Whenever I need a break from writing all day, I walk to the local park with the best Wi-Fi connection, settle in a shady spot, and browse my Crunchyroll Manga app.
Manga always feels like a guilty pleasure to me, perfect for summer. And predictably, I’ve been reading a lot of it lately. Here’s what I’ve read and would recommend:
Scum’s Wish
This is the Harlequin Romance of manga: soft, gentle art with a junk food plot. Witness a tangled web of unrequited love, with two seemingly perfect teens at its center. Hanabi and Mugi are dating, but only so they can “use” each other physically and forget about the ones they really love. This manga is definitely not for anyone under 18.
Orange
A high school romance, complicated by time travel. Naho knows that in the future, her friend and crush, Kakeru, is going to commit suicide. She’s received a letter from her future self about how to keep that from happening. This bittersweet plot is complemented by art that’s all sweet, making me feel real emotion whenever Naho makes Kakeru smile.
My Wife is Wagatsuma-san
Another high school romance about time travel, but it couldn’t be more different. Aoshima timeslips into a future where he’s married to the prettiest girl in school, and does whatever he can to preserve that reality. The best parts of the manga star him and his geeky group of friends, whose over-the-top commitment to gags results in prime comedy.
Kiss Him, Not Me
A wish-fulfillment fantasy for fujoshi, this reverse harem manga has four guys (and one handsome girl) vying for Kae’s affections, but all she wants is to watch them enact her boy’s love fantasies! This manga is currently ongoing, and BL fans will recognize current fandoms like Touken Ranbu. I love this manga’s spot-on parody of fujoshi obsessions.
Princess Jellyfish
Tsukimi is a jellyfish-loving geek whose life gets spun into chaos when she meets outgoing, crossdresser Kuranosuke. With a cast of unique characters that don’t fit into standard anime “types,” well-timed joke delivery, and a professional-level translation into English, Princess Jellyfish is the highest quality out of all the manga I’ve listed.
I’m current on all the manga above, so now I’m looking for something else to read. Any recommendations?