Happy New Year! And welcome back to our VIZ Pubwatch, where we take a look at the news and new releases from VIZ Media. Today we’re talking about some continuing series from a range of genres, from the shoujo My Love Mix-up!! to the seinen Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. But first, the news.
Bleach Anime is coming back
Huge news for Bleach fans all over! After more than a decade has passed since the last episode of the Bleach anime aired in March 2012, the Thousand Year Blood War arc that concludes the series is intended to air in October 2022. It’s still made by Studio Pierrot as the original series was and is currently in production. Check out the trailer from JUMP Festa here!
Demon Slayer prequel Stories of Water and Flame Out Now
Demon Slayer fans are getting a lot this month: the Entertainment District arc of the anime is going strong, and now the Stories of Water and Flame spin-off prequel manga drawn by Ryoji Hirano is available in print! Exciting! The manga covers Giyu Tomioka and Kyojuro Rengoku’s lives before the events of the main Demon Slayer story. If you’re craving more of this best-selling manga, here you go!
Paru Itagaki draws Legoshi
As part of the final stretch of VIZ’s “Mangaka Mania 2021” event, this video of Paru Itagaki drawing Legoshi from her series BEASTARS was posted to Youtube last month. Seeing how quickly and confidently she makes her delightful protagonist take shape is an incredible experience. Though the BEASTARS manga has long since finished, season 3 of the anime was just announced in December, and as a known BEASTARS fan, I’m very excited. I hope we see more of Itagaki’s post-BEASTARS work reach the West soon.
Speaking of things I’m known to be a fan of, let’s take a look at…
What I’m reading
My Love Mix-up! Volume 2
Story by Wataru Hinekure, Art by Aruko
January 4, 2022
I reported on volume 1 in October, and I’m pleased to tell you all that volume 2 is just as funny and well-drawn as the first volume of this series. The hilarious misunderstandings continue to pile up and resolve in unexpected directions. In this volume, we get a bit more exposition on what Hashimoto sees in Aida and expand our quirky cast of characters as the guys go on a group date with Ida’s teammates. I firmly believe that any comedic romance manga has to be as visually funny as it possibly can be to justify its existence, and Aruko really, really pulls it off. I love the part where our lovable idiot Aoki climbs into a combustible trash bag in despondency. The narrative skillfully bounces between levity and seriousness, as Aoki’s overdramatic panic belies his real anxieties that his best friend will be weirded out by him having a crush on a guy. Though they still haven’t made much progress in their relationship by the end of the volume, the antics the characters get up to will make you want to keep reading to find out what happens next.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Volume 2
Story by Kanehito Yamada, Art by Tsukasa Abe
January 11, 2022
Frieren’s journey continues in volume 2 as Eisen’s apprentice fighter Stark joins her and Fern to help them defeat a dragon blocking their path. The trio then heads to a village captured by dangerous demons, and Frieren points out the horrifying reason demons are capable of human speech: to convince humans not to kill them. Volume 2 examines Frieren’s near-immortality from a different angle than the first volume, as here she’s less focused on grieving what she’s lost and more on avoiding the mistakes of her long and storied past. I also really liked the dynamic between Frieren and her only surviving party companion, the dwarf Eisen. They have a lot of personality traits in common, but are also different in a few key ways. The chapters with demons were genuinely tense and scary, feeling somewhat out of place in a story that is usually softer and more contemplative while also being highly memorable. I appreciate how focused the story is on Frieren’s specific situation. It never feels like a generic fantasy adventure because the reader is always reminded of how much Frieren has experienced already.
No. 5, Volume 3
Taiyo Matsumoto
January 18, 2022
I believe No. 5 is not a comic that should be read for the specific sequence of events happening in it but more for the like, vibes, as the experimental and sometimes confusing visual storytelling makes it hard to keep track of what exactly is happening at times. In this volume, No.5 and Matryoshka have been separated from each other, and while No. 3 confronts No. 5 in a bloody, painful battle between former comrades, No. 1 amasses a cult of popularity before finally crowning himself as a king of nothing in particular, just wearing the crown because he thought it suited him.
What captured my attention most about this latest installment of Matsumoto’s sci-fi epic was, surprisingly enough, the environment design: the buildings and city streets depicted have a specificity to them that made me wonder if the artist had gone on a research trip to western Europe and Russia before coming back to the drawing board. Though no locations are named, the shapes of the houses and government offices remind me of buildings I’ve seen in Spain and Paris and St. Petersburg, and the whimsical futuristic additions make the world feel lived-in and appealing. The sound effects also stood out as very seamlessly fitting in with these environments.
I’m going to be honest: I barely know what’s going on in this comic ever. But it’s still a fun reading experience, because it’s so excitingly, energetically, creatively drawn, and composed.
That’s all I’ve got for you this month! See you in February for more VIZ news and reviews!
