Before we get started…

Racism against Asians and Asian-Americans isn’t new. As much as America likes to claim everyone is welcome, if the last four years have taught us anything, it’s that anyone who believed that is delusional. And FYI, model minority bullshit and fetishization? Those are forms of racism too, so if that’s why you’re on this train, you should get off at the next stop.

Do I read a lot of manga and manhua? I do. Am I white? Yup. A couple years ago, I challenged myself to start reading more widely in comics because I had a huge knowledge gap, and guess whose responsibility it is to fill those holes: mine.

The more comics by Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Filipino, and other Asian creators I read, the more stories I found that played with themes I enjoy reading about, characters I found myself caring for, and stories that resonated with me (there are some similarities between growing up Asian American and Jewish American in terms of parental and cultural expectations, and though I would never conflate nor equate the two, there is a certain comfort in knowing other people get you).

I also make sure to read more comics by Black creators, creators from Africa, Latinx creators, and South American creators. But there is a lot of manga and manhua, and I enjoy reading it. So I spend a lot of time with it.

Which means it’s incumbent on me to speak out when Asian and Asian Americans are being targeted in my country by racist fuckwads.

I mean, being a fucking human being makes that incumbent on me, but for the sake of argument, hang with me here while I relay a sentiment I’ve seen repeated on my TL repeatedly these past few weeks.

A lot of white Americans consume Asian-driven media. That in and of itself isn’t a bad thing. It becomes a bad thing when you commodify it. When you isolate it as a thing and forget it’s a brief snapshot of popular culture and not the culture itself. That people work hard to create it, that they’re sharing a gift with you but that it isn’t their job to teach you about context or myths or cultural norms. Learning context is your job. Take some classes. Read some own-voices books. Learn another language. Learn the traditions behind food preparation and ingredients. Participate.

And when some racist police captain claims a mass murderer “had a bad day,” you say, “No. He didn’t. He committed a hate crime, and I’m not going to stand for that.”

Haikyu!! Vol. 5 by Haruichi Furudate

Content Warnings: language, adults smoking

Age Group: Middle grade and up

Haikyu!! continues to be absolutely delightful with its found family dynamic and wholesome team shenanigans. And the deeper I’ve gotten into the manga (the family is also watching the anime together), the more I’ve come to appreciate the fact that the book takes everyone’s dedication to their sport seriously and deals openly with anxiety, fear, and failed expectations. American comics, and society in general, have shifted to making jocks the butt of “dumb blonde” jokes, but Haikyu!! is very careful to avoid that and gives each of the characters it spends time with layered personalities and different chances and ways to shine. And not as single one of them is perfect, not even Kageyama. We get, in fact, some hints that academics aren’t his forte, which isn’t necessarily what we would expect if he were, say, an American football or baseball player.

And as ever, Hinata remains a perfect cinnamon roll, and Tanaka is my favorite; I named my new coffee plant after him.

I took a little break from this one because some other stuff I was excited about came in, but I will 100% be going back to it post-haste.

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes Vols. 3 & 4 by Furuhashi Hideyuki and Betten Court

Content Warnings: Sci-fi violence, blood, language, innuendo

Age Group: Older middle grade/YA and up

Alright, so I’m starting to get my young pro-hero Eraserhead content, which, as I mentioned last time, is really what I’m here for, so hooray! There is young-pro Mic content that accompanies it and is 100% fan service, everyone say thank you to Furuhashi-san. Also, I have to tell y’all that pro-hero Midnight had an all-boy squad that followed her around simping and… um… restraining defeated villains and they are fan-freakin’-tastic. We also get to see Tsukauchi’s first meeting with the Number One Hero (the beginning of a friendship that persists into the main MHA era), which is, quite frankly, adorable.

The vigilante storyline is… supposed to be really heartfelt, but I’m still lukewarm on it. I might feel differently if it had been a true prologue. But I think I’m already so attached to so many characters in the trunk storyline, I don’t have enough space for more. Alas, so many fandoms, limited cell capacity. Vigilantes is a 9-volume, limited series, though, and I want to get the Aizawa-Mic-Shirakumo shared backstory, so I’ll probably hang in there.

Saint Young Men Vol. 5 by Nakamura Hikaru

Content Warnings: Religious satire, graphic imagery (aka: Thomas putting his finger through Jesus’s stigmata)

Age Group: Young adult and up

I totally forgot I had preordered this one, so it was a lovely surprise when I opened the package and found it. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Saint Young Men, the general concept is thus: Jesus and Buddha take a gap year and move into an apartment on the outskirts of Tokyo together to experience normal life. They try real hard to be regular dudes. It… does not go as planned.

But Jesus does figure out that he gets carsick, and they accidentally convince a Yakuza member he’s the son of the head of a rival gang. Oh, and Buddha is great at budgeting but loves bargains a little too much. Thomas won’t help with cell phone upgrades unless he personally confirms Jesus’s identity and Mara gets very upset at his old boss when Buddha steals his best e-penpal, Mailer Daemon.

I cannot stress enough how utterly hilarious this book is. If the stick is so far up your ass that you can’t laugh at it, I cannot help you.

Toritan: Birds of a Feather Vol. 2 by Yamamoto Kotetsuko

Content Warnings: Age gap (19 and 23), explicit content

Age Group: mature

Inusaki can talk to birds. They talk back. It’s… often annoying, though it occasionally helps in his job as a private investigator and neighborhood jack of all trades. When he meets a crow named Kuro, who sounds like his landlady’s good-looking son, and develops a crush on the bird (calm down, google “tengu”; Japanese mythology has a long history of bird people), his ability gets downright complicated. Especially when he also develops a crush on said son, Mitsuru.

Mitsuru seems to like him back – at least, that’s what Inusake gathers when Mitsuru kisses him. Even that doesn’t entirely clear things up. Not until the two start dating and Mitsuru reveals that he knows Kuro too. And he thinks the crow would be okay with Mitsuru and Inusake’s relationship. Is fact, he’s 100% sure.

No, I’m not going to tell you why, go read the book. Goodness, it’s only two volumes.

This is, for the most part, a delightfully fluffy if slightly odd romance. I enjoy the awkward-one/confident-partner dynamic, especially when the confident partner is patient and gentle and willing to assess and adjust instead of just plowing ahead and making a mess. (Why do you think I’ve watched Yuri on Ice!!! 57 times?) I think it’s kind of neat that it’s the younger partner who’s cast in the confident role here; that’s rare, and it works particularly well in this story.

Toritan is labeled explicit, which is generally not my thing, but I got sucked in by the mythology aspect and figured I could skip ahead if I wanted to. As it happens, there are only a couple of pages of legit explicit content, and they’re pretty tasteful compared to other stuff I have accidentally stumbled on on ye olde interwebs.

Cherry Magic: 30 Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! Vols. 1 & 2 by Toyota Yuu

Content Warning: explicit content

I mean, it’s all there in the title, really. In the world of this manga, when you reach the age of 30 and are still a virgin, you become a wizard.

You get the power to read minds, which is how Adachi learns the office hottie and all-around most popular and eligible bachelor Kurosawa has a crush on his quiet, nerdy, asocial self. He has no idea how to deal with that, despite the fact every time they touch, even accidentally, Adachi knows exactly what Kurosawa is thinking.

Here is why I love this book, besides the fact that Adachi and Kurosawa are both delightful and complex and layered and Mister Perfect isn’t perfect and Mister Thinks He’s an Emo Misanthrope is actually just inexperienced and anxious and good in a world that treats nice people poorly.

The premise is pure, ridiculous, indulgent fantasy, but the way it plays out is so real. These two adorable doofuses cannot get their shit together, despite the fact that one of them (and I have some suspicions about the other) can read minds.

Y’all, people are hard. No matter how much you love them and how well you know them, they are hard and complicated and they have baggage and you have baggage. Their mind may be screaming, “I will love you forever,” and yours will still counter, “Really? Me? But why though?” I cannot even.

There is a 12-episode live-action version of Cherry Magic on Crunchyroll. I’m only on episode 7, so I’m not sure how far ahead of the manga translation it gets, so there are potential spoilers, I’d imagine, if you’re concerned. The show is equally as adorable, the actors are perfect… and lordy, the shenanigans.

In conclusion… go learn something.

See ya next time.