What manga are you reading now?

Classmates volume 4: Sora and Hara - I feel like this one is the volume that gains the least from Seven Seas having thrown everything under the 'Classmates' banner and numbered them, as opposed to in Japan where they aren't numbered and just exists as related/sequels to the original first book. Chronologically it makes sense to number since it does take place later in the franchise, but given the focus switches away from the two main characters and involves student/teacher relationships, that's possibly a hard sell for prospective readers who didn't like that element of the series initially. It's more difficult to justify skipping while it's numbered too. Having said all that, I am a fan of the character who takes the lead here so I enjoyed seeing where this story left them by the end.

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magicial Tools volume 3 (LN) - Hoping there will be some movement on the romance front soon. Nothing against a slow burn, but this series is definitely pushing the limits of teasing progress just to have none. It either needs to shift the focus (which is easily done given the storylines the cast are involved with) or make some small steps forward.

Tearmoon Empire volume 7 (LN)
Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 volume 5

Komorebi Shoutengai no Changing Wonder volume 1 (JP) - Beautiful artwork in this series and I like the premise of the main character travelling back and forth between worlds. Reminds me a bit of Narnia in a way since it's less 'isekai fantasy' and more your traditional take on travelling into unknown places.

Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata volume 1 (JP) - This one is licensed by Seven Seas for a release later this year under the title The Summer You Were There. Someone whose taste I generally agree with was posting about it on Twitter and volume 1 was free on Bookwalker in Japanese for a few days, so I thought I'd check it out. I enjoyed it enough to want to get SS' release of it later in the year and carry it on in English.

I Belong to the Baddast Girl at School volume 2
The Misfit of Demon King Academy volume 1 - FIgured I'd pick the manga up since there is still no sign of the light novels being licensed in English. I really hope someone breaks through to Square Enix and gets access to their titles since between this and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest, there are quite a few now I really want to read. >_<
 
Tamamo-chan's a Fox 4
Funny with a splendid simple plot.
Like the little notes on each page.

I'm the Hero but the Demon Lord's also me 3.
Missed volume 1 and now it seems to be silly money.
It wasn't difficult to jump into volume 2 and get what's going on.

The Witches of Adamas 1.
Looks like it will greatly amuse me.
Love the art.
I'll let anyone find out the plot themselves as I feel even the littlest bit of information could spoil.
 
Yoshi no Zuikara vol 3 (complete)
Mixed feelings on this parts were funny and there's some interesting insights into the manga business, but even for a SOL it felt a bit aimless at times especially the third volume. I did like that in the opening chapter you think the MC is telling his own story of his childhood only for it to be revealed it's the first chapter of the new manga he's writing, but then there's a chapter later in the same volume that does tell his story, so I get the 2 mixed up when I think back! Volume 2 was definitely the best one focused as it was on one event of the MC a shut in from an island having to go to Tokyo for a book signing.
6/10
 
@D1tchd1gger - That’s exactly how I felt as well, Volume 2 was the best of the three and I wish volume 3 had been a little less aimless so it could have offered a more satisfying conclusion, especially given it moved away from the manga creation focus for the most part. I hope the authors next series is better but I think it has just ended in Japan similarly early, so maybe it suffers the same problems. :/
 
Classmates volume 4: Sora and Hara - I feel like this one is the volume that gains the least from Seven Seas having thrown everything under the 'Classmates' banner and numbered them, as opposed to in Japan where they aren't numbered and just exists as related/sequels to the original first book.
@Demelza: I know what you mean. The (very lovely) French edition (from Hana) just issued this as Sora & Hana alongside Doukyusei, O.B. and then Blanc. Hana also - very helpfully - tell you which issue of OPERA each chapter came from, along with the date e.g. :
Chapitre 1 Hara et Sora OPERA Vol. 18 decembre 2009 so you can see how it fits into the wider picture of the world of these characters if you want to.

But I'm still very glad that Seven Seas have brought this title to an English-speaking readership at last - as I think I prefer it, overall, to the main series. (Is this heresy?) :p
 
@Demelza: I know what you mean. The (very lovely) French edition (from Hana) just issued this as Sora & Hana alongside Doukyusei, O.B. and then Blanc. Hana also - very helpfully - tell you which issue of OPERA each chapter came from, along with the date e.g. :
Chapitre 1 Hara et Sora OPERA Vol. 18 decembre 2009 so you can see how it fits into the wider picture of the world of these characters if you want to.

It would have been so much better if Seven Seas had kept those dates in too! 😥

But I'm still very glad that Seven Seas have brought this title to an English-speaking readership at last - as I think I prefer it, overall, to the main series. (Is this heresy?) :p
I think I prefer this one to the main series as well honestly. More recently the Classmates world has started to remind me of Blue Sky Complex, perhaps because they're both moving beyond the high school setting and have similar main characters. And I've just never been as attached to the Classmates protagonist as I am BSC, so a shift onto the teacher for this instalment worked out well since he is one of my favourite characters in this universe. :)
 
More recently the Classmates world has started to remind me of Blue Sky Complex, perhaps because they're both moving beyond the high school setting and have similar main characters. And I've just never been as attached to the Classmates protagonist as I am BSC, so a shift onto the teacher for this instalment worked out well since he is one of my favourite characters in this universe. :)
That's a really good comparison - and I think you've highlighted something important there. The characters in Blue Sky Complex are just so much more endearing and believable. I think I've never quite been convinced by the Hikaru x Rihito relationship, much as I admire Asumiko Nakamura as a mangaka, although I still can't quite analyze why. (I really wish there could be a BSC physical release in English!) :)
 
My Love Mix-Up volume 7 (JP)
The Emperor's Lady-In-Waiting is Wanted as a Bride volume 4
A Couple of Cuckoos volume 6
Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to be an Adventurer volume 2 (LN)

Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best volume 1 - An entertaining but somewhat shallow romance series. It focuses more on the idol stuff than the romance and that's fine, but I'd like to see some meaningful progress between the couple as the series goes on. The concept is fun at least so I'll probably be back for volume 2.

Twilight Out of Focus (complete) - Honestly I thought this series would have way too much going on to wrap it all up in a single volume, but it surprised me in that there are very few loose ends and the conclusion was good. Definitely eager to read more if Kodansha brings over the related books.
 
Call Girl in Another World vol 1
Gotta pleasure them all.
Pretty basic plot, a call girl from Japan has to complete a list of different species by pleasuring them so she can get back home. So pretty much the reverse of Interspecies Reviewers where the females were different species. I will give it props for being a modern isekai where the plot is to get home, of all the modern ones I've seen getting back is never mentioned unlike the older ones.
 
The Great Cleric volume 7 (LN)

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard volume 1 - Now that Seven Seas have announced they've licensed the LNs, I might not continue reading the manga. I like it but I'm way more interested in reading the source material seeing as how I've already seen the anime too. 😅

Sensei's Pious Lie volume 1
Girlfriend, Girlfriend volume 1 - Been a while since the anime so felt like it was time to start this ridiculous series.
The Devil is a Part-Timer! volume 16 (LN)
Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie volume 1 (LN)
 
More cultured manga:
Please Put Them On, Takamine-san vol 1
The Girl Who Stripped Through Time.
Takamine-san comes off as very bitchy in a "I'm better than you" kind of way and uses blackmail after one of those tropey accidental trip/sexual grope incidents to get Shirota to be her slave, so in some ways worse than Nagatoro in her first interactions with her male counterpart, but just like Nagatoro, by the end of the volume there is a hint that she likes him, but this goes further in that she may have liked him as far back as elementary school and I'm guessing manufactured the entire string of events that starts the volume using her power in some way.
 
Girlfriend, Girlfriend volumes 2-3
Eromanga Sensei volume 11 (JP) - Just one volume to go! Looks like the manga has found itself a nice stopping point despite the LNs being ongoing, so I should be pretty satisfied with it in the end.
 
Eromanga Sensei volume 12 (JP, complete) - As I thought this ended up being a good conclusion and a good stopping point for the manga. I had a great time reading it and I'm sad Dark Horse dropped the English release, since I think others would have been happy to see where it went in the end without having to resort to other means (like buying it in a whole other language!).

Watari-kun's ****** is About to Collapse volume 2
86 volume 9 (LN)
The Night is Short, Walk on Girl volume 2 (JP)
 
Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend: Roomies and Romance volume 5 (LN, complete) - Not a particularly memorable series and the end pairing was obvious from the start, but it was still entertaining for what it was. Ironically the series was best when it wasn't focused on romance and instead had the two main characters indulging in their hobbies. The author has quite a few romance novels to their name in Japan and I certainly wouldn't mind reading some of those should J-Novel Club bring them over like this one.
I read the preview of this one (volume 1) on Amazon, it's really my type of thing! I love otaku culture, romance and the humour in it was pretty funny imho. I'll hope for it to get published sometime. I'd also be interested to see what else they've wrote if it's similar.
 
Slayers volume 13 (LN)
Flying Witch volume 10
Monologue Woven for You volume 1 - Initially, I thought this was a one-shot and was upset it wasn't revealing the backstory of the MC, but then I noticed the 1 on the cover and saw there are two more volumes in JP so all is well! An interesting story from the author of Bloom Into You, I'm certainly eager to see how things develop in the next book.

Infinite Dendrogram volume 17 (LN)
 
The Emperor's Lady-in-Waiting is Wanted as a Bride volume 4 (LN, Complete) - This was a fun series that maybe ran for a volume or two too long. It could also be that I don't particularly get invested in this author's work since I'm not a huge fan of I Refuse to Be Your Enemy either. I'm glad I read it but yeah, just okay.

Takane and Hana volume 8
Kaguya-sama: Love is War volume 6
Natsume's Book of Friends volume 6
The Corner of the Schoolhouse (one-shot, complete) - An extra from the back of that volume of Natsume. Was a nice read.
 
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody ch 84

Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest ch 102 - 103

Houkago no Goumon Shoujo ch 114 - 116

How Not to Summon a Demon Lord ch 81.1 - 81.2

In Another World With My Smartphone ch 64

Karakai Jouzu no (Moto) Takagi-san ch 217 - 218

Slave Harem in the Labyrinth of the Other World ch 56

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime ch 93

The Princess Knight is a Classmate! ch 45

The Rising of the Shield Hero ch 85
 
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Today I read Alice in Bishounen-Land volume 1 and I was NOT ready for how absurdly hilarious this manga was.

I actually bought it today, went to a store to pick up my reserved Skip and Loafer vol 3.
Checked out the new restocks and the title caught my eye. Otome/gacha game theme? Check. Listed as a romance on the back? Check.
It fit my interests so I bought it. I didn't expect much but decided to read it right away.

The first few pages... I was starting to question my purchase a bit, it was kinda making me cringe.
But the rest? I was not ready. This should have been labelled a comedy rather than romance because the gags are constant and (to me) hilarious. Normally a lot of humour falls flat on me but I loved it. The guys are all VERY unique and really make it.
It pokes fun at bishie/idol game tropes aswell as gacha games and the characters are absurd in an amazing way. It's one of the most ridiculous manga I've read and I had so much fun, I can't wait for volume 2.
 
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