Michelle Smith

D-Frag!, Vol. 9 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – Games are serious business in this very silly manga, and when Kazama realizes he’s totally forgotten about the rematch he was supposed to have with Roka, she gets very upset. That’s what drives most of this volume, which is still mostly devoted to very funny comedy. I enjoyed seeing the awkwardness of Kazama trying to fit in with the real Game Development Club, and the revelation that the stupid medallion Kazama (and I) had totally forgotten about is actually relevant. But honestly, it’s all about the rematch itself, and Kazama’s strategy for winning is both ludicrous and brilliant. D-Frag! is a comedy first and foremost, and if you keep that in mind you’ll still enjoy yourself immensely. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 13 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – I was right, Soma did not in fact win this volume. Which is not unexpected in a battle manga like this—and yes, Food Wars! is a battle manga more than it is a cooking manga. That said, Soma gains a lot from this loss, in particular the desire to cook for a reason other than to beat his father. He hasn’t found that reason yet, but just working at it is enough. After that, we get a new mini-arc involving helping at restaurants in the area, where Soma can put his childhood skills to use, Hisako shows off why Erina relies on her, Erina is, of course, perfect, and even Megumi’s keen observational eye earns her appreciation. These are smart kids, and they’re good at what they do. Classic Jump stuff. – Sean Gaffney

The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Vol. 2 | By Keiko Ishihara | Viz Media – This is not as good as the first volume, mostly as it has to wrap everything up, and due to the time period it takes place in, things have to get a bit unrealistic in order for our hero and heroine to come together in the end. We see romantic rivals (this time the blond is outwardly evil but secretly sweet—an inversion of the shoujo cliche), and Sayaka’s tsundere, not-a-lesbian best friend screaming every single line she gets in frustration at what she has to watch. But yeah, in the end, the heiress realizes she loves her chauffeur, they defy their family and run off, they run back when they realize that that would lead to the tragic ending, and love conquers all. Cute, but only OK. – Sean Gaffney

Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 24 | By Taeko Watanabe | VIZ Media – It’s August, and that can only mean our annual volume of Kaze Hikaru is upon us! The opening chapters had me feeling somewhat frustrated, alas, as Sei did something impulsive that she only belatedly realized was a betrayal of the Shinsengumi. Oopsies. Happily, just as it seemed we were in for more drama, with carefree Kondo about to embark on a journey with the very man who would like to assassinate him, we take an abrupt turn towards the past for some very entertaining chapters that explain just why Hijikata values Kondo so much. As usual, though, just as I’m settling in and enjoying a good story, the volume ends and that’s it for another year. At least we’re getting something, though, so thanks as usual, VIZ! – Michelle Smith

Maid-sama!, Vols. 9-10 | By Hiro Fujiwara | VIZ Media – Answers! We got actual answers about Usui’s background! And they even kind of address why he excels at everything! And before that, there were some very good scenes between them including smoochies and Misaki communicating (admittedly with too much violence) her annoyance and frustration with his terminal evasiveness. Even the fact that we are seemingly destined for a detour into Trope City in the next volume (hot springs trip, ugh) cannot extinguish my goodwill. Throughout this volume, it felt like some sort of tension was simmering, and I’m not sure if I imagined it, but if we actually do get something a little more serious and serialized to take us through the second half of the series, I will be very pleased indeed. – Michelle Smith

Maid-sama!, Vols. 9-10 | By Hiro Fujiwara | Viz Media – At last, we’re seeing new Maid-sama! chapters in North America, which if nothing else reveals to us who wins the election. Though honestly, that was more about making Kanou open up and be less introverted than anything else. More importantly, we finally begin to see some of Usui’s past, and why he keeps trying to hide it from Misaki. Seeing that he’s a quarter British is not particularly a surprise, and I suspect there’s more to it than this. More surprising is the introduction of new teacher Maria, who not only new Usui as a child but appears to be a genuine lesbian, albeit of the usual ‘predatory’ variety so beloved by manga authors everywhere. Frustrating but addicting. – Sean Gaffney

Sweetness & Lightning, Vol. 1 | By Gido Amagakure | Kodansha Comics – Melding genres can sometimes produce pleasant surprises, and pleasant is the word describing this manga, which takes the ‘single man raising rambunctious child’ genre and combines it with the ‘let’s cook a meal and describe how we do it’ genre to decent effect. The dad is Kouhei, a widower who’s still not quite over the death of his wife. The kid is Tsumugi, who’s not as hyper as Yotsuba but comes close. The wild card is Kotori, a student of his whose mother is always at work and who desperately needs to connect to someone, and has chosen Kouhei’s family. Provided we don’t go into the student/teacher romance genre, I think this could be a real winner. 50-50 odds we do, though. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 35 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – I can’t quite believe this is the same company that had to censor Dr. Slump and Dragon Ball at various points. Not only do we have the plotline with the monkey king almost explicitly say that they have to arouse him in order to make his testicles bigger and more tasty (which they do via interpretive dance, just in case you thought Toriko had gotten too predictable), but they then have to descend from the fighting arena on a literal pile of shit, and at the end of the volume they all turn into women. Luckily, as the cover might show off, all this leads to a good result, as Komatsu is alive again and reunited with our heroes. Toriko continues to be a bizarre Jump title, and the next arc could maybe be a bit more about food again? – Sean Gaffney

Danganronpa: The Animation, Vol. 2 | By Spike Chunsoft and Takashi Tsukimi | Dark Horse – For a survival game manga, Danganronpa is even more theatrical and over-the-top than most examples of the genre. What’s more, it seems to love mocking itself, and sometimes also breaking the fourth wall—one character makes a Black Jack reference, and Monokuma responds, “Naw, that’s Vertical. They also do Astro Boy!” (It will surprise no one to see Carl Horn is editing this.) As for the characters themselves, and the murders, this is still a cut above—I was impressed the cast reacted mostly positively to Chihiro’s secret, and the murder was again impulsive yet sympathetic. The biggest objection is this feels far too rushed—given we’re halfway done, it likely is. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 13 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – I think I loved this volume even more than the last one! As expected, Yukihira does not ultimately win the Fall Classic, but he does gain the respect of his classmates as well as a determination to find his own cooking, instead of always following in his dad’s footsteps. Seeing him invigorated by serious rivals his own age is quite exciting. Of course, there’s always some event going on at Totsuki, so the students begin interning at various restaurants, where they must make a visible contribution. This was a nice way to humble Yukihira a little, giving him enthusiasm for learning new stuff while simultaneously not dialing back how good he is. And hey, no fanservice this volume! – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 2 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – I am a huge fan of the monthly release schedule for Haikyu!!, because it means we didn’t have to wait long to see a practice game in which Hinata and Kageyama’s combined attack stuns their opponents. The volume has several cool moments, like Hinata finally getting a glimpse of “the view from the top” and a neat match-winning sequence, but it also kind of amuses me that we’re rolling right along with some sports manga tropes, like the inter-high qualifiers being just around the corner, and the heretofore unmentioned members of the team who, if they can be coaxed back, make the faraway dream of reaching nationals seem within reach. I readily admit this isn’t anything new, but I am still enjoying it immensely and expect I will continue to do so. – Michelle Smith

Haven’t You Heard? I’m Sakamoto, Vol. 4 | By Nami Sano | Seven Seas – I was, I admit, expecting a bigger finale than we got here. For the most part, the majority of this final volume was devoted to the usual antics—Sakamoto is amazing at something and others react to same, be it in admiration or petty jealousy. I could have done without the chapter where Yoshinobu’s mother disguises herself as her son to get at Sakamoto, which turns more disturbing than I’d like. The ending was quite well done, though, with the series ‘villain’ manipulating an attack on Sakamoto during graduation that he inevitably turns into a production that makes everyone look better than they are. Is he an alien? It doesn’t really seem to matter. He’s just Sakamoto. -Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 4 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – For all that Horimiya is sweet and enjoyable as a romance, it’s not winning any originality awards, even in characterization. Hori is a textbook tsundere, and her fretting and waffling over Miyamura’s bedside confession drives much of the volume. And Miyamura himself seems to suffer from supreme self-deprecation, and needs to be reminded that Hori would be angry if he implied she fell for a “loser.” It takes the arrival of Hori’s father, who seems to be very similar to his daughter, to get them to agree to be an actual couple, and even then it’s indirect. So this volume can be frustrating at times, and you need to accept Hori is a cartoon violent anime girl, but if you do it’s still sweet and fun. – Sean Gaffney

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 3 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – This spinoff series is being written after several of the light novels, and thus can toss in things that become more relevant later in the series. That doesn’t mean it handles them well, though—first we get Magus confessing his love to Soujiro, with all the shattered horror that comes from when the target audience is not meant to say “oooh, yaoi!” Then we find out Magus is actually a girl in reality, but a male character in the games, something we’ll see more of later but mostly tossed off for another ‘surprise’ gag here. Apart from that frustration, Soujiro’s guild of haremettes work well together, and we also see Shiroe and company arrive to end book one. Still okay for Log Horizon fans. – Sean Gaffney

Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary, Vol. 4 | By Shake-O | Seven Seas – This series continues to be light as air, with an occasional shot at depth but mostly being content to make jokes about the various supernatural qualities of the students, as well as Hitomi’s breasts and general dojikko qualities. We see more of the grumpy angel girl and her crush on the Bigfoot PE instructor, as well as Hitomi’s sister and her three-eyes three-personalities. And we also get some explanation for Tatara’s odd relationship with Hitomi, and see that he’s not quite a lolicon, at least not in relation to his father. Still, for a gag series this volume really is on the fanservice and the otaku end of the spectrum, and can be rather disturbing. Merely okay this time. – Sean Gaffney

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Vol. 9 | By Miki Yoshikawa | Kodansha Comics – There’s a ray of hope here, which no doubt will lead to everything going back to normal, but honestly that’s really what I want to see. When Yamada kisses Odagiri, her memory returns. And it tuns out that the memory erasure doesn’t work twice. Of course, the other problem is that Shiraishi also sees this, and is trying to storm off in a huff despite being emotionally devastated for reasons that she can’t work out. Of course, it’s because she loves Yamada, but doesn’t remember him—true love always wins out in the end. That said, we’re not there yet—the president is still trying to screw everything up, and may yet succeed. This is the longest arc of the series to date, and it’s proving riveting. – Sean Gaffney

Akuma no Riddle: Riddle Story of Devil, Vol. 4 | By Yun Kouga and Sunao Minakata | Seven Seas – The backstories are still here, but they continue to take a backseat to the actual attempted murders, though I was quite impressed with Shuuto being far older than she seemed. However, the big event this time around is that Azuma finally seems to have gotten past her killer’s block, with the help of her mother and the desire to protect Haru. As a result, and then there was one, Sumireko. It seems somewhat fitting that in a series with lots of yuri overtones, the ojousama would prove to be the second to last boss. (I assume Nio, who’s basically been the ‘secretary’ for all this, is the final boss.) It may be a long wait to see if this wraps up soon—we’ve caught up with Japan. – Sean Gaffney

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 2 | By Bisco Hatori | Viz Media – We’re at the point in the series where we have to introduce the cast, get a chapter or two to see what makes them tick, and then move on to the next regular. So in this second volume we see that Maasa is desperate for a boyfriend but not to the point where it overpowers her love of horror and film makeup; Izumi is beloved by all the girls, but can’t express his emotions in a healthy way at all, so just comes across as strange; and Ranmaru’s cousin Soh is breaking under the need to be a perfect ojou at her school when she’s actually bad at that sort of thing. Throughout all of this, Ranmaru freaks out amusingly but grows as a person, and we see the club fix situations with set design and makeup. Decent. – Sean Gaffney

Golden Time, Vol. 4 | By Yuyuko Takemiya and Umechazuke | Seven Seas – I said last time I was waiting for the emotional car crash, and we get it here, as this volume is pure melodrama. Banri realizes that he can’t continue to be Kouko’s minder while he’s still in love with her, and his still jumbled memories of Linda cause him to drunkenly lash out and hurt her horribly—something that, I note, is not resolved magically by the end of this volume. We do, however, resolve the main pairing—Kouko said no to Banri as she worried it was a rebound, but she seems to genuinely love him. Sadly, this means she’s starting to creepily stalk him a bit—I hope that gets dropped. I suspect this was the end of light novel one, but the manga continues, so we’ll see how things pan out. – Sean Gaffney

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 3 | By Amu Meguro | VIZ Media – Here we have another volume in which the adorable yet unconventional male lead worries he’s not good enough for the girl he loves and, with the help of a friendly sounding board, finds some self-confidence. I’ve read at least three variations on that story in recent weeks, but Honey So Sweet has a unique charm that keeps it from feeling stale. Futami proves that he is, indeed, trouble, announcing his intention to steal Kogure despite how much he likes Onise. Meanwhile, Kogure and Onise just keep falling deeper in love, so Futami makes sure she notices him. I admire Onise’s approach but I admit I kinda want to see this kid get pummeled. Also, must all shoujo manga include a scene wherein it is revealed that the two leads met each other once as kids? It happens so often! – Michelle Smith

Horimiya, Vol. 4 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – I’m beginning to worry about Horimiya a little bit. On the one hand, I got what I wanted, as Miyamura stops running from his feelings and confirms to Hori that he really meant what he said about liking her. They get together in a subtle way, and I especially love that Miyamura thoughtfully telephones Ishikawa (who has feelings for Hori, also) to let him know so he won’t be blindsided when he sees them together. What concerns me is this volume’s depiction of Hori. Has she always been such a tsundere? Her wayward father returns in this volume, and she kicks him quite a lot, and is also a bit violent with Miyamura at one point, too. Miyamura’s haircut at the end of the volume seems to signal the beginning of a new phase in the series, but I hope it doesn’t involve a personality shift for the characters. – Michelle Smith

My Love Story!!, Vol. 9 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – I was right: the introduction of Ichinose is as subtle as a brick. Thankfully, the narrative is aware of this and makes it even more overt—once Ichinose finds out Takeo is Yamato’s boyfriend, he flat out demands that they break up as he’d be a better boyfriend. To Takeo, whose main concern before this had been attempting to get the guts to call Yamato by her first name, this is a major concern, and he has self-doubts about whether he really is good enough for his girl. Of course, this series has spent nine volumes showing us that Takeo is selfless literally to a fault, so we know the answer to that already. I’m hoping in the next volume Yamato figures out what’s going on and shuts Ichinose down. – Sean Gaffney

Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, Vol. 3 | By Keiichi Awari | Vertical Comics – Probably it’s just me and my occasional propensity for taking comedy too seriously, but I didn’t enjoy this volume as much as I did the first two. I guess it just wasn’t quite surreal enough to suit me, and there was too much of the odious professor being cruel and selfish. Any time a person is horrible—like Mio’s sister casually attempting to abscond with Nano’s body parts or the professor caring more about snacks than a suffocating cat—I just cannot find it funny. I did kind of like the subplot about the male teacher who fancies Yukko’s homeroom teacher, though, and there were at least a couple of “solidarity dog” appearances to make me smile. I’m not sure how much longer I’ll continue with this series, but at least one more volume, I think. – Michelle Smith

UQ Holder, Vol. 8 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – Now that UQ Holder has given up and become straight-up “Negima Part 2,” it’s finally content to give us a bit more backstory to one of the earlier manga’s main anti-heroines, Evangeline. She’s barely Yukihime here at all, really, and mostly we see a past young version of her still dealing with becoming immortal and grateful for Tota’s company. This being a typical shonen manga, we also get a new training arc with a new tough-but-fair sensei, Dana. (This also being a typical Magazine-type ecchi manga, there’s some horrible breast-expansion stuff here as well.) But Tota learns fast, as do not-Setsuna, not-Chisame and the rest of the cast. Will it be enough to get far in the tournament, though? – Sean Gaffney

The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 5 | By Aya Shouoto | VIZ Media – It’s been quite interesting to see how Shouoto-sensei has improved as a mangaka. Kiss of the Rose Princess was fairly mediocre, He’s My Only Vampire is better, but in these past two volumes, The Demon Prince of Momochi House has surged forward in a big way. While volume five isn’t quite as great as volume four was, it’s still very good, revealing Yukari’s sad backstory and leaving fans with yet another cliffhanger ending: Aoi looking happy at Himari’s confession and then turning her down. Is this the usual mortal/immortal love angst, or did he somehow mess up their fate when he asked Kasha for help breaking a curse? Combine this with a mysterious new foe and I’m really looking forward to the next volume! – Michelle Smith

My Love Story!!, Vol. 9 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | VIZ Media – My Love Story!! continues to be as cute as ever. In this volume, Takeo struggles with feelings of insecurity after one of Yamato’s coworkers at the cake shop—a talented pastry chef named Ichinose—declares that he’d be a better match for her and that she has become his muse. Alas, the love rivalry plotline isn’t especially unique, but I did really enjoy spending more time with Yamato on her own, being passionate about something, and the way Takeo never wavers in his encouragement just proves what a great guy he is. This volume also includes a sweet bonus story that emphasizes how much Takeo means to Sunakawa. I will always love how their friendship is depicted. I’ll probably always love this series, too. – Michelle Smith

My Monster Secret, Vol. 3 | By Eiji Masuda | Seven Seas – There is some more cast expansion in this volume as well, mostly showing us Nagisa’s trolling brother (it was a nice fake-out, actually), but much of this volume is dedicated to expanding on Asahi’s growing harem. Youko is the main girl, of course, and if you think the final girl will be anyone but her, you’re fooling yourself. The scenes of honest cute romance with the two of them are the best part of the book, and apparently they’re recreating something that Youko’s parents also went through. We can’t count the others out yet, though— after all, it’s only volume three. I was admittedly not expecting forced love confessions to be brought about by a pair of possessed glasses, but then, this is a comedy first and foremost. Fun. – Sean Gaffney

Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 16 | By Naoshi Komi | Viz Media – The main arc in this particular volume involves a foreign princess who’s a dead ringer for Chitoge, which is honestly just an excuse for Raku and “Chitoge” to go on real dates without the author needing to worry about keeping her in character. One can only tsun so far, after all. As ever, the remainder of the volume are short one-chapter vignettes, mostly comedic, involving the rest of the class. We hear Yui’s horrible singing, deal with Marika’s fear of animals, continue to set up Shu and Ruri as a beta couple, though clearly this will require more giving in on Ruri’s part, and allows Onodera lovers to have more ‘will they or won’t they?’ tease. As with the last volume, I’m still enjoying Nisekoi, but it’s spinning its wheels. – Sean Gaffney

Rose Gun Days Season One, Vol. 4 | By Ryukishi07 and Soichiro | Yen Press – Knowing that season two is coming makes the finale to this volume a bit more acceptable. Oh, things wrap up pretty nicely, but there’s a lot of ambiguity going on here, the sort that is only going to be answered by seeing what comes next. Has Leo really left the cast for good? And are he and Rose a couple or not? (The omakes play it for laughs…) Did Rose really kill Caleb? I’m inclined to doubt it, even though the entire plot of this volume is about making us think that Rose is ready to get her hands dirty. In the end, I think Rose is just too shiny for that. And, most importantly, was that omake gag with Stella at the end really as filthy as it sounded? Ryukishi07 fans will enjoy this. – Sean Gaffney