Features

SEAN: The Dog Days and Cat Manga of August are here.

ASH: How? How is it August already??

MICHELLE: I truly do not know.

SEAN: No debuts for Viz Media, but we do see Blue Exorcist 29, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 20 (the final volume, though the continuation to this is still going), The Elusive Samurai 12, In the Name of the Mermaid Princess 3, My Special One 7, Neighborhood Story 3, Rainbow Days 11, Spy x Family 12, and You and I Are Polar Opposites 2.

MICHELLE: I’ve really gotta read Neighborhood Story.

ASH: I’ve been collecting them, but I really need to read them at some point, too.

ANNA: I read the first volume! I’m glad it is coming out in English.

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 4th and final volume of Since I Could Die Tomorrow.

And Square Enix Manga has Daemons of the Shadow Realm 5.

Debuting from Seven Seas next week is The Strange House (Hen na Ie), a horror/mystery manga based on a novel, that runs in Ichijinsha’s Comic HOWL. A supernatural consultant runs up against a creepy house with a very creepy room.

MICHELLE: Ooooh.

ASH: I’m very curious about this one.

ANNA: Sounds interesting!

SEAN: A spinoff also debuts, Tokyo Revengers: A Letter from Keisuke Baji (Tokyo Revengers – Baji Keisuke kara no Tegami). This Magazine pocket title is, I’m going to guess, about one of the supporting cast of the main series.

On the danmei front, Seven Seas has The Disabled Tyrant’s Beloved Pet Fish: Canji Baojun De Zhangxin Yu Chong 2.

ASH: I am still very pleased by the danmei trend.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 10, Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 9, Kemono Jihen 12, The Knight Captain is the New Princess-to-Be 4 (the final volume), The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 7, and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou: Deluxe Edition 5 (the final volume).

ASH: Gotta get caught up with that one, as well!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 6th manga volume of The Death Mage.

One print debut for Kodansha Manga: Pupposites Attract (Seihantai na Watashitachi), a shoujo/josei title from Comic Pool that started as a Pixiv title. A man and a woman with opposite personalities meet when they walk their dogs… who also have opposite personalities! Will romance follow? (Hint: yes.)

MICHELLE: This title made me think it was going to be about puppet romance.

ASH: Haha! I’m sure there must be one of those out there somewhere.

ANNA: Maybe it will be on next month’s list!

SEAN: Also in print: The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity 2, My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku 4 (the final volume), That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Omnibus 3, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 6, and WIND BREAKER 7.

MICHELLE: I definitely want to read the ’90s Otaku manga!

SEAN: On the digital side, we see Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! 13 (the final volume), Chihayafuru 45, Life 17, and Those Snow White Notes 20.

There’s only one debut for J-Novel Club, and it’s a manga adaptation of a light novel they already had. Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess (Loop kara Nukedasenai Akuyaku Reijou wa, Akiramete Suki Katte Ikiru Koto ni Kimemashita) is a Drecomi title about a villainess who’s also looping, and who finally decides “screw it” and takes charge.

ASH: Someone has to!

SEAN: J-Novel Club also has This Art Club Has a Problem! 4, Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- 4, the 4th Hell Mode manga, I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest? I’m Not Even an Adventurer Yet! 6, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 9-1, the 5th My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer manga, Record of Wortenia War 25, Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 9, and Zilbagias the Demon Prince: How the Seventh Prince Brought Down the Kingdom 2.

The debut from Ghost Ship is She’s the Strongest Bride, But I’m Stronger in Night Battles: A Harem Chronicle of Advancing Through Cunning Tactics (Isekai Saikyou no Yome desu ga, Yoru no Tatakai wa Ore no Hou ga Tsuyoi you desu – Chiryaku wo Ikashite Nariagaru Harem Senki), which runs in Futabasha’s Gaugau Monster. An isekai’d guy with a nerdy interest in military history is now the husband of the demon queen… and also terrific in bed, as this is a Ghost Ship series.

ASH: Well, of course.

ANNA: That’s some combo of interests and skills right there.

SEAN: Also from Ghost Ship: Might as Well Cheat: I Got Transported to Another World Where I Can Live My Wildest Dreams! 8 and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 12.

Denpa has three titles listed from retailers as coming out next week: Heavenly Delusion 7, Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family 6, and Vampeerz 5. (I suspect Emiya Family is wrong, but the other two are more likely).

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: And Airship gives us Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 9 in print, and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 11 in early digital.

Hey, there was no cat manga at all. Boo! Anything else interest you?

ASH: I was waiting for the cat manga!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: It was the end of Julys, it was the beginning of Augusts…

We start off with Airship, which has print for Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 7.

And the early digital debut is I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! (Atashi wa Seikan Kokka no Eiyū Kishi!). As the title might suggest, it’s a spinoff of I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire!. It seems to star a knight? I suspect things will go badly for her, given the parent series.

ASH: Seems accurate.

SEAN: And there’s also Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 7.

Cross Infinite World has two debuts. The Former Assassin Who Got Reincarnated as a Noble Girl (Moto Ansatsusha, Tenseishite Kizoku no Reijou ni Narimashita) is sort of a villainess reversal, as a former killer is now nobility… but this is still Villainess nobility, so she can’t just relax.

Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner (Saa, Akuyaku Reijou no wo Shigoto wo Hajimemashou: Moto Shomin no Watashi ga Idomu Zunousen) is one of those “modern-day Japan” stories rather than fantasy Europe world, but the plot remains the same: our heroine has to survive three years pretending to be an elite at a rich academy. The catch: this is an otome game, and the girl she’s replacing is the villainess. Great title, if nothing else.

MICHELLE: I gotta admit, “Villainessin'” definitely caught my eye.

ANNA: Amazing.

ASH: So many villainesses these days! Villainii?

SEAN: Also from CIW: The Abandoned Heiress Gets Rich with Alchemy and Scores an Enemy General! 3.

Hanashi Media has a debut. Observation Records of My Fiancée: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess (Jishou Akuyaku Reijou na Konyakusha no Kansatsu Kiroku) is a light novel whose manga came out from Alphapolis a while ago. A crown prince is somewhat baffled by his fiancee telling him she’s a villainess who is reincarnated, and she’s trying her hardest to be evil. There’s one slight issue. She’s an idiot.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ANNA: Ooops!

SEAN: They also have the 2nd volume of Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy.

A quiet week for J-Novel Club. No debuts, but we get The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 3, Moon Blossom Asura: The Ruthless Reincarnated Mercenary Forms the Ultimate Army 3, Through the Viewport: Child of a Ruined World 2, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 13, Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord 6, and You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story 4.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga either, but we get As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 11, A Condition Called Love 9, Fire Force Omnibus 11, The Great Cleric 10, I See Your Face, Turned Away 2, ORIGIN 5, Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen 5, and Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen 4.

MICHELLE: A couple of nice shoujo titles in there!

ANNA: I keep meaning to check out Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen!

ASH: I’ve been collecting them! (But still need to read them…)

SEAN: And for digital, we see How to Treat a Lady Knight Right 6, Our Bodies, Entwining, Entwined 8 (the final volume), Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 13, and Saving Sweets for After-Hours 4.

Seven Seas has a danmei novel debut: Peerless. It’s set in the universe of Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu, and has two rival cops fight to solve a case and get over their sexual tension.

MICHELLE: This sounds fun.

ANNA: What if the case just increases the sexual tension??????? What will they do?????

ASH: You’ll never guess!

SEAN: Noss and Zakuro is a comedy that runs in East Press’ Matogrosso. It’s a comedy about a vampire mom and her vampire daughter.

Seven Seas also has The Summer You Were There 5, The Titan’s Bride 4, and Yakuza Reincarnation 6.

Steamship debuts I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess! – Betrothed (Outaishi-hi ni Nante Naritakunai!! Konyakusha-hen), a sequel to the first book which runs in Comic Zero-Sum. It basically sounds like a continuation.

Also from Steamship: Healer for the Shadow Hero 2 and Sundome!! Milky Way 10 (the final volume>.

Tokyopop has A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 8.

Yen On has the 7th volume of Sasaki and Peeps.

Meanwhile, Yen Press’ July was so huge that half the titles got bumped a week. There are no debuts, but we get (deep breath) 15 Minutes Before We Really Date 3, Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture 4, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 8, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 6, I Want a Gal Gamer to Praise Me 2, In Another World with My Smartphone 12, Kiss the Scars of the Girls 3 (the final volume), Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 17, Minato’s Laundromat 3, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AO— 5 (a JNC print title), The Reformation of the World as Overseen by a Realist Demon King 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 23, Saint? No! I’m Just a Passing Beast Tamer! 4, Shy 7, Sword Art Online Progressive Canon of the Golden Rule 2 (the final volume), To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 7, Touge Oni: Primal Gods in Ancient Times 4, Trinity Seven Revision 2, The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions 5, and When I Became a Commoner, They Broke Off Our Engagement! 3.

ASH: Dang! At some point every week is going to be a Yen week.

SEAN: Assuming you’re still reading after that block of text, what are you getting?

SEAN: It’s still July, and still hot, but don’t worry, you can relax in the shadow of Yen Press releases.

ASH: That could possibly work.

SEAN: There is one debut this week for Yen On: The Trials of Chiyodaku: Running the Supreme Court of Another World With My Sister (Chiyodaku Ōkoku Judgment: Ane to Ore to de Isekai Saikō Saibansho). A guy and his sister end up in another world. She’s fantastic at law but knows nothing of fantasy worlds or monsters. He’s a gamer who knows all about those things. Together, they fight crime and the cover art. (The cover art wins, sadly.)

ASH: Wow. The law angle is at least vaguely intriguing, but, wow.

SEAN: And there’s also a side story from a popular franchise. Bungo Stray Dogs: Another Story: Yukito Ayatsuji vs. Natsuhiko Kyougoku features, well, those two characters, I guess.

Also from Yen On: Agents of the Four Seasons 3, Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture 4, Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 13, Bride of the Barrier Master 3, Classroom for Heroes 2, The Contract Between a Specter and a Servant 2, The Detective Is Already Dead 8, The Eminence in Shadow 5, The Executioner and Her Way of Life 8, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 12, Ishura 7, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 7, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 13, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 25, and Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 15 (the final volume).

ASH: You did warn it was a Yen week, but that’s still quite the list.

SEAN: And then there’s Yen Press debuts. Aria of the Beech Forest (Buna no Mori no Aria) is a shoujo series from Asuka. It’s about a witch who lives in the woods and a talking wolf she finds one day.

ASH: Witch manga seems to be a particularly popular (or at least common) genre these days.

SEAN: Excellent Property, Rejects for Residents: Baths, Lavatories, and Angels Are Communal (Yuuryou Bukken Mou Dame Sou – Furo, Toilet to Tenshi wa Kyoudou desu) is the latest ecchi shonen manga from the creator of Plunderer and Heaven’s Lost Property. An angel tries to help a loser guy who lives in an apartment house full of losers.

GOGOGOGO-GO-GHOST! is a josei title from Comic Bridge. After being fired from her OL job, a woman is living on temp gigs and desperation. Is she desperate enough to team up with a ghost lady?

MICHELLE: Hm. Josei + ghosts?

ASH: I’m in.

SEAN: Kind of a Wolf (Aimai na Wolf) is a one-shot BL manga from Bloom. When his pet cat sneaks into the apartment of the noisy guy next door, our hero has to sneak in after them… and discovers a secret!

ASH: What could it be?

SEAN: Miss Savage Fang: The Strongest Mercenary in History Is Reincarnated as an Unstoppable Noblewoman (Savage Fang Ojou-sama – Shijou Saikyou no Youhei wa Shijou Saikyou no Bougyaku Reijou to natte Futatabime no Sekai wo Musou suru) is an adaptation of the light novels Yen also releases. It ran in Isekai Young Jump.

My Oh My, Atami-kun (Iyahaya Atami-kun) is a BL manga from Harta. A high school boy is constantly being asked out by girls because of his handsome face. Can’t they realize that he’s gay?

MICHELLE: This looks potentially cute.

SEAN: This Wolf Is Not Scary (Ookami-kun wa Kowakunai) is a BL one-shot from B’s-Lovey Recottia. Wolf boys, rabbit boys, heats… not full on A/B/O, but in the ballpark. Also, two wolf oneshots in the same week?

MICHELLE: Any BL with a wolf in it, nowadays, I basically assume is not gonna be my sort of thing.

SEAN: And also from Yen: The Abandoned Empress 8, Bungou Stray Dogs Wan 8, Chained Soldier 8, Delicious in Dungeon 14 (the final volume), The Eminence in Shadow 10, Game of Familia 4, Honey Lemon Soda 6, I’m Quitting Heroing 6, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 13, My Poison Princess Is Still Cute 3 (the final volume), No Longer Heroine 7, The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices 5, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 7, A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special 4, and Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion 7.

Viz has one debut, another collection of horror, Alley: Junji Ito Story Collection (Rojiura). These ran in Monthly Halloween.

ASH: I’m behind in my Junji Ito reading, but do plan on picking this up.

SEAN: They also have Boy’s Abyss 6, a re-release of the GoGo Monster box, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 6–Stone Ocean 5.

ASH: Oh!

SEAN: Two debuts from Tokyopop. Jealousy Blinds Love (Shitto wa ai o Kumoraseru) is a one-shot from from RED. Can BL and piano exist together?

Too Close to Fall in Love (Koi o Suru ni wa Chika Sugiru) is also a from RED oneshot. What about a “we’re stepsiblings!” romance, but BL?

And they have Lullaby of the Dawn 4 (which is also from RED, in case you were worried).

Steamship has a 3rd manga volume of The Villainess and the Demon Knight.

Square Enix manga debuts Soul Eater NOT!: The Perfect Edition. This spinoff of Soul Eater was far less popular but had far more yuri subtext. It ran in Shonen Gangan.

And they’ve also got The Villainess’s Guide to (Not) Falling in Love 2.

No debuts from Seven Seas, but we do see COLORLESS 7 (the final volume), The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain 2, Ennead 3 (which comes in teen-rated paperback and adult-rated hardcover), His Majesty the Demon King’s Housekeeper 6, Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 9, and Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 7 (the final volume).

From KUMA we see Qualia Under the Snow (Yuki no Shita no Qualia), a oneshot BL manga from Craft. An extrovert and an introvert find themselves drawn together to help deal with their pasts.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely more interested in traumatized extroverts and introverts than wolves and stepsiblings!

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Kodansha Books has a 5th volume of Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement.

No print debuts for Kodansha Manga, but we do see Blue Lock 13, Gachiakuta 3, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 19, I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl 3, King in Limbo Omnibus 3 (the final volume), Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 9, and A Sign of Affection 9.

There is a digital debut, just announced at AX. My Journey to Her (Boku ga Watashi ni Naru Tame ni) is a complete in one volume series that ran in Weekly Morning. It’s a memoir of Yuna receiving a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, and the journey to getting gender-affirming surgery that Yuna, with her family and friends, goes through.

ASH: It’s really interesting to me how many memoirs and autobiographical works of this type were seeing translated. Not that I’m complaining!

Also digital: Am I Actually the Strongest? 11, A Couple of Cuckoos 18, DAYS 42 (the final volume), Gamaran: Shura 22, and Teppu 8 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: Ah! I hadn’t realized DAYS was ending. Time for a marathon.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a lot, including three debuts. The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! (99-kai Danzaisareta Loop Reijō Desu ga Konse wa “Chōzetsu Aisare Mode” Desutte!?: Shinno Chikara ni Mezamete Hajimaru 100-kaime no Jinsei), the manga adaptation of the light novel JNC already released.that runs in Drecomics.

From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress! (Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau) is a light novel about a girl reincarnated in an otome game as… a minor villainess. She decides to seduce the main character by dressing as a man. Unfortunately, everyone else has the same idea. This is infamous in Japan for its art that commits to the bit – the art makes it look BL as the cross-dressing women are so good at it.

MICHELLE: This sounds kooky but potentially fun.

ASH: Agreed!

SEAN: The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World (Saikyou Onmyouji no Isekai Tenseiki ~Geboku no Youkaidomo ni Kurabete Monster ga Yowaisugirundaga~) is the manga adaptation of the light novel JNC is also releasing. It runs in Gaugau Monster.

Also from J-Novel Club: the 3rd D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared manga, The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects 4, the 8th Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World manga, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 11, Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden 3, The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! 3, The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival 2, the 10th Record of Wortenia War manga, Seventh 8, The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist 3 (the final volume), The Water Magician 2, and Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster 7.

ASH: That is a decent sized list, too.

Ghost Ship has Ayakashi Triangle 10. There’s also, in Mature titles from Seven Seas, Remnants of Filth: Yuwu 4.

A new title from Fantagraphics: Search and Destroy. Have you ever wondered what the classic Tezuka series Dororo would look like in the hands of the author of Bambi and Her Pink Gun? Wonder no more. This ran in TezuComi, a magazine devoted to Tezuka tributes, reimaginings, etc.

ASH: Really looking forward to this one.

SEAN: Lastly, we have Airship. In print they have Riku Can’t Be a Goddess (Riku-kun wa, Megami ni Narenai). The story of a girl who serves as a dress form for her crush who wants to cross-dress and uses her to see how to be feminine. Then he kisses her and she flees. This apparently is part of an anthology about their high school class and identity in general.

And for early digital we get the 2nd and final volume of The Evil Queen’s Beautiful Principles and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 6.

I’m reduced to begging for mercy. How about you?

SEAN: All English manga will be in French for this week only. After that, your copies will return to English.

MICHELLE: Does that mean that manga I own in French will be in English this week? *hurries off to read some Mitsuru Adachi*

ANNA: Sacre bleu!

ASH: Ah, if only!

SEAN: We start with Airship. In print, they give us The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 8 and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 9.

The digital early debut is Ripping Someone Open Only Makes Them Bleed (Hara o Wattara Chi ga Deru Dakesa), the latest trauma from the creator of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. A high school girl has what seems to be the perfect life… and she’s made sure her every move and utterance is done to help that along. Then a boy shows up who looks just like the main character of her favorite book, and bad things start to follow.

ASH: I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: Also out in early digital: I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 7 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 7.

Apologies to Dark Horse, I was distracted by the Lovecraft and missed that the 5th Cat + Gamer manga came out this week.

ASH: It was pretty distracting. But Cat + Gamer is definitely worth mentioning, too.

SEAN: Next week they have a debut: Captain Momo’s Secret Base (Momo Kanchou no Himitsu Kichi), a Rakuen Le Paradis story about a starship captain dealing with remote work and bureaucracy. It’s from the creator of Wandering Island and Emanon.

ANNA: Ca peut être intéressant.

ASH: Oooooooh.

SEAN: Denpa, according to retailers, has the 2nd volume of Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack.

ANNA: Char Aznable est très cool.

ASH: Oui.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has the 8th volume of The Witches of Adamas.

J-Novel Club also snuck out a release this week, so you should be able to get the 4th Blade & Bastard light novel as you read this. To be fair to me, this wasn’t announced till about 5 days ago.

ASH: That is entirely fair (or unfair, depending on how you look at it).

SEAN: From J-Novel Club next week, we get the 4th 8th Loop for the Win! With Seven Lives’ Worth of XP and the Third Princess’s Appraisal Skill, My Behemoth and I Are Unstoppable! manga volume, The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 7, the 2nd Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade manga volume, Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole 8, and the 2nd A Wild Last Boss Appeared! manga volume.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga, but we see in print I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness 6, Kei X Yaku: Bound By Law 2, Ninja Vs. Gokudo 2, Parasyte Full Color Collection 7, and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 16.

And for digital we get Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 8, The Beast Player 3, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 21, I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! 5, and Our Fake Marriage 14.

From One Peace Books we get Farming Life in Another World 10.

The debut from Seven Seas is a yuri manga, Throw Away the Suit Together (Kimi to Shiranai Natsu ni Naru) features two young women, bowed down by societal expectations, throwing it all away and moving to an island. Of course, life is not that easy…

ASH: If only it was!

SEAN: We also see The Duke of Death and His Maid 13, Mysterious Disappearances 2, No Longer Allowed In Another World 6, Sheep Princess in Wolf’s Clothing 3, The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter 4, The Villainess Who Has Been Killed 108 Times: She Remembers Everything! 3, and The World’s Fastest Level Up 3.

We have a debut from Square Enix, Just Like Mona Lisa (Seibetsu “Mona Lisa” no Kimi e), from Gangan Online. In a world where people are genderless till they’re 12, and over 2 years become the gender they wish to be, our protagonist is 18 and yet still genderless. Will confessions – from a boy and a girl – help them decide?

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: And we see The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 9.

Tokyopop debuts both a light novel and a manga, the same title. My Beautiful Man (Utsukushii Kare) is a Chara title (the manga, at least) about a guy with a stutter who tends to be used by the popular group as a dogsbody… but that’s OK, because the most popular guy is SO HOT.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ANNA: Snerk (en Francais!)

SEAN: Tokyopop also has the 7th and final volume of The Fox & Little Tanuki.

Debuting from Udon Entertainment is My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex (Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Moto Kanodatta), whose light novel J-Novel Club has been releasing. A boy and a girl who dated in middle school… then broke up badly… now find they’re stepsiblings. It runs in Dra-Dra-Sharp#.

Debuting from Viz is Battle Royale: Enforcers, the 3rd in the Battle Royale manga series, which runs in Bessatsu Young Champion. You know the plot.

We’re also getting Haikyu!! in 3-in-1 volumes, with the first shipping next week. This is a Shonen Jump title about volleyball. You know it.

MICHELLE: Omnibus editions are very nice for sports manga!

ANNA: Mais oui!

Also from Viz: Dandadan 8, Dark Gathering 8, Persona 5 12, Record of Ragnarok 11, Seraph of the End 30, Snowball Earth 2, Steel of the Celestial Shadows 3, and Undead Unluck 16.

ASH: I really ought to give Steel of the Celestial Shadows a try.

SEAN: Lastly we have Yen Press, who are sneaking two releases out ahead of the deluge the week after next. Penguin Highway is a manga adaptation of the novel of the same name, which ran in my nemesis, Comic Alive. Yen is releasing it as one complete omnibus.

ASH: Oh, I actually just saw an early copy of this! And I really enjoyed the original novel.

SEAN: And we get an artbook: Yana Toboso Artworks Black Butler 4.

Does anything here appeal?

SEAN: This list is being written for you in the small, brief moments between terrible bouts of WEATHER.

ASH: I’ll take whatever relief I can get!

SEAN: As I mentioned last week, J-Novel Club has now moved all its print releases to be distributed by Yen Press. So Yen has Ascendance of a Bookworm 25, Full Metal Panic: Short Stories 2 and Otherside Picnic Omnibus 4 in print. For those who haven’t been following Otherside Picnic, this is the one that made Tumblr go absolutely batshit.

ASH: In a good way, bad way, or both?

SEAN: Viz Media has a debut, another Naruto manga adaptation of one of the light novels that came after the main manga series. If that makes sense. This is Naruto: Konoha’s Story—The Steam Ninja Scrolls: The Manga (Naruto: Konoha Shinden – Yukemuri Ninpouchou) and it ran in Shonen Jump +.

Also from Viz: Devil’s Candy 4, Disney Twisted-Wonderland: The Manga – Book of Heartslabyul 4, Fly Me to the Moon 24, Helck 10, Kirby Manga Mania 7, Komi Can’t Communicate 30, and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 5.

ASH: I just recently got my hands on some more of Devil’s Candy.

SEAN: Tokyopop has If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die 7 and Watch Dogs Tokyo 2.

SuBLime debuts My Dearest Patrolman (Boku no Omawari-san), which runs in the magazine moment (with the small letter, apparently). Ex-cop who now runs a shop is beloved by his junior, who is still a cop. What happens when they get into a relationship?

They also have a 2nd volume of Engage.

From Square Enix we get Otherside Picnic 10 and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 19.

Seven Seas has one debut, Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me (Shi ni Modori no Mahou Gakkou Seikatsu wo, Moto Koibito to Prologue Kara (※Tadashi, Koukando wa Zero)), an adaptation of the light novel series released by Cross Infinite World. A girl and her beloved are killed, and she returns to her 7-year-old body with all her past memories… except how she was killed. Worse, the same thing did not happen to her boyfriend, and he thinks she’s a pain! This runs in Flos Comic.

ASH: To be fair, a lot of seven-year-olds can be a bit of a pain from time to time.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 11 (the final volume), Cinderella Closet 6, Daily Report About My Witch Senpai 3, Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher 4, MoMo -the blood taker- 9 (also a final volume), Soara and the House of Monsters 3, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 11.

And from their danmei line, we get Thousand Autumns: Qian Qiu 5, the final volume. It also has a special edition with postcards, stickers, etc.

ASH: Sweet.

SEAN: Kodansha Manga have a box set out next week, Hitorijime My Hero Manga Box Set 1, which has the first 6 volumes.

Also in print: The Darwin Incident 6, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 7 and Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 17.

MICHELLE: I should check out In the Clear Moonlit Dusk at some point.

SEAN: Just announced at AX, digitally we get the debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2, Vol. 1. (Not to be confused with Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns, the one shot that came out here four years ago.) Same author, different characters, same premise. It ran in Kiss.

MICHELLE: !!!!!

ANNA: Woah!

ASH: Oh, very nice!

SEAN: Also digital: Because I, the True Saint, was Banished, that Country is Done For! 4, Drops of God: Mariage 7, Gang King 19, The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 13, and MF Ghost 19.

Kaiten Books has a debut, in both print and digital. Blue Archive: Problem Solver 68 Business Diary (Blue Archive: Benriya 68 Gyoumu Nisshi) is a spinoff of the popular smartphone game, and it runs in Comic Bushiroad Web. It seems to be an “a day in the life” sort of title.

ASH: Huh!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one debut. The Death of the Skeleton Swordsman: Dominating as a Cursed Saint (Kotsugai no Kensei ga Shi wo Togeru: Noroware Seija no Gakuin Musō) is a new light novel in the subgenre of “I’m a skeleton” titles. Though apparently this guy doesn’t stay a skeleton for long, but instead ends up at… sigh… a magical academy. Where he’s the strongest one of all. Yeah.

ANNA: Funny how that keeps happening.

ASH: Staying a skeleton would have made it more interesting, I think.

SEAN: We also see: Ascendance of a Bookworm 32, Ascendance of a Bookworm Fanbook 4, the 16th Black Summoner manga, I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage 7, A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires 2, Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest 6, and Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 11.

Ghost Ship has I’m Not a Succubus! 5 and Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! 6.

Dark Horse Comics has a deluxe, hardcover, 630-page edition of its HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness manga, which they released normally in two volumes in 2019.

ASH: It is an excellent adaptation which should benefit nicely from the deluxe treatment.

SEAN: In print titles, Airship has Loner Life in Another World 9 and Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2.

And for early digital we get Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 12 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 7.

So, what do you — oops, tornado warning and hurricane warning. Gotta go.

SEAN: Is the year really half over? Years aren’t what they used to be.

ASH: They really aren’t.

SEAN: Airship has one print title, the 6th volume of Raven from the Inner Palace.

ASH: I really need to catch up on this series before I get any further behind.

SEAN: Debuting digitally – the same week as its anime adaptation – is Too Many Losing Heroines! (Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!), a romcom about (sigh) a plain, boring guy who suddenly finds that all the hot, popular girls in his class are confessing to the guys they like… and being shot down! What’s going on here?

Also in early digital: Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 9 and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 7.

Cross Infinite World debuts Soup Forest: The Story of the Woman Who Speaks with Animals and the Former Mercenary (Soup no Mori: Doubutsu to Kaiwa Suru Olivia to Moto Youhei Arthur no Monogatari). A woman who can hear the inner thoughts of humans and animals has spent her life either shunned or avoiding people, but then she meets a young man while working at her restaurant in the forest…

ASH: Okay, I’ll admit, that premise does check quite a few boxes for me, though not necessarily in a combination I was expecting.

ANNA: Does her forest restaurant also have jam? This is what I want to know.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World also have The Inconvenient Life of an Arousing Priestess 2 and Lovestruck Prince! I’ll Fight the Heroine for My Villainess Fiancée! 3 (the final volume).

Per retailers, Denpa Books has a 3rd volume of Baby Bear’s Bakery.

From Ghost Ship, we get Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 13-14 and Creature Girls: A Hands-On Field Journal in Another World 10.

J-Novel Club has one digital debut (actually, no more print for JNC, as they finished moving all their print titles over to Yen Press to distribute). To Another World… with Land Mines! (Isekai teni, Jirai-tsuki) is a manga adaptation of the light novel they’ve been releasing for a while, as a sensible guy gets isekai’d with his classmates, and tries to stop them accidentally being really stupid. It runs in Shonen Ace Plus.

ASH: Oh, I had missed that bit of news, though I’m glad the partnership with Yen Press is going well.

SEAN: Also from JNC, The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases 2, the 2nd manga volume of The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases, I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic 2, In Another World With My Smartphone 29, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 11.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga, but we see, in print, A-DO 3, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 3, Bless 2, A Brief Moment of Ichika 2, Medalist 3, Rent-A-Girlfriend 25 (it got bumped), and To Your Eternity 20.

And digitally we see Blue Lock 26, How to Grill Our Love 9, LIFE 16, Matcha Made in Heaven 9, Those Snow White Notes 19, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 14.

One Peace Books has I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons 2.

MICHELLE: I really want to read this. Someday. Sigh.

ASH: I have been greatly enjoying I Hear the Sunspot.

ANNA: I need to get caught up too!

SEAN: No debuts for Seven Seas either, but we see Berserk of Gluttony 10, Dragon Goes House-Hunting 10 (the final volume), The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 11, Homunculus 9-10 (also a final volume), Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari 7, Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills 2, My New Life as a Cat 6, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint 4 (also also a final volume), and Servamp 20.

ASH: This would be a good time for me to actually give Homunculus a try, then.

SEAN: Square Enix has The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 2 and Victoria’s Electric Coffin 2.

Viz Media continues the trend of no debuts. But we see Blue Box 11, Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate 2, Like a Butterfly 7, Marriage Toxin 3, Moriarty the Patriot 16, One Piece 106, Tamon’s B-Side 4, Wolf Girl and Black Prince 8, and World Trigger 26.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Soulmate (though perhaps I’m in the minority there) and eager to catch up on Tamon’s B-Side, as well.

ANNA: Oooh, more Like a Butterfly!!

SEAN: And that’s it! Has there been a shorter week lately? I don’t think so.

SEAN: The end of June, and if you’re in North America, dangerously high temperatures. Stay inside with manga.

MICHELLE: Good plan.

ASH: I do like manga more than I like the heat.

SEAN: Yen Press has one straggler, the third volume of Pandora Seven.

From Viz Media we get Fist of the North Star 13 and My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition 2.

ASH: An excellent Viz Media week.

SEAN: Tokyopop has A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 8, Never Let Go 2, and Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide 5.

We get Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition 15 from Square Enix.

Seven Seas brings out the big guns for next week. Gravitation: Collector’s Edition is a deluxe large-trim omnibus edition of one of the iconic 1990s BL series. New translation as well. A rock singer gets his lyrics trashed by a handsome novelist. What follows is some of the most iconic soap opera trash out there. If you were too young to understand Gen-X fandom, this will help.

MICHELLE: Haha. This is one case where I think the anime is better than the manga.

ANNA: Oh, I remember Gravitation!

ASH: Sure takes me back.

SEAN: The other debut is also BL: Stay By My Side After the Rain (Ameagari no Bokura ni Tsuite), a nice little romance about a jaded office worker who reunites with his high school crush.

MICHELLE: Looks potentially cute!

ASH: D’awww.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 5, The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 7, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 8, Machimaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl! 12, Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 9, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 10.

One Peace Books has Tales of the Tendo Family 2.

MICHELLE: I should read this.

ASH: I really liked the first volume.

SEAN: KUMA is listed as having a debut out next week. Terano-kun & Kumazaki-kun is a BL title from Qpa about a student council president and a scary-looking yankee who are a couple… and the scary-looking one’s the uke!

MICHELLE: This one has a fun cover.

ANNA: Sounds cute.

ASH: I have a soft spot for yankee BL.

SEAN: KUMA is also listed as having Happy Crappy Life 3 out next week. (The usual Denpa/KUMA warnings apply.)

ASH: Fair.

SEAN: Kodansha Books has a 5th volume of As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World.

Debuting from Kodansha Manga is Kaina of the Great Snow Sea (Ooyukiumi no Kaina), the latest Tsutomu Nihei series, though the art is now being done by Itoe Takemoto, who also draws The Beast Player. A young tree-dweller who thinks his people are the last ones alive finds out that’s not actually true. It runs in Shonen Sirius.

MICHELLE: I will likely miss Nihei’s art, but generally enjoy his works, so I will give it a chance.

ASH: Same.

SEAN: Kodansha Manga also has a debut from Kaori Ozaki: Mermaid Prince (Ningyo Ouji). This is actually a short story collection, with the title manga being the main story. It’s done in one, and ran in Wings, making its genre “whatever Wings is”.

MICHELLE: I have liked the Ozaki I have read previously!

ANNA: Oooh, I like Ozaki and non-specific genres!

ASH: I will always pick up an Ozaki manga.

SEAN: And the debuts keep coming, as we also see My Noisy Roommate: The Roof Over My Head Comes with Monsters and a Hottie (Noisy Roommate – Ienashi ni Natta node Ikemen to Kaii Tsuki Bukken de Doukyo Hajimemashita), a BL-ish series from Palcy. This looks like it’s a “normal guy winds up living with weird supernatural folks” sort of series.

MICHELLE: I am just constitutionally unable to resist this.

ASH: It’s a subgenre that I tend to enjoy, too.

SEAN: Also in print: EDENS ZERO 29, Initial D Omnibus 2, Nina the Starry Bride 5, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement 7, Shangri-La Frontier 12, A Sign of Affection Omnibus 2, and Super Morning Star 4 (the final volume).

ANNA: Always here to cheer on the print editions of Nina the Starry Bride and Sign of Affection!

ASH: I really need to get caught up with both of those.

SEAN: No digital debuts, but we do see The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses 13, Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me 10, Gamaran: Shura 21, My Home Hero 17, The Slime Diaries: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 7, and You’re My Cutie 8.

No debuts for J-Novel Club either, but we have new volumes. Back to the Battlefield: The Veteran Heroes Return to the Fray! 4, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 14, Chivalry of a Failed Knight 2, Earl and Fairy 6, Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer’s 3rd manga volume, Heavenly Swords of the Twin Stars 2, and An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! 7.

Hanashi Media has the 9th and final volume of Another World Survival: Min-maxing my Support and Summoning Magic.

Ghost Ship features a 2nd volume of Becoming a Princess Knight and Working at a Yuri Brothel.

Lastly, Airship, in print, has the 2nd volume of The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain.

And in early digital we see Raven of the Inner Palace 6 and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 7.

What manga is keeping you cool?

SEAN: Despite various difficulties, Manga the Week of lives on!

ASH: Forward!

SEAN: We start with Airship, which has one print volume, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 10.

While early digital gives us Loner Life in Another World 9 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 6.

A debut for Dark Horse Comics, Danganronpa 2: Chiaki Nanami’s Goodbye Despair Quest (Super Danganronpa 2 – Nanami Chiaki no Sayonara Zetsubou Daibouken) is a retelling of the events of the second game from Chiaki’s point of view. It ran in Comic Blade.

Not Ghost Ship but mature, Seven Seas has a 6th volume of Love is an Illusion!.

No debuts for J-Novel Club next week, but we do see D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared 6, Demon Lord, Retry! R 6, I Could Never Be a Succubus! 3, the 4th manga volume of I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again!, My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages’ Guild! 4, and RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’ 2.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga either, but we do see, in print, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 12, A Kingdom of Quartz 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 7, Ogami-san Can’t Keep It In 5, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! 4, Peach Boy Riverside 14, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 8 (the final volume), and Vinland Saga Deluxe 3.

MICHELLE: Well, I guess all of the procrastinating I did on Shonen Note means I now get to read the whole thing in one go.

ASH: Saaaaaame. Unrelated, those deluxe editions of Vinland Saga are gorgeous.

SEAN: And digitally we get The Beast Player 2, Gamaran 22 (the final volume, though see Gamaran: Shura), He’s Expecting 3 (the final volume), Issak 8, Mr. Bride 10 (the final volume), ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 8, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 9 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 25 (the fin… no, no, it’s not, this series will never, ever end), Sayabito: Swords of Destiny 3, Undead Girl Murder Farce 6, WIND BREAKER 15, and Ya Boy Kongming! 16.

One Peace Books has the 3rd manga volume of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I’m Not the Demon Lord.

Two debuts for Seven Seas: Chasing Spica (Spica o Tsukamaete) is from Comic Yuri Hime. A girl has been losing to her respectable rival all through high school. Now, in their final year… she gets some blackmail material. A love hotel? With another woman?

ASH: A bit different than Twin Spica, then.

SEAN: Royal Tailor: Clothier to the Crown (Royal Tailor: Oukyuu no Saihoushi) is a josei series from Comic Zero Sum. A young woman dreams of being a tailor, but unfortunately, she lives in a world that discriminates against humans. Will her fortunes turn around?

ANNA: Hooray for josei!

ASH: Indeed! I would totally read this.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Invincible Shovel 7 (the final volume), My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked 4, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 18, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 7, Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish 6 (the final volume), There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 5, Tokyo Revengers 21-22, and The Tree of Death: Yomotsuhegui 2.

Square Enix has The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses 10.

The debut for Tokyopop is Sweet for Sweets and Foreigners (Koisuru Okashi to Etranger), a josei title from Comic Qurie. A woman who’s good at sales but bad at life meets a handsome Frenchman.

ANNA: Even more josei!

SEAN: They also have Cover My Scars With Your Kiss 2 and Mitsuka 3.

The debut from Viz is Fool Night, a seinen title from Big Comic Superior. This can be summed up as “if you lived in a hellish dystopia, would you fight back, or would you let yourself be turned into a plant? Or both?” For those who want social commentary in manga, this is excellent.

MICHELLE: Sounds potentially interesting!

ANNA: I’m team plant.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: Viz also has Gokurakugai 2, Insomniacs After School 6, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 2, Mission: Yozakura Family 11, Rooster Fighter 6, Show-ha Shoten! 5, and the 23rd and final volume of YO-KAI WATCH.

MICHELLE: I should probably read Show-ha Shoten!.

ASH: Likewise.

SEAN: That leaves us with Yen. Yen On debuts Babel, a semi-sequel to Unnamed Memory, taking place centuries later. This new series is an isekai, though, as a Japanese girl is transported to the future fantasy land, and needs to find a way back home while teaching her own Japanese language to a handsome linguist.

ASH: A handsome linguist, you say.

SEAN: Demons’ Crest is a new series from the creator of Sword Art Online, as he jumps into a completely different genre. Twins enjoy playing a MMORPG, but it suddenly starts fusing with the real world, and also turning deadly! Yup. Totally different genre. (cough)

Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu) stars a young woman who wakes up trapped in a horrible death game. But that’s fine. That’s how she makes a living. I have been told this is better than it sounds.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 7, Black Summoner 2 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Date a Live 12, Days with My Stepsister 3, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 10, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 5, I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time 3, The Kept Man of the Princess Knight 2, Kunon the Sorcerer Can See 3, Liar, Liar 4, Miss Savage Fang 2, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 2, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 3 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 6, The Unimplemented Overlords Have Joined the Party! 2, The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess 7, and You Are My Regret 2.

And yes, that’s just light novels. Time for Yen Press. Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra (Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra – Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku) is a manga adaptation of the light novel Cross Infinite World is releasing. The manga runs in Comic Walker. It’s the male version of In the Land of Leadale.

Senpai, This Can’t Be Love! (Senpai, Danjite Koi de wa!) is a BL title from Comic Fleur. The talented veteran is tasked to teach the new guy at their company, and is having trouble with his cool facade. The trouble is… the new guy is having trouble keeping the facade up.

A Sinner of the Deep Sea (Abyss Azure no Zainin) runs in Harta. A mermaid has to deal with the fact that her best friend has fallen for a human. The first of two mermaid debuts next week.

ASH: I’m curious about this one.

SEAN: Sister and Giant: A Young Lady Is Reborn in Another World (Onee-sama to Kyojin) is a fantasy title from Aokishi. A girl is reincarnated in another world, and chooses to bond with a giant. Unfortunately, guess what? Evil church.

ASH: Every time.

SEAN: Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly is a manga adaptation of the short stories in this series. It runs in Dengeki Daioh.

This Monster Wants to Eat Me (Watashi o Tabetai, Hitodenashi) is a yuri series from Dengeki Maoh. A woman in a seaside town turns out to be delicious. A mermaid wants to eat her, but not till she’s older. So now she has to defend her from other supernatural beings who want a taste. I have heard good things about this, believe it or not.

ASH: I’m curious about this one, too.

SEAN: And there’s Visions 2023__Illustrators Book, the latest artbook.

Also from Yen Press: Adachi and Shimamura 5, Adults’ Picture Book: New Edition 2, Ako and Bambi 2, Assorted Entanglements 5, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 14, Black Butler 33, Black Summoner 2 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple 4, A Certain Magical Index 28, Cheerful Amnesia 3, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 6, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 9, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 10, The Detective Is Already Dead 5, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 21, Heterogenia Linguistico 5, Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion 4, I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time 3, I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World 4, I Want to Be a Wall 3 (the final volume), Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 23, Kowloon Generic Romance 7, My Dear, Curse-Casting Vampiress 4, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 23, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 3 (from their J-Novel Club imprint), So I’m a Spider, So What? 13, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 7, Unnamed Memory 5, The Witches’ Marriage 3 (the final volume), and Whoever Steals This Book 2.

ASH: Dang, that’s an impressive amount.

SEAN: What final volumes are you getting?

SEAN: It’s officially hurricane season, and there’s a hurricane of manga.

The debut from Viz Media is Naruto: Sasuke’s Story—The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust (Naruto: Sasuke Retsuden – Uchiha no Matsuei to Tenkyu no Hoshikuzu), a manga adaptation of the light novel. The manga ran in Shonen Jump +.

Also from Viz: Akane-banashi 6, Call of the Night 16, Love’s in Sight! 7, Mao 17, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 16, One Piece: Ace’s Story 2 (the manga version, and the final volume), Skip Beat! 3-in-1 16, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 24.

ASH: Oooh, some good stuff there!

ANNA: Nice! I can’t believe there are so many volumes of Sleepy Princess.

SEAN: SuBLime gives us Birds of Shangri-La 3 and Finder Deluxe Edition 13.

From Square Enix we see The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl 5, My Clueless First Friend 6, and My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 13.

Seven Seas time. Danmei fans will enjoy The Untamed: The Official Artbook, an artbook for the Netflix series that was based on Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

ASH: Very nice.

SEAN: Seven Seas proper has one debut. Marriage to Kitsune-sama (Okitsune-sama ni Totsugimashite) is a BL title from Comic Marginal, and complete in one volume. A young man is betrothed to a handsome fox spirit, and both of them are happy. Unfortunately, the fox spirit is under a curse that makes him want to eat his husband.

MICHELLE: Oops.

ASH: When you say “eat”…

ANNA: Hmm……

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom 6, Even Though We’re Adults 8, I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl 6, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 9, Night of the Living Cat 4, and Re: Monster 9.

ASH: I really need to get caught up with Even Though We’re Adults.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 7th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Kodansha Books has a 6th light novel of The Dawn of the Witch. This is the final volume.

Kodansha Manga has one debut, Ninja Vs. Gokudo (Ninja to Gokudou), a Comic Days series showing ninja fighting yakuza.

Also in print: The Fable Omnibus 3-4, How I Met My Soulmate 3, I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl 2, The Moon on a Rainy Night 5, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 7, Sketchy 2, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Omnibus 4-6.

ASH: Shonen Note is another great series I’m sadly behind on.

SEAN: Digitally we see Fungus and Iron 5, Gang King 18, Giant Killing 43, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! 5, How to Treat a Lady Knight Right 5, I Have a Crush at Work 4, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 12, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 13, and You Must Be This Tall to Propose! 3 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: One of these days, I really will get caught up on Giant Killing.

ASH: If it was ever released in print, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has some print. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection 1, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 9, the 7th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga volume, the 5th Slayers Collector’s Edition, and Tearmoon Empire 10.

One debut from J-Novel Club in digital, and it’s a manga. My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World (Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life) is the manga adaptation of the light novel JNC already released. It runs in Dengeki Playstation.

They also have After-School Dungeon Diver: Level Grinding in Another World 2, The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 3, the 5th Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers manga, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 9, the 9th Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon manga, the 2nd The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival manga, the 10th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 6.

Ghost Ship has a 10th volume of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

ASH: Still haven’t managed to get around to reading the first volume, although I’ve heard I should.

SEAN: And for “not Ghost Ship but mature”, we get the 7th and final PULSE and the 2nd Punch Drunk Love.

Dark Horse has the 8th volume of its Hellsing re-release.

Airship, in print, debuts True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends – One Star in the Night Sky (Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki). This is from the author of Making Jam in the Woods, I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem, and The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent. A young woman trying to avoid getting married meets a young man with the same goal. Can they solve the problem by pretending to be in a relationship?

ASH: That will definitely work.

ANNA: Best way to avoid relationships. Except for I assume running off to make jam in the woods.

SEAN: It also gives us Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 7 (the final volume).

And in early digital we see The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 8 and Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2.

And that’s the story of the hurricane. What manga are you getting?

SEAN: June manga, and the temperature is rising as I type this.

ASH: It’s been pretty warm here where I am already; I’m not looking forward to the additional heat.

SEAN: Airship, in print, debuts The Mimosa Confessions (Mimosa no Kokuhaku), an LGBT novel from the creator of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes. A young man gradually drifts away from his more popular guy friend. In high school, he meets a cute girl, and falls for her. However, when he walks home one night, he sees his old friend… in a girls’ uniform and crying?

ASH: Now that it’s in print, I may need to check this one out.

SEAN: Also in print: Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 18 and Yes, No, or Maybe? 3.

The early digital title is Riku Can’t Be a Goddess (Riku-kun wa, Megami ni Narenai). The story of a girl who serves as a dress form for her crush who wants to cross-dress and uses her to see how to be feminine. Then he kisses her and she flees. This apparently is part of an anthology about their high school class and identity in general.

ASH: Hmmm. I am intrigued.

ANNA: Is she a dress form or a fit model? I was picturing sentient headless mannequins for a second.

SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly gives us Second Hand Love, a second collection by the late Yamada Murasaki. They did the author’s Talk to My Back earlier, and this is apparently just as good. A story about adultery that focuses on the ones who are involved in it and the ones that it affects.

ASH: Definitely looking forward to this. Talk to My Back was excellent.

ANNA: This reminds me that I should dig up and read my copy of Talk to My Back.

SEAN: From Ghost Ship we get Parallel Paradise 18.

Three debuts from J-Novel Club. Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother (Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu) is a villainess title (the title likely told you that). An OL who loves the brother of the villainess in an otome game wakes up as that villainess. Now she has to not only stop her own villainous fate but also save her brother. I hear this leans into the brocon/siscon tropes but does not quite become incest.

There’s also the shoujo manga adaptation of the same title. It ran in Flos Comic.

The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1: Wrecking Reincarnators with My Hidden Dungeon (Level 1 kara Hajimaru Shoukan Musou: Ore dake Tsukaeru Ura Dungeon de, Subete no Tenseisha wo Bucchigiru) seems to combine a few popular trends. Grinding up from Level 1, protecting a sibling from an abusive parent, and of course being reincarnated in a game world.

ASH: Of course.

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 17, Black Summoner 17, Cooking with Wild Game 24, the 9th Cooking with Wild Game manga, Finding Avalon: The Quest of a Chaosbringer 3, and the 8th Rebuild World manga.

Debuting in print for Kodansha is The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku) is an ongoing romcom from Magazine Pocket. A boys’ school with thugs and layabouts is next door to a girls’ school for lovely young maidens. Naturally two of them fall in love.

ASH: I would read this.

ANNA: Me too!

MICHELLE: Its cover is cute, if nothing else.

SEAN: Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 10, A Condition Called Love 8, Quality Assurance in Another World 8, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 5, WIND BREAKER 6, and Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! 8.

In digital land, we see Chihayafuru 44, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 10 (the final volume), Life 15, SHAMAN KING: THE SUPER STAR 8, and Those Snow White Notes 18.

MICHELLE: Really, really, really gotta catch up on Iruma-kun and Chihayafuru!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 4th volume of It Takes Two Tomorrow, Too.

ASH: I enjoyed the first volume; I should read more.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a debut, and it’s a danmei novel. Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu features the 8th son of a traitorous prince, who (of course) has the entire nation hating him for his father’s deeds… especially the hot young prince who wants him dead.

ASH: Hooray, for danmei!

MICHELLE: Indeed!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Ideal Sponger Life 16, Kemono Jihen 11, Last Game 5, Lonely Castle in the Mirror 3, A Tale of the Secret Saint 6, and This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 12.

Square Enix gives us Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 11 and A Man and His Cat 11.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to both of these!

SEAN: Tokyopop has Acid Town 6 and Since I Could Die Tomorrow 3.

Viz’s debut is a shoujo title. Let’s Do It Already! (Hayaku Shitai Futari) is a Margaret title about two high school kids who have the same route to their schools. They’re falling in love, but… he’s from a prestigious family of politicians who don’t want any scandal… and she won’t stop flirting with him!

ANNA: Sounds cute.

MICHELLE: I always love Margaret titles, so…

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blade of the Moon Princess 4, Kaiju No. 8 10, The King’s Beast 13, My Hero Academia 38, Queen’s Quality 19, Rainbow Days 10, Sakamoto Days 12, and Snow White with the Red Hair 26.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Queen’s Quality.

MICHELLE: A lot of good stuff and then also Rainbow Days.

SEAN: And the only title from Yen Press is No Game No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union Arc (No Game No Life – Dai-Ni Shou – Toubu Rengou-hen), which adapts the second arc, as you might guess. It runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

There’s some great titles in this list. What attracts you?

SEAN: May comes to a close in a quiet, peaceful way… mostly.

We start with Yen Press, which has some stray manga that got delayed from this week. The debut is Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology, which should speak for itself.

ASH: I’ve not been keeping up with Bungo Stray Dogs like I should, but I do like these sorts of anthology projects.

SEAN: And we have Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree 3, Stray Cat & Wolf 3, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 19.

Viz Media has JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 6–Stone Ocean 4 and Pokémon: The Complete Pokémon Pocket Guide 2 (the final volume).

ASH: I have some catching up to do with JoJo, too.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has a 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.

The debut from Tokyopop is a one-shot BL title from the magazine & Emo. The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely (Ningyou Yuugi Roku) is about a knight who, on the verge of execution, is rescued by a sadistic genius who wants to use the knight to create the perfect puppet. For “dark yaoi” fans.

Tokyopop also has the 13th volume of Konohana Kitan.

Square Enix has a 5th volume of the Wandering Witch manga.

Seven Seas also has a one-shot BL title, this one from Rutile. Only the Stars Know (Hoshi Dake ga Shitteru) is about a man who’s lost his job and his girlfriend ends up in the local park, bonding with a stranger… who then kisses him?

ASH: As one does.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Breakfast with My Two-Tailed Cat 2, The Country Without Humans 5 (the final volume), Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 9, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 4, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 6 (the final volume), Otaku Elf 7, and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 11.

One Peace Books has the 7th volume of Usotoki Rhetoric.

ASH: Yay!

SEAN: The debut for Kodansha Manga in print is Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss! (Online Game Nakama to Sashi Off shitara Shokuba no Onijoushi ga Kita), a BL title that was originally digital-only back in 2021. It’s from Ichijinsha’s Gateau, about a guy who tries to destress after days dealing with his evil boss by talking with a gaming friend online. Then they meet up in real life and… yeah, you guessed it.

ASH: Drama!

SEAN: Also in print: The Blue Wolves of Mibu 2, The Great Cleric 9, Magus of the Library 7, ORIGIN 4, Tsugumi Project 5, Vampire Dormitory 11, Wandance 9, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? 21.

MICHELLE: How on Earth did Wandance get up to volume nine already?! I also gotta catch up with What Did You Eat Yesterday?.

ANNA: Those are both titles I feel like I would be reading if I was better at keeping up on things.

ASH: It feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a new volume of Magus of the Library, too.

SEAN: Digitally we get A Couple of Cuckoos 17, DAYS 41, Gamaran: Shura 20, My Home Hero 16, Teppu 7, and With You and the Rain 6.

J-Novel Club has a debut, as we see A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady (Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku). Our heroine does not get her engagement broken – her sister’s engagement is the one that is broken. And soon after, a disaster leaves her family penniless. Selling pastries in the slums, she meets a slime, who introduces her to the Slime Duke, and suddenly she’s married? This had better be better than it sounds.

ASH: Dare I ask what a Slime Duke is?

ANNA: I’m afraid to know.

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: The 4th manga volume of The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 10, the 2nd manga volume of A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires, Only I Know That This World Is a Game 4, and Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord 5.

Hanashi Media has The Dark Guild Master’s Smile Would Fit Best 2 and The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made!.

Four titles from Cross Infinite World, including one debut. By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise (Wake Atte, Hensou Shite Gakuen ni Sennyuu Shiteimasu) stars a servant who spends her school days pretending to be a noble’s daughter, as she’ll get enough money to live freely when she graduates. Then they go back on her word. Can she get revenge?

Also from Cross Infinite World: The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor 4, The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat After Getting Dumped for Her Sister! 2 (the final volume), and Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor 2.

In print, Airship has Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! 18 (along with the not-early digital) and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 6.

And digital-only (no print) is Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Recollections, a short story/artbook/interview collection for the famous (infamous?) series.

OK, kind of relaxing? What interests you?

SEAN: As May starts to dwindle… oh, wait, it’s Yen week. No dwindling allowed.

But first, Airship. In print, we see Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills 2 and Reincarnated as a Sword 14.

And early digital gives us Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 9.

Denpa Books has a 4th volume of Vampeerz, retailers say as I type this.

ASH: I want to trust them, I really do.

SEAN: Ghost Ship gives us a 9th volume of Ayakashi Triangle.

Two digital debuts from J-Novel Club, both manga. The Eternal Fool’s Words of Wisdom: A Pawsitively Fantastic Adventure (Yuukyuu no Gusha Asley no, Kenja no Susume) is based on an unlicensed light novel, and runs in Comic Earth Star Online. A failure at the Magic Academy (they all laughed at him) spends 5000 years preparing his revenge, only to realize that everyone who mocked him is long dead. Now what? How about helping people?

MICHELLE: With this title, I was expecting him to turn into a cat or something!

SEAN: His familiar is a dog, I believe.

ASH: That would explain some things.

SEAN: I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic (Botsuraku Yotei no Kizoku dakedo, Hima datta kara Mahou wo Kiwamete Mita) is based on a licensed light novel, also from J-NC, and runs in Comic Corona. A middle-aged commoner is now in the body of a nobleman, so he can finally learn magic! Sadly, see the “Brink of Ruin” in the title.

ASH: Might as well!

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: The Apothecary Diaries 11, Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- 3, Holmes of Kyoto 18, I Don’t Want to Be the Dragon Duke’s Maid! Serving My Ex-Fiancé from My Past Life 2 (the final volume), Record of Wortenia War 24, Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters! 5, the 11th manga volume of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, and Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster 6.

From Kodansha Books we see the 5th volume of My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1.

The print debut for Kodansha Manga is The Yearning Fox Lies in Wait (Machigitsune to Hito no Ko), a one-shot BL title from Gateau. A prodigy arrives at university, but quickly gets lost and suddenly finds himself without money. He’s saved by an eccentric with a secret.

MICHELLE: The title should’ve warned me that the premise on this one is a little icky.

ASH: And here I was hoping from the title that there were yokai involved… maybe that’s the secret.

SEAN: Also in print: BLOOD BLADE 2, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! 10, Magic Knight Rayearth 3, Nina the Starry Bride 4, Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 8, and Witch Hat Atelier 12.

ANNA: Witch Hat!!!!!!!!!!!!! Nina the Starry Bride print edition!!!!!!!!!! I’m reserving most (if not all) of my enthusiasm this week for these titles.

ASH: I’m very excited for Witch Hat Atelier, too.

SEAN: In digital we see Boss Wife 8, Gamaran 21, Getting Closer to You 7, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 20, I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! 4, and Love, That’s an Understatement 4.

One Peace Books has a 5th manga volume of The Death Mage.

Two debuts for Seven Seas. My Girlfriend’s Not Here Today (Kyou wa Kanojo ga Inai Kara) runs in Comic Yuri Hime. A girl who has to hide her relationship with her girlfriend gets into online conversations… that become blackmail.

ASH: Oops.

SEAN: Mysterious Disappearances (Kaii to Otome to Kamikakushi) has an anime coming out at the moment, and the manga runs in Yawaraka Spirits. A novelist and a demon boy go around Tokyo hunting down urban legends.

ASH: Oooh!

SEAN: We also see Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 6, Lazy Dungeon Master 8, My Lovey-Dovey Wife is a Stone Cold Killer 6, Skip and Loafer 9, and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 5.

Square Enix has the 2nd Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You.

Two debuts from Tokyopop, both (contain your surprise) one-shot BL titles. Heat x Beat: A Shut-In Omega Becomes an Idol! (Heat x Beat – Hikikomori Omega ga Idol ni!?) should not be confused with the other Heat x Beat omega as idol book from the same author, which came out in March. OK, not a one-shot. Sequel? It’s one volume, in any case.

MICHELLE: Tokyopop’s got a really specific niche these days, eh?

ANNA: We do live in a world where I don’t feel concerned about people finding extremely specific reading material.

SEAN: The Man Who Shattered My World (Ore no Sekai o Hakai Suru Otoko) is a from RED title about a top who suddenly finds that the bottom he picked up is really a top who loves destroying other tops and turning them into bottoms. Try to imagine this sentence being read aloud in 1951.

ASH: Lol.

SEAN: The Viz Media debut is Hirayasumi, a Big Comic Spirits title about an easygoing man who suddenly finds himself surrounded by troubled companions. It’s award nominated.

MICHELLE: Ooh, this looks interesting.

ANNA: OK, I’m curious!

ASH: Likewise.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Choujin X 6, Dark Gathering 7, Heart Gear 4, One-Punch Man 28, Tokyo These Days 2, Twin Star Exorcists 31, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 14.

Three debuts from Yen On. Brunhild the Dragonslayer (Ryū-goroshi no Brunhild) is a fantasy novel about a girl raised by a powerful dragon… who now has to decide whether to get revenge on humanity after that dragon is murdered.

ASH: I am admittedly intrigued.

SEAN: Guillotine Bride: I’m Just a Dragon Girl Who’ll Destroy the World (Dantōdai no Hanayome: Sekai o Horobosu Futsutsukana Tatsuki Desu ga) features a dragon princess about to be executed who ends up meeting a young man… and attempting to romance him hard, because she needs to be kept in check to avoid the death of all humanity.

ASH: Lots of dragons and havoc in store this coming week, it would seem.

SEAN: The God of Nishi-Yuigahama Station (Nishi Yuigahama-eki no Kami-sama) is a novel about a deadly train accident, and a ghost that can supposedly send loved ones back to the day it happened to make peace with those they’ve lost.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Astrea Record: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Tales of Heroes 2, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 11, A Certain Magical Index NT 2, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 21, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 10, Durarara!! Side Stories?!, The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend 6, Hell Mode: The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in Another World with Garbage Balancing 4 (print version of the JN-C title), The Irregular at Magic High School 22, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 4 (print version of the JN-C title), The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices 5, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 11, Spy Classroom 7, and Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf 8.

And now on to Yen Press debuts. Friday at the Atelier (Kinyoubi wa Atelier de) is a Harta title about an artist who falls in love with his nude model. Unfortunately, she’s depressed and he’s a tsundere.

ASH: Well, that complicates things.

SEAN: Goblin Slayer: A Day in the Life is a manga that collects the episodic short stories in the 12th light novel that the main manga skipped. It runs in Big Gangan.

The Kept Man of the Princess Knight (Hime Kishi-sama no Himo) is the manga adaptation of the light novel Yen is also releasing. It runs in Comic Walker.

She Likes Gays, but Not Me (Kanojo ga Suki na Mono wa Homo deatte Boku de wa nai) is a title from Comic Bridge about a closeted gay man who wants a “normal” life and family but isn’t attracted to women, and the BL fangirl he meets one day. This is based on a novel, and there’s also a live-action series.

ASH: I thought it sounded vaguely familiar.

SEAN: Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad asks the important question “what if we just redid the first manga adaptation?”.

Also from Yen Press (deep breath): After We Gazed at the Starry Sky 2, Angels of Death Episode.0 7 (the final volume), Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World 5, Bocchi the Rock! 3, Cheeky Brat 10, CLAMP Premium Collection Tokyo Babylon 3, Cocoon Entwined 6 (the final volume), The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend 6, Glitch 3, God Bless the Mistaken 2, Handyman Saitou in Another World 4, Higurashi When They Cry: MEGURI 2, The Holy Grail of Eris 7, Honey Trap Shared House 3, I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 9, Maiden of the Needle 3, Mint Chocolate 11, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected @ comic 21, [Oshi No Ko] 6, A Reincarnated Witch Spells Doom 4, She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat 4, Trinity Seven 29, Witch Life in a Micro Room 2, and Yowamushi Pedal 25.

ASH: That is quite the list.

SEAN: As I pause to beg Yen Press to stop releasing light novels *and* manga of the same title with the same volume number on the same week, what are you buying?

SEAN: Mid-May, and the summer is on the horizon but not yet here.

Yen Press has a 3rd volume of Kaoru Mori’s Scribbles sketchbook.

ASH: These have been delightful.

SEAN: Viz has a debut this week that I, um, missed. Sorry. You and I Are Polar Opposites (Seihantai na Kimi to Boku) is a Shonen Jump + series about an energetic girl and quiet boy who are drawn to each other. It’s been award-nominated.

ANNA: Sounds cute!

ASH: I’d read it.

SEAN: In Viz titles actually out next week, there is Dragon Ball Super 21, Fly Me to the Moon 23, Helck 9, I Want to End This Love Game 2, Pokémon Adventures: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire 2, and Sakura, Saku 3.

From SuBLime we get Therapy Game Restart 4 and The World’s Greatest First Love 17.

MICHELLE: I’m always here for more Therapy Game!

SEAN: Steamship has the 6th and final volume of Ladies on Top.

ASH: Which reminds me that I have but still need to read the first volume.

SEAN: Square Enix Manga has Mr. Villain’s Day Off 4, Ragna Crimson 12, and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 18.

Seven Seas debuts a BL anthology, BL First Crush Anthology: Five Seconds Before We Fall in Love (Bokura ga Koisuru 5 Byou Mae ~Ubu Koi BL Anthology~), which features several artists who have other Seven Seas titles out, and is, well, about BL first crushes, in all their myriad forms.

ASH: Oooh! I have a soft spot for anthologies, BL and otherwise.

SEAN: Seven Seas also gives us Black Night Parade 3, A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch 2, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 8, The Duke of Death and His Maid 8, Reborn as a Barrier Master 6, and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 5.

One Peace has a 6th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Kodansha has two print debuts. Kei X Yaku: Bound By Law (Kei x Yaku: Abunai Aibou) is a BL title, but it runs in Palcy, so it’s more shoujo BL than the norm. A cop and a yakuza are trying to solve the same cold case, and must pretend to be lovers to continue.

MICHELLE: Hm. Maybe.

ASH: I could be convinced.

SEAN: The other debut is an omnibus of the first three volumes of A Sign of Affection. If you don’t have this yet, go get it.

ANNA: I’ve been buying in digital but might be tempted to double dip for omnibus editions!

ASH: I really need to catch up on this series; omnibus editions will certainly make that easier.

SEAN: Also in print: A Galaxy Next Door 6 (the final volume), Gazing at the Star Next Door 2, My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku 3, A Sign of Affection 8, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 24, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts 15 (the final volume), and Virgin Love 3.

Debuting digitally is The Beast Player (Kemono no Souja), a Shonen Sirius title from the creator of Seirei no Moribito, and based on her novel. A girl who adores her mother is cast adrift when her mother is blamed for a mysterious illness affecting their clan’s giant serpent mounts. This is from 2008, so is, of course, ancient, but it still looks really cool.

ANNA: Glad some ancient manga is being released!

ASH: I loved the novels, so am looking forward to the adaptation.

SEAN: Also digital: Because I, the True Saint, was Banished, that Country is Done For! 3, Gang King 17, Nina the Starry Bride 12, TenPuru -No One Can Live on Loneliness- 10, We’re New at This 16, and You Must Be This Tall to Propose! 2.

ANNA: Always happy for some Nina the Starry Bride!

SEAN: In print, J-Novel Club gives us Ascendance of a Bookworm 24, The Faraway Paladin Omnibus 5, and Tearmoon Empire’s 4th manga.

ASH: That’s a good J-Novel week for me.

SEAN: Still no new titles from J-Novel Club (they tend to release Vol. 1s in clumps.) But we get Ascendance of a Bookworm 31, Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Trusted Companions Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to the Gift of an Unlimited Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge on My Former Party Members and the World 7, Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- manga volume 2, By the Grace of the Gods 14, Duchess in the Attic 2, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone 3, The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects 3, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 44, Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World 7, My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer manga volume 4, and Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 12.

Hanashi Media has a 2nd volume of My Pet is a Saintess.

Ghost Ship has a 10th volume of 2.5 Dimensional Seduction.

Cross Infinite World confounds us all by releasing a title before the final day of the month, with the 2nd volume of I Guess This Dragon Who Lost Her Egg to Disaster Is My Mom Now. (They say it’s because it’s Mother’s Day. That’s sweet.)

In print, Airship has Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City 2 and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 5.

And in early digital, there is The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain 2 and Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 10.

Some good stuff coming out! What’s for you?

SEAN: May day, may day!

ASH: Danger, danger!

SEAN: We start with Airship. In print, they have a 4th volume of There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless…

The digital debut is a one-shot light novel, True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends – One Star in the Night Sky (Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki). This is from the author of Making Jam in the Woods, I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem, and The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent. A young woman trying to avoid getting married meets a young man with the same goal. Can they solve the problem by pretending to be in a relationship?

ANNA: Can they pretend to be married AND make jam in the woods?

ASH: I don’t see why not!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 7th volume of its Hellsing re-release.

Ghost Ship has a 12th volume of Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time.

From J-Novel Club, we see 8th Loop for the Win! With Seven Lives’ Worth of XP and the Third Princess’s Appraisal Skill, My Behemoth and I Are Unstoppable! 3 (the manga version), Ascendance of a Bookworm Arc 2 Vol. 9 (the manga version), Enough with This Slow Life! I Was Reincarnated as a High Elf and Now I’m Bored 6, Fiancée No More: The Forsaken Lady, the Prince, and Their Make-Believe Love 2, The Invincible Little Lady 6, The Invincible Little Lady 3 (the manga version), Let This Grieving Soul Retire 4, Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole 7, Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden 2, Rebuild World 4, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 24, Seventh 7, and You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story 3.

ASH: That sure is a lot of words.

SEAN: One debut in print for Kodansha Manga. I See Your Face, Turned Away (Kimi no Yokogao wo Miteita) is a Betsufure series from the creator of My Sweet Girl. A high school girl enjoys shipping her friend with the hot guy in class. It’s only happening in her head… but what happens when reality starts intruding?

ANNA: Whoops!

MICHELLE: Hate when that happens.

ASH: Right?

SEAN: Also in print: A-DO 2, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 2, The Darwin Incident 5, Drifting Dragons 16, Fire Force Omnibus 10, I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness 5, Medalist 2, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 12, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 8.

ASH: I need to catch up with Drifting Dragons.

SEAN: Digitally we see Blue Lock 25, Gazing at the Star Next Door 2, How to Grill Our Love 8, Life 14, My Wife is a Little Intimidating 8, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 9, Shangri-La Frontier 16, Those Snow White Notes 17, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 13.

One Peace Books has the 4th volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Seven Seas debuts Monster Cats, the latest full-color manga from the creator of Yokai Cats and The Evil Secret Society of Cats. It’s complete in one volume, and came from Manga Life Win. Surprisingly, it’s about dogs. (It’s not, it’s about cats. I kid.)

ASH: You almost had me there.

SEAN: Also debuting is True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends, the manga version of the light novel I mentioned above. It runs in Comic Ride.

From their danmei line they have Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang 3.

Also from Seven Seas: 365 Days to the Wedding 3, CANDY AND CIGARETTES 8, Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 7, Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers 8, I’m in Love with the Villainess 6, My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s 5, What He Who Doesn’t Believe in Fate Says 4, and The White Mage Doesn’t Want to Raise the Hero’s Level 2.

Square Enix debuts Mobsters in Love (Koisuru Gokudou Onii-san), a BL series from Gangan BLiss. A subordinate is hopelessly in love with his boss… who keeps seducing him by accident!

ASH: Whoops!

SEAN: They also have The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 8.

Steamship has the 3rd volume of I Can’t Refuse S.

Two debuts from Tokyopop. A Beast’s Love Is Like the Moon (Tsuki wa Michikake Kemono no Koi) is from a magazine called Cab. (insert joke here) A city boy goes to the woods to be a caretaker for his family home, and ends up bonding with a hot yokai dude.

ANNA: As one does.

ASH: It is to be expected.

SEAN: This Reincarnated Cross-Dressing Princess Won’t Be Looking for a Fiancé (Tensei Danzou Oujo wa Kekkon Aite o Sagasanai) is a new josei series from the creator of I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess!. It runs in FK Comics, and is based on an unlicensed light novel. A princess is disguised as a boy to get a fiancé at the academy, till she realizes that this academy is based on a BL game, and everyone is gay! Then she meets the new transfer student. Smut ensues.

ANNA: Ok, I’m curious.

ASH: Likewise, though I would probably be even moreso were “reincarnated” not in the title. But, hooray, for josei!

SEAN: Also from Tokyopop: If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die 6.

Udon Entertainment has Team Phoenix 4.

The debut from Viz is Star Wars: Visions: The Manga Anthology, with adaptations from the creator of Witch Hat Atelier, Little Witch Academia, and others.

ANNA: Ooh!

ASH: That could be fun.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Black Clover 35, Blue Box 10, Chainsaw Man 15, The Elusive Samurai 11, In the Name of the Mermaid Princess 2, Like a Butterfly 6, My Special One 6, Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Manga 2, Wolf Girl and Black Prince 7, and Yona of the Dawn 41.

ANNA: Yes more Yona!!!!!

MICHELLE: *Kermit flailing*

ASH: Huzzah!

SEAN: Lastly, two stragglers from Yen. Yen On has Magical Explorer: Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim 7.

And Yen Press has Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 7.

Maaaaaaaaay!

SEAN: End of April, start of May, it’s all the same to me.

Just one straggler from Yen On: Once Upon a Witch’s Death: The Tale of the One Thousand Tears of Joy (Aru Majo ga Shinu Made: Owari no Kotoba to Hajimari no Namida), a one-shot light novel. A witch apprentice learns she is cursed to die in one year unless she collects one thousand tears of joy.

ASH: I really do appreciate one-shots, these days. Also, i get a kick out of the fact that the basic premise is essentially the opposite of Blade of the Immortal.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts a new series, Watch Dogs Tokyo. This Kurage Bunch series is based on a game, it takes place in future Tokyo, where a management system has helped everyone’s lives immensely, and is absolutely not secretly evil at all. Time for a team of expert hackers…

Tokyopop also has a 3rd volume of We Can’t Do Just Plain Love.

Steamship has the 5th volume of Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts.

Seven Seas has one debut, My Sister Took My Fiancé and Now I’m Being Courted by a Beastly Prince (Imouto ni Konyakusha wo Toraretara, Juuna Ouji ni Kyuukon saremashita ~Matatabi to Shite Dekiai saretemasu~). It’s based on an unlicensed light novel, and stars a woman whose every suitor has been stolen away by her younger sister. But now she’s being courted by a prince… with the heart of a lion. And possibly other lion aspects as well. It runs in Zero-Sum Online.

ANNA: What is up with this lady’s sister???

ASH: A valid question.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Classroom of the Elite 10, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 11, Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City 2, The Great Snake’s Bride 3, Happy Kanako’s Killer Life 7, Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 11, My Androgynous Boyfriend 4, and ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! 5.

MICHELLE: I did enjoy volume one of My Androgynous Boyfriend. I should probably check back in with it.

ASH: Same!

SEAN: Kodansha Manga has one debut, Fed Up With Being the Spoiled Queen’s Genius Butler, I Ran Away and Built the World’s Strongest Army (Wagamama Oujo ni Tsukaeta Bannoushitsuji, Tonari no Teikoku de Saikyou no Gunjin ni Nariagari Musousuru). Based on an unlicensed light novel, this runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius. A butler grows weary of his lady’s demands, and runs away to the next country, where he can use his butler skills to advance in the military. That said, judging by the cover, I suspect the spoiled queen is not letting him go that easily.

ANNA: I wouldn’t know, but I hear it is hard to find good help. Also, I would like a butler.

SEAN: Also in print: Blue Lock 12, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 16, EDENS ZERO 28, Gachiakuta 2, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 9, Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen 4, Shangri-La Frontier 11, She’s My Knight 2, and Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 7.

ANNA: Gotta pick up Blue Lock for my kids.

ASH: And I need to catch up on Shonen Note!

SEAN: While digitally we see A Condition Called Love 14, Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 10, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 11, Issak 7, My Master Has No Tail 11, Sakura’s Dedication 5 (the final volume), and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 8.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but a pile of light novels. We see DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 7, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 17, I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage 6, Knight’s & Magic 3, Magic Stone Gourmet: Eating Magical Power Made Me The Strongest 5, Marriage, Divorce, and Beyond: The White Mage and Black Knight’s Romance Reignited 2, The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! 2, Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up 5, Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back to My World Whenever I Want! 7, Perry Rhodan NEO 18, and Stuck in a Time Loop: When All Else Fails, Be a Villainess 3 (the final volume).

ASH: That was quite the stack.

SEAN: Two light novel volumes from Hanashi Media: The Dark Guild Master’s Smile Would Fit Best 2 and The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made! 9.

Ghost Ship has a 4th and final volume of Wicked Trapper: Hunter of Heroes.

Listed as coming out next week from Denpa Books is Fish Society (Sakana Shakai), an interconnected short story collection from the creator of Invitation fro0m a Crab. In fact, it’s a semi-sequel, asking the question “what if we let fish take over the selling of fish at the fish market?”. It ran in Rakuen Le Paradis.

ANNA: Glad to see more stuff coming out from Denpa!

ASH: Really looking forward to this one.

SEAN: Dark Horse Comics has the 2nd Innocent omnibus, with Volumes 4 through 6.

ASH: A good reminder that I should finish reading the first.

SEAN: No debuts for Cross Infinite World, but they have four ongoing books: Fluffy Paradise 4, I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death! 3, Making Jam in the Woods: My Relaxing Life Starts in Another World 3, and Rising from Ashes: My Dear Emperor, You’re Putty in My Hands! 2.

In print, Airship has 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 5 and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 18.

And in early digital there is the 7th and final volume of Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss!.

A fairly quiet week. Taking a break? Or buying more?