manga the week of

SEAN: It’s a rare 5th week of the month! Like most 5th weeks, it’s light.

ASH: Even light weeks have plenty being released these days!

SEAN: Yen On has a bizarre release. We’re getting both the 2nd AND the 3rd volumes of The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time.

ASH: Huh. Release schedule are still all over the place, aren’t they?

SEAN: And Yen Press gives us Lost Lad London 2, Love of Kill 9, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 2, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 4, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 8 and Trinity Seven 26.

MICHELLE: I really, really liked the first volume of Lost Lad London and am excited for the arrival of the second! And wow, already up to volume two on the Bean Counter, huh?

ASH: It does seem like the first volume just came out.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts SPRIGGAN: Deluxe Edition. Viz put out 3 volumes of this in the 1990s then cancelled it, now Seven Seas is trying again with 650-age omnibuses. The writer gave us Until Death Do Us Part, the artist Project Arms. It’s from Weekly Shonen Sunday, and is loaded with ancient artifacts and secret agents.

ANNA: I do find it interesting when we get license rescues like this, even though I’m sure the series I’m most interested in will never be printed again.

ASH: Same.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas is PULSE, a yuri manwha webtoon that’s getting a print release here. A doctor who keeps her sexual relationships strictly for pleasure tuns into trouble when she meets a transplant patient who refuses to get the operation.

ASH: I’m not sure I’ve actually read a yuri manwha before! It’s exciting to have the opportunity.

SEAN: Also coming out: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 4, D-Frag! 16, The Girl in the Arcade 2, Necromance 4, Seaside Stranger 4, and Tokyo Revengers Omnibus 2.

Kodansha, in print, gives us Blackguard 4, Blue Lock 2, Cells at Work! CODE BLACK 8, Lovesick Ellie 5, and Something’s Wrong With Us 10.

MICHELLE: In addition to obligatory praise for Lovesick Ellie, I’m also hyped for more of Blue Lock, which turned out to be not at all what I had expected.

ASH: Guess I’ll need to check out both of those series!

SEAN: Digitally, we have Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 5, Guilty 10, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! 2, I Was Reincarnated with OP Invincibility, so I’ll Beat ’em Up My Way as an Action-Adventurer 3 (the final volume), My Roomie Is a Dino 7 (also a final volume), My Tentative Name 2, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 8, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 4, and Peach Boy Riverside 11.

J-Novel Club debuts a digital light novel whose manga came out a couple of weeks ago: Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! (Meccha Shoukan Sareta Ken), about a hero who can’t seem to stop getting summoned to save the day.

There’s also Black Summoner’s 7th manga volume, Infinite Dendrogram 18, Magic Knight of the Old Ways 3, Marginal Operation 14 (digital version), Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie! 2, and the 5th and final manga volume of Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons.

Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with My Beloved Hound.

Lastly, Airship has early digital releases for Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 2 and Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash 2.

That’s it. Man, this feels more like a list from 2013 or something. Are you buying anything?

ANNA: Maybe not!

SEAN: As August nears its end, we continue to see manga making its way towards us, zombie-like.

No print for Airship this week, but we do get new early digital releases for Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 5 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 11.5.

J-Novel Club has several digital debuts. Full Metal Panic! Short Stories is exactly what it sounds like, and is much more lighthearted than the main series.

Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon (Maou ni Natta node, Dungeon Tsukutte Jingai Musume to Honobono Suru) has a dude wake up as a demon lord in a dungeon. He thinks he’s going to have to strengthen his environment and protect everyone. But… no? He just lives a slow life with his cute monster girls. You know the audience for this one.

Rebuild World is a post-apocalyptic fantasy about a cruel, merciless world and the poor orphan boy trying to survive in it. This has a bit of buzz, but looks dark. Doesn’t help that the first book is split into two parts – This is Volume 1-1.

ASH: I mean, I tend to be interested in post-apocalyptic fantasy, don’t mind dark, and there is the buzz… but I’m not sure I need cruel and merciless at this very moment.

ANNA: I have a similar reaction.

SEAN: And we get the manga version of Tearmoon Empire (Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari: Dantōdai kara Hajimaru, Hime no Tensei Gyakuten Story). You don’t need me to tell you how good the books are, now read the manga. This runs in Comic Corona.

ASH: Oh! I didn’t realize (or had forgotten) there was a manga version.

SEAN: Also coming out: Jessica Bannister and the Evil Within and Monster Tamer 10.

Kaiten Books has a digital release for The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 5.

In print, Kodansha gives us Blue Period 8, Island in a Puddle 3, Phantom of the Idol 2, and Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 10.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Phantom of the Idol was fun, so I look forward to volume two.

ASH: I should give the series a closer look!

SEAN: And we get new digital volumes for ongoing series. Burn the House Down 3, Getting Closer to You 3, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 13, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 9, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 4, The Witch and the Beast 9, and Ya Boy Kongming! 8.

MICHELLE: Something about those Burn the House Down covers is really compelling.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a light novel debut: The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata – Senjou o Kakeru Kaifuku Youin). An average ordinary high school student (sigh) is pulled into a fantasy world along with two other, much cooler students. Unfortunately for our blank hero, he has a rare ability, healing magic! Now he has to undergo hellish training to learn how to use it.

ASH: I do like the healing magic aspect of the premise.

SEAN: Three debuts for Seven Seas. MoMo -the blood taker- features a detective trying to track down a serial killer, but my guess is by the cover art and title that vampires are the main draw here. This ran in Weekly Young Jump.

ASH: This seems like it could have potential.

SEAN: My [Repair] Skill Became a Versatile Cheat, So I Think I’ll Open a Weapon Shop ([Shuufuku] Sukiru ga Bannou Chiito-ka Shitanode, Buki-ya demo Hirakou ka to Omoimasu) is basically “what if the Arifureta guy decided to sell weapons rather than be the Arifureta guy?”. It runs in Manga Park.

Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger (Ramen Ookami to Curry Tora) is a foodie manga from Comic Be, about, well, a Wolf and a Tiger. But they’re food critics!

MICHELLE: Huh.

ASH: It’s food related, so I’m obligated to give this one a try.

ANNA: I’m curious!

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4 and The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 3.

Square Enix Manga gives us Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 5, Otherside Picnic 2, and Ragna Crimson 6.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up on Cherry Magic. I enjoyed the first volume.

ASH: I did, too!

SEAN: Viz Media has the 18th and final volume of Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition. We also get JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5–Golden Wind 5 and Urusei Yatsura 15. And, though I usually don’t touch on the digital-only volumes, there’s WITCH WATCH 3 as well.

ASH: It’s a good Viz week.

SEAN: Yen On debuts Secrets of the Silent Witch (Silent Witch), a story of a powerful mage who learned voiceless magic… because she’s painfully shy and wants to avoid speaking! I’ve heard good things about this series.

ASH: You’ve caught my interest.

Also from Yen On: Durarara!! SH 4, Goblin Slayer 14, High School DxD 8, and Rascal Does Not Dream 8.

Yen Press has several debuts. Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple is a spinoff that runs in Young Ace Up.

Delicious in Dungeon World Guide: The Adventurer’s Bible is what it sounds like, a guide to the world of Delicious in Dungeon!

ASH: I’d somehow missed this was coming out.

SEAN: The Geek Ex-Hitman (Sono Otaku, Moto Koroshi-ya) runs in Shonen Ace Plus. A hitman ends up going down the terrible path of anime figurines.

ASH: Ha! Oh dear.

SEAN: See You Tomorrow at the Food Court (Food Court de, Mata Ashita) is a complete in one volume title from Comic Newtype. An honor student and a tanned “gal” type seemingly have nothing in common… but they’re always eating together! This is not yuri but is yuri-adjacent.

ASH: Yuri-ish and food-ish? I’m curious.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Cheeky Brat 4, Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 2, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 12, Delicious in Dungeon 11, The Holy Grail of Eris 2, Please Put Them On, Takamine-san 4, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 17, Sasaki and Miyano 6, and So I’m a Spider, So What? 11.

ASH: Huzzah! Double Delicious this week!

SEAN: Must… read… new manga… rrrr.

SEAN: We’re having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave… the temperature’s rising, it isn’t surprising, she certainly can Can-Can.

Yen On has three debuts, though one has already come out here from another publisher… sort of. The Bride of Demise (Shuuen no Hanayome) is a new series from the creator of Torture Princess, and seems to have much the same vibe. A soldier is about to die when a girl in white appears, swearing to protect him.

Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (Hige o Soru. Soshite Joshikousei o Hirou) is a series where we’ve already seen the manga… and an anime… and the light novel. The light novel was released by Kadokawa but only in parts, and the quality was meh. Yen promises their version has new, exciting things such as editing. As for the plot, read the title.

ASH: It’s interesting to see the variety of ways titles are licensed, different editions from different publishers being released in close succession would have been unheard of not too long ago.

SEAN: Sasaki and Peeps (Sasaki to Pii-chan) is a series about a man who adopts a pet sparrow, only to find it’s a sparrow from another world… and it grants him magic! Comedic fantasy is the watchword here.

ASH: Sparrows were certainly not the next genre variation I was expecting to see.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 6, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 2, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 8, The Holy Grail of Eris 2, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 3, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 2, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 7.

Yen Press debuts Chained Soldier (Mato Seihei no Slave), a manga from Shonen Jump + from the author of Akame Ga Kill!. As you can see, the title – and the cover art, which had SLAVE in big English lettering on the Japanese cover – has been changed, and thank God for that. Years ago, girls gained magical powers from eating demonic peaches from another dimension. Now a “typical Japanese high school boy” is caught in a gate and finds himself saved by one of those girls.

MICHELLE: I truly wish there was a band called Demonic Peaches from Another Dimension.

ASH: That would be such a great band name.

SEAN: We also get New York, New York Omnibus 2 (the final volume), Teasing Master Takagi-san 15, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 5, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 15.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to New York, New York!

ANNA: I still need to read it!

ASH: Same! But I’m still looking forward to the second volume.

SEAN: Viz Media debuts Rooster Fighter (Niwatori Fighter), a seinen title from Shogakukan’s Comiplex about a rooster who manages to defend humanity against giant kaiju. It’s a comedy.

ASH: It’s such a ridiculous premise, I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: There’s also Black Lagoon 12, Case Closed 83, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction 11, Jujutsu Kaisen 17, Levius/est 10 (the final volume), Ultraman 17, The Way of the Househusband 8, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 7.

MICHELLE: I need to get caught up on The Way of the Househusband.

ANNA: This is a favorite of multiple people in my house.

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying it.

SEAN: Tokyopop gives us The Fox & Little Tanuki 5.

Square Enix has a 6th My Dress-Up Darling.

A quiet week for Seven Seas. They have A Centaur’s Life 21, Classroom of the Elite 3, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi 3, and Happy Kanako’s Killer Life 5.

MICHELLE: Obligatory hooray for danmei.

ANNA: Woo!

ASH: Hooray, indeed! Grandmaster has been my favorite so far, too.

SEAN: Ponent Mon are doing a new edition of the Jiro Tanaguchi classic A Distant Neighborhood.

ASH: A Distant Neighborhood is one of my favorite Tanaguchi manga; glad to see it staying in print.

SEAN: One Peace Books has Hinamatsuri 16.

Kodansha has some print books. BAKEMONOGATARI 15, Blood on the Tracks 10, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 11, Fire Force 28, Saint Young Men Omnibus 10, and Welcome Back, Alice 3.

MICHELLE: Welcome Back, Alice looks intriguing. How is it on three volumes already?!

ASH: I’m still here for Saint Young Men.

SEAN: They also have a new 700-page omnibus of Princess Knight. Which is nowhere on their website, annoyingly.

ASH: That’s a big omnibus and a touchstone series. Glad to see it coming back in print, too!

SEAN: The digital debut is She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons (Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu), an LGBT title that ran in Morning Two. It’s girl loves girl, girl loves boy, boy loves girl triangle romance. This has the Erica Friedman seal of approval.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

ANNA: Good to know!

SEAN: And we also get A Condition Called Love 10, Drifting Dragons 11, Golden Gold 3, GTO Paradise Lost 18, Hella Chill Monsters 2, Nina the Starry Bride 7, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 5, Rent-A-Girlfriend 14, A Serenade for Pretend Lovers 3, This Vampire Won’t Give Up! 3, and With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 7.

ANNA: I recently started reading Nina the Starry Bride and enjoy it.

SEAN: Kaiten Books has a print version of The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting 3.

It’s J-Novel Club print week. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm: Fanbook 2, The Faraway Paladin 5, Her Majesty’s Swarm 4, In Another World With My Smartphone 23, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 5, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 7.

ASH: I’m already behind, but I’m still glad that The Faraway Paladin is being released in print so that I might actually read it.

SEAN: Two digital debuts for J-Novel Club. Did I Seriously Just Get Reincarnated as My Gag Character?! (Neta Chara Tensei Toka Anmarida!) has a guy hit by a bus and reincarnated in the game he loves. But not as his regular player character… as the dragon princess he made as a joke.

Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World (Isekai Tensei no Boukensha) is a reincarnation isekai that honestly has absolutely nothing I can see that makes it unique.

We also get The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 14, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 18, and the third and final volume of Walking My Second Path in Life, only four and a half years after Volume 2!

Dark Horse has… dare we get our hopes up… the 5th omnibus of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, which has the previously unpublished Book 15! And there’s also Mob Psycho 100 9.

ASH: Oh! The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service is a great series! That’s been a long time coming.

SEAN: And Airship has early digital for She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 5 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 7.

What popular songs are you quoting while it’s Too Darn Hot?

SEAN: There’s stuff! Coming out next week! Surprise! (You are not surprised.)

Airship has the print debut of Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut.

ASH: Okay, I will admit to being curious about this one, more because of the cosmonauts than the vampires, but that’s an unexpected and potentially intriguing combination.

MJ: Cosmonauts… yes.

SEAN: In early digital we see The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 2 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 3.

Cross Infinite World has a debut: The Princess’ Smile: The Body-Double Bride Searches for Happiness with the Reclusive Prince (Hidenka no Bishou – Migawari Hanayome wa, Hikikomori Denka to Shiawase ni Kurashitai). A maid is asked to marry a prince… as a body double for her friend the princess. But then her boyfriend cheats on her WITH the princess! Now she’s determined to make the best of her new life. I believe this is a one-shot.

ASH: I find this to be potentially intriguing, as well.

SEAN: Dark Horse has Berserk Deluxe Edition 11 (it got bumped – again) and Cat + Gamer 2. Dark Horse’s release dates are a constant struggle.

ASH: I’ll be here for them whenever they finally come out.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 2, Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? 3, and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 7.

J-Novel Club has a debut. They licensed the light novel and the manga, but the manga is out first next week. Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! (Meccha Shoukan Sareta Ken) is about a hero who can’t stop getting summoned to different worlds to save them! He’s tired of it! This runs in Mag Garden’s MAGCOMI.

ASH: I like that title.

SEAN: Also out digitally: Ascendance of a Bookworm 20, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 4, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 4, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 4, the 8th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga, and Slayers 15, which wraps up the 2nd arc.

ASH: I will continue to say, “Yay, Bookworm!”

SEAN: Kodansha Manga has, in print, Blackguard 3, the 11th and final volume of Knight of the Ice, Sensei’s Pious Lie Omnibus 3, Shaman King Omnibus 10, and Toppu GP 9.

MICHELLE: I need to have a Knight of the Ice marathon!

ANNA: It is so good!

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but have been enjoying the series.

SEAN: There are… no digital debuts next week! (Glory hallelujah, they’re slowing down). We do get The Fable 5, Giant Killing 32, My Maid, Miss Kishi 2, Police in a Pod 15, The Shadows of Who We Once Were 3, Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 3 (the final volume), and WIND BREAKER 5.

Seven Seas has a lot of debuts. The biggest one is Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou (which is using the Japanese title, but “Yokohama Shopping Log” would be a translation). A legendary title from Kodansha’s Afternoon in the 1990s, it’s finally been licensed by Seven Seas, and is coming out in 5 oversized omnibus editions! I’ve usually described the series as “the most relaxed apocalypse you’ll ever read.”

ASH: I’m caught up in the excitement surrounding this release; really looking forward to reading it.

SEAN: Kemono Jihen is a Jump Square title about a human detective and a yokai boy who investigate odd mysteries. The author was an assistant on Reborn! and Bleach, and she comes highly rated. This also got an anime.

MICHELLE: Oh, I think my friend was a fan of that anime. Hm.

ASH: Yokai, you say? (That’s my cue.)

SEAN: Sakurai-san Wants to Be Noticed (Sakurai-san wa Kidzuite Hoshii) is another in the “girl teases the guy she likes” genre, from Dengeki Daioh. This one is only 4 volumes total.

ASH: There seem to be quite a few of those, these days.

SEAN: The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes: Ultramarine (Natsu e no Tonneru, Sayonara no Deguchi Gunjou) is the manga version of the light novel also released by Seven Seas. A tunnel grants wishes… in exchange for a shorter life span. This ran in Dengeki Daioh, and should also be 4 volumes.

World End Solte is from the creator of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer and Spirit Circle, so attention must be paid. An orphan goes on a journey to wipe out the pollution that plagues their world. This runs in MAGCOMI.

ASH: Attention must indeed be paid!

Also from Seven Seas: The Duke of Death and His Maid 2, The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 2, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 12, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 7, and The Weakest Contestant of All Space and Time 2.

Steamship debuts GAME: Between the Suits (Game – Suit no Sukima), a josei title from Hakusensha’s Love Jossie. The artist might be remembered for CMX’s Venus Capriccio. A career woman has a healthy sex life, but is married to her job, so can’t keep a boyfriend. Then the new guy shows up at work…

ANNA: I do remember Venus Capriccio…

ASH: Same; that’s been awhile!

SEAN: SuBLime has the 2nd volume of Therapy Game Restart.

MICHELLE: <3

SEAN: TOKYOPOP gives us Double 4 and Ossan Idol! 6.

Viz Media has new volumes. We get Fly Me to the Moon 12, Kaze Hikaru 30 (only 15 more years till the final volume!), Kirby Manga Mania 5, Komi Can’t Communicate 20, One Piece Omnibus 32, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 4, Radiant 15, Sakamoto Days 3, Splatoon: Squid Kids Comedy Show 6, and YO-KAI WATCH 19. Lots of stuff for the kids next week.

ANNA: Yay for the annual release of a Kaze Hikaru volume!

ASH: For sure!

SEAN: Yen On has the 5th Solo Leveling novel.

Three debuts from Yen Press. Kowloon Generic Romance comes from the author of After the Rain, the story of a dystopian walled city and the people who live there. It runs in Weekly Young Jump.

ASH: That sounds to be up my alley.

SEAN: A Returner’s Magic Should be Special is a webtoon manwha based on a Korean webnovel. Our hero, a trained fighter, tries to help his colleagues save the world, but to no avail. Then… he wakes up as a 13-year-old? Somehow I think “for fans of Tearmoon Empire” is not accurate in this case.

MJ: This might be interesting.

Tales of the Kingdom (Oukoku Monogatari) is an Ultra Jump series from the creator of Classmates and A White Rose in Bloom. This is a historical fantasy about twins who can’t live without each other. This is getting a hardcover release.

ASH: Asumiko Nakamura manga are always a must read for me.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 12, In Another World with My Smartphone 6, Phantom Tales of the Night 9, The Royal Tutor 17 (the final volume), and Uncle from Another World 5.

Do any of these make you want to jump for joy? Or at least have a nice cup of tea?

SEAN: August is here. Still hot. But now hot in August rather than July!

ASH: I’m not sure it’s allowed to be August yet.

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. Chronicles of the Hidden World: How I Became a Doctor for the Gods (Kakuriyo Shinjuuki: Isekai de Kami-sama no Oisha-san Hajimemasu) is a fantasy isekai where a girl is reincarnated in “ancient Japan but with magic”, and quickly finds an affinity with the world’s gods.

The other is a one-shot, Tower of the Sun, the latest from Tomihiko Morimi, author of Penguin Highway and The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl. It seems to share themes with the latter, not uncommon with this author. A guy who’s been dumped mopes through Kyoto. This was his debut novel!

ASH: I am so happy to see more of Morimi’s work being translated!

SEAN: There’s also the 17th and final volume of Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! and Strike the Blood 21.

Two debuts from Yen Press as well. The Beginning After the End is a webcomic that’s been collected by Yen, based on a long-running novel series. A king dies and is reincarnated in a world of magic and monsters.

The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter (Isekai no Sata wa Shachiku Shidai) is a BL isekai manga from B’s Log Comic. A workaholic salaryman is summoned to another world… and continues to be a workaholic salaryman. But he catches the heart of a knight!

MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially cute!

ASH: I’ll admit that BL isekai interests me more than most other isekai.

ANNA: Sounds cute.

MJ: Oh, interesting indeed!

SEAN: Also from Yen: Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 9, Love and Heart 5, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected 18, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 8, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 3, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 14.

ASH: I really need to catch up on Toilet-bound Hanako-kun.

SEAN: It’s almost time for the anime to return, and the shippers are getting ready to doxx and destroy everyone’s lives all over again. It can only be Bleach. To celebrate, Viz is releasing Bleach 20th Anniversary Edition 1, which features cover art showing the original Shonen Jump cover. Despite the Vol. 1, this seems to be a one-off.

ASH: Huh.

SEAN: Viz also has One Piece Volume 100! Only 101 more volumes to go before it catches up to KochiKame.

And also Dragon Ball Super 16, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 23, The King’s Beast 7, Moriarty the Patriot 8, and Snow White with the Red Hair 20.

ASH: I spy Shojo Beat titles!

ANNA: Yay, I need to get caught up on so much.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has the 4th, 5th, and 6th volumes of Summertime Rendering, which wraps up the series, as these are omnibuses. they’re out in paperback and hardcover.

ASH: I’ve heard good things about the series, but have so far failed to start actually reading it. Need to get on that!

SEAN: Tokyopop has stopped updating its website for some reason, but should have Assassin’s Creed Dynasty 4.

Titan Books have Junji Ito Collection: A Horror Coloring Book, which speaks for itself, really.

ASH: Very interesting.

MJ: Oh, huh.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún Deluxe Edition, a 3-volume omnibus in hardcover for the gorgeous and bittersweet (more bitter than sweet, really) fantasy series.

ASH: I’m happily double-dipping for this.

We also get Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 5, Dai Dark 4, and My Wife Has No Emotion 3.

Also, last week, KUMA released the first volume of Canis: Dear Hatter, which I missed because I suck. I assume it is related to Canis: Dear Mr. Rain, which came out a couple of years ago.

Kodansha, in print, has the 2nd and final omnibus of Devil Ecstasy and Sailor Moon Naoko Takeuchi Collection 3.

Digitally the debut is Our Love Doesn’t Need a Happy Ending (Boku-tachi no Koi ni Happy End nante Iranai), the story of a college guy who’s in love with his classmate… but has to decide whether to confess of not when she reveals that she’s dying. This josei title ran in Kiss.

MICHELLE: Obligatory josei squee.

ANNA: Squeeeeeeeeee!

SEAN: Also digital: The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 4, Changes of Heart 4, Chihayafuru 33, Desert Eagle 2, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 6, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 26, and My Wonderful World 2.

MICHELLE: And obligatory Chihayafuru squee, as well.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print volume: Infinite Dendrogram 16.

Digital items from J-Novel Club include An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 14, the 6th and final volume of Arifureta Zero, By the Grace of the Gods 11, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 6, The Great Cleric 9, the 5th manga volume of My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ—, and the 3rd manga volume of Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀.

ASH: I can’t quite tell if that’s a lot of titles, or just a bunch of long titles.

ANNA: What if it was all one single title?

SEAN: Denpa has the 4th volume of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. Actually, this came out last month, but I have to use Amazon’s release dates as Denpa hasn’t updated its own site, and Amazon hasn’t shipped it yet. But it’s out everywhere BUT Amazon.

Airship, in print, has Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4.

In early digital the debut is Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court (Futsutsuka na Akujo de wa Gozaimasu ga – Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den), the story of a consort who ends up body swapped with her rival, then thrown in prison. But she couldn’t be happier – after years of illness, she has a healthy body at last! This has recommendations from both the Bookworm *and* Apothecary authors, so is highly anticipated.

ASH: Oh, ho!

SEAN: And they’ve also got Berserk of Gluttony 7.

Are you a noble? A villainess? A villainess who’s also a noble? Also, what manga do villainesses read?

SEAN: July is coming to an end. What have we got?

Airship, in print, gives us Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 4 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 3.

In early digital, Airship has the 5th and final volume of I’m in Love with the Villainess, though rest assured they have already licensed the spinoff novel She’s So Cheeky for a Commoner, which shows us events from Claire’s point of view.

MICHELLE: I should get caught up with this. I thought the first volume was pretty fun.

ANNA: Me too, this is one of those things I feel guilty for not reading.

ASH: I really need to catch up on this, too.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World brings us Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights (Enoku Dainibutai no Ensei Gohan), the story of a young elf in poverty who joins the royal knights… only to find their food is TERRIBLE! She can fix that. Sounds along the lines of Housekeeping Mage from Another World.

ASH: This counts as food manga, right? So, I’m curious!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has World’s End Harem: Fantasia 7 and Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 20.

J-Novel Club has a new short story collection from one of their most popular series: Ascendance of a Bookworm: Royal Academy Stories – First Year. These stories are pretty much Rozemyne’s days at the academy, from the POV of people other than Rozemyne.

ASH: This should be fun!

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight 14, Dungeon Busters 3, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village’s 2nd manga volume, Hell Mode 4, Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! 2, The Ideal Sponger Life 7, Maddrax 4, and My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer 5.

After a long break following the crashing and burning of a Kickstarter, Tezuka Manga is back at Kodansha. We get a one-shot in print: Bomba. This 1970 manga from Weekly Shonen Magazine about a boy who can cause the death of others by summoning a magical white horse.

MICHELLE: I got curious and looked this up. The blurb mentions “the tortured youth’s explosive angst,” which I kind of feel like we get more than enough of presently.

ANNA: Yeah, glad there’s some Tezuka coming out though.

MJ: I am somewhere in between here. I suppose it will depend a bit for me on exactly what he’s tortured about. There are some themes along these lines I feel we simply… don’t need anymore.

SEAN: Also in print: Fate/Grand Order -mortalis:stella- 3, In/Spectre 16, To Your Eternity 17, UQ HOLDER! 26, Witchcraft Works 16, and Yuri is My Job! 9.

ASH: I’ve saved up a few volumes of To Your Eternity to read all at once; it’s been a really compelling series.

SEAN: The digital debut is My Tentative Name (Watashi (Kari)), a horror series from Magazine Pocket. A young man wakes up in a strange home with amnesia and a decapitated corpse. Things only go downhill from there.

Also digital: Burn the House Down 2, Cells NOT at Work! 5 (the final volume), DAYS 30, Harem Marriage 19, Her Majesty’s Swarm 2, The Rokudo Rounds 3, and The Shadows of Who We Once Were 2.

MICHELLE: I need to try Burn the House Down and The Shadows of Who We Once Were.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 4th Higehiro manga, as well as Multi-Mind Mayhem 4.

In one of the weirder licensing things I’ve seen recently, Seven Seas debuts the print edition of Tokyo Revengers, which Kodansha Manga has been releasing digitally. This will be coming out in 2-volume omnibuses.

ANNA: I’m so confused!

ASH: Huh!

SEAN: We also see The Invincible Shovel 4, The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong 3, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 5, Skip and Loafer 5, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 6.

ASH: I still need to get around to Skip and Loafer.

Square Enix Manga has The Misfit of Demon King Academy 4 and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 8. Sadly, this is the final volume of Misfit of Demon King Academy, as the artist passed away.

MJ: Oh, how sad.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Yuri Espoir, the story of a high school girl who’s told she’ll enter an arranged marriage once she graduates. So she decides to create a lesbian sketchbook to indulge herself in for the final year, observing other couples. This runs in Comic Ryu.

Viz debuts The Liminal Zone (Genkai Chitai), the most recent collection of horror from Junji Ito.

ASH: Still glad to see Junji Ito’s works being released in translation.

SEAN: There’s also a new Naruto novel, Naruto: Kakashi’s Story—The Sixth Hokage and the Failed Prince. I would like to grumble once again that Viz never published the NaruHina Wedding Gifts novel.

And a double dose of yuri, as we get How Do We Relationship? and the 9th and final volume of A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow.

ASH: Those have been great series, too.

SEAN: Yen On has new volumes for three of its longer running series. Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 17, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 19, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 14.

And Yen Press has For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 8, From the Red Fog 2, Minami Nanami Wants to Shine 2, and Run on Your New Legs 2.

ASH: Most of these are only second volumes, but I already need to catch up.

SEAN: It’s a sign of the current manga boom that this feels like a light week. What are you getting?

SEAN: The worst thing about heat is that it’s hot. If summer was cool, it would be better. Meanwhile, manga.

Yen On debuts the Goblin Slayer Tabletop Roleplaying Game, which I imagine is much like the KonoSuba one was, but with less of the authors playing it through.

ASH: Huh! I had somehow missed Yen’s entry into TRPGs.

SEAN: Yen Press has one debut: Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion (Doumo, Suki na Hito ni Horegusuri o Irai Sareta Majo desu), a series whose light novel came out here from Cross Infinite World. This is the manga version, and runs in Kadokawa’s Flos Comic. A witch is devastated when her secret crush asks her for a love potion. But he at least goes with her as she searches for ingredients. Maybe she can just bask in his company for a while longer?

Also from Yen Press: Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 2 and Gabriel Dropout 11.

From Viz we get BEASTARS 19, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 5, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 7, Orochi: The Perfect Edition 2, Record of Ragnarok 3, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 18 and Undead Unluck 8.

ASH: I need to catch up on most of these, but it’s looking like a good Viz week.

SEAN: Steamship has a debut: I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess! (Outaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai!!). This josei title from Zero-Sum Online features an isekai’d daughter of a duke who is unhappy that this world is polygamous and she’s expected to be one of many wives of the Prince. So she loses her virginity with some dude… then finds out whoops, said dude is that very same prince. Aside from “lost her virginity”, this sounds like many other “villainess” titles I could mention.

ASH: Isekai really is everywhere these days, isn’t it?

SEAN: Square Enix debuts SINoALICE, a manga version of the game that runs in Manga Up!. It is, try to prepare yourself, a dark and creepy version of Alice in Wonderland. I know, never been done before…

ASH: Ha! Never!

MJ: lol

SEAN: Square Enix also has Beauty and the Feast 3, I Think Our Son Is Gay 3, and A Man and His Cat 6.

MICHELLE: Finally something for me on this list!

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying I Think Our Son Is Gay.

MJ: I need to catch up on so much!

SEAN: A few Seven Seas debuts. Box of Light (Hikari no Hako) is a josei title from Zoukan Flowers (we may never get anything from Flowers, but we can get things from its spinoff) about a convenience store that seems to be haunted. It’s award-winning.

MICHELLE: I hope I never lose that feeling of delight to see a josei title coming out here.

ASH: Oh, I like the sound of this one!

MJ: I was in as soon as it said “haunted.”

SEAN: Dungeon People (Dungeon no Naka Hito) is from Futabasha’s Web Action, and features a woman searching a dungeon for her missing father. When she gets too far inside the dungeon… she’s asked to join the employees taking care of it? This seems oddly cute.

ASH: It does.

MJ: Agreed.

SEAN: Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition is a Korean webtoon getting, as the cover might tell you, a deluxe color hardcover treatment. It’s BL horror.

MICHELLE: Hm… Did I learn my lesson with Boys of the Dead?

ASH: There seems to be a significant fanbase for Killing Stalking (which includes a few of my friends), so I am curious.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Made in Abyss Official Anthology 4, My Lovey-Dovey Wife is a Stone Cold Killer 3, My Senpai is Annoying 8, and This Is Screwed Up, But I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 2.

In print, Kodansha Manga has A Galaxy Next Door 2, Grand Blue Dreaming 16, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 5, Island in a Puddle 2, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 11 (the final volume), Those Not-So-Sweet Boys 7 (also a final volume), and Whisper Me a Love Song 5.

ASH: Another set of series that I’ve fallen behind on.

SEAN: The digital debut is Hella Chill Monsters (Yasuraka Monsters), which ran in Weekly Morning and whose creator did the art for the manga Astral Project, for those who can dig out their old CMX titles. A skeleton detective and his equally undead friends try to solve a city’s problems… but end up creating them.

MICHELLE: Somehow this is strangely appealing.

ASH: I agree! (And I was actually thinking about Astral Project just the other day…)

MJ: Oooh I already love it.

SEAN: They also have Blue Lock 14, Golden Gold 2, Heaven’s Design Team 7, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 9, Irresistible Mistakes 4, A Nico-Colored Canvas 2, Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 9, A Serenade for Pretend Lovers 2, and When a Cat Faces West 3 (the final volume).

J-Novel Club has a pile of print releases. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm 13, The Faraway Paladin’s 3rd manga omnibus, Full Metal Panic! Volumes 10-12 Collector’s Edition (the final volume), I Shall Survive Using Potions’s 8th manga volume, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 6, Tearmoon Empire 6, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 6th manga volume, and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 4.

ASH: That is a pile!

SEAN: While digitally they have My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 11, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 3, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 3, To Another World… with Land Mines! 3, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 3.

Ghost Ship gives us The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 3, 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 3, and Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 8.

Dark Horse has an 11th hardcover of Berserk Deluxe. (It got bumped.)

ASH: That’s okay, I’ll pick it up whenever it ends up being released.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a 4th volume of Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind.

Lastly, Airship has the print debut of 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! (previously discussed when the digital came out), the first volume of Classroom of the Elite: Year 2, and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 17.

And in early digital we see the 2nd Classroom of the Elite: Year 2.

Has your manga melted already?

SEAN: It’s July, and I am joyful for the many volumes of manga we are getting.

ASH: For sure!

SEAN: Airship debuts, in both print AND digital, Wait For Me Yesterday in Spring (Kinou no Haru de, Kimi wo Matsu), a novel by the creator of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes. It’s time travel! It’s bittersweet! It’s not based on a film, but I suspect a film of it may come soon.

MICHELLE: Ooh, this looks up my street.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Sounds good!

SEAN: Also in print from Airship is Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 11.

And they have an early digital release of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 18.

Dark Horse has an 11th hardcover of Berserk Deluxe.

ASH: These continue to be massive, but I’m happy to be upgrading my series collection.

Drawn and Quarterly has Talk to My Back (Shin Kilali), a classic 80s Garo manga from classic Garo creator Murasaki Yamada, one of the major feminist manga creators. The story of a housewife who examines her own faults after her husband has an affair, it’s an unflinching look at marriage and womanhood.

ASH: I was fortunate to get my hands on an early copy of this and can confirm it is great.

ANNA: This sounds like the type of critically acclaimed manga that I should read, but I never get around to because I’m not sure if my psyche can stand an unflinching look at marriage and womanhood.

MICHELLE: A Discord server I’m on has a reaction emoji that says “this TBH.” Please imagine that I have just deployed it here.

SEAN: Fantagraphics gives us The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame: Master of Gay Erotic Manga. This is a new edition of his first English language book, and is definitely not the sort of BL you’ll find next to the shoujo manga.

ASH: It most certainly is not! I reviewed the original edition of this collection back when it was first released; glad to see it in print again.

SEAN: Ghost Ship gives us Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze 4 and SUPER HXEROS 8.

From J-Novel Club we get Doll-Kara 2, Fantasy Inbound 3, John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 7, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 5, and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 9.

Kodansha Manga, print-wise, has Attack on Titan Omnibus 5, Blood on the Tracks 9, Ciguatera 3, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 10, Fairy Tail Manga Box Set 6 (the final box set for the main series), Gleipnir 11, Perfect World 12, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 4, Something’s Wrong With Us 9, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts 13, and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 6.

ASH: That’s a fair amount!

SEAN: Digitally the debut is My Maid, Miss Kishi (Maid no Kishi-san), a shonen romance from Magazine Pocket. A young man tries to make his maid happy. Sadly, he’s a klutz. And she’s stoic.

Also digital: Ace of the Diamond 38, The Fable 4, HIRAETH -The End of the Journey- 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 3, Police in a Pod 14, Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 2, and WIND BREAKER 4. I haven’t even gotten to Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 1 yet.

MICHELLE: I look forward to getting caught up on Ace of the Diamond! Which I realize I say every time.

ANNA: I haven’t gotten to Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata 1 yet either, but I intend to!

SEAN: One Peace has the 4th volume of I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School.

ASH: I enjoyed the start of this series; I should get around to reading more.

SEAN: Seven Seas, on the danmei end, has a 3rd volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu.

MICHELLE: Huzzah!

ANNA: Woot!

SEAN: On the manga side, they have Berserk of Gluttony 6, Daily Report About My Witch Senpai 2, Hello, Melancholic! 2, The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 2, My Deer Friend Nokotan 2, and Time Stop Hero 5.

MICHELLE: Yay for more Hello, Melancholic!.

SEAN: Square Enix has The Apothecary Diaries 5, The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 3, My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 2, and Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition 7.

SuBLime debuts Moon & Sun (Tsuki to Taiyou), a BL title from Dear + involving a badass (?) yakuza and the owner and proprietor of a drag club.

MICHELLE: I love the cover to this one!

ASH: I am intrigued!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: They’ve also got Caste Heaven 7, Don’t Be Cruel 10, and Scattering His Virgin Bloom 2.

Tokyopop brings us the 2nd and final volume of Alice in Kyoto Forest and Mame Coordinate 2.

Viz has a new artbook for the Ghibli film, The Art of the Tale of the Princess Kaguya. And we also get The Tale of the Princess Kaguya Picture Book.

ASH: Both lovely, I’m sure.

SEAN: And they have Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai 3, Kaiju No. 8 3, Mao 6, and Pokémon Journeys 3.

Yen On gives us Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 6, My Happy Marriage 2, and the 14th and final volume of My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected.

And there’s a pile for Yen Press, including several debuts. Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle (Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka) is an adaptation of the light novel (also out by Yen), which runs in Square Enix’s Manga Up! This asks the question: what if high school manga starred the popular kid rather than the sullen loner?

Daughter of the Emperor (Koutei no Hitori Musume) is based off a Korean webtoon. A princess has memories of her previous life… and knows that the Emperor, her father, is trying to kill her!

ASH: Korean webtoon, you say?

ANNA: hmmmmm.

SEAN: Magical Explorer (Magical Explorer – Eroge no Yuujin Kyara ni Tensei Shita Kedo, Game Chishiki Tsukatte Jiyuu ni Ikiru) is from Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up, and the fact that the title had to have 85% of it removed for the English release tells you a lot. It’s also based on a light novel Yen releases.

Nights with a Cat (Yoru wa Neko to Issho) is a comedy from Kadokawa about a man and his observations about his pet cat.

MICHELLE: I’ll always be willing to check out kitty manga.

ASH: Me, too.

SEAN: Lastly we get Shadows House, from Weekly Young Jump, and is the story of two “living dolls” who are employed in the house of some very shady nobles. This had an anime recently, and is quite popular.

Yen also has The Detective Is Already Dead 2, the 3rd and final volume of Divine Raiment Magical Girl Howling Moon, Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 4, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 3, Love of Kill 8, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun 13, A Witch’s Printing Office 6, and The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 3.

MICHELLE: The other day I was pining for more Nozaki and checked Amazon and discovered the new volume was just about out. I’m very much looking forward to this!

ASH: Oh, yay!

SEAN: Ending with a new Nozaki-kun volume is delightful. What else delights you?

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!

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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.

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

Any titles grab your eye here?

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!

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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.

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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.

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?

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…)

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.

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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.

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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?

MJ: 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.

MJ: 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?

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?

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!

MJ: 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!

MJ: 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.

MJ: 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??

MJ: *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?