manga the week of

SEAN: It’s May, but the winds are blowing here like it’s March. What manga is blowing our way?

Airship debuts The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes (Natsu e no Tonneru, Sayonara no Deguchi), the latest in a long line of “kind of depressing romance novels with a sci-fi bent” light novels that have been out here lately. For once it’s not based on a film, though one is coming soon.

ASH: I’ll admit, it’s a subgenre I frequently enjoy.

SEAN: Also in print: Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 16 and Reincarnated as a Sword 10.

We also get early digital volumes of Adachi and Shimamura 9 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 4.

From Cross Infinite World we get The Dragon’s Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess! (Ryuu no Ban no Kinoko Hime – Unmeida to Konyaku Hakisaretara, Kinoko no Hentai ga Yattekimashita). If you can imagine Kinoko Komori from My Hero Academia as the heroine of a romance novel, you pretty much have this one. Expect mushroom puns.

ASH: I do love mushrooms. And puns.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 10th volume of Parallel Paradise.

A very tiny week from J-Novel Club, which only has The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 20 and My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 10.

In print from Kodansha, the debut is a box set, as we get Cells at Work! Complete Manga Box Set!. It is what it sounds like.

ASH: I really enjoyed this series as it was first being released.

SEAN: Also in print: Bakemonogatari 13 and Sayonara, Football 10, the manga that I always forget to mention because Kodansha doesn’t list it on their website.

Digitally we get two debuts. The Untouchable Midori-kun (Midori-kun ni wa Sawarenai) is the latest josei series, this time from Kiss. A woman goes to meet her new neighbor… and finds they went to school together! Can romance develop? Unlikely. He’s an idol singer, and she’s an adult film actress! Kodansha says this is for fans of Tokyo Tarareba Girls.

MICHELLE: Huh. I guess that means me, then.

ANNA: I might check it out.

ASH: Pretty sure I’m one of those fans, too.

SEAN: When a Cat Faces West (Neko ga Nishi Mukya) is from Afternoon, and is from the creator of Mushishi. That really should be enough, but it’s apparently about a woman trying to find out why she’s 35 years old but has the body of a tween.

MICHELLE: I’m excited to see more by this creator!

ANNA: This sounds so wacky.

ASH: Mushishi is one of my absolute favorites, so I’m likewise excited to see more of the creator’s work being released in English!

SEAN: Also digital: Blue Lock 13, Boss Wife 4, GTO Paradise Lost 17, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 5, Irresistible Mistakes 2, and Piano Duo for the Left Hand 3.

One Peace gives us The Music of Marie (Marie no Kanaderu Ongaku), a Comic Birz title from the creator of Short Cuts, Lychee Light Club, Genkaku Picasso, and many more. It’s a fantasy about a world watched over by Maria, a mechanical goddess. What’s her secret? This is complete in one omnibus.

ASH: Speaking of favorites, I am also a fan of Usumaru Furuya’s work, so I’m very happy to see this release.

SEAN: From Seven Seas: COLORLESS comes from an artist called KENT. The story itself is from LEED’s Comic Border, and is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi story where the world has lost all colors.

ASH: Count me curious.

SEAN: We also get My Next Life as a Villainess Side Story: Girls Patch. Did you read the Bakarina novels/manga and get frustrated that there wasn’t enough yuri? Read this anthology. You will still think it does not go far enough, but it’s certainly more than the main series.

Also coming from Seven Seas: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest ZERO 6, Classroom of the Elite 2, and The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 6. There’s also the 2nd novel of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi.

ASH: Here and actually ready for the second volume of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation!

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Mame Coordinate (Mame Code), a Comic Ryu series about a girl trying to be a model but failing due to her rural manners. Can a new manager help?

Viz Media debuts Crazy Food Truck, a Comic Bunch series about a man driving his food truck through – you guessed it – a post-apocalyptic desert. He runs into a naked girl and takes her onto his truck… but she has people after her! Honestly, I’m interested just for the title.

ASH: Same. I’ll bite.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 4, Golden Kamuy 26, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 6, Undead Unluck 7, the 21st and final volume of We Never Learn, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 6. Well, now we know why Viz was so quiet two weeks ago – its Jump stuff got moved here. Also, RIP We Never Learn, a series that managed to face off against The Quintessential Quintuplets, which infuriated its entire fanbase, and STILL come in second.

Yen On’s light novel debut is I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in The Real World, Too (Isekai de Cheat Skill wo Te ni Shita Ore wa, Genjitsu Sekai wo mo Musou Suru ~Level Up wa Jinsei wo Kaeta~), a title that makes me tired just reading it. The synopsis does as well. A bullied kid finds a doorway to another world, and gets the standard isekai package… which he can also bring home with him. Not gonna lie, I will be avoiding this with great avoid.

Also from Yen On: Baccano! 19, Dragon and Ceremony 2, Eighty-Six 10, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 9, No Game No Life 11, Spy Classroom 3, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 9, and Wandering Witch 8.

Yen Press debuts I Want to be a Wall (Watashi wa Kabe ni Naritai), a josei title from Enterbrain’s B’s-LOG Cheek. He’s gay and has a crush on his childhood friend. She’s asexual and being pressured by her parents. Can a marriage of convenience solve their problems? I’ve heard good things about this.

MICHELLE: I’m thrilled by the consistent stream of josei we’ve been getting lately!

ANNA: Me too! I just have to read, like, any of it!

MICHELLE: Same.

ASH: Also same, but I’m particularly interested in this particular title!

SEAN: Yen also has I Cannot Reach You 4 and No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 19.

There’s quite a lot I want to read this week. How about you?

SEAN: The week of Mother’s Day, and what manga will moms be reading?

Yen On has a 5th volume of Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense.

The Yen Press debut is Mizuno and Chayama, a Comic Beam title that is done in one 2-volume omnibus. It’s Romeo and Juliet, only they’re both teenage girls, and the setting is corporations vs. the government.

MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially interesting!

ANNA: This does sound interesting.

ASH: I agree!

MJ: What everyone else said!

SEAN: Also being released: Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II 2, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 16, Solo Leveling 4, and Star Wars Leia, Princess of Alderaan 2.

Viz Media has Death Note Short Stories, which is exactly what it says.

ASH: It’s been quite a while since I’ve thought about Death Note; the series is among the earliest manga I read.

MJ: Wow, what could this possibly be? I’m actually a little curious.

SEAN: We also see Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai 2, Fly Me to the Moon 11, Mao 5, Pokémon Adventures: X•Y 2, and Requiem of the Rose King 15.

MICHELLE: I’m quite far behind on Requiem of the Rose King now!

ANNA: Alas, me too.

ASH: I’ve been saving up volumes to read all at once.

MJ: I am also behind, but omg!

SEAN: Tentai Books sees a print release for From Toxic Classmate to Girlfriend Goals 1, I Kissed my Girlfriend’s Little Sister?! 1, and There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular Right? 3.

SEAN: Three new titles from SuBLime: Change World 2 (the final volume), Finder Deluxe Edition 11, and His Favorite 12.

ASH: Oh, somehow I didn’t realize His Favorite was still ongoing!

Square Enix manga has the 5th volume of My Dress-Up Darling.

ASH: Another series that I’m behind on, but I really enjoyed the early volumes.

MJ: I’ve heard good things about this, and I feel like I need to get into it!

SEAN: From Seven Seas we get The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 4, the 14th and final volume of Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka, Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 7, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 5.

ASH: I’ve mainly focused on the main series, so far; I need to catch up on the spinoffs of The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

SEAN: Kodansha has a print debut, coming from the ever popular Shuzo Oshimi. Devil Ecstasy is an early Young Magazine title about a brothel filled with women who may be killing men with their sexy skills. It’s also a two-volume omnibus.

ASH: Oshimi’s work is frequently disconcerting, but generally worth taking a look.

MJ: I’ll let Ash be the one to take a look, haha.

SEAN: Also in print: Battle Angel Alita 6, Ciguatera 2, My Boy 9 (the final volume), The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 3, and The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 4.

Digitally our debut is This Vampire Won’t Give Up! (Vampire-sama ga Akiramenai!), another josei title from Comic Tint. Our heroine has to work with a handsome but rude man, but then finds out he’s also the author of her favorite childhood book about vampires. What’s his secret? (Take a guess.)

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ANNA: I don’t know what the secret is, I might have to read it and find out.

ASH: Ha!

MJ: The title is kind of hilarious, right? It’s the exclamation point…

SEAN: There’s also Ace of the Diamond 37, Apple Children of Aeon 3 (the final volume), The Fable 2, A Kiss with a Cat 3, Our Bodies, Entwining, Entwined 3, Police in a Pod 12, and Ya Boy Kongming! 7.

ASH: Ya Boy Kongming! is now more fully on my radar since I’ve been hearing good things about the anime.

SEAN: From J-Novel Club we see The Apothecary Diaries 5, Black Summoner’s 6th manga volume, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 11, My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer 4, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 17.

Ghost Ship debuts It’s Just Not My Night! – Tale of a Fallen Vampire Queen (Yo ga Yorunara!), a Magazine Pocket series, shows us a hard-luck vampire queen forced to find part-time work – some of which is very sketchy!

They’ve also got SUPER HXEROS 7.

Already out from Denpa, who just put it on their website, is Black Tights: WIDE, an artbook featuring, well, girls in tights. It features “some of the best artists in Japan” and also a lot of good-looking gams.

Dark Horse Comics debuts Cat + Gamer (Neko Gurashi Gamer-san), from Shonen Sunday S. the gamer is Riko, an office lady who doesn’t have time for socializing when there’s games to be played. Then she picks up a stray cat. Can games help her figure out how to deal with a pet?

ASH: This is supposed to be pretty good.

MJ: I mean, it has a cat, so it automatically wins.

SEAN: Dark Horse also has Gantz’s 9th omnibus.

Lastly, Airship has, in print, Classroom of the Elite 11 and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 14.

The digital-first debut is Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash (Gendai Shakai de Otome Game no Akuyaku Reijou wo Suru no wa Chotto Taihen), whose gimmick is that our reincarnated villainess is not in a world of nobles and princes, but in Japan at the height of the economic boom! Can she use her future knowledge to avoid her fate and avoid the upcoming bursting of the bubble economy?

ASH: Too soon?

SEAN: And also in early digital: Classroom of the Elite 11.5 and The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 4.

What are you getting mom? Devil Ecstasy? Tales of a Fallen Vampire Queen? Or perhaps something more wholesome?

SEAN: It’s May! A time to smell the fresh air, get outside, and continue to wear a mask.

ASH: Pretty helpful for seasonal allergies among other things.

SEAN: Airship has a pile of new light novel titles (that we have seen in early digital releases already). The debut is Survival in Another World with My Mistress!, a classic ‘arrogant girl and harried guy’ fantasy.

Airship also has print for Classroom of the Elite 11, Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 3, Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 5, The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 3, and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 3.

We also get early digital volumes for Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 5 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6.

Dark Horse gives us the 8th volume of Mob Psycho 100.

ASH: Oh! I’ll need to catch up with that.

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Survival in Another World with My Mistress! (Goshujin-sama to Yuku Isekai Survival!), which may be familiar from a few lines up. This runs in Micro Magazine’s Comic Ride.

They’ve also got Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze 3.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ASH: It’s an amazing title.

ANNA: Incredible.

SEAN: In print, J-Novel Club has the 7th manga volume of I Shall Survive Using Potions!.

Digitally, we see An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 13, Ascendance of a Bookworm’s 12th manga volume, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 3, Jessica Bannister 5, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 2, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 2, To Another World… with Land Mines! 2, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 2.

Kodansha is releasing a new version of Sailor Moon. This will have larger page counts and yet another updated translation. it seems to be print only.

MICHELLE: Huh.

SEAN: Kodansha, in print, also has the 2nd volume of Blackguard (that was fast), The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 4, When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 5, and a reprint of the classic Tezuka manga Ode to Kirihito in one 825-page tome.

ASH: That was fast! So I don’t feel as bad about already being behind. Also, still glad to see these Tezuka reprints coming out!

ANNA: Also glad for Tezuka reprints.

SEAN: Kodansha’s first digital debut is Changes of Heart (Honnou Switch), a josei series that ran in Kodansha’s Comic Tint, and is from the creator of A Witch’s Love at the End of the World. A woman who just got dumped ends up sleeping with her childhood friend, who surprises her by telling her he loves her. But her ex wants her back! The words “smutty potboiler” were made for series like these…

MICHELLE: Hm. It might be fun!

ANNA: I’m intrigued for sure.

The other debut is Oh, Those Hanazono Twins (Hanazono-sanchi no Futago-chan), a shonen title from Magazine Pocket. I would give a synopsis, but it’s a harem comedy describing the male lead as “so average it hurts”, so will not bother.

Also digital: The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 2, A Couple of Cuckoos 7, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 23, the 6th and final volume of My Darling, the Company President, My Master Has No Tail 5, Sakura’s Dedication 2, Shangri-La Frontier 6, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 3.

One Peace has Farming Life in Another World 5.

The debut for Seven Seas is Witches: The Complete Collection (Majo), a manga from the creator of Children of the Sea. It ran in Shogakukan’s Ikki back in the day, and is a collection of award-winning and unsettling stories.

ASH: I am very excited for this one!

ANNA: Me too, although I don’t know if I want to be unsettled.

SEAN: Seven Seas also gives us Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 8, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 6, Happy Kanako’s Killer Life 4, Made in Abyss 10, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 5, and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 3.

MICHELLE: I should really read Happy Kanako.

ASH: I suspect it’s one that I’d enjoy, too, once I get around to it.

SEAN: Tokyopop has a 3rd volume of Double.

Udon Entertainment has the 3rd and final volume of Persona 5: Mementos Mission.

Viz has a relatively quiet May, with a lot of its main series on an off month. The debut is Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible (Kubo-san wa Boku (Mobu) wo Yurusanai), another in the genre of ‘teasing girl and nondescript boy’ manga. It runs in Weekly Young Jump.

Viz also has Blue Exorcist 27, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations 14, Dr. STONE 21, The King’s Beast 6, One Piece 99, and Prince Freya 6.

MICHELLE: I should really read The King’s Beast, too, having enjoyed the creator’s other work.

ASH: Same! I’ve a few volumes of the series on hand already; I just need to read them.

ANNA: I’ve read some of them and find it a bit too sad, but as expected very well done.

SEAN: There’s a pile of Yen On. The debut is Ishura, a light novel about the war to determine the next demon king. It sounds very shonen.

Also from Yen On: The Executioner and Her Way of Life 4, The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time 2, Magical Explorer 2, Rascal Does Not Dream 7, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 5, Sabikui Bisco 2, Sword Art Online 24, and Torture Princess 8.

Lastly, Yen Press has Can’t Stop Cursing You 3, Kingdom Hearts III 2, Tales of Wedding Rings 10, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 7.

SEAN: The end of April means the end of innocence, getting ready for the boys of summer, and other things that are not Don Henley songs.

We start with Yen On, who have Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 2, In the Land of Leadale 5, and Orc Eroica 2.

Yen Press has a whooole lot. We see A Certain Magical Index 25, Days on Fes 5 (the final volume), Dead Mount Death Play 7, Goblin Slayer 11, Golden Japanesque: A Splendid Yokohama Romance 5, Hinowa ga CRUSH! 6, I Was a Bottom-Tier Bureaucrat for 1,500 Years, and the Demon King Made Me a Minister 3 (also a final volume), In Another World with My Smartphone 5, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 8, Laid-Back Camp 11, Love of Kill 7, Please Put Them On, Takamine-san 3, Plunderer 9, The Royal Tutor 16, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 15 (also also a final volume), Sasaki and Miyano 5, Shibuya Goldfish 10, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 13. I am getting… well, two of those.

MICHELLE: I’m at least getting Sasaki and Miyano!

ANNA: Not much there for me, since I’m not super into bureaucrats for the Demon King killing slimes after their levels are maxed-out.

ASH: I really ought to catch up with Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts; I’ve enjoyed the volumes that I’ve read. Also Toilet-bound Hanako-kun!

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Yagi the Bookshop Goat (Honya no Yagi-kun), a BL title from Chara about a goat boy who loves to read books… and eat books! No one trusts him in a bookstore, can he convince the wolf manager to give him a shot? Honestly, this looks damn cute.

ANNA: I don’t care how cute it is!

ASH: Tokyopop keeps trying to tempt me.

MJ: Must… not… look… no. no.

SEAN: Tentai Books has a print light novel debut. You Like Me, Don’t You? So, Wanna Go Out With Me? (Kimitte Watashi no Koto Suki Nandeshou?), another high school romance between a mopey guy and the perfect girl. This genre has gotten popular lately, though usually with more irony than this has. The author also writes Are You OK with a Slightly Older Girlfriend? and When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace.

Square Enix has a 4th volume of Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!.

MICHELLE: I need to resume this series; the first volume was very good!

ASH: It’s true!

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan (Saikyou no Shien-shoku “Wajutsushi” Dearu ore wa Sekai Saikyou Kuran o Shitagaeru), based on the light novel also released by Seven Seas. It’s one of those “everyone says I’m weak but I’m secretly strong” series, and runs in Comic Gardo.

Seven Seas also has Cat Massage Therapy 2, The Dangers in My Heart 4, The Dungeon of Black Company 7, Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 3, Kingdom of Z 5, Our Teachers are Dating! 4 (the final volume), Skeleton Knight in Another World 8, and Time Stop Hero 4.

KUMA has two new titles. sick is a BL oneshot about a young college student. He’s handsome, popular, has all the girls he wants. So why can’t he stop teasing the shy boy in his class? This ran in Takeshobo’s Opa.

Also one volume is Boys of the Dead, which KUMA describes as ZOM-BL!, and I can’t top that. It ran in Canna.

MICHELLE: I am potentially here for ZOM-BL.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Honestly, I’ve enjoyed most of KUMA’s releases, so far.

MJ: Okay, also count me in as possibly here for ZOM-BL.

SEAN: Kodansha has some print debuts. First we see Blackguard, a horror series from the creator of Devils’ Line. A mysterious virus called shojo is attacking people and… no, it’s not turning them into shojo manga, it turns each person into an identical carrier. Presumably our hero fights back. Also, given the title, presumably he’s not very nice.

ASH: Count me as curious.

SEAN: We also get A Galaxy Next Door (Otonari ni Ginga), a new series from the creator of Sweetness and Lightning. A young manga artist struggling to feed his family finds himself a new assistant, who’s almost otherworldly… and also says they’re engaged. This runs in good! Afternoon.

MICHELLE: I can’t say I’m wild about the premise but there’s enough residual goodwill left over from Sweetness & Lightning that I’ll check it out.

ASH: Sweetness & Lightning was such a delight.

MJ: Hm, yes maybe.

SEAN: And then there is Sensei’s Pious Lie (Sensei no Shiroi Uso), an 18+ series that ran in Morning Two. A young teacher is raped by her friend’s fiance, and struggles to keep it from her friend and also connect with her students. This has won awards, but as you might guess, is pretty intense and not for everyone.

MICHELLE: Sounds heavy but good.

ANNA: Way too heavy for me.

ASH: I’ve heard very good things about this series.

MJ: Cautiously interested.

SEAN: Also out in print: EDENS ZERO 16, Hitorijime My Hero 12, and Something’s Wrong With Us 8.

The digital debut is WIND BREAKER, a new manga from Magazine Pocket. I can’t believe, 20-odd years after WORST bombed in English, we are finally getting another delinquent manga about beating the shit out of other students. Awesome.

ASH: Ha! I’ll admit, I do like delinquent manga.

MJ: I mean.

SEAN: Also digital: Back When You Called Us Devils 12 (the final volume), Bootsleg 2, Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 4, Getting Closer to You 2, and Harem Marriage 16.

Kaiten Books has a digital release, the 3rd and final volume of My Dad’s the Queen of All VTubers?!.

J-Novel Club has the 9th and final volume of Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?!, Fantasy Inbound 2, Maddrax 3, and Saint? No! I’m Just a Passing Beast Tamer! 2. On the manga side, we see Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight -Origins- 6, Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons 4, and Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 5.

Ghost Ship has a 3rd and final volume of Shiori’s Diary, as well as Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 19.

Cross Infinite World gives us a 2nd volume of I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death!.

Finally, Airship has the print debut of The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior, as well as Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 9, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 4, and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 3.

And we see early digital volumes for Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 10 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 2.

Want to buy manga? Or all you want to do is dance?

SEAN: Are you buying manga, or eating the ears off your easter bunnies?

ABLAZE Comics has a Collected Edition of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock comics they released with the artist Jérôme Alquié. It’s a hardcover and comes with extras.

ASH: Oh! I had completely missed this when it was first being serialized. A good time to check it out, it would seem.

SEAN: Airship has but one title, an early digital release of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 16.

Cross Infinite World has the 3rd volume of Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin.

Danmei has the 2nd volume of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong.

MICHELLE: Alas, I haven’t even finished the first one yet!

ASH: Same, although it is the next one on my list. Better get reading!

ANNA: Me either! Already behind!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of 2.5 Dimensional Seduction and also a 2nd of Cat in a Hot Girls’ Dorm.

J-Novel Club has a bunch of print. The debut is The Faraway Paladin, which is getting a hardcover edition. Also in print: By the Grace of the Gods 8, Her Majesty’s Swarm 3, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 7, In Another World With My Smartphone 21, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 5, Slayers Omnibus 2 (also a hardcover), and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 5.

ASH: I have been waiting for the print edition of The Faraway Paladin! Glad to see it finally coming out.

SEAN: Digitally, meanwhile, we see Ascendance of a Bookworm 18, Holmes of Kyoto 9, and John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 6.

Kodansha has a new omnibus edition of Apollo’s Song out next week. From the God of Manga, Osamu Tezuka, this is definitely more on the adult side of his career. Apollo’s Song explores the meaning of love by depressing the hell out of you. It originally ran in Shonen Gahosha’s Shonen King.

ASH: The fact that publishers other than DMP are releasing (or re-releasing) Tezuka manga again can only be a good thing.

ANNA: I agree.

MJ: Yes.

SEAN: Also in print: The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 3 and Toppu GP 8.

The digital debut is Irresistible Mistakes (Ano Yoru Kara Kimi ni Koishiteta), a josei title from Comic Tint based on an otome game. A girl flees a hotel room after a one night stand with no memory of the night before. Who did she sleep with?

Also digital: Am I Actually the Strongest? 6, I’ll Be with Them Again Today 2, The Lines that Define Me 4 (the final volume), Medalist 4, Mr. Bride 5, Our Fake Marriage 9, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 2, The Prince’s Romance Gambit 10, and Tesla Note 4. Everyone should read Medalist.

MICHELLE: I really should.

ASH: I have heard very good things.

MJ: Oh? I’ll have to check it out!

SEAN: One Peace has the third manga volume of Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway.

Seven Seas debuts Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More (Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai – Dahlia Wilts No More), the manga version of the light novel released here as Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools. The manga runs in Mag Garden’s Comic Blade.

ASH: I initially misread “fresh” as “flesh” and that’s an entirely different manga.

SEAN: We also get Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 4, Kageki Shojo!! 5, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 15, My Senpai is Annoying 7, Necromance 3, The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World 2, Skip and Loafer 4, Tamamo-chan’s a Fox! 5, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 4.

MICHELLE: I also really should read Kageki Shojo!! and Skip and Loafer.

ASH: I likewise have some catching up to do…

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Square Enix has The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 2.

Tokyopop debuts Alice in Kyoto Forest (Kyouraku no Mori no Alice), the 179th title that ends in “no Mori no Alice” that I know of. A girl runs away to Kyoto to try to become a geisha, but finds it’s totally different than what she remembers! This was originally a webcomic, and was picked up by Mag Garden’s MAGKAN.

Also from Tokyopop: Assassin’s Creed Dynasty 2.

Udon Entertainment has Persona 5: Mementos Mission 2.

Viz has the 4th and final volume of No. 5, as well as Asadora! 5 and Record of Ragnarok 2.

ASH: So happy to have the entirety of No. 5 in print this time!

Yen On has two debuts. The Holy Grail of Eris (Eris no Seihai) has a young girl about to be framed for a crime she didn’t commit. She allows the ghost of a former noblewoman to possess her to solve the problem. Unfortunately, the ghost is now out for revenge on the ones who killed her a decade ago, and won’t give up her new body!

ASH: I am intrigued.

MJ: Okay, so am I.

SEAN: The other debut is The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess (Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon) is about, you guessed it, a shut-in vampire princess. Weak and reviled by her peers for not drinking blood, now she has to lead an army of miscreants.

Also from Yen On: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 8, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 21 (the final volume), and Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 16.

Finally, Yen Press has A Bride’s Story 13 (yay!) and Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 7.

ASH: Yay, indeed!

ANNA: Woo!!!

SEAN: Easter is here and A Bride’s Story has risen from its hiatus! What are you buying?

SEAN: Spring has sprung, the grass has ris’, I wonder where the manga is?

MICHELLE: Wings?

SEAN: Yen On has only one title, but it’s a debut. The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei) is a title whose wordplay sadly gets lost in English. Our heroine is useless at normal magic, but can use magic when she adds ideas from her past life. Then one day her brother dumps a noble who has “evil villainess” written all over her. Our heroine has a suggestion, though… the two of them should move in and research magic together! For fans of Maria and Katarina pairings.

Viz Media has Call of the Night 7, Case Closed 82, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Valley of White Petals (another light novel that is a reissue from 2006), Komi Can’t Communicate 18, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 3, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 17, and Splatoon 14.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Sleepy Princess; the volumes I’ve read so far have been delightful.

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 2nd and final volume of Alice in Bishounen-Land.

SuBLime has two debuts. Links is a single-volume collection of four stories about handsome young men and their half-baked lovers. The creator is famous for her Haikyu!! and Kuroko’s Basketball doujinshi. This title ran in Be x Boy Gold.

MICHELLE: Sounds potentially interesting!

ASH: That it does!

ANNA: I agree!

MJ: Ahhhh okay!

SEAN: Scattering His Virgin Bloom (Takane no Hana wa Chirasaretai) is nothing like that OTHER Takane and Hana. We’re back in the Omegaverse here, where an alpha who works at a cafe with a regular who also SEEMS to be an alpha… but is actually an omega! And a virgin! This ran in Dear+.

MICHELLE: Aaaaand definitely not.

ANNA: No thank you!

MJ: …

SEAN: Square Enix has a 5th volume of Ragna Crimson.

Seven Seas has two debuts. The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace (Heion Sedai no Idatentachi) is a manga adaptation of a popular webcomic, and runs in Young Animal. The artist of the manga version is best known for Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. The author is well known (infamous?) for Interspecies Reviewers. Some gods who’ve had 800 years of peace have to fight… but they’ve forgotten how!

ASH: I find the premise intriguing, at least.

SEAN: My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders (Hattatsu Shōgai to Issho ni Otona ni Natta Watashi-tachi) is oa one-volume anthology from Takeshobo about the everyday struggles of people with developmental disorders. Based on true stories, including one from the artist.

ASH: I’m rather curious about this one!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas, Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor 14, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 8, CALL TO ADVENTURE! Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board 4, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 2, The Demon Girl Next Door 5, GIGANT 7, Harukana Receive 10 (the final volume), Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero 4, No Matter What You Say, Furi-san is Scary! 4, and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 3.

ASH: I still need to read the first volume, but I’m glad to see more of The Case Files of Jeweler Richard out so soon.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 3rd volume of Multi-Mind Mayhem.

Kodansha has no print debuts, but we do get Attack on Titan Omnibus 4, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 10, Knight of the Ice 10, Rent-A-Girlfriend 12, and The Seven Deadly Sins Manga Box Set 2.

Digitally there are three debuts, but you’ve seen one before if you’re an older manga fan. The Wallflower (Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge) came out in print starting in 2004. Now you can get Volume 1-36 – the entire series – digitally. Enjoy this shoujo title about four super hot guys trying to transform a girl into a perfect young lady… if only she can stop being drawn in chibi style!

ASH: Glad to see this series becoming more readily available again.

ANNA: Nice, I think I lasted 11 volumes or so but I enjoyed it.

SEAN: Also debuting: The Fable is a Young Magazine title about a hitman who’s told he has to lay low for a while… and that’s hard! This has won awards, and seems like very Manly Manga.

Nighttime for Just Us Two (Yoru no Shita de Machiawase) is a Betsufure series from the author of My Boy in Blue. Our drab heroine is rather surprised to find the hottest boy in school wants to be her friend! Then he explains he’s an alien.

MICHELLE: My Boy in Blue didn’t seem especially distinctive, but this one looks really neat! Very much looking forward to checking it out.

ANNA: Aliens!!!!

MJ: I don’t know if this actually sounds good to me, or if I just like Sean’s, “Then he explains he’s an alien.” But in any case, count me in!

SEAN: Other digital releases from Kodansha: Apple Children of Aeon 2, Giant Killing 30, A Kiss with a Cat 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 2, Police in a Pod 11, Saint Young Men 17, Tokyo Revengers 25, and We Must Never Fall in Love! 9 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: Giant Killing is another Kodansha sports series due a marathon catch-up read, always a delightful prospect.

SEAN: A quiet week for J-Novel Club. We see The Great Cleric 7, Hell Mode 3, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 6, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀ 4, and the 7th Record of Wortenia War manga.

Ghost Ship has the 2nd volume of better-than-it-sounds The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give this series a try.

SEAN: Airship has, in print, My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s 4, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 3 (the final volume), and A Tale of the Secret Saint 2.

And Airship also has early digital. Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 3 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 2.

Deceptively small, but don’t forget The Wallflower is 36 volumes at once. Will you re-read it all?

SEAN: April, the most important month of the year! What manga could be coming out?

MICHELLE: In which two particular manga reviewers just happened to be born!

SEAN: Airship, in print, has I Am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile, which we discussed last week, as well as Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 16.

ASH: I much more likely to read I Am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile now that it’ll be in print. (That was a pretty quick turnaround!)

SEAN: For early digital editions, they have Berserk of Gluttony 6 and Classroom of the Elite 11.

From Ghost Ship we have a new debut. DARLING in the FRANXX ran in Shonen Jump + and is coming out here in two-volume omnibuses. Post-apocalypse children pilot giant robots. It has an anime. And it’s by the artist of To-Love-Ru.

ASH: I’ll admit I wasn’t paying very close attention, but don’t think I realized this was a Ghost Ship title until now.

SEAN: We also get Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 2 and Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? 2.

Some digital stuff from J-Novel Club. We see Black Summoner 8, the 7th manga volume of Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill, The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride 4 (the final volume), Infinite Dendrogram 17, Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World 3, Perry Rhodan NEO 7, The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 3, Slayers 13, A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 8, and The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman 8.

Lotsa print volumes for Kodansha. We see In/Spectre 15, Lovesick Ellie 3, Orient 8, Peach Boy Riverside 6, Penguin & House 2, Shaman King Omnibus 8, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 9, Those Not-So-Sweet Boys 6, and Vampire Dormitory 4.

MICHELLE: Jeez, how did Those Not-So-Sweet Boys get up to volume 6 already!

ASH: Gotta love it when the print runs converge!

SEAN: There are two digital debuts. The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage (Suterareta Tensei Kenja – Mamono no Mori de Saikyou no Daima Teikoku o Tsukuriageru) is a sensibly shortened title, and also a manga that runs in Magazine Pocket. Powerful sage reincarnates… and is promptly abandoned, as a baby. Fortunately, he’s found by a nearby tribe… of goblins!

The Angel, the Devil, and Me (Otonari wa Tenshi to Akuma) is a single volume shoujo title from The Dessert. Girl meets her new neighbors… and of crap, they’re hot! Should she make a move on them… or should she SHIP them? This is from the creator of Boss Wife.

ANNA: Ok, this sounds amusing.

SEAN: Also digital: Chihayafuru 31, The Decagon House Murders 4, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 5, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 22, My Darling, the Company President 5, and My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! 4.

MICHELLE: I need to have a Chihayafuru marathon.

ANNA: Me too. I regard it as an indication that I’m a failure as a person.

SEAN: One Peace has the 9th volume of The New Gate.

Debuting from Seven Seas is The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior (Higeki no Genkyou to naru Saikyou Gedou Rasubosu Joou wa Min no tame ni Tsukushimasu), the manga version of the light novel which Seven Seas also puts out. It runs in Comic Zero-Sum.

Seven Seas also has Failed Princesses 5, Berserk of Gluttony 5, Even Though We’re Adults 4, Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends 20 (the final volume), Machimaho: I Messed Up and Made the Wrong Person Into a Magical Girl! 9, and Rozi in the Labyrinth 3 (also the final volume).

ASH: I really need to read more of Even Though We’re Adults.

SEAN: Viz has a debut next week, coming from Shonen Jump. It’s Sakamoto Days, the story of a legendary assassin who fell in love, got married, got older, and put on weight. But does he still have the old skills? Signs point to yes.

ANNA: I will usually read at least one volume of an assassination manga.

ASH: Same, really.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Chainsaw Man 10, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: The Official Coloring Book, Jujutsu Kaisen 15, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 22, Kaiju No. 8 2, Moriarty the Patriot 7, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 12, My Love Mix-Up! 3, Queen’s Quality 14, Skip Beat! 46, Snow White with the Red Hair 18, Spy x Family 7, and Yona of the Dawn 35. Wow. I am getting a LOT of that.

MICHELLE: Holy cow, that’s a ton of great stuff. My heart, as ever, belongs to Skip Beat!, though.

ANNA: Me too! A new volume of Skip Beat! is always cause for celebration.

ASH: A very good Viz week!

SEAN: Plenty of light novels from Yen On. We see Date a Live 5, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 16, The Detective Is Already Dead 3, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 2, The Otherworlder, Exploring the Dungeon 2, Solo Leveling 4, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 13. Strangely, given my usual reading, I am getting none of these.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give one version or another of Solo Leveling a try, but I simply haven’t got around to it yet.

SEAN: As for Yen Press, the debut is Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Shin no Nakama Janai to Yuusha no Party o Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life Suru Koto ni Shimashita). We’ve had the light novel, we’ve had the anime, now let’s have the manga. It runs in Comic Walker.

And we also get the 4th and final volume of Little Miss P.

Come on, come on. Decide! Pick a favorite!

ANNA: SKIP BEAT!

SEAN: The end of March, and manga is presumably going out like a lamb.

ASH: I’m not so sure about that…

SEAN: From Yen On we get the one-shot Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (Joze to Tora to Sakanatachi), a short story collection which includes the title story, which has been made into a movie. For fans of Yen’s other one-shot novels that can be summed up as “beautiful but sad”.

ASH: I’ve heard good things about this one.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! TRPG, which turns the world of KonoSuba into a tabletop role playing game, and features the authors of KonoSuba and Re: Zero doing a playthrough of it.

And we get The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 7.

From Yen Press, we see the debut of Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie (Akuyaku Reijou, Cecilia Sylvie wa Shinitakunai node Dansou suru Koto ni Shita), the manga version of the light novel also published by Yen. It runs in Comic Flos.

Yen also gives us If the RPG World Had Social Media… 2 (the final volume), Let This Grieving Soul Retire 2, Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook 2, Phantom Tales of the Night 8, Teasing Master Takagi-san 14, and Uncle from Another World 4.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Phantom Tales of the Night.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has Steins;Gate: The Complete Manga (it got bumped) and Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu 10.

Tokyopop gives us the 2nd volume of I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an Otome Game but the Boys Love Me Anyway!.

Seven Seas has two debuts. Sheeply Horned Witch Romi (Youkaku no Majo Romi) is from Young Dragon Age, a manga where everyone in the world has fallen asleep except: 1) sheep; 2) a witch with sheep horns, and 3) the sempai with a crush on her!

MICHELLE: Here’s the lamb content we’ve been waiting for.

ASH: Ha!

MJ: Wait, wait, I’m HERE for the sheep.

SEAN: Yakuza Reincarnation (Ninkyou Tensei: Isekai no Yakuzahime) is a Sunday GX title. A yakuza badass is killed and reincarnated in another world… as a beautiful girl! This will not stop her from kicking ass.

ASH: As reluctant as I am to admit it, I am intrigued by this isekai variant.

ANNA: This does sound amusing.

SEAN: We also get The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash and the Faerie Case Files 4, Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 4, The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 2, THE EXO-DRIVE REINCARNATION GAMES: All-Japan Isekai Battle Tournament! 2, I Am a Cat Barista 2, My Next Life as a Villainess Side Story: On the Verge of Doom! 2, Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish 2, and Unicorns Aren’t Horny 2 (the final volume).

ASH: I need to catch up with the various Ancient Magus’ Bride spinoffs, too.

SEAN: No print debuts for Kodansha, but we do see The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 3, Something’s Wrong With Us 7, and UQ HOLDER! 25.

Two digital debuts. Bootsleg is a Shonen Sirius series from the artist best known for Yozakura Quartet and the Durarara!! novels. A young man whose family – and limb – were taken from him by a seeming serial killer meets up with the one person who might be able to stop them.

HIRAETH -The End of the Journey- (Hiraeth wa Tabiji no Hate) is from the creator of Our Dreams at Dusk, and runs in Morning Two. A woman despairing over the death of her best friend attempts suicide… and finds herself in another world! This is apparently great, though also dark – Kodansha’s blurb comes with a content warning for suicide ideation.

MICHELLE: Hm. The Our Dreams at Dusk link is very compelling.

ASH: That it is.

ANNA: This sounds exactly like the type of critically acclaimed work that I think I will read but don’t get around to because I’m not in the mood for despair right now.

MJ: Oh, this sounds perfect for my mood.

SEAN: Also digital: Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 23, The Great Cleric 8, Stellar Witch LIP☆S 5 (the final volume), Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 2, and Zatsuki: Make Me a Star 2.

MICHELLE: I need to check out some of these.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has some more print editions. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Vol. 2 (manga), Infinite Dendrogram Omnibus 4, Marginal Operation 9, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 3, and Tearmoon Empire 4.

Speaking of Tearmoon Empire, the 7th volume is out digitally next week. We also see Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 5, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 3, Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer! 2, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 39.

Ghost Ship gives us Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 5-6.

A new light novel from Cross Infinite World: Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with My Beloved Hound (Isekai Teni Shitara Aiken ga Saikyou ni narimashita – Silver Fenrir to Ore ga Isekai Kurashi wo Hajimetara). Dead salaryman. Huge overpowered wolf. Relaxed slow life. Fluffy headpats. This book knows what the audience these days wants.

Lastly, Airship debuts I am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile (Aokute Itakute Moroi), another tearjerker from the author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. This is the early digital release.

ASH: Glad to see Yoru Sumino’s work is still being translated. (Though, like so many things, I need to catch up…)

SEAN: Also out ahead of print: Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 3, Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 5, and The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 3.

What manga makes you want to go out like a lamb? Or a sheep… lots of sheep manga lately.

SEAN: As we head towards the second half of March, what brand new titles get our attention?

Airship has a lot of new print titles. We get Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest ZERO 5, The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 2, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 6, and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 4.

ASH: Another reminder to self to move The Haunted Bookstore up on my reading list.

SEAN: There’s also early digital releases for My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s 4 and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 4.

Denpa Books has a 3rd volume of Heavenly Delusion.

ASH: Glad to see! I’ve been liking this series.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a debut this week with GUNBURED × SISTERS. It’s a Sunday GX series, and if you want a ecchi vampire yuri-tinged action series, this is certainly one of them.

Also from Ghost Ship: SUPER HXEROS 6.

From J-Novel Club, we see Altina the Sword Princess 13, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 4, Cooking with Wild Game 16, the 2nd manga volume of Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers, Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend: Roomies and Romance 5 (the final volume), and Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 5.

ASH: That’s a fair bit.

SEAN: Kodansha has a double dose of Attack on Titan in print next week, with Omnibus 4-6 and Omnibus 7-9. There’s also Blue Period 6, Fire Force 26, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 12, and Living-Room Matsunaga-san 10.

Two digital debuts. Getting Closer to You (Natsume-senpai ni Semarareru Hibi) is a new shoujo series from the creator of Four Kisses, in Secret, and it runs in Dessert Blue, the spinoff of Dessert for Miles Davis fans. A girl who loves muscles thinks she’s found her ideal man… but he’s going to make her manage the basketball team first.

MICHELLE: I think this is their second series about a girl who loves muscles!

ANNA: Some girls do love muscles.

SEAN: Also shoujo, from Betsufure, is I’ll Be with Them Again Today (Kyou mo, Karera no Otonari de), about a girl, Nao, whose next-door neighbors are now two brothers – one hot and friendly, the other unapproachable and scary. And now they’re going to school with her too! Nao-chan pinch!

Also digital: Back When You Called Us Devils 11 (the final volume), DAYS 28, Harem Marriage 15, ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 5, and That’s My Atypical Girl 4.

KUMA books has a debut, The Song of Yoru & Asa (Yoru to Asa no Uta). This oneshot BL title ran in Takeshobo’s Qpa, and features a band whose vocalist seems to be, well, a bit of a jerk. If you like your BL dark, this may be for you.

MICHELLE: Depends on how dark, but maybe!

ASH: I honestly never thought we would see Harada’s work licensed in English (at least in print). It can be pretty dark, but I’ve been hoping for something to be released for years.

ANNA: Interesting.

MJ: Oh, hmmmm… this is a strong maybe for me.

SEAN: Seven Seas has the 5th and final Blue Giant omnibus (maybe that’s why I made the Miles Davis joke earlier), The Country Without Humans 2, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 13, and MARS RED 2.

MICHELLE: One of these days I’ll actually read Blue Giant.

ASH: I need to catch up, but have largely enjoyed it so far!

ANNA: Me too, I have the first volume somewhere in my house.

SEAN: Square Enix gives us a 7th volume of The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest.

Tentai Books once again flummoxed me with a last minute scheduling. Already released digitally as you read this is the light novel I Kissed My Girlfriend’s Little Sister (Kanojo no Imouto to Kiss wo shita). Just your typical guy dating a girl and then the girl’s identical twin who was living with the other parent moves in story.

Tokyopop’s debut is Dekoboko Bittersweet Days, the sequel to Dekoboko Sugar Days. It sounds less sweet, and it ran in Gentosha’s LOVE xxx BOYS Pixiv. It’s also complete in one volume.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed This Wonderful Season with You by the same mangaka, so I’m looking forward to this one.

ANNA: Tokyopop is still not going to trick me.

MJ: Same. I realize it’s a one-shot, but even so…

SEAN: Tokyopop also has the 2nd volume of Double.

Yen On has some new light novels. We get Durarara!! SH 3, Strike the Blood 20, Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf 6, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 6.

Lastly, there’s a pile from Yen Press, including four debuts. Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! is a Young Ace Up title that is essentially Ten Little Bungo Stray Dogs. (Scramble Wars Stray Dogs?) Anyway, they’re chibis.

ASH: Goodness!

SEAN: Catch These Hands! (Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete!) is a yuri title from Young Ace Up. A former delinquent trying to straighten up now that she’s an adult runs into her old rival… who wants a fight! And if the rival wins… a date!

ASH: Okay, I’m intrigued.

ANNA: It sounds cute.

MJ: Oh, it really does!

SEAN: Minami Nanami Wants to Shine (Nanami Minami wa Kagayakitai) is a spinoff of light novel Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki focusing on our favorite runner-up. It runs in Sunday GX.

Run on Your New Legs (Atarashii Ashi de Kakenukero) is a Big Comic Spirits title about a soccer player whose career ends with the loss of his leg. But with a new prosthetic leg, can he become a paralympics track star?

MICHELLE: REAL but soccer!

ASH: Oooooh!

ANNA: Cool. Will be checking this out for sure.

SEAN: There’s also Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World! 5, The Eminence in Shadow 3, I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 4, Interspecies Reviewers Comic Anthology 2, Lust Geass 5, Mint Chocolate 5, Monster Wrestling: Interspecies Combat Girls 4 (the final volume), Smokin’ Parade 9, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 2, Sword Art Online: Project Alicization 4, Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir! 3, The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 2.

ASH: That’s a fair bit, too.

SEAN: That last part exhausted me to type out. What about you?

SEAN: Celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in the traditional Irish way… with some Japanese manga!

ASH: I can do that.

SEAN: There’s a pile of Yen On, most of it stuff moved from February (or January) that got bumped. Two debuts. Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle (Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka) is a high school romance that asks the question: what if the most popular boy in school was actually the main character in the light novel, rather than the sullen sarcastic loner? This one has been long awaited.

ASH: I’m so used to titles outlining the plot these days; that description’s not at all what I was expecting.

SEAN: We also have Demon Lord 2099 (Maou 2099), a light novel where the demon lord resurrects and… does NOT go to a magical academy, praise the Lord. Instead he finds himself in a futuristic cyberpunk world! What will he do? Whatever he wants.

ASH: Plot twist!

SEAN: Also out next week: Bond and Book 2, Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 3, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected 13, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 8, and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 7.

No debuts from Yen Press, but we do see Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One 6, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler – 14, Sex Ed 120% 3 (the final volume), So I’m a Spider, So What? The Daily Lives of the Kumoko Sisters 2, and Triage X 22.

Two debuts from Viz. Alice in Borderland (Imawa no Kuni no Alice), from Shonen Sunday S. It was made into an anime, and it’s apparently really good psychological horror. But: Survival game. I’ll see myself out.

MICHELLE: Oh man, for the first time in years I actually remembered BTOOOM! exists. That said, I might check this out.

SEAN: I long every day for the time when I can forget BTOOOM! exists.

ASH: I suspect Alice in Borderland may be more up my alley.

MJ: I somehow truly believed BTOOOM! had ceased to exist, and I think I’ll just keep pretending that’s the case. I really enjoyed the Alice in Borderland live action series, though, so I’m ready!

SEAN: The other is Orochi: The Perfect Edition. This Kazuo Umezu series, which originally ran in Weekly Shonen Sunday way back in 1969, was licensed by Viz in 2002… and only one volume came out. They’re trying again with this updated version, which should please fans of the author or horror in general.

ASH: Looking forward to this one for sure!

SEAN: And there is BEASTARS 17, Children of the Whales 19, Fist of the North Star 4, Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku 13 (the final volume), Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 7, the Uzumaki Coloring Book (good God), and the 19th and final volume of Ôoku: The Inner Chambers.

MICHELLE: I knew that a nineteenth volume was coming soon, but not that it was the last!

ANNA: Yikes, another great series that I need to get caught up on!

ASH: This is a really great week for Viz!

MJ: Oh my, Ôoku! Wow, I hadn’t realized this was the last volume either.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has Steins;Gate: The Complete Manga. This 522-page book, as its title suggests, collects the manga based on the visual novel that ran in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

Three debuts from Seven Seas. The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe (Wagaya wa Kakuriyo no Kashi Honya-san) is the manga adaptation of the novel that Seven Seas also has. It runs in, I am not kidding, Micro Magazine’s Comic Elmo.

ASH: I still need to read the novel, but I expect I’ll enjoy it along with its adaptation.

SEAN: My Deer Friend Nokotan (Shikanoko Nokonoko Koshitantan) is a Shonen Magazine Edge series about a top student with a secret or two to hide who is blindsided by the new transfer student – a deer girl who can sniff out those secrets! This sounds like yuri but is more comedy, I believe.

My Wandering Warrior Existence (Meisou Senshi Nagata Kabi) is the latest biographical memoir from the author of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, as we see her trying to get into dating once more – actually, get into dating for the first time.

ASH: The books are really well done, but they can be devastating, too.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 3, The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 5, Karate Survivor in Another World 3, Necromance 2, and New Game! 12.

One Peace gives us I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School 3.

ASH: I really liked the first volume, but apparently I already need to catch up.

SEAN: Two print debuts from Kodansha Manga. Island in a Puddle (Mizutamari ni Ukabu Shima) ran in Evening, which alone is cause for me to be interested. A young boy cares for his younger sister more than his frequently absent mother. Then one day Mom takes them to an amusement park… and strands them on a ferris wheel. Which then gets struck by lightning. What happens then? Read the book!

ASH: Intriguing!

MJ: That does sound interesting.

SEAN: The other debut is Penguin & House (Pen to House), which runs in D Morning, Morning Magazine’s mobile app. He is a penguin living with a human, and I feel these two desperately need to meet Gal and Dinosaur.

MJ: This sounds adorable.

SEAN: Also in print: Battle Angel Alita 5, Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost 4, Rent-A-Girlfriend 11, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 2.

Digitally our first debut is A Kiss with a Cat (Neko to Kiss). This Betsufure series is about a cat-loving girl and her classmate, an antisocial guy who always wears a mask. But he has a secret…

ANNA: Is his secret that he’s a catboy? I want to know!

ASH: Haha!

MJ: Oh my.

SEAN: The other digital debut is Piano Duo for the Left Hand (Hidarite no tame no Nijuusou), which runs in Shonen Magazine Edge. A young man meets a piano prodigy… and then tragedy strikes. Now he tries to live for both of them… but wait, what’s with his left hand? This is a supernatural drama.

ASH: Also intriguing.

MJ: Okay, you’re always going to get me with pianists…

SEAN: There’s also Blue Lock 12, Chihiro-kun Only Has Eyes for Me 6, The Dawn of the Witch 4, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 7, The Lines that Define Me 3, My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! 3, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 7, and You’re My Cutie 3.

J-Novel Club has a LOT of print books out next week. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm 11, The Faraway Paladin’s 2nd manga omnibus, In Another World With My Smartphone 20, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Collector’s Edition 11 (with Vol. 32-35), My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 9, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 4 (light novel), The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 4 (manga).

ASH: That is a fair bit! Love to see it.

SEAN: No debuts digitally, but J-Novel Club does have Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Volume 4 (manga), The Faraway Paladin 8 (manga), Monster Tamer 8, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 9, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 18, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Reckless Journey 6 (the manga, and a final volume), and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 16 (the light novel, and not a final volume).

And finally, we see Airship, who has Classroom of the Elite 10 in print.

As well as early digital versions of A Tale of the Secret Saint 2 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 9.

That ended up being a lot. Anything catch your eye?

SEAN: We’re hitting March proper now, so watch out for winds.

ASH: Sound advice.

SEAN: We start with Airship, which has print releases for Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 4 and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 5.

For early digital, they debut Survival in Another World with My Mistress! (Goshujin-sama to Yuku Isekai Survival!). A young man wakes up in a dark forest, finds he can gain resources via a video game menu only he can access, and ends up being protected by a dark elf who says he’s her property. Oof.

We also see the 3rd and final volume of The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real!.

Cross Infinite World has another light novel debut with Reflection of Another World (Yugami no Kuni Monogatari). A girl is pulled through a magic mirror into a fantasy world where her plain jane looks are admired and the handsome man she meets is seen as abhorrent.

Dark Horse has a 10th deluxe hardcover for Berserk.

ASH: Glad to see these being released so regularly.

SEAN: Ghost Ship gives us Do You Like Big Girls? 3, Parallel Paradise 9, and Sundome!! Milky Way 3.

J-Novel Club has a light novel debut with Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! (Kasei Madoushi no Isekai Seikatsu: Boukenchuu no Kasei Fugyou Uketamawarimasu!). We’ve got another Japanese OL who finds herself teleported to a fantasy world. 4 years later, she’s a ‘housekeeping mage’ – and a top adventurer! But can she find romance?

And they also have Dragon Daddy Diaries: A Girl Grows to Greatness 3, Goodbye Otherworld, See You Tomorrow 2 and Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 2.

Kodansha, in print, gives us Grand Blue Dreaming 15 and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 4.

ASH: I’ve fallen far behind on the former, but I’m more interested in starting the latter.

SEAN: Kodansha didn’t announce March digital releases till this week, so I missed being able to tell you about two titles already out: Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend Is the Best! (Otatomo ga Kareshi ni Nattara Saikou Kamo Shirenai) is the first. This shoujo series from Palcy is about a girl who loves to fangirl about idols with her best male friend. Then… said friend confesses to her! The author also did Yen Press’s School of Horns.

They’ve also got, already out, Twilight Out of Focus (Tasogare Outfocus), a BL title from Honey Milk about two roommates who have rules not to fall for each other or get in the way of each other’s dalliances… but can that hold up?

MICHELLE: This one looks like it could be good.

SEAN: Kodansha’s first digital debut next week is Medaka Kuroiwa Is Impervious to My Charms (Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai), a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about a monk-in-training who can’t have a relationship with anyone… but that’s not stopping the school’s top girl from trying!

They also have Apple Children of Aeon (Sennen Mannen Ringo no Ko), a josei title from Itan which may be of most interest to the Manga Bookshelf crew. A man who marries an apple farmer and moves to her town sees a mysterious apple one day that changes his life. This has won awards.

ANNA: I’m curious about this for sure.

ASH: Yup! Same.

SEAN: Also digital next week: Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! 8, Ace of the Diamond 36, Guilty 9, Lightning and Romance 2, My Darling, the Company President 4, Peach Boy Riverside 10, Police in a Pod 10, and Vampire Dormitory 8.

MICHELLE: I really, really need to get caught up with Ace of the Diamond.

SEAN: Seven Seas has two debuts. The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (Housekishou Richard-Shi no Nazo Kantei), a josei title from Comic Zero-Sum, a mystery series based on a just-licensed novel that got an anime recently. A college student rescues a man who turns out to be a jeweler. Adventures ensue.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one!

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: I’ve heard great things; I’m excited to read it.

SEAN: The other debut is The Girl in the Arcade (Gesen no Kanojo), a Shonen Ace Plus series about a nebbish guy who works at an arcade and the hot girl who needs his help to beat one of the games… and also asks him out?

We also see Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 4, The Kingdoms of Ruin 4, and Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 15.

SuBLime has Black or White 2, but more importantly they have Dick Fight Island 2!

ASH: The first volume of Dick Fight Island was absolutely ridiculous, but in a good way, actually?

SEAN: Viz Media has Animal Crossing: New Horizons 2, Fly Me to the Moon 10, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 3, Kirby Manga Mania 4, MAO 4, and Pokémon Journeys 2. That’s a weird tie-ins to normal manga ratio.

Yen On has King of the Labyrinth 3.

Lastly, Yen Press debuts New York, New York, a BL manga from Hana to Yume back in the pre-Fruits Basket days when it was a lot darker and gayer. A police officer keeps the fact that he’s gay very well hidden… but when he falls in love with a man with a troubled past, will he be able to keep things at arm’s length? This is an omnibus of the first two volumes.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to this, as well! A good week.

ANNA: I’m intrigued.

ASH: I’ve got my eyes out for this one, for sure.

SEAN: And Yen Press has Delicious in Dungeon 10, Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods 9, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 4: The Sanctuary and the Witch of Greed 3, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 0 (the volume number is deliberate).

ASH: Huzzah, more Delicious in Dungeon! And more Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, even if I still have a backlog.

SEAN: There’s actually quite a variety there. What are you interested in?

SEAN: Our long nightmare, aka February, is over. What does March bring us?

Yes Press is mostly off this week, but we get two titles: I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 3 and To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 4.

Two debuts from Viz Media, one for each of their main imprints. Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai (Dragon Quest – Dai no Daibouken) is the classic 1989 manga from the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump! It’ll be coming out here in omnibus form, 2-in-1. It’s one of the biggest manga ever. Its authors later did Beet the Vandel Buster. The plot? Boy has adventures.

ASH: Always glad to see more classic manga being released!

ANNA: Nice!

SEAN: The Shojo Beat title is Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love (Ima, Koi Wo Shite Imasu), a Betsuma series that features yet another guy who seems to be scary but is actually really nice. The author is best known for Wolf Girl and Black Prince, which has not been licensed, alas.

MICHELLE: I tend to like those sorts of stories, so I’m down for this.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Surprising no one, me too.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Mashle: Magic and Muscles 5, My Hero Academia 30, the 14th and final volume (thank God) of Platinum End, Rosen Blood 2, Undead Unluck 6, World Trigger 23, and Yakuza Lover 4.

ASH: I didn’t get very far with Platinum End.

ANNA: I think I lasted for a couple volumes.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts Classroom of the Elite (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e), based on the light novel, which runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive. Kiyotaka is entering a prestigious high school known for educating the children of the future. Unfortunately, he ends up in Class D, which is where the rejects go to get ridiculed and vanish from society forever. Unfortunately for the school, there’s a lot more to Kiyotaka than it seems.

Also from Seven Seas: DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 3, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 3, The Invincible Shovel 3, My Lovey-Dovey Wife is a Stone Cold Killer 2, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 5, Sorry for My Familiar 9, and A White Rose in Bloom 2.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to A White Rose in Bloom.

ASH: As am I. I really love Asumiko Nakamura’s manga.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a 14th volume of Hinamatsuri.

ASH: I’ve fallen behind, but I’ve gotten a kick out of what I’ve read so far.

SEAN: Kodansha, in print, has Beyond the Clouds 4, Chasing After Aoi Koshiba 3, Love and Lies 11, Saint Young Men 8, and Yuri Is My Job! 8.

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

SEAN: Digitally, the debut is… not announced yet, so will have to wait.

Also digitally: A Couple of Cuckoos 6, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 8, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 21, My Master Has No Tail 4, the 22nd and final volume of Smile Down the Runway, and We’re New at This 10.

J-Novel Club debuts Magic Knight of the Old Ways (Furuki Okite no Mahou Kishi), a story of knights and kings that also has to deal with the fact that its leads are named Sid and Alvin, which makes me worry this will become Carry On Magic Knights.

J-Novel Club also has some digital manga releases as we see Bibliophile Princess 5, The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride 3, Infinite Dendrogram 9, and Marginal Operation 12.

Ghost Ship has new volumes. We get Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You? 3 and Might as Well Cheat: I Got Transported to Another World Where I Can Live My Wildest Dreams! 2.

Cross Infinite World debuts So You Want to Live the Slow Life? A Guide to Life in the Beastly Wilds (Shishi Kamori de Slow Life), a bit of a reverse isekai. Our hero stays in Japan, and inherits his grandfather’s estate. Unfortunately, his estate is in the Beastly Wilds, a section of forest off-limits to humans… as it’s filled with beastmen! That said, it’s a slow life book, so don’t expect battles.

ASH: Could possibly be an interesting isekai inversion.

SEAN: In print, Airship has Berserk of Gluttony 5 and The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 6.

And in early digital, they have a debut: The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior (Higeki no Genkyou tonaru Saikyou Gedou Rasubosu Joou wa Tami no Tame ni Tsukushimasu). You know the drill. Reincarnated in an otome game as the villainess. Tries to be a good person instead. Does it a little TOO well.

Anything catch your fancy?

SEAN: STUFF! Just a whole ton of it. As always.

ASH: Yes, indeed!

ANNA: I’m always amazed.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has I’m in Love with the Villainess 4 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 3, while we get early digital volumes for The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 2 and The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 6.

ASH: Which reminds me that I need to read the first volume of The Haunted Bookstore; it seems like a series tailor-made for me.

SEAN: Dark Horse has a 5th volume of their Blade of the Immortal Deluxe series.

ASH: I am absolutely double-dipping for this edition.

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You (Kimi no Koto ga Dai Dai Dai Dai Daisuki na 100-nin no Kanojo), a Weekly Young Jump series about a guy with horrible romantic karma who now gets 100 soulmates. Unfortunately, he needs to make them ALL happy – or they’ll die!

ASH: I’ve actually heard some pretty good things about this series, so I plan on giving it a try.

SEAN: Ghost Ship also has World’s End Harem: Fantasia 6.

J-Novel Heart has a digital debut, and one I’ve wanted to read (legally) for years. Prison Life is Easy for a Villainess (Konyaku Haki kara Hajimaru Akuyaku Reijou no Kangoku Slow Life) does not involve anyone getting reincarnated into otome games or sent back in time to fix their future. Rachel is perfectly happy with her present, thank you… and happy to sit in prison while she watches her ex-fiance suffer.

ASH: Interesting!

ANNA: This does sound interesting.

SEAN: J-Novel Club also has My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer 3, the 8th manga volume of I Shall Survive Using Potions!, and The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 19.

Kodansha’s print debut is The Best of Attack on Titan: In Color. It is what it is.

ASH: Huh. I can only assume this is aimed at devotees of the series; seems like it could make a rough entry point for a newcomer.

SEAN: Also in print: Bakemonogatari 12, Blood on the Tracks 8, Eden’s Zero 15, Flying Witch 10, Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan 3, Real Account 15-17, The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 2, Star⇄Crossed!! 4 (the final volume), With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun 6, and Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches 25-26. Boat finally make it through the Suez Canal, then?

ASH: Ha!

MICHELLE: This will be the volume I finally check out Star⇄Crossed!!!

SEAN: Digitally our debuut is Sakura’s Dedication (Sakura wa Watashi wo Sukisugiru), a shoujo title that’s been in both Betsufure and Palcy (titles move more easily these days). A girl who just broke up with her cheating boyfriend is suddenly confessed to by an earnest young man. Sadly, he’s not her type. But that’s not stopping him from confessing over… and over… and over again. OK, this is just embarrassing!

MICHELLE: Yeah, not sure what to think about this. That behavior is not great.

SEAN: They’ve also got Back When You Called Us Devils 10, Harem Marriage 14, His Extra-Large, Ever-So-Lovely… 2, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 11 (the final volume), Nina the Starry Bride 6, Saving Sweets for After-Hours 2, Space Brothers 40, and Tesla Note 3.

Two new series from Seven Seas. I’m a Wolf, but My Boss is a Sheep! (Ookami Buka-kun to Hitsuji Joushi-san), a Comic Bunch title about a mattress company consisting of all sheep employees… and one lone wolf. He tries to keep to himself, but his boss is so adorable! Gonna be honest, this looks cute.

ASH: It really does.

SEAN: We also get Monologue Woven For You (Kimi ni Tsumugu Bouhaku), a yuri title from Takeshobo about two drama majors whose paths cross. It’s in full color!

ASH: Oh, ho!

ANNA: Is full color manga now a thing?

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas, Creepy Cat 2, Hitomi-chan is Shy With Strangers 3, Kiruru Kill Me 2, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 3, and semelparous 2.

ASH: A good week for curious cat manga, then.

SEAN: Square Enix has Soul Eater Perfect Edition 6.

Tokyopop has the 2nd volume of Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide.

Generally I tend to skip Viz’s digital-only Jump releases, which come out at the end of the month. But the debut this month is one of my favorite current series, WITCH WATCH. The creator did comedy Sket Dance for years, and also Astra: Lost in Space. This new series has a teenage witch move into the house of her childhood friend and ogre, in the hopes of making him her familiar… and perhaps more? It’s hilarious.

ASH: That’s a solid recommendation.

ANNA: I enjoy witchy manga.

SEAN: Yen On has 86–EIGHTY-SIX 9, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 5, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 5, I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 2, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 18, and The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 4.

The debut from Yen Press is From the Red Fog (Akai Kiri no Naka kara), a GFantasy title (attn: MJ) that can best be described as ‘historical horror’. A young boy who has been kept in a basement for years grows up, leaves and moves into a nursing home. Except… bad things keep trailing after him. And honestly, given that cover art, he looks OK with that.

ASH: I am likewise intrigued!

MJ: You called? Oooooohhhhh, you DID call. Okay. Yes. YESSSSSSSSSSSSS. I NEED IT.

Yen also have Cheeky Brat 2, Cirque Du Freak: The Manga Omnibus 5, Love at Fourteen 11, Love of Kill 6, Mama Akuma 2, Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc 2, the 6th and final volume of RaW Hero, Reign of the Seven Spellblades 2, and Spirits & Cat Ears 10.

What manga would you read in prison?

SEAN: Valentine’s Day has gone, so what manga did you get? Chocolate manga? Is it food? Can you eat it?

Viz Media has the one-shot Came the Mirror & Other Tales from Rumiko Takahashi, which seems to be along the lines of her Rumic Theater collections of yore. Five short stories, all “magical realist” in nature. Plus, a rare appearance in a Viz title from Mitsura Adachi, as Takahashi discusses her friendship with him.

ASH: I’m excited for this one, but had missed that there was an Adachi connection, too!

MICHELLE: I will definitely have to check this out!

ANNA: This sounds cool.

MJ: Oh, interesting!

SEAN: Viz also has Golden Kamuy 25, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 17, No Guns Life 12, Urusei Yatsura 13, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 5.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Golden Kamuy.

SEAN: Tokyopop has I’m Looking for Serious Love! (Tadareta Koi ni wa Itashimasen!), a one-shot BL title from Overlap’s LiQulle (Overlap does non-isekai stories?). Naive country boy meets suave city boy. Coitus ensues.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

MJ: *appreciates Michelle’s snerk*

SEAN: Two debuts from Seven Seas. I Can’t Believe I Slept With You! (Ichido Dake Demo, Koukai Shitemasu) is a yuri title from Dengeki Daioh about a young woman who is jobless and hasn’t paid her rent. The landlady will let it slide… if the two of them sleep together. They do, and somehow it becomes an ongoing thing. But can friendship arise from this?

MJ: W. tf.

SEAN: Restart After Growing Hungry is technically a sequel to Restart After Coming Back Home, showing us the further adventures of Mitsuomi and Yamato. It ran in Canna, and is also one volume.

Also from Seven Seas: the 2nd Heaven Official’s Blessing novel, Kageki Shojo!! 4, Kase-san and Yamada 2, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 14, Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 2, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 4, and A Tale of the Secret Saint 2.

ASH: Still very happy to see Heaven Official’s Blessing being translated.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on both Restart and Heaven Official’s Blessing.

ANNA: I’m in the middle of the first book! Need to finish up.

SEAN: One Peace has the 17th manga volume of The Rising of the Shield Hero.

SEAN: In print, Kodansha has The Summer With You, sequel to My Summer Of You.

The digital debut is The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch (Chouzetsu Kataomoi High Spec Yoshida), a shoujo title from Palcy. A hot guy who is also great at his job has a secret: he’s in love with a disaster of a manga artist! He’s her assistant, but… she doesn’t know he’s in love with her! This seems amusing.

ASH: Manga-related manga has a pretty good track record with me.

MICHELLE: It’s worth a try.

ANNA: It sounds cute.

MJ: It had me at “disaster.” Count me in!

SEAN: There’s also Defying Kurosaki-kun 18, The Lines that Define Me 2, Our Fake Marriage 8, and Shaman King Marcos 3.

There’s a lot from J-Novel Club. First some print titles, as we see By the Grace of the Gods 7, Full Metal Panic! Volumes 7-9 Collector’s Edition, Her Majesty’s Swarm 2, I Shall Survive Using Potions! manga volume 6, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 4, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 3rd manga volume.

J-Novel Club debuts FOUR new light novel series this week. We start with My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World (Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life), a classic slow life title. Guy dies, is reincarnated as a quiet, normal profession… but things keep happening to him.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex (Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta) is a romcom title about… well. They dated in middle school. They broke up. Now, in high school, they’re stepsiblings. Can they really get along even after breaking up? This has an anime coming soon.

To Another World… with Land Mines! (Isekai Teni, Jirai Tsuki) has an entire class get killed off and sent to another world. There’s a god offering them cool powers… but why is everyone taking this at face value except our hero?

When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace (Inō-Batoru wa Nichijō-kei no Naka de) already had an anime… in 2014. Another class gets cool powers, and they don’t even have to die! Our hero knows what’s coming next: they’ll have to save the world. Except… why is life carrying on as normal?

Also from J-Novel Club: Ascendance of a Bookworm 17, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 2, Holmes of Kyoto 8, Perry Rhodan NEO 6, and Record of Wortenia War 14.

ASH: I say this almost every time, but hooray Bookworm!

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts The Witches of Adamas (Adamasu no Majotachi), from Weekly Young Magazine, about… oh Christ, skip it. Not even gonna.

ASH: I had to look it up and just… wow.

SEAN: They also have Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 18.

And Airship has, in print, Adachi and Shimamura 8 and Planet of the Orcs 2.

And in digital-first we have Classroom of the Elite 10 and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 15.

What Valentine’s gifts did you get? Please tell me it wasn’t The Witches of Adamas.

SEAN: February still exists, despite all our best efforts. What manga is there next week?

ASH: It still does, doesn’t it?

SEAN: We start off with Airship, which has early digital editions for The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 6 and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 4.

Ghost Ship debuts 2.5 Dimensional Seduction (2.5 Jigen no Yuuwaku), which runs in Shonen Jump +. The manga club president is only into fictional girls. But wait… what if real-life girls cosplay AS fictional girls? This comes with a recommendation from the creator of One Piece, well known for his realistic body designs on women.

ASH: With the right creator that could be a cute premise.

SEAN: Ghost Ship also has Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 7 and SUPER HXEROS 5.

Two light novel debuts for J-Novel Club. Fantasy Inbound (Isekai, Shuurai) is an MF Bunko J title, and this time around, the fantasy world is crossing over to Japan… to invade it! With the world in chaos and destroyed, can one man stand a chance to save it?

The other title is Saint? No! I’m Just a Passing Beast Tamer! (Seijo-sama? Iie, Toorisugari no Mamono Tsukai desu!), a Kadokawa Books series about a girl who SHOULD be the Saint who will help to guide the Church… but will that get her cute animals to snuggle? Will it get her fluff? No. Ergo, she must change jobs!

ASH: I can follow that logic.

SEAN: Other light novels are The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 12, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 2, and The Tales of Marielle Clarac 8.

On the manga side, they have Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight -Origins- 5 and My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AΩ— 3.

ASH: It took me a moment to fully parse how many titles you just listed there.

SEAN: Kodansha has some print books. Cells At Work: Baby! 3, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 2, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 11, Lovesick Ellie 2, Perfect World 10, Shaman King Omnibus 7, Toppu GP 7, and The Witch and the Beast 8.

ASH: Seems like the first print volume of Lovesick Ellie was just released not too long ago; I need to pick that up!

ANNA: It is really good! I didn’t realize the second volume was coming out so fast.

SEAN: Two digital debuts. Falling Drowning (Ochite Oborete) is a Dessert series about a high school love triangle. (Sorry, sometimes they just sound like that.)

MICHELLE: I will probably be checking this out.

ANNA: It sounds like my kind of thing, but I’m terrible at reading digital manga.

SEAN: Fungus and Iron (Kin to Tetsu) is a sci-fi shonen series that comes from Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. A young man risks it all for love… but the risks involve mushrooms!

ASH: Okay, I’m curious.

SEAN: Also digital: Are You Lost? 9, Giant Killing 29, I Was Reincarnated with OP Invincibility, so I’ll Beat ’em Up My Way as an Action-Adventurer 2, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 3, It’s That Reincarnated-as-a-Virus Story 2, Police in a Pod 9, The Springtime of My Life Began with You 5 (the final volume), and Tokyo Revengers 24.

MICHELLE: I really must catch up on Giant Killing.

SEAN: Seven Seas has Seaside Stranger 2 and Skip and Loafer 3.

SuBLime debuts Change World, a Dear+ title that is a sequel to Sayonara Game.

They’ve also got the special limited edition of Yarichin Bitch Club 4.

Tokyopop debuts Alice in Bishonen-Land (Shinkyou Alice to bishounen to bishounen to bishounen to bishounen to bishounen ~Otome Game Royale~), a shoujo series that seems to combine idols with trapped in a game survival stuff. Our heroine is a manager?

Viz debuts Deadpool: Samurai, a series which runs in Shonen Jump + but stars everyone’s favorite Marvel headcase. Will Deadpool meet the stars of Shonen Jump? I wouldn’t put it past him…

ASH: That could be fun.

ANNA: Truly, there is no way to escape Deadpool.

SEAN: Viz also has Call of the Night 6, Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 16, the light novel Fullmetal Alchemist: The Abducted Alchemist, Hayate the Combat Butler 39, How Do We Relationship? 5, and Komi Can’t Communicate 17.

Yen On has three ‘delayed from January’ books: Baccano! 18, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 8, and High School DxD 6.

And Yen Press gives us Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 6, Days on Fes 4, and In Another World with My Smartphone 4.

Can you make February go away with your MIND? Or with manga?