We have a varied slate of reviews for you today, from large publishers to self-published, a popular series receiving a light novel release to brand new series, and a famed webnovel adaptation to cl…
Mar 1, 2022 • Subscribe
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When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 2
By Kota Nozomi and 029. Released in Japan as “Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Nakade” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan…
Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 3
By Kota Nozomi and 029. Released in Japan as “Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Nakade” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan…
Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 1
By Kota Nozomi and 029. Released in Japan as “Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Nakade” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan…
Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Novel 1
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace is both precisely what it claims to be and nothing of the sort. See where the anime started in our review of the…
When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace, Vol. 4
By Kota Nozomi and 029. Released in Japan as “Inou Battle wa Nichijoukei no Nakade” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan…
Nichijou - My Ordinary Life, When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace
Chuuni Dreams – When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Spoiler Review
You’ve seen the story before: All of a sudden, some high school students gain fabulous secret powers, giving them radically more agency. Really, this can be anything, from…
Welcome the to Literature Club: When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace Anime Review
The Senkou High literature club members have been nothing more than normal. that is until one day they all receive super powers. The male protagonist, Jurai Andou, is…
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: Solo Leveling (Vol. 4), Alice in Kyoto Forest (Vol. 2), and Kaiju No. 8 (Vol. 2)
Run On Your New Legs, Vol. 1 It’s an amazing feeling when a manga you’ve desperately looked forward to exceeds your expectations. That was the case for me…
Reader’s Corner: Alice in Bishounen-Land, Zom 100, and Cells at Work! White Brigade
I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top, Vol. 1 Let me tell you a story: a boy attends fantastical sword school, and is considered…
Reader’s Corner: Alice in Borderland (Vol. 2), To Strip the Flesh, and Golden Gold
Horror and the ancient world weave in and out of the manga and light novels we’re reviewing this week, with moments that will make you squirm and others…
Reader’s Corner: Though I’m an Inept Villainess, Manga Metamorphosis, and Alice in Borderland (Vol. 3)
While settings, archetypes, and genres are so often limited in manga and light novels, this week’s selection demonstrates how creative writers and artists can be within these confines,…
Alice in Kyoto Forest GN 1
We can tell very quickly that she's no longer in our world, not just because most of the people are gadding about in kimono and hand-drawn carts, but…
Reader’s Corner: Alice in Borderland, Fly Me to the Moon, and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen
Kunoichi Bunny This charming picture book shows the adventures of a young toddler, her dad, and a stuffed bunny as they make a visit to the park. And…
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…
Reader’s Corner: The Villainess Turns the Hourglass, When I Became a Commoner, They Broke Off Our Engagement, and Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle
I love the numbers reflected in our reviews this week: 1, as in the initial volumes of four series we review this week. 5, as in the volume…
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: 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: The Do-Over Damsel (Vol. 1), Alice in Borderland (Vol. 7), and Insomniacs After School (Vol. 3)
This week we bid adieu to Hachiken, Mikagi, and the rest of the loveable farm kids of Silver Spoon; give a rare review of a volume we didn’t…
Alice in Borderland, Legend of the Crystals: Final Fantasy, Silver Spoon
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…
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: 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,…
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: 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…
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…
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 (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: Great Pumpkin Edition
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…
Reader’s Corner: Spy x Family, Laid-Back Camp, and Drugstore in Another World
Spy x Family, Vol. 5 The hilarious hijinks of Japan’s favorite fake family continue apace in Volume 5! Spy Loid “Twilight” Forger, assassin Yor “Thorn Princess” Briar, and…
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…
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: 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…
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…
Reader’s Corner: Return from Death, Dahlia in Bloom, and Fullmetal Alchemist: A New Beginning
The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 1 This is another reincarnation-type isekai of the reborn-as-an-otome-game-rival variety. The catch is that in the original …
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: Stitch and the Samurai, Kaiju No. 8, and Lily’s Miracle
A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 1 Yuto starts the VRMMO RPG Law of Justice Online looking forward to playing as a Tamer, but due to his randomly-acquired…
Reader’s Corner: Kageki Shoujo, The Eminence in Shadow, and The Savior’s Book Café in Another World
If you’re joining us for the first time this week, this is a perfect post to see the diversity of our reviews, which reflect the interests of our…
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: Unnamed Memory, Assassin’s Creed Dynasty, and The Faraway Paladin
Unnamed Memory, Vol. 3 SPOILER WARNING: Spoiler-free tl;dr: I greatly enjoyed this volume and recommend this series. I also recommend that you start with the first volume and…
Reader’s Corner: Demon Slayer, Nerdy Nurse, and Play It Cool, Guys
Date A Live, Vol. 1 Having enjoyed the Date A Live anime, I was curious to check out the source material, and the first volume didn’t disappoint. It’s…
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, 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,…
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: Bofuri, The Catlords’ Manservant, and Chasing After Aoi Koshiba
Love Me, Love Me Not, Vol. 8 Love Me, Love Me Not is a simple story. The characters are basic, and though they have their struggles—as do all…
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…
Reader’s Corner: Ima Koi, Uncle from Another World, and The Otherworlder
The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend, Vol. 1 This is an adequate high school romantic comedy. Ryou helps a girl…
Reader’s Corner: Rooster Fighter, The Remarried Empress, and Tower of God
Reader's Corner: Rooster Fighter, The Married Empress, and Tower of God via @laura_a_grace @GamesAndGod @thetangles
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…