We’re launching a new feature here at MangaBlog: An annotated monthly roundup of upcoming releases, based on the Previews catalog. That means the dates are release dates to comic shops and digital media; if you buy your manga in a bookstore, your mileage may vary.

January 7

Vertical

What Did You Eat Yesterday? vol. 6
Fumi Yoshinaga’s slice-of-life tale has gotten a lot of blogger love both for the food and for the nuanced interaction of the central couple. It got plenty of upvotes in our food manga roundtable, and Johanna Draper Carlson said “I adore Fumi Yoshinaga’s art, and her combination of recipe how-tos and small moments of daily life for a gay couple works well,” although Kate Dacey admitted to being “mildly disappointed” in the series in that same post.

Viz

Bleach, vol. 10 (3 in 1)
Jaco the Galactic Patrolman, vol. 1: New series from Akira Toriyama, creator of Dragon Ball Z.
Kiss of the Rose Princess, vol. 2
Meteor Prince, vol. 1: New shoujo series from the creator of Omukae Desu and Pearl Pink.
My Love Story, vol. 3: A MangaBlog favorite!!
Naruto, vol. 10 (3 in 1)
Nisekoi: False Love, vol. 7: High school comedy about the son and daughter of two warring Yakuza families who must pretend to be boyfriend and girlfriend, even though they can’t stand each other… or maybe not.
One Piece, vol. 73

January 14

Kodansha

Noragami: Stray God, vol. 3: This started out in the first volume as sort of a slapstick comedy about a homeless god who is at the very bottom of the totem pole and is picking up odd jobs in order to earn enough to get a place to live and work his way up the ladder. It’s a good premise and I’ll be interested to see how the story develops.
The Seven Deadly Sins, vol. 6

Vertical

My Neighbor Seki, vol. 1: A new comedy about a schoolgirl who cannot ignore her classmate’s elaborate games and projects. The anime, Tonari no Seki-kun, is available on Crunchyroll.

Viz

07-Ghost, vol. 14
Case Closed, vol. 53
Ranma 1/2, vol. 6 (2 in 1)

January 21

Kodansha

Missions of Love, vol. 10
My Little Monster, vol. 6

Viz

Monster, vol. 3 (Perfect Edition)
Resident Evil: The Marhawa Desire, vol. 2
Terra Formars, vol. 4

Yen Press

Akame ga Kill!, vol. 1: A new series for the new year. Here’s the blurb:

Teenage country bumpkin Tatsumi dreams of earning enough money for his impoverished village by working in the Capital— but his short-lived plans go awry when he’s robbed by a buxom beauty upon arrival! Penniless, Tatsumi is taken in by the lovely Lady Aria, but just when his Capital dreams seem in reach yet again, Lady Aria’s mansion is besieged by Night Raid—a team of ruthless assassins who targets high-ranking members of the upper class! As Tatsumi is quick to learn, appearances can be deceiving in the Capital, and this team of assassins just might be…the good guys?!

Black Butler, vol. 19: Everyone’s favorite butler, Sebastian, is kickin’ ass and pourin’ tea in this latest volume, which kicks off a new adventure for him and his boss, Ciel Phantomhive.
Goong, vol. 17: A Shocking Secret is revealed in the latest volume of the long-running manhwa.
Inu x Boku SS, vol. 6: This is a weird ensemble story filled with light and dark moments; watch for a review of the first five volumes soon.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, vol. 5: The final volume in this series.
The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-Chan, vol. 9: More 4-koma Haruhi-ness. Can there be such a thing as too much Haruhi? Apparently not.
Milkyway Hitchhiking, vol. 2
No Matter How You Look At It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular, vol. 6
Secret, vol. 1: Like Yoshiki Tonogai’s other manga, Judge and Doubt, this one features schoolchildren in giant animal heads involved in some sort of cat-and-mouse game, this one involving three murderers who are in their midst. This is a two-volume series, with the second one out in June.
Sword Art Online Progressive, vol. 1
Ubel Blatt, vol. 1
Uminkeo When They Cry, Episode 4: Alliance of the Golden Witch
Until Death Do Us Part, vol. 8

January 28

Kodansha

Fairy Tail, vol. 46

Vertical

Prophecy, vol. 1: Another new series. Here’s the blurb:

A newspaper-masked vigilante who broadcasts his acts of vengeance before committing them. A newly-formed police division tackling the new frontier of internet-based crime. As the sun rises on the Era of Information, can a group of people who found themselves at the bottom of the food chain rattle society through the web and avenge a fallen friend?

Yen Press

Soul Eater, vol. 24: If you have fallen away, it’s time to get back on board, as it’s the beginning of the end—the final showdown begins, and it all comes to a head in volume 25, the last volume in the series.

Digital Manga’s Kickstarter campaign to publish Osamu Tezuka’s Ludwig has surpassed its goal by $1,000. This was Digital’s comeback round after the failure of its ambitious Tezuka’s World Kickstarter, which would have raised over $500,000 to publish 31 volumes of Tezuka’s work.

The first volume of Attack on Titan tops this week’s New York Times best-seller list. Vol. 68 of Naruto is the number two seller, and the first volume of Assassination Classroom takes the number three slot.

World Trigger, which is carried in both the Japanese and North American versions of Shonen Jump, will skip an issue because of manga-ka Daisuke Ashihara’s health problems.

Erica Friedman posts her final edition of Yuri News Network for 2014.

The Manga bookshelf team discusses this week’s new manga, including digital releases.

Meanwhile, at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson looks back at the past week’s new releases.

Ash Brown looks back at the most notable manga of the year at Experiments in Manga.

News from Japan: CLAMP will draw new covers for Cardcaptor Sakura, to celebrate Nakayoshi magazine’s 60th anniversary. Your Lie in April, which Kodansha Comics will start publishing in North America in the spring, is coming to an end. GTO creator Tohru Fujisawa has a new series in the works, Soul Reviver South. MPD-Psycho will end with volume 22, not volume 21, as was originally announced.

Reviews

Anna N on vol. 1 of Assassination Classroom (Manga Report)
Sarah on vol. 14 of Attack on Titan (nagareboshi reviews)
Erica Friedman on the November issue of Comic Yuri Hime (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 25 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Erica Friedman on Hakkou Snowflake (Okazu)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of He’s My Only Vampire (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 1 and 2, and Tale 0, of Honey Blood (Comics Worth Reading)
Khursten Santos on In Clothes Called Fat (Otaku Champloo)
Matthew Warner on vol. 2 of Little Battlers Experience (The Fandom Post)
Ash Brown on Massive: Gay Erotic Manga and the Men Who Make It (Experiments in Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Master Keaton (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 4 of Millennium Snow (Comic Attack)
Erica Friedman on MURCIÉLAGO (Okazu)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Nisekoi: False Love (Manga Xanadu)
Anna N on vol. 1 of Yukarism (Manga Report)

Bad news for Vinland Saga fans: The sixth volume has been removed from sales listings, and Kodansha Comics says the series has been “temporarily suspended.” In case you aren’t already reading the series, Johanna Draper Carlson explains why this is bad.

Good news for Shonen Jump readers: This week’s issue will include the one-shot story RKD-EK9 by Medaka Box writer NisiOisin and Death Note artist Takeshi Obata.

The Manga Bookshelf team look back at the most important manga of 2014.

Also at Manga Bookshelf, Erica Friedman has a nice introduction to the Japanese magazine Dengeki Daioh.

Twenty-five years after his death, Osamu Tezuka lives on in Japan, celebrated by murals, subway chimes, inventors, and the merchants in his old neighborhood, who trade Astro Money for civic-minded acts and serve up his favorite dish.

Erica Friedman posts a fresh edition of Yuri Network News at Okazu.

Happy blogiversary to Organization Anti-Social Geniuses, which turned four years old last week; if you haven’t checked it out from the links here, go take a look now!

News from Japan: Naoki Urasawa is taking a break from Billy Bat; the series, which has already had several interruptions, will go on hiatus until April. Library Wars: Love & War may just have ended in Japan, but artist Kiiro Yumi already has a new series, Toshokan Sensō: Love & War Bessatsu-hen, in the works. Plans are in the work for a Kabuki play based on Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team posts another round of quick reviews in their latest Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown looks back at The Week in Manga at Experiments in Manga.

Ash Brown on vol. 1 of Afterschool Nightmare (Experiments in Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 3 of Food Wars (Comics Worth Reading)
Anna N. on vols. 1 and 2 of Honey Blood (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on Mail (Comics Worth Reading)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 2 of Manga Dogs (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Noragami (Manga Xanadu)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 4 of Say I Love You (Comics Worth Reading)
Erica Freidman on Stretch (Okazu)
Lori Henderson on vols. 1-3 of Sweet Rein (Good Comics for Kids)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 3 of Sword Art Online: Fairy Dance (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Erica Friedman on vol. 3 of Tsuki to Sekai to Etoile (Okazu)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 8 of Umineko: When They Cry (ANN)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 5 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Comics Worth Reading)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Yukarism (ANN)

Shonen Jump adds a new series to its lineup, and the artist is Takeshi Obata! The series is Gakkyu Hotei: School Judgment and the writer is Nobuaki Enoki. It’s about a school that has its own court; if that sounds familiar, it’s because the manga ran for a while as a smartphone-only series and just relaunched on December 1.

Kodansha has expanded into China with a local magazine, Jinmanhua, and homegrown manga by Chinese artists; the creative duo who go by Navar have seen their manhua Carrier: Xiedaizhe, go the other way—it is now running in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine in Japan and has been published as collected editions there as well.

Got some last-minute shopping to do? Erica Friedman posts the Okazu Gift Guide, and she also has a fresh serving of Yuri Network News for us.

Laura reveals her favorite shoujo series at Heart of Manga, and she also looks at the series currently running in the magazine Be Love.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team takes a quick look at recent releases in their newest Bookshelf Briefs post.

Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Ajin (ANN)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Attack on Titan: No Regrets (Experiments in Manga)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 6 of Attack on Titan (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Lori Henderson on vols. 11-13 of Attack on Titan (Manga Xanadu)
Alice Vernon on Bloody Cross (Girls Like Comics)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 24 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Kristin on The Garden of Words (Comic Attack)
Sarah on vol. 16 of Kamisama Kiss (nagareboshi reviews0
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 25 of Naruto (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 10 of Ooku: The Inner Chambers (Comics Worth Reading)
A Library Girl on vols. 1-3 of Pandora Hearts (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 4 of Phantom Thief Jeanne (The Comic Book Bin)
Erica Friedman on Philosophia (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on the December 15 issue of Shonen Jump (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 4 of Soul Eater Not! (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 3 of Terra Formars (The Comic Book Bin)
AstroNerdBoy on vol. 2 of UQ Holder (AstroNerdBoy’s Anime and Manga Blog)

Kodansha Comics announced a new license out of the blue on Wednesday: Naoshi Arakawa’s music-romance story Your Lie in April. Here’s the blurb:

Kosei Arima was a piano prodigy until his cruel taskmaster of a mother died suddenly, changing his life forever. Driven by his pain to abandon piano, Kosei now lives in a monotonous, colorless world. Having resigned himself to a bland life, he is surprised when he meets Kaori Miyazono, a violinist with an unorthodox style. Can she teach Kosei not just how to play, but how to start living again?

The anime is already running on Crunchyroll, Aniplex Channel, and Hulu, and apparently it’s quite popular; Kodansha may be banking on the same anime/manga synergy that made Attack on Titan such a hit. There’s more at the anime website, including trailers for an upcoming movie.

At Publishers Weekly, I talked to Digital Manga Publishing CEO Hikaru Sasahara about their ambitious Kickstarter, which would have raised over half a million dollars to publish 31 volumes of manga by Osamu Tezuka. I also talked a bit about their new Kickstarter, which is closer to the older model. At Eeepers Choice, Phillip questions the wisdom of their plans to hold another Kickstarter to fund a new printing of Unico, Swallowing the Earth, and Barbara.

The Manga Bookshelf team discusses this week’s new releases.

Volume 72 of Naruto will be the final volume; it will be out in February in Japan and sometime in 2016 in the U.S. Also, Shueisha has announced the full list of post-manga Naruto novels, which will continue the story and feature art by manga-ka Masashi Kishimoto.

One Piece is taking a one-week hiatus from Shonen Jump (in Japan, so presumably from Viz’s Shonen Jump as well) so author Eiichiro Oda can do some research.

Erica Friedman brings us up to date with a new Yuri Network News post at Okazu.

Lori Henderson posts the weekly top ten lists from Viz’s digital site and the New York Times, plus a list of the manga that appeared in BookScan’s top 20 list for November.

Lori also posts a Manga Gift Guide at Manga Xanadu, and she gives her take on the past week’s new manga.

News from Japan: Da Vinci magazine revealed its list of the top manga of the year, based on votes by over 4,000 readers, retailers, and reviewers, and Attack on Titan was number one for the second year in a row. Inio Asano is taking a break from his current series, Dead Dead Demon’s Dededededestruction; it will return to Big Comic Spirits in the spring.

Reviews

Erica Friedman on Ashita no Kimi ni Hanabata wo (Okazu)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 5 of Attack on Titan (Lesley’s Musings on Manga)
Dan Greenfield on vol. 1 of Batmanga (13th Dimension)
A Library Girl on vols. 1-4 of Durarara!!! (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Drew McCabe on E-Robot (Comic Attack)
Erica Friedman on Himitsu no Kakera (Okazu)
Laura on vol. 1 of Kiss of the Rose Princess (Heart of Manga)
Ash Brown on vol. 7 of Mobile Suit Gundam (Experiments in Manga)
A Library Girl on vols. 1, 2, and 5-18 of Monster (A Library Girl’s Familiar Diversions)
Lori Henderson on vols. 15-21 of Pokemon Adventures: Ruby and Sapphire (Good Comics for Kids)
Anna N on vol. 3 of Seraph of the End (Manga Report)
Matthew Alexander on vol. 5 of Sherlock Bones (The Fandom Post)
Sean Gaffney on Showa 1944-1953: A History of Japan (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Kristin on vol. 2 of Spell of Desire (Comic Attack)
TSOTE on vol. 2 of Swallowing the Earth (Three Steps Over Japan)
Josh Begley on vol. 4 of Vinland Saga (The Fandom Post)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 1 of Yukarism (I Reads You)