The Best New Manga of June 2018

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 1, by Akiko Higashimura
The creator of Princess Jellyfish is back with a new romantic comedy about a thirtysomething woman living in the big city who is beginning to fear she will never get married. Rinko is a successful soap opera writer with her own office and an assistant, but on her 33rd birthday, she starts to realize that life’s possibilities are no longer as unlimited as they once seemed. She drowns her sorrows with two friends at a pub—but things start getting weird when the snacks start talking to her. One of the other bar patrons starts needling her as well, and soon he’s causing all sorts of trouble. It’s a bit like Sex and the City, except that (so far, anyway) no one is having sex. With Higashimura’s easygoing style, it’s a great summer read (and if you can’t get enough, the later volumes are already available on the Nook).

My Solo Exchange Diary, Vol. 1 by Nagata Kabi
In her earlier manga, My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness, Nagata Kabi recounted her unhappy life up to that point: She suffered from depression, body image problems, and loneliness, which made her unable to keep a job (even one below her skill level) or start a relationship. She finally summoned up the courage to hire an escort service for her first sexual experience, and while that didn’t go very well, it opened up the door to a new life—especially when her diary comic about it became popular on an online message board. The sequel follows what happens next, as Nagata learns that all her problems have not been solved. Nagata’s story of her struggles with mental illness and just not fitting in with the society around her will resonate with many readers, no matter what their situation.

Satan’s Secretary, Vol. 1, by Kamotsu Kamunabe
When Satan wakes from his long sleep, he sends his minions out to kidnap some humans to help him destroy the world. What they come back with is more than they bargained for: The king’s secretary, a prim, bespectacled, and extremely efficient young woman whose cold-blooded calculations soon have even the Lord of Darkness himself becoming sympathetic toward humanity. She is relentlessly on task, even when the topic turns to demons mating with humans (when she gets the tentacle demon to admit it’s not as easy as it seems). This spoof spins the standard clichés of fantasy tales and office life into a funny, easy-to-read gag manga.

The Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 1, by Kagiji Kumanomata
In sharp contrast with Satan’s Secretary, Princess Syalis reacts to being kidnapped by the Demon King by… taking a nap. Or trying to, at least. It’s hard to sleep on poor-quality bedding, or with a crown on, so she prowls the castle, gathering materials from the demons who are supposed to be guarding her to craft the perfect sleeping chamber and mix up a sleeping potion. As cute as Satan’s Secretary is sexy, this is a fun twist on fantasy tropes featuring a heroine who just isn’t going to go along with anyone’s plans, not even when her captor is a Demon King.

Shibuya Goldfish, Vol. 1, by Aoi Hiroumi
Don’t be misled by the title into thinking this is going to be some kind of cute urban drama. True, it’s set in the trendy Tokyo neighborhood of Shibuya, but the plot is straight out of Junji Ito: An average guy is going about his average-guy business until suddenly the neighborhood is overtaken by man-eating goldfish. They can float through the air, and they quickly flock around all the popular Shibuya sites, including the Hachiko statue (memorializing a dog who waited every day for his master to come off the train… even years after his master died). With an apocalyptic plot and an urban-hipster setting, this looks like a good choice for fans of I Am a Hero or Tokyo Ghoul.

Tokyo Ghoul:re, Vol. 5, by Sui Ishida
And speaking of Tokyo Ghoul, here comes the latest volume of Tokyo Ghoul:re, which continues Sui Ishida’s original story of humans fighting man-eating monsters in the streets of Tokyo into a new story arc. The Commission on Counter Ghoul (CCG) has implanted ghoul organs into human investigators, the Q Squad, giving them ghoul powers—but the experiment carries many risks as well. That comes to the forefront in this volume, as the Q Squad are pushed farther than ever before—and things start to unravel.

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 19, by Kazue Kato
This series started with a twisted premise—a son of Satan who decides to become an exorcist—and it has gotten more complex as it goes along. Rin and his fellow students at True Cross academy are supposed to be learning the art of exorcism, but they don’t have much time to study as the place seems to be in constant turmoil. The latest: Amaimon, the brother of Mephisto Pheles, is back and while the students are dealing with him, dark secrets are being uncovered in the lower recesses of the school. Who knows, maybe it’s all one big practical exam, but at any rate, Kato brings plenty of action to this heartfelt story.

My Hero Academia, Vol. 13, by Kohei Horikoshi
The UA students must dive into a simulated disaster in the second part of their licensing exam, and they are graded—mercilessly!—by the actors who are playing the victims. That wouldn’t seem to leave much time for interpersonal drama, especially after an oversized villain and his minions arrive on the scene, but it’s happening anyway, with some friction between the UA students and those from their rival, Shiketsu High. This volume keeps up the pace with plenty of the ingredients that have made this series so popular: Weird superpowers wielded by only slightly less weird characters.

Splatoon, Vol. 3, by Sankichi Hinodeya
In a town called Inkopolis, teams of quirky teenagers defend and conquer turf by spraying and splashing the field with colored inks. You would think this wouldn’t translate well to a black-and-white manga, but you would be wrong: Hinodeya’s lively linework and the characters’ quirky designs make this a completely satisfying read, especially (but not exclusively) for fans of the game.

Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale, Vol. 1: Squad Jam, by Reki Kawahara, Keiichi Sigsawa, and Kohaku Kuroboshi
It seems like a million years since the original Sword Art Online introduced the concept of the trapped-in-the-game manga to American readers, but the franchise stays fresh by putting new spins on the basic idea. This latest light novel arc features Kohiruimaki Karen, who is self-conscious about being over six feet tall, and because the whole point of role-playing games is that you can be whoever you like, she enters the game of Gun Gale as a short, feisty, all-pink character named Ren who even sports a pink gun—and she knows how to use it, too.

True Tenchi Muyo!, Vol. 1, by Masaki Kajishima and Yousuke Kuroda
This is the first volume in a trilogy of light novels aimed firmly at fans of the Tenchi Muyo anime. The novels flesh out the backstories of the characters and tell new stories set in the world of the anime. This first volume tells the story of Emperor Azusa and also what happened after the end of the second OVA series.