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jessenigma · 4 months

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My Favorite New Manga Reads of 2023

For the past few years on twitter, I've made threads of some of my favorite manga and light novel reads from the past year. This year, I decided I would move it over to two tumblr posts.

After the cut are some of my favorite titles that I picked up for the first time in 2023.

Talk to My Back, Yamada Murasaki

I like to pick up something a little more unusual at least once a year and so at the beginning of this year, I picked up this 1980s alt-manga title about the life of a Tokyo housewife played out in short vignettes. It's a frustrating read because of how real it feels and how much it feels like things haven't changed as much in the last 40 years as I'd like, but it's all the more fascinating for it. The essay at the end discussing Yamada Murasaki's work and placing it in context was a nice bonus too.

When a Cat Faces West, Yuki Urushibara

I love Yuki Urushibara's Mushishi (slow though I have been to actually finish it), so when Kodansha announced a license for Urushibara's much shorter series, I was there for it. It has a cool concept - there are areas of "flow" that will pop up out of nowhere and shift people and places out of time and space and one guy has tasked himself with helping people fix issues caused by it - but mostly it feels like Mushishi but set in the present day. I love a series that's just vibes all the way down.

Skip and Loafer, Misaki Takamatsu

I was absolutely smitten with the Skip and Loafer anime, so when it ended with what felt like a pretty definitive "we are not making a second season of this" final episode, I started the manga. A high school slice of life series lives by its characters and Mitsumi is the more adorable dork ever. The other characters are equally delightful, even when I don't necessarily like them, and I'm so eager to dive deeper into their lives.

Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki's Conjecture (light novel), Mikage Sawamura

This series feels a bit like what you'd get if you crossed The Case Files of Jeweler Richard and The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window: a college student with a supernatural ability to hear lies that alienates him from everyone meets a folklore professor with a mysterious past fascinated by mysteries, and together they investigate possibly-supernatural events. It's a bit silly, but the relationship between the leads is interesting and there's a lot of fun urban legends in the mix. There's also a manga adaptation that I haven't yet picked up, but maybe one day...

March Comes in Like a Lion, Chica Umino

I was curious about this one from the second Denpa announced the license just because of how much I'd heard about the series for years now, and it did not disappoint. I love a good story about a depressed and lonely teenage boy sublimating his feelings into an obsession with a uniquely Japanese pastime, especially when there's so many people around him wanting to help him stop being alone. Now I just wish that the release wasn't quite as slow as it has been, even if I know the many reasons why...though at least I still have the anime to rewatch while I wait.

Don't Call It Mystery, Yumi Tamura

After reading Basara and Wild Com, I was eager to get my hands on a newer series by Yumi Tamura, and the fact that it's a modern-day non-fantasy series made it all the more interesting. Totonou's incessant observations about the things going on around him are delightful, especially when they lead him straight into all kinds of dangers or even just leave everyone around him wishing he'd stop talking for about five seconds. I just want to pat him on the head and ask him to make me some curry.

After the Rain, Jun Mayuzuki

I got a card for the Japan Foundation's ebook library not too long ago, which has been great for picking up a lot of books that aren't available in my local library's collection, including this series. I had heard about it but was a bit hesitant because it's about a teenage girl who gets a crush on her much older boss...but hey, why not give it a try from the library? I'm glad I did because there was such a sweet relationship between them that ultimately helped them both out of the ruts they were in with their personal lives and dreams.

River's Edge, Kyoko Okazaki

I still can't decide if I actually enjoy Kyoko Okazaki's work or not, but I got a little closer to it with River's Edge. It's a harsh story about disaffected teenagers who find a dead body, but somehow it feels less depressing than the other works of hers I've read because they're teenagers and there's still the possibility that they can escape the lives that are dragging them down. I will say this - Okazaki's stories are never boring, whether I enjoy them or not.

Her, Tomoko Yamashita

I got a little overambitious this year and ordered the Italian release of a Tomoko Yamashita title I've been wanting to read for years. Can I read Italian? No. Did I think maybe I could figure it out kinda okay because I've studied French and Spanish? Yes. Did I end up reading everything through a translation app? Also yes. But this collection of interconnected stories about women and relationships was excellent despite the language barrier. I was thrilled to finally see the context for the kiss between a younger woman and an elderly woman that I so admired in Yamashita's 15th anniversary artbook, and its story was a touching exploration of what "normal" means. I would love to see this in English, but unfortunately I can't see it getting picked up.

Glitch, Shima Shinya

I was thrilled that Yen Press decided to pick up another title from Shima Shinya after Lost Lad London, and Glitch has been well worth my time. While it is a fantasy story about a town full of glitches in reality that I'm excited to see play out fully, what really caught my eye is the sheer amount of diversity in the characters - one of the leads is nonbinary, there are mixed race characters, there's a lesbian couple, etc. It's all part of the story but not in a didactic way, which I appreciate immensely. Shinya's art also makes me so happy, and I hope Yen continues to get more of their work.

Lilies and Voices Born Upon the Wind, Renmei

Speaking of diversity in characters, I enjoyed this series not only because it was a nice yuri with a motorcycle lesbian (always a bonus in my book, the motorcycle) but because it had some really thoughtful discussion of asexuality in multiple forms. I wish I could've gotten one of the printed copies that were available for purchase at one con, but alas.

Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen, Hiromi Sato & Kamome Shirahama

Did we really need a cooking series spinoff of Witch Hat Atelier? Probably not. Am I glad we got it in English anyway? Absolutely. This is basically an Olruggio/Qifrey slowburn domestic au fanfic and I adore it. And I love that they keep up the conceit about magical ingredients in each chapter's recipe, even though they are legit recipes you can actually make with the real ingredients recommended as substitutions. What Did You Eat Yesterday? but with witches, clearly an ideal combination.

Scribbles, Kaoru Mori

I am not actually a diehard fan of Kaoru Mori's work - I drifted away from A Bride's Story when I ran out of volumes at the library - but I do unabashedly adore her art. Scribbles is just perfect for me with its pages from her sketchbooks and her commentary about things like the ideal skirt tightness. I bought this in hardcover and all and will continue to get the other volumes in hardcover even though I almost always get Yen Press titles digitally because it's so much cheaper that way, that's how much I like it.

Innocent, Shin'ichi Sakamoto

I've had my eye on Shin'ichi Sakamoto's work for a while because I saw a bunch of panels from Innocent on here and fell in love with the art. What I did not expect was that the violently erotic story about a French executioner would actually get an English license. It's gorgeous and violent and weird and I am so here for it. Now, if I could just be sure that Dark Horse actually plans on releasing the whole thing...

Barbarities, Tsuta Suzuki

Much like with Innocent, I saw panels from Barbarities on here ages ago and wished I could read it without much hope, given the lack of other licenses for Tsuta Suzuki's bl since SuBLime's relicense of A Strange & Mystifying Story ages ago. But thankfully I am getting to read this nebulously historical drama with all of its social machinations and pretty men getting flustered by other flirtatious pretty men. And such nice clothes!

A Home Far Away, Teki Yatsuda

Kuma really gets some stellar licenses and A Home Far Away was especially good. Set in 1990s America, it reminded me of nothing so much as My Own Private Idaho crossed with Banana Fish and made me weep absolute buckets in the end. I don't think it's for everyone, but if you were ever an aficionado of depressing 90s queer cinema like I once was, this might be one for you.

À vos cotés [Tonari ni], Basso

I was shocked when the announcement for the French release of this title crossed my twitter timeline earlier this year - France has even less by Natsume Ono than the US does, but one of their publishers managed to get one of her actual bl titles published under her bl penname? So naturally, I had to get it. It's super sweet, about a young man who likes to take photos of horses at a racetrack who meets a much older man, and I swear reading it was just like reading her non-bl work only this time the two characters actually got to say their feelings out loud. This would be a perfect addition to several mainstream US publishers' bl lineup, and I would be the first in line to buy it if they did license it in English.

Dear, My God, Nemui Asada

More by Nemui Asada in English! I love Asada's work for its unique storylines and this one didn't disappoint, with a story about a priest having sex with a cult member to help save him and another story about a guy who ends up with a talking plant. It's a bit disappointing that it's only available on futekiya - when will we get some of these titles in print already?

Ikigami & Donor, Hiko Yamanaka

Hiko Yamanaka is another one whose work is always a bit outside the mold, and Ikigami & Donor is an interesting sci-fi bl about powerful "living gods" who have tremendous abilities but can't heal from injuries without blood, bodily fluids, or tissues from one specific donor. It's a fascinating concept and the way the relationship between one ikigami and his donor played out made for an interesting story. I hope to see more from Yamanaka one day.

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hatsumishinogu · 2 years

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Ai, Sei

#ai sei #nemui asada #boys love #manga

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lgbtqmanga · 1 year

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New Releases Dec. 6, 2022

Loved Circus by Nemui Asada

Ordinary salaryman Kei has ended up at rock bottom after falling in love with a call girl and spending his life savings trying to pay off her debts. Now living out of his car while hiding from loan sharks, he contemplates ending it all... But when he comes to, Kei finds himself saved by the men of Circus, a brothel that caters only to male clientele. Despite his despair, he clings to the lifeline they offer him, and it becomes more than just an opportunity to pay off his debts, but a strange and unexpected respite. Living and working alongside the other men, each trying to survive in their own way, Kei faces his new chance at life head-on, learning both the sweetness and ugliness of desire and love — for a night and for a lifetime.

Seaside Stranger vol. 5: Harukaze no Etranger by Kii Kanna

It’s been five years since Mio and Shun came to stay with Shun’s parents. By all accounts, their life is great. Shun has taken a temporary break from writing novels, and Mio is working as a mechanic. But with stability comes ennui, leading both to begin quietly questioning their relationship. And an even more turbulent storm is brewing, as Shun’s now-teenage brother, Fumi, has entered a rebellious phase!

Whisper Me a Love Song manga vol. 6 by Eku Takeshima

Himari agrees to be the manager of Izumi’s band, Lorelei. She’s excited to take up the new challenge—but not everyone is so thrilled. Yori knows she should be happy to see Himari embracing new opportunities, but she can’t help but worry: What if Himari cheers for Lorelei instead of SSGIRLS at the culture fest? What if her new responsibilities start to take over her life? What if she likes Izumi’s singing better than Yori’s? The fact that it’s going to be summer break and they won’t see each other every day only makes her feel worse. Not to mention that Yori wants to move their relationship beyond holding hands, but she has no idea if Himari feels the same way… As Himari throws herself into her new role, blissfully unaware of her girlfriend’s inner turmoil, the two girls will have to discover how you do love after love at first sight

#new releases #manga #lgbt manga #queer manga #loved circus #nemui asada #seaside stranger #harukaze no etranger #kii kanna #whisper me a love song #Sasayaku You Ni Koi Wo Utau #eku takeshima

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ritornello · 1 month

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#Sleeping Dead #memery #yaaay congrats on the group finishing the scanlation!!!#Asada Nemui

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visceralv · 8 months

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Sleeping Dead | Asada Nemui

#Sleeping Dead #Asada Nemui #manga cap #horror manga

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anigst · 9 months

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#sleeping dead #asada nemui #whump #manga #manga whump #scars #blood #all i have is manga posts now til my laptop starts working again >:(#bl manga #My posts

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coersum · 8 months

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Sleeping Dead | Asada Nemui

#Sleeping Dead #Asada Nemui #horror manga #cleaning by me #my edit #cleaning these two were... whew #illustration #art #horror art #anatomy #anatomical

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gatoraid · 9 months

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Happy 801 day to those who celebrate! I’m honoring this day by talking about one of the most amazing, memorable BL manga I’ve read this year.

Sleeping Dead by Asada Nemui is a deeply unsettling, melancholy, sometimes almost cozy and sometimes quite brutal horror BL story about science, zombies, trauma and obsession. It is thoroughly laced with black humor, and also manages to pose some tough questions about ethics and how far we’re willing to go in order to live, to survive. A French manga book club described the story as ”what if Mary Shelley had been a fujoshi” and that is not too far off either.

Content warnings for the story include gore, torture, cannibalism(?), rape, dismemberment, suicide.

Full text under the cut, includes spoilers.

Sada is a well-liked high school teacher who gets brutally killed when he’s out at night, making sure his students are not loitering out too late. His body is picked up by the ”mad scientist” Mamiya, who has devoted his life to researching resurrecting the dead. To him, Sada seems like the perfect test subject in more ways than one.

When Sada wakes up, he finds himself tied to a laboratory bed in an unknown location, his life altered forever. He is now a zombie-like living dead, whose body is resistant to injury but can only survive on a strict diet of human meat. What’s even worse, Mamiya subjects him to torturous scientific experiments day after day. When he tries to escape, it only makes it clearer how trapped he really is in this situation. For a long time, the only friend and companion Sada has is a living dead laboratory monkey whom he hangs out with and names Monkichi.

Little by little, Sada is able to win back some autonomy and gain more equal footing with Mamiya, shifting the power balance in their relationship. As they live together in their own secluded world, cook for each other or hunt for the next victim for Sada’s human meat smoothies, they slowly start to build a mutual understanding, even affection. And as we learn more about their pasts and motivations, it becomes even easier to understand why the characters act the way they do.

Asada Nemui is known for their unique, often quite dark BL stories. Sleeping Dead is definitely no exception, giving its own twist to the genre we know and love. It is definitely a BL story through and through, but the way it approaches romance, sex and relationships is pretty exceptional and thoughtful. Mamiya, who was raped by his bullies in high school, is deeply traumatized and his understanding of sex and relationship is very skewed.

This means that Sada and Mamiya start navigating sex and intimacy in a situation where one of them doesn’t even want to be touched. Even later on, Mamiya can only ever have sex while fully clothed. Mamiya’s trauma is treated as something deep and real that can’t be easily healed or dismissed, and I appreciate that. In romantic fiction of almost any kind, penetrative sex is often seen as the end goal or the only ”real” sex, but that type of attitude is not present in this story at all.

Sada is able to accommodate and understand Mamiya’s needs in a way that feels very touching. Even though Sada has a lot more experience in sex with men, he also confesses that he prefers after-sex cuddling to actual sex. He also prefers friendships to romance and doesn’t actively need to have a romantic partner, even if he understands that the society around him gives more value to romantic and familial bonds rather than friendships.

It feels like Sada and Mamiya are both outcasts in their own way: Mamiya visibly strange and ostracized by his peers, willingly withdrawing from the world around him, while Sada looks at the rules and conventions of society from an outsider pov while trying to live in it, enjoys being alone while understanding the benefits of human connection but also feeling like he’s different from others. With each other, Sada and Mamiya are able to carve out their own rules when it comes to sex and romance, just like they do with their whole existence on the outskirts of society.

Even with all the affectionate and domestic parts, Sleeping Dead is also very much a horror story. Since we are dealing with zombies, murder and eating humans, there are some gory bits, but the art does not dwell on the gore that much. There are many other levels and layers to the horror elements throughout the story instead.

At first, there is the quiet, existential horror of Sada’s new, undead life. He is forcibly brought back to a life he did not ask, made to eat fellow human beings, and can never go back to his old life or meet the people he once knew. There is a profound loneliness that you can see in his every expression and movement, the way he seems to be detached from everything around him, trying to understand why this is happening to him. This existential horror of being doomed to loneliness comes a full circle at the end, for a very chilling effect.

Then there is the horror of pain and torture, of Sada being treated as a test subject, stripped off of his humanity and agency. Just like Monkichi, the monkey that Mamiya has brought back from the dead, Sada is also locked in a lab and treated as an object, rather than a living being with feelings and needs. Through Monkichi and Mamiya’s various comments, the story explicitly links Sada’s horrific, inhumane treatment to the horrors of what non-human animals go through in the name of science and food production every day all around the world.

I personally really appreciated how hard Sleeping Dead goes when it comes to morality and ethical questions. When Sada expresses that he doesn’t want to eat human meat, Mamiya says that it’s not so different from killing cows or pigs for food, unless Sada was a vegan while he was alive. Sada has to admit that he wasn’t. They also ponder about whether it would be better to kill someone who’s an easy target, like someone living on the streets or an elderly person, or if it’s better to go after violent criminals who cause harm to society. These discussions between Mamiya and Sada give the story an almost philosophical air and make it a very memorable experience.

Even with all the serious topics and horror elements, the manga does not feel too heavy to read, thanks to all the black, deadpan humor that points out how absurd many of the situations the characters find themselves in are.

All in all, Sleeping Dead is a very exeptional story and it stayed with me for a very long time. The ending is especially haunting, especially when you think about how it relates to the title of the story, but talking about it would probably require its own post…. Let’s just say that I could barely get any sleep after finishing the story.

Unfortunately the manga has not been licensed in English yet, but it’s available in French at least.

Japanese version is available wherever jp books are sold, I read it on Ebookjapan.