This week, Sean, Michelle, & Anna look at recent releases from Seven Seas, Kodansha Comics, & Viz Media.
Alice in the Country of Clover: Knight’s Knowledge, Vol. 2 | By QuinRose and Sai Asai | Seven Seas – I will say this for the creators they rarely take the easy way out and have Alice come to terms with everything and accept that she is loved. She’s a tough nut to crack for a reason – she’s a mess of repressed traumas and griefs, and her low self-image will not let her accept what the others are offering. On the down side, as a long-running manga series where each volume is “who will she end up with and how”, this can be frustrating for the reader, as they really would like Alice to get past her self-esteem issues and choose a man. And of course, in this particular series Ace only loves Alice when she *is* screwed up. This makes for fun times, mostly. – Sean Gaffney
Arata: The Legend, Vol. 19 | By Yuu Watase | Viz Media – Why has it taken me this long to figure out that Kadowaki and Arata are rather like Yui and Miaki from Fushigi Yuugi, in that they are former friends with a history of betrayal who are now foes in a fantasy land? In any case, this volume features the battle against Isora, a sho who fights with runes, basically. After Arata cannot answer whether he considers Kadowaki to be his friend or his enemy, Kadowaki himself suddenly shows up to rescue Arata, who later returns the favor, and it’s all kind of great. Kadowaki is able to understand Isora’s villainous motivations, but Arata seems to realize he really needs to tell Kadowaki that he doesn’t hate him, despite all the torment he suffered at his hands. I’m a sucker for a good redemption story, so found this to be quite a good and satisfying volume. – Michelle Smith
D-Frag!, Vol. 2 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – This manga is dedicated to wringing maximum humor from every single character it can. Kazama may be the straight man, but even he’s not above a gag or two, even if it’s just about his being a tsukkomi. As for Takao, her tsundere tendencies are surpassed only by her ability to be physically, mentally and emotionally abused by the rest of the cast. The big surprise here may be Sakura, one of the more forgettable girls in Volume 1; here we see her happy, smiling nature never goes away, even when it should; her takedown of Kazama’s willingness to coast and a brutal and shocking swerve in an otherwise silly and goofball series. But make no mistake about it; darker moments or no, D-Frag! is still all about the humor. – Sean Gaffney
Girls Und Panzer, Vol. 2 | By Girls Und Panzer Project and Ryohichi Saitaniya | Seven Seas – I have to assume that the audience for this series is going to be drawn to the “cute girls at school doing stuff” premise, rather than the tank battles. It’s still meant to be moe. That said, hope you like tank battles; this manga is devoting as much time as possible to the battlefield and seeing our heroes under fire. Akiyama, the star of the manga series and hyperactive tank fan, is given a command of her own as the new tank hasn’t had time to get a crew yet. She does a commendable job, as her otaku tank knowledge allows her to stay calm in battle. And, of course, everyone learns a valuable lesson about friendship. This manga remains light-hearted and fun, and lovingly filled with tanks. – Sean Gaffney
Kamisama Kiss, Vol 16 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – I am really enjoying this storyline, where human turned shrine goddess Nanami has to go back in time to save her fox spirit Tomoe from a terrible curse. The Tomoe she encounters in the past is violent and selfish, but even in his unenlightened state, he finds himself drawn to the human girl despite his better judgement. This volume focuses on the way Nanami’s life becomes further entwined with Yukiji, the human who previously captured Tomoe’s heart. Suzuki’s manga seem to often be at bit more episodic than intricately plotted, but it is interesting to see how both Tomoe’s past and future are bound up in Nanami’s actions. While Nanami tries to fulfill her quest, Akura-oh is stirring up even more trouble. I’m looking forward to seeing if Nanami and Tomoe’s relationship progresses even more when they next meet in the future. – Anna N
Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 12 | Original Concept by Hiro Arikawa, Story and Art by Kiiro Yumi | Viz Media – Iku and Dojo go for their chamomile tea date and are adorable. Then they have to pretend to be a normal couple out shopping in order to procure some items for a disguise for an author whose novel was used as the inspiration for terrorist attacks (and now his freedom to write is in jeopardy). And they are adorable. And then Tezuka and Shibazaki foil an attempt to kidnap the author and share some adorable moments of their own. All in all, there were quite a few scenes of proto-couple-y goodness, which I appreciated. At one point, Iku talks of reading the imperiled author’s works for the characters rather than the plot, and I realized… that’s exactly how I feel about Library Wars. The plots always feel flimsy and silly, but they put together characters that I like in a gentle shoujo way, and I can’t really complain about that. – Michelle Smith
Midnight Secretary, Vol. 7 | By Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – When the first volume of Midnight Secretary failed to fully win me over, I procastinated on continuing it. However, I’m glad I didn’t let that first impression prevail indefinitely, because it turned out to be a pretty enjoyable series, and Kaya’s professional competence and dedication to her job were a highlight throughout. In this final volume, Kyohei has been expelled from the vampire clan for refusing to give up on his relationship with Kaya, but the clan isn’t quite done meddling, and is indirectly responsible for Kaya’s mother realizing that her daughter is in love with a vampire. That angst doesn’t last too long, and soon wedding plans are underway and there is talk of a baby that is, like, destined to be vampire Jesus or something. All in all, it was a better-than-expected supernatural romance! – Michelle Smith
The Seven Deadly Sins, Vol. 4 | By Nakaba Suzuki | Kodansha Comics – There’s really a ton of backstory being dished out in this series, and at times it feels it’s coming a bit too fast – here we get an explanation of why King is so angry at Ban, a demonstration of his “other form”, Elaine’s tragic backstory, and adding King to the chain of ‘loves someone else’ that’s been building up. What with Elizabeth now finding her sister working for the other side, there’s precious little time for the comedy or fanservice that was present in previous volumes. And I find that’s a good thing – Melodias is far more likeable as a dark and mysterious hero than he is when he’s trying to feel Elizabeth up. Odd as it seems for me to say, more serious stuff in the future, please!. – Sean Gaffney