Along with August comes 801 Day, and along with 801 Day comes boys’ love sales, so in addition to usual slew of preorders last month, I replenished my supply of BL manga and novels. I even managed to snag a few that I believe are technically out of print. As for newly-released manga with queer themes, Takeshi Matsu’s second collection of erotic gay manga in English is now available: Dr. Makumakuran and Other Stories. (I reviewed the volume a couple of days ago; it’s pretty great.) There were plenty of other preorders that I was happy to see released in August, too, including but certainly not limited to the next installments in the lovely hardcover editions of Kaoru Mori’s Emma and Hirohiko Araki’s Phantom Blood. And as I feared and expected, my artbook collection continues to expand. Last month I picked up the two volumes of Takehiko Inoue’s gorgeous Vagabond illustrations, Sumi and Water. Outside of manga, I was very excited for Haikasoru’s re-release of Otsuichi’s award-winning light novel Goth since I thoroughly enjoyed Tokyopop’s edition of Goth back in the day. Haikasoru’s edition uses the same translation at Tokyopop’s, but it also includes the newly-translated novelette “Morino’s Souvenir Photo,” which I’m looking forward to reading. I also picked up the anthology Press Start to Play specifically because it includes the short story “Respawn” by Hiroshi Sakurazaka (the author of All You Need Is Kill and Slum Online), but I was happy to discover that a bunch of other great authors, including Ken Liu, contributed to the volume as well. And, after some delay, Yurei: The Japanese Ghost by Zack Davisson has finally been published!
Manga!
Another by Hiro Kiyohara
Citrus, Volume 3 by Saburouta
Crushing Love by Ritsu Natsumizu
Depression of the Anti-Romanticist, Volumes 1-2 written by Yasuna Suginuma, illustrated by Riyu Yamakami
Dorohedoro, Volume 16 by Q Hayashida
Dr. Makumakuran and Other Stories by Takeshi Matsu
Embracing Love, Omnibus 3 by Youka Nitta
Emma, Omnibus 2 by Kaoru Mori
The First Stage of Love by Kazuhiko Mishima
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volume 7 written by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki
Inuyashiki, Volume 1 by Hiroya Oku
Itazura na Kiss, Omnibus 1 by Kaoru Tada
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 1: Phantom Blood, Volume 3 by Hirohiko Araki
Love at Fourteen, Volume 3 by Fuka Mizutani
Love Bus Stop by Ritsu Natsumizu
Maria the Virgin Witch: Exhibition by Ishikawa Masayuki
Millennium Darling 2006 by Maki Naruto
My Hero Academia, Volume 1 by Kohei Horikoshi
Poison Cherry Drive by Motoni Modoru
Prison School, Omnibus 1 by Akira Hiramoto
Red by Sanae Rokuya
Sea View by Ayumi Kano
Tokyo Ghoul, Volume 2 by Sui Ishida
Ultraman, Volume 1 by Tomohiro Shimoguchi
Weekend Lovers by Kiriko Fuwa
Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki written by Mamoru Hosoda, illustrated by Yu
Comics!
The 6 Voyages of Lone Sloane by Philippe Druillet
Guardians of the Kingdom by Tom Gauld
Here by Richard McGuire
Hopeless Savages: Greatest Hits 2000-2010 written by Jen Van Meter
Lumberjanes, Volume 1: Beware the Kitten Holy created by Grace Ellis, Noelle Stevenson, and Shannon Watters
Pages to Pages by Lai Tat Tat Wing
This Tastes Funny by Suddenly Sentai
Thoughts From Iceland by Lonnie Mann
Wayward, Volume 2: Ties that Bind created by Jim Zub and Steve Cummings
Artbooks!
Sumi by Takehiko Inoue
Water by Takehiko Inoue
Light Novels!
Attack on Titan: The Harsh Mistress of the City, Part 1 written by Ryo Kawakami, illustrated by Range Murata
Don’t Worry Mama written by Narise Konohara, illustrated by Yuki Shimizu
Goth by Otsuichi
The Man Who Doesn’t Take Off His Clothes, Volumes 1-2 written by Narise Konohara, illustrated by Yuki SHimizu
Anthologies!
Press Start to Play edited by Daniel H. Wilson and John Joseph Adams
Nonfiction!
Global Manga : “Japanese” comics without Japan? edited by Casy Brienza
Yurei: The Japanese Ghost by Zack Davisson
Yeah, I gave in and got Wayward 2 as well. I can always regift them if I decide to get the hardcover like a nerd (and like I did with Saga). It only gets better, can’t wait for v3! I also think it might be a good intro for manga fans who maybe want to try American comics as it seems pretty manga-like for the most part.
I haven’t had the chance to read it yet, but I will be very soon! I was so torn over what to do when I found out about the upcoming deluxe edition. XD And I’d agree with you, I think Wayward would make a great entry point to American-style comics for manga readers!
Oh, you got Casey’s Global Manga book! I hope you like it. :) (Full disclosure: I wrote Chapter 1, but I think you already knew that.)
Casey’s chapter on Dramacon and the OEL debate is excellent. Rare to see an academic exploration of something that uses the ANN forums as reference material! Love it.
I did! I haven’t had the chance to actually read the book yet, but I’ve flipped through it and it looks very promising. :D