Anna N

SEAN: August is here. Still hot. But now hot in August rather than July!

ASH: I’m not sure it’s allowed to be August yet.

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. Chronicles of the Hidden World: How I Became a Doctor for the Gods (Kakuriyo Shinjuuki: Isekai de Kami-sama no Oisha-san Hajimemasu) is a fantasy isekai where a girl is reincarnated in “ancient Japan but with magic”, and quickly finds an affinity with the world’s gods.

The other is a one-shot, Tower of the Sun, the latest from Tomihiko Morimi, author of Penguin Highway and The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl. It seems to share themes with the latter, not uncommon with this author. A guy who’s been dumped mopes through Kyoto. This was his debut novel!

ASH: I am so happy to see more of Morimi’s work being translated!

SEAN: There’s also the 17th and final volume of Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! and Strike the Blood 21.

Two debuts from Yen Press as well. The Beginning After the End is a webcomic that’s been collected by Yen, based on a long-running novel series. A king dies and is reincarnated in a world of magic and monsters.

The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai) is a BL isekai manga from B’s Log Comic. A workaholic salaryman is summoned to another world… and continues to be a workaholic salaryman. But he catches the heart of a knight!

MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially cute!

ASH: I’ll admit that BL isekai interests me more than most other isekai.

ANNA: Sounds cute.

MELINDA: Oh, interesting indeed!

SEAN: Also from Yen: Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 9, Love and Heart 5, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected 18, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 8, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 3, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 14.

ASH: I really need to catch up on Toilet-bound Hanako-kun.

SEAN: It’s almost time for the anime to return, and the shippers are getting ready to doxx and destroy everyone’s lives all over again. It can only be Bleach. To celebrate, Viz is releasing Bleach 20th Anniversary Edition 1, which features cover art showing the original Shonen Jump cover. Despite the Vol. 1, this seems to be a one-off.

ASH: Huh.

SEAN: Viz also has One Piece Volume 100! Only 101 more volumes to go before it catches up to KochiKame.

And also Dragon Ball Super 16, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 23, The King’s Beast 7, Moriarty the Patriot 8, and Snow White with the Red Hair 20.

ASH: I spy Shojo Beat titles!

ANNA: Yay, I need to get caught up on so much.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has the 4th, 5th, and 6th volumes of Summertime Rendering, which wraps up the series, as these are omnibuses. they’re out in paperback and hardcover.

ASH: I’ve heard good things about the series, but have so far failed to start actually reading it. Need to get on that!

SEAN: Tokyopop has stopped updating its website for some reason, but should have Assassin’s Creed Dynasty 4.

Titan Books have Junji Ito Collection: A Horror Coloring Book, which speaks for itself, really.

ASH: Very interesting.

MELINDA: Oh, huh.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Deluxe Edition, a 3-volume omnibus in hardcover for the gorgeous and bittersweet (more bitter than sweet, really) fantasy series.

ASH: I’m happily double-dipping for this.

We also get Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 5, Dai Dark 4, and My Wife Has No Emotion 3.

Also, last week, KUMA released the first volume of Canis: Dear Hatter, which I missed because I suck. I assume it is related to Canis: Dear Mr. Rain, which came out a couple of years ago.

Kodansha, in print, has the 2nd and final omnibus of Devil Ecstasy and Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 3.

Digitally the debut is Our Love Doesn’t Need a Happy Ending (Boku-tachi no Koi ni Happy End nante Iranai), the story of a college guy who’s in love with his classmate… but has to decide whether to confess of not when she reveals that she’s dying. This josei title ran in Kiss.

MICHELLE: Obligatory josei squee.

ANNA: Squeeeeeeeeee!

SEAN: Also digital: The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 4, Changes of Heart 4, Chihayafuru 33, Desert Eagle 2, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 6, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 26, and My Wonderful World 2.

MICHELLE: And obligatory Chihayafuru squee, as well.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print volume: Infinite Dendrogram 16.

Digital items from J-Novel Club include An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 14, the 6th and final volume of Arifureta Zero, By the Grace of the Gods 11, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 6, The Great Cleric 9, the 5th manga volume of My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ—, and the 3rd manga volume of Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀.

ASH: I can’t quite tell if that’s a lot of titles, or just a bunch of long titles.

ANNA: What if it was all one single title?

SEAN: Denpa has the 4th volume of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. Actually, this came out last month, but I have to use Amazon’s release dates as Denpa hasn’t updated its own site, and Amazon hasn’t shipped it yet. But it’s out everywhere BUT Amazon.

Airship, in print, has Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4.

In early digital the debut is Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court (Futsutsuka na Akujo de wa Gozaimasu ga – Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den), the story of a consort who ends up body swapped with her rival, then thrown in prison. But she couldn’t be happier – after years of illness, she has a healthy body at last! This has recommendations from both the Bookworm *and* Apothecary authors, so is highly anticipated.

ASH: Oh, ho!

SEAN: And they’ve also got Berserk of Gluttony 7.

Are you a noble? A villainess? A villainess who’s also a noble? Also, what manga do villainesses read?

SEAN: July is coming to an end. What have we got?

Airship, in print, gives us Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 4 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 3.

In early digital, Airship has the 5th and final volume of I’m in Love with the Villainess, though rest assured they have already licensed the spinoff novel She’s So Cheeky for a Commoner, which shows us events from Claire’s point of view.

MICHELLE: I should get caught up with this. I thought the first volume was pretty fun.

ANNA: Me too, this is one of those things I feel guilty for not reading.

ASH: I really need to catch up on this, too.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World brings us Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights (Enoku Dainibutai no Ensei Gohan), the story of a young elf in poverty who joins the royal knights… only to find their food is TERRIBLE! She can fix that. Sounds along the lines of Housekeeping Mage from Another World.

ASH: This counts as food manga, right? So, I’m curious!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has World’s End Harem: Fantasia 7 and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 20.

J-Novel Club has a new short story collection from one of their most popular series: Ascendance of a Bookworm: Royal Academy Stories – First Year. These stories are pretty much Rozemyne’s days at the academy, from the POV of people other than Rozemyne.

ASH: This should be fun!

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight 14, Dungeon Busters 3, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village’s 2nd manga volume, Hell Mode 4, Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! 2, The Ideal Sponger Life 7, Maddrax 4, and My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer 5.

After a long break following the crashing and burning of a Kickstarter, Tezuka Manga is back at Kodansha. We get a one-shot in print: Bomba. This 1970 manga from Weekly Shonen Magazine about a boy who can cause the death of others by summoning a magical white horse.

MICHELLE: I got curious and looked this up. The blurb mentions “the tortured youth’s explosive angst,” which I kind of feel like we get more than enough of presently.

ANNA: Yeah, glad there’s some Tezuka coming out though.

MELINDA: I am somewhere in between here. I suppose it will depend a bit for me on exactly what he’s tortured about. There are some themes along these lines I feel we simply… don’t need anymore.

SEAN: Also in print: Fate/Grand Order -mortalis:stella- 3, In/Spectre 16, To Your Eternity 17, UQ HOLDER! 26, Witchcraft Works 16, and Yuri is My Job! 9.

ASH: I’ve saved up a few volumes of To Your Eternity to read all at once; it’s been a really compelling series.

SEAN: The digital debut is My Tentative Name (Watashi (Kari)), a horror series from Magazine Pocket. A young man wakes up in a strange home with amnesia and a decapitated corpse. Things only go downhill from there.

Also digital: Burn the House Down 2, Cells NOT at Work! 5 (the final volume), DAYS 30, Harem Marriage 19, Her Majesty’s Swarm 2, The Rokudo Rounds 3, and The Shadows of Who We Once Were 2.

MICHELLE: I need to try Burn the House Down and The Shadows of Who We Once Were.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 4th Higehiro manga, as well as Multi-Mind Mayhem 4.

In one of the weirder licensing things I’ve seen recently, Seven Seas debuts the print edition of Tokyo Revengers, which Kodansha Manga has been releasing digitally. This will be coming out in 2-volume omnibuses.

ANNA: I’m so confused!

ASH: Huh!

SEAN: We also see The Invincible Shovel 4, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong 3, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 5, Skip and Loafer 5, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 6.

ASH: I still need to get around to Skip and Loafer.

Square Enix Manga has The Misfit of Demon King Academy 4 and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 8. Sadly, this is the final volume of Misfit of Demon King Academy, as the artist passed away.

MELINDA: Oh, how sad.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Yuri Espoir, the story of a high school girl who’s told she’ll enter an arranged marriage once she graduates. So she decides to create a lesbian sketchbook to indulge herself in for the final year, observing other couples. This runs in Comic Ryu.

Viz debuts The Liminal Zone (Genkai Chitai), the most recent collection of horror from Junji Ito.

ASH: Still glad to see Junji Ito’s works being released in translation.

SEAN: There’s also a new Naruto novel, Naruto: Kakashi’s Story—The Sixth Hokage and the Failed Prince. I would like to grumble once again that Viz never published the NaruHina Wedding Gifts novel.

And a double dose of yuri, as we get How Do We Relationship? and the 9th and final volume of A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow.

ASH: Those have been great series, too.

SEAN: Yen On has new volumes for three of its longer running series. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 17, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 19, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 14.

And Yen Press has For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 8, From the Red Fog 2, Minami Nanami Wants to Shine 2, and Run on Your New Legs 2.

ASH: Most of these are only second volumes, but I already need to catch up.

SEAN: It’s a sign of the current manga boom that this feels like a light week. What are you getting?

SEAN: The worst thing about heat is that it’s hot. If summer was cool, it would be better. Meanwhile, manga.

Yen On debuts the Goblin Slayer Tabletop Roleplaying Game, which I imagine is much like the KonoSuba one was, but with less of the authors playing it through.

ASH: Huh! I had somehow missed Yen’s entry into TRPGs.

SEAN: Yen Press has one debut: Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion (Doumo, Suki na Hito ni Horegusuri o Irai Sareta Majo desu), a series whose light novel came out here from Cross Infinite World. This is the manga version, and runs in Kadokawa’s Flos Comic. A witch is devastated when her secret crush asks her for a love potion. But he at least goes with her as she searches for ingredients. Maybe she can just bask in his company for a while longer?

Also from Yen Press: Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 2 and Gabriel Dropout 11.

From Viz we get BEASTARS 19, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 5, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 7, Orochi: The Perfect Edition 2, Record of Ragnarok 3, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 18 and Undead Unluck 8.

ASH: I need to catch up on most of these, but it’s looking like a good Viz week.

SEAN: Steamship has a debut: I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess! (Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!!). This josei title from Zero-Sum Online features an isekai’d daughter of a duke who is unhappy that this world is polygamous and she’s expected to be one of many wives of the Prince. So she loses her virginity with some dude… then finds out whoops, said dude is that very same prince. Aside from “lost her virginity”, this sounds like many other “villainess” titles I could mention.

ASH: Isekai really is everywhere these days, isn’t it?

SEAN: Square Enix debuts SINoALICE, a manga version of the game that runs in Manga Up!. It is, try to prepare yourself, a dark and creepy version of Alice in Wonderland. I know, never been done before…

ASH: Ha! Never!

MELINDA: lol

SEAN: Square Enix also has Beauty and the Feast 3, I Think Our Son Is Gay 3, and A Man and His Cat 6.

MICHELLE: Finally something for me on this list!

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying I Think Our Son Is Gay.

MELINDA: I need to catch up on so much!

SEAN: A few Seven Seas debuts. Box of Light (Hikari no Hako) is a josei title from Zoukan Flowers (we may never get anything from Flowers, but we can get things from its spinoff) about a convenience store that seems to be haunted. It’s award-winning.

MICHELLE: I hope I never lose that feeling of delight to see a josei title coming out here.

ASH: Oh, I like the sound of this one!

MELINDA: I was in as soon as it said “haunted.”

SEAN: Dungeon People (Dungeon no Naka Hito) is from Futabasha’s Web Action, and features a woman searching a dungeon for her missing father. When she gets too far inside the dungeon… she’s asked to join the employees taking care of it? This seems oddly cute.

ASH: It does.

MELINDA: Agreed.

SEAN: Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition is a Korean webtoon getting, as the cover might tell you, a deluxe color hardcover treatment. It’s BL horror.

MICHELLE: Hm… Did I learn my lesson with Boys of the Dead?

ASH: There seems to be a significant fanbase for Killing Stalking (which includes a few of my friends), so I am curious.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Made in Abyss Official Anthology 4, My Lovey-Dovey Wife is a Stone Cold Killer 3, My Senpai is Annoying 8, and This Is Screwed Up, But I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 2.

In print, Kodansha Manga has A Galaxy Next Door 2, Grand Blue Dreaming 16, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 5, Island in a Puddle 2, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 11 (the final volume), Those Not-So-Sweet Boys 7 (also a final volume), and Whisper Me a Love Song 5.

ASH: Another set of series that I’ve fallen behind on.

SEAN: The digital debut is Hella Chill Monsters (Yasuraka Monsters), which ran in Weekly Morning and whose creator did the art for the manga Astral Project, for those who can dig out their old CMX titles. A skeleton detective and his equally undead friends try to solve a city’s problems… but end up creating them.

MICHELLE: Somehow this is strangely appealing.

ASH: I agree! (And I was actually thinking about Astral Project just the other day…)

MELINDA: Oooh I already love it.

SEAN: They also have Blue Lock 14, Golden Gold 2, Heaven’s Design Team 7, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 9, Irresistible Mistakes 4, A Nico-Colored Canvas 2, Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 9, A Serenade for Pretend Lovers 2, and When a Cat Faces West 3 (the final volume).

J-Novel Club has a pile of print releases. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm 13, The Faraway Paladin’s 3rd manga omnibus, Full Metal Panic! Volumes 10-12 Collector’s Edition (the final volume), I Shall Survive Using Potions’s 8th manga volume, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 6, Tearmoon Empire 6, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 6th manga volume, and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 4.

ASH: That is a pile!

SEAN: While digitally they have My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 11, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 3, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 3, To Another World… with Land Mines! 3, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 3.

Ghost Ship gives us The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 3, 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 3, and Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 8.

Dark Horse has an 11th hardcover of Berserk Deluxe. (It got bumped.)

ASH: That’s okay, I’ll pick it up whenever it ends up being released.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a 4th volume of Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind.

Lastly, Airship has the print debut of 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! (previously discussed when the digital came out), the first volume of Classroom of the Elite: Year 2, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 17.

And in early digital we see the 2nd Classroom of the Elite: Year 2.

Has your manga melted already?

SEAN: It’s July, and I am joyful for the many volumes of manga we are getting.

ASH: For sure!

SEAN: Airship debuts, in both print AND digital, Wait For Me Yesterday in Spring (Kinou no Haru de, Kimi wo Matsu), a novel by the creator of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes. It’s time travel! It’s bittersweet! It’s not based on a film, but I suspect a film of it may come soon.

MICHELLE: Ooh, this looks up my street.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Sounds good!

SEAN: Also in print from Airship is Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 11.

And they have an early digital release of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 18.

Dark Horse has an 11th hardcover of Berserk Deluxe.

ASH: These continue to be massive, but I’m happy to be upgrading my series collection.

Drawn and Quarterly has Talk to My Back (Shin Kilali), a classic 80s Garo manga from classic Garo creator Murasaki Yamada, one of the major feminist manga creators. The story of a housewife who examines her own faults after her husband has an affair, it’s an unflinching look at marriage and womanhood.

ASH: I was fortunate to get my hands on an early copy of this and can confirm it is great.

ANNA: This sounds like the type of critically acclaimed manga that I should read, but I never get around to because I’m not sure if my psyche can stand an unflinching look at marriage and womanhood.

MICHELLE: A Discord server I’m on has a reaction emoji that says “this TBH.” Please imagine that I have just deployed it here.

SEAN: Fantagraphics gives us The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga. This is a new edition of his first English language book, and is definitely not the sort of BL you’ll find next to the shoujo manga.

ASH: It most certainly is not! I reviewed the original edition of this collection back when it was first released; glad to see it in print again.

SEAN: Ghost Ship gives us Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze 4 and SUPER HXEROS 8.

From J-Novel Club we get Doll-Kara 2, Fantasy Inbound 3, John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 7, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 5, and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 9.

Kodansha Manga, print-wise, has Attack on Titan Omnibus 5, Blood on the Tracks 9, Ciguatera 3, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 10, Fairy Tail Manga Box Set 6 (the final box set for the main series), Gleipnir 11, Perfect World 12, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 4, Something’s Wrong With Us 9, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts 13, and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 6.

ASH: That’s a fair amount!

SEAN: Digitally the debut is My Maid, Miss Kishi (Maid no Kishi-san), a shonen romance from Magazine Pocket. A young man tries to make his maid happy. Sadly, he’s a klutz. And she’s stoic.

Also digital: Ace of the Diamond 38, The Fable 4, HIRAETH -The End of the Journey- 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 3, Police in a Pod 14, Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 2, and WIND BREAKER 4. I haven’t even gotten to Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 1 yet.

MICHELLE: I look forward to getting caught up on Ace of the Diamond! Which I realize I say every time.

ANNA: I haven’t gotten to Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 1 yet either, but I intend to!

SEAN: One Peace has the 4th volume of I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School.

ASH: I enjoyed the start of this series; I should get around to reading more.

SEAN: Seven Seas, on the danmei end, has a 3rd volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu.

MICHELLE: Huzzah!

ANNA: Woot!

SEAN: On the manga side, they have Berserk of Gluttony 6, Daily Report About My Witch Senpai 2, Hello, Melancholic! 2, The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 2, My Deer Friend Nokotan 2, and Time Stop Hero 5.

MICHELLE: Yay for more Hello, Melancholic!.

SEAN: Square Enix has The Apothecary Diaries 5, The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 3, My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 2, and Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition 7.

SuBLime debuts Moon & Sun (Tsuki to Taiyou), a BL title from Dear + involving a badass (?) yakuza and the owner and proprietor of a drag club.

MICHELLE: I love the cover to this one!

ASH: I am intrigued!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: They’ve also got Caste Heaven 7, Don’t Be Cruel 10, and Scattering His Virgin Bloom 2.

Tokyopop brings us the 2nd and final volume of Alice in Kyoto Forest and Mame Coordinate 2.

Viz has a new artbook for the Ghibli film, The Art of the Tale of the Princess Kaguya. And we also get The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Picture Book.

ASH: Both lovely, I’m sure.

SEAN: And they have Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai 3, Kaiju No. 8 3, Mao 6, and Pokémon Journeys 3.

Yen On gives us Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 6, My Happy Marriage 2, and the 14th and final volume of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected.

And there’s a pile for Yen Press, including several debuts. Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle (Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka) is an adaptation of the light novel (also out by Yen), which runs in Square Enix’s Manga Up! This asks the question: what if high school manga starred the popular kid rather than the sullen loner?

Daughter of the Emperor (Koutei no Hitori Musume) is based off a Korean webtoon. A princess has memories of her previous life… and knows that the Emperor, her father, is trying to kill her!

ASH: Korean webtoon, you say?

ANNA: hmmmmm.

SEAN: Magical Explorer (Magical Explorer – Eroge no Yuujin Kyara ni Tensei Shita Kedo, Game Chishiki Tsukatte Jiyuu ni Ikiru) is from Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up, and the fact that the title had to have 85% of it removed for the English release tells you a lot. It’s also based on a light novel Yen releases.

Nights with a Cat (Yoru wa Neko to Issho) is a comedy from Kadokawa about a man and his observations about his pet cat.

MICHELLE: I’ll always be willing to check out kitty manga.

ASH: Me, too.

SEAN: Lastly we get Shadows House, from Weekly Young Jump, and is the story of two “living dolls” who are employed in the house of some very shady nobles. This had an anime recently, and is quite popular.

Yen also has The Detective Is Already Dead 2, the 3rd and final volume of Divine Raiment Magical Girl Howling Moon, Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 4, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 3, Love of Kill 8, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun 13, A Witch’s Printing Office 6, and The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 3.

MICHELLE: The other day I was pining for more Nozaki and checked Amazon and discovered the new volume was just about out. I’m very much looking forward to this!

ASH: Oh, yay!

SEAN: Ending with a new Nozaki-kun volume is delightful. What else delights you?

SEAN: July, and the fireworks are here. Oh god. They’re everywhere. *whimper*

MICHELLE: Someone in my neighborhood actually set off fireworks for Father’s Day. My cat was not amused.

ASH: Goodness! And here I thought my neighborhood was overenthusiastic with explosives.

SEAN: Yen On gives us I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 3.

Two debuts for Yen Press. The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend (Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta) already has the light novels from Yen On, and this is the manga adaptation that runs in Manga Up!. The plot is the title. The manga has to struggle with art not being by Fly.

The other debut is Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included (One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshitsuki), a harem fantasy from Shonen Gangan about a guy who wakes one morning to find an angel in his bed. Literally. This is by the author of As Miss Beelzebub Likes, which I really enjoyed, so I am inclined to cut it more slack than it probably deserves. Expect more cute than sexy knowing this author.

Yen Press also has new volumes of Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 2, Durarara!! RE;DOLLARS Arc 7, The Eminence in Shadow 4, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 4: The Sanctuary and the Witch of Greed 4, Slasher Maidens 5, Sword Art Online: Project Alicization 5 (the final volume), and Val x Love 12.

Viz debuts a new Jump title, The Elusive Samurai (Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi). A former noble whose family was overthrown is on the run, his only power a truly superhuman ability to run away. This made it past the traditional 2-3 volumes death for most Jump series, so good for it.

ASH: Revenge, redemption, and by the creator of Assassination Classroom? Count me as officially curious.

ANNA: Me too!

MELINDA: Oh, interesting!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Dr. STONE 22, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 2, My Hero Academia 31, My Love Mix-Up! 4, and Vampire Knight: Memories 7.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on both My Hero Academia and My Love Mix-Up!.

SEAN: Seven Seas debut is actually a one-shot sequel: Go For It Again, Nakamura!! (Motto Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!), the BL series that honestly may be better known for the memes parodying its cover art than its actual content. It ran in Akaneshinsha’s Opera.

MICHELLE: I really liked the original volume, and look forward to the sequel!

ASH: I’m really excited for this one, too! I unequivocally loved the first manga.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More 2, Non Non Biyori 16 (the final volume), The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World 3, semelparous 3, and Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 4

Kodansha has some print titles. Battle Angel Alita Mars Chronicle 8 (the final volume), EDENS ZERO 17, Fire Force 27, Noragami: Stray God 24, and Sensei’s Pious Lie 2.

ASH: Alas, I’m already behind and just finally got my hands on the first volume of Sensei’s Pious Lie.

SEAN: Digitally the first debut is Desert Eagle, a comedic gang title from the creator of Tokyo Revengers. it ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

We also get My Wonderful World (Boku no Subarashii Jinsei), a josei title from Be Love about a young man whose inability to read or write well is discovered to be dyslexia.

Also digitally: Changes of Heart 3, A Couple of Cuckoos 8, Drifting Dragons 11, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 25, My Master Has No Tail 7, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 3, Saint Young Men 19, and A Sign of Affection 6. A Sign of Affection is awesome.

MICHELLE: One of these days I will actually read A Sign of Affection.

ASH: I really need to, too.

ANNA: It is so so so good!

MELINDA: I want to get excited over Saint Young Men but it’s been so long since I read any, I’m so far behind…

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a new digital light novel debut: D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared (D Genesis Dungeon ga Dekite 3 Nen). This is one of those “fantasy comes to Japan” works, about dungeons suddenly appearing everywhere.

Also digital: In Another World With My Smartphone 25, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 7, The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 4, Record of Wortenia War 15, and Tearmoon Empire 8.

Ghost Ship has Call Girl in Another World 4 and GUNBURED × SISTERS 2.

Cross Infinite World has The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up (Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki), one in the fairly recent romance drama of “not a villainess, but breaking off the engagement anyway” titles. It looks fun.

ASH: It does! And I like the title.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has new volumes. Loner Life in Another World 2 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 2.

The early digital debut is Vivy Prototype, a spinoff of the anime Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- and written by the author of Re: Zero. The story of an AI who tries to prevent a war, any similarity to certain Macross franchises is purely coincidental.

ASH: I know nothing about Vivy, but stories about AI do appeal to me.

MELINDA: I loved this anime, so I’m here for it!

Any titles grab your eye here?

SEAN: As June winds to an end, manga companies are watching closely, because July means the start of a new fiscal year. What manga will balance their books?

ASH: So many calendars to keep track of!

SEAN: Airship has some new print volumes. We see Adachi and Shimamura 9, Classroom of the Elite 11.5, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6.

Digitally, we see an early debut for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei), a mystery light novel series for women that has already gotten an anime. It is another of those series I say is “not BL, but BL-adjacent”.

MICHELLE: I was rather disappointed by the manga. Perhaps the light novel will be better.

ASH: I haven’t had the chance to read the manga adaptation yet, but I have hopes for the original novels.

SEAN: There’s also early digital for The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 5.

Cross Infinite World debuts Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes: The Spirit Hunters of Tomoe (Onmyouji to Tengugan: Tomoe Shiyakusho Mononoke Trouble Gakari), a title which asks “what if Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were both gorgeous men and fought the supernatural”?

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: There’s also Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace 4.

Ghost Ship gives us I’m Not Meat (Boku wa Oniku Janai), which ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits. A man who works as a copywriter is terrified of women, seeing them as predators. Unfortunately, for his new ad campaign he really needs to understand dating. Can he overcome his instincts? This is very much a sex comedy in the old 80s use of the word.

They also debut Wicked Trapper: Hunter of Heroes (Magatsu Wanashi no Yuusha kari), an isekai about a game designer known for traps and sadistic games who arrives at a dungeon world… and the heroes are threatening him. What else to do but side with the villain and get revenge? This runs in Ultra Jump. Those with long memories may remember the author’s Tokyo Cycle Girls on the JManga site.

ASH: Oh, JManga is not a site I’ve thought about in a long while!

MELINDA: Oh, wow, same. Also… still sad about that.

SEAN: They’ve also got Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 3.

J-Novel Club has a digital debut. The Misfit of Demon King Academy (Maō Gakuin no Futekigōsha ~Shijō Saikyō no Maō no Shiso, Tensei Shite Shison-tachi no Gakkō e Kayou~) already has an anime out, and is one of the genre of “demon king wakes up after thousands of years and goes to magic school” books we’ve seen so much of lately.

Also out: Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 6, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers‘ 3rd manga volume, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village 6, The Tales of Marielle Clarac 9, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 8th manga volume.

Kodansha, in print, debuts Wandance, which runs in Kodansha’s Afternoon. A young man has fallen in love with a woman, and for her he will do anything… even learn to dance! This combines romance and sports, and is more freestyle dancing compared to ballroom dancing.

MICHELLE: This looks fun to me!

ANNA: Nice!

ASH: Looks like it could be fun to me, too!

MELINDA: Agreed!

SEAN: Also in print: APOSIMZ 9, Blue Period 7, A Sign of Affection 5, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime 19, and Welcome Back Alice 2. Oh yes, and Sayonara, Football 11, still not mentioned on their website.

The digital debut is Burn the House Down (Mitarai-ke, Enjou suru), a josei series from Kiss. A young housekeeper starts work at the house of a middle-aged housewife. But she has an ulterior motive, which is to investigate a past tragedy that ties them both together.

MICHELLE: Ooh, interesting!

ANNA: This does sound interesting.

MELINDA: Maybe, maybe…

SEAN: We also see Back When You Called Us Devils 14 (I’ve called this a final volume three times now, we’ll see if it sticks this time), Harem Marriage 18, Koigakubo-kun Stole My First Time 2, My Darling Next Door 5 (also a final volume), Tesla Note 5, That’s My Atypical Girl 5, and WIND BREAKER 3.

No debuts for Seven Seas this week (they’re all on their other imprints), but we do get Classmates 5, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon 3, Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 5, The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace 2, Otaku Elf 4, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 8, and The Tale of the Outcasts 5.

MICHELLE: I should really read Classmates.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind and need to catch up, but I do live the creator’s work.

SEAN: Seven Seas also debuts a new imprint: Steamship! This seems to be “Ghost Ship for Women”, i.e. a smuttier kind of shoujo/josei. Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts (Out Bride – Ikei Konin) is from Hakusensha’s Manga Park, and has a young woman who dies in a car accident isekai’d to another world… where she’s the only human woman! Now four gods all vie for the right to have her bear their child!

ANNA: OK!

ASH: Happy to see this imprint launch.

SEAN: SuBLime has a 4th volume of Black or White.

Tokyopop has the 4th volume of Double.

They also have the digital debut of Aria The Masterpiece – all 7 volumes will be out digitally next week.

Viz has Fist of the North Star 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky (another re-release of a novel they put out in 2007), and Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 8.

ASH: Still thrilled we’re getting all of Fist of the North Star!

MELINDA: I am, too!

SEAN: There’s a pile of Yen On light novels. Bungo Stray Dogs 8, Date a Live 6, Demon Lord 2099 2, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 6, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 9, Overlord 14, Unnamed Memory 5, Yokohama Station SF National, and You Call That Service? 6.

ASH: Yokohama Station SF National has most of my attention here.

SEAN: Yen Press’ debut is Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion (Kanojo ga Koushakutei ni Itta Riyuu), a reincarnated villainess story that’s actually a Korean webtoon. Yen is adapting it for print. As for the plot… I mean, it’s a reincarnated villainess story.

And we also see Catch These Hands! 2, Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana 3, and The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious 3.

Hi, I’m Sean Gaffney, and I’ll teach you how to BUY.MANGA.FAST.

SEAN: When a manga meets a manga, coming through the rye…

ASH: None, they say, have I. (And they would be very wrong.)

SEAN: Yen On gives us So I’m a Spider, So What? 14 and The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 5.

Yen Press debuts a new artbook highlighting its bestseller: Sword Art Online abec Artworks Wanderers.

They also have Bungo Stray Dogs 21, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc 3 (the final volume), and Spy Classroom 2.

Viz debuts To Strip the Flesh (Tooda Oto Tanpenshuu: Niku wo Hagu), a collection of stories about Chiaki Ogawa, whose mother, on her deathbed, says to be a good daughter. But… that’s not who he is. This LGBT series is apparently a very good read for transgender folks, ran in Shonen Jump +, and is complete in one volume.

ASH: Extraordinarily curious about this release; I’ve heard very good things.

ANNA: Sounds interesting.

SEAN: Viz also has an artbook highlighting a bestseller: The Promised Neverland: Art Book World.

ASH: I do like seeing all these artbooks being licensed.

SEAN: And they’re also debuting Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, the sequel to Inu Yasha written and drawn by the creator of Zettai Karen Children. It runs in Shonen Sunday S, and should appeal to Inu Yasha fans.

And we get Alice in Borderland 2, Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun 4 (the final volume), Jujutsu Kaisen 16, Seraph of the End 24, and Twin Star Exorcists 25.

Tokyopop gives us Ossan Idol! 6.

Seven Seas has two (well, three) one-shot debuts. The Muscle Girl Next Door (Tonari no Kinniku Joshi) stars a guy who feels scrawny, and his crush on the incredibly buff woman who lives next door to him. It ran in Media Factory’s Gene Pixiv.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: We also get both the novel and the manga of Until I Meet My Husband (Boku ga Otto ni Deau made), the story of a young gay activist and his search for love. It’s an autobiographical book, and I’ve heard is excellent. The manga ran on Bungei Shunjuu’s online manga site.

ASH: I have likewise heard these are excellent.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 5, Creepy Cat 3, GIGANT 8, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 4, The Ideal Sponger Life 11, Kageki Shojo!! 6, The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 2, and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 3.

One Peace has Farming Life in Another World 6 and The New Gate 10.

Kodansha has a print debut for soccer manga Blue Lock. We’ve already discussed its digital release, but look at that intense cover.

MICHELLE: I enjoy going from being far behind on the digital release to having the opportunity to be timely with the print release! I plan to finally check this one out.

ASH: Oh! New sports manga in print? I’m game!

ANNA: Woo!

SEAN: Also in print: If I Could Reach You 7 (the final volume), Perfect World 11, Saint Young Men Omnibus 9, The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 5, and Witch Hat Atelier 9, the most important of these.

MICHELLE: I liked the first volume of If I Could Reach You. I should go back and see how it resolves.

ASH: This is a great Kodansha week.

ANNA: Looking forward to more Witch Hat Atelier for sure.

SEAN: The first digital debut is A Nico-Colored Canvas (Nikoiro no Canvas), a josei series from Be Love about a free-spirited artist and her adventures at college in Osaka.

MICHELLE: This sounds so fun!

ANNA: So much digital josei, I can’t keep track of it!

SEAN: The other debut is A Serenade for Pretend Lovers (Renai Gokko Sayokyoku), the story of a worker at a TV station trying to make a documentary about a musician while dealing with the fact she just saw her boyfriend cheating on her. It ran in Comic Tint, and thus this is a double-josei debut week.

MICHELLE: So much josei these days!

ASH: Love to see it.

ANNA: Even more!!!!

SEAN: Also digital: Defying Kurosaki-kun 19 (the final volume), A Girl and Her Guard Dog 7, The Girl, the Shovel and the Evil Eye 3, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 8, I’ll Be with Them Again Today 3, Irresistible Mistakes 3, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 4, The Rokudo Rounds 2, and When a Cat Faces West 2.

MICHELLE: Still gotta check out When a Cat Faces West.

SEAN: Kaiten Books has Loner Life in Another World’s 5th manga volume in print, and The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 4 digitally.

J-Novel Club’s digital debut is a manga, Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie! (Real mo Tamaniwa wo Tsuku). A guy who games as a girl is finally meeting his gamer buddy… only it turns out she’s a girl who games as a guy! What’s worse, she told her overprotective parents she was bringing another girl over. Only cross-dressing can save us now. This was originally a webcomic on Pixiv, and was picked up by Kadokawa.

ASH: Okay, that has the potential to be fun (or really not so good).

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 12, Black Summoner 9, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill’s 8th manga volume, and Holmes of Kyoto 10.

Ghost Ship gives us Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You? 4.

And Airship, in print, debuts Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, which we discussed when its digital came out. They also have The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 4 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 4.

In early digital, we get a debut. Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut (Tsuki to Laika to Nosferatu) is here to ask the important question: what if we shot vampires into space? This also got an anime last year.

ASH: I’ve seen space vampires before, but it’s certainly not a common combination.

SEAN: And we also see Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 6, which is more accurately Accomplishments of the Duke’s Wife, as it’s a prequel looking at Iris’ mother.

If a manga kiss a manga, need a manga cry? What manga are you making cry next week?