Bocchi the Rock!, Vol. 5 | By Aki Hamazi | Yen Press – A book of two halves, the first half is the usual 4-koma stuff, as the live house gains two new employees and presumably new supporting cast. One is an energetic short girl who reminds me of Kita, probably deliberately. The other is a yuri fanfic writer who writes self-inserts with herself and Ryou, to the horror and confusion of both Ryou and Bocchi. The second half of the volume is an extended flashback showing the relationship between Nijika and her older sister, and how the 12-year-difference between them led to Seika resenting her little sister for getting in the way of her band career. Unfortunately, their mother braids her hair in a side ponytail, and you know what that means. Tragedy is a-comin’. This was a nice change of pace for the comedic manga, and very touching. – Sean Gaffney
Colette Decides to Die, Vol. 1 | By Alto Yukimura| Viz Media – This is an excellent series, which I hope does well. It’s about a decade old, and also from formerly beloved but now shunned Hana to Yume, so I was very surprised it was licensed. (You can tell it’s a Hakusensha title because of the choppy continuity in this first omnibus, as the publisher gauges if it’s a hit or not.) The title is what I call an “artifact title,” in that it applies to the first three pages or so of the manga but not beyond that. The story is about a plucky but overworked apothecary, who one day is so tired she falls into a well she’s leaning into, and ends up attending Lord Hades in the underworld! Colette is a terrific heroine, and Hades is already warming up from his cool exterior. Any shoujo fan will love this, and it’s in omnibuses, so should only be ten volumes rather than twenty. – Sean Gaffney
Home Office Romance | By Kintetsu Yamada| Kodansha Manga – This one-shot is from the creator of Sweat & Soap, which is why I picked it up. It’s also quite cute. During COVID, our overworked, emotionally stunted hero finds working at home to his liking, and he finds he has a little more time in his day to do things, like grow his balcony garden. That attracts the attention of his next door neighbor, a freckle-faced archaeology student. The two bond quickly, though I kind of wish the narration had not spoiled the ending by reassuring readers they eventually get married. The main reason to read this is Nokoru, who a lot of folks will find very relatable in his attempts to interact with his neighbor and deal with the fact that she finds him attractive. As with the author’s previous series, sweet and sexy. – Sean Gaffney
Lycoris Recoil, Vol. 1 | By Spider Lily and Yasunori Bizen | Yen Press – Generally speaking, when the anime comes first, as it did with LycoReco, adaptations tend to either be a) wacky anthology hijinks (I think LR does have these, but this isn’t it), or b) slice-of-life light novel side stories (see next month). But this is just a straight-up adaptation of the first couple episodes of the series. It’s fun, and you can certainly see why the series got to be so popular. Chisato, in particular, drives these early stories. I also liked seeing the foreshadowing of the plot with Mika and Yoshimatsu. That said, if you watched the anime and are looking for additions or differences, there’s none of that here. This is a straight-up adaptation. As such, it’s recommended for those who haven’t seen the anime and prefer manga stories. – Sean Gaffney
Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 30 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – Honestly, I could just say “Matoba cross-dresses” and that would be enough. No one is picking up volume 30 of this series on a whim, and those who have read it to volume 30 know what they’re about, and they’re about this. I mentioned on Discord that this series manages to somehow be BL, yuri, poly, and aro/ace at the same time, and I think that still holds up. The first story is good, but it’s all about the back half of the book, where Natsume and Tanuma attend a special auction that turns out to be a lot more mysterious than we’d guessed… well, no, this is Natsume’s Book of Friends, so we likely guessed that immediately. I am, however, totally here for more of Matoba’s screwed-up family, which we’ll likely get next time. – Sean Gaffney
Sheltering Eaves, Vol. 1 | By Rie Aruga | Kodansha Comics – When Yoru Tono was ten, she was removed from the custody of her verbally abusive mother and placed in a children’s home, where she met a kind and brave boy named Tenjaku Narita. We see how the bond between them formed, and then fast forward to 2018, when they are both sixteen, and trying to come to terms with the fact that they’ll be forced to leave the home when they turn eighteen. Tenjaku is pragmatic, trying to earn money and dreaming of travel, whereas all that Yoru seems to want to do is to be near him. Tenjaku’s troubled by this, and it’s unclear currently whether he has romantic feelings for her at all, which is quite refreshing. He doesn’t want to push her away—especially given their shared history of abandonment—but also encourages her to do her own thing. This could get quite interesting, and I look forward to the second volume, due out soon! – Michelle Smith
Spring Storm and Monster, Vol. 1 | By Mitsubachi Miyuki | Yen Press – Ranko Haruno, a high school first year without any friends, runs into a delinquent beating someone up in an alley, who then turns out to be her new stepbrother, Amamine Kaya. Shoujo bingo ensues. There’s promptly a naked kabe-don. There are street thugs. Ranko gets lost on a family camping trip and is menaced by a bear (and is rescued by Kaya). Then, on the way home, the car goes over a pothole or something and the teens accidentally kiss. I rolled my eyes several times. And yet. I liked that Kaya sees in Ranko someone genuinely good, after a lifetime of being mistreated by people—it is implied this includes statutory rape—and I liked her awkward attempts to help him, and that the plot does not rely on preventable misunderstandings. It may not be groundbreaking, but I am interested to see how it develops from here. – Michelle Smith
365 Days to the Wedding, Vols. 4-5 | By Tamiki Wakaki | Seven Seas I somehow forgot to buy four when it came out, which is why this is a double-volume review. This takes us to the end of the anime season that just aired, but the manga itself is only halfway done. Most of these two volumes are the main couple accepting that they really are falling in love with each other This is much easier for Takuya than it is for Rika, who decides the best thing to do is to demonstrate to Takuya how boring she is by drowning him in her hobby… which he loves, so task failed successfully. And then there’s the assignment to Siberia, as they both come to the horrific realization that if they are pretending to be married to avoid it, some other sucker will be assigned. Christ, these two are awkward. But now together for real? Maybe? – Sean Gaffney