Laid-Back Camp
A manga about girls who like camping.
Watched the anime a loved it. The manga surprised me a little because the art style of volume 1 is very different than the show. Really great series. If you enjoy this I highly suggest checking out Sanzoku Diary as well.
Available from Yen Press.
~dakazu
Sono Musume, Musashi
A sports manga about a former middle school ace female volleyball player, Musashi Kaneko, who gets roped back into the sport by the high school volleyball team captain Ritsu Koga.
Although the story initially focuses on Musashi rediscovering her interest in volleyball, the later half of the series dives deep into her seniors who suffered abuse the hands of their previous violent coach. The trauma that each character carries afterwords is laid out well and handled with lots of nuance. I really enjoyed Ai Tanaka’s storytelling that dived into the psyche of these athletes as they brought their rivalries to a climactic final match.
I still think Shojo Fight is my favorite volleyball manga but this one is great as well. Also at 3 volumes it’s short and sweet!
~dakazu
Smokin’ Parade
A manga about a boy who joins a squad of hunters who use prosthetic limbs that transform into weapons to hunt down body-part transplant patients gone berserk called Spiders.
This manga is done by the same creative team that did Deadman Wonderland and it shows.Just replace weapons made from blood with prosthetic limbs. It’s overly stylized and full of violence and gore just like Deadman Wonderland.
If you’re a fan of Deadman Wonderland you’ll probably love this. I personally don’t care for Kazuma Kondou’s excessive gore so I got bored of this real quick.
~dakazu
Complex Age
A manga about a 26 year old office lady who hides her hobby of cosplaying from her co-workers.
I liked this manga quite a lot! The story addressing the stigma against adults doing cosplay was unique. The ending is very bittersweet and I don’t fully agree with the message but I really loved how interesting Yui Sakuma made Nagisa’s character.
It’s available in English from Kodansha Comics and I recommend you check it out!
~dakazu
Vanilla Spider
A manga about a teenage boy with no presence who hunts alien creatures with a faucet pipe to protect the girl he’s stalking.
I’ve talked about Youichi Abe’s other manga Chimoguri Ringo to Kingyobachi Otoko before and this is another book with a similar concept of teenagers fighting against evil creatures with a mix of everyday items and gory monsters.
I really enjoy the way Abe uses white lines against black clothing to create shadows in his artwork and the designs of his monsters are always creative and creepy looking. I’ll make sure to check out other manga by him in the future.
~dakazu
Yaomori no Elie
A manga about a young man who starts working for a produce distributor to help sell the food farmers grow to the grocery stores.
This is a first for me as I haven’t seen a manga that focuses solely on distributing produce. You learn a lot about the plight of both farmers and produce stores that struggle to make ends meet.
I enjoyed seeing a manga cover something different and liked it!
~dakazu
Plus-Sized Elf
A manga about an Elf and other fantasy supernatural beings who need help slimming down after losing weight.
This manga is 100% fan service. Don’t let the tips about losing weight fool you. The concept of this manga is to have chubby female versions of various RPG fantasy beings in tight clothing. I can see the appeal of this series but after 1 volume I was personally alright with never picking this up again. I’d rather read something with more substance that isn’t so blatantly fan service.
This is available in English from Seven Seas Entertainment.
~dakazu
Ramenya no Yome
Super cute manga about a wife who works to support her husband’s dream of starting a ramen shop.
I loved the chibi art style of this manga and the lighthearted story presented 4-panel style. In between chapters the husband and wife would review real ramen joints from Japan!
~dakazu
Rin to Cheer.
A manga about high school freshman Rin who aspires to be a male cheerleader like his older brother was. He helps rebuild his school’s cheerleading squad and gathers other members.
What a great manga with a positive message about breaking stereotypes and social norms. Not only does Rin have to fight against the stigma of being a male cheerleader, he deals with a difficult situation at home. Rin’s brother ran away after their mother rejected him as a transwoman and now she’s obsessed with keeping Rin “manly” and opposing his dreams of cheerleading. By the end of the story Rin is able to convince her that cheerleading is his passion and gets her to reconnect with his brother. There’s also another character that’s dealing with her romantic feelings for her female best friend. Lots of LGBTQ+ issues are addressed throughout this manga along with what masculinity means in society.
A short and sweet series. It ran in Young Jump so I hope VIZ will consider bringing it over.
~dakazu
Kyou no Yokohama-ka
A manga about Ryoichi Yokoyama’s family life.
I liked Yokoyama’s Sengoku Comiket and I also liked this. Yokoyama has a great sense for comedy and I loved all the funny anecdotes about his kids and wife. Stories like how his son being super critical of his manga was hilarious.
I recommend his work and I’m interested in tracking down some of his wife’s manga as well.
~dakazu