SEAN: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the traditional Irish way… with some Japanese manga!
ASH: I can do that.
SEAN: There’s a pile of Yen On, most of it stuff moved from February (or January) that got bumped. Two debuts. Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle (Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka) is a high school romance that asks the question: what if the most popular boy in school was actually the main character in the light novel, rather than the sullen sarcastic loner? This one has been long awaited.
ASH: I’m so used to titles outlining the plot these days; that description’s not at all what I was expecting.
SEAN: We also have Demon Lord 2099 (Maou 2099), a light novel where the demon lord resurrects and… does NOT go to a magical academy, praise the Lord. Instead he finds himself in a futuristic cyberpunk world! What will he do? Whatever he wants.
ASH: Plot twist!
SEAN: Also out next week: Bond and Book 2, Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 3, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected 13, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 8, and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 7.
No debuts from Yen Press, but we do see Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One 6, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler – 14, Sex Ed 120% 3 (the final volume), So I’m a Spider, So What? The Daily Lives of the Kumoko Sisters 2, and Triage X 22.
Two debuts from Viz. Alice in Borderland (Imawa no Kuni no Alice), from Shonen Sunday S. It was made into an anime, and it’s apparently really good psychological horror. But: Survival game. I’ll see myself out.
MICHELLE: Oh man, for the first time in years I actually remembered BTOOOM! exists. That said, I might check this out.
SEAN: I long every day for the time when I can forget BTOOOM! exists.
ASH: I suspect Alice in Borderland may be more up my alley.
MJ: I somehow truly believed BTOOOM! had ceased to exist, and I think I’ll just keep pretending that’s the case. I really enjoyed the Alice in Borderland live action series, though, so I’m ready!
SEAN: The other is Orochi: The Perfect Edition. This Kazuo Umezu series, which originally ran in Weekly Shonen Sunday way back in 1969, was licensed by Viz in 2002… and only one volume came out. They’re trying again with this updated version, which should please fans of the author or horror in general.
ASH: Looking forward to this one for sure!
SEAN: And there is BEASTARS 17, Children of the Whales 19, Fist of the North Star 4, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku 13 (the final volume), Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 7, the Uzumaki Coloring Book (good God), and the 19th and final volume of Ôoku: The Inner Chambers.
MICHELLE: I knew that a nineteenth volume was coming soon, but not that it was the last!
ANNA: Yikes, another great series that I need to get caught up on!
ASH: This is a really great week for Viz!
MJ: Oh my, Ôoku! Wow, I hadn’t realized this was the last volume either.
SEAN: Udon Entertainment has Steins;Gate: The Complete Manga. This 522-page book, as its title suggests, collects the manga based on the visual novel that ran in my nemesis, Comic Alive.
Three debuts from Seven Seas. The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe (Wagaya wa Kakuriyo no Kashi Honya-san) is the manga adaptation of the novel that Seven Seas also has. It runs in, I am not kidding, Micro Magazine’s Comic Elmo.
ASH: I still need to read the novel, but I expect I’ll enjoy it along with its adaptation.
SEAN: My Deer Friend Nokotan (Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan) is a Shonen Magazine Edge series about a top student with a secret or two to hide who is blindsided by the new transfer student – a deer girl who can sniff out those secrets! This sounds like yuri but is more comedy, I believe.
My Wandering Warrior Existence (Meisou Senshi Nagata Kabi) is the latest biographical memoir from the author of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, as we see her trying to get into dating once more – actually, get into dating for the first time.
ASH: The books are really well done, but they can be devastating, too.
SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 3, The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 5, Karate Survivor in Another World 3, Necromance 2, and New Game! 12.
One Peace gives us I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School 3.
ASH: I really liked the first volume, but apparently I already need to catch up.
SEAN: Two print debuts from Kodansha Manga. Island in a Puddle (Mizutamari ni Ukabu Shima) ran in Evening, which alone is cause for me to be interested. A young boy cares for his younger sister more than his frequently absent mother. Then one day Mom takes them to an amusement park… and strands them on a ferris wheel. Which then gets struck by lightning. What happens then? Read the book!
ASH: Intriguing!
MJ: That does sound interesting.
SEAN: The other debut is Penguin & House (Pen to House), which runs in D Morning, Morning Magazine’s mobile app. He is a penguin living with a human, and I feel these two desperately need to meet Gal and Dinosaur.
MJ: This sounds adorable.
SEAN: Also in print: Battle Angel Alita 5, Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost 4, Rent-A-Girlfriend 11, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 2.
Digitally our first debut is A Kiss with a Cat (Neko to Kiss). This Betsufure series is about a cat-loving girl and her classmate, an antisocial guy who always wears a mask. But he has a secret…
ANNA: Is his secret that he’s a catboy? I want to know!
ASH: Haha!
MJ: Oh my.
SEAN: The other digital debut is Piano Duo for the Left Hand (Hidarite no tame no Nijuusou), which runs in Shonen Magazine Edge. A young man meets a piano prodigy… and then tragedy strikes. Now he tries to live for both of them… but wait, what’s with his left hand? This is a supernatural drama.
ASH: Also intriguing.
MJ: Okay, you’re always going to get me with pianists…
SEAN: There’s also Blue Lock 12, Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me 6, The Dawn of the Witch 4, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 7, The Lines that Define Me 3, My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! 3, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 7, and You’re My Cutie 3.
J-Novel Club has a LOT of print books out next week. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm 11, The Faraway Paladin’s 2nd manga omnibus, In Another World With My Smartphone 20, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Collector’s Edition 11 (with Vol. 32-35), My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 9, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 4 (light novel), The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 4 (manga).
ASH: That is a fair bit! Love to see it.
SEAN: No debuts digitally, but J-Novel Club does have Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Volume 4 (manga), The Faraway Paladin 8 (manga), Monster Tamer 8, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 9, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 18, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Reckless Journey 6 (the manga, and a final volume), and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 16 (the light novel, and not a final volume).
And finally, we see Airship, who has Classroom of the Elite 10 in print.
As well as early digital versions of A Tale of the Secret Saint 2 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 9.
That ended up being a lot. Anything catch your eye?