Akashic Records of Bastard Magica Instructor, Vol. 1 | By Hitsuji Tarou, Tsunemi Aosa and Kurone Mishima | Seven Seas – Combining a magical academy story with the ‘eccentric guy who ends up being a good teacher’ story that manga likes so much isn’t a bad idea, and Akashic Records does a decent job of it, though it gets off to a sluggish start. Frankly, Glenn is far too irritating to bear, and this one of the rare times where you are 100% behind the angry tsundere from the start. Of course, what he really needed was something to snap him out of his funk, and once he decides to actually turn on his brain and start teaching, things get exponentially better. It’s still a standard light novel adaptation, but I’m interested in seeing where it goes next. – Sean Gaffney
Anonymous Noise, Vol. 4 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – A good deal of this volume is devoted to a flashback showing us how the band In No Hurry came to be, and while a lot of the narrative points I was expecting were absent (why were they all hospitalized long-term?), the emotional beats were there. Certainly it was more entertaining than the love triangle we’re getting here. Not that it’s not well-written—in fact, the reverse may be the case. I’d rather go back to the standard shoujo cliche of having one person have it all together while the others flail. Seeing all three characters do stupid things and then immediately castigate themselves can be exhausting. On the bright side, we get more of Nino screaming, which remains the book’s high point. – Sean Gaffney
Anonymous Noise, Vol. 4 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – I think I may only enjoy this series when Nino is performing, because the best moment in this volume is the brief one in which she accompanies herself on Momo’s guitar. The rest of it involves romantic angst from the two boys who have appropriated Nino’s voice as their personal property, unsuccessful attempts at comedy, and some (vague and improbable) backstory about how the band came to be. I did appreciate that Nino comes to see herself as a caretaker of her bandmates’ dream, and the parallel that while Nino has been hoping that her singing would bring Momo back to her, Yuzu has been hoping that his music would do the same with her. While this volume was a little on the meh side, I do look forward to the rock festival performance coming up in volume five. – Michelle Smith
Bloom Into You, Vol. 3 | By Nakatani Nio | Seven Seas – The first half of this volume is far more light-hearted than the rest of the series to date, which is fun but may be to its detriment. When it’s relaxing and showing the characters being happy, Bloom into You is like any other yuri series. But when Touko is being so aggressively forward that you want to slug her, or when Yuu is once again reminding us that she may very well be asexual (though that does not stop her from being lonely, as someone else pointedly notes), the series takes it to the next level, albeit a very uncomfortable one. There’s also another pairing casually introduced here that startled me, but I suspect the reason for it was more to have more adult ‘mentors’ the kids can ask for advice. Good stuff. – Sean Gaffney
Complex Age, Vol. 6 | By Yui Sakuma | Kodansha Comics – Complex Age has been pretty upsetting at times, so I confess that I totally looked at the last page to make sure Nagisa looked happy before I committed to reading this final volume. Its pace is somewhat accelerated, covering about a year after Nagisa’s meeting with her mother’s loli-loving friend as she tries to figure out what it is she loves best about cosplay and what kind of new shape it might become in her life. True, her conclusion is somewhat bittersweet, but it’s hopeful too, and I think that’s just the right combination for this series. If you were put off by the rough going in the middle volumes, take heart that this final installment remains realistic, but isn’t gloomy. I’ve really enjoyed this series. – Michelle Smith
Demon King Daimaou, Vol. 2 | By Shoutaro Mizuki and Souichi Itou | J-Novel Club – It’s finally happened: I’ve come across a light novel with so little to say about it that it’s only getting a brief. The light novel world is not exactly littered with deep, meaningful stories, but even among the fluff Demon King Daimaou is still pretty throwaway. That said, it’s not actively bad, and reads quickly—I don’t feel a need to drop it, I just feel no need to worry about what happens next. It’s at its best when at its least serious, such as Akuto’s constant desire to not seem like a villain, and the fact that he always does. (He’s desecrating hundreds of hero’s graves… but for good reasons!) As for the girls, we get a new one here, whose first scene amused me, but they’re as forgettable as anything. Only if you really liked the anime. – Sean Gaffney
Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 6 | By Izumi Miyazono | VIZ Media – This series is in somewhat of a holding pattern, despite a few changes. Asuka keeps coming into contact with Kamiya, who keeps trying to wear her down on marrying him despite the fact that she’s told him in no uncertain terms to back off and that she isn’t interested, and Ryu continues to be troubled by this. There are a few new elements in this volume with the introduction of Asuka’s protective 18-year-old brother Kanade and the fact that she and Ryu officially move in together, but since a) Kanade puts forth Kamiya as an alternate candidate and b) oopsies, they moved into Kamiya’s building, it’s really just more of the same. Everyone’s Getting Married is still fairly entertaining, but it’s not at all surprising or exciting, even with the possibility that Ryu will be transferred overseas. – Michelle Smith
Golden Time, Vol. 8 | By Yuyuko Takemiya and Umechazuke | Seven Seas – Linda returns in this volume… though it’s more about Banri returning, as he goes with her to a class reunion. The reunion itself goes off fairly well, and doesn’t really bring back too much. Unfortunately, he does have a bit of a breakdown later on in the middle of a festival dance, which leads to disaster. (And holy crap, that festival guy yelling at the cast was appalling. I really really hated him.) As for Banri and Kouko, it seems they’re doing very well, though I suspect both are trying just a little too hard—I have a nasty suspicion the next volume will be even more dramatic, especially after the medication discovery. Golden Time is heavy-duty romantic drama, but worth the slog. – Sean Gaffney
Haikyu!!, Vol. 15 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – Answering the cliffhanger from last volume, we get a few chapters showing us who Karasuno will be facing in the semifinals. The actual winner is not a surprise, but the author does a good job at keeping things tense anyway. As for the main event, it’s what you’d expect from a sports manga. Our heroes have shown off that they’re not the team they were before, but their opponent also has a few tricks up their sleeves, and so things could go either way. I like the constant emphasis on how important momentum is to a game. And of course things end with Yamaguchi, on the sidelines, desperate to make up for his earlier play. Classic Jump sports manga, and you should be reading it. – Sean Gaffney
Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 27 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – Credit to Pin, he is doing his best to make sure the ship with Ayano does not get further—something Ayano is tearfully aware of as well, though at least she’s started to openly admit her feelings. That said, Pin is up against the author here, and so I’m not sure how things will go. I’m not… TOTALLY against the ship, but I want it to wait till he’s not her teacher in any case. The other big news is that Kazehaya finally confronts his father, and the two learn a lot more about their similarities. They both communicate poorly, though Kazehaya has gotten better now that he’s dating Sawako. As for Sawako, after a long sweet date she admits she’s applying to the educational university, and he can how happily cheer her on. Sweet stuff. – Sean Gaffney
No Game No Life, Please!, Vol. 2 | By Kazuya Yuizaki and Yuu Kamiya | Yen Press – This is pretty much exactly what hardcore NGNL fans would want out of a spinoff manga, which means about half of it is not my cup of tea, because heavy fanservice and fetishes just don’t do much for me. I’m also not fond of the suggestion that Fi and Chlammy is a yuri pairing, and this book really loves to suggest it in unsubtle ways. It’s at its best when developing the characters, be it Steph thinking on her feet (or with her bladder) to escape a dungeon that Jibril has created, or Izuna continuing to learn from the masters—our sibling heroes—on how to both improve her gaming skills and also have more fun. Lacking a proper manga version, this is a decent alternative for those who want pictures. – Sean Gaffney
One-Punch Man, Vol. 12 | By ONE and Yusuke Marata | Viz Media – The tournament is perhaps the least interesting part of this volume. In that, it’s not dissimilar to many other tournament battle manga, though those lack the deadpan blaseness of our hero. Fortunately, there’s also a slew of monsters and villains attacking outside the arena, which allows Genos to remind us he’s still really tough despite being Saitama’s self-appointed lackey. The best scenes, though, involved Blizzard and her sister Tornado, whose family issues certainly seem to be deeply seated—Blizzard’s almost jaded “don’t worry, she’ll be coming to save me anyway” is well done, and you really sympathize with her here, especially with Tornado at her most arrogant. Essential, despite the tournament. – Sean Gaffney