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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 3

By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn. I must admit, I’m growing increasingly frustrated with this series. I really do enjoy the romance bteween Alisa and Masachika, which is cute. And I also definitely like the family drama that is Masachika’s backstory, as well as the “war” he’s currently having with his sister. So basically I like the rom and rthe drama. The problem is the com. This book frequently tries to be funny, adn while the jokes sometimes land, much of the time it’s more annoying than anything else. Masachika thinks in otaku terms a lot, as does his sister, and the conversations the two…

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Bookshelf Briefs 5/30/23

Blue Box, Vol. 4 | By Kouji Miura | Viz Media – We finally tip the balance of this sports romance series back to romance in this volume, as Taiki’s cold means that Chinatsu ends up taking care of him, which leads to standard teen romance manga “I fall on top of you” shenanigans… but this is Blue Box, not Love Hina, so the reactions for both of them are very realistic and incredibly awkward. Chinatsu, unfortunately, is simply not ready for any kind of romance in her life right now, despite what her heart seems to be telling her, and Taiki accepts that for now, I think. As for Hina… hang in there, kid. I think until you get a spare to pair with, you’re pretty screwed. I expect…

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Sasaki and Peeps: The Psychics and the Magical Girl Drag the Death Game Crew into the Fight ~Alert! Giant Sea Monster Approaching Japan~

By Buncololi and Kantoku. Released in Japan as “Sasaki to Pi-chan” by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse. I observed as I was reading this new volume of Sasaki and Peeps that I felt the author had read a lot of the Bakemonogatari Series. Their writing style isn’t anything like NISIOISIN, but this is a story of a guy who saved the world while being surrounded by underage girls, and it also has a tendency sometimes to actively drive its audience away. There’s a scene halfway through the book where Sasaki is trying to rescue the first prince, a rival to Sasaki’s group in the other world, and comes across the aftermath of a sexual assault, which is described in detail. This then…

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High School DxD: Ouroboros and the Promotion Exam

By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell. This contains spoilers for the end of Book 11, but not till the third paragraph. High School DxD remains one of the most shonen series ever written, because it’s absolutely filled to the brim with what makes a shonen series – on both sides. On the one side we have the shonen battle manga, with lots of powerful enemies, dealing with almost certain defeat, discovering that the person you just struggled to take out was merely the weakest of the ones you have to fight, etc. It’s the classic old-school “you defeat the bad guy by everyone in the cast shouting the hero’s name in unison as…

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Baccano!: 1935-D Luckstreet Boys

By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel. At last, we are forced to discuss the elephant in the room. This volume came out in Japan in August 2016, and there has not been another one since. Ryohgo Narita has been battling a lot of health issues. He’s also been writing another Bleach novel series, which was licensed in North America, and an ongoing manga series, which was licensed in North American AND got an anime. And, most importantly, there has been Fate/strange Fake, a light novel spinoff of the super duper popular Fate series, which began in 2014 but has had five new light novels since the last Baccano!, the most recent being this…

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Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 8

By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. I have grown used to this series casually killing people off. It’s easy to guess when they’re one of the people on Oliver’s hit list, but we’ve also seen the glorious death of Diana Ashbury and others. The author knows this, of course, and plays with it throughout this book, making me assume once or twice that we were going to see yet another tragic student fate. Because, well, every student at this academy has a mission just as important to them as Oliver’s, a mission that they will kill for (OK, maybe not Guy, I can’t see Guy turning…

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Maiden of the Needle, Vol. 1

By Zeroki and Miho Takeoka. Released in Japan as “Hariko no Otome” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kiki Piatkowska. This book’s plot and characters have a familiar feel, to the point where the biggest surprise I had in the first volume is that the male love interest has a goatee. So permit me to talk about one of my pet problems with light novels in general, which is that the writers don’t feel content to have antagonists be bad people, they’ve got to be THE WORST PEOPLE EVER. Sure, you could have a simple parent who favors one daughter over the other and just, y’know, frowns when she walks by, but why do that when they can starve her to death, lock her…

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Manga the Week of 5/31/23

SEAN: It’s the 31st of May, so get back indoors, you filthy people. (Sorry, Jonathan Coulton joke.) ASH: I lol’d. SEAN: Airship debuts, in print, There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… (Watashi ga Koibito ni Nareru Wake Naijan, Muri Muri! Muri Janakatta!?), whose digital edition came out last month. If you like protagonists who tell you how much they dislike themselves, you’ll love this. Also in print: Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 5, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 7, and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 8. In early digital, we see Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 3 and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body…

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The Manga Review: Simply the Best

Words like “icon” and “legend” are so overused today that when a true pioneer dies, it’s hard to describe their legacy. By any reasonable measure, though, Tina Turner was both an icon and a legend, a ground-breaking figure in R&B and rock music whose expressive voice and commanding stage presence radically transformed American popular music. Her voice could be seductive or powerful, heart-breaking or soul-stirring, embodying the real emotion behind even the most banal lyrics. (Who but Tina Turner could make “River Deep, Mountain High” into something glorious?) That she had her greatest success in her forties is perhaps the most astonishing part of her story. At an age when women are often pushed to the margins of the popular music industry, Turner packed stadiums around the world, sold millions…

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