SEAN: Let’s November it up! US folks, please vote in your local elections.
ASH: I don’t think I’m ready for November.
SEAN: Yen Press has a debut next week. Magical Midlifer (Mahou Chuunen) is a seinen title from Young Animal. When things get too difficult for the average magical girl, only middle-aged middle-managers can save them.
MICHELLE: I am suddenly reminded of the Middle-Aged Man sketch on Saturday Night Live.
ASH: Hahaha!
ANNA: I’m a middle aged middle manager, I never pictured this type of representation.
SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Dead Mount Death Play 14, Isekai Samurai 2, Takahashi from the Bike Shop 3, Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood 4 and Uncle from Another World 12.
ASH: I’ve been meaning to read Takahashi from the Bike Shop. (And also to take my bike into the shop…)
SEAN: Viz Media has no debuts, unless you count the Naruto cookbook. They do have Akane-banashi 14, Blue Box 18, Colette Decides to Die 5, Dark Gathering 16, The Elusive Samurai 17, Jujutsu Kaisen 28, Kagurabachi 5, Naruto Shippuden: The Official Cookbook, Nue’s Exorcist 3, Prince Freya 12, Skip Beat! 51, and You and I Are Polar Opposites 7.
MICHELLE: Life has been lifing so hard for me that I was completely unaware that a new volume of Skip Beat! was upon us!
ASH: A new volume of Skip Beat! always makes for a good week.
ANNA: Yay for more Skip Beat!.
SEAN: Two Tokyopop debuts. My New Wife’s Fake Smile (Totsuidekita Yome ga Aisouwarai bakari Shiteru) is a Twitter manga that made its way to the shonen title Suiyoubi no Sirius. An arranged marriage has the new husband worried that his wife’s smile means she’s unsatisfied with him. In reality, she’s trying to control herself from jumping his bones.
ASH: I wonder how long it takes him to figure that out.
SEAN: Real-Time Fever (Uraaka Danshi wa Real-Time no Netsu o Shiru) is the obligatory BL one-shot that ran in from RED. A shy guy in college broadcasts naughty content online… and then finds that the popular guy at school is his biggest fan.
ASH: Uh-oh!
ANNA: What’s going to happen next?????
SEAN: Steamship has a webtoon debut, Winter Wolf. A woman trying to escape a coup that killed the rest of her family ends up trapped in a mansion that’s getting colder and colder with the guy she hired to save her (but who she can’t stand).
ASH: I’ll admit to being intrigued.
ANNA: This does sound interesting.
SEAN: Square Enix Books has the 7th volume of The Apothecary Diaries light novel.
ASH: I really need to start reading the light novels! I’ve been enjoying the manga and anime.
SEAN: Square Enix Manga, meanwhile, has By the Grace of the Gods 13 and The Emperor’s Caretaker 5.
Lots of Seven Seas debuts, very few of them Japanese. Let’s start with the danmei, as we see a new novel, There’s Something Wrong with the Chief: Du Zhu You Bing. An assassin infiltrates a noble household and finds himself getting closer with his target.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi is getting a deluxe hardcover, and the first is out next week.
ASH: Fancy!
SEAN: Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu has its 7th deluxe hardcover.
Cupid is Struck by Lightning (Cupid ni Rakurai) is a BL title that ran in a magazine called Cab. A popular matchmaker finds himself falling for his gloomy (yet also popular) senpai.
MICHELLE: Gloomy, you say? Sounds potentially fun.
ANNA: I enjoy some gloom.
SEAN: DEAR. DOOR is a webtoon series coming out here in omnibus-sized volumes. A cop trying to get over a tragedy finds himself dealing with the demon king.
MICHELLE: Hm.
SEAN: Demon Under the Waxing Moon (Matsuyoi no Oni) is a BL title from Daria. It’s a one-shot. A young man who can see demons picks up a stray dog one day. Guess what it is. I hear this is spicy, though I assume it’s after the dog becomes a hot guy.
ASH: Most likely.
ANNA: One would hope.
SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: At 25:00 in Akasaka 5, The Big Apple 4, The Long Summer of August 31 3, Monster Cats 3, and Punch Drunk Love 4.
One debut from One Peace Books. Tamer: Trash-Tier to Top-Tier (Ore no Zense no Chishiki de Teihenshoku Tamer ga Joukyuushoku ni Natte Shimaisou na Ken) is based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel. A powerful tamer, one of the best professions out there, is killed, and reborn in a world where tamers are regarded as trash. Time for the standard isekai tropes…
Kodansha has one debut and two re-releases. Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Complete Manga Omnibus is a collection of the three previously-released volumes.
Mushishi Collector’s Edition is a deluxe omnibus version of the beloved, yet strangely poorly-selling fantasy manga that ran in Afternoon about 25 years ago. If you have not read it, do so, it’s brilliant.
MICHELLE: I think I have most, if not all, of the volumes published by Del Rey, but I have never read it.
ASH: Whaaaaaaat?? But you must! Mushishi is one of my absolute favorites. I’m thrilled to see it back in print and in a deluxe edition to boot; I will be double-dipping.
ANNA: I enjoyed the bits of it that I read!
SEAN: Shoot Juliet Down (Juliet wo Ute) is a BL title from Honey Milk. The Number Two host at a popular club asks the Number One for advice on how to get better… but was not expected to get seduced!
ASH: Whoops!
SEAN: Also in print: Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 20 (the final volume), FAIRY TAIL: 100 Years Quest 19, Land of the Lustrous 13 (the final volume), Thunder 3 7, Tune In to the Midnight Heart 4 and WIND BREAKER 16.
ASH: I’m a few volumes behind with Land of the Lustrous, but it’s such an intriguing series.
SEAN: And digitally we see How to Grill Our Love 17.
Kodama has Baki the Grappler 3 and 4.
ASH: That was fast!
ANNA: Woah!
SEAN: Kana has a 5th volume of Eden of Witches.
ASH: Another series I’ve been meaning to try.
SEAN: J-Novel Club has one debut, a manga based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel. Fired? But I Maintain All the Software! (E, Shanai System Subete Wanope shiteiru Watashi wo Kaiko desu ka?) stars a programmer who gets fired for cosplaying in the office. Sure, without her the company is doomed, but hey. Now she’s joining a new startup where she can give advice to other coders.
ASH: Good for her.
ANNA: I hope for the best for this software maintenance queen.
SEAN: For light novels, JNC has Ascendance of a Bookworm Fanbook 7, Duchess in the Attic 4, Goodbye Overtime 6, I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic 7, My Magical Career at Court 6, Sword Saint Adel’s Second Chance 4, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 14.
And for manga they have An Archdemon’s Dilemma 13, Black Summoner 21, Karate Master Isekai 5, Make It Stop! I’m Not Strong… It’s Just My Sword! 2, and Zero Damage Sword Saint 2.
Inklore has a 2nd volume of I Wanna Be Your Girl.
From Ghost Ship, we see Rise of the Outlaw Tamer and His S-Rank Cat Girl 6, She’s the Strongest Bride, But I’m Stronger in Night Battles 4, and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 8.
Drawn & Quarterly is re-releasing A Drifting Life, in case you did not buy it when it first came out.
ASH: It’s an excellent read; nice to see it back.
SEAN: Dark Horse has a 2nd volume of Cat + Crazy.
No print volumes for Airship, but they have an early digital debut. I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class (Class no Daikirai na Joshi to Kekkonsuru Koto ni Natta) is a romcom title, as you might have guessed. Two high school rivals are forced to marry due to family politics. Now they have to live together, share meals, and share a bed! But they hate each other! Right?
ASH: Of course!
SEAN: Also in early digital: There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 7.
Good start to November. What manga are you reading?
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