Manga Bookshelf's Weekly Features

SEAN: It’s the end of My Hero Academia, so of course that’s my pick this week, even though I know that the final chapter, exclusive to the volume, will no doubt reignite appalling ship wars.

MICHELLE: I’m with Sean. I’m not as enamored of this series as I once was, but I still would like to finish it, so I shall soon be embarking upon a marathon.

KATE: NANA! There’s a whole generation of readers who haven’t had the pleasure of reading this fervid paean to female friendship. Buy a copy for your favorite Young Person today!

ANNA: I’m with Kate, bring on the angst in NANA!!

ASH: Likewise! The re-release of NANA is where it’s at for me. It really is such a great series; I’m very glad it’s getting attention again.

SEAN: It’s always hard to get anything new out of the isekai premise, so I will give Isekai Metaller a lot of credit and make it my pick this week. (Also, Judas Priest > Iron Maiden.)

MICHELLE: I’m not super excited by anything, really, but Sensei’s Mail-Order Food looks potentially cute, so I will go with that, this week.

ASH: I’m vaguely curious about Isekai Metaller, but I’m actually really looking forward to reading Sensei’s Mail-Order Food. I simply can’t pass up the combination of Asumiko Nakamura, BL, and food manga!

KATE: The end times must be coming because Sean and I are once again choosing the same title. Heavy metal isekai for me, please!

MICHELLE: I’ve been looking forward to Our Dining Table: Seconds, Please! since I learned it had been licensed, so that is absolutely my pick this week!

SEAN: The author and I have had mixed success to say the least, but I will give them another shot, and make my pick this week The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate.

ASH: I’m definitely interested in both of those titles, but the release I’m most excited about this week is Kamudo. Ever since meeting Akira Himekawa at TCAF ages ago, I’ve wanted to read some of their original work. I’m so glad to finally have the chance!

ANNA: I’m going to go for the latest volume of Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite as a reminder for me to get caught up!

KATE: I second Ash’s pick; Kamudo has a knock-out cover! I’ll also mention Moan: Junji Ito Story Collection for anyone who wants a head start on Halloween.

ASH: The last few years have been somewhat astonishing with the number of seemingly unlicensable manga being licensed. Baki the Grappler is one of the most recent… although I guess it’s technically a license rescue? Either way, I’m eager to give this series of absolute martial arts mayhem a try.

SEAN: I don’t know where I’ll find the room for another big artbook, but The Art of Rumiko Takahashi: Colors 1978–2024 is hard to resist.

ANNA: I’m always happy to see a license rescue, Baki the Grappler for me!

KATE: I second Sean’s pick; Takahashi was my introduction to manga, so I feel a moral obligation to buy this book!

MICHELLE: I struggle to decide between the two Tsukasa Hojo debuts, but a trio of sisters in unitards (with scarves for unnecessary belts) is really serving up ’80s nostalgia for me, so Cat’s Eye it is!

SEAN: I am very familiar with the City Hunter manga, as I got the original Japanese volumes years ago so I could look at the art and wonder what they were saying. As such, I too will pick Cat’s Eye, which I am far less familiar with. Sexy girls, I hear!

ANNA: I can’t decide! I’m picking both Cat’s Eye AND City Hunter.

KATE: I might just have to come out of semi-retirement; it’s rare that we get TWO eighties classics in a single week! I second Anna’s picks.

ASH: Who am I to go against the trend? I am absolutely here for City Hunter and will definitely be reading Cat’s Eye, too. It’s an exciting week!

SEAN: I didn’t even know it existed till two weeks ago, but Miss Ruki is absolutely my pick this week. It’s wonderful to see titles like this come out over here.

ANNA: I agree, I was similarly unaware, but have preordered this and am looking forward to reading it!

MICHELLE: I agree 100%.

KATE: Add me to the Miss Ruki fan club—I just ordered myself a copy!

ASH: I actually did know about Miss Ruki—mostly because New York Review Comics releases some really interesting things, so I make a point to keep an eye out for them—but there’s no way I’m going to miss out on 1980s josei regardless of the publisher.

ASH: While there are multiple ongoing and debut manga being released this week that I’m interested in, there’s only one that I have on my “must read as soon as I get my hands on it” list and that’s Land. I only learned about it recently and I actually don’t know much about the plot, but the artwork that I’ve seen is beautifully evocative.

SEAN: I think I’ll go with Bride of the Death God, which looks tragic, or sweet, or both.

MICHELLE: The fourth volume of March Comes in Like a Lion for me!

ANNA: I’m also stoked for March Comes in Like a Lion!, happy to see a new volume!

MICHELLE: I’m very intrigued by Adabana, but I can’t pass up the yearly opportunity to pick Kaze Hikaru!

ASH: Kaze Hikaru is always a worthy pick! But I’ll go ahead and make the debut of Adabana my official selection this week. I haven’t read the creator’s other work, but I have heard good things about this one. (I also happen to really like the cover.)

ANNA: I cannot resist the opportunity to celebrate the annual release of Kaze Hikaru!

SEAN: I admit I am about 30 volumes beyond on Kaze Hikaru, but I am in agreement with it being the pick.

KATE: I only have eyes for Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear this week… NOT! (Remember that annoying tic from the 90s?) Like everyone else, I’m naming the latest volume of Kaze Hikaru as my official POTW, but I’m also delighted to see that there’s a new installment of Skip & Loafer.

SEAN: Generally my Villainess novels tend to be on the Japanese end – Chinese villainesses tend to be villains, and thus danmei. Less familiar with Korean villainesses, so I will enjoy a rare light novel from Ize Press, Villains Are Destined to Die as my pick this week.

MICHELLE: I am all about Farewell, Daisy. Sometimes my heart just wants sparkly retro-style shoujo, and this book appears poised to deliver on that.

KATE: My pick is the final volume of Leviathan, which comes out this week as well. It’s a great sci-fi/horror story that shamelessly borrows elements of Memories, They Were 11! and The Drifting Classroom, but manages to breathe new life into the haunted spaceship genre. Best of all: it’s short—just three volumes—making it perfect for commitment-phobes.

ANNA: I’m going to go with the latest volume of Nina the Starry Bride, because I’m always up for fantasy shoujo!

ASH: Well, based on Kate’s recommendation, I should apparently read Leviathan! As for debuts, I actually am curious about Futari Switch, though I’m not sure a have a lot of confidence in that pick being the right one.

MICHELLE: I guess I’m in the mood for comedic BL this week, as I find myself having to choose between My Instructor Won’t Yield and A Man Who Defies the World of BL. In the end, I’ll have to give the advantage to the latter for its unique concept!

SEAN: Honestly, given there’s not a lot that interests me this week, I may take a flyer on some BL too and go for A Man Who Defies the World of BL. Perhaps he can defy it and end up with a nice girl! (Signs point to no.)

ANNA: I really got nothing this week, I’m going to pick the mountains of unread manga on my bookshelves!

ASH: It’s not manga, but I will admit to being curious about Breathless Time Traveler. I tend to enjoy time traveling stories. And, while I haven’t read it myself, I do know quite a few other people who really enjoy the creator’s other work, Toradora!.

SEAN: No debuts stand out to me, so I will go for a light novel. Should I pick The Executioner and Her Way of Life, which is genuinely yuri but likely to end with both of them dead, or Bofuri, which isn’t yuri but everyone wishes it was and they’re just gaming? I’ll tip towards the doomed yuri.

MICHELLE: Hm. This is a tough one for me, also. I like the general vibe of Long Period, so though it mightn’t be groundbreaking, I will probably enjoy it, so I’ll go with that.

ANNA: I’m just going to go with the box set of Witch Hat Atelier, it is such a great series and nice to have a good option for gift-giving.

ASH: All excellent picks! I’m going to take a chance with Rai Rai Rai, which I know almost nothing about, but which seems to have the potential for high levels of action-packed absurdity. I could really go for something like that at the moment.

MICHELLE: There aren’t any debuts that wildly excite me this week, so instead I’ll pick a series that I have fallen behind on but still read a great deal of, which is Natsume’s Book of Friends. Its release schedule is pretty slow, but now I’ve amassed enough unread volumes to have a proper marathon, which is appealing!

SEAN: Same here, so I’ll pick Colette Decides to Die again, because it’s one of my favorite recent shoujo licenses.

ASH: Similarly, none of this week’s debuts are a priority for me, but I must say that Don’t Hold Back, Lord Hades has one of the prettiest Hades I’ve seen in a very long time.

MJ: Can I admit to being hopelessly in love with The Apothecary Diaries? I’ve been following the anime and the manga adaptation more closely than the light novels, which I know is backwards in terms of source material, but we’ve been picking up the light novel volumes over here anyway. So that’s probably my pick!

SEAN: Look, I get that Ichi the Killer is a big deal, but it’s just not my genre at all. So yeah, I’m picking Planetes. Again. You can never pick it enough.

MICHELLE: I hope this doesn’t diminish my manga cred, but I never managed to finish Planetes! I read the first three volumes back in 2010 and then life intervened, I guess. All of which is to say, I am going to buy these fancy hardcovers and read them, dangit!

KATE: Will no one think of the poor animals on this list? I’m going to throw my weight behind Cat + Crazy (Nekottake!), as everyone can use a little cuteness in their life right now. (But yes, Planetes is worth a look if you missed it.)

ANNA: I do cherish my old Tokyopop editions of Planetes, and am always happy to celebrate this series!!!!

ASH: I adore Planetes, so I’ll take this opportunity to make the fancy hardcover my official pick. (I’ll probably need to get around to reading Ichi the Killer at some point, though…)

MICHELLE: There is no way I would *not* pick something by the creator of The Stellar Size of Gingacho, so it’s Suzuki-kun’s Mindful Life for me!

ASH: I’ve been looking forward to reading Neighborhood Craftsmen: Stories from Kanda’s Gokura-chou ever since I learned about the manga. It might not be high drama, but the artwork I’ve seen has been stunning.

KATE: I’m with Ash: Neighborhood Craftsmen: Stories from Kanda’s Gokura-chou checks just about all the right boxes for me.

ANNA: I’m with Michelle, totally excited to check out Suzuki-kun’s Mindful Life!

SEAN: Technically I should break this tie, but I have to admit, the title I’m most looking forward to is the new Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun.

SEAN: There are a number of Very Important Authors releasing works this week, which are all no doubt excellent, but I know I won’t be touching them, alas, as I am me. Instead, I’ll go back in time and pick the first volume of Magic Knight Rayearth II, the series that introduced “why can’t she just date both of them?” to many anime and manga fans.

MICHELLE: Having already picked The 13th Footprint a weeks ago, I suppose I’ll go with Tower Dungeon this time. I don’t really care about rescuing a princess, but Nihei does well with labyrinthine landscapes, in my experience, so the art might be worth a look.

ASH: The release I’m most curious about this week is Brain Damage. Shintaro Kago’s work is definitely not for everyone, but I’m glad to see more of it being translated.

ANNA: There’s quite a few interesting things coming out this week, but I’m going to take the opportunity to highlight the rerelease of Red River with the latest 3-in-1 volume. Do they make shoujo adventure like this anymore???

KATE: I’m also curious about Tsutomu Nihei’s latest, so I’m going to back MIchelle’s play and pick Tower Dungeon.