@mangatestdrive
Reviewing the first volumes of manga to sort out the classics from the clunkers. Check out our sister site Renaissance Josei for longer reviews, essays and more! http://mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/ https://renaissancejosei.blogspot.com/
We're always trying our best over here at the Manga Test Drive, but something that would motivate us even harder would be your financial support through Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
Happy Crappy Life is a rare sort of BL that acknowledges the messiness and awkwardness of small-town life, second chances, and butt sex, all while looking gorgeous and being laugh out loud funny to boot.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2026/02/revi...
It's also hard for manga blogs out there in a 'shift-to-video/podcast' world, which is why we'd appreciate it if you could support the site via our Patreon: www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
It's hard enough to find a good sex comedy manga (pun not intended), and mean-spirited, cowardly crap like Peter Grill and the Philsopher's Time isn't helping things.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2026/02/revi...
There may not be much romance in this month's books, but you can share the love for our reviews with us this month and all year long by following this account, sharing our links, and joining our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
It's another month of Bad Romance manga, and what could be worse than a romance that begins with a demand for divorce?
To Sir, Without Love: I'm Divorcing You should be a tawdry bodice-ripper, but it's too cold and unbalanced to be any fun.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2026/02/revi...
My birthday may have already come and gone, but the best gift you can give me is your support on Patreon. Every dollar helps us dig up books like this one, for better or worse:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
Gate Keepers isn't just a failed sci-fi manga from a forgotten franchise. It's also possibly the most blatant Sakura Wars knockoff I have ever seen.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2026/01/revi...
Every dollar we get from our Patreon helps The Manga Test Drive hunt down manga obscurities like this one:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
Suihelibe! is obscure even by CMX standards, the story of a boy and an alien girl trying to capture creatures as part of the school biology club that's too lifeless to be fun.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2026/01/revi...
It's a new year, and you should resolve to support the Manga Test Drive through our Patreon! Support starts at just $1/month and every dollar helps:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
This month we're looking at sci-fi manga, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a more hard sci-fi manga than Planetes. It's the story of working-class space junk collectors from the creator of Vinland Saga.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2026/01/revi...
That should be fixed now.
Congratulations to @gimmickpunk.bsky.social! As soon as you DM us with your info, we'll get that gift certificate sent to you. Thanks to everyone for entering and sharing the many different sorts of manga you read in 2025!
Let's wrap things up for The Manga Test Drive this year with our annual look in the Rear View Mirror and announce this year's Holiday Review Giveaway winner:
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2025/12/2025...
This is also one of your last chances to join our Patreon so that you can help us keep giving y'all the gift of quality manga reviews all year long:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
There's just a few hours left to enter our Holiday Review Giveaway! Tell us your favorite manga of 2025 at the post below and you might win a $25 Bookshop.Org gift certificate. The contest ends at midnight CDT!
bsky.app/profile/mang...
Our final Holiday Review is another miracle manga license: Stop!! Hibari-Kun, an early 80s comedy manga with a trans heroine that has aged way better than you could imagine:
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2025/12/holi...
There's just 1 day left in our Holiday Review Giveaway! Post your favorite manga of 2025 at the link below and you might win a $25 Bookshop.Org gift certificate. The contest ends tomorrow!
bsky.app/profile/mang...
It's not too late to make our holidays a little brighter as we near the end of our Holiday Reviews by joining our Patreon. Support starts at just $1/month and every dollar counts:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
We got a lot of older manga licenses this year, and that includes the first-ever English release of Cat's Eye. This classic phantom thief story from WSJ has plenty of style, but it's brought down by its repetitiveness and the dumbest detective ever.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2025/12/holi...
And while I hide from this manga's obnoxiously loud fandom, you can show your support for the site through our Patreon:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
Just 2 days left in our Holiday Review Giveaway! Tell us your favorite manga of 2025 and you might win a $25 Bookshop.Org gift certificate:
bsky.app/profile/mang...
This year saw a lot of miracle manga licenses. That includes Viz's release of Kingdom, a long-running shonen spin on China's Warring States period. For me, it was not worth the wait, as I found this first volume DEEPLY underwhelming.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2025/12/holi...
There's only 3 days left in our Holiday Review Giveaway! Tell us your favorite manga of 2025 at the linked post below and you might be picked to win a $25 Bookshop.Org gift certificate:
bsky.app/profile/mang...
What gives us warm, cozy feelings this time of year is the support of our Patrons. You can join them for as little as $1/month:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
Of course, it's also fun to see manga creators take traditional horror creatures like...oh, idk, a vampire, and put them somewhere unexpected for laughs and cozy fish-out-water humor. Maybe someplace like a bathhouse?
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2025/12/holi...
And there's still a week and a half left in the year to join our Patreon and help support the cost of all the reviews we do in a year:
www.patreon.com/c/MeganD
Four days are left in our Holiday Review Giveaway! Tell us your favorite manga of 2025 at the post linked below and you might win a $25 Bookshop.Org gift certificate:
bsky.app/profile/mang...
Mansect is a 1970s horror manga about guys who turn into vaguely insectoid melted monster men, but somehow its gender politics are even scarier than that.
mangatestdrive.blogspot.com/2025/12/holi...