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Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: 5th Squad Jam: Start

By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul. It’s been about a year since the last volume of this series, and many might be forgiven for thinking that it ended. Including the author, who admits it was supposed to end about here. I mean, in terms of plot threads to resolve, there aren’t many left. Karen is no longer being forced to get married, though the denouement for that may not appeal to her. Elsa’s issues are, for the moment, somewhat resolved. The real world has never really been a big part of this series, but even so, I would not blame the author for wanting to…

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Bookshelf Briefs 11/30/22

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 6 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe| Viz Media – The plotline of this volume is a dungeon crawl of sorts, where the examinees face off against doppelganger versions of themselves. Which is incredibly dangerous given that one of the examinees is Frieren, who is ludicrously overpowered, and therefore her clone is as well. That said, as always the plot is the title, as Frieren is still finding little things every day that remind her of the journey she took so long ago, and now that she’s matured (and most of her comrades are dead) she can finally really appreciate them. This is a series that gets by entirely on ‘vibe,’ and its vibe is fantastic. Everyone should be reading this. – Sean Gaffney…

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My Happy Marriage, Vol. 3

By Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon” by Fujimi L Bunko. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by David Musto. Good news! After two trauma-inducingly depressing volumes of this series, we finally get a volume of My Happy Marriage that is working towards the title. That’s not to say that this volume is all sweetness and light – honestly, this series is never going to be that, I expect, until the final 5 pages of the last volume. But compared to the first two books, this is a pleasant walk in the park. Indeed, I wonder if the author thought the same thing, given that the entire subplot that is being investigated by Kiyoka seems like something invented to give the…

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The Holy Grail of Eris, Vol. 3

By Kujira Tokiwa and Yu-nagi. Released in Japan as “Eris no Seihai” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird. Boy howdy, this wrapped everything up just the way I wanted. OK, I admit, there was not enough Abigail, but I’ve come to terms with that. (And we also get Kimberly Smith, who is James Bond, as the author admits, and also wonderful.) And unfortunately the plot demanded that Connie essentially be stuck in a cell for the latter half of the book. But this actually turns out to be important as it allows us to see that a) everyone around her knows what a good and forthright person she is, and b) it allows Scarlett to have to take action on her own,…

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Fox Tales

By Tomihiko Morimi. Released in Japan as “Kitsune no Hanashi” by Shincho Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird. After getting a couple of books in the previous few years, this is definitely the year of Tomihiko Morimi in North America. The Tatami Galaxy, one of their most famous works, in finally getting a translation into English next month. Tower of the Sun, their debut work, came out in August (though I did not review it as I read the first 20 pages or so and decided that I hated the protagonist so much I wanted to burn the book). And now we have Fox Tales, a short story collection that came out the same year as The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl. But…

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Manga the Week of 11/30/22

SEAN: Thanksgiving is over, you can’t move, come read some manga instead. ASH: That’s a good response to many a different situation. SEAN: Airship has a couple of ongoing print series. Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 4 and Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 2. And in early digital we see A Tale of the Secret Saint 4 and The World’s Fastest Level Up 2. A double dose of Cross Infinite World gives us Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin 4 and So You Want to Live the Slow Life? A Guide to Life in the Beastly Wilds 2. Ghost Ship has Creature Girls: A Hands-On Field Journal in Another World 6 and Peter Grill…

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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 1

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. High school romcoms have made a big comeback in recent days. Technically, they never really went away in Japan, but like sports manga in the 2000s, non-supernatural tinged light novels in the 2010s were forbidden. The gateway has now burst open, though, helped by the breakout hits such as My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki and Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle. And we have the “sweet” subgenre, characterized by minimal conflict and a lot of “awwwww” moments. Now there’s a good chance that when a new series hits big numbers in Japan,…

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Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 5

By Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Osman Wong. The fact that I still greatly enjoy this series despite it moving at a pace that would make a snail speed past it is testament to the good writing and strong characterization of the two leads. Last time I said that I didn’t feel Dahlia was quite mature enough to enter into a relationship, and that’s still true, but it has to be said that the exact same thing can be said about Volf. Plus, let’s face it, they’re essentially already married in how they act around each other every day. It just lacks the acknowledgement of attraction and desire. But boy, we’d…

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The Manga Review: Black Friday Edition

Yet another Anime NYC has come and gone, bringing with it a raft of licensing announcements from Azuki, Kodansha, Seven Seas, and Yen Press. While most reports from the show floor were positive, The Beat’s Ricardo Serrano Denis noted that the convention suffered from some of the same issues that plagued it before the pandemic. “One thing I thought was seriously underrepresented in the 2019 show was manga and anime booths, places to acquire them,” he noted. “For an anime convention, I felt the number of booths dedicated to the medium were on the slimmer side of things. Fast forward to 2022, a whole pandemic later, and those same shortcomings are still accounted for, perhaps even worse so.” Other attendees gave mixed marks to the panels, noting that the Spy…

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