SEAN: It’s June, and a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of what manga is coming out next week, because young men are idiots like that.
MICHELLE: Snerk.
ASH: I mean…
SEAN: Yen Press have one straggler from May, the 5th volume of Is the Order a Rabbit?.
Two debuts for Viz Media. I’m No Angel (Tenshi Nanka ja Nai) is an ancient shoujo manga from the early 90s written by someone named… oh, right, Ai Yazawa. It’s even earlier than Neighborhood Story, and ran in Ribon. Viz is releasing it in omnibus format. A girl runs for student council when she hears her crush is also doing so, but once they’re on the council she discovers he likes… their teacher? This is very Ai Yazawa.
MICHELLE: Ooh.
ASH: I am thrilled that we’re getting even more of Yazawa’s work!
ANNA: Nice!
SEAN: Shinobi Undercover (Shinobigoto) is the newest “successful enough to get a print release” Shonen Jump series. A ninja is assigned to attend high school, which is a shame, as he’s great at being a ninja but terrible at being a social animal. Now he’s got to guard a girl beset by assassins.
ASH: These things happen sometimes.
SEAN: Also from Viz: Astro Royale 6 (the final volume), The Bugle Call: Song of War 7, Chainsaw Man 21, Dark Gathering 18, The Elusive Samurai 20, Ichi the Witch 3, Let’s Do It Already! 9 (the final volume), Magical Girl Dandelion 2, Nana 25th Anniversary Edition 4, Pink Candy Kiss 5, A Star Brighter than the Sun 6, and Tamon’s B-Side 11.
MICHELLE: Some good shoujo, here!
ASH: Forsooth!
ANNA: Always nice to have a good shoujo week!
SEAN: Udon Entertainment have the 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.
Tokyopop debuts I Picked Up a No-Good, Useless Prince (Danzaisareta Dame Ouji, Hiroimashita), a Comic Gardo title based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel. A spoiled young prince finally pisses off too many people, and is reduced to being a commoner. Now he’s met a young woman who adores royal drama and fangirls him. (Yes, I know. The digital debuted a week earlier and I misread it. Print is this week.)
It also gives us Boyfriend, Sometimes Girlfriend 3. (See above.)
Steamship have Healer for the Shadow Hero 4.
Square Enix Manga have the 7th volume of Always a Catch!.
Seven Seas have a danmei debut, Golden Terrace. This apparently came out from a smaller publisher in 2022, but Seven Seas is redoing the translation and it has new illustrations. Two rivals are forcibly engaged, but they’ve got a secret backstory.
MICHELLE: Oh, yes! I have the Peach Flower House edition of this.
ASH: Nice!
SEAN: Also danmei: Run Wild: Sa Ye 5
And in “Japanese novel but not Airship”, we get The Twelve Kingdoms Book 5 – A Thousand Miles of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.
ASH: Still very in love with this series.
ANNA: I need to get caught up!
SEAN: And in “Not danmei but Korean”, we get Lout of Count’s Family 8.
Seven Seas’ manga debuts start with The Delinquent and the Transfer Student (Sukeban to Tenkousei). This Web Action yuri series stars a yanki girl and a cute smol bean who enjoys making her say cute things.
ASH: Sounds like a series I would enjoy.
SEAN: The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System (Tsuihousareta Tensei Juu Kishi wa Game Chishiki de Musousuru) is based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel, and also had an anime. It runs in Young Magazine Web, and is coming out in 2-volume omnibuses. Our hero… sigh… get the wrong gacha job when he comes of age, and is disowned and exiled. But… sigh… it’s secretly the STRONGEST gacha job!
Sea Melt Lover is a BL one-shot from a magazine called Equal. In a world where beastmen keep humans as pets and sex slaves, one escapes, and is protected by an honorable beastman.
Also from Seven Seas: The Beast King: Master of Medicines 2, The Feisty Omega and His Twin Mates 4, Ghost and Witch 2, I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 6, and Low Tide in Twilight 2.
Kodansha Manga have one print debut. Secondhand Sisters (Kemutai Ane to Zurui Imouto) is a josei title from Kiss. An older sister whose younger sister has “borrowed” everything from her and never given it back – including, years ago, her boyfriend – sees her again at their mother’s funeral and finds things starting up all over again. Expect DRAMA here.
MICHELLE: Always here for josei, though!
ASH: Josei drama is great.
ANNA: Very interested in this!
SEAN: Also in print: The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 13, Initial D Omnibus 10, Shugo Chara! 20th Anniversary Edition 2, Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 20, and You Can’t Bluff the Sharp-Eyed Sister 4.
MICHELLE: And Iruma! This is a good week!
SEAN: Kodama have Baki the Grappler Perfect Edition 17 and 18, Me and the Alien Mumu 3, and Sun-Ken Rock Perfect Edition 2.
Kana have a debut folks have wanted for years. Billy Bat is a seinen manga from Weekly Morning by the legendary Naoki Urasawa. A Japanese-American artist in the late 40s worries he plagiarized his popular bat detective from a drawing he saw in Japan, so he goes there to find the original artist.
ASH: I’m a fan of Urasawa’s work in general and am aware of the demand for this series in particular.
ANNA: Wow, I’m excited for this.
SEAN: They also have a 2nd volume of Blades of the Guardians and a 3rd City Hunter omnibus.
ASH: Excellent.
SEAN: No debuts for J-Novel Club. In light novels, they have Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! St. Evelyn’s Weird and Wonderful Friends 3 (the final volume), How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Short Story Chronicles (the final volume?), and I Parry Everything 10.
For manga they have The Coppersmith’s Bride 7, Looks like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid 4, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 5, and The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World 9.
Ink Pop debut Our Aimless Nights (Yoru no Manimani), a sweet romance from Web Action. Outgoing girl. Shy boy. Every night, they meet at the convenience store.
ASH: There are worse places to meet.
SEAN: And they have the 4th and final volume of I Wanna Be Your Girl.
That’s it, as Airship are taking a week off, apparently. What manga is there to distract you from life?