There’s been a murder in the human world, and the animal who did it used an illegal substance that hid its scent. The wolves start their investigation, but making things more difficult is the wolf Chiaki and his partner Hagiri. Chiaki may have had some of the substance from a badger they apprehended in volume two, and Hagiri is a weird wolf who likes cats a bit too much. Mixed up into all of this is a little kitten Hagiri is trying to save from the wolves and the Bakeneko cat clan.
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Illustrated by Haruki Niwa
Since a tragic traffic accident took both her parents at a young age, Alice has lived with her aunt and uncle and their many children. She aspires to go to high school, but her grumpy uncle has made it very clear that he has neither the patience for her, nor the funds to keep up with her dreams. After seeing an ad in a paper for new maikos in her home city of Kyoto, Alice jumps at the chance to return and possibly escape her family, find a new job, and potentially reconnect with a childhood friend. But, the Kyoto she finds upon arrival is not what she expects. Everything is slightly off - streets and shrines aren’t where she expects; no one seems to pay for anything with money; and, there are anthropomorphized animals talking to her. She then finds out that her reasons for becoming a maiko are not pure enough. Alice must find a profession that will fulfill her life’s purpose, or she’ll risk being expelled from this Kyoto before being reunited with her friend, or worse, suffer even more dire consequences. 
Manpachi and Momoji the Badger travel to the mountain where Manpachi was born, but Momoji also knowingly takes Manpachi away from Senzou and endangers him. When the two get to the mountain, all the creatures are sleeping and covered in snow. The two are almost immediately attacked by a dormouse in human form, who accused the two of them of disturbing the mountain’s restorative sleep. Before the dormice can fully attack Manpachi and Momoji, the goddess of the mountain reveals herself and explains why she has put everyone in a sleeping state. Manpachi give the goddess a kind of pep talk, and she has restored faith in her abilities. Later, the wolf pack investigates a murder of a cat, and suspects an illegal substance was used to cover rhe murderer’s tracks. They question Momoji and find out a stash of the substance was stolen from him when the wolves first apprehended him.
Senzou the black fox was a terribly powerful bakemono - a magical beast - but he was finally brought down by the sun goddess and a legion of wolves. He was imprisoned for 300 years while the goddess siphoned his power away. Now, he’s been released, and he must serve out his penance: raise a little tanuki to be a good servant of the gods, or be constantly tormented by a magical pearl necklace that delivers pain kind of like a shock collar. In addition to raising the tanuki, whom he calls Manpachi, the pair must help 8 million gods with whatever problems they have.
During the Meiji era, the three brothers of the Kumo family have found work helping recapture escaped criminals. These criminals are then taken to an inescapable prison: Gokumonjo, a fortress built inside of a giant tree in the middle of a large lake. The eldest son is very strong, and the two younger ones train hard to make him proud. Soramaru, the middle son, wants to prove to his brother that he is strong enough to handle jobs, but he gets into a bit of trouble going after a former samurai who is now a criminal. The second half of the book contains the side story “Fleeting Laugher,” which takes place 600 years before. One of the Kumo’s ancestors is present. The story follows Hirari of the Abe clan, who is trying to win the heart of Botan, a shikigami who has been summoned to help seal away the powerful demon dragon, Orochi. Hirari doesn’t want take up the family charge and fight Orochi, but he finds himself in the middle of the fight between Orochi and humanity anyway.
This manga contains two different short stories: “Glass Syndrome” and “Similar Figures in Love”. In the first story, class president Nijou is asked to check up on a classmates, Toomi, who hasn’t been coming to school recently. Nijou finds Toomi alone in his house - his father abandoned him after he stole money from his company. Toomi has turned to posing as a girl online for money in order to have enough money to eat. Nijou finds peace in talking with Toomi, and his touch doesn’t repulse him like other people’s does. Toomi, for his part, sees through Nijou’s incessant people-pleasing traits, and encourages him to stand up for himself instead of do what everyone expects. Nijou starts visiting Toomi’s online chat (without Toomi knowing it’s him), and he starts to fall in love with Toomi. In the second, much shorter, story, a pair of life-long friends share a dorm in college, but Kasumi has had a crush on Chihiro for years. An upperclassman, Saiki, confesses he’s in love with Kasumi and agrees to tutor Kasumi on the piano if he tells him about his unrequited love. Chihiro starts dating a girl he has had a crush on for a while, and Kasumi turns to his tutor for comfort, and possibly for love.
Full series title: BanG Dream! Girls Band Party! Roselia Stage
Yukina is a serious girl with a serious dream: to form a band with other dedicated and talented musicians and play at Future World Fes, one of the largest festivals. She practices every day and performs often at Live Houses with the hopes of finding other people to compliment her vocals. Here, she finds guitarist Sayo, who is breaking up with her band for not being serious enough. Sayo and Yukina's sound mesh well, but now they need to find three more band members: a bassist, drummer, and keyboardist. Over the course of volume one, the two find their band mates and create a magical symbiosis of sound that leaves them all hopeful. 
Illustrated by Sando and Misaki
Lizel finds himself in a strange place that feels very similar to his home. He immediately pawns his sword and sets about finding himself a local guide. He stumbles upon Gil, and adventures nicknamed “Single Stroke.” Lizel, an obvious noble by his stature and demeanor, decides he wants to become an adventurer too! He charms the attendant at the Adventurer's guild, provides critical insight to a team trying to solve a labyrinth, and takes on his first quests to level up. Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP
This was one of my absolute favorites growing up, and it's a short, powerful series that readers will love. This series is written by CLAMP, a group of female mangaka who have also written CardCaptor Sakura, Wish, Clover, Chobits, xxxHolic, Tsubasa, and many others. MKR is an Isekai story that follows three junior high schoolers who are magically transported to the crumbling planet of Cephiro, and they must travel the land seeking the blessings of three gods in order to save the planet from the evil Zagato. Zagato has imprisoned the Pillar of Cephiro, limiting her ability to pray for the planet and its people, causing its destruction. In Cephiro, one's will becomes reality, and the girls use this to their advantage as they gather power to defeat Zagato and his horde of followers. There's something here for everyone - magic armor that evolves as they do, fluffy cute creatures that sold extensibly as real-life plushies, brooding, mysterious gentlemen, elaborate costumes, and more. If your readers like these three volumes, chances are they'll also enjoy Magic Knight Rayearth 2, the three-issue series dealing with the fallout of the end events from MKR 1.
My second installment of Read the Manga focuses on Kingdom Hearts, a hugely popular and expansive series that spanned several generations of consoles, some that are extremely hard to find now. Reading the manga is a great way to catch up on stories before playing the ones you do have.
KINGDOM HEARTS by Shiro Amano
Kingdom Hearts is a mash-up between two favorite universes: Disney. and Final Fantasy. Disney has repeatedly created worlds that captivate our imaginations, and there are an abundance of Final Fantasy video games with iconic characters. Kingdom Hearts pulls these two franchises together by asking the main character to save each of the different Disney Worlds while teaming up with Disney characters and interacting with our favorite Final Fantasy characters. Similarly to the Legend of Zelda and other Japanese manga for children, the main themes of this series include friendship, belief in oneself, and determination. Some of these storylines can be complex, so these titles would most likely be enjoyed by ages 10+.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this site
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