The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 9 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – I read the first eight volumes of The Ancient Magus’ Bride back-to-back, so it was a little weird reading this one on its own. We pick up with Chise having made a deal with Josef that ultimately involves each getting to see the other’s painful past. She eventually must agree that he’s suffered even more than she has, though this doesn’t give him an excuse for hurting people. I’m not sure if her message of understanding really got through to him, but it was pretty neat that, although Elias was prepared to do something terrible to save her, Chise essentially saved herself. Perhaps a bit too neatly, everything more or less resets in time for the next phase of the story—the “college arc”—which begins next volume. I’m looking forward to it! – Michelle Smith
A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 15 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – Last time we had a lot of war and very little of the main cast; this time the main cast are more heavily involved, but only because the war comes to them. Honestly, if anything, the series gets even more bizarre, something I thought impossible, mostly thanks to the snake people and their “world in a bubble” reality generator, which makes me wonder how much of what we’ve seen has been in one of those. As for Hime, though the cover may make this look like a final volume, it isn’t—but she is almost killed by terrorists, who go after the little triplet girls as well. A Centaur’s Life has found the line between cute (and sometimes perverse) monster girls and anti-war otakudom, and is proud to step back and over over that line. – Sean Gaffney
Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 2 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press -The concept of the playboy high school guy who ends up knowing nothing about what real love feels like is not a new plot in the slightest, but the author does a very good job of keeping us interested despite that. Kai’s attempts to force a kiss on Riko get him in deep trouble for almost half the volume, and justifiably so. But Kai is genuinely trying to understand Hiro, and understand why she continues to be in love with another man even though she knows he is with someone else and can’t reciprocate it. The series gets a bit more cliche when it moves to the other main characters—honestly, the Buddhist guy/Shinto girl pair made me groan at how cliched it was. Do we need to pair the spares already? Still, overall good. – Sean Gaffney
Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon Four-Panel Comic: Odd Days of Goddess | By Masaya Takamura and Fujino Omori | Yen Press – The second volume of this 4-koma parody series is not as good as the first. Honestly, it has to be said: seeing Hestia and Lilly getting jealous over Bell is not really why fans over here read the series, and since it’s exaggerated in a parody, that makes it more annoying. This second volume came out around when Sword Oratoria was taking off, so the second half focuses far more on Lefiya and company, but the humorous tone is still the same. Oddly, the best parts of the volume are when it briefly turns serious, or at least sweet, showing off Bell and Hestia’s pure and innocent kind-of love. If you like the series, this may make you smile. – Sean Gaffney
Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 4 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – I suspect I may love this a bit more than other manga bloggers do, but oh well. I love it. Shirogane’s sister is on the cover, and she does come to visit the student council room, though she’s on her best behavior. And there are a few classic Chika moments. But for the most part this volume is dominated by Kaguya and Shirogane and their desperate attempts to get the other to confess first so they can just GO OUT ALREADY. This includes pretending to be cold, which goes disastrously on both sides, and Kaguya then CATCHING a cold, which leads to an actual crisis when Shirogane can’t control his teenage hormones and Kaguya thinks he went too far… or not far enough. I can’t stop laughing when I read this. – Sean Gaffney
The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 5 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime Manga (digital only) – I wasn’t exactly lulled into a false sense of security by the episodic first half of this volume, given the pervasive ominous feeling that always lingers on the fringes of this series, but I was still taken by surprise when some pivotal things suddenly happen in the back half, including Hanzawa having a run-in with Erika and readers suddenly learning some very major and disturbing truths about Rihito’s past that both render him more sympathetic as a character and provide further evidence that he’s likely a very dangerous person for Mikado to be hanging around with. I love this series so much, from the spare yet expressive art to the creepy cases to the leads and their complicated relationship. What it reminds me of the most is Tokyo Babylon, so if that’s your jam, please read this series! – Michelle Smith
Queen’s Quality, Vol. 5 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – This volume of Queen’s Quality felt more like a shonen series, filled with dramatic battles, swords, and flashbacks of dead childhood friends in the best One Piece tradition. Fumi is getting closer to becoming a true queen, and succeeds in at least moving from the Black Queen to the Dark Grey Queen this time around (would she sing the Seven Seas of Rhye?), but she has to figure out a way to work with white as well, and it’s implied that she has to recover all her memories to do so. Meanwhile, Kyutaro is having trouble dealing with how much he’s in love with her, and even her very presence can relax and heal him. This new arc involving a spring break training trip will have trouble topping the excitement of the arc that ended here. – Sean Gaffney
Skip Beat!, Vol. 41 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media- Kyoko’s audition for a ninja role in a samurai drama continues, and the majority of this volume can be summed up as, “She proceeds to be very badass.” Some of what happens to make her stand out was a calculated move on Yashiro’s part, but the fact is that she has prepared more than any of the other candidates, and even the fact that she’s a “talento” with LME instead of an official actress doesn’t seem like it’ll hurt her much. I love the way Nakamura-sensei depicts Kyoko when she’s in character, and her ninja persona is very cool indeed. I’d be super happy to see some serious stardom start to come her way, especially with Yashiro as her manager. The final couple of pages hint for some movement on the romance front, too. I still love this series very, very much! – Michelle Smith
Slum Wolf | By Tadao Tsuge | New York Review Comics – Although it’s the first volume by a Japanese creator to be published by New York Review Comics, Slum Wolf is the second major collection of Tadao Tsuge’s work to have been translated into English. (Trash Market was released a few years ago by Drawn & Quarterly.) Slum Wolf brings together nine of Tsuge’s short manga originally published between 1969 an 1978, most of which first appeared in the influential alternative manga magazine Garo. In addition to an autobiographical article by Tsuge, an essay by the volume’s editor and translator Ryan Holmberg which provides additional historical context for the manga is also included. The stories themselves have autobiographical influences as well. Filled with vagrants, punks, hoodlums, and other tough guys living in the shadow of the Second World War and the American occupation that followed, the short vignettes in Slum Wolf share a similar atmosphere and mood, themes, and even a few recurring characters. – Ash Brown