Features

SEAN: Well, while things are not yet back to normal in the world around us, they’re back to normal in regards to manga. Which means there’s a LOT next week.

ASH: Woohoo, manga!

SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly have a collection of stories by feminist manga pioneer Kuniko Tsurita, called The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud. A single-volume collection of her best works, this sounds absolutely amazing.

ASH: It really does; I’ll definitely be checking it out.

MELINDA: Wow, yes, this sounds fantastic.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a number of print releases coming out. We get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 6; the 9th and final volume of If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord; the 7th Infinite Dendrogram; the 3rd Marginal Operation manga; and the 2nd My Next Life As a Villainess.

In digital releases we see Arifureta Zero 4, the 4th Discommunication manga, I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! 2, Infinite Dendrogram 12, Seirei Gensouki 10, and the 3rd manga volume for The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

Kodansha has one print title out next week, the 2nd volume of Knight of the Ice.

ANNA: I am extremely excited about this!

ASH: Looking forward to it, especially after all of the delays!

SEAN: The digital debut is Cells at Work: Bacteria! (Hataraku Saikin), another in a long line of spinoffs. This one runs in Nakayoshi, though, and so is a shoujo manga about good bacteria battling bad bacteria. It’s already got 6 volumes.

ASH: Some of the spinoffs can be hit-or-miss, but I liked the original and I like the sound of this one.

SEAN: Also out digitally… (deep breath)… All-Rounder Meguru 15, A Condition Called Love 5, Knight of the Ice 3, My Boss’s Kitten 5, Orient 4, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 7, Pumpkin Scissors 23, Saint Young Men 5 & 6, A Sign of Affection 2, Smile Down the Runway 11, To Be Next to You 7, and Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku 4. (Yes, we mentioned the last one before – it got bumped.)

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading quite a few of those!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a large number of titles that are coming out in print. The 8th Arifureta light novel, A Certain Scientific Railgun 15, the debut of the Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear light novels, the debut of the PENGUINDRUM light novels, I Had That Same Dream Again – the novel AND the manga, My Senpai Is Annoying 1, The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru 1, and the 9th Didn’t I Say To Make My Abilities Average?!. We’ve discussed the debuts when they came out digitally, but it’s nice to see them in print.

ASH: That it is! I’m particularly looking forward to giving The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru and PENGUINDRUM a try.

SEAN: Digital-first, there is a new debut light novel: Yes, No or Maybe? (Yes ka No ka Hanbun ka). This is a done-in-one BL title, and it’s about a news anchorman and a stop-motion animator. It’s gotten great buzz, and is getting an anime.

ASH: Oh, I had missed the anime news, but I am interested.

MICHELLE: I don’t read many light novels, but this sounds kind of fun.

MELINDA: Huh, interesting.

SEAN: Also digital first is the 7th Mushoku Tensei novel.

Sol Press has a digital release of the 4th Chivalry of a Failed Knight.

And then there’s Viz, who have a full slate of releases. The debut is act-age, a Weekly Shonen Jump title that seeks to do for acting what One Piece did for pirates. Unfortunately, its star, Kei, is all about method acting. This is 11+ volumes to date, so it’s a proven winner by Jump standards. Still… method acting. Ugh. The drama major in me rears back and hisses.

ANNA: Ha, I have to admit I am curious about this based on the description.

MICHELLE: The music major in me hasn’t got a lot of opinions about method acting, so I’m looking forward to this. :)

MELINDA: Agree on method acting, but also, I’m gonna have to read this.

SEAN: Also debuting in Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, the first of a 3-volume light novel sequel to the popular/controversial Jump title written by Ryohgo Narita, the creator of Baccano! and Durarara!!. Given that pedigree, he knows how to handle huge casts, but Bleach may be a bigger challenge. This stars Hisagi, aka “that guy with 69 tattooed on his cheek’.

There’s also Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 14, Dr. STONE 12, Haikyu!! 39, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 15, One-Punch Man 20, and Seraph of the End 19.

ASH: I’m behind with Haikyu!!, but I have been dutifully collecting volumes in preparation for a marathon read.

MICHELLE: I’m a couple of volumes behind, so I can have a mini-marathon, which will probably be extremely enjoyable.

SEAN: On the Shojo Beat tip, we have Daytime Shooting Star 7, An Incurable Case of Love 4, Love Me Love Me Not 3, Prince Freya 2, Snow White with the Red Hair 8, and Takane and Hana 15.

ANNA: Yay, it is a WEEK FOR ANNA!

ASH: Despite some of the pacing issues of the first volume, I am curious to see how Prince Freya continues to develop.

MICHELLE: Yeah, it didn’t really live up to the awesomeness of its cover, but I’m not ready to give up on it just yet. I’m actually reading everything in that Shojo Beat list except for the one of them that is not actually shojo.

SEAN: Something for everyone here. What’s for you?

SEAN: It’s the first of July! Or the last day of June, technically, as most books ship Tuesdays. As a result, this July 1st is more of a grab bag than most weeks.

Bookwalker has a 12th volume of shogi light novel series The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!.

Cross Infinite World debuts another shoujo light novel. Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion! should serve as the perfect description, really.

MICHELLE: Yep.

ASH: Haha, it does!

ANNA: There is great clarity as to the contents of that book.

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 5th Berserk Deluxe Edition.

ASH: I’ll be picking this up. The deluxe edition of Berserk is quite an upgrade from the original release.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has, digital-first, Vol. 16 of To-Love-Ru Darkness.

J-Novel Club has two manga and two light novels. The manga are Infinite Dendrogram 4 and The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!! 5.

The novels are Full Metal Panic! 7 and My Next Life As a Villainess 6, which I have been reliably informed does actually get the story moving once more.

Kodansha has a couple of debuts, some with print coming later, some not. Clover is a title CLAMP fans should be familiar with, and it’s getting a Hardcover Collector’s Edition release… but for now, enjoy it digitally.

MICHELLE: I don’t think I ever finished this one.

ASH: Clover is one of my favorites from CLAMP. (And is another example of one of the group’s manga that ended earlier than originally intended.) I have the Dark Horse omnibus edition, but I’m tempted to pick this one up, too.

ANNA: I’ve got the old Tokyopop paperbacks!

MELINDA: I also have the Dark Horse omnibus, but this is tempting!

SEAN: When We Shout for Love (Bokura ga Ai wo Sakebu Toki) is a 3-volume shoujo manga series from Betsufure, and is about a boy and girl who find themselves growing closer because of their mutual love of AKB48… (cough) pardon me, KBF47.

ASH: That sounds like it could be fun!

SEAN: Digital first titles include Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight 11, Real Account 12-14 (a three volume omnibus), and Sweat and Soap 3.

Digital-only titles next week include Fairy Tail: City Hero 3, Farewell My Dear Cramer 10, The Great Cleric 5, and Love Massage: Melting Beauty Treatment 5.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught back up on Farewell My Dear Cramer.

SEAN: Seven Seas, in print, has the debut of Love Me for Who I Am. We talked about this when it came out digitally, but it deserves to be talked about again, because the first volume impressed me greatly. A must for LGBTQ fans.

ASH: I was waiting for the print release to read it; I’m looking forward to the manga.

MELINDA: I never did pick up the digital version, so this is my chance!

SEAN: In early-digital releases, we also have a debut light novel. The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter (Ore Dake Haireru Kakushi Dungeon: Kossori Kitaete Sekai Saikyou) is about a boy with minimal talents and, well, a dungeon that’s all for him. Seems very light novel-ey. Also he’s named Noir, so I hope he quickly gains companions named Madlax and El Cazador.

There’s also Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends 18, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 9, and the 3rd Neon Evangelion ANIMA light novel, where we see once more how many times they can use the phrase ‘pillar of salt’.

Tokyopop has a debut. Koimonogatari: Love Stories is not, sad to say, starring Hitagi Senjogahara. It’s a BL series from Gentosha’s Rutile, and actually looks quite sweet.

Tokyopop also has an 8th volume of yuri fox girl series Konohana Kitan.

Finally, Udon gives us a 7th Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, which always leaves me hungry (admittedly, most foodies manga/novels do these days).

ASH: I read some of the early volumes, so I’ve some catching up to do.

SEAN: Anything catch your eye?

SEAN: Look out, folks. The danger of COVID-19 may still be here, but the dam has broken. There are SO MANY BOOKS next week.

ASH: Woo!

SEAN: We’ll start with Dark Horse, who have a 5th volume of Mob Psycho 100.

ASH: I’ll be picking this up.

SEAN: J-Novel Club’s debut is Deathbound Duke’s Daughter, which is another in the “I’ve been reincarnated as a villainess in an otome game” genre. Really nice artwork for this novel series. It’s from Futabasha’s M Novels.

Also from J-Novel Club: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 10, Ascendance of a Bookworm 7 (which finishes the 2nd arc, the one currently being animated), the 2nd Sorcerous Stabber Orphen manga, and a 4th Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!

Kodansha has a lot. Debuts? We have three. One even is in print: the first volume of The Ghost in the Shell: Human Algorithm, a spinoff of the legendary manga/anime franchise.

ASH: It’s always interesting to see how various creators envision Ghost in the Shell.

SEAN: A new digital-only title is Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! (Abe-kun ni Nerawaretemasu), a shoujo title from the online replacement for Aria, Palcy. A comedy manga about a girl who finds the school’s karate champ confessing to her… and he’s not going to take no for an answer.

Also digital (at least for now) is Sue & Tai-chan, another cat manga from the creator of Chi’s Sweet Home. This one runs in Be Love magazine, so seems more for housewives than kids. But… I mean, it’s still a cute cat manga.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to it!

SEAN: Scheduled (at the moment) for Digital next week and print later, we see Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition 5 (along with 3 and 4, whose print are out already), Fire Force 19, Love and Lies 9, O Maidens in Your Savage Season 7, and Yuri Is My Job! 6.

ASH: As usual, I’ll be waiting for the print release, but O Maidens in Your Savage Season is really good.

SEAN: Digital-only titles out next week? Altair: A Record of Battles 19 (I swear this is now weekly), Asahi-sempai’s Favorite 7 (the final volume), Hotaru’s Way 14, I Fell in Love After School 5, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 15, and Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 7 (which also feels like it’s out every week).

MICHELLE: Of these, I’m only currently reading I Fell in Love After School, but I do enjoy it.

SEAN: KUMA has a digital-first, print later debut: Canis: Dear Mr. Rain. This BL title originally ran in Opera a few years back, but is now in Takeshobo’s Reijin. It’s about picking up a stray on the side of the road, only this is a human, not a dog.

MELINDA: Maybe?

SEAN: One Peace has a 13th Rising of the Shield Hero (manga version).

Seven Seas, in print, has New Game! 9.

Seven Seas, digitally, has a bit more. We have two debuts. Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time (Peter Grill to Kenja no Jikan) runs in Futabasha’s Manga Action, which means it can’t be full-on porn, but it sounds like it. Peter Grill has a lovely fiancee and has just won a tournament pronouncing him the World’s Strongest. Unfortunately, this means all the women in the world – elves, ogres – want to bone him. Poor guy, can he escape his horrible fate?

MELINDA: …wow.

SEAN: The other digital debut is Syrup, another yuri anthology of short stories – this one from Futabasha – and featuring the creators of I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up and Kisses, Sighs and Cherry Blossom Pink.

ASH: Oh! That sounds like it has promise!

MELINDA: This might be good!

SEAN: There’s also the 3rd Arifureta manga, Gal Gohan 3, GIGANT 2, a 2nd Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard light novel, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 3, Non Non Biyori 13, the 3rd Reincarnated As a Sword manga, and the 10th and final Toradora! light novel. (Yes, I know there are short story volumes. No, they aren’t. No, it’s unlikely they will be.)

Square Enix has – digital first – the 3nd Hi Score Girl manga and the 2nd Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town manga.

Tokyopop has two new series. Don’t Call Me Daddy (Daddy Darlin’) is a BL manga, sequel to Don’t Call Me Dirty.

The other is No Vampire, No Happy Ending (Ringo to Bara to Kyuuketsuki (Kari)), a goofy Mag Garden comedy about a vampire enthusiast who finally meets one and discovers they’re not up to snuff.

MELINDA: This actually sounds fun, maybe in a What We Do in the Shadows kind of way, but …Tokyopop. Not sure I’m ready.

Vertical has (digitally) Bakemonogatari’s 4th manga, APOSIMZ 5, and Kino’s Journey 6.

MELINDA: I’ve been kind of out of it and have lost touch with the Kino’s Journey manga adaptation. I should try to fix that.

SEAN: That’s it! We’re done! Wait… (giant pile of Yen Press falls on Sean) Riiiiiight. Yen’s back in town.

ASH: Whoa! Hang on for the ride!

SEAN: All of the light novel debuts got moved to July. But there’s still a lot of Yen On. We get The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 7, Last Round Arthurs 2, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 6.5 (yes, the numbering is deliberate), Overlord 12, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 7, A Sister’s All You Need 7, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 8, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 2, Woof Woof Story 4, and World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 3. Guh. So many books, so many long titles.

ASH: For sure!

SEAN: Manga? Well, there we have a few debuts. Bestia is a fantasy series about magical beasts, looks cute, and runs in Kadokawa’s Shonen Ace.

Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World (Sekai de Ichiban Oppai Ga Suki!) is sort of Knight of the Ice if the knight was a girl and instead of wanting to hear magical girl songs she had to fondle huge breasts in order to do well in competitions. It looks… a bit over the top. This runs in Media Factory’s Comic Cune.

MELINDA: What is happening??

SEAN: Lust Geass is from the creator of Evangelion spinoff The Shinji Ikari Raising Project, runs in Kadokawa’s Young Ace, and seems to be Death Note only with sex instead of death.

MELINDA: Yen Press is really losing me lately.

SEAN: And there’s Restaurant in Another World, the manga version of the light novel. Old-school Crunchyroll manga readers may recall this title.

ASH: Oh, I may need to check this one out.

SEAN: Lastly, Sekiro Side Story: Hanbei the Undying seems to be a side story to something I don’t know (it’s certainly not Sekirei), and I guess is based off a game.

Ongoing titles? Well, Umineko: When They Cry comes to an end with the 3rd and final omnibus of Twilight of the Golden Witch. We’ve figured out by now that most everyone in the cast is really, genuinely dead. But did ANYONE other than Ange survive? Read to find out.

And… Bungo Stray Dogs 15, Chio’s School Road 9, Dead Mount Death Play 4, Divine Raiment Magical Girl Howling Moon 2, Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 3 (manga version), Eclair Bleau (another yuri anthology volume) Goblin Slayer 8 (manga version), KonoSuba Explosion 5 (manga version, technically a final volume but there’s a sequel), Little Miss P: The Second Day, Phantom Tales of the Night 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 10 (manga version), and A Witch’s Printing Office 3.

MICHELLE: So many paragraphs of things I’m not reading, with the probable exception of Eclair Bleue.

ANNA: I’m going to have a hard time doing pick of the week this week, despite this deluge of manga.

ASH: I’m glad to see publishers getting their books out there, but that is certainly a lot all at once!

MELINDA: A lot of… what?

SEAN: Stay masked even though all the manga is back! What are you getting?

SEAN: It’s mid-June. Is it hot where you are? It’s certainly hot where I am. Have some manga.

We start with light novels, though, as J-Novel Club has a debut. Wild Times with a Fake Fake Princess is another series by Ichiro Sakaki, author of Outbreak Company. The description makes it sound like “straight man surrounded by wacky people and situations”. Think broad comedy. It’s 3 volumes total.

J-Novel Club also gives us Her Majesty’s Swarm 3.

Kodansha, in early digital releases of print titles, gives us Boarding School Juliet 12, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 13 and Witch Hat Atelier 6.

ASH: I’ll be waiting to pick it up in print, but I am very pleased to see all the love Witch Hat Atelier is getting these days!

ANNA: Totally collecting Witch Hat Atelier in print too!

SEAN: Digital-only has a LOT more. The debut is Men’s Life —Her Secret Life in The Boys’ Dormitory—, a Betsufure series by the creator of L♥DK. Introverted girl, extroverted brother, she has to disguise herself as him… you know the drill.

MICHELLE: I will at least give the debut volume a look, but I didn’t realize it was by the L♥DK creator. I tried the first volume of that and didn’t like it much.

MELINDA: This sounds potentially awful? I’ll wait to see what Michelle says.

SEAN: There’s also (deep break) Dolly Kill Kill 3, Domestic Girlfriend 25, GE: Good Ending 6, I’ll Win You Over Sempai! 5, Kakushigoto 4, Saint Young Men 6, Shojo FIGHT! 11, The Slime Diaries 3, and That Blue Summer 6.

MICHELLE : Both That Blue Summer and I’ll Win You Over, Sempai! are enjoyable shoujo. This is also the final volume for the latter. I really need to catch up on Shojo FIGHT! as well.

SEAN: One Peace has an 8th volume of Hinamatsuri.

Seven Seas has a couple of debuts. Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear gets its manga in print. It also gives us the 2nd novel as an early digital book.

The other early digital debut is Love on the Other Side: A Nagabe Short Story Collection. The Girl from the Other Side is the author’s most well-known work, and these are short stories (unrelated to his other series) about supernatural love.

MICHELLE: I will definitely be reading this!

ASH: Likewise! I’m very happy to see more of Nagabe’s work being translated.

ANNA: Sounds great.

MELINDA: Here for this!

SEAN: In ongoing print, we see Classroom of the Elite 4.5, Masamune-kun’s Revenge 11, Satoko and Nada 3, and Tomo-chan Is a Girl! 7, which also now has all its volumes available digitally! I love both Satoko and Nada and Tomo-chan.

ASH: Satoko and Nada is a great series.

SEAN: Other digital first titles: Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor 9, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 2, and the 2nd Invincible Shovel light novel.

Sol Press has a 2nd digital volume of light novel Redefining the Meta at VRMMO Academy.

Vertical debuts, digital-first, the manga version of Weathering with You, another Makoto Shinkai multi-media franchise. The manga runs in Afternoon.

MELINDA: I loved the movie, and have historically enjoyed the manga versions of Shinkai’s work, so maybe?

SEAN: Viz Media gives us the 8th 20th Century Boys Perfect Edition, Blue Flag 2, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction 8, the 3rd Drifting Classroom Perfect Edition, and Golden Kamuy 16.

MICHELLE: I am chastened to admit I have not read Blue Flag yet! I will rectify this forthwith.

ASH: I’m following quite a few of these series, but Blue Flag is what I’ll be reading first. I think you’ll like the series, Michelle.

ANNA: Blue Flag is wonderful.

MELINDA: I also have not read Blue Flag, but I guess I should!

SEAN: Lastly, remember a few weeks ago when we were talking about Nightschool and wishing we could see more of it? Good news! The Weirn Books seems to be a reboot of the series aimed at readers of her Berrybrook Middle School series. The first volume from Yen Press is subtitled Be Wary of the Silent Woods.

ASH: Oh, nice!

ANNA: Sweet!

MELINDA: Oh, interesting!

SEAN: Good things come to those who wait. What are you waiting for?

SEAN: Still June-ing, still dreaming.

J-Novel Club has digital manga and light novels. On the manga end, we get Animeta! 4 and Demon Lord, Retry! 2.

MICHELLE: I enjoy Animeta!, though I can’t really claim that it’s great.

ASH: I’ve been liking it, too.

SEAN: For light novels, there is the 6th The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress, Outbreak Company 14, the 2nd in the Tales of Marielle Clarac series, The Beloved of Marielle Clarac, and The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman 3.

We’ll divide Kodansha into digital with print coming later, and just digital. For the former, we see the debut of Chobits: the 20th Anniversary Edition. One of CLAMP’s more problematic series… and that’s a pretty high bar… it’s still worth a read.

MICHELLE: I haven’t read Chobits in 17 years (I’m so old), so I think I might give it another look.

ASH: Chobits was the first CLAMP work that I read, so it holds a special place for me, problems and all.

MELINDA: Definitely not my favorite of CLAMP’s work, but I’m interested in what a 20th Anniversary Edition has to offer.

SEAN: There’s also Eden’s Zero 8 and Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku 4. Definitely looking forward to more Wotakoi.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

ASH: Yes! It seems like forever since the last omnibus. I’ve been enjoying the series a great deal.

ANNA: I’m OK with skipping it!

SEAN: The digital-only debut is Hop Step Sing!. A VR Idol story that lists ‘Kodansha’ as the creator of the original concept, its artist is best known for yuri works from Galette magazine. This runs in Comic Days, though, and is about a girl who becomes a VR Idol, unsurprisingly.

For ongoing digital-only, we see All-Out!! 14, Ex-Enthusiasts: Motokare Mania 4, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 4, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 3, My Roomie Is a Dino 3, and Orient 3.

MICHELLE: Ex-Enthusiasts is enjoyable josei, so I’m looking forward to more of that.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a digital-first debut, The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru. A retelling of the classic Tezuka story, the artist is known in the West for Attack on Titan: Before the Fall. A young man whose body is split into 48 pieces joins up with a thief to recover them. This runs in Akita Shoten’s Champion Red, but I will try not to hold that against it.

ASH: The original Dororo is a favorite of mine, so I’m very curious to see this version.

MELINDA: I’m also a big fan of Dororo, so this is interesting to me.

SEAN: Also debuting digitally first is Sarazanmai, the light novel based on the anime series that also spawned a manga prequel, which we’ve already talked about. It is, and I quote, an “action-filled LGBT comedy”.

ASH: Adding it to list of Sarazanmai media I need to catch up on!

MELINDA: I read very few light novels, but the description sounds great.

SEAN: Digitally first but not debuts are Blank Canvas 5 (the final volume) and Reincarnated As a Sword novel 6.

MICHELLE: Oh, I totally forgot about Blank Canvas! I need to read this.

ASH: It’s such a great series.

SEAN: SuBLime has a debut with Therapy Game. It’s a sequel to Secret XXX, and also runs in Shinshokan’s Dear+. It seems to involve casual sex, heartbreak, and revenge?

Also out from SuBLime is Caste Heaven 2.

Vertical has, digitally, the 4th Bakemonogatari manga, which starts the Suruga Monkey arc.

Viz’s debut is How Do We Relationship? (Tsukiatte Agete Mo Ii Ka Na), a yuri manga from Shogakukan’s Ura Sunday. Based on a doujinshi series, it apparently really gets into the messiness of dating between two young women. I have been looking forward to this one.

MICHELLE: Same.

ASH: Likewise!

MELINDA: This sounds great!

SEAN: There’s also Komi Can’t Communicate 7, the 2nd Pokemon Adventures Collector’s Edition, Requiem of the Rose King 12, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 12. Komi and Sleepy Princess have had a crossover between each other. I would not expect Richard from Rose King to appear in either of those series, however.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

ASH: Ha! Likely not. Though it has been known to have dream sequences…

MELINDA: Always here for the Rose King!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Lastly, some Yen Press hangovers. The 2nd Collector’s Edition of Nightschool, and the third Toilet-Bound Hakano-kun in print.

ASH: I’m really liking Toilet-Bound Hakano-kun, so far!

SEAN: What manga are you burning the midnight lamp over?

SEAN: June is busting out all over, and while the schedule is not back to normal yet, it’s better than May was.

ASH: Huzzah!

SEAN: First, an apology to a new publisher, Tentai Books, who have their first release out this week and I missed it. They’re publishing in both Spanish and English, and their debut is a light novel, There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?. Seems to be targeting the Oregairu/Tomozaki crowd.

As for next week, Ghost Ship has a 9th Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.

J-Novel Club has a lot. In print, we get the debut volume of Sexiled: My Sexist Party Leader Kicked Me Out, So I Teamed Up With a Mythical Sorceress!, which I recommend to absolutely everyone.

ASH: Now that it’s finally in print, I’ll definitely be picking this one up. I’ve heard great things about it from all sorts of people.

ANNA: I’m curious about it too!

SEAN: Also in print: Ascendance of a Bookworm 5, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 10, and In Another World with My Smartphone 10.

Digitally, there’s also Altina the Sword Princess 4, a 3rd By the Grace of the Gods, Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On? 2, Kokoro Connect 9, the 3rd Marginal Operation manga, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 11, and a 6th Record of Wortenia War.

Kodansha has a lot, most of which I’ve mentioned before because the schedule shifted. The print and digital debut is Rent-A-Girlfriend (Kanojo, Okarishimasu), a Weekly Shonen Magazine manga by an artist best known for the long-running and unlicensed AKB49: The Rules Against Love. A desperate guy, as the title suggests, rents a girlfriend, who seems perfect… at first. This is getting an anime this summer, and Kodansha describes it as “sweet, naive boy meets cute, ruthless girl”.

Debuting digitally is Stellar Witch LIP☆S (MajoKaitou LIP☆S), a shoujo series from Nakayoshi. A girl who desperately wants to see an idol group turns to a witch to help her. Hijinks ensue.

MICHELLE: I can’t confidently claim Stellar Witch is going to be any better than Rent-A-Girlfriend, but it’s certainly more my speed.

ANNA: This sounds fun, but I am utterly incapable of keeping up with these digital releases.

MELINDA: Yes, with so many, I find I need to REALLY want to read something for it to stand out from the crowd.

SEAN: No other print stuff, but in digital-first print books we have (be prepared for titles you’ve heard here before…) Cells At Work: Code BLACK 5, Fairy Tail 100 Years Quest 4, Granblue Fantasy 5, Knight of the Ice 2, L♥DK 15, Maga-Tsuki 11-13 (a final volume 3-in-one omnibus two years after a 2-in-one omnibus, YIKES), The Seven Deadly Sins 38, Something’s Wrong with Us 2, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 2.

In digital-only we get A Condition Called Love 4, Chihayafuru 20, Smile Down the Runway 10, and To Be Next to You 6.

MICHELLE: I’ve been catching up on A Condition Called Love and enjoying it. And, of course, I always rejoice for more Chihayafuru.

ANNA: Chihayafuru is the one digital release that I am confident I will get caught up on…one day.

SEAN: Seven Seas has, in early digital release, Love Me for Who I Am (Fukakai na Boku no Subete o), aka Fukaboku. This LGBT manga from GOT Corporation’s Comic MeDu is about a nonbinary protagonist and the nontraditional maid cafe they’re introduced to.

MICHELLE: I’ll definitely be checking this one out.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Sounds good!

MELINDA: To illustrate my above point, I’m SO here for this. I will seek it out.

SEAN: Also out early digitally: A Centaur’s Life 18 and Skeleton Knight in Another World light novel 6.

In print, Seven Seas has quite a bit. Debuting is The Invincible Shovel, a light novel that I found hilarious when I reviewed the early digital copy. And we also see Sarazanmai: Reo and Mabu, the manga prequel to the upcoming light novels based on the anime.

ASH: I really need to catch up on Sarazanmai in general.

SEAN: Also out in print: Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 2, How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 3, Magical Girl Site 12, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 9, and Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 10.

Viz has two debuts. The first is SPY x FAMILY, a series that should need no introduction but I’m going to anyway. In an unnamed vaguely Eastern European country, a spy needs to have a wife and child to complete his next assignment. A woman who moonlights as an assassin needs a husband so that she isn’t suspicious. And a young girl with esper powers just wants to get away from being experimented on. Together, they are the best found family ever. Oh yes, and except for the girl (who can read minds), they don’t know each other’s profession. A magical series, I want the world to read it. Hilarious and heartwarming.

MICHELLE: So excite.

ASH: Really looking forward to this release!

ANNA: Me too!!!

MELINDA: This sounds great!

SEAN: The other debut is, of course, My Villain Academia, which replaces the seemingly popular My Hero Academia. Not sure why, maybe its sales were slipping? In any case, this volume focuses on our villain heroes, Shigaraki, Twice, and Himiko Toga. It promises to be DARK as hell. (Also, it is possibly it’s really My Hero Academia 24.)

MICHELLE: Heh. This arc solidified Twice as my favorite amongst the villains.

SEAN: In Shonen Jump news, we get Black Clover 21, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 13, Dragon Ball Super 9, Food Wars 36 (mercifully the final volume… anyone noticed an annoying trend for popular long-running Jump series to leap off of cliffs into piles of crap lately?), Jujutsu Kaisen 4, My Hero Academia Vigilantes 7, The Promised Neverland 15, We Never Learn 10, and Yu-Gi-Oh Arc-V 7.

MICHELLE: Oh, I had no idea that was the final volume of Food Wars! I reckon since I have read through volume 30 I might as well finish it, pile of crap or no. Also, I’m looking forward to the next Vigilantes volume, as I believe it has more of Aizawa’s past in it.

SEAN: As for Shojo Beat, no debuts, but we get Ao Haru Ride 11, Natsume’s Book of Friends 24, Queen’s Quality 9, and Yona of the Dawn 24. Natsume’s Book of Friends is always near the top of my pile when it comes out, though it may have to wait for me to read Yona.

MICHELLE: I love both dearly, but because Natsume comes out less regularly, I think it’s got the edge for me.

ASH: Natsume and Yona both have my heart, too. Though, I’ve also been enjoying Queen’s Quality.

MICHELLE: I really need to read it. I did enjoy QQ Sweeper.

ANNA: Nice week of many great series coming out!

MELINDA: Queen’s Quality! Hurray!

SEAN: What are you getting next week? (Please get SPY x FAMILY.)

SEAN: It’s the end of May, and the schedule is still not back to normal, but we soldier on regardless.

ASH: Bring on the manga!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Parallel Paradise 2 (digitally) and Yokai Girls 10 (in print).

I’m starting to give up on predicting when Kodansha’s “digital early” releases of their print books will come out. Theoretically we’ll see Cells At Work: Code BLACK 5 and Yuzu the Pet Vet 2.

That said, actually coming out in print are the first two volumes of Wave, Listen to Me!. Now with a polarizing anime!

MICHELLE: Yay!

ANNA: I want to check this out.

ASH: I’m thrilled this is being released in print!

MELINDA: Definitely ready to give this a look!

SEAN: Digital-only volumes are out for Altair: A Record of Battles 18, DAYS 18, I Fell in Love After School 4, and Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 6.

MICHELLE: I’ve enjoyed I Fell in Love After School thus far. And of course I am here for DAYS.

SEAN: One Peace has the 2nd volume of The New Gate.

Seven Seas have three debuts, all digital-first. Makeup is Not (Just) Magic: A Manga Guide to Cosmetics and Skin Care (Make wa Tada no Mahou Janai no Beginners) is actually a josei title from Kiss, and sounds like one of those “The Manga Guide To Quantum Mechanics” style books. A young woman learns about makeup through her glamorous friend. It’s done in one, though there is an (unlicensed) sequel that came out this year in Japan.

ANNA: I am intrigued by skin care manga.

ASH: I’ll admit, I am, too.

SEAN: My Senpai Is Annoying (Senpai ga Urusai Kouhai no Hanashi) is a comedic romance that runs on Ichijinsha’s Comic Pool site. It’s the same magazine that has Wotakoi. Let’s hope it is as good as Wotakoi: the premise of “huge guy with his tiny office coworker who looks like a child” starts with a strike against it. (He’s the annoying one.)

ASH: Hmmm…

SEAN: And the first PENGUINDRUM light novel is out digitally. Yes, I know I said it was back in March. It got bumped.

ASH: Will be waiting for this one to be released in print, personally.

SEAN: Also out (digitally) are Adachi and Shimamura’s 2nd light novel, A Certain Scientific Railgun 15, and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 9.

Vertical has a 4th Bakemonogatari manga out digitally, which should start the Suruga Monkey arc.

And now Yen Press, who nostalgically are releasing everything on the same week. This month is smaller than usual for them, though. And these ARE print (and mostly digital too).

ASH: Ah, remember the days?

SEAN: Yen On debuts – finally, it was originally scheduled for August 2019 – A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga. From the creator of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and You Call That Service?, this light novel seeks to answer the question “do casuals know enough about the Sengoku Period to know what this is talking about?”. It helps that the fantasy world this kid lives in doesn’t know either – when he gets “Oda Nobunaga” as his chosen calling, no one has any clue what it is. This could be a disaster, but it’s only 3 volumes long, so…

Also out from Yen On is The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life 3, The Asterisk War 13, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 11, Strike the Blood 15, and Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 2.

Yen Press has no new debuts, but they are putting out the first Collector’s Edition of Nightschool, the OEL series from Svetlana Chmakova.

MICHELLE: I had this idea that Chmakova was going to continue Nightschool at some point, but that doesn’t seem to have happened. Perhaps this rerelease is to remind people about the series and gauge interest? I certainly would read more!

ASH: It’s been a while, but I do recall liking Nightschook.

MELINDA: I would read more Nightschool!

SEAN: Hey, remember when I said that The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan 11 was the final volume? Back in 2017? Possibly as it had the word ‘FINAL’ on its cover? Guess what, folks, the real final volume is out next week. You can tell it’s really finally final as they’re running away while waving to the reader on the cover.

ASH: Ha!

MELINDA: Huh.

SEAN: We also get Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 9 (manga version), Happy Sugar Life 5, IM: Great Priest Imhotep 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years 2 (manga version), Kakugurui Twin 6, Karneval 10, the 6th and final volume of Nyankees, Overlord’s 12th manga volume, Trinity Seven 20, and the 2nd Woof Woof Story manga volume.

What manga are you reading instead of going to a parade?

SEAN: STILL no sign of land. How long is it?

Cross Infinite World has seen which way the trends are blowing and is here for you with The Weakest Manga Villainess Wants Her Freedom!. A light novel about a girl who discovers she’s been reincarnated into her favorite game as the weakest boss villain who dies early and everyone mocks after her death. Yeah, she’s not sticking around for that. She’s outta here! If you can’t wait for more Bakarina or I Refuse to Be Your Enemy, this should tide you over.

ASH: Definitely on trend there, but it sounds like it could be fun.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight 2 in print.

J-Novel Club has three novels: Banner of the Stars 3, Bibliophile Princess 2, and Campfire Cooking in Another World 6.

Kodansha’s website says we’re getting digital-first versions of Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 4, Knight of the Ice 2 (postponed from this week), Saiyuki 2, The Seven Deadly Sins 38, and Something’s Wrong With Us 2. I’m assuming they will hit other retail sites soon.

MICHELLE: Hm. I’m looking forward to more of Something’s Wrong with Us!

SEAN: Digital-only titles do seem to be up on other retail sites. There’s Cosplay Animal 12, Dolly Kill Kill 2, GE: Good Ending 5, I’ll Win You Over, Senpai! 4, Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition 3, Space Brothers 36, That Blue Summer 5, and Yozakura Quartet 26.

MICHELLE: I am really enjoying I’ll Win You Over, Senpai!, somewhat to my surprise.

SEAN: One Peace says that it has The Reprise of the Spear Hero’s 2nd manga volume out next week. As with other small publishers in these COVID times, actual shipment dates may vary.

Seven Seas has early digital releases for A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy 3, New Game! 9, and Species Domain 8.

Vertical’s digital releases are now part of Kodansha’s, so I missed that CITY 8 came out digitally this week. By that logic, we should see Please Don’t Bully Me, Miss Nagotoro 3 next week.

Viz has the debut of the week, and it’s a big one. Ping Pong is an old series from Taiyo Matsumoto that ran in Big Comic Spirits back in the 1990s, and Viz is releasing it in two 500-page tomes. If you liked Sunny, or Tekkon Kinkreet, or what little we got of Number Five, you have to check this out. And yes, it really is about ping pong, it’s not a metaphor or something.

MICHELLE: I am so here for this.

ANNA: Me too, that sounds amazing.

ASH: Yes! I have been pining for a release of this series ever since Matsumoto was at TCAF back in 2013. I am so happy to finally get my hands on this.

MELINDA: I love that you had to explain that, though. “It really is about ping pong.”

SEAN: The other debut is The Kingdom of the Gods, which inspired a Netflix series called Kingdom. It’s a manwha, seems to be complete in one volume, and has a cover that looks terrifying.

ASH: I’ll be checking this one out! I’ve heard great things about the adaptation, so I’m curious about the original.

MELINDA: I’m always interested in manwha.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Beastars 6, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku 2, Levius/est 4, No Guns Life 5, Ran and the Gray World 7 (the final volume), Urusei Yatsura omnibus 6, and The Way of the Househusband 3.

MICHELLE: Some good stuff here! I really need to catch up on BEASTARS.

ASH: It’s gone in some directions that I really didn’t expect, but I’ve certainly been enjoying the series. I liked the first volume of Hell’s Paradise, too, and I’m looking forward to more of The Way of the Househusband, as well!

SEAN: Are you planning to eat your manga? Or just read it?

SEAN: Mid-May (Mother’s Day) and we’re feeling the loss of many books, though there’s still enough coming out that people should be kept busy.

ASH: Indeed! It certainly feels odd not going to TCAF this year, but I’ve still found plenty to read.

SEAN: We start with J-Novel Club, which has the 4th Ascendance of a Bookworm manga, Cooking with Wild Game 7, and Outer Ragna 2.

ASH: I’ve heard so many good things about Ascendance of a Bookworm; I really need to move it closer to the top of my to-be-read pile.

Newbie publisher Kaiten Books has its second release, which is Shed that Skin, Ryugasaki-san! (Mukasete! Ryugasaki-san), which is NOT based on a light novel but is in Overlap’s Comic Gardo anyway. It’s the sweet story of a lizard-like girl and a boy who really loves lizards. Can they find love?

Catching up on things I missed: Kodansha now has the rights to Loveless, presumably through their partnership with Ichijinsha, and has released all 13 volumes digitally as of last week.

Also out already from Kodansha via their partnership with Comixology is Drops of God Vols. 12-22.

In the “would have been print but isn’t yet” Kodansha titles, we find Beyond the Clouds 2 and Knight of the Ice 2.

MICHELLE: Knight of the Ice is so much fun.

ASH: I really liked the first volume!

ANNA: Me too, I’m looking forward to collecting this in print.

SEAN: On the actual digital front, we have Ace of the Diamond 26, The Dorm of Love and Secrets 4 (a final volume), Giant Killing 20, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 2, and Tokyo Revengers 15.

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading 60% of these!

SEAN: Seven Seas has two debuts (digital, of course). The first is the Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear manga, based on the light novel we talked about a week ago. It runs in Shufu to Seikatsusha’s Comic Pash!, which is not a magazine I get to mention here very often.

More relevant to the Manga Bookshelf crowd is Sarazanmai: Reo and Mabu, a single volume BL manga from Gentosha’s RUTILE. From what I can tell, this is the prequel to the Sarazanmai anime/light novel series, which is from the pen of Kunihiko Ikuhara and whose light novel version Seven Seas is releasing later this year. Um, they’re cops, they’re lovers, they adopt a kid, there’s weird supernatural shit? Sounds like Ikuhara, all right.

MICHELLE: Hmm.

ASH: I’ll be reading this at some point.

MELINDA: Count me in on this.

SEAN: Also out next week: Classroom of the Elite 5 has a early digital release. There’s also Dungeon Builder: Demon King’s Labyrinth Is a Modern City 2, Magical Girl Site 12, and the 11th and final volume of Masamune-kun’s Revenge.

Square Enix has one digital release: The manga version of Wandering Witch, whose light novel is coming out from Yen On. This manga version is from Gangan Online. For fans of Kino’s Journey.

ASH: I do like Kino’s Journey…

MELINDA: Ohhhhh, I also love Kino. Hm.

SEAN: SuBLime has a 2nd volume of Given and the 3rd Yarichin Bitch Club.

MICHELLE: Yay, Given!

ASH: Yes! Looking forward to reading more.

ANNA: Looking forward to more Given!

MELINDA: Oh, no! I’mm behind!

SEAN: Finally, we have Viz. No debuts, but we get A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow 3, Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 9, Radiant 11, RIN-NE 33, Splatoon 9, Transformers: the Manga 2, and Yo-Kai Watch 14. (Yes, I know. I always forget Yo-Kai Watch exists.)

ASH: I’ve been enjoying A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow quite a bit so far.

SEAN: Some interesting things. Are you buying any manga for your mom?

SEAN: So, it’s May, and we’re in the middle of a pandemic. Let’s break down what that means, by publisher.

Viz/SuBLime and J-Novel Club have both indicated that their May print books are on schedule. Yen Press has moved a number of books to later months, and has a smaller May schedule that’s all in the last week of the month (the books on the list below are technically April holdovers). Tokyopop and Udon have both indicated that, despite Amazon listings, their May books are ‘TBA’ – I’m going to guess One Peace will fall in here as well, though I can’t confirm that. Dark Horse doesn’t have any May manga titles, and Denpa seems to have moved everything to June as well, though their lack of a release calendar on their site doesn’t help. Vertical moved all its May books to later in the year. Kodansha and Seven Seas have delayed their print releases to TBA (Ghost Ship is an exception), but are still releasing the books digitally on time.

Having done all that, let’s start with a publisher who’s none of the above. Fantagraphics has a box set of both volumes of Dementia 21 out next week. Definitely worth a look if you like creepy stuff.

ASH: True, that! I already have the individual volumes myself, but this is a great set for those who don’t.

MELINDA: I might consider this.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Vol. 9 of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.

J-Novel Club has three print releases for us. An Archdemon’s Dilemma 5, Infinite Dendrogram 6, and JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World: Summer.

On the digital end, we have the 3rd Faraway Paladin manga, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 5, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 14++ (why is it avoiding 15?), Lazy Dungeon Master 10, the 3rd Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar manga, and the 2nd Sweet Reincarnation manga.

ASH: Why is it avoiding 15??

SEAN: Kodansha is all digital, but let’s begin with what WOULD have been print, as we have L♥DK 15 and To Your Eternity 12.

ASH: To Your Eternity is such a good series.

SEAN: On the digital digital end, there’s no debut (the ‘debut a new title every week’ thing seems to be over), but we get All-Rounder Meguru 14, A Condition Called Love 3, Orient 2, Smile Down the Runway 9, and To Be Next to You 5.

MICHELLE: There may not be a weekly debut, but they really are getting out their newish shoujo titles super quickly!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a digital-first debut light novel, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear. The Japanese meaning in the multiple kumas is apparently a tortured pun, but oh well. Kuma is a young VRMMO prodigy who is otherwise a shut-in, and (stop me if you’ve heard this one) is sucked into the game for real! Even worse, her equipment – while powerful – is cutesy bear pajamas. Can she survive in the game with her dignity intact? This seems funny, and at least Kuma seems unlikely to amass a large harem.

Seven Seas also has two “no print yet, but here’s the digital on time” releases: How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 3, and Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 10, and an “early digital light novel” release of Restaurant to Another World 4.

ASH: It definitely has a stong fanservice element, but I’ve largely liked what I’ve read of How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? so far.

SEAN: And so we move to Viz, which has everything you’d want in a first week of May. The debut is Not Your Idol (Sayonara Miniskirt), and thank God for title changes. It’s a shoujo manga from Ribon, though it also appears on Shonen Jump +, their digital platform. This is about a former idol who was attacked and decided to live as a boy afterwards. Now someone recognizes them. It feels like the sort of manga I tend to call a “potboiler”. We’ll see.

MICHELLE: I will definitely give it a shot!

ANNA: I’m curious about this one.

ASH: Same.

MELINDA: Cautiously interested.

SEAN: Also coming out from Shojo Beat: Daytime Shooting Star 6, Love Me Love Me Not 2, Shortcake Cake 8, and Snow White with the Red Hair 7.

MICHELLE: I’m reading all of these, though I look forward most to catching up on Shortcake Cake and Snow White with the Red Hair, as I’m a couple volumes behind now.

ANNA: I’m reading all of these too!

MELINDA: I’m so far behind on everything!

SEAN: On the Shonen Jump side, the debut is One Piece: Ace’s Story, the first in a series of light novels focusing on Luffy’s older brother.

There’s also Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 12, Dr. STONE 11, Haikyu!! 38, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 14, My Hero Academia SMASH! 4, Samurai 8 2, and Twin Star Exorcists 18.

MICHELLE: Volleyboys!

ANNA: My kids are big Haikyu!! fans. One day I need to get caught up but we have every single volume.

ASH: I’m a bit behind, too, but Haikyu!! is a series I really enjoy.

MELINDA: Half my Twitter feed is obsessed with Haikyu!! but I must really be getting old, because my first reaction is, “Ack, so many volumes.”

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press had a few April titles that got bumped a week but aren’t affected by the pandemic. We get the 2nd manga volume of The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life, Aoharu x Machinegun 17, Éclair Blanche (the 2nd Girls’ Love anthology in that series), Murcielago 14, the 2nd Our Last Crusade manga, and Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san 4, which is its final volume.

ASH: Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san, it is so good to see you one last time!

MELINDA: I still need to give Skull-Faced a chance.

SEAN: See? Even in a pandemic, there’s still plenty of stuff. What are you reading from home?

SEAN: The last week of April, and the last week of normal manga releases. Also, I want to go in reverse order.

Yen On has a debut light novel, one that is long awaited and which has already had an anime. It’s a Haruhi Suzumiya-esque title scheme, so I’ll just note the first volume is called Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai. It’s about a guy who discovers that his upperclassman is walking around wearing a bunny girl outfit… and no one notices except him. (I suspect it’s about far more than that.) Despite a questionable premise, it’s gotten much praise.

MELINDA: Huh.

SEAN: We also get The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 16, KonoSuba 11, Our Last Crusade 3, and Torture Princess 4.

No manga debuts, but there is As Miss Beelzebub Likes 9, Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One 4, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 7 (the manga, the LN got pushed back a bit), Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 11 (manga version), Kemono Friends a La Carte 3, Overlord the Undead King-Oh! 3, Silver Spoon 14, and Yowamushi Pedal 14.

MICHELLE: Yay Yowamushi!. At this point, I’m just gonna wait ’til Silver Spoon finishes and read it in one chunk.

ASH: Silver Spoon is so good, Michelle! You’ll be in for a treat. Also, a second hooray for Yowamushi Pedal!

MELINDA: SILVER SPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON. Hi.

SEAN: Vertical has To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts 10.

Square Enix debuts The Misfit of Demon King Academy (Maougakuin no Futekigousha), a manga based on a light novel (no, it’s not licensed) with an anime coming this summer (unless it’s delayed). It runs in Manga UP!, and the plot… um… is about a young demon going to a magic school… and is not, amazingly, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody *or* The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy, all of which seem to have very similar premises. (Haven’t I discussed this before? Possibly two weeks ago?)

ASH: Ha!

MELINDA: I guess when it works, it works? Or something?

SEAN: Square Enix also has the 2nd Hi Score Girl.

Seven Seas sees the print edition of At Night, I Become a Monster (Yoru no Bakemono). It’s from the author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas, so expect good writing and melancholy. A boy turns into a monster during the evenings, and runs into a classmate.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a read.

SEAN: Also debuting, and I absolutely cannot wait for this, is BL Metamorphosis (Metamorphose no Engawa), from Kadokawa’s Comic Newtype. It’s about a 75-year-old and a 15-year-old who find their love of BL manga gives them something in common. It is HIGHLY recommended.

MICHELLE: I have been looking forward to this for ages!

ASH: Yes, yes, yes! One of my most anticipated debuts this year!

ANNA: Also looking forward to this.

MELINDA: What everyone else said.

SEAN: Also out, and not quite as highbrow, we get A Certain Scientific Accelerator 10, Dragon Goes House-Hunting 4, High-Rise Invasion 11-12, the 7th How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord manga, The King of Fighters: A New Beginning 2, and Nameless Asterism 5, the final volume.

Kodansha has, in print, Drifting Dragons 4, Grand Blue Dreaming 10, Sweat & Soap 2, and Tales of Berseria 3.

ANNA: I keep meaning to read Drifting Dragons.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying Drifting Dragons so far (glad it’s being released in print!), and probably should get around to trying Sweat & Soap before too long.

SEAN: There’s no digital debut for once. But we do get Altair: A Record of Battles 17, Hotaru’s Way 13, I Fell in Love After School 3, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 14, Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow 3, Star⇄Crossed!! 2, That Blue Summer 4, and Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 5.

MICHELLE: I Fell in Love After School is quite good. Hotaru’s Way is close to ending (volume 15 is its last) so that’s another one where I’ve decided to just wait. But hooray for josei anyway!

SEAN: We end with J-Novel Club, which debuts a new J-Novel Heart series, The Extraordinary, the Ordinary, and SOAP! (Hibon, Heibon, Shabon!). This sounds like a typical fantasy LN plot: the commoner with a dull, useless magical power suddenly finds it’s super useful after all – but the fact that it’s a heroine still interests me.

ASH: I like seeing more heroines these days, too.

SEAN: Also out next week: BEATLESS 2, the 2nd Cooking with Wild Game manga, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 11, My Next Life as a Villainess! 5, the 4th Seirei Gensouki manga, Teogonia 2, and The Underdog of the Eight Greater Tribes 2.

Manga! Get it while it lasts!

SEAN: Yes, there’s still manga. May is the apocalypse, April is packed.

Ghost Ship gives us a 2nd Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight and the 10th Yokai Girls.

No debuts, for once, for J-Novel Club, but we do get Ascendance of a Bookworm 6, The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress 5, Isekai Rebuilding Project 2, Kobold King 2, and Der Werwolf 7.

Kodansha’s print debut is Perfect World, which had a digital release a while back. I enjoyed the first volume, but never did follow up on it. I should do that.

MICHELLE: Same here. It’s a tough series to marathon. Keeping pace with the print release should be easier than catching up on all the extant digital volumes.

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this one to come out in print!

SEAN: Also in print: Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition 4, Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card 7, Fire Force 18, and Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 8.

ASH: The collector’s edition of Cardcaptor Sakura is pretty.

MELINDA: I haven’t been picking up the new edition, but it’s sooooo tempting. It’s such a pretty manga. And Dark Horse’s mid-release shift in trim sizes damaged the prettiness of the last edition for me. (Yes, I still have not forgiven them for that.)

SEAN: The digital debut is Dolly Kill Kill, which ran on the Mangabox App back in the day. A young man’s life is destroyed by monsters that look like mascot costumes. Can he get back what he lost? For fans of weird horror.

There’s also GE: Good Ending 4, I’ll Win You Over Sempai! 3, Kakushigoto 2, The Quintessential Quintuplets 12, Saint Young Men 5, and Shojo FIGHT! 10.

MICHELLE: I have no idea how I got four volumes behind on Shojo FIGHT!, but it has somehow happened! Not that I mind having a decent chunk to devout at once.

SEAN: Seven Seas has the 2nd Bloom Into You light novel (digitally), The Ideal Sponger Life 5, If It’s for My Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord 5 (manga version), My Monster Secret 20, and Shomin Sample 12.

Vertical has an 8th Flying Witch, a highly underrated series.

Viz has two debuts. The Art of Junji Ito is what it sounds like, and will probably not give TOO many nightmares.

ASH: Always glad to see more of Ito’s work released!

MELINDA: Same!

SEAN: The other debut is Blue Flag, a title with SO much buzz and hype I worry it can’t live up to it. A Shonen Jump + series, it is apparently about sweet, painful and heartrending days.

MICHELLE: I am soooooo excited for this.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Golden Kamuy 15, Tokyo Ghoul: re 16, and Ultraman 13.

ASH: Here for Golden Kamuy (though I’ve enjoyed some of the earlier volumes more than some of the later ones).

ANNA: Golden Kamuy is one of those series I keep meaning to read but there is so much manga!

SEAN: Yen On split its main April release schedule across two weeks: this is the first. We get Accel World 21, Baccano! 13, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 3, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 3, and Sword Art Online 19.

The manga debut has a light novel coming out in June. I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet (S-Rank Monster no Behemoth Dakedo, Neko to Machigawarete Erufu Musume no Kishi (Pet) Toshite Kurashitemasu) is one of THOSE series. A reincarnated as a powerful beast series, with added elf, this runs in Hakusensha’s Young Animal, so expect boobs.

MELINDA: I know every publisher has a niche, but Yen Press… I’m begging for more stuff like Silver Spoon. With a few exceptions, I’ll admit they’ve kind of lost me as a reader. Our tastes just don’t line up anymore.

MICHELLE: I’m still in it for Nozaki-kun and Yowamushi Pedal, but I’m close to being in the same boat. I’m boat-adjacent. I also miss manhwa.

MELINDA: Me too, Michelle, ME TOO.

SEAN: I have good news for you about the week after next, then, Melinda…

MELINDA: YESSSSSSSS.

SEAN: The rest? A Certain Magical Index’s 21st manga volume, Chio’s School Road 8, Gabriel Dropout 8, Kaiju Girl Caramelize 3, Plunderer 4, Reborn as a Polar Bear 3, Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro Side Story (yay!), Teasing Master Takagi-san 8 (also yay!), Val x Love 8, and A Witch’s Printing Office 2.

ASH: I finally picked up the first volume of A Witch’s Printing Office… I should probably get around to actually reading it.

SEAN: What manga cries out… for JUSTICE?

SEAN: Mid-April, and manga shipments are still, mostly, normal.

ASH: I appreciate some normalcy, these days.

MELINDA: God, same.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a debut, and it’s an odd one. This was a doujinshi published by 6 light novel authors, including the creators of Tanya the Evil and Re: Zero. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Isekai is as silly as it sounds, I hear, and is complete in one volume.

ASH: That sounds like it could be fun.

SEAN: Also out next week is By the Grace of the Gods 2, In Another World with My Smartphone 19, Otherside Picnic 3, and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 9.

Kodansha, in print, has Attack on Titan 30 and Hitorijime My Hero 7.

ASH: It’s been a while since I’ve thought about Attack on Titan.

ANNA: I generally don’t think about Attack on Titan.

MELINDA: Honestly, I try not to think about Attack on Titan.

SEAN: Digitally, the debut is The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon (Jishou! Heibon Mazoku no Eiyuu Life: B-kyuu Mazoku na no ni Cheat Dungeon wo Tsukutte shimatta Kekka). Yes, it’s based on a light novel, no this is not the novel. It runs on NicoNico Seiga, and is about a young demon going to a magic school… and is not, amazingly, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody *or* The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy, both of which seem to have very similar premises.

MICHELLE: If we’re going to get a story about a demon school, why can’t it be Mairimashita! Iruma-kun? (I realize that’s Akita Shoten and not Kodansha; I’m just whining.)

SEAN: And there is also (deep breath) All-Out!! 13, Domestic Girlfriend 24, The Dorm of Love and Secrets 3, Farewell My Dear Cramer 9, My Boyfriend in Orange 9, My Roomie Is a Dino 2, Ran the Peerless Beauty 7 (I have to catch up!) and You Got Me Sempai! 8.

MICHELLE: Some good stuff here, but especially Ran the Peerless Beauty!

SEAN: One Peace has a debut with The New Gate. Yes, it’s based on a novel, no, that’s not licensed. It’s an Alpha Polis series about a guy trapped in a game who wins and frees everyone… but lingers a bit too long, and now is caught in the same game 500 years later.

Three debuts from Seven Seas. The first is a digital-first light novel, Adachi and Shimamura. This yuri series has been long requested, and fans should be happy. I believe its plot is Story A.

Fragtime is a done in one omnibus, which ran (oh dear) in Akita Shoten’s Champion Tap! (which I guess is when your work is not good enough for Champion Red) and is about (oh dear) a girl who stops time to look at her classmates’ panties. It’s hard to have lower expectations for this than I do.

MICHELLE: Ugh. Although, if they’re licensing Akita Shoten titles, maybe I should whine at them about Iruma-kun…

MELINDA: Seven Seas has really come a long way. This feels like old times, and not in a great way.

SEAN: Goodbye My Rose Garden (Sayonara Rose Garden) easily wins the “if I can only buy one yuri title” sweepstakes this week, and ran in Mag Garden’s MAGxiv. A young noblewoman begs her maid to kill her, and they grow closer as a result. It sounds quite good.

ASH: This one seems more up my alley.

ANNA: Sounds interesting!

MELINDA: Sign me up!

SEAN: Also out from Seven Seas: Ghostly Things 2, Himouto! Umaru-chan 9, the 6th light novel of How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom (print), Mushoku Tensei’s 5th light novel (print), and My Room Is a Dungeon Rest Stop 2.

Square Enix debuts My Dress Up Darling (Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru), a Young Gangan title about a reclusive boy and a Gal who end up bonding over their hobbies. This actually sounds interesting. That said, I’ve heard it’s also servicey.

ASH: I can think of a few cute but servicey series I’m enjoying; maybe this manga will join the group.

MELINDA: I’d consider myself cautiously interested.

SEAN: SuBLime’s debut is Secret XXX, which ran in Shinshokan’s Dear +. It’s a story of hot boys and rabbits.

ASH: Oh, there really are rabbits! (I had to double-check – hot boys I expected.)

MELINDA: I’m… maybe there for the rabbits?

SEAN: They’ve also got The World’s Greatest First Love 13.

Vertical gives us a 5th Knights of Sidonia Master Edition.

Viz has no debuts, but does have Case Closed 74, Komi Can’t Communicate 6, the 2nd Persona 5, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 11.

ASH: I’m behind a few volumes, but Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is consistently delightful.

ANNA: I agree, getting caught up on Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle might be a nice stress-busting activity.

SEAN: Yen time. Fresh off its anime and its cameo in Isekai Quartet, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious has a 3rd volume that hopes to answer why this went more than two volumes.

Lastly, the final volume, and I can’t believe I finally get to say that, of BTOOOM!. In fact, it’s two volumes, as it comes in “Light” and “Dark” versions, which I assume have happy and sad ends. Honestly, the mere fact I don’t have to type its name anymore is a happy end. We’ll miss you, bomb-bouncing-off-boob manga.

MICHELLE: I won’t.

ASH: Okay, having two different final volumes is kind of clever… but it’s probably still not a series for me.

ANNA: No thank you!

MELINDA: I suppose I can celebrate the fact that it’s finally over.

SEAN: Anything tickling your fancy?

SEAN: April is here, and the shipping list is still fine, mostly.

ASH: That’s good to know!

SEAN: The mostly is due to Dark Horse, who had two items on next week’s list, a 5th Gantz omnibus and the 2nd Star Blazers 2199 omnibus. Looking at their site now shows that the items came out on March 25th but are also on pre-order. Given DH tends to work with Diamond, who aren’t shipping books, this may be the best we can get.

ASH: I realize now that I haven’t actually read the first Star Blazers 2199 omnibus yet.

SEAN: Denpa has a 6th volume of Inside Mari.

Ghost Ship has To-Love-Ru Darkness 15, aka To-Love Ruuuu innn… SPAAAAAAACE!

J-Novel Club has a giant pile. In print we have Animeta! 3 (that’s a manga), Ascendance of a Bookworm 4, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 9, If It’s for My Daughter I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord 8, In Another World with My Smartphone 9, and The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 8.

ASH: I’ve liked Animeta! so far. I’m pretty sure I’d like Ascendance of a Bookworm, too, but I haven’t had a chance to actually read it.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is The Tales of Marielle Clarac, an Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO series which, instead of volume titles, has a different title for every book, a la Haruhi Suzumiya. The Engagement of Marielle Clarac is the first. Marielle is a noble’s daughter who’s not particularly gorgeous or famous, but who gets a proposal one day from a knight who will be an Earl one day. She’s quite happy… he’s just her type, and now she can imagine all sorts of things about him. Yes, Marielle is secretly a fangirl. This looks fun.

Also debuting is a manga version of Sorcerous Stabber Orphen.

Furthermore, out digitally is Altina the Sword Princess 3, Demon Lord Retry! 3, Discommuncation 3 (that’s a manga), Her Majesty’s Swarm 2, The Holy Knight’s Dark Road 2, and Infinite Dendrogram 11.

Kodansha, in print, has Boarding School Juliet 11, Eden’s Zero 7, Granblue Fantasy 4, and The Heroic Legend of Arslan 12.

ASH: Oh! I need to catch up with Arslan!

SEAN: Digitally the debut has an author familiar to many: Shinobu Ohtaka, creator of Magi. Her new series is called Orient, runs in Weekly Shonen Magazine, and seems to be the Sengoku period version of Magi. I’m in.

MICHELLE: Something about the blurb for this turned me off. I think I’m sitting Orient out.

ASH: I’ll admit to being intrigued by Sengoku period…

ANNA: I am also intrigued.

SEAN: There’s also A Condition Called Love 2, Chihayafuru 19, Drifting Dragons 7, Goodbye! I’m Being Reincarnated 4, Smile Down the Runway 8, and To Be Next to You 4.

MICHELLE: Those new shoujo series are racking up volumes so quickly!

ANNA: Too much!

SEAN: Seven Seas’ debut is Primitive Boyfriend (Genshijin Kareshi), a shoujo title from LaLa. Our heroine wants a guy, but they’re all wusses. Then she magically ends up in the past. Is a caveman the sort of guy who’s her type? This is three volumes long, which seems about right.

MICHELLE: It does, but it could be fun!

ASH: The premise seems ridiculous, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

ANNA: OK, this sounds funny.

MELINDA: I… am not sure.

SEAN: Also out from Seven Seas: 12 Beast 7, Bloom Into You 7, and the 3rd My Next Life As a Villainess! manga.

Tokyopop releases an 8th volume of Konohana Kitan.

It’s the first week of the month, so you know Viz is up next with their Jump and Beat series. The debut is Prince Freya (Itsuwari no Freya), a LaLa DX series (man, you don’t see any LaLa titles for over a year, then two come in the same week) from the creator of The Bride & the Exorcist Knight and The Heiress & the Chauffeur. Prince Freya does not have an &… yet. Possibly as she’s a lookalike for the real prince, and thus is forced to step in and impersonate him in a crisis. I admit, I always love those sorts of plots.

MICHELLE: I will definitely be checking this out.

ASH: Same!

MELINDA: I’m here for it!

SEAN: Jump titles include Boruto 8, Food Wars! 35, Jujutsu Kaisen 3, One Piece 93, Platinum When Will This Ever End 11, We Never Learn 9, and World Trigger 20.

On the Shojo Beat end we have Ao Haru Ride 10, An Incurable Case of Love 3, Takane & Hana 14, and Yona of the Dawn 23.

MICHELLE: Woot for 75% of those! I greatly enjoyed getting caught back up on Ao Haru Ride and Takane & Hana recently.

ASH: Yona of the Dawn is my priority, but I’m reading a fair number of these, too.

ANNA: This is a week for me!

MELINDA: I have fallen behind on both the series Michelle caught up on, so I have work to do!

SEAN: Lastly, Yen On has another March novel slightly bumped into April: the 15th volume of The Irregular at Magic High School.

Don’t go out, read a manga! What are you reading?

SEAN: Let’s briefly talk turkey here. I try to do these lists about a week before the books come out. And given what’s going on over the world, some of these release dates are going to shift. A lot. I know one publisher has already pushed all their May and June titles to later in the summer. And Diamond Comics is not distributing to comic shops till this has passed, meaning more outlets are gone. I will continue to do my best to keep up with this, but… well, I’d expect a lot of delays. For obvious reasons.

ASH: Thanks for keeping track as best as you can! There’s a lot in flux right now.

SEAN: We start with Ghost Ship, which has two new debuts, both smutty, but with one for the ladies and one for the gentlemen. Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze (Yubisaki Kara Honki no Netsujou ~ Charaotoko Shoubou-shi wa Massuguna me de Watashi o Daita ~) is a josei title from Shueisha, about our heroine (an OL) and her childhood friend (a fireman) who turns out to like her a lot more than she expected.

ASH: As Ghost Ship’s first josei title (if I recall correctly), I’m curious.

SEAN: Parallel Paradise, meanwhile, is very much for the young man. Running in Kodansha’s Young Magazine, it’s your standard “young man summoned to another world” story… except he’s the only man in a fantasy world filled with hot women.

Ghost Ship also has a 3rd volume of Creature Girls and World’s End Harem 8.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but a lengthy list of titles. We get The Economics of Prophecy 2, Full Metal Panic! 6, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 4, Infinite Stratos 12, The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! has a 4th manga volume, Record of Wortenia War 5, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 5, and The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman 2.

Kaiten Books are a new entry into the publishing world, and they debut this week with Loner Life in Another World, from Overlap’s Comic Gardo. They certainly know what the hot new trend is.

Kodansha has but one print release: the 19th UQ Holder!.

Digitally there’s a lot more. A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) is a new series from the creator of Shortcake Cake, which runs in… you got it… Dessert. Our heroine is a college student, who runs into a nice young guy, who speaks three languages! Sadly, she’s deaf, so that won’t help. This actually looks really good and has gotten great buzz.

MICHELLE: I really like Shortcake Cake and tend to enjoy titles from Dessert, so I’m definitely looking forward to this!

MELINDA: This sounds great!

ANNA: I agree!

SEAN: And there’s also 1122: For a Happy Marriage 6, Ace of the Diamond 25, Atsomori-kun’s Bride-to-Be 4, Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow 2, Space Brothers 35, and That Blue Summer 3.

MICHELLE: Atsumori-kun’s Bride-to-Be is very cute, in an Itazura na Kiss kind of way. And, of course, I’m always keen for more Ace of the Diamond!

SEAN: Seven Seas has another spinoff, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order. It runs in Media Factory’s Comic Corona, and is, well, for fans of Dance in the Vampire Bund and its spinoffs.

There’s also Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey 4, Made in Abyss 8, the 6th novel for Mushoku Tensei (digital), and the 2nd Reincarnated As a Sword manga.

MICHELLE: I really am going to catch up on Blank Canvas.

ASH: It is really good, so I support you in your effort!

SEAN: Vertical has two novels. Owarimmonogatari: End Tale 2 finally tells us what was going on with Araragi and Kanbaru during that very busy week in August; and Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose, Resurrection at Nineteen 2 finally tells us… um… dunno. It’s a prequel?

On the Yen On end, there’s The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Heroes 3, 86 ~Eighty-Six~ 4, and So I’m a Spider, So What? 8.

And Yen Press has Dimension W 16, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 4, Goblin Slayer (manga) 7, IM: Great Priest Imhotep 2, and Konosuba Explosion 4 (manga).

ASH: I’ve been reading but need to catch up with For the Kid I Saw In My Dreams.

SEAN: What manga is raising your spirits?