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"Heading out tonight too? These walks had better be helping with your insomnia... Be careful."

They say strange things happen during the full moon. What happens when that includes the supernatural?

Our unnamed heroine and her dog, Jiro, take night walks to help her sleep, and she's come to learn that on nights with a full moon, she shares the city with shadowy supernatural creatures only she (and Jiro) can see.

And it's cute! Less a horror story than a whimsical slice of life, Midnight Walk of Wonders lives up to its name. The art is atmospheric and brings the story to life wonderfully, and the shadow creatures ... are both ominous and adorable as the story requires. The story has a casual but intriguing vibe, like taking a walk alongside the heroine and experiencing it with her.

Mayonaka Wonder Sanpo is a hidden gem -- and it'll make you wonder what hidden treasures you share your town with too.

"I'm glad I managed to win against you in the end."

The calendar is torn. The door is taped shut. The bathtub is full of trash bags. And two young men sit on the couch, playing video games...

I'm absolutely smitten with Period. Atmospheric and suspenseful, it's an incredible example of showing instead of telling. Every detail of each panel adds to the story, and it forces you to read it slowly, drinking in each clue. It's the epitome of a creator refusing to spoon-feed the story to the reader.

Why is Kobayashi so heavily bruised? Why does Takagi have bandages on his hands? What's in the trash ... bags? Why are the police outside the building? Every detail comes together to reveal a disturbing truth that's incredibly satisfying to piece together, but heartbreaking at the same time.

"Oh, it's the Vista Express."

Ken-chan lives in the countryside in 1976 with his mom, his dad, and his cat, Momo. The highlight of his day is when trains pass through his small town.

And that's about it.

You might think that such a simple summary would pair with a mediocre manga, but Ken-chan's story is an unexpectedly endearing one. Wholesome and heartwarming, each chapter is a peek into this family's simple life. Ken-chan's father makes him stilts out of tin cans. Momo has kittens. Father drunkenly brings home a duck. Nothing groundbreaking happens, but maybe that's this manga's charm.

The art is simplistic, but this pairs well ... with the easygoing story. Pages are filled with simple but lovely blue skies and green fields. In a word, it's charming.

Ken-chan's story isn't going to change your life, but it doesn't aim to. It gives you a break from your busy life, your hectic day, and brings you back to a simpler time. And it shows that sometimes, that's enough.

"A stuffed doll...? Did someone throw it out? He's ragged, but still smiling..."

A story about a girl and a doll. But also, a story about the small joys that make the pressures of adult life bearable. A story about learning to become yourself.

There's a lot to love here. Yumi is a highly relatable character, awkward among her work peers and a misfit in general. It's heartwarming to see how her affection for her stuffed doll, Kurumi, brings her back to her abandoned hobby of sewing, and how injecting these little moments of happiness into her life spur her to make changes in her professional life ... as well. Suguru, the proprietor of a sewing shop, is also a lovable character, whose appreciation of Yumi's foibles and idiosyncrasies support her personal growth.

The art is lovely as well. It's polished and charming, so that even Kurumi's frozen smile emotes and warms the heart. Kurumi says that Yumi "sparkles" when she's happy, and the art reflects this; her joy jumps out of the page. The details are lovely as well, with fabric-covered buttons and the seams of Kurumi's little denim jacket conveying the care the characters put into their work, and that Uruhiko put into this manga.

Yumi to Kurumi is a story about a girl and a doll, but it's a lot more than that. It's about adulthood, and self love, and being true to yourself. And I think it's something anyone could enjoy.

"This is the story of Komatsu-kun and me. Everybody, please take care of us!"

Komatsu-kun Biyori is... fine. Just fine. There's nothing wrong with it, really, but there's not much to get excited about either.

As a nonfiction yonkoma, there's not much of a plot. It's just random facts about ferrets and vignettes from Tsubaki's life with Komatsu-kun (her ferret). It does have its emotional highs and lows, since the real Komatsu-kun passed away during serialization, so some chapters do pack a punch. But for better or worse, most chapters are just fluff.

I'm not a huge fan of the art style either. It's pretty simple and unpolished, ... despite Tsubaki having a number of series under her belt; that's just her style. The animals are drawn to be cute and distinct enough that that's probably the series' visual charm point, but Tsubaki draws herself to look like a child or young teenager, which can make it easy to miss the fact that she's a grown adult.

Komatsu-kun Biyori is the kind of volume that's good for young readers, maybe tween or young teens who prefer light and fluffy subject matter. Nothing wrong with that. But ultimately, if you're looking for anything substantial or engaging, it might be better to keep looking.

"He was small and cute when I picked him up... So why did he get so big..."

Furukawa Uta is 14 years old, and she has a problem. That problem is Pi-chan, her parakeet. He can say "good morning", and "thank you", and oh, he's bigger than she is.

One of my truest loves is oneshots that don't try to cram too much in. In this way, Uchi no Pi-chan made my heart sing. Uta has a parakeet that's just too darn big, and that's about all there is to the story. Where are her parents? Don't know, doesn't matter. Where does a bird like Pi-chan come ... from? Don't know, doesn't matter. How did he get so big? Don't know, doesn't matter. The simple fact is, he's here and he's huge, and Uta has to deal with it.

And deal with it she does! Or at least, she tries. Oh, does she try. She cages him (a bust), lets him perch (a failure), chats with him (a no go), sings to him (a disaster), and more, but in the end is forced to accept her hot mess of a pet as he is -- and ultimately celebrates his unique nature.

Both heartwarming and hilarious throughout, Uchi no Pi-chan will hit the spot no matter what kind of reader you are. Now ask yourself: What would you do with a bird like Pi-chan?

"Natsukawaaa! You remember our promise, right?! Just you wait and see! I'll beat you this time for sure!"

Good ol' Adachi Mitsuru. Certainly no stranger to the meeting of sports and romance, this time he brings us a oneshot about a kendo rivalry that revives every summer. Each year, Hikaru comes to town and tries to defeat Rin, and each year he fails.

Honestly, I love this story. Some oneshots try to fit way too much into their limited page count; Rakugaki doesn't have this problem. It seems to tell a fairly straight-forward story until a well-timed flashback reveals the hidden layers that the plot has had ... all along.

The character designs are fairly textbook Adachi, which doesn't bother me at all. They suit the characters, and Hikaru is a nice variation on the usual Adachi male protagonist that works as a little bonus for the experienced Adachi reader. And the backgrounds and scenery are lovely as always, with a gorgeous full colour blue sky on the first page and a subtler greyscale firework-lit night sky on the last.

Adachi shorts and summer go together like peanut butter and chocolate, and Natsu no Rakugaki is just another example to prove it.

"I have confidence this program will allow for us to release humanity from its bonds."

Virtual reality! Always an interesting subject, right? Add in the idea of digitizing human consciousness and transcending our physical bodies, and you can't miss -- can you?

I didn't hate Unreal, but I didn't like it as much as I wanted to. The concept is cool, but the way its told is very confusing. There are a couple of mini info dumps, but it's still difficult to understand the universe Takaki has set up. There are definitely a few areas where he could have simplified his digital universe to fit the limited ... scope of a oneshot.

I like Takaki's art style, and there's nothing wrong with the character designs here, but I have some serious grievances with Ena's outfit. There's really no reason for her digitally generated tunic to be apparently transparent, or for the rivets to emphasize her nipples. I would have rolled my eyes and moved on if Ray's outfit had similar issues, but nope, as a guy he gets a normal, opaque, non-nipple-y jumpsuit. I get the desire to include some fanservice, but Ena's outfit isn't even attractive or flattering; it's just awkward.

I would be game if Takaki took another stab at Unreal; a reimagining, an expanded version. But as it is, there's not much about Unreal to recommend.

"Wait, am I actually unconscious in a hospital after hitting my head, or--? Huh? IT'S ALL VIRTUAL?!"

I have a love-hate relationship with Kano Yasuhiro and his works. Vetsunova is a pretty good example of why.

Kano's art is... good. It's nothing special, but it's technically sound, and he has his own style. But his panels are so cluttered and his layouts so crammed in, honestly it gives me a bit of a headache. Vetsunova's virtual avatars should be a chance for him to flex his character designs, but he goes straight for the cheesecake. Immediately upon starting the oneshot we're shown a 17-year-old with her bits ... barely covered, and she wears that outfit for the whole story. Look, I'm not averse to some fanservice, but it would have been way more in character for Miri to agree to help Crazy Kong on the condition that he teach her how to change her avatar's outfit instead of just forgetting about how uncomfortable she is like the reader's not going to notice that the teenage heroine's ass gets as much panel time as her face.

The story has so much promise. Augmented reality! It's been done, sure, but there's still mountains of potential for variation. But other than the initial infodump, Kano seems pretty wishywashy with his world building. It's implied that the characters are navigating the real world as visually augmented by the "Glass" glasses, but does that mean when Miri experiences recoil from her gun, she experiences that in the real world? Are there real world people and cars they can't see while navigating the race track? Does this cause real world accidents, injuries, and even deaths? But Kano doesn't seem to care about this as long as he can give panel time to Kong sliding face-first into Miri's crotch.

Ultimately, Vetsunova -- the story and the virtual world -- has a lot of potential, but Kano doesn't seem interested in taking advantage of it.

"Haruka Kanae. I'm a samurai."

So a weird Japanese kid shows up in New York with a sword, hunting down the 206 American criminals called "Number Bones", which he tallies on his prosthetic arm. With me so far?

Honestly, I love this plot. It's a blatant setup for a "gotta hunt 'em all" story that could unfold in the event of serialization, and I'm so salty there's no actual serialization to speak of. Give me more! The goofy protagonist! The hoard of criminals with limitless story potential! And a villain with a familial link to the hero? I'd eat it with a spoon.

The art isn't incredible, but ... it's pretty nice. Polished, cool character designs, flashy action scenes, nothing to complain about. I feel like it's the kind of art that could really blossom and evolve across the course of a serialization, but I won't harp on that again...

Honestly? The biggest shortcoming in this oneshot is Shindou's truly strange grasp of English. "Number Bones" is just the start; criminals use aliases like "Donor", "Calm", "Disaster", "Color Hunt", and worst of all "Dolch@BLACK". How do you say that? Do you pronounce the @? I'll just say it: Shindou needs an assistant who speaks some English.

Consider this: Shindou Masaoki debuted at 17, and drew Count Over at approximately 19. Should I be embarrassed to be so PUMPED to see where his work goes in the future?