The latest Reader’s Corner brings together a fun mix of returning favorites and intriguing new reads. We’ve got ninjas, aliens, romance, saints, princes, and even a terrifying little black cat—plus a fascinating look at the craft of creating manga villains. Whether you’re catching up with a long-running series or looking for something new to add to your reading list, there’s plenty here to discover!
Always a Catch!: How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince (Vol. 7) • Dandadan (Vol. 20) • Kuro: The Complete Edition • Manga in Theory and Practice: How to Create Villains • Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me (Vol. 6) • Shinobi Undercover (Vol. 2) • The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom (Vol. 6)
Shinobi Undercover, Manga Vol. 2
Volume two of Shinobi Undercover is every bit as fun as the first volume while building out its world and characters more than the introduction. The main focus here is a second villain, a stronger one than was introduced in the initial volume, which starts to raise questions both about how the ninja world is structured in this series and why Aoi is such an important target. We also get to learn a little more about Yodaka’s team members (I am dying to know more about his handler on the other side of the earbud), especially Umineko, who goes head to head against the new foe. But the best part of the series remains Yodaka himself, who manages to be hilarious, sweet, and totally awesome. I am very much enjoying this series! ~ Twwk
Shinobi Undercover is published by VIZ Media.
Dandadan, Manga Vol. 20
Momo may be tiny, but the adventure in Dandadan remains huge. And oh so creative. Twenty volumes in, I’m now always anticipating what creative world Yukinobu Tatsu will take us to next! While this new arc is just beginning, so it’s not 100% clear, we do get a glimpse into a world I was totally not expecting—that of pygmies! What a fun concept to play with, especially with the tiny Momo who is being hunted by a new student character. Honestly, maybe this is one student too many? I appreciate our core group of six teens, but I trust Yukinobu-sensei to bring in additional characters as needed for arcs; he hasn’t steered us wrong yet. Let’s see where he steers his story to next; so far, this arc is promising! ~ Twwk
Dandadan is published by VIZ Media.
READ Reviews of Dandadan: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6 // Vol. 7 // Vol. 8 // Vol. 9 // Vol. 10 // Vol. 11 // Vol. 12 // Vol. 13 // Vol. 14 // Vol. 15 // Vol. 16 // Vol. 17 // Vol. 18 // Vol. 19
Kuro: The Complete Edition, Manga Omnibus
Meet Coco, the cheerful little girl who lives all alone in a giant mansion on the outskirts of a Victorianeque village—all alone, that is, except for Kuro, her little black cat—who is definitely not a monster. They spend their days playing in the ways that cats and little girls with big imaginations like to play, and occasionally, visitors stop by. Coco can’t see all of them, though, but that’s ok, because Kuro is always on guard to keep his number one human safe. What a happy, carefree life! This is a horror story about childhood trauma dressed up as a slice-of-life about a cat, and oh boy is it ever magnificent! Kuro comes from the duo behind Shadows’ House, Somato, and although Kuro actually predates the epic gothic tale, fans of SH will find many familiar elements (spooky mansion, portrait gallery, hints of Alice in Wonderland, and a little girl who could be a nascent Emilico) in this three-volume series, beautifully combined in omnibus format for its English translation. And I say “beautifully” quite deliberately, as, unlike with SH where the fully colored version is only available digitally, half of Kuro’s pages are printed here in glorious, rich, moody color—just as intended by the authors. You see, the story unfolds in two ways, or one might even say in two directions, with the colored pages starting from the final act of Kuro and Coco’s tale, with occasional flashbacks in sepia, while the black-and-white pages provide the years-long backstory, as well as a few stories written by Coco herself, as context for the technicolor finale. But also, the color part of the story is more a mosaic of snapshots and short stories than a continuous narration. It’s a sophisticated structure, and very cleverly written, with every single page holding clues about this strange world and the mysterious little pair at its heart. Kuro is darker than Shadows’ House, yet with a brighter tone on the surface, meaning that the cognitive dissonance is strong here, as tiny details and hints subtly and masterfully build the tension to breaking point. Which is also, mercifully, the starting point of healing, too. All in all, this is a beautiful, brilliantly crafted, moving work and definitely worth the read—and not just for anyone who’s thought that what Shadows’ House needs is more cats and trauma. ~ claire
Kuro: The Complete Edition is published by Yen Press.
Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Manga Vol. 6
The highly anticipated ball is here, and everyone is filled with nerves and excitement! For Oriana, though, it feels like something out of a dream to be attending with Vincent by her side. Even in all her dizzying excitement, her quest and goal to keep Vincent safe is still at the forefront of her mind, and she can only hope that this time things will be different. Oh my goodness, the secondhand embarrassment this volume gave me! I could feel myself blushing because Oriana, how could you be so naive?! This volume was so very wonderful, though! I knew I was nervous after skimming the previous volume, but this one was so much fun, full of surprises, and much laughter! I truly had such a great time reading and am genuinely surprised I didn’t cry or feel my heart being broken in half! Outside of the extreme secondhand embarrassment from that scene with a “wand,” I was quite surprised to see how well one character cleaned up! Talk about hiding a handsome face! The art was simply breathtaking, and I stopped several times to appreciate the joy on these precious characters’ faces! It felt so special considering how long of a journey it’s been, even more so when we got a very sweet and swoony moment near the end! I confess I am a little nervous about what’s to come because it sounds like we are about to be back at the moment that started everything. I am not sure what will happen, but I agree with our leads that things are not the same as they were before. I realize that doesn’t mean a certain something might not happen, but surely that means there is less chance, right? ~ Laura A. Grace
Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me is published by Seven Seas.
READ Reviews of Re-Living My Life with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5
The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom, Manga Vol. 6
Mia is at the end of her rope, and the situation could not look more dire. Philia and Osvalt are in a dangerous race against time to not only aid Mia, but also expand the Great Petrification Circle as quickly as possible. Can Philia get to her sister in time, and can Mia continue fighting when her saintly powers have run out? What an amazing volume, and a great way to wrap up the arc! I want to say a huge thank you to the artist for creating such a happy cover, because with how the previous volume ended, I really didn’t know what would happen in this one! And goodness, so much happened! I never ever want to see Mia’s life on the line like that! It was horrifying, heartbreaking, and crazy enough, inspiring because she was willing to do anything and everything to help save the people of her country. And how much Philia has grown since coming to this new country—she has changed so much! It makes my heart incredibly happy to see her thriving: eating good food, smiling so often, and being able to live in peace. She deserves nothing but happiness! Obviously, with how this volume ended, things are about to not be peaceful any longer! But this truly was a wonderful arc, and I loved how it wrapped up! Though I will confess that I’m surprised we still haven’t seen any inkling of romance, based on what I’ve seen on the light novel covers? I think Philia needed to grow this much before ever considering romance with anyone, and I truly loved seeing her growth, so I was not worried about the romance! I’m very interested to see what this next arc will be and what is going to go down, because it doesn’t seem good with these new characters on the scene! ~ Laura A. Grace
The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom is published by Seven Seas.
READ Reviews of The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5
Always a Catch!: How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince, Manga Vol. 7
Tensions continue to rise with the imperial visit of Prince Antoniu and his sister, Princess Ancelline. Mimi continues to think about what she can do to help Princess Ancelline after her declaration about “saving her.” When Mimi unexpectedly goes “undercover,” not only does she see Prince Antoniu continue to be adamant that Renato should marry his sister, but also how life seems to be for Princess Ancelline back home. So many fun shenanigans with Mimi once again! As lighthearted as this volume was, though, I was surprised to see the theme of misogyny is addressed! Renato has always been an amazing character, but seeing him stand up to Prince Antonius for his (wrong) way of thinking had me cheering! We love to see a man support women the way Renato does! On that topic, my heart really hurts for Mimi’s struggles concerning the truth about why Princess Ancelline acts the way she does. With that too, seeing Princess Ancelline be strongly discouraged in her own kingdom for wanting to learn to read, while in Rubini she would be encouraged, made my heart ache. Her desperation is so tangible, and I admire Mimi for genuinely hearing her out, even if everything in me was like No! Do not give up, Renato, for anyone or anything! I know the situation wasn’t that simple, and Mimi’s struggle shows that, but I appreciated that for all the pain in this volume, we still saw some very fun moments! The conversation everyone had together about the future was tense, but Renato showing why Mimi is the one for him (and what his “plan” was for that conversation) was hilarious! I’m nervously excited to see where things go! I really think Mimi and Renato will be fine, but I truly hope that Princess Ancelline can find freedom—and even Prince Antonius, because, as someone said, a simple “curse” can arise from the negative words of the people around you, and I don’t think even Prince Antonius realizes he has been “cursed” either. So here’s to both finding freedom and to poor Mimi not being so worried next volume! ~ Laura A. Grace
Always a Catch!: How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince is published by Square Enix.
READ Reviews of Always a Catch: How I Punched My Way into Marrying a Prince: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6
Manga in Theory and Practice: How to Create Villains
How to Create Villains, the second book in the Manga in Theory and Practice series from Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure creator, Hirohiko Araki, is one of the most useful and relentlessly engaging books I’ve read in the past several years. Really, I was not ready for an instructional book about how to effectively write villains for manga to be so compelling. One reason for this is just how resolute and expert Araki-sensei is in explaining how to develop your characters. He gives detailed pointer after pointer, structured as if he was teaching a course, with his expert voice. For any creative, it’ll feel like hitting gold. And he starts by giving a strong overview of manga creation in general—helpful for those, like me, who missed his first book in the series. But more than that, the work is encouraging. Araki-sensei is never condescending; he talks to you as if you are creative, artistic, and skillful, and while he is prescribing best practices, he continually tells creators to trust their instincts. This feels like a must-have guide for those trying to get their manga off the ground or even for those who have been dabbling in it but still have some struggles in finding their way. And then there are those like me, who aren’t planning to write a manga, but find it endlessly fascinating to read a well-developed book by an expert in our favorite medium as he explains his process. What a piece to add to any manga lover’s collection! ~ Twwk
Manga in Theory and Practice is published by VIZ Media.
“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.
