Ho-ho-ho, Merry Christm—wait, wrong holiday? No worries, whether you can hardly contain your spooky day excitement or you’re already prepping for December 25th, we’ve got manga for you with the complete two-volume series of The Ghost and the Lady and the first volume of Sanda, the original manga being adapted this anime season by Science Saru. Plus, a brand new series and new volumes of older favorites, all on this week’s Reader’s Corner!

Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga (Vol. 5) • From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman (Vol. 4) • Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku?! (Vol. 1) • The Ghost and the Lady (Vols. 1 & 2) • Sanda (Vol. 1)

The Ghost and the Lady, Manga Vols. 1 & 2 (Complete Series)

Hidden deep in the bowels of Scotland Yard lies a secret archive nicknamed “The Black Museum,” which houses evidence from supernatural incidents across the British Empire. It takes more than a little searching to make contact with the black-clad beauty known as Madame Curator, but if you can do so, she will gladly give you a tour of the museum’s collection of the grim and the ghoulish remains of paranormal cases whose trails have gone colder than death. But tonight you’re in for a treat, dear guests, as the museum has been visited by the Man in Grey—the Theatre Royal’s ghostly good-luck charm—and he has a tale to tell of how one of the items in the Black Museum came to be. It’s the tale of a Victorian saint and a Georgian sinner. A tale of monsters both visible and invisible. A tale of lofty ideals and blood-soaked battlefields. It’s his tale, or rather, his and Florence Nightingale’s. And having haunted a theater for over a century, the Man in Grey knows how to tell a tale with proper dramatic flourish… I’ve loved and regularly reread this hidden gem of a miniseries for years, and with it being October, now is as good a time as any to finally review it. It certainly has a distinct look, with an art style built around thin, sharp lines and an almost cluttered degree of detail rather than the smooth, clean, and polished look that many series strive for. But that plays to the story’s strengths, creating the perfect environment for a narrative centered on the Mother of Modern Nursing’s struggle to keep up her spirits and hold her nerves in a world indifferent at best and hostile at worst to her mission for medical reform. And if the physical world is jagged and sharp, the supernatural world of this story is rotten and grotesque, with a vast array of unique creature designs for the Eidolons who feed off people’s souls (think something like Personas, if you’ve ever gone shadow-smashing across the Dark Hour, Midnight Channel, or Metaverse). Admittedly, this does raise the question of why, precisely, Florence’s persona appears as a conventionally attractive and stark naked woman when every other persona has a deformed and monstrous appearance (OK, we all know why, but not the in-story reason). Thankfully, the appearances of that persona drop off drastically in the second half of the story. While I can’t recommend it for younger readers, for older fans of historical fiction with a supernatural horror twist this series is a great short read. ~ WacOtaku

The Ghost and the Lady is published by Kodansha

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Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga, Vol. 5

Kind of like an MTG player who lets his hand be known too early, volume five feels a little rushed—to its detriment. It’s now 1999 in the series, and Kano is participating in the highly competitive portion of the year’s first national MTG tournament. The fun in this series is learning what sets this type of tourney apart, but it should also be in the relationship dynamics being explored—particularly the developing love triangle and the arrival of a new major character—and the general tournament feel of these chapters. Unfortunately, too much is happening too quickly, including some physical connection between characters; I want to see the character growth and relationship development that occurs, but it all feels a little too fast for these awkward middle schoolers. Of course, for all the praise I’ve heaped on Destroy All Humans, it can be forgiven for the too-fast nature of this volume. I just hope that future ones return it to a more proper pacing—even as the countdown toward December 1999 begins. ~ Twwk

Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga is published by VIZ Media.

READ Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga Reviews: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4

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Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku?!, Manga Vol. 1

Halfway through volume one of Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku?!, I was certain I’d found a new comfort manga (and a new favorite), but by the end, I was no longer so sure. Thirty-four short chapters (plus a few extras) fill this opening volume of Yen Press’s newest “quiet but kind nerd finds romance” series, which features virtually no other characters other than the titular ones: otaku Seo and “gals” Ijichi and Amane. Seo is obsessed with Glittermon, a franchise aimed at young girls, and soon discovers that the beautiful but aloof Amane may be as well. And Ijichi? Well, she’s no otaku, but she is open and kind to Seo in her own extroverted, cool girl way. And that’s the setup for a series that features the developing friendships between Seo and the two girls, who are already close friends. There is an odd kind of structure here, as many chapters continue the previous ones, which feels kind of loopy at first: Why have such short chapters when you’re telling one story? Because of these bursts of story, this book is probably better read in multiple sittings, though I admit I flew through it at first. It was so much fun; the trope here works so well, as you’re rooting for Seo to have deeper connections with these popular girls than the boys around them, who of course only view them superficially. Meanwhile, the girls are easy to like—Ijichi is kind, and Amane is “probably” an otaku. But somewhere about two-thirds through the volume, I realized that the development was moving way too fast. Insights about the girls were being revealed way too quickly; attractions were being too defined; a romance path was being too central to a story that was fun because of the slow build-up of these characters getting to know each other. By the end of volume one, I felt like we had progressed six or seven volumes’ worth, skipping over the opportunity for so much rich material. Why skip the meat in the center to eat the bread? Future volumes will tell, but I’m concerned that these series, with so much potential for warmth and fun, has already jumped the shark. ~ Twwk

Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku?! is published by Yen Press. Volume one releases on October 28th.

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From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman, Manga Vol. 4

I was attracted to the From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman anime primarily because of the protagonist, who displays a rare amount of integrity throughout the run of that series. But volume four of the manga, much of which isn’t adapted in the anime, proves that the supporting characters can more than hold their own as well. The volume begins with Beryl and Lucy completing their demolition of the bandit gang’s hideout, but most of the chapters focus on the fallout from those activities. Several more enemies play a role in these chapters, and none are pushovers, especially one whose introduction lets us know that he may be a match for Beryl. Meanwhile, cover boy Henblitz gets some lovely treatment in this volume, growing in ways that aren’t demonstrated in the anime. With all this supporting material, these chapters could be boring, but I found them quite thrilling; the writing is engaging, and the characterization is excellent. This may be my favorite volume yet of the series, proving once again that manga adaptations of light novels can be exciting in their own right—and on occasion, prove the equal or superior of the original and anime. ~ Twwk

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman is published by Yen Press. Volume four releases on October 28th.

Read: From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman Reviews: Vol. 1 // Vol. 3

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Sanda, Manga Vol. 1

Winter is warm. Children are rare. And Santa Claus is a mostly forgotten myth. This is the world in which Sanda Kazushige, a middle schooler at Daikoku Welfare Academy, lives. Oh, and one more thing—an unusual girl named Fuyumura Shiori is trying to stab him. But he’s taking it all in stride: everything, that is, except Fuyumura’s proclamations that Sanda is somehow the Santa Claus. What a creative and thrilling opening volume! From Paru Itagaki, the noted mangaka behind Beastars and Drip Drip, comes perhaps the first great Christmas manga! Of course, the slightly dystopian setting and violent incidents in volume one don’t quite make it seem like your traditional Christmas fare—and it isn’t. The story is part mystery, part school romcom, and part fantasy, and it works within those worlds very well. It feels like Roald Dahl’s The Witches, but with a more Japanese sensibility. The adult Santa Claus in the series is drawn in a way that conveys strength, deftness, and warmth; the other characters look like they came straight out of Tim Burton movie (or perhaps The Muppets!), and add such a wonderful style to the series. It also gives off that Burton-esque vibe since it combines horror and sci-fantasy elements to the Christmas theme, recalling The Nightmare Before Christmas or Batman Returns. What a cool and unique opening volume—much like the anime (which takes two-and-a-half episodes to adapt volume one of the manga), I am entranced by the original work and looking forward to what’s upcoming! ~ Twwk

Sanda is published by Titan Comics.

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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.