A manga where a one-eyed widow takes up a sniper rifle to seek revenge in the civil war that consumes the island kingdom of Alistria.
Every aspect from the soldier’s uniforms to their weapons in this manga are heavily inspired by World War 2. Reading this was like experiencing Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan. It’s filled with heavy drama about the guilt of killing and the horrors of war. The art work is a little rough around the edges due to the fact it started as a web manga. However by volume 2 they get right into some meaty action scenes that were wonderfully chaotic.
A manga about an elite secretary to the president of a comprehensive time company that travels back 20 years back in time to protect said president from assassinations attempts from a rival company from the future.
Yeah, that synopsis is makes this series crazy from the start but I was actually really enjoying this when it started. Unfortunately this is yet another manga that was sacrificed to the meat grinder that is the WeeklyShonen Jump’s cutthroat popularity polls. I would have personally loved to read more of this but it was canceled after a mere 20 chapters.
I wish Keiji Amatsuka the best in their future endeavors. They’re clearly talented and hope they find success.
A manga about a young girl who becomes interested in capoeira after meeting a mysterious homeless man.
A new manga by Tokio Sako who is best known for his Usogui series. I haven’t gotten into Usogui but would like to revisit it someday. In the mean time I’m enjoying Sako’s impressive artwork applied to the fluid movement of martial arts. I think it’s an interesting choice starting the protagonist so young but I like it so far.
A manga where a young girl battles and hunts mutant food monsters in a post-apocalyptic world.
I was a fan of this fun adventure series when it started but it went on hiatus back in 2017. They’ve finally resumed serialization in WeeklyShonen Sunday this month and I’m excited to read more!
An Asian fantasy where two childhood friends, Musashi and Kojirou, have trained to become warriors so they can defeat the ‘Oni’ demons who have taken over the lands.
A new manga by Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic creator Shinobu Ohtaka. I was very surprised to hear that her new manga was in WeeklyShonen Magazine because Magiwas in WeeklyShonen Sunday. I always wish I knew what happens when a manga artist changes publishers.
This manga hasn’t made a good impression so far. Ohtaka is leaning into the extravagant battles scenes she drew for the end of Magiand I’m not really enjoying them because of her general design aesthetic here. The setting is Sengoku Japan with references to famous samurai warlords but mixed with modern technology like motorcycles. Ohtaka seems to be pulling some designs from motorcycle gang uniforms and mixing them with Asian flair. It all comes off as a bit of a mess.
I liked Magibut this manga seems to be pulling everything I disliked about that series and making it a focal point. I think I’ll just keep skimming over new chapters as I make my way through WeeklyShonen Magazine for now.
A sci-fi manga about a bomb defuser who must keep his promise to stop terrorists who are trying to end the world with nitrogen bombs.
This is a strange manga to say the least. I think Shinnosuke Kuji is a talented artist but his design skills leave a lot to be desired. Most of the story takes place deep underwater and you have people fighting with gatling guns, rocket launchers and M-16 rifles and it’s just a weird choice to use weapons you can recognize in unbelievable environments. The series is filled with these kinds of unoriginal choices that really prevent it from standing on it’s own.
I think the themes of self-sacrifice to fulfill promises are well done with various characters dragging their bloody bodies to help defuse the bombs. Unfortunately they never really answers questions about the terrorists because the series ended at 5 volumes. In the final chapter it says ‘End Part 1′ so I suppose they might revisit this series in the future. But personally I don’t think it’s worth it. Kuji seems like a talented manga artist and I feel like he should just try something else.
An art book of Tsutomu Nihei illustrations from his manga and other collaboration projects.
This thing is fantastic and a must have item if you’re a Tsutomu Nihei fan. Some of my favorite stuff was his fantasy architecture series he did called Megalomania.
It even contains commentary about every individual piece from Niehi himself. Some of his comments like “This was a mistake” or “WTF is this” are hilarious.
A manga about a man who is accidentally summoned into a fantasy realm. He decides to use his special skills of a dimensional shopping to access food items from his home world to make a living cooking. Unfortunately that cooking attracts the legendary beast Fenrir who demands they form a pact that will involving getting 3 meals a day from the man.
This might be an isekai story but it focuses on food so I checked it out and I’m really glad that I did! I really like the mix of modern food in fantasy worlds. It’s also down well in Isekai Izakaya: Japanese Food From Another World.
There’s a lot of typical isekai troupes here, such as the man’s net supermarket ability allowing him to purchase salt and pepper cheaply and then selling that at a high price in this fantasy world. Also, like a lot of isekai stories the main character has to be very cautious about revealing his powers in fear of them being taken advantage. However they subvert many of those overpowered skills by sharing that advantage with his Fenrir partner. Instead of having a single overpowered protagonist, the fighting is handled by the beast and the human focuses on making delicious meals. That dynamic between these two were really enjoyable and I like their relationship a lot.
A horror manga where an evil creature is stalking students in a classroom and eating them.
I’ve read multiple manga about a students turning to fear and hysteria over an unknown killer within their group so the basic premise for this series wasn’t anything special. However the artwork on this one is really good. The creature has a horrific design and the violence and gore are very disturbing right from the beginning. I ended up checking out all 3 volumes mostly based on the strength of artist Renji Kuriyama.
If you’re a fan of horror then this one might be worth your time.
A romance manga about a high school couple who sexually confide in each other for either of their unrequited love.
We did a full retrospective on this series that you can listen to. I really, really liked this manga. Mengo Yokoyari’s beautiful artwork only goes hand in hand with her ability to realistically display adolescent love. Just about every character has a terrific arc that fleshes them out.
However I personally HATE the epilogue Scum’s Wish decor and wish it never existed!
