All posts by Shaenon K. Garrity

Yokohama Station SF [Manga Review]

You may think you’ve seen bleak dystopias in fiction, but how about a world that’s turning into an enormous, all-devouring subway system? In Yokohama Station SF, the titular port city stop begins to “self-propagate,” apparently due to a bug in an AI construction program. It’s …Read more »

The Yakuza’s Bias [Review]

October 22, 2023

Shaenon K. Garrity

The success of The Way of the Househusband has inspired a mini-boom of comedies about tough, macho, or sometimes just improbable characters throwing themselves into feminine-coded activities. The Yakuza’s Bias starts from what may be the funniest of these premises yet: a hardened gangster becoming …Read more »

The Essence of Being a Muse [Review]

October 19, 2023

Shaenon K. Garrity

“I’m just an ordinary person,” Miyuu Seno says on the first page of The Essence of Being a Muse. “In fact…I’m painfully aware of that.” Manga protagonists have a habit of introducing themselves as regular guys or gals, usually as a prelude to adventures that …Read more »

Who Says Warriors Can’t Be Babes? [Manga Review]

January 1, 2021

Shaenon K. Garrity

In a fantasy world that feels like an old 16-bit RPG, a handsome young hero inspires a wide-eyed little girl: “When you grow up to be a big, strong warrior, we’ll travel the land together!” She’s so inspired, in fact, that she trains nonstop and …Read more »

Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams [Manga Review]

August 31, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

For fifteen years, the Louvre has commissioned graphic novels from top cartoonists around the world. Seinen manga legend Naoki Urasawa (20th Century Boys, Pluto, Monster) joins the ranks of Louvre artists with Mujirushi, a heist thriller that combines the brainy eccentricity of a colorful French …Read more »

Primitive Boyfriend [Manga Review]

August 31, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

In Primitive Boyfriend, Mito Kamigome looks like a typical sparkly-eyed teenage manga heroine, but she comes from a farm family and comes by her beauty through hard labor and a diet of home-grown produce. Though her school is populated with stock types from a girls’ …Read more »

Fire in His Fingertips [Manga Review]

August 10, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze This setup will feel familiar to fans of romance novels, and Fire in His Fingertips is very much a manga answer to American-style romance fiction and women’s erotica. Ryo, a career woman with a vaguely defined …Read more »

Scarlet [Manga Review]

August 9, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

In a grim fantasy world where it always seems to be night and/or raining, Iris Redhood and Finé Hera are ruthless warriors and dysfunctional girlfriends. As an early flashback in Scarlet explains, Iris is a werewolf (how could a Red Riding Hood-themed character be anything …Read more »

Gal Gohan [Manga Review]

July 20, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

Disappointed by his failure to connect with students, young home ec teacher Shinji Yabe starts a cooking club. But the only student to show up is Miku Okazaki, “the school’s number one gal,” who has huge boobs, masses of bleached blonde hair, and no domestic …Read more »

Torture Princess Fremd Torturchen [Manga Review]

January 17, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

A lot of isekai (or portal fantasy) manga start with the main character dying in the “real” world before being reincarnated in a much more interesting fantasy setting, but Torture Princess takes it to grimdark extremes. In the opening pages, teenage Kaito is murdered by …Read more »

Cats of the Louvre [Manga Review]

January 16, 2020

Shaenon K. Garrity

If you weren’t aware that the Louvre published manga, now’s the time to find out. The world’s most famous art museum regularly commissions graphic novels about the Louvre and its collection from creators around the world. The newest addition to the Louvre Editions is a …Read more »

[Review] Strike the Blood

October 17, 2019

Shaenon K. Garrity

There’s a girl on the cover. She wears a sailor suit uniform with a skirt hiked almost, but not quite, high enough to flash panties. Her almost featureless face wears an expression that’s vaguely seductive but mostly blank. She cradles an elaborate weapon bigger than …Read more »

[Review] Kakegurui Twin

September 27, 2019

Shaenon K. Garrity

Smart, dedicated, secretly ruthless poor girl Mary Saotome has earned a scholarship to Hyakkaou Academy, a high school for the ultra-wealthy. Only after enrolling does she discover that Hyakkaou allows gambling and the school culture is based on betting enormous amounts of money and turning …Read more »

[Review] O Maidens in Your Savage Season

September 5, 2019

Shaenon K. Garrity

The all-girl Literature Club at Kazusa Onodera’s high school is supposed to devote itself to high-minded literary discussion. But lately every adult scene in a novel gets the members embarrassed, distracted, and ultimately hot and bothered. When their latest reading assignment gets them talking about …Read more »

[Review] Gleipnir

September 5, 2019

Shaenon K. Garrity

Teenage Shuichi has a strange curse. He’s like a werewolf, except that instead of turning into a wolf, he turns into a creepy big-headed amusement park mascot. His mascot form is powerful and deadly; it even comes with a loaded gun. One night, while wandering …Read more »