Bookshelf Briefs

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

Blissful Land, Vol. 1 | By Ichimon Izumi | Kodansha (digital only) – You can almost imagine the pitch for Blissful Land: “It’s like A Bride’s Story, only it takes place in Tibet! The main character is a boy who’s training to be a doctor! Oh, and his best friend is an enormous dog! Readers are gonna love it!” And, truth be told, that’s not a bad summary of this digital-only offering from Kodansha. Like A Bride’s Story, Blissful Land takes place in the 19th century, and focuses on life in a vibrant, rural community where arranged marriages are the norm, and youngsters are betrothed at age 13. The artwork is homey and appealing, and the local customs rendered with historical specificity, but the complete absence of drama makes Blissful Land kind of a snooze, even for readers who are genuinely interested in learning more about Tibetan medicine. Your mileage may vary. – Katherine Dacey

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, Vol. 3 | By Shio Usui | Seven Seas – This is a series that just continues to hit all the right notes. It gets into the sacrifices that adults have to make for the next generation… in this case the older sister and her younger sister… and how those sorts of sacrifices don’t work if you don’t get the opinion of the one you’re doing it for. It has a realistic, sympathetic rival character who manages to fill the unlucky childhood friend trope without being pathetic, the way those sorts usually are. And the main protagonist struggles with what romantic feelings and desires are at all. I don’t think this is going down the asexual route, but there’s certainly elements of it here. Can’t wait to read more of this. – Sean Gaffney

Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata, Vol. 2 | By Hal Osaka | Kodansha Manga (digital only) – Unfortunately, I did not find the second volume of this short series nearly as compelling as the first, as it may be josei but its tropes are pure shoujo, and it falls into several cliches. The romantic rival seeming like he’d be a serious alternative might work in a series that was going to be longer, but by the end of this volume you’ll be convinced it will end with the third book. Kanna’s inability to feel real love or desire with a partner, unlike, say, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon, just feels immature here. On the bright side, I am glad that it’s focusing just as much on her job as the romance, and how her job is ridiculously tough. Still, not must-read. – Sean Gaffney

Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family, Vol. 4 | By TAa | Denpa Books – It can be a lot of fun reading this series and seeing how the author can get more of the cast involved. By definition, this series’ main cast are those who eat everyday at Emiya’s house: Shirou, Saber, Sakura, Rider, and Taiga. It can be harder to shoehorn in those who aren’t there every meal without good excuses, which is possibly why we get only two pages of Rin this time around. And sometimes excuses just aren’t needed, such as having Saber Alter appear purely because the author wanted to do a burger chapter and Saber Alter’s love for burgers is practically a meme. If you were traumatized by any of the main Fate franchises, this is like a balm to your soul. I’m happy to see this volume after a long delay. – Sean Gaffney

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Vol. 1 | By Hitoshi Ashinano | Seven Seas – I have, of course, read this already. Long, long ago. It’s rare that you get a series licensed that was near the top of the license requests in 2000, where your only real choice was to lean towards Dark Horse and pray. But now it’s 22 years later, the series has fancy new 450-page omnibuses, and we can finally read it over here. Is it worth the wait? I think so, if you like manga where not much happens at all. Alpha runs a coffee shop sometime in Earth’s future, when everyone agrees that humanity’s time is winding down. Fortunately, she’s a robot, so she stays the same. And she even gets a meet cute romance, though the actual “romance” part is as vague as 1990s yuri was. I definitely recommend it, though. – Sean Gaffney

Catch These Hands!, Vol. 2 | By murata | Yen Press – The first volume in this series mostly focused on the grumpy-faced (and, let’s face it, grumpy in general) Takebe, but this second volume allows us a better look at her new girlfriend Soramori. She took the initiative in asking Takebe out… but has no idea what couples do on a date. Her attempts to figure this out, which involves a lot of overcompensating and thinking about the wrong things, are what drive the humor in this volume. The actual romance is still pretty much in neutral, but this makes sense given that we’re not even sure how Takebe really feels about all this. We’re also introduced to Takebe’s cousin, who also seems to be a bit obsessed with her. This remains a fun yuri comedy. – Sean Gaffney

A Galaxy Next Door, Vol. 1 | By Gido Amagakure | Kodansha Comics – After his parents pass away, twenty-something Ichiro Kuga steps in to raise his younger siblings while struggling to make it in the manga biz. Through sheer luck, he finds just the right assistant to help him meet a tight deadline—an assistant who’s both a little too good to be true (her technique is flawless, even though her experience is limited to copying other people’s work) and a little odd. As Ichiro soon discovers, Shiori isn’t an ordinary person, but a visitor from a remote island where… well, I won’t spoil her backstory, but suffice to say that A Galaxy Next Door gets weirder as it goes along. The fantasy elements didn’t really work for me, but the human elements did, particularly the warm rapport between Ichiro and his siblings, and the kiddos’ interest in their strange, glamorous new housemate. File this under YMMV. – Katherine Dacey

Good Dog, Cerberus! | By Moha Arimura | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – If you’re looking for a light-hearted gag manga, you could do a lot worse than Good Dog, Cerberus!, a digital-only offering from Kodansha Comics. The premise is simple: Cerberus, the infamous three-headed guardian of the Underworld, is not a fierce, snarling beast, but a cute, fluffy Pomeranian who’s terrible at his job. Though he’s tasked with preventing souls from escaping, he’d rather be eating pastry or fetching a stick, making it easy for folks to bribe their way out of Hell. Hades, his owner, is torn between adoring his cute-as-a-button minion and castigating Cerberus for slacking off. Moha Arimura wrings a surprising number of laughs from this one-joke set-up by leaning into the idea that Cerberus is a normal dog whose extra two heads sometimes get in the way of normal dog behaviors. None of the punchlines are laugh-out-loud funny, but each vignette has a nice rhythm, and a decent payoff to boot. – Katherine Dacey

In/Spectre, Vol. 15 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – Somehow I missed volume fifteen coming out several months ago. What it gives me is a) half the usual detective stuff, as our protagonists try to explain away how a mystical giraffe chased four men off of a cliff, and b) Kotoko being very angry that Rikka even exists, and vice versa. I note that for all that Kotoko moans and whines about Kuro being mean to her and barely acknowledging that they’re a couple, he also notably does not deny that they’re a couple either, especially in front of Rikka. This plot is nowhere near done, and I suspect that things are going to go badly for Kotoko soon, but that’s why we read this, to see her defy the odds. Well, that and be horny. – Sean Gaffney

Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 6 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – I appreciate that we’re not going full Method Acting with this series, but there is an emphasis on trying to find something in your own past that you can draw on in order to convey what the character you’re playing feels like. For Sasara this means confronting her kabuki past, as well as the revelation that she thinks she may just have a boyfriend because his mentor told him to. Of course, the payoff for that will be in the next volume. We also get a nice look at Ayako’s Juliet, and the one thing that she really has going for her; her voice, which is absolutely stunning. She too gets some heartbreaking backstory, of course. I get the feeling Ai is going to be out of luck this time around. I wish this came out more often. – Sean Gaffney

Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included, Vol. 1 | By matoba | Yen Press – I was unimpressed with the premise of this new series, but I greatly enjoyed the vibe of As Miss Beelzebub Likes, their previous series, so I thought I would give it a shot. Sadly, my first instincts were correct. A young man suddenly finds an angel lying on his balcony when he gets home from his job. She’s been sent from heaven to stop being such a naive chump… is what the manga implies, but does not say. As the title goes on we also meet our protagonist’s childhood friend and a snow woman, all of whom pretty much latch onto his “nebbish nice person” vibe like a leech. Say what you will about Miss Beelzebub, it wasn’t a harem manga, which this seems to be. I’ll be passing. – Sean Gaffney

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 9 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – By now this series is a huge hit, and things can be developed that will pay off way down the road. That’s possibly why this feels like an even darker volume of the series than usual, with one chapter even having a warning about attempted sexual assault at the front of it. Witches may be something that kids want to be, but they’re also something hated and feared at the same time, and things that may turn out to be solutions are likely to be a demonic pact of some sort. It certainly looks like that’s the case with Custas, who was always on the verge of snapping, but now that he has his new magic spring legs, he’s likely going to attempt to kill Coco and Tartah. Riveting as always, and gorgeous art. – Sean Gaffney

Box of Light, Vol. 1 | By Seiko Erisawa | Seven Seas – The blurb for Box of Light promises a “delightfully creepy supernatural tale” that takes place at a “convenience store at the crossroads between life and death.” That sounds like a great premise, but Box of Light is sorely lacking in likable characters, memorable plot lines, or even a good old-fashioned jump scare. The bland, utilitarian artwork is equally disappointing; if I flipped through volume one in a bookstore, I’d assume that Box of Light was a workplace comedy, as the artwork seems more appropriate for a slice-of-life series than a horror story about people caught in purgatory. Only one vignette—”Indecisive Yuuto”—yields an image that’s unnerving enough to make lasting impression. In it, a young girl crouches outside the store as darkness envelops her with the stealth and speed of an incoming tide. Too bad nothing else in volume one is nearly as spooky. – Katherine Dacey

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, Vol. 3 | By Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa | Ghost Ship – This series really loves to take things as far as it possibly can while also making sure that everything stays sweet, heartwarming and romantic, and in this volume it’s got its most difficult challenge yet. Hakari’s mother Hahari has insisted she’s never to see Rentarou again, and has a huge, impossible-to-get-into mansion to back it up. She’s also super young, having had Hakari at the age of thirteen (Hakari’s father was dying). If you think to yourself “wait, is this series really going to have a guy dating a mother-daughter pair?”, then well done, you can be a writer for this series. It’s hilarious, it’s sweet, and it’s jaw-droppingly blatant. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 19 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Last time I noted how large the cast of this manga had gotten, so I’m not sure it was the best idea to spend most of this nineteenth volume introducing a new bunch of classmates with various personality tics. They run from mildly amusing (she speaks too softly) to deliberately aggravating (she constantly trash talks people and points out their faults, even when she knows she should really shut up). It’s meant to show off how far Komi has come (she actually speaks aloud at one point) as well as how dedicated she is to seeing the good in people, but I’m losing track of folks. On the bright side, Tadano’s sheer niceness and seeing the best in everyone makes him a revered saint. – Sean Gaffney

A Nico-Colored Canvas, Vol. 1 | By Nao Shikita| Kodansha Manga (digital only) – How much you enjoy this series may depend on how much you love the “manic pixie dream girl” trope, though in Nico’s case she’s the star rather than the impetus driving the male lead. She’s arrived at art school from the sticks, and is doing her own thing, which gets her into trouble (and thrown out of a prestigious class), but also attracts the attention of the other non-conformists in the school, including a very sketchy guy who at least is treated as very sketchy by the narrative. Nico is a lot of fun to read about, but I think in real life I’d find her exhausting and difficult to deal with. Fortunately, this is a manga rather than real life, so I’ll continue to see how she does. – Sean Gaffney

Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts, Vol. 1 | By Tohko Tsukinaga| Steamship – This was the debut of Seven Seas’ new “Ghost Ship for ladies” imprint Steamship, so I thought I would grab the first volume and give it a try. I regret everything. Starting as a standard “hit by a truck” isekai, our heroine finds it’s now 2,000 years in the future, all of humanity is dead except her, and she has to mate with four different types of “celestial beings” and bear their children now. There’s elements of Omegaverse here, as her being a human gives off a scent that drives the men crazy, but mostly this is nearly two hundred pages of her screaming “no” a lot and being ignored by everyone except the one half-decent guy. Absolutely not my thing, but Omegaverse fans may like it. – Sean Gaffney

Ya Boy Kongming!, Vol. 1 | By Yuto Yotsuba and Ryo Ogawa | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – In this fish-out-of-water comedy, Shu Imperial Chancellor Zhuge Liang, a.k.a. Kongming, makes a deathbed wish to be reborn “into a world of peace.” His wish comes true, but in an unexpected fashion: he wakes up 2000 years later in present-day Japan. After a night of stumbling around Shibuya, Kongming is rescued from the streets by Eiko, an aspiring singer-songwriter who brings Kongming up to speed on the twenty-first century. As you might expect, Kongming is dazzled by modern conveniences—the humble wall clock throws him for a loop—but Yuto Yotsuba’s clever use of historical facts about the real Kongming pushes the story in a delightful, unexpected direction by giving Kongming an opportunity to put his military strategizing to use… as Eiko’s manager. Recommended, especially for anyone with a working knowledge of The Three Kingdoms. – Katherine Dacey

Blue Lock, Vol. 1 | By Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura | Kodansha Comics – I had initially assumed Blue Lock would be another heartwarming story about a high school sports team striving together through rounds of tournament play. I was dead wrong—this is the absolute antithesis of that kind of manga. Yoichi Isagi is devastated when his team fails to progress to nationals, but his spirits are buoyed when the Japanese Football Union selects him for a special training program. Blue Lock is both a facility and an experiment in which 300 high school forwards live and train together under extreme conditions with the goal to be the last one standing. Because what Japanese soccer really needs, apparently, is one egotistical, world-class striker to finally lead the country to a World Cup victory. While I do adore more traditional sports manga, I also appreciate series that do something different. This was a lot of fun and I will most definitely be back for more. – Michelle Smith

Go For It Again, Nakamura! | By Syundei | Seven Seas –Go For It Again, Nakamura! is almost, but not quite, as charming as its predecessor. Since establishing that he and Hirose are friends at the end of the first book, Nakamura hasn’t managed to have a real conversation with him again and is now resorting to doing creepy things like sniffing Hirose’s gym clothes. (I’m also troubled by the amount of time Otogiri-sensei spends with Hirose and desperately hope this series doesn’t go somewhere icky in potential future installments.) The best part of the volume is when Hirose gets a girlfriend. Nakamura is upset at first, but after hearing Hirose claim him as a friend, he decides to be fiercely protective of Hirose’s happiness instead. When Hirose gets dumped, it’s Nakamura he confides in. I appreciate seeing their friendship grow at a realistic pace and hope very much that their story will continue. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia, Vol. 31 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The arc that wouldn’t end has finally ended, though not without cost. Yes, OK, only one hero that we actually cared about died, but it devastates a lot of people. Also dying is Endeavor’s reputation, although after a nice family chat he’s at least ready to get up and try to repent harder. I do appreciate that the author is not making “redemption” at all easy for him, or even likely. In the meantime, things are bad. Heroes are quitting left and right, Deku’s in a coma (which admittedly allows him to have a long chat with the vestiges), and All for One stages a massive prison breakout of a lot of crazed-looking prisoners and one sensible-looking woman who I bet will be important later. New arc next time! – Sean Gaffney

Phantom of the Idol, Vol. 1 | By Hijiki Isoflavone | Kodansha Comics – Yuya Niyodo “has the look.” Based on hotness alone, he was scouted by a talent agency and paired up with Kazuki Yoshino as the idol duo Zings. Niyodo only signed on because he thought it would be easy money—“No one said anything about making an effort”—and doesn’t care at all about doing the job well. When he meets the ghost of former female idol Asahi Mogami, whose only wish is to still be an idol, they work out an arrangement where she possesses him and takes his place. This is a pretty wacky manga, and something about its comedic sensibilities makes me think of One-Punch Man. Niyodo is a complete oddball who happens to be gorgeous, and I especially appreciated seeing the perspective of the Zings fangirls as they try to help their beloved duo attain greater success. It’s fun and kooky and I’ll keep reading. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 19 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – While it’s up in the air whether Shirayuki, Zen and Obito are doing anything romantically together, this volume puts a definite full stop on all the Mitsuhide/Kiki shipping, as she confesses to him and he rejects her—TWICE—because, essentially, guarding Zen is more important to him. That said, honestly, I’m not sure whether Mitsuhide is definitely ace, but I’d say he’s at least ace-adjacent, and far more content to keep the relationship they have now. This is good news for that other guy, whose name I suppose I will now have to remember, as Kiki still very much needs to get married soon. This is solid shoujo, and something all fans of the genre should be reading. – Sean Gaffney

Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata, Vol. 1 | By Hal Osaka | Kodansha Manga (digital only) – This is good old meat-and-potatoes josei, a series about a young music manager who is assigned to a troublesome composer. Kanna is a virgin who’s dated men but they always break up with her as she never really feels strongly about them. Then she sees her new client play Rachmaninoff, and suddenly she’s feeling a LOT. Unfortunately, he has a similar problem—he’s losing piano work as his playing is considered too cold and unfeeling, though technically brilliant. Oh, and he upset his patron’s daughter. Can she get him work, navigate a handsome rival and a change of composer, and possibly also finally find love? This is apparently three volumes, which seems about right. Not bad. – Sean Gaffney

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 4 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe | Viz Media – I never briefed the second and third volume of this series, because while I continue to love it, I never really have much to say about it. It runs on a very odd mood of searching and melancholy, but is also not afraid to have dumb gags like “her breasts are literally blocking my view.” The more we learn about Frieren’s past, the more sad we get that she’s only just now realizing everything that she had. Also, surprisingly, we take the time to introduce a character who matches up with their party… and then he leaves a few chapters later, as their journeys don’t match. Since this is about the journey being everything, that only makes sense, I suppose. – Sean Gaffney

I Want to Be a Wall, Vol. 1 | By Honami Shirono | Yen Press – Right from the start, we know the premise of this series. Gakurouta is gay and in love with his best friend (who is not gay). Yuriko is asexual and only likes BL, not understanding the feelings of loving someone romantically. Now they have a marriage of convenience. The flashbacks showing their pasts are relatively serious and can be quite painful. The present day, while not also without its pain, is a bit more cheery—Yuriko may be a BL fangirl but it’s not a hobby she wants to share with her husband, especially when he’s asking things like “what’s omegaverse?”. Gakurouta is well done, but I admit I’m more interested in Yuriko, mostly as it’s rare to see asexuality explored this explicitly. – Sean Gaffney

Links | By Natsuki Kizu | SuBLime – This BL one-shot from the creator of Given feels like an ensemble film. Everything connects back to a guy whose name we never learn, described as “charismatic trash,” who died in an accident ten years previously, leaving behind his boyfriend (Akiha) and his brother (Takaaki). Akiha struggles to move on while Takaaki, adrift, is eventually taken in by the family of the other party in the accident, a yakuza heir named Shinobu, whose life was spared thanks to the actions of the aforementioned “trash.” Takaaki and Shinobu are, I’d argue, the central pair here, as they have been in a relationship since high school and yet have never professed love for one another, but before Kizu delves into their story she gives it more context by first introducing several couples in their orbit, including a new love for Akiha. It’s quite masterfully done, and I enjoyed it very much. – Michelle Smith

Murcielago, Vol. 19 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – There is a bit more humor in this volume than the previous one—mostly concerning Kuroko staying behind to “comfort the widow” not once but twice—but for the most part it remains pretty dark. The man who’s kidnapped Noel turns out to be a lot more lucid than we had expected, but that’s not necessarily a good thing, and the police have to figure out what the man’s late daughter’s dream was AND interpret that to find out where he’s going to be before he murders Noel. There’s another arc that’s briefly introduced here, but for the most part this was another subdued, disturbing volume in a series that is always disturbing but not always subdued. – Sean Gaffney

Talk to My Back | By Yamada Murasaki | Drawn & Quarterly – While relatively few alternative manga by women have been translated into English, there are examples that can be found. Talk to My Back, however, is one of the most recent and notable releases. The volume collects a series of short manga by Yamada Murasaki originally published in the alternative manga magazine Garo in the early 1980s. Told from the perspective of a suburban Japanese housewife, Talk to My Back examines societal, familial, and self-imposed expectations of what it means to be a wife and mother. Throughout the manga, the protagonist’s roles and identities shift and evolve as the circumstances of her life change. The manga’s honesty is compelling and insightful, the story beautifully conveyed through Murasaki’s simple but expressive artwork and loose, elegant lines. Also included is an essay by the volume’s translator and comics historian Ryan Holmberg about Murasaki’s life and art, providing additional context for her wonderful work. – Ash Brown

The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This, Vol. 1 | By Takashi Ikeda | Seven Seas – This is from the creator of Whispered Words, but there’s no agonizing angst about being in love with your best friend here. The series begins with our two leads, who are both adults, already a couple and living together. And while we do get a brief flashback to how they got together, for the most part the manga devotes itself to watching normal events from their life. Ellie is a scriptwriter, Wako a newbie voice actress, and they have a dream of doing a show together, but for the most part this volume is just a cozy one of them being around each other every day. They don’t buy a refrigerator together, but otherwise this is exactly what yuri fans have waited for for years. – Sean Gaffney

The Untouchable Midori-kun, Vol. 1 | By Toyo Toyota | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I really wanted to like The Untouchable Midori-kun, but I find myself conflicted. Misaki Suda is a porn actress with a forthright attitude toward her job that I appreciated. When her new neighbor turns out to be her childhood friend Midori Tachibana, now a popular idol, Misaki sets her sights on sleeping with him. The problem I have with this series is that Midori clearly establishes that he is determined to abstain from romance and sex so as not to upset his fans. Misaki tramples over his boundaries at every turn, and at one point even plots to “lure” him into having sex with her. I had initially thought this would be a positive portrayal of a sex worker, but is it actually positive when all Misaki thinks about is Midori and sex and comes across as borderline predatory? I will give this one more volume. – Michelle Smith

WITCH WATCH, Vol. 2 | By Kenta Shinohara | Viz Media (digital only) – Any good comedy needs a rival guy who’s more hot-headed and dumber than the main guy, and we see that here with Kanshi, a tengu and Nico’s friend from when she trained on the mountain. He’s jealous of Morihito partly as oni and tengu don’t get along, but also clearly due to jealousy—though really, any romance is going to be slow and tiny. The final chapters of this book show that off—Morihito may not be demonstrative, but Nico clearly is the most important person in his life. And we also get Nemu, Kanshi’s distaff counterpart, who can’t even interact with Morihito without turning into a cat first. WITCH WATCH loves taking aim at clichés and running them over, and remains great fun. – Sean Gaffney

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 6 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – This final volume wraps things up for our three main couples, though some are wrapped up more than others. Naoya and Ko are finally a couple, thanks to the magic power of “forgetting a thing and accidentally overhearing the other party,” so everyone is happy, even those who still think Ko is a guy. Hanako and Taro are of course already married, but they are not without heartwarming moments here. As for Narumi and Hirotaka, we aren’t getting another wedding in the same series, but we do see them admitting both to a relationship and to Narumi’s hobbies. It’s a step forward towards maturity. So not a strong ending, but a realistic one, and I’m happy I read it. – Sean Gaffney

Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 5 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – I really like the fact that Sarasa is choosing the more difficult option. They’re doing auditions for a five-minute Romeo and Juliet, with singing, and Sarasa, who would make a much better Romeo, resolves to try for Tybalt again, as she wants to figure out the role and how she can make it not what the actress she emulated had done. This ends up impacting Ai, who’s going for Juliet, but realizes that she has absolutely no idea what being a girl who falls in love at first sight is like… until she starts thinking of Sarasa, and how they first met in a very romantically charged scene, and the bulb lights up. This may not be a yuri series, but as all good Takarazuka manga should, it’s not afraid to lean really hard into it. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 11 | By Afro | Yen Press – It’s rare to see real character development in a slice-of-life fluff series, so it’s quite something to see Rin in this volume, who is almost unrecognizable from the Rin at the start of the series. Camping with others has really helped to open her up to the point where ‘the stoic, unemotional one’ doesn’t even fit anymore. It works in reverse as well, as Nadeshiko is able to go off on her own solo adventures without us worrying about her getting in too much trouble. As for the camping trip itself, it involves crossing a lot of suspension bridges, some of which are fantastic and scenic, and some of which are simply terrifying. I know I would never be able to do any of them. Laid-Back Camp is pure ambience. – Sean Gaffney

Lost Lad London, Vol. 1 | By Shima Shinya | Yen Press – I’ve learned to temper my expectations when it comes to “mystery” manga, so it pleases me greatly to announce that Lost Lad London is the real deal and I loved it wholeheartedly. Al Adley is a somewhat aloof university student who happened to be riding the Tube at the same time that the mayor of London was murdered in one of the train carriages. It just seems like an odd coincidence until Al discovers a bloody knife in his jacket pocket. Thankfully, when Inspector Lenny Ellis turns up, he believes in Al’s innocence and they start working together to uncover whether Al was just a convenient scapegoat or if he’s being intentionally framed. The art style is striking, full of large, uncluttered panels, and I love seeing people of color in main roles. The final scene is wonderfully cinematic and I can’t wait for volume two. – Michelle Smith

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 15 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – We finally get the actual backstory of the king, and it’s a pretty tragic one. It also helps explain why Set is so intent on destroying them like this. That said, most of this final volume is spent wrapping everything up in a neat bow. The allies arrive just in time, the people love their king regardless of whether he’s a human or a beast, and he and Seriphi can now be married. We even get to see a little of their life after, with kids running around being little terrors. This series felt a bit too much like “Fantasy Fruits Basket” sometimes, but I think it was quite underrated, and is a great one for shoujo fans. That said… man, why didn’t our favorite crocodile couple make it official? Slowpokes. – Sean Gaffney

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 4 | By Misaki Takamatsu |Seven Seas – I really appreciate the fact that Mitsumi is allowed to screw up here, realize it, and resolve to do better without the help of a magical love interest to resolve things. As I said in the previous volume, Shima still has his own issues which are taking priority, including a realization that not everyone hates him because of his actions. Maybe they’re just awkward! Maybe they’re a child whose motives you’re misreading! There’s also some nifty parallels with The Sound of Music, which Shima is forced to act in despite his not wanting to because… well, because he’s supposed to be the swell guy in class. I admit the series is starting to meander a bit from its premise, but I’m here for the Loafer half as well as the Skip. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 10 | By Maybe | Yen Press – After last volume having “when are they going to do it” absent from the plot, and being better for it, this volume returns to it with a vengeance. Hime is overtaken by evil, and Satou tries various things to stop her, including dealing with different aspects of her personality (the childhood friend, the child, the princess, etc.). But, in the end, it turns out she just needs a good rogering and her magical power overflows with evil-destroying light. In fact, they do it a good five or six times to be sure. One might argue that plot resolution is a bit much, but honestly this entire series has been driven by “when is he going to rid these girls of their virginity,” so it seems rather apt. Still, more battles, less sex next time. Maybe. – Sean Gaffney

Boys of the Dead | By Tomita Douji | Kuma – Enticed by the cleverness of the “Zom-BL” portmanteau, I bought this volume without really knowing anything about it. Almost immediately, I experienced buyer’s remorse, for Boys of the Dead is unremittingly bleak. I don’t just mean all the gore and violence and cannibalism—that’s Zombie 101—but rather the depravity and desperation. None of the couples has anything like a healthy relationship. In the first story, a victim of kidnapping and rape grows sympathetic to his abuser. In the second pair of stories, a guy digs up his zombified boyfriend and then procures human flesh for him to eat. And in the final chapters, a journalist encounters a pair of brothers in an incestuous relationship that ends gruesomely. For all my reservations, though, I must admit that reading Boys of the Dead was a unique experience and not one I’m likely to forget anytime soon. – Michelle Smith

A Bride’s Story, Vol. 13 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – The twins are on the cover, and they do get a fun arc which shows us that they are settling in to being actual good wives while also not losing their chaotic energy. That said, it’s hard not to come out of this volume feeling extremely disappointed, as Smith and his fiancée are forced to abandon their return trip to see Amir and Karluk. The Russians are making headway into the area, bandits are everywhere, and in some instances poor and hungry villagers are taking to banditry to survive. It’s nowhere for an Englishman to take a young woman, no matter how good she is with horses, so they finally board a boat to India, presumably to return to England. And what of Amir? Well, that’s next time, I assume. – Sean Gaffney

Interviews with Monster Girls, Vol. 10 | By Petos | Kodansha Comics – The end of this volume seems to announce that the next book will be the final one in the series, so it’s no surprise that this one focuses on the two women who have gotten the most focus in the series: Machi and Sato. Machi’s plot does not involve her crush on her teacher—they all seem to have given up and are helping Sato get closer to him—but instead involves connecting her head with her body, if only for a day. She finds it an interesting experience, but ultimately is happy how she is. As for Takahashi and Sato, at long last, they both take that first step and admit they’ve fallen in love with each other. And with that, it really seems safe to wrap things up, which will be next time. Good stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 18 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – The inevitable comedown after the awesomeness of the previous volume, mostly as Komi and Manbagi realize that just because they have vowed to both fight for Tadano’s love does not make them any better at actually confessing to Tadano. Komi comes closest near the end, but is stopped by the dreaded “random folks walking into the room.” Elsewhere, this volume reminds us just how large a cast this series now has, and that the author is pretty good at juggling it and still keeping us interested. Hell, even Yamai got to do something that did not immediately make me skip to a non-Yamai chapter, which may be a first. Unsurprisingly, it did not involve Komi. – Sean Gaffney

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 1 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – This is an odd mix of Teasing Master Takagi-san with Komi Can’t Communicate. Our protagonist, Shiraishi, is one of those ‘kids with no presence’—even his teachers frequently mark him absent as they don’t notice he’s there. But he has one girl who notices—the titular Kubo, who keeps trying to get him to try new ways to stand out and actually attract attention. This also involves a lot of teasing, which is where Takagi comes into play. That said, these are high schoolers rather than middle schoolers, and Kubo is a lot thirstier than Takagi—the crush she has on Shiraishi is really obvious throughout the volume. If you’re looking for another volume in the “cute shonen romance” genre, this is a good choice. – Sean Gaffney

Medalist, Vol. 4 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I always feel like John the Baptist with this series, so here we go again: this was a stellar volume of Medalist. The art was amazing in showing off the speed and artistry of the skating, our heroine got to have some big achievements, and the coach got to demonstrate to everyone that he’s not just some failure but a brilliant skater in his own right. We also get another rival for the series in a boy who can’t even bring himself to put down any goals for the future as he’s so overwhelmed by a legacy, but fortunately he is shown the correct way through the power of shonen sports manga. I realize that Kuroko’s Basketball and Haikyu!! have more cool guys, but don’t sleep on Medalist; it’s a knockout. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 13 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – First off, answering my question from the previous brief, I do not think an “oh, they got married when the laws changed” in the afterward is QUITE what Kou and Rin fans were looking for. That said, in the end this isn’t a yuri series but a 4-koma about a game company, and it stays on that brand till the end. The book has one huge high point, which is Aoi winning her first “art competition” ever (this is even lampshaded), and forcing Hotaru to experience the agony of feeling second-best and envious for the first time. The rest is a series of wrapping up the game and moving offices pages. New Game! was a fun series, but like many 4-komas with all-female casts, I don’t think the author knew what to do with the yuri fanbase. – Sean Gaffney

Our Teachers Are Dating!, Vol. 4 | By Pikachi Ohi | Seven Seas – This is the final volume in the series, and there’s really only one way that it could have ended in these modern times, and that’s with a wedding. The proposal is cute. The wedding is lovely. The honeymoon is sexy. The conflict is minimal—Saki’s family is delighted with her choice, and the main worry there seems to be that her sister is one of those “interesting” cooks. Asuka’s is a bit more difficult—they want her to quit teaching and inherit the family business—not only is she staying a teacher but she’s marrying another woman! That said, there are no real long-term issues with them being a couple, because this is a series that runs on fluff. It may not be realistic, but who cares? – Sean Gaffney

In which Sean solos yet again.

HIRAETH -The End of the Journey-, Vol. 1 | By Yuhki Kamatani | Kodansha Manga (digital only) – This does not end up being quite as depressing as the warning at the start might indicate, but the warning is appreciated, as this book starts with a young woman trying to kill herself, and her suicidal thoughts are present throughout the volume. She meets a god who is dying, and is taking a tour of Japan (and being a bit of a brat about it), as well as a man who CAN’T die, and on their journey we get a lot of different perspectives. That said, as always with this author, if you’re only here to look at the lush, gorgeous art, you will not be disappointed either—even the panel composition is amazing. It’s absolutely not for everyone, but if you liked Our Dreams at Dusk this is a must-read. – Sean Gaffney

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, Vol. 2 | By Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa | Ghost Ship We add two more girls in this volume, and really the impressive thing about it is not how he keeps managing to convince each girl to go along with this, but the fact that they really do almost all get along. Hell, some of them may get along a little too well—if for some reason he can’t actually marry 100 girls, and they don’t all die, Hakari and Karane may be able to make things work. As for the new girlfriends, we have the stoic and intellectual one, and the mad scientist who mostly looks like a child one, which is hilarious even if it toes the line of offensiveness. That said, that’s one nasty cliffhanger. – Sean Gaffney

My Next Life As a Villainess Side Story: Girls Patch | By Various Artists | Seven Seas – This anthology asks the question: don’t you wish Bakarina was a yuri series? (There was an equivalent for the guys, but don’t expect Seven Seas to license that anytime soon.) A lot of the Western audience for the series was more into Mary, Sophia and Maria than any of the actual love interests—and indeed have abandoned the series for the most part after realizing it’s veering too het. That said, while this doesn’t have any weddings or alternate universes where Katarina suddenly gets it, it has lots of sweet scenes between the quartet, as well as a brief one with Anne, which is not really shown as romantic so it’s fine. It’s an anthology, so variable, but is mostly perfectly pleasant. – Sean Gaffney

Run on Your New Legs, Vol. 1 | By Wataru Midori| Yen Press – For the most part this is a very good story about a former star athlete who lost a leg finding that he can still compete with the help of prosthetics, even if it’s not soccer (his former sport). That said, I could not help but spend much of the first half of this book feeling a bit creeped out by the way he was sort of stalked and manipulated by the guy who is designing said prosthetics, who turns out to basically be a start-up trying to drum up work. Consent is given, but it doesn’t feel earned, if you know what I mean. Other than that, this is a strong sports manga with lots of past trauma to overcome, a guy who is being forced to reopen his world to other people, and some nifty art. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 14 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – The question on my mind as I read this volume of Takagi-san is essentially: what is the difference between this and a normal couple who go on dates? Honestly, the answer may actually be “normal couples aren’t together quite as much as these two.” Here we see Nishikata challenging Takagi to guess the number of steps to a shrine, not realizing the shrine is a famous couples’ shrine, so everyone but him knows already. They eat lunch together, and she offers to feed him. They coincidentally do a New Year’s shrine visit together. And, in the best chapter, we see Takagi, briefly jealous after Nishikata helps another girl, actually picking on him. She does apologize. He can’t see the difference. – Sean Gaffney

Minami Nanami Wants to Shine, Vol. 1 | By Bana Yoshida and Yuki Yaku | Yen Press – For most of the volume, this feels like a typical side-story spin-off from Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, focusing on perpetual second-best Minami, and her frustration with being the perpetual second-best. The plot involves her mother, who works at a modeling agency, suggesting that her daughter model for them. Minami is a bit taken aback by this, partly as I don’t think she really sees herself as pretty, but also because it’s not anything she had thought about before. The surprise comes when she chooses NOT to run against Aoi for student council—as in the books—and goes for the modeling instead. Will she succeed? Will she start to like herself? Can’t wait to find out. – Sean Gaffney

My Love Mix-Up! Vol. 3 | By Wataru Hinekure and Aruko | Viz Media – This series has settled into a groove of being a heartwarming romantic farce and I am here for it. Aoki and Hashimoto deal with a survival-style ski instructor on a school trip and manage to get a little closer to their respective crushes. Aoki in particular manages to experience the heights of romantic hope and crushing despair as he pursues the perpetually stoic yet still sympathetic Ida. The illustrations easily capture Aoki’s ugly crying, joy, and the time when he feels so depressed he metaphorically turns into a slime. Highly recommended for anyone enjoying romance hijinks. – Anna N

New Game!, Vol. 12 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – This is the penultimate volume, and you know what that means: it means we’re going out with some drama. The team finds out that their game has lost its funding and they need to either find a new company to bankroll them or give up entirely. The obvious answer is Catherine’s company, even if that means groveling a bit. But the carrot comes with a stick, and this means that, once AGAIN, Aoba will not be the lead character designer. As this is about the third time this has happened, I suspect the final volume is probably going to have her questioning her ongoing life choices—she’s a perpetual “not good enough” designer. With all this drama, will we ever find out if Kou and Rin are a canon couple? – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 46 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – Skip Beat! is still nowhere near finished, and so the fact that Ren has confessed to Kyoko does not mean that things are wrapping up in a neat bow. Kyoko is stressed about anyone loving her—still—and also has not told him that she is Bo—still. Fortunately, the author knows the other reason that we’re reading this, which is the acting, and the next volume promises to focus more on that. Unfortunately, there are still many parts of Ren’s past that have yet to come to light, and they also promise to show up in the next volume. With all this going on, can Kyoko still find time to go on a date to an amusement park with her real true love, Moko? This was shorter than most volumes, but still worth the wait. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 18 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – It’s really a rare shoujo series that makes me wonder “OK, maybe they *are* going for a threesome ending?”, but Snow White with the Red Hair comes close. The romance between Zen and Shirayuki gets some more focus here, as they get to reunite in a big romantic scene. That said, Obi is not only intertwined damn near permanently with Shirayuki, but also with Zen, and it doesn’t help that the end of this volume has the author teasing about the two of them sleeping in the same bed. This series has a whole lot of Teasing Creator to it when it comes to the romance, and while I doubt Obi will be an official partner with Shirayuki—or indeed Zen—he’s still one of the best reasons to read this. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 7 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – I feel like a bit of a bad fan for saying this, but I will admit that I love Spy x Family better when it’s focusing on the antics of Loid and Yor than when it’s Anya’s Adventures at the Academy, and that’s what the majority of this volume is. That said, it does give some much-needed depth to Damian (and also a cover shot), as we see how much his insecurities stem from a desperate need to please and be noticed by his uncaring father. Elsewhere, Bond helps Loid to survive a mission, and we see that Yuri, while dedicated to stamping out subversives, is not without a heart. Most importantly, we kick off the next arc, at last focusing on Yor, who must protect rather than kill. Keep reading this great and extremely popular series. – Sean Gaffney

The Walking Cat: A Cat’s Eye View of the Apocalypse | By Tomo Kitaoka | Seven Seas – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a virus ravages humanity, turning millions of people into zombies and leaving small, scrappy bands of survivors to fend for themselves. That’s the basic premise of The Walking Cat: A Cat’s Eye View of the Apocalypse, a middling horror story by newcomer Tomo Hideoka. The idea of depicting a zombie plague from an animal’s perspective sounds promising, but in practice, Yuki feels more like a gimmick than a thoughtful vehicle for exploring how a human pandemic might effect other species. Yuki is barely a character; he functions mostly as a plot device, providing continuity between the series’ three main storylines and chasing the occasional butterfly. The humans aren’t very compelling either, as their stories are too rushed—and cliché—for the reader to feel much investment in their fate. Personally, I’m rooting for the zombies. – Katherine Dacey

Catch These Hands!, Vol. 1 | By murata | Yen Press – I’ve been enjoying the recent upswing in yuri manga starring actual adults and aimed at adults. That said, just because you’re now old enough to be an adult does not automatically give you a free “you won” pass. A former gang leader at her local high school is seeing all her comrades getting married and having children, while she’s still working whatever job she can find. Her resting bitch face is also probably not helping. Then she runs into her old rival, now working at a clothing store… and gets asked out! What? Weren’t they supposed to be fighting? Now they’re dating? The fun of this series is in seeing Takebe’s baffled reaction to literally everything, and I hope that she continues to grump her way through future books. – Sean Gaffney

Chieko Show | By Momoto Makiru and Fukumimi Noburo | Star Fruit Books – Don’t be fooled by the cover: Chieko Show is not a forgotten shojo masterpiece, but a raunchy comedy in the manner of Mad Magazine or Beavis and Butthead. The central joke of Chieko Show is that its galaxy-eyed heroine loves making salacious comments and gestures that elicit horrified reactions from adults. Adding some extra “ick” to the punchlines is that Chieko often sounds as if she’s propositioning her family members. As someone who’s reading this work in translation, it’s hard to know if this is an affectionate spoof of Yoshiko Nishitani’s work or just a gross-out gag manga, but the author’s strenuous attempts to shock and amuse didn’t work on me. Your mileage may vary. – Katherine Dacey

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 10 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – The wonderful thing about Delicious in Dungeon, as everyone who’s become a fan of it knows, is how it can go from the silliest comedy to the most terrifying horror at the drop of a hat, and sometimes over the course of only a page or two. And we even get some drama here, seeing the backstory of our “villain,” who unsurprisingly is not merely evil for the sake of it. And everyone is still trying to save Falin, which I approve of, as every single flashback we see of her shows off what a wonderful person she was. There’s even attention paid to biology, as Laios notes how hungry she must be given her human head vs. her monster body that has to be nourished. Still essential reading, even if it’s yearly now. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 20 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – So it turns out you can only go so far in changing the ending. The author apparently had a falling out with his editors, publishers, and readers, all of whom were reading the book to see who ended up together rather than reading it to see the bonds of friendship between them. So he kicked most everyone to the curb (bar Sena, the only one who is not definitively rejected, though they’re still not a couple) and ends with graduation coming and going and the friendship being the impact. The manga did a good thing in taking out the Yukimura plotline of death, but, with apologies to the author, we WERE reading this for the romance, so it feels unsatisfying. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 22 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – I knew we were headed towards a climax with these characters, but I didn’t think we would get a literal one in this volume. Things start off extremely silly, with Miyuki and Kaguya’s discussion of boobs and sex being very much “only virgins have these discussions!” But then one thing leads to another, and the two are alone in his new apartment with the rest of his family out for the evening, and, well… it’s actually refreshing to see a series as popular and as funny as this one showing us that yes, teenagers still do have sex. Of course, there is still the overall “Kaguya’s family” problem to solve… as well as the fact that Kaguya has still not told Chika that she and Miyuki are a couple. That may go badly. – Sean Gaffney

Kaiju No. 8, Vol. 1 | By Naoya Matsumoto | VIZ Media – Meet Kafka Nibiro: he belongs to Monster Sweeper, Inc., a dedicated crew of professionals who clean up the streets of Japan in the aftermath of monster rampages. Though Kafka would rather be fighting monsters than disposing of their remains, he’s repeatedly failed the entrance exam for the elite Defense Forces Unit. A freak accident endows Kafka with kaiju-like strength, however, emboldening him to take the test one last time. Up until this moment in Kafka’s journey, Kaiju No. 8 feels like it’s headed somewhere new, but the exam chapters follow an all-too-familiar formula in which an ordinary person discovers his hidden strength through competition with snottier, less principled rivals. The paint-by-numbers quality of these scenes doesn’t bode well for future volumes, as its seems like Naoya Matsumoto is more interested in writing a monster-fighting manga than writing a thoughtful story about a man who unwittingly becomes a monster. – Katherine Dacey

My Wandering Warrior Existence | By Nagata Kabi | Seven Seas – This is probably the easiest to read of Nagata Kabi’s biographical manga essays, but that’s only by a matter of degree—one chapter in here is jaw-droppingly horrible in terms of something that happens to her and the aftermath of how it is dealt with. That said, most of this is the author seeing others fall in love, get married and have children and wondering how she can do this, if she wants to do this, and why would ANYONE do this? The answers do have some humor and heart in them, but they also make excellent points, and I really enjoyed the journey she takes to finding out that this is not necessarily something that has to happen NOW, and also that sometimes buying a fridge is far more fulfilling. – Sean Gaffney

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 10 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime (digital only) – It’s always a little sad when a beloved series comes to its end, but at least The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window does so in very satisfying fashion. In this final volume, Mikado and the others infiltrate the Professor’s compound and work together to bring him down and rescue Hiyakawa. Really, the Big Bad here is hatred, or specifically clinging to hatred and using it as a power source to hurt others. Ultimately, Mikado rather easily unravels the Professor’s hatred while Hiyakawa finally relinquishes his own, confessing that what he really wants is to be with Mikado. There’s not even a smooch, but the fact that they emerge from the compound holding hands speaks volumes. Mikado tears up his contract, symbolizing that he’s Hiyakawa’s partner now rather than his employee, and in the final pages they get back to work, together. Happy sigh. – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 46 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Even though I was extremely eager for Ren and Kyoko to finally admit their feelings for one another, I must say it’s kind of a relief that they agree their relationship shouldn’t change yet, not when they’re still on the way to achieving their ambitions. (Still, “No matter where I am, my heart will always belong to you” is some squeeworthy progress!) The latter half of this volume reminds readers that Kyoko still has no idea about Ren’s troubled past, and it seems more movement on this plot point will be forthcoming. Too, there’s the threat of internet sleuths and what they might find out about Ren and Kyoko. These potential complications are certainly compelling, but what interests me most is seeing Kyoko in costume as Momiji and about to start filming that role. I’m down for a career-focused arc! – Michelle Smith

Falling Drowning, Vol. 1 | By Yuko Inari | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – On the surface, Falling Drowning looks like cookie-cutter shoujo. Our protagonist, a high school student named Honatsu, is part of a love triangle with her protective childhood friend Toma and the surly new transfer student, Shun. There’s even a scene where Honatsu and Shun get stuck in a storeroom! However, there’s an element of mystery to this title that’s quite appealing. Six years ago, Honatsu lost her father in an accident (or was it an accident?) along with eleven years of memories. Now, she’s trying to learn as much as possible and become independent. She feels at ease around Toma, and it’s clear he likes her, but what he offers is the promise of safety. Shun, on the other hand, instinctively understands her desire to challenge herself. I enjoyed this first volume quite a bit and look forward to seeing how it develops from here. – Michelle Smith

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 19 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – At last, we get the answer to the question that every Haganai fan who despised the light novel ending has been asking: will the manga be different? Well, I’m not sure the actual ending will differ (he’s still avoiding all romance), but it’s definitely different on the Yukimura end, as he shoots her down here. Indeed, she’s not the only one he shoots down, as he admits to Yozora, who finally confesses, that he sees her only as a friend. I can’t wait to see how this ends when it comes out in… erm, what? I forgot to read this volume? The final volume is already out? Whoopsie! Well, in any case, even if it ends with him picking no one, it avoided the biggest hate sink of the novels, so that’s a plus. – Sean Gaffney

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 11 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – Remember when I said I liked the sad lesbian helping out her sad high-school equivalent? Well, the author did, and they then pulled the rug right out from under us. That said, it feels a lot like “I am pretending to be a terrible person for your own good” than “I was secretly evil all along,” so it would fit right in with the rest of this somewhat cursed manga, which is all about not acting on relationships that might be considered taboo in one way or another. As for Kanata and Kazuki, well, the ending is a sort of “lady or the tiger” cliffhanger, where we’re given an indirect answer to the question of “did these two finally go all the way.” Likely will be another six months till we get it confirmed. Sketchy soap opera. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 30 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Whoops, it’s not just Haganai. I forgot this came out a month ago as well. Still, at least we’ve finally reached the end of the Paranormal Liberation War arc…. what’s that? We haven’t? It’s still going on? Well then. We do get some setup for villain-saving for both Shigaraki and Toga, though both seem to be of the “but we won’t actually be saved” variety. And we finally get all of Dabi’s tragic backstory, which might be a bit more tragic if it did not also feature liberal applications of “I am laughing like a madman.” In the end, I agree with Uraraka: if you want a chance at redemption, perhaps do a bit less murder when asking for it. It should end next time? Right? – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 10 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – In this volume of sweetness and light, the closest we get to conflict is Sumika having to face up to the fact that Ikuma can be attracted to other women who aren’t her (he doesn’t remotely act on it; it’s a TV show host), Ikuma’s mom dealing with the melancholy of her family having finally all moved out… and the despair when all three daughters end up moving back, and a fake tropical vacation (in their living room) that leads to oily massages and oily sex. The author really has done a good job of making this a series where the leads have a very active love life, that we see, but also making them a wonderful couple whose lives other than sex we also want to see. Sweat and Soap fans might try this one. – Sean Gaffney

When Pink Rain Falls | By Youyi | Star Fruit Books – In the opening pages of When Pink Rain Falls, twenty-something Hanao flees the church where his best friend (and longtime crush) is getting married. As luck would have it, Hanao bumps into Touma, a sensitive but hunky florist who just so happens to need an apprentice. But do they share more than just a passion for flower arrangement, or is their budding relationship strictly professional? This delightful one-shot is only 37 pages, but Star Fruit Books has given it the deluxe treatment with oversize trim (7” x 10”), glossy covers, and high-quality paper—a smart decision, I think, since it allows the reader to appreciate how much of the story is told through glances, gestures, and artfully designed bouquets. Though the plot hits familiar beats, the sincerity and simplicity with which Touma and Hanao’s romance unfolds more than compensates for a few cliché moments. – Katherine Dacey

WITCH WATCH, Vol. 1 | By Kenta Shinohara| Viz Media (digital only) – The author of this new Shonen Jump series is best known in North America for Astra: Lost in Space, but reading the first volume of WITCH WATCH tells you this is more like a return to his breakout hit (never licensed here), Sket Dance. Morihito is a sullen young man with fighting skills far too powerful for his own good. He’s somewhat horrified by the return of his ditzy childhood friend Nico, a witch-in-training who needs a bodyguard. Fortunately, Morihito (aka Moi) is an ogre, which is why he’s so strong. That said… this is a wonderful manga, but the plot is pointless. It’s an excuse for comedy, and the author does some very good comedy. Read this if you love laughs in your Weekly Jump. – Sean Gaffney

Young, Alive, In Love, Vol. 1 | By Daisuke Nishijima | Star Fruit Books – This minimalist comic focuses on two teenagers: Makoto, a teen who owns a Geiger counter, and Mana, a teen who sees spirits. After a meet-cute that’s anything but cute—Mana pukes on Makoto—the two become inseparable as they try to solve the mystery of the enormous power plant that looms over their town. My summary sounds relatively straightforward, but the story unfolds in a circular, sometimes cryptic manner that raises more questions than it answers. Contributing to the aura of mystery is the artwork, which borders on the abstract; the characters and their environment have a kind of studied naïveté that makes them look more like stick figures than people, an impression compounded by the elliptical dialogue. I can’t say that that this was My Thing, but I have a feeling that someone will find the unique rhythms of this story right up their alley. – Katherine Dacey