Bookshelf Overload: May 2017

Ah yes, May. The month that I know I will end up adding a tremendous amount of material of various types to my collection if for no other reason than this little event called the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.  I picked up so many comics at TCAF 2017! Fortunately, I budgeted for this well in advance. In addition to all of the new things in May, I also found some interesting older manga like Yukinobu Hoshino’s Saber Tiger and Seiji Horibuchi’s Shion: Blade of the Minstrel. (Also, a heads up for those who might be interested in the series, it looks as though The Story of Saiunkoku is likely going out of print.) As for May’s preorders, I was especially excited to see the most recent volumes of Nagabe’s The Girl From the Other Side, Izumi Tsubaki’s Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, and Kanno’s Requiem of the Rose King, as well as the debuts of Haruko Kumota’s Descending Stories and Ryoko Kui’s Delicious in Dungeon. Also the first omnibus in Gengoroh Tagame’s My Brother’s Husband, one of my most anticipated releases for 2017.

Also in May, I received an early copy Yeon-sik Hong’s Uncomfortably Happily for review although the volume wasn’t technically released until June. Hopefully, my review of the manwha conveys just how much I enjoyed the work. Speaking of reviews, I’m currently working on an in-depth review Tomoyuki’s Hoshino’s ME, one of my most anticipated novels in translation of 2017. (This novel was also technically released in June rather than May, but I managed to snag an early review copy.) In general, I find Hoshino’s work to be challenging but ultimately rewarding. One of the other novels that I was particularly looking forward to this year was Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura, whose previous work in translation I adored. Another May release worth mentioning is Shun Medoruma’s In the Woods of Memory, credited as the first novel by an Okinawan author to be translated into English.

Manga!
Bloom into You, Volume 2 by Nakatani Nio
Cat Eyed Boy, Volumes 1-2 by Kazuo Umezu
Cells at Work!, Volume 4 by Akane Shimizu
Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 1 by Ryoko Kui
Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju, Volume 1 by Haruko Kumota
Dreamin’ Sun, Volume 1 by Ichigo Takano
The Girl From the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún Volume 2 by Nagabe
Gangsta: Cursed, Volume 2 written by Kohske, illustrated by Syuhei Kamo
Girls’ Last Tour, Volume 1 by Tsukumizu
The High School Life of a Fudanshi, Volume 1 by Michinoku Atami
Haikyu!!, Volumes 11-12 by Haruichi Furudate
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Volume 3 by Hirohiko Araki
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Volume 7 by Izumi Tsubaki
Murciélago, Volume 2 by Yoshimurakana
My Brother’s Husband, Omnibus 1 by Gengoroh Tagame
My Love Story!!, Volume 12 written by Kazune Kawahara, illustrated by Aruko
Pet Shop of Horrors, Volume 10 by Matsuri Akino
Pet Shop of Horrors: Tokyo, Volumes 1-8 by Matsuri Akino
Requiem of the Rose King, Volume 6 by Aya Kanno
The Royal Tutor, Volume 1 by Higasa Akai
Saber Tiger by Yukinobu Hoshino
Shion: Blade of the Minstrel by Seiji Horibuchi
The Story of Saiunkoku, Volumes 1-9 written by Sai Yukino, illustrated by Kairi Yura
Sweetness and Lightning, Volume 5 by Gido Amagakuure
Yona of the Dawn, Volume 6 by Mizuho Kusanagi

Manhwa!
Uncomfortably Happily by Yeon-sik Hong

Comics!
5 Worlds, Volume 1: The Sand Warrior written by Mark Siegel and Alexis Siegel, illustrated by Xanthe Bouma, Matt Rockefeller, and Boya Sun
Adventure Girlfriends, No. 1-2 by Morgan Shandro
Adventure Girlfriends: Vignettes by Morgan Shandro
Aim High Bird Friends by Linda Teaa
Banchan in Two Pages, Issue 2 by Robin Ha
Blinded by the Ice by Saicoink
Blindsprings, Volume 1 by Kadi Fedoruk
Blossom Boys by Tanaw
Butterfly Dream by PlumLi
The Disappearance of Melody Dean by Alexis Sugden
Eidoughlons: A Field Guide for the Aspiring Dumplingmancer by Jade Feng Lee
Electric Ant, Issue 2: Exquisite Corpses edited by Ryan Sands
Elements: Fire edited by Taneka Stotts
Expired Seafood, Volume 2: Tied Up by Various
Fujoshi Trapped in a Seme’s Perfect Body, Volume 2 written by Seru, illustrated by Joberu
Fujoshi Trapped in a Seme’s Perfect Body: Wedding Night written by Seru, illustrated by Kisumi
Go Gently edited by Christine Wong and Victor Martins
Half Moon Heroes, Issue 1 by Jade Feng Lee
Haunted: A Fairytale by Natalie Andrewson
Hearts for Sale by Miyuli
Hemlock, Issue 1 by Josceline Fenton
Hidden by Kou Chen
Love Debut by Deandra Tan
Mana, Volume 1 by Priya Huq
Martial Spirit by Dirchansky, Wai Au, and Kage
Oh Dear! Mr. Dear by Wai Au
Our Cats Are More Famous Than Us by Ananth Hirsh and Yuko Ota
Plant Fever Zine, Volume 1 by Various
Queen Street by Emmanuelle Chateauneuf
Ram-com by Emily Forster
Ramen Robot Cafe by Dandra Tan
Safe by Anna Sellheim
Shattered Warrior written by Sharon Shinn, illustrated by Molly Knox Ostertag
Shit and Piss by Tyler Landry
Smokescreen by A. C. Esguerra
So Pretty / Very Rotten by Jane Mai and An Nguyen
Starrytellers edited by Samantha Calcraft and Alisha Jade
Super Life on the Hill by Dirchansky, Kim Hoang, and Wai Au
(Tr)eat Yoself by Wai Au
Wax & Wane by Kelly Bastow and Caitlin Major
What Is A Glacier? by Sophie Yanow
You & a Bike & a Road by Eleanor Davis

Light Novels!
Tokyo Ghoul: Past by Shin Towada

Novels!
The Eternal Zero by Naoki Hyakuta
In the Woods of Memory by Shun Medoruma
Inheritance from Mother by Minae Mizumura
Kamikaze Girls by Novala Takemoto
ME by Tomoyuki Hoshino
Missin’/Missn’ 2 by Novala Takemoto
Notes of a Crocodile by Miaojin Qiu

Anthologies!
Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan, Volume 7 edited by Motoyuki Shibata and Ted Goossen

Nonfiction!
Manchu Princess, Japanese Spy by Phyllis Birnbaum