Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Pick of the Week: An Embarrassment of Riches

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SEAN: My pick this week is tricky, especially with so much good manga. There’s Nozaki-kun, Silver Spoon, Murcielago… that said, as you’d expect, my eye is drawn to light novels. No, not Vending Machine, though I am morbidly curious. My pick is I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, which not only has a female protagonist but seems to be dedicated to “relaxing and taking it easy” despite the max level. I like the idea of an isekai with the mood of, say, Flying Witch.

MICHELLE: Because I am confident at least one other person will pick Silver Spoon, I’m going with the eighth Yowamushi Pedal omnibus. I rejoice every time there’s a new volume of this series.

KATE: I like To Your Eternity, but jeez — it’s a downer. My vote goes for volume two of Silver Spoon, the only manga series in English that features at least three udder-ly wonderful jokes about cows per volume. (Yeah, I went there.) (No, I’m not sorry.)

ANNA: I’m so far behind, I haven’t read the first volumes of To Your Eternity and Silver Spoon, but out of everything coming out this week, those are the titles that I’m sure I’d like.

ASH: There are so many great releases again this week, it’s difficult to pick just one! Many of my favorites have already been mentioned–Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Silver Spoon, Yowamushi Pedal, To Your Eternity–and I’m not even going to try to choose among them. And so, even though it’s not manga, I would like to take the opportunity to call attention to Perfect Blue: Awaken from a Dream.

MJ: Probably predictably, I’m Silver Spoon all the way this week. I absolutely loved the first volume, and I’m anxious for more. Also, I deeply appreciate Kate for the cow pun.

Manga the Week of 4/25/18

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SEAN: A lot. A whole lot.

Kodansha has some print manga delights. We get a 6th Aho-Girl, a 2nd Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, and a 4th To Your Eternity.

ASH: I’ll definitely be picking up To Your Eternity. The series is certainly heartwrenching at time, but it’s very well done.

ANNA: Bought but haven’t read the first volume of this so I am already hopelessly behind.

SEAN: There’s also a box set collecting manga Vols. 1-4 of Attack on Titan, or Season One as they’re calling it.

On the digital front, the debut this week is Defying Kurosaki-kun (Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai), a Betsufure shoujo title about (sigh) a plain girl at a high school who ends up in a love triangle between a princely guy and a super sadist type. I may try it, but it sounds not my bag.

MICHELLE: Yeah. Not really into super sadists, personally.

MJ: Ugh. Lots of ugh.

SEAN: There’s also a 5th Beauty Bunny, a 7th Kokkoku: Moment by Moment, a 4th My Brother the Shut-In, a 5th PTSD Radio, and a 6th Until Your Bones Rot.

MICHELLE: I think Beauty Bunny also involves a jerk who called the lead girl ugly before “transforming” her via makeup. No, thanks.

MJ: MORE UGH.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts the 2nd Perfect Blue novel, Awaken from a Dream.

ASH: I’m glad to see this being released! It’s a collection of stories that take place in the same setting as the original Perfect Blue.

SEAN: They’ve also got a 4th volume of Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, a 3rd Hatsune Miku’s Everyday Vocaloid Paradise, a 2nd Made in Abyss, a 7th Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, and we have somehow reached double digits for Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying Dimensional Voyage. I’m looking forward to the release of the original Captain Harlock, too.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 2nd volume in Nisioisin’s Zaregoto novels, Strangulation: Kubishime Romanticist. This was released by Del Rey about 10 years ago, so is nice to have. Will they continue the series? I suspect sales will determine that.

Vertical also has an 11th Witchcraft Works.

Viz gives us a 5th volume (digital only) of élDLIVE, whose formatting always makes me cry.

And Yen. SO MUCH YEN. Let’s start with the ongoing light novels. There’s a 6th Asterisk War, which has finished its (first?) tournament arc. Baccano! has a 7th volume, the 2nd of a two-parter. The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is at Vol. 10, and there’s a 5th KonoSuba. Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers remains one of the few print-only Yen On titles with Vol. 4, Sword Art Online hits lucky 13, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is at Vol. 2.

There are two debuts, and we’ll begin with the less silly one. I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level. Yes, I promise, that is the less silly one. Notable for a female protagonist, but it is an isekai with an overpowered hero(ine). That said, I hear the mood is meant to be “relaxed”.

And we also have the apex of silly light novels coming out, at least until the hot spring one gets licensed. Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon is exactly what it sounds, and I hope it will succeed on pure moxie, because come on. Really? REALLY?

MICHELLE: Hahaha. I would like to see the adventures of a wandering vending machine depicted in manga form.

ASH: Sometimes a premise is just so ridiculous I can’t help but take a look despite genre fatigue.

MJ: I feel like I have to check this out just to witness it for myself.

SEAN: Yen also has a giant pile of manga, which I will divide into three. First, ongoing manga titles not based on light novels. Akame Ga KILL! 14, Aoharu x Machinegun 10, Gabriel Dropout 3, Kiniro Mosaic 6, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun 9, Murcielago 6, Of the Red, the Light and the Ayakashi 10 (this is its final volume), a 4th Sekirei omnibus, the second Silver Spoon (Manga Bookshelf folks breathe a sigh of relief that they at least get something to pick this week), Taboo Tattoo 10, Today’s Cerberus 8, Val x Love 2, and the 8th Yowamushi Pedal omnibus.

MICHELLE: Hooray for Nozaki-kun, Silver Spoon, and Yowamushi Pedal! I’ll also be picking up the final Of the Red… volume, but although I kept up with this series, I never really fell in love with it.

ASH: Ditto what Michelle said! And if I’m honest, I’ll probably be picking up Murcielago, too.

MJ: Silver Spoon! Silver Spoon! Silver Spoon!

SEAN: There are also new manga titles. We have As Miss Beelzebub Likes (Beelzebub-jou no Oki ni Mesu mama), a 4-koma where the demon lord is not quite as expected. It’s a Shonen Gangan title.

We also see the debut of Napping Princess, a manga adaptation (it ran in Newtype) of the novel that’s based on the anime. It’s this year’s The Boy and the Beast, I think? And I would wager is about a princess. Napping may also be involved.

There are also a lot of manga based on light novels. We see A Certain Magical Index 13, The Honor Student at Magic High School 8, Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia 3, Magical Girl Raising Project 2, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 8, Overlord 6, and the 3rd volume of Re: Zero’s 3rd arc.

Not as much banter this time as there were simply too many titles to discuss. Are you getting any of them?

Pick of the Week: Again!! Again

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MICHELLE: I am, of course, looking forward to DAYS 8 and Giant Killing 12, as well as the second volume of Again!!, but I’ve been anticipating Wotakoi for a long time, so it’s gotta be that.

SEAN: I really should be picking Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, but I’ve had experience with thinking I’ll love Asano titles and then finding them too dark. So instead I too will go with Wotakoi, which looks like a lot of fun.

KATE: Oof… there’s too much good stuff to pick just one title this week. If I had to limit myself to one, however, my vote would be for volume two of Again!!, a fresh take on the time-travel-to-high-school genre. It’s funny, rueful, and sometimes cringe-inducing — just like high school, only with better jokes.

ASH: I’m thrilled by pretty much everything that’s been mentioned so far. For ongoing series Again!! and Spirit Circle are probably the top of my list this week. As for debuts, I look forward to giving Wotakoi a try, but I’ll make Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction my official pick since no one else has yet. (I will never be able to say or type the title without looking at it though, and maybe not even then…)

ANNA: I liked the first volume of Again!! so much, I’m happy the second volume is coming out so soon after I finished the first one! That’s my pick!

Takane & Hana, Vol. 2

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Takane & Hana Volume 2 by Yuki Shiwasu

I enjoyed the first volume of this series, but it is always good to see how a new manga series will settle in after the author has gotten through introducing the characters and plot points in the first five chapters or so. It was interesting to see this odd couple continue to navigate situations that are out of their respective comfort zones. Hana attends an important work social event with Takane, made up to resemble her older sister. Hana then concludes (sensibly) that the age difference between them is too great and attempts to push Takane away, but that doesn’t go well. Hana then takes Takane out to cherry blossom viewing where he has to deal with being around throngs of people. One of the nice things about this series is seeing how this couple tends to push each other to experience new things, and then be very supportive of each other. One of Takane’s playboy friends shows up and awakens all of his protective instincts towards Hana. Shiwasu makes a comment in this volume about how much she enjoys drawing funny facial expressions and it really shows in the artwork for this series. I feel like even if there was very little character development or dialogue I would almost buy this series just to see Takane’s perplexed and incredulous facial expressions as he attempts to deal with Hana shoving a sea cucumber into his mouth. At two volumes in, Takane & Hana is still a fun, breezy read, and a welcome dose of shoujo comedy.


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Manga the Week of 4/18/18

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SEAN: April continues, as does the inundation of manga. Let’s get down to business.

Ghost Ship debuts World’s End Harem. It’s about a post-apocalyptic future that’s killed nearly all the men in the world, and about a man who thus needs to impregnate as many women as he can. Needless to say, this being a mature manga and not a hentai manga, he stays true to his (missing) love and tries to find a cure rather than, say, having tons of sex. I suspect the main audience of this title will be annoyed by this, but hey.

Haikasoru has a 6th Legend of the Galactic Heroes novel.

MICHELLE: Woot. I noticed that the release schedule for these seems to have sped up a bit (unless I am imagining things). We’ll also be getting volumes seven and eight this year.

ASH: That does seem to be the plan!

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us a 3rd volume of Outbreak Company.

They also have two debuts. Infinite Stratos is a series that most folks assumed would have been licensed years ago – in fact, most of its innovations have been done to death by other series. We’ll see if it can succeed after all this time.

There’s also The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, an isekai where an already practicing magician gets summoned to a world… and decides not to bother saving it just yet.

Kodansha gives us a slate of digital-only titles. Cosplay Animal 5, DAYS 8, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 6, Giant Killing 12, and The Prince’s Black Poison 4.

MICHELLE: My sports-manga-loving heart is appeased.

SEAN: They also debut Peach Mermaid (Momoiro Ningyo), a Dessert title that makes me wonder if mermaids are the next hot new trend.

MICHELLE: Could be!

ANNA: OK!

ASH: Merfolk do seem to have become increasingly popular/common over the last few years.

SEAN: On the print side, we’ve got a 2nd Again!!, a 6th Descending Stories, the 2nd and final Fairy Tail S, and the 5th That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime manga adaptation.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely looking forward to the first two.

ASH: Yes, definitely!! I was also amused by the beginning of That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, though I’ve certainly fallen behind with that series.

SEAN: The print debut (it’s also digital) is Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku (Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii), notable (at least to me) for being the first non-Kodansha title released by Kodansha Comics. It’s an Ichijinsha series that runs in the little known Comic Pool, and has an otaku and a fujoshi meet up again years after they knew each other in school. Looking forward to this shoujo/josei-ish title.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

ANNA: Interesting…

ASH: I am also intrigued!

SEAN: One Peace has everyone’s favorite bear manga, Kuma Miko 8.

Seven Seas has a 2nd volume of the Magical Girl Doctor light novel, and a 3rd Spirit Circle.

ASH: Spirit Circle has been great, so far; looking forward to more.

SEAN: Vertical has the 3rd and final volume of Nisioisin’s weird psychological drama Imperfect Girl.

Viz has a 2nd Fire Punch, which will have to try hard to top the jaw-dropping atrocities of the first volume. They also give us a 4th Tokyo Ghoul: re.

Viz also debuts another Inio Asano title, one of the weirder ones even for an artist known for his eccentric titles. Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction asks what happens when you combine aliens, political warfare, slice-of-life schoolgirls, and Asano. The answer is fascinating.

ANNA: Hmmm. Well I’m guessing weird Asano is always worth checking out.

ASH: Definitely! (And for those who may not already be aware, Asano will be visiting North America next month for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.)

MJ: Hm, might check this out.

SEAN: And Yen Press has some more titles creeping into stores. We get the 2nd Baccano! manga adaptation, the 3rd volume of The Isolator manga adaptation, a 9th Kagerou Daze (yup, adaptation of novel), the second Goblin Slayer manga adaptation, and the 10th Strike the Blood manga adaptation. Somehow, in among all these light novel spinoffs, we also get a 6th volume of The Royal Tutor, which is NOT based on a light novel.

So? What are you getting? Huh? Huh?

Pick of the Week: Talking About Boys

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SEAN: Even though I have reservations, I admit My Boy is my Pick of the Week. I’m curious to see how it’s handled, and how good the writing is. I want to know why Vertical wanted to license it. It’s intriguing.

MICHELLE: I’m wary of My Boy, so I reckon I’ll just go the shoujo debut route and pick You Got Me, Sempai. I can’t say I’m super-excited about it, though.

KATE: Hmmmmm… I don’t see anything on this week’s list that feels like a must-buy, so I’m going to focus instead on my ever-growing pile of unread manga. That manga isn’t going to read itself, you know!

ASH: I’m going to follow Michelle’s lead this week and go the shoujo debut route. In my case, I’m curious about Mermaid Boys and its gender-reversed take on The Little Mermaid.

ANNA: I’m sort of half-Kate, half-Ash. I’m most likely to spend my time this week trying to get caught up on the unread stacks of manga in my house, but I am also curious about Mermaid Boys.

MJ: I’m in the same boat as everyone else here this week, in that I’m a little wary of everything. But I think I’ll join Ash and Anna and throw my vote behind Mermaid Boys. That’s a lot to live up to, Mermaid Boys. Good luck.

Manga the Week of 4/11/18

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SEAN: Yikes. Thanks to Yen shifting half their March releases into April, we have another punishing week.

But first, Kodansha once again did a last-minute release on me. Already out this week is You Got Me, Sempai (Mairimashita, Senpai), a shoujo title from Dessert which I will add to the stack.

MICHELLE: I’ll probably check this one out.

SEAN: As for next week, Dark Horse gives us a 2nd volume of Hatsune Miku: Future Delivery.

J-Novel Club debuts Arifureta Zero, a spinoff prequel to the series showing those who built the dungeons in the first place.

They also have a 4th Faraway Paladin (technically the 5th, as the 3rd was split into two parts).

Back to Kodansha Digital, who have two new releases this week. A.I.C.O. Incarnation is based on the anime from Studio Bones, and is a Shonen Sirius title.

And Boarding School Juliet (Kishuku Gakkou no Juliet) is a Weekly Shonen Magazine title about a modern day manga Romeo and Juliet. Of the digital debuts I’ve mentioned, this is the one that most intrigues me.

There’s also plenty of ongoing digital titles. Grand Blue Dreaming 8, GTO Paradise Lost 7, Lovesick Ellie 5, and Starving Anonymous 2. No sports, though, sorry, Michelle.

MICHELLE: I am placated by having had several sportsy releases last week.

SEAN: On the print front, we have Attack on Titan 24, Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 3, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 8, In/Spectre 7, and Love & Lies 5. In/Spectre is supposed to be starting a new manga-only arc.

MJ: I haven’t even tried out the new CCS series. Bad CLAMP fan, bad. I should get on that.

ANNA: I haven’t either but I feel less enthusiastic about late CLAMP as opposed to early CLAMP.

ASH: I’m liking it so far, although it hasn’t really distinguished itself yet.

SEAN: Seven Seas has three titles out next week. There’s a 3rd Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, a 14th Magical Girl Apocalypse, and the 10th My Monster Secret, which will finally resolve its main plot hook. Not that this means it’s ending, of course. There’s still a lot of laughs to go.

SuBLime has a 6th Deluxe Edition of Finder.

Vertical debuts My Boy (Watashi no Shounen), or as I like to call it, “Hoo boy.” It’s an award-winning title from Futabasha’s Monthly Action, about the growing friendship between a 30-ish office lady and a 12-year-old boy, and how ambiguous their relationship is. It’s apparently very well-written and very tasteful, and I will be giving it a shot, despite my reaction being, as I said, “Hoo boy.”

MJ: Hm. Maybe?

MICHELLE: Same. I’ll wait to see Sean’s review.

ANNA: I will pass on this.

SEAN: Viz has new volumes of Case Closed (66) and Magi (29). Itsuwaribito finally comes to an end as well with its 23rd volume.

Their debut this week is not manga, but will no doubt heavily appeal to anime fans: Homestuck Book One collects the popular and meme-spawning webcomic-ish thing.

ASH: I’m curious to see how well this translates into print considering the multimedia nature of the original. (It’s also interesting to see Viz continuing to expand beyond strictly Japanese content.)

SEAN: And now for the rest of Yen’s March titles, coming to you in April. Yen On has the 13th Accel World.

There are also a few debuts. The Elder Sister-Like One (Ane Naru Mono) is a Dengeki G’s title from ASCII Mediaworks that asks the question we’ve all wanted to know: What if Cthulhu was your big sis? It is based on a pornographic work, but I believe isn’t actually one in this version. Expect fanservice, though.

Mermaid Boys is a shoujo title from the late lamented Aria magazine, and seems to be a gender-reversed Little Mermaid. Can this be the rare Yen Press title that Anna will be interested in?

MJ: Okay, this sounds possibly kind of awesome.

ANNA: Probably! Gender-reversed Little Mermaid sounds intriguing!

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving it a try!

SEAN: And where you have Mermaid Boys, you must also have Monster Tamer Girls (Kaijuu no Shiiku Iin), though the two series are not connected. This is a Houbunsha title from Manga Time Kirara Forward, and I don’t know much about it.

ASH: I don’t know much about it, either, except that it’s a short series about the care and feeding of kaiju.

SEAN: And there is Though You May Burn to Ash (Tatoe Hai ni Natte mo), a Young Gangan horror/thriller title that is a survival game manga and oh wait, I stopped caring.

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: Ongoing Yen titles? We have plenty. Alice in Murderland 8, Angels of Death 2, The Betrayal Knows My Name 8 (MJalert here), Bungo Stray Dogs 6 (Ash alert here), the 4th Erased omnibus, a 7th Love at Fourteen (they’re 15 now, but hey), a 2nd One Week Friends, a 2nd manga volume for So I’m a Spider, So What?, a 5th Spirits & Cat Ears, a 2nd A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, the 2nd three-volume omnibus of Umineko: When they Cry: Requiem of the Golden Witch (Sean alert here), and your name 3.

MJ: Noting the alert here. I also like Erased, so there’s that.

ASH: Same! I’m still getting a kick out of all of the literary references in Bungo Stray Dogs, but the penultimate volume of Erased is what I’m really interested in this week.

SEAN: This is, frankly, far far too much. It’s getting ridiculous. Are you getting anything?

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1

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The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 1 by Meca Tanaka

Meca Tanaka’s manga is so charming! I thought that the first page of The Young Master’s Revenge was one of the most captivating first pages of manga that I’ve read recently. All in black, the thought “It is time for me to start my revenge” hovers while a boy accompanied by a lovely shoujo floral background illustration is leaving an airport with a bright smile and an adorable dog in a carrier. The contrast between the dark thoughts and the stereotypical innocent hero illustration immediately drew my attention.

The vengeful hero is Leo, a boy returning to Japan to attend high school after his father’s fashion company has become incredibly successful. Before he left Japan, he used to be friends with an heiress to a department store named Tenma. She was a tomboy who loved chasing animals, accidentally getting Leo into a situation where he was bitten on the butt by turtles, which has caused him years of psychological trauma. Leo has nursed his hatred for 10 years, turning himself into the perfect specimen of a high school boy just so he can make Tenman fall in love with him and then dump her. Unfortunately he finds out that things have changed in Japan and his path to revenge is not so smooth. Tenma’s family has fallen on hard times, and when he meets her again, she picks up her friendship with him exactly where they left off, but without any romantic notions at all.

Tanaka’s illustrations easily switch between capably showing the subtle emotions in the growing friendship between Tenma and Leo to straight out caricature. Tanaka’s characters have the most adorable surprised facial expressions. Leo grows more distressed as he realizes that other boys are aware of Tenma too, and potential rivals for her affection are introduced in such over the top ways, it is fun to see Tanaka poking fun at some typical shoujo conventions. Leo’s reasons for revenge are ridiculous, but this manga isn’t mean spirited at all. I preferred the revenge story in this manga as opposed to Komomo Confiserie which has an extremely similar plot because The Young Master’s Revenge never seems to cross the line into meanness at all. For me this manga fills that slot on my reading list for simple, cute, and adorable manga that has been left a little vacant by series like My Love Story!! and Honey So Sweet that have recently finished.

Pick of the Week: Manga Strikes!

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MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to so much this week! Ace of the Diamond, Chihayafuru, Promised Neverland, My Hero Academia, to name but a few. However, seinen romantic comedy from Mitsurou Kubo wins in my book. It’s gotta be Moteki. Plus, you get the first half of the series in one package. Nice!

SEAN: There is, frankly, an embarrassment of riches this week. including every single Shojo Beat title, as well as The Promised Neverland, which will be brilliant and make me suffer. But yes, I’m going with Moteki, a title we would never have seen here if not for Yuri on Ice taking off the way it did. I’m not complaining.

KATE: Moteki and The Promised Neverland are my must-read manga of the week. If I had to choose just one title, though, it would be the third volume of The Promised Neverland, since previous installment ended with a game-changing revelation.

ASH: I’m actively following so many of the series coming out this week! But when it comes to the pick of the week, debuts tend to get most of my attention, and so Moteki it is for me! (Although I’m also rather curious about Kenka Bancho Otome… )

ANNA: There’s a ton of great stuff coming out this week! It makes it so hard to pick! Like many others I have to give Moteki the edge though.

Manga the Week of 4/4/18

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SEAN: April showers bring manga. Lots and lots of manga.

But first, some light novels, as J-Novel Club has four new titles out next week. We see the 8th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, the 11th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, and a 5th If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord.

And if that last title wasn’t long enough for you, we see the debut of Me, a Genius? I Was Reborn into Another World and I Think They’ve Got the Wrong Idea!. As you might guess, we’re dealing with someone reincarnated with his old memories. That said, for once this isn’t a fantasy RPG world.

Kodansha has a lot of stuff. Digitally we see new Ace of the Diamond (10), Chihayafuru (10), Pumpkin Scissors (20), and Yozakura Quartet (21). Those last two have finally caught up with Japan, so I will remove them from the “Del Rey rescue” category and make them full-fledged.

MICHELLE: Predictably, I am happy about those first two!

ANNA: Maybe I’ll start getting caught up on Chihayafuru over the weekend!

SEAN: In print, we see a 13th Attack on Titan: Before the Fall (man, the Fall sure does take forever, doesn’t it?), the 3rd Battle Angel Alita: Deluxe Edition, a 9th Fire Force, and an 8th Princess Jellyfish omnibus.

ASH: I only recently started reading the original Battle Angel Alita series (previously, I’d only read some of Last Order) and I finally understand what the big deal is. Also, hooray Princess Jellyfish!

MICHELLE: It’s hard to believe Princess Jellyfish will be wrapping up soon.

ANNA: Also need to get caught up on this, still delighted it is coming out.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a number of their ongoing titles out next week. A Centaur’s Life 14 will continue to be about politics, racism, and the nature of warfare when it’s not about monster girl toddlers getting into trouble. There’s also Absolute Duo 3, Dreamin’ Sun 6, Not Lives 8, and The Testament of Sister New Devil STORM! 3.

For yuri fans, you may recall when Seven Seas, in the pre-light novel boom, put out the Strawberry Panic novels, which promptly sank like a stone. Fortunately, we now get the chance to read them digitally, and the first is out next week. Check them out, they’re hilarious… I mean, totally serious about their yuri.

ASH: I rather enjoyed the Strawberry Panic light novels! They’re utterly ridiculous and marvelously melodramatic, but highly entertaining.

SEAN: Vertical debuts another title from the creator of Yuri on Ice. Moteki is a seinen series about a man who had no luck with romance, but then all of a sudden he has girls coming out of the woodwork. I actually have copies of this in Japanese, as it intrigued me when it came out back in 2008. It ran in Kodansha’s Evening magazine, is going to be in two large omnibuses, and is better than it sounds.

ASH: I’ll definitely be picking this one up.

MICHELLE: Woot!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: So much Viz. SO MUCH VIZ. Including the final volume of Assassination Classroom, the 21st. Remember when this series was never, ever going to be licensed over here due to the concept? I’m so happy it was.

Also in Shonen titles, we see 7th Garden 8, Food Wars! 23, Haikyu!! 22, Kuroko’s Basketball 2-in-1 11, My Hero Academia 12, Naruto’s 22nd 3-in-1, Platinum End 5, The Promised Neverland 3, a 6th Rurouni Kenshin 3-in-1, and Seraph of the End 14. That’s a lot of really good shonen titles.

ASH: It’s true!

MICHELLE: It very much is! I have been working on getting caught up on My Hero Academia, too, and now totally see what the fuss was all about.

MJ: I’m really behind on Platinum End and need to catch up to see if I still like it. Signed, nervous Obata fan.

SEAN: But we’re not forgetting shoujo. The debut is Kenka Bancho Otome: Love’s Battle Royale, a Hana to Yume series based on an idea, oddly enough, by the creator of Dangan Ronpa. Given its source magazine, I’m expecting a lot less killing. Also, I’m a sucker for anything with Bancho in the title.

ASH: I do love a good series about delinquents and girl gang leaders.

MICHELLE: This looks pretty fun!

ANNA: Yes!

MJ: I could get into this.

SEAN: Also in shoujo we get the 2nd Takane & Hana, a 5th Water Dragon’s Bride, and the 11th Yona of the Dawn. Any one of those could be a pick of the week.

ASH: This is also true!

MICHELLE: Verily! This is a seriously good week!

ANNA: So amazing!

SEAN: So what are you picking?

Skip Beat, Vol. 40 by Yoshiki Nakamura

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Skip Beat Volume 40 by Yoshiki Nakamura

The cover of this volume made me happy, because it has been a little while since Kyoko and Moko were hanging out together! As a consequence this volume is decidedly light on Ren, but as always there are trade-offs and compromises in both life and manga. Skip Beat is such a long-running series that is so well-done that even when plot elements are used over and over again I find myself looking forward to what new spin Nakamura will put on the situation. When I realized that there would be a big audition coming up, I was curious to see how Kyoko would handle it with all the progress she’s been making to become more sure of herself and her acting.

Kyoko and Moko are up for a part in a ninja-related series, so there’s an impressive training montage where they have to visit a master of stage fighting and learn all the technique they need to be believable on the screen. The drama about the audition is amped up even more when Kyoko learns that she’s competing for the part against one of Ren’s former co-stars. An additional element of mystery is layered on with the return of Koenji, who has a psychosomatic illness after being in a bad accident. Kyoko heads into auditions with Ren’s manager on her side as well. Nakamura does a great job setting up a variety of story elements with a new beginning, making Skip Beat! still feel fresh 40 volumes in.

Pick of the Week: Manga a Go Go!

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SEAN: I’m torn this week between Seven Seas’ release of Cutey Honey a Go Go!, an updated manga featuring the classic leads as adults instead of schoolgirls, and Vertical’s release of CITY, the new comedy manga from the creator of Nichijou. If pressed, I will pick Cutey Honey, but I’m going to be getting both.

MICHELLE: I’m not super excited about anything, but I do enjoy Waiting for Spring, so I’ll go with that.

KATE: If you drew a Venn diagram of my taste in manga and Sean’s, the overlapping region would include both of his picks for March 27th. The end is nigh?

ASH: Hahaha! It’s not nearly as uncommon for Sean and I to be interested in the same manga, so it’s perhaps not too surprising that Cutey Honey a Go Go! is the release that’s caught most of my attention this week.

ANNA: There aren’t many series coming out this week that really appeal to me, but I have to say I am most intrigued by Cutey Honey a Go Go!, so that’s my pick.

Sweet Blue Flowers, Vol 1

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Sweet Blue Flowers Volume 1 by Takako Shimura

The Viz signature line might not have quite as much hype as it did when it first launched, but it is nice to see it reserved for titles that deserve special treatment, like Sweet Blue Flowers. I had high expectations for this title based on Takako Shimura’s sensitivity and artistry in her other series Wandering Son, and I wasn’t disappointed.

Sweet Blue Flowers starts by showing old friends reconnecting. Akira Okudaira meets Fumi Manjome on her way to school, and the girls fend off train gropers together. They head off to different schools, where Fumi deals with her crippling shyness, and Akira has an easier time fitting in. Akira banters with her family about the possibility of bringing home a girlfriend from her all-girls high school. The girls’ mothers reconnect and they realize that they were kindergarten friend. Back then, Akira served as Fumi’s protector when dealing with all the trials and tribulations of childhood.

As the story unfolded in this manga, I was struck with the economy of Shimura’s storytelling, and how small moments or single panels are filled with significance. Fumi is upset about her cousin’s marriage to an extent that seems slightly beyond the norm, even for a girl who has retained some of her childhood tendency to burst into tears as an adolescent. Shimura captures the hazards of teen girls taking public transportation in a short panel sequence that focuses on a disembodied reaching hand and Akira’s shocked facial expression. Shimura is also wonderful at scattering plot points throughout the manga in a way that makes the narrative feel like it just evolves naturally from the daily lives of the characters. Fumi’s relationship with her cousin is mentioned more as the book unfolds, as Fumi becomes involved with the dashing Yasuko, who takes on the role of Heathcliff in a production of Wuthering Heights.

Akira is steadfastly supportive, and as the manga unfolds Sweet Blue Flowers’ slice of life approach to exploring friendship and romance draws the reader in. Shimura’s subtle storytelling and sensitivity towards character development makes reading this manga a pleasure. I’m disappointed with myself that I took so long to finally read this volume!

Manga the Week of 3/28/18

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SEAN: Stuff. Lots of stuff. Endless stuff. What stuff? Well…

Dark Horse gives us a 9th volume of Blood Blockade Battlefront.

ASH: Looks like the entire series might actually be released at this point!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 3rd omnibus of To-Love-Ru, featuring Vols. 5-6.

J-Novel Club has, after a brief hiatus, new volumes for Demon King Daimaou (4) and I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse (7).

Kodansha Digital has a new release, Liar x Liar. It’s a shoujo manga from Dessert, about a girl who pretends to be someone else to hide her identity from her stepbrother… then begins dating him? I think I will pass.

MICHELLE: Yeeeeeah.

ANNA: There’s a lot of other Kodansha Digital manga that I would get caught up on before trying this.

SEAN: They’ve also got ongoing volumes. Beauty Bunny 4, Domestic Girlfriend 16, Drowning Love 8, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 8, My Boyfriend in Orange 4, My Brother the Shut-In 3, and Until Your Bones Rot 5.

And if you like print, there’s a 5th volume of Waiting for Spring.

MICHELLE: Yay! And no easily dupable stepbrothers in sight.

ASH: I do in fact like print! And I’ve been enjoying Waiting for Spring, too.

SEAN: Seven Seas has Cutie Honey a Go-Go!, a recent variation on the classic Go Nagai manga (which Seven Seas will also be releasing later in the year). I’ve actually heard good things about this variation, so am looking forward to it.

ASH: As have I, and as am I.

ANNA: Interesting….

SEAN: They’re also debuting New Game! This is about a young graduate who looks middle-school aged and her adventures at a game company. It’s a 4-koma, and runs in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Carat. It had an anime.

And we also get Soul Liquid Chambers. Zombies, nudity, blood and gore, fanservice, and it runs in Shonen Gahosha’s Young King Ours GH, home of many other titles with ‘ecchi’ in their descriptions. I… think I will pass. Again.

MICHELLE: Same.

SEAN: In terms of ongoing series, Seven Seas has Devils and Realist 14, Shomin Sample 8, and There’s a Demon Lord on the Floor 5. And Don’t Meddle with My Daughter comes to an end with its third volume.

Vertical debuts CITY, a new series from the creator of Nichijou. I look forward to seeing if it’s still very funny and strange, or slightly more normal.

Vertical also has a Seven Deadly Sins novel, Seven-Colored Recollections, which seems to be a short story collection.

Yen Press, of course, has stuff. There’s new digital volumes. Crimson Prince 15, Kuzumi-kun, Can’t You Read the Room? 5, and Sekirei 15.

Yen On also gives us the remainder of Kieli digitally, with Vols. 6-9. This completes that series.

Yen On has no debuts this month, but we do see Durarara!! 9, The Irregular at Magic High School 7, Magical Girl Raising Project 3, Re: Zero EX 2 (the last volume to date of this side-series), The Saga of Tanya the Evil 2 (which is EVEN LONGER than the first), So I’m a Spider, So What? 2, and the 19th Spice & Wolf. That’s a lot of light novel.

ASH: That it is! I’m not following as many series as I once was, but I’m very happy that so much is being translated.

SEAN: There are also a few manga out, though a lot of March’s releases were pushed back to mid-April. Forbidden Scrollery (aka the Touhou manga) has a 2nd volume, Graineliers has its 2nd book, Horimiya has its 10th volume, and there’s a 15th Spice & Wolf manga.

MICHELLE: Yay for Horimiya. Despite the endless stuff, looks like I only really like two titles this week.

ASH: I’m interested in seeing how Graineliers develops; the first volume was a little uneven, but had potential.

SEAN: And we have a debut: Laid-Back Camp (Yurukyan △). It’s also a Houbunsha title, from Manga Time Kirara Forward, about girls who camp. It also has an anime. I believe the symbol in the Japanese title is meant to be a tent. Which should tell you what level we’re going for here. The level of CUTE.

ASH: I suspect this won’t be The Summit of the Gods, but I do like camping enough to give the series a try!

SEAN: Does this whet your appetite? Are you starving for titles now?

Pick of the Week: An Assortment of Manga

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MICHELLE: There are quite a few good things coming out this week! I’ll definitely be reading the latest Giant Killing and Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, and I’m happy to see more Sweet Blue Flowers. Too, there’s Perfect World, a josei series with a very interesting premise. But still, Twinkle Stars is coming to an end, and I find I’m really in the mood to see how this one wraps up, so that’s my pick for this week.

SEAN: Sadly, I suspect I will be the only one picking this, meaning I can’t call Pick of the Week “Take Back Your Mink”. But my Pick this week is definitely the first omnibus of Dragon Half, which I’m hoping will let me wallow in nostalgia.

KATE: I hate to be predictable, but my pick is volume four of Golden Kamuy. Is it a cooking manga with action sequences, or an action manga with lengthy discussions about squirrel meat preparation? Danged if I know, but I’m hooked.

ASH: So much is coming out this week that I’m looking forward to! Sweet Blue Flowers, Golden Kamuy, Twinkle Stars, Dragon Half and more. I’ll take this opportunity to pick one that hasn’t been mentioned by someone else yet, Natsume Ono’s ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department. The first volume was a slow burn, but stylish and intriguing.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great titles coming out this week! I have to go with my general inclination to celebrate josei whenever a new series comes out, so my pick is Perfect World.

MJ: since I’m going last here, I’ll round things out by picking the third omnibus of Sweet Blue Flowers. I’m a fan of this series, and I’m a fan of angst, so this works well for me.