Drifters, Vol. 5 | By Kohta Hirano | Dark Horse Comics – It is becoming harder to avoid mentioning the elephant in the room with the Drifters series, which is that the lead villain, the so-called “Black King,” is clearly meant to be Jesus Christ. If that weren’t plainly obvious yet, it’s definitely obvious when we hear the Black King can give his troops food by breaking loaves and fishes. The author will likely avoid showing his face or naming him for obvious reasons, but he’s certainly enjoying teasing us. In fact, that’s the main reason to read Drifters. It may be frustrating, confusing, sexist, and filled with more goofy superdeformed caricatures than actual serious poses, but you can tell on every page that the author is having an absolute ball drawing it. – Sean Gaffney
The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 8 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Mikuri and Hiramasa continue to live separately and, as he grows increasingly anxious about the situation, we see her discovering that she’s really good at coming up with ideas to help a local business association attract more customers. This is interesting, but waaaay more compelling is the dynamic between Mikuri’s aunt Yuri and Kazami, a man 25 years her junior who has confessed his romantic interest in her. I really love getting to see Kazami be embarrassed and vulnerable, and the insights into his past are valuable. Despite having many girlfriends, he has little experience with romance, and even though Yuri rejects him in the end, he’s still grateful to know that he was capable of genuinely falling for someone. Of course, I still hope they’ll get together in the ninth and final volume. Looking forward to it, even though I’ll miss this series! – Michelle Smith
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 28 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – The manga keeps rolling along, and the only remaining unresolved plot, aside from “will everyone pass their exams?,” is Ayano and Pin. As a result, that shoulders the bulk of what’s going on here, and it’s still unclear if Shiina is actually going to pull the trigger or not. In fact, it’s unclear if Pin is being overly dense or if he is deliberately being overly dense—I suspect the latter. Certainly the rest of the cast have no trouble with Ayano going after her teacher, possibly as she’s ALMOST of age, as opposed to a lot of other teacher/student romance manga. Beyond that, we get warm and fuzzy by the bucketload, including Sawako spending the night at Kazehaya’s house (no, nothing happens.) – Sean Gaffney
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi, Vol. 9 | By nanao and HaccaWorks* | Yen Press – The main story of Of the Red… ends here, with many things explained, including the fates of Yoshiki and Akane as well as Yue’s origins. It’s bittersweet and more or less makes sense. That said, there have always been a few things about this series that I’ve never really understood, and though I’ve got a better sense of things now, I’m still not 100% clear on how things happened at the end. But I think I know, and I like the characters and the atmosphere, and that’s evidently good enough for me to enjoy a series. I’m looking forward to volume ten, which appears to be an epilogue of sorts, and wouldn’t grumble too much if the bittersweet ending became a happier one. – Michelle Smith
One Week Friends, Vol. 1 | By Matcha Hazuki | Yen Press – I’m quite fond of a lot of 4-koma-style slice-of-life series. I’m quite fond of cute-but-serious romances. Combining the two of them, though, I’m not sure if it works out. I suspect the author and publisher aren’t too sure either, as One Week Friends waffles back and forth between 4-koma style and longer, regular manga-style stories. The issue is there aren’t very good punchlines in the 4-koma, which defeats the purpose. The story itself, about a girl who for some reason or another forgets all her good memories after one week (and thus can never make friends) is decent enough, but I kept watching it slowly stop and start and try to rev its engine and the whole thing just needed to be better. – Sean Gaffney
Say I Love You., Vol. 18 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – And so another shoujo manga comes to an end. Yamato and Mei’s post-high school life has sped along, and now Yamato is out of college and struggling to get his photography career off the ground. It’s nice to see he’s not instantly hailed as some superstar, and by the time he achieves sufficient success to propose to Mei (evidently when they’re both 25), it feels hard-won. Too, I appreciated Megumi’s struggles, and liked how her story played out, both career-wise and romantically. I suppose the fact that everyone ends up paired off and/or married is a shoujo trope, but it still makes for a satisfying resolution, and I admit I totally cried at Yamato’s proposal. I’ve really enjoyed this series and look forward to rereading it one day. Definitely a keeper. – Michelle Smith
A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!, Vol. 1 | By Mai Tanaka | Yen Press – Another day, another yokai series—I’m starting to miss vampires, let me tell you. This one is definitely on the comedic side, and features the titular terrified teacher, Haruki, as he starts at a new school only to discover that everyone in it is some sort of yokai. For the most part, the yokai we see are very traditional, and we get such classics as the girl with the long neck and the Zashiki-warashi. There are extensive endnotes, which are helpful, and the class is goofy and fun without being annoying. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the teacher—I simply didn’t like Haruki much, and given he’s the star that’s a problem. I hope he gets a bit less terrified as this goes on. – Sean Gaffney
The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 4 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – I enjoy each volume of this more than the last, always a good thing with an ongoing manga series. Here we get more of the Water Dragon God trying his best to see how humans work, and for the most part failing rather miserably. He’s still a jerk (and indeed Asahi tells him this), but he’s also the most interesting romantic interest, as Subaru has unfortunately become a bit faceless. And there’s also the problem that they’re starting to get noticed, which brings Asahi to the Emperor of Not-Japan, who is young and clearly wants a miracle worker, whereas all Asahi can offer him is human advice. (Also terrific impressions.) I’ve never gotten into Toma’s stuff before, but this is really good. – Sean Gaffney
Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 7 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – We’ve finished Day One of the race, and the result is… well, let’s just say inconclusive. It does remind you why Midosouji is such a good antagonist, though, and it’s not just for his extremely creepy faces. (It is mostly for that.) Meanwhile, it was just about time for the unfortunate injury to occur, though here it’s not so much an injury as illness that does in Tadokoro, who seems to be suffering from heat exhaustion of some sort. Fortunately, Onoda is not about to leave anyone behind, even as everyone else is telling him to do so. That’s just not how he rolls. Singing Pretty Princess songs is how he rolls. Will Day Two finish by the end of the next omnibus? I wouldn’t bank on it. – Sean Gaffney