Michelle Smith

SEAN: This list is being written for you in the small, brief moments between terrible bouts of WEATHER.

ASH: I’ll take whatever relief I can get!

SEAN: As I mentioned last week, J-Novel Club has now moved all its print releases to be distributed by Yen Press. So Yen has Ascendance of a Bookworm 25, Full Metal Panic: Short Stories 2 and Otherside Picnic Omnibus 4 in print. For those who haven’t been following Otherside Picnic, this is the one that made Tumblr go absolutely batshit.

ASH: In a good way, bad way, or both?

SEAN: Viz Media has a debut, another Naruto manga adaptation of one of the light novels that came after the main manga series. If that makes sense. This is Naruto: Konoha’s Story—The Steam Ninja Scrolls: The Manga (Naruto: Konoha Shinden – Yukemuri Ninpouchou) and it ran in Shonen Jump +.

Also from Viz: Devil’s Candy 4, Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga – Book of Heartslabyul 4, Fly Me to the Moon 24, Helck 10, Kirby Manga Mania 7, Komi Can’t Communicate 30, and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 5.

ASH: I just recently got my hands on some more of Devil’s Candy.

SEAN: Tokyopop has If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die 7 and Watch Dogs Tokyo 2.

SuBLime debuts My Dearest Patrolman (Boku no Omawari-san), which runs in the magazine moment (with the small letter, apparently). Ex-cop who now runs a shop is beloved by his junior, who is still a cop. What happens when they get into a relationship?

They also have a 2nd volume of Engage.

From Square Enix we get Otherside Picnic 10 and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 19.

Seven Seas has one debut, Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me (Shi ni Modori no Mahou Gakkou Seikatsu wo, Moto Koibito to Prologue Kara (※Tadashi, Koukando wa Zero)), an adaptation of the light novel series released by Cross Infinite World. A girl and her beloved are killed, and she returns to her 7-year-old body with all her past memories… except how she was killed. Worse, the same thing did not happen to her boyfriend, and he thinks she’s a pain! This runs in Flos Comic.

ASH: To be fair, a lot of seven-year-olds can be a bit of a pain from time to time.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 11 (the final volume), Cinderella Closet 6, Daily Report About My Witch Senpai 3, Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher 4, MoMo -the blood taker- 9 (also a final volume), Soara and the House of Monsters 3, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 11.

And from their danmei line, we get Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu 5, the final volume. It also has a special edition with postcards, stickers, etc.

ASH: Sweet.

SEAN: Kodansha Manga have a box set out next week, Hitorijime My Hero Manga Box Set 1, which has the first 6 volumes.

Also in print: The Darwin Incident 6, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 7 and Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 17.

MICHELLE: I should check out In the Clear Moonlit Dusk at some point.

SEAN: Just announced at AX, digitally we get the debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2, Vol. 1. (Not to be confused with Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns, the one shot that came out here four years ago.) Same author, different characters, same premise. It ran in Kiss.

MICHELLE: !!!!!

ANNA: Woah!

ASH: Oh, very nice!

SEAN: Also digital: Because I, the True Saint, was Banished, that Country is Done For! 4, Drops of God: Mariage 7, Gang King 19, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 13, and MF Ghost 19.

Kaiten Books has a debut, in both print and digital. Blue Archive: Problem Solver 68 Business Diary (Blue Archive: Benriya 68 Gyoumu Nisshi) is a spinoff of the popular smartphone game, and it runs in Comic Bushiroad Web. It seems to be an “a day in the life” sort of title.

ASH: Huh!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one debut. The Death of the Skeleton Swordsman: Dominating as a Cursed Saint (Kotsugai no Kensei ga Shi wo Togeru: Noroware Seija no Gakuin Musō) is a new light novel in the subgenre of “I’m a skeleton” titles. Though apparently this guy doesn’t stay a skeleton for long, but instead ends up at… sigh… a magical academy. Where he’s the strongest one of all. Yeah.

ANNA: Funny how that keeps happening.

ASH: Staying a skeleton would have made it more interesting, I think.

SEAN: We also see: Ascendance of a Bookworm 32, Ascendance of a Bookworm Fanbook 4, the 16th Black Summoner manga, I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage 7, A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires 2, Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest 6, and Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 11.

Ghost Ship has I’m Not a Succubus! 5 and Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! 6.

Dark Horse Comics has a deluxe, hardcover, 630-page edition of its HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness manga, which they released normally in two volumes in 2019.

ASH: It is an excellent adaptation which should benefit nicely from the deluxe treatment.

SEAN: In print titles, Airship has Loner Life in Another World 9 and Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2.

And for early digital we get Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 12 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 7.

So, what do you — oops, tornado warning and hurricane warning. Gotta go.

SEAN: Is the year really half over? Years aren’t what they used to be.

ASH: They really aren’t.

SEAN: Airship has one print title, the 6th volume of Raven from the Inner Palace.

ASH: I really need to catch up on this series before I get any further behind.

SEAN: Debuting digitally – the same week as its anime adaptation – is Too Many Losing Heroines! (Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!), a romcom about (sigh) a plain, boring guy who suddenly finds that all the hot, popular girls in his class are confessing to the guys they like… and being shot down! What’s going on here?

Also in early digital: Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 9 and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 7.

Cross Infinite World debuts Soup Forest: The Story of the Woman Who Speaks with Animals and the Former Mercenary (Soup no Mori: Doubutsu to Kaiwa Suru Olivia to Moto Youhei Arthur no Monogatari). A woman who can hear the inner thoughts of humans and animals has spent her life either shunned or avoiding people, but then she meets a young man while working at her restaurant in the forest…

ASH: Okay, I’ll admit, that premise does check quite a few boxes for me, though not necessarily in a combination I was expecting.

ANNA: Does her forest restaurant also have jam? This is what I want to know.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World also have The Inconvenient Life of an Arousing Priestess 2 and Lovestruck Prince! I’ll Fight the Heroine for My Villainess Fiancée! 3 (the final volume).

Per retailers, Denpa Books has a 3rd volume of Baby Bear’s Bakery.

From Ghost Ship, we get Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 13-14 and Creature Girls: A Hands-On Field Journal in Another World 10.

J-Novel Club has one digital debut (actually, no more print for JNC, as they finished moving all their print titles over to Yen Press to distribute). To Another World… with Land Mines! (Isekai teni, Jirai-tsuki) is a manga adaptation of the light novel they’ve been releasing for a while, as a sensible guy gets isekai’d with his classmates, and tries to stop them accidentally being really stupid. It runs in Shonen Ace Plus.

ASH: Oh, I had missed that bit of news, though I’m glad the partnership with Yen Press is going well.

SEAN: Also from JNC, The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases 2, the 2nd manga volume of The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases, I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic 2, In Another World With My Smartphone 29, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 11.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga, but we see, in print, A-DO 3, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 3, Bless 2, A Brief Moment of Ichika 2, Medalist 3, Rent-A-Girlfriend 25 (it got bumped), and To Your Eternity 20.

And digitally we see Blue Lock 26, How to Grill Our Love 9, LIFE 16, Matcha Made in Heaven 9, Those Snow White Notes 19, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 14.

One Peace Books has I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons 2.

MICHELLE: I really want to read this. Someday. Sigh.

ASH: I have been greatly enjoying I Hear the Sunspot.

ANNA: I need to get caught up too!

SEAN: No debuts for Seven Seas either, but we see Berserk of Gluttony 10, Dragon Goes House-Hunting 10 (the final volume), The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 11, Homunculus 9-10 (also a final volume), Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari 7, Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills 2, My New Life as a Cat 6, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint 4 (also also a final volume), and Servamp 20.

ASH: This would be a good time for me to actually give Homunculus a try, then.

SEAN: Square Enix has The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 2 and Victoria’s Electric Coffin 2.

Viz Media continues the trend of no debuts. But we see Blue Box 11, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate 2, Like a Butterfly 7, Marriage Toxin 3, Moriarty the Patriot 16, One Piece 106, Tamon’s B-Side 4, Wolf Girl and Black Prince 8, and World Trigger 26.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Soulmate (though perhaps I’m in the minority there) and eager to catch up on Tamon’s B-Side, as well.

ANNA: Oooh, more Like a Butterfly!!

SEAN: And that’s it! Has there been a shorter week lately? I don’t think so.

SEAN: The end of June, and if you’re in North America, dangerously high temperatures. Stay inside with manga.

MICHELLE: Good plan.

ASH: I do like manga more than I like the heat.

SEAN: Yen Press has one straggler, the third volume of Pandora Seven.

From Viz Media we get Fist of the North Star 13 and My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition 2.

ASH: An excellent Viz Media week.

SEAN: Tokyopop has A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 8, Never Let Go 2, and Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide 5.

We get Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition 15 from Square Enix.

Seven Seas brings out the big guns for next week. Gravitation: Collector’s Edition is a deluxe large-trim omnibus edition of one of the iconic 1990s BL series. New translation as well. A rock singer gets his lyrics trashed by a handsome novelist. What follows is some of the most iconic soap opera trash out there. If you were too young to understand Gen-X fandom, this will help.

MICHELLE: Haha. This is one case where I think the anime is better than the manga.

ANNA: Oh, I remember Gravitation!

ASH: Sure takes me back.

SEAN: The other debut is also BL: Stay By My Side After the Rain (Ameagari no Bokura ni Tsuite), a nice little romance about a jaded office worker who reunites with his high school crush.

MICHELLE: Looks potentially cute!

ASH: D’awww.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 5, The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 7, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 8, Machimaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl! 12, Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 9, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 10.

One Peace Books has Tales of the Tendo Family 2.

MICHELLE: I should read this.

ASH: I really liked the first volume.

SEAN: KUMA is listed as having a debut out next week. Terano-kun & Kumazaki-kun is a BL title from Qpa about a student council president and a scary-looking yankee who are a couple… and the scary-looking one’s the uke!

MICHELLE: This one has a fun cover.

ANNA: Sounds cute.

ASH: I have a soft spot for yankee BL.

SEAN: KUMA is also listed as having Happy Crappy Life 3 out next week. (The usual Denpa/KUMA warnings apply.)

ASH: Fair.

SEAN: Kodansha Books has a 5th volume of As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World.

Debuting from Kodansha Manga is Kaina of the Great Snow Sea (Ooyukiumi no Kaina), the latest Tsutomu Nihei series, though the art is now being done by Itoe Takemoto, who also draws The Beast Player. A young tree-dweller who thinks his people are the last ones alive finds out that’s not actually true. It runs in Shonen Sirius.

MICHELLE: I will likely miss Nihei’s art, but generally enjoy his works, so I will give it a chance.

ASH: Same.

SEAN: Kodansha Manga also has a debut from Kaori Ozaki: Mermaid Prince (Ningyo Ouji). This is actually a short story collection, with the title manga being the main story. It’s done in one, and ran in Wings, making its genre “whatever Wings is”.

MICHELLE: I have liked the Ozaki I have read previously!

ANNA: Oooh, I like Ozaki and non-specific genres!

ASH: I will always pick up an Ozaki manga.

SEAN: And the debuts keep coming, as we also see My Noisy Roommate: The Roof Over My Head Comes with Monsters and a Hottie (Noisy Roommate – Ienashi ni Natta node Ikemen to Kaii Tsuki Bukken de Doukyo Hajimemashita), a BL-ish series from Palcy. This looks like it’s a “normal guy winds up living with weird supernatural folks” sort of series.

MICHELLE: I am just constitutionally unable to resist this.

ASH: It’s a subgenre that I tend to enjoy, too.

SEAN: Also in print: EDENS ZERO 29, Initial D Omnibus 2, Nina the Starry Bride 5, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement 7, Shangri-La Frontier 12, A Sign of Affection Omnibus 2, and Super Morning Star 4 (the final volume).

ANNA: Always here to cheer on the print editions of Nina the Starry Bride and Sign of Affection!

ASH: I really need to get caught up with both of those.

SEAN: No digital debuts, but we do see The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses 13, Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me 10, Gamaran: Shura 21, My Home Hero 17, The Slime Diaries: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 7, and You’re My Cutie 8.

No debuts for J-Novel Club either, but we have new volumes. Back to the Battlefield: The Veteran Heroes Return to the Fray! 4, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 14, Chivalry of a Failed Knight 2, Earl and Fairy 6, Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer’s 3rd manga volume, Heavenly Swords of the Twin Stars 2, and An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! 7.

Hanashi Media has the 9th and final volume of Another World Survival: Min-maxing my Support and Summoning Magic.

Ghost Ship features a 2nd volume of Becoming a Princess Knight and Working at a Yuri Brothel.

Lastly, Airship, in print, has the 2nd volume of The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain.

And in early digital we see Raven of the Inner Palace 6 and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 7.

What manga is keeping you cool?

SEAN: Despite various difficulties, Manga the Week of lives on!

ASH: Forward!

SEAN: We start with Airship, which has one print volume, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 10.

While early digital gives us Loner Life in Another World 9 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 6.

A debut for Dark Horse Comics, Danganronpa 2: Chiaki Nanami’s Goodbye Despair Quest (Super Danganronpa 2 – Nanami Chiaki no Sayonara Zetsubou Daibouken) is a retelling of the events of the second game from Chiaki’s point of view. It ran in Comic Blade.

Not Ghost Ship but mature, Seven Seas has a 6th volume of Love is an Illusion!.

No debuts for J-Novel Club next week, but we do see D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared 6, Demon Lord, Retry! R 6, I Could Never Be a Succubus! 3, the 4th manga volume of I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again!, My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages’ Guild! 4, and RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’ 2.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga either, but we do see, in print, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 12, A Kingdom of Quartz 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 7, Ogami-san Can’t Keep It In 5, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! 4, Peach Boy Riverside 14, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 8 (the final volume), and Vinland Saga Deluxe 3.

MICHELLE: Well, I guess all of the procrastinating I did on Shonen Note means I now get to read the whole thing in one go.

ASH: Saaaaaame. Unrelated, those deluxe editions of Vinland Saga are gorgeous.

SEAN: And digitally we get The Beast Player 2, Gamaran 22 (the final volume, though see Gamaran: Shura), He’s Expecting 3 (the final volume), Issak 8, Mr. Bride 10 (the final volume), ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 8, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 9 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 25 (the fin… no, no, it’s not, this series will never, ever end), Sayabito: Swords of Destiny 3, Undead Girl Murder Farce 6, WIND BREAKER 15, and Ya Boy Kongming! 16.

One Peace Books has the 3rd manga volume of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I’m Not the Demon Lord.

Two debuts for Seven Seas: Chasing Spica (Spica o Tsukamaete) is from Comic Yuri Hime. A girl has been losing to her respectable rival all through high school. Now, in their final year… she gets some blackmail material. A love hotel? With another woman?

ASH: A bit different than Twin Spica, then.

SEAN: Royal Tailor: Clothier to the Crown (Royal Tailor: Oukyuu no Saihoushi) is a josei series from Comic Zero Sum. A young woman dreams of being a tailor, but unfortunately, she lives in a world that discriminates against humans. Will her fortunes turn around?

ANNA: Hooray for josei!

ASH: Indeed! I would totally read this.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Invincible Shovel 7 (the final volume), My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked 4, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 18, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 7, Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish 6 (the final volume), There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 5, Tokyo Revengers 21-22, and The Tree of Death: Yomotsuhegui 2.

Square Enix has The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses 10.

The debut for Tokyopop is Sweet for Sweets and Foreigners (Koisuru Okashi to Etranger), a josei title from Comic Qurie. A woman who’s good at sales but bad at life meets a handsome Frenchman.

ANNA: Even more josei!

SEAN: They also have Cover My Scars With Your Kiss 2 and Mitsuka 3.

The debut from Viz is Fool Night, a seinen title from Big Comic Superior. This can be summed up as “if you lived in a hellish dystopia, would you fight back, or would you let yourself be turned into a plant? Or both?” For those who want social commentary in manga, this is excellent.

MICHELLE: Sounds potentially interesting!

ANNA: I’m team plant.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: Viz also has Gokurakugai 2, Insomniacs After School 6, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 2, Mission: Yozakura Family 11, Rooster Fighter 6, Show-ha Shoten! 5, and the 23rd and final volume of YO-KAI WATCH.

MICHELLE: I should probably read Show-ha Shoten!.

ASH: Likewise.

SEAN: That leaves us with Yen. Yen On debuts Babel, a semi-sequel to Unnamed Memory, taking place centuries later. This new series is an isekai, though, as a Japanese girl is transported to the future fantasy land, and needs to find a way back home while teaching her own Japanese language to a handsome linguist.

ASH: A handsome linguist, you say.

SEAN: Demons’ Crest is a new series from the creator of Sword Art Online, as he jumps into a completely different genre. Twins enjoy playing a MMORPG, but it suddenly starts fusing with the real world, and also turning deadly! Yup. Totally different genre. (cough)

Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu) stars a young woman who wakes up trapped in a horrible death game. But that’s fine. That’s how she makes a living. I have been told this is better than it sounds.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 7, Black Summoner 2 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Date a Live 12, Days with My Stepsister 3, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 10, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 5, I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time 3, The Kept Man of the Princess Knight 2, Kunon the Sorcerer Can See 3, Liar, Liar 4, Miss Savage Fang 2, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 2, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 3 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 6, The Unimplemented Overlords Have Joined the Party! 2, The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess 7, and You Are My Regret 2.

And yes, that’s just light novels. Time for Yen Press. Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra (Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra – Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku) is a manga adaptation of the light novel Cross Infinite World is releasing. The manga runs in Comic Walker. It’s the male version of In the Land of Leadale.

Senpai, This Can’t Be Love! (Senpai, Danjite Koi de wa!) is a BL title from Comic Fleur. The talented veteran is tasked to teach the new guy at their company, and is having trouble with his cool facade. The trouble is… the new guy is having trouble keeping the facade up.

A Sinner of the Deep Sea (Abyss Azure no Zainin) runs in Harta. A mermaid has to deal with the fact that her best friend has fallen for a human. The first of two mermaid debuts next week.

ASH: I’m curious about this one.

SEAN: Sister and Giant: A Young Lady Is Reborn in Another World (Onee-sama to Kyojin) is a fantasy title from Aokishi. A girl is reincarnated in another world, and chooses to bond with a giant. Unfortunately, guess what? Evil church.

ASH: Every time.

SEAN: Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly is a manga adaptation of the short stories in this series. It runs in Dengeki Daioh.

This Monster Wants to Eat Me (Watashi o Tabetai, Hitodenashi) is a yuri series from Dengeki Maoh. A woman in a seaside town turns out to be delicious. A mermaid wants to eat her, but not till she’s older. So now she has to defend her from other supernatural beings who want a taste. I have heard good things about this, believe it or not.

ASH: I’m curious about this one, too.

SEAN: And there’s Visions 2023__Illustrators Book, the latest artbook.

Also from Yen Press: Adachi and Shimamura 5, Adults’ Picture Book: New Edition 2, Ako and Bambi 2, Assorted Entanglements 5, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 14, Black Butler 33, Black Summoner 2 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple 4, A Certain Magical Index 28, Cheerful Amnesia 3, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 6, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 9, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 10, The Detective Is Already Dead 5, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 21, Heterogenia Linguistico 5, Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion 4, I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time 3, I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World 4, I Want to Be a Wall 3 (the final volume), Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 23, Kowloon Generic Romance 7, My Dear, Curse-Casting Vampiress 4, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 23, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 3 (from their J-Novel Club imprint), So I’m a Spider, So What? 13, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 7, Unnamed Memory 5, The Witches’ Marriage 3 (the final volume), and Whoever Steals This Book 2.

ASH: Dang, that’s an impressive amount.

SEAN: What final volumes are you getting?

SEAN: It’s officially hurricane season, and there’s a hurricane of manga.

The debut from Viz Media is Naruto: Sasuke’s Story—The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust (Naruto: Sasuke Retsuden – Uchiha no Matsuei to Tenkyu no Hoshikuzu), a manga adaptation of the light novel. The manga ran in Shonen Jump +.

Also from Viz: Akane-banashi 6, Call of the Night 16, Love’s in Sight! 7, Mao 17, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 16, One Piece: Ace’s Story 2 (the manga version, and the final volume), Skip Beat! 3-in-1 16, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 24.

ASH: Oooh, some good stuff there!

ANNA: Nice! I can’t believe there are so many volumes of Sleepy Princess.

SEAN: SuBLime gives us Birds of Shangri-La 3 and Finder Deluxe Edition 13.

From Square Enix we see The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl 5, My Clueless First Friend 6, and My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 13.

Seven Seas time. Danmei fans will enjoy The Untamed: The Official Artbook, an artbook for the Netflix series that was based on Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

ASH: Very nice.

SEAN: Seven Seas proper has one debut. Marriage to Kitsune-sama (Okitsune-sama ni Totsugimashite) is a BL title from Comic Marginal, and complete in one volume. A young man is betrothed to a handsome fox spirit, and both of them are happy. Unfortunately, the fox spirit is under a curse that makes him want to eat his husband.

MICHELLE: Oops.

ASH: When you say “eat”…

ANNA: Hmm……

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom 6, Even Though We’re Adults 8, I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl 6, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 9, Night of the Living Cat 4, and Re: Monster 9.

ASH: I really need to get caught up with Even Though We’re Adults.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 7th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Kodansha Books has a 6th light novel of The Dawn of the Witch. This is the final volume.

Kodansha Manga has one debut, Ninja Vs. Gokudo (Ninja to Gokudou), a Comic Days series showing ninja fighting yakuza.

Also in print: The Fable Omnibus 3-4, How I Met My Soulmate 3, I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl 2, The Moon on a Rainy Night 5, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 7, Sketchy 2, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Omnibus 4-6.

ASH: Shonen Note is another great series I’m sadly behind on.

SEAN: Digitally we see Fungus and Iron 5, Gang King 18, Giant Killing 43, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! 5, How to Treat a Lady Knight Right 5, I Have a Crush at Work 4, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 12, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 13, and You Must Be This Tall to Propose! 3 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: One of these days, I really will get caught up on Giant Killing.

ASH: If it was ever released in print, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has some print. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection 1, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 9, the 7th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga volume, the 5th Slayers Collector’s Edition, and Tearmoon Empire 10.

One debut from J-Novel Club in digital, and it’s a manga. My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World (Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life) is the manga adaptation of the light novel JNC already released. It runs in Dengeki Playstation.

They also have After-School Dungeon Diver: Level Grinding in Another World 2, The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 3, the 5th Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers manga, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 9, the 9th Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon manga, the 2nd The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival manga, the 10th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 6.

Ghost Ship has a 10th volume of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

ASH: Still haven’t managed to get around to reading the first volume, although I’ve heard I should.

SEAN: And for “not Ghost Ship but mature”, we get the 7th and final PULSE and the 2nd Punch Drunk Love.

Dark Horse has the 8th volume of its Hellsing re-release.

Airship, in print, debuts True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends – One Star in the Night Sky (Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki). This is from the author of Making Jam in the Woods, I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem, and The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent. A young woman trying to avoid getting married meets a young man with the same goal. Can they solve the problem by pretending to be in a relationship?

ASH: That will definitely work.

ANNA: Best way to avoid relationships. Except for I assume running off to make jam in the woods.

SEAN: It also gives us Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 7 (the final volume).

And in early digital we see The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 8 and Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2.

And that’s the story of the hurricane. What manga are you getting?

SEAN: June manga, and the temperature is rising as I type this.

ASH: It’s been pretty warm here where I am already; I’m not looking forward to the additional heat.

SEAN: Airship, in print, debuts The Mimosa Confessions (Mimosa no Kokuhaku), an LGBT novel from the creator of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes. A young man gradually drifts away from his more popular guy friend. In high school, he meets a cute girl, and falls for her. However, when he walks home one night, he sees his old friend… in a girls’ uniform and crying?

ASH: Now that it’s in print, I may need to check this one out.

SEAN: Also in print: Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 18 and Yes, No, or Maybe? 3.

The early digital title is Riku Can’t Be a Goddess (Riku-kun wa, Megami ni Narenai). The story of a girl who serves as a dress form for her crush who wants to cross-dress and uses her to see how to be feminine. Then he kisses her and she flees. This apparently is part of an anthology about their high school class and identity in general.

ASH: Hmmm. I am intrigued.

ANNA: Is she a dress form or a fit model? I was picturing sentient headless mannequins for a second.

SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly gives us Second Hand Love, a second collection by the late Yamada Murasaki. They did the author’s Talk to My Back earlier, and this is apparently just as good. A story about adultery that focuses on the ones who are involved in it and the ones that it affects.

ASH: Definitely looking forward to this. Talk to My Back was excellent.

ANNA: This reminds me that I should dig up and read my copy of Talk to My Back.

SEAN: From Ghost Ship we get Parallel Paradise 18.

Three debuts from J-Novel Club. Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother (Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu) is a villainess title (the title likely told you that). An OL who loves the brother of the villainess in an otome game wakes up as that villainess. Now she has to not only stop her own villainous fate but also save her brother. I hear this leans into the brocon/siscon tropes but does not quite become incest.

There’s also the shoujo manga adaptation of the same title. It ran in Flos Comic.

The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1: Wrecking Reincarnators with My Hidden Dungeon (Level 1 kara Hajimaru Shoukan Musou: Ore dake Tsukaeru Ura Dungeon de, Subete no Tenseisha wo Bucchigiru) seems to combine a few popular trends. Grinding up from Level 1, protecting a sibling from an abusive parent, and of course being reincarnated in a game world.

ASH: Of course.

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 17, Black Summoner 17, Cooking with Wild Game 24, the 9th Cooking with Wild Game manga, Finding Avalon: The Quest of a Chaosbringer 3, and the 8th Rebuild World manga.

Debuting in print for Kodansha is The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku) is an ongoing romcom from Magazine Pocket. A boys’ school with thugs and layabouts is next door to a girls’ school for lovely young maidens. Naturally two of them fall in love.

ASH: I would read this.

ANNA: Me too!

MICHELLE: Its cover is cute, if nothing else.

SEAN: Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 10, A Condition Called Love 8, Quality Assurance in Another World 8, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 5, WIND BREAKER 6, and Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! 8.

In digital land, we see Chihayafuru 44, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 10 (the final volume), Life 15, SHAMAN KING: THE SUPER STAR 8, and Those Snow White Notes 18.

MICHELLE: Really, really, really gotta catch up on Iruma-kun and Chihayafuru!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 4th volume of It Takes Two Tomorrow, Too.

ASH: I enjoyed the first volume; I should read more.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a debut, and it’s a danmei novel. Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu features the 8th son of a traitorous prince, who (of course) has the entire nation hating him for his father’s deeds… especially the hot young prince who wants him dead.

ASH: Hooray, for danmei!

MICHELLE: Indeed!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Ideal Sponger Life 16, Kemono Jihen 11, Last Game 5, Lonely Castle in the Mirror 3, A Tale of the Secret Saint 6, and This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 12.

Square Enix gives us Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 11 and A Man and His Cat 11.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to both of these!

SEAN: Tokyopop has Acid Town 6 and Since I Could Die Tomorrow 3.

Viz’s debut is a shoujo title. Let’s Do It Already! (Hayaku Shitai Futari) is a Margaret title about two high school kids who have the same route to their schools. They’re falling in love, but… he’s from a prestigious family of politicians who don’t want any scandal… and she won’t stop flirting with him!

ANNA: Sounds cute.

MICHELLE: I always love Margaret titles, so…

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blade of the Moon Princess 4, Kaiju No. 8 10, The King’s Beast 13, My Hero Academia 38, Queen’s Quality 19, Rainbow Days 10, Sakamoto Days 12, and Snow White with the Red Hair 26.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Queen’s Quality.

MICHELLE: A lot of good stuff and then also Rainbow Days.

SEAN: And the only title from Yen Press is No Game No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union Arc (No Game No Life – Dai-Ni Shou – Toubu Rengou-hen), which adapts the second arc, as you might guess. It runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

There’s some great titles in this list. What attracts you?

SEAN: May comes to a close in a quiet, peaceful way… mostly.

We start with Yen Press, which has some stray manga that got delayed from this week. The debut is Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology, which should speak for itself.

ASH: I’ve not been keeping up with Bungo Stray Dogs like I should, but I do like these sorts of anthology projects.

SEAN: And we have Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree 3, Stray Cat & Wolf 3, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 19.

Viz Media has JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 6–Stone Ocean 4 and Pokémon: The Complete Pokémon Pocket Guide 2 (the final volume).

ASH: I have some catching up to do with JoJo, too.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has a 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.

The debut from Tokyopop is a one-shot BL title from the magazine & Emo. The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely (Ningyou Yuugi Roku) is about a knight who, on the verge of execution, is rescued by a sadistic genius who wants to use the knight to create the perfect puppet. For “dark yaoi” fans.

Tokyopop also has the 13th volume of Konohana Kitan.

Square Enix has a 5th volume of the Wandering Witch manga.

Seven Seas also has a one-shot BL title, this one from Rutile. Only the Stars Know (Hoshi Dake ga Shitteru) is about a man who’s lost his job and his girlfriend ends up in the local park, bonding with a stranger… who then kisses him?

ASH: As one does.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Breakfast with My Two-Tailed Cat 2, The Country Without Humans 5 (the final volume), Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 9, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 4, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 6 (the final volume), Otaku Elf 7, and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 11.

One Peace Books has the 7th volume of Usotoki Rhetoric.

ASH: Yay!

SEAN: The debut for Kodansha Manga in print is Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss! (Online Game Nakama to Sashi Off shitara Shokuba no Onijoushi ga Kita), a BL title that was originally digital-only back in 2021. It’s from Ichijinsha’s Gateau, about a guy who tries to destress after days dealing with his evil boss by talking with a gaming friend online. Then they meet up in real life and… yeah, you guessed it.

ASH: Drama!

SEAN: Also in print: The Blue Wolves of Mibu 2, The Great Cleric 9, Magus of the Library 7, ORIGIN 4, Tsugumi Project 5, Vampire Dormitory 11, Wandance 9, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? 21.

MICHELLE: How on Earth did Wandance get up to volume nine already?! I also gotta catch up with What Did You Eat Yesterday?.

ANNA: Those are both titles I feel like I would be reading if I was better at keeping up on things.

ASH: It feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a new volume of Magus of the Library, too.

SEAN: Digitally we get A Couple of Cuckoos 17, DAYS 41, Gamaran: Shura 20, My Home Hero 16, Teppu 7, and With You and the Rain 6.

J-Novel Club has a debut, as we see A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady (Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku). Our heroine does not get her engagement broken – her sister’s engagement is the one that is broken. And soon after, a disaster leaves her family penniless. Selling pastries in the slums, she meets a slime, who introduces her to the Slime Duke, and suddenly she’s married? This had better be better than it sounds.

ASH: Dare I ask what a Slime Duke is?

ANNA: I’m afraid to know.

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: The 4th manga volume of The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 10, the 2nd manga volume of A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires, Only I Know That This World Is a Game 4, and Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord 5.

Hanashi Media has The Dark Guild Master’s Smile Would Fit Best 2 and The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made!.

Four titles from Cross Infinite World, including one debut. By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise (Wake Atte, Hensou Shite Gakuen ni Sennyuu Shiteimasu) stars a servant who spends her school days pretending to be a noble’s daughter, as she’ll get enough money to live freely when she graduates. Then they go back on her word. Can she get revenge?

Also from Cross Infinite World: The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor 4, The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat After Getting Dumped for Her Sister! 2 (the final volume), and Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor 2.

In print, Airship has Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! 18 (along with the not-early digital) and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 6.

And digital-only (no print) is Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Recollections, a short story/artbook/interview collection for the famous (infamous?) series.

OK, kind of relaxing? What interests you?