ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department, Vol. 3 | By Natsume Ono | Yen Press – Sometimes you have to pick a side, even when you don’t want to. Jean really doesn’t want to, and it’s getting him in a bit of trouble, whether it’s being kidnapped by a group of terrorists mostly by accident, or trying to do his job while everyone wants him to be a spy and give them intel—including his boss, who gets pissed off at him at the cliffhanger. Jean, of course, reacts to this the way a Natsume Ono hero always reacts—with a world-weary stare, and in this case a lot of cigarettes. As for the actual coup, it’s still percolating, and I suspect we won’t get any actual revolution until Jean’s toured every single province. I also don’t expect he’ll be able to retire. A good title for Ono fans. – Sean Gaffney
After Hours, Vol. 2 | By Yuhta Nishio | VIZ Media – Seldom am I in the position of wishing a story gave me more angsty drama, but that’s how I feel about this second volume of After Hours. It’s reasonably interesting watching Kei and Emi come up with an idea for a big rave event and get their friends on board, but I could have done with less of that and more of Kei learning that Emi is still technically living with a boyfriend. She’s irritated and worried after the discovery, but we just don’t see into her head enough to suit me. At one point she dares to hope that perhaps Emi will choose her, but when that does happen, the moment lacks impact. Even if there had been one pause, one panel that lingered wordlessly on Kei’s face to show us her happiness and relief, I would be content. Oh well. One volume left! – Michelle Smith
Blue Exorcist, Vol. 19 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – After Shiemi rejected Rin in the last volume, is she now being written out of the manga? After learning a dark and tragic secret about herself (which we the reader are not yet privy to), she opts to drop out of the exorcist course, to the horror of all her friends. She insists she’ll still be at the school, but let’s face it, she would barely see them. Clearly it’s time for an awesome Christmas party! As for the rest of the book, we’re finally getting some real answers from Mephisto about the nature of the Baal and what they’re actually trying to achieve. Does this have anything ro do with Rin? I’ll be honest, I’d worry more about Yukio. Still good, though its infrequent release means I tend to forget what happened. – Sean Gaffney
Captive Hearts of Oz, Vol. 4 | By Ryo Maruya and Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Seven Seas – Last time I appreciated the lack of romance but felt confused by the plot. This fourth and final volume, the plot finally makes sense and I appreciate it, but I also now have a romance I really didn’t want. It’s made clear that Dorothy and Oz are not the same ones as the books by L. Frank Baum—though Dorothy is named after the Oz girl—I honestly felt the romance was added because the series is meant to be the sort that ends with a pairing. Ah well. The nature of the ending, which implies the return of Dorothy and Oz (like their namesakes) is reminiscent of the Alice in the Country of Hearts books. This is its spiritual successor, and likely the end of an era. It was decent. – Sean Gaffney
Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 3 | By CLAMP | Kodansha Comics – Out of all of the manga by CLAMP that I’ve so far read, Cardcaptor Sakura is one of my favorites, so I was excited when I learned that a sequel was going to be released. For the most part though, Clear Card has yet to live up to its predecessor. The third volume of the series seems a bit more substantial than the first two, which is good, but the point of the manga remains unclear even considering the attempts at ominous foreshadowing. I’ll keep reading Clear Card though. Granted, that’s mostly out of loyalty to the original series than anything else. However, I do still love the characters and the artwork is lovely in Clear Card, too. I just hope that the manga continues to pick up a bit more momentum and weight and is able to distinguish itself as something more than just a sequel to Cardcaptor Sakura. – Ash Brown
DNA Doesn’t Tell Us, Vol. 2 | By Mintarou | Seven Seas – This is the second and final volume of the series, and it wraps up fairly quickly, trying to do its best to work in the “wild animals” even though our focus is still on our tame leads. It’s odd to realize that this is actually a school for animal girls in the basic sense—they graduate and move on to real life once they learn how to interact as a human, and the series ends with our girls as dorm leader and student council president. Other than that, the series is unambitious but not uninteresting, with several new animal girls getting attention, including a mole girl and a donkey girl. As for any suggested yuri? Nah, there’s nothing there. This was cute, but two volumes seems just about right. – Sean Gaffney
Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 6 | By Canno | Yen Press – As this series does best, we spend some time catching up on people we’ve seen in prior volumes, and some time with new people, most of whom intermesh and entwine with each other. Jealousy is the order of the day here, as the effervescent Amane doesn’t really get why she can’t simply love more than one person, and the somewhat possessive Nina is bad at being straightforward about it. Chiharu and Izumi, meanwhile, are dealing with the uncertainty of a second love, especially when the old girlfriend is coming back. The characters in this all manage to have obvious flaws that can be mined for storylines without being annoying. (Though Nina comes close here.) Still good. – Sean Gaffney
Loveless, Vol. 13 | By Yun Kouga | VIZ Media – It’s been several years since the last Loveless volume, so I reread volume twelve before tackling this one, which helped a lot. Alas, it also served to remind me how much I like this series and wish for more. Sigh. We do get some interesting things here, though, like the conclusion of Beloved’s battle against Moonless—during which Seimei’s former friend informs him that his bond with Soubi is neither love nor strength—and Natsuo recounting the stories of Seven Voices Academy as told to him by his creator, including intriguing cameos by Soubi’s mother and Ritsuka’s father. She has information about Seimei, too, but we don’t get to see that yet. Nor do we get to see Ritsuka act on his determination to get Soubi back. I hope volume fourteen comes reasonably soon! – Michelle Smith
My Hero Academia, Vol. 13 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Sometimes, with a cast this big, some people are going to have to take a back seat for a bit. For My Hero Academia, it’s going to be Todoroki and Bakugo, the only ones in the class not to pass the exam—both due to anger issues rather than because of lack of ability. Well, technically another girl may have failed the exam as well—turns out that one of the other class members was our favorite blood-sucking, blushing villain in disguise, and she got some very interesting blood. Of course, before Bakugo can take a back seat, he has to confront Deku with something we’ve suspected he’s known for a while now—Deku’s quirk and how it relates to All Might. Time for MANLY FISTS to take the lead! Amazing series. – Sean Gaffney
Queen’s Quality, Vol. 4 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – A lot of Queen’s Quality has to do with Fumi trying to survive with her basic personality intact, be it because of her past (involving amnesia) or her future (involving possibly being possessed by one or more queens). So honestly, the last thing she really needs is an attempt to drive her towards the dark side by putting her in Ataru’s mind, which is as bug-filled as you’d expect. She luckily has Kyutaro to help her, but honestly his love for her is as much of a hindrance as a help half the time. Still, the author is very good at making you want to see what happens next, and I don’t even mind that this isn’t a wacky comedy anymore. Also, love those Dengeki Daisy references! – Sean Gaffney
The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 2 | By Meca Tanaka| Viz Media – Again, this is a Meca Tanaka series, almost by definition “good but not great.” There’s a likeable heroine filled with denseness and pluck, as well as a frustrated hero who can’t decide if he’s trying to get revenge or seduce her. The best thing about this book was Tenma trying to figure out, in conversations with others, what love means to her and what kinds of love there are. It turns out Leo may need the same lesson, as the fact that he’s head over heels for Tenma has to be pointed out by his biggest rival. Will things change now that one of the pair is actually aware of this? We shall see. In the meantime, this remains a cute but slight shoujo series. – Sean Gaffney