KATE: Though this is a lighter week than usual, I found two titles on the list that piqued my interest. The first is Maiden’s Bookshelf: The Moon Over the Mountain, which has a swoon-worthy cover, and draws from the same well of inspiration as Hell in a Bottle. I’m also interested in reading the new edition of Keiji Nakazawa’s I Saw It: A Survivor’s True Story of the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima, which Last Gasp is releasing this week. It’s not clear from the packaging if this version is a reprint of the old Educomics edition, or is a fresh translation; nonetheless, it’s good to see this title available again, as it’s a simple but powerful way to help young readers appreciate the horrors of nuclear warfare. SEAN: I’m picking...
Jan 30, 2023 • Subscribe
More like this
Pick of the Week: Atomic Devastation
KATE: Though this is a lighter week than usual, I found two titles on the list that piqued my interest. The first is Maiden's Bookshelf: The Moon Over…
Pick of the Week: Transformative Pick
SEAN: It’s a relatively quiet week this week, and none of the debuts interest me (Shaman King’s been delayed anyway). As such, I’ll be picking the 2nd volume…
Pick of the Week: Pick of the Seven Days
MICHELLE: Confident that Melinda will choose Seven Days, I’ll instead cast my vote for the fifth volume of Farewell, My Dear Cramer. The best part about any sports…
Pick of the Week: We Pick the Riot
MICHELLE: I mean, it’s gotta be Boys Run the Riot. Bonus points for a new volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday, though! SEAN: First of all, an…
Pick of the Week: Househusbands
SEAN: This week I’m torn between small children and yakuza husbands, so my pick is split between the 5th Ascendance of a Bookworm light novel and the second…
Pick of the Week: Pick It Again, Nakamura!!
SEAN: July 4th is always rough for me, as I live next to neighbors who love to shoot off fireworks and I have dogs. So I need comfort…
Pick of the Week: No Skipping Pick Day
KATE: I only have eyes for one series this week: the delightful Skip and Loafer, a manga that portrays the inner life of a Serious Girl with humor…
Pick of the Week: Skipping This Week
SEAN: My eyes this week are on Skip and Loafer, a Seven Seas title about a “country bumpkin” moving to the city that has me just with its…
Atomic Heart
Originally I did not intend to play Atomic Heart. It has been compared to things like Fallout, Wolfenstein, and most importantly BioShock, which I have many good memories…
Pick of the Week: Valentine Manga
MICHELLE: There are several interesting releases this week about boys in love. I honestly kind of wish I could pick Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben, because a…
Pick of the Week: BL Unanimity
SEAN: Another week, another pick that’s blindingly obvious. I admit I am interested in Yen On’s new title, but clearly the choice is BL Metamorphosis, which seems to…
Pick of the Week: Traveling Manga
SEAN: I am torn between two manga with really nice art this week. Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie and Heterogenia Linguistico both make me want to judge books…
Pick of the Week: Heroine Addiction
SEAN: Despite the fact that I suspect this will be one of THOSE types of shoujo stories (see also: Hot Gimmick and its ilk), I cannot resist those…
Pick of the Week: As Expected
SEAN: A lot of diverse choices this week. The “prestige” title is clearly Downfall, but let’s face it it’s far too bleak for me. Instead, to no one’s…
Pick of the Week: Blue Moods
SEAN: Was feeling kind of blue this week, so thought I might go for the adorable-looking Cutie and the Beast as my pick instead, but then I thought,…
Pick of the Week: Midsummer Manga
MICHELLE: I don't know how I could resist Steampunk BL from the author of Guardian! It's Stars of Chaos for me this week. SEAN: I'll read Guardian, but…
Pick of the Week: Rose’s Turn
ASH: Back in 1983, Frederik L. Schodt introduced Riyoko Ikeda’s highly-influential manga The Rose of Versailles to English-reading audiences when he provided and except of it in his…
Pick of the Week: Quality Assortment
MICHELLE: This may well be too far out of my comfort zone, but I’m still too happy that we’re getting danmei here to refrain from picking The Husky…
Pick of the Week: Correspondence Course
MICHELLE: I’m not entirely sure it’ll be my thing, but Correspondence From the End of the Universe is certainly the most unique tittle to be coming out next…
Pick of the Week: Witchy Picks
MICHELLE: Because I have enjoyed two previous series by Rei Toma, and specifically because Anna said it’s “a bit too sad,” now I’m really interested in getting caught…
Pick of the Week: Mermaid Josei
SEAN: Josei? From a magazine we almost never see anything licensed from? Complete in one volume? Sold! Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand also looks quite pretty,…
Pick of the Week: Manga Smorgasbord
SEAN: There are some high-profile debuts this week: Something’s Wrong with Us from Natsumi Ando, and Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku from the assistant to Fire Punch’s creator (but I…
Pick of the Week: Double Vision
SEAN: I realize that it’s offering comfort to the enemy, but I have to admit, the title that attracts me most this week is Double, from Tokyopop, those…
Pick of the Week: Relationship Blues
SEAN: I am somewhat torn between more Wotakoi and the debut of How Do We Relationship?, but since I’m sure I’ve picked Wotakoi before I’ll give it to…
Pick of the Week: I Spy
MICHELLE: I suspect this’ll be another of those weeks where most or all of us say the same thing. So, before I get to the inevitable, I’ll also…
Pick of the Week: Space Waves
SEAN: A lot of my ‘mid-tier’ series are out this week, so its hard to have a pick. I guess I’ll go with Fiancée of the Wizard, because…
Pick of the Week: Many Choices
MICHELLE: I don’t think I have ever chosen a light novel as a pick before, but I Have a Secret seems like exactly the sort of light novel…
Pick of the Week: Saints Alive!
SEAN: I’m always here for light novels that are not ‘variations on a popular theme’, like isekai and ‘weak to strong’… even themes I like, such as villainess…
Pick of the Week: Tall Orders
MICHELLE: I don’t know much about Kageki Shojo!!, hence my surprise and delight upon discovering there’s a lot more of it to come. I don’t see how I…
Pick of the Week: Quality Assortment
KATE: I think the best way to describe this week’s new arrivals is A Whole Lot of Stuff I’m Unlikely to Read. I will cop to being interested…
Pick of the Week: Modern Dracula
MICHELLE: It's absolutely Glitch for me this week. Siblings investigating a weird town would be enough on its own even without the goodwill Lost Lad London engendered, honestly,…
Pick of the Week: Lucky Manga
MICHELLE: I’m happy to get more of Ace of the Diamond and Giant Killing, two long-running sports favorites of mine, but last week my love for Spy x…
Ace of the Diamond, Giant Killing, Holmes of Kyoto, Skip Beat!
Pick of the Week: White Roses
SEAN: It’s an embarrassment of riches the first week of 2021. There’s the new Ascendance of a Bookworm novel, the new Sweat and Soap, and any number of…
Pick of the Week: Five Alive
KATE: If you’d told me five years ago that VIZ would be re-issuing Taiyo Matsumoto’s No. 5, I’d have chuckled and thought, “Boy, is this person naïve! VIZ…
Pick of the Week: Still Dreaming
SEAN: An embarrassment of amazing stuff this week. I could choose any one of half a dozen books. But I’ll go with the 4th and final Our Dreams…
Pick of the Week: My Gemini
SEAN: For my pick this week I think I'll go for My Gemini. Licenses from Asuka are pretty rare to begin with, and this dark twin mystery sounds…
Pick of the Week: Cat Feud
MICHELLE: There is so much good stuff coming out this week! My Androgynous Boyfriend and The Carp on the Chopping Block Jumps Twice are exciting enough, and then…
Pick of the Week: Easy Rider
KATE: One of the things I appreciate about Seven Seas is how much they’ve diversified their catalog. Yes, they still publish things like Trapped In Another Dimension with…
Pick of the Week: Burning Bright
KATE: I was going to be a party-pooper and opt out of this week's column, but then I read the blurb for Tiger, Tiger and I was sold.…
Pick of the Week: Keep Smiling
SEAN: If Kodansha thinks they can trick me into picking them every week just by putting out some really interesting josei titles… well, they’re probably right. The most…
Pick of the Week: Picks Galore
KATE: Holy smokes–that’s a lot of good manga heading our way this week! I’d be hard-pressed to limit my pick of the week to just two titles, let…
Pick of the Week: Finding Gems
SEAN: There’s no new manga titles that really call out to me, and while I am interested in These Legs Don’t Lie!, that borderline H cover makes me…
Pick of the Week: Sweet Picks
SEAN: I've been enjoying the Dahlia in Bloom series since it began, and Lucia has been an excellent recent addition to the cast. As such, I'm making Lucia…
Pick of the Week: Reluctant Picks
SEAN: Hrm, I could choose any number of interesting new and continuing new manga titles, or I could pick another Villainess light novel to add on to my…
Pick of the Week: Asadorable Manga
SEAN: Naoki Urasawa tends to be one of those authors I know I should get into but I never really have for various reasons, but let’s face it,…
Pick of the Week: Mostly Mujirushi
ASH: While the weekly floodgates of manga appear to have been reopened, there’s one release in particular that has my attention this week – Naoki Urasawa’s Mujirushi: The…
Pick of the Week: Summer of Sadako
ASH: One interesting trend of late has been the release of manga inspired by the Ring franchise. Granted, there have been new film installments produced relatively recently, so…
Pick of the Week: No Backtalk This Week
MICHELLE: A bittersweet novel featuring time travel sounds so appealing that this week I’ll choose Wait For Me Yesterday in Spring. SEAN: There are some Vol. 2s I’m…
Pick of the Week: Running the Gamut
SEAN: I admit I am tempted to pick It’s That Reincarnated-as-a-Virus Story, just for the sheer balls of releasing it at the height of COVID. Instead I’ll pick…
Pick of the Week: Off the Radar
KATE: This week's list is uninspiring, to say the least. My recommendation? Go pick up the first volume of Tokyo These Days and be reminded why Taiyō Matsumoto…