Started reading Dungeon Meshi since ppl were recommending it. Damn, it’s way better than I expected. Lots of innovative ideas and the world building is topnotch. Can’t wait for the anime!

Also started reading Aishiteru Game. Pretty typical romcom, but I’m a sucker for casual romcoms, and the art is pretttty good. Only on chapter 11, hoping it remains strong

I picked up an official translation of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou so I’m gently enjoying that. The art is beautiful and the bittersweet nature of the manga is pretty beautiful honestly.

And also Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest because I love Aki Irie’s art. It’s set in Iceland but reminds me a little of Norway which makes me happy.

I’ll focus on less known series.

• Shinigami ni Sodaterareta Shoujo wa Shikkoku no Tsurugi wo Mune ni Idaku / The Little Girl Raised by Death Holds the Sword of Death Tightly - if I had to describe this manga with two words, it would be “cute gore”. The MC beheads enemies with a smile on her face completely unfitting (on purpose!) the situation.
• When I Returned To My Hometown, My Childhood Friend Was Broken - a romance between childhood friends, in short chapters; the boy is still the same as before, but the girl went from an assertive tomboy to someone fragile and clearly depressive. And as their romance progresses, she tries to “find herself”. Worth noting that, while the MMC is an important factor behind the FMC healing herself, he is not the one fixing her - he accepts her now as he accepted her back then, the manga is rather clear that she’s the one seeking the changes by herself.
• Otherworldly Munchkin - MC and his sister are isekai’d into a tabletop RPG-like world by a shitty goddess. He quickly catches up that the goddess is lying, and decides to steal the gamebook from her hands. And now he’s exploiting the system to save his sister.
• S-Rank Party Kara Kaikosareta / My S-Rank Party Fired Me for Being a Cursificer - another “expelled from party” story. The guy is a complete weirdo, obsessed with macabre-looking curse objects, but he’s damn good at it.

Nice!

So this week I read:

• Started “Transfer student storm bringer”, currently at chapter 63.

Im reading the original not the remake since I heard that one sucks. This one is a pretty nice misunderstandings based comedy, from a mixture of his mean appearance and ungodly luck the protagonist who was just a wimp at his past school starts his journey into becoming one of the most feared delinquents in school. Its pretty funny, the translation is a bit weird, at least the one Im reading feels like it was done by someone at 4chan, but the language at least makes some sense when you consider they are all edgy delinquent teens.

• Dropped “skip to loafer” at chapter 27

I dont know why exactly but I havent been enjoying this romance so I decided to drop it

• Currently reading “Release that witch” for my second read through, currently at chapter 24

This is a really special manhua for me, it is one of those “development anachronic isekai” where the protagonist starts revolutionizing a fantasy world, at least this one makes sense do to his background as an engineer + the witches powers, so I didn’t get annoyed at the protagonist suddenly building a lot of stuff he has no business knowing how to like it usually happens in this genre. Also, the art and coloring are god tier. The world building has a lot of thought put into it, on the background of the story there is a political war going on in the kingdom as the king has made it a competition for his 5 heirs to inherit, there is also a conspiracy with the church and a lot of interesting details about the world even outside the kingdom.

I really recommend checking this one out if those city builder isekais are your thing

Read a great 13 chapter SoL called Walking Through Today. It’s just the musings of an old man who walks the same route through his neighborhood every day.

Caught up with a surprisingly decent action sort-of-harem thing called New Normal. It’s set in a relatively near future world in which a virus not unlike (but worse than) covid has ravaged the world, and among the survivors, who live in a walled section of Tokyo, all of the covid-era precautions like masks and social distancing have come to be rigidly enforced societal norms. So at this point, teenage boys (and some girls) are obsessed with mouths and lips, because they’re always hidden, and the story starts out as a bumbling romance after the mc happens to see the class idol’s naked mouth. It goes along like that for a while - pretty standard stuff, just with the gimmick of being focused on mouths and lips, but then it veers off into action and intrigue, as the leads get caught up in all sorts of conflict and begin to learn some of the truth about the virus, and the world outside the walls.

And lots of updates to ongoing stuff…

It’s been awhile since I’ve had the time and motivation to read manga, and even more since I’ve written about it, but I’m in the mood to procrastinate so here’s something I’ve re-binged recently:

Ore no Himekutsu o Haite Kure is about a skilled shoemaker struggling with a foot fetish and a chance encounter with a high school girl who wants a special pair of shoes restored.

That’s right, there’s romantic tension involving an age gap. No, it’s not erotica. No doubt about it, the subject and context are straight up taboo, but I ended up adoring this little series that seems to have never appeared on anybody’s radar. It’s an uncomplicated story - the set-ups are straightforward, the characters aren’t convoluted, the twists and conclusion are almost predictable - and it makes for a very mellow and pleasant read.

I really, REALLY don’t like romance stories with age gaps - many of them involve the older party knowingly manipulating the younger one, or just making irresponsible decisions as the adult in the situation - but I’ve a soft spot for this one and how benign and tender this story turned out. I’ve read it several times since its serialization and I’m glad to say it hasn’t lost its charm.

Binged Oshi no Ko. I read the first chapter when it was first released a few years ago as I like Kaguya, but due to a lack of interest in idols and idol culture did not continue reading. How wrong I was. Following recent, uh, interesting developments decided to try again. And I was not disappointed. The plot is great, and the characters are interesting to follow. I would prefer more focus on the revenge plot, but whatever. Random thoughts:

• Akane is a megamind who would be great in a more serious “battle of the minds” type of work. She really should not let her detective talents go to waste.
• Kana deserves better
• Chapter 123. Don’t backtrack, Aka, you hack.

Recently finished reading Kanojo mo Kanojo. Can’t say I like everything about it (can’t stand the Youtube girl), but I’m going to miss it as I love the mangaka’s style.

It feels like there was a lot more potential in the series, so I’m sad that it ended.

I’m reading 風の谷のナウシカ (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind) natively, six months after restarting my Japanese studies.

I haven’t read it in English before so I was stunned at how great the artwork is. It’s quite clear Miyazaki’s style is what Ghibli became known for, but here it’s 100% Miyazaki himself.

Tons of absurdly detailed planes, bugs and flora. The Japanese 7 volume set is close to A4 in size, which feels much better than usual manga volumes, if only because there are far more panels per page.