Ash Brown

SEAN: Somehow it’s still 2025.

ASH: My brain has managed to jump ahead to 2026 and back to 2024 simultaneously, which I guess evens out to 2025?

SEAN: In print, Airship has I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince 2.

MICHELLE: I like the title, at least!

SEAN: And digitally they have True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends 2.

Drawn and Quarterly debuts a classic, The Legend of Kamui (Kamui Den). This 60s manga was serialized in Garo, and is NOT the 80s version that was put out by Viz Media. An Edo-Period historical drama with ninjas, it’s so influential even Tezuka praised it for bringing drama and ideology to manga. This is the first omnibus, and is 600 pages.

ANNA: Oooh, interesting.

ASH: This is huge. I am so incredibly happy and excited for this release. And was fortunate to receive an early copy which I am absolutely loving.

SEAN: No debuts for J-Novel Club, but we do see After-School Dungeon Diver: Level Grinding in Another World 4, the 10th Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill manga, Demon Lord, Retry! 9, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone 5, the 11th How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom manga, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 6, The Misfit of Demon King Academy 8, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ— 9, Record of Wortenia War 27, and the third The Water Magician manga.

Kodansha also has no debuts. In print, they have Ajin: Demi-Human Complete 2, Blue Lock: Episode Nagi 2, ORIGIN 8, The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 14 (the final volume), Sheltering Eaves 2, Versus 2, and Witch Hat Atelier 13.

MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of Sheltering Eaves!

ANNA: I cannot believe I am so far behind in Witch Hat Atelier it is a personal failing.

ASH: I have a few volumes I’ve been saving which I’ll be reading all at once.

SEAN: And for digital we see Blue Lock 29, Gang King 25, Manchuria Opium Squad 4, Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2 5, and We’re New at This 18 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: How am I already this far behind with Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2?!

SEAN: One Peace have the 5th light novel volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Just one debut for Seven Seas. Glasses with a Chance of Delinquent (Megane, Tokidoki, Yankee-kun) is a shoujo title from Betsufure. A girl who was bullied by gangs in the past attends a new high school free of them, and meets a glasses-wearing kid… and it turns out he’s a secret gang member! This was so popular Japanese fans got it un-cancelled at one point.

MICHELLE: Looks potentially cute!

ANNA: I generally enjoy delinquents in shoujo.

ASH: Same! And megane, too!

SEAN: Also coming from Seven Seas: 365 Days to the Wedding 6, The Barbarian’s Bride 2, The Duke of Death and His Maid 16 (the final volume), Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 9, I Quit My Apprenticeship as a Royal Court Wizard to Become a Magic Item Craftswoman 2, The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace 7, The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 8, My New Life as a Cat 8, Mysterious Disappearances 4, Soara and the House of Monsters 4, The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 4, Tiger and Dragon 2, The Titan’s Bride 6, Tokyo Revengers 27-28, and The White Mage Doesn’t Want to Raise the Hero’s Level 4 (the final volume).

ASH: I recently picked up the first volume of Soara and the House of Monsters; I have time to catch up!

SEAN: And for danmei they have Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang 5 (the final volume).

Square Enix has Just Like Mona Lisa 4.

From Steamship we get I Can’t Refuse S 5 and A Suitable Fetish 2.

Steamship also has an early digital release of the 2nd light novel volume of The Villainess and the Demon Knight.

SuBLime has My Dearest Patrolman 3 (the final volume) and Stigmata: Love Bites 2 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: The latter has such a gorgeous cover, I might read it on that basis alone!

ASH: Oooh, that is evocative!

SEAN: Two debuts from Viz. Beyblade X is the latest in that toy-based series, and runs in Monthly CoroCoro.

Firefly Wedding (Hotaru no Yomeiri) is an award-winning shoujo manga that runs in Manga One. An ill girl who is being married off so she can have some value to her family before she dies now finds that she’s also being targeted by an assassin! Can she find a way to solve both these problems in one fell swoop? This is definitely on the more ‘dramatic’ end of the shoujo manga scale.

MICHELLE: Hm. Maybe!

ANNA: Shoujo with assassins???? I’m going to check this out.

ASH: This definitely holds promise. Now I just have to figure out why the premise sounds vaguely familiar to me…

SEAN: Also from Viz: Case Closed 93, Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga 2, Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga – Anthology 2, Komi Can’t Communicate 32, Mao 19, Spy x Family 13, and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 6.

And that’s it! Titles from 1964 to 2024 in this batch. What are you buying?

ASH: No wonder I can’t figure out what year it is!

SEAN: The first real week of 2025, so there’s a bit more to chew on.

ASH: And only more to come.

SEAN: Yen On has one straggler from December, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- Short Story Collection 2.

Viz Media debuts RuriDragon, a Shonen Jump series so good that when the creator was unable to keep up with the weekly pace, Shueisha let them take two years off and moved it to a milder schedule. It’s that good. The story of a high school girl who suddenly finds she’s the daughter of a dragon… and has dragon powers. This is so sweet and funny and heartwarming and awesome. I love it.

MICHELLE: I hadn’t heard of this before, but with a recommendation so heartfelt, I’ll have to check it out.

ANNA: Me too, it sounds great.

ASH: Count me in as well!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Black Clover 36, Chainsaw Man 17, Dark Gathering 11, Last Quarter 2 (the final volume), Like a Butterfly 10, Marriage Toxin 5, Moriarty the Patriot 18, Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite 2, Sakamoto Days 15, Tamon’s B-Side 6, and Wolf Girl and Black Prince 11.

MICHELLE: Man, I could do with a Tamon binge about now!

ANNA: Will be checking out Last Quarter for sure.

SEAN: Steamship has Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze 6 and Loved by Two Fiancés 2.

ASH: I didn’t realize that Fire in His Fingertips was still ongoing!

SEAN: Square Enix has Mobsters in Love 3 (the final volume), My Clueless First Friend 8, and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 22.

Seven Seas debuts Blood Night Market, a supernatural seinen series from Young Ace. In a city where vampires want blood and humans are willing to sell, an employee of an organization that tries to stop illegal vampiring (is that a word) runs into a self-proclaimed vampire gourmand. This isn’t listed as BL, and it runs in Young Ace, but… I dunno, it seems BL. The creator is a BL author who also wrote vs. LOVE.

MICHELLE: The blurb on Amazon includes the word “desires,” so your instincts are spot-on.

ANNA: Only legal vampiring should be allowed!

ASH: Forsooth! (Fortooth?)

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Cinderella Closet 8 (the final volume), The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 12 (the final volume), Kageki Shojo!! 12, Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari 9, My Girlfriend’s Not Here Today 3, My Sister Took My Fiancé and Now I’m Being Courted by a Beastly Prince 3, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 5.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Kageki Shojo!! one of these days.

SEAN: And in danmei releases we see Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu 3.

One Peace Books has the 23rd volume of the The Rising of the Shield Hero manga.

Kodansha’s print debut is Love on the Horizon (Ashita Ai kamo Shirenai), a BL series from Gateau. A country boy at college, in love with his senpai, is tasked with getting him home after a party one night and ends up in bed with him! But it was just a one-time thing, right?

MICHELLE: I’m guessing not.

ANNA: These things happen.

ASH: It would be more surprising if it didn’t.

SEAN: Also in print: A-DO 6, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 5, Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 18, Medalist 6, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 19, Spoil Me Plzzz, Hinamori-san! 2, Thunder 3 2, Your Lie in April Omnibus 2, and Yuri is My Job! 13.

And for digital we have Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 12, How to Grill Our Love 12, Medalist 11, Those Snow White Notes 24, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 16.

MICHELLE: This will be the year I read Medalist.

ANNA: Oh, I have some digital volumes stockpiled, I should get back into it. It really is so good.

ASH: I keep meaning to start it, too.

SEAN: One debut for J-Novel Club: Isekai Walking is about… ugh… a guy with a seemingly useless power who’s summoned to be a hero but thrown out for being useless only it turns out his power is secretly awesome. Whee.

ASH: That can’t be a real isekai title – it’s only two words long!

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: The Apothecary Diaries 13, The 10th Cooking with Wild Game manga, The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place 2, Earl and Fairy 9, Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! 8, the 3rd I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest? I’m Not Even an Adventurer Yet! manga, Knight’s & Magic 5, the 7th My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer manga, the 2nd Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter manga, and To Another World… with Land Mines! 10.

There’s a Ghost Ship debut. ISEKAI AFFAIR: 10 Years After Defeating the Demon King, the Hero Cheats on His Wife With a Warrior Woman Who Lost Her Husband (Isekai Furin – Maou Toubatsu kara Juunen, Tsuma to wa Resu no Moto Yuusha to, Otto o Nakushita Onna Senshi), which ran in Sunday Web Every. The title is the plot.

Denpa Books is listed as having the 5th volume of Under Ninja.

Airship, in print, has I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! 2, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 20, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 13 (the final volume).

Digitally there’s a debut: The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside By My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom (Kanpeki Sugite Kawaige ga Nai to Konyaku Haki Sareta Seijo wa Ringoku ni Urareru) is in that “disgraced noble lady” genre, and the title is the plot again, but it’s getting an anime this year, and is from the creator of I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince.

Also digital: Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 9.

It’s hard to do January book puns. Do any of these titles give you an epiphany? No? I’ll workshop it.

ASH: It’s a start!

SEAN: It’s 2025! OK, most of these come out on the 31st of December 2024, but still! Only 500 years to the song In the Year 2525!

ASH: So close, and yet so far away!

SEAN: Airship’s print debut is A Tale of the Secret Saint ZERO (Tenseishita Daiseijo wa, Seijo de Aru Koto wo Hitakakusu Zero), the prequel story of Princess Serafina’s adventures 300 years before being reincarnated as Fia.

Also in print: The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 9.

And for early digital we see Adachi and Shimamura: Short Stories, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 11, and There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 6.

Cross Infinite World has Fluffy Paradise 6 and Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace 6 (the final volume).

Ghost Ship has She’s the Strongest Bride, But I’m Stronger in Night Battles: A Harem Chronicle of Advancing Through Cunning Tactics 2 and the 18th and final volume of World’s End Harem.

The debut from J-Novel Club is From Villainess to Healer (Kaifukushoku no Akuyaku Reijou), whose manga adaptation came out from JNC two weeks ago. Our protagonist is dumped for having evil dark magic rather than good healing magic, so she goes to another country, changes her class to healer, and vows to forget all about him.

ASH: As she should.

ANNA: She doesn’t need that guy!

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: the 6th The Invincible Little Lady manga, Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World 9, Jeanette the Genius: Defying My Evil Stepmother by Starting a Business with My Ride-or-Die Fiancé! 3 (the final volume), Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden 5, the 9th Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon manga, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 12, and the 4th A Wild Last Boss Appeared! manga.

No debuts for Kodansha. In print they have Am I Actually the Strongest? 8, Blue Lock 16, and The Spellbook Library 2.

ASH: Oh, I was supposed to read the first volume of The Spellbook Library, wasn’t I?

ANNA: Tell me if you like it!

SEAN: Digitally we see Altair: A Record of Battles 27 (the final volume) and Issak 11.

One Peace Books has a 5th volume of The Death Mage light novel.

The debut for Seven Seas is a mature BL oneshot, Wanna Be My Dress-Up Lover? (Nee, Onnanoko ni Shite Ageru). This ran in Reijin, and stars an office manager who relieves his stress by working at a cross-dressing cafe… but then his sarcastic employee shows up!

MICHELLE: I do like sarcastic guys in BL…

ASH: Saaaaaame.

ANNA: Indeed!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 13, Box of Light 3, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 13, Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 10, I Get the Feeling That Nobukuni-san Likes Me 5, I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 5, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Fafnir the Recluse 4, My Deer Friend Nokotan 5, My Girlfriend’s Child 6, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 12, and Skeleton Knight in Another World 13.

Steamship has the 4th and final volume of Revenge: Mrs. Wrong.

And one title from Yen Press, a debut for Yen On: Monsterholic. This is by the author of Days with My Stepsister and My Friend’s Little Sister Has It in for Me!, but this is definitely a different genre. A vampire and a werewolf patrol a government-approved slum, trying despite that to fight crime.

MICHELLE: Huh.

ASH: That is quite the genre switch.

SEAN: End of the year is always short. What are you buying with your New Year’s money? Assuming you are Japanese and get New Year’s money.

SEAN: Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and Best wishes from Manga Bookshelf!… wait, there’s manga out this week?

ASH: As if there was any doubt!

SEAN: Yen On has one title, and it’s a debut. Before the Tutorial Starts: A Few Things I Can Do to Keep the Bosses Alive (Tutorial ga Hajimaru Mae ni: Bosschara-tachi wo Hametsu Sasenai Tame ni Ore ga Dekiru Ikutsu ka no Koto) is a “I am the weakest, but really the STRONGEST” title combined with “I’m reincarnated as a pathetic villain” with a dash of “my sister is dying”.

MICHELLE: That’s kind of a lot.

SEAN: And Yen Press has Excellent Property, Rejects for Residents: Baths, Lavatories, and Angels Are Communal 2 and Final Fantasy Lost Stranger 11.

Viz Media has the 15th volume of Fist of the North Star.

ASH: Always happy for a new Fist of the North Star volume!

SEAN: Steamship debuts The Yakuza and His Omega: Raw Desire (Gokudou to Omega – Mukidashi no Katsuai), a josei omegaverse title from Pinkcherie. A romance writer wants to interview a famous alpha who’s also head of the local yakuza. Little does she know that… drumroll, please… she’s really an omega!

ASH: Surprise! (Still glad we’re getting steamy josei in the mix.)

ANNA: Me too, I’m glad that some steamy josei is being published.

SEAN: Square Enix has Final Fantasy VII Remake: Material Ultimania Plus, a big hardcover artbook.

I feel like sticking the Mature Seven Seas titles with Ghost Ship isn’t working, so I’ll go back to listing them with the main label. The debut is a mature BL title, Our Sweet One-Room Apartment (Sweet Our 1R) is from Magazine Be x Boy, and complete in one volume. Two college kids live together, it looks very cute.

ASH: It does!

SEAN: From Seven Seas we see Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 11, the 2nd KinnPorsche novel, Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero 7, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 10, Perfect Buddy 2, Time Stop Hero 11, and The World’s Fastest Level Up 4.

Kodansha has the debut of the week with Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow, the legendary 1968 Weekly Shonen Magazine manga that inspired almost every shonen series that came after it. The story of a ne’er-do-well who finds his fate lies with boxing, it’s coming out in hardcover format as a 600-page omnibus. Calling it: This is our pick of the week. And possibly the year, despite coming out at the end of it.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’m a sucker for these “adrift person finds the place they belong” stories. Of course, I’m inclined to say “It reminds me of Slam Dunk!,” though I realize it’s the other way around.

ASH: I am so excited for this release!!

ANNA: Me too, happy to see a classic title get translated.

SEAN: Also in print: Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up 3 and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 9.

And for digital we see As the Gods Will 2, Bootsleg 5, Gamaran: Shura 27, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 12, and My Home Hero 19.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but we do see Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3 Book 4 manga, the 18th Black Summoner manga, the 5th Hell Mode manga, I Could Never Be a Succubus! 5, An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! 9, the 4th A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life manga, A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires 4, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 9 Part 2, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 11, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 14, Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters! 7, The Tales of Marielle Clarac 11, and the 9th Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! manga.

ASH: No debuts, but still plenty to fall behind on!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 12 and the 2nd Do You Like Big Girls? omnibus re-release.

ASH: One of these days I really, really, really, really, REALLY will give The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You a try.

SEAN: Denpa Books has, per retailers, March Comes in Like a Lion 3.

MICHELLE: I’m dubious, but we’ll see if my pre-order ships!

ASH: Fingers crossed!

ANNA: Also hoping here!

SEAN: In print, Airship has Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)! (Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (Hokori)!). A former Japanese farm girl is reincarnated and becomes a maid to a poor noble family. Except… she seems to have holy magic? And men are flocking to her? Is she a heroine? Meh. Who cares? She’s a maid!

Also in print: Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 3 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 8.

And early digital has She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 12 and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 8.

That’s actually not bad compared to the last two weeks of hell. What’s in your stocking?

SEAN: We’re in the home stretch for Christmas buying. Let’s see what we’ve got.

ASH: I suspect plenty.

SEAN: Airship has two print titles, as we see Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills 3 (the final volume) and A Tale of the Secret Saint 7.

And three early digital titles: I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 5 (the final volume), Mushoku Tensei: Redundant Reincarnation 2 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 13 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: I had been meaning to check out I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!.

SEAN: Retailers say that Denpa Books has a 3rd volume of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack.

Ghost Ship has a 20th volume of Parallel Paradise.

There’s also a mature Seven Seas one-shot debuting. Wet Dream Aquarium (Ero Yume Aquarium) is a BL title from a magazine called, I kid you not, Splush. A guy has started to have erotic dreams about… sex with fish. What’s more, his wannabe marine biologist classmate is always watching him in these dreams!

MICHELLE: …

ASH: Huh.

ANNA: I don’t know about this one…

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print title coming out: The Misfit of Demon King Academy 4, Act 2.

There’s four new J-Novel Club titles. The Countess Is a Coward No More! This Reincarnated Witch Just Wants a Break (Tensei Saki ga Kiyowa Sugiru Hakushaku Fujin datta) is a new light novel series. A young woman who’s been cowardly and bullied her whole life is now married to an Earl who’s never home, so the servants bully her. But she suddenly remembers her past life as a powerful witch! Now she’s going to turn the tables.

ASH: That’s good, or perhaps poor, timing on her part.

SEAN: Disowned but Not Disheartened! Life Is Good with Overpowered Magic (Ie o Oidasaremashita ga, Genki ni Kurashiteimasu ~Cheat na Mahō to Zensei Chishiki de Kaiteki Benri na Second Life!~). A girl is disowned by her parents when she’s THREE (Christ), but is taken in by an Earl, and soon finds herself shooting off powerful magic, playing in dangerous woods, and inventing things from her past life. That plot sounds pretty cool! Alas, this is an academy for nobles genre. Yeah, she’s off to school.

ASH: Dang, what did she do to get disowned?

SEAN: From Villainess to Healer: I Know the Cheat to Change My Fate (Kaifukushoku no Akuyaku Reijou) is a manga adaptation of a light novel J-Novel Club has licensed but has not released yet, and it runs in Flos Comic. Our protagonist is dumped for having evil dark magic rather than good healing magic, so she goes to another country, changes her class to healer, and vows to forget all about him. (Yes, I had this two weeks ago. It got bumped.)

ASH: I thought that premise sounded familiar!

SEAN: A Royal Rebound: Forget My Ex-Fiancé, I’m Being Pampered by the Prince! (Konyakusha ga Uwaki Aite to Kakeochi Shimashita. Ōji Denka ni Dekiai Sarete Shiawase nanode, Ima Sara Modoritai to Iwarete mo Komarimasu) is the manga version of the light novel already released by J-Novel Club. It runs in Drecomics. (Yes, I had this last week. It got bumped.)

ASH: As so many things do.

SEAN: There’s also Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Trusted Companions Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to the Gift of an Unlimited Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge on My Former Party Members and the World 9, The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 5, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 16, The Coppersmith’s Bride 4, Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! 5, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 18, Hell Mode 8, Lacey Longs for Freedom: The Dawn Witch’s Low-Key Life after Defeating the Demon King 2, the 11th The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! manga, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! After Story (the final volume), My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 13, No One Gets Past This Gatekeeper: The Unwanted Warrior Guards His New Post 2, The Poison King: Now that I’ve Gained Ultimate Power, the Bewitching Beauties in My Harem Can’t Get Enough of Me 3, The Royal Hostage Has Vanished: The Black Wolf Knight Yearns for the Persecuted Princess 2 (the final volume), the 10th Rebuild World manga, and The Water Magician 3.

ASH: I accidentally started reading that as if it was all one title.

ANNA: This is a common problem because a title that long does seem somewhat plausible.

SEAN: Two debuts for Kodansha Manga. Confession (Kokuhaku) is a late 90s manga that ran in Uppers, and complete in one volume. Two men are about to die in a blizzard. One decides to confess to the dark secret he’s kept for years. Then… um, they find shelter. Now the man might be more at risk of death from his companion! This is so seinen you can smell the sweat.

MICHELLE: Heh. Potentially interesting, though!

ASH: I’m became even more interested when I realized Nobuyuki Fukumoto (Kaiji) was handling the story and Kaiji Kawaguchi (Eagle) was handling the art.

ANNA: Oh!

SEAN: Re:Anima is a series that runs on Kodansha Manga’s North American website. It’s about a world where everyone has to live underground due to the environment, but they can go to the surface in robot bodies. This, of course, leads to CRIME.

Also from Kodansha in print: The Fable Omnibus 5, The Moon on a Rainy Night 6, Rent-A-Girlfriend 28, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 25.

And for digital we see Space Brothers 44 and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 9.

One Peace Books has an 8th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Seven Seas’ first debut is Beautiful Things: The Complete Manga Collection (Utsukushii Koto), a josei BL title from Kiss. A man, after a bad breakup, finds himself dressing in his ex-girlfriend’s outfits and walking the streets at night. One night he’s rescued from an assault by his co-worker, who finds himself falling for… her? Can our protagonist find it in himself to tell the truth, even after getting a confession? This started as a novel and has also been made into a play.

MICHELLE: The coworker is described as “an endearing klutz,” and suddenly I’m sold!

ASH: I am intrigued!

ANNA: OK!

SEAN: They also have HIKARI-MAN 1-2, from the creator of Homunculus and Ichi the Killer. This sci-fi series from Big Comic Spirits is about a nerdy high school kid who one day has a build up of static accidentally transfer his consciousness into his PC.

MICHELLE: For a second, I thought this said Hataraki Man, and I was very excite. This isn’t that, but still sounds intriguing.

ASH: Hahaha, same!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Party Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to an Infinite Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge 7, Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi 2, Don’t Call it Mystery 11-12, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 20, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 15, Monster Musume 18, My Androgynous Boyfriend 5 (the final volume), My Cat is Such a Weirdo 5, My Senpai is Annoying 12, Orb: On the Movements of the Earth 7-8 (the final volume), Someone’s Girlfriend 2, Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 6, Yakuza Reincarnation 11, and Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games 7.

Square Enix has the My Happy Marriage Art Book art book, a handsome hardcover featuring art and exclusive short stories.

Steamship has a print debut. The Obsessed Mage and His Beloved Statue Bride: She Cannot Resist His Seductive Voice (Yandere Mahoutsukai wa Sekizou no Otome shika Aisenai: Majo wa Manadeshi no Atsui Kuchizuke de Tokeru) is along the lines of the last LN Steamship released, at least in terms of the male love interest. Our heroine, to save the country, turns herself to stone for twenty years. Now her cute teenage assistant is an older, sexier man, and still totally in love with her.

ASH: This was a subgenre I wasn’t aware existed, though I am also not surprised.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has a 2nd volume of More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers.

No debuts for Viz, but we see Black Lagoon 13, Dandadan 10, Fool Night 3, Haikyu!! 3-in-1 3, Insomniacs After School 8, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 5, Mission: Yozakura Family 14, Show-ha Shoten! 6, Ultraman 20, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 16.

Yen On debuts I’m the Strongest in This Zombie World, but I Can’t Beat This Girl! (Zombie Sekai de Ore wa Saikyou dakedo, Kono Ko ni wa Katenai), a post-apocalyptic romcom. A high school boy, trying to deal with a world overrun by zombies, meets his friend’s little sister. Then he’s bitten by a zombie. Thinking he’s about to die, she agrees to be his girlfriend… but somehow, he’s a zombie who’s still got his own personality?

ASH: That is a rather curious turn of events.

SEAN: We also see Agents of the Four Seasons 4, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 9, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 13, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World: Secret File 3, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 12, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 13, and Spy Classroom Short Story Collection 3.

Yen Press has a few debuts. Blend-S is another one of those 10-year-old Manga Time Kirara Carat manga we’ve seen lately (perhaps the contract difficulties were fixed?). Our cheerful heroine gets a job at a themed cafe… but is asked to play a sadist?

Hereditary Triangle (Seshuusei Triangle) is a series from Comic Beam, collected complete in one volume here. Three friends were in a love triangle as teens… then one of them vanished. The other two married, and now, years later, the husband wonders if his wife would still have chosen him if that hadn’t happened.

MICHELLE: This feels vaguely orange-y.

ASH: I have heard very good things about this one.

SEAN: Luciole Has a Dream (Luciole wa Yume wo Miru) is a shoujo title from Asuka. A young boy awakens from sleep to find the world ended while he slept. Now he’s alone (except for his 500-year-old archmage guardian), all alone…

ASH: That’s some powerful sleep.

ANNA: I sometimes want to sleep like that.

SEAN: Senpai, This Can’t Be Love! Brush Up is, let’s be honest, Senpai, This Can’t Be Love! 2.

Sword Art Online abec Artworks New World has artwork from Vol. 16-22 of the main series and 1-3 of Progressive, so expect some sweet Argo art.

Übel Blatt Deluxe Edition is a deluxe edition of the Übel Blatt manga. hardcover, snazzy looking, 650 pages.

ASH: I don’t know that I would have expected this series to be selected for a deluxe treatment.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Goblin Slayer 15, The Kept Man of the Princess Knight 3, and Nights with a Cat 4.

This one is almost as big as last week’s. Sheesh. (Or maybe splush.)

MICHELLE: Snerk.

SEAN: As we prepare for Christmas, publishers try to put out all – well, most – of their titles a couple weeks early. Buckle up.

ASH: Let’s goooooo!

ANNA: I’m scared!

SEAN: Yen actually delayed a bunch of their titles a week or two, but we still have plenty this week. Yen On debuts The BS Situation of Tougetsu Umidori (Umidori Tougetsu no “Detarame” na Jijou). What appears to be a typical school life book ends up in a web of lies and intrigue. Umidori seems to be the normal narrator type.

ASH: What sort of BS are we talking about, here?

SEAN: Also from Yen On: 86–EIGHTY-SIX 13, Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian 6, The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 8, High School DxD 15, My First Love’s Kiss 2, Riviere and the Land of Prayer 3, and Sword Art Online Alternative Clover’s Regret 2.

Yen Press has a bunch of debuts. Be My Worst Nightmare! (Dareka Yume da to Itte Kure) is a BL title from Manga Mee. A short boy discovers his crush getting rejected by a tall brute, so he challenges him to a contest! And loses. And loses. And now, for some reason, his affections seem to be shifting…

ASH: Uh-oh!

SEAN: Revenge Agent Hizumi-san (Fukushuu Daikou Hizumi-san) is a BL one-shot from B’S-LOVEY. A man whose job is getting revenge on the worst scum is hired to humiliate a cheating bastard. Which he does.

ASH: Goodness!

SEAN: Stomp, Kick, Love (Fundari, Kettari, Aishitari) is a shoujo title from pixiv Sylph. An office worker finds her only respite is going out drinking with her platonic friend, who’s a bit of a playboy. Then she ends up in bed with this platonic friend.

ASH: Whoops.

ANNA: Listen, these things happen.

SEAN: With You, Our Love Will Make It Through (Kimi to Koete Koi ni Naru) is a shoujo title from Manga Mee. A high school girl finds her class has a transfer student who is a beastman one day. She gets along with him, but her classmates don’t. Then, when they’re locked in a warehouse, his wild side merges…

ASH: Didn’t see that one coming!

ANNA: I wonder if “locked in a warehouse” can be a new trope, like “only one bed”.

SEAN: Oh yes, and we also get Delicious in Dungeon: The Complete Box Set. Comes with an exclusive poster.

ASH: Oh, very nice.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life II 2, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 11, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 16, The Detective Is Already Dead 6 (the final volume), The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 22, The Eminence in Shadow 11, The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu’s Love 2, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Memoria Freese 4 (the final volume), Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 18, Magical Girl Incident 3 (the final volume), The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 6, Minato’s Laundromat 4, My Dear, Curse-Casting Vampiress 5, No Longer Heroine 8, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 5, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 12, Pandora Seven 4, The Reformation of the World as Overseen by a Realist Demon King 5, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included 6, Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad 2, Touge Oni: Primal Gods in Ancient Times 5, Touring After the Apocalypse 5, Trinity Seven Revision 3 (the final volume), When I Became a Commoner, They Broke Off Our Engagement! 4, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 7.

Next we… oh dear, everyone stopped reading. Anyway. The debut from Viz Media is Rainbows After Storms (Hana ni Arashi), a yuri title from Sunday Web Every. Two girls are best friends, hanging out at school with their other friends. But they’re also secretly dating each other. Which is getting harder to cover up…

ASH: That’ll happen sometimes.

ANNA: Indeed.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Akane-Banashi 9, Call of the Night 18, D.Gray-man 3-in-1 Edition 9, I Wanna Do Bad Things with You 3, Jujutsu Kaisen 24, One Piece 3-in-1 34, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 11, Splatoon 3: Splatlands 3.

Udon Entertainment debuts Mr. Mega Man (Rockman-san), a slice-of-life title from Young Ace Up based on the classic game.

Two debuts from SuBLime. The Metalhead Next Door (Tonari no Metaller-san) is a Chara title starring a young gay man who is freezing outside his unheated apartment during a blizzard when he’s rescued by his neighbor, a young man always in black who looks scary. Over time, they eat together and love begins to grow… at least on one side. This is a one-shot.

MICHELLE: This looks cute! I love the cover on this one.

ASH: Agreed!

ANNA: It does look cute!

SEAN: Worst Soulmate Ever (Unmei no Tsugai ga Omae da Nante) is an omegaverse series from Dear +. An omega who’s been unlucky in love tries an agency… but ends up paired with an alpha who knows him from long ago… and hates him! This is a comedy, apparently.

Steamship has Guilty Smile (Danzai no Bishou), a dark josei title from Sonya Comics. A princess is the last one standing as the royal palace is taken by rebels… and she’s also impersonating her sister, who tormented the rebel general. Not realizing the switch, the general puts a curse on her that turns her into his plaything.

ASH: Dark josei Steamship manga, hmmm…

ANNA: Intereresting!

SEAN: Just one title from Square Enix: My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 16.

Seven Seas also has a pile of titles… which we’ll get to when we hit Ghost Ship. They do also have 100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death (Boku ga Shinu dake no Hyakumonogatari), a horror manga from Shonen Sunday S. A boy tries to jump out his classroom window one day, and a girl stops him by telling him a legend that if you tell 100 ghost stories, afterwards you’ll see ghosts yourself.

ASH: I’ve been curious about this one.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Berserk of Gluttony 11, The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store 2 (the final volume), The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom 8, How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift? 16, Kemono Jihen 14, The Kingdoms of Ruin 9, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 10, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 5, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 18, Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills 3, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 19, Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 3, A Stepmother’s ‏Märchen 5, The Strange House 2, This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 14, Too Many Losing Heroines! 2, The Villainess Who Has Been Killed 108 Times: She Remembers Everything! 4 (the final volume), and Who Made Me a Princess 8.

MICHELLE: I need to get on The Strange House.

SEAN: And for danmei we get The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish: Canji Baojun De Zhangxin Yu Chong 3.

One Peace Books has the 7th manga volume of The Death Mage.

No print debuts for Kodansha. We do get BLOOD BLADE 4, I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl 5, Noragami: Stray God 27 (the final volume), and Tank Chair 2.

ASH: The first volume of Tank Chair surprised me in a good way. Also, I should make a point to finish Noragami eventually.

SEAN: The digital debut is India Calling Me Now (Ima, Indo ni Yobarete), a josei one-shot from Palcy. A manga artist has been getting nowhere for years, and when her husband gets a new job in India, she takes it as a sign to give up and goes with him. Then he expects her to be a good little housewife. So she dumps his ass. Leaving her in India by herself. Can she find her dream?

MICHELLE: This sounds delightful!

ASH: I’m in!

ANNA: Sounds cool.

SEAN: Also digital: Drops of God: Mariage 10, Gang King 24, Giant Killing 46, Harem Marriage 20 (the final volume), I Have a Crush at Work 7, and Quality Assurance in Another World 12.

Some print titles from J-Novel Club, as we see Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 8, Black Summoner 4, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 10, and My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 12.

4 debuts for J-Novel Club next week. A Cozy Life in the Woods with the White Witch (Shiro Majo-san to no Henkyō Gurashi ~Saikyō na Majo wa Nonbiri Kurashitai~) is a new light novel series. A guy is banished from his party, and ends up coming across the all-powerful White Witch. Trouble is… she’s a slob! Fortunately, he excels at everything that does not involve fighting, so keeps house for her.

Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner (Lady Rose wa Heimin ni Naritai) is a light novel for a series we got the manga for some time ago. Our heroine is reincarnated as the villainess of an otome game… AFTER the bad end. Oops. Fortunately, she just wants to live happily with her true love… bread.

MICHELLE: Hee!

ASH: That is fortunate!

ANNA: I sympathize with her love of bread.

SEAN: A Royal Rebound: Forget My Ex-Fiancé, I’m Being Pampered by the Prince! (Konyakusha ga Uwaki Aite to Kakeochi Shimashita. Ōji Denka ni Dekiai Sarete Shiawase nanode, Ima Sara Modoritai to Iwarete mo Komarimasu) is the manga version of the light novel already released by J-Novel Club. It runs in Drecomics.

The Tanaka Family Reincarnates (Tanaka-ke, Tensei Suru) is a light novel series that shows an eccentric family dying in an earthquake… and reincarnated as an equally eccentric family, only in an isekai. This is more along the noble girl end of the genre.

Also from J-Novel Club: the 4th The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases manga, the 3rd Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade manga, Duchess in the Attic 2, The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects 6, The Legendary Witch Is Reborn as an Oppressed Princess 2, Only I Know That This World Is a Game 6, RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’ 3, the 2nd Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight manga, the 2nd Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess manga, and This Art Club Has a Problem! 5.

Ghost Ship debuts Imaizumi Brings All the Gals to His House (Imaizumin-chi wa Douyara Gal no Tamariba ni Natteru Rashii), a seinen series from Web Comic Gamma Plus. Based on a hentai doujinshi, this stars a normal everyday high school student who happens to have three high school gyarus at his apartment. He’s living with them, hanging out with them, and yes, they’re doing that as well.

They also have Creature Girls: A Hands-On Field Journal in Another World 11 and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 13.

For mature Seven Seas stuff, we see Play Me Softly (Dolce na Bokura no Koi ni Tsuite), a BL one-shot from LiQuille. An office worker who also plays in a concert band finds that his old high school crush has joined the band.

ASH: Vaguely music themed mature manga, you say?

SEAN: Sweet Room Escape is a BL title from Qpa. A gay man seems to have it all, great job, lots of partying, great sex, and no strings. Then he meets Albrecht… and is horrified to find he’s caught feelings!

Also in mature Seven Seas titles, At 25:00 in Akasaka 2, Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 8 (the final volume), and No Love Zone 2.

Dark Horse Comics has the 3rd Deluxe Edition of Trigun Maximum.

In print, Airship has Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 9.5.

And for early digital, we have Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 8, I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince 2, and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 20.

Um… Merry Christmas? Please spend over one thousand dollars on these titles.

SEAN: December is here, and so is Whamageddon. Good luck to all!

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: No print light novels for Airship, but we do see an early digital release for I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! 2.

Dark Horse has the 3rd and final omnibus volume of Innocent, containing Vol. 7-9.

ASH: I’ll be picking this one up, eventually.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has the 9th and final volume of Call Girl in Another World.

And Seven Seas has a mature debut, No Spicy Romance Allowed! (Unmei demo Netsuai wa Yurushimasen!). This one shot from LiQuile is an omegaverse book about an alpha fashion model and his omega manager.

Also mature is the 7th volume of The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun.

Three debuts for J-Novel Club, all manga. From Villainess to Healer: I Know the Cheat to Change My Fate (Kaifukushoku no Akuyaku Reijou) is a manga adaptation of a light novel J-Novel Club has licensed but has not released yet, and it runs in Flos Comic. Our protagonist is dumped for having evil dark magic rather than good healing magic, so she goes to another country, changes her class to healer, and vows to forget all about him.

ASH: Wishing her luck on her new endeavors.

SEAN: Jeanette the Genius: Defying My Evil Stepmother by Starting a Business with My Ride-or-Die Fiancé! (Kakure Saijo wa Zenzen Megenai – Gibo to Gimai ni Ie wo Oidasareta no de Konyaku Haki shite Moraou to Omottara, Shinshi Datta Konyakusha ga Hageshiku Dekiai shite kuru you ni narimashita!?) is a manga version of the light novel also licensed by J-Novel Club, and it runs in Drecomics.

A Pale Moon Reverie (Tsuki no Shirosa wo Shirite Madoromu) is also a manga version of the light novel also licensed by J-Novel Club, and it also runs in Drecomics.

ASH: I do appreciate that we often see both the originals and the adaptations licensed these days.

SEAN: J-Novel Club also has The Blessing of Liefe: Leave This Magical Letdown Alone! 2, Cooking with Wild Game 26, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 9, The Eternal Fool’s Words of Wisdom: A Pawsitively Fantastic Adventure 3, Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest 7, My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer: Short Story Collection, The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles 9, and the 2nd and final volume of The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist manga.

ASH: That’s a decent amount.

SEAN: No debuts for Kodansha. In print they have Fire Force Manga Box Set 2 (Vol. 7-11), The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity 4, Initial D Omnibus 4 (Vol. 7-8), Mobile Suit Gundam Cucuruz Doan’s Island 2, Tsugumi Project 6, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 11.

And digitally we see Chihayafuru 47, Sayabito: Swords of Destiny 5, Shangri-La Frontier 18, and Those Snow White Notes 23.

MICHELLE: Must. Read. Iruma and Chihayafuru.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a 2nd volume of I Was Sold Dirt Cheap, but My Power Level Is off the Charts.

Debuting from Seven Seas is Hoteri Hotette First Kiss, an anthology of shoujo short stories that ran in Dessert from author Coco Uzuki, whose first long-form manga is coming out from Kodansha next year.

MICHELLE: Hm. The cover’s kinda cute.

ASH: I like anthologies!

ANNA: I think we don’t get many shoujo anthologies, I might check this out.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain 3, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi – The Comic 8, Last Game 7, Lout of Count’s Family 2, and My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked 5.

Square Enix has The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl 8.

ASH: I should read more of this series.

ANNA: It is pretty cute, the couple of volumes that I’ve read.

SEAN: Tokyopop is shoving everything for December out next week. Comic Party Wonder Love is a BL comedy manga from Lynx. Two male BL authors are each other’s opposites, but find themselves drawn to each other.

The Person I Loved Asked Me to Die in My Sister’s Stead (Koishita Hito wa, Imouto no Kawari ni Shindekure to Itta. – Imouto to Kekkon shita Kataomoi Aite ga Naze Imasara Watashi no Moto ni? to Omottara @COMIC) is an adaptation of an as-yet unlicensed light novel. A noble lady is asked by her fiance to sacrifice herself and watch over the evil Predawn Realm in place of her little sister. Heartbroken, she does what he asks, and twenty years pass. Now his son arrives in the realm, asking her for the sentient sword she wields. Is she gonna finally snap?

Tokyopop also has Double 5, If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die 10, My Hateful Man 2, SANCTIFY 2, Wails of the Bound: Beta 2, and World’s End Blue Bird 2.

Udon Entertainment has Ottoman: Henshin Hero Husband 2 (the final volume). Boy, that series came and went fast… or Amazon is screwing up small publisher release dates again. One of those is more likely than the other.

ASH: Yeah.

SEAN: Some debuts from Viz. First a spinoff. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Shining Diamond’s Demonic Heartbreak (JoJo no Kimyou na Bouken: Crazy Diamond no Akuryou-teki Shitsuren) is a manga adaptation of the as-yet unlicensed light novel, and it ran in Ultra Jump. Hol Horse searches for a missing parrot, but this is JoJo’s, you know it won’t be as simple as that.

ASH: I’ll admit to being curious!

SEAN: Next, another spinoff. Kaiju No. 8: Exclusive on the Third Division is a light novel detailing, well, the Third Division.

There’s also Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Official Art Book, which is what it says.

ASH: I have a couple of friends I should get this for.

SEAN: And there is Studio Ghibli: Architecture in Animation, an artbook covering the studio.

Also from Viz: Blue Box 13, Blue Exorcist 30, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu Academy 4, Dragon Ball Super 22, The King’s Beast 14, Let’s Do It Already! 3, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 18 (the final volume), Neighborhood Story 4 (the final volume), and Rainbow Days 13.

MICHELLE: Dang, Neighborhood Story reached its end quickly, too! I guess that’s an omnibus release for ya.

ANNA: It did seem to fly by.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press has one manga volume, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 9.

Gotta be thinking of presents by now, right?