BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 2 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – The balance in this series is nearly perfect. You’d expect, given the premise, that there would be more focus on Ichinoi, and we do get a lot about her current life, her classes she teaches, meeting her daughter, etc. But Urara’s side of the equation is just as strong—she’s not simply there to introduce her elderly friend to the world of BL, as this isn’t that kind of series. The two enjoy discussing their passion for the work, but also find out more about each other, come see each other for other reasons, etc. Urara’s teenage friendships also permeate the volume, and the best exchange in it may be Eri hearing Urara call herself “nobody” and taking it...
Sep 11, 2020 • Subscribe
More like this
Bookshelf Briefs 9/20/22
Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 11 | By Nanashi | Kodansha Manga – I haven’t actually briefed this for a long time. Since I did, in…
Bookshelf Briefs 4/9/20
The Dorm of Love and Secrets, Vol. 2 | By Nikki Asada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Five years ago, an elite and a laidback high school…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/30/20
Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 6 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – Another series down to “once a year” release—I had to jog…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/2/20
Yay! Sean’s back! Barakamon, Vol. 18 + 1 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – I had thought this was something like an epilogue to the series,…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/22/20
Arifureta: I Heart Isekai, Vol. 3 | By Misaki Mori, based on the novel by Ryo Shirakome | Seven Seas – This is keeping up a fast pace,…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/11/20
As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 10 | By Matoba | Yen Press – While there is a tiny bit of forward movement with some of the couples in…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/20/22
Anti-Romance, Vol. 1 | By Shoko Hidaka | Seven Seas – I was a big fan of Shoko Hidaka’s series Blue Morning. She excels at depicting complicated relationships…
Bookshelf Briefs 5/7/20
The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 12 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – As much as I continue to love this series overall, this particular volume had…
Bookshelf Briefs 4/20/23
The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 17 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas - It's been a long time since I reviewed this series, but I have been…
Bookshelf Briefs 1/25/20
Again!!, Vol. 12 | By Mitsurou Kubo | Kodansha Comics – For better or worse, Again!! has always been unpredictable. I appreciate that it didn’t always follow the…
Bookshelf Briefs 8/19/20
In which we extend our profound sympathies to Sean, languishing without internet thanks to a hurricane and his crappy ISP. The Dorm of Love and Secrets, Vol. 4…
Bookshelf Briefs 7/30/20
Blue Flag, Vol. 2 | By KAITO | VIZ Media – How do I already love these kids this much?! Blue Flag is the story of four friends…
Bookshelf Briefs 5/19/20
After-School Bitchcraft, Vol. 1 | By Yu Shimizu and Kazuma Ichihara | Yen Press – Afterschool Boobcraft would be a better title for this supernatural romance about Ririki,…
Bookshelf Briefs 4/18/20
Bloom Into You, Vol. 7 | By Nakatani Nio | Seven Seas – The majority of this volume is devoted to Sayaka, who finally works up the resolve…
Bookshelf Briefs 2/16/20
Black Clover, Vol. 19 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – The nature of these volumes is they tend to be between 9-11 chapters no matter what,…
Bookshelf Briefs 6/19/20
A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 18 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – If you enjoy the way that the series can turn on a dime and drop…
Bookshelf Briefs 12/1/20
Cutie and the Beast, Vol. 1 | By Yuhi Azumi| Seven Seas – This looked cute, and gave off a very My Love Story!! vibe, but I was…
Bookshelf Briefs 4/25/20
Caste Heaven, Vol. 1 | By Chise Ogawa | SuBLime – I have to wonder why I read this. The warning signs are right there on the back…
Bookshelf Briefs 7/3/20
Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, Vol. 9 | By Hitsuji Tarou, Tsunemi Aosa and Kurone Mishima | Seven Seas – Forgot to review the previous volume of…
Bookshelf Briefs 12/17/20
Chainsaw Man, Vol. 1 | By Tatsuki Fujimoto | Viz Media – It’s a little hard to live up to the hype that this title has gotten on…
Bookshelf Briefs 11/20/23
#DRCL Midnight Children, Vol. 1 | By Shin'ichi Sakamoto | Viz Media - This is one of those books that I wouldn't normally pick up except for that…
Bookshelf Briefs 3/7/20
Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 9 | By Io Sakisaka | VIZ Media – Ao Haru Ride is probably the most straight-up dramatic shoujo that I am reading at…
Bookshelf Briefs 2/1/20
Anonymous Noise, Vol. 18 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – It took a while for me to get into Anonymous Noise, and I still wouldn’t call…
Bookshelf Briefs 7/11/20
How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | Viz Media – This title has a lot of things going for it, once you get past the…
Bookshelf Briefs 11/16/20
A Bride’s Story, Vol. 12 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – Being at a yearly schedule for this series is bad, but it could be worse:…
Bookshelf Briefs 7/21/20
Glaeolia, Vol. 1 | Edited by Emuh Ruh and zhuchka | Glacier Bay Books – One of the newest and smallest publishers of manga in English translation is…
Bookshelf Briefs 6/20/21
As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 12 | By Matoba | Yen Press – When you have a main couple as innocent and naive as this one, it’s going…
Bookshelf Briefs 6/8/20
Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 26 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The fall season has begun! Furuya is wearing the ace number and…
Bookshelf Briefs 2/25/20
DAYS, Vol. 16 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Usually with sports manga I can find some emotional beat to highlight, but this volume…
Bookshelf Briefs 1/4/20
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 7 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – Every time a new volume of this fantastic series comes out I avoid…
Bookshelf Briefs 1/16/20
Anonymous Noise, Vol. 18 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – Welp, I was wrong. Romantically, the final pairing is not what I expected. That said, romance,…
Bookshelf Briefs 3/18/20
Dr. STONE, Vol. 10 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Dr. STONE thrives on ridiculous ideas, of course, but that does not mean that…
Bookshelf Briefs 1/20/21
Goodbye, My Rose Garden, Vol. 3 | By Dr. Pepperco | Seven Seas – Last time I said that this series never quite tipped over into melodrama, but…
Bookshelf Briefs 2/20/21
Chihayafuru, Vol. 24 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Hooray, I’m finally caught up again on Chihayafuru! This volume finds Chihaya and friends lending…
Bookshelf Briefs 3/28/20
The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 12 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – I’m still really enjoying reading The Ancient Magus’ Bride, but there’s no denying that…
Bookshelf Briefs 11/2/20
Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey, Vol. 5 | By Akiko Higashimura | Seven Seas – It shouldn’t take most readers by surprise that the final volume of…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/10/24
Friday at the Atelier, Vol. 2 | By Sakura Hamada | Yen Press - The weirdness gets dialed back a lot in this second volume, though we still…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/6/22
Blue Lock, Vol. 2 | By Muneyuki Kaneshiro and Yusuke Nomura | Kodansha Comics – Blue Lock really is a lot of fun, if you can get past…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/27/22
D-Frag!, Vol. 16 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – This new volume (by now the series is annual) involves a massive parody of “trapped in a…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/11/23
I Don't Know Which Is Love, Vol. 1 | By Tamamushi Oku | Yen Press - If you have been reading all those ridiculous harem comedies, the sort…
Bookshelf Briefs 7/9/23
Bakemonogatari, Vol. 18 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Kodansha Manga - I hadn't been reviewing the manga version of Bakemonogatari, as, while stylistically fantastic, it was pretty…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/8/24
Bakemonogatari, Vol. 22 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Kodansha Manga - The manga ends here, but of course, the novels are ongoing, and there's almost twenty more…
Bookshelf Briefs 9/13/21
A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy, Vol. 4 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Yasuhito Nogi |Seven Seas – Despite the cliffhanger from the last book, Junko and Gunha…
Bookshelf Briefs 8/9/22
Blissful Land, Vol. 1 | By Ichimon Izumi | Kodansha (digital only) – You can almost imagine the pitch for Blissful Land: “It’s like A Bride’s Story, only…
Bookshelf Briefs 6/9/24
Bakemonogatari, Vol. 21 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Kodansha Manga - Gonna say something controversial here: is the manga the best version of this series? The anime…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/2/23
Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 26 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media - This book starts to put in the effort of getting us to know and care…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/30/23
A Bride's Story, Vol. 14 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press - Actual main couple at last! And Karluk is thirteen, so is presumably getting closer to…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/28/21
BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 5 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – The bonds that Urara made with Ichinoi don’t have to end here, but they are going…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/6/22
Falling Drowning, Vol. 3 | By Yuko Inari | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s the final volume and, inevitably, Honatsu has begun to regain her memories. With…
Bookshelf Briefs 10/17/23
Blue Box, Vol. 6 | By Kouji Miura | Viz Media - A lot of things are finally done in this book. We get Hina's confession, and Taiki's…