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I've read a decent amount of manga this year so I thought I'd do a fly-by review of them all! I have actually left a few out but these are the ones I remember enough to leave my thoughts on or have read enough of to form an opinion on. There's nothing I've really hated but that's mostly because I can tell pretty quickly if something's going to be unbearable and I give it up after like one chapter. Let me know your favourite manga you've read this year!

The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn't a Guy At All ('The Green Yuri') - Sumiko Arai

Yuri manga that has been getting a lot of buzz recently. It's about a gyaru (fashionable girl) falling in love with a guy who works in a music shop, except the 'guy' is actually a girl in her class who she doesn't recognise out of uniform & with a facemask. It's also known as 'The Green Yuri' because the mangaka uses florescent lime green spot colours to great affect.

It was initially posted on twitter and you can definitely feel the twitter webcomic of it all, the story feels like short bursts/moments rather than a long continuous narrative. I did have some problems with understanding the main characters at first, the music shop girl's personality was kind of all over the place, sometimes suave, sometimes shy and awkward, I didn't understand her at all. Things clicked when I worked out that she wasn't meant to be the audience surrogate or POV character, but is basically just the type of girl the mangaka finds hot. The most interesting part of the comic for me is how they talk about 'Western Music'. The two main characters bond over enjoying 'Western Music' which is everything from The Smiths to like, Imagine Dragons. It's objectively funny as a Western reader seeing the characters say shit like 'No one gets me. I listen to (chart topping iconic pop tracks from the UK)'. At one point the Mangaka contrives an American style 'school prom' where the MCs play Mr. Bluesky over the speaker system. Just an interesting glimpse into the culture and western music's place in it. The story is fanfic-y and indulgent and a lot of people are loving it, I think it's perfect for YA audiences but that's not quite me. The story seems to have lost momentum a little post-graduation timeskip (or maybe because I'm now reading it as it releases) but I don't mind checking in for weekly updates.

She Loves To Cook, and She Loves To Eat - Sakaomi Yuzaki

Yuri manga about two neighbours who bond over food as the title suggests. I felt like I didn't have access to the main character's inner lives in this one. I believed that they were in love but I didn't really empathise with the relationship, if that makes sense. It felt weirdly detached. Although I wasn't emotionally attached to the characters, I found it interesting enough to read, especially with the expanded cast. The manga explores different relationships to food + the place of food and eating in Japanese culture, as well as discrimination that lesbian couples face in Japan in things like apartment hunting. It also touches on other social issues in things like feminism and asexuality. It was more educational and culturally interesting than anything else.

Hirayasumi - Keigo Shinzō

A story about an aimless guy in his late 20s who inherits a house from an old woman he befriends, and his younger cousin who moves in while attending art school. I wrote a description of this one in a past newsletter: A manga so good and not sexist I thought it had to be written by a woman - the highest praise I can give. Hirayasumi in manga terms is slice of life/Iyashikei (comforting/relaxed genre) but I would describe it as a character-driven drama. Funny and warm, and comforting without being shallow. Focuses on character relationships, self-value, and questions like 'what do I want to do with my life'. Characters are in their 20s-30s which is of perfect interest to me as a 27 year old.

Girl Meets Rock - Kuwahali

Again, copied from the newsletter: Reading for free as chapters come out on the Shonen Jump app 'MANGA Plus' which I highly recommend. This is a high school light-music club manga and I can't quite pinpoint what it is about it that makes it stand out, but it's really enjoyable. I'm not usually into this type of manga but this one... there's just something about it. I think the focus is meant to be what the reality of being in a club like that is like rather than the k-on of it all. It's fun, funny, I'm invested in the characters and their relationships, and again it's shockingly not sexist, like not a panty-shot in sight.

Witch Hat Atelier - Kamome Shirahama

I read the first volume many years ago and wasn't really into it, something rubbed me the wrong way, the writing felt a bit cliche to me, the story a little shallow. I have some friends who are big fans of it, though, and they inspired me to give it another chance. The art is undeniably gorgeous, extremely detailed and heavily art-nouveaux influenced. The magic system is really cool too - magic is performed by drawing sigils, and the manga gets into the nitty-gritty of what different symbols mean and the ways they can be manipulated, the influence of different inks, etc. It's a detailed and thoroughly thought through magic system which makes the world interesting. When I first read this manga I found it to be a weak and cliched example of the 'child goes to magic school' genre, but as the story unfolded I felt it did have interesting and unique things to say about power, justice, and empathy. The secret of performing magic is kept from the general public (even though hypothetically anyone could do it) and so witches enjoy a high position in society, and witches have agreed not to use magic to influence the human body, which prevents abuse but also means healing magic is outlawed - these two factors become the main conflict of the story. The world, mechanics and lore are far deeper and more thought through than I initially gathered and I'm glad I gave it a second chance.

Cat Companions Maruru and Hachi - Yuri Sonoda

I thought this was going to be cute and wholesome but it's actually about the brutal reality of life for stray cats. It starts with a lot of fighting to survive on the streets, but it doesn't take too long for the story to move on to being about cat rescue programmes. It's engaging as a character story and I think the mangaka imagines a cat's perspective well, and it's also pretty educational about animal issues (from how best to treat stray cats to like, kitten health). They mention working with an animal shelter in the extra notes and the information does feel well informed. It's funny to see how much more comfortable the mangaka seems drawing cats than drawing humans, and they seem really familiar with cat behaviour general which enhances the 'glimpse through the eyes of a cat' aspect. I enjoyed this one!

I Hope You're Happy, Lemon - Mizuki Kishikawa

A body-swap romance with a complicated love triangle. Set in university (always a plus for me), the main character swaps bodies with his old high school girlfriend ('Lemon') after a chance rencounter, and the two continue to swap bodies every other day. The twist is that Lemon is housemates and best friends with his current 'crush'. There's no creepiness or cheap body-swap 'ooh I have boobs now' gags which instantly gained my respect. The protagonists are very likeable which I think is always important for a romance, and I like the extended cast too. I'm enjoying the comedy of the increasingly convoluted love triangle, and the body swap makes for great farcical situations. I haven't caught up with the latest chapters yet but I'm pretty invested in it, and I get caught in the call of 'just one more chapter...' whenever I read. It's also on the Manga Plus app!

- Karenza