SEAN: The end of November, the start of December, and the time when the stores are far too full.
ASH: It can get a bit crowded at times.
SEAN: We start with Airship. In print, they’ve got How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 17 and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 3.
And for early digital we have The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 5.
Cross Infinite World debuts A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy (Oguni no Kōshaku Reijō wa Tekikoku nite Kakusei Suru), a light novel about a woman married off to another country as part of war reparations, who has to fend for herself because everyone seems to hate her.
They also have Fluffy Paradise 2 and So You Want to Live the Slow Life? A Guide to Life in the Beastly Wilds 3.
Ghost Ship itself has no debuts, but there are two Mature BL titles that would likely fit here. Anyhow, the Rabbit Is Infatuated with the Puppy (Nanse Usagi wa Koinu ni Muchuu) runs in LiQuille, and is complete in one volume. An introverted office worker who plays MMOs as a beautiful bunny girl goes to an offline meetup with his wolf partner. Will sparks fly when they find out who they really are?
ASH: Mature BL, you say?
SEAN: Training Mister Sakurada (Sakurada-senpai Kaizou Keikaku) is also a one-shot, it ran in Reijin Uno!. A playboy who loves to sleep around with other women one day wakes up in a hotel to find his subordinate there… ready to show him the wonders of kinky gay BDSM. This was censored in Japan, but apparently will be uncensored here.
ASH: Interesting! I wonder how they went about doing that.
SEAN: Actual Ghost Ship has Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 7 and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 10.
J-Novel Club has two debuts, both manga. I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons (Hikyouiku kara Nigetai Watashi) is based on the light novel also released by JNC, and runs in Comic Pash!.
The Invincible Little Lady (Douyara Watashi no Karada wa Kanzen Muteki no you desu ne) is also based on a light novel released by JNC, and runs in Dra-Dra-Sharp#.
Also from J-Novel Club: The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects: Tales of Blue Dias and the Onikin Alna 2, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 18, the 2nd The Magician Who Rose From Failure manga volume, Moon Blossom Asura: The Ruthless Reincarnated Mercenary Forms the Ultimate Army 2, the 2nd My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer manga volume, Perry Rhodan NEO 16, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 10, The Saga of Lioncourt 6 (the final volume), and the 10th The Unwanted Undead Adventurer manga volume.
Kodansha Books has the 3rd volume of Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement.
Kodansha Manga has an omnibus edition of Cells at Work!, with the first three volumes.
ASH: I am glad to see this remaining in print; the original series is a lot of fun. (And educational, too!)
SEAN: Also debuting, My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku () is a josei manga from Kiss. A divorcee thinks back to her high school days, when she was a huge otaku but trying to hide it. She especially tries to hide it from her crush, a basketball ace who despises otaku.
MICHELLE: 100% here for this.
ANNA: Me too!
ASH: Josei, nice!
SEAN: Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 8, Beyond the Clouds 5 (the final volume), and the Naoko Takeuchi Collection version of Sailor Moon 5.
Digitally, we see Boss Bride Days 11, DAYS 38, Drops of God: Mariage 3, Gamaran: Shura 14, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 17, My Home Hero 10, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 8, and Teppu 4.
One Peace Books gives us Farming Life in Another World 9.
Seven Seas has a new danmei novel out, Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu 8. This is the final volume, and also comes in a Special Edition and a B&N Exclusive Edition.
ASH: Special and exclusive editions seem to becoming more prevalent.
SEAN: The manga debut is Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom (Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni), a josei title from Flowers (!). Two nations at war pretend to resolve things by marrying off the most beautiful woman in one nation to the smartest man in the other… and then they both send pets instead. Can the two royals find love? Or at least pet snuggles? This is complete in one volume.
MICHELLE: Woo, more josei!
ANNA: OK, this sounds cute and if it is complete in one volume then I can’t fall too far behind in it.
ASH: I’m here for it, too.
SEAN: Seven Seas also has How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 17, The Invincible Shovel 6, The Kingdoms of Ruin 7, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 2, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 5, No Matter What You Say, Furi-san is Scary! 5 (the final volume), Reborn as a Barrier Master 5, and A Stepmother’s Märchen 2.
Square Enix Manga has the 10th volume of The Apothecary Diaries.
Tokyopop debuts Bergamot & Sunny Day, a one-shot BL title from Canna. A man who’s bad with relationships finds himself in bed with the owner of the cafe he goes to.
They’ve also got A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 7 and Sengoku Youko 4.
Udon has a 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.
Two debuts from Viz. The 6th “arc” of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure debuts, with Stone Ocean. This one stars Jotaro’s daughter Jolyne.
ASH: Woohoo!
SEAN: There’s also Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White 30th Anniversary Edition, a 624-page hardcover for anyone who hasn’t already read this classic.
ASH: This is a really great work. VERY glad to see it coming back in print, and in a hardcover, too!
SEAN: We wrap up with Yen, which has a few titles. Debuting from Yen On is Agents of the Four Seasons (Shunka Shūtō Daikōsha), a fantasy about Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall as lovers.
Also from Yen On: Goblin Slayer 16, Liar Liar 2, and Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf 7.
And there’s a 2nd volume of Scribbles.
ASH: I somehow missed this was a series! Gotta love Kaoru Mori’s illustrations.
SEAN: Are you hiding from capitalism? Buy these anyway.