Hello dear readers, and welcome to a special edition of Otaku Reader’s Corner as we delve into works that are atypical for us—those involving horror or at the least, some ghoulish elements. S…
Oct 30, 2020 • Subscribe
More like this
Otaku Reader’s Corner: December 2020
Look Into My Eyes (One Shot) Look Into My Eyes is a one-shot manga about an idol group on the verge of disbanding. While it appears that most…
Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Skip Beat!, Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju
Reader’s Corner: Spooky Halloween Edition!
Happy (almost) Halloween, all you scary readers out there! We don’t review a whole lot of horror on Reader’s Corner, but we have a few that quality (or…
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Lycoris Recoil
Otaku Reader’s Corner (March 4, 2020)
By the Grace of the Gods (Vol. 1) Sometimes, I don’t want a story with lots of action or drama; I just want a nice, laid-back story about…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: KH3, Eniale & Dewiela, and Reset!
Eniale & Dewiela, Vol. 1 Eniale is an angel. Dewiela is a demon. But the two of them are buddies. It’s an Odd Couple situation with two celestial…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Slayers, Spirit Photographers, and Sayonara, Football
Inside Mari (Series) Every so often I’ll jump into the two main manga reading apps I use (Crunchyroll and Shonen Jump) and look for a completed series. I…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Zipman, Marielle Clarac, and My Brother’s Husband
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…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Haikyu, Fairy Tail, and A Wild Last Boss!
Haikyu!! (Chapter 401) After eight amazing years of manga, the story of our favorite volleyball bois from Karasuno and across Japan will come to an end. By the…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Smile Down the Runway, Bibliophile Princess, and Oregairu
Tearmoon Empire (Vol. 1) As Tearmoon Empire vol. 1 opens, protagonist Princess Mia (clearly inspired by Marie Antoinette) dies on the guillotine…only to wake up as a twelve-year-old!…
Reader’s Corner: March 12, 2024
This week’s selection of manga and light novels features stunning and unique artwork, high ideals about love, and fantastical elements. In other words, they’re the kinds of creative…
The Low-Budget Perfection of 'The Great Pumpkin'
Plus: animation news and an essential book.
Reader’s Corner: D-Genesis, The Liminal Zone, and Bleach 20th Anniversary Edition
In this week’s column, we look back to a couple of classics (including one getting a reprint), and to the usual suspects: isekai, romcom, and…magical school? Bleach: 20th…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Love Me Love Me, Kuma Kuma, and Way of the Househusband
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…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: One Piece, Cutie Shikimori, and a Detestable Demon Falls in Love
Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie, Vol. 1Shikimori seems like the perfect girlfriend—cute, sweet, bashful. But Izumi knows that’s only half her personality. Like some moe Jekyll and Hyde,…
Reader’s Corner: Witch Watch, FMA Fullmetal Edition Vol. 15, and Earthchild, Chapter 1
Witch Watch, Vol. 1 Adolescent witch Nico is thrilled to move back to the city and start high school, though she’s most excited to be paired with her…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Saint’s Magic Power, Holmes of Kyoto, and Knowing How to Give Birth
I Don’t Know How to Give Birth I Don’t Know How to Give Birth is an incredibly raw look at pregnancy from the point of view of a…
Reader’s Corner: One Piece, Orient, and Oregairu
Ascendance of a Bookworm: Part 2, Vol. 1 After passing through the ornate gateway marking the threshold of the temple’s courtyard, lavished with lush floral arrangements, our pure-hearted…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, TPN Side Story, and the Final Ao Haru Ride
Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 13 After thirteen volumes, Ao Haru Ride has come to an end, but instead of celebratory feelings, I couldn’t shake an irksome question: Why…
Reader’s Corner: Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Vol. 1), My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku (Vol. 1), and Insomniacs After School (Vol. 4)
Need recommendations for manga and manhwa to gift this Christmas season? No need to worry—we’ve got you covered this week with new and recent series that would make…
The Beautiful Night Skies of It’s The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
Sometimes, there's nothing like watching the stars.
Anime Pumpkin Spice?
The wind has turned chilly. The hazy Summer sky has finally clear away to reveal a endless sapphire blue expanse over head of fathomless depths. Wide fan-like leaves…
Reader’s Corner: Last Dungeon, Talentless Nana, and Oregairu
The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat, Vol. 1 When a proficient assassin gets “taken care of” after he is no longer needed,…
Reader’s Corner: Wandance, Rooster Fighter, and Rainbow Days
This week’s reviews ask the question: Who’s the king of the roost? Is it the talented but unmotivated boxer, Yu? Kaboku’s high school dance club? Or is it…
Reader’s Corner: Kyle’s Little Sister, Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence, and Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend
I Refuse to Be Your Enemy!, Vol. 6 This volume is a lovely conclusion to the reincarnated-as-a-villainess isekai story of Kiara. She was reborn into the world of…
Reader’s Pumpkin Patch: Sawanabe Zombie, Phantom Tales of the Night, and an Orc Editor
Welcome to the Reader’s Corner, or as we’re entitling it this week, the Pumpkin Patch. We’ve got an array of series for you as usual, but with a…
Otaku Reader’s Corner: Komi Can’t Communicate, Love Me Love Me Not, and the Fly Me to the Moon
Fly Me to the Moon (Tonikawa), Vol. 3 Season one of Tonikawa may be complete, but Fly Me to the Moon, the manga on which its based, is continuing…
Reader’s Corner: SHY, Solo Leveling, and Insomniacs After School
A number of the releases we cover this week correspond with upcoming anime, and judging by these volumes—including those from SHY and Insomniacs After School—you should be anticipating…
Reader’s Corner: Solo Leveling, Horimiya, and Love in Focus
My Best Friend’s Little Sister Has it in for Me, Vol. 1 Ten or fifteen years ago, I was involved in a roleplay writing community. For those that…
Pumpkin Scissors (Panpukin Shizāzu)
Pumpkin Scissors (Panpukin Shizāzu) 2006 Pumpkin Scissors is a sadly unfinished series that seems often to be recommended to FMA fans, though there are obvious and clear differences.…
Reader’s Pumpkin Patch: Creepy Cat, Undead King’s Reign of Peace, and Until Your Bones Rot
I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 1 Another reincarnated-into-an-otome-game isekai story, some aspects of I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Bo…
Grav’s Complete Otaku Collection – 2020 Edition
A new shelf and additional rows plus the dozens more anime, books, games and Asian Cinema join the 8th complete collection update.
Grav’s Complete Otaku Collection – 2024 Edition
2024 has been the biggest year for pickups that I’ve ever done. Here’s a look at how my collection has done in 2024 in this 12th update.
Grav’s Complete Otaku Collection – 2023 Edition
The hauls have grown throughout 2023 and my shelves are getting full! Here’s a look at how my collection has done in 2023 in this 11th update.
Grav’s Complete Otaku Collection – 2022 Edition
With more incomes brings more items to the haul. Here’s how 2022 has done for the collection so far with this 10th update.
Grav’s Complete Otaku Collection – 2021 Edition
Another year has passed and that means more anime, games, films and books have been acquired throughout 2021.
Reader’s Corner: One Week Friends, Failure Frame, and SAO Progressive
Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells Mimori Touka and his classmates are spirited away to a fantasy world where they’re given skills,…
Reader’s Corner: Ayashimon, Sweet Poolside, Tezcatlipoca, and Guardian of Fukushima
Fantasy, romance, and shonen feature prominently in our reviews this week, but so, too, do two rarer releases for manga-associated brands. They include Guardian of Fukushima, a Franco-Belgian…
Reader’s Corner: Higehiro, True Beauty, and The Saint’s Belated Happiness
Reviews of The Ancient Magus Bride (Vol. 5), Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway (Vol. 1), A Returner's Magic Should Be…
Reader’s Corner: She’s the Cutest, Mint Chocolate, and Assassin’s Creed
Mint Chocolate, Vol. 1 Of all the variations of the incest romance one might find out there, the “stepsiblings who meet as teens” variant is probably the most…
Reader’s Corner: Dogsred (Vol. 1), Insomniacs After School (Vol. 9), and Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint (Vol. 6)
Hockey, magic, first love, isekai, vampires, and mobsters—who says that manga isn’t a diverse medium? The light novels, manhwa, and manga we’re reviewing this week feature all those…
The Great AniFem Makeover: Rebranding Edition
We’ve been teasing this for a while and it’s finally a reality: AniFem has rebranded with shiny new logos and our very own crest!
Manga Pulse 479: Giant Pumpkin
Gather up your rayon capes. Put on the elastic masks with the sharp mouth slot. And steal the classic Mickey D’s treat buckets from those obsessive collectors. It’s…
Fanart Wednesday: Kawaii Pumpkin Pie
Technically, this might be pumpkin cheesecake or some sort of cream variation? Whatever it is, it looks delicious…and very kawaii. We hope you have a happy (and very…
OtakuGeneration (Show #254) Pumpkin Scissors
Shownotes :: (show 254) :: () :: () :: () :: () With Pumpkin Scissors, recorded live April 18th, 2010. This week we discussed the anime Pumpkin Scissors.…
Dojin Work, Naruto, Naruto: Shippuden, Pumpkin Scissors, Bleach
Reader’s Corner: Solo Leveling, My Special One, and Alice in Borderland
Oh, the games we play! In our everyday lives, “playing games” could refer to video games or board games or, more figuratively, relationship games. But the world of…
Alice in Borderland, Alice in Wonderland, Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Reader’s Corner: Yoshida the Catch, Falling Drowning, and Yu-Gi-Oh!
Fungus and Iron, Vol. 1 Dante is an unusual case among the soldiers of Amigasa. He doesn’t become angry on cue at their enemy, the Ether. He complains…
Reader’s Corner: 86, After-School Hanako-kun, Batmanga, and Marie Kondo
86–Eighty-Six, Vol. 1 The recent anime adaptation piqued my curiosity about this series, and the first volume didn’t disappoint. A country steeped in racism and greed uses child…
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, One Week Friends, 86 EIGHTY-SIX
Reader’s Corner: An Angry Royal Highness, Babysitting Yakuza, and Mysterious Maid
Gacha Girls Corps, Vol. 1 Gacha Girl Corps imagines that a gacha addict—in this case, series protagonist Heihachi—is isekai’d into his mobile game and discovers that his rolls…
Reader’s Corner: Frieren (Vol. 5), Penguin & House, and A Silent Voice
While so many manga cross somewhat into the fantasy realm, our reviews this week focus on series firmly set in that genre, with cooking penguins, talking books, and…
Reader’s Corner: Frieren, Pop Life, and Reign of the Seven Spellblades
Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection Christmas season is a time for ghost stories, right? Just read A Christmas Carol to get the idea. So how about this collection,…
Reader’s Corner: Skip and Loafer, Zom 100, and Megumi Hayashibara’s Characters
A Sign of Affection, Vol. 3 A Sign of Affection continues to sweep me off my feet! Volume three begins with all the giddy expectation that volume two left…