Mangaversity: November 2026

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.

Month two of my new format and it took me a little longer than usual to put it all together. That’s to be expected. All my old habits and structures were built for a different system. Transitional periods always feel worse than what came before and what might come after. When one’s old way of doing things simply did not work anymore but was so ingrained that any shift to a different, better system feels worse, it can be easy to resist.

As I get older (yeah yeah, I’ve got a long way yet to go) and facilitate more and more of these, I’m coming to appreciate and identify the struggle. It’s easy to say “well, it only took me two hours instead of five before,” not remembering that much of that is familiarity, shortcuts, and muscle memory. Those all come with time and practice. I’ve used enough terrible platforms to know you make do and it is not difficult to conflate a mastery of making do with things working properly.

Of course, all that is moot if the transition is into a crappier system (see: AI.) 

Anyway, that’s enough waxing poetic. We’ve got manga to talk about. Sweet, sweet print manga. Let’s get cracking!

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.

• Akane-Banashi, Vol. 18
  • Time! Skip! Time! Skip! Hold onto your butts folks. It only gets better from here.
• Black Night Parade, Vol. 11
  • “With the magic of Santa Claus House dispelled, Drosselmeyer is able to open the sealed Door of Time, which suddenly sends Miharu back in time to the night he got hired at Santa Claus House.” Unpredictable is right!
  • So unpredictable, it’s here for a second month in a row. I think Seven Seas delayed a bunch of titles.
• Centuria, Vol. 4
  • JRJR’s got nothing on these square boys right here.

• The Elusive Samurai, Vol. 22
  • What’s elusive is how this isn’t more popular? Is it just that it’s historical fiction?
• Skip-Beat!, Vol. 52
  • Will they finally kiss? Will the film start in earnest? Will I have to wait another 6 to 12 months? Who knows!
• Taika's Reason, Vol. 3
  • Paru Itagaki you mad lad, how do you keep making furry murder mysteries that are also about the human condition?

Spotlight On…

Berserk, Volume 43
Original Story by Kentaro Miura
Manga by Studio Gaga
Supervised by Kouji Mori
Published by Dark Horse Comics

Having escaped the horrific devastation of Elf Island only to be boarded by unknown raiders, the crew of the Seahorse find that they have intruded into the territorial waters of the vast Kushan Empire!

Sunk into his own personal darkness, Guts hardly seems to care as the Kushan lead him away in chains, even as Roderick, Farnese, Serpico, Morda, Isidro, Schierke and the other survivors are taken in as refugees. But they find no steady ground on shore either...for a grand council of the Kushan tribes is assembling to debate plans for war--against Falconia and its fearsome, matchless ruler Griffith, the Hawk of Light!

The politics of the council are dangerous, but more dangerous still is that the Hawk's power is already among them, striking through murderous sorcery. In this critical moment, Guts' companions can't rely on him to help...and in fact, is he to blame...?

Speaking of “Berserk”, we have our first new volume in two years! It continues to be a bittersweet reminder of Miura’s loss and now that I’ve gotten a taste of the Gaga/Mori era, I can say that while I’m happy that the team is continuing his legacy, and that Mori is so dedicated to keeping the manga as close to Miura’s vision as possible, I do wish he would put aside the reverence a little and allow the dialog to be less sparse.

I get it. Mori likely doesn’t trust himself to sound like Miura, and as he’s been quoted: “I will only write the lines and stories that Miura described to me.” It is a shame, though, that a work which lived in the quiet prose and detailed art is only retaining half. Still, I am here for the rest of the story and I have no doubt it will be delivered well, leaving only a slightly-filled, Miura-shaped hole at its heart.

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. Some of these are personal favorites of mine, others are notable for one reason or another. All are getting the ~deluxe~ treatment.

And yes, I include the 3-in-1s that are budget and not ~deluxe~. It’s my column, I do what I want.

• New Grappler Baki (Perfect Edition) Vol. 2
• H.P. Lovecraft's the Dunwich Horror, Deluxe Edition
  • Gou Tanabe continues his lark through Lovecraft. I wonder what his Dunwich Horror looks like?
• Hunter X Hunter (3-In-1 Edition), Vol. 8

• Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Part 7 – Steel Ball Run, Vol. 10
  • Stage 2 anime is out and absolutely rocks. But whoever decided on the ending song should be fired. Ignore it and pretend this is what we actually got (damn you Warner Music Japan.) I’m excited to compare reading to watching in…a year?
• Vagabond Definitive Edition, Vol. 7
• Witch Hat Atelier: Grimoire Edition, Vol. 3
  • These are so nice to hold.

Spotlight On…

Beck Omnibus 1 (Vol. 1-2)
Written and Illustrated by Harold Sakuishi
Published by Kodansha Comics

Fourteen-year-old Yukio thinks his life is a drag. He has no hobbies. No taste. Even, he thinks, not much personality. Then this shy and neurotic kid has a fateful meeting, with rocker Ryusuke, an unpredictable sixteen-year-old with a cool dog named Beck. Ryusuke has just returned to Japan from America, and he inspires Yukio to get into music, starting the two on a journey toward an unlikely rock 'n' roll dream. Lace up your Docs and watch out in the mosh pit: the manga that defined a genre and spawned a hit anime is back!

“Beck” was the first series Kodansha released as part of its partnership with ComiXology Unlimited way back in the day. That’s where I first encountered it, though I’d heard about the series from a YouTube video Jacob Chapman did in, like, 2010. The initial batch was 14 volumes, which was the entirety of the original Tokyopop release (and boy can you see it in the translation,) plus two never-before-translated volumes. The rest would come out a few months later.

Reading it was electrifying. I couldn’t put my tablet down. Sakuishi takes an entirely silent medium and makes you feel the music, body and soul. He transports you to another dimension, another time and another scene, full of cargo shorts and guitars and rock and roll and, sadly, boys objectifying girls. (From my hazy memories, this is not a manga that acquits itself well in the feminist sphere.)

Still, it is a series worth jumping into feet first and I am so happy it can finally be read by print lovers with a revised translation too.

Judging by the Cover

These are comics that I think have a great, weird, or particularly striking cover that I want to highlight.

• Babanba Banban Vampire, Vol. 1
  • Apparently this manga’s title is a play on a famous commercial. I may not understand that reference but I certainly can appreciate the shoeless fancy lad getting ready to scrub the local public bath.
• Draw This, Then Die! Vol. 2
  • I adore these covers. Cute pastels and limited colors with a firmness to the characters. Lookit those digits!
• Imaizumi Brings All the Gals to His House, Vol. 7
  • Isn’t this just such a wholesome image? Warm and fuzzies all around….don’t read the descriptions.

Ongoings Catching My Eye

This is kind of a catch all category for manga I’ve read that I think are worth following but aren’t “must reads,” ones I’ve seen or highlighted before but haven’t checked out yet and I’m still interested in, and series I’m baffled by and need to snark on. You’ll see which those are.

• The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 16
  • Everyone keeps telling me I will love this series. Mysteries and palace intrigue are two of my favorite genres, after all. Someone tell me to just read the damn thing already.
• Bug Ego, Vol. 3
  • Glitches galore but can it live up to the hype? I’ll probably know by the end of this volume.
• Chiisakobee, Vol. 2
  • Isometric walking on the cover? Be still my heart!

• Daydream Darling, Vol. 2
  • Such a tender looking series…
• Kingdom, Vol. 13
  • My kingdom for some manga. My kingdom for more manga!
• Kakegurui - Compulsive Gambler, Vol. 20
  • Twenty volumes! Good on you not-“Kaiji”. Good on you.

• Mao, Vol. 26
  • Rumiko Takahashi folks. Never doubt her ability to craft a compelling story, even when she’s clearly just doing the hits.
• Maid to Skate, Vol. 2
  • More maids skating? A possible plot? Righteous.
• That's Not Love, Vol. 4
  • Sorry to say I still have not caught up on this one either.

• Tower Dungeon, Vol. 6
  • I can’t deny Nihei’s talent at drawing catgirls in armor and fantasy elements. I just find it hard to parse and his writing is so damn plodding. Yes I did put the title here just to complain, thank you very much.
• Shadows House, Vol. 12
  • I really need to catch up on this madhouse of a comic. Look at that cover! Look at that cackling shadow! It’s alive! Aliiiiiiiiive!!!!

Spotlight On…

Liste Rouge, Vol. 2
Written and Illustrated by Hoku Tomose
Translated by John Neal
Lettered by Chris Burgener
Published by Yen Press

In a twisted world where humans are critically endangered, all their Chimera caretakers want is for humankind to prosper...and reproduce. After Meria's exhibition and Juli's successful apprehension of her would-be kidnapper, the two have begun to bond little by little. But humans must be "wed" to one another, and Meria is no exception…

This series honestly confuses me yet attracts me at the same time. What is it about this Five Nights At Freddy’s carnival aesthetic that is so appealing? Why is it so mesmerizing? I don’t know but I want to find out.

One-Shot to Rule Them All

One-shots! They’re fun and funky and I wanted to give them the time to shine on their own because, well, I won’t get the chance to highlight any of them in a future edition.

• The Encyclopedia of Vegetable Fairies
  • I’m a sucker for these kinds of things. Cute veggie animals? Yes, yes, and yes.
• A Nobody Artist
  • The Tsuge collections continue and this one looks…well, really uncomfortable if I’m being honest.

Spotlight On…

Nemurubaka: Half-Awake Fools
Written and Illustrated by Masakazu Ishiguro
Published by Seven Seas

In a women's college dorm, Yumi drifts through her days working at a bookstore, unsure what comes next. Across the room, her upperclassman Ruka throws herself into her music, chasing a future that feels both urgent and impossibly far away. As Ruka pushes forward and Yumi lingers in her wake, the space between dreaming and doing grows harder to ignore.

Wry, intimate, and achingly honest, NEMURUBAKA captures the uneasy in-between of early adulthood--when you're no longer a child, but not yet certain who you're meant to become.

Ishiguro is the creator of the wonderfully weird Heavenly Delusion. That’s all I really needed to select this for the spotlight. I love the way he draws people, with soft, expressive faces and a bouncy movement to all their steps. His stories are also very intimate (look at me, grabbing from the blurb copy) and that’s something I’m looking for in a one-shot right now. There’s also an unspoken theme of “music” this month, it seems, so I’m gonna lean into it.

The Firsts:

These are the new manga that got me to stop and give them a gander. Because of how I previously structured this column, the main list was basically a “volume 1 and one-shots” highlight, which was good in some respects and less in others. Now that I’ve atomized things a little more, I can single out the new series that seem worth a try.

Unlike the other sections though, I still wanted to spotlight multiple books in the order I’m excited by them.

• He Was My Brother, Vol. 1
  • Just insert Liquid Snake saying “You got all the recessive genes” and leave me to continue pondering the toxic love triangle set-up at the heart of this manga.
• New Grappler Baki (Perfect Edition) Vol. 1
  • A deluxe edition of the second Baki series. For some reason he’s in jail now? Keisuke Itagaki, you mad lad, what are you up to? And yes I did move it here instead of leaving it in deluxe. Shush.

• N, Vol. 1
  • Another ominous murder mystery series! It’s just what I needed for the cold months. Perfect companion to “Adabana.”
• Witch and Hound, Vol. 1
  • This looks somewhat unhinged in the same way “Deadman Wonderland” did, and that series rocked. It’s a light novel adaptation too, which means it’s either great or horribly paced.
• Egg: I'm Your Child, Vol. 1
  • Egg.

Spotlight On…

3. Ursula’s Chunni Cousin

“Nakinagi’s” concept is fairly straightforward, a buddy comedy of opposites. A girl who loves freely and openly, somewhat naive and oblivious to the world, paired with a dour girl who doesn’t understand her friend but supports her in her quest for high school love (while probably harboring a crush of her own.) The twist here is one is a sea witch and all the shenanigans that avenue opens up. If Maki can push the already cute art with more dynamism, this has the makings of a fantastic new comedy.

NakiNagi, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Keigo Maki
Published by Kodansha Comics

Nakika was once a feared witch of the deep sea, but she's moved to the surface to learn all about "human emotions." Nagisa is a naive romantic and Nakika's best friend. Although Nakika might not always understand Nagisa's infatuation, her compassion for Nagisa is deeper than the Pacific Ocean! Using her magical powers to support Nagisa's quest for love deepens Nakika's understanding of the human world--but it also strengthens her ties to the world of the land and to Nagisa herself. Follow the wholesome story of a girl in love and her watchful guardian!

2. Dead Tired of Breakfast

Supernatural weirdness galore! The art is what drew me to “Two AM”. It’s got that classic, sleepy-eyed look to it that was a staple of the 80s. The characters have a weight to them that I always appreciate. I think this style is just coming back into vogue and we’re the better off for it

The opening chapter is nicely structured and well told. The concept’s gold too: mom’s a ghost, haunting this kid, and you know that drama’s gonna come up at some point, and now she’s being haunted by some ghost girl from the 1800s? Who may or may not want to date her but for now is just stealing her food? The right balance of spooky and slice-of-life shojo drama. We’ll see if it has legs or not but I’m sufficiently intrigued to read more.

Two A.M. at the Dining Table, Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Tomoyo Kondoh
Translated by Yumi Tanaka
Published by Yen Press

Every morning, Maria gets a home-cooked breakfast from her mom...who's been dead for weeks. With her mother unable to pass on, Maria's already dealing with a lot, so the last thing she needs is a strange girl with a strange appetite following her home. Even ignoring the odd cravings, there's something unsettling about her. As the two grow closer, Maria can't help but wonder: Is this unexpected new roommate here for the food--or for her...?

1. Hold ‘em or Fold ‘em

So. You’re wondering why this isn’t in the deluxe section. Part of it is because I wanted to give an extra spotlight over there and the other part is I’m still figuring this out, ok? I actually wasn’t sure if I should keep this here because, as I found out, this release isn’t what I thought it was. Rather than being a chronological collection of every chapter, or even a reordering as the original, long out of print releases were, this is essentially a “best of.”

Might I say, as a completionist, that is a disappointment. I get it though. 25 volumes of non-Astro Boy Tezuka is a hard sell. Of course, this might be a test for a more complete re-release later. Or not. “Lupin III” still only exists in this best-of format, after all. Regardless, for those who have yet to experience Tezuka’s highly-influential medical drama series, what better way than through a treasure trove of masterfully restored color chapters that were selected for quality and importance.

Black Jack Deluxe Edition 1
Written and Illustrated by Osamu Tezuka
Published by Vertical Comics

Black Jack is recognized as Osamu Tezuka's third most famous series, after Astro Boy and Kimba, the White Lion. A rich medical drama that mixes mystery, intrigue, suspense and a dash of humor, with a fascinating main character who keeps his caring nature a secret, preferring instead to be perceived as a heartless cad.

Black Jack--the mysterious surgeon whose mercenary ways hide a benevolent heart.

Drawing on his own experience as a student of medicine, the God of Manga's late-period masterwork remains his most popular adult series in Japan. This volume presents for the first time in English a curated selection of chapters that have not been published in color since their original appearance in magazine form, along with a treasure trove of related archival material.

The Standouts:

So…what am I most pumped to read this month? Number one…won’t shock you in the least.

3. Aren’t They All?

I’m gonna keep this one simple. Do you like cats? Great. ‘Nuff Said.

…Fine. I’ll give a little more. Yamada Murasaki’s another literary mangaka whose reputation for a long time outpaced the accessibility of her work here in the US. They’re often quite personal, reflections of being a working woman and a housewife in the 1970s and 80s and the yearnings and restrictions that came along with that. Her art is loose and airy, but keenly observed. “Sassy Cats” continues in this oeuvre, brought along once again by Ryan Holberg.

I look forward to another essay that gives me the kind of context I crave for books like these and makes me miss the old Carl Gustav Horn ones at the back of Dark Horse’s releases. And cats. Plenty and plenty of cats.

Sassy Cats
Written and Illustrated by Yamada Murasaki
Translated by Ryan Holmberg
Published by Drawn & Quarterly

"My first time, it wasn't just kittens that I birthed, but also me as a mother. So, in raising them, I'm also raising myself...and both are serious business, let me tell you."

These are the simple musings of a house cat, sprawled on a veranda in the sun, while birds flit and flutter by. These are also the personal reflections of cartoonist Yamada Murasaki.

While Yamada's books Talk To My Back and Second Hand Love engaged candidly with the trials of marriage, motherhood, and romance, Sassy Cats pads around similar terrain with the poetry of soft, feline paws.

Originally serialized from 1979 to 1980 in the legendary alternative magazine Garo, Sassy Cats is a classic of both feminist manga and Japanese cat literature. This English edition is translated by Ryan Holmberg and includes an essay by the artist's daughter Yamada Yu about her mom, cats, and growing up with a single-mother cartoonist.

2. Forests and Trees

Hisae Iwaoka is one of my favorite mangaka. Her “Saturn Apartments” is a foundational text for me and a crown jewel of my manga collection. Iwaoka is not a particularly prolific creator, known for short serializations, none of which have gotten English releases…which makes the licensing of “The Magical Forest of Hoshigahara” so exciting. This 5-volume work is her second longest series and a fantasy one to boot.

Kodama seems to be picking up the mantle that Viz Signature used to have of publishing the weirder, more niche titles from Ikki and beyond. I’m inordinately excited to get my hands on a copy and so should you.

The Magical Forest of Hoshigahara Vol. 1
Written and Illustrated by Hisae Iwaoka
Published by Kodama

There stands a house in the forest where the wind blows and 'monsters' frighten children. A man lives in this house, as well as a number of spirits. The Magical Forest of Hoshigahara is a Ghibli-esque, cozy tale about a man who lives within a mysterious forest alongside a group of colorful spirits. An emotional narrative that juxtaposes cute and whimsical supernatural elements with heart-tugging themes of loneliness and loss, it is a complete five-volume story with a definitive beginning and end.

1. Return to CITY

We’re so back baybee! The best anime of 2026 (fight me) got Arawii to revisit “CITY” for two new volumes. Truly an underrated series that I have stumped for repeatedly. A modern masterpiece of comedy and a showcase of a mangaka whose control of timing should be used in comics textbooks. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to scream from the rooftops about “CITY” and how everyone should read and appreciate it. 

City, Vol. 14
Written and Illustrated by Keichi Arawii
Published by Vertical Comics

Nagumo and her friends decide to go camping. Wako Izumi has already gone out and bought everything they might need--the gear, the food, all of it--when she suddenly comes down with a cold...

Will they postpone the trip, or press on using everything she's prepared and leave her behind?

After three years, that familiar "CITY" is finally back on the page--and on screen! The same people, the same chaos, yet brand-new stories are about to unfold. Enjoy the ride!

Mangaversity: October 2026

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Mangaversity - House of Ideas, Powers of Secrets

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