Holiday Review #10: CATCH THESE HANDS!

 But if we're talking about adult ladies in manga, we have to talk about yuri.  It continued to thrive and grow as a category here, so much so that it hard to settle on just one to talk about.  Ultimately I had to go with the best yuri title (in the most literal sense of that phrase) to come out in 2022.

CATCH THESE HANDS! (Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete!), by murata.  First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Takabe was once the most fearless delinquent at her school, but years later all her old friends have settled down and Takabe is tired of bouncing from job to job and feeling left behind.  When she tries to get some new clothes, she runs into her formal rival Soramori.  Soramori couldn't be happier to be reunited with the girl she never saw as a rival but instead a crush.  Eventually Soramori issues her own challenge: if she can beat Takabe in a fight, Takabe has to go out with her!  She wins, but now they both have to figure out how this whole dating thing works...

Holiday Review #9: CAT + GAMER

 Sometimes though, you don't want bodice-ripping smut or complicated emotional masterpieces.  Sometimes you just want a simple story about an adult lady having a good time with a cute cat.  Luckily, Dark Horse Comics has you covered this year.

CAT + GAMER (Nekogurashi no Gamer-san), by Wataru Nadatani.  First published in 2018 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Riko is a no-nonsense office worker who works hard so she can leave work right at 5PM.  That allows her to focus her spare time and energy on her favorite hobby: video games.  One day she takes in a stray kitten on an impulse.  Even though Riko has no experience with pet ownership, she's determined to apply the same mindset she takes to gaming to pet ownership.

Holiday Review #8 - TALK TO MY BACK

 Others looked back to the past and towards the more alternative side of manga to find the unique voices of women who would otherwise go unnoticed in the world of American manga.

TALK TO MY BACK (Shin Kirari), by Yamada Murasaki.  First published in 1981 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

A nameless housewife ruminates on her life and identity as she struggles to raise her kids, manage the household, deal with her feckless and frequently absent husband, get a part-time job, and somewhere in between all of that find some time and space for herself.

Holiday Review #7 - I'LL NEVER BE YOUR CROWN PRINCESS!

Speaking of ladies, this year was better than average for josei manga.  Seven Seas has been dabbling in it for a little bit, but this year they went so far as to establish an entire imprint for it.  Let's take a look at one of their first books.

I'LL NEVER BE YOUR CROWN PRINCESS! (Ohtaishihi ni Nante Naritakunai), based on the light novel by Saki Tsukigami and character designs by Enn Tsutamori, with art by Natsu Kuroki.  First published in 2019 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Liddy is the beautiful daughter of a duke and royal adviser (and also secretly a reincarnated woman from modern-day Japan).  She's trying her best to dodge her father's attempts to marry her to the crown prince of their land, as royalty is allowed to engage in polygamy and she's simply not interested in that.  She thinks she has figured out a loophole: if she loses her virginity, she will no longer be eligible to marry the prince!  Too bad that the mysterious masked man she meets at a masquerade is the prince in disguise, and that he's so smitten with her that he left a magic seal upon her to mark her as his intended bride.

Holiday Review #6 - BE VERY AFRAID OF KANAKO INUKI!

Even Kodansha got in on the horror manga craze, picking up an anthology from one of Junji Ito's peers who has been somewhat neglected by English-language readers.

BE VERY AFRAID OF KANAKO INUKI! (Inuki Kanako no Daikyoufu!), by Kanako Inuki.  First published in 1997 and first published in North America in 2022.

PLOT:

Six tales of terrifying young girls are contained within.  There are spectral girls ready to spoil your birthday, little girls who want to grow up too fast, a little girl wishing for a toy that her sister can't break, a girl who loves a fictional character a little too much, a princess who makes a wish she regrets, and two schoolgirls dealing with bullying and a bit of divine intervention.