On this batch of manga we have a man and cat travelling during a zombie apocalypse, a shy girl longing to come out of her shell, a supernatural spin on a cat cafe, a professional assassin nesting at home, a romantic comedy of crushes and misunderstandings, two men on a journey of self discovery, and some award winning speculative fiction about 'cyber-persons'.
WALKING CAT VIEW OF ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE OMNIBUS GN VOL 01
(W) Tomo Kitaoka (A) Tomo Kitaoka
Civilization is dead. Zombies roam the earth. When Jin, a young man trying to survive the chaos of this new reality, rescues a cat from certain death, the pair sets off on a quest to find Jin's wife, who may yet be alive. Originally published as three volumes in Japan, this engrossing and surprising seinen tale will be available in English for the first time in one oversized omnibus.
AUG212370
Why this caught my eye:
I don't think I've ever read a cat-centric zombie apocalypse story, and that sort of sounds like a chocolate in your peanut butter sort of situation so it'll probably be fun.
RENT A REALLY SHY GIRLFRIEND GN VOL 01
(W) Reiji Miyajima (A) Yuke Kinami
The official spinoff manga of Rent-A-Girlfriend features fan-favorite Sumi, the shy girl longing to come out of her shell. Sumi Sakurasawa is shy. Even simple things, like going for a donut with someone or calling out to a stranger that they've dropped something, paralyze her with fear. Her strategy? Become a "rent-a-girlfriend" and make some cash while she practices her people skills! But raising the stakes even higher might not be the foolproof solution she thought it was. And even worse, to keep the gig, she needs five-star reviews, and that means no freezing up or freaking out on a date. How is that even possible?!
SEP212066
Why this caught my eye:
I've not read the main title that this is a spinoff of, and the subject has plenty of potential to be kinda creepy, but the pitch actually reads as kind of cute.
I AM A CAT BARISTA GN VOL 01
(W) Hiro Maijima (A) Hiro Maijima
Take a coffee break in this supernatural spin on a cat cafe! For some people, the daily grind of city life is exhausting. Yet somewhere between busy streets there's a mysterious cat cafe that can only be found by weary souls. What's on the menu? A delicious cup of coffee, specially brewed for each customer... by a cat barista! SEP212096
Why this caught my eye:
Cats + food manga (or coffee manga) also seems like fairly easy formula for sales success. I like the idea though that the magical cafe only appears to exceptionally depressed people.
MY LOVEY DOVEY WIFE IS A STONE COLD KILLER GN VOL 01
(W) Donten Kosaka (A) Donten Kosaka
In this newlywed comedy, a man tries to settle down with his sweet wife... who happens to be a contract killer! Meet Setsuna. She's cute, sexy, and deadly. When she's not out murdering people as a professional assassin, she's nesting at home, trying to adjust to a domestic life with her new husband. She skewers ingredients for dinner, draws a knife on unwanted solicitors, and sleeps with one eye open, just in case enemies sneak in. Her lovestruck husband doesn't ask her a lot of questions about her day job, so this arrangement can work if love conquers all, right?
SEP212108
Why this caught my eye:
This does sort of feel like it's just a gender flip take on The Way of the House Husband, but I'm down to see what else it may bring to the table.
NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY FURI SAN IS SCARY GN VOL 01
(W) Seiichi Kinoue (A) Seiichi Kinoue
An ordinary high school boy is terrified of his scary-looking (but secretly sweet!) yankii girl classmate in a romantic comedy of crushes and misunderstandings. Furi Youko definitely looks like a delinquent: she's got a tough-girl image that wouldn't be out of place in a gang. When Taira Namito finds himself sitting next to her in his high school class, he's immediately afraid of her. But as it turns out, Furi's rough-and-tumble exterior hides a wholesome, totally cute person underneath - and she's got the hots for Taira. (Although that part goes right over his head.) One misunderstanding leads to another in this romantic comedy about a clueless dude and the adorable, slightly terrifying affections of the tough girl by his side!
SEP212113
Why this caught my eye:
I have a soft spot for 'terrifying but sweet' as a personality trait, so I kinda have to check this out on principle.
RESTART AFTER COMING BACK HOME GN
(W) Cocomi (A) Cocomi
Hot-headed Kozuka Mitsuomi left his home in the country to try to lead a sophisticated life in Tokyo. Unfortunately, at age 25, he returns home in disgrace, having been fired from his job. As he tries to rediscover himself in the rural area he once called home, he meets Kumai Yamato, a man about his age who was adopted into his community while Mitsuomi was away. The sweet and even-tempered Yamato is hiding his own pain, and as the two men connect, they start a journey together. SEP212116
Why this caught my eye:
This just sounded like it could be fairly charming as a quarter life crisis, identity searching type of tale.
ROBO SAPIENS TALES OF TOMORROW OMNIBUS
(W) Toranosuke Shimada (A) Toranosuke Shimada
In the future, robots are more than machines. Autonomous "cyber-persons" with A.I. brains are part of society, interacting with humans and growing their own culture. In fact, they may be surpassing humans, as biological homo sapiens and their own world have begun to die out. But are humans truly disappearing, or are robots the new "humans"? This speculative fiction tale of interconnected stories was awarded the Division Grand Prize at the 2020 Japan Media Arts Festival. Get the complete manga series in English in this special omnibus edition.
SEP212117
Why this caught my eye:
AI identity politics is totally my jam, and this looks and sounds like it could be a really fascinating read.
That's it for this batch, we're gonna do a little side visit to kaiju centric books on the next installment!