Monthly Manga Highlights: July 2018

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It’s July, and between the heat wave and the boiling sun overheat, we’re in for a hot month. During those hot times when the AC blasting is a necessity, sometimes it’s best to duck into a cool bookstore, or sit in front of your fan and not move. Either way, it’s best to cool down with a manga in hand and get lost- at least until you have to go outside again. Here are our top choices from July 2018!

Seven Seas continues their continued focus on bringing over LGBT-themed manga with the comedy Go For It, Nakamura!. Nakamura has a crush on one of the boys in his class, but he’s too shy to say anything. With his stiff demeanor, it ends up creating a lot of misunderstandings. Still, Nakamura doesn’t want to give up on his feelings, so he’s pushing through. This funny story is a single volume, so everything is contained from start to finish- and hopefully he’ll work up that courage.
Land of the Lustrous returns with more quiet drama and action, as Phos comes back with a new partner- Ghost Quartz. Phos’ partnerships have all ended up in disaster, either from death or incompatibility, but now Ghost has stepped up to the plate. As usual, Ichikawa’s composition makes even the fight scenes feel serene, and this series is definitely something worth picking up for the long haul.
Harukana Receive is something I’m interested in because let’s be real, there are so few sports manga that heavily focus on girls. An anime adaptation of this is also coming out for the summer season, so there’s no better time to pick up the manga before giving the anime a try! Beach volleyball is an extremely taxing sport, especially being played on an unstable surface, and so it’s no easy feat for these girls. Let’s hope they end up victorious!
Some things are just plain cute, and Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods is one of those titles. It focuses on two miniature girls living in the forest, and foraging for food. Even though they’re tiny, it’s their way of life, and they’re trying to do the best they can. It’s a short series, at only three volumes long, but even the cover warms your heart.
Another adorable series is A Polar Bear in Love, featuring a polar bear and his travels with a seal. Both are totally different species, and both are male, but the polar bear’s love is strong. It’s cute in the art, but it’s also a very tender story about communication, loneliness, and the power of purely romantic love. Even though the premise seems wonky, it’s a genuinely heartwarming story, and I’m sad to see it come to an end.
Kiss Him Not Me had a good, hilarious run of fourteen volumes, but now the series has come to an end. This month, the final volume comes to shelves, and with that, Kae’s story comes to a close. It’s run for such a long time, with so many complicated twists and turns, and now we can all see what the true end finally is. So long to the fujoshi jokes, but at least we see who manages to attain happiness.
I haven’t had the time to read Demon Slayer yet, but it has a really interesting presence. Period stories are a particular weakness of mine, especially combined with mythical elements like youkai and demons. Combine that with a conflict between what’s morally right and a devotion to family, and that’s an excellent formula right there. It’s going to be a short series, only three volumes long, but it seems like a lot of fun, and something worth looking into.
Mitsuru Kubo’s dynamic art has shone in Again! but the less actiony Moteki still carries her charm. The second volume wraps up the tangled feelings between the friend group. Emotions are strong, for sure, but there’s also the aspect of wanting to keep everything the same. The story wraps up in this volume, so There’s also a couple of bonuses in the back, for those who want to see some more of how everyone ends up.
A lot of series are wrapping up this month, but they had good runs. Hopefully you can enjoy those endings and beat the summer heat.