Best New Manga of August 2018

RWBY: Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 2: Mirror Mirror, by Various
The second volume of a quartet of RWBY manga focuses on Weiss Schnee, a girl from a wealthy family who has set aside a life of luxury—and the many suitors who are after her fortune—in order to join the monster fighting quartet. Weiss is book-smart, serious, and a tad suspicious of others. She’s also tough, a formidable adversary, and intensely loyal. The first volume in the series, RWBY: Official Manga Anthology, Vol. 1: Red Like Roses, focuses on Ruby, while this one centers on Weiss. Both are standalone collections of short stories, a treat for fans of the series, and a nice introduction for those who are encountering it for the first time.

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 1, by Okura and Coma Hashii
Romance novels often take place in a frictionless world in which the only conflict is that between the two would-be lovers, plus, at most, one or two carefully contained subplots. That Blue Sky Feeling is interesting precisely because it doesn’t do that. Instead, it acknowledges the difficulties that gay teenagers face in school even as it’s also a pretty cool, if slow-moving, romance. Noshiro, a transfer student, has no trouble making friends in his new school, but he immediately notices that another student, Sanada, seems to have no friends. He soon finds out why: word around the school is that Sanada is gay. Noshiro decides to be friends with him anyway, but Sanada is as cool and standoffish as Noshiro is gregarious. There aren’t exactly a lot of surprises in this story, but the way unfolds feels genuine.

Garrison Girl: An Attack on Titan Novel, by Rachel Aaron
There have been plenty of novels based in the world of Attack on Titan, but this is the first one that has not been imported from Japan. You don’t have to be a fan of the series to enjoy Garrison Girl, which features an original character, Rosalie Dumarque, who has left her privileged life behind to join a garrison and fight the Titans. She doesn’t waste any time mixing it up with the giant people-eaters, and between battles, she develops sort of camaraderie with her Garrison mates that is one of the draws of the original series.

Black Torch, Vol. 1, by Tsuyoshi Takaki
Jiro has had the ability to talk to animals since he was a child. That, along with his innate compassion for the creatures, gets him in trouble when he rescues an injured cat that turns out to be a mononoke (spirit). Soon, he has melded with the cat, acquired some unexpected powers, and has gone on the run from a shadowy government organization. This first volume moves quickly, and by the end, we are well into a complicated, action-packed story.

My Hero Academia, Vol. 14, by Kohei Horikoshi
The hard feelings between Midoriya and Bakugo have risen to the surface, and this volume starts with them duking it out. That fight gets them put on lockdown, so they have to miss the first few days of school. When they return, there is exciting news: older UA students do work studies, and because of the constantly evolving threats, even first-year students may be allowed to take part. When the top three students in the school pay a visit to explain how it works, though, they aren’t exactly what the students of Class 1A expected. Meanwhile, there’s a new villain in town, which means there’s a new threat to the superheroes—and to the students of UA.

Slum Wolf, by Tadao Tsuge
Slum Wolf is a self-contained collection of short stories, written in the 1960s and 1970s and set in a Tokyo slum. Eschewing tight plotting and clever denouements, Tsuge instead presents a series of lowlife vignettes featuring thugs, prostitutes, down-at-the-heels salary men, and an array of other characters drinking too much and fighting too hard. We arrive in the middle of every story and depart before the end. Even Tsuge’s art is elliptical, often leaving out part of a face or depicting a character as a profile in shadow. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts, though, because in the end, Slum Wolf is a powerful portrait of a particular time and place, as much a depiction of internal as external life. Drawn and Quarterly has published another collection of Tsuge’s works, Trash Market, and recently announced they will publish multiple volumes of manga by his brother Yoshiharu Tsuge. The Tsuge brothers are two of the most important creators in the gekiga movement, which focused on darker themes than most of the manga of the time and was aimed at an adult audience.

Final Fantasy Lost Stranger, Vol. 1, by Hazuki Minase
Here’s an interesting spin on the trapped-in-the-game genre. Final Fantasy fan Sasaki Shogo has just landed a gig at Square Enix, but his excitement turns to disappointment when he realizes his job has nothing to do with his favorite game. As he is pouring out his troubles to his sister, who also works there, they are interrupted by a runaway truck—and suddenly Sasaki is plunged into the world of Final Fantasy, with only his wits, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the game, to help him survive.

The Manga Guide to Cryptography, by Masaaki Mitani, Shinichi Sato, Idero Hinoki, and Verte Corp.
The manga guides, published in English by No Starch Press, make difficult subjects comprehensible by explaining them clearly and embedding them in a fictional story always relies on familiar elements—think of it as manga comfort food. In this volume, a detective has to solve a crime in which the mysteries are cipher codes. Along the way, he encounters and explains a variety of different types of ciphers, from simple letter substitutions to sophisticated algorithms. There is even an explanation of public key encryption technology. While the plot may not be the most original, this is a fairly painless way to learn a lot about the subject in a short time.

Ultra Kaiju Humanization Project feat.POP Comic code, Vol. 1, by POP, Shun Kazakami
If you are the sort of person who wonders “What would happen if Ultraman fought cute girls instead of monsters?” this manga is for you. Would-be conqueror of earth Alien Mefilas wakes up after battle with Ultraman to find that he is a she—a teenage girl, to be precise. What’s more, the other kaiju from the series have gone through the same transformation. That’s right: this book has taken the villains from the Ultraman franchise and turned them all into cute girls. Will this make it more or less likely that they will conquer the earth? Who knows, but it will be fun finding out.

Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer), Vol. 1, by Tsukikage
The war against the Demon Lord has been going on for 10 years, and mankind is becoming desperate—all the more so because its warriors are hopelessly incompetent. Enter a priest from another land, a fierce and powerful fighter who must bring together this ragtag crew, humanity’s last hope. And when your last hope hangs on a sword fighter who doesn’t know what she’s doing, a mage with a limited range of skills, and a priest who has zero confidence in the other two, things are desperate indeed. This is an illustrated light novel.

Chio’s School Road, Vol. 1, by Tadataka Kawasaki
Incredible as it may seem, Tadataka Kawasaki has spun seven volumes—and counting—out of a simple premise: the humorous misadventures of a student on the way to school. Chio, heroine of our story, mixes it up with motorcycle gang, turns to parkour when she’s running late, and finds herself in all manner of sticky situations. The anime based on this manga is available on Crunchyroll.

Fireworks, Should We See It from the Side or the Bottom?, by Hitoshi One
Every manga reader knows that summer means fireworks, and fireworks mean romance. This light novel has fireworks, romance, and a supernatural spin reminiscent of Groundhog Day. Norimichi’s friends want him to go with them to a local lighthouse to see the fireworks “from the side.” Then the girl he has a crush on suddenly wants to get serious—but nothing goes as he planned. So he makes a wish: to live this day over again and get it right this time.

Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 6, by Sui Ishida
At this point, we are pretty far from the original premise of Tokyo Ghoul, but the series keeps barreling along with plenty of action and surprises. Haise Sasaki, the main character, heads up a squad of ghoul investigators who have adapted some of the ghouls unique anatomical weapons for human use. As the action ramps up, Sasaki has been injured, and now must face the ghosts of his past. With 10 more volumes to go, though, this story is far from wrapping up.

Vampire Knight: Memories, Vol. 2, by Matsuri Hino
What happened during Kaname’s thousand-year nap? Plenty! This is the second volume of short stories based on the high-school vampire saga Vampire Knight, That follow what happened to the children of Yuki and Zero, as well as a host of other characters. There’s plenty in here for fans of the original series like, although those who have haven’t read it may find it tough going without knowing what went before.