Ultra Maniac (ウルトラマニアック, Urutora Maniakku) is a manga series written by Wataru Yoshizumi. The romantic comedy series features 8th grader Ayu Tateishi, a tennis club member, and her transfer student friend, Nina Sakura, who is actually a trainee witch from the magical kingdom. It premiered in Shueisha‘s Ribon manga magazine in February 2001 and ran until January 2004. It was also published in five collected volumes by Shueisha. Viz Media licensed…
Nanako SOS (ななこSOS, Nanako Esu-ou-esu) is a seinen manga series created by Hideo Azuma which ran in Popcorn and Just Comic (both published by Kobunsha) from April 1980 to July 1986. The series was adapted into 39-episode anime television series produced by Kokusai Eiga-sha which aired on the Fuji Television network from April 2, 1983 to December 24, 1983. Azuma created additional manga stories which ran in Azuma Magazine from July 2001 to July 2004….
Maestro (マエストロ, Maesutoro) is a Japanese music slice of life seinen manga series written and illustrated by Akira Sasō. It was published by Futabasha, with serialization from 2003 to 2007, first on the manga magazine Manga Action and later on the website Futabasha Web Magazine. It was compiled in three volumes published between 2004 and 2008. It was adapted into a live action drama film titled Maestro!, directed by Shōtarō Kobayashi and released on…
Laid-Back Camp (Japanese: ゆるキャン△, Hepburn: Yurukyan), also known in Japan as Yuru Camp, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Afro. Set in and around Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, the series chronicles the adventures of Rin Shima, Nadeshiko Kagamihara, and their friends as they travel to various campsites across the country. The manga was first serialized in Houbunsha‘s Manga Time Kirara Forward magazine from July…
The Kagerou Project (カゲロウプロジェクト, Kagerō Purojekuto, lit. “Heat Haze Project”), also known as “Kagerou Daze” (カゲロウデイズ, Kagerō Deizu, lit. “Heat Haze Daze”) or “Kagerou Days”, is a Japanese mixed-media project. It started as a Vocaloid song series created by Jin (Shizen no Teki-P) (じん(自然の敵P)). The story revolves around the Mekakushi Dan, a group of young people with unusual eye-related powers. The franchise became infamous…
Jingai-san no Yome (人外さんの嫁, lit. “Non-Human Creature’s Wife”) is a Japanese four-panel manga series written by Yu Aikawa and illustrated by Akiwo Yasaka, serialized online via Ichijinsha‘s Zero-Sum Online website since June 2016. It has been collected in twelve tankōbon volumes. An anime television series adaptation by Saetta premiered from October 2 to December 18, 2018. Plot Tomari Hinowa is a normal high school boy,…
Fake (フェイク, Feiku) is a seven-volume BL manga by Sanami Matoh. The story focuses in a romance between Randy “Ryo” Maclean and Dee Laytner, two New York City detectives from the fictitious 27th precinct. An anime version of the fifth act (or chapter) from the second manga is also available, in the form of an OVA. Fake was first published as seven volumes by Biblos, but after the company went…
Eight Clouds Rising (Japanese: 八雲立つ, Hepburn: Yakumo Tatsu) is a Japanese shōjo manga series by Natsumi Itsuki. It won the 21st Kodansha Manga Award for shōjo. It was adapted in 1997 into an OVA series. Plot summary Kuraki Fuzuchi is a handsome and quiet young man who has immense psychic powers and sword skills. He meets Takeo Nanachi, a college student with similar powers. The story opens with Nanachi…
Baby Princess (ベイビー・プリンセス, Beibī Purinsesu) is a series of Japanese illustrated short stories written by Sakurako Kimino with illustrations by Natsuki Mibu and Yuki Kiriga. The stories were a part of a reader participation game in ASCII Media Works‘ Dengeki G’s Magazine where readers could influence the progression of the story. The project was first unveiled in the October 2007 issue of Dengeki G’s Magazine,…
Accel World (アクセル・ワールド, Akuseru Wārudo) is a Japanese light novel series written by Reki Kawahara and illustrated by HiMA. The series began publication in ASCII Media Works‘ Dengeki Bunko imprint from February 2009 and is licensed in North America by Yen Press. Two manga series began serialization in Dengeki Bunko Magazine from May 2010, with another series beginning serialization in Dengeki Daioh in January 2013. An anime adaptation by Sunrise aired in Japan between April and…
16bit Sensation: Watashi to Minna ga Tsukutta Bishōjo Game (Japanese: 16bitセンセーション 私とみんなが作った美少女ゲーム, Hepburn: Jūroku Bitto Sensēshon Watashi to Minna ga Tsukutta Bishōjo Gēmu, “16bit Sensation: The Bishōjo Game Made by All of You and I”) is a Japanese manga conceptualized by Misato Mitsumi, Tatsuki Amazuyu, and Tamiki Wakaki and illustrated by Wakaki. It was first launched as a dōjinshi at Comic Market in December 2016; Kadokawa Shoten started publishing it in collected tankōbon volumes…
Zetsuai 1989 (絶愛-1989-, lit. Absolute Love -1989-) is a Japanese yaoi manga known for its melodramatic, almost operatic plot, its “semi-insane characters”, and for the controversial style of its artwork. The word “Zetsu-ai” is a compound created by Minami Ozaki which has been translated as “desperate love”. Ozaki’s preferred English translation is “Everlasting Love”. Many western yaoi fans got their introduction to the genre through…
