Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Archives for June 2018

True Tenchi Muyo!: Jurai

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By Yousuke Kuroda and Masaki Kajishima. Released in Japan as “Shin Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-o-ki” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Lillian Olsen. Adapted by AstroNerdBoy.

There have been a lot of things licensed and brought out in North America that surprised me, but honestly, “spinoff light novels for a series that hasn’t really been popular here since about 2002” takes the cake. To be fair, when Tenchi was big here it was VERY big. Along with Ranma 1/2 and Oh My Goddess!, Tenchi Muyo was one of the gateway anime for many fans, and also received one of the better known dubs out there. In Japan, it’s remained as popular as ever, with multiple animes, infinite doujinshi by the creators, and spinoffs galore. A lot of those have come out here as well, but it would not be exaggerating to say that Tenchi’s time was thought to be past. Enter Seven Seas, who have now licensed three volumes of a spinoff novel series that fills in important backstory for the OAV series. And this is definitely based on the OAVs, so don’t expect Kiyone here. Indeed, most of the main cast are relegated to cameos or smaller roles, as this book focuses on Ayeka and Sasami’s father, Azusa.

Yes, that’s Ryoko on the cover, and she does have a small role in this book, but she’s still basically Kagato’s puppet at this point. The main thrust of the book is seeing Azusa’s youth, as well as how he ended up married to Funaho and Masaki. To my relief, Azusa as overprotective Dad from hell is reserved for the prologue, showing yet another fiancee coming down to battle Tenchi only to be taken out by the force of nature that is Mihoshi’s luck. We then flash back to scenes of his youth, which range from seeing him growing up and being taken to Jurai by Masaki’s mother Seto (who really deserves a book or two to herself, frankly) to having the traditional tragic teenage romance, and finally ending up near Earth while chasing pirates – of course, this is Earth around 1250 CE, so there’s a lot less fish out of water antics than you’d expect – and dealing with the aftermath of telling Jurai that he’s not only marrying an offworlder but she’s going to be First Empress.

As I said, Azusa is serious-minded here and has flashes of temper, but is far more likeable and tolerable than the guy we see in the OAVs who exists to get pushed around by his wives and daughters. It’s also nice to see a less stoic “yamato nadesico” and more teenage Funaho. And, as I alluded to above, Seto makes a great mentor, and I definitely want to see more of her. The narrative is mostly straightforward, though I could have done without the annoying intrusive narrative voice name checking events in the Tenchi timeline – “little did they know this was their fated first meeting”, etc. This is especially annoying in one aside regarding Azusa’s second wife Masaki, which spoils a bit too much a future event that I was unaware of. That said, these books are clearly for Tenchi fanatics, and as such I can’t really be too grumpy about it.

Obviously, if you are a newbie to the Tenchi universe, this is a terrible introduction. Go watch the first two anime OAV series. But for those who are still fans, or people like me who hadn’t thought about it in years but still have fond memories, this book is a lot of fun. Plus it’s pretty short, so likely you can knock it back in an afternoon.

Harukana Receive, Vol. 1

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By Nyoijizai. Released in Japan by Houbunsha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by David Musto and Amanda Haley. Adapted by Claudie Summers.

Sometimes when you see a new title, you’re never quite sure what it’s going to be. Harukana Receive in particular could slot into any number of categories. First and foremost, it’s a sports manga, with lots of beach volleyball advice and analysis, and the typical sports manga tropes, such as the newcomer with promising talent and the person who quit and has to be coaxed back. There’s also a healthy amount of fanservice, which honestly is to be expected in a title about beach volleyball, thoguh the service does not appear to be very skeezy. Most importantly, though, it’s a Kirara title, so we see a group of two girls meet up with another group of two girls, and they have discusssions and do things. In this case, the thing they do is beach volleyball. Which, of course, gets back to: this is a sports manga.

Haruka is a tall girl who’s recently moved to Okinawa to live with her cousin Kanata, who is… not tall. They are, as you may have gathered, the ‘Harukana’ of the title. Okinawa has beaches, and beaches means beach volleyball. Haruka immediately runs into two players, Narumi and Ayasa, and finds herself fascinated by the game. That said, beach volleyball is not regular colleyball. What’s more, Kanata seems strangely torn about participating in a game, and seems to have a past with Narumi. Can Haruka’s bright sunny attitude and innate talent (and height) help to bring everyone together? If you don’t know the answer to this, you haven’t been reading manga very much. Then, when Haruka finally goes to her new school, she runs into two sisters who also play the sport, despite the fact that, by definition, beach volleyball means running around in bathing suits. How embarrassing!

You can definitely tell that Harukana Receive is on the sports end of the seesaw rather than the service end because of the large amount of advice and instruction given about beach volleyball within its pages. From learning that the court is smaller to the ball not being fully inflated, Haruka has to take in a lot in a short period. Kanata, meanwhile, is dealing with an issue that might be familiar to Haikyu!! readers: she’s not tall enough, which is what led to her breakup with Narumi and her dropping of volleyball in the first place. Fortunately, she and Haruka seem to mesh well together. (I say breakup, but honestly if there is yuri in this title it’s so subtle as to be near nonexistent.)

This is a cute title, and it has an anime coming out in a week or so. I’d say fans of shonen sports manga would get the most out of it – if these were guys, it would fit right into Weekly shonen Jump. But since it’s a group of girls, it pretty much fits right into Manga Time Kirara. I’m definitely interested in more.

Manga the Week of 7/4/18

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SEAN: Next week is July. It’s hot. But there is manga! Let’s keep it short and sweet.

MICHELLE: Our heat index today is 102. :(

SEAN: Dark Horse has a spiffy Gallery Edition of Lone Wolf and Cub, which I sometimes feel is the only title they really still love.

ASH: It does seem that way sometimes; this edition should be gorgeous.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of World’s End Harem.

J-Novel Club has a 14th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?.

In print, Kodansha has a 25th Attack on Titan, and a 27th volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

ASH: I somehow missed that The Seven Deadly Sins had surpassed Attack on Titan in length!

SEAN: Digitally, we see new volumes of Beware the Kamiki Brothers! (3), A Kiss, For Real (2) Those Summer Days (2), and You Got Me, Sempai (3).

MICHELLE: Eventually, I really will get around to checking out all of these.

ANNA: That’s too much. Too much digital!

SEAN: Seven Seas has three debut titles next week. Go For It, Nakamura! is a cute romantic comedy that’s being marketed more as that than as BL. It is done in one, and ran in Akaneshinsha’s BL-oriented magazine Opera.

MICHELLE: I love the retro-looking art on the cover!

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this release!

SEAN: Harukana Receive is a beach volleyball series, and features lots of girls in minimal clothing. Despite both these things, it runs in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Forward, so I’m expecting strong female friendships.

Mushroom Girls in Love (Kinoko Ningen no Kekkon) is a one-shot from the creator of A Centaur’s Life, and is just as weird as that long-running series is. It ran in Ohta Shuppan’s Pocopoco, which is a seinen magazine.

ASH: Weird can be good; I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a 2nd volume of the Arifureta manga, and a 2nd volume of Giant Spider & Me.

MICHELLE: Woot.

ASH: I greatly enjoyed the first volume of Gian Spider & Me, so I’ll definitely be picking up the second!

SEAN: Vertical has the 2nd and last Moteki omnibus. Will the protagonist get together with one of the girls? I wouldn’t count on it.

Viz time. One debut, one spinoff debut, and one artbook debut. The new series is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, a Weekly Shonen Jump title. I’ve heart it’s heartwarming. I’ve also heard it’s dark and FILLED with violence.

ASH: I’ve heard similar things about the series.

SEAN: The spinoff is My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, and you can probably guess the plot given MHA is a series about licensed heroes. These are not those heroes. The artist is better known for Harukaze Bitter Bop over here, one of the many series that died when Tokyopop first did. The writer has also done the K manga.

MICHELLE: I’m a little hesitant about this one, since it’s not by the original creator, but I suppose it could be good.

SEAN: The artbook is Color Walk, the first One Piece artbook to actually come out over here. Experience the very beginning of the series, looking gorgeous and with commentary by Oda.

Ongoing shonen? We’ve got it. Bleach 73, Dragon Ball Super 3, Haikyu!! 25, Naruto’s 23rd 3-in-1, One-Punch Man 14, Rurouni Kenshin’s 7th 3-in-1, and a 9th Yo-kai Watch.

ASH: Look at that! Two volleyball titles in one week!

SEAN: Ongoing shoujo? Plenty of that too. Anonymous Noise 9, The Demon Prince of Momochi House 12, the 2nd and final Kenka Bancho Otome, and the 6th Water Dragon’s Bride.

MICHELLE: Definitely several in both categories that I’m following!

ANNA: YAY!!!!

SEAN: Ongoing seinen marketed as shonen? Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 3 is for you.

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen On has a 3rd volume of The Empty Box and the Zeroth Maria.

Beating the heat? Celebrating the Fourth? What manga are you doing it with?

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu

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By Fujino Omori and NIRITSU. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

Given that the DanMachi series has, of late, been getting pretty dark, and even Sword Oratoria is going to some dark places when it’s not busy showing Lefiya being jealous, the average reader would not have been surprised to see this new spinoff, focusing on Lyu Leon, to be a description of her tragic past and the horrible deaths of everyone she knew and loved. Fortunately, we don’t get that. While Lyu’s past certainly affects her throughout this book, and the second half delves into the immediate aftermath of her revenge, this is an altogether more lighthearted affair. A tale told in two parts, the first half deals with Lyu and Syr disguising themselves and entering a fabulous casino to try to rescue a young woman gambled away by her father. The second story, as I hinted, deals with how Lyu ended up working at the Benevolent Mistress, as well as giving some backstory for two of the other waitresses. It’s a breezy, fun read.

The first story was my favorite, because come on, CASINO CAPER! Lyu and Syr listen to some schmuck of a dad’s story about his gambling addiction and how he ended up losing his daughter. Because Lyu burns with a sense of righteousness despite herself, she decides to rescue the girl. Because Syr is Syr, she tags along as well. Actually, Syr gets the most awesome moments of the story. I suspect the author had heard about the fan rumors that Syr was secretly Freya in disguise, and while not quite true, Syr certainly has a strong connection to Freya, and seeing her destroy the denizens of the casino in poker is worth the price of the entire book. We also get to see Lyu’s attempt to adopt a cool billionaire disguise, and how quickly it falls by the wayside as soon as she sees something that invokes her fury.

As for the other story, because it’s dealing with the tragic backstories of not only Lyu, who is found by Syr near death after finishing up her revenge against those who slaughtered her Familia, but also two of the other waitresses, Runoa and Chloe, who turn out to have been teenage bounty hunters/assassins in their youth. Both are ready to call it quits, but there’s one last job that has to be done: killing Lyu on behalf of the mysterious group paying them. The moment that you see they’re going to try to do this at the pub late at night, you know you’re in for some fun fights, amazing property damage, and seeing Mia go off on everyone present. Mia, like Syr, is tied in to the Freya family (you get the feeling they started the pub with just the two of them), and the pub itself seems more like a “home for wayward girls” after this story.

For those wondering if this is a Bell-free book, nope, he shows up in the casino, and plays a small role in the chaos that follows. But for the most part this book does exactly what it set out to do: expand on Lyu’s character and have a really good time. I’d like to see more in the series focusing on other supporting characters some day.

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 1

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By Shizuki Fujisawa. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Betsucomi. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley.

On first read, my general feeling on this volume was it was the start of a nice, but fairly typical shoujo manga. I’d been told at the start that the heroine had “violent tendencies”, but honestly she wasn’t so much violent as filled with righteousness. And the male lead who’s a bit of a playboy but who ends up falling in love for real for the first time is also something we’ve seen quite a bit. So imagine my surprise when I saw one of the final author’s notes , where she mentions her original plan: the heroine was a shy, blushing girl and the hero was a bright, cheerful guy. And the heroine was the focus. That’s when I realized that there are degrees of typical shoujo manga. Yes, Hatsu*Haru has things you’ve seen in shoujo manga before, but it’s not the default like the abandoned version was. Especially since the focus of this series is on the male lead, Kai.

Kai is set up for a fall almost from the very first page. He’s dating multiple girls, arranging to date even more, and enjoying the springtime of his youth. He’s got three other guy friends, and the whole group will likely make you think of Kiss Him, Not Me or Waiting for Spring. Unfortunately, one of his casual girls was more serious than expected, saw him arm in arm with someone else, and cried to her friend Riko about it. So Rika decides to solve the problem by beating the shit out of Kai. It works, but not the way that she intended – Kai is slowly, much to his frustration and unease, becoming fascinated with Riko. He has no idea how to deal with actual deep emotions, and his friends are trying to be sympathetic but also pointing and laughing a but. Oh yes, and there’s also the problem that Riko has a crush on a childhood neighbor who’s now a teacher at their school. That and, y’know, Riko thinks he’s a playboy and a jerk.

The editors were absolutely right, changing the POV to Kai helps the story immensely, mostly as he’s by far the more interesting character. Not that Riko is dull or anything – for all that she’s called a violent monster a lot, her actual temper seems to be only on occasional and reserved for those who deserve it. But Kai is the one who needs to change more, and we also need to see that deep down he really is the dhoujo hero we’d like to see. (We don’t see much of them, but I noticed he has a large family with nultiple younger siblings, which always seems to bode well for handsome shoujo guys.) And of course there’s also the matter of Riko’s crush, which he knows about. and the fact that Riko is hanging on to it even though it’s hopeless. He’s got a lot of work to do on himself and on the relationship he wants to have.

The series is shaping up to be about 13 volumes in Japan – it just ended – so I’m expecting a lot of subplots and probably a few side pairings. Another female support character would be nice in that regard. For the moment, though, enjoy Hatsu*Haru, a typical shoujo series, but not as typical as it could have been.

The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress, Vol. 4

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By SOW and Zaza. Released in Japan by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by Bookwalker. Translated by Ari and John Werry.

Despite taking place in a fantasy Europe-ish world where peace is very shaky and there are grudges galore, Combat Baker has been a fairly heartwarming, lighthearted series. There is the occasional assassination attempt, Lud’s past is not really made fun of, and there’s always the possibility of a horrible bread–related tragedy, but I think most folks read these books to see Sven freak out about people getting close to Lud, Sophia and Daian, and the occasional cartoon villain, like Hilde from the last book. Indeed, the setup for this book seems to be taking much the same route, as we see Hilde try again to assassinate Lud, fail miserably, and be forced to work at the bakery. The reader can relax as they realize that hijinks are about to ensue.

(Narrator voice: Hijinks did not, in fact, ensue.)

I probably should have suspected something was up when I saw Sophia’s cute and plucky Private First Class Deadmeat, who did everything but take out a picture of her boyfriend and tell Sophia that she’s retiring in two days. Yes, that’s right, this is NOT a light and fluffy book in the series, it’s the first of an extended arc, and it ends up in a very dark place. We are reminded once more that a core premise of this series is that it’s in a world sort of ruled by Germany, and that the fantasy equivalent of the SS are looking to move up in the world. As such, our main villain Genitz is NOT in the hilariously awful mode like Hilde was – he’s a nasty piece of work who you will come to loathe, and he ups the body count in this book significantly. I have no doubt that he’ll get his in the end – he already has one scheme too many, in my opinion – but as far as Book 4 goes, the bad guys win.

It’s not ALL doom and gloom, of course – as I said, the first three fourths of this are pretty fun. Yes, Sophia and her troops are holding back a siege, but it’s OK, they still have Rebecca in reserve, and lots of experimental weapons like bazookas. More to the point, the book humanizes Hilde. I went into the book groaning a bit about this, as Hilde was so obnoxious in the third volume that I wanted nothing more than for her to vanish from the narrative forever. And some of her redemption is clunky – Sophia’s recollection of a young girl singing and being humiliated at a noble’s party years ago screams “please enjoy this exposition which will be important later” – but her emotional journey does eventually feel earned, and I liked the way that she and Sven compared and contrasted. Also, the author does have some excellent subtle tricks later on – I didn’t realize the past connection between two characters until right before I was supposed to.

Still, things are bad. Two likeable people dead, one main supporting character possibly dead, another missing, one captured by evil soldiers, and our main heroine will, I suspect, be brainwashed for much of the next book. Can Lud and company turn this around? Probably, yes. In the meantime, the bakery’s closed after this excellent but dark volume.

Bookshelf Briefs 6/25/18

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Astra: Lost in Space, Vol. 3 | By Kenta Shinohara | Viz Media – Two things are the most notable about this volume of Astra, which otherwise sees our heroes going to more alien worlds and slowly firming up into the obvious romantic couples. The first is the big reveal that Luca is intersex, which comes out after a confrontation with Ulgar over Luca’s father, the senator. We’ve seen intersex characters in manga before, but it doesn’t usually hit Jump titles. The other reveal is back with the parents discussing their kids, who have now been missing for a month. It’s clear that there is some sort of big conspiracy going on here. That said, I’m not sure I’d really be continuing with this if I didn’t know the next volume was the last. I look forward to it ending, but also want to see the end. – Sean Gaffney

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 2 | By Yukito Kishiro | Kodansha Comics – Having recently started reading and enjoying the original Battle Angel Alita, I was naturally curious about Mars Chronicle. While the first volume of Mars Chronicle served as a prequel to Battle Angel Alita, taking place during Alita’s childhood as a war orphan on Mars, the second volume is a sequel set after the events of the Last Order series. Tying the volumes together are the characters and the Martian landscape. Alita finds herself caught up in a dramatic battle with Erica, her childhood friend and another expert martial artist, while larger efforts to establish a unified Mars are in danger of collapsing, Alita herself framed for an assassination attempt of the emerging leader. For the most part, Mars Chronicle is a fairly accessible series even for those who haven’t read the earlier manga, although some basic familiarity with the franchise can still be useful. – Ash Brown

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 24 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – One of the more iconic things about Food Wars! are the images that are drawn by the artist summing up the preparation of food. Sometimes, when it involves the judges eating, it’s pure fanservice, but not always. There’s two terrific portraits here of the different types of cooking that two of the teams do—the one with Gin, Takumi and Megumi is shown as a sort of cocktail jazz band, while the one with Soma, his dad and Erina is shown to be avant-garde Jackson-Pollock style painters. It’s great stuff, and helps get us into the big final matches, which start with Soma immediately having rotten luck destroy him, as he’s challenging a soba expert and the meal they’re doing is soba. Ah well, he’s the hero, I’m sure he’ll come up with something. – Sean Gaffney

Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017 | By Takuma Shindo | Kodansha Comics – Despite being subtitled 1995-2017, the recent Hollywood live-action Ghost in the Shell film is oddly the first incarnation of Shirow Masamune’s manga to be addressed by the README guide and artbook. The rest of the volume is devoted to the various anime films and series by Mamoru Oshii, Kenji Kamiyama and, most recently, Kazuchika Kise. Each of the adaptations is given a chapter of its own which includes general information, story summaries, character, mechanical, and landscape designs, an abundance of full-color artwork, and more. For me the most interesting parts of README were the essays, the interview with Atsuko Tanaka and Maaya Sakamoto (the voices of “The Major,” Motoko Kusanagi), and the roundtable featuring all of the Ghost in the Shell anime directors in conversation with one another. README will likely appeal most to established fans of the franchise, but it provides a terrific overview and general introduction, too. – Ash Brown

Horimiya, Vol. 11 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – It really is impressive how the author of Horimiya is just not letting go of the fact that Hori really gets turned on by being dominated/struck, and that this really seems to bother Miyamura. It’s one reason, perhaps, why the volume ends with a short chapter that shows that, though they love each other, they still have tremendous difficulty figuring out how the other thinks. And there’s also Hori’s rage issues, which they at least acknowledge but don’t really deal with. As for the other couples, well, Ishikawa and Yoshikawa (Ishiyoshi?) are still struggling a bit, mostly due to embarrassment and embarrassing family. Horimiya isn’t as fantastic as it once was, but it’s still fun. – Sean Gaffney

Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 23-24 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | VIZ Media – We begin with the conclusion of the Winter Cup semifinal game, during which Seirin manages to defeat Kaijo by a one-point margin. It’s tense and exciting and there is a lot of manly crying. Rather than move right into the finals, however, the story diverges into flashback mode, with Kuroko telling the story of his time at Teiko Middle. This arc is fabulous and I’m a little bummed we didn’t have it earlier, as it would’ve informed so many of Kuroko’s interactions with his former teammates. However, putting it before his big matchup against Akashi makes sense, since Akashi was the one who sensed his potential to develop a unique style in the first place. In particular, I wasn’t expecting to come out of the arc loving Aomine so much. It’s nice knowing he finally did find someone who could defeat him. One of the best volumes in a while! – Michelle Smith

Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 23-24 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | Viz Media – As you might expect, Kuroko solves things, and is even allowed to make the winning shot—something that stuns him a bit. We’re clearly getting near to the end of the series, which means it’s now time for a biiiig flashback showing how the Generation of Miracles actually came to be. As you might imagine given everyone we’ve seen, it was not free and easy. Kuroko is almost put off the team a few times and the others barely work together at all. (It’s also cute seeing a middle-school, pre-sexy knockout Momoi falling for Kuroko.) I’m glad that this flashback is coming now, as we’ve come to know all the leads, and it also gives us a break from the tournament while still being filled with basketball. – Sean Gaffney

Mushroom Girls in Love | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – If it weren’t for the length, this could easily have fit right into the middle of A Centaur’s Life, a series that seems to enjoy randomly wandering off into whatever the hell for a few chapters on end. Instead of animal-human hybrids, this time it’s fungi-human hybrids, as our heroines try to stay married and in love despite root rot, royalty trying to break them up, and evading gunfire and the world seemingly being against them. As with A Centaur’s Life, this is not so much comedic or dramatic as just plain weird. And then there’s the girls riding tarantulas like horses… I guess what I mean to say is that if you like A Centaur’s Life and wish that the lesbians were the main characters, give this a shot. – Sean Gaffney

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 9 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics – In many respects, this is a satisfying finale. Jelly Fish is back in business and it’s great to see the girls, particularly Jiji, finally able to don fancy clothes without hesitation in order to help Tsukimi’s visions become reality. In fact, I pretty much cried straight through from that point on. Reveals and reunions occur, but when one looks closer, one sees that several things remain unsettled. Amamizukan is still owned by Kai Fish, we don’t know whether Jelly Fish will actually be a success, and we don’t know how Tsukimi feels about Kuranosuke being in love with her (though I do love that he recognizes she doesn’t need a man right now). The feeling is all very optimistic, though, and perhaps it’s for the best that we just imagine a happy outcome without worrying about the details. It’s hard to believe it’s over! – Michelle Smith

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – If you enjoyed the first volume of Wotakoi, this second one gives you more of what you enjoyed. The four leads are still all otaku types, but realistic and not caricatured. We get to see how Hanako and Taro met, which temporarily turns Wotakoi into Haikyu!! for a bit, and also see the couples accidentally getting swapped thanks to a haunted roller coaster. And there’s a new character, introduced (I thought) to be a gay love interest to Naoya, but no, she’s just a shy girl who dresses like a schlub. Still, there’s some comedy to be mined from hiding this from Naoya for the time being. As an anime and manga geek, reading Wotakoi is both fun and heartwarming, and I like it a lot. – Sean Gaffney

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – I really liked the first Wotakoi omnibus, but I flatout loved this one. All of the characters are so great and so vivid, and there was an interesting structure to the two volumes included here. In the first, the continuing story of Hirotaka and Narumi’s first real date is interspersed with short vignettes and the story of how Naoya makes a friend. I came away with a much stronger idea of why Hirotaka loves Narumi, and how he feels like an inferior adult compared to her. In the second volume, the continuing story is an amazing flashback to Kabakura and Koyanagi in high school, with all the tsundere goodness one could wish for. Ordinarily, characters who bicker this much would bother me, but these two are the exception. This is a fabulous series that everyone should be reading. Get on it! – Michelle Smith

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, Vol. 2 | By Tadahiro Miura | Seven Seas – If nothing else, Yuuna is proving to be a slightly better ecchi Jump title than To-Love-Ru has, possibly as there’s slightly less emphasis on falling into everyone’s breasts all the time. Only slightly, though, and Yuuna still positions itself for one type of reader and one alone—the horny teenage boy. But if I were a horny teenage boy, I’d like this—Kogarashi is a bit less hapless than the typical ecchi protagonist, the girls are for the most part fun (I was amused that the drunken Kitsune wannabe is a manga artist), and there is the occasional sweet romantic tease. Still, if you’re expecting romance, read Nisekoi. If you want boobs, this is the book for you. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Claudine

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KATE: The obvious pick of the week is Riyoko Ikeda’s three-hanky drama Claudine, a sensitive (if sometimes melodramatic) story about a transgender man who struggles to find his place in society. As Sean pointed out in his terrific review, Claudine is surprisingly woke for a manga written in 1977, even if the ending is a major downer. In addition to Claudine, I’m also making space on my shelf for Shibuya Goldfish, a manga that dares ask the question, what really happens when you flush your pet fish down the toilet. (Spoiler alert: bad stuff.)

SEAN: It’s an embarrassment of riches this week, and I feel bad for not highlighting True Tenchi Muyo, one of the titles that got me into anime, or Little Witch Academia, a fun adaptation of a great (and kid-friendly) series. But yes, obvious, the pick is Claudine, which was worth the wait and reminds you why Riyoko Ikeda is still one of the most loved creators in Japan.

MICHELLE: I, too, am picking Claudine this week, but I do want to take a moment to highlight the print debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, which is really a terrific and fun josei series.

ANNA: Claudine Claudine Claudine, Claudine Claudine. CLAUDINE!

ASH: Yes! Absolutely no question about it! Claudine is my pick, too! (Of course, Tokyo Tarareba Girls and Silver Spoon are pretty high on my reading list as well…)

MJ: What they all said! Claudine it is!

Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy

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By Sanzo. Released in Japan as “Imomushi Shoujo to Komyushou Danshi” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Gene Pixiv. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Alexandra McCullough-Garcia.

I’m not sure what I was expecting going into reading Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy. I knew the basic premise, but that’s about it. I think I expected a cute, slice-of-life thing with heartwarming moments. I also expected by the end of the book everything would be back to normal. Neither of those things happen, and in fact the book goes to a lot of dark places that I wasn’t expecting. That makes it a richer experience, though, and even as I was reading along and going “holy crap”, I was appreciating what the author was doing, peeling apart the backstory of a hero that I honestly didn’t like at all at the start, and making you think twice about the love on his childhood friend, which goes from zero to obsession in the flashbacks. And then there’s the God who puts all this in motion. The book has a lot of balls in the air, but juggles them very well.

The book wastes no time getting into its basic premise. Suzume is pretty, accomplished, and popular. She is childhood friends with Akane, who is introverted, somewhat plain, and has a massive case of self-hatred. So when she confesses to him, his response is variations on “there’s no way someone like you could go for someone like me”. After which she promptly disappears… and then shows up in front of him as a giant human-sized caterpillar. No, this isn’t metaphorical this time around. She made a wish to a shrine god that she could be an ugly creature so that he wouldn’t have to worry about her being pretty and popular. The trouble is that she REALLY didn’t think this through, and can’t really grasp anything, food tastes bad, and she now feels totally useless. As for Akane, he still hates himself, but now he feels guilty. What’s more, turns out one of Suzume’s friends at school is in fact the God she was praying to… and she hates Akane.

The second half of this book, right about where we start to get the perspective of Ouga, the classmate and God mentioned above, ends up being so riveting that I don’t actually want to spoil it. Which, for those readers who know that I casually spoil absolutely everything, is really saying something. Seeing Akane’s backstory made me realize that he’s not just some whiny loser protagonist but has real built-up issues. We also see that Suzume’s love is incredibly unhealthy, both in her past as a human and in her present as a caterpillar, and as we head towards the ending (the book is complete in one volume) we realize that this is not one of those “happily ever after” books so much as “ever after”. There are no easy answers when you love someone so much you transform into a caterpillar for them.

This isn’t an easy read – the three leads all have difficult personalities that we have to deal with, and I think there are some readers who might have preferred the cutesy heartwarming story I thought we were getting going in. But I’m very happy I read this, as the emotional heft of it was fantastic.
Not your typical “monster girl” manga.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 4

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By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

This is quite a short volume of Outbreak Company, and as such it doesn’t really do a heck of a lot to advance the forward plot. Its main thrust can be divided into three: 1) Due to the soccer game from last book being filmed and then leaked onto Youtube, Shinichi and company have to figure out how to cover up something that’s already gone viral; 2) Petralka is starting to burn out a bit, and her advisors aren’t really sure how to deal with a teenage empress; and 3) the author has realized that Minori hasn’t really had much of a backstory, and thus has Shinichi actually notice she’s uncomfortable when he calls her feminine and asks her about her past and background. In the afterword, the author says this was supposed to be Minori’s book but Petralka sort of shoved herself in; I think that may have been a good idea, as while Minori’s past is suitably sad, it doesn’t really tie into anything else. It’s there just for development.

Minori doesn’t even get the cover (she was the logical choice), as instead we have Magical Girl Petralka. Shinichi’s idea to stop the Youtube rumors is to put out a few more video clips that make it clear that this is a movie, and that it’s just CGI people saw. This dovetails nicely with Petralka needing a bit of distraction from the heavy weight of power, and so she ends up being the star. Unfortunately, as you’d expect from a girl who’s done nothing but rule the country or be prepared to rule the country, Petralka decides she likes life on the other side a bit TOO much, and needs to be smacked back with some harsh reality. These are probably the best scenes in the book, and show off the main reason why Outbreak Company is still a good read – Shinichi is very good at reading people, and figuring out what they need.

As for Minori, despite telling Shinichi about her past, and saying that she understands why the other girls have all fallen for him, there’s no indication that she has done the same, which is fine with me. She gre up as the Heir to the Dojo, but as iwth a lot of Heirs to the Dojo who are female, her dad wanted a boy and she can’t help but always be inadequate. Puberty also didn’t help, which is probably why Shinichi’s obsession wi8th her large breasts is not all that welcome (though I would not expect it to end either – this is still a Japanese light novel). That said, she gets to save the day when a large dragon attacks the film site (which is the one part of the book hinting at future plotlines, as the dragon seems to have been mind controlled by another nation), and hopefully she’ll feel more comfortable with herself as the series goes on.

This wasn’t the best volume of Outbreak Company, and it felt more like filling time than anything else. But there were still lots of good scenes and funny character bits, and it’s enough to tide us over till the next book, which I hope is more plot-heavy.

Little Witch Academia, Vol. 1

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By Trigger, Yoh Yoshinari and Keisuke Sato. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Ace. Released in North America by JY. Translated by Taylor Engel.

Despite this being another franchise where I’ve never actually seen the anime, I knew quite a bit about it to begin with. It was a Kickstarter series that blew up into a full-fledged TV anime, it’s been described as “Harry Potter if they were all girls”, and Akko/Diana is the preferred ship, I am told. Other than that, I was ready to be charmed by this manga, which is coming out here under Yen’s “JY” line, so is definitely being marketed to younger readers. Which I can see, as kids will love this. It’s a good title for adults as well, though, and Akko makes a fun heroine – fallible and sloppy, but also filled with a love of life that puts a smile on your face. It also helps that she’s surrounded by a few snarkers to help take the sugary edge off.

The manga does assume to a certain degree that you’re already familiar with its source, but for the neophyte, there is an introductory chapter. Akko is a wannabe witch who’s bad at flying, trying to make her way to the Witchcraft Academy, rather unusual for a Japanese student. Through a series of misadventures, she meets two other students – the glasses-wearing, earnest Lotte and the sarcastic, droopy-eyed Sucy – and she ends up at the Academy, ready to follow in the footsteps of her idol Chariot. The rest of the book shows various Academy events, as we see that Akko is not the best student in the world, but makes up for it with lots of energy, drive and GUTS! In other words, despite being all girls, this is a perfect series to run in Shonen Ace, and it wouldn’t be too out of place in Jump either.

For fans of Diana, she’s not as prevalent in this first manga as I was expecting, but there’s enough of her here to see why fans really like to pair off the two of them – they’re very Usagi and Rei. I can also see the Harry Potter comparison, mostly as the three main characters map somewhat to Harry, Hermione and Ron, though Harry was never quite this hyperactive, and Quidditch is replaced by volleyball – where they aren’t supposed to use magic, but do anyway. If there’s a fault with the manga, it’s that it does feel something like a side story to the main anime – there’s no sense that this is going in its own direction, but filling in some gaps that the main story, which was animated, left out. That said, there are hints that we’re going to be getting a bit deeper, such as the cliffhanger ending to this volume.

If you like the anime, or have kids who did, I can’t see why you wouldn’t pick this up. As for me, it makes me want to try the anime to see what I’m missing.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol 1

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Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Volume 1 by Kagiji Kumanomata

This manga was an unexpected delight. I was initially curious about Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle due to it being a Shonen Sunday title, which is a bit of a rarity. I feel like fantasy comedy series can be a bit hit or miss, but I found this title quite entertaining, mostly due to the way it subverts the whole idea of kidnapped princesses.

Syalis is the kidnapped princes in question and while the people in her kingdom pine for her and a idiotic knight vows to rescue her at the start of each chapter, she is solely concerned with getting some good rest. The demon castle lacks high quality pillows and bedding, and she is determined to secure what she needs by any means necessary. Syalis casually embarks on a reign of terror in the castle as she locates unique demons to use for her own purposes. She harvests fur from her guards, who look like fluffy teddy bears. She locates giant scissors and cuts off the body of ghosts in order to get some high quality fabric. Throughout most of the manga, her facial expressions are totally stoic, in contrast to the demons who are being driven frantic by her casual escape attempts. She also seems to have a knack for finding rare magical objects and repurposing them as sleep aids. There’s really only one joke in this manga, but it is executed very well. The unique character designs of the demons and the expanding cast of characters keeps the manga entertaining, even though the plot points in each chapter are so similar. I’m not sure how long the central joke can be sustained, as this series lasts for several volumes, but the first volume was so entertaining I’m definitely going to give it a try.

Manga the Week of 6/27/18

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SEAN: 65 titles. Sixty. Five. Titles. Next. Week.

MICHELLE: Holy crap.

ANNA: Yikes.

ASH: That’s amazing.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 5th To-Love-Ru Darkness and a 2nd volume of Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, thus continuing to be the “Shonen Jump Titles Too Hot For Viz” publisher.

J-Novel Club has the 6th volume of If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord.

Kodansha’s got a lot. Print-wise we see some series we haven’t seen for a looooooong time. Air Gear (last seen one year ago) finally comes to an end with its 37th volume. L♥DK (last seen 10 months ago) has its 11th volume. And Missions of Love (last seen 13 months ago) has a 15th volume. This doesn’t seem to be “caught up with Japan”, so who knows why it’s been so long.

ASH: Oh, Missions of Love! I guess it has been a while, but I do find the series addictive.

SEAN: Other print volumes include a 4th Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, a 10th Fire Force, and theoretically the print debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, though this isn’t on Kodansha’s own site, so don’t be surprised if there’s a last minute date change.

ASH: I’m very excited for the print debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, so I hope there won’t be much of a delay if there is one. I’m still reading Clear Card, too, even though I think the original Cardcaptor Sakura is the stronger series at this point.

SEAN: On the digital front, there’s another debut with the wonderfully titled The Quintessential Quintuplets (Go-Toubun no Hanayome). It’s a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about a kid who has to tutor… well, you can probably guess. Expect comedy.

And there is Ace of the Diamond 12, Beauty Bunny 6, Liar x Liar 3, My Brother the Shut-In 6 (this is a final, I think), The Prince’s Black Poison 6, and Tsuredure Children 10.

MICHELLE: Someday I’ll read My Brother the Shut-In, but predictably, it’s Ace of the Diamond that I’m most excited about.

SEAN: Seven Seas rarely buries us in piles of titles in the same week. Next week is an exception. We’ve got the final Captive Hearts of Oz (Vol. 4), a 13th volume of A Certain Scientific Railgun, the 2nd novel of Clockwork Planet in print (digital from J-Novel Club), a 3rd Devilman Grimoire, Freezing 21-22, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 9, Mononoke Sharing 2, My Monster Secret 11, Not Lives 9, and NTR – Netsuzou Trap 5.

ASH: It’ll be interesting to compare Devilman Grimoire to the classic Devilman manga now that that’s starting to be released in English, too.

SEAN: Not only that, but also several debuts! The big one is Claudine, the classic Riyoko Ikeda 70s shoujo manga. Complete in one short volume, it’s a fantastic read.

MICHELLE: I believe I detect a pick of the week contender!

MJ: Ooooooooh, yes, this.

ANNA: YAY!!!!

ASH: It’s one of my most anticipated releases of the year!

SEAN: Getter Robo Devolution is another take on the classic Getter Robo series. It runs in Bessatsu Shonen Champion, and is by the team responsible for the Ultraman manga.

If you like the How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord novel but wished you could see more of the fanservice, good news for you! Here’s the first volume of the manga adaptation.

If you love Monster Musume so much it drives you to create, then even better news – Monster Girl Papercrafts is coming out next week, presumably featuring designs from the ever-popular series.

ASH: Huh. I didn’t know this existed!

SEAN: And if you’re an old-school fan, enjoy a license that frankly no one was expecting. True Tenchi Muyo! is a series of three light novels that expand on the extended universe of the Tenchi OAVs that were so popular with your parents’ generation. (I know, shut up, Sean.) This first book focuses on Ayeka and Sasami’s parents.

On to Vertical. Speaking of novels, they have Hanamonogatari: Flower Tale. This is the 2nd book in the series not to be narrated by Koyomi Araragi. This story is narrated by Suruga Kanbaru, and has her dealing with a devil.

We have a 3rd omnibus of The Flowers of Evil as well.

Viz has a 4th digital release of The Emperor and I.

And the rest is Yen, but don’t even think that we’re done. Digitally we have a 6th Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, a 17th Corpse Princess, and a 7th IM: Great Priest Imhotep.

Yen On has two debuts this month, both spinoffs. If you like Sword Art Online but wish it didn’t star Kirito and were written by someone else, I have great news. Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online is a new spinoff series by the creator of Kino’s Journey, and focuses on original characters playing the game introduced in the 5th and 6th SAO books.

MJ: I wasn’t really interested until you said Kino’s Journey, and now I’m like… MUST HAVE.

ASH: That does add some promise!

SEAN: The other is Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu. This focuses on the elf with the tragic past we’ve seen in several books of the main series.

Speaking of DanMachi, we also have a 6th volume of the Sword Oratoria spinoff novel that looks at Loki’s group.

And there’s also a 14th Accel World, an 8th Irregular at Magic High School, a 4th volume of The Isolator, and a 7th Re: Zero, which should be a whale of a time. (I’m sorry.)

Yen Press also has several debuts this month. Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy (Imomushi Shoujo to Komyushou Danshi) is complete in one volume, and stars a boy who has trouble communicating and the girl he rejected, who is now a caterpillar. I must admit, I want to know more.

MICHELLE: That is quite the concept.

ANNA: Hmmmm.

ASH: My curiosity is piqued.

SEAN: Hatsu*Haru is a long-running shoujo title from Shogakukan’s BetsuComi, about a popular boy who finds himself falling for someone for the first time. Anna should be very interested, I expect.

MICHELLE: My ears always perk up when Yen Press releases some shoujo.

MJ: I’m interested too, I think.

ANNA: A shoujo manga about popular boy falling for someone for the first time????????!!!!!!!!!!!!

SEAN: Little Witch Academia is best known for its popular anime. Yen has licensed the manga, which runs in Shonen Ace. This is being marketed as part of the children’s line, but should also definitely appeal to manga fans.

Shibuya Goldfish is a pure horror title from Square Enix’s Gangan Joker. If you think the world being eaten by goldfish is a silly premise, this book will soon set you straight. It looks creepy as hell.

MJ: Wow.

ASH: That’s right up there with some of Junji Ito’s concepts; I guess we’ll see if it’s executed as well!

SEAN: The Strange Creature at Kuroyuri Apartments (Kuroyuri-sou no Henna Wikimono) is also supernatural, but this falls more into the pure comedy end. A demon needs life experience. A young landlord needs to not be bored. Can they get along?

Stupid Love Comedy (Rabukome no Baka) is an omnibus collecting all three volumes of this shoujo series from Kodansha’s Aria. It’s a reverse harem series, this time starring a manga writer.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ANNA: I sure do enjoy reverse harem.

SEAN: Think we’re done? There’s also ongoing Yen titles! On the ‘spinoff of light novel’ front, we see only two contenders next week: Goblin Slayer’s 3rd manga volume and Kagerou Daze’s 10th.

But there is also Aoharu x Machinegun 11, As Miss Beelzebub Likes 2, Big Order 5, BTOOOM! 21, Bungo Stray Dogs 7, The Elder Sister-Like One 2, Horimiya 11, Mermaid Boys 2, Monster Tamer Girls 2 (final volume there), One Week Friends 3, Prison School 10, Silver Spoon 3, Smokin’ Parade 4, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 3, Though You May Burn to Ash 2, and Today’s Cerberus 9.

MICHELLE: Yay for Horimiya and Silver Spoon!

MJ: Silver Spoon! Silver Spoon!

ANNA: Wooo!!!!

ASH: I’m following quite a few of these series, but Silver Spoon is the one that I’m most looking forward to reading this time around!

SEAN: Assuming you haven’t aged to death after reading all that, are there any titles you’re getting? One? Two? Twenty-five?

ASH: I’m afraid to count.

Napping Princess: The Story of the Unknown Me

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By Genji Kamiyama. Released in Japan as “Hirunehime ~ Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari ~” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Yota Okutani.

We’ve been getting a lot of these sorts of books lately, the novelization of a popular animated film. Well, for some definition of popular – your name sort of hovers above everything else. But we’ve also gotten The Boy and the Beast, and we’re getting Fireworks: Long Title Here in the summer. And now we have Napping Princess, a book that adapts the film of the same name that came out in 2017. It’s a quick, breezy read with a likeable lead heroine and a few very interesting plot twists about two-thirds of the way through. It does, however, suffer from a problem that I really didn’t notice with the other books of this type. This sort of book is meant to enhance or add to the experience for those who saw the movie, and also make those who haven’t seen the movie want to see it. The problem is that after finishing Napping Princess, I’m left with the opinion that the movie is probably better. Which is an issue given I’ve never seen the movie.

The book starts out as a fairy tale, set in a magical kingdom that builds cars. There’s a wishy-washy king, an evil Grand Vizier, and a princess locked in a tower who can do magic. In fact, that’s why she’s locked in the tower. On the other side of things, we’re also in slightly futuristic Japan, where our heroine is Kokone, who lives with her mechanic dad in the middle of nowhere and gets by on imagination and pluck. She also likes to sleep, and dreams that she’s the princess from the fantasy kingdom. These two worlds start interacting together when her father is arrested, supposedly for data theft from Japan’s largest car manufacturer, which her dad worked for years ago. Is this all a setup? What does it have to do with her late mother? And why is it that Kokone has this magical ability to mesh the fantasy world and the real world when she dreams?

To be fair, we never get a good answer to that last question. “Magical realism” is what we’re supposed to think, I suspect. As I said, the plot is fairly straightforward, being a chase sequence for an extended stretch. Our villain ends up being so lame that the author has to put in a narrative jibe noting how much of a cliched villain he’s become – I was expecting to see some sort of story about how he and Kokone’s dad used to be friends back in the day, but no, he doesn’t even get that. The most interesting part of the book was the way the fantasy world overlaid on the real one, as both Kokone and the reader realize about the same time that the casting is somewhat different than expected. (The reader may pick this up a bit earlier, frankly, as the romantic tendencies between the princess and Peach (yes, it’s lampshaded) make little sense if Kokone is the princess.) As with most dead moms in anime, I wish we’d seen more of Kokone’s mother.

As a novelization, this book works very well. Every time it had a major set piece, I kept thinking “I’d like to see this animated”. As a novel, though, I’m not sure it works as well. Still, it’s not actually bad – just slight. It would make a good summer beach read.

Short Takes: The Promised Neverland and Silver Spoon

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Just a word to the wise: it’s impossible to discuss either Neverland or Spoon without divulging a few plot details, so be mindful if you’re the kind of person who hates–HATES–spoilers. Caveat lector!

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 4
Written by Kaiu Shirai, Illustrated by Posuka Demizu
Translated by Satsuki Yamashita
VIZ Media
Rated T+, for older teens

One of the pleasures of reading The Promised Neverland is its crack pacing: Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu have a knack for the perfectly timed reveal and the pulse-pounding action sequence. Volume three was a rare misstep for the series, saddled with too many contrived plot twists, but volume four is a return to form, briskly setting the kids’ escape in motion. The story occasionally flags when Emma, Ray, and Norman explain the finer details of their plan to one another, but these moments serve an essential dramatic purpose, helping us appreciate how perilous their journey will be. These conversations also remind us how much the principal trio rely on one another for emotional support, a point driven home by the authors’ decision to sacrifice one of the main characters. (And I mean a main character, not a red shirt.)

Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Promised Neverland is its feminist subtext. In the final pages of volume three, Krone reveals that the brightest orphan girls are groomed for house mother positions. The full horror of this arrangement, however, only becomes apparent in volume four. In a few suggestive images, Demizu vividly conveys the grotesque sacrifices that Gracefield Manor’s female residents make in order to survive their twelfth birthday. A brief interlude set in a factory evokes the grim spirit of The Handmaid’s Tale, imagining a world in which young women are cruelly exploited for their fertility, then coerced into perpetuating the very system that oppresses them.

I know — I’m making The Promised Neverland sound like Terribly Serious Reading, but rest assured it isn’t. The story is, at bottom, a juicy prison drama in which the jailers are actual monsters and the prisoners pint-sized MacGuyvers. Though the subtext enriches the narrative, inviting multiple readings, the story never feels like an obvious parable about factory farming or reproductive rights. Recommended.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 2
Written and Illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa
Translated by Amanda Haley
Yen Press
Rated T, for teens

After an introductory volume in which Hachiken (a) fell face-first into poop (b) insulted his classmates repeatedly (c) joined the equestrian club just to impress a girl and (d) realized that the piglet he was raising would soon be bacon, volume two affords him a rare moment of grace. The students’ discovery of an abandoned brick oven prompts them to make pizza — something only Hachiken knows how to do. The act of cooking for so many people forces Hachiken to improvise, rather than plan, forcing him outside his academic and social comfort zone — and making his brief turn in the spotlight even more satisfying.

Lest Hachiken’s triumph seem a little too tidy, the rest of volume two sees him reverting to bumbling city slicker, as he gets lost in the woods looking for cell phone reception, gags at the sight of a newborn calf, and, yes, falls face-first into another pile of manure. Hiromu Arakawa sells these moments with her trademark over-the-top reaction shots; no one can distort or bend a human face with the same verve as Arakawa, who turns every setback, humiliation, and surprise into an opportunity to draw rivers of snot and tears. Though she excels at slapstick, Arakawa tempers the jokes with moments of real drama that make Hachiken realize just how much Komaba and Mikage’s families struggle to keep their modest dairy farms afloat. It’s these quieter moments that remind us just what a capable storyteller Arakawa really is, and make Silver Spoon more than just a gag manga with farm animals. Recommended.