Pick of the Week

SEAN: I mean, it’s Neighborhood Story, no question. A mere 21 years after Paradise Kiss came out in North America, we get its predecessor, and even more amazing fashion. Cannot wait.

MICHELLE: Yep. No question.

ANNA: I might pick it a few extra times!

ASH: There’s no doubt about it. Any Ai Yazawa manga is going to be an auto-pick for me, so Neighborhood Story it is!

MICHELLE: It’s 100% My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku for me. So much josei nowadays!

SEAN: I’ll pick the other josei title, then. Not only do I always want to support anything that comes from Flowers, but Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom looks cute and compact as well.

ANNA: Can I pick both? Why not both!?

ASH: Both it is! I love that josei is becoming more common in translation. (Though I must admit that I’m pretty excited for Stone Ocean, too.)

KATE: At the risk of being the most predictable member of the Battle Robot, I’m going to recommend the 30th edition of Tekkonkinkreet, a weird, glorious, head-trippy manga from Taiyo Matsumoto that’s a little more coherent than No. 5, and a lot less depressing than Sunny. If you’re never read anything by Matsumoto, it’s a great introduction to his unique visual style.

SEAN: There’s a clear 100% pick for me. Dark Horse’s release of Innocent is something I’ve been waiting for since it was announced. That it’s coming in three massive 650-age omnibuses makes it even better. The story of Charles-Henri Sanson is masterfully adapted in this, and the art is amazing.

KATE: I’m curious about Innocent, though the preview I read at The Comics Journal made me wonder if the exposition-heavy dialogue would drive me bananas. (Show don’t tell, people!) My vote goes for Team Phoenix instead; when Sean described it as “a Bessatsu Shonen Champion series that asks the question “what if the most iconic characters in Tezuka’s manga became space pirates?” I immediately pre-ordered a copy.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued by the space pirates, no doubt, but yes: Innocent all the way.

ASH: Innocent is my pick this week, too. I’ve actually been waiting for it even before it was announced. It was one of those series that regularly popped up on my radar; I would invariably be left wishing that it would be licensed. And now its release is nigh!

ANNA: There’s lots of great manga coming out this week, and I’m very intrigued by the prospect of a new Io Sakisaka series with Sakura, Saku. However I think everyone should be reading A Sign of Affection, so the 7th print volume is my official pick this week.

MICHELLE: I am in complete agreement with Anna!

ASH: I’ll join in with support for these selections, too, but will make Sakura, Saku my official pick since it’s the debut. (And I’ll also be making sure to move A Sign of Affection much higher up on my to-be-read pile!)

SEAN: I’m gonna join in too, A Sign of Affection is the top flight shoujo manga title of the week.

SEAN: The thing that oddly interests me most this week is Black Night Parade. Hikaru Nakamura specializes for me in series with great ideas that tend to not hold up the longer they go on. But that means her Vol. 1s are always fantastic.

MICHELLE: I suppose I’ll vote for volume four of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun. Maybe this’ll be the time I actually read it!

ASH: It’s a little early in the season for me for a manga that’s at least tangentially if not explicitly related to Christmas, but I do find it difficult to pass up Hikaru Nakamura, so Black Night Parade is my pick, too.

ANNA: Did you know that the sequel to Fourth Wing, Iron Flame is coming out this week too? It is not manga but that’s my pick!

MICHELLE: 1000% My Cat Is Such a Weirdo. I mean, how could I not?

SEAN: Still can’t resist a heroine called Princess That, so I’m going with Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor for my pick.

ANNA: My pick is Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen it sounds so amazingly random.

ASH: I’m with Anna this week! As soon as I was reminded that Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen existed, I made sure that I had a pre-order in place.

SEAN: “Yuri with actual adults” never gets old, so my pick this week will be just that, with Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord.

MICHELLE: There isn’t a whole lot that appeals to me personally, so I will celebrate the print release of Nina the Starry Bride, which I’ve been meaning to check out.

ANNA: I’m very happy that Nina the Starry Bride is getting a print release, it deserves it!

ASH: Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord is definitely of interest to me, but then so is Nina the Starry Bride, especially now that it is in print!

ASH: Blade of the Immortal certainly isn’t a new series, the deluxe edition being at least the fourth time it’s been released in English, but this is probably(?) the last time I’ll be able to make it my pick, and so I will! One of the first manga I ever read and made a point to start collecting (and then recollecting), the series continues to hold significant meaning for me.

SEAN: I wasn’t able to watch the anime of Bocchi the Rock! because Bocchi’s social anxiety was a bit too much for me with sound and motion. I’m hoping that on paper it will be more tolerable, so Bocchi is my pick this week.

MICHELLE: I’m a little iffy on the premise of Searching for My Perfect Brother, but it *is* josei and I like the cover, so I suppose it can have my (admittedly tentative) endorsement this week.

ANNA: I have similar feelings as Michelle about Searching for My Perfect Brother, but I am a little curious to check it out.

SEAN: It’s a new season of anime, and several of my favorites are finally getting a chance to shine. As such, my dual pick of the week is the 9th volume of The Apothecary Diaries and the 2nd manga volume of Tearmoon Empire. Go watch the anime, please.

MICHELLE: Super Morning Star looks like fun, so that gets my vote this week!

ASH: Had I not completely misremembered its release date, Nejishiki would have definitely been my pick last week seeing that it collects some important and influential alternative manga touchstones. But if I am to limit myself to this week’s releases, I’ll have to admit that I am rather curious about The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl.

ANNA: I’m also intrigued by The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl, so I’ll make that my pick as well.

ASH: I’ll have to admit, the releases I’m most excited about are ongoing series like Witch Hat Atelier. That being said, I’m interested enough in the debut of That Time the Manga Editor Started a New Life in the Countryside that I’m already hoping that it gets a print release. It looks like something I’d really enjoy!

KATE: I’m also excited for That Time the Manga Editor Started a New Life in the Countryside, not least because it sounds like a realistic gloss on a fantasy I’ve had for years: quitting my job and starting my own alpaca farm!

SEAN: Honestly, it will take more than a farming manga editor to turn my head, so I will agree with Ash’s first point. Any week with new Witch Hat Atelier is a week which is marvelous.

MICHELLE: I’m all about the finales of My Love Mix-Up! and Lovesick Ellie this week, with a side of “new series by Yuki Shiwasu!”

ANNA: It is sort of amazing that both those series are concluding! I’m going to join in on the pick for Witch Hat Atelier, that series is so special.

SEAN: Can we pick something that came out over 10 years ago? Because honestly it’s the new digital edition of Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka that’s most interesting to me this week.

ANNA: Same! Glad that this title is more accessible.

MICHELLE: I am always willing to endorse Pluto!

ASH: Pluto is such an important touchstone series for me and is absolutely my top choice this week, too. (Plus, I didn’t have the opportunity to pick it the first time around…)

KATE: I’m making a plug for volume six of Go with the Clouds, North by Northwest, a shambolic, gorgeous, and sometimes suspenseful mystery set in Iceland. New volumes come out about as frequently as new installments of A Bride’s Story, but the wait is always worth it.

MICHELLE: It’s absolutely Glitch for me this week. Siblings investigating a weird town would be enough on its own even without the goodwill Lost Lad London engendered, honestly, but the fact that it’s by the same creator is extra enticing.

ASH: Generally when selecting my pick, I look towards debut or one-off volumes, but I do have to at least mention two ongoing series I’m particularly glad to see new volumes of this week: Emanon and Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun. But my official pick goes to #DRCL midnight children which, if nothing else, should have phenomenal artwork.

SEAN: It will probably be a bit too dark for me, but I have to go with #DRCL midnight children as well, because art.

KATE: What everyone else said: bloodsuckers and mystery manga for me, too!

SEAN: I’ve been enjoying the Dahlia in Bloom series since it began, and Lucia has been an excellent recent addition to the cast. As such, I’m making Lucia and the Loom my pick this week.

KATE: I’ll cop to being curious about The Darwin Incident, though I may have to check out DoesTheDogDie.com just to make sure I’m not going to be an emotional train wreck if I read it!

MICHELLE: I haven’t yet managed to read Old-Fashioned Cupcake, but it seems to be sweet slice-of-life, which is my favorite sort of BL, so I’ll cast my vote for the sequel, Old-Fashioned Cupcake with Cappuccino, this week.

ASH: I am also curious about The Darwin Incident, but this week I’m going to join Michelle in picking Old-Fashioned Cupcake with Cappuccino… even though I likewise haven’t read the original volume. I’m in the mood for some vaguely food-themed BL manga, though.

MICHELLE: It has apparently been four entire years since I last read a volume of 10 Dance, so I’m very excited to get caught up on it. Thus, volume seven of same is my pick this week.

ASH: I’m definitely looking forward to another volume of 10 Dance, but the debut that has caught my eye is The Moon on a Rainy Night. I didn’t realize a series was coming out that ticked so many of my boxes: Yuri? Check. Musicians? Check. Underrepresented protagonists? Check!

SEAN: It’s definitely The Moon on a Rainy Night for me, which in addition to all the reasons Ash mentioned has the Erica Friedman Seal Of Approval (TM).

ANNA: I’m not going to deny The Moon on a Rainy Night as my pick for the week, especially since it seems like the only thing coming out that seems interesting to me.

SEAN: I have been hearing about the amazingness that is Guardian: Zhen Hun for years now, so it will be nice to finally see what the fuss is all about. This is my danmei of the week. My manga of the week is Nichijou, though.

MICHELLE: Frankly, I don’t see how I could pick anything other than Guardian: Zhen Hun this week!

ASH: Out of all of the releases coming out this week, Guardian: Zhen Hun has definitely captured most of my attention, so that’ll be my pick, too!

ANNA: I’m also pretty excited for Guardian: Zhen Hun, but also stoked for Don’t Call It a Mystery volume 2!

KATE: I’m joining Anna in picking volume two of Don’t Call It Mystery. It’s a little weird and talky, but also incredibly entertaining–think Columbo with fabulous hair and hot guys!