What better way to start off my return to my blog than a haul, and a collective manga one at that! I bought quite a bit of manga during June, so I thought I would show it off to you guys. This will include new series, and some single volumes to add to pre-existing series in my ever growing collection.
I hope you really enjoy finding out about some of the series I’m reading, and discover something new!
A Sign of Affection Vol. 1-8
Yuki Itose is a hearing-impaired university student whose world has been shrouded with silence since birth. She has lived in the same place her whole life, and rarely interacts with others save for her best friend, Rin Fujishiro. During her commute one day, she meets the silver-haired and multilingual Itsuomi Nagi, a mutual friend of Rin. Unlike most, Itsuomi is unwavering when he learns of Yuki’s impairment; this, along with his experiences abroad, fascinates and touches her. After they part, her fondness of him starts to grow. A new world begins to open for both Yuki and Itsuomi as they learn about each other’s different lives.
A Sign of Affection is a light-hearted, romantic comedy that illustrates the silent life of a university student and how one man sharing his world starts to change her own.
Not only is this manga series one I discovered through the anime, but through emisweetdesigns, an enamel pin creator. During my week off work in June I binge watched the anime in a matter of days, and KNEW I had to pick up the manga to read next. I managed to find vol. 1 and 6 no problem, but when it came to the others, I struggled a tad. Thankfully Wolverhampton Forbidden Planet had them all in stock, so I was able to take advantage of their 3 for 2 offer on the ones I needed.
Spoiler alert for future posts, but I have just today finished reading all eight volumes and have caught up. This has fast turned into one of my favourite anime and manga series, and I cannot wait to read more! Volume nine is due out towards the end of the month, so you KNOW I’ll be reading it as soon as I get my hands on it. I may end up writing a blog post purely about A Sign of Affection by the way… 
Boy’s Abyss Vol. 5
Reiji Kurose was born in the countryside, and has spent his life believing he can never leave his town. He cannot leave his mother alone with his shut-in brother and demented grandmother, nor can he escape the clutches of Gen Minegishi, who keeps Reiji at his beck and call. In contrast, his childhood friend Sakuko Akiyama sees past the nothingness of their gloomy town and dreams of the chaotic glamor of Tokyo.
As a way to withdraw from his monotonous life, Reiji finds comfort in watching the performances of “Acrylic,” an idol group, and its most beautiful member, Nagi Aoe. But when he encounters the famous idol behind a convenience store in his grim town, he does not anticipate that he will soon be involved in a series of scandalous events that seem to be a repercussion of times long past. Robbed of his innocence, Reiji struggles to wade through the abyss of sin he has been pulled into, all while an intricate web of lies, obsession, and betrayal threatens to tear him apart.
The first thing you need to know about Boy’s Abyss is it’s a hot mess… Seriously. It is full of drama, and I’m here shamelessly for it! I originally started to read this online, but Dane ended up picking volume one and two for me last Christmas, which was really nice of him! So, I started to read it physically, which at times I semi regret, but then don’t. Personally speaking, I much prefer to read manga physically as it’s good to hold and read, as opposed to scrolling on a phone/laptop screen.
The series is classed as a seinen (manga aimed toward young men) but sometimes I feel like it’s a bit of a harem (polyamorous relationships) due to the relationships the main character has with others. I don’t know how to describe the series other than a boy mixing with all the wrong kinds of people in his life, maybe bar one. I feel like whatever I say about this series will be spoilers. If you love drama, thriller, etc please read, but be warned by its themes.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary Vol. 8
Aligned with the Harmony Faction, Elma cultivates prosperity and maintains peace between humans, even once being worshipped as a goddess for her benevolent actions. However, the steadfast dragon has now become an office worker to observe Tooru in hopes of eventually bringing her back to the dragon world.
Despite her commitment to accomplishing such an ambitious goal, the vast array of culinary selections captures Elma’s heart and appetite, proving an effective distraction. Even so, Elma strives to find a balance between her challenging duties and gluttonous cravings as she begins a new chapter in human society.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid is a series I have enjoyed for many years now (since 2016/2017?) and seeing as Elma is my favourite, I couldn’t NOT read the spin off series focusing purely on her. I have to add a slight disclaimer here by the way… I love the series, but I don’t like where the main manga series has been going lately…
As I mentioned, this is a spin off series about Elma, a harmony water dragon who works in an office, and loves eating yummy Japanese food… Mainly sweet stuff. Elma is a sweet and gentle character, and I adore her through and through. If I’m honest, I haven’t read the series for a while, so I plan to re-read it all soon and catch up! This is something I’ve done with the main series recently, and plan to do with Kanna’s series as well.
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Fafnir the Recluse Vol. 3
Fafnir is a dark, brooding curse dragon from the same world as Tohru, Kanna, and their friends. He’s also an otaku who’s as obsessed with games, merch, and doujinshi as he is with gold, jewels, and destroying all humans. This latest spin-off from the popular Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid series follows Fafnir’s daily life in a shared apartment with Kobayashi’s otaku coworker Takiya, where Fafnir tries to get along with humans and dragons—or just avoid them!
LOL another Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid spin off! I’ll be honest, this isn’t one I was planning to pick up, as I’d rather save my manga shelf space for series I REALLY want to read. However, when I recently visited Worlds Apart in Birmingham to grab majority of the books in this haul, they had a manga sale happening, which this was included in. I picked this up for a bargain of £4.00! So yeah… Now I have to get the rest of the series, but only when it’s as cheap as this volume was.
Fafnir is chaos dragon who loves hoarding, and generally being a miserable sod… Relatable. His spin off series seemingly focuses on him living with his human Makoto Takiya, an otaku who after work spends his time playing games with Fafnir. This will be a casual read for me, and not one I plan to reach for anytime soon.
My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 Vol. 1
After her boyfriend cheats on her with another girl he met in-game, Akane Kinoshita learns the hard way that gamer boyfriends can be just as bad as the offline variety. As she vents her anger by beating mob monsters to a pulp, she has a chance encounter with Akito Yamada, a guildmate with an afro and Noh mask.
Yamada is unsociable and curt, hardly the type of person to make Akane swoon. However, while his gaming stats might be maxed out, Yamada is inexperienced in matters of the heart, and against all odds, she finds herself moved by him. Making new friends along the way, can Akane shake the heart of Yamada, a final boss-level high school boy?
Finally we have another series I recently discovered, sort of through the anime. I of late have been frequenting and joining in with various manga accounts over on Instagram, as well as posting more about manga myself. A lot of people have been raving about My Love Story with Yamada-kun at Lv999 and how good it is! I decided to watch the anime first, which I watched over a weekend and fell in love with! The way it has ended made me crave more, so I jumped in and bought the manga… Only to find out mere days later that the mangaka is currently on an indefinite hiatus… Sad times. 
That being said, I’m still going to collect and read the manga.
The love story between the two main characters is progressing quite nicely from what the anime has shown me, but it stopped when things were really starting to get good! The manga has only just released in English, with volume one coming out in May 2024!
I feel like there are so many romance manga series coming out lately where the couple meet online through a game, and they know of each other outside of it etc. I’m down for it, for sure, but it makes me wonder if the reason for this seeming to be on the rise, is due to the decrease of couples and romance in Japan due to people being so busy with work/careers? Maybe, maybe not.
So, there we have it! That was my collective manga haul for June.
I was hopeful to have my first “out of hiatus” blog post to be up a little sooner, but late is better than never!
I really hope you guys enjoy this post! Please let me know if you like the sound of any of the manga I’ve mentioned today, and come chat about it if you’re reading too!
Until next time, take care and see you soon!
