Bakemonogatari, Vol. 21 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Kodansha Manga – Gonna say something controversial here: is the manga the best version of this series? The anime is great, but can sometimes get too caught up in SHAFT being SHAFT. The light novel suffers massively from “lost in translation” and no character being able to shut their mouth unless they’re monologuing. That’s true here as well, but at least with manga you can have amazing background visuals going on as it happens. And, of course, Oh!great is who he is, so the massive tiger also turns out to take the form of a hot dark-skinned woman to satisfy fanservice fans. We see Senjogahara pretending not to see, we see Hanekawa suffering but also winning, and we also see Hanekawa demand Araragi grab her boobs with hilarious artwork. This is the purest form of this series. I can’t believe the next book is the last. – Sean Gaffney
Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way with You, Vol. 1 | By Takako Midori and Selen| Steamship – There were two recent Steamship debuts, and of the two, this is definitely the darker one. Our protagonist is, of course, publicly dumped and shamed by the prince, who is dropping her for a (somewhat manipulative) other girl. Before accepting this, however, she decides to kidnap and sexually assault him. Her goal is to have everyone think she might be pregnant, so that she won’t be quietly killed (though she did take contraceptives). Unfortunately, what ends up happening is the prince now has a taste for non-consensual sex, only with him as the lead. How much you enjoy this depends entirely on your taste for non-con, but if that is your taste, then this should be right up your alley, as it does that well. – Sean Gaffney
Bless, Vol. 1 | By Yukino Sonoyama| Kodansha Manga – This is one of those “wait, this is shonen?” titles, as everything about it screams that it should be running in Betsufure or Be Love. A pretty boy model has a different dream—he wants to do makeup for others. His classmate Jun is introverted and hunched, as her face is full of freckles, but when she smiles and stands straight she’s gorgeous. Suddenly he has a model he wants to make even more beautiful. I liked how clear this series was about what makes success possible in the cutthroat world—yes, talent is important, but it helps to have the money and popularity to be able to get what you want, and even then that may not be enough, because there’s also an element of luck and je ne sais quoi. I’ll be checking out more of this. For fans of fashion. – Sean Gaffney
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 28 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – Each of the chapters here, until the final one, are basically “what happens to this supporting/main character.” The funniest is the resolution of the Nagisa/Tsubasa/Maki love triangle, which reminds you this ran in Young Jump, not Shonen Jump. The yuriest is Ai’s flashforward finale, showing that she’s essentially moved in with Chika and is living like a leech (runner up goes to Kaguya’s reaction to Chika possibly getting married). The most predictable is Ishigami and Iino, who have turned into the next generation in more ways than one. And the most heartwarming is the finale, where Miyuki tries to sneak into graduation and realizes how important he was to the entire school. I will miss this wonderful series. – Sean Gaffney
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate, Vol. 1 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – Kurumi is the star of this sequel/side story, and how much you enjoy it likely depends on how much of her you can take, because she is A LOT in this volume. She’s glommed onto Sawako in college, practically living with her, but things get difficult when she’s invited to a mixer. Not being ready to do this alone, she forces Sawako to pretend she does not have a boyfriend and go along… and attracts the attention of a total creep. Fortunately, a savior arrives. It’s Sawako’s cousin Eiji, who is cool, handsome, and immediately attracted to Kurumi, which freaks her out. The Soulmate of the title is likely eventually going to refer to Eiji, but at the moment it definitely refers to Sawako, as the main series may not be yuri but it sure does lean into it. Exhausting. – Sean Gaffney
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate, Vol. 1 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – Sean found this exhausting, but I actually really liked it. Kurumi, or Ume-chan as she is beginning to accept to being called, has put up a lot of walls because people only ever saw her for her looks. Sawako’s cousin Eiji, dashing as befits a shoujo hero, sees how protective she is of Sawako and challenges her own narrative that she’s a bad person. To him, she’s cute on the inside, much more so than the outside. I suppose this story does require a certain amount of tolerance for pricky tsundere heroines, but I enjoyed seeing Kurumi have to learn to accept that someone nice really does like her and that she’s come a long way from the person she used to be. I look forward to the remaining two volumes of this sequel. – Michelle Smith
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 29 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – The author finally introduces a new character who’s meant to be important and whose name isn’t an immediately obvious pun on her personality. Unsurprisingly, she’s from another school. She knew Tadano in middle school, when he was a massive chuuni, and rejected him as she wanted him to change. Now he has, great news! Unfortunately, he’s dating Komi. Most of the book is made up of Kawai challenging Komi to various games, implying that the loser is not good enough and should give up on Tadano. Komi doesn’t win the games, but does not give up on Tadano, because the world does not run on bullshit, not even the world of Komi Can’t Communicate. Still, Kawai made the volume stronger than the later ones have been, so well done. – Sean Gaffney
My Gemini | By Yuu Morikawa | Yen Press – I had hopes for this book, and sadly they were only half fulfilled. The manga starts from the POV of John, an Izuku Midoriya lookalike who is friend to the incredibly popular identical twins Jekyll and Hyde, and is the only one who seems to be able to tell them apart. Then one twin dies, leaving the other one devastated and searching for answers. First of all, and it’s rare that you’re hearing me say this, this would have worked better as BL. John appears throughout, but most of the emotional heft comes from the surviving twin, leaving him more as a sounding board and emotional teddy bear. The book also could have used more chapters to build up its angst—either it was cancelled fast, or the author found Mr. Villain’s Day Off was the stronger horse. That leaves this sadly half-baked. – Sean Gaffney
Neighborhood Story, Vol. 2 | By Ai Yazawa | Viz Media This volume is a lot more serious than the first one, and you can see Yazawa starting to struggle against the restrictions of shoujo that will lead her towards titles like Paradise Kiss and NANA. The romance—for Miwako, at least—is the easiest part, as it’s mostly just Miwako realizing her own feelings and actually acting on them. More difficult is her career, as she’s given a harsh lesson that fashion is for the consumer, not the designer. And then there’s her family issues, as her father comes back into her life… and turns out to have been trying to contact her. She wants to confront her mother about it… but now her mother has collapsed with an ulcer! This is starting to get the “tortured soap opera” feel of her later works, but is still silly and fun. – Sean Gaffney
Sketchy, Vol. 1 | By MAKIHIROSHI | Kodansha Manga – I want to love realistic josei titles a hell of a lot more than I tend to do in practice, so it’s great to see a book that grabbed me as fast as Sketchy does. Ako works a dead-end job in a video rental store, all her school friends are married with kids, and her boyfriend has made it clear that, though he’s not breaking up with her, there’s no way they’re getting married. Then she spots a young woman skateboarding, and can’t stop thinking about it. Towards the end of this volume the cast expands, and we see other young women in crisis, either of their own making or by happenstance, also reaching out to the ways of the skateboard. Yes, I want to see them doing cool tricked-out jumps, but I also really want to see them bond and realize that romance is not the only way to find fulfillment. Excellent. – Sean Gaffney
Skip Beat!, Vol. 49 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – The funniest bits in this volume have to do with Kyoko, juggling a few secret identities, having to hide the fact that she finally, FINALLY understands Ren’s feelings… and of course now that she’s had to deny it he wants to have another chat with her. Elsewhere, we see Kanae’s ongoing concerns with her acting and her English, to the point that Kyoko goes along with her as a PA. Of course, this also means that Kyoko is brought in as an actor as well, because we’ve already seen that she can Jackie Chan it up with the best of them. This comes out so infrequently that I really should do a massive reread, but I don’t have the time, so let’s hope I remember what’s going on by the time the 50th volume comes out in ten months or so. – Sean Gaffney
Skip Beat!, Vol. 49 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Kanae has been cast in a movie requiring her to act in English, and it’s nice to see her sharing her insecurity regarding that with Kyoko. Their agency, LME, not only assigns Kyoko to accompany her but also basically produces a practice film, giving many of its actors the opportunity to work in English. Unfortunately, during the course of filming, Kyoko is forced to say she now despises Ren for the tawdry tabloid romance he is allegedly having. When he later asks to speak with her, she’s worried he’s misunderstood, but I love that this concern does not keep her from turning in a stellar action sequence. And, then, of course, what he wants to talk about turns about to be something minor and yet kind of a big step for their relationship. It looks like it will be nearly an entire year before we see what happens, though. Sigh. – Michelle Smith
Tamon’s B-Side, Vol. 3 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Utage’s dedication to being a fan rather than a real human being to these idols she knows has done well so far, but it’s starting to be pushed to its limits. It’s pretty clear that Tamon is becoming obsessed with her… and while this is a romance manga, it’s not entirely a healthy obsession. As for the raging asshole from the last volume, surprise, he’s also fallen for her, and is a lot less raging once he and Tamon resolve their issues. That said, there’s always a bigger fish, and it turns out that the sweet airhead of the group is really a calculating manipulator who does not like Utage at ALL. That said, the main reason to get this is still the humor, as Utage’s reactions are hysterical much of the time, especially when she’s proselytizing. – Sean Gaffney
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