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SEAN: There’s a lot of variety out next week. Something from almost every major publisher.

Kodansha gives us a fourth volume of L♥DK, everyone’s favorite “what is this thing you call consent?” shoujo romance.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: And Noragami’s monthly release schedule chugs along with lucky Vol. 13.

Also reaching Vol. 13 is Say “I Love You”, which was introduced at the same time as My Little Monster but has zoomed past it, moving on to new volumes and new complications.

MICHELLE: I’m glad that one of them at least is still going to be around a while!

ANNA: So far behind on this, I feel guilty.

SEAN: And there’s the penultimate 6th volume of A Silent Voice, which ended with a hell of a cliffhanger last time, so I’m expecting some very good resolution from it.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but this is such a great series.

SEAN: One Peace has the 2nd volume of the manga adaptation of Rise of the Shield Hero (they call it a “manga companion”, but I think it’s just a standard adaptation of the light novel).

ASH: I’m pretty sure you’re correct.

SEAN: Seven Seas has enjoyed giving us some bleak horror lately, and for those who love it, here’s a 7th Magical Girl Apocalypse.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first volume of My Monster Secret, and so look forward to the second.

Vertical debuts a one-shot called The Gods Lie, which they are touting as a sports manga license. I suspect their tongue is firmly in their cheek, but either way it will be worth your time.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to reading this one.

ASH: As am I! I loved Immortal Rain, so I’m glad to see more of Ozaki’s work being released in English.

MICHELLE: Oh, I hadn’t made that connection! Awesome!

ANNA: What!!!! I have the first two volumes of Immortal Rain and am sad I didn’t pick up the whole series when it was in print. This is now in my Amazon cart!

MJ: Oh, this is exciting!

SEAN: And there’s a 4th Ninja Slayer volume. Are there ninjas? Will they slay? Read on to find out!

Who’s the cool seinen manga that’s got all the indie comic artists raving? Dorohedoro? Damn right. Vol. 18 drops next week.

ASH: Yeah!

SEAN: There’s also an 8th volume of the Perfect Edition of Monster.

And a 6th Tokyo Ghoul, which everyone loves but which I am strangely indifferent to.

MJ: If it makes you feel better, I haven’t gotten into it, either.

SEAN: Yen, meanwhile, is releasing its light novels a week before its other stuff, which is nice of them. That means we get a 3rd volume of Black Bullet, with its loli killers.

There’s a 4th volume of “what if Satan worked at McDonald’s” favorite The Devil Is A Part-Timer!. And if you like digital titles (as I do), Vols. 1-4 will be available digitally next week as well.

The Irregular at Magic High School finally debuts, and it’s apparently one of the most polarizing titles in Western anime fandom. I’ve heard it called “Batman at Hogwarts”, myself. Also, is the term Mary Sue – or in this case Gary Stu – even relevant anymore?

And there’s a 5th volume of Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?, and its title continues to be the worst thing about it – I am eager for more.

Spice & Wolf comes to an end with its 17th novel, proving that you can combine cute wolf girls and economic theory if you try.

ASH: I stopped reading about half-way through, but I am glad to see that Yen was able to publish the entire series.

SEAN: Lastly, the 7th Sword Art Online novel, Mother’s Rosary, is widely considered one of its best, possibly as Kirito plays only a minor role. Asuna fans should be very happy.

MJ: I’m down for this.

SEAN: Which titles make your pure maiden’s heart tremble?

SEAN: Technically, this is the smallest week of the month. That does not mean there aren’t a lot of titles, just slightly less than the deluge of the other weeks.

I Am A Hero has been a long-awaited title here, and Dark Horse has it. It’s not just a zombie apocalypse manga, it’s a multiple award-winning zombie apocalypse manga, which runs in Big Comic Spirits (yes, that means it’s another seeming Viz title that went to Dark Horse – possibly for aesthetic reasons, like Gantz). This is an omnibus of the first two volumes.

MICHELLE: I’m eager to see reviews of this, as I can’t tell yet whether it’s something I’d like.

ANNA: I’m also intrigued by this series.

ASH: I’m very excited for this one, even considering that I’m a bit burned out on zombies.

SEAN: And while one popular title begins, another ends, as we see the last Lone Wolf and Cub omnibus, Vol. 12. But fear not, New Lone Wolf and Cub is still around.

ASH: I’m so glad that Lone Wolf and Cub is back in print in its entirety in an edition that doesn’t cause as much eyestrain.

SEAN: And we have a giant omnibus of the Evangelion spinoff Campus Apocalypse, which is a sort of shoujo-ish BL-ish mystery-ish take on the series. Ish.

ASH: Ish, eh?

SEAN: Kodansha theoretically gives us a 34th volume of Air Gear. I say theoretically as of all the titles that have sliding release dates, Air Gear’s has been the most egregious – don’t blame me if it’s delayed till August by next week.

Attack on Titan: Before the Fall turns out to be a much longer spinoff than I expected, as we’re at 7 volumes and still running.

Fairy Tail 53 continues… some plot, I guess, I’m about 20 volumes behind by now, alas. There will be fights and nudity, no doubt. The staple of all Shonen Magazine series.

And Tsubasa World Chronicle 2… I got nothin’, sorry. MJ?

MJ: I… don’t either. I admit I haven’t been reading this, and suddenly I’m feeling kinda guilty.

MICHELLE: I can’t remember whether I didn’t know this existed or whether I did and promptly forgot. Which is worse? I dunno; I guess I’ve still got CLAMP fatigue.

SEAN: Seven Seas has the 4th volume of dark romantic fantasy The Ancient Magus’ Bride, which I quite like.

ASH: As do I!

SEAN: And there’s a 3rd volume of awkward college romance Golden Time.

And also a 3rd of Monster Guy gag manga Merman In My Tub.

SubLime has a new debut, the first volume of Midnight Stranger, which apparently involves goat demons? I assume they’re sexy goat demons.

MJ: Goat demons do not sound promising.

ASH: Of course they’re sexy goat demons, Sean.

SEAN: Udon has the 3rd volume of Steins;Gate and its damned semicolon of awful.

Viz gives us a 58th volume of Case Closed, which is a lot.

And a 17th Itsuwaribito, which is another series that turns out to be much longer than I had originally expected.

There’s also a 17th Magi, but I’m absolutely delighted that it’s running this long. I still boggle this is written by the same person who gave us Sumomomo Momomo.

MICHELLE: It is?! I never noticed.

SEAN: Lastly, there’s a new manga debut with Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter, which I think is primarily for the PokeMarket, though I could be wrong.

As with many 2nd weeks of the month, it’s very much a hodgepodge of stuff. What catches your eye?

SEAN: This is it, folks. We’ve hit peak manga boom. Every week of next month has at least 15 titles out. All you can do is whimper, really. What’s out next week? Well…

Kodansha gives us an 18th volume of Attack on Titan, which is such an obscure title with very few readers. To try to pump up that readership, there’s also a limited edition with a DVD!

And there’s a 4th volume of oddball shoujo romance Kiss Him, Not Me!.

ASH: I’ve already fallen behind, but I do enjoy oddball shoujo!

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us a third volume of Ten Little Lesbians sitting down to dine, aka Akuma No Riddle.

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends has an unlucky 13th volume. We left off with Kadota and Sena engaged. I suspect that won’t last.

Seven Seas is debuting a zombie title, Hour of the Zombie. This runs in Comic Ryu, and is apparently a pure horror series.

Udon has a 2nd volume of clothes and fanservice battle manga Kill La Kill.

And Vertical gives us a 4th omnibus of Tokyo ESP.

MICHELLE: Yay! I enjoyed part one of the series quite a lot and am looking forward to more of the story.

SEAN: Viz, believe it or not, has no debut titles this month. But that doesn’t stop them from giving us many, many volumes of its ongoing series, like the 9th Assassination Classroom.

The Demon Prince of Momochi House gives you more Aya Shouoto with a 4th volume.

ANNA: I enjoy this series, as you might expect.

SEAN: And Food Wars! is still having intense food competitions in Vol. 11.

MICHELLE: I delayed on reading volume 10 just so I could enjoy a two-volume binge. Looking forward to it!

SEAN: Honey So Sweet has a 2nd volume. How sweet is it? You’ll just have to read.

ANNA: Pretty darn sweet!

SEAN: The 15th volume of Library Wars: Love & War wraps up the story, despite hints of some side-story volumes that don’t appear to have materialized. Luckily, the final volume is immensely satisfying, and will make fans very happy.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this, too!

ASH: As am I!

ANNA: Me too, although I have an odd habit of postponing reading the final volumes of series I really like, so I can lie to myself that the series hasn’t actually ended.

SEAN: Speaking of immensely satisfying, that’s how you can describe every volume of My Love Story!! really, and I suspect the 8th is no different.

ANNA: Yes! I always read this right away when a new volume shows up at my house.

ASH: My Love Story!! is the best.

MJ: Yes!!

SEAN: Naruto has a 14th 3-in-1, meaning it’s still nowhere near done.

Nisekoi Vol. 14 does what ever fan of harem manga hates – introduces a new main candidate late in the series.

School Judgment has a 2nd volume of chibi-Ace Attorney antics, and hopefully will continue to be slightly ridiculous.

And I have no doubts as to the ridiculousness of So Cute It Hurts!! 6, though I fear I must give up my vow of adding exclamation points with each book.

Toriko is up to Vol. 33, and I am starting to hear mutterings of people who wish it would be more about food and less about battles, to which I remind them this runs in Shonen Jump, concurrently with Food Wars!, which IS more about food than battles.

Twin Star Exorcists is getting an anime very soon, so it’s a perfect time for its 4th volume.

Lastly, Yu-Gi-Oh 5D’s 9 continues to look like some sort of World War II secret code.

Are you prepared for SO MUCH MANGA? No? Well, tough.

MICHELLE: No. However, I must say it’s lovely to see all of this activity in a once-troubled publishing sector.

ASH: True that!

SEAN: It is somewhat sad that with the huge number of manga out towards the end of every month, I can be relieved that there are “only” 33 titles out next week. Let’s plow through them.

Dark Horse has a 3rd Astro Boy omnibus.

Kodansha has an awful lot of stuff. There’s a 4th volume of that pesky Devil Survivor.

And Noragami is still sped up with its 12th release.

If you prefer 4 to 3, then the debut of Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth Side P4 will delight you. I’ll be in the corner looking baffled.

At long last, North America sees the debut of possibly the most anticipated josei title ever: Princess Jellyfish, which runs in Kiss magazine, gets an omnibus release, and it is fantastic. The Manga Bookshelf team would normally all pick it as Pick of the Week automatically, but see below. (FYI: PJ’s creator, Akiko Higashimura, has a younger brother, who happens to draw My Neighbor Seki.)

MICHELLE: I feel like I have been waiting for this for ages and ages. So excited!

ASH: Same here! (Also, I had no idea Akiko Higashimura and Takuma Morishige were related!)

MJ: So ready for this!

ANNA: I feel like I’ve been waiting for this FOREVER! Very much looking forward to reading this.

SEAN: Also debuting is Real Account, which is a survival game manga, and zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzsnooooore – sorry, fell asleep there. Moving on.

MICHELLE: It can’t be worse than BTOOOM!, can it?

MJ: We shouldn’t underestimate it, Michelle. We should give it a chance to prove that it’s worse. It’s only fair.

SEAN: And a 7th volume of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. One volume per witch!

Seven Seas gives us a 5th volume of Servamp, which I believe still has vampires.

And Vertical has a 7th volume of Ajin, a series I know many people are excited about.

ASH: Especially now that there’s an anime series.

SEAN: Viz finally debuts the new shoujo title from the Vampire Knight creator, who has switched from Vampires to Ninjas with Shuriken and Pleats.

MICHELLE: I didn’t love Vampire Knight, but I’m still looking forward to checking this out.

MJ: Same.

ANNA: I will read this!

SEAN: And now it’s Yen time, starting with the Yen On light novel imprint. Accel World gets a 6th volume, as we try to figure out if our hero is going to turn possessed and evil or not.

The third Durarara!!, meanwhile, focuses on Masaomi, the third member of our high school power trio.

Log Horizon has a 4th volume, resolving the cliffhanger from the third, and possibly featuring Shiroe pushing his glasses up his face a few more times.

And there’s a 4th No Game No Life, which I wasn’t as pleased with as usual. I reviewed it here.

Akame Ga KILL! ZERO is the new spinoff series of the week, a prequel taking place a few years before the main series and focusing, appropriately enough, on Akame.

There’s a third Black Bullet manga, with plenty of disturbing yet well choreographed loli assassin action for you.

Bloody Cross nears its end, but isn’t there yet, even as we hit double digits with Volume 10.

And we get the 2nd to last volume of Chaika the Coffin Princess as well, which is sadly far below the most important coffin carrying manga this week. More later.

Demon from Afar must have run out of cast members, as the 6th volume is its last.

So The Disappearance of Nagato Yuki-chan has resolved its main romance, and has finished promoting its anime. It has to wrap up soon. Right? Right?

He’s My Only Vampire is only half finished, but I’m enjoying it more than Shouoto’s other titles, and so I look forward to Vol. 6.

MICHELLE: Same here, though Demon Prince of Momochi House is pretty pleasant, too.

SEAN: The second The Honor Student at Magic High School continues to tell an alternate viewpoint of the novel we haven’t quite gotten to yet.

There’s also a 4th omnibus of Karneval’s circus mysteries.

And if you enjoy seeing a girl attempt to do life correctly and fail constantly, you no doubt are already aware that No Matter How You Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault That I’m Not Popular!! has an 8th volume next week.

And if you enjoy pretty supernatural people, have a 2nd Of The Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi.

MICHELLE: Yay! Volume one was a surprise delight!

ASH: I actually just finished reading the first volume; I’m intrigued and look forward to more.

MJ: Hm, I guess I should check out that first volume!

SEAN: Poor Princess Jellyfish! An obvious Pick of the Week… except oh look, here’s the final Pandora Hearts volume! Michelle, MJ, you aren’t allowed to pick both this time. (evil grin)

MICHELLE: Oh, man. Well, I’m pretty sure where MJ’s heart lies, but I am less committed.

MJ: Oh, the final one. Oh. Oh.

SEAN: And a third Prison School volume, which I think will give readers all the excess bodily fluids they could possibly want.

ASH: And then some, most likely.

SEAN: Rose Guns Days has a third volume of its Season 1 arc.

The only coffin manga that matters next week, we finally see a 5th volume of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro. Yay!

Spice & Wolf has a 12th manga volume, and for those who want to catch up with the series, 1-12 will also now be available digitally starting next week.

Sword Art Online begins the Mother’s Rosary arc, despite having just started the Phantom Bullet arc as well. The series ran at the same time in Japan, and will do so here as well.

Lastly, there’s a 4th volume of Sword Art Online Progressive’s manga, featuring Argo!, and also those other two I guess.

Even if you don’t get a lot of manga, there’s STILL a lot to get next week. Can you keep up?

MICHELLE: Not really, no!

SEAN: Third weeks are usually the most diverse manga weeks. And that’s the case here, with lots of new titles debuting. Let’s see what we’ve got.

Dark Horse gives us the first volume of Dangan Ronpa: The Animation, which contrary to its name is indeed a manga. It’s based on a game and has had tons of adaptations – this is the Shonen Ace one. A lot of folks I know like it, but it is set in a school where people die one by one, so be warned.

And there’s a 3rd Oh My Goddess! omnibus as well.

Kodansha has a couple of debuts next week. Forget Me Not (aka Soredemo Boku wa Kimi ga Suki) is a somewhat ecchi romance from the Shonen Magazine group (it’s been in both Weekly and Betsu), and should appeal to fans of Suzuka and other titles where you just scream in rage and bafflement at the male lead for months on end.

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: There’s a second volume of supernatural mystery series Livingstone.

Kosuke Fujishima, author of Oh My Goddess!, actually finished that series, and so needed something to draw. That something is Paradise Residence, whose first omnibus volume is due out next week. It runs in Afternoon. I’m not sure if this collects Vol. 0 and 1 or 1 and 2 – it’s that kind of series. It also has a female lead at an all girls’ school, because Fujishima knows no one reads his series for the men.

MICHELLE: I’m kind of interested in this one, though I know virtually nothing about it.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a 4th omnibus of Freezing, with lots of girls fighting and being busty.

And the fourth and final volume of Evergreen, the bittersweet not-quite-romance from the author of Toradora!.

Vertical has the 7th My Neighbor Seki, which I think catches us up with Japan, so it may be a while till Seki 8.

ASH: My Neighbor Seki is still an utterly delightful series.

MJ: This, yes.

SEAN: They also debut a quirky romance called Mysterious Girlfriend X, which also ran in Afternoon. It’s an omnibus of the first two volumes, and should be fun to read provided you’re OK with drool. If you aren’t, this is probably not the title for you.

MICHELLE: Ew.

ASH: I actually know quite a few people who are excited about this series; I may need to check it out, drool and all.

ANNA: I know I am not ok with drool and will be skipping this.

MJ: I… wow, drool?

SEAN: The big debut this week for bloggers, who never met a depressing artsy manga they didn’t love, is Goodnight Punpun, a series by Inio Asano, author of Solanin, Nijigihara Holograph, etc. This is his longest series, I believe, and ran in Young Sunday (then Big Comic Spirits when YS folded). It’s extremely weird, extremely cruel, and extremely heartwarming. It too is an omnibus with 2 volumes inside.

MICHELLE: I am still not recovered from A Girl on the Shore, honestly. I don’t know if I can take more Asano right now.

ASH: Asano can be rough, but I’m looking forward to this one.

ANNA: I own but have not read A Girl on the Shore because I haven’t felt up to it, but I’m going to get this and I think that more Asano is always a good thing.

MJ: I am always ready for more depressing artsy manga, as long as it’s from Asano.

SEAN: There’s also a 6th volume of insurance madness with Master Keaton.

ANNA: Yay!

SEAN: And Manga Bookshelf peeps will be delighted to hear we’re getting a 14th volume of Real as well.

MICHELLE: Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!

ASH: Excellent.

ANNA: Extra Yay!!!!!

MJ: Hurray!!

SEAN: Lastly, Terra Formars has Volume 11 coming out.

A whole bunch of new series next week. Which ones are you getting?