#I hate digital yuri /j

[gl1tched-g0th]

YOU WITH THE DARK CURLS, YOU WITH THE WATERCOLOR EYES !!!!

I love making pfps with outfits that represent a new chapter of my life RAAHHHRRGH hi btw

#I think you can tell when I got tired of the shading and lightinh but idc #I hate digital yuri /j #the hollow #the hollow netflix #mira the hollow #vanessa the hollow #vanira

[biopanik]

The Morality of Fandom Activities

This might as well be an essay, so apologies for my long asf post. Just a few heads up: this is in no way talking about people who support incest irl and MAPS. Those are extreme cases that I'm not qualified myself to talk about, I only know that I don't want them on my page 😭

I stopped having a very active social media presence when I was finishing high school. For me, this was a huge deal, because as the token weird queer kid all my life, Tumblr and fandom culture provided a safe space for self-expression, developing my writing skills and exploring myself. Fandoms usually play a huge role for teens, since their interactions and their experiences shape their mindsets into the primary form their adult brain takes. Whenever I look at my old posts, I can see the points where I was maturing, I could see my opinions change very clearly without always connecting old posts to significant life events.

What is very important to take into account is that I was in ALL the "red flag" fandoms, even some niche ones. BNHA, Homestuck, RWBY, Okegom, Voltron, you name it. I was into it, I had Instagram edits of it saved on my phone. As a result, I am familiar with all kinds of fujoshi, yuri bros, proshippers, etc. I'm not here to inform you about my entire digital footprint though. I'm here to discuss fandom morality. Fair warning, I will be referring to a bunch of dark themes vaguely.

I want to start by saying I understand the appeal of a toxic ship. A ship that is straight-up problematic given the context of the story. Be it because the characters are abusive to each other, a very big age gap or them being blood relatives - I get it, even if I'm one of the people who's easily repelled by this shit. I get why Junjou Romantica, for example, became so popular. The big body proportions, the "forbidden romance" trope, the guilty pleasure, I get it. I understand how nerdy young women would fawn over yaoi because they craved a soft male touch. I understand the south park proshippers because they inserted their younger selves into the characters and imagined scenarios where their own fucked-up childhoods would make sense.

My experience with Funamusea helped me understand that things that are taboo can be appealing in a fictional form. There were a lot of issues because the horror used in Funa's games was centered around sexual battery and assault. To me, that made perfect sense. Funa games are packed to the brim with gore, war, mental abuse, and disturbing characters. Of course, there would be SA in such a fucked up setting. Rape is a horrifying thing that no one should face because it is a subcategory of violence. VIOLENCE IS SOMETHING NO ONE SHOULD EVER COME ACROSS. Therefore, why is it that people who write stories containing this trope receive so much hate, but 1940s war aus for example get praised? Why is FMA a pacifist masterpiece and not torture porn?

For "glorifying" real-life horrors? Triggering people? Let's broaden this.

Think of your favorite slasher film. Your favorite best-seller horror book. Do you think that the people behind these stories are freaks and murderers? Psychopaths are capable of fitting in anywhere they want, even fucking churches. So it is useless to assume creators are moral instigators for their VILLAINS. Now let's think about Colleen Hoover and Sara J Maas (or as I like to call her, Sara J Ass). Their "love" stories are super popular because of the immense marketing that they have received, despite profiting off romanticized harmful content. Backlash is still minimized in contrast to anime niche, because they are backed by million-dollar industries and the fact that they conform to the norms of a straight story. Although that, is a topic for another discussion - how problematic characteristics are "musts" in irl relationships.

Lastly, I want to talk about the so-called community saviors who want to protect these platforms. Those who want to build a safe environment so that no predators infiltrate our sacred grounds where we discuss Persona 5 ABO dynamics. A lot of them are oftentimes victims of this sort of abuse. I myself have come across groomers. But tbh 15yo kids who reblog Shiro X Keith are not really the enemy? Anyway, that's a little besides the point. I want to directly talk to these people right now, hear me out: you are hypocrites. You only pretend to care about Tumblr communities but do not hesitate to accuse someone of abuse (any kind) and tell them to end their life. How are you protecting anyone like this? How are you a positive role model for the children partaking in fandom activities when you show clearly that you wish death upon someone. VIOLENCE IS SOMETHING NO ONE SHOULD EVER COME ACROSS, I re-iterate and you possibly agree, but YOU ARE STILL VIOLENT, and justify it by being "virtuous". How are you any different from @\hivliving? Her actions will forever be engraved in her victims' heads, even if she was humiliated in the end. Then again, it would have been better for her to write a shitty low-quality fic about Hamilton having HIV or whatever the fuck, if looking up basic things about HIV was so difficult. After 7 years in & out of fandoms, there's one thing I'm fine with, and that's bad fics.

Ultimately there is so much more I want to say. I might cover this topic on my bestie and I's podcast sometime (soz it's in Greek). The bottom line here though is not about keeping a neutral stance on problematic media. It is to enjoy whatever the fuck you want just because it makes you happy. It is to differentiate what's a wolf in sheep's clothing from what's a sheep. It is to accept that kids will ALWAYS lie about their age to access all sorts of NSFW. God knows I did so. It is to recognize them and realize that their creators and fans are most likely not going to act out every bad thing that occurs in said story. Because if that were the case, with the rise of all the Yeagerists, we'd have so many bitchless college students trying to start little rumblings of their own, and the world would be a much funnier place.

Now go outside and spread your moral philosophies to people outside your Discord server

#SEND ME DEATH THREATS I'M TRYING TO PROVE A POINT #my posts #voltron #hamilton #mogeko #funamusea #rant #proshipping #fujoshi discourse #anti purity culture #ship discourse #fuck proshitters #anti proship #tumblr morality is a fucking joke #bnha #homestuck #fma #all these fandoms are mentioned but i really want this post to grab people's attention #call me a clout chaser in my dms it gets me off #childhood trauma #vent art #gore lover #hivliving

[ghost-the-silly]

Ghost Intro, what

Hello!

Name: Ghost_Bean/Ghost

Age: Minor. I don't want any creepy people following or interacting w/ me, get out

Pronouns: They/them

Interests (In order of how much I focus on them): Murder Drones (current obsession, as you can probably tell...), Splatoon (not very educated on lore sadly...), Wings of Fire (wof discord servers), Nevermore (Webtoon), She-Ra, The Owl House, Steven Universe, Amphibia, KIPO

Uhh... There's probably more but whatever

Hobbies: Drawing traditional art, wondering if I'm doing the right thing on Tumblr, not getting enough sleep, reblogging Tumblr posts at 2 am, finding more Murder Drones blogs to follow, sleeping... Huh, ironic

What I Do: I reblog and like posts from my favorite blogs! I basically just lurk around, throwing love at people's art and posts. I hope that I can help people find cool blogs to follow :]

DNI: LGBTQ+ phobic, TERF, MAP, Zoo, etc, Proshipper. Don't be a bad person. That's all I fucking ask. Have common sense

----------------------------------------------------------

Fun facts/Trivia/Whatever you wanna call this:

- I'm in a lot of WoF Army servers, so feel free to ask me about them!

- I draw traditional art of wof ocs, but I'm also trying to figure out digital art! I also dream of being able to draw Drones one day, but anatomy is... a struggle 😭 (feel free to send me tips/guides btw!!!)

- My favorite MD characters and ships are: Doll, Cyn, Lizzy, and Yeva (top 4 char.) | Ships: Dizzy (Doll/Lizzy), RussianDuet (Yeva/Yeva's Husband ((does he have a name??)), Oilrose (J/V), Juzi (J/Uzi), and some others that I literally can't remember because brain no work

- I don't have any strong opinion or preference on ships when it comes to some characters like Uzi, V, J, N, etc as long as it's not problematic. I like seeing other people's ideas and headcanons, either about the characters or ships! I also like Butler N and Maid V, they would be so silly together fr

HOWEVER, I do NOT ship N/Cyn, I see them as siblings. Please, for the love of God..

- I may stop being active on Tumblr for a while at times, but don't worry, I'll be back eventually! [Update: Tumblr takes up ~69% of my screentime so... If I'm gone, assume I'm somewhere without wifi or just trying to save my battery]

- I swear. Just- I swear. I try to keep it to a minimum tho dw... Shit- (haha whoops). Ok but tbf MD has gotten me to say things like "Holy hell!" more often lol

- I like the color periwinkle!! I also like any color from teal to dark purple, and sage green on the side

- Uh... I also don't exactly know my way around Tumblr. Like... Can I reblog something without tags? Does it show if I accidentally un-liked then re-liked a post?? How does tagging work??? Just general stuff too, cause I mostly/only like and reblog cool things

- I'm an English speaker only :/ (but Google translate, my beloved <3)

- I use tone tags a lot! It helps me get my message across correctly, and I hope it helps others understand what I'm trying to say!/gen

- I say things like Dawg, Fr, On god, Silly, Goober, and other things like that quite often, so apologies if it gets annoying/gen

- My timezone is CST! 'Murica !!! 🔥🦅🇺🇲 (Get me out of here)

- Murder Drones is so cool, what, I can't see colors correctly anymore, help me (/pos, MD brings me joy)

- I don't do actual posts often so don't expect that much actual Ghost Content

- guh.

- I LOVE WOMEN THEY'RE SO PRETTY HOLDING HANDS WITH A GIRL WOULD FIX ME IM SUCH A GIRLKISSER (I've never kissed a girl)

- I love yuri. I need yuri. I wake up, yuri. I go to sleep, yuri. Always yuri. Robot yuri? Yes please. I wrote an essay on why I love Doomed/Toxic Yuri because yuri

- Other socials: ghost_bean on Discord, JustARandomGayPerson on toyhou.se

----------------------------------------------------------

That's it! Feel free to ask me anything (as long as it's not NSFW, political, hateful, etc), or let me know if I might've forgotten something! I'd love to answer any questions you might have, and I want to get to know Tumblr's silly and amazing community!

Have a great rest of your day/night, and may your favorite show get another season and an (actually good) movie

#introduction #ghost is losing their minds what #the tags #my newfound freedom and silliness #have a great day lol bye #how do i pin a post/j #ghost silliness

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 8/19/20

SEAN: The Yen Press juggernaut is back.

Let’s start with Yen. They have a couple manga debuts. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is the manga version of the popular light novel. This arc is a done-in-1 omnibus.

I Love You So Much I Hate You (Nikurashii Hodo Aishiteru) is an office romance yuri about two professional working women with a rivalry… or is it?

MICHELLE: I hope this is something kind of complicated, but I guess we shall see.

ASH: I do like that we’re starting to see more yuri with adult characters.

MELINDA: Yes, I do too.

SEAN: I Don’t Know How to Give Birth! (Shussan no Shikata ga Wakaranai!) is a comedic essay manga about the author struggling with her first-time pregnancy. It looks fun.

ASH: I’m super-curious about this one.

ANNA: I am too!

SEAN: Also from Yen this week: Teasing Master Takagi-san 9; Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization 6 (the final volume); Spirits and Cat Ears 9; So I’m a Spider, So What? 8 (manga version); an omnibus version of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga; Phantom Tales of the Night 5; Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! 4; Magia Record 2; Kakegurui 12; Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 12 (manga version); Hinowa Ga CRUSH! 4; Black Butler 29; As Miss Beelzebub Likes 10; Aoharu x Machinegun 18 (the final volume); and Angels of Death 10.

ASH: You weren’t kidding about the return of the juggernaut! And this is just the manga. Out of these, Phantom Tales of the Night is what has most of my attention.

SEAN: As for Yen On, it also has some debuts. Interspecies Reviewers should already be familiar from the manga and anime: this is a light novel version.

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai)… yup, another demon lord in a magical academy.

MICHELLE: How many does that make now? At least three.

SEAN: Also: Sword Art Online 20, Rascal Does Not Dream of Petite Devil Kouhai, Final Fantasy I*II*III: Memory of Heroes, Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 6, The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Heroes 4, Bottom-Tier Tomozaki-kun 4, and 86 ~Eighty-Six~ 5.

From Viz: Venus in the Blind Spot is a best of collection from Junji Ito, and also has the exact same meter as “Mirror in the Bathroom” by The English Beat.

MICHELLE: My brain automatically went to “Heroes in a Half-Shell.” Which is strange, considering I never watched that show.

ASH: Hahaha! Whatever the meter, I’m always glad for more Ito in English.

ANNA: Always a good thing.

MELINDA: I’m on board for this!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Urusei Yatsura 7, Ooku: The Inner Chambers 17, Golden Kamuy 17, and Blue Flag 3.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Ooku, but after the cliffhanger at the end of volume two, it’s Blue Flag I am desperate for.

ASH: Oh! This is a good week for Viz. And a bad week for my wallet; I’m reading most of these.

ANNA: Yes, super anxious to read the next volume of Blue Flag.

MELINDA: Ooku! And okay, I’m behind on Blue Flag, but I definitely want to know what all the fuss is about.

SEAN: Vertical has the 3rd Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro.

Udon has a 3rd Rose of Versailles omnibus, meaning I’m already behind.

MICHELLE: I only just got volume two last Friday!

ASH: I got the second volume on Saturday, but go ahead and bring on the third!

ANNA: Me too!!!

MELINDA: Help!

SEAN: Tokyopop has a 2nd volume of The Fox and Little Tanuki.

Sol Press has the 3rd Redefining the Meta at VRMMO Academy novel.

Seven Seas debuts a spinoff. The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash & Faerie Case Files (Mahou Tsukai no Yome Shihen.75 – Inazuma Jack to Yousei Jiken), which should be a lot of fun for fans of the main series.

MICHELLE: Huh! I’ll have to check this out.

ASH: I’m a fan of The Ancient Magus’ Bride and I’m a fan of the writer Yu Godai, so I’m doubly-excited for this release.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Toradora! 9 (manga version), Skeleton Knight in Another World 5 (print), Reincarnated As a Sword 3 (manga version), Plus-Sized Elf 5, How to Train Your Devil 3, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 8 (manga version), Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends 18 (print), and Bloom Into You 8.

MICHELLE: I believe that’s the final volume of Bloom Into You, as well. I need to get caught up.

SEAN: No debuts from Kodansha. But we get, in print, Sweat and Soap 3, Saiyuki 2, O Maidens in Your Savage Season 7 and 8, Love and Lies 9, Gleipnir 7, and the 5th Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition.

ASH: I’m a little behind, but O Maidens in Your Savage Season is so good.

SEAN: Digitally we get That Blue Summer 8 (final volume), Space Brothers 37, Shojo FIGHT! 12, Orient 5, Mikami-sensei’s Way of Love 8 (final volume), Living-Room Matsunaga-san 8, Kakushigoto 6, GE: Good Ending 8, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 5, Dolly Kill Kill 5, and Cells NOT at Work 3.

MICHELLE: I have been enjoying That Blue Summer. Hard to believe it’ll be over so quickly!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one debut, but it’s a biggie: Slayers!. The classic fantasy light novel has been rescued and is coming out with a new translation. The first volume is out next week.

Also out from J-NC: Wild Times with a Fake Fake Princess 2 and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 12.

Ghost Ship gives us To-Love-Ru Darkness 16, Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight 3, and Parallel Paradise 2.

Lastly, Dark Horse has the 2nd volume of Dangan Ronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Mo’ volumes, mo’ problems. What’s weighing you down?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 7/14/21

SEAN: Now that July 4th has come and gone and terrified all our dogs, what manga do we have to soothe us?

MICHELLE: My big tabby is also not a fan.

MELINDA: My cats are fine, but I’m traumatized.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has Hello World, a sci-fi one shot with a “fix your past to stop a tragic death” plot. Given Seven Seas also published orange, there’s a lot of this going around.

ASH: I did like orange, so I’m far from opposed to this particular premise.

ANNA: Somewhere I have the first volume of orange, unread.

SEAN: Also in print, Airship has Berserk of Gluttony 3.

Digitally, we get the 12th volume of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation.

Denpa lists a debut on its website for next week: Lil’ Leo (Reo-kun). This one-shot cat manga is by Moto Hagio, famous for They Were Eleven, The Poe Clan, Otherworld Barbara, etc. This is about a cat who decides to go to school one day like the neighbor kid, then subsequently finds there’s nothing he can’t do. It ran in Flowers.

MICHELLE: Oooh.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this one.

ANNA: Cool.

MELINDA: Moto Hagio and cats. What’s not to love?

SEAN: It’s a quiet week for J-Novel Club, as we have only Black Summoner 5 and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 15.

In print, Kodansha has Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 9, Heaven’s Design Team 5, Toppu GP 5, and Yuri Is My Job! 7.

The digital debut is In the Clear Moonlit Dusk (Uruwashi no Yoi no Tsuki), a Dessert series from the creator of Daytime Shooting Star. The cover reminds me a bit of I Hate You More than Anyone!, and is about a “school prince” – female – meeting the other “school prince” – male.

MICHELLE: Looks fun!

ASH: It really could be!

ANNA: I really liked Daytime Shooting Star. so I’m curious about this.

MELINDA: Interested…

SEAN: We also get Ace of the Diamond 33, ASHIDAKA – The Iron Hero 3, Cells at Work: Baby! 3, The Dawn of the Witch 3, Giant Killing 24, Police in a Pod 2, Shaman King: Marcos 2, The Springtime of My Life Began with You 3, Tokyo Revengers 21, and the 6th and final volume of Vampire Dormitory.

MICHELLE: I really have to get caught up on Ace of the Diamond and Giant Killing. I like both a lot.

SEAN: Two debuts for Seven Seas. The Invincible Shovel (Scoop Musou: “Scoop Hadouhou!” (｀・ω・´)〓〓〓〓★(゜Д゜ ;;) .:∴DOGOoo) is the manga adaptation of the comedy light novel, and features shovels. So many shovels.

ASH: That title is kind of amazing.

ANNA: I don’t know what to think about anything anymore.

SEAN: The other is Mars Red, a manga from Comic Garden that had an anime recently, about a young reporter who meets a friend of hers who a) died years ago, and b) is now part of a vampire A-Team.

Also from Seven Seas: Gal Gohan 8 and The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 3.

Square Enix has a 4th volume of Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition.

SuBLime has a debut. Bad Boys, Happy Home (Dousei Yankee Akamatsu Seven) ran in Akita Shoten’s Kachi Comi, and features a high school punk who regularly picks fights with a homeless man… then, when the homeless man is kicked from where he normally sleeps, the punk offers up his own home!

ASH: I’ll admit, I’m curious.

SEAN: Viz Media gives us, at long last, the final 40th volume of RIN-NE. I admit I long since stopped reading this, but I hope everything works out for the dumb guy and the somewhat stoic girl who (presumably) loves him.

MICHELLE: I didn’t hate RIN-NE, but it’s true that nothing of consequence ever seems to happen.

SEAN: Viz also has Case Closed 79, Fly Me to the Moon 6, and Splatoon: Squid Kids Comedy Show 4.

Yen On has Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana 2. They’ve also got a paperback reissue of The Miracles of the Namiya General Store.

ASH: I’m still happy that The Miracles of the Namiya General Store was translated.

SEAN: Yen Press debuts The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious (Saikin Yatotta Maid ga Ayashii), a Gangan Joker title about a maid that teases the young boy who is her charge. Gonna be honest, this is by the author of Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World!, and I hated that, so…

MELINDA: Yen Press staying on brand, I see.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press next week: Bungo Stray Dogs 19, Days on Fes 2, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious 3, Horimiya 15, In Another World with My Smartphone 2, Interspecies Reviewers 5, Love and Heart 2, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 18, Slasher Maidens 3, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 10, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 3, and The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions 3.

What manga makes you calm and tranquil?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 4/7/21

SEAN: April! Maple! Let’s do the list backwards this time!

This means starting with Yen Press, who have precisely one manga out, but it is a debut. Please Put Them On, Takamine-san! (Haite Kudasai, Takamine-san) is a bizarre high school comedy with SF elements, about a girl who can redo her past actions to achieve the best result… but only by taking off her underwear. This runs in Gangan Joker, and is by the author of the delightfully titled Is a Zombie Bitch Considered a Bitch?, which thankfully is not licensed.

MICHELLE: Pass!

MELINDA: I. No. Yen Press, why is this your brand now? Seriously, why?

ANNA: No thank you!

SEAN: Yen On has two debuts. First off we have Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin (Hazure Skill “Kage ga Usui” o Motsu Guild Shokuin ga, Jitsuha Densetsu no Ansatsusha), which I’ve heard is better than it sounds, but I’m trying to avoid taking on any new “my skill everyone hates is actually the best” sort of books.

ASH: I feel that.

SEAN: The other debut… at long last… is Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense (Itai no wa Iya nano de Bougyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu), the light novel that inspired the popular anime. Kaede is ready to play the new game her friend recommends… but has no real gaming experience, and also it’s a VR game, meaning she could feel pain! As such, she sinks ALL her points into defense. Playing as “Maple” (a pun on her name), she rapidly gets ludicrously overpowered in the most adorable way possible. I suspect these books will be a bit more gamer-talk than I’d really like, but… Maple.

MELINDA: This actually sounds kind of fun.

ASH: It does!

SEAN: No debuts for Viz, just some heavy hitters. There’s Yona of the Dawn 29, We Never Learn 15, One Piece 96, Natsume’s Book of Friends 25, My Hero Academia 27, Moriarty the Patriot 4, Jujutsu Kaisen 9, the 7th and final volume of An Incurable Case of Love, Dr. STONE 16, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 21, and Chainsaw Man 4.

ASH: I’m reading quite a few of these series, but I’m especially glad to see Natsume’s Book of Friends in the list.

ANNA: Some good stuff here for sure.

SEAN: Udon should – for real this time – have The Rose of Versailles 4.

MELINDA:

ASH: Hooray!

ANNA: Yay!!!!

SEAN: Three titles for Seven Seas: Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary 12, Magical Girl Site 14, and The Kingdoms of Ruin 2. They also have the last 3 volumes of Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game.

Kodansha Manga debuts A School Frozen in Time (Tsumetai Kousha no Toki wa Todomaru), which seems to combine an eerie high school tragedy with a death game atmosphere. It ran in Monthly Shonen Magazine.

MICHELLE: I’m really looking forward to this one!

MELINDA: I think I am, too!

ASH: I wasn’t previously aware of this one, but now I’m looking forward to it, too!

SEAN: Also in print: Orient 2 and Fire Force 22.

Debuting digitally is Girlfriend, Girlfriend (Kanojo mo Kanojo), a comedy from Weekly Shonen Magazine and the creator of Aho Girl. It’s about a boy who is confessed to by two girls, so asks if he can date both of them. Expect a lot of hyperactive silliness.

There’s also Vampire Dormitory 5, Those Snow-White Notes 2, Our Fake Marriage 6, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 4, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 3, the 5th and final volume of The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu, and Chihayafuru 25.

MICHELLE: I better get on Those Snow-White Notes before I fall too far behind.

ASH: It’s likely a futile wish, but I’d love to see Those Snow-White Notes released in print.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has no debuts, but oodles of titles. In print, there’s the 2nd Infinite Dendrogram manga omnibus, In Another World with My Smartphone 15, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 3 (manga version), By the Grace of the Gods 3, Ascendance of a Bookworm 8, Ascendance of a Bookworm 4 (manga version), and Animeta! 5.

ASH: I need to catch up on Ascendance of a Bookworm, but I’ve really been enjoying the series.

SEAN: Digital titles are A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 4, Outbreak Company 17, Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party 4, Infinite Dendrogram 7 (manga), I Love Yuri and Got Bodyswapped with a Fujoshi 2, and Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village 3.

Dark Horse has a 3rd volume of Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles.

Lastly, Airship has 3 print titles: Berserk of Gluttony 2, Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average 12, and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 11. They’ve also got a digital-first version of Reincarnated As a Sword 8.

Are you maxing out your defense with manga?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 9/16/20

SEAN: Mid-September, and, for once, quite a light week. We do have some very impressive debuts, though.

J-Novel Club has two new digital light novels. The first, and more sensible one, is Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party (Hazure Skill “Mapping” wo Te ni Shita Shounen wa Saikyou Party to Dungeon ni Idomu), a standard “my skill seems useless so everyone hates me but in reality it’s super overpowered” light novel. I’d planned on skipping this, but have been told it’s better than it sounds. We’ll see.

ASH: I mean, cartography is incredibly useful.

MELINDA: I kind of have a thing for maps, but I tend to NOT have a thing for light novels, so???

SEAN: The next one I am absolutely not skipping. This may be the most ridiculous license we’ve ever seen. WATARU!!! The Hot-Blooded Fighting Teen & His Epic Adventures After Stopping a Truck with His Bare Hands!! (Truck Uketome Isekai Tensei! Nekketsu Butouha Koukousei Wataru!!) is a massive parody of isekai works where the hero gets hit by a truck and dies. Wataru does not die, though, he’s JUST THAT TOUGH. I am hoping this is as silly as it sounds.

MICHELLE: I am amused by the phrase “the hot-blooded fighting teen.”

ANNA: I hope this is as silly as you are expecting!

ASH: I am amused by the premise, at least!

MELINDA: I, too, am amused. Probably not reading this, but still amused.

SEAN: We also get Deathbound Duke’s Daughter 2 and the 3rd and final volume of The Extraordinary, the Ordinary and SOAP!.

Kodansha has some print debuts, both of which have appeared before digitally. Sayonara Football is from the creator of Farewell, My Dear Cramer (in fact, it may be an noutright prequel), and came out digitally around the time the author’s other series Your Lie in April was doing well. Now it has a print release.

MICHELLE: Yep, Sayonara, Football came first, which is something I didn’t know when my first reaction to Farewell, My Dear Cramer was basically, “Why did the mangaka introduce these two girls and then quickly start focusing on someone else instead?”

MELINDA: That sounds frustrating.

SEAN: Sue & Tai-chan is, of course, the new cat manga from the author of Chi’s Sweet Home.

Also in print: Eden’s Zero 9 and Witch Hat Atelier 6.

MICHELLE: I still need to read Sue & Tai-chan and Witch Hat Atelier.

ANNA: I love Witch Hat Atelier, excited for the print volume. The art is so fantastic.

ASH: It is an astonishingly beautiful series, both art-wise and story-wise.

MELINDA: I’m behind on everything, but I like both cats and witch hats, so I feel like I should be on board for these.

SEAN: There’s two digital debuts, but one has print coming 2 weeks later. Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi wo Utau) is from Comic Yuri Hime, and looks quite sweet.

Digital-only for now is Heroine for Hire (Heroine Hajimemashita), a Dessert series about a very strong girl who becomes bodyguard for her high school classmate, who says he will make her “the most important girl in the world!”. Any title that has the heroine suplexing people is always on my watch list.

MICHELLE: I will check out both of these. Kodansha has a couple more of these “girl with a service job” series coming out over the next couple of weeks, but this one looks the most promising.

ANNA: I enjoy this type of dynamic in shoujo, I might overcome my usual resistance to digital shoujo and check it out.

ASH: Likewise.

MELINDA: Same.

SEAN: Also: Dolly Kill Kill 6, GE: Good Ending 9, Kakushigoto 7, Men’s Life 4, Orient 6, and Saint Young Men 8. Also, Something’s Wrong with Us 3, which will also get print in 2 weeks.

MICHELLE: This is the final volume for Men’s Life, also. I never hear much about Orient.

SEAN: Seven Seas is taking a break, they have one print release, which we’ve discussed when it came out digitally: Sazan and Comet Girl.

ASH: Now that it’s out in print, I’ll likely be checking it out!

SEAN: Digitally they have the 3rd volume of light novel Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard.

Udon has Persona 4 12, meaning it is as strong as three Persona 4s.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: Viz has the debut of one of the most beloved manga classics, now getting a re-release with all the bells and whistles. And digitally as well! Maison Ikkoku is the story of a guy who didn’t quite make it into college and his attempts to live at an apartment complex filled with eccentrics… and a gorgeous apartment manager! I have… very mixed feelings about this series, but cannot deny it’s super loved by everyone who isn’t me. Love to see it get this release.

MICHELLE: I’m not surprised that it inspires mixed feelings. There were definitely things I found kind of annoying, but on the whole I love it anyway. I’ve reviewed all of it before, but I will at least do briefs for the re-release.

ANNA: I’m glad it is getting a re-release too.

ASH: I had just finished putting together a complete set of the out-of-print volumes when the new edition was announced. Still, I’m glad it’ll be more readily available for others again!

MELINDA: This is THRILLING. I suppose I also have mixed feelings about aspects of this manga, but in most ways I adore it. I was never able to compile a complete set for myself, so here’s my chance!

SEAN: Ping Pong also comes to an end with its second and final omnibus, speaking of super beloved series.

MICHELLE: I decided to wait for the second volume and read it straight through. I’m looking forward to it!

ANNA: Haven’t read the first volume yet, but I have it!

ASH: I am absolutely thrilled we finally got this series in English.

MELINDA: Like Michelle, I’m behind, but I can’t pretend it was on purpose. I must catch up and read them both together!

SEAN: And we also get 20th Century Boys Perfect Edition 9, BEASTARS 8, Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku 4, Levius/Est 6, No Guns Life 7, and The Way of the Househusband 4.

MICHELLE: I am steadily falling farther and farther behind on BEASTARS. Sigh.

ANNA: Always delighted by another Way of the Househusband volume.

ASH: Ditto and ditto! I’ve also been meaning to read more of Hell’s Paradise, too.

SEAN: Is your life being destroyed by Yotsuya-san? Or are you buying manga?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Anime NYC 2019, Day Two

Saturday started with a live drawing from TAa, the author of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. Denpa’s panel Friday did not have much time to introduce her, so this was very welcome. She loves Fate, and her art is excellent – throughout the panel she drew Saber smiling and holding a rice bowl.

TAa started doing Fate fanart as a hobby, then was asked to do a chapter for an anthology, which is how she got a foot in the door. She was then approached to do the EMiya Family manga as a one-shot, and then when it was successful it got picked up as a series. She did that plus her day job for a year and a half, then this became too much, and now she draws manga full time.

She has assistants now, but did not at first, which shows how much work she was putting into the series. As for Fate itself, she got into the series through Fate/Zero, then bought the FSN game and became totally obsessed with it – this is why she started to draw art. She also loved Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, FSN’s sequel game, though notes it’s very hard to find these days. (One of the Emiya Family chapters with Assassin was almost an adaptation of a scene from Ataraxia.)

Ed Chavez, who was the moderator of the live drawing, talked about how cute and soft the anime was, and also the time and budget that UFOTable put into it. When she first heard about the anime, TAa thought she was being pranked! It was a rapid production from inception to release date – possibly as the company is so familiar with the Fate characters. She also got some new ideas discussing things with the anime staff.

When thinking of a new idea for a chapter, usually the food idea comes first, then she thinks of the characters that best suit that food. She also incorporates a lot of seasons and holidays. Type-Moon has almost no involvement at all – this is all her.

We then got some Q&A. She enjoys Japanese food as her comfort food, says obviously she’d want Shirou to cook for her if she had a choice. She and the editor do eat the meals that are in the manga – a tonkatsu was her favorite, though that chapter is not published yet. She was then asked what her favorite characters are to draw – she loves long-haired characters, particularly Rider.

Someone asked if we might see Bazett, the star of Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, and someone else asked if the mysterious robed figure hanging out with Gilgamesh is Caren rather than Kirie. She hedged on the second, but definitely has Bazett in mind for a future chapter if she can think of a good way to introduce her and incorporate the food. Someone also asked about New York City food in the manga – Shirou buys bagels for everyone?

It was agreed that the flashback episode with Shirou and Kiritsugu was the best of the anime episodes. She tries to keep the series very kind and “happy in life” – since Fate was a big battle game originally, she wanted to see more of the day-to-day life. As such, don’t expect a lot of Zero characters or the Lancer “hot dog” joke from Ataraxia. This series is too nice and sweet for things like that.

This is considered the right time for a series to come out – not because cooking manga are new in popularity – in Japan, they’ve always been popular – but because of the popularity of Fate, which ten years ago was not as high. She was also asked her favorite heroine, and the audience tensed – it’s a dangerous question. She likes them all, but picked Saber.

My next panel was Square Enix, which was doing its first Anime NYC panel. After quite a bit of audio difficulty, we started with a video showing off SE’s most famous properties. Tanya Biswas (formerly with Yen) and Leyla Aker (formerly with Viz) are the people behin things in America, with Masa also on the panel as the Square Enix rep. Masa has been to this con before, notes how fun it always is.

They did a recap of prior licenses, and trailers for two of them. Most of these have been talked about before – A Man and His Cat, Cherry Magic and Soul Eater’s Perfect Edition got the most talk. They also gave away A Man and His Cat merch, including a fantastic plushie. We then got several new announcements.

Ragna Crimson is a dark fantasy title from Gangan Joker. A man sets out to get revenge on the dragons who destroyed his partner. The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) is probably the title I was most interested in. A woman working in the palace and trying to keep a low profile is found to have knowledge of herbal medicine, and after saving a royal heir, she’s promoted and ends up involved in palace intrigues. She’s apparently quite eccentric. This runs in Big Gangan.

Beauty and the Feast (Yakumo-san wa Edzuke ga Shitai) is a May-December romance, sort of, as a 28-year-old widow finds herself cooking for her 16-year-old neighbor, and food (and possibly romance, but mostly food) follows. It runs in Young Gangan. The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! (Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai!) is a Gangan Joker title about a former demon villainess who’s now in modern Japan and also a cute little girl. Can she get her poweres back? Can her frustration stop being cute? Likely no to both questions.

By the Grace of the Gods (Kamitachi ni Hirowareta Otoko) just had its novel licensed by J-Novel Club. It’s from SE’s MangaUP! app and stars a reincarnated salaryman reincarnated as a boy with magic powers, who discovers that slimes are more valuable than you’d expect. Finally, we get the only novel of the panel, NieR Automata – Yorha Boys. It’s a prequel to the game, and another novel in a series which has already had some novels released by Viz Media.

Next up was Yen Press, who had a ton of new books and also a ton of light novels. The biggest surprise came first – High School DxD, whose manga was licensed in 2014, finally is getting the light novels released. This was a constant request, right up there with Date a Live and Gamers!. I recall not liking the first manga much, but suspecting I’d be more interested in a prose version. Now I get to see if I’m right.

They alternated between manga and novel announcements, so next was Bestia, a Shonen Ace series about a boy who goes to London to discover his past and finds magical beasts and adventure. We then got another surprise LN – High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World, whose manga started coming out in 2018, from the creator of Chivalry of a Failed Knight, also recently licensed.

Lust Geass is a Young Ace title that will play well with fans of ecchi manga, the story of a boy who finds a spell that will cause women’s sexual desires to explode. Restaurant to Another World has already had a manga release digitally via Crunchyroll, but Yen are now going to be releasing it in print. And another light novel, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai) which combines demon lords and magical academies – two hot genres in one!

A monster girl harem manga came next, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? (Sekai wo Sukuu Tame ni Ajin to Asa-chun Dekimasenka?). It turns out our hero is destined to father the hero who will defeat the demon king… and so everyone wants to sleep with him. (When did Yen Press become Seven Seas?) Another light novel follows, more on the slow life side: Banished from the Heroes’ Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita), a Kadokawa series whose title is its premise.

Sadako at the End of the World (Shuumatsu no Sadako-san) is a post-apocalyptic Sadako manga, where she finds that those who watched the videotape are delighted to see her, as she’s another human being in this wasteland. It sounds fun, is complete in one volume, and ran in Comic Gene. Another light novel, In the Land of Leadale (Leadale no Daichi nite), about a girl with injuries who ends up in a game world. Judging by the cover, this is also a slow life series.

A yuri manga is next: I Love You So Much I Hate You (Nikurashii hodo Aishiteru). A Kadokawa manga, it’s an office life yuri title with adult concerns and problems. The last novel announced is a one-shot, Three Days of Happiness (Sugaru Miaki), a dark fantasy about a young man who sells his lifespan for cash. It’s apparently quite interesting. Lastly, Yen has licensed the Carole and Tuesday manga, based on the anime, which runs in Young Ace.

Q&A then started, but remembering how excruciating that was last year, I left early.

My last stop was J-Novel Club’s panel, with Sam Pinansky and Aimee Zink introducing a giant pile of new series. They started with two new print announcements – Sexiled, which has had huge buzz ever since it came out, and My Next Life As a Villainess!, which is also getting an anime next year. (More villainesses are coming later in this panel.)

Kodansha has a new imprint called Legend Novels, and from it JNC licensed five new novels. (No new manga announcements this time, these are all novels.) The Economics of Prophecy: Avoiding Disaster in Another World (Yogen no Keizaigaku) seems to be along the lines of Realist Hero, as a reincarnated economics whiz and a princess with prophetic abilities try to save the world.

Kobold King features a gentle man who was very powerful and respected in his time trying to quietly relax and befriend the local kobolds… who are very mistrusting of his powerful self! Outer Ragna (Game Jikkyō ni yoru Kōryaku to Gyakushū no Isekai Kami Senki) doesn’t have the Japanese protagonist, a livestreamer, enter a game world himself – instead he possessed the female lead! Her Majesty’s Swarm (Joō-heika no Isekai Senryaku) has a girl ending up in a game as an evil queen, and unlike a lot of villainesses in these sorts of books, seems to embrace her evil. Also, spiders warning for this one.

Isekai Rebuilding Project (Isekai Saiken Keikaku) was touted by Sam as the first North American book with “isekai” untranslated in the title. It’s about a Japanese man who is called to “fix” worlds where the isekai’d hero has saved the world and gone home… but left too many cultural issues that can’t be put back inside Pandora’s box. Also, the hero has a friend who is a dragon. Seems to be a slow life title.

A new partner for J-Novel Cliub, Pash! Books, gives us the next few series. Teogonia was described as “what if a Ghibli movie was a light novel?”, and he notes this is pure Japanese fantasy about a booy who awaken old memories and discovers the real rules of the world. The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman (Jimi na Kensei wa Soredemo Saikyou desu) sounds like a cross between One-Punch Man and I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years, as a reincarnated boy practices his sword skills for 500 years and is the strongest around… but his techniques are boring!

We’re then told about a new label, J-Novel Heart, that will be publishing shoujo light novels! This has long been requested by fans. (By the way, My Next Life As a Villainess!, which is a shoujo LN in Japan, will switch to this new label in print.) The first book is called Tearmoon Empire, which features a spoiled brat of a noble who ends up getting killed because of her family. She ends up redoing her life, and (despite still being spoiled) tries her hardest to avoid getting killed again.

The Tales of Marielle Clarac (each book will be called “The _______ of Marielle Clarac”) isa romance and mystery book, as the rather plain noble girl tries to figure out why the super perfect man of her dreams wants to marry her – is there an ulterior motive? It’s a good book “for wallflowers”. The Bibliophile Princess (Mushikaburi-Hime) is another book with mystery, conspiracy and intrigue, and (as you might guess) has a book lover as the main character.

I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! (Watashi wa Teki ni Narimasen!) is another in those “my reawakened memories tell me I’m actually a villain who gets killed off” sort of books, only instead of trying to fix things with the various handsome young men this girl tries to flee from everything. That won’t go well. Fukushu wo Chikatta Shironeko wa Ryuuou no Hiza no Ue de Damin wo Musaboru, which has a tentative but unapproved English title of The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap, has the best friend of the heroine abandoned in a forest, then turned into a cat. We follow the friend as she tries to get revenge on the “heroine” who abandoned her.

The final license was the biggest surprise: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Isekai, a doujinshi light novel collaboration between six light novel authors, including those behind Tanya the Evil and Re: Zero. It’s a short story anthology, essentially, that began when the authors asked themselves what they’d do if they were isekai’d. This is licensed directly from the authors – no company involved! It’s also pretty short, so should be available soon.

That was the final announcement, and I then headed out to get dinner and type all this up. Tomorrow we get one big panel, and that’s about it. Surprise me, Kodansha and Vertical!

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 5/22/19

SEAN: Buckle up, kids, it’s another one of THOSE weeks next week.

Dark Horse debuts a new series in omnibus form, Elfen Lied. This one may actually be more familiar to older anime fans, as it had an infamous anime in 2004, and the manga is apparently just as noteworthy. It ran in Weekly Young Jump, and this has the first three volumes. It’s a brutal, violent, dark manga. But it has a lot of fans.

MICHELLE: I seem to recall hearing that a lot of amputations occur in this series, so that’ll be a pass for me.

ANNA: Yeah, amputations are not my thing.

MELINDA: I watched the anime way back and survived, so maybe?

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujou), one of the more begged-for LN license requests of the last year or so. The subtitle has “I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!”, so this one may also appeal to the Manga Bookshelf folks too. A book-loving girl gets her dream job as a librarian… only to be killed and reincarnated in a fantasy world with low literacy. So to fulfill her dream of being surrounded by books, well… that’s the plot. I really want to read this. The print version is coming in the fall, but digital is out next week.

ASH: Perhaps because I’m a librarian, I really want to read this, too! I’m always interested in fantasy interpretations of my chosen profession. (I’ll probably wait for the print edition, though.)

ANNA: I am also interested in this as a librarian, but I tend to only like certain kinds of light novels. I’m definitely curious though!

MELINDA: This does sound kind of interesting.

SEAN: Kodansha, making up for two light weeks, has quite a bit next week. In print we have 10 Dance 3, Grand Blue Dreaming 6, Love in Focus 2, The Quintessential Quintuplets 3, and Yuri Is My Job! 3.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more 10 Dance! I did enjoy the low-key shoujo title Love in Focus, too.

ASH: 10 Dance definitely has most of my attention out of that bunch. Though, like Michelle, I also enjoyed the first volume of Love in Focus.

SEAN: Digitally, there’s Ao-chan Can’t Study! 7, Defying Kurosaki-kun 9, Kakafukaka 7, and Tokyo Revengers 7.

Seven Seas debuts an autobiographical manga by Akiko Higashimura, creator of Princess Jellyfish. Called Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artistic Journey (Kakukaku Shikajika), I reviewed it earlier this week, and it’s a must-read for fans of her work.

MICHELLE: SO EXCITE.

ASH: I got my hands on the first volume and it is VERY GOOD. I really love Higashimura’s work.

ANNA: OOH, this wasn’t on my radar at all.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has the print debut of Mushoku Tensei, as well as the 2nd volume digitally. There’s also the 3rd Make My Abilities Average! manga, and Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 6.

Udon has a 10th Persona 4. We are apparently getting close to the end.

Vertical has the 4th volume of My Boy.

Viz has Children of the Whales 10, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 11, Ooku 15, Ran and the Gray World 3, and Urusei Yatsura 2. I’m most interested in the last, but I know the MB team wants its yearly dose of Ooku.

MICHELLE: I do, but I’ll also be reading Uruseu Yatsura one of these days.

ASH: Yes, I need more Ooku! While I’m following a couple of the other series, too, Ooku is the priority for me.

ANNA: I’m excited about both Ooku and Uresei Yatsura.

SEAN: And now we have Yen. So much Yen. And not even all the Yen, as they delayed 7 titles to the week after next.

JY has the third and final volume of the Little Witch Academia manga.

Yen On debuts Torture Princess (Fremd Torturchen), which is (try to contain your surprise) where our hero ends up contracted to the title princess, who has to kill demons. The artist also does Black Bullet’s art. I hope this is slightly less bleak than Black Bullet.

In lighter fare, we also have Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki, whose manga already came out via Yen. It’s another in the ‘adaptations of movies’ line.

There’s also Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 8, Goblin Slayer 7, Overlord 10, A Sister’s All You Need 4, Strike the Blood 12, and Sword Art Online 16.

As for manga, the debut is Happy Sugar Life, which… I hate to use the word “yandere” in describing a manga, as it’s very over-and-badly used, but this series about a high school girls who falls for a sweet and pure kid and makes sure nothing gets in the way of their happy life, even if it means murder, probably justifies the term. It runs in Gangan Joker.

MICHELLE: Ugh.

ANNA: No thank you!

SEAN: Ending with its 7th volume is Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, a series which debuted in 2006 but has only just now reached its 7th volume, which tells you a lot about its erratic publishing history. I love each volume, though I must admit “will Kuro survive?” is my primary question.

In other Yen manga news, we have Angels of Death Episode.0 2, Anne Happy! 9, Chio’s School Road 4, Dimension W 14, Graineliers 3, Hinowa Ga CRUSH! 2, DanMachi Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu 3 (manga version), Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl 9, Laid-Back Camp 6, Overlord 10 (manga version, out the same day as Overlord 10 the light novel, no doubt causing Amazon to have an aneurysm), Re: ZERO Arc 3 Volume 7, and Though You May Burn to Ash 5.

ASH: That is a fair bit!

SEAN: Aside from everything, what are you getting next week?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

[New Life+] Young Again in Another World, Vol. 2

By Mine and Kabocha. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Teng.

There were certain things I asked for in my review of the first volume of this series, and to its credit I sort of get some of them. The writing is far more consistent in tone for this second volume, and while there are still “gosh, big breasts!” scenes, they’ve gotten smaller in number. I also think I have more of a handle on why this series in particular may have been licensed – the hero’s pragmatism I think would greatly appeal to the sort of online reader of isekais who hates isekai heroes. Several times in this book Renye does things that are, while not exactly bad, at least on the morally grey end of the spectrum. That said, he also gets to have a nice cool fight at the end, so it’s not all cynical. I would like, however, to see if this series has an overarching plot beyond “I want to buy a house and make better bread”. So far, it doesn’t seem to.

For those of you looking at that cover and thinking “gosh, I hope that’s real yuri and not just godawful pandering”, I’m afraid to say your hopes are in vain. In fact, the big drawback in this second volume is that both Shion and Rona get much less to do this time around. Shion is a big shiny ball of naive gumption, so it doesn’t matter as much in her case. But given that Rona was the main reason that I read this series beyond the first volume, the fact that she spends most of the time being the “long-suffering minder” sort is quite disappointing. Also, while I usually don’t really care as much that the heroes is so overpowered it’s ridiculous, it did bother me in the ending fight here, as it meant that all the other cast had to be beaten so hard that it amounted to a one-on-one battle. Which is a shame, as Renye is, to be honest, not the most charismatic person in the world. I prefer bland and nice to bland and grim.

Other things to mention: Since I brought up Renye’s overpowered skills already, I will note that his magic training did amuse me greatly, and it’s always funny whenever he thinks that he’s really weak or average at something but it turns out to be ludicrously over the top instead. There is also a lot of discussion of the making and preparing of food – I realize that foodie series are the new vampires/ninjas/Alices, but still wasn’t expecting it in a series like this. (Speaking of which, it’s surprising that Cooking with Wild Game hasn’t been licensed by now…) And there’s a side story where Renye briefly turns into a woman, causing Shion and Rona to briefly lose their minds. I’ve come to the conclusion that when I see “side story” at the end of these isekai volumes, it’s almost always going to be annoying fanservice.

As I said at the start, the prose is settling down a bit, and I’m starting to see why this ran for so many volumes in Japan. But I think it needs a better hook than it has, and an actual overarching plot. Till then, I’d only recommend New Life Plus to people who like more cynical heroes, or who like to admire the girls.

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 12/20/17

SEAN: Are you ready? 3-2-1 let’s jam.

MICHELLE: *cracks knuckles in a preparatory fashion*

ASH: Get everybody and the stuff together, because there’s a lot of it!

KATE: There is SO MUCH MANGA that even I had to chime in.

SEAN: We start with Bookwalker, who has the second volume of their light novel The Combat Baker and the Automaton Waitress. I felt it was a good series for them to pick up (certainly better than their other LN series), and will be getting this volume.

J-Novel Club has the 4th volume of Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, which remains the top choice for those who like overpowered isekai and take it Very Seriously Indeed.

Kodansha has many, many things, both digital and print, which I will tackle alphabetically, starting with a 4th All Out!!.

MICHELLE: Woot!

SEAN: Attack on Titan has a big change coming with the 23rd volume, one that (like everything Attack on Titan has ever done) has gotten a mixed reaction.

Cardcaptor Sakura remains one of CLAMP’s most beloved franchise, despite age, appalling Nelvana dubs, and Tsubasa World Chronicle. Now we finally get a sequel with Clear Card, which apparently picks up where the old series left off. I will give it a shot, though I warn you I’m mostly reading for Tomoyo.

MICHELLE: This has been available digitally for a while, and I read it in that format. It’s a cute start, and I loved seeing Kero-chan again.

MELINDA: I’m obviously on board for this.

ANNA: I enjoy early CLAMP, and am leery of recent CLAMP. That being said, due to my love of Cardcaptor Sakura, I will check this out.

ASH: Same! I really do love Cardcaptor Sakura, though.

SEAN: DEATHTOPIA has its 7th and penultimate volume coming out next week.

And there’s also a 4th volume of Elegant Yokai Apartment Life.

If you haven’t yet picked up Ghost in the Shell’s hardcover deluxe editions, why not get them in a handy box set?

We’ve caught up with Japan for Happiness, so it’s nice to see a 6th volume drop.

ASH: I need to catch up with this series, myself!

KATE: The last volume of Happiness had a big time jump and shift in emphasis — something that worked surprisingly well, and and promoted one of the most interesting (and resourceful) supporting characters to a leading role.

SEAN: Inuyashiki comes to an end with its 10th and final volume. It’s always been a bit too weird for me, but then I felt the same way about Gantz.

Kasane has an 8th volume of suspense and horror.

The digital debut next week is The Prince’s Black Poison, a Betsufure romance that honestly sounds like exactly the sort of title I avoid, but what the hey. Recommended for those who like handsome manipulative men. It’s by the author of Gakuen Prince, which was also very much filled with those.

MICHELLE: Oh dear.

ANNA: Feeling sort of meh on this.

SEAN: And Real Girl has a 9th volume of whatever it is Real Girl does, besides remind me how many of these Kodansha digital titles I have yet to sample.

Say “I Love You” has come to its 18th and final volume. Despite the occasional overdose of melodrama, I greatly enjoyed this series, and am happy to see the conclusion after a long wait (we had, again, caught up with Japan).

MICHELLE: I’ve been awaiting this release for a long time!

SEAN: If you haven’t picked up A Silent Voice’s 7 volumes, Kodansha has a box set for you! (Both this and the Ghost in the Shell box are clearly meant for Christmas purchases.)

Speaking of the author of A Silent Voice, we’re getting a 2nd To Your Eternity next week as well.

ASH: Definitely picking this one up. The first volume was very good and surprising in ways that I didn’t expect.

KATE: What Ash said; To Your Eternity is definitely on my short list of Best Sci-Fi manga of 2017.

SEAN: A 6th Tsuredure Children has more 4-koma romance.

And Until Your Bones Rot has a 3rd volume of what is, let’s face it, NOT 4-koma romance.

Seven Seas is next. Arpeggio of Blue Steel is up to its 12th volume, and I’m still really interested in it, which is surprising given it’s about a bunch of cute girls who are really boats.

There’s also a 3rd “not Alice in the Country of Hearts, but the next best thing” series Captive Hearts of Oz.

Unlucky it may be, but the fact that Magical Girl Apocalypse has gotten to Vol. 13 means it’s popular as well.

Seven Seas is starting to pick up light novels that aren’t J-Novel Club print editions, and we begin with Monster Girl Doctor, whose title speaks for itself, though I’m not sure how this falls on the scale between ‘fetishey’ and ‘spooky’ monster girls.

And if that’s too millennial for you, how about a series from the 1980s? We get the first in the Record of Lodoss Wars novels, The Grey Witch, in a fancy hardcover edition.

MELINDA: It’s hard for me to dismiss something from the 80s…

ASH: It really is fancy! I’m looking forward to giving the Lodoss novels a try.

SEAN: Chi’s Sweet Coloring Book is a spinoff from Vertical featuring lots and lots of pictures of Chi to color.

Speaking of cats, Nekomonogatari (Black): Cat Tale is the first of a two-part set in the Monogatari series that finally resolves most of Tsubasa Hanekawa’s ongoing issues.

And there’s also a 4th Flying Witch.

Viz gives us a 3rd Golden Kamuy, which I suspect will have a bit less cooking and a bit more life-threatening violence this time around, but who knows?

ASH: I plan on finding out!

KATE: I seem to be stalking you through this week’s column, Ash! I’m butting in to say GOLDEN KAMUY IS AWESOME. I think Asirpa deserves her own damn series. Heck, it could be a cooking manga and I’d read it.

SEAN: If you want to get someone something terrifying for Christmas, you absolutely can’t go wrong with Shiver, a collection of stories selected by the author, Junji Ito.

ASH: I’m always happy to see more Ito being released! This collection should be great.

KATE: Nothing says “Deck the halls” than a little Junji Ito, I always say.

SEAN: And if you want to give some yuri manga, there’s a 2nd Sweet Blue Flowers omnibus.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ANNA: Behind on this already but I’m gonna read it!

ASH: You absolutely should! I’m so glad this series is finally getting the treatment it deserves in English.

SEAN: Lastly (for Viz only, trust me – we’re not even halfway), we have the 2nd Tokyo Ghoul: re.

And now on to Yen Press, pausing only to scream until our throats are raw and we are coughing up blood. (pause) There we go. Onward.

First off, we have the digital-only titles. Aphorism 13 is the second to last volume, and is for fans of survival manga.

Corpse Princess is up to its 14th volume, but it still has a long way to go. It should appeal to fans of fanservice and zombies.

And Saki 13 means we’re close to catching up, but that’s an ongoing series, so no worries there either. Recommended to those who like mahjong and breasts, not in that order.

On the Yen On side, we finish the digital catch-up for Accel World (9-11) and Irregular at Magic High School (5).

There’s also a new digital release of an older, pre-Yen On title. Kieli was a 2009 series of novels about a girl who can see ghosts, and it had an associated manga as well. Yen now has the digital rights to the novels, so we get the first one next week.

There are also a GIANT number of ongoing and new light novels in print. We get a 12th Accel World, which is in the midst of Haruyuki dealing with another mysterious threat.

The Asterisk War’s 5th volume wraps up its tournament arc, I believe… or should I say, it’s first tournament arc.

Baccano! starts a new 2-volume arc taking place in 1933 and subtitled The Slash. This first volume will show us what happened to that Mexican stereotype of an assassin from the Drug & the Dominoes book.

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 9 has far less part-time work than expected, as the devil has returned to his homeland to rescue Emi and Alas Ramus.

Goblin Slayer 4 will feature what sounds like a collection of short stories judging from the description. And probably goblins being slayed. The Irregular at Magic High School’s 6th volume starts a new arc called the Yokohama Disturbance Arc, which I think was the final arc adapted for the anime.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? asks the same question again, only this time it’s Monsters. Bell says no, others think differently. Vol. 10 drops next week.

KonoSuba’s 4th volume has the inevitable Hot Springs arc.

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers has a 3rd volume, and I must admit if the storyline is “who’s the traitor” I may bail.

The first light novel debut is The Saga of Tanya the Evil, which is another isekai. A Japanese HR manager with a cold, ruthless reputation is killed, and then reincarnated by God. Not with the best intentions, though – God dislikes his logical attitude and so puts him in a world where magic exists and there is constant warfare. Oh, and he’s in the body of a little girl.

Sword Art Online has reached a dozen volumes, and we’re still in the midst of the epic Alicization arc. We finally see Alice again, but is she brainwashed? Can Kirito and Eugeo save her?

The other light novel debut this month already has its manga coming out from Kodansha, and is the 2nd of the three ‘ridiculous’ light novels Yen licensed recently. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime arrives next week.

We’re nearly at the end! Only 28 more titles to go! And they’re all Yen Press. We start with a 6th volume of spinoff Akame Ga KILL! ZERO.

Angels of Death is a survival manga with psychological overtimes, which comes from the oddball Comic Gene. I’m not sure what to think of it.

An 8th Aoharu x Machinegun is shipping next week.

And a 5th Bungo Stray Dogs will give us literary references galore.

Light novel adaptations galore! Starting with a 4th manga of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody.

Dragons Rioting has a 9th volume, which is also its final volume.

If you like the idea of Goblin Slaying but hate prose, I have good news, the first volume of Goblin Slayer is for you.

I know little about Graineliers except it’s from GFantasy, it has two male leads, and it’s not BL but feels like it should be.

MELINDA: Did you say GFantasy? Count me in!

ASH: It’s also by Rihito Takarai (of Ten Count fame) so I’m very curious to see how this series develops. If nothing else, the artwork should be great.

SEAN: Manga based on an unlicensed light novel, part one: the 10th volume of High School DxD.

Manga based on an unlicensed light novel, part two: the 8th and final volume of How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend.

After a year’s hiatus, the Kagerou Daze manga picks up again with Vol. 7, and should be arriving more regularly from now on. For light novel fans, the story here is different from the LN (and indeed the Mekakucity Actors anime.)

A 5th Kiniro Mosaic gives you vague yuri galore.

If you liked the idea of Magical Girls dying tragically but hate prose… well, you know. Magical Girl Raising Project, now in manga form.

The 11th Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan is the last, which I’m pretty sure means there are no current ongoing projects for this franchise, be it anime, manga, spinoff manga, spinoff anime, or the original novels. We should take off our hats and mourn the end of an era.

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong as I Expected gets a 7th manga volume, though I’m not sure which novel volume it’s adapting.

No Matter How Much I… sigh. WataMote gives us an 11th volume. Sorry, I’m exhausted.

Of the Red, the Light and the Ayakashi ends with its 9th volume, though I believe there is a Volume 10 with side/after stories.

ASH: Another series that I’ve been enjoying but need to catch up on!

MICHELLE: Aha! I had been thinking it was complete in 9, and then recently noticed there’s actually a tenth. Nice to have an explanation for that!

SEAN: One Week Friends is a Gangan Joker title about a cute friendship and the amnesia that threatens to tear it apart.

Re: Zero finishes its adaptation of the 2nd arc with the 4th A Week at the Mansion volume.

Rose Guns Days has a 2nd volume of its 3rd arc.

School-Live! does not come to an end with this 9th volume per se, but I think the series is on hiatus right now, so this may be the last for some time.

And a 3rd Smokin’ Parade arrives as well.

I enjoyed the first novel of So I’m a Spider, So What?, though am curious as to how a book that’s half internal dialogue will translate to manga. We’ll see with this first manga volume.

Strike the Blood’s manga has a Vol. 9, which, like the light novels, has Yukina and only Yukina on each cover.

Sword Art Online has the manga adaptation of the Calibur arc complete in one volume. It’s a great arc if you like the supporting cast, who all play a role – for the last time to date, in fact.

If you feel that yokai manga have gotten too serious lately, you should enjoy A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, a GFantasy title that is terminally ridiculous.

ASH: Yokai comedy, you say? Count me in!

Umineko When They Cry begins its 7th arc, Requiem of the Golden Witch. Battler is nowhere to be found. Nor is Beatrice. Instead meet Kinzo’s heir Lion Ushiromiya. Oh, did I mention this first omnibus is 826 pages?

Lastly (yes, I promise, we are at the end), there’s a 7th omnibus of Yowamushi Pedal, which should be SUPER EXCITING.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: I know I’m excited!

SEAN: (falls over) So are you getting everything on this list, or just most of it?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 6/21/17

SEAN: It’s that time again. Time for this list of titles to take forever, time for your wallet to scream in pain, time for Anna to wonder why Yen doesn’t license more shoujo. Yes, it’s that week of the month.

Dark Horse has another Hatsune Miku manga, this one called Acute.

Drawn and Quarterly gives us another Kitaro volume, The Great Tanuki War. I’ve reviewed it here.

ASH: I’m always ready for more Kitaro!

SEAN: Haikasoru has the 4th Legend of the Galactic Heroes novel, which seems more timely than ever these days.

ASH: That it does.

MICHELLE: Someday, I really will read these.

ANNA: I just got the first one!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has the 4th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash out digitally.

Their debut this week is If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat A Demon Lord, which is a very light novel title if nothing else. J-Novel’s founder described it as being “like Bunny Drop”, then had to hurriedly walk that back after fans recoiled in horror. The good parts of Bunny Drop, apparently.

Kodansha continues to rush Nodame Cantabile to its finish digitally, here’s Vol. 23.

MICHELLE: Woot!

SEAN: Kodansha in print has a 7th volume of Inuyashiki, which recently ended in Japan.

And an 11th volume of Kiss Him, Not Me!, which despite its cover is unlikely to end with anyone married.

There is also a 7th Real Account.

Seven Seas gives us a 3rd volume of “would you read this in public?” series Holy Corpse Rising. (Answer: no.)

The new title is Otome Mania!, a reverse harem series that runs in Sylph, and whose author has done a lot of Shonen Jump BL doujinshi. So, pretty much the opposite market to Holy Corpse Riding.

Viz gives us the 21st volume of Dorohedoro, which crawls closer to its conclusion, but I don’t mind it taking so long.

ASH: I continue to adore Dorohedoro. It will be sad when it ends, but it has been an astonishing ride so far.

SEAN: Viz’s big debut is Golden Kamuy, a Young Jump title which sounds absolutely amazing, and co-stars an Ainu woman? Sign me up.

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this series!

ANNA: This looks cool.

SEAN: The 6th Goodnight Punpun omnibus is also out next week.

ASH: We’re drawing near the end of this depressing yet compelling work.

SEAN: And an 11th Master Keaton.

Lastly (from Viz, don’t get excited), there’s a lucky 13th volume of Tokyo Ghoul.

That leaves Yen, but we’re not even halfway through the list. A huge number of light novels next week, starting with the 10th Accel World, which I hope is more lighthearted after the last few books.

Is It Wrong To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon’s side story, Sword Oratoria, is not making viewers of the anime adaptation happy, but will they enjoy this 3rd light novel more?

The first of two debuts this month, Magical Girl Raising Project is one of THOSE series, featuring a lot of cute and determined magical girls who will be brutally slaughtered.

The 4th volume of Psycome goes off campus, as our heroes deal with Eri’s family and past.

Re: Zero’s 4th volume starts a new arc which no doubt means more deaths and save points for our hero.

The most exciting debut of the week for me is Sound Euphonium, a book about a high school band that was adapted into a beloved anime series. I believe this is the only volume licensed, though a sequel is out in Japan. Buy it, I hear it’s great.

MICHELLE: I don’t often go in for light novels, but for this I think I’ll make an exception.

ASH: I’ll absolutely be reading this. Band was the highlight of my high school years.

SEAN: Spice & Wolf turns out to be not quite over, as we get this 18th volume of the series.

And the first two Sword Art Online: Progressive novels are out digitally next week.

On to Yen’s manga. There’s a 5th Aoharu x Machinegun.

The Asterisk War has a 4th volume of its manga adaptation.

And Bungo Stray Dogs gets a 3rd volume.

The Devil Is A Part-Timer’s 9th manga volume is out as well.

And a 7th Dragons Rioting. Sorry, no witty remarks, no snark, just a long list of things I don’t read.

I do read Erased, though, and look forward to the 2nd omnibus.

ASH: It should be good! The first omnibus was a little slow for me at first, but by the end I was hooked.

SEAN: If you want to read Grimgar but hate books, here is the first volume of the Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash manga.

And there’s a 6th volume of Handa-kun.

The Honor Student at Magic High School is once again behind the light novels, to my relief. Here’s the 7th manga volume.

How to Raise a Boring Girlfriend has reached Vol. 6.

Kiniro Mosaic has a 3rd volume of basically not a lot happening to cute, yuri-ish girls.

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Long As I Expected still has a long title, even 5 volumes in. (A reminder this sis the manga adaptation, though Amazon has gotten better at differentiating the two now.)

A spin-off of No Game No Life (whose own manga adaptation seems to be on hiatus in Japan), No Game No Life, Please! focuses on Izuna, as the title’s verbal tic likely gave away.

Of the Red, the Light and the Ayakashi may not make much sense to me, even after 7 volumes, but it’s got style.

MICHELLE: I’m enjoying it!

ASH: I’ve been enjoying it, myself.

SEAN: And we have a 7th Prison School omnibus.

ASH: I’m still reading this series, too. It’s definitely not for everyone, though.

School-Live! still has not run out of zombies, as we have Vol. 7 here.

And a 7th Strike the Blood manga will not surprise, but may satisfy anyway.

Today’s Cerberus gives us a 4th print volume of the already out on digital series.

Lastly, the your name novel gets a manga adaptation, and this is Vol. 1.

Phew. What’s for you next week? Or does the list just make you dizzy?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 6/14/17

SEAN: Traditionally this is the small week of the month, but tradition can go hang: there are no small weeks anymore.

MICHELLE: At least there is no shortage of choices for Picks of the Week!

ASH: What a time to be alive!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 5th volume of Fate/Zero, which will likely be as gruesome as ever.

J-Novel Club has In Another World With My Smartphone on the fast track, as we have Vol. 3 already. It’s the bouncy puppy of isekai.

And Paying to Win in a VRMMO also has its 3rd volume.

Kodansha has a pile of digital only Del Rey rescues: Alive 17, Nodame Cantabile 22, and Yozakura Quartet 13.

In new digital titles, we have a 4th Ace of the Diamond.

MICHELLE: Woot!

SEAN: Air Gear is down to one volume per year, but Kodansha can take heart that the 36th is the 2nd to last one.

Chihayafuru gets a 3rd volume digitally as well, and I will definitely be reading it.

MICHELLE: Super woot!

SEAN: There is a 5th Complex Age, a very realistic take on cosplay and aging – a bit too realistic for my taste.

MICHELLE: I’m wary, since I hated the new character in volume four so vehemently, but the series concludes with volume six, and it’d be a shame not to finish it.

ASH: I haven’t read the fourth volume yet, but the first three left a strong impression on me.

SEAN: And Fire Force has a 4th volume of supernatural firefighting.

One Peace has an 8th volume of its light novel series Rise of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas has a 12th volume of Dragonar Academy, which I hear some people buy and enjoy.

There is also a 5th Masamune-kun’s Revenge, which I have been enjoying with reservations.

A debut! Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf (Akazukin-chan wa Ookami-san o Nakasetai!) is a Zero-Sum series which seems to have a less grim take on Grimm.

ASH: That could be interesting.

SEAN: Species Domain was more fun than I expected, and a 2nd volume should hopefully be as fun.

The other Seven Seas debut is Tales of Zestria, a manga version of the RPG game. It’s also a Zero-Sum title.

SuBLime has a spinoff of the Don’t Be Cruel manga called Don’t Be Cruel: plus+. Do you pronounce both pluses?

We also see the first volume of the Finder Deluxe Edition (from SuBLime, I think – hasn’t this series had more re-releases than I can keep track of?).

ASH: This is only the second release, I promise. Digital Manga used to have the license, but SuBLime has it now. And this edition has additional content not previously released!

SEAN: Vertical has the 6th and final Mysterious Girlfriend X omnibus.

Viz has the debut of After Hours, their own entry into the burgeoning yuri manga market. It runs in Hibana magazine, and I understand it does not take place in a school! Gasp!

MICHELLE: Looking forward to this one!

ASH: Same! (Even more now that I know it isn’t a school romance.)

SEAN: There is also a 24th Magi, for all you Magi fans (including me, though I wish Morgiana did more).

Lastly, we have the 8th Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter.

Do any of these series excite you? Depress you? Irritate you?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

Manga the Week of 5/17/17

SEAN: Thanks to Kodansha’s INCREDIBLY AGGRESSIVE digital plan, there’s a large amount to talk about in what would normally be a very small week.

MICHELLE: I’m not complaining, but it is pretty overwhelming.

ANNA: I think I would be buying more of these if they were coming out at a slower pace. I feel like I can’t keep up. But I’m not complaining about more manga!

SEAN: J-Novel Club starts us off, though, with the third volume of I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse. There’s only one girl on the cover this time – is he slipping?

And they also have the 3rd My Little Sister Can Read Kanji.

Kodansha takes up a great deal of what follows. First, there’s new volumes of Alive (15) and Yozakura Quartet (11) for your Del Rey rescue needs.

The first of THREE new digital debuts next week, Aoba-kun’s Confessions is from Ema Toyama, the author of Missions of Love, which I hate and also love. This is her new Nakayoshi series.

Meanwhile, some may remember Cage of Eden, which put out 20 volumes before dropping off the face of the earth. It’s back with its final, 21st volume. Will they get off the island? Will they find out the truth? Will the girls show off their large breasts? One of these things is sure to be true!

Chihayafura gets a 2nd digital-only volume, and I cannot wait for more HOT KARUTA ACTION.

MICHELLE: Yaaaaaay!

ANNA: I am here for this!!!!

SEAN: Clockwork Planet also gets a 2nd volume.

And there’s a 2nd volume of sports manga DAYS (digital-only). Remember when those were rare?

MICHELLE: Vaguely!

SEAN: The 2nd digital debut is Drowning Love (Oboreru Knife), a more mature, dramatic shoujo from Betsufure. Its author, George Asakura, had A Perfect Day For Love Letters out here eons ago.

MICHELLE: The art style (at least on the cover) is not the most appealing, but I’ll be checking this out.

MELINDA: I’m looking forward to this, It think.

ANNA: Me too.

SEAN: GTO: Paradise Lost has a 2nd digital volume of Onizuka antics.

The last digital debut is Our Precious Conversations (Boku to Kimi no Taisetsu na Hanashi), a Dessert series from Robico, the author of My Little Monster. I loved that series, so really look forward to this one.

MICHELLE: Same here!

ASH: I love the huge variety in these digital titles! I do hope that some eventually make their way into print, though, since I don’t really read digital manga. That may have to change soon.

ANNA: This sounds intriguing.

SEAN: On to other publishers. One Peace has a 6th volume of the Rise of the Shield Hero manga, which they oddly still keep calling “Manga Companion”, which makes it sound like a guidebook to me.

Seven Seas has a 2nd volume of Bloom Into You, a more dramatic yuri title than the cute fluffy ones we’ve seen recently.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed the first volume.

ASH: The first volume intrigued me; I’m very curious to see how the story unfolds.

SEAN: They also have a 2nd volume of spooky supernatural fantasy The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún.

MICHELLE: <3 <3 <3 <3

MELINDA: Michelle tells me I’d like this!

MICHELLE: You would!

ASH: You really, really would! This series is already one of my absolute favorites for the year.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed your review, Ash. And your perfect image choice. I sent just that one picture to a friend—pointing out the flower crown—and it convinced her to want to read the series.

ANNA: I also love this series, going to be picking this up for sure!

SEAN: Viz gives us a 2nd volume of the Gangsta spinoff Cursed.

ASH: Though I haven’t actually read the first volume yet, I do plan on picking this one up.

ANNA: I need to pick up both, and I will!

SEAN: There’s also a 3rd Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt.

Lastly, they have an 8th volume of Ultraman. For all your tokusatsu needs.

Which of these will you be getting next week? And how many will be digital?

By: Sean Gaffney

#Anime #News #Manga Bookshelf

[recentanimenews]

My Week in Manga: March 27-April 2, 2017

My News and Reviews

As regular readers of Experiments in Manga know, on the last Wednesday of every month I host a giveaway of some sort (usually manga-related) for which participants have a week to submit their entries. This time around the monthly giveaway is for the first volume of Coolkyousinnjya’s surprisingly delightful Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid. The winner will be announced this coming Wednesday, so you can still enter for a chance to win if you haven’t already. Also later this week, look for another guest review by my friend and fellow yuri manga fan Jocilyn. Elsewhere in the Manga Bookshelf sphere of blogs, The Manga Critic has started a monthly manga review index. There have been similar features in the past, perhaps most notably at MangaBlog, and I’ve always found them incredibly useful and valuable, so I’m glad to see Kate Dacey taking it on. Also in general, I highly recommend the content at The Manga Critic–Kate’s actually one of my major inspirations when it comes to manga blogging.

As for other interesting things I’ve come across recently: Chic Pixel’s Anne Lee has posted a really fantastic list of bibliographic resources for those curious about the academic study of boys’ love. (I’ve read quite a few books and articles myself, and even reviewed Jeffery Angles’ Writing the Love of Boys: Origins of Bishōnen Culture in Modernist Japanese Literature at Experiments in Manga a few years ago.) And if that’s not enough of BL studies for you, J. R. Brown has posted the slides from her Anime Boston panel “Boys’ Love, Otome Culture, and Gender” which covers everything from the origin of shoujo manga to gay comics and more. On their own the slides are fairly informative, but I’m looking forward to seeing the annotated version, too.

Also at Anime Boston, Viz Media made quite a few licensing announcements. Some were digital-only while others were digital-first or print-only. Here’s a quick list of the books that will eventually make their way into print: Kenta Shinohara’s Astra Lost in Space, Abi Umeda’s Children of Whales (I’m particularly curious about this series), an omnibus edition of Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s Death Note collecting the entire series and a bonus epilogue in a single volume, Nisioisin’s Hikaru Nakamura’s novel Juni Taisen: Zodiac Warriors (I’m not familiar with the novel, but the creators involved have certainly caught my attention), Kenji Taira’s Naruto: Chibi Sasuke’s Sharingan Legend, Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu’s The Promised Neverland (which is supposed to be fantastic), a collection of nine Junji Ito stories and accompanying material selected by Ito himself called Shiver (always glad to see more Ito being released in English), Maki Enjoji’s SP Baby, and Sui Ishida’s artbook Tokyo Ghoul Illustrations.

A couple of Kickstarter projects recently launched which may be of interest as well: All the Anime/Anime Limited is joining forces with Studio 4°C to create a home video release of Masaaki Yuasa’s directorial debut Mind Game. Digital Manga has entered the fray again with a campaign to release more of Osamu Tezuka’s manga in print: Ambassador Magma, Dust 8, The Euphrates Tree, Metamorphose, Say Hello to Bookila, The Thief Inoue Akikazu, Wonder 3, and Yakeppachi’s Maria. It looks as though the print runs will be very limited and Kickstarter may be the only way to get a hold of some of the titles. (I have to admit, I certainly have my qualms about Digital Manga’s business practices in general and over-reliance on crowdfunding specifically. The quality of Digital Manga’s releases has really gone downhill over the last few years, too. Honestly, I’ve lost most of my confidence in the company as a publisher, but it’s managed not to completely go under yet.)

Quick Takes

Dawn of the Arcana, Volumes 1-6 by Rei Toma. I generally enjoy epic fantasy of the shoujo variety, so I’m not entirely sure why it’s taken me so long to finally get around to reading Dawn of the Arcana. So far, I’m enjoying the manga tremendously. Nakaba is a princess who has been married off to a prince of the neighboring kingdom despite her questionable ancestry in a half-hearted attempt to secure peace between the two countries. But instead, gifted with the ability to see both into the past and into the future, Nakaba may find herself in the unlikely position of leading a revolution. Dawn of the Arcana does come across as a rather typical example of high fantasy–all the way down to the heroine’s fiery red hair–but even though it hasn’t really made itself stand out yet, the manga is a solid series. I greatly enjoyed the manga’s mix of court and political intrigue, action, and complicated interpersonal relationships. Much like the story, the artwork tends to be somewhat standard although attractive. Toma’s backgrounds are generally fairly sparse, but the details put into things like the characters’ clothing is lovely. I definitely look forward to reading more of Dawn of the Arcana in the very near future.

Hana & Hina After School, Volume 1 by Milk Morinaga. I believe that Morinaga is currently the most well-represented yuri manga creator available in English. So far, five of Morinaga’s manga have been translated, the most recent being Hana & Hina After School. Interestingly, in Japan the manga was serialized in a magazine aimed at a general audience rather than one specifically catering to yuri fans. The titular Hana and Hina are two young women working part time at a store specializing in cute character goods even though their high school forbids its students from holding jobs. The story follows their relationship as they become friends and slowly realize that their feelings may evolve into something else. Like most of Morinaga’s other manga that I’ve read, Hana & Hina After School tends to be rather cute and sweet. The series is enjoyable and pleasant even if it is at times a little silly and somewhat unbelievable. However, the end of the first volume does introduce some sobering concerns when Hina is confronted by a few of her classmates homophobia, an unfortunate reality that many yuri manga tend to gloss over or ignore entirely in favor of pure fantasy. (Granted, that fantasy is important to have, too.)

Scum’s Wish, Volumes 1-2 by Mengo Yokoyari. I wasn’t initially planning to pick up Scum’s Wish, but after reading a few positive reviews of the series I decided to give it a try after all. The cover art of the first volume is deliberately provocative, but the manga isn’t nearly as salacious as it might imply. In fact, the series can actually be surprisingly contemplative. Scum’s Wish is a manga about unrequited love. Almost every character in the series is pining for someone with whom an involved romance would seem to be impossible or at least inadvisable, resulting in a complex web of personal relationships fraught with loneliness and anguish. (There is one heck of a love polygon going on in Scum’s Wish and nearly everyone who is introduced is connected to it somehow.) Hanabi is in love with Narumi, her childhood friend who now also happens to be her homeroom teacher. Mugi is in love with Akane, a music instructor who used to be his tutor. Recognizing that they are suffering under very similar circumstances and hoping to ease some of the pain, Hanabi and Mugi agree to find comfort in a relationship together. Neither one of them is in love with the other, but they are both aware of and take advantage of that fact.

Deep Red by Hisashi Nozawa. Although perhaps best known as a screenwriter, Nozawa was also recognized as an accomplished novelist. Deep Red, which earned Nozawa an Eiji Yoshikawa Prize in 2001, is his first novel to be released in English. Kanako is the only survivor of the mass murder of her family, simply because she happened to be away on a school trip when her parents and two younger brothers were killed. Understandably, their deaths have left a great wound, but Kanako isn’t the only one left troubled and hurt–the life of Miho, the daughter of the murderer, has also been irrevocably changed. At times, Deep Red is uncomfortably voyeuristic and there’s a peculiar fixation on Kanako’s body and sex life with her boyfriend. I was never entirely convinced by Kanako as a character, either. However, Deep Red does provide an interesting psychological exploration of hate, anger, and misplaced revenge. The novel is instantly engaging. However, the middle portion of the narrative is repetitive and does drag a fair bit; I admittedly started to lose my interest and patience with the story. But once Kanako becomes obsessed with and decides to pursue Miho, Deep Red picks up speed again and the novel’s ending is very satisfying.

By: Ash Brown

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