Not that many books, many new manga series and some re-reads – this sums up this month pretty well. I did read more than expected though, it felt like I rarely ever held any kind of book in my hand? :O (And the German title does just sound silly at this point, haha.)

Purgatory Survival vol. 1-2
Original title: Rengoku Dead Role. I have no idea why, but this month I was suddenly in the mood to read some random manga series I’ve never cared about before. This is one of them, and I mostly stumbled across it because it’s from the writer of Kakegurui. Well, even though I loved Mirai Nikki, I never got into any other of those survival death game series, but now I’m actually wondering why, because…I really enjoy this series! I’m too lazy to think about the solutions of the puzzles, but it’s a really entertaining read. I actually had to order the second volume right after finishing the first one because I wanted to know the solution of one game, haha. Honestly, my biggest complaint would be that the protagonist was never wearing his glasses again after the first chapter, lol.

Kakegurui vol. 1-2
Didn’t I just mention Kakegurui? Well. That was another one of the series I wanted to read all of a sudden. So, when there was a offer to get the first two volumes for a discounted price, I couldn’t say no. The promo art and what I saw of the series always put me off before…and that’s a shame, because it’s so good! I gotta say that Kakegurui might as well become one of my new all-time favourite series – and the grudging friendship between Yumeko and Mary is just totally my jam. And well, just like Yumeko can’t stop herself from gambling, I couldn’t stop myself from reading…so I already ordered the next volumes. Maybe I’ll also watch the anime, but for now I’m happy that I finally gave the manga a try!

Darwin’s Game vol. 1
More death game stuff, and I liked this one too. I’m not as excited about this one as I was about Purgatory Survival, but nevertheless I want to continue reading the series. I also noticed that some of the volumes have really beautiful covers and I’m looking to the point when the characters from those covers will actually appear in the story.

Interviews mit Monster-Mädchen vol. 1
Original title: Demichan wa Kataratai. A solid first volume, and I am intrigued to continue reading the series. But it wasn’t like I had to buy the next volume ASAP, like with some of the other series I started reading this month. Also, the volumes are really thin…I might as well try to get them used for cheap.

Violence Action vol. 1
The story is pretty engaging, and I liked the contrast between the heroine’s cute looks and the bloody jobs she completes for her employer. I might buy more volumes if I’m in the mood…or if I get them for cheap, as they usually cost 10€ and that’s a bit much for this kind of manga, I think.

Sengoku Blood vol. 1-2
Holy shit, this manga is pure crack. Or at least that’s what I thought when I was reading it :D I’m sure it’s actually supposed to be a pretty serious story, but I couldn’t help but laugh throughout the story. My favourite part was Yoshimoto Imagawa, the SM maniac who dresses like an idiot, lol. Also, the demon guy is pretty hot and Hideyoshi is best char. Looking forward to the next two volumes because I had a lot of fun with this manga.

D.Gray-man vol. 1-6
Hooray for omnibus volumes, I say! I did collect and read the German version of DGM some years ago, but then I sold my volumes and now I felt like re-reading the series from the beginning. Well, and so I started collecting the omnibus version! I have to say that I couldn’t really remember anything from the first few chapters, so it felt like reading that part of the story for the first time, haha. It was really enjoyable though – I especially liked the chapter about Miranda Lotto and I’m looking forward to her other appearances later in the story. By the way, it’s pretty funny that just five volumes got released since I stopped reading the series :O

Manga Love Story vol. 1-4
Original title: Futari Ecchi. Another series I read before, I think I owned all volumes until vol. ~30 before I sold them? Anyway, I still enjoy reading this series. Even though my interest in sex is basically just of an intellectual nature, it’s both entertaining and educational to follow the lovey-dovey adventures of our main couple and their various friends and aquaintances. I’m looking forward to getting beyond the point to which I had read before, but as I couldn’t remember many details it’s still fun to revisit the first volumes!

23:45 re
I loved the first volume of this duology. The second volume wasn’t as good in my opinion, but it was still a pleasant read. And it was a nice addition to the first volume after all, so…I really didn’t regret reading it!

Goodbye Harlequin
Wow, what even was my last 18+ rated boys love manga? No idea, but that one was pretty good. I love the drawing style (I will definitely buy the mangaka’s other stuff!) and I enjoyed both the story and the hot stuff. Quite surprising actually, I mostly bought this because the variant cover of the limited edition looks so nice, haha.

Murcielago vol. 14
I enjoy this series so much…I need to preorder all volumes from now on. Gotta support the publisher for releasing a series as weird as this one, haha. But the next volume is still some months away… ;_; Anyway, this was a great volume again. And I noticed that Kuroko’s sexual adventures aren’t that prominently featured in the story anymore. That was quite different in the first few volumes!

Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time vol. 2
I’m still in love with the German translation. It’s just like the German dubs of foreign comedy films and shows from the 80s, and that’s just exactly my kind of humour. Also, the story is way more enjoyable in the manga. But I mostly do read this for the funny stuff, even though I’m kinda glad to have found an ongoing ecchi series I’m enjoying again…

Young Bride’s Story vol. 9-10
Original title: Otoyomegatari. I just adore every single volume, chapter and panel of this series. It’s truly one of a kind and I just can’t find any fault with it. The art is wonderful, the characters are lovable and the story is somewhat interesting. Please read this, it’s great ;)

In/Spectre vol. 4-6
Original title: Kyokou Suiri. With these three volumes, the Steel Lady Nanase arc comes to a close. I really liked it, maybe even more than I did in the anime version. And I absolutely adore the concept of a urban legend coming to life. But now I’m really looking forward to new adventures that did not get an anime adaption yet. Wonder what the manga still has in store for me.

Die Klingen der Wächter vol. 1
Original title: Biao Ren. After reading another really great manhua last month, I tried another series this month. Well, this one is entirely different from last months‘ series, but it’s just as good! The story has lots of potential and the fight scenes are extremely cool. It’s not that high on my priority list (mostly due to the price of the volumes), but I’ll definitely keep reading this manhua!

Besuch bei Nacht (Eric Ambler)
Original title: The Night-Comers. I only bought and read this book purely by chance, but I enjoyed it immensely! I felt entirely immersed in the atmosphere and it was almost like I experienced the events of the story together with the main characters. The plot wasn’t overly complicated, but really engaging and so it didn’t take me long to finish the book. I might need to check out the authors‘ other works now. Always wanted to get into spy novels and all that anyway.

Englische Märchen/Schottische Märchen/Irische Märchen
I got this boxset of English, Scottish and Irish fairy tales as a Christmas present…took me a while to finally get around to read the book. Well, and I think I should have gotten an english-language edition, because I didn’t really like some of the translations. The English and Scottish stories were alright, but the Irish ones apparently had a different translator and reading felt like a chore. Even though the mythological background of the stories is obviously really interesting! So maybe I’ll get another edition of those fairy tales one day.

Sherlock Holmes: Das Geisterwrack / Der Rubin der Gräfin
I still do enjoy this series of penny dreadful-esque Holmes pastiches. But: the volume ‚Der Rubin der Gräfin‘ contained one story about a murderous Chinese shipmate and Watson’s final words about the case were pretty damn racist, which entirely ruined my reading experience. I get that the original Holmes stories were written at a time where racism was still pretty much everywhere, and some pastiche authors try to replicate that feeling in their stories. But the Watson from the original stories never railed at the ‚beastly deeds of foreign people‘ and the ‚cold smiles of the Chinese‘. Eugh. I sure hope this wasn’t any indicator for the author’s own mindset…