Stuff i read this week

The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Vol. 1-5

This is a super good isekai villainess story about a woman who dies (truck) and is reborn as one of her OCs in an AWFUL novel she wrote as a TERRIBLE teenager. Obviously, she's not the super beautiful author insert character, but rather her villainous little sister and OH NO all the hot boys DEFFO want her dead, probably. Watching our poor girl struggle through the pain of remembering her own terrible plot and dealing with the world changing as she continues not to get killed by the hot boys is super fun... the books do suffer a bit from the art not being super clear at times tho. Still, if you like villainess stories this has a really interesting twist to the formulae.

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Pulse vol.1&2

By the same person as Lily Love and its also VERY good and VERY gay. These books that seven seas have put out are incredibly printed, full colour and everything. Super cool to see a webtoon presented in a book so well. The story so far is very cute, seeing the doctor slowly open up is a real treat. Very much looking forward to volume 3. (also dang that's a lotta sex)

Black and White - Tough Love at the Office Vol. 1

dang that's a lotta sex. I've never seen a yuri manga where two ladies beat each other up so lovingly. incredible work. Seven Seas is publishing so wild stuff these days its great.

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri and more villainess isekai stuff. what a time to be alive.

Stuff i read this week

Accomplishments of the Dukes Daughter Vol. 1-4

wow, this has quickly become a favourite series - It's a real good entry in the isekai villainess genre. As much as i hate capital, capital owners, the pursuit of capital, and the concept of hereditary peerage DANG i do love manga about princesses and noble ladies starting businesses using knowledge from a previous life - that shit OWNS. She wants to invent health insurance and banking... and chocolate? girlboss. I'm deffo going to buy more of this after my next paycheck heh 10/10

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My Cute Little Kitten Vol.1

Oh no is Milk Morinaga drawing cute fluffball airhead girls again? And this time they have a cat? Terrible news. 10/10

Futari Escape Vol. 1

Pretty cute stories about two girls running away from work and disassociating from society for a bit. Deadlines suck ass, 10/10

Asumi chan is Interestied in Lesbian Brothels!

I think maybe Asumi chan is a raging homosexual? She sure does like sleeping with girls that's for sure. Im sure the real perverts would love this one but its super sweet too. 10/10

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri and more villainess isekai stuff. what a time to be alive.

Stuff i read this week

The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess vol 6

The dark history is really tightening up in this volume. Earlier stories deffo had a made-up as it’s going along falling to them, so it’s really cool to see all of that come together into a cohesive whole that's actually pretty dang good! Unfortunately, this is the last volume available in English right now, volume 7 doesn't come out until May. will I still be doing this in may?! who knows! maybe!

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My Gently Raised Beast Vol. 1

Painfully straight (derogatory)

I Swear I won’t bother you again! Vol. 1-2

Painfully straight (complimentary)

My Androgynous Boyfriend Vol. 1

(Somehow) not Painfully straight. Dang, this book is incredible- this is a straight romance comedy that has SO much yuri energy - like a straight romance story written like a yuri, if that makes sense. these are some of the softest characters I’ve read in ages. it’s also incredibly funny, I loled out loud, at 2 am like an idiot. 10/10 (THEY EVEN GO ON A DATE TO IKEA. that's the most lesbian kind of date, in my experience)

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter Vol. 5

Still really good, if very capital owner brained. We got some hot political intrigue story threads beginning to be woven into the narrative, so I cant wait to see how that ends up. Oh, and the spy/ladies (combat) maid is still incredibly hot. i love her

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Vol. 1

This book somehow manages to depict the passage of time more beautifully than any other manga I've ever read, really beautiful art and a very unique fantasy tale. recommended

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri and more villainess isekai stuff. what a time to be alive. i didn't manage to get to any yuri stuff this week, i should fix that next week!

Stuff i read this week

Whisper me a Love Song Vol. 1

Super cute school yuri story about a girl falling in love with her senpai, who is the lead singer in a school band. Real pretty art. It’s a shame the music/band stuff is just used as background flavour more than being like, a real driver in the story like with Bocchi- I recommend “The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy At All” for a yuri manga where music plays a more ‘real’ role. These print volumes are really nice, Kondansha comics seem to be publishing things in a larger page size than most other publishers, makes the art look super nice with this book. Big clear faces and all that!

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Whisper me a Love Song Vol. 2

Way more actual music stuff happening in this volume which was cool to see! Also drama is brewing~ real nice seeing stuff foreshadowed and playing out. I like this manga! Just a clean, well-crafted work

Villains are Destined to Die Vol. 1

The colours in this book are incredible! DANG HER HAIR. she’s wonderful. 10/10 Its great to see more Korean stuff get printed in full-colour books. These things are just beautiful to behold sometimes. There's a real fun gimmick early on to this villainess story - our main character starts off mute and can only ever talk when given options that were in the original game shes been reincarnated in - which was an interesting twist for a while. be cool to see where this goes.

Beauty and the Feast Vol. 1

Remember that tweet from a few weeks ago from some lady that really wanted to make chilli for some students that lived in the same building, cos they just looked like really hungry boys and cooking for other people made her happy? This is a book about exactly that. 10

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter Vol. 6

Just kiss already! Anyways, the political stuff in the last two volumes has been super fun to follow through, civil war is brewing, the church’s power has been brought under the states heel, stuffs going to get messy! THIS STORY IS GETTING SO GOOD I WANNA READ THE NEXT VOLUME NOWWWW

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter Vol. 7

So this was my first 2 book day - i just had to know what was going to happen next... AHHH THIS IS SO GOOD SHE BEAT UP THE POPE REAL GOOD 10/10 I wish they would get on with the relationship between Iris and ‘Dean’. Iris is not gay and this will never be a yuri, I have accepted that, it’s a done deal. Now I just want her to kiss and be happy. Im now caught up with this and i can finally stop staring at this pile of books guilty... but ughh now i have to wait for volumes to be published.. maybe i should have left 7 for next week TEARS

Love me for who I am Vol. 1

It’s the enby maid manga! ITS TOO CUTE FOR WORDS. 10/10 The whole theme of letting people be a true expression of themselves is really heartwarming and dang i want to read more, unfortunately, i do not have volume 2 and its out of stock everywhere. ill have to track it down. Super recommended

My Androgynous Boyfriend vol. 2

Still convinced this is a straight yuri manga. Not much to say about it apart from wow its hella warm.

Bonus: Light novels

I read two light novels this week so why not add them to the list

VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream, Vol. 1

Mostly read this because I saw rumours that it was getting an anime adaption. Its not very good, but i did read the heck out of it if that makes sense, and i will be buying and reading the rest, and enjoying every second of reading it whilst i think 'wow this sucks, its not very good!' 8/10

Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie

I love Villainess, i love Villainess who are smart enough to try and game the systems they are reborn into, and i love it when they are two dumb to realise everyone loves them and they are in zero danger of being executed. 10/10

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri and more villainess isekai stuff. what a time to be alive.

Books read this year: 30

Stuff i read this week

Oshi no ko Vol. 1

what an incredibly gripping prologue! A doctor is MURDERED by an idol’s creepy stalker- and is reborn as one of her twin children. Hijinks ensue. It’s yet another incredible read, beautiful art, all that good stuff 10/10 for reincarnation in the REAL world. This is getting an anime real soon - im HYPED

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Killing Me! Vol. 1

super sweet yuri story about it a vampire hunter and the vampire that’s in love with her. Only one volume is available, as it seems this manga got cancelled after one volume. WHICH IS SAD AT THIS IS HELLA CUTE. Akiyama seems to be still working as a manga artist which is nice, but drawing straight vampire stories now rather than gay ones - oh well can’t win them all! Anyways, its is a really good little book recommended 10/10

Whisper me a Love Song Vol. 4-5

Double book day! This story is getting going now. It had a slow start, but here it’s getting to be something REAL good. (IM REAL GLAD)

Doughnuts under a crescent moon Vol. 1 -2

Ughhhhh stories about yuri office ladies slowly falling in love get to me like nothing else ughhh I love this book I love it so much. I read a scanlation ages ago, and now I’m going to track down all the volume of this asap (I only got this first one in stock on my shelves) 11/10. Very good - ITS BASICALLY WRITTEN FOR ME! I am a well know lesbian doughnut enjoyer. Heck I scoured the shelves at my local bookstore and managed to get volume 2 I am blessed by the yuri gods

I love you so much I hate you

dang I love yuri about older women, so im real glad i managed to have a two day office lady yuri streak. This book? It’s good 10/10. Just real nice to be reading something and wishing the best for these ladies - strong good warm feelings

The Holy Grail of Eris Vol. 1

Just when I thought I was running out of Villainess stories to read I find this neat tome on my shelf. The ghost possession gimmick is really interesting- going to be cool to see how this develops.

I swear I won’t bother you again Vol. 3

Continues the tradition of maids in these villainess stories secretly being the best character who deserve like a million % more pages. I previously described earlier volumes in this series as "Painfully straight (complimentary)" and that continues to be true. I do love a story with an idiot lead leady.

Bonus: Audio Books

So I'm a Spider, So What? vol 4

im STILL in love with this book, and i STILL think the audiobook having sections where the narrator is just reading off character sheet stats for like 10 mins is hilariously good. Way less character sheet stuff this time though, were showing restraint!

Bonus: Light novels

Hell Mode: Volume 5

Ive got half way though this so far this week - ITS SO FRICKING STUPID. this is like popcorn for me, stupid dumbass isekai game system bullshit. 10/10

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri... i think i might have finally ran out of villainess isekai stuff.... what a sad time to be alive. maybe i can find some in a local bookstore (even if the entire point is to kill the backlog)

Books read this year: 39

Stuff i read this week

I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World Too Vol. 1 - 2

DAAAANG what a stupid book 10/10 was fucking love isekai. It does that thing where the Isekai world has a bidirectional link with the real world, I LOVE IT WHEN THEY DO THAT. YEAH, SHOW ME A GUY WHOS FANTASY WORLD POWER LEVELING GAINS MAKE THEM MORE POWERFUL AT SOCIAL INTERACTIONS IN MODERN DAY TOKYO GIVE ME THAT SLOP ILL EAT IT UP SO FAST

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My Androgynous Boyfriend Vol. 3

There’s a chapter in here about suddenly having to start working from home and having zoom meeting and I’m like oh well I know exactly when this was written- that was weird huh. Also, yeah this is still a heterosexual yuri manga that still holds.

Failed Princess Vo. 1

This book is so frickin cute. It turns out ive had volume 2 on my shelves for ages but never found volume 1 locally, so i went to track it down - which lead me to fricking amazon. They managed to stick the shipping envelope to the damn front cover. TRAGIC. its ruined, destined for a recycling plant once amazon replace it. cute story though

Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion Vol. 1

Gotta love villainess isekai nonsense I thought I’d be out of that this week but my bookshelf pulled though for me. This book tho, it’s kind of incredibly beautiful? It’s got such a cute sketchy feel to the characters, you can’t help but thing “dang they really did draw this huh” as you read it. Art is wonderful huh. 10/10.

Minami Nanami Wants To Shine Vol. 1 - 2

Apparently this is a spin off to some other thing I’ve always just skipped over on Crunchyroll? Maybe I’ll give the source material a chance, because this was a pretty delightful read. It’s about a girl who wants to be special, falling into a modelling carer and it’s kinda INCREDIBLY cute and sweet. 10/10

Beauty and the Feast Vol. 2

Its still really cute - but every chapter im terrified that the author is gunna pull a bunny drop or something. all my fingers crossed that this remains healing.

Bonus: Audio Books

I’d Rather Have a Cat than a Harem! Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game as a Cat-Loving Villainess Vol. 2

Just look at that title and tell me that its not the greatest thing you've ever laid eyes on? 11/10. recommended.

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri... Last week i said i was out of Villainess stories but i managed to pull one out the dark recesses of my shelf.. maybe another is lurking...

Books read this year: 47

Stuff i read this week

Beauty and the Feast Vol. 3

We’re beginning to learn more about Shuko’s past and dang I love this poor woman and I’m glad she’s healing and the chapter with her friends looking out for her are the best and why can’t a manga character cook me dinner? 10/10

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter Vol. 8

What’s this?!? Lotte pulled another villainess isekai manga volume out of her ass?? Wow how does she do it?!? She can’t keep getting away with this!! Anyways, this series is STILL incredibly good, i STILL want them to hurry up and kiss and i cant wait for the next volume to be release. The combat maid STILL rules forever i love her. 10/10 The cast pages at the front of every volume is getting crazy complicated

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The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This Vol. 1-2

gosh just beautiful- it feels like 99% of yuri manga is about a budding relationship, taking painstaking amounts of time to get to a love confession - getting to that starting point and as soon as that happens, THATS IT end of serialization, that’s you 6 chapters HOW DARE YOU WANT MORE. it sucks! I wanna read about women in love, I wanna see stories about their home lives, their hopes, their dreams, their years. This is a little bit of all that, and it’s perfect. Wako and Ellie have been going out for two years and living together for one year at the start of this story and that so unusual and weird for a yuri manga I LOVE IT 100/10 super recommend

Failed Princess Vol. 2

Still a super frickin cute book! This volume is about coming to terms with jealousy, and its a real nice storyline for one of these school age yuri.

Doughnuts under a crescent moon vol. 3

Sad the next volume is the last. I really recommend this series, again because stuff about adult women in love just rules - just be warned it seems like volume 3 had a small print run and its REALLY hard to find anywhere. I eventually managed to get a copy on ebay... which came bundled with volume 1&2 T_T sometimes you just end up with duplicates.

No Longer Allowed In Another World Vol. 1

What if Zetsubou Sensei was hit by a truck and got isekai’ed? 10/10 good. I published a Isekai Death Report here

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court Vol. 1

I love villainess?!? I really enjoyed watching Raven of the inner palace last anime season, so seeing a villainess story with a similar setting was an instant pickup. Turns out this is very very good! The main character and her ladies maid have a great chemistry together, I can’t wait to see how this evolves over time. Body swapping from a sick, frail (but loved) persona to a healthy, strong (but universally hated) one is a super interesting setting as well, this is genius space brain level trash I love it

The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World Vol. 1

Straight, but interesting. Dang i love isekai, and how they are all the same but different. “You have been summoned to a magical world! you MUST become a savior, a hero in this place! i shall grant you MASSIVE amounts of magical power and grant a wish” - okay thats all normal nothing weird here - “ehh that sounds like a hassle can i own a little café bookshop on the outskirts of a capital city and just kinda rest there and do nothing??” 11/10 PERFECT use of isekai powers LOVE IT for you girl please do exactly that. I think deep down, we have all just wanted to have a little café bookshop and no responsibility and massive amounts of magical energy. (no isekai death report for this title - she seems to just have been summoned)

The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 1

What a lovely little story! Maomao makes some wonderful disgusted faces at flirty men, which really speaks to me imo. She’s so cool Also I’m quickly realizing that “weird girls solve problems in the inner court of a Chinese palace” is like - a manga/light novel genre now? Like “isekai but it’s a otome novel and the main character is the villainess” is a genre. Very cool looking forward to exploring the depths of this genre on the coming weeks and months

Bonus: Audio Books

Sword Art Online Vol. 8

i can never hate sword art. it sucks so much, but i sure do love this trash garbage. This volume is a bunch of short stories that take place all over the timeline - i think the short story anthologies are some of the better sword art light novels, when we just get to throw the characters into an interesting situation without thinking about the connective tissue of the story too hard... sword art is best when you dont think about it too hard! The audio books are still really well produced, deffo recommended if you want some daft background listening.

Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind Vol. 4

Somehow, this audio book is 6 hours long, and basically nothing happened... 8/10 its about as 'light' as a light novel could ever get, and i gotta respect that

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri... I may have solved my lack of Villainess stories with an amazon order.. maybe..

Books read this year: 57

Stuff i read this week

The Apothecary Diaries Vol. 2-5

Maomao is SO FUCKING CUTE when she’s ingesting deadly deadly neurotoxins. This girl just LOVES poisons. I LOVE HER.

Wish I read these slower lol.. it was so good I couldn’t stop myself though the story is SUPER engaging and the Maomao is just a wonderful lead character. i want to spend every second with her that i can heh, the facial expressions in this book are just THAT incredible. Its rare you get to see THAT much character on the page you know?

Savior's Book Cafe Story in Another World Vol. 2-4

Another series i should have savored rather than rush though, but it is what it is! Last week i said "Straight but interesting” and YEAH. its very straight but also very interesting? I do wonder why this fantasy world has such a thriving book publishing industry... like, who is writing all these books shes stocking her cafe with? Anyways, pretty good. Volume 5 dosnt come out until May this year, so thats all for now.

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Love me for who I am Vol. 2

Yeah, to enby maid book is back and DANG!! it’s hard to get this book! Totally out of print it seem, eBay to the rescue. AND HECK I CAN SEE WHY it’s incredible for all thoes gender feels. I want the best for all these kids as they figure out life and love! Im just SO glad this series exists?

There’s a part where Tetsu suddenly begins to “get” all this gender stuff other characters are going though whist talking to his transwoman older sibling and hes like… dang I guess I should be calling you oneechan and not oniichan… and she’s so happy about it - I deffo almost cried lol. Yeah good book. Now i just have to track down volume 3... painful

Sasaki and Peeps Vol. 1

Ahhh heck what a super smart inversion of isekai themes! No guys dying of early onset truck here, instead our hero is a lonely 40 year old office worker who REALLY wants a friend, so he goes to a pet shop. Dogs and cats are too big and expensive… but that weird little bird? 100% within budget… and it can talk… THE BIRD IS A MAGICAL SAINT THAT GOT ISEKAIED TO EARTH?!? And he can do teleportation?!? Wow Sasaki’s daily commute just got SO MUCH faster. 10/10 Commuter Isekai in general are a fascinating subgenre, and this particular story is getting an anime adaption soon so im super glad i found it. It does a lot of neat stuff with time scaling and like.. practical power limits? Recommended.

The Girl I want is so Handsome! The Complete Manga Collection

Two volumes printed in one nice big book. It’s LARGE, I do love manga with smaller page sizes (makes it much easier to store them or carry them!) but heck it’s easy to forget how good these things look on LARGE pages! Looks incredible up close.

Plot wise it’s pretty simple straightforward school based yuri story with a basketball theme… it’s cute. Does have that thing where like all plot progression is gated behind misunderstandings and miscommunication but luckily things tend to be cleared up the next chapter so it’s never annoying. Yeah, it’s just simple, pretty well executed story printed in a really nice chunky volume.

Our Teachers are Dating! Vol. 1

1. GOD women are so hot, I love women.
2. IM REALLY SORRY that these book notes quite often tend to do this but I’m going on another rant about HOW these books are printed but HECK this book (series?!?) is printed on WEIRDLY high quality paper stock. It’s so thick it was even hard to fully open? The cover is a real nice card stock (double side printed at that! And the internal pages are real smooth and thick - theres no paper grain here. It’s also on the small side of the page size spectrum which coupled with the binding/paper quality just feels really luxurious? It’s wild! Puling a small sample of other books published by Seven Seas, and none of them have the same paper stock or bins stiffness to them. The closest is their full color manhwa prints, but even they seem to have thinner pages with a slight gloss finish. Like, "the girl i want is so handsome!" was also published by Seven Seas, as an object its like the polar opposite of this book. It’s real weird, but I love it! This is why physical objects rule.

Bonus: Audio Books

Solo Leveling Vol. 6

I dont get the hype around this series. When Crunchyroll announced there was an anime adaption happening and they would be airing it, people went wild on that social media. Ive been listening to the audiobook version for a while and like.. i dont get it. ITS SO BORING!?!? Like, people seem to be hyped for the fights and stuff... but i SWARE there are like whole chapters that are just dryly discussing how portals to magical worlds full of terrifying monsters really depress the value of luxury housing markets IN A REAL BORING WAY. that kind of content should be right up my ally but dang solo leveling makes it dull. BUT I SHALL CONTINUE TO LISTEN TO EVERY VOLUME, HOPING THE NEXT ONE IS WHERE IT GETS GOOD. This volume actual had some bits where Jinwoo actually feels kinda like a human for once.. but yeah hes still a bit of a fucking psychopath. The whole story also has that vague "oh yeah this feels kinda like it was written by a fascist" thing going on, like attack on titan.. oh maybe thats why so many people are hyped for it? cant recommend this unless your a total dweeb like me. (my next audible credits going to be spent on the new volume of Tanya the Evil, so uhhh, more of that next month too i guess!)

stuff in the pile for next week

oh would you look at that there's more yuri... not sure about villainess content tho which is SAD. I do have more Apothecary Diaries arriving on monday tho so IM REAL HAPPY ABOUT THAT.

Books read this year: 68