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The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, Vol. 5

By Gamei Hitsuji and himesuz. Released in Japan by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki. It stands to reason that, given this fantasy world is looking for strong heroes, and they’ve gathered three of them from Suimei’s “home” universe (albeit two of them by accident), that there would be other heroes here who hail from Japan. That said, having the hero be Suimei’s childhood friend is asking a bit much of the reader’s suspension of disbelief, methinks. She also has amnesia, which ends up helping the book to pad out its length, because a great deal of time is spent with Suimei trying to get her to trust him and also fending off attacks from her allies, who think that he’s some sort of…

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Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 5

By Megumi Morino. Released in Japan as “Ohayou, Ibarahime” by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Dessert. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley. I reviewed the first volume of this shoujo series, and then the next three were reviewed as Bookshelf Briefs. This is common for the majority of the series I follow – there just aren’t enough hours in the day, and usually I don’t have 500+ words to say about a title even if I am enjoying it. But sometimes a volume comes along that I just can’t stop thinking about, and this penultimate volume of Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty is certainly that. I actually put it off for quite some time because I had a sneaking suspicion that it was going…

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I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, Vol. 9

By Namekojirushi and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Ore ga Heroine o Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Mokushiroku!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mana Z. Eventually this series is simply going to have to run out of stereotypical heroines to stack on to Rekka’s pile. We’re down to two – well, one, really, but I have my suspicions about the other – in this book, and the cracks are starting to show – I’m OK with beloved childhood friend, but beloved childhood PET? Yes, turns out the cat was a cat yokai of some sort, and now She Is All Grown Up and everything. Of course, she still acts like a cat. Her story is probably the weakest in the book, actually,…

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Shortcake Cake, Vol. 1

Shortcake Cake, Volume 1 by suu Morishita I’m always up for more shoujo series, and Shortcake Cake starts off with a very promising first volume. The story begins with Ten Serizawa dealing with her daily 2 hour commute to school. She gets up early and naps on the bus. But as she hangs out with her school friends, she begins to realize that her commitment to the commute means that she can’t take part in after school gatherings with her new classmates, as she has to keep checking the time to be sure she’s able to catch the last bus back to her more rural home. Ten’s friend Ageha points out how much easier it would be if Ten moved in to her boardinghouse. Ageha sneaks Ten in one day…

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Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 1

By Suki Umemiya and Reia. Released in Japan as “Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace Up. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Angela Liu. Adapted by Tracy Barnett. There has been a bit of a backlash online about the constant flow of “isekai” stories into North America in the past few years. Of course, that’s because they’re incredibly popular in Japan. Indeed, they seem to be so popular in Japan that we’re starting to see authors who have an idea of a story that need not involve an isekai try to shoehorn it in anyway to get readers. This is a good example of it. Now, I may be wrong – it’s taken from a light novel that is…

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Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 7

By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou” by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen. I’ve talked before about Hajime as Christ figure, and Hajime as simply another example of the overpowered hero going after the kids that bullied the author in middle school, but in this book it’s also worth taking a look at something that has remained a core part of Hajime’s character despite every possible attempt to extract it: Hajime the nerd. (Yes, yes, I know, chuuni. I never saw that anime, so feel uncomfortable using the expression.) Hajime’s inner monologue has had the occasional taste of otaku culture throughout the series, but this volume really sees it in full flower. When he’s in the…

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Manga the Week of 8/22/18

SEAN: Let’s face it, even without Yen Press this would be a really heavy week. With Yen it’s absolutely terrifying. But first, the non-Yen offerings. Dark Horse gives us the first Gantz omnibus, in case you want to catch up on your lycra. Haikasoru has the 7th volume of Legend of Galactic Heroes. If it’s the one I think it is, oh dear. MICHELLE: Someday, I really will read these. My intentions are good! ANNA: I have good intentions about reading this as well. ASH: I’m a few volumes behind, but I’ve been enjoying them! J-Novel Club announced a bunch of stuff at Anime Expo, and this is what I was most excited about. I loved the Kokoro Connect manga when it came out years ago, and wished we could…

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Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 13

By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane. As we watch Yona and her bunch wandering through the nations doing good and saving people, it would be all too easy to cut back to the usurpers back at the palace and make them simple, cookie-cutter antagonists. But one reason that Yona of the Dawn is so strong is that Su-Won is not a cookie-cutter antagonist. In fact, the reader might occasionally be thinking to themselves, “You know, Su-Won being king may actually be a very good thing?” Yona is dealing with the world at the lowest level, going from small village to small…

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Me, a Genius? I Was Reborn into Another World and I Think They’ve Got the Wrong Idea!, Vol. 3

By Nyun and Sakana. Released in Japan as “Isekai ni Tensei Shitandakedo Ore, Tensai tte Kanchigai Saretenai?” by Overlap, Inc. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Shaun Cook. Of all the places for Me, a Genius? to go in its third volume, I was not expecting it to go here. Note that I’m not talking about it suddenly becoming a tense techno-thriller a la Tom Clancy – given the fact that we spent much of the second volume in a cod-fantasy world, I barely raised an eyebrow to see that we’re suddenly back in Kouki’s home world and taking on Russians and international terrorist organizations. No, the main thing I wasn’t expecting was that Me, a Genius has gotten rid of the humor. You might argue…

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