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 work …
Feb 28, 2023 • Subscribe
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Guardian of Fukushima GN
Relaying both hope and hopelessness in the face of disaster, Guardian of Fukushima is a stark telling of one man's unyielding will to save the animals left behind.
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…
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: 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: 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…
Ayashimon
By: Yuji Kaku Disclaimer: This review is based on volume 1 (chapter 1-7) Summary: When the Enma Syndicate’s chairman dies, Japan’s supernatural underworld is turned on its head,…
Reader’s Corner: Bloody Sweet, A Reincarnated Witch Spells Doom, and Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World
Bullying, betrayal, and bombing—devastating events personally and, in the case of the bombing in Hiroshima, nationally—form the backdrop of several of the volumes we’re reviewing this week. B…
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: 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
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…
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…
Reader’s Corner: Record of Ragnarok, Higehiro, and Cosplay: The Fictional Mode of Existence
Banished from the Hero’s Party, Vol. 1 (manga) Having been surpassed in power by the members of his party—a group of chosen adventurers ridding the continent of a…
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: Mint Chocolate, One Piece, and The Intrigues of Haruhi Suzumiya
In Another World With My Smartphone, Vol. 1 (Manga) If you’re not familiar with this series either in its light novel or anime form, it pretty much is…
Your Lie in April, In Another World With My Smartphone, One Piece
Reader’s Corner: Silver Spoon, Solo Leveling, and the Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya
Solo Leveling, Vol. 1 (novel) The immensely popular webtoon, Solo Leveling, features a basic premise about a young man rising from the lowest of ranks of “hunting” to…
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: Frozen 2, Those Not-So Sweet Boys, and My Friend’s Little Sister Has it it for Me!
The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1 This is quite a different light novel from what we’re used to seeing. It features a unique setting inspired by a historic Chinese…
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: 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: 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: Springtime Window, Boys Run the Riot, and A Sign of Affection
A Sign of Affection, Vol. 2 Volume one of A Sign of Affection was a manga I had on pre-order a full year before it released, and I…
Reader’s Corner: Dandadan, Secrets of the Silent Witch, and My Gently Raised Beast
Cats in palaces, witches in boarding school, human heroes in the demon realm…it seems that our reviews this week feature plenty of protagonists dropped in unlikely places, and…
Reader’s Corner: Zom 100, Medalist, and the Way of the Househusband, Vol. 5
The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 5 Tatsu’s former life as the “Immortal Dragon,” a legendary yakuza enforcer, has prepared him well to be a househusband, but is…
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: Cat + Gamer, The Bride of Demise, and Romance of the Imperial Capital Kotogami
Epic wars, yokai, budding romances, and a kitty mark the releases our writers cover for this week’s column. The reviews include a couple of first volume releases—The Bride…
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: 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: 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: 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: 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…
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: 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…
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: 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…
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…
Reader’s Corner: Yashahime, A Nico-Colored Canvas, and Rapunzel of the Magic Item Shop
It’s double the Rumiko Takahashi this week as we review the newest release in the special edition of her classic, Maison Ikkoku, as well as the manga adaptation…
Reader’s Corner: Carole and Tuesday, SW Guardians of the Whills, and Laid-back Camp, Vol. 10
Laid-back Camp, Vol. 10 With the recent season long gone and months since volume nine was released, I’ve been suffering from Yuru Camp withdrawal. There’s nothing out there…
Reader’s Corner: Transformers, Big Hero 6: The Series, and The Executioner and Her Way of Life
Big Hero 6: The Series, Vol. 1 Attention BH6 fans: This new manga series is not a reissue or repackaging of the original Marvel. It’s brand new material…
Ayashimon GN 1
Most of us have probably tried it at some point. What “it” means varies, but the definition is always “something that works in my favorite story.” Whether
Ayashimon GN 1
This volume is packed with everything from yakuza action to twisted backstories to humans against monsters. Does this manga from the creator of Hell’s Paradise manage to bring…
Transcript of Episode 22: Fukushima Fiction
Find out more about Episode 22 of the Read Literature podcast on the episode page. Link to listen Notes and sources Ways to support the podcast This is…
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is a isometric action-adventure puzzle game. The story involves Lara finding an ancient Mayan artifact...
Pick of the Week: Guardian and Others
SEAN: I have been hearing about the amazingness that is Guardian: Zhen Hun for years now, so it will be nice to finally see what the fuss is…