Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 10/7/26

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: Despite the best efforts of rain and wind, Manga the Week of is here for you.

ASH: It’s good to have something that can be relied upon.

SEAN: Yen Press has some stragglers still. Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 5: The City of Water and the Ode on Heroes (Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Dai-5 Shou – Mizu no Miyako to Eiyuu no Uta) is the start of the 5th arc in the series. It runs in Comic Alive+.

There’s also Visions 2024__Illustrators Book. This is the annual Pixiv Collective artbook, filled with gorgeous stuff.

ASH: Oh, that does look lovely.

SEAN: No new series from Viz Media, but we do see Boruto: Two Blue Vortex 6, The Bugle Call: Song of War 9, Dandadan 21, The Demon Prince of Momochi House: Succession 3 (the final volume), Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki 5, Ichi the Witch 5, Kill Blue 9, Marriage Toxin 15, Phantom Busters 5, and Shinobi Undercover 3.

MICHELLE: Somehow, there is suddenly quite a backlog of Byakko Senki for me to delve into!

ANNA: Oh wow, me too! That’s the best kind of backlog.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts three titles. The Lion Dances With a Loved One (Shishi no Odoriko) is a BL oneshot from Equal. A man was betrayed and sold to a brothel. And now he’s become the favorite of a rude beastman customer!

ASH: And here I was hoping for something about competitive lion dance.

SEAN: Sanctuary Priestess: I’ll Live in Peace by Feigning Incompetence! (Shiniki no Miko: Munou no Furi wo Shite, Kyou mo Heiwa ni Sugoshimasu), an online manga series from CMOA Comics. A priestess in training is shunned by her family for being inadequate… but she’s hiding her too powerful talents!

ASH: Not a bad idea if you want to be left alone, I guess?

SEAN: Unnie, I Like You! is a yuri webtoon series about a girl with memories of her past life who discovers her past love is teaching university… and has no memory of her!

They’ve also got Merry Witches’ Life: The Three Widows of Berlebagille 4, Monster and Ghost 3, and Yuri Espoir 5.

Titan Manga has the 2nd 3-in-1 omnibus of Aoashi.

MICHELLE: Already pre-ordered!

ASH: Very nice.

SEAN: Steamship has a 3rd and final volume of His Sensual Whisper: The Voice That Sets Me On Fire.

Square Enix Manga debuts The Apothecary Diaries: Xiaolan’s Story (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto Gaiden: Xiaolan Kaisouroku). What is Maomao’s story like from the perspective of her bestie who’s never around when the important stuff happens?

ASH: Hahaha! Good to see more of The Apothecary Diaries.

SEAN: Seven Seas has some danmei. There’s Something Wrong with the Chief: Du Zhu You Bing 4 (the final volume) and The White Cat’s Divine Scratching Post 3 (the final volume).

Two debuts from Seven Seas. Reborn as an Aristocratic Scoundrel, I Broke the Game and Mastered Magic Beyond Limits! (Taida na Akujoku Kizoku ni Tensei shita Ore, Scenario wo Bukkowashitara Kikakugai no Maryoku de Saikyou ni Natta) is a manga based on a light novel out… next week from Seven Seas. It runs in Dra Dra Flat ♭. It’s a typical Villain book. He’s reincarnated as a bad guy. Tries to avoid his inglorious death by being super powerful.

Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami (Unexpectedly Naughty Fukami) runs in BL Screamo, a magazine title I will never get tired of. It also has an anime AND a live-action series. A hot guy is uninterested in his frumpy co-worker… till they have to share a room for a business trip and he reveals the stud within.

ASH: Oh, my!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System 3-4, Grim Night Tales 3, Kase-san and Yamada 5, Kaya-chan Isn’t Scary 6, Kemono Jihen 22, Kitayama and Minamiya 3, The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru 12, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 12, Monster Cats 4, My Deer Friend Nokotan 8, and Yokai Cats 11.

Kodansha’s sole print debut had its digital out a while ago. My Journey to Her (Boku ga Watashi ni Naru Tame ni) is a complete in one volume series that ran in Weekly Morning. It’s a memoir of Yuna receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and the journey to getting gender-affirming surgery that Yuna, with her family and friends, goes through.

ASH: Definitely curious about this one now it’s in print.

SEAN: OK, technically this is new as well. Blue Lock Full Color Selection contains seven chapters, from various points in the series, in full color.

ASH: That’s an interesting approach.

SEAN: Other print releases: The Magnificent Bastard 4, MF Ghost 8, the 16th and final volume of Peach Boy Riverside, Secondhand Sisters 3, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 23, the 15th and final volume of Vinland Saga, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 22.

ANNA: Oh, I need to get caught up on Vinland Saga too.

ASH: It is so very good and I’m so very glad all of it made it into English.

SEAN: And digitally we get How to Grill Our Love 22 and Giant Killing 59.

MICHELLE: Obligatory yays for Iruma and Giant Killing.

ASH: Indeed!

SEAN: No debuts for JNC after all the Vol. 1s in September. For light novels we see Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 13, Earl and Fairy 13, Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back to My World Whenever I Want! 13, and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 28.

And for manga we get Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! 8, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ— 13, and The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival 8.

Ghost Ship has two debuts. Even the Student Council Has Its Holes! (Seitokai ni mo Ana wa Aru!) is a Weekly Shonen Magazine title Kodansha Manga doesn’t want to touch, so here it is with Ghost Ship. It also has an anime. A guy who thinks joining the student council will be easy realizes the other members are all weirdos. This sounds a LOT like Seitokai Yakuindomo, to be honest, another Shonen Magazine title that got an anime.

ASH: That title is rather suggestive if taken a certain way… Which I’m assuming is intentional, being a Ghost Ship release.

SEAN: Harem Camp! also has an anime, and runs in Comic Goichi. A guy camping out runs into a bunch of drunk women, and they all have fun in their tent. Then he finds out he’s their new high school teacher.

ASH: Uh-oh.

SEAN: They also have a 19th volume of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

Dark Horse Manga has a 2nd volume of The Credits Roll into the Sea.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to pick this series up.

SEAN: Airship debuts The Neverending Winter, the Land of Broken Dreams (Owaranai Fuyu, Kowareta Yume no Kuni), the 4th in the The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes collection.

Also in print for Airship: I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! 5, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 16, and Venus Mission: I Was an Assassin-for-Hire Who Died, Now I’m Hunting Heroes in Another World 2.

They also have early digital for Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 11, The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside By My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom 7, and Witch and Mercenary 7.

Someone left the manga out in the rain. What are you reading?

Looks Like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid, Vol. 4

by

By Yasuaki Mikami and Kinta. Released in Japan as “Maid nara Touzen desu. Nureginu wo Kiserareta Bannou Maid-san wa Tabi ni Deru Koto ni Shimashita” by Earth Star Novel. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sylvia Gallagher.

We’ve seen in this series that Nina tends to lack a sense of self, or rather that her sense of self is “maid” and nothing else. Certainly she has what amount to magical maid superpowers, which only she and her mentor seem to possess. But the question is, why does she have to be a maid? Why can she not use all of her various talents for something else? The most interesting scene in this book has merchant and yuri spoiler Firth showing Nina around a country that believes in equality to such an extent that the idea of servants is anathema to them. We see Nina use her maid superpowers as sort of a consultant, seeing how workers do things and then making them better and more efficient. You briefly think “maybe Nina could be a bureaucrat sort? Does she NEED to be a maid?”. And then she has a brief nervous breakdown, and you remember what this series is.

After a third volume that stayed in one place and told one story, we’re back to Maid & Co. traveling from city to city, and we’re also back to this functionally being a collection of four long short stories. In the first, they come to a city always rebuilding itself, and Astrid is fascinated by a complex water supply machine. They then hear a rumor of a lupalune arrested for poaching, and (since they always try to find any info on Tien’s parents at all) they try to investigate and get around a police chief who tries to do as little as possible to rock the boat. After this, they’re discovered by Myriad (the magic sage from the previous book), who wants to recruit Emily but is OK with recruiting the rest of them as well, and they try to take care of a new dungeon that’s pouring out undead. Finally, they arrive in the town of equality I mentioned in the previous paragraph, and Nina’s faith is shaken once again – as is that of the Queen, who discovers that when everyone’s equal it’s fine to treat the Queen like shit.

Firth appears throughout this book as well. He’s quit his family merchant company, determined to start a new company revolving around Astrid and Nina, even if they don’t really want to. He’s nice and sensible enough, but I was amused that the series literally points out the issue with him. When he’s traveling with Maid & Co., and they have to get an inn or food or what have you, it looks like it’s him and his women. It lessens the four of them. This doesn’t really happen with Myriad, who is also interested in recruiting them for their cool powers but also gives off strong “do not come near me” vibes to everyone around him, so it’s mostly Firth that we want to go away. And, to be fair, he does at the end of the book. As for Nina, I’m glad she got her groove back, and was able to help the Queen, but I am wondering if she is ever going to make it to her mentor, as Book 5 also appears to involve the journey, not the destination.

The 9th volume of this series, just announced in Japan, has big “final volume cover” vibes, so we might have an endpoint. In any case, if you love maids, this is still a must read.

A Wicked Lady’s Guide to Accidentally Saving the Kingdom, Vol. 1

by

By Manzi Mazi and Yuuya. Released in Japan as “Gokuaku Reijou no Kanchigai Kyuukokuki” by PASH! Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri.

There is a running gag throughout this book where a character is screaming at the top of their lungs in the face of Lettie, the titular wicked lady, and she tells them “TOO LOUD!”. That’s sort of how I felt about the book. It’s a comedy, you see, and it makes sure you know that on every page. There aren’t any straight men here – or rather, because there aren’t, Lettie is frequently forced to be the straight man, which is annoying as it’s her own weird quirks that are supposed to be what this series is about. Her conceit is that she does wonderful things for everyone in her land while pretending that it’s all due to her selfish evilness, but we never really get a backstory about how she came to that idea, and it honestly reads, as many of the newest light novels read, like the author noticed a trend and decided to do a book with that trend. And, well, this has 4+ volumes, so I guess it worked?

Lettie Ungaria is a wicked, evil villainess. She’ll tell you so herself, as she walks through her fancy mansion, announcing to her strangely devoted and grateful servants that she will work them to the bone (for 8 hours, after which they get free time, and of course weekends off). She’s horrible! She buys slaves from a slave trader (who turn out to be the first prince and his loyal army, fleeing from a revolution). She’s wicked! She walks through her city denigrating passersby as she tells them about the potential skin cancer and dental issues that they really should get looked at. Sure, OK, she’s yet another sixteen-year-old who looks ten, but can’t have everything. Unfortunately, everyone keeps calling her really sweet and kind, and there’s a rumor she’s even nicknamed a saint! What’s a wicked lady to do?

So, aside from Lettie being forced to be the least eccentric person in this book about her eccentricities, what else annoyed me? I’m never going to like the pervert guy character, even if you do make him super powerful as well. The prince’s emotional reserve bordering on stoicism is meant to tie into a tragic backstory but, again, looks like the author just wanted that type. The revolution itself gets a brief look-in and it’s the only part of the book that’s not “wacky” – which is a problem because that means it’s a wacky comedy with a scene where a villain decapitates multiple women and talks the new King into murdering his vassals and engineering wars. Clearly we’re going to see more of him later, but since he only shows up in that one scene, it’s just off-putting. And while I do think Lettie’s excuses for handing out money like it’s candy are meant to be seen as flimsy, we still don’t have the backstory to make that work, so it just looks halfhearted.

While Livid Lady made me livid, Wicked Lady just makes me sad. Where are the villainesses of yesteryear?

Pick of the Week: Eat Your Vegetables and Build High for Happiness

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: The me from 1996 that was buying Ranma 1/2 in 32-page comic form has to give the nod to Vegetable Sandwich, which hits my nostalgia so hard it sees stars.

MICHELLE: Yeah, it looks doofy and charming and maybe a bit of brain balm? I’m in.

ANNA: Vegetable Sandwich does look fun, but I have to say I’m probably most intrigued by Happiness Theories, so that’s going to be my pick.

ASH: Likewise! Somehow, I hadn’t previously heard anything about Happiness Theories, but was thrilled to discover that Mari Yamazaki was being translated by Frederik L. Schodt; I immediately added the book to my must-read list.

The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods, Vol. 5

by

By Yanagi and Yoh Hihara. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hashikko no Chibi Majo-san” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Nathan Macklem.

As I was reading this fifth volume, I mentioned online that Misha almost dies, and was warned about spoilers. Is it a spoiler, though? Now, “Misha dies”, that would be a spoiler, and we’d have to find a different tiny witch to take over. But no, if there’s one thing this book shows us, it’s that Misha may have dramatic things happen to her, but she is blessed by the author, and therefore everything revolves around her as it should. She’s on a ship filled with salty old sailors, but she’s so shiny that they all love her. She fishes in the sea for the first time, and the fish all bite. She sees dolphins, they do a little dance for her. Even when bad things inevitably do happen to her, they are part of the action and designed to get her to the next place where the plot demands. Which, and again, this is not much of a spoiler, is not going to be the village of the People of the Forest after all.

Misha and Ryne, along with a seasick Ren, are on a boat headed towards their village. They had to choose between a dangerous land voyage and a dangerous sea voyage, and went with the faster one. For the first third of the book or so, things are great. Misha gets along with everyone, catches some tasty fish, helps out when a sailor falls and breaks a shoulder, and is generally a plucky young girl, in the cheerful sense. Then pirates attack, and she becomes a plucky young girl, in the stressful sense, as when the pirates fail, one tries to kidnap her as she looks rich, and she ends up falling in the sea. Fortunately, ridiculous things happen, and she ends up being helped by a young man in a fishing boat, who takes her to his village that is hidden away from the rest of the world. Which is… bad news for those trying to find her.

I suspect we’re going to be at this village for at least a book or two, and we get introduced to a lot of new regulars. I really liked Ella, the apprentice to the village doctor who is a whole bunch of quirks all at once. She’s a bit hyperactive and ADHD, she has a perfect photographic memory but hates studying, she was a mother at 15, and she both really likes and also feels a tiny bit jealous of Misha, who is a couple years younger than her but already an experienced apothecary. We also get introduced to the village gods, who, it should not surprise readers who recall the last time we met this world’s gods, are not what they seem. Misha, of course, can’t leave this alone, which I think will be both good and bad for her, and I hope she does not end up burned at the stake. And while I joked about it a bit, the village having magical “even homing birds can’t find us, you’re totally stuck” powers made me roll my eyes a bit. Not Deus ex Machina or Diabolus ex Machina, just a “Well, whatever” Machina.

Next time, no doubt, Misha will be plucky, get into trouble, and win people over by medicine and being really nice. Should be fun.

From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress!, Vol. 6

by

By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W.

Every so often with these Villainess books I have to double check the imprint to make sure if they’re a Heart title or not. You’d think with this one it would be obvious. The entire premise is that all the men in the series are in love with Elizabeth, and she is unaware that they are. And to be fair, the series does a good job of keeping a “balanced harem” so you’re not sure who the winning guy will be, or even if there will be a winning guy, as Elizabeth states multiple times that she has no real interest in marriage and doesn’t even know what being in love is like. But we’re six volumes in, and I admit that I’m probably biased towards the one yuri option, but still, I have to say: these guys are kinda dull? I really cannot imagine Elizabeth with any of them, and clearly neither can she. Isaac is her bestie. Robert is a loyal dog. It’s a bit sad.

We’re back at school, and Elizabeth has suddenly realized that what with all the stuff happening to her this summer, she never finished her homework. (Let’s be honest, she wasn’t going to do it anyway.) After attempting to copy off Isaac, she ends up having to do extra studying, which ends up with her and Isaac getting caught up in the Witch subplot from the last book, and Elizabeth accidentally being a bit dumber than usual (impressive given she’s not that bright) and giving away that she knows who her teacher really is. Oh yes, and her masochistic foreign stalker is worse than ever. Given all of this, it should probably come as a relief to her when she actually does get influenced by the ghost, but in fact it ends up being terrible for all concerned, because an Elizabeth with nothing holding her back is the most terrifying thing ever.

As always, the series is at its best when it’s deconstructing the otome games tropes it’s filled with. The identity of the witch appears to be something entirely out of left field (and, like Elizabeth, I had completely forgotten they existed), but if you remember the audience for this game, things make a bit more sense. I also like the fact that the second game was actually a bit of a failure, and they never made any more. For one thing, it helps make losers like Yoh a bit more tolerable. But yeah, sorry, once again it’s the chemistry between Elizabeth and Lilia that most interests me – mostly the fact that they have chemistry at all. The fact that Lilia has actually confessed means that she’s the only one Elizabeth consciously seduces in order to get her way, or to prove a smug point, or just for the hell of it – Elizabeth clearly loves being seductive. Which is good news for her, and whichever guy this series may end up choosing, but bad news for Lilia, who is quite rightly pissed off at all of this. Though admittedly her yandere tendencies are not helping at all. Also, Lilia, please decide if you are gay or just Liz-sexual.

There’s at least one more book in this series, but I must admit I find it far more interesting to see how Elizabeth’s mind works (notice how often she calls herself a villain in this book) than in who gets to marry her.

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 8

by

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

(This book, by necessity, goes into spoilery detail about what happens in this volume, bar the final scene.)

This is an ongoing series in Japan, and I think the 13th volume just came out. That said, I was starting to wonder if we were getting near the end of the “main plot”, as it were, especially after the revelations from the last volume. Not only was I correct, but I was very correct. If I can misuse the expression for a moment, this entire volume is busy taking all the rifles off of Anton Chekhov’s mantelpiece and firing them all at once. It’s thrilling, if also quite tragic, especially in the first half. And it leads up to what we’ve been waiting for since this series began. Monica has to decide which is more important to her, the leaps and bounds she’s made as Monica Norton, or her old life and secret mission as Monica Everett. Her choice is the cliffhanger ending of this book, and one the author says they’ve wanted to write since it began. I admit I’ve waited for it as well. Bravo.

We’re getting closer to the end of the school year, Felix graduating, and the end of Monica’s mission. We’re also getting closer to the throne war coming to an end, as Duke Clockford and Felix go around using and/or killing off various pawns at their disposal. And then there’s the Empire, who decide to threaten Monica. They end up reaching a deal. Either Monica stops the war, or she has to personally kill the entire royal family. We then get an extended flashback, which shows the backstory of Isaac Walker, as well as the fact that Monica doesn’t need to worry, one of the royal family is already long dead. Unfortunately, Felix misjudges how important he is to the Duke, and when one assassination attempt fails, finds himself accused of being an imposter, arrested, and locked up in preparation for execution. Given that all this is true, it’s gonna be hard to stop.

I will admit, apart from the dramatic climax of the book, it’s the tragic bits that stand out more here. Isaac’s memories of his past are just as depressing and horrifying as you’d expect, and pretty much tie in with everything we know about him. And when Monica gives him the name of her father, he also discovers that he is, technically, responsible for her father’s death as well. All this causes him to have a massive death complex, so things are not just going to be as easy as “let’s have you escape”. Monica too is not having a good time, though it’s quite noticeable how much better she’s gotten at communicating since she became Monica Norton. Cyril is also handled well here, though I have bad news for him, as Monica “senpaizones” him. Isaac probably has the best chance, though I still think the most likely romantic option for Monica is “none”. We also see the return of a character I never thought I’d see again, and it was wonderful to catch up with them.

The 9th book is not scheduled yet, and I hope it doesn’t take the 9 months it took to get from 7 to 8. Fantastic stuff.

Manga the Week of 9/30/26

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: Autumn, and an old man’s thoughts turn to manga.

No print releases for Airship, but we get early digital for My Girlfriend Cheated on Me, and Now My Flirty Underclassman Won’t Leave Me Alone 3 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 11, and only digital for When a Clueless First-Person Shooter Player Falls into Another World 3 (the final volume).

Cross Infinite World debut From Bumbling Prodigy to Villainess: Will the Duke’s Love Go Unnoticed? (Munou Saijo wa Akujo ni Naritai ~Gimai no Migawari de Totsuida Reijou, Koushaku-sama no Dekiai ni Kizukanai~). A girl has an exceptional talent, but her family see her as useless. Now a Duke needs a fiancée he can dump in three years, and our heroine sees this as an opportunity for freedom.

ASH: That description seems oddly familiar.

SEAN: They also have How I Became King by Eating Monsters 6 and Fluffy Paradise 10.

Dark Horse Manga have the 8th volume of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!.

DK has a big artbook, The Art of Junji Ito Collection. Scary but well-packaged art!

ASH: Oh! That’s a nice surprise.

ANNA: Good for the holiday and spooky seasons!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 27th volume of Parallel Paradise.

Glacier Bay Books has Five Worms on a Line, a shoujo-horror shot story collection.

As well as Give Her Back to Me, by the same author, about a family curse.

ASH: Expect excellence from both of these. I love shoujo horror.

ANNA: I’m less of an aficionado, but absolutely agree that these are intriguing releases this week.

SEAN: Hanashi Media gives us The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made! 14, GATE: Thus the JSDF Fought There 2-1, Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer in Another World: I’ll Use My Modern Knowledge to Build My Own Kingdom 2, and Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy 20.

Two J-Novel Club digital debuts, both light novels. Sorry Darling, but You Won’t Kill Me Again! (Konse mo Todome o Sasareru no wa Gomen nanode, Saiai no Otto wa Mou Iranai) is a Heart title. A young queen is killed by her husband… then wakes up in the past! Now she can change her fate… assuming she’s the only one with memories of her old life.

A Wicked Lady’s Guide to Accidentally Saving the Kingdom (Gokuaku Reijou no Kanchigai Kyuukokuki) is a Club series, despite the “Wicked Lady” part, so expect less romance here. It stars another woman who thinks that “being a villainess” is more important than anything else, even if she keeps doing good deeds.

ASH: That’s a thing that happens sometimes.

SEAN: Other light novels: Looks like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid 4, Pens Down, Swords Up: Throw Your Studies to the Wind 7, Rebuild World 8-2, and You Were Experienced, I Was Not 9.

For manga, we see A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires 9 and Rebuild World 15.

MICHELLE: First, wicked lady and now a livid one!

ANNA: Maybe the wicked and livid ladies need to team up!

SEAN: Kana debuts Jagaaan, a seinen manga from the author of Blue Lock. A cop has a good career, long-term girlfriend, things going well. Sure, he’s a bit UNSTABLE, but hey. Then he gets a supernatural monstrous power. What could go wrong? For fans of titles with lots of violence and death.

MICHELLE: The blurb says, “a superpower drama of carnal desires and primal violence.” So… a pass for me.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: They also have Blades of the Guardians 3.

Kodama has a 4th volume of Sun-Ken Rock Perfect Edition.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga. In print we get Dragon Head Omnibus 3, I Have a Crush at Work 7, Omega Megaera 6, Omega of the Divine 2, That’s Not Love 3, Whoever You Are, I Love You 2, and You Can’t Bluff the Sharp-Eyed Sister 5 (the final volume).

ASH: I should really revisit Dragon Head; I’m still glad to see it back in print.

SEAN: And digitally we get Am I Actually the Strongest? 19 and I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! 11.

Manga Mavericks debuts The Pipe Machine, the story of a boy who ends up in weird adventures due to a time-traveling pipe. (It got bumped.)

ASH: Even with some bumps, Manga Mavericks releases some great stuff.

SEAN: They also have Vegetable Sandwich, which seems to ask what if Yu Yu Hakusho and Ranma 1/2 had a baby? Fans of old-school shonen will eat this up.

MICHELLE: This looks goofy and yet somehow appealing.

ASH: Agreed!

ANNA: I enjoy some old school shonen sometimes!

SEAN: Seven Seas has two debuts. Can You Kiss Me First? (Omae no Hou kara Kiss shitekure yo) is a BL manga from Moment. Two co-workers are good friends. Then one says he’s gay… but it’s OK, the other guy isn’t his type. Wait, what? Why not?

MICHELLE: Hm.

SEAN: The Lord-Magear’s Apprentice (Lord Magear no Deshi) is a shonen series from Sunday Web Every. A boy is saved by a mage as a child. He grows up to be a powerful swordsman… whose ends up being the only survivor, and also rescued AGAIN by the SAME mage. Apprentice time?

Also from Seven Seas: the 5th and final volume of I Ship My Rival x Me.

Shueisha – and yes, it seems to be the Japanese publisher – releases Happiness Theories: A Manga Artist & An Art Historian Find Wisdom in 3,000 Years and in Life. A manga artist and art historian have a discussion about human history.

ASH: Oooooooh! I’m here for it.

ANNA: This does sound interesting!

SEAN: Square Enix Manga has a 3rd Otaku x Gal.

Titan Manga debut When I Was Reincarnated in Another World, I Was a Heroine and He Was a Hero (Tensei Shitara Ore ga Heroine de Aitsu ga Yuusha datta) is a… erm, genderbendy?… title from Comic Gardo. A guy dies and is reincarnated… as a heroine! And his friend from Japan is the hero! Can they defeat the demon lord? Will there be romance?

They also have Eko Eko Azarak Reborn 2 and Welcome to Ghost Mansion 3.

Tokyopop debuts The Devil’s in the Lunch Deals (Jashin no Bentouya-san), a slice-of-life fantasy from Comic Days. A goddess is banished to the human world, and decides to start a bento store. As one does.

But what of BL, you ask? No worries, that’s still Tokyopop’s bread and butter. Caught in Your Web (Kumo no Otoko) is a one-shot BL thriller that ran in… sigh… from RED. A man is happy being the boytoy of a mafia boss… till the boss dies. Now he’s left the mob, but meets a man who seems to be the old boss’s son!

My One-Sided Love (Shuraba no One Side Love) is also a manga in from RED. A manga artist and his editor are friends! Buds! Cuddly! Um, what’s going on here? There are content warnings on this one, so I suspect “sexual assault, but in a sexy way” is the answer.

MICHELLE: Great.

ANNA: No thank you!

SEAN: Retailers say Udon Entertainment has Blue Archive: Comic Anthology 3 out next week.

And we end with Yen Press, which has some straggler manga. The Succubus Meets Her Match (Moteharu nee, Ashiya-kun) is a seinen comedy manga from Dra Dra Sharp #. A succubus has taken over as queen of her high school… except for that one dude. Who’s not into her. What’s worse, the other demi-humans want him too. This shall not stand!

And they have How to Love a Loser 2 and Nomi x Shiba 4.

Pretty packed for a 5th week. What interests you?

The Holy Grail of Eris, Vol. 5

by

By Kujira Tokiwa and Yu-nagi. Released in Japan as “Eris no Seihai” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Amelia Imogen.

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? This is a series that I thought ended with the third volume, and then we got a fourth, which at first was “digital-only” in Japan. Then the series changed publishers in Japan, and DRE Novels put out the first four books with new cover art, and I think a couple of bonus short stories. (No, Yen will not be redoing those.) Meanwhile in North America, we had a series that was contacted between Yen Press and GA Novels, now belonging to a different publisher that works exclusively with J-Novel Club. Talks had to be had. But here we are, with Book 5, and Book 6 is just around the corner! In between Books 4 and 5, we had the anime, which was received pretty well, though the reaction by fans felt a bit familiar, and this fifth book underlined the fan reaction with a highlighter. Namely, with the intense intimate female friendship between the two leads, why is the series het? The answer is, of course, that women are allowed to have intense intimate female friendships and still like men.

Connie is back from her vacation, and everything seems well. Unfortunately, the dregs of Daeg Gallus are still around, and they’re targeting the Kingdom’s important mythology. To help deal with this, a baron by the name of Camille Miller has decided to take steps to discredit them. This first involves, for some reason, framing Connie for the bombing of the statue of the hero in a town square, which goes about as well as you’d expect given her fiancee is head of the police and the king is in her debt. Changing tactics, he then decides to announce that she’s another Saint, just like the Saint Anastasia of old. Can Connie try to figure out what’s going on, stop the terrorist group that is still trying to destroy everything, *and* not punch Camille Miller in his smug face? Meanwhile, in the past, we see Scarlet’s grandmother and find out the real story of both Saint Anastasia and the Grail family.

So, for those who loved the anime and are curious, Randolph is technically in this, and he and Connie are still engaged. But even the author admits he’s not in the book very much. This isn’t, at its heart, a romance, it’s a mystery series with added thriller aspects. As such, Connie and Randolph aren’t the main “couple”, Connie and Scarlet are. Thematically, this series is about them. Likewise, in the past, we expect to see the story of a romance between Cornelia and her somewhat fanatically loyal friend Percival Grail, but that’s also pretty much a fakeout, and the important relationship is between Cornelia and her maid and best friend Asha. That said, again, the relationships take a back seat to the mysteries here. Fortunately, the mysteries are very good, and I found it amusing that most of the present-day sleuthing was just Connie reading old histories till she got bags under her eyes.

There is a short story volume after it, but the 6th book, with its incredibly bisexual cover (she has two hands!), does appear to finally wrap the series up after a couple of fakeouts. I’m delighted to see it continue. I hope we never see Camille Miller again, but I’m not optimistic about that last part.

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 13

by

By Hitoma Iruma and raemz. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Molly Lee.

Glory be, we finally get a volume that isn’t just short stories, and takes place in the present day! After so many alternate universes, flash forwards to the future, and the terrifying vision of Adachi’s idea of heaven, we are back in a normal yuri romance. OK, yes, no series with Yashiro is normal, but you know what I mean. As always, Shimamura is the narrator. It’s amazing how far she’s come since the start. Adachi, when not dealing with Shimamura, is pretty much as she’s always been, introverted, uncommunicative, and giving off a strong “fuck off” aura. Shimamura, who I described as attempting to learn what human emotion is in prior books, is absolutely filled with them here, and a lot of the book is her suddenly breaking down as she once again deals with her childhood dog maybe dying (again, the dog does not die in this book), or her cutely realizing how much she’s in love with Adachi. A depressed teenager who barely interacted with life is now happy and content. It’s nice to see.

First bit of the book: Shimamura goes to see her grandparents, gets overcome with emotion at seeing that Gon is still tired and listless but not dead, unleashes Yashiro on a new set of folks, meets a “childhood friend” from another Iruma series (more on that later), and comes out to her grandma. The rest of the book: it’s school festival time! Honestly, Shimamura wasn’t aware they had one, and neither was Adachi – they likely skipped before now. But this is a new, dynamic Shimamura who does things, and so she comes over to help with their classes’ candied fruit cafe. And Adachi also comes, because Shimamura asks her, and that’s the only reason. The festival is cute – we see Adachi serving and Shimamura waitressing, they get to tour the sites together on a date, they go see Hino and Nagafuji in a class play that sounds like it was based on another work by the author, and they see a concert that I’m pretty sure is based off ANOTHER work by the author. Then, after the festival is over, Adachi invited Shimamura to her house for their own private festival. (No, not like that.)

I’m sure hardcore fans of Iruma are delighted at seeing all the cameos from their other series pop up in A&S. I did work out the girl making the ceramics is from a collection called End Blue, I think? And yes, the series can be read without knowing who the hell these people are. But man, for people like me, who want to track down references, it’s a pain in the ass, as 90% of Iruma’s work is never coming out here. (And, let’s face it, the crossover with My First Love’s Kiss was deeply unwelcome.) That singer and piano player are no doubt from another series, and I don’t know which one, and that just bugs me. And because Iruma doesn’t own the characters, I won’t even get Sayaka from Bloom Into You showing up. Other than that niggle, this is a strong volume, absolutely drenched in Shimamura’s feelings for Adachi, and I can mostly ignore Adachi’s obsessive “there is only one person in my world” feelings, which Shimamura sees as cute but a bit worrying. The “roleplay us ten years in the future” at the end is really sweet.

So yes, a nice, relaxed volume, with no child predators or possible heat deaths of the universe. Next up, a third short story collection, though that doesn’t count 99.9, or the other numbered volumes that have basically been short story collections in all but name.

Pick of the Week: Malls and Temples

by , , , and Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: I am a sucker for mall stories, for some reason, so the prospect of people hiding in one during a zombie crisis compels me to go with What Six Survivors Told… this week.

KATE: I’m with Michelle: zombies + mall is a winning formula, so I’ll be checking out What Six Survivors Told…. I’m also curious about Let’s Go Nirvana!, which sounds a little Sister Act with more tattoos.

SEAN: Not a big zombie fan, so I’ll pick Let’s Go Nirvana! this week.

ANNA: I’m in the mood for some distraction, and Let’s Go Nirvana! sounds like the most amusing option out of the new releases, so that’s my pick as well!

ASH: I am exceedingly curious about Let’s Go Nirvana! and I adore the cover of the first volume. I hope the rest of the manga can live up to it!

Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 7

by

By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner.

One of these days we’ll have a nice relaxing book where Carmine is given a respite from constant chaos and attempts to take over the Empire, but that day is not today, and honestly probably we’ll never get that. That said, at least Carmine is finally starting to ditch the need to pretend to be a dumb puppet emperor… mostly. He’d like to do this, and he gets to demonstrate that he does know magic after all in a truly ludicrous sequence where he drops a magic nuke, but for the most part the conceit can still be useful. Especially when, following up on the cliffhanger from the last book, the old leader of the Imperium, the religious republic next door that is the Empire’s biggest threat, shows up seeking asylum. Along with his loser son and a terrified aide. So Carmine once again has to pretend to be kinda dumb while he figures out what to do, because every answer seems to be “but that will lead to war”.

Carmine is so caught off guard by the news of the asylum seekers that he has to fake a contagious illness for a few days to gain time to think and gather information. Then he heads back to the capital, meets the Imperium guys, and big surprise, they’re terrible. The former leader is the decadent Roman emperor sort, and his son is scheming and wants power, but doesn’t really have any smarts to back it up. They also clearly have spies in their entourage. In the meantime, of course, the Empire is still fighting a war on several fronts, so Carmine also has to head over to another front line to see how things are going… where, unfortunately, he arrives far too quickly thanks to Count Ethiac, who essentially drugs her horse to ride at top speed for hours to get there as fast as she can. Oops.

The author seems to be swapping out eccentric but unhinged women every book. At the end of this one Count Ethiac is dumped, mostly due to making everything more difficult. In her place we get Illumino, who is the granddaughter of the Gotiroir, who are the “Mongolian horde” equivalent in this series. She’s very strong and very good at being a bodyguard, but cares nothing about anyone around her, so is a terrible commander. She’s also interested in Carmine, and wants to marry him, mostly because he’s the only guy who’s NOT interested in her. Carmine has now found a third weirdo he doesn’t want, which is a shame, as I think Rosaria is dropping hints she would like a couple more wives, if only to build a power base. I apologize for only talking about the mostly non-existent harem in this series, but the alternative is discussing military maneuvers, and no.

Another cliffhanger, as someone is trying to assassinate Carmine! He’s framed as an old enemy we should remember, but this cast is so huge I don’t. I’m sure it’s dramatic. Will he live? Oh, probably. Decent read.

The Side Character Who Thought He Was the Protagonist Mistook the Real Hero for a Side Character and Accidentally Won Everything, Vol. 1

by

By Yuyushita Sasuga and Tamago no Kimi. Released in Japan as “Jibun no Koto o Shujinkou da to Shinjite Yamanai Fumidai ga, Shujinkou o Fumidai da to Kanchigai Shite, Yuushou Shite Shimau Ohanashi desu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Harris Hayes.

Assuming that the average reader of this series gets past the title, which is a bit more ludicrous than usual, they’re going to run up against the lead. And assuming that they get past the lead’s tendency to talk about himself like he’s still a chuuni (which is half of the point of this series), we get to the other point of this series, which likely resonates with a lot of people. The idea that hard work will be rewarded is a good, idealistic one that unfortunately is not always true in the real world. As such, a lot of fiction, particularly shonen fiction, revolves around the fact that you can do absolutely anything provided that you do it often enough. Do you suck at something? Do it ten million times, and you will get better! (True.) And then all the good things in life will be yours (not necessarily true except in series like these).

Our nameless main character rescues a kid from the inevitable truck, dies, and ends up in front of a bored and amused Athena, the goddess currently in charge of reincarnating people. He grew up in Japan thinking he would be IMPORTANT, and idolizing shonen main characters. So she offers to put him in the world of Chronicle of the Round Table Heroes, a visual novel, as the Hero Fey. He immediately accepts! Unfortunately, she’s amusing herself. Not only is Fey the guy who bullies random people and gets the shit beaten out of him in the game itself (the real hero is named Tru), but the VN is also pretty damn dark, with most of the cast meeting Bad Ends. But that matters little to our guy. What is perhaps more concerning is that the game limits how much he’s able to change – the original Fey was an asshole, after all. So he has to train as hard as he can and join the Holy Knights… while still being kind of a jerk.

Clearly I finished this, so there were things I liked. It’s quite readable, as I’ve come to expect from TO Books, who usually do a good job selling their product. I really liked the main “heroine”, named Arthur (the names sometimes skew Arthurian due to the game’s title), who is incredibly beautiful and talented but has the social skills of a brick. Since Fey, as he is still very much “sullen asshole who simply trains constantly”, also has the social skills of a brick, they get on quite well. Other than that… while I did like the teacher’s backstory, and I appreciated that she was allowed to avoid her cruel and horrible fate (and I hope one days she avenges her family), describing her as the “busty loli” type and having her fall massively in love with Fey by the end made me sigh. Ah well, so goes life. the actual lead, Tru, also fades into the background as the series goes on. I’d have liked it more if he ended up an antagonist, but the author seems content to have him just be wary of Fey but still basically a hero. Which is nice, but duller.

So this wasn’t great, but wasn’t terrible. I might read another. Recommended for fans of the genre.

The Petty Villain Plays by the Rules: Rewriting This Otome Game with Honest Work!, Vol. 3

by

By MIZUNA and Ruki. Released in Japan as “Yarikonda Otome Game no Akuyaku desu ga, Danzai wa Iya nano de Mattou ni Ikimasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

Ah, we’ve hit that difficult third album, I see. It was inevitable, given that the first two volumes of this series basically ended up being “this is better than I thought”, that I’d run into one that was on a level of exactly what I thought. In practice, this means that while this volume is for the most part enjoyable, it has a subplot that actively grates on me and which I found interminable. What’s worse, I worry it will crop up again – this seems the sort of author who would try to think of other ways to use that subplot in the future for “comedy” reasons. Sigh. Other than that, this basically wraps up the two-volume arc from last time, shows Reid simultaneously behaving like a prodigy and also having the emotional capacity of the child he is, and also giving us a cute dwarf girl to go with its cute elf girl. Though the dwarf is an adult.

After last time, Reid has impressed the dark elf king and helped to take down an evil noble, but he also showed off a bit TOO much, so his dad forbids him from going into town. This is a problem, as he has to find the herb that’s used in the medicine needed to cure his mother, one that’s supposed to be in the neighboring evil forest (yes, it’s called the Evil Forest, really). That said, his fiancee is not prohibited from visiting the town. So clearly Reid has to dress up as a maid in order to get around this. Hijinks, as you might guess, ensue. They come across a skilled dwarf brother-and-sister blacksmith shop, though they’re currently being threatened by a different evil noble. They also come across a guy who does know of the herb in question under a different name. But he’s ALSO being threatened by that evil noble. man, how many evil nobles does this series have?

So yes, everything about Reid dressed as a maid, and (inevitably) Prince Rhesis falling for “her” made me wince like I was hearing nails on a blackboard. Every single “gag” paid off like a pie to the face, and that’s not a good thing. I have no doubt we’ll see Reid in disguise as a maid again, even if I don’t want it. Other than that, this was pretty good. Reid gains a new butler/intelligence officer, who has a better gag in that he’s one of those “I don’t know how to smile properly as I am stoic as hell” types. That’s fun. This also, oddly, causes the dwarf girl to fall for him – since I’m not getting the hot gay bodyguard romance I want (due to them tragically not being gay), I guess this one is OK. I was also amused to see that Reid’s father is essentially a pushover when it comes to his family, and I have no doubt that, if this series ever lets anyone age, Farah will be able to manipulate Reid the same way.

That said, future volumes imply that this is not going to be a “two years passed” kind of series, but more “Volume 12, 5 days after Vol. 4”. I’ll keep up, but less wacky crossdressing hilarity, please.

I’ll Become an Elegant Villainess! Time to Enjoy My Second Life to the Fullest, Vol. 1

by

By Shisui Hazuki and kururi. Released in Japan as “Karei naru Akujo ni Naritai wa! ~Aisare Tensei Shoujo wa, Tanoshii Nidome no Jinsei o Okurimasu~” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Olivia Plowman.

We’ve started to see metatextual isekai with folks hit by Truck-kun who are delighted to be in another world, ready to eat up all those great tropes, get a harem of cute babes, and have a +1 sword new life. (Indeed, I have one in my queue for two days from now.) So it should not particularly be a surprise that we’re getting the shoujo equivalent, which is to say girls who are absolutely delighted to find that they’ve reincarnated and they’re now a villainess. For once it’s not due to love of the genre when they were Japanese – this particular girl is reincarnated from THIS world, she just remembers her past life. But it doesn’t really matter. What’s important is that “villainess” has once again been twisted a bit to mean “incredibly cool and powerful girl who just ojou-sama laughs a lot”. There will be no evil here. Which is good, as this world is already filled with evil.

We open with Mitia Lumiol… no, she’s not having her engagement broken. Instead, it’s the usual “your magic isn’t what I wanted, so I hate you” from her father. We then get her telling us about her reincarnated memories, her love of romances with villainesses, and how getting exiled from home to a dying part of the country is perfect as this means she can put her master plan into effect. Her master plan… to be AWESOME! Coming with her are her maid, Ciel, who went from “wow, she’s suddenly become a different person” to “she is my literal daughter that I gave birth to only not literally” in a couple short years, and her butler, Vincent, who is actually a spy but who thinks that Mitia is secretly a genius, and decides to ally with her because of her goal. Which is to be AWESOME! … by healing the sick, repairing the land, lowering taxes, and essentially being a good person, unlike most other nobles in this book.

As you may have gathered, how much you enjoy this depends how much you are prepared to buy into the silliness of its lead. It’s basically a cross between Observation Records of My Fiancee (Mitia and Bertia are very, very similar) and The Eminence in Shadow (Mitia’s followers all adore her, and things she makes up later turn out to be 100% true). Her lowly Household Magic turns out to only be lowly if you don’t have all the mana she does, as she can essentially cast it on top of itself till it can do almost anything. She’s also very GOOD at being an evil villainess, which is to say that she’s not a ditz – she can use blackmail and cleverness with the best of them. It’s just that, despite her past memories, she acts like a six-year-old trying to be nineteen. Which is to say, she’s absolutely cute as hell. This is why she gets Ciel and Vincent, who by the end of the book basically admit they’re her new parents (there’s no romance between them yet, or indeed between anyone, but it is a Heart title). And her former village thugs turned crack secret agents. And the prince in disguise, who she… loathes, as she doesn’t see through the disguise at all.

So yeah, enjoyed that. Very silly. And there’s a second volume! Hooray! Surely that will be the start of a long run… what’s that ominous train in the distance?