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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Michelle Smith

Manga the Week of 1/6/21

December 31, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N and Ash Brown Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s almost 2021! A year that is not 2020! Let’s start it off well, with manga.

ASH: Yes, let’s!

SEAN: We start off with J-Novel Club, who have a giant pile of stuff, including several debuts.

No debuts for print, but we do see An Archdemon’s Dilemma 9, Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 3rd manga volume, Full Metal Panic 4-6 in a hardcover omnibus, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 2 (manga version), Infinite Dendrogram 10, and My Next Life As a Villainess! 5.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying the Ascendance of a Bookworm novels, but haven’t actually gotten around to reading the manga yet.

SEAN: Digitally we start with the manga adaptation of already licensed light novel Black Summoner, which runs in Overlap’s Comic Gardo.

Speaking of Overlap, they’re the publisher of the light novel Dungeon Busters, which debuts next week. Our hero finds a dungeon in his backyard… and suddenly there’s 666 of them all over the world, which need to be cleared in ten years or the world will end! What to do? Start a company dedicated to clearing dungeons.

If you’re tired of fantasy dungeon crawls, there is also Our Crappy Social Game Club Is Gonna Make the Most Epic Game (Jakushou Soshage-bu no Bokura ga Kamige wo Tsukuru made). A former amateur social game maker has transferred schools due to past trauma, but cannot help but be drawn into the Social Game Club there too. The whole club is weird. The club is also about to be disbanded. Can he help them?

Also out digitally: Ascendance of a Bookworm 9, Discommunication 6, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 16, Infinite Dendrogram 6 (manga version), and the 5th and final version of My Little Sister Can Read Kanji, whose other volumes came out when J-Novel Club had just begun.

Kaiten Books has a manga debuting digitally. Gacha Girls Corps (Gacha o Mawashite Nakama o Fuyasu Saikyou no Bishoujo Gundan o Tsukuriagero), from Micro Magazine’s Comic Ride, is based on a light novel (not licensed here), and its premise seems to be “In Another World with My Gacha Rolls”.

In print, Kodansha has a 2nd Blue Period, Saiyuki 4, and Sweat and Soap 5.

ASH: I’m just now getting around to giving Sweat and Soap a try; I’ve been hearing good things.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is Harem Marriage (Hare Kon), a manga that ran in Young Magazine. A woman who has had bad luck at love moves back to the country, only to find the bad luck follows her – her family are deeply in debt! A stranger offers to take care of the debt if she marries him. The thing is, their town has legalized polygamy, and he already has TWO other wives. If you find the idea of harem manga interesting but want one far more realistic and seeped in drama and sex, this might interest you.

MICHELLE: I might check this out.

SEAN: There’s also All-Rounder Meguru 18, the 7th and final Cells at Work: Bacteria!, Drifting Dragons 9, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 5, The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu 2, and Smile Down the Runway 17.

Seven Seas has several debuts, though we’ve seen two of them in digital form already. Berserk of Gluttony and Muscles Are Better Than Magic get their light novels debuts in print.

The manga debut is A White Rose in Bloom (Mejirobana no Saku), a yuri title from the creator of Classmates that comes from Rakuen le Paradis. A girl at an elite boarding school is forced to stay over the holidays, and the only other student there is the aloof ice queen. The author and magazine this is from make me very, very interested.

MICHELLE: Indeed! I also love the cover.

ASH: I love Asumiko Nakamura’s work, so I am very much looking forward to this series.

SEAN: There’s also Gal Gohan 6, the 12th and final Himouto! Uramu-chan, I’m in Love with the Villainess 2 (digital), Machimaho 7, Non Non Biyori 14, and the print version of Reincarnated As a Sword’s 7th light novel.

Vertical has the 10th volume of CITY.

Viz has no debuts, content to merely be releasing new volumes for most of the best-selling manga in the world.

On the shonen side, there’s Black Clover 24, Haikyu!! 42, Jujutsu Kaisen 0 (the “pilot” for the ongoing manga), Moriarty the Patriot 2, My Hero Academia 26, Platinum End 12, and The Promised Neverland 18.

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading a bunch of these!

ANNA: I need to check out Moriarty the Patriot.

ASH: I picked up the first volume but still need to read it.

SEAN: On the shoujo side, we get Daytime Shooting Star 10, An Incurable Case of Love 6, Love Me Love Me Not 6, Prince Freya 4, Snow White with the Red Hair 11, and Takane and Hana 16.

MICHELLE: And also a bunch of these!

ANNA: It is a good week for me!

SEAN: Lastly a trio of titles from Yen Press: Breasts Are My Favorite Thing in the World 3, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 12, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 3.

Anything strike you as particularly 2021 in this list?

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Pick of the Year: Our Favorite 2020 Manga

December 28, 2020 by Katherine Dacey, Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi Leave a Comment

KATE: Since this is the final week of 2020, we decided to pick our favorite new manga of 2020 instead of highlighting something from the new arrivals pile. I’m torn between two books: BL Metamorphosis, which is a feel-good series that’s never pat, obvious, or cliche in its portrayal of BL fandom, and Blood on the Tracks, a creepy, atmospheric series from Shuzo Oshimi about the perils of helicopter parenting. Though Oshimi’s manga always explores uncomfortable territory–seriously, this guy must be a joy at cocktail parties–he is one of the most distinctive and expressive artists currently being licensed for the US market. Oh, and he has a killer sense of pacing.

SEAN: There are all sorts of new manga I could talk about, from surprise romantic sweetness Sweat & Soap to the hilarious and sweet thriller Spy x Family to, as Kate said, the fantastic generational series BL Metamorphosis. But for me, the series of 2020 is actually from 1972. The Rose of Versailles was a Holy Grail of manga licensing for so long, and for a while it looked like it was in development forever, but the finished product shows off how it was worth the wait. One of the most iconic manga ever.

ANNA: No question for me, to have The Rose of Versailles released in such a wonderful edition after waiting so long for it to come out is something to be celebrated. To have such an iconic manga available in English is such a treat, and it deserves to be manga of the year.

MICHELLE: Looking back, there were a lot of debuts I loved (Knight of the Ice, Blue Flag, With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day Is Fun, Yoshi no Zuikara…) and some that I’m sure I will love when I actually manage to read them (BL Metamorphosis, The Rose of Versailles, Ping Pong…) but the series that only took a few pages to completely secure my eternal love and devotion was Spy x Family. It’s stylish and clever but doesn’t lack substance, the characters are endearing and interesting, and it also manages to be both funny and heartwarming. I hope to be reading this series for years to come!

ASH: Many of my top manga of the year have already been mentioned – the coveted The Rose of Versailles, the undeniably wonderful BL Metamorphosis, the distinctive Ping Pong. It was also a great year for alternative and indie manga with the release of The Swamp, Magician A, and not one but two volumes of the Glaeolia anthology. But, if I’m to be completely honest, the single volume of manga that left the greatest impact on me this year was the conclusion of Blank Canvas. Akiko Higashimura’s ability to combine humor with brutal honesty is unmatched, making this series both heartwarming and heartwrenching.

MELINDA: It feels too obvious to say, “I’ve had a life-changing year” in 2020, but with so much new going on for me, career-wise, there hasn’t been much time for reading manga. That said, there are a number of series I know I should be reading, and I know I’ll love them when I do. Top of the list is BL Metamorphosis, which has been getting rave reviews from my colleagues, and wow, Michelle’s endorsement of Spy x Family is not something I can ignore. But I’m going to go “obvious” yet again and give my pick of the year to the long-awaited The Rose of Versailles. I can’ count the number of times we’ve chanted the name of that title—first, waiting for it to be licensed, then waiting for it to actually appear. And from what I’ve seen, the wait was more than worthwhile. What a gorgeous release! It has to be my pick.

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK

Manga the Week of 12/30/20

December 24, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Melinda Beasi and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: The final week of 2020, a year I will be all too happy to put behind me. What’s coming out?

J-Novel Club has Otherside Picnic 4, Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 5, and the 2nd and final volume of WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!!.

Kodansha has just two titles in print next week. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 2 (which I do not care about) and Witch Hat Atelier 7 (which I do).

MICHELLE: I pledge that someday I will actually read Witch Hat Atelier.

ASH: You have a treat waiting for you, Michelle! Witch Hat Atelier is truly wonderful.

ANNA: I agree, it is a wonderful series.

SEAN: Digitally it has a lot more. The debut is We’re New At This (Mijuku na Futari de Gozaimasu ga), a series from the creator of Ao-chan Can’t Study!. Two childhood friends have gotten married and love each other… but they’re both total innocents! Can they figure out how to do what couples do? This runs in Comic Days.

Also out digitally: Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 7, Guilty 7, My Boyfriend in Orange 10, Shaman King: The Super Star 4 (which catches us up with Japan, I think), A Sign of Affection 3, and The Prince’s Romance Gambit 8. A Sign of Affection is already on my must-buy list.

MICHELLE: That’s another one I need to actually start. I also enjoy Guilty, which is a fun josei drama about people who definitely don’t need lessons on what couples do.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a trio of titles, the most important being the 4th and final volume of Satoko & Nada. They also have the print version of Restaurant to Another World 4 and the print version of Arifureta Zero 4.

MICHELLE: Yay Satoko & Nada.

ASH: This series is a delight! I’m so happy that it was released in translation.

SEAN: Sol Press has 4 digital titles, all light novels. The only one that isn’t a debut is Chivalry of a Failed Knight 4.

The Game Master Has Logged into Another World (GM ga Isekai ni Login Shimashita). Gamer and GM collapses one day and finds himself in a game, now he has to call on his special cheat GM powers. I hate everything I typed just now.

I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life As a Mage (Moto Saikyou no Kenshi wa, Isekai Mahou ni Akogareru). A boy really wants to learn magic… but has no talents there. He does have amazing talents as the reincarnation of a master swordsman, but still… he wants to learn magic! This sounds slightly better, but only slightly.

Let This Grieving Soul Retire! Woe is the Weakling Who Leads the Strongest Party (Nageki no Bourei wa Intai Shitai: Saijiyaku Hanta ni Yoru Saikiyou Patei Ikusei Jutsu). This actually made it onto the end-of-year Light Novel Popularity polls, which is why I might actually look at it, despite being a “weak to strong” book, a genre I’m not fond of. Our hero’s friends have cool powers. He does not. But for some reason they keep expecting things of him.

Square Enix has a third volume of My Dress-Up Darling.

ASH: This series really surprised me. It’s definitely risqué, but it has some depth to the story and characters, too.

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 7th and final omnibus of Aria The Masterpiece, meaning after 16 years, and being cancelled twice by two different companies, we can finally read the end of Aria.

ASH: Wow!

MELINDA: I don’t even know what to say about this.

ANNA: I suppose it is certainly some sort of publishing achievement.

SEAN: Vertical has a 2nd in NISIOISIN’s Pretty Boy Detective Club series, The Swindler, the Vanishing Man, and the Pretty Boys.

Yen On has a few December stragglers. This includes a debut. The World’s Finest Assassin, Reincarnated in a Different World as an Aristocrat (Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha, Isekai Kizoku ni Tensei Suru) sounds a whole lot like a number of other series we’ve seen recently, to be honest.

ASH: There does seem to have been one or two of those…

SEAN: There’s also Bungo Stray Dogs 5, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 5, and Woof Woof Story 5. Lotta 5s.

Lastly, Yen Press has High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 9 (manga version) and A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 9.

What manga will you be reading to help you forget 2020?

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Pick of the Week: Still High on BL Metamorphosis

December 21, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Katherine Dacey, Anna N, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s not a very inspiring week for me this time around, though a new volume of the stellar BL Metamorphosis is always welcome. I’m sure the others will talk about it. My pick, though, is the final volume of Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, a fantastic light novel spinoff of the original manga. This third volume promises to show us a romance for her that actually works out. Can’t wait.

MICHELLE: I haven’t yet ready any of BL Metamorphosis, but am nonetheless very happy it’s coming out here. I also really enjoy DAYS, which I suppose is not terrifically original as far as sports manga goes, but is still very entertaining with a fun cast of characters. I look forward to getting caught up on both of these series.

KATE: I heartily endorse BL Metamorphosis, as author Kaori Tsurutani understands why readers love BL, never reducing their passion to a cheap punchline. She also creates one of the most interesting, appealing, and authentic inter-generational friendships I’ve seen in manga–or, frankly, in just about any other medium. If you’re not reading it, add it to your list today–it’s one of the best new series of 2020.

ANNA: I absolutely agree that I should be reading BL Metamorphosis, so I will make that my pick as well.

ASH: BL Metamorphosis is one of my favorite series currently being released, and I agree with Kate 100% that it’s also one of the best of the year, so it’s an easy pick for me this week!

MELINDA: I am embarrassed to admit that I haven’t yet had the chance to dig into BL Metamorphosis, but with endorsements like these, it’s the obvious pick. I absolutely must find out what all the fuss is about!

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK

Manga the Week of 12/23/20

December 17, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and Ash Brown Leave a Comment

SEAN: ‘Tis Christmas, and still no offers of pantomime. Luckily, we have some manga for you.

ASH: Huzzah!

SEAN: Cross Infinite World debuts Reincarnated As the Last of My Kind. Yes, it’s another reincarnation isekai, but as this little girl grows up, she starts to realize… she may not even be human. It looks cute. And it’s also apparently written by one of the cast of Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: There’s a quartet of titles from Ghost Ship. Creature Girls 5, Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight 4, the 18th and final volume of To-Love-Ru Darkness, and Yokai Girls 12.

J-Novel Club debuts Girls Kingdom, a new yuri light novel series. A girl who wants an education finds herself in the predicament of getting educated as a maid! Why did this happen? And why is the rich girl who hired her interested at all? This sounds slight, but I’ll give it a shot.

ASH: I do like to see that the yuri renaissance is actively expanding from manga to include light novels these days.

SEAN: J-Novel Club also gives us a 6th Altina the Sword Princess.

Kodansha, in print, has Attack on Titan 32, Boarding School Juliet 13, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 2, and Whisper Me a Love Song 2.

ASH: Ah! That reminds me that I still need to give the first volume of Whisper Me a Love Song a try.

SEAN: Digitally, the debut is What I Love About You (Fechippuru ~Our Innocent Love~). This Magazine Pocket title involves a drunken one-night stand that turns into more… because both parties have a fetish (one loves backs and one loves hair) that turns the other on! How much you like this may depend on how much you tolerate fetishes.

Also out digitally: Am I Actually the Strongest? 2, DAYS 21, Kakafukaka 11, Maid in Honey 4, My Best (♀) Butler 4, the 6th and final Shaman King Flowers, Shaman King: The Super Star 3, and When We’re in Love 3.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught back up on DAYS.

SEAN: Seven Seas is piling everything out the door before Xmas. The debut is the manga version of The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen, which ran in Shonen Ace.

Also: Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 7, BL Metamorphosis 3, the third and final novel for Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka, Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average 11 (print), The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 3 (digital), How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 9 (print), How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 4, How to Train Your Devil 4, The Invincible Shovel 3 (print), Monster Musume 16 (print), Mushoku Tensei 8 (print), My Monster Secret 22 (the final volume), My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s 3, and Syrup: a Yuri Anthology 2.

MICHELLE: I still haven’t read any BL Metamorphosis. The shame.

ASH: BL Metamorphosis is SO GOOD. Definitely one of my favorite new series released this year.

SEAN: Square Enix has Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town manga 3.

Tokyopop has the 9th volume of Konohana Kitan.

Vertical gives us a 3rd volume of The Daily Lives of High School Boys.

Yen On has two titles, and one is pretty big. Sword Art Online: The Platinum Collection. The first 20 books in the series, in hardcover, in a nice box with prints and a poster. A must have for hardcore fans.

ASH: Wow! I’m not particularly interested in the series, but that’s an impressive looking release!

SEAN: The Saga of Tanya the Evil 8 is also out.

Finally, Yen Press gives us a 9th volume of Gabriel Dropout.

That’s it, then, all the Christmas manga. (OH NO IT ISN’T!) Quiet, you.

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Pick of the Week: Horror, Pets, and Tragic Backstories

December 14, 2020 by Michelle Smith, Katherine Dacey, Sean Gaffney and Ash Brown Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: I am looking forward to bicycle boys and creepy planets of doom, but I was so totally charmed by the first volume of With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun, that I must make the second volume my pick of the week.

KATE: I never say no to pet manga, but the idea of Junji Ito in space is just too irresistible for me, so my pick is Remina. (May it erase the memory of Ito’s adaptation of No Longer Human…)

SEAN: Baccano! fans have been waiting for this novel more than any other since the series was first licensed. The second part of Huey Laforet’s tragic backstory, Baccano! 1710: Crack Flag is my pick this week.

ASH: I’m with Kate this week in picking Remina! I’m curious to see Junji Ito tackle a work that leans at least a little (if not a lot) more towards science fiction than some of his other horror manga.

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK

Manga the Week of 12/16/20

December 11, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi Leave a Comment

SEAN: As we get closer to the holidays, we get more and more books being published.

ASH: This turn of events pleases me.

MELINDA: And me.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a new title, I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death!. Our heroine dies and is reincarnated in an otome game, and she *is* the heroine this time… but the game is notorious for having almost all bad ends. Expect a lot of Alice in Wonderland vibes here as well.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but a heaping helping of ongoing digital light novels. We get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 11, Arifureta 11, I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! 4, The Intrigue of Marielle Clarac (Book 5 in that series), Slayers 4, and The Sorcerer’s Receptionist 2. Phew!

Kodansha has some print. We get Drifting Dragons 7, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 6, Gleipnir 8, the 2nd Magic Knight Rayearth manga box set, which will finish the series, and also has a bonus artbook. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 15 and UQ Holder 21 are also out.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying Drifting Dragons. I’ve also somehow never actually read Magic Knight Rayearth yet.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World (Isekai de Saikyou Maou no Kodomo-tachi Juunin no Mama ni Nacchaimashita), which sounds like your standard isekai but is also by Ema Toyama, author of Missions of Love and other shoujo classics. This is not shoujo: it runs in Shonen Sirius. A girl whose mother has died plays the game the mother never finished… and finds herself in another world.

ASH: Ema Toyama, you say? That piques my interest a bit more than just the title alone.

MELINDA: I don’t read much digitally, but this intrigues me as well, almost entirely because of the author.

SEAN: There is also Dolly Kill Kill 9, Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- 2, GE: Good Ending 12, Heroine for Hire 4 (the final volume), Kakushigoto 10, Orient 9, Shaman King: The Super Star 2, Shojo FIGHT! 14, and The Writer and His Housekeeper 3.

MICHELLE: I really, really need to get caught up on Shojo FIGHT!.

SEAN: One Peace has a 3rd manga volume for The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

Debuting from Seven Seas is Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Everyday Misadventures! (Watashi, Nichijou wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!), the 4-koma spinoff of Mile’s antics that everyone wanted. It runs in Comic Earth Star.

Also out from Seven Seas: Goodbye My Rose Garden 3 (the final volume) and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear’s 4th novel (digital-first).

MICHELLE: I wouldn’t say Goodbye, My Rose Garden was an amazing series, but it was certainly good enough to read the third and final volume.

ASH: I still need to read the second volume (and now soon the third), but I found the first volume to be enjoyable.

SEAN: Sol Press, after what seems like 80,000 years, has the second Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World light novel.

Tokyopop has the 2nd and final volume of No Vampire, No Happy Ending.

Vertical gives us the 4th Katanagatari omnibus digitally (I will keep repeating this till it’s correct), Kino’s Journey 7, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 2.

MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun and am eagerly anticipating the second.

MELINDA: Always here for Kino’s Journey, too.

SEAN: They also have Zoku-Owarimonogatari, the final, absolutely the last, no take backs, Monogatari Series novel. Unless they license the others that came after this.

Viz’s debut is Remina, another helping of Junji Ito just in time for winter. This is sci-fi, but still just as terrifying. It ran in Big Comic Spirits.

MICHELLE: I am down for this sci-fi/horror blend!

ASH: Yup! I’m here for this one, too.

MELINDA: Yes!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Flag 5, Golden Kamuy 19, Levius/est 7, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 2, and No Guns Life 8.

ANNA: Glad that Maison Ikkoku is being rereleased and looking forward to Blue Flag.

MICHELLE: What Anna said.

ASH: I should actually read Maison Ikkoku now that it is readily available again.

MELINDA: I should be buying them, since I never managed to acquire a full collection of the original release!

SEAN: Yen On has a truly terrifying number of light novels coming out. The first debut is The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken). We’ve seen a mini-rebirth of the non-fantasy romcom in recent licenses, and this falls into that category. A guy lends his neighbor his umbrella one day, she offers to help around his house in return, and a relationship blossoms.

The second debut is a spinoff, Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Dai Katana. This apparently goes into the past of Sword Maiden.

There is also (deep breath): Accel World 23, The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life 5, Baccano! 15, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer 18, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 5, Suppose a Kid From the Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 4, and Torture Princess 6.

ASH: That is a fair number of light novels!

SEAN: On the Yen Press side, there’s even more. Debut #1: 86, the manga adaptation of the grim military fantasy light novel series. It runs in Young Gangan.

Carole and Tuesday runs in Young Ace, and I believe is the rare case where the anime comes first and the manga follows. Girls who want to be musicians… on Mars!

ANNA: I watched half of the anime….

ASH: I do like musicians… and Mars…

MELINDA: I… kind of want it. Though I’m not sure how to interpret the fact that Anna only watched half of the anime.

SEAN: Not quite a debut, but we do see Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook.

Strawberry Fields Once Again (Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido) is a yuri romance that seems to have a twist to it. It ran in Mediaworks’ @ vitamin.

And Wolf & Parchment is the manga adaptation of the sequel to Spice & Wolf.

Also from Yen: ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department P.S. 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 16, Goblin Slayer 9, King of Eden 2, KonoSuba 11, Lust Geass 2, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 17, Plunderer 6, Rascal Does Not Dream of Petit Devil Kouhai (another omnibus), Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 3: Truth of Zero 11 (the final volume of this arc), Reborn As a Polar Bear 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 12, A Witch’s Printing Office 4, and Yowamushi Pedal’s 16th omnibus.

MICHELLE: I am fixin’ to have a YowaPeda catch-up spree and am very happy about that.

ASH: Same! And I always look forward to reading Natsume Ono’s manga, so I plan on picking up the ACCA continuation as well.

SEAN: Any presents from this list you’re giving out?

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Pick of the Week: Food and Mystery

December 7, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N, Melinda Beasi and Katherine Dacey Leave a Comment

SEAN: I generally try not to double dip light novels and manga, and the novel this manga is based on is coming out in two months from J-Novel Club. But The Apothecary Diaries has gotten so much good buzz that I feel I have to make an exception. A pharmacist is kidnapped and taken to the Imperial harem. She tries to live quietly and not get into trouble, but constantly finds herself drawn into mystery and politics I’m down.

MICHELLE: The combination of mystery and politics in manga will never not appeal to me, so I’m definitely planning to try out The Apothecary Diaries, but even more up my street is Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu, with its BL/food combo. I love What Did You Eat Yesterday?, I loved Our Dining Table… I hope I love this, too.

ASH: I’m absolutely with Michelle on this one – I simply cannot resist BL food manga, so Manly Appetites gets my pick this week. That being said, I’m also really looking forward to the debut of The Apothecary Diaries and reading more of How Do We Relationship? among other releases!

ANNA: I agree, Manly Appetites and The Apothecary Diaries both sound great.

MELINDA: Like Michelle, despite a number of alluring releases this week, I’m going to let my track record of satisfaction with foodie BL tip me towards Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu. Though I’ll admit the title gives me the slightest pause.

KATE: I just finished season four of The Crown and am still jonesing for a little more palace intrigue, so I’m picking The Apothecary Diaries. (I was going to make a bad joke about “curing what ails me,” but… 2020.)

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK

Manga the Week of 12/9/20

December 3, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi 1 Comment

SEAN: Two manga enter! One manga leaves! Who will prevail?

J-Novel Club has two debuts, both manga. One is Mapping, the long title of which I will not quote here, and an adaptation of the light novel.

The other one is I Love Yuri and Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi (Ore ga Fujoshi de Aitsu ga Yuriota de), whose title is also its plot. It’s by the author of Failed Princesses, ran in Comic Flapper, and can be described as “yuri adjacent”.

Also out next week: Demon Lord Retry’s 4th manga volume; Infinite Dendrogram 13; Lazy Dungeon Master 13; Tearmoon Empire 3, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 7. Of those, Tearmoon is my clear pick.

ASH: I’ve heard really good things about Tearmoon Empire. (And not just from you!)

SEAN: Time for Kodansha, where I carefully double check the site before posting and STILL end up wrong as they shift release dates at the last second. Debuting this week in print is Life Lessons with Uramichi-Omiisan. It’s a black comedy that runs in Ichijinsha’ Comic Pool about a children’s TV show host who is… not a fun guy.

MICHELLE: I’m not sure I’ll like this, but the premise is interesting enough that I will at least check it out.

MELINDA: Hm, yeah, maybe.

SEAN: Also in print: Heaven’s Design Team 2, Perfect World 4, Rent-a-Girlfriend 4, Something’s Wrong with Us 4, To Your Eternity 13, and The Witch and the Beast 3.

ASH: I’m actually reading quite a few of these, but most of my attention is going to To Your Eternity.

SEAN: Two digital debuts. Shangri-La Frontier just debuted in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and is from the artist who does Attack on Titan: Lost Girls and Fairy Gone. That said, it’s an MMORPG manga based on a webnovel, so you know what you’re getting here.

The other is The Story of Our Unlikely Love (Kimi ga Kirai na Koi no Hanashi), a quick 2-volume shoujo series from Betsufure. He was a bad boy. She was a good girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?

ANNA: I seem to have a short attention span for digital shoujo, but 2 volumes might be just right.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I probably will end up reading this, too.

MELINDA: I haven’t really been reading anything digital at all lately, but this might be the right length for it.

SEAN: We also get All-Out!! 17 (the final volume), Peach Boy Riverside 2, Practice Makes Perfect 3, Seven Shakespeares 14, Shaman King: Flowers 5, Space Brothers 38, and We Must Never Fall in Love! 4.

MICHELLE: I had been waiting for that final volume of All-Out!! to hit so I could marathon the whole series in one chunk. That sounds like a nice project for my holiday break.

SEAN: One Peace has The New Gate 4.

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu (Minegishi-san wa Outsu-kun ni Tabesasetai) is one of Seven Seas’s debuts next week. It combines BL and food, and looks to be quite amusing.

MICHELLE: I’m very excited about this!

ASH: Same!

MELINDA: Always here for this combo.

SEAN: The other Seven Seas debut is the manga version of The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent.

Digitally we also get a light novel debut: Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells. Class transported. Our hero has no powers. Left for dead. Powers are actually really cool. We’ve read this before.

We also get: Cube Arts 2, The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter novel 2 (print), The Ideal Sponger Life 7, Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary 11, PENGUINDRUM 2 (novel), Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 3, Plus-Sized Elf 6, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 4.

ASH: Every time Penguindrum is mentioned I remember that I still need to catch up with Penguindrum in many of its forms.

SEAN: Square Enix debuts the manga version of the acclaimed novel series The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto). It runs in Big Gangan, and is about a servant in training who finds herself in the midst of palace politics. It’s apparently VERY good.

ANNA: Huh, sounds interesting. This wasn’t on my radar before.

MICHELLE: Same! I might check it out.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this one!

MELINDA: Well, wow. Sounds great!

SEAN: They also have the 2nd volume of the Wandering Witch manga.

SuBLime has Caste Heaven 4 and Punch-Up! 6.

Tokyopop has The God and the Flightless Messenger (Kamisama to Tobenai Tsukai), a one-and-done BL manga from Printemps Shuppan’s Canna. As you might guess by the title, it’s a fantasy.

Vertical gives us Bakemonogatari manga 6 (yes, I know I said this last week) and a digital release of Katanagatari 4 (yes, I know I said this two weeks ago).

Viz has no debuts, unless you count Super Mario Manga Mania, whose audience I suspect is adjacent to the normal Manga Bookshelf one.

ASH: That being said, I do know at least a few people who will be interested in this release!

SEAN: They do have How Do We Relationship? 2, Komi Can’t Communicate 10, and Pokemon Adventures Collector’s Edition 5.

MICHELLE: I’ve fallen a bit behind with Komi, but I’m in the mood now to get caught up.

SEAN: Yen Press has one debut: Slasher Maidens (Kaijin Reijoh), a Gangan Joker series that manages to combine horror manga and horny teen boys. It’s from the creator of Akame Ga KILL!.

Also out: As Miss Beelzebub Likes 11, Durarara: Re; Dollars 6, Happy Sugar Life 7, the 13th and final Hatsu*Haru, Restaurant to Another World 3, and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun 6.

ASH: I’m reading the more recent Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun in preparation for this one as we speak.

SEAN: So, which manga won?

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Bookshelf Briefs 12/1/20

December 1, 2020 by Ash Brown, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

Cutie and the Beast, Vol. 1 | By Yuhi Azumi| Seven Seas – This looked cute, and gave off a very My Love Story!! vibe, but I was wary of the fact that one of the leads is in his late twenties and the other is a senior in high school. That said, unlike a lot of other romance titles from Japan that adore this sort of couple, the manga makes their age difference the main conflict. He’s a famous pro wrestler, and getting involved with a girl her age, even if she is eighteen, would be career-killing. On the other hand… these two have fallen hard for each other almost at first sight, and can’t stop texting, calling, meeting up, etc. Now, how this will play out I’m not sure. Pretty sure they’ll get together, but I bet his career does take a big hit. Nice to see the manga address it, though. – Sean Gaffney

How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | Viz Media – “Opposites attract” is a common enough trope, but it is utilized to great effect and with notable complexity in How Do We Relationship?. The manga follows two young women in college as they begin dating each other—the somewhat shy and innocent Miwa and the much more boisterous and experienced Saeko. Navigating a new relationship is rarely easy and a romance between two women has additional sets of challenges, as Saeko in particular is very aware. While Miwa and Saeko’s deepening feelings are obviously core to the story, their relationships with friends and classmates play critical roles as well. One of the things that impressed me the most about the first volume of How Do We Relationship? was just how believable and realistic all of these different relationships were. The characterization of the leads is wonderfully nuanced, too. I’m really looking forward to reading more of the series. – Ash Brown

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 9 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Most of this Komi volume revolves around Valentine’s Day, which as always presents the author with a conundrum: how do I make them give chocolates and be the cutest couple ever without actually making them a couple or having them confess? Rest assured, though, fans of Komi and Tadano will find endless scenes to love here. My favorite may be Tadano’s sister trying to get him to admit his feelings, then being rather annoyed when he actually comes close to doing so. Fortunately, as the title suggests, Komi is not very good at communicating, so things stay the same for now. Still, I suspect we need something to shake things up. Perhaps a new love interest could magically arrive soon? – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 25 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Shigaraki’s backstory is as terrifying and traumatic as you might imagine—let’s just say the hands he wears aren’t just for show. So it’s back to our heroes, who are practicing how to do hero interviews (Midoriya’s goes as badly as you’d expect) and also preparing for the next round of internships. Oh yes, and celebrating Christmas, which is adorable and also has Eri Santa. As for internships, Nighteye is dead and his agency is too busy to take him in, and Best Jeanist is missing, so Bakugou’s in limbo as well. Todoroki suggests an obvious idea: all three of them could intern with the best dad ever. All of this is clearly setting up a huge battle in the upcoming books, but it’s fun to see. – Sean Gaffney

Ossan Idol!, Vol. 1 | By Ichika Kino and Mochiko Mochida | TOKYOPOP – Adapted from a light novel, Ossan Idol! is the story of Miroku Osaki, a virginal, pure of heart, and unemployed 36-year-old who has spent the last decade as a shut-in. He’s always been overweight, but once he discovers a love of dance, he starts training at a gym with Yoichi Kisaragi, who was once overweight himself. Soon, Miroku is buff, handsome, and charming and the karaoke video he accidentally uploads to the internet becomes a viral sensation. The volume concludes with a famous producer declaring he’ll turn Miroku into an idol, and not just him but Yoichi (41) and dancer pal Shiju (40), too. All in all, this is a pleasing bit of fluff that I don’t have a lot to say about either positively or negatively. I will probably check out volume two, at least, to see where the story goes. – Michelle Smith

Sadako at the End of the World | By Koma Natsumi and Koji Suzuki | Yen Press – The premise of this one-volume manga—What if the girl from The Ring ended up in a post-apocalyptic world?—made me wonder if it would be horror or melancholic like Girls’ Last Tour. It’s pretty much both. Sadako, particularly once the artist gives her a tablet to communicate with, is not as scary here, and the girls she’s with are an innocent delight. But as they meet the few remaining people in this world along the way, there’s a definite sense she’s also going back and doing what she does best to each of them. The ending tries for sort of a fourth-wall-breaking thing but I think it was simply there as the author wasn’t sure how to end it after the cast was gone. A good read overall, though. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 13 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media After reading my brief of the last volume, I feel a need to eat my words. The combination of this new volume and the currently running anime have made me realize: yes, there is real character development here. Syalis at the start of the series was a gag character who would murder at the drop of a hat. Here, while she’s still extremely flaky, she’s doing her best to unite humans and demons, even if this means completing all the Demon Lord’s paperwork—in ONE DAY. Even better, when the Cleric waffles on about his feelings for her and the reason he ran away from the castle, Syalis points out something: who she likes is her own decision. Our Sleepy Princess is all grown up! – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 4 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – There’s a chapter of sex here, in case you were looking for that, but for the most part this series would rather deal with the sweet tensions of a young couple in love trying to negotiate how to do that and still be attentive to the other partner’s needs. Their couple-ness is now generally known to the office, though we have not quite told the parents yet—I suspect that will be next book. More importantly, they are talking about moving in together, something that requires charts and sticky notes, because these two are organized and also adorable. And they are also still very much desiring each other as well—the sex here is hot. One of the best romance mangas to come out in 2020. – Sean Gaffney

What the Font?! – A Manga Guide to Western Typeface | By Kuniichi Ashiya| Seven Seas – This is pretty much exactly what you’d expect. A young woman is told to layout a presentation, but has never done this before. While studying Western fonts, she falls asleep… and meets personifications of many of them, both Serif and Sans. Each font has a personality, they talk about themselves and their history, and then we move on. If you’re expecting Hetalia antics, look elsewhere—there’s no plot to speak of, and the fonts are not the most riveting characters. If you do want to learn about the differences between Western typefaces, though, this is a good enough guide for you, though I suspect it works even better in Japanese. – Sean Gaffney

Whisper Me a Love Song, Vol. 1 | By Eku Takeshima | Kodansha Comics – The cover of this volume is quite striking, and it led me to believe that this would be somehow different from your standard “high school girls in love” story. Unfortunately, it really isn’t. Yori Asanagi is a talented singer who fills in with the light music club band for a performance at the entrance ceremony Himari Kino is attending. Himari promptly informs Yori she’s fallen for her at first sight and Yori believes she means it romantically (instead of merely as a fan), and instantly falls in love herself. Characterizations here are shallow, particularly for Yori’s would-be bandmates, and there’s just not much going on that’s especially interesting. The one exception is that Himari’s enthusiastic appreciation for Yori’s singing is seemingly helping her to overcome some confidence issues. I’ll give this one more volume, I think, to see how it develops. – Michelle Smith

You Are My Princess | By Hiroto Kujirada | Futekiya (digital only) – Itsumi Tachibana is a scary-looking guy who secretly loves kitties. He’s surprised when the princely student council president, Seima Takajo, confesses romantic feelings for him, and suspects he’s being made fun of. After spending more time with Takajo, however, and realizing he’s the only one Takajo allows himself to be unguarded around, Itsumi’s feelings change. Plot-wise, You Are My Princess isn’t terribly unique. The guys get together, they have sex in the final chapter, the end. What makes it special, though, is Kujirada-sensei’s clean and expressive artwork, the nonverbal storytelling, and the little moments in which Takajo drops the facade and reveals real vulnerability. And also kitties. In the end, I enjoyed this cute story and look forward to more by this creator! – Michelle Smith

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs

Pick of the Week: Yona and Friends

November 30, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N and Ash Brown Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: There are a few things coming out this week that appeal to me a great deal, not least of which is the latest Yona of the Dawn, but this week I’ll highlight a pair of digital-only Kodansha josei series that I’ve been enjoying a lot: Chihayafuru (now volume 23) and Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKar Mania (now volume 5). I will never not be grateful that Kodansha is reliably churning out josei material on a monthly basis. Ten years ago we had a dearth of great josei and now we have a respectable amount of options!

SEAN: I’m also interested in Yona, as well as Reign of the Seven Spellblades, but my pick this week is Eniale & Dewiela, because honestly Kamome Shirahama could do a manga of the phone book and it would be gorgeous and awesome. I’m also interested in seeing how the creator of Witch Hat Atelier creator does comedy.

ANNA: There’s a lot of intriguing manga coming out this week, but I’m going to pick Yona of the Dawn, which is consistently great.

ASH: Like Sean, my top pick this week is Eniale & Dewiela, but I’m also curious about How Many Light-Years to Babylon since I enjoyed the creator’s odd sort of humor in The Voynich Hotel and have had good luck reading other Seiun Award winners in the past.

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK

Manga the Week of 12/2/20

November 26, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s the last month of the year… what are we seeing, manga and light novel-wise?

Bookwalker has the 13th volume of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!.

Dark Horse debuts Mob Psycho 100: Reigen, a one-volume spinoff of the original that ran in Ura Sunday.

ASH: I’m curious about this one.

SEAN: In print, J-Novel Club has two debuts: an omnibus version of the Infinite Dendrogram manga, and an omnibus of the Otherside Picnic light novels! Both contain the first two volumes. There’s also I Shall Survive Using Potions! 3 and In Another World with My Smartphone 13.

Digitally, J-Novel Club gives us Banner of the Stars 4, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 13, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 34.

They’ve also got manga digitally, including the manga debut of Bibliophile Princess, featuring one of my favorite fluffball heroines. There’s also the debut of Record of Wortenia War’s manga, and A Very Fairy Apartment 5.

Kodansha’s print debut is Mashima HERO’S, a crossover between three of the author’s biggest series: Rave Master, Fairy Tail and Eden’s Zero.

ASH: Somehow missed hearing about this one until now.

SEAN: Also in print: the 41st and final volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

ASH: That was quite a run.

SEAN: There are two digital debuts. One is a Shaman King spinoff, The Super Star. It takes place after Flowers, and is still ongoing in Shonen Magazine Edge.

The other debut is The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu (Ponkotsu ga Tensei Shitara Zongai Saikyou), a reincarnation isekai whose summary is so stupid I may actually give it a try. It runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius, and is probably glorious trash.

ASH: I have been convinced to read things for similar reasons in the past.

SEAN: Also out digitally: Altair: A Record of Battles 23, Cells at Work: Bacteria! 6, Chihayafuru 23, Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKare Mania 5, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 2, and Smile Down the Runway 16.

ANNA: I’m so far behind with Chihayafuru but I continue to be glad it is being released.

MICHELLE: I share your gratitude. Also, Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKare Mania is a fun josei series that I’ve enjoyed so far.

SEAN: Seven Seas has two debuts. The Kingdoms of Ruin (Hametsu no Oukoku) runs in Mag Garden’s Comic Blade, but honestly it sort of lost me when I saw the words “revenge fantasy”.

The other debut, and done in one, is How Many Light-Years to Babylon? (Babylon Made wa Nan-kounen?), a comedy sci-fi story from the creator of The Voynich Hotel. This one I’m far more optimistic about, especially as it won the Seiun Award, the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo.

ASH: Oh! This sounds like one I should definitely check out.

SEAN: There’s also a 10th Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, A Certain Scientific Accelerator 11, the 11th Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average?! (digitally), and Skeleton Knight in Another World’s 5th volume (manga) and 7th volume (light novel).

Vertical has the 6th Bakemonogatari manga, with a lovely snek on the cover.

No debuts from Viz, but some quality titles. We see Chainsaw Man 2, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 19, Dragon Ball Super 11, Jujutsu Kaisen 7, One Piece 95, Queen’s Quality 10, Skip Beat! 3-in-1 14, Spy x Family 3, Twin Star Exorcists 20, Vampire Knight: Memories 5, We Never Learn 13, and Yona of the Dawn 27.

ANNA: Always happy for more Yona of the Dawn, Spy x Family, and Queen’s Quality.

MICHELLE: Indeed, several favorites for me among that lot. I’m especially keen to read the next volume of Yona, as the last ended on quite a pivotal moment.

ASH: Those three series are at the top of my list, too. I also plan on reading more Chainsaw Man.

MELINDA: I’m behind, but I have been a fan of Queen’s Quality, so I really should pick that up!

SEAN: Yen On debuts Reign of the Seven Spellblades (Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai Suru), which is yet another magical academy series but also comes highly recommended.

Also from Yen On: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 5, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 15, and My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 10. The last of which has been delayed several times. As I expected.

Two debuts for Yen, though one is not really: Kingdom Hearts III, the manga has its first volume.

The other is Eniale & Dewiela. If you ever wondered what the creator of Witch Hat Atelier would do if she was told to make something akin to Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, then this is the title for you. It’s 3 volumes total, and ran in Enterbrain’s Fellows! and Harta, two magazines which always earn an automatic purchase from me.

ASH: I’ll definitely be on the lookout for a copy of this!

MELINDA: Interesting!

SEAN: And there is IM: Great Priest Imhotep 6, Kakegurui Twin 8, Murcielago 16, Phantom Tales of the Night 6, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story: The Complete Omnibus Edition.

ASH: I’m a couple volumes behind on Phantom Tales of the Night, but I have been enjoying it.

SEAN: Anything here catch your eye?

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Pick of the Week: Overture, Curtain, Lights!

November 23, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Katherine Dacey, Anna N and Melinda Beasi 1 Comment

SEAN: Seven Seas has most of my attention this week, as I’m torn between the relaxing yuri feel of Days of Love at Seagull Villa and the less yuri but more drama majorey Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises. I think I’ll go with the latter, if only in hopes that we might get the sequel. Plus, I always love Takarazuka stuff.

MICHELLE: These two are also vying for my top pick this week, and since Sean picked the latter, I’m going with the former. The premise of a lonely person being accepted (presumably) into a family makes me think of Our Dining Table, another Seven Seas title that I loved immensely. Thus, I am very here for this!

ASH: Perhaps unsurprisingly, these are the two manga being released this week that also have most of my attention! Of the two, Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises sits the highest on my ever-growing mountain of to-be-read books, so that gets my official pick. But I’m looking forward to reading the debut of Days of Love at Seagull Villa, too.

KATE: If only the rest of the American electorate was as unified as we are! I’m in total agreement with the rest of the MB gang’s picks.

ANNA: I agree, I’m looking forward to Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises as well!

MELINDA: Probably this is obvious, but it’s Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises for me! I’m so on board for this!

Filed Under: PICK OF THE WEEK

Manga the Week of 11/25/20

November 19, 2020 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and Melinda Beasi 1 Comment

SEAN: Happy Thanksgiving! Please be safe when you celebrate it!

Cross Infinite World gives us the 2nd volume of Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse Is Not My Problem!, which surprises me, as I thought it was a standalone. Though perhaps it surprises me less because it was on last month’s list – it got bumped.

Dark Horse Comics has two deluxe volumes – Vol. 6 of Berserk and Vol. 2 of Hellsing.

ASH: I plan on getting my hands on that deluxe Berserk volume.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a trio of titles, as we see Fire in His Fingertips 2, World’s End Harem 9, and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 11.

ASH: Fire in His Fingertips is definitely one of the spiciest josei manga being released in print right now.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts The Bloodline, their first attempt at pulling a Cross Infinite World and licensing direct from the author – this isn’t out from a Japanese publisher yet. The plot sounds a lot like Our Last Crusade, but with vampires.

There’s also a pile of other titles. By the Grace of the Gods 5, Cooking with Wild Game 10, Demon Lord, Retry! 5, Full Metal Panic! 9, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 7, the 11th and final volume of Kokoro Connect, My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 2, and My Next Life As a Villainess 8.

No print debuts for Kodansha, but some new volumes. We see I’m Standing on a Million Lives 8, Noragami: Stray God 22, Sayonara Football 2 (the final volume, though also see Farewell My Dear Cramer), The Quintessential Quintuplets 11, The Witch and the Beast 2, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 4.

MICHELLE: Man, I’m already so far behind on Yuzu the Pet Vet.

ASH: Likewise!

SEAN: SEAN: Digitally there is a debut. Am I Actually the Strongest? (Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyou Deshita?) is a reincarnation isekai that runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius. A reincarnated kid is abandoned for being weak. But is he? Is he really? No word on whether the author’s high school bullies play the villains here, but it’s possible! That is typical of the genre.

There’s also Cells at Work: Baby 2, Farewell My Dear Cramer 12, Maid in Honey 3, My Best (♀) Butler 3, Orient 8, Shaman King: Red Crimson 4 (the final volume), The Slime Diaries 4, and When We’re in Love 2.

Seven Seas has a massive amount of stuff. Let’s start with the debuts. Days of Love at Seagull Villa (Umineko Sou Days) is a Comic Yuri Hime title about a spurned fiancee who runs away, and the single mom who runs the housing complex she runs to. No relation to Umineko: When They Cry. Probably. It’s from the creator of I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up.

MICHELLE: This looks really good!

ASH: It does! I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

MELINDA: Could be interesting.

SEAN: Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises is a one-omnibus shoujo manga that originally ran in a not-shoujo venue, Shueisha’s Jump Kai!. It’s about the lives of two Takarazuka girls. There is a sequel, as yet unlicensed, still running in Japan, this time in Hakusensha’s Melody.

MICHELLE: This looks really good, too!

ASH: Yes, it really does! In fact, it’s probably one of the releases that I’ve been most looking forward to this year.

ANNA: I’m intrigued by this for sure.

MELINDA: Same here!

SEAN: Two light novels we’ve seen digitally already also make print debuts: The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent and The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen. We also get the 2nd volume of each of those series digitally.

Also due out next week: Adachi and Shimamura 3 (print) and 4 (digital), Citrus+ 2, D-Frag! 14, Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 3, Gal Gohan 5, GIGANT 3, Harukana Receive 6, High-Rise Invasion 15-16, Magical Girl Site 13, My Senpai is Annoying 3, Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA 4, PENGUINDRUM 3 (manga version), Scarlet 2 (the final volume), and Species Domain 8. A large number of these have been out digitally for a while.

Tokyopop has the 7th volume of Futaribeya: A Room for Two.

Vertical has the 14th volume of Witchcraft Works. They also have the digital debut of the final volume of Katanagatari.

Yen On only has three volumes, but one is a doozy. The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya is the 11th volume in the light novel series, coming out digital-only (for now, print will follow) in North America at about the same time it’s out in Japan. The last volume in the series came out in English almost 7 years ago to the day. It’s been a while. Now, this is merely three short stories, but hey, it’s nice to see Haruhi back again – rumors of the author’s crippling writer’s block were worrying.

ASH: It has been some time! I never got around to reading them all, but I did enjoy the Haruhi novels that I made time for.

SEAN: They’ve also got The Asterisk War 14 and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 7.

On the Yen Press side, no debuts, but we get Breasts Are My Favorite Thing in the World! 2, Bungo Stray Dogs 16, Is It Wrong to Try To {Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 13 (manga version), Overlord the Undead King-Oh! 5, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 10.

Give thanks for manga! And again, stay safe. Masks, please.

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Bookshelf Briefs 11/16/20

November 16, 2020 by Ash Brown, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

A Bride’s Story, Vol. 12 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – Being at a yearly schedule for this series is bad, but it could be worse: Yotsuba&! seems to come out every 3-4 years. The best part of this volume sees Mr. Smith and Talas meeting up with Anis and Sherine, a married couple that, as before, remains defined by the lack of husband in their lives. He’s there, to be sure, but this may as well be a yuri couple for all the emotional beats. Also, learning how to write everyone’s name is very awesome and cathartic. Elsewhere, Karluk is reminded that everyone has different skill sets, and Pariya has to deal with unexpectedly being on her own. The “plot” of the series barely exists, and I’m not sure it will last till Karluk comes of age. But it’s peaceful and the art is gorgeous. – Sean Gaffney

Cherry Magic!: Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!, Vol. 1 | By Yuu Toyota | Square Enix – With a title and conceit like Cherry Magic!, I’ll admit I wasn’t expecting much from the series, so I was delighted to encounter a surprisingly charming and lighthearted first volume. After turning thirty without experiencing so much as a first kiss, Adachi finds that he can now read people’s minds when he physically touches them. The ability can occasionally be helpful, but in general he tries to avoid using it. Things take an awkward turn when he bumps into his coworker Kurosawa, inadvertently learning he’s been hiding a crush on him. Kurosawa is a popular and nice enough guy, but Adachi, being romantically inexperienced, isn’t quite sure what he should do with his newfound knowledge—especially considering that Kurosawa hasn’t actually mentioned anything about liking him yet. Cherry Magic! is a silly but sweet romantic comedy; I had fun reading it and would happily read more. -Ash Brown

Farming Life in Another World, Vol. 1 | By Kinosuke Naito and Yasuyuki Tsurugi | One Peace Books – If you liked everything about In Another World with My Smartphone but wish that the magical smartphone had been replaced with a magical farming tool, have I got a series for you. Most of the plot beats are even the same, although Hiraki manages to get it on with most of his wives a good 20 or so volumes before Touya. Despite that last sentence, those who are buying this for the “snu snu” will not be happy—it’s far more interested in the farming, as well as his accumulation of wolves, spiders, and brides. I’m honestly not unhappy that we only got the manga version of this—I suspect it would be tedious in prose. As it is, it’s perfectly good slow-life isekai with a farming bent. – Sean Gaffney

Himouto! Umaru-chan, Vol. 11 | By Sankakuhead | Seven Seas – This is the penultimate volume of the original series, though I understand there are several spinoffs. That said, there’s nothing here indicating that we’re headed for a big finish or climax. Which makes sense—this is not really that kind of series. It does show us how Umaru and Ebina met, which is as cutesy as it sounds. Indeed, cutesy is the watchword for every single chapter. Even the sibling relationship friction, which was what drove many of the early volumes, seems to have been dialed way back as they’re mostly getting along now. It’s a good sign that the series should be wrapping up, really, and so it is. That said, if you love Umaru-chan, this should make you happy. – Sean Gaffney

Revolutionary Girl Utena: After the Revolution | By Chihi Saito | Viz Media – I am, to put it mildly, not a fan of the original Utena manga. So I was initially incredibly uninterested in this 20-years-later single-volume afterword. That said, it does not seem to even take place in the same universe—it feels like Saito was told to make this an anime sequel more than a manga sequel. Good news, this means Juri is gay again. Not surprisingly, I found the Juri/Shiori/Ruka story the most interesting, though I still hate Ruka more than the creators want me to. Elsewhere, Touga and Saionji turn into Scooby Doo investigators, and Miki and Kaoru are still really into incestual subtext. I still prefer Artistic Veggie Platters as an Utena continuation, but this is OK. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 10 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – The “future” chapter showing Nishikata and Takagi married and having a daughter was wildly popular with readers. We don’t get another in the series here—by this point there was a spinoff all its own to take care of that—but we do see an older Chi in middle school, trying to be what her mother was with the guy she likes and failing miserably. It’s pretty adorable. As for the actual cast, they pet dogs, go fishing, eat candy, and make everyone think they are the most sickeningly sweet couple you’ll ever meet without actually being a couple. There’s no “plot advancing” chapters here, but there’s lots of cuteness, and Takagi is the most likeable of the “teasing” girls we see a lot of these days. – Sean Gaffney

That Blue Summer, Vol. 8 | By Atsuko Namba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Rio’s days in the tranquil village of Ueko are coming to an end. She has ended things with Ginzo because it was too hard, knowing they could never be together long-term, and tries to put on a brave face about going back home to Tokyo. But once she gets there and tries to move on, it’s clear she’s just going through the motions. I really liked that I wasn’t sure that the main couple would actually end up together, and also that the romance between a couple of side characters wasn’t just filler but a way to put things into perspective for Rio. What I liked most, though, is why Ginzo loves Rio—she’s the one who encouraged him to embrace his passion for graphic design, who created opportunities for him that boosted his confidence. This has been one of my favorites of the Kodansha digital-only shoujo offerings! – Michelle Smith

Yoshi no Zuikara: The Frog in the Well Does Not Know the Ocean, Vol. 1 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – Despite my good intentions, I have yet to read Barakamon. And so I must ask… is this what Barakamon is like?! ‘Cos it’s good as hell! Naruhiko Tohno is a struggling manga artist who still lives in the remote village in which he was born and raised. He’s been writing fantasy manga for ten years and isn’t exactly gung-ho when his editor suggests he try writing rural slice-of-life instead, but it ends up selling far more than his previous series. I definitely enjoyed the segments about Tohno and his life growing up, particularly the obvious links between his middle-school friends and classmates and the characters in his manga, but I’m a little sad that we don’t spend more time with the characters in his manga, because they were totally charming, too. Guess I gotta go read everything in English by Yoshino-sensei now! – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 15 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – I mentioned as I was reading this that it’s astonishing that Watanabe has not turned his hand to horror manga, given everything about Midousuji in this volume, which is simply mind-numbingly creepy. That said, wow, he’s a good cyclist, and he likely will help to goad Naruko into becoming more well-rounded. Elsewhere, we learn how difficult it is to find new members who are as good as the old ones—the previous year was unusual, after all—and also not to abandon a potential member just because you judge them at first to be not worth your time. I hope to see more of our new huge son. It did feel weird that this volume did not have a major race in it, but I’m sure that’s coming soon. – Sean Gaffney

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs

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