This is an index post of pretty much every manga and light novel I've posted about on this site. Ive left out some stuff where I've not posted any notes.. but other than that its pretty exhaustive. Ive posted about some 230 series and 500 odd volumes on Cohost over the past few years which is pretty wild. Thanks to anyone who's ever read any of my weekly posts and left comments, it meant a lot 🩷
Lotte's TOP picks
in no particular order
Manga Index
# A B C D E F G H I K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y
Skip to the Light Novel Index
#
15 Minutes before we really date
Vol. 1
Pretty cute tbh! It’s about two childhood friends beginning to date. It’s not full of big dramatic plot twists or anything, but more short, lowkey moments - most chapters cover a short 15 minutes slice leading up to some event in their blossoming relationship. It’s quite and quite beautifully drawn- with Super gentle atmosphere to the characters interactions. Super recommended
365 Days to the Wedding
Vol. 1
Vol. 3
Ohhh yeah I picked this one up on a total whim, and HECK what an incredible book for fans of total idiots. I, Lotte May, world famous idiot, am a BIIIIG fan of idiots. ITS SO GOOD! We have the two biggest idiots, totally antisocial dweebs, incredible introverts working in the planning department of a travel agency - but disaster strikes our stupids hero’s company, they are going to open a new branch in Russia and someone from the Tokyo branch will be sent to set it up. Who knows how many years you might get stuck in Siberia! It’s cold there! There’s only one way for these two to protect their precious, single loner Tokyo lifestyles, and that’s pretending to get married. No big deal right? It can’t be that hard to fool your coworkers, it’s not like they are going to make a big deal of it… right? Right? Ahhh.
The 5 Minutes We Share At The Convenience Store.
Scanlation
https://mangadex.org/title/553e781b-9b27-4520-aa6a-a98c7d749c9f/konbini-de-kimi-to-no-5-funkan
A
The Abandoned Empress
Vol. 1-3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Real engaging take on the whole non-isekai villainess time skip sub genre - I’m having a great time slowly understanding how this world works and how our main girl is going to survive. The first volume spends a LOT of its pages in her first life which was really neat- if very abusive and violent. Really makes you feel for her. 10/10 good book - the only thing that would make it better would be if it were yuri. Also, check out these beautiful shiny covers
Absolute Duo
Vol. 1
Absolute garbage 6/10 enjoyed it.
Accomplishments of the Dukes Daughter
Vol. 1-4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6-7
Vol. 8
“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. 10/10”
Alpi the Soul Sender
Vol. 1
Very beautiful book, an interesting and quiet story about the death of local gods. I really think this one is worth a read.
It’s published by Titan Comic’s ‘Titan Manga’ brand, which I guess is new? It’s the only book I have by them at least, and I’ve got thousands of these things! Anyways their copy is weird, right on the inside cover it says “PERFECT FOR FANS OF MAGICAL GIRLS” which is of course, a weird way to advertise a book, especially one like this! Maybe for madoka fans, people that want to read a slow meditation on the death of gods… this ain’t for precure fans, you know. It’s just strange.
Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten
Vol. 1
As sugary sweet as the anime, and super pretty. I’ll be honest, the anime was a super big guilty pleasure of mine back when it aired,it’s deffo NOT good but it IS good if you know what I mean, real junk food.
My Androgynous Boyfriend
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
“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)”
Amateur E-girl Streaming a Space War
Scanlation
this e-girls about to get internet famous with her exclusive UFO alien attack vidoes - if she survives and YouTube doesn’t- what’s even the point
https://mangadex.org/title/62ea0d5e-b6d8-4391-a919-02d217410f18/amateur-e-girl-streaming-a-space-war
An Incurable Case of Love
Vol. 1
A pretty good hospital-based romance story forming here - obviously not as good as Pulse (which is a yuri and therefore infinitely better), but still pretty dang good!
The characters are pretty interesting, even the asshole male romantic lead. Protag-chan herself is particularly good, she’s a newbie nurse straight out of university and the depictions of her struggling to learn how to do the job for real are pretty dang good - it’s the kind of work that feels like there must have been a bunch of research interviews done before the storyboard were drawn you know? Will deffo pick up more sometime
The Apothecary Diaries
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-5
Vol. 6-7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Vol. 10
Maomao makes some wonderful disgusted faces at flirty men, which really speaks to me imo
Maomao is SO FUCKING CUTE when she’s ingesting deadly deadly neurotoxins. This girl just LOVES poisons. I LOVE HER.
Assorted Entanglements
Vol. 1-3
Vol. 4
I really like the structure, which is half an episodic continuous storyline, with kinda standalone pages that are disconnected from the main story but have some small (and usually very funny) slice-of-life thing - its just plain good and is a real inventive way of deepening the relationship between our two ‘leading’ ladies, it creates a great sense of time
I say ‘leading’ because after the first bunch of chapters (and specially from the second volume onwards) things really open up. This isnt a story about two gals, its an ensemble cast of multiple different couples whose lives all interact and cross over - they all face different issues that tend to be mirrored and reflected in different ways. Its cool how rich each relationship and set of characters end up feeling. This - is a good book
Asumi chan is Interested in Lesbian Brothels!
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
“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.“
Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko!
Scanlation
Ayaka is in Love With Hiroko is incredibly good - recommend to everyone whos a fan of useless women.
B
Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: my trusted companions tried to kill me, but thanks to the gift of an unlimited gacha I got lvl 9999 friends and am out for revenge on my former party members and the world
Vol. 1
Very silly book, feel like I’ve never seen a fantasy hero’s power level get so inflated so quickly. I wonder if there’s going to be anything interesting here going forward or if it’s just revenge fantasy, but ehh it’s fine I guess? Not the best thing I’ve ever read
Beauty and the Feast
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
”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”
Becoming a Princess Knight and Working at a Yuri Brothel
Vol. 1
Intensely silly, the title says it all. Recommend for those who like to see boob and girls kiss, and fans of stupid isekai. There’s an interesting brothel magic system in here, for some reason all the brothel ladies have magical kisses? This was deffo written by an idiot (complimentary)
Black and White - Tough Love at the Office
Vol. 1
“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.”
Bocchi the Rock!
Vol. 1
You know, for a 4-koma style manga it’s real good? I’m not the biggest fan of that style of manga usually but you know, Bocchi is great. Is it as good as the anime? No. Categorically no. One million percently no. But there’s a cool spark here- it’s kinda amazing to see the source panels that sparked some of the standout moments of animation in the show… actually it’s kinda like reading an early storyboard that’s a few drafts off what ends up in the show? Which normally source manga doesn't feel like that? But yeah, it’s good, it’s interesting but wow that anime is incredible - it really elevates whats on the page, but you can still totally get how this inspired the animation team to go wild.
Bocchi the Rock! Gaiden: Hiroi Kikuri no Fukazake Nikki
Scanlation
All im saying is that i think its KINDA obvious that the mangaka has experience drawing yuri manga, and that like 999% the correct direction
Bride of the Barrier Master
Vol. 1
Another girl is secretly super strong but abused and bullied by her family for being a disappointment manga, kinda like my happy marriage. Has all the same supernatural tropes in it too. Unlike that book, protag-chan isn’t a wet blanket pushover, she figures out who she is and has an inner strength and knows what she wants, which is nice. It was a fun read
By The Hearth At Alice-san's Home
Scanlation
I was reading this this morning too, it’s pretty cute
https://mangadex.org/title/0df86784-961a-443c-9765-8b41702c6249/alice-san-chi-no-iroribata?utm_source=cohost&utm_medium=iframely
c
Call Girl in Another World
Vol. 1
When I saw this in the store I was like “ohhh heck, this is either one for REAL perverts or for REAL GENRE PERVERTS. I hope it’s for genre perverts” and I’m 3000% happy to report it’s for Genre Perverts! rejoice! Incredible my funny and incredible unerotic lol.
Captain Corinth: The Galactic Navy Officer Becomes an Adventurer
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3-4
Vol. 5
This is a pretty neat concept- it’s a fantasy isekai by way of science fiction. The titular Captain Corinth gets stranded in a fantasy world after his spaceship is mysteriously ambushed in hyperspace and crash lands on a nearby uncharted planet. All the usual isekai tropes are justified though advanced technology - all your cheat skills are nanotechnology and AI - stuff like that. it’s just a neat implementation of all that junk isekai genre perverts adore, 10/10
Cheerful Amnesia
Vol. 1
Top scientists have toiled away for YEARS doing complex lab experiments and they finally did it, the built the ultimate idiot yuri girl. The world’s biggest idiot. She’s so stupid. She is perfect. She has zero thoughts (apart from GIRLFRIEND HOT). I love her.
Anyways, what’s Cheerful Amnesia about? Well our perfect idiot yuri girl wakes up in hospital… with amnesia.. oh no! She can’t remember the last 3 years of her life! But there’s a hot lady in her room?!? Who says she’s her girlfriend?!! “WOW” she thinks to herself - “go past me I picked up a hottie”
And it just gets stupider from there. 10/10
Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World
Vol. 1-3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Basic bitch isekai bullshit. Some weird shit theology in this one. Apparently you can become a god of you beat up another god real good? I think? Who knows. This is garbage. I will continue to read it
Citrus
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-10
So, Citrus is real good. Screw the haters and all that. Yeah, it deals with weird abusive relationships but it knows what it’s doing, I feel. I had a good time with these two messed up kids, I'm sure things will go really well for them.
Citrus+
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
You know that massive feeling of disappointment when you get to the end of a yuri series and all the angst is over and it’s just like… ending where the relationship starts? IT SUCKS! Well for Citrus, Saburouta sensei decided to fix that with a sequel series.
There’s a panel early on when Yuzu’s mum is looking at Mei blush about the idea of going on a date with Yuzu and like, smiling warmly at the whole situation. That panel is great. Only someone with a truly, incredibly, amazingly massive brain could have drawn that.
Cross Play Love Otaku x Punk
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
These two morons, these idiots, these absolute buffoons, these cretins, these not very smart people BOTH make much cuter girls than boys. Anyways wow what an incredibly complex, messy book. I think “kid with a case serious of the genders working in a cosplay cafe” has to be one of my favourite genres, right up there with ‘generic isekai’, ‘villainess but yuri’ and ‘idol but with a secret partner’. All great genres imo.
One of the BEST things about this is the main characters do have friends that immediately 100% clock them and just don’t do ANYTHING with that information- it’s just like huh cool I guess my best friend makes a hot girl I’ll leave them alone/watch from afar because this WILL BE funny. That kinda rules heh
D
Date of Marriage
Mangamo
Reading straight women’s romance manga is a funny experience - his plain clothes boosts his sex appeal? uhhh, okay sure thing buddy, I really don’t understand that but I think you look lovely. You do you though, go get him girl.
Daughter of the Emperor
Vol. 1 - 2
Vol. 3
What’s really neat about this is that is TOTALLY doubles down on the mechanics of “being reborn” - our protagonist is a literal child. Sure- a child with an adult mind, but still a child. She can’t communicate, she’s 2 months old. Of course she can’t communicate! she can barely sit up by herself! And that kinda rules?
Days of Love at Seagull Villa
Vol. 1-3
Dang this series was just incredibly readable - like the opposite of some other stuff I’ve been reading this week I just couldn’t put it down, and I could get through a volume in like 45mins - this yuri manga is just smooth as butter~
It’s got all the good things going for it, it’s about adult women (mostly) with adult problems… it’s not as good as the doughnut yuri but yeah, it was for sure short and sweet. It does suffer from that main yuri manga sin of ending when the protagonist’s finally get together. Ughh. That should be a beginning not the end!
Daytime Shooting Star
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Pretty cute shoujo manga that’s so far ticking off all the tropes
✅ countryside girl moving to her uncles place in Tokyo due to her parents work
✅ hot girl in her class acting all innocent but bullying her for being a bumpkin
✅ love triangle forming (including a guy who is irresponsibly too old)
✅ whole class going bowling
The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess
Vol. 1-5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 8
“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.”
The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy
Vol. 1
ehhh, magic school battle manga. If you’ve read one, you’ve read like a billion of these. Genre perverts only.
The Death Defying Princess Creates a Yuri Harem to Survive
Scanlation
a new yuri harem timeslip villainess manga reincarnation manga, which you know- fantastic genre imo, gotta be one of the top genres out there. I quite liked the first chapter and have been waiting for more - and heck was not disappointed by chapter 2. Who would have guessed she’d become such a useless lesbian so fast. I’m rooting for this gal
https://mangadex.org/title/b232c191-6e14-4522-a1a2-c4b0f688f00d/shi-ni-modori-oujo-wa-ikinobiru-tameni-yuri-harem-wo-tsukuru-koto-ni-shita
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3-4
Isekaied (heart attack) - pretty good. The anime was pretty trashy (also good), I’m surprised by how much effort went into the art on this one. For genre perverts. One of the many, many isekai thats like “wow! owning slaves! must be a good replacement for an actual family!”
Destroy It All And Love Me In Hell
Scanlation
Its one of thoes 'two girls slowly open up to each other about their home lives and find solace in shared trauma, and slowly draw closer tougher" kinda highschool yuri but uhhhh.... so toxic its radioactive - deffo check out the content warnings on the first page of chapter 1, but like heck good book im sure these kids will end up totally fine and well adjusted and nothing bad will happen whatsoever
https://mangadex.org/title/eac0159f-2768-49d7-8891-4202f3e9fb8c/destroy-it-all-and-love-me-in-hell
The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Some weeeeeeeird stuff going on here. It’s an okay book, but hmmm. Like, why do you require your fiance to be under 14 my dude? This time slip story has a cannon, evil pedo incestuous prince on the other side of this conflict, they need to stop beating around the bush on this point and make it clear that this is NOT weird VERY quickly in the next volume, like heeeeeeck
Doughnuts under a crescent moon
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
”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”
E
Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City
Vol. 1
A good one of these. Deffo just one for the genre perverts though, there’s nothing really to differentiate it from any other reborn as an aristocrat style story. Junk food. The titular Production Magic didn’t even show up in the first volume! Gimme something to work with here!
Edible Flowers
Scanlation
Its real good?! I do love these characters a LOT and it's a shame it just ends at what seems like a significant turning point in both of their lives... Even more so as the last chapter spends a good number of pages building up Ibuki's friends. There's a cool second arc hook being set up that just never happens. It's sad, but like, at least these 6 chapters exist!!
https://mangadex.org/title/24b47819-83c7-4627-8b33-b35e7fc47340
The Eminence In Shadow
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6-7
“Picture someone who isn’t the main character or the antagonist, someone who manipulate events behind the scenes and flaunt their overwhelming power. That’s the kind of shadowbroker I’ve always dreamed of becoming“ - that’s the opening line, it’s a fucking strong mission statement! ITS GOOD! yeah yeah its an isekai so its obviously 100% my shit, but i just love everything about how this stupid story is structured. The whole gimmick with our protagonist just making fantasy shit up as he bumbles though the world and not realizing that every single tropey made up story he acts out in the world actually textually really exists IN REALITY, is real fun.
Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with My Beloved Hound
Vol. 1-3
I’ve read a few volumes of the light novel (well, all the audiobooks that currently exist- same thing) and really like this dumb story, it’s a slow life Isekai about a guy and his dog in another world, I mean what more could you possibly want?!? Turns out ART. you want DRAWINGS. ITS LIKE A MILLION PERCENT CUTER WITH DRAWINGS. Leo (the dog) is SO CUTE in her massive wolf form, there’s a gentleness and joy that the art captures so well. As for the human cast, Claire is SUCH a cutie in the manga version, they capture so much of her character in her facial expressions, it’s just real good fluff
Even Though We’re Adults
Vol. 1- 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE - incredibly readable, if you get it you too will be howling in pain at the terrible adult love triangle thats forming. If your not violently nodding along and thinking “yeah! what the heck! keep going girl!” when one of our two main protagonist ladies shouts “Give me a break Ayano… you idiot. YOU’RE MARRIED!” at her phone - you must be dead inside. If like the idea of reading a series where a lady shouts “I CAN’T BE CHATTING WITH MY CRUSHES HUSBAND!” Whilst lying down in bed in despair this is the series for you!
Everyone’s Getting Married
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3-4
Vol. 5-6
Vol. 7-9
[Notes based on some Line messages I set to @Nex3 whilst reading volume 6 in a cafe]
So it’s a Romance manga published by Shojo Beat, which are normally pretty by the numbers, about a regular office lady who’s dating a celebrity, which is a pretty by the numbers subgenre. Despite having ZERO interest in celebrity culture in real life ohhh heck do I LOVE this genre, cos you always have to have that dynamic where they have to keep the relationship hidden, which is fun right?
Anyways, the main character lady’s brother just found out who she’s dating- and normally in this kinda thing there’s a lot of stupid bullshit like “wow you’re dating them?!? They are famous!” That kinda stuff. In this her brother flat out doesn't recognise the guy or give a single shit - which is an INCREDIBLE twist
The boyfriend is a news presenter. Her brother just does not watch the news. That’s genre innovation right there. I was really impressed lol
F
A Face You Shouldn’t Show
Scanlation
I fucking love scumbag women! Someone should give Flowerchild a medal for her services to scummy women
https://mangadex.org/title/9f78bb87-b2d9-4e2c-b9fe-7e07b481d8ca/a-face-you-shouldn-t-show
Failed Princesses
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3-4
Vol. 5-6
Vol. 6.5
I simultaneously like this series a lot and also find it really empty heh. It’s a hella cute and pretty ride, and the initial popular gal adopting a weird nerd and teaching her how to be pretty arc was REAL good… but the main story line… it’s like this plot is two shades two mean to its main characters? It’s not tasty! I dunno just feels like there’s a more delicious story that could have emerged over the last volume and a half… it’s like all the elements that make this ending are good! Just maybe not with this particular weighting.. and in this particular order? still good tho.
The Fiancée Chosen by the Ring
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-5
So yeah it’s a pretty regular shoujo story about nobility, romance and ballgowns - but I really like the characters here, especially the embroidery obsessed protagonist- she’s just super cool? Its really neat how that character theme of "shes an embroidery pervert" gets woven in to so many things, its what she does in her free time, its what she pays attention to at the igh society parties, heck her magical powers are that she can do embroidery real good. Just a real cleanly structured story & world
Fiancée of the wizard
Vol. 1
Yet another reincarnated as a Nobel lady story, this one is pretty good if you a pervert for the genre. The first half make it seem like it’s going to be super heartwarming so seeing how much of a antisocial jerk the wizard kid is when he grows up was pretty neat, like oh I guess this will have some bite to it after all
The Forbidden Peach
On Pocket Comics
About a university research associate meeting one of her students in a Lesbian brothel, you know, the way you do. was reallly good apart from the gross sexual assault bit in the middle. Its very sweet & messy apart from that. worth having a read
Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke
Vol. 1
Vol. 3-4
Vol. 5
standard for one of these- a very good one though.
The isekai mechanics and the time leaping is all really interestingly implemented- it’s like the “real world” is some weird ghostly plane protag-chan can only visit in a dreamlike state, and the isekai world is the concrete real place. The opposite dynamic to usual. It’s very strong I like it
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”
Futari Escape
Vol. 1
“Pretty cute stories about two girls running away from work and disassociating from society for a bit.”
G
A Galaxy Next Door
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
I do love me some manga about making manga. This does have a weird supernatural background story to it, but its still nice to see people struggling their hardest to make beautiful art and slowly fall in love at the same time
The Girl I want is so Handsome! The Complete Manga Collection
Single Volume
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
The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to be my Childhood Friend
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-3
Vol. 4
It’s garbage and there’s a billion books like this- but usually there’s SOMETHING there to grab on to - I don’t expect every romantic manga primarily aimed at young boys to be a masterpiece but like… there’s gotta be something redeeming!! This is just empty
The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes
Vol. 1
It’s a pretty light and fluffy school romance manga about a girl who has scary eyes but is actually real sweet when you get to know her, and some boy she likes. So/ kinda nothing but still pretty entertaining to read though. The real big draw here is that it’s full color and beautiful, like 5000% some of the prettiest pastel comic pages you ever seen. I know I can go on a bit about how nice a book physically is whenever I come across a particularly nice one - but wow heck this is one of the nicest presented manga books you could ever hope to find. Denpa did a real good job on that front.
The Great Cleric
Vol. 1-3
Yet another isekai, this time a sales guy dies of a sudden heat attack and gets reincarnated with the potential to learn healing magic and hand to hand combat skills. But oh no, healers in this world are ALL MASSIVE JERKS. Like, the biggest jerks! And our poor protag-kun? hes just a normal nice guy that would never want to charge anyone 30 gold for a healing spell. He just wants to charge 1 silver. Thats how nice he is! But first, hes gotta get good.
H
Handsome Girl and Crossdressing Boy
Scanlation
https://mangadex.org/title/685db91e-a8ab-4de3-9738-9d3f883bd179
Handsome Girl and Sheltered Girl
Single Volume
The arts real cute and you gotta love an idiot that cant tell that her crush is a girl
Hazure Skill: The Guild Member With a Worthless Skill is Actually a Legendary Assassin
Vol. 1-3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
A classic boy meets demon-lord girl, boy beats up demon lord girl, demon lord girl becomes boys pet cat, boy gets a job as a staff member at a small normal adventurers guild. You know, one of them. It’s always nice to see really abnormal characters getting obsessed with being “normal” (whilst having zero clue what normal even is). There’s lots of fun fantasy tropes and found family themes running all the way through. Simple but solidly executed “I can’t believe it’s not isekai” junk.
Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Heavenly King!
Vol. 1
Incredibly stupid
Help me Relax, Yui-san
Scanlation
It’s a cute manga but fucking hell these girls need a break
Her Royal Highness Seems to be Angry
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-3
Vol. 4-5
Wow incredibly beautiful art and a double isekai? Like we got a boy being summoned isekaied into a magical world (and dying), and then a princess time slipping to the future… possibly meeting the isekai boys reincarnation 1000 years in the future?!? Double isekai and a time slip this rules genre perverts get hyped that’s like 3 genres. And yeah - theres a lot of manga with really low detailed panel backgrounds but this isnt one of them. I bet it had a monthly serialization or something cos heck the amount of pencil time this would need to draw is wild!
Hi, I'm a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Incredible line work- this mangaka can DRAW! Anyways, its a fun slow romance with some interesting magic system stuff. If you like shoujo fantasy it’s highly recommended.
There’s deffo a cool genre trend here with stories about young lonely women who are super super smart, world-leading in their craft witches living isolated in forests being discovered by hot Nobel boys - I’m pretty sure more of that exact girly fantasy trope has ended up on my pile lately than other sub-genres (like villainess, for example) I guess it’s a real smart way to merge your shoujo romance into a fantasy setting so you don't have to write about a dang school. I’m a noted genre pervert so I’m glad manga publishes have found a new one to mine for translation content
His Majesty the Demon King's Housekeeper
Vol. 1
Cute fluff
The Holy Grail of Eris
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
I adore our beautifully honest protagonist and her evil ghost aunty. Such a great dynamic, and oh heck the art is beautiful…. But gosh dang the world and literally EVERY SINGLE other character is horrible and it kinda makes it a real chore to read.
Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home
Vol. 1-4
Vol. 5
Its an isekai shoujo romance about a lady reborn in a magic world except her magic is very week but shes real good at controlling it and invents all sort of domestic uses for it and calls it housekeeping magic..... and like, yeah i would like to read that very much thats some of my favorite genres right there.
How about R15?
Scanlation
this manga is so fucking stupid (complimentary)
https://mangadex.org/title/cb98bd40-a903-4416-bdd0-dab93d8f36ad/r15-ja-dame-desuka
How do we Relationship?
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Dang I adore this book. Adult women doing their best - I love that for them! It’s the kind of book where there are just SO many panels when you read it and then just gaze into the art and feel all warm inside and just tuck yourself onto a little ball of pleasant feelings I SURE DO HOPE NOTHING GOES WRONG FOR THESE TWO.
Hungry for you: Endo Yasuko Stalks the Night
Vol. 1-2
I love idiot girls!! “what do you mean Endo san is a vampire? Sure she’s kinda weird and old fashioned and I invited her into my home and she just kinda lives there now and she doesn’t eat human food apart from tomato sauce and then she bites my neck every night and I guess she drinks my blood when she does that and she hates the smell of garlic and is incapable of walking passed churches… but vampires arnt real duhhh she can’t possibly be one” solid logic.
I think the first volume is pretty incredible and the second volume is... not as good but wraps things up pretty okay. I mean, it gets weird, in a not great way but it works well enough. Nice little two book arc i guess. If you wanna read about some yuri vampires have at it.
Hunting in Another World With My Elf Wife
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-3
Vol. 4
Pretty fun isekai about a dude going hunting with his wife, who is a hot and also an elf. A hot elf wife, if you will. 10/10 good for genre perverts.
My favourite part is actually the little omake at the end, which is a fun little chapter with the goddess that isekai's our protag-kun - and shes just doing research in Tokyo on how to pick a good ‘hero’ to summon. Lady just reads a hell of a lot of isekai light novels and bases her whole summoning ruleset based off that. 10/10
ISEKAI DEATH REPORT: mauled to death by a brown bear whilst hunting
I
I Became a SLAVE in Another World (Crying), and My Master Is a Black-Hearted ELF QUEEN! (But She's Super Hot ← This Is Important) I'm Pretty Useless, so I Get Insulted a Lot, but the ORC I'm Rooming With Is Full of Good Vibes, and the ELVES in the Village Are Pretty Cute Too, so on the Whole, I Have to Say That I'm Actually Quite Enjoying Myself Here.
incredible title, incredibly stupid
https://mangadex.org/title/7c5cbad4-8bfe-48b3-af13-18c338dda5da/i-became-a-slave-in-another-worldand-to-make-matters-worse-my-master-is-a-black-hearted-elf-queen-i
I Can’t believe I slept with you
Vol 1-3
A short, messy yuri about a fuckup game developer and her hot younger landlady. So yeah, lets ignore the problematic aspects of your landlady forcing “favors” from you because your behind on rent, at its core this is a sweet story about a useless oneesan type character relying on a anxious and unstable little sister, who in turn needs her for emotional support. they grow and heal together, and thats always heart warming. i just WISH they had another volume for post confession adventures WHY DO THESE THINGS ALWAYS END AT THE START OF A RELATIONSHIP IM GUNNA SCREAM.
I Cross-Dressed for the IRL Meetup
Scanlation - now avalible offically
I Don’t Need a Happy Ending: A Collection of short stories
Anthology
Yuri anthology by the same mangaka as Assorted Engagements, it follows the same kind of pattern with most of the stories being about messed up women doing messed up things - for various values of messed up. Its not as good as Assorted Engagements, that's for sure! Some of the earlier stories in the collection are flatout unpleasant IMO - “I’ll never fall in love with you” in particular was just.. a bit too much. I think “I Don’t Know What Love Is” is by far the stand-out story in the collection, it tells an incredible little tale for its page count, feels like the character actually went somewhere, its a really good one-shot. “A day off from Work” was also really good.
I Don't Know How to Give Birth!
Vol. 1
This is an incredibly heartwarming autobiographical manga essay by Kazama Ayami about (obviously) her trying, failing and then finally succeeding in having a kid. This book is full of warmth, the art is really pretty, and this lady portrays herself as a massive idiot and OHHH GOSH i do love me a good idiot. You really can't help but adore this lady as she works her way through pregnancy.
At the end of each chapter there’s a one-panel comic and write-up by her husband (who is a ero mangaka) and daaaang that dude is the world's biggest supporter of women and a massive wife guy it’s very funny.
I Don't Know Which Is Love
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Wow this book has wildly high energy levels! It’s 200% a yuri harem manga, and it’s pretty great. Each girl is attracted to something unique about the protagonist, and it’s all built around the five senses. One is crazy for her voice, another loves her gaze… you know there's a girl who is totally smitten with how good she uhhh…tastes?!? Like I said it’s high energy. Neat book!
I’ll Never Be Your Crown Princess!
Vol. 1
Weird, lots of fucking about and finding out
I Married My Best Friend to Shut My Parents Up
Single Volume
Yet another book in the “fake marriage with my best girl friend (thanks shibuya ward) that accidentally turns real oops” yuri sub genre. It’s a GOOD sub genre I like it a lot. The arts is real pretty and it’s a cute book. There’s an infection point half way though that always makes my heart burst a little bit. Recommend
I Married my Female Friend
Vol. 1
So glad this finally has an official English translation! I think for sure this one will go down as a modern Yuri classic when it's finished. The first volume is super well plotted and there's a really neat relationship arc right from the get-go, Its super satisfying watching Kurumi slowly clock that the relationship means a lot more to her than she realises and that Ruriko is someone she actually wants to settle down with. 11/10
I may Be a Guild Receptionist but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Fairly typical story in the non-isekai “receptionist at the adventurer guild is secretly super powerful actually” fantasy subgenre. It’s competent? Like, we’re not winning any awards here for anything but I enjoyed my stay. I liked the conceit that she didn’t want anyone to know she’s severely a strong adventurer because receptionists aren't allowed side jobs and she doesn't want to lose the cushy government paycheck. It’s simple but works well. You can turn your brain off for this one
Imitation
Vol. 1
IRL I am not into celebrity gossip or drama at all, I could barely identify any IRL celebrity types - I just do not care. In manga tho? Ohhhhh heck manga with idols, actors and other celebrities is one of my favourite genres. This is a really good implementation of that genre, we got a whole bunch of entertainers spread through three idle groups at various stages of their careers all interacting and it’s great, delicious drama. It’s fantastic. Our heroin, Maha is particularly good. Her arch of being a kind of over-eager newbie to crushed by the industry despite her innate talent shining though is super good and I can’t wait to see her grow.
That said, what the fuck is up with the whole scene where she’s working through her first acting job with the more experienced guy who is deffo the main love interest? He fucking hates her at this point in the story (for stupid reasons) and essentially physically assaults her on set? WHAT HE DOES IS LITERALLT AN ACTUAL CTIME. Like, he’s playing a murderer and ad libs a scene where he chokes her so hard she gets bruises on her neck? HE ACTUALLY CHOKES OUT THIS POOR GIRL. And everyone’s like “wow you did a great job of guiding her through her first job she’s acting so scared! It really sold the scene!” And NOBODY HAS A PROBLEM WITH IT!?! It’s messed up, and a lot of the drama over the next hundred pages are that dickhead trying to decide if he should apologise for committing an act of grievous bodily harm and traumatising the poor girl. It’s messed up and I wish someone would have said something. He has to go though a whole "am i a baddie?" arc, WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN WAY BETTER IF SOMEONE WAS AT LEAST LIKE "WOW THIS IS A PROBLEM MAYBE WE SHOULD GET THIS YOUNG GIRL SOME MEDICAL ATTENTION SHE WAS JUST ASSAULTED"
Anyways other than how that’s handled, the books good.
In/Spectre
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-3
by FAR the best part is just how much of a little gremlin Kotoko is. DANG shes such a little bitch I LOVE HER
If I could reach you
Vol. 1-4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Uta is probably the SADDEST girl ever committed to paper. Its actually cool just HOW sad this work is, somehow without collapsing into depression
If My Favorite Pop Idol Made It to the Budokan, I Would Die
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
What a weird and cool look into an idol fandom community, the books are very silly but a lot of fun, like this is pure idiot character territory with some light yuri themes at the fringes.
It's hard not to notice that a lot of the chapters to chapter dialogue plot beats and driven by misunderstanding, which usually SUPER HYPER annoy me, it's the WORST way to drive a story but I think that it’s actually kinda real neat here? There’s such a disconnect between being an idol and a fan and the way these characters talk past each other captures that really well.
You can’t point at a page here and shout “JUST TALK TO HER ABOUT IT JEEZ” because that’s the entire point. They can't ever talk! well, not for more than a few seconds at a handshake event... if there are enough tickets... Anyways , good book
If Witch, Then Which?
Vol. 1-3
The crossdressing witch manga. It was okay I guess? Its cute and pretty short, but deffo not queer which is always disappointing. i mean 'crossdressing witch manga' sounds like it should be queer as heck, but it aint!
I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivalled in the Real World Too
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
”DAAAANG what a stupid book 10/10 I 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”
I Got Fired as a Court Wizard so Now I’m Moving to the County to Become a Magic Teacher
Vol. 1
PLOT SUMMARY: Wizard cop gets fired from the wizard FBI for being from a poor family, so he moves back home to become a wizard teacher at wizard school teaching the poor idiot dropout wizard kids who probably wouldn't be allowed to join the wizard FBI no matter how good they get at protecting whatever the wizard equivalent of capital is.
Now he has the time to self-reflect enough to realize that doing state-sanctioned wizard executions as a wizard cop is bad actually. He tries to reform & repent by teaching poor wizard kids not to be stupid (and poor, presumably). Luckily, his hot childhood friend who is cute (and hot) isnt bothered by him being a ex-wizard-fbi-state-sanction-wizard-murder-cop and will probably hug his very manly pain away or something, cos shes cute and hot. The book's trash. 10/10
I love you so much I hate you
Vol. 1 - single volume
”Dang I love yuri about older women -Real nice to be reading something and wishing the best for these ladies - strong good warm feelings”
Into The Deepest Most Unknowable Dungeon
Vol. 1
A lot of the time for new series, I have no idea what I’m getting into, I’m just buying new shit based on a title… maybe sometimes I’ll look at the cover… but usually I’m not thinking that deep. So a lot of the time with fantasy manga these days I’m 100% thinking “wow I can believe this isn’t an isekai” - it’s the opposite here “wow I can’t believe this is an isekai”. I thought it was just going to be some silly high fantasy dungeoneering… but nope it’s an isekai about how actually combat sucks, the dungeons are cool but the day to day business of adventuring sucks… but dang isn’t dungeon diving aesthetically romantic~ also wow this books world is HELLA misogynistic. It’s kinda impressive how gross it is
I think I Turned my Childhood Friend into A Girl
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
I read a scanlation ages ago but yeah, this is still SUPER CUTE, also the way the colour pages are incorporated into it is amazingly nice- it’s an incredibly nice book to behold. Yeah, it’s just real cute.
I Swear I won’t bother you again!
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
“Painfully straight (complimentary)”
I want to be a receptionist in this magical world
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
it’s a “I can’t believe it’s not an isekai” fantasy manga that somehow manages to fit a whole 6-year magic school education story arc into a single volume. That’s efficient!
I was Confessed to by my Beautiful Oshi
Scanlation
K
Kaiju Girl Caramelise
Vol. 1
Uhhh this book is kinda incredible. Reading the bonus page at the back we learn the mangaka and her editor was trying to solve one major editorial problem with this work. How do you transfer from working on a series serialzied in a shoujo magazine to a series in a shonen one? The answer they stumbled up is just incredibly genius. Just draw a complete by the numbers stereotypical shoujo manga, make the protagonist a REAL loser girl, put in a HOT boy love interest, draw it alll HYPER feminine, so many sparkles, make it real fluffy and flowery…
Now finally make protag-chan turn into fucking Godzilla whenever she’s embarrassed. Like, skyscraper sized. Big girl shit. It’s absolute genius space brain stuff over here.
Kasane and Subaru
Scanlation
Feel like a lot of you nerds would like this manga.
https://mangadex.org/title/4a086028-7977-4da6-a4c2-b659a4de29c6/kasane-to-subaru
Killing Me!
Vol. 1
”super sweet yuri story about 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!”
The Knight Blooms Behind Castle Walls
Vol. 1
A sweet story of a young page boy who yearns to grow up quick and become a fully fledged knight in shining armor - she’s just keeping the fact she’s a girl hidden from all the rest of the castle’s inhabitants. This book really captures a sense of childlike glee that I don’t see often in manga, and it’s super beautifully drawn as well! Seeing young ladies blush at how gallant this lil squire is is reallllly adorable
The knight captain is new Princess-to-be
Vol. 1
It’s fine guess? Maybe? idk? Actually, it kinda sucks? but in an 'its fine I guess' kinda way?? Yet another royalty/noble romance story (for someone who’s staunchly anti-monarchy I sure do buy and read a lot of this trash huh). The twist here, if you can call it that is that the noble lady/princess is the prince's knight captain of the guard, and she’s been training to be a knight since a young age so she doesnt know how to noble lady. She keeps saying she’s “trying to be the best man she can be” and when she first has to wear a ball gown she’s like “I couldn’t possibly wear drag” - it could be funny in a story that wasn’t so deplorably straight…
In this book it just doesn't work. They don’t fully commit to her not knowing how to be ladylike - it’s just shallow and not executed at all well. It’s super disappointing actually! Worst of all, there’s only 3 relatively short chapters in this book! A full 50% of the page count is unrelated one-shots by the same mangaka… which are fine? But daaaaang usually when they do filler one shots it’s like… one of them. Not 3 of them taking up half the dang volume!
Kou iu no ga ii
Scanlation
About two freshly single nerds who hook up a bunch and eat good food - just generally doing whatever the heck they want with no strings attached. Tomoka is a beautiful cheery idiot and totally makes the series for me
https://mangadex.org/title/051ce60f-bf16-432a-89a5-a8d52bd16de6/kou-iu-no-ga-ii
Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-7
Incredible book 100/10. I’m a big fan of the anime, it’s stupid isekai bullshit, but it’s just so lighthearted in a pitch-perfect beautiful bright silly kinda way- yuna, the protagonist is incredible I love her, I love that she’s forced to wear that dang stupid bear Kigurumi which is stupid overpowered and cute and I love that people keep petting her in the manga version it’s so good. I love her two bear summons. I love her stupid bear house. I love that all her magic spells are bear-themed. This is a book that knows how to commit to a bit. Recommend (for genre perverts? But like, “cute girls doing cute things” genre fans too, not just isekai perverts)
Kyou, Eki de Mita Kawaii Onna no Ko.
Scanlation
So, this one has a pretty weird main framing device but its still pretty funny and worth a read
https://mangadex.org/title/87367eda-a69e-4079-9f4b-0d396dc645fe/kyou-eki-de-mita-kawaii-onna-no-ko
L
Last Game
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 6
I love manga about idiots. Protag-kun is a very smart rich idiot that’s always losing out at being number one in academics to the same poor girl- “DANG SHES SUPER ANNOYING ALWAYS BEATING ME, I know I’ll make her notice me and acknowledge me by making her fall in love with me and then I’ll reject her and THAT WILL SHOW HER WHO IS THE TOP DOG IN THIS CLASS” - these are the thoughts of a true BRAIN GENIUS what could possibly go wrong
I first read this a scan like a billion years ago, and I remember liking it but ohhhh heck I forgot how funny it was. THIS IS A REAL FUN TIME the exact blend of these two similar but different genius morons is delicious and if you read this a don’t end up with a smile on your face you are dead inside.
Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It In Another World
Vol. 1-2
There’s a lot of isekai stories that are totally absolutely stupid, but this might be the absolute most stupidest. There are some neat ideas but like, it’s mostly just stupid ones. Dude fishes up a mermaid bride in the first 30 pages - it’s daft, it knows exactly what it is and heck it doesn’t waste time.
Let This Grieving Soul Retire - Woe is the Weakling Who Leads the Strongest Party
Vol. 1-3
Its not great
The Little Healer
Scanlation
This is a thai webcomic about a doctor that gets reincarnated as a little girl with magic healing powers in a world where like, everyone FUCKING HATES healers, and his adventures getting used to being a girl and hanging out with a cool catgirl lady that DEFFO has a crush on them. The scanlation on mangadex has a real low effort feel to it, but that just kinda adds to the charm, and heck this is a real charming little gender bent isekai. recommended to genre perverts o7
Living With My Brother's Wife
Scalation - official eng version on MangaUp
"Wow! just like me!" she says whilst reading the manga at 5:15am. "Shes sleeping properly and is always incredibly physically exhausted. that's 100% what happens to me! wild!”
https://mangadex.org/title/6204ff54-c3d5-4645-b21f-f83f6fa303d0/ani-no-yome-to-kurashite-imasu
Love's in Sight!
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Really cute 4 koma about a delinquent gang leader boy and a blind girl doing that whole romance thing and it’s VERY good. It explores this core theme of society not really wanting them in it, because of the precived trouble their existences cause and how that shared experience brings them together. Sure being a delinquent with a scar on you face from a knife fight is VERY different from being partially sighted, but like, it works very well in the text and that thread drives some interesting chapters…
Love me for who I am
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3-5
”It’s the enby maid manga! ITS TOO CUTE FOR WORDS. “
I would die for Mogumo (and ive made that fact ABUNDANTLY clear).
M
Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-5
It’s another isekai, but this time with a lady that used to work in an electronics company reincarnating into a fantasy world as the daughter of a magical artisan, and does the whole isekai modern Japan Knowledge thing to make cool magical inventions. SHE IS COOL, STRONG AND I LOVE HER. at it’s core, the first volume is a story of familial loss and romantic betrayal, but there’s a real warm core and hope for her, she’s so much stronger in her second life and I love her for it. Good book.
Maiden of the Needle
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
“This is National-Treasure level sewing! I haven’t seen anything like it in ages” - this is a direct quote from the text, if the concept of national treasure level sewing doesn't immediately sell you on this, you are not a genre pervert and why are you even reading this post? 9/10 good book.
Apart from that, we have a lot of generic bullied young Nobel lady who has amazing powers but not being given the opportunity to shine until she’s rescued by a hot guy energy- which you know- is whatever these days. There’s a billion books like that, but this one does it very well and has some good ideas. Not to get all problematic-age-gap discoursey or anything but where the book ends up is a bit weird - this kids 15 she should not be getting forced into marriages with the (ex?) king - but you know, books pretty good regardless. Enjoyed my stay
Match Making
Oneshot
Idiot yuri girls play final fantasy together, get into drama over it. Pretty good one shot give it a read maybe
The maple in summer colours
Oneshot
Idiot yuri women ‘accidentally’ meet up on a dating app (whhhhhhat women can match on this app? What are the chances?!) - get drunk about it
Minami Nanami Wants To Shine
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
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
Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills
Vol. 1
Like the title says, it’s a modern take on dungeon diving, like solo leveling or d-genesis. I enjoyed it more that solo leveling (by a lot!) and it’s nowhere near as good a d-genesis (by a lot!) the arts kind as weird and cool, has a very sharp angular look to it. The story is whatever but has some genuinely cool moments trying to negotiate with a big scary (path blocking) angry killer dragon by trying to sell it asset management and wealth investments services is a genuinely good bit
Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 5
A great new entry in the “yuri but with a landlord” AND the “yuri but with an idol” subgenres (also the “yuri but one of the girls works in the manga business because if your writing what you know, and all you know is kiss girl/write manga, your gunna get yuri mangaka yuri manga” genre. I do like that genre a lot) - and YES all landlords are bastards does NOT include this girl. She’s way too pure and stupid to actually be a landlord. Shes more like an adorable pet. At its core it’s a pleasant slow life, slow relationship building kinda thing... yeah these two girls are thrust together and have great chemistry but like, they take their time. It’s sweet
The Moon on a Rainy Night
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Incredible book, delicious school yuri, and yet another entry in the fast-growing ‘romance drama but with disabilities’ genre… it ticks a looooooooooot of good book genre boxes right there!
If you like a good yuri story with a character struggling with obvious yet currently unaddressed queer feelings, this has you covered. I read scans a while back and I think this translation is really good in this print version - It’s a story that’s real good at hooking you in to its world. I wish more volumes were out NOW. I WANNA READ MORE
Print-wise, it’s beautiful. it’s published by Kodansha, so it’s one of thoes larger form factor manga prints - which works real well as the manga has a really detailed artstyle - were talking lots of linework, so the larger size just makes everything resolve really well. Anyways, good book.
Multi Mind Mayhem: Isekai Tensei Soudouki
Vol. 1
This is the kind of isekai fantasy manga that has a page of character bios and portraits on the very first page of the book, like in volume one. One of the portrait boxes is slightly bigger than all the rest and is labelled “protagonist”. Its that kind of book. I just think that speaks to the confidence they have in how memorable and unique their character designs are.
My Coworker has a secret
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
“Dweebnerd woman gets a normal ass boyfriend” is a real good heterosexual romance manga subgenre, and this is a pretty good implementation of it. There’s also a pretty good cross-dressing guy in it who really owned all the pages he showed up on- it’s just a light amusing romcom and I’m deffo going to get more.
Also- this is good anti-landlord propaganda. Landlords suck
My Cute Little Kitten
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
”Oh no is Milk Morinaga drawing cute fluffball airhead girls again? And this time they have a cat? Terrible news. 10/10”
My Dear, Curse-Casting Vampiress
Vol. 1
This was a random pick up from a local bookshop and turned out pretty good- if your into the whole “Loli vampire having oversized one sided feelings for some random guy who may or may not have super powers but 100% for sure has amnesia and they go vampire hunting together whilst a shadowy government organization monitors their every move” trope. I feel like there’s been lots of this exact story lol
My Dress-up Darling
Vol. 1-4
Vol. 5-7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Vol. 10
Every bit as good as the (incredible) anime. I rewatched it like two weeks ago so it’s very fresh in my mind- so being able to contrast how it adapted and changed scenes from the manga has been real interesting. One change i really noticed is how they introduce that Gojo kun is kinda a friendless loser right at the beginning, the anime adds an incredible visual joke that’s not in (and probably wouldn’t work as well) in the manga. Yeah, it’s been real interesting! ALSO FINDING OUT THAT SWALLOWTAIL WIGS IS A REAL SHOP IN IKEBUKURO WAS KINDA WILD the afterword pages in these volumes are great.
My Gently Raised Beast
Vol. 1
“Painfully straight (derogatory)”
My Happy Marriage
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
So there's an anime adaption of My Happy Marriage airing RIGHT NOW on Netflix and its REAL GOOD. Being a Netflix exclusive sucks though - I don't have Netflix (fuck em). DANG i super wanted to watch that show though! How else am i supposed to experience that story?!! Well turns out I've already got 2 volumes of it on my shelf and i just never got around to it. Turns out, books good.. Not as good as the anime though. The anime seems to be a lot slower and that really serves the source material really well. For example, when Miyo leaves her fathers house and travels to her fiancé place, its like a page in the manga but much longer in the show, giving you a much better idea of the distance shes going and the loneliness she must feel. Like, its an AWFUL thing to be put through, being sent off alone and unloved. I hope they do an audiobook of the light novel so i can listen to that version too... anyways long story short the books are pretty good, but the anime is incredible. (you should just torrent the Netflix anime, I'm not a cop i won't tell anyone)
My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! ―AO―
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Some idiot genre pervert isekai fun. You do not need to bring your brain into this book (which is good, I was so tired when I read it)
My Love Story With Yamada-kun at Lv999
Mangamo, print books now avaliable
My Stepmother & Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
You can probably guess what this is like based on the title, but this is the story of a young girl who is the illegitimate child of a noble family moving in with her stepmother and stepsisters after her mother dies. Each chapter is a set-up for some stereotypical ’evil’ stepfamily plot beat, which totally gets inverted in a cute funny way. These step-ladies LOVE their newest family member.
It’s funny how even though you know that the book is going to subvert the genre trope it’s building up to- it STILL somehow still manages to surprise me exactly how, and every dang time I’ll be chuckling like a fool. 10/10 recommended, a great light little read
N
Neko no Te datte Yaku ni Tatsu
Scanlation
https://mangadex.org/title/c15bcb19-8aa3-4fef-acaa-6d5b54ca90e7/neko-no-te-datte-yaku-ni-tatsu
Noa Is My Senior, and My Friend
Scanlation
https://mangadex.org/title/3169544f-4b87-4a14-917b-f73600941f55/noa-senpai-wa-tomodachi
No Longer Allowed In Another World
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
What if Zetsubou Sensei was hit by a truck and got isekai’ed? 10/10 good. I published a Isekai Death Report here
Not-sew-wicked stepmon
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
This one has NO SEWING RELATED CONTENT! There is one case of what can charitably be described as ‘clothing adjacent drama’ but to be honest, I don’t think that counts. Incredibly disappointing. 10/10 books good
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Single Volume
- its a lesbian game dev manga, wow what a great genre, super relatable. I rate this genre 10/10
- Degu representation - one of the characters has a pet Degu! She takes it to work! and lets it run around her office! That's a super underrated kind of critter, 10/10
- is… is that degu’s name an excel saga reference? Or is naming an animal “emergency rations” a common joke in Japan? Anyways good bit regardless 10/10
The Npcs in This Village Sim Game Must Be Real!
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3-4
Vol. 5
World's saddest man finally finds the motivation to live better after talking to chat GPT for literally one day- also sells all his worldly possessions and embraces minimalism to fund his chat GPT micro-transaction addiction. I’m sure he is very mentally well. 8/10
O
On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance
Scanlation
Gotta wonder where this is going to go, the old sns web version was SO SLOW with plot, I’m hyped.
https://mangadex.org/title/88949f72-43b8-48af-94a0-dc639e44be07/kaisha-to-shiseikatsu-on-to-off?utm_source=cohost&utm_medium=iframely
Once Again in Slow Motion
Scanlation
Its a cute romantic comedy about two dweebs in modern-day japan who just really, really love 80 music & idols and SUPER can't let anybody know about it cos it would be like, hella embarrassing. im about half way though and having a GREAT time. its got this real nice soft art style to it, its clearly inspired by that 80s manga look, but still feels fresh and new too. The writing is fun, These two protagonists are massive idiots so you cant help but root for them. 10/10
https://mangadex.org/title/32d0b857-24b2-4c3b-8dc6-aa6d0739aa79/slow-motion-wo-mou-ichido
The One Within the Villainess
Scanlation
It’s so refreshing to read a villainess story with an actual villainous villainess. She’s so hot I love her
https://mangadex.org/title/6df29d13-2dab-4ca6-a0b5-74070abf3e1d/the-one-within-the-villainess
Oshi no ko
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Ahhh heck it’s so good it’s so good it’s so goooood! The pacing is so good?!! Beautiful art too. I DO NOT WANT TO WAIT MONTHS BETWEEN VOLUMES THOUGH!
Every time I finish a volume of this I’m really impressed how well designed it is? Like, this guy is deffo writing this story to be published in paperbacks, which feels kinda unique? Obviously - all manga published in serial magazines is, but this reads like its ALWAYS in mind Like, each arc is perfectly wrapped up in one volume and the next one set up and ready to roll, it’s just some super impressive craft. I've read so much stuff that's kind all over the place, this is so intentional with its chapter layout. Good stuff.
Oshi to no Yuri wa Arienai!
Scanlation
The worlds most normal lesbian.
https://mangadex.org/title/3d287418-9bd7-4bf4-b71b-1c4512812a50/kanpeki-na-iinchou-chan-to-gouhou-gyaru-chan-no-manga?utm_source=cohost&utm_medium=iframely
The Otherworlder, Exploring the Dungeon
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
I hate real world military shit but if you throw a fully equipped marine into an isekai world come on I’m going to eat that garbage up. By the end of the first volume our main character has disposed of all his modern weapons (by getting a merman to hide them at the deepest trench in the ocean, naturally) because he understands the MASSIVE power disparity between modern firearms and like, adventurers with swords and shit. What if he loses control of his stash? It’s just not safe! And that’s a real cool, interesting narrative and character choice! But without his clear monopoly on deadly force afforded to him by a rifle and handgun, grenades and plastic explosives, I’m not sure where this story is going to go
Our Teachers are Dating!
Vol. 1
P
Perfect World
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Vol. 10-12
And I quote “They’ve made designing part of the Paralympic facilities into contest and nabe-san (my boss) said we should enter… but 2020? That’s five years from now.” “I wonder what’ll be going on then”
UHHHH THEY DONT KNOW THEY LACK FUTURE INFORMATION OH NO. this is a beautiful lil romance manga about a dude in a wheelchair and a lady that likes him. Pretty good imo
Please Bully me Miss Villainess
Scanlation
Wild how in like a 20 chapter arc we’ve come from “Elsa might l-l-l-like me romantically!?! Oh no she couldn’t possibly the VIDEOGAME plot wouldn’t allow it and besides - we’re both girls” to “I WILL LITERALLY BEND TIME AND SPACE TO PROTECT MY GIRLFRIEND FROM CHILDHOOD SO THE DEMONS DONT GET HER”
The Princess of convenient plot devices
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
a pretty funny deep dive into “okay so we reincarnated as a princess in the world of a boys love novel… how does Nobel society function of all the hot Nobel dudes are trying to bone each other?” And the answer is your brother (the crown Prince) is kinda a misogynist? Makes sense, let him cook. Fortunately our heroin is kinda a complete fricking moron, so I love her unconditionally and pray for her heteronormative success.
Pulse
Vol 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
“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 cute, seeing the doctor slowly open up is a real treat. ”
Q
Quality Assurance in Another World
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
It’s a fucking game developer isekai - essentially what if sword art online, except your a wimpy QA tester that’s REAL good at hiding. Maybe if you report all the bugs (whilst hiding from all the other QA testers that have given up on work and gone rouge) they will finally let you log out and go home? Prepare for t pose jokes
Also? The monster design in this book? It’s got dragons. Huge terrifying dragons. Dragons that will make even the mightiest NPC quiver with fear. They look like heckin ginormous frogs with goofy lil eyes. Terrifying. 10/10
R
Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 6
What if you isekai'ed into Eve online? Huh, what if that- except now eve online has hot space elves. That’s the thesis we shall explore in this ground breaking work of speculative science fiction.
Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling
Vol. 1
A pretty fun read, it’s got this cool super angular art style that makes heavy use of inky blacks and dark thick tones, the writing is real sharp in a goofy way - they clearly had a lot of fun adapting this isekai. The punchline to the human transformation skill is very good, the friendship between our protagonist dragon hatchling and his weird tiny lizard friend is cute as heck.
Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish
Vol. 1
Spinoff manga from reincarnated as a sword where both sensei (the sword) and Fran the cat girl both get isekai’ed together into a parallel world (Isekaied again?!? In this economy?!). It’s fucking stupid, the dang sword guy gets held hostage and really enjoys getting to be the damsel in distress. 10/10 genre perverts only tho
A Reincarnated Witch Spells Doom
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
hella pretty and quite interesting romance isekai that dosnt really go anywhere special
The Remarried Empress
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-5
Villainess stories will never get old, it’s amazing how many variations you can get on “there’s a king and queen, the king is a shit husband, some scheming harlot gets between them and everyone thinks it’s the queens fault- go”. I’m not the biggest fan of the art in this one (it’s very pointy rather than rounded if you know what I mean) but it’s a hella engaging tale and OH GOSH the cover is beautiful, with golden embossed lettering and every. As an object- it’s incredible.
A returner’s magic should be special
Vol. 1-2
Pretty simple korean reincarnation webtoon, dude helps beat the demon lord but oh no! gets time reverted back in time like 10 years or whatever (i forgot to take notes) to adventuring school. Guess its time to get even more buff than before and beat the demon lord guy back up, this time with future knowledge. Oh, also everyone in school is real classist and nobles get all the goodies
S
Saint? Nope, Just a Monster Tamer Passing Through: The Invincible Saint and the Quest for Fluff
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Ahhh hot dang Kanata might be the BIGGEST idiot yet committed to a manga page. SHES SO SINGLE MINDED IN HER DESIRE TO PET FLUFFY CREATURES it’s wonderful and she’s such a fucking idiot 100/10 this is SO aimed at me
Sasaki and Peeps: That Time I Got Dragged into a Psychic Battle in Modern Times While Trying to Enjoy a Relaxing Life in Another World ~Looks Like Magical Girls Are On Deck~
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
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 is a fascinating subgenre
The Savior's Book Café Story in Another World
Vol. 1
Vol. 2-4
Vol. 5
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.
A Scummy Gap Student With a Hard Life Calls Upon a Lady of the Night
Scanlation
VERY GOOD ACTUALLY
https://mangadex.org/title/d07f1832-6d9a-4fb1-8cff-b5f2dda73c27/kuzu-rouninsei-jinsei-ga-tsurai-no-de-yoru-no-onee-san-wo-yondemita
Secrets of the Silent Witch
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
A really strong entry in the kinda-loser-dweeb-but-real-powerful-witch-girl-meets-hot-guy fantasy subgenre there’s a little bit of a villainess twist thrown into this one, which I love for sure (ahh, Villainess stories, Gotta be a top 10 genre!). Real easy read, nice panel flow, and pretty art. Just some good shoujo fantasy going on here - Recommend.
Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-6
It’s a isekai. Are you a genre pervert? Did you watch the anime? Then it’s for you.
Sheep Princess in Wolf's Clothing
Vol. 1
She loves to cook and she loves to eat
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Dweebs eat incredible food together and think “huh this is nice if only we could keep hanging out together like all the time lol just kidding or am I haha just kidding what if we spent Christmas together” it’s a VERY real feeling lesbian tale
Shino Can't Say Her Name
Single Volume
An incredibly gripping and intense depiction of a girl absolutely suffering though her early high school days due to MASSIVELY crushing social anxiety exacerbated by bullying and her stutter, and the ups and downs of her one friendship. It’s a gripping tale with some beautiful art, and Denpa’s English release looks incredible, and is printed on that really nice soft paper, beautiful book!
SPOILER TALK: Maybe I’m just WAY too lesbian pilled but dang, Shino is GAY how can this have any other reading other than SHES FUCKING GAY and she’s REPULSED that her GAY crush is hanging out with some doofus nastylad like EWW you can feel it the text is SO GAY so getting to that ending, like, I know there are ways for lesbian couple to get kids but the heteronormativity hit me like a fucking truck lol. Like it’s a cute ending but daaaaang don’t you realise you accidentally wrote a yuri here? Commit to the bit
A Sign of Affection
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Wow I gotta say this books got some amazing typesetting. So, this is a romance story about a deaf girl and a guy who is basically a language pervert, who get’s interested in her because sign language- it’s real good (if het) but the MOST INTERESTING part is the typesetting. Sometimes manga plays with the type to show when characters are speaking foreign languages or something, this book goes even deeper on that kinda trick and uses type to convey lip reading. It’s really elegant and gets SO MUCH detail across. Yuki, the main character is almost totally deaf, she can’t hear speech at all- so if a speech bubble has has regular solid black text, she can’t hear ANYTHING thats been said in that bubble even if she could like, conceptually "see" the bubble - that dosnt matter. black text means words that are spoken out loud and its something she cant perceive- she’s oblivious to any black word. Grey text is stuff she can lip read. If she’s having difficulty lip reading but mostly gets something- some of the characters in a word are printed tilted sideways - sometimes when she’s lip reading she misunderstands words so that’s just the normal grey color.. but its nonsense words so she gets confused - it’s wildly cool, just some real simple rules but they add such a richness to the text and I’ve never seen anything like it. There’s SO MUCH you can do in a graphic novel medium and I love that this book does something so unique and interesting
Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!)
Vol. 1
Yet another isekai were owning slaves is poggers and cool and good really. Not great I’ll probably get and read more because I hate myself o7
Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You
Vol. 1-2
probably the best new series published this year? deffo got a lotte recommendation. Clueless useless middle-aged salary man get relentlessly bullied by a young convenience store worker. its one of those nothing ever happens yet hella compelling kinda reads
Sometimes even reality is a lie!
J-Novel Club
Screenshots from the scanlation
Sorry, but I’m not into Yuri
Scanlation
Oh yeah this one is genuinely really sweet and good AND trash, it’s a true masterpiece. If you love reading about messy, truly terrible selfish people slowly bettering themselves, making friends and finding solid, heartwarming relationships this is the one to read. Heck it’s messy! It’s got a real unique art style to it as well that feels hella fresh.
https://mangadex.org/title/8f3e1818-a015-491d-bd81-3addc4d7d56a/warui-ga-watashi-wa-yuri-ja-nai?utm_source=cohost&utm_medium=iframely
So What’s Wrong With Getting Reborn as a Goblin?
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Very silly & cute isekai (truck - isekai death report is avalible here) it’s very easy to read, you can just turn your brain off for this one. Recommended if your a genre pervert.
Stepmother's Marchen Vol. 1
Vol. 1
Another Korean villainess story, again with a time leap, it’s just as good as literally any of the other ones of these
Still Sick
Vol. 1-3
I’m a big fan of manga about writing manga, and I’m a big fan of yuri vibes and girls getting along and slowly getting real close and girls keeping secrets that gradually come out and like yeah good book.
Specifically, it does SUCH a good job of depicting the pain of not being able to do the work you love, getting stuck in a rut... and the healing power of someone elses joy i guess? its great stuff. Burnout sucks, these girls are cute, this book rules.
Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Cute and soft, inoffensive trash about a boy picking up an angel and letting her live in his studio apartment. It’s not the best apartment but it does get good natural lighting. I don’t know why that’s such an important feature of protagonist-kun’s home that it deserves to go in the title, seemed pretty throwaway in the book.
So this series is just kinda empty, inoffensive fluff. Very mid, 6/10 level stuff. The do go to mr donut (twice) in volume 2 so now it’s actually my favorite manga ever - I love mr donut.
Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō
Vol. 1
Pretty interesting- sets up a time leap and then does nothing with it in volume 1. Have to get more to see how it goes I guess
T
A Tale of the Secret Saint
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
I do love me a reincarnation tale (im sure you have all figured that out by now), especially when the main character is a fucking idiot. Oh daaaang I love fucking idiots. Idiots rule. And this specific idiot? Shes so stupid!
Talk Dirty to me
Lezhin
GOOD TOXIC YURI MANHUA I’m like 12 chapters in, out of 51 (which fair warning it’s on the Lezhin comics app so that’s a lot of coins) and I’m having a great time! Manga about idols having a secret relationship is one of the best genres- and heck this is a twisted secret relationship! That said, there is a real soft core hidden under the verbal abuse just beginning to peek out I feel.
Tensei Mae wa Otoko Datta no de Gyaku Harem wa Okotowari Shite Orimasu
Scanlation
Terminator Sharehouse
Scanlation
https://mangadex.org/title/d9fb52cd-50b4-476a-87ee-eef4f6d83972/terminator-sharehouse
The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This
Vol. 1-2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
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
This girl is probably committing tax evasion.
Scanlation
Look, I’m a simple girl. If I see a manga called “this girl is probably committing tax evasion” OBVIOUSLY I’m going to read it instantly. I mean come on what a perfect title - it’s that use of ‘probably’ that shifts it from a really good title into the realm of incredible. Probably committing tax evasion. Probably. Delicious.
https://mangadex.org/title/18d481be-f310-4088-a9c1-de29e08990cd/this-girl-is-probably-committing-tax-evasion
This is Screwed Up, But I was Reincarnated as a girl in Another World
Vol. 1-5
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
Vol. 8
Vol. 9
Vol. 10
This could only have been drawn but a true pervert.
This World is Worth Fighting For
Oneshot
Pretty incredible revenge fantasy one shot.
https://mangadex.org/title/60309abd-3552-4824-bab6-20086eade196/kono-yo-wa-tatakau-kachi-ga-aru
Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
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
Tiger & Hummingbird
Scanlation
A girls love series about a a lady that LOVES jackets and T-shirts with tiger prints being kinda forced to work in a super trendy fashionable cloths store in Shibuya - much to the distress of the stores assistant manager. The gap between these two, board line delinquent and prim and proper is pretty delicious. I hope they hug about it some day.
Tonari wa Futsuu no Nijika (-chan)
Scanlation
Wtf this is so good Ribbon’s putting out some amazing stuff
https://mangadex.org/title/35bf0c4f-491b-4914-8342-5378e878a865
U
Until I Become Me
Scanlation
So I’ve just been reading though this, just absolutely mainlining it- put that shit right into my bloodstream. Lemme tell you, reading this page some 40 of chapters in, low on sleep, low on energy, low on mental defence, I cried like a baby. 11/10 this, is an incredibly good book. Someone! please pick it up for English localisation. Wtf.
https://mangadex.org/title/a781de8e-0935-45bd-bc33-cbc76ea8c6f9
V
Vampeerz
Vol. 1-2
Yuri vampires! Again! I like this book, like… a lot? The art is incredible and the printing and binding job Denpa have done is fantastic.. they are a small publisher but I really love the feel of their books! It’s a nice object?
The work itself is very cute and very unsettling and perfectly stupid at moments, it’s a tale of a vampire that’s had enough and just wants to die and a young girl that just fell in love with her at first sight. Not much happens in the first volume but the stories pacing just delivers this perfect balance of unsettling creepiness and yuri first love… good book
The Villainess’s Guide to (not) failing in love
Vol. 1
yet another villainess isekai, mostly by the numbers but pretty good as these things go… I mean they are all good. I love this genre. It’s got very pretty art and has a nice texture to the story - it really likes shoving a character archetype in front of you and giving them a subtle twist which really enriches them - very well executed
The Villainess Turns the Hourglass
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
If you’ve ever read a villainess story and though “I like all this Nobel high society intrigue but it would be WAY better if the protagonist was actually a villainess evil bitch” then look no further
The Villainess Who Has Been KILLED 108 Times -She Remembers Everything!
Vol. 1
Heck! What an incredible book! What an incredible start to a story that feels MASSIVE! There’s a lot going on here, it’s drawing on a lot of the best reincarnation and villainess tropes and like turning them up to 11. It opens up with a real economical villainess backstory, setting up who the ‘heroes’ that killed our vileness are and then confidently starts playing with our expectations. I mean… that’s kinda what every villainess story does but this one just does it SO dang well, and then even in volume 1 its pulling all these little threads together SO well. I am real impressed and cannot wait for more. I wrote a little about it here if you wanna see a lil more.
The Villainess Who Steals the Heroine's Heart
Scanlation
Villains are Destined to Die
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
”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.”
Virgin Love
Vol. 1
The set up here is kinda insane? We have a shared house for single people who want to find love, like it’s set up like a reality tv show but it’s actually a research project run by a fucking dating app? To like… spy on people to gather… data(?) to make the dating app better? Capitalism has gone too far. Also all the character in this are tedious it’s just not great not recommend
W
We started a threesome!!
Vol. 1
It’s by the Futari H guy, and seems to be way less cringe than that was - it’s a fairly cute exploration of polyamory. It’s got a very 90s art style for something that was originally published in 2019, wild to see characters that look like this using smartphones! Anyways it’s pretty neat, lotsa drama but the relationship has a strong believable (ish) core to it.
What He Who Doesn't Believe in Fate Says
Vol. 1
This is one of those books where I say “Wow what an incredible book!” Just because the printing is interesting - so, yeah. Wow, what an incredible book! This is a (het) romance manga about trying to stop destiny and escape the red string of fate.
Im sure most manga/anime fans will have seen or read something with the concept of the red string of fate in it before, but basically it’s being connected to your soulmate via a red string - it’s often a non-visual metaphor in manga but in this book it’s real, and only Kosuke (our protagonist) can see it, and heck dang his doesn't connect with his crush, a hot coworker lady who ONLY believes in fate and is waiting for her destined true first (and only) love to appear.
The story is pretty good tbh, but WOW the presentation is amazing?!? It’s printed on Seven Seas high-quality paper stock, it’s thick and pretty smooth to the touch, and VERY bright bleach white. It’s not that regular cheap manga paper stock. The black ink contrasts really well- but more importantly, the red string is ALWAYS printed in red and it’s such a stunning look. Like, having this single splash of colour thrown in is such a great look!! Think of the green used in “The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All” but even more restrained. It’s incredible.
The layering is also really interesting- it looks like the red is printed first and the usual manga black outlines and hatching on top - so they really carefully lay out gaps so the dark never (unintentionally) spills over the red strings. It’s just a beautiful bit of craft, it almost looks hand-drawn, Like someone’s had to ink all the red lines by hand. FUCK I love it 10/10 should win an award for layout and print quality
When I became a commoner they broke off our engagement
Vol. 1
Super good, two babies (one noble and one commoner) get switched at birth and high society fantasy manga tropes ensue, if you’ve read any of these you know what’s going to happen (heck if you’ve read the title!) - it’s just real dang good
Whisper me a Love Song
Vol. 1 - 3
Vol. 4-5
”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… 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!”
Who made me a Princess
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4-5
On the surface, this shares a lot with “Daughter of the Emperor” - its a Villainess isekai, where the main character is reborn as an infant princess to a weirdo freak genocidal emperor who didn’t understand emotions or love or the value of human life and is DEFFO destined to be killed by that emperor when they hit 18 so they have to somehow teach them that love is good actually and not get murderkilled by dad. So yeah in broad strokes, these books are the same book heh - it’s closer in plot than most of these villainess stories tend to be.
That said, It’s a realllly pretty book with an enjoyable plot. The way our protagonist wriggles her way though this situation is interesting and neat even if it’s similar. Also dannnng this is a heavy dense book. There’s a lot to like, literally! I just love villainess stories so much 10/10
Witch Hat Atelier
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
I can see why people love this series- the main thing I couldn’t stop thinking about whilst raging out was how wonderful the idea of paring an ink based magic system with that art style is. Like, I think it’s rare for manga to have an art style that is almost part of the narrative theme, if that makes sense? The lavishly hyper detailed line work and the deeply inked hatched shading just work real well for a tale about ink magic. I just think that’s neat?
The Witches Marriage
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Stupidly cute! One of my favourite things in manga is seeing capable strong smart women being reduced to incoherent blushing messes by cute girls. That’s all this manga is. Over and over. It rules.
Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
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”
Wolf Girl and Black Prince Vol. 1
Vol. 1
Ughhh this is also farrr too straight. Seems like we’re doing the whole aloof kinda twisted awful guy to loving perfect boyfriend gap moe pipeline thing- and you know what it fucking sucks. Every character in this sucks and is just incredibly toxic. I had to put the book down SO many times as it was making me mad how toxic it was lol. Do straight girls really like this shit?!? Absolutely awful
Y
Yonezawa-san is Done Being Human
Mangamo
I was minding my own business on the tram this morning looking for a new manga to read, tapped into “Yonezawa-san is Done Being Human” without reading a synopsis - the dude is rolling around his apartment dressed up in a full fur suit and barking with in 4 pages. Absolutely wild stuff, I was not mentally prepared. Anyways I just read the first few chapters and it seems cute and funny. I mean, the guy works for a dog food company.
Yokohama Station SF
Vol. 1
“Two hundred years ago, Yokohama station, which had been under constant construction, developed the ability to self-propagate.” Well that’s a weird premise! The station is alive(?) and slowly grows to cover all of Japan, apart from small “hollows” where it can’t get a foothold, maybe due to water or uneven terrain (the books say flat land was easier for the station to concrete over, but changes in elevation arnt impossible. the entirety of mount fuji in now covered in the stations escalators). People living inside the station need a ‘suika’ identity card or the automated turnstiles will eject them from the station, and people outside the station survive on garbage ejected from the station. This story follows a young man living in a small seaside village in a hollow who comes across a mysterious 5 day travel pass and is finally able to enter the station. BOOKS COOL AS HECK
Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
wow some real pretty ladies playing some fighting games right here. It’s an interesting twist on a classic catholic school style yuri set up, our main characters are both transfer students that are plopped into that rigid prim environment and handle fitting in differently - and contrasting the ultra refined young lady performances with the fighting game manic inner personas is just REAL GOOD. I love it in media when a woman gets to shout “FIGHT ME” with all her heart
Yubisaki Milk Tea
Vol. 1
This series had a biiiiiig impact on me when I first read it back in 2006, was kinda wild to see such a brazen work about crossdressing and messed up gender feelings and relationships at the time. Re-reading it now in 2023, heck the relationships in this are REALLY messed up, and the book manages to capture specific feelings of despair and self disgust in a way that’s just kinda rare- it’s a good, messy work. Glad my copy is still safe and I can read it again after what… 17 years?
Yuri Espoir
Vol. 1
There’s a characterisation reveal in the second chapter (well chapter 1 part 2- weird numbering) that’s just incredibly executed- the panel layout leading up to it is so good, there’s a tiny bit of foreshadowing in the first chapter but it’s just waaay more intense that you can guess, and then the book luxuriates in it for another 4 perfectly laid our pages. Worth reading just for that imo - an incredible bit of manga. Still blows my mind that Tokyopop somehow managed to survive into the 2020's and put out some actual great books. how did they manage that turn around?
Light Novel Index
86-Eighty-Six
Vol. 2-3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
The novels are every bit as interesting as the animated series. Compared to how gross The Saga of Tanya the Evil leaves you feeling, theres a lot of good here. I really like how these volumes contrast the neoliberal democratic paradises of The Federacy and the fascist Republic state we spent the first volume in... like, its the same place, with a lick of paint! Its the kind of book you can imagine a nerd defending for "not being political" despite being THE MOST POLITICAL thing. Neat stuff.
A
Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest starts with the Civilization of Ruin
Vol. 4
I think out of all the light novel audiobook series im following (which, i think is literally all of them lol) this is BY FAR the worst. Its isekai where the protagonist gets reborn into the mechanics of his favorite 4X stratergy game, but in a generic fantasy world, and there seems to be other players reborn their with different game rule systems. Which is kind of interesting? But its just kinda not
Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest
Vol. 1
C
Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie
Vol. 1
”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 too dumb to realise everyone loves them and they are in zero danger of being executed.”
D
D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared
Vol. 1
Vol. 3
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
This is just by far my favorite light novel series right, its so good. I wrote about how incredible the latest volume is here
https://cohost.org/LotteMakesStuff/post/1198754-finished-it-real-go
The Dragon's Soulmate is a Mushroom Princess!
Vol. 1
real silly shoujo romance - protag-chan is a common-born girl adopted into nobility, and goes through the whole engaged-to-a-royal-prince-but-dennounced-for-a-prettier-gir villainess style intro arc in the first chapter. pretty normal. The twist here is she has some kind of spirit defence magic that makes mushrooms sprout on any man who touches her - which is WEIRD. Luckily for her, a more handsomer and more royaler prince happens to find out post denunciation... HE HAPPENS TO BE A MASSIVE MUSHROOM PERVERT. Pretty cool premise. Theres some fun between chapter breaks where you get little factoids about different types of mushrooms that have featured in the previous chapter as well as uhhh, the mushroom's internal monologues and motivations? That rules.
E
Even Dogs go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with my Beloved Hound
Vol. 2
Cross Infinite World has this amazing ability to pick the most chill, low energy light novels for translation. Like, this is a 7 hour audiobook that essentially nothing happens in, and im 100% there for every second of it
Even if this Love Disappears Tonight
Audiobook
pretty good misery porn that pulls every trick possible to try and make you cry. Im real glad that Yen Press is just putting out so much stuff these days and not just like, anime bullshit (as much as i LOVE anime bullshit) - its just a well written tear jerking teen romance that will leave you having a nice little think about stuff at the end - and sometimes thats exactly what you want from an audiobook
Even if These Tears Disappear Tonight
Audiobook
This is a direct sequel to "Even if This Love Disappears Tonight" which is a book i thought "Theres NO way she can write a direct sequel to that its all tied up so well" TURNS OUT I WAS WRONG. This is a REAL good book digging into love and loss. I love it when media shows you the same scenes from multiple points of view, and this book REALLY is that, all the time. It takes a lot of the key scenes and themes from the first book and flips them around so you can see how they deeply affected Izumi's life. She's a good girl and deserves to heal. 10/10
The Evil Queen’s Beautiful Principles
Vol 1-2
So I listened to both volumes of this, and you know its pretty good junk food. Whats wild to me is the evil queen protagonist herself is SO GAY for her amnesiac childhood friend slash ladies maid. HER MAID IS ALSO SO GAY FOR HER. like, this book reads like a yuri. THEY LIVED TOGETHER IN A TOWER AND DID DIY TOGETHER. ITS JUST YURI... until the last 10 pages worth of content where its like "and she married the prince and lived happily ever after" ITS INSANE. YOU WROTE A FUCKING YURI. YOU CANT JUST TAG THAT ON AT THE END. THATS NOT HOW THIS WORKS
F
Full Metal Panic
Vol. 1
woooooow this book is incredibly good. Ive always like the anime, but yeah the source novel is incredible. 1000% recommended. Real good production too
The Faraway Paladin
Vol. 1-2
The Torch Port Ensemble
isekai bullshit, i remember the anime being kinda ehhh but the light novel is way more interesting, and does a better job of expressing the themes of moving forward and not stagnating - real young adult fantasy stuff you know, btu yeah its a much better piece of work i think. The audiobook is well produced and the narrator is pretty good - its not the worst way to spend an audible credit
H
Hell Mode
Vol. 5
Vol. 1 (audiobook)
”ITS SO FRICKING STUPID. this is like popcorn for me, stupid dumbass isekai game system bullshit”
How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 5
better than the anime. Also, i 100% thought this was "The Genius Prince's Guide To Raising a Nation Out of Debt" which is basically the same show. oops
I
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.
I'm in Love With the Villainess
Vol. 1
Ishura
Vol. 1
I didn't like it. Like, I found it INCREDIBLY tedious.. which is wild? i love this kind of light novel trash usually.. i just didn't get on with this one. Its trying to hard to be an epic fantasy I think, but its just kinda.. nothing? maybe it will get better.. its nearly 11 hours long. (hardly light I guess), these books rarely get longer than 6. Im a good 4 hours in, and i am liking it more as it goes on... but i still just flat out don't like it.. not sure im going to finish it tbh.
K
Konosuba: God's Blessing on this wonderful world!
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Ive always found the show tedious whenever i try to watch it, which is weird because terrible isekai is my thing - this audiobook was way less annoying to me than the anime for some reason?
M
Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World
Vol. 1
Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation
[Vol. 2(https://cohost.org/LotteMakesStuff/post/3432622-october-30th-novem)
UGHHHHH WHYYY do I like this stupid book so much Rudeus's internal monologue is so SLIMY and GROSS I hate him
My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 4
Vol. 6
ehh fine? kinda the opposite to solo leveling, this is the most unoffensive light novel audiobook you could hope to listen to. If you wanna listen to 5 hours 11 mins of a daddys girl complaining about missing her dad and her dad being like "wow sure is lonely now im all alone better go pull weeds out my fields and do other old people things" then this is the book for you!
My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World
Vol. 1
Vol. 2
Vol. 3
Its okay I guess. Ive read a million light novels like this, and ill read a million more GLADLY
Modern Villainess: It’s not easy building a corporate empire before the crash
Vol. 1
FINALLY! A isekai reincarnation light novel about the 2008 global recession! Turns out it’s not fun! It’s real dense and full of business bullshit… I should have guessed lol, it’s hard to root for the billionaire noble woman child… I can get there it just takes a lot. It’s just a slow hard book
R
Rascal Does Not Dream of …
Logical Witch - Siscon Idol
Sister Home Alone
Gosh dang does this series have THE ABSOLUTE WORST naming conventions. I do like this series a lot though - Its like the Monogatari, except maybe a little more grounded
Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship!
Vol. 2
Vol. 4
dang this series is so stupid, fun but stupid. Normally when I'm reading the light novel and reading the manga one version will end up being my favorite, but I'm not sure i can make that call for this book. Its just delicious low effort garbage, in the best way. delicious slop, if that's what your after any version is good.
Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire
Vol. 1
So, i saw the anime (which sucked) and was like... maybe the light novel is good? Its better... but its NOT good. Genre perverts only...
Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind
Vol. 4
Vol. 5
Somehow, this audio book is 6 hours long, and basically nothing happened... its about as 'light' as a light novel could ever get, and i gotta respect that
The Rising of the Shield Hero
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
The incel light novel is back baybeee~ and its still way better than it has any right to be heck dang it. Now that were 5 volumes in our narrator guy seems to be finally getting the hang of doing "girl" voices for character in a way that dosnt make you want to spontaneously vomit
S
The Saga of Tanya the Evil
Vol. 6
More war (boring, boo) but waaaaay more importantly it felt like a solid 40% of the runtime was spent discussing coffee. Coffee as a wartime frontline luxury. Coffee a bribe. Coffee as a ritual. Coffee as an indicator of economic stability. The mechanics of smuggling coffee into a hegemonic empire via a neutral 3rd party country during wartime. Its all in here!
The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent
Vol. 1
Vol. 3
I watched the anime of this ages ago, and its quite funny how different the main character comes across (at least to my memory). in the anime shes very much a sweet lady, but in the book? wow the otome roots show though i guess and there SO much internal monologue about how all the dudes around her are SO hot and yeah - i just cant relate to that at all lady. Its VERY weird reading a book that like, so specifically lady-targeted harem het like this, as its SOOOO not meant for me.. the isekai shit though? ill eat that trash up SO bad
So I'm a Spider, So What?
Vol. 4
Vol. 6
”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.”
Solo Leveling
Vol. 6
Vol. 7
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.
Spice and Wolf
Vol. 5
Vol. 6
The audiobook version is real good, real recommended
Sword Art Online
Vol. 8
Vol. 10
I can never hate sword art. it sucks so much, but i sure do love this trash garbage. The audio books are really well produced, deffo recommended if you want some daft background listening.
V
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!'”