Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Vol. 7 | By Ark Performance | Seven Seas – Arpeggio of Blue Steel is thankfully more about the submarine battle thriller more than harem antics, but there’s no denying that this volume is about Takao trying to prove her worth to the man she’s fallen in love with, even if that means sacrificing her own life. It’s just as battle-oriented as the last one, so there’s lots of depth-charge explosions and tactical maneuvering, and luckily some more mental models who haven’t quite decided what side they’re on yet and get to have ambiguous morality. As for our heroes, they don’t do much except fire one shot—but what a shot! It looks like they’ve attracted even more attention, though—will Yamato get involved? Still hideously underrated. – Sean Gaffney
Blue Exorcist, Vol. 15 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – Izumo’s plot is wrapped up here, and even though it involves some personal sacrifice, at least there’s no horrible permanent damage. And we get to see Nori again! Remember her? In any case, the bulk of this book deals with the revelation that Renzo was actually a double agent all along, and by his own choice. This is hardly surprising for the reader—Renzo is simply not the character type to be secretly evil, just secretly chaotic—but it does lead to a lot of soul-searching for our heroes, and a few explanations by Mephisto. Of course, Renzo is still a bit of a manipulative dick, and he knows something’s going on with Yukio. I suspect that may be the next major plot arc, but we shall see. – Sean Gaffney
The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Vol. 1 | By Keiko Ishihara | Viz Media – This is a very short (two volumes total) series that ran in LaLa, so there’s not much time to build up much other than the main plotline, which is a strong-willed but physically weak heroine and her cool chauffeur who clearly has a thing for her but nothing is being done about it because FORBIDDEN ROMANCE. This takes place at a girls’ school, so please enjoy the brief not-yuri that exists there, but for the most part this is a two-hander between Sayaka and Shinobu. They’re both likeable, so I look forward to seeing them hook up next time. There’s also a cute short story about a pair of twins and a thief who steals things that move his heart. Good value for money here. – Sean Gaffney
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 24 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – In general, I am pretty much over school festival stories in manga, but when Karuho Shiina does it, it ends up making me verklempt. It’s now been a year since Sawako and Kazehaya started dating, and though their relationship moments in this volume are poignant (Kazehaya’s desire for Sawako to be happy and attend the university of her choice is at war with his instinct to cling to her), the most affecting part for me was seeing Sawako voted class MVP. Not only that, but this volume is full of mono no aware, as she realizes that “getting closer to the future means the present is ending.” She tries to capture certain moments in her mind to remember forever, and it really gives me a sense that the series could be ending soon. I don’t necessarily want it to, but it would be a satisfying spot to wrap things up. – Michelle Smith
My Hero Academia, Vol. 4 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The tournament arc continues, as you can likely see by the huge pile of cast members on the front cover. We see Todoroki’s tragic past and resolve to not knuckle under to his jerkass father, Midoriya realizing that once you’re on the top it’s very difficult to actually stay there (especially in an event like this), and various other heroes big and small showing off what makes them tick and how important it can actually be. (One hero’s power is actually illegal to use except in certain circumstances!) It looks like the cliffhanger will give us Uraraka vs. Bakugo—while I’d like to see a female lead defeat a male in a tourney like this, I suspect the plot will drive Bakugo to the final. But we shall see. – Sean Gaffney
Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 15 | By Naoshi Komi | Viz Media – Remember when I wrote off Haru from the harem battle, saying that the author was beginning to winnow the candidates down? Yeah, sorry about that. The last half of the volume is one giant Haru fiesta. (Also, is it me or is her best friend completely in love with her?) As for Raku and his high school age girls, they continue to trundle along, with the added chemistry that Yui brings to the mix now. We get a “King Game” with lots of amusing humiliation, and Marika placing far too much value on advice from love magazines for comfort. Still, Nisekoi is starting to spin its wheels a bit, as it’s popular enough to continue along but really needs to resolve its romance soon. Even if, being a harem title, that likely means a huge drop in popularity. – Sean Gaffney
One Piece, Vol. 78 | By Eiichiro Oda | VIZ Media – Is anyone else beyond ready for the Dressrosa arc to be over? Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen in this volume. What does happen, though, is that events become more epic, and although I didn’t quite get swept up in them to the degree I might wish, my enthusiasm for this arc was somewhat rejuvenated. Even while one female character is relegated to pristine/protected status, Robin gets a badass moment shielding her from an enemy attack. Zolo’s up next, with a spectacular finish to his fight against Pica. The supporting characters continue to be great, too. The real show, though, is Luffy versus Doflamingo. What I like best about their faceoff is that Doflamingo has more interesting and critical comments for Luffy than past foes have had. It seems he gets under Luffy’s skin more, and that’s a welcome sight. Now I can say I’m genuinely excited for volume 79! – Michelle Smith
One-Punch Man, Vol. 6 | By ONE and Yusuke Marata | Viz Media – Another volume, another giant pile of cast members added to the pile—this time the top heroes of the city. The most interesting ones include Tornado, who is short, curt, and tends to go superdeformed just like Saitama; King, who everyone seems to respect despite apparently being useless; and Metal Bat, who makes me think of Paranoia Agent if it ended up being about superheroes. Despite them all showing off some awesome stuff, though, as always it’s about Saitama and his mind-numbing ability to one-hit every enemy. Of course, we may have met the first persona that actually does require more than one punch here—naturally, Saitama’s reaction is understated. Hilarious shonen fun. – Sean Gaffney