SEAN: Spring continues to try to become early Summer. In April. Sigh.
ASH: Spring is going to spring.
SEAN: Viz Media debuts Bug Ego, the latest title written by ONE, the author of One-Punch Man, and it runs in Weekly Young Jump. A popular kid tries to help a loner kid get better at socializing. The loner kid… can turn back time? And break reality?
ASH: I am curious about this one, mainly due to ONE’s involvement.
ANNA: OK, might be interesting.
SEAN: Also from Viz: The Climber 5, Kingdom 6, Mission: Yozakura Family 22, Rainbows After Storms 9, Record of Ragnarök 18, Red River 3-in-1 7, Show-ha Shoten! 10, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 19.
ASH: I really need to start reading The Climber.
ANNA: I think I have the first volume stashed around my house somewhere.
SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Waiting for You at the End of the Runway (Crush on Teen Edge), a BL oneshot that ran in from RED. An actor retires, and now finds himself trying to manage his former childhood friend… and former lover.
Also from Tokyopop: the 2nd manga volume of Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! and the 3rd light novel volume of Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry.
Titan Manga debuts Unemployed Killers Support Group, a Taiwanese manga about a former assassin who joins… well, please see the title.
MICHELLE: Huh. I looked this up and the blurb says, ” For fans of Reservoir Dogs-style dark comedy and chaotic criminal camaraderie,” which is kind of appealing!
ASH: I’d give it a chance.
ANNA: Ooh, this sounds fun.
SEAN: Titan Manga also gives us Cosmic Censorship 3 and The Elegant Courtly Life of the Tea Witch 3.
Square Enix has the 15th and final volume of My Dress-Up Darling, Tokyo Aliens 10, and Wash It All Away 7.
ASH: I’ve definitely fallen behind, but I’ve really enjoyed what I have read of My Dress-Up Darling.
SEAN: Seven Seas has no danmei debuts, but we do get Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu 7 and Copper Coins: Tong Qian Kan Shi 3 (the final volume).
Seven Seas does have manga debuts. Everything for Demon King Evelogia (Maou Evelogia ni Mi wo Sasage yo) is another title from BL Screamo, a magazine name I am still sniggering at. (I imagine the title as declaimed by Count Floyd.) A man dies and is reincarnated in a game, where he can be with the Demon King, his favorite character! OK, so he’s a young boy, but life isn’t perfect.
MICHELLE: “Ooh, scaaary!”
SEAN: KILLING ME / KILLING YOU (ah haaaaaaaaa) (sorry) is from Dragon Age Extra. A meteorite caused the apocalypse. Most turned into monsters, a few turned immortal. This follows two immortals trying to die.
MICHELLE: I had the literal same reaction to that title.
ASH: Haha, great minds! Also, immortals, you say?
SEAN: My Darling Devilish Daughter (Boku no Manamusume) is a seinen title from Big Comic Spirits. It’s by the creator of Himouto! Umaru-chan. A human man tries to raise his half-demon daughter, and needs to keep her happy… or else her demon mom will kill him.
ASH: It can be tough being a dad, sometimes.
SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 10 (the final volume), The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain 6, Glasses with a Chance of Delinquent 6, and It’s Just a Dream… Right?! 2.
Nakama Press has a 7th volume of Infini-T Force.
Mahjong Pros has the debut of a title I never thought would be released here. Reform with No Wasted Draws: The Legend of Koizumi (Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku) is a mahjong manga from Kindai Mahjong, and reimagines world diplomacy as if everyone is a mahjong player. Features a cast that will seem very… familiar to anyone who follows world politics.
MICHELLE: Interesting.
ASH: I have been wanting to read this series ever since I learned it existed. I was explicitly told it could never happen. I am absolutely delighted.
ANNA: Oh wow!
SEAN: Kodansha has redone their webpage, how delightful. It’s not in alphabetical order anymore, FANTASTIC. OK, never mind, I can do this. The print debut… sort of… is Chi’s Sweet France, a spinoff of the adorable cat manga. You’ll never guess where Chi is. This is complete in one volume, and ran in Comic Days.
ASH: I adore Chi, wherever she may be.
SEAN: Also from Kodansha Manga in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 14, Blue Lock 29, The Blue Wolves of Mibu 9, The Dashing Zaddy and His Icy Protégé 5, Drifting Dragons 17, Gachiakuta 10, Hitting Rewind with You 2, Shoot Juliet Down 2, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 10, and Wave, Listen to Me! 11.
MICHELLE: Ooh, a new Wave, Listen to Me!.
ASH: Definitely something to look forward to!
SEAN: In digital we get A Couple of Cuckoos 28, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 30, Sayabito: Swords of Destiny 8 (the final volume), and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 12.
One J-Novel Club debut, and it’s a manga. The Accursed Chef and His Pair of Furry Foodies (Noroware Ryourinin wa Meikyuu de Mofumimi Shoujo-tachi wo Sodatemasu) is based on the LN also licensed by JNC. Guy who dies saving a child gets reincarnated with cool powers – in this case, he can cook monsters. Sadly, his new life is awful. On the bright side, he seems to like beast people like most other isekai’d folks do.
ASH: I may have mentioned it before, but I really didn’t expect cooking monsters to become its own sub-genre.
ANNA: The world can be surprising!
SEAN: Digital light novels from JNC next week: The Banished Former Hero Lives As He Pleases 7, Chivalry of a Failed Knight 9, Dimension Wave 7, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 22, Imperial Reincarnation 5, Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain 7, and Reborn to Master the Blade 13.
And for manga we have My Fiancé Cheated, But a New Love Rings! 4 and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 10.
No debuts for Ize Press, but we do get Finding Camellia 7, I Tamed My Ex-husband’s Mad Dog 6, Lover Boy 5 (the final volume?), Men of the Harem 6, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint 10, The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine 7, Tomb Raider King 14, and The World After the Fall 13.
HarperAlley gives us Plus-Sized Misadventures in Love! 3.
ASH: I had somehow already forgotten about HarperAlley!
SEAN: Dark Horse Manga has a 3rd volume of Cat + Crazy.
No print volumes for Airship, but we do see early digital of Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord 7 and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 13.
And ABLAZE has the 2nd and final volume of HAPPYLAND.
Assuming you have not lost everything in a mahjong game, what manga are you buying?