Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Exciting Icelandic Sagas

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SEAN: No question, my pick this week is I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner. We’ve seen “the same events from another perspective” in other light novels, but usually as briefly changing narrators, not an entire new series. Plus… More Claire! More Rae!

MICHELLE: Given is no doubt a nicer series than The Shadows of Who We Once Were, but since I haven’t read it in ages, I don’t feel as though I can really pick it these week. Whereas I’ve been binging Shadows and, though I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it, the end being in sight definitely inclines me in its favor. So… half-hearted endorsement, I guess?

ASH: Debut-wise, I think the series that I’m the most curious about this week is The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls, but if I look towards currently ongoing series (and favorites) Vinland Saga is always a top choice for me.

ANNA: I may be far behind, but I won’t pass up a chance to hype Vinland Saga either.

KATE: All the enthusiastic praise for Vinland Saga makes me think I should give it a second try, so I’m joining Anna and Ash and making it my pick of the week.

Manga the Week of 1/11/23

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SEAN: Manga is here for you whether it’s far too warm for January or far too cold.

ASH: Far too warm and rainy here, at the moment.

SEAN: No print releases for Airship, but we do get an early digital debut, and it’s a spinoff! I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner (Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijō: Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!) retells the events of the main novel series from Claire’s point of view. I can’t wait to dig back into this world.

ASH: Oh! Very nice. (This also serves a reminder that I need to finish reading the main series.)

MICHELLE: So do I. I did enjoy the volume I read.

SEAN: Another debut for Denpa Books. Under Ninja is a Young Magazine title from the creator of I Am A Hero. Our hero is a ninja!… but he’s also a NEET. What happens when he finally gets a mission?

ASH: I’ve been very curious about this one.

SEAN: There is also the 6th and final volume of Pleasure and Corruption.

Ghost Ship gives us The Witches of Adamas 4.

J-Novel Club has some new volumes. We see Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Sui’s Great Adventure 2, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 8, Hell Mode 5, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 9, Perry Rhodan NEO 11, Rebuild World’s 2nd manga volume, Seventh 2, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 10.

In print, it’s time for Kodansha to roll out Ghost in the Shell once more. The Ghost in the Shell: Fully Compiled is an 832-page hardcover that has Ghost in the Shell 1, 1.5, and 2.

ASH: Dang! That’ll be quite the volume!

ANNA: Woah.

SEAN: Speaking of omnibuses, they also have the first manga omnibus of No. 6. This contains the first three volumes, which first came out almost 10 years ago.

ASH: I’m glad to see this series staying in print. (Also, has it really been a decade??)

SEAN: They’ve also got A Galaxy Next Door 4, Gleipnir 12, Noragami: Stray God 25, The Seven Deadly Sins Manga Box Set 3 (Vols. 15-21), Vinland Saga 13, and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 9.

ASH: Always glad to see the newest Vinland Saga release!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: The digital debut is Gang King, a 37-volume monster that started in Shonen Gahosha’s Young King then jumped companies, and has been in Magazine Special, Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, and finally Evening. It’s a delinquent manga, and it’s quite well known.

Digitally, we also see Ace of the Diamond 41, The Fable 10, My Boyfriend in Orange 13, Police in a Pod 20, The Shadows of Who We Once Were 8 (the final volume), and WIND BREAKER 8.

MICHELLE: I’ve been reading The Shadows of Who We Once Were these past few days, and am glad I won’t have to wait too long to see who survives to the end!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 11th volume of The New Gate.

Two debuts from Seven Seas. The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls (Kishitan wa Jouheki no Naka ni Hanahiraku) is a Comic Gardo title about a girl who dreams of being a knight, which means she’ll need to start out as a squire.

ASH: I like the premise and so am duly intrigued.

ANNA: Oh, I’m curious about this too.

SEAN: Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari runs in Ultra Jump, and features a man who loathes spirits and wants to send them back to the otherworld. Unfortunately, he’s sent to live with a girl who shares an apartment with a bunch of spirits!

Also from Seven Seas: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 5, Dungeon Toilet 3 (the final volume), Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 6, Hunting in Another World With My Elf Wife 2, Machimaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl! 11, Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō 15, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 2.

Square Enix Manga has the 2nd volume of My Happy Marriage.

SuBLime has Caste Heaven 8 (the final volume) and Given 7.

ASH: I’m behind on Given, but have enjoyed what I’ve read so far.

MICHELLE: Same. I really need to get caught up on it.

ANNA: Unsurprisingly, me too.

SEAN: Viz has a debut from Ura Sunday. Helck is a manga about the competition to become the next demon lord… which is being entered by a human!?

Viz also has Case Closed 85, Dandadan 2, Fly Me to the Moon 15, Kaiju No. 8 5, Mao 9, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 10, Pokémon Adventures: X•Y 4, Skip Beat! 3-in-1 15, and YO-KAI WATCH 20.

That’s it! Man, it’s lonely at the end of the list now. No worries, Yen Press will be back with a vengeance the week after next.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/5/23

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Asumi-chan Is Interested in Lesbian Brothels!, Vol. 1 | By Kuro Itsuki | Seven Seas – I wasn’t originally planning to read this at all, but several people I respect said it was actually quite well done. So I read it, and they were right. Asumi is a young gay woman who pines after her older friend who took care of her when she was younger. She wants to find her, but the only reliable rumor is that she works as a sex worker in a place for other like-minded women. This is very consensual and sex-positive, despite the cover art. Each chapter is a different hostess, and the sex is explicit without getting too tawdry. The actual payoff is hinted at the end of the first chapter, but this is essentially a foodie manga, but with lesbian sex. The journey is the reason to read it. – Sean Gaffney

Captain Corinth: The Galactic Navy Officer Becomes an Adventurer, Vol. 1 | By Atsuhiko Itoh and Tomomasa Takuma | One Peace Books – Isekai seems nearly impossible to escape these days, but even so it’s not a subgenre that I tend to frequent. The manga adaptation of Captain Corinth caught my attention, however, by promising to meld science fiction and fantasy elements without relying on reincarnation to propel its lead character into a different world. Corinth’s near-death experience is still pivotal, though—as the only surviving crewmember of a starship, his escape pod crash lands him on a planet of magic-users, a rarity in the universe. Granted, his survival largely depends on highly advanced technology that may as well be a form of magic. His successes come far too easily as a result at this point, but that may soon change. This early on in the series the balance between science fiction and fantasy hasn’t quite been realized, but the potential is definitely there for them to be combined in interesting ways. – Ash Brown

The Food Diary of Miss Maid, Vol. 1 | By Susumu Maeya| Kodansha Manga (digital only) – There is a bit of a plot here, but only a bit. Suzume, a maid who works in an English mansion, is on vacation in Japan for a week or so… then her master tells her the mansion has been destroyed. While they rebuild it, she has to stay there. What this means is that you get a cute girl in a maid outfit who is Japanese but (having lived in England) has little idea what Japanese food and food etiquette is like, trying out various Japanese delicacies and telling us about them. As such, it’s a foodie manga (with no lesbian sex). It’s well done, as it made me hungry for the items in question, especially the dango. That said, there’s no character development here beyond her meeting her neighbor, who is essentially a straight (wo)man. – Sean Gaffney

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 10 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This volume opens with a thoroughly charming sequence that I shan’t spoil, reminding us of the whimsy this series is capable of before it gets down to SO. MUCH. ADULTING. Mikuri and Hiramasa are expecting! Her morning sickness is extremely bad, so Hiramasa takes over a lot of household tasks (all while not letting on how worried he is) while they both try to navigate the many rules their employers and others have about leave time and applying for this or that. Meanwhile, Yuri is having a health scare and one of Hiramasa’s coworkers starts to fall for him (while dealing with rampant sexism in the workplace). A lot of emphasis is on Mikuri and Hiramasa functioning as a team, and that Hiramasa’s request for a month of paternity leave is frowned upon because what could a man possibly contribute? As good as ever, thankfully! – Michelle Smith

Night of the Living Cat, Vol. 1 | By Hawkman and Mecha-Roots | Seven Seas – Night of the Living Cat is to manga what Shaun of the Dead is to movies: both are loving spoofs of the zombie genre that faithfully reproduce its signature tropes. The central joke in Living Cat is that infected humans don’t turn into flesh-eating monsters but adorable kitties; the main mode of transmission is snuggling. While that premise sounds hilarious, the authors’ commitment to telling the story with a straight face ends up weighing down what should be a goofy, buoyant send-up of I Am a Hero and The Walking Dead. The result is like watching a Naked Gun movie in which every actor delivers their lines in a natural, conversational tone; the jokes are there, but the delivery is off. – Katherine Dacey

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 6 | By Misaki Takamatsu |Seven Seas – The main story of this manga continues to be terrific. Mitsumi is still bright and shiny, but has lost a lot of the country hick that she started off with (though she still needs other’s help buying “city-specific” presents). It’s also Valentine’s Day, so it’s time for Mika to shoot her shot and confess to Shima, even though she, the school, and the reader know how that’s going to go. And we also get a great chapter from Nao’s point of view, where she confesses to her friend that seeing Mitsumi’s supportive family and circle of loving friends makes her envious for all the support she never had. This is not a trans manga per se, as Nao is a supporting character, but trans readers should find it very welcoming. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 16 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – For the most part, unlike the anime (which expanded the cast out of necessity), this manga is very much about two kids and not much else. But, as the series has gone on, we have gotten side couples (such as Nakai and Mano, who remain adorable) and Those Three Girls. But now we’re moving up to second year (making the cast fourteen years old), and the series’ resident grumpy tsundere, Hojo, who is clearly in love with her neighbor and friend but is not really admitting it. All of this helps to balance and contrast Takagi and Nishikata, who pretty much have their one gimmick. It is a VERY good gimmick, though, and Takagi is blushing more and more each volume. This should please fans. – Sean Gaffney

Usotoki Rhetoric, Vol. 1 | By Ritsu Miyako | One Peace Books – Urabe Kanoko was driven out of her home village due to her ability to hear lies. She arrives in Tsukumoya Town in search of a job, and soon becomes the assistant of a perpetually penniless detective named Iwai Soma. He’s the first person who has wanted her by his side even after learning of her power, declaring, “I think you can become a real force for good!” Together, they test the limits of her ability and come up with a system by which she can inconspicuously signal when someone involved in a case is lying. In this volume, they solve such mysteries as “where did that kid go?,” “why did Iwai lie about knowing that lady?,” and “where did that other kid go?” Though the mysteries are light so far, I still really enjoyed this volume, especially the 1926 setting, and very much look forward to more! – Michelle Smith

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 1 | By Saki and Tsukasa Satsuki| J-Novel Club (digital only) – As you can likely guess, this is another villainess story. Mary Albert realizes one day that she’s the villainess in an otome game, and will end up destitute and her family in ruins. The gimmick here is that she decides to embrace her fate wholeheartedly, and seeks out the various scenes with the heroine, Alicia, so that she can be as nasty as possible. There’s just one issue: Mary Albert is sweet as pie, both with and without reincarnated memories, and her attempts to be mean backfire horribly as she helps Alicia at every turn. There’s no reason she chooses to be evil other than “comedy,” but the comedy is fun, and I also like her long-suffering servant who’s in love with her. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Ravens, Killers, and Isekai

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MICHELLE: I was originally going to pick I’m Kinda Chubby and I’m Your Hero, but a commenter on the Manga the Week of post described the Raven of the Inner Palace anime as “sad and lovely,” so now I am super curious about that. Thus, I’m actually picking a light novel this time!

SEAN: Raven of the Inner Palace is definitely on my list, because I am happy to add another “behind the scenes of the emperor’s harem” title. That said, the one that is most intriguing to me this week is No Longer Allowed In Another World, which has the potential to be amazingly funny or a giant trainwreck, and I want to see which.

ASH: I’ll throw another title out there for consideration since I’ve been waiting for it for so long—Rakuda Laughs—but honestly I’m interested in everything that’s been mentioned so far and will join Sean in picking No Longer Allowed In Another World for the reasons already outlined.

KATE: I’ve heard a lot of good things about Romantic Killer–especially its blunt, no-nonsense heroine–so that’s my pick of the week.

ANNA: Put me down for Romantic Killer too, I’m intrigued.

Manga the Week of 1/4/23

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SEAN: 2023! What’s new and exciting?

No debuts for Viz Media, but we do get Blue Box 2, Dr. STONE 24, The Elusive Samurai 4, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 5, Moriarty the Patriot 10, My Love Mix-Up! 6, Prince Freya 8, Queen’s Quality 16, and Romantic Killer 2.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Blue Box and My Love Mix-Up!.

ASH: Same! And throwing Queen’s Quality into the mix, since I’ve been enjoying (but still falling behind with) that one, too.

ANNA: Lots of things I need to get caught up on, maybe that will be my New Year’s resolution.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts three titles. I’m Kinda Chubby and I’m Your Hero (Saenai Boku wa Kimi no Hero) is a BL title from Comic Qurie. An aspiring young actor worries that his weight is getting in the way of his career… but finds he has a fanboy in a young baker!

MICHELLE: This looks fun. I hope it is.

ASH: Me, too; looking forward to giving it a try!

SEAN: Seven Seas continues to put out cat manga. We see the debut of My Sister, The Cat (Imouto wa Neko), a MAGXiv title about a young man whose mother passed away, so another family adopts him… except they’re human-sized cats.

ASH: There does seem to be a renaissance of cat manga.

SEAN: And a third debut, with no cats. No Longer Allowed In Another World (Isekai Shikkaku) runs in Shogakukan’s Yawaraka Spirits, and asks the important question “what if the protagonist of the No Longer Human novel wound up in an isekai with cute girls and awesome powers?”. The answer: he’s not happy.

ASH: Wait, what? That is a question I never thought to ask!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Dragon Goes House-Hunting 8, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 15, Lazy Dungeon Master 2, My Senpai is Annoying 9, Night of the Living Cat 2, PULSE 2, Succubus and Hitman 3, and The Titan’s Bride 2.

MICHELLE: I forgot Dragon Goes House-Hunting exists.

SEAN: Kodansha’s release calendar is back, hooray! In print we see the debut of Am I Actually the Strongest?, whose ebook came out in 2020. There’s also The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 3.

Digitally there may be a last minute announcement, but it ain’t here yet, so we get Kounodori: Dr. Stork 31, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 3, Matcha Made in Heaven 3, Raised by the Demon Kings! 4, Shangri-La Frontier 9, and The Shape-Shifting Witch’s Kiss 2.

ASH: Matcha Made in Heaven is still a delightful title.

ANNA: I read the first volume and really liked it, as usual I am behind.

SEAN: And Kodansha Books reminds us they exist with the debut of Am I Actually the Strongest? (Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyou deshita?), not to be confused with the print debut of the manga also coming out next week. Thought to be weak but actually strong, abusive parents, etc. Kodansha knows what’s popular these days.

Two debuts for J-Novel Club, and they’re both manga. Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner! (Lady Rose wa Heimin ni Naritai) is from Kadokawa’s Flos Comic, and features our heroine reincarnated as the villainess of an otome game… AFTER the bad end. Oops.

ASH: Oops, indeed.

SEAN: The Coppersmith’s Bride (Cuprum no Hanayome) runs in Harta (yay!) and features a college student who is happy to be dating a guy who’s nuts about smithing. But when he proposes to her, she has a bit of a freak out.

ASH: But will there be forging fun facts?

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 2, Marginal Operation 16 (the final volume), Slayers 17, Tearmoon Empire 9, and To Another World… with Land Mines! 5. Slayers 17 isn’t the “final” volume per se, but it’s the last one published to date.

ASH: That’s an important distinction to make.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Parallel Paradise 12 and Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? 4.

Digital Manga Publishing, who I tend to forget exists, has a debut with Pure Love’s Sexy Time (Ero Ki), a BL series that was part of the DMG digital group. I’ve haerd this is for BL fans who like dumbasses.

MICHELLE: I’m glad DMP is still releasing stuff!

ASH: I’ll admit to being conflicted, but I do like a fair number of the publisher’s books.

SEAN: DMP also has Twittering Birds Never Fly 7.

Denpa Books gives us Rakuda Laughs! (Rakuda ga Warau), a Comic Ryu title about a yakuza triggerman’s chaotic life.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this one; Katsuya Terada has had very few works released in English.

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us an 11th omnibus of GANTZ.

Airship has the print debut of The World’s Fastest Level Up, and also print volumes for Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 3 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 2.

In early digital, we get Raven of the Inner Palace (Koukyuu no Karasu), which just had an anime recently. A mysterious concubine, who may be old, may be young, but definitely uses magic, is called before the Emperor.

ASH: This one seems promising to me.

SEAN: And we also see Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 13.

Is this 2023 enough for you? Do you want 2022 back?

MICHELLE: Absolutely not.

ASH: Nah, that’s okay.

ANNA: No thank you.

Pick of the Year: Small Publishers and Big Genres

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SEAN: It’s the end of the year, and as always I’ve forgotten 90% of what I read back in March and April. I will thus make my pick a collective pick, as this year had so many new Villainess Novels. Be it reincarnated in an otome game, a duke’s daughter who is publicly shamed, or just a depressed young woman who’s trying to quietly live through her teenage years so she can enter a convent, the Villainess genre has proven surprisingly wide, and I’ll be delighted to read even more of it in 2023.

MICHELLE: I didn’t read as much as I wanted to this year—blast that infernal “life crap” that always seems to intrude—but of what I did read, my favorite was Lost Lad London. Getting a real mystery in manga form is rare enough, and one that acknowledges racism and sexism is unheard-of. I am both looking forward to and lamenting the third and final volume, due out in a few weeks.

ASH: I likewise haven’t had as much time to devote to manga this past year as I would have liked. However, despite some sub-genres seeming to have flooded the market, I’ve been impressed (and pleased!) to see the wide variety manga being released these days. In particular, or in general, I’d like to make small, niche, manga publishers my pick of the year. Specifically, Glacier Bay Books continues to produce highly engaging releases and Star Fruit Books has brought Hideshi Hino back in English as part of a steadily developing catalogue of interesting print manga.

KATE: I want to echo what Ash is saying about small presses such as Glacier Bay Books and Star Fruit: they’re bringing all kind of cool, off-beat titles to the American market that otherwise wouldn’t be translated. In a market that’s so thoroughly saturated in isekai titles and formulaic high school romances, it’s great to have some meaningful alternatives, so I’m making these two presses my “manga of the year.”

Manga the Week of 12/28/22

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SEAN: It’s the last Manga the Week of for 2022. Let’s make it a good one.

ASH: Yes, let’s!

SEAN: Airship has a bunch of print titles. We see Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 7, Reincarnated as a Sword 11, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 5, and A Tale of the Secret Saint 4.

While we get early digital for Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 4 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 8.

Bookwalker has She’s Adopted a High School Boy! 13 (the final volume – if you’re wondering about the previous 12 volumes, this seems to have been exclusive to Bookwalker, so I kept missing it).

ASH: I don’t know that anyone can keep up with all of the digital manga that are legitimately available these days!

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of The Dragon’s Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess!.

Ghost Ship has Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 3 and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 22.

The debut from J-Novel Club is a manga this time around. Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster (Albert-ke no Reijou wa Botsuraku wo Goshomou desu) is a reincarnated villainess story based on a light novel that isn’t licensed. This one flips the script a bit – on hearing that she’s the villainess in an otome game, Mary Albert goes ALL IN in trying to be as evil as can be! Why… why doesn’t the heroine think she’s evil? It runs in B’s-LOG COMIC.

ASH: That could be a fun variation.

SEAN: We also see Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 19, Lazy Dungeon Master 17, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 5, and the 3rd Tearmoon Empire manga volume.

Kodansha’s print titles: Blood on the Tracks 12, EDENS ZERO 20, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 3, Shangri-La Frontier 3, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? 19.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up on What Did You Eat Yesterday?!

ASH: Still so very happy we’re getting this series.

SEAN: Digitally we see Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost 5 (the final volume), Burn the House Down 7, Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 6, The Food Diary of Miss Maid 2, The Full-Time Wife Escapist 10 (!!!), A Galaxy Next Door 4, Gamaran: Shura 3, and The Rokudo Rounds 4.

MICHELLE: !!!! This is twice in recent memory when a series that had been advertised as over—and yes, I checked the “final volume” blurbs for both Fruits Basket Another and Full-Time Wife Escapist—has returned from the dead.

ASH: Oh, ho!

SEAN: Two debuts for Seven Seas. Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Party Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to an Infinite Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge (Shinjiteita Nakama-tachi ni Dungeon Okuchi de Korosarekaketa ga Gift “Mugen Gacha” de Level 9999 no Nakama-tachi wo Te ni Irete Moto Party Member to Sekai ni Fukushuu & “Zamaa!” Shimasu!) is an adaptation of the light novel J-Novel Club is putting out, and the manga runs in Magazine Pocket. That’s all I have to say about it. Moving on.

ASH: The title already says most of it.

SEAN: Entangled with You: The Garden of 100 Grasses (Hyakusou no Uraniwa) is a one-shot BL title from Printemps Shuppan that’s a fantasy about a boy who makes a promise with a horned man to save his sister. Will that promise lead to death… or friendship?

MICHELLE: I like the fairy tale look and feel of this cover!

ASH: Same! I’m curious about this one, for sure.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Berserk of Gluttony 7, The Country Without Humans 3, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 7, GIGANT 10 (the final volume), Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 4, Reborn as a Barrier Master 3, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 7, Sorry For My Familiar 10, Toradora! 10, and The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This 2. By the way, the first manga volume of Toradora! came out in North America OVER 10 YEARS AGO. This is a slow-moving series in Japan.

Square Enix has a 3rd volume of the Otherside Picnic manga.

From Viz Media we get Fist of the North Star 7, Jujutsu Kaisen: Summer of Ashes, Autumn of Dust (a light novel), Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 10 (the final volume), and Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe 2.

ASH: It’s a good Viz week for me, at least!

SEAN: And that’s it! Should auld manga be forgot and never brought to mind?

MICHELLE: My auld manga gathers dust.

Pick of the Week: Last Picks Before Xmas

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SEAN: There are two wolves fighting inside me. One wants to appreciate tougher, more realistic manga and is interested in the debut of Run Away with Me, Girl, which has been politely described as “heavy”. The other wolf is going “the first new Railgun manga in 18 months? Score!”.

KATE: I’ve recently been re-watching Seinfeld, and saw the episode where George can’t stop singing “Master of the house, doling out the charm/Ready with a handshake and an open palm.” Therefore, my pick of the week *has* to be Les Misérables. Sorry, I don’t make the rules…

MICHELLE: Heavy or not, Run Away with Me, Girl really does have the majority of my attention this week, so I’ll go with that this time.

ASH: I’ll admit, Run Away with Me, Girl is definitely the debut that has caught my eye this week, too. But, I also want to give Sweat and Soap a shout out—I was late to reading the series myself, but it really is a great one.

Manga the Week of 12/21/22

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SEAN: We’re in the last few days before Christmas, who’s coming down the chimney?

Yen On has an 11th volume of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

I missed two Viz titles last week because they insist on alphabetizing ‘The’. So we got the print debut of The Hunters Guild: Red Hood, a Shonen Jump title about werewolf hunters, as well as Yakuza Lover 7.

ASH: Those leading articles will get ya every time.

For titles actually coming out next week, we get Alice in Borderland 4, Jujutsu Kaisen 18, Mission: Yozakura Family 2, No Guns Life 13 (the final volume), One Piece Color Walk Compendium: New World to Wano (the latest artbook), and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 2.

Udon Entertainment has Devil May Cry 5: Official Artworks. Which is a $55 hardcover. I suppose it would be cheaper if you were guaranteed the devil crying.

ASH: Udon does tend to have pretty good production values, fortunately.

SEAN: Tokyopop gives us Futaribeya: A Room for Two 9 and On or Off 2.

From Square Enix we see the debut of The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses (Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta), another in the hot new genre of “adorably sweet school romance” that runs in Gangan Joker.

They also have The Apothecary Diaries 7 and My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 4.

ASH: I really need to get caught up on The Apothecary Diaries.

SEAN: Seven Seas does not know the meaning of the words “Christmas break”. They have the debut of LES MISÉRABLES in an omnibus edition (the first two volumes), which ran in Shogakukan’s Gessan. It is, as you can imagine, an adaptation of the Hugo novel. The artist is better known here for the Cirque du Freak manga.

The other debut is My Cute Little Kitten, the latest yuri title from the creator of Girl Friends, Morinaga Milk. Two roommates have to deal with budding feelings, obliviousness, and a cute kitten.

ASH: Oh! That should be an enjoyable combination!

MJ: Agreed!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 6, A Certain Scientific Railgun 17, COLORLESS 3, The Duke of Death and His Maid 4, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 5, The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún – [dear.] Side Stories (the 12th and final volume), Hello, Melancholic! 3 (the final volume) (it got bumped), The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 7, Kageki Shojo!! 7, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 5, Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 8, Plus-Sized Elf 8 (the final volume), School Zone Girls 4, Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) 4, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 7.

MICHELLE: I never actually finished The Girl from the Other Side. Seems like now’s the time!

ASH: I’ve started recollecting the series in the lovely hardcover edition, but I will probably go ahead and pick this volume up, too.

ANNA: I so need to get caught up too. Also need to get caught up on Kageki Shojo!!.

SEAN: And on the Danmei end we see Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu 5.

One Peace has I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School 6.

Kodansha Comics debuts Run Away With Me, Girl (Kakeochi Girl), a josei yuri series from Hatsu Kiss. Two girls date in high school but one breaks up with the other at graduation. Now, 10 years later, she’s engaged to be married… but everything about her relationship looks bad. Can her old lover do anything to help?

MICHELLE: This sounds promising!

ASH: I agree!

ANNA: I’m curious!

MJ: So here for this.

SEAN: They also have a box set of the first 6 volumes of Sweat and Soap. If you haven’t read this yet, I urge you to give it a try, it’s wonderful.

ASH: It really, really is.

SEAN: Also in print, we get Blue Lock 4, Die Wergelder 3, Fire Force 30, Rent-a-Girlfriend 16, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 11, Something’s Wrong with Us 12, and Toppu GP 10.

ASH: It seem like it’s been a long time since the last volume of Die Wergelder came out… goodness, it’s been almost four years!

SEAN: Digitally, we see the debut of Beast #6, a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about an agent who’s assigned to a backwater town. How can she destroy supernatural monsters here? Good news, it’s not only a hotbed of activity, but has a Boy With A Secret (TM)…

We also get The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 3, Gamaran 4, Golden Gold 7, GTO Paradise Lost 19, Nina the Starry Bride 8, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 6, Sakura’s Dedication 3, and She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons 5 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: Dang, over already.

ANNA: I’m really enjoying Nina the Starry Bride.

SEAN: Two digital light novel debuts for J-Novel Club. Haibara’s Teenage New Game+ (Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game) is a high school romcom about a college senior, regretting all his choices, suddenly finding himself traveling back to the start of high school. Can he really get a do-over?

The other debut is The Invincible Little Lady (Dōyara Watashi no Karada wa Kanzen Muteki no Yō Desu ne), which seems to be the inverse of Make My Abilities Average… a sickly young girl, on her deathbed, wishes to be strong in her next life… and ends up getting something FAR beyond what she meant!

Also from J-Novel Club: Black Summoner 11, I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! 5, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 5, Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy 6 (the final volume), The Saga of Lioncourt 3, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 21, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 20 (the final volume), and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 5.

Ghost Ship has 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 4 and World’s End Harem 13, which begins the After World arc.

Cross Infinite World has The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up 2.

ASH: How satisfying is it?

MJ: I guess it’s satisfying times 2.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 15.

And there are early digital volumes. Adachi and Shimamura 10, Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 3, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 20.

Happy Holidays from Manga the Week of!

Pick of the Week: Kowloon Generic Picks

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ASH: There certainly are a fair number of releases this week! Debut-wise, I find that overall the novels have caught my attention the most, with Sword of the Demon Hunter being of particular interest. That being said, I’m likely to actually have time to read some of the new manga, first…

SEAN: I’m actually going to pick Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book. We get so few of these guidebooks translated over here, so I want to support it.

MICHELLE: I can’t possibly resist BL described as ” Two men struggling with life find each other.” Midnight Rain for me this week!

KATE: I can’t say enough good things about Kowloon Generic Romance: the Mangasplainers compared it with Wong Kar-Wai’s films, and I think that’s an apt comparison. If I’m making it sound like a Very Serious Manga™, though, rest assured it isn’t; Kowloon Generic Romance is moody and romantic, but it’s also raunchy, funny, and frank with a boisterous cast of characters. This is hands down one of my favorite books of the year!

MJ: Okay, at first I was sure I was going to side with Michelle, but then Kate’s description of Kowloon Generic Romance hooked me completely. I think that’s going to have to be my pick this week, no matter what else is on the table!

MICHELLE: Okay, I have just realized this takes place within Kowloon Walled City so I am definitely going to read this, previous pick notwithstanding!

Manga the Week of 12/14/22

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SEAN: Another juggernaut of a week, as publishers try to get everything out before Christmas.

Airship has two print debuts. Qualia the Purple (Murasakiiro no Qualia) is a one-shot light novel that comes from over ten years ago, about a girl who can analyze people as if they were robots, and the one other person who accepts her for it.

ASH: The publisher describes it as a “romantic science fiction thriller with a yuri core,” which does sound like something I would enjoy.

SEAN: Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō is a historical drama from 2015, 11+ volumes so far. It’s about a swordsman who must hunt a demon… through TIME!

ASH: As does this one, if I’m being honest.

ANNA: I enjoy demon hunting swordsmen.

SEAN: Also in print: Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 6 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 12.

And we get early digital releases for Loner Life in Another World 4 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 2.

Ghost Ship gives us Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 9-10.

J-Novel Club has some print titles. Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 12th manga volume, By the Grace of the Gods 11, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom Manga Omnibus, 4, Marginal Operation 12, Slayers Vol. 7-9 (a hardcover), and Tearmoon Empire 7.

ASH: I really should catch up with some of these.

SEAN: No digital debuts, but we do see the 9th manga volume of Black Summoner, The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 2, Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 8, Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight 15 (now caught up with Japan), the third manga volume of Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home!, the third manga volume of Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It!, Re:RE — Reincarnator Executioner 2 (a final volume?), and Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 7.

Kodansha hunting time. Print books: Attack on Titan Omnibus 8, Go! Go! Loser Ranger 2, Lovesick Ellie 7, Orient 12, and Sayonara Football 14.

ANNA: Always happy to see more Lovesick Ellie, I need to get caught up.

SEAN: Digitally, there is A Condition Called Love 11, Giant Killing 34, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 11, My Maid, Miss Kishi 6 (the final volume), Police in a Pod 19, Tokyo Revengers 28, and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 7.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Giant Killing!

SEAN: One Peace has the debut of Captain Corinth: The Galactic Navy Officer Becomes an Adventurer (Kochuu Gunshikan, Boukensha ni Naru), a fantasy AND SF title from Dengeki Playstation. A spaceship captain lands on a fantasy planet.

ASH: Gotta love a good genre mash-up!

SEAN: Debuting for Seven Seas is a Mature title that is apparently too gay for Ghost Ship, however. Asumi-chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels! (Asumi-chan wa Les Fuuzoku ni Kyoumi ga Arimasu!) is from Comic Yuri Hime, and is about a girl searching for her childhood friend… in said brothels.

ASH: Well then!

SEAN: There’s also I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (OreAku, Ore wa Seikan Kokka no Akutoku Ryoushu!), the manga adaptation of the light novel SS already releases. It runs in Comic Gardo.

On the danmei side we get Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi 4.

ASH: Yay! This one’s still my favorite from the author.

SEAN: For manga: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 2, CANDY AND CIGARETTES 2, Dungeon People 2, Kemono Jihen 3, Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 2, The Kingdoms of Ruin 5, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 6, The Summer You Were There 2, Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 8, Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 7, and Yakuza Reincarnation 4.

MICHELLE: I look forward to reading more Kemono Jihen.

SEAN: Square Enix has YoRHa: Pearl Harbor Descent Record – A NieR:Automata Story (YoRHa: Shinjuwan Kouka Sakusen Kiroku), which should speak for itself. It runs in Manga Up!.

SuBLime debuts Midnight Rain, a one-shot BL title from b-Boy P!. Two men struggling with life find each other.

MICHELLE: This sounds like my sort of BL.

ASH: I do enjoy this particular sort, too.

SEAN: And there’s also Coyote 4.

Viz Media gives us Call of the Night 10, Komi Can’t Communicate 22, Orochi: The Perfect Edition 3, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 5, and Sakamoto Days 5.

ASH: Still glad to see Orochi being released, even if I still need to read the volumes I already have.

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. Even If This Love Disappears Tonight (Kon’ya, Sekai kara Kono Koi ga Kiete mo) is another in the “one-shot depressing teenage romance” books.

ASH: There are a few of those, to be sure.

ANNA: Not sure if I’m in the mood for that right now.

SEAN: The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices (Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru) has a BL lover reincarnated into a world where her brother is in a romance with another man. But this means no heirs, so it’s a political marriage for her. Can she find true love despite this?

ASH: That’s a pretty great title if nothing else.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Another 2001 (the third in the Another series), The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 7, The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time 4, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 7, In the Land of Leadale 7, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 3, Orc Eroica 3, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid (the 9th in the series), Reign of the Seven Spellblades 7, Solo Leveling 6, and The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess 3.

Yen Press has a new omnibus edition of K-On!. This collects the four main books in the series (but not the college book).

ASH: That takes me back!

SEAN: There’s also Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book, a guide to the series.

And Puella Magi Oriko Magica: The Complete Omnibus Edition, which is what it says.

Shy is a new shonen series from Weekly Shonen Champion. A young girl named Shy is the superhero who’s there to protect Japan. Unfortunately, shy is also her personality.

Yen Press also has Bungo Stray Dogs: Another Story 2, The Fiancee Chosen by the Ring 3, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 9, From the Red Fog 3, Fruits Basket Another 4 (the final volume), Heterogenia Linguistico 4, I Cannot Reach You 5, Interspecies Reviewers 7, Kakegurui Twin 12, Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 14, Kowloon Generic Romance 2, Let This Grieving Soul Retire! 4, Love and Heart 6, Love at Fourteen 12 (the final volume), Lust Geass 6, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 3, Mint Chocolate 6, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 4, Phantom Tales of the Night 10, Plunderer 10 (the final volume? The omnibuses make it unclear), Run on Your New Legs 3, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 4, Tales of the Kingdom 2, Teasing Master Takagi-san 16, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 12, Val x Love 13, and Your Turn to Die: Majority Vote Death Game 3.

MICHELLE: Huh. I thought Fruits Basket Another was already over!

ASH: Wow, that’s a lot from Yen!

SEAN: Any presents among these volumes?

Pick of the Week: Rainbows and Boats

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MICHELLE: I usually like manga from Margaret and its spinoffs, so I’ll go with Rainbow Days this week despite knowing absolutely nothing about it.

KATE: I second Michelle’s recommendation, and raise it one artbook: I’ll be adding Studio Ghibli: The Complete Works to my cart this week as well. I’m still under the spell of Shuna’s Journey…

SEAN: This is the final volume of Hello Melancholic, so I’ll make that my pick. Best to read it while listening to J. J. Johnson.

ASH: Sean’s called it with Boat Life—as a fan of alternative manga and manga history, it’s easily my pick this week. In addition to the manga itself, I’m also really looking forward to reading Ryan Holmberg’s accompanying essay.

Manga the Week of 12/7/22

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SEAN: It’s the most wonderful time of the year! What manga is giving us good cheer?

We start with Viz Media. Rainbow Days (Nijiiro Days) is a new Shojo Beat title from Betsuma. The timing on this seems off, as the anime aired in 2016. And it’s a 16-volume series, so get ready to invest. It’s about four boys, all with different ideas about romance.

MICHELLE: Huh. Somehow this one had totally escaped my notice.

ASH: I’d missed it, too!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Black Clover 31, Dragon Ball Super 17, Ghost Reaper Girl 3, Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love 4, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 24, One Piece 101, and Snow White with the Red Hair 22.

ASH: I really ought to catch up with Snow White with the Red Hair.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Love Circus, a single volume BL title from Canna. A man who has tried to help a sex worker, and only ended up in debt, tries to kill himself… and wakes up at a sex establishment that caters to gay men.

Tokyopop also has the 2nd manga of Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke.

(Yes, yes. They were bumped.)

Titan debuts Kamen Rider Kuuga, a new manga updating the classic title to the 21st century. It runs in Shogakukan’s HEROS.

ASH: Titan doesn’t license that many manga, so it’s interesting what’s released.

SEAN: Steamship has a 2nd volume of GAME: Between the Suits.

Seven Seas got its books back from the printers again. Our Torsos Align: Human x Monster Love (Toruso no Bokura) is from Libre’s Kurofune Zero, which seems to be its “shoujo but not quite BL” magazine. These are romance stories starring “monsters” – birdmen, mermaids, aliens, etc.

ASH: Seems to be a burgeoning sub-genre these days.

SEAN: Thunderbolt Fantasy is an omnibus of Vol. 1-2, and originally ran in Weekly Morning. Based on a wuxia show, it features a woman trying to protect a sword from evil men, and the strangers who help her.

ASH: The show was fantastic. I’m looking forward to giving the manga a try.

SEAN: Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii runs in Afternoon. A yakuza daughter with a resting bitch face is married off to a rival leader’s son to preserve the peace… but his son is a sadist! Now she has to give as good as she gets.

Also from Seven Seas: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 9, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 4, Citrus+ 4, The Dangers in My Heart 5, Hello, Melancholic! 3 (the final volume), His Majesty the Demon King’s Housekeeper 2, I’m a Wolf, but My Boss is a Sheep! 2, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 4, Seaside Stranger 5, and SPRIGGAN: Deluxe Edition 2.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to more Hello, Melancholic!.

SEAN: One Peace has the 6th volume of Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway.

Kodansha’s calendar is still broken, so let’s go hunting. In print, the debut is Studio Ghibli: The Complete Works, an artbook/reference book that looks at all 26 of the studio’s films.

ASH: Oh! That should be nice.

SEAN: In addition, we see The Quintessential Quintuplets Part 2 Box Set (which has Vols. 8-14, the rest of the series), The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 7, Vampire Dormitory 8, and Whisper Me a Love Song 6.

Kodansha has a digital debut. The Shape-Shifting Witch’s Kiss (Toshi to Mahou wa Kiss Shidai) is a shonen title from Magazine Pocket, and involves a boy who seems to have been taken straight from Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, a witch, and daily kisses.

We also see The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 8 (the final volume), Changes of Heart 8, Chihayafuru 35, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 4, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 30, Matcha Made in Heaven 2, My Master Has No Tail 8, and Raised by the Demon Kings! 3.

MICHELLE: I will never not be glad to see Chihayafuru continuing to plug along.

SEAN: Kaiten Books has a print edition of the 6th Loner Life in Another World manga.

J-Novel Club Has three debuts, including one title that they just announced last week! BLADE & BASTARD: Warm ash, Dusky dungeon is based on the Wizardry RPG game, is by the writer of Goblin Slayer, is by the illustrator of Overlord, and is coming out the same day as the Japanese release. Impressive!

ASH: That’s a quick turnaround!

SEAN: An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! (Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game ni Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gyaru ga, Doumitemo Boku ni Betahore Desu) is another in the “super sweet love story” genre.

Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back to My World Whenever I Want! (Itsudemo Jitaku ni Kaereru Ore wa, Isekai de Gyoushounin wo Hajimemashita) is another in the “slow life by selling Japanese things in isekai land” genre.

We also see Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight -Origins- 8, My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer 6, Record of Wortenia War 17, Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 8, and the 9th manga volume for The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

From HarperVia comes The Tatami Galaxy, possibly the most famous of Tomihiko Morimi’s novels, and now finally available in English! Starring a loser college student (I know, in a Morimi novel, contain your shock), it’s actually about parallel universes.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this one.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has DARLING in the FRANXX 7-8 (the final volume) and SUPER HXEROS 9.

Floating World Comics gives us Boat Life (Fune ni Sumu), a loose autobiography from the creator of Trash Market and Slum Wolf. This series screams “READ MEEEEEE!” to Ash.

ASH: Sean, you know me so well! This is absolutely on my to-read list.

SEAN: From Denpa Books we see Guyabano Holiday, the new travelogue title by the author of Invitation from a Crab.

ASH: It feels like it’s been a long time coming; glad to see it finally released!

SEAN: They also have Inside Mari 9 (the final volume) and Vampeerz 2.

Airship, in print, debuts Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess. We discussed this when the digital came out. ZOMBIE GAMER.

Also in print: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 2, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 2, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 7, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 7, and Vivy Prototype 2.

Happy manga holidays! There’s at least two more festive Manga the Week ofs coming.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/30/22

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 6 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe| Viz Media – The plotline of this volume is a dungeon crawl of sorts, where the examinees face off against doppelganger versions of themselves. Which is incredibly dangerous given that one of the examinees is Frieren, who is ludicrously overpowered, and therefore her clone is as well. That said, as always the plot is the title, as Frieren is still finding little things every day that remind her of the journey she took so long ago, and now that she’s matured (and most of her comrades are dead) she can finally really appreciate them. This is a series that gets by entirely on ‘vibe,’ and its vibe is fantastic. Everyone should be reading this. – Sean Gaffney

The Gay Who Turned Kaiju | By Kazuki Minamoto | Yen Press – Originally released as a series of short doujinshi, The Gay Who Turned Kaiju was ultimately collected and published as a single volume. And what a volume it is! On the surface the basic premise of the manga may seem somewhat goofy—a gay high school student literally turns into a kaiju after wishing so hard to be anything other than what he is—but the underlying themes are actually quite serious and treated with tremendous sincerity. With The Gay Who Turned Kaiju, Minamoto delves into the complexities of human nature and relationships, exploring what it means to be accepted or not and the assumptions people make about others as well as themselves. The emotions can be raw and visceral, the characters not always expressing themselves in the healthiest or most appropriate ways as they struggle and ultimately acheive understanding. The Gay Who Turned Kaiju is a compelling and honest work. – Ash Brown

Medalist, Vol. 5 | By TSURUMAIKADA | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This volume starts with Inori being rather poleaxed to find that Hikaru isn’t at the next event—since she’s guaranteed a spot no matter what, she’s doing special training. What’s more, Inori ends up being second-to-last in the stages, meaning we don’t get to see her skate. (It’ll be the start of the sixth book.) The good thing about this is that we get to look at all the other skaters, see their triumphs and frustrations, and see how one person’s success can destroy three other skaters’ changes just like that. As always, the brilliant art helps, as well as the occasional dose of humor, such as Inori trying to be extroverted or the “does not understand dad jokes” gag. I shilled for this manga at Anime NYC< and will again. It deserves print. – Sean Gaffney

The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent: The Other Saint, Vol. 1 | By Aoagu and Yuka Tachibana | Seven Seas – The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent is in the genre of “whoops, we summoned the wrong person,” a small but solid subgenre of isekai. In the main series, we find that the person they thought was the mistake is actually the Saint. Here we see the POV of Aira, who is initially thought to be the Chosen One due to being a cute teenager and not, y’know, an exhausted OL, but then things turn out differently. Fortunately, Aira is not the “heroine” to Sei’s “villainess,” and this spinoff runs on the same relaxed vibe as the main series, with Aira drifting through the world looking for a purpose now that she’s not the Saint. This is nice, but not necessary. – Sean Gaffney

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 1 | By Sakaomi Yuzaki | Yen Press – I commented on Twitter last week (an old social media site, for the young ‘uns) that every manga starts off with a different premise, and then it gradually becomes “but it’s really about food.” This one cuts out the middleman, as the joy of cooking and also the joy of eating are paramount. Notomo has a tendency to stress-cook, but lives alone. Her neighbor Kasuga has a large appetite, one rarely satisfied by the dinners she’s been getting. And what’s more, Notomo simply loves to watch Kasuga eat. This is a yuri series, but aside from a few subtle hints there’s not much of that in the first volume. But it’s wonderful to simply see these two women interact. I want them to get closer. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Clear Moonlit Picks

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SEAN: My pick this week is The Food Diary of Miss Maid, because I have the first of many office Christmas parties this week and I will probably be overeating.

MICHELLE: This week is full of new volumes of series that I really should be reading. Witch Hat Atelier and Skip & Loafer are high on the list, but I think I’ll make Classmates my official pick, as I’ve been hearing good things about that series for years.

ASH: Most of what I’m planning on reading this week are new volumes of continuing series, but at least one print debut has caught my interest, too—my pick goes to In the Clear Moonlit Dusk!

MJ: I will admit to being kind of interested in Reincarnated as an Apple: This Forbidden Fruit Is Forever Unblemished!, because… I mean. Apple. But my pick is almost certainly In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, so I guess I’m going along with Ash this week.

KATE: It’s always a good day when there’s a new volume of Skip & Loafer!