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The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 8

By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT. The Ideal Sponger Life is doing a pretty good job of trying to strike a balance between fantasy (after all, this is a series with magic and dragons and the like) and realistic political outcomes. And one of the realistic political outcomes that comes up in this volume is Aura having to give up some of her power. This comes in two different ways – the first is appointing her general/rival as military leader, an unfortunate necessity now that she is pregnant with her second child. The second is finally giving in and admitting (and Zenjirou also has to admit this) that Freya…

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Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 2

By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn. I want to be able to talk about the rest of the cast when I review these books. After all, it can’t ALL be about Reirin. I could talk about Keigetsu, and how my opinion of her went way, way up with this book, when we finally get to delve deeply into how she’s being used as a tool. I could discuss the wonderful flashback showing us Kenshuu and Gabi, which takes a mystery with a rather obvious culprit and turns it into a sad tragedy. I could mention Leelee, who goes from reluctant servant and straight…

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Manga the Week of 10/5/22

SEAN: It’s October, so all your manga tastes like pumpkin spice. Go one, try a page. MICHELLE: Why, it’s positively delightful! SEAN: Airship first. After a long wait, mostly as the series switched publishers in Japan and new contracts needed to be written, we have the 14th volume of Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!. This is print AND digital, so no early stuff here. There is an early digital debut, though, with The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash (Saijaku Tamer wa Gomihiroi no Tabi wo Hajimemashita). The premise sounds very similar to A Late Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, but we’ll see how this “my seemingly weak class and skills get me abused but they’re actually REALLY STRONG” series goes….

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Yashiro-kun’s Guide to Going Solo

By Dojyomaru and Kou Kusaka. Released in Japan as “Yashiro-kun no Ohitori-sama Kouza” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andria Cheng-McKnight. Authors, of course, read other authors, and are influenced by them. The book in, say, isekai books, or villainess books, etc. is not JUST publishers trying to milk the latest cash cow, it also stems from authors reading a title and thinking “what would happen if I tried this instead?”. And it’s the same with the author of How a Realist hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, who notes in the Afterword that he wrote this book heavily influenced by titles like My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected. Though honestly, it reads more like a Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki. Our male lead is…

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Bookshelf Briefs 9/27/22

D-Frag!, Vol. 16 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – This new volume (by now the series is annual) involves a massive parody of “trapped in a game” stories, as the main cast are all in an experimental VRMMO which has a few bugs in the system. Kazuma’s in-game cursed armor may be affected by a REAL curse on him, Runa’s attempt to imitate Lone Wolf and Cub has left her as a baby, and Sakura can only use water spells, because, well, she’s Sakura. There are some very funny stabs at both Sword Art Online and similar stories as well as the D-Frag cast itself, with Kazuma once again having to rely on his tsukkomi in order to survive. That said, it ended with a surprise heartwarming moment……

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Sword Art Online, Vol. 25: Unital Ring IV

By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul. The basic premise of Unital Ring is that something has mashed up all the MMORPGs out there, meaning that SAO, ALO, GOO, etc. are all in the same world. This even includes American games where you choose to star as a bug (the spiders side is far more popular than the centipede side, and I don’t really blame them, though I do admit to a bit of surprise that the game is popular in the West at all.) But, as we have also discovered, Unital Ring is not just about uniting the various games our cast has played in, it’s about uniting the various arcs of the series….

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Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel!, Vol. 7

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao. The Piggy Duke series has always had a tendency, much like its title character, of avoiding difficult confrontations. We’ve seen in the last few books Slowe trying to work up the courage to confess to Charlotte and failing miserably, and the revelations about Charlotte’s past and how much everyone knows about it, while they have been coming out, are almost inevitably interrupted by some crisis needing attention, and by the time it’s over the moment has passed. Well, those who have been waiting seven books for Slowe to get off his ass and…

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The Manga Review, 9/23/22

This has been a relatively quiet week on the manga beat, so I’m going to lead off with a question: what are you reading? Is there a series that you wouldn’t hesitate recommend? A manga that looked promising but disappointed or, conversely, a manga that looked awful but turned out to be fun, interesting, or engrossing? Inquiring minds want to know! NEWS AND VIEWS As the eighth volume of The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting arrived in Japanese bookstores, publisher Micro Magazine announced that the series just reached an important milestone: one million volumes in circulation. [Otaku USA] Another Wednesday, another passel of licensing announcements from Seven Seas: look for I Didn’t Mean to Fall in Love, My Girlfriend’s Child, and Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! in 2023. [Seven Seas] David Brothers leads…

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Manga the Week of 9/28/22

SEAN: Oh no, I’m awake, September must be ending! Yen On is taking the week off, but we have some Yen Press manga. Dead Mount Death Play 8, Laid-Back Camp 12, Play It Cool, Guys 4, and Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, The Frozen Bond 2. From Viz Media we debut a JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure spinoff, Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe (Kishibe Rohan wa Ugokanai). This features a series of short stories starring the eccentric guy from Diamond Is Unbreakable, and is coming out in deluxe hardcover, same as the JJBA volumes. ASH: I’m looking forward to this one; Rohan is an interesting and popular character. (And he was also my introduction to JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure as a whole.) ANNA: Yep! SEAN: We also see Fist of the North Star…

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