Anna N

SEAN: 2023! What’s new and exciting?

No debuts for Viz Media, but we do get Blue Box 2, Dr. STONE 24, The Elusive Samurai 4, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 5, Moriarty the Patriot 10, My Love Mix-Up! 6, Prince Freya 8, Queen’s Quality 16, and Romantic Killer 2.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Blue Box and My Love Mix-Up!.

ASH: Same! And throwing Queen’s Quality into the mix, since I’ve been enjoying (but still falling behind with) that one, too.

ANNA: Lots of things I need to get caught up on, maybe that will be my New Year’s resolution.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts three titles. I’m Kinda Chubby and I’m Your Hero (Saenai Boku wa Kimi no Hero) is a BL title from Comic Qurie. An aspiring young actor worries that his weight is getting in the way of his career… but finds he has a fanboy in a young baker!

MICHELLE: This looks fun. I hope it is.

ASH: Me, too; looking forward to giving it a try!

SEAN: Seven Seas continues to put out cat manga. We see the debut of My Sister, The Cat (Imouto wa Neko), a MAGXiv title about a young man whose mother passed away, so another family adopts him… except they’re human-sized cats.

ASH: There does seem to be a renaissance of cat manga.

SEAN: And a third debut, with no cats. No Longer Allowed In Another World (Isekai Shikkaku) runs in Shogakukan’s Yawaraka Spirits, and asks the important question “what if the protagonist of the No Longer Human novel wound up in an isekai with cute girls and awesome powers?”. The answer: he’s not happy.

ASH: Wait, what? That is a question I never thought to ask!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Dragon Goes House-Hunting 8, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 15, Lazy Dungeon Master 2, My Senpai is Annoying 9, Night of the Living Cat 2, PULSE 2, Succubus and Hitman 3, and The Titan’s Bride 2.

MICHELLE: I forgot Dragon Goes House-Hunting exists.

SEAN: Kodansha’s release calendar is back, hooray! In print we see the debut of Am I Actually the Strongest?, whose ebook came out in 2020. There’s also The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 3.

Digitally there may be a last minute announcement, but it ain’t here yet, so we get Kounodori: Dr. Stork 31, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 3, Matcha Made in Heaven 3, Raised by the Demon Kings! 4, Shangri-La Frontier 9, and The Shape-Shifting Witch’s Kiss 2.

ASH: Matcha Made in Heaven is still a delightful title.

ANNA: I read the first volume and really liked it, as usual I am behind.

SEAN: And Kodansha Books reminds us they exist with the debut of Am I Actually the Strongest? (Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyou deshita?), not to be confused with the print debut of the manga also coming out next week. Thought to be weak but actually strong, abusive parents, etc. Kodansha knows what’s popular these days.

Two debuts for J-Novel Club, and they’re both manga. Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner! (Lady Rose wa Heimin ni Naritai) is from Kadokawa’s Flos Comic, and features our heroine reincarnated as the villainess of an otome game… AFTER the bad end. Oops.

ASH: Oops, indeed.

SEAN: The Coppersmith’s Bride (Cuprum no Hanayome) runs in Harta (yay!) and features a college student who is happy to be dating a guy who’s nuts about smithing. But when he proposes to her, she has a bit of a freak out.

ASH: But will there be forging fun facts?

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 2, Marginal Operation 16 (the final volume), Slayers 17, Tearmoon Empire 9, and To Another World… with Land Mines! 5. Slayers 17 isn’t the “final” volume per se, but it’s the last one published to date.

ASH: That’s an important distinction to make.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Parallel Paradise 12 and Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? 4.

Digital Manga Publishing, who I tend to forget exists, has a debut with Pure Love’s Sexy Time (Ero Ki), a BL series that was part of the DMG digital group. I’ve haerd this is for BL fans who like dumbasses.

MICHELLE: I’m glad DMP is still releasing stuff!

ASH: I’ll admit to being conflicted, but I do like a fair number of the publisher’s books.

SEAN: DMP also has Twittering Birds Never Fly 7.

Denpa Books gives us Rakuda Laughs! (Rakuda ga Warau), a Comic Ryu title about a yakuza triggerman’s chaotic life.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this one; Katsuya Terada has had very few works released in English.

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us an 11th omnibus of GANTZ.

Airship has the print debut of The World’s Fastest Level Up, and also print volumes for Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 3 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 2.

In early digital, we get Raven of the Inner Palace (Koukyuu no Karasu), which just had an anime recently. A mysterious concubine, who may be old, may be young, but definitely uses magic, is called before the Emperor.

ASH: This one seems promising to me.

SEAN: And we also see Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 13.

Is this 2023 enough for you? Do you want 2022 back?

MICHELLE: Absolutely not.

ASH: Nah, that’s okay.

ANNA: No thank you.

SEAN: We’re in the last few days before Christmas, who’s coming down the chimney?

Yen On has an 11th volume of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

I missed two Viz titles last week because they insist on alphabetizing ‘The’. So we got the print debut of The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, a Shonen Jump title about werewolf hunters, as well as Yakuza Lover 7.

ASH: Those leading articles will get ya every time.

For titles actually coming out next week, we get Alice in Borderland 4, Jujutsu Kaisen 18, Mission: Yozakura Family 2, No Guns Life 13 (the final volume), One Piece Color Walk Compendium: New World to Wano (the latest artbook), and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 2.

Udon Entertainment has Devil May Cry 5: Official Artworks. Which is a $55 hardcover. I suppose it would be cheaper if you were guaranteed the devil crying.

ASH: Udon does tend to have pretty good production values, fortunately.

SEAN: Tokyopop gives us Futaribeya: A Room for Two 9 and On or Off 2.

From Square Enix we see the debut of The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses (Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta), another in the hot new genre of “adorably sweet school romance” that runs in Gangan Joker.

They also have The Apothecary Diaries 7 and My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 4.

ASH: I really need to get caught up on The Apothecary Diaries.

SEAN: Seven Seas does not know the meaning of the words “Christmas break”. They have the debut of LES MISÉRABLES in an omnibus edition (the first two volumes), which ran in Shogakukan’s Gessan. It is, as you can imagine, an adaptation of the Hugo novel. The artist is better known here for the Cirque du Freak manga.

The other debut is My Cute Little Kitten, the latest yuri title from the creator of Girl Friends, Morinaga Milk. Two roommates have to deal with budding feelings, obliviousness, and a cute kitten.

ASH: Oh! That should be an enjoyable combination!

MJ: Agreed!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 6, A Certain Scientific Railgun 17, COLORLESS 3, The Duke of Death and His Maid 4, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 5, The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún – [dear.] Side Stories (the 12th and final volume), Hello, Melancholic! 3 (the final volume) (it got bumped), The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 7, Kageki Shojo!! 7, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 5, Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 8, Plus-Sized Elf 8 (the final volume), School Zone Girls 4, Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) 4, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 7.

MICHELLE: I never actually finished The Girl from the Other Side. Seems like now’s the time!

ASH: I’ve started recollecting the series in the lovely hardcover edition, but I will probably go ahead and pick this volume up, too.

ANNA: I so need to get caught up too. Also need to get caught up on Kageki Shojo!!.

SEAN: And on the Danmei end we see Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu 5.

One Peace has I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School 6.

Kodansha Comics debuts Run Away With Me, Girl (Kakeochi Girl), a josei yuri series from Hatsu Kiss. Two girls date in high school but one breaks up with the other at graduation. Now, 10 years later, she’s engaged to be married… but everything about her relationship looks bad. Can her old lover do anything to help?

MICHELLE: This sounds promising!

ASH: I agree!

ANNA: I’m curious!

MJ: So here for this.

SEAN: They also have a box set of the first 6 volumes of Sweat and Soap. If you haven’t read this yet, I urge you to give it a try, it’s wonderful.

ASH: It really, really is.

SEAN: Also in print, we get Blue Lock 4, Die Wergelder 3, Fire Force 30, Rent-a-Girlfriend 16, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 11, Something’s Wrong with Us 12, and Toppu GP 10.

ASH: It seem like it’s been a long time since the last volume of Die Wergelder came out… goodness, it’s been almost four years!

SEAN: Digitally, we see the debut of Beast #6, a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about an agent who’s assigned to a backwater town. How can she destroy supernatural monsters here? Good news, it’s not only a hotbed of activity, but has a Boy With A Secret (TM)…

We also get The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 3, Gamaran 4, Golden Gold 7, GTO Paradise Lost 19, Nina the Starry Bride 8, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 6, Sakura’s Dedication 3, and She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons 5 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: Dang, over already.

ANNA: I’m really enjoying Nina the Starry Bride.

SEAN: Two digital light novel debuts for J-Novel Club. Haibara’s Teenage New Game+ (Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game) is a high school romcom about a college senior, regretting all his choices, suddenly finding himself traveling back to the start of high school. Can he really get a do-over?

The other debut is The Invincible Little Lady (Dōyara Watashi no Karada wa Kanzen Muteki no Yō Desu ne), which seems to be the inverse of Make My Abilities Average… a sickly young girl, on her deathbed, wishes to be strong in her next life… and ends up getting something FAR beyond what she meant!

Also from J-Novel Club: Black Summoner 11, I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! 5, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 5, Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy 6 (the final volume), The Saga of Lioncourt 3, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 21, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 20 (the final volume), and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 5.

Ghost Ship has 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 4 and World’s End Harem 13, which begins the After World arc.

Cross Infinite World has The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up 2.

ASH: How satisfying is it?

MJ: I guess it’s satisfying times 2.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 15.

And there are early digital volumes. Adachi and Shimamura 10, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 3, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 20.

Happy Holidays from Manga the Week of!

SEAN: Another juggernaut of a week, as publishers try to get everything out before Christmas.

Airship has two print debuts. Qualia the Purple (Murasakiiro no Qualia) is a one-shot light novel that comes from over ten years ago, about a girl who can analyze people as if they were robots, and the one other person who accepts her for it.

ASH: The publisher describes it as a “romantic science fiction thriller with a yuri core,” which does sound like something I would enjoy.

SEAN: Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō is a historical drama from 2015, 11+ volumes so far. It’s about a swordsman who must hunt a demon… through TIME!

ASH: As does this one, if I’m being honest.

ANNA: I enjoy demon hunting swordsmen.

SEAN: Also in print: Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 6 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 12.

And we get early digital releases for Loner Life in Another World 4 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 2.

Ghost Ship gives us Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 9-10.

J-Novel Club has some print titles. Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 12th manga volume, By the Grace of the Gods 11, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Manga Omnibus, 4, Marginal Operation 12, Slayers Vol. 7-9 (a hardcover), and Tearmoon Empire 7.

ASH: I really should catch up with some of these.

SEAN: No digital debuts, but we do see the 9th manga volume of Black Summoner, The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 2, Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 8, Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight 15 (now caught up with Japan), the third manga volume of Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, the third manga volume of Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It!, Re:RE — Reincarnator Executioner 2 (a final volume?), and Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 7.

Kodansha hunting time. Print books: Attack on Titan Omnibus 8, Go! Go! Loser Ranger 2, Lovesick Ellie 7, Orient 12, and Sayonara Football 14.

ANNA: Always happy to see more Lovesick Ellie, I need to get caught up.

SEAN: Digitally, there is A Condition Called Love 11, Giant Killing 34, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 11, My Maid, Miss Kishi 6 (the final volume), Police in a Pod 19, Tokyo Revengers 28, and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 7.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Giant Killing!

SEAN: One Peace has the debut of Captain Corinth: The Galactic Navy Officer Becomes an Adventurer (Kochuu Gunshikan, Boukensha ni Naru), a fantasy AND SF title from Dengeki Playstation. A spaceship captain lands on a fantasy planet.

ASH: Gotta love a good genre mash-up!

SEAN: Debuting for Seven Seas is a Mature title that is apparently too gay for Ghost Ship, however. Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! (Asumi-chan wa Les Fuuzoku ni Kyoumi ga Arimasu!) is from Comic Yuri Hime, and is about a girl searching for her childhood friend… in said brothels.

ASH: Well then!

SEAN: There’s also I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (OreAku, Ore wa Seikan Kokka no Akutoku Ryoushu!), the manga adaptation of the light novel SS already releases. It runs in Comic Gardo.

On the danmei side we get Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi 4.

ASH: Yay! This one’s still my favorite from the author.

SEAN: For manga: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 2, CANDY AND CIGARETTES 2, Dungeon People 2, Kemono Jihen 3, Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 2, The Kingdoms of Ruin 5, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 6, The Summer You Were There 2, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 8, Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 7, and Yakuza Reincarnation 4.

MICHELLE: I look forward to reading more Kemono Jihen.

SEAN: Square Enix has YoRHa: Pearl Harbor Descent Record – A NieR:Automata Story (YoRHa: Shinjuwan Kouka Sakusen Kiroku), which should speak for itself. It runs in Manga Up!.

SuBLime debuts Midnight Rain, a one-shot BL title from b-Boy P!. Two men struggling with life find each other.

MICHELLE: This sounds like my sort of BL.

ASH: I do enjoy this particular sort, too.

SEAN: And there’s also Coyote 4.

Viz Media gives us Call of the Night 10, Komi Can’t Communicate 22, Orochi: The Perfect Edition 3, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 5, and Sakamoto Days 5.

ASH: Still glad to see Orochi being released, even if I still need to read the volumes I already have.

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (Kon’ya, Sekai kara Kono Koi ga Kiete mo) is another in the “one-shot depressing teenage romance” books.

ASH: There are a few of those, to be sure.

ANNA: Not sure if I’m in the mood for that right now.

SEAN: The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices (Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru) has a BL lover reincarnated into a world where her brother is in a romance with another man. But this means no heirs, so it’s a political marriage for her. Can she find true love despite this?

ASH: That’s a pretty great title if nothing else.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Another 2001 (the third in the Another series), The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 7, The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time 4, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 7, In the Land of Leadale 7, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 3, Orc Eroica 3, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (the 9th in the series), Reign of the Seven Spellblades 7, Solo Leveling 6, and The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess 3.

Yen Press has a new omnibus edition of K-On!. This collects the four main books in the series (but not the college book).

ASH: That takes me back!

SEAN: There’s also Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book, a guide to the series.

And Puella Magi Oriko Magica: The Complete Omnibus Edition, which is what it says.

Shy is a new shonen series from Weekly Shonen Champion. A young girl named Shy is the superhero who’s there to protect Japan. Unfortunately, shy is also her personality.

Yen Press also has Bungo Stray Dogs: Another Story 2, The Fiancee Chosen by the Ring 3, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 9, From the Red Fog 3, Fruits Basket Another 4 (the final volume), Heterogenia Linguistico 4, I Cannot Reach You 5, Interspecies Reviewers 7, Kakegurui Twin 12, Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 14, Kowloon Generic Romance 2, Let This Grieving Soul Retire! 4, Love and Heart 6, Love at Fourteen 12 (the final volume), Lust Geass 6, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 3, Mint Chocolate 6, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 4, Phantom Tales of the Night 10, Plunderer 10 (the final volume? The omnibuses make it unclear), Run on Your New Legs 3, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 4, Tales of the Kingdom 2, Teasing Master Takagi-san 16, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 12, Val x Love 13, and Your Turn to Die: Majority Vote Death Game 3.

MICHELLE: Huh. I thought Fruits Basket Another was already over!

ASH: Wow, that’s a lot from Yen!

SEAN: Any presents among these volumes?

SEAN: It’s the week of Anime NYC, so I think a lot of publishers are preparing for the con instead.

ASH: That’s fair.

SEAN: Airship starts us off with print volumes for I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 2 and I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 3.

And we get early digital for Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 7, aka Accomplishments of the Duke’s Wife 2.

Ghost Ship has the 5th volume of Do You Like Big Girls?.

J-Novel Club has a few titles. Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 12 (which is now caught up with Japan), Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade 2, Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! 2 (the final volume), Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke 2, Infinite Dendrogram’s 10th manga volume, Magic Knight of the Old Ways 4, Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! 2 (also a final volume), and Rebuild World Volume 1 Part 2.

ASH: That is a few!

SEAN: Kodansha has a print debut, As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World (Tensei Kizoku Kantei Sukiru de Nariagaru – Jakushou Ryouchi o Uketsuidanode, Yuushuuna Jinzai o Fuyashite Itara, Saikyou Ryouchi ni Natteta). You can probably guess what it’s about from the title, as always. It runs in Magazine Pocket.

Also from Kodansha: An Older Guy’s First VR Love (VR Ojisan no Hatsukoi). This one-volume title from Zero-Sum Online is apparently BL and yuri, probably as it’s a “guy in real life, girl in game” series. It’s also a tragedy.

MICHELLE: Huh.

ASH: Hmmm.

MJ: Well.

SEAN: Hell in a Bottle: Maiden’s Bookshelf is a new series that takes classic short stories and gives them artbook art. This one features the 1928 story Hell in a Bottle by Kyusaku Yumeno.

ASH: I didn’t realize this was going to be a series, but I’m absolutely here for it!

MJ: …for a split second, I read this as “Hell in a Bottle: Manga Bookshelf,” and I worried about what I’ve been missing.

SEAN: And Kodansha’s light novel line debuts with The Dawn of the Witch, the sequel to the very popular (and unlicensed) Grimoire of Zero series. Why not license that, you may ask? Because Grimoire of Zero is a Dengeki Bunko series. In any case, this is theoretically readable without prior knowledge of the first series. A young man with amnesia is recruited by the traditional blonde-haired, immortal girl who nevertheless looks 10 years old.

Also in print, Attack on Titan Omnibus 7, Eden’s Zero 19, Fire Force 29, and Rent-A-(Really-Shy!)-Girlfriend 3.

We don’t know digital titles for next week… or this week. But Kodansha finally announced titles they already released LAST week. We got The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 7, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 3, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 29, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 5. Kodansha’s main site is still under maintenance.

KUMA has a revised and expanded version of Canis: Dear Mr. Rain.

ASH: Interesting.

SEAN: One Peace Books gives us Hinamatsuri 17.

Seven Seas has a new novel debut in its danmei line: The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun. AKA 2ha. The plot is basically a revenge fantasy with a dollop of “traveling back to my younger self to change the past”, but the BL stops our protagonist in his tracks.

MICHELLE: I’ve heard good things about this. And smutty things.

ANNA: I mean, I think that BL would often stop protagonists in their tracks.

ASH: I’ve been looking forward to giving thus series a try.

MJ: I mean, hasn’t the BL stopped all of us in our tracks at some point or another?

SEAN: The other debut is Futari Escape, a Comic Yuri Hime series about an adult couple trying to avoid responsibilities any way they can. I still am not tired of yuri couples who aren’t in school.

ASH: Neither am I!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor 15, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest ZERO 7, The Dungeon of Black Company 8, Even Though We’re Adults 5, Failed Princesses 6 (the final volume), The Tale of the Outcasts 6, This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 4, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6, and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 2.

MICHELLE: I really need to read Even Though We’re Adults.

ASH: I’ve been collecting the series, but haven’t actually read it yet…

SEAN: Square Enix gives us By the Grace of the Gods 6.

Lastly, Viz Media has Asadora! 6, BEASTARS 21, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 9, Requiem of the Rose King 16, Rooster Fighter 2, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 8.

MICHELLE: Ooh, more Rose King.

ANNA: Yay for angst!

ASH: Always!

MJ: All of the above!

SEAN: Told you it was a short week. Don’t worry, we’ll make up for it the week after next.

SEAN: Is it Halloween yet? Oh my God, it’s already past! You fools! You absolute fools!

ASH: The time! How it flies!

SEAN: We start with Airship’s print releases, as they’ve got Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash 2, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 5, and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 2.

And we get an early digital release for Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 6.

Cross Infinite World has a new light novel, The Strongest Knight is Actually a Cross-Dressing Noblewoman?! (Hyōgetsu no Kishi wa Dansō Reijō: Naze ka Dekiai Sarete Imasu). A young woman has to disguise herself as a man in order to become a knight… and possibly lead the way to an order of female knights!

ASH: Okay, that could be good.

ANNA: I enjoy cross dressing female knights!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 41st volume of Berserk, the last one drawn by Kentaro Miura before his tragic death.

ASH: This series is a touchstone for me; Miura is missed by so many.

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Ayakashi Triangle, the series that broke the online manga apps. From the creator of To-Love-Ru, it is a “gender-bending romance”, but let’s face it, you know this author, it’s T&A and more T&A.

Also from Ghost Ship: I’m Not Meat 2, It’s Just Not My Night! – Tale of a Fallen Vampire Queen 2, and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 21.

Some print from J-Novel Club. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm 15 and An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 13.

ASH: Obligatory, “Yay, Bookworm!”

SEAN: Digitally we see the debut of the Rebuild World manga. J-Novel Club already put out the light novel version. This runs in Dengeki Maoh.

And we also get Doll-Kara 3, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 5, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 40, and Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 2.

Kaiten Books has a new digital release: The Bottom-Tier Baron’s Accidental Rise to the Top (Teihen Ryoushu no Kanchigai Eiyuutan). This Comic Gardo series honestly sounds like The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt on hard mode.

Kodansha is offering the Complete Edition of No Longer Human that Usamaru Furuya did a while back. Definitely more for Furuya fans than Osamu Dazai fans, I’d say.

ASH: That’s a fair assessment. I’m really glad to see this coming back into print, though.

SEAN: And we also get a complete edition of The Ghost in the Shell. Minus that one page, y’know.

Also in print: Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 2 Box Set, which comes with a new ending that isn’t godawful (OK, I lie, it doesn’t), Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 13, A Galaxy Next Door 3, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 2, and Orient 10.

I don’t know what’s coming out digitally due to the way Kodansha updates its site after its end-of-month announcements. Sorry!

Another pile of Seven Seas debuts. Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten (Hiroware Koneko to Moto Yakuza) is from Mag Garden’s MAGxiv, and means we get another week in a row of adorable cat manga.

ASH: So many ex-yakuza and cat manga these days! It was only a matter of time before we’d get this particular combo.

SEAN: I’m a Terminal Cancer Patient, but I’m Fine (Mikkigan demo Genki desu 38-sai) is a biographical manga about, well, the artist’s life with colon cancer. It ran in Flex Comic’s Comic Polaris.

ASH: I do like that Seven Seas continues to release biographical manga.

SEAN: Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World (Isekai de Tochi wo Katte Noujou wo Tsukurou) runs in Gentosha’s Comic Boost. Do you like Farming Life in Another World and wish there was a version with more mermaids? This is it.

Also from Seven Seas: The 4th and final volume of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong, which has short stories set around the main action and after it. This also has a special edition and a Barnes and Noble special edition.

ASH: Oh!

SEAN: And there is The Demon Girl Next Door 6 and The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World 4.

Viz Media debuts a new Shonen Jump manga, Blue Box (Ao no Hako). A guy on the boy’s badminton team falls for a girl on the girl’s basketball team. Can their love survive being a non-BL-tinged sports manga in Shonen Jump? Seriously, though, I’ve heard this is excellent.

MICHELLE: I am here for it.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: One of my kids really likes this.

MJ: I may miss the BL fanservice, but girl’s basketball more than makes up for it.

SEAN: We also see The Elusive Samurai 3, The King’s Beast 8, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 4, Natsume’s Book of Friends 27, One-Punch Man 24, and Skip Beat! 47.

MICHELLE: Insert Skip Beat! squee here. I also look forward to getting caught up on Natsume.

ASH: Excellent series, both.

ANNA: Extra Yay! for Skip Beat!.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press has Thermae Romae: The Complete Omnibus (it apparently weighs almost 7 pounds) and The Detective Is Already Dead 3.

ASH: Thermae Romae provided me with such delight when it was first released; so glad to see it available again.

SEAN: Since you didn’t get any candy, what manga are you getting?

SEAN: Is it Halloween yet? Still no.

Yen On has The Angel Next Door Spoilers Me Rotten 4 and Baccano! 20.

And Yen Press’s sole release is I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 5.

Viz Media’s debut is a one-shot horror manga from Junji Ito, Black Paradox. It ran in Big Comic Spirits. Four suicidal people meet up and have strange things befall them.

MICHELLE: It is the perfect season for some Junji Ito!

ASH: That it is!

ANNA: Sounds quite spooky and depressing.

SEAN: Viz also has a light novel, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — The Flower of Happiness. It actually looks to be a short story collection.

And we get a 7th volume of everyone’s favorite yuri trainwreck, How Do We Relationship?.

MICHELLE: I’m so far behind on this!

ASH: I am, too, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read.

SEAN: Tokyopop has a 3rd volume of I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an Otome Game but the Boys Love Me Anyway!.

Steamship has the 2nd volume of Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts.

Square Enix Manga gives us A Man and His Cat 7.

MICHELLE: Also so far behind on this!

SEAN: Seven Seas wraps up its month of cat manga debuts with Yokai Cats (Neko Youkai). This Takeshobo series is from the creator of The Evil Secret Society of Cats, which debuted… erm, last week. The plot is the title.

ASH: Oh, more cats! And yokai, too? I should probably give it a try, then.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Ancient Magus’ Bride 16, MoMo -the blood taker- 2, the 5th and final volume of Necromance, Reincarnated as a Sword 9, Sakurai-san Wants to Be Noticed 2, and Servamp 17.

MICHELLE: It’s also the perfect season for The Ancient Magus’ Bride!

ASH: It’s true!

SEAN: One Peace Books has Multi-Mind Mayhem 5.

Kodansha has a print debut: Skygrazer (Getenrou). This one-shot ran in Kodansha’s Mephisto, and is from the creator of Heavenly Delusion. A detective is investigating a series of inter-linked cases (and indeed inter-linked short story chapters) at a weird apartment.

MICHELLE: This sounds like it could be my sort of thing!

ASH: Count me curious, too.

ANNA: All these things sound interesting.

SEAN: Also in print: Love and Lies 12, which comes in two variations: The Lilina Ending and The Misaki Ending. Is this a new trend in harem comedies to avoid fans sending death threats to the author? We Never Learn did it as well. At least Quintuplets made a choice.

ASH: Huh, that is a rather interesting trend.

SEAN: And also also in print: Shangri-La Frontier 2, Wandance 3, and Welcome to the Ballroom 11.

MICHELLE: I really enjoyed the first volume of Wandance. I read the first eight volumes of Welcome to the Ballroom, but after releases spread out exponentially, I sort of drifted away. Perhaps it’s time to return.

SEAN: Digitally, Kodansha gives us Burn the House Down 5, Koigakubo-kun Stole My First Time 3, Lightning and Romance 3, the 4th and final volume of My Tentative Name, My Wonderful World 4, the 3rd and final volume of Nighttime for Just Us Two, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 6, and ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 6.

MICHELLE: Must read Burn the House Down and Nighttime for Just Us Two in the near future!

SEAN: From J-Novel Club we see the 4th Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers manga volume, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 4 Canto II, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 5, and Slayers 16.

Ghost Ship has a 3rd volume of The Witches of Adamas.

Denpa Books debuts Nana & Kaoru, a Young Animal title that will take you right back to the horny, horny days of your teenage years. This omnibus contains the first three volumes. The premise is basically “what if BDSM play made you a better person?”.

Also from Denpa: Heavenly Delusion 4. Which was actually last week, my bad. Denpa’s calendar can be hard to divine at times.

Lots of print debuts for Airship that we discussed when they got an early digital release. The one that isn’t is TITAN, a novel from the creator of Hello World. The premise is basically “what if the AI that controls the world needs therapy”?

ASH: This is most definitely within a subgenre I tend to read.

ANNA: What if we ALL need therapy?

SEAN: And we also see debuts in print for Vivy Prototype and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash.

As well as Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 18, Loner Life in Another World 3, and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 6.

Digitally, there’s Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 4 and The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 7.

No candy yet. Have some manga instead.

SEAN: Manga the Week of is brought to you this week by Weetabix.

MICHELLE: I will never not associate Weetabix with Spike and Giles.

ASH: Now that you mention it!

SEAN: We start with Yen On, which gives us In the Land of Leadale 6, Magistellus Bad Trip 2, and Sasaki and Peeps 2.

While Yen Press has The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time 2 and Kaiju Girl Caramelise 6.

ASH: Oh, I somehow didn’t realize that Kaiju Girl Caramelise was an ongoing series.

SEAN: Viz Media debuts Dandadan, a Shonen Jump + title. A boy believes in aliens, but thinks ghosts are the bunk. A girl in his school believes the exact opposite. Together they will discover… that aliens and ghosts are too spicy for Shonen Jump’s app, I can tell you that.

ASH: Ha!

Also from Viz: Case Closed 84, Kaiju No. 8 4, Komi Can’t Communicate 21, Sakamoto Days 4, and Splatoon 15.

Tokyopop has a shoujo debut, Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke (Moto, Ochikobore Koushaku Reijou desu). J-Novel Club releases the light novel of this. The manga runs in MAGCOMI. It’s essentially a Villainess story, even if the lead isn’t evil in the original.

They also have a new one-shot, Hyperventilation. This BL manwha features two guys who meet again at a high school reunion and rekindle things.

Titan Books debut Atom – The Beginning, which runs in Shogakukan’s Heros magazine. It is, as you may have guessed, a prequel to Tezuka’s Astro Boy.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: SuBLime has Black or White 5 and Moon & Sun 2 (the final volume).

ASH: Which reminds me that I’ve been meaning to read the first volume.

SEAN: Square Enix Manga gives us Beauty and the Feast 4, Hi Score Girl 9, and My Isekai Life 3.

Seven Seas once again has a number of debuts. Black and White: Tough Love at the Office (Shiro to Kuro) probably has that subtitle to set it apart from other manga with similar titles. Two women at the same office who can’t seem to stop a) beating the shit out of each other or b) having sex with each other have to team up to solve a mystery. It runs in Comic Ruelle.

ASH: Not the type of yuri series we often see.

SEAN: Hunting in Another World With My Elf Wife (Hokkaidou no Geneki Hunter ga Isekai ni Hourikoma Rete Mita – Elf Yome to Meguru Isekai Shuryou Life) is a MAGCOMI title. A hunter gets killed by a bear and ends up in a fantasy world… but he still has his shotgun!

SHWD is also from Comic Ruelle. It stands for Special Hazardous Waste Disposal, and has been described as “yuri buddy cop story meets horror”.

ASH: Another atypical combination!

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Cat Massage Therapy 3, Creepy Cat 4 (the final volume), The Duke of Death and His Maid 3, The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Deluxe Edition II, Kemono Jihen 2, Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More 3, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 6, and This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 3.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed the first volume of Kemono Jihen so look forward to the second.

ASH: I’m buying The Girl From the Other Side again; the deluxe edition is lovely.

SEAN: One Peace Books debuts Usotoki Rhetoric, a Bessatsu Hana to Yume title (!) about a girl who can hear lies teaming up with a detective in the mid-1920s.

MICHELLE: Ooooh. This sounds potentially fun!

ASH: It does!

SEAN: They’ve also got I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School 5.

Kodansha debuts Last Gender (Last Gender: Nanimono demo nai Watashitachi), an LGBT title about a hidden bar where people can explore different sides of themselves. It ran in Evening Magazine.

ASH: My curiosity is piqued.

SEAN: And they also have Shonen Note: Boy Soprano, a Morning Two title from the creator of Shimanami Tasogare. A middle school student with a wonderful soprano voice runs into issues growing up. This has been nominated for awards.

MICHELLE: I’ll definitely be checking this out.

ASH: I’ve really been looking forward to this one, too.

SEAN: And they have this weird poster book/artbook/massive thing, AKIRA: Art of Wall.

Also in print: The Ghost in the Shell: The Human Algorithm 3, Island in a Puddle 4, Lovesick Ellie 6, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 5, and Something’s Wrong With Us 11.

Digitally, we see The Fable 7, Giant Killing 33, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 10, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 4, My Maid, Miss Kishi 4, Police in a Pod 17, Quality Assurance in Another World 6, The Shadows of Who We Once Were 5, Tokyo Revengers 27, and Vampire Dormitory 7.

MICHELLE: One day I really will succeed in getting caught up on Giant Killing.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a light novel debut. Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta (Yuri no Ma ni Hasamareta Watashi ga, Ikioi de Futamata Shite Shimatta) features a girl who is best friends with her school’s yuri power couple. Sadly, that means everyone else hates her. She doesn’t like herself much either. Then… both of her friends, separately, ask her out. And she says yes. To both of them.

ASH: Oh, my!

SEAN: Also digital: The Apothecary Diaries 6, the 8th manga volume of An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Full Metal Panic! Short Stories 2, In Another World With My Smartphone 26, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 4, and The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 5.

Drawn and Quarterly are reissuing all four volumes of Shigeru Mizuki’s Showa: A History of Japan, with new cover art, as well as single volume Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths.

ASH: Very glad to see Mizuki’s work staying in print.

SEAN: And now we jump to Airship, which has some print light novels. We see the print debut of The Case Files of Jeweler Richard. There’s also Berserk of Gluttony 7, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 5, and I’m in Love with the Villainess 5 (the final volume).

ASH: I’ve been waiting for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard.

SEAN: And in early digital we see I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 2, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 3, and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 12.

Please enjoy this delicious manga made from whole grains. What are you eating next week?

SEAN: It’s October, so all your manga tastes like pumpkin spice. Go one, try a page.

MICHELLE: Why, it’s positively delightful!

SEAN: Airship first. After a long wait, mostly as the series switched publishers in Japan and new contracts needed to be written, we have the 14th volume of Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!. This is print AND digital, so no early stuff here.

There is an early digital debut, though, with The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash (Saijaku Tamer wa Gomihiroi no Tabi wo Hajimemashita). The premise sounds very similar to A Late Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, but we’ll see how this “my seemingly weak class and skills get me abused but they’re actually REALLY STRONG” series goes.

And we also have an early version of Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 3.

Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of I’d Rather Have a Cat than a Harem! Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game as a Cat-loving Villainess.

Dark Horse Comics gives us Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition 7.

ASH: Like Dark Horse’s other deluxe editions, these are hefty but beautiful volumes. I’m happily upgrading my collection.

Ghost Ship has a 5th volume of Sundome!! Milky Way.

A bunch of print for J-Novel Club. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 11th manga volume, By the Grace of the Gods 10, The Faraway Paladin’s 4th manga omnibus, In Another World With My Smartphone 24, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 7, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 8, and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 5.

The debut from J-Novel Club is Seventh. It’s the story of a noble who ends up cast from their family after being publicly disgraced, forced to try to find a way to survive. The catch is that this isn’t a villainess series, the lead character is a Duke. And not a villain. Then again, that younger sister of his looks suspiciously like an otome game heroine…

ASH: Hmmm…

SEAN: Also digital: Ascendance of a Bookworm 21, Holmes of Kyoto 11, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 4, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 8, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 4, Sweet Reincarnation 7, Tearmoon Empire’s 2nd manga volume, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 4.

Kodansha’s print debut is Be Very Afraid of Kanako Inuki! (Inuki Kanako no Daikyoufu!), a horror one-shot from the “queen of horror manga”. This has several of her most famous short stories, designed to terrify young girls. They ran in various magazines.

ANNA: OK, stories designed to terrify young girls sound interesting.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a try. Always game for new horror manga.

SEAN: I forgot to mention, the author of these stories also did School Zone, a horror manga Dark Horse put out long, long ago which was reviewed by our own Kate Dacey. http://mangacritic.mangabookshelf.com/2010/10/24/my-10-favorite-spooky-manga/

ASH: Oh, that’s a manga in good company!

SEAN: Also in print: Grand Blue Dreaming 17, Orient 10, Peach Boy Riverside 8, Rent-a-Girlfriend 14, Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 4, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 20, and Wandance 2.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Wandance was a lot of fun.

SEAN: As for digital… keeping in mind I am working from secondary sources… the debut is Raised by the Demon Kings! (Sodatechi Maou!). If you can imagine Three Men and a Baby but with rival demon kings, you’ve got this one. It ran in Magazine Special.

Also digital: The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 6, Changes of Heart 6, Chihayafuru 34, Desert Eagle 4, A Galaxy Next Door 3, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 2, I’ll Never Send a Selfie Again! 5, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 28, My Boyfriend in Orange 12, and Our Love Doesn’t Need a Happy Ending 3 (the final volume)

Some more debuts from Seven Seas. Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess (Jingai Hime-sama, Hajimemashita – Free Life Fantasy Online) is the manga version of a series that just had its light novel also licensed by Seven Seas. A newbie gamer gets a new VR game from her younger sister… but her character build is horrible! Now she’s a zombie.

Imaginary is a josei title from Rakuen Le Paradis. A young man reconnects with a childhood friend he never confessed to. Can he manage to bond with her anew?

MICHELLE: This looks potentially interesting!

ANNA: Yay for josei!

ASH: Yes, indeed!

SEAN: Night of the Living Cat runs in Comic Garden, and the premise is horrifyingly adorable. Instead of zombies, humans who pet cats become cats themselves!

ASH: Goodness!

SEAN: The Summer You Were There (Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata) is a Comic Yuri Hine series from the creator of The Girl I Want is So Handsome!. A shy girl is a romance writer, but when her classmate gets her hands on a manuscript, she suggests more writing experience… by the two of them dating!

Tentai Books theoretically has print releases for some of their recent digital-only light novels. We see From Toxic Classmate to Girlfriend Goals 1, I Kissed my Girlfriend’s Little Sister?! 1, There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular Right? 3, and You Like Me, Don’t You? So, Wanna Go Out With Me? 1.

Tokyopop has the 11th volume of Konohana Kitan.

Viz debuts Romantic Killer, a Shojo Beat romance series from Shonen Jump +. (There was a HUGE fight about this online, but look, it’s shoujo, get over where it ran. I can’t believe I’M the one saying that, but…) A girl who’s not all that interested in guys is moved to a virtual reality where there’s nothing BUT hot guys. I’ve heard this is quite fun.

ANNA: Wow, it must be difficult for her to be surrounded by so many hot guys.

SEAN: Also out next week: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 15, Dr. STONE 23, Moriarty the Patriot 9, My Hero Academia 32, My Love Mix-Up! 5, Snow White with the Red Hair 21, and Yona of the Dawn 37.

MICHELLE: Gotta get caught up on the Shojo Beat titles!

ANNA: Me too! Always glad to see a new volume of Yona.

ASH: Same!

SEAN: Yen On debuts Sugar Apple Fairy Tale, a fantasy romance novel series from the creator of Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower. The story of a candy crafter trying to become a Silver Sugar Master seems sweet as pie, but the “I’m purchasing a fairy, as they are treated like property in this world” will be a bar it’s going to have to clear.

ASH: The candy crafting side of things has potential, but… yeah.

SEAN: We also get Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 8.5, The Detective Is Already Dead 4, A Sister’s All You Need 13, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 10, and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 9.

Three debuts for Yen Press. Gahi-chan! runs in Comic Dengeki Daioh “g”, and has its sights firmly aimed at 14-year-old boys who love unrealistic body types. A manga artist finds his heroine has shown up on his door! She’s actually a yokai… who can eat his art and transform it into a suit of skin, which she then wears. Despite sounding like a horror premise, it’s an ecchi comedy.

ASH: The yokai part of that description caught my attention, but I’m not sure about the rest of it.

SEAN: Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet is a shoujo title from Margaret, from the creator of Daytime Shooting Star. A girl whose father has put their family in debt finds a job as a housekeeper to a surly novelist. What’s worse, she has to live there.

MICHELLE: Interesting that Yen is picking up these Margaret titles. This is the second one, after No Longer Heroine.

ANNA: Cool, I’m curious about this.

SEAN: And Unnamed Memory is the manga adaptation of the wonderful light novel series. It runs in Comic Dengeki Daioh.

Also from Yen: Angels of Death Episode.0 4, Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 3, Chained Soldier 2, 86–EIGHTY-SIX 3, The Eminence in Shadow 5, The Fiancee Chosen by the Ring 2, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 18, So I’m a Spider, So What? The Daily Lives of the Kumoko Sisters 4, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 16, and Yowamushi Pedal 21.

ASH: I’m finally close to being caught up with Yowamushi Pedal and have been enjoying the ride.

SEAN: I guess EVERYONE finally got their manga back from the printers. What are you getting?