Welcome back, manga fans! Since Previews has a section of the catalog dedicated to manga, we’ll be highlighting that section’s most notable upcoming releases every month. Read on to see what stuck out to us!
10. A spin-off of the manga adaptation of the novels? Sure, why not.
There’s always a new one of these in the manga solicits: a spin-off of an adaptation of something that’s already pretty tropey to begin with. I’m always surprised at how avid these sorts of fanbases can be, supporting so many unremarkable additions to their franchise. Anyways, I’m not going to pick this up, but I’m sure there’s someone out there who can’t wait to read it.
Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious, volume 1
Written by Rifujin na Magonote
Illustrated by Yuka Fujikawa
Published by Seven Seas Entertainment
A new spin-off to the Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation manga! Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, the sprawling isekai hit about a 34-year-old otaku reborn into a fantasy world, primarily follows the hero Rudeus Grayrat from infancy to adulthood. But this new world is filled with people who share his new life, including Roxy, the woman who trains him in the magical arts. How did Roxy become such a powerful magician on her own? Delve into Roxy’s early adventures in this backstory manga, a hot new series still ongoing in Japan!
9. Repulsive, hilarious, and fascinating.
There are a few artistic movements specific to Japan that continue to fascinate me, and this book represents one of them: ero guro. Roughly translated as “erotic gore,” it features the strange entanglement of sensuality and the grotesque. While the existence of the movement is fascinating, I thought this would be a hard pass for me, until I read the absurdly crass first few pages where a girl tries to figure out if her boyfriend is cheating on her by looking at the shape of other women’s mouths. If that sort of bizarre humor is consistent through the book, I’m looking forward to this one.
Super-Dimensional Love Gun
Written and Illustrated by Shintaro Kago
Published by Denpa Books
A re-release of the Shintaro Kago’s first book published in English. EroGuro (Erotic Grotesque) is a mix of splatter violence, humor and titillation, and manga artist, Shintaro Kago has helped define the genre for the last twenty years. Collecting fifteen different short stories from his illustrious career, Super-Dimensional Love Gun compiles stories of neurotic dark humor and unease.
8. Gateway fantasy.
If I’m being completely honest, this sounds like a fairly standard fantasy manga. That said, it’s always nice to see new series like this getting translated, as they tend to be gateway manga for tweens.
Plunderer, volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Suu Minazuki
Published by Yen Press
In the year 305 in the Alcia Calendar, in the aftermath of the great war, a meeting occurs between two figures. The first is a girl named Hina, who’s searching for a certain someone based on the last words of her missing mother. The second is Licht, a swordsman whose mask conceals his true identity. Licht wields his glimmering longsword to rescue Hina, and to cut through the world’s darkness!
7. Kink-mania…?
Reading this solicit sounds like someone stuck a manga solicit and a list of kinks into a blender and spit it back onto the page. This could either turn out fascinating, or terribly uncomfortable. I’d take bets, but I think we’re all in agreement on our expectations here. Will it prove us wrong????
Continued belowGleipnir, volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Sun Takeda
Published by Kodansha Comics
Dark, disturbing, sexy, and shameful, this new sci-fi action manga stars a dominating teenage girl searching for a sister who became a monster, and a submissive boy with the strange power to turn into a ragged but powerful beast, with a zipper down his back and a compartment on the inside just big enough to hold a human body. It’s like Pokémon with a dose of S&M! Shuichi Kagaya an ordinary high school kid in a boring little town. But when a beautiful classmate is caught in a warehouse fire, he discovers a mysterious power: He can transform into a furry dog with an oversized revolver and a zipper down his back. He saves the girl’s life, sharing his secret with her. But she’s searching for the sister who killed her family, and she doesn’t care how degrading it gets: She will use Shuichi to accomplish her mission…
6. Romance and photography!
Every few years we get a new series like this, a romance manga focusing on some shared interest between the characters — music, games, or in this case, photography. This sounds like the kind of long-running romance book that Kodansha can hook a lot of people with.
Love in Focus, volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Yoko Nogiri
Published by Kodansha Comics
From the creator of New York Times-bestselling manga That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! comes a feel-good romance about a teenage girl whose passion for photography leads her to a new school, a new dorm, and a new love triangle! Mako’s always had a passion for photography. When she loses someone dear to her, she clings onto her art as a relic of the close relationship she once had. Luckily, her childhood best friend Kei encourages her to come to his high school and join their prestigious photo club. With nothing to lose, Mako grabs her camera and a fresh take on life and a mysterious new muse begin to come into focus!
5. Back in print!
With its mixture of crime drama and early boy’s love, “Banana Fish” is a series I’ve wanted to try for a while, but it’s been out of print. Now, Viz will be reprinting the first ten volumes for release on January 16th due to the new anime. This one has a pretty big fanbase and has gotten fairly popular since the anime started a few months ago. Time to dive in!
Banana Fish, volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Akimi Yoshida
Published by Viz Media
BACK IN PRINT- The Manga that inspired the AMAZON PRIME series!
A child runaway brought up as the adopted heir, hatchet man, and sex toy of “Papa” Dino Golzine, the East Coast’s Corsican crime lord, Ash is now at the rebellious age of seventeen. And it’s exactly the wrong time for Eiji Okamura, a pure-hearted young photographer from Japan, to arrive in New York City and make Ash Lynx’s acquaintance.
4. Gimme all of the slapstick.
I love “City.” There’s no other special reason this volume is on this list. The series is consistently one of the funniest things I read, giving just enough character so you can string together the short skit-like chapters into a loose narrative. Arawi has a talent for keeping things PG while delivering some great absurdity that plays fast and loose with your comedic expectations. If you haven’t checked the series out yet, try this volume!
City, volume 5
Written and Illustrated by Keiichi Arawi
Published by Vertical Comics
From the creator of nichijou comes a new slapstick comedy series about a penniless college student who moves to a town filled with bizarre people. Nagumo is in a bit of a bind. She’s a college student, and like many people in her situation, is struggling with money. She is in debt and her landlord is trying to shake her down for rent. Asking her friends no longer works! They know her deal and they do not have the cash to prop her up, even temporarily. So what is she supposed to do under these circumstances?
3. Zankoku na Tenshi no Teze.
Is this cheating a bit because it’s about the anime, not the manga? Maybe. But Evangelion changed the Japanese manga/anime landscape back when it first came out, it developed a rabid following via DVDs over the ensuing decade, and it’s going to continue to build its fanbase now that it’s coming to Netflix another decade later. There’s no better way to celebrate than with this treasure trove of production art.
Continued belowNeon Genesis Evangelion: TV Animation Production Art Collection HC
Published by Udon Entertainment
The Neon Genesis Evangelion television series revolutionized Japanese anime with its incredible animation, sophisticated storytelling, and dynamic mecha designs. This book is an archive of design sketches created for the 1995 television series, as well as the 1997 theatrical release. Included are draft artwork of characters, mecha, weapons, vehicles, interior and exterior locations, and more, all supported by the original artists’ detailed design notes. This 432-page tome is a must-have for any fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, animation production, and character design.
2. How has this never been translated before?
The anime based on this was one of those many “I’ll get around to it eventually” series for me, where the hype was high at one point but has since dwindled. Here we have the first of four omnibus volumes that collect the original twelve-volume manga series, translated into English for the first time. As usual, Dark Horse is king at giving you the bang for your manga buck while also providing exactly the series and formats English readers want to see.
Elfen Lied Omnibus, volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Lynn Okamoto
Published by Dark Horse
Captured and isolated against their will, the Diclonius species are a threat waiting to break free. When a young Diclonius girl, Nyu, escapes from the research facility she was being held in, she manages to find solace in two allies, until danger finds her again, putting everyone at risk. However, her enemies soon realize they’re in over their heads as an attempt to subdue Nyu results in unspeakable tragedy. Lynn Okamoto’s beloved original manga series, that inspired the anime TV show, is now available in English for the very first time, presented here in a special omnibus collecting three of the four original volumes in one!
1. Long-lasting ephemera.
I’ve written in this column a few times about how Japanese media properties tend to suck every bit of life they can from their most popular series. On the surface, this would seem to be more of the same. But this is a collection of genuinely charming, if inessential, strips that are completely based in the characters you know and love. While Arakawa is great at shonen action and emotional storytelling, she’s equally great at comedy. Read these as disposable ephemera, or hold onto them as little gems. Both are suitable ways to enjoy this collection.
Fullmetal Alchemist: The Complete Four-Panel Comics
Written and Illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa
Published by Viz Media
This complete collection offers the beloved four-panel comic strips from the graphic novel series and bonus strips from the anime DVDs of Fullmetal Alchemist and Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, as well as rare strips from Japan!
Anything you’re looking forward to that I overlooked? Let me know in the comments!
