SEAN: The shortest month of the year does not mean there’s less manga. There’s as much manga as ever. If not more.
Bookwalker apparently snuck out a 2nd volume of loli-shogi light novel The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done! this week, so if you hit that demographic, go and get it.
J-Novel Club has a 9th volume of Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, which should be back in the present, and my guess is lighter in tome.
Kodansha’s sole print release next week is the 15th Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, which seems to be cut down to twice a year, or the “Hayate the Combat Butler” curse, as I call it.
ASH: I really enjoyed the early part of the series, but I’ll admit that I’ve fallen behind with the manga as it seemed to constantly reboot itself.
SEAN: Kodansha does have a pile of new digital as always, though. Ace of the Diamond 8, Altair: A Record of Battles 7, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 4, Magical Sempai 4, Pumpkin Scissors 18, and Yozakura Quartet 20, the last two being Del Rey rescues.
MICHELLE: I still intend to read Altair and Hozuki’s Coolheadedness one of these days. I’m definitely keen on Ace of the Diamond.
MJ: I’ve given up any thought that I’m going to make it to these digital releases. I feel like a bad person.
SEAN: Seven Seas has no manga next week, but it does have two novels, one light and one not so light. The light novel is a print edition of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest.
The other novel is Perfect Blue: Complete Metamorphosis, the novel which spawned the huge hit anime movie from the late 1990s. Like Lodoss Wars, it’s a surprise to see this licensed, but I’m not complaining.
ASH: I’m on board for this! I’m also looking forward to the release of the sequel anthology later this year, too.
It’s the first week of the month, and you know what that means. Viz blitz! Let’s break it down into Shonen and Shoujo.
On the shonen side, we have Assassination Classroom 20, Black Clover 10, Bleach’s 22nd 3-in-1, a 22nd Food Wars!, Haikyu!! 20, a 6th volume from the 3rd JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure arc, the 10th Kuroko’s Basketball 2-in-1, My Hero Academia 11 (wasn’t it supposed to be speeding up?), One Piece 85, The Promised Neverland 2, and Toriko 41. A lot of really good stuff here, but let me highlight The Promised Neverland once more, as I can’t wait for the 2nd volume.
ANNA: So much Viz! I’m also looking forward to The Promised Neverland 2.
ASH: So much great, Viz, too! The second volume of The Promised Neverland will probably be on the top of that stack for me.
MICHELLE: So much goodness!
SEAN: For shoujo, we’ve got Behind the Scenes!! 5, Oresama Teacher 23, the 2nd and final SP Baby, and a 10th Yona of the Dawn. I am torn between Oresama and Yona in terms of most excitement.
ANNA: I’m not torn, I find Yona the most exciting.
ASH: I only recently started reading Oresama Teacher, but I’m loving it. I don’t have nearly the same backlog with Yona of the Dawn, though.
MICHELLE: I’m fond of Oresama, but yeah, I’m not especially torn, either.
SEAN: They also have a shoujo debut, Takane & Hana, which is a Hana to Yume title that, warning, does involve a rich arrogant ass who’s far too immature. That said, I have heard VERY good things about this manga, and the female lead is supposed to be great also, so I am looking forward to it. Plus, Hana to Yume. My shoujo alma mater.
ANNA: Sounds great!!!!
MICHELLE: Had this run in another magazine, I’d be way more dubious about it, but the fact that it’s a Hana to Yume title inclines me to give it a chance.
MJ: I’m definitely on board with this.
SEAN: What, you thought we were done? Nope, there’s the rest of Yen’s January releases, now moved to early February. There’s a 4th Big Order omnibus, a 3rd Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash manga, a 4th volume of Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler, a 3rd No Game No Life Please! (which has had three volumes come out since the last light novel was released), a 3rd Sekirei omnibus, and a 9th Taboo Tattoo.
There’s also new releases, starting with Kemono Friends, which is also an omnibus. and I believe complete in one volume. It ran in Shonen Ace, has an anime, and seems to involve animal people?
Oh My Sweet Alien! (Yome ga Kore na Monde) is also an omnibus complete in one volume. A story about a man and his wife, except the wife is… well, you can probably guess. It ran in Enterbrain’s fellows! and Harta, which means I have high hopes for it. That said, it ended quickly as the author passed away, so there won’t be any more of it.
ASH: Oh, intriguing! This series wasn’t on my radar at all.
SEAN: Lastly, there’s a 1st manga volume for The Saga of Tanya the Evil. If you can’t bring yourself to read the brick that is the Tanya light novel, this is a good alternative.
It’s cold out here. What manga are you curling up with?
SEAN: Some interesting stuff out this week, both in manga and light novels. I will be predictable, though, in choosing the first Baccano! manga. I read this when it came out as chapters digitally, and am greatly looking forward to seeing it in print. Plus, content that wasn’t in the novels!
KATE: I suspect I’m not the only one who’s eager to read orange: future; I still get the sniffles just thinking about orange, and am eager to see how Ichigo Takano continues the story. Looking over this week’s new arrivals, though, I’m also curious about Made in Abyss, which sounds like a dark fantasy-adventure with an interesting heroine. And I’ll also give a plug for PTSD Radio, despite its unfortunate title and godawful covers. It’s a solid horror series that benefits from unique artwork and an unusual narrative structure.
