Melinda Beasi

SEAN: Well, that was a nice break this week, huh? Next week is back to a giant pile, I’m afraid.

J-Novel Club has a quintet of light novels. We get Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?! 5, Holmes of Kyoto 3, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 14, Outbreak Company 16, and Slayers 5.

In print, Kodansha just has Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan 2.

Digitally, of course, there is far more. The debut is Will It Be the World or Her? (Sekai ka Kanojo ka Erabenai), a Bessatsu Shonen Magazine title. A guy tries to confess to his childhood friend… but another girl shows up and says she’s his girlfriend. What’s more, he has to forget about the other girl… or else the world will end! This sounds like an updated UY, but the cover art sort of puts me off.

We also get Dolly Kill Kill 10, Dr. Ramune – Mysterious Disease Specialist – 3, GE: Good Ending 13, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 2, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 10, Kakushigoto 11, Orient 10, Saiyuki 4, and We’re New at This 2.

ASH: I’m still pleased that Saiyuki is being re-released; I’d love to see even more of Minekura’s work in English.

ANNA: I’m glad that Saiyuki is being re-released too!

MELINDA: I am, too!

SEAN: Two debut manga from Seven Seas. The first is Rozi in the Labyrinth (Roji Meikyuu no Rozi), from Mag Garden’s Comic Garden. It’s another “innocent girl in a world of supernatural beings” series along the lines of Nicola Traveling the Demon’s World.

ASH: This is a sub-genre that appeals to me. Nicola is a delight, so I’ll probably give this series a try, too.

MELINDA: Same here.

SEAN: Tamamo-chan’s a Fox! (High School Inari Tamamo-chan!) runs in Niconico Seiga, and has a fox spirit try to blend in as a human so that she can enjoy high school life. Unfortunately, her disguise is not all that great. This looks cute?

ASH: I’m intrigued?

MELINDA: This does sound potentially adorable.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash and the Faerie Case Files 2, A Centaur’s Life 19, Classroom of the Elite 7 (in print), GIGANT 4, The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 2 (manga version), Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 4 (manga version), Monster Girl Doctor 7, and Mushoku Tensei 9 (digitally).

ASH: I haven’t actually read the first volume yet, but I’m definitely interested in Jack Flash and the Faerie Case Files.

SEAN: Tokyopop has two volume 2s. BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Roselia Stage (a final volume) and A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation (not a final volume).

Vertical has a number of titles. APOSIMZ 6, Blood on the Tracks 4, Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 5, and Weathering with You 2.

Viz’s debut is Asadora!, a new series from Naoki Urasawa that runs in Big Comic Spirits. This seems to be one of those “follow a girl from childhood into her adult life” series, so this first volume should be full of adorable little scamps.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this!

ASH: Likewise!

ANNA: Me too!

MELINDA: Hurray!! Totally into this.

SEAN: There’s also BEASTARS 10, Children of the Whales 16, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction 9, Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku 6, and Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 15.

ASH: I need to catch up on BEASTARS.

ANNA: I need to catch up on Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction.

SEAN: Yen On has a debut light novel: King of the Labyrinth (Meikyu no Ou). This seems to be a dungeon crawl light novel, only from the perspective of the monster, a powerful minotaur.

ASH: Okay, I do like a good minotaur story…

SEAN: They’re also reprinting the Haruhi Suzumiya light novels, in paperback but with the original cover art that was used for the hardcovers. The first two are out next week.

ASH: I’d somehow missed that particular news!

Yen On also has The Asterisk War 15, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 9, Kingdom Hearts III: The Novel 3, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 10.5, Strike the Blood 17, Sword Art Online 21, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 10, and Wandering Witch 4. Phew.

Yen Press has no fewer than four debuts next week. Wow! We’ll start with The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess (Tensei Akujo no Kuro Rekishi). This runs in LaLa, and has an amusing and also horrifying premise: our heroine is, yes, reincarnated as the villainess… but it’s from her own story she wrote in middle school!

MICHELLE: Huh. The premise and the fact it runs in LaLa piques my interest a little.

ASH: That does sound like one of the better variations on the theme I’ve heard lately.

MELINDA: This sounds kind of great, potentially.

SEAN: Dear NOMAN is from Kadokawa’s Comic Walker, and it’s about a girl who can see supernatural creatures but pretends not to. Then, one day, it becomes impossible to keep pretending. This is semi-yuri, and also only two volumes long.

ASH: Count me as curious.

MELINDA: Same!

SEAN: Mama Akuma (Akuma no Mama) is a Gangan Online title about a demon who prides himself on granting any wish… then a fourth-grader wishes for him to be her mama? Well, if that’s the wish, then that’s how it’s got to be. This looks fun.

MICHELLE: I will probably have to check this out.

MELINDA: This sounds very much like my thing. FYI, Sean totally called this in my DMs.

SEAN: Mint Chocolate is from HanaLaLa Online, and is the old standard “oh no, the guy I like is now my step-brother, how will we live under the same roof?” sort of series. Sounds like the classic “jerk slowly becomes not jerk” shoujo title, too…

In non-debuts, we get Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 4 (manga version), Delicious in Dungeon 9, Heterogenia Linguistico 2, Interspecies Reviewers Comic Anthology: Darkness, Trinity Seven 22, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard 3 (manga version).

Lots of debuts nxt week. What catches your eye?

SEAN: The final week of 2020, a year I will be all too happy to put behind me. What’s coming out?

J-Novel Club has Otherside Picnic 4, Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 5, and the 2nd and final volume of WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!!.

Kodansha has just two titles in print next week. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 2 (which I do not care about) and Witch Hat Atelier 7 (which I do).

MICHELLE: I pledge that someday I will actually read Witch Hat Atelier.

ASH: You have a treat waiting for you, Michelle! Witch Hat Atelier is truly wonderful.

ANNA: I agree, it is a wonderful series.

SEAN: Digitally it has a lot more. The debut is We’re New At This (Mijuku na Futari de Gozaimasu ga), a series from the creator of Ao-chan Can’t Study!. Two childhood friends have gotten married and love each other… but they’re both total innocents! Can they figure out how to do what couples do? This runs in Comic Days.

Also out digitally: Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 7, Guilty 7, My Boyfriend in Orange 10, Shaman King: The Super Star 4 (which catches us up with Japan, I think), A Sign of Affection 3, and The Prince’s Romance Gambit 8. A Sign of Affection is already on my must-buy list.

MICHELLE: That’s another one I need to actually start. I also enjoy Guilty, which is a fun josei drama about people who definitely don’t need lessons on what couples do.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a trio of titles, the most important being the 4th and final volume of Satoko & Nada. They also have the print version of Restaurant to Another World 4 and the print version of Arifureta Zero 4.

MICHELLE: Yay Satoko & Nada.

ASH: This series is a delight! I’m so happy that it was released in translation.

SEAN: Sol Press has 4 digital titles, all light novels. The only one that isn’t a debut is Chivalry of a Failed Knight 4.

The Game Master Has Logged into Another World (GM ga Isekai ni Login Shimashita). Gamer and GM collapses one day and finds himself in a game, now he has to call on his special cheat GM powers. I hate everything I typed just now.

I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life As a Mage (Moto Saikyou no Kenshi wa, Isekai Mahou ni Akogareru). A boy really wants to learn magic… but has no talents there. He does have amazing talents as the reincarnation of a master swordsman, but still… he wants to learn magic! This sounds slightly better, but only slightly.

Let This Grieving Soul Retire! Woe is the Weakling Who Leads the Strongest Party (Nageki no Bourei wa Intai Shitai: Saijiyaku Hanta ni Yoru Saikiyou Patei Ikusei Jutsu). This actually made it onto the end-of-year Light Novel Popularity polls, which is why I might actually look at it, despite being a “weak to strong” book, a genre I’m not fond of. Our hero’s friends have cool powers. He does not. But for some reason they keep expecting things of him.

Square Enix has a third volume of My Dress-Up Darling.

ASH: This series really surprised me. It’s definitely risqué, but it has some depth to the story and characters, too.

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 7th and final omnibus of Aria The Masterpiece, meaning after 16 years, and being cancelled twice by two different companies, we can finally read the end of Aria.

ASH: Wow!

MELINDA: I don’t even know what to say about this.

ANNA: I suppose it is certainly some sort of publishing achievement.

SEAN: Vertical has a 2nd in NISIOISIN’s Pretty Boy Detective Club series, The Swindler, the Vanishing Man, and the Pretty Boys.

Yen On has a few December stragglers. This includes a debut. The World’s Finest Assassin, Reincarnated in a Different World as an Aristocrat (Sekai Saikou no Ansatsusha, Isekai Kizoku ni Tensei Suru) sounds a whole lot like a number of other series we’ve seen recently, to be honest.

ASH: There does seem to have been one or two of those…

SEAN: There’s also Bungo Stray Dogs 5, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 5, and Woof Woof Story 5. Lotta 5s.

Lastly, Yen Press has High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 9 (manga version) and A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 9.

What manga will you be reading to help you forget 2020?

SEAN: As we get closer to the holidays, we get more and more books being published.

ASH: This turn of events pleases me.

MELINDA: And me.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a new title, I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death!. Our heroine dies and is reincarnated in an otome game, and she *is* the heroine this time… but the game is notorious for having almost all bad ends. Expect a lot of Alice in Wonderland vibes here as well.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but a heaping helping of ongoing digital light novels. We get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 11, Arifureta 11, I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! 4, The Intrigue of Marielle Clarac (Book 5 in that series), Slayers 4, and The Sorcerer’s Receptionist 2. Phew!

Kodansha has some print. We get Drifting Dragons 7, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 6, Gleipnir 8, the 2nd Magic Knight Rayearth manga box set, which will finish the series, and also has a bonus artbook. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 15 and UQ Holder 21 are also out.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying Drifting Dragons. I’ve also somehow never actually read Magic Knight Rayearth yet.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World (Isekai de Saikyou Maou no Kodomo-tachi Juunin no Mama ni Nacchaimashita), which sounds like your standard isekai but is also by Ema Toyama, author of Missions of Love and other shoujo classics. This is not shoujo: it runs in Shonen Sirius. A girl whose mother has died plays the game the mother never finished… and finds herself in another world.

ASH: Ema Toyama, you say? That piques my interest a bit more than just the title alone.

MELINDA: I don’t read much digitally, but this intrigues me as well, almost entirely because of the author.

SEAN: There is also Dolly Kill Kill 9, Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- 2, GE: Good Ending 12, Heroine for Hire 4 (the final volume), Kakushigoto 10, Orient 9, Shaman King: The Super Star 2, Shojo FIGHT! 14, and The Writer and His Housekeeper 3.

MICHELLE: I really, really need to get caught up on Shojo FIGHT!.

SEAN: One Peace has a 3rd manga volume for The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

Debuting from Seven Seas is Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Everyday Misadventures! (Watashi, Nichijou wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!), the 4-koma spinoff of Mile’s antics that everyone wanted. It runs in Comic Earth Star.

Also out from Seven Seas: Goodbye My Rose Garden 3 (the final volume) and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear’s 4th novel (digital-first).

MICHELLE: I wouldn’t say Goodbye, My Rose Garden was an amazing series, but it was certainly good enough to read the third and final volume.

ASH: I still need to read the second volume (and now soon the third), but I found the first volume to be enjoyable.

SEAN: Sol Press, after what seems like 80,000 years, has the second Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World light novel.

Tokyopop has the 2nd and final volume of No Vampire, No Happy Ending.

Vertical gives us the 4th Katanagatari omnibus digitally (I will keep repeating this till it’s correct), Kino’s Journey 7, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 2.

MICHELLE: I really liked the first volume of With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun and am eagerly anticipating the second.

MELINDA: Always here for Kino’s Journey, too.

SEAN: They also have Zoku-Owarimonogatari, the final, absolutely the last, no take backs, Monogatari Series novel. Unless they license the others that came after this.

Viz’s debut is Remina, another helping of Junji Ito just in time for winter. This is sci-fi, but still just as terrifying. It ran in Big Comic Spirits.

MICHELLE: I am down for this sci-fi/horror blend!

ASH: Yup! I’m here for this one, too.

MELINDA: Yes!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Flag 5, Golden Kamuy 19, Levius/est 7, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 2, and No Guns Life 8.

ANNA: Glad that Maison Ikkoku is being rereleased and looking forward to Blue Flag.

MICHELLE: What Anna said.

ASH: I should actually read Maison Ikkoku now that it is readily available again.

MELINDA: I should be buying them, since I never managed to acquire a full collection of the original release!

SEAN: Yen On has a truly terrifying number of light novels coming out. The first debut is The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten (Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken). We’ve seen a mini-rebirth of the non-fantasy romcom in recent licenses, and this falls into that category. A guy lends his neighbor his umbrella one day, she offers to help around his house in return, and a relationship blossoms.

The second debut is a spinoff, Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Dai Katana. This apparently goes into the past of Sword Maiden.

There is also (deep breath): Accel World 23, The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life 5, Baccano! 15, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer 18, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 5, Suppose a Kid From the Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 4, and Torture Princess 6.

ASH: That is a fair number of light novels!

SEAN: On the Yen Press side, there’s even more. Debut #1: 86, the manga adaptation of the grim military fantasy light novel series. It runs in Young Gangan.

Carole and Tuesday runs in Young Ace, and I believe is the rare case where the anime comes first and the manga follows. Girls who want to be musicians… on Mars!

ANNA: I watched half of the anime….

ASH: I do like musicians… and Mars…

MELINDA: I… kind of want it. Though I’m not sure how to interpret the fact that Anna only watched half of the anime.

SEAN: Not quite a debut, but we do see Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook.

Strawberry Fields Once Again (Strawberry Fields wo Mou Ichido) is a yuri romance that seems to have a twist to it. It ran in Mediaworks’ @ vitamin.

And Wolf & Parchment is the manga adaptation of the sequel to Spice & Wolf.

Also from Yen: ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department P.S. 2, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 16, Goblin Slayer 9, King of Eden 2, KonoSuba 11, Lust Geass 2, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 17, Plunderer 6, Rascal Does Not Dream of Petit Devil Kouhai (another omnibus), Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 3: Truth of Zero 11 (the final volume of this arc), Reborn As a Polar Bear 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 12, A Witch’s Printing Office 4, and Yowamushi Pedal’s 16th omnibus.

MICHELLE: I am fixin’ to have a YowaPeda catch-up spree and am very happy about that.

ASH: Same! And I always look forward to reading Natsume Ono’s manga, so I plan on picking up the ACCA continuation as well.

SEAN: Any presents from this list you’re giving out?

SEAN: Two manga enter! One manga leaves! Who will prevail?

J-Novel Club has two debuts, both manga. One is Mapping, the long title of which I will not quote here, and an adaptation of the light novel.

The other one is I Love Yuri and Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi (Ore ga Fujoshi de Aitsu ga Yuriota de), whose title is also its plot. It’s by the author of Failed Princesses, ran in Comic Flapper, and can be described as “yuri adjacent”.

Also out next week: Demon Lord Retry’s 4th manga volume; Infinite Dendrogram 13; Lazy Dungeon Master 13; Tearmoon Empire 3, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 7. Of those, Tearmoon is my clear pick.

ASH: I’ve heard really good things about Tearmoon Empire. (And not just from you!)

SEAN: Time for Kodansha, where I carefully double check the site before posting and STILL end up wrong as they shift release dates at the last second. Debuting this week in print is Life Lessons with Uramichi-Omiisan. It’s a black comedy that runs in Ichijinsha’ Comic Pool about a children’s TV show host who is… not a fun guy.

MICHELLE: I’m not sure I’ll like this, but the premise is interesting enough that I will at least check it out.

MELINDA: Hm, yeah, maybe.

SEAN: Also in print: Heaven’s Design Team 2, Perfect World 4, Rent-a-Girlfriend 4, Something’s Wrong with Us 4, To Your Eternity 13, and The Witch and the Beast 3.

ASH: I’m actually reading quite a few of these, but most of my attention is going to To Your Eternity.

SEAN: Two digital debuts. Shangri-La Frontier just debuted in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and is from the artist who does Attack on Titan: Lost Girls and Fairy Gone. That said, it’s an MMORPG manga based on a webnovel, so you know what you’re getting here.

The other is The Story of Our Unlikely Love (Kimi ga Kirai na Koi no Hanashi), a quick 2-volume shoujo series from Betsufure. He was a bad boy. She was a good girl. Can I make it anymore obvious?

ANNA: I seem to have a short attention span for digital shoujo, but 2 volumes might be just right.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I probably will end up reading this, too.

MELINDA: I haven’t really been reading anything digital at all lately, but this might be the right length for it.

SEAN: We also get All-Out!! 17 (the final volume), Peach Boy Riverside 2, Practice Makes Perfect 3, Seven Shakespeares 14, Shaman King: Flowers 5, Space Brothers 38, and We Must Never Fall in Love! 4.

MICHELLE: I had been waiting for that final volume of All-Out!! to hit so I could marathon the whole series in one chunk. That sounds like a nice project for my holiday break.

SEAN: One Peace has The New Gate 4.

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu (Minegishi-san wa Outsu-kun ni Tabesasetai) is one of Seven Seas’s debuts next week. It combines BL and food, and looks to be quite amusing.

MICHELLE: I’m very excited about this!

ASH: Same!

MELINDA: Always here for this combo.

SEAN: The other Seven Seas debut is the manga version of The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent.

Digitally we also get a light novel debut: Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells. Class transported. Our hero has no powers. Left for dead. Powers are actually really cool. We’ve read this before.

We also get: Cube Arts 2, The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter novel 2 (print), The Ideal Sponger Life 7, Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary 11, PENGUINDRUM 2 (novel), Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 3, Plus-Sized Elf 6, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 4.

ASH: Every time Penguindrum is mentioned I remember that I still need to catch up with Penguindrum in many of its forms.

SEAN: Square Enix debuts the manga version of the acclaimed novel series The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto). It runs in Big Gangan, and is about a servant in training who finds herself in the midst of palace politics. It’s apparently VERY good.

ANNA: Huh, sounds interesting. This wasn’t on my radar before.

MICHELLE: Same! I might check it out.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this one!

MELINDA: Well, wow. Sounds great!

SEAN: They also have the 2nd volume of the Wandering Witch manga.

SuBLime has Caste Heaven 4 and Punch-Up! 6.

Tokyopop has The God and the Flightless Messenger (Kamisama to Tobenai Tsukai), a one-and-done BL manga from Printemps Shuppan’s Canna. As you might guess by the title, it’s a fantasy.

Vertical gives us Bakemonogatari manga 6 (yes, I know I said this last week) and a digital release of Katanagatari 4 (yes, I know I said this two weeks ago).

Viz has no debuts, unless you count Super Mario Manga Mania, whose audience I suspect is adjacent to the normal Manga Bookshelf one.

ASH: That being said, I do know at least a few people who will be interested in this release!

SEAN: They do have How Do We Relationship? 2, Komi Can’t Communicate 10, and Pokemon Adventures Collector’s Edition 5.

MICHELLE: I’ve fallen a bit behind with Komi, but I’m in the mood now to get caught up.

SEAN: Yen Press has one debut: Slasher Maidens (Kaijin Reijoh), a Gangan Joker series that manages to combine horror manga and horny teen boys. It’s from the creator of Akame Ga KILL!.

Also out: As Miss Beelzebub Likes 11, Durarara: Re; Dollars 6, Happy Sugar Life 7, the 13th and final Hatsu*Haru, Restaurant to Another World 3, and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun 6.

ASH: I’m reading the more recent Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun in preparation for this one as we speak.

SEAN: So, which manga won?

SEAN: It’s the last month of the year… what are we seeing, manga and light novel-wise?

Bookwalker has the 13th volume of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!.

Dark Horse debuts Mob Psycho 100: Reigen, a one-volume spinoff of the original that ran in Ura Sunday.

ASH: I’m curious about this one.

SEAN: In print, J-Novel Club has two debuts: an omnibus version of the Infinite Dendrogram manga, and an omnibus of the Otherside Picnic light novels! Both contain the first two volumes. There’s also I Shall Survive Using Potions! 3 and In Another World with My Smartphone 13.

Digitally, J-Novel Club gives us Banner of the Stars 4, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 13, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 34.

They’ve also got manga digitally, including the manga debut of Bibliophile Princess, featuring one of my favorite fluffball heroines. There’s also the debut of Record of Wortenia War’s manga, and A Very Fairy Apartment 5.

Kodansha’s print debut is Mashima HERO’S, a crossover between three of the author’s biggest series: Rave Master, Fairy Tail and Eden’s Zero.

ASH: Somehow missed hearing about this one until now.

SEAN: Also in print: the 41st and final volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

ASH: That was quite a run.

SEAN: There are two digital debuts. One is a Shaman King spinoff, The Super Star. It takes place after Flowers, and is still ongoing in Shonen Magazine Edge.

The other debut is The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu (Ponkotsu ga Tensei Shitara Zongai Saikyou), a reincarnation isekai whose summary is so stupid I may actually give it a try. It runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius, and is probably glorious trash.

ASH: I have been convinced to read things for similar reasons in the past.

SEAN: Also out digitally: Altair: A Record of Battles 23, Cells at Work: Bacteria! 6, Chihayafuru 23, Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKare Mania 5, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 2, and Smile Down the Runway 16.

ANNA: I’m so far behind with Chihayafuru but I continue to be glad it is being released.

MICHELLE: I share your gratitude. Also, Ex-Enthusiasts: MotoKare Mania is a fun josei series that I’ve enjoyed so far.

SEAN: Seven Seas has two debuts. The Kingdoms of Ruin (Hametsu no Oukoku) runs in Mag Garden’s Comic Blade, but honestly it sort of lost me when I saw the words “revenge fantasy”.

The other debut, and done in one, is How Many Light-Years to Babylon? (Babylon Made wa Nan-kounen?), a comedy sci-fi story from the creator of The Voynich Hotel. This one I’m far more optimistic about, especially as it won the Seiun Award, the Japanese equivalent of the Hugo.

ASH: Oh! This sounds like one I should definitely check out.

SEAN: There’s also a 10th Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, A Certain Scientific Accelerator 11, the 11th Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average?! (digitally), and Skeleton Knight in Another World’s 5th volume (manga) and 7th volume (light novel).

Vertical has the 6th Bakemonogatari manga, with a lovely snek on the cover.

No debuts from Viz, but some quality titles. We see Chainsaw Man 2, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 19, Dragon Ball Super 11, Jujutsu Kaisen 7, One Piece 95, Queen’s Quality 10, Skip Beat! 3-in-1 14, Spy x Family 3, Twin Star Exorcists 20, Vampire Knight: Memories 5, We Never Learn 13, and Yona of the Dawn 27.

ANNA: Always happy for more Yona of the Dawn, Spy x Family, and Queen’s Quality.

MICHELLE: Indeed, several favorites for me among that lot. I’m especially keen to read the next volume of Yona, as the last ended on quite a pivotal moment.

ASH: Those three series are at the top of my list, too. I also plan on reading more Chainsaw Man.

MELINDA: I’m behind, but I have been a fan of Queen’s Quality, so I really should pick that up!

SEAN: Yen On debuts Reign of the Seven Spellblades (Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai Suru), which is yet another magical academy series but also comes highly recommended.

Also from Yen On: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 5, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 15, and My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 10. The last of which has been delayed several times. As I expected.

Two debuts for Yen, though one is not really: Kingdom Hearts III, the manga has its first volume.

The other is Eniale & Dewiela. If you ever wondered what the creator of Witch Hat Atelier would do if she was told to make something akin to Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, then this is the title for you. It’s 3 volumes total, and ran in Enterbrain’s Fellows! and Harta, two magazines which always earn an automatic purchase from me.

ASH: I’ll definitely be on the lookout for a copy of this!

MELINDA: Interesting!

SEAN: And there is IM: Great Priest Imhotep 6, Kakegurui Twin 8, Murcielago 16, Phantom Tales of the Night 6, and Puella Magi Madoka Magica: The Different Story: The Complete Omnibus Edition.

ASH: I’m a couple volumes behind on Phantom Tales of the Night, but I have been enjoying it.

SEAN: Anything here catch your eye?

SEAN: Happy Thanksgiving! Please be safe when you celebrate it!

Cross Infinite World gives us the 2nd volume of Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse Is Not My Problem!, which surprises me, as I thought it was a standalone. Though perhaps it surprises me less because it was on last month’s list – it got bumped.

Dark Horse Comics has two deluxe volumes – Vol. 6 of Berserk and Vol. 2 of Hellsing.

ASH: I plan on getting my hands on that deluxe Berserk volume.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a trio of titles, as we see Fire in His Fingertips 2, World’s End Harem 9, and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 11.

ASH: Fire in His Fingertips is definitely one of the spiciest josei manga being released in print right now.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts The Bloodline, their first attempt at pulling a Cross Infinite World and licensing direct from the author – this isn’t out from a Japanese publisher yet. The plot sounds a lot like Our Last Crusade, but with vampires.

There’s also a pile of other titles. By the Grace of the Gods 5, Cooking with Wild Game 10, Demon Lord, Retry! 5, Full Metal Panic! 9, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 7, the 11th and final volume of Kokoro Connect, My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 2, and My Next Life As a Villainess 8.

No print debuts for Kodansha, but some new volumes. We see I’m Standing on a Million Lives 8, Noragami: Stray God 22, Sayonara Football 2 (the final volume, though also see Farewell My Dear Cramer), The Quintessential Quintuplets 11, The Witch and the Beast 2, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 4.

MICHELLE: Man, I’m already so far behind on Yuzu the Pet Vet.

ASH: Likewise!

SEAN: SEAN: Digitally there is a debut. Am I Actually the Strongest? (Jitsu wa Ore, Saikyou Deshita?) is a reincarnation isekai that runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius. A reincarnated kid is abandoned for being weak. But is he? Is he really? No word on whether the author’s high school bullies play the villains here, but it’s possible! That is typical of the genre.

There’s also Cells at Work: Baby 2, Farewell My Dear Cramer 12, Maid in Honey 3, My Best (♀) Butler 3, Orient 8, Shaman King: Red Crimson 4 (the final volume), The Slime Diaries 4, and When We’re in Love 2.

Seven Seas has a massive amount of stuff. Let’s start with the debuts. Days of Love at Seagull Villa (Umineko Sou Days) is a Comic Yuri Hime title about a spurned fiancee who runs away, and the single mom who runs the housing complex she runs to. No relation to Umineko: When They Cry. Probably. It’s from the creator of I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up.

MICHELLE: This looks really good!

ASH: It does! I’m looking forward to giving it a try.

MELINDA: Could be interesting.

SEAN: Kageki Shojo!! The Curtain Rises is a one-omnibus shoujo manga that originally ran in a not-shoujo venue, Shueisha’s Jump Kai!. It’s about the lives of two Takarazuka girls. There is a sequel, as yet unlicensed, still running in Japan, this time in Hakusensha’s Melody.

MICHELLE: This looks really good, too!

ASH: Yes, it really does! In fact, it’s probably one of the releases that I’ve been most looking forward to this year.

ANNA: I’m intrigued by this for sure.

MELINDA: Same here!

SEAN: Two light novels we’ve seen digitally already also make print debuts: The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent and The Sorcerer King of Destruction and the Golem of the Barbarian Queen. We also get the 2nd volume of each of those series digitally.

Also due out next week: Adachi and Shimamura 3 (print) and 4 (digital), Citrus+ 2, D-Frag! 14, Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 3, Gal Gohan 5, GIGANT 3, Harukana Receive 6, High-Rise Invasion 15-16, Magical Girl Site 13, My Senpai is Annoying 3, Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA 4, PENGUINDRUM 3 (manga version), Scarlet 2 (the final volume), and Species Domain 8. A large number of these have been out digitally for a while.

Tokyopop has the 7th volume of Futaribeya: A Room for Two.

Vertical has the 14th volume of Witchcraft Works. They also have the digital debut of the final volume of Katanagatari.

Yen On only has three volumes, but one is a doozy. The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya is the 11th volume in the light novel series, coming out digital-only (for now, print will follow) in North America at about the same time it’s out in Japan. The last volume in the series came out in English almost 7 years ago to the day. It’s been a while. Now, this is merely three short stories, but hey, it’s nice to see Haruhi back again – rumors of the author’s crippling writer’s block were worrying.

ASH: It has been some time! I never got around to reading them all, but I did enjoy the Haruhi novels that I made time for.

SEAN: They’ve also got The Asterisk War 14 and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 7.

On the Yen Press side, no debuts, but we get Breasts Are My Favorite Thing in the World! 2, Bungo Stray Dogs 16, Is It Wrong to Try To {Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 13 (manga version), Overlord the Undead King-Oh! 5, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 10.

Give thanks for manga! And again, stay safe. Masks, please.

SEAN: The weekend of Anime NYC, and I am… not in a hotel room in New York City. Boo. Still, there will be virtual con, I’m sure.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but we do see The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress 9, Holmes of Kyoto 2, Mapping 2, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 13, Seirei Gensouki 12, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 9.

Kaiten Books has a 3rd volume of Loner Life in Another World.

Kodansha also has no print debuts, but we do have a fair amount of print, assuming no last-minute delays. There’s Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition 6 and also Clear Card 8. We also get Granblue Fantasy 7, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 5, Saiyuki 3, and The Seven Deadly Sins 40.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on Living-Room Matsunaga-san.

ASH: I still need to start reading Living-Room Matsunaga-san!

SEAN: Digitally there is a debut. Dr. Ramune -Mysterious Disease Specialist- (Kai Byoui Ramune) is about a sort of modern-day, more casual Black Jack and his bizarre supernatural-tinged patients. It sounds like a gag manga, but is apparently deeper than it looks. It runs in Shonen Sirius.

ASH: I’m curious about this one, though I don’t read much digitally.

SEAN: Also digitally: Dolly Kill Kill 8, GE: Good Ending 11, Heroine for Hire 3, Hop Step Sing! 2, Kakushigoto 9, Shaman King: Red Crimson 3, The Writer and His Housekeeper 2, and Yozakura Quartet 26.

Seven Seas has an early digital light novel debut: Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs. This time it’s a male office worker who dies and gets reincarnated in an otome game… as a schlub NPC. But he does recall the game’s events. Can he make his life better?

In print, there are two debuts. The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter has a manga, and this is the first volume of that. It’s pleasantly dumb.

What the Font?! – A Manga Guide to Western Typeface has, aside from a terrific title, an “educational” feel to it. Expect anthropomorphic personifications.

ASH: I’m actually really excited for this one.

ANNA: Oh, me too!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Cosmo Familia 3 (the final volume), Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 4, New Game! 10, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 5, Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 11, and Sarazanmai 2.

ASH: Whoops, still need to get around to Sarazanmai 1!

Square Enix has, not a manga or novel, but Final Fantasy VII Poster Collection. It’s Tifa-tastic and Aerith-riffic.

Vertical gives us the 8th and final volume of Arakawa Under the Bridge. There’s also Blood on the Tracks 3 and Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest 4.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Blood on the Tracks was enjoyably ominous.That’s another one I need to catch up on.

SEAN: It’s a very Rumiko Takahashi week at Viz. Not only do we get Urusei Yatsura’s 8th omnibus (introducing Ryuunosuke, the precursor to Ranma Saotome), but also debut Mermaid Saga in omnibus form! This is decidedly NOT a comedy, and shows off how good Takahashi was at horror and suspense.

MICHELLE: I have the single volumes of this, but have never read it!

ASH: I love Mermaid Saga so much that I’m double-dipping for the new edition.

ANNA: I think I read a tiny bit of it back in the day but I’m excited for the new edition too.

MELINDA: I probably need to finally read this.

SEAN: There’s also Beastars 9, Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku 5, and Tokyo Ghoul:re Illustrations: zakki, an artbook.

MICHELLE: I’m so far behind on Beastars and Hell’s Paradise already!

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind myself, but have been liking both series so far.

SEAN: And then there’s Yen, and they have a lot, even with the normal “date shifts”. First we get the novels.

There are three debuts, though one doesn’t count. A Certain Magical Index SS 1 is hardly unknown to readers, but it is nice to see, especially as I whined at Yen when it did not come out (as it did in Japan) between Books 13 and 14. It’s a short-story collection, and introduces the reader to Hamazura… assuming they haven’t read Index 15-22 already.

The Place Promised in Our Early Days is another Makoto Shinkai adaptation… in fact, it’s of his first major film.

MELINDA: I usually like these adaptations, though I haven’t watched this movie in a long while. Might be nice to revisit.

SEAN: The big debut is Unnamed Memory, an extremely popular light novel series. A Crown Prince with a curse has to visit the strongest witch in the world to break it. Destiny ensues.

ASH: It does look as though it may have some potential.

SEAN: Yen On also has a LOT of ongoing series. 86 ~Eighty-Six~ 6, The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’s Heroes 5, Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? 7, The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious 5, I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 2, Last Round Arthurs 3, Magical Girl Raising Project 10, Rascal Does Not Dream 3, So I’m a Spider, So What? 10, and World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 4.

And that’s just novels. For manga, there are five debuts. Mieruko-chan is a comedy from Monthly Comic Alive about a girl who can see terrifying ghosts and monsters… and does her level best to ignore them.

Sadako at the End of the World (Shuumatsu no Sadako-san) is a one-shot manga from Comic Gene about the girl from Ring ending up in a post-apocalyptic world where her presence is far more welcome.

ASH: Okay, both of these sound like something I should check out.

MELINDA: Same here.

SEAN: Star Wars: Rebels is the manga adaptation of the popular series, and comes from LINE Corporation.

The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap is the manga adaptation of a light novel we’ve seen from J-Novel Heart. A girl with the worst luck ends up reincarnated in another world… sadly, the source of that bad luck is here as well. Can she escape and live freely? This runs in Kadokawa’s FLOS Comic.

Lastly, A Witch’s Love at the End of the World (Sekai no Owari to Majo no Koi) (no relation to Sadako’s title) is a yuri series from ASCII Mediaworks’ Comic IT. It… honestly reads sort of like a Japanese version of The Owl House. Which I’m fine with.

There’s also Eclair Orange, the latest in that yuri anthology, IM: Great Priest Imhotep 5, Keito Koume Illustrations Spice & Wolf (an artbook), Shibuya Goldfish 8, and Yoshi no Zuikara 2.

MICHELLE: I had no idea there was yet another Eclair on the way!

SEAN: I’m exhausted, how about you?