Pick of the Week

ASH: There certainly are a fair number of releases this week! Debut-wise, I find that overall the novels have caught my attention the most, with Sword of the Demon Hunter being of particular interest. That being said, I’m likely to actually have time to read some of the new manga, first…

SEAN: I’m actually going to pick Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book. We get so few of these guidebooks translated over here, so I want to support it.

MICHELLE: I can’t possibly resist BL described as ” Two men struggling with life find each other.” Midnight Rain for me this week!

KATE: I can’t say enough good things about Kowloon Generic Romance: the Mangasplainers compared it with Wong Kar-Wai’s films, and I think that’s an apt comparison. If I’m making it sound like a Very Serious Manga™, though, rest assured it isn’t; Kowloon Generic Romance is moody and romantic, but it’s also raunchy, funny, and frank with a boisterous cast of characters. This is hands down one of my favorite books of the year!

MJ: Okay, at first I was sure I was going to side with Michelle, but then Kate’s description of Kowloon Generic Romance hooked me completely. I think that’s going to have to be my pick this week, no matter what else is on the table!

MICHELLE: Okay, I have just realized this takes place within Kowloon Walled City so I am definitely going to read this, previous pick notwithstanding!

MICHELLE: I usually like manga from Margaret and its spinoffs, so I’ll go with Rainbow Days this week despite knowing absolutely nothing about it.

KATE: I second Michelle’s recommendation, and raise it one artbook: I’ll be adding Studio Ghibli: The Complete Works to my cart this week as well. I’m still under the spell of Shuna’s Journey…

SEAN: This is the final volume of Hello Melancholic, so I’ll make that my pick. Best to read it while listening to J. J. Johnson.

ASH: Sean’s called it with Boat Life—as a fan of alternative manga and manga history, it’s easily my pick this week. In addition to the manga itself, I’m also really looking forward to reading Ryan Holmberg’s accompanying essay.

SEAN: My pick this week is The Food Diary of Miss Maid, because I have the first of many office Christmas parties this week and I will probably be overeating.

MICHELLE: This week is full of new volumes of series that I really should be reading. Witch Hat Atelier and Skip & Loafer are high on the list, but I think I’ll make Classmates my official pick, as I’ve been hearing good things about that series for years.

ASH: Most of what I’m planning on reading this week are new volumes of continuing series, but at least one print debut has caught my interest, too—my pick goes to In the Clear Moonlit Dusk!

MJ: I will admit to being kind of interested in Reincarnated as an Apple: This Forbidden Fruit Is Forever Unblemished!, because… I mean. Apple. But my pick is almost certainly In the Clear Moonlit Dusk, so I guess I’m going along with Ash this week.

KATE: It’s always a good day when there’s a new volume of Skip & Loafer!

MICHELLE: There are a lot of appealing BL or BL-adjacent works out this week. I need to get caught up on I Think Our Son Is Gay and Sasaki and Miyano (so that I can read the spinoff), and The (Pet) Detective Agency looks pretty cute too, but quirky and retro-looking BL will always win out with me in the end, and thus my pick this week is The Gay Who Turned Kaiju.

ASH: The Gay Who Turned Kaiju is certainly one of the highlights for me this week, and I will happily be reading the others Michelle mentioned, too. That being said, I really enjoy Tomihiko Morimi’s work and have been reading a fair number of short stories these days, so I’m actually going to make Fox Tales my official pick.

SEAN: My pick this week is the yuri-ish Touring After the Apocalypse, which really, really REALLY sounds like Girls’ Last Tour.

KATE: Touring After the Apocalypse. I don’t know that I have a particularly thoughtful or well-informed reason for choosing it, but I like the cover’s juxtaposition of two totally normal, cheerful people going about their business in a hellscape. That feels like a pretty accurate reflection of what 2022 has been like for most of us!

MJ: I suppose I am also choosing Touring After the Apocalypse as my pick this week. Even with so many titles coming out, my feelings echo Kate’s this this 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.