THIS WEEK’S MANGA HIGHLIGHTS FOR 1/1/2025!

December 26th, 2024

START THE NEW YEAR IN A HAUNTED CONVENIENCE STORE WITH BOX OF LIGHT VOL 3!

If you love charmingly creepy media like Gravity Falls, Welcome to Night Vale, and Liminal Space ARG’s, you’ve got to pick up Box of Light! It’s offbeat and nostalgic in the best way, mixing slice of life with subtle horror that will stick with you long after you put the book down.

A quiet convenience store at the crossroads between life and death. Its faint glow in the darkness draws in transient souls, pulling them closer to the final purchase they’ll ever make. Prepare for shadowy creatures, strange employees, and an air of dread in this delightfully creepy supernatural tale.

In the latest volume , the convenience store at the boundary between life and death is beset by hordes of darkness and the staff is in a crisis. The humans return to the world of the living to try to bring back their abducted coworker Motoha, whose body was snatched away. Can they save their friend?

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT YOU GOT THE THEME SONG OUT OF YOUR HEAD… HERE COMES THE NEXT VOLUME OF MY DEER FRIEND NOKOTAN!

Catch up on the manga that inspired the delightfully unhinged anime that took over our screens this summer. Girl meets elk-girl—and chaos ensues! It’s a deer shaped train wreck that will have you cracking up from start to finish.

No one knows Torako used to be a delinquent. All of her classmates only know her as the perfect student. But everything changes when Nokotan, a transfer student with antlers, enters her life. Antlers aren’t the only thing strange about Nokotan. Her deer nose can sniff out Torako’s secret past! Whether it’s at school or the zoo, chaos follows this doe-eyed girl’s every step. Torako has so many questions! Is Nokotan a deer, a girl, or something in-between?

In volume 5, this year’s sports festival is well underway, though Nokotan is giving Koshitan a run for her money as the student council president tries desperately to stay on schedule. Between the tug-of-war turning into a tug-of-antler, an adorable cryptid named Tsuchi getting mixed up with the balls for the ball toss, and a bunch of deer getting in everyone’s way, will Koshitan be able to keep the last shreds of her sanity from unraveling? Or will she finally break down under the barrage of Nokotan’s bizarre buffoonery?!

FORGET FRAMELOCK – JUST READ THE MANGA! THE U-20 MATCH HEATS UP IN BLUE LOCK VOL 16!

The latest season of Blue Lock definitely generated a lot of buzz (cue power-point presentation memes). But fear not – the manga just keeps getting better and better! Now is the perfect time to get caught up and remember why it was the best-selling manga of 2023!

A mad young coach gathers soccer players from across the country to compete in a series of bizarre challenges in a high-tech colosseum he calls Blue Lock. It’s a no-balls-barred battle to become Japan’s next top strike!

In this volume, the U-20 Japan team has seized the initiative in the second half, thanks to Ryusei Shidou’s explosive entrance. Just when things are looking dire for the Blue Lock Eleven, Ego produces his trump card, Shouei Barou. “King Barou” proceeds to rampage across the field, consuming friend and foe alike, but Rin and Isagi won’t settle for supporting roles. Let the clash of leading actors begin!

HOW FAR WOULD YOU GO TO AVOID BEING THE VILLAIN? IN I SWEAR I WON’T BOTHER YOU AGAIN, THE ANSWER IS BACK IN TIME!

Sometimes, being the villainess isn’t all it cracked up to be – and second chances can be hard to come by! This is a refreshing take on the reincarnated villainess genre, and perfect for anyone who enjoys some royal drama!

After Lady Violette committed a grave crime and was imprisoned, she lost consciousness and woke up to find herself transported one year back in time. Determined to stay out of trouble, Violette vows to stay out of everyone’s ways and live a quiet life. But to her dismay, other people just keep interfering with that dream! Her friends and enemies are all acting nothing like how Violette remembered, and keep seeking her out! And now that prince has something he wants to confess?!