Manga, Manga, Manga!!!

Joy N, Senior Barista, Raleigh, NC
Sweat and Soap, Volume 1 
Kintetsu Yamada
Sweat and Soap is a hilarious and sweet office love manga. It entails a girl named Asako, who works in the accounting department, landing her dream job working at the toiletry maker Liliadrop — but she has a secret. The main reason she loves working at the company is because she is ashamed of her body odor and their soap is the only thing that has helped her. One day, the company’s lead product developer, Natori, approaches Asako, he smells her and tells her he loves the smell. Natori finds her smell to be inspirational and what surprises Asako is that she might just like him back. Soon the two begin to see each other every day and become romantically involved. If you’re looking for a sweet love manga involving adult characters that can help each other grow and move forward, certainly give this one a go.
 

Liv, Senior Bookseller, Madison, WI
Dekoboko Sugar Days
Atsuko Yusen
This sweet, opposites-attract romantic comedy follows childhood friends Yuujirou Matsukaze and Rui Hanamine as they navigate first love. This manga’s art style is both beautiful and refreshing in its uniqueness. Sadly, it is a standalone, but the author perfectly wraps up the story in one volume.
 

John Reinboldt, Bookseller, Fredericksburg, VA
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
Dojyomaru
With a focus on the top-down civilization building of a fantasy world kingdom, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom manages to stand out amongst the increasingly saturated Isekai genre. When Japanese civil servant Kazuya Souma is transported to a medieval fantasy world, he becomes the fledging king of the failing kingdom Elfriedon. By utilizing his knowledge of our world and assembling the best and brightest of his new one, he must try to pull the nation back from the brink of collapse. I found the shift in focus from the traditional “hero slaying the Demon King” to an exploration of how real world social and economic policies would affect a fantasy world to be fascinating. Many of the colorful characters he enlists, or encounters, bring the world to life, and the tactful use of action and genre tropes keep this series from getting lost among similar works.
 

Anna Uminski, Bookseller, Buffalo, NY
Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 1
Mizuho Kusanagi
One of the best shojo (genre geared towards female audiences) adventure manga out there. This manga grows with the reader. It’s a tale about a naïve princess named Yona who witnesses the murder of her father and ends up having to fight for her life. With the help of her bodyguard and longtime childhood friend, Hak, they begin a difficult quest to find the legendary Four Dragons to help Yona reclaim her kingdom — which is easier said than done. This manga grows with the reader and is amazingly told.
 

Anna Williams, Bookseller, San Diego, CA
Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 1
Inio Asano
One of my all-time favorite ongoing series, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction is a sci-fi series that takes a serious and sympathetic look at the daily life of a group of girls with the imminent apocalypse looming right above them. This series has a dark sense of humor that pairs incredibly well with its almost cartoonish character art — contrasting with its sometimes-grim subject matter. While it is technically an alien invasion story, each chapter and story arc have the reader guessing who the true villains of the story are. It’s had me hooked since the first volume released, and I can’t wait to see where things lead.
 

Jake B, Bookseller, Buffalo, NY
Vinland Saga, Volume 1
Makoto Yukimura
Vikings, war, revenge, and coming of age. This manga has it all in spades. It follows a young Viking boy named Thorfinn whose father is killed by a traitorous Viking clan. Thorfinn finds himself one with the clan to prove he is worth fighting his father’s killer in honorable combat. War ensues with Britannia, and Thorfinn is tasked with a mission; Protect the prince of Norway.
 

Corey S, Bookseller, Round Rock, TX
Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Vol. 1
Hajime Komoto
Harry Potter gets the manga parody treatment in this delight of a new series! We’ve all read about magical chosen children, but the only child born without magic — becoming a bodybuilder and defying imagination — proves to be the perfect subversion of the genre. I have to commend Komoto’s skill in crafting this series; the perfect blend of fantasy action with deadpan comedy, I can’t stop laughing at the running gags surrounding our creampuff loving hero. Mashle is a must-read that feels both refreshing and familiar at the same time.
 

Erin S, Lead Bookseller, Manhasset, NY
A Sign of Affection, Vol. 1
suu Morishita
Suu Morishita is one of my favorite manga authors and A Sign of Affection is another masterpiece from them. Yuki is a normal college student who happens to be deaf, while Itsumi spends most of his free time traveling the world. After Itsumi helps her out of a sticky situation, Yuki develops a crush on him and sets out to get to know him better! This is a cute romance about two college students who are learning to live in each other’s worlds while falling in love. This story has left me grinning from ear to ear on multiple occasions and is perfect for anyone looking for something a little more mature then a traditional shojo manga.
 

Trevor Mooth, Bookseller, Nashville/Cool Springs, TN
Chainsaw Man
Tatsuki Fujimoto
This is the series EVERYONE is reading this year, and for very good reason! On the surface, it’s a series full of over-the-top violent fights with bloodthirsty monsters, but even more than that, it’s about a bunch of aimless downtrodden people finding their place in the world. The characters are funny and, even more than you want to see them defeat these deadly creatures, you want to see them achieve the sense of happiness and belonging that they deserve.