Pick of the Week

SEAN: I admit I tend to be more of a meat-and-potatoes manga reader, and there’s a ton of Viz stuff that I’ll be getting this week. That said, my pick is definitely Drawn & Quarterly’s The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud, a collection of Kuniko Tsurita’s works that ran in underground manga magazine Garo and elsewhere. It just looks wonderful.

MICHELLE: It does, but I have just been looking forward to act-age for so long that I can’t quit now. I don’t know what to expect from a shounen series about acting, but I am dying to find out.

ANNA: This seems like a great week for quirky manga in general. I’m going to have to go for the second volume of Knight of the Ice, because I’m not going to pass up any chance to celebrate a Yayoi Ogawa series.

KATE: I’m all in for The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud because if nothing else, I’m super-predictable when it comes to old, weird, or historically important manga. If I’m being a little less high-minded, I’m also totally on board with volume two of Knight of the Ice. It’s not as good as Tramps Like Us, but as Anna said, any Yayoi Ogawa manga is worth supporting, even if the supporting characters are more memorable than the lead romantic couple.

ASH: The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud is definitely my pick this week, too! I’m always interested in creators who published in Garo, but Kuniko Tsurita is one of the few women whose work has been translated, so I’m doubly interested.

MELINDA: I’m certainly excited about The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud, but this week I’m going to live dangerously and join Michelle in crossing my fingers for act-age. I just have to give it a shot!

MICHELLE: There’s not much that I’m especially excited about this week. I have enjoyed what I’ve read of Farewell, My Dear Cramer, though, and we don’t get much sports manga about girls’ teams over here, so I will award its tenth volume my pick this week.

SEAN: When it was out digitally I was distracted by Spy x Family, so now I definitely want to make Love Me for Who I Am my pick. A terrific look at LGBTQ identity, from multiple viewpoints.

ASH: While I am sorely tempted by the new hardcover deluxe edition of Clover, this week my pick aligns with Sean – I’ve been waiting for Love Me for Who I Am to be released in print, so I’m glad it’s finally here!

MELINDA: Like Ash, I’m interested in the hardcover edition of Clover, but I have to give a cautious vote to Love Me for Who I Am—cautious only after I saw the kind of weird cover. But I’m going to trust Sean that it’s more to my taste than its “infantilized sexy maid” cover suggests. But also, it’s got a nonbinary lead, and that’s enough for me. I must read it.

SEAN: Despite the combination of Peter Grill, Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World and Lust Geass giving Manga Bookshelf a sort of collective sigh in regards to this weeks’ titles, there are still a few good things to note. I’ll make my pick the final omnibus of Umineko When They Cry. It’s been a very long run for this series which, not to spoil, deals with LGBTQ issues a lot more than expected. I love it to bits, and can’t wait for the final volume.

MICHELLE: I will take refuge from all the ecchi offerings in the wholesome feline bosom of Sue & Tai-chan.

KATE: I second Michelle’s pick; cute kitty antics are always a good choice.

ASH: Cat manga is always a good bet, but I find myself leaning towards another genre this week. I haven’t actually read any of the original light novels yet (although at least one is currently sitting on my shelf), but I do find food manga hard to resist, so the debut of Restaurant in Another World it is for me!

MELINDA: I am not really excited about much coming out this week, despite the volume of it all. I guess I sort of like the cover of Canis: Dear Mr. Rain? Choosing covers is what this has come to. Better luck next week?

KATE: Holy smokes–that’s a lot of good manga heading our way this week! I’d be hard-pressed to limit my pick of the week to just two titles, let alone one. But if I had to choose just one book–and death was not an option–I’d pick Satoko and Nada, a sometimes gentle, sometimes sharp comedy about two international students making sense of the United States together.

SEAN: As I said in Manga the Week of, I love both Satoko and Nada and Tomo-chan Is a Girl. But if I’m going for a pick this week, I think I’ll go with – once again – Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Inio Asano’s K-On! gone horribly wrong series.

ASH: There really is an abundance of great manga being released this week! I’ll third the Satoko and Nada recommendation, but the manga I’m probably most looking forward to is Nagabe’s collection of short manga Love on the Other Side, so I’ll make that my official pick.

MICHELLE: I am going to pick still another option by going with the fifth and final volume of I’ll Win You Over, Sempai!. It’s a Kodansha digital exclusive and is about one of those pretty boys who’s actually kind of awkward but has been put on a pedestal and the pesky girl who does, indeed, eventually win him over. I have enjoyed it a lot.

ANNA: Out of everything coming out this week I’m most excited about Blue Flag 2, the first volume was wonderful.

MELINDA: Wow, the pressure is on! There’s a lot of exciting stuff to look forward to this week. And since my colleagues have already named most of them, I’ll put in a shout-out for The Weirn Books: Be Wary of the Silent Woods, which appears to be a continuation of her beloved (by me) Nightschool series for middle-grade readers. I’m excited to pick it up!

SEAN: I am somewhat torn between more Wotakoi and the debut of How Do We Relationship?, but since I’m sure I’ve picked Wotakoi before I’ll give it to the latter.

KATE: Two words: Blank Canvas! It’s a hilarious, wise, and rueful look at Akiko Higashimura’s professional journey from naive high schooler to budding manga-ka, warts and all. It’s hands down one of my favorite series of the last five years.

MICHELLE: I face the exact same dilemma as Sean. I really love Wotakoi, but the promise of a yuri series that focuses on sustaining a relationship rather than establishing one is just too good to pass up. How Do We Relationship? for me.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great manga coming out this week, but I’m going to go with Requiem of the Rose King, it is such a unique series.

ASH: This will be a very good week for me and manga (but not my wallet) – I’m actively reading many of the series being released, and am interested in more than a few of the debuts. For my picks, I tend towards debuts, so I’ll mention one that hasn’t yet been named yet that I’m particularly curious about (since the series it’s based on is a favorite of mine): The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru.

MELINDA: I’m interested in every single book listed so far! I don’t know how to choose! I’m especially a fan of Requiem of the Rose King. But I suppose, more than anything, I’m in the mood for romantic comedy, so I’ll join Sean and Michelle in giving my pick to How Do We Relationship?

MICHELLE: I suspect this’ll be another of those weeks where most or all of us say the same thing. So, before I get to the inevitable, I’ll also mention I’m keen to read the second volumes of Knight of the Ice and Somethings’ Wrong with Us, as well favorites like Chihayafuru, Natsume’s Book of Friends, and Yona of the Dawn. But, I mean it’s gotta be Spy x Family. It’s got a really neat concept and comes highly recommended by a friend who’s been reading it on the Shonen Jump app.

KATE: Wait… Natsume’s Book of Friends is still going?! I had no idea! I admit to being really curious to see where the story is twenty-odd volumes into its run, but Michelle is right: Spy x Family is THE manga to read this week.

SEAN: There is a pile of good stuff this week, and Spy x Family is sitting on top of all of it.

ASH: Likewise, Spy x Family gets my official pick this week, but I’m also looking forward to Love Me for Who I Am and the print debut of Sexiled a great deal.

ANNA: Spy x Family for me!!!

MELINDA: Okay, I’m very much here for Spy x Family and I can’t bear to break the streak. But I also need to shout out to Love Me for Who I Am, which, were it a print release, would blow away any other option with its nonbinary protagonist.

SEAN: It’s possible I’m not on the same WAVElength as the rest of the group, but I’m going to channel my inner nerd and pick the final (no really, finally final) volume of Haruhi-chan. A silly gag manga that may end up more remembered than its parent series, it gave us tiny Ryoko, balloon dog Taniguchi, and a ton of silliness.

KATE: As someone who teaches a class on the history of radio, I feel morally obligated to choose Wave, Listen to Me!! as my PotW. I also want to bang the drum for the new edition of Svetlana Chmakova’s Nightschool, which ticks so many boxes for tween readers that it should be part of any school library’s collection.

ANNA: I’m picking Wave, Listen to Me!! too, I’m curious to check it out!

MICHELLE: I am extremely happy that Wave, Listen to Me! is getting a print release. I read and loved the first three volumes in their digital editions, so it’s a clear choice for pick of the week. I’m also happy volumes four and five are now on the print schedule for fall!

ASH: As a close follower of Hiroaki Samura’s work in English, there really can be no pick of the week for me other than Wave, Listen to Me! I expect it to be more along the lines of Ohikkoshi rather than Blade of the Immortal, but either way, I’m thrilled to have it in print.

MELINDA: I’d like to echo what Kate said! My pick this week has to be Wave, Listen to Me!, no doubt. But I’m very happy to note the return of Nightschool and I hope it might generate new interest in the series!

MICHELLE: Seinen sports manga from Taiyo Matsumoto?! I mean, it’s gotta be Ping Pong this week for me!

SEAN: Ping? Pong!

ANNA: Totally psyched for Ping Pong!

KATE: Since the pandemic began we’ve been in virtual agreement about our pick of the week, so I thought I’d shake things up with a contrarian suggestion. Alas, this week’s pickings are mighty slim; I’m having a hard time imagining myself choosing Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight or Campfire Cooking in Another World over… well, just about anything, let alone one of the weirdest, coolest sports manga of the last twenty years. I guess that’s my long-winded way of saying put me down for a copy of Ping Pong, too.

ASH: Ping Pong is one of my most anticipated releases for the year, so it’s an easy pick of the week for me! (And for everyone else, too, it seems!)

MELINDA: My colleagues are very persuasive. What can I possibly say but Ping Pong?

SEAN: There’s a few titles that interest me but not much that screams “pick of the week”, so I’ll go withWandering Witch, a series so interesting I’m double dipping on the LN and manga, something I don’t usually do.

MICHELLE: There’s a fair amount coming out that appeals to me, but I’m most eager to continue the story of Given. I only watched the first few episodes of the anime so soon the manga will be in new territory.

KATE: I’d completely forgotten about Rin-Ne, but the recent announcement of an InuYasha sequel made me feel like it was 2008 all over again, so why not? Even a B minus effort from Rumiko Takahashi is still 100% better than most of what’s licensed for the English-language market.

MICHELLE: With RIN-NE having recently concluded in Japan, I do find myself wanting to dip back into it to see how it ends.

ASH: I actually haven’t read any of RIN-NE yet! (I probably should.) But I did read and greatly enjoy the first volume of Given, so I’ll be making that my official pick of the week. Although debut-wise, I’m probably most curious to read Sarazanmai: Reo and Mabu.

MELINDA: I’m behind on everything, and I still haven’t read the first volume of Given. But it seems inevitable that I’d love it, so I’ll make the second volume my pick this week. then it’s up to me to catch up!

ANNA: I’m joining in with the love for Given, I thought that the first volume was adorable.

MICHELLE: There is a lot of terrific stuff coming out this week. Shortcake Cake, Snow White with the Red Hair, and Haikyu!! continue to be among my favorite series. But this week I’ll award my pick to the debut of Not Your Idol, as the prospect of some psychological drama appeals to me.

SEAN: I admit Not Your Idol looks great, but it also seems a bit too dark for my taste. Therefore I will go to the opposite pole and make my pick Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear. Because frankly, it looks fun and also ridiculous.

ANNA: I agree that Not Your Idol looks great, but I’m also just not in the mood for anything too dark and twisty. So right now I’m much more in the mood for some Shortcake Cake but it is always hard for me to pick when there are a bunch of Shojo Beat titles coming out.

ASH: Debut-wise, Not Your Idol is where it’s at for me. But I’d also like to take this opportunity to give Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san one last shout-out, too!

MELINDA: I’m going to go with Not Your Idol. I’m increasingly shifty about cross-dressing as a plot device, but I like the cover, and apparently that’s enough for me in these strange times.

SEAN: Another week, another pick that’s blindingly obvious. I admit I am interested in Yen On’s new title, but clearly the choice is BL Metamorphosis, which seems to have both a great premise and wonderfully soft and nostalgic art.

KATE: What Sean said: BL Metamorphosis is my pick of the week, too!

ANNA: BL Metamorphosis sounds amazing. Looking forward to reading it.

MICHELLE: BL Metamorphosis all the way!

ASH: It really can be nothing else – I’ve been wanting to read BL Metamorphosis even before it was licensed; I’m so glad the series is being translated.

MELINDA: Normally, I’d never pass up a chance to hype Silver Spoon, but the temptation to make this a unanimous pick is just too strong. BL Metamorphosis it is!

KATE: While I can’t speak for everyone, I think it’s a safe bet that every member of the MB Battle Robot will be buying the first volume of Blue Flag, as it’s the kind of manga all of us like: a juicy, character-driven drama with crisp artwork. So my pick is Blue Flag. I dare the rest of the crew to prove me wrong!

MICHELLE: I’ve tried not to learn too much about Blue Flag to avoid spoilers but everything I have heard sounds fantastic, so I am enthusiastically waving its banner this week.

SEAN: Blue Flag, smilin’ at me, nothing but Blue Flag do I see…

ANNA: What is this I hear about Blue Flag???

ASH: I think a few of us (myself included) are excited for its release! Blue Flag is my pick, most certainly!

MELINDA: There’s a title coming to me… what is it? Something like Blue Flag, whatever that means. Yes, Blue Flag.

SEAN: It’s rare that I choose a pick based on a cover, but the cover art for My Dress-Up Darling just looks so confident and strong that I can’t help but be drawn to it. So I’ll make it my pick, with an honorable mention to the next Ran the Peerless Beauty.

MICHELLE: I will take up the banner for Ran the Peerless Beauty! It’s extremely charming, with expressive art and very likable leads. It’s got a little in common with Kimi ni Todoke, particularly the overall feel of it, so if you need something to fill the hole that series left behind when it ended, may I suggest Ran the Peerless Beauty?

ASH: The manga I’m most curious about this week is My Dress-Up Darling – it’s premise is intriguing, but I could also see it going in directions that I’m not particularly interested in. So, in case it turns out not to be my type of series, my backup pick is the most recent volume of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle.

MELINDA: Despite reports of abundant fanservice, I’m also cautiously drawn to My Dress-Up Darling, and hey, if you can’t take chances during quarantine, when can you? I’ll join Sean in making that my pick for the week!

KATE: I’m still hoping to get a good night sleep one of these days, so my vote goes to the latest installment of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle. Syalis can catch 40 winks ANYWHERE… now that’s a superpower! (Also: how you can you resist a manga with cute teddy demons, quite possibly the most harmless monsters anyone has committed to the page?)

ANNA: I agree with Kate, a funny manga all about a good night’s sleep sounds like a great distraction right now, so Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle is also my pick.

MICHELLE: I don’t know what to expect from Prince Freya, as I haven’t read either of the creator’s series that have been published in English so far. The “impersonate the prince” plot could go wrong, but similar plots have occasionally gone very right for me (Hello, Basara!). Mostly, then, I am picking it on the strength of its cover, which is frickin’ gorgeous.

SEAN: If Prince Freya is like Basara that would be fantastic, though I suspect it may be more along the lines of the author’s other series. I’m definitely looking forward to it. That said, I’m picking The Engagement of Marielle Clarac from J-Novel Club. Tagged as ‘josei’ on their site, the tale of a woman who is too busy seeing her fiance in terms of a fandom ‘type’ sounds right up my alley.

ASH: I’m totally with Michelle this week. I’m fairly certain I haven’t read any of the creator’s other titles, so am not entirely sure what to expect, but Prince Freya is definitely the debut that has piqued my curiosity the most.

ANNA: I’m most intrigued by Prince Freya as well, count me in!

MELINDA: I will admit that the kind of crossdressing story I expect from Prince Freya, which always seems to end up with cishet romance in the end, has become much less of a draw for me over the years. I generally think, “Well, I’d rather just re-read Basara.” But in difficult times I’m willing to give it a shot. Sign me up for Prince Freya!

SEAN: The last pick before I have to stop getting my manga from my local comic shop for the time being, I am feeling a tad melancholy. I expect I’ll be doing a lot more digital reading. As such, it’s the digital-only release of A Sign of Affection that holds my attention this week, even if it does have the standard “guy grabbing the girl from behind with his huge hand” cover.

MICHELLE: I did not notice that monstrous hand until you pointed it out. Holy crap. But yes, indeed, A Sign of Affection is also my pick this week. There have been so many new digital-only shoujo series from Kodansha of late that I’m already behind, but I continue to be happy about them nonetheless.

KATE: At the risk of being the most predictable member of MB Battle Robot, my vote goes to Blank Canvas, a manga that manages to be funny, wise, and cringe-inducing in equal measure. I love it.

ASH: As curious as I am about Fire in His Fingertips, I’m unquestionably with Kate this week for my pick. Higashimura certainly doesn’t pull her punches, but Blank Canvas is just so darn good.

MELINDA: Giant hand notwithstanding, I’m with Sean and Michelle this week. A Sign of Affection is my pick!