#Shoujosei Manga

[animehouse-moe]

Don't Call It Mystery Volume 3-4: Family Affairs

A little late to the party, but I recently read the latest volume of Don't Call It Mystery. Remaining such a unique concept, it continues to deliver on the promise of its name, and of Tamura's writing style as we get into full swing with the mystery of a family's fight for inheritance. Oddly enough, not a world of stuff I want to discuss, but more than a bit that I think can sway potential readers.

First and foremost, it's deliverance on the concept implied by the title. It's, simply put, wonderfully executed upon. In the very first panel where a mystery "starts", you are already clued into who the perpetrator is. There is no attempts to "mask" the mystery or mislead the reader as to who or what could be behind the scenes.

Instead, the focus remains on the character arcs of those involved. Casting a wide net, Tamura delves into the hearts of all the characters through the mystery. Rather than the mystery unraveling, it's the exterior of the cast as layer upon layer is peeled back to expose the deeper inner workings of each individual and how it relates to the mystery.

A girl frustrated with the death of her father and how her cousins treated it, the son that despised his absent mother, the daughter bearing the weight of family upon her shoulders. Each of the cast has their own past, their own troubles that exist and are expressed through their actions and personality, and it's beyond excellent. The characters are explained so succinctly yet explored so deeply it almost feels paradoxical.

Perhaps the best of all the points however, is how the characters continue to be a vehicle for the self-projection of Totonou. Not every moment is a callback to his character, but there are very much moments where he begins to speak and it's understood that he's overlapping his trauma and past with that of the characters involved. It's honestly such a clever way to create depth for his character while allowing the focus to remain on the rotating cast in front of him. Tamura drip feeds readers bits and pieces of his past through the characters that appear in front of him. How he views his father, the struggles that existed with his mother, his experience in school and with people. It's incredibly well written.

Speaking of well written, the mysteries themselves. They're not really mysteries but with how deeply they're written and expressed, surely a great deal of it goes over the heads of readers at times. Tamura writes these stories with 2,3, even 4 layers of information and references before you can catch onto the first. Thankfully, Totonou explains all these layers rather effectively, but nonetheless it creates truly impressive re-read potential to see just how these snippets of references and information relate to the characters surrounding them.

At the end of it all, Don't Call It Mystery is an incredibly therapeutic work, thanks to a pair of promises that Tamura makes with readers: that it's not a mystery, and that the characters will be thoughtfully explored and opened up through the process. It creates something devoid of the typical tension and weight of a mystery, and instead replaces it with the thoughtfulness of a passionate conversation, of which Totonou engages in many throughout this volume. An endlessly satisfying and oddly relaxing read, I'm quite looking forward to the next volume(s).

[aishiteru-kenshin]

A Girl and Her Guard Dog | お嬢と番犬くん | Ojou to Banken-kun

[escapeoclock]

When Jinshi is such a mood.

Sauce: The Apothecary Diaries

[unacuentasecreta]

“No matter who I’m in love with, you’re my only hero, Nana.”

Nana, Ai Yazawa.

[llegando-a-ti]

[haveyoureadthisshoujoseimanga]

Summary under the cut:

Tsukimi Kurashita has a strange fascination with jellyfish. She’s loved them from a young age and has carried that love with her to her new life in the big city of Tokyo. There, she resides in Amamizukan, a safe-haven for girl geeks who regularly gush over a range of things from trains to Japanese dolls. However, a chance meeting at a pet shop has Tsukimi crossing paths with one of the things that the residents of Amamizukan have been desperately trying to avoid—a beautiful and fashionable woman! But there’s much more to this woman than her trendy clothes! This odd encounter is only the beginning of a new and unexpected path for Tsukimi and her friends.

[lauraagrace]

Recently I made a Discord server centered around shoujo (called Shoujosei Talks) due to a previous server I was part of shutting down. 😭

Since the pervious owner made monthly graphics with new shoujosei releases, I thought I would do the same thing! 🤩

I hope these graphics can prove helpful because I never realized how much I depended on the previous release calendar until they weren't available anymore!

Cheers to a good month of shoujosei buying and reading! 🥰

Please note that all dates are subject to change and that all information (dates and covers) are directly taken from the publisher's website!

[kindwhispers]

All of the Namida Ame to Serenade clean official art from manga chapters I bought. I miss this manga so much! Been waiting for years but I really hope we get this licensed soon (it's never too late). If you are fond of this manga, you guys should read Kaze Hikaru. Please.

[violetearuby]

The Ice Guy and His Cool Female Colleague - Miyuki Tonogaya

・Demographic: Josei

・Genre: Romance, Comedy, Slice of Life

Synopsis: Himuro-kun is a living descendant of the Snow Woman from Japanese folklore. But anytime he's around his eccentric yet kind colleague, Fuyutsuki-san, he totally freezes up! Despite the snowstorm of love that rages on in his heart, and her complete cluelessness, will he take a step forward or stay frozen in place?

Read Here

this manga is incredibly cutee. filled with charming and adorable characters that makes me smiling from ear to ear. one of my comfort manga(s).

[animehouse-moe]

The Illustrated Guide To Monster Girls Volume 1: Humorous Horror

Monsters, school girls, and outright dumb humor. What could go wrong? Surprisingly, not too much. Straddling the edge of being a "too simple" concept, The Illustrated Guide To Monster Girls offers a solid twist on the day-to-day humor featured in many comedy series, giving me quite a bit to chat about thankfully.

So, where to begin? Maybe an explanation? This is a manga following a group of monster girls at the bottom of the ladder in Monster school: Class Z. The group is headed up by the Jiangshi (featured front and center on the cover) Ichika. Together, the class struggles to keep it together each day and not cave into their own shenanigans.

It's a fun concept, but might seem a little narrow at first like I had said, yeah?

Well, believe it or not there is a story-slash-goal to this series: pass school.... finally. Not anything grand by any means, but it gives the story a direction, and allows Suzu to introduce some well needed variance down the road. After all, there's only so many girls in class Z.

Speaking on that, let's talk about the girls. They're fun, varied, and creative. The existence of a straight man in the humor isn't guaranteed, so the skits can easily veer out of control and really stretch the fabric of itself. Definitely not a bad thing, and it's a solid idea to compartmentalize the approaches to humor within the various girls. Being a small class, it allows them to explore funny moments on a more granular scale where you can pair up characters to create different vibes as they lead the classroom on an unsanctioned adventure, or a duo off.... enjoying a break from class.

Well, I've made it this far without mentioning art, but I'm going to do it now. It's... alright. It's inoffensive. It's sharp. It's unique. But it doesn't have much life in most scenes. The characters very often come out stiff, and it feels like their range of facial expressions is rather narrow. It's like Zombieland Saga but VTubers almost. Which is quite the shame when the mangaka can really turn it on in certain moments to drive home the horror of the monster girls. It's far more expressive and detailed, making the gap between it and the usual style that much more apparent.

Just take a look at this page, the creepy parts come out with so much more life than what Ichika's expression and pose can offer in comparison.

And then this spread from the volume as well. The difference between these and the usual moments is just so night and day that it can hamper your enjoyment/perception of the usual art.

If I was to provide a single remark or statement for the art/paneling/etc, it's that there's undeniable potential. Suzu certainly has an eye for horror so I'd be interested to see how they'd do with it, but they really need to work on the stiffness of their usual designs, and potentially put some more effort into layouts. But still, largely speaking it's good. It's just that those great moments may start to make you think otherwise.

So what's the deal, is it good? I'd probably say so, yeah. If you want a humorous series and think exploring the potential comedy involving monster girls is something you might be interested in, you'll probably like it. It's not a smash hit from the first page, but it's surprisingly consistent with getting a laugh out of readers.

[akissaura]

Suiren Shibazeki via Suu Morishita on Twitter (X).

[escapeoclock]

Rent-free 😳

This is stb a fan-art but the scene actually happened in the novel (credits to @randomositycat for the info). I just love everything about this panel 🙈

Sauce: The Apothecary Diaries (via ___dangomochi2 from Twitter) | Translated by me

[unacuentasecreta]

If I die, I’ll bring you with me. Then... kill me.

Nana, Ai Yazawa.

[llegando-a-ti]

*. ੈ✩‧₊˚ ᴇɴᴅʟᴇꜱꜱ ʟᴏᴠᴇ 矛盾さえ愛せてるのは

ꪗꪮꪊ ǝɹɐ ⋆˙⟡ ᴍʏ ꜱʜɪɴɪɴɢ ᦓꪻꪖ᥅ ⋆✴︎˚｡⋆

[colleensmangarecs]

Is this Shoujosei Renaissance finally here? Let's Discuss!

[haveyoureadthisshoujoseimanga]

Summary under the cut:

Richard, the ambitious third son of the House of York, believes he is cursed, damned from birth to eternal darkness. But is it truly fate that sets him on the path to personal destruction? Or his own tormented longings?

Based on an early draft of Shakespeare's Richard III, Aya Kanno’s dark fantasy finds the man who could be king standing between worlds, between classes, between good and evil.