Bookshelf Briefs 6/28/16

Don’t Be Cruel, Vols. 1-2 | By Yonezou Nekota | SuBLime – I hated this at first. In the opening scene, one character handcuffs another to a fence and demands sexual gratification, saying, “Don’t get the wrong idea, now. That wasn’t a request. It was an order.” Nemugasa (the victim) is being blackmailed by Maya (the perpetrator), so continues to obey his commands, but their relationship evolves and by the end of the volume, they’re in love. (But not before Nemugasa is roofied by his tutor and given over to someone else for a plaything!) What’s frustrating is that there were glimmers here of something I might’ve liked, moments where the developing dynamic was interesting, but I just couldn’t get over those early scenes and often wanted to throttle the characters, Maya especially. As a result, I can’t really recommend this even though I kind of want to read the next volume. – Michelle Smith

Fate/Zero, Vol. 2 | By Gen Urobuchi, Type-Moon, and Shinjiro | Dark Horse – After all the setup of the first volume, most of this second one is devoted to a battle between two servants—or at least, it starts off with just two servants. Saber is, of course, the Arturia we’re familiar with, but Lancer is Diarmuid Ua Duibhne, another Irish mythological hero. Their snark and battle is fun, but gradually everyone starts dropping in—literally, in the case of Iskander—and adding more chaos to the battle. As with the first volume, Iskander’s sheer force of personality, and everyone’s reaction to it, is the highlight—though Gilgamesh’s arrogance comes close. Fate fans should enjoy this, and it hasn’t gotten too dark yet, though I’m sure that will change. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 12 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – While there is the occasional ship tease (and I remain surprised at how little Erina has done to date, given she’s supposed to be the main heroine—Soma spends most of his off time with Megumi here), for the most part Food Wars! continues to keep its focus reassuringly on food. All three remaining contestants are brilliant, but Soma is particularly impressive because, while he’s confident, he’s not arrogant about it. Indeed, we see him reach out to almost everyone in the dorm trying to find a way to improve his fish dish. Of course, Akira and Ryo are not really villains either, so they’re both just as impressive if not more so. Will Soma win next volume? Probably not. But it’s always fun to see. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 5 | By Junko | Kodansha Comics – Mutsumi has been the least developed of the four male leads, so it was only a matter of time before we got a volume devoted to him. He seemed to always have Kae’s best interests at heart, and you wondered if he even loved her at all—or is he simply more mature than the others? No, as it turns out, he’s simply never quite examined the feelings of love yet, and we find why when his over-the-top brother shows up. They end up competing in a “famous” card game called Castle Cards, and it’s a game where Mutsumi has never won—but take a wild guess what happens when it’s Kae’s affection on the line. This is still amusing, but it’s a bit less parodic now and a bit more normal. I’ll still read it. – Sean Gaffney

Komomo Confiserie, Vol. 4 | By Maki Minami | Viz Media – I’d complained about Komomo in the last brief I did of this series, and it’s possible the author heard me, as we get to see a little more fire in her this time around. A rival appears, all the way from France, and given this is a short series, wastes no time behaving in an overtly evil way, even going to the point of having the confiserie vandalized just because she doesn’t get her way. This leads to the best part of the entire volume, in which Komomo channels her inner royalty and absolutely lets her have it, in a truly glorious scene. The second half is not as good, as we meet a friend of Natsu’s whose goal is apparently to push the two together quickly—possibly he knows the series is wrapping up. – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 18 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – As expected, most of this volume is devoted to a giant battle, with first one side looking like they’re going to win, then the other side having a comeback, etc. Those who enjoy cool moves and epic battles will love it, but it does make things rather difficult in terms of writing a brief. The best part of the volume is probably the end, where Aladdin and Alibaba reunite, and it’s as heartwarming and amusing as you’d imagine, even though it them gets shoved aside to explain more of the plot. I hope Morgiana isn’t too far away either, to be honest. In the meantime, I’m now more concerned about Titus, whose sense of self has been a major part of this arc, and now we’re finding it may all be for naught. Still addictive. – Sean Gaffney

Say “I Love You,” Vol. 14 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – After so much time devoted to Megumi in France, and her new (and to me suspicious) relationship with a photographer, it was highly jarring to suddenly find that plot mostly dropped and seeing her back in Japan, and looking quite different, makes me wonder if there was a missing volume somewhere down the line. In happier news, the relationship that wasn’t between Kai and Rin lasts about as long as I thought it should, as Kai finds that “go out with me even if you don’t love me” is just not going to work for him. Honestly, I’m still not quite sure where the author is going with Rin and Ren, but given that Mei and Yamato are mostly resolved, it’s onward with the secondary characters, I guess. – Sean Gaffney

Say I Love You, Vol. 14| By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – There’s something of a bittersweet mood (plus a touch of foreboding) about this volume, in which the third-year characters look toward their futures (and the goals they strive for with varying degrees of intensity), the first-year Aoi siblings are caught up in the present (and the pain of unrequited love), and second-year Kai is unable to shed the baggage of the past. Of these, I was actually captivated most by Kai in this volume. Despite the fact that he’s tall and strong now, inside he’s “a big lump of insecurities,” and I loved the moment where carefree Rin, who has cajoled him into giving her a chance, comes face to face with the reality of the darkness within him, something she’s not prepared for. It’s rare that a series can continue to be this good even when the focus has drifted a bit from its main couple! – Michelle Smith