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The Isolator, Vol. 4

By Reki Kawahara and Shimeji. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon. This is the first time we’ve had a villain as the cover girl of this series, though it is not the Stinger of the subtitle, who we never quite get a good look at and may not even be completely human. Instead it’s Liquidizer, who was the evil mentor to our hero’s evil counterpart Trancer in the third book. Both of them have major roles in the fourth book as well, which seems designed to show that it’s not merely a case of Good Guys vs. Bad Guys here. This is, frankly, much appreciated, as whenever Kawahara tries to show off how evil his bad guys are the…

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 1

By Koyoharu Gotouge. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. It has to be said that the title of this series is not its strong point – you get the sense that they kept the Japanese title as a subtitle in order to make it searchable on Amazon, separated from the countless other demon slayers. The premise, too, seems to be fairly traditional and straight down the middle. A young man living with his family out in the boonies (it’s later shown this is the Taisho era – around the 1910s or so) returns home one day to find his family slaughtered and his sister a demon. A demon hunter also shows up to take care of the…

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In Another World with My Smartphone, Vol. 9

By Patora Fuyuhara and Eiji Usatsuka. Released in Japan as “Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson. I’ve frequently described In Another World with My Smartphone as being “entertaining but not good”, and that applies just as much to this volume as it does to the others before it. There’s no real plot beyond “watch what Touya does next”, the characterization can vary depending on what needs to happen, and the author’s tendency (and he’s hardly alone in this regard) in writing all his human villains as ugly, whining petty and completely 100% evil is wearing a bit thin. On the other hand, there was some brief attempt at backstory and depth for the Phrase, of…

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My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 1

By Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court, based on the story by Kohei Horikoshi. Released in Japan as “Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia Illegals” by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump +. Released in North America by Viz. My Hero Academia, the main series, is very explicitly based on the American concept of superheroes. And, despite the occasional foray into “yes, heroes really do die” and an examination of loss, for the most part it remains a very idealistic series that wears its heart on its sleeve. Therefore, there was absolutely room for a “grim and gritty” take on the Academia universe, though it won’t be featuring any of the main students. If Horikoshi read a lot of Superman, then (as he explicitly states in the author’s notes)…

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Manga the Week of 7/18/18

SEAN: Mid-July. It’s hot. But there is manga for you. ASH: Yay, manga! SEAN: Bookwalker has a 4th light novel of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done. Dark Horse gives us a 6th Blade of the Immortal omnibus and the 6th Fate/Zero. J-Novel Club has new volumes for Demon King Daimaou (6), The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! (4) and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer (2). Kodansha has a digital debut, as we see Kakafukaka, the 2nd debut from josei magazine Kiss in two weeks. It’s about a girl who just had a break-up moving in with an old school boyfriend, but he has his own issue – erectile dysfunction. I am intrigued. MICHELLE: Somehow I totally missed the ED angle on this one! But hooray for…

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Accel World: Archangel of Savage Light

By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. The author jokes in the afterword about how once again he said that an arc would wrap up in the next volume… and once again it did not, with this volume ending on yet another cliffhanger. It could be a sign that the author has difficulty bringing things together, but honestly with Accel World you don’t really mind. The main plot is interwoven into the individual arcs, so we know that solving the ISS Kits and rescuing Ash Roller is not going to stop the Acceleration Research Society anytime soon, just as we know that eventually Haruyuki is going to have to meet Kuroyukihime’s sister, even though we…

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Tokyo Alice, Vol. 1

By Toriko Chiya. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Kiss. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Production by amimaru. (Note: Tokyo Alice has no translator credit, but also has a “production” credit I rarely see, so I’m considering them equivalent for now.) The number of times I’ve started a review by saying “I’ve never seen _______” is starting to number in the hundreds, but it has to be said. No, not the Tokyo Alice live-action drama that went out last year. Something a bit more relevant: I’ve never seen Sex and the City. As such, I’m not entirely sure how similar this series, about a group of four friends who live in the big city, whose lives we occasionally follow, and who are (mostly) living together…

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The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 6

The Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 6 by Rei Toma One would not normally expect a fantasy series about a girl from modern day Japan falling through worlds to end up in a quasi-medieval land where the lives of humans revolve around appeasing gods to contain a dense philosophical exploration of what it means to be human, with a side meditation on man’s inhumanity to man, but that’s exactly what the reader gets in The Water Dragon’s Bride. Toma’s masterful storytelling is on full display in the 6th volume, where there’s a dramatic emotional breakthrough with Asahi and her Water Dragon God. All along the Water Dragon God has been transformed bit by bit due to his close exposure to humans. He doesn’t exactly understand humanity yet, but he’s a great…

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Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 7

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released iJapan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque. There is apparently something of an argument among Re: Zero fans about whether the overall story is meant to be a deconstruction of the typical “light novel” hero. I can see why people would come to this conclusion. Subaru frequently acts like he can glide through every situation based on guts and gumption, and the series is very quick to put him in his place over and over again. It shows what might actually happen in a situation like that. And, much as I get very, very frustrated with Subaru, this is an excellent way to handle his character. That said, I think it’s a great character idea,…

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