SEAN: ALERT! ALERT! YEN PRESS HAS BREACHED THE CONTAINMENT SHIELD! AWOOGAH! AWOOGAH! ABANDON SHIP!
ASH: It’s happening!
ANNA: I’m going to run off and take cover!
SEAN: Yen On has several debuts, starting with Amalgam Hound: Criminal Investigation Bureau: Special Investigation Unit (Amalgam Hound Sōsakyoku Keijibu Tokusō Han), which possibly has one too many subtitles. Amalgams are war machines that can go rogue, and Theo is the one who has to take them out when they do. But now his new partner is an Amalgam! Can they get along?
ASH: I’m guessing yes, or at least well enough to last for more than a volume.
SEAN: Classroom For Heroes (Eiyū Kyōshitsu) had an anime come out in the summer of last year. An ex-hero who lost his powers defeating the Big Bad is now trying to fit in as a normal student at an academy. Aheh. Good luck.
ASH: Ha!
SEAN: The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant (Yōma to Geboku no Keiyaku Jōken) features a guy who keeps failing his exams, has lost his job, and has just been hit by a car, leaving him dying on the side of the road. Someone agrees to help him… because of the smell of his blood. Does he really WANT their help? This seems to be BL-ish?
MICHELLE: I wasn’t into this concept until I looked at the cover, which is really appealing. Now if only there were an adage about books and their covers…
ASH: That is a nice cover. I also love the plot twist that it isn’t isekai. (It was really close there!)
ANNA: Hmmmmm.
SEAN: Also from Yen On: Agents of the Four Seasons 2, Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian 4.5, The Deer King 2, The Detective Is Already Dead 7, The Ephemeral Scenes of Setsuna’s Journey 3, King’s Proposal 4, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 6, A Misanthrope Teaches a Class for Demi-Humans 2, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 24, and Sasaki and Peeps 6.
Yen Press also has a few debuts. Adults’ Picture Book: New Edition (Otona no Zukan Kaiteiban) has our protagonist, Kudo, find a note along with a 4-year-old. The note is from his late friend, who asks him to take care of his daughter. Feeling pressured, he proceeds to propose to a woman he met that very day, and now he’s going to try to raise a family. This ran in Big Comic Spirits.
ASH: That was a quick development.
SEAN: I Want a Gal Gamer to Praise Me (Gyaru Gamer Homeraretai) is a Shonen Ace title that stars one of the hot new romantic pairings, hot beautiful gyaru girl who’s a sweetie pie and J. Random Normal Dude.
ASH: We have seen quite a few of those pairings lately, haven’t we?
SEAN: Sword Art Online Progressive Canon of the Golden Rule (Sword Art Online: Progressive – Kogane Ritsu no Kanon) adapts the “puzzle floor” arc, and runs in Dengeki G’s.
The Tiger Won’t Eat the Dragon Yet (Tora wa Ryuu wo Mada Tabenai) is from Harta. A tiger knows that eating the meat of a dragon will grant a great number of magical properties. She just has to eat the dragon. But he’s far too young and scrawny for her to eat, so she decides to raise him instead. Please do not be as “yikes” as this premise sounds.
ASH: Hmmm. This definitely has the potential to go to some uncomfortable places.
SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Black Summoner 1 (a print version of the J-NC manga), Coffee Moon 5, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 15, Delicious in Dungeon 13, The Eminence in Shadow 9, The Essence of Being a Muse 3 (the final volume), Game of Familia 3, Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 6, Honey Lemon Soda 5, I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World 3, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 22, Love and Heart 10 (the final volume), Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story 7, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 5, Minato’s Laundromat 2, Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord 2, Nights with a Cat 3, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 4, Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon 2, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 2 (print version of the J-NC manga), A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special 3, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 22, Shadows House 6, Slasher Maidens 10, and Val x Love 16 (the final volume).
MICHELLE: I routinely forget Honey Lemon Soda exists.
ASH: Oh! I think I saw Delicious in Dungeon somewhere in there, too!
ANNA: Need to get caught up on Honey Lemon Soda, it is cute.
SEAN: In other publisher news, Viz Media debuts Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. (Kabushiki Gaisha MagiLumiere), a Shonen Jump+ title based on a webcomic. A young woman trying to get a job finds her latest interview interrupted by a monster attack. When a magical girl shows up to defeat it, she finds herself… working for the magical girl organization?
Also from Viz, #DRCL midnight children 2, Alice in Borderland 9, Dark Gathering 6, Insomniacs After School 5, Love’s in Sight! 6, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 21, Seraph of the End 29, and Spy x Family 11.
ASH: I haven’t managed to actually read #DRCL yet, but I have looked at the impressive artwork.
SEAN: Udon Entertainment gives us Team Phoenix 3.
ASH: I feel like I should give this series a try at some point.
SEAN: From Tokyopop, we get three debuts, all one-shot BL titles. Heat x Beat: I May Be an Omega, but I’m Going to Be an Idol! (Heat x Beat – Omega Dakedo Idol Hajimemashita) combines idols with A/B/O, and it ran in Comic Marginal.
My Love Will Last Until the End of Time (Raise no Kimi ni Kuchizuke o) ran in from RED. A prince fell in love with a commoner, but their tragic love was doomed. Now a modern-day college student, the prince has found his love… but he doesn’t remember his past life!
Rooming With My Two Lovers (3P Lovers Shared House) also ran in from RED. There’s a Japanese adage, “never date a bartender, band member, or beautician”. What if the three of them date each other?
Tokyopop also has Mitsuka 2 and Sengoku Youko 6.
Square Enix has the 3rd volume of YoRHa: Pearl Harbor Descent Record – A NieR:Automata Story.
Seven Seas debuts How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend? (Doushitara Osananajimi no Kanojo ni Naremasu ka!?), a yuri title from Manga Life STORIA Dash. Two girls who have grown up together are best friends. But when a guy confesses to one of them, the other realizes it’s more than that. This is by the author of Monologue Woven For You.
ASH: Uh-oh, drama!
SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: CALL TO ADVENTURE! Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board 7, The Dragon King’s Imperial Wrath: Falling in Love with the Bookish Princess of the Rat Clan 3 (the final volume), Homunculus 7-8, The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru 7, Orb: On the Movements of the Earth 3-4, and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 4.
ASH: Orb is another series I’ve been meaning to try; better get on that!
SEAN: And for danmei fans, we see Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu 4.
From One Peace Books, we get Multi-Mind Mayhem 9.
Two debuts from Kodansha Manga, sort of. I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl (Lonely Girl ni Sakaraenai) is a Comic Yuri Hime title. An honor student is bribed by the teacher: he’ll write her a recommendation letter if she gets the truant girl to come to school. But the truant girl is more interested in kissing…
The sort of is Initial D Omnibus 1-2. Kodansha completed this 48-volume Young Magazine title digitally. But now it’s time to get it back in print.
ASH: I know some folks who are very excited about this.
ANNA: This does sound very nostalgic.
SEAN: Also in print: Gleipnir 14 (the final volume), Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir 3, ORIGIN 3, Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 7, Welcome Back, Alice 6.
And digitally we see Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 7, Don’t Tempt Me, VP! 4, Gamaran 19, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 19, Medalist 9, and Teppu 6.
Three debuts for J-Novel Club. The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases (Dekisokonai to Yobareta Moto Eiyū wa, Jikka Kara Tsuihōsareta node Suki Katte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita) stars another of those protagonists born with low skills and levels so everyone despises them. But he’s actually a reincarnated hero, and is delighted that he can just bum around and do what he likes. OR CAN HE?
I Don’t Want to Be the Dragon Duke’s Maid! Serving My Ex-Fiancé from My Past Life (Ryū Taikō no Senzoku Jijo wa Goenryō Shitai! Tensei Saki no Okyūji Aite wa Zense no Moto Konyakusha Deshita) is, you guessed it, a reincarnated noble who was once married to a Dragon Duke – and also murdered. Now she’s happy she doesn’t have to have anything to do with him. OR DOES SHE?
And they have the first manga volume of A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life (Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi), which runs in Comic Walker and is based on the light novel, also released by J-NC. A salaryman has put aside two weeks of vacation to immerse himself in the new VR game just out. He’s determined he will have a fantastic gaming life with cute tamed monsters. OR WILL HE? (Yes. Yes, he will.)
Also from J-Novel Club: Ascendance of a Bookworm 30, The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 2, the 2nd Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer! manga volume, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 11, I Could Never Be a Succubus! 2, and Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster 5.
Ghost Ship gives us Inside the Tentacle Cave 2 and Parallel Paradise 17.
Dark Horse has the 5th volume of the Hellsing re-release. (Dark Horse is releasing something at a fast pace. Are these the end times?)
ASH: I don’t know what to do in this sort of situation!
SEAN: In print from Airship, we see Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes (Maou to Yuusha no Tatakai no Ura de), about a normal guy who died in the battle by the Demon King’s Army. Now he’s a noble… and has memories of the fact that this is a game.
Also in print: Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 8.
And for early digital we see Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 8, Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 5, and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 6.
I’m afraid Yen Press has annihilated us all, helped along by every other publisher. What manga remains?