Oh man, you might have just sold me on innocent! It sounds really interesting and honestly kinda scary by how vivid it seems. Ugh, another for the wish list lmao

I had bought like 6 of the FOTNS hardcovers during Barnes & Nobles sales but after not caring for Jojo's and not being a big action fan in general I sold them off without reading them. Your opinion of Black Night Parade exactly matched mine. I could tell within the first few pages that the comedy and storytelling were not going to work for me and it was a struggle to finish. I gave it a 3 also on Goodreads but yeah more like 2.5. I have Arakawa and Saint Young Men so I'm a little more worried now on if I'm going to like them or not. The rest I have preordered or already have and am especially excited about King in Limbo and Innocent.

I agree with your take on Orb. I was kind of underwhelmed, didn’t like the shift in the middle (would have liked to follow the first half for the entirety of the series) and the art wasn’t my favorite. But I think the problem for me was the hype around it, that I don’t see it living up to. But I enjoyed it enough to finish it and hopefully I’ll be happily surprised by the end of it when I’ve shifted my expectations. I could only see the next omnibus listed, so I pray that Seven Seas isn’t giving it that one year wait between volumes that they do sometimes.

Interesting to see that more and more Josei is becoming more common to publish in English. Just recently discovered that Centaurs is also a Josei. Alongside River's Edge, Don't Call It Mystery and now King Of Limbs, it's looking like Josei's getting some better treatment. Funny thing about how you talk about Innocent, is that each time you do....makes me want to pick it up more and more 😅 "It's disgusting" "It made me feel so sick that I almost couldn't stomach finishing it" "I don't think I can recommend it"..... and I'm here thinking to myself " Damn, how did the art do all that to you? I have to know!!" 😆 I completely agree with your opinion on Orb. Kinda underwhelming. I would have loved it more I think if we could have spent more time with the initial boy character and fleshed out his story more. But, since the series is an award-winning series, I'm gonna keep going and hopefully it gets me more invested in the next volume

This review convinced me to pick up King in limbo C: the concept sounds a bit similar to Paprika by satoshi kon so i wonder if its gonna be as surealistic. great vide as always

I love these vol 1 impressions! King in Limbo has been tempting me so thank you for the review!! I guess it's time to purchase it 🥲

I enjoyed Orb a lot more than I thought i would, so I'm very excited for volume 2! Tokyo these days is in my to read pile. Both shorter series, which makes me happy 😅

I had tons of fun with Orb as it is my first historical fiction manga. Art is not super detailed, but the story, characters, and topic of science vs religion was super fun to read! The only “bad” thing is that there is a ton of dialogue, which prevented me to binge read it from beginning to end as my eyes were getting tired. Overall, super entertaining, educational, and impressive plot twist(s). I can’t wait for volumes 3-4!

FOTNS is sooo good but it takes time for the characters and story to really get going. I know what you like and read to a point and id never recommend it to you. Its not for everyone for sure so we cant be mad. I agree with the 2 star on black night. I think I had it with 3 stars also but it was maybe 1.5-2. Im def gonna try king of limbo that sounds cool!

King in Limbo sounds really interesting! Added to my list!

So Fist of the North Star is just fighting, but not fighting like Tokyo Revengers where you have plot? LOL! I keep hearing good things about Celestial Shadows and keep growing more and more curious about it! I'm so glad you enjoyed King in Limbo!

My personal ranking for the new releases: 1. King in Limbo - read and loved it (definitely reminds me of Inception and Otherworld Barbara). I was also surprised at the low score on goodreads. The memory/dream(?) worlds are depicted so beautifully, though some moments are way creepy to me. 2. Steel of the Celestial Shadows - found the whole thing very charming, did not expect the supernatural element near the end 3. Tokyo These Days - my first Matsumoto work but I was convinced that this will be a good one after finishing the funeral chapter All very enjoyable reads :) Still can't decided how I feel about Innocent because I read through that so quick but I can't say it was enjoyable. I guess I'm in the minority b/c I find Black Night Parade pretty funny, with some unexpected emotional/sad moments.

I was thinking of trying black night parade, sounded cool but I Sat in store looking at the pages and said no. I have been curious about orb, a few people I know are trying it. Me and manga, I just can't find anything new I really want to take a crack at besides horror which reminds me I want to pick the shadow over insomoth hp Lovecraft adaptation here soon. Omnibus collector had it in his haul I'm jealous

So many I want to check out! I didn’t know King of Limbo was a Josei!

Fist of the North Star is 😎😎

I mean im not surprised a shoujo junkie doesnt enjoy a jojo style manga lol