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Manga the Week of 7/6/22

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SEAN: July, and the fireworks are here. Oh god. They’re everywhere. *whimper*

MICHELLE: Someone in my neighborhood actually set off fireworks for Father’s Day. My cat was not amused.

ASH: Goodness! And here I thought my neighborhood was overenthusiastic with explosives.

SEAN: Yen On gives us I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 3.

Two debuts for Yen Press. The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend (Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta) already has the light novels from Yen On, and this is the manga adaptation that runs in Manga Up!. The plot is the title. The manga has to struggle with art not being by Fly.

The other debut is Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included (One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshitsuki), a harem fantasy from Shonen Gangan about a guy who wakes one morning to find an angel in his bed. Literally. This is by the author of As Miss Beelzebub Likes, which I really enjoyed, so I am inclined to cut it more slack than it probably deserves. Expect more cute than sexy knowing this author.

Yen Press also has new volumes of Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 2, Durarara!! RE;DOLLARS Arc 7, The Eminence in Shadow 4, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 4: The Sanctuary and the Witch of Greed 4, Slasher Maidens 5, Sword Art Online: Project Alicization 5 (the final volume), and Val x Love 12.

Viz debuts a new Jump title, The Elusive Samurai (Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi). A former noble whose family was overthrown is on the run, his only power a truly superhuman ability to run away. This made it past the traditional 2-3 volumes death for most Jump series, so good for it.

ASH: Revenge, redemption, and by the creator of Assassination Classroom? Count me as officially curious.

ANNA: Me too!

MELINDA: Oh, interesting!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Dr. STONE 22, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 2, My Hero Academia 31, My Love Mix-Up! 4, and Vampire Knight: Memories 7.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on both My Hero Academia and My Love Mix-Up!.

SEAN: Seven Seas debut is actually a one-shot sequel: Go For It Again, Nakamura!! (Motto Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!), the BL series that honestly may be better known for the memes parodying its cover art than its actual content. It ran in Akaneshinsha’s Opera.

MICHELLE: I really liked the original volume, and look forward to the sequel!

ASH: I’m really excited for this one, too! I unequivocally loved the first manga.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More 2, Non Non Biyori 16 (the final volume), The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World 3, semelparous 3, and Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 4

Kodansha has some print titles. Battle Angel Alita Mars Chronicle 8 (the final volume), EDENS ZERO 17, Fire Force 27, Noragami: Stray God 24, and Sensei’s Pious Lie 2.

ASH: Alas, I’m already behind and just finally got my hands on the first volume of Sensei’s Pious Lie.

SEAN: Digitally the first debut is Desert Eagle, a comedic gang title from the creator of Tokyo Revengers. it ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

We also get My Wonderful World (Boku no Subarashii Jinsei), a josei title from Be Love about a young man whose inability to read or write well is discovered to be dyslexia.

Also digitally: Changes of Heart 3, A Couple of Cuckoos 8, Drifting Dragons 11, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 25, My Master Has No Tail 7, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 3, Saint Young Men 19, and A Sign of Affection 6. A Sign of Affection is awesome.

MICHELLE: One of these days I will actually read A Sign of Affection.

ASH: I really need to, too.

ANNA: It is so so so good!

MELINDA: I want to get excited over Saint Young Men but it’s been so long since I read any, I’m so far behind…

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a new digital light novel debut: D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared (D Genesis Dungeon ga Dekite 3 Nen). This is one of those “fantasy comes to Japan” works, about dungeons suddenly appearing everywhere.

Also digital: In Another World With My Smartphone 25, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 7, The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 4, Record of Wortenia War 15, and Tearmoon Empire 8.

Ghost Ship has Call Girl in Another World 4 and GUNBURED × SISTERS 2.

Cross Infinite World has The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up (Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki), one in the fairly recent romance drama of “not a villainess, but breaking off the engagement anyway” titles. It looks fun.

ASH: It does! And I like the title.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has new volumes. Loner Life in Another World 2 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 2.

The early digital debut is Vivy Prototype, a spinoff of the anime Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- and written by the author of Re: Zero. The story of an AI who tries to prevent a war, any similarity to certain Macross franchises is purely coincidental.

ASH: I know nothing about Vivy, but stories about AI do appeal to me.

MELINDA: I loved this anime, so I’m here for it!

Any titles grab your eye here?

The Manga Review, 7/1/22

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Good news: The United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S) achieved a major victory this week when the company agreed to recognize their union. Though management has not yet spoken to the press, the UW7S Twitter feed posted the following statement on June 24th: “This decision by Seven Seas eliminates the need for an NLRB conducted election and will pave the way for a more expedited path to bargaining a first contract. At a time when many employers continue to fight the unionization of their employees, we appreciate that Seven Seas decided to respect the voices of the majority of staff and recognize us. We look forward to developing a mutually beneficial relationship and reaching a collective bargaining agreement in the near future.” The path to a better contract and better working conditions, however, is a long one. As OASG contributor Krystallina notes, “Bloomberg Law estimates the average length of time for initial negotiations to be 409 days — in other words, 1 year, 1 month, and 2 weeks. One analyst says there’s only about a 50-50 chance of reaching an agreement in a year, with additional estimates calculating it will take about a year and a half.”

NEWS

After 247 chapters, Yuki Suegetsu will bring Chihayafuru to an end. The series, which has been running in Be Love since 2007, proved so popular with Japanese readers that it spawned three live-action films and three anime series. [Anime News Network]

Looking for a manga industry job? VIZ is currently advertising four positions in its publishing division: Copy Editor, Editor, Editor of Original Graphic Novels, and Publishing Production Assistant. [VIZ]

The American comics market is booming, according to industry experts Milton Griepp and John Jackson Miller. They report that “total comics and graphic novel sales to consumers in the U.S. and Canada were approximately $2.075 billion, a 62% increase over sales in 2020.” Comics performed well at many types of retail outlets as well. As Griepp observes, “Sales through comic stores were up 60% vs. last year and 34% vs. 2019; sales through the book channel, including book fairs (which were back in operation) grew at a blistering 81% pace. Digital growth, while slower, was coming off a gangbuster year in 2020 during the shutdowns.” [ICv2]

FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, AND PODCASTS

As Pride Month comes to a close, Okazu reader Meru explains how reading yuri manga played an important role in their decision to come out as transgender. “When I look at Yuri, I see myself: I see the soft butches that could, in another series, be they/them or even they/he,” they note. “I see bodies and ideals and identities that mirror myself. I feel less alone. I feel natural in a country that would rather me turn my back on playing at soft masculinity and gender ambivalence in exchange for kitten heels, a lack of body hair, and legs crossed at the ankle. When I crack open a volume of Yuri and see tomboys and boyish girls and girls straddling the lines of socially acceptable gender and being themselves.” [Okazu]

If you’re a fan of Daytime Shooting star, Deb Aoki thinks you might like Mika Yamamori’s latest series, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk. [Mangasplaining]

On the newest installment of Manga Mavericks, Colton and Lum check in with ongoing series Haikyu!! and Magu-Chan!, and look at new offerings from VIZ, Manga Plus, and Azuki. [Manga Mavericks]

The Manga Machinations crew discuss three series that explore different facets of the LBGTQ experience: New York, New York; Catch These Hands!; and I Want to Be a Wall. [Manga Machinations]

Kory, Helen, and Apryll dedicate the latest Manga In Your Ears podcast to My Solo Exchange Diary and Yuri Is My Job! [Taiiku Podcast]

Paul Semel and Anne Ishii interview Gengoroh Tagame about Our Colours, a coming-of-age story that centers on a queer teen artist. “It’s something I’d wanted to read as a middle and high schooler myself, so decided to write for my own self,” Tagame explains. As I’m now in my 50s, I think of it as a gift to myself 40 years ago.” [Paul Semel]

Also of interest: Cayla Coates talks to Okura about I Think Our Son Is Gay, a gentle comedy about a woman who begins questioning her son’s sexual orientation. “I’ve always felt that gay people in manga and drama are often portrayed as either comic relief or someone with struggles and hardship.,” Okura observes. “I wanted to draw what I consider to be natural, ordinary gay people.” [Crunchyroll]

REVIEWS

Erica Friedman delves into the latest installment of Even Though We’re Adults, singling out the translation and lettering for special praise. “Jocelyne Allen’s translation is outstanding, in providing the nuance and ‘adultness’ this series needs,” she notes, while the “lettering and retouch by Rina Mapa lets’ me feel in the story in exactly the same way as I do when I’m reading the Japanese.” Meanwhile, Megan D. explores the forgotten corners of Tokyopop’s BL catalog with a look at Innocent Bird, “a limp, shallow romance… illustrated with an indifferent and murky hand,” and Christopher Chiu-Tabet continues his retrospective on Sailor Moon with a look at issues 15-20.

The Manga Review, 6/24/22

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Hi, all! Its been a relatively slow news week manga-wise and a crazy week for me work-wise, so I’m going to dispense with the snappy introduction and get right to the links! As always, if there’s a great blog, podcast, or YouTube channel that you think should be featured in The Manga Review, leave a comment below or contact me through Twitter. Your suggestions have already helped me make this a more inclusive and representative space, so keep ’em coming!

NEWS AND FEATURES

The folks at J-List have posted a thoughtful article explaining the steps the United Workers of Seven Seas will need to take in order to unionize. If you don’t know much about the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and its role in “mediat[ing] between the employer, union, and other parties to iron out all the details,” start here. [J-List Blog]

Erica Friedman’s latest Yuri Studio episode is now live, and focuses on sports in yuri anime and manga. [Okazu]

After a brief hiatus from blogging, Allison Ziebruh has revived Bloom Reviews with a raft of new reviews, as well as a thoughtful reflection on the current isekai manga boom. [Bloom Reviews]

Kelli Ewings posts a sneak preview of new works by Gengoroh Tagame, explaining why she’s excited to see more of his ground-breaking work available in English. [Panel Patter]

Wondering what’s new at Seven Seas? Carrie McClain has you covered with licensing news, unionization updated, and brief reviews of The Muscle Girl Next Door, Until I Meet My Husband, and more. [Women Write About Comics]

Laura Grace continues working her way through the shojo manga alphabet with a look at her favorite titles that begin with the letter D. [Beneath the Tangles]

Buckle up, Ryuko fans: Andrew Osmond just sat down for an interview with creator Eldo Yoshimizu. When asked why all his manga feature tough, sexy women in leading roles, he responded, “I like the strong woman, maybe that’s the reason. Especially when I started writing Ryuko, I wanted a lot to have female readers. I had that idea in my head. Especially in Japan, the woman is treated as vulnerable, kawaii… For child readers, that’s fine, but I wanted to provide something more sophisticated, better for the adult readers. Asura [the protagonist in Hen Kai Pan] and Ryuko, they make mistakes and they suffer a lot, and they’re going to grow up… That’s the kind of story I wanted.” [Anime News Network]

REVIEWS

Over at The Guardian, Rachel Cooke posts a thoughtful review of Yamada Murasaki’s Talk to My Back, due out from Drawn & Quarterly this summer. “Murasaki captures her character’s every mood shift and internal contradiction, her guilt as well as her longing (more than once, other people tell Chiharu she should be “grateful” for her life – as if she didn’t know this herself),” Cooke observes. “But Murasaki leavens this by recalling, too, the quotidian pleasures and rituals of home: the jokes, the teasing, a delicious (“slurp”) bowl of noodles. The result is a cross-cultural book about female self-worth – about where it comes from and why it sometimes disappears – that stands the test of time in the most remarkable way.”

Also of note: The OASG’s Justin and Helen offer their perspectives on the latest volume of Witch Hat Atelier, while ANN’s Lynzee Loveridge gives Hideshi Hino’s The Town of Pigs a solid grade of B, and Solrad’s Helen Chazan posts capsule reviews of several new releases.

 

Manga the Week of 6/29/22

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SEAN: As June winds to an end, manga companies are watching closely, because July means the start of a new fiscal year. What manga will balance their books?

ASH: So many calendars to keep track of!

SEAN: Airship has some new print volumes. We see Adachi and Shimamura 9, Classroom of the Elite 11.5, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6.

Digitally, we see an early debut for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei), a mystery light novel series for women that has already gotten an anime. It is another of those series I say is “not BL, but BL-adjacent”.

MICHELLE: I was rather disappointed by the manga. Perhaps the light novel will be better.

ASH: I haven’t had the chance to read the manga adaptation yet, but I have hopes for the original novels.

SEAN: There’s also early digital for The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 5.

Cross Infinite World debuts Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes: The Spirit Hunters of Tomoe (Onmyouji to Tengugan: Tomoe Shiyakusho Mononoke Trouble Gakari), a title which asks “what if Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were both gorgeous men and fought the supernatural”?

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: There’s also Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace 4.

Ghost Ship gives us I’m Not Meat (Boku wa Oniku Janai), which ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits. A man who works as a copywriter is terrified of women, seeing them as predators. Unfortunately, for his new ad campaign he really needs to understand dating. Can he overcome his instincts? This is very much a sex comedy in the old 80s use of the word.

They also debut Wicked Trapper: Hunter of Heroes (Magatsu Wanashi no Yuusha kari), an isekai about a game designer known for traps and sadistic games who arrives at a dungeon world… and the heroes are threatening him. What else to do but side with the villain and get revenge? This runs in Ultra Jump. Those with long memories may remember the author’s Tokyo Cycle Girls on the JManga site.

ASH: Oh, JManga is not a site I’ve thought about in a long while!

MELINDA: Oh, wow, same. Also… still sad about that.

SEAN: They’ve also got Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 3.

J-Novel Club has a digital debut. The Misfit of Demon King Academy (Maō Gakuin no Futekigōsha ~Shijō Saikyō no Maō no Shiso, Tensei Shite Shison-tachi no Gakkō e Kayou~) already has an anime out, and is one of the genre of “demon king wakes up after thousands of years and goes to magic school” books we’ve seen so much of lately.

Also out: Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 6, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers‘ 3rd manga volume, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village 6, The Tales of Marielle Clarac 9, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 8th manga volume.

Kodansha, in print, debuts Wandance, which runs in Kodansha’s Afternoon. A young man has fallen in love with a woman, and for her he will do anything… even learn to dance! This combines romance and sports, and is more freestyle dancing compared to ballroom dancing.

MICHELLE: This looks fun to me!

ANNA: Nice!

ASH: Looks like it could be fun to me, too!

MELINDA: Agreed!

SEAN: Also in print: APOSIMZ 9, Blue Period 7, A Sign of Affection 5, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime 19, and Welcome Back Alice 2. Oh yes, and Sayonara, Football 11, still not mentioned on their website.

The digital debut is Burn the House Down (Mitarai-ke, Enjou suru), a josei series from Kiss. A young housekeeper starts work at the house of a middle-aged housewife. But she has an ulterior motive, which is to investigate a past tragedy that ties them both together.

MICHELLE: Ooh, interesting!

ANNA: This does sound interesting.

MELINDA: Maybe, maybe…

SEAN: We also see Back When You Called Us Devils 14 (I’ve called this a final volume three times now, we’ll see if it sticks this time), Harem Marriage 18, Koigakubo-kun Stole My First Time 2, My Darling Next Door 5 (also a final volume), Tesla Note 5, That’s My Atypical Girl 5, and WIND BREAKER 3.

No debuts for Seven Seas this week (they’re all on their other imprints), but we do get Classmates 5, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon 3, Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 5, The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace 2, Otaku Elf 4, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 8, and The Tale of the Outcasts 5.

MICHELLE: I should really read Classmates.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind and need to catch up, but I do live the creator’s work.

SEAN: Seven Seas also debuts a new imprint: Steamship! This seems to be “Ghost Ship for Women”, i.e. a smuttier kind of shoujo/josei. Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts (Out Bride – Ikei Konin) is from Hakusensha’s Manga Park, and has a young woman who dies in a car accident isekai’d to another world… where she’s the only human woman! Now four gods all vie for the right to have her bear their child!

ANNA: OK!

ASH: Happy to see this imprint launch.

SEAN: SuBLime has a 4th volume of Black or White.

Tokyopop has the 4th volume of Double.

They also have the digital debut of Aria The Masterpiece – all 7 volumes will be out digitally next week.

Viz has Fist of the North Star 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky (another re-release of a novel they put out in 2007), and Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 8.

ASH: Still thrilled we’re getting all of Fist of the North Star!

MELINDA: I am, too!

SEAN: There’s a pile of Yen On light novels. Bungo Stray Dogs 8, Date a Live 6, Demon Lord 2099 2, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 6, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 9, Overlord 14, Unnamed Memory 5, Yokohama Station SF National, and You Call That Service? 6.

ASH: Yokohama Station SF National has most of my attention here.

SEAN: Yen Press’ debut is Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion (Kanojo ga Koushakutei ni Itta Riyuu), a reincarnated villainess story that’s actually a Korean webtoon. Yen is adapting it for print. As for the plot… I mean, it’s a reincarnated villainess story.

And we also see Catch These Hands! 2, Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana 3, and The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious 3.

Hi, I’m Sean Gaffney, and I’ll teach you how to BUY.MANGA.FAST.

The Manga Review, 6/17/22

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Big news from Yen Press: the publisher is launching IZE Press, a new imprint dedicated to Korean webnovels and webtoons. The imprint will debut this fall with three series created by HYBE and global pop stars BTS, as well as six additional titles: Tomb Raider King, The World After the Fall, The Boxer, My Gently Raised Beast, The Remarried Empress, and Villains Are Destined to Die. Explains JuYoun Lee, the Deputy Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Yen Press, “we couldn’t be more excited to get a chance to really open up the doors to put these beautiful books in the hands of English-language readers.” I’m still a little salty that the original manhwa boom went bust–remember Dokebi Bride or Goong?–but optimistic that the current market will be more receptive to Korean comics.

NEWS

Are you looking for a job in the publishing field? Yen Press is currently advertising a range of editorial, marketing, and accounting positions. [Yen Press]

The May NPD Bookscan numbers are in, and manga made a strong showing on the Top 20 Author Graphic Novels chart , with volumes of Solo Leveling occupying four of six top slots. Spy x Family continues to dominate the Top 20 Manga chart, though Death Note Short Stories and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun also posted strong sales. [ICv2]

Justin Lin–best known for his work on the Fast & Furious franchise–has been hired to direct a live-action adaptation of One-Punch Man. [Deadline]

FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, AND PODCASTS

In honor of Pride Month, Latonya Pennington has posted a thoughtful exploration of the last 100 years of queer representation in manga. “A hundred years after the debut of the first yuri novel and twenty years after the publication of Wandering Son, LGBTQ+ manga has greatly matured in terms of their creators, content, and its subgenres,” she notes. “When it comes to manga with transgender characters and themes, there are more options than ever before… On the yuri and yaoi side of manga, both subgenres have moved beyond the teenaged schoolyard romances that were present at the genre’s inception. There are not only gay and lesbian manga featuring adult main characters, but also manga in different fictional genres.” [Popverse]

What LBGTQ+ manga would you like to see adapted into an anime? [Anime Feminist]

And speaking of queer manga, Kory, Helen, and Apryll discuss the merits of two recent titles: BL Fans LOVE My Brother?!, a done-in-one story from Tokyopop, and Even Though We’re Adults, an ongoing yuri series published by Seven Seas. [The Taiiku Podcast]

The latest Manga Machinations episode looks at 10 Dance, Classmates, and Ruri Dragon. [Manga Machinations]

Ashley and Asher investigate Flower in a Storm, a short romantic comedy about a super-rich boy and a headstrong girl. [Shojo & Tell]

The gang at Honey’s Anime compile a list of manga that they didn’t see through to the end. [Honey’s Anime]

Brigid Alverson interviews Seven Seas’ Lianne Sentar and Lissa Pattillo about the challenges and rewards of bringing Asian webtoons to the US market. “I think a huge factor is the convenience of the format,” they note. “Do you have a smartphone and an Internet connection? Here: endless comics to scroll through (discreetly!) during your lunch break, wherever you are. If you look at Asian markets like Japan and Korea, there’s a huge audience of people reading comics on their phones while commuting in public transit like trains. I think newer generations in particular are adding comic reading to the many other leisure activities they do on their phone, and in North America, the boom in Middle Grade comics over the last 5-10 years has seeded millions of new readers who are comfortable reading long-form, sequential comics the way they would ingest other media (prose, TV, etc.).” [ICv2]

REVIEWS

Over at Anime UK News, Sarah posts a glowing review of Gengoroh Tagame’s Our Colors, while No Flying No Tights declares Junji Ito’s Deserter a mixed bag. “That’s not to say this is a bad collection, but Ito has such wonderfully scary other pieces that many in this volume fell flat for me,” Kris notes. The latest Reader’s Corner is up at Beneath the Tangles, with brief reviews of Alice in Borderland, Golden Gold, and To Strip the Flesh.

Manga the Week of 6/22/22

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SEAN: When a manga meets a manga, coming through the rye…

ASH: None, they say, have I. (And they would be very wrong.)

SEAN: Yen On gives us So I’m a Spider, So What? 14 and The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 5.

Yen Press debuts a new artbook highlighting its bestseller: Sword Art Online abec Artworks Wanderers.

They also have Bungo Stray Dogs 21, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc 3 (the final volume), and Spy Classroom 2.

Viz debuts To Strip the Flesh (Tooda Oto Tanpenshuu: Niku wo Hagu), a collection of stories about Chiaki Ogawa, whose mother, on her deathbed, says to be a good daughter. But… that’s not who he is. This LGBT series is apparently a very good read for transgender folks, ran in Shonen Jump +, and is complete in one volume.

ASH: Extraordinarily curious about this release; I’ve heard very good things.

ANNA: Sounds interesting.

SEAN: Viz also has an artbook highlighting a bestseller: The Promised Neverland: Art Book World.

ASH: I do like seeing all these artbooks being licensed.

SEAN: And they’re also debuting Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, the sequel to Inu Yasha written and drawn by the creator of Zettai Karen Children. It runs in Shonen Sunday S, and should appeal to Inu Yasha fans.

And we get Alice in Borderland 2, Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun 4 (the final volume), Jujutsu Kaisen 16, Seraph of the End 24, and Twin Star Exorcists 25.

Tokyopop gives us Ossan Idol! 6.

Seven Seas has two (well, three) one-shot debuts. The Muscle Girl Next Door (Tonari no Kinniku Joshi) stars a guy who feels scrawny, and his crush on the incredibly buff woman who lives next door to him. It ran in Media Factory’s Gene Pixiv.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: We also get both the novel and the manga of Until I Meet My Husband (Boku ga Otto ni Deau made), the story of a young gay activist and his search for love. It’s an autobiographical book, and I’ve heard is excellent. The manga ran on Bungei Shunjuu’s online manga site.

ASH: I have likewise heard these are excellent.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 5, Creepy Cat 3, GIGANT 8, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 4, The Ideal Sponger Life 11, Kageki Shojo!! 6, The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 2, and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 3.

One Peace has Farming Life in Another World 6 and The New Gate 10.

Kodansha has a print debut for soccer manga Blue Lock. We’ve already discussed its digital release, but look at that intense cover.

MICHELLE: I enjoy going from being far behind on the digital release to having the opportunity to be timely with the print release! I plan to finally check this one out.

ASH: Oh! New sports manga in print? I’m game!

ANNA: Woo!

SEAN: Also in print: If I Could Reach You 7 (the final volume), Perfect World 11, Saint Young Men Omnibus 9, The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 5, and Witch Hat Atelier 9, the most important of these.

MICHELLE: I liked the first volume of If I Could Reach You. I should go back and see how it resolves.

ASH: This is a great Kodansha week.

ANNA: Looking forward to more Witch Hat Atelier for sure.

SEAN: The first digital debut is A Nico-Colored Canvas (Nikoiro no Canvas), a josei series from Be Love about a free-spirited artist and her adventures at college in Osaka.

MICHELLE: This sounds so fun!

ANNA: So much digital josei, I can’t keep track of it!

SEAN: The other debut is A Serenade for Pretend Lovers (Renai Gokko Sayokyoku), the story of a worker at a TV station trying to make a documentary about a musician while dealing with the fact she just saw her boyfriend cheating on her. It ran in Comic Tint, and thus this is a double-josei debut week.

MICHELLE: So much josei these days!

ASH: Love to see it.

ANNA: Even more!!!!

SEAN: Also digital: Defying Kurosaki-kun 19 (the final volume), A Girl and Her Guard Dog 7, The Girl, the Shovel and the Evil Eye 3, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 8, I’ll Be with Them Again Today 3, Irresistible Mistakes 3, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 4, The Rokudo Rounds 2, and When a Cat Faces West 2.

MICHELLE: Still gotta check out When a Cat Faces West.

SEAN: Kaiten Books has Loner Life in Another World’s 5th manga volume in print, and The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 4 digitally.

J-Novel Club’s digital debut is a manga, Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie! (Real mo Tamaniwa wo Tsuku). A guy who games as a girl is finally meeting his gamer buddy… only it turns out she’s a girl who games as a guy! What’s worse, she told her overprotective parents she was bringing another girl over. Only cross-dressing can save us now. This was originally a webcomic on Pixiv, and was picked up by Kadokawa.

ASH: Okay, that has the potential to be fun (or really not so good).

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 12, Black Summoner 9, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill’s 8th manga volume, and Holmes of Kyoto 10.

Ghost Ship gives us Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You? 4.

And Airship, in print, debuts Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, which we discussed when its digital came out. They also have The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 4 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 4.

In early digital, we get a debut. Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut (Tsuki to Laika to Nosferatu) is here to ask the important question: what if we shot vampires into space? This also got an anime last year.

ASH: I’ve seen space vampires before, but it’s certainly not a common combination.

SEAN: And we also see Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 6, which is more accurately Accomplishments of the Duke’s Wife, as it’s a prequel looking at Iris’ mother.

If a manga kiss a manga, need a manga cry? What manga are you making cry next week?

The Manga Review, 6/10/22

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After Kentarou Miura passed away last year, fans feared that they would never see his long-running saga Berserk reach a proper conclusion. Then on June 7th, artist Kouji Mori announced that he would take the reins from his friend and complete the final story arc. Ryan Dinsdale reports that Mori pledged to “only write the episodes that Miura talked to me about. I will not flesh it out. I will not write episodes that I don’t remember clearly. I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me. Of course, it will not be perfect. Still, I think I can almost tell the story that Miura wanted to tell.” The Fantasia Arc/Elf Island Chapter will begin serialization in the June 24th issue of Young Animal magazine.

NEWS

Over at The Comics Journal, Ian Thomas interviews members of the United Workers of Seven Seas about their unionization effort. “At Seven Seas Entertainment we never received basic benefits such as healthcare or 401ks in the first place,” organizers note. “Even with the staff roster going from 10 full-time employees in 2018 to over 40 today, we are stretched to our limit trying to keep up with the volume of work. Like workers in every sector of the entertainment industry, we are burnt out, and unfulfilled promises of “imminent” benefits have worn thin.” [The Comics Journal]

Are you following the UW7S on Twitter? If not, you should; in addition to regular updates about their unionization efforts, they’re also posting great threads about the important work that other labor organizations do. [Twitter]

Brigid Alverson takes a closer look at the May 2022 NPD BookScan chart for the top 20 Adult Graphic Novels. [ICv2]

Kodansha Comics announced that it will be releasing a new edition of Princess Knight and a first edition of Bomba! [Anime News Network] 

Kodansha is also sponsoring a Humble Bundle that includes volumes of Beck: Mongolian Chop Squad, Grand Blue Dreaming, Initial D. Peach Girl, Tokyo Revengers, and Until Your Bones Rot. All proceeds will benefit The Trevor Project, a non-profit that focuses on suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ youth. [Humble Bundle]

New title alert: VIZ just began serializing Fusai Naba’s Aliens Area on its Shonen Jump website. [VIZ Media]

And speaking of Shonen Jump, Netflix just posted a sneak peek of its forthcoming live-action adaptation of One Piece. I’ll let you decide for yourself if this project looks good:

FEATURES, INTERVIEWS, AND PODCASTS

Shimada Kazushi profiles the late Abiko Motoo, who, with Hiroshi Fujimoto, created some of postwar Japan’s most popular manga under the pseudonym Fujiko Fujio. [Nippon]

In honor of Sailor Moon‘s thirtieth birthday, Christopher Chiu-Tabet begins an arc-by-arc exploration of the beloved series. [Multiversity Comics]

Tony Yao deconstructs a favorite storyline in Tokyo Revengers, using it to meditate on friendship, self-love, and vulnerability. [Drop-In to Manga]

The dynamic podcasting duo of Elliot and Andy compare notes on two popular romantic comedies: How Do We Relationship? and Ouran High School Host Club. [Screentone Club]

Mike Toole and Joey Weiser join the Manga Mavericks to discuss Akira Toriyama’s under-appreciated masterpiece Dr. Slump. [Manga Mavericks]

If you’ve been on the fence about reading Blue Giant, let the Mangaplainers persuade you to try this entertaining, engaging series about a young saxophonist’s quest to become the next John Coltrane. (Seriously, this series is great–something I almost never say about music manga!) [Mangasplaining]

Looking for a good read? Anna Williams recommends five underrated seinen manga. [CBR]

The folks at Yatta-Tachi just posted a comprehensive list of this month’s light novel and manga releases. [Yatta-Tachi]

Matthew Hill interviews Japanese artist Kyo Machiko about Essential: My #stayhome Diary 2021-2022. “Being a cartoonist is not an ‘Essential’ profession, but imagining, creating, talking to each other, and living an ordinary life are ‘Essential’ things that are essential to living like a human being,” she explains. “I chose the title because I have been thinking about this for a long time with the COVID-19 Disaster. Most people are not ‘Essential’ in their professions, but there is no such thing as a person who doesn’t need to be in this world. By depicting the ordinary lives of ordinary people in the city, I hope to convey the message that all people are indispensable to each other.” [The Comics Journal]

REVIEWS

At Comics Worth Reading, Johanna Draper Carlson posts reviews of I Want to Be a Wall and the “weird but strangely attractive fantasy” The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again, Today. Erica Friedman praises the twisty plot of Summer Time Rendering. “Its 374 pages have enough twists to appeal to the most hard-core of suspense readers,” she notes. “It made me gasp out loud – more than once! – and kept me glued to the page right through the astonishing end of the volume.” TCJ contributor Leonel Sepúlveda looks at Hideshi Hino’s The Town of Pigs, praising Hino’s ability to create the “feeling of being trapped in a nightmare,” while the crew at Beneath the Tangles posts short reviews of Fangirl, Crimson Prince, Deadpool Samurai, and more.

Manga the Week of 6/15/22

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SEAN: It’s Hurricane Season! Are you being rocked? Are you being racially profiled and imprisoned? Or are you reading manga?

Airship, in print, has the 5th Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter.

And in early digital they have Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 17 and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 4.

Ghost Ship gives us DARLING in the FRANXX Vol. 3-4 and Do You Like Big Girls? 4.

J-Novel Club has new volumes. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm 19, Cooking with Wild Game 17, The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride’s 4th manga volume, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀ 5, and Slayers 14.

ASH: I am so far behind, but yay Bookworm.

SEAN: Kaiten Books has, this week, the 2nd Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant! manga digitally. I missed it. Sorry!

ASH: Keeping track of all these releases is no easy feat!

SEAN: Kodansha has print volumes for BAKEMONOGATARI 14, Peach Boy Riverside 7, Penguin & House 3 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 13, and Wotakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku 6 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: I look forward to binging the conclusion of Wotakoi.

ASH: Same! I’ve really been enjoying the series.

SEAN: Debuting digitally is Golden Gold, a Morning Two series from the creator of Kokkoku: Moment by Moment. This is apparently a very weird supernatural horror-ish story that takes place on an island.

The other digital debut is Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata (Yo ni mo Fujitsu na Piano Sonata), a josei series from Be Love. A classical music manager has never really felt much for any men she’s dated… but then she sees a classical pianist and he arouses her interest… and other things. Can she guide his career and also find romance?

ASH: Music-related josei manga, you say?

ANNA: Hello!

SEAN: Also digital: The Fable 3, Giant Killing 31, Police in a Pod 13, This Vampire Won’t Give Up! 2, Tokyo Revengers 26, Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 11, and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 6.

One Peace has the 18th manga volume of The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas debuts the manga version of The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash (Saijaku Tamer wa Gomi Hiroi no Tabi wo Hajimemashita), based on a light novel which is coming later this year from Seven Seas. It runs in Comic Corona, and is about a tamer who no one wants to associate with, so, well, she picks up trash. And a slime. Don’t get this confused with the very similar Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life.

The other debut is X-Gender (Seibetsu X), from Kodansha’s Young Magazine the 3rd. Our protagonist is in their thirties, and realizes they are attracted to women… but also that they’re non-binary. Can they find romance?

ASH: Very curious about this one.

SEAN: They also have How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 14, I Can’t Believe I Slept With You! 2, A Tale of the Secret Saint 3, and Yakuza Reincarnation 2.

Tokyopop has Puppy Love (Shippo no Koi), a BL one-shot from Gentosha’s snappily titled LOVE xxx BOYS pixiv. A corporate worker who is being exploited by his company finds happiness at a pet shop… and the worker there seems familiar. Could he have been a dog in his previous life?

MICHELLE: Ew.

SEAN: Udon has a sweet artbook for fans of the Fate franchise, Fate: Return to Avalon: Takashi Takeuchi Art Works.

ASH: Artbooks are nice.

SEAN: Viz’s debut is Marvel’s Secret Reverse, a team-up between Iron Man and Spider-Man, which I only mention here as it’s by the creator of Yu-Gi-Oh!.

There’s also Call of the Night 8, Deadpool Samurai 2, Komi Can’t Communicate 19, Rosen Blood 3, Sakamoto Days 2, and Yakuza Lover 5.

Yen Press debuts The Fiancee Chosen by the Ring (Yubiwa no Eranda Kon’yakusha), from Flos Comic. A young woman who only goes to engagement parties to look at the embroidery suddenly finds a ring thrown at her – by a knight. How does she deal with this?

And they have I’m the Hero, but the Demon Lord’s Also Me 4 (the final volume) and Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 17.

Reading manga? Or still confused by my opening line? (don’t blame you…)

Manga the Week of 6/8/22

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SEAN: As June continues, what varieties of manga do we see before us?

Yen On debuts Your Forma, a sci-fi detective story that asks the question: what if getting 5G wireless injected into you from a vaccine was actually real? and it spied on your every sense? This could be very good or very bad, and I suspect that depends entirely on the politics of the writer.

ASH: Hmmm. The genre certainly appeals to me, but I suspect you’re right.

ANNA: Yeah, going to skip this one and I’m generally in favor of sci-fi goofiness.

MELINDA: I feel a little “yikes” on this one.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: The Eminence in Shadow 4 and Sword Art Online Progressive 8.

Yen Press, meanwhile, has new manga volumes. Adachi and Shimamura 3, Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 4, Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One 7, Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 13, and A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School! 11.

Viz debuts Ghost Reaper Girl, a Shonen Jump + series by the creator of Rosario + Vampire (though under a different pen name). Chloe wants to be an actress. But she’s 28, and her window is closing. Can she find fame as a ghost reaper, though? Note that this series is being published flipped at the request of its creator.

ASH: Interesting! Not much seems to be flipped these days, let alone at the creator’s request.

SEAN: Chainsaw Man is also ending with Vol. 11, though a sequel is in the works. We also see Black Clover 29, Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love 2, Snow White with the Red Hair 19, and Yona of the Dawn 36.

MICHELLE: I’m always here for VIZ shoujo.

ASH: For sure!

ANNA: Viz shoujo saving the week for me!

SEAN: Tokyopop has A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 5.

Hope you like debuts from Seven Seas, there are a ton of them.

I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl (Osananajimi(♂) wo Onnanoko ni Shiteshimatta Hanashi) is from Ichijinsha’s Comic Pool. A boy trying to practice his makeup technique has his best friend offer to be a guinea pig… but the results are more than either of them could have guessed. Despite the light-novel-ey title, this looks like fans of LGBT should enjoy it.

ASH: I’m definitely curious about this one.

SEAN: Namekawa-san Won’t Take a Licking! (Name Raretakunai Namekawa-san) is from Comic Yuri Hime, and features a bullied girl who decides, for her high school debut, to become a delinquent. Unfortunately, now she attracts the attention of the disciplinary officer. I am always wary of yuri series described as hilarious.

ASH: A different sort of delinquent manga than is often seen, it would seem.

SEAN: Nightfall Travelers: Leave Only Footprints (Yuuyake Trip) is from Houbunsha’s Comic Fuz. Two high school girls investigate supposedly haunted areas of their town and grow closer. The art is apparently the reason to get this.

ASH: I’ll admit, the premise intrigues me, too.

SEAN: This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! (Yoku Wakaranai Keredo Isekai ni Tensei Shiteita You Desu) is a manga from Kodansha’s Suiyoubi no Sirius, based off a novel (not yet licensed, I believe). I’ve been told it’s another one of those “this becomes fluffy slice-of-life isekai assuming you can get past all the sexual assault and threats of slavery at the start” series. Sigh.

ANNA: No thank you!

MELINDA: oh my god.

SEAN: Lastly, The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This (Futari wa Daitai Konna Kanji) is a yuri series from the creator of Whispered Words (Sasameki Koto). A 30-year-old writer and a 22-year-old actress are living together as a couple, and we see their everyday life. This is extremely comfy and fun. It ran in Gentosha’s Comic Boost.

MICHELLE: Well, at least one of these appeals to me.

ASH: I rather liked Whispered Words, if I recall correctly.

MELINDA: This sounds actually great.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Monologue Woven For You 2, the 13th and final volume of New Game!, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 5.

Kodansha has MORE Shuzo Oshimi in print next week, with Welcome Back, Alice (Okaeri Alice). This runs in Bessatsu Shonen Magazine, and got a digital release in February, but the print came fast. Three childhood friends have what seems like a standard love triangle… then one of them shows up dressed as a girl.

ASH: Somehow missed this being licensed!

MELINDA: I don’t know what to expect from this. Maybe great?

SEAN: Also in print: Cells at Work! Baby 4 (the final volume), Interviews with Monster Girls 10, Lovesick Ellie 4, Orient 9, Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 2, SHAMAN KING Omnibus 9, Sue & Tai-chan 4, Vampire Dormitory 5, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? 18.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more What Did You Eat Yesterday?!

ASH: Indeed!

MELINDA: YESSSSSSSSS

SEAN: The first digital debut is The Shadows of Who We Once Were (Nare no Hate no Bokura), a survival game manga from the creator of Until Your Bones Rot. It’s from Weekly Shonen Magazine, and… it’s a survival game manga.

The other digital debut from Kodansha is Joy, a BL manga from Kodansha’s Honey Milk. A shoujo manga artist is asked to write a BL work… and also discovers his assistant is gay. Maybe he can get inspiration for the BL by a fake relationship?

MELINDA: Oooo, this…

SEAN: Also digital: The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 3, Changes of Heart 2, Chihayafuru 32, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 9, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 24, Love After World Domination 4, My Master Has No Tail 6, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 2, and The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch 2.

MICHELLE: Insert habitual Chihayafuru squee.

ANNA: Gesticulates in celebration of the series, then transitions to despair at being so far behind.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has some print releases. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 10th manga volume, By the Grace of the Gods 9, The Faraway Paladin 4, In Another World with My Smartphone 22, Marginal Operation 10, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 10, Otherside Picnic Omnibus 3, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 6.

J-Novel Club’s digital debut is a manga, The Saga of Lioncourt (Lion Coeur Senki), which is from Takeshobo’s Kissca. Office worker reincarnated as a warrior in a middle-ages era setting.

And also Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer! 3 (the final volume), How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 16, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 3, Marginal Operation 13, and Otherside Picnic 7.

Ghost Ship debuts World’s End Harem: Fantasia Academy, a spinoff of a spinoff of the series that is for everyone who wants to bone 10,000 women who adore them. This is apparently a high school AU version.

Also from Ghost Ship: Ero Ninja Scrolls 3 and Might as Well Cheat: I Got Transported to Another World Where I Can Live My Wildest Dreams! 3.

Denpa has two new releases. The Men Who Created Gundam (Gundam Sousei) ran, appropriately, in Gundam Ace. It’s a done-in-one omnibus about the creators of Gundam… but expect comedy.

Vampeerz: My Peer Vampires is a Sunday GX series about the love between a teenage girl and a vampire… I think. The description is vague, but I mean, title.

ASH: Count me curious.

MELINDA: Same.

SEAN: And Airship has two early digital titles, including a debut. 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! (Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuukimama na Hanayome (Hitojichi) Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru) is, yes, a villainess novel. But this time our heroine has done this a lot. She’s lived full lives. She’s done different occupations. She keeps getting killed. Now, on her 7th try, why not marry her killer?

We also get the first volume of Classroom of the Elite: Year 2.

That turned out to be a whole lot. Thoughts?

The Manga Review, 6/3/22

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Two weeks ago, Seven Seas’ employees formed the United Workers of Seven Seas (UW7S). Their goal? To negotiate a standard benefits package that includes health insurance, retirement plans, parental leave, and paid time off. UW7S is also pushing for higher wages and better working conditions; in particular, the union’s mission statement emphasizes the importance of ending “both at-will employment and unnecessary ‘permalancing.'” On May 29th, management declined to voluntarily recognize the new union. In a press release, Seven Seas stated:

We respect the rights of our employees to choose or not choose union representation. While we have been requested by a number of employees to voluntarily recognize the Communications Workers of America as their legal representative—without a National Labor Relations Board conducted election—we have decided to respect the right of all eligible employees to vote on this issue. Since unionization would affect more members of staff than those who have already come forward, an election will ensure that everyone has the opportunity to learn about their rights and the details of this process before they cast their vote through a governed process.

We have notified the [National Labor Relations Board] that we are prepared to move forward with an election among an appropriate unit of employees, and we will, of course, abide by the outcome of the election.

The company’s next move was to hire the law firm of Ogletree Deakins, which has represented clients such as Boeing, Duke University, and IKEA in labor disputes. (Adding insult to injury: Ogletree Deakins counts former Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio among its clients.) I’m not sure what’s next for UW7S, but as someone who belongs to a union, I fully support all of the staff at Seven Seas in their fight for a better, more secure workplace. For updates, follow UW7S on Twitter.

NEWS

Diamond Comic Distributors just released its Top 400 Graphic Novels list for April 2022. Manga made a strong showing in comic book stores, with three titles–Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Kaiju No. 8–among the month’s best sellers. (For a little perspective, these three books sold between 3,369 and 5,944 copies each.) Scanning the top 100 titles, there were another 37 manga on the list, ranging from the final volume of The Rose of Versailles to the new edition of Apollo’s Song. [ICv2]

J-Novel Club unveiled five new manga licenses at its Anime Boston panel, including Tearmoon Empire and Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! [Anime News Network]

Dark Horse will be publishing the sixth and final installment of Neon Genesis Evangelion-The Shinji Ikari Raising Project Omnibus this December. [AiPT!]

After social media users criticized the Toronto Comic Arts Festival (TCAF) for inviting artist Pink Cat (Saba Moeel) to appear at this year’s event, TCAF withdrew the invitation. In a statement posted to its website on May 31st, organizers explained that “TCAF initially extended a programming invitation to Moeel on the basis of their daily digital comics work on Instagram, and the personal importance that work had to one of our team members. At the time of this invitation, the organization was unaware of Moeel’s online conduct, plagiarism, or allegations of tracing. We apologize for programming and promoting this artist.” [Toronto Comics Art Festival]

Heidi MacDonald has the full scoop on the TCAF/Pink Cat controversy. [The Beat]

FEATURES, PODCASTS, AND INTERVIEWS

Erica Friedman files a report on this year’s Anime Boston convention, where she was a featured panelist and author. [Okazu]

Deb Aoki explores the secret history of Unico, Osamu Tezuka’s lonely little unicorn. [Mangasplaining]

Elias Rosner previews August’s best new manga, from Rooster Fighter to The Poe Clan. [Multiversity Comics]

BuzzFeed shares a list of 15 LGBTQ+ Comics, Graphic Novels And Manga To Read After Watching Heartstopper. [BuzzFeed]

It’s that time of the month again: Walt Richardson and Emily Meyers do a cover-to-cover roundup of Shonen Jump‘s May issue. [Multiversity Manga Club Podcast]

The Manga Mavericks assemble an all-star team to discuss Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater. [Manga Mavericks]

On the latest installment of Shojo & Tell, Ashley and husband Asher Sofman jump in the WABAC machine to look at one of the weirder shojo titles Tokyopop published: Yuri Narushima’s Planet Ladder. Beware the giant chicken! [Shojo & Tell]

Claire explains why you should be reading Kageki Shojo!! The setting “is fascinating, with copious details about Japanese traditional arts interspersed with contemporary (otaku) cultural references that will delight manga and anime fans,” she notes. The author “gives her story and the girls room to breath and develop at an organic (and thus, often hesitant) pace. There is substance to each of these girls, and I for one am delighted that the series survived the dissolution of its original publisher so that we get to see what happens next. These girls are going places.” [Beneath the Tangles]

REVIEWS

Looking for a good beach read? The staff at Beneath the Tangles just posted brief reviews of the latest releases, from Ghost Reaper Girl to Summertime Rendering.

Also of note: Kate Sánchez declares I Want to Be a Wall “one of the most beautiful takes on a relationship I have ever read,” while Helen recommends Summertime Rendering for manga lovers “who want a read that they can’t put down late into the night.”

The Manga Review, 5/27/22

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Everybody’s talking about Tokyopop this week, as the publisher that brought us Mixx, Sailor Moon, and Rising Stars of Manga celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary. To mark the occasion, Brigid Alverson interviewed Tokyopop founder Stu Levy about the company’s history. “Not a single person believed it would work—and frankly many called us crazy,” Levy recalled. “Even internally, most of my team was against it—or at least wanted to test it. My view was we either had conviction and went all-in or we didn’t. Testing wouldn’t work because retailers would always favor the left-to-right reading books if they had a choice—so there would never be a true test of its potential. So, I bet the company on it.” Over at Drop-In to Manga, Tony reflects on how Tokyopop titles such as Chobits and GTO: Great Teacher Onizuka helped introduce him to the joy of reading manga. “I know there’s a lot of criticism towards its founder, Stu Levy, and a lot of it is warranted,” he observes. “But I still respect Tokyopop for showing Japanese manga publishers that America can be a hotspot for manga during a time when that wasn’t the case.”

NEWS

Moto Hagio has just published a new installment in her on-again, off-again vampire saga The Poe Clan. The newest storyline, Poe no Ichizoku: Ao no Pandora, takes place in present-day Munich. [Anime News Network]

Mari Yamazaki’s Olympia Kyklos will resume serialization in Grand Jump next month. The story follows the adventures of an ancient Greek potter who’s accidentally transported to the 1964 Tokyo games. C’mon, this needs to be licensed STAT! [Anime News Network]

Are new chapters of Hunter x Hunter on the horizon? [Variety]

Brace yourself for more H.P. Lovecraft: Dark Horse will be publishing Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of The Shadow Over Innsmouth in a single omnibus edition. No word yet on a release date. [Anime News Network]

Earlier this week, the employees of Seven Seas Entertainment announced that they’d formed their own union, United Workers of Seven Seas. In a statement on their website, union organizers explain the rationale for their decision: “The company has grown exponentially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. But with rapid growth comes growing pains, and we, the workers of Seven Seas, have been shouldering much of that pain. We find ourselves overworked, underpaid, and we do not currently receive the benefits otherwise typical of the publishing industry.” [ICv2]

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS

Are you interested in learning more about the roots of contemporary Japanese culture? Kathryn Hemmann offers a great list of “popular-audience books that are smart and specific yet still accessible to a casual reader,” from Matt Alt’s Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World to Tara Devlin’s Toshiden: Exploring Japanese Urban Legends. [Contemporary Japanese Literature]

Jocelyne Allen swoons over the gorgeous artwork and soapy plot lines of Ashita Niji ga Denakutemo. [Brain vs. Book]

Over at Women Write About Comics, Carrie McClain highlights some of Seven Seas’ best new releases. [Women Write About Comics]

The folks at Anime Feminist want to know which unfinished or cancelled Tokyopop series you’d like to see rescued. [Anime Feminist]

Bill Curtis wins the award for best headline of the week with How to Ease Your Big Burly, Hairy, Glistening, Beer Swillin’, Iron Pumpin’ DUDE Self Into the Wonderful World of Shojo & Josei Manga. Amen! [Yatta-Tachi]

Speaking of josei, the Mangasplainers dedicate their latest episode to an in-depth exploration of Fumi Yoshinaga’s All My Darling Daughters. [Mangasplaining]

Congratulations to the Manga Mavericks crew: they just celebrated their 200th episode with a roundtable discussion about Tatsuki Fujimoto’s one-shot Goodbye, Eri. [Manga Mavericks]

Lucas DeRuyter revisits Death Note, a series he “took super seriously” as a teen viewer. “When I watched Death Note as a teenager I definitely hadn’t lived enough to recognize it as camp; nor did I have as firm of an understanding of my own sexuality as I do today,” he observes. “I thought I’d be returning to a problematic fave, but was delighted to realize that Death Note is camp. Accidental, ostentatious camp that, in its attempts to create a dark and edgy power fantasy, stumbles so spectacularly that it tears down some of the worst kinds of people and beliefs around today.” [Anime Feminist]

REVIEWS

Reviewing volume five of Kageki Shojo!!, Yuri Stargirl raises a good question about the state of shojo and josei licensing in North America. “Has the industry just become dominated by trite, superficial storytelling and bland art that can’t decide if it’s moe or realistic?” she asks. “Or is what gets translated to the US market so limited, that they pick lowest common denominator titles to publish even though there are a lot of higher quality ones in Japan going untranslated?” Meanwhile, Megan D. takes a look at one of the weirder titles DMP ever licensed, Bambi and Her Pink Gun, while Rebecca Silverman reviews Erica Friedman’s new book By Your Side: The First 100 Years of Yuri Anime and Manga. “If you are a fan of yuri or simply want to understand what the deal is with any of the genre’s elements or major texts, I’d highly recommend reading this book,” Silverman argues. “It’s both an analysis of and a love letter to the genre, both academic and accessibly readable, and worth your time.”

Manga the Week of 6/1/22

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SEAN: The beginning of June! (Or, OK, the end of May if you go by most of these release dates.) What do we get?

Airship has new volumes. Berserk of Gluttony 6 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 2.

And digitally we see early releases for Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 3.

Cross Infinite World has another one-shot, Rapunzel of the Magic Item Shop (Mahou Douguten no Rapunzel), a one-shot shoujo light novel. A young sorcerer finds herself locked up for ten years simply for knowing magic. She’s rescued and brought to a household where she ends up treated with respect… but there’s also lots of secrets.

ASH: One-shot shoujo light novel, you say?

SEAN: Dark Horse has Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition 6.

ASH: Steadily upgrading my collection of this series to this new edition. The tomes are massive, but they look great.

SEAN: It is often difficult to put Denpa titles on here, as their website frequently updates release dates after the fact, and Amazon… well, Amazon is usually wrong. That said, it certainly looks like we get Baby Bear’s Bakery (Koguma no Keiki-ya-san) next week. This Monthly Shōnen Sunday title is about a baby bear who’s a terrific baker but not good at other things, like running a business.

ANNA: Ok, I’m curious about this.

ASH: It looks genuinely delightful.

SEAN: From Ghost Ship, we have the debut of I’m Not a Succubus! (Succubus ja nai mon!), which runs in Young Unreal Jingai, a magazine I have absolutely never heard of. A girl is attending a monster girl academy, but she’s not one… that is, until she pretends to be a succubus! Unfortunately, she forgot this is not only a Ghost Ship title but also a yuri title!

ASH: Oh, myyyyyy!

SEAN: They also have JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World 3 and Sundome!! Milky Way 4.

J-Novel Club has a new debut, VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral After Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream (VTuber Nandaga Haishin Kiri Wasuretara Densetsu ni Natteta). As with a lot of LNs these days, the title is the plot.

They also debut a new manga, Doll-Kara. This series from Manga Life Win has an MMA fighter, imprisoned for years, finally getting out… and getting hit by a truck. He wakes in the body of a comatose schoolgirl. What happens next? If you guessed “MMA”, you’re probably right.

ASH: The mention of MMA definitely caught my attention.

SEAN: We also get the manga debuts of two light novel series from J-NC. Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village (Fushi no Kami ~Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki~) runs in Overlap’s Comic Gardo, and Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! (Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!) is in Comic Zero-Sum.

ASH: Housekeeping Mage from Another World seems like it could be fun!

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight -Origins- 7, The Great Cleric 8, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 13, I Shall Survive Using Potions!’s 9th manga volume, Magic Knight of the Old Ways 2, Monster Tamer 9, My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ— 4 (manga), Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 6, and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 19.

MICHELLE: I sometimes feel bad that none of this stuff interests me, but that’s the way of things.

ANNA: I’m amazed by the word salad sometimes.

SEAN: No print for Kodansha. Their digital debut is The Rokudo Rounds (Rokudou Tousou-ki), a post-apocalyptic tragedy that runs in good! Afternoon.

Also digital: Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 3, Falling Drowning 2, My Pink Is Overflowing 6 (the final volume, I assume she finally called the plumber), Quality Assurance in Another World 5, and Those Snow White Notes 9.

MICHELLE: Both Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You and Falling Drowning were pretty good, so I am looking forward to continuing with them. Also, snerk re: plumber.

ASH: Indeed!

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Duke of Death and His Maid (Shinigami Bocchan to Kuro Maid), which runs in the awkwardly titled Sunday Web Every. A boy is cursed to kill anyone he touches, so lives alone in his mansion with only his attractive childhood friend (who is also his maid) as companion. This sounds like Pushing Daisies, honestly. It also got an anime.

ASH: I mean, I did like Pushing Daisies…

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Hitomi-chan Is Shy with Strangers 4, Machimaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl! 10, MARS RED 3 (the final volume), Monster Guild: The Dark Lord’s (No-Good) Comeback! 3, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 3, Servamp 16, Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) 3, Succubus and Hitman 2, Syrup: A Yuri Anthology 4, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 7.

Udon Entertainment has a big release: the first three volumes of Summertime Rendering (Summer Time Render). This Shonen Jump + series has an anime currently running, and starts with a young man at the funeral of his foster father hearing that it may have been a murder. This has big time fans.

MICHELLE: Potentially interesting.

ANNA: Hmmmmm.

ASH: Count me curious.

SEAN: Yen On has The Irregular at Magic High School 19.

Two debuts for Yen Press. The Holy Grail of Eris (Eris no Seihai) is the manga version of the light novel Yen released a few weeks ago. It runs in Manga Up!.

Also from Manga Up! is Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, The Frozen Bond (Re:Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Hyouketsu no Kizuna). This adapts the anime-original OAV story about Emilia.

Yen also has The Abandoned Empress 2, Black Butler 31, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious 4, I’m the Catlords’ Manservant 3, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story 4, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 3, So I’m a Spider, So What? The Daily Lives of the Kumoko Sisters 3, and Yowamushi Pedal 20.

MICHELLE: Black Butler is another series that I forget is still going. I need to catch up on YowaPeda!

ANNA: Got to order YowaPeda, my kids like it.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying Yowamushi Pedal. And somehow also didn’t realize Black Butler was still ongoing.

SEAN: Manga! Light novels! So much! You? Buy?

The Manga Review, 5/20/22

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This year’s Eisner nominations have just been announced. In the Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia category, VIZ Media garnered five of the six nominations with crowd-pleasers such as Chainsaw Man and Spy x Family, while Seven Seas nabbed one for Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow. The only other manga nominated for an Eisner was Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, which is competing in the Best Humor Publication category. Also nominated for an Eisner is Eike Exner’s Comics and the Origins of Manga: A Revisionist History, which was published by Rutgers University Press last year.

MANGA NEWS

Big news from Seven Seas! The company has just launched two imprints: Seven Seas BL, which will publish works in the BL/Boys’ Love genre, and Seven Seas GL, which will publish works in the GL/Girls’ Love (yuri) genre. [Seven Seas]

The final chapter in Wataru Hinekure’s My Love Mix-Up! will run in the June issue of Bessatsu Margaret. [Anime News Network]

Brigid Alverson previews three new shonen titles that debut in July. [ICv2]

Over at Book Riot, Carina Pereira highlights eight of the summer’s most anticipated graphic novels. [Book Riot]

How do librarians respond book challenges in their communities? Shawn, Megan, and Tayla offer a variety of helpful strategies for handling complaints about graphic novels, from setting clear policies about who can bring a formal complaint to using peer-reviewed sites to demonstrate that your collection is, in fact, age-appropriate. [No Flying, No Tights]

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS

Looking for a good read? The crack team at ANN have just posted their Spring 2022 Manga Guide. Look for daily updates through the end of this week. [Anime News Network]

Tony explores the complex friendship between Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka in Kaguya-sama: Love Is War. [Drop-In to Manga]

On the latest Manga Mavericks podcast, host Siddharth Gupta convenes a roundtable discussion about Yona of the Dawn with panelists from Anime Feminist, But Why Tho?!, and Good Friends Anime Club. [Manga Mavericks]

Geremy and Kevin round up the latest Shonen Jump chapters, then turn their attention to volume thirteen of Haikyu!! [Jump Start Weekly]

Why did Nobuhiro Watsuki’s Gun Blaze West get the axe after just three volumes? David and Jordan investigate. [Shonen Flop]

Did you know that Tokyopop’s Warriors fandom is still going strong after fifteen years? Patrick Kuklinksi shines a light on the fan-made comics that explore “parts of the books that weren’t detailed in canon,” re-write controversial storylines, and introduce original characters. [SOLRAD]

Megan D. jumps in the WABAC machine for a look at Rumiko Takashi’s Rumic Theater, a collection of short stories that VIZ published more than twenty-five years ago. “What caught my notice about this anthology is that they all feature something you don’t see a lot of in American manga releases: adult women,” she observes. “Every lead character is either a currently married woman (be they with or without children) or one who was married in the past.  A lot of their stories are small-scale, focused on their homes and their immediate community of friends and family. True to Takahashi fashion, though, they are also often comical”.” [The Manga Test Drive]

REVIEWS

Are you following Al’s Manga Blog? If not, you should: this review-focused website has been publishing insightful, crisply written essays since 2016. Al’s latest offerings include in-depth reviews of The Music of Marie, a new title by Usamaru Furuya (Short Cuts, Genkaku Picasso); Island in a Puddle, a thriller by Kei Sanabe (Erased); and Sakamoto Days, a new Shonen Jump series by Yutu Suzuki.

Also of note: ANN’s Caitlin Moore draws on her own experiences with ADHD in a thoughtful review of My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders, while Masha Zhdanova posts capsule reviews of three new VIZ titles.

Manga the Week of 5/25/22

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SEAN: It’s only the end of May but the heat here is making it feel like mid-July. What about the manga? Well…

The debut from Yen On is Warlords of Sigrdrifa Rusalka, a light novel based on the popular anime series. As with a lot of other anime series, humanity is under siege and only badass but also very attractive women can save us.

ASH: I mean, I do like badass women…

SEAN: Also from Yen On: The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend 2, High School DxD 7, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 6, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 12, Magical Girl Raising Project 13, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 10, and A Sister’s All You Need 12.

Yen Press had a lot of its print releases which had been delayed due to the ongoing problem with getting print books done come out next week, so we have SEVEN debuts. Let’s break them down.

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too (Isekai de Cheat Skill o Te ni Shita Ore wa, Genjitsu Sekai o mo Musou Suru – Level Up wa Jinsei o Kaeta) had its light novel mentioned in last week’s Manga the Week of, so I can’t even make the same sad snarky jokes. It runs in Dengeki Comic Regulus.

In the Land of Leadale (Leadale no Daichi nite) runs in the horribly titled Dengeki Playstation, and is, of course, based on the light novels Yen is also releasing.

Let’s Go Karaoke! (Karaoke Iko!) is a one-shot manga from Comic Beam. A boy from the school choir ends up with a scary job… he’s giving voice lessons to a yakuza! This is apparently not BL but is BL-adjacent.

MICHELLE: Hm. This is the first on the list to interest me even moderately.

ANNA: I mean, I enjoy singing, BL-adjacent manga, and yakuza.

ASH: Same, same!

MELINDA: Okay, what, I think I need this. Like. Delivered directly to my brain.

SEAN: Lost Lad London is also from Comic Beam, and is a mystery about a detective and a college student trying to track down a murderer. This is award winning AND Comic Beam, so even more of a must-read than usual.

MICHELLE: Okay, now this is up my street.

ANNA: Also curious about this!

ASH: Me, too!

MELINDA: Oooooooh.

SEAN: The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei) is based on a light novel I really enjoyed. I wonder how the manga compares? It runs in Dengeki Maoh. Lotsa Dengeki this week.

MonsTABOO is a Big Gangan series about a girl who recklessly tries to find monsters – reckless ever since her mother was killed by one. That makes it all the more weird when she comes across one, she asks to date the monster instead.

ASH: I am at least vaguely curious.

SEAN: The Wolf Never Sleeps (Ookami wa Nemuranai) is from Young Ace Up!, and it’s an isekai, but at least he’s a grizzled veteran and swordsman who already fights monsters, and not random Japanese dude.

Yen Press also has Cheeky Brat 3, Cirque Du Freak: The Manga Omnibus 6, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 5, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 18, Final Fantasy Lost Stranger 7, Karneval 13, Mieruko-chan 5, Murciélago 19, Play It Cool, Guys 3, Smokin’ Parade 10 (the final volume), and Trinity Seven 25.

Viz has some titles out this week, likely due to those same printing issues. We see Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 17, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5–Golden Wind 4, Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance 2, and Urusei Yatsura 14. And, digitally, WITCH WATCH 2, which I continue to shill for.

ASH: Still need to give that series a try (and catch up on a few of these others, too.)

SEAN: Tokyopop has a new BL one-shot, this one from Gush. Tomorrow, Make Me Yours (Ashita Kimi no Mono ni Shite) is about an average boy who loves the cool, confident kid in his class. Sadly, a girl has a crush on said cool kid, so he tries to distance himself. But when he does confess, the other guy does as well!

Seven Seas debuts The Weakest Contestant of All Space and Time (Zenjikuu Senbatsu Saijaku Saiteihen Ketteisen), a survival manga that runs in Comic Earth Star. There are other interesting points about it, but survival manga, so meh.

ASH: I can sometimes go for an intriguing survival manga.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 3, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 4, and Seaside Stranger 3.

MICHELLE: I really need to read Seaside Stranger.

ASH: Likewise.

SEAN: One Peace Books gives us Hinamatsuri 15.

The print debut for Kodansha Manga is Phantom of the Idol (Kami Kuzu ☆ Idol), a Zero-Sum Online title about a lazy, surly idol and his meeting with a peppy, happy, and dead girl.

MICHELLE: Well, I am sold by this description.

ANNA: This sounds amazing.

MELINDA: Oh, hello.

SEAN: We also get the first volume of A Silent Voice Complete Collector’s Edition, which collects the first half of the series in a large hardcover which also has drafts, interviews, and other bonus content.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this release and the extra content; the series is so good.

SEAN: Also in print: Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 11 and The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 3.

MICHELLE: I legitimately did not realize that Clear Card was still going.

ANNA: Me too, I’m just going to sit here in a corner and lament never getting an ending to X/1999.

MICHELLE: FOR REAL.

ASH: Right??

MELINDA: *heavy sigh*

SEAN: Two digital debuts. Koigakubo-kun Stole My First Time (Koigakubo-kun ni wa Hajimete wo Ubawaremashita), a Palcy shoujo series about a gamer girl who is rather annoyed that all her gamer friends are getting married and having kids. Is her hot new work colleague the answer? This is by the author of With the Sheikh in His Harem.

Our Fake Marriage: Rosé (Usokon Rosé) is, of course, a spinoff of Our Fake Marriage, and runs in Ane Friend. Our heroine is determined to reject her family’s attempts to set her up with this guy… but…

Also digital: Back When You Called Us Devils 13 (OK, *this* is the final volume), DAYS 29, Harem Marriage 17, Nighttime for Just Us Two 2, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 5, Saint Young Men 18, Shojo Fight 18 (we seem to have caught up, given this is 11 months after 17), What I Love About You 9 (the final volume), and WIND BREAKER 2.

MICHELLE: How did Harem Marriage get up to volume seventeen already?!

SEAN: Kaiten Books gives us the 6th manga volume of Loner Life in Another World.

Lotsa print from J-Novel Club. We get An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 12, Ascendance of a Bookworm 12, both Vol. 2 and 3 of The Faraway Paladin’s novel, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 14, I Shall Survive Using Potions’s 7th manga volume, Infinite Dendrogram 15, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 4, Tearmoon Empire 5, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 5th manga volume.

ASH: I feel like just got my hands on the first volume of Faraway Paladin!

SEAN: As for digital, we get Altina the Sword Princess 14 (not the final volume, but the series has not had a new book in years), Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 5, I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! 4, Lazy Dungeon Master 16, Perry Rhodan NEO 8, Prison Life is Easy for a Villainess 2 (the final volume), and Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 3.

Ghost Ship gives us Manga Diary of a Male Porn Star 2 and The Witches of Adamas 2.

And we get Airship, which has, in print, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 10.

And digitally we get Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 11 and Loner Life in Another World 2.

Oooof. A double dose of Loner Life. That’ll be fun. What else are we having?

The Manga Review, 5/13/22

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April sales figures are in, and manga continues to dominate the NPD Adult Graphic Novels list. Though the list includes some perennial favorites–Berserk, Demon Slayer, My Hero Academia—Spy x Family saw a big jump in sales after its anime debuted on Crunchyroll last month. ICv2’s Brigid Alverson points out that  “April marks the fourth consecutive month that manga has completely filled the chart of the top 20 Adult graphic novels in the book channel.” Manga sales aren’t quite as robust in comic book stores, but three titles made ComicsHub’s Top 20 Graphic Novels for April: Chainsaw Man (4), Kaiju No. 8 (16), and Spy x Family (20). For additional insights into the current state of the manga, check our Madeline Dunnett’s recent post at Anime News Network.

MANGA NEWS

Kodansha just announced the winners of its 46th annual Manga Awards. [Anime News Network]

With less than three weeks to go, Sam Sattin and Guruhiru’s Kickstarter campaign for Unico: Awakening has exceeded its pledge goal of $50,000. The story is “an homage to the God of Manga’s original messaging of social welfare and eco-consciousness.” [Kickstarter]

Good news for Moto Hagio fans: Fantagraphics will be re-printing the first volume of The Poe Clan this summer. While there’s no official release date for the new edition, the long-awaited second volume will be released on July 26, 2022. [Fantagraphics]

Drawn and Quarterly will be publishing Nejishiki, an anthology of short stories by Yoshiharu Tsuge. Look for it in stores in April 2023. [Drawn and Quarterly]

Earlier this week, Yen Press announced that it will publish Sho Harusono’s Hirano and Kaguira, a spin-off of Sasaki and Miyano. [Yen Press]

Brace yourself: Seven Seas just announced even more new manga licenses! Among the most promising are Polar Bear Café: Collector’s Edition and Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten, which is pretty much what it sounds like: a former mobster indulges his softer side by rescuing a cat from the streets. [Seven Seas]

Over at The OASG, Justin and Helen round up the latest anime, manga, and licensing news. [The OASG Podcast]

FEATURES AND INTERVIEWS

Patricia Thang takes issue with the marketing label “manga-inspired,” arguing that “To call a comic ‘manga-inspired’ is akin to me saying, ‘Here’s a painting I did! It’s art-inspired! You’d think (or at least hope) I was joking, right? Because what in the fuck would that even mean?!” [Book Riot]

On the most recent Manga in Your Ears podcast, Kory, Helen, and Apryl dissect two manga by Naoki Urasawa: Sneeze, a short story anthology, and Asadora!, his latest series. [Manga in Your Ears]

Andy and Elliot dedicate the latest episode of the Screentone Club to City Hunter and Goodbye-Eri. [Screentone Club]

Walt Richardson and Emily Myers review the April issue of Shonen Jump. [Multiversity Comics]

The Mangasplainers turn their attention to Kakegurui: Compulsive Gambler, “the smash hit seinen manga that pits trust-fund-teens against one another in battles that cause embarrassment and ecstasy, skirting the line between schadenfreude and sadism!” [Mangasplaining]

As the spring anime season kicks into gear, Silvana Reyes Lopez recommends fifteen “unmissable” manga adaptations, from Chainsaw Man to Kakegurui Twin. [Book Riot]

Wondering what to read after Black Clover wraps up later this year? Christian Markle has a few recommendations. [Honey’s Anime]

Brianna Lawrence argues that Death Note Short Stories is more than just a sequel or a companion to the original series; it’s a thoughtful exploration of “how the government would react if such a terrifying weapon was available.” [The Mary Sue]

In an interview with TCJ’s Alex Deuben, Ken Niimura discusses his latest work, Never Open It: The Taboo Trilogy, which re-tells three of Japan’s most famous folk tales. “What I like about these stories… is that they’re pretty open ended,” Niimura explains. “They can be interpreted in many different ways. For example, there’s what’s considered to be the standard version of ‘The Crane Wife,’ but there are actually different versions depending on the region, the era, with many differences to the characters, the ending, etc…” [The Comics Journal]

REVIEWS

Readers in search of “hallucinogenic” stories might want to check out Keiichi Koike’s Heaven’s Door: Extra Works. “In some of these stories, the scale is pure Akira, but the detail and fluidness of the line are absolutely Moebius,” reviewer James Hepplewhite opines. Speaking of over-the-top manga, Megan D. revisits one of the most ludicrous series Tokyopop ever published: The Qwaser of Stigmata. (No, really; this manga goes to eleven.)