At this point I think I pretty much felt very tantalizingly the possibility of catching back up again with Harta, and so reading it ended up (despite plenty of other priorities and things I still very much should get to) becoming the main thing going, and I used this issue in particular as an excuse to hang out relaxing in a corner of local breweries and the like reading Harta, going perhaps a touch faster than I ought to have in a way that may or may not come back to bite me if I get confused by future installments in the various series (although weirdly, I remember feeling like I rushed this issue, but not the next two which I’ve already read and which I read faster). (Going to try to marathon three of these notes in one go to definitively catch up, so this might be slightly more selective than usual, I have no idea).

Some highlights:

There’s a 新連載 based on a recent 読み切り: 海底掃除人マタタビュリス by 本山とらじろ, and I said for the 読み切り version: “Seemed like the type where it’s more of a test for a series than a one-shot, and I couldn’t particularly complain if that turned out to be the case in the future” So… I guess I can’t complain! The kiddishness of the child protagonist feels a little more emphasized here. I think it could be a fun series! There’s something about it that makes me worry I might lose track of the characters/world-building like with ウスズミの果て, but マタタビュリス herself and the underwater exploration feels like it could be a really solid anchor.

There’s a short 新連載: エイリアンと虫ハカセ by 小池リクト. This is a three-parter so since I’ve already read the next two issues I’ve already read this entire thing! But I remember about this first part being intrigued with “where is this going to go” type misgivings that were turned to mostly positive-type intrigued by the end of the chapter.

In 船長、問題がありません！ by 佐藤宮, I’m very tickled by the contrasting experience of the other half of the time/bodyswap equation.

I really loved the 読み切り by 福浪優子 (author of the concluded series あかねさす柘榴の都): やんごとなき食卓! It’s about a king of a presumably fictional, presumably small and a little fairy-taleish country having to adjust to everyday life in Japan and prepare food for himself. Thematically I felt that it’s about specifically the way that learning to adjust to difficulty can be more (or more deeply) pleasurable than staying in a wholly comfortable situation past when you should. Lately I’ve been very very much actively trying to cultivate internal momentum for seeking out just that kind of experience, so it felt particularly nice to read in this particular moment (and of course it’s lovely to see work from this author again)…