The girls are growing up in Sweetness & Lightning volume 8. Kotori has to start thinking about what she’ll do after school, while Tsumugi has begun elementary school. Tsumugi has well learned the pleasure of sharing food with others, but when she tries to share her school lunch, her motivations are misunderstood. That’s ok, because she and her father and Kotori can make their own version at home. More serious is how Kotori has learned that some people don’t want […]

As I mentioned in my review of the previous volume, Kae is now dating. However, this installment gets back to wacky fan behavior, as she keeps forgetting about her boyfriend when offered cool events to go to featuring her favorite anime. That’s a challenge many people have, learning how to consider another person’s feelings when entering into a relationship. The older we get, the more difficult it becomes to change established patterns of behavior, particularly when it comes to hobbies. […]

I was surprised to see how the original premise of My Brother the Shut-In fell by the wayside in this second digital-only volume by Kinoko Higurashi. We’ve moved away from Shino’s conflicts, with her concerns about taking care of her family and her worries about her friends disappearing. Instead, the focus here is on getting her brother Tamotsu a job. I still enjoyed reading it, particularly the surprisingly useful job-hunting advice, but it’s a different type of series than I […]

Shojo manga series have the best conclusions. They’re formulaic, of course, usually jumping us just enough forward in time to see the lead couple have their happy ending, then spending the rest of the final book checking in with the various side characters and showing us their futures and (usually) pairings. Say I Love You volume 18, the last in the series, is no exception. As I noted the last time I reviewed this series, author Kanae Hazuki has already […]

I haven’t had much chance to explore Kodansha’s digital-only manga releases, and I’m not sure why I decided to start with this one, other than that it dealt with a situation we don’t often see here. But I enjoyed the story, in part because it’s unusual, and I’d like to see more. My Brother the Shut-In is about high school student Shino, who enjoys her time with friends and her after-school job. She tells everyone she’s an only child because […]

I don’t have much to say about this volume except to note that, for those hanging on through the series, a major turning point occurs, as Kae finally chooses one of her suitors to focus on in a relationship. Kiss Him, Not Me volume 12 continues directly with the consequences from the previous book, in which there was a ridiculous, life-threatening fall off a cliff. I still miss the fannish behavior (and silly humor that results) that drew me to […]

This is a new one on me. When I heard of Neo Parasyte f, a tribute volume to Hitoshi Iwaaki’s Parasyte manga series with stories by other manga creators, I thought it would bring back fond memories of the original. Although it’s horror, I liked it a lot when I read it almost ten years ago. With such a collection of works by fans, I would have hoped to get a feeling of communal enjoyment, of readers coming together to […]

If you like the idea of a girl helping out a family of shape-shifters, but you aren’t interested in committing to the length of Fruits Basket, then That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! is the manga series for you. In only four volumes, Komugi discovers the secret of the school heartthrobs and shows them a new way to co-exist with humans. Komugi has moved to the country from Tokyo. Her mother has been sent away on business, so she’s going to live […]