The August and September Yen Press Releases You Won't Want To Miss

School's back in session and spooky season is on its way, and we all know there's no better way to spend your cozy afternoons than curling up with some fresh manga! Yen Press (@yenpress) dropped some incredible titles in August, and the September line up is just as strong, so I'm here to give you the scoop on the upcoming releases you won't want to miss!

THE TITLES YOU CAN'T MISS

Releasing on the 17th, Pink & Habanero, vol.1 was hands down my favorite manga in my recent review box! This cute high school story is the perfect way to kick those back to school blues. Pink & Habanero tells the charming story of a awkward freshman named Mugi who just wants a boyfriend but can't muster the courage to even talk to a boy! A chance encounter at a cosplay café with her super popular classmate Kei Kurose turns the unlikely duo into a tight-knit pair in a story full of cutesy tropes, high school drama, and young long. I had a blast reading this one and cannot recommend it enough! I'm already itching for volume two and this is the perfect new comfort read to cap off your summer.

The second volume of one of my favorite new titles She Likes Gays, But Not Me came out on August 20th and had me SOBBING. This series is something special with its honest, brutal, and raw portrayals of humanity, and I cannot recommend it enough - you'll want to get them both books because the cliffhanger at the end of vol.1 had me screaming. This touching series about gay life and identity in Japan is an emotional roller coaster and has utterly ruined me. I've been recommending it to everyone (it is an immensely intense, M-rated series so be mindful) and I'm dying for the next volume.

And finally, the second volume of a surprise favorite new series of mine Friday at the Atelier released on August 20th and I love how weird this series is. It follows a young woman who decides she done living, but wants to eat some fish first (as one does). She stumbles upon a man lying on the road with the very fish she was craving spilled out of his grocery bag in front of him, and when he asks her to come home with him, she obliges. Turns out he's a famous artist who specializes in portraits of women wering fish all over their naked bodies, and she decides to take him up on his offer to be a model in exchange for delicious fish-based meals every Friday night. It's so strange but I'm obssessed with its charm and unique art style. This series is a must for readers looking for a new mature dramedy.

BACK TO SCHOOL SPECIALS!

Yen Press is dropping a ton of school-focused titles to add to your TBR this month that range from shoujo to supernatural!

For the slice-of-life fans, the brand new series Spring Storm and Monster (coming September 17th) is a darkly comedic, yet touching story of an introverted high school freshman who prefers her loner lifestyle over having a large group of friends. She only needs her mom and her pet pig to get by, so when a brand new stepdad and stepbrother - who just so happens to be the terrifying guy she crossed paths with in the alley on the way to school - comes into the picture she's less than enthused! This series is defintely more on the mature side, as it deals with a lot of familial drama and heavy topics, but the well-timed comedy and bonding between the new family members has some truly sweet moments.

For the action fans, the intense and bloody Tougen Anki: Legend of the Cursed Blood (releasing Sept 17th) is a high octane story that feels like a trippy mix of My Hero Academia, Umbrella Academy, and Yu Yu Hakusho. It oozes early 2000s Shounen Jump, dealing with a recently expelled high school student named Shiki who discovers that he's an oni, and a rival supernatural clan is out to kill him. Wanting to avenge the murder of his father who died protecting him, he accepts the opportunity to enroll in a school that trains young oni to fight in a supernatural war. This series is insane and I loved every second of it.

If you've been around for a while you'll know I love the colorful, over-the-top series Jungle Juice, a webtoon turned manhwa from Yen Press' Ize Imprint, that follows a group of students who turn into half-human/half-bug hybrids after using a mysterious bug spray known as Jungle Juice. This series has an exellent mixture of the classic school days elements alonsgide excellent action, beautiful artwork, and amazing character development. The fifth volume is dropping on the 17th, so now is a great time to dive into the series to prep for the next release!

FANTASTIC FANTASIES

Fantasy is booming this month with some amazing new titles such as the new contender for longest manga title I've ever seen - From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman, Vol. 1: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone (arriving Sept 17th). This is an excellent cozy fantasy title about a middle-aged man who runs a swordsmanship dojo in the countryside who finds himself recruited as an instructor working for the strongest order of knights in the kingdom after a former student comes asking for his help.

The Magical Girl and the Evil Lieutenant Used To Be Achenemies is a beautiful, almost 400 page ominbus that was released on the 27th of August. It collects vol.1-3 of the gripping series by Cocoa Fujiwara, alongside an honorable mention one-shot submission from Fujiwara during the 7th Annual Square Enix 21st Century Manga Awards. It's a unique look at the career of a mangaka that showcases the incredible growth in Fujiwara's personal art style, alongside the evolution of manga as a whole, in a beautiful way. This is an awesome title that any fantasy fan should definitely have on their shelves.

A super fun new series that I fell head over heels in love with in August was The Hachioji Specialty: Tengu's Love, vol.1 which falls into that weird slice-of-life meets monster romance category I ADORE, and follows a young man who returns to his hometown only to discover that he accidentally got engaged to a demon in his childhood and she's come to make things official. This series is so charming and I'm desperately waiting for vol.2's release.

And finally, a brand new isekai fantasy series titled In Another World, My Sister Stole My Name was released on August 20th and I was instantly obsessed with it. This manga tells the story of a young woman named Ichika who owns a mirror that's connected to another world. A boy named Cecil lives inside of this other world, and the only person who knows her secret is her older sister, Karen. One day the mirror and Karen both vanish, and Ichika finds herself devastated until she's pulled into the alternate world. In true Karen fashion, Ichika finds out that her sister has stolen her name and has been pretending to be her for years! This is a super fun isekai series with beautiful character design and an awesome mystery at the center.

FAN FAVORITE FACES

We have some fan favorite titles returning with new volumes, and beloved IPs making their debuts with some brand new titles you won't want to miss. Among them are two video game adaptations that I thoroughly enjoyed reading. The first is Detroit: Become Human - Tokyo Stories which expands on the world of Quantic Dream's cult classic video game of the same name. I'm a big fan of Detroit and it was cool to see the universe expanded in this medium, so make sure you grab this one when one drops on the 17th if you like the game. On the flip side, last week we got the first volume in a new Dark Souls manga titled Dark Souls: Redemption that follows a nameless woman waking up in the world of the video game as she journeys to save what she once held dear. This is a must for fans of FromSoft games, and the slick cover looks awesome on shelves alongside the broad collection of their manga adaptations.

The fourth volume of the surprise hit series The Summer Hikaru Died released on August 20th and I will continue to SCREAM about this series until I die. It's haunting, horrifying, and heartwarming in the weirdest way, and too many people are sleeping on this series. If you're looking for a great series to transition from the heat of summer to the swell of spooky season, this is the one you want.

Riviere and the Land of Prayer: A Wandering Witch Side Story, vol.1 released back on the 27th of August and takes place in the Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina series. I was unfamiliar with the series when I read this title, but I'm definitely intruiged and was excited to see such an expansive light novel and manga series at the core of this side story. This one has the same vibes of a fun magic-adjacent JRPG series from the early 2000s, it hit a nostalgia vibe I appreciated.

The fourth volume of the beautiful CLAMP Premium Collection Tokyo Babylon arrived with a stunning pink cover on the 27th of August and I'll continue to sing this series praises as a longtime CLAMP fan since not many people read it when it was first out. This is a must for readers of all sorts and the beautiful classic looks incredible with this larger, crisper formatting and printing. If you're unfamiliar with manga legends CLAMP, this is a great series to start with.

WONDERFUL WEBTOONS

The big manhwa release this month is the print version of vol.1 Manta Comics' webtoon series Finding Camellia, dropping on the 17th, which has been prominently featured on socials since its announcement. Personally, I found it to be pretty generic (Manta has a lot of similar regency-style romance titles like this, I actually got it confused with a few other titles while reading it) and while the story was alright, it's super predictable with its 'abusive adopted parent, miserable protagonist forced into a life they don't want with mean and pushy love interests' tropes. If this is your thing, this almost 300 page full-color volume is definitely one you won't want to miss, but the Ize releases from August are a much better selection to dive into.

Back in August, things were awesome for us romance-drama webtoon fans with the release of vol.6 of A Business Proposal, vol.5 of What's Wrong With Secretary Kim (a favorite of mine), and vol.2 of Tied To You - Ize Press' first BL series!

For the fantasy fanatics, we got vol.9 of Solo Leveling, vol.7 of The World After The Fall, vol.6 of The Beginning After The End, and vol.4 of the KPop collab series Star Seekers which all released on August 20th! Ize Press has really been killing it with these manhwa releases, and these full color volumes look awesome on shelves.

SOME LIGHT READING

The light novel must-reads for this month are the hauntingly human Even A Replica Can Fall In Love, vol.1 (releasing Sept 17th) which follows a young woman named Sunao's replica, a perfect copy meant to replace her when things get too hard. Everything changes when the replica falls in love, and she desires a life of her own. The chillingly beautiful line from the synopsis "I'm her replica, and everything I have is borrowed. But my heart is mine alone." perfectly captures the nuanced writing found in this 1st person POV light novel.

Last month's light novel release that I've been obsessed with was Hell Is Dark with No Flowers, vol.1 that released on August 20th. It's a creepy supernatural crime drama about a young man who sees the people around him as monsters and the haunting man in a white kimono who hires him to be his assistant. He soons discovers that his new employer's services consign yokai-possessed sinners to Hell, bringing him face-to-face with an unimaginable host of horrors. This is an excellent quick read that's perfect for spooky season.