: a woman gets chosen by God to save the world, is given awesome powers… and uses them to open a book cafe in the middle of nowhere, because she’s thirty years old, not sixteen. Meanwhile, the other savior chosen is busy being an absolute nightmare in the palace, but has the ear of the prince. Which means much as I’d love for us to stay at the cafe and watch Tsukina clean the shelves using incredibly powerful magic, I think she’s going to get dragged into things. That said, overall the vibe to this book is peaceful and relaxing, and I recommend it to fans of the genre. – Sean Gaffney
A Sign of Affection, Vol. 5 | By Suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics (digital) – Just as readers are here pretty much for the cute and adorable romance between our two leads, any love rivals that may be on the table are also flummoxed by them. Sure, there’s worry, and jealousy, and a lot of “why is that not me?,” but honestly I think they simply run into the fact that the couple is so wonderful together that trying to intervene would be like kicking a puppy. And, again I love the way the lettering is handled here, with the grey text and the occasional backwards phrase showing Yuki’s hearing loss in a way that’s very comprehensible to us all. It really is one of my favorite shoujo series, and I always make time for it when a new volume comes out. – Sean Gaffney
Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 16 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media The bulk of this volume is devoted to Princess Syalis and the Cursed Musician/pastry chef accidentally being sent back in time via grimoire… only to find, after Syalis steals a down comforter that is legendary for helping with sleep, that the world is now totally different… and the demons are a lot more competent. This is terrible news for Syalis, who might actually start to get treated like a prisoner. That said, the message is pretty clear, and I too prefer my demons goofy and a bit hapless. In other news, Syalis gets a massage… though not a sexy massage, this is not that kind of series. But if it’s comedy you like, with a dash of heartwarming, it’s hard to go wrong with this. – Sean Gaffney