Pick of the Week

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!

MICHELLE: I don’t know much about After We Gazed at the Starry Sky, but I am all for sweet BL, so I will give it my vote this week!

SEAN: My vote this week goes to Otherside Picnic. Manga or light novel? Yes. Both.

ASH: What an interesting and varied bunch of releases this week! My official pick goes to Okinawa as I’ve been waiting for it for so long and have a particular interest in the island and its history for a several different reasons. I may want to balance the heaviness with something a bit more lighthearted, though, and so also have my eyes on the Wotakoi artbook.

ANNA: I’m going to go with Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet just because I’m looking forward to reading a couple volumes of the series to get caught up.

KATE: I’m with Ash: I’ve been looking forward to Okinawa since the Mangasplainers first serialized it on their Substack.

SEAN: Nothing immediately leaps out at me. I think I’ll pick the manga version of Villainess Level 99, because I enjoyed the light novel, and the protagonist has that “deadpan yet earnest” vibe to her.

MICHELLE: In the absence of any exciting-to-me debuts, I’ll choose volume three of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun!

ANNA: I’m delighted for the next volume of Nina the Starry Bride!

KATE: I’m voting for Issak, which sounds like the kind of entertaining manly-man nonsense that Dark Horse and ComicsOne used to publish by the truckful back in the day.

ASH: All good votes, but I’ll add yet one more to the mix! I will be enthusiastically returning to the Maiden’s Bookshelf for the illustrated edition of Osamu Dazai’s The Girl Who Became a Fish.

MICHELLE: I am, of course, happy to see new volumes of Lovesick Ellie and Giant Killing, but this week I’ll pick Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher simply because it looks like it could be a lot of fun.

SEAN: Akane-banashi. That is all.

KATE: What Sean said; I’ve been dying to read it since it debuted on the Shonen Jump app!

ANNA: I’m sure I’ll like Akane-banashi, but I’m going with regular favorite Lovesick Ellie for my pick!

ASH: I’ll admit, I tend to enjoy BL in which at least one of the leads is a parent or parental figure, so I’m definitely looking forward to reading Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher, but my official pick this week actually goes to the print debut of Akane-banashi!

SEAN: Given that they not only have the yearly release of Kaze Hikaru, but also new volumes of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War and Yona of the Dawn, I think I’ll just go with Viz Media in general as my pick this week.

MICHELLE: I can get on board with that!

ASH: Definitely a good week for ongoing Viz series, that’s for sure! As for debuts (or at least print debuts), I plan on checking out Wind Breaker. Delinquent manga, for the win!

ANNA: I can’t choose between Yona and Kaze Hikaru either!

KATE: C’mon, you KNOW what I’m going to pick: Kaze Hikaru.

MICHELLE: I don’t know how I could resist Steampunk BL from the author of Guardian! It’s Stars of Chaos for me this week.

SEAN: I’ll read Guardian, but probably not this. So I’ll make my pick a perennial “yes, always”: the new volume of Ascendance of a Bookworm.

ASH: Stars of Chaos is probably the debut that most interests me this week, but my official pick goes to What Did You Eat Yesterday?; I’m always glad to see a new volume released in that series.

KATE: Oof… so many manga, so few I want to read! I’m voting for Soichi even though I still haven’t finished the other two Junji Ito anthologies sitting on my nightstand. The evil you know, I guess.

SEAN: I fear that the sheer amount of stuff out this week is making my eyes glaze over. That said, there are two “based on a light novel I enjoy” series out this week, so my co-pick goes to the debuts of I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World and Secrets of the Silent Witch.

MICHELLE: I think The Summer Hikaru Died gets my vote here, and not only because my reply to Sean’s “The Night Chicago Died” joke just made me laugh again with how dumb it is.

KATE: I agree with Michelle: my vote goes to The Summer Hikaru Died, if only to encourage publishers to license horror titles by authors who are not Junji Ito.

ASH: As much as I like Junji Ito’s work, I do like seeing a wider variety of horror manga being released, too. And a BL-adjacent horror manga? I can’t pass up The Summer Hikaru Died.

MICHELLE: I know nothing about Teppu other than the fact that it’s sports manga, which is enough for me to award it my pick this week.

SEAN: I also know nothing about Teppu, but boy did it excite some people whose opinions I respect, so we’ll go with it.

ASH: I still am print-preferred, so my pick of the week goes to the debut of the Tearmoon Empire manga, but I’m definitely interested in Teppu!

KATE: I’m going to put in a word for Phantom of the Idol, which is the perfect beach read. Six volumes in, it’s still silly, fizzy, and fun, demanding little of the reader other than the willingness to chuckle at a decent sight gag or a music industry joke.

SEAN: I’ve been slacking on my new shoujo series, so Like a Butterfly seems like the perfect time to hop back on board.

MICHELLE: Like a Butterfly is definitely my top pick as well!

KATE: I’m excited for the next volume of Lovely Muco.

ANNA: I’m not going to pass up a chance to pick a new shoujo series, Like a Butterfly is my pick as well.

ASH: Well, since I likewise failed to mention anything about the release of Minami’s Lover last week, I feel like I need to make it my pick this week seeing as I’m always interested in Garo manga. (Though, if I’m picking a release from this week, Like a Butterfly is definitely the debut that has my attention.)

MICHELLE: Psychological josei drama from Kyoko Okazaki? Gotta be River’s Edge this week.

SEAN: Much as I would love to pick the Okazaki, I know it’s gonna be too dark for me. So I’ll go with the final volume of The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, one of the better villainess series I’ve been reading.

KATE: Someone has to pick Good-Bye, Eri, so I’ll do it. Them’s the rules.

ANNA: I’m ready to go dark with i>River’s Edge.

ASH: Homunculus is one that I’ve been curious about for a while now, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to pick up another work by Kyoko Okazaki, so it’s River’s Edge for me, too!

SEAN: There are so many new series out this week it’s ridiculous, mostly from Yen Press. My pick this week is Scribbles, because I would buy Kaoru Mori drawing the phone book and still be happy.

MICHELLE: There really is a ton of new stuff coming out but for me, it’s all about the finale of Requiem of the Rose King!

ANNA: I’m going to join Michelle in picking Requiem of the Rose King!

ASH: I am absolutely nabbing a copy of Scribbles and there are several other releases that have my attention, but my official pick this week goes to Requiem of the Rose King, too. I have loved this dark, provocative, and sensuous reimagining of historical dramas.