A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 5 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamachi| Seven Seas – A lot of the Science side of the Index series involves trying to break past impossibilities, and death is always one of the biggest of those. We get some villain motive here with Hishigata, who is doing all this to make sure his dead little sister can return to life. Of course, as Estelle tries and fails to get across, that is NOT his dead sister but an evil force possessing her corpse (the reader knows this as she grins evilly when he’s not looking). As for Accelerator himself, he finally manages to save Misaka 10046 with only massive property damage in his wake, but we still have the final fight. Which Estelle will be joining as well. Excitement and adventure and really wild things, as always. – Sean Gaffney
Masamune-kun’s Revenge, Vol. 4 | By Hazuki Takeoka and Tiv | Seven Seas – Masamune makes great strides here, but a lot of it is by accident, and he’s got absolutely nothing on Neko when it comes to manipulation, mostly as despite his professed motive of horrible revenge on Aki, he’s still a nice guy for the most part who you know is never going to be able to go through with it. Indeed, he’s poking at Aki’s memories trying to see if she recalls “Pig-Legs,” though the cliffhanger suggests that will backfire on him spectacularly. The scene in Neko’s bedroom between her and Masamune is the best in the manga so far, and shows off the hero at his best. As for humor, there’s Aki’s foul-mouthed secretary and a hysterical test of courage gone wrong. Better than it looks. – Sean Gaffney
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Vol. 2 | By coolkyousinnjya | Seven Seas – It’s honestly hard to find much to say about this even in brief format, as it’s light as air. That’s not to say it’s not good—I actually enjoyed it quite a bit—but it wears its slice-of-life monster series agenda on its sleeve. We do get to hear a bit about how, even if this series does end up with a yuri relationship between Kobayashi and her dragon, it’s still only transitory, owing to the lifespan of dragons and humans. We’re also reminded that Tohru is not the typical dragon by the appearance of her father, which allows Kobayashi to actually take a stand and show some real emotion for a change. But for the most part we get equal amount of comedy, heartwarming, cute monsters, and yuri tease. For fans of those. – Sean Gaffney
Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 20 | By Yuki Midorikawa | VIZ Media – I hope describing a manga as “lovely” doesn’t suggest that it is also dull, because this volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends is very much the former and not at all the latter. In this installment, Natsume and Nyanko-sensei (who is looking especially adorable!) help a yokai with a jar stuck on his head, find a lost hairpin for a heartbroken mountain god, protect a house from scarecrow yokai who want to make it their own, and beautify a tiny shrine to entice a traveling god to visit. I continue to love how sympathetic Natsume is to the plight of yokai—a trait that earns him the notice of a mysterious man Natori consults on the scarecrow case—as well as how he’s still so grateful to have friends who know his secret and help him out. I hope we don’t have to wait another year for the next volume! – Michelle Smith
The Prince in His Dark Days, Vol. 3 | By Hico Yamanaka | Kodansha Comics – After spending some time with Itaru in volume two, volume three brings us back to Atsuko’s point of view. After learning her secret, a rich guy named Daigo demands that Ryo let him have her for the night. Ryo agrees, but luckily Daigo is only trying to be a rich jerk, and is utterly undone by Atsuko’s tears. Ryo, meanwhile, is obviously being changed by his association with Atsuko, for even though he still puts Itaru first and foremost—as demonstrated by his zeal in tracking down the parties responsible for spreading vicious rumors about Itaru online—he still feels an impulsive need to rescue her that he ultimately heeds. I can only assume they will end up a couple, since the next volume is also the last, but covering that much ground in one volume will probably be tricky. We shall see! – Michelle Smith
Rose Guns Days Season Two, Vol. 2 | By Ryukishi07 and Nana Natsunishi | Yen Press – We continue to deal with the fallout from Season One, as it becomes clear that the Chinese are moving in on Rose and company, even if it means going against Lee. And what’s more, they have a pawn in Rapunzel, who has regained her memories after a traumatic incident, though she’s keeping that from the rest of our gang of Roaming Wolves. Of course, that doesn’t mean that she’s suddenly turned evil, and in any case Rose’s empathy means that any attempted assassinations are not going to be happening regardless. I suspect the next volume will involve a lot more violence and more things going wrong, and it’s questionable if our new protagonists will even survive. Gripping at times, but very variable. – Sean Gaffney
Sweetness & Lightning, Vol. 4 | By Gido Amagakure | Kodansha Comics – The approachable-yet-delicious fare featured in this volume includes pork shougayaki (which looks amazing), sweet potato crepes, kinpira gobou, okonomiyaki, and beef stew. I like how, almost in the background, we see Kotori making friends at school, as they’ve noticed her love of food and ask her to help with their festival booth. Tsumugi, too, navigates some pre-school friendship drama, and I predict that one grumpy-looking little boy will be cheered by food in the next volume. What I love best, though, is how conscientiously Inuzuka-sensei takes his role as father, carefully demonstrating for Tsumugi that you don’t give up when things are hard, and always explaining why she’s being scolded. Another lovely title for me this week! – Michelle Smith