Bookshelf Briefs

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 17 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa | Seven Seas – After briefly wrapping up the previous arc (and, sure enough, glossing over the fact that Uiharu developed story-breaking powers), we end up flashing back to Mikoto’s first year in middle school. She’s just turned Level 5, and lacks the confidence she’ll gain later. We also see Misaki, who has the same problems (though now that Junko’s spinoff has finished, we can officially see her kicking ass in Railgun proper). As for the plot, well, it’s a turf war between the school’s three cliques, who are being manipulated by some unknown factor. Meaning this is basically now a delinquent manga with middle school girls. To be fair, that’s par for the course with this franchise. – Sean Gaffney

Hell in a Bottle | By Kyusaku Yumeno and Towoji Honojiro | Kodansha – The first work included as part of the Maiden’s Bookshelf, a series of classic short stories re-released in beautifully illustrated hardcover editions, “Hell in a Bottle” was originally published in 1928. The translation by Angela Yiu used for this volume was previously released in the anthology Three-Dimensional Reading (which, tangentially, is a great collection of stories for readers interested in modernist, Taishō era short fiction). “Hell in a Bottle” is an epistolary tale about a brother and sister shipwrecked on a deserted island as children, a tragedy fully revealed in reverse chronological order through a sequence of letters placed in glass beer bottles and thrown out to sea. The overall design and presentation of Hell in a Bottle, from the use of color and lettering to Honojiro’s beautiful and evocative artwork, greatly enhances the reading experience of Yumeno’s story. I am definitely looking forward to future volumes of the Maiden’s Bookshelf. – Ash Brown

Honey Lemon Soda, Vol. 1 | By Mayu Murata | Yen Press – Uka Ishimori was bullied in middle school for her stony mien, and chose a laidback high school with the goal of changing herself. Alas, some of her bullies have enrolled there too, but with the help of blond bishounen Kai Miura, she finds the courage to start making progress. As this is another series about a socially awkward girl who catches the attention of a popular guy who then helps her to make friends, it took a little while for me to warm to it. However, Ishimori eventually won me over with how endearing she can be in certain moments—I adored her spontaneously asking a classmate whether they can be friends and being stunned at the “Aren’t we friends already?” reply she receives. This may be reminiscent of several different series I have read, but I still enjoyed it and will be back for more. – Michelle Smith

Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 7 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – This entire volume is an exquisitely written kick in the teeth. After a first half where we deal with Sugimoto having to face up to the fact that Sarasa has a bit more “oomph” than she does (which is why Sarasa was cast as Tybalt), we then get a family crisis meaning that Sarasa can’t do the role anyway. I’m glad that it all worked out OK, but the frustration in that she didn’t get to perform and everyone turned out to be fine is hellacious—I worry that this will affect her getting roles in the future, if she’s going to be thought of as unreliable. Being a Takarazuka idol is hard, and this volume shows why in the best ways. Oh yes, we also write out one of the semi-regulars for a brutally realistic reason—even the side stories are harsh. – Sean Gaffney

Lost Lad London, Vol. 3 | By Shima Shinya | Yen Press – I really wish this series had been longer, with the opportunity to introduce more possible culprits. Because, to my mind, there was only one likely prospect and, indeed, I was right. This rendered a lot of the action of this final volume somewhat anticlimactic and, combined with the social criticism that I once admired getting a little more blatant and heavy-handed, I was starting to feel a little disappointed. However, the final scene between Ellis and Al redeemed it all for me, because the mystery of who killed the mayor was never really the point of Lost Lad London. It was about these two loners relying on each other and learning not to let something negative from their past dictate their whole lives. The series ends on a note of new beginnings, symbolized by one dinky little houseplant. Highly recommended. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 22 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – We do indeed go on the road this volume, but last time I asked for less of Hisame/Kiki (they’re both here) and also suspected there would be less romance. Instead Shirayuki is once again the center of attention, and once again cannot simply come out and say “I’m dating Zen”, so things get awkward. That said, she and her group are also being manipulated, which makes her rather angry. I actually really love seeing Shirayuki in fury mode, if only as it’s a very mild, gentle fury rather than exploding rage. As for those who are hoping for more evidence of a Shirayuki/Zen/Obi OT3, well, you won’t be disappointed here either. That said, it does look like getting the cure spread will be hard.-Sean Gaffney

Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17-21 | By Tatsuki Fujimoto | VIZ Media Given the critical reception for Look Back and Goodbye, Eri and the strong sales for Chainsaw Man, it’s no surprise that VIZ decided to license Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man. The first installment of this anthology series, 17-21, focuses on Fujimoto’s earliest published work. As you might imagine, volume one is a mixed bag, filled with ambitious stories that sacrifice character development in favor of show-stopping plot twists and detailed layouts. The exception is “Love Is Blind,” in which a lovelorn teen’s awkward, earnest outburst saves the world from annihilation. Fujimoto does a great job of subverting sci-fi and romance tropes with bold, imaginative artwork that honors the intensity of the hero’s feelings while acknowledging how solipsistic they are–a level of nuance that’s missing from the other stories. Here’s hoping 22-26 is more satisfying. – Katherine Dacey

Hello, Melancholic!, Vol. 3 | By Yayoi Ohsawa | Seven Seas I don’t think this series was cancelled, per se, but I am sad that this is the final volume, as it felt like it was just getting started. As you can likely guess, this final volume focuses on our main couple (the other pairings get side chapters that, alas, are not collected here) and their attempts to realize that they actually do like each other that way, as well as dealing with Minato’s terminal anxiety. I appreciated the way that this book showed that sometimes pushing a person to do something way outside their comfort zone can be a good thing, and I also enjoyed Hibiki being forced to realize that she may be more like her father than she thinks. Easily the best trombone-related yuri I’ve ever read, this is also an excellent manga even without the trombone. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 24 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – This volume flat-out tells you that we’ve reached the final arc of the story, and the back half of it is dedicated to that arc, kicked off by Kaguya vanishing from school. Before that, we get a lot more Ishigami and Iino ship tease, some more of Maki being a good friend but a terrible romantic partner, and Chika wondering why on Earth she doesn’t have any romance in her life? (Kaguya offers to set her up with Hayasaka, and given how much Chika fawns over another girl in this book, it’s probably not a bad idea.) There are still plenty of laughs here, but no doubt the final arc will be a serious one. Let’s hope that Kaguya can not only stay together with Shirogane, but survive to the end of the series. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 22 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – It can be very, very difficult to confess your love to a crush, especially in Japan, where casual dating is far less of a thing than it is over here. That said, I feel the plotline of “when will Manbagi confess, get rejected, and try to move on?” is taking forever, and that’s not helped by this volume, which gives her the perfect opportunity to confess, but she just can’t work up the guts. It doesn’t help that this is killing Komi too, and Manbagi knows it. The rest of the volume is mostly just the rest of the school trip, the high point of which was my realization that they’re staying at the same hotel that I stay at when I go to New York. (It’s got a lot of international customers.) Still good, but get on with it! – Sean Gaffney

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 12 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – I don’t think I’ve been this disappointed over the direction a series went since Bunny Drop. Now, don’t worry, no one breaks up here or anything. We even get a flashforward showing our main couple still together (if fairly static). The issue is that the author ran out of ideas for the main couple and so decided to bring in their fetishes, and we pay as much attention to them as we do to the Love at Fourteen. There’s not one, but THREE teacher-student romances, one of which explicitly has the girl decide to romance the teacher so he’s not seduced by a gay man. There’s the middle schooler and the mature looking fifth-grader. There’s the middle schooler and the OL, who get married at the end. Why was this so seedy? – Sean Gaffney

The Music of Marie | By Usumaru Furuya | One Peace Books – In this visually arresting, maddeningly empty story, Usumaru Furuya envisions a world in which humanity has been stripped of its technological progress. Marie, an enormous clockwork automaton, floats through the sky, keeping a seemingly silent vigil over her creators. Only one person can hear her celestial music: Kai, a young man who is torn between his feelings for Pipi, a childhood friend, and his emotional connection to Marie. Furuya’s illustrations are gorgeous, but the story never quite finds its groove, see-sawing between Pipi’s increasingly desperate attempts to win Kai’s affection and Kai’s efforts to uncover who built Marie, and why. The script sounds a few cautionary notes about the dangers of idolatry and technophobia, but Furuya’s penchant for making icky jokes spoils the mood. – Katherine Dacey

No Longer Allowed in Another World, Vol. 1 | By Hiroshi Noda and Takahiro Wakamatsu | Seven Seas This manga has one joke, and if you’re not here for the joke, you’ll probably want to stay away. The joke is that the protagonist of famous novel No Longer Human, about to kill himself along with his lover Sacchan, is instead hit by the inevitable isekai truck, and ends up in a fantasy world. This is a broad comedy, and the parodies of isekais are hilarious if (like me) you’ve read too many of them. That said, the main character here tries to kill himself multiple times over the course of the volume, and if suicide as comedy bothers you, absolutely do not read this. For those with no such issues, and who are familiar with No Longer Human, it’s pretty funny. – Sean Gaffney

Orochi: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1 | By Kazuo Umezz | VIZ – It’s pretty rare for me to disagree with critics like Helen Chazan and Chris Mautner, but I was underwhelmed by Orochi, especially when compared with some of Kazuo Umezu’s other translated works. The stories read like half-recalled dreams, with baroque plot twists and dialogue that makes Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? seem like a work of cinéma vérité. To some extent, that’s true of Umezu’s other work, but at least Cat-Eyed Boy and The Drifting Classroom pack a visual and an emotional punch, both of which are sorely lacking in Orochi; the title character is such a cipher that she registers more as a walking plot contrivance than a person, thus blunting the tragedies she helps set in motion. – Katherine Dacey

Rainbow Days, Vol. 1 | By Minami Mizuno | VIZ Media – I typically enjoy manga that was serialized in Margaret or one of its offshoots, but in Rainbow Days I have found the exception. Natsuki Hashiba is a wholesome teen with more worldly friends, and when they try to warn him that his new girlfriend is a gold digger, he refuses to listen. Alas, they were right. I found Natsuki to be a bland protagonist, but he’s at least better than one of his friends, Katakura, whose only personality trait is “into S&M.” Practically any time he’s in a scene, he’s either holding a whip (at school, no less!) or making comments about mouth gags. At no point is any of this ever funny. I do like Natsuki’s new love interest—and her abrasive, overprotective, and smitten best friend—and honestly I just wish those two had their own manga instead, because I really can’t do fifteen more volumes of this one. – Michelle Smith

The Shadows of Who We Once Were, Vol. 8 | By Yae Utsumi | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I wouldn’t exactly say The Shadows of Who We Once Were has been a fun series to binge—it’s about teens being held hostage by a former classmate and forced to participate in deadly experiments, after all—but it’s certainly been riveting in its own bleak way. From the outset, readers knew the total of deaths related to the incident, and the final two turn out to be quite a surprise. I also appreciated how the reporter factored in, and the cynical detail that her subsequent article managed to change public opinion for, like, three months. The best part of the series, though, is the way the survivors have changed from the incident, in many cases for the better. Overall, I really liked this series and hope that it will one day have a print release. – Michelle Smith

Asumi-chan Is Interested in Lesbian Brothels!, Vol. 1 | By Kuro Itsuki | Seven Seas – I wasn’t originally planning to read this at all, but several people I respect said it was actually quite well done. So I read it, and they were right. Asumi is a young gay woman who pines after her older friend who took care of her when she was younger. She wants to find her, but the only reliable rumor is that she works as a sex worker in a place for other like-minded women. This is very consensual and sex-positive, despite the cover art. Each chapter is a different hostess, and the sex is explicit without getting too tawdry. The actual payoff is hinted at the end of the first chapter, but this is essentially a foodie manga, but with lesbian sex. The journey is the reason to read it. – Sean Gaffney

Captain Corinth: The Galactic Navy Officer Becomes an Adventurer, Vol. 1 | By Atsuhiko Itoh and Tomomasa Takuma | One Peace Books – Isekai seems nearly impossible to escape these days, but even so it’s not a subgenre that I tend to frequent. The manga adaptation of Captain Corinth caught my attention, however, by promising to meld science fiction and fantasy elements without relying on reincarnation to propel its lead character into a different world. Corinth’s near-death experience is still pivotal, though—as the only surviving crewmember of a starship, his escape pod crash lands him on a planet of magic-users, a rarity in the universe. Granted, his survival largely depends on highly advanced technology that may as well be a form of magic. His successes come far too easily as a result at this point, but that may soon change. This early on in the series the balance between science fiction and fantasy hasn’t quite been realized, but the potential is definitely there for them to be combined in interesting ways. – Ash Brown

The Food Diary of Miss Maid, Vol. 1 | By Susumu Maeya| Kodansha Manga (digital only) – There is a bit of a plot here, but only a bit. Suzume, a maid who works in an English mansion, is on vacation in Japan for a week or so… then her master tells her the mansion has been destroyed. While they rebuild it, she has to stay there. What this means is that you get a cute girl in a maid outfit who is Japanese but (having lived in England) has little idea what Japanese food and food etiquette is like, trying out various Japanese delicacies and telling us about them. As such, it’s a foodie manga (with no lesbian sex). It’s well done, as it made me hungry for the items in question, especially the dango. That said, there’s no character development here beyond her meeting her neighbor, who is essentially a straight (wo)man. – Sean Gaffney

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 10 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This volume opens with a thoroughly charming sequence that I shan’t spoil, reminding us of the whimsy this series is capable of before it gets down to SO. MUCH. ADULTING. Mikuri and Hiramasa are expecting! Her morning sickness is extremely bad, so Hiramasa takes over a lot of household tasks (all while not letting on how worried he is) while they both try to navigate the many rules their employers and others have about leave time and applying for this or that. Meanwhile, Yuri is having a health scare and one of Hiramasa’s coworkers starts to fall for him (while dealing with rampant sexism in the workplace). A lot of emphasis is on Mikuri and Hiramasa functioning as a team, and that Hiramasa’s request for a month of paternity leave is frowned upon because what could a man possibly contribute? As good as ever, thankfully! – Michelle Smith

Night of the Living Cat, Vol. 1 | By Hawkman and Mecha-Roots | Seven Seas – Night of the Living Cat is to manga what Shaun of the Dead is to movies: both are loving spoofs of the zombie genre that faithfully reproduce its signature tropes. The central joke in Living Cat is that infected humans don’t turn into flesh-eating monsters but adorable kitties; the main mode of transmission is snuggling. While that premise sounds hilarious, the authors’ commitment to telling the story with a straight face ends up weighing down what should be a goofy, buoyant send-up of I Am a Hero and The Walking Dead. The result is like watching a Naked Gun movie in which every actor delivers their lines in a natural, conversational tone; the jokes are there, but the delivery is off. – Katherine Dacey

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 6 | By Misaki Takamatsu |Seven Seas – The main story of this manga continues to be terrific. Mitsumi is still bright and shiny, but has lost a lot of the country hick that she started off with (though she still needs other’s help buying “city-specific” presents). It’s also Valentine’s Day, so it’s time for Mika to shoot her shot and confess to Shima, even though she, the school, and the reader know how that’s going to go. And we also get a great chapter from Nao’s point of view, where she confesses to her friend that seeing Mitsumi’s supportive family and circle of loving friends makes her envious for all the support she never had. This is not a trans manga per se, as Nao is a supporting character, but trans readers should find it very welcoming. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 16 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – For the most part, unlike the anime (which expanded the cast out of necessity), this manga is very much about two kids and not much else. But, as the series has gone on, we have gotten side couples (such as Nakai and Mano, who remain adorable) and Those Three Girls. But now we’re moving up to second year (making the cast fourteen years old), and the series’ resident grumpy tsundere, Hojo, who is clearly in love with her neighbor and friend but is not really admitting it. All of this helps to balance and contrast Takagi and Nishikata, who pretty much have their one gimmick. It is a VERY good gimmick, though, and Takagi is blushing more and more each volume. This should please fans. – Sean Gaffney

Usotoki Rhetoric, Vol. 1 | By Ritsu Miyako | One Peace Books – Urabe Kanoko was driven out of her home village due to her ability to hear lies. She arrives in Tsukumoya Town in search of a job, and soon becomes the assistant of a perpetually penniless detective named Iwai Soma. He’s the first person who has wanted her by his side even after learning of her power, declaring, “I think you can become a real force for good!” Together, they test the limits of her ability and come up with a system by which she can inconspicuously signal when someone involved in a case is lying. In this volume, they solve such mysteries as “where did that kid go?,” “why did Iwai lie about knowing that lady?,” and “where did that other kid go?” Though the mysteries are light so far, I still really enjoyed this volume, especially the 1926 setting, and very much look forward to more! – Michelle Smith

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 1 | By Saki and Tsukasa Satsuki| J-Novel Club (digital only) – As you can likely guess, this is another villainess story. Mary Albert realizes one day that she’s the villainess in an otome game, and will end up destitute and her family in ruins. The gimmick here is that she decides to embrace her fate wholeheartedly, and seeks out the various scenes with the heroine, Alicia, so that she can be as nasty as possible. There’s just one issue: Mary Albert is sweet as pie, both with and without reincarnated memories, and her attempts to be mean backfire horribly as she helps Alicia at every turn. There’s no reason she chooses to be evil other than “comedy,” but the comedy is fun, and I also like her long-suffering servant who’s in love with her. – Sean Gaffney

Catch These Hands!, Vol. 3 | By murata | Yen Press – This volume takes us back to Takebe’s initial thought process: all her former gang friends have gotten married and had kids, so she feels the need to change herself and stop being a grumpy thug. The problem is that she clearly doesn’t actually want to do this, she just feels that she needs to do it—and this ends up causing the first serious argument between her and Soramori. Honestly, the main reason we enjoy this series so much is seeing Takebe as a grumpy cuss, as well as seeing these two talk the only way they really know how—by beating the crap out of each other. We get that here, let’s hope it leads to less violent ways to resolve conflict… though honestly, it probably won’t. An underrated yuri series. – Sean Gaffney

The Gay Who Turned Kaiju | By Kazuki Minamoto | Yen Press – Takashi Arashiro moved to Tokyo for high school, full of dreams of the person he could become there. Instead, he ends up bullied and, after he overhears the beloved teacher who was his only source of hope expressing disgust for gay people, he desperately wishes to be something other than gay and is instantly transformed into a kaiju. For the most part this is a story about acceptance, and though the message can be a little heavy-handed at times, it’s still satisfying to see Arashiro serve some harsh truths to the oblivious Kuroda-sensei. I also really appreciated that the story did not end the way I had anticipated. However, I am troubled that both Arashiro and another gay character end up groping straight guys without their consent, with the former saying, “If you put up a fight I’ll bite your head off.” I don’t know why that was necessary. – Michelle Smith

Murcielago, Vol. 20 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – As this series has gone on it’s focused far less on Kuroko and her attempts to molest every woman she meets (though she does try that here), and more about enveloping the reader in horror stories. It’s basically an anthology now, and this volume’s story involves an And Then There Were None-style plotline where Kuroko and company end up stranded at a hot springs resort with a family that keeps getting killed off in various ways that have something to do with a girl named Ayako who was indirectly killed by them a while back. There’s not much detecting going on in this one, to be honest—the suspects keep dying too fast. For fans of gore. – Sean Gaffney

Touring After the Apocalypse, Vol. 1 | By Sakae Saito | Yen Press – For those who enjoyed Kino’s Journey and Girls’ Last Tour, this is another in a line of series that can be described as “post-apocalyptic travelogue.” Youko may be the last human on Earth, as she was in a shelter when some unnamed disaster hit. She’s accompanied by Airi, an android who seems to be half companion, half bodyguard. Together they’re motorbiking around Japan, trying to find the places that Youko’s sister took instagram photos of and seeing what they look like now. As you’d expect, a highlight of this series is the artwork, showing off decay and destruction, but it doesn’t feel as bleak and depressing as the other two series I mentioned. We’ll see where it leads us. – Sean Gaffney

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet, Vol. 1 | By Mika Yamamori | Yen Press – In many ways, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet is a fairly generic shoujo manga. Fumi Ohno, a plucky and practical heroine with domestic skills aplenty, ends up homeless after her father’s debts cause them to be evicted. She becomes a live-in housekeeper for a young and handsome novelist who seems rude at first, but soon exhibits a kinder side. He protects her from a panty thief. She thinks, literally, “Just what…. is this feeling?” Another potential love interest is introduced in the form of a transfer student and it’s someone Fumi met once in the past. Though the story beats were extremely familiar, I still enjoyed this a good bit. Perhaps it’s the Margaret factor. The expressive art also helps, as does the fact that the transfer student (at this stage, at least) is holding a pretty ridiculous grudge against Fumi. I look forward to seeing how this develops. – Michelle Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 10 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – Witch Hat Atelier started with Coco, and she’s still the primary protagonist, but it’s nice to see that the other girls in the group are also getting their own plotlines. Unfortunately, those plotlines are starting to look as dark as Coco’s is. She’s busy trying to save Custas from a turn to evil, but we also see Agott struggling with trying to come up with something extraordinary to show everyone who abandoned her, and Tetia is meeting royalty and I fear soon will discover that bubbly optimism tends to smash up against cold, hard reality. Which we also see in this volume, as a relationship is destroyed due to Custas’ rampage. I don’t think this series will get very dark, but it does get somewhat dark. – Sean Gaffney

You Like Me, Not My Daughter?!, Vol. 1 | By Kota Nozomi and Tesshin Azuma | Seven Seas – We rarely get this sort of manga in English anymore, the type that I would characterize as “romantic sex comedy.” Based on a light novel, it stars Ayako, a 30-ish woman who works in publishing and raises her niece/adopted daughter Miu, who is turning fifteen. Ayako has had zero time to devote to romance, so is delighted to see that Miu’s childhood friend, Takumi, a college boy, looks like he might confess. As the title might suggest, Takumi likes her instead. This is exactly what it looks like, basically. If you like to see hot moms stress out over whether they should date guys over ten years younger than them, while also having lots of shower and bath scenes, there are worse titles. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Box, Vol. 1 | By Kouji Miura | Viz Media – Sports manga always sell well in Japan, and high school romantic comedies are also popular. So why not combine the two in the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump? The sports series can’t ALL be driven by BL fandom, after all. Blue Box stars Chinatsu, a high school first year who’s the star of the basketball team, and Taiki, a junior high third year who has a massive crush on her… and is also on the badminton team. The romcom part starts when, due to circumstances, Chinatsu moves in with Taiki’s family. That said, the sports is not a supporting part of the series, and Taiki’s badminton games take up just as much time. I’d like to see more of Chinatsu, but it is only the first volume. A promising start. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Box, Vol. 1 | By Kouji Miura | VIZ Media – Taiki Inomata and Chinatsu Kano attend a school with a powerhouse sports program. Taiki, who is on the badminton team, has feelings for Chinatsu, a talented basketball star who is good enough to have been featured in magazines. When plot contrivances force Chinatsu to move in with Taiki’s family for the duration of high school, I inwardly groaned but should’ve had more faith. Instead of ecchi shenanigans, we get scenes where they talk about their goals and share support for each other’s dreams. I really like that Taiki is such an honorable dude. He works hard, he embraces challenges, and he communicates clearly to resolve misunderstandings. Even when he frets that Chinatsu may be especially close to his main rival on the badminton team, he never wants to use her as an excuse for when he loses. These are good kids and I look forward to the next volume! – Michelle Smith

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 4 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – One thing that separates a title like this from its teasing relatives such as Takagi-san is that Kubo actually seems to be the more immature one. Yes, she’s trying to coax him out of his shell, and her teasing works wonders, but you can tell that it takes a lot out of her and she’s profoundly embarrassed by her own feelings most of the time. Shiraishi not only drinks coffee (in the funniest chapter in the book), but his muted responses sometimes hide that he’s more with it when it comes to this sort of thing. Of course, he has other issues that hold him back as well. The two of them make a good couple not just because they’re cute together, but because they bring out each other’s best side. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 27 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – When it comes to long-running semi-plotless anthology series like Natsume’s Book of Friends, characterization is mostly static. You aren’t going to see Natsume suddenly get a girlfriend (or boyfriend), and the series will no doubt end, whenever it does, with his finishing the one thing that drives the plot—giving everyone’s name back. So it was a surprise to see Chobi, who has been around since the start of things, have a second, unseen side to him that we’re only uncovering now. This is especially interesting given his yokai background, but it fits in well with Natsume’s Book of Friends, where the yokai aren’t really connected with famous stories, but actual characters. Always good. – Sean Gaffney

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, Vol. 4 | By Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa | Ghost Ship The new volume does not quite have the audience-alienating partner the previous one did. We get a girl who is constantly hungry, and also constantly angry, which is relatively normal. We also get Hahari’s maid, who never opens her eyes, because those types of characters never open their eyes. We also see some truly heartwarming moments, usually involving Rentarou and the girls, but also things like Nano admitting how much she cares for the other girls as friends. That said, this is still a Ghost Ship series, not for nudity so much as the constant horniness, with the ending gag implying both mother and daughter getting a bit TOO excited. Not with each other, thankfully. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 47 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – It’s rare that we see crossovers between shoujo titles over here in English, and when we do we run the danger that the other series is unlicensed in North America. This volume, though, not only has a character who is dressed like Sinha from Yona of the Dawn (complete with squirrel) as part of an event when every chapter of Hana to Yume that issue had the squirrel somewhere in there, but also features an insanely hot piece of art at the end with Moko dressed up as Jaeha, something which made me fan my face a bit. It’s clear that Nakamura is a big fan of Yona—well, the two series are pretty much the face of the magazine now (please forget about Yami no Matsuei). As for the plot of this book… I’m sure Michelle will tell you about it. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 47 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Happy to oblige! This volume is not exactly filler, as it does get the ball rolling on a new project Ren might be part of, but it’s certainly a step back from the romantic intensity of recent volumes as Kyoko and Moko go to an amusement park and “quite by chance” end up accompanying an American lady who is, of course, more than she seems. Meanwhile, Ren and his pretend lover agree to continue their charade for the press in order to protect the ones they really care about. Thankfully, I like the story and characters enough to find even exposition entertaining, though I must agree with Sean that the absolute highlight is the ridiculously hawt illustration of Moko dressed as Jaeha. – Michelle Smith

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 19 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media After answering “how old is Princess Syali?” last volume, there’s an arc here that tries to emphasize that, when the princess, mistaking a demon for her father, suddenly goes into hyper work mode, complete with business suit and half-glasses. This suggests disturbing things about her relationship with her father, but fortunately the result seems to be more “she feels guilty lazing around while seeing him working” than any actual abuse. As for the rest, the series loves its metatext, the best of which this time is the Princess Syalis body pillow. Which, fortunately, is not nude on the back, because while Syalis may be an adult, she’s still drawn in chibi mode most of the time. – Sean Gaffney

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 6 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe| Viz Media – The plotline of this volume is a dungeon crawl of sorts, where the examinees face off against doppelganger versions of themselves. Which is incredibly dangerous given that one of the examinees is Frieren, who is ludicrously overpowered, and therefore her clone is as well. That said, as always the plot is the title, as Frieren is still finding little things every day that remind her of the journey she took so long ago, and now that she’s matured (and most of her comrades are dead) she can finally really appreciate them. This is a series that gets by entirely on ‘vibe,’ and its vibe is fantastic. Everyone should be reading this. – Sean Gaffney

The Gay Who Turned Kaiju | By Kazuki Minamoto | Yen Press – Originally released as a series of short doujinshi, The Gay Who Turned Kaiju was ultimately collected and published as a single volume. And what a volume it is! On the surface the basic premise of the manga may seem somewhat goofy—a gay high school student literally turns into a kaiju after wishing so hard to be anything other than what he is—but the underlying themes are actually quite serious and treated with tremendous sincerity. With The Gay Who Turned Kaiju, Minamoto delves into the complexities of human nature and relationships, exploring what it means to be accepted or not and the assumptions people make about others as well as themselves. The emotions can be raw and visceral, the characters not always expressing themselves in the healthiest or most appropriate ways as they struggle and ultimately acheive understanding. The Gay Who Turned Kaiju is a compelling and honest work. – Ash Brown

Medalist, Vol. 5 | By TSURUMAIKADA | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This volume starts with Inori being rather poleaxed to find that Hikaru isn’t at the next event—since she’s guaranteed a spot no matter what, she’s doing special training. What’s more, Inori ends up being second-to-last in the stages, meaning we don’t get to see her skate. (It’ll be the start of the sixth book.) The good thing about this is that we get to look at all the other skaters, see their triumphs and frustrations, and see how one person’s success can destroy three other skaters’ changes just like that. As always, the brilliant art helps, as well as the occasional dose of humor, such as Inori trying to be extroverted or the “does not understand dad jokes” gag. I shilled for this manga at Anime NYC< and will again. It deserves print. – Sean Gaffney

The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent: The Other Saint, Vol. 1 | By Aoagu and Yuka Tachibana | Seven Seas – The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent is in the genre of “whoops, we summoned the wrong person,” a small but solid subgenre of isekai. In the main series, we find that the person they thought was the mistake is actually the Saint. Here we see the POV of Aira, who is initially thought to be the Chosen One due to being a cute teenager and not, y’know, an exhausted OL, but then things turn out differently. Fortunately, Aira is not the “heroine” to Sei’s “villainess,” and this spinoff runs on the same relaxed vibe as the main series, with Aira drifting through the world looking for a purpose now that she’s not the Saint. This is nice, but not necessary. – Sean Gaffney

She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 1 | By Sakaomi Yuzaki | Yen Press – I commented on Twitter last week (an old social media site, for the young ‘uns) that every manga starts off with a different premise, and then it gradually becomes “but it’s really about food.” This one cuts out the middleman, as the joy of cooking and also the joy of eating are paramount. Notomo has a tendency to stress-cook, but lives alone. Her neighbor Kasuga has a large appetite, one rarely satisfied by the dinners she’s been getting. And what’s more, Notomo simply loves to watch Kasuga eat. This is a yuri series, but aside from a few subtle hints there’s not much of that in the first volume. But it’s wonderful to simply see these two women interact. I want them to get closer. – Sean Gaffney

Artist | By Yeong-shin Ma | Drawn & Quarterly – Two years after Yeong-shin Ma’s critically acclaimed manhwa Moms was released in English comes a second major work, Artist. Instead of focusing on mothers in their fifties, the hefty, largely full-color volume revolves around three men in their forties—a painter, a musician, and an author. Ostensibly these three artists are friends, but as the story progresses they fall in and out of favor with one another (and everyone else) as their personal creative successes and failures further complicate their already fraught relationships. The realism of the main characters and their interactions with others is one of the most remarkable elements of the work. Admittedly, it can occasionally be an uncomfortable read as Ma doesn’t shy away from unflattering portrayals of people and their sometimes despicable behaviour. However, another aspect of Artist that I particularly appreciate is how Ma utilizes a variety of illustration styles in service of its narrative. – Ash Brown

Imaginary, Vol. 1 | By Niiro Ikuhana | Seven Seas – I picked this up as I tend to love stories from the magazine that it runs in, Rakuen de Paradis. So far, the magazine hasn’t let me down. The overt plot of this title is just ordinary—two childhood friends who never quite got together despite obvious feelings try awkwardly and indirectly to convey them once they’re reunited—but the execution is fantastic, with flights of fancy turning the art into anything it needs to be. One character hangs out with his past and future selves, the other has a group of girlfriends all of whom are interesting in their own right. My favorite is the really tall girl. Definitely recommended if you like imagination. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 21 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Given how many different high school series have trips to Kyoto so everyone can walk around the historical sites, it’s rather startling to see where Komi’s class ends up going on their school trip—New York City! This, of course, allows for plane gags, foreigners-in-a-foreign-land gags, and a whole new group of strangers dazzled by how amazingly beautiful Komi is. And, of course, the love triangle between Komi, Manbagi, and Tadano, which is not going to go OT3 no matter how much I cross my fingers. The best chapter here may be Komi and her friend Rei (see volume twelve) each trying to one-up each other about how well they know their best friends (who are standing next to them as this goes on). Fun as always. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 32 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – This volume is essentially the “Deku Alone” arc of the series, as our erstwhile protagonist has left UA for their own good, or at least that’s what he says, and is going around helping other top heroes to try to deal with what Shigaraki hath wrought. Sometimes this means that we get old “favorites” back, like Muscular, who is still a terrible human being. And sometimes we get Lady Nagant, whose backstory probably deserves more room to breathe than it gets here, and who is summarily written out if not killed off once she’s served her purpose. This series has not gone off the rails yet, but the rail cars are shaking. – Sean Gaffney

Romantic Killer, Vol. 1 | By Wataru Momose | Viz Media – I am an old-school shoujo reader, and sometimes fall into old-school shoujo reader habits. As such, I found this first volume of Romantic Killer hilarious. It’s got a great reaction face almost every page, comedic violence towards what amounts to a Kyubey knockoff, and a strong, spunky heroine. That said… the plot of this book is about a girl who is not explicitly said to be asexual, but everything about her life implies she is, and trapping her in a dating sim world until she gets together with another guy. As the recent anime version has shown, this is a big NO SALE to a lot of folks. I do think this is enjoyable and fun… but I’d read it in a early 2000s mode, not a 2020s one. – Sean Gaffney

The Summer You Were There, Vol. 1 | By Yuama | Seven Seas – Sometimes a title feels like it’s trying too hard. This is a yuri story about an introverted girl who secretly writes novels, and the extroverted and tiny girl who finds out… and suggests that she get more material by dating over the summer. Part of the problem is that this is in the genre of “extrovert batters down introvert’s walls till they give in,” which is not really what people these days want to read. The other problem is that it rapidly becomes very clear why Kaori is suggesting this, and it’s not “I really want to see Shizuku get better as an author.” It’s trying to be indirect, but it’s about as subtle as a truck. Still, if you like yuri you’ll probably want to pick this up. – Sean Gaffney

Anti-Romance, Vol. 1 | By Shoko Hidaka | Seven Seas – I was a big fan of Shoko Hidaka’s series Blue Morning. She excels at depicting complicated relationships where obstacles and conflict come not from external sources but from within the people involved. Happily, the same skillful characterization is on display in Anti-Romance. Ryou Kakitani and Hiroki Suou were childhood friends and classmates and now they’ve been roommates for six years. Nothing has happened between them, though Ryou has, on a couple of occasions, made it obvious that his feelings for Suou go beyond mere friendship. Suou prefers to run away from this knowledge so that things can remain comfortably as they are. Urged on by a meddling coworker, Ryou finally issues an ultimatum: “Do we face each other and move forward? Or do I go ahead and move out?” This is the sort of BL where some chaste smoochies are really big progress, and I’m so here for it. – Michelle Smith

Dinosaur Sanctuary, Vol. 1 | By Itaru Kinoshita | Seven Seas – The premise of this series is a bit high-concept: once upon a time, there were popular zoos for dinosaurs, just like Jurassic Park. But now a few years later, and a few disasters onward, our heroes are at a run-down, ramshackle zoo trying to get people interested in their dinos. Fortunately, they have a plucky young new girl, whose dad is said to have ties to this whole project, as well as a grumpy young man who clearly loves the dinosaurs more than any humans he comes across (he’s clearly her love interest, but this really isn’t a manga that will ever put that front and center). What this mostly is is a love letter to dinosaurs behaving cutely, and if you’re a fan of the species this is worth a read. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 12 | By Afro | Yen Press – This volume shows us what the other three members of the club were doing while Rin and Nadeshiko are having their suspension-bridge camping adventures. That said, what it really is is an excuse for the author to simply go bananas, as the “flashback” to what actually happened is immediately filled with lies, additions, and a constantly commenting Nadeshiko, who leans in and out of a panel box meant to indicate the non-flashback portion of the narrative. Things get so surreal that the entire narrative breaks down and turns anarchic, much to the horror of Chiaki, who is trying to keep this volume vaguely sane. The closest they get there is a discussion of the best ways to chop firewood. A bizarre side step, but hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

My Love Mix-Up!, Vol. 5 | By Aruko and Wataru Hinekure | VIZ Media – In this volume, Aoki starts cram school and ends up teaching his instructor a valuable lesson about prejudice. Then it’s Valentine’s Day and Hashimoto makes cupcakes for Akkun and there’s a big misunderstanding with an eventual sweet resolution. Then Aoki gets a part-time job and Ida feels left out. Meanwhile, Aoki’s tsundere coworker seems to fancy him. Yes, My Love Mix-Up! has become somewhat more typical shoujo as it has gone along, but I still really enjoy the main characters and their interactions. I’m most impressed by how much Akkun has developed as a character—initially I couldn’t fathom at all why Hashimoto might fancy him, but he’s turned out to be pretty interesting. There are only four more volumes of this, which feels about right. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 21 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – I get the sense that the author is aware that no one really wanted what happened in the last three volumes, but she is stubbornly sticking to it and shoving it in our faces some more, as Kiki and Hisame get engaged. There’s a distinct lack of love on her part, and this is very much a political marriage. That said, hopefully we can finally put it on the back burner. More to the point, Snow White with the Red Hair is going on the road, as the King quietly (very quietly) orders Shirayuki and Obi to travel from town to town trying to sell people on the cure they’ve come up with which is unusual and will require some explanation. I think that, rather than angsty romance, is the foreseeable future. Still good. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 11 | By Maybe | Yen Press – Last time I said “more battles, less sex.” There is slightly less sex here, I admit, mostly as it’s very difficult to get your rocks off when your other ring-bearing fiancees are within listening distance. They do all get a very nice “yes, I really am in love with you, and can’t wait till I get my turn” scene. As for battles, it’s mostly just walking slowly towards the battlefield here, with a slight diversion by Amber in order to get a bit more of her backstory. This volume does not really do anything wrong, but I get the sense that the author was told to shoot for a certain volume number, and ended up short of material, because it’s astonishing how little happens here. Perhaps more battles NEXT time? – Sean Gaffney

Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet, Vol. 1 | By Mika Yamamori | Yen Press – This manga has many familiar ingredients. Fumi is a plucky high school student forced to take a job as a housekeeper for a mysterious novelist. Kibikino is the mysterious novelist who ends up being young and having a tendency to collapse close to Fumi. Add in a new cranky student at Fumi’s school who bears a grudge for her beating him at a tiny tikes race ten years ago and you have a ready-made love triangle. Yamamori’s art is winsome, and Fumi’s earnest dedication to couponing is hilarious, but I wish there had been something a little more unexpected about this first volume. I’ll likely hang in there or another volume or so to see if I end up being pleasantly surprised. – Anna N.

Usotoki Rhetoric, Vol. 1 | By Ritsu Miyako | One Peace Books – Urabe Kanoko has the ability to detect lies by the sound of a person’s voice. A useful skill, it would seem, but a talent that has left her and her family ostracized in their hometown. And so she leaves, determined to hide her ability and start life anew. But things aren’t easy for a young woman on her own at the dawn of the Shōwa era. Fortunately, Urabe eventually meets Iwai Soma, a remarkably perceptive private detective who is convinced her talent can be used for good. The first volume of Usotoki Rhetoric is a strong start to a delightful series. There has already been some great character development and the leads are charming. Urabe and Iwai’s respective talents support and complement one another in entertaining and satisfying ways—while Urabe’s lie-detecting ability is helpful, Iwai’s understanding of people is just as important. I’m really looking forward to reading more. – Ash Brown

Falling Drowning, Vol. 3 | By Yuko Inari | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s the final volume and, inevitably, Honatsu has begun to regain her memories. With them, she remembers that Shun was once her most precious person. Unfortunately, she’s currently dating Toma. Seasoned shoujo readers might expect that Honatsu choosing one of them would be the culmination of the series, but it’s actually her relationship to her past self that has the biggest payoff, as she eventually comes to recognize that young Honatsu was never really as invincible as everyone thought, and the past six years have taught her how to talk about her weakness and sadness without hesitation. It’s clear from the author’s notes that she was told to wrap things up quickly and that there had been more she wanted to draw. While things do feel somewhat rushed, Falling Drowning still comes to a satisfying conclusion. – Michelle Smith

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 3 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – This is an improvement on the second volume. There is still the occasional mention of Shiraishi lacking any presence, but for the most part we’re moving on from that and starting to show WHY Kubo seems to be so over the moon for him. Because she 100% is, far more than the Takagis and Nagatoros of this world. It can be embarrassing, as she would no doubt freely admit when her older sister starts drunkenly teasing her in front of Shiraishi (who now worries this is his fault somehow). I’m not sure when these two cuties are going to get together, and I’ve no doubt it will be a few more volumes. But guaranteed money they’ll do it before the other two girls I mentioned above. – Sean Gaffney

Lost Lad London, Vol. 2 | By Shima Shinya | Yen Press – To be honest, the central mystery of Lost Lad London—who is framing Al Adley for the murder of his biological father, the mayor of London?—doesn’t move forward much in this volume. The most significant thing that happens is that the cops decide Al’s their prime suspect, haul him in for questioning, and search his residence without a warrant. The real charm is the atmosphere. This feels like a proper mystery, for one, but there is also some amusing interplay between Al and Ellis that makes me yearn for an adaptation of some kind. Too, I appreciate that the characters discuss the racism and sexism they’ve had to contend with in their lives. I look forward to the third and final volume for the solution (and to see if my guess is right) but I’m bummed our time with these characters will have been so brief. – Michelle Smith

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 15 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Suddenly Queen’s Quality has gotten a lot more depressing. Certainly this helps with the aimless feel we’ve had the last few books, and the cast is now winnowed down to people I can remember. But man, when the “good end” is your hero protecting everyone by destroying all the memories he’s ever had, that’s bleak. Fortunately, I doubt that Fumi and company are going to let Kyutaro get away with that. Unfortunately, all their alternatives also seem to involve sacrificing themselves. Hell, even some of the terrible villains are falling to horribly gruesome deaths. I don’t THINK this is the sort of manga to end with its main couple dead or dying. But I guess we’ll have to see. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 8 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – Not gonna lie, this is THE best arc of Spy x Family to date, and the entirely of this book is right in the middle of it. Not only do we see Yor take out dozens of assassins, either in public (so she has to incapacitate them) or in private (where she can murder them). She is simply amazing, and it’s also stunning to see a Jump series show off this much blood, gore, and death—expect the anime to cut this heavily. At the heart of this, though, is the core of Yor’s story arc—her goals in becoming an assassin are mostly fulfilled now, or can be fulfilled by the family that she loves dearly but doesn’t know it yet. She wants to give it up. Unfortunately, she can’t right now, as she has to save the mother and daughter from death. Amazing book. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 11 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Aside from one chapter right at the start of this volume which tries to get into the topic of fetishes and flounders badly, this is a very good entry in the series, mostly because of a discussion I don’t think I was expecting it to have, even if it doesn’t dwell on it ling. When our married couple go to buy a car and Ikuma has to take a call, he returns to find that the salesman was “waiting for the man” to offer his card and start the pitch—something Sumika notes happens ALL THE TIME. Indeed, when Ikuma does the bare minimum of pointing out that women should be treated as equals, he gets a round of applause from every woman in the dealership. An unexpected surprise in this otherwise cutesy volume. – Sean Gaffney

D-Frag!, Vol. 16 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – This new volume (by now the series is annual) involves a massive parody of “trapped in a game” stories, as the main cast are all in an experimental VRMMO which has a few bugs in the system. Kazuma’s in-game cursed armor may be affected by a REAL curse on him, Runa’s attempt to imitate Lone Wolf and Cub has left her as a baby, and Sakura can only use water spells, because, well, she’s Sakura. There are some very funny stabs at both Sword Art Online and similar stories as well as the D-Frag cast itself, with Kazuma once again having to rely on his tsukkomi in order to survive. That said, it ended with a surprise heartwarming moment… with Kazuma being the most surprised! Still underrated. – Sean Gaffney

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 11 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – The End of Humanity has been promised for several volumes now, and this volume is here to deliver on it. We get some really terrifying horror shots here of innocent folks suddenly having their arms and legs cut off by alien spores, but that pales next to the actual apocalypse, which takes up more than one two-page spread. We even get what appears to be the final Isobeyan chapter, giving it an ending that the original Doraemon never actually got. That said, the last volume in the series is twelve, not eleven, and I suspect some sort of time travel/alternate universe stuff may manage to save the day. For now, though, hope you aren’t attached to anyone on Earth. – Sean Gaffney

Dekoboko Bittersweet Days | By Atsuko Yusen | TOKYOPOP – In this sequel to Dekoboko Sugar Days, things start somewhat episodically. Rui and Yuujirou move up to their third year in high school, they go to the beach, there’s a flashback to them as kids, etc. Eventually, however, the references to their college plans and worries about how their families might react to their relationship coalesce into a fairly dramatic story. Now, was it really that believable that Yuujirou would break up with Rui on Christmas and not talk to him again until right before Rui is about to get on a plane to attend college in France? No, not really. Not when they love each other so much. But their last-minute reconciliation is still great because they were utterly unconcerned in that moment about their families finding out and, surprise, everything was totally fine. Sometimes an ending can be predictable and still be sweet and satisfying. – Michelle Smith

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 11 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – This came out a lot faster than I was expecting, but that may be because things are very quickly coming to a climax, and the end plot may be less “how do we save Falin?” and more “how do we not all get executed as criminals?” Marcille won’t be helping, as due to plot and circumstance she’s now in charge of the dungeon, though we only get a brief glimpse of what that actually entails. And rest assured, there is some incredibly disgusting horror here as well, because that is also the sort of thing this series can offer us. Actually, there’s not as much food this time around—or at least not food that we can convert to real recipes. I’m not sure how much longer this has to go, but it will be interesting to see how Laios talks himself out of this one. – Sean Gaffney

Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger, Vol. 1 | By Emboss | Seven Seas – At first glance, Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger looks like a standard-issue food manga, focusing on two friends whose main hobby is trying out new restaurants. The artwork reinforces the idea that this is a Food Manga™ with numerous close-ups of Wolf and Tiger slurping noodles, sighing contentedly, and rubbing their bellies as they sample new delicacies, all of which are rendered in meticulous, mouth-watering detail. The frenetic pacing, however, robs the story of its educational and entertainment potential; at every turn, we’re bombarded with new characters, few of whom are properly introduced to the reader, despite the presence of a narrator. By the end of volume one I felt tired and hangry—a sure sign that this series wasn’t working for me. YMMV. – Katherine Dacey

Sakamoto Days, Vol. 2 | By Yuto Suzuki | VIZ Media – The second installment of Sakamoto Days does pretty much what you’d expect: we’re introduced to new assassins—none of whom are equal to the task of killing the hero—and a conspiracy involving a top-secret organization. We’re also treated to a few amusing flashbacks to Sakamoto’s training, as well as an acrobatic fight scene that begins on a roller coaster and ends at a haunted house. Though the action scenes aren’t as dazzling as the best Shonen Jumpka titles, Yuto Suzuki knows his way around a good sight gag, and peppers every fight sequence with a few humorous interludes. What really keeps Sakamoto Days aloft, however, is heart: the characters’ obvious affection for one another makes it easier to embrace the story’s killer-gets-dragged-back-into-his-old-life plot. Recommended. – Katherine Dacey

See You Tomorrow at the Food Court | By Shinichiro Nariie| Yen Press – This is a dialogue-heavy story that relies entirely on the personalities of the two high school girl leads. Yamamoto dresses like a gal, but is relatively serious and has a job. Wada looks like an honor student, but is a flake who is all over the place. They’re best friends, and every day they eat at the food court in the mall and discuss… whatever. This was marketed as yuri-ish, but aside from the final chapter it’s not really. It is a good examination of high school girls and the need to have a “public” face. How much you like it depends on how much you can tolerate Wada, who can be very hard to take a lot of the time, though I think she’s ultimately lovable. A one-shot for now, it just restarted in Japan. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, Vol. 8 | By Neko Nekobyou and Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – This is the final volume of the series, and like previous volumes, it focuses on its main character—Lux. She’s had the emotional arc since the very start of the series, and now she gets to come to terms with the death of her friend, come to terms with the fact that she was a pawn of Laughing Coffin, and come to terms with the hero-worship she has for Kirito, even when he’s an NPC that may or may not contain his soul. It wouldn’t be SAO without playing fast and loose with sentience. In the meantime, this was a solid series that gave screen time to most of the regulars who are not Kirito, Asuna or Sinon, and I’m happy to have read it. – Sean Gaffney

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 11 | By Nanashi | Kodansha Manga – I haven’t actually briefed this for a long time. Since I did, in fact, it had an anime, which was somewhat polarizing but is getting a second season. The premise has evolved now that Senpai is a senior, and that means there’s an actual new recruit to the art club. What’s more, Nagatoro has joined the judo club, trying to get back the competitive mojo she lost long ago when a more talented girl blew right past her. As a result, we may have some genuine change here, as the two of them can’t hang out endlessly in the art room anymore. Senpai knows this, which is why he actually struggles to try to ask Nagatoro to… y’know… hang out. Not a date. Nagatoro has mellowed, and so has this series. – Sean Gaffney

GAME: Between the Suits, Vol. 1 | By Mai Nishikata | Steamship – Oooof. It’s always dangerous doing a series about someone whose life is in a rut, who is going through the motions, who is burying herself in her work in order to avoid thinking too much. The danger is that the manga can be as boring as the protagonist’s life has become, and that’s exactly what happens here. Theoretically I should be annoyed at the male lead, who is the classic josei “smug jerk who will make the girl fall in love with him by being smug at her until she surrenders,” but I can’t be bothered, because the layout and the pacing are just too damn dull. This is supposed to be arousing! It’s a Steamship title! I should not be checking to see how many pages are left. Try one of their other titles. – Sean Gaffney

No Longer Heroine, Vol. 1 | By Momoko Koda | Yen Press – Hatori Matsuzaki has had a crush on Rita Terasaka for years. Believing that their status as childhood friends guarantees her the role of “heroine” in his love story, she is unthreatened by his string of casual girlfriends. That is, until he shows signs of actually getting serious about Adachi-san—an unlikely match in terms of looks but a sincerely good person—and Hatori is forced to consider the possibility that maybe she’s not the leading lady after all. Her obnoxious behavior in the wake of this revelation made me question whether I wanted to continue reading this series. Thankfully, she is quickly ashamed of herself, and though I cannot root for her to break up Rita and Adachi, I do root for her to move on and find a love of her own. – Michelle Smith

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 15 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – Now that ‘teasing the guy she likes’ has become a genre, we’ve seen several titles that deal with an inherent difficulty, which is that these sorts of series traditionally star a pretty, vivacious, charismatic girl and a much less charismatic boy. The question will always arise: “what does she see in him?” Fortunately, Takagi-san answers this question better than most other titles. Nishikata may struggle in his desire to “win” over Takagi, and he frequently shows off his immaturity (the series is about junior high schoolers, but sometimes you have to remind yourself of that), but he’s really a nice, decent person who always tries to do the right thing, and we see that here. That’s what she loves. – Sean Gaffney

World End Solte, Vol. 1 | By Satoshi Mizukami | Seven Seas – This author has managed to amaze me twice, first with Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, then with Spirit Circle. Both of those titles had one foot in the real world of Japan, however. This new series is 100% fantasy… even though our heroine’s powers have more than a little bit of magical girl to them. She’s dealing with a lot, as her parents are dead and she’s been sold by the beloved village head into slavery (yeah, I know, it doesn’t stick). Teaming up with a girly-looking boy trying to find a way to die, an obnoxiously perky fairy, and Mole Macarony from the Pogo books only with less Republicanism, and they’re off on an adventure… provided they survive the journey. This is hella fun, and I trust this author. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Lock, Vol. 2 | By Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura | Kodansha Comics – Blue Lock really is a lot of fun, if you can get past the fact that a program designed to foster egotistical behavior on the field will accordingly foster egotistical behavior the rest of the time, too. Raichi, in particular, is just a major asshole. Still, this volume has many positives. The teams within each wing are having a tournament with only the top two eligible to remain at Blue Lock. Team Z loses their first match, but finds a way to work cohesively as a team while enabling each player to demonstrate an independent striker spirit. Most importantly, though, Isagi finally realizes what his own personal secret weapon is and achieves an important breakthrough at the end of the volume. So far, I have ended each volume of this eager to devour the next. It might be time to try to get caught up with the digital release. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 23 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – After spending the first part of this volume dragging Chika for being so unobservant of the main romantic couple (with one or two heartwarming moments mixed in), it’s time to sift over to our other main couple… except they’re both not interested. Miko is starting to understand that she’s in love with Ishigami, but has no idea what to do next, and ends up trying “aggressive.” Ishigami is far more interested in gaming on Discord with his new friends, which include another one of his hot classmates. And then there’s Osaragi, whose support of Miko this entire time is kicked over for the (supposedly) shallow house of cards that it is. That last part is easily the most interesting, and I can’t wait to see where it goes. – Sean Gaffney

Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 30 | By Taeko Watanabe | VIZ Media – Some volumes of Kaze Hikaru are more gripping than others, and this is definitely one of them. With Yoshinobu’s rise to the rank of Shogun and the apparent assassination of the Emperor twenty days later, Ito ratchets his scheming up several notches, culminating in a plan to cultivate the appearance of a rift within the Shinsengumi that would enable him to theoretically go spy on an anti-Bakufu faction. Hijikata is dubious; Kondo endorses it. It’s 1867 now, and so even though Sei and Okita continue to make incremental romantic progress, the weight of history is hard to ignore, especially when the volume ends by foreshadowing an “unforeseen tragedy” that lies ahead. There are few series that can inspire as much dread as Kaze Hikaru. I close with my traditional lament that this does not come out more often. – Michelle Smith

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 20 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Komi Can’t Communicate is always at its best when it’s advancing its romantic plot, and we get that in abundance here… though not with Komi. A skiing trip with the gang takes up most of the first half of the book, then they all get on the bus to go home… except Tadano and Manbagi, who were accidentally left behind. With little choice, they have to find a room for the night, as that was the last bus. This pretty much leads to all the romantic cliches you can possibly imagine, including a confession of love to a sleeping partner… who turns out not to be sleeping. Fortunately, Tadano’s low self-image means he doesn’t really believe it, but the romance scale has started to fall away from Komi for the very first time. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 20 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – This is a book of two halves, as the story arc is wrapping up. The first half is everyone else hearing about Mitsuhide rejecting Kiki, and their somewhat stunned reaction to this. The second half shows us Zen and Shirayuki trying to make the most of their limited time together, which includes such lewd things as kissing, but that’s about it. And now they’re separated again, and we no doubt continue a new arc next time, though that arc may involve Kiki definitely having to give in and get married now. Snow White with the Red Hair is definitely carving its own path, and is not really interested in what readers think (or else Mitsuhide and Kiki would be together, as would Shirayuki and Obi). – Sean Gaffney

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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