SEAN: April showers bring manga. Lots and lots of manga.
But first, some light novels, as J-Novel Club has four new titles out next week. We see the 8th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, the 11th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, and a 5th If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord.
And if that last title wasn’t long enough for you, we see the debut of Me, a Genius? I Was Reborn into Another World and I Think They’ve Got the Wrong Idea!. As you might guess, we’re dealing with someone reincarnated with his old memories. That said, for once this isn’t a fantasy RPG world.
Kodansha has a lot of stuff. Digitally we see new Ace of the Diamond (10), Chihayafuru (10), Pumpkin Scissors (20), and Yozakura Quartet (21). Those last two have finally caught up with Japan, so I will remove them from the “Del Rey rescue” category and make them full-fledged.
MICHELLE: Predictably, I am happy about those first two!
ANNA: Maybe I’ll start getting caught up on Chihayafuru over the weekend!
SEAN: In print, we see a 13th Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (man, the Fall sure does take forever, doesn’t it?), the 3rd Battle Angel Alita: Deluxe Edition, a 9th Fire Force, and an 8th Princess Jellyfish omnibus.
ASH: I only recently started reading the original Battle Angel Alita series (previously, I’d only read some of Last Order) and I finally understand what the big deal is. Also, hooray Princess Jellyfish!
MICHELLE: It’s hard to believe Princess Jellyfish will be wrapping up soon.
ANNA: Also need to get caught up on this, still delighted it is coming out.
SEAN: Seven Seas has a number of their ongoing titles out next week. A Centaur’s Life 14 will continue to be about politics, racism, and the nature of warfare when it’s not about monster girl toddlers getting into trouble. There’s also Absolute Duo 3, Dreamin’ Sun 6, Not Lives 8, and The Testament of Sister New Devil STORM! 3.
For yuri fans, you may recall when Seven Seas, in the pre-light novel boom, put out the Strawberry Panic novels, which promptly sank like a stone. Fortunately, we now get the chance to read them digitally, and the first is out next week. Check them out, they’re hilarious… I mean, totally serious about their yuri.
ASH: I rather enjoyed the Strawberry Panic light novels! They’re utterly ridiculous and marvelously melodramatic, but highly entertaining.
SEAN: Vertical debuts another title from the creator of Yuri on Ice. Moteki is a seinen series about a man who had no luck with romance, but then all of a sudden he has girls coming out of the woodwork. I actually have copies of this in Japanese, as it intrigued me when it came out back in 2008. It ran in Kodansha’s Evening magazine, is going to be in two large omnibuses, and is better than it sounds.
ASH: I’ll definitely be picking this one up.
MICHELLE: Woot!
ANNA: Me too!
SEAN: So much Viz. SO MUCH VIZ. Including the final volume of Assassination Classroom, the 21st. Remember when this series was never, ever going to be licensed over here due to the concept? I’m so happy it was.
Also in Shonen titles, we see 7th Garden 8, Food Wars! 23, Haikyu!! 22, Kuroko’s Basketball 2-in-1 11, My Hero Academia 12, Naruto’s 22nd 3-in-1, Platinum End 5, The Promised Neverland 3, a 6th Rurouni Kenshin 3-in-1, and Seraph of the End 14. That’s a lot of really good shonen titles.
ASH: It’s true!
MICHELLE: It very much is! I have been working on getting caught up on My Hero Academia, too, and now totally see what the fuss was all about.
MJ: I’m really behind on Platinum End and need to catch up to see if I still like it. Signed, nervous Obata fan.
SEAN: But we’re not forgetting shoujo. The debut is Kenka Bancho Otome: Love’s Battle Royale, a Hana to Yume series based on an idea, oddly enough, by the creator of Dangan Ronpa. Given its source magazine, I’m expecting a lot less killing. Also, I’m a sucker for anything with Bancho in the title.
ASH: I do love a good series about delinquents and girl gang leaders.
MICHELLE: This looks pretty fun!
ANNA: Yes!
MJ: I could get into this.
SEAN: Also in shoujo we get the 2nd Takane & Hana, a 5th Water Dragon’s Bride, and the 11th Yona of the Dawn. Any one of those could be a pick of the week.
ASH: This is also true!
MICHELLE: Verily! This is a seriously good week!
ANNA: So amazing!
SEAN: So what are you picking?