Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Ash Brown

Bookshelf Briefs 12/13/19

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Arifureta: I Heart Isekai, Vol. 1 | By Misaki Mori, based on the novel by Ryo Shirakome | Seven Seas – This pretty much delivery exactly what it promises, going through the first three Arifureta light novels in the style of a gag comic. There’s lots of Hajime and Yui being sickeningly in love, Shea getting beaten up, Tio being a pervert, etc. We even get golem-Miledi advertising Arifureta Zero, on sale in all good stores. It’s actually pretty fun, and keeps a good balance, not being too perverse while still staying true to the original, which is pretty perverse, and not hitting the same one-note gags—or if it does, pointing that out. Fans of the original should have a lot of fun with this spinoff. – Sean Gaffney

Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Vol. 15 | By Ark Performance | Seven Seas – The flashbacks continue here, but some of them are actually engineered, which is an excellent conceit. Haruna and Kirishima are shown the memories of how Kyouhei and Iori are invited to join the crew… and in the case of Iori, expand her backstory a great deal, as she’s a rich daughter who’s rebelling not just against her father, but everyone who sees the Fog as forbidden tech. After coming out of it (and Kirishima being sad she’s back to being a bear), they’re able to tell the others about what they experienced but can’t have them access the memories like a ship would. It’s just like being human! The second half of the book is not as interesting, but this remains the top of the line for girls-as-objects manga. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – We continue this long arc of humans vs. humans-possessed-by-elves, and there’s a lot of “I know you’re in there somewhere now fight dammit” to this book. Luck gets the brunt of the front end, and honestly, it reminds me of Black Clover‘s greatest strength AND biggest flaw: it’s so straightforward it verges on predictable. One bit I really liked was seeing Asta confront a somewhat dazed Sally (who’s lost her glasses) and convince her, perhaps, to be a mad scientist for GOOD instead of evil. Given that Sally is very much amoral rather than immoral, she can be swayed by this pitch. Oh yes, and the battle against Charlotte was probably the most interesting of the giant fight scenes we see. This probably worked better animated. – Sean Gaffney

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 4 | By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Neko Hinotsuki | Seven Seas – A great deal of this fourth volume is dedicated to making it a bit more isekai-ish than it has been, as the forest is under attack by monsters, and the Kingdom has to figure out the best way to stop them. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have adventurers or dungeons here, so it’s back to good old-fashioned politics, as we need to see whose reputation would be helped or hindered by being the one to save the day or fail miserably. In other news, they’re getting better at making glass, Zenjiro is getting more proficient with magic, and we’re about to get two new characters… one of whom definitely seems like a new romantic rival. One of the better isekais out there. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 12 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – The solution to the person going around killing master swordsmen turns out to be very family-oriented, and also has a lot of possession involved. That said, the most entertaining part of this book may have been seeing Kuroko really struggling to win here—she admits several times that she’s having difficulties, whereas in past books you never really got a sense she was in danger. The final fight of the volume, leading to the cliffhanger, is especially good. That said, it looks like it will wrap up quick next time, if the preview is anything to judge by. In the meantime, you can also enjoy Reiko shamelessly showing off outfits for the reader and then having Kuroko pay for them because, well, she’s a cute girl. – Sean Gaffney

Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World, Vol. 1 | By Asaya Miyanaga | Seven Seas – There are now several manga translated into English with a similar underlying premise—a young woman or girl who is under the care of a non-human guardian. The execution in each can differ dramatically, however. (Apparently this is a sub-genre that I particularly enjoy, as I’ve loved all variations.) In the case of Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World, Miyanaga has created an exceedingly charming, delightful, and even joyful series. The title mostly sums up the work. Nicola is a young witch who has entered the demons’ world hoping to improve her magic. She’s not really supposed to be there, though, so a kind-hearted traveling salesman (and devil) named Simon has taken it upon himself to watch out for her. With each chapter being fairly episodic there’s not much of an overarching plot, but the magic and wonder of Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World builds and is consistently heartwarming. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Pick of the Seven Days

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MICHELLE: Confident that Melinda will choose Seven Days, I’ll instead cast my vote for the fifth volume of Farewell, My Dear Cramer. The best part about any sports manga is when the members of the team find the place they belong, and that’s beginning to happen here. Players who were formerly alone, or at least alone in the amount of love they had for soccer, are finally among like-minded individuals. I was a little unsure about this series at first, but now I’m fully hooked.

SEAN: My love for this series has been very variable, and there’s no question it ran too long, but I’ll go with Mission of Love’s final volume as my pick this week. Certainly if you pick one Ema Toyama series, this is the one to get.

ASH: While I’m very happy that Seven Days is getting a well deserved re-release, my pick this week goes to Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji. I really wasn’t expecting this series to be licensed, but I’m really looking forward to reading the original manga after greatly enjoying its anime adaptation. (Zawa zawa zawa…)

ANNA: I’m going to pick The Golden Sheep Volume 2, because I hope it will spur me to finally read the first volume.

MELINDA: I hate that I’m so predictable, but YES OF COURSE my pick this week is Seven Days: Monday-Sunday. I enjoyed this so much when it was originally released by DMP, and I’m thrilled to see it back again. Hurray!

KATE: I second Ash’s pick; I’ve been curious about Kaiji since Denpa made this licensing announcement in 2018, and am looking forward to finally getting to read it!

Bookshelf Briefs 12/5/19

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Anonymous Noise, Vol. 17 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – I had thought this would be a race to the finish, but honestly it’s feeling more like a leisurely victory lap. The single is doing well, Nino is singing duets, Yuzu is finally getting through to his mother after literally taking her on a world tour, and the last of the beta couples finally get together. Oh yes, and Momo has written a new song, one that he really, really wants Nino to sing. The main pairing is still, I suspect, going to be Yuzu and Nino, but this is a nice final threat—after all, this is how the two of them bonded in childhood, as we see in a flashback. The next book is the final one, so however it goes, we’re near the end of the journey. I enjoyed this, though it was never as lights-out as some other shoujo titles. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Morning, Vol. 8 | By Shoko Hidaka | SuBLime – Blue Morning manages to be unique and complicated until the end. Hidaka-sensei does a good job of giving happy endings to side characters, like Akihito’s friend Soichiro, that feel earned rather than sappy, and which initially suggest that Katsuragi really will take Akihito’s offer to accompany him to England for two years of study. In the end, though, Katsuragi has too much that he wants to accomplish in Japan and stays behind. I love that, as much as these guys love each other, they each have aspirations (both personal and on a societal scale) that they cannot abandon. All of this independent effort leads up to an absolutely marvelous final page wherein, without any bits of clunky narration signposting the moment, Akihito and Katsuragi are finally walking side by side as equals. I have really enjoyed this series and see myself rereading it someday. – Michelle Smith

Farewell, My Dear Cramer, Vol. 4 | By Naoshi Arakawa | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Warabi Seinan’s girls’ soccer team has been working hard and has successfully made it to the finals of the Inter-High preliminaries for their prefecture. They’re up against the reigning champs, who had insufficient intel on just how good Warabi is these days. It’s an intense match, full of girls who passionately love soccer and their appreciation for “friends who really get each other.” This series really has improved a lot since its initial volume. It’s still a little strange that we were introduced to Suo and Soshizaki first, yet the majority of the story continues to focus on their teammate Onda, and the action is still sometimes a bit hard to follow (it would probably be good if I could conclusively tell which team scored the cliffhanger goal), but it’s hooked me sufficiently enough now that I can heartily recommend it. – Michelle Smith

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 9 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – Kagura and Tarou finally get their arc. Sadly, it’s easily the dullest part of this volume, and you sense that the author has written four pairs but really only cares about two and a half of them. (Sorry, Miki and Kiyo, you’re the half.) That said, the pairings that do get attention are well-crafted. Ayumi, desperate for a story now that the love lives have cooled down, runs a “hottest guy” poll. The prize is a hot springs trip. Kai, who has been struggling to be more affectionate (read: hugs) with an aloof Riko, decides that he’s going to go all out. But of course Takaya is hot too. And there’s upperclassmen as well, right? Who’s the winner? I won’t spoil, but it’s a very amusing choice, and works well for the plot. Good despite Kagura being boring. – Sean Gaffney

Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World, Vol. 4 | By Iruka Shiomiya, based on the novels by Keiishi Sigsawa | Vertical Comics – Even when telling a story that has a happy, uplifting climax, the writers of Kino’s Journey just can’t help but do a last-minute twist of the knife. The story of a young women who is resolved to show her airplane can fly is such a story, making you punch the air in happiness until we get the crowd’s reaction to the whole thing, which is… not bad. Sort of the opposite, but unsettling. Also unsettling is a short story about a couple grooming their child for a war he doesn’t want to fight in, and a city that revels in the anti-war paintings of a man who lives outside the city… till they hear why he really paints them, and their reaction destroys him. Kino’s Journey wants you to hate war. It succeeds. – Sean Gaffney

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Vol. 12 | By Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi | Seven Seas – So we still don’t have Vlind’s full name—it seems to be VlindXX XXXX, but we do get a little more about her camera crew, who, like Vlind, are also very reminiscent of another series the artist used to draw back in the day. If they’re meant to be Hyatt and Elgala, then Elgala has shrunk quite a bit, though she still has her snark. Meanwhile, Hyatt has not only gained a lot of height but is also now married to Watanabe, if her last name is any indication. It also talks about her health having been bad and throwing up blood, so it’s not exactly being subtle. As for the rest of the manga, well, when I spend the entire review talking about the cameos on the first page, I think you can guess. – Sean Gaffney

Seven Little Sons of the Dragon: A Collection of Seven Stories | By Ryoko Kui | Yen Press – I enjoy Kui’s manga series Delicious in Dungeon immensely, so I was looking forward to reading more of the creator’s work a great deal. After finishing Seven Little Sons of the Dragon, I am convinced that I will sincerely love just about anything created by Kui. Collected in this volume are seven stories that, while unrelated, are all fantastic in nature. A couple explicitly feature dragons (as one would perhaps expect from the title) while the remaining feature mermaids, werewolves, local gods, living paintings, and a family with supernatural abilities. The stories range in tone as well, from the comedic to the dramatic (or some combination of the two), but I would describe them all as touching in their own way. Seven Little Sons of the Dragon is a delightful and highly satisfying collection of short manga showcasing some of Kui’s versatility as both an artist and a storyteller. – Ash Brown

Skip Beat!, Vol. 43 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – As suspected, Momo does NOT get the role opposite Kyoko. Fortunately, it’s because the director wants to use her in a different project. Kyoko is devastated, but has other things to worry about, like an attempt on her life. It happens so fast that I had to go back and reread to see how to got to the roof, but the whole scene is terrific. Meanwhile, the main issue with Kyoko and Ren is they’re simply not communicating well—they think that the other person knows what they mean, but it’s always at cross purposes. As a result, Ren’s in the doghouse again. But given that Skip Beat! looks like it might be trying to rival the length of Glass Mask, that’s not really a surprise. If you haven’t read the previous 42 volumes… well, don’t jump on now. But otherwise, absolutely get this. – Sean Gaffney

A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Vol. 1 | By Makoto Hagino | VIZ Media – Konatsu Amano has just moved from Tokyo to a small seaside town and is on her way to her aunt’s house when she’s drawn to an open house at the high school she’ll be attending. The aquarium club has opened to the public, and while looking around, Konatsu meets kind Koyuki Honami, who happens to be the club’s only member. Pretty and with a reputation for being perfect, Koyuki is actually lonely, and Konatsu is able to relate to her (drawing parallels to a story from literature class along the way) and encourage her not to always pretend things are fine when they aren’t. This is a really low-key story so far, but I do really appreciate that each girl has her strengths and weaknesses and that they seem well suited to support each other. I look forward to seeing how things develop! – Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Old Friends And New

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SEAN: There’s always an embarrassment of riches when it’s Viz week. That said, I can see no reason not to pick one of my favorite manga series of all time yet again. Yona of the Dawn is my pick.

ASH: Yona of the Dawn is a fine choice! (And one of my favorite shoujo series currently being released.) However, the debut I’m most curious about this week is Jujutsu Kaisen, also from Viz, so that’s what’ll get my official pick this week.

MICHELLE: I love Yona of the Dawn but since that’s covered I’ll go with volume 22 of My Hero Academia. Long have I wanted to get more of class 1-B and their various Quirks, as well as more Shinsou, and this arc of the manga delivers on both accounts.

KATE: Holy manga haul, Batman! I could recommend at least eight titles from this week’s new arrival list. If I had to narrow it down to just two, my nominations would be Drifting Dragons, a gorgeously illustrated adventure story about a team of whalers—er, dragon hunters—and the digital edition of Dream Fossil: The Complete Stories of Satoshi Kon, which I reviewed a few years ago.

MELINDA: There’s a lot of interesting stuff coming out this week, but since the rest of the Battle Robot seems to have it covered, I’ll speak up for Vertical’s 20th Anniversary Edition of Paradise Kiss. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over wanting more Ai Yazawa, but I’m also pretty sure that’s something I’ll have to content myself with wanting forever. Meanwhile, I love the fact that we’re repeatedly celebrating what’s already there.

ANNA: I can’t pick anything else other than Yona of the Dawn, it is such a great series.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/30/19

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Let us give thanks for a hearty helping of briefs!

Beastars, Vol. 2 | By Paru Itagaki | Viz Media – If there was any doubt after reading the first volume of Beastars that I would be following the series, it has been completely banished after finishing the second. The sensitive gray wolf Legoshi continues to be a major draw for me, but so is Louis, the driven red deer who becomes an even more prominent character in the second volume (in addition to being featured on the cover). The scenes that the two share together are particularly intense, their contrasting personalities clashing and complementing each other in interesting ways. In part, using the framework of herbivore versus carnivore and the seemingly natural order of things, Beastars‘ narrative explores personal identities that challenge the expectations placed on individuals by a society that tries to neatly categorize them. But people are complicated and relationships are messy, something that Itagaki captures extremely well. Beastars is a dramatic and compelling series; I’m hooked. – Ash Brown

CITY, Vol. 6 | By Keiichi Arawi | Vertical Comics – Again, I feel that Arawi is not playing to his strengths by making this story of a city try to be as broad as possible. It’s best when there’s a through plot we can enjoy, such as seeing the restaurant owner/chef suffer from his cooking being average and his restaurant failing. There’s also some chapters that succeed by showing off amusing faces, such as the one where they try to figure out if one girl is mad or not (she’s not… at first), or trying to tell two identical twins apart when they insist on doing the exact same thing despite yelling about their differences. Unfortunately, when it’s random people doing random gags, it’s merely an average title. I’d like to be able to recall the names of anyone in this the way I can for Nichijou. – Sean Gaffney

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 7 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – This volume concentrates on fleshing out the cast and backstory, possibly at the expense of the humor—there’s been less and less each book—but it’s not unwelcome. particularly when we get Senshi’s backstory. Elsewhere, Laios may be a child of prophecy, and he and his group had better find his sister and somehow get her back or the elves will get there first and destroy the entire dungeon… which will lead to massive loss of life. That said, rest assured that there’s still some eating of delicious monsters in this book, which is one reason people started to read it. It’s just that now there’s a plot that is more important. Now that this series comes out so infrequently, each volume is even more of a treasure. – Sean Gaffney

Dr. STONE, Vol. 8 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – We’re finally leaving the village, as Senku and company decide to take the fight to Tsukasa, which involves building a car. Yes, they build a car. That said, that’s hardly the most surprising thing in this volume, as we’re reintroduced to Taiju and Yuzuriha, last seen seemingly being written out of the manga for being too boring. But now, six volumes later, they’re back, and they’re in Tsukasa’s camp. Which is good, as Chrome has been captured. There’s slightly less science and slightly more action in this volume, but that just helps remind you that this is a Jump title at heart, and it will be nice to see the original three stars back together again. Though can Taiju and Yuzuriha magically get interesting? – Sean Gaffney

Guilty, Vol. 1 | By Ai Okaue | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Sayaka and Kazu have been married for ten years, but only now has Sayaka actually told him she wants a child. Kazu does not. You’d think they’d have had this conversation over a decade ago! While he initially seems like a kind husband, readers soon learn that he is carrying on an affair with Rui, a woman who has positioned herself as Sayaka’s confidante at the bar she frequents, and is essentially keeping Sayaka trapped in a lie and denying her what she really wants. He’s utter trash, but Sayaka’s hard to sympathize with, as she is all too ready to believe his flimsy excuses. Drama involving GPS trackers, a coworker’s extramarital affair, and Sayaka’s first love ensues. I don’t really like these characters—though I have to admire how conniving Rui is—but I will probably be back for more. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 11 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The ‘serious’ plots here are Ishigami deciding to try and get serious about studies to woo the girl he likes, only to find out how hard that is when you’ve slacked off for so long, and the cliffhanger ending, where Shirogane reveals what he plans to do about college. There’s also some great stuff with Hayasaka having to once again pretend to be Kaguya’s butler in order to fool Fujiwara. But all that pales next to the extended chapters of rap battles we get which reminds you that when the series is trying to be as funny as possible there’s no equal. This was around when the anime was announced (there’s a chapter lampshading it), and I honestly can’t wait to see these chapters done. Still great. – Sean Gaffney

Melting Lover | By Bukuro Yamada | Kuma – This is a collection of BL short stories with a supernatural bent. In “Bottom of Heaven,” a reluctant hitman is followed by a hedonistic angel who helps his victims rest in peace. In “The Circus After Midnight,” troupe dancer Luce exposes his animal trainer roommate’s most closely held secret after said roommate fails to believe his father figure could be guilty of sexual assault. The best story of the bunch is “Melting Lover,” in which a typhoon carries a shapeshifting blob onto the balcony of Keisuke, who is obsessed with his (straight) senpai from high school. Does he fuck the blob? You bet he does. The worst is “Noisy Jungle,” in which an android tells himself it’s natural to boff his human pet, while clearly thinking of it as an animal. Ick. Overall, though, I liked these dark stories and would read more by this author. – Michelle Smith

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 2 | By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka | Seven Seas – There’s another prose short story at the end of this second volume, which mostly just involves Katarina dreaming she’s in another universe, based on a standard shoujo private school manga, and because it lacks the “fantasy” elements her fate is… far more tolerable? As for the main manga, Katarina’s reactions to everything are the reason to get it, as it can give us all the faces that the light novel art wasn’t able to convey. She meets Maria here, who (to no one’s surprise) falls for Katarina just as hard as everyone else has, and Katarina is just as unaware of it. Still, Maria is still being bullied, so the plot of the game is still happening. A great adaptation. – Sean Gaffney

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 6 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime (digital only) – I sometimes forget what an amazing balance Yamashita-sensei strikes between moments of romantic progress between Rihito and Mikado—like the scene where Rihito says, “I’ll help you. As long as it keeps you with me.”—and ominous reminders that Rihito has been through some terrible trauma and is a broken and dangerous person. In this volume, there are some parallels between his plight and that of Erika Hiura, who is trying to get away from the cult leader who’s compelling her to curse people. It was great seeing five to six characters in a scene together all working towards this common goal and feels like we might be heading towards a conclusion fairly soon. I hope Mikado emerges unscathed, but I do love that I am actually feeling some doubt about that. Can’t wait for the next volume! – Michelle Smith

One Piece, Vol. 92 | By Eiichiro Oda | VIZ Media – I was so worried going into this volume that Luffy was going to mess up the plans of the Wano rebels, which involve careful coordination and laying low for two weeks, neither of which he appears capable of. And, indeed, when he thinks Kaido has killed Tama, the little girl with whom he’s bonded, he picks a fight with the Emperor of the Sea. (I did appreciate seeing Luffy laid out by a single hit, though.) He ends up in a labor camp and, actually, this is for the best story-wise as it allows his more competent crewmates to help with the plan instead. It was so nice seeing Usopp distribute fliers, and Franky attempt to track down building plans for a mansion, and Robin snoop around in her geisha guise. I’ve missed those characters! This is shaping up to be a pretty fun arc! – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 43 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – I can’t recall there ever being a bad volume of Skip Beat!, but this one was exceptionally good. Kyoko has been cast as Momiji, but Moko did not get the role of Chidori, so Kyoko is worrying a lot about her (and feeling guilty). It turns out, however, that another challenging role has come Moko’s way. I very much love how these friends can talk to each other about their professional setbacks and opportunities. Meanwhile, Yashiro contrives for Ren and Kyoko to spend some time together, but it backfires when Kyoko, still beliving that Ren is in love with the horrible Morizumi, gets so overwhelmed by how he makes her feel that she gets mad. Poor baffled Ren. Still, I can’t help but feel that this is the start of some real progress for them. We shall see! – Michelle Smith

Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – This is a fun title to read, but there’s not particularly much to review here. Honda-san walks us through more problems that Japanese bookstores have, from author signings to employee turnover and reassignments, to the difference between BL manga and gay manga. We meet wholesalers, go to a drinking party, and once again deal with a wide variety of customers, including possible yakuza and those who simply buy 90 pounds of titles and can’t carry them out the door. And there’s also the fact that Honda’s manga is now out, which means trouble when one of the prior plotlines, the customer service coaching one, annoyed the bosses. Still good, but you may want to stick to the anime. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 6 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – It’s hard to top the last volume, which contains the two most famous chapters in the series to date. But this volume remains cute as a button, with an extended plotline involving a visit to a water park that shows off Nishikata’s nice side as well as his embarrassed and scheming sides, and reminds you why Takagi likes him so much. Even better is a chapter where she’s depressed (and thus not teasing him) all day, and he tries to find out why and cheer her up. Not that she’s willing to give up her place as the winner of every battle. That said, even the chapter with the eyedrops (which is another “will they try for a kiss” moment) has a tag reminding us these are still innocent middle-schoolers. Which is why this is so cute. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 12/3/19

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SEAN: Last month of the year. Gotta squeeze in all the manga and novels you can.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a bunch of stuff, mostly print. We get print versions of An Archdemon’s Dilemma 2 (the novel) and a digital version of the same (only it’s the manga). Adventures of a Bookworm also gets a 2nd digital manga. Cooking with Wild Game has a 5th novel digitally. How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord has print (7) and digital (11) novels, which may catch us up with Japan. There’s print Vol. 6 of If It’s for My Daughter, etcetc., Etc. Smartphone, and the Magic etc. Is Too Far Behind 6. (Look, it’s hard to type those all out.) We get the print debut of the Marginal Operation manga, and the 10th Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar novel digitally. I’m sure that paragraph makes total sense.

ASH: It makes me so happy that J-Novel Club releases print editions. (Still hoping for Faraway Paladin one of these days…)

SEAN: In print, Kodansha has Attack on Titan 29 and L*DK 14.

The digital debut is To Write Your Words (Kuchiutsusu), a josei manga from Kiss about an author who is great at platonic stories asked to being write something more sexual. She ends up getting help from… a dentist?

MICHELLE: As you do.

ANNA: That sounds hilarious, but I can’t keep track of all the digital manga!

MELINDA: I mean, that sounds great.

SEAN: There’s also Drifting Dragons 5, My Sweet Girl 9, Our Fake Marriage 2, Smile Down the Runway 4, and The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Down 9. There’s also digital debuts for the Satoshi Kon titles Dream Fossil and Tropic of the Sea, which came out a few years ago.

Seven Seas debuts PENGUINDRUM (Mawaru Penguindrum), a manga adaptation of the famous anime. It ran in Comic Birz.

ASH: Curious to see how the adaptation plays out since sometimes manga based on Ikuhara’s works can be dramatically different than their anime counterparts.

SEAN: They also have Harukana Receive 5, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 8, and a digital edition of the 4th Reincarnated As a Sword.

Tokyopop has a 4th Aria the Masterpiece omnibus and the 3rd Hanger.

Vertical has a gorgeous omnibus 20th Anniversary Edition of Paradise Kiss, which does admittedly remind me it’s also the 20th anniversary of fans begging for Neighborhood Story to be licensed.

MICHELLE: Yep.

ANNA: I would like to beg for Neighborhood Story! I have already bought Paradise Kiss two times, so I will probably not be getting this but it is great for those who haven’t already read the series.

ASH: Paradise Kiss is really, really good. Glad to see it’s being kept in print.

MELINDA: What everyone else has said so far! We need all the Ai Yazawa we can get, in whatever form it happens to appear.

SEAN: Viz has its usual pile. Debuting is Jujutsu Kaisen, a new Shonen Jump series that starts with a boy eating a finger and only gets weirder from there. For dark fantasy adventure fans.

MICHELLE: Urg. I was somewhat intrigued by this but finger-eating is pretty dang gross.

ANNA: Huh. I am curious although finger-eating does give me pause.

ASH: The cover of the first volume gives me Parasyte vibes, so I’m in, finger-eating and all.

MELINDA: Count me in.

SEAN: More Jump? Sure. Dragon Ball Super 7, Food Wars! 33, My Hero Academia 22, One Piece’s 30th 3-in-1 (which I think catches it up), One-Punch Man 18, Platinum End 10 (which still amazingly has not killed their careers), and We Never Learn 7.

MICHELLE: Several good things here!

MELINDA: I have not kept up with Platinum End, and I wonder if I’ve made a mistake.

SEAN: On the Shojo Beat end, we have Ao Haru Ride 8, Queen’s Quality 8, Takane & Hana 12, and Yona of the Dawn 21. Winners, all.

MICHELLE: Indeed, *all* good things, here!

ANNA: Yay!!!!!

ASH: A good week for good shoujo!

MELINDA: Even I’m reading most of these!

SEAN: Yen has a few titles that drifted into the first week of December. Debuting is You Call That Service?, a light novel series from Yen On from the creator of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years. It stars a man who winds up in the mountains and meeting a vampire girl. Expect humor.

Also from Yen On is Re: ZERO 11, So I’m a Spider, So What? 7, and Wolf & Parchment 4.

Just two manga from Yen: Happy Sugar Life 3 and KonoSuba’s 9th manga volume.

Have you finished your shopping yet?

Pick of the Week: Of Mice and Manga

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MICHELLE: I have wanted to read The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese for quite a few years, so to me there is really no other choice.

ANNA: Me too, I am excited for The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese!

SEAN: I’m going with Seven Little Sons of the Dragon, which has an amazing cover and I love its author’s other series. Short story collection 4tw.

KATE: I feel like a Vegas gambler stumbling across an all-you-can-eat buffet after being on a losing streak: I just want to fill up my plate with as much delicious manga as possible! Any week that brings a new volume of Blank Canvas, a one-shot manga by Setona Mizuhiro, and a collection of short stories by Ryuko Kui is a good week in my book. If I had to pick just one title, though, it would be Akiko Higurashima’s Blank Canvas, a funny, insightful, and brutally honest look at how she became a manga artist; it’s the perfect antidote for the testosterone-fueled nonsense in Bakuman.

ASH: I’m going to echo everyone here, Blank Canvas, The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, and Seven Little Sons of the Dragon are all at the top of my list this week! It’s American Thanksgiving in a few days… no one minds if I take a couple extra helpings of manga picks, do they?

MELINDA: Even if I knew nothing about it, I’d pick The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese based on the title alone. The fact that this is a much-anticipated title is just a bonus.

Manga the Week of 11/27/19

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SEAN: Happy Thanksgiving! We give thanks for this bounty of manga and light novels.

ASH: We do, indeed.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 7th volume of the infamous Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.

J-Novel Club has two debuts, both digital manga. The first is the manga adaptation of The Faraway Paladin, a favorite series of mine. It runs in Overlap’s Comic Gardo, a magazine that seems to exist so that its novels can get manga adaptations.

MELINDA: When Sean says “a favorite series of mine” I feel like I should take note!

Sweet Reincarnation (Okashina Tensei) is a seinen manga from TO Books’ Comic Corona, which is to TO Books what Comic Gardo is to Overlap. This is the story of a boy trying to become the strongest in the world… at being a pastry chef!

MICHELLE: Huh! Sounds potentially fun.

ANNA: I will usually enjoy food manga.

ASH: Same!

MELINDA: Signing up to be hungry as I read, I guess.

SEAN: On the novel front, J-Novel Club has the 8th, and so far final, Amagi Brilliant Park, and the 3rd Record of Wortenia War.

Kodansha has some print releases. First among these is the Magic Knight Rayearth Box Set. This, the first of two planned sets, is a gorgeous hardcover bells and whistles edition of the manga, in larger trim size as well. It has the first three books (i.e. Season 1), which also are getting a digital release.

ANNA: Pondering this. I think I have the old Viz version in the larger size stashed somewhere in my house.

ASH: This is one of the few CLAMP works I actually haven’t read. The set looks really nice.

MELINDA: Here for this!

SEAN: We also get Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 6, Fire Force 17, If I Could Reach You 2, and UQ Holder 18.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed the first volume of If I Could Reach You and look forward to reading the second.

SEAN: Digitally we’re getting Altair: A Record of Battles 12, Asahi-sempai’s Favorite 6, Boarding School Juliet 13, DAYS 15, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 3, Guilty 2, and A Kiss For Real 9 (the final volume).

Seven Seas has two debuts, which could not be farther apart from each other. One, The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume o Miru), is one of the biggest BL titles in recent years, and much awaited. It ran in Shogakukan’s josei magazine Mobafura.

MICHELLE: So excite!

ANNA: Yay!!!

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this series for so long! For a while there, it seemed like it was going to be unlicensable. Very glad Seven Seas was able to come to the rescue.

MELINDA: This!!!

SEAN: The other is How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? (Danberu Nan Kiro Moteru?), a shonen title from Shogakukan’s Ura Sunday online magazine, just got an anime series. A girl who wants to lose weight goes to the gym, where she meets a lot of buff guys, but also the student council president, and a hot instructor. I’ve heard it takes its getting in shape quiet seriously.

ASH: I’m actually really curious about this one.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Blank Canvas 3, the 5th Monster Girl Doctor light novel, and Servamp 13.

ASH: Blank Canvas is SO GOOD. (Granted, just about anything by Akiko Higashimura is… )

SEAN: Udon gives us a 5th Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu.

Vertical has the 3rd omnibus (containing Books 7-9) of Katanagatari: Sword Tale, from Nisioisin.

They also have the 13th Witchcraft Works.

Yen On also has a bunch of titles, though some of these are already out digitally. The debut is The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody (Shijou Saikyou no Daimaou, Murabito A ni Tensei Suru). The demon lord reincarnates but lacks a sense of perspective, and does not realize how powerful he is, or how many girls are in love with him, etc.

There’s also Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 2, The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Heroes 2, Do You Love Your Mom (and her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 4, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 5. Light novel titles are long, film at 11.

Yen Press’s manga debut is Seven Little Sons of the Dragon (Ryuu no Kawaii Nanatsu no Ko), a collection of short stories by the creator of Delicious in Dungeon. It ran in Fellows!, so is a must buy.

MICHELLE: Ooh! This hadn’t been on my radar.

ASH: I love Delicious in Dungeon, so I’m really looking forward to reading more by the creator.

SEAN: Ending next week is Kagerou Daze, whose 13th and final volume comes out. For those wondering what do do next, watch/listen to everything in order! The order is 1) songs, 2) manga, 3) light novels, 4) Mekakucity Actors anime.

Also out are Angels of Death Episode.0 3, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody’s 8th manga volume, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 3, The Honor Student at Magic High School 10, Is It Wrong to try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Familia Chronicle: Lyu’s 5th manga volume, Kakegurui Twin 4, Monster Wrestling: Interspecies Combat Girls 2, and Phantom Tales of the Night 2.

ASH: Ah, that reminds me I haven’t read first volume Phantom Tales of the Night, yet!

SEAN: Assuming you’re not too full of turkey, what are you getting next week?

Pick of the Week: Beasts, Eldritch Horrors, and Cute Girls

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SEAN: Yes, yes, Beastars. (see other entries below) My pick this week is a double shot of the girl tormenting the boy she likes, as I’ll pick the 6th volume of Teasing Master Takagi-san and the debut of Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagotoro. I enjoy this genre.

MICHELLE: Sean’s got me pegged. It’s high time I get on the Beastars train and I shall start by making it my pick of the week.

ASH: Me, too. The first volume was great and the second volume was even better. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Beastars continues to develop!

ANNA: I’ll go for Beastars as well!

KATE: As one of six people in the mangasphere who didn’t like Beastars, I’m going to buck the tide and pick the second volume of Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of At the Mountain of Madness.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/15/19

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Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 5 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – We actually get a welcome reminder that Iris is a “reincarnated into an otome game” heroine in this volume, something that’s mostly been ignored aside from her accounting skills. But when her younger brother tries to apologize to her for what happened at school, her Japanese self wants to forgive him but the “Iris” part of her just can’t. It’s well handled. Elsewhere, Iris is going around looking into Yuri and also threats to her kingdom, and it’s starting to get her into trouble. She’s also falling for Dean, despite trying to have nothing to do with romance again. We end with a cliffhanger involving excommunication! Still a lot of fun—I’d love to read the novels. – Sean Gaffney

Anne Happy, Vol. 10 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This final volume doesn’t really “wrap up” the main plot—there is no magical anti-bad-luck MacGuffin that can fix things. We do get a very small flashback of their teacher which shows that she had perhaps worse circumstances than the rest of them, but has learned to keep happy and carry on, so to speak. Which is the moral of the series, really—smile even though life is bringing you down. Hibari is the one who needs that lesson here, as a chance at a family reunion is once again fouled up by her parents’ busy lives. That said, we do see here that luck can also be changed through determination, which is nice. And is that some slight yuri at the end? Anne Happy was never anything but fluff, but it was highly entertaining fluff. Good ending. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 10 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Well, I did it. I persevered to the end and finished Dreamin’ Sun. To the end, I never was fully convinced by the relationship between Shimana and Taiga, and that includes the big finale here, in which the gang is able to get Taiga’s dad to stop meddling in his son’s affairs—we never really get a good explanation why Taiga has remained under his thumb for so long—and thus Taiga is able to go to college (alongside Shimana) and finally pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. They also get married and I must boggle at the detail that they do so after having only kissed once, two years ago. I don’t expect realism in shoujo romance, but I guess my credulity has its limits. I did like Zen and Saeko, though. In the end, this never came close to measuring up to orange. Oh well. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 5 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Izaya is setting up his plots again here, when he’s not fighting with his sisters, but the real villains this time around are Ruri’s psycho fans, who bat Shinra bloody and also attack Anri. Fortunately, she is saved by her two best frie3nds. Unfortunately, one of them, Mikado, is revealed to now be the leader of the Blue Squares, much to Masaomi’s horror. You know all this from the light novel and the anime—once again the manga gets third place. Still, some of the fight scenes are good, and if you’re looking for a manga version of the story, this is that. Damning with faint praise. We’re still only up to book eight or so, too. You really should try the light novels, which have now finished. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya| Yen Press – The first chapter of this final volume once again irritated me for burying me in next-gen cast all at once (along with Hiro’s sister, who again is not a main character so gets to be seen). It gets better as it goes along, with a serious look at not letting your parents’ abuse become your own fault. Sawa, it turns out, is connected to the Sohmas in a far more serious way than she remembered, and one flashback scene verges on terrifying. (Shiki says “she slipped on snow,” but that’s not what we see.) Notably, the situation is not resolved—she’s still living with her mom in the end—but then, we also learn it didn’t resolve itself for the Furuba cast either—Ren is making Shiki’s life miserable, because she’s like that. As such, this justifies this spinoff’s existence—barely. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – In this final volume, we learn more about Sawa’s psychotic mother, including that she had some involvement with the Sohma family in the past. When Sawa asks about this, with much dread, Mutsuki reveals the full story and that everyone knew who she was all along. In fact, Shiki was central to this past event and, with Ren continuing her reign of terror he felt kinship with Sawa and worried about what had become of her. The Sohmas were indeed trying to help her, but they were also trying to help Shiki, too. In the end, this did come around to being genuinely compelling and I wish there were more, because as Sawa notes, she still hasn’t made it out of her horrible situation. If only we could’ve been spared one last appearance by Takei-sensei. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 5 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – The start of this book gives all the fanservice that four was missing and more, as we get naked massages before a bath. Half of this is tolerable, as Ringo tries to find it in her shy self to go on a date with Tsukasa, and we get her tragic past, which (surprise!) involves a lot of child abuse. The second half involves making more medicine since the penicillin isn’t prevalent enough—time for sulfa drugs. Sadly, there’s an evil doctor who’s in the way, so our heroin doctor, um, lobotomizes him? And this is presented as good and/or humorous? Yeah, OK, I’m out. This was a mildly entertaining take on the isekai fantasy with an entire group of OP geniuses, but what the hell? – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Several of Enjoji’s manga series are now available in English, but An Incurable Case of Love is actually the first that I’ve read. Five years ago, Nanase was inspired to go into medicine after meeting an attractive and accomplished young doctor in the hopes of meeting him again. Unsurprisingly, Tendo’s not quite the person she expected him to be when she finally gets the chance to work with him. In reality, her idealized prince has a harsh and exacting personality. Even though Nanase’s original motivation for becoming a nurse was perhaps less than pure, and while it may not be immediately obvious to some, she really does take both herself and her chosen profession seriously. Had it been otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked the manga, but the first volume is a largely enjoyable start to the series and I’m always glad to see more josei being translated. – Ash Brown

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – One of my initial exposures to Araki’s aptly named manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was actually through a tangentially-related work, Rohan at the Louvre, which features the character Rohan Kishibe, a rather intense genius manga creator. Rohan made his first appearance in Diamond Is Unbreakable, so I’ve been looking forward to his introduction since I started reading the series. His debut happens towards the end of this particular volume, following several other short story arcs including one, much to my delight, that proves any manga can indeed be a food manga. This volume has a fair amount of humor to go along with its strange brand of horror and absurd action, too. As a whole, this part of the series comes across a bit more episodic and perhaps slightly more comedic than its predecessors. I’m enjoying Diamond Is Unbreakble in all of its glorious ridiculousness a great deal. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!, Vol. 2 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – I don’t think I reviewed the first volume of this gag series spinoff to the famous shonen manga, but that’s a shame, as it’s really well handled. The gags are personality-based, and the series is not afraid to veer totally away from the source material when needed—half the sports festival is different events, and some battles that don’t lend themselves to gags are omitted. And then there’s Gran Torino, who does not live up to the adorable tsundere granddaughter teaching Izuku in his dreams. There’s a lot of great Uraraka stuff here, for her fans, and a lot of great Yaoyorozu gags as well, though her fans may be a bit annoyed at how socially inept she’s shown to be. Basically, this is hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 1 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – Given the cover art and the magazine that this ran in, I was expecting that I’d be reading about the lead couple on the cover. And I am, and they’re both cute—I like the fact that, despite having the “serious black-haired girl” personality type, Mafuyu is the only one whose grades are bad. But I’m actually more drawn to the other couple, Nana and Minori, best friends to main girl Koharu, who live in an apartment together to attend school and behave exactly like a married couple without actually being one. How yuri this will get is still unknown—so far we’re still at “I may like her”—but if you like your slice-of-life high school with a dash of sweet and cute, this will put a smile on your face. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 6 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Manga – I really loved how this volume of Shortcake Cake portrays Ten’s reaction to Chiaki’s surprising confession. She tries to let him down gently, and is upset about hurting her friend and conscientious about not leading him on. It’s not played for the drama of a love triangle—it’s just sad. And yet, she still does like Riku very much and wants to let him know that her feelings have changed, but now the Chiaki situation has made everything more complicated. Some really cute scenes ensue, but actually most of the volume takes place in Ten’s head as she worries and overthinks everything. We’re halfway through the series at this point and, though it seems like she and Riku will officially get together in the next volume, that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong somehow. Man, I love Margaret shoujo. – Michelle Smith

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – The second volume of Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san is much like the first, with Honda covering more aspects of the bookselling business, including the talented distribution chief with a knack for anticipating what will sell, dealing with “harmful publications,” wholesalers who never supply as many copies as are requested, the difficulty in promoting books that are receiving high-profile adaptations (particularly when bonus items feature popular idols), and dealing with a customer who happens to be a yakuza. It’s pleasant, but I was kind of bummed to learn that after Honda published the chapter about customer service training, she got in some trouble with her bosses and now has to get their approval for everything she writes and worries about being fired. That’s a shame. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this series was going to end with the next volume. The reason for that is a very surprise mutual confession between our two leads, something which I was not expecting to happen for at least a dozen more volumes. It is really well handled, though, and shows that these two shoujo protagonists are actually smart enough to pick up on signals. We also get some backstory for one of Zen’s two guards, Mitsuhide, who is asked by Zen’s older brother to watch over him and therefore must gain the trust of someone who doesn’t trust very easily—and even when he does, he seems to be betrayed. Zen and Shirayuki are very good for each other, and I’m excited to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | VIZ Media – This volume almost feels like a final volume, what with Zen and Shirayuki affirming their feelings for one another and their determination to stay by the other’s side, come what may. The final page seems to suggest a happy ending. Except this is volume four and there are 21 volumes so far. Maybe this was the point where the series changed magazines? In any case, it’s a very nice volume, with Shirayuki showing her willingness to act in Zen’s stead when his station prevents him from doing so—and giving us a glimpse of the upbringing that led to her always trying hard and being independent—as well as a revealing flashback to six years ago when Zen’s friend betrayed him but he found a new person to trust in Mitsuhide. I really enjoy this series! – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – There’s some gorgeous art here, which is good as it may take the mind away from the fact that this is really drawn out for a finale. The basic premise—send Asahi back and the water dragon dies—is obvious, despite Asahi’s protests, and you get the sense that the other gods will eventually do something about it, but it does take forever to happen, with lots of longing pages with no dialogue. Also, how does Asahi return to her normal life so quickly? Still, it’s a happy ending, and the last two pages of the “afterword” 4-kon section make up for it with a hysterical deconstruction of why the Water Dragon won the romance war and Subaru did not. Despite not quite sticking the landing, this was a very good series. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 11/20/19

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SEAN: There’s more November to come, and more manga as well.

Bookwalker gives us a 10th volume of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!, which according to LN fans is still the best series that I’ve dropped after reading the first page.

Lots of folks seem to have this already, but Dark Horse gives us a 2nd volume of At the Mountains of Madness, the new H.P. Lovecraft manga adaptation. Expect loss of sanity.

ASH: I’ve not read the source material to know how it compares, but I found the first volume engaging and plan on reading up more.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts Altina the Sword Princess, which comes from the pen of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord’s author, but I will try not to hold that against it. A gorgeous redhead with a big sword teams up with an apathetic soldier who reads a lot of books. Can they change the world?

We also get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 8, the 3rd Arifureta Zero spinoff, and Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension 6, the first new volume of this underrated series in two years.

Debuting from Kodansha is Tales of Berseria, another adaptation of a video game manga.

Also in print is Gleipnir 5, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 4, and The Seven Deadly Sins 35.

Digitally, there’s Cosplay Animal 9 (the first new volume of this series in over a year), Defying Kurosaki-kun 13, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 2, My Boss’s Kitten 2, and The Great Cleric 4.

There’s a cliche that the moment a light novel is licensed, some horny LN fan will ask if there’s sex in it. The answer, at least for licensed novels, is almost always no. But good news for horny fans! Sol Press has a new imprint called Panty Press, and they’re debuting the first 18-rated light novel in North America, Busy Wizard: This Warlock Just Wants to Provide for His Wives!. A warlock who’s grown strong in the mountains makes his way towards the imperial capital, but finds young women as he goes along.

ASH: Huh. I somehow missed the news about the new imprint.

MELINDA: I’m trying to figure out how to react to the name of that imprint. I don’t think it’s a great reaction.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a digital-first debut with Citrus+, the sequel to the popular yuri soap opera. Yuzu and Mei are now openly dating, what comes next?

The fourth Classroom of the Elite light novel also gets its digital-first release.

As for print, no debuts here, but we do get Classroom of the Elite 3 (in print), Generation Witch 5, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord’s 6th manga volume, My Monster Secret 18, My Next Life As a Villainess! has a 2nd manga volume, Reincarnated As a Sword gets its third LN in print, Shomin Sample 11, and Wonderland 4.

Tokyopop debuts Still Sick, a Mag Garden series about a woman who secretly draws yuri doujinshi and her bright and sunny colleague who finds out.

Udon has the 2nd Stravaganza omnibus, which hopes to be as bananas as the first one was.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give this series a try; maybe that time has come.

MELINDA: Same.

SEAN: Vertical debuts Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagotoro (Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san), which is part of a hot new genre of girls teasing guys (see also Teasing Master Takagi-san and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!). Nagotoro seems to be more aggressive about it than those others.

Viz debuts Levius/est, a continuation of the original Levius that changed names when it changes publishers – this runs in Ultra Jump.

ASH: Another manga I’ve been meaning to try! (I’ve apparently got some catching up to do…)

SEAN: They also have BEASTARS 3, Children of the Whales 13, No Guns Life 2, Ran and the Gray World 5, and the 4th Urusei Yatsura omnibus, which is the most important of those. (Look, if you want unbiased release lists, go somewhere else.)

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on BEASTARS.

ASH: The first volume was great! I just got my hands on the second, so hopefully the trend continues.

ANNA: I need to get caught up too!

SEAN: Yen On has the 3rd volume of 86.

Yen Press gives us Bungo Stray Dogs: Another Story, a spinoff manga of the light novel which is a spinoff of the original series.

ASH: That seems appropriately meta.

SEAN: They also have Kemono Friends a la Carte, a manga anthology with lots of cute stories written by various artists.

Lastly, we get Kaiju Girl Caramelise 2 and Teasing Master Takagi-san 6.

See? I told you we’d have more manga. What’s in your wishlist?

Pick of the Week: Mornings and Requiems

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MICHELLE: The final volume of Blue Morning comes out this week and, as I’ve enjoyed this more-complicated-than-usual BL series, both in terms of plot and characterization, I’m officially awarding it my pick of the week.

SEAN: Between Our Wonderful Days, A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, and the final volume of Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, I think my pick is for yuri this week.

ANNA: I’ve got to take the chance to celebrate Requiem of the Rose King.

ASH: There are so many releases I’m interested in this week! Requiem of the Rose King, Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san, and Delicious in Dungeon are a few of the ones at the top of my list, but since this the last time I can choose Blue Morning, I will join Michelle in making it my official pick.

MELINDA: I’m going to join Anna this week in once more celebrating Requiem of the Rose King! I’ll admit I’m a couple of volumes behind, but it’s always a pleasure to catch up with this series.

KATE: I only have eyes for one manga this week: Witch Hat Atelier.

Manga the Week of 11/13/19

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SEAN: The manga never stops.

Cross Infinite World has a new title out next week. Of Dragons and Fae: Is a Fairy Tale Ending Possible for the Princess’s Hairstylist? (Kamiyuishi wa Ryuu no Tsugai ni Narimashita (Yappari Machigai Datta Sou Desu)) is a fantasy romance, showing if nothing else that female-oriented titles can have names just as long as the male-oriented ones.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us the 10th Blade of the Immortal omnibus.

ASH: I’ve got my (out-of-print) single volumes, but the omnibus edition is a great way for people who don’t to collect the series.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a manga debut next week: The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, based off the light novel series, also out by J-Novel Club.

There’s also a bunch of light novels. Arifureta Zero 3, Ascendance of a Bookworm 4, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 3, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 14+ (note the odd numbering), and Infinite Stratos 10.

Kodansha… does not seem to have a digital debut? Is that possible? They do have 1122: For a Happy Marriage 2, Farewell My Dear Cramer 4, Giant Killing 17, My Boyfriend in Orange 8, Queen Bee 3, Ran the Peerless Beauty 6, Tokyo Revengers 13, and You Got Me Sempai! 7. Yay, Ran!

MICHELLE: I am very excited about more Ran and also more Giant Killing!

SEAN: Lest you forget they do print, there is also Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 6 and Witch Hat Atelier 4. Go get that second one, it’s a must-have.

ASH: It is truly lovely.

ANNA: I adore Witch Hat Atelier.

SEAN: One Peace debuts the manga version of The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

There’s some stuff from Seven Seas. Debuting we see Our Wonderful Days (Tsurezure Biyori), which seems to be Comic Yuri Hime’s “cute girls doing cute things” series, only because it’s Yuri Hime, they’re allowed to be more explicit about the yuri? In any case, looks very cute.

We also get Arpeggio of Blue Steel 15, Classmates 3, the 8th Make My Abilities Average! digitally, Freezing 25-26, Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 8, and a double dose of Skeleton Knight in Another World: the 2nd manga and the 4th novel digitally.

Sol Press announced a surprise license: Chivalry of a Failed Knight, a very popular “magical academy” series that got an anime and also gets compared a lot to Asterisk War. Its first three volumes are out in a bunch next week, both in print and digitally.

SuBLime has the 8th Blue Morning, and also debuts Yarichin Bitch Club, about a very special photography club, which runs in Gentosha’s Rutile. Seems to be comedic.

MICHELLE: I have really enjoyed Blue Morning. This looks to be its final volume, too!

ASH: The eighth volume is also the final volume of Blue Morning. I’m a few volumes behind in my reading, but I’ve really been enjoying the series.

SEAN: Vertical has a 4th Kino’s Journey.

MELINDA: I’m behind on the manga adaptation of Kino’s Journey, but as a big fan of both the source material and the anime adaptations, I have to say, “Yay!”

SEAN: Viz has Dragon Ball: A Visual History, which seems to be an artbook as well as Transformers: A Visual History, which is probably the same.

They also debut A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow (Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru), a Dengeki Maoh title that’s two high school girls who become friends… and maybe something more? Lotsa yuri this week.

MICHELLE: I’m super looking forward to this one! The covers are promising, at any rate.

ASH: I feel very much the same!

MELINDA: Sounds great!

SEAN: There’s also the 7th Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition, Radiant 8, Record of Grancest War 5, and Rin-Ne 31, but most importantly Requiem of the Rose King 11.

ASH: That is important!

MELINDA: Okay, I have to give at least a small shout-out to anyone who is getting to read Fullmetal Alchemist for the first time with these new editions. But also, REQUIEM OF THE ROSE KING ALWAYS AND FOREVER.

ANNA: Indeed.

SEAN: Yen Press has oodles of titles, some of which are ending and one of which is beginning. Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! is a comedic 4-koma series based on the Overlord LNs.

Ending this week are Anne Happy with its 10th book, Fruits Basket Another with its 3rd, Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl (also 10), and Sekirei (also 10, albeit the 10th omnibus).

NOT ending or beginning but just ongoing are Angels of Death 8, Chio’s School Road 6, Delicious in Dungeon 7, DanMachi: Sword Oratoria’s 9th manga volume, Hatsu*Haru 9, Murcielago 12, Nyankees 4, Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san 2, and Star Wars: Lost Wars 3.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Honda-san!

ASH: Me, too! And I’ll definitely be picking up Delicious in Dungeon, as well.

MELINDA: Chiming in for Honda-san as well!

SEAN: Oof. Stuff. What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Lots To Pick From

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SEAN: Much as I tend to rag on Mysterious Girlfriend X for the drool, it was very well written. And I’ve heard even better things about the \same author’s Discommunication, which apparently has some utterly fantastic art. Therefore it’s absolutely my pick this week.

MICHELLE: Can I just pick “VIZ shoujo” collectively this week? Three newer series—Daytime Shooting Star, Shortcake Cake, and Snow White with the Red Hair—have volumes, along with the finale of The Water Dragon’s Bride, the angsty fun of Anonymous Noise, and perennial favorite Skip Beat!! I’m down with all of it.

ANNA: Me too! My pick this week is the Shojo Beat imprint!

ASH: I can definitely get behind picking Shojo Beat as a whole, but the release I’m most curious about this week is the debut of Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World.

MELINDA: There are a few intriguing items on this week’s list, but I think I’m most excited to check out Melting Lover, the debut manga from Denpa Books’ new imprint, KUMA. I’m very interested to see what we can expect from them here!

Bookshelf Briefs 11/1/19

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Atsumori-kun’s Bride-to-Be, Vol. 3 | By Taamo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This continues to be a really cute, almost retro-feeling shoujo series. Atsumori and Nishiki are now officially dating, but he has stopped short of saying he loves her because he doesn’t know what that feels like. Meanwhile, she has come to understand how lonely he has been and how his future has been mapped out by his rich family. Basically, in this volume, they hang out at various times with her friends from her hometown. That’s it and yet, it’s wonderful! I love how honest Atsumori and Nishiki are with each other, I love how willing he is to try new things for her sake. And I love how he realizes that he does actually love her after all. Even a small detour into the cliché of “romantic rival who vows to take her away” can’t dispel my affections. Too bad we’re all caught up with Japan now. – Michelle Smith

Become You, Vol. 1 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – The brand new series from this creator (so new this is the only volume out in Japan as well) does not involve romantic pairings, at last not yet, though certainly there’s more going on with the childhood friend than she’s willing to reveal. Instead we have the story of two high school boys whose personalities are dissimilar and the way that they slowly bond through music. Very slowly—this takes a while to get going, and you can see why Hikari keeps brushing Taiyou off. The best part of the volume is Taiyou’s description of his tragic art past, featuring another dream-crushing teacher, which Japan seems to have in abundance. Again, this isn’t as grabbing as orange to me, but it’s still a very good start. – Sean Gaffney

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Vol. 1 | By Gou Tanabe | Dark Horse – Having greatly enjoyed Tanabe’s collection of short Lovecraftian manga adaptations The Hound and Other Stories, I was glad to see Dark Horse license more of Tanabe’s work. This time it’s a four-volume series adapting another story by Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness, about a scientific expedition to Antarctica that goes terribly, terribly wrong. I haven’t actually read Lovecraft’s novella, so I can’t compare Tanabe’s version to the original. However, I can say that so far the manga adaptation is immensely engrossing and that I look forward to the release of the remaining volumes. Tanabe does rely very heavily on wordless panels depicting the explorer’s faces as they look on in astonishment or horror, so the illustrations end up being a bit repetitive as a result. But at the same time this effectively tempers the pacing of the narrative, allowing the increasing sense of dread to slowly build. – Ash Brown

Hitorijime My Hero, Vol. 5 | By Memeco Arii | Kodansha Comics – I liked the first half of this volume quite a lot. Kousuke has a compulsion to play the hero, and he’s struggling to come to grips with the fact that Masahiro’s home life is a problem that cannot be solved by his intervention. I appreciate that Arii-sensei is acknowledging how Masahiro’s situation affects him, and how valuable it is for him to have someone like Kousuke to talk to about this stuff. They’re saving each other, in a way. All that was very nice, but then we segue into a plotline about how Hasegawa is frustrated by Kensuke’s disinterest in sex, culminating in a cliffhanger where it seems like he’s coming on to Masahiro. I could really do without all of this, especially as I predict misunderstandings will ensue. I have very little patience for that sort of thing. Still, I will keep reading. – Michelle Smith

In/Spectre, Vol. 10 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – I was amused at the general thrust of the first half of the book being about how horrible Kotoko is, if only as she’s pretty much the main reason people are fans of this series… including me. She’s still in the mystery club, giving realistic explanations for events even if they may be supernatural after all—this needs to continue to be a casual club. Then we get a story about a dying old man who wants Kotoko to force his kids to realize that he murdered their mother… even if in reality he hired a fox demon to do it. And Rikka is on the cover, but doesn’t do much except have phenomenal luck and hate Kotoko. Still a very well-written series. Oh, and Kotoko’s underwear is paisley. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 21 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The first half of this continues the Endeavor plotline, and also shows off Hawks, who gets to be an apparent triple agent. The best part of it, and one of the best moments in the entire series, is Todoroki’s reaction to his father’s massive facial scarring after the incident. Best noodle slurp ever. The second half has 1-A taking on 1-B in four-on-four battles, with Shinso being a fifth on both squads, one for A and one for B. If this leads to Shinso replacing Mineta, like he does in most fanfics, I’m all for it. In the meantime, 1-A wins the first battle, and the second is neck and neck, with Momo trying to show off her smarts. Will she pull it off? We’ll see next book, which is guaranteed not to be controversial at all. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 7 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – Kou’s in Paris, and her new boss is overly friendly in that French sort of way. Meanwhile, Rin is back home reading romance novels and literally imagining her and Kou as the couple. Oh yes, and the volume ends with a romantic dinner in an expensive restaurant when Rin comes to France to visit. All it lacks is “and then they went back to Rin’s hotel and made love the rest of the night.” As for the rest of the cast, it’s back to games, though this may be difficult for some—Aoba gets a bad cold, putting her in bed for a few days, and Narumi has to convince her traditional innkeeping parents that she’s not going to follow in their footsteps. Now that Sunshine Sketch has slowed to a crawl, this is a good replacement for it. – Sean Gaffney