Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Michelle Smith

Manga the Week of 9/7/22

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SEAN: It’s September, and Manga Bookshelf doesn’t even have an AOL account. What are we going to do?

ASH: LOL

SEAN: Airship has early digital releases for the third volume of Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 and The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 3.

From J-Novel Club we get some print titles. Ascendance of a Bookworm 14, Marginal Operation 11, My Next Life As a Villainess 11, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 7 (manga version).

ASH: Obligatory, “Yay, Bookworm!”

SEAN: Digitally there’s Cooking with Wild Game 18, Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 7, a third volume of Demon Lord, Retry! R, and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 20.

Kodansha Manga has new titles. In print, there’s a debut of Shangri-La Frontier, which we saw the e-book of already. VR game stuff.

We also see The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 6, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 16, When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 7, and The Witch and the Beast 9.

Kodansha’s new digital title is The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses (Rokuhime wa Kami Goei ni Koi wo Suru), a shonen title from Suiyōbi no Sirius. A knight reincarnated to support his liege in her future life. Sadly… her soul is in six different people!

There’s also Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! 9, Changes of Heart 5, Desert Eagle 3, Drifting Dragons 12, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 27, My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! 5, Our Love Doesn’t Need a Happy Ending 2, and Vampire Dormitory 9.

KUMA has The Song of Yoru & Asa Encore, a sequel to, well, The Song of Yoru & Asa. It’s complete in one volume, and ran in Takeshobo’s Qpa.

ASH: I still need to read the original volume, but I plan on picking this one up.

SEAN: Seven Seas had some date reshuffles recently, so we get one book. But it’s a debut! Correspondence from the End of the Universe (Hate no Shoutsuushin) is about a young Russian man who’s abducted from his life and his fiancee by aliens, who give him a 10-year mission! Nothing he can do but get down to it. This josei title ran in Comic PASH!.

MICHELLE: Huh. Well, it’s certainly a unique concept.

ASH: That, and josei!

ANNA: Sounds a little wacky, that might be a good thing.

SEAN: Square Enix manga has the 5th volume of By the Grace of the Gods.

Viz has several new volumes. We see Black Clover 30, The Elusive Samurai 2, Ghost Reaper Girl 2, Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love 3, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 3, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 13, Prince Freya 7, and Queen’s Quality 15.

MICHELLE: Several shoujo series here I still need to check out.

ASH: I’m a bit behind, but I’ve been enjoying Queen’s Quality.

ANNA: Me too, I need to get caught up.

SEAN: And we end with Yen. Yen On has Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 17, Ishura 2, and Reign of the Seven Spellblades 6.

And Yen Press gives the people what they want: another PMMM spinoff. Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Another Story focuses on Mami Tomoe and gives her stuff to do which the main series could not do because she became a meme instead. This runs in Comic Fuz.

There’s also The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 2, Overlord 15, and Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops 8 (the final volume).

Huh. That’s almost as tiny a week as this week. Did everyone spend money on textbooks rather than manga?

ASH: Could be!

Bookshelf Briefs 8/30/22

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 5 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe| Viz Media – This is a series that is prepared to get pretty dark—some of the examinees in this volume are killed off—but not too dark—none of the characters we’re actually introduced to are among the dead people. I also enjoyed seeing some other powerful mages, such as the girl who’s weak as heck through most of the competition because there’s a protective dome over the area, but when the dome is shattered (by Frieren, natch) and rain comes down, her power shines. We’re also getting some more of Frieren’s backstory, and showing off why her kind of magic was not what others were looking for back in the day. This is a fascinating fantasy series. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 16 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – All the cards are laid out on the table here, after we spend 3/4 of the volume resolving the ghost giraffe case. Rikka has what turn out to be very good reasons for why she’s constantly trying to break Kotoko, and they’re related to her own powers and those of her cousin. This actually causes Kotoko to have possibly the biggest emotional breakdown we’ve seen in this manga to date, though it’s fairly mild by the standards of anyone else. It’s not something Kotoko can easily refute. As a result, they have to team up for a bit longer. As for what Kuro thinks of all this, alas, we have to wait till the next volume because sometimes the arcs don’t end the way you want for a collected book. – Sean Gaffney

Kemono Jihen, Vol. 1 | By Sho Aimoto | Seven Seas – Kohachi Inugami is a detective specializing in the occult. He’s summoned to a remote village to investigate some mysterious animal deaths and ends up befriending an ostracized boy who’s being called Dorotabo by the villagers. Long story short, Dorotabo’s real name is Kabane and he’s not entirely human. Good thing Inugami isn’t either! He brings Kabane back to Tokyo with him where he meets a couple of other wayward boys the detective has taken in. I liked how Inugami insists that Kabane wasn’t abandoned by his parents and loved that he shows Kabane that he can use his unnerving abilities to help people. The overall vibe of the story is really neat and I and very much look forward to continuing! – Michelle Smith

Knight of the Ice, Vol. 11 | By Yayoi Ogawa | Kodansha Comics – I’d fallen quite behind on Knight of the Ice, and so spent a very enjoyable ten days or so catching up to the eleventh and final volume. I could nitpick a few things—some obstacles to Kokoro and Chitose’s relationship are resolved rather abruptly, for instance—but overall the series strikes a great balance between sports manga and josei romance. In this final volume, Kokoro has made it to the Olympics and gives an amazing performance. For the first time since he was a kid, he actually has fun. That part made me a bit sniffly, but the rest of it does kind of go by in a flash, and I’m left with some unanswered questions about Kokoro’s career that bug me a little bit. Ultimately, though, this series is a lot of fun and is one I could see myself rereading someday. – Michelle Smith

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 2 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – Love can sometimes be inexplicable, and this makes it difficult when your friends look at the guy you’re crushing hard on, a guy who is so nondescript that people literally have trouble seeing him, and wonder why YOU see him like that. And, to be fair to the friends, so far this series is pretty one-sided in its love. Shiraishi is not a friendly, normal guy like Tadano in Komi Can’t Communicate, or a strong personality like Nishikata in Teasing Master Takagi-san. The joy of the series is seeing just how much Kubo is crushing on him, and how hard she’s trying to get him to ask her out. The problem is that we need to be able to care about HIM as well, and I’m not quite there yet. – Sean Gaffney

Minami Nanami Wants to Shine, Vol. 2 | By Bana Yoshida and Yuki Yaku | Yen Press – This series has a goal, and it’s to put Minami’s quiet but intense self-deprecation under the microscope. We see it throughout this volume, where she disparages herself for not being as fashion-conscious or as social-media-savvy as her friends (read: Aoi). She enjoys modeling, but when she tries to say so it always comes out ambivalently or as a question—she’s not sure she’s ALLOWED to enjoy modeling. Is that really OK for someone like her? Meeting a real model and being blown away by how cool they are doesn’t help. Fortunately, as in the novels she has Tomozaki to help, even if it’s not for an election. Will she possibly get to be a romantic lead in this spin-off? I want to know. – Sean Gaffney

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 5 | By Misaki Takamatsu | Seven Seas – Teenage love rarely runs as smoothly as shoujo manga would have you believe, and, given that our lead couple is still only just beginning to realize that they’re in love with each other, that means that it’s up to someone else to try their best but not quite succeed. Makoto has a crush on her sempai in the literature club. With the help of Yuzu (who, having experienced past problems with being “the popular girl,” is perfectly content to live vicariously through others) getting her all dolled up. Sadly, a lack of courage and a lack of understanding on the guy’s part are the result of this date. There’s also some terrific backstory on Nao, explaining why she doesn’t want to go home and why that may change soon. Great. – Sean Gaffney

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 1 | By Mizu Morino and Nozomu Mochitsuki | J-Novel Club – One of the biggest draws that the Tearmoon Empire light novel has is its snarky, unforgiving narrator, who constantly explains that Princess Mia’s “selfless actions” are anything but. The manga version has that as well, but simply can’t use it to its fullest extent in this medium. As such, we’re left with more of Mia’s thoughts, deeds, and hilarious facial expressions. This has the added value of making Mia seem far more sympathetic in this first volume, more like the Mia of later in the LN series, and shows off the times that she really is acting selflessly (such as everything to do with Anne, the one servant who was kind to her in prison in her past life). If you enjoyed the LN, you’ll enjoy this too. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Spriggan Into Action

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SEAN: It’s a super quiet week for stuff, and I’m not attracted to the debuts this week, so I’ll pick the 2nd volume of Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, whose first novel I enjoyed far more than I expected to.

KATE: I sincerely hope Spriggan is as deliriously silly as its Wikipedia entry, because it sounds like it’s totally up my alley.

MICHELLE: I’m not especially excited for the debuts either, but there’s a pair of second volumes I’ve been eagerly anticipating! Blue Lock is very good, but Lost Lad London is excellent, making that my official pick for this week.

ASH: I’ll be joining Kate this week in picking Spriggan. I do like seeing these older, previously unfinished-in-English manga series having their licenses rescued. (And it does seem like a series I might enjoy.)

ANNA: I’ll make Lovesick Ellie 5 my pick for the week, it is consistently hilarious.

Manga the Week of 8/31/22

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SEAN: It’s a rare 5th week of the month! Like most 5th weeks, it’s light.

ASH: Even light weeks have plenty being released these days!

SEAN: Yen On has a bizarre release. We’re getting both the 2nd AND the 3rd volumes of The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time.

ASH: Huh. Release schedule are still all over the place, aren’t they?

SEAN: And Yen Press gives us Lost Lad London 2, Love of Kill 9, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 2, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 4, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 8 and Trinity Seven 26.

MICHELLE: I really, really liked the first volume of Lost Lad London and am excited for the arrival of the second! And wow, already up to volume two on the Bean Counter, huh?

ASH: It does seem like the first volume just came out.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts SPRIGGAN: Deluxe Edition. Viz put out 3 volumes of this in the 1990s then cancelled it, now Seven Seas is trying again with 650-age omnibuses. The writer gave us Until Death Do Us Part, the artist Project Arms. It’s from Weekly Shonen Sunday, and is loaded with ancient artifacts and secret agents.

ANNA: I do find it interesting when we get license rescues like this, even though I’m sure the series I’m most interested in will never be printed again.

ASH: Same.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas is PULSE, a yuri manwha webtoon that’s getting a print release here. A doctor who keeps her sexual relationships strictly for pleasure tuns into trouble when she meets a transplant patient who refuses to get the operation.

ASH: I’m not sure I’ve actually read a yuri manwha before! It’s exciting to have the opportunity.

SEAN: Also coming out: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 4, D-Frag! 16, The Girl in the Arcade 2, Necromance 4, Seaside Stranger 4, and Tokyo Revengers Omnibus 2.

Kodansha, in print, gives us Blackguard 4, Blue Lock 2, Cells at Work! CODE BLACK 8, Lovesick Ellie 5, and Something’s Wrong With Us 10.

MICHELLE: In addition to obligatory praise for Lovesick Ellie, I’m also hyped for more of Blue Lock, which turned out to be not at all what I had expected.

ASH: Guess I’ll need to check out both of those series!

SEAN: Digitally, we have Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 5, Guilty 10, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! 2, I Was Reincarnated with OP Invincibility, so I’ll Beat ’em Up My Way as an Action-Adventurer 3 (the final volume), My Roomie Is a Dino 7 (also a final volume), My Tentative Name 2, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 8, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 4, and Peach Boy Riverside 11.

J-Novel Club debuts a digital light novel whose manga came out a couple of weeks ago: Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! (Meccha Shoukan Sareta Ken), about a hero who can’t seem to stop getting summoned to save the day.

There’s also Black Summoner’s 7th manga volume, Infinite Dendrogram 18, Magic Knight of the Old Ways 3, Marginal Operation 14 (digital version), Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie! 2, and the 5th and final manga volume of Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons.

Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with My Beloved Hound.

Lastly, Airship has early digital releases for Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 2 and Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash 2.

That’s it. Man, this feels more like a list from 2013 or something. Are you buying anything?

ANNA: Maybe not!

Bookshelf Briefs 8/23/22

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Box of Light, Vol. 1 | By Seiko Erisawa | Seven Seas – I’m not sure if this is meant to be a horror anthology with a minor supporting cast or a horror manga featuring the cast but also having each chapter be “the problems of one of the one-shot customers.” Unfortunately, the indecision makes it less than good. The premise has a convenience store stationed at the border between life and death, and only those who are on the verge of death can see it and shop there. This sounds darker than it is, as most of the stories are quirky rather than bittersweet, and the only customer who actually is close to dying ends up working there instead. If you like quirky supernatural stuff… there are probably more interesting titles than this. – Sean Gaffney

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 11 | By Ukami | Yen Press – The bulk of this volume is devoted to a single plotline, which is the class trip to Okinawa. Everyone gets to have their bit: Gabriel is grumpy and reluctant to do anything but ends up being helpful and a good person anyway, Vignette is so super hyped about the trip that when they actually return she goes into a spiral of depression, Satanya… is herself, and Raphiel shows once again that she’s trying her hardest to convince Satanya that she genuinely loves her while at the same time being a jerk and a troll about it. As you can imagine, this is not going well. That said, this series still manages to make me laugh out loud more than most other comedy manga I read these days, so is still highly recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Hello, Melancholic!, Vol. 2 | By Yayoi Ohsawa | Seven Seas This second volume, after the concert is done (and Minato takes a big step forward in interaction skills), focuses more on the other three members of the cast. It turns out that Chika and Sakiko are in a relationship!… or not, as Chika describes it as “friends with benefits,” somewhat awkwardly. Flashbacks show off how the two met and ended up together-ish, helped enormously by Yayoi Ohsawa’s incredible talent for facial caricature. After this we focus on Hibiki, who can’t really understand Minato so takes her on a date to try to get inside her head… but just ends up more confused. This was a great second volume of what has become a must-read yuri series. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 18 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media At some point over the course of this series, the creator was forced to answer the question “how old is Princess Syalis,” which is a question that frequently needs answering when anime girls are designed to always look like children. It turns out Syalis, while we don’t know her exact age, is “an adult,” which if nothing else makes it slightly better that she was buried in work before the demons kidnapped her. In this volume the demon castle falls to pieces, mostly due to laziness, and the princess discovers her inner talent for crisis management, which is… genuinely excellent. This is still funny, but I really enjoy seeing when the cast end up having real character development. – Sean Gaffney

Therapy Game Restart, Vol. 2 | By Meguru Hinohara | SuBLime – To simply describe the plot of this volume of Therapy Game Restart would be to miss everything that is great about it. Minato and Shizuma are planning to move in together, but Shizuma is being kept busy at the veterinary clinic. When he finally gets an opportunity to learn from the director, followed by the arrival of an emergency patient, he stands Minato up for an appointment with a realtor. Meanwhile, Minato tries to keep his insecurities and fears under control, with varying degrees of success. I adore Minato, and I think it’s the superb characterization of someone suffering from anxiety but trying to move past that and have faith in the possibility of a happy ending that makes this series so special. I already am sad thinking about this ending someday. – Michelle Smith

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 8 | By Kousuke Oono | VIZ – I hate to say it, but I think The Way of the Househusband might be running on fumes. Though this volume pulls out all the stops—a food battle, a snow storm, a movie night—the bonus material is funnier than any of the main storylines. It’s only when we get a glimpse at Miku’s favorite anime series PoliCure that volume eight comes to life. Kousuke Oono creates a deliriously silly mash-up of magical girl manga and police procedural that looks and sounds a lot like Futari wa Pretty Cure. The shift in artwork and tone are a testament to Kousuke Oono’s skills as a draftsman and parodist, and makes me wonder if he should be doing a PoliCure series instead of another installment of Househusband. – Katherine Dacey

Pick of the Week: Phantoms and Food

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MICHELLE: I’m not wildly passionate about anything coming out this week, but I did think the first volume of Phantom of the Idol was fun, so this week I’ll choose the second.

KATE: I’ll join Michelle in recommending Phantom of the Idol. It’s a silly, escapist read that’s best enjoyed poolside with a fruity drink in hand.

SEAN: My pick this week is See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, because I sort of love the ‘honor student and delinquent are best pals’ dynamic.

ASH: I apparently really should check out Phantom of the Idol! But this happens to be a good week for for food-related manga, too. In addition to See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, there’s also Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger and not one but two Delicious in Dungeon books, which is where my heart lies.

Manga the Week of 8/24/22

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SEAN: As August nears its end, we continue to see manga making its way towards us, zombie-like.

No print for Airship this week, but we do get new early digital releases for Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 5 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 11.5.

J-Novel Club has several digital debuts. Full Metal Panic! Short Stories is exactly what it sounds like, and is much more lighthearted than the main series.

Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon (Maou ni Natta node, Dungeon Tsukutte Jingai Musume to Honobono Suru) has a dude wake up as a demon lord in a dungeon. He thinks he’s going to have to strengthen his environment and protect everyone. But… no? He just lives a slow life with his cute monster girls. You know the audience for this one.

Rebuild World is a post-apocalyptic fantasy about a cruel, merciless world and the poor orphan boy trying to survive in it. This has a bit of buzz, but looks dark. Doesn’t help that the first book is split into two parts – This is Volume 1-1.

ASH: I mean, I tend to be interested in post-apocalyptic fantasy, don’t mind dark, and there is the buzz… but I’m not sure I need cruel and merciless at this very moment.

ANNA: I have a similar reaction.

SEAN: And we get the manga version of Tearmoon Empire (Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantōdai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story). You don’t need me to tell you how good the books are, now read the manga. This runs in Comic Corona.

ASH: Oh! I didn’t realize (or had forgotten) there was a manga version.

SEAN: Also coming out: Jessica Bannister and the Evil Within and Monster Tamer 10.

Kaiten Books has a digital release for The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 5.

In print, Kodansha gives us Blue Period 8, Island in a Puddle 3, Phantom of the Idol 2, and Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 10.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Phantom of the Idol was fun, so I look forward to volume two.

ASH: I should give the series a closer look!

SEAN: And we get new digital volumes for ongoing series. Burn the House Down 3, Getting Closer to You 3, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 13, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 9, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 4, The Witch and the Beast 9, and Ya Boy Kongming! 8.

MICHELLE: Something about those Burn the House Down covers is really compelling.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a light novel debut: The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata – Senjou o Kakeru Kaifuku Youin). An average ordinary high school student (sigh) is pulled into a fantasy world along with two other, much cooler students. Unfortunately for our blank hero, he has a rare ability, healing magic! Now he has to undergo hellish training to learn how to use it.

ASH: I do like the healing magic aspect of the premise.

SEAN: Three debuts for Seven Seas. MoMo -the blood taker- features a detective trying to track down a serial killer, but my guess is by the cover art and title that vampires are the main draw here. This ran in Weekly Young Jump.

ASH: This seems like it could have potential.

SEAN: My [Repair] Skill Became a Versatile Cheat, So I Think I’ll Open a Weapon Shop ([Shuufuku] Sukiru ga Bannou Chiito-ka Shitanode, Buki-ya demo Hirakou ka to Omoimasu) is basically “what if the Arifureta guy decided to sell weapons rather than be the Arifureta guy?”. It runs in Manga Park.

Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger (Ramen Ookami to Curry Tora) is a foodie manga from Comic Be, about, well, a Wolf and a Tiger. But they’re food critics!

MICHELLE: Huh.

ASH: It’s food related, so I’m obligated to give this one a try.

ANNA: I’m curious!

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4 and The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 3.

Square Enix Manga gives us Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 5, Otherside Picnic 2, and Ragna Crimson 6.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up on Cherry Magic. I enjoyed the first volume.

ASH: I did, too!

SEAN: Viz Media has the 18th and final volume of Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition. We also get JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5–Golden Wind 5 and Urusei Yatsura 15. And, though I usually don’t touch on the digital-only volumes, there’s WITCH WATCH 3 as well.

ASH: It’s a good Viz week.

SEAN: Yen On debuts Secrets of the Silent Witch (Silent Witch), a story of a powerful mage who learned voiceless magic… because she’s painfully shy and wants to avoid speaking! I’ve heard good things about this series.

ASH: You’ve caught my interest.

Also from Yen On: Durarara!! SH 4, Goblin Slayer 14, High School DxD 8, and Rascal Does Not Dream 8.

Yen Press has several debuts. Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple is a spinoff that runs in Young Ace Up.

Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: The Adventurer’s Bible is what it sounds like, a guide to the world of Delicious in Dungeon!

ASH: I’d somehow missed this was coming out.

SEAN: The Geek Ex-Hitman (Sono Otaku, Moto Koroshi-ya) runs in Shonen Ace Plus. A hitman ends up going down the terrible path of anime figurines.

ASH: Ha! Oh dear.

SEAN: See You Tomorrow at the Food Court (Food Court de, Mata Ashita) is a complete in one volume title from Comic Newtype. An honor student and a tanned “gal” type seemingly have nothing in common… but they’re always eating together! This is not yuri but is yuri-adjacent.

ASH: Yuri-ish and food-ish? I’m curious.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Cheeky Brat 4, Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 2, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 12, Delicious in Dungeon 11, The Holy Grail of Eris 2, Please Put Them On, Takamine-san 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 17, Sasaki and Miyano 6, and So I’m a Spider, So What? 11.

ASH: Huzzah! Double Delicious this week!

SEAN: Must… read… new manga… rrrr.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/16/22

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HIRAETH ~The End of the Journey~, Vol. 2 | By Yuhki Kamatani | Kodansha Manga (digital only) – In the first volume, we met a girl who’s desperate to die, so it seems only fitting that the second volume would involve another woman who is desperate to live, which unfortunately leads to her stalking poor immortal Hibino. That said, the god they’re traveling with may be in the most danger of passing on. Death is handled as realistically as you can imagine in a series that features an immortal man and a god, and the questions that the series asks are good ones—Mika nearly has an existential crisis when she tries to imagine death not having an afterlife. And, of course, there’s the fantastic art, as you expect from this author. Still recommended. – Sean Gaffney

I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess!, Vol. 1 | By Saki Tsukigami and Natsu Kuroki | Steamship – This isekai has a spicy twist. Our Japanese-heroine-reincarnated is set to marry the Crown Prince… but this world allows multiple wives! She refuses to be part of that, so resolves to lose her virginity, and thus remove herself from consideration. Two guesses who the random guy she picks is. The good thing about this title is that we get the perspective of the Crown Prince as well, which is ridiculous (“why am I cursed to be this horny?”) but makes him more sympathetic. The downside is that it makes it harder to understand why, after he proves to be a great lover and also promises not to be polygamous, she’s still so hardcore against this. For josei smut fans. – Sean Gaffney

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 13 | By Sorata Akiduki | Yen Press – Has it really been a year since the last volume of this? This one’s a game-changer, though… well, as much of a game-changer as this series will ever get… as, thanks to the combination of a sore throat and really, really being obvious about it, Wakamatsu admits that Seo is Lorelei. His feelings on this, though, are still up in the air. Elsewhere, we discover that Sakura can take even the bleakest situation and make it happy if Nozaki is there with her, and two more of the manga assistant club actually meet each other. This is, hands down, one of the funniest manga titles of the last decade, and every volume delivers multiple belly laughs. Just… please have SOMEONE actually hook up? Please? – Sean Gaffney

Rooster Fighter, Vol. 1 | By Shu Sakuratani | VIZ Media – Rooster Fighter is a disappointment: the premise is too slight to sustain a long series, the script is strenuously unfunny, and the storylines are numbingly predictable. In every chapter, the nameless hero wanders into a new town, antagonizes and befriends the locals in equal measure, then kills a grotesque demon that’s been terrorizing the community. About the only good joke in whole series is how the rooster kills demons; anyone who’s lived on or near a farm will enjoy a rueful laugh or two at the hero’s superpower. Otherwise, this series is a total Cock-a-Doodle-Don’t. – Katherine Dacey

Shadows House, Vol. 1 | By Somato | Yen Press – So I have not seen the anime that currently has its second season running, and I managed to remain totally unspoiled on this manga series. That said, what did I think of it? It’s cute, but also dark and weird and I worry things will turn out badly, but it’s also really cute? Which, to be fair, is the vibe that the author seems to be going for. As for the plot, a young clumsy but cheerful girl is the maid/servant/doll to a young woman who seems to be only a shadow. The two are tied to each other in some way, and we learn about how that is along with the main character. Not sure how I feel about this yet, but it certainly was riveting, and I’ll definitely be reading more. – Sean Gaffney

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 6 | By Suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics – Last time I mentioned that any romantic rivals in the mix here are flummoxed by the pureness of our couple, but I do like that, while they are worried about the one they’re in love with who loves someone else, they (mostly) respect them enough to just accept it and angst about it on their own, rather than try to stage interventions. These are all mostly good kids. Which is probably why the end of the main volume manages to have Itsuomi and Yuki finally kiss, and it’s really sweet and wonderful and… well, it’s what you read this series for. That and the lettering. The one major drawback we have to face now is that it doesn’t come out often enough. – Sean Gaffney

Wait for Me Yesterday in Spring | By Mei Hachimoku and KUKKA | Airship – Angsty teen Kanae Funami runs away from Tokyo back to his home town on the island of Sodeshima. After visiting a local shrine and touching a cool rock (yes, really) he ends up traveling five days into the future and then reliving the intervening days, only backwards. During that gap, the older brother of Akari Hoshina, Kanae’s childhood friend and long-time crush, dies so Kanae resolves to save him. While the structure of the book is certainly neat, it’s slow going for a while, largely due to repeated and absolutely unnecessary reminders that time travel is occurring. Akito, Akari’s brother, was a rising baseball star in his youth, and after the reveal of what kind of person he’s become since an injury derailed his dreams the book got a lot more interesting. Some of it was genuinely tough to read. Overall, the final third made up for the tedious parts. – Michelle Smith

Wandance, Vol. 1 | By Coffee | Kodansha Comics – Kaboku Kotani is a sweet high school first-year who’s been trying not to stand out or go against the grain. He’s got a stutter, which sometimes dissuades him from saying the things he wants to say. After witnessing his classmate Hikari Wanda dancing with abandon, he realizes that there is a way to express himself without words. He joins the dance club, deciding that he’d rather do what he wants to do, even if that makes him weird, and although he’s very inhibited at first, it turns out he has natural talent. I loved seeing a strong friendship develop between Kabo and Wanda, especially that Wanda is so encouraging and nonjudgmental, as well as the perspective of Kabo’s friend, Hotohara, who is kind of a jealous douchebag but also realizes how much of a blast Kabo is having. I had a blast, too. Wandance is tremendous fun. – Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Corpses, Cameras, and Househusbands

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SEAN: I reviewed the 14th volume of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in June 2015, and it is now August 2022. Even by Dark Horse standards, this is wack, yo. That said, I’m just grateful the 15th volume has come out at all, even as part of an omnibus. It’s definitely my pick. Now who was everyone again?

MICHELLE: And this is also the week we get a new Black Lagoon volume! Granted, the prior one did come out in 2020 but there was a five-year gap before that. That said, this week I’ll go for She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons because queer love triangle from Morning Two sounds very interesting.

KATE: I’m ecstatic that there’s a new installment of The Way of the Househusband, a series that’s continued to be funny, even though it’s built on the slenderest of premises. Count me in for volume eight!

ASH: I’m always game for a new volume of The Way of the Househusband, too! But this week I’ll join Sean in choosing The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service because who knows when I’ll be able to pick it again? It’s such a great series.

ANNA: Way of the Househusband for me!

MJ: I’ve been reading so little lately, I feel a bit at sea here, but I think I’ll go along with Michelle’s pick, She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons, because a queer love triangle sounds like something I’d always enjoy!

Manga the Week of 8/17/22

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SEAN: We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave… the temperature’s rising, it isn’t surprising, she certainly can Can-Can.

Yen On has three debuts, though one has already come out here from another publisher… sort of. The Bride of Demise (Shuuen no Hanayome) is a new series from the creator of Torture Princess, and seems to have much the same vibe. A soldier is about to die when a girl in white appears, swearing to protect him.

Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (Hige o Soru. Soshite Joshikousei o Hirou) is a series where we’ve already seen the manga… and an anime… and the light novel. The light novel was released by Kadokawa but only in parts, and the quality was meh. Yen promises their version has new, exciting things such as editing. As for the plot, read the title.

ASH: It’s interesting to see the variety of ways titles are licensed, different editions from different publishers being released in close succession would have been unheard of not too long ago.

SEAN: Sasaki and Peeps (Sasaki to Pii-chan) is a series about a man who adopts a pet sparrow, only to find it’s a sparrow from another world… and it grants him magic! Comedic fantasy is the watchword here.

ASH: Sparrows were certainly not the next genre variation I was expecting to see.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 6, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 2, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 8, The Holy Grail of Eris 2, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 3, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 2, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 7.

Yen Press debuts Chained Soldier (Mato Seihei no Slave), a manga from Shonen Jump + from the author of Akame Ga Kill!. As you can see, the title – and the cover art, which had SLAVE in big English lettering on the Japanese cover – has been changed, and thank God for that. Years ago, girls gained magical powers from eating demonic peaches from another dimension. Now a “typical Japanese high school boy” is caught in a gate and finds himself saved by one of those girls.

MICHELLE: I truly wish there was a band called Demonic Peaches from Another Dimension.

ASH: That would be such a great band name.

SEAN: We also get New York, New York Omnibus 2 (the final volume), Teasing Master Takagi-san 15, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 5, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 15.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to New York, New York!

ANNA: I still need to read it!

ASH: Same! But I’m still looking forward to the second volume.

SEAN: Viz Media debuts Rooster Fighter (Niwatori Fighter), a seinen title from Shogakukan’s Comiplex about a rooster who manages to defend humanity against giant kaiju. It’s a comedy.

ASH: It’s such a ridiculous premise, I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: There’s also Black Lagoon 12, Case Closed 83, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction 11, Jujutsu Kaisen 17, Levius/est 10 (the final volume), Ultraman 17, The Way of the Househusband 8, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 7.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up on The Way of the Househusband.

ANNA: This is a favorite of multiple people in my house.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying it.

SEAN: Tokyopop gives us The Fox & Little Tanuki 5.

Square Enix has a 6th My Dress-Up Darling.

A quiet week for Seven Seas. They have A Centaur’s Life 21, Classroom of the Elite 3, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi 3, and Happy Kanako’s Killer Life 5.

MICHELLE: Obligatory hooray for danmei.

ANNA: Woo!

ASH: Hooray, indeed! Grandmaster has been my favorite so far, too.

SEAN: Ponent Mon are doing a new edition of the Jiro Tanaguchi classic A Distant Neighborhood.

ASH: A Distant Neighborhood is one of my favorite Tanaguchi manga; glad to see it staying in print.

SEAN: One Peace Books has Hinamatsuri 16.

Kodansha has some print books. BAKEMONOGATARI 15, Blood on the Tracks 10, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 11, Fire Force 28, Saint Young Men Omnibus 10, and Welcome Back, Alice 3.

MICHELLE: Welcome Back, Alice looks intriguing. How is it on three volumes already?!

ASH: I’m still here for Saint Young Men.

SEAN: They also have a new 700-page omnibus of Princess Knight. Which is nowhere on their website, annoyingly.

ASH: That’s a big omnibus and a touchstone series. Glad to see it coming back in print, too!

SEAN: The digital debut is She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons (Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu), an LGBT title that ran in Morning Two. It’s girl loves girl, girl loves boy, boy loves girl triangle romance. This has the Erica Friedman seal of approval.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

ANNA: Good to know!

SEAN: And we also get A Condition Called Love 10, Drifting Dragons 11, Golden Gold 3, GTO Paradise Lost 18, Hella Chill Monsters 2, Nina the Starry Bride 7, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 5, Rent-A-Girlfriend 14, A Serenade for Pretend Lovers 3, This Vampire Won’t Give Up! 3, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 7.

ANNA: I recently started reading Nina the Starry Bride and enjoy it.

SEAN: Kaiten Books has a print version of The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 3.

It’s J-Novel Club print week. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm: Fanbook 2, The Faraway Paladin 5, Her Majesty’s Swarm 4, In Another World With My Smartphone 23, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 5, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 7.

ASH: I’m already behind, but I’m still glad that The Faraway Paladin is being released in print so that I might actually read it.

SEAN: Two digital debuts for J-Novel Club. Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! (Neta Chara Tensei Toka Anmarida!) has a guy hit by a bus and reincarnated in the game he loves. But not as his regular player character… as the dragon princess he made as a joke.

Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World (Isekai Tensei no Boukensha) is a reincarnation isekai that honestly has absolutely nothing I can see that makes it unique.

We also get The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 14, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 18, and the third and final volume of Walking My Second Path in Life, only four and a half years after Volume 2!

Dark Horse has… dare we get our hopes up… the 5th omnibus of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which has the previously unpublished Book 15! And there’s also Mob Psycho 100 9.

ASH: Oh! The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is a great series! That’s been a long time coming.

SEAN: And Airship has early digital for She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 5 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 7.

What popular songs are you quoting while it’s Too Darn Hot?

Pick of the Week: Old Favorites, Departures and Arrivals

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ASH: I’ll admit, I’m having a hard time selecting just one release this week as my pick with the number of excellent new and continuing series being published. Debut-wise, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou seems like the obvious choice, but I’m also thrilled to see more of Asumiko Nakamura’s work in translation, so Tales of the Kingdom is pretty high up there for me, too. And that’s not even mentioning all the others that I’m curious about…

SEAN: The pick this week is me traveling back in time twenty years and telling my younger self to put away those text files of fan translations and raw Japanese manga volumes, because Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is finally here! You’ll just… have to wait a bit, younger self.

MICHELLE: That’s exactly how I read Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket back in the day! I still have the raw Japanese manga volumes somewhere. I’m not sure I will like Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, though I’m curious about it, so instead I’ll pick the eleventh and final volume of Knight of the Ice.

KATE: Someone’s gotta raise the flag for Kaze Hikaru, so here’s my pitch: volume 30 has just come out. In the 10+ years VIZ has been releasing this series, I don’t know that it’s ever found the passionate fanbase it deserves, but Kaze Hikaru is one of the best shojo series available in English. There’s no time like the present to get started!

ANNA: There’s a bunch of manga coming out that I’m excited about. I always look forward to the annual release of Kaze Hikaru and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou sounds great. But I’ll make my pick the final volume of Knight of the Ice, a josei title that is both hilarious and heartwarming.

Manga the Week of 8/10/22

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SEAN: There’s stuff! Coming out next week! Surprise! (You are not surprised.)

Airship has the print debut of Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut.

ASH: Okay, I will admit to being curious about this one, more because of the cosmonauts than the vampires, but that’s an unexpected and potentially intriguing combination.

MJ: Cosmonauts… yes.

SEAN: In early digital we see The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 2 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 3.

Cross Infinite World has a debut: The Princess’ Smile: The Body-Double Bride Searches for Happiness with the Reclusive Prince (Hidenka no Bishou – Migawari Hanayome wa, Hikikomori Denka to Shiawase ni Kurashitai). A maid is asked to marry a prince… as a body double for her friend the princess. But then her boyfriend cheats on her WITH the princess! Now she’s determined to make the best of her new life. I believe this is a one-shot.

ASH: I find this to be potentially intriguing, as well.

SEAN: Dark Horse has Berserk Deluxe Edition 11 (it got bumped – again) and Cat + Gamer 2. Dark Horse’s release dates are a constant struggle.

ASH: I’ll be here for them whenever they finally come out.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 2, Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? 3, and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 7.

J-Novel Club has a debut. They licensed the light novel and the manga, but the manga is out first next week. Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! (Meccha Shoukan Sareta Ken) is about a hero who can’t stop getting summoned to different worlds to save them! He’s tired of it! This runs in Mag Garden’s MAGCOMI.

ASH: I like that title.

SEAN: Also out digitally: Ascendance of a Bookworm 20, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 4, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 4, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 4, the 8th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga, and Slayers 15, which wraps up the 2nd arc.

ASH: I will continue to say, “Yay, Bookworm!”

SEAN: Kodansha Manga has, in print, Blackguard 3, the 11th and final volume of Knight of the Ice, Sensei’s Pious Lie Omnibus 3, Shaman King Omnibus 10, and Toppu GP 9.

MICHELLE: I need to have a Knight of the Ice marathon!

ANNA: It is so good!

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but have been enjoying the series.

SEAN: There are… no digital debuts next week! (Glory hallelujah, they’re slowing down). We do get The Fable 5, Giant Killing 32, My Maid, Miss Kishi 2, Police in a Pod 15, The Shadows of Who We Once Were 3, Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 3 (the final volume), and WIND BREAKER 5.

Seven Seas has a lot of debuts. The biggest one is Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (which is using the Japanese title, but “Yokohama Shopping Log” would be a translation). A legendary title from Kodansha’s Afternoon in the 1990s, it’s finally been licensed by Seven Seas, and is coming out in 5 oversized omnibus editions! I’ve usually described the series as “the most relaxed apocalypse you’ll ever read.”

ASH: I’m caught up in the excitement surrounding this release; really looking forward to reading it.

SEAN: Kemono Jihen is a Jump Square title about a human detective and a yokai boy who investigate odd mysteries. The author was an assistant on Reborn! and Bleach, and she comes highly rated. This also got an anime.

MICHELLE: Oh, I think my friend was a fan of that anime. Hm.

ASH: Yokai, you say? (That’s my cue.)

SEAN: Sakurai-san Wants to Be Noticed (Sakurai-san wa Kidzuite Hoshii) is another in the “girl teases the guy she likes” genre, from Dengeki Daioh. This one is only 4 volumes total.

ASH: There seem to be quite a few of those, these days.

SEAN: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes: Ultramarine (Natsu e no Tonneru, Sayonara no Deguchi Gunjou) is the manga version of the light novel also released by Seven Seas. A tunnel grants wishes… in exchange for a shorter life span. This ran in Dengeki Daioh, and should also be 4 volumes.

World End Solte is from the creator of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Spirit Circle, so attention must be paid. An orphan goes on a journey to wipe out the pollution that plagues their world. This runs in MAGCOMI.

ASH: Attention must indeed be paid!

Also from Seven Seas: The Duke of Death and His Maid 2, The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 2, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 12, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 7, and The Weakest Contestant of All Space and Time 2.

Steamship debuts GAME: Between the Suits (Game – Suit no Sukima), a josei title from Hakusensha’s Love Jossie. The artist might be remembered for CMX’s Venus Capriccio. A career woman has a healthy sex life, but is married to her job, so can’t keep a boyfriend. Then the new guy shows up at work…

ANNA: I do remember Venus Capriccio…

ASH: Same; that’s been awhile!

SEAN: SuBLime has the 2nd volume of Therapy Game Restart.

MICHELLE: <3

SEAN: TOKYOPOP gives us Double 4 and Ossan Idol! 6.

Viz Media has new volumes. We get Fly Me to the Moon 12, Kaze Hikaru 30 (only 15 more years till the final volume!), Kirby Manga Mania 5, Komi Can’t Communicate 20, One Piece Omnibus 32, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 4, Radiant 15, Sakamoto Days 3, Splatoon: Squid Kids Comedy Show 6, and YO-KAI WATCH 19. Lots of stuff for the kids next week.

ANNA: Yay for the annual release of a Kaze Hikaru volume!

ASH: For sure!

SEAN: Yen On has the 5th Solo Leveling novel.

Three debuts from Yen Press. Kowloon Generic Romance comes from the author of After the Rain, the story of a dystopian walled city and the people who live there. It runs in Weekly Young Jump.

ASH: That sounds to be up my alley.

SEAN: A Returner’s Magic Should be Special is a webtoon manwha based on a Korean webnovel. Our hero, a trained fighter, tries to help his colleagues save the world, but to no avail. Then… he wakes up as a 13-year-old? Somehow I think “for fans of Tearmoon Empire” is not accurate in this case.

MJ: This might be interesting.

Tales of the Kingdom (Oukoku Monogatari) is an Ultra Jump series from the creator of Classmates and A White Rose in Bloom. This is a historical fantasy about twins who can’t live without each other. This is getting a hardcover release.

ASH: Asumiko Nakamura manga are always a must read for me.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 12, In Another World with My Smartphone 6, Phantom Tales of the Night 9, The Royal Tutor 17 (the final volume), and Uncle from Another World 5.

Do any of these make you want to jump for joy? Or at least have a nice cup of tea?

Pick of the Week: We’ve Run Out of Beans!

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SEAN: I feel a bit guilty for not picking One Piece 100, but I’ve gotten really far behind with it. I’ll go to the light novel well again and pick Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court. It sounds like what might happen if My Next Life As a Villainess was set in The Apothecary Diaries, and I’m down for that.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I made it through volume 92 and then sort of stalled out. I’ll choose fluffy BL isekai this week with The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter. Yes, there’s a josei debut this week, but it looks like it will probably be sad and my brain is just not here for that.

ASH: Novel-wise, I’m really looking forward to reading Tower of the Sun, having greatly enjoyed Tomihiko Morimi’s other works in translation. As for manga, The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún is such a beautifully illustrated and haunting series, I’m so glad to see it getting a deluxe treatment.

ANNA: I’ll go with Our Love Doesn’t Need a Happy Ending, even though it might be depressing because hooray for josei.

MJ: It’s not a stellar week for me, but I’m low-key interested in The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter, so I’ll go along with Michelle’s pick this week. When all else fails, I defer to Michelle. She’s yet to lead me astray.

Manga the Week of 8/3/22

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SEAN: August is here. Still hot. But now hot in August rather than July!

ASH: I’m not sure it’s allowed to be August yet.

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. Chronicles of the Hidden World: How I Became a Doctor for the Gods (Kakuriyo Shinjuuki: Isekai de Kami-sama no Oisha-san Hajimemasu) is a fantasy isekai where a girl is reincarnated in “ancient Japan but with magic”, and quickly finds an affinity with the world’s gods.

The other is a one-shot, Tower of the Sun, the latest from Tomihiko Morimi, author of Penguin Highway and The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl. It seems to share themes with the latter, not uncommon with this author. A guy who’s been dumped mopes through Kyoto. This was his debut novel!

ASH: I am so happy to see more of Morimi’s work being translated!

SEAN: There’s also the 17th and final volume of Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! and Strike the Blood 21.

Two debuts from Yen Press as well. The Beginning After the End is a webcomic that’s been collected by Yen, based on a long-running novel series. A king dies and is reincarnated in a world of magic and monsters.

The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai) is a BL isekai manga from B’s Log Comic. A workaholic salaryman is summoned to another world… and continues to be a workaholic salaryman. But he catches the heart of a knight!

MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially cute!

ASH: I’ll admit that BL isekai interests me more than most other isekai.

ANNA: Sounds cute.

MJ: Oh, interesting indeed!

SEAN: Also from Yen: Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 9, Love and Heart 5, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected 18, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 8, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 3, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 14.

ASH: I really need to catch up on Toilet-bound Hanako-kun.

SEAN: It’s almost time for the anime to return, and the shippers are getting ready to doxx and destroy everyone’s lives all over again. It can only be Bleach. To celebrate, Viz is releasing Bleach 20th Anniversary Edition 1, which features cover art showing the original Shonen Jump cover. Despite the Vol. 1, this seems to be a one-off.

ASH: Huh.

SEAN: Viz also has One Piece Volume 100! Only 101 more volumes to go before it catches up to KochiKame.

And also Dragon Ball Super 16, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 23, The King’s Beast 7, Moriarty the Patriot 8, and Snow White with the Red Hair 20.

ASH: I spy Shojo Beat titles!

ANNA: Yay, I need to get caught up on so much.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has the 4th, 5th, and 6th volumes of Summertime Rendering, which wraps up the series, as these are omnibuses. they’re out in paperback and hardcover.

ASH: I’ve heard good things about the series, but have so far failed to start actually reading it. Need to get on that!

SEAN: Tokyopop has stopped updating its website for some reason, but should have Assassin’s Creed Dynasty 4.

Titan Books have Junji Ito Collection: A Horror Coloring Book, which speaks for itself, really.

ASH: Very interesting.

MJ: Oh, huh.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Deluxe Edition, a 3-volume omnibus in hardcover for the gorgeous and bittersweet (more bitter than sweet, really) fantasy series.

ASH: I’m happily double-dipping for this.

We also get Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 5, Dai Dark 4, and My Wife Has No Emotion 3.

Also, last week, KUMA released the first volume of Canis: Dear Hatter, which I missed because I suck. I assume it is related to Canis: Dear Mr. Rain, which came out a couple of years ago.

Kodansha, in print, has the 2nd and final omnibus of Devil Ecstasy and Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 3.

Digitally the debut is Our Love Doesn’t Need a Happy Ending (Boku-tachi no Koi ni Happy End nante Iranai), the story of a college guy who’s in love with his classmate… but has to decide whether to confess of not when she reveals that she’s dying. This josei title ran in Kiss.

MICHELLE: Obligatory josei squee.

ANNA: Squeeeeeeeeee!

SEAN: Also digital: The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 4, Changes of Heart 4, Chihayafuru 33, Desert Eagle 2, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 6, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 26, and My Wonderful World 2.

MICHELLE: And obligatory Chihayafuru squee, as well.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print volume: Infinite Dendrogram 16.

Digital items from J-Novel Club include An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 14, the 6th and final volume of Arifureta Zero, By the Grace of the Gods 11, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 6, The Great Cleric 9, the 5th manga volume of My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ—, and the 3rd manga volume of Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀.

ASH: I can’t quite tell if that’s a lot of titles, or just a bunch of long titles.

ANNA: What if it was all one single title?

SEAN: Denpa has the 4th volume of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. Actually, this came out last month, but I have to use Amazon’s release dates as Denpa hasn’t updated its own site, and Amazon hasn’t shipped it yet. But it’s out everywhere BUT Amazon.

Airship, in print, has Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4.

In early digital the debut is Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court (Futsutsuka na Akujo de wa Gozaimasu ga – Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den), the story of a consort who ends up body swapped with her rival, then thrown in prison. But she couldn’t be happier – after years of illness, she has a healthy body at last! This has recommendations from both the Bookworm *and* Apothecary authors, so is highly anticipated.

ASH: Oh, ho!

SEAN: And they’ve also got Berserk of Gluttony 7.

Are you a noble? A villainess? A villainess who’s also a noble? Also, what manga do villainesses read?

Pick of the Week: One Last Love Song

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KATE: Any week that brings a new volume of Skip and Loafer is a good one in my book, so I’ll make that my pick. I’ll probably also buy Bomba, though I have a sinking feeling I might ultimately regret that decision, given that the most recent wave of Tezuka licenses have been fair-to-middling.

SEAN: There are so many of my favorite light novel series out next week it boggles the mind. I mean, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Ascendance of a Bookworm: Royal Academy Stories – First Year, *and* the final I’m in Love with the Villainess? Bet they’re all really long volumes too. I’ll pick the final I’m in Love with the Villainess, which has gone far beyond its initial gimmick.

MICHELLE: I’ve got to admit I’m pretty wary of Bomba, and much else on the list are new volumes of series I haven’t started yet. So, even though I’m far behind, I’ll also pick the final I’m in Love with the Villainess this week.

ASH: I’m curious about Bomba, for sure. And one of these days I really will get around to reading Skip and Loafer. But in the meantime, I’ll rely on my good ol’ standby Junji Ito and make The Liminal Zone my official pick.

ANNA: I feel guilty about not getting around to I’m in Love with the Villainess yet, so that’s my pick this week.

MJ: I’m not incredibly attached to anything this week, so I will give a little shout-out to volume 17 of To Your Eternity. I haven’t read any of the manga so far, but I’ve enjoyed the anime, so I’m going to guess I might also like to read it—maybe even more so.