SEAN: As August drifts into September, new college freshmen get their very first internet account… wait, it’s not the early 1990s, nevermind.
MICHELLE: I didn’t get mine ’til grad school in the mid-’90s!
ASH: What’s the Internet?
ANNA: In retrospect, a huge mistake!
SEAN: Ablaze has the 6th volume of Gannibal.
Airship has the 2nd volume of Classroom of the Elite: Year 3 and the 20th and final (barring any short story collections) volume of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom in print.
In early digital they have Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)! 7 and The Neverending Winter, the Land of Broken Dreams (the 4th in the The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes collection).
And in only digital, there is Reborn as an Assassin’s Apprentice 2.
Two debuts from Cross Infinite World. Assassin Empress Bellreuge (Ansatsu Jotei Bellreuge ~Shiitagerareshi Koujo wa Ai o Ete Nariagaru~) is a one-shot about a girl who gets a proposal from a margrave with a nasty reputation. This makes her half-sister… the princess… simply furious. Fortunately, Bellreuge is good at avoiding assassins.
ASH: That is a good skill to have!
ANNA: Better than the alternative!
SEAN: From Corporate Drone to Mincemaster! One Order of Dragon Coming Right Up! (Makikomarete Shoukan Sareta Genkai OL, Guild Shozoku no [Mamono Kaitai Jou] toshite Funtouchuu ~Dragon desu ka? Mochiron Sabakemasu!~) is a story about a girl summoned to another world!… or rather, the girl next to her is. Out goes the useless girl they accidentally summoned onto the street. Fortunately, someone finds a use for her weird skill.
ASH: Another series for the monster menu subgenre!
SEAN: They also have a 5th volume of Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes.
Ghost Ship have Tamamori’s Fantasies Never Stop! 5.
Glacier Bay Books have Akari, a oneshot that ran in Flat Hero’s. After his wife dies, a man loses interest in anything. Then his granddaughter shows up.
And they have Baku-chan, a manga about a tapir coming to Japan and facing prejudice.
And they have Box Garden Beetle (Hakoniwa Mushi), which ran in AX (not the convention). This is a collection of stories by a famous alternative manga artist.
ASH: Releases from Glacier Bay Books are always worth checking out!
ANNA: Just cool to have more publishers in the mix!
SEAN: Hanashi Media gives us The Disfavored Prince is a Genius Alchemist 2 and Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy 19.
A quiet week for J-Novel Club. On the light novel side, they have Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 48, Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden 10, Revenge of the Soul Eater: Cast Out as a Weakling by My Sword Saint Father 6, and Royal Spirits Are a Royal Pain! Give Me a Regular Romance 4.
And for manga they have The Banished Former Hero Does As He Pleases 9 and Hell Mode 11.
Kana has Billy Bat 2.
MICHELLE: I still need to read the first one!
ASH: Same! I’ve got quite the backlog.
ANNA: Me too! I did buy it.
SEAN: Kodama have a giant Baki the Grappler box set, with the first 8 omnibuses. They also have Omnibuses 23 and 24 of Baki the Grappler as well.
ASH: The release schedule of this series is truly impressive.
SEAN: And there’s a 5th volume of Smile!.
ASH: I feel like I blinked and missed three volumes.
SEAN: Kodansha Manga has one print debut, How to Grill Our Love (Yaiteru Futari), a Weekly Morning series about a newlywed couple who love barbecue! We’ve had the digital of this for some time.
Also in print: Initial D Omnibus 11, MF Ghost 6, Nina the Starry Bride 17, Shugo Chara! 20th Anniversary Edition 3, Tune In to the Midnight Heart 9, and The World Is Dancing 4.
ANNA: Obligatory yay on my part for Nina the Starry Bride!
SEAN: Seven Seas, for danmei, has a 5th Dinghai Fusheng Records.
Seven Seas, for non-Airship Japanese novels, has a 6th The Twelve Kingdoms.
ASH: I still love this series so much.
SEAN: As for manga debuts, there are three. Cheeky Devil Cop! (Akuma de Fukei!) is a Weekly Young Magazine series about a cute demon who wants an evil minion, and the evil-looking human cop she meets seems perfect. But he wants to send her back to hell!
Luna Knight runs in Monthly Young Magazine. A girl runs a flower shop and waits for her missing sister to return. Then when the shop burns down, she regains lost memories.
Printernia Nippon: My Squishy Bio-Printed Pet runs in Matogrosso. In the future, you can 3D print your pets! But our lead guy screws up, and doesn’t get a dog, he gets… what is that anyway?
There’s also a deluxe hardcover version of Dai Dark coming out, covering the first three books.
ASH: It even glows in the dark!
SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: 10 Things I Want to Do Before I Turn 40 2, BASTARD 5, Dungeon Elf: What’s a Dungeon without Treasure Chests? 2, I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 7, The Ideal Sponger Life 22, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 17, Monster Guild: The Dark Lord’s (No-Good) Comeback! 11, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 13 (the final volume), Seaside Stranger 7, The Strange House 6, The Tale of a Little Alchemist Blessed by the Spirits 2, The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 8, and The World’s Fastest Level Up 8.
MICHELLE: Oh, I had forgotten about Seaside Stranger!
SEAN: Square Enix Manga has Always a Catch! 8.
Steamship debuts The Obsessed Mage and His Beloved Statue Bride: She Cannot Resist His Seductive Voice (Yandere Mahoutsukai wa Sekizou no Otome shika Aisenai: Majo wa Manadeshi no Atsui Kuchizuke de Tokeru), the manga version of the light novel, already published by Seven Seas. Our heroine, to save the country, turns herself to stone for twenty years. Now her cute teenage assistant is an older, sexier man, and still totally in love with her.
ASH: Cue drama.
ANNA: Whoops!
SEAN: Takumigraphics (Fantagraphics’ new manga imprint) debut On Their Frontlines: The Lives of Japanese War Brides (Senba no Hito). This 350-page book details the lives of four people shortly after the war. I’ve heard REALLY good things about this, and it’s also a bit LGBTQ?
ASH: I have likewise heard very encouraging things about this release.
ANNA: Wow, sounds interesting for sure.
SEAN: Udon Entertainment has – take this with a grain of salt – three titles out next week. In the Manga Biographies series we get Amelia Earhart and Momofuku Ando (the guy who invented cup noodles). There’s also Blue Archive: Comic Anthology 3.
Viz have a debut. Shiba Inu Rooms (Shiba-tsuki Bukken) stars a young woman who gets an apartment dirt cheap… because it’s haunted by the ghost of a Shiba Inu! Think wacky comedy.
ASH: I’m not sure I can resist a Shiba Inu manga! Even without being a ghost, they can be delightfully extra.
ANNA: This sounds cute!
SEAN: Also from Viz: Hima-Ten! 2, I’m No Angel 2, Kaiju No. 8 16 (the final volume), Magical Girl Dandelion 3, Nana 25th Anniversary Edition 5, Nue’s Exorcist 8, RuriDragon 4, Spy x Family 16, A Star Brighter than the Sun 7, Super Psychic Policeman Chojo 5, and Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi 3.
MICHELLE: I really do need to read A Star Brighter than the Sun.
ASH: Reading Nana again is a great option, too!
SEAN: What are you reading in this perpetual September?