Ash Brown

SEAN: The first week of December seems like a cakewalk compared to the third, but that’s only a matter of degrees. Let’s see what we’ve got.

Dark Horse has an 8th volume of Blood Blockade Battlefront, whose 7th volume came out sometime in the 17th century, I believe.

ASH: That does sound about right.

SEAN: Ghost Ship is the new imprint for Seven Seas’ more racy titles, though honestly I’m not sure how they’re different from a lot of Seven Seas’ other racy titles. They begin with two Shonen Jump titles that Viz never bothered to pick up: To-Love-Ru, a sweet yet ecchi romantic comedy, and To-Love-Ru Darkness, its much racier sequel that verges on hentai at times. We get an omnibus of the first two volumes of the first series, and the first volume of its sequel.

ASH: I’m curious to see how this imprint develops. It’s also incredibly interesting to see Shonen Jump titles from a publisher other than Viz!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has another debut, this one called How NOT To Summon a Demon Lord. I believe the Japanese title mentioned slave magic, so I will withhold my thoughts till I see how it handles it.

ASH: I wonder if Seven Seas might eventually team up with J-Novel Club to print this series, too, since the manga adaptation has also been licensed.

SEAN: There’s also a 5th Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension, which has caught up with Japan so has longer wait times.

Kodansha has STUFF. The first digital debut is Drifting Dragons, which seems to combine dragons and cooking. It runs in good! Afternoon.

MICHELLE: Oooh! And next year we’re getting househunting dragons, too.

ANNA: That sounds fun!

ASH: I would totally read that.

SEAN: The other debut digitally is Ayanashi, a fantasy drama from Shonen Magazine R. World overtaken by monsters, our hero bent on revenge, can he open up to others?

Also out digitally we have Pumpkin Scissors 16 (the Del Rey rescue) Yozakura Quartet 19 (ditto), Altair: A Record of Battles 6, The Full-Time Wife Escapist 7, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 3, and Real Girl 8. I haven’t even reviewed Wife Escapist 6 yet…

MICHELLE: It’s good!

ANNA: So far behind with Wife Escapist, but I still like it!

SEAN: Kodansha’s print debut is Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, which is another shoujo title from Dessert but whose premise intrigues me.

MICHELLE: I am always willing to at least try Dessert titles, having liked a lot of them.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: I am also rather intrigued.

SEAN: If you wanted to pick up the Attack on Titan: No Regrets series but decided to wait till it came out in a Complete Color Edition, have I got good news for you!

ASH: I’m not such devotee that I’ll be double-dipping, but I did like this (shoujo!) spinoff. This will probably be the definitive edition, though.

SEAN: And there’s a 7th Fire Force, which continues to not be Soul Eater.

Seven Seas has 2nd volumes for Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor and Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, two series nothing like each other. We also get a 13th Dragonar Academy and an 8th Magika Swordsman and Summoner.

ANNA: CAPTAIN HARLOCK!

ASH: I liked the first volume! I will read more!

SEAN: Vertical has the 2nd and final Helvetica Standard volume, subtitled Italic.

And it’s the first week of the month, so there must be a ton of Viz. Two debuts. The first is Astra: Lost in Space, a Shonen Jump + series by the author of Sket Dance that looks to be a lot more serious than that title ever was.

The other debut is The Promised Neverland, a Weekly Shonen Jump series that I know little about except it’s become quite popular in Japan. Is it the new My Hero Academia?

ASH: I’m interested in both of these, but Kate recently posted a great review of The Promised Neverland, so I know which one I’ll be starting with.

SEAN: Shonen ongoing series! Assassination Classroom 19, Dragon Ball Super 2, Food Wars! 21, Haikyu!! 18, Kuroko’s Basketball 17-18, a 22nd One Piece 3-in-1, and the 4th Platinum End.

MICHELLE: Yay for food and sports!

ANNA: Indeed!

ASH: That is a pretty great combination, actually.

SEAN: Shoujo ongoing series! The 9th Bloody Mary, a 7th Everyone’s Getting Married (OK, that’s josei), and a 2nd Queen’s Quality.

ANNA: Excited for both Everyone’s Getting Married and Queen’s Quality!

ASH: Same! (Even though I’ve fallen behind…)

SEAN: It’s a mangatopia! What are you interested in?

SEAN: Ugh. Let’s just lay it all out as quickly as possible. Cute comments to a minimum, there’s too much stuff!

Kodansha Digital… oof. New series include Lovesick Ellie, another cute Dessert shoujo, and My Brother the Shut-In, which I know nothing about except it runs in Morning Two. I always check out things from Morning Two.

MICHELLE: Yep, both of these are on my “check these out” pile.

ANNA: I’m intrigued but also overwhelmed at all the digital manga I haven’t read yet!

MJ: What Anna said.

SEAN: Also from Kodansha digital: All Out!! 3, Beauty Bunny 3, Cosplay Animal 3, DEATHTOPIA 6, Domestic Girlfriend 11, Drowning Love 5, Giant Killing 8, House of the Sun 11, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 6, and Peach Heaven 10. Phew. Cosplay Animal is what I’m interested in most from that pile.

MICHELLE: I’m already getting so far behind on All-Out!! and it’s just getting started!

ASH: It’s amazing how many titles are being released digitally these days, and how quickly, too!

SEAN: Kodansha still releases print as well, believe it or not. There’s Sweetness and Lightning 9, Waiting for Spring 3, and Welcome to the Ballroom 8.

MICHELLE: Aaaaand I’ll need all three of these, as well.

ASH: Sweetness and Lightning is definitely one of my priorities!

SEAN: There must have been a pileup at Seven Seas Interstate Thruway, as there are far more new titles this week than usual, starting with a debut that’s a mouthful: Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon. This seems to be a done in one omnibus.

Also debuting is Magical Girl Special Ops Asuka, which I think is another in the endless magical girl series for guys with fetishes. Whee.

There’s also continuing series: Devils and Realist 13, Don’t Meddle with My Daughter 2, Hana & Hina After School 3, Plum Crazy! 3, Re: Monster 3, The Seven Princes of the Thousand Year Labyrinth 4 (that’s a final volume), Shomin Sample 7, Tales of Zestria 3, and There’s a Demon Lord on the Floor 4.

ASH: That’s the last volume of Hana & Hina After School, too, I think. I’ll need to pick that up.

SEAN: Vertical Comics has a 5th To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts.

Viz has three titles delayed from the beginning of the month, as we get Anonymous Noise 5 and Idol Dreams 4.

Their debut is SP Baby, a new josei series from the author of Happy Marriage.

ASH: Glad for more josei being released.

ANNA: Unsurprisingly I enjoyed this!!!!

SEAN: And Yen Press still has some more titles. Digitally we see Aphorism 13, Crimson Prince 13, and Sekirei 13 on the manga side, and Accel World 5-8, Irregular at Magic High School 3-4, and The Isolator 1-3 on the light novel side.

The debut light novel is Wolf & Parchment, the sequel to Spice & Wolf.

Debuting on the manga end is ACCA, the newest manga from Ono Natsume, whose middle-aged men have been dearly missed the last couple of years. It runs in Big Gangan.

MICHELLE: Yaaay! I have indeed missed her work.

ASH: I am so excited for this!!

ANNA: I somehow forgot this was happening! But I am also excited!!!!!

MJ: YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

SEAN: There’s also a Sword Art Online artbook. I got the Japanese version, and it looks pretty great, let me tell you.

MJ: I’m so ready!

SEAN: Ongoing titles include BTOOOM! 19, Danmachi 8 (the manga version), The Isolator 2 (likewise), Karneval omnibus 8, Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl 4, and Spirits & Cat Ears 4.

I think I compressed that as much as humanly possible. Be thankful. What are you getting?

SEAN: The November Crush continues, and there’s no respite. Let’s dive right in.

We start with novels, as Haikasoru has the 5th volume of Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

MICHELLE: Every time I say I really will read this series and every time I mean it, but every time I fail to accomplish it.

ASH: I’m a little behind myself, but I am enjoying the series.

ANNA: I have the first book but I haven’t read it yet.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has the slightly less dignified 6th volume of I Saved Too Many Girls And Caused the Apocalypse.

Kodansha is digitally still giving us Del Rey rescues – here’s Princess Resurrection 20.

There’s also a new pile of their current digital-only series. We have Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 3, I’m in Love and It’s the End of the World 2, Kasane 7, Real Girl 7, Space Brothers 30, and Until Your Bones Rot 2.

Print has some heavy hitters as well, starting with the Deluxe Edition of Battle Angel Alita. This is the first series, which old-timers will recall came out from Viz back in the pamphlet comic days, though I believe this is a new translation/orientation. This is also a hardcover omnibus.

Cells at Work! has a 5th volume out next week.

MICHELLE: I have missed learning about neutrophils and the like.

ASH: I get such a huge kick out of this series.

ANNA: We have a couple volumes at my library!

SEAN: And we get a 2nd Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, whose first volume I found… needed to be more quirky.

MICHELLE: Heh. I will at least be checking this out.

SEAN: And if you enjoyed the anthology Neo Parasyte f, you’ll love the 2nd volume, Neo Parasyte m.

ASH: I’m looking forward to this! Moto Hagio is one of the contributors, among other things.

SEAN: One Peace has a 12th volume of Maria Holic, which somehow remains popular, I suppose.

Speaking of series I can’t kill with fire from my mind, Seven Seas has a 3rd How to Build a Dungeon.

And also a 2nd Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf.

Their debut is Slumbering Beauty, which comes from Yumi Unita, the creator of Bunny Drop. It runs in Rakuen Le Paradis, which will always get my attention, and is apparently a “modern day fairy tale”. (No wife husbandry this time around, please.)

MICHELLE: I’m very interested in this one!

ASH: As am I! (Also, I didn’t realize it was a series until just now.)

ANNA: Huh, I liked Bunny Drop until I know how the story was going to end, so I’m curious about this.

SEAN: Vertical also has a big debut. We can’t get Saint Young Men just yet, but we can get the author’s other hit, Arakawa Under the Bridge. It’s very strange, and ran in Square Enix’s Young Gangan. I believe Crunchyroll also has it digitally.

MJ: I’m so on board for this.

ASH: I greatly enjoyed the anime adaptation, so I’m very excited to read the original manga. Hopefully this may help pave the way for more of Nakamura’s work in translation.

ANNA: Strange manga from Vertical is my (occasional) jam!

SEAN: And not to be outdone, Viz gives us the debut of Children of the Whales (Kujira no Kora wa Sajou ni Utau). a dark mystery that appropriately runs in Akita Shoten’s Mystery Bonita. It looks very swank.

MICHELLE: “Dark mystery” is right up my alley.

ASH: If nothing else, the first volume’s cover art is gorgeous, but the story sounds intriguing as well.

ANNA: Will be checking this out for sure.

SEAN: Viz also has a 5th Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt (Gundam manga two weeks in a row? Go back in time and tell the fans in 1999 that this is a thing.)

And rejoice, there is a 13th volume of Ooku! It’s down to once a year, but the anticipation makes it better.

MICHELLE: Verily, I rejoice.

MJ: As doth I!

ASH: Forsooth!

ANNA: Indeed.

SEAN: Lastly (for Viz), if you like Tokyo Ghoul, there’s an artbook out called Illustrations: zakki.

And now for Yen, starting with the light novels. If you like Re: Zero but hate Subaru, you’ll love this spinoff series, Re: Zero EX. This first volume focuses on the past of Crusch and Felis.

We are getting many light novels in the coming months with very, very silly premises, and this may be one of the most interesting. So I’m a Spider, So What? is a standard “class of students are transported to fantasy world and given cool powers” work. However, our heroine is a spider. Which is considered a monster, so she has to fear for her life. Just the word ‘heroine’ makes me happy here.

MJ: I feel like if there’s a chance for me to get into light novels, this would be it. Can it do the job?

ASH: It is nice to have a heroine for a change of pace!

SEAN: And if you wanted to see more of the cast of your name, there’s a book of stories out next week called Another Side: Earthbound.

Yen Press has the complete in one omnibus Corpse Party: Book of Shadows, a sequel to the kill em off mystery series.

Forbidden Scrollery debuts. Technically a fantasy with lots of yokai and pretty art, it’s also a spinoff of the popular bullet hell game Touhou. I am hoping you don’t need any backstory to enjoy it.

ASH: I didn’t realize it was a spinoff, but the yokai definitely have my attention. Also, the book-related magic.

MJ: I like yokai and pretty art.

SEAN: Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler has a 3rd print edition.

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade has been losing my attention lately, so I hope its 7th volume steps up its game.

If you want to read all of Pandora Hearts, and you love packaging, get the PandoraBox, which features all the volumes enclosed in a gorgeous trunk.

MJ: I can’t possibly justify this purchase, but I can recommend!

SEAN: Comic Gene is known for weird series, and the last debut next week certainly falls in that category. A Polar Bear in Love is the adorable tale of the titular polar bear and his love for a seal. Fun ensues.

Lastly, we get the 2nd your name manga.

Think we’re done? We’re not remotely done! Tune in the week after next for even worse November madness!

SEAN: The November from hell continues – a second week of the month is supposed to be quiet!

J-Novel has a couple of titles to start us off. The 6th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash is one of them.

The other is a debut, and may be familiar to anime fans. Outbreak Company is another of those pesky isekai novels, about an anime and manga otaku who ends up trapped in another world.

Kodansha has a ton. The debut digital title (actually already out this week, because Kodansha) is I’m in Love and It’s the End of the World, a shoujo title from the creator of House of the Sun that’s been running in Dessert, about a quiet, negative girl who somehow attracts the attention of the school prince. Wow, we’ve never seen that before.

MICHELLE: And certainly not from Dessert specifically!

ANNA: That sounds so new!!!!!

SEAN: And for digital fans, we also have Chihayafuru 6, Drowning Love 4, House of the Sun 10, Kokkaku: Moment by Moment 2, Magical Sempai 3, and Peach Heaven 9. Phew.

MICHELLE: I’ll be picking of several of those!

ANNA: Cannot believe I need to get caught up on Chihayafuru!

SEAN: Kodansha still has print, believe it or not. We have the penultimate volume of Fairy Tail, the 62nd.

There’s also a 2nd Frau Faust, whose title I recommend singing to the Gershwin song “By Strauss”.

ASH: Frau Faust is the thing! (I greatly enjoyed the first volume and am looking forward to reading more.)

SEAN: The Seven Deadly Sins is glaring at Fairy Tail with jealousy as it releases its 23rd volume.

And UQ Holder’s 12th volume just gives in and straight up has the Negima cast on its cover.

One Peace has a 7th manga volume for The Rise of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas has four new titles, with Generation Witch 2, Holy Corpse Rising 4, My Monster Secret 8, and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 5.

SuBLime has the debut of A Strange and Mystifying Story, which seems to have a guy with elf ears, but otherwise sees the typical vaguely predatory BL cover art.

MICHELLE: Oh, I had no idea this series (formerly published by DMP) had been rescued! The first two volumes were pretty good (despite some problematic consent issues), but it seems to have taken a turn for the better in volume three. I’m glad to have the chance to finish the series!

ASH: Sean, those are obviously wolf ears. Like Michelle, I’m glad to see this series being rescued!

SEAN: Vertical Comics has a 3rd volume of the Mobile Suit Gundam Wing manga.

Every time we see a new volume of Requiem of the Rose King, it has a tendency to be Pick of the Week here at Manga Bookshelf. I don’t expect that to change with Vol. 7.

MICHELLE: Heh.

ASH: I do love this series so.

ANNA: It is the best.

SEAN: And we’re at 25 volumes of Rin-Ne with still no plot progression.

MICHELLE: Yep.

SEAN: Yen Press has the rest of the week, starting with the novel line. A Certain Magical Index left off last time with the heroines swapped to the wrong guy. Can they solve this problem and deal with another invasion from the Catholic… sorry, Roman Orthodox church? Find out in lucky book 13.

Durarara!! has an 8th volume, and will likely feature Izaya being smug and punchable, be warned.

And more dead girls arrive in the 2nd Magical Girl Raising Project.

Yen has one debut next week, a new spinoff from Sword Art Online. Called Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online, it’s based on a light novel (as yet unlicensed) by the Kino’s Journey creator, and features a whole new cast, I believe.

There are only two manga based on light novels out next week, not counting SAOA. KonoSuba reaches its fifth volume, and Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers has Vol. 4.

And there’s a large number of continuing titles, which I will list as follows: Anne Happy 7, The Case Study of Vanitas 3, Delicious in Dungeon 3, Demonizer Zilch 4, Dimension W 8, First Love Monster 8, Girls Last Tour 3, Puella Magi Tart Magica 5, The Royal Tutor 4, Today’s Cerberus 6, and Trinity Seven 11. Of that pile, Delicious in Dungeon seems the most promising to me.

MICHELLE: Same.

ASH: Delicious in Dungeon is definitely the one I’m most looking forward to, although there are a few others in there that I’ve been meaning to get around to reading.

SEAN: Are you keeping up? Or hopelessly behind? What are you getting?

MICHELLE: So totally hopelessly behind.

ANNA: Indeed.

SEAN: The frost is on the pumpkin and nothing’s stopping the manga.

From this week, solicited too late for last week’s list, Kodansha Digital have PTSD Radio, a horror anthology that looks creepy. There may also have been one or two ongoing series I missed – I’m starting to get jaded. Give me more lag time!

For next week, Cross Infinite World has another light novel debut, as they bring us Yusen Ruten: An Era of Red. I sadly know little about it.

Dark Horse has a 4th Blade of the Immortal omnibus.

ASH: Blade of the Immortal was one of my very first manga series; I’m glad that Dark Horse has found a way to keep it in print.

SEAN: Kodansha still has Del Rey rescues, with Pumpkin Scissors 15 and Yozakura Quartet 18.

In new digital titles, we get a sixth Ace of the Diamond, a 6th Real Girl, and most importantly, a 6th The Full-Time Wife Escapist.

ANNA: I need to get caught up on Full-Time Wife Escapist! Such a fun and quirky series.

MICHELLE: Yay! I was starting to get Full-Time Wife Escapist withdrawal.

SEAN: There’s also a 4th Descending Stories, which may finally end its flashback.

ASH: Planning on picking this one up!

SEAN: And Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017, a hardcover detailing the history of the franchise.

Seven Seas has a 4th Dreamin’ Sun, and a 7th Testament of Sister New Devil. Don’t get them mixed up.

MICHELLE: Dreamin’ Sun is enjoyable!

SEAN: Udon debuts Dragon’s Crown, based on a game and running in Kadokawa’s Comptiq magazine. If you’ve seen the fantasy RPG manga that have been commonplace lately, you’ve seen this.

Vertical has hit double digits for Cardfight!! Vanguard.

Viz has a lot, though 3 titles got delayed due to a warehouse fire. Look for them at the end of the month. So we start with Black Clover, which I enjoy despite its anti-originality.

ASH: Maybe I’ll finally give Black Clover a try while I wait a few weeks for my dose of Shojo Beat titles to arrive.

SEAN: Bleach 3-in-1 reaches Vol. 21. Will it catch up with the main series before it ends?

It’s gonna be close, here’s Bleach 71 as well.

Haikyu!! 17 will feature… volleyball!

ANNA: WHAT!?

MICHELLE: Who could imagine?

ASH: Incredible!

SEAN: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure continues its road movie with a 5th Stardust Crusaders.

ANNA: Another series I am criminally far behind on.

ASH: I’ve already read Stardust Crusaders, but the new hardcover release is so nice I can’t help but double-dip.

SEAN: My Hero Academia hits Vol. 10, and should begin speeding up in the spring due to increased demand.

We are ALMOST done with Nisekoi, as its 24th volume tries to play up the “which one will he choose” one last time, even though it’s obvious.

One Piece 84 may be a very tasty volume! If nothing else, it will make you want sweets.

Seraph of the End hits lucky 13!

ANNA: Vampires woo-hoo!!!!!!

SEAN: Toriko is nearly done, but not quite, even as it gets to the big 4-0.

And everyone loves Yu-Gi-Oh! omnibuses. Here’s the 12th.

Think we’re done? Think again! Yen has its run-off from last week, starting with the 7th Aoharu x Machinegun.

Erased is in omnibus format, meaning I’m further behind than I thought. Here’s the 3rd omnibus.

ASH: The last volume was gripping; I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

SEAN: And a 4th Murcielago should appeal to Maria-sama Ga Miteru fans, so I hear… provided they’re also into gore and twisted unlikeable people.

ASH: That sounds about right.

SEAN: Prison School has an 8th omnibus out. Ash, you still reading this?

ASH: … I am behind, but yes, yes I am.

SEAN: Puella Magica Oriko Magica has a 3rd Sadness Prayer, and… they must be running out of spinoffs soon, right?

Scum’s Wish 5 will make me feel filthy and awful, and I can’t wait.

MICHELLE: I have fallen a few volumes behind on this, but I worry a marathon might cause an overdose of sordid.

SEAN: Spice & Wolf gets a 14th manga volume.

And we’re up to the 8th Taboo Tattoo.

Lastly, there’s a 4th Twinkle Stars omnibus. I seem to recall the series had an odd number of volumes. Where will it end?

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: I need to catch up, but I really enjoyed the first two omnibuses.

SEAN: And so another huge week comes to a close. Do you know where your manga is?