Pick of the Week

MICHELLE: I’m not wildly enthusiastic about anything this week, but I did enjoy This Wonderful Season with You enough to make Deko-boko Bittersweet Days my pick of the week. Even if it is TOKYOPOP.

SEAN: I have heard so much good buzz about Catch These Hands! that it’s definitely my pick this week. I will punch the yuri into you!

KATE: My pick: the final volume of Blue Giant, an entertaining series about a self-taught saxophonist who honks, squawks, and improvises his way to jazz greatness. If you haven’t tried it, now’s a great time to pick it up, both for the terrific cartooning and for the author’s impressive knowledge of music; Blue Giant is one of the only music manga that didn’t make my inner musician cringe. Now that’s saying something!

ASH: Blue Giant is a solid choice, for sure! However, my pick this week actually goes to The Song of Yoru & Asa, another manga that’s at least tangentially related to music, but that comes with far more content warnings. That being said, I’m also really looking forward to giving Catch These Hands and Run on Your New Legs a try, too!

ANNA: I do enjoy sports manga, and for that reason Run on Your New Legs is my pick!

MELINDA: It’s a tough choice for me this week, because I’m tentatively interested in a lot of stuff, but not overwhelmingly obsessed with anything. Still, Catch These Hands sounds too cute to pass up, so I think I’ll be going along with Sean this week!

SEAN: We have a wealth of choices this week. I could pick the much requested Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, as the resident light novel person. There’s My Wandering Warrior Existence, the latest from Nagata Kabi. But I think I’ll pick something away from my tastes with Orochi: The Perfect Edition, which is from 1969 (a rarity in licenses these days) and was licensed pre-,manga boom and dropped, but is now being released again (also a rarity). It looks scary as hell.

MICHELLE: I’m taking my final chance to pick Fumi Yoshinaga’s epic Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. Though it’s been repeatedly heartbreaking to fall in love with various characters along the way, only to have them meet their cruel fate one way or another, it’s also been wholly fascinating and I look forward to seeing how she wraps it all up.

KATE: Gotta go with Sean on this one: classic horror FTW!

ANNA: Since this is my last opportunity to pick Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. I’m going to join with Michelle for her pick.

ASH: Echoing everyone else here, but I have to join in with giving Ōoku: The Inner Chambers a shout out for its final volume and a cheer for the debut of Orochi.

KATE: I suspect everyone on the Manga Bookshelf crew will give a shout-out to New York, New York–I mean, Manga Bookshelf’s most beloved feature was our Banana Fish roundtable–so I’ll plug Apple Children of Aeon, which sounds like just the kind of blend of history, folklore, and drama that appeals to all of us.

SEAN: Yeah, I can’t deny that the obvious pick of the week to me is New York, New York, a psychological tragedy that ran in the mainstream shoujo magazine Hana to Yume, a magazine that even just five years later would not really do this sort of thing. It’s coming out in two omnibuses, and looks luxurious.

MICHELLE: There’s no way that I could resist BL + psychological tragedy! New York, New York all the way.

ANNA: I’m for sure interested in i>New York, New York, but we still get so little josei released here I’m going to team up with Kate to pick Apple Children of Aeon.

ASH: I am very interested in both New York, New York and Apple Children of Aeon, but I’m actually going to throw one more josei title out there for consideration. I suspect that I may enjoy the original novels even more, but I’ve really been looking forward to the debut of the manga adaptation of The Case Files of Jeweler Richard, too.

MELINDA: Okay, all the picks so far are excellent, but we all know where I’m going with this, right? New York, New York, I must have it. I simply must.

MICHELLE: My pick this week is Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love for the very simple reason that I almost always adore manga from Margaret and its offshoots.

SEAN: I’m not sure if it will be my thing or not, but it feels like the right decision to make Dragon Quest my pick this week. We need more titles that remind you an 80s/90s hit can still come out even 30 years later.

ANNA: I’m not going to turn down the opportunity to pick a new shoujo series, Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love is my pick too!

MELINDA: Okay, I feel like I genuinely have no opinion worth sharing this week, so I’m just going to follow the herd and go with Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love? Where Michelle goes, I go also?

ASH: That’s where I’m going this week, too! Although Dragon Quest certainly has my attention, the debut that has my heart this week is Ima Koi.

SEAN: I feel I am required to pick Prison Life Is Easy for a Villainess this week, if only as I worry that if I don’t Rachel, the aforementioned villainess, will find out and ruin my life.

KATE: I’m torn this week between From the Red Fog, which is giving me serious Kaori Yuki vibes, and I’m a Wolf and My Boss Is a Sheep!, which sounds like a potentially great set-up for a workplace comedy. (Or a tedious exercise in milking the same joke for laughs over and over again—I can’t decide.) I think I’m in need of laughs more than jump scares right now, so I’ll cast my vote for I’m a Wolf.

MICHELLE: There’s not one title that sings to my hear this week, but WITCH WATCH seems like it could be fun. Though, honestly, it just makes me pine for an English release of Mairimashita! Iruma-kun more than anything.

ASH: While I’m interested in everything that’s been mentioned so far, I’m going to throw in one more manga for consideration. My pick this week goes to Monologue Woven For You as I can’t resist the combination of yuri and theater.

ANNA: There’s not a ton out there that I’m super interested in, but I’m going to go with WITCH WATCH just to support manga featuring witches as a matter of principle.

MELINDA: Anyone who read this week’s “Manga the Week of” should know there’s only one pick for me. It’s From the Red Fog all the way. I’m so ready.

MICHELLE: I already devoted a pick to danmei, so although I’m definitely happy to see the second volume of Heaven’s Official Blessing, I’ll pick Restart After Growing Hungry because the synopsis just sounds wonderful. ” Mitsuomi and Yamato fell for each other beneath the endless, unchanging countryside sky. Now, as the days go by in the small town where Mitsuomi was born and raised, and the foundling Yamato made his home, the two men are searching for the shape of their own happiness.”

SEAN: My pick this week is the Rumiko Takahashi collection Came the Mirror & Other Tales. The fact that she has so many 30+ volume series doesn’t mean she can’t write fantastic short one-chapter manga as well, as fans of Rumic World and Rumic Theater know. This should be good.

KATE: I second Sean’s recommendation! As much as I love Takahashi’s long-form series, I feel like her artistry shines brighter in her short stories. Here’s hoping that brisk sales of Came the Mirror inspires VIZ to reissue some of her older short story anthologies for a new generation of readers.

ANNA: I’m also curious about Came the Mirror, but I’m wrapping up the first volume of Heaven Official’s Blessing and enjoying it, so I’ll go ahead with the second volume as my pick!

MELINDA: I will admit I’ve always been kind of hit or miss with Rumiko Takahashi. In the hopes that this may be one of those hit moments for me, I’ll take a chance on Came the Mirror & Other Tales!

ASH: Came the Mirror is the debut that I am most interested in, for sure! I find that I don’t always have the time that I once did for long series, so I’m glad to see that collections of short manga are being licensed these days, too.

SEAN: Gotta admit, I am most curious this week about what Japan does with Deadpool: Samurai. Given it’s Deadpool, I expect it may be a bit more violent than I’d like, but hey.

MICHELLE: I know shoujo series featuring love triangles are a dime a dozen, but sometimes they’re just appealing, especially when they have a cover as cute as Falling Drowning. I look forward to checking it out.

KATE: After seeing some of the artwork on Twitter, my vote is for Fungus and Iron. Good thing I saw the artwork, too, because Kodansha’s official blurb for this series makes it sound about as interesting as reading someone else’s to do list.

ASH: Fungus and Iron is the debut that I’m most curious about this week, though being a digital release means it’s mostly off my radar. So, my official pick goes Lovesick Ellie since I’ve heard such great things about that series and it’s already made the jump from digital to print.

ANNA: I’m going to go for Lovesick Ellie too, I really enjoyed the first volume.

MELINDA: I am wildly out of the loop this week, but I’m going to go with Falling Drowning, despite not even having seen the cover, just because I really like the title. Yes, this is where I’m at right now.

MICHELLE: Although I’m excited about catching up on Yona of the Dawn, the cover of Hello, Melancholic! is just too dang cute for me to not pick it this week.

KATE: You had me at “tall but shy trombone players,” so I’m going to join Michelle and name Hello, Melancholic! as my Manga of the Week.

SEAN: Short of a Jack Teagarden manga series, this may be the closest we get to trombone supremacy. I too will go with Hello, Melancholic!

ANNA: I’m also excited for more Yona and Hello, Melancholic! sounds delightful. However I’m not going to pass up the chance to pick Knight of the Ice two weeks in a row, such is strength of my devotion!

ASH: While I’ve been enjoying both Knight of the Ice and Yona of the Dawn, my pick of the week goes to Hello, Melancholic!, as well. To be fair, I’ll give just about any music-related manga a try, but this series honestly seems like it should be great.

MELINDA: I’m going to have to go with the crowd this week and choose Hello, Melancholic! Trombone supremacy, indeed!

SEAN: I realize that it’s offering comfort to the enemy, but I have to admit, the title that attracts me most this week is Double, from Tokyopop, those who betrayed us all so long ago. It just looks cool and interesting.

MICHELLE: It does, damn it. However, I find I’m most keen to get caught up on heartwarming feline fare. A Man and HIs Cat for me this time.

ANNA: If Knight of the Ice is on offer, that’s always going to be my pick. Hilarious josei romantic antics AND figure skating for the win!

KATE: Double reminds me of the kind of WTF?! gems that Tokyopop used to publish by the truckload–the kind of manga that sounded absolutely preposterous when you tried to explain the plot to someone, but were wildly entertaining. I agree with Sean that Tokyopop has an abominable track record of finishing series, but I’m throwing caution to the wind this week and making Double my pick as well.

ASH: Kodansha seems to have most of the series I’m interested in on the same release schedule this week, so I’ll cheat a little and just wave my hands in their general direction. In addition to the already mentioned Knight of the Ice, there’s also Wave, Listen to Me!, To Your Eternity, and Saint Young Men that I’m looking forward to reading.

KATE: My pick of the week is The Way of the Househusband. This series should have run out of comic steam after two or three volumes, especially since the sight gags and misunderstandings could be boiled down to one simple idea: He’s a yakuza assassin who clips coupons! Seven volumes in, however, the jokes are still hitting the mark more often than not, thanks, in no small part, to Kousuke Oono’s ability to make everyday situations seem fraught with peril. Highly recommended!

SEAN: I’ll go with the final volume of Species Domain. It lagged a bit towards the end, but for the most part this high school comedy with fantasy elves, angels, ogres, and dwarfs has been the very definition of “better than it sounds”.

MICHELLE: I has been two years since the fifth volume of 10 Dance was released. To say that I am ready for more is an understatement! Volume six is absolutely my pick this week.

ASH: Wow, has it really been that long?! (Time seems to flow particularly strangely these days…) That being said, 10 Dance is definitely one of my top picks this week, along with the also previously mentioned The Way of the Househusband.

MELINDA: I am incredibly, INCREDIBLY behind on 10 Dance, which is to say I’m not sure I’ve ever read past the first two or three volumes. This needs to change! Hello to my pick of the week!

ANNA: I usually lose interest in comedy series at some point but The Way of the Househusband is still going strong, that’s my pick.

SEAN: I admit I am tempted to pick It’s That Reincarnated-as-a-Virus Story, just for the sheer balls of releasing it at the height of COVID. Instead I’ll pick my old favorite Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, whose 7th light novel looks pretty important given the page count is almost twice that of the previous ones.

KATE: If you haven’t read Boys Run the Riot, put it on your list NOW. It’s funny, profane, heartbreaking, and unabashedly queer. One of the things I appreciate most about Riot is its simple but powerful affirmation of a basic human truth: we all rely on clothing to express our identities, even if those identities don’t fall along simple gender binaries. For my money, this was one of the best series of 2021, and I’m sad to see it ending after just four volumes.

MICHELLE: I have absolutely loved reading Lovesick Ellie in its digital incarnation, and am delighted it’s getting a print release. I love that the princely boy turns out to be incredibly awkward and that the heroine is unabashedly horny for him. Truly fun shoujo and my pick for this week.

ANNA: I’m always up for some josei, and dragons sound like a bonus! The Dragon Knight’s Beloved (Ryukishi no Okiniiri) is the manga I’m most curious about this week.

ASH: As curious as I am about both Lovesick Ellie and The Dragon Knight’s Beloved, and as delighted as I am with what I’ve read of Sweat and Soap, I have to echo Kate this week. Boys Run the Riot has been a terrific series and I don’t see that changing with it’s final volume; I’m so glad that it was licensed.

MELINDA: I will confess that though I have failed to read any volumes of Boys Run the Riot to-date, I really, really WANT to. So perhaps this is my chance! There’s my pick of the week!

KATE: One of the things I appreciate about Seven Seas is how much they’ve diversified their catalog. Yes, they still publish things like Trapped In Another Dimension with a Ridiculously Hot Girl: Have You Seen My Three-Hit Attacks?, but they’ve also made a commitment to publishing older series, offering North American readers an opportunity to read foundational texts such as Claudine, Cutie Honey, Captain Harlock, and Devilman. I’m excited to see what they’ve done with Shotaro Ishinomori’s Kamen Rider, which, as my colleague Sean pointed out, is “the inspiration for most anything you’ve ever loved.” Sold!

SEAN: Kamen Rider would absolutely be my pick if I had any confidence I’d finish it. Since I do not, I’ll go with something more in my wheelhouse: the first volume of Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie. Combining villainess novels with Hana-Kimi seems like a great idea.

MICHELLE: I think it’s very cool that Kamen Rider is coming out and I will certainly give it a try. If I’m honest, though, my heart belongs to My Love Mix-Up!.

ANNA: I’m going to go with the final volume of Love Me, Love Me Not. Shojo Beat has really been bringing some great, heartfelt series recently and I’m looking forward to seeing how this wraps up.

ASH: It’s Kamen Rider for me this week! I’m very happy to see more of Shotaro Ishinomori’s work translated, and especially such an influential series. This omnibus is huge in more ways than one!

SEAN: It’s always hard to think back twelve months and remember what’s been coming out. There are so many titles that I love and want to mention here. In particular, there have been a lot of great LGBT series such as Boys Run the Riot and I Think Our Son Is Gay. There’s brilliant one-shot Look Back. I love light novels, so I want to mention Bofuri and Tearmoon Empire (it came out in print this year, so counts as a 2021 title) and any number of Villainess books. But I think I will make my pick a plucky digital-only title about an elementary schoolgirl who wants to be a figure skater but has a huge hill to climb. Between its story and its incredibly dynamic art, Medalist is one of the most captivating sports manga I;ve seen in years. I hope it gets a print release soon.

MICHELLE: It’s been a tough year for me in terms of marshaling the mental focus required to read. As a result, there are quite a few debuts I’ve been genuinely excited about that I haven’t yet managed to check out. One series that had sufficient pull on my heartstrings to compel me to finish it was Haikyu!!. I know it wasn’t a 2021 debut, but it did have a 2021 conclusion and I loved it very very much, so I’m going to pick it anyway! The final volume made me cry several times (in a good way). Hikaru no Go reigned for many years as my favorite sports manga ever, but with the perfect execution of its finale, Haikyu!! pulled ahead to claim the title.

ANNA: There’s a lot of manga to be thankful for. Some of my favorite series that come to mind immediately are Witch Hat Atelier, Yona of the Dawn, Given and A Sign of Affection. However, if I need to pick just one series to highlight, I’m going to choose the josei series Knight of the Ice because the combination of sports, romance, and Yayoi Ogawa’s unique sense of humor make every volume entertaining.

ASH: It’s been quite the year and I’ve not gotten in all of the reading that I would have liked, but there were still plenty of releases that I was thrilled to see. As already mentioned, there have been some really excellent LGBT manga coming out of late. We saw some holy grail re-licenses this year, too, like Fist of the North Star and No. 5. I’m also grateful for Drawn & Quarterly’s continued attention to the creators Shigeru Mizuki and Yoshiharu Tsuge. The other publisher that has most consistently captured my attention this past year has been Glacier Bay Books. One of it’s most recent releases, F by Imai Arata, is particularly impactful, but I love seeing the range of works being published by the press.

KATE: My pick of the year is Naoki Urasawa’s Asadora!, which follows the adventures of a plucky teen pilot who’s hot on the trail of a… well, I won’t spoil the surprise. Although it shares some thematic elements with 20th Century Boys and Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams, Asadora! is more nimble and entertaining than either, thanks in no small part to the compelling relationship between the series’ two lead characters. Equally important, Urasawa’s illustrations feel a little more lifelike and animated than some of his recent efforts; he does a brilliant job of depicting the popular culture and urban landscapes of postwar Japan, as the country prepares for the 1964 Olympic Games. Volume five doesn’t arrive until April 2022, so there’s plenty of time to get caught up with this engrossing series.

ANNA: I’m usually not incredibly surprised by the manga coming out week after week, but I’m delighted that we’re getting a new volume of Takehiko Inoue’s Real after a gap between print volumes, it is certainly something worth celebrating as Pick of the Week.

SEAN: Let’s be real, Real is what absolutely should be Pick of the Week. But since I’m a good 10 or so volumes behind on it, I will instead pick the new collection of Monkey Punch’s Lupin III manga. Manga Lupin is… an acquired taste, but this is where it all began, and I look forward to reading it and watching him be clever and also lecherous.

MICHELLE: I’m actually current on Real, but since volume fourteen came out in 2016, that doesn’t exactly count for much. I’m very happy to see a new volume, and definitely picking it this week, but I would be happier still if I had any confidence that it won’t be another five years of waiting for the next one.

KATE: Since everyone else has been keepin’ it Real, my pick is Lupin III: Greatest Heists, a collection of twelve stories drawn from various stages in the manga’s history. Tokyopop tried to make Lupin III happen back in 2002, but it didn’t click with American audiences. Here’s hoping fresh translations and a new publisher–Seven Seas, in this case–inspire more readers to give this famous, influential series a try.

ASH: Though I’m certainly interested in Lupin III, my pick has to be Real. I like Takehiko Inoue’s manga in general, but Real is my personal favorite. (Which actually surprises me a little bit.) While the series as a whole is terrific, the characterization in particular is phenomenal.

MELINDA: I’m also interested in Lupin III, which I adored when we got a taste of it back in the day, but we’ve been waiting for the next Real for SO long, I can’t choose anything else. Like many, I’d given up on it. So glad to be proven wrong.

SEAN: Um, it’s the three Danmei books. I believe Heaven Official’s Blessing has the most buzz? It’s certainly the longest of the three. In any case, these three novels sort of dwarf everything else on the list.

KATE: Anytime there’s a new volume of Kageki Shojo!! is a cause for celebration, so volume three is my pick o’ the week.

ANNA: Seems like a Danmei week to me!

MICHELLE: I’m ridiculously excited about the Danmei. I hope these books are a spectacular success for Seven Seas and prompt them to license even more. ‘Cos when is a geek never not grateful on one hand and greedy on the other? :)

ASH: I’d be remiss if I failed to mention Vinland Saga, which is still one of my favorite series even with the releases now being so far apart. But, I’ll also have to admit this is a Danmei sort of week for me; I’m particularly looking forward to Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.