From Ponent Mon: Seventeen authors (nine from France or French-speaking countries, eight from Japan) brought together in the same book, a succession of freely created short stories about the same universe: Japan. The French, of course, journeyed to Japan for the occasion. Each cartoonist was sent for two weeks to a different city in the archipelago (Joann Sfar in Tôkyô, Emmanuel Guibert in Kyôto, Nicolas de Crécy in Nagoya, etc.) to bring back an original creation. The Japanese tell us about their district, the city where they live or where they originally come from (Kazuichi Hanawa's story being about the northern island of Hokkaido, Jiro Taniguchi's about the town of Tottori, etc.) The result is often inspired, always surprising: Japan through new eyes. "Japan" will appear simultaneously in French, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and English. Along with "A Patch Of Dreams" by Hideji Oda, it is the first step in a series of international creations with left-to-right reading direction, created for us by some of the best European and Japanese comic book artists. List of included short stories: At the Seaside - [TAKAHAMA Kan](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=4331) The Gateway - David Prudhomme Summer Sky - [TANIGUCHI Jiro](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=714) Now I Can Die! - Aurélia Aurita Osaka 2034 - François Schuiten & Benoît Peeters Shin.Ichi. - Emmanual Guibert The New Gods - Nicolas de Crécy *Kankichi* - [MATSUMOTO Taiyou](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=361) The Tokyo of Qualtérou - Joann Sfar The Sunflower - [Little Fish](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=19995) The Song of the Crickets - [ANNO Moyoco](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=152) In Love Alley - [Frédéric Boilet](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=6069) The City of Trees - Fabrice Neaud The Festival of the Bell-Horses - [IGARASHI Daisuke](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=2216) In the Deep Forest - [HANAWA Kazuichi](https://www.mangaupdates.com/authors.html?id=2080) Sapporo Fiction - Étienne Davodeau

Nightmare: He’s beautiful, with silver hair, and skin like snow. And his heart is as cold as that same snow. Nightmare has confessed his love to Alice–but he won’t make a move, take her hand, or even ask her on a date! Alice is still too unsure of her own feelings to give him an answer. To complicate matters, Alice finds herself onstage as part of Joker’s circus show, and learns the stunning secrets of the circus, the prison, and Joker himself. Yet can she learn the secret to melting Nightmare’s heart? (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

Following a carriage crash, our heroine recalls being reincarnated as Vivian in a novel called "The Bloody Flower." Poor Vivian now knows she's a side villain who dies after kidnapping the male lead. But if she doesn't kidnap him and guide him to the female lead, the demon will destroy the world anyway! Unfortunately, the male lead was only described as "handsome," and this world is crawling with handsome men. Thirty kidnappings later, all Vivian has is a handful of good-looking fans who loved their luxury hostage experience. If only someone could point her to the man she's looking for...! (Source: Tappytoon)

In the waking world, he’s sickly and scared to speak in front of crowds. In a world filled with dangerous criminals and killers, he can’t swing a sword or shoot a gun. But in dreams, Nightmare Gottschalk is smooth, mysterious, and powerful. And he will do anything it takes to win Alice’s heart before someone else can come and steal her away. Romance takes on an intriguing new form in this sweet but dangerous love story between Alice the Outsider and this strange, contradictory Nightmare. (Source: Seven Seas Entertainment)

Im Jeong-A used to be an ordinary grad student living in South Korea. After reading the novel “The Flower From Another World,” late into the night, she wakes up as Empress Robellia Le Castilla, the wife of the tyrant Alexandros the second. Though Jeong-A had felt sorry for Robellia while reading the novel, she never wanted to become her. Alas, Jeong-A must accept her new reality and find a way to divorce her husband. At first, she thinks this will be easy, as the emperor is always cold toward Robellia and only expresses affection to his consort in the novel. However, every act of trying to get Alexandros to agree to a divorce piques his curiosity instead. Will Jeong-A succeed at getting the happy, solo life she wished for Robellia to have? (Source: WEBTOONS, edited)

The last in a long line of Witches of the Black Wood, Marie Blackwood lives a quiet life in Edinburgh – away from the scrutiny of the Church. But when the Church thrusts 13-year-old Theo into her hands for safekeeping, Marie suddenly gains the responsibility not just of taking care of a teenager – but protecting the world, and Theo himself, from the amazing power that lives inside of him. (Source: Titan Manga)

Two decades ago, the dragons returned to earth. Soaring above the skies leaving behind trails of destruction. They attack humans for the simple reason, their destructive impulses. In order to fight the dragons, humanity acted. They began to dabble in magic...

Vivian Louis is the twenty-one-year-old daughter of a Count, a sweet and seemingly harmless girl who has only one guilty pleasure in life: thirsting after her crush, the breathtakingly handsome Grand Duke Lennox Elphidion Glenn! For her, it was love at first sight at the tender age of fourteen. That’s when she began obsessing over him, creating endless works of fan art and fan fiction. Then one day, an accident with her best friend’s magical crystal ball makes the unthinkable come true. The grand duke is kidnapped and tied up in her bed, and he’s telling her that she’s the kidnapper! Scrambling for a way out of this scandalous bind, the two agree to act like a couple. They even sign a one-year contract, but Lennox seems to want more than a fake relationship. Unbeknownst to Vivian, a full-blown romance is on its way. Could it be that her wildest fan fantasies will truly come to life? (Source: Tappytoon)

After losing her parents and ending up on the streets with her brother, Astel realizes she is actually in a novel where she and her loved ones die at the hands of a mysterious villain. Determined to change this, she decides to infiltrate the castle of Duke Anais and uncover the villain's identity! The first step of the plan succeeds, but now there's just one issue: she is bound to the shapeshifter duke as his mate! Will Astel be able to fulfill her goal while dealing with this new relationship? (Source: Tapas)

WHO FIGHTER is a WWII manga, with two complete stories and one short vignette. The title story tells the experience of a Japanese fighter pilot who shoots down a strange fireball over Japan during WWII. What follows is a strange and twisty tale, and the only thing more odd than the suspicious G-men investigating the incident is the fireball itself. Are the bizarre events that follow the result of this alien phenomenon, or are they all in the pilot's head. There is strong evidence to suggest both, which makes WHO FIGHTER an exciting and unique story, right up through the final frame.

In a time when Gods ruled with cruelty, no one dared to oppose them... A girl was offered to the wind god as a sacrifice. A tribe leader sets off on a journey of redemption while trying to save the girl and make her his wife. Kiron, while defying the Gods will, departs for a difficult journey. Will he be successful? And what kind of obstacles will the Gods throw at him?

Forty-year-old Satoshi Osako is a farmer in the Japanese countryside—and a hardcore player of Swords & Sorceries, an online VRRPG. The day he finally manages to defeat the game's final boss, it curses him with its dying breath and kills him in real life! With a little help from a carefree goddess, Satoshi finds himself reincarnated into a mysterious new world as his in-game character, the incredibly powerful Great Sage known as Zelos Merlin. He accordingly decides to use his newfound powers to...continue living a quiet life on another farm! But first, he'll have to fight his way out of the vast, dangerous forest he woke up in—thanks a lot, goddess—and it won't be long before he's running into bandits, getting roped into teaching a young noble girl magic, and much more. Will the almighty Great Sage be able to conquer the toughest quest of all: getting some peace and quiet? (Source: J-Novel Club)