A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 20 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa | Seven Seas – So between the last volume and this one, the series ended in Japan, and if my count is right this one will be the penultimate volume. The plot of this arc continues apace, but I’ll be honest, I’m not interested in it. The main cast has always been why I read this series. Fortunately, they get things to do. We see Mikoto’s compassion and we start to see why Kuroko falls for her so hard (canonical). We see Kuroko starting to be a part of Judgment. We see Saten and Uiharu meet, see Uiharu struggling to not be a 90-pound weakling, and see Saten start to fall for her (not canonical). And yes, we get a really cool battle with powers and everything. The Railgun series, in the West, has always been more popular than its parent, and this continues to show why. – Sean Gaffney
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 14 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe | Viz Media – This is still setup for what is going to be an epic battle, but I will admit that I feel it is adding a few many new characters all at once. We get a whole bunch of bad guys here, each with their own eccentricities, and some more likeable than others. We get to see Fern be utterly badass, and we get to see Stark have bad things happen to him and have the stamina of several oxes. But the big news is the return of Sein! He’s here; he’s still looking for his friend; and I have a sneaking suspicion he may find said friend before the end of this arc. That said, I’m not sure whether the series is the sort that can kill off one of its main supporting characters, so we will have to see if the mass assassination attempt really gets going. It’s Frieren. You know it’s good. – Sean Gaffney
Hitting Rewind with You, Vol. 1 | By Hanamaru Kira | Kodansha Manga – There’s been quite a few “I wish I could go back and redo my crappy teenage years,” but most of them tend to star guys and involve time travel. Here we see Wakaba regret her introverted bookish school days, so she takes advantage of Halloween to wear her old uniform… and runs into a hot high school student! At this point the savvy shoujo reader is ready to say “uh oh,” but no fear, as he’s also in his uniform despite being in college, because he was helping a cosplay group that then cancelled on him. The two of them start to date but can’t let go of the uniform thing… though that may also be because Wakaba doesn’t actually realize that the two of them are dating, as she suffers from classic “shoujo heroine” syndrome. This wasn’t lights-out amazing, but was cute and fun. – Sean Gaffney
Medalist, Vol. 13 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Manga – Inori, in this series, has had moments where she’s lost to others, and times when she’s almost but not quite won it all. But she hasn’t really had a complete disaster of a day like she does here… one so bad it means she doesn’t get to compete on Day Two, she’s just done. Unfortunately, this reminds us that all the intensity that we’ve seen middle school Inori have can also work against her, as when she sees Hikaru she has a total breakdown, and when she sees Tsukasa she has a raging, screaming fit. Hikaru shows her that there’s still someone to chase and that she’s not abandoning Inori as a rival, while Tsukasa shares his past and tries to show her that “what do you do if disaster strikes” is also a skill a skater needs to learn. I love this series so much. It’s amazing every time. – Sean Gaffney
Rock Is a Lady’s Modesty, Vol. 2 | By Hiroshi Fukuda | Yen Press – This second volume introduces the other two main characters, and while I love Tina and her struggles, Tamaki is definitely the one with the stronger impact—trying to lure Otoha away, disparaging Lilisa’s guitar, and saying (rightly) that Tina’s lack of ability makes her someone they can’t work with. The good news for Lilisa is that we also get the front half of this volume, featuring the Battle of the Bands, where the two of them unleash the power of rock in order to inspire a rather lackadaisical concert band and also show up an arrogant singer with delusions of grandeur. Those middle fingers have never felt more right. That said, Lilisa is going to struggle a lot more before she gets her ideal guitar heroics going, so let’s hope the battle of the bands goes well. Great stuff. – Sean Gaffney
Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 13 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – Another series where it’s been a year and change since the last one. Fortunately, Coco realizes this and is utterly awesome in this book, joining with the others to come up with a brilliant plan. Unfortunately, she also runs afoul of the Knight dude who wanted to wipe her memory way back when, and he still wants to do it… and wipe everyone else’s memory as well. This guy has issues, as everyone else seems to realize, and it can be painful to see. It can also be painful to see Coco’s plan run up against the scientific method, as it turns out that the leech is also very clever and is not going to give them time to carry out this plan. Fortunately, Agott and Coco are the baby lesbian power couple (not canonical), and they’re here to SAVE THE WORLD! Next book. – Sean Gaffney
Yotsuba&!, Vol. 16 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – Five. Freaking. Years. Even by Yotsuba&! standards, that’s a bit ridiculous. The biggest reason to be excited about the book is near the end, but before that, we continue to see Yotsuba’s dad reflect that she actually will be doing things like going to school and growing up soon. (Soon, but not yet. No worries, fans of her being five years old.) There’s also a heaping helping of Yanda, as he and Yotsuba have to get along or else her dad will abort their mountain climbing. But most importantly… it’s Osaka! From Azumanga Daioh! And she’s Ema and Miura’s teacher, and just as flaky as she’s always been, though I get the sense she’s a pretty good teacher overall. It was wonderful to see her, and I hope she shows up again. Whenever the next book is. – Sean Gaffney
Yotsuba&!, Vol. 16 | By Hiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – It had been almost eight years since I had read a volume of Yotsuba&!. In that time, I had forgotten just how delightful it really is. In volume sixteen, there is a lot of emphasis on Yotsuba starting school soon and Koiwai being encouraged to do fun things with her while she still has this much free time. As a result, most of this volume is about hiking Mount Takao. One particular element about this series that I love and had forgotten about is the scene-setting panels. I love panels of apartment facades, the reflection of an electric pole in a building’s windows, a plump bird on a tree, a trio of little girls riding their bikes down the street… Reading this reminded me anew what a joy this series is and finishing it left me bereft because how many years ‘til the next one? – Michelle Smith
