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Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 13

By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen. The last third of this very long final volume of Arifureta is a giant victory lap. We get lots of cleanup after, the apocalypse, lots of comedic stuff involving the Haulia, some vaguely amusing jokes, and Hajime finally gets around to having sex with most of the rest of the harem (offscreen, sorry to all those wanting your “snu-snu”). It probably goes on far too long, frankly. But I was so happy to be reading it, because it meant that I was not reading fight scenes. After last volume being 175 pages of fights, this volume is 220 pages of fights, and…

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The Manga Review: Out Like a Lamb

The final week of March may not have brought warm weather or flowers to your neck of the woods, but it did yield a few licensing announcements from Seven Seas; an update on the publication status of Okinawa; a preview of the forthcoming Rick and Morty manga; a press release confirming that Ooku: The Inner Chambers is coming to Netflix; and news that Junji Ito’s “Bloodsucking Darkness” is being adapted into a film by Fangoria Studios. The Guardian also ran an interesting piece about France’s long-time love affair with anime and manga. Among the most interesting tidbits I gleaned from the article is that 55% of all comics sold in France in 2021 were Japanese in origin. (Kudos to the Guardian‘s editorial team; the headline is, as the French might say, magnifique.) Also of…

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Manga the Week of 4/5/23

SEAN: It’s April! The best month! Let’s see what’s coming out next week. ASH: Let’s! SEAN: We start with Airship, which has some print releases. There’s Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 4 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 3. And for early digital, we see The World’s Fastest Level Up 3. Per Denpa’s twitter, they say that they should have Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji 4 and Heavenly Delusion 5 out next week, so we’ll go with that. ASH: Oh! I’m reading both of those series. SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! (Kaette Kudasai! Akutsu-san), a Young Ace Up! title that is another in the genre of “girl teases the guy she likes”. This one takes place at his apartment, though, and is apparently pretty…

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7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!, Vol. 3

By Touko Amekawa and Wan*Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuukimama na Hanayome (Hitojichi) Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Amy Osteraas. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja. Sometimes, particularly when it’s a villainess book, all of which take place in “vaguely Europe in the days before cars”, I struggle to remember how supernatural the series is meant to be. Now, obviously there’s SOME supernatural content going on, namely the fact that Rishe keeps looping around to try to not be horribly killed, and this particular book has talk of a girl who can supposedly “curse” those close to her, but for the most part it is content to otherwise be vaguely realistic. That…

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Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 3

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse. It’s not just the Silent Witch, really, everyone in this series has secrets of some form or another. The most obvious one is the Second Prince, who everyone calls a puppet and certainly has “I must obtain the throne” as his goal, but one gets the sense that “And them I will let my grandfather rule with me as a puppet” is NOT on his agenda. Monica, of course, has her main secret mission, but there’s also the fact that she would really rather NOT have Prince Felix find out her real identity given how much it consumes him. And there’s also her time…

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Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 21

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia. As I said last time, this book starts off a new arc but is also a continuation of the previous one, which is both good news and bad news. The good news is that we don’t really get a huge new cast to remember like the previous arc’s start: all the main characters here are familiar faces with the only new person showing up at the very end. The bad news, of course, is that I don’t get a whole bunch of new faces to talk about in a review, just the old familiar ones, which is a problem…

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Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 8

By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia. The main thrust of this series is supposed to be the quiet life, but of course we also need to kickstart the next arc, which is basically “the new hero is broken”, and so this volume tries to have it both ways, with half the book being Red, Rit and Ruti on vacation doing things like making curry for the first time, or doing emergency appendectomies. The other half shows us the new hero’s party, and his arrival in Zoltan and interaction with the cast that remain in that…

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The Manga Review: Special K

After months of speculation, Kodansha formally announced that it would be launching K Manga, a digital platform that will allow fans to read the latest chapters of current series as well as the full run of old favorites. The app, which will debut on May 10, 2023, will be available for both iOS and Android, and will function as “Kodansha’s official serialization platform.” As Deb Aoki notes, Kodansha’s press release was “vague in some key areas,” with no information about “pricing or subscription models,” but included a brief list of titles that would be available right away, from Attack on Titan and Blue Lock to Ghost in the Shell,  Fairy Tail, and Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagataro. Speaking with The OASG, Deputy Editor Yuta Hiraoka explained Kodansha’s decision to…

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The Executioner and Her Way of Life: A Casket of Salt

By Mato Sato and nilitsu. Released in Japan as “Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon. You will pardon me if I am just a bit exhausted after reading this volume of the series. It consists entirely of payoff, which makes the plot more interesting, but also means that we don’t really get to relax and take in anything. And, frankly, we’re still inhibited by the actual writing. The anime was quite successful when it was released, and I think it showed off that the ideas and concepts in this series work best when they’re taken away from the author’s control. This book is a slog, no mistaking it, and while I realize some of that is simply…

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