Anna N

SEAN: Not only are there no small weeks anymore, there are no medium weeks. Only large weeks forever, with piles and piles of new manga.

MICHELLE: I can’t be sad about this, though I’ll forever mourn the titles that got cancelled when the first bubble burst.

ASH: True, true.

SEAN: We start with something that is not technically manga, but certainly has a manga style and audience. The second omnibus of the Megatokyo webcomic is out, collecting Vol. 4-6 of the Hunter x Hunter of North America. This catches up with the released volumes, I believe.

Kodansha has 6 new titles this week, starting with Cells at Work!, a cute new series which combines educational biology, amusing comedy, and action movie. I already reviewed the first volume, and found it quite enjoyable.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one!

ASH: I’m rather curious about it, myself.

MJ: This sounds pretty cool!

ANNA: It does sound intriguing.

SEAN: Devil Survivor comes to an end with its 8th and final volume.

I may be forced to endure far too many Monster Girl series these days, but at least some of them are cute and fluffy rather than softcore porn. Interviews with Monster Girls is one of the former, a sweet series about a teacher taking interest in the “demihumans” in his school.

ASH: It’s interesting to see publishers other than Seven Seas taking on the trend.

SEAN: It has been over 6 months since I last enjoyed the glorious trash that is Missions of Love. Here’s Vol. 13, and it can’t come fast enough. How will everyone be horrible this time?

ASH: I’ll admit, I actually do read and enjoy this series.

And there’s a 2nd volume of That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! (The doggone wolf-boy is mine?)

MICHELLE: I think of that song EVERY SINGLE TIME!

ASH: The first volume, while certainly not breaking any new ground, was still enjoyable. I’m looking forward to reading more.

SEAN: Lastly (for Kodansha), Your Lie in April reaches its 2nd to last volume. Will it all end happily ever after? (Spoiler: no.)

Seven Seas gives us a 3rd volume of the violent and grotesque Hour of the Zombie.

And just when you thought monster girl manga could not get sillier, there’s My Girlfriend is a T-Rex. No, really. It runs in Media Factory’s Gene Pixiv, which I guess cultivates artists from the popular Japanese art platform.

Vertical gives us a 5th Nichijou, which had better have more Mai this time around.

And the rest is mostly Viz, but that doesn’t mean we’re near done. Bleach has a 68th volume, and still has a few more to go after that, despite being finished in Japan.

And if you missed Bleach, or just want to relive its glory days, read the 17th omnibus, which shows those days had already passed by that point.

Dragon Ball Full Color Freeza Arc 4! Buy it again! And again! And Again!

And if that wasn’t enough exclamation marks for you, here’s Haikyu!! 5.

MICHELLE: Huzzah!

ASH: Yay!!

ANNA: WOO HOO!

SEAN: Rejoice, for the JoJo’s hardcovers continue! This is Stardust Crusaders, which some may have read when Viz brought it over years ago, but which many may have missed (including me). Now it’s here in hardcover deluxe editions.

ASH: I’m double-dipping on this. The hardcovers are beautiful.

ANNA: I’m behind on my Jojo reading, I’m glad Viz continues to put out these editions.

SEAN: And if you loved The Legend of Zelda manga, Viz is starting to re-release that as well, in a Legendary Edition.

Maid-sama! has a 6th 2-in-1, as it tries to explain Usui’s backstory while still letting him tease Misaki mercilessly, because really we read this for her blushing and yelling, right?

MICHELLE: I do like getting more information about him.

ANNA: The yelling is always a highlight.

SEAN: And My Hero Academia’s 6th volume should be starting up a new arc.

Viz decides to skip the Naruto novel about Hinata’s wedding prep, possibly to pacify fans, and instead will release the first volume of Itachi’s Story.

And Nisekoi gets an 18th volume. Will it start to wrap things up?

One Piece has 80 volumes. Eighty. That’s as many as eight tens. And that’s wonderful.

One-Punch Man’s 9th volume. Less volumes, but lots of punching.

ASH: One-Punch Man is still a lot of fun.

MJ: Always ready for this.

ANNA: I’m behind as always but happy for the punching.

SEAN: A 21st volume of Oresama Teacher means I will definitely have something for my Pick of the Week.

ANNA: This is my regular reminder that I need to catch up on this series.

SEAN: Shuriken and Pleats ends with its 2nd volume, and Hino heads back towards vampires, which are apparently better than ninjas after all.

ANNA: I have an idea. What about VAMPIRE NINJAS?

SEAN: Toriko 36. More eating. More fighting. More weird creatures. More homoerotic subtext that it will never deliver on.

World Trigger has really become popular, and now I wish I had kept up with it. Here’s Vol. 13.

MJ: I wish I had, too! But even more, I wish I’d stuck with Oresama Teacher, since you still love it after all this time.

And Yu-Gi-Oh! has an 8th 3-in-1.

Lastly, Yen On has (deep breath) Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratorio. As you may have guessed, it is a spinoff novel from the main series, dealing with Bell’s crush, Aiz Wallenstein, and the misadventures of her own guild. I hear there are elves!

Have you already burned out your wallet for the year? Or is there more you must buy?

SEAN: End of October. 35 titles. Scary!

MICHELLE: I am having Count Floyd feels.

SEAN: Kodansha brings us the 9th volume of Genshiken 2nd Season, which may have a new cast but has ended up being about Madarame’s love life.

ASH: I’ll admit, I really wasn’t expecting it to basically become a harem manga.

SEAN: Kazuhiro Fujita, best known over here for the unlicensed yet very popular Ushio and Tora, has a new hardcover horror volume out, part of a series subtitled “The Black Museum” that runs in Morning. This one is called The Ghost And The Lady, and features Florence Nightingale. It sounds amazing.

ASH: It looks it, too!

SEAN: Kodansha also has a 7th volume of Kiss Him, Not Me!, which I hope is stocked next to The Ghost and the Lady at all good bookstores, just for the humor value.

Speaking of new works by authors best known for something else, Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai is from the creator of Shaman King, and has… well, cat samurai. Be warned: this is not your Chi sort of cat book – it runs in Shonen Magazine Edge (I assume because the works are edgy).

MICHELLE: Huh.

ANNA: I have a similar reaction as Michelle.

SEAN: And a 17th volume of breakout hit Noragami.

ASH: I’ve come to really enjoy this series.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a bunch of stuff. The 4th volume of spinoff A Certain Scientific Accelerator continues to be action oriented, much to the annoyance of Last Order.

A new Freezing omnibus, Vols. 11-12, will please anyone who likes breasts.

Speaking of such readers, the big release this week is Monster Girl Encyclopedia, which is apparently a lavishly illustrated guide to various types of monster girls. It’s a hardcover, so they’re really pushing this. I also hear that it’s possibly the most fanservicey title they’ve ever released.

ASH: That’s impressive in and of itself.

SEAN: And another omnibus, with manwha release Witch Hunter getting Vols. 17 and 18.

Vertical has a 2nd volume of Immortal Hounds.

Time for Yen. First of all, we have the digital-only releases: Aoharu x Machinegun 6, Black Detective 6, Saki 6, and Corpse Princess… 7. Sure, ruin my numerology, why don’t you.

ASH: Saki!

SEAN: Light novels. Psycome has a second volume of wacky insane girls in prison antics.

And the fourth volume of Sword Art Online: Progressive has Argo on its cover, which automatically makes it a must-read.

As for Yen’s print manga, we get an eighth Akame Ga KILL!

Did I say Aoharu x Machinegun was digital-only? Never mind. Like Handa-kun, it did well enough to get a print release, with Volume 1 shipping next week.

The Asterisk War has a 2nd manga release. I quite like the book’s cliched but breezy story.

We’ve caught up with Barakamon, so it’s been a while since the last volume. I’ve missed it. Here’s Vol. 12.

MICHELLE: I have every intention of getting caught up on Barakamon. Intentions, but not time, alas.

SEAN: Bloody Cross comes to an end with its 12th and final volume.

A Certain Magical Index has its 7th manga volume, which I think starts to adapt the 6th novel.

And The Devil Is A Part-Timer! has its 7th manga volume, which is still adapting the 3rd novel, because it didn’t skip entire books like Index’s manga did.

And if you like cuter and fluffier, there’s a 5th volume of the High School!! spinoff.

Fruits Basket has a 6th omnibus, as Akito helpfully allows Tohru to gain resolve to stop the curse by being completely terrible.

I’d mentioned Handa-kun before, and we get a 4th print volume here.

Horimiya gives us a 5th volume of adorable high school romance.

MICHELLE: Yay for Furuba and Horimiya!

ASH: Yay, indeed!

SEAN: More manga adaptations of light novels, or in this case adaptations of songs, with the 7th Kagerou Daze.

I was lukewarm to the first Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, but a 2nd volume should help firm up which direction it’s going.

MICHELLE: I found it reasonably intriguing, but definitely the second volume is going to be key. I’m looking forward to it a lot.

ANNA: Surprisingly I haven’t read this yet, but I plan to.

SEAN: And there’s a 4th spinoff volume of Log Horizon’s West Wind Brigade.

MORE manga adaptations of light novels! This time the 2nd Re: Zero manga.

It’s rare we see seinen romance manga in North America, let alone by a female author. But Scum’s Wish is still about tortured high schoolers and hopeless crushes, have no fear. It runs in Big Gangan, and has been on the Crunchyroll app as well.

Taboo Tattoo gets a 4th volume, so it can’t be all THAT taboo.

Another manga gets out of digital only land, as we see the first volume of Today’s Cerberus. This is a Shonen Gangan series, has supernatural elements, and leans very much towards the comedy end of things. Not quite Another Monster Girl Series, but close as dammit.

Just because monster girls are the next big genre doesn’t mean we’re not getting more survival game as well. I know little about Tohyo Game except it runs in Big Gangan, and is an omnibus of the first 2 volumes.

Are you being tricked? Or is all this manga a treat?

SEAN: You thought this week might be lighter than the others? Ha! You fool!

Dark Horse has an anthology of works based on Oreimo. Unlike the anthology I’m about to talk about, it’s Japanese creators. It should be cute and incestuous, like its source.

Attack on Titan’s Anthology, a collection of works by Western creators based on the manga, has been the most anticipated title of the year. I reviewed it here, and it does not disappoint. Must buy.

ASH: It really is great!

SEAN: Kodansha also has the 3rd volume of Fairy Girls, which is not as exciting as the Attack on Titan Anthology, but probably has more nudity.

ASH: Fairy Girls is probably my least favorite Fairy Tail spin-off; a shame because the basic premise had such potential.

SEAN: There’s a 5th Inuyashiki, from the Gantz creator.

And a 7th L♥DK, still trying to give us its bad boy love.

And a 10th Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle omnibus. Didn’t this end? Is it eternal? Am I buying a cursed book?

Somehow, Rise of the Shield Hero has become The Rising of the Shield Hero. Still from One Peace, and this is the 5th manga volume.

Seven Seas has a 2nd volume of Magical Guy series Battle Rabbits.

Their first debut this week is Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, another in a long line of monster girl works which permeate our world today. It runs in Manga Acton from Futabasha, which is at least not Comic Alive. The author has several works adapted to anime, including Miss Komori Can’t Decide and I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying. I expect it will fall on the ‘goofy’ end of the scale, rather than ‘porn-ey’.

ASH: I am actually a little curious about this one.

SEAN: A 4th Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation defies my ability to say anything about it.

I do enjoy My Monster Secret, though, and so a 4th volume is welcome. See? Not all monster girl titles make me sarcastic!

The other new Seven Seas title is complete in one omnibus. Tokyo Undead is part of a smaller trend Seven Seas has picked up on – zombie horror with lots of gore. It ran in Akita Shoten’s Play Comic. Don’t expect cuteness.

Also not cute is the 8th volume of Ajin, though I don’t know, given Japan’s current trends, we could get a high school AU Ajin 4-koma spinoff soon.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Viz has another gorgeous Miyazaki artbook coming out, with The Art of Castle in the Sky. AKA Laputa, dropped from the title for reasons that should be obvious.

Tokyo Ghoul 9 gives us additional zombies, and we also get…

Tokyo Ghoul: Days, a prose short story collection about the “everyday lives” of the cast.

Is this enough for you?

MICHELLE: I am literally not buying any of these things. Not even the Attack on Titan anthology.

ANNA: This is one of those weeks where I’m glad I’m not interested in anything, because it gives me some time to catch up on all my other unread manga.

SEAN: Ah, second weeks. Always the most unpredictable. Will there be a hidden treasure? Or will the team all pick Magi again by default? Let’s see what we’ve got next week.

ASH: Let’s!

SEAN: Dark Horse has a 3rd volume of the prequel everyone seems to like better than the original, Fate/Zero.

MJ: Maybe I should try this.

SEAN: They also have the second omnibus release of zombie favorite I Am A Hero.

ASH: I’m very curious to see the direction the second omnibus takes.

ANNA: I still need to read the first volume.

SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly make me very happy with the second volume in their Kitaro collection, Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon. No, not the one from Shonen Jump.

ASH: I am beyond thrilled that we’re getting more of Kitaro in English!

SEAN: Kodansha has a 5th volume of Maga-Tsuki, which defies my ability to remember anything about it.

And a 16th volume of Say “I Love You”. Will the series be able to survive graduation?

MICHELLE: I am cautiously optimistic.

ASH: As am I.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts a new series. It’s called How to Build a Dungeon. It has a half-naked woman on the cover. It’s from Comic Valkyrie. It should sell like hotcakes. I would review it but I fear it would burn my flesh if I touched it.

And a 5th Magika Swordsman and Summoner, which is much the same sort of thing.

SuBLime gives us the 5th volume of The World’s Greatest First Love. That’s a lot of hype to live up to.

ASH: I’ll admit, I’m more interested in the series portrayal of the shoujo manga industry than I am in its romance.

SEAN: And Vertical has a 6th Ninja Slayer volume. EXCITING NINJAS!

Viz has reached the 60th volume of Case Closed. I tip my hat to them.

And Magi has its 20th volume, which will hopefully answer the burning question: Where the Hell is Morgiana?

MICHELLE: Heh.

ANNA: Where? What’s happening!!! One day I will get caught up on Magi.

SEAN: Lastly, Viz has a 4th volume of Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter.

Yokai, ninjas, zombies… no vampires, though. What are you getting?

SEAN: It’s the first week of October, so time for a BIG PILE O’ VIZ! But first:

Dark Horse has the first of what may be several Hatsune Miku manga tie-ins, Mikubon.

Seven Seas has a 5th volume of Golden Time, the one that’s not Toradora.

Magical Girl Apocalypse 9 continues to prove that kids love cute stuff being brutally slaughtered.

The debut this week is My Pathetic Vampire Life, which I know very little about besides that it runs in Futabasha’s Manga Action and hey, vampires.

Since Persona 4’s manga has done pretty well for Udon, it’s no surprise we’re now seeing the debut of Persona 3. It’s a Mediaworks title form Dengeki Maoh.

ASH: I’ve actually played Persona 3, so I’m curious to see how it’s adapted.

SEAN: Since we’ve caught up with Japan, the 8th volume is the first My Neighbor Seki in a while from Vertical. It’s very welcome.

ASH: My Neighbor Seki continues to be a delight.

MJ: Indeed!

SEAN: And now for Viz. Assassination Classroom has its 12th volume, which I believe has a heavy dose of Irina.

And a third volume of Black Clover. What will it be imitating today?

There’s a 6th volume of The Demon Prince of Momochi House.

ANNA: I really like this series, it just keeps getting better and better.

SEAN: And a 14th Food Wars!, which may be starting a new arc?

Haikyu! has a 4th volume. It’s coming out so fast you’d think it was monthly.

ASH: … There may be a reason for that.

ANNA: I haven’t read volume 3 because my kids keep stealing it from me.

SEAN: And there’s a 4th volume of Honey So Sweet.

ANNA: Looking forward to this!

SEAN: I always love a new volume of Kamisama Kiss when it comes out, even now, at the 22nd volume.

ANNA: This is so great. There is totally room in my heart for two shoujo series with handsome male spirit people running around.

Kuroko’s Basketball has a 2nd omnibus, ensuring it remains caught up with Haikyu! despite being bimonthly.

ASH: Speaking of catching up, I still need to dig into Kuroko’s Basketball.

ANNA: I really liked the unconventional hero.

SEAN: Guess what’s hit double digits but is still adorable? My Love Story!!, that’s what.

MICHELLE: Each of the last seven is on my list!

ASH: I love this series so much.

ANNA: It is just excellent.

SEAN: Naruto has a 16th 3-in-1, even though ninjas are so 2006.

And if you enjoy getting One Piece in massive box sets for Christmas, there’s a 3rd one here for you.

The debut this week is Platinum End, a new manga from the creators of Death Note and Bakuman that runs in Jump Square. I hear it’s more towards the Death Note end of the spectrum in terms of seriousness.

MICHELLE: I’m not generally interested in angels, but I’ll give this a shot.

ASH: I’m always willing to give a manga illustrated by Obata a try.

MJ: You know I’m on board for this, for the artwork if nothing else. Obata 4evah.

ANNA: I will try it for the art alone for the first couple volumes, even if I don’t care for the story.

SEAN: 7th Garden has a 2nd volume, which means only 5 more till I get to make an obviously lame joke.

A 9th So Cute It Hurts!!. It must be cute if it’s that long a series.

ANNA: It is pretty cute, but maybe a bit too long?

SEAN: And a 6th Twin Star Exorcists. This month is big on series I don’t read, alas.

Lastly, a series I do read, the 2nd Yona of the Dawn. Love love love this.

MICHELLE: The second volume is even better than the first.

ASH: I’ve actually got a giveaway for the first volume going on right now. I can’t wait to get my hands on the second one!

MJ: Well, I’ll have to check this out!

ANNA: EPIC FANTASY MANGA FOR THE WIN!!!!!!!!!!

SEAN: Is there a series here for you?

SEAN: Duck and cover, folks.

Kodansha gives us a 3rd Colossal Edition of Attack on Titan, which no doubt still remains a potent blunt instrument as well as a good way of catching up.

ASH: These volumes truly are colossal.

SEAN: And a 56th volume of Fairy Tail, which had one of my pairings become canon recently, and apparently other stuff is happening as well.

The first of three debuts from Kodansha next week, Happiness is from the creator of Flowers of Evil (and Inside Mari, and Drifting Net Café, for those who want to be reminded that there are iffy things the author has done too). It seems to combine school bullying and vampires, and runs in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine.

ASH: I’m not especially interested in vampires, but I’ll definitely be checking out this series.

MJ: I’d give this a look.

SEAN: The Prince in His Dark Days is an Aria title, so file it under shoujo-ish. This seems to involve some gender bending, and the author is better known for her BL. We’ll see what it’s like.

MICHELLE: This is already in my Amazon cart!

ASH: I’m very curious about this series!

ANNA: I’m curious too, but I will wait until you guys read it.

MJ: I’m absolutely on board for this!

SEAN: Sweetness and Lightning may have just finished its anime, but the manga goes in, with Vol. 2 coming out next week.

And Welcome to the Ballroom is from Weekly Shonen Magazine, and from what I can tell may be a sports manga, only the sport is ballroom dancing. Of the three debuts, this one excites me the most.

MICHELLE: And so are both of these!

ASH: It’s a strong week for Kodansha debuts; I want to read them all.

ANNA: BALLROOM DANCING MANGA! I am amazed.

MJ: So excited!

SEAN: Franken Fran has an omnibus of Vol. 5 & 6. It’s not for everyone, as many have discovered, but I do love its combination of excessive horror and excessive humor.

ASH: As do I.

And there’s a 7th volume of Servamp, which… OK, look, there’s a LOT of vampire titles this week. I have to save my bad jokes for other vampire titles down the list.

And Vertical has a 3rd volume of Devil’s Line. See what I mean? It’s just awash with vampires around here.

Yen Press takes up the rest of this list, but trust me, we aren’t almost done. First, there’s the digital line, with 6th volumes for Aphorism, Crimson Prince (not vampires, but demons), and Sekirei.

Yen On time. The 7th novel of Accel World will hopefully involve the nasty cliffhanger from the last volume, but will we really be free of the constant threat of the corrupting armor? And will Haru get actual self-confidence?

Since the last volume of Kagerou Daze was delayed, that means we get this 5th volume sooner than expected. This one should explain how Shintaro’s dead not-quite-girlfriend, Ayano, is connected to all this.

At last, we have the debut of Yen On’s first light novel series with no fantasy elements, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected. You can tell it’s a light novel by that wordy title, just call it OreGairu. It comes highly recommended, I will see what the fuss is about.

MJ: I will check this out as well.

SEAN: And a 2nd volume of Overlord, as we continue to see how ‘trapped in a game’ works if you’re a villain.

And there is a 4th volume of Strike the Blood, which I continue to find very generic but enjoyable despite that.

On to Yen Press proper. We get a 3rd volume of Akame Ga KILL! preview ZERO.

And we get the final volume of Aldnoah Zero First Season. The Second Season is not yet licensed, as far as I can tell.

There’s a 2nd volume of the manga adaptation of The Boy and the Beast.

As you might guess from the cover, A Bride’s Story 8 will be focusing on Pariya, our favorite tsundere, and her own marriage – assuming she does not blush herself to death first.

ASH: Looking forward to seeing more of A Bride’s Story on my shelf.

MJ: This, always.

SEAN: Chaika the Coffin Princess is also ending with its 5th and final volume.

And if you like fanservice, have a 2nd volume of Demonizer Zilch.

There’s also a 5th volume of the heartwarming and sometimes creepy First Love Monster.

Fruits Basket’s collectors Edition gives us 2 more volumes with its 5th omnibus, and a new zodiac, of course, of course.

MICHELLE: And a nice Ayame pic on the back cover!

MJ: These are so beautiful, I could not be happier.

SEAN: He’s My Only Vampire has ended in Japan, but still continues here with Vol. 8.

Now that I’ve read its source, I expect The Honor Student at Magic High School’s 4th volume to make 100% more sense.

And speaking of LN adaptations, there’s the 2nd My Youth Romantic… I’m not typing that out again.

Of the Red, The Light, and the Ayakashi is adapting a game, but still intrigues me as we hit Volume 4. I’m in it for the savvy little sister.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued, as well.

SEAN: Overlord’s 2nd manga is coming out the same day as its 2nd light novel. That’s never not confusing!

And Space Dandy wraps up with a 2nd volume. This is the trouble with anime tie-ins.

Strike the Blood has a 4th manga volume, coming out the same day as… see my entry on Overlord.

Triage X may be up to a 12th volume, but on the bright side, we’ve caught up with Japan.

Ubel Blatt has a 6th omnibus that is really its 7th. Still bitter.

ASH: Understandably so.

SEAN: And lastly, Erika Furudo continues to RUIN EVERYTHING as we get a 2nd Umineko: Dawn of the Golden Witch omnibus. Can we get a happy ending with Battler controlling things? Don’t bet on it.

Are you buried under the weight of all of this? If not, what are you getting?