Sean and Michelle are back with a bevy of briefs!
Attack on Titan Junior High, Vol. 4 | By Saki Nakagawa | Kodansha Comics – It continues to be difficult to tell the players without a scorecard in this spinoff that parodies every other spinoff as well. So we see Kuklo and Sharle having their own very silly adventures, and the canonically dead parents of Eren, as well as the “long-lost” sister of Krista/Historia, both show up and are as silly as the rest. That said, the series is not content to coast on running gags and repetition, and we see several types of humor I would not otherwise have expected—the most startling being a sequence where Sasha has to play the straight man to three people even more idiotic than she is. Attack on Titan is a giant goof, and the translation is as loose as ever, but it’s still fun. – Sean Gaffney
A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 2 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamachi| Seven Seas – We’re still in the ‘let’s set up a bunch of chaos’ point in this manga’s story, so there’s lots of things introduced to hang a plot on. Estelle manages to revive the corpse of one victim to serve as a familiar and bodyguard, which is probably just as well as Accelerator is learning that after getting shot by Amai Ao there’s a limit to his own endurance. And one of the Misaka clones gets involved as well, though sadly it looks as though she is there purely to be in peril (you can tell as she’s not 10032, whose peril is limited to the Index series). Oh yes, and there’s a secret organization of thugs whose secrets are now coming out… far too easily. It’s chaotic, but Kamachi fans will find much to enjoy. – Sean Gaffney
The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 3 | By Aya Shouoto | VIZ Media – Even though I generally like bittersweet, episodic supernatural tales, something about this volume seems unfocussed. First, we get the conclusion to the story about a ghostly classmate visiting Momochi House, which leads into a couple of chapters about an entity named Kasha. No one will really tell Himari much about him, so I don’t know if we’re being set up with a series antagonist or what. And then there’s a banquet in which Aoi/Nue is required to seal away a powerful demon. I liked this last story the best, even though Himari was eyerollingly impetuous, probably because it evoked a Natsume’s Book of Friends sort of tone. In the end, though this series isn’t great and the characters are still too shallow for my liking, I still enjoy reading it and plan to continue. – Michelle Smith
Honey So Sweet, Vol. 1 | By Amu Meguro | VIZ Media – I can’t really put into words what quality in a shoujo series makes me suspect it ran in Margaret or one of its offshoots, but Honey So Sweet definitely has it. Nao Kogure only agrees to go out with seeming delinquent Taiga Onise to avoid making him angry, but soon discovers the many sweet and thoughtful sides to him. That rumor about him starting a fight with upperclassmen, for instance? It was because they were tormenting a turtle, whom Onise has now made his adorable pet. It’s not overly cutesy, though, and though Onise seems like a real catch, Nao first has to get over her belief that she’s actually in love with her uncle. (Yeah, long story.) In the end, I enjoyed this very much and look forward to volume two! – Michelle Smith
My Love Story!!, Vol. 7 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – I’ve often speculated during this series that Sunakawa might be asexual. Not that I expect a shoujo romantic comedy to actually make that choice, but his complete lack of romantic interest is featured here in this seventh volume, where we meet a girl who’s spent almost her entire life admiring him from afar. Notably this is extremely well handled—she’s not really called out for it, just shown how there are better ways, such as actually interacting with Sunakawa. In the end, though, he likes her but is not interested. Is it that he really likes Takeo? Or doesn’t like anyone right now? All this is interspersed with the usual adorableness of our lead couple, the main reason that folks read this series. – Sean Gaffney
Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 19 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – Natsume and his grandmother usually get contrasted in this series, and we see more of that here, as the interactions he has include not just close friendships like Tanuma and casual school friends he used to have like Shibata, but also reluctant working relationships with creepy yet effective Matoba. Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Reiko is his polar opposite, but we do see in a flashback story how difficult she finds basic interaction, be it human or yokai. Even as she does good deeds, she insists that it’s for her own selfishness. You’d never catch our Natsume doing that. And of course, there are lots more wonderful and terrifying yokai sprinkled throughout. – Sean Gaffney
One-Punch Man, Vol. 4 | By ONE and Yusuke Murata | Viz Media – We continue to expand our superhero-filled world in this volume, and see it’s just as political and selfish as you’d expect—a lot of glory hounds. Saitama, of course, doesn’t care about any of that, which is a good thing, as even when he’s saving the city from being devastated by a meteor he still causes a huge ton of damage. Still, he’s getting noticed. Meanwhile, we see a few other minor heroes, and I realize that this is likely going to be one of those shonen series with a huge cast that I can’t possibly tell apart. The fact that it’s still only the fourth volume worries me. Still, as long as they keep the action scenes cool and Saitama funny enough, I’ll keep following along while scratching my head. – Sean Gaffney
Rose Guns Days Season One, Vol. 2 | By Ryukishi07 and Soichiro | Yen Press – I am again reminded that this is not at all a series that would have been picked up were it not for the name of Ryukishi07 attached to it. He’s not having to worry about mysteries here, or even all that much horror. Instead we get to see a bunch of scenes devoted to showing off the difference between an idealist and a cynic. The narrative, as well as the majority of the characters, is as cynical as they come in this Japan gone wrong. But the meta-narrative expects us to side with Rose and her desperate shiny hopefulness that everyone would be really swell if we all just helped each other. I am hoping that future volumes will give Rose depth to help us respect her position. – Sean Gaffney