Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Ash Brown

Manga the Week of 2/14/18

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SEAN: Will you be my manga valentine? Well, it depends what’s coming out.

J-Novel Club gives us a 3rd volume of Clockwork Planet.

Kodansha has its usual pile of stuff. On the print end we have the 5th Aho-Girl, a 5th Descending Stories, an 8th Fire Force, and a 4th Love & Lies.

MICHELLE: I finally started Descending Stories and am really liking it so far!

ASH: I’m reading and enjoying Descending Stories, too! I also found the beginning of Love & Lies to be intriguing.

SEAN: For digital releases, there’s a 6th Grand Blue Dreaming, a 5th Kokkoku: Moment by Moment, a 3rd Lovesick Ellie, and a 6th Tsuredure Children.

MICHELLE: Alas, I have failed to start Kokkoku or Lovesick Ellie. One of these days.

SEAN: One Peace gives us a sequel to I Hear the Sunspot, subtitled Theory of Happiness.

ANNA: I really liked I Hear the Sunspot. Looking forward to this!

ASH: I Hear the Sunspot was wonderful and so is its sequel. I hope to see the next volume released in English, too!

MJ: This makes *me* really happy. In theory. (Sorry, I’ve definitely had too much coffee.)

SEAN: They also mercifully give us the 14th and final volume of Maria Holic. I thank them for rescuing the series and putting it out in full for its fans, of whom I am not one.

Seven Seas has a bevy of titles. There’s a 7th volume of Citrus, whose anime is currently airing; a 15th Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, which may actually start trying to resolve things; Magical Girl Site 5; and the Testament of Sister New Devil STORM! 2, which needs to crossover with Akame Ga KILL!.

The debut next week is MaMaMa: Magical Director Mako-chan’s Magical Guidance, a one-off comedy manga from the creator of Monster Musume. Despite that, I plan to check it out.

SuBLime has three new volumes, as we see Awkward Silence 6, the 5th deluxe edition of Finder, and a 2nd volume of A Strange and Mystifying Story.

ASH: I’m still very happy that the license to A Strange and Mystifying Story was rescued.

MJ: Hm, I’ve been avoiding that title just on its premise, but an endorsement from Ash makes me think I should reconsider.

ASH: It admittedly has some questionable elements to it, but the series was starting to take some intriguing directions when it was initially left in limbo.

MICHELLE: I concur.

SEAN: Vertical has a 2nd omnibus of strange yet… no, just strange series Arakawa Under the Bridge, as well as an 11th Cardfight!! Vanguard.

ASH: Arakawa Under the Bridge is indeed very strange, and I love it for that fact.

SEAN: Viz has an 8th digital edition of The Children Nowadays, which one day I will find the time to check out.

And it’s Shonen Sunday time, which is #3 but tries harder, with a 31st Hayate the Combat Butler (still at twice per year) and a 28th Magi (mercifully still at 6 times a year). I look forward to both equally, I suspect the rest of the MB team is leaning towards the latter.

MICHELLE: Yep!

SEAN: So do any of these Valentine week releases make your kokoro go doki doki?

MICHELLE: *snerk*

Pick of the Week: Return to Neverland

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MICHELLE: I will definitely be picking up the tenth Yona of the Dawn, and Takane & Hana is intriguing too, but having been positively stunned by the awesome that is Promised Neverland, I must pick the second volume of that series. I literally made an entry on my calendar to remind me.

SEAN: I honestly am torn. I enjoyed Takane & Hana so much – it’s exactly the sort of manga I love. But The Promised Neverland was so good last time and feels like the more IMPORTANT manga out this week. Really, get both. Don’t try to choose. (It helps that they’re nothing alike.)

KATE: I vote for volume two of The Promised Neverland. ‘Nuff said!

ASH: Like everyone else so far, the next volume of The Promised Neverland is certainly high on my list. However, I’m pretty excited to read the psychological thriller Perfect Blue, too. Even if it wasn’t the basis of Satoshi Kon’s striking film, the novel sounds like it should be something right up my alley.

MJ: Since I am the big loser who hasn’t actually read the first volume of The Promised Neverland, I will go ahead and indulge my interest in Takane & Hana, which has lured me in with a combination of its source magazine and its spunky-looking heroine. Shoujo, I am in your corner this week!

ANNA: I enjoyed the first volume The Promised Neverland and I’m intrigued by Takane & Hana, but the title that thrills my heart is Yona of the Dawn . It just keeps getting better and better, and at 10 volumes in has built up an extended cast of characters that I’m rooting for.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/5/18

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The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 9 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – And so, The Full-Time Wife Escapist comes to a close. It’s a little disappointing that Mikuri and Hiramasa spend most of their time fine-tuning their living arrangements (divvying up chores, etc.) and not rejoicing in their love for each other, but they do get some nice moments near the end. I was way more interested in the Yuri/Kazami pairing anyway, and this finale did not leave me hanging in that regard (although I’d like to kick Kazami’s audaciously meddling coworker Igarashi to another planet). Even Numata gets a boyfriend, though it’s not quite “pair the spares,” since Mikuri’s friend remains single. She’s the one who speaks what I reckon might be the theme of the series: “There are all sorts of directions you can go in life, huh?” Indeed. This series has been a very enjoyable demonstration of that fact. – Michelle Smith

Giant Killing, Vol. 10 | By Masaya Tsunamoto and Tsujitomo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – For the first time in three years, East Tokyo United has made it through the Japan Cup qualifier league. They face a challenge in their next regular match, though, since Murakoshi and Gino are sidelined (for reasons of penalty and injury, respectively) in the game against a team with a lot of talented young players. Tatsumi decides to field many of the older veterans in the match, but temporarily awards the captain’s armband to Tsubaki to help him build confidence. It’s your typical exciting soccer stuff, really, though I appreciate meeting another coach who cares a lot about seeing his players grow and Tatsumi’s curry party with the fans was nice, too. I’m starting to get a sense for more of the players on the team, and they’re starting to buy into Tatsumi’s vision. Perfectly executed sports manga! – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 20 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – Here I am once again, trying to fill up a Bookshelf Brief with words that are more than “Well, that sure is volleyball” while also trying to convey that I am genuinely enjoying this series. We go from the fourth to the fifth set here, and it’s starting to take its toll on both teams, who are becoming rather exhausted. There’s more injuries to deal with too, as Tsukishima, already having achieved his character development, seems to break a pinky. But the most interesting part to me was the breaking of the “back and forth” scoring, as Karasuno runs up a big lead and then sees it vanish and they end up in a big hole. Haikyu!! makes volleyball seem exciting and I hope makes young kids want to play it. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 3 | By Rin Mikimoto | Kodansha Comics – Still having fun, and I’d call this series ‘solid’ now. As the back cover makes clear, the faces continue to be a comedic highlight—the top of page sixteen is probably not as filthy as I thought it was, but it made me chuckle regardless. Much of this volume is devoted to a narcissistic member of Kaede’s old idol group, and his desire to seduce Hinana just so that he can rub it in Kaede’s face. This goes about as well as you’d expect, which is to say not at all. No, if there’s an upcoming serious danger, it may be more on the career front. I like how this manga is quite sexy without going into the sometimes sordid side that you see in some shoujo titles. Definitely a keeper by now. – Sean Gaffney

orange: future | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – This sixth volume of orange features Suwa as the protagonist. The first part gives an accelerated version of his point-of-view of the original story and culminates in a “ten years in the future” moment that the future selves get to see in a shared dream. The rest of the volume shows how the future originally played out after Kakeru’s death, and how Suwa wooed Naho with some of the things Kakeru had said he wanted to do with her (thus using him and feeling like a scumbag for it) but managing to win her heart by being himself. It’s sweet, and though theirs is a different sort of love, it doesn’t feel unearned. I was happy that Takano-sensei has recaptured the same magical feeling; no need to worry that reading this will spoil your orange experience. – Michelle Smith

Red Colored Elegy | By Seiichi Hayashi | Drawn & Quarterly – Several volumes of Hayashi’s avant-garde manga have now been released in English, but the first and perhaps most immediately accessible was Red Colored Elegy, an influential work from the early 1970s which originally graced the pages of the alternative manga magazine Garo. The book has since gone out of print, but happily Red Colored Elegy will soon be re-released in a new edition accompanied by an extensive and incredibly illuminating essay by comics scholar Ryan Holmberg outlining the context and legacy of Hayashi and his manga. Red Colored Elegy is a stylistic and moody love story following the lives of Ichiro and Sachiko, two struggling young artists working in the animation industry, and the tumultuous relationship between them. It’s been a few years since I first encountered the manga, but even after multiple readings it remains a tremendous and beautifully crafted work with striking visuals and an emotionally resonant core. – Ash Brown

SP Baby, Vol. 2 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – The author implies in the afterword that this series ended at only two volumes because of her pregnancy and subsequent childbirth, but honestly I suspect it wouldn’t have had a long life regardless. There was one section of the book I genuinely really liked, which had Tamaki reliving her traumatic past after an attempt of Kagetora’s life, which felt real and earned. Unfortunately, this is followed by such a manufactured climax that I had trouble realizing what actually happened before it was already resolved. At least we did have her realize she’s much rather kick ass as a bodyguard than stand around being a housewife. Still, in the end this is a bit of a damp squib. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 41 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – Still lots of fights, still very little food preparation, though they at least attempt to discuss how to prepare god. Sadly, I fear that in the end Toriko is far more influenced by battle manga than I’d like, and I miss the series’ early charm. Also, Komatsu is almost entirely absent from this book, and it shows. This despite the fact that we get what seems like every single cast member since volume one showing up to help in the final fight. (Tommyrod? Really?) If you like shounen GAR, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into here, with lots of “you fool, you underestimated me.” “No, you underestimated ME!” going on. As for me, still counting down to the end of this series that’s worn out its welcome. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 2/7/18

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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?

Pick of the Week: Predictable Yet Welcome

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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!

MICHELLE: I will be predictable by expressing my anticipation for another installment of Giant Killing, but I’m awarding my official pick to the ninth and final Full-Time Wife Escapist. I’ve enjoyed this series very much!

KATE: I second Sean’s pick of Baccano!, since I am obsessed with the flashback scenes in The Godfather Part II and will watch or read anything that reminds me of them. I realize that Baccano! is even MORE over the top than anything Mario Puzo ever wrote, but I think that’s actually a good thing. It’s an offer I can’t refuse!

ASH: With the promise of a little bit of yuri, a little bit of boys’ love, and a whole lot of complicated relationships, the debut of Nameless Asterism is the release I’m most curious about this week!

Manga the Week of 1/31/2018

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SEAN: So Yen is splitting its shipment, pushing a bunch of its titles into the first week of February. Lucky for all of you, or next week would be even bigger than it already is.

Ghost Ship has a 2nd omnibus of To-Love-Ru, and a 2nd volume of its sequel To-Love-Ru Darkness.

Three new volumes from J-Novel Club, as we see a 7th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash, a 5th How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, and a 2nd Outbreak Company.

Kodansha Digital seemingly has nothing out next week if you look at Amazon and B&N. Kodansha’s own site, however, says they’ve definitely got some stuff. We have Black Panther and Sweet 16 6, Giant Killing 10, Living Room Matsunaga-san 2, and Until Your Bones Rot 4.

MICHELLE: Hooray for Giant Killing!

ASH: Hooray!

SEAN: We also have the 9th and final volume of The Full-Time Wife Escapist, which I’m still running behind on but remains my favorite digital license from Kodansha.

MICHELLE: I’m very much looking forward to this.

ANNA: I like this series even though I’m so far behind, maybe I will binge a bit on the weekend.

SEAN: There’s also print, with a 3rd Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, and a 9th volume of endurance test Welcome to the Ballroom.

MICHELLE: Heh. Here’s hoping it lightens up sometime soon.

ANNA: This is not inspiring me to get caught up on Ballroom!

ASH: I’m already behind on Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, but I did enjoy the first volume more than I thought I would.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts a light novel digitally next week, though the print edition is not out till June. It definitely has a light novel title: Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!. It does have a female lead, though. I’m all for light novels with female leads.

The manga debut is Nameless Asterism (Nanashi no Asterism), a Gangan Online series that seems to be about a love polygon, and may also have elements of BL and yuri.

ASH: I’m rather curious about Nameless Asterism; looking forward to giving the first volume a try!

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a 3rd Alice & Zoroku, and a 4th Plum Crazy!.

MICHELLE: Kitty!

SEAN: Vertical has a 6th Immortal Hounds, which is now caught up with Japan, I think.

And so we come to Yen. There’s digital-only titles, as we get Crimson Prince 14, Kuzumi-kun, Can’t You Read the Room? 4, Now Playing 4, and Sekirei 14. There’s also a digital release of the light novels Kieli’s vols. 2 and 3.

Yen On has light novels, though thankfully this is a small month after the deluge in December. We get Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 4, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 4, Overlord 6, and Strike the Blood 8.

As for Yen Press, there’s several titles out next week (unless you get manga from Diamond Comics, in which case their monopoly is pointing and laughing at you). Debuting is Baccano!, a manga adaptation of the first light novel. Actually, the first volume is mostly an original prequel to the novels written by Narita, featuring Firo and the Gandors a few years earlier. It’s already come out digitally, but now you can enjoy it in print.

The other debut is Val x Love (Ikusa x Koi), an ecchi fantasy series from Shonen Gangan that sounds like it will appeal to fans of High School DxD.

Ongoing series unrelated to light novels include Akame Ga KILL! 13, Black Butler 25, Gabriel Dropout 2, and The Royal Tutor 5.

Ongoing series that are either adaptations of or spinoffs from light novels include A Certain Magical Index 12, Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia 2, DanMachi Sword Oratoria 2, Overlord 5, Re Zero Arc Three 2, and the 6th Sword Art Online Progressive.

And that’s all for Yen for next week, but stay tuned to the week after. Anything appealing to you here?

Pick of the Week: My Manga Is Orange

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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.

SEAN: There’s several titles I’m interested in, including a final volume of Golden Time and the debut of Made in Abyss. But yeah, in the end the clearly obvious Pick of the Week is orange: future, which I reviewed here in a spoilery fashion, as Seven Seas helpfully noted. It may not please everyone, but it’s well-crafted.

MICHELLE: Having now read and loved the first two volumes of Frau Faust, I am definitely looking forward to volume three. But, yes, my heart really does belong to orange: future. I’m a little afraid of what it might reveal, given how much I loved the original series, but there’s no way I’m skipping it.

ASH: I’ll definitely be reading more of Frau Faust, and I’m rather curious about Made in Abyss, too, but orange: future is unquestionably my pick this week. Like so many others, the original series made a huge impression on me.

Manga the Week of 1/24/18

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SEAN: Manga still comes, through snow, rain, gloom, and dead of night. What’s up for next week?

Kodansha debuts the new sequel to Battle Angel Alita, subtitled Mars Chronicle. It comes after Last Order, and will no doubt be as sweet and fluffy as previous volumes (please note sarcasm). It runs in Evening.

Kodansha’s digital offerings are slightly less next week – are they tired? Domestic Girlfriend 15, I’m in Love and It’s the End of the World 4, My Boyfriend in Orange 2, Pitch-Black Ten 2, and PTSD Radio 3.

MICHELLE: Heh. I will eventually read the shoujo ones on that list.

SEAN: In print, we have finally come to the end of Fairy Tail, with its 63rd volume. There are still a few spinoffs still to be released, but this is the end of the main story.

ASH: That’s an impressive run! One Piece and Case Closed are the only other series I can think of off the top of my head that have over sixty volumes published in English.

SEAN: And there is a 3rd Frau Faust, which I pray does not have the heroine get even younger by the end.

MICHELLE: I am determined to start this series this week! Maybe today!

ASH: You should! It’s great!

SEAN: We also have a 24th volume of The Seven Deadly Sins, which with the end of Fairy Tail is now the longest-running Weekly Shonen Magazine series that’s licensed over here. (Sorry, Hajime no Ippo, Ahiru no Sora and Seitokai Yakuindomo are NOT licensed over here.)

Seven Seas has a bunch of stuff. Golden Time comes to an end with its 9th volume of romance and amnesia.

Hachune Mike’s Everyday Vocaloid Paradise has a 2nd volume.

And the zombies clearly have not been stopped, if Hour of the Zombie 6 is any indication.

The debut next week is Made in Abyss, a fantasy series about a girl and her robot that runs in Takeshobo’s Manga Life Win +. Despite the cast looking like moe plushies, it’s apparently more serious than it looks.

ASH: I’ve heard that it gets quite serious indeed.

SEAN: Masamune-kun’s Revenge has reached 7 volumes. Sheesh. Just get revenge already!

And Non Non Biyori has a 9th volume of doing absolutely nothing in a cute and relaxed way.

orange: future is a spinoff of the popular shoujo romance/tragedy, with additional side and after stories that will no doubt please fans.

MICHELLE: MUST HAVE!

ASH: ABSOLUTELY! The original series was tremendous, so I hope the continuation can hold up to expectations.

ANNA: I have orange lurking around my house somewhere. I should read it!

ASH: You haven’t yet?! You really should. It’s not always an easy read due to the heavy subject matter, but it’s a really well done series.

SEAN: I am surprised as well, as it’s basically exactly what you read.

ANNA: I know! My piles of unread manga are getting out of control.

SEAN: Vertical has My Neighbor Seki Vol. 10! What amazing desk toys will Seki come up with to celebrate?

And finally, Viz has a couple of digital only releases with Boys Over Flowers Season 2 Volume 7 (Part A, 5th Door To the Right, Behind the Filing Cabinet), and the difficult to type out élDLIVE has a 4th.

MICHELLE: I feel like I should give Boys Over Flowers Season 2 another chance.

ANNA: Me too. I liked the first several chapters.

MJ: Oh, this. Yes. This, this!

SEAN: What are you dashing through the snow to get next week?

Pick of the Week: What Is a Dragonewt Anyway?

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SEAN: My pick senses are turned towards Viz this week. Fire Punch looks worthy, but I have now read it, and while it is a story well told it is not my kind of story. As such, my pick of the week is RWBY. It’s always nice to see a Japanese take on a Western property, especially when the Western property is anime-influenced. Knock my socks off, RWBY!

MICHELLE: I’ve said Chihayafuru a bunch in this space already, and I’m sure I’ll say it again, so instead this week I will pick the fourth volume of Waiting for Spring. It’s not groundbreaking shoujo, but it’s enjoyable, and I like the lead characters (and the heroine’s fujoshi best friend).

ANNA: I adore Chihayafuru, but sometime I pick titles based on the titles alone. And based on the title, Fire Punch sounds pretty great. That’s my pick!!!

KATE: I’m with Sean: Fire Punch is just too damn grim for me. I’m bullish about Children of the Whales and Kitaro the Vampire Slayer, though, and am intrigued by Juana and the Dragonewts’ Seven Kingdoms — just look at that lovely cover!

ASH: I’m certainly curious about Fire Punch, and I’m definitely looking forward to more of Children of the Whales and Kitaro, but Juana and the Dragonewts’ Seven Kingdoms has caught my eye as well. So, I guess I’m largely following Kate this week!

Manga the Week of 1/17/18

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SEAN: January continues apace, and so do releases, though as I noted last week, it’s still a bit muted compared to the last few months.

If you’re tired of Joss Whedon projects but still love vampire slayers, Drawn and Quarterly can help you with Kitaro the Vampire Slayer, the latest release in their series.

ASH: I still love Kitaro, which is why I’ll be picking it up!

Another J-Novel Club series comes to an end with the 6th and final volume of Paying to Win in a VRMMO, starring the smuggest hero ever.

Kodansha has another pile of digital releases, as we get Chihayafuru 8, DEATHTOPIA 8 (which I believe is the final volume), Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 5, Fuuka 15, Kasane 9, The Prince’s Black Poison 2, and Real Girl 11.

MICHELLE: Hooray for Chihayafuru!

ANNA: YAY!!!!!

SEAN: Lest Ash despair, they also have some print volumes. We get Waiting for Spring 4 and Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty 2.

MICHELLE: I am working on getting caught up on these.

ASH: My despair has been tempered as I am enjoying both of these series so far. (In print!)

One Peace continues to deliver on volumes of Maria Holic, this time giving us lucky Vol. 13.

Seven Seas has three ongoing titles. A Certain Scientific Accelerator 7 is pretty much caught up with Japan. My Monster Secret 9 has a ways to go before it catches up to Japan, as it recently ended with Vol. 22. And Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn is still two creators reinforcing each other’s worst habits, but we’re at Vol. 9 anyway.

Their debut is Juana and the Dragonewt’s Seven Kingdoms (Ryuu no Nanakuni to Minashigo no Juana), a Mag Garden title that, given it stars dragonewts, I’m going to guess is a fantasy.

ASH: I am very curious about this debut!

ANNA: Hmm, sounds interesting.

SEAN: Vertical has a 4th volume of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Viz’s ongoing series give us the 2nd Children of the Whales (I wasn’t as impressed as I expected to be) and the 20th Terra Formars.

MICHELLE: Children of the Whales is literally on top of my to-read pile.

ASH: I think you’ll like the series, Michelle! Overall, I really enjoyed the first volume and look forward to seeing how the manga continues to develop with the second.

ANNA: I wish it had less world building and more character development, but maybe things will settle down a bit in the second volume.

SEAN: Debut #1 is Fire Punch, a shonen series from the Shonen Jump + line, and oh my god it looks super, super dark. Not sure how I’ll do with this one.

ASH: Oh, super dark, you say? I don’t know much about the series, but that’s enough to at least pique my interest.

ANNA: I enjoy both fire and punching.

SEAN: The other debut is actually done in one – RWBY, a manga that ran in Japan’s Ultra Jump based on the anime-style American series created by Rooster Teeth. I’m hoping for “cool” here.

ANNA: It does look super stylish.

SEAN: Are you excited? And you just can’t hide it?

Pick of the Week: Scrounging

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MICHELLE: There’s really nothing that I simply must have this week, so I suppose I’ll pick volume two of Lovesick Ellie for no deeper reason than that the cover of volume one kind of reminds me of Honey So Sweet.

SEAN: I’m uninspired as well, so I will go with a favorite author and pick Vol. 2 of Imperfect Girl, which will hopefully continue to be intriguing and disquieting in equal amounts.

KATE: I’m woefully behind on I Am a Hero, so I’m going to take advantage of a light week to dive in and catch up. Zombies ahoy!

ANNA: There isn’t a ton that’s coming out this week that inspires me either, so I’m just going to go with Full-Time Wife Escapist because I picked up a few volumes on sale recently, and that’s going to be my catch-up reading.

ASH: The second volume of Spirit Circle is unquestionably my pick this week! I had largely enjoyed the creator’s other series Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer so I was expecting to enjoy the manga, but I was still surprised by how much I ended up liking it.

Manga the Week of 1/10/18

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SEAN: There is not quite as much manga next week as previous weeks… at least not print manga. Kodansha is here to ensure that there are still many more titles released.

Before that, Dark Horse has a 5th omnibus of I Am A Hero.

ASH: This series has been quite an intense ride, so far!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a 4th volume of the very long-titled If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord, as well as a 4th volume of Infinite Dendrogram.

They also debut a spinoff novel. Yume Nikki: I Am Not In Your Dream, which is based off of a freeware game, and seems to be scary? And is not related to Future Diary, it would seem.

Kodansha Digital has no new titles announced for next week (yet – there’s always a danger of last minute announcements), but we do get Domestic Girlfriend 14, Grand Blue Dreaming 5, I’m in Love and It’s the End of the World 3, Kokkaku: Moment by Moment 4, Lovesick Ellie 2, and the final volume of Peach Heaven, 13.

MICHELLE: I’m still meaning to check out Lovesick Ellie.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a quartet of titles due out. The High School Life of a Fudanshi 3, Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary 7 (we’re mostly caught up to Japan on both of those), Spirit Circle 2 and Yokai Rental Shop 2.

ASH: The first volume of Spirit Circle was so good! I went in expecting to like the series, but at this point I’m honestly loving it.

ANNA: Interesting…..

SEAN: There’s some new BL from SuBLime, as we get a 10th volume of His Favorite (has this really been running in Japan since 2008?) and a 9th volume of The World’s Greatest First Love (which has been running since 2006).

Vertical has a 2nd volume of psychological thriller Imperfect Girl.

And speaking of long-runners, Viz has a 65th volume of Case Closed. That’s been running since 1994, and the North American release is only 27 volumes behind right now!

Getting something? Or catching up from previous weeks?

MICHELLE: Catching up, mostly!

ASH: A little of both, for me!

ANNA: So much to catch up on!

Pick of the Week: Starting 2018 Off With Manga

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SEAN: Starting off 2018, as usual for first weeks of the month, my eyes turn to Viz Media. There’s some really good shoujo out this week, what with Kimi ni Todoke, The Water Dragon’s Bride and Anonymous Noise. That said, every volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends is a treat, so that’s my pick this week.

KATE: I just checked out the preview for Drifting Dragons, and the artwork is AWESOME. The story is similar to Delicious in Dungeon in that characters spend a lot of time discussing how best to prepare monster meat, but there’s a lot more action; the first chapter has a well-staged sky battle that’s more dynamic than any equivalent scene in Dungeon. Looking forward to reading more!

MICHELLE: This week brings new installments of two sports manga I’m really enjoying—Haikyu!! and Ace of Diamond—but since that literally happens every month, I share Sean’s eagerness for a new volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends, which we haven’t had since last March.

ASH: This really is a great week for shoujo! I am terribly far behind with Natsume’s Book of Friends, but it’s an honestly lovely series. Catching up with it would seem like a wonderful way to start off the year!

ANNA: Water Dragon’s Bride is one of my favorite current series, so I’m not going to pass up the chance to make that my pick!

Thank You for Reading Experiments in Manga

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After a little over seven years of writing about manga, Japanese literature, and related items of interest here at Experiments in Manga, I am now largely retiring the blog. The content that’s here will remain for the foreseeable future, and I will continue to respond to any comments that are made, however I will no longer be regularly posting at the blog. It’s possible that I may very occasionally be inspired to write a long-form review or feature for Experiments in Manga, but in general my manga blogging will be moving to Manga Bookshelf proper. There I will continue participating in the Manga the Week of and Pick of the Week posts and will be contributing to the Bookshelf Briefs features as well. Another place that I will be found discussing manga and such is on Twitter, where I hope to be a little more active with my account going forward.

A huge thank you to everyone who has read and supported me and Experiments in Manga over the years! In part I started this blog as a way to connect with other people interested in manga. I am delighted that I can say I was successful in doing that. I have met so many wonderful people because of Experiments in Manga and it makes me tremendously happy to know that from time to time others found it useful, interesting, or even entertaining. To all of my friends–readers, fellow bloggers, creators, and more–thank you and thank you again. Writing at Experiments in Manga and getting to know you all has meant more to me than I can adequately express.

Manga the Week of 1/3/18

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SEAN: A new year, new manga, and new series to get way behind on.

MICHELLE: Truth.

ASH: Woo!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a debut, Yokai Girls, perhaps the most unsurprising license ever given ecchi yokai series are the new zombies. This ran in Weekly Young Jump, and is about ghosts and fanservice, not in that order.

ASH: I’ll usually give anything having to do with yokai at chance, but it may take a while for me to actually get around to trying this series.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has quite a few releases, starting with Ao Oni, a horror series that’s based on a video game, and very much in the “kill the cast off over and over” genre.

In Another World with My Smartphone has a 6th volume, this one focusing on Touya’s youngest love interest, Sue, and her attempts to not be married off.

And Invaders of the Rokujouma!? goes back to finish its side story with Vol. 8.5.

Kodansha has a lot, as you’d expect, mostly digital. Actually, entirely digital. On the Del Rey rescue end, we have a 17th Pumpkin Scissors. Newer titles include Ace of the Diamond 7, Ayanashi 2, Drifting Dragons 2, Real Girl 10, and Space Brothers 31.

MICHELLE: Ace of the Diamond is a lot of fun.

ASH: As usual, I’m glad that so much manga is being translated, but I really hope more of Kodansha’s digital-only titles turn out to be digital-first.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us a 5th Dreamin’ Sun and a 7th Not Lives.

Their debut is a spinoff of Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, entitled Kanna’s Daily Life. Given Dragon Maid doesn’t have much of a plot, I can’t imagine how much more slice of life it can get, but…

Viz time. No debuts this time around, but Nisekoi is coming to an end with its 25th volume. Given how poorly romantic-oriented Jump titles have done over here before (looking at you, Strawberry 100%), it’s impressive to see how popular Nisekoi was… at least until fans knew which girl one, at which point the knives came out, as always. Oh well.

MICHELLE: Haikyu!! is ever a favorite.

ASH: I’ve fallen a bit behind, but I enjoy Haikyu!! immensely.

SEAN: Shonen titles include a 7th 7th Garden (No, not a typo), an 18th Blue Exorcist, Haikyu!! 19, Naruto’s 21st 3-in-1, as well as a 2nd volume of Chibi Sasuke’s Sharingan Legend, Naruto’s comedy spoof.

There’s also a 5th 3-in-1 of Rurouni Kenshin (still not cancelled, though Japan cancelled the sequel series), an 11th Twin Star Exorcists, and an 18th World Trigger, which was the last volume out before its current hiatus.

On the shoujo side, there’s a 6th Anonymous Noise, a 28th Kimi ni Todoke (which just ended in Japan, I believe), a 21st Natsume’s Book of Friends (yay!), and the 4th Water Dragon’s Bride.

MICHELLE: I will be reading all four of those, though I am also most “yay!” about Natsume’s Book of Friends.

ASH: It appears I will be echoing Michelle, again. Yay, Natsume! I need to get caught up on Water Dragon’s Bride, too.

ANNA: I’m most excited about Water Dragon’s Bride. It is such a consistently great series.

SEAN: Do you have something you want here?