SEAN: Psst. Halloween’s behind you. Creeping ever closer. Step by step.
ASH: Wait, behind me? What month is it??
SEAN: Airship has print releases for Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City 3, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 11, Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash 5, and Raven of the Inner Palace 7 (the final volume).
And for early digital we have The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 9 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 7.
Ghost Ship has Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 15-16, Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 13 and Welcome to Succubus High! 6
And in mature Seven Seas titles, we see Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben 3 and The Titan’s Bride 5.
J-Novel Club graces us with FIVE new debuts. The Boy Who Ruled the Monsters (Kaibutsu-tachi o Suberu Mono) is a “banished from the party” story, though at least this time two of the party join him. This is because (try to contain your shock) his ability is great after all! Now he’s going to make his own party of monsters. (Taking a wild guess that the monsters look like hot girls.)
EXP is Golden: The Queen of Destruction Speedruns Her Ascension (Ōgon no Keikenchi) looks like the dark counterpart to A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life. Leah is eager to play the hot new MMORPG… and finds she can take powerful NPCs and use their EXP as her own! And she’s a powerful enchantress! And is building a dark army!… wait, isn’t this the path to being evil? Well, whatever.
I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying (Yomei Hantoshi to Senkokusareta no de, Shinuki de “Hikari Mahou” wo Oboete Noroi wo Hodokou to Omoimasu. – Noroware Ouji no Yarinaoshi) is the manga adaptation of the light novel J-NC also puts out. It runs in Drecomics.
Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter (Kōjo Denka no Kateikyōshi) is the manga adaptation of the light novel J-NC also puts out. It runs in Shonen Ace plus.
The Reincarnator and the Goblin Maiden’s Happily Ever After: Using a Past Life to Keep a Joyful Wife (Goblin Reijō to Tensei Kizoku ga Shiawase ni Naru Made: Konyakusha no Tame no Zense Chishiki no Jōzu na Tsukaikata) is a light novel about a reincarnated man who wants to do anything to find a happy marriage. In his previous life, he was single for almost a century due to his looks. Now he’s handsome, and gets a proposal offer for a Duke’s Daughter… whose appearance looks like a goblin! It’s OK, though, he knows what she’s going through. This looks really sweet.
ASH: Okay, out of the five, this is the one that interests me the most.
SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases 3, D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared 7, Enough with This Slow Life! I Was Reincarnated as a High Elf and Now I’m Bored 8 (the final volume), the 13th The Faraway Paladin manga volume, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 12, the 2nd I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic manga volume, Through the Viewport: Child of a Ruined World 3 (the final volume), the 2nd To Another World… with Land Mines! manga volume, and You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story 5.
Three debuts for Kodansha Manga, though only one is a debut per se. Blue Lock Season 1 Part 1 is a box set with the first six volumes of the series.
ASH: Perhaps the perfect time to finally get around to actually reading it.
SEAN: Your Lie in April Omnibus 1 contains the first three volumes of this tear-jerker.
ASH: That takes me back.
SEAN: The actual debut is The Spellbook Library, the new title from Uta Isaki, creator of Sayabito: Swords of Destiny, Generation Witch, and Is Love the Answer? (wow, one of those titles is not like the other). This book is being published in English first via KManga. As for the plot… if you read Magus of the Library and thought “I want something just like this”, I have good news!
ASH: Oh!
SEAN: Also in print: Blue Period 15, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 11, Kaina of the Great Snow Sea 3, Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up 2, Parasyte Full Color Collection 8 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 27, A Sign of Affection 10 (whose print and digital are now released at the same time), and Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen 5.
MICHELLE: I know I really need to read A Sign of Affection.
ASH: Same, actually.
ANNA: It is so good! I think I’m three volumes behind now.
SEAN: Digitally we see Am I Actually the Strongest? 12, Gamaran: Shura 25, Issak 10, and Undead Girl Murder Farce 7.
One Peace Books has a 4th volume of Tales of the Tendo Family.
ASH: I should check in with this series again; the first volume intrigued me.
SEAN: Seven Seas has a couple of debuts. Diary of a Female Lead: Shujinkou Nikki is, amazingly, a shoujo series from Betsucomi. Our heroine has low self-esteem. Her brother is a popular athlete. Her mother is a famous shoujo mangaka. All she wants is friendship. Real friendship. Her brother disagrees, though, and brings home impossibly cool Sena to show her what she really needs to come out of her shell is love. This is “critically acclaimed”, apparently, which might make up for a premise that seems a bit ergh.
MICHELLE: Hm.
ASH: Huh.
ANNA: OK, maybe…..
SEAN: My Boyfriend is a Dog (Inukei no Kareshi) is a BL title from Monthly Action. Two co-workers are falling for each other. One is a human, and one is an anthropomorphic dog, which is to say a handsome guy in a suit, just with the face of an Akita.
ASH: Huh!
SEAN: Nakamura-san, the Uninvited Gyaru (Oshikake Gal no Nakamura-san) runs in Manga Town. A gyaru and an otaku work together, but are polar opposites. Surely they can’t become a couple! But what if I told you she was really a shy, blushing girl pretending to be a flashy gyaru? NOW how much would you pay?
MICHELLE: Hee.
ANNA: Amazing.
SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Dangers in My Heart 9, Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with My Beloved Hound 4, I’m in Love with the Villainess 7, The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace 6, Kageki Shojo!! 11, Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero 6, Night of the Living Cat 5, Royal Tailor: Clothier to the Crown 2, Skip and Loafer 10, Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) 7, Stay By My Side After the Rain 2, There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 6, Throw Away the Suit Together 2, What He Who Doesn’t Believe in Fate Says 5, and World End Solte 3.
MICHELLE: I should also be reading Kageki Shojo!!.
ASH: I enjoyed the early volumes and really need to catch up!
SEAN: Square Enix gives us My Dress-Up Darling 12, Soul Eater NOT!: The Perfect Edition 2, and Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 12 (the final volume).
ASH: I’m so far behind with My Dress-Up Darling, but I’ve greatly enjoyed what I’ve read.
SEAN: There’s a debut from Steamship. A Suitable Fetish (Suits ni Seiheki) comes from Betsucomi Flower, aka “SPICY Betsucomi”. Two office workers discover that they’re far less buttoned-down outside the office, and decide to explore their fetishes.
ASH: Oh, my!
SEAN: From Tokyopop, we get two debuts. The Gardener’s Favorite Poisonous Flower (Jarudinie no Aishita Doku Hana) is a BL title from Canna. An itinerant is hired as a gardener for a male brothel, where he finds the employees are “furless” – human-looking but treated as animals. This is complete in one volume, and that summary doesn’t even come close to explaining how weird it is.
Wails of the Bound: Beta (Kurui Naku no wa Boku no Ban ;β) is a sequel to Walls of the Bound, clearly. It’s more angsty omegaverse shenanigans.
And we also see A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 9.
Viz Media has Boy’s Abyss 7, My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition 3, and Vampire Knight Complete Box Set, a 3800-page (!!) box with a day planner and an artbook to boot.
ASH: Whoa!
ANNA: That’s a whole lot of Vampire Knight.
SEAN: Yen On has two light novels out next week: Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 12 and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 14.
And two debuts for Yen Press. Days with My Stepsister (Gimai Seikatsu) is the manga adaptation of the light novel Yen also puts out. It runs in Shone Ace plus.
The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All (Ki ni Natteru Hito ga Otoko Janakatta) is a yuri title from Kadokawa, based on the serialized manga from Twitter. It has gotten absolutely amazing buzz, and Yen and Kadokawa have been pushing it hard here, as you know if you saw the booth at Anime NYC. Aya has a huge crush on the guy who works at the music store she goes to… not realizing the guy is a girl, Mitsuki, who sits next to her at school.
MICHELLE: Interesting!
ASH: I am very curious about this one!
ANNA: Ooh.
SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Ako and Bambi 3 and Horimiya 17 – Special Edition: A Piece of Memories (the final volume – I think).
ASH: I didn’t realize Horimiya was still going…
SEAN: You know, for a week light on Yen Press, this was a bit ridiculous. What appeals to you?