Manga the Week of 12/8/21

SEAN: Busy busy busy! Almost forgot to type this up this week! What do we see?

ASH: Oh, do I know the feeling!

SEAN: Yen On has the 3rd volume of The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten as well as Reign of the Seven Spellblades 4.

Yen Press debuts an artbook: AidaIro Illustrations: Toilet-bound Hanako-kun. This does exactly what it says on the tin.

ASH: I quite like the art in Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, so I’m looking forward to this collection.

Also out from Yen’s manga imprint: Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 2, The Eminence in Shadow 2, Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger 6, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 7, and The Saga of Tanya the Evil 15.

MICHELLE: As with much else, I do mean to get around to reading For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams someday.

ASH: I read the first few volumes and have the next few on hand, though I haven’t actually gotten around to reading them yet.

SEAN: Three debuts from Viz. Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater is a massive, 625-page hardcover featuring a ton of short stories from the legendary Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball creator.

ANNA: That sounds like a great holiday present!

MICHELLE: I didn’t love Dr. Slump but really adored Toriyama’s COWA! oneshot, so might check this out.

ASH: Wow, that’s a lot of manga packed into one volume! Should hopefully be pretty good.

MJ: This is pretty cool!

SEAN: Kaiju No. 8 is a Shonen Jump + release that already is getting simulpubbed, and has HUGE buzz. A man who works on cleaning up after Japanese Godzilla monsters suddenly finds himself with new powers. Can he now achieve his dream of fighting them?

ANNA: Also intriguing.

ASH: Indeed! I’ve heard good things.

MJ: Okay, I’m ready.

SEAN: Rosen Blood is from Akita Shoten’s Princess, and if I said reverse harem vampire story would that get your attention?

ANNA: This fully has my attention, surprising no one.

We also get the final volume of Takane & Hana, the 18th, which is out in both a regular edition and a special edition which has a variant cover and an extra chapter. I’ll miss these goofballs.

ANNA: I’m behind on this series, but I am fond of it!

MICHELLE: I will miss them too!

SEAN: There’s also Chainsaw Man 8, Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 15, Jujutsu Kaisen 13, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 21, One Piece 98, Queen’s Quality 13, We Never Learn 19, Yakuza Lover 3, and Yona of the Dawn 33.

ANNA: Stoked for the excellence of Yona of the Dawn and the insanity of Yakuza Lover.

ASH: Always glad to see Yona on the list. I’ve been enjoying Queen’s Quality, too.

SEAN: Tokyopop has a 5th volume of Laughing Under the Clouds.

Square Enix has the 8th Hi Score Girl.

Seven Seas debuts Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow (Robo Sapiens Zenshi), a done-in-one omnibus from Kodansha’s Morning Two. This is a multi-award winning manga about robots and humans, and how far apart and close to each other they are.

MICHELLE: Sounds intriguing.

ASH: I’m here for it!

MJ: Same!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: CALL TO ADVENTURE! Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board 3, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 2, Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers 2, and Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games 2.

Kodansha’s first print debut screams “this is actually Vertical”: Emma Dreams of Stars (Emma wa Hoshi no Yume wo Miru). A one-shot from Kodansha’s Morning, but it was originally published in France, and is about the first woman Michelin Guide Inspector.

ANNA: Ooh!

MICHELLE: I second that “Ooh!”

ASH: And thirded!

MJ: And I’ll just repeat, “Ooh!”

SEAN: Also debuting is Hitorijime Boyfriend, a one-shot from Ichijinsha’s Gateau and prequel to Hitorijime My Hero.

Kodansha also has a lot of print titles whose ebooks came out a week or two (or more) ago. We see Bakemonogatari 11, Blood on the Tracks 7, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 9, Orient 6, Shaman King Omnibus 6, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 7, UQ Holder 24, and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 2.

Digitally our debut is My Master Has No Tail (Uchi no Shishou wa Shippo ga nai), a good! Afternoon series that has the unlikely teamup of a tanuki and a rakugo master.

ASH: Sounds like my kind of team!

SEAN: And there’s Chihayafuru 29, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 18, Love After World Domination 3, My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought 11 (the final volume), Saint Young Men 14, Smile Down the Runway 21, With the Sheikh in His Harem 8 (also a final volume), and Ya Boy Kongming! 6.

MICHELLE: Insert obligatory Chihayafuru rejoicing.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a few series in print which, well, are mostly already out, but Amazon lists them as next week, so… anyway, it’s Ascendance of a Bookworm 10, I Shall Survive Using Potions! (manga) 5, Infinite Dendrogram 14, A Lily Blooms in Another World, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It in for Me! 1, Tearmoon Empire 2, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer (manga) 2.

ASH: I am so far behind on my light novel reading, but there are some good ones here.

SEAN: Digitally we have two light novels debuting. Goodbye Otherworld, See You Tomorrow (Sayonara Isekai, Mata Kite Ashita), a post-apocalyptic journey series that looks a bit more serious than most recent isekai titles.

There’s also Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter (Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi), the story of a commoner who was trying to become a court magician… but failed. Now his only recourse to avoid debt is a suspicious tutoring job.

We also see Lazy Dungeon Master 15 and the 7th Unwanted Undead Adventurer (manga version).

Ghost Ship has Call Girl in Another World 3 and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 16.

Denpa Books gives us The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes 3.

And Dark Horse has the 3rd volume of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!.

Cross Infinite World gives us Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! 2 digitally.

Lastly, Airship has two digital-early titles: The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 2 and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 3.

Too much, too marvelous, too marvelous for words. What titles make you dance?