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The Winter 2026 Manga Guide




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Shay Guy



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 2654
PostPosted: Tue Jan 20, 2026 9:19 pm Reply with quote
Lauren Orsini wrote:
She and her fellow children of the goddess of love have ditched their bows and arrows for more modern implements for no reason I can think of except that the gunfights look cool. Since their bullets only work on people who have chemistry, and the cupids spend most of their matchmaking problem-solving and not shooting, they don't really need a faster weapon.


On the other hand, bows aren't exactly easy to use. And IIRC, the cupids also have to time their shot right to have the right effect. You can hold a gun at the ready, waiting for the right moment to fire, but that doesn't work with bows, because of how much effort it is to keep it drawn.
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harminia



Joined: 24 Aug 2015
Posts: 2221
Location: australia
PostPosted: Wed Jan 21, 2026 6:08 pm Reply with quote
Erica Friedman re Chainsmoker Cat wrote:
and yet, I laughed, which is why this is getting 3 stars, rather than 2.


But it has 4 stars...


Regarding The Ghostly Darkness of Kanata, I think it's worth trying a second volume, because things start to connect and not feel like such an anthology. I also feel like Kanata herself is sort of a dual protagonist with the actual town, or even a sub-protag to the town.

Quote:
(the game went with Heartknights and Aquasteed)

Yeah, it's interesting to see they went with different names in the manga (and I think the anime used Aquasteed and Hartknights?). Makes you wonder the official spellings are....
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2808
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2026 9:49 am Reply with quote
harminia wrote:
Erica Friedman re Chainsmoker Cat wrote:
and yet, I laughed, which is why this is getting 3 stars, rather than 2.


But it has 4 stars...


Fixed!

Quote:

Yeah, it's interesting to see they went with different names in the manga (and I think the anime used Aquasteed and Hartknights?). Makes you wonder the official spellings are....


The anime does use the spellings from the game, so I'm not sure what's going on with localization.
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ZelosZoidberg



Joined: 23 May 2018
Posts: 1067
PostPosted: Thu Jan 22, 2026 9:14 pm Reply with quote
Shame about Chainsmoker Catgirl and to a point Maid to Skate. Still getting that one out of respect to Nicholas Dupree (His EX-Arm reviews are comfort reads to me).
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musouka



Joined: 09 Sep 2003
Posts: 739
PostPosted: Wed Jan 28, 2026 11:19 pm Reply with quote
I feel as though “Wonder Boy’s” tone might have been made clearer by translating its title as “The Mysterious Stranger”, since it’s a riff on that particular Mark Twain novel. (Though perhaps people would have expected an adaptation, in that case.)

I really enjoyed reading everyone’s reviews of it, though! That, A Certain Place, and Divine Incursions were particular highlights this time around.
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tywhoppity



Joined: 09 Sep 2019
Posts: 307
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 5:46 am Reply with quote
I keep seeing a spectral Akira Ono in your thumbnail, lol!(same author, btw)
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maximilianjenus



Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 3117
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 9:30 am Reply with quote
I really wanted to like Yani neko. Especially as someone who is fan of la creatura. Like i wanted it to be this cozy manga that I wanted to read when I needed a few jokes. But it's not that fun.
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FuzzyDave



Joined: 07 Jan 2022
Posts: 74
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 11:36 am Reply with quote
A big thank-you to the ANN staff for these Manga guides! Is it my imagination or is this a particularly good bunch of releases?

I've already added these to my buy list:
Please Look After the Dragon
Mechanical Buddy Universe
Romelia War Chronicle: The Count's Daughter Rallies an Army in the Wake of Mankind's Victory
Sayuri
Scenes from Awajima
Scavengers Another Sky
Centuria
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Oggers



Joined: 29 Nov 2017
Posts: 468
Location: Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 1:09 pm Reply with quote
Yeah, I had a feeling Maid to Skate wouldn't work very well as a manga. I've already seen Suzushiro's illustrations of maids on skateboards, and while the illustrations themselves are very well done and funny in their own way considering the sheer contrast between maids and skateboarding culture, it's hard to build an actual story around those two things that justifies why they go together. In that case, it's probably for the best that the manga is only a single volume long, since what little plot it has would likely wear itself out pretty quickly.
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skemono
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 26 May 2019
Posts: 87
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 2:46 pm Reply with quote
Oggers wrote:
it's probably for the best that the manga is only a single volume long


It's not. A second volume is coming out in Japan in March.
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Oggers



Joined: 29 Nov 2017
Posts: 468
Location: Ontario, Canada
PostPosted: Thu Jan 29, 2026 3:20 pm Reply with quote
skemono wrote:
Oggers wrote:
it's probably for the best that the manga is only a single volume long


It's not. A second volume is coming out in Japan in March.


Oh, I didn't realize that since there wasn't a volume number on the cover for this English release. I guess I should be glad the manga is getting more traction, but unless the story and/or characters become more engaging I'm not really interested in picking it up.
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Brutannica



Joined: 18 Mar 2007
Posts: 264
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2026 6:10 pm Reply with quote
Quote:
According to LOVE BULLET, what one really needs to spark true love between two people is a gun. Was this thing written by an American?


Yes, actually: the manga-ka is American and got scouted online by a Japanese publisher. Not sure how much that explains the theme of shooting teenagers...
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Blanchimont



Joined: 25 Feb 2012
Posts: 3847
Location: Finland
PostPosted: Sat Jan 31, 2026 6:25 pm Reply with quote
skemono wrote:
Oggers wrote:
it's probably for the best that the manga is only a single volume long


It's not. A second volume is coming out in Japan in March.

The second, and final, volume already came out in October last year(bookwalker) in Japan.
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor


Joined: 24 Jun 2004
Posts: 1024
Location: mitten-state
PostPosted: Sun Feb 01, 2026 7:14 pm Reply with quote
Thanks all for another manga preview guide, probably my favourite ANN feature (as a primarily manga fan) every season! I appreciate the overview of what to look out for (or bump up in my own reading pile), and learning how the books I’m interested in (or already a fan of) are landing with the audience here :)

I saw that the guide has been updated for the final time, but it doesn’t include the Kodansha debuts for February (Love at First Memory, Galaxias, Hitting Rewind with You from what I can tell…) If you can say, is that on the publisher for not providing review copies, or are there plans to give those books regular volume reviews, or something else…?
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