Adults’ Picture Book: New Edition, Vol. 1 | By Kei Itoi | Yen Press – Boy, this was weird. And I was already expecting it to be weird. The premise is that a man suddenly has a daughter, thanks to the wishes of his dead college friend. He has no real idea how to take care of her, and while going through the adoption process impulsively proposes to the woman helping him… who impulsively says yes. The reason it’s weird is that Kudou is heavily implied to have been in love with his old college buddy… and that his new wife looks an awful lot like him. I’d feel a little more worried if I were not fairly confident that this is far more interested in the found family than in any love hangups like that. The cast aren’t that likeable, aside from the adorable child, but they’re very relatable and interesting. I want to read more. – Sean Gaffney
Healer for the Shadow Hero, Vol. 1 | By Kyu Azagishi and Ako| Steamship – This seems to be based on a light novel, which is possibly why it’s a lot less concerned with the smut than some other Steamship titles I’ve read. Oh, it’s there, fear not… in fact, it’s the actual plot device… but for the most part, this series is here more for the budding romance than for the hot sex. Our heroine, an indentured servant at a bullying noble family’s house, is discovered to have fantastic healing powers… but it’s only triggered when she has sex. Now she has to lose her virginity to the hero so that he can continue to save the land. Unfortunately, the hero is under a curse causing him great pain. Also unfortunately, the hero is also a virgin, and very shy. This isn’t the greatest thing in the world, but it’s cute and inoffensive smut. – Sean Gaffney
I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl, Vol. 1 | By Kashikaze| Kodansha Manga – I will admit the start of this had me going “uh-oh.” A top student, who is nevertheless at a non-top school because she freezes up during big tests, is offered a teacher recommendation (a big thing to get into the college of choice)… if she will convince the girl who has never gone to school to start going. Said girl agrees to go… if she gets one wish from Ayaka every day, and her first wish is a kiss. It’s a premise that has a lot of questionable stuff to it, especially as the teacher is played as somewhat creepy comedy relief. Fortunately, this is a lot fluffier than that, and it helps that Ayaka immediately falls for Sora, though she isn’t aware of this herself just yet. As such, it’s a cute little read, once you get through chapter one. – Sean Gaffney
Magilumiere: Magical Girls, Inc., Vol. 1 | By Sekka Iwata and Yu Aoki | Viz Media – We’ve seen quite a few workplace sentai series lately, and so a workplace magical girl series makes sense. Kana is a girl with a near-perfect memory who nevertheless struggles with getting a job, till she runs into a professional magical girl. Suddenly Kana finds herself in at the ground floor of a new startup, with a generous salary, a new “broom” to learn, and immediate crises to solve. The manga mostly tries to showcase the differences between the methodical and book-smart Kana and her sempai at the company, the intuitive but loose cannon Hitomi. There’s also her boss, a middle-aged guy who likes to dress as Card Captor Sakura, but the manga does not appear to be here to mock him as much as show he’s as eccentric as the others. Should be cute. – Sean Gaffney
Medalist, Vol. 9 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics (digital) – This is a hopefully long-running sports story, and we’re still in elementary school, so I had a secret premonition as to where this was going. The good news is that Inori pulls off her amazing quadruple salchow. The bad news is that she falls doing a triple lutz, and while she tries to make up for it with a triple axel that she had not really prepared for, which she actually pulls off… it also shows she did not actually prepare for it. So yeah, she does not end up on the podium, everything is over, please enjoy the artist’s next work… OK, no, not true. Sure, everyone’s super depressed for a while, and coach goes off on a journey to find himself, but we’re ready for the Junior High School arc to start now, and it’s going to be filled with great skating and amazing art. Love this. – Sean Gaffney
Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Vol. 2 | By Yodokawa | Yen Press – Last time I noted that this didn’t seem like a yuri series, and it’s starting to with this book. There’s an internet meme that shows two women making out, and a bystander saying “they seem to be really good friends.” This volume’s final couple of chapters feel like the reverse of that. When Miyako attends the concert for her ex-idol group, who are carrying on without her, they catch up afterwards at karaoke. Miyako, of course, brings Asako along. To the two of them, they’re just good friends who get along great. To the idol group (including its new leader, who appears to be a bit horrified and I think has a crush on Miyako), it reads like the two of them are confessing in front of each other casually. This is proving to be a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney
Spy x Family, Vol. 11 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – The bulk of this volume is devoted to Anya and the other Eden Academy kids getting caught up in a terrorist attack, with them being held hostage on a school bus. It’s a good chance to really dig into how Anya is not a typical kid, while also showing off when she really, really is a typical kid. It’s also a great opportunity to sideline Loid (who is seemingly away from the city) and Yor (who only hears about this near the end of its resolution) from the action. This is a situation that Anya needs to resolve… along with perhaps, Mister Henderson and Becky’s minder Martha, who seem to have a history together. And as a bonus we get to see Emlinda come to pick up Damien, and oh boy, her inner thoughts are even more terrifying than last time. Terrific. – Sean Gaffney