Another month, another amazing round of releases from Yen Press (@YenPress) that I can't wait to share with y0u all! October brings some adorable BL and GL, some badass new titles, and returning fan favorites that you'll want to add to your TBR immediately. Alongside a brand new acquisition list announced at NYCC this weekend featuring some awesome new titles, because you know we'll keep you in the loop when it comes to big announcements!
THE TITLE YOU CAN'T MISS
My favorite title this month is a surprising one, because it arrived with little fanfare and comes with a highly unassuming cover, making it easy to overlook. So, if you see The Red Thread on the shelves, make sure you pick up a copy! This adorable looking BL manga (at first) seems like a classic fated lovers/soul mates story about two college students bound together by the well-known legend of the red thread, but this adaptation of a Tawainese novel by Lazysheep is anything but ordinary! With one of the most gasp-worthy, mind blowing (literally) introductory sequences you'll ever find in a BL, and features stunning artwork and well developed characters that will pull at your heartstrings. This unique and beautifully executed story about strangers with an unbreakable bond strewn throughout time is a must read - and it's available now!
FAN FAVORITE FACES
It's October, so obviously I have to highlight some awesome returning horror titles that'll get under your skin this spooky season! The highly acclaimed and recommended The Summer Hikaru Died returns with a skin crawling second volume that you simply have to read for yourself when it releases tomorrow. I can't even begin to explain how unsettled I was! And, speaking of unsettling titles, the brutal From The Red Fog returns with its 5th and final volume, and if you haven't been reading this series, now's a great time to grab the whole set to binge before Halloween (also releasing tomorrow!)
Perhaps the most exciting return is the incredibly beautiful CLAMP Premium Collection edition of the beloved shoujo* title Tokyo Babylon from the iconic and legendary CLAMP. Longtime fans will adore this beautiful new edition, and I must encourage new readers to pick up this stunning first volume when it drops tomorrow. Let me tell you, as a longtime fan and collector of CLAMP's manga, this is well worth picking up. And finally, you all know I LOVE some Gonbe Shinkawa in my manga TBR pile, and the return of The Witch and The Knight Will Survive was a highlight of this month's review box. I adore every title Gonbe's worked on and this one is no exception, so if you're looking for an epic fantasy with stunning artwork, definitely nab this one - which is available now!
WE LOVE BOYS' LOVE/GIRLS' LOVE
We just can't get enough Sasaki and Miyano content here at CBY, and the incredibly charming Sasaki And Miyano: Official Comic Anthology is an absolute must have for fans of this internationally acclaimed BL title. This collection of one-shot stories from over 15 creators (including series creator Shou Harusono) showcases just how beloved this series is, and it's an excellent addition to any BL shelf (arriving on shelves tomorrow!). In other BL news, the first volume of Minato's Laundromat also arrives on the scene tomorrow, and while it is adorable and has a delightful art style, the content is a bit iffy since the main narrative follows a high schooler named Shin as he tries to pursue his 30 year old neighbor in a highly adult manner. I'm holding out hope that it will turn into a Seaside Stranger situation where they reunite down the road when Shin is an adult so it's less weird, because it is a super charming read. I'll definitely be checking out the live action drama adaptation in the near future because I did enjoy the title!
For you girl's love fans, we have a downright adorable new GL slice-of-life series titled Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord that quickly became one of my favorite titles in this batch of releases! And the downright adorable Cheerful Amnesia is a delightful tale of two women trying to reconnect after one of them suffers memory loss. The synopsis literally has the line "Arisa's not about to let a little severe brain damage get her down", and that energy is definitely felt in this fun title about falling in love all over again. Both of these release on October 24th!
WONDERFUL WEBTOONS
When I started looking through my review titles and came across the incredibly shiny cover for 7FATES: CHAKHO (seriously, you can see this thing from space), I was intrigued because I had no idea what it was (which is rare when you spend as much time on webtoon*/webcomic platforms as I do). But it was when I saw the subtitle "With BTS" that I knew I had something absolutely insane on my hands, and I was hooked from the moment I realized there was a poster. Now, I will openly admit I know nothing about BTS but even as someone who has very little knowledge of the band or their music, I really had a good time reading this. It's a fun, action-packed title with great art and interesting mythology that any longtime fans of webtoons will enjoy. It releases next Tuesday, the 24th!
When it comes to iconic webtoons, though, there is no title more widely known than Solo Leveling, which has received a beautiful print run through Yen Press, so when I saw Overgeared in my box and saw those two epic words - REDICE STUDIO - on the cover, you know I lost my mind. With all of the intense action, stunning illustrations, and memorable characters you'd come to expect from a team like this, this is a must have title for fans of titles like Solo Leveling, A Returner's Magic Should Be Special, and The Esper's Game, you'll definitely want to grab a copy of Overgeared when it arrives alongside 7Fates on the 24th!
GOTTA HAVE GIRLBOSSES
A little while ago I recommended the light novel I May Be a Guild Receptionist, But I'll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time and I can absolutely say the manga is just as enjoyable as the book! This incredibly charming and severely relatable series about an Adventurer's Guild receptionist who desperately wants to leave work on time is one of the most millennial-coded things you'll read all year (dropping on Halloween!).
Bocchi The Rock! is a fun coming of age story about an introverted high schooler with social anxiety named Hiromi Gotoh who desperately wants to be popular. After getting asked to fill in for a band, she finds herself torn between her desire to be popular and the anxiety performing in front of a real life audience for the first time! It's a fun easy read that will bring a smile to your face, and you can pick it up on October 24th! For my adult readers who want a lot spice in your spy stories, check out the extremely R-rated first volume of Honey Trap Shared House, which is a spy vs spy story about two childhood friends who reunite on opposing sides of their espionage-filled careers, where the only best - and horniest - will come out on top (also releasing the 24th!)
YEN PRESS CLOSES OUT NYCC WITH FIFTEEN NEW LICENSES!
And what a way to cap off the weekend than with an excellent NYCC update from the Yen Press team with a fabulous list of new acquisitions slated to release in Q1 of 2024! Comic Book Yeti has you covered with the deets on the new titles you can expect to start hearing more about in the coming weeks/months, alongside some first looks at upcoming covers!
NEW YORK, NY (10/15/23) – Yen Press, LLC held a panel on the last day of New York Comic Con 2023, at which they announced fifteen new acquisitions. With titles releasing in March and April 2024, this lineup includes eight manga (Sword Art Online Progressive Canon of the Golden Rule; Trinity Seven Revision; The Tiger Hasn’t Eaten the Dragon Yet; My Gemini; All or Nothing; Fox- Colored Jealousy; I Want a Gal Gamer to Praise Me; Adults’ Picture Book) and five novels (Amalgam Hound; Classroom for Heroes, Riviere and the Land of Prayer; Once Upon a Witch’s Death: The Tale of the One Thousand Tears of Joy; You Can’t See the Snow). Along with the eight new manga series listed were a couple more manga announcements tied to familiar properties, which include a new manga adaptation of The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life with art by Aya Obara, and the print publication of the Black Summoner manga under Yen Press’s JNC imprint.
The image(s) used in this article are from a comic strip, webcomic or the cover or interior of a comic book. The copyright for this image(s) is likely owned by either the publisher of the comic, the writer(s) and/or artist(s) who produced the comic. It is believed that the use of this image(s) qualifies as fair use under the United States copyright law. The image is used in a limited fashion in an educational manner in order to illustrate the points of the author and not for the purpose of entertainment or substituting the original work. It is believed the use of this image has had no impact on the market value of the original work. All images taken from the Google Books previews of the titles, provided by Yen Press.
All Yen Press characters and the distinctive likeness(es) thereof are trademarks of and copyright Yen Press or their respective owners. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
*webtoon is the term used for scrolling digital comics originating from South Korea, not to be confused with the platform WEBTOON
*shoujo is a genre of manga most notably aimed toward girls, usually with a romantic lean.
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