SEAN: August comes, as it must to all men and manga.
ASH: Must it, really?
SEAN: Ablaze Manga has a 6th and final volume of Centaurs.
Airship has a print debut. Space Orc: Barbarian Raider of the Stars, Aiming for the Queen! (Space Orc: Banzoku no Senshi wa Yoake no Ten wo Kake Joou wo Nerau) is pretty much what it sounds like. Can a guy make a name for himself enough to marry the Queen, even though he’s an orc?
ASH: At the very least, he’s going to give it a go.
SEAN: Also in print: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! Short Story Collection, Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 14, and Reincarnated As a Sword 19.
ASH: So much reincarnation these days!
SEAN: And for early digital we see Classroom of the Elite: Year 3 2 and Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash 7.
Drawn & Quarterly has the 4th The Legend of Kamui omnibus.
ASH: Absolutely here for this one! I’m loving the series.
SEAN: Ghost Ship gives us The Cuckolding Wizard’s Adventure 3 and Virgin Ventures: The Hilarious Hijinks of Erotic Amateurs 3.
Graphix debuts Crescent Moon Marching (Mikazuki March), a seinen manga from Manga Action. This is hardcover and in full color. Do you like band manga but wish they were more dramatic and serious? This is for you.
MICHELLE: It might be for me!
ASH: Same! I’ve been looking forward to this one.
ANNA: Sounds interesting!
SEAN: J-Novel Club’s new light novels include Ascendance of a Bookworm Fanbook 8, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 20, Hell Mode 12, The Isle of Paramounts: Reborn into a Slow Life Among the Strongest in the World 4, and Return of the Corpse King: Reining in My Cringe Secret Society 2.
For manga they give us All Eyes on Nekoyashiki-kun! Notice Me, Not My Characters 2 and Mercedes and the Waning Moon: The Dungeoneering Feats of a Discarded Vampire Aristocrat 5.
Kodansha Manga has, in print, Love Out on a Limb 3, MF Ghost 4, Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money) 2, My Noisy Roommate: The Roof Over My Head Comes with Monsters and a Hottie 5, Secondhand Sisters 2, Stella Must Die 2, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 11, Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 21, and Wind Breaker 22.
And digitally we get Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 14 (the final volume), Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 14, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 22 (the final volume).
Nakama Press gives us Infini-T Force 9.
One Peace Books has the 2nd volume of My New Devil Wife.
Seven Seas opens with some danmei. Little Mushroom is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi series about a mushroom posing as a man and his tortured relationship with an assassin. It says new translation and illustrations, so someone put this out before, but Seven Seas now has it.
MICHELLE: Oh, another Peach Flower House rescue. (They also had Golden Terrace, originally.) I’ve heard very good things about this.
ASH: Likewise! I’m intensely curious.
SEAN: There’s also the third and final volume of The Villain’s White Halo.
In “Chinese novel but not BL”, we get Hidden Love. A 13-year-old falls for her brother’s college roommate, but nothing happens, presumably as she’s 13. Years later, she’s in college and he’s a teacher. Can a different taboo romance work better?
ASH: Oh, my.
SEAN: The first manga debut is Girl Meets Rock! (Futsuu no Keion-bu). A Shonen Jump + series, this appears to be the K-On! of the 2020s.
ASH: I do enjoy a good music manga.
Magic Repo Man: Dumped by My Party, I’ll Cash In With a Cute Support Fairy to Become the Strongest! (Kashita Maryoku wa “Revolving Barai” de Kyousei Choushuu: Youzumi to Party Tsuihousareta Ore wa, Kawaii Support Yousei to Issho ni Toritateta Maryoku wo Unyoushite Saikyou wo Mezasu) is, well, look at the title. It runs in Comic Meteor. No, the LN isn’t licensed.
Also from Seven Seas: BOSS, BXTCH, BABY 3, Checkmate 4, Everything for Demon King Evelogia 2, Himegasaki Sakurako Is a Hot Mess 5, His Little Amber 2 (the final volume), I Won’t Let Mistress Suck My Blood 3, Idol x Idol Story 6, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 10, Only I Know the World Is Ending and Getting Killed by Rampaging Beasts Only Makes Me Stronger 6, Rozen Maiden Collector’s Edition 6, Sacrifice of My Manly Soul 4 (the final volume), and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 9.
Square Enix Books has a 10th print volume of The Apothecary Diaries light novel.
ASH: Excellent.
SEAN: Square Enix Manga debuts The Princess Groom (Belle Poupée no Super Darling Konyaku: “Konomi ja Nai” to Iwareta Ningyohime, Gaman wo Yametara Ouji ga Deredere ni Natta. Jitsu ni Ui!). As you can tell by the Japanese title, it’s based on an as-yet-unlicensed light novel. A meek, waifish young woman regularly uses a magic ring to transform into a hot, confident guy. Alas, her fiancé isn’t into her… till he finds out she does this. Then he is. (No, it’s not BL, he’s more into her domming him.) This runs in Manga Up!.
ASH: I’ll admit to being intrigued.
ANNA: I mean I guess it is a little different!
SEAN: Steamship has the 5th volume of The Trapped Former Villainess Wants to Escape from the Sadistic Prince.
Two Tokyopop debuts. Spicy Milk Candy is, try to contain your surprise, a BL one-shot that ran in from RED. Two guys in high school have a sweet, loving relationship… till it turns out they’re really into S&M.
Walking in Your Tracks (Boku ga Aruku Kimi no Kiseki) is a new BL series that runs in Freyja Comics. A wheelchair-using writer pushes everyone who tries to help him away, but his new caregiver knows just what to do.
MICHELLE: Hm.
SEAN: Also from Tokyopop: My New Wife’s Fake Smile 4 and On-the-Job Training 2.
Two Viz debuts. Daydream Darling (Yume ka Utsutsu ka) is the latest from Io Sakisaka, and it runs in Betsuma. A shy girl avoids her classmates and prefers to talk to the handsome upperclassman she knows from the library. Then her secret is revealed…
MICHELLE: Not that I’ve ever managed to finish an Io Sakisaka series, but this does sound appealing.
ANNA: I have finished an Io Sakisaka series! Curious about this!
SEAN: The Marshal King is the latest from Boichi, and it runs in Shonen Jump +. It’s a steampunk Western drawn by Boichi, that should tell you everything you need to know.
ASH: It does say a lot.
ANNA: Is steampunk back????
SEAN: Also from Viz: Black Clover 37, Blue Box 21, The Bugle Call: Song of War 8, Colette Decides to Die 8, D.Gray-man 29 (first volume since 2023), Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai 7, The Elusive Samurai 21, Ichi the Witch 4, Kagurabachi 8, Kaiju No. 8: Relax 3, Kaze Hikaru 34, and Shinobi Undercover 2.
MICHELLE: Annual Kaze Hikaru celebration!
ASH: Huzzah!
ANNA: Yay!!!
SEAN: Always nice to see the annual Kaze Hikaru, on schedule to end in North America in 2037. What else are you getting?