Genshiken: Season Season, Vol. 10 | By Shimoku Kio | Kodansha Comics – When Genshiken rebooted itself as a female-driven series, and adding Hato’s gender-driven issues, it acquired a big audience that it hadn’t had before. I suspect most of that audience gradually moved away once Madarame returned and the entire plot became “who will he end up with?” And clearly it wasn’t going to be Hato, but credit to Kio here for treating Hato’s attraction to Madarame, and Madarame’s growing awareness of feelings within himself, with seriousness and sympathy, despite both parties being drunk. The rest of the volume comes off as an afterthought in comparison, though it is a bit stunning to see Keiko’s temper tantrum when she realizes Madarame is just not that into her. A bit of a train wreck, but good. – Sean Gaffney
In/Spectre, Vol. 4 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – The murder of Saki’s police colleague amps things up tremendously for our heroes, as it’s becoming increasingly hard to shut down the legend of Steel Lady Nanase. And it becomes clear that someone else is pulling strings on the other side—someone well known to both Kotoko and Kuro. While I’m not sure the title needed the addition of an evil mastermind, she works well as a dark mirror to Kuro, and also as a threat to Saki—even now. As with previous volumes, the main reason to read it continues to be Kotoko, who is clever and earnest when working towards their goal, but remarkably petty and insecure otherwise. This is not quite as good as it used to be, but still enjoying it. – Sean Gaffney
Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 24 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – Suzuki-sensei does a fabulous job again, first resolving the Akura-Oh plot in a way that makes me feel sorry for Yatori and then really delving into what it means for Tomoe to become human. Nanami starts working herself to exhaustion to save for their eventual life together—unwilling to leave things to chance, which makes sense after a childhood with her gambling father—but the real heartbreak of this volume is Mizuki’s reaction to her eventual departure. He tries to hold in his feelings and be happy for her, but he can’t do it, particularly after she explains that she’s human and has no choice but to grow old. I fully get what it’s like to want something impossible with all your heart, so the panel of him sobbing “Don’t get old. Don’t grow up.” really got to me. I now chiefly wish for a happy ending for Mizuki! Sniff. – Michelle Smith
Kase-san and Bento | By Hiromi Takashima | Published by Seven Seas- Last week, Sean called this series “cuteness personified” and I really cannot quibble with that description. In this installment, Yamada and Kase begin their final year of high school in the same class. A trip to Okinawa provides opportunities to be accosted by creepy drunks in the airport, angst about communal bathing, fret about relationship doubts at the aquarium, and work everything out on the beach. Maybe all the insecurity is a bit much—I wished for someone to call out Yamada’s friend, Mikawa, who was constantly stirring the pot—and it’s true Yamada looks and acts like a seventh grader sometimes, but her innocence also leads to some nice moments. All in all, this is much more my style of yuri than some I’ve seen. Is it because it runs in a “pure yuri” anthology? Perhaps. I look forward to Kase-san and Shortcake! – Michelle Smith
Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 2 | By Canno | Yen Press – A second volume gives us focus on more girls, though as with the first, things remain somewhat ambiguous throughout. This title presents a nice balance between the fluffy sweetness of Kase-san and the turmoil of Bloom Into You. It also shows us that not all of these couples are going to be simply put-the-jigsaw-together types, as Chiharu’s crush here is unrequited, though halfway through the book we get a new contender anyway. I don’t really have much to say about the volume, but that’s because these stories feel realistic and true, at least to the extent this genre can. The weak point may be the final side-story, which ties back to the angry lead from volume one meeting the sister of her “girlfriend,” with much sister crushing ensuing. Fun. – Sean Gaffney
Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 5 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – Unfortunately, this continues to be a very frustratingly inconsistent series. At its best, it’s riffing on the events of the main series and showing us how they affect and are observed by the West Wind Brigade—we wrap up the Hamelin story here, and Soujirou’s admiration for Shiroe shines through. And the side story with Kawara is excellent, especially her tears when she thinks of her dad, and her backstory. The other half of the volume, though, is pure fanservice, with discussions of peeping on Soujirou in the bath, potions turning Soujirou female, and even uniform measuring—almost all of it involving Nazuna, who is in full-on ‘drunken big-breasted cliche’ mode here. For Log Horizon fans only. – Sean Gaffney
Missions of Love, Vol. 14 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – One thing I really enjoy about Missions of Love, despite its soap-opera dramatics and basically horrible cast, is that it shows us over and over again that manipulating others in order to achieve your love is always wrong and will always fail. Hisame’s arrival may have merely been to extend this series out for a few more volumes, but we’re really getting to know what makes him tick here, and seeing how his own series (which sells better than Yukina’s at the moment) may be just as ignorant of love. The dangers of cell-phone writing for teens. Meanwhile, there’s still a Mami and Akira plot that’s happening, as Mami is trapped in a romantic triangle she’s not even really cognizant of. Still excellent trash. – Sean Gaffney
Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 7 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Yen Press – I’m hard-pressed to identify what, if anything, was different about this volume of Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun. Maybe it simply hit the spot for me or something, because I loved it even more than usual. This time around the chapters are focused on things like keeping up with changing technology over the course of a long-running series, how to lose weight, playing Kokkuri-san (a game like a Ouija board), and the basketball team trying to figure out what to do about Seo. Actually, there was a fair amount of Seo/Wakamatsu and Hori/Kashima in this volume, with each pair making some incremental progress, so perhaps it was that which really made it feel special. Regardless, this series is always a breath of fresh air. Only one more volume ’til we’re caught up with Japan! – Michelle Smith
Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 5 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Fujita is back to classes—and it’s nice to see a brief scene showing him not rejecting his studies—but lacks a partner again, and so a lot of this volume is devoted to introducing a new girl, seemingly harsh on the very idea of ballroom dancing but in reality a huge fan of Sengoku and his partner—I suspect we’ll see her partnering with Fujita before too long. As for Fujita, his mind is moving faster than his body, and he really has to understand that the basics are important and can’t be skipped. Of course, fundamentals are frustrating, and we feel that in everything he tries to do. Not perfect (more sudden weight loss magically making women pretty, a trope I hate), but still a good shonen series. – Sean Gaffney