I’ve kept up with reading and checking out a lot of new to me manga. Some of them, they’ve been great, other ones, generally worth passing on. Normally I write something bigger about ones I dive into it, but some of these I’ve just started to dip into for either reason. Instead of breaking them all down, let’s see which ones stand out in a short little review and round-up.

Manga Round-up

Living Room Matsunaga-san

This one is one that my wife really liked. It reminds me some of Short Cake Cake which we read a while ago. But it is a cute one and one that I need to get back to. Basically a story of a girl who is getting displaced into some housing for school. And it’s mixed housing and falls in love. There is a twist on it that she falls in love with someone older than her, high schooler to young professional, which is not that last time you’ll see that on the list. It’s not the greatest twist to things, but the manga is cute with a lot of heart.

Horimiya

Another romance manga, this is one that I picked out. Horimiya is the story of two high school students who are very different at high school than at home. Hori is popular but never goes out to do anything because she needs to go home to take care of her little brother. Miyamura is a quite looking kid at school who is less so outside of school. It’s a very cute story as they bounce around liking each other, but also doesn’t drag out that point too long. One that I likely will review completely, like Living Room Matsunaga-san.

Call to Adventure! Defeating Dungeons with my Skill Board

This one is not an Isekai, surprisingly. But it’s a story of dungeons popping up around the real world. And it basically pulling in fantasy and magic in the dungeons. The main character is a low ranked adventurer in real life, but when they find a skill board, basically a skill menu, they now are able to allocate points. How that plays out is fun. And it’s a story type that I like, the real world with monsters that is a twist that I’ve seen in things like Tomb Raider King and Solo Leveling.

Skeleton Knight in Another World

Yup, this is an Isekai. A character who played with a skeleton skin in a MMORPG in the real world passes away. Wakes up finding that they are basically their character, but in world it won’t make sense that they are a skeleton. In fact it’ll make people think they are a monster. A twist on the genre slightly and while a number of the Isekai I’ve read haven’t been great, this one is fun.

The Beginning After the End

Basically a powerful king passes away and is reincarnated as a baby with a lot of powers. The story just kind of goes nowhere on this one. And it’s not one that I plan on keeping up with. I think the issue, for me, is that the main character isn’t likeable and isn’t unlikeable. They are just kind of there, and so much of the story is done through this narration versus actual dialog and being in scenes. It just feels boring and after the first collection, not one that I feel like I need to come back to. The cliffhanger or hook to read more at the end is not good enough.

Love’s In Sight

I like my romance manga, and this isn’t an exception, though I maybe like it less than some others. A legally blind girl, she can make out some shapes, falls for a bad boy. And he falls for her as well because she isn’t scared of him, and now he’s rushing all around to make sure that she is treated like a princess while overcoming the fact that he looks like a bad guy. It’s definitely a lighter romance than some and doesn’t take itself seriously.

The World After the Fall

Another one of those stories like Call to Adventure! where dungeons appear across the world. This one, however, is a whole lot bleaker, and I think works really well for that. If you are a hero you go into the dungeon and you can’t come out. You just need to battle. What is happening to the outside world? Who knows. Has it been over run with monsters? Most likely. And it’s down to one adventurer who is searching for the point of it all. Parts are bleak, parts are great action, and the whole thing has a bigger and weirder story than I expected.

Loner Life in Another World

The main character and his class from school get sucked into an Isekai situation. He just happens to show up after everyone else has picked all of the good skills. Now, turns out that his skills are good as well, just not the standard ones. This is another one that I bounced off of. The writing is not that good, the story wasn’t that compelling, and the main character is awesome and supposed to be likeable, kind of, but he really isn’t. And the rest of the story just kind of stumbles along.

The Eminence in Shadow

This one is just goofy and over the top. Another Isekai, though you forget that fairly quickly, about a character who is over powered, again. But their goal is to just work in the shadows. When they rescue an elf, I believe, they make up an absurd story of what is happening in the world. About how there is a sect who wants to awaken an ancient demon. Turns out that this thing they are making up, and that they think everyone is playing along with, it might just be true. It’s an absurd premise and a fun one.

Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Party Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to an Infinite Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge

Worlds longest title? Yes. Is that the most interesting thing about the manga, possibly. It’s a fantasy setting about a character who is just overpowered. But everyone assumes that they aren’t, and even he assumes that. He’s a human, the race that is the weakest out of all of them and has the least potential. So when he’s betrayed and left for dead, he has to rely on his skill of basically summoning things. Which turns out he can summon amazingly powerful things. But the story is not compelling and the main character is an edge lord not done in an interesting way.

The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes: Ultramarine

This is a short one, one that I can write a review on coming up her because I have read the whole thing. Two misfits, though one should be popular, are brought together by this tunnel. I won’t explain what it does because it’s the crux of the story, though you figure that out early on. It’s a story of loss and melancholy but done with this certain level of beauty to it. And the twists on the story and heartfelt moments are great. One that surprised me in a good way as something different but that I like.

Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!)

Itsuki just want to lead a normal slow life in this fantasy world. After he is brought to this world by a god, he picks a basic skill that will just give him enough money each day to get by. But life has other plans for him and soon he’s mixed up a whole lot more. This is one that intrigued me enough to keep coming back for more. It’s also one that lands on some jokes that just don’t work that well. Such as some of the knowledge that he takes from Earth to bring to this world just kind of falls flat. It’s one that I read some of it, but will I continue?

Final Thoughts

Some hits and misses here, though, I think I did a better job of finding hits this time around. And this isn’t everything that I’ve read. I think that tomorrow it’ll be back for some more manga that I’ve read because some very fun ones still need to get written about. And I think there are a few more duds in there as well that I’ll recommend avoiding. I’ll see how many more there are.

But have you read any good manga recently?

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