Manga Monthly: Fresh Series for Fall

Welcome to another edition of Manga Monthly! Autumn is inching ever closer and so are a plethora of great new manga titles. This month we take a look at some great series debuts as well as some long-overdue reprints of classic titles. Be sure to preorder your favorites at your local comic shop!

Kodansha gets us started this month with an extremely cool edition of the legendary manga, Akira (AUG171816). This deluxe box set celebrates the 35th anniversary of Katsuhiro Otomo’s influential story with six gorgeous hardcover volumes, plus the Akira Club Artbook as well as an exclusive patch of the iconic pill design featured on Kaneda’s jacket.

Notably, this will also be the very first time that the Akira manga will be available in English in the original right-to-left reading format. If you somehow don’t already have Akira in your manga library, this is absolutely the edition to add to your collection when it arrives in October.

Attack on Titan remains one of the most popular manga and anime series out there today, and fans will soon be able to get their hands on a glorious, 400-page, full-color edition of No Regrets (AUG171818) thanks to the people at Kodansha Comics. This acclaimed best-seller focuses on the story of Captain Levi and Erwin Smith before the events of the main story, when the young Erwin was an ambitious military ladder-climber and political prodigy, while Levi lived in another world under the elite's feet, the Underground. The two men's collision course will lead to tension, tragedy, and the greatest team of Titan-fighters humanity will ever know. This edition also includes brand-new bonus stories and other illustrations.

Seven Seas Entertainment is bringing back a beloved and iconic series with the hardcover release of Record of Lodoss War: The Gray Witch (AUG171956)! Parn, a reckless but passionate swordsman embarks on a quest to discover the source of a great evil overwhelming the country of Lodoss. Joining him are Deedlit, a young elf wielding great magic; Ghim, the tough-asstones dwarf; Etoh, a fledging priest; Slayn, the group's sorcerer; and Woodchuck, their indispensable thief. Together, this iconic group will join forces to discover the truth behind a world torn apart by ancient deities and wield the power needed to defeat the Grey Witch!

A modern take on the classic fairy tale arrives with the first volume of Sleeping Beauty (AUG171957) from Seven Seas! High school student Yaneko loves to sleep, so much that she can barely wake up of her own accord. That is, until she is roused from her slumber by a sleep spirit known as Nerim. Yaneko must accompany the benevolent spirit on his daily work route, as he grants the gift of comfortable sleep to people (and animals!) of all ages. But just what is his true purpose and why has he chosen Yaneko to be his assistant? This could very well be the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Fan-favorite, The Flowers of Evil (AUG172151), is getting a complete edition that collects all three volumes of the original thanks the folks at Vertical Comics. This new combined edition will give fans a chance to reconnect with Kasuga, Saeki, and Nakamura as it explores the issues of bulling, loneliness, individualtiy, and identity. The routine of class and endless stupidity in a provincial town is taking a toll on middle-schooler Takao Kasuga. Though he gets along well enough with his peers, they'll never begin to dig any of that reading business that's his only true escape. What can he expect when he's in love with foreign stuff like the poems of Charles Baudelaire? Yet his life threatens to take a turn for the worse when, in a moment of weakness, he finds and takes home the gym clothes of pretty, sweet, and smart Nanaka Saeki on whom he has a major crush.

Tokyo Ghoul has proven itself to be a wildly popular anime, and Viz Media is continuing the story with the first volume of Tokuo Ghoul: re (AUG172154)!

Haise Sasaki has been tasked with teaching Qs Squad how to be outstanding Investigators, but his assignment is complicated by the troublesome personalities of his subordinates and his own uncertain grasp of his Ghoul powers. Can he pull this ragtag group together as a team, or will Qs Squad's first assignment be their last?

Sports anime and manga has also been seeing a surge in the last few years, and one of the biggest in the genre has been Haikyu!! (AUG172162). In the upcoming 16th volume, it’s Karasuno versus Aoba Johsai in the Spring Tournament Qualifier semifinals, and Aoba Johsai has the upper hand at the end of the second set. Tadashi Yamaguchi is sent out as a pinch server to throw a wrench in the momentum of the game. Can he get past the painful memory of his past failures and close out the set for Karasuno?!

The Mortal Instruments (AUG172199) will be coming to manga form for the first time thanks to Yen Press when it arrives this October! The series of young adult fantasy novels has proven to be incredibly popular, with the last one being published back in 2014. The series follows a girl named Clary Fray who works alongside the Shadowhunters in order to protect the earth from demonic forces while also discovering her true lineage.

That wraps it up for this month, but as always, be sure to pick up a copy of the PREVIEWS catalog in order to take a look at the full lineup of manga available to order. Stay tuned for more Manga Monthly coming soon!