Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Archives for August 2018

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 3

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by Earth Star Entertainment. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

I don’t think I’ve read a series that’s as consistently funny as Make My Abilities Average. The author simply knows how to write humor and write it well (she also apparently makes a lot of tortured puns and wordplay jokes, which the translators make a valiant effort at adapting). The book starts off relatively sedately, but the entire battle with the Wyvern in the final third is comedy cold from beginning to end. You would think that “Mile suggests something incredibly off the wall” would get old fast, but she’s simply a walking font of ridiculous, and it helps greatly that she has three types of tsukkomis traveling with her. There is the occasional moment of seriousness, mostly involving the background for Pauline’s family, but for the most part Make My Abilities Average knows what the audience wants: laughs.

Mavis and Pauline share the third cover, which is appropriate as their backstories come back to haunt them at the same time. Pauline’s is more serious, involving the murder of her father and loss of her family business. Mavis’ family is still intact, but she is the only daughter of a Count, and as such they would rather she not be training to be the best knight she can be and get back to being a marriage prospect. And so the Crimson Vow heads off (unofficially this time) to deal with the problems and ensure that they can carry on as before. There’s some lampshading of obvious tropes here, which is where the humor is really mined. Mile shows up as Mavis’ teacher, Evening Gown Mask (yes, really) in order to take on the Count in swordfighting. Her disguise is… an eye mask. That’s it. Despite this, and without the use of magic, Mavis’ entire family fails to recognize that it’s Mile.

Then there’s the Wyvern fight, which ends up being a series of toppers. I had assumed that the high point would be the scene that is illustrated (quite well, I might add), but no, it gets better. And then gets better again. The absolute highlight may be the mastermind explaining his plans to (and for) Mile, which involves plans so deeply silly that Mile is forced to play the tsukkomi herself. I’m trying not to spoil because it was simply that funny to me. This isn’t a perfect book – as with a lot of light novels that need to pad out the word count, one of the short stories falls amazingly short, as we see Adele (yes, it’s a flashback to school #1) going on a date with a classmate, where the humor involves a) said classmate being a “nice guy” with extra quote marks, and b) the class rep being a wacky comedy lesbian. I hate wacky comedy lesbians. On the bright side, this does suggest that the series is determined not to have romance invade its fun. which is fine by me.

Last time I mentioned that the lack of a “main plot” was also a flaw, and you can say the same thing about this book – it still feels more like a short story collection that happens to be sequential. That said, the author seems to realize this, and is implying she will add more plot in the next book. In the meantime, if you want a laugh, or want to see a great all-girl fighting team, I highly recommend this series.

Amigurumi: San-X Crochet Patterns

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Amigurumi: San-X Crochet Patterns

I was excited when I saw that Viz was getting into the crafting book business, since there are so many great Japanese pattern books out there. Amigurumi: San-X Crochet Patterns is an English translation of a super cute guide to San-X Crochet. The first half of the book has over 30 color pages showing multiple poses of the amigurumi you can make with the book, including extensive accessories and costumes. I enjoyed the amigurumi sitting in tiny eggshells or lounging around the most.

Japanese knitting and crochet books almost universally rely on charts for pattern information, and this book has charts and construction schematics, followed by a basic stitch guide so someone new to charted knitting can figure out the directions. So, this book might seem a bit unfamiliar to people who are mostly used to written directions, but it shouldn’t be a problem. There are plenty of beginner books out there and I think that there space in the crafting marketplace for a book like this, which is a straight translation of a Japanese book, without any extras added in for an English language audience. There are so many youtube tutorials and other crafting guides like this on the web, I feel like most people can figure out what they need to know in order to follow a chart. I’d be excited to see more Japanese craft books translated like this! I tend to buy single patterns on ravelry instead of books, but this book is the type of thing I’d like to collect in print form for all the great photo illustrations.

I have a gazillion knitting projects going on right now that I want to finish up, but I’ll update this review later with a crochet creation. I think I’m going to start with either the teeny tiny toast and eggs, or Sumikkogurashi.

Toradora!, Vol. 2

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By Yuyuko Takemiya and Yasu. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by J.P. Sullivan.

Having had a first volume that could easily stand on its own, Toradora! now has a second that has to extend the series. So Taiga and Ryuuji are still spending their every waking moment together and even eating the same bentos, but they aren’t actually together, they are supposedly scheming to help each other get together with their crush – something no one buys for a minute, and nor should they, given the ridiculous chemistry of the two leads. And so naturally, in the second volume, we need an antagonist. She’s got to be something that will drive Taiga absolutely crazy with rage. She’s Kitamura’s childhood friend. She’s a tall, long-limbed beauty. She’s a famous teenage model. She acts “oblivious” in a cutesy way. SHE’S GOT THE SAME FIRST NAME AS SAILOR MERCURY. Clearly she is evil and must be punished. And, while technically there is a punishment scene, the beauty and wonder of this book is that it is not about taking down Ami at all.

I think Takemiya is well aware of the fictional tropes involving “new girl as rival”, and she leans on them in her writing to make for greater impact later. Because Ami and Taiga really do not like each other at all. I’ve mentioned Taiga’s reasons, but Ami has heard a lot about her from Kitamura as well, and Taiga is also beautiful in her own, slightly furious way. So seeing Ami rip Taiga apart in the family restaurant, we are not at all inclined to be favorable to her. Showing up as a new transfer student was possibly the most predictable thing that could have happened as well. And so, at some point, we knew the “mask” was going to come off and that Ami would be taken down in front of the class. Technically this does happen, as Taiga and Minori (who has been laying low this entire time to make the payoff better) humiliate Ami in front of the class by mocking her being blase about dieting.

But then there’s the real, genuinely serious plot. Ami is being stalked. And it’s really unnerving and scaring her. And so when Taiga sees the girl who’s been belittling and mocking her all this time beg her and Ryuuji for help… she immediately helps. Yes, this help might also involve having Ami do karaoke for six hours at her place and recording it for future blackmailing material, but Taiga is well-aware that being creeped on by a stalker is bigger than a petty feud. As things escalate, meanwhile, it’s Ryuuji rather than Taiga who is able to wear Ami’s mask down to the point that she finally snaps and goes after her fan in one of the more cathartically satisfying scenes I’ve ever read – even if Ryuuji correctly points out how foolish it actually was. So now the core cast is in place, and I really can’t wait to see how the third novel shakes out.

This isn’t perfect – it ends far too abruptly, in a scene that almost cried out for a sad trombone noise. What’s more, it runs a bit short, so there’s an extended short story attached about a new first-year student with absolutely terrible luck who somehow gets told that touching Taiga will make him lucky. (I think this was adapted to the anime and he DID end up lucky in a way. Here he’s just sort of a shmoe.) That said, those are the only two minuses in an excellent volume.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 1

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Since one in four Americans suffer from insomnia, it seems like there’s a natural market for Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, a manga about a character so determined to get a good night’s sleep that she’d risk death or dismemberment for forty winks. Sleepy Princess plays the title character’s insomnia for laughs, however, turning the heroine’s quest for the perfect mattress into a light-hearted romp, rather than an expensive ordeal involving black-out curtains, melatonin, and meditation videos. That the story is fun and breezy is nothing short of a miracle, though older readers may experience a twinge of jealously at Princess Syalis’ ability to fall asleep anywhere, anytime once she has the right gear.

Author Kagiji Kumanomata handles the set-up with great economy: in just two pages, we learn the Demon King has kidnapped Syalis in a bid to conquer the human world. Though the Demon King stashes Syalis in a dungeon populated by fearsome beasts, Syalis quickly sizes up the situation and makes it work to her advantage. “Since I’m hostage, the Demon King has no intention of harming me,” she notes. “I have no duties to take care of here… And the food’s pretty tasty!” The one drawback to her new digs? “I haven’t been able to get a good night’s rest since I was brought here!” she exclaims.

A chance encounter with teddy demons leads to her first epiphany: her captors’ fur is the ideal stuffing for a comfy pillow. Before long, Syalis is roaming the castle in search of softer sheets, mosquito netting, and a more natural light source, the better to regulate her body’s circadian rhythms. Her dogged efforts to sleep longer or more soundly confound her jailers, who are astonished at how brazenly she takes what she needs; Syalis dies at least three times in her quest for the perfect sleep accessories. (Don’t worry; a handsome demon cleric is on hand to resurrect her mangled body.)

As with other one-joke manga, Sleepy Princess occasionally strains for laughs; an episode involving poison mushrooms falls flat, as does a spoof of Princess Knight. The chapters’ brevity helps keep the story from bogging down in bad jokes, as does Kumanomata’s consummate attention to detail; there’s always something funny happening, even if the gags are buried in the background or lurking on the edges of the page. An artful adaptation by Annette Roman helps bridge the translation divide, as do Susan Daigle-Leach’s marvelous sound effects. (If you’ve ever wondered what a posse of demon teddy bears might sound like, she’s got you covered.) Best of all, Kumanomata has barely scratched the surface when it comes to insomnia, leaving the door open for future quests, from finding the right bedtime snack to finding the right temperature for sleeping. Recommended.

SLEEPY PRINCESS IN THE DEMON CASTLE, VOL. 1 • BY KAGIJI KUMANOMATA • TRANSLATION BY TETSUICHIRO MITAYKI • ADAPTATION BY ANNETTE ROMAN • TOUCH-UP ART AND LETTERING BY SUSAN DAIGLE-LEACH • VIZ MEDIA • 174 pp. • RATED TEEN (13+) FOR FANTASY VIOLENCE

Attack on Titan: Junior High, Vol. 5

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By Saki Nakagawa, based on the manga by Hajime Isayama. Released in Japan in three separate volumes by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by William Flanagan and Taka Tanaka. Adapted by Ben Applegate.

Regular readers of my blog may have noticed that my Attack on Titan reviews were getting less and less enthusiastic as the volumes went on, until they finally petered to a stop about 3 volumes ago. Was it the timeskip? Was it the death of [spoiler]? Was it [spoiler] being turned into a baby factory? All those and more, but mostly it’s the fact that I can’t stop turning a blind eye to the fascist tendencies this series has honestly had since the start. For a while it looked like it was going to subvert them – I mean, it does overthrow a corrupt fascist government – but yeah, that’s not happening. So goodbye, Attack on Titan. What will I remember from you? Killing my favorite girl? Throwing another dead lesbian on the pile of dead lesbians? No, I will remember that you had, at one time, excellent characters that we could not only identify with but also parody. And I’m here today, finally, to talk about that parody.

Attack on Titan Junior High ends as it began: by being absolutely ridiculous. Eren is still hating titans (and constantly being called out for racism, which made me smile). Mikasa is still perfect (and has never farted. It’s in this manga, so is therefore canon and 100% fact). Sasha eats, and eats, and literally turns into a villain in order to get more food. (And, let’s face it, probably farts enough for both her and Mikasa). Armin is a crybaby shut-in. Ymir and Krista (who does not get the Historia upgrade in this series) are still joined at the hip. Everyone who’s been dead in the main series for ages gets a chance to shine, especially Levi’s old squad. Heck, we even get chapters devoted to the spinoff characters, who are also not dead. (technically Before the Fall has not killed its entire cast yet, but come on, we know it’s a matter of time.) Junior High wants to put a smile on your face, and it does.

I should say a word about the translation. Or, more accurately, the adaptation. I haven’t seen a series this loosely adapted since Excel Saga. Also, like Excel Saga, I think it’s all the better for it. Purists may carp at references to Sacha Baron Cohen (and boy, did that joke get outdated fast), but it gives the whole series a rambunctious , anything can happen feeling that fits it very well. You want to keep things fast and furious in a gag series, especially one like this that is a three-volume omnibus, which is the worst possible thing for a broad comedy to be. Special attention must also be paid to the fact that this volume was delayed for almost two years. It became comical to see it almost get released… then suddenly have a new release date six months down the road. The translators are very aware of this fact, and mention it in the text several times. I like a series that can mock itself. And again, that’s not something you’d see with a more “literal” translation.

So, as I say farewell to Attack on Titan, this is how I want to remember it. With a bunch of fun, goofy characters doing dumb things. And everyone living happily ever after. That may be the opposite of the point that the original author wanted to make, but that’s fine by me.

Manga the Week of 8/15/18

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SEAN: 30 manga enter! One manga leaves! It’s manga madness!

But let’s start with light novels, as Bookwalker has a 5th volume of The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress.

Dark Horse has the 3rd and final RG Veda omnibus, after much delay.

MICHELLE: I actually forgot this was even coming out.

ASH: (Really) slow but steady, I guess?

SEAN: J-Novel Club’s debut is An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride (yes, they sensibly changed the title after they first announced it), which is apparently cute and adorable.

There’s also new volumes of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash (10), I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse (9), and The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! (5). J-Novel cornering the market in long light novel titles.

Kodansha. A whole lot. Starting with print, we have an 11th Fire Force, an 8th In/Spectre (always a favorite of mine) and the 3rd Toppu GP (in which instead of a harem it’s just bikes.)

Kodansha’s digital debut is Back Street Girls, which I have to admit has one of the more “…what, really?” premises out there. Three yakuza guys who’ve failed one too many times are punished by… getting sex reassignment surgery and becoming an idol group. I admit I’m curious, but let’s face it: it’s morbid curiosity.

MICHELLE: *dubious face*

ASH: Dubious morbid curiosity about sums it up for me, too. (Also, I had completely forgotten about this license.)

ANNA: Feeling enthusiastic about skipping this manga!

SEAN: But there’s plenty of other digital volumes out next week. Aoba-kun’s Confessions 7, Boarding School Juliet 4, Drowning Love 10, Kamikamikaeshi 3, Kasane 13, Lovesick Ellie 6, Those Summer Days 3, and Tokyo Alice 2. Tokyo Alice interests me most in that stack.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely down for Tokyo Alice, and the covers for Those Summer Days make me think I’ll like it as well, but mostly I’m happy for more Lovesick Ellie.

SEAN: One Peace has the 12th The Rising of the Shield Hero light novel.

Seven Seas has a debut with Accomplishments of a Duke’s Daughter (Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami). Based on a sadly unlicensed light novel, it’s part of a rising trend of isekai books where a young girl is reincarnated into a fantasy world… as the villain. And she’s about to get the “bad end”. What is she to do? This runs in Young Ace Up.

MICHELLE: That sounds kinda neat.

ASH: It does seem to be a fresher take on isekai than some others we’ve seen.

SEAN: And there is a 5th Bloom Into You, and a 5th Species Domain.

SuBLime gives us a 4th volume of A Strange and Mystifying Story. Honestly, after four volumes it should be less mystifying.

ASH: This is the first newly translated volume, too!

MICHELLE: *snerk* They did switch up the main couple in volume three, so as to keep the mystification going, one assumes.

SEAN: Vertical has a 4th omnibus of deeply strange Arakawa Under the Bridge.

Viz has a debut this week with That Blue-Sky Feeling (Sorairo Flutter), a Gangan Joker series about a new transfer student who hears a rumor that his classmate is gay. I’ve heard very good things about this one.

MICHELLE: I flipped through a review copy the other day and it looks pretty great. Looking forward to getting around to reading it.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Viz also gives us the 2nd hardcover collection of Fullmetal Alchemist, the 31st Magi, and the 2nd Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle.

ASH: The first volume of Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle was delightful. I’m looking forward to reading more.

ANNA: It was uncomplicated fun.

SEAN: Who won? Who lost? You decide!

ASH: I think we’re all winners here, Sean!

Lazy Dungeon Master, Vol. 1

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By Supana Onikage and Youta. Released in Japan as “Zettai ni Hatarakitakunai Dungeon Master ga Damin wo Musaboru Made” by OVERLAP, Inc. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Quof.

I tend to review a lot of light novels, and try to keep up as much as I can. That said, with J-Novel Club recently taking it up a notch, I have to come to the conclusion that I can’t keep up with everything. Fortunately, their first new release in this huge batch of licenses, Lazy Dungeon Master, allows me to bow out gracefully. A work that seems designed entirely for the “is there snu snu?” reader, Lazy Dungeon Master has many faults, but its largest seems to be that the laziness of its titular hero is not just “wants to sleep all the time”, but also “his moral and ethical sense is that he can’t be bothered”. This is a shame, as the book made a valiant effort to get my interest in its last quarter, where I was genuinely entertained. But it can’t make up for the beginning, and the afterword suggests this is the toned-down version.

Keima is your average Japanese boy who is transported to a world where he has been summoned by a dungeon, whose core takes the form of a cute, busty girl (who can also transform into a far younger girl, but let’s not go there). He’s there to help save the dungeon from being destroyed. The problem is that the dungeon core, who he names Rokuko, has no common sense whatsoever. And the dungeon is already occupied by bandits, who are using it as a home base. It’s also just one room. As such, Keima has his work cut out for him. Fortunately, he may be lazy and morally bankrupt, but he’s rather clever, and so by use of several items, some tricks, and a dog-girl slave named Niku (more on that later), he is able to save the day and slightly expand the dungeon. As the series goes on, hijinks will no doubt ensue. And yes, Rokuko has already fallen in love with him, and I think Niku has as well. Sadly, all he cares about is their feet.

I’ll start with the good. The moment the dungeon battle begins, the series becomes genuinely entertaining, and I found myself smiling and laughing more than a few times. Well done. Now, the bad: the rest of the book. The bandits are scum, and take two sex slaves (no, really, they’re CALLED sex slaves) back to the dungeon to bang. Keima sees this… and does nothing, as his laziness and self-preservation overcome any horror he may have for what he’s seeing. And given his matter of fact “whoah, they’re raping that girl” narration, he’s not that horrified. Niku, the little girl slave (whose name literally means “Meat”, and I thank the Lord it wasn’t translated that way – leave that to Haganai) is introduced to us as basically a dead-eyed husk, and it’s clear what’s been happening to her before this. The afterword suggests that this book was edited so she’s “too young” and merely used as a servant while the bandits screw the older sex slave, but… you can’t remove a backstory but still have the obvious evidence that it happened. The whole thing is creepy.

There’s other things I didn’t like. Parts of the book where Keima and Rokuko simply sit and comment on the things they’re seeing from inside the dungeon core feel like a bad episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Haku is an interesting antagonist who turns out to not really be one, but the yuri scenes seem rather forced and “service, service!” to me. Most importantly: Keima is clever and has the potential to be powerful, but I suspect his uncaring attitude will also keep going. And I don’t trust the author not to make more bad decisions. Recommended for those who are the sort to have read the webnovel version already. I will be moving on.

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 5

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By Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu. Released in Japan as “Yakusoku no Neverland” by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Satsuki Yamashita.

One of the questions I asked last time is answered fairly quickly in this new volume, which is: will our gang of children really escape with everyone, including the little babies? And the answer is no, they won’t. There’s being idealistic and then there’s being realistic, and even Emma knows that. And what’s more, she and Ray actually trust Isabella enough to know that she’s not simply going to do anything to the little kids left behind out of spite. We see a flashback showing us Isabella’s past, and it’s somewhat like you’d expect – she believes there’s no escaping this, so she’s doing what she can to make everyone as happy as possible before they’re taken away. It’s a decision made with love, even if I disagree with it. And it means we leave Phil and company behind (and very nice scene of him understanding what’s going on) and make their escape.

The escape involves a nice fake-out: since the only way to escape the compound is the bridge, every security measure will be there. So the kids instead actually do go over the wall, using rope and various klugded-together implements to cross the chasm and enter a forest beyond. (As a side note, I love your multicultural cast, TPN, it’s really great, but: Jemima? Really? No one called you on that?) The difficulty, of course, is that they know nothing about the terrain beyond the orphanage, and it turns out that the forest is a lot more alive than they’d really like. Oh yes, and they also have to avoid demons. And the main bad guys themselves, who are still very much in the mood to eat their delicious brains. The Promised Neverland always seems to have a fresh new crisis at hand, which is good, as the premise is basically “jumping from crisis to crisis”.

I think the series spent just the right amount of time in the orphanage and planning to escape it, and now, five books in, I look forward to seeing where Emma and company manage to wind up. Of course, that company is getting a bit smaller, as this time it’s Ray who has to sacrifice himself so that the others might move on. It’s amusing seeing Ray do this given all the times he’s tried to in the past and been stopped, but as he himself says, this time he doesn’t plan to sacrifice his life. But that does mean that the group is now led by Emma… who is realizing that being a child, planning a daring escape and also cutting off your own ear can possibly lead to sickness. Fortunately, there’s a robed stranger who is NOT AT ALL SUSPICIOUS to help the rest of the kids. Can Don and Gilda carry on while Emma is ill?

This series is a sort of high-wire act, as you’re never quite sure when its thriller logic is going to run out. But for the moment, it remains one of the best Jump series out there.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 15

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

The basic premise of this series is that all the many and varied girls who have their eye on Room 106 get together with Koutarou to form a family (yes, they all love each other romantically, but “family” is the first thing that comes to mind to describe themselves, and the reader has to agree). And they’re all beset by various types of villains. So it makes a certain amount of sense that the villains are also joining forces in order to fight our heroes. Of course, unlike Koutarou’s group, this is not a particularly equal partnership. Radical Faction leader Tayuma is a classic laughing villain sort, and you expect he’s going to get taken out in the following volume (this volume) is the first of a two-parter) and then quietly forgotten about. But the pairing of Elexis, Theia’s nemesis, and Maya, the Dark Magical Girl, looks more long-lasting, and there’s also some potential romance there. Yes, villains can hook up, too!

As for our “family”, they’re still getting along well. One thing that’s interesting about Rokujouma is the utter lack of inter-harem conflict compared to most series of this ilk. You don’t even have any scenes of people temporarily walking out in an angry huff. (Where would they go, they all live in the apartment.) It can lead to being a bit self-satisfied, as I noted in my previous review, but it’s also sweet and cute, which is what the author is going for, I’m sure. This group is very much still in the initial blush of first love, and it shows in their actions. Koutarou is getting more comfortable with showing physical affection top people not named Yurika, and the other girls are getting better about asking for it. They’re slowly maturing, and yes, that includes Yurika, even though she seems designed to always be whining and complaini9ng because, well, the author loves writing that.

The main plot of this volume involves our heroes teaming up with the sentai group from like 10 volumes ago (remember them? Yeah, me neither…) to take on the Radical Faction’s attempt at causing a natural disaster so great it will allow them to take over the surface once and for all. It’s a total “evil villain” scheme, but it’s treated seriously because of Kiriha, and because the others discuss the actual consequences of such a thing. One reason I enjoy reading Rokujouma so much is the amount of dialogue going on – now that everyone’s mostly revealed their true background and desires, they’re not hiding anything from each other and can be open and direct. Which I’m sure will lead to better solutions in the next volume. They’re not perfect – they were truly suckered in in the last third of the book, and now the bad guys have a better idea of how to fight Koutarou and company – but they’ll come up with something.

This is a short book in the series, and didn’t take long to get through. Fans of Rokujouma!? should enjoy it quite a bit.

Pick of the Week: Our Favorite Yearly Pick

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MICHELLE: It’s the first week of August and that can mean only one thing: my annual opportunity to pick Kaze Hikaru! I am also super excited about the new volume of What Did You Eat Yesterday?, however.

ASH: As Sean recently noted, there’s lots and lots and lots being released this week. Shoujo, shonen, seinen, and even josei manga are all represented and I’m reading SO MUCH of it. However, the release that I’m perhaps most interested in this week actually isn’t manga at all but Shinsuke Nakamura’s autobiography King of Strong Style.

SEAN: I suspect Anna will also be picking Kaze Hikaru, so I’ll pitch in for her and make my pick the lucky 13th volume of Yona of the Dawn. Every volume deserves to be read and reread, like a favorite childhood story. I love it to bits.

ANNA: It is such a tough choice because I love Kaze Hikaru and Yona of the Dawn so much! But with only one volume of Kaze Hikaru coming out a year, I have to take the opportunity to highlight it whenever I can. It is such a great, underappreciated series.

KATE: Kaze Hikaru. ‘Nuff said.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/6/18

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Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 1 | By Koyoharu Gotouge | Viz Media – Well, that escalated quickly! Tanjiro, an earnest young man helping to support his loving but struggling family, returns home one day to a gruesome scene of blood and death wreaked by demons. One of his sisters survived, though she is now destined to become a demon herself. Desperate to save and protect what remains of his family, Tanjiro turns to the life of a demon slayer. The more I read of Demon Slayer the more I had the feeling that I had encountered parts of the story somewhere else before (except perhaps for Tanjiro’s superior sense of smell). But even so, it was an engaging first volume. Even if a series seems to be relying heavily on well-established tropes and familiar training montages, done well it can still be a great read. Demon Slayer might be one of those manga, but it also has the potential to be more. – Ash Brown

Devilman VS. Hades, Vol. 1 | By Go Nagai and Team Moon | Seven Seas – In addition to being a sequel to Nagai’s original Devilman story, Devilman VS. Hades is a crossover with the Mazinger franchise. To some extent, Devilman VS. Hades can be read as a standalone work—the most critical information needed to follow what’s going on is included within the series itself—but some basic familiarity with Devilman and/or Mazinger doesn’t hurt. (Fortunately, several incarnations of both franchises are readily available in English.) In Devilman VS. Hades, Devilman has literally fought his way through Hell to free the souls of those he holds most dear, unleashing a horrifying new apocalypse in the process. Devilman, Akira Fudo in his human form, must now face enemies old and new while navigating the grotesque and hellish landscape. Devilman VS. Hades is only three volumes long so the first understandably moves along at a fairly quick pace, but at the same time it can seem bizarrely unfocused. – Ash Brown

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 7 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – So, yeah, the prodigal lawyer dating the high school girl was never going to be a popular decision, and when you throw in the house basically being used as a dormitory for troubled souls, it’s not hard to see why Fujiwara’s father has decided to come in and bust it all up, since Shimana did not listen to his wise counsel an go away forever. That said, he’s an obstacle rather than a dad, and so we’re not thinking about how to appeal to his better nature, but how to surmount him. As for Shimana and Fujiwara, well, if nothing else his emotions are getting more immature when he’s with her—which may not be a bad thing. This is no orange, but it’s still good enough to keep reading. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 7 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – I can’t make up my mind whether I want Shimane and Fujiwara to succeed as a couple or not. Complicating this is the fact that neither of them can seemingly make up their minds, either. It’s totally reasonable that there’d be a lot of fluctuation and vacillation in a teen romance, but coupled with the swift pacing of this series, I just end up with a serious case of shoujo whiplash. As it stands, Fujiwara’s father seems determined to split them up, and Fujiwara is attempting to fall for Shimane and is sure that he will, given time. Meanwhile, I thought it was kind of interesting to see why Fujiwara’s friend, Miura, might’ve agreed to interfere on Fujiwara’s father’s behalf. I don’t really believe the series will end with Shimane heartbroken, but I’m not convinced this relationship will bring her happiness, either. We shall see. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 2 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – I will note the biggest disappointment in this volume right off the bat: because it’s compressing events so much, it cut the bit with Shizuo using a car as cover by kicking it along in front of him, a highlight of the anime. Other than that, this is a decent adaptation, though I think I’d give the anime adaptation the higher marks. I did like seeing how just because the runaway Akane has been “retrieved” by her father does not mean that the problem is solved—Narita is good at showing that childhood trauma can stay with you forever and is not easily fixed. Especially in DRRR!!, where everyone is sort of broken. This moved way too fast, but is otherwise good. – Sean Gaffney

Fate/Zero, Vol. 6 | By Gen Urobuchi, Type-Moon, and Shinjiro | Dark Horse – I’m not sure why we had a year’s delay between the last volume of Fate/Zero and this one, but I’m glad we’re back with it, even if it continues to be a very bleak war. That said, nothing is too depressing as long as Alexander the Great is in it, and going from the discovery and destruction of the room filled with dead and tortured children to a three-way drinking discussion between him, Saber and Gilgamesh is mood dissonance of the finest kind. It was an excellent discussion, and reminds readers who are familiar with the original Fate series just how messed up Saber’s vision really is. As for the cliffhanger, will Tokiomi actually do something? GASP! Not for the squeamish, but excellent. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 6 | By Rin Mikimoto | Kodansha Comics – This is a relatively serious volume of KMatSoM, which means we get very few SD-faces and no discussions of butts. It makes sense, given we’re up against some things that could spell trouble for this burgeoning relationship. No, not Shu; she’s taken care of fairly quickly by the classic shoujo tradition of the heroine just being far too nice and sweet to be horrible to. No, the main issue is Funny Bone and their past with Kaede, and the apparently death of someone in Kaede’s past—which he starts to tell Hinana about as we close this book out. I expect we may be entering whole volume flashback territory next time, but we’ll see how it goes. Does this mean no butts in volume seven either? – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 31 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – To no one’s surprise, Alibaba’s financial renaissance is running into serious trouble after a strong start, as Sinbad is not about to let him get the Kou Empire back to its former strength. Alibaba can try to avoid the rumors and come up with new and more fascinating items, but it’s more interesting seeing him meeting up with old friends, some of whom have gotten married and had children. Of course, the two most important friends of his have been missing for a while… and we finally catch up with them, and see that Aladdin has finally grown up all the way. He’s got his hands full trying to deal with Arba and her ability to possess people and take them over. Will we finally see them reunite next book? Signs point to yes. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 7 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – We’re taking a break from serial killers to deal with terrorist organizations long thought dead, but the output is the same—lots of gore, lots of dead people, this time mostly in the Diet and the police, along with a few innocent bystanders. Kuroko is trying to deal with this, but she’s a bit upset—yes, it looks like she’s actually worried—that Chiyo is finally moving on from her. She’s probably right to worry, and I’d say she should try to better herself except this is Murcielago. The main reason to read this series remains the gratuitous violence and the action sequences, and yes, there’s also a sex scene near the end, featuring Kuroko and the girl from the very first volume’s extra chapter stealing an escort girl and having their way with her. Sleazy and it wears it proudly. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 14 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – I really like how Bakugo’s rage issues are shown to be a major issue that he needs to resolve, but they’re also not something that makes him a villain or means he can’t have hopes and dreams. He gets frustrated at Izuku’s drive as much as Izuku was chasing after his strength, and so the two are now even more “fated rivals.” They’re also given confinement for a few days, meaning, oh no, Izuku is behind in classwork. He also gets introduced to a few third years, whose powers are fun and also strong, and the school explains that due to the villains growing in power (indeed, we meet the next Big Bad here as well), it’s time for internships! Can Midoriya and his still-learning quirk make the grade and get him work?. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 2 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – I continue to be quite entertained by this series, though its lack of any real plot or characterization makes it a bit harder to review. The reader needs to accept that the Princess’ various antics to get a good night’s sleep are going to verge on the cruel and awful every single time, but given that most of the demons that she abuses for their functions can resurrect, it’s clearly meant for humor. We branch out a bit from pure sleep this time, as she enters an athletic competition (being in shape leads to better sleep) and suffers from—horror of horrors—dry skin! I shudder to imagine anyone taking this seriously, but as a giant goofy “what horrors will she commit next” series, it’s fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

The Saga of Tanya the Evil: The Finest Hour

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By Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Emily Balistrieri.

As has been noted before, Tanya the Evil’s world is essentially an odd mashup of World War I Europe, with appropriate touchstones. That said, it’s perfectly content to mess with the timeline in order to move things along, and the third volume does this incredibly quickly, moving from World War I to World War II in the space of about three months. The victor may have changed, but the players are much the same, though we do get a few new – and more obviously inspired by real life history – characters. The “Duke of Marlborough” is Winston Churchill, complete with color illustration in case we didn’t get it (not to mention the subtitle of the book), and Tanya’s new commander in the African – sorry, Southern Colonies is “von Romel”, which is almost TOO on the nose. And of course there’s Tanya and her crew, who manage to almost single-handedly win the war only to see peace remain elusive. In fact, Tanya’s desperate plea to let her unit stop the Republic from getting away is probably the highlight of the entire book.

We begin with a giant slaughter, as is usually the case in these novels that make no bones about war being hell – at least for Tanya’s opponents. She and the 203rd are literally shot at the enemy on giant rockets, and they proceed to lay waste to most of the republic’s main forces as well as their HQ. It is amusing to see Tanya’s constant cynical, worried POV as the group essentially walks in and walks right back out almost unharmed. There are times when she is unaware of how good she is. So all that remains is to sign a peace treaty and negotiate the end of the war… something not done by the military, alas. The cease fire allows the Republic to regroup and the Commonwealth to stop pretending they don’t care, and thus everything is for naught. As for Tanya, she regards being sent south as a punishment for her freak out at the generals, but when we see them scheming it, it’s more that they just don’t have any real resources, so need to use the 203rd to have any chance of doing anything. The Empire is running out of money and resources.

And we may be getting a new player into the game. The Unified States have been mostly neutral here, but they also have Mary Sue, the daughter of Anson Sue, who Tanya fought and killed back in the previous book. Mary is unaware of this, but she is extremely patriotic and also has a buttload of magical talent, so is ready to fight and die for her country. In terms of the series, she promises to be something of a rival to Tanya, which is good as lately there has been the sense that nothing can stop Tanya once she gets going. It will be nice to see her have a bit of a challenge. Mary Sue seems sweet, but given that we already have the ‘sweet girl’ card in this deck with Visha, I suspect that won’t last long. The illustrations also make her look a bit possessed, to be honest.

Tanya the Evil is still wordy as all get out, and I’d honestly only recommend it if you’ve read military biographies and histories before. But if you want to know what happens after the anime ended, this is the volume to start with, as the anime wraps up about 3/4 through this book. I’m still waiting to see how all this turns out.

Black Torch, Vol. 1

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By Tsuyoshi Takaki. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Jump Square. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Toshikazu Aizawa and Colin Leigh.

A lot of the first volume of this new Jump series looks like a prologue, because in a sense it is. In fact, I’d argue that it might have worked better if it were done as a flashback after a few chapters featuring the titular special unit that our hero ends up getting drafted into. As it is, I enjoyed this volume but I’m left a bit dissatisfied as it feels like the story hasn’t quite started yet. There is a bit going on here to make folks want to read more, though. Jiro is somewhat standard Jump style, but “can talk to animals and is also a ninja” is a pretty good starting point, even if he does end the first chapter with a giant hole in his chest. There’s also Ichika, who manages to deal with a “I hate people who belittle me because I’m a woman scene” with her dignity mostly intact, which always pleases me.

We not only have ninjas here but also Mononokes, which seems to be sort of animal demons. Jiro rescues a small cat who turns out to be one of these, and also the only one in the series to date who’s not evil. Unfortunately, when you team up with the one “not evil” monster, you get hard looks from the team hired to take out monsters, which includes grumpy Ichika and her boss, the Captain Gotoh-esque Shiba. They’re the Oniwabanshu of legendary historical fame, now busy being bodyguards and also hunting down these monsters, which have recently popped back up. After a mostly deadly fight, Jiro and Rago are now fused, so he’s something of a trouble spot. That said, he’s pretty good in a fight, and has mononoke powers while still fighting for goodness and niceness, so he’s allowed to join the new team.

There are apparently two more team members we haven’t met, and as I indicated before, I think this feels more like “Part 1 of 2” than other Jump series of this sort. I like Ichika, despite her “I need to properly emphasize my rack for the readers” costume (which is even lampshaded). She seems to be the daughter of a ninja clan family who’s been dealing with “but you’re a girl” her entire life, and it’s made her a big angry and reluctant to accept help. Needless to say, the moment she mentions this, she’s put in a situation where she’s in dire straits and needs help. That said, she shows she’s a damn good fighter, and gets in the final blow, so I think it was pretty well handled. I suspect these two will be the lead “couple”, but I also expect any romance will be about 10th on the list of things this manga wants to do. It’s here to kick ass and take names, not flirt it up.

Add it all up and you have a decent first volume, and one I’d recommend to fans of things like Blue Exorcist. I look forward to the next volume, which should show what the series will actually be doing going forward.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 3

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By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

So yes, readers more familiar with future events in Spider So What were probably laughing at me in my previous two reviews. I admit to being completely taken in. It was easy enough to assume that the spider’s climb up through the dungeon was happening around the same time as the rest of the plot we were seeing on the surface. Except, of course, that doesn’t make sense at all, because the plot on the surface has been happening over the course of the last eighteen years or so. Whereas we’ve more or less been following the spider’s journey up the dungeon since birth, and it has… well, not been eighteen years. So yes, all of my desires for the spider to get to the top and join up with the main plot are somewhat embarrassingly for nought. She IS in the main plot… as the head villain. That said, there’s still something weird going on here.

As always, this is a book of two halves, alternating. The main plot deals with our spider doing what she’s been doing, slowly moving upward and fighting monsters. The interesting thing going on here, which the reader is only partially let in on, is that after her Taboo level reaches 10, she’s apparently given hidden insight into the nature of this entire world. Unfortunately, her hyperactive teen narration does not actually tell us much about this, presumably because spoilers. It likely has something to do with the two mystery “admin” figures we see, one of whom – D – looks to be behind a lot of what’s going on. *are* they trapped in a game? It doesn’t seem likely. The other big news here is the spider’s fight against the dragon that terrified her so long ago – this time, he’s stronger and tougher, and the fight is probably the highlight of the book. It is amusing seeing the spider’s immaturity here compared with what we see in the epilogue.

The other half of the plot involves everything going wrong for Shun. It’s not enough that his brother is dead, but Hugo, the arrogant jerk from last time, seems to have now mind controlled most of the kingdom into doing his bidding and killing the traitor. This includes, seemingly, his little sister, and also his best friend Katia, who is still dealing with a bit of gender dysphoria here. Things go very bad for our heroes, but, oddly enough, not as bad as you’d expect, as several times the villains essentially allow them to get away. They even comment on this. That said, there are a lot of genuine casualties. I wonder if it’s simply that the reincarnated folks are the ones that can’t be killed? In any case, there’s a lot going on here, and most importantly, it helps distract from spider going on about her stats in the main story, which is still happening constantly.

Unsurprisingly, firing off ta few big plot guns pays off, and this was easily the best volume of Spider So What to date. I look forward to seeing what’s happening next, both with the spider and the humans.

Shibuya Goldfish, Vol. 1

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Shibuya Goldfish falls somewhere along the horror continuum between Sharknado 3 and Jaws: it’s too competently executed to be a guilty pleasure but too predictable to be genuinely scary. Though the premise has serious camp potential, author Hiroumi Aoi settles for a pedestrian approach to the material, trapping his cast in a high-rise shopping center where death lurks around every corner. There are a few glimmers of imagination here and there, but the overall result lacks the visceral punch, humor, or sheer imagination of other entries in the Killer Fish genre.

The story begins in media res, with a shot of Hachiko — Shibuya’s most famous statue — stained in blood. We then cut to an image of a panting, wild-eyed teen staring incredulously at a monstrous goldfish feasting on a pedestrian in the middle of a busy street. “That day was the first time I ever saw someone die,” Hajime solemnly informs us, before a flashback reveals what led up to this gruesome scene.

I won’t lie: those opening pages are a tantalizing hook for a horror buff. Though Aoi doesn’t reveal where the goldfish came from, he sells the Fish-Gone-Wild concept by emphasizing the predators’ size, numbers, and blank-eyed stares, making us appreciate the sheer incongruity of Volkswagen-sized fish swarming through an urban landscape. The goldfish’s penchant for uttering intelligible phrases — “I’m home, mom,” one burbles — adds another layer of mystery to their existence: are they truly sentient or are they merely ghosts, back to haunt the owners that flushed them down the toilet?

Where Shibuya Goldfish falls short is the human dimension. Hajime is the only character who’s properly fleshed out, an earnest, slightly awkward high school student whose dreams of becoming a filmmaker are dashed by the catastrophe. The other characters are more placeholders than people, dropped into the story to generate conflict or provide useful information about goldfish behavior before dying. In recognition of their liminal status, Aoi only bestows names on a small fraction of the cast, one of whom — the beautiful, bitchy Chitose Fukakusa — is such a vile male fantasy that the introduction of two more competent, sincere female characters in chapters two and three barely erase the memory of Fukakusa’s manipulative behavior and panty flashes.

The other fundamental issue with Shibuya Goldfish is the artwork, which juxtaposes photo-realistic backgrounds and fish with generic character designs. The tension between these two modes of representation ends up robbing volume one’s creepiest scenes of their dramatic impact, as the full horror of what happens to several characters is muted by Aoi’s blandly rendered faces and bodies; the grotesque bodily deformations that make Junji Ito, Hideshi Hino, and Kanako Inuki’s work so arresting barely elicit a “yuck!” in Aoi’s hands. It’s a pity these moments don’t land with more oomph because Shibuya Goldfish flirts with an interesting idea: the notion that a pet as small, helpless, and disposable as a goldfish might be the downfall of humanity, punishing us for our reckless treatment of other living things. Perhaps Aoi will delve into the monsters’ origins in future volumes, but the so-so execution of these foundational chapters didn’t reel me in. Your mileage will vary.

SHIBUYA GOLDFISH, VOL. 1 • BY HIROUMI AOI • TRANSLATED BY KO RANSOM • YEN PRESS • 242 pp. • RATED OT (OLDER TEEN) FOR LANGUAGE, NUDITY, AND VIOLENCE