Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Anime NYC 2025, Sunday

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It’s always striking how calm Sunday is compared to the previous two days. You’d think it would be near the same, given the large number of 4-day badges you saw walking around earlier, but the truth is that Anime NYC has always tended to have Sunday be the least happening day. On the bright side, this meant the lines for the bathroom were much shorter (well, for me, using a men’s room.)

Because I have a lengthy journey home thanks to Connecticut’s train tracks still being hundreds of years old (Amtrak can make trains that go 800 miles an hour, and they’ll still have to dawdle through New England), I was only able to attend one panel Sunday, which was Kodansha Comics. Kodansha always has one of the better, most professional panels out there, and this year was no exception, with Ben Applegate, TJ Ferentini, and Haruko Hashimoto.

The entrance to the con was packed with free copies of the Young Magazine 100-page English Edition that everyone at the con seemed to be lugging around (including me), as well as a totebag. Readers can vote on which series they want to see more of, and if it gets a good response they may do another one. Having a sequel to Boys Run the Riot inside got the biggest reaction. People were also happy to hear about Kodansha House in October, with more creators coming to New York, including Atsushi Ohkubo and Suu Morishita.

They discussed the “print-on-demand” service they started last year, in an effort to put digital-only series that deserved print but possibly the sales did not justify it. We’re getting second volumes for Love, That’s an Understatement, Teppu, and Blade Girl. And then we get the big news, which is that all the big news happened last month. This is not uncommon for publishers. The summer is littered with huge conventions. Kodansha had panels at Anime Expo at the start of July and San Diego Comic Con at the end of July. There’s no way they’d have a list of 15-20 new series by the end of August.

As a result, most of this panel was a recap of what they’d already announced at the last two panels. That said, there are some really great titles in there. They’re bringing back iconic shoujo manga Mars (hardcover, fancy metallic covers, new translation) and iconic shoujo manga Shugo Chara (new covers, new translation). There’s Fruit of the Underworld, by popular author Aya Kanno, known for Requiem of the Rose King and Otomen. They’re also doing a big ol’ giant deluxe box set for Ghost in the Shell, and Ben knows his audience, as he immediately said “yes, it will include those three pages. If you know, you know.” Shirow instructed them as to how he did some of this stuff, so they could replicate it. Rolled posters in the box – not folded!

There’s also Wicked Spot, a new series from the creator of Tough Love at the Office; Love at First Memory, from the creator of Springtime with Ninjas and Boss Bride days; Love Out on a Limb, from the creator of Love in Focus and That Wolf-Boy Is Mine!; popular yuri title Marrying the Dark Knight (For Her Money); BL baseball manga Blue Summer Haze; BL title Smells Like Green Spirit, from the creator of Boys, Be Ambitious!; Dragon Circus, from the creators of Ultraman’s manga; and Stella Must Die!, with a story by the author of Princess Resurrection.

They were quite enthusiastic about a couple of titles. That’s Not Love is by the creator of 1122: For a Happy Marriage, and is about former friends reconnecting years later and secrets from middle school. Cat-Life Balance stars a man who will gladly take on any task and help other co-workers… and it’s causing him to burn out. One day he spots fellow employee Kurone, who deals with work by being stonefaced, playing in an alley with stray cats. Can cats solve their issues? Probably not, but the cats are cute, right?

We then got to the new announcements, of which there were three. My Journey to Her was a very popular digital-only title when it came out last year, and it won an Eisner. They’re now doing a print release for it. I had read this when it first came out, and it’s a riveting and informative look at the author’s gender dysphoria and subsequent reassignment surgery. It ran in Weekly Morning.

Speaking of Yūna Hirasawa, they’ve also licensed her current Weekly Morning series, Luca the Dragon Vet (Ryūi no Luca). A young woman is determined to be a vet who takes care of dragons in her fantasy world. Alas, there are tough exams, difficult classes, and unfortunate family connections. But, I mean, dragon vet! Who wouldn’t want to be a dragon vet?

Then we got the big announcement: Yes, it’s not just iconic shoujo manga getting the big re-release treatment. Beck, a Monthly Shonen Magazine series from 25 years ago, is finally getting fully released in print in English! Tokyopop released about a dozen volumes before the 2008 “everything is cancelled” happened, and the series being 31 volumes meant we missed over half the story. Kodansha picked up the series about seven years ago and finished it, but that was digital only. Now it’s coming in print in 2-in-1 omnibuses.

And that just left Q&A, my old nemesis. (I have several nemeses.) So I departed the con. Anime NYC has gotten near 150,000 people by now, so it’s not a convention to be taken lightly. But if you love anime and manga (and light novels, maybe, they get mentioned once or twice), you should have a great time.

Pick of the Week: Late Summer Picks

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SEAN: Generally my Villainess novels tend to be on the Japanese end – Chinese villainesses tend to be villains, and thus danmei. Less familiar with Korean villainesses, so I will enjoy a rare light novel from Ize Press, Villains Are Destined to Die as my pick this week.

MICHELLE: I am all about Farewell, Daisy. Sometimes my heart just wants sparkly retro-style shoujo, and this book appears poised to deliver on that.

KATE: My pick is the final volume of Leviathan, which comes out this week as well. It’s a great sci-fi/horror story that shamelessly borrows elements of Memories, They Were 11! and The Drifting Classroom, but manages to breathe new life into the haunted spaceship genre. Best of all: it’s short—just three volumes—making it perfect for commitment-phobes.

ANNA: I’m going to go with the latest volume of Nina the Starry Bride, because I’m always up for fantasy shoujo!

ASH: Well, based on Kate’s recommendation, I should apparently read Leviathan! As for debuts, I actually am curious about Futari Switch, though I’m not sure a have a lot of confidence in that pick being the right one.

Breathless Time Traveler

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By Yuyuko Takemiya and Tsubasa Yamaguchi. Released in Japan as “Anata wa Koko de, Iki ga dekiru no?” by Shincho Bunko nex. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I must admit, in general I tend not too look too closely at Seven Seas’ one-volume light novels that they turn out quite a bit of, mostly as they tend to all look like they’re going to be “bittersweet, possibly tragic love story”. But this one they hooked me in on, because it’s by the author of Toradora!, a series I quite enjoy. Having read it, I found it well-written and compelling, despite the fact that, as I expected, it is exactly the genre that I said above. But that’s not all it is. This falls into the category of one of those books where you’re trying to figure out the plot, and you’re also trying to figure out if the characters are telling us the truth. And oh yes, it’s a time loop story, so we also have to pay attention to which timeline we might be in right now. It’s a bit of a mess. Kind of like our heroine.

We meet our heroine, Rara, dying on the side of the road after a fatal motorcycle accident. She’s able to give us an awful lot of first-person narration, despite an awful lot of grotesque imagery. (Folks bothered by motor vehicle accidents and their aftermath may want to skip this book). Oddly, we also see her sitting at a television, watching as an alien come to Earth announces that the world is going to end soon… and the alien is then killed. The same alien shows up in front of the dying Rara and explains that this world is created by her, and that she is the only one who can save it. She then finds herself back in time, at the point where she meets her lover. The alien is trying to get her to avoid this guy, or break up with him, or otherwise do something different so that she avoids dying in the accident. She, however, keeps doing the exact same thing. After all, she loves him.

So yeah, a little weird. Rara can be a bit dislikable at the start of the book, when she’s a furious teen ranting at (and seeking the approval of) her overly logical and punctilious mother. And as the book went on, I guessed one of the mysteries fairly quickly. But figuring things out is not really the reason to read this. This is a book about the joys of being in love, and that sometimes, when you’re deeply in love, you care about your partner a lot more than yourself. The title comes from Rara’s constant question to Kengo, “can you breathe? Are you breathing?”, which is connected to the fatal accident but also makes a very good metaphor for the stress of everyday life, and how everything can just be far too much. You can’t move forward or accept things. You stop breathing. In the end, Rara is able to get the happy ending she wants, but to do that, she has to accept that this happy ending is not going to involve her. And that’s fine. The one she loves is happy.

This was a bit depressing, out of necessity, but also had some very evocative imagery. I’m glad I read it.

Anime NYC 2025, Saturday

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Saturday is always the busiest day, but this one proved challenging, with panels ranging from noon to 8:45pm on my schedule. It was like running a gauntlet. At the start, I was debating whether to see SuBLime Manga, Dark Horse Manga, or a guest appearance by Yu Saito, the editor-in-chief of Weekly Shonen Jump. I chose the latter, and I’m glad I did, as he was a very outgoing, nice guy who gave some great answers.

For those living under a rock, Weekly Shonen Jump started in 1968, and publishes every Monday. It has 20 manga series every issue, and currently has 1.05 million in circulation, not counting digital. It sells MUCH better than, say, Batman (which Saito loves). But it used to sell 6 million back in the good old days. It also has lots of sister magazines, like Grand Jump, Ultra Jump, V Jump, and Jump Square. Jump is, per its editor-in-Chief, best at finding new talent and putting them in the spotlight – each new series gets a cover.

Saito startled everyone by admitting he started job searching and was hired by Shueisha in 2005, and has been there ever since. This was his first company! He started editing titles such as Gintama and Hunter x Hunter, and also was the first editor on Kuroko’s Basketball and Nisekoi. He was asked if Bakuman was accurate in terms of how it depicts Jump, he admitted that the best series for realistically portraying it is Tokyo These Days – out from Viz!

Again and again, the same thing came up. Jump nurtures new talent, and seeks it out. Which means a lot of failed series, but they are always encouraged to try again. He had a funny story about Gintama’s author, famous for blowing deadlines. One time an entire page was still blank, so as they drove to the printers, Sorachi sat in the back of the taxi and drew the entire page in half an hour. Saito’s editorial job was to make sure the ink did not spill all over the cab.

He was asked about the difference between Jump in 1968 and now. Jump back then had Umezz doing shonen work, as well as things like Barefoot Gen! He insists that Jump is essentially the same, as they want to publish what they find interesting. He was asked about trends, and admits he gets asked that a lot. They’re too busy to make trends! He was also asked how an editor cheers up a depressed author, and he said fan mail is always the best medicine – especially overseas fan mail.

Asked about his vision for the future, he says it’s to make Jump the best environment for both editors and creators to make the best manga they can. Both existing and new creators have an equal shot with every new Jump series. Asked about overseas readers and creators, he said that there are non-Japanese winners in competitions, and while there are still hurdles, he thinks they will have more. It ended up being a terrific panel, and I was very happy I attended.

The next panel I attended was called Oh, Grow Up! Seinen and Josei. This was a panel more along an educator/library track. It featured Billy Tringali, Jamila Rowser, Tony Weaver, Jr., Regine L. Sawyer, Ajani Oloye, and the moderator, Dr. Shamika Mitchell. They all have a lot of experience with this sort of thing, being parts of foundations, academia, manga creators, content directors, and publishers. And they wanted to discuss what seinen and josei means HERE – not in Japan.

This is important, as in Japan it’s fairly easy. Something published in, say, Weekly Morning is seinen, regardless of the genre of the manga itself or the main characters. Whereas the panel here were quite happy to discuss Bleach or Naruto as examples (briefly, a ship war started to burble up so they moved on). The idea is that as the series went on and the characters aged and matured, it got more serious, and had a lot more blood, gore and death. Is it still a shonen manga for kids?

Genres in the West change a lot. Stuff for people in their 20s is now “new adult”, not “young adult”, which was new to me. Manga that comes out here also has content warnings. All Ages, Teen, Teen +, and Mature. A lot of folks admitted they ignored the ratings entirely when searching for a new title. It can also depend on intended sales. Tokyo Ghoul has enough violence to be Mature, but it’s Teen Plus, because they know it sells like hotcakes.

Some titles we consider Shonen as they run in Jump may not be. Spy x Family is rated Teen Plus because of its themes of war and the aftereffects, as well as violence towards children. A series read by 5-year-olds as a manga could not, if it was written by someone here, get bought by Scholastic. What’s more, educators have to be careful what they teach, as sometimes budding young Karens are quite to go to the Dean and say this manga is against their moral standards.

Folks were asked what they wanted to see more of, and a more diverse race/nationality in manga was mentioned. There is a manga called Hanbun Kyodai that is a short story collection about those who are part-Japanese and part-another nationality, such as French Caribbean, or Chinese. Someone used the word “half”, and it came up that in this manga, that word is discussed, as some folks are fine with it whereas some folks really hate hearing it.

They also talked about series that deal with adult concepts that are not sex or violence, such as Life Lessons with Uramichi-Oniisan, put out here by Kodansha. The adult content there is taxes. As for josei, it’s hard to market here, as the publishers don’t see a market for adult women. That applies to manga as well – Skip Beat!, a series about an up-and-coming actress, has reached 50 volumes here, but never gets any publicity.

Q&A had a Barnes and Noble employee ask about what happens when a kid wanders into the manga section there and gets something inappropriate. “Parents need to parent!” was the consensus – everything these days seems to be about finding something else for parents to blame. This was quite an interesting panel that went in directions I had not considered.

I knew Yen Press would be packed to full, so I did something I hadn’t done in some time – I room camped. This meant watching the premiere of a new anime not due out till October, Hero Without a Class. It was a double-episode premiere that, frankly, seemed to have every predictable cliche in the book. That said, at least it wasn’t unpleasant, and I could have sat through much worse. If you enjoy series about guys who work hard to get really overpowered, this is one.

As such, I was there when Yen finally started their panel, 10 minutes late. They were having AV issues, meaning we did NOT see the videos for the new Blade & Bastard and Holy Grail of Eris anime due out soon. Yen knew what we were here for, and went straight to announcements, starting with A Pen, Handcuffs, and a Common-Law Marriage (Pen to Wappa to Jijitsu-Kon), a Young Animal series about a mute girl who witnesses a crime, and when dealing with the detective who’s on the case, falls for him. But he’s oblivious!

Yen had already licensed Sailor Zombie digitally, but it’s now coming out in print omnibuses. Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki EX is a spinoff short story collection from the main series, also licensed by Yen. Bad Girl will be familiar to folks from the anime, but now Yen have the manga, which runs in Manga Time Kirara Carat. Our heroine falls in love with her senpai, who is on the disciplinary committee. The best way to get her attention is to be… a bad girl! Too back she’s horrible at being bad.

Battlefront of the Great Powers (Rekkyou Sensen) is a SF dystopia from Comic Zenon. The nations of the world must fight in a giant tournament. How to Love a Loser (Dame Ningen no Itoshikata) is from Web Comic Apanta, and is a romance between a pathetic loser and his perfect girlfriend. Casebook of Kurumi Takisaki, Magic Detective (Majutsu Tantei Tokisaki Kurumi no Jikenbo) is a short story collection that is a spinoff of Date a Live, featuring one of the supporting characters.

The Bubble Love of the Mermaid (Ningyo no Awakoi) is a new series from the creator of My Happy Marriage. It deals with some of the same themes, also staring a young woman being abused by her family. To the Monster I Love (Bakemono no Kimi ni Tsugu) is a light novel about a spy who is being interrogated by his own workplace about the monsters who he loves, appropriately enough. Lycoris Recoil: Recovery Days is another slice-of-life short story collection.

Legend of the Far East’s Savior (Gyokutō Kyūseishu Densetsu) is a novel series about a world that is about to fall to demons, but fortunately, they have giant mecha. For Gundam fans, apparently. And the big news was Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End ~Prelude~ (Shōsetsu Sōsō no Frieren ~Zensō~), a prequel short story collection to the insanely popular manga and anime series. You’d think Viz would have snatched this up, but it’s going to Yen On instead.

The Denpa panel was fairly unique, mostly as Ed Chavez could not be there this year (he was at the con, just not the panel), so the other three Denpa employees chaired it. They clearly missed Ed, but they soldiered on. I say Denpa, but this was a combination Denpa and KUMA panel, and it became clear very fast that the bulk of the enthusiasm in the room – some ear-splitting – was for the BL. Appropriately enough, they only had two new licenses, and they were both BL.

Fukutsu no Zono (no English title yet that I could see) was expected, as there’s apparently already a preorder page up. Two rivals who are also delinquents have an awakening when it turns out that one… makes erotic noises? This runs in B’s-Lovey Recottia. The other title was Takatora and the Omegas (Takatora-kun to Omega-tachi). This got a HUGE SCREAM from the crowd, it was ear-splitting. The plot concerns an heir and standup citizen, at a classroom made for alphas, discovering (you’ll never guess), he’s actually an omega! This has fans.

The final panel was J-Novel Club, at a very late hour – I apologize to Sam for ducking out right after the announcements, but I wanted to get back and type up the day. They too went straight to the new titles, and there were a lot. Finding My Way to (You) in This MMO World (Game no Sekai ni Tensei Shita Ore wa ○○ ni Naru Made) is a new BL title in the J-Novel Knight line. A young man with memories of this world as a game has to escort a prince who is disguised as his sister. Love ensues.

The Girl with the Green Eyes: Heir to a Monstermancer (Mamono Tsukai no Musume: Midori no Hitomi no Shōjo) was already announced at AX, but not available until after this con. She’s cute! She’s a monstermancer’s heir! She wears a slime as a hat! Fired? But I Maintain All the Software! (E, Shanai System Subete Wanope Shiteiru Watashi o Kaiko desu ka?) is an unusual manga (based on an as-yet-unlicensed light novel) about a woman who gets fired for cosplaying at work, and then hired by a friend to teach coding. This is a genre J-Novel Club have not ventured into before. It runs in Comic Pash!.

One Last Hurrah! The Grayed Heroes Explore a Vivid Future (Jijibaba Yūsha Party Saigo no Tabi ~Oita Saikyō wa Iroasenu Mama Mirai he Susumu Yō desu~) stars a former hero and saint who are now in their old age. Wanting to journey to see grandchildren, they end up getting the old party back together. Miss Blossom’s Backward Beauty Standards: Give Me the Ugly Crown Prince! (Bishū Abekobe Isekai de Busaiku Ōtaishi to Kekkon Shitai!) stars a reincarnated girl who finds herself in a world where ugly is beautiful and vice versa, but she’s determined to get her guy anyway.

Looks like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid (Maid Nara Tōzen Desu. Nureginu o Kiserareta Bannō Maid-san wa Tabi ni Deru Koto ni Shita) is sort of a the mage version of a disgraced noble book. Maid framed for crime, fired, ends up on a journey and shows how awesome she is, others regret firing her. This Alluring Dark Elf Has the Heart of a Middle-Aged Man! (manga) (Watashi no Kokoro wa Ojisan de Aru) is based on the light novel published by Cross Infinite World. An introvert dies and finds he has been reborn… into the body of a powerful female dark elf! But he still can’t talk to people normally. This also runs in Comic Pash!

My Death-Defying Dog: Man’s Best Friend, World’s Best Savior (Uchi no Inu ga Tsuyosugirun Desu ga!? Tensei Shitara Megami-sama no Shukufuku de Sekai o Sukū Koto ni Narimashita) is *also* Comic Pash!. Guy sad when his dog dies can be reunited with him in another world… but the dog is the dog hero who saves the world. The guy is just a guy. Royal Spirits Are a Royal Pain! Give Me a Regular Romance (Tensei Reijo wa Seirei ni Aisarete Saikyō Desu…… Dakedo Futsū ni Koi Shitai!) is another one of those “I want to be normal and yet everything I do makes be weird” type of light novels.

The Amazing Village Creator: Slow Living with the Village Building Cheat Skill (Bannō “Murazukuri” Cheat de Otegaru Slow Life: Mura desu ga Nani ka?) is… well, if you guess “shunned and disowned for bad skill, but it’s really a great skill!”, give yourself a cookie. Manga Up! has the manga. The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Pay Attention in Class! (Isekai Teni Shite Kyōshi ni Natta ga, Majo to Okorareteiru Ken ~Ōzoku mo Kizoku mo Kankei Nai kara Majime ni Jugyō o Kike~) has a teacher with regrets reincarnated into a fantasy world where she becomes a powerful sorcerer. Now she has to teach problem children. They also have the manga, which runs in Comic Earth Star Online.

Lastly, they have The Isle of Paramounts: Reborn Into a Slow Life Among the Strongest in the World (Tensei Shitara Saikyō Shu-tachi ga Sumau Shima Deshita. Kono Shima de Slow Life o Tanoshimimasu), a slow-life harem title about a guy who wants a quiet life on an island, but fins it overrun with powerhouses. We then got ads for the Blade & Bastard anime, the 100th Time’s the Charm anime, and a promise that the 3rd light novel contest is coming soon. And then I ran off, so I could eat a very late supper and type this up.

Tomorrow I only have one panel, so it will be much faster than this. What a stacked day.

Anime NYC 2025, Friday

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Anime NYC is back! Just you and 140,000 of your closest friends at the Javits Center in New York City, here to celebrate anime, manga, light novels, manhua, manwha, webtoons, danmei, etc. As ever, most of the meat of this con is on Saturday, but there were several items worthy of interest. First of all, the con actually began on Thursday, with a couple of screenings and a few hours of the exhibit hall and Artist’s Alley available. Alas, I was across town at the Japan Society, but will have to wait on telling you about that till later. For the purposes of my blog, the journey begins Friday, with a panel I had not planned to attend but which ended up being very interesting.

Mangamo! Which I almost missed because it was advertised as being about My Love Story with Yamada-kun Is Level 999, but I noticed that they were also tied into the new Random House imprint Inklore, so they were also talking about the new title I Wanna Be Your Girl, which debuted last month. On the panel were Kwok-Wai Hanson of Mangamo, as well as a representative from Comikey. Mangamo is one of those $5 per month digital manga by chapter apps, with 400+ titles. I Wanna Be Your Girl is coming out here with 1-4 (eventually) in print, which is more than it got in Japan. It’s rare we get print but Japan is digital only.

The author was not present, but shared some thoughts in slides. They were dealing with being a “troubled student”, who had class in a room separated from other students, and also dealing with identity issues. They also talked about how they love readers yelling at the characters when they screw up and make mistakes. They were shocked but delighted when they heard the series was licensed in English. We then got a video (meant for phones, so it was a bit small) advertising Yamada Level 999. The author (also via slide) thanked everyone for the messages and notes they got last year from the ANYC 2024 panel, and will treasure them.

Mangamo went over their recent series, and then gave us some new announcements. My Gyaru Wife’s Secrets (Gal Yome no Himitsu) is an office romcom where the married couple have to keep things a secret, as their office forbids romance! It runs in Ganma! 12cm Promise with a Cool Girl (Kakkoi Onnanoko to 12 cm no Yakusoku) is one of those “short cute boy/tall handsome girl” series. Also from Ganma!. I’m That Monster Girl You Once Helped Out: A Middle-Aged Teacher Finds Unexpected Popularity in Another World (“Ano Toki Tasukete Itadaita Monster Musume Desu.” Isekai Ossan Kyōshi Totsuzen no Moteki ni Konwaku Suru) is another Ganma! title about a guy who was isekai’d 20 years ago and is now a teacher, then a monster girl transfers into his class.

Damedol and the Only Fan in the World (Damedol to Sekai ni Hitori Dake no Fan) is a manga about an idol who can’t sing, can’t dance, and is kind of unpleasant… but she has one fan who really loves her. Ganma! again. I Offer My Manliness To You (Kimi ni Sasageru Otokomae) is also a cute guy/handsome girl title, and like all the other announcements, it runs in Ganma! This may be a one-magazine publisher, but if you like cute romcoms, they’re right up your alley. They also promised that they’re going to start doing some webcomics soon, as they’ve worked out how to use the app to show them.

After this, it was time for the panel devoted to recent American Manga Awards Hall of Fame recipients Studio Proteus! If you read any manga in the 1980s or 1990s, chances are that they were behind a lot of it. Nausicaa, Appleseed, Ghost in the Shell, Oh My Goddess, Dirty Pair, etc. It was the brainchild of Toren Smith, who sadly passed away in 2013. However, they did manage to get Tom Orzechowski on the panel, and he had plenty of stories to tell about its history and what things were like back in the day. Deb Aoki moderated, and we also had Carl Gustav Horn of Dark Horse Comics and Patrick Crotty of Peow.

The panel started with some Peow announcements. They told us about the November release of classic 80s shonen manga Stop!! Hibari-kun!. The story of a young man who moves in with four daughters, only to find that one of the daughters is a boy. This is very “of its time” while at the same time being incredibly ahead of its time. It’s worth checking out. They also announced a huge reprint of SF3D Chronicles, the old history of 80s model kits by Kow Yokoyama. This also looks like a labor of love, as well as a brick. They’re working with Zimmerit on this, and it has articles from Hobby Japan from 1982-1985.

After this we got into the nitty gritty of Studio Proteus, back in the days of 32-page floppy comics, analog art, and photostats galore. There was simply not a market for unflipped, 200-page manga titles in 1987. Toren was right, the only way to sell manga at that time was the way that they did. Their first title was Outlanders, back in 1987. Black and white comics were a niche at the time, and one that dark Horse Comics was uniquely suited for. Carl pointed out that a lot of the huge deluxe editions of manga we get these days are simply the same size as the old comics of the late 80s/early 90s.

We then got the history of Studio Proteus. This starts back in the days well before anime cons, when they had anime rooms at science fiction conventions. The best rooms were always the ones run by Toren, who went above and beyond and even printed show notes for people, as these were raw Japanese shows – no fansubs yet! Carl met Toren when Carl was just 14 years old. Tom met Toren in 1987, also at a convention. Tom had been lettering X-Men for Chris Claremont for years by this point. Tom felt excitement while reading manga that reminded him of the times reading underground comics in the 1970s.

They talked about photostat, which was an oversized film print – how they made tankobons back in the day. Tom had to glue SFX directly to the page, and it was a lot of hard work. The biggest of their titles was, of course, Ghost in the Shell. Which came out flopped, and in color, very rare for manga at the time. It made the cover of Wizard Magazine, the only manga to do so. Nowadays, manga has long outlived Wizard Magazine. Toren never even considered not flipping the manga, as he felt the learning curve would be too difficult. Ten years later, Tokyopop proved that it was a lot easier than everyone had thought.

There was a brief quote from Frederick Schodt, who could not be at the panel. Once, he was completely flummoxed about what a line in GitS meant, and faxed Shirow to ask. Shirow responded “I’m not sure what I meant either. Make something up.” Deb was able to speak with Tomoko Saito (who was a famous mangaka in her own right) for one of the few times after Toren’s death. She spoke about how Toren, who had sold everything he owned to get money to go to Japan, was broke, and Gainax let them stay free at their filthy, FILTHY apartments, which Toren was in charge of cleaning. Landlords would not rent to manga artists. they were too messy.

Studio Proteus’ offices were in Tom’s house, as Toren was usually broke in some way or another. He had offices below Tom’s washer/dryer. He slept in a room of purples and pinks, which, as Toren was slightly color blind, ended up making him sick! Tom admitted that dealing with manga artists was a lot easier than dealing with Chris Claremont. He had no idea how well the titles were doing at the tie, as he just kept working. They also discussed the Studio Eros manga that Studio Proteus did for Fantagraphics – the sales of which kept that company in business! They had to de-mosaic and draw in some censored art – Tom asked Toren what to do, and Toren responded, “Well, you’ve got a penis, use it as a reference.”

Tom was a great panelist. He talked about dropping Marvel titles if he didn’t like them, which stunned everyone in that work for hire culture. He also says that manga have actual endings, as opposed to most US comics, which are not allowed to end. Overall, it was a fantastic panel, I was enthralled.

The final panel I attended on Friday was Seven Seas Entertainment, which was packed and full of raffle giveaways. We had publisher Lianne Sentar, marketing person Lauren Hill, and licensing person Lena LeRay. Seven Seas is the #1 independent manga publisher, with oodles of separate imprints, which they broke down. Seven Seas itself, Ghost Ship (naughty manga for guys), Airship (light novels), Steamship (naughty manga for girls), and Siren (audiobooks). There’s also their danmei, webtoons, boys’ love, and girls’ love. They went over many of their recently licensed titles out later this year, including their first baihe (Chinese yuri) title, The Beauty’s Blade.

New licenses started with the main imprint. Dungeon Elf: What’s a Dungeon without Treasure Chests? (Dungeon Elf – Dungeon ni Takarabako ga Aru no wa Atarimae desu ka?) is a seinen manga from good! Afternoon, which has been on the K Manga app. It’s about the girl who places the treasure chests in dangerous places in the dungeon. A Prince of a Friend (Ouji-sama no Tomodachi) is a shonen comedy from Dra-Dra-Sharp#. An unlucky guy is bad at romance. Can his super hot friend who is a girl (but not a girlfriend) help him out? Catnaps, Catnaps Everywhere! (Acchikocchi Necchi!) is the latest title from PANDANIA, the cat author whose titles Seven Seas has been pouring out.

Girl Meets Rock! (Futsu no Keionbu) was the big get for me. A Shonen Jump + title about a musical girl who tries to get a band going in high school despite being, well, awkward, it’s got an incredible amount of buzz. They also announced an omnibus version of Dai Dark, by the Dorohedoro author. 3-in-1 editions. They then announced a bunch of new Siren titles, including The Twelve Kingdoms, which was the one that interested me the most. We’re also getting Love Between Fairy and Devil, Riverbay Road Men’s Dormitory, Astrolabe Rebirth, and Legend of Exorcism.

The one big Airship title was History of the Kingdom of the Orcsen: How the Barbarian Orcish Nation Came to Burn Down the Peaceful Elfland (Orcsen Oukokushi ~Yaban na Orc no Kuni wa, Ikanishite Heiwa na Elf no Kuni wo Yakiharau ni Itatta ka~). We’re also getting the manga for this. A dark elf driven out of her country by those she trusted must now ally, somehow, with Orcs. We’re also getting a short story collection for the popular manga The Dangers of My Heart. There was also a Webtoon announcement, How to Survive As a Maid in a Horror Game. It’s a basic shoujo “reincarnated into a game” series, only the game is horror, and the murderer has already found her.

The first BL series announced was His Little Amber, which ran in a magazine with the name (not making this up) of NUUDE. A yakuza picks up a leopard cub five years ago. Now, the leopard cub is… a guy? Who is sexy? Who would have thought it? Dear Sister, I’ve Become a Blessed Maiden (Zenryaku, Onii-chan wa Seijo ni Narimashita) has another great magazine name, BL Screamo core. A young man who adores his sister saves her when they’re both isekai’d. Sadly, now the man has to take his sister’s place as a sexy magic dispenser. Wild Love: A BL Guide to the Animal Kingdom (Ikimono BL Zukan – Sekai wa XX ni Michiteiru) runs in Pureri, and is a genuinely researched guide to animals… it’s just the animals are portrayed as gay couples.

The one yuri title announced was The Delinquent and the Transfer Student (Sukeban to Tenkousei ga Kudaranai Asobi o Suru dake no Hanashi), a Comic Action title that’s an “old-school 80s comedy” between a sweet transfer student and a rough delinquent girl. Their last announcement was danmei, and it was Panguan: The Twelfth Gate. This runs in the same universe as Copper Coins. Best described as “what if the man who rowed people across the River Styx got a roommate?”.

And that’s the end of Friday! Saturday is longer, much longer – my last panel ends at 9:45pm. I apologize if the next post drags into Sunday.

Manga the Week of 8/27/25

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SEAN: August is coming to an end, but if you think summer’s over I have some bad news for you.

ASH: Give it time.

SEAN: Airship has a number of print light novels. Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 8, Though I Am an Inept Villainess 9, Trapped in a Dating Sim: Otome Games Are Tough For Us, Too! 4, and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 10.

For early digital we see She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 14 and Witch and Mercenary 4.

Dark Horse Comics has an 8th volume of Cat + Gamer.

Ghost Ship gives us 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 15, How to Build a Dungeon 10, Might As Well Cheat 10, and Yandere Dark Elf 3.

Inklore are debuting King’s Maker, a BL Korean webtoon. A rebellious prince is looking for an underling he can trust. And also more, I assume, given the genre.

ASH: Oh, probably. (I really should pick up something from Inklore at some point.)

SEAN: Ize Press debuts the novel version of Villains Are Destined to Die, about a woman who wakes up in the body of her favorite villainess, tries to change her fate, and discovers that she can only make “dialogue-tree” conversation choices.

And they also have The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine 5 and The Villainess Turns the Hourglass 8 (the final volume).

A large amount of print from J-Novel Club. The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows (Isshun de Chiryou shiteita no ni Yakudatazu to Tsuihousareta Tensai Chiyushi, Yami Healer to shite Tanoshiku Ikiru) has a young man who has (sigh) been kicked out of his adventuring party starts an underground healing clinic, and suddenly he’s the bee’s knees.

ASH: Is the clinic literally underground, illicit, or both?

SEAN: Campfire Cooking in Another World With My Absurd Skill (Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi) is getting a 3-volumes-in-1 omnibus. Its plot is its title.

Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World (Isekai Tensei no Boukensha) is the manga version of the light novel JNC has had for a while, and it runs in MAGCOMI.

Also in print: Ascendance of a Bookworm 32, the 6th Black Summoner manga, Gushing Over Magical Girls 2, Reborn to Master the Blade 7, and Tearmoon Empire 13.

ASH: Tearmoon Empire is another series I feel it need to catch up with sooner rather than later. (Also, yay, Bookworm!)

SEAN: J-Novel Club has three digital debuts. ATLAS: Her, the Combatant, and Him, the Hero was the grand prize winner of J-Novel Club’s first light novel contest. A man who can see the future and a woman who is fighting the system meet and fall in love in a cyberpunk dystopia.

ASH: Dystopia is a genre I read (in print, though).

SEAN: The Despicable Duke Settles His Affairs (Akugyaku Kizoku no Shinpenseiri) is the first in J-Novel Knight’s books, a new imprint focused on BL light novels. A man dies and wakes up as the villain in his favorite novel, a sadistic duke. Horrified by the Duke’s misdeeds now being reality, he vows to atone. Boy, this sounds an awful lot like a serious version of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System.

MICHELLE: It really does.

ASH: I missed the part where there’s a new BL imprint!

SEAN: An Unruly Summon is another J-Novel Club contest winner, of First Prize. A kingdom has had bad luck with summoning otherworlders, who tend to be socially progressive – the horror! The kingdom needs help, though, so he summons a guy and gives him a harem free of charge. Sadly, Thomas is not going to let any random king tell HIS what to do.

Also from J-Novel Club: The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 7, the 6th Duchess in the Attic manga, the 4th I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons manga, Isekai Tensei 11, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 10, Revenge of the Soul Eater 2, and Three Cheats from Three Goddesses 2.

Kana has the third and final volume of Manhole.

Kodansha’s debut is an old one: AKIRA (Hardcover Collection), a reprint of the classic manga in the right-to-left format and with the original SFX. Made more Japanese for YOU, the picky reader. As for the story, does anyone need me to explain Akira?

MICHELLE: This is kind of tempting! Although I do have a fond memory of a panel in which a rat goes “Squee” from the previous editions.

ASH: That is delightful!

ANNA: New editions of Akira make me feel old, since I was around back when Marvel was releasing it colorized!

SEAN: Also in print: Ashita no Joe 3, Blue Lock 21, Nina the Starry Bride 11, Pupposites Attract 3, Senpai is an Otokonoko 2, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 18.

ANNA: Always glad to see Nina the Starry Bride!

SEAN: And for digital we get And Yet, You Are So Sweet 11 and Gamaran: Shura 33.

MICHELLE: I should probably read And Yet.

SEAN: KUMA has a 4th volume of Happy Crappy Life.

ASH: Another series I’ve been meaning to read.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a 2nd volume of Detectives These Days Are Crazy!.

Three Seven Seas debuts. The Fed-Up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Villainess (Genkai OL-san wa Akuyaku Reijou-sama ni Tsukaetai) is a yuri series from Dokodemo Young Champion. After being laid off, a young officer worker is playing her favorite visual novel when she finds herself in the game! To avoid getting executed, she pretends her knowledge of the game is a psychic power, so now she serves the Villainess… who is hot!

ASH: But of course!

ANNA: Sometimes things work out that way.

SEAN: My Girlfriend is 8 Meters Tall (Chieri no Koi wa 8 Meter) is a Shonen Jump + series. A guy is startled when his childhood friend transfers into his class. He’s startled as she’s now 26 feet tall, which was not the case before. From what I hear this is a standard romcom except, well, that.

ASH: That would be rather startling.

ANNA: Seems like the logistics would be challenging.

SEAN: Natsume Wants to be Trained (Natsume-san wa Hirakaretai) is a BL series from Cheri +. A man who is bad in bed hires a male escort to teach him the ways of love… and finds the escort is his housekeeper!

ASH: Uh-oh!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: BASTARD 2, Black Night Parade 7, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi The Comic 10, Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers 11, How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend? 4, and My Next Life as a Villainess 11.

And for danmei they have Dinghai Fusheng Records 2.

Steamship has a third volume of The Yakuza and His Omega.

One debut from Tokyopop: The Stranger in the Hoarding House (Gomi Yashiki no Kamakura-san). This from RED title is about a man who has shut himself off from the world, and thus let his apartment go to hell. Someone arrives to help him clean… but why are they there?

Yen On has two debuts. Witches Can’t Be Collared (Majo ni Kubiwa wa Tsukerarenai) stars a detective desperate for a desk job who now has to team up with an evil witch to catch an even eviller killer.

The World’s Strongest Witch: I’m Starting My Free Life in a World Where Only I Can See the Online Strategy Guide (Sekai Saikyou no Majo, Hajimemashita: Watashi dake “Kouryaku Site” wo Mireru Sekai de Jiyuu ni Ikimasu) is another of those “your magic skill is weak so we’re disowning you” series. Her magic skill turns out to be “I can see this world’s wiki page”. That can be really strong!

ASH: It’s apparently witch week for Yen On!

ANNA: As a librarian I do enjoy it when information is a super power.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Agents of the Four Seasons 5, Babel 4 (the final volume), Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 14, and Magical Explorer 10.

Lots and lots of Yen Press. Common-Sense Monster (Futsuu to Bakemono) is a yuri title from Comic Marche. A socially awkward girl is bad at making friends. If only she could be more like her classmate who gets along with everyone… oh, and seems to eat people?

ASH: I was not expecting that particular turn.

ANNA: Does she get along with the people she eats?????

SEAN: The Demons Are Planning Something Good! (Ma no Monotachi wa Kuwadateru) is a shonen manga from Dra-Dra-Sharp#. It’s a comedy about the underlings of the demon lord trying to find ways to terrify adventurers.

Farewell, Daisy: Jun Mayuzuki Short Story Collection (Sayonara Daisy) is a collection of stories from the author of Kowloon Generic Romance.

MICHELLE: The gorgeous cover on this has utterly sold me.

ASH: Oh, this should be good!

ANNA: Curious about this!

SEAN: Futari Switch is a Monthly Shonen Magazine title about two childhood friends with hopeless crushes on other people. One day they swap bodies. Can they now go after their crushes? Or is dealing with being the opposite sex trouble enough? From the Prison School author.

ASH: I will admit to being intrigued. This could be really good or really bad.

SEAN: Hollow Regalia is the manga adaptation of the light novel Yen also releases. It runs in Dengeki Maoh.

Killed Again, Mr. Detective? (Mata Korosarete Shimatta no desu ne, Tantei-sama) is based on a light novel, and runs in Dra-Dra-Flat b. A boy detective wants to be like his father, but avoids serious cases… mostly as he has the ability to come back after he dies, and he’s been dying a LOT.

ASH: Ha! That’s fair.

SEAN: Kunon the Sorcerer Can See is the manga adaptation of the light novel Yen also releases. It runs in my nemesis, Monthly Comic Alive.

Mechanical Marie (Kikaiji Kake no Marie) is a shoujo title from LaLa. A boy is the heir to a giant conglomerate, so needs protection. Unfortunately, he HATES humans. Clearly the solution is a robot maid. Unfortunately for the maid, he loves robots. A bit too much.

MICHELLE: Oh dear. Well, if it’s shoujo perhaps it won’t be too skeevy.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: The 31st Consort 2, Agents of the Four Seasons: Dance of Spring 3, The Anemone Feels the Heat 2, Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra 4, Assorted Entanglements 8, Be My Worst Nightmare! 3, Brunhild the Dragonslayer 3, Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology 4, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 7, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 12 (the final volume), Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 17, Game of Familia 7, Helena and Mr. Big Bad Wolf 2 (the final volume?), I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 15, If It’s You, I Might Try Falling in Love 2, In the Heavenly Prison, the Devil Enchants Me 2, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 26, I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History 3, Kakegurui Twin 15 (the final volume), Lycoris Recoil Official Comic Anthology: Reload, My Dear, Curse-Casting Vampiress 6, [Oshi no Ko] 11, Reincarnation Coliseum 2, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts Heir: White Rabbit and the Prince of Beasts 2, Slasher Maidens 12, Spy Classroom 3rd Period 1 (the third arc), The War of Greedy Witches 3, Witch Life in a Micro Room 5 (the final volume), and With You, Our Love Will Make It Through 3.

MICHELLE: Dang! You weren’t kidding.

ASH: That was a lot of text.

ANNA: Indeed!

SEAN: Surprise Yen deluge! What are you buying?

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 13

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By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by A.M. Cola.

Those readers who dislike the frequently seen characterization of a lead as “seems completely unaware of how good/loved/savvy he really is” will have, I assume, dropped this series after the first volume, since that’s entirely what it runs on. Even those of us who enjoy that sort of thing, though, may find this volume trying. We do get the usual share of Yuto trying various recipes and accidentally inventing something amazing, of course, but the back half of this book is taken up with a genuine raid boss fight, which everyone assumes (except Yuto) that he will take part in, and that everyone assumes (except Yuto) that he and his tamed monsters did the most to help win, and then all the NPCs assume (to Yuto’s shock) that he is their leader and the one who they should give all the cool new quests. He will never stop being astonished by this, and he will never stop immediately forgetting it within five minutes.

The first quarter of the book is mostly Yuto puttering around, figuring out you can get medicinal plants when they’ve been trapped in amber, etc. He then meets up with Akari, one of the front-liners he (and we) have not seen for some time. They’re trying to befriend yokai, which you can’t tame per se but you can summon after befriending them. They also (thanks to Yuto’s really high NPC favorability) find a beastgirl who leads them to a village of beastpeople… and a huge, raid-sized monster, which is blocking the way to the sea village they trade with. Realizing that this is likely the way to open the next level that everyone has been searching for, they quickly gather allies and prepare to fight. Though Yuto also makes sure to do those little wandering things he always does, and as such gets all the good info about defeating it.

There’s minimal Alyssa in this book, but that’s mostly a setup for a gag. When Yuto wants to discuss dyeing and miracle herbs, Alyssa is offline, so he goes to someone else in their group, Maple. (No, not that one.) At first she’s fairly blase about what he’s brought, but when she runs across a major find, she quickly explains that he can only speak to Alyssa about this. Sorry, sacrificial meat shield Quick Cat! Only you can overreact to Yuto’s ridiculousness. I was also amused, though a bit annoyed, at Yuto’s anger at the cute couple that’s making eyes at each other while he and Akari are investigating… especially since he’s walking next to a beautiful girl at the time! Yuto is presumable mid-20s, given he’s an a=office worker, and this series is not doing romance, but his occasional “not gay!” or “damn normies” personality quirks seem out of character compared to the rest of him.

So a fairly decent volume of this series, and it gives people what they want. Unless they want Yuto to gain animal traits, he’s said no to that.

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 5

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By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

There are quite a few villainess books where I would describe the plot as performative, but Goodbye Overtime really leans into that. Ekaterina admits that these are real people that she loves and not just characters in a game, and also admits that she’s likely derailed things so much that the whole “doom” part of the game is not going to happen. But the monster from Book 2 shook her, and she remains panicked that if she takes her eyes away from things for one moment, everything will get back on the rails. I was startled to hear that she even saved one of the minor villainesses from a previous book, getting her a job as a maid (and the villainess is actually doing it well!) because she sees it as an inevitable future for herself. Ekaterina is very bad at seeing herself as others see her, but she’s also bad at confessing why she’s worried. At some point I think she’ll have to admit the reincarnation.

It’s STILL summer vacation, and after all her adventures across the territory last time, Ekaterina is back next to her brother and hosting events at her domain’s castle. The special guest is Mikhail, the Crown Prince, so all the red carpets are being rolled out. Flora is also there, and rumors are flying. Rumors are also flying about Ekaterina herself, and those rumors might be a lot closer to reality than she knows. Let’s face it, Mikhail is in love with her, Flora is in love with her, Vladforen is in love with her… and she’s completely incapable of seeing any of this, something all her love interests already know. She only has eyes for her brother, and he for her. Though thankfully, it’s made a little more clear that this is not romantic or sexual.

In any case, there’s a party, where they reintroduce a traditional dance her grandmother had banned, and a hunting party, where women are allowed to hunt again as her grandmother had banned that. Really, we see more evidence that her grandmother is simply terrible, though we are also rewarded with the idea that her father may have loved her mother more than she thought. We also see her almost enter into a contract with fairies, which underlines what the other nobles are saying – she may be gorgeous, and brilliant, and a pioneer in business, but she is painfully naive, and one of these days someone will get her away from Alexei and bad things are going to happen. (This is the second book in a row where she’s been spirited away from her main, and I suspect Mina is stressing out about this.

If you think this review is short on substance, the book is also pretty light. On the bright side, we’re finally heading back to school next time, and hopefully we can advance the plot. Though, like Bakarina, this is a series that relies very heavily on romance not happening despite everyone mooning over the heroine.

D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared, Vol. 2

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By KONO Tsuranori and ttl. Released in Japan as “D Genesis: Dungeon ga Dekite 3-nen” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by JCT.

Probably my favorite thing about this series so far is how it’s content to just ignore all the obvious plots that people (and indeed a lot of the cast) expect to happen when there’s a series about dungeon diving and killing lots of monsters. This book does have a lot more dungeon diving than the first book, along with a few moments of peril, but for the most part no one is in danger and no one stresses. There is a lot of political wrangling behind the scenes, which our heroes ignore, with the exception of their liaison with the government, who they basically bring into the team full-time here. There is even a brief action sequence near the end, featuring Keigo literally putting Miyoshi under one arm and leaping out of danger. But that’s irrelevant, as what this book is really about is rambling conversations, nerd analysis, food, and cute puppers. Yes, they’re hellhounds. But they’re cute puppers!

Keigo and Miyoshi need to actually go further into the dungeon than slime level, and that means tricking themselves out with all the bells and whistles. They buy an RV and put metal plating all over it. There are multiple kinds of steel balls for Miyoshi to toss. So they should be pretty safe against most of the harder monsters the dungeon has to offer them. Miyoshi ends up taming found monsters who are basically black death shadows in the form of large dogs the size of her. She adores them. They are also very good at keeping her (and, reluctantly, Keigo) safe from assassins. Because the main reason they’re down there is to get another language comprehension orb, which will upset the balance of power in the world. As a result, almost everyone is watching them like a hawk. Well, Russia is trying to kill them.

Despite trying to avoid the politics, the end of this volume makes it clear that they can’t do that for much longer. Staying quiet and anonymous is very difficult with the information they manage to find out. Not that they won’t stop trying. It turns out the person who’s getting the language orb is a 14-year-old genius girl who will be locked away in the US and made to translate. She’s resigned herself to this, but Keigo emphasizes that she has he power to defy that fate and make her own life. Even though we find out that the dungeon can, if used (and abused) properly, give out infinite gold and infinite food, they are still doing their damndest to make sure no one knows who they are for the most part, and that they can still go to nice places and order really good booze. I hope that keeps up.

As with the first book, the more this fights just going from level to level and killing monsters, the more I enjoy it. For nerds who like to ramble.

Pick of the Week: Defying Worlds and Traveling in Time

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MICHELLE: I guess I’m in the mood for comedic BL this week, as I find myself having to choose between My Instructor Won’t Yield and A Man Who Defies the World of BL. In the end, I’ll have to give the advantage to the latter for its unique concept!

SEAN: Honestly, given there’s not a lot that interests me this week, I may take a flyer on some BL too and go for A Man Who Defies the World of BL. Perhaps he can defy it and end up with a nice girl! (Signs point to no.)

ANNA: I really got nothing this week, I’m going to pick the mountains of unread manga on my bookshelves!

ASH: It’s not manga, but I will admit to being curious about Breathless Time Traveler. I tend to enjoy time traveling stories. And, while I haven’t read it myself, I do know quite a few other people who really enjoy the creator’s other work, Toradora!.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/17/25

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ALTERNATIVE[SELF LINER NOTE] | By Chiaki Yagura | Manga Mavericks – As a new publisher, Manga Mavericks has entered the field with a strong selection of short indie works. ALTERNATIVE[SELF LINER NOTE] is among its initial releases, one that I was particularly drawn to as it takes for its subject matter music as a form of creative expression. The manga is a beautifully introspective work, following an alt-rock musician who is struggling with self-doubt. Her internal voice, ever-present in the manga, is constantly questioning what she is doing with her life. She can’t help but notice the successes of others—close friends as well as more famous individuals—and feel crushingly inadequate. It’s an incredibly authentic portrayal of artistic turmoil. ALTERNATIVE[SELF LINER NOTE] is the first original short by Yagura, who hopes that it “leaves an impression or resonates within your hearts.” I can absolutely say that it does and that I am very glad to have read it. – Ash Brown

Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a MILF Party with His Mom!, Vol. 2 | By Ishino Yassan and Makoto Kuon | Ghost Ship – I had not really planned on reviewing more beyond the first volume of this series, but there was enough in this second one that I thought I might give it a try. First of all, I appreciated the fact that, despite their crappy actions towards him and general badness, our hero is not all that interested in revenge on the hero’s party—he just wants to move on. Admittedly, the moms may get revenge regardless. (We’re already seeing the classic “without him they turn out to be terrible” cliche.) As for mom #2, we don’t get cheating or a horrible husband; instead, we’re reminded that this weird world considers late thirties to be old age, so everything’s consensual. Still what it is, but better than expected. – Sean Gaffney

BONDS | By ZENZO | Manga Mavericks – I’m always excited to see another publisher starting to release print indie manga, but I was particularly interested in reading BONDS. I’m not familiar with ZENZO’s work, understandable as this is the creator’s first original manga, but I am familiar with the story. BONDS presents a brief episode from The Journey to the West, taking place soon after Goku joins the Buddhist priest Sanzo as his bodyguard. While there are differences, ZENZO’s version doesn’t stray far from the original. The resulting manga is an earnest and immensely enjoyable retelling. I love the character designs, especially Goku’s, as well as the expressiveness of the illustrations in general. Thematically the story focuses on bonds, both literal restraints and the figurative ties that bind people together. BONDS is a short, quickly paced manga, but ZENZO’s exploration of the developing relationship between Goku and Sanzo is excellent. I hope to read more of ZENZO’s work. – Ash Brown

Friday at the Atelier, Vol. 4 | By Sakura Hamada | Yen Press – There was only one thing that had to happen in this book. Ishihara has accepted his feelings and knows he wants to be with Tamaki, but she’s still not quite getting there. As it turns out, much of her life has been spent not thinking about her life, and just going on automatic pilot. But even though that’s helped get her through some mental issues (there’s a really good metaphorical shot of her working at her desk while next to an underwater shipwreck, thinking “I’m fine”), in order to move on she has to think, realize this is love, and that she does want to date Ishihara. All ends well, and I think this was just the right length. And we get a bit more of the beta couple, who don’t hook up but might soon. Weird fun. – Sean Gaffney

Medalist, Vol. 12 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics We’ve seen that this series is first and foremost about the rivalry between Inori and Hikaru, but for the most part it’s obviously been from the Inori side of the fence. That changes in this volume, which spends 2/3 of its time on Hikaru leaving her team and transferring to Riley’s group… which will hopefully be good for her? Riley seemed eccentric last time; the artwork this time makes her seem a bit evil? Also, now it’s Hikaru’s turn to deal with the horror of skating first. As for Inori, the main thing we notice is that she’s kept up the intensity but lost a lot of the nerves. That’s a good thing, as she’ll really need to be amazing to get anywhere in this competition. One of the best manga out there, sports or otherwise. – Sean Gaffney

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 11 | By Suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics – After putting off the payoff for what seemed far too long, at least the manga is getting to Itsuomi’s backstory, why he’s so dedicated to traveling overseas, and what that travel really entails. It’s a terrific look at the social and economic inequality in this world, and how sometimes you can’t do anything to stop death and despair, especially when you’re just a kid. But it also is about not giving up and just thinking “that’s the way things are, I guess,” which feels entirely apropos lately. Yuki handles all of this pretty well, in fact. That said, we do still have one boiling plot tumor to lance, and it appears it’s coming in the next volume. Will Oushi stay friends, or cut himself off from his past completely? A nice volume. – Sean Gaffney

Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life, Vol. 1 | By Miyu Morishita | Viz Media – Well, this was just freaking adorable. Tsumiki is a werewolf girl, in a world where all of a sudden mythological beasts went public, and they have started to be accepted into the world. That said, it’s still a work in progress. Tsumiki seems to have her life together a lot more than the indecisive Yutaka, who is human and trying to have a “high school debut” but failing. However, Tsumiki’s family worry about her trying too hard, and we see that there are a lot of issues to think about with non-humans in this world—even vampires who are seemingly smug and arrogant are putting on a front. All this plus a budding romcom. If you want another sweet Shonen Sunday romance, this is a great one. – Sean Gaffney

Wolf’s Daughter: A Werewolf’s Tale, Vol. 1 | By Yui Kodama | Seven Seas – I wasn’t sure what to think about this manga, which I mostly got as it runs in the magazine Flowers, which needs more love over here. Our heroine is a high school girl who feels adrift. Then one day she runs into a young man selling wine, who immediately knows what she doesn’t: she’s actually a wolf—and so is he. After trusting him just a bit too much (as is acknowledged throughout the volume—her adoptive parents are worried), she goes to meet his family and finally transforms—but she’s a GREY wolf. This is almost unheard of? What’s more, because this is a josei manga, there’s a rival for her affection. This is compelling, even though there’s a frisson of stranger danger to the whole thing. – Sean Gaffney

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, Vol. 1

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By KUROKATA and KeG. Released in Japan as “Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata: Senjou wo Kakeru Kaifuku Youin” by MF Books. Released in North America by One Peace Books. Translated by Kristi Fernandez.

Last year I was at Anime NYC, and happened across the One Peace table. I admitted I had not reviewed any of their books, and asked which one they would recommend (not Shield Hero). This was the one they picked, so I picked up a copy. A year later, I’m about to head to Anime NYC again, and I felt, you know, I’d better read this or the conversation at the table’s going to be really awkward. The book did not really win me over from the start. Any time our main character starts a bo0ok by telling us how drab, generic and normal he is, I resist the urge to simply stop reading. As it turns out, though, there’s a few interesting ideas going on with this book, and by the time we’re one day into the fantasy world we know one thing for absolute certain: He is not remotely normal at all. That is a bald-faced lie.

Usato is (groan) An Ordinary High School Student (TM). One rainy day he runs into classmate and resident pretty boy Kazuki and student council president and perfect girl Suzune. Since someone took Usato’s umbrella, they walk with him … and suddenly a magical circle appears under them, and they’re summoned to another world to be heroes! Well, Kazuki and Suzune are summoned to be heroes. Usato was accidental. Kazuki has rare light magic! Suzune has powerful lightning magic! They decide to test Usato as well, because why not, and find… he has HEALING magic? Suddenly everyone in the throne room is terrified, and we soon find out why: Usato is abducted by an incredibly strong woman named Rose, who announces she’s going to be training him to be a healer! Of course, Rose’s training puts spartans to shame. What the heck is going on here?

This book knows exactly what genre it’s contrasting itself with. The king and his ministers are horrified and apologetic when Usato is accidentally summoned, and his isekai power turns out to be incredibly valuable. It’s the opposite of all those “useless power and thrown out of the castle with no money” books. Rose’s reason for the spartan training comes up near the end of the book, and it works psychologically. As does Usato’s dogged determination, as he finally gets a great opportunity to not just be some nebbish high school student. Best of all is Suzune, who turns out, once summoned, to be a massive otaku who had to hide it from everyone as she was a rich ojou-sama. Here she gets to live out her isekai fantasies, fire off cool final attacks with her lightning bolts, and flirt with the guy she likes. The last of these does not go well, alas, as Usato has Protagonist Syndrome, so thinks she’s kidding.

So I’m not incredibly sad I missed this when it came out – it is a very common genre, and I try not to read the standard ones unless they have a weird thing going on – but it was pleasant enough, and if I get a gap in my schedule I may read more. For isekai fans.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life: Wish Upon a Star, Pray to a Flower

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By Mato Sato and nilitsu. Released in Japan as “Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

Well, back to reality. After a volume where I actually managed to enjoy it from beginning to end, we’re back to business as usual for The Executioner and Her Way of Life. The first 40% or so of this book is absolutely dire, and I was once again wondering why I had not dropped the series. The difficulty is that most of the people who remain in the cast are profoundly unlikable and selfish, and it’s not fun to read about them. This is also a book whose plot synopsis can best be summed up as “everyone is ignoring everyone else’s feelings and desires for the sake of their own”. Now, frequently this is understandable. The color soldiers are looking for a new homeland, and worry that this will cause the humans to try to eradicate them. (Correctly.) And Menou’s grand plan for saving Akari amounts to “kill myself”, so it’s not surprising that Momo is not down with that. Everyone is, frankly, at the end of their tether, and it shows.

Menou, Maya, and Sahara have fled to the Mechanical Society with Abbie’s help, but Michele, Momo and Hooseyard are hot on their trail, and trying to work out a way to break in there. Menou’s goal is the Starseed, but things prove more complicated than expected when they discover that another one of the Four Evils, Gadou, is still alive. After dealing with the fact that Gadou has literal split personalities, Menou puts her plan into action, despite the fact that her memory has gotten so bad that she’s forgotten Flare, Momo, and everything else about her past. Momo, meanwhile, has an Akari-in-a-Box, and a plan to get Menou and Akari both back with their memories attached, but this plan sort of relies on killing Menou first. Just for a bit. A little killing.

This book really does get good in the second half, as everyone starts to fight for their lives and their goals, and realize that there’s no way that everyone can end this alive. Indeed, Menou’s self-hatred and death wish is about all that’s fueling her now, and it helps the reader to sympathize with Momo a great deal, even when she tries to solve a problem by taking Akari from her luggage and hurling her at Menou’s head. Momo and Akari still hate each other, for obvious reasons. That said, Momo’s plan wouldn’t have worked without Akari, so they can at least be grateful for that. By the end of this book, most of the cast are almost back to normal and we’re at the end of the arc. If only Ashuna were back in the series I’d be perfectly happy. (Monkey’s Paw twitches) Oh no…

So yeah, Ashuna is the cliffhanger, and I am no longer happy. I suspect in this world that runs on war, death, and genocide, a lot of other people aren’t going to be happy either. Still, at least with Menou and Akari back to normal, there’s potential for more yuri in Book 10. Recommended, but be prepared for the traditional slow start. Also, warning, this book contains Hooseyard, and she’s still really annoying.

Manga the Week of 8/20/25

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SEAN: It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to meet some manga.

ASH: I reflexively sang that to myself.

SEAN: Just one release from Yen Press, the 9th volume of The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend.

No debuts from Viz, but we do see Battle Royale: Enforcers 4, Cosmos 2, Hirayasumi 6, Hunter x Hunter 3-in-1 3, Jujutsu Kaisen 27, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 9, Mission: Yozakura Family 18, Rooster Fighter 8, Show-ha Shoten! 8, Snowball Earth 6, and The Way of the Househusband 14.

ASH: I really should get caught up with The Way of the Househusband.

SEAN: Tokyopop, shockingly, has a one-shot BL title debuting. The magazine is from RED as well, can you believe it? The Desert Butterfly Yearns to Be Caught (Sajou no Chou wa Torawaretai) stars the young prince of a desert country and his ex-slave/bodyguard. They like each other, but can’t be honest with each other.

ASH: That is shocking!

SEAN: We also get Confessions of a Shy Baker 5 and World’s End Blue Bird 4 (the final volume).

Titan Manga has Somali and the Forest Spirit 3.

SuBLime debuts A Man Who Defies the World of BL (Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko), which runs in Kurage Bunch. Our theoretically straight protagonist has just realized that he’s in a BL manga! And he has to comment on all the tropes he sees around him. This is a comedy, obviously, and much anticipated.

MICHELLE: Huh. I don’t usually love fourth-wall-breaking, but this could be potentially fun.

ANNA: It does sound amusing.

ASH: That it does.

SEAN: Steamship has a second volume of Adored By an Elite Officer and a third volume of Loving Moon Dog.

From Square Enix Manga we get Wandering Witch 6 and Wash It All Away 3.

Seven Seas time. Let’s begin with the danmei debut, My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin. A “reclusive gay virgin” wakes up one day to find he’s in the body of a thousand-year-old corpse. What’s more, sleeping next to him is an immortal warrior obsessed with his dead lover… who is that same corpse.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ANNA: It might be too many corpses for me.

ASH: Granted, I think I prefer that they are both corpses…

SEAN: Also danmei: Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu 5.

Lost in the Cloud is a manwha/webtoon about a guy who’s been snapping pictures of his crush… till he’s caught by his crush’s best friend! Blackmail ensues.

ASH: As it so often does in these cases.

SEAN: Sacrifice of My Manly Soul (Ore no Dankon ♡ Sacrifice) is a seinen title from Young Magazine Web. A boy who has to avoid debt by dressing as a girl and attending an all-girls’ school finds the entire student council are all doing the same thing.

ASH: Well, then!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons 3, The Ideal Sponger Life 19, It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love 3, My Girlfriend’s Child 8, My New Boss Is Goofy 2, No Love Zone 4, Tiger and Dragon 4 (the final volume), The Too-Perfect Saint 3, and Yonoi Tsukihiko’s Happy Hell 3.

One Peace Books has The New Gate 15.

Kodansha time. My Instructor Won’t Yield (Chiba Kyoukan wa Nabikanai) is a new BL title. A kind driving instructor has all the girls after him, but he rebuffs them all. Then he has to teach the “school prince”, who is also secretly a manga artist.

MICHELLE: This looks kinda cute!

SEAN: Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: IruMafia Edition (Mairimashita! Iruma-kun if – Episode of Mafia) is an AU spinoff asking what would happen if Iruma was a mafia member?

MICHELLE: Oh, dear.

SEAN: Also, out *this* week, as they updated their website after I went to press, is Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN Deluxe 1. Which is a 900-page oversized behemoth.

ASH: Dang! The original release could do some legitimate physical damage, I can only image what this edition can do. (By the way, this series is excellent, in case anyone missed it the first time around.)

SEAN: We also see Go! Go! Loser Ranger! 14, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 27, I See Your Face, Turned Away 4, Issak Omnibus 2, Noragami Omnibus 9 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 32, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement 12, and Shangri-La Frontier 18.

ASH: Right! I meant to read the first Issak omnibus!

SEAN: And the digital title is Matcha Made in Heaven 12.

Kana has Eden of Witches 4.

J-Novel Club has one print title, The Misfit of Demon King Academy 6.

A quiet week for JNC digitally. We get Black Summoner 21, Goodbye Overtime! 5, the 3rd manga volume of I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying, Knock Yourself Out! The Goddess Beat the Final Boss in the Tutorial, So Now I’m Free to Do Whatever 2, and A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 13.

Ize Press gives us A Business Proposal 10 (the final volume), Kill the Villainess 3, Murderous Lewellyn’s Candlelit Dinner 2, Solo Leveling 13, The Villainess Is a Marionette 2, and Unholy Blood 7.

Ghost Ship has Do You Like Big Girls? 7-8 and Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! 9.

Airship gives us print books for Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord 5, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 9, and Sword of the Demon Hunter 10.

The early digital debut is Breathless Time Traveler (Anata wa Koko de, Iki ga dekiru no?), a one-shot from the author of Toradora!. A college girl is killed in a traffic accident, but now finds herself time looping up to the moment of her death! Can she fix things?

ANNA: I’m curious about this!

ASH: I could be pretty easily be convinced to read it.

SEAN: Also in early digital: Drugstore in Another World 7.

Why do we always come here? To read manga. What are you buying?

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 16

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Bofuri is, in the end, a series about what goes on inside a VRMMO, and most readers are here to follow the fun antics of Maple and Sally. Now, there are real players involved here, Kaede and Risa, and we have seen them on occasion. But we rarely have a chance to be in their heads for more than a couple of pages before we’re back in the gaming world seeing Maple eat a giant lump of poison. The series began with a brief mention that Risa had tried to get Kaede into some other games, but nothing clicked till New World Online. This volume, however, very definitely says the end is near. And as a result, we’re getting a little (very little) background into Kaede and Risa. Which is good! But given it’s the real world, we may actually get some real-life drama in Bofuri, the anti-consequences series. As frankly, Risa is starting to get very desperate about gaming with Kaede as much as possible before it’s too late.

Last time I said there would be an after-event recap of some sort, but nope. We’re straight into more gaming, as everyone goes around clearing dungeons, battling new monsters, and preparing for the 10th stratum. When that’s finally revealed, it’s shown to be the previous nine floors all in one – each section is one of the prior floors. The goal here is to Kill The Demon Lord, so Maple and Sally and the rest of Maple Tree start investigating to figure out how to do that. And they want to do it fast, as Maple and Sally have made things clear at last: they’re going to be third-year high school students soon, which means the days of gaming for hours a day are gone forever. It’s time to start getting serious about college.

It’s been clear from a while ago, and is made more explicit here, that Sally wants to fight Maple in a PvP battle, but holds off as she knows Maple doesn’t enjoy those. Maple is aware of this, though, and as their deadline draws near she’s starting to dwell on it more. She has no trouble fighting (and destroying) Frederica, mind you, but Sally is different. Back in the real world, not only is Risa anxious about those halcyon days with Kaede ending forever, but there’s also implications about Kaede’s past. We’d guessed that they’d been friends since they were kids, which is mentioned here without any detail. But now we hear how much Maple has changed since starting New World Online, and that she had never been so excited or enjoyed herself so much before. I want to know more about this! What was pre-Bofuri Kaede like? Was she bullied? Was she introverted? What’s going on here? And is there anything besides her latent crush and possibly different colleges that is the reason Risa is so desperate to enjoy this time with Kaede while she can?

There’s so much story I want to know about, and we get more of it here than most other volumes. But there’s still very little of it. Trust me, if you want to see Maple create poison copies of herself that explode, you’re also in the right place. Next time, probably more grinding and investigation.