Manga Bookshelf

January 16, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

Baccano!: 1710 Crack Flag

By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel. Yeah, I avoided this one for a while I will admit. I don’t like tragedies, even when I know they’re coming. What’s more, this book was famous among Baccano! fandom as the pinnacle of the series, and therefore had a lot to live up to. Does it do that? pretty much, yeah. Balancing out the mystery of exactly what’s going on, the achingly sweet and awkward romance between Huey and Monica, and the creeping feeling of impending doom that powers the 2nd half, Crack Flag is a huge winner. And that’s not even mentioning our villain. Pardon the language, but “Fuck Fermet” has been a refrain among…

January 15, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance!, Vol. 1

By Kei Misawa and poporucha. Released in Japan as “Torawareta Ōjo wa Nido, Shiawasena Yume o Miru” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Evie Lund. If Japanese light novels are good at anything, they’re good at “take a premise and do slight variations on it for years”. As such, it can sometimes be very hard to read a book without thinking of that OTHER book you just read. Three are few readers who will pick this book up and not think “huh, this sounds just like Tearmoon Empire”, a series that also has a princess who is imprisoned end up traveling backwards in time to when she’s a child and trying to fix things so that she doesn’t die. Fortunately,…

January 14, 2021 By Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, Anna N and Melinda Beasi

Manga the Week of 1/20/21

SEAN: Well, that was a nice break this week, huh? Next week is back to a giant pile, I’m afraid. J-Novel Club has a quintet of light novels. We get Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?! 5, Holmes of Kyoto 3, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 14, Outbreak Company 16, and Slayers 5. In print, Kodansha just has Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan 2. Digitally, of course, there is far more. The debut is Will It Be the World or Her? (Sekai ka Kanojo ka Erabenai), a Bessatsu Shonen Magazine title. A guy tries to confess to his childhood friend… but another girl shows up and says she’s his girlfriend. What’s more, he has to forget about the other girl… or else the world will end!…

January 14, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 4

By Toshio Satou and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shonen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. Clearly someone has been listening to my review, as after last volume’s weird hotel detour, this one gets back to what I expected the series to be about: Lloyd and company’s time in the academy. Not that we spend much time there, as the town’s cleaned out and empty starter dungeon is suddenly teeming with terrifying dragons and monsters and the like. There’s also the issue of a man wandering around and asking people what he looks like, and then dealing with them if the answer is wrong. And there’s…

January 13, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

Accel World: Kuroyukihime’s Confession

By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. I suspect how much readers enjoy the first half of this book depends on how invested they are in awkward teen romance. Last time we ended with Kuroyukihime inviting Haruyuki over to spend the night at her place, and he ends up accepting here, though he’s not quite sure how long he’ll be staying. As it turns out, the answer is “all night”, and there’s also a bath scene involved, which, as with everything else about this series, gets 80 times more awkward when you remember they’re both 13-14. But they are pretty sweet dorks, and things don’t really go anywhere beyond “I am depressed and want to…

January 12, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 18

By Satoshi Wagahara and 029. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Kevin Gifford. This book is definitely front-loaded with stuff that I am here for. Much as I appreciate the machinations and plans for avoiding destruction going on on Enta isla, I will admit I’ve always been more drawn to the Japan side of this series. And just as everyone is working to ensure that they have a future for humans, angels and demons over there, others need to work to ensure that they have a future going forward in Japan. Even if that future may not involve Maou. As you might guess by the cover art showing her with her hat off, Chiho finally gives her notice to McRonald’s, as…

January 11, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

The Sorcerer’s Receptionist, Vol. 2

By Mako and Maro. Released in Japan as “Mahousekai no Uketsukejou ni Naritaidesu” by ArianRose. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roko Mobius. It should go without saying, really, but fans of this sort of light novel should also be fans of shoujo manga that also runs along these lines. If you, as a reader, read manga where the lead couple are constantly at odds? The girl is constantly angry at the smug arrogant guy? Everyone seems to think they’re already a couple even though she hates his stupid guts? Yeah, that’s this series in a nutshell, it’s just in prose rather than in Hana to Yume. So yes, if smug arrogant guys constantly mocking the heroine are not your cup of tea, don’t read this,…

January 9, 2021 By Sean Gaffney

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 5

By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange. This volume was always going to have trouble living up to the high point of the previous one, and it does. It’s a very short light novel, coming out at not even 160 pages. And that, I think, is the problem – this volume is too rushed, leaving everything sort of half-baked. The joy of these books is seeing Wein come up with plans, wriggle around as they’re upended by a surprise disaster, and then come up with even more clever plans. but you need time for each of those things to simmer, and we don’t…

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