Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Pick of the Week: Different Sides

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SEAN: My pick this week, despite my whining and groaning, goes to the 12th and final volume of Genshiken: Second Season. I’m afraid to say that my reason for this is entirely selfish. It’s because MY SHIP WINS! HAH! (cough) Or, in other words, the harem plot is finally satisfactorily resolved. I will miss complaining about it.

KATE: Predictably, my pick for the week is the fourth installment of The Girl from the Other Side, but I’ll need a chaser for that one — words like “moody” and “harrowing” come to mind when describing it — so I’ll throw a copy of Sorry for My Familiar in the basket, too.

ANNA: There’s not a lot coming out this week that appeals to me, but The Girl From the Other Side is so unique and surreal, it would likely be my pick during a week with many of my favorite series being released.

MICHELLE: I’m with Kate and Anna on this one! For my chaser, I’ll go with Blue Morning, as I love BL with a complex storyline.

ASH: Oh, that sounds like a great plan, Michelle! The Girl from the Other Side is absolutely marvelous and is without a question my pick. I definitely look forward to getting my hands on Blue Morning, too, though. I don’t read quite as much BL as I once did, but the series is very high on my list, BL or not.

Manga the Week of 3/14/18

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SEAN: Remember when the 2nd and 3rd weeks of the month were smaller? (lol)

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Bookwalker has a 3rd volume of post-war baking adventures with The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress.

Cross Infinite World’s webnovel licenses are not normally on my radar, but I will admit to curiosity about their latest shoujo novel, Obsessions of an Otome Gamer.

Dark Horse gives us a 5th omnibus of Blade of the Immortal.

ASH: Some of the individual volumes have gone out of print and can be difficult to find, so the omnibus edition is a great way to collect the series now.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a debut next week. The Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar. When the cover shows a smug Japanese teen sitting on a throne surrounded by women at his feet, you know what you’re in for.

MICHELLE: Pass.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital also has a debut next week. Starving Anonymous (Shokuryou Jinrui) is a post-apocalypse survival sort of series that runs in various Young Magazine spinoffs. It’s by the author of My Wife is Wakamatsu-san and Fort of Apocalypse. Expect it to be more like the latter.

There’s also new digital volumes for Aoba-kun’s Confessions (5), Grand Blue Dreaming (7), GTO Paradise Lost (6) (where has this been?), Kokkoku: Moment by Moment (6), Lovesick Ellie (4) and Tsuredure Children (8).

MICHELLE: I finally started Lovesick Ellie. It’s kind of refreshing to have a heroine so openly lustful.

SEAN: Print-wise, Genshiken 2nd Season finally comes to a close with its 12th volume. As a sequel it wasn’t as good as the original, but I’ll still stick around to the end.

ASH: I need to catch up with it, but there are elements in the series that I really appreciate.

SEAN: There’s also, in print, Land of the Lustrous 5, The Seven Deadly Sins 25, To Your Eternity 3, and UQ Holder 13.

ASH: Both Land of the Lustrous and To Your Eternity are beautiful and devastating works, though each in their own way.

SEAN: One Peace has a 7th volume of Kuma Miko.

Seven Seas debuts the Arifureta manga, which from what I understand is not quiet as well received as the novel, but should please those of you who prefer that format.

They also have Devilman vs. Hades 1, which seems like it might be workplace violence judging from the title.

ASH: I’m certainly curious about this Devilman and Mazinger Z spinoff!

SEAN: Lastly, there’s Sorry for My Familiar (Uchi no Tsukaima ga Sumimasen), a good! Afternoon series (so yes, Seven Seas can license Kodansha too) about a demon girl and her middle-aged man. The man is the familiar.

Seven Seas also has a 4th Girl from the Other Side (yay!) and a 13th Monster Musume (whee).

MICHELLE: Yay for Girl from the Other Side.

ASH: Girl from the Other Side remains one of my favorite series currently being released; it’s tremendous.

ANNA: I haven’t read the 3rd volume of this yet, but I am excited for another!

SEAN: SuBLime has a 7th volume of Blue Morning.

MICHELLE: Ooh, I didn’t know this was coming out. I enjoy Blue Morning.

ASH: The series is so good!

SEAN: Vertical gives us more Gundam Wing with a 5th volume.

Viz has a 3rd volume of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, a 26th Rin-Ne, and a 2nd Splatoon.

And Yen Press gives us a 15th Barakamon and a 9th Prison School omnibus. Don’t get them mixed up.

MICHELLE: I probably say every time that I will eventually read Barakamon, but it’s still true. I even moved volume one to a different stack recently!

SEAN: So what will you be picking up?

Pick of the Week: We Got the Beat

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MICHELLE: There’s a lot that I’m getting this week. Ace of the Diamond, Haikyu!!, One-Punch Man… But, honestly, this week’s pick was preordained because one of my favorite series only comes out twice a year: Skip Beat!, I choose you!

KATE: I’m suffering from a manga hangover at the moment, since last week was EPIC. Is it OK to plug Again!! and Silver Spoon a second time? ‘Cuz there’s nothing coming out this week that makes me as happy of either of those debuts.

SEAN: My pick this week goes to a title I know nothing about except really good word of mouth. There was much happiness when Kaguya-sama: Love Is War was licensed, and I am excited to see why.

ASH: Like Kate, I’m still thrilled about last week’s debuts. I’m looking forward to catching up on some ongoing series this week, though, such as Frau Faust and Haikyu!!.

ANNA: Last week was great and this week is pretty good too! Like Michelle, I’m always thrilled when there is a new Skip Beat volume, so that is my pick!

Anonymous Noise, Vol 6

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Anonymous Noise, Volume 6 by Ryoko Fukuyama

Anonymous Noise, sometimes I find this series a little infuriating because I’m not fond of the dynamics in the Nino-Yuzu-Momo love triangle, where Nino as muse gets bounced back and forth between two songwriters while everyone keeps hiding their feelings for various reasons. On the other hand this series does bring a regular dose of rock band drama, which I do appreciate. I found this volume more entertaining, probably because there was a bit more focus on the supporting cast. This volume starts out with the aftermath of the In No Hurry vs Silent Black Kitty battle of the bands, where Nino runs after Momo, gets rejected, Yuzu shows up to pick up the pieces, and then decides to lie about his feelings again.

Momo vanishes and Nino’s psychosomatic reaction is to have difficulty singing again, but she does hang out Miou a little bit, which I am taking as an indication that my dream ending for the series, where Momo and Miou forswear all men to launch an all girl band is totally going to happen. One thing that I was quite thrilled with is that Miou finally decides to take a chance on Haruyoshi, who has been pursuing her forever. Nino is determined to get back her voice, and Yuzu and Momo are dealing with their obsessions in their own way, as Yuzu buries himself in songwriting, and Momo attempts to get Yuzu to slip one of his songs to Nino. The circular nature of the love triangle leads back to Nino yet again having to choose between the two songwriters.

I don’t know, as I put down this volume I found myself much more invested in the Miou/Haruyoshi romance, because it at least seems to be progressing somewhere! I still read this for the reliable angst and rock band poses, but I would really really like to see a little more progression for the main characters. Also, I miss cranky Nino, and hope she will manifest the snarkiness she exhibited during her band’s radio interview. Will that happen in volume 7????


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Yona of the Dawn Vol. 10

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Yona of the Dawn Volume 10 by Mizuho Kusanagi

It is a sign of a good long-running fantasy series, when at 10 volumes in I feel like the story is barely getting started and I just want it to go on forever! Part of the reason why I’m finding this manga so compelling to read is the inherent niceness of the characters. It might be cheesy, but this manga helps me maintain some hope for humanity. Yona’s ability to spread compassion throughout her immediate surroundings by demonstrating her own compassion gets featured often in Yona of the Dawn, but each time it is with a special twist that has me immediately captivated.

In this case, the target of Yona’s transformation through compassion is Kang Tae-Jun, second son of the fire chief and all around unpleasant person, as shown in his actions in earlier volumes when he thought he killed Yona by throwing her off a cliff. His obsession has continued, and he’s consumed with guilt when he realizes that Yona might be in the company of the fearsome bandits that are occupying a village. Tae-Jun’s trauma is played for laughs at first, as he lingers in bed and plots to return to Katan village where he thought he heard Yona’s voice. He declares that he finally has a reason for living and his men are bewildered, but supportive. Tae-Jun’s undercover attempts involve an inept disguise as a commoner. When he encounters members of Yona’s band, he assumes that they are evil, but they scoop him up and take him for medical treatment.

Tae-Jun learns that conditions in the town for the citizens are terrible, and the things he’s been told about the lands of the Fire Tribe were lies. Tae-Jun’s encounter with an enigmatic Hak is hilarious, as Hak maintains an enigmatic expression while Tae-Jun is inwardly dying as he realizes that he’s sharing a fire with the dreaded “Thunder Beast”. Kusanagi could teach a master class in drawing overwrought facial expressions as Tae-Jun goes through such an extreme of emotions in this volume. When Tae-Jun finally encounters Yona, she forgives him, and he then decides on a covert campaign to improve the lives of the Katan villagers, while leveraging the resources of the military under his command. Tae Jun keeps helping more and more, until he’s been transformed in his outlook and abilities by the end of the volume. This was a satisfying, more self-contained volume of Yona of the Dawn, but it seems clear that another adventure is about to begin. I’m excited to see what happens next for Yona and her band of mystical warriors.

Manga the Week of 3/7/18

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SEAN: We continue to bring you Manga the Week of, despite the danger of last-minute announcements from Kodansha, despite the near-constant release date shifts from Yen Press. We are here for you, the reader.

Dark Horse has the 4th volume of that Psycho Pass prequel, Inspector Shinya Kogami.

Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of Yokai Girls, which considering its genre I found better than expected.

It’s a J-Novel Club release bonanza next week. We get a 5th Arifureta, a 7th In Another World with My Smartphone, a 5th Infinite Dendrogram, and a 10th Invaders of the Rokujouma?!. Something for everyone.

Kodansha has some print novels next week. They’ve got a 2nd hardcover of their re-release of Battle Angel Alita in a Deluxe Edition. (No, she’s still not Gally. Why confuse readers now?) and a 4th volume of Frau Faust.

MICHELLE: Yay, Frau Faust!

ASH: Indeed! I know a lot of people who are very excited about the deluxe edition of Battle Angel Alita, too.

SEAN: There’s also ongoing digital series, with Ace of the Diamond 9, All-Rounder Meguru 6, Black Panther and Sweet 16 7, Drifting Dragons 3, and Pumpkin Scissors 19.

MICHELLE: I do so love Ace of the Diamond.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us 3rd volumes of more interesting than I expected Beasts of Abigaile, and less interesting than I expected Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf (this may be the final volume of the latter).

Vertical has a 10th Devils’ Line.

And the rest is Viz, I’d normally say, but we do have some Yen holdouts at the end. For Viz, though, there’s lots of fun stuff.

On the shonen front, we have Astra: Lost in Space 2, Bleach 72, Boruto 3, Haikyu!! 21, Hunter x Hunter 34 (yes, it still exists), One Piece’s 23rd 3-in-1, One-Punch Man 13, And Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V 3, which is still a very awkward title.

MICHELLE: I’ve missed One-Punch Man.

ASH: I’m probably most excited for more One-Punch Man and Haikyu!!.

ANNA: Haikyu!! is a favorite in my household, and I need to get caught up on One-Punch Man.

SEAN: Seinen debuts! Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai – Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen) is a Weekly Young Jump comedy/drama about two student council members who have fallen for each other but are determined NOT to be the first to admit it. I am looking forward to this one a lot.

Ongoing shoujo series include Anonymous Noise 7, Bloody Mary 10 (another final volume, I believe), The Demon Prince of Momochi House 11, Queen’s Quality 3, and Skip Beat! 40. (Is Skip Beat North America’s longest shoujo manga by now?)

MICHELLE: Yes, it has surpassed Boys Over Flowers, which had 37.

ASH: Lots of great shoujo coming out next week! I have some catching up to do.

ANNA: Very excited for shoujo!!!!

SEAN: Shoujo debuts! The Young Master’s Revenge (Kimi no Koto nado Zettai ni) is a LaLa series by Meca Tanaka, author of Meteor Prince and the “whoops, schoolteacher romance, can’t license this” series Faster Than a Kiss. A young man had a childhood where he was run ragged by his childhood friend. He’s now back to take revenge on her… but are things still the same?

MICHELLE: And a couple of older series like Omukae desu. and Pearl Pink. I haven’t read those yet, but I did enjoy Meteor Prince.

ANNA: I have Pearl Pink stockpiled somewhere in my house, but haven’t read it yet. Am looking forward to this series.

SEAN: We also have some Yen runoff from February… in fact, we’ll be having that all month. BTOOOM! is up to Vol. 20. Sigh. Dimension W is at 9, there’s a 7th Today’s Cerberus, and a 12th Trinity Seven.

Yen’s debut next week is Tales of Wedding Rings, which has already been running digitally on Crunchyroll. It appears to be a standard high school romance, but isn’t. Think fantasy with lots of fanservice. It runs in Big Gangan, so falls under seinen.

March is coming in like a lion! (though alas, March Comes in Like a Lion remains unlicensed). What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: At Last, Farming Manga!

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SEAN: My pick this week is Silver Spoon Again!!, a touching story of a young man who dies from overworking himself as an agriculture student in Hokkaido, but is given the opportunity to go back and live his life again, and becomes an ouendan cheerleader for the school’s equestrian squad.

MICHELLE: Ha! I am behind that pick 100%!

KATE: I’m on Team Silver Spoon this week, but for selfish reasons: I’m hoping that Silver Spoon will be such a hit that Yen Press will rescue Hiromu Arakawa’s Hyakusho Kizuko and offer it in a snazzy print edition. JManga released the first volume in 2012 before folding up its tent, and I’ve always felt it deserved a second chance with American readers. Here’s a link to my original review; it has 100% more cow manure jokes than Fullmetal Alchemist.

MJ: I have been hoping for Silver Spoon so much for so long, that has to be my pick! Hiromu Arakawa is a manga goddess and I am always on her team. And hey, I will also get behind Kate’s argument. More Arakawa is always better!

MICHELLE: I’ll get behind it, too. There are definitely several JManga titles that I wish could find new homes.

ANNA: I’m also looking forward to Silver Spoon. I always feel like throwing a party whenever a manga I thought would never be available here gets released in translation.

ASH: Like everyone else here, Again!! and Silver Spoon are definitely at the top of my list this week. I’ve been waiting to read Silver Spoon longer, so I guess that’ll be my official pick, but I’m looking forward to the debut of both series a great deal.

Manga the Week of 2/28/18

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SEAN: The end of the month, and we celebrate by doing this list in reverse order, mostly because I want to lead with the Big One.

Yen Press is bringing out Silver Spoon, Hiromu Arakawa’s farming manga that is her big followup to Fullmetal Alchemist. The story of a young man’s coming of age at an agricultural university, it’s a personal favorite, and I have been begging for its license for years. Everyone NEEDS to read this.

MICHELLE: So excite.

ANNA: I am also excited!

MJ: This is so exciting to me. I, too, have been begging for this license forever, somehow missed it had even happened, and now I’m just awash in joy.

ASH: I also share in the excitement! I really enjoyed the anime adaptation, but I’m thrilled that the original manga will finally be translated, too!

SEAN: There are also a number of ongoing Yen Press series that are not Silver Spoon. Scum’s Wish 6; the 3rd and final volume of Rose Guns Days Season 3 (STEEEELLLLAAAAAA!); A Polar Bear in Love 2; an 8th volume of Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, whose end was recently announced in Japan; Girls’ Last Tour 4; Delicious in Dungeon 4; and Aoharu x Machinegun 9.

MICHELLE: I still have every intention of reading Delicious in Dungeon!

ANNA: Me too, but sometimes my intentions do not manifest in reality.

ASH: Delicious in Dungeon is one of my favorite series being published right now. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the first volume of A Polar Bear in Love, so I’m looking forward to reading more of that series, too.

SEAN: We also have new light novels! Psycome comes to an end with its 6th and final volume (there’s apparently a short story collection as well, but I wouldn’t hold your breath). Log Horizon’s 10th volume catches us up with Japan, so it may be a while before Book 11. And there’s also a 6th Re: Zero, a 5th volume of the DanMachi spinoff Sword Oratoria, a 2nd volume of The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, and Vols. 4-5 of Kieli out digitally.

And speaking of digital, Yen has new digital volumes of Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (4), Saki (14), IM: Great Priest Imhotep (5), Gesellschaft Blume (5), Corpse Princess (15) and Aphorism (14).

ASH: Saki!

SEAN: Viz also has a digital release, with a new volume of The Emperor and I.

Vertical Inc. gives us Nekomonogatari (White), which wraps up Tsubasa Hanekawa’s character arc by giving us a book narrated by her. Can the series hold up without Araragi’s eccentric and teenage-boy riddled monologues? Probably.

Vertical Comics gives us a 2nd omnibus of The Flowers of Evil.

Udon gives us the 2nd volume of Infini-T Force.

Seven Seas’ debut is another print release of a J-Novel Club digital novel series. Clockwork Planet will also be familiar to manga fans from Kodansha’s release, and anime fans from a relatively unpopular series. The novel is worth reading, though.

ASH: I’m really liking this partnership between J-Novel Club and Seven Seas.

SEAN: We also see Unmagical Girl 2, Freezing 19-20, a 2nd Devilman Grimoire, and most importantly for Manga Bookshelf folks, an 8th volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

MICHELLE: I now have a stack of The Ancient Magus’ Bride on my desk, courtesy of my local library!

ASH: Always glad to see a new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride! I also rather liked the first volume of Devilman Grimoire, though that series is a different beast entirely.

SEAN: Kodansha has some great print releases next week, with a 13th Kiss Him, Not Me! (still making me wonder if the pairing will stick), a 7th Clockwork Planet (the manga), and a 2nd volume of the Clear Card sequel series to Cardcaptor Sakura.

MICHELLE: I hope a bit more happens in this volume of Clear Card.

SEAN: The big debut, though, is Again!!, a manga by one of the creators of Yuri on Ice. If you always wanted to see Peggy Sue Got Married but with Japanese Ouendan cheerleaders, this is the title for you. I’m looking forward to this quite a bit.

MICHELLE: I might possibly be even more excited about this than Silver Spoon!

ANNA: AHHHHHHHHHH!

MJ: This sounds awesome.

ASH: Doesn’t it though?! This should be great.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital surprised us by announcing they were putting out a digital release of Dragon Head next week – all 10 volumes of this seinen thriller classic.

ASH: I was pleasantly surprised by this announcement! Dragon Head goes a little off the rails here and there, but overall it’s a great post-apocalyptic survival series. I’m glad to see it legally available in English again.

SEAN: There’s also new volumes for PTSD Radio (4), Pitch-Black Ten (3), My Brother the Shut-In (2), and My Boyfriend in Orange (3).

J-Novel Club debuts a new series called [New Life +] Young Again in Another World, which features the usual suspects you expect with a series that has “In Another World” in its title, but the gimmick is that the protagonist lived to be 94 before he was reincarnated.

They’ve also got a 2nd volume of Walking My Second Path in Life, whose first volume I really enjoyed. Plus, female protagonist!

And Ghost Ship has a 3rd volume of the “racier than the very racy original” sequel To-Love-Ru Darkness.

Aside from the must buy that is Silver Spoon (and, if I’m honest, you should get Again!! as well), what are you picking up next week?

Pick of the Week: Fish, Spiders and Distant Stars

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MICHELLE: By now, it probably goes without saying that I will definitely be getting the new volume of Chihayafuru, so I will instead pick Voices of a Distant Star. I never read it the first time around, but I remember MJreally loved it. The your name. movie made me cry buckets, so I bet I will probably love this story, too.

SEAN: I’m definitely picking up Voices, but my pick this week goes to Giant Spider & Me. A combination of food manga, sweet slice of life, and post-apocalyptic survival, it feels like every new trend we’ve had brought into one title.

KATE: I’m exited about the return of Voices of a Distant Star, and charmed by the idea of a slice-of-life story about a girl and her giant spider, but my must-read manga this week is Fukushima Devil Fish, a collection of short stories by Susumu Katsumata. And yes, the Fukushima of the title refers to the nuclear plant that experienced a partial meltdown after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake; according to publisher Breakdown Press, the anthology includes “two stories from the 1980s on the subject of ‘nuclear gypsies,’ the men who labor under oppressive conditions to maintain Japan’s fleet of nuclear power plants.”

ASH: I’m certainly curious about Giant Spider & Me since learning that it is in fact a food manga but, like Kate, Fukushima Devil Fish is what takes priority for me this week.

ANNA: There’s a ton of great manga coming out this week, but I’m most interested in Voices of a Distant Star, since I wasn’t able to catch it the first time it was released.

Takane & Hana, Vol 1

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Takane & Hana Volume 1 by Yuki Shiwasu

This month has been crazy busy for me, so I haven’t had as much time to read manga as I would like. But there’s nothing like the first volume of a new shoujo series to break me out of a reading slump! Originally I was a tiny bit skeptical about the couple featured in this manga, because it features a high school girl and a businessman. But if Dengeki Daisy can easily convince me that the best companion for a young orphan is an older emotionally damaged janitor/hacker, Takane & Hana can certainly do the same for its unconventional couple.

As I started reading the first few pages of this manga, I was impressed at how many awesome facial expressions and comedic situations Shiwasu was able to pack into the first few pages. Hana is being dragged to a marriage meeting with the heir of a business empire because the chairman happened to catch a glimpse of her older sister while he was visiting her father’s struggling subsidiary company. Hana and her dad look incredibly stressed, and they have an amusing exchange where she wonders “What’s the plan for if he falls in love with me?” and he reassures her, “You don’t really have the looks to make that happen.”

Takane Saibara shows up and turns out to be incredibly good-looking, but not so wonderful with social skills, commenting that he doesn’t like all the makeup Hana is wearing to disguise her age. She jumps up, throws her wig in his face, and stalks off yelling that she isn’t interested in him. Takane ends up deciding to spend more time with Hana, showing up at her house with an oversized bouquet of roses and pointing at her while declaring “I’ve taken an interest in you!” Takane attempts to sweep Hana off her feet by bullying her into wearing a designer dress and taking her out to an expensive restaurant, expecting her to be impressed by his display of wealth. There’s a great one-panel sequence where Hana calmly tears Takane to shreds by psychoanalyzing him, saying that he isn’t charming enough to attract anyone but gold-diggers who dump him quickly, but he doesn’t want to face reality so he just goes around saying that he hates women all the time. Takane actually manages to apologize to Hana for his remarks, but it seems like it is the first time he’s actually said “I’m sorry.” to a girl.

The dynamic between Takane and Hana is what I absolutely loved, as he’s emotionally stunted, and she’s incredibly insightful and self-assured. He doesn’t pursue anything physical with Hana, seeming content to show up with ever more elaborate bouquets and gifts, while she manages to get him to agree to a date where he cosplays as a commoner. Their odd encounters actually force them to get to know each other as people, and Hana finds herself unexpectedly jealous when she contemplates the idea of Takane dating another woman. The first volume of Takane & Hana packed in a surprising amount of emotional development and funny moments in just a few chapters. It might not be as overly sweet and over the top as My Love Story!!, but if you’re looking for a funny new shoujo series to add to your manga collection, Takane & Hana definitely delivers.

Manga the Week of 2/21/18

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SEAN: There are some tasty treats coming out next week, so let’s just jump right in.

Perhaps not tasty per se, but definitely interesting is Fukushima Devil Fish, which Breakdown Press is putting out. It’s by the late creator of Red Snow, and is subtitled “An Anti-Nuclear Manga”. I think it’s more of a collection rather than a story in itself. It doesn’t get more indie than this.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this one for a while; I’m looking forward to finally getting my hands on it.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has the 2nd volume of isekai harem fantasy How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, which is, well, good if you like isekai harem fantasy, and bad if you don’t.

There’s also a 3rd volume of Occultic;Nine, which I’m hoping will make a bit more sense and will try not to kill off the entire cast, though the barn door may already be open on that one.

Kodansha has only one print release this week, that being the 4th volume of That Time I got Reincarnated As a Slime.

They do, however, have a plethora of digital titles. We get All Out!! 5, Chihayafuru 9 (sooooo far behind), Cosplay Animal 4 (I need to finish 3, I enjoy this quirky, smutty series), Fuuka 16 (its end was recently announced). Hotaru’s Way 5, Kasane 10, and The Prince’s Black Poison 3 (as recently recommended by Japanese shoujo manga editors).

MICHELLE: I’m definitely down for All Out!! and Chihayafuru and really need to check out Hotaru’s Way, too. I confess The Prince’s Black Poison had looked like something I wouldn’t be keen on, but maybe I should give it another look.

ANNA: I’m soooo far behind with Chihayafuru too, but I love it.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a monstrous number of titles out next week. Let’s start with recurring volumes as we see Bloom Into You 4, Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage 3, the 5th print light novel of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, Lord Marskman and Vanadis 6, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 2, NTR: Netsuzou Trap 4, and Tales of Zestiria 4.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up with Bloom Into You.

ASH: Bloom Into You for me, too. I’ll likely be picking up more Captain Harlock as well.

SEAN: Ending next week is Kase-san and, which has its 4th volume Kase-san and an Apron due out. I think it’s still having occasional online shorts, so there may be a 5th down the road, a la Orange, but this is it for now.

And there’s two debuts. The first is a classic example of current trends, with Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, which is, no lie, an adorable sweet slice of life story about a young girl and a giant spider after the apocalypse. There will be tea. Or at least espresso.

ASH: I just recently learned that food is a major part of this series, which of course bumped it up even higher on my list!

The second is a lot more retro. Some of you may remember Saint Seiya… pardon me, Knights of the Zodiac from way back in the Viz days. Now Seven Seas has Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho, a new series by the same writer with a different artist, featuring an all-female team. It runs in Champion Red, but I am not holding that against it. Should be interesting.

MICHELLE: Hmmm…

ANNA: I have a very similar reaction.

SEAN: Speaking of classics, Vertical is rescuing Voices of a Distant Star (from the creator of your name) and reprinting it with new translation. It’s complete in one volume, and it’s guaranteed to be bittersweet.

MICHELLE: I never did read this the first time.

ANNA: Me too! I’m curious about it.

SEAN: Viz has some more Gundam for us with a 6th Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt.

And they also have a 3rd Tokyo Ghoul: re.

So, devil fish? Tea with spiders? Slime power fantasies? Or time-dilated romance? We cater to every taste.

Pick of the Week: Happiness Will Prevail

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SEAN: My pick this week is the 15th volume of Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends. It’s been 15 months since the last volume, where we saw Kodaka finally getting the ever-loving crap kicked out of him for his feigned obliviousness. Will this actually shake up the harem, though? I want to find out. Or at least see him get pounded again.

KATE: Any week that sees the release of a new Descending Stories is a good week in my book, but I’m also stoked for Theory of Happiness, a sequel to one of 2017’s most pleasant surprises: I Hear the Sunspot. It wasn’t as dramatic or splashy as some of 2017’s best books, but it won a place in my heart for its sensitive portrayal of male friendship — something we don’t see often enough in our popular culture.

ANNA: I agree with Kate, I Hear the Sunspot was such a wonderful surprise. Theory of Happiness is my pick of the week, I’m eager to find out what happens next with this series.

MICHELLE: I haven’t yet managed to read I Hear the Sunspot, so while I’m sure its sequel will be great, I’ll cast my vote for the fifth volume of Descending Stories, one series I have finally managed to read and am enjoying quite a bit.

ASH: I’ll definitely be reading the latest volume of Descending Stories, but this week my heart (and my pick) belongs to Theory of Happiness. I loved I Hear the Sunspot and have been looking forward to its sequel from the moment I learned that it existed.

MJ: Theory of Happiness! Theory of Happiness! Theory of Happiness! I’m not sure what else to say.

Manga the Week of 2/14/18

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SEAN: Will you be my manga valentine? Well, it depends what’s coming out.

J-Novel Club gives us a 3rd volume of Clockwork Planet.

Kodansha has its usual pile of stuff. On the print end we have the 5th Aho-Girl, a 5th Descending Stories, an 8th Fire Force, and a 4th Love & Lies.

MICHELLE: I finally started Descending Stories and am really liking it so far!

ASH: I’m reading and enjoying Descending Stories, too! I also found the beginning of Love & Lies to be intriguing.

SEAN: For digital releases, there’s a 6th Grand Blue Dreaming, a 5th Kokkoku: Moment by Moment, a 3rd Lovesick Ellie, and a 6th Tsuredure Children.

MICHELLE: Alas, I have failed to start Kokkoku or Lovesick Ellie. One of these days.

SEAN: One Peace gives us a sequel to I Hear the Sunspot, subtitled Theory of Happiness.

ANNA: I really liked I Hear the Sunspot. Looking forward to this!

ASH: I Hear the Sunspot was wonderful and so is its sequel. I hope to see the next volume released in English, too!

MJ: This makes *me* really happy. In theory. (Sorry, I’ve definitely had too much coffee.)

SEAN: They also mercifully give us the 14th and final volume of Maria Holic. I thank them for rescuing the series and putting it out in full for its fans, of whom I am not one.

Seven Seas has a bevy of titles. There’s a 7th volume of Citrus, whose anime is currently airing; a 15th Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, which may actually start trying to resolve things; Magical Girl Site 5; and the Testament of Sister New Devil STORM! 2, which needs to crossover with Akame Ga KILL!.

The debut next week is MaMaMa: Magical Director Mako-chan’s Magical Guidance, a one-off comedy manga from the creator of Monster Musume. Despite that, I plan to check it out.

SuBLime has three new volumes, as we see Awkward Silence 6, the 5th deluxe edition of Finder, and a 2nd volume of A Strange and Mystifying Story.

ASH: I’m still very happy that the license to A Strange and Mystifying Story was rescued.

MJ: Hm, I’ve been avoiding that title just on its premise, but an endorsement from Ash makes me think I should reconsider.

ASH: It admittedly has some questionable elements to it, but the series was starting to take some intriguing directions when it was initially left in limbo.

MICHELLE: I concur.

SEAN: Vertical has a 2nd omnibus of strange yet… no, just strange series Arakawa Under the Bridge, as well as an 11th Cardfight!! Vanguard.

ASH: Arakawa Under the Bridge is indeed very strange, and I love it for that fact.

SEAN: Viz has an 8th digital edition of The Children Nowadays, which one day I will find the time to check out.

And it’s Shonen Sunday time, which is #3 but tries harder, with a 31st Hayate the Combat Butler (still at twice per year) and a 28th Magi (mercifully still at 6 times a year). I look forward to both equally, I suspect the rest of the MB team is leaning towards the latter.

MICHELLE: Yep!

SEAN: So do any of these Valentine week releases make your kokoro go doki doki?

MICHELLE: *snerk*

Pick of the Week: Return to Neverland

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MICHELLE: I will definitely be picking up the tenth Yona of the Dawn, and Takane & Hana is intriguing too, but having been positively stunned by the awesome that is Promised Neverland, I must pick the second volume of that series. I literally made an entry on my calendar to remind me.

SEAN: I honestly am torn. I enjoyed Takane & Hana so much – it’s exactly the sort of manga I love. But The Promised Neverland was so good last time and feels like the more IMPORTANT manga out this week. Really, get both. Don’t try to choose. (It helps that they’re nothing alike.)

KATE: I vote for volume two of The Promised Neverland. ‘Nuff said!

ASH: Like everyone else so far, the next volume of The Promised Neverland is certainly high on my list. However, I’m pretty excited to read the psychological thriller Perfect Blue, too. Even if it wasn’t the basis of Satoshi Kon’s striking film, the novel sounds like it should be something right up my alley.

MJ: Since I am the big loser who hasn’t actually read the first volume of The Promised Neverland, I will go ahead and indulge my interest in Takane & Hana, which has lured me in with a combination of its source magazine and its spunky-looking heroine. Shoujo, I am in your corner this week!

ANNA: I enjoyed the first volume The Promised Neverland and I’m intrigued by Takane & Hana, but the title that thrills my heart is Yona of the Dawn . It just keeps getting better and better, and at 10 volumes in has built up an extended cast of characters that I’m rooting for.

The Manga Guide to Microprocessors

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The Manga Guide to Microprocessors by Michio Shibuya,‎ Takashi Tonagi, and Office Sawa

I’ve always been interested in didactic manga, back to the time when Japan Inc (remember that?) was one of the few manga volumes available back in the late 80s. I’ve seen the No Starch Press booth from a distance at library conferences, but I haven’t tried out one of their manga guides before.

The Manga Guide to Microprocessors starts out with a framing story to ease the reader into an introduction to foundational computer science concepts. Ayumi is a champion shogi player who agrees to take on a computerized version of the game programmed by Yuu. She’s beaten by the machine and is determined to learn everything she can about computers so she can redeem herself. Crazy computer genius Yuu then starts taking Ayumi through everything she (and the reader) need to know about the guts and internal logic of computers.

One thing I appreciated about this book was the varied visual layouts for each chapter. There are several pages of story/manga as some foundational concepts are introduced, a few pages of text, broken up by small graphics and illustrations, and occasionally pages of text dialog between both characters as they explore different concepts together. There’s always something visually interesting to look at, which is important if you don’t naturally find discussions of floating point arithmetic super compelling. The illustrations are serviceable, without a whole lot of style, but fabulous art isn’t really the reason why anyone would read a book like this. Throughout the book Ayumi and Yuu gradually become more friendly, although their tendency to fight livens up the explanations.

Overall, I thought this was a good introduction to the subject, and I plan on checking out the Manga Guide to Statistics next, because I feel like I could use some basic knowledge of that topic.