SEAN: Good news, Yen Press have finally decided to join 2023, and they have STUFF.
ASH: I’m not sure that I’ve fully joined 2023 yet, so that’s one up on me, at least!
SEAN: Yen On’s debut is Bride of the Barrier Master (Kekkaishi no Ichirinka), which features a young woman who has always let her twin sister take the spotlight… then she finds she has a super powerful ability! Can she avoid fuss? Can she avoid romance? Signs point to no.
ASH: Oh ho, a supernatural shoujo romance novel, you say?
SEAN: Also from Yen On: Baccano! 21, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 9, The Detective Is Already Dead 5, Goblin Slayer 15, High School DxD 10, Sabikui Bisco 4, Sasaki and Peeps 3, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 2, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 11, and Your Forma 3.
Yen Press has seven, count em, seven debuts. Christ.
ASH: So. Many.
SEAN: We begin with Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World (Ningen Fushin no Boukenshatachi ga Sekai o Sukuu Youdesu), which is based on the light novel (also from Yen) and has an anime that just began.
Doomsday with my Dog (Sekai no Owari ni Shiba Inu to) is the latest in the “let’s wander the post-apocalypse” genre, only with a girl and a dog instead of two girls. It’s a Comic Walker title.
ASH: I do tend to enjoy this particular sub-genre and we get relatively few dog manga!
SEAN: Honey Lemon Soda is a long-running shoujo series from Ribon about a shy girl who tries to change herself after a “refreshing” boy rescues her.
MICHELLE: Well, I’m all about long-running shoujo series.
ANNA: I think there’s a lot of pent up excitement for this series, and I am also here for long-running shoujo series. Woo!
ASH: Ditto!
SEAN: I’m Quitting Heroing (Yuusha, Yamemasu) is the manga version of the light novel. A hero defeats the demon lord… then is told to go away, as the people he saved find him too powerful. So he decides to help the demon lord rebuild.
Oshi no Ko is the biggest debut this week. The writer of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War and the artist of Scum’s Wish team up. Its premise is not being spoiled by the blurb, so I’ll just say it involves idols.
MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially interesting.
SEAN: Pandora Seven is a Young Gangan series about a young woman, the only human on an island of non-humans, who lives a happy life with her family and friends… until humans come to destroy it all.
ASH: I am intrigued.
SEAN: Your Forma is the manga version of the light novel. It runs in Young Ace.
Also from Yen Press: Angels of Death Episode.0 5, Bungo Stray Dogs 22, Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast 4 (the final volume), Cheeky Brat 5, The Elder Sister-Like One 6, Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods 10, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 2, I Want to Be a Wall 2, In Another World with My Smartphone 7, Karneval 14 (the final volume?), Lost Lad London 3 (the final volume), Love of Kill 10, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Another Story 2, No Longer Heroine 2, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 9, A Polar Bear in Love 5, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 18, Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet 4 (the final volume), Triage X 24, and Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 2.
MICHELLE: I’m excited for the finale of Lost Lad London!
ANNA: That’s a ton of stuff. I’m going to check out the second volume of Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet.
ASH: So much manga! It’s been a while since I’ve thought about A Polar Bear in Love, but I did enjoy earlier volumes.
SEAN: Now for non-Yen stuff. Viz debuts Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17-21 (Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu), a collection of short stories from the popular author.
Viz also has the 22nd and final volume of BEASTARS, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 7, Record of Ragnarok 5, Seraph of the End 26, and Undead Unluck 10.
Tokyopop gives us a third volume of Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide.
Square Enix Manga has the 10th and final volume of Hi Score Girl.
Seven Seas has two debuts. BARBARITIES is a BL title from Magazine Be x Boy about a man who is hired to bodyguard a lord, and his attempts to seduce the lord’s overly serious nephew.
MICHELLE: This is by Tsuta Suzuki, whose A Strange and Mystifying Story ended up being really interesting.
ANNA: Oh, now I’m curious since I’ve heard good things about A Strange and Mystifying Story.
ASH: I’ve been looking forward to giving this one a try; I’ve enjoyed Tsuta Suzuki’s work.
SEAN: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Fafnir the Recluse (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon: Okomorigurashi no Fafnir) is another of the endless Dragon Maid spinoffs, this one running in Monthly Action.
Seven Seas also has Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 4, Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō 16 (the final volume – yes, 15 only came out this week), and Sakurai-san Wants to Be Noticed 3.
One Peace Books has a 6th volume of Multi-Mind Mayhem.
Kodansha debuts Is Love the Answer? (Kimi no Sekai ni Koi Wanai), a one-shot josei title from Hatsu Kiss. It’s about a woman who wonders why she’s never felt any of this “love” stuff, till she goes to college and finds out what it is: she’s asexual.
MICHELLE: Ooh.
ANNA: Alright!
ASH: Hooray, josei!
SEAN: They also have the print edition of My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 (Level 1 Dakedo Unique Skill de Saikyou Desu), they had already been releasing the digital.
Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 3, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 2, PTSD Radio Omnibus 2, and Welcome Back, Alice 4.
Digitally we see Beast #6 2, The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 4, Gamaran 5, Blue Lock 17, Golden Gold 8, Hitorijime My Hero 13, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 5, Miss Miyazen Would Love to Get Closer to You 3, Mr. Bride 7, and The Untouchable Midori-kun 3.
MICHELLE: I look forward to getting caught up on Blue Lock.
ANNA: One of my kids is reading it in print form, so we’re a bit behind in my house.
SEAN: It’s print time for J-Novel Club. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm 16, In Another World with My Smartphone 25, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 8, the 8th manga volume of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 6, and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 6.
ASH: Obligatory, “Yay, Bookworm!”
SEAN: J-Novel Club has one digital debut, The Game Master Has Logged In to Another World, a license rescue from the late unlamented Sol Press.
Also digital: Dungeon Busters 4, Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke 3, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 3, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 6, and Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta 2.
Ghost Ship has the 5th and final volume of Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You?, as well as GUNBURED × SISTERS 3.
Airship has a 10th volume of Adachi and Shimamura in print.
While we get early digital volumes of Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 2 and I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 3.
That’s a lot. What of that pile are you getting?