Pick of the Week

SEAN: This week I’m torn between small children and yakuza husbands, so my pick is split between the 5th Ascendance of a Bookworm light novel and the second volume of The Way of the Househusband.

MICHELLE: I’m all in for The Way of the Househusband, personally, though I’m also intrigued by MabuSasa, the latest digital shoujo from Kodansha.

KATE: My pick is also The Way of the Househusband, a classic fish-out-of-water comedy that finds fresh ways to mine the gangster-goes-straight concept for laughs. Read it… or else!

ANNA: Way of the Househusband for me as well. The first volume was hilarious, looking forward to more of the same.

ASH: Who am I to argue with everyone else? The Way of the Househusband is unquestionably my pick this week, too.

MELINDA: Well, I’m certainly not going to be the one to destroy the consensus this week. The Way of the Househusband it is!

MICHELLE: There are several volumes of sports manga coming out this week, which delights me to no end. I will happily read all of them, but my pick goes to the one with a premise slightly different from the rest. Giant Killing, that means you. In this seinen title, we’re dealing with a pro soccer club, not a high school team, and I’m loving it.

SEAN: Speaking of sports manga, will the race that can never end finally end in this Yowamushi Pedal? It’s my pick for this week.

KATE: We’re still six or so weeks out from Lent, so my pick is Liquor and Cigarettes.

ASH: As it appears Yowamushi Pedal is covered, I’ll make Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess my pick this week. This adaptation has been a bit more involved than Himekawa’s other Zelda manga; I’ve been enjoying seeing the team’s skills applied to a longer series.

ANNA: There’s not a ton that appeals to me this week so I’m going to trust Kate’s manga instincts and pick Liquor and Cigarettes as well.

MELINDA: I’m pretty much exactly where Anna is this week, so I’ll also go along with Kate! Liquor and Cigarettes it is!

SEAN: It’s Jump/Beat week, so we have an embarrassment of titles. I’ll pick the final Anonymous Noise, which is not quite as gripping now that it’s not showing its heroine screaming her song at the reader, but still a very good read.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely going to read the finale of Anonymous Noise, which won me over after the first few volumes but never quite captured my heart, but what I’m really jonesing for is a hit of some volleyball action in Haikyu!!.

KATE: Lest anyone accuse me of being predictable, I’m going to pick… actually, I’m going to stay on brand and choose volume 13 of The Promised Neverland. Why break my streak?!

ANNA: I’m never going to pass up a chance to highlight some josei, so my pick is An Incurable Case of Love Volume 2. The first volume featured a few twists on the workplace romance genre, so I’m curious to see what happens next.

ASH: This really is a good week for Viz releases! But to be contrary, and because I just finished reading and liked the first volume, I’m going to pick Animeta!.

MELINDA: It doesn’t seem like this should be a difficult week to come up with something, but I admit it’s been a struggle! But I have finally started getting into Snow White with the Red Hair, so I think I’ll toss my vote in for that. I need to read more manga in 2020!

ASH: Although there are a few manga being released this week that I’m interested in, without a doubt my pick goes to the latest installment of What Did You Eat Yesterday? in English. The series is such a delight and it’s been more than a year since the last volume was published, so I’m really looking forward to reading more.

SEAN: What Did You Eat Yesterday? never gelled for me, so I’ll go with the latest Monogatari as my pick. Owarimonogatari: End Tale is one of many times that Nisioisin has said that he’s ending the series, and it does actually wrap up the main plotlines, to be fair, if not the books themselves. This is the first of three volumes, dealing with Araragi’s first year in high school and the mysterious Ogi Oshino.

MICHELLE: I’m very much looking forward to more 10 Dance and Waiting for Spring, but given that my spirits had a noticeable uptick when I noticed this volume on the calendar, it’s gotta be What Did You Eat Yesterday? for me!

MELINDA: I’m interested in a few titles in the upcoming New Year’s batch, but I’m going to have to go with Ash and Michelle. Fumi Yoshinaga always wins with me, and I’m thrilled that we’re finally seeing more of What Did You Eat Yesterday? this week!

MICHELLE: When declaring a pick of the year, I feel some self-induced pressure to choose something highbrow, but the fact is that the the title that I loved the most, cared about the most, was from Shounen Jump. And that, of course, is My Hero Academia. It’s fun, it’s funny, it’s got a lovable cast. It’s also got trauma, kids struggling with feelings of inadequacy, a great and gradual redemption arc for the protagonist’s childhood bully, and scenes that make one cry. I love it to bits.

SEAN: There’s a lot of titles I really loved this year (including MHA), but the one that caught my eye the most, as I said last week for Pick of the Week, was Our Dreams at Dusk. One of the best LGBTQ titles to hit these shores, it scores in characterization, art, mood, just about everything. It was simply amazing.

ASH: Our Dreams at Dusk really is a phenomenal series, and one of my top picks of the year, too. The other debut that made a big impression on me this year was the beautiful hardcover release of Moto Hagio’s The Poe Clan. It’s a marvelously dark and dramatic shoujo classic; I can definitely understand why it became such an influential work.

KATE: My favorite manga of 2019 was Taiyo Matsumoto’s gorgeous, weird, and trippy Cats of the Louvre, which is both a meditation on purpose of art, and a meditation on what it means to close the door on your childhood and face the uncertainty of being an adult. I’m still thinking about it more two months after I read it—something I can’t say about most of the books I read this year.

ANNA: My pick of the year is Witch Hat Atelier. It combines stunningly detailed art with classic world building, creating a manga that reminds me of fantasy stories I read as a child.

SEAN: An embarrassment of amazing stuff this week. I could choose any one of half a dozen books. But I’ll go with the 4th and final Our Dreams at Dusk, which has been such an amazing series. Recommended for everyone.

MICHELLE: I definitely look forward to reading Our Dreams at Dusk, but this week I’ll award my pick to Our Dining Table, which looks absolutely adorable. Seven Seas really is putting out some stellar titles these days!

KATE: I whole-heartedly agree with Sean: Our Dreams at Dusk is a genuinely moving story, told with nuance and grace. If the Manga Bookshelf team’s ringing endorsement isn’t enough to persuade you to read this series, check out Sean’s thoughtful reviews of volumes 1-3 at A Case Suitable for Treatment.

ASH: Wow! This week really is full of amazing releases, which makes it incredibly hard to choose just one as my pick. Our Dreams at Dusk is an incredible series, as is Vinland Saga and To Your Eternity. I’m also really looking forward to Our Dining Table and the debut of the previously unlicensable Saint Young Men. But the first thing that I’ll be reading – and therefore my pick this week – is Junji Ito’s manga adaptation of No Longer Human.

ANNA: I totally plan on reading Our Dreams at Dusk one day, and I’m excited for more Vinland Saga. The manga I’m most excited about reading this week though is Saint Young Men, I’ve been holding out for the print edition for a long time.

MELINDA: I’ve absolutely got Our Dreams at Dusk on my to-buy list, and I’m also pretty excited about Junji Ito’s No Longer Human, but like Anna, I’ve waited so long for a US print release of Saint Young Men, that just has to be my pick for the week.

MICHELLE: Confident that Melinda will choose Seven Days, I’ll instead cast my vote for the fifth volume of Farewell, My Dear Cramer. The best part about any sports manga is when the members of the team find the place they belong, and that’s beginning to happen here. Players who were formerly alone, or at least alone in the amount of love they had for soccer, are finally among like-minded individuals. I was a little unsure about this series at first, but now I’m fully hooked.

SEAN: My love for this series has been very variable, and there’s no question it ran too long, but I’ll go with Mission of Love’s final volume as my pick this week. Certainly if you pick one Ema Toyama series, this is the one to get.

ASH: While I’m very happy that Seven Days is getting a well deserved re-release, my pick this week goes to Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji. I really wasn’t expecting this series to be licensed, but I’m really looking forward to reading the original manga after greatly enjoying its anime adaptation. (Zawa zawa zawa…)

ANNA: I’m going to pick The Golden Sheep Volume 2, because I hope it will spur me to finally read the first volume.

MELINDA: I hate that I’m so predictable, but YES OF COURSE my pick this week is Seven Days: Monday-Sunday. I enjoyed this so much when it was originally released by DMP, and I’m thrilled to see it back again. Hurray!

KATE: I second Ash’s pick; I’ve been curious about Kaiji since Denpa made this licensing announcement in 2018, and am looking forward to finally getting to read it!

SEAN: There’s always an embarrassment of riches when it’s Viz week. That said, I can see no reason not to pick one of my favorite manga series of all time yet again. Yona of the Dawn is my pick.

ASH: Yona of the Dawn is a fine choice! (And one of my favorite shoujo series currently being released.) However, the debut I’m most curious about this week is Jujutsu Kaisen, also from Viz, so that’s what’ll get my official pick this week.

MICHELLE: I love Yona of the Dawn but since that’s covered I’ll go with volume 22 of My Hero Academia. Long have I wanted to get more of class 1-B and their various Quirks, as well as more Shinsou, and this arc of the manga delivers on both accounts.

KATE: Holy manga haul, Batman! I could recommend at least eight titles from this week’s new arrival list. If I had to narrow it down to just two, my nominations would be Drifting Dragons, a gorgeously illustrated adventure story about a team of whalers—er, dragon hunters—and the digital edition of Dream Fossil: The Complete Stories of Satoshi Kon, which I reviewed a few years ago.

MELINDA: There’s a lot of interesting stuff coming out this week, but since the rest of the Battle Robot seems to have it covered, I’ll speak up for Vertical’s 20th Anniversary Edition of Paradise Kiss. I’m not sure I’ll ever get over wanting more Ai Yazawa, but I’m also pretty sure that’s something I’ll have to content myself with wanting forever. Meanwhile, I love the fact that we’re repeatedly celebrating what’s already there.

ANNA: I can’t pick anything else other than Yona of the Dawn, it is such a great series.

MICHELLE: I have wanted to read The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese for quite a few years, so to me there is really no other choice.

SEAN: Yes, yes, Beastars. (see other entries below) My pick this week is a double shot of the girl tormenting the boy she likes, as I’ll pick the 6th volume of Teasing Master Takagi-san and the debut of Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagotoro. I enjoy this genre.

SEAN: Much as I tend to rag on Mysterious Girlfriend X for the drool, it was very well written. And I’ve heard even better things about the \same author’s Discommunication, which apparently has some utterly fantastic art. Therefore it’s absolutely my pick this week.

MICHELLE: There are some pretty interesting things coming out next week, namely the debut of another digital-only josei series from Kodansha Comics, but my heart belongs to volume six of The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, which actually came out last week. I love this series so very much and am always excited when a new installment pops up. Because of its creepy atmosphere, the timing is just right, too!

SEAN: A lean week, and my choices are a bit lean as well. As such, I’m fine with picking The Drops of God, which I may have picked before back in the day but now it’s digital and we have the first 11 books (or a planned 44!). Read with a nice glass of wine.

ASH: Portions of The Drifting Classroom have been out of print for some time, so I am thrilled that a new hardcover edition is being released. For those who appreciate horror manga, this series is a must. It’s an extremely intense work with dark psychological elements. Other great manga are being released this week, too, but this one is my pick.