Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Yona of the Dawn, Vol 17.

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Yona of the Dawn Volume 17 by Mizuho Kusanagi

I’m always curious when a new arc of Yona of the Dawn starts, because Kusanagi manages to create situations and plot elements that seem new and fresh in the context of a long-running series. At the same time she continues to explore themes that are present throughout the series with more depth, like Yona grappling with the legacy of her father’s lack of consideration and thought for the people who he used to rule.

Yona and her companions head towards the border of Kai, where they meet a young boy named Kalgan who proposes marriage to Yona after she shoots a bird to provide him with with some money. Kalgan wandered over from the Kai empire and is stranded, so Yona decides to escort him back to his village, a border town that has been fought over between Kai and Kohka for years. Yona’s Dragon Warriors begin to fall ill, and they need to recuperate for a time in the village where most of the residents are deeply suspicious of them. War is drawing near as well, as Su-Won and his army start to attack the Kai empire.

So far, most of the Dragon Warriors have gotten some solid character development and backstory in Yona of the Dawn, but Zeno has largely been an enigma. This volume finally showcases his unique abilities and role as Yona’s protector. For the Hak fans (and who isn’t a Hak fan!?) there are some great scenes of him taking on a wayward army, determined to take out their anger at losing a battle on innocent civilians. As Yona learns more and more about the dark side of human nature, she becomes more resolute about helping people. I’m curious to see how she manages to resolve the current crisis, I’m not sure if even she can pull of pacifying an angry army. This series is consistently rewarding to read, and one of the best fantasy shoujo series that Shojo Beat has published.

Manga the Week of 4/24/19

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SEAN: Sometimes publishers surprise you.

But before we get to the surprise, Cross Infinite World has the 2nd novel for Obsessions of an Otome Gamer. I found the first volume far better than expected… and far longer than expected. I look forward to this, but may have to set aside extra time for it.

J-Novel Club has a 5th volume of An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride.

Kodansha, print-wise, has Attack on Titan: Before the Fall 16, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 10, and To Your Eternity 9.

ASH: To Your Eternity continues to be an excellent series.

SEAN: But let’s face it, it’s all about the digitals this week. Another “this will never get licensed” title has been licensed, digital-only. Saint Young Men is a typical slice-of-life comedy about two men sharing a small apartment in modern Japan. Oh, yes, and they’re Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha. Which explains why this was not licensed for so long. It’s by the creator of Arakawa Under the Bridge, and is (believe it or not) far less weird than that title.

MICHELLE: Finally! I’m so excited for this.

MJ: I can’t remember the last time I was so surprised/thrilled about a release. I mean, I never thought this could happen in the US, even as a digital release.

ANNA: Me too! It is so nice to be surprised like this!

ASH: This really is fantastic news! Kodansha is technically calling this a digital-first release, so there may be a slim possibility that a print edition may eventually be released. It’s like a miracle that it was licensed at all, so I’m hoping for another one!

SEAN: In less controversial digital titles, we see Ace of the Diamond 22, Ao-chan Can’t Study! 6, Asahi-sempai’s Favorite 2, Blissful Land 3, Defying Kurosaki-kun 8, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 12, Kakafukaka 6, Mikami-sensei’s Way of Love 4, My Boy in Blue 8, and Tokyo Alice 10. That’s a lot.

MICHELLE: Forsooth.

SEAN: Oh yes, and Kodansha license rescued Initial D and are releasing about 30 million volumes of it digitally. Which is, as Initial D fans known, only about 1/4 of the total volumes.

MICHELLE: I was literally thinking about Initial D earlier today!

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 3, Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage 8, How to Train Magical Beasts 3, Sorry for My Familiar 4, and Species Domain 6.

ASH: How to Train Magical Beasts has been a nice series so far.

SEAN: Tokyopop lists Aria the Masterpiece 2 and Konohana Kitan 4 as coming out next week, though Amazon seems to disagree.

Viz has, in a digital debut, the first seven volumes of Banana Fish, a somewhat obscure old shoujo series that I’m sure the rest of Manga Bookshelf has never heard of.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

MJ: What kind of title is that? “Banana Fish.” Huh. Though, okay, I wish we were getting a deluxe print reissue instead.

ANNA: Sweet, maybe I will finally read it!

ASH: I would absolutely buy the series again if it was getting a new print deluxe edition. But I’m really happy that it’s back in print at all, and now available digitally, too.

SEAN: It also has a 9th volume, digital-only, of élDLIVE, from the creator of Reborn! (remember Reborn!? Years ago? Cancelled by Viz?).

MICHELLE: I am really hoping VIZ does more digital-only titles.

SEAN: Yen has a digital debut of its own, as if to say that those other two aren’t good enough. ALL of Fruits Basket is out next week digitally. That’s twelve omnibuses. Now you can read it on your phone (and also probably start crying in public, so don’t do that).

MJ: This is pretty sweet.

SEAN: Yen’s print manga is the week after next, but we do get this month’s novels. The debut is Penguin Highway, another in Yen’s ongoing series of “license the novel with a recent popular movie”. The novel is apparently really good, though, and has won the Nihon SF Taisho Award. Expect coming-of-age adventure!

ASH: I’ll be picking this one up!

There’s also Baccano! 10 (we promise, Monica is in the one after this, Baccano! fans), The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 13, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years 4, KonoSuba 8, Re: ZERO EX 3, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 5.

Jesus Christ, that’s some good manga. (Sorry.) (OK, not that sorry.)

Pick of the Week: Easter Manga Treats

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SEAN: Some good stuff this week: a 2nd Ran the Peerless Beauty, the Restaurant to Another World novel, a new Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction and Golden Kamuy, but I’m going with the pretty debut, Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest, because man, it looks pretty.

MICHELLE: And it appears to be a mystery! Thus, it’s my pick as well.

ANNA: I’m halfway into the second volume of Ran and the Grey World and I’m probably going to drop that series, so I’m hoping that Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest has a better story to go with the beautiful art.

ASH: While I’m certainly interested in Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest, a new Junji Ito collection is being released upon the world in English this week. I can’t help it, Smashed is my pick! (Though I would guess it will likewise be visually striking, but for entirely different reasons…)

KATE: I’m gonna need a bigger boat–that’s an amazing manga haul! Ran and the Gray World didn’t do much for me, but I’m loving just about everything else on the MB Battle Robot’s shopping list, from the latest Dead Dead Demon’s Dedededestruction to Go With the Clouds, North-by-Northwest and Smashed.

MJ: I was a huge fan of the artwork in Ran and the Gray World, so I’ll join a number of my colleagues here and go with Go With the Clouds, North-by-Northwest as my pick this week! I’m very interested in this!

Manga the Week of 4/17/19

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SEAN: A Week of much excitement and prizes!

Dark Horse has a Berserk light novel (light? Berserk?) called The Flame Dragon Knight.

ASH: Ha! Surprising no one, I’ll be picking this up.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a 13th Little Apocalypse and an 8th Outbreak Company.

Kodansha doesn’t seem to have any debuts, but we do get Aho-Girl 12 and Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 4.

Digitally there is All Out!! 9, Altair: A Record of Battles 10, Back Street Girls 10, DAYS 13, Kira-kun Today 6, Ran he Peerless Beauty 2, and Tokyo Revengers 6. I’m definitely reading another Ran.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

MJ: Okay, I still haven’t read the first Ran, but I need to!

MICHELLE: It has a certain Kimi ni Todoke quality about it.

One Peace has a 10th manga volume for polarizing title The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas has a digital light novel debut with Restaurant to Another World (Isekai Shokudou). I’ve read the manga on Crunchyroll’s site, so am looking forward to a prose version. You can probably guess the premise.

ASH: You can probably guess that I’ll be giving the series a try later this year (when it debuts in print).

SEAN: They’ve also got the 4th Clockwork Planet novel (print edition), Getter Robo Devolution 3, Himouto Umaru-chan 5, and If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord 3 (manga version).

This should have been on last week’s list, but Sol Press have 2nd volumes for their light novels Battle Divas and Strongest Gamer.

ASH: I’d forgotten about Sol Press!

SEAN: Vertical Comics debuts Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest (Hokuhokusei ni Kumo to Ike), the newest series from the creator of Ran and the Gray World, runs in Harta magazine, and is apparently as gorgeous as its older sister manga.

MICHELLE: Ooh, neat!

ANNA: I haven’t read the second volume of Ran and the Gray World yet, but I suspect that series is going to be too male gazey for me, I’ll be checking out reviews of North-by-Northwest.

MJ: Sign me up for this!

SEAN: Viz, as if to say to hold off on Pick of the Week till they show up, debuts a Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind artbook, as well as a new Junji Ito Story Collection, Smashed.

ASH: Smashing!

MJ: Oooooooh that artbook…

SEAN: And they have the 5th Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, the 6th and mercifully final Fire Punch, a 9th Golden Kamuy (which can be as disturbing as Fire Punch was at times, but draws me in far more), and Tokyo Ghoul;re 10.

ASH: More Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction and Golden Kamuy for me!

ANNA: I’m excited for more Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction!

SEAN: Are you excited. I’m excited. (And I just can’t hide… sorry.)

Pick of the Week: Witches, Maidens and Yokai

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MICHELLE: Well, I guess I’ll be predictable and go for the big debut this week—Witch Hat Atelier looks very charming. I desperately hope that, unlike a certain other seinen series with a young female protagonist with magical powers, there are no adult creepers in sight!

SEAN: I agree, but I think the rest of MB will as well, so I’ll go for O Maidens in Your Savage Season, though I may be jumping the gun as only Kodansha’s own site lists it as coming out this week. It has a great pedigree, though, and I can’t resist a title like that.

ASH: There are plenty releases this week that I’m looking forward to, including the two that have been mentioned so far, but my pick actually goes to Kitaro’s Yokai Battles. It’s been so long since the last volume was released, and I’m always delighted by the series.

KATE: My comic shop got Witch Hat Atelier last week and it’s every bit as good as I hoped it would be. I’m getting a strong Miyazaki vibe from it — no squicky seinen overtones, no sappiness. If anything, it reminded me of Howl’s Moving Castle, as it has the rhythms and dramatic conflicts of a great children’s fantasy novel.

MICHELLE: That’s a very encouraging comparison!

ANNA: I think I’m going to throw in for Witch Hat Atelier as well, it sounds very appealing!

MJ: I feel like a sheep, but honestly I’m all about Witch Hat Atelier, especially since Kate has confirmed an absence of smarm which, like Michelle, was the only question giving me pause. So that’s my pick, too!

Ao Haru Ride, Vol 4

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Ao Haru Ride Volume 4 by Io Sakisaka

Oh, the agony of teenage love triangles! Ao Haru Ride explores this in the form of two best friends having crushes on the same boy, but the unique twist here is that they actually manage to remain friends as they wrestle with their emotions. The fact that one of the characters is dealing with profound loss creates a backdrop of melancholy that makes the teen romance have a timeless and nostalgic quality.

Ao Haru Ride 4

This volume delves more into Kou’s backstory as the recently formed friend group of Futuba, Yuri, Shuko and Aya are determined not to let Kou fail out of school. Kou’s issues are not because of a lack of ability, but he has difficulty getting himself to truly try at anything. Kou is still struggling with the death of his mother, and the reader gets a flashback to see how he was put into a caregiving role during her illness at a young age. Kou’s walls of isolation from his friends don’t last forever as Futuba is determined to get through to him. There’s some great paneling and action sequences as they tumble together down a hill in a scene made for a romantic movie. As Kou embraces Futuba, she stays still so he won’t be embarrassed by her seeing him cry.

One of the earlier themes in Ao Haru Ride is Futuba’s difficulty relating to traditionally feminine behaviors, and this is brought out again when the group decides to attend a summer festival together. Yuri shows up looking strategically adorable in a yukata, and Futuba starts to feel jealous. But when Kou sees another boy talking to Futuba it is clear that he’s not as indifferent as he pretends to be. Yuri observes his reactions, but the girls continue to affirm their own friendship even while navigating their crushes. Overall, this series just continues to be wonderfully executed shoujo. Sakisaka excels at capturing quiet moments between the characters that show the glimmerings of first love.

Manga the Week of 4/10/19

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SEAN: Last week we gushed about Viz, I suspect this week will be Kodansha, with two killer debuts. (Debuts reflect release date on Kodansha’s website, not Amazon)

But first, Drawn & Quarterly has a new Kitaro volume, Kitaro’s Yokai Battles.

ASH: Yes! It seems like forever since the last Kitaro release.

SEAN: J-Novel Club snuck Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 20 out on me for this week, plus we also have Cooking with Wild Game 2 and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 4 next week.

Kodansha has a bevy of digital, including a debut. The title is My Pink Is Overflowing (Atashi no Pink ga Afurechau), which sounds filthy, and runs in Ane Friend. It’s about a girl who finds out her manager at work is a virgin, which excites her to no end. This sounds so trashy that I have to read it.

MICHELLE: After having given in to trashy temptations with Love Massage, I think I’ll sit this one out. :)

ANNA: Me too, there’s plenty of other things to catch up on instead.

MJ: Yeah, so not into this. Probably. Well, maybe.

SEAN: Also digitally? The third and final Crocodile Baron, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 6, Love Massage! Melting Beauty Treatment 2, My Sweet Girl 2, The Walls Between Us 5, and World’s End and Apricot Jam 3.

MICHELLE: I’m reading several of these (hint: not Love Massage). World’s End in particular is better than I thought it would be, given its premise.

SEAN: We also have some print releases from Kodansha. O Maidens in Your Savage Season (Araburu Kisetsu no Otomedomo yo) is written by Mari Okada, famed anime screenwriter whose autobiography was put out by J-Novel Club, and drawn by Nao Emoto, who did Forget Me Not. It’s a Bessatsu Shonen title with an anime coming out this summer, and is a coming of age drama starring five high school girls.

ASH: I’m particularly interested in this due to Okada’s involvement.

MJ: That sounds interesting!

SEAN: There’s also Witch Hat Atelier, which runs in Morning Two, looks AMAZING, is award-winning, and follows a girl who becomes a witch’s apprentice so she can learn magic to save her mother from… um… well, her own impetuousness.

MICHELLE: It’ll be interesting to compare this to Ran and the Gray World.

ASH: I’ve heard really good things about this title.

ANNA: I’m officially intrigued.

MJ: I mean, even just the title. Definitely interested in this.

SEAN: And we have Attack on Titan 27, Grand Blue Dreaming 5, Land of the Lustrous 8, and Tokyo Tarareba Girls 6.

ASH: I’ll definitely be picking up those last two!

Seven Seas gives us Space Battleship Yamato: The Complete Collection. It’s so old it ran in Akita Shoten’s Bouken Ou, which no longer exists, and is better known in North America for its adaptation as a cartoon, Star Blazers. As with all Matsumoto, it’s a must-buy hardcover.

ASH: Yup. Picking this one up, too.

ANNA: Yay!

SEAN: And they also have, digitally, the 6th Make My Abilities Average! novel. Print will come later.

Tokyopop has a 4th Konohana Kitan.

Vertical has the first Knights of Sidonia Master Edition, with larger size, 2.5 volumes per omnibus, and colored inserts. Come for the bear, stay for the strangest harem manga ever.

And Viz ends things next week, as we have a NeiR:Aotomata short story volume called Short Story Long.

As well as Case Closed 70, Magi 35, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 6.

ASH: Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is a consistently fun series.

ANNA: I need to get caught up!

SEAN: There’s some heavy hitters out next week. What’ve you got?

Pick of the Week: We Love Viz

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SEAN: I mean, can I pick Viz’s releases as a unit? If not, I will certainly pick My Hero Academia as a unit. With Vol. 18 of the main series (which wraps up the “Overhaul” arc), the 4th Vigilantes, and the debut of the light novels, there’s enough here to satisfy any fan.

ASH: Viz really has most of my attention this week, too! But as previously mentioned, it’s the Shojo Beat fantasy titles that are holding my heart. If I can only pick one of them it would be Yona of the Dawn, but I’m also very much enjoying The Water Dragon’s Bride.

MICHELLE: Oh, man. Decisions! I really do love both of the shoujo titles singled out by Ash, but my Academia love knows no bounds. Ultimately, I have to go with “What Sean said.”

KATE: I won’t lie: The Promised Neverland is 100% pure manga crack, and I’m jonesing for my next fix. The story gets darker with every turn, but Emma’s pluck, brains, and heart make me optimistic that at least SOME of the escapees will eventually find their way to safety.

ANNA: I’m with Ash, Viz’s shoujo fantasy titles are always something to celebrate.

MJ: I’m going to go with the latest volume of Ao Haru Ride! I feel like I should be on the Promised Neverland bandwagon, but I’m a sucker for Viz shoujo, so here we are.

Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, vol 2

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Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, Volume 2 by Waco Ioka, Midori Yuma and Laruha

I found the first volume of this series pleasant enough, but I wasn’t sure how well it would measure up to the heights of other Shojo Beat series like Kamisama Kiss or Demon Prince of Momochi House. Reading the second volume of Kakuriyo reminded me that it is always good to give a manga series a couple volumes to settle into itself, and I found some of the mysteries being set up in the second volume broadened the world building a bit more to capture my interest.

Kakuriyo 2

The volume opens with Aoi stumbling across a Tengu in front of the abandoned cafe that she’s temporarily inhabiting in the spirit world. The elderly man reminds her of her grandfather, and she proceeds to feed him her extra food. As she introduces herself to Lord Matsuba, he realizes that she’s Shiro’s granddaughter and starts laughing with his recollections. He shares some of his memories and goes on his way. The next morning Aoi finds out that she’s stumbled into spirit world diplomatic relations, as Lord Matsuba is extremely powerful. He finds it outrageous that she’s sleeping in a storeroom and cooking, and offers to bring her to his mountain where she can be a bride for one of his sons. He also gifts her with a special fan. Aoi is determined to find her own path and declines his offer, but her worth in the spirit world has definitely increased.

The world building in this volume was also entertaining, as Aoi gets a chance to see the spirit world outside of the inn, and meets Suzuran, a geisha who is also the sister of the receptionist. It turns out that Kijin is much more protective towards the people who work for him than Aoi was assuming. She also gets a chance to win over one of her earlier enemies in this volume, again due to the power of her cooking tailored towards the individual. Seeing the world open up a little more in this second volume drew me into the story much more than the first, and I’m intrigued by the references to Aoi’s grandfather and her growing friendship with the fox spirit Ginji, who seems to remind Aoi of her grandfather in mysterious ways. Seeing Aoi’s human ways start to influence the existing relationships between the spirits is interesting, and I’m curious to see how she begins to wield more influence due to her cooking habits and approach to human-spirit world relationships.

I still wish the art for this series had a bit more of a unique twist to it, but I enjoyed seeing the airships of the spirit world, the faceless handmaidens who prepare Aoi for an outing, and the continued practices of wearing masks, as Aoi has to hide her human nature when she’s away from the relative safety of the inn. I think I’m starting to see more signs of a deeper story emerge in the second volume of Kakuriyo: Bed and Breakfast for Spirits, so I am curious to see how it unfolds.

Manga the Week of 4/3/19

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SEAN: Normally I have fairly strict rules about Manga the Week of. Alphabetical by publisher, then alphabetical by title (aside from Vol. 1s). But occasionally I decide to shake things up and go… in reverse! Let’s do that.

That does mean we start with Yen On, which (assuming no delays till 2025) has the 8th volume of No Game No Life.

And now Viz, aka the reason I reversed things, because OMG the Viz next week is AMAZING. There are technically no debuts, but we do get (drum roll please)…

—Yona of the Dawn 16, one of the best manga being published.
—We Never Learn 3, a promising romantic comedy.
—The Water Dragon’s Bride 9, headed towards its climax.
—Takane & Hana 8, still funny enough to make me ignore the age difference.
—The Promised Neverland 9, one of the best manga being published.
—Platinum End 8, which… eh. MJlikes it. I think.
—My Hero Academia, one of the best manga being published. Not only that…
—My Hero Academia Vigilantes 4, a series some like better than its parent. Not only THAT, but…
—My Hero Academia: School Briefs, a new light novel spinoff with illustrations by the creator, with this first volume focusing on Parent’s Day.
–the final 4th volume of Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, which isn’t great but it’s Nisioisin so I can’t really dis it.
—Food Wars! 29, which has basically become Bleach, so Bleach fans should love it!
—Ao Haru Ride 4, one of the best new 2018 debuts!

MICHELLE: Sooner or later, I’ll be reading 75% of those!

ASH: That really is an impressive week for Viz! I’ve particularly got my eye on Shojo Beat’s fantasy series.

MJ: MJhas never gotten past volume two of Platinum End but really really wants to like it. Wow, what a week, though!

ANNA: Very excited for Yona and Water Dragon’s Bride and many other things!

SEAN: Isn’t that magical? But wait, there’s more! That’s right, folks, don’t touch that dial!

Vertical has the Movie Edition of BLAME!. It’s what it sounds like, the manga adaptation of the movie, and it ran in Shonen Sirius.

Udon has the 9th volume of Persona 3.

Seven Seas debuts a done-in-one title with Transparent Light Blue (Toumei na Usui Mizuiro ni), which runs in Ichijinsha’s Comic Yuri Hime, and so I guess is yuri.

ASH: I’ll probably make a point to check it out eventually, then.

MJ: Could be interesting.

SEAN: Seven Seas also digitally debuts Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, a light novel that essentially kicked off “reincarnated in another world” books. Will it take off here? Or will this be a case of “what’s the fuss all about?”.

Also from Seven Seas is Non Non Biyori 11, Lord Marksman and Vanadis 10, the 5th Arifureta light novel (print version), and Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor 6.

Kodansha Digital debuts Momo’s Iron Will (Inuwashi Momo wa Yuruganai), an Aria title from a creator who was seen in Neo Parasyte F, and is better known for her BL. It’s about a girl with a brother complex, but looks like it may rise above that suspicious premise.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’m rather wary of that premise.

MJ: Same.

SEAN: We also got Yozakura Quartet 23, Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? 6, and Chihayafuru 16.

MICHELLE: Yay, Chihayafuru!

ANNA: Woo hoo!

SEAN: Lastly, J-Novel Club has the 4th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles digitally…

And also has a slew is print books! Debuting is If It’s For My Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord 1-2, as well as The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 1-2. And we get 3rd print volumes for How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord and In Another World with My Smartphone.

ASH: Oh! I might have to give If It’s For My Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord a try now that it’s in print.

SEAN: It’s a reverse list! getting you are What?

MICHELLE: ziV fo daolparc A!

MJ: elggig em edam ellehciM!

Pick of the Week: Ummmmmm…

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MICHELLE: There are a lot of new volumes for series I haven’t started yet this week, which makes me feel kind of weird about picking them. Still, there’s no way I’ll ever resist a series called Dragon Goes House-Hunting, so I’ll choose the second volume with the certainty that someday I really will read it.

SEAN: Same here, so I will pick a 5th volume of Kakafukaka, a digital josei manga whose overall subdued mood and frustrating but fascinating characters I’ve really come to enjoy.

ASH: Despite the number of series being released this week, there are actually relatively few that I am actively following (at least at the moment). Inside Mari is one exception to that, however, so that’ll be my pick this time.

ANNA: My pick of the week is the stacks of unread manga in my house. Maybe I’ll get caught up on a series or two!

MICHELLE: Honestly, that should be my pick every week!

MJ: I’ve been sick for the past week, so I’ll join the catch-up group this week! I’ve got quite a backlog to get through.

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 9

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Everyone’s Getting Married Volume 9 by Izumi Miyazono

I’m always glad when Viz puts out stealth josei under the Shojo Beat imprint, and while it might mean only one josei series from them running every year or so, I’ll take what I can get. The final volume of Everyone’s Getting Married reminded me a bunch of a last episode of a Korean drama, because Ryu and Asuka keep quasi breaking up and getting back together after long periods of time pass. Couples separating and reconciling in a dramatic fashion after many years is such a Korean drama staple!

everyone's getting married 9

All along, Ryu’s fervent opposition to marriage and Asuka’s total commitment to becoming a homemaker as her ultimate goal created plenty of dramatic tension throughout the series. It was difficult to envision a happy ending where both of them would be fulfilled, but this final volume showed in an episodic fashion how their personalities shifted a bit after they paused their relationship. Asuka started finding more fulfillment and rewards at work, while Ryu realized that he can’t be solely committed to his career. It takes the wedding of an equally unlikely couple, Rio and Hiroki, to bring Asuka and Ryu back together for good. This volume was much more episodic in nature than previous volumes, with the story unfolding more like a series of vignettes. I put down this volume appreciating all the emotional depth Miyazono brought to the story. Since most of the Shojo Beat imprint focuses on high school romance, it was refreshing to have a series featuring adults dealing with relationships and commitment issues. Now I’ve just got to be patient for fall when the Maki Enjoji series An Incurable Case of Love comes out for my next mainstream josei fix from Viz.

Pick of the Week: Turn Around, Bright Eyes

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SEAN: I have not been able to remotely keep up with Kodansha’s digital-only titles, but I do appreciate them when they give us lots of series that may not have sales that justify a print license. So I’ll make my pick this week Ran the Peerless Beauty, a shoujo series that looks cool and cute. Let’s hope that’s not the slang term for “peerless”, though.

ASH: I’m always happy to see a new volume of Gangsta, but this week the release I’m most excited about is Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart. I adored Go For It, Nakamura!, so I’m thrilled to see more of the creator’s work in translation.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely going to be checking out both of the titles mentioned already, but I’ll go with the debut of Love in Focus this time. I enjoyed the mangaka’s previous series much more than I expected to. Too bad this one is also quite short!

KATE: Again with Again!! for me. I love the way Mitsurou Kubo resists tidy resolutions for her characters’ dilemmas. Everyone learns lessons in Again!!, but no one has the kind of radical epiphanies that lead to big moments of triumph or change; seven volumes in, it’s still an open question whether the ouendan will survive Imamura and Usami’s tempestuous leadership. Crack pacing and a great cast of supporting characters make this uncertain state of affairs something to savor, rather than something to endure, and crisp artwork helps sell the time-travel angle. I can’t recommend this enough! (Or should that be Enough!!?)

MJ: There are a number of releases that intrigue me this week, including Ran the Peerless Beauty and Love in Focus, but BL horror from Opera wins the day for me. My pick is Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart.

ANNA: There are so many interesting manga series coming out this week, but it has been such a long time since I’ve seen a new volume of Gangsta. That’s my pick!

Skip Beat! vol 42

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Skip Beat! Volume 42 by Yoshiki Nakamura

With such a long running series like Skip Beat! once it has caught up with Japan, the wait between volumes is long enough that I temporarily lose track of of the plot. But within just a few panels, my memory gets triggered and I’m back in the story again. In this case seeing Ren’s reaction to learning that Sho kissed Kyoko made the wait between volumes all worthwhile. It is always amazing how well Nakamura can portray someone attempting to be stoic when they are filled with turbulent emotions.

Skip Beat 42

Kyoko meanwhile has her own battles to fight, and Skip Beat! always excels when she has to fight for a role. She’s in the middle of a rigged contest, trying to get a role alongside her beloved Moko. Kimiko, the niece of the producer, is determined to use any advantage against Kyoko and she plays up an imaginary relationship with Ren just enough that Kyoko becomes totally distracted and forgets to focus when she’s receiving directions for the next stage of her audition. Moko ends up saving Kyoko by altering her body language just enough that Kyoko is able to intuit the rest of the scene, and she ends up turning in an impressive performance.

One of the most entertaining part of this volume was seeing Ren’s manager accompany Kyoko throughout the audition process. His interior thoughts as he observes Kyoko’s reactions and starts building up theories about Ren and Kyoko’s relationship are priceless. As the audition progresses, Kyoko is able to battle through her emotional turmoil and fully inhabit her character. One of the things about Skip Beat! that I enjoy so much towards the start of a story arc is being able to look forward to all the impending drama. Kimiko seems to be engaged in a strategic retreat, I’m guessing that she’ll return to cause even more chaos. Ren and Kyoko haven’t met yet since Sho kissed her, so I’m looking forward to that scene, I’m guessing in two more volumes or so? Skip Beat! always manages to draw the reader in, and even though the big confrontations and resulting emotional growth for the characters doesn’t happen right away the series always delivers.

Manga the Week of 3/20/19

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SEAN: Thanks to Yen spacing out its releases more evenly this month, we get TWO crushing weeks in a row instead of just one. So what’s in the first crushing week?

Bookwalker has a 7th volume of shogi and young girls light novel The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!.

Dark Horse has, theoretically, Eromanga-sensei 2. (OK, I’ll stop now.)

J-Novel Club gives us the 13th In Another World with My Smartphone, a 4th Sorcerous Stabber Orphen, and the 10th Demon King Daimaou.

Kodansha is making up for being virtually invisible the last two weeks. First, we have three debuts, two in print/digital and one digital only. We’ll start with Gleipnir, a seinen manga from Young Magazine the 3rd, which is about a young man who discovers that he can turn into… a heroic dog mascot thing? Not sure what’s going on here, but one thing I can guarantee, which is the girl who’s the other lead will be beloved by Japan and hated in North America.

Love in Focus (Renzu-Sou no Sankaku) is a shoujo-ish manga from Aria (the magazine of shoujo-ish titles). A girl chooses a high school for its photography program, but also gets involved in teen romance. It’s only 3 volumes.

MICHELLE: Love in Focus is by Yoko Nogiri, whose That Wolf-boy Is Mine! I really liked. I’m looking forward to this one.

ASH: I plan on checking it out, too; I liked what I read of That Wolf-boy Is Mine!.

MJ: I’m up for this!

SEAN: Lastly, the digital debut is Ran the Peerless Beauty (Takane no Ran-san), a shoujo title from Betsufure about a girl who’s so beautiful and stylish that no one approaches her at all… except one guy, of course. This actually looks pretty cute.

MICHELLE: It does!

ANNA: I am for sure curious about it!

MJ: Well, okay!

SEAN: Print Kodansha also has Again!! 7, Aho-Girl 11, Hitorijime My Hero 2, the 3rd Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, and a 16th UQ Holder.

ASH: I’m a bit behind, but I’m looking forward to more Again!!.

SEAN: Digitally there is also All Out!! 8, Back Street Girls 8, Kira-kun Today 5, A Kiss, for Real 8, and Tokyo Revengers 5.

Seven Seas also has a debut next week, and a single-volume debut to boot. Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart (Gesshoku Kitan) is from Akaneshinsha’s Opera magazine, and thus a must buy. It’s BL but also horror, and is from the author of Go For It, Nakamura!.

MICHELLE: I am so looking forward to more from this author!

ASH: Go For It, Nakamura! was one of my favorite releases from last year. Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is supposed to be completely different in tone, but I love a good horror manga, too, so I’m excited.

MJ: Okay, yes, definitely!

SEAN: Seven Seas also has another light novel for The Ancient Magus’ Bride: The Silver Yarn; the 9th volume of Citrus; a print edition for the 5th Make My Abilities Average light novel; The 3rd and final volume of the True Tenchi Muyo! light novels; and a 2nd Versailles of the Dead.

ASH: I’ll be picking up The Silver Yarn. The first volume of Versailles of the Dead intrigued me enough that I’ll be picking that up, too.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 4th and final volume of The Delinquent Housewife!.

MICHELLE: I’ve been collecting these volumes as they’ve been coming out. Maybe now that it’s complete I’ll actually read them!

SEAN: Viz has a surprise for you! Not only do we get Gangsta 8, the first new volume in two and a half years, but we also get 1-8 digitally now as well! They also have 20th Century Boys: The Perfect Edition 3 and Children of the Whales 9.

ASH: I’m very happy to have a new volume of Gangsta being released!

ANNA: Also super excited about =Gangsta!

SEAN: And so we have Yen Press. We’ll start with Yen On, who moved a few titles (including the month’s debut) to the week after, but that still leaves a lot. The Asterisk War 9, Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch 3, Do You Love Your Mom? 2, The Irregular at Magic High School 11, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 13, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep (which sounds like a horror title), Magical Girl Raising Project 6, So I’m a Spider, So What? 5, and WorldEnd 3. That’s a lot of light novel.

There’s a bit of manga as well, of course. The debut is a side story, as we get the first volume of Angels of Death Episode 0. A prequel, I assume. And we see Bungo Stray Dogs 10, Chio’s School Road 3, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler 9, the 10th manga version of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, a 5th Smokin’ Parade, the 5th volume of the manga version of So I’m a Spider, So What?, and the 5th volume of Sword Art Online spinoff Girls’ Ops.

That is a lot, I just compressed it well. What are you getting?