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Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!: The Lich’s Proposal

By Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima. Released in Japan as “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach. It is the nature of a long-running series that it tends to accrue supporting cast members. The longer the series, the more cast members it has to support. Now, KonoSuba has never made it a secret that it is, at heart, a story of four people: Kazuma, Aqua, Megumin and Darkness. Now, this series has a bit of an advantage over many others in that it is popular enough to have scored a slew of spinoff books. We’ve seen one of them, which focuses on Megumin and Yunyun before and during the events of the series. There’s another, unlicensed…

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Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Vol. 1

If your chief criticism of King of Eden was “not enough boobs,” have I got the manga for you: Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, a comedy about a corporate drone whose life is transformed by the onset of a zombie plague. Its hero, Akira Tendo, sees opportunity where others see only chaos, and decides to make a bucket list of 100 things he wants to do before he, too, becomes one of the walking dead. His top priority? Telling his voluptuous co-worker Ohtori how much he likes her—even if she is the “boss’ side piece”—as well as tracking down a mysterious hottie he encounters in a convenience store. That’s not a bad premise for a manga, especially since Akira’s new-found optimism makes him an agreeable figure. His palpable…

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Bookshelf Briefs 3/1/21

BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 3 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – This third volume might even be stronger than the first two. Urara wants to invite Ichinoi to the winter Comiket, but after realizing just how hellishly long the line and walk would be in that season she bails on it… and indeed drops contact for a while, which makes her feel terrible. Then, when studying for college is taking too much toll on her, she reconnects, but this only reminds her that even after growing up and living your best life, you too will eventually have to sort it all into things to keep and things to throw away. The narrative doesn’t hammer this into the reader, it’s subtle and lovely. Something to cherish. – Sean Gaffney Gabriel…

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In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 2

By Ceez and Tenmaso. Released in Japan by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange. Last time I jokingly said that the series was “Overlord meets Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear”, and I was not expecting that to be doubly true in the second volume, which features Cayna serving as a guard/guide to students going out in the woods for the first time (Kuma Bear), but also searching for other “players” and starting to discover that she is not the only one who ended up in this supposed game world far into its future (Overlord). Surrounding this are scenes of Cayna getting pissed off when getting called “grandmother”, Cayna having absolutely no knowl4edge of current currency at all, and Cayna one-shotting various terrifying monsters that…

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Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 5

By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Apologies for the slang here, but as I was reading this volume of Kuma Bear, I kept thinking about recent discussion of ‘gap moe’. Sure, I’m certain there are some people who read this series for the cute girls doing cute things, or for Yuna being stupidly overpowered, or even for the food descriptions. But I think the best reason to read it is for those moments where Yuna’s deadpan, staid character is forced to actually react to things – usually embarrassment, but not always. As I’ve said before, her desire to not take credit for anything she does is starting to feel like a complex,…

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Banner of the Stars: Destiny’s Refrain

By Hiroyuki Morioka and Toshihiro Ono. Released in Japan by Hayakawa Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Giuseppe di Martino. I admit, I frequently have difficulty plowing through these books. I enjoy the plotting and characterization, but the writing is a bit on the dry side, not to mention all the bolded vocab. Usually I have a lot of banter between Jint and Lafier to hold me over, but in this book they appear less than they have in any of the others – and for good reason. If you ever looked at the massive Abh Empire and thought “wow, they seem arrogant, I wish they’d lose everything they have”, well, wish granted, my friend. We get an awful lot of dead cast members, though most…

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I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again!, Vol. 2

By Milli-gram and Yuki Kana. Released in Japan as “Nidoto ie ni wa Kaerimasen!” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Emily Hemphill. Reading this immediately after The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent was probably a mistake, as the two series share much in common. At least the Saint is in her thirties, though. Chelsea’s age and emotional innocence are still front and center in this book, and it can sometimes be discomfiting. The complains once or twice about being treated like a child, but, well, she’s twelve, and honestly acts like she’s six much of the time. What matters most to her are Glen and delicious food, possibly not in that order. And, of course, she has a heart as big as…

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The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent, Vol. 3

By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Julie Goniwich. One of the things that is difficult to admit for your average everyday light novel reader or reviewer is that we are unlikely to every be the savior of an entire world. The Saint, as seen here, has to deal with a bunch of difficult challenges to try not to advertise too much exactly who she is (especially now that the existence of the Saint, if not her identity, has been confirmed) while also trying to help as many people as possible by making many, many powerful potions, and also find the time to try to figure out how her…

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Manga the Week of 3/3/21

SEAN: March comes in like a lion with a pile of new manga, though sadly none of them are March Comes in Like a Lion. Get on that, Viz. MICHELLE: Seriously! ASH: Right?? SEAN: Airship debuts a new light novel with Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist (Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life ~ Isekai ni Tsukurou Drugstore ~). It’s getting an anime in the summer, and gets an early digital release next week. Our hero reincarnates in a fantasy world with a potion maker ability, and treats various folks, including a werewolf girl who falls for him. ASH: I’m largely isekai-ed out, but this variation intrigues me. SEAN: Ghost Ship, meanwhile, has the 5th and final volume of Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight. J-Novel Club…

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