Manga Bookshelf

November 29, 2020 By Sean Gaffney

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 4

By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee. Since my last review, the anime has been running, and it’s due to adapt up to this volume if it keeps at the pace it’s been using. The anime has helped me come to terms with Shimamura’s monologues somewhat – it cuts out the boring bits, which is to say 80% of them, and leaves us with what is essentially a teenage girl who is constantly doubting that she is even a functional human being. Given the evidence of this book, she is correct to worry. Not that Adachi is any better, as the start of second year shows, to her horror, that despite the “I want to…

November 28, 2020 By Katherine Dacey

Korea as Viewed by 12 Creators

This anthology of twelve short stories, six by Korean artists and six by French, follows the same basic template as Japan As Viewed by 17 Creators, offering brief, impressionistic scenes of contemporary Korean life. Though 17 Creators is a uniformly excellent work, its companion volume is not; the stories run the gamut from pedestrian to brilliant, with the Korean artists making the strongest contributions. The unevenness of the collection is attributable, in part, to a home field advantage. Artists such as Choi Kyu-sok and Byun Ki-hyun tackle deeper, more penetrating topics than their French counterparts, exploring homelessness (“The Fake Dove”), sexual discrimination and violence (“The Rabbit”), and the decay of traditional social networks (“The Rain That Goes Away Comes Back”). Though the artists’ ambition sometimes outstrips their allocated space, all…

November 28, 2020 By Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: 4th 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. This book was always going to have a tough time living up to the previous one,k and let’s face it: it does not. It’s a pretty good book, especially in the back half once the game starts, but it does show off the big flaw with this series as opposed to its parent: Sigsawa is not as good at writing Karen, Elza, etc. as he is at writing Llenn and Pitohui. He’s here for the gun battles, and all else is secondary (leaving aside the last book, which feels like an aberration at this point). As a result, when…

November 27, 2020 By Sean Gaffney

The Intuition of Haruhi Suzumiya

By Nagaru Tanigawa and Noizi Ito. Released in Japan as “Suzumiya Haruhi no Chokkan” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. Been a long time, hasn’t it? In fact, this is my first time reviewing one of the novels, despite my Haruhi Suzumiya tag being filled with manga, 4-koma, and alternate universes. Not that this is a novel either. The first book to come out since 2011 is a collection of three short stories; one short, one medium, and one long. In terms of writing style and narrative voice, it’s a welcome return to form. Kyon sounds exactly like he always does, making arcane references to obscure topics in his metaphors while also professing to be the dumb one in the group. That…

November 26, 2020 By Sean Gaffney

The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker, Vol. 4

By Tôwa and Huuka Kazabana. Released in Japan as “Sekai Saikyou no Kouei: Meikyuukoku no Shinjin Tansakusha” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jordan Taylor. Once again, I found this volume to be easy, peaceful reading, and once again I am at a loss to explain why as every time I try to describe it it sounds terrible. The same issues that plague previous books crop up here. The first half of the book features nothing happening. The main character has the personality of a herring, and yet has every single character in the series fawning over him. The battles are exciting, provided your idea of exciting is ‘reading other people’s transcripts of MMORPG fights”. Picking the proper stat is serious business. And, of…

November 26, 2020 By Anna N

Shortcake Cake Vols 9 and 10

Shortcake Cake Volumes 9 and 10 by suu Morishita There’s around 5 volumes of revelations and drama packed into these two volumes of Shortcake Cake, but one of the advantages of finally finding out the truth about Riku and Rei’s relationship at last is that seeing the backstory and the emotional aftermath as Riku and his friends attempt to deal with their new reality inspires feelings of empathy in the reader. Morishita is adept at portraying a great deal of emotional nuance as the characters in Shortcake Cake start to puzzle out who they are and how their relationships are evolving. The 9th volume opens with Shiraoka telling Ten and Chiaki the circumstances surrounding Riku’s past. It turns out that Rei’s mom, who was a teacher, adopted Riku after a…

November 26, 2020 By Sean Gaffney, Anna N, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown and Melinda Beasi

Manga the Week of 12/2/20

SEAN: It’s the last month of the year… what are we seeing, manga and light novel-wise? Bookwalker has the 13th volume of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!. Dark Horse debuts Mob Psycho 100: Reigen, a one-volume spinoff of the original that ran in Ura Sunday. ASH: I’m curious about this one. SEAN: In print, J-Novel Club has two debuts: an omnibus version of the Infinite Dendrogram manga, and an omnibus of the Otherside Picnic light novels! Both contain the first two volumes. There’s also I Shall Survive Using Potions! 3 and In Another World with My Smartphone 13. Digitally, J-Novel Club gives us Banner of the Stars 4, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 13, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 34. They’ve also got manga digitally, including the…

November 23, 2020 By Sean Gaffney

Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, Vol. 2

By Ryohgo Narita and Tite Kubo. Released in Japan by Shueisha. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Jan Mitsuko Cash. There was a lot in the first volume of Can’t Fear Your Own World, Ryohgo Narita’s sequel to Bleach, which made me nostalgic for the good old days of the popular Bleach franchise. This second volume, on the other hand, kind of makes me nostalgic for the bad old days of the Bleach franchise. That’s not to say this book is not well written – it’s quite good at what it does. But there’s a very, very large chunk of the middle of the book that can be summed up as “some guys fight, and some more guys show up to interrupt the fight, then different guys…

November 21, 2020 By Sean Gaffney

Unnamed Memory, Vol. 1

By Kuji Furumiya and Chibi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Tangney. It has become increasingly rare in the Japanese light novel world to find a straightforward novel that can be called “fantasy”. Oh, the light novel market is riddled with fantasy novels, to the point where, 3-4 years ago, having anything licensed with non-supernatural content was a huge surprise. But they’re not the sort of fantasy I mean. Either they’re all based around game mechanics, or they’re literally trapped in a game-style worlds. And then there’s the Infinite Isekais, be it reincarnated souls or just “I was in my classroom and now I have a sword and three hot young girls” sorts. But there is something to be said…

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