Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
The second volume of the manga adaptation of Rainbow Rowell’s novel Fangirl is out now. New this volume is a change to the credits. Still illustrated by Gabi Nam, the adaptation is now credited to both Sam Maggs and Rowell. (Maggs had solo credit for volume 1.) That may be related to the promotion that this book includes “all-new scenes by Rainbow Rowell.” I’m not sure which those are — I did a page-by-page comparison for the first book in […]
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What Did You Eat Yesterday? volume 18 is another outstanding example of my favorite manga series. It’s the story of Shiro, a lawyer, and his partner Kenji, a hair stylist, and the meals they have together. But it’s about a lot more than that — Shiro and Kenji are now firmly middle-aged (over 50), and so they deal with conversations about inheritance after one of them passes, complicated by the differences in legal status of a gay couple (as marriage […]
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Volume 6 concludes the series Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku. And this final volume is everything a fan could want. It’s half the size, as the other English volumes each had two books’ worth of content, and this is just one. But there are color pages and an adorable flashback to the lead couple’s first meeting as school kids and character pinups and an afterword where the author, Fujita, has a few thoughts on the characters’ futures. I didn’t […]
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The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again, Today volume 3 expands on the series premise by showing us what happens when Saku has to spend time away from home. But first, the opening chapter sums up why Saku is so happy with her giant cat — she comes home from a work drinking party, and Yukichi feeds her a meal to help her feel better. He takes off her makeup and gets her clean and dry before putting her into bed […]
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I Want to Be a Wall by Honami Shirono is the story of an arranged marriage between two people who settle for each other. Yuriko is a BL fangirl who is supposed to have given up her manga fandom by now and also happens to be asexual. Her husband, Gakurouta, is a closeted gay man in love with his straight best friend. They make a supportive pair of friends (even if Yuriko shipping Gakurouta and his friend gets a little […]
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The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again, Today by Hitsuzi Yamada is a weird but strangely attractive fantasy. Saku is an office woman who is terrible at taking care of herself. She lives alone with a cat, Yukichi, who is human-sized, walks on his back feet, and cooks and cleans for her. Yet he’s still entirely a cat, just a very large, housekeeping one. He wakes her up and cleans her up and makes sure she gets to work on time. […]
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Hiro Maijima’s I Am a Cat Barista volume 2 manages to improve on the first volume through adding another character: a dog patissier. I loved the idea of a magical cafe where a humanoid cat gave you just the treat you needed to make you feel better. With a similar humanoid dog making dessert, the shop got even better! Particularly since the dog likes to get pets from the customers. The first story had a useful lesson, too. A school […]
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One expects a cat manga to be adorable, and Sue and Tai-Chan volume 3 does not disappoint. It’s by Konami Kanata, after all, who’s well-known here for Chi’s Sweet Home, also about a kitten. This series doesn’t have the melancholy notes of a youngster missing mom that that one did, though. Instead, it’s all about how cats behave and how fun they are to watch. It’s also printed left to right and published in soft, relaxing color, to better appeal […]
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