Over the holiday season in Sapporo, I really didn’t have a whole lot of time to browse for manga and related goods. I made by with a quick stop at Toranoana and Animate on the way to the airport, and even found something interesting at the bookstore at the airport. I was in a rush, so aside from the latest volumes of things I am already reading that I managed to find in a quick eyeball of the shelves, I grabbed a couple of new titles that seemed interesting from a cursory flip-through. I still haven’t gotten a chance to fully read through these yet, but here are some quick descriptions:
Hoken no Sensei – I’m glad my favorite hentai-manga-drawing-housewife, Tanimura Marika-sensei, is back doing work that is more closely aligned with her expertise! After the disappointing supernatural DHA, she’s back in good form with a sex-ed harem manga. The cover art seems to have taken a little departure from her usual style, both in character design and finishing, but the actual comic artwork is her familiar style. The peeps over at Toranoana hooked me up with volume 2 with extras (illustration card, bandage-shaped stickers) over a week before the release date! Although it is a sex-ed manga, it is pretty safe – there is some brief nudity, but no nipples or genitalia. A
Kono nakani Hitori Imouto ga Iru! – A rich kid, heir to a major conglomerate, must figure out who amongst the various girls at his new school is his sister. Didn’t read enough of it to figure out the “why” part yet. Artwork is somewhat reminiscent of Mayo Chiki or Kyouhaku Dogs, but story is more like something from Kaneda Mario. This is based on a short novel. No significant nudity. Obviously harem and imouto-moe. An anime version is coming soon! B+
Hentai Ouji to Warawanai Neko – A not-bad-looking-though-perverted dude and his poker-faced female underclassman make an offering to a cat statue in the woods and get involved in various entertaining situations. Again, I didn’t read it thoroughly or carefully enough to figure out what they each were praying for or exactly why their fates are tied together, but it is somewhat obvious that they will end up together at the end, even with all the other female characters showing up. Artwork is similar to the K-On! anime artwork (not the original manga artwork). This one is also from a light novel. No significant nudity. Harem-ish, possibly imouto-moe. B-
Non Non Biyori – a city girl moves to the rural backwoods and finds herself in a one-room school amongst four other students, three who are siblings, and the other who is the younger sister of the teacher. Their vastly differing personalities drive the warm-hearted slice-of-life comedy. This isn’t a particularly new title, maybe a couple of years old – they had up to volume three at the airport. The artwork is pretty distinct and very lush – lots of really detailed pen work. Totally safe and wonderful. A
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