Brace yourself for a briefy onslaught!
Akuma no Riddle, Vol. 3 | By Yun Kouga and Sunao Minakata | Seven Seas – Sadly, this series is proving to have diminishing returns, and I wonder if it’s being written for a set number of volumes, as I feel it’s not really taking the time to develop each assassin before we get their tragic backstory and they’re summarily removed from the story. As I predicted, the Takarazuka pair are one of the main focuses here, and turn out to be somewhat star-crossed themselves, so it’s appropriate that they kill each other. (Or do they? There’s some “recovering in hospital” talk here.) As for Azuma, I think she’s realized that there’s something deeper going on with Haru, but doesn’t really seem to care. I’m still following this, but do wonder what it will do when it runs out of girls .– Sean Gaffney
The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 4 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – Given how this series is trying to develop Chise as a bride, and Elias is very much a paternal mentor character, at some point the author was going to have to, if not walk things back, at least even things out a bit. On Chise’s end, this comes by letting her grow into more power, as she gets a staff of her own, and now finds she can recall happy memories of her past in Japan, not just nightmares. For Elias, it shows us that in many ways he is just as innocent as she, and that much of what we assumed was a guiding hand was simply his total inability to ‘get’ human emotions. Now that Chise understands this as well, will they get closer? I don’t really care, so long as we get more pretty fantasy, to be honest. – Sean Gaffney
A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 8 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – I begged for more focus last time, and unfortunately that’s not what I get. I suppose that’s one of the selling points of the series, you never know what you’ll get in any chapter. At its best, you get discussion on the true nature of modern art and discussion on how siblings can be very different even if they’re from the same family. At its worst, you get that cover, and a fantasy sequence where half the cast are menaced by sentient clothing-dissolving goo. And at its most problematic, we see this series’ fantasy version of Nazi Germany, which tries to show that racism is something we should overcome, while at the same time noting that it’s ubiquitous in human nature no matter if the species aren’t human. I can’t decide who would enjoy this. – Sean Gaffney
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 11 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – As I expected, the villain who specializes in imitation finds that he’s weak to last-minute improvisation on Soma’s part. Also as expected, he has a somewhat sad backstory, though honestly it’s only average compared to some folks here. The best part was Soma convincing him not to leave the school but keep striving to do better as a chef. Meanwhile, Ryo and Akira prove to be almost equally matched—in fact, so equally matched that it ends up being a tie, meaning that the next volume will have a three-way final. I expect Soma will lose, as it’s far too early in a Shonen Jump series to have him win a competition like this. The joy will be in seeing how he responds to that adversity. Good stuff. – Sean Gaffney
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 11 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – Man, there were a lot of fanservice-y reaction shots in this volume! I guess that’s to be expected, given that we’re in the semi-final round of the Fall Classic, but it does still bug me that in one moment, female chefs are lauded as “culinary monsters” and in the next, everything is all about their boobs. Sigh. Anyway, the actual cooking in this volume is pretty great, especially the beef stew battle between Soma and copycat Mimasaka. Also, as a Southerner, I was amused by the crowd’s reaction to the foreign notion of mesquite. I was less captivated by the matchup between the other two semifinalists (eel and prunes?! UGH!) but am looking forward to the finals! – Michelle Smith
My Love Story!!, Vol. 8 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – This is perhaps the first volume of My Love Story!! that I wasn’t 100% happy with. Oh, don’t get me wrong; there’s still lots of wonderfulness here, particularly between our main couple. But if you are going to have a guy forcibly kiss someone, and then have Takeo whack him and tell him that this was the wrong thing to do, don’t then reward him anyway 20 or so pages later. It sends the wrong message. I’m also not too pleased with the guy introduced towards the end, though we don’t get to see too much of him. Most of the obstacles to Takeo and Yamato have been subtly handled, but this looks like it may be as subtle as a brick. That said, despite these faults, this remains essential reading. – Sean Gaffney
Shuriken and Pleats, Vol. 1 | By Matsuri Hino | VIZ Media – I suppose the good news is that I ended up liking Shuriken and Pleats more than I expected to. Mikage has been raised as a ninja, and while that imbues her with admirable characteristics like level-headedness and competence, it also means that she hasn’t been encouraged to feel emotion or consider her future goals. After her master is killed, she attempts to heed his wishes for her happiness by moving to Japan and becoming a regular schoolgirl, but gets embroiled in more trouble. Honestly, all the stuff about rival ninjas and seeds and poisons and antidotes is incredibly boring, but I liked Mikage’s journey towards becoming a regular girl in mourning for someone she loved very much. I’ll definitely read the second and final volume! – Michelle Smith
Toriko, Vol. 33 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – Well, I only have myself to blame. After ending my last review worried that Komatsu was going to be kidnapped or killed off, we get a bit of both, as he’s now in a coma with a void where his heart should be. As a result, Toriko and friends have to head to a kingdom of giant plant life, ruled by a monkey king that we don’t see much of but I suspect will prove to be difficult. We also get some disturbing post-fight images, as several monkeys that face off against Toriko are later shown to have killed themselves in order to make amends. Toriko, thankfully, finds one who hasn’t yet and explains why it’s the wrong thing to do. Still not as much food love here, but there’s typical Jump battles to make up for it. – Sean Gaffney
Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Vol. 7 | By Miki Yoshikawa | Kodansha Comics – We actually get a lot of new information here. First of all, witches can have their powers removed—which comes as a relief to Maria, whose future-vision is a pain in the ass. The guy who can do it turns out to also be running for student council president. We meet Miyamura’s sister, who was close to finding the seventh witch before something completely broke her. But perhaps most importantly, Yamada has finally realized that his feelings for Shiraishi are love. Naturally, this leads to more problems, but I am pleased with how things are progressing, and at this rate I suspect the series should be done in four or five more volumes. (Looks at current volume count.) Oh. – Sean Gaffney