Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
The premise of I Am a Cat Barista by Hiro Maijima is clear from the title, but on its own, that doesn’t capture the charm and comfort of this reassuring series. Every chapter is another story where someone discovers this unusual cat café, “a place only the weariest of souls can find.” The human-sized cat barista doesn’t offer a menu. Instead, he observes and gives them what they most need. An exhausted office worker with a jerk boss who’s too […]
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Lost Lad London by Shima Shinya sets up an intriguing mystery premise. The mayor of London is found dead, stabbed, on an Underground train. Our protagonist is Al, a University student and loner. He’s making his own way by writing papers for other students. A beaten-down detective with a variety of injuries has a history of guilt from when a wrongly charged suspect killed themselves; that case was never solved. He comes to Al’s flat while interviewing witnesses, but Al […]
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A Man and His Cat volume 6 continues with dramatic events. I’m more comfortable with them this time around, compared to the last book, because they happen to the humans, not the felines. The man of the title, Mr. Kanda, has performance anxiety. He used to be a famous pianist, but he can’t stand to be on stage any more. He works with another man, Moriyama, who dreams of being in a band… and his dreams are coming true. He’s […]
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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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