SEAN: It’s time for April manga! The best month! MICHELLE: All the cool people were born in it! SEAN: We start off with Viz Media, who have a spinoff to debut. Sequel? One of those. Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate (Kimi ni Todoke Bangai-hen – Unmei no hito) takes place after the main series, and focuses on Kurumi. It apparently also ties into Crazy for You by the same author. It ran in Betsuma. ANNA: I should actually finish Kimi ni Todoke before I read a sequel. MICHELLE: Ooooh. SEAN: Also from Viz: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 19, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 28 (the final volume), Marriage Toxin 2, Moriarty the Patriot 15, Neighborhood Story 2, Rainbow Days 9, Sakamoto Days 11, Skip Beat! 49, and Tamon’s…
LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS
By Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith and Ash Brown
Manga the Week of 4/3/24
By Sean Gaffney
Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 4.5
By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn. I joked on Twitter that after Agents of the Four Seasons (which was terrific) and The Deer King (which was sublime), anything read after it would always suffer in comparison, so I’d have to “sacrifice” a series and it might as well be Alya. Honestly, though, I think I’d have been ‘meh’ about this volume even if it hadn’t come after books that are much better than it is. First of all, and most obviously, my least favorite part of the series to date was the horrible hypnosis subplot in the third book, and so it’s not surprising that…
By Sean Gaffney
The Deer King, Vol. 2
By Nahoko Uehashi and Masaaki Yamamoto. Released in Japan as “Shika no Ō” by Kadokawa Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Cathy Hirano. There’s a lot that happens in this book, and much of it is in the back half. But I’ll be honest, for me the book’s main purpose was achieved right before then. We spent the entirety of the first book going back and forth between two narrative strands, one with Van and his struggles, the other with the doctor, Hohsalle, and his attempts to fight the ongoing plague. There was a great deal of tension because we really wanted the two of them to meet, but they never did. The same could be said of this volume as well, though the narrative here…
By Sean Gaffney
Agents of the Four Seasons, Vol. 2
By Kana Akatsuki and Suoh. Released in Japan as “Shunka Shūtō Daikōsha” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila. This is very much the sort of series where I needed a “She does not get eaten by the sharks at this time” moment. In the book The Princess Bride (which is why it’s sharks, shut up movie fans), The father says this so as to make William Goldman less anxious about exactly how deadly this book is going to get. It’s OK, this says. This may be deadly, but it’s not THAT deadly. I needed a moment like that in this book. I did not get it. This is a book where I spent nearly the entire length of the book wondering if…
By Sean Gaffney
The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 6
By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell. (So yeah, spoilers for this volume right up top, warning in advance.) I’m always a big sucker for the “what if everything in your life was perfect?” story. One of my favorite Urusei Yatsura episodes showed Lum going through alternate universes trying to find the correct one, and discovering a universe where everything is the same only Ataru loves her unconditionally. And she has to give it up, because that’s not the right one. That’s not the Ataru SHE loves. And here we see Anis being offered everything she’s always wanted. She still has her lover and…
By Sean Gaffney
Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 9
By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof. Thankfully, after the start of this volume, things are allowed to calm down a bit, as we have the aftermath of what’s benn happening for the last two book. Unfortunately, that means that the start of this volume absolutely does not calm down at all. I hate that it happens to her, but one of the best plotlines I’ve seen so far in this series is Rozemyne being in the thick of the battlefield, and what it does to her psyche afterward. PTSD does not really seem to be a thing here, and indeed we…
By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and Ash Brown
Manga the Week of 3/27/24
SEAN: As March ends, we should all sit back and take stock. Did we March enough this year? ASH: How is it that it seems like March went by faster than February? SEAN: Airship has no print releases next week, but they do have early digital releases for 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 5 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 6. Cross Infinite World has new volumes. We get Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin 6, Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind 6, and A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy 2 (the final volume). Dark Horse Comics has the 7th omnibus edition of Oh My…
By Sean Gaffney
The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases, Vol. 1
By Shin Kouduki and Chocoan. Released in Japan as “Dekisokonai to Yobareta Moto Eiyū wa, Jikka Kara Tsuihōsareta node Suki Katte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by bedi and Joshua Douglass-Molloy. I’ve always been something of a nerd for “publishers”. What I mean is, I always try to figure out what books or manga are coming out where, and what they might have in common. Sometimes this is easy (Weekly Shonen Jump, Gagaga Bunko). Sometimes it can be trickier (whatever Wings is). And TO Books is sort of the anti-GC Books for me, in that I’ve always had a lot of good luck when trying books from this publisher. Bookworm and Tearmoon being the obvious winners. And so, when…
By Sean Gaffney
I Don’t Want To Be the Dragon Duke’s Maid! Serving My Ex-Fiancé From My Past Life, Vol. 1
By Mashimesa Emoto and Masami. Released in Japan as “Ryū Taikō no Senzoku Jijo wa Goenryō Shitai! Tensei Saki no Okyūji Aite wa Zense no Moto Konyakusha Deshita” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri. I think most readers of Japanese light novels by now are used to the title of the book being a summary. This is why I was quite surprised that we were getting to the halfway point of this new series and I had still not seen our heroine being forced to be the dragon duke’s maid. In this particular case, this is a good thing. This world has a lot of stuff in it that needs to be explained, and we also need to get into the head…