When you work in a Japanese bookstore like Honda-san, there are a million and one things to keep track of. Managing new releases, accounting for the revival of titles from the grave, understanding the unique(ly maddening) quirks of each manga publisher-it's enough to leave anyone bone-tired!

Ever wonder what it's like to sell comics at a Japanese bookstore? Honda provides a hilarious firsthand account from the front lines! Whether it's handling the store, out-of-print books, or enthusiastic manga fans, Honda takes on every challenge!

Honda-san no longer works in bookselling, but the tales of bookstore antics don't stop, as she turns to interviewing those still on the inside!

When a fantasy world has fully functioning smartphones and internet (for some reason), it’s only natural for its sixteen-year-old shut-in of a Hero to declare war via text message on the Demon Lord who has abducted the kingdom’s princess. But is it natural for that Demon Lord to be an innocent teenage girl who hates conflict?!! And somehow, this hopelessly weak, level one Hero ends up texting that overly pure Demon Lord, her cheerful Demon Generals (who are all smitten with her), and a kidnapped princess who is seriously falling for her captor as he sets off on a perilous journey to meet his online cru—er, mortal enemy face-to-face!

What nerd wouldn't enjoy exploring an RPG-style world? Not Mika Kamiya! She was just about to enjoy her post-Comic Market haul when fate whisked her away to a fantasy land. All Mika wants is to find a way home, so she's hunting for spells-but rather than search all over, they'll be coming to her to attend her magical-book-selling event, Magic Market! With a very "animated" catalog of guests, eccentric attendees, and out-of-control lines, what could possibly go wrong?!

Fantagraphics Books is proud to launch its manga line with MotoHagio's collection of short comics, A Drunken Dream and Other Stories.Hagio is one of Japan's most influential and critically lauded comicsinnovators; she has been reinventing shojo manga (Japanese comics marketed at10-18 year-old girls) since 1969. Unconstrained by boundaries of genre, she hassculpted a career characterized by intellectual curiosity, psychologicalauthenticity, and an esthetic sense that has elevated the shojo genre into theliterary. In "Autumn Journey" (1971), a boy's pilgrimage tothe home of his favorite author has more meaning than either the author or hisdaughter can imagine. In "Marie, Ten Years Later" (1977), twoestranged friends learn too late how their actions had destroyed the balance ofa perfect triad of intimacy. In "A Drunken Dream" (1980), twoscientists--one a hermaphrodite, the other a tribal priest--meet on aspace station orbiting Io; but they have met before and are destined to meetagain. In "Iguana Girl" (1991), a girl who appears to her mother andherself to be a hideous anthropoid iguana struggles to overcome hermother's rejection and find happiness ... but her mother has a secret.Learn for yourself why the creator of They Were Eleven! (adapted into an animereleased on DVD in 2005) continues to garner international critical praise andappeals to readers across ages and generations.

There’s something really strange about the maid I just hired! No normal person could be so beautiful, or cook such amazingly delicious food, or know exactly what I want before I even ask. She must be using magic—right, a spell is the only thing that can explain why my chest feels so tight whenever I look at her. I swear, I’m going to get to the bottom of what makes this maid so...mysterious!