Blue Box, Vol. 12 | By Kouji Miura | Viz Media – Of course, I was right. This is the confession volume. But that’s not really a spoiler, because the nature of this book—it’s still half sports, in case anyone has forgotten—is not going to allow it to wrap up here. Indeed, the nature of both their lives and their current living situation means they actually have to hide their budding relationship. Still, just because we know that further complications and torment will be coming along does not mean that we cannot revel in this sweet and earned confession, which ends up being even sooner than either had anticipated thanks to the sort of coincidence that always happens in manga. They’re really good kids, and I’m glad they’re together. Now, let’s have basketball and badminton angst. – Sean Gaffney
The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All, Vol. 1 | By Sumiko Arai | Yen Press – The sheer amount of buzz this title got was ridiculous—possibly the most I’ve ever seen for a yuri series—and I am delighted to say that it absolutely lives up to the hype. A trendy high school girl has a crush on the guy who works at her favorite used CD store, who shares her taste in 1990s American rock. What she doesn’t know is that this “guy” is the nerdy girl who sits next to her in class! It’s amazing what a face mask and hoodie can do. Some series play up the handsomeness or beauty of a character and the art never quite captures it. That’s not the case here—Mitsuki is absolutely 100% hot, and you immediately see why Aya falls for her. Add to this the green color scheme, which makes the art pop, and you have a total winner. – Sean Gaffney
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 15 | By Sorata Akiduki | Yen Press – Given the type of series we are in, it’s not a big surprise that Ryousuke and Miyako are unsure whether they’re dating, even after a confession. As you can imagine, it takes a lot of wacky gags for them to actually get to the “we *are* dating” point. As for the other couples, situation much the same. Seo and Wakamatsu are sorta kinda there, Hori and Kashima have to deal with an accidental first kiss but can’t help but turn every single event of their lives into theater improv, and Sakura… well, Sakura knows that any resolution for her and Nozaki is going to have to wait till the final chapter of the manga, and at the moment the manga doesn’t show a sign of coming to a close. So Sakura is the same Nozaki-centric stalker we know and love. Worth the wait. – Sean Gaffney
My Hero Academia, Vol. 39 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – I have made no secret of the fact that I ship Izuku and Ochako. That said, I’m not militant about it, and this volume isn’t for that pairing, despite Ochako literally saying she loves Izuku out loud. No, this is for the Togachako shippers, and oh my God, what a way to go out. Toxic yuri becomes redemptive but still ultimately doomed yuri, it’s as if he read the minds of all the fans as to their favorite AO3 tags. Oh yes, and in case you don’t care about those three, there’s also the Todorokis, who have their own little doomed but redemptive thing going on, as everyone kills themselves (almost literally) trying to apologize at Dabi harder. So much going on it’s hard to remember that we also get All Might’s powered suit, with its attacks based on 1-A hero names. Fantastic. – Sean Gaffney
Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite, Vol. 1 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – It took a while for me to warm up to this one, as it very much leans hard on the otaku side of the equation at first. This despite the heroine being named “Hina Alucard.” Ironically, whereas a lot of these supernatural series find an innocent human unaware her friend is involved with the supernatural, here Hina is already a vampire, she just doesn’t know that her new best fan friend/possible love interest is already being loved by other vampires and the like. That changes in one scene where one mook tries to kill her off, not realizing that she’s not just ANY vampire. When she points to her feet and says “Now kneel,” I went OK, we’re back, everyone. Definitely want to read more of this, which seems to be very fluffy, as fits its author—with a sharp edge, as fits its author. – Sean Gaffney
Pink & Habanero, Vol. 1 | By Mika Satonaka | Yen Press – Although the premise of this series didn’t immediately grab me, I will pretty much give anything published in Margaret a chance. And it’s true that Pink & Habanero is largely paint-by-numbers shoujo. Mugi Miyao has just started high school and would like a boyfriend. She discovers that the prickly hottie in her class, Kei Kosuke, has a part-time job at a knight café, and subsequently proves to him that she’s a good person by not even considering divulging his secret, leading him to defend her from creeps (twice) and help her make a friend when she’s been struggling to do so. While much of this first volume was predictable, I liked their dynamic, especially that Mugi continues to be forthright in her communication with Kei, heading off tiresome plots built on misunderstandings. I will be back for volume two! – Michelle Smith
Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 14 | By Maybe | Yen Press – So much for the victory lap. Well, not true. Nefritis’ first time went swimmingly, and Hime ended up coming along for moral support/extra sexiness. Saphir just isn’t into Satou in that way, so doesn’t care. And Amber is also mostly in the “whatever” category. That leaves Granart, and she is finding that getting across to Satou that she wants the same sexual relationship that he has with Hime and Nefritis is going very badly. She’s simply too aggressive, and attempts to try a softer, more subtle attempt at his heart also fail miserably, leading to her running away in despair. Satou is still not really getting the “harem” part of this harem, to be honest, though I do appreciate that there are wives who are just in it for the politics. That said… in the end, Granart gets what she wants. Ecchi fun. – Sean Gaffney
Tamon’s B-Side, Vol. 5 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Last time I said this wouldn’t get an anime, and whoops! They’ve announced one for next year. This possibly explains why we come close to ending the series with this volume but back away, ending up resetting things after a confession that almost, kinda, but not quite gets through to our heroine who for once isn’t dense about it—she doesn’t WANT to “get it” as it will interfere with the roles she has in her head. That said, if there is an anime the best part will be the comedy and not the romance, as this is still hysterical. At one point Utage gets so excited she jumps THROUGH the ceiling, and in the next panel we see Tamon sponging the blood off her head. Given that Nozaki-kun is not a shoujo book despite appearances, this may be the funniest shoujo running right now. – Sean Gaffney
This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Vol. 2 | By Sai Naekawa | Yen Press – I kinda guessed that there would be more to Miko than it seemed, what with her mysterious absences from school all the time and her possessiveness towards Hinako, but I wasn’t quite sure what sort of monster she would turn out to be. That ends up being the big reveal of the second volume—not that she’s supernatural, but what type. As you can imagine, when you have two very possessive monster girls fighting over the one they love, sparks are going to fly. I do appreciate, though, that the series never gets away from its core premise, which is that Hinako has a lot of suicidal thoughts, and those don’t magically go away when she meets Shiori any more than they do when she met Miko. This is still compelling, and is apparently getting an anime soon. – Sean Gaffney
The Troublesome Guest of Sotomura Detective Agency | By Sakae Kusama | TOKYOPOP – It’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed a BL one-shot as much as I enjoyed this one. (It took me about halfway through to remember I’d read something else by Sakae Kusama long ago.) Serious and high-strung Kei Matsuda runs a detective agency and when a case brings him back in contact with high school acquaintance and serial freeloader Ryouji Kamiko, the two embark upon a physical relationship that gradually becomes something more. The romance angle is certainly good, but I loved that the cases Matsuda and Kamiko investigate receive even more page time than the steamy scenes and are genuinely interesting. This is one of those times where part of me wishes there were just plain more of a story, even as I concede that the ending here is wholly satisfying. Heartily recommended. – Michelle Smith