Manga Bookshelf's Weekly Features

SEAN: The Pick of the Week is obviously the title I’ve been anticipating the longest – Nichijou. While most slice-of-life comedies use weirdness in order to advance the humor of the situation, Nichijou at times does the opposite, sometimes not even bothering to have a proper punchline but just reveling in being strange. Loved the anime, can’t wait for the original.

MICHELLE: I definitely intend to check out Nichijou, but since it’s my last opportunity to pick My Little Monster, I can’t let it go to waste, especially since volume 13 hopefully features more glimpses of these beloved characters as adults. I can definitely see myself rereading this series in the future!

ASH: Likewise, I’m very interested in reading Nichijou, but my pick lies elsewhere: The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame is definitely not something for everyone, though. However, I am glad to see this important collection return to print. The original release was by PictureBox back in 2013 (which I reviewed), but Bruno Gmünder’s revised and expanded hardcover edition includes additional material, so I’ll be happily picking up the volume again.

ANNA: There’s a ton coming out this week, but as a die-hard shoujo fan, I could only pick Boys Over Flowers Season Two. When I read the first few chapters I was a little worried it would be a bad sequel, but Yoko Kamio’s great storytelling skills totally drew me in.

MJ: I don’t have a strong pick this week, but I do intend to check out Nichijou, so I’ll bring things full circle here and join Sean on that.

MICHELLE: It’s almost here! It’s almost here! How could I be anything but asquee about Princess Jellyfish being almost here?!

MJ: This! This! So much this! And yet… I just have to be the one person here who will give my pick to the final (final, I said, FINAL) volume of my beloved Pandora Hearts. I’m sorry, I just gotta. Sweet Pandora Hearts, I will miss you.

SEAN: There is far too much coming out this week, and normally I’d be picking Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro easily. But yeah, the need to pick Princess Jellyfish cannot be denied – it’s such an obvious Pick this week. So I will pick it.

ANNA: I feel like we’ve been waiting for Princess Jellyfish forever! I am so excited it is finally coming out. If I could double or triple pick one title for pick of the week, this would be it!

ASH: I’m not at all sorry to say that Princess Jellyfish is my pick, too! I really enjoyed the anime adaptation and am looking forward to reading the original manga series a great deal.

SEAN: Though I sometimes regard reading Inio Asano as being like that required 19th century literature book in 8th grade – you know it’s worthy, but you’d rather something slightly less bleak – I have to admit that Goodnight Punpun has me intrigued, as even for Asano fans this one has more buzz than usual. And it’s a big omnibus, so good value for money.

MICHELLE: It’ll be a while before I am ready for more Asano — which is a compliment, really, given the impact A Girl on the Shore left with me, so I’m looking elsewhere. I’ll be picking up Paradise Residence, I think, but probably it’s no surprise that my real squee lies with volume 14 of Takehiko Inoue’s Real.

ASH: One way or another, it’s Viz that’s getting my pick this week. Like Sean, I am intrigued by the debut of Goodnight Punpun, and like Michelle, I am very excited for the most recent volume of Real. I don’t think I can bring myself to pick just one!

MJ: I’m pretty much where everyone else is this week! I can’t possibly turn down more Asano, so I’m definitely going for Goodnight Punpun, but a new volume of Real? That’s such a gift! I gotta get both.

ANNA: Goodnight Punpun and Real coming out in the same week is an embarrassment of riches. I can’t pick just one either!

MICHELLE: Is there really any doubt? Legend of the Galactic Heroes!

ASH: No doubt here! It may not be manga, but it’s Legend of the Galactic Heroes for me this week, too.

SEAN: It is absolutely Legend of the Galactic Heroes, as I have said before. Cannot wait for this epic classic novel series, so influential on so many other anime and manga.

MJ: See above, re: Legend of the Galactic Heroes.

ANNA: What’s happening? Could it be a unanimous pick for Legend of the Galactic Heroes? I think it is!

SEAN: There’s a lot of good titles out this week, but only one that has me waving my arms around and going “AT LAST!” So the pick, as you may have guessed, is the 36th volume of Skip Beat!.

MICHELLE: I am solidly in Skip Beat!‘s corner, as well. It’s telling when a series as long as this still makes me excited to get the next installment.

ANNA: I have to join in the group picking Skip Beat!. Having a new volume to read is a great excuse for celebration!

ASH: I’m shockingly far behind in my reading of Skip Beat! so I’m not quite ready for this week’s volume even though I’m looking forward to it. However, I’m not nearly as far behind in One-Punch Man, another series I’m thoroughly enjoying, so this time I’ll be making that one my pick.

MJ: I’m going to surprise everyone, I guess, by joining Ash here on picking One-Punch Man! I somehow actually missed it in this week’s releases, but now that I realize it’s there, I’m psyched. Count me in!

MICHELLE: There is a lot of good stuff coming out next week, but for me it’s all about the kittehs. Bring on FukuFuku: Kitten Tales!

SEAN: I’m definitely up for some kittens this week as well. My pick this week is The Boy and the Beast, though, a book-and-manga combo from Yen that’s from the creator of Summer Wars and Wolf Children. I expect some coming of age heartwarming moments in bucketloads.

ASH: I definitely plan on picking up FukuFuku, but for my official pick this week I think I’m going to go with Dimension W. Admittedly, I don’t actually know much about the series, but I’ve enjoyed Iwahara’s work in the past, so I’m curious.

ANNA: Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun! If you can’t tell, I’m excited about Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun!!!!

SEAN: No surprises that my pick of the week is Franken Fran from Seven Seas. I’ve already reviewed the omnibus here. It’s absolutely not for everybody (in particular, warning for those who hate bugs and roaches), and Fran can be… impossible to empathize with, but if you like horror and really back comedy, it’s one of the better titles out there.

MICHELLE: I suppose my pick of the week is still the second and final volume of Crown of Thorns, but now I’ve read it and didn’t enjoy it as much as the first. Oh, well. I hope this paves the way for more digital Yoko Kamio! Cat Street, please!

ASH: I’m with Sean, this week. By far the manga release I’m most interested in is the first Franken Fran omnibus. The word of mouth for this series has been huge in my circles, so I’m looking forward to reading it myself.

MJ: This is a pretty sparse week for me, but I admit I’ve been won over by my colleagues’ interest in Franken Fran. Count me in for some horror and black comedy! I’ll try to survive the bug aspect. *shudder*

ANNA: I haven’t read Crown of Thorns, so I haven’t been disappointed yet, and that appeals to me much more than Franken Fran, so that is my pick!

MICHELLE: As predicted, my pick of the week is super easy this time. Magi all the way!

SEAN: I love Magi to bits, but it’s time for my twice-yearly pick of Hayate the Combat Butler, still my go-to manga for silly humor and unresolvable harems.

ASH: The manga release that I’m probably the most interested in this week is Giganto Maxia. As a fan or Berserk I feel like I should give it a try, even if some of Miura’s other works haven’t really done much for me.

ANNA: Magi for me too! Magi forever!

SEAN: As always with Viz weeks, there’s a terrifying amount of stuff coming out I’m interested in. But as a drama major, I’d be remiss if I did not pick Behind the Scenes!!, Bisco Hatori’s new shoujo series about a college drama club. I’m a sucker for Hatori anyway, so the drama club is just the icing on the cake.

MJ: Considering the fact that I train young people in the performing arts for a living, I feel like my pick this week is a bit of a betrayal. But though I’m definitely interested Behind the Scenes, I find that I can’t resist the draw (drawings?) of one of my favorite artists, Takeshi Obata. Though I’ve had issues with his collaborations of late, I admit to having high hopes with Tsugumi Ohba out of the picture this time. I guess we’ll see! Meanwhile, count me in for School Judgment. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.

MICHELLE: Both of the above are my most intense desires this week, but I am going to give the edge to the shoujo goodness of Behind the Scenes!!. I also harbor a secret desire that Tamaki turns up in some capacity.

ANNA: Shoujo for the win! Behind the Scenes!! is also my pick of the week. Drama club hijinks from Bisco Hatori sounds like just the thing to beat the wintertime blues.

ASH: While Behind the Scenes!! is definitely of great interest to me, I’ll have to admit that I’m actually more in the mood for some epic over-the-top face-punching ridiculousness this week (January was rough), so bring on the next volume of Battle Tendency for me!

MICHELLE: Decisions, decisions! I love My Little Monster and it’s almost over. Orange has definitely got me intrigued. But, if I’m honest, what I’m most eager to experience is the second volume of surprise delight Horimiya. Go buy eet!

SEAN: My pick this week is definitely Orange, and I really enjoy it when Seven Seas picks up a series like this that’s out of their usual wheelhouse. A touching, sweet, somewhat tragic teen romance with time travel overtones. What’s not to love?

ASH: Orange is my pick, too! Although I plan on reading reading several of this week’s releases, the debut of Orange is the one I’m most interested in. I’ve heard good things about the series, so I’ve been looking forward to it.

MJ: I’m interested in Orange for sure, but this week I’ll hop on board with Michelle and the second volume of Horimiya! So, so charming, I honestly can’t wait.

ANNA: Out of everything coming out this week, I’m most interested in Orange, so that is my pick!

SEAN: Intellectually, I know that A Girl On The Shore is the obvious choice here, but I know I’m going to wince and cringe all through its highly realistic and painful depictions of teenage life. So instead I will pick the 5th volume of A Silent Voice, which… will do the same thing, to be fair.

ASH: Well, since I’ll still have a couple of opportunities left to pick A Silent Voice and since Sean has already picked it himself, I’ll choose A Girl on the Shore this week. Inio Asano’s work can be difficult and certainly isn’t always the most comfortable to read, but it does tend to be compelling.

MJ: I’ll also go with A Girl on the Shore. I expect this will, indeed, be painful, but I kinda like that quality in a manga. My own teen years are still pretty vivid for me, which I think tends to draw me to this kind of work, so my expectations are high.

ANNA: I feel like any new Inio Asano work should be an automatic Pick. A Girl on the Shore is my choice as well.

MICHELLE: Well, Sean predicted it. My pick of the week is Requiem of the Rose King. While I’m linking to what my compatriots have said, go see why MJnamed this series her Pick of 2015.

SEAN: Unlike the rest of the team, I’m reading several things this week. But yeah, the one that’s clearly head and shoulders above the rest is Requiem of the Rose King. It’s an obvious Pick.

ANNA: I agree, Requiem of the Rose King is such a standout series it is my Pick as well!

ASH: Like Sean, there are actually several releases that I’m looking forward to this week, including Lone Wolf & Cub and His Favorite, but by and far the one that I’m most excited about is the third volume of Requiem of the Rose King. I’m adoring the series.

MJ: Since Requiem of the Rose King was my Pick of the Year, it can’t be a huge surprise that I’m in agreement with everyone else. That’s the Pick for me!

SEAN: There’s a bevy of choices, including some of my favorite shoujo series. From those favorites, I will cast my vote to Natsume’s Book of Friends, which has been gradually working an ongoing plot into its yokai-oriented story. You never know if you’ll get dangerous adventure or melancholy memories with this one. It’s fantastic.

MICHELLE: I agree with Sean 100%. Natsume is my official pick, too, but I really am excited about Honey So Sweet, too. Not to mention more of My Love Story!! and Kimi ni Todoke. If only there were some Skip Beat! coming out this week, I’d be in shoujo heaven!

ANNA: I can’t think of a better way to kick off the new year than with a new shoujo series! So Honey So Sweet is my pick of the week. This story about a slightly traumatized girl who finds herself dating a juvenile delinquent who is secretly sweet has a lo-fi charm that reminds me of some of the late, lamented manga series published by CMX. I was also reminded of Banri Hidaka while reading this, and that’s a very good thing.

ASH: Looks like it really is a shoujo sort of week! I’ve been meaning to catch up on Natsume’s Book of Friends, and I’m glad to see some new series debut, too, but I’m most looking forward to reading the seventh volume of My Love Story!!. I was afraid that the premise of the manga would grow old, but the series continues to make me incredibly happy every time I read it.

MICHELLE: There’s really only one manga on my mind for next week, and that’s Saki, a digital-only debut for a series about mahjong. And, okay, yes, it features impossibly buxom girls, too, but if I can see past the fanservice to enjoy Food Wars!, I’m hoping I can do it again with Saki.

SEAN: I am greatly looking forward to Saki as well, which apparently also has a large yuri fandom. My pick of the week is actually for 3 chapters, though, as Baccano! has a prequel manga running in Japan, and Yen Press is starting it digitally this week with the initial parts. This takes place in 1927, three years prior to the first novel due out in April, and will no doubt focus on Firo, the hero of that first novel. I am very excited for it.

MJ: I’m with Michelle, here, I have to go with Saki! My husband and I enjoyed the anime series when it debuted on Crunchyroll way back in 2009, and though the fanservice level was high, it could not eclipse the true awesomeness of near-magical mahjong tournaments. If you thought Hotta and Obata snazzed up Go, Saki takes the super-sportsification of table games to a whole new level. I’m totally psyched.

MICHELLE: That is super encouraging news!

ANNA: Saki sounds interesting, but my vote this week goes for the 7th volume of Vinland Saga. I hope we see more volumes of this series, it is wonderful.

ASH: Oh, lots of good stuff this week! If Saki was being released in print, it would be a strong contender for my pick. (That being said, it will probably be one of the few digital manga that I’ll actually buy.) And as a longtime Samura fan, I’m definitely looking forward to the debut of Die Wergelder, but my official pick of the week goes to the seventh omnibus of Vinland Saga. I join Anna in hoping this won’t be the last we see of the series; it’s an incredible manga.