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Manga the Week of 6/28/23

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SEAN: June is almost over, so let’s get those last books out before the fiscal year ends.

ASH: I am unfortunately very aware of these deadlines.

SEAN: Airship has one print light novel: Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 7.

We also see early digital releases of I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 5 and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 2.

No debuts from Cross Infinite World, but we get two ongoing series: Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin 5 and The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor 2.

Denpa says this should be sold at AX, so I’ll stick it here, though I’m sure it will retail later. Fate/Grand Order: Chaldea Scrapbook (Fate/Grand Order Caldeas Clap) ran in Type-Moon Comic Ace, and is a series of shorts dealing with the FGO cast, including Mash’s backstory!

Ghost Ship brings us Call Girl in Another World 7.

No debuts from J-Novel Club, but lots of ongoing titles. We get Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 13, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 10, Grand Sumo Villainess Z (the final volume?), The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 16, the 5th Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! manga volume, I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying 2, The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 8 (the final volume), and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 6.

Kodansha Books has a 2nd volume of As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World.

Kodansha Manga has a one-shot debut from Kyoko Okazaki, author of Helter Skelter. River’s Edge is a dark tale showing us the lives of six emotionally stunted students, and it ran in CUTIE.

ANNA: Alright, I’m likely going to check this out.

ASH: Absolutely! I am very much looking forward to this release. Okazaki’s work is tremendous.

SEAN: Also in print: Blue Lock 7, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 6, Saint Young Men Omnibus 10, Shangri-La Frontier 6, and Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 4.

ANNA: Need to remember to pick up Blue Lock for one of my kids.

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

SEAN: And we get digital volumes of Boss Bride Days 6, Gamaran: Shura 9, Getting Closer to You 5, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 14, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 10, Lightning and Romance 4, My Home Hero 5, Saint Young Men 20, That’s My Atypical Girl 9, and The World of Summoning 2.

KUMA is here for the same reason Denpa is: this should be available at AX. Eiji and Shiro: From Zeroes to Heroes (Mobyama Aji to Mobtani Crou no Kareinaru Nichijou e no Chousen) is a BL title from Takeshobo’s Reijin! about two “background characters” trying to change their destiny of being “those two guys”.

MICHELLE: This might be silly fun.

ASH: It does look that way!

SEAN: And they should also have Happy of the End 2.

One Peace Books has a 3rd volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (the manga version).

Seven Seas debuts Homunculus, which inspired a Netflix series. Coming out as an oversized omnibus of the first two volumes, it’s by the creator of Ichi the Killer. It’s part psychological suspense and part just plain horror, and it ran in Big Comic Spirits. A homeless man is offered money to be the subject of a mysterious experiment…

MICHELLE: “Psychological suspense” is up my alley.

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

SEAN: Also debuting is Obnoxious Hero-kun: The Complete Collection. This is a BL webtoon collection, which we’ve seen an awful lot of lately. Hope you like bondage!

ASH: There seem to be a few bondage-related manga out these days.

SEAN: There’s also 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 3, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 5, Failed Princesses 6.5 (a 50-page digital only extra with a couple bonus chapters), I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl 3, Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 3, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 4, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 5, SPRIGGAN: Deluxe Edition 4 (the final volume), Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 5 (the final volume), There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 2, and Tokyo Revengers 11-12.

ASH: Need to catch up on (or start) some of these.

SEAN: Square Enix Manga gives us Otherside Picnic 5 and Ragna Crimson 9.

Steamship has Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts 4.

Tokyopop debuts Delivery for You! (Kime e Otodoke), a BL oneshot about a guy who collects figures falling in love with his deliveryman. It ran in Chara.

They’ve also got On or Off 4 (the final volume).

Viz debuts Goodbye, Eri, from the creator of Chainsaw Man. This one-shot about a filmmaker and how he deals with grief was beloved by everyone I know when it appeared digitally.

ANNA: OK, I’m curious.

Also they also have Wolverine: Snikt!, a 136-page Marvel collaboration I would normally ignore except it’s by the creator of Knights of Sidonia.

MICHELLE: Huh.

ANNA: ….still curious.

ASH: Oh!

SEAN: They’ve also got a second Demon Slayer novel, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Signs From the Wind. And Fist of the North Star 9.

ASH: Still very happy to be able to collect more of Fist of the North Star.

Lastly, Yen Press has a couple stragglers, as we see Phantom Tales of the Night 11, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 4: The Sanctuary and the Witch of Greed 6, and Triage X 25.

That’s a lot more “end of June” than I was expecting. Anything for you?

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: 5th Squad Jam: Continue

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By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

This review spoils the climax of this volume, but only after the cover image, so FYI.

I have had my complaints about this series, too numerous to mention, but the one thing that has always been apparent and appreciated is how much fun Keiichi Sigsawa is clearly having writing it. Leaving aside his annoying author avatar (who comes up with a light novel title parody for the ages in the afterword), all of the gun battles and backstabs and double backstabs in this book make you smile and imagine the author typing away, pausing only to pump his fist and go “Yes!”. It oozes a sort of testosterone, which is interesting given that most of the main cast are all women. It also does not have to deal with any of SAO’s issues. No one is trapped in the game. Death is fake. There are no NPCs, and you don’t need to worry about sentience. It’s a giant sandbox to play in. That’s why everyone is here.

As you’d expect given that this is the middle volume of a Squad Jam, there’s no plot here to deal with except “watch Llenn try not to get shot”. She manages to defuse Fuka and the two of them reveal just what they’re carrying as their alternate, swap out weapon, which is genius and also relies on the two of them being besties. Pitohui gets to simply sit in a tree, shoot the occasional passing enemy, and amuse herself imagining Llenn panicking. M teams up with one of the Russian girls, Anna, in what ends up being a very nasty game of Wacky Races. Shirley is in in her element, sniping in the snow. And Clarence also hooks up with a Russian girl, though mostly their plot is “hide behind a rock”. Eventually, almost everyone meets up, but there’s a new problem: the final climax will take place in a castle, and to make everyone go inside it the ground starts to vanish!

Since the start of this series, the author has delighted in having the character want to do something and then finding ways for it not to happen. The obvious example is Llenn wanting to fight SHINC, something that she’s certainly done a few times, but never in the “fair fight, no weird tricks or rules” way that she desperately wants. (She needs to not do this in a Squad Jam, frankly.) But she’s not the only one with constantly frustrated goals, as we’ve watched Shirley desperately trying to get to the point of “snipe and kill Pitohui” and forever being frustrated, to the point where they’re mostly allies these days. And that’s what makes the end of this volume stunning, as for once one of our characters gets what they want and is satisfied. Imagine! And then there’s the capper, as I was wondering what the next volume would do without Pitohui in it, but it seems that the author has a way around that, so it should be fine.

These volumes tend to wildly swing between “excellent” and “deepl frustrating”, and this one is the former, which pleases me. The next volume wraps up the arc, and also catches up with Japan, as it only came out there three months ago. Mindless fun, in the good way.

The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker, Vol. 8

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By Tôwa and Huuka Kazabana. Released in Japan as “Sekai Saikyou no Kouei: Meikyuukoku no Shinjin Tansakusha” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alexandra McCullough-Garcia and John Neal.

This series, of course, follows the efforts of our hero, who is the bestest guy who ever lived, and so it can sometimes be hard to remember that for everyone else in this world not in Arihito’s party, this world is a parade of failures, lethal battles, and fates worse than death. The Simian Lord can make you a mind-controlled puppet, the monsters can kill you and never look back, and if you fail and survive, well, your reputation is so bad you may as well go right back to the beginning. It’s a vicious little world that would be extremely unpleasant to read about if this book were not a male power fantasy, so good news! It is still a male power fantasy, and instead of tragedies piled on each other we can read about triumph over said tragedy. As well as, y’know, more ways to use Arihito’s mysterious orgasm power. Which the girls still won’t tell him about.

Our heroes are still trying to find a way to defeat the Simian Lord and free Theresia from his curse. This involves finding Holy Stones, something that would normally be next to impossible but fortunately their party has a girl whose job it is to be lucky. They then have to battle a sand creature, which is defeated thanks to Theresia, but it turns out that defeating monsters in combat advances the curse, so she attacks Arihito. Things are desperate. Fortunately, Arihito’s reputation and general kindness means that he has quite a few allies this time around (though Elitia’s brother is not among them, and it’s implied that he’ll be the main antagonist in the next volume). Do they have enough to finally do what no one else has done and defeat the Simian Lord?

Theresia is particularly lucky that everyone loves Arihito, as after her attack she’s arrested and taken to a holding cell, and it’s only the intervention of three other people that saves her from what sounds like a very nasty fate. It’s actually been a while since we’ve looked at how people in this world treat demi-humans, and the answer has ranged from “slave” to “tool”, but this also means that when you’re p;ut under a curse that is not your fault and you attack your friend, the solution is “imprison you forever and oh yes, you’ll also probably get sexually assaulted”. I am therefore relieved that this long arc is finally over, and that, needless to say, our heroes win. Though I will admit I’d have liked a bit more of an epilogue, as we get very little after battle tears and instead get introduced to an amoral girl who seems to be in charge of things. Another teaser for next time.

If there is a next time. The last volume was a year and a half ago in Japan. The webnovel has been updated once in the last two years, and is also caught up with the light novels. And the author has a new series being published that seems to be taking up his time now. Given that, I’m even more happy this arc ended, and if fans want to write fanfic showing what happens next, hey, knock yourself out. recommended to fans of books that are both pure and deeply horny at the same time.

Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight, Vol. 1

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By Fuyu Aoki and Minori Aritani. Released in Japan as “Doinaka no Hakugai Reijо̄ wa О̄to Elite Kishi ni Dekiai Sareru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen.

This one starts off rough, and I would not blame some people for noping out of the title when they read the first 30 pages or so. If you took Cinderella but made the abuse much, much worse, you’d have the start of this book. That said, AFTER the first thirty pages or so of the novel, you get to the reason it exists, which is basically “healing”, with a small side of romance. The romance is definitely there, don’t get me wrong, but our two leads are both too busy trying to get over past traumas and their own issues to really pledge their love to each other just yet. However, they *can* both be the best thing that ever happened to each other, and we se that here. Chloe allows Lloyd to see those around him and to feel warmth and softer emotions again. And Lloyd literally saves Chloe’s life, and also patiently waits for her to cope with some very real trauma. “Safe & Sound* is the important part.

Chloe was born deep in the mountains to a margrave’s family. Unfortunately, she was born with a large birthmark on her, during a famine, and her father and one of her siblings died shortly after this. As a result, she has the reputation of a “cursed child”, and is treated like a slave by her mother and sister. One day her mother snaps and tries to stab her, and Chloe flees the house and runs away to the capital… a mere three-week long journey through dangerous woods. On her arrival, she’s exhausted and confused, and is almost taken by some hooligans before being saved by a passing young man. The young man is Lloyd, the shining star of the Elite Knights in the capital. He takes Chloe back to his house, and after a lot of back and forth she agrees to be his housekeeper.

This book is definitely about overcoming trauma, but it’s not exactly the most subtle about it. Chloe’s mother and sister are cartoon villains, as are the ones who accost her on the street. Moreover, the moment I saw that she was having trouble cooking meals because knives gave her flashbacks to her mother’s attempted murder, I knew exactly how the book would end, and I was right. Still, the main reason to read this is the healing vibes, and it gets that perfectly. Chloe is just the right amount of “complete lack of self-esteem” that would naturally come from her background without being over the top, and I appreciated that Lloyd had his own childhood issues (also a bit ridiculous, to be honest) to cope with, rather than being the perfect boyfriend immediately. There are also several plot points left hanging for a Volume 2, including a possible confrontation with her abusive family and telling Lloyd about her “curse”. I suspect that one of those will go better than the other.

So yes, not revelatory or anything, and it paints in broad strokes, but this is a solid romance for fans of the genre.

Fake Saint of the Year: You Wanted the Perfect Saint? Too Bad!, Vol. 1

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By kabedondaikou and Yunohito. Released in Japan as “Risō no Seijo? Zannen, Nise Seijo Deshita! Kuso of the Year to Yobareta Akuyaku ni Tensei Shitanda ga” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

One of the struggles in reviewing a giant pile of light novels is that there is not a lot of binary to it. While it would be much easier if every series was either magical and something you need to read immediately, or else a terrible dumpster fire of a series that you never want to read another volume of, the sad fact is that most series are various types of OK. They do some things well, but they also do some things badly. And figuring out if the badly outweighs the well is something I have never really been that good at, as you can likely guess given how much I’m trying to read. Fake Saint of the Year is another book like that. There’s some interesting stuff going on here, with a twist I quite enjoyed. That said, there’s a lot of “let’s throw that cliche in as it’s popular”, and the lead character’s narrative voice… is awful.

A loser NEET guy enjoys playing visual novels, and then one day he wakes up to find he’s in the 5-year-old body of Ellize, who is… brace yourself… the villainess of the game he was playing! Supposedly the “saint” of this world ,she had a ton of power, but didn’t cultivate it, and was abusive and awful to everyone. As it turned out, she wasn’t the true saint, so ended up being shamed, exiled, and eventually ripped apart. You would think, now that he is trapped in this villainess body, our hero is going to change Ellize’s fate so that she lives, but, having spoilery knowledge of the way the game works, he has no intention of doing that. Instead, he’s going to manipulate things so that his OTP avoids the unhappy ending it got in canon!

Let’s start with the bad: Ellize’s narrative voice is that of a skeezy 20-ish young man, who enjoys leering at, and (on occasion) groping the women around him. It makes the book very hard to recommend. The reason that Ellize gets away with it is that this is also one of those “whatever the heroine does, everyone will misinterpret it in the best way possible” sort of books, a la Tearmoon Empire. This is not helped by Ellize herself (there is little to no gender dysphoria in this book, the author just wanted to write a girl with a horndog inner voice, so I’ll use her), who keeps trying to do things that will drive people away from her but ends up saying wonderful, heroic speeches and being utterly kind to people. I’m not even sure she’s aware of that. There’s also the big twist in the game, which is a twist that works very well in the book as well, and leads to some genuinely good drama.

Sadly, this is another one of those “this book does not end, it just stops” novels, so we’ll need to wait for Vol. 2 to find out what happens next. In the meantime, if you can overlook a heroine who enjoys ogling large-breasted woman and saying “no homo!” whenever it’s implied a guy might like her, there are things to enjoy here.

BLADE & BASTARD: Wireframe Dungeon & Dragon with Red Dead

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By Kumo Kagyu and so-bin. Released in Japan as “Blade & Bastard” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

I will give Blade & Bastard some credit: the author is not afraid to state right up front that every woman in this book is the author’s barely disguised fetish. In the first volume we were introduced to the feral redhead who only communicates in barks and yaps, and here we see she’s also fond of stripping naked to clean herself in the middle of the street. There’s a nun who’s constantly trying to get people to be more religious, but she also really, really really REALLY loves violence. And in this second volume we mete a massive dojikko, and by massive I mean that she is six-foot-six. The book starts by describing her as “Tall, with big eyes. Big muscles, big boobs, and a big butt too.”. She also has the self-worth of a peanut. Really, you have to hand it to Kumo Kagyu. He knows that anyone who stays past that opening sentence is here for the long haul. And, to be fair, there is still a lot here to like as well.

The big everything girl is Berkanan, whose corpse our heroes find in the dungeon towards the start of the book. She’s been killed by a massive fire dragon that has taken residence in the dungeon, and is stopping adventurers from going through it, as the dragon is well-nigh unkillable. Upon revival, Berkanan begs Iarumas, Garbage and Raraja to help her go back into the dungeon and kill the dragon, out of a combination of anger that she was killed and a sort of desperate need to prove herself, probably as she’s a mage who’s trained for years but she only knows one low-level spell. Still, SOMEONE needs to kill the dragon, or this town that is surviving only because of this one dungeon is doomed. Why can’t it be her?

The author knows how to write atmosphere, and a good fight scene, which is still probably the main reason to get this. Despite being a walking stereotype, Berkanan is quite likeable, and you root for her to succeed. Garbage still only barks and yaps, but she’s also a bit less feral and more domesticated, and we get more evidence that she’s secret royalty – mostly as assassins keep trying to kill her. Iarumas, alas, remains a walking NPC, though it was nice to see him almost show an emotion during the fight with the dragon. On the down side, aside from Berkanan being a walking fetish (the artist also enjoys emphasizing this), there is a small little man named Bank who deals in money… I can’t call anti-semitic just yet, but I feel like the moment we get any description of him he will be anti-semitic. Though that may be down to the source material.

And perhaps the biggest drawback, the translation seems wedded to reminding us this is based on Wizardry. We here someone has the power to survive, and then we see (hit points) after the word survive, as though it’s translating from novel to game. Spells are also used, and it just types the acronym (I assume) for the spell, such as HALITO. I get this book is meant to sell to Wizardry fans rather than light novel fans, but it does not make life easy. That said… despite everything, I also really liked Berkanan, who is simply a very sympathetic character, and I hope that we get more of her gaining confidence. I also hope she does not end up in a romantic rivalry with Garbage over Raraja, but I’m far less optimistic about that.

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 10

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By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hunter Prigg.

For a great deal of this series, we’ve been presented with a question: who will Rimi end up with? It seemed fairly obvious for the first half, as it was very much a romance between her and Shusei, bonding over food and dodging inner court intrigue. But then Shohi also fell in love with Rimi, and things got shaken up… to the point that Shusei is now starting a war in order to gain the throne so he can get what he wants. Ironically, if he’s only waited a little bit longer he might have gotten it anyway, as while it’s clear Shohi does love Rimi, and she loves him, their relationship is explicitly likened to a mother and son, and so when he’s told he needs to sire an heir NOW because of the upcoming war, he can’t see Rimi as a partner in that way. This WOULD be good news for Shusei… if it weren’t for the last three or four books, and honestly, I’m starting to wonder if the books might now just end with no romantic resolution at all.

Rushing back to the palace, Shohi and company find that a large number of the bureaucrats have switched sides, and are asking him to abdicate. This includes Shusei, who is generously giving him ten days to decide whether to abdicate or go to war. And Shusei, by far, has the larger force to make war. There are, unfortunately, other problems as well. They still haven’t found the spy in the court, Mars. Tama has been out of sorts ever since they returned, and her actions midway through the book cause a crisis. Oh yes, and Shohi starts to become ill and also go blind, which doctors say is some mysterious illness, but the reader can very obviously see is because he’s being poisoned. By Hakurei. Which… makes no sense whatsoever. Can Rimi figure out what’s really going on? And are they really going to war?

Mars’ identity has been a well-placed mystery this whole book, and when it’s revealed here it makes sense – I won’t spoil it, but it has an impact. I also enjoyed seeing the four consorts have a large role in this book, especially Ho, who is forced to deal with all the manipulation Hakurei has done against her and help with the main plotline. (Yo continues to be comedy relief, alas, but at least she’s funny most of the time.) As for Shusei and Rimi, it’s very clear from Shusei’s actions that he’s got several tricks up his sleeve, and I don’t think all of those involve his own victory. Unfortunately, given he’s a traitor, and also given Rimi right now thinks that “Lord Ho” has killed the Shusei she knew and is 100% against him, I’m not sure quite how this ends. Exile with Rimi at his side would feel far too pat.

I should not have too long to find out, though, as the next book is the last in the series. A good addition to one of the classic “intrigue in the emperor’s court” genre.

Manga the Week of 6/21/23

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SEAN: Manga the Week of is happy to celebrate Juneteenth, and hopes the day off lets you read more manga.

It’s Yen week, so there’s plenty of it. Starting with Yen On. There are two debuts. The Ephemeral Scenes of Setsuna’s Journey (Setsuna no Fūkei) is one of those “summoned as a hero” books that tries to take a long look at what that sort of thing would do to the psyche of a person. The description makes it almost sound like Frieren.

Yami-hara is a one-shot novel. The author is famous for her mysteries, but this seems more horror than anything. The plot description… does not really reveal anything.

MICHELLE: Indeed not!

ASH: Oh, I am intrigued, though! (And had somehow missed that another of Mizuki Tsujimura’s novels was being translated…)

SEAN: We’ve also got Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World 3, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 10, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 4, Date a Live 9, Gods’ Games We Play 2, My Happy Marriage 4, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Nightingale (11th in the series), Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 22, So I’m a Spider, So What? 16 (the final volume), Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 12, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 8.

Yen Press has a bunch of new series as well. Appare-Ranman! is a 3-in-1 omnibus, and thus done-in-one. It ran in Young Ace, and is based on an anime of the same name. A young man decides to do a cross-country race to earn money so he can go to the moon.

ASH: This seems like it could be fun.

SEAN: Bloody Sweet is a Korean title based off a webcomic (is that the word? Those “read as a long strip on your phone” comics), about a bullied shaman’s daughter who gets rescued by an ancient vampire.

The Essence of Being a Muse (Muse no Shinzui) is a Comic Beam title. A girl who’s always stuck to the path that her mother has laid out for her as an artist finally snaps, runs away from home, and resolves to try to find her own way of doing things.

ASH: My curiosity has been piqued; I often find artist stories interesting.

SEAN: Handyman Saito in Another World (Benriya Saitou-san, Isekai ni Iku) runs on Comic Walker, and was adapted into an anime recently. A jack-of-all-trades who finds himself underappreciated in Japan ends up in a fantasy world, and realizes that jack-of-all-trades is an awesome power!

ASH: Never underappreciate a jack-of-all-trades.

SEAN: Higurashi When They Cry: GOU was framed initially as a reboot of the series, but by now everyone has been spoiled that it’s a pure sequel. Who can possibly completely destroy our heroes’ lives now? This ran in Young Ace Up, and is an omnibus of the first two books in the series.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Memoria Freese (Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka ~ Memoria Frese) runs on Manga Up!, and seems to be an adaptation of the mobile game.

My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! —AO— (Sokushi Cheat ga Saikyou Sugite, Isekai no Yatsura ga Marude Aite ni Naranai n desu ga) is the print edition of J-Novel Club’s manga.

A Reincarnated Witch Spells Doom (Tensei Majo wa Horobi wo Tsugeru) features the ever-popular Truck-kun, who kills our heroine and sends her to the next world. Sadly, she’s a witch there, so everyone hates and fears her. This runs in shoujo magazine Flos Comic.

MICHELLE: Truck-kun, why must you be this way?!

SEAN: Scribbles is a collection of sketches by Kaoru Mori, and as such is must-buy.

ANNA: Cool!

ASH: Very excited for this one!

Sword Art Online Progressive: Scherzo of Deep Night (Sword Art Online: Progressive – Kuraki Yuuyami no Scherzo) starts the new arc of the Progressive manga.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop (Cider no you ni Kotoba ga Wakiagaru) is a Comic Alive (my nemesis!) title based on the feature film. It’s also an omnibus. She was a streamer girl, he was a haiku boy, could I make it any more obvious?

ASH: Haiku! I apparently need to catch up on my film watching.

SEAN: Yen Press has non-debuts as well! We get Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World 2, Assorted Entanglements 2, Chained Soldier 4, Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 4, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 14, Gahi-chan! 2, The Holy Grail of Eris 4, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 4, Monster and the Beast 4 (the final volume), No Longer Heroine 3, The Otherworlder, Exploring the Dungeon 2, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 6, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 10, The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices 2, So I’m a Spider, So What? 12, SOTUS 2, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 5 (the final volume), Uncle from Another World 7, Unnamed Memory 3, Val x Love 14, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 6.

ASH: I enjoyed the earlier volumes of Monster and the Beast, so I guess I should finish out the series!

SEAN: Viz has a new Signature title, Until I Love Myself (Jibun no Karada wo Yurusu made). It’s an autobiographical manga about coming to terms with being nonbinary. It ran in seinen magazine Yawaraka Spirits.

ASH: Signature titles are always a good bet and I am particularly interested in this subject matter.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Alice in Borderland 6, Beast Complex 3, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 8, Golden Kamuy 29, Insomniacs After School 2, Love’s in Sight! 2, Mission: Yozakura Family 5, Persona 5 10, and Requiem of the Rose King 17 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: Very excited to see how Requiem of the Rose King ends.

SEAN: Technically we’ve known how it ends since the 16th century.

MICHELLE: Snerk. Valid point, though I expect Bosworth Field with a twist.

ANNA: I need to catch up.

ASH: I am absolutely here for the finale of Requiem of the Rose King.

SEAN: From Square Enix we see Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 7 and Wandering Witch 4. Not sure what happened there, I could swear these were last week.

MICHELLE: I thought so, too.

ASH: Hmmm…

SEAN: Seven Seas has one debut. What He Who Doesn’t Believe in Fate Says (Unmei wo Shinjinai Kare ga Iu ni wa) runs in pixiv Sylph, and is a story of college students and the “red strings of fate” that determine love.

MICHELLE: Apparently, the red strings will occasionally be printed in color!

ASH: That is very cool.

SEAN: There is also The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 5, This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 7, Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 3, Time Stop Hero 7, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 9.

Kodansha Books has a 3rd volume of The Dawn of the Witch.

Kodansha Manga has a print debut of a title they’ve been putting out digitally, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms (Kuroiwa Medaka ni Watashi no Kawaii ga Tsuujinai), a Weekly Shonen Magazine story about a girl trying to get a monk in training to fall for her.

Also in print: Drifting Dragons 13, Fire Force 33, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! 5, Something’s Wrong With Us 15 (the final volume, though I think there’s after stories), and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 7.

ASH: I need to catch up with Drifting Dragons; I was really enjoying that series but got distracted by other things.

SEAN: And in digital the debut is Messiah -CODE EDGE-. This runs in Aria, and is based on another project that I know nothing about. Basically, it’s spies, in pairs, with romance. And they’re all guys, so I guess it’s BL romance?

MICHELLE: The blurb says, “Mysterious, handsome young men working as spy-pairs for a secret agency, the Church, are forbidden to love anyone but their partners.” So… yeah. :)

ANNA: Heh.

SEAN: There’s also The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 8, The Dawn of the Witch 3, Gamaran 10, Mr. Bride 8, Small Nozomi and Big Yume 2, This Vampire Won’t Give Up! 5 (the final volume – I guess they gave up), and Vampire Dormitory 10.

MICHELLE: LOL. Maybe they moved into the dormitory.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Kaiten Books has a 5th volume of Gacha Girls Corps digitally.

J-Novel Club has a debut in its Heart line. Safe & Sound in the Arms of an Elite Knight (Doinaka no Hakugai Reijо̄ wa О̄to Elite Kishi ni Dekiai Sareru). Not isekai’d or reincarnated, but the heroine is still abused by her family. When she runs away and is rescued by a knight, will things improve?

ASH: I’m still delighted that the Heart line exists.

SEAN: We also see By the Grace of the Gods 12, The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 4, Doll-Kara 5, An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! 3, the 4th Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World manga volume, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 23, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 8, Sometimes Even Reality Is a Lie! 3, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 11, Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 8, and the 3rd Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster manga.

From Ghost Ship we have Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 6 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 4.

Airship has just one print title, the 5th volume of Loner Life in Another World.

And for early digital we see She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 8 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 4.

I know, you likely stopped halfway through Yen Press. But what are you getting regardless?

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 12

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

You don’t see it quite as much these days, but, especially in the 1970s and 1980s, there was a thing called a “backdoor pilot”. The creators had a show they wanted to get on television, but knew it did not quite have the pull with the networks to get it there on its own. So what would happen is that you’d be watching, say, The Golden Girls, and the episode would instead be devoted almost entirely to a new cast, with the members of The Golden Girls basically serving as a cameo. (See: Empty Nest, as I’m using a real example). Now, sometimes this did not work, and what you ended up with was one of the characters of your hit show meeting a whole group of people, introducing all their plot points and characters, and then we simply never see them again. I mention this because boy, this 12th volume of The Ideal Sponger Life sure seems like it’s a backdoor pilot to show off adventures here in not-Poland.

Freya, Zenjirou and company are making their way slowly back to Uppasala, but they can’t just said there on a non-stop boat ride. So they dock for a few days in the country of Złota Wolność, which is sort of like what Poland would be if it was France. There they try to relax, but are almost immediately caught up in something, as a young orphan boy has big news to tell the priest who came to his (now destroyed) village a year or so ago, and in order to see the priest, he needs people with clout. People like Zenjirou. What they find is that the port is about to be invaded, and they’ll need to rally forces to have a hope of fending it off. Fortunately, they have a royal on their side, who drops in – literally – to help them. Naturally, this has the added benefit of helping her own fight for the throne…

In many ways, The Ideal Sponger Life also reminds me a lot of Bookworm, in that Zenjirou and Rozemyne both seem to casually upend everyone’s lives without even realizing it. I imagine that Aura, like Sylvester, is going to be rubbing her head to ward off the migraine when she hears about what happened. Honestly, Zenjirou does quite well here given the circumstances – despite his “I’m just an ordinary vice-commander… erm, royal consort” talk, he’s quick enough to spot that Anna has an ulterior motive behind all of this. Unfortunately, he and Freya are not quite quick enough to pick up on how she plans to draw them into it, though this will affect Freya more than it does the Southern Continent. There’s also some very interesting history dropped into the conversation at a party which ties in to Francesca’s people, though given that she stated she won’t talk about it till they return to Capua, it may have to be put on the back burner.

All in all, the most inaccurately titled light novel ever continues to trundle along, even as this volume feels like it wants to be the start of some other series set in the same world. Next time we should actually reach Freya’s homeland.

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!, Vol. 4

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By Touko Amekawa and Wan*Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuukimama na Hanayome (Hitojichi) Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Amy Osteraas. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

The 4th volume in the series decides to lean a little less on “why is Prince Arnold so determined to go to war with everyone in the future” and focus more on “why are Prince Arnold and Rishe not admitting they’ve both completely fallen for one another? Well, they have, sort of. In their own way. The trouble with agendas is that it can be very difficult to admit explicit feelings of love when you know that eventually you’re going to destroy several countries. Or, in Rishe’s case, when you’re trying to juggle six prior lifetimes and solve each issue with them one by one to get a golden ending. That said, this book is far more explicitly romantic than the previous three, even if it does throw in the cliched “heroine is scared of ghosts” subplot. To be fair to Rishe, though, she has looped over and over. Given that’s possible, anything is.

While the romance at the start of the book is still theoretical, the wedding plans are trucking along anyway. In particular, they’re starting to get foreign visitors who will be there for the wedding, including the prince of Siguel, Curtis, and the princess, Harriet. Harriet is currently preparing for a political marriage in the neighboring kingdom of Fabrannia, a fact that Rishe knows all too well. She was a hunter in Siguel in her 5th life, and remembers Queen Harriet as an evil spendthrift who was executed and led to Siguel being forced to go to war against (who else?) Prince Arnold. As with previous books, Rishe has to fix things so that events don’t turn out that way. This time, though, there’s an added twist: Harriet is a fluffy hamster of a woman, and is highly unlikely to have been remotely evil.

There are several points in this book where Rishe is thrown off her game, but frankly they all involve Prince Arnold. Around him she gets flustered and stammering. Away from him she is, as the antagonist of the book Raul notes, “a monster”. Hell, even Raul isn’t a real antagonist, because here she actually can use all the info from her past life to save him. Harriet is trickier, but Rishe still manages to act as a sword-wielding guardsman, show Harriet that proper skincare is a great way to gain confidence, and fake being poisoned to let everyone think that she won’t be riding to the rescue with Prince Arnold, shooting down enemies with a bow and arrow and dramatically crashing through a stained glass window. Frankly, I think it’s Arnold who should be terrified of her. But this isn’t really that sort of genre.

I can’t wait for the next book. Alas, I may have to. This is the last to date, and a 5th is on Amazon Japan with a release date of “2100”. Let’s hope we can get the end of Rishe’s story.

Bookshelf Briefs 6/14/23

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The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 11 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The copious adulting continues in this volume to the point where it’s a little stressful at times. I guess I prefer my manga threats to be opposing teams or nefarious foes rather than a casually sexist boss who gets on your case because you did too good a job leaving detailed instructions for your sloppy coworker. Anyway, the baby is born and Mikuri and Hiramasa seem poised to be a good team for the duration. Numata organizes a forum for sharing workplace complaints, and it’s at this point that the themes of this sequel—the necessity of which I’d begun to doubt—become clear: 1) communication is key and 2) there are all kinds of families in this world. If you don’t end up getting married or having children, you can still create a family with friends who support you. And that’s nice, if a little preachy in execution. – Michelle Smith

Last Game, Vol. 1 | By Shinobu Amano | Seven Seas – Reading this book was like time-traveling back to 2008 or so. This is such a LaLa title, perhaps the ur-LaLa title. It wraps up in about 140 pages despite the fact that there’s clearly ten more volumes to go. There’s 60 pages of unrelated short stories from earlier in the author’s career at the end. The art is messy and filled with asides. It was like drowning in nostalgia. As for the book itself, it was pretty good. Most of these series are from the POV of the heroine, so it’s nice to see it narrated by the guy, who’s… well, a smug asshole, but the circumstances explain that, and he gets rid of that side pretty quick. It’s when he turns out to be caring and considerate that it really takes off. Still, hasn’t it finished? What’s next? – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 34 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The first half of this volume really made me angry, introducing the most powerful woman in the series to date and then killing her off to develop the character of the villain. It’s appalling, and thank God for fanfics. The second half is much better. Remember the whole “there’s a traitor in UA” plot? From 30-odd volumes ago? Turns out it’s true, and after a terrific fake-out that focuses attention on someone who everyone suspected, it turns out to be another obvious suspect… though the circumstances behind it are, thankfully, tragic rather than “ha ha, I was evil all along.” This is where MHA shines, in the character writing and the plots that develop from it. Shame the new character was never given that chance. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 48 | By Yoshiki Namamura | VIZ Media – Even though this is another slim volume, it manages to fit in several scenes that exemplify what makes Skip Beat! great. I enjoyed the brief moment during which we see Kyoko and Moko talking shop about filming scenes out of order. And more than that, I enjoyed the Kyoko and Ren chapters at the end where she realizes “I have no idea how close I’m allowed to get!” (We even get a return of the grudge demons as they are bombarded by Ren’s happiness beam.) But even more than that, I adored the absolutely riveting scene of Kyoko in character as Momiji as she manages to impress everyone, including visiting eccentric producer Leonard Herbert. It’s pretty exciting to contemplate that, after 48 volumes, Kyoko’s career might be on the verge of really taking off. I still love this series after all these years. – Michelle Smith

20 km/h | By Woshibai | Drawn & Quarterly – 20 km/h is a collection of surrealist short comics by Woshibai, an anonymous illustrator and cartoonist based in Shanghai. While there are recurring characters and themes, there isn’t a central narrative; the comics can be read independently from one another and largely stand on their own. However, they make for a wonderfully effective collection when taken together as a whole. The volume is almost entirely without dialogue, sound effects, or narration, the translation largely limited to the actual titles of the individual comics. The collection’s success, then, comes from readers taking the time to directly engage with the details of the comics’ surreal scenarios. Those who rush through without pause will likely find 20 km/h to be less satisfying, but I absolutely loved this collection with its dry humor and poetic strangeness. Woshibai’s illustrations may be simple, but the resulting comics are surprisingly layered and nuanced, inciting a sense of both wonder and resignation towards the absurdities of life, real and imagined. – Ash Brown

Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Vol. 2 | By Hitoshi Ashinano | Seven Seas – I really do appreciate that, though this series obviously stars Alpha, she does not have to be present in every chapter, and that we frequently get a look at the other members of the cast as they’re doing their own thing. Which makes sense, because not everyone can travel out to the middle of nowhere for coffee, especially if there’s a 50-50 shot that Alpha is away in another city visiting Kokone, or shopping for supplies, or just passed out because she tried to drink milk again and it reacted badly. (Honestly, Alpha doesn’t seem the same as the other robots, even if we weren’t already meeting her suspiciously familiar creator.) Again, if you like slice-of-apocalyptic-life, this is a must read. – Sean Gaffney

To Every You I’ve Loved Before & To Me, the One Who Loved You

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By Yomoji Otono. Released in Japan as “Boku ga Aishita Subete no Kimi e” and “Kimi o Aishita Hitori no Boku e” by Hayakawa Bunko JA. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Molly Lee.

First of all, I will note a couple of things. a) I am reviewing two linked novels here, so the titles are separated above by the & sign. b) there will be more spoilers than usual. Even summarizing them destroys the surprise. When I first saw the solicit of these two titles, I had assumed they were part of a multimedia project like so many of Yen and Seven Seas’ novel licenses these days, and that it would be another slight variation on Your Name. But no, this is instead more like Otherside Picnic or Last and First Idol, a science fiction series with a heavy helping of theory mixed into its plotlines. Get ready to understand a lot more about parallel universes than you did before. The books were advertised as something you could read in either order, and I read them in the order I give above. I recommend that order too, for reasons I will lay out later in the review. Did I enjoy it? Kind of, in a detached sort of way.

In the first book, we meet the protagonist, Koyomi. He’s a smart kid, with a father who’s an expert in imaginary sciences. They’ve discovered that we’re constantly shifting between parallel universes, and developed wristwatches to let you know when it happens. In high school he meets Kazune, a classmate and rival, and becomes friends with her one day when she tells him she’s a different Kazune from a different universe. The book shows their life together. The second book has the same premise, but here the imaginary sciences are not as developed as they were in the first world. Koyomi and his father work with another brilliant scientist and her daughter, Shiori. Koyomi and Shiori grow close, but when tragedy strikes Koyomi finds himself going down a dark path that may not have a solution.

I can see how the final scene of the first book would be a lot more impactful if you’d read the second one first, as opposed to my own feeling, which was mild puzzlement. That said, I think if I’d started with the second book I’d have dropped this halfway as being too dark and angsty. The first book is a cute romance between two nice people. He falls in love relatively quickly, she takes a bit longer (“You’ll do” was the funniest line in both books), they get married and have a child, they grow old together. The drama near the end is character-based, involving grief and how parallel universes might lead one to commit a crime over that grief. The second book is almost entirely ABOUT that, as Shiori’s death comes before the novel is even halfway finished, and we see a Koyomi who would sacrifice anything to save her. The second book also has a lot more scientific theory to talk through than the first.

Did I like them? They were both good, I had moments of emotion reading them, but ultimately all I can come up with is “yeah, they were pretty good”. This happens a lot with concept SF and me, though. There’s a book that came out last year focusing on Shiori, though, and is this does well maybe Seven Seas will pick it up.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 4

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

Sometimes when you’ve lived a certain way your entire life, and are suddenly shown that there are other ways to live, it can be very very difficult to go back to what you have always done. That’s what Reirin is dealing with in this book, as a consequence of the body swaps. For the most part, she’s held this in, because, well, that’s the sort of person she is, but the stress of the situation in this book and the fact that, for the first time, someone might be dead because of her actions, makes her have a breakdown and admit – she hates being in constant pain. She hates being at death’s door. She never used to worry about not waking up every time she fell asleep, now she does. And it terrifies her. It terrifies her so much that she misses something else – why is her sickly, dying body now so utterly healthy whenever Keigetsu is in it? I mean, this is new, right? It wasn’t the case in the first book. What’s going on?

We pick up right where we left off with the previous book. Reirin, in Keigetsu’s body, is trying to deal with the outbreak in the village, while she and her allies also try to figure out how to stop the entire village, AND the maiden, being burned to the ground as a “necessary measure”. Meanwhile, Keigetsu (in Reirin’s body) is having to deal with her reputation being tanked so hard that there will be no way for her to come back from it, and now she has to give a tea party with three of the other maidens, including the one behind all of this. Fortunately for both of them, they have actual allies this time around, including the Emperor. Which helps a lot, let me tell you. But is it going to be enough?

There are three scenes in this book which should make every reader sit up and cheer. The first is the tea party itself, where Keigetsu finally manages to apply al of the observational skills she’s never really tried to use before to manipulate the conversation away from the master manipulator and swing things back her way. The second I mentioned above, where Reirin (who is noted beforehand to have never cried before) breaking down, a scene which is probably the first time I actually though that she and the Emperor could be a good couple after all. But the final scene is magical. Everyone is doing their best to stop Reirin’s roaring rampage of revenge, and they fail miserably. But it’s actually Houshun who’s the MVP here, as all this has done is make her FAR more interested in Reirin than she was before. She’s clearly one of those “anything but a boring life” villainesses, and now that Keigetsu is effectively a dual heroine, we needed a really great bad guy. We have one now. “I’ve taken a liking to you” is like a white glove thrown to the ground. Let the duels commence.

That said, our dual heroines may be in trouble with Book 5, which promises (in the author’s afterword) to break them up. This remains one of the best series I’ve read this past year, and is recommended to everyone, even if you think you’re tired of villainess books.

The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat After Getting Dumped for Her Sister!, Vol. 1

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By Makino Maebaru and Murasaki Shido. Released in Japan as “Kon’yaku Haki Sareta “Kūki” na Watashi, Nariagari no Dan’na-sama ni Totsugimashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

It’s all about looking for the jagged edges. That’s a very good rule of thumb when reading these books, especially the ones written for women that have a tendency to amount to “Cinderella story” or wish fulfillment. It also helps me when I’m trying to get past a beginning that might seem less than ideal. The start of this series is excruciating, with Iris, our heroine, getting dumped by her sneering fiance, mocked by her shallow sister, and sold off to a noble who is seemingly buying her for money by her abusive father. All the while she carries in her inner monologue a refrain of how she’s “dull and plain”, and everyone compares her to air. It’s a good portrayal of an abused noble, but you also want to throttle her. Fortunately, the moment she leaves everything about her life comes up roses. The jagged edges, though, remain throughout, and show off hos this world really is not a very nice place at all.

So yes, Iris has spent her life training to be the wife of the Marquis’ son, but he likes her sweet, blonde sister better, so she is instead dumped on Lucas Stock, a merchant recently made a baron, who wants her to be his wife on paper so that she can train his staff and employees on how to better interact with nobles, as they’re all commoners like he was. She takes to this with aplomb, quickly managing to win over everyone by generally being nice, intelligent, and unlike most other nobles, while still managing to convey how to deal with other nobles anyway. And, of course, she and Lucas gradually come to realize that they quite like this marriage thing, and would not particularly mind if it became genuine, though honestly they’re both too pure for that to happen right away. As for the Marquis’ son and Iris’ sister… let’s just say I’m torn between whether Mikhail is merely a rapist or whether he’s also a murderer.

See what I mean about jagged edges? Everything about Iris’ plotline in this volume is sunshine and roses, showing her learning to love herself and how she blooms when around other people who actually value her. Everything ELSE in this book ranges from vaguely disturbing to downright dark – the scene where Airia, Iris’ sister, is making out in the garden with Mikhail and sees a shoe in the bushes, which he quickly distracts her from, is absolutely chilling. Iris’ lady maid, Kiki, has a fear of nobles that is hinted to be because of physical abuse, and she’s very careful to wear clothing that does not show skin below her neck. Lucas’ benefactors, while happy that he’s made a name for himself, cannot help but emphasize over and over in front of Iris how he was once their servant, and that as far as they are concerned he still is. Meanwhile, Iris holds a food festival.

The book ends with Airia, in a letter, begging her sister for help, though I do not trust little sister one bit. Those jagged edges may be more visible in the next book. Till then, plow past a beginning so cliched I made fun of it on Twitter – there’s a lot more to this than just plain girl has her dreams come true.

The Manga Review: Another One Bites the Dust

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CBR—formerly Comic Book Resources—announced that it would be restructuring, and laid off several key staff members, including Editor-in-Chief Adam Swiderski, Senior Editor Stephen Gerding, and Featured Editor Christopher Bagget. Though the site had a long and celebrated history of covering the comic book industry, CBR’s focus began to change after Valnet acquired it from founder Jonah Weiland in 2016, morphing into a pop-cultural news site that published more listicles and press releases than news stories or reviews. As Heidi MacDonald observes, the current economic turndown is partially to blame. “Advertising is way down, even more so than usual,” she notes. She also points to the “looming threat” of artificial intelligence, “which can take over the scut work of human drones (rewriting press releases, making explainers, etc) in a frightfully efficient (but unverified) manner.” There are still a handful of comics-focused sites—The Beat, ICv2, Women Write About Comics, and AiPT! among them—but, as MacDonald observes, AI “could kill sites like the one you’re reading right now with a ruthlessness Thanos would find cold-blooded.”

In other news, Seven Seas announced that it will be issuing box sets for The Ancient Magus’ Bride, orange, and two other series… Azuki just added seventeen new titles to its library, including The Mermaid Prince and Gourmet Glutton… Hiro Mashima (Fairy Tail) has begun work on a new series…. Makoto Yukimura, creator of Vinland Saga, will attend this year’s San Diego Comic Con… and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund is working closely with several organizations to challenge an Arkansas law that makes it a misdemeanor to “furnish a harmful item to a minor,” a law with potentially terrible consequences for librarians, teachers, and booksellers.

AROUND THE WEB

Palomo Lin-Linares revisits Shuzo Oshimi’s squirm-inducing masterpiece The Flowers of Evil. “The Flowers of Evil is not escapism, it’s more akin to being trapped in a situation with the characters,” he observes. “It isn’t a manga you read to lose yourself in a story, but rather the opposite, you read it to discover the most unsavory parts of your character.” [Asian Movie Pulse]

Anyone hankering for a good mountaineering manga will want to check out Ichi’s feature on Yama o wataru (Crossing Mountains), which focuses on group of college students who climb some of Japan’s most daunting peaks. [Sports Baka]

Speaking of sports manga, Tony Yao makes the case that Medalist may be the best title you’re not reading. “I don’t know a damn thing about figure skating, but I sure as hell know a great manga when I see it,” he notes. “And Medalist is just that.” [Drop-In to Manga]

Alexis Sara explores non-monogamous relationships in yuri manga. [Anime Feminist]

Josephine Bowman discusses the quietly subversive premise of Akane-Banashi. [Anime Feminist]

Wondering what to read next? That Manga Hunter has compiled a great list of 2023’s most anticipated series. [That Manga Hunter]

Also worth a look: Elias Rosner sifts through the August 2023 release calendar and highlights 20 can’t-miss manga. [Multiversity Comics]

Danica Davidson interviews Centaurs creator Ryo Sumiyoshi about his influences, his work on Monster Hunter, and his interest in mythology. [Otaku USA]

Kara Dennison ponders the deeper meaning of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead. “What starts as a wholesome but ultimately self-centered journey in Zom 100 turns into something surprisingly empathetic,” she notes. “Once everyone has their immediate wants and needs out of their systems, they begin looking outward. How can they show kindness to their families and friends? Their fellow survivors? Heck, even to the people who walked all over them? The group’s bucket list soon stretches beyond paddleboard yoga and penthouse suites into doing legitimate good for the world.” [Otaku USA]

REVIEWS

Over at Anime UK News, Sarah describes Manner of Death as a “twisty murder mystery in which the author delights in misleading the reader”… That Manga Hunter reviews Is Love the Answer?… Erica Friedman reminds us why Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is worth reading… Jocelyn Allen explains why you should pick up a copy of Let’s Go Karaoke!… Ichi offers an in-depth look at the cycling drama Wind Breaker! … and the latest Reader’s Corner focuses on the latest volumes of Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love, Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten, and A Condition Called Love.

New and Noteworthy

Complete, OOP, and Ongoing Series