Pick of the Week

MICHELLE: This may well be too far out of my comfort zone, but I’m still too happy that we’re getting danmei here to refrain from picking The Husky and His White Cat Shizun!

SEAN: I’ll go with the first volume of <i.Futari Escape, which seems to be a fun read for a quiet week.

KATE: I’ve been enjoying Naoki Urasawa’s Asadora!: it’s a period piece featuring a plucky heroine and crusty old pilot who will stop at nothing to save Japan from a Godzilla-like threat. The characters are all drawn in broad strokes, but the artwork is terrific and the story unfurls at such a brisk pace that it’s easy to forgive Urasawa a few narrative missteps. The last volume came out in… (checks notes)… April, so I’m primed and ready for volume six.

MICHELLE: I’ve been meaning to check out Asadora!.

ASH: I was really excited to learn that a rendition of Atsushi Nakajima’s The Moon Over the Mountain was scheduled to be released later this year, not realizing that it was part of a series. Now that I know that it is, I’m really looking forward to reading the series’ debut volume, Hell In a Bottle.

ANNA: Even though I am so far behind, I’m going to pick Requiem for the Rose King.

MJ: There are a number of interesting-sounding options this week, but I’m going with Requiem for the Rose King, too! I can’t resist!

SEAN: My pick this week is the final volume of light novel series Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen. There really is an AWFUL lot of torture and gore in it, so it’s all the more impressive that the writer managed to get me addicted to it anyway. Though I admit that I’m expecting it will end with the death of everyone in the world. But gorgeously written.

MICHELLE: There wasn’t a whole lot that appealed to me this week, but Matcha Made in Heaven looks cute enough that I’ll go out on a limb and pick that!

ASH: I’ll admit, Matcha Made in Heaven is the debut that caught my attention this week, too! Which is entirely on the other end of the spectrum from my other top pick, Berserk…

ANNA: Matcha Made in Heaven does sound cute, that’s my pick too.

MICHELLE: Oh, man. I’m forced to choose between perennial fave Skip Beat! and a promising new sports manga. I reckon I’ve gone on record enough about the former at this point, so I’ll pick Blue Box this week.

SEAN: What Michelle said. Blue Box is my pick.

ASH: I’m definitely interested in Blue Box and am glad to see more than one series being brought back into print this week, but my official pick goes to Berserk. It may not technically be the end of the series, but it’s certainly an end of an era.

ANNA: I’m sorry I’m not going to deny my pick for Skip Beat! even with the temptation of a promising sports manga!

KATE: Blue Box for me as well–it looks like fun, and I can’t resist a good basketball manga.

SEAN: Nothing really leaps out at me this week, so I’ll go with a known solid series and pick the new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

MICHELLE: The potential mystery aspect of Skygrazer is appealing, but I think I will also go with the tried and true and seasonally appropriate The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

KATE: Based solely on the cover design–OK, and the fact that Halloween is just a week away–I’m voting for Junji Ito’s Black Paradox.

ANNA: I’ll pick Skygrazer, it might not be as spooky as some of the other titles coming out this week, but I always enjoy reading mysteries in the fall.

ASH: I am absolutely interested in everything that’s been mentioned thus far, but I’m going to add one more to the list. While I don’t have as much time to spend on novels these days as I would like, I feel that I may need to make an exception for TITAN, so that’ll be my pick this week.

MICHELLE: Sports manga enthusiast that I am, I’ve been meaning to get caught up on Medalist. Now that a new volume is out, the timing is perfect, so that’s what I’m going with for my pick this week!

SEAN: I love Medalist, and applaud your pick. That said, my pick is the final volume of Unnamed Memory. It’s rare these days to find a Japanese fantasy light novel series that does not involve isekai or RPG stats. This series is not only pure fantasy, but a great romance as well. Highly recommended.

KATE: My recreational reading is mostly light-hearted escapism or straight-up horror these days, so my vote goes to The Evil Secret Society of Cats, which looks cute and totally inoffensive. (Not a ringing endorsement, I know, but it’s midterm week, and cute cats are about all I can handle.)

ASH: These are all solid picks! But I’m going to highlight yet one more for consideration—I simply can’t pass up the opportunity to pick a slow burn yuri food manga, so She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat is the release for me this week.

ANNA: I’m going to pick Medalist since I’ve been meaning to read it forever!

SEAN: This is a ridiculously stacked week for manga fans. Viz has a hot new Jump series in Dandadan, Seven Seas gives yuri fans what they’ve always wanted (women beating the shit out of each other) in Black and White: Tough Love at the Office, and Kodansha has both Last Gender *and* Shonen Note: Boy Soprano in the same week. That said, I’ll throw in with One Peace Books this week and Usotoki Rhetoric, because I love a good 1920s shoujo.

MICHELLE: Perhaps I’ll be disappointed by the mystery aspects of Usotoki Rhetoric, but it still looks so much my sort of thing that I have to pick it. Definitely honorable mention to Shonen Note, however.

KATE: I’m glad to see Drawn & Quarterly is keeping Shigeru Mizuki’s works in print, so my pick is Onwards Towards Our Nobel Deaths.

ASH: Usotoki Rhetoric has certainly caught my attention, too, but Shonen Note has been on my radar longer. I’ve been looking forward to it for awhile now, so I’ll make it my official pick (though I’ll be making a point to read both series!).

ANNA: Usotoki Rhetoric does look interesting, I shall make it my pick!

MICHELLE: There’s so much good stuff coming out this week. I find that what I find most appealing is the prospect of a nice big Yona of the Dawn binge to get caught up, so that’ll be my pick this week.

SEAN: I’ll be going with “comfort manga” as well, as my pick is the new My Hero Academia.

ASH: Both solid choices! As for me this week, I’m particularly interested in Be Very Afraid of Kanako Inuki! Shojo horror manga is one of my favorites and this is just in time for spooky season.

ANNA: Did someone say Yona of the Dawn, I shall say it too!

KATE: Gotta go with Ash’s pick, as I’m a big Kanako Inuki fan!

SEAN: Nothing leaps out at me as obvious this week, so I’ll take a flyer on Dinosaur Sanctuary, if only as the cover art makes it look pretty cute!

KATE: I, on the other hand, was positively gleeful at the sight of Dinosaur Sanctuary; my inner seven-year-old cannot wait to see which dinos are featured in the first volume. Bring on the brontosaurus, I say!

MICHELLE: Nothing really sticks out for me, either, so I’ll pick DAYS, as the prospect of a sports manga binge is always something to look forward to.

ASH: Dinosaur Sanctuary looks like it could be a delight and dinosaurs are very popular in my household right now, but the debut that I’ll likely be reading first is Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe.

KATE: At the risk of being super-predictable, I cast my vote for the second volume of The Poe Clan. I mean… c’mon. It’s MOTO HAGIO for Pete’s sake, and Moto Hagio in peak form. Nobody brings the drama like Hagio, or makes looks being miserable look so beautiful. BRING. IT. ON.

SEAN: Yup. While I will admit Spy x Family is probably what I’ll read first, The Poe Clan is clearly the stellar release of the week.

ANNA: Poe Clan! – I’m glad the second volume is being released!

MICHELLE: Who am I to go against Moto Hagio? (Those tournament arcs, though…)

ASH: There are quite a few intriguing manga being released this week, but, yeah, The Poe Clan is absolutely my pick, too.

MJ: I mean. What Kate said.

SEAN: Despite the fact that I suspect this will be one of THOSE types of shoujo stories (see also: Hot Gimmick and its ilk), I cannot resist those big eyes staring at me… well, eye… and so I will make No Longer Heroine my pick this week.

MICHELLE: I am less lured in by No Longer Heroine itself than by the fact that it ran in a Margaret spinoff and I typically like Margaret shoujo. So, I’ll pick it too and we shall see!

KATE: There isn’t much on this week’s manga list that says, “Buy me!”, so I’m choosing another new arrival as my Pick of the Week: Jordi Lafebre’s Always Never, which chronicles a forty-year love story… in reverse. The artwork looks lovely, and the characters are my age (at least at the start of the book), which is a refreshing change of pace from high school angst and office lady romance.

ASH: Oh, that looks good, Kate! And like Sean and Michelle, I’m at least vaguely curious about No Longer Heroine. But since this is probably the last time we’ll see a final release for A Silent Voice, I’m making the second volume of the collector’s edition my pick. The series isn’t always an easy read due to the weight of it’s subject matter, but it is a consistently compelling and excellent one.

ANNA: I’m going to join with the general curiosity for No Longer Heroine!

MICHELLE: I’m not entirely sure it’ll be my thing, but Correspondence From the End of the Universe is certainly the most unique tittle to be coming out next week! For that, it deserves at least a look!

SEAN: My pick is the 8th and final volume of Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, a series that remained dedicated to its premise, which was to do a SAO series with the minimum amount of Kirito and Asuna. It succeeded, and I quite like it.

MJ: Wow, I do actually exist. And, okay, this may be the most predictable move of all my predictable moves ever, but I’m gonna copy Michelle here and go with Correspondence From the End of the Universe. Taking chances for the win?

KATE: I’m adding my voice to the chorus of folks buying Correspondence From the End of the Universe this week; it looks quirky (in a good way!).

ASH: While I’m still astonished (and glad) to have Harada’s manga being licensed in English (and so have my eyes on The Song of Yoru & Asa Encore), I join most everyone else in selecting Correspondence from the End of the Universe as my official pick. Gotta love SF josei.

ANNA: I’m not going to deny the tidal wave of support for Correspondence from the End of the Universe, that’s my pick as well.

SEAN: It’s a super quiet week for stuff, and I’m not attracted to the debuts this week, so I’ll pick the 2nd volume of Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash, whose first novel I enjoyed far more than I expected to.

KATE: I sincerely hope Spriggan is as deliriously silly as its Wikipedia entry, because it sounds like it’s totally up my alley.

MICHELLE: I’m not especially excited for the debuts either, but there’s a pair of second volumes I’ve been eagerly anticipating! Blue Lock is very good, but Lost Lad London is excellent, making that my official pick for this week.

ASH: I’ll be joining Kate this week in picking Spriggan. I do like seeing these older, previously unfinished-in-English manga series having their licenses rescued. (And it does seem like a series I might enjoy.)

ANNA: I’ll make Lovesick Ellie 5 my pick for the week, it is consistently hilarious.

MICHELLE: I’m not wildly passionate about anything coming out this week, but I did think the first volume of Phantom of the Idol was fun, so this week I’ll choose the second.

KATE: I’ll join Michelle in recommending Phantom of the Idol. It’s a silly, escapist read that’s best enjoyed poolside with a fruity drink in hand.

SEAN: My pick this week is See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, because I sort of love the ‘honor student and delinquent are best pals’ dynamic.

ASH: I apparently really should check out Phantom of the Idol! But this happens to be a good week for for food-related manga, too. In addition to See You Tomorrow at the Food Court, there’s also Ramen Wolf and Curry Tiger and not one but two Delicious in Dungeon books, which is where my heart lies.

SEAN: I reviewed the 14th volume of The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service in June 2015, and it is now August 2022. Even by Dark Horse standards, this is wack, yo. That said, I’m just grateful the 15th volume has come out at all, even as part of an omnibus. It’s definitely my pick. Now who was everyone again?

MICHELLE: And this is also the week we get a new Black Lagoon volume! Granted, the prior one did come out in 2020 but there was a five-year gap before that. That said, this week I’ll go for She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons because queer love triangle from Morning Two sounds very interesting.

KATE: I’m ecstatic that there’s a new installment of The Way of the Househusband, a series that’s continued to be funny, even though it’s built on the slenderest of premises. Count me in for volume eight!

ASH: I’m always game for a new volume of The Way of the Househusband, too! But this week I’ll join Sean in choosing The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service because who knows when I’ll be able to pick it again? It’s such a great series.

ANNA: Way of the Househusband for me!

MJ: I’ve been reading so little lately, I feel a bit at sea here, but I think I’ll go along with Michelle’s pick, She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons, because a queer love triangle sounds like something I’d always enjoy!

ASH: I’ll admit, I’m having a hard time selecting just one release this week as my pick with the number of excellent new and continuing series being published. Debut-wise, Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou seems like the obvious choice, but I’m also thrilled to see more of Asumiko Nakamura’s work in translation, so Tales of the Kingdom is pretty high up there for me, too. And that’s not even mentioning all the others that I’m curious about…

SEAN: The pick this week is me traveling back in time twenty years and telling my younger self to put away those text files of fan translations and raw Japanese manga volumes, because Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou is finally here! You’ll just… have to wait a bit, younger self.

MICHELLE: That’s exactly how I read Sailor Moon and Fruits Basket back in the day! I still have the raw Japanese manga volumes somewhere. I’m not sure I will like Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, though I’m curious about it, so instead I’ll pick the eleventh and final volume of Knight of the Ice.

KATE: Someone’s gotta raise the flag for Kaze Hikaru, so here’s my pitch: volume 30 has just come out. In the 10+ years VIZ has been releasing this series, I don’t know that it’s ever found the passionate fanbase it deserves, but Kaze Hikaru is one of the best shojo series available in English. There’s no time like the present to get started!

ANNA: There’s a bunch of manga coming out that I’m excited about. I always look forward to the annual release of Kaze Hikaru and Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou sounds great. But I’ll make my pick the final volume of Knight of the Ice, a josei title that is both hilarious and heartwarming.