Today is the major manga, manhwa, and light novel release day for September! And from the opening volumes of Marriage of Convenience and Rock is a Lady’s Modesty to the latest releases of Fool Night, Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love, and more, we’ve got you covered!

Fool Night (Vol. 6) • If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love (Vol. 4) • Marriage of Convenience (Vol. 1) • My Secretly Hot Husband (Vol. 4) • Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Vol. 8) • A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special (Vol. 5) • Rock is a Lady’s Modesty (Vol. 1) • Tower Dungeon (Vol. 2)

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, Manhwa Vol. 8

ORV just gets better and better and better. While the series really pumps the adrenaline during chapters when there’s a massive confrontation involving multiple important characters, volume eight demonstrates that ORV also excels when the action focuses on just Dokja and one other character, and that it is surprisingly story-driven. The story in volume eight is that after Dokja has chosen a “kingless world,” he and his party are thrust into their pasts and into lawlessness like a dangerous alternative to monarchy. For Dokja, that means confronting his traumatic past and, in what’s most fascinating to me, the cold and almost cruel person he has become. In these chapters, he also picks up a surprising ally, and their back-and-forth is so fun, full of chemistry and razzing. The volume also ends with an interesting reveal and with a chapter that expands the lore of the series several times over. It is a lot, but the story is carefully laid out, and the panels are well laid out. There’s a great comparison to be made here with Solo Leveling; while the art of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint isn’t quite as outstanding as in that series (though it’s close!), it’s far easier to understand what’s going on in scenes. The wonderful coloring and drawings, combined with the fierce story and cool reveals, make this one of the most exciting series currently being published. ~ Twwk

Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint is published by IZE Press.

READ Reviews of Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6 // Vol. 7

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Fool Night, Manga Vol. 6

Everything about Fool Night is meant to make the atmosphere tense—the sorrowful, geometric character designs; the body gore; good people fighting for one organization against another when their organization may be the more evil of the two; extreme violence to characters without prejudice; and of course, the constant flow forward. There are breathers in Fool Night, but not only do they always make us aware that death is coming for Kamiya and others—they also don’t last long. Volume six has none of these pauses, running forward with Hourai’s plan to try to trap the Glory Days party, though the main team—and others who are meant to protect them—find themselves stuck in an impossible situation from which they may not all get out alive. The violence is intense in this volume—gunshots to the head are mild compared to the havoc that Harubara wreaks and when he goes up against Kanaeno. Well, I’ll just say that I was so worried that I had to put the manga down for a bit before returning to see what the conclusion would be. Still, there are glimmers are hope, even as things fall apart. I’m eager to see if there is a possible “good ending” to this series amidst all the gloominess and torture. But to get there, I think we’ve got to endure for many more volumes. Thankfully, even with all the darkness, a series as creative and grotesquely beautiful as this feels less like enduring and more a fulfilling if fearsome journey. ~ Twwk

Fool Night is published by VIZ Media.

Read Reviews of Fool Night: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5

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A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special, Manhwa Vol. 5

The sense of urgency that helped make the first few volumes of A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special has dissipated somewhat by volume five—but there’s still plenty here that continues to prove that this is a wonderful series. Back in the Shadow Realm, Desir and the other continue to work through and complete their scenario, with religious institutions, state-making, immigration, and war among the complications. In fact, I found the volume to be intensely engaging because it seems to cut through some of the political jabbering that mars discussions about immigration in our culture and focuses on both practicality and kindness. What a surprisingly relevant reading! But besides the plot of the scenario itself, the volume is helped by the deep love it’s cultivated in the readers for Desir and his party. Their individual personalities are so strong, and they are each so easy to root for, that we get absorbed in seeing them make not only global decisions affecting others, but also personal ones that develop their characters. Desir, in particular, remains a very special lead—his thoughtfulness, compassion, and leadership make him a compelling, attractive protagonist. He continues to be concerned with the “bad end” that he wants to avoid, and while it’s hard to keep that tension alive while we’re in the midst of an RPG-like scenario that doesn’t feel terribly dangerous, the volume tries and succeeds best when it begins to introduce new villains who look like they may be absolute terrors to take down. I can’t wait to see them go up against Desir’s talented but still young party members—and the genius himself. ~ Twwk

A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special is published by Yen Press.

READ Reviews of A Returner’s Magic Should Be Special: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4

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Rock is a Lady’s Modesty, Manga Vol. 1

Lilisa Suzunomiya is an average girl whose mother has recently married into high society. In order to be accepted at her new elite, all-girls school, she’s trying to pass herself off as someone who was always raised this way: elegant, refined, cultured—the works. This includes giving up her passion for rock music and playing guitar. But when she discovers that Otoha Kurogane, who seems to really be everything Lilisa pretends, is crazy about rock and playing the drums, it becomes harder to keep up the facade. This encounter is the birth of a band, a rocky (ha!) friendship, and something more… Having watched a couple episodes of the anime, I had a pretty good idea of what I was getting into here: a music-centered Girls’ Love story charged with a lot of emotional energy. I’ve not read or watched a ton of GL media, so I’m not too familiar with the genre and its tropes (and I’ll leave the discussion of whether Christians should enjoy such works aside for the moment; let me direct you to these two excellent pieces on the subject as a starting point). Taking the story on its own merits, I couldn’t help but enjoy the way the art conveys the emotional tension that Lilisa experiences throughout, a tension built between the trio of Lilisa’s mother, who forces her to abandon her hobbies and loves; Otoha, whose presence pushes Lilisa back toward her desires and away from society’s demands; and Lilisa herself, caught between these two poles and trying to navigate them. The art and story also do a fantastic job of conveying the power of the music in the absence of sound—which is essential in a story that is a low-key tribute to rock music. If possible, I think I enjoyed the manga more than the anime, even though the latter has the advantage of, you know, actually including music you can hear. The musical scenes themselves are unabashedly passionate, as if the music is sublimating the sexual tension between the main characters before any attraction actually exists. In short, I’m quite impressed with how the manga works: There’s nothing here that is genuinely new, but what is present is both polished and energetic, much like Lilisa herself, and so the end result is something that is at least a little above average manga fare (both GL specifically, insofar as I’m familiar with it, and manga in general). If that were all, I would have no qualms about recommending this as a promising coming-of-age story about a girl trying to figure out who she is and her place in the world, acceptable for Christians who are comfortable enjoying GL media. Alas, I must include one significant caveat: There are two wholly unnecessary images that each depict (as metaphors) one of the main characters nude and being abused by the other. Even leaving aside the question of whether Christians should consume BDSM content, the graphic nature of these images pushes the story into a more restrictive audience category. So I can only recommend it to mature readers who can overlook such elements. ~ BtT Review Staff

Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty is published by Yen Press.

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Tower Dungeon, Manga Vol. 2

Yuva may have started to develop a rapport with his two comrades—Eriquo the master archer and team leader, and Lilicen the mage with a personality as fiery as her spells—but he’s quickly finding out that this mission will be far more complicated than he first thought. Like a moth to a flame, the kingdom’s secretive but powerful parliament, renegade feudal lords, and a milieu of independent factions from every point on the moral spectrum are all swarming to the tower and forcefully inserting themselves into events. The ancient horrors within the Dragon Tower are almost quaint compared to the murky air of malice swirling around the world outside it… Something is rotten in the state of Yuva’s homeland, and we get our first real taste of that rottenness in this second volume. If I had any thought that Tower Dungeon would be a straightforward climb up the stairs through a series of boss fights, this volume put that idea to bed. Watching Yuva trying to navigate this web of ambition and agendas is entertaining precisely because he is perfectly unprepared to do so. On the other hand, he’s a human tank, so scheming against him is only going to accomplish so much. There are also a couple of fun nods to fantasy tropes from sources as varied as The Lord of the Rings and The Legend of Zelda which serve to break up the creepy, looming, Dark Souls vibe of this series (nobody is going to be asking why they couldn’t just ride the Eagles to Mordor this time around). Eerie, mysterious, and unique, Tower Dungeon volume two pulls off a significant world expansion while still keeping the story moving forward. ~ WacOtaku

Tower Dungeon is published by Kodansha.

^{READ: Our review of Vol. 1}

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If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love, Manga Vol. 4

Brigitte has agreed to Yuri’s request to visit him at his home, but in a moment of embarrassment during one of their conversations, she runs off. Unfortunately for her, she ends up getting lost in his house, but also fortunately for her, she runs into someone declaring that he knows why her contracted spirit won’t reveal itself! Could this stranger, who looks too similar to Yuri, have the answers she has been looking for? The first thing I thought of when finishing this volume is that I can’t wait to smash that rating of five stars on Goodreads because goodness, did this volume pack an emotional punch! I know we’ve already been shown bits and pieces of Brigitte’s backstory, but seeing the full story of what happened when she was little was triggering, upsetting, and made me cry. The way her parents turned on her simply because she had a “no-name” spirit filled me with rage, especially when you compare it to Brigitte’s happiness over just having a contracted spirit at all! She was genuinely excited and couldn’t wait to meet them, only for everything to completely go down in the most horrifying of ways because of her father. I was not expecting this to be such a heart-wrenching volume and was also surprised to find out something about Yuri. It’s nothing bad, though! However, I do wonder if it will change things moving forward, but I guess things have changed either way because I didn’t know a scene with our leads simply holding hands could be so squeal-worthy! I was really excited to see what came from that, romantically and otherwise! I was, however, not excited to see Joseph’s face again, and I swear that man is up to no good! I think the new character is going to be a good guy, even though I was very leery of him at first. He seems to have good intentions, and I feel this is further confirmed when he comments that it seems Joseph doesn’t want him and Brigitte to meet for some reason. Overall, another very well done volume!  ~ Laura A. Grace

If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love is published by Yen Press.

READ Review of If the Villainess and Villain Met and Fell in Love: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3

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My Secretly Hot Husband, Manhwa Vol. 4

The Great Devil Belaire has been defeated, and the divorce papers Erden keeps giving Letitia seem to get “lost,” so all is well for our fierce heroine! Or is it? When news reaches them not only that are devils attacking again, but that a supposed saint is actually a Great Devil, Letitia and Erden will have to put off those divorce papers once more and face their toughest foe yet! There were so many moments I loved in this volume! The kitchen raid, Erden realizing he cannot and will not divorce Letitia, Letitia absolutely slaying in taking down a beast, much comforting between them after nightmares, and more, honestly! It’s really really hard to say what my exact favorite moment is because my heart felt so full reading! I guess I felt that way mostly because I loved Erden realizing he deeply loves Letitia and doesn’t want to get divorced. I couldn’t help but get frustrated with him when he was trying to share his feelings with Letitia, only for someone to always show up! Ha! Fortunately, that certain character was quite the cutie, or all would not be forgiven so quickly for this reader! Ha! Thankfully, there were lots of hugs between our leads in the midst of all the new chaos that is unfolding, and I couldn’t help but squeal! All I want is these two to be together, and I’m feeling this volume is pointing out that it is possible! Granted, there is a lot of yearning because the romance hasn’t fully taken off just yet, but thankfully, it was offset with some fun humor woven throughout several pages! Truthfully, though, this new arc is not my favorite, based on what I recall reading digitally, but I’m still really excited to see the takedown that will happen and all the secrets that will be revealed! ~ Laura A. Grace

My Secretly Hot Husband is published by IZE Press.

READ Reviews of My Secretly Hot Husband: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3

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Marriage of Convenience, Manhwa Vol. 1

Bianca might have been a haughty woman who easily spent her husband’s money on jewels and expensive clothing, but when she dies from illness, alone and kicked out, she prays for a second chance. Her prayer is answered, and she wakes up in the body of her past self and vows that she will not make the same stupid mistakes she made in the past. This time she will ultimately do what she couldn’t do before and believes it will change the future entirely: Having her husband’s baby! This is the third time I’ve reread the first few chapters of this manhwa, and I loved it just as much as the first time! I know the premise of this story is what got me intrigued originally because I’ve never read a story where a female lead uses the second chance she’s been given to do everything in her power to have the male lead’s baby. Ha! It feels very original to me, but I also really, really love Bianca! From the opening story, I felt invested in her life and how she would change. Granted, I didn’t expect her to basically want to “jump” her husband, as she says, but it was deeply engaging nonetheless! I admire how she doesn’t put up with people walking over her, stands up to and has uncomfortable conversations with her husband, and makes sure there is a way to provide for herself. She is truly courageous, and I want nothing but the best for her moving forward! Thankfully, she is slowly finding people around her who I believe desire that too! I really liked the cast of characters and love the humor sprinkled throughout! It makes for a compelling story outside of Bianca’s goal and her overall change! I’m eagerly looking forward to the next volume! ~ Laura A. Grace

Marriage of Convenience is published by IZE Press.

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“Reader’s Corner” is our way of embracing the wonderful world of manga, light novels, and visual novels, creative works intimately related to anime but with a magic all their own. Each week, our writers provide their thoughts on the works they’re reading—both those recently released as we keep you informed of newly published works, and those older titles that you might find as magical (or in some cases, reprehensible) as we do.