*"I'll let you keep me to yourself..."* That playfully sweet invitation of his... I kissed him back, but we're not even dating... (Source: Coolmic)

You’ve never seen manga like this before! No annoying speed lines or sappy, neotenic eyeballs here — just pure Japanese counterculture. This anthology of contemporary underground comics from Japan features a wide variety of styles and topics ranging from the humorous to the profound. There’s a whole world of comics out there, and it’s not all Godzilla and schoolgirls! A great introduction to the other Japanese comics featuring Asia’s answers to Robert Crumb, Dan Clowes, and Chester Brown! List of included Oneshots: "Horse Horse Tiger Tiger" by Imiri Sakabashira "A Hooker's Room" by Naoto Yamakawa "Kisses" by Kiriko Nananan "Kitty Court Drama" by Nekojiru "What a Mixed Up World!" by Yasuji Tanioka "Million Dollars" by Yoshiharu Mitsumoto "The Abalone Cat" by Naoki and Shunichi Karasawa. *Source: Fantagraphics*

Transfer student Buntaro Mori starts his first day at his new school already on the administration’s radar. He’s withdrawn and sullen, and the teachers are just waiting for him to explode. When his annoying classmate Miyamoto promises to leave him alone forever if he climbs to the top of the school, Mori eagerly takes up the challenge and shocks everyone when he makes it all the way to the roof. Flushed with the victory of his first successful climb, Mori can’t resist the lure of the local peak, despite warnings from more experienced climbers about the risks of climbing alone. But Mori doesn’t care. A little danger is nothing in the face of his new obsession. (Source: VIZ Media)

The story begins in 1949 Los Angeles. Kevin Yamagata, a Japanese American cartoonist, has built his career on Billy Bat, a sharp, wisecracking detective beloved by readers. But everything shifts when Kevin realizes he may have unknowingly copied the character from an image he once saw in Japan. Determined to find the truth, Kevin returns to a devastated, postwar Japan. What he uncovers goes far beyond questions of inspiration or theft. The image of the bat is ancient, surfacing again and again across history, tied to moments of upheaval, power, and violence. As Kevin follows the trail, he is drawn into a far-reaching mystery that blurs fiction and reality, where a single drawing may hold the key to forces shaping human history. *Source: Kana, Vol. 1*

Ichikawa Kyoutarou, a boy barely clinging to the bottom rung of his school’s social ladder, secretly believes he’s the tortured lead in some psychological thriller. He spends his days dreaming up ways to disrupt his classmates’ peaceful lives and pining after Anna Yamada, the class idol. But Kyotaro’s not nearly the troubled teen he pretends to be…and it turns out Anna’s a bit odd herself! (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment) *Notes: \- Winner of the Tsugi ni Kuru Web Manga 2020 Award. \- Nominee for the 2020 Manga Taisho Award.*

Shiki Tohno sustained a life threatening injury as a child, and due to that incident he was sent away from the Tohno household and was given to a relative to be raised. Years later, when Shiki is in high school, the head of the Tohno household--his father--dies, and he is ordered to move back in by his sister Akiha, who is the new head of the household. However, Shiki holds a huge secret. Ever since that injury, he has been seeing lines on objects, and only with a special pair of glasses is he able to stop seeing them. Also he is unable to remember anything well from the time before his accident. The day he moves back to the Tohno household is the day he stumbles upon a woman named Arcueid Brunstud and decapitates her with one stab of his knife in a temporary fit of insanity. When she suddenly showed up beside him later alive and well, and ask him to be her bodyguard, Shiki's journey to unravel the mysteries of his past begins. (Source: Anime News Network)

**At the dawn of the French Revolution, a family of executioners will set in motion the events that will change the future!** Charles-Henri Sanson reigns as the head of a family of executioners. His dreams of a world without execution have faded as the legacy of House Sanson takes precedence. His younger sister Marie-Joseph, stationed at the office of Versailles, lives free—unshackled by the precepts of society, jeopardizes the sanctity of that legacy. Following the death of her first love, Alain, she sets herself on a crimson-soaked path of vengeance and will stop at nothing to expose the murderer and overthrow the unjust system that cost him his life. *Source: Dark Horse, Omnibus 1*

**Blood, death, and duty—the title bequeathed to the heir of the royal executioner becomes a burden too heavy to bear.** Born into a family of executioners, Charles-Henri Sanson must take up his father’s mantle as the Royal Executioner of Paris. Conflicted between his desire to honor the family name and rebelling against the longstanding practice, he chooses to follow tradition, but vows to be the last executioner—the last Sanson to spill blood in the name of justice. *Source: Dark Horse, Omnibus 1*

Soma Yukihira’s old man runs a small family restaurant in the less savory end of town. Aiming to one day surpass his father’s culinary prowess, Soma hones his skills day in and day out until one day, out of the blue, his father decides to enroll Soma in a classy culinary school! Can Soma really cut it in a school that prides itself on a 10 percent graduation rate? And cacn he convince the beautiful, domineering heiress of the school that he belongs there at all?! *Source: VIZ Media, Vol. 1*

Three days after his sister’s death, he finally regained the will to move. In the aftermath of a goblin raid, a lone boy mourns the loss of his village, his family… Five years later, that same boy visits a city on the frontier and becomes an adventurer.Despite being the lowest rank and wholly inexperienced, the young adventurer immediately accepts a quest and sets out alone to raid a goblin lair. His mind already burning with a clear vision of his calling, the legend of Goblin Slayer begins! *Source: Yen Press, Vol. 1*

For Chio Miyamo, just making it to school is a miracle! From construction to biker gangs and the sudden call of nature, all kinds of troubles both big and small rain down on our titular hero! (Source: Yen Press)

Somewhere, out in the sticks of rural Japan, there is a mysterious manor that is home to the greatest surgeon who ever lived. But when the surgeon goes missing, his reanimated daughter, Fran, takes up the family profession, and despite her Frankenstein-like ways, cares deeply for her patients and holds steadfast to the Hippocratic Oath. Fran’s creed? “All lives must be saved, no matter the cost!” Join Fran, her twisted sister Veronica, and the rest of her monstrous entourage in a gruesomely hilarious tale that would put Mary Shelley to shame! Because for Franken Fran, the ends always justify the means, no matter what ungodly creations emerge from her lab. (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)