Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 3

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The Water Dragon’s Bride, Volume 3 by Rei Toma

The story in The Water Dragon’s Bride has been unfolding at a measured pace, in the third volume Asahi and Subaru are almost all grown up. As they become more adults, this results in some increased tension with Asahi’s eventual destiny as the bride of the Water Dragon as well as her role as priestess for Subaru’s village.

The volume opens with a little bit of backstory showing Asahi filing her role of priestess as she moves through adolescence. Every year, there’s a ritual designed to gain the favor of the water god, and Asahi disappears under the waves for three days. Her encounters with the water god are first limited to staring, glaring, and finally smiling. The elemental gods still are fundamentally alien when compared with humans. The Water Dragon at least has figured out that he needs to feed his young human bride, so he calls over the Tree God to give her some supplies. I enjoyed seeing these visits from the perspective of both the Water Dragon and Asahi.

I think a lot about clarity of art when I read a Rei Toma series, but I’m always struck by how much she is able to do with simple character designs and sparse backgrounds. It is expected that expressive eyes count for a great deal in shoujo manga, but she’s able to convey so much in just a couple pages. Subaru, aware that both his mother and his sister are prejudiced against Asahi, turns away from his family thinking “…don’t disappoint me more any than this.” His face is half in shadow, and blank in a way that shows he’s hiding the tension and disgust he feels inside. As he walks away he smiles and waves. All of this is accomplished with just one line of dialogue and some great sequencing and paneling from Toma in a two page spread.

For a series with such lovely illustrations and a seemingly fantastic premise, one of the reasons why I enjoy The Water Dragon’s Bride is that it explores some dark territory, particularly focusing on the way humans are capable of great cruelty. While the first volume also lingered on Asahi’s inhumane treatment by the Water Dragon who was absolutely ignorant and uncaring of the ways humans can suffer, humans seem like the real source of evil in the world. In addition to the leering gazes and jealously in Subaru’s village that Asahi has to isolate herself from, her capabilities as a priestess attract the attention of a neighboring village and a war is launched. Watching these events with Asahi, the Water Dragon thinks all the humans are fools.

While for most of this volume Asahi seems to be placed in a Persephone role, going back and forth between water and the human world, there’s a narrative turn as Water Dragon decides to dwell with humans for a time. Toma is able to pack an incredible amount of story in a single volume of manga, making this a shoujo fantasy series that is extremely rewarding to the reader.

Pick of the Week: Flower Girls

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KATE: This week’s manga haul has something for everyone: new installments of digital-only releases like Tokyo Tarareba Girls, new volumes of perennial favorites like Nichijou and Master Keaton, and a handful of debuts like Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight and Sweet Blue Flowers. And while I’m intrigued by Sweet Blue Flowers, my vote goes to volume nine of A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s gorgeously illustrated chronicle of life on the Silk Road. What say the rest of the MB gang?

MICHELLE: Despite the handful of Seven Seas titles that I’m genuinely looking forward to, I really can only choose Sweet Blue Flowers. I’ve been looking forced to reading this series in English for years! (I even bought the Japanese volumes for a while!) Thanks, VIZ!

SEAN: It’s light novel week, so you know I want to say Baccano!. And there’s a bunch of other titles I want in this monster week. But as with Michelle, my choice goes to Sweet Blue Flowers finally getting the treatment it deserves. Can’t wait.

ASH: Like Kate, I’m certainly looking forward to the next installment of A Bride’s Story, and there are plenty of other manga being released this week that I’ll definitely be picking up (such as Descending Stories), but I’ll be joining Michelle and Sean in choosing Sweet Blue Flowers as my official pick. Shimura’s Wandering Son was an incredibly important series for me personally, so I am thrilled that more of her work is be released in print.

ANNA: There are quite a few great series coming out this this week! I’m going to have to go with the last volume of Master Keaton. Urasawa is always at the top of his game, and I’m going to miss all the insurance investigation shenanigans.

MJ: I find myself echoing what others have said so far regarding Takako Shimura’s Sweet Blue Flowers. A real release of this series has been a long time coming, and I’m thrilled to see it finally hitting the shelves. I can’t wait to read it.

My Love Story!! Vol. 13

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My Love Story!! Volume 13 by Kazune Kawahara and Aruko

I had postponed reading the final volume of this series because I didn’t want it to end, but my curiosity about the conclusion helped me deal with my final volume procrastination syndrome. The final story arc was set up previously, with impending separation between Takeo and Yamato. I’ve probably been watching too many k-dramas where a couple gets separated and then they meet again 3 years later, but one of the refreshing things about this manga is that it actually deals with the problems of long-distance relationships instead of just conveniently fading to black and glossing over the separation period.

One of the hallmarks of this series is that in addition to the interest created by having a hulking giant of a boy as the main character in a shoujo series, My Love Story!! is able to step through some conventions shoujo plot elements and make them seem fresh due to the way the manga is infused with so much enthusiasm and heart. When Yamato goes to Spain Takeo is determined to bring his grades up so they can eventually go to the same college. He throws himself into studying with Suna constantly at his side. The unique circumstances surrounding Takeo and Yamato’s provide an opportunity to visit again with characters from throughout the series, as it seems everywhere Takeo goes someone feels the need to encourage him in his epic romance.

There are some hilarious scenes as Takeo goes to Spain in order to visit Yamato, and while a manga series set in high school ending at the point when the characters are about to head off to college is extremely typical, My Love Story!!, as always, ends on a note of such infectious optimism that I put the book down with a smile. This is going to be one of those series I keep around and read whenever I need to cheer myself up.

Manga the Week of 9/20/17

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SEAN: They did it again, so let’s talk Kodansha Comics. I love their digital line, even if I can’t keep up with it. I love it, but the short turnaround time on solicits/announcements means that I can never get it into Manga the Week of on time. And Amazon is also frequently very late with solicits (or absent with them), so sometimes I miss even more. So let’s start with what’s already out digitally.

Magical Sempai (Tejina Sempai) is a gag manga about a magician’s club that runs in Young Magazine.

And Grand Blue Dreaming is a title from good! Afternoon which combines the writer of Bakas, Tests and Summoned Beasts with the artist of the Amagi Brilliant Park manga. It’s about scuba diving (and romance, and ecchi situations – come on, look at the creators).

Now onto next week’s titles. J-Novel Club has the 5th volume of I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, which is not as good as it once was, but let’s see if more girls can solve that.

As the Gods Will 2nd Series is another one of those titles that have been sneakily getting digital all along but which Amazon only recently started listing. Vol. 20 is out next week. And no, the first series was not licensed.

Descending Stories gets a 3rd volume, and will no doubt have a great story to relate.

ASH: I’m still so glad this series is being translated!

SEAN: Hotaru’s Way gets a 3rd digital volume, House of the Sun gets a 7th, and Kasane gets a 5th. (Sorry, have to streamline, too much stuff this week).

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight (Gozen 0-ji, Kiss Shi ni Kite yo) is a shoujo debut for Kodansha, from the Betsufure magazine. It is a “comedy romance”, and the creator also does Love’s Reach, which Kodansha is putting out digitally.

MICHELLE: I was kind of looking forward to this one ’til you mentioned Love Reach, which I didn’t enjoy too much. Oh well. I’ll give it a shot, at least.

ANNA: Huh, I’m usually good for at least the first volume of a new shoujo series.

SEAN: More digital. Peach Heaven 6 and Tokyo Tarareba Girls 7. Enjoy getting further behind!

MICHELLE: At least Tarareba has gotten less depressing!

ANNA: ARRGH, still need to read the first two volumes!

SEAN: And some print, with the 22nd Seven Deadly Sins, as well as the 7th Welcome to the Ballroom. Two titles unlikely to get a gimmicky crossover with each other anytime soon.

ASH: That’s probably true.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a quartet of titles, mostly for their female readers (yes, Seven Seas has female readers). There’s a 3rd Bloom into You for yuri drama, a 3rd Dreamin’ Sun for cishet drama, a 2nd High School Life of a Fudanshi for not-really-BL comedy, and a 2nd Plum Crazy for KITTY! fans.

MICHELLE: I’ll be picking up three of the four!

ASH: That’s pretty good odds! I still need to give Plum Crazy a try. I like High School Life of a Fudanshi more in concept than execution but largely enjoyed the beginnings of both Bloom into You and Dreamin’ Sun.

SEAN: We have reached the final volume of Nichijou with Vol. 10, surely one of the more bizarre comedies to get licensed over here. But fear not, its spinoff, Helvetica Standard, is coming soon, also from Vertical Comics!

The second volume of Golden Kamuy is out from Viz, and I understand it’s slowly transitioning to a cooking manga.

ASH: I think at heart it was always a cooking manga. (And of course I’ll be picking it up.)

ANNA: Really??

SEAN: Goodnight Punpun has its 7th and final volume out next week. A gripping and well-told narrative that I found myself absolutely unable to read, but that doesn’t negate its power.

ASH: Once I’m feeling brave enough, I’ll read the sixth and seventh volume together. It’s a tremendous series, but not at all an easy read.

SEAN: Master Keaton also reaches an end with its 12th volume. Will we ever get more insurance investigator manga?

MICHELLE: Someday, I really will read this.

ASH: And someday I will finally finish reading it!

ANNA: It is so good!

SEAN: Sweet Blue Flowers had a sort of aborted digital release from DMP a while back, but this omnibus edition from Viz is the real deal, and in print. It’s a great story and I can’t wait to read it.

MICHELLE: Yay!!!

ASH: One of my most anticipated releases this year!

SEAN: Yen On has a series of light novels, several of which I have dropped from my reading list. So fans of things that are really dark/evil will have to enjoy Black Bullet 7 and Overlord 5 without me, and fans of isekai-by-numbers will need to read Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody’s 3rd volume.

As for series I am still reading, Accel World’s 11th volume will kick off a new arc. Baccano! surprises readers by jumping forward about 70 years (don’t worry, it’ll be back to the 1930s soon enough). Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? has a 9th volume that sees if Bell Cranel really can do something to piss off the entire cast.

There’s also the 3rd My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, which refreshingly was not delayed. And a 7th Strike the Blood, which remains generic but highly readable.

As for Yen proper, let’s start with adaptations of light novels. We have a 5th Asterisk War, a 10th Devil Is a Part-Timer!, a 6th OreGairu (which is shorthand to avoid having to type out My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Epxected again), a 2nd of the No Game No Life Please! spinoff, an 8th Strike the Blood, and Vol. 3s of SAO titles Mother’s Rosary and Phantom Bullet.

There are non light novel adaptations as well, believe it or not. Alice in Murderland gives us a 7th volume of Kaori Yuki at her Kaori Yuki-est.

Barakamon has a 14th volume, and if you want to read the prequel, now’s your last chance, as we also have the 7th and final Handa-kun out in print.

MICHELLE: I watched some of the Barakamon anime recently, which convinced me I will love the manga when I finally get around to reading it.

ASH: I think you’ll like it!

SEAN: Big Order’s 3rd omnibus brings us closer to world domination, maybe?

A Bride’s Story may come out once a year here and in Japan, but it’s always welcome, and I will definitely want to read its 9th volume, even if I still find its main female lead a bit dull.

ASH: I really love this series. Mori’s artwork is stunningly beautiful in it.

ANNA: The art really is such a standout on this title.

SEAN: In titles I have nothing to say about, there’s a 4th Bungo Stray Dogs, an 8th Dragons Rioting, the 2nd Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler (now in print), a 4th Kiniro Mosaic, a 3rd Royal Tutor (now in print), the 8th School-Live!, and a 5th Today’s Cerberus (now in print).

ASH: I need to catch up on Bungo Stray Dogs for the sake of all its J-Lit references if nothing else.

SEAN: Madoka Magica continues to push out spinoffs, with the 3rd Homura Tamura and the 4th Tart Magica.

Lastly, Rose Guns Days begins its 3rd Season, which presumably will feature a new main character to interact with Rose and her brothel of eccentrics.

Sorry for the compressing, but come on, look at all those titles. I have to save space. What’re you getting next week?

Pick of the Week: Butlers, Cosplayers, and Sunspots

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SEAN: It’s a light week with no first volumes. A few books I’m looking forward to, but I’ll be Don Quixote again and give my pick to Hayate the Combat Butler. All my other lost causes have either ended or been dropped, but Hayate is still there, trickling out.

KATE: Whoa… I reviewed the first volume of Hayate back in 2006, when I was writing for PopCultureShock. I remember enjoying it, reading a few more volumes, and then… well, I think I lost track of it. Sean’s comments, however, reminded me that VIZ has been good about continuing series that never quite found the audience they deserved. (See Kaze Hikaru.) So my vote goes to Hayate the Combat Butler as well.

MICHELLE: My pick this week goes to the final volume of Complex Age. It’s been riveting and it’s been truly upsetting, but my hope is that it’ll end on an empowering note, too. I’m looking forward to it!

ASH: I’ve never actually read any of Hayate the Combat Butler (although perhaps I should). However, I have read the first part of Complex Age and found it to be surprisingly relatable and personally meaningful. I’m a few volumes behind in reading the series, but I join Michelle in choosing the final installment as my pick this week. I’m very glad that Kodansha Comics brought the series to my attention.

ANNA: It is such a light week! Of the titles that are coming out, Complex Age is the series that I’m most likely to finish, although like Ash I need to catch up. That’s my pick as well.

MJ: I’m still in catch-up mode from the summer when I was directing an opera, and since there’s nothing on this week’s pack that really grabs me, I’m going to dig back into the stuff I missed and finally take a look at One Peace Books’ I Hear the Sunspot. It sounds like exactly my kind of BL (if it is, in fact, BL). So let the catching up begin!

Art of Pokemon Adventures

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The Art of Pokemon Adventures by Satoshi Yamato

The young children in my house have firmly moved on to Yu-Gi-Oh from Pokemon, so this book did not immediately get stolen which is sometimes what happens with the manga that arrives in my house like Haikyu! or Kuroko’s Basketball.

However, as an art book I do think this would appeal to Pokemon Adventure fans. It is a solid book with full-color illustrations printed on glossy paper, with plenty of fold-out posters. Along with the finished art, plenty of sketches are included so the reader can get a sense of how the drawings evolved from idea to finished illustration. Line art is also included, as well as a couple sample panel layouts and some color guides for the characters. The librarian in me appreciated that an index was included in the back of the book, so all the illustrations can be matched up with the manga that they originally appeared in. A bonus short manga chapter concludes the volume. I thought the production quality of this volume was solid, it made me think I should check out other Viz art books.

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 1

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Queen’s Quality Volume 1 by Kyousuke Motomi

I was very happy when I saw that Queen’s Quality was licensed shortly after the earlier series QQ Sweeper. Motomi has a quirky and slightly warped sense of humor that makes her shoujo series stand out. Queen’s Quality starts out at what felt like a faster pace than QQ Sweeper, as many of the plot points that were only dangling or hinted at in the earlier series get pushed forward dramatically in the first few chapters of this volume.

Fumi continues her life as an apprentice sweeper, learning the tricks of the paranormal trade from her friend Kyutaro and his family. While they practice cleaning everyday rooms and objects, they are also training for dealing with exorcising the demons that can get inside human hosts, causing them to act cruel. There’s a focus on personality and inner character in this series, as people who might be mentally weak or who have a tendency to be cruel end up leaving a door open for evil to get in, and their worst personality traits are magnified.

Another sweeper named Takaya Kitahara shows up to visit the Horikita family, and he provokes Fumi’s hidden Queen power as part of a test. Kyutaro is able to bring her back to herself, but seeing her power manifest is frightening. Kyutaro resolves to stay by Fumi to support her, but he’s told that he can’t ever remind her of the past that she’s forgotten, when they used to be childhood friends. Kyutaro’s response to this is to emotionally withdraw even more than usual, causing Fumi a great deal of distress as she doesn’t understand why he’s acting deliberately cold towards her. Fortunately his family has their best interests at heart, and they send the young couple on a mandatory and hilariously awkward shopping trip/date as an assignment, and their friendship is salvaged.

One thing I like about Motomi’s series is that there’s always a psychological element to be found in the stories, and they don’t rely quite as much on external situations or antagonists. While there are certainly forces at work trying to turn Fumi into an evil queen, the bad guys aren’t really as interesting as the fact that Fumi is going to have to draw on her emotional reserves and face the darkness that’s inside her, the same as any human. Fumi and Kyutaro talk at the end of the volume, and she asks if he’s afraid of her. He replies “Everyone has dark thoughts…or parts of themselves that they can’t control.” He vows that if she has to head into the darkness, he’s going too. This relationship dynamic is so interesting to see in a shoujo series, and it is why I’m so impressed with Queen’s Quality.

Manga the Week of 9/13/17

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SEAN: More manga, more backlog.

Kodansha has the final volume of Complex Age, Vol. 6, which I found a little TOO realistic for my tastes, but it was very well written.

MICHELLE: Volume five was less painful than volume four, though I am still nowhere near certain that we’re going to get a happy ending.

ANNA: I’m way behind on this series but still interested in it!

ASH: Same! The first volume left a deep impression on me, and the other volumes I’ve read were likewise very strong. I’ll definitely be reading the rest.

SEAN: There’s also a 6th volume digitally of Domestic Girlfriend.

Fuuka hits Vol. 14, despite still being written by Seo Kouji.

And there is a 12th volume of Kiss Him, Not Me!, which is The Wallflower for the millennial generation.

ASH: I’ll admit, I’ve fallen behind on the series. But while are parts of the story I’m not fond of, I do like the manga overall.

SEAN: If you didn’t get burned out by the heroine of Mikagura School Suite’s light novel, One Peace has Vol. 1 of the manga.

Seven Seas is next. The third Kase-san And… volume, which of course has no actual numbers, is Kase-san and Shortcake. It promises to be adorable.

ASH: Quite.

SEAN: Monster Girl Encyclopedia sure was popular with a certain type of fan. If you are that type of fan, there is a 2nd volume.

Non Non Biyori’s cast continues to do not very much in a cute way with this 8th book.

And we also get a print version of the second volume of Occultic;Nine, whose digital edition came out from J-Novel Club.

SuBLime has a 5th volume of Don’t Be Cruel, which is not subtitles To A Heart That’s True, but should be.

ASH: I haven’t read the series proper yet, but the first volume of the side stories was entertaining.

SEAN: And we also get the 7th and final volume of Love Stage!!, which can now pass on its extra exclamation marks to needy new manga.

MICHELLE: I had actually completely forgotten Love Stage!! exists.

SEAN: Vertical has a 5th volume of the Master Edition of BLAME!.

ASH: For anyone interested in Tsutomu Nihei’s artwork, this is absolutely the edition to pick up.

SEAN: Lastly, Viz’s poster child for “do scanlations hurt sales?”, Hayate the Combat Butler has finally hit Vol. 30. I eagerly await it, though I may be totally alone there.

Hey, a light week! Relax, or buy something from this list?

ASH: Until now, I didn’t realize that light weeks even existed anymore!

Pick of the Week: One Last Love Story

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MICHELLE: Last time I had the option to pick Skip Beat!, I said that it’d likely always be my pick when it comes out, due to its biannual release schedule. Well, not this time. As much as I deeply love it, this is my final chance to choose My Love Story!!, so I’m gonna do it. It’s brain balm of the best kind—warm and sweet but never sappy or boring. I will miss it very much.

SEAN: So much to love this week, and I want to pick Queen’s Quality, as I do love me some Motomi, but I agree with Michelle: there’s no question that the final volume of My Love Story!! is going to be my pick. Some have accused it of being too sweet and sappy, and they’re absolutely correct, but that’s what I want from this series. Mainline the sugar into my veins, please!

KATE: I’m torn between the final volume of My Love Story!! and the latest installment of One-Punch Man, which deserves to be a Naruto-sized hit in America.

ANNA: This is a great week for manga for me. Like everyone else, I feel compelled to pick the final volume of My Love Story!!, it is such a uniquely quirky series that is heartwarming without being cloying.

ASH: I’m in agreement with everyone else here. While there are quite a few things that I have my eyes on this week–Captain Harlock, Haikyu!!, Sweetness & Lightning–it’s My Love Story!! that has my heart.

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 6

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Everyone’s Getting Married, Volume 6 by Izumi Miyazono

I read each volume of this series with an increasing sense of tension, because as the romance between successful businesswoman and wanna be homemaker Asuka and famed broadcaster Ryu continues to develop, I grow more and more worried that this josei romance series isn’t going to have a happy ending. Even when seeing the couple continue to evolve and grow within their seemingly incompatible relationship, I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Both characters have such well-reasoned and firmed opinions towards marriage, and I don’t want to see either of them change without a ton of narrative justification. It’s tricky to pull off this undercurrent of tension in a romance manga, but Miyazono does this so well.

There were many entertaining and sometimes infuriating moments in this volume of Everyone’s Getting Married. On the infuriating side, Kamiya continues his pursuit of Asuka in a fashion that is somewhat stalker-like, when he shows up as she is visiting her parents. It turns out that Kamiya is an acquaintance of Asuka’s father, so while him showing up isn’t as creepy as it could be, it is still plenty uncomfortable. One quick scene I enjoyed shows how much Asuka has idealized her image of family life, but when she talks with her mother about her own choices her mother reveals that she was initially planning on working after marriage but then changed her mind after having children. She comments “Every new person who came into my life took precedence, and my original plan kept getting pushed back.” The contrast between Asuka’s single-minded mission to become a homemaker and her mother’s reflection about pushing aside her desires but still wanting to do the best for her family was interesting, and I’m hoping that Asuka will ponder this more in later volumes.

Asuka and Ryu are closer than ever at the end of the volume, but with his job making it impossible for him to date someone in public and Kamiya’s habit of showing up wherever the couple goes, I sense a confrontation happening in the future. I’m hoping for a happy ending, but I’m genuinely not sure how it is going to happen, which makes this one of the more compelling romance manga that I’ve read recently.

Manga the Week of 9/6/17

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SEAN: September begins, and it’s back to school with a giant crush of manga. As always.

Dark Horse has a 3rd volume of Psycho-Pass prequel Inspector Shinya Kogami.

J-Novel Club gives us a 5th digital Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash novel, which… may not be depressing? Possibly?

And there’s also a 6th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, which gives focus to our favorite underground priestess.

Did you know that Pumpkin Scissors is still running to this day? Somehow? It’s true! Kodansha is still rescuing it digitally with Vol. 13.

MICHELLE: I did not!

SEAN: On to non-Del Rey stuff, we have a 5th volume of GTO Paradise Lost, the latest in the author’s “no matter what I try to write, only Onizuka seems to sell” sequel.

ASH: I’ll admit, although I greatly enjoyed GTO, I haven’t really been keeping up with the sequels.

SEAN: And a 3rd Kounodori: Dr. Stork, which I am now behind on. Yay!

We also have two debuts from Kodansha digitally, that actually came out this week but Kodansha dropped them secretly as always. Black Panther and Sweet 16 (Kurohyou to 16-sai) is a Nakayoshi title that nevertheless seems very racy. It also has a weak female lead and pushy male lead. Ergh.

MICHELLE: Pass.

ANNA: I feel like I have seen this too many times before…

SEAN: And Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (Youkai Apato no Yuuga na Nichijou) runs in Shonen Sirius, and is what it sounds like – protagonist moves into an apartment filled with yokai.

MICHELLE: Hm. Maybe.

ANNA: That sounds promising, but I have a high tolerance for yokai titles.

ASH: As do I, for that matter.

SEAN: You want print? How about the 8th Sweetness and Lightning?

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: The series is such a delight! (And yes, print, please!)

SEAN: And there is also the 2nd Waiting for Spring for shoujo fans. Its first volume was unoriginal but soothing.

MICHELLE: I think there’s room for a series like that in my heart. I plan to read volumes one and two together.

ANNA: I have the first volume and haven’t read it yet, but soothing shoujo sounds nice.

Seven Seas has an 11th Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which continues to be the Tom Clancy novel of anthropomorphic personifications.

The debut next week is Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, the 2014 manga sequel that apparently updates Harlock for the 21st century. Despite the fact that it runs in Champion Red, I look forward to it.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a try, too.

SEAN: And there’s the 8th Golden Time. Still a soap opera, still enjoyable to me.

And Tales of Zestria has a 2nd volume.

ASH: Whoops, I’d already forgotten about this series (probably because it’s based on a video game I’m not particularly familiar with), but it seems like it could have potential.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 2nd Mobile Suit Gundam Wing manga, which continues to adapt Endless Waltz.

And now for Viz. So much Viz. Starting with the 4th Anonymous Noise, which I hope features some nice screaming.

MICHELLE: Volume three was the first time I had a “this is actually kind of cool” moment, so I will keep going for a little while to see if that becomes a trend.

ANNA: I think it has gotten better as the series develops, and I enjoy the screaming scenes.

SEAN: Bloody Mary’s 8th volume is not about vampires!… wait, yes, sorry. It is.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

ANNA: SO behind on this series, but I enjoyed the vampire angst in the early volumes.

SEAN: Boruto has a 2nd manga volume, which I imagine means the anime has already long since passed it.

Death Note gets an all-in-one edition, and at 2400 pages it comes close to taking the crown for best blunt object.

ASH: I really want to see one of these in person, just to see how it’s put together. I’ve been assured that the spine will hold up, but what about the readers?!

SEAN: Everyone’s still not getting married in the 6th Everyone’s Getting Married.

ANNA: I so enjoy this series. Hooray for Shojo Beat’s stealth josei publication practices!

SEAN: Haikyu!! 15 is out. But you knew that, as it’s a monthly. It’d be weirder if it weren’t out next week.

MICHELLE: I actually have a nice little pile of Haikyu!! to read now. I expect a mini-marathon will be great fun.

ANNA: I have a difficult time reading this series because my kids steal each volume.

ASH: Like Michelle, I’ve (unintentionally) been preparing for a mini-marathon as well. But I do enjoy Haikyu!! so incredibly much.

SEAN: Kimi Ni Todoke crawls to its conclusion some more. I dearly love it every time I read it, but admit that I wish it would hurry up.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I still can’t tell whether it’ll end after high school or actually follow the characters into their college endeavors.

ANNA: I need to get caught up!

SEAN: It’s the end for My Love Story!!, which has a lucky 13th volume to end on. Will the rain in Spain defeat our separated couple? Will we get a sweet happy ending! (spoilers: we will.)

MICHELLE: I’m counting on it!

ANNA: Such a great series.

ASH: It really is wonderful!

SEAN: And Nisekoi is also almost-but-not-quite done with this 23rd volume.

Chibi Sasuke’s Sharingan Legend is a superdeformed parody that aims to show us the humorous side of Sasuke. It should be about 4 pages long, then.

One Piece’s 21st 3-in-1 takes us to Fish-Man Island, so it’s slowly catching up with the main volumes.

One-Punch Man’s 12th volume will have some quality punching.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: And speaking of Quality, QQ Sweeper finally gets its sequel/reboot with Queen’s Quality. I love this author, so definitely want to read this.

MICHELLE: I’m glad this is finally out!

ANNA: Yay!

ASH: I’ve somehow still not managed to finish QQ Sweeper, but I’m glad we’re getting Queen’s Quality, too!

SEAN: Skip Beat! has a 39th volume, which I hope wraps up the arc with Kyoko’s mother.

MICHELLE: I just read it and it’s great. Of course.

ANNA: Skip Beat is always great, but I am also not fond of Kyoko’s mother.

SEAN: Lastly, it’s not a long Viz list unless it ends with a Yu-Gi-Oh volume, and we get the 2nd of “Arc V” here.

Got your pencils and paper? Or tablets and digital pens, whatever the kids use these days. Also, manga?

Pick of the Week: Scrounging for Choices

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SEAN: Despite the large number of manga available this week, my pick is the latest book in the Monogatari Series, the 2nd Nisemonogatari. I enjoy this series despite its fanservice, but this one may be challenging even with that. Toothbrushes out!

MICHELLE: As Sean predicted, the new releases that appeal to me the most are Kodansha’s digital sports manga. Days is shounen fun, but Giant Killing offers a seinen slant that makes it unique and my pick for this week.

KATE: I’m backing Michelle’s play by picking Giant Killing and Days, too. I’d love to see even more sports manga available in English, and supporting Kodansha’s digital publishing efforts seems like the best way to encourage them to be bolder in their licensing choices. We need manga about golfing, running, synchronized swimming, mountain biking, kayaking, sailing, speed skating, agility training, sled dog racing… the possibilities are endless!

MICHELLE: I’m still holding out hope for Mitsuru Adachi’s Rough, too. (Though not from Kodansha, obviously.)

ASH: Were I a digital reader this would be a great week of releases for me with new volumes of Giant Killing, Saki, and Space Brothers coming out. Limiting myself to print releases though there’s not much that I’m super-excited about, but I am very curious about the debut of Kigurumi Guardians.

ANNA: There’s not a ton out there that I’m reading this week, although I’m very happy that more sports manga is being released. I’m picking Altair: A Record of Battles volume 3, because that’s what I’m most likely to read… someday!

Skip Beat! Vol. 39

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Skip Beat! Volume 39 by Yoshiki Nakamura

This shortish storyline dealing with Kyoko’s mother is one of my least favorite Skip Beat! episodes, perhaps because Nakamura is so good at portraying Saena as cold and distant in a way that would damage anyone’s psyche, that the efforts to humanize her by detailing the events that led up to her abandonment of her daughter still fall short of making her a character that I feel any sympathy for. But part of what makes Skip Beat! so entertaining for so long is the way many of the characters have been emotionally damaged in different ways, and there’s no easy fix for getting over trauma.

As Kyoko progresses through the series it is fascinating to see how her reactions to setbacks both change and stay the same, but the end result is that she becomes a stronger person. Kyoko’s control and composure when confronting her mother demonstrates how much more resilient she’s become, and her response to the encounter is to dedicate herself to becoming successful with her own goals.

One of the reasons why I like Skip Beat! so much is that Ren Tsuruga often is placed in what is sometimes a more feminine position for shoujo manga tropes. In this volume in particular, he’s left waiting and worrying about a terse text from Kyoko, and he ends up pretending to casually drop by to check on her. Patient waiting is the best way to deal with Kyoko when she’s still so emotionally fragile, but it’ll be interesting to see what happens when they are both ready for a relationship.

While Kyoko has come pretty far, it is clear that maintaining her rage at Sho is her safe space. I don’t think that it is a coincidence that after the confrontation with her mother, she ends up in a confrontation with Sho. Seeing how gently Kyoko and Ren interact with each other is certainly a big contrast to all the yelling and shin kicks that occurs when Kyoko and Sho are in the same room. As the volume seems to be setting up another acting challenge for Kyoko, I’m looking forward to seeing what she is able to accomplish next with all the emotional turmoil behind her.

Manga the Week of 8/30/17

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SEAN: STUFF!

ASH: Lots of stuff!!

SEAN: J-Novel Club starts us off, with a second volume of color-coded heroine series Demon King Daimaou.

And also a second volume of Infinite Dendrogram, which seems to be… just about a gamer in a VR world. What, he’s not trapped or anything? Pff.

Another Del Rey rescue bites the dust with the 21st and final volume of Alive.

ASH: It’s been a long time since I’ve read the beginning of Alive. Now that the series has been completed, maybe it’s time I revisit it.

SEAN: Aho Girl was amazingly stupid but amusing, so I look forward to Volume 2.

On the digital front, Altair: A Record of Battles has a 3rd volume.

And on the Michelle front, there’s a 4th DAYS.

MICHELLE: Heh, you know it! Also, I really do need to read Altair.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: I haven’t read the first volume of Altair yet, but I will!

SEAN: The title that nobody remembers (even Amazon, who hasn’t listed it), we get a 3rd DEATHTOPIA from the creator of Cage of Eden.

More Michelle volumes with a 5th Giant Killing.

MICHELLE: Seinen sports manga is such fun!

ASH: I want this series in print so, so much! The anime adaptation was great, too.

SEAN: House of the Sun got of to a fast start but slowed down after that. Here’s a 6th book.

MICHELLE: I’ve started this series but struggled to connect with the characters. I haven’t given up, though.

SEAN: Briefly back to print for a debut. Kigurumi Guardians is a shoujo title from Nakayoshi, but its creator, Lily Hoshino, is better known for her BL titles. No surprise then that this manga has a lot of pretty boys.

MICHELLE: I’m hoping this is fun.

ASH: Hoshino’s manga can be a little hit-or-miss for me, but I’m definitely curious.

ANNA: Hmm, I am curious too!

SEAN: Another forgotten by Amazon digital title, B&N lists a 29th Space Brothers volume. Apologies for forgetting to mention the first 28 or so. It’s a great series.

ASH: Yes!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a sea of titles next week, including three debuts. The first is Absolute Duo. It’s based on a light novel. It’s from Comic Alive. It takes place at an academy filled with fighting. My lineface can possibly be seen from space, but I’ll add it just in case. :|

MICHELLE: Heehee.

SEAN: Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor is another debut this week. It’s based on a light novel. It’s from Shonen Ace. It takes place at an academy filled with fighting. :|

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: A Certain Scientific Accelerator has hit its 6th volume, and despite ALSO being a spinoff of a light novel title that runs in an otaku-oriented magazine and taking place at an academy filled with fighting, I quite enjoy it.

Theoretically, Don’t Meddle with My Daughter should get points for at least NOT being based off a light novel or taking place at an academy of fighting students. However, it runs in Young King and apparently has two doujinshi sequels by the author that are actual porn, so let’s just say my hopes are not high. It’s about a retired superhero mom who returns to action to protect her daughter, who is now taking over the family business, so to speak. Oh yes, it’s also by the creator of Dance in the Vampire Bund. It’s almost the perfect anti-Manga Bookshelf title.

MICHELLE: Sounds like it.

ANNA: It could be the Manga Bookshelf Kryptonite.

SEAN: And along the same lines, we have a 12th Monster Musume, which can be very ecchi. And not only that, but…

Yes, we’ve hit the trifecta of vaguely H titles, an 8th Pandora in the Crimson Shell! BINGO!

On the Vertical front, there is a 9th Cardfight!! Vanguard, which has fights… with cards! (Yeah, yeah, shut up.)

Vertical also has the 2nd Nisemonogatari novel, Tsukihi Phoenix, which features the youngest of the Araragi siblings, though honestly Karen’s toothbrushing scene will likely get all the attention. Also, are fans still going to be dagnabbit mad? Probably.

Yen has some digital titles, with new Corpse Princess (12), Gesellschaft Blume (2), IM: Great Priest Imhotep (2), and Saki (12). Something for everybody.

ASH: Saki!

SEAN: And of course there’s always a Yen straggler, and next week it’s Dimension W’s 7th volume. Why they always delay one or two books to the next week, I dunno. It’s one of those manga mysteries.

As you can see, there is much to choose from, though my colleagues may be staring at this and saying “Yeah, um…” So what are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Food, Glorious Food!

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MICHELLE: It is happy cruelty that this week I am forced to choose between Chihayafuru and What Did You Eat Yesterday?, both of which I love intensely. I think we will probably see another volume of Chihayafuru before volume thirteen of WDYEY, as it won’t even come out in Japan until next month, so that gives Yoshinaga the slight edge this time. But really, get them both.

SEAN: My pick this week is the final volume of Blood Lad, which I’ve definitely enjoyed more than I expected to. It feels like it’s just about the right time to end it, too. Also, Fuyumi cover!

ANNA: Chihayafuru is an easy pick for me. I am so happy this series is being translated!

KATE: There’s only one manga on my plate this week: volume two of Delicious in Dungeon. It reads like an episode of Martha Stewart Living crossed with a MMPORG, mixing action scenes with tips on how to get the most of giant scorpion meat. (Who knew it was good for tempura?)

MICHELLE: Oh, I didn’t even mention that or Yowamushi Pedal! So much great stuff this week.

ASH: There really are so many great manga being released this week, making it extremely difficult to choose just one! So, I’ll cheat a little and pick a subgenre instead–give me all the food manga you’ve got! Both What Did You Eat Yesterday? and Delicious in Dungeon are very high on my list and I’m definitely looking forward to sinking my teeth into them. (Not literally, of course.)