Mangaversity

Mangaversity: July 2026

Look! The crevasse!

Welcome one, welcome all, to Mangaversity! Join me as I trawl through the month’s manga releases and pick out what’s hot and what’s not. A perennial special thanks to Zack Davisson for pointing out that my initial name was bad and I should feel bad and that Mangaversity is superior.

July, July, July. A shockingly easy month to create a list for. Not too overly packed with books I want to talk about but not so empty that I struggled with balance. That being said, I did have to cheat a little on the main list and expand it to twelve instead of 10. I’ve been pretty good these last few months of winnowing without even having to use the 11th spot!

Still, it’s a month of transition as we enter the second half of the year and the big new releases dry up in preparation for September. That’s gonna be a tough one.

In other manga news, the American Manga Awards have announced their nominees for the year! Give the nominees a nose and be as baffled as I am by the inclusion of some (not many, but some) volumes that cannot (legally) be read by the public (or voters like moi) yet. A couple of these are indie titles stuck at the whims of printers and printing, so it's hard to fault those books.

Perennial Favorites:

My love for these titles are very well documented and you will not go wrong reading them, though some titles that get featured here come with more caveats than others (“Berserk,” for instance, gets my full endorsement, but is certainly not for everyone.) Because these articles are already so long, I’m streamlining everything that’s not on the main list.

Why aren’t these on the main list even though I love them? There’s only so much I can say about some of these, especially the shonen titles publishing six times a year. I’d rather highlight some new, interesting, weird, and important titles there.

All that said, if you see a title here, assume it’s worth reading and that you should find a copy now. Right now! Go! I see you dawdling.

The Ancient Magus' Bride, Vol. 22
Bungo Stray Dogs, Vol. 27
The Climber, Vol. 6
#Drcl Midnight Children, Vol. 6
- Can you tell I’m a fan of Shin’ichi Sakamoto and his dreamlike, hyper-real approach to storytelling?
Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 27
A Witch's Life in Mongol, Vol. 3
Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 46

Deluxe Den:

With the manga explosion that’s occurred in the last few years, there’s been a corresponding increase in deluxe editions of beloved or classic or obscure manga. These books are ones I think are worth a gander but not necessarily a volume that needs a place on the main list. Some of these are personal favorites of mine, others are notable for one reason or another. All are getting the ~deluxe~ treatment.

Baki the Grappler (Perfect Edition) Vol. 19 & 20
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 7: Steel Ball Run, Vol. 8
The Magnificent Bastard, Vol. 3
Red River (3-In-1 Edition), Vol. 8

Cat Corner:

I see a lot of cat manga when I do this column. It takes every ounce of willpower to not include at least two of these on the list each month. A few months back I realized: I can just make a new section and put the titles and covers here. Cat lovers unite!

Catnaps, Catnaps Everywhere!
The Evil Secret Society of Cats, Vol. 4
Wonder Cats

Caught My Eye:

These are the manga that didn’t make the cut for one reason or another that I still wanted to bring to your attention. Usually so I can make some kind of snarky remark or to help me remember to actually read the dang things so I can have an informed opinion.

The 13th Footprint, Vol. 3
- The mystery deepens. The mystery of why I still haven’t gotten to read volume 2 yet.
Bug Ego, Vol. 2
- I’m excited to see where this goes. Volume 1 was bonkers, with One’s misanthropy filtered through an occult, horror series (more so than “Mob Psycho 100.”)
Centaurs, Vol. 5
- Second to last volume! I should catch up.
Gachiakuta, Vol. 11
- I’ve been told this is where the series gets good. Guess I finally have enough volumes to catch up?
Kingdom, Vol. 9
- I have a feeling we’re starting to get into the volumes where the series kicks it up a couple notches in quality.
Skip and Loafer, Vol. 12
- So cuuuutteeee!
Tales of the Hundred Monsters Next Door, Vol. 3
- Only a hundred monsters? Your sister has tales of two hundred monsters!
That's Not Love, Vol. 2
- Very strong first volume but I’m holding it off the favorites list until I read this one to really get my head around it.

Judging by the Cover:

After a good run, it was time to retire my WTF section. It was basically the same three books (or types of books) each month. So, instead, I’m selecting volumes with excellent and/or baffling covers and putting them here. Will there be snark? Time will tell.

Hunting in Another World with My Elf Wife (Manga) Vol. 7
- I don’t know why the phrase “Elf Wife” makes me laugh so much. There’s something about its usage, particularly here, that hits a specific level of absurdity. The cover isn’t actually all that interesting but it’s maybe the perfect encapsulation of this moment in the genre’s lifespan.
Dinosaur Sanctuary Vol. 8
- Di! No! Saurs! Di! No! Saurs!
Lonely Deaths Lie Thick as Snow. Vol. 3
- Look how brooding this cover is! Guess we’re about to enter The Matrix?

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The List:

12. Now It's Time for Me to Tell You About Young Nastyman

Well, all my hopes of the series being reprinted in full, in order have been dashed as Vertical has decided that they’re just gonna reprint “New World” instead of doing a volume 5 2-in-1 as all the marketing seemed to indicate. Re-reading the announcement, I see now how I got confused. Sneaky, sneaky, Kodansha.

For those who don’t know, “Drops of God” was published by Vertical Comics (possibly before they got acquired by Kodansha) as five, 2-in-1 volumes. The first four covered the first eight volumes of the series but then the fifth, “New World,” jumped ahead to volumes 23 and 24. I get the logic there. It’s a good arc and back then, series were a lot less likely to finish if sales weren’t good. It almost happened to “Vinland Saga!”

However. This is 2026. Manga has never been bigger here. “The Drops of God” got an award-winning series at Apple TV+ and a…well, middling at best anime adaptation. If you’re going to be reprinting a series that’s seen, I presume, enough success to generate a reprint announcement, why not put the whole thing in print with the new translations like you did for “Initial D,” “Ghost in the Shell,” “Mars” and the rest?

With the upcoming re-release of “BECK,” this is basically the last of those original Kodansha X ComiXology rescues that hasn’t gotten the full print re-release treatment. Are you waiting to see how sales are before committing? Well, I sure hope you figure it out or you’re going to end up leaving manga readers as confused as any DC or Marvel fan.

The Drops of God: New World
Written by Tadashi Agi
Illustrated by Shu Okimoto
Published by Vertical Comics

Zooming ahead to a story arc that presents New World wines for a New World audience, this special episode features scenes set in Napa Valley and labels from outside the traditional European production centers. Delectable on its own too, the Apostle revealed is the lucky Seventh.

11. With Powers Comparable to Wonderboy

I’d be lying if I said I picked this for anything other than the cover. I love the way the dragon is rendered and, yeah, I know it won’t look like that inside but damn is it striking.

….OK. I’m also excited about the conceit of a woman trying to become a dragon vet. A dragon vet! What nonsense physiology will we learn about? What fantastical diseases and treatments will Yuna come up with? What psychological torture will Luca be put through at the hands of an academic institution? A time-honored fantasy tradition, if ever there was one. I’m sure we’ll be in good hands.

Luca the Dragon Vet, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Yuna Hirasawa
Published by Kodansha Comics

In the country of Adnogg, people known as dragon vets are responsible for treating the many different types of dragons that inhabit the land. After the death of her father, an army dragon vet, a girl named Luca decides to honor his memory by becoming a dragon vet herself. She enters Cogniel Academy of Dracology, where she and her fellow trainees soon experience all the trials, tribulations...and occasional messes that come with treating creatures many times their size. The road to mastery may be long, but when there's a dragon in need, the dragon vets answer the call!

10. What Powers You Ask?

Another one where the cover is doing a lot of heavy lifting as the premise is pretty standard for a high-school romance book. Sports team crushes. A childhood friend who moved away and is now back. Baseball. I’m expecting a lot of longing looks and bold declarations and sweaty closeups of lips and eyes.

The cover, though, is very tender, which makes me think “Blue Summer Haze” is going to be a lot more melancholic than melodramatic and that is the kind of story I’m looking for. Sports drama plus gay melancholy and fumbling through first loves? Sign me up!

Blue Summer Haze, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Dondon
Published by Kodansha Comics

Makoto's favorite childhood memories are of playing baseball with his best friend and former teammate Shusuke, the catcher of his baseball team. When Shusuke suddenly moved away, Makoto was left devastated, but he clung to the promise of the two of them someday reuniting for the championship game at Koshien Stadium.

Now in high school, Makoto is the ace pitcher of the baseball team, and he and Hokuto, the team's catcher, are an all-star duo. But then Shusuke suddenly transfers back to Makoto's school, and it gets harder and harder for the boys to keep their heads in the game under the scorching heat of the baseball diamond...

9. I Don't Know, How About the Power of Flight

I genuinely didn’t think a second volume of this would come out. I thought it was all gas and smoke. Apparently they’re soliciting a third as well? I just hope my prediction from January doesn’t come true.

Wonder Boy, Vol. 2
Written and Illustrated by Kazumi Yamashita
Translated by Giuseppe Di Martino
Lettered by Rachel Pierce
Published by Yen Press

A chilling suspicion that comes to a small girl in the countryside one day. The world of beautiful crystals, introduced by a peculiar old person. A man whose family is mercilessly slaughtered--could he survive with just the thirst for revenge? ...The feelings these people hold are endlessly profound. Perceiving these truths--a boy, sometimes serene, sometimes perplexed. Existing through all eternity, this boy is only able to glimpse the reality of human existence for a brief instant. The beauty and ugliness of the human heart, drawn by a master of her craft!

8. That Do Anything For Ya?

The first volume of “Boat Life” came out four years ago, which is a dog’s age in this manga market. I guess it’s fitting, seeing as how “Boat Life” is all about a meandering, aimless existence in the wake of WWII. This era, fittingly, looms large in the psyche of both Tsuge brothers.

There’s a special quality to Tsuge’s aimlessness, however. It’s an unromantic portrait of life on the outskirts. I’m so glad to be able to go back.

Boat Life, Vol. 2
Written and Illustrated by Tadao Tsuge
Translated by Iyasu Nagata and Ryan Holmberg
Published by Floating World Comics

Boat Life returns in Volume 2, with novelist Tsuda Kenta continuing to meander between home life, the family jeans shop, and days of solitude on the river. Among this graphic novel's colorful cast of friends, we meet a former manga artist who dives for curiously-shaped stones and sells them from a riverside hut, and an eager producer intent on a film adaptation of one of Tsuda's novels. Unfortunately, Tsuda's health is deteriorating. He learns from the doctor that his liver was damaged by working at a blood bank when he was young. But Kenta continues his dream boat life, while obsessed by an enormous fish. Don't miss the raucous night of Tsuda and his buddies boozing at a local temple. You'll be hard-pressed to find a more honest account in comics of how Japanese felt about life during and after World War II.

7. That's Levitation, Holmes

Speaking of returning, the boys are back! Nakamura has my number and not even 11 omnibi of shorts and gags have dulled my love of Budda and Jesus’s antics here on this mortal plane. Sometimes you just need a goofy couple hours with two fools and their equally ridiculous friends. Plus, it’s coming out right around the time the stories take place for once!

Saint Young Men Omnibus 11
Written and Illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura
Published by Kodansha Comics

Jesus and Buddha's carefree vacation on Earth is abruptly interrupted by orders to return to Heaven--at once! It seems all the miracles they've been using to protect cute little Aiko on her way to school have caused some serious problems... Then, July 7 rolls around: Tanabata, a day when star-crossed lovers come together. But can it be that, this time, not everyone is getting into the romantic spirit?

6. How About the Power to Kill a Yak

One of the scariest manga I’ve ever read was “PTSD Radio.” I regularly think about Nakayama’s ability to unsettle with just a few pages and a single page turn. As it seems like “PTSD Radio” is on a permanent hiatus either because the author was truly being haunted by his own creations or had decided to retire the series and end it on an elaborate, Andy Kaufmann-esque note, I had somewhat given up on seeing any new works of his in English.

Good news on that front! His first (or maybe first big) manga series is now coming out as “Seeds of Anxiety*.” And no, I don’t know what’s up with the asterisk. Get on this before the spooky season rolls around in a few months. Before the safety of distance shrinks too much.

Seeds of Anxiety*, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Masaaki Nakayama
Translated by Stephen Paul
Lettered by Abigail Blackman
Published by Yen Press

In the beginning, this place was filled with someone's memories--sad memories. With the passage of time, those memories break down, and every so often, they creep into our everyday world as...disturbances. Why do they show themselves to us? Perhaps they seek a mouthpiece for their own despair, or something else entirely. When strangeness takes root in a place of woe, the seeds of dread begin to germinate... Horror fans won't want to miss this beloved anthology series!

5. From 200 Yards Away

This was one of the nominees for the American Manga Awards’ “Best New Manga of 2026” category. Seeing as it’s not out yet, it felt appropriate to drop it onto the list. I’m also all for more manga that feature older women as protagonists and this is getting a feature film adaptation by Kyoto Animation! I can’t pass up those bonafides even if I tried.

The Credits Roll Into the Sea, Volume 1
Written and Illustrated by John Tarachine
Translated by Jocelyne Allen
Published by Dark Horse Manga

Just what are you going to do with the rest of your life? It's the question you'll always have to answer, no matter your age. Umiko Chino is a 65 year-old retired woman in mourning for her late husband. Remembering how they used to watch films together, Umiko goes to the movie theater for the first time in years, where she meets Kai, an attractive, ambiguous young man who studies filmmaking at a nearby art school.

They would seem to have nothing in common, except for this--both of them sometimes like to look more at the way the audience reacts to a movie than the movie itself. Kai believes Umiko has the same deep desire he possesses to experience how people respond to something they made... and challenges her to stake the rest of her life discovering that thrill.

Soon Umiko surprises herself by enrolling in the same film school as Kai. But sailing into this new sea, she's suddenly inside the currents of her fellow students' lives, a much younger generation that she struggles to understand, driven by their own passions and their own relationships. Who's really experienced at life, and is it old age or observation that brings wisdom? And does what you're looking for change when you look with your eyes instead of through a camera lens...?

4. With Mind-Bullets!

Paru Itagaki has a fucking strange mind. It’s all over the map! Between “Beastars” and “Sanda,” you never know what’s coming next from her. All the same, I’m down to clown and see where she’s ready to take us this time.

Thinking on it, she does seem concerned with the core of human nature and what it even means to be a person. How does one “become” an adult is another theme that resonates throughout. What does that mean for “Taika’s Reason?”

¯\(ツ)/¯

Taika's Reason, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Paru Itagaki
Published by Viz Media

Due to a declining birth rate, pets are being transformed into humanoid members of society. But are they truly human? Or are humans truly animals?

When misanthrope Ao discovers her pit bull Taika standing over the mauled body of her father, she must decide whether to forgive or forget. Ao isn't ready to lose both her beloved father and her devoted pet, so when her mother has Taika humanized, Ao embraces the new dogperson and even brings him to school with her. There, Taika meets German shepherd Tsunayoshi, an elite police officer, who begins teaching him how to unlearn his canine behaviors and replace them with human customs. Now, to protect himself and Ao, Taika must compete with Tsunayoshi to be the first to track down the source of the mysterious traces of blood in Ao's locker...

3. That’s Telekenisis, Kyle.

I…don’t know what to make of this book but I could not stop laughing when I saw the cover. It’s like…what if “Yu-Gi-Oh” were played with Mahjong and all the characters were real-ass politicians and the conflicts actual diplomatic quandaries? Like…what?! Could you pass up the opportunity to read that?

I didn’t think so.

Reform with No Wasted Draws, Volume 1
Written and Illustrated by Hideki Ohwada
Published by Mahjong Pros

In The Legend of Koizumi, manga artist Hideki Ohwada turns international crisis into direct confrontation, where diplomacy gives way to decisive action and global conflict is settled through high-stakes mahjong. Former Japanese prime minister Junichiro Koizumi faces real-world leaders in escalating contests that test judgment, endurance, and national resolve. Pushed far beyond realism but played with complete seriousness, the story uses deliberate exaggeration to examine leadership under pressure, where positions harden, retreat carries consequences, and escalation becomes inevitable.

2. How about the Power…

This looks. So. Cute. So cute! That’s all I got. That’s all you need! SO CUTE!

Beneath the Fur, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Umi Ruike
Translated by Amanda Haley
Lettered by Madeleine Jose
Published by Yen Press

One day, a fox was ready to pounce on a rabbit, only to receive a confession from its would-be prey. Ignoring the fox's confusion, the rabbit continues to profess, "I love you." As this bold approach takes effect, the fox's hard heart begins, little by little, to soften. Will predator and prey ever be able to coexist...?

1. To Move You.

One of the best manga series out there. I love it deeply and I think one of the reasons it possibly struggles to keep attention is its publishing schedule. If you’ve read these for a while, you may remember I mentioned it back in August 2025 and said I doubted it was coming out that month. Well, as you can see, it didn’t. And then some.

Denpa is maybe the worst publisher out there when it comes to keeping deadlines. I regularly expect manga to come out a year or more from its solicited publication date, which is exceptionally frustrating as someone who orders books expecting them to come on the date they say they’re coming on. Manga Mavericks is starting to have this issue and so does Glacier Bay Books.

I get it. Small publishers run into printing delays all the time, and with the global shipping situation what it is for the last…six years (and customs in the US being a fucking censorious hellscape right now) those can quickly add up. Couple that with licensor approvals being notoriously tricky if you’re not one of the behemoths, finances (probably,) and Diamond’s whole shitshow if they used those warehouses (looking at you Ablaze) and you’re looking at an unwinnable situation.

I just wish Denpa would be open about it and, you know, not put a date on a release unless the books are in the press queue or on a boat and on their way. I know why they can’t - distributors want book release windows, like, a year in advance. It still sucks, especially when it creates an expectation that these amazing books might never get fully released in my lifetime.

March Comes in Like a Lion, Volume 5
Written and Illustrated by Chica Umino
Published by Denpa Books

After struggling in his attempt to win the Shishioh title, Shimada now settles into his role as shogi ambassador. His shogi courses are lively affairs and this is no exception. And even with rain tempering some of the festivities, the energy from the youth as well as his fellow professionals has given the title challenger renewed hope for the future. A future where titles continue to be achievable if not won.