Astra: Lost in Space, Vol. 3 | By Kenta Shinohara | Viz Media – Two things are the most notable about this volume of Astra, which otherwise sees our heroes going to more alien worlds and slowly firming up into the obvious romantic couples. The first is the big reveal that Luca is intersex, which comes out after a confrontation with Ulgar over Luca’s father, the senator. We’ve seen intersex characters in manga before, but it doesn’t usually hit Jump titles. The other reveal is back with the parents discussing their kids, who have now been missing for a month. It’s clear that there is some sort of big conspiracy going on here. That said, I’m not sure I’d really be continuing with this if I didn’t know the next volume was the last. I look forward to it ending, but also want to see the end. – Sean Gaffney
Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 2 | By Yukito Kishiro | Kodansha Comics – Having recently started reading and enjoying the original Battle Angel Alita, I was naturally curious about Mars Chronicle. While the first volume of Mars Chronicle served as a prequel to Battle Angel Alita, taking place during Alita’s childhood as a war orphan on Mars, the second volume is a sequel set after the events of the Last Order series. Tying the volumes together are the characters and the Martian landscape. Alita finds herself caught up in a dramatic battle with Erica, her childhood friend and another expert martial artist, while larger efforts to establish a unified Mars are in danger of collapsing, Alita herself framed for an assassination attempt of the emerging leader. For the most part, Mars Chronicle is a fairly accessible series even for those who haven’t read the earlier manga, although some basic familiarity with the franchise can still be useful. – Ash Brown
Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 24 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – One of the more iconic things about Food Wars! are the images that are drawn by the artist summing up the preparation of food. Sometimes, when it involves the judges eating, it’s pure fanservice, but not always. There’s two terrific portraits here of the different types of cooking that two of the teams do—the one with Gin, Takumi and Megumi is shown as a sort of cocktail jazz band, while the one with Soma, his dad and Erina is shown to be avant-garde Jackson-Pollock style painters. It’s great stuff, and helps get us into the big final matches, which start with Soma immediately having rotten luck destroy him, as he’s challenging a soba expert and the meal they’re doing is soba. Ah well, he’s the hero, I’m sure he’ll come up with something. – Sean Gaffney
Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017 | By Takuma Shindo | Kodansha Comics – Despite being subtitled 1995-2017, the recent Hollywood live-action Ghost in the Shell film is oddly the first incarnation of Shirow Masamune’s manga to be addressed by the README guide and artbook. The rest of the volume is devoted to the various anime films and series by Mamoru Oshii, Kenji Kamiyama and, most recently, Kazuchika Kise. Each of the adaptations is given a chapter of its own which includes general information, story summaries, character, mechanical, and landscape designs, an abundance of full-color artwork, and more. For me the most interesting parts of README were the essays, the interview with Atsuko Tanaka and Maaya Sakamoto (the voices of “The Major,” Motoko Kusanagi), and the roundtable featuring all of the Ghost in the Shell anime directors in conversation with one another. README will likely appeal most to established fans of the franchise, but it provides a terrific overview and general introduction, too. – Ash Brown
Horimiya, Vol. 11 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – It really is impressive how the author of Horimiya is just not letting go of the fact that Hori really gets turned on by being dominated/struck, and that this really seems to bother Miyamura. It’s one reason, perhaps, why the volume ends with a short chapter that shows that, though they love each other, they still have tremendous difficulty figuring out how the other thinks. And there’s also Hori’s rage issues, which they at least acknowledge but don’t really deal with. As for the other couples, well, Ishikawa and Yoshikawa (Ishiyoshi?) are still struggling a bit, mostly due to embarrassment and embarrassing family. Horimiya isn’t as fantastic as it once was, but it’s still fun. – Sean Gaffney
Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 23-24 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | VIZ Media – We begin with the conclusion of the Winter Cup semifinal game, during which Seirin manages to defeat Kaijo by a one-point margin. It’s tense and exciting and there is a lot of manly crying. Rather than move right into the finals, however, the story diverges into flashback mode, with Kuroko telling the story of his time at Teiko Middle. This arc is fabulous and I’m a little bummed we didn’t have it earlier, as it would’ve informed so many of Kuroko’s interactions with his former teammates. However, putting it before his big matchup against Akashi makes sense, since Akashi was the one who sensed his potential to develop a unique style in the first place. In particular, I wasn’t expecting to come out of the arc loving Aomine so much. It’s nice knowing he finally did find someone who could defeat him. One of the best volumes in a while! – Michelle Smith
Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 23-24 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | Viz Media – As you might expect, Kuroko solves things, and is even allowed to make the winning shot—something that stuns him a bit. We’re clearly getting near to the end of the series, which means it’s now time for a biiiig flashback showing how the Generation of Miracles actually came to be. As you might imagine given everyone we’ve seen, it was not free and easy. Kuroko is almost put off the team a few times and the others barely work together at all. (It’s also cute seeing a middle-school, pre-sexy knockout Momoi falling for Kuroko.) I’m glad that this flashback is coming now, as we’ve come to know all the leads, and it also gives us a break from the tournament while still being filled with basketball. – Sean Gaffney
Mushroom Girls in Love | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – If it weren’t for the length, this could easily have fit right into the middle of A Centaur’s Life, a series that seems to enjoy randomly wandering off into whatever the hell for a few chapters on end. Instead of animal-human hybrids, this time it’s fungi-human hybrids, as our heroines try to stay married and in love despite root rot, royalty trying to break them up, and evading gunfire and the world seemingly being against them. As with A Centaur’s Life, this is not so much comedic or dramatic as just plain weird. And then there’s the girls riding tarantulas like horses… I guess what I mean to say is that if you like A Centaur’s Life and wish that the lesbians were the main characters, give this a shot. – Sean Gaffney
Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 9 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics – In many respects, this is a satisfying finale. Jelly Fish is back in business and it’s great to see the girls, particularly Jiji, finally able to don fancy clothes without hesitation in order to help Tsukimi’s visions become reality. In fact, I pretty much cried straight through from that point on. Reveals and reunions occur, but when one looks closer, one sees that several things remain unsettled. Amamizukan is still owned by Kai Fish, we don’t know whether Jelly Fish will actually be a success, and we don’t know how Tsukimi feels about Kuranosuke being in love with her (though I do love that he recognizes she doesn’t need a man right now). The feeling is all very optimistic, though, and perhaps it’s for the best that we just imagine a happy outcome without worrying about the details. It’s hard to believe it’s over! – Michelle Smith
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – If you enjoyed the first volume of Wotakoi, this second one gives you more of what you enjoyed. The four leads are still all otaku types, but realistic and not caricatured. We get to see how Hanako and Taro met, which temporarily turns Wotakoi into Haikyu!! for a bit, and also see the couples accidentally getting swapped thanks to a haunted roller coaster. And there’s a new character, introduced (I thought) to be a gay love interest to Naoya, but no, she’s just a shy girl who dresses like a schlub. Still, there’s some comedy to be mined from hiding this from Naoya for the time being. As an anime and manga geek, reading Wotakoi is both fun and heartwarming, and I like it a lot. – Sean Gaffney
Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – I really liked the first Wotakoi omnibus, but I flatout loved this one. All of the characters are so great and so vivid, and there was an interesting structure to the two volumes included here. In the first, the continuing story of Hirotaka and Narumi’s first real date is interspersed with short vignettes and the story of how Naoya makes a friend. I came away with a much stronger idea of why Hirotaka loves Narumi, and how he feels like an inferior adult compared to her. In the second volume, the continuing story is an amazing flashback to Kabakura and Koyanagi in high school, with all the tsundere goodness one could wish for. Ordinarily, characters who bicker this much would bother me, but these two are the exception. This is a fabulous series that everyone should be reading. Get on it! – Michelle Smith
Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, Vol. 2 | By Tadahiro Miura | Seven Seas – If nothing else, Yuuna is proving to be a slightly better ecchi Jump title than To-Love-Ru has, possibly as there’s slightly less emphasis on falling into everyone’s breasts all the time. Only slightly, though, and Yuuna still positions itself for one type of reader and one alone—the horny teenage boy. But if I were a horny teenage boy, I’d like this—Kogarashi is a bit less hapless than the typical ecchi protagonist, the girls are for the most part fun (I was amused that the drunken Kitsune wannabe is a manga artist), and there is the occasional sweet romantic tease. Still, if you’re expecting romance, read Nisekoi. If you want boobs, this is the book for you. – Sean Gaffney