Yokai Rental Shop (Rank 3.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas

Volumes: 4/4 (Complete), In Print

Shoujo (reads like), Yaoi Interest

Genre: Yokai, Supernatural, Fighting

Summary: Hiiragi thought he had no family left in the world, but on her deathbed, his mother told him that he had an older half-brother, Karasu. He goes to the Pet Shop that Karasu owns to meet him, only to discover the Pet Shop that seems to sell exotic animals is actually just a front for an even rarer service- a Yokai Rental Shop! For an exorbitant sum of money, a customer can rent a yokai to grant any wish. At first Hiiragi is determined to shut down this dangerous scam, but soon is swept up in Karasu’s plan to get revenge on their father- who is still alive!

Review: This is such a strange manga that mixes and matches several genres, I barely know where to start. I expected this manga to be more like the mangaka’s other most popular work, Nightmare Inspector, which is a series of mostly short stories around the theme of helping customers with their nightmares. The beginning of Yokai Rental Shop series was very similar at first, starting off with 4 short stories around the theme of “being careful of what you wish for.” These stories were enjoyable cautionary tales and I loved the Yokai, which are drawn differently in a Japanese brush painting inspired style. Yokai inspired stories can be so fun, they’re fascinating, often intelligent monsters/spirits that can be good, evil or anywhere in between and they have bizarre special abilities. 

But partway through the second volume, the story takes a sharp turn and changes its focus to the two half brothers as they try to rescue a young girl who was kidnapped by their father to be his bride. While there are a few more Yokai that are featured in the later volumes, the plot gets hijacked into being about the father of the two brothers. It becomes a story about two half-human, half-yokai brothers rebelling against their powerful and cruel father, who seeks to breed the ultimate half-human, half-yokai hybrid to survive climate change, funnily enough.

While I thought the rebellion plot itself was sort of interesting, I was disappointed that from that point on the Yokai become helpless pawns in the struggle between the brothers and their father, and are no longer the focus of the story.

But the thing that bothered me the most is how this manga mashes up Shoujo, Shounen and Yaoi and somehow creates a manga that won’t please many readers at all. The artstyle is very Shoujo, the main characters are all very feminine pretty boys, including even their Father. But it lacks the introspection, character development and the focus on the feelings and the relationships of the characters like Shoujo has. And while there’s plenty of fighting like a Shounen manga, yet it lacks the strategy and determination like Shounen manga has. And finally while there’s a lot of Boy’s Love subtext enough to make those who like to ship characters together happy, it’s not actually a Yaoi romance. Even if it’s got two pretty boys who would die for each other and sometimes tearfully hug, and swear to be there for each other, it’s all technically non-romantic, which is honestly weird.

If you've read this far, and you're not put off from reading it and want to know how the ending was, it was fine. For Shoujo I would say it's a normal happy ending. I enjoyed it but wished there was more to it.

Recommended: TLDR; All in all fans of Nightmare Inspector are probably going to be disappointed that this is totally different. Shoujo and/or Yaoi readers might find something of interest in this beautifully illustrated manga about two half-brothers rebelling against their cruel, powerful father, but it’s lack of romance may be a turn off.

Age Rating: PG13: lots of blood, some violence but very little gore.

Other Works by this Mangaka: Nightmare Inspector (Shoujo, reads like)

Mushroom Girls in Love (Rank 3.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas

Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), In Print

Yuri

Genre: Fantasy, Scifi, Romance

Summary: The Mushroom Folk are an all female tribe of Mushroom/Human hybrids who live simply and mostly peacefully in the forests of giant mushrooms. They herd docile fungi they call Cattle, and are ruled in small kingdoms where only the elites know how to read and write. In this fantastical setting, a simple herder mushroom girl Arriala falls in love and marries an elite scribe mushroom girl Erriela, the first marriage in the village in 10 years. Most ordinary mushroom folk reproduce by budding, but the two of them want to try the other way of making children. Unfortunately, they discover their mushroom genes are not compatible leaving Erriela unable to walk. Meanwhile the 3rd Princess has fallen for Erriela and orders her kidnapping. Can Arriala rescue her wife?

Review: This is kind of an unusual series, a curious one volume work from the mangaka of A Centaur’s Life. On the plus side, the artwork is amazingly imaginative and impressively detailed, in a look that kind of reminds me of Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind with its detailed, nature inspired fantasy look. The mushroom folk are kind of fairy-like creatures, looking like miniature people living in a primitive society in the middle of a giant mushroom forest.

The setting is rich and interestingly based on a combination of mushroom biology and in a fungi based ecosystem and a primitive caste-based society and a monarchy. The mangaka put in a lot of thought and research into this comic about mushroom folk society, and there is a wealth of interesting details, mostly in optional paragraphs of text between the comic chapters. If you are the kind of person who is interested in imaginative fictional worlds, then honestly I thought these were interesting, but I know a lot of readers are just here for the Yuri.

Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say the central Yuri story is not really particularly good. The characters are not very fleshed out and the story is really lacking in romance, even though it is supposed to be one. The early beginning of the domestic life between the two main characters is sweet, but we don’t get much of it before Erriela is attacked and then kidnapped. The rest of the story is about her rescue.

Recommended: TLDR; All in all, this short one volume work may be of interest to those looking for unusual nature inspired artwork and the interesting fungi based primitive society of fairy-like mushroom girls. But as a story it lacks interesting characters and is not very romantic.

Age Rating: PG13: lots of boobs and cleavage but they look like they’re wearing bikini tops and skirts most of the time. Some very mild violence. Arachnophobia warning: this manga features a huge hairy tarantula-like spider in it.

LGBT Friendly: 3/10: A bunch of readers disliked the whole division of Mushroom Girls into "Mommies and Daddies" although this is based on mushroom sexual reproduction and isn't intended to be societal commentary. Also, their society encourages divorce for couples unable to have children.

Other Works from this Mangaka in English: A Centaur's Life (Seinen/Yuri)

World End’s Harem (Rank 3.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas

Volumes: 8+/12+ (Ongoing), In Print

Shounen

Genre: Smut, Ecchi, Harem, Scifi, Conspiracy

      

Summary: It’s 2040, and the world has progressed into a utopia, with much of the labor automated by machines and AIs. Medical Student Reito Mizuhara was told he has a potentially lethal medical condition called Cellular Sclerosis, but if he goes into cryosleep for 5 years, then there should be a cure by the time he wakes up. Before he goes into cryosleep, he confesses his love for his childhood friend and fellow researcher, Elisa Tachibana. At first she runs off, but then later comes back to see him before he goes to sleep and tells him she will wait for him.

He wakes up 5 years later and is cured, only to discover a virus has radically changed the world- killing off nearly all the world’s men! He and 4 other male patients who were treated for Cellular Sclerosis are the world’s only immune men. The new government, called the United Women, wants him and the other immune men to repopulate the world, and somehow conveniently artificial insemination has not been successful. Reito though, wants to save his virginity to stay true to Elisa, even though she’s been missing for 3 years and her whereabouts are unknown. He decides to spend his time searching for a cure for the Man Killer Virus, but soon he finds a hidden message left to him from Elisa, that says, the virus was artificially created!

Review: I don’t normally read ecchi harem titles, especially ones like this one, which are basically soft porn. For the record, I was really hoping this would be more Scifi like Y the Last Man or something similar but unfortunately, it is not.

First there’s the main plot as Reito Mizuhara tries to find a cure for the MK virus, as UW agents try to seduce him into making babies as he tries to save his virginity for his girlfriend. Honestly I really hoped this interesting conspiracy style plot about the virus would redeem this manga somehow, however as of volume 8, this plot has been moving incredibly slowly. The few hints that have dropped so far are making me lose hope this is going to be worth waiting for. In volume 8 he finally meets Elisa, but they haven’t even talked yet.

A good portion of the plot so far centers around two of the immune guys, Kyoji Hino and Doi Shota who enthusiastically take on the role of baby making. This plot has them living out many of their sexual fantasies, and Doi Shota in particular was a badly bullied short guy before everything happened. That being said even though these male sexual fantasies make up the bulk of the plot so far, they have been fairly controversial among harem fans. The first controversy is the introduction of a couple underage girl characters. And honestly, I don’t have much to say about it. It’s just gross that they’re included in this story even though thankfully they are not main characters. The second controversy is the “Harem” part. Normal harem plots have multiple women falling in love with the main guy, and in this comic that’s weirdly missing. As it is, having a baby with an immune man guarantees a life of luxury and salvation from living in the slums. So even though these guys have plenty of willing sexual partners, it’s about as romantic and sexy as a fake green card marriage.

The introduction of the 4th Cellular Sclerosis Patient takes a very dark turn as he is abducted by a group of female cultists and raped repeatedly. I get this plot is supposed to show the dark side of the new all women society, but still, it’s pretty gross, especially how it’s depicted.

(This series is ongoing, currently 8 volumes have been released. This review will be updated later as more volumes are out.)

Recommended: All in all this ongoing Ecchi Harem series has a lot of interested readers, but there are many complaints about it, from having a couple underage girls in the harem, the lack of romance in the harem part and also many complaints about the main character, Reito, who seems to have taken a wrong turn somewhere and ended up in the wrong manga.

Age Rating: R for explicit sex. Also female on male rape and sexual assault.

Related Series: World's End Harem - Fantasia (fantasy spinoff)

Juana and the Dragonewt’s Seven Kingdoms (Rank 3)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 3/3 (Complete), In Print
Shounen/Shoujo (reads like)
Genre: Raising a Child, Adventure, Older Brother/Younger Sister Relationship, Family, Dragons, Scifi

Summary: In a land where Dragon People have evolved into being the dominant lifeforms, there are those who study the ancient creatures known as humans, or as they call them, Muernandes. One day Nid, a young Dragon boy, is exploring the old human ruins, only to stumble across a young human girl, Juana, who hatches out of an egg! She can talk but only speaks Spanish*. Nid, who isn’t a whole lot older than she is, finds himself in a predicament as suddenly he finds himself responsible for her! Only thing is, he’s kind of a coward, and a hapless Dragon who refuses to eat meat. Can he grow up now that someone is counting on him? And where did she come from anyway? (*I would bet a lot that she originally spoke in English, but it did make sense to change it.)

Review: It’s a very charming manga, and very underrated and doesn't deserve to be this obscure, simply because it’s a children’s story but was labeled as Seinen. This is not Seinen at all. It reads like a combination of a children’s adventure story and a story about growing up. The art is so cute and between that and the story starring two children, it’s really hard to believe it ran in a Seinen magazine. That being said for a children's story, it's somewhat wordy and uses a lot of vocabulary, so perhaps YA would be more appropriate.

There honestly isn’t a lot to the story. A lot of the panels and the scenes are spent establishing more about the world they live in. It’s kind of a combination of a tour of the Seven Kingdoms (though the story only covers a few of them briefly), Nid’s story about why he ran away from his family, and his struggles with eating meat. And lastly Juana’s story, although for a lot of it she's just a helpless, but sweet little girl who doesn’t understand the strange world she’s emerged into. Together the two of them set out to solve the mystery of where she came from and why. Meanwhile, a nasty Circus sets its sights on Juana and wants her to be the star of their Freak Show. Lastly, the ending is pure Scifi, and was all round a solid ending to this charming little manga. 

I admit, I picked this up for the Dragons, but it’s kind of a mixed bag. On the plus side, there’s literally like a dragon on every page and tons of dragons everywhere. On the downside, they wear clothes and act a lot like humans, they don’t fly (except one minor character) and they don’t breathe fire. Still overall, I enjoyed it anyway, but I also like cute dragons. If you prefer your dragons to be more fearsome, then you probably won’t enjoy this.

Recommended: If you want to read a sweet YA story about an unusual Older Brother and Younger Sister pair as they travel together, and discover more about their world and themselves, then it’s a great read.

Age Rating: PG: Nothing objectionable in here except the brief slavery from the circus. Also Nid’s father wears a baggy dress (this is not why he left home btw), it’s really not offensive at all, and blink and you’ll miss it. 

I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up! (Rank 2.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas

Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), In Print

Yuri

Genre: Romance

Summary: Machi Morimoto is sick of her demanding mother trying to set her up with guys, and no matter who she dates, her mother always finds something wrong with them. She’s so tired of it all, that she wants to get married just so her mother can stop bothering her about it. Her best friend, Agaya Hana, who was her junior back when they were in high school together, suggests marrying her! She accepts and they now have a civil union together in the city of Shibuya. Can this sham marriage turn real? 

The main story is only about 120 pages, and then there’s an unrelated yuri short story:

Anaerobic Love: Oshimi Rika admires her roommate, Ishii Mutsumi, who is the top athlete in track at their ultra competitive athlete high school. Can she realize her feelings in time to cheer her on?

Review: This is fun and sweet one volume manga. I think it’s interesting how manga readers rated this title as being average, but casual readers looking for LGBT comics rated this series quite a lot higher. I decided to split the difference and rank it in between. Overall it’s a fairly accessible and enjoyable yuri romance for first time readers but it’s also more or less what you would expect from the title.

I did see one minority review complain about consent as Agaya is a bit pushy in the beginning, trying to have a bath together even though at that point they’re still just friends. But she backs off and then the story is very sweet as Machi slowly starts to develop feelings for Agaya, and also starts to find more confidence in herself thanks to Agaya’s influence. Then as Agaya starts to lose hope that anything will ever come out of this sham marriage as she starts thinking about her ex, can Machi realize her feelings in time for her to stay?

Recommended: If you like the concept of the series, give it a try.

LGBT Friendly: 8/10

Age Rating: PG13 some kissing and making out.

Other Works from this mangaka in English: (from most to least popular)

• NTR: Netsuzou Trap
• Syrup: A Yuri Anthology (1 story)
• Code Geass - Queen (1 story in a tribute anthology)
• Manage My Love (Josei/Smut)

My Solo Exchange Diary (Rank 2.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 2/2 (Complete), In Print
Shoujo/Josei
Genre: Memoir

Summary: In this sequel to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, the difficult life of Nagata Kabi continues. After a suggestion from her editor, she bases her new comic on the idea on a diary written in the format of letters addressed to herself. After an initial spending spree using up money her parents’ saved for her, she finds the experience left her feeling empty, and she resolves that maybe things will be better if she can fulfill her goals of making money and living independently of her parents.

She moves out but is immediately overwhelmed by loneliness, which oddly also makes her feel cold as well. She goes back to hiring the lesbian escort agency again but this time just wants to be cuddled. It does help temporarily but soon she’s back to being lonely and depressed. Meanwhile, the publication of My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness is straining her already difficult relationship with her parents. All she wants to find her own way to independent adulthood herself, and to love and be loved. Why are things so complicated?

Review: It’s really a very difficult read in more than one way. The first is that simply, as a story, it lacks focus. The first book was centered around her decision to hire a lesbian escort, and that is the central focus of the first book. These two volumes on the other hand, are simply stories and thoughts from her life, and while they do have a bit of a theme as she struggles with identity, finding happiness and struggling with relationships with others, there isn’t really anything that ties them together. But to some degree, personally it didn’t bother me that much because I’m OK with it just being a Diary, and life rarely organizes itself into neat stories anyway.

But perhaps the most difficult part of these books is the way she takes two steps forward and three steps backwards. There are a number of subplots in the book, her moving out, trying to be financially independent, her battle with depression, trying to date, her unhealthy codependent relationship with her mother, her trying to be accepted by her unsupportive parents as a lesbian and also a manga artist, and so on. Basically none of these things resolve, and the only improvement at best is marginal.

By the end of the two books, she’s actually in even worse shape than she started, as she ends up in a mental hospital. That being said, it's still worth a read as her unique art style has become even more polished and her thoughts about her life are very soul searched and incredibly honest. Just don't expect the story to be anything other than a difficult struggle with mental health.

Recommended: Despite these two books being a sequel of sorts to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, My Solo Exchange Diary is more about depression and her difficult relationship with her parents than her sexuality. All in all it's a good read, but honestly kind of depressing as she is unable to make much progress in most of the things that matter to her.

Prequel: My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness
Sequel: My Alcoholic Escape from Reality

Age Rating: Older Teen some nudity, self-harm, suicide attempt, alcoholism

My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness (rank 2)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), In Print
Yuri
Genre: LGBT, Memoir

Summary: In this intimate memoir from a lesbian manga artist, Nagata Kabi, she talks with a naked honesty about the events in her life that lead to her hiring a escort from a lesbian escort agency, an act that for her was half desperation and yet also trying to take control of her life. She details the period of time in her life after dropping out of college, feeling like it wasn’t something she wanted to do, but not knowing what she actually wanted to do. After struggling in and out of part time jobs, a couple interviews ask her what she's passionate about, which she answers about how she’s always wanted to make manga, which led to the creation of this comic.

She tackles a lot of difficult subjects in her life, from discussing her budding lesbian sexuality, her craving for touch, reassurance, unconditional love that she doesn’t know how to get in her life. She struggles with becoming an adult and also the hallmarks of adulthood, for her parents this means having a full time job, for her it means not being a sexless virgin anymore. Meanwhile she struggles with depression and anxiety, her stress induced pulling out hair from her head, cutting herself and eating disorders as she tries valiantly over and over again to try and turn her life around.

Review: This manga is the top lesbian manga out there and also a very rare candid autobiographical memoir from an actual lesbian. (Compared to most Yuri comics which are written generally by straight men). It caused a bit of a splash when released and won some awards, and was particularly very well received by the LGBT community.

I’m very fond of this comic, it’s an up close and personal look at the inside of someone’s life, and an unusual viewpoint you don’t see often, especially in manga. And the mixture of the minimalist artwork and the incredibly personal details really makes for a soul-baring, and fascinating read. It’s also so incredibly intensely honest as she shares many things that most people wouldn’t even admit to their closest friends.

That being said, it’s also really difficult to read as she struggles so much, and tries so hard, and yet the story emotionally is kind of like falling in a pit and trying to get out of it over and over again. But this particular book ends on a high note, full of hope, and the majority of it is about her experience with the escort agency, and her early success publishing the comic about it online. 

The thing is though, this book is technically the first in a series, followed by My Solo Exchange Diary, and then followed by the forthcoming My Alcoholic Escape from Reality. Honestly if you want a happy, upbeat ending and a more focused, stronger story, I would just read this one and stop. Anyone who knows anything about depression, troubled families, conservative Asian culture, knows that her problems won’t be solved just by hiring an escort.

Highly Recommended: While this autobiographical memoir will be of most interest to those in the LGBT community, it’s of such a rare intimate and soul-baring quality that I would recommend it to general readers as well. That being said, though this is the first book in a series, I would recommend only reading only this one if you want a focused story and a hopeful ending.

Age Rating: R: This is sexually explicit, although not like hentai or anything. 

LGBT Friendly: 10/10

Sequels: My Solo Exchange Diary, followed by My Alcoholic Escape from Reality

Go For It! Nakamura! (rank 2)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), In Print
Yaoi
Genre: Comedy, Romance

Summary: Shy, awkward Nakamura fell in love with his classmate, Hirose at first sight. He wants to try to get to know Hirose better and be his friend, but he is clumsy, intense, and maybe a little too obsessed about his favorite animal, the octopus. Can he become friends with Hirose? Or more like, can he even manage a conversation with Hirose?

Review: This is the funniest and most popular Yaoi manga that exists in English that I know of. It’s very entertaining and works really well as a blend of visual humor in an old style that reminds me a lot of early Ranma ½, and a lot of situational humor as Nakamura tries to make a good impression on his crush. The very short stories are pretty varied and the jokes are non stop funny. A lot of the humor is also very good-natured and gently supportive of Nakamura’s and Hirose’s relationship, although by the end Nakamura only manages to become friends.

Recommended: I would even recommend this to normal non-yaoi readers, it’s funny and sweet and very positive overall.

LGBT friendly: 9/10

Age Rating: PG13: There is one brief scene of Nakamura imagining Hirose getting groped by an Octopus. But otherwise it’s pretty innocent.

Other works by this Mangaka in English: Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart (Yaoi, Drama)

Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer (rank 2)

Publisher: Seven Seas (books), Crunchyroll (digital manga)
Volumes: 5 (2-in-1) Omnibuses (Complete but very OOP), 10/10 (Digital Complete)
Shounen (reads like)
Genre: Fighting, Comedy, Friendship, Romance, Scifi

Summary: One morning college student Yuuhi Amamiya wakes up to find a talking lizard in his room and a power ring on his finger. He is told he was chosen to be one of 12 Knights to protect the Princess and save the earth from the evil wizard. Up in the sky, a gigantic hammer hangs above the Earth, waiting for the strange outcome of this life or death battle.

At first Yuuhi wants nothing to do with his destiny, thanks to his abusive Grandfather, who always punished him. His grandfather always told him not to make any friends or any enemies either, so Yuuhi has avoided making any relationships at all. He would rather see this rotten world destroyed. Upon meeting the Princess, he finds out that she too wants to destroy the world- after saving it first. They make a pact to destroy the world together after saving it first with the other Knights. But when the time comes, can he really do it? Is there anything worth living for in this awful world?

Review: This is a strange manga. Back in the day when it first was translated, it was really controversial in a love it or hate it way, particularly for the beginning. The beginning is a deliberate trope subverting story and stars a main character who seems to know he’s the protagonist of a Shounen manga and acts accordingly. So there’s a lot of the humor that plays on subverting these tropes and tossing in the whole antihero thing into the mix. A lot of readers disliked this as well as the artwork, which is admittedly on somewhat on the crude and simplistic side.

Personally, I thought it was wickedly funny, but I can see how it wouldn’t fit everyone’s tastes. That being said, as time went on this series eventually became very popular as it found its audience and also is one of the highest rated complete series that is still available on Crunchyroll manga. 

After the initial comedic start, the story takes a dark turn, and then after a while, the story basically settles in a more typical Shounen pattern of defeating enemies, getting stronger, while revealing more and more of the backstories of each character as they train together.

The characters are the other half of the controversy. They all start kind of flat and generic at first but as time goes on, they fill out more and become more interesting and have more depth. I can’t say they all get equal treatment though, after all there are 12 Knights plus the Princess, the Wizard and the Wizard’s minions, so some get much more time in the spotlight than others.

Recommended: All in all, it’s a strong story about growing up, making peace with the things you can’t change, the value of making friendships and loving others. My only complaint was mostly how the beginning comedy evaporated part way through the series and it became 100% serious. Also he’s a great writer IMO, but not a very good artist. But still, it’s a great read and definitely worth a try for most Shounen readers and some Seinen readers. 

Age Rating: PG13: for some poorly drawn fan service, underwear shots and mild nudity. Also a moderate amount of violence but not that graphic.

Other works by this mangaka in English: (from most to least popular): Spirit Circle, Planet With, Trigun Multiple Bullets (1 story in a tribute anthology)

Beauty and the Beast Girl (rank 2.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 1/1 (Complete), In Print
Yuri
Genre: Romance

Summary: One day the lonely half-monster young woman Heath, who has given up on having relationships with humans, gets an unexpected second chance when a blind girl, Lily, wanders into the deep woods.

Review: The first half of the story is a very sweet story about the blind girl Lily who accepts the half monster girl Heath as the way she is. Their growing friendship eventually turns into love. It's a very sweet story about acceptance, both accepting others and accepting yourself, even if you are a monster. Even if you've done something wrong.

The second half of the story got a bit clunkier as the mangaka tried to introduce other characters to cause conflict between the couple- namely Lily's protective servant and her father. This part of the story was alright, but it could have been done better.

Recommended: Overall, a sweet short Yuri story about acceptance

LGBT score: 7/10: It's a bit clunky of a story, but the themes of acceptance really make this one more something that might resonate with general readers looking for LGBT stories.

Age Rating: PG13: some kissing and making out, and some mild non-explicit nudity in the bath.

Made in Abyss (rank 2)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes 1-8+ (Ongoing), In Print (Read: 1-8)
Seinen
Genre: Adventure, Body Horror, Horror, Scifi

Summary: An enormous pit called the Abyss lies next to the city of Oosu, and inside is a complex labyrinth of caves so deep and dangerous that no one has ever been to the bottom and survived to tell the tale. Inside the caves are a number of dangers, both from the dangerous creatures that live inside it, as well as an ancient force-field that causes ill effects upon ascending each layer. 

Inside the Abyss lies many tantalizing mysteries of lost technologies called artifacts, which the cave raiders collect and sell. One of these young cave raider trainees, a girl named Rico, wishes to meet her mother, a famous cave raider, who might be at the bottom of the Abyss. One day when exploring the Abyss, she meets a young boy robot who saves her life. She names him Reg since he has lost his memory. Together they go on a journey to the bottom of the Abyss in hopes of finding what they have lost.

Review: Don’t be mistaken by the cute artwork, this is definitely Seinen and for older readers. The story starts out very innocent and like a fun adventure story, but then quickly takes a very dark horrifying turn around volume 3 and then only gets more horrifying after that.

The story has a really fascinating adventure setting that sounds amazing to explore. The Abyss is both beautiful and deadly and it is filled with all sorts of almost magical artifacts that can do amazing things. As well as all sorts of interesting creatures that live inside the Abyss, some harmless, but many deadly and horrifying. And as Rico and Reg get deeper into the depths, they learn more and more of the dark secrets of the Abyss.

Recommended: This unique blend of adventure and horror is a really interesting read so far, and highly recommended. But be aware of the Horror part. Unfortunately this series is coming out really slowly, but at least each volume has a lot happen in each one.

Not Recommended: Please do not give this to children unless you want them to have nightmares.

Age Rating: Older Teen: a lot of horror content of the slowly eaten alive variety, or being corrupted into something else. There’s also a few vaguely inappropriate scenes with child nudity (but only one brief scene that’s really out there)

Mythical Beast Investigator (rank 3.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 2/2 (Complete), In Print
Shounen
Genre: Fantasy, Mythical Creatures

Summary: This is a collection of short stories about Ferry, a young girl who is a Mythical Beast Investigator in training. She travels with her protector, a beast named Kushuna, who looks like a rabbit gentleman in a top hat. They are tasked with keeping the peace between humans and magical beasts, and she also tries to educate the populace to understand these creatures instead of fearing them or trying to kill them. 

Review: I really wanted to like this manga because it deals with mythical creatures, but unfortunately it has several glaring issues with it.

First of all, this manga has an annoying inconsistent art style. It has about three different art styles, one a more typical cute manga style, mostly for the girl. Then there is a jagged, dark, shadowy exaggerated style used for some of the creatures, including Kushuna. Lastly a more generic fantasy manga style for the various villagers and etc. in the manga. I would have greatly preferred they had picked one style and stuck with it. The different art styles clash terribly and it looks even worse when they’re all in the same story, and sometimes even on the same page.

Secondly, the other major thing that bothered me was the lack of chemistry between Ferry and Kushuna. They are supposed to be the main characters, and I think the writer was trying to shoot for like a sort of princess and her knight relationship, or maybe more like a priestess and a bodyguard sort of relationship. Instead Ferry comes across as kind of friendly but also impersonal to Kushuna, and meanwhile Kushuna considers her to be absolute perfection and his reason for living. To me, it came across as more creepy and stalker than a protector. 

The Mythical Beasts stories overall were good, but only make up volume one and ⅓ of volume 2. The remainder of the volume 2 deals with Ferry and Kushuna and how they met. The Mythical Beasts stories cover a Wyvern, a very short story about a Basilisk egg, a Mermaid, the Water Horse Eachuisage (aka. Kelpie), and lastly the Cait Sith. I enjoyed these stories but wish they had been more of these and less of the focus on Ferry and Kushuna.

Recommended: TLDR; Overall there are still some good stories here of the mythical beasts stories, but I did feel like they were drowned out by the manga’s insistent focus on Ferry and Kushuna. I would really recommend something else like Ancient Magus’ Bride for more magic and more mythical creatures over this. 

Age Rating: PG

Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey (rank 2)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 5/5 (Complete), In Print
Everyone
Genre: Memoir, Creating Manga, Art School

Summary: The well known mangaka of Princess Jellyfish, Akiko Higashimura, recounts her journey from a young full-of-herself artist in high school, to her beginning days at Sensei’s classroom honing her skills trying to get into Art School, then Art School, and then finally her long awaited manga debut. And then her early career from her first manga serialization to other one shot works. All this is written as a sort of letter to her Sensei, who became an important mentor and also a sort of a father figure in her life. 

Review: It’s a mixture of a brutal honesty towards her younger, arrogant and somewhat selfish self as she reflects back on her youth, but also strangely inspirational as well. As the story progresses, she believes less and less in the benefits of having talent, and more in hard work, knowledge and self-discipline. 

Her art teacher, addressed as Sensei in the manga, is quite a character. He looks like a Yakuza, has a mean face, and smacks his students with a bamboo sword and demands they redraw statue busts in charcoal, until he’s satisfied it’s their best work. But he also deeply cares about his students, and tries to ensure their success in any way he can. At one point in the story, he even helps her past a nervous breakdown when she can’t start her paintings for art school. Dropping everything and driving more than an hour in blistering heat without a car, on a moped, just to help her past her mental block. (If this sounds like a major spoiler, it isn't there's a ton of stories and this is just one of many)

She also talks about many many other things in her life- from trying to deal with pressure (or failing), her thoughts on looking for inspiration, drawing upon life experiences, her love of a monthly manga magazine, Bouquet, her favorite manga creators who inspired her, and so on. As well her friends, family and her college boyfriend. 

Recommended: All in all, this is highly recommended. Of course it is probably of most interest to either fans of Princess Jellyfish, or those wondering what art school in Japan is like, or those who are interested in what goes into creating manga and how her career got started.

But it also works very well as a memoir and a bittersweet true story about the mentor-student relationship between her and Sensei on its own merits.

I would also give this to any aspiring high school artists who think they can get by on just talent and smack some sense into them, the way Sensei smacked sense into her*. Also, there is nothing objectionable for younger readers in here. (* figuratively speaking, please don't actually smack them)

Age Rating: PG: some nude models in art class

Other works by this mangaka in English (from Most to Least popular): Princess Jellyfish, Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Stories from 3.11 (1 story in an Anthology)

Lord Marksman and Vanadis (rank 3)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 10/10 (Complete), In Print
Shounen
Genre: War, Fighting, Ecchi, Harem

Summary: Tigre is the young lord of a small territory in Brune, called Alsace, considered a weak backwater nowhere. When a conflict breaks out between Brune and it’s powerful neighbor, Zhcted, he gets sent to the front lines. They lose and he is captured by one of the seven war maidens (known as the Vanadis) of Zhcted, Eleonora. These super powerful fighting women each wield a legendary magic weapon. Lucky for him, Tigre’s skilled archery catches the eye of Eleonora. She decides to help him save Alsace, but soon they are beset by enemies from all sides, as the Brune civil war breaks out. Can they save Alsace?

Review: If I had to pick a single word to describe this series, it would be that it feels generic. It takes place in a medieval fantasy-like world with the only magic in the hands of those who wield legendary weapons. There are some dragons but they aren’t that powerful and while there are some hints there may be other races, for the most part it’s just humans fighting each other divided into classic divisions like infantry, archers and cavalry.

The vast majority of the manga is the different battles and the battle strategy for each one. Some of the strategies were fairly clever. A couple were unbelievable. But for the most part, they were interesting. Then aside from the battles, there is the story of Tigre, as he somehow manages to capture the heart of almost every single girl he meets, including most of the war maidens. He also is the heir to a sleeping legendary weapon, the Black Bow.

In the end, they fight to put a stop to the Brune Civil War against the other Lords who engineered it in the first place. The ending was fine, but as you would expect, it’s left open for a sequel.

This series has an anime series and Light Novels as well. The original story is the Light Novels, which is completed at 18 volumes. The manga and anime both only adapt the first arc, volumes 1-5 from the LNs. Currently in order of ratings, the Light Novels are considered the best, then the manga, and the anime last. Apparently the anime suffered from being rushed and having pacing and scene changing issues. At least in that comparison I can say the manga was much better.

Recommended: A lot of the fans from the anime adaptation would probably be interested in this, since the Light Novels are not available officially in English. For everyone else, I’d say if you’re interested in the battle strategies, it’s about ¾ of the content. And then the Ecchi Harem plot is the other ¼ of the story.

Not Recommended: If you have read a lot of Shounen already then I wouldn’t recommend this one at all. Honestly I’d go recommend many of the Shounen Jump titles over this one. But if you haven’t read that much Shounen, then you might still enjoy this.

Age Rating: PG13: A lot of ecchi content, underwear shots, cleavage, etc. Also a lot of violence but not graphic.

Ojojojo (rank 3)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes 4/4 (Complete) (2in1 Omnibuses), In Print
Shounen
Genre: Friendship, Romance, 4Koma

Summary: Haru Jigokumeguri comes from a super wealthy and famous family. Her classmates think she’s arrogant and stuck up, and she is a little, but the truth is she plays it up to hide her awkwardness and fear of rejection. In reality, she desperately wants to make friends, but doesn’t know how to. Fortunately the class weirdo, Tsurezure Kawayanagi, doesn’t mind her bad attitude at all, and before they know it they are friends! Only… she might like him more than just friends. Is there a future for this mismatched couple?

Review: In the beginning the jokes were kind of repetitive and dragged a bit. A lot of the early jokes are about the girl being arrogant and insufferable, and the guy doesn't really care a lot about anything. But it improved and as more is revealed, it we learn more about our main two characters and what they are thinking and how they got to be this way.

By volume 3 the series actually had turned into something really interesting and very entertaining, and the romance between the two characters blooms, and the cast is rounded out so the jokes are much more varied. By volume 4, I started to wish it was longer. Funny enough, adding a larger cast of characters actually brings out more interesting qualities in the main characters and adds more depth to the series.

All in all, I would recommend this series if you have some patience. And the ending was hands down great.

Recommended: If you want to read a sweet 4-Koma series about an unusual couple, this gets way better and is worth the read. Also, if you pace yourself at the beginning, you'll probably enjoy the beginning more than binge reading it.

Age Rating: PG: It's a very pure and innocent love story. Some very mild violence.

Other Works by this mangaka in English (from most to least popular):

• Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid (Seinen/Yuri)
• Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life (Seinen/Yuri)
• Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary (Seinen)
• Mononoke Sharing (Seinen)

My Father is a Unicorn (rank 3.5)

Publisher: Seven Seas
Volumes: 1 (Complete), In Print
Shounen
Genre: Comedy, (Relationship) Father and Son

Summary: Issei’s mother has some surprising news for him: she remarried… a unicorn! And then she promptly leaves on a business trip, leaving him alone with his new step father. As a Unicorn, Masaru is completely at a loss when it comes to normal human city life. He can transform between human, centaur and unicorn but he can’t figure out how to separate the trash correctly. He doesn’t even know what humans eat! Can Masaru be accepted by Issei, his neighbors and others when he can barely remember to hide his unicorn form?

Review: This is a kind of an odd story. At its heart it’s a “fish out of water” type story about a foreign guy trying to adapt to a new life as a sort of house husband, staying home and looking after the teen-aged kid while the mother goes to work. And trying to do the shopping, cooking and the chores around the house.

In very traditional Japan a house husband is much rarer than it is in the west. So basically half the comedy is supposed to be because it’s a man trying to fill the wife's role, and then the other half of the comedy is a horse trying to fill a human’s role. But if you think it’s nothing particularly interesting to have the husband stay home, then you’re just left with a bunch of horse jokes. While it was decently entertaining, the comedy part really falls flat to a western audience, IMO.

That being said, I found how hard Masaru tries to be accepted by Issei and his neighbors, the other housewives, to be kind of an unexpectedly endearing story. But the unicorn part of the story really felt almost kind of unnecessary, just a sort of a running gag.

Recommended: If you’re looking for a story about a step father-son relationship, or house husbands, I think you might find something here.

Not Recommended: I have a hard time imagining Unicorn fans liking this, it’s not the sort of enchanted magical story I usually see that goes with Unicorns. If anything it seems too mundane.

Age Rating: PG13: there's a weird scene with Masaru and Issei's teen girl classmates feeling attraction for each other as unicorns are supposed to be drawn by pure maidens. It was a unicorn legend based joke that didn't work well at all.