Well, December happened, as I knew it would. I took advantage of a large number of holiday and end of year sales and made good use of coupons and gift cards, so my wallet is happier than it would have been otherwise, but I still managed to pick up an absurd number of things. This includes an unusual amount of anime for me, such as the Amazon-exclusive limited edition of Cowboy Bebop which was on super sale at one point. (This will replace the bootleg copy I unintentionally bought when I was much younger and didn’t know any better or how to tell the difference.) Probably the manga release I was most excited for in December was the return of Makoto Yukimura’s Vinland Saga. (I’ll hopefully have a review of the eighth and most recent omnibus to share in the near future.) I’m also especially happy to have the deluxe edition of Junji Ito’s Tomie and the conclusion of The Ghost and the Lady by Kazuhiro Fujita on my shelves. And, of course, more of Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun, Haruichi Furudate’s Haikyu!!, and Izumi Tsubaki’s Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun are always welcome. Fans of Mentaiko Itto will also want to be aware of the poster collection recently released by Bruno Gmünder. It’s labeled as “1,” so there may very well be more to come. (Ahem.) As for comics, Reindeer Boy by Cassandra Jean is a lot of fun and I recently read and highly recommend The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg.

Manga!
Aoharu X Machinegun, Volume 1 by Naoe
Blood Blockade Battlefront, Volumes 1-7 by Yasuhiro Nightow
Bungo Stray Dogs, Volume 1 written by Kafka Asagiri, illustrated by Sango Harukawa
Dragon Voice, Volumes 1-10 by Yuriko Nishiyama
Fruits Basket, Omnibus 1 by Natsuki Takaya
Gangsta: Cursed, Volume 1 written by Kohske, illustrated by Syuhei Kamo
The Ghost and the Lady, Volume 2 by Kazuhiro Fujita
Giganto Maxia by Kentaro Miura
Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 4 by Inio Asano
Haikyu!!, Volume 7 by Haruichi Furudate
Happiness, Volume 2 by Shuzo Oshimi
He’s My Only Vampire, Volumes 1-3 by Aya Shouoto
Holy Corpse Rising, Volume 1 by Hosana Tanaka
Hunter x Hunter, Volumes 1-8 by Yoshihiro Togashi
Kiss of the Rose Princess, Volumes 1-2 by Aya Shouoto
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Volumes 1-2 by Shinobu Ohtaka
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Volume 5 by Izumi Tsubaki
New Lone Wolf and Cub, Volume 6 written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Hideki Mori
One-Punch Man, Volume 10 written by One, illustrated by Yusuke Murata
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers, Volumes 11-12 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Pandora Hearts, Volumes 20-22 by Jun Mochizuki
Persona 4, Volumes 4-5 by Shuji Sogabe
The Prince and His Dark Days, Volume 2 by Hico Yamanaka
Seven Princes of the Thousand Year Labyrinth, Volume 1 by Yu Aikawa
Sweetness and Lightning, Volume 3 by Gido Amagakure
Tomie by Junji Ito
Vinland Saga, Omnibus 8 by Makoto Yukimura
Welcome to the Ballroom, Volume 2 by Tomo Takeuchi

Comics!
Babybel Wax Bodysuit by Eric Kostiuk Williams
Battles by Jenn Woodall
Canopy by Karine Bernadou
Centralia 2050, Chapters 1-2 by Michelle Stanford
A City Inside by Tillie Walden
Diesel Ignition by Tyson Hesse
Dirty Diamonds, Issue 7: Imagination edited by Claire Folkman and Kelly Phillips
The End of Summer by Tillie Walden
Forest Dew by Heldrad
Hot Dog Taste Test by Lisa Hanawalt
I Love This Part by Tillie Walden
Little Kinano by Yeehun
Mondo by Ted McKeever
Oath: An Anthology of New (Queer) Heroes edited by Audre Redpath
The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg
Panther by Brecht Evens
RAV, Volume 2 by Mickey Zacchilli
Reindeer Boy by Cassandra Jean
Rosalie Lightning by Tom Hart
Small Town Witch written by Alex Singer, illustrated by Jayd Aït-Kaci
Somthing Terrible by Dean Trippe
Spidersilk, Volume 1 by Pamela Kotila
SuperCakes by Kate Leyh
That Which Wills: Virgo Rising, Book 1 written by Alex Singer, illustrated by Jayd Aït-Kaci

Artbooks!
BLKBT by C Lijewski
Burl & Furl edited by Irene Koh, Ricardo Bessa, Paul Reinwand, and Kevin Jay Stanton
Poster Book 1 by Mentaiko Itto

Novels!
The Borrowed by Chan Ho-Kei
Memoirs of a Polar Bear by Yoko Tawada
Moshi Moshi by Banana Yoshimoto
Orochi no Yaiba written by Itoshi, illustrated by Aldaria
Outlet by Randy Taguchi

Anime!
Cowboy Bebop directed by Shinichirō Watanabe
Detroit Metal City directed by Hiroshi Nagahama
My Love Story directed by Morio Asaka
Natsume’s Book of Friends, Seasons 3-4 directed by Takahiro Omori
The Perfect Insider directed by Mamoru Kanbe
Persona 4: The Animation directed by Seiji Kishi
Terror in Resonance directed by Shinichirō Watanabe
Yurikuma Arashi directed by Kunihiko Ikuhara
Young Black Jack directed by Mitsuko Kase

In an interesting trend, I seem to be picking up more and more non-manga comics lately. And in some months–take November as an example–the number of non-manga comics that I purchase even manage to rival the number of manga proper that find their way to my shelves. As for my manga acquisitions in November, I was very happy to almost complete my print collection of Kyoko Hikawa’s From Far Away which is now largely out of print. (I still need to find a nice copy of the fourteenth volume for a reasonable price.) I was also very excited for the release of Mentaiko Itto’s second collection of gay erotic manga in English The Boy Who Cried Wolf, the latest in Bruno Gmünder Gay Manga line. November saw the debut of Ichiya Sazanami’s absolutely ridiculous Magia the Ninth which I can’t claim to be the best manga out there, but I loved it and was delighted by all of its music history in-jokes. Major holiday sales began in November, too. Those will have a larger impact for me (and my wallet) in December, but a few purchase (mostly anime) have already started to arrive. Also of note, I picked up the Lone Wolf and Cub boxset for a steal when it was initially listed at the wrong price. It’s a really lovely collection of the six Lone Wolf and Cub films from the early 1970s. Surprisingly, none of which I’ve actually seen yet.

Manga!
The Boy Who Cried Wolf by Mentaiko Itto
A Bride’s Story, Volume 8 by Kaoru Mori
Devils’ Line, Volumes 1-2 by Ryo Hanada
From Far Away, Volumes 4-12 by Kyoko Hikawa
Gate: Where the JSDF Fought, Volume 1 written by Takumi Yanai, illustrated by Satoru Sao
Haikyu!!, Volumes 4-6 by Haruichi Furudate
In/Spectre, Volume 1 by Chasiba Katase
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Volume 1 by Hirohiko Araki
La Corda d’Oro, Volumes 1-7 by Yuki Kure
Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Volumes 3-4 by Shinobu Ohtaka
Magia the Ninth, Volume 1 by Ichiya Sazanami
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Volume 1 by Coolkyoushinja
Please Tell Me! Galko-chan, Volume 1 by Kenya Suzuki
Prison School, Omnibus 5 by Akira Hiramoto
Sunny, Volume 6 by Taiyo Matsumoto
To the Abandoned Sacred Beasts, Volumes 1-2 by Maybe
Urotsukidoji: Legend of the Overfiend, Volume 1 by Toshio Maeda
Yona of the Dawn, Volume 3 by Mizuho Kusanagi

Manhwa!
His House, Volumes 2-3 by Hajin Yoo
Intense, Volumes 2-4 by Kyungha Yi

Comics!
The Boy in Pink Earmuffs, Volumes 1-3 by Jay Fuller
Cucumber Quest, Book 1 by Gigi D.G.
Fujoshi Trapped in a Seme’s Perfect Body written by Seru, illustrated by Joberu
Habitat by Roy Simon
How to Survive in the North by Luke Healy
I Thought You Hated Me by MariNaomi
Jane Eyre adapted by Crystal S. Chan, illustrated by SunNeko Lee
Laid Waste by Julia Gfrorer
Lovers in the Garden by Anya Davidson
Miss Priss is Missing! by Jay Fuller
Narrow Road, Issues 1-2 written by Zack Davisson, illustrated by Mark Morse
No Mercy, Volume 1 written by Alex de Campi, illustrated by Carla Speed McNeil and Jenn Manley Lee
Oh Joy Sex Toy, Volume 3 by Erika Moen
Queer: A Graphic History written by Meg-John Barker, illustrated by Julia Scheele

Novels!
Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Volume 3: Endurance by Yoshiki Tanaka
The Moai Island Puzzle by Alice Arisugawa
Mr. Turtle by Yusuke Kitano

Anthologies!
The Black Cat Takes a Stroll: The Edgar Allan Poe Lectures by Akimaro Mori
Invisible Planets: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation edited by Ken Liu

Nonfiction!
A Brief History of the Martial Arts: East Asian Fighting Styles, from Kung Fu to Ninjutsu by Jonathan Clements

Anime!
Haikyu!!, Season 1 directed by Susumu Mitsunaka
Karate Master directed by Osamu Dezaki
Parasyte: The Maxim directed by Kenichi Shimizu
The Vision of Escaflowne directed by Kazuki Akane

Film!
Lone Wolf and Cub directed by Kenji Misumi, Buichi Saito, Yoshiyuki Kuroda

October brought quite a few interesting things to my shelves. The University of Hawaii Press, which publishes some excellent Japan-related materials, had a major sale celebrating its 69th anniversary. So as not to go overboard (which would have been incredibly easy to do) I limited myself to five books. I was especially excited that Modanizumu: Modernist Fiction from Japan, 1913-1938 was included in the sale–it’s been on my wishlist since I wrote my spotlight on Kaita Murayama a couple of years ago. Kodansha Comics continues to impress me with the range and variety of manga that it’s publishing this year. Some of the great Kodansha manga from October included (but certainly wasn’t limited to) the shoujo tribute anthology Neo-Parasyte F, The Ghost and the Lady, Volume 1 by Kazuhiro Fujita and of course Princess Jellyfish, Omnibus 3 by Akiko Higashimura. (Technically, that last one is a November release; my copy just arrived early). High on the list of other October manga for which I was particularly excited there’s Blue Morning, Volume 6 by Shoko Hidaka (actually released in September, but I finally got my hands on a copy) and Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon by Shigeru Mizuki. As for non-manga October releases, I’m hoping to make time to read the second novel in Ken Liu’s Dandelion Dynasty trilogy, The Wall of Swords, sooner rather than later. (The first volume, The Grace of Kings, was one of my favorite books from last year.) I must also mention the wonderful children’s book and poetry collection Are You an Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko which I recently reviewed and highly recommend.

Manga!
Ajin: Demi-Human, Volume 8 by Gamon Sakurai
Attack on Titan: Lost Girls, Volume 1 by Ryosuke Fuji
Blue Morning, Volume 6 by Shoko Hidaka
Cells at Work!, Volume 1 by Akane Shimizu
Dawn of the Arcana, Volumes 1-7, 9, 12-13 by Rei Toma
The Ghost and the Lady, Volume 1 by Kazuhiro Fujita
I Am a Hero, Omnibus 2 by Kengo Hanazawa
Interviews with Monster Girls, Volume 1 by Petos
Kitaro Meets Nurarihyon by Shigeru Mizuki
My Love Story!!, Volume 10 written by Kazune Kawahara, illustrated by Aruko
Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai, Volume 1 by Hiroyuki Takei
Neo-Parasyte F by Various
Platinum End, Volume 1 written by Tsugumi Ohba, illustrated by Takeshi Obata
Princess Jellyfish, Omnibus 3 by Akiko Higashimura
Samejima-kun and Sasahara-kun by Koshino
The Secret Sakura Shares by Akira Hagio
Sweetness &Lightning, Volume 2 by Gido Amagakure
Ten Count, Volume 2 by Rihito Takarai
Yona of the Dawn, Volume 2 by Mizuho Kusanagi

Manhwa!
Goong: The Royal Palace, Volumes 2-7, 9-10 by Park SoHee

Comics!
Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen
Eat Me by Megan Rose Gedris
Godzilla in Hell by James Stokoe
Food Baby by Lucie Byron
Hotblood!: A Centaur in the Old West by Toril Orlesky
Humanescent written by Jacques Nyemb
Kill 6 Billion Demons, Volume 1 by Tom Parkinson-Morgan
Love! Love! Fighting! by Sharean Morishita
Romeo X Julien, Act 2: The Lovers by Marina
Tetris: The Games People Play by Box Brown

Artbooks!
Fat Mermaids edited by Paige Hall
Hotblood! Foundry: Materials Book (1871-2016) by Toril Orlesky

Novels!
Deep Red by Hisashi Nozawa
Dandelion Dynasty, Book 2: The Wall of Swords by Ken Liu

Anthologies!
Modanizumu: Modernist Fiction from Japan, 1913-1938 edited by William Jefferson Tyler
Three-dimensional Reading: Stories of Time and Space in Japanese Modernist Fiction, 1911-1932 edited by Angela Yiu

Nonfiction!
Are You an Echo?: The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko written by David Jacobson, illustrated by Toshikado Hajiri
Bodies of Evidence: Women, Society, and Detective Fiction in 1990s Japan by Amanda C. Seaman
Reading Food in Modern Japanese Literature by Tomoko Aoyama
She Changed Comics: The Untold Story of the Women Who Changed Free Expression in Comics by Various
Whisky Japan: The Essential Guide to the World’s Most Exotic Whisky by Dominic Roskrow

Anime!
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun directed by Mitsue Yamazaki
Natsume’s Book of Friends, Seasons 1-2 directed by Takahiro Omori
Escaflowne: The Movie directed by Kazuki Akane

Normally manga far outweigh the other types of comics that I acquire in any given month, but in September there wasn’t much of a difference between the two. I also picked up more anime than I usually do and my artbook collection continues to steadily increase. Anyway, probably the most exciting thing that I’ve read so far from September was the  Attack on Titan Anthology, an excellent collection of Western comics inspired by Hajime Isayama’s Attack on Titan. (Granted, the anthology’s official release date was in October, but I was fortunate to get my hands on an early copy.) It was also a good month for omnibuses such as the final volume of Kaoru Mori’s Emma (technically released at the very end of August, but I picked up my copy late), the most recent volume of Inio Asano’s Goodnight Punpun, and Wataru Watanabe’s third Yowamushi Pedal omnibus among others. As for series that debuted in September, I’m particularly interested in and looking forward to reading the first volumes of The Prince in His Dark Days by Hico Yamanaka and Welcome to the Ballroom by Tomo Takeuchi.

Manga!
Blame!, Omnibus 1 by Tsutomu Nihei
Boyfriend in Heat by Sakria
The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Volume 6 by Aya Shouoto
Don’t Rub Yourself Against My Ass by Sakira
Emma, Omnibus 5 by Kaoru Mori
Franken Fran, Omnibus 3 by Katsuhisa Kigitsu
Goodnight Punpun, Omnibus 3 by Inio Asano
Haikyu!!, Volume 3 by Haruichi Furudate
Happiness, Volume 1 by Shuzo Oshimi
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 4 by Hiromu Arakawa
Hey, Class President!, Volumes 2-3 by Kaori Monchi
Kuma Miko: Girl Meets Bear, Volume 1 by Masume Yoshimoto
Mr. Mini Mart by Junko
One-Punch Man, Volume 8 written by One, illustrated by Yusuke Murata
Persona 3, Volume 1 by Shuji Sogabe
The Prince in His Dark Days, Volume 1 by Hico Yamanaka
Sailor Men by Sakira
Welcome to the Ballroom, Volume 1 by Tomo Takeuchi
Wild Boyfriend by Sakira
Yowamushi Pedal, Omnibus 3 by Wataru Watanabe

Comics!
Acid Monday by Lucid
Agents of the Realm: Semester 1, Volume 1 by Mildred Louis
Attack on Titan Anthology edited by Ben Applegate and Jeanine Schaefer
Avialae, Chapter 2 by Lucid
From Under Mountains written by Claire Gibson and Marian Churchland, illustrated by Sloane Leong
Mirror: The Mountain written by Emma Ríos, illustrated by Hwei Lim
Mooncop by Tom Gauld
My Car’s a Spaceship, and My Spaceship’s a Boy! by Kris Mukai
Princess Princess Ever After by Katie O’Neill
Someone Please Have Sex With Me by Gina Wynbrandt
Soulless, Volumes 1-3 written by Gail Carriger, illustrated by Rem
Spider-Man/Deadpool, Volume 1: Isn’t it Bromantic written by Joe Kelly, illustrated by Ed McGuinness
Trying Not to Notice by Will Dinski
Turning Japanese by MariNaomi
The Usagi Yojimbo Saga, Omnibus 5 by Stan Sakai
Virus Tropical by Powerpaola
Vixen by Danielle Keller

Artbooks!
10: Illustrations, 2006-2016 by Tomoko Yamashita
The Art of Jo Chen Illustration Collection by Jo Chen
Space Beside: Selected Illustrations, 2014-2016 by Loika
Yoshitaka Amano: Illustrations by Yoshitaka Amano

Novels!
The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
A Riot of Goldfish by Kanoko Okamoto

Anthologies!
Red Roofs and Other Stories by Jun’ichirō Tanizaki

Anime!
Black Jack directed by Osamu Dezaki
Black Jack: The Movie directed by Osamu Dezaki
Cardcaptor Sakura: The Movie directed by Morio Asaka
Doukyusei directed by Shouko Nakamura
The Eccentric Family directed by Masayuki Yoshihara
Otogi Zoshi directed by Mizuho Nishikubo

I’m slowly slipping back into my old buying habits; I should probably be a bit more stringent before things get ridiculously out of hand again. Granted, I stayed within my budget in August more than it would initially appear by the list below. The last of my Barnes & Noble orders from the recent manga super sale arrived which were already paid for; a bunch of Kickstarter rewards arrived; I somehow received not one, but two boxes of review copies from Kodansha Comics; and I made judicious use of coupons and gift cards. I also received some pretty phenomenal gifts like the out-of-print limited edition hardcover of Minna Sundberg’s A Redtail’s Dream. (A huge thank you to Narrative Investigation‘s Helen! You can read my quick take of A Redtail’s Dream here, and Helen’s thoughts about the webcomic here.) My biggest unplanned splurge in August was picking up an entire set of Firefighter!: Daigo of Company M by Masahito Soda which I liberated from the shelves of my Manga Bookshelf cohort Kate Dacey. (The series seems to be on its way out of print, but is still available digitally.) As for the August manga release that I was most excited for, I’m absolutely thrilled that Moto Hagio’s first Otherworld Barbara omnibus from Fantagraphics is now available. I love Hagio’s work, and am especially happy to see more of her science fiction in translation. I’d like to review or otherwise feature Otherworld Barbara at some point, but am not sure when that will be. However, I do have a review of South Korean author Han Kang’s novel Human Acts to post soon! Human Acts has already been released in the United Kingdom, but it won’t be released in the United States until January; I was fortunate enough to receive an early review copy. It’s honestly one of the best novels that I’ve read recently.

Manga!
Attack on Titan, Volume 19 by Hajime Isayama
Attack on Titan: Before the Fall, Volume 8 written by Ryo Suzukaze, illustrated by Satoshi Shiki
Complex Age, Volume 2 by Yui Sakuma
The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Volumes 3-5 by Aya Shouoto
Devil Survivor, Volume 6 by Satoru Matsuba
Dimension W, Volumes 1-2 by Yuji Iwahara
Dorohedoro, Volume 19 by Q Hayashida
The Earl & The Fairy, Volumes 1-4 by Ayuko
Fairy Tail, Volume 55 by Hiro Mashima
Fairy Tail: Blue Mistral, Volume 3 by Rui Watanabe
Firefighter!: Daigo of Company M, Volumes 1-20 by Masahito Soda
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Volumes 9, 13 written by Yuto Tsukuda, illustrated by Shun Saeki
Forget Me Not, Volumes 3-4 written by Mag Hsu, illustrated by Nao Emoto
The Heroic Legend of Arslan, Volume 5 by Hiromu Arakawa
Horimiya, Volumes 3-4 by Hero
Inuyashiki, Volume 4 by Hiroya Oku
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 2: Battle Tendency, Volume 4 by Hirohiko Araki
Kiss Him, Not Me, Volumes 5-6 by Junko
Kuroko’s Basketball, Omnibus 1 by Tadatoshi Fujimaki
Livingstone, Volume 3 by written Tomohiro Maekawa, illustrated by Jinsei Kataoka
Lone Wolf and Cub, Omnibuses 11-12 written by Kazuo Koike, illustrated by Goseki Kojima
Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, Omnibus 5 by Satoshi Mizukami
Noragami: Stray God, Volumes 15-16 by Adachitoka
Otherworld Barbara, Omnibus 1 by Moto Hagio
Ouran High School Host Club, Volume 18 by Bisco Hatori
Paradise Residence, Volume 3 by Kosuke Fujishima
Persona 4, Volume 3 by Shuji Sogabe
Real Account, Volume 3 written by Okushou, illustrated by Shizumu Watanabe
Say I Love You, Volumes 14-15 by Kanae Hazuki
The Seven Deadly Sins, Volume 15 by Nakaba Suzuki
Spoof on Titan, Volume 1 by Hounori
Ten Count, Volume 1 by Rihito Takarai
That Wolf-Boy is Mine!, Volume 1 by Yoko Nogiri
Wolfsmund, Volume 7 by Mitsuhisa Kuji
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Volume 9 by Miki Yoshikawa
Your Lie in April, Volumes 8-9 by Naoshi Arakawa

Comics!
Baggywrinkles: A Lubber’s Guide to Life at Sea by Lucy Bellwood
Breaks: Prologue by Malin Ryden and Emma Vieceli
Chester 5000 XYV, Book 2: Isabelle & George by Jess Fink
Dragon Heir: Reborn by Emma Vieceli
Fresh Romance, Volume 1 by Various
Gaijin Mangaka by Various
Gatesmith, Volume 1 by Jen Lee Quick
Libby’s Dad by Eleanor Davis
The Other Side edited by Melanie Gillman and Kori Michele Handwerker
Our Mother by Luke Howard
QuickSilver, Volume 1 by Emily Smith
Rainflowers by Ash Heimerl
A Redtail’s Dream by Minna Sundberg
The Usagi Yojimbo Saga, Omnibus 6 by Stan Sakai

Novels!
Human Acts by Han Kang
Dusk in Kalevia by Emily Compton, illustrated by Onorobo

Nonfiction!
Hi! My Name Is Loco and I Am A Racist by Baye McNeil
Loco in Yokohama by Baye McNeil
Mah Jong for Beginners by Shozo Kanai