Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 9/29/21

by , , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: The end of September brings some nice books, but also a long-awaited new volume of a beloved series, so let’s start with that.

Yen Press has Yotsuba&! 15! Do you know when the last Yotsuba&! came out? 2018, that’s when. Rejoice!

ASH: Ah! A great series to start us off with!

ANNA: Wow!

MICHELLE: When last we left off, Yotsuba and her dad were acquiring a car, so I look forward to some fresh new adventures.

MJ: Oh!!

SEAN: Yen Press also has A Certain Magical Index 24, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 5, In Another World with My Smartphone 3, Love and Heart 3, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story 3, and Star Wars: Rebels 2.

Apologies to Udon, who I forgot about last week. They have already out Steins;Gate 0 Volume 1, an alternate universe manga set after a Bad End from the original game. This is an omnibus of the first two volumes.

Square Enix has By the Grace of the Gods 3.

Seven Seas has been awfully quiet all month… TILL NOW. Get ready to be buried.

ASH: I am prepared.

SEAN: We start with the Bloom Into You Anthology, a collection of manga by various artists revolving around the cast of this yuri manga.

ASH: I like seeing these anthology volumes released. Once upon a time, seeing them licensed was somewhat rare.

SEAN: Hello World, the manga, is a complete in one omnibus retelling of the light novel. It ran in Ultra Jump.

Karate Survivor in Another World (Yajin Tensei) is a Dengeki Daioh title for those who wish that more isekai titles were like old-school Shonen Champion “teens fight” manga.

ASH: I am interested in portrayals of karate in manga, but am significantly less interested in isekai these days.

SEAN: The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today (Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu) is from Kodansha’s Suiyoubi no Sirius, and is about a young woman who takes in a giant cat… who’s really good at nearly everything. Better than her, at any rate. Cats and comedy, love it.

ASH: Indeed! Love a good cat manga.

ANNA: Sounds promising.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

MJ: This sounds fantastic!

SEAN: The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! (Murazukuri Game no NPC ga Namami no Ningen to Shika Omoenai) runs in Young Ace Up, and is based on the novel. I enjoyed the novel much more than expected, so the manga should also be fun.

Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling (Tensei Shitara Dragon no Tamago Datta – Saikyou Igai Mezasa Nee) runs in Comic Earth Star, and is ALSO based on the novel. I didn’t read that one, but I assume it is cute and has dragons.

That is SIX debuts. Wow. We also get BL Metamorphosis 5 (the final volume), How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King 7, Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 6, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 14, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 2, and We Swore to Meet in the Next Life and That’s When Things Got Weird! 3 (the final volume).

ASH: BL Metamorphosis is wonderful; I’m so glad that it was translated.

MJ: I never managed to start it, but now is the time!

SEAN: One Peace has the 16th manga volume for The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Kodansha gives us the first volume of the updated Eternal Edition re-release of Codename: Sailor V.

Also in print: Eden’s Zero 12, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 8, Fire Force 24, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 6, To Your Eternity 15, UQ Holder 23, and Witch Hat Atelier 8, the most important of those titles. (Please buy Witch Hat Atelier.)

ASH: Yes, please do! I’m a little behind in my reading, but To Your Eternity is a favorite of mine, too.

ANNA: Witch Hat Atelier is one of the few series I’m not behind on!

MICHELLE: I totally am!

MJ: I’m… I can’t even bear to speak of it.

SEAN: Digitally, our debut is The Girl, the Shovel, and the Evil Eye (Youjo to Scoop to Magan Ou), a Shonen Sirius title whose content is not as cute as it sounds. A man dies and is reincarnated as a worker in a mining camp, without any powers, even! But when he tries to help a bullied girl, will he have powers after all?

Also out digitally: Am I Actually the Strongest? 5, Back When You Called Us Devils 5, Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me 2, Fate/Grand Order -Epic of Remnant- Pseudo-Singularity III: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa – Seven Duels of Swordmasters 3, The Great Cleric 7, Harem Marriage 9, Mr. Bride 2, Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 4, That’s My Atypical Girl 2, and What I Love About You 7. Half that list is just the title of the Fate book.

J-Novel Club has 4 debuts, three light novels and one manga. Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools (Madougushi Dahliya wa Utsumukanai) is a J-Novel Heart series about a woman who was isekai’d after overworking herself to death. She’s not a villainess… but she’s still dumped by her fiancee. She’s been trying to be quiet and get on with life… well, screw that. Now she resolves to make a career for herself.

Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World (TRPG Player ga Isekai de Saikyou Build wo Mezasu) is a series that features, well, an isekai’d guy using game mechanics in another world, but apparently the audience for this is more 45-year-old D&D players than teen MMO gamers.

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes (Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru) is a villainess otome game series from J-Novel Heart. In this game, most fans agreed that the support guys were better than the love interest. Our villainess is going after one… but the heroine is determined to stop her. We shall see.

Also out as a light novel: Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 10.

On the manga front, we get the debut of My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ—. Based on the light novel, it runs in Comic Earth Star.

We also get the 4th Record of Wortenia War.

Ghost Ship debuts Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star (AV Dan’yuu Hajimemashita), a Shinchosha title from Kurage Bunch about a young man who moves to Tokyo to enter the world of Adult Videos. It’s… harder than it looks. No pun intended.

ASH: I’ll admit to being curious.

MJ: Same.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World gives us Return from Death: I Kicked the Bucket and Now I’m Back at Square One With a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me. As you might guess, it’s a Peggy-Sue story a la Tearmoon Empire, and the title is also the plot.

Lastly, we have Airship. In print, they debut She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man, and we also get Classroom of the Elite 9 and The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 5.

And we get an early digital release of Berserk of Gluttony 4.

Ooof. The Suez is unstuck, folks, and the September of Quiet is over. What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: A Wide Variety

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: This week I am torn between debuts and final volumes. I really should be picking When Will Ayumu Make His Move?, as I love the author’s other stuff, and it looks cute and fun. But I’m sorry, it’s the final volume of Ran the Peerless Beauty, Kodansha’s answer to Kimi ni Todoke, and that has to be my pick, because it’s been regularly terrific.

KATE: I’m on Team VIZ; anytime there are new volumes of Maison Ikkoku and The Way of the Househusband is a good week in my book.

MICHELLE: I am sincerely looking forward to the finale of Ran the Peerless Beauty, but I just can’t pass up the chance to pick something that looks as sweet as Would You Like to be a Family?. I’m still wary of TOKYOPOP, but I must admit they’ve really been putting out some great BL oneshots lately!

ANNA: I could really use a comedic pick-me-up, and The Way of the Househusband always delivers.

ASH: I feel like I’m behind the times because, well, I am, but the release that I’m most interested in checking out this week is Tearmoon Empire. I’ve heard really good things about this series; now that it’ll be available in print, I’ll be able to see for myself!

MJ: Okay, nothing is strongly calling out to me this week, though I am always ready to cheer on Maison Ikkoku. But perhaps I’ll through a hesitant vote towards When Will Ayumu Make His Move? which sounds fun and revolves around a strategy game, so worst case scenario, I can pretend I’m reading Hikaru no Go.

Manga the Week of 9/22/21

by , , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: Even the Delta variant cannot stop the flow of manga coming through.

ASH: Which is impressive, really.

SEAN: Airship, in print, gives us the third volume of Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs.

For early digital titles, we get Mushoku Tensei 13 and Reincarnated As a Sword 9.

Ghost Ship gives us Parallel Paradise 6.

J-Novel Club has some new print titles, the biggest one of interest being the print debut of Tearmoon Empire. The story of a spoiled princess who, after being executed, finds herself in her 12-year-old self, I highly recommend it to all light novel readers.

ASH: I’ve been looking forward to giving this one a try now that it’ll be available in print!

SEAN: Also debuting is the manga version of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

They’ve also got Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 7th manga, Infinite Dendrogram Omnibus 3, and Marginal Operation 7.

In digital, we get the manga debut of The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride. Also out in manga form: Black Summoner 4, Cooking with Wild Game 5, and The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 6.

Light novels out next week include The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 17, Seirei Gensouki 16, and Slayers 10.

Kodansha’s print debut is When Will Ayumu Make His Move? (Soredemo Ayumu wa Yosetekuru), from the author of Teasing Master Takagi-san. This is a Weekly Shonen Magazine title about a girl who is trying to get a guy to confess to her, and a guy who only wants to confess after he’s beaten her in shogi. As you guessed, he’s terrible at shogi. This seems fun.

ASH: That does sound like it could be fun.

MJ: Sounds fun indeed!

SEAN: In print, Kodansha has Bakemonogatari 10, The Daily Lives of High School Boys 7, Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 8, Drifting Dragons 9, Heaven’s Design Team 6, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 7, Peach Boy Riverside 2, Rent-a-Girlfriend 8, Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite 4, Star⇄Crossed!! 3, Sweat and Soap 9, and Those Not-So-Sweet Boys 4. Printer finally delivered the books, huh?

MICHELLE: Definitely looking to the shoujo offerings in that lot.

ASH: Ditto! I’m glad to see more Drifting Dragons in there, too.

SEAN: Digitally our debut is You’re My Cutie (Kawaii Nante Kiitenai!!), a new Betsufure series about a girl who loves manga about cute kohais falling for cool sempais. Then she meets her own kohai… and reality is not like the manga.

MICHELLE: Hm. Maybe.

MJ: What Michelle said.

SEAN: Also: Blue Lock 7, The Decagon House Murders 2, Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- 5, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 2, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 10, My Darling Next Door 3, Our Fake Marriage 7, Ran the Peerless Beauty 10 (the final volume), Will It Be the World or Her? 9 (also a final volume), and You Got Me, Sempai! 10 (also also a final volume).

MICHELLE: Must finish Ran the Peerless Beauty!

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts My Wife Has No Emotion (Boku no Tsuma wa Kanjou ga nai), a Comic Flapper title about a salaryman and his robot, and their growing closeness. Um…? Robot?

ASH: I will admit to being intrigued.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has The Dangers in My Heart 2.

Square Enix has The Apothecary Diaries 3 and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 5.

Tokyopop has Would You Like to be a Family? (Kazoku ni Nattemimasen ka?), a BL title from Gush about a soft-spoken man drawn into his loud co-worker’s life… complete with loud co-worker’s child. This looks sweet.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

SEAN: Viz gives us BEASTARS 14, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction 10, Fist of the North Star 2, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku 10, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 5, and The Way of the Househusband 6.

ANNA: Always glad for more Househusband.

ASH: Same! And I’m still super excited we’re getting Fist of the North Star, too.

SEAN: Actually, come to think of it, this IS less than usual. Manga, are you OK?

ANNA: I am concerned!

ASH: Supply chain disruptions are real!

Pick of the Week: Mao and Meow

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

ASH: While I haven’t read everything by Rumiko Takahashi available in English, I have enjoyed everything that I have, so this week I’m particularly looking forward to giving the debut of Mao. The manga also has the advantage of at least partly taking place in Taishō period Japan, a setting which seems particularly well-suited for supernatural horror. (At least it worked for Nightmare Inspector!)

SEAN: Despite the fact that Rumiko Takahashi has tended to do a lot of the same sort of thing lately, I’ll pick Mao as well. Sometimes you want McDonald’s.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely going to check out Mao, but I am really looking forward to another heartwarming installment of A Man and His Cat. I think I’ve gotta make that my pick this week.

KATE: At the risk of being predictable, I’m throwing my weight behind Mao, too, and crossing my fingers that it’s a worthy successor to Mermaid Saga and InuYasha.

ANNA: I’ll pick Mao as well!

MJ: I’m a bit hit or miss with Takahashi, but Mao really does sound like it could be a hit with me. So I’ll jump on this bandwagon as well!

Bookshelf Briefs 9/13/21

by and 2 Comments

A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy, Vol. 4 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Yasuhito Nogi |Seven Seas – Despite the cliffhanger from the last book, Junko and Gunha are too similar to really be enemies, and are both quite happy to resolve things via punching and GUTS!. Other than that, this is a good final volume to this unlikely spinoff, hitting on the best moral lessons from Railgun. (Everyone on the science side is terrible, but no one is truly irredeemable, especially the kids.) There’s also a PILE of yuri here, between Misaki and Junko, of course, but also Misaki and Kuroko, of all people, who is reminded that, at the end of the day, she will never be able to do anything but watch Mikoto’s back. Well worth the time for any fan of Railgun and its ilk. – Sean Gaffney

The Girl Without a Face | By tearontaron | Yen Press – I’m always interested in manga that feature yokai, so naturally I was intrigued by The Girl Without a Face, one of the most wholesome examples that I’ve read so far. The volume collects a series of short manga originally released by the creator on Twitter which focus on an extremely lovely-dovey couple living together as boyfriend and girlfriend. He’s a human while she’s a noppera-bo, a yokai that looks human except for the lack of facial features. (Granted, it appears as though the boyfriend’s the only human resident in a town full of yokai, so he’s arguably the stranger one of the two.) Most of the short vignettes follow very similar patterns and beats, the stories focusing on the power of the couple’s love and devotion to see them through any sort of communication challenge. The Girl Without a Face is admittedly repetitive, but it’s also very cute and sweet. – Ash Brown

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 1 | By Misaki Takamatsu | Seven Seas – This story about a girl from way out in the country and her adventures in the city shouldn’t work as well as it does, but it DOES work very well, being an incredibly strong debut. Mitsumi may have a lot of Manic Pixie Dream Girl to her, but instead of just one guy (Sousuke, who is clearly the Cheerful Guy With A Bittersweet Past), it’s an entire group from her school—the desperate social climber, the easygoing popular girl, and the shy nerdy girl. All of them are trying hard to deal with the ins and outs of high school cliques and pressures, only to watch Mitsumi sail right over it all. All this plus some excellent subtle trans representation make this a definite one to buy. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 14 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – I have expressed my displeasure before with Hakusensha shoujo seies padding out a volume by only having the main title for 2/3 of it and then putting in older, one-shots by the same artist to pad things out. We get that again here, and it’s still annoying. Especially because I’m really enjoying the actual story we get here. Despite the threat of Shirayuki and Zen being separated for a long stretch, they reunite here, if only temporarily. The bond between them reminds me that Obi fans really have a long way to go to convince the author. I also really appreciate the attention paid to medical research, how hard it is, and how often it doesn’t work. It gives this series a depth beyond the romance. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 7 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – Asako may sweat a lot naturally, but she also tends to sweat a lot because of her tendency to get stressed out. Thus the idea of finally meeting Kotaro’s parents has her wiping herself down multiple times a day. That said, this is not really a manga for extended drama, so no surprises to hear that the visit goes pretty well. The surprise is that Kotaro’s mother is blind, having gradually lost her site after she got married, but this is handled subtly and without calling too much attention to it. Kotaro also runs into the guy who hit on Asako earlier, but even then they end up bonding and discussing the importance of floral arrangements at a convention dedicated to scented products. This runs on pure sweetness. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 9/15/21

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: Gonna start reversing the list more often as, no offense to Seven Seas, I am tired of Airship getting the first image every week.

So we start with Yen On, who have a plethora of “delayed from August… and July” debuts for us! Four of them, in fact.

Bond and Book (Musubu to Hon) is a new series from the author of the Book Girl light novels, which I greatly enjoyed when they came out ages ago. Sadly, they came out before the LN boom, so sold poorly – I hope this does better. It seems to be a linked story series, as the books overall involve a young man who can “hear the voices of books”, and each book has him dealing with a specific problem. The first is called The Devotion of “The Surgery Room” (a short story by Japanese author Kyōka Izumi).

ASH: This sounds right up my alley. I, too, enjoyed what I read of Book Girl and I like book-ish type stories.

SEAN: Second we have If the RPG World Had Social Media… (Moshi Role Playing Game no Sekai ni SNS ga Attara), a series which I’m going to take a wild guess is a comedy. Would you challenge the demon lord via text?

Third we have Magistellus Bad Trip. A Certain Magical Index may be dead in North America, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a new series by the same author. A VR city with gambling and high stakes is about to be taken by a young man and his succubus partner.

Lastly, we get a spinoff from The Irregular at Magic High School, the appropriately named The The Irregular at Magic High School. Seems to be more of a continuation than a legit spinoff – they’re even keeping the numbering, as this is Vol. 17. But it has to be a new series, I’m sure.

ASH: Huh! That’s an interesting way of doing it.

SEAN: Viz Media debuts Mao, the new Rumiko Takahashi series. This runs in Weekly Shonen Sunday, and is definitely a step back towards serious supernatural/horror themed stories.

MICHELLE: Kinda curious about this one.

ASH: Same!

MJ: And me!

SEAN: Also from Viz: a double shot of Kenjiro Hata, as we get Fly Me to the Moon 7 and Hayate the Combat Butler 38. Other than that, it’s tie-ins galore, as we see Kirby Manga Mania 2, Pokemon: Sun & Moon 11, Splatoon 13, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess 9, and YO-KAI WATCH 18.

Tokyopop has A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 4.

SuBLime debuts Black or White (Kuro ka Shiro ka), which runs in Kadokawa’s Emerald. Two actors who are typecast in roles they’d rather not be doing are secretly lovers.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a try.

MJ: That does sound interesting, actually.

SEAN: Also from SuBLime, we have Jealousy 4 and Given 6.

MICHELLE: I am so behind on Given already.

ASH: I’m a bit behind, too, despite enjoying the series!

SEAN: Square Enix has the 4th volume of A Man and His Cat.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: Another yay!

SEAN: Another small week from Seven Seas. They have The Ideal Sponger Life 9, Plus-Sized Elf 7, and Reincarnated As a Sword 7.

One Peace debuts Multi-Mind Mayhem (Isekai Tensei Soudouki), based on the as yet unlicensed light novel. This story of a man with three different souls in his body – his own, a Japanese samurai, and a Japanese otaku – comes from Alpha Polis.

ASH: I am possibly intrigued.

SEAN: Kodansha, in print, has Orient 4 and A School Frozen in Time 3.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed the first volume of A School Frozen in Time.

ASH: I still need to read it, but I do have a copy!

SEAN: Digitally, as always, much more. Two debuts. Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss! (Online Game Nakama to Sashi Off shitara Shokuba no Onijoushi ga Kita) is a BL title from Ichijinsha’s Gateau, about a guy who tries to destress after days dealing with his evil boss by talking with a gaming friend online. then they meet up in real life and… yeah, you guessed it.

The other debuts is also BL and also from Ichijinsha’s Gateau. We’re On Our Own From Here (Konosaki wa Futarikiride) is a high school romance between two boys, spurred on by a girl seemingly confessing to one.

MICHELLE: This looks really cute!

MJ: I’m a sucker for this type of story.

SEAN: There’s also Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! 7, Ace of the Diamond 34, Giant Killing 26, Police in a Pod 4, The Springtime of My Life Began with You 4, Tokyo Revengers 22, We Must Never Fall in Love 8, and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 2.

MICHELLE: Lots of stuff here that I’m interested in! Mostly the sports, not gonna lie.

ASH: I’ll admit to being fond of sports manga, too.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts Dragon Daddy Diaries: A Girl Grows to Greatness (Totsuzen Papa ni Natta Saikyou Dragon no Kosodate Nikki: Kawaii Musume, Honobono to Ningenkai Saikyou ni Sodatsu), a title from the author of Sexiled and A Lily Blooms in Another World, so again, I would not worry about daddy-daughter issues here. This looks super cute, and is about what you’d expect: a dragon adopting and raising a human child.

ASH: Another book to add to the list to check out!

Also on the light novel tip from J-Novel Club: The Apothecary Diaries 3, Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 3, Perry Rhodan NEO 3, The Sidekick Never Gets the Girl, Let Alone the Protag’s Sister! 2, and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 6.

Lastly we have Airship. In print, they’ve got How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 12 and Muscles Are Better Than Magic! 3.

Two early digital debuts. The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan (Saikyou no Shien-shoku “Wajutsushi” Dearu ore wa Sekai Saikyou Kuran o Shitagaeru). Sigh. Weak. But really strong. Betrayed. Evil? Probably, but he’s our hero. Moving on.

Planet of the Orcs is from Kodansha’s Legend Novels line, and therefore I expect it to be pretentious as hell, even though when I look at the premise all I can do is sing “ORCS WITH GUNS!” to the tune of Duran Duran’s Girls on Film.

That’s a big chunk of stuff… but is it for you?

Pick of the Week: Picks New and Old

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: There’s a few debuts that interest me, but I admit by eyes keep getting drawn back to My Hero Academia, in the middle of its most brutal arc to date. What’s this heartwarming shonen title about? High school kids suffering! Can’t wait for more.

MICHELLE: Hm, yeah this is a tough week to pick. I’m intrigued by Springtime by the Window, but I think I’ll actually pick one of the other shoujo series I’m really far behind on, like Snow White with the Red Hair.

KATE: Against my better judgment, I’ll pick Springtime by the Window, if only to see what kind of manga Tokyopop is licensing these days.

ASH: I think I’ll be spending some time catching up on my shoujo series, too! But as for my pick, I tend to favor debuts, and the one by which I am most intrigued is A Tale of the Secret Saint. So, there you have it!

MJ: I’m sorry to say nothing is really grabbing my interest this week. So, thanks to Twitter, I’m thinking of rereading NANA instead. Of all things. So if you’re looking for me, check 2009.

ANNA: I’m going to pick Yakuza Lover just for the sheer insanity of it.

Manga the Week of 9/8/21

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s ALWAYS September, somewhere in manga land.

Airship has two digital first debuts. I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! (Ore wa Seikan Kokka no Akutoku Ryōshu!) is from the author of The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs, and is about a guy who lost everything in his previous life resolving to be evil this time. In space.

ASH: I’m beginning to see another trend emerging.

ANNA: I wonder if there are skeleton lords of space.

SEAN: The other debut is A Tale of the Secret Saint (Tensei Shita Daiseijo wa, Seijo dearu Koto wo Hitakakusu). A knight on the verge of death recalls her past life… no, not from Japan. She was a powerful Saint, a profession that’s almost extinct. A very dangerous profession. Now she has to hide her reawakened skills… but they’re simply too useful! This looks good.

ANNA: This does sound interesting!

SEAN: In print, Airship debuts My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s, which we discussed before.

They also have Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 2.

Cross Infinite World gives us The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor 2. (It got bumped.)

Ghost Ship has Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 15.

Two new novel series from J-Novel Club. The first is Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers (Lv2 kara Cheat datta Moto Yuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life), which makes me ill just typing it out. Guy has weak powers. Everyone hates him. Then he hits level 2. Suddenly he’s really strong. Men respect him. Women love him. Repeat as needed.

J-Novel Club’s second light novel debut is My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer (Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S Rank ni Natteta), the story of a dad who watches as his adopted daughter grows up to be really, really strong. For those who see “daddy” and “adopted daughter” and run away screaming, we have been assured this title is free of *that* sort of thing, and it’s complete in Japan, so they were able to double check this time.

ASH: It does seem like it could be promising, then.

SEAN: Other light novels (Japanese or German) out next week: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight 12, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 37, Jessica Bannister 2, Record of Wortenia War 12, Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons 2, and The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman 7.

The one digital manga title is Sweet Reincarnation 5.

Kodansha, in print, has Battle Angel Alita 2 (this is the reprint omnibus of the original series), and… that’s it.

Digitally, of course, there is much more. The debut is Sweet Sweet Revenge, and that’s its Japanese title as well. It runs in Kodansha’s Aria, and is by the author of Stupid Love Comedy, though I will try not to hold that against it. A girl has come to school to get revenge against 5 popular, handsome guys who did her wrong. Can she do it? This only ran two volumes, so signs pointing to no.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ASH: Maybe she’s just very efficient.

ANNA: I could be inefficient and just read Boys over Flowers again.

SEAN: We also get A Condition Called Love 8, Girlfriend Girlfriend 5, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 2, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 8, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 4, Smile Down the Runway 20, Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 10, With the Sheikh in His Harem 5, and Ya Boy Kongming! 4.

MICHELLE: I should get caught up on A Condition Called Love. I enjoyed what I read of it.

SEAN: Seven Seas has only one title: the 14th volume of Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō.

Tokyopop debuts Springtime by the Window (Madogiwa no Aoiharu),a rare non-BL title from them these days. It’s shoujo from Shufu to Seikatsusha’s Comic PASH!, so add them to the list of publishers still speaking to Tokyopop. It’s a high school romance with multiple couples.

MICHELLE: Hm. Also two volumes, so presumably TOKYOPOP will manage to release the whole thing.

ANNA: *Pours one out for unfinished TOKYOPOP series, again.*

SEAN: Lastly we have Viz, whose debut is Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance. This is a manga-ish title that’s more of a tie-in, but I’ll count it because the artist also did Tiger & Bunny.

Also out from Viz: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 12, Dr. STONE 18, Dragon Ball Super 14, Love Me Love Me Not 10, Mashle: Magic & Muscles 2, My Hero Academia 29, Prince Freya 5, Snow White with the Red Hair 15, Twin Star Exorcists 23, Undead Unluck 3, and Yakuza Lover 2.

ASH: I need to get a move on some of my reading before I fall even further behind!

ANNA: Me too, I’m excited for more shoujo and the insanity that is Yakuza Lover.

SEAN: What manga makes you yearn for the days of AOL?

Pick of the Week: Here Comes Mr. Bride

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

KATE: Maybe it’s because my house is a mess right now, but Mr. Bride sounds kinda hot…

ANNA: I agree, the idea of someone cleaning my house sounds like an amazing fantasy. Mr. Bride for me too!

SEAN: Love Otherside Picnic and can’t wait to read the manga version, but we so rarely get josei titles from the Big Three (Kiss, You, and Feel Young) these days that I too have to pick Mr. Bride.

MICHELLE: Yep, that was my inclination as well! Honorable mention to A Sign of Affection, which I really need to start reading.

ASH: Even if everyone hadn’t already picked it, the debut of Mr. Bride is where my attention is focused. Granted, I’m glad to see a new volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, too!

MJ: If for Kate’s comment only, I’m picking Mr. Bride! Though I can never pass up a chance to shout out to What Did You Eat Yesterday? as well!

Bookshelf Briefs 8/26/21

by , and Leave a Comment

Captivated, By You | By Yama Wayama | Yen Press – A collection of short stories that originally ran in the magazine Comic Beam, they all take place around the same school and feature some of the same cast intermingling with each other, but each can also be read as a standalone. This is not a BL title, but I’d say it’s BL-adjacent, and there are several relationships that you could see going that way. My favorites included a social media relationship done via cut-out “kidnapper” letters, a man trying to reinvent himself in high school… as the creepy dude everyone avoids, and a bullied kid trying to get petty revenge on his bully but being unable to because he’s too decent a person at heart. The stories vary in quality, but the collection overall is very nice. – Sean Gaffney

Days on Fes, Vol. 2 | By Kanato Oka | Yen Press This continues to hit at what it does best, showing off how awesome it can be to go to a music festival. You can hear things you’d never even knew existed, and you might even run into the singer of your favorite band incognito inside the crowd. Will romantic sparks fly?? Well, probably not, because honestly our two girls seem to be really into each other—as with Captivated, By You, this is not yuri or BL but it is yuri and BL-adjacent, as each pair of leads makes an awesome couple but isn’t actually one. If there’s one complaint it’s that so far this is almost entirely on the fan side of things. There’s a suggestion that might change, as we do get a few pages of one band, but I’d like to see more actual music—and more struggles. -Sean Gaffney

Happy Kanako’s Killer Life, Vol. 1 | By Toshiya Wakabayashi | Seven Seas – This is a black, black comedy, and if you find the idea of a happy-go-lucky girl killing people appalling, best to skip it. That said, if you do like black comedy, it’s wonderful. Kanako is an OL who just quit her job and finds that the new one she answered the ad for… is a hit man. Her first target… is her old boss. And she’s really good at killing people. Plus, it’s got great pay, and you get to go out and have meat and alcohol afterwards. Oh yes, and the book is filled with weird animal puns—and the animals appear behind Kanako as she says them, so the translation must have been FUN. This isn’t for everyone, but it’s gleefully silly and dark as hell, as you watch Kanako sink further and further to the dark side. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 20 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – It’s Valentine’s Day, and as you can imagine that means different things to different people in this book. We also find out that Maki is actually one of the most respected students on campus… it’s just we’ve only ever seen her reflected through her hilarious unrequited love, so we don’t get it (and neither do the main cast). Also, exam results are out, which means that Ishigami gets to show off the results of Kaguya’s tutoring… and Shirogane, who’s dropped to twelfth because he’s narrowing his focus to studying English for Stanford. Believe me, there’s still plenty of silliness, mostly from Fujiwara, but the characters are beginning to grow up and throw off the shackles of the past… or have it done for them. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 14 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Sometimes this series has a long-running arc, and sometimes it just coasts along on pure cute. This volume is one of the latter, and it is very, very cute indeed, which is the main reason people are reading the title, but does make things a bit difficult to pick out to review. Komi and Tadano remain the best couple who aren’t one, and everyone can see it. Manbagi is also clearly very much in denial about her own crush on Tadano, and I anticipate the next arc will be dealing with that. Najimi remains obnoxious but fun, Yamai remains obnoxious and not fun. If you’ve enjoyed other volumes, this is an obvious one to get. And it sure is cute, isn’t it? – Sean Gaffney

Medalist, Vols. 1-2 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Even if the story in this series weren’t great, I’d likely still be recommending it solely based on the art, which is frequently stunning, and has beautifully characterized expressions. Fortunately, the story is also excellent. A former ice dancer who was never quite able to go pro discovers a young girl who is trying desperately, despite her mother’s misgivings, to be an Olympic figure skater. Like a lot of lead girls in this sort of series, she’s not got a lot of knowledge but has a great deal of raw talent and iron will. Together, the two of them try to pull each other out of the depression they were in. The girl being eight years old means there’s a lack of mentor-mentee romance you might get if she were a teen. This is just sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Night Bus | By Zuo Ma | Drawn & Quarterly – Finding independent Chinese comics translated into English is something of a rarity, so I was very excited to see that Zuo Ma’s Night Bus was being released. I had previously encountered Zuo Ma’s work in the underground Chinese comic anthology Naked Body published by Paradise Systems. Drawn & Quarterly’s edition of Night Bus, translated and with ending notes by Orion Martin (founder of Paradise Systems), actually gathers stories from two of Zuo Ma’s books: Walk, a collection of ten short works, and an updated and expanded version of the long-form comic Night Bus. In these stories, Zuo Ma frequently incorporates semi-autobiography, fantastical dreamscapes, and the supernatural, working and reworking themes and ideas throughout the volume. Elements of reality and unreality are interwoven and fused in powerful, visceral ways, capturing intense emotions of anxiety and dread, but also evoking a sense of nostalgia. Night Bus is an unsettling, riveting, and compelling collection. – Ash Brown

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 12 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – The series works best when it’s equating the stresses and paranoia of the inner mind with outer monsters to match. Sometimes, though, it’s just a bunch of fighting, and the monsters seem to be there just to be antagonists. Fortunately, there’s still our two leads, who remain the best thing about this series. Kyutaro is trying his best to retain his sense of self, and fortunately he has Fumi to help, who is happy to go all the way with him, although perhaps not with the snake inside him. They don’t, however, and Fumi ends up getting her best moments when she shows off what a vicious badass she’s become. That said, the danger of this series is it doesn’t come out often enough, so I forget the plot a lot. – Sean Gaffney

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 13 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – The start of this volume is a lot of fun, as Sariphi ends up dealing with a tsundere female version of his highness, a woman who is said to have beast ancestry in her past and thus is accused of being evil. Given that this series tends to run on pure Fruits Basket, it’s no surprise that Sariphi is able to help with the pure power of shininess. All is not well back home, though, and it’s becoming pretty clear that endgame is going to be revealing the King’s other form as an excuse for executing him… and I would not be surprised if they blame Sariphi for it. This is still very good, and remains a wonderful reminder of the days when we always got piles of Hana to Yume manga like it. – Sean Gaffney

Sazan & Comet Girl | By Yuriko Akase | Seven Seas – Perhaps the most striking aspect of Sazan & Comet Girl is that the all of the artwork is in full color. Akase’s watercolor illustrations of planetary and interstellar backgrounds in particular are simply gorgeous. Story-wise, however, Sazan & Comet Girl isn’t particularly innovative, primarily revisiting and combining familiar tropes and character types of its genre. Even so, the volume is still great fun, coming across as a nostalgic, loving homage to older science fiction media. The entire series has been released as a single omnibus volume in English and doesn’t have obvious chapter breaks, so once the story gets going it just goes and keeps going, shifting from romantic comedy into action adventure before returning fully to its underlying love story. Sazan is goofball of a lead and Mina, the titular comet girl, is an endearing heroine—apart from the artwork, the manga is at its best when focusing on them. – Ash Brown

This Wonderful Season with You | By Atsuko Yusen | TOKYOPOP – Junpei Enoki is a bespectacled nerd who belongs to the electronic engineering club. Ryousuke Shirataki, a “normie” with a reputation for being cool and manly, is searching for something after an injury ruined his baseball prospects. After Shirataki joins the club, they get to know each other and, ultimately, fall in love. The tone is mostly comedic, with an art style that reminds me a bit of vintage shounen, and I really liked that some characters who seem like comic relief end up being important. I also loved how each boy has an unexpected side to him that the other sees immediately while others fail to notice. Shirataki appeared aloof, but he was actually suffering, and it’s so nice at the end to see him goofy and happy. I could’ve done without the final sex chapter, but aside from that, this was great. – Michelle Smith

Manga the Week of 9/1/21

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: Wake me when August ends or September begins, because this is technically manga from the last week of August. The theme for this week is “it got bumped”.

ASH: That seems to be a fairly common theme these days.

SEAN: Airship has a digital-first debut. Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! (Fushisha no Deshi ~Jashin no Fukyou wo Katte Naraku ni Otosareta Ore no Eiyuutan~) has our hero summoned to another world… and dropped at the bottommost dungeon with no powers. Fortunately he meets a girl who’ll protect him. Unfortunately, she’s undead. (It got bumped. Shut up. I am but one man. I can’t hold all these last-minute release date changes.)

ASH: I’m not sure anyone can, to be honest.

SEAN: Also out digital-first, The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 2.

In print, Airship has Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 7.

Cross Infinite World has Vol. 2 of The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor… no it doesn’t, it got bumped. ARGH. Moving on.

Denpa gives us Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI 3. (It got bumped.)

ASH: Still happy to see it finally coming out!

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Desire Pandora (Yokubou Pandora), from GOT Corporation’s Comic ExE. This is a borderline hentai manga that has two fetishes: demons and armpits. I’m not sure it has much else.

MICHELLE: …

SEAN: J-Novel Club brings us, on the light novel end, Ascendance of a Bookworm 14, Altina the Sword Princess 10, Girls Kingdom 4, The Great Cleric 4, and The Holy Crown of Marielle Clarac (7th in that series).

J-Novel Club also has some digital manga. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm 9, An Archdemon’s Dilemma 6, The Faraway Paladin 6, I Love Yuri and Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi 4, and Seirei Gensouki 6.

In print, Kodansha Manga has Cells at Work! 6 (the final volume), Chasing After Aoi Koshiba 2, Land of the Lustrous 11, Perfect World 7, Shaman King Omnibus 4, Sweat and Soap 8, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? 16.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Yoshinaga! I’m glad the wait between volumes has decreased a bit.

ASH: Hooray, indeed!

SEAN: Digitally, the debut is Mr. Bride (Watashi no Oyome-kun), a josei manga from Kiss. A woman who’s together at work but a complete slob at home is discovered by her co-worker, who refuses to let her messy house slide. Soon he’s … moving in with her? This looks cute.

MICHELLE: I’ll probably check this out at some point.

ANNA: I’m curious about this, for sure.

ASH: Ohhh, I am likewise intrigued!

SEAN: Also debuting is ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister!. Please see Manga the Week of 7/28/21 for details – it got bumped.

Also out digitally: Fate/Grand Order -Epic of Remnant- Pseudo-Singularity III: The Stage of Carnage, Shimousa – Seven Duels of Swordmasters 2, Magical Sempai 8 (the final volume), The Prince’s Romance Gambit 9, Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 3, A Sign of Affection 4, and Stellar Witch LIP☆S 3.

Seven Seas has Call to Adventure! Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board (Bouken-ka ni Narou!: Skill Board de Dungeon Kouryaku), a Futabasha manga from their online site based on a webnovel about a guy … you know, just look at the title.

Also from Seven Seas: Failed Princesses 4 and The King of Fighters: A New Beginning 6 (the final volume).

Square Enix Manga debuts Otherside Picnic’s manga, based on the light novels being put out here by J-Novel Club. I love this series and can’t wait to read the manga.

ASH: I really need to give Otherwise Picnic a try.

SEAN: Yen On debuts Meikyuu: Labyrinth Kingdom, a Tactical Fantasy World Survival Guide (Meikyuu Kingdom: Damu Tokushu Butai SAS no Ossan no Isekai Dungeon Survival Manual!), which is a dungeon crawl isekai, but this time starring an experienced soldier.

Also from Yen On: The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 20, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? 10, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 7, and You Call That Service? 4.

Lastly, Yen Press has new volumes. Black Butler 30, Dead Mount Death Play 6, If Witch, Then Which? 3 (the final volume), Kiniro Mosaic 11 (the final volume), Laid-Back Camp 10, and Little Miss P 3.

MICHELLE: I kind of forgot Black Butler even existed.

ASH: It has been more than a year since the last volume was released.

SEAN: What manga are you picking up, bumped or otherwise?

Pick of the Week: Saints Alive!

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: I’m always here for light novels that are not ‘variations on a popular theme’, like isekai and ‘weak to strong’… even themes I like, such as villainess titles. As such, my pick this week is Spy Classroom, which seems to be along the lines of “What if 86 was a romantic comedy with spies?”. I enjoy espionage-style titles.

MJ: I admit there isn’t a lot to lure me in this week, but I’m always happy to see a new installment of Saint Young Men, so sign me up for that!

MICHELLE: I’ll go for DAYS this week. I’ve fallen quite a bit behind, but I do enjoy it.

KATE: What, no votes for Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to Me?! C’mon, where’s your spirit of adventure? Seriously, though, this week feels like visiting the grocery store right before a major snowstorm (or hurricane, for that matter): most of the shelves are empty, and what’s left are a few rolls of off-brand toilet paper. But in the spirit of PotW, I’ll cast my vote for Saint Young Men, a manga I wanted to like more than I actually did.

ANNA: I will make One Piece volume 97 my pick since it is a favorite in my household.

ASH: It’s Saint Young Men for me, too! Hikaru Nakamura’s manga and particular sense of humor just works for me. My experience with Nakamura’s other series Arakawa Under the Bridge was similar.

Manga the Week of 8/25/21

by , , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s time to do the list backwards again! Which I do because I enjoy changing things up once in a while, and absolutely not just because I feel guilty that Yen Press never gets a cover art picture…

So let’s start with Yen Press, who debut Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast, a spinoff of the main series that runs in Shonen Ace. It focuses on Ryuunosuke Akutagawa.

ASH: Oh, interesting! I’ve fallen behind with Bungo Stray Dogs, but still greatly enjoy its premise and all the literary references.

Yen also has the 10th Goblin Slayer manga.

Yen On debuts Spy Classroom, which has gotten a lot of good buzz. A spy is tasked to train a crack squad into a top spy team… sadly, the words “crack squad” are used in the same way you might say “crack pairing”. They’re all useless! This should be fun.

Also from Yen On, we see the 8th volume of 86, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 2, Durarara!! SH 2, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 10, and Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! Bonus Story 2 (the final volume of this side story).

Viz Media has One Piece 97. Why it’s coming out this week, I’ve no idea. Get back to first week of the month where you belong!

MICHELLE: I’ve fallen a fair bit behind on One Piece, sadly.

ANNA: I’ve never even attempted it, but my kids have read through it twice courtesy of the Shonen Jump app.

SEAN: Square Enix Manga has Ragna Crimson 3.

Seven Seas’ first debut is Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers (Lv2 kara Cheat datta Moto Yuusha Kouho no Mattari Isekai Life), whose light novel J-Novel Club will be putting out. It runs in Comic Gardo. The plot makes me despair to type up. This guy is a summoned hero, but he’s really weak, so everyone hates and bullies him. Then he hits level 2, and all his cheat powers show up! I don’t think this quite goes “Now I’ll show them! I’ll show them ALL!”, but hey.

The other debut is Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! (Mezametara Saikyou Soubi to Uchuusen Mochi Datta node, Ikkodate Mezashite Youhei to Shite Jiyuu ni Ikitai). Airship already had the light novel version of this. If you enjoy “seems weak but actually strong” books but want them set in space, this might appeal. It runs on the Comic Walker website.

ASH: I think space could be a nice change of pace.

Seven Seas also has the 4th and final volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy, The Kingdoms of Ruin 3, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear’s 5th manga volume, Love Me for Who I Am 4, Skeleton Knight in Another World’s 7th manga volume, and The Tale of the Outcasts 2.

MICHELLE: Oh, is Skeleton Knight another skeleton isekai?

ANNA: How many are there????

SEAN: (Yes, it is another example of skeleton isekai, though the most famous one is Overlord.)

ASH: Once you notice the skeletons, they’re everywhere! (I’m particularly fond of Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, myself.)

SEAN: The only print release for Kodansha is the 6th omnibus of Saint Young Men.

ASH: Oh, that one’s for me!

MJ: Yes!

SEAN: Digitally, they debut Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me (Chihiro-kun wa, Atashi Holic), a Nakayoshi series about a girl who catches the eye of a fellow student and fashion designer. He wants her to model. He wants her to pose. He wants her to strip. He may be a little obsessed…

MICHELLE: Curious, I looked this up on Kodansha’s website. The first line in the blurb for volume two is “You have no right to refuse me doing this.” So, a big NO THANKS from me.

ANNA: Yeargh no thank you.

SEAN: Also out: Back When You Called Us Devils 4, DAYS 25, Harem Marriage 8, My Darling Next Door 2, and Quality Assurance in Another World 3.

MICHELLE: Gotta get caught up on DAYS!

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us By the Grace of the Gods 8, The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride 2, Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend: Roomies and Romance 3, The Ideal Sponger Life 4, and The Great Cleric 4.

Ghost Ship debuts Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You? (Otaku no Tonari wa Elf Desuka?), which runs in Kodansha’s Young Magazine. Japan is now having isekai elves and other types moving there to see what life is like. Our hero just wants to be a manga artist, but how can he when all these hot girls keep showing up and trying to seduce him? That’s rough, buddy…

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: Ghost Ship also has Call Girl in Another World 2.

Dark Horse has the 8th deluxe Berserk hardcover.

ASH: The Berserk are taking up a fair amount of my available shelf space, but they’re looking good doing it!

SEAN: Airship has a digital-first debut. Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! (Fushisha no Deshi ~Jashin no Fukyou wo Katte Naraku ni Otosareta Ore no Eiyuutan~) has our hero summoned to another world… and dropped at the bottommost dungeon with no powers. Fortunately he meets a girl who’ll protect him. Unfortunately, she’s undead.

Also out early digital is Classroom of the Elite 9 and Monster Musume The Novel – Monster Girls on the Job! (yes, yes, it got bumped).

Did anything catch your eye here? Also, does anyone even notice that I go in alphabetical order by publisher anyway?

ASH: It may be the librarian in me, but I do!

Pick of the Week: Beasts, Cats and Murders

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

KATE: Oh man… I don’t even know where to start. I’m morbidly curious about Kaori Yuki’s latest series Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost, even though I know that it’s probably a fever dream of non-consensual relationships, lurid plot twists, and wackadoo costumes. I keep putting it in my Amazon cart and removing it because deep down, I know it’s probably bad. Two titles I did pre-order, though, are the latest installment of Asadora!, a twisty, suspenseful story with a plucky female lead, and the second volume of What’s Michael?, a wonderfully weird and funny collection of cat comics.

SEAN: It’s a VERY nostalgic week all around, so I will pick What’s Michael? this week, because it’s so strange, and because buying it might mean Club 9 if we wish hard enough.

ANNA: I am also not sure if I’m actually going to read Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost but I will make it my pick just as a nod to Kaori Yuki’s chaotic energy.

MICHELLE: Although I’m also planning to read Asadora! and What’s Michael? at some point, and have at least some interest in Kaori Yuki, this week I’ll buck the trend and pick the manga adaptation of The Decagon House Murders. I’m a big mystery buff and the novel’s been on my to-read list for years, so I’m really looking forward to this one.

ASH: In addition to the latest Junji Ito manga, I’m interested in everything that everyone else has mentioned so far, but what I’m most curious about this week is Megumi Hayashibara’s The Characters Taught Me Everything now that it’ll be available in print.

MJ: I’m going to admit that chaotic energy is basically my kryptonite, which means there’s no way I can resist Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost. If I can’t have anything new from my favorite agent of chaos, Yun Kouga, at least give me Kaori Yuki.

Manga the Week of 8/18/21

by , , , and 2 Comments

SEAN: Mid-August, and I cannot confirm this, but I imagine it’s hot. At least here in North America. Australia might be saying something different.

Airship, in print, gives us Adachi and Shimamura 6 and Mushoku Tensei 12.

Digitally, the early debut is The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe (Wagaya wa Kakuriyo no Kashi Honya-san), a fantasy about a girl who lives in a bookstore that caters to spirit people. Then one day she rescues a boy from an exorcist family! Can she convince him all spirits aren’t evil?

ASH: This appeals to me on multiple levels.

MJ: Okay, same.

SEAN: There’s also The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 5.

Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of the enjoyable but exhausting to say title Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace.

Dark Horse has the 2nd and final What’s Michael: Fatcat Collection, rounding up the rest of what Dark Horse published from this classic 80s manga.

MICHELLE: Oh, hey! I was wondering what had happened with this.

ASH: Glad to see it finally coming out! I love the series and am happy to see it back in print.

MJ: Oh!!

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Shiori’s Diary (Shiori no Nikki), from Nihon Bungeisha’s Manga Goraku Special. A wife finds a diary showing evidence of her husband’s many affairs, so decides to start a diary of her own… and start having sex with others as well. From what I hear, this is more ‘high tone’ than Ghost Ship’s usual fare.

ASH: Huh!

SEAN: They’ve also got Destiny Lovers 7 and the final volume of Yokai Girls.

J-Novel Club has some nice print stuff for us this week. We get the debut in print of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, which is a skeleton isekai, but this one is a kinder, gentler skeleton.

MICHELLE: I was not prepared for the existence of the skeleton isekai genre.

ANNA: Nor was I.

MJ: Well, huh.

SEAN: Also debuting in print is the manga omnibus of The Faraway Paladin (which is also getting an anime soon). If you ever wondered what Superman would be like in a high fantasy world, this is not far off. This has Vol. 1-2.

ASH: I’m still waiting for the original novels to be released in print (supposedly coming next year!), but I’ll take the manga in the meantime.

Also out in print: Ascendance of a Bookworm 9 (aka Part 3, Vol. 2); By the Grace of the Gods 5; In Another World with My Smartphone 17; and Otherside Picnic Omnibus 2, with Vol. 3-4.

Digitally, J-Novel Club has Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?! 6, Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party 6, Otherside Picnic 5, Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 2, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 13.

In print, Kodansha brings us the latest Kaoru Yuki title, Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost (Rakuen no Bijo to Yajuu). This runs in Kodansha’s Palcy, and is probably in the artist’s usual genre of “is this romance, horror, or both?”.

MICHELLE: That cover is great.

ANNA: Good to see more Kaoru Yuki coming out.

ASH: Ooooh! Kaoru Yuki!

MJ: Oh, I’m so excited!

SEAN: They’ve also got That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! Omnibus 1, containing the first two volumes.

Also in print: Blue Period 4, the 16th and final volume of Boarding School Juliet, and Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest 5.

The digital debut may be more familiar to mystery fans: The Decagon House Murders (Jukkakukan no Satsujin), a manga based on the classic mystery novel. A mystery club travels to a remote island to solve an unsolved murder… but is this really all it seems? Umineko fans will find a lot of this rings a bell.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one!

ASH: Oh, nice! I enjoyed the novel, so will want to check the adaptation out, too.

SEAN: Also out: Cells NOT at Work 4, Nina the Starry Bride 4, Undead Girl Murder Farce 3, and Will It Be the World or Her? 8.

One Peace debuts a new title: I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School (Pashiri na Boku to Koi suru Banchou-san), a Kadokawa series from Young Ace Up. A boy is being used as an errand boy and bully victim by the girl gang leader of the school… or so he thinks. She’s actually trying (badly) to confess. I am always down for banchou girls.

ASH: Same!

SEAN: Also from One Peace, the 5th manga volume of The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

Seven Seas debuts Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero (Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha), a title from Houbunsha’s Comic Fuz that seems to be part of the popular ‘demon lord in modern Japan’ genre.

They also have Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) (Isekai de Slow Life o (Ganbou)), an Overlap series from Comic Gardo. A reincarnated guy does his best to avoid conflict in his new world… but he’s getting attacked, he’s getting slaves, and he’s getting more problems.

There’s also Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor 12, The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 3, Arifureta: from Commonplace to World’s Strongest 7th manga volume, Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 2, School Zone Girls 2, Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 2, and Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy 2.

ASH: I’ll have to admit, despite greatly enjoying the original series, I have yet to actually try any of the spinoffs of The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

Viz has a new Junji Ito manga, Sensor. Is anyone else reminded of the days when an Arina Tanemura manga would come out from Viz every month? It seems like we’re at that point with Ito.

ANNA: I would like to read more Arina Tanemura manga!

ASH: As would I! And more Junji Ito for that matter.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Asadora! 3, Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun 2, Golden Kamuy 23, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 16, Urusei Yatsura Omnibus 11, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 3.

Yen On debuts the print version of Megumi Hayashibara’s The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time, which had a digital version out a while back. This memoir is part talking about roles she’s had over the years and part self-help book.

ASH: I’m looking forward to this one.

SEAN: Yen On also has Baccano! 17, which wraps up the 1700s arc (and might seem familiar to anime fans), and Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 6.5, which, as you may have guessed from the number, is a short story volume.

What manga will you read no matter which continent you’re on?