Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

Pick of the Week: Manwha-Karuta

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SEAN: There have been a lot of yuri picks of the week this year, mostly as there have been a lot of yuri debuts this year. The latest is After Hours, a Viz title about a young woman who gets dragged to a club and finds her life turned upside-down! It’s my pick this week, despite putting the voice of Mo Tucker in my head.

MICHELLE: o/~ And someday I know someone will look into my eyes and say hellooooo… you’re my very special one…. o/~ I used to always close mix tapes with that one back in the day. Anyway, I am very excited about After Hours, but as usual my heart pines most strongly for sports manga and in this case it’s the third volume of Chihayafuru, due out digitally from Kodansha. I’m happy to see it coming out so soon after volume two and hope that becomes a trend.

KATE: My pick of the week isn’t a manga but a manhwa: Uncomfortably Happily, due out from Drawn & Quarterly on June 13th. It’s a semi-autobiographical story by Yeon-Sik Hong about a pair of artists who trade life in the big city for a rural retreat, only to discover that life in the countryside isn’t as simple as they imagined it would be. After reading Rebecca Silverman’s glowing review, I ordered myself a copy.

ASH: I’m definitely interested in After Hours, but I’m with Kate this week in picking Uncomfortably Happily. I actually ended up with an advanced copy of the work, so I already know it’s great! My own review of the manhwa should be posted in just a few days.

ANNA: How am I behind in my Chihayafuru reading!? Having two volumes to read to get caught up is exciting though. Volume three of Chihayafuru is my pick for the week.

MJ: Did someone say “manhwa from Drawn & Quarterly”? I’m pretty sure that’s my pick, even if I read nothing more about it. Combine that with the recommendations so far, and it sounds like it’ll completely make my week. Uncomfortably Happily is the comic for me this week!

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 6

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Yona of the Dawn Volume 6 by Mizuho Kusanagi

I’m always happy when a new volume of Yona of the Dawn comes out. The cover of this volume, featuring Yona and Sinha sheltering from the rain under a giant leaf, is particularly adorable. Yona is tested in many ways as she learns more about the Green Dragon and his pirate companions.

Although Yona doesn’t have any superpowers, the force of her forthright personality proves to be an incredible advantage for her. When the Green Dragon Jaeha announces that he won’t join up with her, she reacts calmly, saying that she’ll ask him to join her but would never order or try to compel him to change his mind. Yona is tested even further when Jaeha takes her to meet the pirate queen, Captain Gi-Gan. She tests the companions and refuses to accept Yona, since Yona doesn’t have any special or useful abilities. Gi-Gan tells Yona to gather a rare medicinal herb, which requires some treacherous hiking at the edge of a cliff. Yona is determined to prove herself worthy of taking part in the upcoming battle, and she heads off to face her test, accompanied by Jaeha. Jaeha’s Green Dragon protective instincts kick in even as he tries to fight the bond he has with Yona.

There were a bunch of very cute Yona and Hak moments in this volume. Hak points out that her attitude towards the Green Dragon’s recruitment is totally at odds to her ordering him to accompany her on her journey and she gets incredibly flusters and tells him to shut up because “You’re different.” Hak secretly finds this adorable. Hak’s jealousy kicks into high gear when Jaeha talks about how unique and cute Yona is. His emotions are tested even more when Yona decides to go undercover to subvert the local warlord’s terrible plans for human trafficking with the village girls. Sometimes I’m not a fan of such slowly developing romances, but while Hak has clearly acknowledged his feelings internally, it still seems like Yona hasn’t examined her feelings for him quite as closely. Hopefully there will be more developments here in the next volume or so!

As I was reading this volume of Yona of the Dawn, I realized that it reminded me quite a bit of Basara. There’s the superficial similarity of awesome pirate queen characters popping up in both manga, but the slower pace of the storytelling allowing the author to introduce an expansive cast with plenty of character development along the way is the main reason why I like both series.

Pick of the Week: Are You Lesbian Experienced?

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MICHELLE: I suspect that most of my compatriots are going to pick something else, but I can’t deny that what I am most looking forward to this week is the sixth Kuroko’s Basketball omnibus. I fell a little behind on the series, and so the prospect of reading two of these 2-in-1s back-to-back sounds like sports manga paradise.

SEAN: No question, absolutely, my pick this week is My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, which was simply one of the best autobiographical manga I’ve read.

KATE: Sean and Erica Friedman’s reviews of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness have put it on the top of my list for this week, too. I’m also looking forward to the sixth installment of Sweetness & Lighting, a manga which always makes me feel happy and hungry in equal measure.

ASH: The obvious choice for my pick of the week is My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness but I’m definitely looking forward to giving Manga in Theory and Practice a read as well. Of course there’s the newest volumes of Haikyu!! and Yona of the Dawn, too… so many great manga this week!

ANNA: If Yona of the Dawn is coming out, there can be no other pick for me, as I’m captivated as always by this great shoujo fantasy series.

MJ: I’m definitely in the My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness crowd this week. This is, by far, the book that most interests me on the list. Also, I must now immediately go and read Sean and Erica’s reviews.

Manga the Week of 6/7/17

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SEAN: June is bustin’ out all over! And while we don’t have that Rogers and Hammerstein manga just yet, we certainly have plenty of titles coming out next week.

ASH: (I would totally read that manga, btw.)

MJ: (Same.)

SEAN: J-Novel Club has the 4th volume of My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World, which promises to be more Haruhi-ish than ever before.

Kodansha digital has more Del Rey rescue volumes, as we get Nodame Cantabile 21 and Princess Resurrection 15.

They also have the 2nd digital volume of Drowning Love.

MICHELLE: Yay for Nodame and Drowning Love.

SEAN: I admit that I have for the most part dropped Fairy Tail. I am a shipper, though, and I do love me some Galevy. I will be picking up Fairy Tail: Rhodonite, then, a spinoff focused on Gajeel.

Noragami has a new volume, with Vol. 18! Man, remember when these were monthly?

ASH: I do! It’s great to catch up so quickly, but it does make the waits between volumes feel especially long.

SEAN: And there is a 6th Sweetness and Lightning.

MICHELLE: I could use a dose of wholesome food manga.

ASH: I’m really loving this series.

SEAN: On the Seven Seas front, we have the 2nd volume of Captive Hearts of Oz, which I found interesting enough to continue, and Alice in the Country of fans should love it.

ASH: The first volume intrigued me as well. It had it’s rough spots, but overall I was entertained.

SEAN: They’re also releasing a print version of the first Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash light novel, which J-Novel Club released back in December.

The big release next week is My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, which everyone needs to pick up immediately. I reviewed it here.

MICHELLE: Hm, sounds interesting!

ASH: One of my most anticipated releases of the year! I’m glad to finally get a chance to read it.

MJ: This was somehow not on my radar at all, so thanks for fixing that!

SEAN: And there is a 3rd Please Tell Me, Galko-chan!, which I find far more amusing and fun than I’d expected to.

ASH: Same.

SEAN: Vertical Comics has a 7th Volume of Devil’s Line.

And now it’s time for Viz. Assassination Classroom 16 promises a heaping help of backstory.

Black Clover 7 promises more of what it is that Black Clover does best: reminding you of other shonen titles.

Even after 7 volumes, Bloody Mary still has vampires.

The 5th Everyone’s Getting Married is also out. Can they keep things from getting too angsty?

And things continue to go from bad to worse for the students in the 18th volume of Food Wars!.

MICHELLE: Ordinarily, I look forward to Food Wars! passionately, but this current arc is rather distressing.

ASH: I actually need to catch up to the current arc; I’ve fallen behind!

SEAN: Haikyu!! 12 is probably happy it doesn’t have to worry about cooking and can just focus on volleyball.

MICHELLE: Huzzah!

ASH: Yay!

SEAN: And the second to last volume of Kamisama Kiss! I will miss it!

ANNA: I’ve been stockpiling volumes because I don’t want it to be over.

SEAN: Kuroko’s Basketball has a 6th 2-in-1 omnibus, and continues to star Kuroko, against all odds.

MICHELLE: Further huzzah!

SEAN: Viz’s big release is Manga in Theory and Practice. A few years ago Tokyopop released a volume by Hakusensha’s editors on how to do shoujo manga. This might be the shonen equivalent, but its creator is none other than Hirohiko Araki, the creator of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure! I cannot wait to read this.

ANNA: That sounds like a hoot.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to reading this.

MJ: Oh, interesting. Count me in.

SEAN: One Piece 3-in-1 20 should not be read without tissues handy, as it has the death that no one was expecting.

Seraph of the End has reached a dozen volumes, meaning it can now be profitable in syndication.

And So Cute It Hurts!! has unlucky Volume 13.

Lastly, but not leastly (oh, the grammar pain), there is a 6th Yona of the Dawn. Why can’t this be monthly?

ANNA: YES, WHY?????

MICHELLE: Aside from Fruits Basket, has a shoujo series ever had a monthly print release?

ASH: It seems like there must have been, but none immediately come to mind.

SEAN: A highly interesting week. What are you getting?

Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 2

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The Water Dragon’s Bride, Volume 2 by Rei Toma

The first volume of Water Dragon’s Bride was surprisingly dark, which made it feel quite a bit refreshing as it was quite a tonal shift from the usual shoujo fantasy fare. The second volume wasn’t quite as dark in theme, but it was still quite absorbing, ensuring that this series is rapidly becoming a current favorite of mine.

Modern girl Asahi finds herself transported to another world where she ends up being brutalized by humans, offered up as a sacrifice to the Water Dragon God, and almost starves to death due to the Water Dragon’s utter incomprehension of human frailty. Her one ally is Subaru, a village boy with a scheming and overbearing mother. The Water Dragon appears and heals Asahi from her injuries as she is recuperating in the village. Asahi has a few normal hours where she attempts to communicate while being robbed of speech and she is able to enjoy the outdoors a little bit.

The Water Dragon begins to exhibit some gradual signs of change with the mild protectiveness he exhibits towards Asahi. He becomes angry at the human villagers and finds the rituals and stories they’ve made up about him ridiculous, but he still has no idea how easily breakable humans are, causing yet another accident to Asahi and Subaru as he gets caught up in rage. Asahi is left to care for Subru on his own when he’s injured and she ends up being incredibly resourceful even when she is helped along a little bit by the gods who seem to regard her as a pet project.

Asahi’s situation stabalizes somewhat, as she’s given the role of a priestess and a caretaker. The Water Dragon decided to wait to claim his bride until she’s older and the last few pages give a glimpse of Asahi and Subaru much older, giving a hint to the next story arc. The art on The Water Dragon’s Bride continues to be delightful, and I’m still in awe of Toma’s deceptively simple illustration style. The art isn’t overdecorated, but she manages to portray everything she needs with great economy. It is always clear what Asahi is thinking, even when she’s robbed of the power of speech. The character designs for the pantheon of gods that keep popping in and out to offer sly commentary on the Water Dragon’s inexplicable choices are also charming. My only complaint is that there’s too much of a wait between volumes for this series!

Pick of the Week: Is This The Real Life? Is This Just Fudanshi?

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SEAN: It’s an odd week with the majority of titles being digital ones. I’m not blown away by anything, but I guess I’ll go with the debut of Real Girl, a Dessert series that almost seems to be a genderbent version of a very common shoujo trope.

KATE: That’s some slim pickings… oof. If I had to choose a title — and death was not an option — I’d cast my vote for The High School Life of a Fudanashi. After reading several relentlessly grim books, I could use a silly palette cleanser. Fudanashi looks like it fits the bill: it’s a 4-koma title about a straight boy who likes BL but feels weird about telling his friends. It will either be a hoot or a dreary compendium of “But I’m not gay!” jokes. Let’s hope it’s the former.

MICHELLE: I intend to check out Kasane and Real Girl, but of all the options, I’m most happy that the digital release of Nodame Cantabile continues briskly, so I’ll pick volume twenty of that series this time.

ASH: Like Kate, my pick this week goes to The High School Life of a Fudanshi. The premise has promise, but it also has the potential to go completely off the rails (and not in a good way). I’m curious to see which direction the series takes!

MJ: There’s not a lot for me this week, but I’m cautiously edging towards The High School Life of a Fudanshi, with the understanding that it could turn out to be either awesome or horrifyingly offensive. I’m open to finding out which.

ANNA: There really isn’t much that’s an automatic pick for me, so like Sean, I’ll go with Real Girl as I enjoy genderbent shoujo from time to time.

Manga the Week of 5/31

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SEAN: Believe it or not, under 20 releases is now a quiet week. Welcome to the Manga Boom, here’s your accordion. So what’s out next week?

J-Novel Club has an odd license. Despite being available to them, no one thought the company would license Invaders of the Rokujouma!? for two reasons: 1) It’s 23 volumes and counting in Japan, and 2) it already had a well-regarded fan translation of the first 22 volumes. But J-Novel has licensed that fan translation, is giving it an edit, and doing a fast release of the first three volumes of the series, with more to come monthly, apparently. As for the title itself, it’s a harem comedy, so moving on…

ASH: It’s probably not a series that I’ll ever pick up, but that’s an interesting publication history!

SEAN: Kodansha has more digital Del Rey rescues. Alive 16, Nodame Cantabile 20, and Yozakura Quartet 12.

…and I guess that Kodansha has Battle Angel Alita 1-3 out digitally too. I knew it was coming, but not so soon. This is the original BAA (as opposed to the Last Order reboot), with a new translation.

Their lone print release this week is the 60th volume of Fairy Tail, which should be wrapping up in Japan soon.

Kodansha also has new digital releases. Kasane is an award-winning work, and runs in the magazine Evening. It appears to be a dark thriller with lots of bullying and abuse overtones. But, magic lipstick!

Real Girl (3D Kanojo) is a shoujo/josei title from Dessert, involving a nerdy outcast type who ends up working with a cool beauty, the sort he hates, but gradually comes to realize that cool beauties are people too.

ANNA: I have mixed feelings about these digital releases, I’m so happy that more shoujo/josei is coming out, but having been burned before by the crash and burn of digital manga programs in the past, I’m concerned about some of these titles actually being finished. Also, it would be great to have some more josei print manga! Even with these handy reminders for the Manga Bookshelf team, I’m having a hard time keeping track of all the digital releases that I’m interested in.

MICHELLE: There certainly are a lot of them! That said, I will give these two new ones a try. And yay for more Nodame, as well!

ASH: I’m glad that these titles are being licensed at all, but I’d definitely like to see more of the released in print, too.

MJ: I share Anna’s concerns. I’m glad these are being released, but I’m still reeling from the loss of some JManga series I was really invested in (that have not, to my knowledge, been picked up by anyone else), and I admit I still mistrust digital.

SEAN: If it helps, the JManga title To All Corners of the World was rescued by Seven Seas and will be out in November in one (print) omnibus.

Seven Seas has a few new titles next week, starting with a (gasp!) novel, The Disappearance of Hatsune Miku, based on the seemingly unstoppable Vocaloid idol.

The manga debut is The High School Life of a Fudanshi (Fudanshi Koukou Seikatsu), a comedy title from Zero-Sum Online about a straight guy obsessed with BL, and his drive to find someone else to share his obsession with.

ASH: Knowing a few straight fudanshi myself, I’m rather curious to see how the series handles the topic.

MJ: Cautiously interested.

SEAN: And there’s a 5th volume of Shomin Sample, which must have run out of girls showing us their panties on the cover by now. (checks) Sadly, apparently not.

Vertical has the 8th Ninja Slayer, for all your Ninja needs.

They also have a light novel based on the Seven Deadly Sins manga, subtitled Seven Scars They Left Behind. Judging by that title, I wouldn’t expect a lot of laughs.

Yen Digital has some new volumes for us, as we get the 10th Aphorism, the 10th Crimson Prince, and the 10th Sekirei.

And while it’s not Vol. 10, Yen On does have the first four Sword Art Online novels now available digitally, for those obsessed with reading light novels on their phones (like me).

Are you taking a week off? Or getting something here?

Platinum End, Vol. 2

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Platinum End Volume 2 by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

This is a series that I want to like a little more than I actually do in practice after reading each volume. I thought that the first volume had a lot of potential, but I was a bit worried about some of the themes being a rehash of Death Note. I had a mixed experience with the second volume, finding the first few chapters more interesting than some of the main action depicted in the latter portion of the manga.

Mirai gets struck by a red arrow by a girl who he already had a crush on! This was the part of the manga that I found the most compelling as a reader, because Mirai has been dealing with manipulating people and the complications that ensue in the first volume, but then the situation is reversed in the second volume. This change of dynamic was interesting, and I thought the emotional aspects of being in thrall to someone were well-portrayed as Mirai is suddenly enthusiastic about protecting Saki at all costs, but he clearly would have been willing to help her without being coerced. Saki meanwhile seems to like him well enough but is still signaling her disinterest in a romantic relationship with Mirai in a diplomatic way.

The bulk of the manga deals with a confrontation with Metropoliman in a stadium, where a variety of coerced god-candidates and audience plants end up in a series of revelations and double-cross maneuverings that play out while Mirai and Saki have to sit in the stands like regular audience members, so they don’t end up being a target for the god candidates too. There wasn’t as much dramatic tension in these scenes because most of the time people were yelling variations of “gotcha!” and played out over multiple pages, it got to be a bit too one-note for me. I didn’t very much care for the way an under-aged girl with the god-power of wings was portrayed, with some of the panels like one showing the way she got struck by a red arrow are uncomfortably sexualized.

The art is always a highlight of any Obata title, and for the most part I’m enjoying that, but I’m hoping that the story ends up being a bit more compelling in future volumes. I’m still not finding this title as compelling as Death Note, but that’s a high bar to measure anything by. Although I’m not enjoying Platinum End as much as I hope to, it is still more interesting than many shonen titles.

Pick of the Week: Many Options

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MICHELLE: While I am undoubtedly excited for the debut volumes of Descending Stories and Delicious in Dungeon, the second volume of The Full-Time Wife Escapist ended on such a terrific cliffhanger than I am most eager to get my (digital) hands on volume three!

SEAN: My pick is your name., the novel by Makoto Shinkai. Being the only person in the world who hasn’t seen the movie, I know nothing about it except that it was a huge phenomenon and will likely involve a boy and girl in some way. I’m hoping fro more sweet than bittersweet, but given it’s Shinkai, not expecting that.

KATE: The first volume of Descending Stories was solid but not swoon-worthy, so I’m going to make a pitch for Yen’s two big debuts: Delicious in Dungeon, a manga that promises to combine gustatory adventures with D&D action, and Girls’ Last Tour, a “post-apocalyptic slice-of-life” series (Sean’s words, not mine).

MJ: I’m with Sean this week. I did see your name. (and loved it, of course) but I’m pretty excited to read the novel that started it all. It’s an unusual order of things for Shinkai, and I’m really interested to see what (if anything) he did differently once he was making the movie.

ASH: Oh, there are so many great and interesting things being released! The second volume of Murcielago, the debuts of Delicious in Dungeon and Girls’ Last Tour, the continuation of Monthly Girls Nozaki-kun, and more. (It looks like Yen Press has it out for me this week; my wallet weeps for me.) My pick, however, goes to Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju which I’ve been eagerly anticipating ever since Kodansha Comics first announced its license.

ANNA: This is a really good week for manga! There are many great series coming out this week, but like Michelle I am most eagerly looking forward to the third volume of The Full-Time Wife Excapist, I’ve been enjoying this series very much and can’t wait to read the next installment in the series.

Manga the Week of 5/24/17

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SEAN: Either you ride with the manga tide or you let it drown you. Looking at next week… blub blub blub.

MICHELLE: I thought this list was huge enough as it is!

SEAN: Dark Horse has a 2nd volume of Psycho Pass prequel Inspector Shinya Kogami.

J-Novel Club gives us a 3rd volume of Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension, which I still find much better than its title would suggest.

Kodansha has a pile, of course. In the Del Rey rescue category, we have Nodame Cantabile 19 (get ready for weekly releases of this), and Princess Resurrection 14.

MICHELLE: I continue to be asquee about Nodame. Looks like they’ll have the final volume out by the end of June!

ASH: Wow! I wasn’t expecting such a rigorous schedule for Nodame!

SEAN: Their debut is Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, a josei title from Itan magazine. Its anime was insanely popular, so I’m expecting good things.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely looking forward to this one!

ASH: As am I! It’s actually one of my most anticipated debuts for the year.

ANNA: Sounds great!

SEAN: The Full-Time Wife Escapist has a 3rd volume digitally, and I still want more of it.

MICHELLE: I still need to read 1-2!

ANNA: This is one series I’m actually not behind on reading!

SEAN: Hozuki’s Coolheadedness also has a new volume out digitally, its 2nd.

ASH: So many things I’m interested in are only being released digitally right now!

SEAN: Missions of Love 14 is here to make me grind my teeth but enjoy it anyway. It’s still a while away from an ending.

There is also a 3rd Peach Heaven out digitally.

The Seven Deadly Sins is almost old enough to drink with its 20th volume.

And Welcome to the Ballroom has a 5th book, no doubt starting the next arc.

And now for Seven Seas. First off, we have the 7th Golden Time manga, a good solid romantic dramedy.

Kase-san and Bento is the 2nd in the “Kase-san” series, and I would guess will involve bento lunches.

MICHELLE: That’s a good guess. The first one wasn’t profound or anything, but it was pleasant, so I reckon I’ll read this one, too.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give the series a try for a while now, but there being a food theme does bump it up on the to-be-read list.

SEAN: And a 7th volume of sleepy slice of life Non Non Biyori.

Vertical gives us an 8th volume of Cardfight!! Vanguard, which seems to have gotten over whatever licensing issues had it on hold.

I’ve been forgetting about Boys Over Flowers Season 2, which Viz is still releasing digitally – the 5th volume is out next week.

MICHELLE: I wish I could love this as much as the original. Sadly, it hasn’t grabbed me.

ANNA: I liked the first couple volumes, but I agree, not as compelling as the original series.

MICHELLE: The Yoko Kamio series I *would* be excited about is Cat Street.

SEAN: The rest is Yen, but so much Yen. On the novel side, we get an 11th A Certain Magical Index, now on location in Italy.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody has a 2nd volume. I understand it is one of them newfangled trapped in another world thingummies.

The much delayed My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected finally gets its 2nd novel, which may require me to reread the first to remind me what’s going on.

And a 4th volume of Overlord, this time focusing on some Lizardman Heroes who will no doubt be destroyed by our title antihero in some way.

Strike the Blood will have a 6th volume of eminently readable and totally uninspiring antics.

The big novel release this month is your name, whose lack of capital letters did not prevent it from becoming a huge movie. It’s complete in one volume, though a sequel is out later this fall.

MICHELLE: I’m a little wary of this, since I loved the movie so much. What if it taints my experience?

ASH: I’m interested in seeing how the novel reads. The manga adaptations of Shinkai’s works have generally been quite good, though.

SEAN: And there’s 3 more Spice & Wolf digital releases, 15-17, which I believe finishes the catch up.

In manga news, there’s a 5th Anne Happy, which wrings laughs out of misfortune. Well, chuckles at least.

Big Order has its second omnibus, as it continues to try to outdo Future Diary.

This isn’t manga, but I don’t care. Brave is out next week! From creator Svetlana Chmakova, it’s a semi-sequel to her hit Awkward, taking place in the same universe but focusing on new kids. It’s super good.

Following something like Brave with the 17th volume of BTOOOM!, a series still best known for its bomb-breast-bouncing scene, seems cruel.

The Case Study of Vanitas gets a 2nd volume. I understand there are vampires.

ASH: And pretty artwork, from what I hear.

SEAN: Corpse Party: Blood Covered must have killed its way through the cast, as this is the 5th and final omnibus. Not to worry, a sequel is out later this year.

Several exciting new debuts this week, starting with Delicious in Dungeon (Dungeon Meshi), a seinen series from Enterbrain’s Harta magazine that manages to combine dungeon crawls and a cooking manga.

MICHELLE: I am excite!

ASH: Same! I love the premise of the series so much. Granted, the few times that I’ve played tabletop rpgs, the groups had a tendency to put a lot of emphasis on food, both in the game and outside of it.

ANNA: Oh yeah, this sounds good!

SEAN: Dimension W has a 6th volume for those of you who enjoy the things Dimension W provides. (Can I get any vaguer?)

Girls’ Last Tour (Shoujo Shuumatsu Ryokou) is also debuting, coming from Shinchosha and one of its many Bunch magazines. It’s post-apocalyptic slife-of-life, and probably the closest to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou anyone is going to get.

ASH: I’m very curious about this one, actually.

SEAN: Karneval has a 7th omnibus.

Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl has a 2nd volume, which seems fast but recall the first volume was delayed a month. In any case, yay!

MICHELLE: Forsooth!

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade has a 5th volume, and is one of the more enjoyable fluffy spinoffs out there.

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun remains a highlight every time it comes out, even with its 7th volume.

ASH: Yes! It is so consistently great! I love it so much!

SEAN: And if you want hyperviolent fanservicey trash (which I sort of like anyway), there’s a 2nd Murcielago.

ASH: Definitely not a series for everyone, but I liked the first volume, too.

SEAN: Re: Zero’s manga starts to adapt the 2nd novel with Chapter 2: A Week at the Mansion. Yes, folks, you’ll get your Rem here.

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers has a 2nd volume of its manga adaptation as well.

We get the 3rd and final volume of Rose Guns Days Season 2. Worry not, fans, Season 3 is on the schedule. (Are there Rose Guns Days fans?)

Yen released this digitally ages ago, but it’s popular enough to get print now (the upcoming anime may have something to do with it). Enjoy The Royal Tutor!

ASH: Glad to see more digital titles released in print! I wanted to give this series a try when it was first licensed, and now I finally can.

SEAN: Spirits & Cat Ears has a 2nd volume, and while I wish we’d get more of the former and less of the latter I expect to be disappointed.

There is a 9th Trinity Seven.

Lastly, Black Butler fans will take interested in the 2nd Yana Toboso Artworks book, which is devoted to the series.

Keeping your head afloat? What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Take Me to the Other Side

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SEAN: Most of the titles I’m interested in this week are digital. My pick is the second volume of Chihayafuru, because I still can’t believe it got licensed at all.

MICHELLE: On any ordinary week, I would be seconding that pick heartily, especially since my love of Chihayafuru is significantly tinged with gratitude. I’m really looking forward to Drowning Love and Our Precious Conversations, too, but I gotta award my vote to the second volume of The Girl from the Other Side. It’s a lovely, magical series with the sort of main character who I just can’t help but love with all my heart.

KATE: This week, I only have eyes for one manga: the latest volume of The Girl From the Other Side. It’s easily the best thing I’ve read this year, with a hauntingly beautiful story and gorgeous pen-and-ink drawings. I had to pinch myself when I realized that it’s published by Seven Seas, everyone’s favorite purveyor of monster girl T&A.

ANNA: Like many people, I’m excited about both The Girl From the Other Side and Chihayafuru, two very different manga. I think I’m going to have to give the edge to Chihayafuru though, the extended flashback in the first volume has me very curious about what’s happening with a more grown-up version of the characters. I’ve been waiting impatiently for the second volume!

ASH: Likewise, I’m interested in both Chihayafuru and The Girl from the Other Side, but in my case The Girl from the Other Side is the obvious choice for my pick of the week. I absolutely loved the first volume with it’s striking artwork, intriguing characters, and mysterious atmosphere. I’m really glad that Seven Seas licenses such a wide variety of material!

Peach Heaven Vol. 1

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So far, I’m having a mixed experience with Kodansha’s digital line. I like Chihayafuru and The Full-Time Wife Escapist (review of that coming soon), but I am not thrilled with A Springtime With Ninjas or Peach Heaven. In a way this is good, because I’m not having to set aside funds for so many digital series!

Peach Heaven treads familiar ground as the hapless heroine Momoko is blackmailed into being a slave to an evil male model – is there any other type of model in shoujo manga? Momoko has taken over her father’s writing persona and is cranking out erotica books in order to support her sick mother and younger brother. She toils on her writing all night, only to fall asleep in school the next day. Her friends think she’s hopelessly addicted to online gaming. Through a series of events that I no longer remember, Ranmaru the male model finds out about her double life and starts blackmailing her. Momoko is forced to bring Ranmaru lunch every day at school, and he continues to berate her for her life choices and makes fun of her for being a virgin.

Of course, various situations come up when Ranmaru has to rescue or intervene in Momoko’s life, indicating that he might be not so terrible after all. There isn’t really any suspense or dramatic tension in this manga. While I generally enjoy trashy romance manga, that’s usually only in cases where there’s a bit of a sense of humor or some over the top soap opera element to the storylines, and I don’t see anyone in Peach Heaven, say, abruptly deciding to become a priest or dealing with the aftereffects of personality-changing hypnotism. I was hoping that Peach Heaven would be another fun guilty pleasure manga, but it is just not very interesting. The rote plotting isn’t really complimented by the art, which is competent but doesn’t exhibit any individual sense of style.

Pick of the Week: Requiem Æternam

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MICHELLE: Probably I should be casting my vote for the third volume of Tokyo Tarareba Girls. It’s josei and it’s kind of brilliant, but it’s also devastating in its own kooky way. Instead, I think I’ll pick something really comforting, like the third volume of Ace of the Diamond.

SEAN: My pick is the new My Neighbor Seki, whose variations on a theme have yet to get old.

KATE: I second Michelle’s enthusiasm for Tokyo Tarareba Girls. It will make you laugh, cry, and cringe in equal measure — that’s how good it is!

ASH: I’m certain that I would absolutely love Tokyo Tarareba Girls, but this week I only have eyes for the next volume of Requiem of the Rose King. The series is a fascinating and heart-wrenching reimagining of history with strong Shakespearean influences and gorgeous artwork.

MJ: Requiem of the Rose King 4evah. That’s just the way things are.

ANNA: Any week that Requiem of the Rose King comes out makes it an automatic pick for me too. This is one of the most compelling series currently coming out and every new volume is a treat. A treat of emotional anguish and surrealism!

Manga the Week of 5/10/17

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SEAN: 2nd week, and things are popping. What’s coming down the pike?

Dark Horse has the debut of another comedic gag Evangelion manga, this one called Legend of the Piko Piko Middle School Students.

It also has the 3rd omnibus of its slice-of-life dumb-it-down Evangelion manga, The Shinji Ikari Raising Project.

ASH: Though I’ve seen the original anime series, I’ve never actually read any of the Evangelion manga.

ANNA: Me too.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has another debut, Bluesteel Blasphemer. Yes, it’s another “transported to a fantasy world” series, but this one has guns, and it’s by the author of Chaika the Coffin Princess.

And a 2nd volume of the popular title How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom. Will they go to war?

Del Rey catchups are mostly taking the week off, but we do get a 13th Princess Resurrection.

There is still plenty of new Kodansha Digital, though, as we have Ace of the Diamond 3, Domestic Girlfriend 2, House of the Sun 5, *and* Tokyo Tarareba Girls 3!

MICHELLE: Yay for 75% of those!

ANNA: I am glad these are all out and sad I am so far behind in my reading!!!

SEAN: In print, we have the 10th volume of Genshiken 2nd Season. Will we finally resolve Madarame’s endless harem issues?

And a 4th In/Spectre, which promises to take a turn back towards the grim.

Interviews with Monster Girls 4 will hopefully be less grim, despite also featuring yokai.

One last Kodansha Digital title, which I mention only as it’s a series I never noticed began sometime last year. Unlimited Fafnir ran in good! Afternoon, and this is the 4th and final volume. It’s a light novel adaptation.

Seven Seas has a 3rd volume of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, which has quite a following now that the anime’s done.

ASH: I enjoyed the first volume much more than I thought I would.

SEAN: And a 2nd There’s a Demon Lord on the Floor.

SuBLime has a 4th volume of not-boxing manga Ten Count.

ASH: Nope, definitely not boxing. The series actually comes across to me as dark, psychological horror more than anything else right now.

ANNA: The first couple volumes that I read were pretty grim.

MJ: Oh, Ten Count… I never really made it past volume two.

MICHELLE: I made it to volume three, but I’m really done now.

SEAN: People, people, it’s supposed to be a TEN count.

Vertical Comics gives us a 9th volume of My Neighbor Seki, which always makes me smile.

ASH: Me, too! :)

SEAN: A fourth Legendary Edition for The Legend of Zelda, this one has The Minish Cap and Phantom Hourglass.

Lastly, there’s a 6th volume of Requiem of the Rose King, and I can hear everyone in Manga Bookshelf breathe a sigh of relief. Also, shouldn’t Henry be dead soon?

ASH: I love this series so much!

ANNA: Yay!!!

MJ: This! Always! THIS!!!!

SEAN: It’s Mother’s Day next week! Which of these titles would you buy for your mother?

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 5

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I still very much enjoy Everyone’s Getting Married, but this volume was a little bit of a letdown, mostly because I’m not terribly fond of the way the “suddenly a rival appears!” storyline is being executed.

At the end of the last volume Kamiya, a work colleague of Asuka’s decided that she would be his ideal wife. He was not put off by the fact that she’s dating Ryu, and Kamiya’s persistence was one of the most annoying things about this volume, even though he did bring up some good and rational points about Asuka and Ryu’s counterproductive relationship. Asuka is mostly reduced to a bargaining chip between the men, and her actions are a little bit too passive, although I suppose it is an accurate portrayal of where a woman might end up when she has been thoroughly socialized to be nice all the time. The volume opens with Ryu and Kamiya getting a drink together, and even though Ryu warns Kamiya to stop his pursuit of Asuka, Kamiya is undeterred, pointing out the futility of a relationship where one person wants to get married and the other is set against it. Kamiya is convinced that the couple will eventually break up, and when that happens he will be there, ready to scoop up Asuka and take advantage of her innate intelligence and competence to have the supportive live partner of his dreams.

Kamiya proceeds to both threaten and manipulate Asuka into spending time with him, and I started feeling very annoyed that Asuka was so passive that she got thrown into situations with Kamiya when she didn’t really want to spend time with him. Ryu and Asuka always do reaffirm their relationship, and a brief trip away with a break from work serves to smooth things over. One of the reasons why this manga is so interesting to read is the fact that either one of the main characters is going to have to fundamentally change, or they will have to break up, and that dramatic tension is intriguing. This volume felt like a bit more of a placeholder, and I hope there’s a more satisfying story in the next volume.