Arakawa Under the Bridge, Vol. 2 | By Hikaru Nakamura | Vertical Comics – The conceit of the first volume was to show that everyone who lived under the bridge, including the supposed straight-man hero, was completely and utterly weird. This second book expands that to show that you don’t even have to be living under the bridge, as Rec’s father and underlings prove to be just as screwed up. That said, the best moments in this omnibus go to the already-introduced cast. Everything involving Maria is a delight, particularly her “helping” Rec in his deception. Rec becoming a schoolteacher is also a fertile ground for gags, as is the race. My favorite moments, though, are just the simple unfussy love Nino seems to have for Rec. It actually grounds the series. – Sean Gaffney
Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 5 | By Bisco Hatori | VIZ Media – I couldn’t quite bring myself to abandon this series, and that may be a good thing, because volume five is quite a bit better than what’s come before. True, some things are treated in a very frivolous manner, like Ruka’s stalker who conveniently disappears after Goda thwarts him once, but some emotions ring true, particularly Ranmaru’s raging feelings of inferiority when it comes to Goda, whom Ruka, the object of Ranmaru’s unrequited affections, pines for unrequitedly and who not only protects her from the stalker but has superior design ideas at every turn. Of course, Ranmaru ultimately learns that Goda is so good at what he does because of hard work, not sheer talent, and by volume’s end he seems more driven to work hard himself. I might care enough to stick around a bit longer. – Michelle Smith
Bloom Into You, Vol. 4 | By Nakatani Nio | Seven Seas – The drama amps up in this fourth volume, which (as with previous volumes of this series) makes it more interesting. Touko’s self-hatred is really becoming harder to hide, as she not only reveals to Yuu the mask that she’s been wearing ever since tragedy struck her family, but also urges Yuu not to fall in love with her, as, of course, she hates herself. That said, it may be a bit late on that score, as Yuu might be asexual but she’s not aromantic. (There is a clever use of a word bubble to obscure a narrative text block that is fooling no one.) The play that is written, meanwhile, is a bit too close to Touko for comfort, and the ending feels off, which is why it’s good that Yuu may be trying to change that. I’m finally enjoying this quite a bit. – Sean Gaffney
Chihayafuru, Vol. 9 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – One of the things I like best about Chihayafuru is that the less-advanced members of the Mizusawa Karuta club are allowed to make valuable contributions. After watching the Master and Queen matches, “Desk-kun” tells Chihaya she shares a skill with the intimidating Master—the ability to discern more one-character cards than others—and one can’t help but think she’ll go far if she develops it. Meanwhile, Kana takes the education of new first-year members in hand (and proves to be right that it’s the poetry that hooks them) and “Meat Buns” trains the cocky newcomer who only knows the Hokkaido variant of the game. Everyone’s changing and they all have different goals and priorities, but two constants are their love of karuta and my love of this series. – Michelle Smith
Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 4 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – The majority of this volume is dedicated to finally bringing down the red dragon that ate Laios’ sister, and it’s a pretty badass battle, showing everyone failing and succeeding in equal measure—it’s well-earned. Sadly, Falin is pretty much a skeleton by now, but that is not going to stop our heroes. This is actually a fairly odd development, one that requires a bit of a side story in the early part of the volume to set up so it’s not completely out of the blue. (It also shows off some worldbuilding, hinting at an ongoing plot beyond this book, which I suspect may have been the original “if this gets cancelled fast” ending. But the series is popular, so we get a menacing elf for a cliffhanger. This has become excellent. – Sean Gaffney
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 22 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – Thanks goodness, the recipes at the end of this book do NOT ask the reader to cook with bear—the meat is changed to something more prosaic. The whole book is devoted to Soma’s battle, though we do also see a few shots of the new players in the Council of Ten, including Hayama, and also discover Megumi has to be judged by the eccentric Rindo. Soma’s got his work cut out for him, though, as his judges are all relatives of the Nakiri family, including Alice’s little sisters. The idea of Southern Fried Bear boggles the mind a bit, but the beauty of Food Wars is its ability to make anything sound delicious. And Soma’s bearburg steak may end up saving the day—depending on if Hayama will eat it. – Sean Gaffney
Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 4 | By Tsukumizu| Ywn Press – It’s hard for one part of this fourth volume to not completely overwhelm the rest of it. For the most part, Chito and Yuuri ride their tank around, take a still-moving subway car to a brand-new part of the city, discover real, actual chocolate, and the like. But when Yuuri fires off a tactical nuclear weapon, destroying a large portion of the city off in the distance, your jaw drops. I am told the anime played this scene a bit more seriously, and rightly so—Yuuri’s laughter is appalling (and it’s meant to be, I think). This volume assures us that this is genuinely after the end of the world, and there’s not going to be a final scene where they’re rescued. I was not expecting a slice-of-life series with two cute girls to be so chilling. – Sean Gaffney
Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 8 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – OK, turns out that Soujiro’s opponent isn’t quite Nureha, but some sort of golem controlled by a person of the earth with a penchant for evil. Strangely, said character later ends up as a small girl, and gets adopted by the West Wind Brigade and named Kuroe (to contrast with Shiroe and remind you why everyone in the WWB suspects Soujiro has a crush on him). The rest of the volume wraps up the events of the fourth book, giving more insight into the missing memories and some terrific facial expressions of Raynesia. The series just announced it’s ending in Japan, but this sort of side story doesn’t really need a definitive ending. “And the adventure continues” will do fine. – Sean Gaffney