Features

SEAN: Let’s face it, even without Yen Press this would be a really heavy week. With Yen it’s absolutely terrifying.

But first, the non-Yen offerings. Dark Horse gives us the first Gantz omnibus, in case you want to catch up on your lycra.

Haikasoru has the 7th volume of Legend of Galactic Heroes. If it’s the one I think it is, oh dear.

MICHELLE: Someday, I really will read these. My intentions are good!

ANNA: I have good intentions about reading this as well.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but I’ve been enjoying them!

J-Novel Club announced a bunch of stuff at Anime Expo, and this is what I was most excited about. I loved the Kokoro Connect manga when it came out years ago, and wished we could read the light novels. Now we can! The first one is out next week.

J-Novel Club also has the 3rd Infinite Stratos novel.

Kodansha has some print manga for all of you. Attack on Titan: Before the Fall 14, Battle Angel Alita Deluxe Edition 5, Love and Lies 7, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 7.

ASH: Oh, print manga! The deluxe edition Battle Angel Alita is really nice, and I’ve been enjoying That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime more than I expected.

SEAN: There’s five debuts in their digital lineup though, all one-volume BL titles. They seem to be from their Honey Milk magazine, and are: Intertwining Lives, Keeping His Whims in Check, Key Ring Lock, Stray Bullet Baby, and Trap in a Skirt. Looking askance at that last one, but kudos to Kodansha for reaching out to a new audience.

MICHELLE: Very much the same re: askance looks, but otherwise I’m fairly intrigued.

ANNA: Glad the BL fans are getting some content!

MELINDA: I’m looking askance, mostly at some of these titles. Trap in a Skirt?

SEAN: They also have many ongoing digital titles, with DAYS 9, Giant Killing 13, Kakafukaka 2, Karate Heat 2, and Perfect World 5.

MICHELLE: All of which I intend to read at some point, probably starting with the soccer titles.

ANNA: I wish there was more print sports manga in general, my kids love it.

SEAN: Seven Seas has no debuts this week, but they do have a 4th Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, a 13th Arpeggio of Blue Steel, and a 3rd Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho.

Vertical gives us an 11th Devils’ Line.

Oh boy, more titles I have nothing to say about. Viz has Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 8, the 2nd RWBY Anthology (which focuses on Weiss), and Tokyo Ghoul: re 6.

ASH: I haven’t gotten into Tokyo Ghoul to the same extent that a lot of people seem to have, but I’m glad to see it doing well enough to bring in the other related series.

SEAN: And Yen. So much Yen, particularly if you read their light novels. A debut and a one-shot this month. The debut is Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer). A hero is summoned to another world, and he and his party need to defeat the demon lord. Sadly, the hero and his party are useless, so it’s up to the priest trailing behind to save them from their own awfulness. Expect comedy here.

ASH: That does sound rather amusing.

SEAN: The one-shot is another novelization of a popular movie, this one called Fireworks: Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?. I’m thinking it’s your name-y.

But there’s more. So much more. The Asterisk War 7, Baccano! 8, A Certain Magical Index 16, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 11, KonoSuba 6, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years 2, Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers 5, Sword Art Online 14, and That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 3. That’s a lot of Yen On’s best-sellers. And also Index.

Believe it or not, Yen has some manga as well. Quite a bit, in fact. Debuts? Sure. Chio’s School Road is a Comic Flapper title showing our heroine walking to school every day and getting in the most amazing predicaments.

And deep breath, let’s pound through the ongoing titles out next week. ACCA 4, Angels of Death 4, Aoharu x Machinegun 12, Black Butler 26, BTOOOM! 22, The Case Study of Vanitas 4, Dimension W 11, Forbidden Scrollery 4, Hatsu*Haru 2, Re: Zero Arc 3 Volume 4, the 8th and final volume of Scum’s Wish (though there’s a sequel, as yet unlicensed), Silver Spoon 4, Tales of Wedding Rings 3, Today’s Cerberus 10, Trinity Seven 14, and Yowamushi Pedal 9. (breathes) In that list, Silver Spoon and Yowapeda are what excite me most.

MICHELLE: I share your enthusiasm for those particular titles, though I also want to get caught up on Hatsu*Haru and ACCA.

ASH: That is a lot! ACCA, Silver Spoon, and Yowamushi Pedal are mostly where I’m at.

MELINDA: Silver Spooooooooooon! I’ve fallen behind on The Case Study of Vanitas after being disappointed with its start, but I’ll always give Jun Mochizuki a chance, so I should get back to that.

SEAN: So, you reading anything? Or just giving up?

ANNA: I’m giving up! My to read manga pile got so big it toppled over the other day!

SEAN: 30 manga enter! One manga leaves! It’s manga madness!

But let’s start with light novels, as Bookwalker has a 5th volume of The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress.

Dark Horse has the 3rd and final RG Veda omnibus, after much delay.

MICHELLE: I actually forgot this was even coming out.

ASH: (Really) slow but steady, I guess?

SEAN: J-Novel Club’s debut is An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride (yes, they sensibly changed the title after they first announced it), which is apparently cute and adorable.

There’s also new volumes of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (10), I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse (9), and The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! (5). J-Novel cornering the market in long light novel titles.

Kodansha. A whole lot. Starting with print, we have an 11th Fire Force, an 8th In/Spectre (always a favorite of mine) and the 3rd Toppu GP (in which instead of a harem it’s just bikes.)

Kodansha’s digital debut is Back Street Girls, which I have to admit has one of the more “…what, really?” premises out there. Three yakuza guys who’ve failed one too many times are punished by… getting sex reassignment surgery and becoming an idol group. I admit I’m curious, but let’s face it: it’s morbid curiosity.

MICHELLE: *dubious face*

ASH: Dubious morbid curiosity about sums it up for me, too. (Also, I had completely forgotten about this license.)

ANNA: Feeling enthusiastic about skipping this manga!

SEAN: But there’s plenty of other digital volumes out next week. Aoba-kun’s Confessions 7, Boarding School Juliet 4, Drowning Love 10, Kamikamikaeshi 3, Kasane 13, Lovesick Ellie 6, Those Summer Days 3, and Tokyo Alice 2. Tokyo Alice interests me most in that stack.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely down for Tokyo Alice, and the covers for Those Summer Days make me think I’ll like it as well, but mostly I’m happy for more Lovesick Ellie.

SEAN: One Peace has the 12th The Rising of the Shield Hero light novel.

Seven Seas has a debut with Accomplishments of a Duke’s Daughter (Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami). Based on a sadly unlicensed light novel, it’s part of a rising trend of isekai books where a young girl is reincarnated into a fantasy world… as the villain. And she’s about to get the “bad end”. What is she to do? This runs in Young Ace Up.

MICHELLE: That sounds kinda neat.

ASH: It does seem to be a fresher take on isekai than some others we’ve seen.

SEAN: And there is a 5th Bloom Into You, and a 5th Species Domain.

SuBLime gives us a 4th volume of A Strange and Mystifying Story. Honestly, after four volumes it should be less mystifying.

ASH: This is the first newly translated volume, too!

MICHELLE: *snerk* They did switch up the main couple in volume three, so as to keep the mystification going, one assumes.

SEAN: Vertical has a 4th omnibus of deeply strange Arakawa Under the Bridge.

Viz has a debut this week with That Blue-Sky Feeling (Sorairo Flutter), a Gangan Joker series about a new transfer student who hears a rumor that his classmate is gay. I’ve heard very good things about this one.

MICHELLE: I flipped through a review copy the other day and it looks pretty great. Looking forward to getting around to reading it.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Viz also gives us the 2nd hardcover collection of Fullmetal Alchemist, the 31st Magi, and the 2nd Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle.

ASH: The first volume of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle was delightful. I’m looking forward to reading more.

ANNA: It was uncomplicated fun.

SEAN: Who won? Who lost? You decide!

ASH: I think we’re all winners here, Sean!

SEAN: August is here, and it’s punishing. There’s lots and lots and lots.

So much I have trouble keeping up. Apologies to-J-Novel Club, as I should have had the 15th Invaders of the Rokujouma!? On last week’s list – it’s out this Friday.

As for next week, their debut is Lazy Dungeon Master. It’s an isekai, but this time the hero is in charge of a dungeon full of monsters beset by adventurers. “Hero” may not be the most accurate description.

They’ve also got a 7th Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, and the 3rd and final volume of Me, a Genius?.

Kodansha has some print in amongst their avalanche of digital. The 4th Colossal Edition of Attack on Titan, Descending Stories 8, the 4th and final Fairy Tail: Blue Mistral, and the 2nd print volume of Tokyo Tarareba Girls.

MICHELLE: Man, I’ve really gotta catch up on Descending Stories.

ASH: Same! I’ve greatly enjoyed what I’ve read so far. Also, hooray for more Tokyo Tarareba Girls (in print)!

ANNA: Yay!

SEAN: On the digital front, there’s a lot more. The debut is My Boy in Blue (P to JK), a Betsufure shoujo series that seems to be the police equivalent to My Boyfriend in Orange. But it’s won awards, so sounds interesting.

MICHELLE : It gives off a *very* similar vibe.

SEAN: And we also have All-Rounder Meguru 7, Beware the Kamiki Brothers! 4, Black Panther and Sweet 16 8, Can You Just Die, My Darling? 3, A Kiss, for Real 3, and Space Brothers 32. Man, the manga bust years seem so long ago…

MICHELLE: So much!

SEAN: Quirk books has a YA Attack on Titan novel written by Rachel Aaron, Garrison Girl.

Seven Seas time. On the light novel side, we have a 5th digital volume of Boogiepop, and a 3rd digital edition of Make My Abilities Average. On the print side, we have the 2nd print volume of MMAA as well, and the 3rd Arifureta novel. And both print and digital is the 2nd Toradora! Novel.

ASH: Oh! I didn’t realize the new Boogiepop volumes would be released so quickly! Definitely picking the omnibus up when it comes out in print.

SEAN: Manga-wise, we’ve got a 2nd Devilman vs. Hades and the 8th Lord Marksman and Vanadis.

ASH: I’m liking all the Devilman manga being released these days.

SEAN: Vertical has a 13th volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, delighting Manga Bookshelf folks who have found Pick of the Week a bit thin on the ground lately.

MICHELLE: Yay!!!

ANNA: Woo hoo!

SEAN: And, as always, there is Viz. The shonen debut is Black Torch, a fantasy series from Jump Square involving talking with animals and ninjas.

Also out on the shonen front are Black Clover 12, Food Wars! 25, Haikyu!! 26, the 8th hardcover of the 3rd arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, the 13th Kuroko’s Basketball 2-in-1, a 14th My Hero Academia, One Piece 87 (Christ, 87 volumes…), Platinum End 6, The Promised Neverland 5, and the final 43rd volume of Toriko.

MICHELLE: Dang.

ASH: Lots of good shonen stuff.

ANNA: Awesome!

SEAN: The shoujo debut sounds pretty sweet – literally. Shortcake Cake is from Margaret magazine (yes, actual Margaret! Not Betsuma or Ribon!) about a girl with a hideously long commute to school who moves into a boardinghouse full of guys. This actually looks better than it sounds (or at least less of a cliché).

MICHELLE: Somehow, I had missed this one! I typically like stuff from Margaret.

ANNA: Looking forward to this!

SEAN: Other shoujo. It’s August, so it’s time for our annual release of Kaze Hikaru! This is Vol. 26! It came out in Japan in 2009! But it’s awesome, and I thank Viz for continuing it.

MICHELLE: I can’t believe I actually forgot about this!

ANNA: Every year I look forward to the annual Kaze Hikaru release. It is SO good!

SEAN: And there’s Takane & Hana 4, Vampire Knight: Memories 2, and Yona of the Dawn 13.

ASH: Lots of good shoujo stuff, too!

ANNA: Indeed. My kind of week!

SEAN: Lastly, not manga but coming from Viz Media, we have King of Strong Style, the biography of renowned wrestler Shinsuke Nakamura.

ASH: This is supposed to be pretty great. I’m not especially into wrestling, but I still plan on picking it up.

ANNA: I picked up the ARC at ALA. My friends who like wrestling are super stoked for this.

SEAN: That’s a lot! But also a lot of awesome. What’s in your bookshelf by next week?

SEAN: Remember, it’s not really August 1st but July 32nd! Treat this as a 5th week, which means expect oddball stuff.

ASH: I rather appreciate oddball stuff.

ANNA: Maybe time to make a dent into my unread manga piles!

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has another debut. Despite not being your “standard” light novel, it’s a mouthful. Dawn of the Mapmaker: The Surveyor Girl and the Forbidden Knowledge.

Dark Horse gives us a 7th omnibus of I Am A Hero.

ASH: This is such an intense series!

SEAN: Kodansha Comics is pleased to announce that finally, after nineteen months, thanks to the sacrifice of twenty-thousand Kodansha editors who valiantly gave their lives so that you, the reader, might experience it, we finally have the 5th and final omnibus of Attack on Titan Junior High. (salutes, cries)

ASH: Indeed, a great achievement.

SEAN: In other Kodansha print titles, we have the Attack on Titan Season 2 Box set, the 8th Clockwork Planet manga, a 5th volume of Ninja Slayer KILLS!, and the 14th UQ Holder.

Perhaps sensing the market begging for mercy, Kodansha has only one digital title this week, another debut: The Prince’s Romance Gambit. Not to be confused with The Prince’s Black Poison, I’ve heard this title (which ran in Aria, then Nakayoshi – or possibly the other way around) is very silly.

MICHELLE: Hm. Better silly than cringey, I suppose.

ANNA: Glad there are no new digital titles I want to read since there are so many digital titles I haven’t read!

SEAN: Seven Seas’ new debut is also very silly: Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General. This runs in Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Age, always a strike against a new title for me, but I found its attempts to be ecchi fairly harmless. At heart this title would rather be ridiculous. Also, that’s totally not Batman. You must be imagining things.

They also have a 7th Dreamin’ Sun, the 3rd Made in Abyss, the 3rd Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka (which just got an anime announcement), the 10th Non Non Biyori, The Testament of Sister New Devil 9, and a print release of the 3rd Occultic;Nine novel which J-Novel Club already released.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on Dreamin’ Sun. It’s been a little while.

ASH: I really like this J-Novel Club/Seven Seas partnership.

SEAN: Yen Digital has a couple ongoing series, with the 16th Saki and the 17th Sekirei.

They also have three light novels, one of which is a debut. The title – and I am not making this up – is WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us?. A human is the sole survivor of an apocalyptic future. There’s various new races around, but they don’t need him. And when he joins the military he finds they’re training girl fairies as weapons. I’ll be honest, this sounds FAR too dark for me, but we shall see.

There’s also The Saga of Tanya the Evil 3 (also fairly dark) and So I’m a Spider, So What? 3 (not quite as dark).

Does this interest you? Or is there simply too much manga still?

ASH: Never too much! Mwahaha!

ANNA: There is, indeed, a lot.

SEAN: It’s Yen Press week next week, and you know what that means, folks: a whole ton of books. But first, other publishers.

Dark Horse has a 10th volume of Blood Blockade Battlefront, which has gotten to 10 volumes in a mere 7 years.

J-Novel Club has a 4th How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, whose (I assume toned-down) anime is now airing in Japan.

Kodansha print has one lone title, the 16th volume of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches.

Digitally, though, it’s an avalanche. We begin with next week’s digital debut, Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? (Kichijouji Dake ga Sumitai Machi Desu ka?). It’s from Kodansha’s Young Magazine the 3rd, and is about two sisters who work in real estate. You know those odd seinen titles with minimal art you always saw in Japanese bookstores but they never got licensed? This is one of those. I am looking forward to it.

MICHELLE: It really looks great.

ASH: Oh! It does!

SEAN: There’s also Ace of the Diamond 13, Defying Kurosaki-kun 2, Kokkoku: Moment by Moment 8, Liar x Liar 4, The Prince’s Black Poison 6, The Quintessential Quintuplets 2, Shojo FIGHT! 4, and Until Your Bones Rot 7. I’m behind on Shojo FIGHT!, but determined to catch up.

MICHELLE: I’m glad this is starting to come out more frequently. Also, yay for more Ace of the Diamond.

ANNA: I’m also behind on Shojo FIGHT! but planning on catching up too!

SEAN: One Peace has a 9th volume of the manga adaptation of The Rise of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas has two debuts. The first is the manga adaptation of Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, whose novel Seven Seas has also been releasing. The manga runs in Comic Earth Star, and I hope it’s as silly as its source.

The other title, highly anticipated, is The Voynich Hotel, a darkly comedic horror title that ran in Akita Shoten’s Young Champion Retsu. Various anime forums have praised this to the skies, so I’m interested.

MICHELLE: I’m curious about this one, but will probably wait to see some reviews before I commit.

ANNA: Me too.

ASH: This one has me intrigued, as well.

MELINDA: What Michelle said. Times ten.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has the 11th Servamp.

Vertical gives us a 12th Cardfight!! Vanguard.

Viz has nothing in print, but digitally has a 6th élDLIVE.

ASH: Nothing new in print, but Banana Fish is being reprinted, hooray!

MELINDA: YEEESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!

SEAN: Breaking News! Viz is finally dipping its toes into josei! Mari Okazaki’s Will I Be Single Forever? (Zutto Dokushin de Iru Tsumori?) debuts digitally next week. It’s a one-volume collection of “interconnected stories”, and ran in Shodensha’s Feel Young magazine. Readers with long memories may recall Okazaki’s Suppli.

ASH: I do, and fondly!

MICHELLE: Ooh! I’d really been wanting to see Viz do more digital stuff! Maybe this is them sort of testing the waters.

ANNA: I enjoyed Suppli! I think I still have the volumes somewhere in my house. I am excited for this!

ASH: I’ve held onto my copies, too!

MICHELLE: Me, too! I never gave up hope on it being finished in English one day.

And then there’s Yen, which has a whoooole lot, even with some of its light novels being shifted to next week. Let’s start with debuts.

Did you love the epilogue to Harry Potter? Did you wish that all the love you had for that epilogue was applied to your favorite shoujo manga? Then you’ll adore Fruits Basket another, which gives us the next generation of most of the cast and ruins every fanfic ever. I have… strong opinions about this sequel, but I will save them for the review.

MICHELLE: I just don’t know what to think here. I haven’t read any of it, so I will give it a try, but… what story is left?

ANNA: Yeah. Um. Will wait for other reviews, I guess.

MELINDA: I’m dying. Dying. Mainly from Sean’s comments. I think instead of Fruits Basket another, I will just read some things by Sean.

SEAN: Hakumei and Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods is a new title that ran/runs in Enterbrain’s “sui generis” magazines Fellows! And Harta. It’s tiny girls living a tiny life, as you’d expect. Fantasy slice-of-life from Enterbrain will ALWAYS be on my plate.

ASH: Same. This series looks adorable.

SEAN: Ibitsu is for those who need more creepy horror in their lives, and I can be thankful it’s done in one omnibus. It ran in Young Gangan, and is so not my thing but I know has a big audience.

ASH: I have a general interest in horror manga, creepy or not, so I’ll probably check this one out at some point.

SEAN: School of Horns is a Young Ace Up title that looks like it straddles that vague “is this BL or not?” line. It’s about students at a magic school who can control magic, and one boy whose horns are smaller than the others, making him self-conscious. >_>

MICHELLE: Um…

ANNA: Ha ha, well that certainly sounds emblematic of the genre.

MELINDA: I’m. Uh. Yeah.

SEAN: I hate giving away my Pick of the Week, but I am so hyped for Teasing Master Takagi-san (Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san), which also has a recent anime. It runs in Shogagukan’s Gessan magazine, and is about a short, easily embarrassed boy in middle school and the girl who loves to tease him. I review it here.

There are ongoing Yen titles as well, of course. Akame Ga KILL! 15, A Certain Magical Index 14, the 2nd in Durarara!!’s Re;Dollars arc, Gabriel Dropout 4, DanMachi: Sword Oratoria 4, Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler 6, Laid-Back Camp 3, Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade 9, Murcielago 7, The 7th Overlord manga volume, a 3rd A Polar Bear in Love, The Royal Tutor 8, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 2, the 5th Sekirei omnibus, a 3rd So I’m a Spider, So What? manga volume, the 2nd Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online manga, an 11th Taboo Tattoo, the 3rd and final omnibus for Umineko When They Cry: Requiem of the Golden Witch (one more arc to go after this!), and the 3rd Val x Love.

ANNA: I still need to read Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 1!

ASH: I enjoyed the first volume, and I think you might like it, too! I’m also looking forward to reading more of A Polar Bear in Love.

SEAN: Please try not to sob as you look at this list. But what are you getting from it?

SEAN: Mid-July. It’s hot. But there is manga for you.

ASH: Yay, manga!

SEAN: Bookwalker has a 4th light novel of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done.

Dark Horse gives us a 6th Blade of the Immortal omnibus and the 6th Fate/Zero.

J-Novel Club has new volumes for Demon King Daimaou (6), The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! (4) and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer (2).

Kodansha has a digital debut, as we see Kakafukaka, the 2nd debut from josei magazine Kiss in two weeks. It’s about a girl who just had a break-up moving in with an old school boyfriend, but he has his own issue – erectile dysfunction. I am intrigued.

MICHELLE: Somehow I totally missed the ED angle on this one! But hooray for josei!

ANNA: Huh. OK!

SEAN: Kodansha also has a pile of ongoing digital. All Out!! 6, Fuuka 19, Love’s Reach 10, Perfect World 4, and The Wizard and His Fairy 2.

MICHELLE: Man, I’m falling so far behind on these.

SEAN: On the print side, we have new volumes as well. There’s a 2nd Golosseum, a 6th Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, a 6th Land of the Lustrous, and a 5th. Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty.

MICHELLE: The last volume of Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty ended on quite a dramatic note, so I’m keen to see what happens next.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty as well, but Land of the Lustrous is what really catches my eye out of that bunch.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a debut in The Bride & the Exorcist Knight (Hanayome to Futsuma no Kishi). This is a relatively short (4 volumes) series from Hakusensha’s LaLa by the author of The Heiress and the Chauffeur. Warning: one of the male leads falls below the comfort line in terms of age.

MICHELLE: Hm. I think I’ll wait to see some reviews of this one.

ANNA: Yeah, I don’t know. Heiress and the Chauffeur was pretty cute, but not sure about this.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a digital-only light novel with the 4th Boogiepop book, Boogiepop in the Mirror. This is the first one that is new to North America, I believe.

ASH: It is! I’ll be waiting for next year’s omnibus print edition, but I’m very glad for Boogiepop‘s return.

SEAN: There’s also a 2nd volume of Himouto! Umaru-chan.

Tokyopop debuts Hanger, a Gentosha title (bet you guessed that) from their BL magazine Rutile. A cop teams up with a criminal to catch people using performance-enhancing drugs. The author also did Innocent Bird back in the day.

Vertical has a 2nd volume of My Boy, which I found less uncomfortable than I expected.

Viz gives us Children of the Whales (5), Dead Dead Demon’s DededeDe Destruction (2), and Fire Punch (3). Dededede is my pick from this.

ASH: Same! I need to catch up with Children of the Whales, too.

SEAN: And most of Yen’s stuff got pushed back a week or two, but we still have two light novels, with the 10th Durarara!! and the 4th Magical Girl Raising Project. More dead magical girls, or Izaya? It’s a tough choice…

Manga? Or air conditioning? You decide.

SEAN: Manga, manga, manga! Last chance sale! Everything must go!

Dark Horse gives us a 39th volume of Berserk, a series that without hiatuses might have 139 volumes.

ASH: Ha! That may be true. I still greatly anticipate this one, though!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has the 9th volume of guilty pleasure In Another World With My Smartphone.

Kodansha did it again, releasing their new digital manga press release just after I posted Manga the Week of. So, already released, we have I’m Standing on a Million Lives (100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatte Iru), an isekai fantasy that runs in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. The artist may be familiar for Psycho Busters.

Meanwhile, next week’s debut is Tokyo Alice, a long-runing josei series from Kiss magazine that recently got a live-action series. The heroine is looking for love and looking to shop, possibly not in that order.

MICHELLE: I’m not especially into shopping, but who can resist long-running josei?

ANNA: Did someone say long-running josei!?

SEAN: Also digitally we have Kamikamikaeshi 2 and Starving Anonymous 5.

Print-wise, we have another digital debut that’s now getting a print release. Grand Blue Dreaming is a romantic comedy from the creator of Bakas, Tests and Summoned Beasts. It runs in good! Afternoon.

ASH: I’m curious about this one! What could possibly go wrong when mixing drinking and diving? (Plus, I’m always happy when one of Kodansha’s digital titles makes its way into print.)

SEAN: Amazon also tells me that there is an Attack on Titan Character Encyclopedia coming out next week, though I don’t see that on Kodansha’s site. Learn more about your favorite characters who are now dead. NOT THAT I’M BITTER.

Kiss Him, Not Me! comes to an end with its 14th volume. The series had its ups and downs, but overall I enjoyed it.

And there is a 7th Waiting for Spring.

MICHELLE: I always enjoy this series.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts Little Devils (Maou Kyoudai), the latest in a long line of slice-of-monster-girl life. Or monster kids, in this case, as a hero has to raise demon children to become model citizens. It runs in Tokuma Shoten’s Comic Ryu, and looks more cutesy than pervey.

ASH: It does look really cute. I plan on giving it a try.

MELINDA: This sounds pretty cute.

SEAN: There’s also a 7th print novel for Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, a 2nd Sorry for My Familiar, and a 4th Spirit Circle. I’ll definitely be getting the last of those.

ASH: Same!

SEAN: Vertical gives us a 7th volume of the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing manga.

Lastly, there is Viz, which has a 67th Case Closed (still not over in Japan), and a 27th Rin-Ne (which has ended, but we have a long way to go to catch up.)

MICHELLE: I had no idea RIN-NE had ended! It makes me wonder if there was some actual plot there at the end.

MELINDA: *snort*

SEAN: Not too bad, right? Which of these MANGA BARGAINS are you getting?

SEAN: Next week is July. It’s hot. But there is manga! Let’s keep it short and sweet.

MICHELLE: Our heat index today is 102. :(

SEAN: Dark Horse has a spiffy Gallery Edition of Lone Wolf and Cub, which I sometimes feel is the only title they really still love.

ASH: It does seem that way sometimes; this edition should be gorgeous.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of World’s End Harem.

J-Novel Club has a 14th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?.

In print, Kodansha has a 25th Attack on Titan, and a 27th volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

ASH: I somehow missed that The Seven Deadly Sins had surpassed Attack on Titan in length!

SEAN: Digitally, we see new volumes of Beware the Kamiki Brothers! (3), A Kiss, For Real (2) Those Summer Days (2), and You Got Me, Sempai (3).

MICHELLE: Eventually, I really will get around to checking out all of these.

ANNA: That’s too much. Too much digital!

SEAN: Seven Seas has three debut titles next week. Go For It, Nakamura! is a cute romantic comedy that’s being marketed more as that than as BL. It is done in one, and ran in Akaneshinsha’s BL-oriented magazine Opera.

MICHELLE: I love the retro-looking art on the cover!

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

SEAN: Harukana Receive is a beach volleyball series, and features lots of girls in minimal clothing. Despite both these things, it runs in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Forward, so I’m expecting strong female friendships.

Mushroom Girls in Love (Kinoko Ningen no Kekkon) is a one-shot from the creator of A Centaur’s Life, and is just as weird as that long-running series is. It ran in Ohta Shuppan’s Pocopoco, which is a seinen magazine.

ASH: Weird can be good; I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a 2nd volume of the Arifureta manga, and a 2nd volume of Giant Spider & Me.

MICHELLE: Woot.

ASH: I greatly enjoyed the first volume of Gian Spider & Me, so I’ll definitely be picking up the second!

SEAN: Vertical has the 2nd and last Moteki omnibus. Will the protagonist get together with one of the girls? I wouldn’t count on it.

Viz time. One debut, one spinoff debut, and one artbook debut. The new series is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, a Weekly Shonen Jump title. I’ve heart it’s heartwarming. I’ve also heard it’s dark and FILLED with violence.

ASH: I’ve heard similar things about the series.

SEAN: The spinoff is My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, and you can probably guess the plot given MHA is a series about licensed heroes. These are not those heroes. The artist is better known for Harukaze Bitter Bop over here, one of the many series that died when Tokyopop first did. The writer has also done the K manga.

MICHELLE: I’m a little hesitant about this one, since it’s not by the original creator, but I suppose it could be good.

SEAN: The artbook is Color Walk, the first One Piece artbook to actually come out over here. Experience the very beginning of the series, looking gorgeous and with commentary by Oda.

Ongoing shonen? We’ve got it. Bleach 73, Dragon Ball Super 3, Haikyu!! 25, Naruto’s 23rd 3-in-1, One-Punch Man 14, Rurouni Kenshin’s 7th 3-in-1, and a 9th Yo-kai Watch.

ASH: Look at that! Two volleyball titles in one week!

SEAN: Ongoing shoujo? Plenty of that too. Anonymous Noise 9, The Demon Prince of Momochi House 12, the 2nd and final Kenka Bancho Otome, and the 6th Water Dragon’s Bride.

MICHELLE: Definitely several in both categories that I’m following!

ANNA: YAY!!!!

SEAN: Ongoing seinen marketed as shonen? Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 3 is for you.

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen On has a 3rd volume of The Empty Box and the Zeroth Maria.

Beating the heat? Celebrating the Fourth? What manga are you doing it with?

SEAN: 65 titles. Sixty. Five. Titles. Next. Week.

MICHELLE: Holy crap.

ANNA: Yikes.

ASH: That’s amazing.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 5th To-Love-Ru Darkness and a 2nd volume of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, thus continuing to be the “Shonen Jump Titles Too Hot For Viz” publisher.

J-Novel Club has the 6th volume of If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord.

Kodansha’s got a lot. Print-wise we see some series we haven’t seen for a looooooong time. Air Gear (last seen one year ago) finally comes to an end with its 37th volume. L♥DK (last seen 10 months ago) has its 11th volume. And Missions of Love (last seen 13 months ago) has a 15th volume. This doesn’t seem to be “caught up with Japan”, so who knows why it’s been so long.

ASH: Oh, Missions of Love! I guess it has been a while, but I do find the series addictive.

SEAN: Other print volumes include a 4th Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, a 10th Fire Force, and theoretically the print debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, though this isn’t on Kodansha’s own site, so don’t be surprised if there’s a last minute date change.

ASH: I’m very excited for the print debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, so I hope there won’t be much of a delay if there is one. I’m still reading Clear Card, too, even though I think the original Cardcaptor Sakura is the stronger series at this point.

SEAN: On the digital front, there’s another debut with the wonderfully titled The Quintessential Quintuplets (Go-Toubun no Hanayome). It’s a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about a kid who has to tutor… well, you can probably guess. Expect comedy.

And there is Ace of the Diamond 12, Beauty Bunny 6, Liar x Liar 3, My Brother the Shut-In 6 (this is a final, I think), The Prince’s Black Poison 6, and Tsuredure Children 10.

MICHELLE: Someday I’ll read My Brother the Shut-In, but predictably, it’s Ace of the Diamond that I’m most excited about.

SEAN: Seven Seas rarely buries us in piles of titles in the same week. Next week is an exception. We’ve got the final Captive Hearts of Oz (Vol. 4), a 13th volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun, the 2nd novel of Clockwork Planet in print (digital from J-Novel Club), a 3rd Devilman Grimoire, Freezing 21-22, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 9, Mononoke Sharing 2, My Monster Secret 11, Not Lives 9, and NTR – Netsuzou Trap 5.

ASH: It’ll be interesting to compare Devilman Grimoire to the classic Devilman manga now that that’s starting to be released in English, too.

SEAN: Not only that, but also several debuts! The big one is Claudine, the classic Riyoko Ikeda 70s shoujo manga. Complete in one short volume, it’s a fantastic read.

MICHELLE: I believe I detect a pick of the week contender!

MELINDA: Ooooooooh, yes, this.

ANNA: YAY!!!!

ASH: It’s one of my most anticipated releases of the year!

SEAN: Getter Robo Devolution is another take on the classic Getter Robo series. It runs in Bessatsu Shonen Champion, and is by the team responsible for the Ultraman manga.

If you like the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord novel but wished you could see more of the fanservice, good news for you! Here’s the first volume of the manga adaptation.

If you love Monster Musume so much it drives you to create, then even better news – Monster Girl Papercrafts is coming out next week, presumably featuring designs from the ever-popular series.

ASH: Huh. I didn’t know this existed!

SEAN: And if you’re an old-school fan, enjoy a license that frankly no one was expecting. True Tenchi Muyo! is a series of three light novels that expand on the extended universe of the Tenchi OAVs that were so popular with your parents’ generation. (I know, shut up, Sean.) This first book focuses on Ayeka and Sasami’s parents.

On to Vertical. Speaking of novels, they have Hanamonogatari: Flower Tale. This is the 2nd book in the series not to be narrated by Koyomi Araragi. This story is narrated by Suruga Kanbaru, and has her dealing with a devil.

We have a 3rd omnibus of The Flowers of Evil as well.

Viz has a 4th digital release of The Emperor and I.

And the rest is Yen, but don’t even think that we’re done. Digitally we have a 6th Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, a 17th Corpse Princess, and a 7th IM: Great Priest Imhotep.

Yen On has two debuts this month, both spinoffs. If you like Sword Art Online but wish it didn’t star Kirito and were written by someone else, I have great news. Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online is a new spinoff series by the creator of Kino’s Journey, and focuses on original characters playing the game introduced in the 5th and 6th SAO books.

MELINDA: I wasn’t really interested until you said Kino’s Journey, and now I’m like… MUST HAVE.

ASH: That does add some promise!

SEAN: The other is Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu. This focuses on the elf with the tragic past we’ve seen in several books of the main series.

Speaking of DanMachi, we also have a 6th volume of the Sword Oratoria spinoff novel that looks at Loki’s group.

And there’s also a 14th Accel World, an 8th Irregular at Magic High School, a 4th volume of The Isolator, and a 7th Re: Zero, which should be a whale of a time. (I’m sorry.)

Yen Press also has several debuts this month. Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy (Imomushi Shoujo to Komyushou Danshi) is complete in one volume, and stars a boy who has trouble communicating and the girl he rejected, who is now a caterpillar. I must admit, I want to know more.

MICHELLE: That is quite the concept.

ANNA: Hmmmm.

ASH: My curiosity is piqued.

SEAN: Hatsu*Haru is a long-running shoujo title from Shogakukan’s BetsuComi, about a popular boy who finds himself falling for someone for the first time. Anna should be very interested, I expect.

MICHELLE: My ears always perk up when Yen Press releases some shoujo.

MELINDA: I’m interested too, I think.

ANNA: A shoujo manga about popular boy falling for someone for the first time????????!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEAN: Little Witch Academia is best known for its popular anime. Yen has licensed the manga, which runs in Shonen Ace. This is being marketed as part of the children’s line, but should also definitely appeal to manga fans.

Shibuya Goldfish is a pure horror title from Square Enix’s Gangan Joker. If you think the world being eaten by goldfish is a silly premise, this book will soon set you straight. It looks creepy as hell.

MELINDA: Wow.

ASH: That’s right up there with some of Junji Ito’s concepts; I guess we’ll see if it’s executed as well!

SEAN: The Strange Creature at Kuroyuri Apartments (Kuroyuri-sou no Henna Wikimono) is also supernatural, but this falls more into the pure comedy end. A demon needs life experience. A young landlord needs to not be bored. Can they get along?

Stupid Love Comedy (Rabukome no Baka) is an omnibus collecting all three volumes of this shoujo series from Kodansha’s Aria. It’s a reverse harem series, this time starring a manga writer.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ANNA: I sure do enjoy reverse harem.

SEAN: Think we’re done? There’s also ongoing Yen titles! On the ‘spinoff of light novel’ front, we see only two contenders next week: Goblin Slayer’s 3rd manga volume and Kagerou Daze’s 10th.

But there is also Aoharu x Machinegun 11, As Miss Beelzebub Likes 2, Big Order 5, BTOOOM! 21, Bungo Stray Dogs 7, The Elder Sister-Like One 2, Horimiya 11, Mermaid Boys 2, Monster Tamer Girls 2 (final volume there), One Week Friends 3, Prison School 10, Silver Spoon 3, Smokin’ Parade 4, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 3, Though You May Burn to Ash 2, and Today’s Cerberus 9.

MICHELLE: Yay for Horimiya and Silver Spoon!

MELINDA: Silver Spoon! Silver Spoon!

ANNA: Wooo!!!!

ASH: I’m following quite a few of these series, but Silver Spoon is the one that I’m most looking forward to reading this time around!

SEAN: Assuming you haven’t aged to death after reading all that, are there any titles you’re getting? One? Two? Twenty-five?

ASH: I’m afraid to count.

SEAN: Glory be! A small week! Is that because the last week of June is hideously huge? (peers ahead) Yup. Oh well, let’s enjoy next week anyway.

MICHELLE: Now I’m gonna have “The Night Chicago Died” in my head. Not that I’m complaining.

ANNA: OK, it is good to have a bit of a break.

SEAN: Not manga, but it’s worth mentioning that Dark Horse has the Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia, a 320-page hardcover with oodles and oodles of Zelda. Click your Link and get it!

ASH: Ha! I believe I will, thank you very much!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has releases for Infinite Stratos (2) and Outbreak Company (4).

Kodansha has a few print releases. There’s Love & Lies 6 and That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 6. There’s also Maga-Tsuki 9-10, which is now getting omnibus releases, I guess? Never a good sign when a series shifts from singles to doubles late in the run.

ASH: I’ve been greatly enjoying That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime; much more than I though I would!

SEAN: On the digital side, we have the debut of Karate Heat (Tenohiro no Netsu o), a short Weekly Shonen Magazine title about middle-school karate students. It only ran three volumes, so won’t run up your budget.

MICHELLE: The fact that it’s so short is not exactly a good sign for a sports manga, but you know I can’t resist that genre, so I’ll definitely be checking it out.

ASH: Oooh! Karate! That is tempting.

ANNA: Hmmmm…..

SEAN: There’s also Cosplay Animal 6 (reminding me to finish 5), Drowning Love 9, Fuuka 18, Love’s Reach 9, Perfect World 3, and Pumpkin Scissors 21. (Need to catch up on Perfect World too.)

MICHELLE: Same re: Perfect World. I also intend to read Drowning Love one of these days.

SEAN: Seven Seas just has one next week, Masamune-kun’s Revenge 8.

A new publisher debuts, calling themselves Tokyopop. This is their first title, but they may go far! Depends on the leadership, I suspect. Konohana Kitan is a not-quite-yuri not-quite-furry manga about a group of fox girls working at a hot spring, and it runs… or ran… in Gentosha’s Comic Birz, which is ceasing its print publication. I suspect it will move to digital publication.

MICHELLE: *dubious face that’s way more about the publisher than the fox girls*

ANNA: Um.

SEAN: Meanwhile, Vertical gives us a 6th To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts.

Viz has a 5th volume of Golden Kamuy, a 5th Tokyo Ghoul: re, and also the 4th and final omnibus of Sweet Blue Flowers. I suspect this comes as a relief to the Manga Bookshelf folks who were wondering about Pick of the Week.

MICHELLE: Heh.

ASH: I’m definitely glad for more Golden Kamuy and am still thrilled that Sweet Blue Flowers was translated.

ANNA: I’m with Ash.

SEAN: That does it! It’s OK, next time we’ll be here for hours. But for now, what are you picking up?

SEAN: Did you know there is manga coming out next week? It’s true!

MICHELLE: Shokku!

ASH: You wa shock!

ANNA: Madness and insanity!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the first volume of Gantz G, the sequel series that serves all your lycra fetish needs. (I still want HEN, dammit.)

J-Novel Club has new digital novels for us. Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 9, The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 3, and My Little Sister Can Read Kanji 4.

Kodansha has new print titles! We have the 3rd Again!!, the 7th Aho-Girl, a 5th To Your Eternity, and the 2nd omnibus of Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku. Most looking forward to that last one.

MICHELLE: I am horrible and haven’t read the first Wotakoi yet. Perhaps I’ll remedy that this week.

ASH: You should! This is definitely another Kodansha week for me–I’m picking up most of these.

SEAN: Digitally we have another debut, this one is Kamikamikaeshi is a Nakayoshi shoujo series (we haven’t seen anything from them lately). It involves gods, hair, and reverse harems, and is by Ema Toyama of Missions of Love fame.

ANNA: Did someone say reverse harems??????

SEAN: There’s also a 3rd Boarding School Juliet, a 9th GTO Paradise Lost, a 3rd Living Room Matsunaga-san, and a 4th Starving Anonymous.

Seven Seas has another big blast from the past with the first Captain Harlock: The Classic Collection. First serialized in the 1970s in Akita Shoten’s Play Comic, this hardcover is filled with piracy and brooding.

ASH: Should be great.

ANNA: Wooo!!!!

SEAN: There’s a light novel debut in print, as we get the first volume of light-hearted overpowered heroine comedy Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!. In digital, meanwhile, we get the 2nd volume of the same series.

The other debut may actually be familiar to those who tried the MangaBox digital app back in the day. High-Rise Invasion (Tenkuu Shinpan) is a shonen series that started there, then moved to Weekly Shonen Magazine. Beware, beyond this point survival game manga lies.

SuBLime has a 7th Deluxe Edition of Finder.

Vertical has the 2nd volume of CITY, the spiritual successor to Nichijou.

Viz debuts a new series, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (Maou-jou de Oyasumi), which is, believe it or not, a new Shonen Sunday debut. Yes, the magazine still exists. The demon king has kidnapped our heroine… who just wants a nice rest. I look forward to this.

MICHELLE: I miss Shonen Sunday titles!

ASH: Indeed! And I’ve heard good things about this particular one, too.

ANNA: Looks cute!

SEAN: We also get a 2nd volume of After Hours, a 13th Loveless… oh, wait, here’s Melinda.

MELINDA: THIS THIS THIS THIS THISY THIS THIS. Hi. There’s a new volume of Loveless. Obviously I will be devouring it.

MICHELLE: So excite.

ASH: I adored the first volume of After Hours and, yes, I’m still reading Loveless as well.

SEAN: …and there’s also a 30th Magi and a 3rd Splatoon. I’m impressed Magi has made it to 30+ volumes.

ANNA: So many volumes I am hopelessly behind on.

SEAN: Lastly, after a few delays, we finally get the 11th light novel for Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, seeing if Bell can bounce back after the disastrous events of the last book.

See? I told you there was manga. Anything for you?

ASH: Always, and then some!