Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 3/17/21

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SEAN: Middle of March, and still manga out there in the wild.

ASH: And plenty of it, too!

SEAN: Airship has two print releases, as we see Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 5 and The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen 2.

Cross Infinite World has a new one-shot light novel, Hey! You’ve Kidnapped the Wrong Royal!. The Demon Lord has arrived, and he’s kidnapped… our heroine’s brother? That can’t be right! Wait, he thinks her brother is CUTER? OK, this means war! This sounds deeply silly.

ASH: Possibly delightfully silly?

SEAN: Dark Horse has the third and final volume of Danganronpa Another Episode: Ultra Despair Girls.

Only one J-Novel Club title next week, Monster Tamer 3.

Three print books from Kodansha Manga next week: I’m Standing on a Million Lives 9, Perfect World 5, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 3. Oh, and Blood on the Tracks 5, I guess that’s Kodansha Manga now? Rebrands confuse me.

MICHELLE: Man, I just cannot get caught up on Blood on the Tracks!

ASH: I need to catch up on Perfect World, myself!

SEAN: Digital debuts? There’s two! One is Attack on Titan: No Regrets, the Complete Color Edition! Endure Levi’s tragic past all over again… IN COLOR. There’s new bonus content too, so be sure to double dip.

ASH: I’m so used to digital coming out before print these days, I hadn’t realized this wasn’t already available!

Also debuting is Blue Lock, a soccer manga from Weekly Shonen Magazine. The covers make the leads look slightly unbalanced, though I suspect it won’t play out as a soccer-horror title.

MICHELLE: You know I will be all over a new shounen sports series.

ANNA: Also looking forward to more sports manga!

SEAN: We also get A Girl and Her Guard Dog 2, GE: Good Ending 15, We’re New at This 4, and Will It Be the World or Her? 3.

One Peace has a light novel – The Reprise of the Spear Hero 3 – and a manga – The Rising of the Shield Hero 15.

Seven Seas has Shomin Sample 14 in print.

And there’s more digital Alice in the Country of Hearts. This time we get Ace of Hearts and Knight’s Knowledge 1-3, so for those who love Ace, this is your week.

ASH: I’m still glad to see the Alice books being made available again.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment should – hopefully – have the 4th volume of The Rose of Versailles.

MICHELLE: That would be nice!

ANNA: Looking forward to it!

ASH: Ditto!

SEAN: Vertical… erm, Kodansha Books… has an ebook version of Zoku-Owarimonogatari, the “final” volume of the Monogatari series.

Viz has one debut, a spinoff from BEASTARS called Beast Complex. It seems by the description to be a short story collection set in the world. It runs in Bessatsu Shonen Champion.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind reading BEASTARS, but that probably won’t stop me from picking this one up.

20th Century Boys: Perfect Edition comes to an end with Vol. 11. There’s also BEASTARS 11, Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku 7, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 3, No Guns Life 9, and RWBY: The Official Manga 2.

MICHELLE: Gah, I am so behind on so much.

SEAN: Lastly, though still Viz, Hayao Miyazaki’s two autobiographies, which came out in print some time ago, will be digital! Starting Point: 1979-1996 and Turning Point: 1997-2008. Both must-reads.

Is this not enough? Good thing there’s more March to go.

Pick of the Week: Penguins, Legends and Childhood Friends

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SEAN: Given that it turns out Manga Bookshelf are top-tier futurists, I’m tempted to pick March Comes in Like a Lion, but that will have to wait for 2022. And there’s plenty coming out this week anyway, including the new Shigeru Mizuki and a new volume of Rozemyne’s latest antics. But no, I am too tempted by the wonder that is Penguin Gentlemen, which wins for cover art alone. Hot damn.

MICHELLE: Penguin Gentlemen certainly has the most unique premise of this week’s batch, but I’m most drawn to some sweet Boys’ Love in the form of the first volume of I Cannot Reach You.

KATE: After reading Ash’s lovely review of Tono Monogatori, that’s my top pick for this week. But I won’t lie: a little animal-themed manga sounds pretty good, too, so add Penguin Gentlemen and Wonder Cat Kyuu-Chan to my list of “things I’m going to check out this week.”

ANNA: I’m not sure when I’ll actually get around to reading it, but Penguin Gentlemen sounds hilarious so that’s my pick.

ASH: It probably isn’t much of a surprise that Mizuki’s adaptation of Tono Monogatari is my pick this week – I’m thrilled that this manga is now available in English – but I will also admit that Penguin Gentlemen has caught my attention, too. Granted, for entirely different reasons.

Bookshelf Briefs 3/1/21

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BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 3 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – This third volume might even be stronger than the first two. Urara wants to invite Ichinoi to the winter Comiket, but after realizing just how hellishly long the line and walk would be in that season she bails on it… and indeed drops contact for a while, which makes her feel terrible. Then, when studying for college is taking too much toll on her, she reconnects, but this only reminds her that even after growing up and living your best life, you too will eventually have to sort it all into things to keep and things to throw away. The narrative doesn’t hammer this into the reader, it’s subtle and lovely. Something to cherish. – Sean Gaffney

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 9 | By Ukami |Yen Press – There’s no major new characters introduced here or any plotlines that are not “excuses for character-based humor,” but that’s fine, because character-based humor is what Gabriel Dropout does best. That said, there are also a few heartwarming moments here as well, particularly in the festival arc, as everyone gets separated. Gabriel is, as always, weak to physical exertion, but will still come through in a pinch. Raphael finally meets someone she can’t seem to tease in the form of Mei, and almost forms a motherly bond with her. And as for Satania and Tapris… well, no, that’s not heartwarming, but it is hilarious. This series probably has nowhere new to go, but I don’t seem to mind at all. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 26 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Most of this book is taken up with Endeavor showing our three male leads the ropes, which actually goes pretty well, and also having his daughter invite everyone over to their place for dinner, which goes a lot less well. Even if you leave out the fact that Natsuo ends up getting kidnapped by a villain with what might be the oddest quirk we’ve seen to date, the dinner itself is even more awkward than you might have imagined, and hammers home to Endeavor how much he can’t make up for the abusive father he’d been most of their lives. He needs a distraction, and we’re about to get one—Izuku’s ominous narration implies that a horrific event is coming soon. Still must-read shonen manga. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 5 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – This remains one of the best titles currently being released for fans of sweet romance, and I urge everyone to try to get past the “he likes to smell her sweat” premise. We get to meet the parents here—hers, at least—and discover that Asako seems to get her heavy sweating from her dad, who also seems to have her perpetually worried disposition. Fortunately, Kotaro is able to make a good impression. Then we get more of them trying to move to a place of their own, which comes with a lot of good advice for young couples trying to do this, as well as “how to look over a potential home for possible huge flaws.” And, well, the manga is still more than a little horny too, but also in a nice way. Highly recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Tono Monogatari | By Shigeru Mizuki | Drawn & Quarterly – In 1910, folklorist Kunio Yanagita published Tono Monogatari, a collection of legends from Japan’s Tono region as conveyed to him by a local storyteller, Kizen Sasaki. Nearly a hundred years later, many of the stories found in this pivotal work were adapted as short manga by Shigeru Mizuki. A folklorist in his own right, there couldn’t have been a more perfect match between creator and subject matter—Mizuki’s love for these supernatural tales and their place of origin is readily apparent from his pages. Similarly, another scholar of Japanese folklore, Zack Davisson, has now translated Mizuki’s Tono Monogatari into English, writing additional supplementary material and essays to accompany it. The volume is a treasure. Mizuki’s beautifully detailed landscapes establish Tono as the real place that it is even while the stories themselves focus on the uncanny. Reaching through time, the chilling tales are often short fragments, but effective in their brevity. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Listen to Our Picks

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MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to getting caught up on Wave, Listen to Me! and Haikyu!! and Spy x Family are extremely high on my list of favorites, but there is not much that could top a new volume of Skip Beat! for me, unless it actually was an announcement about March Comes in Like a Lion.

SEAN: Agreed, March Comes in Like a Lion would be the perfect pick if it were licensed, but alas. There’s tons of great Shojo Beat titles out this week as well, including Oresama Teacher and Skip Beat!. But my pick goes to the light novel Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, which ends its fourth arc just before the anime currently airing does. I will just barely be able to finish it before I would have been spoiled.

KATE: I’m behind on SPY x Family, so I’ll plug another series I like: Wave, Listen to Me, an appealing dramedy about a twenty-something woman who discovers she has the voice and the presence to be a radio host. If you’re yearning to read about messy people getting their act together, Wave is your jam.

ANNA: If Skip Beat! is coming out that is my pick! There can be only one and Skip Beat! is it!!!!

ASH: Despite greatly enjoying the series, I’m further behind in my reading of Skip Beat than I would like to admit. So my pick this week instead goes to another series that I’ve been enjoying Wave, Listen to Me, seconding everything that Kate has already said about it.

MJ: I’ve been embarrassingly behind on all these series, but I’m still pretty hyped up about Wave, Listen to Me!, which is the first of these I’d catch up on. So I guess that’s my pick!

Manga the Week of 3/3/21

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SEAN: March comes in like a lion with a pile of new manga, though sadly none of them are March Comes in Like a Lion. Get on that, Viz.

MICHELLE: Seriously!

ASH: Right??

SEAN: Airship debuts a new light novel with Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist (Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life ~ Isekai ni Tsukurou Drugstore ~). It’s getting an anime in the summer, and gets an early digital release next week. Our hero reincarnates in a fantasy world with a potion maker ability, and treats various folks, including a werewolf girl who falls for him.

ASH: I’m largely isekai-ed out, but this variation intrigues me.

SEAN: Ghost Ship, meanwhile, has the 5th and final volume of Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight.

J-Novel Club has a lot of new print titles. The debut is Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles, which is coming out as 2-volume omnibuses.

Also in print: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 10, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 4, Infinite Dendrogram 11, and Marginal Operation 5.

On the digital side we get Altina the Sword Princess 7, the 5th manga volume of Demon Lord, Retry!, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 13, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 6, Marginal Operation 6, and the 3rd manga volume for The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

In print, Kodansha Comics has Hitorijima My Hero 9 and Wave, Listen to Me! 5.

MICHELLE: I enjoy both of these for utterly different reasons.

ANNA: I’m so behind on Wave, Listen to Me!

ASH: I’m looking forward to catching up, myself!

SEAN: The digital debut is Araki Won’t Be Tamed (Araki-kun wa Kai Narasenai), a Dessert title about a young woman whose older sister is a famous actress. Now a famous actor declares his love for her… no, not her sister, her! She doesn’t buy this, but he’ll do anything to convince her… even be her pet. YMMV was invented for series like these.

MICHELLE: Yeeeeah.

ANNA: LOLOL

ASH: We shall see!

SEAN: All-Rounder Meguru comes to an end with its 19th volume. There’s also The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu 4, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 2, My Sweet Girl 12, Smile Down the Runway 18, and the 4th and final volume of Star⇄Crossed!!.

MICHELLE: At some point I should check back in with My Sweet Girl and see how it’s going.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts the Berserk of Gluttony manga, based on the light novel. The story of a boy who gains people’s skills when he kills them, it runs in Comic Ride.

There’s also the 3rd and final Who Says Warriors Can’t Be Babes?.

Digitally, Seven Seas has the first four volumes of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, which features Boris, and was one of the better series of the endless spinoffs.

ASH: I really liked this particular spinoff.

Viz has, as usual for the first week of the month, a lot of stuff. The first debut is a spinoff, Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya. Not an actual reboot but a prequel to the main series, showing us what actually happened with Senku’s father.

The second debut is also a spinoff, My Hero Academia: Team Up Missions. It runs in Saikyou Jump, a magazine devoted to spinoffs of Jump titles, and features the cast of Class 1-A teaming up with various pro heroes.

MICHELLE: I will read this, but I’d be ridiculously excited if this was Class 1-B doing the teaming up!

SEAN: And we also get: Daytime Shooting Star 11, Dragon Ball Super 12, Haikyuu!! 43, Love Me, Love Me Not 7, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 9, Naruto: Shikamaru’s Story (yes, I know, it got bumped), Oresama Teacher 28, Queen’s Quality 11, Skip Beat! 45, Snow White with the Red Hair 12, Spy x Family 4, and Twin Star Exorcists 21. I’m getting over half that list.

MICHELLE: Big same. I’m, of course, especially excited for a new volume of Skip Beat!.

ANNA: Tons of good stuff, I agree any week with Skip Beat! is a good week.

ASH: I agree – a really good Viz week!

SEAN: A lot of Yen’s February light novels got bumped to this week, making them March light novels. We get Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Love a Quiet Life in the Countryside 2, A Certain Magical Index SS 2, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 13, Re: Zero 15 (which ends the 4th arc), A Sister’s All You Need 9, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 8.

On the Yen Press side, there’s two debuts. Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? (Hokenshitsu no Otaku Onee-san wa Suki Desu ka?), a seinen title from Shogakukan’s Yawaraka Spirits. The school nurse is gorgeous… but also a massive otaku, as one student finds out. Can he get her to fall in love with non-fictional people? This is a done-in-one omnibus.

Yen also has the manga adaptation of the Solo Leveling novel.

Lastly, there’s the 2nd volume of Sword Art Online’s manga adaptation of Project: Alicization.

What title catches your eye?

Pick of the Week: Affection, Romance & Rock ‘n’ Roll

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SEAN: I’ve gushed about A Sign of Affection before, so I’ll make my pick Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance, because anything that runs in Flowers, even if it’s the online version of Flowers, demands my attention.

MICHELLE: I have to concur. I love suu Morishita’s Shortcake Cake, so I’m confident I’ll also love A Sign of Affection, but it’s hard to compete with Flowers.

ANNA: I’m very interested in Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance, but since Sean has handled the gushing for A Sign of Affection before I feel I must take up the banner and do some additional gushing, because it really is one of the best romance manga that I’ve read recently. I hope the arrival of the print version will inspire more people to check it out.

KATE: As someone who teaches a Rock History survey course, I am irresistibly drawn to Days on Fes. I can’t wait to see how the artist handles 20-minute guitar solos, long lines at the bathroom, and crazy pyrotechnics….

ASH: All three of the manga mentioned so far are at the top of my list this week, too! A Sign of Affection is probably the one that I’ll be reading first, though.

MJ: Like Ash, I’m interested in all the manga that’s been mentioned by my colleagues, but the one for which I’m most ravenous is A Sign of Affection. It’s at the top of my list!

Bookshelf Briefs 2/20/21

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Chihayafuru, Vol. 24 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Hooray, I’m finally caught up again on Chihayafuru! This volume finds Chihaya and friends lending their support to Harada-sensei as he vies for the Master’s spot. It’s satisfying seeing Harada-sensei begin to make use of the intel Chihaya provided about the current Master’s weakness, but absolutely the best part of this volume is spending more time with reigning Queen Shinobu, learning how lonely she is, and seeing once again how much she really needs someone like Chihaya in her life. I deeply hope that after this we’re able to see the two of them communicating more and supporting each other. I also really appreciate that despite being this intimidatingly good rival, Shinobu is also written with such warmth and sympathy. I want to see her happy. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 18 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The front half of this volume is filled with silliness and setting up future plotlines down the road, mostly in terms of Ishigami finally asking Tsubame on a date, but this volume is dwarfed by its back half, as we get one of the most serious chapters yet showing us Hayasaka’s day… which involves reporting on everything Kaguya does to her family… and her telling Kaguya that she’s quitting. Needless to say, Kaguya takes this as maturely and responsibly as you might guess, and the two of them head off to the class trip basically looking like a couple who just broke up. This is clearly going to spill over into the next book, and I expect it will be more serious. That said, there’s still tons of laughs here. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 11 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Manbagi takes a backseat here, and you get the sense that the author is mostly thinking of adding her to the cast herd—and boy, there sure are a lot of characters now, aren’t there? The best parts of this volume are developing the burgeoning… whatever between Komi and Tadano, who clearly are over the moon for each other but too reticent to do anything about it. Here we have a trip where their families run into each other, and a stargazing trip that heavy rain turns into snuggling up in a cabin to keep warm. The author of this series knows that its readers eat this like catnip, but is also aware that they can’t go to that well every single time. That’s why the cast keeps expanding all the time. – Sean Gaffney

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu, Vol. 1 | By Mito | Seven Seas – If there’s one combination of genres that I can’t seem to resist, it’s that of BL and food manga. And so I very happily picked up the debut of Manly Appetites and was delighted by its sweet silliness. While food is a legitimately important part of the manga’s story, so far the series doesn’t focus much on the food itself—there are no recipes given and hardly anything that could count as a cooking sequence is shown. Instead, the manga revolves around a single gag: Minegishi loves giving his office coworker Otsu food to eat, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he might be crushing on Otsu, too. Granted, Otsu doesn’t seem to be picking up on it either, much to the dismay of another colleague and friend. Manly Appetites is a cute and fluffy manga with lots of blushing, ridiculous humor, and charm; I’m looking forward to reading more. – Ash Brown

Takane & Hana, Vol. 16 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – There is still a very big issue with the age difference between Takane and Hana and the fact that she’s still in school, and as the series comes towards its conclusion, we know that eventually we’re going to have to see the consequences of it. That doesn’t happen here, but we come close, as Hiromi, struggling to understand a father who’s nothing like his idol, and having their secret exposed to that same father, promptly runs away from home. If nothing else, what follows shows how well Hana is maturing, handling the Hiromi situation like a pro (cell phone batteries aside), and also handling Takane quite handily too. They’ve both become experts on each other. That said, pretty sure everything goes public and falls apart next volume. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 21 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – Fights, fights, and more fights. Punching the clothes off the women in the cast multiple times because that’s how we roll with Akamatsu. That said, the Love Hina days seem long ago as he really is here for the battles and not much else. We get some backstory for two more of the UQ Holder team, which is good to see but unfortunately all I keep thinking of is how much one of them looks like Nagi from Negima, which reminds us how bad the author is at drawing different people. There are some surprising villains here, as the mind-controlled puppet side brings over a few very powerful guests. Fortunately, Yukihime shows up at the end to kick ass. I suspect that will take up most of volume 22. For Akamatsu fans only. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 2 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Thankfully, while it still comes up once or twice, the second volume of this romantic comedy does not continue to be “will they ever have sex,” but instead focuses on the quirks and faults of the main couple, who are both adorable—and also very into each other. Honestly, I could watch Sumika doing anything and be entertained—her character type is right up my street. Ikuma is harder, but the author makes a bit more effort here, with an amusing chapter on trying to hide a binge of camping equipment expenditure from his non-outdoorsy wife, or seeing her in her native school nurse environment. (She does not like students clustering around him.) This is cute, funny, and still sometimes sexy. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 2/24/21

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SEAN: As I write this, Texas is being hit with blizzards. Why not curl up… in your dark house with no power… with some manga?

Airship gives us the print volume of the 2nd I’m in Love with the Villainess, and also a print volume for Skeleton Knight in Another World 8.

ASH: I haven’t finished reading the first volume of I’m in Love with the Villainess quite yet, but I suspect I’ll want to pick up the second.

SEAN: Denpa’s site says that The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes 2 is out next week.

J-Novel Club has a trio of light novels. By the Grace of the Gods 6, Campfire Cooking in Another World 9, and The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 8.

On the manga side, they have The Faraway Paladin 4 and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 5.

Kodansha has two print debuts, though we’ve seen them both digitally before. Cells at Work: Baby! is essentially the superdeformed version of the series.

ASH: I enjoyed the original series, but haven’t managed to keep up with all the spinoffs!

SEAN: A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) is one that I’ve gushed about before, but here I am gushing about it again. This story of a boy and girl meeting and falling in love, it’s all about communication, as our heroine is hearing impaired, and our globe trotting hero does not know sign language. Fans of Kimi ni Todoke should check this out.

MICHELLE: I missed this when it was a digital debut, so I’m grateful for a second chance at it.

ANNA: Amazingly, this is one of the very few Kodansha digital titles that I have read, and it is absolutely wonderful. It is by suu Morishita, so fans of Shortcake Cake should absolutely pick it up. I’m sure I bought the first couple volumes digitally due to Sean’s gushing and just never posted about it. Morishita does some wonderfully innovative storytelling as the two main characters figure out how to communicate with each other, and the hearing-impaired heroine is portrayed with great sensitivity. I’m so rooting for Yuki and her first real romance!!

ASH: I’m really looking forward to reading this one now that it’s in print. Can’t pass it up with recommendations like that.

MJ: Well, how can I possibly resist after that glowing recommendation?

SEAN: Also in print: Heaven’s Design Team 3. The anime is currently airing.

ASH: I have legitimately learned things about animal life reading this series.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is How Do You Do, Koharu? (Gokigenyou, Koharu-san), by the author of (and in the same universe as) Say I Love You. Koharu (the younger sister of Yamato, the male lead in Say I Love You) prefers to keep her friends solely on the digital side… till she’s tempted by a follower who she might want to be more than just friends with. This runs, of course, in Dessert. I hope it is a bit less drama-filled than its parent series.

MICHELLE: I’d seen this one on the release calendar but didn’t realize it had any connection to Say I Love You. Interesting!

SEAN: We also see DAYS 22, Harem Marriage 2, Maid in Honey 6 (the final volume), My Best (♀) Butler 6, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 2, Shangri-La Frontier 2, What I Love About You 3, and When We’re in Love 5.

Seven Seas’s biggest debut may be one that came out first nearly 10 years ago. After a period where it seemed that you couldn’t go a week without a new volume, the Alice in the Country of _________ series vanished, allegedly due to licensing difficulties with the original creator. But now it’s back… in digital form! It’s getting rolled out over several weeks. This week we get The Clockmaker’s Story and Love Labyrinth of Thorns (Julius) and The Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party 1 & 2 (Blood).

ANNA: I think I’m tapped out of Alice in the Country of stories but I’m amused to see these being released again.

ASH: Oh, wow! I had somehow previously missed this news.

SEAN: In actual new titles, the debut is Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon (Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts), a yuri office romance story that runs in Comic Yuri Hime. Always happy to see more non-high school students.

And there is The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 2, Days of Love at Seagull Villa 2, Failed Princesses 3, and How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 5.

MICHELLE: I still haven’t even read volume 1 of Seagull Villa!

SEAN: Square Enix Manga debuts Ragna Crimson, a Gangan Joker title whose summary has the words “dark fantasy” and “revenge-fueled quest” and I stopped caring.

In much better Square Enix manga news, we get A Man and His Cat 3.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: Yes!

SEAN: Apologies to Tentai Books, I missed their debut light novel which is actually out later this week. World Teacher: Special Agent in Another World (World Teacher: Isekaishiki Kyouiku Agent) is another of those books where the plot is described by the title.

Tokyopop has a debut. The Cat Proposed (Bakeneko Katatte Sourou) is a one-shot BL title from Canna. A man watches a play and sees one of the actors has cat ears. Turns out he’s a bakeneko, and has chosen our protagonist as his spouse!

There’s also the 3rd and final volume of Still Sick.

Vertical has Ajin: Demi-Human 16 and Bakemonogatari’s 7th manga volume.

Yen On has had a few date shifts (try to contain your shock), but we do get a few new volumes this week… and two old ones, as Haruhi Suzumiya 3 and 4 get reprints. 4 is considered the series’ high point.

And there is Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 8, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody 5, In the Land of Leadale 2, Konosuba 13, and May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace 3.

There’s also a Yen Press title I missed last week, as it’s out this Saturday. Megumi Hayashibara’s The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time is her new memoir, and Yen is putting it out digitally the same day it comes out in Japan!

ASH: I really hope this is released in print at some point, too! It should be really good.

SEAN: Because of various delays and date shifts, Yen Press has FIVE manga debuts next week. We start with Adachi & Shimamura, the manga version of which we’ve already seen the light novel and the anime. Please enjoy Adachi’s gay panic and Shimamura’s attempts to be a functioning human being in a new medium. This runs in Dengeki Daioh.

Days on Fes is a series about two friends going to rock festivals, and that’s about all it is, from what I hear. Sounds like a Laid-Back Camp vibe. This runs in Comic Newtype.

ASH: Oh, that could fun.

MJ: I might be into this? As someone who used to go to a lot of music festivals, that is.

SEAN: The Girl without a Face (Kao ga Nai Onnanoko) is a one-shot from Comic Beam. A boy and girl are in love. She’s a bit… expressionless – literally – but that’s just fine. This looks both cute and spooky?

ASH: This could be fun, too!

SEAN: Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance is the sort of josei title folks were BEGGING for ten years ago. It runs in Flowers’ online magazine, and its author did Kare First Love, for Viz fans with long memories. A Meiji-era title about a half-Japanese girl who’s discriminated against and the boy who thinks she’s a fairy-tale character.

MICHELLE: Ooh! I actually do own all of Kare First Love, as it happens.

ANNA: I am a Viz fan with a long memory and I think I own most of Kare First Love too. I am officially intrigued and will be picking this up.

ASH: Same!

MJ: Same here!

SEAN: Lastly there is ID:Invaded #Brake-Broken, a title which hurts me when I try to say it out loud. It’s the sequel to the anime, and runs in Young Ace.

We also get Eniale & Dewiela 2, Mieruko-chan 2, Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! 6, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 13, Slasher Maidens 2, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun 7, The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 2, and A Witch’s Love at the End of the World 2.

ASH: I’ll likely be picking up a few of those, too.

SEAN: What manga melts the weather all around you?

Manga the Week of 2/17/21

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SEAN: Valentine Week is here! Looking for some sweet romance? Or bitter breakups? Manga is here for you.

As are light novels. Airship debuts Ride Your Wave (Kimi to, Nami ni Noretara), based on the anime film from the Eizouken director. It will likely be happy yet also sad.

ASH: I enjoy Masaaki Yuasa’s anime, but haven’t actually watched Ride Your Wave yet. Even so, I’m curious about the novelization.

MJ: I have watched it, and I’m absolutely interested in a novelization!

SEAN: Airship also has the print debut of Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs.

And they have How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 10, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 4 (print) and 5 (digital), Restaurant to Another World 5, and The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent 2.

Dark Horse has the 2nd Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition.

ASH: I was surprised to find the Blade of the Immortal deluxe edition was ever so slightly smaller than the Berserk deluxe edition, but they are still impressive tomes.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has two digital debuts. The first we’ve seen the manga of already: The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto), the story of a young woman sold to the Emperor’s Palace, and full of politics and intrigue.

ASH: I’m glad to see The Apothecary Diaries being translated.

SEAN: The other is The Magician Who Rose from Failure (Shikkaku Kara Hajimeru Nariagari Madō Shidō! ~ Jumon Kaihatsu Tokidoki Senki ~), which features a seeming failure who turns out to be brilliant after remembering his former life. The premise made me sigh, but I enjoyed this author’s The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!!, so will give this a shot.

Also from J-Novel Club: Full Metal Panic! 10 and I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! 2.

Kodansha has two print debuts, one of which we’ve seen digitally. Star⇄Crossed!! (Oshi ga Watashi de Watashi ga Oshi de) is the new series from the Kiss Him, Not Me creator, and is a soul-swapping comedy. It runs in Betsufure.

MICHELLE: I am finally gonna check this out.

ASH: Same!

MJ: Sounds interesting!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: The other debut is Those Not-So-Sweet Boys (Amakunai Karera no Nichijo wa), the latest Yoko Nogiri series. A hardworking young girl has to reform a group of seeming bad boys. This runs in Dessert.

MICHELLE: I really like Yoko Nogiri’s style, and will probably like this one, too.

ANNA: I am intrigued.

SEAN: Also in print: Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition 7, Chobits 20th Anniversary Edition 3, and Sayonara Football 3 (which is a rebranded version of Farewell, My Dear Cramer 1 – The title will be Sayonara Football going forward).

MICHELLE: Meanwhile, they’re still calling the digital version Farewell, My Dear Cramer? That’s nice and confusing.

ASH: I was wondering what was going on with that.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is A Girl & Her Guard Dog (Ojou to Banken-kun), the story of a yakuza daughter trying to have a normal school life… and her guardian, who is not about to let her fall in love. This runs in Betsufure.

MICHELLE: This potentially could be fun.

ANNA: A lot of this sounds great, but given the stacks of unread manga in my house will I actually get around to reading digital shoujo? Probably not.

SEAN: Also digital: The 11th and final volume of Dolly Kill Kill, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 8 (also a final volume), GE: Good Ending 14, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 3, Lovesick Ellie 12 (also a final volume), Shojo FIGHT! 15, We’re New at This 3, and Will It Be the World or Her? 2.

MICHELLE: I have really enjoyed Lovesick Ellie and though I’m sad to see it end, better now than before it drags on too long.

SEAN: One Peace gives us My Pointless Struggle (Waruagaki), a done-in-one title which is… biography? Sports? I’m not really sure, but it looks manly.

ASH: That it does!

SEAN: From Seven Seas, we get Cube Arts 3 (the final volume), Dragon Goes House-Hunting 6, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 10, Mushoku Tensei 12, My Senpai Is Annoying 4, and The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen 2 (also a final volume).

Square Enix has the 3rd Perfect Edition of Soul Eater.

Vertical debuts Haru’s Curse (Haru no Noroi), a josei title about a woman grieving for the death of her little sister from cancer. It’s a Zero-Sum title, and looks heavy but good.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to this one.

MJ: I am too.

ANNA: I’m always up for more josei, but maybe not heavy titles right now.

SEAN: Vertical also has The Daily Lives of High School Boys 4.

Viz debuts Assassin’s Creed: Legend of Shao Jun, which runs in Shogakukan’s Sunday GX. It follows the protagonist of the Assassin’s Creed: China game.

ASH: It’s interesting when franchises get split up between publishers like this. If you’re looking for other Assassin’s Creed manga, you have to look to Titan Comics.

SEAN: Going from A to Z, Viz also has Zom 100 – Bucket List of the Dead (Zom 100 – Zombie ni Naru Made ni Shitai 100 no Koto), also from Sunday GX. A corporate drone is exhausted and depressed. Then one day, he wakes up to a zombie apocalypse. His thoughts? “AWESOME!” This has some good buzz.

Also from Viz: Blue Flag 6, Golden Kamuy 20, Mermaid Saga Collector’s Edition 2, and Urusei Yatsura omnibus 9.

MICHELLE: Yay, Blue Flag!

ANNA: Yes!

ASH: Indeed! And yay to the second half of Mermaid Saga!

SEAN: Lastly, from Yen On, we get Solo Leveling. It’s a weak-to-strong dungeon crawl sort of book, which runs on the common trope these days of being able to see your stats like a game. It’s Korean, I believe, not Japanese.

Any of these pierce your heart with a shot of love?

Pick of the Week: Adults and Knights

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SEAN: Even Though We’re Adults. Boy, that was easy. Next?

KATE: This week, I’m all about the DRAMA–specifically, romantic drama. I second Sean’s recommendation of Even Though We’re Adults, but am also stoked for a new volume of Knight of the Ice. (No, it’s not as awesome as Tramps Like Us, but it is deliriously silly and fun.)

ANNA: Knight of the Ice! Who could fail to love this josei manga about socially awkward office lady’s romance with an otaku elite figure skater??? I am consistently delighted by each volume.

MICHELLE: These two definitely top my list, as well!

ASH: Multiple josei releases in the same week! It happens a little more frequently than it used to, but it still thrills my heart. The debut of Even Though We’re Adults will be getting most of my attention this time, but I have been enjoying Knight of the Ice, too.

MJ: Same here! I’m totally here for Knight of the Ice, though Even Though We’re Adults may be my ultimate pick. Either one could easily grab my vote!

Manga the Week of 2/10/21

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SEAN: Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the manga is so delightful.

Airship has an early digital release of Berserk of Gluttony 2 and the print release of Adachi and Shimamura 4.

Cross Infinite World has a one-shot shoujo light novel, As The Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings! (Watashi, Tensei Akuyaku Reijōnanode, Meribaendo wa Soshi sa Sete Itadakimasu!). You can probably guess the plot from the title. This also has material in it that was not in the Japanese volume.

J-Novel Club has two digital debuts. Are You Okay With a Slightly Older Girlfriend? (Choppiri Toshiue Demo Kanojo ni Shite Kuremasu ka?) is from GA Bunko, and is about a couple of high school kids who get together… then he finds she’s actually 12 years older than him. This… could be bad, to be honest, but Japan does love those age gap romances.

ASH: That is true; those stories have been around since at least the 11th century.

SEAN: The other debut just had an anime announced. My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! (Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai) is also GA Bunko, which seems to have given J-Novel Club its non-fantasy romcom titles. A guy is constantly belittled by his friend’s sister. But, when he has to pretend to be the boyfriend of the daughter of his boss, will her real feelings come out? Erm… yeah, I’ll try this too, but these two debuts summarize badly.

Also from J-Novel Club, we get The Bloodline 2, Cooking with Wild Game 11, and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 13.

Kaiten Books has a new digital manga release, The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting (Kumichou Musume to Sewagakari). This runs in Micro Magazine’s Comic Ride. It seems like one of those “bruiser guy brought to heel by a tiny little girl” sorts of titles. Cute and funny, in other words.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ASH: Oh, I often enjoy that particular sub-genre.

SEAN: No print debuts for Kodansha, but we do get A Couple of Cuckoos 2, Knight of the Ice 5, Something’s Wrong with Us 5, and The Witch and the Beast 4.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught back up on Knight of the Ice!

ANNA: Me too, I really enjoy this series.

ASH: It has been fun, so far!

SEAN: Digitally, the debut is Boss’s Wife (Gokukon ~Chou Dekiai Yakuza to Keiyaku Kekkon!?~), which runs in Ane Friend. A girl with a huge debt runs into a former classmate… who turns out to be a yakuza. He’ll buy her debt if she becomes his bride. Can she be a Yakuza wife? Man, the summaries this week are just brutal.

MICHELLE: I swore I thought this one looked kind of fun, but this summary is making me rethink that assessment.

SEAN: Also digitally: Ashidaka: The Iron Hero 2, the 28th and final volume of Domestic Girlfriend, the 12th and final volume of Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition, Peach Boy Riverside 4, Saint Young Men 9, Tokyo Revengers 19, and We Must Never Fall in Love 6.

One Peace has a 12th volume of Hinamatsuri.

A debut yuri manga from Seven Seas, Even Though We’re Adults (Otona ni Natte mo). From the creator of Aoi Hana and Wandering Son, this josei title runs in Kodansha’s Kiss magazine. A woman meets an old friend, they go out and more… then she finds the friend has a husband. Didn’t this sort of drama stop in high school? This one I’m definitely excited for.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

ANNA: This sounds interesting.

ASH: I’ve really been looking forward to this one.

MJ: I’d read anything from this creator, so count me in!

SEAN: There’s also a 12th Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho.

Square Enix has a 2nd volume of The Apothecary Diaries manga.

ASH: I still need to read the first volume, but i’m fairly confident this is a series I will greatly enjoy.

MJ: I have a soft spot for Square Enix basically always, and I need to get around to this, too.

SEAN: SuBLime has a new title, MADK. It runs in Printemps Shuppan’s BL magazine Canna, and MADK stands for Motsu Akuma to Danshi Koukousei. Seems to be rather bloody and violent, and has demons.

ASH: I am intrigued!

MJ: I like everything in this description, so yes!

SEAN: There’s a 10th volume of Finder’s Deluxe Edition, subtitled Honeymoon, and Given 5 from SuBLime as well.

ASH: I’m a volume or so behind on Given; this would be a good opportunity for me to catch up.

SEAN: Viz has Frozen 2: the Manga, a tie-in I would normally ignore except it’s by Arina Tanemura. Don’t expect an Idol Dreams crossover.

ANNA: I’m normally all about any Arina Tanemura manga but not sure I’m super stoked for a Frozen adaptation.

SEAN: Viz also has Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 12, Hayate the Combat Butler 37, Komi Can’t Communicate 11, Pokemon Adventures Collector’s Edition 6, and A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow 6.

MJ: Always here for new readers getting into Fullmetal Alchemist (or long-time fans expanding their collections), so I’ll always cheer for that!

SEAN: And Yen has some stragglers from January that got bumped. Including a debut, the manga version of The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat. The LN of this came out at the end of December. The manga runs in Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up.

And finally, after what I swear were 6 or 7 delays, the 4th manga volume of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level.

Since we’ve no place to go, what manga are you reading?

Pick of the Week: On and Off the List

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KATE: If you’re looking at this week’s new arrival list and thinking, “been there, read that,” why not check out Glacier Bay Books’ catalog? This indie manga publisher has been putting out a small but steady stream of manga by artists who aren’t writing stories about super-powered boys or boy-crazy teens. Though the catalog is a little hit-or-miss, Popicomi and <i<Glaeolia have some genuinely awesome material, and Glacier Bay’s new series En-Chan’s House looks promising.

SEAN: I think the digital version has been out for a few weeks now, but any excuse to pick Witch Hat Atelier is a good excuse. That said, I am also intrigued by She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends!”, whose plot appears to be “I met this hot girl who loves gaming and we did not immediately fall in love.” Certainly a rare plot in Japanese media!

MICHELLE: I’m definitely intrigued by Sasaki and Miyano and The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions, but since I know for sure that I enjoy Rei Toma’s particular brand of shoujo fantasy, I’m going to choose The King’s Beast this time!

ASH: I’m very happy to back up Kate’s highlighting of Glacier Bay Books – I just recently go my hands on the second Glaeolia anthology and it looks great. That being said, like Michelle, I’m also really looking forward to the debut of Rei Toma’s The King’s Beast.

ANNA: I’m a big fan of Witch Hat Atelier, but I have to say that I’m really looking forward to Rei Toma’s The King’s Beast. I thought that The Water Dragon’s Bride was a great artistic leap forward, so I’m curious to find out what will happen when she returns to the world of Dawn of the Arcana.

Manga the Week of 2/3/21

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SEAN: February! The most depressing month of the year! Let’s cheer ourselves up with some new titles!

Airship has two digital-first light novels: Classroom of the Elite 7.5 and The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent 3.

J-Novel Club has LOTS of stuff. Let’s start with print, as we get two new omnibuses. Banner of the Stars 1-3 is the light novel series, while How A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 1-2 is a collection of the manga.

ASH: The Banner of the Stars omnibus looks nice.

SEAN: Also in print: Ascendance of a Bookworm 7 (the final volume of the 2nd arc), By the Grace of the Gods 2, and In Another World with My Smartphone 14.

ASH: Hooray for more Bookworm!

SEAN: Digitally, J-Novel Club has two debuts. The Great Cleric (Seija Musou – Salaryman, Isekai de Ikinokoru Tame ni Ayumu Michi), whose manga adaptation Kodansha is already putting out here, is the first. A reincarnated Salaryman decides to try to live to a nice old age by being a healer. Little does he know…

The other debut is She’s the Cutest… But We’re Just Friends! (Ore no Onna Tomodachi ga Saikou ni Kawaii), a relatively recent series. A guy finds that the hottest girl in the school shares the same gaming hobbies he does. They quickly become best friends… so why does everyone think they’re dating? This looks cute and fun.

Also out digitally: Animeta! 5, An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 4 (manga version), Banner of the Stars 5, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 4 (manga version), Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 35, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 10, and The World’s Least Interesting Magic Swordsman 5.

MICHELLE: Animeta! is pretty fun.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying the series, too.

SEAN: No debuts in print for Kodansha, but we do get Eden’s Zero 10, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 2, and Witch Hat Atelier 7.

ANNA: Always happy for more Witch Hat Atelier.

ASH: Yes, indeed!

MJ: I realize it’s probably a very different slime, but after playing a lot of Genshin Impact, is it weird that I’m suddenly interested in that dude’s reincarnation?

The digital debut is My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought (Shin’ai naru Boku e Satsui o Komete), a dark title from Young Magazine. Virgin Eiji wakes up one day to find a girlfriend in his bed, his friend saying he got in a fight, and no memory of the last three days. What’s going on?

Also digital: Chihayafuru 24, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 3, Our Fake Marriage 5, and The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu 3.

MICHELLE: I can’t let a mention of Chihayafuru go by without saying “Yay!”.

ANNA: Wooo!!!

SEAN: Believe it or not, we now move to Viz. The debut is The King’s Beast (Ou no Kemono), the latest Rei Touma series, and set in the same universe as Dawn of the Arcana. The world isn’t great: those who are half-beast, half-human are discriminated against. So our heroine serves under the king disguised as a man. This runs in Cheese!.

MICHELLE: I really liked Dawn of the Arcana and The Water Dragon’s Bride, so I expect I will like this, too!

ANNA: I like both of those series, and I enjoy it when a heroine has to disguise herself as a man, so I have high hopes for this.

ASH: Ditto what you both said! I’m looking forward to giving this manga a try.

MJ: I admit I’m a little tapped out on “heroine disguises herself as a man” when it’s not actually about a trans person, but I’ll give it a shot.

SEAN: Shonen! Blue Exorcist 25, Boruto 10, Chainsaw Man 3, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 20, Dr. STONE 15, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 4–Diamond Is Unbreakable 8, Jujutsu Kaisen 8, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 18, Naruto: Shikamaru’s Story (a light novel), the 5th and final volume of Samurai 8, Seraph of the End 20, and We Never Learn 14.

ASH: I somehow missed reading the second volume of Chainsaw Man, so I’ll need to fix that. Also need to play some catch up with JoJo, too.

SEAN: Shoujo! Far fewer titles here. Shortcake Cake 11 and Yona of the Dawn 28. (Then again, Yona should count as 4 normal shoujo titles.)

MICHELLE: I’m happy about both of these.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Yay, Yona!

SEAN: Yen Press has two debuts. Sasaki and Miyano runs in Gene Pixiv, is based off a webcomic, and sounds sort of like the BL version of Horimiya.

MICHELLE: That’s intriguing!

ASH: Ooooh, when you describe it like that, I may need to check it out!

MJ: Sounds like this could be great!

SEAN: The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions (Kyuuketsuki to Yukai na Nakama-tachi) is a title that runs in Bessatsu Hana to Yume. A BL title based off of a novel, with art by the creator of Baby & Me, for those who recall that old Viz series. This is nothing like Baby & Me, but has lots of hot men, hot vampires, and hot vampire men.

MICHELLE: I was just reading about this mangaka yesterday because Kodansha announced their March debits and one of them is Ragawa-sensei’s Those Snow White Notes (Mashiro no Oto). Must be her time to shine.

ANNA: I have to admit, I’m intrigued by all these combinations of hotness.

MJ: There are some things that never get old. And by “some things” I mean “hot vampires”.

SEAN: Also out next week: Bungo Stray Dogs 17, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 10 (manga version), Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 14 (manga version), and Sword Art Online Progressive Barcarolle of Froth 2 (also a manga version, though the LN doesn’t have the subtitle).

Chilled to the bone this winter? Heat up with some manga. What are you buying?

Pick of the Week: Cuties, Spongers, and Magi

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SEAN: Not a lot of manga I’m really interested in this week, so my eyes turn to light novels. The Ideal Sponger Life is one of those “don’t judge a book by its cover” novels, which starts off a bit male fantasy but gets better as it goes along. I’m also very interested in the 2nd volume of Roll Over and Die, which combines yuri and grimdark in a way that doesn’t make me run screaming. Still, despite its manga being out already, Sponger Life is a debut, so I’ll go with that as the pick.

MICHELLE: There’s not a whole lot that tempts me, either, but I am at least somewhat interested in checking out Cutie and the Beast, so I will pick that this time.

ASH: I liked the first volume of Cutie and the Beast so I do plan on reading more, but my pick this week goes to Magus of the Library – I simply cannot resist fantasy librarians.

ANNA: I haven’t read the first volume of Cutie and the Beast yet, but out of everything coming out this week, that series is what I’m most likely to read next.

Pick of the Week: Asadorable Manga

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SEAN: Naoki Urasawa tends to be one of those authors I know I should get into but I never really have for various reasons, but let’s face it, there’s one really obvious pick this week and it’s Asadora, his new Big Comic Spirits series. Though Mama Akuma sounds good enough to be my runner-up.

MICHELLE: I’m in absolute agreement with Sean. The only Urasawa series I’ve actually finished is Monster, but it was great and I really did like what I read of Pluto and 20th Century Boys, as well.

ANNA: I’m picking Asadora as well, I’m always curious about new Urasawa.

KATE: I admit that I was pretty disappointed in both Mujirushi and Sneeze, so I’m a little hesitant to recommend Asadora. Instead, I’m throwing my weight behind the fourth volume of Shuzo Oshimi’s creepy thriller Blood on the Tracks. Love or hate his work, it’s impossible to deny his phenomenal artistic chops or his crack sense of pacing, whether he’s re-imagining The Drifting Classroom for adult readers or recalling the unbearable horrors of being fifteen. Blood on the Tracks is no exception: it’s tense, uncomfortable, and filled with the kind of panels that invite 4,000 word think-pieces.

ASH: Normally Asadora would be the easy pick for me, but this week I find that I’m intrigued by all the debuts about girls dealing with the supernatural – Rozi in the Labyrinth, Dear NOMAN, Mama Akuma – so I’m just going to choose that entire subgenre. That being said, Kate is spot on about Oshimi and Blood on the Tracks!

MJ: There’s a lot to choose from this week, including all the series everyone has mentioned so far (as well as the re-release of Saiyuki!) but I’m getting behind the one Sean called for me from the beginning. I’m going with Mama Akuma as my pick this week.