Seven Seas Pubwatch: April 2022

Pubwatch Manga
Carrie McClain

Blessed Spring is here and my seasonal allergies are knocking on my door for my lunch money. And we’re bringing back the Seven Seas Pubwatch! I’ve lost track of what stage in the apocalypse we’re in but you can rest assured of some manga-related news from one of my fave independently owned manga and light novel publishers in North America — dedicated to producing quality content for just about every reader. This month, we’ve got a hotly anticipated light novel, some isekai goodness, and an exciting update on an anime adaption coming next year!

For The Light Novel Lovers…

I am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile (Light Novel)
Story & Art by: Yoru Sumino
Release Date: 2022/04/05

I’m a little late to the party when it comes to the works of Yoru Sumino, the creative behind such works like I Want to Eat Your Pancreas and the Eisner-nominated I Had That Same Dream Again. I just recently had my heart wrecked — I mean, just experienced the moving and tragic coming-of-age tearjerker of the high schoolers in I Want To Eat Your Pancreas (that inspired two films, one animated!) and I am ready for more intricate stories about youth, secrets, and navigating worlds that chase away tenderness and vulnerability.

With that in mind, I am very interested in novelist Sumino’s newest work titled, novel, I am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile. Released April 5, this new work focuses on the relationship of two university students, who fall into friendships and yearn for purpose. Between vows, clubs, and the ebbs and flows of life, this story reveals who they are and who they become. Adapted into a live-action film that’s now on Netflix (Blue, Painful, Fragile), here’s a perfect opportunity to read the original story and read Yoru Sumino’s work as we’re gifted more and more of it.

For The Autobiographical comic lovers:

My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders
Story & Art by: MONZUSU
Release Date: 04/12/22

In recent years I found that autobiographical stories and anthologies are quickly coming not only faves of mine, but fantastic avenues in the realm of manga that I didn’t appreciate enough growing up. On the autobio side, Nagata Kabi’s work continues to blow me away. As someone who remembers teachers in school labeling me a visual learner, I’ve always appreciated comics as a medium when used for educational purposes. So when I read the sales blurb for My Brain is Different: Stories of ADHD and Other Developmental Disorders, I was not only interested in reading but also intrigued. I honestly had to think about when was the last time outside of the realm of indie and alternative comics that I had even read an anthology. The mangaka for this collection, MONZUSU explains in an introduction that they are an adult with ADHD-Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder with children in the gray zone of developmental disorders.

They began the work on this book when they noticed their children started to have some problems in their daily lives and wanted to hear stories of similar people and their lives. That desire led them to reach out to others and the letter poured in. This manga is a collection of those stories illustrated by the author. The first story details author’s experience having ADHD starting with her complicated upbringing to her first years of motherhood. The first story contains pages that are enlightening as they engaging–I don’t often see manga chronicling motherhood or folks with development disorders centered so it is certainly a treat for representation and a great look for manga as a whole. I feel like I never would have been able to read this translated into English and published when I first started many many years ago as a middle school kid. I hope to see more manga like this covering real life and more anthologies in the realm of manga!

For the Isekai Lovers:

The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior (Manga) Vol. 1
Story & Art by: Tenichi Suzunosuke Bunko Matsuura
Release Date: 04/05/22

I LOVE the Isekai genre aka ‘other world shenanigans and more’ genre. The female agency in the genre does vary across the genre as a whole yet I love the reincarnation and regressor storylines that keep Isekai going like a train. I especially adore the flavor of this genre that pulls a person, usually a young woman, into the role of the villainess or side as a newborn or young child. In this new title, a high schooler dies at 18 only to find that she’s reincarnation into the eight-year-old body of Crown Princess Pride Royal Ivy who is the villainess of the otome game she loved best. In 10 years she’s doomed to die when she’s eighteen after tormenting the protagonists and related characters.

It’s all a tough pill to swallow as the setup usually entails with the villainess subgenre yet what makes this one stand out, at least in this first volume is the young protagonist’s exploring her powers that eventually make her the final boss — that she gets to take advantage early on as she’s decided to change her ways and do good to escape the ‘death flags’ that would signal her death. The first chapter drops some drama bombs about the Princess’ upbringing and more importantly, her relationship with the ‘good’ character in her universe, the pure-hearted heroine that will have repercussions with the changed story line to come. A series that popped up on my radar that I want to read more about for sure, Seven Seas also has an upcoming release of the first volume of the award-winning light novel series coming out this month as well.

Wrap Up

Isekai and reverse harem lovers will be happy to know that there will be an animated film in store for My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Coming in 2023, the film follows the anime’s first season which premiered in 2020, and the second season which aired last summer.  Seven Seas has been releasing both the manga volumes and the light novels the manga and anime were adapted from. The highly popular doom-avoidance-strategy romantic comedy is going strong with even an upcoming anthology in the series with a…yuri focus (*anime gasp*) coming next month — Look, Seven Seas has obviously been paying attention to what the people want! (Have they been looking at my reader surveys?!) If you’re late to the party that of Bakarina aka the beloved Catarina Claes of villianess infamy, here’s a good time to immerse yourself in the universe that she lives in and more.

Finally, this is SUPER CUTE!

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Carrie McClain

Carrie McClain

Carrie McClain is a Southern Californian native who navigates the world as writer, editor and media scholar who firmly believes that we can and we should critique the media we consume. The X-Men were some of her first best friends. She is forever chasing the nostalgic high of attending school book fairs. As a retired magical girl, you can usually find her buried under a pile of Josei manga.
mcclain.y.carrie@gmail.com
https://carriemcclain.carrd.co/
Carrie McClain

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