Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews
ASH: I’ll admit, I had no idea that Satoru Noda had created a hockey manga before Golden Kamuy. I am immensely curious about its relaunch, so Dogsred is my pick this week!
SEAN: My pick is Did You Think My Yuri Was Just for Show?, as I always appreciate yuri with adults not in high school. Plus it’s complete in one volume.
MICHELLE: I’m pulling for Dogsred this week!
ANNA: Me too! Dogsred sounds interesting!
KATE: Is it a hat trick if I also pick DOGSRED?
SEAN: There’s nothing that really leaps out at me this week, but I’ll take a flyer on Assassin & Cinderella, which is josei, but it’s a Gangan title, so I assume josei-ish? In any case, I like spies and I like assassins.
MICHELLE: I very much enjoyed the original Tokyo Tarareba Girls, so even though I’ve not managed to check out the sequel, I’m sure it is also excellent!
ANNA: I’m with Sean this week in being curious about Assassin & Cinderella.
ASH: While I am likewise curious about Assassin & Cinderella, my pick this week goes to Minecraft, not so much for myself but for the fanatic ten-year-old at home. (I’m pretty sure I’ll get some bonus parent points for bringing it home, though. )
MICHELLE: Since I cannot decide between an epilogue volume of My Love Story!! and the debut of A Star Brighter Than The Sun, this week I will award my pick to Kazune Kawahara herself! I have loved everything I’ve read that she was involved in.
SEAN: It’s definitely a tie for me between My Love Story!! and Skip Beat!. Manga with exclamation points for the pick.
KATE: I’m with Michelle: My Love Story!! is one of my all-time favorite shojo manga, so put me down for another installment.
ASH: Likewise! I was not expecting a continuation of My Love Story!!, but I am absolutely here for it; I loved the original.
ANNA: My Love Story!! for me as well, what a nice surprise!
SEAN: Obviously my pick this week would be Short Game: Mitsuru Adachi’s Baseball Short Story Collection, except we know that Amazon date is wrong. So instead I will pick It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love, because it makes me nostalgic for the days of 20 years ago when Hana to Yume titles fell from the skies like rain.
MICHELLE: I can get behind that! And it does have a little bit of a Lovesick Ellie vibe, which I appreciate.
ASH: I’m going to go a different direction this week and pick Hauntress. There were some things I really loved about the creator’s later series Dragon Head, and some things I really didn’t, so I’m curious to see how a shorter form story fares.
ANNA: I don’t know! I’m going to go for It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love as well, because the pull of Hana to Yume nostalgia is strong.
KATE: I’ll join Ash in picking Hauntress, as I also have vivid memories of reading Minetaro Mochizuki’s Dragon Head back in the day.
SEAN: As I sit here having lost power yesterday due to an ice storm, I realize I need comfort manga. My pick is the 2nd volume of The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy At All.
ASH: We haven’t lost our power (yet), but I will keep you company by picking The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy At All. I’m really looking forward to finally reading the series now that I’ve gotten my hand on the first volume; hopefully this second one won’t prove to be as challenging to acquire!
MICHELLE: No ice storms here, but absolutely The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy at All for me!
KATE: My pick of the week is Mujina into the Deep. How did a new Inio Asano title fly under my radar?! I guess that’s just a sign that we are living through an era of Peak Manga Abundance.
ANNA: I’m going to pick Honey Lemon Soda as a reminder to myself to get caught up on that series!
MICHELLE: This is one of those “Welp, I never managed to read any of these, but now that it’s ending I will tout its final volume” weeks, in which I throw my endorsement behind Even Though We’re Adults.
KATE: In an act of solidarity with my fellow Olds, I’m also picking Even Though We’re Adults. More manga for grown-ups, please!
SEAN: Tempting as it is to watch the cast of Even Though We’re Adults struggle to reach baseline adulthood again, I cannot resist the yearly release of A Certain Scientific Railgun, and will once again try to remember what was happening.
ANNA: I’m going to go for Fall In Love, You False Angels because the premise is appealing and the cover appeals to me. I’m shallow!
ASH: As far as debuts go, I’ll join Anna in picking Fall In Love, You False Angels as I can’t resist secret martial artists. But I’ll also join others in picking the final volume of Even Though We’re Adults as I’m always glad for Takako Shimura manga.
SEAN: The obvious choice, Pet Shop of Horrors, was not my bag back in the day. So I’ll go for Yona of the Dawn. It’s never a bad time to pick Yona.
MICHELLE: I am definitely excited about Pet Shop of Horrors, but I might actually be more excited about the conclusion to Usotoki Rhetoric. I liked this low-key historical mystery series, and look forward to seeing how it ends.
ASH: Debut-wise, I’m looking forward to giving Pet Shop of Horrors a try and so will make it my official pick. I missed the series the first time around but know many people who remember it fondly.
ANNA: I’m glad that Pet Shop of Horrors is back in print, but I’ll always pick Yona of the Dawn if given a chance!
KATE: I’m excited to see a new edition Pet Shop of Horrors; the young’uns need to know what their elders were reading back in the day!
ASH: There are quite a few debuts that intrigue me this week but which also give me slight pause because something doesn’t seem to sit quite right with me about their premises. All but Takahashi from the Bike Shop, that is. I’ve actually been looking forward this one for some time. (And actually recently started biking again, myself.)
MICHELLE: I am in the same boat! I might check out Killing Line and Home Sweet Home, but Takahashi from the Bike Shop wins by virtue of not involving assassins or teenage co-ed cohabitation.
SEAN: I think I’m not that into much this week, but Killing Line definitely has my attention, so let’s go with that.
KATE: I’m with Sean: Killing Line looks like a potential bright spot in an otherwise dreary week of new releases.
ANNA: I agree, Killing Line has my attention this week.
MICHELLE: I am obviously looking forward to They Were 11, as I have never read the continuation that will be included in Denpa’s edition. But I’m also interested in I’m Here, Beside You. Something about that cover is kind of haunting.
KATE: Is this a trick question? The correct answer is ANYTHING BY MOTO HAGIO! I am delighted to see They Were 11 back in print, as it’s one of Hagio’s most tightly plotted and delightfully weird stories.
ASH: Only a trick question if it doesn’t actually come out this week! If it does, They Were 11! is absolutely my pick. And if it doesn’t, it looks like a decent week for other interesting manga to tide me over, like Dogs and Punching Bags or Tokyo Alien Bros.
ANNA: I WANT TO BELIEVE! They Were 11! is totally my pick, but as a backup I also want to celebrate the rerelease of Red River.
SEAN: And yes, of course my pick is They Were 11! as well, though I will admit I’m equally looking forward to The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman.
MJ: I haven’t weighed in here in a while, since I haven’t been keeping up with new manga releases. But I’ve loved They Were 11 in every form it’s been released here so far, and I’m really excited about any additional material being included in Denpa’s edition. If it doesn’t show up on shelves this week, I’ll be waiting for the day it does!
SEAN: I can’t guarantee that I’ll be devouring it immediately, but given its legacy I think The Legend of Kamui has to be my pick of this week.
MICHELLE: I should probably pick that, too, but in all honesty, I’m interested in reading more Sheltering Eaves. I liked the first volume quite a lot!
KATE: It’s Kamui for me–what’s not to like about samurai, swords, and sharks?!
ASH: My pick this week is unquestionably The Legend of Kamui. It may be a little early to say for certain, but I suspect it will be my pick of the year, too. I am absolutely thrilled that this monumental work is being released in English.
ANNA: I already have my copy of The Legend of Kamui, looking forward to reading it.
ASH: 2025 is now unquestionably here and, depending on which calendars you follow, the Year of the Dragon will soon be coming to a close, too. So, it’s a perfect time to sneak one more dragon manga in before Snake takes over. I hadn’t previously heard about RuriDragon, but Sean has me convinced it’s not a title to be missed.
SEAN: Every single chapter of RuriDragon puts a huge smile on my face. And now I can read them in volume form!
MICHELLE: I am definitely curious about RuriDragon! But also, there are two different volumes of Medalist coming out this week—one in print and one digitally—so I will commend it, too, while I’m at it.
ANNA: I’m going to go for Medalist, I want to get caught up!
SEAN: Ah, the pick everyone dreads as we try to remember things we enthused about months ago. I think my pick this year, mostly as it was SO hyped up by the publisher and bookstores and, when it was released, showed it deserved it, is The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn’t a Guy At All. Nicknamed ‘green yuri”, and you’ll see why when you open it, it’s also a great story that makes good use of its “4 page chapter” format.
MICHELLE: Despite my good intentions, I wasn’t able to read nearly as much in 2024 as I wanted to. That said, my favorite of what I did read wasThe Troublesome Guest of Sotomura Detective Agency. I deeply wish there were more of it.
ANNA: I realize that the first volume of Neighborhood Story came out in late 2023, but between more volumes of Neighborhood Story and the Last Quarter it has been an excellent year for Ai Yazawa manga. So Ai Yazawa manga in general is my pick of the year.
KATE: One of my favorite titles of 2024 was Giga Town: The Guide to Manga Iconography, a charming collection of 4-koma strips by Fumiya Kouno (Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms.) Using characters from the famous Chojo-giga scroll, Kouno catalogs everything from sweat drops to steam clouds, demystifying the symbols, gestures, and facial expressions that manga artists use to bring their stories to life. Highly recommended for new (and curious) manga readers!
ASH: I picked Ashita no Joe just last week, so it seems too convenient to choose it again, but I am so incredibly pleased to have seen this classic manga make its debut in English. It was a great year for artbooks, too, with Shigeru Mizuki’s Yokai being one of my favorite releases of 2024 as a whole. But, I would be remiss if I didn’t take a moment to at least highlight the incredible work being done by Glacier Bay Books. It’s a niche publisher that isn’t widely distributed, so it can be a bit of a challenge to keep track of what is releasing when. But the effort needed to track down some of the best indie manga in translation is absolutely worth it. (Sorry… it’s really hard to pick just one thing!)
SEAN: Easiest pick I’ve made in ages. It’s Ashita no Joe: Fighting for Tomorrow. A truly iconic manga, essential for any shonen sports fan… or manga fan in general.
MICHELLE: And as a shonen sports fan, how on Earth could I resist? Ashita no Joe for me, as well.
KATE: I second Sean’s pick! When I first started reviewing manga in the aughts—the golden age of Naruto, InuYasha and Bleach—I never imagined that anyone would be interested in publishing older titles like Ashita no Joe. It’s great to see Kodansha rolling out the red carpet for this shonen classic.
ANNA: Ashita no Joe! I’m excited to finally be able to read this!
ASH: Who am I to break the streak? It’s Ashita no Joe for me, too! I was so surprised and incredibly happy when I learned this was being licensed.
MICHELLE: There are a few intriguing things coming out this week! Ultimately, Hereditary Triangle appeals to me the most, though. And it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with fish sex.
SEAN: It’s the final volume of my beloved and terrifying I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!. I’ll stop whining about the codependency, so just live, OK? And that goes for your maid as well.
ASH: I can’t pass up giving a manga which has Nobuyuki Fukumoto and Kaiji Kawaguchi as collaborators a try, so Confession is the release I’m prioritizing this week. (It also happens to fit in nicely with all the snow survival media I’ve been consuming lately…)
ANNA: Confession does sound pretty great, but I’m going to go with Luciole Has a Dream due to my intense love of naps.
SEAN: It’s really tempting to pick India Calling Me Now, but I’m sure someone else will. So my pick this week is the debut of Rainbows After Storms, one of those rare long-running yuri series. It’s great to see it over here.
MICHELLE: I’ll step up to the plate and pick India Calling Me Now, with bonus appreciation for another one-shot, The Metalhead Next Door.
ANNA: I’m with Michelle, both those series look great.
ASH: Agreed! Though The Metalhead Next Door wins out slightly over India Calling Me Now for me simply because it’s available in print. Otherwise, and if I didn’t already own all of the volumes, the Delicious in Dungeon box set would be my priority.
KATE: I teach Rock History, so I’m obligated to choose The Metalhead Next Door. (Also: it looks cute.)