293 reviews in this genre
by YunHee Lee / Kara
A review of Angel Diary — a twelve-volume Korean manhwa about Dong-Young, a princess from heaven who escaped her arranged marriage to the king of the underworld by hiding as a human girl in a Korean high school, only to have the king himself transfer to her school to find her.
by Megumi Tachikawa
A review of Dream Saga — Megumi Tachikawa's five-volume fantasy manga about an ordinary girl who discovers she can travel to Takamagahara, the realm of Japanese gods, by sleeping with a special acorn.
by Aya Shouoto
A review of Kiss of the Rose Princess — Aya Shouoto's nine-volume shojo fantasy about Anise Yamamoto, who receives four magical knight cards and must kiss each knight to summon their power to fight supernatural threats.
by Michiko Yokote (story) / Pink Hanamori (art)
A review of Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch — the seven-volume magical girl manga about seven mermaid princesses who transform and use songs as weapons to protect the ocean and find love on land.
by Koge-Donbo
A review of Pita-Ten — Koge-Donbo's eight-volume manga about an angel-in-training named Misha who moves next door to a quiet, self-contained boy named Kotaro and tries to bring happiness into his life.
by Arina Tanemura
A review of Sakura Hime: The Legend of Princess Sakura — Arina Tanemura's twelve-volume historical fantasy shojo following a princess who discovers she is descended from the moon and carries a sword that can destroy yokai — and everything she cares about.
by Sang-Sun Park
A review of Tarot Cafe — Sang-Sun Park's seven-volume Korean manhwa following Pamela, a tarot card reader who helps supernatural beings fulfill their wishes — while bound by a contract of her own that may cost her everything.
by Haruko Iida
A review of Crescent Moon (Mikan no Tsuki) — Haruko Iida and Red Company's six-volume shojo fantasy about Mahiru, a girl who can only grant other people luck, and the Moonlight Bandits, a dying race of supernatural beings she's bound to by an old bloodline.
by Kara
A review of Legend — Kara's seven-volume Korean manhwa fantasy about a girl who discovers she is the prophesied hero destined to save the world, alongside a cast of supernatural guardians who have waited centuries for her arrival.
by Yumi Tsukirino
A review of Magical Pokémon Journey — Yumi Tsukirino's nine-volume shojo take on the Pokémon world, where a girl named Hazel tries to capture an Eevee to give to her crush, and discovers the Pokémon world is considerably more complicated than that plan.
by Mizuho Kusanagi
A review of Mugen Spiral — Mizuho Kusanagi's two-volume shojo fantasy about a girl with spiritual powers who accidentally transforms a demon prince into a cat, then has to deal with the consequences of keeping him in her house.
by Narumi Kakinouchi
A review of The Young Magician — Narumi Kakinouchi's ten-volume fantasy manga about a young boy with extraordinary magical ability who is brought into a world of sorcerers, ancient powers, and conflicts he is not yet ready to understand.
by Mia Ikumi
A review of Tokyo Mew Mew new — Mia Ikumi's three-volume continuation of the beloved Tokyo Mew Mew magical girl series, following a new team of girls who inherit the Mew Mew powers to face a new threat to Earth.
by Mosuke Mattaku
A review of Best Student Council (Gokujou Seitokai) — the 3-volume manga about an orphaned girl who transfers into an all-girls academy run by a paramilitary student council, carrying a talking hand puppet that turns out to hold her dead brother's spirit.
by CLAMP
A review of Tsubasa: WoRLD CHRoNiCLE / Spring Thunder — CLAMP's continuation of the Tsubasa story set in the Nirai Kanai world, following the travelers into a new arc that extends the emotional conclusions of the main series.
by Tou Ubukata (story), Kiriko Yumeji (art)
A review of Le Chevalier D'Eon — the manga adaptation of the Production I.G anime, set in 18th-century France where the chevalier D'Eon de Beaumont discovers a conspiracy involving alchemy, resurrection poetry, and the soul of his murdered sister.
by Issei Hyouju (art), Yu Shimizu (story)
A review of Blade Dance of the Elementalers (Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dance) — the manga adaptation of Yu Shimizu's light novel, where the only male spirit contractor in the world enrolls in a girls-only academy and turns out to be a former assassin who once won the legendary Blade Dance disguised as a girl.
by Mura Kuroe
A review of Puella Magi Oriko Magica — the Madoka spinoff manga set in an alternate timeline, following Oriko Mikuni, a magical girl who gained the power to see the future and made the worst choice imaginable with it.
by Okumoto Hiroki (art), Y.A (story)
A review of The 8th Son? Are You Kidding Me? — the isekai manga about a salaryman reincarnated as the least significant noble in a large family, who uses his overpowered magic to carve out a place for himself.
by Ai Ninomiya (story) / Ikumi Katagiri (art)
A review of Are You Alice? — a dark, surreal reimagining of Alice in Wonderland where a nameless boy is given the name Alice and must participate in a game he didn't choose, in a Wonderland that has been running that game for longer than anyone remembers.
by Mineko Ohkami
A review of Dragon Knights by Mineko Ohkami — a long-running 1990s fantasy manga about three knights serving a dragon lord, blending adventure with comedy and genuine emotional development.
by Arima Keitaro
A review of Moon Phase — a vampire manga about a photographer who stumbles into a vampire girl's castle and their subsequent relationship, published by Tokyopop.
by Kotaro Yamada (art), Reki Kawahara (story)
A review of the Sword Art Online: Alicization manga adaptation — the arc where Kirito wakes inside an artificial world with no memory of how he got there, and must navigate a society with its own laws, history, and artificial consciousness.
by Rei Izumi (art)
A review of the Tales of the Abyss manga adaptation — the emotional core of Namco's acclaimed JRPG compressed into manga form, focusing on Luke's journey from arrogant noble to genuine human being.
by Ao Jyumonji (story), Mutsumi Okubashi (art)
A review of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash — a grounded isekai fantasy where a group of strangers wake up in another world with no memories, no skills, and no understanding of how hard survival actually is.
by Ken Akamatsu
A review of Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Ken Akamatsu's epic about a 10-year-old wizard assigned to teach a class of 31 junior high girls in Japan — which somehow escalates into a multiverse-spanning adventure.
by Kenshirou Sakamoto
A review of Buster Keel!, Kenshirou Sakamoto's 12-volume Monthly Shonen Rival fantasy about a boy who is secretly a cursed Dragon Ape, the melody mage who travels with him, and the beast-taming guild world they fight through.
by Kankitsu Yuzuki
Yu's review of Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf — the Demon Lord Zagan acquires the elf Nephy through a slave auction not because he wants a slave but because he cannot stand to watch someone beautiful be mistreated; the series is genuinely a love comedy about two socially incompetent people figuring out their feelings across 9 volumes.
by TurtleMe (story), Fuyuki23 (art)
A review of The Beginning After the End, TurtleMe and Fuyuki23's manhwa about a lonely, all-powerful king reborn as a child named Arthur Leywin — and the second life he uses to finally learn how to love people.
by Yuu Watase
A review of Fushigi Yugi, the classic isekai romance manga about a girl transported to ancient China who becomes the Priestess of Suzaku.
by Magica Quartet / GAN
Yu's review of Magia Record — a side story set in the Madoka Magica universe follows Iroha Tamaki, a magical girl searching for her missing sister, in the city of Kamihama where magical girls gather seeking a rumor about salvation; maintains the original series' dark psychological atmosphere while building an independent narrative.
by Ito
My Master Has No Tail follows Mameda, a tanuki demon who wants to become a rakugo storyteller in Taisho-era Japan, and her curmudgeonly master Bunko — a human woman with extraordinary skill and a complicated past.
by Mizuo Shinonome (manga adaptation)
A review of Princess Tutu, the manga adaptation of the acclaimed magical girl anime about a duck who becomes a magical girl to return a prince's shattered heart.
by PEACH-PIT
Yu's review of Shugo Chara!! Encore — a two-volume sequel to Shugo Chara! that follows Amu and her Charas after the events of the main series; gives the supporting cast additional spotlight chapters, resolves the remaining romantic threads, and provides a complete ending to PEACH-PIT's beloved magical girl series.
by Shiramine (manga) / Bandai Namco (original game)
A review of Shiramine's Tales of Zestiria: The Time of Guidance — the 4-volume manga adaptation of the 2015 Bandai Namco JRPG, serialized in Monthly Comic Zero Sum from January 2015. Seven Seas Entertainment's English edition is complete.
by Alphatart (story), Sumpul (art)
A review of The Remarried Empress, the fantasy manhwa about an empress who divorces her faithless emperor and starts a new life with a worthy king.
by Aki Irie
A review of Ran and the Gray World, the magical fantasy manga about a little girl who can transform into an adult using her late mother's shoes — and the world she discovers.
by SIU (Slave.In.Utero)
A review of Tower of God, the Korean webtoon manhwa about a boy who climbs an infinite tower in search of his only friend.
by Ryohei Nishigishi
Kamakura Story follows mystery writer Ichiro Maekawa and his young wife Akiko as they navigate married life in Kamakura — a coastal city where the supernatural is simply part of daily existence, and demons and spirits share the streets with ordinary people.
by Osamu Tezuka
Unico is a small unicorn with the power to make anyone who meets him happy — which is why the gods condemn him to be carried across time by the West Wind, stripped of all memories and relationships, forbidden to stay anywhere long enough to be loved.
by Han Yoo-rang (story) / Lostem (art)
A review of My In-Laws Are Obsessed with Me — the Korean manhwa about a woman reincarnated as a novel's villain who discovers her new in-law family adores her completely despite her supposed role as antagonist.
by Mitsuteru Yokoyama
Sally the Witch is a princess from the magical world who chooses to live among ordinary humans — a manga that invented the magical girl genre and established every template that followed.
by Moto Hagio
11 Robots follows a group of ten students who enter the final examination of a prestigious space academy — only to find that they are eleven when they should be ten, and that one of them may be there to make sure none of them pass.
by Fujio Akatsuka
Himitsu no Akko-chan is the manga that established the magical girl transformation formula — a young girl receives a magical mirror that allows her to transform into anyone or anything, and uses this power to solve problems and help people.
by Fujiko F. Fujio
Esper Mami follows Mami Sakura, a middle school girl who develops psychic powers — telekinesis, ESP, teleportation — and uses them not to become a hero or save the world but to navigate daily life, help her artist father, and exist in the complicated territory of early romance.
by Fujio Akatsuka
Kaibutsu-kun follows the prince of the Monster World who comes to the human world accompanied by his three monster retainers — Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, and a werewolf — and proceeds to cause chaos while trying to understand humans, who are funnier and stranger than any monster.
by Fujiko F. Fujio / Fujiko Fujio A
Obake no Q-taro is the story of a round, clumsy ghost who is adopted by a Japanese family — not through any supernatural event but because the children found him and decided to keep him — and who causes gentle chaos while eating as many rice crackers as possible.
by Fujiko F. Fujio
Perman follows Mitsuo Suwa, an ordinary boy who is given a superhero costume and the ability to fly by a visiting alien — not because he is special, but because Superman was unavailable — and who struggles to balance being a superhero with being an unremarkable student.
by Futago Kamikita
Futari wa Pretty Cure is the manga adaptation of the 2004 anime — Nagisa and Honoka transform into the warrior duo Cure Black and Cure White to fight the forces of the Dark Zone, a magical girl series that put physical combat at the center of a genre previously defined by grace and transformation.
by Megumi Mizusawa
Hime-chan's Ribbon follows Himeko Nonohara, a tomboy who receives a magic ribbon from her double in the magical kingdom that can transform her into anyone for one hour — a Nakayoshi magical girl series that kept the focus on friendship and romance over spectacle.
by Ami Shibata
Papuwa-kun follows a boy named Papuwa who lives on a tropical island with a magical fish named Liquid and an assortment of strange creatures — a comedy that became a fixture of early 1990s shonen manga through sheer warmth and reliable absurdism.
by Reiko Okano
Onmyoji is Reiko Okano's manga adaptation of Baku Yumemakura's novel series about Abe no Seimei, the legendary Heian-era onmyoji (yin-yang master), and his companion Minamoto no Hiromasa — a supernatural historical manga that gave the famous exorcist an unexpected depth.
by Yumiko Oshima
The Star of Cottonland follows Chi, a small stray kitten who believes with complete sincerity that she is a human child temporarily in cat form — Yumiko Oshima's beloved shojo classic about identity, belonging, and the particular consciousness of cats.
by Alphatart (story) / Sumpul (art)
A review of Remarried Empress — the Korean historical fantasy manhwa about an empress who is betrayed by her emperor husband, loses her position, and must rebuild her life and power in a foreign empire.
by Kazuhiro Fujita
Gekkou Jourei is Kazuhiro Fujita's 29-volume fantasy series — Iwasaki Tsukihiko, a high schooler thrust into a magical conflict where the moonlight has driven fairy-tale characters mad and only certain humans can restore them — a Sunday classic from the author of Ushio to Tora and Karakuri Circus.
by Masatoshi Kawahara
Kaiouki is Kazuko Kawahara's 45-volume Monthly Shonen Magazine fantasy — Fan Gunnar, a young naval tactician in a fantasy world where political dynasties depend on naval supremacy. A long-form epic that treated maritime warfare with strategic seriousness rare in fantasy manga.
by Kisetsu Morita (story), Benio (art)
A review of Killing Slimes for 300 Years, the isekai manga about a woman who chooses to live a completely peaceful life — and accidentally becomes the strongest through 300 years of gentle daily living.
by Ayato Sasakura (art), Yashichiro Takahashi (story)
Yuji Sakai discovers he is already dead — a 'Torch,' a fading remnant kept briefly burning by a Flame Haze named Shana who hunts the supernatural beings consuming human existence. He should disappear. He refuses to.
by YA! (story) / Jisso-i (art)
A review of The Villainess Lives Twice — the Korean historical fantasy manhwa about an empress who is reincarnated back into her own past as the story's villainess and must navigate court politics knowing how everything ends.
by Taku Kuwabara
A review of Drifting Dragons, the fantasy manga about airship-riding dragon hunters who love eating what they catch — think Delicious in Dungeon with an open sky.
by Youhei Yasumura
A review of Youhei Yasumura's The Dungeon of Black Company — 14 volumes in Comic Newtype. Kinji Ninomiya used financial schemes to become wealthy without working; transported to a fantasy world, he is immediately forced into brutal dungeon labor and must scheme his way out. Seven Seas Entertainment's English edition is complete.
by Quantum (story), Hana Amano (art)
A review of I'm Quitting Heroing, the isekai-adjacent manga about a hero so powerful he's unemployable — who joins the Demon Lord's army to find something meaningful to do.
by CLAMP
The continuation of CLAMP's Legal Drug — Kazahaya and Rikuo are back, and the stakes are finally rising.
by CLAMP
Five Japanese folk tales reimagined by CLAMP as quiet tragedies of love, loss, and snow.
by Shigeru Mizuki
Mizuki's gentle yokai story about a country boy who befriends a kappa — and the death god watching them both.
by Kyoko Hikawa
A modern Tokyo girl is pulled into a fantasy world where she's prophesied to be the Awakening — a force of unimaginable destruction.
by Geum Gang Bulsajo (story) / Gumsaeng (art)
A review of Nano Machine — the Korean manhwa about a bullied murim student who receives a nano machine injection from a future descendant and becomes an unstoppable martial arts prodigy.
by Osamu Tezuka
Tezuka's foundational work that gave shojo manga its template — a princess raised as a prince, fighting for her kingdom and her heart.
by Yoshino Origuchi (story), Z-ton (art)
A review of Monster Girl Doctor, the fantasy manga about a human doctor and his lamia assistant who treat monster patients in a world where species coexist.
by Makoto Haruno, Rin Hirai
Mythological creatures in capsules, schoolboys with destinies, and a surprising amount of heart.
by CLAMP
The sequel that asks: what if the magical girls came back, and everything was their fault?
by Osamu Tezuka
A boy raised on land discovers he's the last prince of an ancient sea kingdom — Tezuka's lost-mythology epic.
by Nong Nong (story) / Nong Nong (art)
A review of Second Life Ranker — the Korean fantasy manhwa about a man who receives his murdered twin brother's watch and must conquer the same deadly tower his brother died in.
by Il-hwang (original novel) / Gom-guk (art)
A review of Chronicles of the Heavenly Demon (천마신교 도총관) — the Korean murim manhwa where a framed spear master is killed by the Orthodox Sect and reborn as Trainee Number 900 inside the Heavenly Demon Cult, living a double life for one goal: vengeance.
by Kazuya Minekura
Kazuya Minekura's 1997 reimagining of the Chinese classic Journey to the West — Genjo Sanzo, Son Goku, Sha Gojyo, and Cho Hakkai travel west across a fantasy China-Japan to stop the resurrection of the demon king Gyumao. The original 9-volume series spawned multiple sequel series (RELOAD, RELOAD BLAST, Ibun) and an anime franchise spanning decades. Complete in English from TOKYOPOP.
by Kaoru Kurimoto, Yumiko Igarashi
A princess in love with her female slave — a foundational yuri text from 1986.
by Itaru Bonnoki
A review of The Vampire Dies in No Time, the hilarious comedy manga about a legendary vampire hunter and a vampire who turns to ash from literally anything.
by Hae-Min (story) / Woo-Gak (art)
A review of Legend of the Northern Blade — the Korean murim manhwa about the son of the Northern Heavenly Sect's leader who must revive his father's legacy and face the Silent Night that destroyed everything.
by CLAMP
CLAMP's sexy Alice-in-Wonderland fever dream — a single oversized volume of pure fanservice fantasy.
by Tappei Nagatsuki (story) / various artists (per arc)
Subaru Natsuki is a NEET in Tokyo. He buys snacks at a convenience store and walks out into a fantasy world. He has no special abilities, no useful skills, and no idea where he is. He dies within hours. Then he wakes up at the convenience store. Tappei Nagatsuki's massively popular dark isekai light novel has spawned a long-running manga adaptation across multiple arc-specific series. Yen Press publishes the English manga.
by Atsushi Suzumi (art) / Kimihito Irie (original story)
A review of Sunday Without God, the fantasy manga about a world where God has left, the dead no longer stay dead without Gravekeepers, and a girl who holds this broken world together.
by Gu Seo-han (story) / Hyeong-ji (art)
A review of Return of the Mount Hua Sect — the Korean murim manhwa about the reincarnation of the greatest Mount Hua Sect swordsman who returns to a sect in decline and must restore its former glory.
by Osamu Tezuka
Tezuka's 1950s Journey to the West — a slapstick, Cold-War-flavored Monkey King story about a stone monkey who only ever wanted to become human.
by D-Dart (story) / Waruda (art)
A review of Kill the Hero — the Korean manhwa about a hunter who is betrayed and killed by the hero he trusted, goes back in time, and dedicates his second life to destroying that hero.
by Various artists (supervised by Kore Yamazaki)
A review of The Ancient Magus' Bride: Side Stories — anthology volumes by multiple artists expanding the world of Elias Ainsworth and Chise Hatori, with particular focus on characters who exist at the margins of the main series.
by Lily Hoshino
Yu's review of Otome Youkai Zakuro — in Meiji-era Japan, the Ministry of Spirit Affairs pairs human military officers with half-youkai girls to handle supernatural cases; Agemaki Kei, who is afraid of youkai, is paired with the sharp-tongued Zakuro; their partnership generates the series' central romance.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of xxxHOLiC — a high school student cursed with the ability to see spirits finds a mysterious shop run by the dimension witch Yūko, who agrees to remove his power in exchange for becoming her shop worker.
by Mizuho Kusanagi
Yu's review of Yona of the Dawn — a sheltered princess witnesses her father's murder, flees the palace with her bodyguard, and begins the journey to reclaim her kingdom and herself.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of X/1999 — Kamui Shirô returns to Tokyo after years away, destined to decide the fate of the Earth; two groups of seven — the Dragons of Heaven who would save humanity and the Dragons of Earth who would let the planet destroy it — await his choice; the series is an apocalyptic tragedy where the question is not whether loss will happen but who will carry it.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of xxxHOLiC: Rei — the sequel to xxxHOLiC, where Watanuki continues to run the wish shop but something is wrong with his memories of what happened; CLAMP's return to the xxxHOLiC universe, exploring the aftermath of the original series and the nature of wishes that change everything.
by Rui Tsukiyo / Hamao
Yu's review of The World's Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated — the world's greatest assassin is betrayed and killed by his organization; given a second chance by a goddess, he reincarnates as Lugh Tuatha Dé, a young nobleman in a fantasy world; he is assigned to assassinate the Hero who will destroy the world; he applies his assassin skills to this new life.
by Kurokata / Kugayama Reki
Yu's review of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic — Usato is accidentally summoned to another world along with two heroes; the kingdom's healer Rose assigns herself to train him personally, using methods that include physical conditioning so extreme it would hospitalize a normal person.
by Kenta Shinohara
Yu's review of Witch Watch — Nico is a witch who sees disaster visions; Morihito is her childhood friend and an ogre who has sworn to protect her; they live together in modern Japan, where Nico's disaster visions lead to increasingly absurd comedic situations.
by Isuna Hasekura / Jyuu Ayakura / Keito Koume
Yu's review of Wolf & Parchment — Col is a young man who wants to spread a new interpretation of scripture across the world; he is accompanied by Myuri, the daughter of Holo and Lawrence from Spice & Wolf, a wolf deity who has inherited her mother's spirit and her father's love of adventure.
by Ryu Mizunagi
Yu's review of Witch Craft Works — Honoka Takamiya is an ordinary high school student who accidentally discovers that Ayaka Kagari, the school's most beautiful and admired girl, is a powerful witch who has been his secret bodyguard; the revelation upends his understanding of his entire life.
by Kamome Shirahama
Yu's review of Witch Hat Atelier — a girl born without magic witnesses the forbidden secret of how magic actually works, and must now become a witch to undo what she accidentally caused.
by Fujino Omori / Toshi Aoi
Yu's review of Wistoria: Wand and Sword — Will Serfort enrolled in a magical academy despite being unable to use magic; he compensates with sword training at inhuman intensity; he carries a vow to become a Magia Vander and reach the top of the magical world by sheer physical effort where everyone else uses spells.
by Kousuke Satake
Yu's review of The Witch and the Beast — Guideau is a woman cursed into the body of a beast; she travels with Phanora, a man who carries a coffin, hunting the witch responsible; witches in this world are immensely powerful and largely above human law; the series follows their encounters with witches and the magic system that makes each encounter unique.
by Tsuyoshi Yoshioka (Story) / Seigo Kinoshita (Art)
Yu's review of Wise Man's Grandchild — an ordinary man is reincarnated in a fantasy world and raised by Merlin Walford, the legendary sage who saved the kingdom; he grows up with extraordinary magical power but completely lacking common sense about the normal world; the combination creates a hero who is absurdly powerful but genuinely humble about it.
by Jougi Shiraishi (original), Itsuki Nanao (art)
Yu's review of Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina — a young witch named Elaina travels from country to country, collecting experiences as a traveler, witnessing the beautiful and the terrible in equal measure.
by Makishima Suzuki / Yappen
Yu's review of Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf — Kazuhiro Honda has been visiting another world in his dreams for years; the elf Marie he befriended there is transported to modern-day Japan; he must help her navigate contemporary Japanese life while concealing her pointed ears and inherent magical nature from everyone around them.
by Sarasa Nagase / Anko Yuzu
Yu's review of I'm the Villainess, So I'm Taming the Final Boss — Aileen reincarnates as the villainess of an otome game; instead of trying to avoid the bad ending passively, she decides the best strategy is to capture the demon lord Claude — the game's final boss — and make him her ally.
by Katsu Aki
Yu's review of The Vision of Escaflowne — Hitomi Kanzaki is transported to the world of Gaea, where she becomes connected to a prophecy involving Van Fanel and his giant armor Escaflowne; the manga adaptation of the 1996 anime differs significantly from the source, emphasizing the romance more heavily while keeping the fantasy-mecha elements.
by Kouta Amana / Minoji Kurata
Yu's review of Vermeil in Gold — Alto Goldfilled is a student at a magic academy who cannot summon a familiar; in desperation he attempts an ancient summoning circle and produces Vermeil, a legendary demon who should be impossible to summon; Vermeil agrees to form a contract, and recovers her power through kissing Alto.
by Tanabata Satori / nocomi
Yu's review of Villainess Level 99 — Eumiella Dolkness reincarnated into an otome game as the villainess destined for a bad end; to avoid this fate, she spent her childhood grinding levels in secret until she reached the maximum level 99; the problem is that the game world treats anyone at level 99 as a Demon Lord candidate, and everyone is now afraid of her.
by Matsuri Hino
Yu's review of Vampire Knight — Cross Academy has a Day Class of humans and a Night Class of vampires; Yuki Cross, who guards the secret, was rescued from a vampire attack as a child by Kaname Kuran, a pureblood who she has idolized since.
by Jun Mochizuki
Yu's review of The Case Study of Vanitas — in a 19th-century steampunk Paris, Vanitas is a human who inherited a cursed grimoire from a vampire who hated his own kind; Noé is a vampire sent to find the grimoire; together they work to cure vampires afflicted with a curse that turns them feral; by the creator of Pandora Hearts.
by Harikamo
Yu's review of Urara Meirochou — Chiya has grown up in the mountains with animals and now enters Meirochou, the City of Fortune Tellers, to become an urara and find her missing mother; Harikamo's cute fantasy manga about divination and the girls who practice it.
by Judal
Yu's review of Vampire Game — Duzell, the Vampire King, was killed a century ago by the Holy King Phelios; reincarnated as a small cat, he finds Princess Ishtar, descendant of Phelios, and bonds with her intending to eventually use her to reincarnate fully and achieve revenge; Ishtar, who is oblivious and strong-willed, adopts him as a pet.
by Hotondoshindeiru
Yu's review of Uncle from Another World — Takafumi's uncle Yosuke wakes from a 17-year coma having been an isekai hero in another world; Takafumi discovers his uncle has magical powers but also deeply embarrassing stories about how he was treated in the other world.
by Yu Wolf (story) / Haiji Nakasone (art)
A review of Yu Wolf and Haiji Nakasone's The Unwanted Undead Adventurer — ongoing in Manga UP!. Rentt Faina spent ten years as a Bronze-rank adventurer without advancement; killed by a dragon in a dungeon, he awakens as a skeleton and sets out to evolve his undead form while hiding his nature. J-Novel Club's English edition is ongoing.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle — a young excavator must travel across parallel dimensions to recover the scattered feathers containing the memories of Princess Sakura, paying an impossible price to do so.
by Kei Azumi / Kotora Kino
Yu's review of Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy — Makoto Misumi is transported to another world, but the goddess who was supposed to guide him finds him unattractive and banishes him to the wasteland at the world's edge; he then proceeds to build his own civilization there, befriending monsters and demi-humans while becoming absurdly powerful in ways even the gods didn't expect.
by Yomu Mishima / Jun Shiosato
Yu's review of Trapped in a Dating Sim — Leon Fou Bartfort is reincarnated into the world of an otome game he was forced to complete before his death; in this world women have all the power and men are essentially accessories; he has knowledge of all the game's events and routes, and uses this to avoid the terrible fate awaiting male mob characters in this genre.
by Kenji Saito (Story) / Akinari Nao (Art)
Yu's review of Trinity Seven — Arata Kasuga's town is destroyed by a Breakdown Phenomenon, his cousin Hijiri disappears, and he ends up at Royal Biblia Academy, a school that trains mages in the seven sins-based magic system; he meets the seven most powerful female mages at the academy and his inherited Archive magic, which works differently from conventional magic, makes him both their problem and their potential key.
by AidaIro
Yu's review of Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun — Nene Yashiro summons Hanako-kun, the most famous of her school's Seven Wonders, the ghost rumored to grant wishes; when she accidentally becomes bound to him as his helper, she enters a world of supernatural politics, competing spirits, and the mystery of who Hanako actually was.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of Tokyo Babylon — Subaru Sumeragi is the 13th head of Japan's most powerful onmyoji clan, sixteen years old and gentle, who uses his spiritual ability to take on cases involving Tokyo's supernatural problems; his twin sister Hokuto accompanies him, as does Seishirou Sakurazuka, who claims to be his friend.
by Dai Shiina
Yu's review of The World Is Still Beautiful — Nike, the youngest princess of the Rain Dukedom, travels to the Sun Kingdom to fulfill her political marriage contract with Livius, the boy-king who conquered the world, and finds something neither of them expected.
by Yasunori Mitsunaga
Yu's review of Time Stop Hero — Sekai Kamino is summoned to another world and finds a watch that can stop time; rather than using it heroically, he uses it to look at things he shouldn't and avoid danger while pretending to be braver than he is; the comedy comes from his cowardly-but-oddly-effective approach and what the time-stop reveals about the world.
by Yoruhashi
Yu's review of The Kingdoms of Ruin — after technology advanced enough to make magic unnecessary, humanity systematically exterminated all witches; the sole surviving human apprentice of the greatest witch witnesses her death and swears revenge against a civilization that killed the person who gave him everything; a dark fantasy revenge narrative with genuine emotional stakes.
by Rei Toma
Yu's review of The Water Dragon's Bride — Asahi falls into a well as a child and emerges in an ancient world where a water god takes her as his bride offering; the god is powerful and cold, viewing her as a necessary sacrifice; what develops across years of her life in this world is the series' central transformation.
by Shiba Shoko / Fuse
Yu's review of Slime Diaries — a spinoff from That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime following Rimuru and the people of Tempest through daily life; farming festivals, cooking competitions, seasonal celebrations, and the small situations that don't make it into the main series.
by Hiiro Akikaze / Broccoli Lion
Yu's review of The Great Cleric — Luciel reincarnates into a fantasy world and chooses to be a healer despite the class being considered weak and poorly regarded; he trains obsessively, drinks terrible-tasting potions for stat gains, and works to become the greatest cleric in the world through sheer stubbornness.
by Carlo Zen (story) / Chika Tojo (art)
Yu's review of The Saga of Tanya the Evil — a cold-blooded Japanese salaryman is reincarnated as a blonde girl in a magical World War I Europe and becomes the most ruthless and effective military officer in the imperial army.
by Nozomu Mochitsuki / Mukan
Yu's review of Tearmoon Empire — Princess Mia was guillotined by revolutionaries for her selfish, incompetent rule; she wakes up at age twelve with her diary showing her future death and the determination to avoid it; the comedy comes from her self-serving attempts to be 'better' creating a reputation for saintly wisdom she does not actually possess.
by Sakura Kinoshita / Kazuko Higashiyama
Yu's review of Tactics — Kantarou Ichinomiya is a folklore researcher in Taisho-era Japan who can see tengu and other supernatural beings; he has spent years looking for a legendary tengu said to devour gods; when he finds and frees him, the tengu — named Haruka — becomes his partner.
by Maybe
Yu's review of Tales of Wedding Rings — Satou's childhood friend Hime disappears into another world to marry a prince; he follows, discovers she is the Ring Princess who must collect Ring Rulers by marrying them, and ends up as the one she marries, beginning a quest to collect four more Ring Rulers who become his additional wives.
by Reki Kawahara (story) / Tamako Nakamura (art)
Yu's review of Sword Art Online — the original Aincrad arc in manga form. Ten thousand players trapped in a VR game where dying in-game means dying for real. Kirito's journey through a hundred floors to freedom.
by Fujino Omori / Takashi Yagi / Nilitsu
Yu's review of Sword Oratoria — the DanMachi spinoff following Aiz Wallenstein, the Sword Princess whose reputation bell encounters are afraid of; the series follows her and the Loki Familia in the dungeon's deeper floors, covering events that parallel and intersect the main DanMachi series from a different perspective.
by Miri Mikawa (story) / Aki (art)
A review of Miri Mikawa and Aki's Sugar Apple Fairy Tale — 9 volumes in Monthly GFantasy. Anne Halford is training to become a Silver Sugar Master in a world where fairies are bought and sold; she purchases Challe, a proud and resentful one-winged fairy, for protection on the dangerous road to the royal capital. Square Enix Manga's English edition is complete.
by Moyoco Anno
Yu's review of Sugar Sugar Rune — best friends Chocolat and Vanilla are witch girls sent from the Magic World to the human world; they must compete to collect the most human hearts (crystallized emotions) to determine who will become the next queen; but the Magic World's rules and human emotions don't work the way either of them expected.
by Isuna Hasekura (story) / Keito Koume (art)
Yu's review of Spice and Wolf — a traveling merchant forms an unlikely partnership with Holo, an ancient wolf harvest deity, as they journey together through medieval trade routes toward her distant homeland.
by Shinkoshoto / Liver Jam & Popo / Huuka Kazabana
Yu's review of The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest — Mathias, the world's greatest sage, reincarnates into the future deliberately to obtain the crest type suited for close combat magic rather than his original long-range specialization; reborn into a world where magical knowledge has declined, he rapidly surpasses everyone while remembering everything from his previous life.
by Chugong / Dubu (REDICE Studio)
Yu's review of Solo Leveling — Sung Jinwoo is the weakest hunter in a world where gates to dungeons have opened and hunters fight the monsters within; after a near-fatal mission, he receives a mysterious system that allows only him to grow stronger — endlessly, without limit.
by Yako Gureishi
Yu's review of Somali and the Forest Spirit — a golem assigned to maintain a forest finds a human child and raises her, traveling through a world of monsters and beasts where humans are prey, searching for other humans before his own time runs out.
by Kagiji Kumanomata
Yu's review of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle — Princess Syalis has been kidnapped by Demon King Twilight and held in the demon castle while the hero prepares to rescue her; she does not care about rescue; she only wants to get a good night's sleep, and will destroy anything in her way.
by Fuse (story) / Taiki Kawakami (art)
Yu's review of That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime — an isekai manga where the protagonist becomes a slime and builds a monster nation. Lighter and more optimistic than most isekai, with genuine political world-building underneath the fun.
by PEACH-PIT
Yu's review of Shugo Chara! — Amu Hinamori is the 'cool and spicy' girl at school whose real self is shy and ordinary; three guardian characters hatch from eggs that represent who she could become, and she discovers that transformation is more complicated than it looks.
by Ennki Hakari / Keg
Yu's review of Skeleton Knight in Another World — a gamer wakes up in his game as his maxed-out character, except his avatar is a skeleton in full armor; Arc cannot show his face to anyone without revealing he is undead, which complicates his attempts to simply enjoy adventuring in peace.
by Ryusen Hirotsugu / Fuzichoco / Kana Yuki
Yu's review of She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man — Sakimori Kagami was a top-ranked player in an MMORPG who played as the elderly sage Dunbalf; he falls asleep at his computer and wakes up inside the game as a young girl bearing a resemblance to a character he once customized as a test.
by Satoko Kiyuduki
Yu's review of Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro — Kuro travels through a fantasy world carrying a large coffin, accompanied by a bat named Sen; she is searching for the witch who cursed her, which gave her a witch's appearance and is killing her slowly; along the way she meets travelers, looks after two strange twins, and experiences kindness she doesn't expect.
by Nakaba Suzuki
Yu's review of Seven Deadly Sins — a princess secretly seeks the legendary Seven Deadly Sins, a group of powerful and disgraced knights, to save her kingdom from a corrupted Holy Knights order.
by Yuka Tachibana (Story) / Fujiazuki (Art)
Yu's review of The Saint's Magic Power is Omnipotent — Sei is an overworked office worker who is summoned to a fantasy kingdom as a Saint; the kingdom ignores her in favor of the other woman summoned simultaneously; Sei decides she doesn't mind and spends her time making potions and learning herbalism; eventually the kingdom realizes what they overlooked.
by Yu Tomofuji
Yu's review of Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts — Sariphi is a human girl offered as a sacrifice to the Beast King Leonhart, who is expected to devour her; instead of pleading for her life, she asks to spend the remaining time as his companion; Leonhart, bewildered by her response, agrees.
by Hikaru Nakamura
Yu's review of Saint Young Men — Jesus Christ and Gautama Buddha share an apartment in Tokyo's Tachikawa neighborhood while on vacation, trying to experience ordinary human life while accidentally performing miracles.
by kiki / Sunao Minakata
Yu's review of Roll Over and Die — Flum Apricot is the only member of her party without a special ability; her party abandons her to die in a dungeon; she survives through a cursed sword that works by inflicting permanent injuries on her and by using the Reversal ability that turns her weakness into something else entirely.
by Akihisa Ikeda
Yu's review of Rosario + Vampire — Tsukune Aono accidentally enrolls in Yokai Academy, a school for monsters, where he meets Moka Akashiya, a vampire who wears a rosario that suppresses her true power; a monster school harem manga with genuine comedy and escalating supernatural action.
by Natsume Akatsuki (original story) / Masaaki Kiasa (art) / Kakao Lanthanum (character design)
A review of the Combatants Will Be Dispatched! manga, the isekai comedy from KonoSuba creator Natsume Akatsuki about an evil organization's agent who has to do bad deeds to earn Evil Points in a fantasy world.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of RG Veda — a prophecy states that six stars will gather to overthrow the god-king Taishakuten; Yasha-oh, a warrior king, discovers a child named Ashura who may be the catalyst; CLAMP's epic fantasy based on Hindu and Buddhist mythology about a destined tragedy that all six stars are walking toward.
by Aneko Yusagi (story) / Seira Minami (art)
Yu's review of The Rising of the Shield Hero — an isekai where the chosen hero is immediately betrayed, falsely accused, stripped of everything, and must rebuild from nothing. The most bitter isekai premise, with a satisfying arc of recovery.
by Chiho Saito / Be-Papas
Yu's review of Revolutionary Girl Utena — Utena Tenjou, who decided as a child to become a prince rather than a princess, attends Ohtori Academy and becomes drawn into its secret dueling system; the winner of the duels wins possession of Anthy Himemiya, the Rose Bride; a surrealist fairy tale manga about power, freedom, and who gets to be the subject of a story.
by Key / Visual Arts / Yoshiaki Sukeno
Yu's review of the Rewrite manga — Kotarou Tennouji can rewrite his body's capabilities but each use consumes his lifespan; in Kazamatsuri, a city committed to coexisting with nature, he encounters supernatural organizations with opposing views on humanity's future; manga adaptation of Key's most action-focused visual novel.
by Aya Kanno
Yu's review of Requiem of the Rose King — a dark manga adaptation of Shakespeare's Henry VI and Richard III set during the Wars of the Roses, reimagining Richard of Gloucester as intersex; ambitious historical dark fantasy that takes the psychological portrait of one of literature's great villains and asks what made him.
by Bokuto Uno / Ruria Miyuki
Yu's review of Reign of the Seven Spellblades — Oliver Horn enters Kimberly Magic Academy with a secret agenda of revenge; the academy is a dark institution where students die regularly and the curriculum includes learning to survive dangerous magical environments; Oliver navigates this world with hidden purpose.
by Yuu Tanaka / Tomowo Maruyama
Yu's review of Reincarnated as a Sword — a man reincarnates in another world as a sentient magic sword with no body and no name; he is found and wielded by Fran, a young beastgirl who has been enslaved; together they travel and fight, Fran seeking strength to free her people and the sword seeking to understand his new existence.
by Shinya Umemura, Takumi Fukui, Ajichika
Yu's review of Record of Ragnarok — the gods of every pantheon vote to destroy humanity, but a Valkyrie proposes one final tournament: 13 humans vs. 13 gods, with the fate of mankind as the prize.
by Noriko Ogiwara / Akihiro Ito
Yu's review of Red Data Girl — Izumiko Suzuhara has grown up at a mountain shrine; she destroys electronic devices by touch; she's an endangered shrine maiden (yorishiro) for a powerful deity; she enters a school that serves as a hub for supernatural politics; manga adaptation of Noriko Ogiwara's light novel.
by Dojyomaru (Story) / Satoshi Ueda (Art)
Yu's review of A Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom — Kazuya Souma is summoned to a fantasy kingdom on the verge of collapse; rather than leading armies, he uses his knowledge of economics, history, and governance to rebuild the kingdom from within; administrative reform as isekai.
by Hirukuma / Ituwa Kato
Yu's review of Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon — a vending machine enthusiast who dies in a vending machine accident is reborn as an actual vending machine in a dungeon-layered fantasy world; unable to speak except through vending machine phrases, he must survive, help those who find him, and slowly build a new life from the most absurd starting position in isekai fiction.
by Sosuke Toka
Yu's review of Ranking of Kings — Prince Bojji cannot speak, cannot hear, and is considered the weakest person in the kingdom; when he makes an unlikely friend named Kage, a shadow assassin, he begins a journey to become the greatest king in the world despite everything working against him.
by Tappei Nagatsuki (story) / Daichi Matsuse (art)
Yu's review of Re:Zero — an isekai where the protagonist can return from death, but every death costs him psychologically. Not a power fantasy. A story about someone being broken by circumstances and trying to put himself back together.
by Kaori Naruse
Yu's review of Pretear — Himeno Awayuki, a tomboyish teenager, is told she is the New Legend of Snow White — the Pretear, a girl who can merge with one of seven Leafe Knights and borrow their elemental powers to fight the Princess of Disaster; the story is a magical girl romance with a Snow White framework.
by Courtney Love / DJ Milky / Misaho Kujiradou
Yu's review of Princess Ai — Ai, a girl with wings, falls from the fantasy world of Ai-Land to contemporary Tokyo with no memory of who she is; she is taken in by Kentaro and discovers she has an extraordinary singing voice; she enters the Tokyo music industry while fragments of her past world pursue her.
by Coolkyousinnjya
Yu's review of Peach Boy Riverside — Princess Sally Salami leaves her sheltered life to see the world; she encounters Mikoto, a young man with the power to destroy oni, who is driven by hatred; Sally's compassion and Mikoto's hatred are placed in constant tension as they navigate a world where the line between humans and monsters is not clear.
by Moto Hagio
Yu's review of Poe Clan — Edgar is a vampire child, eternally young, moving through European history across several centuries; his vampire existence means watching everyone he cares for age and die while he remains unchanged; Moto Hagio's foundational vampire manga, originally published in 1972.
by Kugane Maruyama (story) / Hugin Miyama (art)
Yu's review of Overlord — an isekai where the protagonist is already maxed-level and essentially a god, and the story is about what happens when an overpowered player becomes the monster everyone else fears. Dark, intelligent, and not what you expect.
by Jun Mochizuki
Yu's review of Pandora Hearts — a nobleman's son is cast into a prison dimension called the Abyss on his fifteenth birthday, returns with a powerful chain partner, and unravels a conspiracy that rewrote the history of his world.
by Iori Miyazawa / Eita Mizuno
Yu's review of Otherside Picnic — Sorawo Kamikoshi encounters the Otherside, a strange dimension accessible through certain locations, and meets Toriko Nishina, who explores it searching for a missing person; together they explore the Otherside, which manifests dangerous versions of Japanese internet urban legends and creepypasta.
by Amekawa Enoki / Otome Waka
Yu's review of Otome Game's Heroine Aims to Be a Villainess — a girl reincarnates as the heroine of an otome game but, having no memory of the game's romantic routes and only the villainess's memorable scenes, she decides to become the villainess instead; the reverse of the usual villainess-isekai premise.
by Yuu Kamiya
Yu's review of No Game No Life — two genius shut-in siblings transported to a world where all conflict is resolved through games. The game mechanics are inventive, the visual style is distinctive, and the content warnings are real.
by Kosuke Fujishima
Yu's review of Oh My Goddess! — Keiichi Morisato misdials a goddess helpline and Belldandy appears in his dorm room; she grants him one wish and he wishes for her to stay with him; she does, and the series follows their life together as other goddesses and demons complicate their quiet romance.
by Yuki Midorikawa
Yu's review of Natsume's Book of Friends — a teenager who can see spirits inherits a book from his deceased grandmother containing the names of spirits she had bound to her, and must return those names while navigating a world of supernatural beings and the human world he never quite fit into.
by Satoru Yamaguchi (story) / Nami Hidaka (art)
Yu's review of My Next Life as a Villainess — after a bump on the head, noble girl Catarina Claes realizes she is the villain of an otome game she played in her past life; in every route, her character gets exiled or killed; she spends the series desperately trying to avoid all bad endings, inadvertently charming everyone around her in the process.
by Sakura Kinoshita
Yu's review of Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok — Loki, Norse god of mischief, has been exiled to the human world in the form of a child; he runs a detective agency in Japan, solving supernatural mysteries with his assistant Yamino; other Norse gods begin appearing with orders to eliminate him.
by Rifujin na Magonote (story) / Shirotaka (art)
Yu's review of Mushoku Tensei — the web novel that started the modern isekai genre, now in manga form. The most influential isekai ever written, with serious content warnings that matter. Rudy's redemption arc is genuinely good; his starting point is genuinely difficult.
by Shinkoshoto / Huuka Kazabana
Yu's review of My Isekai Life — Yuji Sano was transported to another world while working from home and assigned the job class Tamer; by exploiting a game mechanic he leveled multiple slimes rapidly and gained a second hidden class, Sage; he is now the most powerful person in the world and wants to go home to Japan.
by Tenichi / Suzunosuke
Yu's review of The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen — Pride Royal Ivy, a princess and the destined last boss of an otome game, reincarnates with knowledge of her fate and decides to use her position to become good rather than fall into villainy; her efforts to undermine her own bad ending while protecting everyone around her.
by Aoi Kakitsubata
Yu's review of Midnight Occult Civil Servants — Miyako Arata starts his new job in Tokyo's Shinjuku Ward Office and discovers his department handles supernatural beings called Anothers; he's the first person in generations who can understand their speech; Aoi Kakitsubata's fantasy manga about a civil servant navigating between human bureaucracy and supernatural entities.
by SHO Ono / Kayaharuka
Yu's review of The Misfit of Demon King Academy — Anos Voldigoad is the legendary Demon King reincarnated, who attends the academy for demons to find his descendants; the academy, however, has misidentified his history and tells him his power scores are too low to be the real Demon King.
by Isuna Hasekura / Keito Koume
Yu's review of the Spice and Wolf manga — traveling merchant Kraft Lawrence finds Holo the Wise Wolf hidden in his cart; she is a wolf deity who was the harvest god of a village for centuries; she wants to go north to her homeland; Koume's adaptation of Hasekura's beloved light novel about economics, religion, and two people who are good at pretending they don't need each other.
by Rumiko Takahashi
Yu's review of Mao — middle school girl Nanoka Kiba can slip between present-day Tokyo and Taisho-era Japan, where she encounters Mao, an onmyouji cursed with immortality who is searching for the source of his curse; together they investigate supernatural cases while pursuing the connection that links their lives across a century.
by Mitsu Izumi
Yu's review of Magus of the Library — Theo is a boy of mixed race in a world where the Great Library of the Central Archive controls all knowledge; he loves books but is barred from reading in his village's library because of his half-elf heritage; when a Kafna named Sedona arrives, she sees in him a potential that could change his path.
by Ken Akamatsu
Yu's review of Negima! Magister Negi Magi — ten-year-old Welsh wizard Negi Springfield becomes the homeroom teacher of a class of 31 middle school girls in Japan; what begins as harem comedy transforms into a serious fantasy epic about his search for his lost father and the magical world beneath everyday Japan.
by CLAMP
A review of CLAMP's Magic Knight Rayearth — six volumes (Part 1 + Part 2) running in Nakayoshi 1993–1996, a magical-girl manga where the rescue mission is the trap and the real story is what happens after. Complete in English from Dark Horse.
by Piero Karasu / Yuri Kisaragi
Yu's review of The Magical Revolution — Anisphia, a princess reincarnated from another world who cannot use conventional magic, invents 'magicology' using her previous world's knowledge; she rescues Euphyllia, a noble genius publicly disgraced, and the two women work together — and fall in love.
by Isao Miura (original) / Kōtarō Yamada (manga)
A review of The Sacred Blacksmith — Kōtarō Yamada's 10-volume manga adaptation of Isao Miura's light novels, running 2009–2017 in Comic Alive. Seven Seas published the complete English edition between 2013 and 2017.
by Magica Quartet / Hanokage
Yu's review of Puella Magi Madoka Magica — Madoka Kaname is invited to become a magical girl by a small creature named Kyubey; she hesitates, and across three volumes discovers why hesitating was the only reasonable thing to do.
by Shinobu Ohtaka
A review of Shinobu Ohtaka's Magi — the 37-volume Weekly Shōnen Sunday adventure (2009–2017) that starts as an Arabian Nights riff and ends as one of the most politically serious long-form shōnen of its decade. Complete in English from VIZ.
by Satoshi Mizukami
Yu's review of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer — Yuuhi Amamiya, a university student who doesn't care about much of anything, is told by a lizard that he is a 'Beast Knight' destined to save the world; he's more interested in the plan of Princess Samidare to save the world herself — so she can destroy it after.
by Akihito Tsukushi
Yu's review of Made in Abyss — a manga that looks like a children's adventure story and contains some of the most disturbing content in modern manga. A girl descends into a bottomless pit to find her mother. The pit does not want her to return.
by Yoh Yoshinari / Keisuke Sato
Yu's review of Little Witch Academia — Atsuko Kagari dreamed of being a witch after seeing a performance by the legendary Shiny Chariot; without any magical lineage or natural talent, she enrolls at Luna Nova Magical Academy through pure will; her determination to become what she dreams of is the series' complete premise.
by Mamare Touno (story) / Kazuhiro Hara (art)
Yu's review of Log Horizon — when 30,000 Japanese players of the MMO Elder Tale are suddenly transported inside the game world, Shiroe — a legendary strategy player with no love for other people — must figure out what the new world's rules are and help build a functional society while uncovering why the Catastrophe happened.
by Toshio Satou / Hajime Fusemachi
Yu's review of Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies — Lloyd Belladonna comes from a village near the deepest dungeon in the world; compared to his neighbors he is the weakest person in the village; compared to everyone in the starter city he is incomprehensibly powerful; he has no idea.
by Supana Onikage / Youta
Yu's review of Lazy Dungeon Master — Keima Masuda values sleep above all things; he is accidentally reincarnated in a fantasy world and bonded to a dungeon core who needs him to manage their dungeon; he agrees to help only because it will allow him to sleep more, and approaches all dungeon management problems with the specific ingenuity of someone trying to minimize effort.
by Kasukabe Kumanano / Sergei Gogolev
Yu's review of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear — Yuna is a wealthy shut-in who plays VRMMOs; when her favorite game gets updated, she receives a ridiculously overpowered bear suit as a gift item; she chooses to keep wearing it even after being transported to another world, bear hands and all.
by Natsume Akatsuki / Kasumi Morino
Yu's review of KonoSuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! — Megumin's story before she joined Kazuma's party, following her time at magic school and her complete devotion to learning explosion magic at the expense of all other magic; Kasumi Morino's spinoff focusing on the most popular KonoSuba character.
by Natsume Akatsuki (story) / Masahito Watari (art)
Yu's review of KonoSuba — the isekai parody where every party member is disastrously incompetent at something crucial. A useless goddess, an explosion-obsessed mage, a masochistic crusader, and a pathetic protagonist who somehow keeps surviving. The funniest isekai ever made.
by Hisago Amazake-no & Kurogin
Yu's review of Knights & Magic — a Japanese engineer and mecha otaku dies and is reincarnated into a fantasy world where giant robots called Silhouette Knights exist; his engineering knowledge and intense passion for mecha design drive him to redesign these machines from first principles.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of Kobato. — Kobato Hanato has arrived in the human world with a mission: fill a bottle with the pain she heals from people's wounded hearts; the bottle will grant a wish she cannot yet remember; CLAMP's manga about an innocent girl who helps people while slowly uncovering who she is and what she wants.
by Koge-Donbo
Yu's review of Kamichama Karin Chu — the sequel to Kamichama Karin; Karin and Kazune's story continues with a mysterious boy from the future who claims to be their son, new divine power developments, and escalating conflict with forces who want to control what gods can do.
by Eri Takenashi
Yu's review of Kannagi — Mikuriya Jin carves a wooden figure from a sacred tree and it comes to life as Nagi, the local land god in the form of a shrine maiden; Nagi has lost much of her power and must rely on Jin while fighting 'impurity' creatures that have appeared in the area.
by Spica Aoki
Yu's review of Kaiju Girl Caramelise — Kuroe Akaishi has always been alone because strong emotions cause her to transform into a giant kaiju; when a popular boy notices her, the transformations start happening at school; a comedy-romance about a girl whose heart is literally too big to contain.
by Waco Ioka / Midori Inoue
Yu's review of Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits — Aoi Tsubaki, who can see spirits, discovers her late grandfather left a debt to Ōdanna, master of a spirit inn in the hidden realm; Ōdanna intends for Aoi to marry him to settle the debt; Aoi refuses and instead offers to work off the debt by cooking at the inn.
by Gege Akutami
Yu's review of Jujutsu Kaisen — 27 volumes about cursed energy, sorcerers, and a boy sentenced to death who keeps finding reasons to keep going. Brutal, beautiful, and one of the most emotionally devastating manga of its generation.
by Sakurako Gokurakuin
Yu's review of Juvenile Orion (Aquarian Age: Juvenile Orion) — Mana Kisaragi's childhood friend Naoya returns after years apart and has changed; he and the group of boys around him are revealed to be Eraser warriors — supernatural fighters in an ancient conflict — and Mana is at the center of why the conflict is intensifying.
by FUNA / Yuusuke Shiba
Yu's review of I've Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years — Azusa Aizawa died from overwork and reincarnated in a fantasy world; she decided to live a slow, peaceful life killing only low-level slimes each day; after 300 years of this she hit the maximum level and is now accidentally the strongest person in the world.
by Nekokurage / Usato
Yu's review of Isekai Pharmacy — Kanji Yakutani was a pharmaceutical researcher who died from overwork; reincarnated as Falma de Medicis, the son of a pharmacist noble in a medieval fantasy world, he brings modern pharmaceutical knowledge to a world with no germ theory; he works to cure diseases that medieval medicine cannot.
by Minami Nagayama
Yu's review of Isekai Quartet — characters from KonoSuba, Re:Zero, Overlord, and The Saga of Tanya the Evil are all sent to a school by a mysterious button; Minami Nagayama's chibi crossover comedy about what happens when four very different isekai franchises occupy the same classroom.
by Osamu Nishi
Yu's review of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun — Iruma Suzuki is sold to a demon by his neglectful parents and becomes the grandson of the great demon Sullivan; enrolled in a demon school where humans are supposedly food, Iruma must hide his human nature while navigating the competitive and colorful demon school environment.
by Cocoa Fujiwara
Yu's review of Inu x Boku SS — Ririchiyo Shirakiin, a half-youkai girl whose sharp tongue makes connection impossible, moves into Maison de Ayakashi, an apartment for those with supernatural heritage; her Secret Service agent Soushi Miketsukami is assigned to protect her and is impossibly devoted — and his devotion is not a performance.
by Tsutomu Sato (story) / Fumino Hayashi (art)
Yu's review of The Irregular at Magic High School — at a magic high school that segregates students by exam results, a 'Weed' student turns out to be one of the most powerful magicians in the world, concealing his ability for his own reasons.
by Ceez / Dashio Tsukimi
Yu's review of In the Land of Leadale — Cayna, bedridden in reality due to illness and connected to a VR game as her only escape, wakes up inside Leadale 200 years after the game's timeline; her game-created children have grown into full people, and she must navigate a world that has changed around her in-game self.
by Sakon Kaidou / TWIN ENGINE
Yu's review of Infinite Dendrogram — Reiji Mukudori enters a VRMMO where NPCs have genuine personalities and lives, in-game death matters to people beyond the player, and his partner Nemesis is an Embryo — a living weapon that grows alongside him and has her own agenda.
by Patora Fuyuhara / Soto
Yu's review of In Another World with My Smartphone — God accidentally kills Touya Mochizuki with a lightning bolt; as compensation He reincarnates him in a fantasy world with all his memories and his smartphone, which now works in the new world; Touya is very powerful and everyone loves him.
by Kyo Shirodaira / Chasiba Katase
Yu's review of In/Spectre — Kotoko Iwanaga gave an eye and a leg to the youkai of her village when she was a child; in exchange, she became their Goddess of Wisdom, mediating disputes and solving the problems of the spirit world; she enlists the help of Kurou Sakuragawa, a man with a strange relationship to death, and together they maintain peace between humans and spirits.
by Okina Baba / Asahiro Kakashi
Yu's review of So I'm a Spider, So What? — the unnamed protagonist reincarnates as the weakest possible monster in a dangerous dungeon; she survives through strategy, obsessive skill development, and a determination to stay alive through whatever the dungeon throws at her.
by Inori / Aono Sumino
Yu's review of I'm in Love with the Villainess — Rei Taylor, an office worker who played an otome game obsessively, reincarnates as the game's protagonist Rae Taylor; rather than pursuing the game's capture targets (the princes), she has always wanted the villainess Claire François — and Claire François is the first person she meets.
by Yosuke Kokuzou / Dinkypink
Yu's review of I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince — a magic researcher who died regretting he couldn't study more magic is reborn as the seventh prince of a kingdom; with royal resources and a child's unlimited time ahead of him, he dedicates his new life to the pursuit of perfect magical knowledge, incidentally becoming the most powerful person in the world along the way.
by Nana Mikoshiba / Norihito Sasaki
Yu's review of The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World — Ray White is the legendary Iceblade Sorcerer, one of seven great mages; he enrolls at the Royal Magic Academy as an ordinary student, hiding his identity; the academy is divided between noble students who look down on commoners; Nana Mikoshiba's magic school manga about the overpowered commoner who reveals himself gradually.
by Yukiya Murasaki (Story) / Naoto Fukuda (Art)
Yu's review of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord — Takuma Sakamoto was a socially isolated gamer who played the MMORPG Cross Reverie as the unbeatable Demon Lord Diablo; summoned into the game world in Diablo's form and bound to two summoners via an enslavement spell, he must navigate his character's overwhelming power while dealing with social situations his real-world self never managed.
by FUNA / Sukima
Yu's review of I Shall Survive Using Potions — Kaoru Nagase was killed in an accident involving a god's transportation error; as compensation she was offered a wish; she asked for a container that could produce any potion she imagined; she uses this to navigate a fantasy world with pragmatic resourcefulness and considerable wit.
by Ichiei Ishibumi (Story) / Miyama-Zero (Art)
Yu's review of High School DxD manga — Issei Hyodo is killed on his first date by a fallen angel; he is revived by Rias Gremory, a high-ranking devil, as her servant; he joins the occult research club (actually a devil peerage) at Kuoh Academy and develops the Sacred Gear Boosted Gear, which doubles power every ten seconds, while the war between angels, fallen angels, and devils heats up around him.
by Riku Misora (Story) / Kotaro Yamada (Art)
Yu's review of High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World — seven high school students who are each world-class prodigies in their respective fields (politics, medicine, finance, etc.) crash-land in a fantasy world; each applies their real-world expertise to revolutionary effect in a medieval setting.
by Yoshiki Tanaka / Hiromu Arakawa
Yu's review of The Heroic Legend of Arslan — Prince Arslan of Pars watches his kingdom fall to an invading force; his father is betrayed by a trusted general; Arslan must gather allies and rebuild an army to retake his throne, while learning what kind of king he wants to be.
by Meguru Seto / Takuma Hagiwara
Yu's review of The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter — Noir discovers a hidden dungeon accessible only to him; inside he finds a Great Sage who grants him the ability to create, edit, and bestow skills; but using these powers costs him Life Points, which can only be restored by experiencing pleasure.
by Kumo Kagyu / Shingo Adachi / Lack
Yu's review of Goblin Slayer: Year One — the prequel to Goblin Slayer, following the protagonist's early days as an adventurer before he became Porcelain-ranked and before he had the equipment and experience of the main series; the series shows how the Goblin Slayer built his obsessive methodology.
by Kumo Kagyu (story) / Noboru Kannatuki (art)
Yu's review of Goblin Slayer — a manga about a warrior who kills only goblins, obsessively, methodically, because of what goblins did to him. The opening chapter is one of the most graphic in manga. What follows is a dark fantasy about trauma and obsession.
by Yuu Watase
Yu's review of Fushigi Yugi — a middle school girl is pulled into a historical Chinese fantasy book and becomes the Priestess of Suzaku, destined to gather seven celestial warriors and summon a god.
by Tochi Aoi / Falmaro
Yu's review of The Genius Prince's Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt — Prince Wein Salema Arbalest has one goal: abdicate and live in peace; instead he keeps accidentally winning wars and stabilizing his kingdom's economy through incompetence disguised as genius; Tochi Aoi and Falmaro's fantasy comedy about a prince who tries to fail and keeps succeeding.
by Kanehito Yamada (story) / Tsukasa Abe (art)
Yu's review of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End — an elf mage who helped defeat the Demon King but barely knew her companions because she outlives everyone. A manga about what it means to look back and finally understand what you had.
by Yuu Watase
Yu's review of Fushigi Yugi: Genbu Kaiden — Takiko Okuda is pulled into The Universe of the Four Gods, the same book that later claimed Miaka in the original series; she becomes the Priestess of Genbu, must gather seven Celestial Warriors, and fulfill her wish — knowing from the book's frame story that this story ends in tragedy.
by Thud (story) / Jungmas (art)
A review of The Youngest Princess — the Korean historical fantasy manhwa about a woman reincarnated as a baby princess who is adored by her entire imperial family and must navigate being too powerful too early.
by Hazuki Minase / Itsuki Kameya
Yu's review of Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger — Shogo Sasaki, a Square Enix employee who dreamed of working on Final Fantasy and has been assigned to an unrelated project, dies in an accident and wakes in a world that operates on Final Fantasy rules; his mission becomes finding the Raise spell to revive the dead.
by Nakaba Suzuki
Yu's review of Four Knights of the Apocalypse — Percival has grown up on a mountain kept from the outside world by his grandfather; a stranger with power kills his grandfather and sets him on a journey; a prophecy identifies him as one of the Four Knights of the Apocalypse whose arrival will destroy Camelot — or perhaps save it.
by Kinosuke Naito / Yasuyuki Tsurugi
Yu's review of Farming Life in Another World — Hiraku Machio spent most of his life ill and died young; granted a second life by God with restored health and a magic farming tool that can do anything, he starts a farm in an uninhabited forest; the farm grows, the community grows, and his life becomes everything illness prevented.
by Nishiwaki Dat (Art) / Type-MOON (Original Story)
Yu's review of Fate/Stay Night manga — Shirou Emiya is a teenager who accidentally enters the Holy Grail War, a secret battle between seven mages who summon Heroic Spirits — legendary figures from history and mythology — as Servants; his Servant is Saber, one of the most powerful; the manga follows the Fate route of the original visual novel.
by Ryu Fujisaki
Based on the Chinese classic 'Investiture of the Gods,' Soul Hunter follows Taikoubou — a lazy, brilliant immortal sent to overthrow a corrupt dynasty — and the impossible task he's been given by the heavens themselves.
by Noboru Yamaguchi / Nana Mochizuki
Yu's review of The Familiar of Zero — Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière is called 'Louise the Zero' for her inability to cast spells correctly; in the summoning ceremony where every student calls their familiar, she summons a Japanese high school boy named Saito.
by Kanata Yanagino / Mutsumi Okubashi
Yu's review of Faraway Paladin — Will was raised in a ruined city by three undead: a skeletal warrior, a mummified sorcerer, and a ghost priestess; having learned everything from them, he must eventually leave to find his own purpose in a world that doesn't know he exists.
by Kaoru Shinozaki / Keyaki Uchiuchi
Yu's review of Failure Frame — Touka Mimori is summoned to another world along with his class; while classmates receive powerful gifts, Touka receives only 'Failure,' an ability the goddess deems worthless; she discards him in a dungeon; using his unique interpretation of his ability, he survives and begins building toward revenge against the goddess herself.
by Kaori Yuki
Yu's review of Fairy Cube — Ian Hasumi can see fairies; his shadow Tokage also sees them and has his own agenda; when Tokage takes possession of Ian's body, Ian must navigate the fairy world as a spirit while Tokage inhabits his life — including his relationship with Rin, who loves Ian but cannot tell the difference.
by Mizue Tani / Ayuko
Yu's review of The Earl and the Fairy — Lydia Carlton is a fairy doctor in Victorian England, one of the few people who can see and interact with fairies; Edgar Ashenbert claims to be the legendary Blue Knight Earl and needs her ability to obtain his birthright; their journey through fairy politics creates a romance across Victorian and fairy world settings.
by Hiro Mashima
Yu's review of Edens Zero — a boy who grew up on a planet of machines sets out into space with newfound human friends aboard a legendary warship to find the goddess Mother and discover what friendship means.
by CLAMP
A review of Tsubasa: RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE — CLAMP's dimension-hopping crossover fantasy about two boys traveling through parallel worlds to recover a princess's scattered memories.
by Kennoji / Esla
Yu's review of Drugstore in Another World — Reiji Kirio is reincarnated into a fantasy world with the ability to create potions and medicines; he opens a pharmacy in a small town and builds a slow life making medicines for the community; Esla's manga adaptation of Kennoji's slow-life pharmacist light novel.
by Ryoko Kui
Yu's review of Dungeon Meshi — 14 volumes about a party of adventurers who have to eat the monsters they defeat to survive. A cooking manga, a fantasy manga, and one of the most emotionally satisfying completed series of the decade.
by Riku Sanjo, Koji Inada
Yu's review of Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai — a boy raised on a monster island who always dreamed of being a hero discovers he may be the descendant of a legendary warrior, and sets out to defeat the demon lord threatening the world.
by Kawo Tanuki / Choco Aya
Yu's review of Dragon Goes House-Hunting — Letty is a dragon who failed to guard a hero's egg; his father throws him out of the family nest; he must find a new place to live, but every cave, ruin, and lair in the fantasy world has problems ranging from adventurer invasions to incompatible neighbors; he hires Dearia, a dark elf architect, to help.
by coolkyousinnjya
Yu's review of Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid: Kanna's Daily Life — Kanna, the small dragon child who lives with Kobayashi and Tohru, goes to elementary school; this spinoff follows her daily life, her human friend Saikawa, and her gradual understanding of human childhood; coolkyousinnjya's all-ages spinoff of the original Dragon Maid.
by FUNA / Itsuki Akata
Yu's review of Didn't I Say to Make My Abilities Average? — Misato Kurihara died and was reincarnated as Adele von Ascham after being granted one wish; she asked for average abilities so she could live a normal, unremarkable life; she received abilities averaged between the weakest creature alive and the most powerful — making her incomprehensibly strong; she tries to hide this and live quietly.
by Dachima Inaka / Iida Pochi
Yu's review of Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks? — Masato Oosuki is transported into a government MMORPG test with his mother Mamako; Mamako is the most powerful person in the game and is also embarrassingly devoted to her son; the comedy of a teenage boy trying to become a hero while his overpowered mother solves everything first.
by Makoto Niwano / Emily Rodda
Yu's review of Deltora Quest — Makoto Niwano's manga adaptation of Emily Rodda's Australian fantasy novels. Lief, Barda, and the wild forest girl Jasmine cross the corrupted land of Deltora to reclaim the seven stolen gems of the Belt of Deltora from the guardians who hoard them, before the Shadow Lord's grip becomes permanent. A shonen battle-manga reading of a children's quest classic, complete in 10 volumes.
by Satoshi Wagahara (story) / Akio Hiragi (art)
Yu's review of The Devil Is a Part-Timer! — Demon Lord Satan is defeated by the hero Emilia and flees through a dimensional portal to modern-day Tokyo; with almost no magical power remaining, he takes a part-time job at a fast food restaurant called MgRonald's; the comedy is him being genuinely good at this while hiding what he is.
by Hiro Ainana (Story) / Ayamegumi (Art)
Yu's review of the Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody manga by Ayamegumi — Suzuki, a burned-out game programmer, naps mid-crunch and wakes as a teenager named Satou in a fantasy world resembling the RPG he was building. One panicked use of his test-only Meteor Rain spell wipes out an army of lizardmen (and a god), jumping him to level 310. From there he stops fighting and starts sightseeing, collecting a found family of rescued kids along the way.
by Minari Endoh
Yu's review of Dazzle (Hatenkou Yuugi / 破天荒遊戯) by Minari Endoh — Rahzel is thrown out of the house by her foster father to 'go see the world,' attaches herself to the albino gunman Alzeid on his revenge quest, and picks up the womanizing Baroqueheat along the way. It looks like a loud comedy road trip, but underneath it's about clones, an immortal scientist, and a girl who already killed her own mother.
by Ryohgo Narita / Shinta Fujimoto
Yu's review of Dead Mount Death Play — Ryohgo Narita and Shinta Fujimoto's reverse-isekai thriller. The Corpse God, a feared necromancer, is slain by the hero Shagrua and reincarnates into modern Shinjuku in the body of a murdered teenager, Polka Shinoyama. Wanting only a peaceful life, he is pulled into Tokyo's criminal underworld.
by Riku Misora (original) / Megumu Soramichi (art) / Won (character design)
Yu's review of Chivalry of a Failed Knight — Ikki Kurogane is an F-rank Blazer called the Worst One, but his swordsmanship is real. When he beats A-rank princess Stella Vermillion in a duel where the loser obeys the winner for life, the two become roommates and the series finds its heart.
by Fujino Omori (story) / Kunieda (art)
Yu's review of the DanMachi manga — a rookie adventurer in the dungeon city of Orario chases the swordswoman who once saved him, and grows strong not because he was chosen but because he wants something too badly to stay weak.
by Daisuke Igarashi
Yu's review of Children of the Sea (Kaijuu no Kodomo) by Daisuke Igarashi — Ruka, a lonely middle-schooler benched from her handball team, meets two boys, Umi and Sora, raised in the ocean by dugongs; fish vanish worldwide; a meteorite, a 'festival,' and a rebirth the story refuses to fully explain. VIZ Signature's most visually astonishing literary fantasy in 5 complete volumes.
by Miya Kinojo (story), Akine Itomachi (art), Katagiri (character design)
Yu's review of Chillin' in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers — the manga where a failed merchant named Banaza is summoned as a hero candidate, banished for low stats, then hits Level 2 and gets infinite everything. Instead of conquering the world, he disguises himself as Flio and tries to open a shop. Akine Itomachi adapts Miya Kinojo's light novel into the rare overpowered-isekai that actually means the 'chillin'' in its title.
by Tatsuki Fujimoto
Yu's review of Chainsaw Man — Tatsuki Fujimoto's brutal, tender story about a boy who just wants toast with jam, a warm bed, and someone who likes him. The universe makes this as hard as possible. Part 1 is one of the best things I've ever read.
by Miku (story), Kazuomi Minatogawa (art), Rein Kuwashima (character design)
Yu's review of I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World — Yuuya Tenjou, a bullied boy abandoned by his family, smashes a mirror in his late grandfather's house and finds a hidden door to another world that levels him up in both realities.
by Yuji Iwahara
Yu's review of Cat Paradise (Gakuen Sosei Nekoten!) by Yuji Iwahara — Yumi Hayakawa picks Matabi Academy because she can bring her cat Kansuke, only to learn the school's cat-and-owner pairs guard a thousand-year-old seal on the demon cat Kaen.
by Light Tuchihi (story) / Koyuki (art) / Saori Toyota (original character design)
Yu's review of The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious — the goddess Ristarte summons the absurdly powerful hero Seiya Ryuuguuin to save the doomed world of Gaeabrande, but he refuses to fight anything without maxing his stats, buying every item, and training for days first. The comedy is Ristarte's exasperation; the gut-punch is why Seiya is the way he is.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card — twenty years after the original, CLAMP returns Sakura Kinomoto to middle school, blanks all her cards overnight, and builds a quiet, devastating mystery around transfer student Akiho, her guardian Kaito, and a secret Syaoran can't tell her. Completed in 16 volumes, published in English by Kodansha Comics.
by CLAMP
Yu's review of Cardcaptor Sakura — a ten-year-old girl accidentally releases the Clow Cards, has to capture them all, transforms them into her own, and along the way the manga quietly becomes one of CLAMP's warmest, most generous stories about love.
by Ren Eguchi (story), Akagishi K (art), Miya (character design)
Yu's review of Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill — Tsuyoshi Mukouda, an ordinary salaryman, is summoned to a fantasy kingdom alongside three real heroes but only gets an Online Supermarket skill that lets him buy modern Japanese groceries; he leaves the castle and his cooking attracts the legendary Fenrir Fel, the slime Sui, and a string of dessert-addicted goddesses. Akagishi K's manga adaptation.
by Jirō Oimoto (art), Yuumikan (original story), KOIN (character design)
Yu's review of the Bofuri manga — Maple is a brand-new gamer who dumps every stat point into defense because she's scared of pain, then accidentally eats a boss dragon, becomes a flying mech, and turns into a four-armed monster, all while staying the happiest person in the game.
by Roy (story) / Ranran (art) / Ririnra (character design)
Yu's review of By the Grace of the Gods (Kami-tachi ni Hirowareta Otoko) — the manga by Ranran adapting Roy's light novel. A worn-out salaryman dies and is reincarnated by three apologetic gods as an 8-year-old boy. He spends years in a forest taming and breeding slimes, then moves to the city of Gimul and opens a cleaning business. It's isekai as recovery, not power fantasy.
by Yana Toboso
Yu's review of Black Butler — a boy contracts a demon to avenge his murdered family, with a butler so perfect he hides exactly what he is. A Victorian gothic mystery that earns its darkness.
by Shiwo Komeyama
Yu's review of Bloody Cross — Tsukimiya is a half-angel, half-vampire carrying a death curse that will kill her by eighteen; Hinata is the cunning mixed-blood angel who steals the demon blood that could have saved her, so she drinks his blood and passes the curse onto him too. Now bound by the same fate, they collect God's Inheritances in a Crusade to choose the next god — each one ready to betray the other the moment it pays.
by Paru Itagaki
Yu's review of Beast Complex — Paru Itagaki's short-story collection set in the Beastars world. A lion sent to coax a grieving bat back to school, a burnt-out camel journalist and a wolf, a crocodile chef and a gazelle assistant. The anthology that became Beastars.
by Ichika Isshiki (Story) / Daisuke Takino (Art) / fame (Character Design)
Yu's review of Berserk of Gluttony — Fate Graphite is born with the Gluttony skill, mocked as useless because it only does anything when he kills something. He works a humiliating gatekeeper job until the night he finally kills, and learns that Gluttony devours the souls and abilities of whatever it takes. The catch: once awakened, the skill is always hungry, and starvation turns him into something that eats everyone around him.
by Zappon / Masahiro Ikeno
Yu's review of Banished from the Hero's Party — Red, former vanguard of a hero's party, is told his blessing is too ordinary and leaves the group; in a frontier town, he opens an apothecary and builds the quiet life he always wanted, alongside Rit, a princess-turned-adventurer who loves him; a fantasy that chooses warmth over adventure.
by Kazushi Hagiwara
Yu's review of Bastard!! -Ankoku no Hakaishin- by Kazushi Hagiwara — Dark Schneider, a 400-year-old dark wizard sealed inside a teenage boy, is woken by a maiden's kiss to defend a kingdom he'd rather rule, in a 1980s heavy metal dark fantasy where every spell, place, and person is named after a metal band.
by Miya Kazuki (story) / Suzuka, Ryo Namino, Hikaru Katsuki (art)
Yu's review of Ascendance of a Bookworm — a book-obsessed librarian reincarnated into a medieval world with almost no books who decides to manufacture them from scratch, starting with the materials available in a lower-class commoner household.
by Fuminori Teshima / Hako Itagaki
Yu's review of An Archdemon's Dilemma — Zagan is a powerful archdemon feared by everyone he has ever met; when he impulsively spends his entire fortune to buy an elf girl named Nephy at a slave auction, he has no idea how to talk to her, let alone tell her how he feels.
by Ryo Shirakome / RoGa
Yu's review of Arifureta — Hajime Nagumo is the weakest student when his class is summoned to another world; betrayed and pushed into a lethal dungeon alone, he survives through mutation and problem-solving and emerges as something that no longer resembles the person who went in.
by Makoto Raiku
Yu's review of Animal Land — in a world where humans are extinct and animals communicate only within their own species, a tanuki named Monoko finds a human baby she cannot understand but raises anyway; as Taroza grows, he discovers he can speak to all animals, and begins to challenge the world's fundamental law that predators must eat prey.
by Itsuki Nanao / Nekokurage
Yu's review of The Apothecary Diaries — Maomao, a pharmacist's daughter sold into the imperial palace as a servant, cannot help noticing that the emperor's children are being poisoned by their cosmetics; she leaves an anonymous note, it works, and she is immediately recruited as an unofficial court investigator.
by Kore Yamazaki
Yu's review of The Ancient Magus' Bride — a manga about a girl who sells herself at auction, is purchased by a skull-faced sorcerer, and slowly learns what it means to have a home. One of fantasy manga's most carefully crafted ongoing series.
by Kaori Yuki
Yu's review of Angel Sanctuary — Setsuna Mudou is a sixteen-year-old in love with his sister Sara; he is also the reincarnation of Alexiel, the most powerful angel who was sealed for rebelling against God; when his angel nature awakens, he is drawn into the war between Heaven and the rebel angels that his original self began.
by QuinRose / Soumei Hoshino
Yu's review of Alice in the Country of Hearts — Alice Liddell is dragged into Wonderland by an aggressive White Rabbit, told she cannot leave until she fills a bottle with feelings, and finds herself in the middle of a factional war between armed Wonderland residents who all find her fascinating.
by Kouyu Shurei
Yu's review of Alichino — Alichino are beautiful supernatural beings who grant wishes at the cost of the wisher's soul; Tsugiri, a young kusabi whose unusually pure soul makes him irresistible to Alichino, encounters Myobi, an Alichino who protects him instead of consuming him; gorgeous gothic fantasy art carrying an unfinished story.
by Hiroyuki Etou
Nike is an ordinary village boy drafted into the Hero's Journey. Kukuri is the last practitioner of Guruguru magic, a long-abandoned school that does impressive things for completely unpredictable reasons. Together they will save the world, mostly by accident.
by Reia / Suki Umemiya
Yu's review of Accomplishments of the Duke's Daughter — a corporate worker reincarnates as Iris, the otome game villainess who is supposed to be exiled; instead of panicking, she uses her modern knowledge of economics and administration to transform her frontier fief into something worth having.
by Be-PaPas (story), Chiho Saito (art)
A review of The World Exists for Me, the spiritual successor to Revolutionary Girl Utena by the original creative team.
by Masaki Tsuzuki (story) / TNsato (art)
A review of Masaki Tsuzuki and TNsato's Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha — 6 volumes in Comp Ace. Nanoha Takamachi finds an injured magical creature and is drawn into an interdimensional crisis; her rivalry with Fate Testarossa becomes the series' most important friendship. No official English edition.
by Yukiwo
A review of Jashin-chan Dropkick, the comedy manga about a demon girl from hell who wants to kill her summoner — but can't — and is furious about it every day.
by Kiri Wazawa
A review of The Morose Mononokean — the supernatural manga about a high schooler who gets a job helping yokai pass on to the Underworld, run by the world's most reluctant employer.
by Usonan (story) / Wookjakga (art)
A review of A Returner's Magic Should Be Special — the Korean manhwa about Desir Herrman, the sole survivor of a deadly Shadow World dungeon who wakes up 13 years in the past, and uses his foreknowledge of who will die to try to change everything.
by Naoko Takeuchi
Before Sailor Moon was a phenomenon, Naoko Takeuchi made Sailor V — the prototype that became part of the legend.
by Kara (story), Lee Yun Hee (art)
A review of Demon Diary — the Korean manhwa fantasy comedy about a sweet, pacifist young man who unepectedly inherits the role of Demon Lord and the easperated demon Eclipse who has to teach him how to be one.