Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Manga the Week of 10/10/18

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SEAN: The pile of October continues. Join us!

Dark Horse gives us the 2nd volume of Gantz G.

And Ghost Ship has a 3rd World’s End Harem, which I imagine continues to have our hero resolutely not having tons of sex.

J-Novel Club has 3 ongoing series, with Clockwork Planet 4, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 5, and Lazy Dungeon Master 2.

Kodansha announced its new October digital releases literally an hour after I posted last week’s titles, making me grit my teeth. So already out is Are You Lost? (Sounan desuka?), a title about teens stranded on an island, though at least it’s not a survival game story.

Next week’s debut is Kira-kun Today (Kyou no Kira-kun), a shoujo manga from the creator of Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight and Love’s Reach. It ran in Betsufure.

Also out digitally next week are Boarding School Juliet 5, Drowning Love 11, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 3, and Tokyo Alice 4.

MICHELLE: I had every intention of reading Drowning Love and Tokyo Alice, but keep falling further behind.

ANNA: I never even tried. Too much manga!

SEAN: No print debuts, but we do see To Your Eternity 7 and Tokyo Tarareba Girls 3.

ASH: Definitely picking both of these up!

SEAN: Seven Seas has what I suspect will be Manga Bookshelf’s Pick of Next Week with the debut of Satoko and Nada. The story of a Japanese woman and a Saudi woman sharing a room at an American college, it sounds fantastic. It runs on an online site, Twi 4.

MICHELLE: It does look fantastic!

ANNA: That sounds great. Going to see if we can purchase that at my library.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to giving this series a read.

MJ: This was entirely off my radar! I will definitely be picking this up!

SEAN: There’s also Himouto Umaru-chan! 3, How to Treat Magical Beasts 2, Made in Abyss 4, and Spirit Circle 5.

ASH: The first volume of How to Treat Magical Beasts was enjoyable, but my (shattering) heart lies with Spirit Circle.

Vertical debuts APOSIMZ, the newest title from the creator of BLAME! and Knights of Sidonia. It looks pretty hard SF, as usual.

MICHELLE: It does, which is not normally my thing, but I do like Nihei’s art a lot, so will probably check it out at some point.

ANNA: Is there a talking bear? This is what I need to know.

SEAN: They also have a 12th Ajin.

Viz’s debut is a short story collection based on the world of NieR:Automata, entitled Long Story Short. Anyone else have Spandau Ballet in their head?

MICHELLE: Alas, I only know their big hit.

ASH: NieR: Automata was a huge hit among my circle of friends–hopefully the short story collection will be, too!

MJ: I’m there with you and Spandau Ballet

SEAN: Lastly, Viz has new volumes for Case Closed (68), Magi (32), and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle (3). I’ll be getting those last two.

ANNA: Yay for more Sleepy Princess!

ASH: The series is such a delight.

SEAN: It’s a lot, but keep saving up, there’s even more out in the coming weeks. What are you getting?

Ao Haru Ride, Volume 1

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I remember when Io Sakisaka’s series Strobe Edge was announced initially there was plenty of excitement, but also many many people wondering, “What about Ao Haru Ride?” So I was excited when I heard that this series was being added to the Shojo Beat lineup, even though I wasn’t terribly familiar with it. The story opens with a bit of a prequel as Futaba spends her time in the junior high hallways attempting to escape any attention from boys, because she thinks they are loud and obnoxious. The only exception to her “No Boys Allowed” rule is Kou Tanaka, who is short, quiet, and gentle. After a couple random close encounters they agree to go on a date, but Tanaka overhears Futaba proclaiming her hatred of all men when she gets teased. Futaba waits alone for her date, and then Tanaka moves over the summer, so she’s never able to find out what has happened to him.

Fast forward into the present time and Futaba still wonders about Tanaka as she attends high school, where’s she’s determined to reinvent herself after being ostracized in junior high. She tries to play down her good looks and attractiveness, because she doesn’t want her new “friends” to think that she’s attempting to look cute for boys. There’s a classmate named Mabuchi who dimly reminds Futuba of Tanaka, but she tells herself that he’s too tall to be her long-lost friend. While Futaba continues to go through her tomboyish charade to fit in with the mean girls, she takes notice of a couple different girls in her class who are all alone, who actually seems interesting. While Futaba tells herself that she’s better off with her girl group, I think she’s unconsciously drawn to people who would be much better friends, given the chance.

Tanaka/Mabuchi is very intriguing in this first volume. He smirks at Futuba a bit, and when she starts to realize who he might be, reveals himself to her by leading her back to a shrine where they waited out a rainstorm when they were younger. He seems like a snarkier, more cynical version of his younger self, even though it seems like he can’t help himself from occasionally being kind. His kind actions are immediately balanced out by his habit of bluntly commenting on Futaba’s life, for example by telling her that she has “fake friends”. Sakikasa has a winning way with facial expressions, but one of the things I loved in this first volume was the sense of place, seeing Futuba and Tanaka having charged encounters in the shrine many years apart evoked the themes of both future and nostalgia that Ao Haru Ride is touching upon.

Unusually for a shoujo manga, this first volume covers the first year of high school, but it shows Futuba making some important decisions about who she wants to be as a person, helped along by Tanaka’s blunt prodding. Ao Haru Ride reminded me most of series like We Were There and the Sand Chronicles, just in terms of having the potential to develop into a very sensitive and emotional love story as the characters work through various complex issues. I feel like it has been some time since we’ve seen a series with such a strong emotional core story, and Ao Haru Ride seems like it has exactly that type of potential.

Pick of the Week: Blue Spring in Fall

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SEAN: My pick of this week is the massive 1500+-page tome, Ao Haru Bleach Exorcist’s Basketball and Volleyball Academia at the Promised Neverland, starring The Water Dragon’s Bride and Yona of the Dawn, with gags brought to you by Pop Team Epic. It’s sure to be an absolute stunner.

(Or, if I don’t massively cheat, Ao Haru Ride. And Pop Team Epic. Oh, and Neverland. And… dammit.)

KATE: Since I’m one of five people in the mangasphere who knows nothing about Pop Team Epic or Ao Haru Ride, I’m casting my votes for the next installments of Again!! and The Promised Neverland. The evil you know, y’know?

ANNA: Surprising no one, I am going to pick Ao Haru Ride, I’ve been looking forward to it for a long time!

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading most of what else has been alluded to, but yes, it’s gotta be Ao Haru Ride for me.

ASH: So many great continuing (and debuting) series this week! I’d particularly like to highlight Captain Harlock as I’m really digging Seven Seas’ line of classic manga.

MJ: Ao Haru Ride! That’s the one for me. How predictable.

Manga the Week of 10/3/18

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SEAN: It’s fall! At last! What manga do we have?

We start, as we often do, with Dark Horse, which has the debut of Eromanga-sensei. It’s by the creator of, and if I’m being honest for the fans of, Oreimo. Slightly less incest this time, though. It runs in Dengeki Daioh.

J-Novel Club gives us a 16th volume of Invaders of the Rokujouma!? After a one-month break, I am ready for more.

Kodansha is burying us in THINGS. Let’s start with print, as we debut Boarding School Juliet, which already came out digitally. It’s Romeo and Juliet meets a boarding school, as the title suggests.

ASH: Hmm, I’m vaguely curious.

SEAN: The Seven Deadly Sins also debut a spinoff called Seven Days, which no doubt appeals to The Seven Deadly Sins fans.

ASH: It features Ban, who is probably the character from The Seven Deadly Sin that I get the biggest kick out of.

SEAN: There’s also a 5th Again!!, 9th Descending Stories, a 9th Heroic Legend of Arslan.

ASH: I’ll admit I’ve fallen behind, but I actually am following all of these series.

MICHELLE: I finally read the first couple Descending Stories volumes and liked them very much!

SEAN: There *is* a new Kodansha digital title out next week, but as Kodansha hasn’t announced it yet, I’ll wait till they do. There is, however, Vols. 15-22 of Beck, Can’t You Just Die, My Darling? 5, A Kiss, for Real 4, My Boy in Blue 3, Peach Girl NEXT 2, and The Prince’s Romance Gambit 3.

ANNA: Too much! Too much digital!

MICHELLE: The covers of A Kiss, for Real are promising, but I haven’t had a chance to dip into any of these yet.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a 2nd hardcover of the Captain Harlock Classic Collection. There’s also Crisis Girls 2 and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life 3.

ANNA: OOH, I forgot to get the first Captain Harlock!

ASH: I enjoyed it!

SEAN: Udon has a 2nd volume of Dragon’s Crown.

Vertical and Viz, hilariously, have two of the biggest debuts of the year, and they are RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER, so I can’t use both for images. Fortunately, I am aware already what Manga Bookshelf will have as Pick of the Week. Thus, here’s a big slab of Pop Team Epic’s cover art. The first volume debuts next week, and we shall see if its cult audience will actually buy manga.

Viz Media debuts Ao Haru Ride, the title that was so requested they’re still calling it Ao Haru Ride and not Blue Spring Ride! It’s from the creator of, and better than, Strobe Edge. And given I quite liked Strobe Edge, it has a lot to live up to. It ran in Betsuma from 2011-2015.

ANNA: YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES!

MICHELLE: What she said!

MJ: OMG YES.

SEAN: The other debut is the manga version of Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, NISIOISIN’s attempt at doing a survival game manga. The novel was… good, but not his best. Will the manga work better?

ASH: I think the story is much more suited to manga.

SEAN: One finale next week, but it’s a biggie: the 74th and final Bleach, in which ICHIHIME WINS! HAH! (cough) Sorry. There is also the 24th Bleach 3-in-1.

MJ: It’s hard to believe this day has come.

SEAN: And we get… get your pencils ready… Blue Exorcist 20, Food Wars! 26, Haikyu!! 28, Kuroko’s Basketball 2-in-1 14, My Hero Academia 15, My Hero Academia Vigilantes 2, the 24th and final Naruto 3-in-1 (NARUHINA WINS!… ow. Ow, ow, stop with the hitting…), Natsume’s Book of Friends 22, The Promised Neverland 6, Rurouni Kenshin’s 8th 3-in-1, Takane & Hana 5, The Water Dragon’s Bride 7, and Yona of the Dawn 14. I have to say, this may be the single best week I have ever seen Viz put out. Not kidding, there’s like 10 must reads on my list, and they’re ALL COMING OUT NEXT WEEK. Give me a break…

ANNA: So good! So much good stuff from Viz!

ASH: I’ve definitely got my eyes on more than a few!

MICHELLE: I’ve got my eyes on most of those, frankly.

MJ: Well, wow.

SEAN: Are you upset? If you’re not upset, what are you buying next week?

ANNA: I’m not sure if you can tell, but I’m a little excited about Ao Haru Ride.

Pick of the Week: Picking Sides

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MICHELLE: Normally, I would be extolling The Girl from the Other Side in this space, and I still fully intend to rave about it, but After the Rain sure looks appealing. I think I’ll favor this debut with my pick this week instead.

KATE: The Girl from the Other Side is my favorite ongoing series right now, so I’m glad I have a chance to plug it again. It’s so good, in fact, that only all-caps will do in explaining how GORGEOUS AND AMAZING AND HEARTBREAKING it is.

SEAN: I love The Girl from the Other Side, but wow is it bleak, so I too will make my pick the debut of After the Rain.

ANNA: The Girl from the Other Side might be bleak, but it is such a unique title, both in story and art, I have to pick it!

ASH: It’s my pick, too! The Girl from the Other Side has such tremendous atmosphere.

Manga the Week of 9/26/18

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SEAN: September has ended. Go in peace, to love and serve the manga.

Let’s break this down, cause there’s a lot. First of all, Bookwalker snuck out The Ryuo’s Work is Never Done 4 last week and I missed it. Sorry, loli shogi fans!

Ghost Ship has the 5th To-Love-Ru omnibus.

J-Novel Club has the 7th Demon King Daimaou.

Kodansha has its usual pile o’ digital, but print first. We see Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight 7, The Seven Deadly Sins 28, and the 6th and final volume of Wake Up Sleeping Beauty. I suspect MB peeps are most interested in the last one.

MICHELLE: Yep!

ASH: It’s true!

SEAN: The digital debut looks amusing. Ao-chan Can’t Study (Midarana Ao-chan wa Benkyou ga Dekinai), a shonen series about a girl who has (to her shame) inherited her father’s dirty mind, and a guy who loves her and won’t take a hint.

Ongoing? There’s Ace of the Diamond 15, Beauty Bunny 7, Defying Kurosaki-kun 4, Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? 3, Liar x Liar 6, My Boyfriend in Orange 5, and The Quintessential Quintuplets 4.

MICHELLE: Ace and Kichijoji for me.

SEAN: Lately Seven Seas has been backloading all their series to the end of the month, which means there is SO MUCH out next week. The debut is a digital one (print comes out at the end of October: The Ancient Magus’ Bride Supplement I is another Guidebook to the world of this popular series.

ASH: I’ll be waiting for the print edition, personally, but am glad it’s coming out digitally, too.

SEAN: And so many ongoing series. We see the 6th 12 Beast (not to be confused with the 12th 6 Beast), A Centaur’s Life 15, Devilman Grimoire 4, the 2nd Dragon Half omnibus, Generation Witch 5, The Girl from the Other Side 5, Hachune Miku’s Everyday Vocaloid Paradise 4, Hour of the Zombie 7, Magical Girl Site 7, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 4, New Game! 3, Not Lives 10, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 2, and Soul Liquid Chambers 2. There’s a lot of grimdark and fanservice (and both) in that, but I’m excited for Dragon Half, The Girl from the Other Side (which is admittedly pretty dark), and New Game.

MICHELLE: I’m always excited for more of The Girl from the Other Side.

ANNA: Me too! Such a unique series!

ASH: Wow, you weren’t kidding about the number of Seven Seas title! The first Dragon Half was certainly entertaining and The Girl from the Other Side remains one of my favorite series currently being released.

SEAN: Vertical has been debuting a lot this month, as we now get After the Rain (Koi wa Ameagari no You ni), which is not by the creator of School Rumble despite seemingly having Yakumo on the cover. It’s a seinen manga from Big Comic Spirits, about a high school girl and her romantic pursuits. It’s gotten some good buzz.

MICHELLE: I like its cover!

ANNA: Ok, I’m curious.

SEAN: Viz has a digital-only release of the 9th Boys Over Flowers Season 2.

ANNA: One day I want to give into nostalgia and catch up on this series.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press has some digital titles and some runoff from last week. The digital is the 18th volume of Sekirei. The print is the 16th Barakamon and the 4th (and I believe last) No Game No Life Please!.

And for fans of A Bride’s Story, Vol 1-5 are finally out digitally next week, with the other 5 volumes arriving in October.

We also have the print debut of a series that came out digitally by chapter a while back, Hinowa Ga CRUSH!. With a title like that, you can guess it’s from the creator of Akame Ga KILL!, and appears to be tied into it. It runs in Big Gangan.

Any manga for next week before everyone starts saving for Pumpkin Spice?

MJ: So if I’m not that into anything here, does it mean I’m stuck with Pumpkin Spice?

Pick of the Week: Easy Pickings

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SEAN: My Brother’s Husband 2. Wow, that was easy.

MICHELLE: Yep.

KATE: In the interest of making this a polysyllabic Pick of the Week, I’ll agree with Sean and Michelle’s choice while adding two of my own: volume six of Golden Kamuy, everyone’s favorite manly cooking manga, and volume one of 20th Century Boys, back again as a series of handsome two-in-one omnibus volumes. If you missed Naoki Urasawa’s twisty thriller the first time around, now’s your chance to discover what all the fuss is about.

ASH: The final volume of My Brother’s Husband is definitely my pick this week although, like Kate, I have my eye on a few other things as well, including Golden Kamuy, the debut of Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, and the last bit of Erased.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great manga coming out this week, but I’m going to take the opportunity to celebrate the new edition of Twentieth Century Boys. A great opportunity for people who missed it the first time around.

MJ: I will use more than one syllable, but there’s only one choice for me this week. My Brother’s Husband. The end.

Skip Beat!, Vol. 41

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Skip Beat!, Volume 41 by Yoshiki Nakamura

There’s something about picking up a new volume in a long-running shoujo series that is the manga equivalent of comfort food to me. It is great to settle in to a story arc, even if the situations are similar to what has happened before, seeing how the characters have grown and evolved as they encounter new challenges still makes it rewarding for the reader.

Kyoko has a big audition in this volume, and even though this has happened so many times before in Skip Beat!, this was very satisfying to read simply to see the way she’s grown into her comfort zone as an actor. Also, Skip Beat! excels at serving up sweet sweet revenge as Kyoko proves people who underestimate her wrong with her unique skill set. In this case, Kyoko is competing for the role of the ninja Momiji against the spoiled niece of the director. Kyoko is able to bring something unique to the role due to her recent training in stage fighting, combined with her skills and instincts as an actor. One of the many things that makes Skip Beat! so special after 41 volumes is Nakamura’s gifts at drawing the process of acting. Kyoko’s body language and intensity utterly change when she’s inhabiting a role, and seeing her dynamic approach to her character’s demanding physical scenes makes it clear that the executives are crazy if they cast anyone else.

Kyoko is at her best when proving herself, and her agency isn’t afraid to pile on a little extra difficulties by manipulating the situation behind the scenes, in an attempt to improve the casting possibilities for all the actors who get started as “talent” on variety shows instead of the pure acting track. Rory’s oversight and machinations doesn’t just stop at Kyoko’s career. This volume is largely Ren free, but we get a hint at what might be happening in the next few volumes as Ren returns and Rory tips him off to a situation that might actually inspire jealousy in Ren! As always I’m having it hard to manage my anticipation until the next volume.

Takane & Hana, Vol. 4

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Takane & Hana, Volume 4 by Yuki Shiwasu

This is my far one of my favorite current light romance reads, mostly due to Takane’s surly facial expressions and imperious manner and Hana’s excellent way of totally deflating him with a cutting remark. This volume opens with the aftermath of the big school trip, where handsome scions of industry decided to hang out with a group of high school kids.

In this volume, some major conflict arises from the corporate world, as Takane’s evil Uncle decides to assign a new, alarmingly efficient assistant to him. Kiragasaki acts alarmingly unemotional, although sometimes he looks more animated when the light glints off his glasses. He observes Takane closely, but doesn’t have much to report other than his stellar performance and dedication to his work. When Kiragasaki figures out that Takane is meeting again with a girl from an arranged marriage meeting he manages to discover the truth about who Hana is.

One of the frequent plot elements in Takane & Hana that I never get tired of is seeing how the couple supports each other in their unusual relationship. Kiragaskaki ends up going to Hana and requests that they break up, because he sees how other people in the company will use their relationship against them. Hana has some hard decisions to make, but Takane’s unshakable confidence ends up being rooted in reality, because he sees his excellence at his job as a shield against corporate manipulations. Takane wins Kiragasaki over by just being himself and rising above any corporate plots.

Aside from the more serious core story of the volume, there are plenty of hijinks as Hana steps through some manga plot staples like preparing for the school festival. Each volume of this series is breezy and fun, and made a little more lively and unusual due to the odd-couple nature of the relationship, and Shiwasu’s gifts at comedic art.

Manga the Week of 9/19/18

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SEAN: Wake me when September ends?

Dark Horse starts us off with the official Berserk Guidebook. This is a guide to the world of Berserk, and not a guide to why it’s on hiatus so often, FYI.

ASH: Hahaha! Either way, I’m still picking it up.

SEAN: There’s also a 7th volume of dark as pitch Fate/Zero.

Ghost Ship has a 6th volume of To-Love-Ru Darkness.

J-Novel Club has two one-shot novels, both very much off the beaten track from the typical light novel. JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World *sounds* like it should be dire, but apparently it’s really well-written and the translator has been pushing it as hard as she can.

And Last and First Idol won oodles of awards, including the prized Seiun Award (the Japanese equivalent of the Hugos), and this collection includes that story and a couple of others.

ASH: I’ve certainly enjoyed the other Seiun Award titles that I’ve read.

SEAN: In more typical J-Novel Club fare, we also have How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 7 and In Another World with My Smartphone 10.

Kodansha debuts The Walls Between Us, which is a shoujo title from Dessert starring a girl who is confessed to by her childhood friend. The trouble is, his personality is awful.

ANNA: Ok, this does sound potentially amusing.

MICHELLE: I typically like Dessert offerings.

MJ: Sounds like this could be fun.

SEAN: And they have Back Street Girls 4, Kamikamikaeshi 4, Karate Heat 3, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 4, and Perfect World 6.

In Kodansha print, we have Interviews with Monster Girls 6.

One Peace debuts Hinamatsuri, which seems to be “yakuza meets supernatural girl”. I don’t know much about it, except it runs in Harta, so is awesome by default.

ASH: Count me curious!

ANNA: I do enjoy the fact that One Peace comes up with some out of left field titles now and then.

MJ: I plan to take a look at this!

SEAN: They also have a 2nd manga volume of Mikagura School Suite.

Pantheon has the 2nd and final omnibus of My Brother’s Husband. Can’t wait to read this.

ASH: Yes, this! I am still absolutely thrilled and delighted that this series was translated.

ANNA: Going to try to order it for my library!

MICHELLE: I’m also really looking forward to this one.

MJ: Oh, wonderful! I’m so excited!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a light load, with only Getter Robo Devolution 2 and High-Rise Invasion 3-4.

Udon debuts a manga that does not have the word “Persona” in its title! Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu is a Young Ace title that features an izakaya whose food can literally transport you elsewhere.

ASH: Hooray for more fantasy food manga! (Or is it food fantasy manga?)

ANNA: Food manga is always a genre to be treasured.

MICHELLE: Huh! Sounds interesting!

SEAN: Vertical has a 3rd volume of CITY.

Viz debuts the perfect edition of 20th Century Boys. If you haven’t read this title before, this is a great way to get it. If you have, you may want to get it anyway. It has bells and whistles.

ANNA: Yay!

MICHELLE: I will never not love the opening pages in which T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” is played over a school intercom.

SEAN: There is also Children of the Whales 6 (meh) and Golden Kamuy 6 (yay!).

ASH: I’ve fallen very far behind on Children of the Whales but Golden Kamuy is always a reading priority for me.

SEAN: Yen has no light novel debuts, but they do have a number of ongoing titles. Accel World 15, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 6, Goblin Slayer 5, The Irregular at Magic High School 9, Overlord 8, A Sister’s All You Need 2, Strike the Blood 10, and the 2nd Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online.

Yen also, oddly, has no manga debuts in September either. It’s all ongoing series! As Miss Beelzebub Likes 3, Bungo Stray Dogs 8, Erased 5, the 2nd DanMachi 4-koma, Odd Days of Goddess, Kiniro Mosaic 7, One Week Friends 4, Puella Magi Oriko Magica Sadness Prayer 4, the 5th volume of the 2nd Re: Zero arc, The Royal Tutor 9, Sunshine Sketch 9, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 4, Though You May Burn to Ash 3, and the 11th Ubell Blatt omnibus, Ubel Blatt 10. (NEVER FORGET UBEL BLATT NUMBERING.) Of that list, I’m most interested in the Sae-and-Hiroless Sunshine Sketch.

ASH: I’m looking forward to reading the last bit of Erased, myself.

MICHELLE: Someday, I’ll manage to read Erased.

MJ: I’m ready for more Erased.

SEAN: So, to sum up: September’s not over. What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Lots and Lots of Stuff

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ASH: So many interesting manga are being released this week, it’s difficult to pick just one! A couple in particular have especially caught my attention, though. There’s Dementia 21 which should be… memorable, and then there’s Dragon Goes House Hunting which has a premise that delights me utterly.

MICHELLE: I am also really, really delighted by Dragon Goes House Hunting, but I know that I will love the latest volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, so that’s my official pick this week.

KATE: I can’t limit myself to a single pick, especially since there are so many intriguing debuts! Topping my list would be Dragon Goes House Hunting followed by The Delinquent Housewife! and Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, though I’m also curious about Radiant. I’m also curious about — and wary of — Dementia 21, which looks like the stuff nightmares are made of.

SEAN: As others have noted, there’s an embarrassment of riches this week. I think I will throw my lot in with The Delinquent Housewife!, whose cover art and description combine to make it look like it was written just for me.

ANNA: I agree, The Delinquent Housewife! looks hilarious just judging from the cover! That’s my pick as well.

MJ: I feel a bit iffy on this week’s releases as a whole, but I think I’ll throw in my vote for Radiant. Wizards are generally a win for me, so I’m going to bet that I’ll like it!

Manga the Week of 9/12/18

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SEAN: There is, it has to be said, a bit of manga out next week. Just a wee bit. A dram.

MICHELLE: A smidge.

ASH: A skosh, perhaps.

SEAN: And also some light novels, starting with Cross Infinite World, who have The Champions of Justice and the Supreme Ruler of Evil, which seems to be on the humorous side. It’s also got some steamy scenes, be warned!

Fantagraphics gives us the one-volume Dementia 21 by famous (infamous) manga artist Shintaro Kago. Best described as ‘surreal horror’, I’ve wanted to see Kago’s works over here for some time. This volume is a great start.

ASH: I’m always glad to see more manga released by Fantagraphics! Kago’s work can be pretty intense.

ANNA: Me too! I feel that they target manga no other publisher would take on.

SEAN: J-Novel Club have two debuts. The first is Amagi Brilliant Park, from the creator of Full Metal Panic. It’s about an amusement park and also involves magic, I think?

The other new title is Der Werewolf: The Annals of Veight. Seems to be another reincarnation isekai. But werewolves!

And there’s also Infinite Dendrogram 7 and The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 6.

Kodansha’s debut is actually a new edition of a title that’s now been debuted 3 times. Sailor Moon: Eternal Edition. Larger trim! Different translation! More bells and whistles! Buy it again for the first time.

ANNA: Sailor Moon!!

MICHELLE: Oh, I didn’t know there was a different translation! Maybe I do need to buy it again.

MJ: Well, damn.

SEAN: There’s also Golosseum 3, Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai 4, and Waiting for Spring 8.

Digitally there’s no new debuts, but we do get Peach Girl 9-18, as well as Tokyo Alice 3.

Seven Seas has a lot of interesting stuff. We get Dragon Goes House Hunting (Dragon, Ie wo Kau), whose title alone makes me want to read it. It’s from Mag Garden’s Comic Blade.

MICHELLE: I’ve been eagerly anticipating this one!

ASH: I’m looking forward to it, too!

SEAN: Tomo-chan is a Girl! (Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!) is the other manga debut next week. About a tomboy girl who can’t convince her childhood friend she likes him romantically, it’s a 4-koma from what I believe is an online site, but Kodansha collects the volumes.

ASH: Oh, I didn’t realize it was a four-panel manga! I’ve heard good things about it, though.

SEAN: There’s also the debut of J-Novel Club’s biggest breakout hit in print, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom.

But there’s also a 9th volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, a 12th D-Frag! (the first in 17 months), Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average! Novel 3 (in print) and 4 (digitally), The Testament of Sister New Devil STORM! 4, and Toradora! manga 8 (the first since June 2015).

MICHELLE: Yay for The Ancient Magus’ Bride!

ASH: Yes, indeed!

SEAN: SuBLime debuts Escape Journey, a BL series from Libre Shuppan’s Be x Boy filled with dubious consent and drama.

MJ: Why always dubious consent, whyyyyy?

SEAN: And a 7th Don’t Be Cruel is out next week too.

Tokyopop has the 2nd Konohana Kitan.

And Udon has a 7th volume of the Persona 4 manga.

Vertical debuts The Delinquent Housewife (Futsutsuka na Yome Desu ga!), a slapstick comedy from Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits about a man who discovers his new sister-in-law is, shall we say, not the perfect Japanese wife.

Viz has Radiant. It’s actually a French manga, but Akaneshinsha releases it in Japan. It’s got wizards, monsters, and the Inquisition. Sounds pretty manga to me.

ANNA: OK!

MJ: Interesting!

ASH: It really is!

SEAN: There’s also a 32nd Hayate the Combat Butler, a 4th Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, and a 4th Splatoon.

See? Barely anything. A doddle. What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Beat Surrender

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MICHELLE: For me, Skip Beat! will always win any week in which it appears. I do love it so.

SEAN: I have to agree, Skip Beat! is what has me most excited for this week.

KATE: This is a Shonen Jump week for me: I’ll be picking up volume two of Demon Slayer — the monster manga with heart! — and volume one of Dr. STONE, which has been garnering good reviews around the web.

MJ: I was a big fan of the too-short trilogy, QQ Sweeper, which hit a lot of my supernatural investigator-type buttons. I haven’t kept up with its sequel (reboot?), Queen’s Quality, but I think that is my mission this week!

ANNA: Any week that features a new volume of Skip Beat is a week to celebrate!

ASH: So many great releases this week! Skip Beat is always welcome, but I have some catch up reading I need to do before I can get to it, so my pick this week goes to Demon Slayer, which is still so early on in the series that I haven’t had a chance to fall behind yet. Although I am curious about Dr. STONE, too…

Manga the Week of 9/5/18

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SEAN: Back to School! You’ve bought all your school supplies, but save money for manga too!

Ghost Ship starts us off with a 4th volume of Yokai Girls.

J-Novel Club has one debut this week. Gear Drive stars a young woman in a world where magic is commonplace. However, she doesn’t have a specialty… yet. Could her specialty be gears? Bet it’s gears.

There’s also a 3rd volume of The Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar (watch the anime!) and a 5th volume of Outbreak Company (anime aired some time ago).

Kodansha has a whole pile of digital stuff, including Peach Girl Next, the sequel to the just re-released Peach Girl. It’s about… what happens next.

MICHELLE: Heh.

ANNA: I barely remember Peach Girl, and don’t think I am going to reread the digital version, but I am sort of curious about what happens next!

SEAN: There’s also Beware the Kamiki Brothers! 5, Can You Just Die My Darling? 4, Cosplay Animal 7, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 2, My Boy in Blue 2, The Prince’s Romance Gambit 2, and Those Summer Days 4. Getting so far behind.

MICHELLE: Desperately far behind.

SEAN: In print, there’s only one: Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Side: P4 Volume 3. If you can translate the code of all those letters and numbers, you can get the manga’s secret message.

ASH: It’s a fun addition to the Persona franchise.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a digital debut with the 6th Boogiepop novel, Boogiepop at Dawn.

ASH: Released in print a decade ago, and to be released in print again in an omnibus in the near future, I rather liked the volume.

SEAN: Vertical gives is an 8th Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

And there’s Viz! A lot of Viz, as always. The debut is Shonen Jump this time, with Dr. STONE, a manga that’s been a big hit in Japan. It’s got the writer from Eyeshield 21 and the artist from Sun-Ken Rock, and it’s a post-apocalypse adventure.

MICHELLE: Oh, interesting! I’ve been meaning to finish reading Eyeshield 21.

ANNA: That does sound interesting!

ASH: The creative team involved certainly caught my attention if nothing else. I generally enjoy a good post-apocalypse adventure, too, though.

MJ: I’m interested!

SEAN: Also Jump or Jump-esque: Astra: Lost in Space 4, Boruto 4, Demon Slayer 2, Haikyu!! 27, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 4, One Piece’s 25th 3-in-1, Seraph of the End 15, and Twin Star Exorcists 13.

MICHELLE: Haikyu!!

ANNA: My kids are so devoted to this series they wanted to get their own volleyball to start practicing in real life.

ASH: Haikyu!! and Demon Slayer are both high on my list.

SEAN: On the shoujo end, no new debuts, but we get Anonymous Noise 10, Queen’s Quality 5, Skip Beat! 41, and The Young Master’s Revenge 3. Skip Beat! Is always wonderful whenever it comes out.

MICHELLE: Skip Beat! I’ve really been dying to see how Kyoko’s latest audition turns out. I need to get caught up on Queen’s Quality, too.

ANNA: No surprise, I’m excited about all these series!

ASH: I quite enjoy a fair number of them myself.

MJ: I’m also planning to get caught up on Queen’s Quality!

SEAN: What manga are you secretly reading under your desk during class?

Anonymous Noise, Vols 8 and 9

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Anonymous Noise Volumes 8 and 9 by Ryoko Fukuyama

Oh, Anonymous Noise! It is a series I often find frustrating, because I love the stylish covers, dynamic paneling, and idea of high school kids working hard to find their way in the music industry, yet I do not enjoy the dynamic of the central love triangle where Nino with the extraordinary yet erratic singing voice gets tossed between two tortured musicians like a long-haired, face-masked hot potato. I do fully expect that my occasional feelings of ennui with this manga is due to my having read maybe too much (is it possible!?) shoujo manga, and if I was much younger I would be following this series with unquestioning devotion.

That being said, these two volumes focused a little bit more on musicianship than romance, so I found myself able to relax much more and enjoy the story. Volume 8 opens with Nino and Yuzu being assigned to wrangle the music for the debut of some fashion models turned singers. As always in shoujo manga, fashion models are the worst. Their new clients are petulant and very picky about their debut song. This only makes Nino and Yuzu want to try harder to write an awesome song! There are plenty of angsty plot developments with the extended cast as well, as Momo deals with a life crisis and Miou continues to try to get over Yuzu. Nino stretches her abilities as a lyricist by trying to fit the song to the voice of the singer, and everyone is ready for their next adventure, a tour!

Anonymous Noise 9

I have to admit, I wish some of the side jokes in Anonymous Noise were expanded a little bit. The mini-tour is an excuse to showcase Nino’s enduring obsessions with local foods. Silent Black Kitty gets back together again as Momo devotes himself to his music, and I’m sure the result will be yet another battle of the bands in an emotional confrontation. Nino struggles with consistency for her live performance. One thing I do like about the way music is portrayed in this manga is that it is rarely effortless. There’s a lot that comes together for someone to become a successful performer, and even though Nino’s talent is recognized, she still clearly has a long way to go before she’s a true professional. One of the ways em>Anonymous Noise is so successful at this episodic format is that each volume tends to end with a dramatic revelation or new crisis point, which happens in volume 9 when Yuzu is having issues with performance. Nino’s determined to come up with a solution to protect his dream, and everyone’s devotion to music helps offset the tortured romance. The story is propelled forward and this makes it a compelling read, even if some of the character dynamics in the manga aren’t as interesting.