SEAN: December II: The December Strikes Back.
We start off with Ablaze, which has a 6th volume of Gannibal.
Airship has print releases of The Devil Princess 2 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 9.
The digital debut is Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex (Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai Sareru), which has already had an anime. A girl who grows up with her sister being given all the nice things suddenly finds herself engaged after her sister is killed in an accident. But then it turns out the engagement is a misunderstanding. What’s really going on here? From what I hear, this is another “it turns out being raised as an abused child is bad, actually” Cinderella story.
ASH: Who would have thought!
SEAN: Also digital: I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 10.
Dark Horse Comics is releasing Lone Wolf and Cub again. They promise that THIS deluxe hardcover will be the last, honest. OK, no, they don’t. But we can hope. This is what, the 6th, 7th time?
ASH: I’ll admit to being tempted to triple-dip as this edition looks like it should be excellent.
SEAN: Ghost Ship has Parallel Paradise 24.
J-Novel Club has a pile of print. The debut is My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World (Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life), a classic slow life title. Guy dies, is reincarnated as a quiet, normal profession… but things keep happening to him.
ASH: Probably because he has skills.
SEAN: There’s also Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection 2, the first volume of the 4th arc of the Ascendance of a Bookworm manga, By the Grace of the Gods 15, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 5, Gushing Over Magical Girls 6, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Collector’s Edition 13, the 3rd Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World manga, and the 12th The Unwanted Undead Adventurer manga.
ASH: I appreciate your clarification regarding exactly which Bookworm volume is being talked about here.
SEAN: Digitally, J-Novel Club has light novels for The Banished Former Hero Lives As He Pleases 6, D-Genesis Side Stories, From Villainess to Healer 6, Pens Down Swords Up 4, and The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 10.
For manga, they have The Faraway Paladin 14, Flung into a New World? Time to Lift the 200-Year Curse! 4, and I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! 8.
ASH: For a moment there, my brain crossed How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? with lifting 200-year curses, which honestly are probably pretty heavy.
ANNA: I am guessing this already exists as a light novel. Something like “Maxing out my Gains Weight Training with 200-year old Curses in Another World, Despite the Fact that I’m Just a Middle Manager With No Skills, Although my Personal Trainer May Be a Bi-Curious Vampire Assassin.”
SEAN: Kodansha Manga debuts The Magnificent Bastard (Hana no Keiji: Kumo no Kanata ni), a historical drama from the writer of Fist of the North Star that ran in the early 1990s in Weekly Shonen Jump (yes, I know, it’s now owned by Kodansha). Gutsoon tried to put this out before dying, now we’re trying again. This tells the story of historical samurai Maeda Keiji, but I bet heads explode somewhere. This will be in 2-volume omnibuses.
MICHELLE: Hm.
ASH: Surprising no one, I can be counted as interested.
ANNA: Manly manga! I like the title.
SEAN: Technically also a debut, Girlfriend, Girlfriend is getting an omnibus re-release.
Also in print: The Fable Omnibus 11 (the final volume), The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity 10, I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day 6, Issak Omnibus 4, Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN Deluxe 3, A Kingdom of Quartz 4, Sailor Moon Manga Box Set Vol. 7-10 (Naoko Takeuchi Collection), Teppu 3, and WIND BREAKER 17.
ASH: Still need to get around to reading Issak.
ANNA: Oh my, me too!
SEAN: Digitally we get Fall in Love You False Angels 4, Gang King 36, Giant Killing 52, How I Met My Soulmate 5, I Have a Crush at Work 12, and With You and the Rain 8.
MICHELLE: Someday, Giant Killing. Someday.
SEAN: One Peace Books gives us My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending 2.
Seven Seas somehow has no danmei next week, but they have a Korean BL light novel with KinnPorsche 5.
ASH: So close, and yet!
SEAN: In manga/manhua/manhwa, Seven Seas debuts BOSS, BXTCH, BABY, a BL webtoon. A man deep into debt gets rescued by a rich eccentric who says he’ll cover the debt if the man becomes his plaything for a year.
Chainsmoker Cat (Yani Neko) is a seinen title from Young Magazine. A catgirl is not only addicted to smoking, but a complete mess in every way. Can her friends make her better? (No.)
MICHELLE: I lol’d.
SEAN: And they also have an omnibus version of Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!.
Also from Seven Seas: 100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death 4, Gene Bride 3, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 23, Mii-chan Wants to Be Kept 3, No Longer Allowed In Another World 10, Otaku Elf 10, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 21, World End Solte 4, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 7.
Square Enix Manga gives us Always a Catch! 5, Daemons of the Shadow Realm 9, and My Isekai Life 22.
Steamship has Don’t Hold Back, Lord Hades 2.
SuBLime debuts Trickster’s Tale: Hu Yan Zhuan, a BL title from KiR Comics. Half-demon. Sage. Theirs is a forbidden love.
ASH: That’s a thing that happens sometimes.
SEAN: They also give us Black or White 11 and Finder Deluxe Edition 14.
ASH: It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about Finder!
ANNA: Wow, yeah!
SEAN: Titan Manga debuts a horror title, The Ghostly Darkness of Kanata (Yuuyami no Kanata). This runs in Comic Boost. A young woman, after a certain encounter, loses her ability to feel fear. To solve this problem, she starts going to haunted sites.
MICHELLE: This has reminded me of Ghost Hunt, which is a good thing!
ASH: Not a bad premise at all.
ANNA: Indeed!
SEAN: Three debuts for Tokyopop. Are they all BL titles that run in from RED? About a Love Song is. A musician struggling to write songs has a one-night stand with his co-worker… who turns out to be in high school! Now he’s trying to wait until graduation, but his lover is quite forward.
ASH: Music and BL tends to be a good combo for me.
SEAN: Fox and Puppy, a sequel to Star and Hedgehog, is also from from RED. A free (and bisexual) editor has a good work relationship with his author, but what happens when he’s caught with another man?
Yes! It’s a trifecta, and I swear I didn’t check in advance. My Noons and Midnights Are for You (Mayonaka no Ore o Mite) is a BL title that runs in from RED. A Vtuber is confident onscreen, but an introvert in real life. His manager is now sleeping with him… but surely he loves the outgoing onscreen guy. Right?
And they have My New Wife’s Fake Smile 2, which is not BL.
ASH: Or is it?
ANNA: I think we need more information about this new wife.
SEAN: Udon usually gets out a huge artbook before the holidays, and that seems to be Marvel VS Capcom: Ultimate Complete Works. It’s an updated artbook with 140 new pages. As for the content… come on, you know what this is.
No debuts from Viz, but we get Dandadan 16, Fly Me to the Moon 30, Girl Crush 4, Kill Blue 4, Komi Can’t Communicate 36, Minecraft: The Manga 4, Persona 5 14, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 14, Rainbows After Storms 7, and Spider-Man: Kizuna 2.
ASH: Oh good, the oldest kiddo at home has been asking for more Minecraft manga.
SEAN: Yen Press has one debut, but it’s had the biggest buzz of the year. Love Bullet is a yuri title from Comic Flapper. A girl who is good at giving out love advice but has never had a relationship is confessed to by her best friend… and then immediately killed when she saves her friend from getting hit by falling construction debris. Now dead, she’s a cupid whose job it is to get good partners together… but this will mean she’ll be forever tortured by her own unfulfilled life and love. This was an internet sensation, saved from cancellation by fans, and has a TON of folks talking about it.
ASH: The buzz has been huge! I’ve seen this series popping up in all sorts of places. (And I’m not nearly as online as I once was.)
ANNA: Sounds cool!
SEAN: There’s also a limited hardcover of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All, [OSHI NO KO] “Coloring x Idol” Color Activity Book, and the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Home Alone manga omnibus.
ASH: Ooooh, hardcover!
SEAN: And we still haven’t even gotten to mid-December yet. What are you getting?
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