ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department, Vol. 2 | By Natsume Ono | Yen Press – I’m not entirely certain how seriously I should be taken the plotting against the crown here, or indeed the crown’s own attempts to overthrow ACCA. It does seem like Jean has no shortage of people who hate him and want to see a) his department obliterated and b) him arrested for treason. The trouble, of course, being he’s not actually plotting any sort of coup. In fact, he seems to be doing his job more because he has the hots for his superior officer more than anything else, although that’s as much of a lost cause as his own junior who has a crush on him. ACCA is a great series to read, but I don’t think I quite feel the sense of ominous danger I’m meant to. It needs a corpse or two. – Sean Gaffney
Battle Angel Alita: Deluxe Edition, Vol. 2 | By Yukito Kishiro | Kodansha Comics – Having previously read only a portion of the sequel/alternate ending Last Order (parts of which I greatly enjoyed although as a whole the series didn’t overly impress me), I never quite understood the immense popularity of Battle Angel Alita. But now, thanks to the deluxe, hardcover edition from Kodansha Comics, the original manga is back in print in English and I finally get it. The series is terrific, with an appealing lead, intense action sequences, and a striking and visually imaginative cyberpunk setting. The story of the second omnibus (most closely equivalent to the third and fourth volumes), turns to the dangerous and deadly sport of Motorball. After a tragic end to her first romance, Alita leaves behind her life as a bounty hunter to become a rising star of the game. Her search for identity continues as she strives to find purpose and meaning in who she is. – Ash Brown
A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 14 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – I’ve said this before, but the longer this series goes on, and the less the main cast appear in it, the more I suspect that the anti-war story with the frogs that he has going on is the story he really wanted to tell, only he had to write about 7-8 volumes of fanservicey monster girl antics in order to get the series so popular he could get away with it. This is not to say we don’t still see Hime and company, or that there’s not fanservice—just look at the first chapter. But there’s more and more of the warfare in this book, and as it goes on it’s becoming clear that the participants being centaurs or frogs or angels is irrelevant to war being hell for all concerned. Easily the strangest monster girl series coming out these days. – Sean Gaffney
The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 11 | By Aya Shouoto | VIZ Media – Anyone expecting any sort of evolution of Aoi and Himari’s relationship in the wake of his confession at the end of volume nine will be disappointed, since here we are in volume eleven and the gang is primarily focused on getting control of a spreading darkness at the back of Momochi House. Himari is learning more about what happened to the previous Nue(s) and what fate might await Aoi, too, but for the most part this volume just has a lot of battles between Aoi and his immediate predecessor, whose body has been resurrected by his one of his shikigami. I appreciated the BL vibes I got from them during their final panel, but otherwise this volume was a trifle meh. – Michelle Smith
Flying Witch, Vol. 5 | By Chihiro Ishizuka | Vertical Comics – There actually is some plot development here, as Makoto is starting to get jobs, though the job amounts to ‘babysitting.’ More importantly, Chinatsu has been watching witches and magic for some time, and apparently her body is allowing her to use mana now, meaning… she can become a witch! For the moment that just amounts to squirting people with water, but I’m sure that the series is going to have a lot more to do with this going forward. Other than that, and the affirmation that there really is not going to be any romance in this series, even one-sided, thankyouverymuch, and that it is content to have chapters like “try to cure hiccups.” For fans of Yotsuba&! and similar series. – Sean Gaffney
Golden Kamuy, Vol. 4 | By Satoru Noda | Viz Media – There is… a bit less gore this time around, though that’s mostly relative. In fact, at times the genre of Golden Kamuy seems to be switching with every volume, as this time it’s turning into a political thriller, as there’s a lot more focus about what to do with the gold once it’s found, as well as showing off that the comedy relief character, while still funny, may be a bit less goofy than we expected. But rest assured there’s also lots of what brought people to Golden Kamuy in the first place—cooking wild anmals, lots of discussion of poop, and the occasional bloody death and cool action shot. Also, please do not let your heroine get kidnapped by eagles. She is far too valuable. Thank you. – Sean Gaffney
Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 5 | By Canno | Yen Press – Another volume, another relationship, this one featuring the classic forgotten childhood friend. Sawa and Itsuki are entertaining on their own, but there’s no real drama as to whether or not they’ll get together The best part is that Sawa takes a while to struggle with “oh, yeah, I guess I do like her this way,” rather than having an immediate epiphany like some other couples we’ve seen. We also get more attention devoted to the main couple, as we see Ayaka dealing with her Education Mama and her frustration at not being able to be number one… even if she’s not sure that should be her goal anymore. This is not the best yuri manga out there, but it’s pretty solid overall. – Sean Gaffney
Twinkle Stars, Vol. 5 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press –Twinkle Stars, Vol. 5 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – And so, Twinkle Stars comes to a sometimes painful, sometimes lovely close. Just when Chihiro has finally accepted his feelings for Sakuya, he gets a surprise phone call from Sakura, who has actually been awake for some time. He’s afraid that she’ll try to kill herself again unless he shows her what he learned from Sakuya—that kindness and warmth are not an illusion—and so he chooses to leave for Tokyo to be by her side. Not before Sakuya realizes that he’s in love with her, though—in a majorly tear-inducing scene!—and not without telling Sakura that he can’t consider her his girlfriend anymore because he’s fallen in love with someone else. There’s a lot of self-sacrificing going around, including Sakura eventually realizing that she alone can make Chihiro happy… by setting him free. This was such a great series and I look forward to rereading it in the future. – Michelle Smith
Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 3 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – Well, that cliffhanger from the last volume went nowhere fast. Instead, we deal with Tetsu’s love of soccer, and the fact that various circumstances led him to leave the team despite that love. This has not sat well with some friends of his, and Shizu and her ghosts end up being dragged into things in order to get him to reconcile with the team. This is pretty heartwarming, and also shows us that Shizu is getting better at being herself when she’s outside, even if the ghosts still occupy her body much of the time. We’re now halfway through the series, and I suspect things may get a little more serious towards the end, so it’s nice to see something like this that is serious yet easily solvable. Also, Shizu’s cute. – Sean Gaffney