Ayaka Is in Love with Hiroko, Vol. 1 | By Sal Jiang | Love Love – Ayaka is a beautiful newbie at an office, who is in love with her cool and attractive boss. For Ayaka, this doesn’t have much to do with gender at first—she simply has this massive crush on Hiroko, and it’s only at the end of the volume that she realizes that this actually extends to women in general. For Hiroko it’s a lot more complicated—she’s convinced Ayaka is straight, and what’s more, she does not want the office knowing she’s gay—though she does spend a lot of her time complaining about this at the local lesbian bar. For the first half this reads like a typically frustrating “why don’t they just GET IT?” sort of romcom, but the addition of a third person in the mix, as well as Ayaka’s growing awareness, make me want to read more. – Sean Gaffney
Colette Decides to Die, Vol. 6 | By Alto Yukimura | Viz Media – At its heart, this series is about the romance between Colette and Hades, and that’s true here as well, but I do appreciate that it takes the time to expand its worldview and focus on other things—especially Colette’s job. We get to see an apothecary who is suffering from overwork because his town has a very rigid “who can take over the position” system. We also get to see Colette’s parents in the afterlife, which is impressive given that, like all the souls that pass to the afterlife, they are basically “street sign” designs, i.e. black bodies and blank heads, like you see on no crossing signs. And yet we’ve left with no doubt that those are her parents. I need to hype this series up every time I review it. GO GET IT. – Sean Gaffney
The Ghostly Darkness of Kanata, Vol. 1 | By Nokuto Koike | Titan Comics – A young woman named Kanata has lost her ability to feel fear. Now, she seeks out encounters with ghosts, looking for something that scares her so badly that she returns to her past self. The overall creepy vibe of this volume is excellent, but the execution so far is a bit disjointed, with various characters and spooky happenings introduced that do eventually intersect with Kanata, but some more impactfully than others. The meeting with a fellow paranormal investigator seems like it will continue to be significant in the next volume, but what about the YouTuber? Is that plotline just… over? It’s also sometimes hard to tell what’s happening, visually. I’m intrigued enough to keep going, but I hope a cohesive story coalesces soon, because sheer atmosphere can only take you so far. – Michelle Smith
Ichi the Witch, Vol. 1 | By Osamu Nishi and Shiro Usazaki | Viz Media – The most recent breakout hit from Shonen Jump, I was wary of this at first because “only women can become witches, but we are Shonen Jump, so now a guy is a witch” made me raise an eyebrow. But it’s handled so well, and all the characters are delightful. Plus the amazing art is from the artist behind act-age, and I’m so happy to see her recovering from that minefield and getting a real success. Ichi is very much a Jump guy, and I like him, but I’m really here for Desscaras, the arrogant, eccentric witch who ends up having to take him under her wing, and is simply a delightful bitch, in the best way. I do think that I might enjoy this better in volume form, so I eagerly look forward to the second book. – Sean Gaffney
Marrying the Dark Knight (for Her Money), Vol. 1 | By Suoh and Sometime | Kodansha – As you’d expect, a lot of the reason to read this yuri title is it’s funny. Clarice is trying to save her ailing sister and decides to marry the terrifying armored Dark Knight, who in fact is a woman concealing her identity. Initially deciding to simply kill Clarice, as it turns out Frost is easily susceptible to good food, good chess playing, and not being treated like a terrifying monster. Which is good, as her staff has all resigned bar a few maids, so Clarice needs to make life better around here fast or she’s never going to get that money. Clarice is the main reason to read this, as she’s fun and the money-grubbing is clearly for a good cause. She’s also clearly attracted to her “husband,” so I hope that develops soon as well. – Sean Gaffney
My Dress-Up Darling, Vol. 15 | By Shinichi Fukuda| Square Enix Manga – (This is based on a review copy from the publisher.) The big climax of the series turns out to have been in the previous volume, and this one is mostly just wrapping things up. It turns out that Gojo and Marin’s friends ARE surprised—they thought they’d already been dating for a long time. The surprise is that they weren’t. We get an extended scene with Marin’s dad, who Gojo worries is going to be a big scary dad but is a pushover, really. We get cute out the wazoo. And we get a flashforward to the future, showing the couple with their kid. Sadly, the series does not give us the extended first time that the fans were craving but that’s what fanfic is for. An excellent manga, with a pretty good ending. – Sean Gaffney
The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, Vol. 17 | By Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa | Ghost Ship – As always lately, there’s one new girlfriend here, Nekonari Tama, whom Rentaro discovers in an abandoned box, and who resolves to live her life as a cat. As you’d expect with this series, it’s both a very silly bit and also grounded in genuine character, as Tama has decided life as a socially awkward human is far too difficult. Elsewhere, we meet Karane’s family, which consists entirely of tsunderes, including the baby and the pet. Karane turns out to be worrying their child will end up like her, which leads to the realization that yes, these girls are all going to marry Rentaro (and each other) someday. This remains the best polycule comedy there is. – Sean Gaffney
Short Game: Mitsuru Adachi’s High School Baseball Collection | By Mitsuru Adachi | DENPA – I was excited to learn this collection was coming out, but now that I’ve read it, I’m underwhelmed. There are five stories of substance here, interspersed with unfunny gag strips, and they’re similar in that they don’t include much in the way of actual baseball. The absence is especially felt in the first story, “Relief,” in which a pitcher sidelined by injury since middle school gets his second chance, except that this occurs entirely off-camera! Some plot points recur, too, like a girl who’s in love with an unassuming guy or an error that cost a team their chance at Koshien. I liked best “Over the Fence,” about a team unknowingly giving their fathers another chance at baseball glory, and was irritated the most by “Team Reunion,” in which Adachi’s idea of humor is to never show the face of an overweight female character. Wow. Hilarious. – Michelle Smith
They Are Still Being Shaken This Morning, Vol. 1 | By Eiji Masuda | Seven Seas – I really wanted to enjoy this more than I did. The premise is terrific. A boy and a girl sit next to each other on the train, but are far too shy to interact. The manga is from the POV of the other riders, for whom this is their daily soap opera, and they’re desperately rooting for the couple to get together. It’s a great one-shot, and indeed the first chapter is great. But it continues. By the end of the book, when we’ve already had to cameo the cast of My Monster Secret (the author’s other series), I really wanted to see some progress, even though I know the whole point of a series like this is that there is no progress. It’s cute for those who love blushing teens, but don’t expect anything but the blushing. – Sean Gaffney