Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Anna N

QQ Sweeper, Vol. 2

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QQ Sweeper Volume 2 by Kyousuke Motomi

This was easily one of my most anticipated second volumes, because Motomi’s Dengeki Daisy is an all time favorite manga of mine, and found the first volume of this series both delightful and intriguing. I was interested to see how the story would develop further, now that the premise had been set up in the first volume.

One of the things I enjoyed greatly about Dengeki Daisy was the theme of emotionally scarred people gathering together and healing each other, and I was happy to see that carried through to this series but executed with new characters and new situations. While there’s a bit of a monster of the week aspect to the plot as Fumi and Kyutaro join together to spiritually cleanse a student who has been stricken by bad feelings, the core of the manga focuses on the (not yet a) couple learning to trust each other. This volume delves a bit more into Kyutaro’s past and the brief respite he experienced during a stressful time by making a new friend who might have been Fumi, pre-amnesia. At the same time, Fumi’s memory loss and recent history with people she’s befriended turning on her and claiming that she’s cursed is making it difficult for her to settle in to her new role.

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There are still mysteries to unravel for the young protagonists, and there’s a hint of a sinister paranormal plot against them that I’m sure will be explored more in future volumes. Motomi’s quirky touches like the revelation of the identity of Kyutaro’s guardian owl and the illustrations of young teens heading into high-stakes supernatural battles armed only with cleaning supplies make this series fun to read. I’m very glad that QQ Sweeper was picked up so soon after Dengeki Daisy ended, so I didn’t have to feel too deprived!

Pick of the Week: Variety Bandbox

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boybeastMICHELLE: There is a lot of good stuff coming out next week, but for me it’s all about the kittehs. Bring on FukuFuku: Kitten Tales!

SEAN: I’m definitely up for some kittens this week as well. My pick this week is The Boy and the Beast, though, a book-and-manga combo from Yen that’s from the creator of Summer Wars and Wolf Children. I expect some coming of age heartwarming moments in bucketloads.

ASH: I definitely plan on picking up FukuFuku, but for my official pick this week I think I’m going to go with Dimension W. Admittedly, I don’t actually know much about the series, but I’ve enjoyed Iwahara’s work in the past, so I’m curious.

ANNA: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! If you can’t tell, I’m excited about Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun!!!!

Bookshelf Briefs 2/15/16

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It’s a seasonally appropriate bouquet of briefs!

akuma2Akuma no Riddle: Riddle Story of Devil, Vol. 2 | By Yun Kouga and Sunao Minakata | Seven Seas – Twelve female high-school assassins have gathered in a special class with the aim of killing their classmate and target, Ichinose Haru. In this volume, Azuma Tokaku decides to go against her assignment and publicly declares herself Haru’s guardian. Two classmates make their attempt on Haru’s life, and in the process we learn more about their backstories and the rules of the game itself. While volume two isn’t as tensely suspenseful as the first, it’s got enough mystery and yuri flair to appeal to me. What it reminds me of most is Bokurano, with the rotating spotlight between players in a game who might not know all the rules. The fact that Azuma’s change of allegiance was anticipated, for example, and lingering secrets about Haru’s true nature guarantee that I’ll be coming back for more. – Michelle Smith

crown2Crown of Thorns, Vol. 2 | By Yoko Kamio | VIZ Media (digital only) – Alas, I didn’t enjoy the second (and final) volume of Crown of Thorns as much as the first. It wasn’t bad—indeed, it’s a thoroughly pleasant read—but a few pages into the volume, I could see the path the plot would take to the finale and it played out almost exactly as expected, the only real deviation being some unexplained out-of-character behavior from the big bad. I figure all of this is due to the series’ brevity. I wanted more of prickly Nobara and Lucio, her “slightly virtuous demon,” before anyone developed romantic feelings or vowed to become a more caring person. I just can’t care as much if it happens suddenly. Still, I’m glad to have had the chance to read something else by Kamio. More would certainly be welcome. – Michelle Smith

horimiya2Horimiya, Vol. 2 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – While Horimiya may not have the most original storyline ever, it’s still proof that manga about nice people being nice doesn’t have to be boring! The plot isn’t fueled by misunderstandings—Hori could’ve frustratingly allowed the pretty student council member to make a move on Miyamura, but she clearly voiced her opposition—or love triangles. Instead, there are two kids with a strong bond of friendship inching slowly towards being something more, and it is honestly quite wonderful. We get to know Miyamura a bit better in this volume, too, including a glimpse at his lonely past that makes it difficult for him to accept the idea that Hori might have feelings for him. I’m looking forward to seeing what happens next and relieved that there are at least half a dozen volumes still to come. I am far from ready for this series to be anywhere near over. – Michelle Smith

maid5-6Maid-sama!, Vols. 5-6 | By Hiro Fujiwara | Viz Media – It really is astounding how much difference 5-6 years makes in your opinion of a manga. I reviewed Maid-sama! 6 back in the Tokyopop days for my blog, and mostly discussed Misaki and Usui, as well as the intro of the past childhood friend. “Boys spend a chapter trying to rape the girls” never really crossed my radar, but now it’s a blinding light. I continue to find Maid-sama! emotionally satisfying but intellectually jarring—Misaki’s admission of feeling useless, and Usui’s comforting of her, is sweet but my brain keeps saying “but.” And let’s not even get into the series’ undecided feelings about effeminate males. Maid-sama! demonstrates how fast something can become inappropriate in this modern world. – Sean Gaffney

qqsweeper2QQ Sweeper, Vol. 2 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Dengeki Daisy always had a good balance between its comedy and drama, but in Motomi’s new series, the drama clearly takes precedence. I’d said before how I was fairly certain that Fumi would turn out to be the Fuyu that Kyutaro keeps remembering, and sure enough, he’s now certain of it as well. What’s more surprising is how connected she seems to be to the background of all this mental bug cleaning—it’s suggested that her presence is what attracts the bugs to others. Our heroes are quick to assure her this isn’t her fault, but I suspect the lessons will take a bit longer to stick. In the meantime, as with Dengeki Daisy, I desperately want to read more to see what happens next. One of the most addictive new series. – Sean Gaffney

schooljudg1School Judgment, Vol. 1 | By Nobuaki Enoki and Takeshi Obata | VIZ Media – Like Library Wars, School Judgment asks its readers to believe that the Japanese government has passed some unlikely legislation. In this case, establishing a judicial system run by children. However, here it’s so over-the-top—especially the four-year-old judges who are so burdened by their task that they look middle-aged—that it’s easier to just go with it. The mystery cases themselves are not especially great, but I like the glimpses at defense genius Abaku Inugami’s past as well as the suggestion of a secret organization at large. And while some of the humor is not for me—I sigh heavily every time a shounen manga features a dog peeing on someone—there is a line at the end that made me laugh out loud, which was completely unexpected. At only three volumes, it won’t be too much of a time investment to see this one through to the end. – Michelle Smith

socute5So Cute It Hurts!!, Vol. 5 | By Go Ikeyamada | Viz Media – This manga continues to be the lightest and fluffiest of shoujo stories as the twins temporarily shift places yet again and Mitsuru decides to be unselfish in love, only to ensure that his own heart gets broken. These little plot twists that include some soulfulness ensure that the series isn’t totally insubstantial. There’s a time shift in the middle of the volume, as everyone starts a new year of school. Megumu is steadfast in her devotion to Aoi, and he’s determined to work on his female phobia so he can date his girlfriend without having to maintain 12 inches of distance between them at all times. This manga is still cute and funny five volumes in. – Anna N

Pick of the Week: Diametrically Opposed

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frankenfran1SEAN: No surprises that my pick of the week is Franken Fran from Seven Seas. I’ve already reviewed the omnibus here. It’s absolutely not for everybody (in particular, warning for those who hate bugs and roaches), and Fran can be… impossible to empathize with, but if you like horror and really back comedy, it’s one of the better titles out there.

MICHELLE: I suppose my pick of the week is still the second and final volume of Crown of Thorns, but now I’ve read it and didn’t enjoy it as much as the first. Oh, well. I hope this paves the way for more digital Yoko Kamio! Cat Street, please!

ASH: I’m with Sean, this week. By far the manga release I’m most interested in is the first Franken Fran omnibus. The word of mouth for this series has been huge in my circles, so I’m looking forward to reading it myself.

MJ: This is a pretty sparse week for me, but I admit I’ve been won over by my colleagues’ interest in Franken Fran. Count me in for some horror and black comedy! I’ll try to survive the bug aspect. *shudder*

ANNA: I haven’t read Crown of Thorns, so I haven’t been disappointed yet, and that appeals to me much more than Franken Fran, so that is my pick!

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 1

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Behind the Scenes!!, Volume 1 by Bisco Hatori

I read several volumes of Ouran High School Host Club and the first couple volumes of Millenium Snow way back in the day, so I was looking forward to this new series. Behind the Scenes!! takes place in a film props and set department at an arts college.

Ranmaru Kurisu comes from a fishing village, where he has never fit in. His bad luck isn’t quite reaching Ataru Moroboshi, Ranmaru automatically assumes that everything is his fault and he seems to spend most of his time apologizing unnecessarily. One day, he accidentally finds himself on set during the filming of a zombie movie on campus, spoiling the shot. He gets a rapid-fire introduction to the Art Squad, a team of students who support all the film clubs on campus. Ryuji Goda is the leader, and he immediately tells Ranmaru to sit down and start folding paper cranes for movie props.

It turns out that Ranmaru is incredibly good at crafts, but he spends so much time putting himself down he isn’t very aware of his own abilities. One aspect of his character development that I thought was incredibly clever on Hatori’s part is that Ranmaru’s perspective allows him to both anticipate and recover from disasters when they happen, because he’s just constantly thinking of how things could go wrong. Ranmaru spots a crack in a skylight in the Art Club’s studio space, and when the window shattering results in a prop getting damaged, he’s able to forage for supplies and improvise some impressive fixes. Ryuji sees Ranmaru’s talent and proclaims him as the Art Clubs savior.

Stories featuring found families are always appealing to me. While in many ways Behind the Scenes!! is very different from Paradise Kiss, both series feature characters who were alone who get adopted by art students and end up being transformed by the power of art. Behind the Scenes!! has a large supporting cast aside from Ranmaru and Ryuji, and there wasn’t enough space in the first volume to go into depth about some of the characters, so a few of them only fixed in my mind as “girl who loves special effects horror manga” or “handsome bland dude who likes latte art”. I’m sure that the supporting characters will all get more stories as the manga develops, and I’m looking forward to finding out more. The dynamic between the art squad and the student directors is a bit antagonistic and seems to rely a bit on forced drama, but the dynamic of a team of people all with different talents coming together to create props and sets made this manga fun to read, even if it doesn’t yet approach the goofy ridiculousness of Ouran High School Host Club.

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Manga the Week of 2/17

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SEAN: There’s one title I’m really excited about next week, but there are several other books of interest. Let’s go through them, starting, as ever, with Dark Horse. (If a manga company started beginning with A-C, they’d clean up.)

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Fate/Zero is a prequel to the insanely popular visual novel franchise Fate/Stay Night, taking place 20 years prior. It still has Saber (Arturia version) in it, though, no worries.

If you missed it the first time, there’s a 3rd Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service omnibus, with Vol. 7-9.

ASH: Still a great series; glad that Dark Horse found a way to keep it in print!

SEAN: Vampire Hunter D has reached its 23rd novel. I think Dark Horse put out the first one in 1922 or something like that.

ASH: Ha! Indeed, something like that.

SEAN: One Peace has a 3rd volume of the light novel Rise of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas gives a 9th Dragonar Academy, which continues to attempt to titillate its core audience, and while I am not remotely that, I hear it does a good job.

It may surprise some to see me getting so excited about a “monster girl” series, particularly given my ambivalent attitude towards their recent popularity. But Franken Fran is not just any monster girl series . Fans have been waiting for its blend of grotesque horror and pitch-black humor to be licensed for years, and Seven Seas now obliges us with 4 big omnibuses, of which this is the first. Get this, folks (well, over-18 folks).

MJ: Well, you’ve sold me! :D

ASH: This is the series I’m most intensely curious about this week.

SEAN: I missed another one last week: there’s a 2nd digital-only volume of Crown of Thorns, by the Hana Yori Dango author.

MICHELLE: I’m not sure Franken Fran is for me, but I’m definitely excited about more Crown of Thorns!

ANNA: ACK! I forgot to get the first volume of Crown of Thorns! Oh well, it is an excellent excuse to binge-read!

SEAN: Tokyo Ghoul’s 5th volume, out next week via Viz, will sell more copies than all the other titles in this list combined.

ASH: I’ve fallen behind on the series, but I’m happy to see it doing so well for Viz.

SEAN: And there’s a 3rd Ultraman, also from Viz, which I really should know more about than I do.

Go get Franken Fran. What else will you get?

Pick of the Week: Some Shonen Sunday

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magi16MICHELLE: As predicted, my pick of the week is super easy this time. Magi all the way!

SEAN: I love Magi to bits, but it’s time for my twice-yearly pick of Hayate the Combat Butler, still my go-to manga for silly humor and unresolvable harems.

ASH: The manga release that I’m probably the most interested in this week is Giganto Maxia. As a fan or Berserk I feel like I should give it a try, even if some of Miura’s other works haven’t really done much for me.

ANNA: Magi for me too! Magi forever!

Manga the Week of 2/10

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SEAN: Next week and the week after are blissfully small, allowing most of us to recover from the hideous amount of manga that we still have to read. This does not mean there are not some interesting things coming out, however.

Fans of Berserk might be interested in the new science fiction manga by its creator, called Giganto Maxia. Kate Dacey already gave it a review here.

ASH: As a fan of Berserk, I’m definitely interested in this, but Miura’s other manga have been pretty hit-or-miss for me.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a third volume of fantasy parody-ish manga 12 Beast.

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Their new title this week is Angel Beats! Heaven’s Door, based on the visual novel by Key. Whenever I see the words ‘visual novel’ and ‘Key’ together, I know I’m in for some tear-jerking, heartwarming tragedy, and I suspect that will be the case here as well.

There’s a 2nd volume of fantasy Mushoku Tensei.

SubLime, which has been awfully quiet recently, has a 5th volume of Awkward Silence, which is what happens when I ask out loud why they’ve been so quiet recently.

ASH: Not my favorite Takanaga manga, but it does have it’s charm.

SEAN: Udon gives us the debut of the Persona 4 manga in North America, and get ready for me to be saying ‘Persona’ quite a bit this year, as other companies are also dipping their toe into those waters.

ASH: I know quite a few Persona fans, so I’m actually rather curious about this release despite never having played the game myself.

SEAN: Viz time. We have reached the end of Deadman Wonderland with the 13th volume, and I can only assume they’re out of prison at last?

Hayate the Combat Butler continues to not sell well enough to have more than 2 volumes a year, but well enough not to be cancelled. Here’s a 27th volume.

Lastly, there’s a 16th volume of one of my favorites, Magi.

MICHELLE: I guess this is the only thing I’m buying this week. This’ll make my pick of the week easy!

MJ: And I guess I’ll just have to live vicariously through you. Wow.

ANNA: Magi is also the only thing I’m enthusiastic about this week. I’ve even started reading through some of my stockpiled volumes, although I have a long way to go before I get to the 16th volume.

SEAN: What’s your manga valentine?

School Judgement, Vol. 1

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School Judgement Volume 1 by by Nobuaki Enoki and Takeshi Obata

This was a series that I expected to be wildly enthusiastic about, just for the Takeshi Obata art factor alone, so I was surprised to have a more measured reaction once I read the first volume. There were aspects of the setting and execution that didn’t sit well with me, but as always Obata’s art is beyond excellent.

School Judgement is set in an elementary school where conflicts are resolved by formal classroom arbitration, along with child prosecutors and defense attorneys. Two transfer students are introduced at the start of the volume. Abaku Inugami is a defense specialist whose hobby is arguing. He establishes his skills in an epic cross examination of his new teacher that results in her lifting the ban on video games at school. Pine Hanzuki is a prosecuting attorney who enjoys dressing up in magical girl outfits and is accompanied everywhere she goes by a rotund sidekick.

The new students are put to work promptly in “The Suzuki Dismemberment and Murder Case” where the Suzuki in question is a classroom fish. Tento Nanahoshi is the hapless student accused of fish murder, and when he is acquitted, he sticks around to provide a normal sidekick counterpoint to Inugami’s intensity. School Judgement is very entertaining when it sticks to power courtroom poses and mystery unraveling. I thought it was hilarious that the judges of the cases are babies who have prematurely aged due to their judicial duties, looking like wizened old men. Obata made Go dynamic and filled with suspense, so I was fully expecting dynamic courtroom scenes. There were some unexpected artistic choices too – when an adult is unmasked as evil, she’s suddenly rendered with a greater level of detail and rictus-like facial expressions that wouldn’t be out of place in a horror manga.

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It could be that I didn’t like many of the characters due to their single-minded obsession with arguing, but both Inugami and Hanzuki aren’t particularly sympathetic. Hanzuki’s a spoiled rich girl, and while it seems that Inugami’s obsession with the law is due to a tragic event in his past, he’s too abrasive to root for. Nanahoshi is around to be a counterpoint to all the lawyering, but for the most part he’s also bland and forgettable.

The aspects of School Judgment that I didn’t care for were the contrast of the lower school setting and the art, which looked more like Hikaru no Go Obata in style with some of the darker or more mature themes. In a shonen manga set in a high school, I’d not really care about random bath scenes for example, but in School Judgement when the character is 12, that creeps me out a bit. Also, another story line is an extended drug metaphor, which also seems to be a bit much with the current setting. I think I would have enjoyed this manga much more if it had either aged down and just been an all ages title with cases to solve that invoked lighter themes, or if was aged up and set in a high school with the same type of stories. As it was, I found the manga entertaining in spots, a bit unsettling here or there, and I didn’t really care about what happens to the characters at all. My quibbles are mostly with the writing, because I think any manga by Obata ends up being a master class in illustration. So I’d recommend this for the art alone, even though I didn’t enjoy the story.

Pick of the Week: Selling the Drama

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behind1SEAN: As always with Viz weeks, there’s a terrifying amount of stuff coming out I’m interested in. But as a drama major, I’d be remiss if I did not pick Behind the Scenes!!, Bisco Hatori’s new shoujo series about a college drama club. I’m a sucker for Hatori anyway, so the drama club is just the icing on the cake.

MJ: Considering the fact that I train young people in the performing arts for a living, I feel like my pick this week is a bit of a betrayal. But though I’m definitely interested Behind the Scenes, I find that I can’t resist the draw (drawings?) of one of my favorite artists, Takeshi Obata. Though I’ve had issues with his collaborations of late, I admit to having high hopes with Tsugumi Ohba out of the picture this time. I guess we’ll see! Meanwhile, count me in for School Judgment. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

MICHELLE: Both of the above are my most intense desires this week, but I am going to give the edge to the shoujo goodness of Behind the Scenes!!. I also harbor a secret desire that Tamaki turns up in some capacity.

ANNA: Shoujo for the win! Behind the Scenes!! is also my pick of the week. Drama club hijinks from Bisco Hatori sounds like just the thing to beat the wintertime blues.

ASH: While Behind the Scenes!! is definitely of great interest to me, I’ll have to admit that I’m actually more in the mood for some epic over-the-top face-punching ridiculousness this week (January was rough), so bring on the next volume of Battle Tendency for me!

Manga the Week of 2/3

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SEAN: It’s a busy February, so let’s jump right into next week’s releases.

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Dark Horse has a 4th volume of Oreimo spinoff Kuroneko.

Kodansha has a 3rd volume of the reluctant reverse harem manga Kiss Him, Not Me!.

ASH: I largely enjoyed the first volume of Kiss Him, Not Me!, but I’ve somehow already managed to fall behind in the series!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a couple of releases. Magika Swordsman and Summoner has reached Vol. 3, which means, given I think the hero is supposed to get a harem of 72 women, it has a ways to go.

And Monster Musume has reached Volume 8, but has not even begun to run out of Monster Girls.

I apologize for leaving out a book last week. Vertical has the first novel of Seraph of the End, whose manga has been coming out via Viz. I think Anna will be interested in this title.

ANNA: I think you are right! Thanks for the heads-up! I am interested in this light novel series, because it features Guren Ichinose, who people have seen in the manga as a more established authority figure. I think the light novel series focuses more on a prequel to the story that’s established in the manga, so it should be really interesting to existing fans of this franchise.

MJ: I’m definitely more interested in this than the manga, so count me in for that, too.

SEAN: There’s also a 3rd omnibus of Tokyo ESP.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: And this!

SEAN: And Viz has its traditional giant pile. There’s an 8th Assassination Classroom, with more wacky death shenanigans. Not that the teacher has ever been killed.

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Behind the Scenes!! is the new manga by the creator of Ouran High School Host Club, and it also runs in LaLa. It’s about a shy guy who ends up pulled into a wacky drama club.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one! Or perhaps I should use two!!

ANNA: Me too!!!!!!

MJ: This is *so* on my list!

SEAN: Bleach has a 14th 3-in-1, which if I recall correctly has some of the best scenes in the entire series for IchiHime shippers like me.

Food Wars! has hit double digits, but the food battle carries on regardless.

MICHELLE: I will always rejoice over more Food Wars.

ASH: I enjoy it as well.

SEAN: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure has a 2nd volume of its 2nd arc, Battle Tendency. Expect great faces.

ANNA: I really have not much to say about this other than JOJO!!!!

ASH: JooooooJoooooo!!!

SEAN: And Kamisama Kiss is at Volume 20! I really hadn’t expected it to last this long. It’s still great, though.

ANNA: It is a rare series that manages to be so consistently great for so long.

SEAN: Maid-sama! has a 3rd omnibus, and is as problematic yet readable as ever. Hope you like lots of words.

MICHELLE: And yet I like it enough to keep reading.

ANNA: It has moments of charm despite being problematic.

SEAN: And superhero school manga My Hero Academia has a 3rd volume.

Naruto has another of those epilogue light novels, this one called Shikamaru’s Story. My guess is it stars Shikamaru.

One Piece is up to Volume 77, and yes, it’s still in Dressrosa. But who cares, it’s One Piece, it will be awesome.

MICHELLE: I actually never read 76. Must rectify.

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SEAN: QQ Sweeper finally gets a 2nd volume. I had wondered where it was.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more of this!

ANNA: Super excited for this!

ASH: Same!

MJ: Yes, yes!! So much yes!

SEAN: School Judgement is a new Weekly Shonen Jump series by the artist who did Bakuman and Death Note, this time paired with a new writer. It’s Ace Attorney meets Jump, I hear?

MICHELLE: And to this!

ANNA: I’m going to check this out for sure.

ASH: I somehow completely missed hearing about this until now.

MJ: I was so surprised to see this, considering the intensity of my Takeshi Obata fandom. I’m so on this.

SEAN: So Cute It Hurts!!!!! now gets 5 punctuation marks for its 5th volume.

MICHELLE: But not so much this.

ANNA: I like it, but it is a middle of the road title. Fun disposable reading though.

SEAN: Toriko has no punctuation parks after its title, and thank God, as it’s Vol. 32.

Lastly, the original Yu-Gi-Oh has a 5th 3-in-1.

What are you going to get from this list?

Pick of the Week: Orange Crush

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orangeMICHELLE: Decisions, decisions! I love My Little Monster and it’s almost over. Orange has definitely got me intrigued. But, if I’m honest, what I’m most eager to experience is the second volume of surprise delight Horimiya. Go buy eet!

SEAN: My pick this week is definitely Orange, and I really enjoy it when Seven Seas picks up a series like this that’s out of their usual wheelhouse. A touching, sweet, somewhat tragic teen romance with time travel overtones. What’s not to love?

ASH: Orange is my pick, too! Although I plan on reading reading several of this week’s releases, the debut of Orange is the one I’m most interested in. I’ve heard good things about the series, so I’ve been looking forward to it.

MJ: I’m interested in Orange for sure, but this week I’ll hop on board with Michelle and the second volume of Horimiya! So, so charming, I honestly can’t wait.

ANNA: Out of everything coming out this week, I’m most interested in Orange, so that is my pick!

Manga the Week of 1/27

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SEAN: It’s time to bury you in manga releases once more, folks. What do the companies have up their sleeves?

ASH: All right, let’s do this!

Kodansha has the 12th and penultimate volume of My Little Monster. I can’t believe it’s ending so soon.

MICHELLE: I know! Thankfully, Say I Love You. is still ongoing.

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SEAN: Noragami has hit double digits, likely to the delight of Kodansha.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but I have been enjoying Noragami.

SEAN: And there’s a 12th volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

Seven Seas has a bunch of stuff for us. Akuma no Riddle intrigued me more than I was expecting, so I look forward to the second volume.

MICHELLE: I need to investigate this one.

SEAN: Magical Girl Apocalypse does not intrigue me at all, but it has its fans who will enjoy this 6th volume.

And possibly the polar opposite of that title, Non Non Biyori has a 3rd volume.

Lastly, there’s an omnibus Vol. 1 release of the manga Orange, which has been up digitally on Crunchyroll, but Seven Seas now gives us a print release. It originally ran in Betsuma, then moved to Manga Action, showing it can be both shoujo and seinen. I think this is the first half.

ASH: I’ve heard good things and am looking forward to this one!

ANNA: Huh, I think I’m now officially intrigued.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

MJ: I’m always surprised when I’m interested in a Seven Seas release, but here we are!

SEAN: Vertical gives us another omnibus of Chi’s Sweet Home, with Vol. 4-6. Adorable kitties!

MICHELLE: Yay, kitties!

MJ: Chiiiiiii!

SEAN: And now it’s time for the Yen deluge. First up is Yen On. The Isolator was a new series by the author of Sword Art Online and Accel World, new enough so that it’s been a year since the first volume. Vol. 2 should be interesting.

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And there’s a third volume of somewhat surreal teenage superpowers novel Kagerou Daze.

Yen Digital has a bunch of new titles coming out, and I’ll just note the complete volumes. Aphorism 2, Crimson Prince 2, Renaissance Eve 2, Scarlet Empire 3, and Sekirei 2. For those who enjoy tablet reading, try one of these series out.

On to actual print manga titles from Yen Press. There’s a 6th Accel World manga, which should be in the middle of one of the angstiest arcs.

Akame Ga KILL! reaches Vol. 5, continuing to try to excite us with capital letters and exclamation points.

Alice in Murderland 3 doesn’t have capital letters or exclamation points, but it has murder. Isn’t that enough?

A Certain Magical Index 4 decides it’s best to skip the boring vampire girl and move right to what readers really want, the sister clones.

The Devil Is A Part-Timer! 4 also adapts the novels for those who prefer exciting artwork with your plotting.

Final Fantasy Type-0 Side Story Volume 3 still remains very difficult to say.

First Love Monster’s 3rd volume will remind its readers of the discomfort they felt while reading Bunny Drop, I suspect.

Horimiya’s first volume was absolutely terrific, and I am delighted to see the 2nd one out next week.

MICHELLE: Me, too! The first volume was a lovely surprise!

ANNA: I’m intrigued again!

MJ: This is the volume I’m looking forward to most this week, I think!

SEAN: How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend (aka Saekano) is based on a light novel Yen doesn’t have the license for. It seems to feature an otaku hero and his collection of eccentric female acquaintances, just like every single other light novel ever.

Kagerou Daze also has a 4th manga volume out.

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Log Horizon has a manga spinoff coming out, The West Wind Brigade, focusing on bishonen guild leader Sojirou.

Puella Magi Madoka Magica has a 2nd volume of its manga adaptation of the Rebellion movie.

So I Can’t Play H! has a 4th volume.

Sword Art Online has a 2nd volume of its side story Girls’ Ops, focusing on the female characters who get progressively ignored by the novels.

And it also starts to adapt a new arc, with the first Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet volume.

MJ: I wish I was more interested in the manga adaptations of SAO, but they haven’t thrilled me.

SEAN: Taboo Tattoo is the other new title from Yen this month, running in my old nemesis, Media Factory’s Comic Alive. I have low expectations, but we shall see.

Triage X has reached Volume 11, despite all the prayers to the gods and curses I’ve attempted to put on it.

There’s a 5th Ubel Blatt omnibus, helpfully called Ubel Blatt 4. You know, if it had a light novel series, which Yen licensed with the same numbering, Amazon might literally explode into shards trying to keep track.

ASH: Ha! (It probably would.)

SEAN: Umineko When They Cry finishes up another arc, and if it helps this is definitely the low ebb of the series. From here out, things can only get better. Well, mostly better. Somewhat better?

And lastly, there’s an 11th omnibus of Until Death Do Us Part. Or its British version, Until Death Us Do Part.

MICHELLE: Aaaand now I have The Kinks in my head!

SEAN: Aside from staring at me blankly for that last obscure joke, what’s everyone doing next week?

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol 3

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Requiem of the Rose King Volume 3 by Aya Kanno

This manga just keeps getting better and better as Kanno adds even more royal intrigue to her unique story of Richard III and the Wars of the Roses.

The second volume closed with Richard embodying a demonic spirit of vengeance when he discovered that his father was killed. The third volume opens with Richard’s older brother Edward, the new king, making questionable decisions about women. Edward is utterly captivated by the widow Elizabeth Woodville, who secretly detests the House of York. She maintains Edward’s interest by continually refusing him until he is desperate enough to make her his queen, going against the other alliances his court is arranging for him. Richard proves to be an unenthusiastic ally in Edward’s courtship, going along with his brother on hunting trips to provide cover for Edward’s visits to Elizabeth. When Edward is staying in a hunting cabin, he again meets the wayward Lancaster King Henry. Richard and Henry are drawn to each other, without fully knowing who each other are.

Henry’s dreamy outlook on life has made him one of the few people who relates to Richard as just Richard, without the “demon child” legend that has poisoned everyone against him. But Henry’s distance from his own family ensures that when his son Edward discovers the men together, his jealousy over his father’s relationship with Richard looks like it is going to have horrible consequences.

Kanno’s art continues to be both dark and lavish, fitting the settings and themes of this tragic story excellently. I’m always in awe of her facility with facial expressions and how it contributes so well to character development. Just a couple panels of Elizabeth Woodville’s gleefully staring eyes as she contemplates her plans for Edward establish that she’s up to no good. Henry’s abstracted expression show him to not fully live in the world, while Richard’s sensitivity and hesitancy in trusting Henry is clearly portrayed. This continues to be such a standout title in Viz’s current publishing lineup.

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Pick of the Week: Teenage Kicks

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shoreSEAN: Intellectually, I know that A Girl On The Shore is the obvious choice here, but I know I’m going to wince and cringe all through its highly realistic and painful depictions of teenage life. So instead I will pick the 5th volume of A Silent Voice, which… will do the same thing, to be fair.

ASH: Well, since I’ll still have a couple of opportunities left to pick A Silent Voice and since Sean has already picked it himself, I’ll choose A Girl on the Shore this week. Inio Asano’s work can be difficult and certainly isn’t always the most comfortable to read, but it does tend to be compelling.

MJ: I’ll also go with A Girl on the Shore. I expect this will, indeed, be painful, but I kinda like that quality in a manga. My own teen years are still pretty vivid for me, which I think tends to draw me to this kind of work, so my expectations are high.

ANNA: I feel like any new Inio Asano work should be an automatic Pick. A Girl on the Shore is my choice as well.