Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Latest Picks

LATEST FEATURES, ESSAYS, COLUMNS, ROUNDTABLES, & REVIEWS

By

The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons, Vol. 4

By Kazuma Ogiwara and CARIMARICA. Released in Japan as “Isekai Toushou no Maken Seisaku Gurashi” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ryan Burris. This remains a series written almost entirely for teenage boys, but it’s worth noting that this isn’t just one aspect of things teenage boys like. Obviously there’s the stuff about the swords, because teen boys love swords, and fantasy authors love treating the swords like they’re women, which this book absolutely does. It’s also written for teen boys in terms of the sexuality – Lutz and Claudia remain very sexually active, and a princess of another country’s city/tribe is mostly described by her large breasts. But there’s something else teenage boys like, and that’s grimdark, and this series has that as…

Read More

By , , and

Manga the Week of 5/13/26

SEAN: It’s Mother’s Day week, and Manga Bookshelf has some totally mother-appropriate manga… as well as a lot of other titles. ASH: Seems about right. SEAN: Airship has print volumes for Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 2 and Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 21. And we get early digital for I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 11 and Magic Maker: How to Create Magic in Another World 2. Hanashi Media has a 4th volume of I Got Reincarnated as a Cultist Mob in an Eroge Full of Maniacs with Death Wishes. Ize Press has a 3rd novel of Villains Are Destined to Die. There is a giant pile of print for J-Novel Club, including debut volumes of three of their contest winners. We see Cogs…

Read More

By

Observation Records of My Wife: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, Vol. 3

By Shiki and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Tsuma no Kansatsu Kiroku” by Regina Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Ethan Holms. Since I last reviewed this series, the anime has debuted, and a few things are becoming clear. First of all, like many light novel adaptations, the anime is speed running things a bit, so I suspect we’ll get into the “wife” part of the series before the end of the season. Secondly, I’d forgotten how some of the characters looked at the start of the series compared with now. In the first volume, Zeno was a beleaguered but relatively calm butler who normally served to snark at Cecil when Cecil was being particularly evil. In this sixth book, Zeno…

Read More

By , , and

Manga the Week of 5/6/26

SEAN: May is here, and the weather is turning into spring! Which is good, depending on where you live! ASH: I’ve been appreciating it! SEAN: Viz Media has one debut. Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi (Exorcist no Kiyoshi-kun) runs in Weekly Shonen Jump. Kiyoshi is a fantastic exorcist. If only he wasn’t scared of demons. And girls. And making friends. He’s actually pretty useless… but boy, can he exorcise. ASH: At least he’s got something going for himself. ANNA: It is good to have some sort of direction in life. SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Box 20, Boruto: Two Blue Vortex 5, Colette Decides to Die 7, Kagurabachi 7, My Special One 11 (the final volume), Natsume’s Book of Friends 32, Nue’s Exorcist 6, Prince Freya 13, Queen’s Quality 25 (the final…

Read More

By

Earl and Fairy: How to Win Over a Gentleman

By Mizue Tani and Asako Takaboshi. Released in Japan as “Hakushaku to Yōsei” by Shueisha Cobalt Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns. Well, I was suckered in once again. I was all set to talk about the fact that Earl and Fairy is a product of 90s shoujo, and that like a lot of 90s shoujo (and indeed a lot of manga and comics in general), it had a habit of snapping back to the default whenever anything important happened. I was ready to rage against no one seeming to have learned their lesson and everyone forgetting what happened the previous book. But no, it’s another stealth short story collection. Which means I can’t be really annoyed at Lydia and Edgar for behaving like…

Read More

By

Our Party Nearly Wiped and Then Everything Went Downhill, Vol. 1

By Ameria and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Zenmetsu End wo Shi ni Monogurui de Kaihishita. Party ga Yanda” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Leah Sargent. Our main character, Walker, remembers his past life from Japan, and also that he’s in a grimdark manga that begins with an adventuring party getting murdered (him) and raped and murdered (the rest of his party) by a monster almost no one has defeated called Grim Reaper. He remembers all this just in time to figure out a way to defeat it. He does not remember this in time to avoid losing an eye and a leg to it. Now he’s recuperating in the Church and trying to combine his stoic, overly serious in-world memories with his somewhat…

Read More

By

Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived, Vol. 5

By Masekinokatasa and Kaito Shinobu. Released in Japan as “Tenseishitara Koutei deshita: Umarenagara no Koutei wa Konosaki Ikinokoreru ka?” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gwendolyn Warner. Of all the series to be reminded of while reading this isekai military fantasy, I was not expecting it to be The Executioner and Her Way of Life. But with this volume, it’s unavoidable. Executioner has at its core the premise that being isekaid’s to another world can be bad, especially if you’re not the only one. Catastrophic world ending things happen because Formerly Japanese folks get magical power and abilities and go slightly mad. And while that’s not happening here, it is very clear that this world has the potential for also wiping out civilizations because…

Read More

By

Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain, Vol. 7

By Ageha Sakura and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Imokusa Reijou desu ga Akuyaku Reisoku wo Tasuketara Kiniiraremashita” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Vasileios Mousikidis. I had forgotten last volume, when we were dealing with Robin, the horrible villain from the start of the series, that there were of course other terrible people at the start as well. There’s Princess Mia, who has been exiled to Conveniently Close Prisoner Island. She gets a brief cameo here, though unfortunately she and Agnes don’t get to see each other again. And then there’s a family I had completely forgotten about. I’m so used to Kelly being the unflappable supermaid that she is in this series that I forgot how we were introduced to her,…

Read More

By

Zero Damage Sword Saint: I Enrolled in a Magic School and Wound Up in a Contract with the Demon Queen, Vol. 3

By Isle Osaki and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Kougekiryoku Zero kara Hajimeru Kenseitan: Osananajimi no Oujo ni Suterare Mahou Gakuen ni Nyuugakushitara, Maou to Keiyakusuru Koto ni Natta ” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu. The light novels are still ongoing in Japan, but the webnovel this is based on finished last month. The author gave their feelings about all the characters, and for Eugene they wrote, essentially, that they felt a little guilty, given that he was an incredibly cool swordsman who has a loving family and good friends who believe in him, as well as multiple beautiful lovers. The author has a point, this once again falls into the category of “if you like your protagonists to struggle, reading…

Read More

More Features & Reviews