13/01/2020: Best Manga to Enjoy During the New Year

5 series that give you a “new year” vibe!

1. The Way of the Househusband

This one’s about a reformed yakuza who takes care of the household while his wife goes out to work. Naturally, much of the humour lies in the disparity between the yakuza’s rough demeanour and the delicate, conscientious way he goes about his housework. By reading this series, maybe you’ll get some inspiration to clean your room, do some house repairs or make something useful for the house, in the spirit of tidying up for the new year ahead!

2. How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?

Other than spring cleaning, the other big “new year” thing to do is to fulfil your new year resolutions. The most daunting of these resolutions is usually the “I’m going to get fit this year!” resolution. Usually, you might lose steam while training because getting usually involves getting hot, sweaty and gross. However, even working out can be fun if you’re doing it with cute 2D girls! Join Hibiki, Akemi, Ayaka and Zina as they learn about working out. It’s full of cool tips and tricks about working out and will give you some ideas and inspiration to keep training hard. If you’re a newbie like I am, you’ll especially relate to Hibiki, who’s constantly struggling to keep to her diet and stay consistent with her training. Let’s train hard and get stronger in 2020 together!

3. Paradise Kiss

New year, new me! Even if timing conventions like days, months and years are an artificial construct, there’s something about changing digits on the date that symbolise a fresh start. If you’ve ever wanted to undergo a makeover, this romantic comedy about a bookish nerd being forcibly made over into a top clothing model might be your cup of tea.

- Shiota Nagisa