Kingyo Used Books, Vol. 1 (2025)

That was excellent! Basically a series of short stories related to a used bookstore, about books changing people's lives by reminding them of their youths, or giving them new perspective, or causing them to become friends with like-minded strangers. Good art, too.

Now to track down all the manga referenced in this book! I've read surprisingly few of them.
Anyone know if there's a masterlist somewhere? I've typing out all (I hope all)the ones mentioned here, but it was a bit of work and I don't want to do it for all the volume of the series.

Akira Toriyama, Dr Slump
Isami Ishi, 750 Rider
Tsurikichi Sanpei
Shiriritsu Koukou
Yoshihiro Takahashi, Akutare Kyojin (baseball, 1970s)
Yuu Tomaya, Ganbare Genki
Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, Arion
Tetsuya Chiba, Ore Wa teppei
Akira Miyashita
Takao Yaguchi
Satoru Makimura, Dancing Generation
adventures of rock monte (?)
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure
Seimu Yoshizaki, Open Mind (about a mental clinic)
Densenrun desu
Mitsuteru Yokoyama, Sangokushi (Chinese history)
Shinji Mizushima, Dokaben (baseball)
Takao Saito, Survival
Noboru Ohshiro, Kasei tanken (1940s sci-fi)
Tezuka, Adolf
Moebius, Blueberry
Mitokoman Revolution
Fujiko Fujio, Memories of the Future
Kitsuhiro Otomo, Hansel and Gretel
Go Nagai, Abashiri Family
Jiro Taniguchi
Kyoko Hikawa
Yoko Shoji
Mitsushiro Kawashima, Billy Puck
Fujio Akatsuka, Moretsu Ataro (comic gags)
Sensha Yoshida (absurdist)
Hinako Sugiura, Sarusuberi (about Hokusai and his daughter Oei)
Yukiko Kai, Magnolia Sho (this mangaka died at age 26)

[Review of volumes 1–3]

I love books and I love reading stories about books. Books are this grave mystery. There is something transcendent about holding another person's brain in your hands, about receiving crystal-clear messages from the dead (if your author is indeed passed on). And books that explore this mystery are a delectable wonder to me.

Half my joy in reading Carlos Ruiz Zafón's Shadow of the Wind (beyond the entrancing period and twisting plot) was the book's love affair with The Book. Not a book but the book—the idea and instantiation of the book. Books. Whatever. Shadow of the Wind is a book that among other things explores the way a book can change your life, the way a book (the right book for you as an individual) can hover over your entire existence, giving it a unique taste and texture.

Kingyo Used Books is interesting because this mysterious power locked up in books (and in Kingyo's case, manga) is the series' central interest. The sad thing is that it only ever broaches lightly the mystery. It's like if you were reading a book about Teddy Roosevelt and that book wanted you to know just how wonderful Roosevelt was, but every time it talked about him, it simply said, "Teddy Roosevelt was wonderful"—or sometimes, "Teddy Roosevelt was marvelous." You could see the author's point, that Sure he thought that Roosevelt was a class act, but you'd never really know why. The same thing is at play in Kingyo.

The series never stops talking about the wonders of manga. All the characters eventually come to agree. We even see that reading the right manga can change lives, inspire confidence, stoke passions, etc. We just never get to see how. Kingyo is thoroughly romantic in its approach to manga as a panacea; I just wish there would be more exploration of why each chapter's manga of choice blooms the changes it does in the affected individual's life. Each chapter of Kingyo features prominently a different manga series, giving readers a potential reading list after they put Kingyo down, but delves little into what makes these individual titles special.

I'm certain Kingyo plays better in Japan, where readers are undoubtedly more familiar with the different books mentioned. I was definitely more invested in chapters that dealt with books I was familiar with (e.g. Tezuka's Adolf and Moebius' Blueberry). In those chapters, just the mention of the books could conjure all that sense of a book's presence that I described as being missing from the series. I had to generate it myself, but perhaps that's what Kingyo's author is planning on. Part of the problem for Western audiences will be the unavailability of so many of the mentioned titles. It would be one thing if there were used manga stores commonly cropping up across the American landscape, but I suspect that I'll never see the majority of books these characters rhapsodize over.

Apart from that substantial disappointment, the stories are all engaging in a kind of breezy way. The central cast isn't so big, consisting of around eight regulars, but each chapter introduces more visitors to the shop (who may or may not recur), such that it's hard to grow that attached to the characters and their unique dilemmas. In some cases, I found the art hindering my ability to discern whether a character was a regular or a new addition. In any case, with so many people flitting through the store and through the narrative, it becomes difficult to draw a bead on exactly what certain characters are like, who they are, how their personalities work. Though I spent three volumes observing the goings-on in the Kingyo used bookstore, I rarely felt I had any better appreciation for who these employees were than I do with the employees of real-life stores or restaurants that I occasionally visit.

Still, the stories are fun and even if I never felt either a connection to the book's characters or any real sense of why the titles featured were worth my time (and maybe being worth my time was never the point), each volume was an enjoyable way to pass an hour. There are little visual treats* as well that work to endear Kingyo's characters, even while they keep themselves at arms distance. The series cheerfully embarks on its single-minded quest to show people getting a lot out of reading—and there's something to be said for that, even when it's not quite as robust a quest as I might prefer.

*note: such as in the first chapter of volume one, when Natsuki wakes at the front desk in the store with Shiba's coat (?) draped over her. It's cute and sweet and never, ever mentioned.

[Review courtesy of Good Ok Bad]

As someone who almost always buys literature secondhand, it's great to see a manga about a used bookstore. The artwork was great as well.

Unfortunately, the story fell flat, and not being familiar with the other manga referenced throughout prevented me from understanding this fully.

So, this was yet another mixed bag.

Manga about manga. How very Japanese. (I say this because it's done with such seriousness and love, and no irony.)
It really deserves 4 stars as far as quality, but I didn't, ultimately, care for it that much personally. Mainly because it's about old manga- like serialized 1970s titles - and how they affected people's lives - and that's not something I'm into. I can respect the quality, the research, and the notes (which I really appreciate, since this subject is so foreign to me) and the utter devotion of the characters... but, I can't ultimately feel and react the way an otaku would if I empathized with the subject matter.
I like that it's about a book store, and I like that most of the stories stand alone (while giving glimpses of the owner and employees lives- a la "Pet Shop of Horrors" or "XXXholic") and the art is very clean - the love given to copying the old manga covers I respect.) I know the whole point of the series is that manga affects many peoples' lives very differently. But... it's hard to relate since I don't have 20 or 30 years of serialized manga love to fall back on and empathize with.

Worth reading if you're a manga fan. It's got a lot of neat historical notes and nice 1 page synopsis of the series they talk about in each story at the end of the book. So if you like history of comics (including French ones) and such, it's worth picking up.

This is a happy little store, that just sells/buys manga. Several short stories--each with a little lesson. Cute and crazy characters co-exist well within the pages. Each story refers to various manga titles/types-giving you a little history lesson along the way. But you need a magnifying glass to read the little margin notes. The last pages give you greater detail about the manga series titles/artists mentioned in each story.

The drawing of the book is well done, the cover has a built-in book marker flap. I learned about about French comic books/art from a Japanese manga--now that is coolth! I Highly recommend this to anyone wanting to learn more about manga-especially in such a fun way.

This is a slice of life manga about a used bookstore specializing in manga. I liked the realistic style of the art, and the realistic portrayals of the salespeople and their customers. This volume covers 6 different stories about characters who are experiencing some challenge in their present life, and they are able to find the perfect old school manga series to shift their perspective. The manga mentioned throughout this series are actually real series, and each one is highlighted in the back of the book for those who are interested in knowing more about the series or finding them on their own. I like that this one featured a few older individuals who love manga and are helping to keep it alive via the used bookstore and a lending library; I would have loved to learn how they got started with their love of manga.

Min første Manga! Savnet farger, men illustrasjonene var veldig fine i svart-hvitt også. Den besto av mange små historier om hvordan folk knyttes til den gamle bruktbutikken for manga og hvordan de finner mening med livet sitt gjennom manga og/eller personene de møter hos Kingyo. Veldig fin, men savnet litt mer plot. Har forstått at det kommer i de neste bøkene.

This review will be for the whole series; read at your own risk.

Read 4 volumes

Short, episodic chapters of various people finding themselves at an odd used bookstore selling manga called Kingyo Used Books. It’s fine bust definitely aimed more towards adults. Interesting tho!

Going into now knowing its an adult series, its more enjoyable and in volume 3, I started to recognize some titles (Sailor Moon and Rumiko Takahashi books) so its fun to see those little easter eggs. Will continue!

This manga is a series of vignettes centering on a used bookstore specializing in manga. Each vignette references a particular manga with a description in the back of the volume about the manga and the mangaku or artist as the case may be. Each story showed how manga had positively affected people--people who maybe felt too old to read manga, friends who remembered the kids they used to be through the manga they loved, women making friends by the mutual love of a particular manga.

Parts of it really made me smile, just seeing how happy people were remembering a favorite childhood story or talking about manga with someone else. The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read was that I don't think a majority of these books are available and it's very hard to read a book that rhapsodizes over books that you can't access. But if I can get more titles in this series I will be reading more for sure!

Nicely sweet and any book that rhapsodizes over reading is the bees knees to me!!

A perfectly cute manga about a used book store. Each chapter is a vignette (?) about a person's experience with a manga/series. In the back of the book there are notes about each series for context/information if you want to check out the series.
I knocked off half a star because the art isn't that great. I knocked off another star because the translation wasn't that good. Most of the titles of the manga weren't translated and there were some lines of dialogue that were really awkward. There were some notes within the pages that were just info dump, and I ignored them.

I've been looking for a manga about books for a while, but I prefer slice of life style stories to action or supernatural manga, so I couldn't find one. I happened across this title in an issue of OtakuUSA magazine and decided to order a copy and give it a try. The premise is about a used bookstore that specializes in manga. Various people come to the store for different reasons, be it to buy a manga or to sell their old volumes. The characters find a manga that ends up changing their life, in some way or the other, but each chapter is presented in a different way, meaning that it isn't always just 'character A has problem, character A finds manga, character A changes forever'. It varies around, which is nice. Being someone who really enjoys nostalgia and learning about the history of manga, as well as someone who can get emotionally connected to something (including manga) pretty easily, this ended up being nearly perfect for me. My issue with it is that the chapters are fairly short, and similar to oneshots. I like that sort of style, but it does make me wonder about what happened to some particular characters that I ended up caring about. What I really appreciate about this manga is the history lessons about manga. There's a lot of old school manga that I don't know about, so I appreciate learning about it. The manga mentioned in the pages of Kingyo Used Books are real, and not simply parodies of said manga. At the end of the volume, a kind of encyclopedic entry of each central manga from each chapter is highlighted. I would recommend this manga to people who are interested in learning more about manga, who already have a solid respect/love for manga. This probably would not be the best choice for children, who may be looking for more action, and not a slice of life style manga. It also wouldn't be the best idea for someone new to manga who hasn't built the appreciation for the range found within it, yet.

A nostalgic look at the meaning of reading -- and re-reading -- manga.

No lover of reading - whether books or comics - should miss the opportunity for this manga to pull at your heartstrings in the most unexpected ways.

This was so sweet, and the joy of the characters in their love of manga and how it brought them together was delightful! Ahhh, the dream, to be surrounded by comics all the time! Although it often referenced older manga, and there were notes on them, I ended up just skipping most of those notes because I didn't feel knowing the content of the manga the characters read was necessary. What they FELT about the manga was what mattered, and that came through within the actual text (and I mean both image and words when I say text.)

My one slight difficulty was finding feeling for Ayu because of her job. Maybe sedori has a very specific meaning that I can't understand not being Japanese, but it sounded like she was basically a scalper. I can't stand scalpers. I am glad she decided to continue the lending library though. As she says, she hasn't sold her soul (yet.)

Oddly, this is a graphic novel series ABOUT classic manga, told in short stories so that each volume is an anthology, all taking place with some connection to the used book store in the title. Got that? I think part of my enjoyment in the reading of this book came from the memories it brought back, since in my long-ago youth I worked in a store that sold new and used books, comics and manga. We weren't as obsessive as the folks at Kingyo, but there really is a culture that develops among staff, customers, and the folks who come in to sell you their books. As in this manga, some of them scout around for bargains that they can resell to a bookstore and make a profit.
Because the characters change so much with each chapter, my only minor complaint is that this doesn't leave enough room for stories about the store and its staff, but perhaps there will be more of those in later volumes.

Anthologies aren't my favorite genre to read. Usually, I'm a bigger fan of watching characters grow and develop over time. Kingyou Used Books is one of those series that breaks the rule and made me feel very emotional after reading it. It's a series focused on short stories about how Manga is important to people and how it touches their lives. As an author myself, I find I needed this right now. A reminder the work put out into the world can have a deep effect on someone in some way. With all the feeling of being disconnected going on right now, media that helps to perk you up is always a joy to behold.

This volume mentions a bunch of manga from the 50s, 60s and 80s, most of which have never been translated into English; older Japanese manga readers might be familiar with these titles, but I haven't even heard of most of them... 😅 still, I appreciated the history lesson.

Plotwise, the story is so-so. I don't feel a particularly strong connection to any of the characters, neither the recurring cast (the bookstore owners and their family) nor the one-off characters.

It's not a bad manga, it just has a very niche audience and I do not fit into that niche. WHICH IS A CRIME, BECAUSE I LITERALLY SELL USED BOOKS FOR A LIVING -- IF NOT FOR ME, THEN WHO??

I've thought about this a lot -- despite being something that people tend to look down upon as a career choice, art is the thread that connects us to other people. What all sort of things would we talk about with our friends and family if it weren't for movies, music, food, and books? It may seem so commonplace, but art is the lens through which we can get to know each other better. I feel like Kingyo Used Books treats this with immense respect as it reminds its reader that manga isn't "just manga" -- it's an artform that connects people through time and space, reflecting their own lives and offering comfort and support throughout our individual journeys.

A series for book lovers and manga lovers. Any bibliophile will be able to connect with these stories that revolve around a used manga shop. People come in to sell a collection and reconnect with an old favorite and in the process rediscover a part of themselves or a lost love. They're all testaments to the power of books and stores--regardless of the medium.

Each story features a classic manga with notes in the margins about the importance of the titles. There's more information at the end. There's also info about republication!

A slice of life anthology surrounding a used manga store. This is a gentle look at the value of reading, especially from a young age. The stories get progressively more interesting as the regular cast gets a few stories. I especially enjoyed the chapter on French comics and another on a stay-at-home mum looking for a friend. It's all fairly family friendly stuff with some excellent research and manga trivia behind it.

3 1/2 stars

"a cute sienen"

1. i expected sienen with cute romance building up on the side but it was just your typical sienen manga so yeah

2. i loved billy, and i kinda related to him when he found out that his fav author died.

3. it was really a fun read but i heard it was dropped by viz media so i might continue read it online and tbh its still on hiatus.

4. the art is 9/10 i really liked it.

all in all,
please recommend me a similar manga about books manga and romance.

Centered around a used book store that sells manga, these are short stories about customers.

This was ok. Because it's the equivalent of short stories, I never grew connected to any of the characters. The art was not great and this sometimes contributed to confusion about who was who. I'm all for bookstores in any of their guises, but I don't feel the need to check in on this one for a second volume.

This is essentially a love letter to manga: it's a series of short stories that revolve around a used book store where people encounter books that change them. There are short, one page essays about some of the manga mentioned in the stories at the end of the book which I also found very interesting.

Used book stores can be fascinating, so I had high hopes for this manga. It was a big disappointment. Each chapter is based on an old manga; all were unfamiliar to me. Based on the Billy Puck chapter, it is possible that the events of the chapter reflect the old manga. To me, the story was a snooze! The art got me to two stars.

What a great way to learn about manga! The stories are self-contained, but the bookstore and the relationships surrounding it tie the story arc together. Each story also focuses on a specific manga of which there's more detail at the back of the volume. My favorite from this volume has to be Billy Puck.

I enjoyed the episodic stories of how used manga impacted the characters' lives. However, that also contributed to my attention drifting since the repeat characters aren't focused on much and there isn't a strong throughline.

I read so many books just looking for that next great series to discover. I collected about 30 ongoing series at the highlight of my manga days and waiting between releases was painful!

I like books about books and about reading, and this is a lovely little set of episodes about reading making people happy.

I enjoyed this paperback.

This neat little book made me want to:
1) read more books
2) work at a little used bookstore