The Best New Manga of October 2018

Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection, by Junji Ito
Setting the master of Japanese horror on one of the classic horror stories of all time was sheer genius. Ito follows Mary Shelley’s novel, including the framing tale of an explorer who travels to the North Pole in search of scientific knowledge, which gives him the opportunity to shift between deadpan realism and writhing horror—exactly the kind of contrast he does best. This volume also collects six short stories about Oshikiri, a high school student who lives in a house that’s a portal to a parallel world, allowing all sorts of supernatural shenanigans to take place.

Versailles of the Dead, Vol. 1, by Kumiko Suekane
Ever since the days of Rose of Versailles, the Japanese have loved a good French Revolution story, but this series puts a couple of hard spins on these familiar tales of minuets and powdered wigs. First, they add zombies, because everything’s better with zombies, and then they do a gender swap, with Marie Antoinette’s brother Albert taking her place at court after she perishes in a zombie attack. Like the original version of the French Revolution wasn’t bloodthirsty enough! I cannot improve on the last line of the publisher’s blurb, so here it is: “Now at the heart of the French royal court, Albert must face the undead horrors as the man who would be queen.”

Zo Zo Zombie, Vol. 1, by Yasunari Nagatoshi
Here’s something we don’t see enough of—manga for middle-grade readers. Zo Zo Zombie is a gag comedy about a boy zombie, and it’s intended for all ages—there’s an anime as well, Zo Zo Zombie-Kun. Instead of body horror, this manga gives us body humor, with Zombie-kun taking advantage of his ability to detach and repurpose various bodily organs. This would be a good read for fans of Dave Scheidt’s Wrapped Up or Mariah McCourt and Aaron Alexovich’s Stitched, two non-manga graphic novels in a similar spooky vein.

Boarding School Juliet, Vol. 1, by Yousuke Kaneda
What if Romeo and Juliet were both students at an elite boarding school? That’s the idea behind this rom-com shonen manga set in a world where two countries, the Nation of Touwa and the Principality of West, are perpetually at war—but nonetheless, the elite students from both countries attend Dahlia Academy. Sure enough, Romio Inizuka of Touwa finds himself very attracted to Juliet Persia of West, but the romance brings with it all sorts of complications—including the need to keep the relationship a secret from pretty much everyone.

Macbeth: Manga Classics, by William Shakespeare
This is a straight-up adaptation of The Scottish Play, except for the part where everyone looks like a manga character. Udon has been doing a nice job of adapting various classics in their Manga Classics series, and it’s particularly logical to present Shakespeare’s works this way, as they were intended for a visual medium, the stage, rather than simply to be read as texts.

Fairy Tale Battle Royale, Vol. 1, by Soraho Ina
A bullied teenager is transported to a fairy-tale world—but it’s a trip to the dark side in Fairy Tale Battle Royale (OK, the title should be a tip-off), where instead of sitting on a toadstool sipping tea from acorn cups, the characters are all trying to off each other. It starts with ninth-grader Kuninaka Aoba signing a magical contract and being whisked through a rabbit hole, but the Wonderland she emerges in is filled with battles and rivalries.

NieR:Automata: Long Story Short, by Jun Eishima and Yoko Taro
The action/roleplay game NieR: Automata was released in early 2017 and quickly garnered a fan following; the game site Polygon named it one of the games of the year. The lead character is a combat android, and the game follows her and a companion as they fight battle robots and other enemies in a post-apocalyptic world. NieR: Automata: Long Story Short is the first of two prose works based on the game (and co-written by game creator Yoko Taro); this one is a novel that follows the storyline of the game (but with additional details) and the next one, NieR:Automata: Short Story Long,is a collection of short stories set in the world of the game.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 2,by Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court
This volume kicks off with a trio of villains who use their quirk (Glide and Slide) to flip up women’s skirts and steal their panties (which seems physically impossible, but maybe that’s part of the quirk) under the guise of being revolutionaries. After Koichi’s sensei, Knuckleduster, dispatches them, Koichi gets an offer from a real hero to be part of a specialized team. This series has a different plotline from the original My Hero Academia but includes a lot of the ingredients that make it so great, including a plucky hero, weird superpowers, and plenty of action.

My Hero Academia, Vol. 15, by Kohei Horikoshi
And speaking of the original… Midoriya begins his work-study with third-year student Togata, a.k.a. Lemillion, with an encounter with the leader of the local yakuza (organized crime family). While Midoriya tries to rescue a scared little girl, Lemillion is more interested in their covert mission and not blowing their cover. Back at school, Midoriya is having a hard time, especially when he has a heart-to-heart with All Might about why he was chosen to inherit All Might’s quirk—and what lies in the future. As always, this volume alternates poignant moments with superhero action, a formula that works really well in Horikoshi’s hands.

Tokyo Ghoul: re, Vol. 7, by Sui Ishida
Some new parallels to the real world emerge in this volume, as a video of novelist Sen Takatsuki stating that she is a ghoul goes viral—coincidentally, just as her new novel comes out. And the book itself makes some cryptic accusations about the anti-ghoul squad CCG, which would be explosive, if true. One thing you can say about this series—it’s long, but it’s never boring!

Mirai, by Mamoru Hosoda
Miraiis the latest animated film by director Mamoru Hosoda, wh has given us Wolf Children, The Boy and the Beast, and Summer Wars. It’s a story about a four-year-old boy who is jealous of his baby sister’s hold on his parents’ affections. The twist is that his sister, now grown up, travels back in time to pay him a visit and set things straight. Hosoda’s anime lend themselves nicely to adaptations in other media; Mirai is a novelization of the film, which will be released in North America in late November.