What have you been reading this week? - July 23, 2023

Started in on Delicious in Dungeon today, after seeing someone recommend it here a couple weeks back. I was bit put off by the simplistic art style at first, but it's grown on me, and the colorful characters are an absolute riot! I've already gone out for the second volume, and I'm sure I'll be putting more in my B&N cart soon.

I also started reading Shy last week. I've only read the first volume so far, but I'm enjoying it. It's about a super shy, unconfident girl who moonlights as an equally shy, unconfident super hero, among a few other heroes scattered across the world. Based on the cover art and some of the story elements (plus I think the author stated they were really into Power Rangers as a kid), it's got a kinda super sentai-ish vibe, which I'm not normally into, but I'm enjoying the ride so far.

Other honorable mentions include Goblin Slayer vol 12 (finally!), and Chained Soldier (haven't gotten to it yet but I've heard good things).

just finished reading yofukashi no uta, now waiting for new chapters to release. started binging chainsaw man in the meantime and it's going great!

edit: binged chainsaw man

Caught up with one I just stumbled across - Himegasaki Sakurako wa Kyoumo Fubin Kawaii! (Sakurako Himegasaki is Still Pitiably Cute Today).

It's basically a deconstruction of every romcom/harem trope in existence, all mashed together into one great big ball of stupidly funny craziness, and lots of fun.

And of course a bunch of updates to ongoing things, most notably the final chapter of Tugeneko's glorious Ueno-san wa Bukiyou.

Read the first volume of Secrets of the silent witch, which is based on a LN (4th volume is out today, check it out). Mainly read it because I like novels, but it is well-drawn too. The artist quite likes moka pots for some reason. There are more moka pots per volume than in most cooking manga.

Anyway, the plot. First of all, the official description:

THE SHIEST WITCH YOU'LL EVER MEET! Monica Everett, the Silent Witch, is the only mage in the world who can use unchanted magecraft, a true hero who singlehandedly defeated a legendary black dragon. However, this young genius is actually…super-duper shy! That's right: She learned to cast spells silently just to avoid speaking in public, and despite her power, she has zero self-confidence. Now Monica has been tasked with secretly guarding the second prince. Can she keep it together as she faces both the evil forces targeting the prince and the terrors of social interaction?

It's a fantasy shoujo and not an isekai, but it takes a lot of tropes from otome isekai (primarily villainesses, which is a popular fad in-universe). Overall it's a heartwarming story with some comedy, and MC working on her social anxiety and befriending people in general.

I've started reading Sensei wa Koi wo Oshierarenai again. It's been a pleasant read so far and I don't really know what else to say.

Have a great day everyone!

Downloaded Tachiyomi since Mahoro-chan isn't managing to pick up all the SJ titles and I'm not going back to reddit. Discovered Tokyo Underworld and Kuchi ga Saketemo.

Nothing right now, but trying to get into mangas. Without knowing much about what's good (or knowing anything about latest anime), have ordered couple of volumes of Jujutsu Kaisen, and see how it goes.

Also looking at Attack on Titan, but couldn't find the first volume, may get that too.

Edit: BTW why not pin this thread. Should give it more visibility.

Read Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?. Its about a jk that gets isekai'd as a spider. Normally I hate isekai stuff but this one is really good

Started a few new series:

• Of Course, I'll Claim Palimony! - this is a Villainess manga but not isekai or reincarnation. Which makes it surprisingly refreshing

• Shindou Sefiria no Gekokujou Program - another isekai OP baby manga. Nothing too special about it. Caught up and dropped, since the story gotten kinda weird/lame

• Suki na Ko ga Megane wo Wasureta - SoL light romcom. Very similar to Komi-san, Expressionless Kashiwada, etc. Only at chapter 20 but liking it so far

Marriage toxin

I have been reading through Blue Lock and it has been great. I think I left off around chapter 80. I don't actually know much about high level football, but find it hilarious when sports manga in general add "special moves." Prince of Tennis was one of my favorite for this reason.

I just finished Nisekoi and need emotional support for the ending. I have no problem with the way everything concluded, but I cannot accept that last panel to do justice to what we had been anticipating for in the series this whole time. I feel this wasn't enough.

Please, I need someone to talk this over with. I cannot sleep without thinking of how it could have been better had the author added a few chapters of the aftermath. No, the epilogue and the bonus chapters couldn't do it for me. This series has left a deep hole in my heart which I intend to fill but don't know how.

So for the past week (and be advised since sometimes I rant a little bit, I try not to spoil anything important just in case someone is looking into this as recommendations, there are short introductions of what each manga is in case you are interested):

I kind of tried reading but dropped a few chapters in; She Gets Girls Everyday. (it just wasnt my kind of yuri, nor particularly funny) and also The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You.

As for the completed series:

• Read Isekai Walking up to chapter 32. This is another story of someone being transported into another world but has a useless skill and gets kicked out of the Hero party but then it turns out the skill was really OP, here the skill being that he gains xp for every single step he takes. It was mid, there were some interesting ideas i did like, like the parallel thinking ability being used to sleep like a dolphin or ingredients like a butterfly that was actually a honey plant, but it felt generic and it didn't manage to shake out that feeling.

• Read Villager A Wants to Save the Villainess No Matter What!, read up to chapter 17. Its a villainess story where someone gets transported into another world, the twist here is that the protagonist is reincarnated as a commoner but he has to save the heroine else the political turmoil will end his and his mothers life. There were a few things to highlight, for example how much time the protagonist spends preparing before the events of the game he was transported into come. I also liked the surrounding cast, especially the adventurers that are all a likeable bunch. But this manga constantly made me irritated, it is a typical villainess story where the protagonist gets sent into a game where he needs to save the "villainess" so that the country doesnt enter a civil war, but here lies the whole problem I have with this series. The game it is supposedly based on is barely a game at all and would be incredibly shitty and boring if it existed, its supposed to be a romance but the main path gets innocent people killed for the whims of the protagonist, you get the villainess killed by "bandits" when she didnt really harass you and also she has 0 support by anyone before she dies, starts a civil war due to you as a commoner dating a prince, which gets another country to take advantage of that and invade... and that is supposed to be the desirable ending??? I like the villainess genre specifically because it is usually intelligent in its usage of tropes and a lot of the time manages to turn situations that seemed justified into seriously messed up just by shining a different perspective into the story, but that is not the case here since the story that is behind all this, im referring to the game of course, is bad for badness sake, just so that the protagonist can complain. Its like a cheap imitation of what makes villainess great since instead of taking actual common situations and flipping them here it just creates artificial obvious problems that a 4 year old could understand are wrong so that the protagonist can complain about them and be justified in attacking the princes later... Its a shame because I was hyped for this one.

Im currrently reading:

• My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World!, currently up to 19 of 59 current chapters. Its about this corporate drone who dies and gets transported to another world, he has the class of a tamer which is considered pretty useless but makes friend of some slimes and upon reaching a cabin in the woods encounters a lot of books that give him a lot of power, making him into a sage. He is unaware of how powerful he has become and the story kind of starts from then (this is like half of the first chapter) For now its another ultra OP isekai chapter, although his dispassionate attitude towards this new world has annoyed me a lot. But the Slime personality are cute and likeable and there are a lot of things going on in the background. Here and there it has showed a few interesting ideas so I will probably try to finish it by tomorrow.

• I’m Really Not the Devil’s Lackey, currently up to 41 of 93 released chapters. Its a misunderstandings based comedy where a guy makes a wish to a demon to own all the books in the world, he gets transported to another world with London-esque post industrial revolution aesthetics where there are mutants and some crazy magical entities. He is oblivious to all of this and sees the visitors as normal people, to whom he always tries to help by recommending books to them. The setting was incredible although the story itself has made me a bit disappointed in terms of the comedy aspect of it all, and I also feel it really doesn explain anything well about the world.