SEAN: It’s the end of the fiscal year! The real 2016 ends on June 30th! What are publishers putting out before the end of the budget?
Bookwalker has been a site that distributes digital titles for many publishers, but they’ve decided to dip their own toe into the pond with a new light novel series, The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress. It appears to feature delicious bread.
MJ: I do like delicious bread… Can a great title like this lure me into a light novel series? Stay tuned to find out!
SEAN: I’m always wary to list DMP titles these days given how iffy they’ve been with print the last two years, but The Tyrant Falls in Love 10 is still listed by Amazon as coming out next week.
ASH: Yeah… DMP’s distribution is almost nonexistent these days. The manga might eventually make it to other sellers, but The Tyrant Falls in Love, Volume 10 isn’t even available through June Manga’s website yet.
SEAN: J-Novel Club has another debut with Demon King Daimaou, a fairly old series that had an anime out back in 2010. It has a magical academy, a boy who will grow to be a demon king, a harem of girls who zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz….
Kodansha wraps up a license rescue next week, as Nodame Cantabile comes to an end with Vols. 24 and 25. There’s also a 14th Yozakura Quartet.
In print, there’s a 3rd volume of Clockwork Planet.
Back to digital for the 2nd volume of Giant Killing, which is not about killing giants in a fantasy way, just in a sports way.
MICHELLE: And it’s so good! I’m looking forward to this one.
SEAN: Kodansha’s print debut next week is Land of the Lustrous (Houseki no Kuni), a seinen series from afternoon about gemstones fighting in a war. From what I’ve seen, the gemstones are genderless, so be warned that there may be a translation fight here (remember Wish?).
ASH: I am rather curious about this series. (And speaking of Wish, I wonder if Dark Horse’s forthcoming omnibus edition will be using a new translation… )
MJ: So… like Steven Universe, but without Steven?
SEAN: And a new volume of Vinland Saga is always welcome, here’s the 9th.
ANNA: Yay! I have been buying these faithfully even though I have not read them yet. Waiting until I feel particularly vikingish to go on a reading binge.
ASH: It is SO GOOD. I’m thrilled that we’re getting more of the series! There were some really great female characters introduced recently, too.
SEAN: Seven Seas has not one, but two debuts next week. The first is Beasts of Abigaile (Bara Kangoku no Kemono-tachi), a shoujo manga from Princess (man, have we had any Princess titles since Tokyopop shut down its manga?) that’s a reverse harem with werewolves.
ANNA: OK, paranormal reverse harem does interest me.
MJ: Maybe, maybe…
SEAN: Concrete Revolutio: The Complete Saga, as the name might suggest, is a done-in-one omnibus from Young Ace. The subtitle in Japan is “Superhero Fantasy”, and that seems entirely correct.
MICHELLE: Both appear to feature protagonists with pink hair!
SEAN: Seven Seas also has a new omnibus of Freezing, Vols. 15-16.
And there’s also a 5th Hour of the Zombie, which has caught up to Japan, I believe.
Udon, like DMP, has constantly slipping and sliding dates on Amazon, but it does say the 4th Persona 3 is out next week.
ASH: I’m not enjoying the Persona 3 adaptation nearly as much as the Persona 4 adaptation.
SEAN: Vertical gives us the 4th massive tome in their BLAME! Master’s Edition.
And a 2nd volume of slice-of-magical-life series Flying Witch.
MICHELLE: I enjoyed volume one quite a bit, so I’m looking forward to this!
SEAN: Vertical Inc. has the next novel in the Monogatari series. Nisemonogatari is split into two volumes that deal with Araragi’s younger sisters – this is the first, Karen Bee.
Viz has a new digital release, at least “new” in terms of a collected volume. The Emperor and I runs in Shonen Jump+, and is, well, about an emperor. An emperor penguin, that is.
Yen Press has some digital titles as well, with the 11th Corpse Princess and the 10th Saki.
They also have two digital debuts. Gesellschaft Blue is a Young Gangan series filled with blood, gore and action. It’s a very dark fantasy.
IM: The Great Priest Imhotep seems more like a standard shonen fantasy, and appropriately it runs in Shonen Gangan.
There’s always one lone Yen title that’s pushed back a week from the others, and this month it’s Leg Horizon’s 8th novel, which focuses on the younger members of the guild and their adventures.
Lastly, Sword Art Online gets 3 more light novel digital releases with Vols. 5-7.
Did you budget properly? Do you have money left over to buy manga next week?