Manga Reviews

Battle Angel Alita Deluxe Edition Brings a Classic Back in Style

Battle Angel Alita was originally translated into English in the 1990s, but with James Cameron’s live-action adaptation scheduled for release later this year, Kodansha Comics is releasing new, deluxe editions. So volume 1 of the new edition is actually volumes 1 and 2 of the …Read more »

Mononoke Sharing [Review]

July 8, 2018

Jason Bradley Thompson

Yata, a high schooler, shares her house with five unusual roommates. “The rent is super cheap, but there’s one problem … my five roommates are literally monsters. That, and they all have huge boobs.” It’s all true! Mizuchi, the oldest and most mature of the …Read more »

New Game! [Review]

July 7, 2018

Shaenon K. Garrity

Aoba, a petite young game designer fresh out of high school, starts work at a video game company with full fangirl enthusiasm. Her coworkers represent a spectrum of geek types: an otaku animator who collects figurines and waves swords around, a shy artist who can …Read more »

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School [Review]

June 29, 2018

Che Gilson

After failing at his old school, spineless rookie teacher Haruaki Abe finally lands his dream teaching assignment. Eager and bright eyed, he arrives at Hyakki Academy Island, where he’ll be teaching Japanese language classes. To his dimay, he discovers the school is for yokai, Japanese …Read more »

Oh, My Sweet Alien! [Review]

June 29, 2018

Shaenon K. Garrity

Nobuo, an affable young salaryman with hipster chin scruff, has a secret: his wife is a space alien whom he met when he was abducted by a UFO. Posing as an ordinary housewife, she wears a cute-faced human disguise to go outside but hangs around …Read more »

DNA Doesn’t Tell Us [Review]

June 24, 2018

Brittany Vincent

DNA Doesn’t Tell Us is another fun, silly romp through the world of “monster girls,” and it may have the strangest premise to explain the existence of sexy half-human monster women. It seems one day animals throughout the world suddenly started transforming into human girls, …Read more »

Devilman VS. Hades [Review]

June 23, 2018

Mike Dent

One of the best things to happen to Devilman, Go Nagai’s horror manga masterpiece, is the inception of its expanded universe. The additions to the saga include complete reimaginings like Devilman G and Devilman Lady and expansions to the original story like AMON: Apocalypse of …Read more »

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest [Manga Review]

June 17, 2018

Jason Bradley Thompson

In the crowded genre of isekai “portal fantasy” manga, Arifureta’s innovation is to add an extra level of misanthropic bitterness: it’s not enough to leave your boring high school life and become a demigod, you have to do it angrily and drag all your former …Read more »

Laid Back Camp [Review]

June 16, 2018

Shaenon K. Garrity

Having just moved to mountainous Yamanashi, plucky high-schooler Nadeshiko is eager to catch some classic views of Mt. Fuji. A late-night hiking encounter gets her interested in camping, so she joins her school’s Outdoor Exploration Club, which has only two other members. (The mountaineering club …Read more »

To Your Eternity Vol. 1 [Manga Review]

June 11, 2018

Danica Davidson

To Your Eternity is a fascinating manga that defies easy characterization. It opens with an orb – it. It, we are told, is more than an orb, because it can replicate any form. “I decided to cast the orb unto the Earth,” explains an unknown …Read more »

Dragon Half Omnibus [Review]

June 9, 2018

Daryl Surat

Spoofs of fantasy anime and JRPG tropes are by no means a recent development. Back in the 1990s, the two-part OVA Dragon Half was frequently praised as one of the silliest anime ever, and the longstanding fan rumor to explain why it only lasted two …Read more »

Grand Blue Dreaming [Review]

June 9, 2018

Jason Bradley Thompson

In Japan, the color blue signifies youth, a time of excitement and infinite possibilities. After graduating high school, Iori moves to Izu, on the coast, to go to college for mechanical engineering. “I’ll put all my effort into having the best college life possible!” he …Read more »

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku Vol. 1 [Review]

June 8, 2018

Danica Davidson

When it comes to dating, sometimes it can be hard for singles to find someone with shared interests. That’s especially true for 26-year-old Narumi Momose, who’s been dumped by every boyfriend she’s ever had because she’s an otaku. What’s a girl who loves manga, games, …Read more »

Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition [Review]

June 2, 2018

Brittany Vincent

Fullmetal Alchemist is a series nearly every manga and anime fan as seen in at least some form. It’s one of the shows fans tend to watch as a rite of passage. Viz’s new omnibus edition of the manga, Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition, is a …Read more »

Sorry for My Familiar [Review]

June 2, 2018

Jason Bradley Thompson

In Devil World, every halfway decent devil has a familiar, a helper animal like a bat or a salamander. Every devil, that is, except Patty: her familiar is a human being! Specifically, he’s Norman Volcanello, demon researcher, a hulking man in a well-pressed trenchcoat who …Read more »