Pick of the Week

MICHELLE: I really loved The Last of Us, and one thing I can enthusiastically plug this week is HBO’s official companion podcast, in which the creator of the game, his co-showrunner, and the original voice of Joel go through each episode offering up all kinds of extra detail and interpretation.

SEAN: I’m running behind on this series, which everyone I know has already read, but The Locked Tomb has been my reading in between light novels lately (which is to say, about a chapter a day). Gideon the Ninth was fantastic, and I’m halfway through Harrow the Ninth, which is confusing but also fantastic. “Lesbian necromancers in space!”, as the pull quote says.

ANNA: I’m currently watching the k-drama Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha on Netflix. It is about a dentist who moves to a small town and gets involved with the quirky community in unexpected ways. I’m around halfway through, which is when I assume the hero’s psychological trauma appears to make everyone start crying after several solid episodes of rom-com antics.

MICHELLE: That reminds me that live-action version of The Full-Time Wife Escapist is on Netflix now and is also a great deal of fun!

KATE: I was disappointed in the second season of Picard, but the new season is a blast; sure, it’s got plenty of fan service, but the old gang have such great chemistry together that I can forgive some of the show’s clumsier references to characters and events from the original Next Generation series.

ASH: I finally got around to reading R. F. Kuang’s The Poppy War trilogy and am just about finished with the third book. An award-winning epic fantasy partly inspired by twentieth-century Chinese history, the series can be brutal but it’s also excellent. I already have more of Kuang’s work lined up ready to read (Babel: An Arcane History) and on pre-order (Yellowface).

MJ: In anticipation of its season two *hopefully* coming out in April sometime, I’ve been rewatching the first season of Link Click, a Chinese animated series about a trio who run a unique time travel service, available from Crunchyroll (originally licensed by Funimation before they merged). The English subtitles are… well. Um. But the story is so good and the characters so compelling, we’ll take what we can get. Check out the trailer for season one here and the opening theme here. It was one of our greatest finds during the pandemic and I’m pretty hyped up for the new season.

SEAN: There’s a lot of stuff I’m interested in this week: new titles that run in odd shoujo magazine Asuka and odd magazine in general Harta; any number of light novels in series I follow closely; and (always) Spy x Family. But I’m going to make it Insomniacs After School, which has an anime due out in a couple weeks, and whose cover makes it look pretty cool.

KATE: I’m backing Sean’s play this week and making Insomniacs After School my pick of the week, too; early reviews have been universally positive, and the storyline has great potential.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued by Insomniacs, but the siren song of sports manga cannot be denied, especially sports manga where I have a lot of catching up to do. Thus, it’s Yowamushi Pedal for me!

ANNA: I’m buying Yowamushi Pedal for my kids, but I’m also very curious about Insomniacs After School, so I’m going to go with that!

ASH: I will likewise chime in with my support of Yowamushi Pedal, but my official pick for the week goes to Insomniacs After School, too. Awkward friendships, astronomy, and an abandoned observatory? Count me in!

MICHELLE: Although I’m tempted to pick the jerk/paragon danmei, my love for Therapy Game is strong, and it’s The Dragon’s Betrothed that wins the week for me.

SEAN: Given the way that Kageki Shojo!! left off last time, it’s definitely my pick this week, mostly as I want to see if Sarasa destroyed her career.

ASH: Kageki Shojo!! is always a good pick, but like Michelle, I’m feeling the BL love this week. In addition to The Dragon’s Betrothed, there’s not only one but two titles by Minta Suzumaru. And from to different publishers, too!

ANNA: I’m very excited for volume 5 of Matcha Made in Heaven! Digital josei for the win!

SEAN: I am definitely pleased that we’re getting one final look at the characters in orange, still a top-tier “use hand-wavingly explained time shenanigans to fix things” series. As such, my pick this week is orange -to you, dear one-.

KATE: While I’m also pleased to see another chapter in the orange saga, my vote goes to Ayashimon, as it looks like a hoot, sending up cliches about yakuza *and* yokai manga.

MICHELLE: It’s definitely orange -to you, dear one- for me, though I’m also eager to get caught up on The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

ASH: I am absolutely reading everything that’s been mentioned so far, but orange has become something of a touchstone series for me, so it’s latest epilogue is my pick this week, too.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great manga coming out this week, but if there’s a new volume of Yona of the Dawn coming out that’s always going to be my pick.

KATE: Holy smokes–a new volume of Versailles of the Dead?! In 2023?! I reviewed the first volume in 2018. File this under Better Late Than Never, I guess. It’s not the best zombie manga I ever read, but it definitely earns style points for its outrageous plotting and gorgeous costumes; the undead never looked better!

SEAN: One of the “this will never get a full release in English” titles now finally has a full release in English, and it’s an excellent one as well. The final volume of Urusei Yatsura is my pick.

MICHELLE: It’s The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife for me. They had me at “detective agency.”

ASH: I certainly interested in The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife, but I’ll be joining Kate this week in picking Versailles of the Dead. It’s an odd zombie manga, but it’s a stylish one.

ANNA: I’m going for The Invisible Man and His Soon-to-Be Wife, as it sounds most intriguing.

SEAN: Josei? From a magazine we almost never see anything licensed from? Complete in one volume? Sold! Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand also looks quite pretty, and is definitely my pick this week.

KATE: My thoughts exactly, Sean–done-in-one josei? With gorgeous, stylish art? And a plucky heroine? Sold! (Literally… I pre-ordered this one.)

MICHELLE: What else is there to say besides, “I concur”!

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Ditto! (I really have been looking forward to this one and already have my pre-order in.)

MJ: Not to be predictable, but I’m going to go along with everyone else here! I’m so ready for this!

MICHELLE: Part of me really wants to pick Marmalade Boy here, as it’s one of the first manga I ever read and I have tremendous nostalgic feelings about it. However, I do realize that some aspects of it were decidedly not great. So, instead, I will go with the second volume of Usotoki Rhetoric since the first was absolutely delightful!

SEAN: I agree with Michelle regarding Marmalade Boy, though I will of course be reading it, because who doesn’t want to relive their old problematic media? That said, my pick this week is The Girl That Can’t Get a Girlfriend, about one woman’s search for the butch of her dreams.

ANNA: I’m going to choose chaos this week and pick Marmalade Boy!

KATE: Break of Dawn sounds like it’s just my speed, so that’s my pick.

ASH: Break of Dawn seems like an obvious pick for me, too, but this week I’m going to choose the print debut of Raven of the Inner Palace. I’ve heard great things about the series as a whole and the cover artwork for the first volume is stunning.

SEAN: Not a lot of must-buy titles for me this week, but I will say that if you never got the original manga, the box set of Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku looks like a great buy, and has a sticky notepad as a bonus.

MICHELLE: I’ll be checking out Show-ha Shoten!. It’s less that I’m into comedy duos and more that I’m into Takeshi Obata’s artwork, though.

KATE: I second Michelle’s recommendation: comedy tonight!

ASH: Likewise! As much as I enjoy Wotakoi, my pick this week goes to the debut of Show-ha Shoten! Though I’m unfamiliar with the author, I do find myself intrigued by the series’ premise and I’m definitely looking forward to Obata’s illustrations.

ANNA: Put me down for Show-ha Shoten! as well!

MJ: As a certified Takeshi Obata superfan, there is no other choice for me this week but Show-ha Shoten! I have been a diehard fan since Hikaru no Go, and I’m admittedly happy to see him working with a new writer, so count me IN for his beautiful work.

KATE: Though this is a lighter week than usual, I found two titles on the list that piqued my interest. The first is Maiden’s Bookshelf: The Moon Over the Mountain, which has a swoon-worthy cover, and draws from the same well of inspiration as Hell in a Bottle. I’m also interested in reading the new edition of Keiji Nakazawa’s I Saw It: A Survivor’s True Story of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, which Last Gasp is releasing this week. It’s not clear from the packaging if this version is a reprint of the old Educomics edition, or is a fresh translation; nonetheless, it’s good to see this title available again, as it’s a simple but powerful way to help young readers appreciate the horrors of nuclear warfare.

SEAN: I’m picking the final volume of Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension. Its last volume came out in late 2019. I have forgotten everything about what happened in it. But I know I will miss this harem guy, his passel of bathing girls, and the importance of consent before he washes them.

ANNA: I’m going to join Kate in picking I Saw It: A Survivor’s True Story of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, it is good that important stories like this are kept in print and accessible to readers.

MICHELLE: I agree that it’s good for I Saw It to remain in print, but personally I just can’t take something so devastating this week. Instead, I’ll pick volume six of Cherry Magic!, a cute series that I look forward to catching up on.

ASH: I’m not sure how I overlooked that it was being released this week (maybe because I’ve had it preordered for what seems like ages…), so I’m glad that Kate made mention of The Moon Over the Mountain. I’m a big fan of Atsushi Nakajima’s work and the first volume of Maiden’s Bookshelf was beautifully done, so I’m particularly looking forward to this next installment.

SEAN: There’s no new manga titles that really call out to me, and while I am interested in These Legs Don’t Lie!, that borderline H cover makes me wary. So I’m going to pick Ascendance of a Bookworm, because it’s always fantastic.

KATE: I’m in the same boat as Sean; this week’s list is long but not very enticing. If I had to choose a title, though, I’d pick the new edition of Polar Bear Cafe, if only because the premise sounds like a nice bit of escapism. (The artwork looks pretty darn cute, too.)

MICHELLE: The blurb for Happy of the End includes the line ” Chihiro may not have a place to call home currently and Keito may not be a good person by any means, but maybe the two of them could be happy together.” Depending on how bad Keito actually turns out to be, this could be dreadful or right up my street. Either way, I’ll take a chance and pick this one this week!

ASH: While there are a few debuts that vaguely interest me this week, I think I should probably make up for being delinquent in my reading of Wave, Listen to Me! and take some time to get caught up with that series, so that’ll be my pick.

ANNA: I’m also not seeing a ton out there that is a must buy for me, but I am curious about A Condition Called Love.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued by [Oshi no Ko] and Honey Lemon Soda, but how could I not pick the finale of Lost Lad London, which I have enjoyed exceedingly thus far? I hope we see more mysteries in manga form in future!

SEAN: I’m a big fan of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, and I enjoyed Scum’s Wish as much as anyone can enjoy a series like Scum’s Wish. The idea of a collaboration intrigues me, so I’ll go with [Oshi no Ko].

KATE: One of my favorite horror series of the last five years was PTSD Radio, a collection of interconnected vignettes that are every bit as spooky and weird as Junji Ito in top form. If you missed out on this series when it was digital-only, now’s your chance to pick up the first two omnibus volumes; the final omnibus will be available in May, so you won’t have to wait long to read the conclusion.

ANNA: I’m very curious about Honey Lemon Soda, looking forward to checking it out!

ASH: As a fan of horror manga, I appreciate Kate’s reminder about PTSD Radio, which I somehow haven’t actually read yet. My pick this week goes to the debut of BARBARITIES, however; I’ve been looking forward to giving another manga by Tsuta Suzuki a try.

SEAN: No question, my pick this week is I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s so Cheeky for a Commoner. We’ve seen “the same events from another perspective” in other light novels, but usually as briefly changing narrators, not an entire new series. Plus… More Claire! More Rae!

MICHELLE: Given is no doubt a nicer series than The Shadows of Who We Once Were, but since I haven’t read it in ages, I don’t feel as though I can really pick it these week. Whereas I’ve been binging Shadows and, though I am still not entirely sure how I feel about it, the end being in sight definitely inclines me in its favor. So… half-hearted endorsement, I guess?

ASH: Debut-wise, I think the series that I’m the most curious about this week is The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls, but if I look towards currently ongoing series (and favorites) Vinland Saga is always a top choice for me.

ANNA: I may be far behind, but I won’t pass up a chance to hype Vinland Saga either.

KATE: All the enthusiastic praise for Vinland Saga makes me think I should give it a second try, so I’m joining Anna and Ash and making it my pick of the week.

MICHELLE: I was originally going to pick I’m Kinda Chubby and I’m Your Hero, but a commenter on the Manga the Week of post described the Raven of the Inner Palace anime as “sad and lovely,” so now I am super curious about that. Thus, I’m actually picking a light novel this time!

SEAN: Raven of the Inner Palace is definitely on my list, because I am happy to add another “behind the scenes of the emperor’s harem” title. That said, the one that is most intriguing to me this week is No Longer Allowed In Another World, which has the potential to be amazingly funny or a giant trainwreck, and I want to see which.

ASH: I’ll throw another title out there for consideration since I’ve been waiting for it for so long—Rakuda Laughs—but honestly I’m interested in everything that’s been mentioned so far and will join Sean in picking No Longer Allowed In Another World for the reasons already outlined.

KATE: I’ve heard a lot of good things about Romantic Killer–especially its blunt, no-nonsense heroine–so that’s my pick of the week.

ANNA: Put me down for Romantic Killer too, I’m intrigued.

SEAN: It’s the end of the year, and as always I’ve forgotten 90% of what I read back in March and April. I will thus make my pick a collective pick, as this year had so many new Villainess Novels. Be it reincarnated in an otome game, a duke’s daughter who is publicly shamed, or just a depressed young woman who’s trying to quietly live through her teenage years so she can enter a convent, the Villainess genre has proven surprisingly wide, and I’ll be delighted to read even more of it in 2023.

MICHELLE: I didn’t read as much as I wanted to this year—blast that infernal “life crap” that always seems to intrude—but of what I did read, my favorite was Lost Lad London. Getting a real mystery in manga form is rare enough, and one that acknowledges racism and sexism is unheard-of. I am both looking forward to and lamenting the third and final volume, due out in a few weeks.

ASH: I likewise haven’t had as much time to devote to manga this past year as I would have liked. However, despite some sub-genres seeming to have flooded the market, I’ve been impressed (and pleased!) to see the wide variety manga being released these days. In particular, or in general, I’d like to make small, niche, manga publishers my pick of the year. Specifically, Glacier Bay Books continues to produce highly engaging releases and Star Fruit Books has brought Hideshi Hino back in English as part of a steadily developing catalogue of interesting print manga.

KATE: I want to echo what Ash is saying about small presses such as Glacier Bay Books and Star Fruit: they’re bringing all kind of cool, off-beat titles to the American market that otherwise wouldn’t be translated. In a market that’s so thoroughly saturated in isekai titles and formulaic high school romances, it’s great to have some meaningful alternatives, so I’m making these two presses my “manga of the year.”

SEAN: There are two wolves fighting inside me. One wants to appreciate tougher, more realistic manga and is interested in the debut of Run Away with Me, Girl, which has been politely described as “heavy”. The other wolf is going “the first new Railgun manga in 18 months? Score!”.

KATE: I’ve recently been re-watching Seinfeld, and saw the episode where George can’t stop singing “Master of the house, doling out the charm/Ready with a handshake and an open palm.” Therefore, my pick of the week *has* to be Les Misérables. Sorry, I don’t make the rules…

MICHELLE: Heavy or not, Run Away with Me, Girl really does have the majority of my attention this week, so I’ll go with that this time.

ASH: I’ll admit, Run Away with Me, Girl is definitely the debut that has caught my eye this week, too. But, I also want to give Sweat and Soap a shout out—I was late to reading the series myself, but it really is a great one.