Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Vol. 10 | By Ark Performance | Seven Seas – Even as this volume gives us a lot more badass combat, it also shows us the closeness between mental models and humanity, as well as the giant gulf that still separates then. Gunzou wants to bridge that gulf, which means he needs them to see humanity as an equal rather than as a plaything. Hence the threats, and the battles. There’s lots of good back and forth here, though like many Japanese military otaku manga, it sometimes sounds like it was written by a far-right conservative. I am wondering if things are going to start turning against our heroes soon. If you have to read one manga where girls are anthropomorphic personifications of something, this is still the one to read. – Sean Gaffney
Cells at Work!, Vol. 4 | By Akane Shimizu | Kodansha Comics – Red Blood Cell is back in focus this time around, and is allowed to grow in competence a bit, to the point where she gets a kohai to lead around—though she’s still ditzy, causing the kohai to wonder what on earth she’s gotten into. Like most manga protagonists, even red blood cells, she makes up for it with GUTS! and determination. We also get some new characters thanks to a transfusion, which gives us a kansai-ben red blood cell. (I would wonder if he’s a romantic rival to White Blood Cell before recalling that this manga has no romance.) Mostly it’s got what you came here for—cells being badass and yet human, showing off the human body and the many things that try to constantly destroy it. Well worth reading. – Sean Gaffney
Haikyu!!, Vol. 11 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – The Tokyo training camp continues and Karasuno is beginning to see some results. I love seeing Tsukishima’s actually trying. He’s listening to advice, asking questions, etc. Meanwhile, Hinata is learning some new tricks and Kageyama is starting to treat him as an equal. When their improved “freak quick” makes its debut, I couldn’t help but smile. There aren’t any miracle wins here, as Karasuno loses every game they play, but by the end of the week they’ve begun to close the gap and, more importantly, gained confidence in their ability to face off against national-level teams. “Spring tournament preliminaries arc begins now,” says on narrative box, but it lies. We’ll have to wait for next time. I’ll just be over here, sulking. – Michelle Smith
Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Vol. 3 | By coolkyousinnjya | Seven Seas – I wasn’t as impressed with this volume of Dragon Maid, which continues to introduce more and more dragon girls, sometimes within reason (Elma, whose chapter on joining the office-lady workforce was one of the better ones) and sometimes not (Ilulu, whose “look at my crotch” pose for the cliffhanger made me want to drop the book immediately). There’s also, to my surprise, less yuri tease in this than the previous two books, and it feels a bit like the filler volume you get when a manga writer realizes his series is actually more popular than expected and therefore he’ll have to come up with more plot. Whether he’s successful or not is something we’ll see next time; till then, for monster girl fans only. – Sean Gaffney
My Love Story!!, Vol. 12 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – I will admit that the first half of this book, which resolves the transfer student story, was not really my cup of tea, so I will brush right past it and move on to what is likely to be the final arc of My Love Story!!, which involves Yamato’s family moving to Spain. Needless to say, there’s “we can have a long distance relationship” and then there’s this, which causes Yamato to nearly have a nervous breakdown, running off to Okinawa with a concerned Takeo (who basically is such a nice guy that her parents are OK with him getting her home over the course of several nights in a hotel). The cliffhanger has her seemingly accepting that this is going to happen, but we’ll see how the final volume shakes out. Happily, I assume. – Sean Gaffney
Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, Vol. 8 | By Keiichi Arawi | Vertical Comics – This is the first volume that mostly appeared after the anime came out, so if you wanted to read only new material, this is the place to start. It’s also a terrific Mai volume, which pleases me tremendously—she not only faces off against Mio’s sister in a prank war, but we also get a flashback as to how she and Yukko first met, and it’s actually quite heartwarming, and shows us how much of Mai’s interaction with others is overcompensation for shyness. And there are dream sequences, and weird character designs, and chapters simply stop rather than come to a conclusion. Nichijou is not afraid to wear its gag manga heart on its sleeve, which means it’s never going to be a belly laughter, but it makes you smile quirkily. – Sean Gaffney
Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 21 | By Naoshi Komi | Viz Media – It’s Marika’s turn to get written out, though it’s not clear if she’s going to be married off or killed off. But it does give an excuse for Nisekoi to turn into an action manga, as Raku and company try to infiltrate Marika’s huge family compound and get her away from the clutches of her over-controlling mother. My favorite part of the book is where Chitoge assumes that if Marika and her mother just talk things over, all will be well, and Marika’s like “yeah, my mom’s not your mom, OK?” We still get the heavy hints that Marika is slowly dying of something, but it’s not clear how far the author is going to take it—not that far, I expect. In any case, next time we will no doubt get a thrilling rescue, though Marika is certainly not end girl. – Sean Gaffney
Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 6 | By Aya Kanno | VIZ Media – Wow, what a volume. Catesby shows up to bring Richard home from the forest where he’s been holed up with Henry. He clearly knows who Henry really is, but doesn’t tell Richard. Richard, meanwhile, now has a goal: kill Henry and finally succeed in avenging his father so he can live happily ever after with… Henry. They’ve even sworn a promise. In addition to the lovely angst and dramatic irony, there’s treachery, a huge battle, lots of death, Margaret being extremely creepy regarding the consummation of her son’s marriage, and an absolutely horrible flashback to the consummation of her own. Not even several doses of white boar cuteness can make up for the sense of oncoming dread, but it’s all absolutely riveting, especially the final few pages. This’ll be Kanno’s masterpiece, methinks. – Michelle Smith