It’s a time to say “New year, new me” with New Year Manga Minis 2025! Refreshed from the holidays (and writing on a new laptop to boot!) we’ve got three fun titles for you to check out. From the continuation of Leviathan to the debut of a comfy slice-of-life title, there’s a lot to read if you’re starting a New Years resolution to grab more manga. Check out our recommendations below!
Viral Hit Volume 1 (Webtoon Unscrolled)
I’m looking into the medium of webtoons recently since I’ve been reading a few of Webtoon Unscrolled’s physical releases. It’s an interesting strategy, but also, it’s a testament to how much popular titles have grown in the past years. One such title, Viral Hit, just received a physical release collecting the first eight episodes of the popular title. It’s a rocky start, but I can see the appeal.
Hobin Yu is a high schooler that’s in an unfortunate situation. Stuck in a dead-end job with an absent father and hospitalized mother to take care of, he’s constantly bullied by his peers. More unfortunately, one of his bullies is the famous streamer Pakgo, who uses his influence to get his way. After Pakgo’s cameraman Snapper takes advantage of his situation a bit too far, Hobin ends up fighting Snapper in his house. The fight is inadvertently recorded, making Hobin into a viral sensation overnight.
After a confrontation with Pakgo, Hobin reluctantly partners up with Snapper as the two try and figure out the Newtube game. After watching a mysterious video about how to get hit without getting hurt, Hobin decides to level up his fighting game while trying to impress Bomi, a girl at his job that takes a liking to him. This may be a hurdle, as Hobin’s MMA classmate Munseong Kim might also be eyeing her… or is he observing Hobin’s potential as a fighter?
I’m conflicted with my experience reading this series. On the one hand, I ate up the whole book in one sitting, but that was because I had a fascination for how amateurish the first few chapters are set up. I didn’t actually like any of the cast for most of the early episodes, and the initial incident just feels so slapstick and humorous compared to the rest of the volume.
It doesn’t help that the first few episodes have this weird censorship where more extreme expletives are bleeped out; it wouldn’t be an issue normally, but those words come up extremely often, which made me wonder if this was a problem in the original webtoon release.
Thankfully, the story gets out of this funk near the end, where the action gets wild and Hobin and Snapper’s partnership feels genuine. The bleeped expletives are gone too, with the swears uncensored, so it makes a bit more sense narratively. I think I’ll keep following this one if only because it’s got a lot of potential, but for now this was a very inconsistent opener.
Rating: 2 out of 5 UwUs
Leviathan Volume 2 (Kana)
I was surprised by Leviathan last year in my previous Manga Minis column. It was an interesting sci-fi title with battle royale themes that had some great art. The second volume of Leviathan cranks everything up to 11, setting up a climax that will have you gasping for air in anticipation.
In the present, the raiders are enthralled by the notebook of Kazuma Ichinose. Scrambling to find the survivor written in the notebook, the team is ambushed by some traps still operational by what remains of the Leviathan.
Flashing back to the notebook’s narrative, Kazuma recollects his journey as the tension increases. Friends turn on each other, while lovers decide to die on their own terms. Even strangers will cooperate before their final breaths, all to be the last person standing. Meanwhile, Futaba continues to sow the seeds of discord as the gang quickly thins out.
If I thought the first volume of the manga was slow paced, this one took my criticism and stepped on the gas pedal. We immediately get scenes of gory death and fights in the first few pages alone, with no time to stop and reflect. This highlights the urgency the cast is in, and I think making this a shorter three-volume story makes this one tightly paced. However, this also means that almost every other character aside from Kazuma, Futaba, and Yoh are killed within their spotlight chapter. This does mean that each chapter has weight, and it really harkens back to the Battle Royale narrative structure (where characters would drop like flies, but the story made you very invested in them for their scant screentime).
By the time this volume ends, it neatly thins the cast out to a select few members, which means it’s anyone’s turn to perish next. Who will be the last survivor, and will the raiders be able to uncover the secrets before they perish? It’s a story I can’t wait to see the end of very soon!
Rating: 4 out of 5 UwUs
Ruridragon Volume 1 (VIZ Media)
Finally for our New Year Manga Minis 2025 batch, we’ve got some cozy slice-of-life fun from VIZ! This was a strange manga to follow, as it was serialized for a month and a half before the mangaka went on an extended hiatus. It’s great we got a physical release here in the west, and it’s a cozy title for fans of school life slice-of-life fare.
Ruri Aoki wakes up one day and finds out she has dragon horns. Her mother thinks nothing of it and says that she is half-dragon. After all, her estranged father is a dragon. (Side note, isn’t that something you tell your kid day one? Weird parenting, for sure.) After inadvertently sneezing fire, she’s struck with a strange conflict: How will she learn to be dragon while being normal? As the volume continues, she learns to come out of her shell as she makes new friends under her transformative circumstances.
All in all, Ruridragon does slice-of-life near perfectly. The main character is cute and likeable, and the additional supporting characters are very complementary to her. Rather than everyone shying away, most of the classmates view Ruri’s growth with an inquisitive lens. Everyone in her life is supportive, and the bond she has with her mother is very warm; there’s a chapter where they play Wii and it’s such a good scene.
The only thing I could dock points here is that the art is very simplistic, with the backgrounds not showing up for most of the story. However, I can see that improving as the later chapters move out of Ruri’s house and into a school setting. I can’t wait to read more about Ruri’s slice-of-life adventures!
Rating: 4 out of 5 UwUs
And that’s our New Year Manga Minis 2025 column! Stay tuned for more manga reviews here on Miso!
