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Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 11

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y Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette.

(This review gets a bit spoilery about the fate of one of the main characters, be warned. Though I try to glide over it.)

We’ve seen Tearmoon Empire be a fun comedy, and we’ve seen it be an action thriller, and we’ve seen it be a romance as well. But we really have not seen it as a dark tragedy. Or rather, it’s only been seen in flashbacks to the bad future, where we see the consequences of Mia being unable to save everyone and getting executed. And that’s tended to be more along the lines of “my God, what have I done?” The latter half of this book, though, goes as closely as this series is likely to get into the tragedy mode, and I’m kicking myself that I did not pick up on the ominous foreshadowing in the last volume, which I cheerfully thought was “oh boy, secrets are going to be told once this arc gets finished!”. Unfortunately, this leads to the question of “why won’t secrets actually be told?”, and the answer is possibly “because the person with the secrets is now dead.”

We pick up where the last book left off, with the race between Mia, on her “slow but steady wins the race” horse, and Xiaolei, on her “fastest in the land” horse. If you’re suspecting we’re seeing a retelling of the Tortoise and the Hare fable, you’re pretty much dead on. Mia is, of course, trying her best NOT to win, for various reasons, but we already know how that’s going to go. She does, however, manage to unite the tribes. Which is good, as unfortunately while this was going on Citrina was kidnapped by the Chaos Serpents, led by Abel’s older sister Valentina. Mia goes to rescue her, and oddly she is allowed to take other people with her, such as Abel and Dion. Why, it’s almost like the Serpents’ goal is not merely to kill off Mia but something far more sinister…

This is the second book I’ve read recently that felt like a final volume of the series, enough so that the author needs to assure us it’s not the end. The cliffhanger ending helps, as we’re introduced to what appears to be yet another Tearmoon from the future (?). As for the book itself, Mia is pretty great in it (I always enjoy a good “I won’t let the villains die, that would be too easy on them, they will have to live on” plot), but honestly the emotional lifting is done by Citrina and Bel. I joked on Twitter that since Mia had changed the future so that she doesn’t suffer, Citrina had become Tearmoon Empire’s designated woobie, and it’s not wrong. The other reason that this feels like a final volume is that we get a ton of flashforwards to “the good future”, the one Mia will eventually get to, with everyone alive and married off. It’s nice to actually *see* Grandma Mia rather than just hear about her. As for Citrina… well, I suspect the start of Book 12 will help. At least, I hope so.

I haven’t even mentioned the other high point of the volume, where Valentina tells us what the Chaos Serpents actually are. This was one of the best in the series. And again, the arc ended at the end of the book! Keep it up!

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 17

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

This one is really doing its best to trick you into thinking it’s the final volume. Hell, look at the cover, which screams “and the adventures continue…” And to be fair, that is how it ends, it’s just we go along with everyone when they continue their adventures. But what this amounts to, honestly, is a soft reboot of the series, which had grown fat and placid on its regular cast, sci-fi backstory, and ended the last book with Mile having finally visited the final “non-human” race she wanted to see, and announcing to the world that the invasion of monsters from another dimension is imminent. There’s nothing left to do but have the final battle, which takes up the first 40% of the book. But after that? What do you do when you’ve won? Worse, what do you do when you revealed all because you were planning on dying, but then DON’T die?

We pick up right where we left off, with Mile imitating the MGM lion as she broadcasts herself to everyone in the continent. She then explains that the invasion is coming in the next few days, that most of the armies who have to deal with it won’t make it in time, but that’s OK, because the Crimson Vow will take on all 100,000 monsters for them. She also reveals that she’s Adele von Ascham. And “Miami Satodele”, for that matter. From there, the four of them go off to certain death… and are very surprised to find that the ENTIRE cast has come to help them in the final battle. Really, everyone who can fight shows up here, including the elves, the demons, and the dragons. Hell, I was expecting Lenny to show up (she did not, but we do see her later on). The battle is indeed tough – they absolutely would have lost without the help of everyone – but they prevail. And… um… the battle was also accidentally broadcast to the continent via Mile’s MGM widescreen. Whoops.

So yeah, now they’ve all achieved their goals. They’re all nobility. Pauline has a successful business. Mavis is an S-rank hunter and is Mile’s holy knight. Reina is also an S-rank hunter, and can publish her memoir. And Mile… has been captured by everyone who’s been trying to catch her since Book 1, and is now being forced to be The Holy Saint. Needless to say, after six months of this they’re all bored out of their gourds. So it’s time for that soft reboot – they all run away and go to a completely different continent. (the Wonder Trio, as well as the Princess, follow them, because we can’t leave EVERYONE behind.) This will allow the author to start over with slightly different baselines – for one thing, the monsters in this new continent are a LOT smarter than the ones we’re familiar with. That said, Mile is still Mile. I’m sure it will be fine.

If you were looking for an excuse to stop reading the series, this is basically the perfect volume to do so. If you want more Mile and company, good news, that’s coming. This was a fun “finale” that wasn’t.

Manga the Week of 1/10/24

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SEAN: The first 2024 manga list was a bit small. Will this week be any bigger?

We start with Airship, which has the print debut of Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City (Okiraku Ryōshu no Tanoshii Ryōchi Bōei: Seisan-kei Majutsu de Na mo Nakimura o Saikyō no Jōsai Toshi ni), which is another one of those “reincarnated with a useless skill that’s really super awesome” books.

ASH: I mean, I like the underlying message. There are just SO MANY of these titles.

SEAN: They’ve also got the 9th volume of The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent.

In early digital volumes, we see Berserk of Gluttony 8 (the final volume) and Raven of the Inner Palace 5.

Dark Horse has the 3rd volume of its Hellsing reissue.

ASH: It is a very nice reissue.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has I’m Not a Succubus! 4 and a 5th volume of the Survival in Another World with My Mistress! manga.

It’s print week for J-Novel Club, and they gift us with Ascendance of a Bookworm 22 (the start of the final arc!), In Another World With My Smartphone 27, the 6th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga volume, and the 3rd Tearmoon Empire manga volume.

ASH: Oh no, the final arc of Bookworm? I really do need to catch up sooner rather than later.

No digital debuts, but we see Ascendance of a Bookworm 29, the 14th Black Summoner manga volume, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Sui’s Great Adventure 5, An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! 5, The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles 6, Record of Wortenia War 22, The Tales of Marielle Clarac 10, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 12, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 9.

In print, Kodansha Manga has Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 15.

Their digital debut is I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! (A Rank Party wo Ridatsu Shita Ore wa, Moto Oshiego Tachi to Meikyuu Shinbu wo Mezasu), a shonen fantasy harem manga from Magazine Pocket. The title is the plot.

Also out next week digitally: Ace of the Diamond 47 (the final volume, though there’s a 34-volume sequel), Cells at Work! Lady 4, The Fable 22 (also a final volume), Gang King 13, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 16 (also also a final volume), Nina the Starry Bride 11, That Time the Manga Editor Started a New Life in the Countryside (also also also a final volume), Those Snow White Notes 13, and WIND BREAKER 13.

MICHELLE: So here for Ace of the Diamond. I’ll be able to have a nice marathon up to the ending, too. Hopefully it did well enough that the sequel will get licensed, too.

ANNA: And I’m glad for another volume of Nina the Starry Bride although I need to get caught up!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 5th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

The debut from Seven Seas is The White Mage Doesn’t Want to Raise the Hero’s Level (Shiro Majutsushi wa Yuusha no Level wo Agetakunai) is a Comic Meteor title, and is a “sexy fantasy romcom”, at least according to the publisher. Looks like it might shift to Ghost Ship if things get a bit racier. Then again, it’s only 4 volumes, so maybe not.

Also from Seven Seas: A Certain Scientific Railgun 18, Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 7, Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 6, Karate Survivor in Another World 5, My Cat is Such a Weirdo 2, My New Life as a Cat 4, Soloist in a Cage 3 (the final volume), and The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter 3.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give Soloist in a Cage a try; I better get on that.

SEAN: Square Enix has the 16th manga volume for The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest.

The debut for SuBLime is Daisy Jealousy, a one-shot BL title from Magazine Be x Boy. This is the same author of Happy of the End and Yarichin Bitch Club. Feelings get complicated between two up and coming video game designers.

ASH: And also Escape Journey, I believe. I could pretty easily be convinced to read this one.

SEAN: Viz Manga debuts Pokémon Adventures: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, which… is a Pokémon manga, come on.

They’ve also got Case Closed 89, Dandadan 6, Fly Me to the Moon 21, Helck 7, Komi Can’t Communicate 28, Mao 15, and YO-KAI WATCH 22.

And yeah, that’s it. It always feels like a small week without Yen Press. What are you getting?

Earl and Fairy: The Spectral Lover

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By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

This review, by necessity, features major spoilers for this volume, and I recommend not reading it till you finish it. I will put the cover (which does not spoil) first to allow you to avoid the spoiler.

Earl and Fairy’s first volume was clearly written as a one-shot. Most series are. Not everything is created to be a massive hit without having to actually sell the books first. And sometimes authors look back at decisions they made in the first book, when they were not expecting it to be, say, a 33-volume behemoth, and think “man, why did I do that plot twist? It worked great for a single book, but I could have done so much more with the character?” Mizue Tani was clearly thinking exactly that when she was writing up the plot of this volume, which features… well, come on, you have to guess what I’m talking about given I’m discussing major plot twists from the first book. She’s back, there’s a supernatural explanation, and it’s cool.

Edgar has been attending a seance held by a suspicious medium (one who seems to recognize him) that is meant to help a mourning woman marry off her late daughter’s ghost. Oddly, someone else is also attending the seance pretending to be him… and creating nasty rumors in the tabloids, rumors that Lydia (who doesn’t trust Edgar more than she can throw him) immediately believes. She’s also annoyed that she has to pretend to be engaged to him for reasons we saw in the last book. Then she’s promptly kidnapped (again, it’s that sot of series) and when Edgar and Raven track her down, she seems to genuinely be possessed by the spirit of the woman’s dead daughter. Well, possibly her daughter. And also only possessed half the time. Is this another of Ulysses’ clever plots?

So yeah, Ermine’s back. Arguably this ruins the tragedy of her death in the first volume, but frankly I always found her death in the first volume rather annoying, so I don’t really mind this all too much. She’s now a selkie, as apparently this is how she was saved from death in the first place. Unfortunately, having betrayed Edgar and Raven in Book 1, she’s got to do it again, this time because Ulysses has her “skin”, in the form of a glass bead, which if destroyed will kill selkies for real. We’ll see how long she lasts this time around before what I suspect will be a slightly better death. As for Lydia and Edgar, he is at least starting to get why she doesn’t trust him in the least – he has to stop treating her like a solution to his problems. That said, I think most of the readers are siding with him more than her right now – we do want a romance novel, after all.

I greatly enjoy the writing in this series, because (I have observed) it’s nothing like modern light novels. Anyone looking for something different, come get this.

The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-Up, Vol. 4

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By Rino Mayumi and Machi. Released in Japan as “Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki” by M Novels F. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Evie Lund.

So I believe that this may not be the final volume in the series after all. It certainly feels like it, though. The princess is no longer drab and no longer a princess. the break-up has happened and was pretty satisfying. Viol is still a black cat on occasion, but part of this book’s plot is getting to see Seren in his human form, in order to ensure that the announcement of their engagement does not come completely out of nowhere. But for the most part, this book is in the subgenre of what I call “victory lap” books. Our heroes have won, the problems are solved, and what is left is just everyone feeling really swell. That’s exactly what happens here, there’s minimal drama. I suppose there are things they could do in the future of this series, such as children, or cool magic things, or maybe giving Marietta something to do. But really, this absolutely feels like the end.

After the events of the last book, Seren is finally a High Mage, and gets to start High Mage Classes. Of course, there’s one slight problem – she never underwent normal magical university classes at all. So she has to not only do the advanced stuff everyone else is doing, but also take the basic magic courses Viol did not bother to teach her. I’ll let you guess how difficult she finds this. Guessed yet? If you said “not in the least”, give yourself a cookie. In the interim, she also finds time to invent electric fans, and she and Viol also help intervene in the rescue of a ship stuck in the ocean due to calm currents, which ends up being solved due to… GIANT electric fans, basically. With all this going on, can Viol manage to get permission to court Seren?

There’s not really much to say about Seren and Viol’s courtship, mostly as it goes so smoothly that the book ends with a wedding. I was amused at meeting Viol’s family. He’s always sort of been the calm, stoic type, so it’s hilarious that his commoner family are the same as commoner families always are in these sorts of books, which is to say rural farmers who panic when they have to deal with noble folks and worry they’re offending them somehow. They don’t have much to worry about – Seren’s dad is basically as eccentric as she is, and the King and Queen ask for this to be a big wedding more because Seren was like a daughter to them than any other reason. The other suitors for Seren’s hand are basically driven away by the sheer power of their “we are a gorgeous and powerful couple” vibe at the most recent ball. And they all lived happily ever after.

Except a 5th volume came out in March in Japan. Does the electric fan break? Well, I’m sure something will come up. If you like “relaxing vibe” series, or enjoy seeing two nerds nerd out while being in love, this is a good one.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/2/2024

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Innocent, Vols. 1-3 | By Shin’ichi Sakamoto | Dark Horse Comics – I was waiting for this release for a while, and in terms of the artwork and the general style of the manga, it was worth the wait. Sakamoto’s works mostly fall into the “grand guignol” genre, which means you need to have a strong stomach and be prepared for over-the-top posturing. That said, I will admit that the book attempts to have me care a lot about the presumed decline and fall of the sensitive good boi ™ who is being asked to be France’s greatest executioner but the book does not really succeed. Charles just is not sympathetic enough… indeed, no one in this book is really likeable enough. Which, I mean, fair, it’s France right before the revolution. But it does mean that I’m not here for the plot and character, I’m here for the LOOKS. – Sean Gaffney

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 10 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – We’ve mostly moved on from the initial gimmick of this series, which is that, well, Kubo won’t let him be invisible. Most people can see Shiraishi now, and he’s able to interact with his class much more easily, to the point that we have to get a flashback to when they first met to remind us of what things were once like. That does mean, though, that the rest of the manga is mostly cutesy romance moments—Kubo’s not even teasing Shiraishi much anymore. There’s just things like putting on too much hand cream, or doing a Romeo and Juliet play, and the like. I really like this manga, but this is definitely a sign that it needs to wrap up soon. Good news: it’s only got two volumes to go. Sweetness can only get you so far. – Sean Gaffney

The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 2 | By Kuzushiro | Kodansha Manga – The best part of this second volume in this series is the introduction of Kanon’s younger sister, who is seemingly friendly towards Saki but ends up being fiercely protective of her older sister once Kanon has left her side. It’s understandable; she doesn’t want to see Kanon hurt again. We also see Kanon dipping a toe into trusting people again, joining a club where she’s explicitly told the actual requirements will be low-maintenance and helping her find a place to call her own. Saki, meanwhile, is trying to learn more about Kanon—I like how she researches the meaning of “the well child” after having it thrown at her—but more importantly, is falling in love with Kanon, and I don’t think she’s quite ready to deal with that yet. Still an excellent series. – Sean Gaffney

My Girlfriend’s Child, Vol. 3 | By Mamoru Aoi | Seven Seas – This continues to be the series for which words like “stark” were invented. Sachi has definitely decided not to have an abortion now, and her mother is in her corner. As is her boyfriend. Unfortunately, her boyfriend’s family, as well as her older brother, are very much not in agreement, and they make this very clear to both of them—he’s basically thrown out of the house and has his cell plan cut off, and she’s getting told over and over again how her life, as well as her child’s, will be miserable if she goes through with having the child. That said, we also see why those who are naysaying are being so obstreperous about things—they have more experience, and more tragedy in their life, than Sachi does. Still well worth reading. – Sean Gaffney

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 18 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – The best joke in this volume, bar none, is that we’re heading back to school for the new semester—the last semester having ended almost five years ago, in volume six. That’s quite an extended break. I also really liked the bit where the wannabe bad guy tries to take over one of their classmates and do the same old stuff we got at the start of the series with the bugs, only to find that everyone is now far too powerful for all that. That said, much of this volume is setup, as well as reassurance that Kyutaro is still basically the same. Honestly, both he and Fumi have the same “is this really me and how many different selves do I have?” issue, so really, they belong together. That said, I do hope we’re getting to the final arc soon. (Volume 21 is out in Japan.) (Shhh.) – Sean Gaffney

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 7 | By Suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics – It’s been over a year since the last volume of this came out, and I forgot how much I missed it. The major event of this volume is that Itsuomi asks Yuki to move in with him, and they have to figure out everything that comes with that, including what it’s like to live with someone who’s deaf. And then there’s Oushi, who is in love with Yuki but does not actually want to make her unhappy, and is given advice that won’t do him any good but is likely the best that he can get at the moment—wait for this first romance to turn bittersweet and break up, and then he can swoop in. Sadly, they’re in a shoujo manga, so I’m not expecting a permanent break up, though no doubt there’s more drama to come. One of the best shoujo manga out right now. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: First Picks of 2024

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KATE: This week, I only have eyes for one series: A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch, which is giving me some serious Miyazaki vibes with its appealing artwork and its rueful premise.

SEAN: I’ve had mixed results with Shonen Jump Plus titles, but Marriage Toxin has a premise that intrigues me and a striking cover, so I’m going to make it my pick.

MICHELLE: Mostly I’m playing catch-up this week, but most look forward to doing so with Tamon’s B-side!

ASH: I’m with Sean this week; Marriage Toxin is the debut that I am most curious about. Even if the story ends up being lackluster, at least it’s got a great cover!

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess, Vol. 3

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By Roku Kaname and Hazuki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Aobara-hime no Yarinaoshi Kakumeiki” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JC.

In my review of the first two volumes of this series, I said that my chief issue with the series was that it didn’t really have anything that made it stand out over a pack of other “redo my life” titles coming out at the same time, was overly serious, and could be a bit dull. It’s still overly serious (there’s nary a joke to be found here), but fortunately the fact that this is the final volume and has to wrap everything up solves the other issues. This is easily the best volume in the series, as Alicia has to try to balance out the fact that she needs to do what’s best for her nation with her love for Clovis, and Riddhe has to try to find the traitor behind most of the bad events in this book, and do so without getting caught and used to start a war between two countries. He achieves half of that. But it’s OK, there’s a trial to try to put things right.

The book begins with Alicia still in Erdal, meeting with the Empress to try to show why she wants their countries to reach out to each other WITHOUT needing her to get married to Fritz to do it. The Empress, after a quick “how devoted to your ideals are you?” test, is pretty much OK with this, but Fritz now basically sees Alicia as an enemy. Indeed, he sees almost everyone as an enemy, including his lover Charlotte, and is acting just the way you’d expect a bratty prince with too much power but not enough responsibility to act. And then there’s Alicia and Clovis, who are still both hung up on “he’s just her advisor, he can’t marry the future queen” to move forward, and are thus having communication issues. Things get so bad that Alicia decides the best way forward IS to marry Fritz… but before she can, chaos erupts in Erdal.

The back half of this book really sells the danger and drama, with several action sequences and threats to help overshadow the fact that we know who the bad guy is throughout. The mystery is not “whodunnit”, but “how to fix things without destabilizing multiple nations”. It helps that there’s a lot of “even if they are a bad person, I still love them like family” going around, which means this timeline has a hell of a lot less death than the last one. Actually, another great moment was the revelation about what DID happen in the previous lifetime – Alicia’s always had spotty memories, so it’s been hard to decipher beyond “Clovis killed her”, but now we see this was part of a larger scheme, which makes sense given how easily manipulable he must have been in that first timeline. As for the romance, I will admit that “it’s OK, you can marry your advisor, everyone knows you love him” doesn’t really work given this is a “political marriage is the norm” sort of world, but hey, the relationship is sort of dessert. The meal is saving the country.

So yes, always nice when a series ends with its best volume. I enjoyed this.

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 4

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By Saki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Albert-ke no Reijō wa Botsuraku o Goshomō Desu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Ray Krycki.

I’m starting to feel really bad for Patrick. The most obvious reason being that it’s not entirely clear, at least until the end of this volume, that Alicia would actually choose him over Lady Mary. The relationship between Alicia and Mary has not been yuri per se, but certainly Mary is the most important person in her life, and she has a tendency to tackle hug, and fondle, and adore her. Meanwhile, Patrick has to actually run a country, so is not as free for snuggles. More worrying for Patrick is that he is now the only fully, 100% sensible one in the cast. He didn’t think this was the case. He was sure it was him and Adi against the eccentrics and airheads of this world. But when push comes to shove, Adi has been around Mary far too long and thinks far too much like her for this to be true. Sorry, Patrick. Everyone is bananas except you. Someone has to do the nasty work.

Things are looking up for Mary Albert. She’s survived the first game (despite her best efforts to be exiled), and the second game has come and gone with only mild sadism and shotacon friends as the result. Unfortunately, the game also had an anime adaptation. Which introduced a friend character for Alicia, consoling her when Mary was being too much of an evil villainess. And now we get Veltina, a new arrival to Mary’s group due to a school exchange program. Veltina clearly has memories of the anime from a previous life, great hatred for Mary Albert, and a huge crush on Adi. On the bright side, she makes an absolutely terrible villainess herself, and taking care of her is ludicrously easy. On the down side, Mary is starting to get this odd heartburn when people get too close to Adi…

Everyone knows that if you write a villainess book where the heroine came from an otome game, and the plot resolves, then you need to have the otome game sequel, or spinoff media, or side story… anything to keep the series going. Here it’s the anime, but it’s amusing how little it actually matters. The author just says “oh, there was an anime, she must remember it” a few times and then proceeds to forget about it. So does Mary, who occasionally tries to find a good time to ask her but it never comes up. Which is fine, as in the end it doesn’t matter. We’re not here to see how Mary Albert can escape the terrible fate of whatever new plot hits her life – she’s not Katarina, or Aileen. We’re here for the comedy, as not only is Mary unable to tell that she’s feeling jealousy, but Adi is ALSO unable to realize this. You’d think that, having been married for some time now, the self-doubt would have disappeared, but that’s not how it works. Their resolution of it is sweet. Also, Alicia turns out to be the best gardener ever, which may be my favorite joke.

There’s four more volumes, and I’m not sure how many more antagonists we can reasonably introduce at this point. But the books remain a hoot, and always put a smile on my face.

The Manga Critic’s Year in Review: 2023

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At the beginning of 2023, I vowed to post one review or essay per month, a goal I met for the first half of the year. Then work got busy, and my husband and I did some home improvement projects we’d been putting off, both of which made it harder to find the bandwidth for reviewing. The reviews I did publish, however, seemed to have found an audience, so I’m setting the same goal for myself in 2024 with the aim of writing more in-depth essays about older titles like Furari and BL Metamorphosis, as well as more reviews of classic, indie, and overlooked series. My other major goal for 2024 is to revive The Manga Review, though the upheaval on Twitter has made me wonder whether I’d reach more people with a newsletter than a weekly column. If you’ve been a regular reader, I encourage you to offer your two cents in the comments field! (Note that comment moderation has been set to stun due to an uptick in random links, so it may take a few hours for it be approved.)

As I was compiling this post, I spent some time reviewing my WordPress data and learned that…

  • I’ve posted 332 articles and reviews at The Manga Critic since 2009.
  • My most-viewed post is a 2017 review of Naoki Urasawa and Hokusai Katsushiki’s Master Keaton. To date, more than 23,000 people have read it.
  • My second most-viewed post is a 2019 review of Ichigo Tanako’s Become You. To date, more than 22,000 people have read it.
  • My most-viewed post of the 2020s is a review of Junji Ito’s No Longer Human, which I wrote in 2020. To date, more than 10,000 people have read it.

Focusing more specifically on 2023, I wrote one article, published seven full-length and eleven capsule reviews, and rediscovered a cache of essays I wrote for PopCultureShock between 2006 and 2009, one of which I shared with readers. I also created a new page at The Manga Critic listing some of the best manga podcasts in English, with help from dozens of Twitter followers. (Feel free to suggest more in the comments below!)

Here’s to a more productive 2024!

Essays and Features

Full-Length Reviews

Capsule Reviews

* This review was originally published at Pop Culture Shock in 2007.