Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Manga the Week of 4/5/17

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SEAN: We’re near April Fools’ Day, and while I normally tend to shun it, I will make one overture to the holiday by doing next week’s manga list in reverse order.

So let’s start with Viz Media and Yu-Gi-Oh!. The seemingly endless franchise is starting a new series, this one called Arc V.

Yona of the Dawn gets a 5th volume, and is always near the top of my must-read list.

MICHELLE: And mine, as well.

ASH: I’ll be reading it soon, too!

ANNA: It is so consistently good.

SEAN: World Trigger has a 15th volume for Shonen Jump fans.

The big debut this week is The Water Dragon’s Bride, which is by Rei Toma, author of Dawn of the Arcana, and runs in Shogakukan’s shoujo/josei crossover magazine Cheese!. Expect fantasy and spunky female leads.

MICHELLE: Having enjoyed Dawn of the Arcana quite a lot, I’m really looking forward to this one!

ASH: I actually just started reading Dawn of the Arcana for the first time. I’m really enjoying the series, so I may need to make a point to pick up The Water Dragon’s Bride, too.

ANNA: It is great, but the first volume is actually much darker than most shoujo manga I’ve read recently, so it is an interesting change of pace.

MJ: I’m actually even more interested after Anna’s “much darker” comment. So count me in!

SEAN: There’s an 8th Twin Star Exorcists.

So Cute It Hurts!! has hit 12 volumes, which frankly surprises me. And there are more to come.

MICHELLE: Ugh.

ANNA: I need to get caught up on this.

SEAN: The Rurouni Kenshin series gets a 2nd 3-in-1 volume.

ASH: Glad to see Viz keeping this series in print. (The VizBig editions were nicer, though.)

ANNA: It is one of those series that should be in print!

SEAN: And Naruto gets its 18th 3-in-1, which means it can now legally vote.

Kuroko’s Basketball has another omnibus, covering Volumes 9 and 10. Spoiler: basketball is played.

Honey So Sweet has a sweet 6th volume.

ANNA: It is so super-cute and adorable.

MJ: I haven’t been reading this, and maybe I should be.

MICHELLE: I think you’d like it!

SEAN: And Haikyu!! has hit double-digits. (Technically, so has Kuroko.)

ASH: Haikyu!!!! I’m still loving the series, by the way.

ANNA: It is a favorite series in my house, my kids devour each volume.

SEAN: Food Wars! gives us a 17th volume, and promises to make life difficult for our favorite haughty blonde heroine.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Food Wars! one of these days.

SEAN: The Demon Prince of Momochi House has defeated the other Aya Shouoto manga titles to become the Last One Standing, and here is its 8th volume.

MICHELLE: All of the last five titles are on my list, though it’s Haikyu!! and Food Wars! that I love the most. Well, Honey So Sweet is right up there, too.

ASH: The Demon Prince of Momochi House is my favorite of Shouoto’s manga currently in English, so I’m glad we’ll be getting more.

ANNA: I like it too!

SEAN: Viz debuts its Naruto spinoff Boruto, which is about the next generation of ninja children, and perfect for the three or four people who weren’t upset with the ending pairings.

MJ: Heh.

SEAN: Black Clover has a 6th volume, and we will see how much it apes other series and how much it tries to do its own thing.

As for Assassination Classroom 15: if you wondered if Kaede Kayano would ever do anything other than make flan and have a crush on the hero, this is the volume for you.

Lastly (for Viz), we have a 4th volume of 7th Garden, shipping on the 5th, just to keep things confusing.

Vertical has a Ghost in the Shell story collection out next week, imaginatively called Ghost in the Shell: 5 New Short Stories.

ASH: I’m actually really looking forward to this collection if for no other reason than the volume has a story by Toh EnJoe in it.

SEAN: There’s also a 9th Ajin.

Kodansha gives us a 13th volume of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, well into its second round of witch shenanigans.

For fans of old Del Rey titles being restarted digitally, there’s new volumes of Alive, Princess Resurrection and Pumpkin Scissors out next week.

Back to print, with the 3rd volume of Fire Force, combining firefighters and the supernatural deftly.

And there’s a second volume of All-Rounder Meguru for more digital fun.

MICHELLE: Woot. Not that I’ve managed to keep up sufficiently to have read the first one yet.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a third volume of ridiculous but fun series My Big Sister Lives In A Fantasy World, which may be the beach episode readers have dreamed of.

Dark Horse is reminding us they do manga by having a pile at once. We get a 3rd I Am A Hero omnibus, for all your zombie apocalypse needs.

Hatsune Miku: Rin-chan Now! is another in the endless Vocaloid franchise.

Blade of the Immortal has a 2nd omnibus, for those who missed its previous re-releases.

Lastly, there’s a 7th Astro Boy omnibus, for those who missed ITS previous re-releases.

Perceptive readers might think I did this backwards just to get the images to fit properly. LIES. It was totally due to April Fools. So what are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Sweet Witches

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MICHELLE: No matter which way I go this week, my pick will be from Kodansha. Ultimately, while I really look forward to more Cells at Work! and House of the Sun, it’s Sweetness & Lightning that beckons most strongly.

SEAN: The most tempting thing for me this week is Flying Witch Vertical’s new series about a witch adjusting to life in a rural town. It’s been called a Japanese Sabrina the Teenage Witch.

KATE: I second Michelle’s recommendation for the fifth volume of Sweetness & Lightning. I just binged on the first four volumes this weekend, and was genuinely impressed by the storytelling: it’s sweet and funny and sometimes very sad, but I never felt manipulated into sniffling or laughing. I also agree with Michelle’s observation that Sweetness & Lightning is one of the few food manga that focuses on stuff that an ordinary reader could make — another plus!

ASH: I’ll definitely be reading the next volume of Sweetness & Lightning, but since this is the only time I’ll be able to pick the Otomo tribute artbook, that’s the release I’m going to go with this week. Based on a volume that was presented when Otomo won the Grand Prize at the Angoulême International Comics Festival in 2015, and presented in a full-color hardcover, I expect it to be great.

ANNA: I’m not seeing a ton that is inspiring me this week, although it sounds like I should give Sweetness & Lightning a try for sure. I’m going to join in with Sean in picking Flying Witch, because often one can’t go wrong with new Vertical releases.

MJ: Count me in with the Flying Witch crowd! A cat on the cover will get me every time.

Anonymous Noise Vol. 2

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I feel like Anonymous Noise is hobbled by its covers, because they are so consistently great the manga inside has a hard time living up to them. That being said, I found the contrived plot elements a little less annoying in the second volume, probably because the cliched character introductions are now out of the way.

The volume opens with Nino being challenged about her vocal ability. Miou, Yuzu’s former singer points out that while Nino’s voice has a compelling quality, her technique is a mess. Nino and Miou sing together and Miou is able to sustain her note much longer than Nino. Nino is determined to get better, and she starts reading tons of books on vocal technique. Nino spots Momo’s name on a flyer advertising music autions for a famous writer/producer, and she decides to try out in order to find out if the mysterious producer is her long-lost Momo. Of course the auditions are on the same day as the next TV appearance of In No Hurry to Shout, and Nino has to somehow pull off being at both at the same time.

The aspect of this manga that I found most interesting in the first volume was Nino as a destructive muse. She’s so single-minded, she is still utterly unaware that she’s hurting Yuzu’s feelings with her never-ending Momo obsession. Yuzu is inspired to compose by the idea of Nino as his Alice, but Momo is determined to avoid her because he’s turned away from his original childhood inspiration to compose pop hits. Yuzu even damaged his voice to sing with Nino when they were children, with the result that he’s no longer able to sing himself and Nino is now serving as his proxy. All this obsession in the service of creativity might not be a good thing, yet the joyful scenes of people lost in song carry the manga along.

I wish some of the plot elements were a little less contrived, because the coincidences piling on top of each other take me out of enjoying the story a little bit. I am still enjoying the stylish art, particularly a great panel where Yuzu hands Nino the wig of the lead singer for his band. I think this series might be one where I become a little better at engaging my suspension of disbelief with each volume. Anonymous Noise certainly delivers dramatic angst, so I’m still finding it interesting to read.

Manga the Week of 3/29/17

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SEAN: The 5th week of the month used to be a very quiet week, but this is manga boom time, so don’t expect quietness.

Dark Horse has the 2nd RG Veda omnibus, filled with early CLAMP pretty boys.

MJ: This never gets old for me.

Kodansha has a number of new titles. Cells at Work! has a 3rd volume.

ASH: The first volumes were a lot of fun, and surprisingly informative, too!

MICHELLE: Indeed!

ANNA: We got the first couple volumes in my library, but I have not yet read them due to them being perpetually checked out.

SEAN: And House of the Sun continues to be a very fast digital release with Vol. 3.

MICHELLE: Huzzah! Not that I have read the first two volumes or anything.

ANNA: Should I be happy about this? I haven’t read it either but I feel I should be excited if Michelle likes it!

MICHELLE: It’s shoujo from Dessert magazine, which also brought us Say I Love You. and My Little Monster. So, I’m basically just assuming it will be good because of that connection.

SEAN: There’s also a 9th volume of L♥DK, in case you’re reading the new digital Gakuen Prince volumes and want even more like that.

Otomo: A Global Tribute to the Mind Behind Akira is a new artbook from Kodansha dedicated to said mind, with lots of famous artists coming together to pay tribute.

ASH: I haven’t read much of Otomo’s work beyond Akira, but I’m really looking forward to this volume.

SEAN: Real Account gives us a 6th volume.

And there’s a 5th Sweetness and Lightning. Sorry for the lack of witty comments, I just don’t have much to say about these.

ASH: Awww, but Sweetness and Lightning is delightful!

MICHELLE: It is! As much as I love food manga, only Sweetness & Lightning regularly features things that I feel like I could conceivably make myself.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a pile of titles, starting with the 4th volume of Monster Musume spinoff I Heart Monster Girls.

And the 4th and final volume of The Other Side of Secret, which is so very, very Comic Alive.

Servamp has a 9th volume, and rumor has it vampires still figure in it.

I know very little about the new debut, Species Domain, except that it runs in Bessatsu Shonen Champion and is another “Monster Girls” type series.

ASH: Personally, I’ve lost most of my interest in the various monster girl manga, but I know it’s a popular niche and so am glad for those who enjoy it.

SEAN: And the 5th Testament of Sister New Devil shows that Shonen Ace can be even worse than Comic Alive if it really wants to be.

MJ: Wow.

SEAN: Vertical debuts Flying Witch, which runs in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine and has both an anime and good word of mouth.

MJ: i’m probably interested in this.

ANNA: I’m maybe interested in this.

And there’s the now standard “Yen delayed these till one week later” releases. A 9th volume of Sekirei is out digitally.

And out in print, we have a 5th How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend. (Spoiler: girlfriend still boring.)

Lastly, there’s a 6th Prison School omnibus.

ASH: Assuming someone isn’t simply outright offended by Prison School (which would certainly be more than understandable), the series can actually be legitimately funny.

SEAN: Something for everyone next week. What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Delectable Digital

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SEAN: As I noted i n Manga the Week of, I think this week breaks the record for most volumes in one week, helped along by Kodansha’s burgeoning digital lineup, which I’m sure the rest of the team will be talking about below. My pick of this week is Barakamon, though, which is seemingly a slow-moving, relaxed series but in reality has moved from strength to strength, and the development of its characters in this volume in particular is amazing. It’s become one of my favorite manga series.

MICHELLE: There are several debuts this week that I’m really looking forward to, but the single volume I most want to read is the fourth and final That Wolf-boy Is Mine! The series surprised me with how good it was, and I wouldn’t miss the conclusion for anything.

KATE: I’m most excited about Kodansha’s latest digital offerings. The swoon-worthy covers for Altair: A Record of Battle and Hozuki’s Coolheadness are calling out to me.

ASH: Agh! I’m so conflicted! Once again, I’m probably most interested in Kodansha’s digital releases this week, but I don’t generally read manga digitally. I really hope to see some of these like Altair: A Record of Battle and Hozuki’s Coolheadness eventually make their way into print. In the meantime, my official pick for this week goes to Goodnight Punpun which continues to be an incredibly surreal and uncomfortable but powerful and resonate work.

ANNA: I have to say, I’m finding Kodansha’s digital releases very compelling, although so much is coming out, I can see myself losing track of titles I want to read fairly easily. That being said, Altair: A Record of Battle is what looks most interesting to me, so that’s my pick.

MJ: Like Kate and Ash, I’m pretty interested in Altair: A Record of Battle, but I think I’ll put my vote in for Hozuki’s Coolheadness, which seems likely to ping a lot of my personal preferences all at once. And if I only wish these were being made available in print, I guess we take what we can get.

Manga the Week of 3/22/17

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SEAN: …eurgh.

Dark Horse has the 4th and final volume of Dangan Ronpa. Will anyone survive? And will any more manga spinoffs be licensed?

J-Novel Club debuts another series with a ludicrous-seeming premise, In Another World With My Smartphone. Still, they’ve won me over with ridiculous books before…

ASH: Though I’ve fallen way behind in my light novel reading, I do continue to be amused by the absurdity of some of these titles.

ANNA: That is sort of hilarious, but I’m just not a light novel reader. If only someone would bring back the 12 Kingdoms books…..

ASH: YES! I would love that so much.

MICHELLE: I was thinking about those books just the other day! I also would read the Saiunkoku light novels.

SEAN: Kodansha has a pile of stuff, including three more digital debuts. Altair: A Record of Battles is a long-running manga from Shonen Sirius, and it’s supposed to look fantastic. Also, more historical manga, yay! Basically, this is the sort of title the Off the Shelf column was made for.

ASH: I was not aware of this series at all! Definitely sounds like something that I’d be interested in reading.

MICHELLE: I don’t know much about it, but many of the covers are gorgeous, so that’s encouraging.

ANNA: Huh, this does sound intriguing.

MJ: Well, huh. I think you’re right!

SEAN: BLAME! Academy And So On is a spinoff of the main BLAME! manga that I think is similar to Spoof on Titan. It’s also digital only.

MICHELLE: I don’t know… I really loved BLAME!, perhaps to the point where I wouldn’t find a spoof amusing.

ANNA: I still need to read BLAME!.

SEAN: It’s not all digital. Clockwork Planet makes its print debut. It’s also Shonen Sirius, but seems to be more SF steampunk and fanservice.

And some series are ending, as we get the 7th and final volume of Forget Me Not.

The next digital debut next week is also a “Hey, Michelle and MJ!” sort of series. Hozuki’s Coolheadedness is a long-running series from Weekly Morning, about a deputy of the King of Hell and his daily life. It’s won awards.

ASH: I’ve seen a little bit of the anime adaptation and it was great fun. I suspect the manga is as well!

MICHELLE: Totally on my list!

MJ: Oh yeah, this, so much this.

SEAN: Kodansha has a 3rd volume of In/Spectre and its wonderfully annoying female lead, who I love.

Lastly (at least digitally) is Museum, which runs in Young Magazine and looks dark and depressing as hell.

MICHELLE: I don’t typically go for dark and depressing, but this one seems to be a mystery complete in three volumes, and that does have some appeal.

SEAN: And a 4th volume of That Wolf-Boy Is Mine.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this, which I believe is also the final volume.

SEAN: UQ Holder has transitioned from weekly to monthly in Japan, and that seems to mean volumes are coming out slower here as well. Here’s the 10th volume.

Seven Seas has some stuff as well. A Centaur’s Life never fails to puzzle and confuse me with what demographic it’s actually aiming for, even at its 11th volume.

Lord Marksman and Vanadis has a 3rd volume of fantasy action.

And there’s a 6th Merman in My Tub, which I think may have caught up with Japan.

More BLAME!, as Vertical is releasing the 3rd of its giant omnibus editions.

MJ: These really look so nice.

SEAN: Viz has a 5th volume of peppy slice-of-life comedy Goodnight Punpun.

ASH: Goodnight Punpun continues to devastate me, but I still find it compelling.

ANNA: I don’t think I have the emotional fortitude to read it yet.

ASH: It does take a fair amount; I have to time my reading carefully.

MICHELLE: I feel much the same, Anna.

SEAN: As well as another volume of Master Keaton, now in double digits.

ANNA: I love this series.

SEAN: And there always seems to be more Terra Formars, with its 17th volume.

Hooray! That’s it… oh wait, Yen. In fact, we’re not even halfway there. (sobs)

Yen On has 4 books this month, i.e. it’s a very light month for them. First off, Accel World 9 finally finishes off its huge 4-book arc.

Durarara!! also wraps up another arc with its 6th volume. All I can say is: pen. DRRR fans will know what I mean.

Log Horizon’s 7th volume shows us what Shiroe and his group were doing while the events of Book 6 happened.

And Re: Zero shows us Subaru trying desperately not to get killed by his maids.

Oh yes, and for digital lovers, volumes 7-10 of Spice & Wolf’s novels are also out next week.

Now for all the manga they’re releasing. Accel World also has a manga release with its 7th volume.

There’s a 5th volume of the Akame Ga KILL! ZERO spinoff.

The Asterisk War gets a 3rd manga volume.

Always enjoyable Barakamon has lucky Vol. 13, and I find I no longer keep comparing it to Yotsuba&!.

MICHELLE: I still plan to get caught up on Barakamon soon. I have a huge pile.

SEAN: Blood Lad has an 8th omnibus, and is nearing the finale but is not quite there yet.

MICHELLE: Yay! I haven’t read this series in ages.

SEAN: There’s a 3rd volume of the Boy and the Beast manga adaptation.

As well as a 2nd Bungo Stray Dogs.

ASH: As someone who is somewhat well-versed in Japanese literature, I got a huge kick out of the first volume and plan on reading more. I’m not sure the series works as well for people who don’t catch most of the references, though.

MJ: I plan on checking this out.

SEAN: More manga adaptations of light novels! Here’s the second Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody.

MORE manga adaptations of light novels! An 8th Devil Is a Part-Timer!.

Dragons Rioting has a 6th volume of what still appears to me to be mostly breasts.

Fruits Basket’s Collectors Edition has reached its penultimate volume, and features more angst than you can shake a stick at.

MICHELLE: Heh.

MJ: YES.

SEAN: There’s a 5th print volume of Handa-kun as well.

We have reached the last volume of He’s My Only Vampire, and while I enjoyed it, I am also very happy to see it’s ending.

MICHELLE: Same!

ANNA: One of the few vampire titles I haven’t read!!!

SEAN: The Honor Student at Magic High School continues to be irritatingly ahead of the light novel release with Vol. 6.

Kiniro Mosaic has a 2nd volume of cute girls being cute and maybe sort of yuri.

Then more yuri with the debut of Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl, which may be from Comic Alive but is apparently on the ‘sweet and cute’ end of the yuri spectrum.

ASH: I plan on giving this one a look! The cover is adorable if nothing else.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one, too! My friend said, “It’s S. A with lesbians!”

MJ: Absolutely on my list!

SEAN: Love at Fourteen finally returns with a 6th volume, and let’s face it, these kids are fifteen now.

MICHELLE: Heh. Another series on the read-me-soon pile.

SEAN: EVEN MORE manga adaptations of light novels, with the 4th OreGairu manga, which it too long to type out.

Speaking of long titles, a 6th Of the Red, the Light and the Ayakashi.

ASH: I really need to catch up with this series! I enjoyed the early volumes, but have fallen behind.

SEAN: Return of the Son of manga adaptations of light novels, with the 6th Strike the Blood manga.

Manga Adaptations of Light Novels Must Be Destroyed with the 5th Sword Art Online: Progressive manga, which as always needs MORE ARGO.

A third print volume of Today’s Cerberus.

Twinkle Stars has a 2nd omnibus, and I suspect will continue to deal with not being Fruits Basket.

MICHELLE: But it’s so good!

MJ: I am behind on this, and can’t even quite believe I let that happen!

SEAN: And there’s an 8th (really 9th) Ubel Blatt omnibus.

So that’s 48 titles, and that’s not even counting the 2 that Yen delayed to the week after next just because. I think this is a new record. What say you?

Pick of the Week: Picks, Picks, Picks

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MICHELLE: I suppose Ace of the Diamond technically came out last week, but it didn’t feature in our week-of discussion ’til this week, so… I am totally picking the first volume. Shounen sports manga that’s already complete in Japan? Yes, please! (Also, because I am greedy, can we get Big Windup next?)

SEAN: “Complete” being an iffy term – remember Ace of the Diamond Act II is currently running in Japan. In any case, my pick of the week has to be the final omnibus re-release of Ranma 1/2. Re-reading the entire series has reminded me why I was so obsessed with it twenty years ago, as well as making me feel I had good reason to move on. I’ll still miss it. Also, Ryouga x Akari 5-evah.

MICHELLE: Oh, jeez. I was totally unaware.

KATE: I’ve been impressed with Kodansha’s digital manga initiative, so I’m planning to check out both volumes of House of the Sun this week. Like most of the MB gang, I’m also intrigued by Kodansha’s latest sports acquisitions, though a small and solipsistic part of me wishes these manga focused on the exciting worlds of (a) running (b) rowing or (c) golf. Now that would get me off the couch!

MICHELLE: I would definitely like to see those sports, too. And I hold out hope for Mitsuru Adachi’s Rough, too.

ASH: I’m not much of a digital reader, but I must admit Kodansha Comics’ recent offerings may very well end up changing that. I enjoyed the anime adaptation of Giant Killing immensely and I never expected All-Rounder Meguru licensed, so those two series have definitely caught my eye as picks (even if technically they were released last week). And since we’re talking about sports series we’d like to see, someone give me a competitive marching band manga!

ANNA: Complex Age 4 is the most interesting thing to me coming out this week, although I also happily celebrate greater sports manga availability.

Manga the Week of 3/15/17

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SEAN: A relatively light week next week, relatively being the operative term. But first, let’s double back and look at titles out THIS week that weren’t announced till the weekend.

Remember how we used to say you couldn’t sell sports manga over here? Or 40+-volume series? Clearly digital-only is a good way to test the waters on flouting that rule. Case in point: The debut of Ace of the Diamond, a baseball manga that ran in Shonen Magazine from 2016-2015, and then, like many baseball manga, started up again with Season 2. It will be interesting reading a non-Adachi baseball series.

MICHELLE: !!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay!

ANNA: Interesting. I don’t know if I’m up for 40+ volumes but I will check it out.

SEAN: All-Rounder Meguru is a mixed martial arts manga from the creator of Eden: It’s An Endless World, though hopefully a bit less bleak. It ran for 19 volumes in Evening magazine.

And Giant Killing is another 40+ volume manga, this time about soccer, that runs in Weekly Morning. Naturally, being long-running sports manga, the primary audience in the West for these titles will be female BL fans.

MICHELLE: !!!!!!!!!!!!! Yay! I might even try All-Rounder Meguru, while I’m at it.

ASH: Wow! Kodansha is really killing it (sorry, I couldn’t help myself) with the recent digital releases! I’m very excited to see Giant Killing and All-Rounder Meguru being added to the mix.

MJ: I doubt I have the patience for either of the epic sports manga on this list, but I like watching Michelle’s squee.

MICHELLE: I will likely always have an abundance of squee for sports manga.

SEAN: Also, Persona 3’s 3rd volume from Udon moved up a week without me noticing. Whoops.

ASH: Can’t really blame you for that; sometimes I wonder if Udon even knows when it will be releasing something…

SEAN: Now onto titles actually out next week. J-Novel Club has some more volume twos, as we get another I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, which presumably adds more girls.

We also get the 2nd Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension, which is probably the biggest surprise of all J-Novel’s titles for me as I really enjoyed it.

Kodansha has a 4th Complex Age, which mixes cosplay and drama quite well.

ASH: I’ve been fairly consistently surprised and impressed by Complex Age.

SEAN: They also have the 2nd digital volume of House of the Sun, which seems to be on a much faster publishing schedule than the other new digital volumes.

MICHELLE: Ooh! I’ll definitely be checking out these two.

SEAN: One Peace has a 9th volume of not-really-yuri series Maria Holic.

Seven Seas has the debut of Hana & Hina After School, which is really yuri. It’s by Milk Morinaga, probably the most prolific yuri manga artist in terms of North American licenses.

They also have a 2nd Seven Princes of the Thousand Year Labyrinth, which hopefully continues to be, as I called it, “the most Comic Zero-Sum series ever”.

ASH: That really does seem to be an apt description.

SEAN: SuBLime gives us a new side story for Don’t Be Cruel, subtitled Akira Takanashi’s Story, though it’s unclear who this volume will focus on. (How’s my deadpan?)

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: And they have the 8th volume of the Finder Deluxe Edition.

ASH: While this is the eighth volume, it’s the first one to be released since SuBLime took over the series. (Previously, it was released by Digital Manga.) The actually first volume in this edition will be released later this year; it’s nice that SuBLime isn’t making readers wait for the most recent content.

SEAN: Vertical has a 5th volume of Mysterious Girlfriend X, which I think is approaching its climax.

Viz not only has the 3rd Legendary Edition of The Legend of Zelda, which has both Majora’s Mask and A Link to the Past, but also the first volume of the latest in the series, Twilight Princess.

ASH: Unlike some of the other games (I’m a bad Zelda fan), I’ve actually played Twilight Princess. I’m looking forward to its adaptation.

SEAN: At last, the final omnibus of Viz’s re-release of Ranma 1/2! It even ends with a wedding! Don’t let that fool you, though, this is still Takahashi at her most Takahashi. Still well worth reading.

ASH: I’m still very happy that Viz found a way to keep Ranma 1/2 in print.

SEAN: And there’s a 23rd volume of Rin-Ne, which apparently will have a surprise announcement in Japan soon. New anime season? Spinoff? They found Sakura’s repressed rage?

As I said, light week is relative. What’ll you be getting next week?

Anonymous Noise Vol. 1

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Anonymous Noise Volume 1 by Ryoko Fukuyama

I read Anonymous Noise a few days ago, and I’ve had a hard time writing about it, I think because I ended up feeling very conflicted about whether or not I actually enjoyed reading it. It was stylish looking, which I appreciated. The author deployed a great deal of typical shoujo manga plot elements, which I was less than enthusiastic about. Finally, there was a level of angst involved in the relationships between the characters that I actually found intriguing, and will likely keep me hanging on to reading this series in the hopes that it gets a bit better in the second volume.

Childhood friends who are separated and meet again only to fall in love is such a shoujo staple plot element, that I get weary of it if it isn’t executed well. Nino Arisugawa has a habit of developing close childhood friendships with boys only for them to utterly disappear, which will make it very handy for her to have a love triangle as a teenager. Her first friend is Momo, a next door neighbor boy with a habit of making terrible puns. They’re in the habit of singing together. Momo abruptly moves away with his family and while Nino is visiting the sea to scream her agony into it, she stumbles across Yuzu, a kid composer who likes to write musical compositions in the sand. Yuzu is also a very familiar character type seen in manga, the short kid who drinks a ton of milk in hopes of triggering a growth spurt. Nino finds a bit of peace when singing Yuzu’s compositions, but she still longs for her lost friend Momo.

Switching gears to the future, Nino starts attending a school where Yuzu is a student. He’s very busy, because he also has the time to be in a rock band called In No Hurry, which performs wearing face masks and eyepatches. Nino and Yuzu reconnect, but it is clear that she’s still nurturing her feelings for Momo. The part of this manga that I found most interesting, and I’m not sure if it was intentional on the part of the author, is that Yuzu’s obsession with Nino as a muse is so clearly unhealthy. He has a girl singer in his band called Alice who is designed with his memories of Nino in mind, and he likens his feelings for Nino as being trapped under the spell of a canary. Yuzu ends up being the most compelling character in this manga, just because he wears his emotional agony on his sleeve. No surprise, Momo is attending the same high school, and shows up around Yuzu to make a few bad puns and then disappear in an enigmatic fashion.

The art is stylish, if a bit generic. I enjoyed the edgy costumes for Yuzu’s band. A couple moments in the manga that stood out to be as being particularly well-executed were a scene of Nino and Yuzu reconnecting through music in a practice room, and an encounter with Yuzu’s band mates that hints at a whole different story of unrequited love. I often feel like some manga series need at least two volumes before passing judgement on them, and I’m hoping that the second volume of Anonymous Noise has less shoujo cliches and more teen angst because the potential is there for an entertaining music infused teen soap opera, but I’m not quite seeing that yet.

Pick of the Week: Shoujo and Nuclear Power

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SEAN: Lately it seems Pick of the Week is overflowing with choices, which is always a good thing. I’ll go with the debut of Anonymous Noise from Shojo Beat. For years I’ve been a fan of Hana to Yume series, and so I have high hopes for this new one. Plus that’s a fantastic cover.

MICHELLE: Oh, man. What a tough choice. I am looking forward to Anonymous Noise, and to another volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends, but I suspect that, when it makes its biannual appearances, it’ll be Skip Beat! that always ends up my official pick of the week.

KATE: I just ordered a copy of Ichi-F: A Worker’s Graphic Memoir of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant. If any medium seems well-suited to telling such a harrowing, personal story, it’s manga. I might need to read the first volume of Anonymous Noise as a chaser, though…

ASH: I’m definitely interested in Anonymous Noise, too, but I’m with Kate this week. Ichi-F is a fascinating, important, and personal work that gets my pick.

ANNA: I ordered Ichi F for my library, and I’m excited about Anonymous Noise as well. However, Skip Beat! is such a special series, I can’t imagine not picking it for Pick of the Week.

MJ: There are a number of potentially interesting titles on the list this week, but the one that sticks out for me most is definitely Anonymous Noise. I’ll admit I’m a sucker for music-themed manga, and this is no exception.

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 1

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The Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 1 by Rei Toma

I remember being delighted when I heard that another Rei Toma title was going to be released by Viz. Then many months passed between the announcement and actually getting the volume in my hand, I totally forgot about it and then was delighted all over again! I do enjoy fantasy manga and this volume was an excellent start to the series.

Asahi is a modern girl who has the misfortune of standing too close to a pond, where she is promptly whisked away to a village with no technology whose inhabitants don’t quite know what to make of her. A young boy named Subaru stumbles across Asahi and takes her home despite his sister’s protests. Unfortunately the village has a habit of offering up human sacrifices to the Water Dragon, and when Subaru brings home his new friend his mother decides that the odd girl will be a great way to ensure the prosperity of her family. Asahi is a bit stunned by being catapulted into another world and she doesn’t realize that she’s going to be a sacrifice until it is too late. Subaru tries to prevent the ritual but is unable to do anything to save his new friend.

Asahi finds herself in the Water Dragon’s realm. He’s a cold, stoic sort of god who says that he’ll wait to make Asahi his bride until she grows up. She asks him if he’s wearing cosplay and accuses him of being a pervert. The Water Dragon seems to find Asahi mildly entertaining, but he takes away her voice and then sits calmly while she starts to starve. Asahi finally realizes that the world she’s lost in is horrible. Other gods intervene to see some drama when Subaru and Asahi are reunited, but the humans in Subaru’s village prove to be even more terrible than the gods.

I think that Toma’s art, which was always good, has improved since Dawn of the Arcana. Her clear and simple style does a great job highlighting all the variants in facial expressions and reactions as the characters deal with the extraordinary. Subaru’s mother shows hints of evil in her smirk, and then devolves into full-out evil as she takes on the role of putting Asahi to trial for being rejected by the gods. Asahi’s personality is inherently bubbly and open, and it takes her a while to realize the truth of the world that she’s found herself in. Her body language completely changes after meeting the Water Dragon and the villagers. There aren’t a lot of detailed backgrounds in this manga, but the absence of setting is used to great effect when Asahi is in the Water Dragon’s world because the lack of detail in Asahi’s surroundings just makes everything seem even more surreal.

The inhumanity of the humans and the possibility that a god might change due to having to take care of a small girl are interesting themes for this manga to explore. This is a solid shoujo fantasy title and I strongly recommended it for fans of the genre.

Pick of the Week: A Short Month Long on Picks

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ASH: Originally my pick for this week was so clear! I simply couldn’t pass up a gorgeous, deluxe box set of the Revolutionary Girl Utena manga (even if the contents might not live up to their presentation). Alas, the release date has been delayed until April. That being the case, I’ll fall back on one of my favorite manga series currently being released; Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun never fails to delight.

SEAN: I loves me some Nozaki-kun too, and I’m also very interested in the digital debut of House of the Sun. But my choice is the 2nd volume in Nisioisin’s Bakemonogatari novel, featuring Suruga Monkey and Nadeko Snake. There will be words. Oh so many words.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely interested in House of the Sun, and several other titles from Kodansha, but what I’m most asquee about is the continuation of Nodame Cantabile in digital-only releases, starting with volume seventeen!

KATE: My pick is the fourth volume of Sweetness and Lightning. It isn’t in the same league as my all-time favorite food manga — really, can anything top Oishinbo? — but its sincerity and appealing characters more than compensate for the occasional ham-fisted scene. In fact, I’m getting hungry just thinking about Sweetness and Lightning right now…

ANNA: I think out of everything coming out this week, I’m most excited about Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun. Bring on the wacky antics!

MJ: I’m always on board for more Nozaki-kun, but this week I have to join Michelle in celebrating the digital return of Nodame Cantabile! I was devastated when that series was dropped in the US, and I’m beyond thrilled to see it back, even if it won’t be able to fill my physical manga shelves.

Manga the Week of 3/1/17

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SEAN: Next week is the biggest “5th week of the month” I’ve seen in quite some time. There’s another huge pile here, be warned.

Dark Horse gives us a 25th volume of Vampire Hunter D, the great-granddaddy of the vampire craze.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to read the Vampire Hunter D novels for a loooooong time now, but I don’t see me tackling all twenty-five any time soon.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a 2nd volume of My Little Sister Can Read Kanji. Further, deponent sayeth not.

Kodansha has a lot of stuff. First, we get the 2nd and final volume of the Attack on Titan: Lost Girls manga adaptation.

ASH: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first volume! Lost Girls may very well be my favorite Attack on Titan spinoff right now.

SEAN: There’s also a 58th volume of Fairy Tail, which we’ve just heard is in its final arc.

There are three new “digital only” series debuting next week. The first is another josei title from Kiss, The Full-Time Wife Escapist, aka Nigeru wa Haji da ga Yaku ni Tatsu. It’s technically another “fake marriage” title, but this looks like it has lots of depth, and inspired a live-action drama.

From Dessert, we have House of the Sun, aka Taiyou no Ie. This looks like a cute and fluffy romance series, and is 13 volumes. I think it’s also won awards.

MICHELLE: I’m really interested in both of these!

ANNA: As am I, surprising no one!

MJ: I might be? These are sometimes a wild card for me.

SEAN: Back briefly to print, we have the 9th volume of Kiss Him, Not Me!, which can be cute and fluffy romance, but honestly should be read for the laughs.

ASH: Definitely not a series to be taken too seriously, but it can be a lot of fun.

SEAN: Our final digital debut is Peach Heaven!, also a 13-volume romance from Dessert, but this one seems more in the “how much do I like jerks?” L♥DK mode. I hope I’m wrong.

MICHELLE: Here’s one Kodansha digital title I’m going to pass on.

MJ: Ugh.

SEAN: And back to print again, with the third volume of Ouran’s dark mirror, The Prince in His Dark Days.

And there’s a 4th Sweetness and Lightning as well.

ASH: Yay! Still loving the series’ combination of family and food.

SEAN: Seven Seas has another Freezing omnibus, collecting volumes 13 and 14.

And the second volume of Holy Corpse Rising.

MICHELLE: Is that what they do the morning after a Corpse Party?

ASH: Hahaha!

SEAN: Their first debut is the last of the “month of yuri” titles, this one from Hirari magazine. Kase-san and Morning Glory looks sweet and adorable, and I look forward to it.

MICHELLE: It does look cute!

ASH: It certainly does.

SEAN: The second debut is There’s a Demon Lord on the Floor, which is an ecchi comedy, and for once involves a demon being summoned to OUR world rather than an “average school student” being summoned there.

Vertical gives us the 2nd Bakemonogatari novel from Nisioisin, which introduces us to enthusiastic Suruga Kanbaru and shy and moe Nadeko Sengoku. (No spoilers, please.)

And also the 7th Cardfight Vanguard, which I think will now resume regular releases after a long hiatus over here.

Viz gives us a gorgeous-looking deluxe boxset of the entire Revolutionary Girl Utena manga, including the movie volume. I am conflicted, to say the least, about the content of said manga, but as a hardcore Utena anime fan, I will be getting it anyway, and seeing if the years have been kinder.

ASH: Surprisingly, I actually haven’t read the Utena manga series, but I did love The Adolescence of Utena (the movie volume) which is also included in this set. From the pictures Shojo Beat has been posting online, this should be a stunning release.

MJ: I’m probably putting this on my list.

SEAN: Yen Press says “Hey, we have digital-only releases too!”, and they do indeed, with the 8th Aoharu x Machinegun, 9th Corpse Princess, and 8th Saki.

ASH: Saki!

There are also two print stragglers. Anne Happy has a 4th volume of “how miserable can we make everyone for comedy?” antics.

And Monthly Girl’s Nozaki-kun never has to worry about that, it’s always funny. Here’s the 6th volume.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: I love this series so much. Reading it makes me so happy.

ANNA: I’m behind already. One day I will catch up!

MJ: Woot!

SEAN: That’s a lot of stuff. Are you prepared? Can you handle so many manga volumes?

A Springtime With Ninjas Vol. 1

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A Springtime with Ninjas Volume 1 by Narumi Hasegaki

I had high hopes for this title because I greatly enjoy both ninjas and shoujo manga, but I was underwhelmed by A Springtime With Ninjas. I think part of my disappointment was because I was hoping that the heroine and hero of the manga were both ninjas, but it turned out to be a decently executed manga that had some funny moments with a very conventional clueless rich girl heroine who was unfortunately not a ninja at all.

Benio is a sheltered rich girl who lives with the a horrible curse – she has to marry the first man who kisses her. She’s trapped in her home, at the mercy of a procession of tutors and she longs to go to school and experience normal life as a high schooler. Her uncle announces that he’s found a friend for her, and produces Tamaki, a flirtatious ninja bodyguard. Benio immediately finds him offputting, cherishing the memory of a friendship she had as a child when a boy who came over to play with her. Surprising no one who has read a shoujo manga before, it is pretty clear that Tamaki is her long lost friend.

Benio and Tamaki eventually get clearance to go to school, and he fends off Benio’s would-be suitors with his elite ninja skills. There were some amusing lines of dialogue like “The sanctity of this princess’s lips bears more weight to me than your lives.” Also, it was fun to see random high school club presidents suddenly manifest ninja abilities. The art is attractive, and the action scenes are clear and easy to follow. But there isn’t really any distinct quality or style to the art that would help offset storylines that kept giving me a sense of deja vu. I ended up putting down this manga being reminded of all the other shoujo manga that I’ve read that cover some of the same story tropes but end up being a little bit more funny, or have a more interesting take on ninjas or sheltered heiresses.

Chihayafuru Vol. 1

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Chihayafuru Volume 1 by Yuki Suetsugu

Around a month ago, there were a few things I knew about Chihayafuru. It was a josei title about a Japanese card game. It has had an anime adaptation. I was interested in reading this, but I was convinced it would never be licensed. I have also been living under a rock, or at least totally unaware of what Kodansha was doing because I didn’t realize until several days ago that Chihayafuru was being released in English albeit just in digital format. I clicked the preorder button so quickly!

Chihayafuru is a josei manga, but it also is a sports manga centered around karuta, a poetry matching game that requires literary knowledge, memorization, quick reflexes, and strategy. From the start, the reader gets a few panels of the middle of an exciting game. Then the manga catapults into the past, to six years earlier. The main character is Chihaya, a girl who has buried her ambitions in supporting her older sister’s dream of becoming a supermodel. While Chihaya doesn’t seem to have any goals for herself, it is clear that she’s kind and a bit of tomboy at school. When a new kid arrives in her classroom and is promptly bullied, Chihaya sticks up for him. Wataya might talk funny and be poor, but he is a master at the game karuta, which the class plays from time to time. Wataya’s first enemy is Taichi, a popular boy who is dedicated to his studies and comfortable always winning the school kuruta tournament.

Wataya is a genius level kuruta player, and when he gets put at a disadvantage in a challenge match because his glasses were stolen, Chihaya substitutes herself for him. She doesn’t have all the poems memorized, but she has an incredibly dynamic and aggressive playing style that when combined with her reflexes enables her to eke out a win. She becomes inspired to pursue kuruta as her own interest. Taichi, Wataya, and Chihaya end up forming an odd friend group centered around kuruta, even visiting a local club to play practice matches and learn from a local teacher. The personalities of the three main characters create an interesting dynamic and dramatic tension.

I’m assuming with the flashback opening to this volume, the characters will be shown at their current ages soon, but the reader is set up to being able to feel all nostalgic when the trio gets together again outside of middle school. Chihayafuru reminds me of Hikaru No Go in the best way, because it takes a topic that might seem overly cerebral and invests it with a great sense of pacing and action. Chihaya’s dynamic personality and habit of slapping down cards whenever she gets a sudden insight makes everything exciting. Suetsugu’s paneling using multiple perspectives as angles on the game action also creates plenty of visual interest. I also liked the way romanized Japanese was presented along with the translations for the poems, because it was easier to get a sense of the rythm of the game, and how the players greet matched poems as “old friends”. In a digital release I suppose one can’t expect too many extras, but if print volumes of this series ever come out, it would be fun to have some of the poems and cards featured in more depth in notes at the back of each volume.