In the world of Moriking, our titular hero is hoping to one day be crowned the King of the Forest. He represents the beetle tribe and, like other insect contestants for the crown, has a human form. This also means that other contenders to the crown will be challenging him in their quest to the top.… Read More Newman’s Nook: Moriking’s Wisdom and Grace
Ayakashi Triangle is a new Shonen Jump manga series from Kentaro Yabuki, who is best known for Black Cat and serving as the artist for To Love Ru. This new series, from the look of it so far, includes some of the supernatural elements of the earlier and some of the fanservice of the latter.… Read More Manga First Impression: Ayakashi Triangle
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear (Vol. 1) (light novel) When a shut-in girl gets isekai’d to the world of her favorite MMORPG, she’s given a set of bear pajamas that are both embarrassing and ridiculously overpowered. This title is definitely panda-ing to fans of fluffy slice-of-life isekai with low stakes and easily-solved conflicts, which might put… Read More Otaku Reader’s Corner: Love Me Love Me, Kuma Kuma, and Way of the Househusband
Yuna, whose best friend has just moved out of town, leaving her in crisis, is timid, sensitive and credulous, and terribly embarrassed that her first love was Prince Philip from Sleeping Beauty. Akari, who has just moved to her block, is adventurous, messy and loud, quick to fall in love but also headstrong and rational,… Read More Two Kinds of Love in Love me, Love Me Not (Vol. 1)
I had the pleasure of reading Spy x Family, vol. 1, thanks to the dynamic duo of VIZ and Twwk. At first blush, it’s a normal (?) family: a father, a mother, and a six-year-old girl. But one of them is a spy, one is an assassin, and one is a psychic, and two of… Read More Spy x Family x Random Thoughts
Wakana Gojo is a shy high school boy with a passion for sewing clothing for hina dolls. Marin Kitagawa is a popular girl who is very interested in jumping into cosplay, but isn’t capable of making costumes. The crossing of their interests and the relationship that develops from it forms the basis of the manga… Read More Newman’s Nook: Don’t be a Doormat
I have a habit of sometimes drowning myself in nostalgia, which inevitably leads to regret—nothing serious, but even at my age I’ll entertain the thought, “I wish I could have lived [insert period of life] all over but as I am now instead of as who I was then.” We all make mistakes, but there… Read More Blue Flag, Vol. 1: Between Kids and Adults
Time Paradox Ghostwriter is a new manga series from author Kenji Ichima and artist Tsunehiro Date that began this week in Shonen Jump. The premise is super simple: A young mangaka’s microwave pumps out copies of Weekly Shonen Jump from 10 years in the future. Wait. Let me take a step back. The first chapter… Read More Manga First Impression: Time Paradox Ghostwriter
My Brother’s Husband (Vol. 1) On the last day my library was open before it was closed due to the pandemic, I picked up all of My Brother’s Husband by Gengoroh Tagame. The story follows a Japanese Dad and his daughter following the death of his twin brother, who was living in Canada. He is… Read More Otaku Reader’s Corner: Zipman, Marielle Clarac, and My Brother’s Husband
Jun Kirarazaka’s new manga, Bone Collection, is set in a world where yokai are always on the prowl and often attacking humans. Into this world steps Kazami, a teenager from a long line of powerful exorcists, including his brother and father, and who has been training to fight yokai. The problem? He’s terrible at it.… Read More Manga First Impression: Bone Collection