Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews
MICHELLE: 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!
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.
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 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.
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.
SEAN: 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!
SEAN: It’s a busy February, so let’s jump right into next week’s releases.
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.
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.
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?
MICHELLE: 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!
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.
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.
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.
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 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.
SEAN: 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.
MICHELLE: Well, Sean predicted it. My pick of the week is Requiem of the Rose King. While I’m linking to what my compatriots have said, go see why MJnamed this series her Pick of 2015.
SEAN: Unlike the rest of the team, I’m reading several things this week. But yeah, the one that’s clearly head and shoulders above the rest is Requiem of the Rose King. It’s an obvious Pick.
ANNA: I agree, Requiem of the Rose King is such a standout series it is my Pick as well!
ASH: Like Sean, there are actually several releases that I’m looking forward to this week, including Lone Wolf & Cub and His Favorite, but by and far the one that I’m most excited about is the third volume of Requiem of the Rose King. I’m adoring the series.
MJ: Since Requiem of the Rose King was my Pick of the Year, it can’t be a huge surprise that I’m in agreement with everyone else. That’s the Pick for me!
SEAN: Traditionally, the first and fourth weeks of the month are the largest, as Week 1 is where Viz releases it’s Jump and Beat titles, and Week 4 is usually Yen Press. Weeks 2 and 3 therefore vie for the remaining attention, containing less spectacular stuff – Viz puts out Sunday imprints in Week 2, but otherwise it can be a hodgepodge. (Week 3, to complete the analysis, is Viz’s Signature stuff.) Is there anything vying for attention in next week’s small batch?
Dark Horse gives us an 11th volume of its Lone Wolf and Cub omnibus.
ASH: I’m finally making a point to get caught up with Lone Wolf and Cub; it’s a really great series.
SEAN: Seven Seas has a trio of releases. Arpeggio of Blue Steel is a cut above the usual ‘girls are ships/planes/whatever’ genre, and I look forward to Vol. 6 next week.
The words “monster girls” may cause the entire Manga Bookshelf team to groan, but the debut of My Monster Secret from Seven Seas is intriguing – people I trust have told me it’s very funny and well-written. It’s from Weekly Shonen Champion, also home to Yowamushi Pedal, which it resembles not at all.
And we have a third Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, which… yeah, I can’t, really. I do hear it has an anime soon.
SubLime has an 8th volume of His Favorite, whose covers always look great, and has some fans here, I think.
ASH: That it does!
SEAN: Viz gives us 57 varieties of Case Closed, one for each volume it has out to date.
There’s a lot of fun stuff in the first half of the 12th Ranma 1/2 omnibus – including the famous “fishing rod of love” story – but let’s be honest, old-school fans will mostly want to read this for Herb. He shows up in the 2nd half.
Lastly, and thankfully for Manga Bookshelf writers desperate for a Pick of the Week, there’s a 3rd volume of Requiem of the Rose King, which is still in the Henry VI plays but possibly not for much longer.
ASH: Definitely the one volume that I’m most looking forward to this week!
ANNA: This is the ONLY volume I’m looking forward to this week!
MICHELLE: Yup. Same here.
MJ: Okay, this is probably predictable since I actually chose this series as my Pick of the Year, but: ME, me, me me me. Me. Yes, me. Me, too.
SEAN: What whets your appetite for next week?
Happy new briefs!
D-Frag!, Vol. 7 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – The setting may have changed to an island beach, but that doesn’t mean that the cast are taking it easy in this new D-Frag! And no, I don’t mean they’re amping up their harem qualities or having thrilling adventures. I mean they’re all being the best bokes ever, to the point where Kenji and his sister spend half the volume collapsed in exhaustion from the constant tsukkomis that are needed. Plot and characterization are mostly irrelevant here. We do get another girl added to the pile, this one from a different school. She seems to be able to eat people’s unhappiness. If you can put up with near-constant gags and comebacks, D-Frag! remains terrific. It can be a bit exhausting, though, and I recommend taking a break after each chapter. – Sean Gaffney
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, Vol. 10 | By Puyo and Nagaru Tanigawa | Yen Press – This gag manga has always tried to handle the actual canon with care, particularly when it comes to the later books. As an example, we have Yasumi present and correct in the club, as in books 9-11, but she doesn’t speak or do much of anything that might reveal what she really is. Mostly as that would detract from what this series is, a bunch of comedic riffs using the Haruhi cast and its own built-up silliness as a springboard for anything. In fact, its world is getting increasingly flexible—Asakura is big-size again for the sake of one storyline, because Kuyou is playing the ‘SD mode’ foil. Anything goes when it comes to this series, and if you enjoy Haruhi and don’t care much about canon, it’s still great fun. – Sean Gaffney
My Love Story!! Vol 7 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – I was looking forward to a Sunakawa-focused volume, and this fulfilled my expectations, with a bit of a plot twist. Takeo discovers that a girl named Yukika Amani has been in love with Sunakawa for years, sending him chocolate every year for Valentine’s day and observing him from afar. Determined to help the course of true love, Takeo and Yamato join forces to help Amani. While things don’t turn out in a typical shoujo manga fashion, Sunakawa’s quiet kindness is highlighted throughout this volume. My Love Story!! continues to be one of the best currently running shoujo series. – Anna N
Pandora Hearts, Vol. 23 | By Jun Mochizuki | Yen Press – It had been a while since I’d read a volume of Pandora Hearts, and after enjoying a small binge to get caught up, I can say that the series certainly reads better in chunks. Unfortunately, after the significant losses sustained at the end of recent volumes, I just can’t feel as deeply about the character who breathes their last in this volume, no matter how much it affects Oz. Otherwise, most of this volume seems to be devoted to convincing Vincent to stick around while neither Glen nor Oz makes much progress. At least we have a few scenes of Reim being great, though. I’m pleasantly surprised by the important role he’s playing here at the end. In any case, given how not devastating this particular volume was, I have a feeling I should keep tissues handy for the big finale. Gilbert had better make it out alive! – Michelle Smith
The Secret Sakura Shares | By Akira Hagio | Yen Press – I will say one thing about this one-and-done omnibus shoujo series—for once we have a ‘you will become my pet’ relationship that doesn’t end up being physically abusive, as Kei really does spoil Aoi as you would a pet. That said, I’d still call it abusive, as it causes her a lot of emotional turmoil due to feeling ‘useless’ and unable to do anything productive. Rich-kids-school shoujo generally features either an imported poor heroine or a former rich girl down on her luck, and this is the latter. Sadly, there simply isn’t all that much to say about it—I normally like short LaLa DX series, but I was ready for this to end before it was even halfway done. There’s better manga about imbalanced power relationships out there. – Sean Gaffney
Saki, Vol. 1 | By Ritz Kobayashi | Yen Press (digital only) – Bookworm Saki Miyanaga has perfected the art of neither winning nor losing mahjong with no idea of how difficult that is. Once she gets dragged to a club meeting and encouraged to win, she becomes eager to improve and progress to nationals, where she might be able to (I am not making this up) get her feelings across to her estranged sister (also a talented player) through mahjong. The volume starts a bit slow, but eventually terms like “prefectural qualifier” and “training camp” ignited my sports manga squee and I was eager for more. Unfortunately, Yen doesn’t have release dates for any more volumes listed yet! Also, I was a bit worried about fanservice in this title, but there’s hardly any. There’s a keen attention to boob size, which is a bit creepy, but I’ve seen much worse. Heartily recommended! – Michelle Smith
Say I Love You., Vol. 11 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – Hazuki-sensei has a special knack for taking shoujo scenarios we’ve all seen before and turning them into something that feels fresh. Heck, she even repeats the “use new school year to introduce romantic rival” trick she employed to introduce Kai to bring in siblings Len and Rin Aoi. And with Mei and friends starting their third year of high school, they’re soon absorbed in career decision angst. It’s certainly very far from a bad volume, but it is mainly occupied with introducing new characters and worries, so doesn’t delve very much into Mei and Yamato’s relationship. I do love that Hazuki resisted ending the series right after her leads had sex for the first time, as if that were the culmination of Mei’s growth and development, and also appreciate that she seems to be drawing Mei’s kitty more often. I always look forward to new volumes most eagerly. – Michelle Smith
SEAN: There’s a bevy of choices, including some of my favorite shoujo series. From those favorites, I will cast my vote to Natsume’s Book of Friends, which has been gradually working an ongoing plot into its yokai-oriented story. You never know if you’ll get dangerous adventure or melancholy memories with this one. It’s fantastic.
MICHELLE: I agree with Sean 100%. Natsume is my official pick, too, but I really am excited about Honey So Sweet, too. Not to mention more of My Love Story!! and Kimi ni Todoke. If only there were some Skip Beat! coming out this week, I’d be in shoujo heaven!
ANNA: I can’t think of a better way to kick off the new year than with a new shoujo series! So Honey So Sweet is my pick of the week. This story about a slightly traumatized girl who finds herself dating a juvenile delinquent who is secretly sweet has a lo-fi charm that reminds me of some of the late, lamented manga series published by CMX. I was also reminded of Banri Hidaka while reading this, and that’s a very good thing.
ASH: Looks like it really is a shoujo sort of week! I’ve been meaning to catch up on Natsume’s Book of Friends, and I’m glad to see some new series debut, too, but I’m most looking forward to reading the seventh volume of My Love Story!!. I was afraid that the premise of the manga would grow old, but the series continues to make me incredibly happy every time I read it.
Honey So Sweet Volume 1 by Amu Meguro
I always look forward to checking out new Shojo Beat series, but I was wondering before I picked up this title if it would be a bit TOO sweet. Once the characters and backstory got set up, I enjoyed this volume.
The volume opens up with a flashback scene of Nao Kogure walking away from a boy recovering from a beating in the rain, saying that people might consider her helpless, but she doesn’t want to get involved with delinquents. The delinquent in question is Taiga Onise, nicknamed Oni at his school. He promptly announces to Nao that they need to talk, and when she follows him he presents her with a bouquet of roses and asks her if she’ll “date him with marriage in mind.” Nao is so intimidated by her suitor that she accepts immediately because she’s afraid of retaliation.
Nao discusses the situation at home with her guardian, her Uncle Sou. He points out that judging Onise by his outward appearance is unfair and she should get to know him first. The next day at school she sees Onise doing chores, helping teachers, and he makes an incredibly cute bento for them to share at lunch. One of the most annoying thing about this manga in the early chapters was Nao’s fear of Onise, long after the point where it should be clear to everybody that dyed hair and random piercings aside, he’s an absolute sweetheart. The other thing that has Nao hesitating about getting involved with her first boyfriend is that she’s decided she’s in love with her Uncle.
Nao and Onise continue their friendship, and one of the things I enjoyed very much about this series were cute details that showcase their personalities, like Onise’s tendency to write elaborately formal text messages when he’s nervous. Nao has her own trauma to deal with due to being an orphan, and she finds it difficult to get close to people. Much of the plot centers around some typical shoujo set pieces like a class trip, but Nao and Onise gradually start collecting a small group of misfit friends, and the series is so genuinely warm-hearted, it is hard to resist.
I found myself enjoying Meguro’s art style very much. So much shoujo manga art tends to be overly polished, but Meguro uses thin whispy lines that make the illustrations in Honey So Sweet seem delicate and not overworked. The storylines centered on friendship, combined with Nao’s psychological issues reminded me a bit of some of the old Banri Hidaka series published by CMX. This first volume was mostly set-up, so I’m curious to find out what happens next in this series.
SEAN: For a first week of the month, this is pretty mild. And by mild I mean there’s still 17 titles due out. But mild by comparison.
Seven Seas gives us a 2nd volume of A Certain Scientific Accelerator, as he deals with a Certain Magical Girl who is messing up his plans to not get involved.
And a 2nd Merman in My Tub, with more wacky anthropomorphism (which would make a great band name).
ASH: That it would!
SEAN: There’s also a 3rd volume of Senran Kagura: Skirting Shadows, which I had forgotten existed, likely as it’s already hit ‘caught up with Japan’. Judging by the cover, breasts are somehow involved. I wonder if someone will trip and fall into them.
The rest is all Viz. There’s a 14th Blue Exorcist, which I admit I always forget about between volumes, but it all comes back to me when I read a new one.
Aya Shouoto continues to be the new Arina Tanemura, as we can’t get enough of her work. This week we have a 3rd Demon Prince of Momochi House, and also an 8th Kiss of the Rose Princess.
ANNA: Not surprisingly, I enjoy these series. These manga are solid shoujo series, even if they aren’t standouts.
MJ: I’ve begun to enjoy them as well!
SEAN: If you like shoujo that’s so sweet as to give you cavities, the first volume of Honey So Sweet may be for you.
MICHELLE: Sometimes I do like that very thing, so I am looking forward to this one.
ANNA: Also not surprisingly this is on my reading list!
MJ: And mine!
SEAN: Kimi ni Todoke is also good at sweet, but has also been putting on the drama a bit lately as we hit Vol. 23.
ANNA: I’ve been avoiding this just because I’m not sure I can deal with all the feels.
SEAN: And it will be hard to top the concentrated sweetness that is My Love Story!!, whose 7th volume is guaranteed to require major dentistry for all its readers.
MICHELLE: Heh. Also on my list.
ASH: Mine as well! Such a wonderfully charming series.
ANNA: Ditto. One of the series I most look forward to reading.
MJ: Wow, what a lovely, shoujo-ish week.
SEAN: Naruto has a one-volume sequel coming out next week, The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring. Be warned, it’s post-Epilogue.
And there’s a 13th Naruto 3-in-1.
Lastly, if you really want to catch up, Naruto 49-72 are in a giant box. Perfect for figuring out what the fuss was all about and why Sakura fans are so angry.
Natsume’s Book of Friends 19 is the one shoujo out this week that’s more bitter than sweet, but I still love it to bits.
MICHELLE: Me, too. Much as I look forward to the others, this is the one I’m really celebrating about.
SEAN: And a 13th Nisekoi, which will answer the question “will this still sell after the harem has now been sunk in the weekly chapters from Japan?”.
One-Punch Man just gets more and more popular by the week, so I expect big things from the 4th manga volume. And also big punches.
ASH: Still thrilled we’re finally getting this series in print.
ANNA: Why did it take so long? Hooray for punching!
SEAN: Twin Star Exorcists is getting an anime soon, so I think the 3rd volume should do pretty well.
And there’s an 8th volume of World Trigger, one of those Jump series I always despair about falling further behind on.
So what are you ringing in the New Year with?