10 New Manga Releases of June 2023 to Round Out Your Summer Reading List

Eripiyo is a passionate fan of the chika idol group ChamJam, and in particular of the member Maina Ichii. Unfortunately, Maina is the group’s least popular member, leading Eripiyo to take it upon herself to spend most of her money on Maina’s merchandise in support of her. For a fun, feel-good read, you’ll want to check out this cute yuri manga centered around Japan’s chika idol subculture.

Cherry is a shy, reserved boy who prefers to express himself through haiku and avoids interacting with others by always wearing headphones. Smile is an online influencer with a bubbly personality but constantly wears a mask to hide her teeth and braces. When a fateful encounter at the mall causes the teens to cross paths one summer, the two begin to take an interest in each other despite their differences. Based on the 2021 animated film, this sweet slice-of-life teen romance is sure to charm and delight.

Saitou is an average handyman who has never felt particularly special or important in his life. Until one day, he suddenly finds himself transported to a fantasy world. Here, he meets and joins a band of adventurers who come to rely on his skills to help with picking locks, making repairs, and more. Finally, Saitou experiences the feeling of being needed and valued!

Manga artist Poppy Pesuyama, who had struggled with gender dysphoria since childhood, was excited about their new job as a mangaka’s assistant. But instead of gaining valuable experience and mentorship, what they ended up facing was sexual harassment and demeaning treatment. In this urgent and brutally honest account, Pesuyama reckons with this and other past traumas and experiences, reflecting on how they contributed to shaping who they are and how they view the world today.

After being rejected from art school at the end of high school, Miyuu has led a life her mother chose for her — one that is secure and boring and completely void of passion. Now 23, she feels like an empty shell of a person. But when Miyuu finally reaches a boiling point and clashes with her mother one last time, she leaves home with a blank canvas and the desire to pursue her dreams once more.

Tatsuki Fujimoto is the creator of the hit series Chainsaw Man, and this one-shot is one of his newest stories. On his 12th birthday, Yuta receives a smartphone from his parents, and his mother’s wish is that he use it to put together a film of her as she has a terminal illness. After her death, Yuta shows the film he made at school, but is met with criticism and ridicule, pushing him to contemplate suicide. However, when he meets the mysterious Eri, Yuta is encouraged to make another film, and the two work on it together. Enigmatic, strange, and electric, this is an imaginative and compelling story about grief and loss.

Centaurs, or jinba, inhabit medieval Japan alongside humans in this alternate historical fantasy series. Although the centaurs were once considered deities and revered, in the sengoku period they are captured and enslaved by humans. In this epic adventure, Matsukaze, a samurai jinba caught and traded to a feudal lord, and Kohibari, who was captured and tamed in childhood, must work together to regain their freedom and escape back to the wild.

From the creator of Helter Skelter, River’s Edge is a moody, atmospheric story of the messiness and angst of adolescence. It follows six high schoolers whose lives overlap and intertwine on the bank of a river in their town. The story is complete in a single volume, making it a great pick for readers not ready to commit to a lengthy series. A film based on the manga was released in Japan in 2018, and is available to view on Netflix in the U.S.

If you’re looking for something more on the dark and disturbing side, Homunculus is a horror manga with psychological thriller and supernatural elements. A man is offered a large sum of money to undergo an experimental medical procedure involving trepanation, the drilling of holes in a person’s skull. When he wakes up from the procedure, he discovers that he has gained the ability to see homunculi, or visual distortions made up by people’s traumas. Homunculus was also the basis for a film released worldwide on Netflix in 2021.