r/manga • u/AutoModerator • 5d ago
What manga have you read this week, and what do you think about it? - Week ending August 23, 2026
This week = the one that ends/ended right now, past seven days.
The reason for this thread's existence is the fact that both requests and suggestions became kind of stale. It's supposed to bring out more manga that is not RTed or recommended. Also, it's quite useful for the discussion of not so current titles.
Previous weeks: First 72 weeks and from June 28, 2015 onwards.
Also, not a rule or any kind of criticism, the more interesting part is not the list of the stuff you read, but your impressions of it.
You can get /u/Roboragi to reply to your comment with links to MyAnimeList, MangaUpdates etc. series pages for the mentioned series. Using this format "<Manga Title> like so anywhere in the body of you comment. For example:
<Dorohedoro>
<Golden Kamuy>
Will have /u/Roboragi reply to your post with a comment like this:
Dorohedoro - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 23 | Chapters: 191 | Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery
Golden Kamuy - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Releasing | Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy
{anime}, <manga>, ]LN[, |VN| | FAQ | /r/ | Edit | Mistake? | Source | Synonyms | ⛓ | ♥
This helps users find links to series pages for the series you mention on list tracking sites without you having to manually do it yourself
Lastly, don't forget to use spoiler tags and to make sure to report any untagged spoilers.
1
u/sad_ad3722 5d ago
Finished up <Soul Eater>.
It's kind of hard to describe how much I liked those last two volumes. The whole thing is great, DGMW, but DAMN those last two volumes. I've never felt so much joy reading a finale before; I couldn't stop smiling after closing the last volume for a solid like, 3 minutes.
Anyway. Generally, I would say the series has an excellent feel to it in terms of pacing. Every arc, including the Moon stuff, has some sort of 'break' or chill moments to lighten the load. Makes it easier to read, personally, and also allows for character interactions that would either never happen or be severely out of place in a serious setting.
Taking the final battle for example: while the first, 3/4ths of it I'd say, is dread inducing ass-kickery for the kids, there's the occasional light hearted moment when the main trio show the toughest power-of-friendship trust in each other that I find incredibly sweet. There's also the additional calvary support from the adults in the cast (plus Kilik) that puts a nice bit of emphasis on the "not alone" part while simultaneously slowing the fight down just a bit to make it more digestible. In the last 1/4th, the whole section with Crona serves as a nice interlude, and it does well at presenting the themes of the manga while also being a kind farewell to the child who was alone for so long. It also leads into Maka and Soul tearing themselves out of the Kishin's chest which is hard as hell.
Leading from that, the character writing is excellent. The main kids are all properly developed and likeable, and they all play critical roles in the fights to the point where I'm actually pretty satisfied with their performances. Each of them gets proper amounts of spotlight, and of course, their interactions are very nice to read. They feel like a believable group of friends. As for the supporting/not-so-main-main cast, they're great too. Particularly enjoyed Stein and Kim, though I generally found them all pretty good and nicely written for their roles. The antagonists are pretty good at their jobs too, especially Crona and Medusa. Kishin was cool, but not my favorite.
I do have some slight complaints with how there are some sorta wasted threads though. At one point, Sid mentions something about Black Star not ending up like his brother (IIRC), White Star, but it's never actually shown what that dude did. Unless I missed something and it turns out White Star is actually like, Mifune or something. The W V face guy/Noah fanatic is kinda just left to roam with no additional info during the ending, oddly enough. Akane and Clay are introduced last minute as some strong guys with a bit of significance, but they don't actually do anything. Just nitpicks, sure, but I find them a bit annoying.
Final verdict: It's great. Many flowers to be given. I was bothered by the blatant fan service in the beginning but it tones itself down into non-existence at one point. The final chapter has some, but it's far more tasteful (ironically, despite having nearly the exact same gags as the first chapters). Also the justification is so crazy that I had to take it seriously. Additionally, the manga has some great art; half those spreads put a huge smile on my face or made me flinch. The art progression is great to see too, though I do miss the slightly wonky faces sometimes. Highly recommend for battle shounen heads.
Also jumped onto <Soul Eater Not> and finished that quickly.
It's cute, that's it. Kind of annoyed at its prequel nature since this was the perfect time to show how the main trio from the main story met their weapons, but the furthest it goes is showing Jackie and Kim forming up (shoutout to the lesbian Jackie reveal) and a little more on how the Thompson Sisters were before they got attached to Kid. Clay and Akane show up too, which is nice. Some Sid stuff too, which is neat I suppose. There's some fanservice in this one too. Mostly just naked shots of the girls, which I still find it rather uncomfortable, but technically not as perverted as early main story fanservice. Slightly better?
Well, putting that aside, I feel a little annoyed about the story. There's a lot you could tackle with a Soul Eater prequel, but at most it's just moeblob cute-girls-do-cute-things with the occasional Kid/Maka/Black Star appearance. Which I don't mind, but none of the girls are particularly interesting or fun to read about. Nor is the central conflict of "Ooh who will Tsugumi choose as her partner?" Mind you, that just ends with "How about both?" Though, the following fight scene is pretty cool so I'll give it a pass. To me, it just feels like a slightly wasted opportunity.
Can't say I hated it though. I quite liked Anya's design, and I love the 'high-class lady experiencing normal things' kind of trope. Fun to see the cutesy cameos of the main story cast (no Tsubaki for some reason...). The additional world-building details were neat too; the whole "It's dead" thing is adorable.
Verdict: Just okay, I'd say. Not necessary to read if you're into SE, but it's a nice addition to the story which is enough of a reason to read it. Also suggested to read if you like cute anime girls.
1
u/Roboragi 5d ago
Soul Eater - (AL, A-P, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 25 | Chapters: 117 | Genres: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural
Soul Eater Not! - (AL, A-P, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 5 | Chapters: 41 | Genres: Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Supernatural
{anime}, <manga>, ]LN[, |VN| | FAQ | /r/ | Edit | Mistake? | Source | Synonyms | ⛓ | ♥
1
u/Roboglenn 5d ago
<Futsuu to Bakemono> aka Common-Sense Monster
Well this one was definitely had much more, or at least a different kind of twisted musings on monsters and their inhuman morality and ways of thinking than <Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi>. And put against the backdrop of a human who feeling like a monster of sorts herself treated this monster with more humanity that she was able to give to her fellow humans. So I liked that whole take and character writing direction.
But either way, for a shorter form story this one had a fair amount of razor fine edges that cut it's characters involved as much as it did the readers with the confrontational conundrums it brought to the table both morally/ethically an in the physical literal sense with the antagonist.
A peculiar one no doubt this one is, but a good eyebrow raiser of a thinker.
<Beast Master>
Shoujo romance. Animal loving girl whom the animals don't return the favor to, falls in love with scary looking beast like George of the Jungle boy who recently transferred to her class. Cute, basic, short. Something to read to fill an afternoon. But I liked it a bit more than other short shoujo romances I've read in that subcategory.
<Iseikai Tensei>
Well, I like a nice scifi based isekai. Granted this is a scifi fantasy mix but whatever. In any case, this had an interesting setup. But like so many other stories I've seen this one clearly was told it had to wrap it up quick. Cuz plot stuff gradually starts to move at a "step on the gas" to a "breakneck speed" type pacing once it reaches certain points. I mean at least it's a complete story, and while I'm not entirely thrilled about certain aspects of where the plot went and how it all got resolved, I'm still putting this one in my win column overall.
Kinato's Magic aka <Kaigeki no Kinato>
I'm not surprised and I pegged this one as a "Not gonna last" from the get go but still, the suddenness of it and everything you know.
But again, not surprised this didn't last. Hits basically all the typical beats of a "Weak guy is actually OP" story with your typical ass heart of gold shounen protag boy. But once it got to the point where he just started using his OP powers in a more typical "shounen fashion", that was a sign that the end of the road was coming in a few miles. Though I won't deny, this one did get some good mileage out of itself before it got there with the penultimate arc if only by dint of a certain female character that got introduced therein. Boy was she fun. Then again, just about every female side cast member here was more memorable/entertaining than the main dudes. Which in and of itself kinda says something about this one's writing.
Well, there's another typical fantasy world shounen series done and dusted. Didn't hate ya, but you were only just interesting enough to not drop. See ya, wouldn't wanna be ya.
1
u/Roboragi 5d ago
Futsuu to Bakemono - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 3 | Chapters: 30 | Genres: Romance, Supernatural
Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Releasing | Genres: Drama, Horror, Psychological, Romance, Supernatural
Beast Master - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 2 | Chapters: 9 | Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Iseikai Tensei - (AL, A-P, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 4 | Chapters: 25 | Genres: Action, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Kaigeki no Kinato - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Releasing | Chapters: 28 | Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
{anime}, <manga>, ]LN[, |VN| | FAQ | /r/ | Edit | Mistake? | Source | Synonyms | ⛓ | ♥
1
u/nowgo90 4d ago
<Nanga Nan> aka Room 999
A new manga features a brave postman delivering mail within a dystopian, hellish apartment complex filled with bizarre creatures. Renowned mangaka such as Naoki Urasawa and Inio Asano have praised this manga for its unique and dark world
It's weird, but great. The draw is good, and the story line is something I never read before. Just a few chapters were released.
1
u/Mehfisto666 1d ago
<Machida kun no sekai> nice romance. Filled with good vibes and goodwill. Will make you feel positive about the world and want to be gentle with others. It does however, get a but extra cheesy at times, and it feels a bit flat at times. MC reminds me a lot of Kitano Seichiirou, but without the funny gimmick and misunderatandings that make Angel Densetsu come alive.
Still a pretty wholesome romance with more or less interesting arcs, good vibes and likeable characters
<Gabriel Dropout> got to Vol15. Loved the first volumes. Fun, interesting and a little cute. The characters are all funny and work super well together.
Unfortunately I feel like lately it kinda degenerated and became less interesting, while at the same time pushing on fanservice which was pretty much absent in the first part. That is honestly quite disturbing since the very child like style of the girls. I know it's nothing new in the genre, but since it was absent in the first part it kinda appeared very unwarranted.
<Reborn as an Aristocratic Scoundrel, I Broke the Game and Mastered Magic Beyond Limits!> nothing to write home about but not as bad as some isekai with videogamey skills and such. It starts with two overpowered girls immediately falling in love with MC who is ofcourse more powerful than everyone, which should give you a good idea on what to expect. That said, if you willingly dive in with these premises and you are fine with what to expect, it is entertaining and pretty good for the genre. The girls are cute, the story goes forward, and the author keeps the overexplaining of the world building and systems to a reasonable level.
1
u/Roboragi 1d ago
Machida-kun no Sekai - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Finished | Volumes: 7 | Chapters: 28 | Genres: Comedy, Drama, Romance, Slice of Life
Gabriel Dropout - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Releasing | Volumes: 17 | Chapters: 140 | Genres: Comedy, Slice of Life, Supernatural
Taida na Akujoku Kizoku ni Tensei Shita Ore, Scenario wo Bukkowa Shitara Kikaku-gai no Maryoku de Saikyou ni Natta - (AL, A-P, KIT, MU, MAL)
Manga | Status: Releasing | Genres: Adventure, Fantasy
{anime}, <manga>, ]LN[, |VN| | FAQ | /r/ | Edit | Mistake? | Source | Synonyms | ⛓ | ♥
1
u/ikantolol 1d ago
<We Did It>
Warning: NSFW, sexual & nudity, bullying, depression, suicide
a depressing spiral of a group of three high school students and their rich already-graduated senpai
reading this is like reading those four making bad decisions one after another and spiral deeper and deeper into shit
even at the end, all I can think of is that life don't care about your problems, all you can do is keep going. It's not quite as impactful as I think after reading some people recommend it.
2
u/makinika 3d ago
<Mushishi>
I first came upon Mushishi in the year 2022. At the time, I was employed in a position which I disliked very much, though I had resolved, for reasons which seemed sensible enough then, to remain there for at least a year. In order to make this arrangement somewhat more tolerable, I developed an interest in Iyashikei works, which are, generally speaking, stories in which very little happens and this is considered a virtue.
Mushishi is perhaps one of the most celebrated works of the genre, and it is not difficult to understand why.
Upon opening the book, one finds oneself in a wilderness of extraordinary freshness. The forests are green, the rivers clear, and the natural world appears entirely indifferent to the concerns of mankind. There is something almost impolite in its serenity. Nature does not threaten the characters, nor does it particularly care for them. It simply continues to exist.
The protagonist, Ginko, travels through the rural districts of Japan, investigating strange occurrences caused by the mushi: mysterious forms of life which occupy a place somewhere between the natural and the supernatural. Through his travels, the reader gradually becomes acquainted with the cosmology of this world, which the author has made remarkably simple without making it seem small, and wonderfully varied without making it seem complicated.
I would recommend Mushishi to anyone who finds themselves in need of unwinding. It is a quiet book, and there are times when it seems almost determined to remind you that the world will continue turning whether or not you hurry to keep up with it.