Detectives These Days Are Crazy!, Vol. 1 | By Masakuni Igarashi | One Peace Books – Back in the day, Keiichiro Nagumo was a renowned teen supersleuth. Unfortunately for him, his past successes didn’t follow him into his middle age, very few people remember who he is, and making ends meet is a struggle. Enter Mashiro, a high school girl who, seemingly out of nowhere, is determined to become his assistant whether he likes it or not. Although this doesn’t really help much with his finances, it does help him solve a case or two. Mashiro’s approach to life is incredibly chaotic and over-the-top, but she does prove to be surprisingly capable. I actually went into the series expecting it to be a little more serious than it turned out to be; Detectives These Days Are Crazy! is an unquestionably comedic work with running gags, ridiculous characters, and just enough plot to hold it all together. Realistic? Absolutely not. Amusingly absurd? Generally so. It’s silly fun. – Ash Brown
Kase-san and Yamada, Vol. 4 | By Hiromi Takashima | Seven Seas – There’s two main plots in this volume—or, rather, one plot which leads to the other. Kase and Yamada decide they’re going to move in together, and go looking for the perfect apartment. (Coincidentally, they eventually find it next to Yamada’s best friend, as this cast is small.) Unfortunately, this really upsets Kase’s roommate Fukami, who is in love with her but repressed about it, and thinks Kase is moving in with her boyfriend. This ends up turning into a big event, whose outcome is never in doubt, but which at least allows that romantic side street to be permanently closed off. Also, as has been the case ever since they moved magazines, these two are far more innocent than they were, sex-wise. But this is still adorable. – Sean Gaffney
Merry Witches’ Life: The Three Widows of Berlebagille, Vol. 1 | By Menota | Tokyopop – Although she’s a witch, Eliza has never been very good at the craft, ultimately leaving her secluded community of magic users to live among humans. But when her beloved (non-witch) husband Clive passes away and she meets another recent widow, she decides to return to her magical studies in an effort to become powerful enough to bring their husbands and the husband of another close friend back to life. While the underlying premise is rather morose and the series legitimately explores grief and sadness, overall Menota prioritizes gentle humor and the quirkiness of the characters. The appeal of the manga is found in its kindness and charm, the silly little details in the world- and character-building that prevent the series from becoming too bleak even when earnestly dealing with serious matters. It isn’t without drama and bittersweetness, but I don’t doubt that everything will turn out okay in the end. – Ash Brown
Rainbows After Storms, Vol. 3 | By Luka Kobachi | Viz Media – Nanoha and Chidori… are dating. But… they’re keeping it a secret from everyone. Yes, the tag line that would not die is present all throughout this third volume, which shows, at least in the case of Nanoha’s younger sister, how bad they are at actually hiding it from anyone who’s really watching. Honestly, I suspect their other three friends have figured things out as well, and were just trying to be polite. The back half of this book is a sleepover of the group of five girls, and it leans into the main reason to read this series, which is cute, cute, cute. We get Chidori with glasses (cute!), a karaoke session (cute!), etc. That said, if this tagline lasts the entire series, I may be ready to leap out a window by the end of it. – Sean Gaffney
Tamaki and Amane | By Fumi Yoshinaga | Yen Press – I had not actually realized this was a short story book. That said, it’s a linked short story book—each story focuses on the relationship between someone named Tamaki and someone named Amane. A married couple worry after the mother catches her daughter kissing another girl, and the husband thinks about (but doesn’t say out loud) about his own gay attraction in high school. The other stories are in different time periods, and some are more tragic than others, but all of them tend towards frustration and melancholy. Which is not surprising, as Yoshinaga is very, very good at this sort of thing—I was tearing up a couple of times while reading this. If you love the author it’s a must-buy, but it’s also good for LGBT fans or those who just like well-written drama. – Sean Gaffney
365 Days to the Wedding, Vol. 7 | By Tamiki Wakaki | Seven Seas Rika and Takuya are ready to get down and dirty, and you know what that means… arm touching. Yup, Rika’s still not remotely ready for anything further, and fortunately, the text insists that’s fine, even if the reader may be getting a little exasperated by now. The bulk of this book is taken up with visiting Takuya’s parents. (Rika’s mother is avoiding her, and this is clearly going to be a drama bomb in a later book.) There, we find that they’ve accepted Rika, but that things are not going very well at home—his grandmother has gotten to the point where she cannot run her farm any more, and so Takuya is asked to move home, as his dad has to take over the farm. What will this mean for his relationship with Rika… and will he even be able to bring it up with her? Cute. – Sean Gaffney
Virgin Marriage: A Maiden’s Voyage into Passion’s Embrace, Vol. 1 | By Chizu Aoi | Steamship – A couple have an arranged meeting and bond over the fact that they’re both nerds with specialized obsessions. They’re soon married, but a year after they wed they still haven’t had anything approaching sex, and both are starting to get frustrated. This first volume is about them trying to communicate this with each other, figure out what makes the other person feel good, and how far they can take things before they need to back away. There is a lot of nudity and sexual explicitness, but they’re definitely starting slowly, not helped by her getting a part-time job with a coworker who doesn’t know she’s married and shows interest. If you enjoy shoujo manga about two shy nerds but wish there was more … manual manipulation, this is for you. – Sean Gaffney
Wash It All Away, Vol. 1 | By Mitsuru Hattori | Square Enix Manga – This story, about a young woman who has lost most of her memories running a laundry service in a seaside town, feels like it is written almost entirely for those who want long, lingering looks at the heroine. Throughout the book, she makes… not sexy poses per se, but poses that show off to the reader how attractive and compelling she is. Honestly, at times it distracts me from the rest of the book, which is a fairly standard “girl is a breath of fresh air to all the townspeople who interact with her” title. There’s a brief hint that we may eventually find out what happened to her—she has a flashback to a far more depressed and run-down version of herself on a roof—but for the most part this is content to run on vibes. It’s OK. – Sean Gaffney
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