Deathbound Duke's Daughter: Volume 1


Terasu Senoo - 2020
    As if that wasn’t bad enough already, Erika’s role in the game is to pester the main character... and then die in order to kick off a mysterious series of events! These incidents are different in each love interest’s route, and seven routes means seven deaths to avoid. Not one to throw in the towel, Erika knows she must take action to destroy her death flags—and since her life is on the line, there’s no time to lose!Her very first death flag is set to rise after she meets two noble children from a prominent magician’s house. In order to prevent the resulting incidents, the Gold Rush Murders, she arms herself with her brother's expensive(!!!) magical items and heads into the ancient Seafarer’s Ruins. But things don’t quite go according to plan...

The Miracles of the Namiya General Store


Keigo Higashino - 2012
    This seemingly simple request for advice sets the trio on a journey of discovery as, over the course of a single night, they step into the role of the kindhearted former shopkeeper who devoted his waning years to offering thoughtful counsel to his correspondents. Through the lens of time, they share insight with those seeking guidance, and by morning, none of their lives will ever be the same.By acclaimed author Keigo Higashino, The Miracles of the Namiya General Store is a work that has touched the hearts of readers around the world.

Walking My Second Path in Life: Volume 1


Otaku de Neet - 2017
    Fie, first princess of Daeman, finds herself isolated and stranded in the foreign Kingdom of Orstoll all by her lonesome - effectively having been wed off as a dowry gift in accessory to her sister, Princess Fielle's marriage.Trapped and isolated in a small back garden that once used to be a storehouse, Fie lives her days without purpose, and eventually without food - after the only member of her entourage, the chef, resigns.Just as Fie was about to give in to despair, she finds a pamphlet advertising a squire's test for the Royal Knights of Orstoll - beginning her journey of friendship, hard work, and guts, along with masquerading as a boy to walk her second path in life.What will Fie find along the way?

Nijigahara Holograph


Inio Asano - 2006
    To appease its wrath, they decide to offer it a sacrifice--a human one. But this is only the beginning of Nijigahara Holograph, which takes place in two separate timelines and involves the suicidal Amahiko; Kohta, the lovestruck bully; their teacher Miss Sakaki, whose heavily bandaged face remains a mystery; and many more brothers, sisters, parents, co-workers, teachers, aggressors, and victims who are all inextricably linked to one another. Ten years later, all will have to face what they've done or suffered through--and maybe the end of the world. Nijigahara Holograph--complex, challenging, and elliptical--was named one of the most anticipated new manga at Comic-Con International: San Diego. Hailed as a voice of the current generation in Japan, Inio Asano, whose Solanin was nominated for Eisner and Harvey awards (and was made into a feature film), delves into David Lynchian territory with this psychological horror story.

Dragon Sword and Wind Child


Noriko Ogiwara - 1988
    But for 15-year old Saya, the war is far away and unimportant--until the day she discovers she is the reincarnation of the Water Maiden and a princess of the Children of the Dark. Raised to love the Light and detest the Dark, Saya must come to terms with her heritage even as she is tumbled into the very heart of the conflict that is destroying her country. Both the army of the Light and Dark seek to claim her, for she is the only mortal who can awaken the legendary Dragon Sword, the weapon destined to end the war. Can Saya make the dreadful choice between the Light and Dark, or is she doomed like all the Water Maidens who have come before her?

Death Note, Vol. 1: Boredom


Tsugumi Ohba - 2004
    But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami, a death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal... or his life?BoredomLight tests the boundaries of the Death Note's powers as L and the police begin to close in. Luckily, Light's father is the head of the Japanese National Police Agency and leaves vital information about the case lying around the house. With access to his father's files, Light can keep one step ahead of the authorities. But who is the strange man following him, and how can Light guard against enemies whose names he doesn't know?

Masks


Fumiko Enchi - 1958
    This is a curiously elegant and scandalous tale of sexual deception and revenge. Ibuki loves widow Yasuko who is young, charming and sparkling with intelligence as well as beauty. His friend, Mikame, desires her too but that is not the difficulty. What troubles Ibuki is the curious bond that has grown between Yasuko and her mother-in-law, Mieko, a handsome, cultivated yet jealous woman in her fifties, who is manipulating the relationship between Yasuko and the two men who love her.

My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! Volume 1


Satoru Yamaguchi - 2015
    Just before her untimely death, this girl recalls playing an otome game... that is exactly like the world she's living in now! She is now Katarina Claes, the antagonist of the otome game, who nastily hounded the protagonist until the end. Knowing all the possible outcomes of the game, she realizes that every single possible route ends with Katarina being murdered or exiled! In order to avoid these Catastrophic Bad Ends, she has to use her knowledge of the game and her own wiles, starting with breaking off this engagement with the prince... Will Katarina survive while making her way through this world, where bad flags trip at every turn? Find out in this reverse-harem rom-com, led by everybody's favorite villainess!

So I'm a Spider, So What?, Vol. 1


Okina Baba - 2015
    I used to be a normal high school girl but in the blink of an eye, I woke up in a place I've never seen before and-and I was reborn as a spider?! How could something that's nothing more than a tiny spider (that's me) possibly survive in literally the worst dungeon ever? Are there no rules? There should be some rules! Who the hell is responsible for this? SHOW YOUR FACE!

Boogiepop And Others


Kouhei Kadono - 1998
    This "Angel of Death" has a name--Boogiepop. And the legends are true. Boogiepop is real.Told in a non-linear fashion that asks the reader to piece together the sequence of events to solve the mysteries alongside the characters, Kouhei Kadono's first Boogiepop novel took First Place in Media Works' Dengeki Game Novel Contest in 1997 and ignited the Japanese "light novel" trend. Today, there are over 2 million Boogiepop novels in print, a feature film and manga adaptation based on the first book, an original manga entitled Boogiepop Dual, and the unforgettable original anime series Boogiepop Phantom.

Sound! Euphonium: Welcome to the Kitauji High School Concert Band


Ayano Takeda - 2013
    She starts her first year at Kitauji High School, she finds herself being roped back in. But their school's band is hopeless. There was a time where they had placed well in nationals, but now they can't even make it past their regional qualifiers. In the midst of all of this, Kumiko meets the last person she'd ever want to see again, Reina. Will Kitauji High manage to pull itself together with the day of the concert drawing ever closer?!

Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash: Volume 1


Ao Jyumonji - 2013
    Not knowing why was he here, or where "here" even was. With him were others who also remembered little more than their own names. What they found when they came out of the underground was a world that was "just like a game." In order to survive, Haruhiro forms a party with others in the same situation as him, learns skills, and takes his first steps forward into the world of Grimgar as a trainee volunteer soldier. Not knowing what awaits him... This is a tale of adventure born from the ashes.

In a Grove


Ryūnosuke Akutagawa - 1922
    Akira Kurosawa used this story as the basis for his award-winning movie Rashōmon."In a Grove" is an early modernist short story consisting of seven varying accounts of the murder of a samurai, Kanazawa no Takehiro, whose corpse has been found in a bamboo forest near Kyoto. Each section simultaneously clarifies and obfuscates what the reader knows about the murder, eventually creating a complex and contradictory vision of events that brings into question humanity's ability or willingness to perceive and transmit objective truth.The story is often praised as being among the greatest in Japanese literature.

The Emissary


Yōko Tawada - 2014
    Children are so weak they can barely stand or walk: the only people with any get-go are the elderly. Mumei lives with his grandfather Yoshiro, who worries about him constantly. They carry on a day-to-day routine in what could be viewed as a post-Fukushima time, with all the children born ancient—frail and gray-haired, yet incredibly compassionate and wise. Mumei may be enfeebled and feverish, but he is a beacon of hope, full of wit and free of self-pity and pessimism. Yoshiro concentrates on nourishing Mumei, a strangely wonderful boy who offers “the beauty of the time that is yet to come.”A delightful, irrepressibly funny book, The Emissary is filled with light. Yoko Tawada, deftly turning inside-out “the curse,” defies gravity and creates a playful joyous novel out of a dystopian one, with a legerdemain uniquely her own.

Lonely Castle in the Mirror


Mizuki Tsujimura - 2017
    Passing through a glowing mirror, they gather in a magnifcent castle which becomes their playground and refuge during school hours. The students are tasked with locating a key, hidden somewhere in the castle, that will allow whoever finds it to be granted one wish. At this moment, the castle will vanish, along with all memories they may have of their adventure. If they fail to leave the castle by 5 pm every afternoon, they will be eaten by the keeper of the castle, an easily provoked and shrill creature named the Wolf Queen.Delving into their emotional lives with sympathy and a generous warmth, Lonely Castle in the Mirror shows the unexpected rewards of reaching out to others. Exploring vivid human stories with a twisty and puzzle-like plot, this heart-warming novel is full of joy and hope for anyone touched by sadness and vulnerability.