Bookshelf Briefs 4/24/17

D-Frag!, Vol. 11 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – I keep emphasizing in these reviews that D-Frag! is a comedy first and foremost, and that’s still true. That said, there’s no denying that there are some romantic undertones in the series—Takao and Funabori most obviously, but also Roka more subtly loves Kenji. So it’s no surprise that we end up with both of them having to live at Kenji’s house for a bit—Roka due to a meteor strike (yes, really), and Takao simply due to fretting over having Roka get the drop on her. Thankfully, D-Frag! knows that its tsukkomi is always more important than its rom-com, and the jokes still fly fast and furious. Also, bonus points at the start of the book for remembering this is a school and there are actual grades involved. Great fun. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 7 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – Last time I noted how little losing their virginity changed the lead couple in this series, and that’s still the case, but more interestingly, we get to explore consensual kinks in this volume. To be precise, Hori is turned on by Miyamura being forceful towards her—she’s not sure why, but her father’s explanation for it likely fits the bill. That said, it makes Miyamura uncomfortable, so I’m not sure how far they’ll take it in the future. In the meantime, Yuki takes the stage for most of this volume, as she asks Tooru to be her pretend boyfriend in order to help answer a guy’s confession. Only the guy quickly becomes a member of the main cast, and what’s more, the fake boyfriend thing is going to completely torpedo Sakura’s love. Will this end well? Probably not. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 10 | By Junko | Kodansha Comics – I suppose, given this has become one of the more popular Kodansha shoujo titles and therefore is not ending anytime soon, that we were due for a new rival. He’s a tough one, too—not only is he a voice actor who plays Kae’s latest obsession, but he and Kae were childhood friends—in fact, they were both fat at the time! It’s actually Kae’s weight that drives a lot of the plot—Takeru finds out about her harem, and due to some misunderstandings thinks that they only care about her thin, cute, busty self. (In fact, the main cast went through this several volumes ago, and (mostly) concluded it didn’t matter.) So now he’s kidnapped her and seems to be force-feeding her, as he’s also a bit evil. Fun, but highly variable. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 4 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – It is becoming more apparent that the shot we saw in volume one of Liselotte taking up arms against her brother is not what actually happened, and in fact the more we find out about her the more we realize that she’s another of Takaya’s favorite kind of heroine, the plucky Pollyanna with the hideously broken past. That said, there are a few signs that her brother isn’t completely evil here. We also get a lot more information on witches, including the fact that Vergue and Hilde were once human, and clearly becoming a witch was something very painful and isolating to both of them. There’s still some shots of light humor—Anna is shaping up to be a smiling villain in the best way—but for the most part things take a turn for the serious here. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 4 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – Liselotte is attempting to live a peaceful life with her friends, sewing frilly shirts and tending to her vegetable garden. The back cover promises an attack by the witch Vergue, and though it’s true that he ends up significantly damaging her house, he’s also driven away simply by her shoujo heroine powers of empathizing with his rejection of humanity in favor of a place he belongs with the witches. The most interesting parts of this volume are actually the flashbacks the Vergue situation evokes, as Liselotte recalls more of what happened with her brother, who maybe isn’t actually her biological sibling, and who seemed to be giving her the chance to get away from the capitol and find happiness. That’s far more intriguing than a straight-up villain, so I hope we learn more about him in the next volume! – Michelle Smith

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 2 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – After her unexpected hookup with hot model and younger man Key, Rinko struggles to figure out what it means. With the help of her pals, both real and hallucinated, she ultimately concludes that it was just a spur-of-the-moment whim on his part, but that doesn’t keep her from being curious about him, especially when she learns that a woman he loved passed away. Meanwhile, we get some very welcome chapters from the points of view of Kaori and Koyuki, Rinko’s friends. I love that, in time, they too start experiencing hallucinations, although it’s pretty heartbreaking that they both end up in sexual relationships without love or future prospects. This series is funny and whimsical, but also fairly bleak and depressing. I do love it, but it’s probably best in small doses. – Michelle Smith

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 4 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Fujita learns some important lessons in this book—actually, the entire book is filled with important lessons. For Fujita, it’s that he’s still a beginner and has a long way to go, and that until he grows he’s going to come last. For Mako and Gaju it’s that they weren’t really observing the other person when they danced, and they want to reunite in order to compete properly. For Shizuku it’s that she can still feel jealousy over someone being judged to be more beautiful than she is—and also hate herself for having those feelings. Even Hyodo is beginning to rediscover a passion for dancing that has been cooled by his injury. But most importantly, there is the dancing, and the art conveying the dancing, and that is still amazing. – Sean Gaffney

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 5 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – The Inter-High race begins! Before we get to that, though, we have to establish what some of the rivalries are. Kinjou will face off against Fukutomi again, the rider who caused his defeat the previous year, while Imaizumi is up against creepy Midousuji. We’ve been hearing about Midousuji since the beginning, but this is the first time he’s actually appeared and he looks and acts like some deranged creature from a horror manga. After that, though, the race is on and it’s a mad rush for the sprinters to claim the top spot at the first checkpoint. As usual, it’s riveting and the enormous volume goes by too quickly. The climbers take center stage next time, but we’ll sadly have to wait until August for that. – Michelle Smith