The year is 1967, and a young Japanese man is thinking about the future. On one side of the water, the war is raging in Vietnam; far away on the other side, the Apollo Project has just met with disaster as three astronauts die in a capsule fire. And here and now, on a long nighttime ferry ride back home, he will meet and fall in love with a mysterious young woman who carries a past deeper and more profound than his dreams and fears of tomorrow. Her name, she jokes, is no name—Emanon, and she can never be forgotten, any more than she can forget. (Source: Dark Horse)

*Anno Domini* 1620. Europe is riven with the conflagrations that will grow into the Thirty Years War. Catholic and Protestant forces clash across battlefields ruled by sword and gunpowder alike, and mercenaries of every stripe ply their trade. Among them is Issak, a lone Japanese warrior bearing a matchlock of strange design, and fighting in service to his sworn mission—to find and kill the man who murdered his master and fled Japan for the other side of the world. Meticulously researched and gorgeously illustrated, *Issak* is the next character-driven, historical action epic that fans of *Vinland Saga* can sink their teeth into. (Source: Kodansha USA)

In the far future, a disaster known as the “Rusty Wind” has transformed the majority of Japan into a barren desert and left civilization in tatters. After his teacher falls prey to the rust, the roguish Bisco Akahoshi embarks on journey through the sandy wastes to obtain a mushroom known only as the Rust Eater, rumored to cure the ailment. Together with the dashing young doctor Milo, the pair will have to contend with the unforgiving environment and their fellow wanderers in order to make it back alive. (Source: Yen Press) ***Note:** Sabikui Bisco won Silver Prize in the 2017 Dengeki Novel Prize, and placed first in the Kono Light Novel ga Sugoi! ranking in the best light novel category in 2019.*

Two siblings, brother and sister, have been separated for a long time when they meet up again. They soon learn that they were separated due to the fact that they were children of an ex-ruler from a small country. A high-school girl and orphan Mahiro has had a hard life after her parents' death. Now, suddenly, while she is at work, two young men push her into a car and- OMG- kidnap her! With family united again and some nasty assassination attempts, Mahiro's life changes drastically.

Welcome to the vampire city of Saruta, where the sun never rises, and all the vampire children love trying to stay up late. Hipira is a precocious young vampire whose best friend is a fairy named Soul. Hipira and Soul are an odd couple to say the least, and their games, pranks and adventures are extraordinary even for dwellers of this supernatural city. Hipira is a delightfully bright twist to traditionally dark subject matter. Filled with fun, wonder and heart, the illustrations look like they have been pulled off the screen of a top-flight animated feature. Hipira is a children's book like no other, one that will appeal to readers of all ages. (Amazon)

A plague-like wind blows across the arid, sandy expanse of a post-apocalyptic Japan. As it sweeps over the living and nonliving alike, rust is all that remains in its wake. The cause of the catastrophic state of the world is believed to be mushroom spores. Bisco Akaboshi, known as the "Man- Eating Mushroom," is a wanted criminal archer whose arrows instantly grow mushrooms wherever they land. However, he is in reality a "Mushroom Protector," a person who spreads fungi in order to enrich the land and return it to its previous state. (Source: Comikey) *Note: Chapter count includes 1 extra.*

A unique take on the anit-hero theme, "White Dragon"'s main character is Tatsuto Shriakawa: a pragmatic, cold, nearly-emotionless, independent witness protection agent-thing. Anyway, his life is pretty much ok for him until one day a young girl Ayaka Nozawa knocks on his door asking for help. One thing leads to another and soon the two of them are fighting off criminals ad protecting the innocent, to an extent. Well worth a look at.

Nishina is a nurse by day, and the crime fighter "Lady Midnight" at night!

A tragic loss. The endless despair that accompanies losing a loved one. A mysterious girl who appears at just the right moment. An unbelievable offer. "I can bring your lost loved one back to life, if you complete a simple task for me. Please kill three people, any three people, in the next 24 hours. Do that, and without fail I will revive them just as they were." Could YOU take three lives to bring someone you love back from the dead? What value do you place on human life?

A manga adaption of Kenji Miyazawa's classic Night on the Galactic Railroad.

The story revolves a female thief named Chico, who is the spiritual successor to the Kaijin Nijū-Mensō (The Fiend with 20 Faces) thief character created by famed suspense and detective novelist Ranpo Edogawa. (Summary from ANN's entry for the anime based off of the manga)

Tohma Nagasu joins the baseball club to check out girls, but an injury caused him to lose his force when throwing. Only Kaede, the club manager, expects him to heal. Tohma trains hard for Kaede so that he can beat their rival school Shohei, because Kaede's dream is to get to Koshien and Tohma's is to help her out. (Source: Unexpected Fate)