Manga Bookshelf's Weekly Features

SEAN: Another week, another really obvious pick. I’ve loved the other Moto Hagio volumes we’ve seen over here, and so absolutely cannot wait for the first volume of Otherworld Barbara, a story so good it won the Japan SF Grand Prize, the Japanese equivalent of a Nebula Award. It’s from Fantagraphics, so should look great too. And an omnibus to boot!

ASH: Yup, no question about it. It’s Otherworld Barbara for me, for all of the reasons that Sean has already described and more.

MICHELLE: Count me in, as well!

ANNA: Is this a unanimous pick? I agree too!

MJ: This, this, this, THIS.

MICHELLE: There is so much good stuff coming out this week. I probably say that all the time, but there’s usually not as much good stuff as there is this time! That said, I have been eagerly awaiting Kuroko’s Basketball for a long time, and even though I’m keen to read Yona of the Dawn, too, sports manga always has an edge with me.

SEAN: As I already indicated, it’s Yona of the Dawn all the way for me. A fantasy series with a kickass princess and archery to boot.

ASH: There really are some great manga being released this week, but I’m with Sean in choosing the debut of Yona of the Dawn. Could this signal the return of long-running epic shoujo fantasy series in English? I sure hope so!

ANNA: I enjoy a good sports manga, but I’m with most of the Manga Bookshelf crew in having a decided preference for Yona of the Dawn. Bring on the epic shoujo fantasy!

SEAN: As I stated earlier, Queen Emeraldas is my absolute pick of this week, though there are many things I’m interested in. It’s such a classic series. If you’ve ever seen Harlock, or Galaxy Express 999, or just love classic 70s shonen (it ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine), you should read this.

MICHELLE: It is definitely my pick as well, but I will absolutely be picking up Liselotte & Witch’s Forest and Sweetness and Lightning, too!

ASH: There are quite a few new releases that I’m interested in, including Sweetness and Lightning, but my pick of the week likewise goes to Queen Emeraldas. I’m very happy that Kodansha Comics is willing to take a chance on an older series, and especially on one that’s not created by Osamu Tezuka. (Not that I have anything against Tezuka; I’m just glad to see other creators being translated, too.)

MJ: Oh, wow, here I am in the middle of an intense rehearsal process (if you do not know what I’m talking about CLICK HERE) and all this incredible manga is appearing in front of me! I’m interested in everything that’s been mentioned here, but I absolutely have to jump on the Queen Emeraldas bandwagon. So much love for 70s manga! I can’t wait to see it!

ANNA: I’m all in for Queen Emeraldas, in fact I am ordering it right now!

MICHELLE: It isn’t manga, but my pick this week is definitely the second volume of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. In fact, I just used my shiny new Audible credit to pre-order it!

SEAN: I’m definitely ready for more LOGH as well, but my pick of this week is the first volume of Re: ZERO. Not since Sword Art Online have I seen a light novel debut with this much buzz, thanks no doubt to the anime’s current showing. I want to see what the fuss is about.

ASH: Likewise, I’ll certainly be making room on my shelf for the next volume of Legend of the Galactic Heroes, but my pick of the week is for something else entirely. In my particular case, I’m greatly anticipating the continuation of the dark, gritty, violent, and frequently tragic Gangsta.

ANNA: I have to agree, Gangsta is a special series and the wait for a new volume has been killing me!

SEAN: For sentimental, nostalgic reasons, my pick of the week is the 15th omnibus of Ranma 1/2, which introduces a Last Minute Hookup girl who is one of my absolute favorites. It’s been 20 years since I first got into Ranma, and I’m happy to find I can still be enthusiastic about it.

MICHELLE: I’m not terribly excited about anything this week, so I’ll pick Ranma, too, for making Sean happy.

ASH: The manga I’m most curious about this week is The Osamu Tezuka Story, a biographical manga about one of the most influential creators of manga. It’s also huge, and one of the very few comics to have been released by Stone Bridge Press.

ANNA: I’m also not super excited about much this week, so I’ll throw in with Ash and pick The Osamu Tezuka Story, because I’m sure more info about Tezuka is a good thing!

MICHELLE: I dearly love My Love Story!! and Honey So Sweet, but this week it’s all about Haikyu!! for me. I’ve been anticipating this release (and Kuroko’s Basketball, which debuts next month) since the announcement. I’m so happy to have some new, long sports manga series to enjoy!

ASH: You know, I think I’m with Michelle this week! I also love My Love Story!!, and I’m always happy to see a new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, but I’m very excited for Haikyu!! and the debut of a new sports manga.

SEAN: There’s lots of good stuff out this week – Nichijou is my bag, let me tell you – but who am I to deny the pull of a good old-fashioned sports manga? Especially given it’s not baseball or basketball for once. My pick is Haikyu!! all the way.

ANNA: Haikyu!!, is great, but I feel like My Love Story!! is so consistently excellent, it deserves a little love this week. So that is my pick!

SEAN: Going for Fruits Basket seems like cheating somehow, given it’s a re-release, though it’s obviously the title I’m most excited about this week. That said, I will give my pick instead of Attack on Titan: Lost Girls, the new novel from Vertical focusing on two of the most seemingly stoic of the cast.

MICHELLE: Maybe I will follow suit, registering my Furuba enthusiasm while choosing something new! In this case, that would be volume two of Princess Jellyfish!

ANNA: I am with Michelle, as I’m enthusiastic about both Fruits Basket and Princess Jellyfish. I find Princess Jellyfish delightful, so that gets my pick too!

ASH: Likewise! While I’m delighted that Fruits Basket will once again be available in English, my heart undoubtedly lies with Princess Jellyfish.

MJ: Okay, well then, I’ll be the one to go all in for Fruits Basket. FURUBA 4EVAH. Or something like that.

MICHELLE: Well, I don’t know about you guys, but my pick of the week is pretty darn clear. Complex Age all the way!

SEAN: Tempting as it is to be the LN fanboy I am and pick Psycome, I expect I’d regret that. So I too will pick Complex Age, which is a good deal of fun and more nuanced than I’d anticipated.

ASH: Complex Age is indeed an excellent choice, but my pick is the second omnibus of Goodnight Punpun. The first omnibus was incredibly surreal, emotionally wrenching, and one of the manga that’s left the greatest impression on me so far this year.

ANNA: Complex Age is by far the series I’m most interested in this week. Looking forward to reading it!

MJ: I’m with the Complex Age crowd this week. It’s definitely the title that intrigues me most!

SEAN: Tempted as I am to go with Magi, which is a wonderful default, I will throw my Pick of the Week over to the last omnibus of Neon Genesis Evangelion. A series that seemed for years like it would never end finally has, and as readers of the individual volumes know, this is an excellent conclusion. Go buy it, there’s color pages!

ASH: Though there are plenty of manga being released this week that I’m interested in, I’m actually going to go off list for my pick. Breakdown Press, a small comics publisher in the UK, recently published Red Red Rock and Other Stories, a collection of over a dozen short manga spanning the career of alternative manga creator Seiichi Hayashi. I just got my hands on a copy of the volume and am looking forward to reading it a great deal.

MICHELLE: I, too, am giving Magi a break this time and going with something else. I really enjoyed the first few volumes of Tokyo ESP, and now we’re starting up a new phase of the story. I’m interested to see what happens!

ANNA: If everyone else is giving Magi a break, I feel compelled to pick it, even though I am a gazillion volume behind in this series.

MICHELLE: There are quite a few titles that I will be picking up this week, but I shall award my pick to the third and final volume of QQ Sweeper. I’ve enjoyed this series a lot so far and I hope VIZ licenses the sequel!

SEAN: I have a love/hate relationship with Viz’s josei titles, as I love the fact that they deal with adults having adult issues, but frequently find that they tend towards the same “bastard boyfriend” tropes that also plague some of Viz’s shoujo titles. But I keep coming back for more, and that’s why the title I most want to see this week is Everyone’s Getting Married, another Petit Comic extravaganza.

ASH: With so many manga releases this week I’m having a little trouble narrowing it down to just one title, but in the end I would like to draw attention to the latest omnibus of Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service. It’s such a great series, mixing humor and horror in surprisingly effective ways. I’m glad that Dark Horse is giving the manga a new life in English!

MJ: I’m with Michelle, this week. Though there are a number of titles I’m interested in this week, the one dearest to my heart is the third volume of QQ Sweeper. This series is so perfectly my cup of tea. I was terribly sad to learn that this is the end, and echo Michelle’s hopes that Viz will be offering us its sequel!

ANNA: I love QQ Sweeper! But I’m very easily distracted by new series. So for that reason, I’m going to have to go with the new josei series Everyone’s Getting Married. Yay for more josei!

SEAN: Amidst what I suspect will be a sea of orange, I’m going to once again praise Shigeru Mizuki and recommend The Birth of Kitaro as my pick of the week. Like most Kitaro readers, I read this for Nezumi Otoko, who is amazingly awful in the best way. You too will believe a smelly yokai in a cloak will bilk rich frail men out of their life savings.

MICHELLE: I’m super grateful for the Kitaro, but honestly, my heart belongs to orange all the way. I’ve been waiting for this volume fairly desperately.

ASH: Wow, this is a tough week for me to choose just one release! The two manga I’ve narrowed it down to have both already been mentioned, as well—The Birth of Kitaro and orange. In the end, though, I think I’m going to have to go with Sean and pick the debut of the new Kitaro series in English. I was impressed by the first orange omnibus but am uncertain which direction the rest of the series might take while I already know that I love Kitaro.

ANNA: I’m going to go with orange too, even though I haven’t read the first volume yet, I’m sure future me would travel back in time to tell me to go with the second volume for pick of the week.

MJ: Like Anna, though I haven’t yet read the first volume of orange, I feel confident, based on the amount of chiding I’ve received for this failure, that it would absolutely be my pick. So I’m going with it.

MICHELLE: I’m sorry everything else coming out this week, but I only have eyes for Yotsuba&! volume thirteen. It’s been so long!

SEAN: I know I’m alone this week, but oh well. It’s Baccano! all the way for me. I’d get this for Isaac and Miria alone, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg. It does not have vampires, but it does have immortals!

ASH: I’m joining in with Sean this week by picking a novel, but in my case it’s Another Episode S/0. Although, the volume does include the prequel manga as well, so I guess I’m covered either way. Despite feeling a little cheated by the original novel Another, overall I enjoyed it and am looking forward to reading more of the story.

ANNA: My pick is the third volume of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun. I’m in the mood for something funny, and this series is hilarious.

MJ: Though I suspect I’d love Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun (and I’m about to try it out), I’m with Michelle this week. I’ve missed Yotsuba&!, and I’m happy to see it back again!

MICHELLE: Regrettably, I’m not too excited about anything coming out next week. However, I am planning to check out the debut volume of The Heiress and Chauffeur, so I reckon I’ll make that my official pick this week.

SEAN: No question about it, Oresama Teacher is what has me excited this week. Its combination of hilarity, delinquency, and brainwashing (yes, really) has been a must read the last few volumes. Go get it.

ANNA: I also pick The Heiress and Chauffeur. I’m always curious about new shoujo, and the historical setting for this manga sounds appealing.

ASH: It’s a little bit of a cheat for me since my copy arrived last week and I already know how gorgeous it is, but my pick this week is for Takeshi Obata’s artbook blanc et noir. I’ve always enjoyed Obata’s artwork, so having an entire book devoted to it great and Viz has done a fantastic job with it.

MJ: Yes, yes, yes, I gotta go with Ash this week! I own Obata’s gorgeous Hikaru no Go artbook, and I’m incredibly excited about this new one. It’s blanc et noir for me!

SEAN: Sorry, Planetes. Sorry, Sidonia. Sorry, Emma. Sorry, Horimiya. You’re all awesome. But my pick of the week has to be the 36th and final volume of The Wallflower. Through the years of the changeover from Del Rey, to the occasional tired pawing at character development, through the author’s complete and utter inability to write romance, I have supported you. I salute you, comedy shoujo manga that ran far too long.

MICHELLE: Similarly, I am offering apologies to Horimiya this week (and Yowamushi Pedal, too) and going with a series finale for my pick of the week, though in my case I’m going with Knights of Sidonia. Delightfully weird and worrying, this has been a fantastic series, and I hope the conclusion is a satisfying one, even as I wish it weren’t ending at all.

ASH: Wow, there are so many wonderful releases to choose from this week! I’m certainly looking forward to reading more of Yowamushi Pedal and finishing Knights of Sidonia, and I’m thrilled that Emma is being released again, but this is the last time that I can choose Planetes. I’m so happy to see the series back in print in an edition that’s worth upgrading to, so that’s my pick for the week!

ANNA: It is rare that there are so many great titles being released at the same time! I’m going to pick Emma, just because I feel like highlighting a great reprint project! I’m happy that this is back in print again!

MJ: So much to choose from! I’m so torn here, as I’mm excited for Emma, Yowamushi Pedal, *and* Horimiya, but in the end I think I must go with Knights of Sidonia, which has been a deep and longstanding love for me, the end of which I will surely mourn.