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 […]

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 […]

Perfect World volume 1 by Rie Aruga is the story of how Tsugumi learns to love a man in a wheelchair, and how she learns, as a result, what life is like for someone who has a spinal cord injury. Tsugumi had a crush on Itsuki when they were in school together, but she had lost touch with him. A work meeting brings them back into contact, but he’s since had an accident and is paralyzed. In this first volume, […]

It’s been a while since I’ve talked about Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku. It’s not a manga series that inspires a lot of “must read now” emotion in me, but it’s probably the one that I can most relate to, as it’s about a small group of adult friends being geeky and fannish. Hirotaka and Narumi began by pretending to date, as she was afraid no guy would be able to tolerate her fandom behavior. By now, though, they’re […]

Saving Sweets for After-Hours has an intriguing premise that tries to pack in too much and retreats to the conventional. It’s by Kanae Sato and released digital-only by Kodansha. Reika looks like a model and runs a department at a company that makes desserts. She is feared by her staff because of her bossy personality and gossip that she’s into S&M… but secretly, she’s a 32-year-old virgin. Who also writes a popular blog featuring sex stories. One of her subordinates […]

Mr. Bride volume 1 by Natsumi Shiba establishes a simple premise as a way of getting two people together in an “opposites attract” situation. Hayami is a successful career woman who’s a slob at home. Co-worker Yamamoto discovers the mess and cleans up for her. The two end up rooming together, complicated by their feelings for each other. She needs someone to take care of her, and he appreciates being allowed in her presence (and benefits from her greater earning […]

The Descending Stories: Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju series concludes with volume 10. It came out almost three years ago, and this volume — along with some of the others in the series, apparently — may be currently out of print. But I still wanted to talk about it because as a wrap-up, it’s beautifully in tone with the theme of the series. I’ve enjoyed reading about these practitioners of rakugo (monologues/ storytelling) because the manga stories combine personal drama with […]

I found My Darling Next Door a comfortable read, with familiar characters and situations. (It’s by Rukana, and it’s a digital-only release from Kodansha.) Ririka is a high school girl who lives with her divorced father, cooking for them both and taking care of the house. She meets their new neighbor, Hino, a single man new to the workforce and not long out of university, and invites him over for dinner. Dad offers to keep feeding him in return for […]