Kara Dennison
September 8, 2024 
This month, Kodansha is launching some fresh new titles to try. Looking for action? Romance? Memories of one of your favorite movies? The publisher has all three—and more importantly, we have reviews of all three! Read on to pick your favorites and build out your manga shelf.
Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up, Vol. 1
This is technically a late August release from Kodansha, but we couldn’t let it slip by! Mitsuki Mii pens this teen tale, all about the struggles of reinventing yourself for high school. After having his heart smashed by his first crush in middle school, Keisuke Shizuki transforms himself from awkward loser to cool kid. Funnily enough, past classmate Shizuka Kusunoki has had a similar glow-up… except her social skills are still lacking. She begs to be Shizuki’s friend. But there’s one problem: his past heartbreak has left him terrified of girls.
Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up is a cute and comical take on common anxieties, with a surprise rival lurking in the wings as Volume 1 closes. Fans of Komi Can’t Communicate and The Dangers in My Heart will want to follow this fresh new rom-com from its beginning. Volume 1 is now available in print and digital.
Tank Chair, Vol. 1
Nagi was once one of the strongest assassins alive; but a horrific accident has left him wheelchair-bound and unresponsive. The only way to bring him back to himself is to trigger that assassin’s instinct: if he can sense someone coming in for the kill, he wakes up. To that end, his little sister Shizuka is determined to find him the most dangerous of opponents—all of which he takes on with the help of his battle-ready mobility device. Together, they search for an opponent deadly enough to bring Nagi back to himself permanently.
Tank Chair is gritty and gory, but surprisingly sweet—a must for fans of Chainsaw Man and the works of Go Nagai. The later chapters of Volume 1 bring more details about these killer siblings to light, including the existence of a school for assassins and some long-standing rivals. You can immerse yourself in the world of Tank Chair when Kodansha releases Volume 1 on September 17.
Suzume, Vol. 1
Fans of Makoto Shinkai’s film Suzume can revisit the iconic coming-of-age story in a new manga adaptation! Featuring art by Denki Amashima, this new take on the film encompasses approximately the first third of the film. We follow Suzume to her first door, the cursing of Souta, and some of their early encounters.
There are a few minor changes from movie to manga, mainly to preserve the flow of the story in a new format. If there is one issue, it’s an understandable one: some of Shinkai’s sweeping visuals and kinetic scenes become a bit odd to follow when paneled out. Even so, it’s a lovely way to revisit a beautiful story, and one that fans of the film will want in their library. Volume 1 goes on sale September 24 from Kodansha.
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