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Manga the Week of 4/8/26

SEAN: It’s April! The best month! Let’s see what manga treats we have post-Easter. ASH: There must be some, right? SEAN: Yen Press has a third volume of Super Ball Girls. No debuts for Viz, but we get Astro Royale 5, Blue Exorcist 32, The Bugle Call: Song of War 6, Dandadan 18, Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai 6, Firefly Wedding 6, Gokurakugai 5, Ichi the Witch 2, Kill Blue 6, Marriage Toxin 12, Otaku Vampire’s Love Bite 7, and Phantom Busters 3. ASH: I’m definitely behind with most of these series, but there’s good reading in that list. SEAN: I have no idea what Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption is, but it’s coming from Tokyopop, and I suspect it’s related to a mobile game. Tokyopop also has The…

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From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress!, Vol. 5

By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W. All otome game villainess stories are, by definition, somewhat metatextual. It has characters who are trapped in a world based on a game, trying to avoid Bad Ends. Even if they don’t talk to others about their choices, they narrate to the reader about them. But Two-Bit Baddie is even more meta than most. We have two people who’ve both played the game and know what’s coming, and discuss it with each other. We have a narrative that occasionally tries to lure them back into canon, even if they both want to…

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End ~Prelude~

By Mei Hachimoku and Tsukasa Abe, based on the manga by Kanehito Yamada. Released in Japan as “Sousou no Frieren: Zensou” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon. It’s another tie-in novel, and by now I think we know what to expect with these. The title says “Prelude” because it’s the safest place to play around it. You can’t change the story the original author is still getting to, and sometimes you can’t even tell stories set at the same time as the manga. But things that take place before the manga starts, or in the past, are fair game, provided you don’t change the future. As such, it’s no surprise this is a short story collection, and honestly of the five short stories…

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Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 10

By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn. Something we’ve seen throughout this series but especially in this volume is the idea of what an “ideal” woman is in this Court Intrigue series. The series began by showing us that Reirin was delicate, fragile, and good at all the things that men prized in a woman, whereas Keigetsu was boorish, clumsy, and the one thing she’s really good at she has to keep hidden. Of course, we now know that delicate flower is not the word anyone would use to describe Reirin – except maybe Seika, and even she, by the end of this volume,…

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Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 7

By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame. The strength of this series does tend to be the fact that, in regards to everything except his own attractiveness to women, Nukumizu is a pretty savvy guy. While you want to beat his head in with a shovel during casual, downtime moments, when the chips are down and you’re having a crisis, he will be the one that’s there to offer the best thing to say that will make all your problem feel like they’re in focus. Unfortunately, it won’t make all your problems go away, and in other respects, as the girls note, Nukumizu is the worst. Not only…

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Reforming an Icy Final Boss: Getting Back at the Self-Proclaimed Villainess with the Power of Friendship, Vol. 2

By Takamedou and Nemusuke. Released in Japan as “”Jishou Akuyaku Reijou” ni Korosareta Last Boss no Yarinaoshi: Bocchi na Reitetsu Koujo wa, Dai Ni no Jinsei de Riajuu wo Mezashimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Sheldon Drzka. The famous Bible quote “the sins of the father are visited upon the son” can apply to daughters as well, and it certainly does here. Milly may be doing her best to make friends, show off, and live her best second life, but her father Kyle is still regarded by everyone as the absolute worst, and he is certainly not above destroying families because he’s in a bad mood. As such, no one wants to be close friends with Milly except those who know her really…

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Manga the Week of 4/1/26

SEAN: It’s a Marchey, Apriley sort of week. ASH: That it is. SEAN: Airship’s print title is the 13th volume of Failure Frame. For early digital we debut Classroom of the Elite: Year 3 (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e: 3-Nensei-hen), the sequel to the first two years, which explores what to do when the protagonist is now your enemy. Also early digital: Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex 2 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 16. Cross Infinite World has a new one-shot, The Brooding Duke’s Guide to the Lie-Detecting Lady (Fukigen na Koushaku-sama wa Uso Hakkenki Tsuki Reijou no Torisetsu wo Goshomou desu: Ophelia ni wa Uso wa Tsukenai). A girl who can tell is someone is lying… and thus her life among petty nobles…

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Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! St. Evelyn’s Weird and Wonderful Friends, Vol. 2

By Harunadon and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Tsuihousareta Seijo desu ga, Jitsu wa Kunijuu kara Aisaresugitete Kowain desu kedo!?” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Camilla L. It can be difficult for me to do a review of a title that relies so much on just being funny. We aren’t really going to get much in the way of ongoing plot, and while there is character development, it’s not really why folks would want to read this book. This book is read for the laughs. Watching Evelyn suffer, seeing her misunderstand, seeing everyone else just completely losing their minds when she supposedly vanishes, and of course everything about the curse and its aftereffects that we get in this volume. The translator must…

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The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman: A Ray of Hope, Part 1

By Kamihara and Shiro46. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijo to Sūki na Jinsei o” by Hayakawa Shobo. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim. The one thing that I think has surprised me most about this series is its dedication to the “My Next Life” part of the title. Let’s face it, in a LOT of these types of series with, if not a villainess, at least a villainess shape, the actual reincarnated from Japan part sometimes gets forgotten. Deliberately so, in many cases – like the male counterparts, a lot of writers write villainess books because people will read that. Trials and Tribulations, though, has quietly continued to point out Karen and Ern’s isekai life, even when it already has a ton of other…

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