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 »
Manner of Death Volume 1 is very good. I stress that it’s Volume 1 because, being an ongoing mystery story, its serialized nature is more important than in some of the other manga I’ve reviewed recently. It’s a stylish enough BL crime thriller that I …Read more »
“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 »
In I Can’t Refuse S, Miku is in an unfortunate situation. Her father has destroyed the finances, her mother needs to be hospitalized, and the family desperately needs money to stay afloat. Miku has been working all sorts of jobs, but it’s never enough. So …Read more »
My Picture Diary is a work by Fujiwara Maki, the wife of the much more famous mangaka Yoshiharu Tsuge. Each page has a short description on one side of what her day was like, and illustrations showcasing the day on the other side. The descriptions …Read more »
Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture is a manga based on a light novel series, both of which are being published by Yen Press. Naoya Fukamachi, a new college student, has a mysterious past, where something otherworldly seems to have happened at a Bon festival. He’s …Read more »
Why I Adopted My Husband is a nonfiction manga about a gay couple in Japan choosing adoption because same-sex marriage is not an option there. The couple, Yuta and Kyota, are otaku who fall in love and, after years of being together, want to make …Read more »
In Like a Butterfly, Suiren is a high school student who is very pretty and very shy. Because of this, people refer to her as “Flower,” saying she’s like a beautiful flower that grows on the tallest peak of a mountain. The boys stare at …Read more »
Soichi: Junji Ito Story Collection consists entirely of short stories involving Ito’s character Soichi, a creepy boy who curses people and likes to put nails in his mouth. There are 10 stories: “A Happy Summer Vacation,” “A Happy Winter Vacation,” “Soichi’s Happy Diary,” “Soichi’s Home …Read more »
Mr. Villain’s Day Off is a short, quirky manga about a nameless villain who wants to take over Earth and destroy all humans. But we don’t really see him on his evil days. We see him on his days off, when he might go shop …Read more »
In the manga Ugly Duckling of the Entertainment District, Esora is a young woman who is not in an enviable position. While it’s not entirely clear what her background is, we know she is used to being abandoned by people, we know she’s been abandoned …Read more »
Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I’m Not the Demon Lord is an isekai about a college student who is reincarnated into Eumiella, a character from an otome RPG she played in her last life. And she’s not the heroine of …Read more »
Offshore Lightning is an alternative, literary, slice of life manga anthology. It has 11 short stories: “Towards the Sunset,” “Offshore Lightning,” “Parakeet God,” “Buy Dog Food, Then Go Home,” “Countdown,” “A Mother of Pearl Ship,” “Gingko,” “Upskirt,” “In Captivity,” and “House of Solitary Death.” There …Read more »
Horror at Doll’s Village opens with the characters in the midst of a bloody nightmare. Then it backtracks to a group of high schoolers in a bus, going to spend some time in the country. It’s just for a few days, in a place without …Read more »
Homunculus is a creepy and intriguing manga. The main character, Nakoshi Susumu, is living out of his car and hanging out with a group of homeless people. He tells the homeless people different things about himself, so no one knows when he’s lying or telling …Read more »
![The Yakuza’s Bias [Review]](https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yakuzas-bias-v2-crop-202x202.jpg)
![The Yakuza’s Bias [Review]](https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/yakuzas-bias-v2-crop-1024x576.jpg)
Shaenon K. Garrity![Manner of Death [Review]](https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/manner-of-death-v2-crop-202x202.jpg)
![Manner of Death [Review]](https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/manner-of-death-v2-crop.jpg)
Robert McCarthy![The Essence of Being a Muse [Review]](https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/essenceo-of-being-a-muse-v2-crop-202x202.jpg)
![The Essence of Being a Muse [Review]](https://otakuusamagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/essenceo-of-being-a-muse-v2-crop-1024x576.jpg)
Danica Davidson
