Bookshelf Briefs

DAYS, Vol. 16 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Usually with sports manga I can find some emotional beat to highlight, but this volume really is just a bunch of soccer. Not that that’s a bad thing. Seiseki has progressed to the second round of the All Japan High School Soccer Tournament and their opponent is Ichiboshi Academy, whose unpredictable playing style proves challenging. Tsukamoto takes a bit of a backseat this time as Yasuda-sensei focuses on some older players like Oshiba, whose experience gets him past Ichiboshi’s impressive defence and allows him to score the first goal of the game, and Usui, who is shockingly bested by Ichiboshi as they score a goal of their own. It may not be deep, but it is fun, and I always appreciate how clear Yasuda’s panels are, particularly in depicting pass and shot trajectory. I’ll keep reading! – Michelle Smith

Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 2 | By Nanashi | Vertical Comics – When it comes to teasing titles, I like this better than Uzaki Wants to Hang Out (which I’ve dropped), but it’s still well below Teasing Master Takagi-san. Where it does succeed is in the art—Nanashi is really, really good at drawing embarrassment, and knows it, so the entire title revolves around both leads getting red-faced and twitchy. The problem continues to be that Nagatoro does not get enough scenes where she’s shown to be teasing rather than just torturing him, and the “senpai” remains a thoroughly wet protagonist. That said, the addition of her two friends did make a nice addition, as it brings out her jealousy. No one toys with my senpai but me! – Sean Gaffney

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, Vol. 2 | By Yabako Sandrovich and MAAM | Seven Seas – The blatant fanservice is still there, but there may be slightly less of it, or perhaps I’ve just gotten used to it, as I was not as distracted by it this time around. Instead I remain fascinated by the workout advice, as well as the wacky adventures of the girls getting the advice, primarily Hibiki, who remains the best thing about this book. We’re also introduced to a new character, Zina, a Russian girl who really wants to be true to the stereotypes that Japan has about Russians. She’s fun, losing to Hibiki in a competition and then transferring to challenge her… and ending up in a different class. Again, I’m surprised that, despite some really blatant service, this remains refreshingly non-sleazy. – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 2 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Maki Enjoji’s titles always seem to have heroines that I really enjoy, even when they’re screwing up. Case in point: Sakura at a party gets drunk and basically talks FAR too much, both to the group and later on to Tendo. Despite this, it’s really rather adorable and not pathetic, which is sort of what you’d expect. The manga also gets good later in the volume, as she deals with something that nurses also have to handle: a stalker who became obsessed with her as a patient. As for Dr. Tendo, he’s dealing with a rival for Nanase’s affections… and also a rival in teaching her how to be a good nurse, as he valiantly donates his poor arm until she shows she can put in an IV properly. This is just fun. – Sean Gaffney

Kase-san and Yamada, Vol. 1 | By Hiromi Takashima | Seven Seas – This is not the first Kase-san book, but the title change signals a sea change: the girls are in college, and Kase-san and Yamada are now definitely the focus rather than flowers, pastries, etc. That said, their couple status is both the plus and the minus of this book: as Erica Friedman and others have noted, both of them are dating but decidedly in the closet. And this is a problem on both sides: Kase becomes jealous when Yamada is invited to a group date, and takes steps to intervene; likewise, Yamada realizes that Kase has a roommate, and that, when her love is sick, she cannot simply rush to her side to take care of her. Real life tends to put crimps in a relationship. Maybe next volume they can tell the roommate about it. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 5 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – The majority of this volume is devoted to a culture festival, where our class has decided to do a maid cafe, mostly as Komi wants to do one. She may have trouble communicating, but she’s still the princess of the school, and a lot rides on her opinions. Of course, there are challenges. Tadano ends up being forced into a maid costume as well, Najimi’s attempts at making money break school rules and come close to violating actual laws, and Yamai exists. We also meet one or two new characters, including a sempai type and an “easygoing” type who tends to wander off, get lost, etc. Komi-san runs on cliches—deliberately so—but it remains at its heart sweet and heartwarming, especially when the two leads are interacting. – Sean Gaffney

Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow, Vol. 1 | By Uri Sugata | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Saya Kanra and Yuto Kozaki have been friends since elementary school and chastely dating since junior high. Yuto gets a makeover prior to starting high school, wanting to look cool and gain some confidence. The makeover proves too successful, alas, and now he has so many fangirls that Saya, fearing ostracism, has pretended not to know him and adopted the guise of someone disinterested in love. Now they’re trying to keep their relationship secret, occasionally aided by nerdy junior high classmate Amabiki, and talking mostly over voice chat, where things have started to get steamy in the tamest possible sense of the word. This may not be the most robust premise for a series, but I did like that the situation causes Saya to question both her own identity and her past assumptions about Amabiki’s quality of life. This series is complete in three volumes, which feels about right. – Michelle Smith

Living-Room Matsunaga-san, Vol. 1 | By Keiko Iwashita | Kodansha Comics – Originally a digital-only title, Living-Room Matsunaga-san has now achieved a print release! Due to family circumstances that aren’t fully explained, second-year high school student Miko Sonoda is shunted off to live not with her uncle but at her uncle’s boarding house with a bunch of strangers. Miko’s mother seems utterly unconcerned about this, and expects Miko to handle things herself. Thankfully, Miko is pretty capable for a teenager, with occasional lapses, and though she’s initially intimidated by her new housemate Jun Matsunaga, who comes across as belligerent and domineering, she soon realizes that he’s kind, caring, and passionate about his work as a graphic designer. Various situations ensue and Miko finds herself falling for him. While I’m not enthusiastic about a teen/adult romance, I do like these characters, the art style, and the kitty, so I’ll be proceeding on to volume two! – Michelle Smith

The Man Without Talent | By Yoshiharu Tsuge | New York Review Comics – While several of Tsuge’s shorter manga have previously made their way into translation, The Man Without Talent is his first long-form work to be released in English. In the accompanying essay, translator and historian Ryan Holmberg describes it as “Tsuge’s most popular and accessible work.” Originally serialized between 1985 and 1986, The Man Without Talent incorporates semi-autobiographical elements into its narrative. The story follows a cartoonist who seems to have largely given up on cartooning despite the pleas of his wife. Instead, he tries, struggles, and ultimately fails to make ends meet by selling stones he finds along the river near his home. The manga is an occasionally surreal but compellingly honest work, in part an examination of poverty, creativity, society, and self-determination. Readers rightfully intrigued by The Man Without Talent will soon have more of Tsuge’s manga to look forward to—Drawn & Quarterly has a seven-volume series of collected works planned. – Ash Brown

My Androgynous Boyfriend, Vol. 1 | By Tamekou | Seven Seas – Hooray for more josei! Souma Meguru is a beautiful guy who gets profiled in magazines and has many followers on Instagram. He’s been dating Machida Wako, busy editor, for seven years (ever since high school). This slice-of-life series depicts their domestic bliss as well as some of the challenges they face, like rumors that Meguru is actually dating a fellow male model or Wako’s coworker’s assumption that Meguru is female. I particularly enjoyed the chapter in which they go to “Ikeya” and Wako invents backstories for Meguru as he sits in various display rooms. It’s nice to read about a couple that has been together for so long; their relationship exudes trust and devotion. That said, it’s a bit weird that Meguru looks about twelve throughout, when he’s supposed to be so hot. Overall, this was pleasant and I’ll most likely check out volume two. – Michelle Smith

Our Dining Table | By Mita Ori | Seven Seas – I have read thousands of volumes of manga at this point but seldom have I encountered one as intensely charming as Our Dining Table. Yutaka Hozumi is a lonely salaryman who lost his parents at a young age and was never accepted by his adoptive siblings. When a pair of brothers comes into his life, exuberant four-year-old Tane Ueda and harried college student Minoru, Yutaka finds a family that will not only accept him but actively desires he be present as much as possible. I loved the slow progression of Yutaka and Minoru’s relationship; it’s one of those where it’s absolutely clear how they are healing each other of their trauma and what each finds appealing in the other. Also, Tane is incredibly adorable and it’s obvious how much fun Ori-sensei had when drawing him. I loved this without reservation. – Michelle Smith

Black Clover, Vol. 19 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – The nature of these volumes is they tend to be between 9-11 chapters no matter what, and while some thought is always given for an appropriate “cliffhanger” (and there’s a good one here), it does sometimes mean that the emotional beat can happen earlier than the author might like. That’s definitely the case here—this book is front-loaded as hell, with the absolute highlight being Noelle reuniting with her family, kicking ass, and her older brother apologizing for the constant abuse he hurled at her. It’s really fantastic. The rest of the book can’t help but feel like an anticlimax, though there is a nice bit at the end where Asta and company make a chaotic entrance to join in the fight. Which isn’t over yet, so next time? – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 13 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – This manga has too many cast members in it we have to remember, especially given that it only comes out now about once every six months or so. We see Iura dealing with his younger sister, who is having exam worries, and it’s meant to contrast to his “the guy nobody likes” persona at school, but I can’t really retain enough about what he was like for it to really impact. One good thing about this volume is that Hori is relatively behaved, so there’s a lot less of the “wacky” consent issues we saw in prior volumes. When she acts relatively normal, she and Miyamura remind you why we loved this manga in the first place. That said, it really does not appear to be headed towards any specific conclusion. How long will it go on? – Sean Gaffney

Levius/est, Vol. 1 | By Haruhisa Nakata | Viz Media – I probably should have read the Levius omnibus before picking up Levius/est. As far as I can tell, the first volume is mostly a recap of the original series told at an astonishingly breakneck speed. (Levius ended prematurely when Ikki ceased publication; Nakahata essentially had to restart the series in a new magazine, Ultra Jump.) It’s admittedly impressive how much ground Nakata manages to cover in such a short span, but I’m hoping that Levius/est finds a more sustainable and enjoyable pace soon. I want to see the mixed martial arts matches between cyborgs that will either save or destroy the world. I want a chance to actually get to know the characters beyond a surface-level lightning overview of their tragic backstories. I want the worldbuilding to not need to rely on heavy-handed exposition. Right now, Levius/est‘s greatest strength is Nakata’s stylish artwork, but something more would be welcomed. – Ash Brown

Magus of the Library, Vol. 2 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – Having enjoyed the first volume of Magus of the Library, I was looking forward to the second, even if the series is not always the most subtle of works narratively speaking. But I can’t help but love the underlying message of libraries (reading in generally, really) as a method of gaining knowledge, expanding one’s horizons, and developing empathy for others. At the same time, the work acknowledges the potential harm the written word can cause depending on its use. As a librarian, I can especially appreciate Izumi incorporating real-world social, economic, and political concerns surrounding libraries (fairly accurately, actually, although with simplification) into the fantasy setting of Magus of the Library. Other related areas the second volume of the series specifically addresses include bookselling and bookbinding. The volume also serves as something like a travelogue and introduces new characters destined, I’m sure, to become Theo’s cohorts in training at the Central Library. – Ash Brown

Murcielago, Vol. 13 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – OK, the master swordsman arc did not finish off quite as fast as I’d hoped, but that’s fine, as it gives us a chance to see Kuroko in action some more (and still really struggling, which is cool), as well as Himiko’s dynamic entrance in her car, always a treat. After that’s resolved, we start a sequel arc, as Goldmarie’s body is not lying mouldering in the grave as it should be, but has gone missing. And now there’s a bunch of murders happening in and around the sewers, which gives the artist another chance to lovingly depict a lot of corpses and gore. Murcielago is never going to be children’s entertainment, but it’s a lot of fun provided ultraviolent lesbians are your bag. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 23 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – So Izuku has multiple powers now. That said, he’s still having trouble learni8ng about them at all, so has to finish the fight quirkless. Honestly, Uraraka is the MVP of this battle, and there’s some nice ship tease with her and Izuku as my reward. After that, we switch over to the dark side of the cast—it even gets pointed out, with one chapter being called “My Villain Academia,” and a heavier focus on the League of Villains, who are falling on hard times at the moment. Things are not helped by a new, more corporate set of villains trying to get their foot in the door, and the volume ends with a confrontation. This has become one of the biggest Jump series, and it’s well deserved. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 23 | By Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – There is so much going on in this volume. As the battle training with class B comes to a close, Midoriya learns that he will eventually inherit six additional quirks from past wielders of One for All and Shinso gets to use his power to save someone and earns admission into the hero course. Mina gets a couple of badass panels while Uraraka gets several (as well as a rare smile from Aizawa). I love how much Aizawa has taken Shinso under his wing and that we get a glimpse of and a reference to someone he and Mic knew when they were students, a boy called Shirakumo. We also meet the Meta Liberation Army, who are determined to take down the League of Villains. Todoroki and Bakugo get their provisional hero licenses and we learn a little of Shigaraki’s backstory. Phew! I love this series so much. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vol. 3 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – Again, I like how this gag series is handled. It’s character-based exaggeration, but it also follows the main storyline for the most part, so it can use multiple modes of humor. It’s also not above pointing out its own flaws—when Momo is lacking confidence, Eraserhead tells her to spend a week living with Uraraka, and the latter is quick to point out that “my poverty being of service to you” is offensive. Of course, the series is also not above mocking her love of rich person’s food over and over again, so. We even get a good look at the league of villains here, and they’re just as goofy. This is still a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 7 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics – Somehow I missed reviewing the sixth volume of this series, and it’s a shame, as the seventh book is fantastic, possibly the highlight of the series in general. After spending about half of it leading up to the exams, and reminding us what’s at stake, we see the girls taking them one by one, each flashing back to their own issues and challenges—the biggest of which may be Yotsuba’s, as she reveals she’s the one who failed the makeup exam at their old school, and the others left with her in solidarity. The results are brought off perfectly, but Nino is saved for last, and she’s the one who gets the best part, right at the end. Still one of the best romantic comedy manga we’ve seen in some time. – Sean Gaffney

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 2 | By Kousuke Oono | Viz Media – There’s not really much here in plot or characterization beyond the surface. But when the surface is this, you absolutely don’t care. Househusband is all about style, and in that the book succeeds dramatically. I liked that it featured his wife a bit more in the various chapters, and you can see why he loves her. Everyone keeps mistaking him for doing horrible yakuza deals, even when he’s pushing spices for birthday parties. That said, you really can’t blame them given he’s also pushing his yakuza thoughts into his everyday life, such as the yoga poses, which was absolutely hilarious. We also meet his wife’s family, and their desperate attempts at bonding, which they do after a fashion. This is a whole lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 22 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media – This volume begins with the aftermath of the adventure in Sei, with Lady Riri dealing with the gratitude of her people, which she doesn’t feel she’s earned; Hak reflecting on adolescent memories of Su-Won, whose ability to see the world impartially means he has no special attachment to anyone; and the Four Dragons working to get back a hairpin for Yona that Su-Won gave her. Then we’re off to another adventure in a foreign land. One of the princesses of Xing is sure they’re Kohka’s next target for expansion and proposes war while her younger sister proposes preemptive surrender in order to save lives. Would-be assassins raid the latter’s compound, where there are a couple of badass fighters and lots of kitties. It’s very much a transitional volume, but still quite good. I’m always bummed whenever I run out of Yona to read. – Michelle Smith

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 18 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – It took a while for me to get into Anonymous Noise, and I still wouldn’t call it a favorite exactly, but it must be said that this final volume made me verklempt on a few occasions. I particularly liked that Nino and Momo getting back together is not the main focus, because that was so not what I was most invested in with this series. Instead, we get Nino telling Yuzu she wants to sing his songs forever, and him realizing that means even more than winning her heart. There are some awesome concert scenes—that full-page image of Yuzu singing!—and a sense of joyous confidence as they contemplate their musical future together. Too, I appreciated that the final appearance of Yuzu and Nino wordlessly confirmed that, yes, he did eventually grow taller than her. I think I might miss this series now that it’s over. – Michelle Smith

Giant Killing, Vol. 18 | By Masaya Tsunamoto and Tsujitomo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The second half of the season has begun! Tatsumi’s strategy going forward is to foster bettter communication and flexibility, so he’s been having the players swap positions, giving chances to non-regulars, etc. The best thing about this series is how Tatsumi has truly earned the players’ trust, and now the team feels more cohesive, each player secure in the knowledge that Tatsumi is looking out for them on an individual level and will help them to improve. Well, mostly everyone. Tsubaki is getting frustrated with his “terrible” playing and is pretty much useless after making a poor decision (while playing an unfamiliar defensive role) that leads to an ETU player’s injury. I really like that, even if they lose, they’re not a high school team trying to reach Nationals, so there’s still hope for the season. Have I mentioned lately how much I love Giant Killing? Verily, I do. – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 36 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – I think I forgot to review the 35th volume of Haikyu!!. No doubt it was very good and also filled with volleyball. As is this 36th volume. It is a credit to the author that he has kept the games interesting, and I can easily distinguish between the major adversaries, which is more than I can say for some manga. There’s a few more flashbacks, some really killer moves… a lot of people jump high in the air… I may have to wait till the game finishes to review another volume, though, as I just can’t keep typing up “this was really cool volleyball” over and over again without stretching things out like I’m a contestant on Just a Minute. At least the series is ending in Japan in a week or two, so we’ll soon catch up. -Sean Gaffney

Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 1 | By Gege Akutami | Viz Media – I forget where I first heard of Jujutsu Kaisen, but the general impression I’ve garnered from others has largely been positive. Now having read the first volume myself, I can honestly say that I enjoyed the manga. However, it’s clear that the series still has some room to grow before it truly distinguishes itself. Jujutsu Kaisen is Akutami’s first long-form work which may partly explain why the series comes across as being so heavily influenced by other manga. But even while its ideas aren’t particularly new and the tropes that are used are well-worn, the specific and sometimes seemingly disparate combination of them in Jujutsu Kaisen has a sort of quirky charm—which is admittedly kind of a strange description for what is essentially a horror manga about demon hunting. There is darkness, seriousness, and drama in Jujutsu Kaisen, but many of the characters tend to be likeable goofballs. – Ash Brown

MabuSasa, Vol. 1 | By Nanase | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – With its cute cover and male lead who looks like a scary delinquent but who is actually kind, I thought MabuSasa was going to be a sweet love story akin to Honey So Sweet. I was very wrong. It’s not advertised as such anywhere that I could find, but this is actually a 4-koma manga. True, there aren’t titles for the strips, but the page layout fits, as does the sensibility. Mabuchi is indeed a sympathetic character, but he’s surrounded by one-note caricatures. Most infuriating is Akira Sasagawa (the Sasa of the title), our fujoshi heroine who absolutely refuses to listen when Mabuchi swears that he’s not in a relationship with his best friend, Sota Ando. She concocts BL scenarios at every opportunity, even when Mabuchi meets and plays with her little brother. All of this is meant to be funny, I’m assuming, but I didn’t smile once. – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 13 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – Sheesh, the Inter-High still isn’t over in this volume. It literally takes 300 pages to go 3.5 kilometers! In that time, there are a couple of big matchups. The first is Imaizumi versus Midousuji, where the former is bolstered by the power of friendship while the latter pulls off new and even more nightmarish contortions while scoffing at the notion that friends are anything more than useless. Imaizumi emerges victorious but a crack in his bike’s frame means that Sohoku’s hopes now rest with Onoda, who goes head to head with Manami. Probably my favorite parts were the reactions of the Sohoku third years to the announcement that Onoda is still in the running to take the whole thing. 500 meters remain at the end of the volume. Next time for sure, right? – Michelle Smith

Again!!, Vol. 12 | By Mitsurou Kubo | Kodansha Comics – For better or worse, Again!! has always been unpredictable. I appreciate that it didn’t always follow the expected story beats, but at the same time, the inconsistency has been frustrating. For example, Imamura’s fluctuating dedication to the Ouendan had him proclaim at one point how much he wanted his grandma to see him cheering, and had that occurred it would’ve been a heart-tugging moment. But it didn’t happen. Instead, Imamura returns from another do-over (this time, flashing to a future in which his death inspired the other characters) with an apathetic attitude that eventually prompts him to return to 2014—a future where his grandmother is dead—without apparently a single pang about it. The ending is also kind of abrupt and ambiguous. In the end, I find myself wishing this had been more predictable, ‘cos at least it would’ve been more satisfying. – Michelle Smith

Chihayafuru, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This volume is full of choices for Chihaya. It’s time to complete another career survey, and this time she fills in a more realistic goal than becoming Queen. It’s also less ambitious, however, and thus her karuta advisor comes to see her play at the Yoshino Club Tournament to ask someone with more experience whether Chihaya really has the potential to become Queen. Happily, she’s playing with more precision and focus than ever, but her next opponent is Haruka Inokuma, a 4-time former Queen, so her chances really hinge on how she fares in that match. (I suspect Taichi vs. Arata is in the offing, as well.) Too, the school trip conflicts with the Master/Queen qualifiers, and Chihaya must choose which side of herself she wants to cultivate more. I seriously love this series and am eagerly anticipating the next volume! – Michelle Smith

Dr. STONE, Vol. 9 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Perhaps being interesting was too much to ask, but Taiju and Yuzuriha are at least contributing now that they’ve been added to Senku’s team—Taiju by being a literal tank soaking up damage, and Yuzuriha by apparently taking all the statues that Tsukasa smashed and sewing them together, presumably so they can be revived. If this seems farfetched, it’s no more so than finding the hospital where Tsukasa’s terminally ill little sister was located and unstoning her, which apparently also cures her illness. That said, Tsukasa may not be the end boss, as there’s another who’s been waiting for the moment to make his debut as a Big Bad. This continues to be ridiculous but also cool. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 10 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – Best Couple get the cover, and I continue to be more interested in them than I am Riko and Kai, who are cute and all but also somewhat predictable. The four of them go to the hot springs, mostly as Riko is too nervous to be alone with Kai, and Takaya learns that Ayumi leaves herself wide open. After a cute but slight Valentine’s chocolate chapter, the best part comes when Ayumi gets a bad cold and Takaya visits, meeting her parents and finding out she’s actually pretty rich and her family are famous film creators. Ayumi is not yet ready to reciprocate Takaya’s feelings, but she does open up to him about wanting to seek her own path. It’s great to see, and we have three volumes left after this, so I’m sure it will work out. – Sean Gaffney

ROADQUEEN: Eternal Roadtrip to Love | By Mira Ong Chua | Seven Seas – While not technically manga, ROADQUEEN will likely still appeal both stylistically and thematically to readers who enjoy Japanese comics. In particular, the volume makes an excellent addition to Seven Seas’ catalog of yuri titles. ROADQUEEN originated as a short online comic, followed up by a much longer multi-chapter sequel. Both of these stories and an additional bonus comic are collected in this volume. Leo, the prince of Princess Andromeda Academy, only has eyes for Bethany—her motorcycle. At least until Vega arrives on the scene and steals Bethany away. Vega promises she’ll give the bike back, but only after Leo proves that she can be a decent lesbian (not to mention human being). ROADQUEEN is deliberately over-the-top, Chua obviously having a lot of fun playing with tropes, but it can actually be very touching, too. With an abundance of humor and a ton of heart, ROADQUEEN is an absolute delight. – Ash Brown

Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight, Vol. 1 | By Mikokuno Homare and studio HIP-CATs | Ghost Ship – I will admit that for a title that’s coming out via the Ghost Ship label, which means “borderline porn,” this is pretty cute. Saki is a fairly new, still virginal succubus who has been thrown out of her family home as she’s old enough to be finding men to “feed” on, but she’s honestly a bit too shy for all that. She is thus near starvation when found by Renta, an adult salaryman who is also a virgin. They clearly fall for each other pretty fast, but are also both innocent and clueless, so nothing happens… well, OK, something happens, she manages to “feed,” but the plot is still “will they ever actually do anything” and the answer is likely “no.” Still, for tease, this is relatively cute and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 5 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – Welp, despite what I thought, the series does not end just because the main couple confessed. Indeed, most of the volume involves separating the two—not by design, but simply as Shirayuki has been invited to another country for a get together… her old country, where Prince Raj is. Indeed, after having it out with her a couple of volumes ago, Raj is seemingly turning over a new leaf, but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable around her at all—he never expected she’d accept the invitation. Her bodyguard for this journey is Obi, and I note that this series is very good at having a bunch of guys in it who are not immediately in love with the heroine. Whether that’s true of the new villain introduced here, who knows? – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 7 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – Having established that our leads will end up married with a child in the future, the series can now slowly move forward in increments, culminating in the final chapter here, where Nishikata, of his own volition, asks Takagi to the summer festival. But we’re also looking back, as we get to see how the two of them first met, and how Nishikata’s two basic qualities—a nice guy with great faces when he’s embarrassed or upset—inspire Takagi almost immediately. I’m not sure this is exactly when she falls for him, but she certainly has by the end of this book, which gives us another nice blushing reaction from her. Oh yes, and there’s still plenty of teasing. You expected something else? – Sean Gaffney

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 2 | By Kousuke Oono | VIZ Media – This was another fun volume of The Way of the Househusband, in which Tatsu tries aerobics and yoga, intimidates a yakuza by offering him kitchen gadgets, eradicates stubborn stains in Masa’s laundry, plays volleyball with housewives, and more. I really appreciate that we saw more of Miku, his wife, this time around, and probably my favorite chapter is the final one, in which her parents drop by for a visit. Even though the fish-out-of-water setup in this series reminds me of the premise of Saint Young Men, The Way of the Househusband is not only visually superior (better art, great pacing to jokes), but has more heart, especially the bonus chapter in which we see Miku’s dad practicing for the moment when he asks Tatsu if he wants to go outside and play catch. I stop short of calling the manga sweet, but it’s wholly endearing. Highly recommended. – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 13 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 13 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – OK, I was probably foolish to think the race would end in this volume. We’re gonna have to wait for fourteen. But in return, we get so much shonen sports at its best. Midousuji does his best, but then crashes and burns. Instead, it’s Manami who gets the bulk of this book, where we discover that he enjoys shifting gears higher when he should be doing the opposite, just to make things even more fun. That said, he shouldn’t dismiss our hero, Onoda, who has his pedaling and his Pretty Princess song to keep him going forever. (Oh yes, and his mother shows up—apparently at rando, as he never told her about the race? This was the funniest part of the book.) Things should end next volume… well, at least this race. – Sean Gaffney

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 18 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – Welp, I was wrong. Romantically, the final pairing is not what I expected. That said, romance, as always in this series, takes a back seat to the music, and musically the pairing is exactly what I expected. It’s actually quite interesting to see the basic “final volume” beats of a shoujo manga framed in terms of career and musical partner, while the heroine actually ends up with someone else. It’s quite a choice. Elsewhere, the book wraps up the one remaining unresolved pairing. But most of all for me, it goes back to its roots and shows what I loved most about it—Nino screaming the songs like they’re primal. I’ll miss this series, and am interested in what the author is going to do next. – Sean Gaffney

Bakemonogatari, Vol. 2 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Vertical Comics – One thing about the artwork in this manga adaptation, particularly of its lead character, is that it does not shy away from how relentlessly creepy and sexually harassing Araragi can be. The novels made you question how much of it was a narrative device, the anime framed it as so over the top it was almost parody, but the manga makes you squirm at seeing Araragi’s face as he simultaneously beats up and pervs on a little girl. This second volume finishes Hitagi Crab and gets almost halfway through Mayoi Snail, and does a good job at making itself distinct—here the park is a normal park, not the grandiose wonder as seen in the anime. Provided you can tolerate Araragi, an excellent adaptation. – Sean Gaffney

Daytime Shooting Star, Vol. 4 | By Mika Yamamori | VIZ Media – Believing that Shishio has gotten back together with his ex, Suzume tries to see it as an opportunity to forget him. It’s not true, though, and after her friends arrange for them to have an aquarium date, Shishio starts acting different around her. I certainly don’t want him to return her feelings, but it’s also pretty shitty that he treats her like she’s special and gives her false hope when he has already rejected her. At least he’s aware of this. There’s a great sequence where they both stop themselves from calling out to the other in the hallway, trying to avoid falling into their typical patterns, but by the end he’s rushing to rescue her from overbearing upperclassmen and falling pots. I really, really am enjoying this series, but continue to hope that she’s eventually going to get over him once and for all. – Michelle Smith

Dirty Pair | By Haruka Takachiho and Hisao Tamaki| Seven Seas – I was both looking forward to this and also dreading it, and in the end the dread won out. I suppose every generation gets the Lovely Angels it deserves. It’s not as if the original novels did not have Kei and Yuri walking around in Bikini tops and short shorts and cracking wise, and they do here as well. And the novels did indeed have the “we are psychically bonded and get hints about solving crimes that way” jazz as well. But this manga adaptation takes the fanservice to eleven, with the Angels making out and getting orgasm faces as they use their psychic powers. The plot of these is essentially very similar to the originals, and the basic “they solve the mystery, but everything is destroyed” premise is still there and valid. That said, the fanservice makes me recommend this only to hardcore fans of the Lovely Angels. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 36 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – After losing the first set to Nekoma, Karasuno wins the second. As Furudate-sensei elegantly shows through a series of panels comparing past scoreboards to the current one, this is the first time that has ever happened. Indeed, throughout the volume, Furudate excels at conveying the significance of things, particularly when the most reserved players on each team experience a moment in which they recognize how much fun volleyball can be. Tsukishima actually smiles when he’s finally able to score a point against his rival/mentor Kuroo while Kenma, whose predictions are usually correct, is happy when Hinata is able to surprise him with a trick shot. And, in turn, Kuroo is happy that the friend who’s been indulging him all these years is finally enjoying himself. It’s all about appreciating the people who get you and who challenge you. I love this series so much. – Michelle Smith

Himouto! Umaru-chan, Vol. 8 | By Sankakuhead | Seven Seas – I always enjoy the way that there is slow, methodical character development for Umaru in these books. She may still be incapable of taking care of herself without her brother around, but she’s beginning to grow up and demonstrate she might be able to function in society. Of course, there is also the usual Umaru humor, particularly when dealing with Hikari, who not only looks and acts like Umaru but is trying to occupy the same place in her brother’s life. (Speaking of which, we also get more shots of Kanau, Hikari’s older sister and Taihei’s boss, who also might have a thing for him, though I suspect if there’s any romance in this series at all it will be with Ebina, who’s had longer to develop.) Cute, cute, cute. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 12 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – I get the sense that the author has figured out how many volumes he wants this series to be now, as the pacing seems to have become more rapid. Not in terms of the gags, but in terms of the plot—Shirogane’s desire to resolve his relationship with Kaguya by the Culture Festival seems to mean it will happen next volume or the one after, and for once he seems quietly determined—I think committing to Stanford lit a fire in him. Elsewhere, Chika once again tries to cheat her way to victory and is punished, and also tries to teach Shirogane something easy and is punished. And there’s a chapter advertising the We Want to Talk About Kaguya spin-off, which… we’re not getting here. A lot of fun as usual. – Sean Gaffney

To Be Next to You, Vol. 1 | By Atsuko Namba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Nina Uemura is in love with her next-door neighbor, Kyosuke Tachibana, who has just started his first year of high school. She ends up witnessing the moment when one of his new classmates, Yuiko Asou, kisses him. This ultimately spurs Nina to confess, but when he goes in to kiss her, she freaks out. Meanwhile, Kyosuke and Asou seem to be getting closer. Because Asou is written so sympathetically (she’s genuinely a good person, and her once-kind boyfriend has become a jerk) and Nina comes across as quite immature comparatively, this manga so far reads like she’s the interloper onto Kyosuke’s love story. He’s moving ahead and she’s desperate to stay by his side, even if he’s entering a world that she’s not yet prepared for. It’s good stuff! I look forward to volume two. – Michelle Smith

Vinland Saga, Vol. 11 | By Makoto Yukimura | Kodansha Comics – It’s been a year and a half since the last omnibus volume of Vinland Saga was released. Somehow in that amount of time I had forgotten just how much humor Yukimura incorporates into what is otherwise an incredibly serious narrative. It helps keep the manga from becoming overwhelmingly bleak, but the balance of between the comedy and tragedy in the eleventh omnibus feels a little off—the jokes and occasional pop culture references (while entertaining) at times lessen the impact of the surrounding scenes. Even so, Vinland Saga remains an intensely compelling and powerful work. These volumes bring to a close the battle at Jomsborg. Throughout the conflict, Thorfinn repeatedly comes up against his decision to live without taking the lives of others. His resolve is severely tested when he confronts the man behind his father’s death and the warriors who likewise seek the deaths of Thorfinn and his companions. – Ash Brown

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 7 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – Every time a new volume of this fantastic series comes out I avoid reading it, possibly as I still expect it to end with everyone depressed or dead, because Asano. Despite that, things trundle along in this volume. Oran’s starting to have ominous feelings that she’s seen some of this before, and even the main cast heading to the beach, with lots of silly beach comedy, can’t quite stop you thinking things aren’t going to be the same anymore, especially after that cliffhanger. Makoto is on the cover, and gets a fair number of scenes as well, something you can’t always say about the covers. Most of all, this continues to examine the nature of conspiracies and media frenzies. Great stuff. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 22 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – What I remember about this volume’s chapters when they came out weekly was the fandom going ballistic attacking Momo after her loss. Possibly because the main cast praised her abilities regardless, possibly as she lost another fight and Jump fans are all secret wrestling fans complaining about “Jobbers.” It’s an excellent battle, though. The other fights are good as well. You’d expect Todoroki to clean up, but that battle too does not go as expected. Bakugo shows off that he can be kind and heroic while STILL being a loud asshole, and Izuku shows that the fact that he’s trying to learn his powers on the fly is leading to bad things. Fortunately, Uraraka and Shinso are there. Excellent. – Sean Gaffney

Queen Bee, Vol. 3 | By Shizuru Seino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – In Queen Bee’s second volume, Toma realized he had feelings for Hirata while on a forest field trip, during which she displayed extreme competence (and fought off a bear). Now, they’ve become an official couple, but Hirata’s insecurity, coupled with the reveal of a junior high ex-girlfriend that Toma might still have feelings for, makes her worry that he’s just trying to make himself love her. Ordinarily, the emergence of a love rival in the latter half of the final volume of a short series would irritate me a great deal, but I actually liked that it gave Hirata one more opportunity to show that Toma’s happiness is her top priority. She may look scary, but she’s pure and valiant, and in the end, this series kind of gave me gender-flipped My Love Story!! feels. Truly delightful. – Michelle Smith

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 8 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Answers are here, with extended flashbacks showing us what actually happened years ago, and who Fumi is. It’s helpful to have Kyutaro’s late mother explaining things to them, admittedly, and she’s super cool—I’d be OK with more adventures of her. Meanwhile, as Fumi tries to take this all in, Kyutaro adds to things by confessing to her, something which is perhaps not timely but is at least heartfelt. That said, it may be relatively irrelevant, as the cliffhanger suggests that we may be seeing some memory loss/destruction of alternate selves going on. Still, as far as dream-laden fantasy shoujo with comedic undertones go, QQ is tops. And love that they still have Dengeki Daisy cameos in them. – Sean Gaffney

Saint Young Men, Vol. 1 | By Hikaru Nakamura | Kodansha Comics – The premise of Saint Young Men is both simple and kooky. Jesus and Buddha have rented an apartment in Japan to enjoy some well-earned time off, where they enter into a sort of odd-couple existence, with Buddha being the serious guy who does all the chores and Jesus being the carefree guy who has a popular TV review blog. The situations are pretty fun—the guys go to an amusement park and ride a roller coaster, they experience a packed commuter train, Jesus buys a Shinsengumi costume to wear as pajamas, Buddha wins a statue of himself while trying to win a trip to Okinawa…—but I’m sad to report that I never actually laughed at anything. Perhaps that will change with later volumes, as I did think this one got more amusing as it went along. We shall see! – Michelle Smith

Species Domain, Vol. 7 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – The bulk of this volume is based around the school athletics festival, which gives us a chance to revisit several ongoing issues: Kazamori trying to live up to the “elf” standard everyone sees in her, ship tease between Hanei and Mikasagi, and the usual athletic festival cliches. The most interesting part of the book was showing us that Mizuno, who is frustrated at the mermaid classmate who’s going to put the swimming competition out of reach, also is a mermaid. That said, the reason they’ve been hiding it is fascinating, getting into both monster cliches and the sort of thing that LGBTQ people deal with daily, and I thought the reaction of the class was great. All in all, another solid volume. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 5 | By Tomo Hirokawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – Despite Genesis being a clear bad guy, one who’s even taking drugs to enhance his gaming “performance,” he’s still able to make a huge impression on Tia. Sadly, when he is then “killed,” that proves the impetus for her to pick up where he left off, and she’s now out to remove humans from this MMORPG. As always with SAO lately, there’s some good discussion of what constitutes an NPC, and Premiere also goes through some emotional crises, especially given Tia is her dark twin. The next volume is the final one, so we’ll see if Kirito and the cast of every other video game spinoff can help. Despite the high entry level of this series, it’s pretty decent. – Sean Gaffney

The Trial of Kitaro | By Shigeru Mizuki | Drawn & Quarterly – Collecting five short manga originally published in shonen magazines between 1968 and 1971, The Trial of Kitaro brings to a close Drawn & Quarterly’s delightful seven-volume compilation of selections from Mizuki’s influential series GeGeGe no Kitaro. Combining creepiness with comedy (including some literal potty humor—beware haunted mountainside toilets), the stories in this volume are tremendous fun. As with previous installments, the episodic chapters were in part chosen specifically to be kid-friendly, so there’s a certain amount of grossness and just plain strangeness to them. But, regardless of intended audience, I’m enamored with these yokai tales of horror. I love how Mizuki has taken traditional Japanese folklore and incorporated his own ideas and even some Western legends to create something truly special. Along with the other volumes, I will treasure The Trial of Kitaro. I am sad that this is the series’ end, but I am so incredibly happy that these stories were translated. – Ash Brown

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 8 | By Matoba | Yen Press -Aside from the cute slice-of-life aspects of the series, much of it revolves around the fact that everyone seems to have a crush on someone in the cast, but it’s either the wrong person or they’re too shy/tsundere/unable to see it to do anything. I was reminded of that in this volume, which literally has Beelzebub and Mullin going on a date to the aquarium… but they’re still not actually a couple, even if they are treated as an eventual one. We see this again with a mixer that Mullin is forced to go to, where we see a girl who a) is so cute she even gets Mullin’s brain briefly off his boss for a bit, and b) has a great meet cute scene with Samyaza… who it turns out has a crush on Eurydice, the shotacon. Sigh. That’s the manga. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 4 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – One thing I really like about this series is that, while Komi has trouble communicating and is trying to improve, the series never shows it as a bad thing per se, and never really judges her for it. Her family is the same way, with the exception of her talkative mother, who we get more of here. A bulk of the story is devoted to the athletic festival, where, as you might expect, both Komi and Tadano are in a position to save the day and win for their group. There’s a bit of selfishness, mostly courtesy of Yamai, who is still around, but for the most part the series really runs on sweet kids doing their best, and also finds the time to be funny. I admire that. – Sean Gaffney

My Father Is a Unicorn | By Monaka Suzuki | Seven Seas – Sometimes you get a book that falls between two stools, and it can be even more disappointing than if it was too much of one thing or the other. This wants to be a funny comedy about a guy trying to live with his out-of-touch stepfather who is really a unicorn, bad at transforming at the worst of times, and also a big flake. This also wants to be a series about found family and giving new people a chance when they mean well and are trying. Unfortunately, too often it tries to do both at once, and the tone is wrong. There’s also a number of times when, even for the broad comedy this is sometimes going for, the characters are so stupid they beggar belief. If you like silly monster “guy” manga you may like it, but… eh. – Sean Gaffney

One-Punch Man, Vol. 18 | By ONE and Yusuke Murata | Viz Media – Another volume that is very funny when it’s trying to be, but isn’t trying 3/4 of the time anymore, so it’s just serious fighting stuff. The best bits were the restaurant and the dining and dashing, which felt a lot like the OPM of old. We’re also making Garo into less of a villain by having him do more protecting of a kid, which is fine but does remind you that everything about this world is absolutely terrible—in the end, the kid even ends up captured anyway. Now, arguably you could call this a pastiche of the tendency in modern comics, especially superhero comics, for “grim and gritty,” but this isn’t a parody anymore—it’s just a lot of serious fighting with more gore. My Hero Academia is looking better by the day. – Sean Gaffney

Saint Young Men, Vol. 1 | By Hikaru Nakamura | Kodansha Comics – It’s a Christmas miracle! Despite great interest in the series, Saint Young Men has been unlicensable in North America for years, at least in part due to concerns over how more conservative Christian groups in the United States might react to the manga’s blatantly irreverent humor. The premise is simple enough—Jesus and Buddha are taking a break from their heavenly duties and are sharing an apartment together in Japan. Hilarity ensues as they live their day-to-day lives while trying to keep their identities a secret. Readers who already have some familiarity with Christianity and Buddhism—and to to some extent Japanese culture, as well—will likely appreciate and get the most out of the series, but Kodansha has included plenty of notes after each chapter of this release to help along those who aren’t. Personally, Saint Young Men brings me great joy and laughter; I’m thrilled it’s being translated. – Ash Brown

Seven Days: Monday→Sunday | By Venio Tachibana and Rihito Takarai | SuBLime – Handsome Toji Seryo has a reputation for agreeing to go out with the first girl to ask him on Monday morning and then breaking up with her on Sunday evening, saying, “I’m sorry I couldn’t fall for you.” Impulsively, Yuzuru Shino (also popular with girls due to his looks) asks Seryo out and is surprised when he agrees. From there, their week as a couple unfolds, during which each guy develops feelings for the other, with Seryo convinced that Yuzuru is not going to seriously return his feelings and Yuzuru convinced that what’s happening between them has also happened with all the other girls Seryo has dated. It’s sweet and angsty and features some poor communication, and I enjoyed it a lot. They each finally found someone who loves them for who they really am and I am totally happy for these fictional boys. Strongly recommended. – Michelle Smith

Yuri Is My Job!, Vol. 5 | By miman | Kodansha Comics – Despite the events of the last volume, this one is devoted to showing us that nothing is really solved. Hime is trying a bit harder but is still too much of a flake to really be a good waitress (though she’s better as a schweister), Kanoko is still really in love with Hime, a situation not helped by them going out on a shopping “date” and Hime giving Kanoko a special present. Most importantly, Mitsuki is still tortured and tormented, and it’s coming out by her lashing out at Hime whether she deserves it or not. This is a good story in a tortured sort of way, but I have to admit this specific volume was not so much “fun to read” as “crawling across broken glass.” But the glass *is* very pretty and shiny, and there is hope things will get better. – Sean Gaffney

Daytime Shooting Star, Vol. 3 | By Mika Yamamori | Viz Media – There’s less humor and more romantic drama in this volume, but that’s OK as the romantic drama seems to be slightly better. It helps that the teacher rejects the student, though I’m sure that’s not the end of it, and that scene manages to be the best in the volume. That said, Suzume is not the only one Shishio’s having issues with, and a lot of this book amounts to “sometimes you really do break up for the right reasons even if it doesn’t feel like it.” Honestly, the best relationship in the series so far may be Suzume and Yuyuka, who aren’t a romantic pairing but have the potential to be great friends provided they get past the love quadrangle. This is shaping up to be decent shoujo. – Sean Gaffney

Jujutsu Kaisen, Vol. 1 | By Gege Akutami | VIZ Media – Yuji Itadori is a member of his school’s Occult Research Club and when he finds a cursed object (a mummified finger that he eventually eats – ew!) he gets involved with a group of jujutsu sorcerers aiming to collect all the fragments of a powerful demon before they fall into the wrong hands. Spurred on by his dying grandfather’s words that he should help people, and by the realization that he’s the only person who can nullify the demon fragments before they cause more harm, Yuji joins up with their cause. This first volume was intriguing, if a bit gross at times, but Yuji feels really flat as a protagonist so far. I’ll keep reading for a bit in hopes that it all becomes more compelling. – Michelle Smith

Missions of Love, Vol. 19 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – This has always been a fairly saucy manga for Nakayoshi, and it feels appropriate that the final volume has Yukina and Shigure, now a couple (if you’re surprised perhaps you should look at the cover), snowed in and Yukina being far too forward… at least till she’s taught that sex really is a step too far for someone still brand new to her feelings of loving someone else. Elsewhere, the manga is somewhat satisfying—I just don’t like Hisame, and even though the triangle with him and Mami is left unresolved it feels like he’s going to win, which doesn’t make me happy. But Yukina is cute, and we even get a callback to the glasses/social awkwardness thing. This was VERY up and down, but worth the ride. – Sean Gaffney

Monster and the Beast, Vol. 2 | By Renji | Yen Press – I enjoyed and was greatly intrigued by the first volume of Monster and the Beast, a somewhat unusual BL manga, so I’ve been looking forward to reading the series’ second volume. As the plot continues to develop, it’s revealed that Liam’s natural charm isn’t entirely natural. He puts it to honorable use in this volume, but it seems it’s gotten him into trouble more than once in the past. While Liam and Cavo travel together, Liam softens and opens up a bit towards his companion, making it clear that he actually does care for him and isn’t just taking advantage of the demon (something Liam would be completely capable of). As for Cavo, he becomes a little more daring in expressing his feelings and desires, although he still gets delightfully flustered. Monster and the Beast has its cute moments as well as some deadly serious ones. – Ash Brown

Our Fake Marriage, Vol. 2 | By Kiwi Tokina | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Yae Sendo is living with her chidhood friend Takumi Natsume, now a famous architect, and posing as his wife to act as a buffer for all the chicks who want to bone him. Of course, he immediately starts putting the moves on her. Where are Yae’s family and friends to question this arrangement? Nonexistent. This premise was not the best to start with, but things take a downhill turn in volume two when Takumi tells her, “Resist if you want to. But I got no intention of stopping tonight.” By this point, she’s into it, but still.. this man basically said “I am fine with raping you” and it sends up no red flags! I assume readers were supposed to find story this sexy and/or romantic, given the implication that Yae was Takumi’s first love, but I find it icky and problematic. I shan’t be reading any more. – Michelle Smith

PENGUINDRUM, Vol. 1 | By Isuzu Shibata and ikunichawder | Seven Seas – Once again, I have not seen the anime this is based on, and I get the sense that a lot of the imagery probably works better when watched rather than read. Two brothers are dealing with a sister who’s dying, only to find her corpse possessed by the spirit of… something. Now they have to find a Penguindrum… and are not told what that is. And, on top of everything else, they run into a girl who’s very, very obsessed with her teacher. There are tidbits of a very interesting story here, and the possessed Himari can be quite funny (SURVIVAL! TACTIC!), but as with a lot of Ikuhara series that aren’t named Utena, I find it very difficult to get emotionally involved with it. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 12 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – I asked for more of Takane and Hana smirking at each other, and instead I get to what amounts to Takane losing his mind. He finally admits his feelings to Hana, who’s a bit poleaxed, and then proceeds to be an absolute ass for almost the entire rest of the book. He still has no idea how to properly interact with a girl he likes, and I hate to break it to him, but the solution to a relationship between a rich heir and an underage schoolgirl is not “well, whatever.” Hana spends much of the book simply exhausted, and I felt like that as well. Hopefully the next volume will get back on a more even keel, as I just don’t like Takane when he’s like this, and I don’t think Hana does either. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 18 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – MORE Negima flashbacks, as the author tries to sell me on a Negi/Eva romance I still really don’t want, and essentially finishes giving us the backstory related to how things got this way. Next it’s time for more romantic stuff, as Chamo wants Pactios. Kirie isn’t able to do it because of her power, but Kuromaru can… and finally works up the nerve to confess about their future gender choices. Tota, of course,l takes everything in stride, but still it feels as if, as with Negima, any romance in the series moves at the speed of a slug. We also add in Karin towards the end, who wants to pactio with Eva but is steered towards Tota, and confesses some of her past as Judas Iscariot to him. If you’ve read all of both series, this was OK. – Sean Gaffney

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | VIZ Media – I never doubted for a minute that this series would have a happy ending, but man, Toma-sensei really nailed the Water Dragon’s God’s terror in the face of mortality as well as Asahi’s abject despair when she believes he has died. It’s heartbreaking (and relatable). I also loved that Subaru’s confession prompts Asahi to take the initiative and get her smooch on with the Water Dragon God, and that he cries from his happiness. I will try not to think about how they’re going to navigate their future together and just be happy that they’re together. Looking forward to more Toma-sensei in the future! – Michelle Smith

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 4 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – Another of the quartet of young apprentices takes the spotlight: Richeh, who wants to make her own magic and hates compromising. Sadly, that makes it hard to take tests, and she’s doing the next one, along with Agott and a third apprentice, a young man who seems to be abused and belittled by his instructor, but has a wealth of knowledge once he gets over his self-hatred. As always half the reason to read this is the art, which gives us the snake-like path that the test-takers travel down. And of course there’s Coco, who may not be taking the test but still finds a way to get herself into trouble, though more accurately trouble comes to her. This is still gorgeous and compelling. – Sean Gaffney

Arifureta: I Heart Isekai, Vol. 1 | By Misaki Mori, based on the novel by Ryo Shirakome | Seven Seas – This pretty much delivery exactly what it promises, going through the first three Arifureta light novels in the style of a gag comic. There’s lots of Hajime and Yui being sickeningly in love, Shea getting beaten up, Tio being a pervert, etc. We even get golem-Miledi advertising Arifureta Zero, on sale in all good stores. It’s actually pretty fun, and keeps a good balance, not being too perverse while still staying true to the original, which is pretty perverse, and not hitting the same one-note gags—or if it does, pointing that out. Fans of the original should have a lot of fun with this spinoff. – Sean Gaffney

Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Vol. 15 | By Ark Performance | Seven Seas – The flashbacks continue here, but some of them are actually engineered, which is an excellent conceit. Haruna and Kirishima are shown the memories of how Kyouhei and Iori are invited to join the crew… and in the case of Iori, expand her backstory a great deal, as she’s a rich daughter who’s rebelling not just against her father, but everyone who sees the Fog as forbidden tech. After coming out of it (and Kirishima being sad she’s back to being a bear), they’re able to tell the others about what they experienced but can’t have them access the memories like a ship would. It’s just like being human! The second half of the book is not as interesting, but this remains the top of the line for girls-as-objects manga. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – We continue this long arc of humans vs. humans-possessed-by-elves, and there’s a lot of “I know you’re in there somewhere now fight dammit” to this book. Luck gets the brunt of the front end, and honestly, it reminds me of Black Clover‘s greatest strength AND biggest flaw: it’s so straightforward it verges on predictable. One bit I really liked was seeing Asta confront a somewhat dazed Sally (who’s lost her glasses) and convince her, perhaps, to be a mad scientist for GOOD instead of evil. Given that Sally is very much amoral rather than immoral, she can be swayed by this pitch. Oh yes, and the battle against Charlotte was probably the most interesting of the giant fight scenes we see. This probably worked better animated. – Sean Gaffney

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 4 | By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Neko Hinotsuki | Seven Seas – A great deal of this fourth volume is dedicated to making it a bit more isekai-ish than it has been, as the forest is under attack by monsters, and the Kingdom has to figure out the best way to stop them. Fortunately, they don’t seem to have adventurers or dungeons here, so it’s back to good old-fashioned politics, as we need to see whose reputation would be helped or hindered by being the one to save the day or fail miserably. In other news, they’re getting better at making glass, Zenjiro is getting more proficient with magic, and we’re about to get two new characters… one of whom definitely seems like a new romantic rival. One of the better isekais out there. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 12 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – The solution to the person going around killing master swordsmen turns out to be very family-oriented, and also has a lot of possession involved. That said, the most entertaining part of this book may have been seeing Kuroko really struggling to win here—she admits several times that she’s having difficulties, whereas in past books you never really got a sense she was in danger. The final fight of the volume, leading to the cliffhanger, is especially good. That said, it looks like it will wrap up quick next time, if the preview is anything to judge by. In the meantime, you can also enjoy Reiko shamelessly showing off outfits for the reader and then having Kuroko pay for them because, well, she’s a cute girl. – Sean Gaffney

Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World, Vol. 1 | By Asaya Miyanaga | Seven Seas – There are now several manga translated into English with a similar underlying premise—a young woman or girl who is under the care of a non-human guardian. The execution in each can differ dramatically, however. (Apparently this is a sub-genre that I particularly enjoy, as I’ve loved all variations.) In the case of Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World, Miyanaga has created an exceedingly charming, delightful, and even joyful series. The title mostly sums up the work. Nicola is a young witch who has entered the demons’ world hoping to improve her magic. She’s not really supposed to be there, though, so a kind-hearted traveling salesman (and devil) named Simon has taken it upon himself to watch out for her. With each chapter being fairly episodic there’s not much of an overarching plot, but the magic and wonder of Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World builds and is consistently heartwarming. – Ash Brown

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 17 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – I had thought this would be a race to the finish, but honestly it’s feeling more like a leisurely victory lap. The single is doing well, Nino is singing duets, Yuzu is finally getting through to his mother after literally taking her on a world tour, and the last of the beta couples finally get together. Oh yes, and Momo has written a new song, one that he really, really wants Nino to sing. The main pairing is still, I suspect, going to be Yuzu and Nino, but this is a nice final threat—after all, this is how the two of them bonded in childhood, as we see in a flashback. The next book is the final one, so however it goes, we’re near the end of the journey. I enjoyed this, though it was never as lights-out as some other shoujo titles. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Morning, Vol. 8 | By Shoko Hidaka | SuBLime – Blue Morning manages to be unique and complicated until the end. Hidaka-sensei does a good job of giving happy endings to side characters, like Akihito’s friend Soichiro, that feel earned rather than sappy, and which initially suggest that Katsuragi really will take Akihito’s offer to accompany him to England for two years of study. In the end, though, Katsuragi has too much that he wants to accomplish in Japan and stays behind. I love that, as much as these guys love each other, they each have aspirations (both personal and on a societal scale) that they cannot abandon. All of this independent effort leads up to an absolutely marvelous final page wherein, without any bits of clunky narration signposting the moment, Akihito and Katsuragi are finally walking side by side as equals. I have really enjoyed this series and see myself rereading it someday. – Michelle Smith

Farewell, My Dear Cramer, Vol. 4 | By Naoshi Arakawa | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Warabi Seinan’s girls’ soccer team has been working hard and has successfully made it to the finals of the Inter-High preliminaries for their prefecture. They’re up against the reigning champs, who had insufficient intel on just how good Warabi is these days. It’s an intense match, full of girls who passionately love soccer and their appreciation for “friends who really get each other.” This series really has improved a lot since its initial volume. It’s still a little strange that we were introduced to Suo and Soshizaki first, yet the majority of the story continues to focus on their teammate Onda, and the action is still sometimes a bit hard to follow (it would probably be good if I could conclusively tell which team scored the cliffhanger goal), but it’s hooked me sufficiently enough now that I can heartily recommend it. – Michelle Smith

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 9 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – Kagura and Tarou finally get their arc. Sadly, it’s easily the dullest part of this volume, and you sense that the author has written four pairs but really only cares about two and a half of them. (Sorry, Miki and Kiyo, you’re the half.) That said, the pairings that do get attention are well-crafted. Ayumi, desperate for a story now that the love lives have cooled down, runs a “hottest guy” poll. The prize is a hot springs trip. Kai, who has been struggling to be more affectionate (read: hugs) with an aloof Riko, decides that he’s going to go all out. But of course Takaya is hot too. And there’s upperclassmen as well, right? Who’s the winner? I won’t spoil, but it’s a very amusing choice, and works well for the plot. Good despite Kagura being boring. – Sean Gaffney

Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World, Vol. 4 | By Iruka Shiomiya, based on the novels by Keiishi Sigsawa | Vertical Comics – Even when telling a story that has a happy, uplifting climax, the writers of Kino’s Journey just can’t help but do a last-minute twist of the knife. The story of a young women who is resolved to show her airplane can fly is such a story, making you punch the air in happiness until we get the crowd’s reaction to the whole thing, which is… not bad. Sort of the opposite, but unsettling. Also unsettling is a short story about a couple grooming their child for a war he doesn’t want to fight in, and a city that revels in the anti-war paintings of a man who lives outside the city… till they hear why he really paints them, and their reaction destroys him. Kino’s Journey wants you to hate war. It succeeds. – Sean Gaffney

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Vol. 12 | By Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi | Seven Seas – So we still don’t have Vlind’s full name—it seems to be VlindXX XXXX, but we do get a little more about her camera crew, who, like Vlind, are also very reminiscent of another series the artist used to draw back in the day. If they’re meant to be Hyatt and Elgala, then Elgala has shrunk quite a bit, though she still has her snark. Meanwhile, Hyatt has not only gained a lot of height but is also now married to Watanabe, if her last name is any indication. It also talks about her health having been bad and throwing up blood, so it’s not exactly being subtle. As for the rest of the manga, well, when I spend the entire review talking about the cameos on the first page, I think you can guess. – Sean Gaffney

Seven Little Sons of the Dragon: A Collection of Seven Stories | By Ryoko Kui | Yen Press – I enjoy Kui’s manga series Delicious in Dungeon immensely, so I was looking forward to reading more of the creator’s work a great deal. After finishing Seven Little Sons of the Dragon, I am convinced that I will sincerely love just about anything created by Kui. Collected in this volume are seven stories that, while unrelated, are all fantastic in nature. A couple explicitly feature dragons (as one would perhaps expect from the title) while the remaining feature mermaids, werewolves, local gods, living paintings, and a family with supernatural abilities. The stories range in tone as well, from the comedic to the dramatic (or some combination of the two), but I would describe them all as touching in their own way. Seven Little Sons of the Dragon is a delightful and highly satisfying collection of short manga showcasing some of Kui’s versatility as both an artist and a storyteller. – Ash Brown

Skip Beat!, Vol. 43 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – As suspected, Momo does NOT get the role opposite Kyoko. Fortunately, it’s because the director wants to use her in a different project. Kyoko is devastated, but has other things to worry about, like an attempt on her life. It happens so fast that I had to go back and reread to see how to got to the roof, but the whole scene is terrific. Meanwhile, the main issue with Kyoko and Ren is they’re simply not communicating well—they think that the other person knows what they mean, but it’s always at cross purposes. As a result, Ren’s in the doghouse again. But given that Skip Beat! looks like it might be trying to rival the length of Glass Mask, that’s not really a surprise. If you haven’t read the previous 42 volumes… well, don’t jump on now. But otherwise, absolutely get this. – Sean Gaffney

A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, Vol. 1 | By Makoto Hagino | VIZ Media – Konatsu Amano has just moved from Tokyo to a small seaside town and is on her way to her aunt’s house when she’s drawn to an open house at the high school she’ll be attending. The aquarium club has opened to the public, and while looking around, Konatsu meets kind Koyuki Honami, who happens to be the club’s only member. Pretty and with a reputation for being perfect, Koyuki is actually lonely, and Konatsu is able to relate to her (drawing parallels to a story from literature class along the way) and encourage her not to always pretend things are fine when they aren’t. This is a really low-key story so far, but I do really appreciate that each girl has her strengths and weaknesses and that they seem well suited to support each other. I look forward to seeing how things develop! – Michelle Smith

Let us give thanks for a hearty helping of briefs!

Beastars, Vol. 2 | By Paru Itagaki | Viz Media – If there was any doubt after reading the first volume of Beastars that I would be following the series, it has been completely banished after finishing the second. The sensitive gray wolf Legoshi continues to be a major draw for me, but so is Louis, the driven red deer who becomes an even more prominent character in the second volume (in addition to being featured on the cover). The scenes that the two share together are particularly intense, their contrasting personalities clashing and complementing each other in interesting ways. In part, using the framework of herbivore versus carnivore and the seemingly natural order of things, Beastars‘ narrative explores personal identities that challenge the expectations placed on individuals by a society that tries to neatly categorize them. But people are complicated and relationships are messy, something that Itagaki captures extremely well. Beastars is a dramatic and compelling series; I’m hooked. – Ash Brown

CITY, Vol. 6 | By Keiichi Arawi | Vertical Comics – Again, I feel that Arawi is not playing to his strengths by making this story of a city try to be as broad as possible. It’s best when there’s a through plot we can enjoy, such as seeing the restaurant owner/chef suffer from his cooking being average and his restaurant failing. There’s also some chapters that succeed by showing off amusing faces, such as the one where they try to figure out if one girl is mad or not (she’s not… at first), or trying to tell two identical twins apart when they insist on doing the exact same thing despite yelling about their differences. Unfortunately, when it’s random people doing random gags, it’s merely an average title. I’d like to be able to recall the names of anyone in this the way I can for Nichijou. – Sean Gaffney

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 7 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – This volume concentrates on fleshing out the cast and backstory, possibly at the expense of the humor—there’s been less and less each book—but it’s not unwelcome. particularly when we get Senshi’s backstory. Elsewhere, Laios may be a child of prophecy, and he and his group had better find his sister and somehow get her back or the elves will get there first and destroy the entire dungeon… which will lead to massive loss of life. That said, rest assured that there’s still some eating of delicious monsters in this book, which is one reason people started to read it. It’s just that now there’s a plot that is more important. Now that this series comes out so infrequently, each volume is even more of a treasure. – Sean Gaffney

Dr. STONE, Vol. 8 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – We’re finally leaving the village, as Senku and company decide to take the fight to Tsukasa, which involves building a car. Yes, they build a car. That said, that’s hardly the most surprising thing in this volume, as we’re reintroduced to Taiju and Yuzuriha, last seen seemingly being written out of the manga for being too boring. But now, six volumes later, they’re back, and they’re in Tsukasa’s camp. Which is good, as Chrome has been captured. There’s slightly less science and slightly more action in this volume, but that just helps remind you that this is a Jump title at heart, and it will be nice to see the original three stars back together again. Though can Taiju and Yuzuriha magically get interesting? – Sean Gaffney

Guilty, Vol. 1 | By Ai Okaue | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Sayaka and Kazu have been married for ten years, but only now has Sayaka actually told him she wants a child. Kazu does not. You’d think they’d have had this conversation over a decade ago! While he initially seems like a kind husband, readers soon learn that he is carrying on an affair with Rui, a woman who has positioned herself as Sayaka’s confidante at the bar she frequents, and is essentially keeping Sayaka trapped in a lie and denying her what she really wants. He’s utter trash, but Sayaka’s hard to sympathize with, as she is all too ready to believe his flimsy excuses. Drama involving GPS trackers, a coworker’s extramarital affair, and Sayaka’s first love ensues. I don’t really like these characters—though I have to admire how conniving Rui is—but I will probably be back for more. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 11 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The ‘serious’ plots here are Ishigami deciding to try and get serious about studies to woo the girl he likes, only to find out how hard that is when you’ve slacked off for so long, and the cliffhanger ending, where Shirogane reveals what he plans to do about college. There’s also some great stuff with Hayasaka having to once again pretend to be Kaguya’s butler in order to fool Fujiwara. But all that pales next to the extended chapters of rap battles we get which reminds you that when the series is trying to be as funny as possible there’s no equal. This was around when the anime was announced (there’s a chapter lampshading it), and I honestly can’t wait to see these chapters done. Still great. – Sean Gaffney

Melting Lover | By Bukuro Yamada | Kuma – This is a collection of BL short stories with a supernatural bent. In “Bottom of Heaven,” a reluctant hitman is followed by a hedonistic angel who helps his victims rest in peace. In “The Circus After Midnight,” troupe dancer Luce exposes his animal trainer roommate’s most closely held secret after said roommate fails to believe his father figure could be guilty of sexual assault. The best story of the bunch is “Melting Lover,” in which a typhoon carries a shapeshifting blob onto the balcony of Keisuke, who is obsessed with his (straight) senpai from high school. Does he fuck the blob? You bet he does. The worst is “Noisy Jungle,” in which an android tells himself it’s natural to boff his human pet, while clearly thinking of it as an animal. Ick. Overall, though, I liked these dark stories and would read more by this author. – Michelle Smith

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 2 | By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka | Seven Seas – There’s another prose short story at the end of this second volume, which mostly just involves Katarina dreaming she’s in another universe, based on a standard shoujo private school manga, and because it lacks the “fantasy” elements her fate is… far more tolerable? As for the main manga, Katarina’s reactions to everything are the reason to get it, as it can give us all the faces that the light novel art wasn’t able to convey. She meets Maria here, who (to no one’s surprise) falls for Katarina just as hard as everyone else has, and Katarina is just as unaware of it. Still, Maria is still being bullied, so the plot of the game is still happening. A great adaptation. – Sean Gaffney

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 6 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime (digital only) – I sometimes forget what an amazing balance Yamashita-sensei strikes between moments of romantic progress between Rihito and Mikado—like the scene where Rihito says, “I’ll help you. As long as it keeps you with me.”—and ominous reminders that Rihito has been through some terrible trauma and is a broken and dangerous person. In this volume, there are some parallels between his plight and that of Erika Hiura, who is trying to get away from the cult leader who’s compelling her to curse people. It was great seeing five to six characters in a scene together all working towards this common goal and feels like we might be heading towards a conclusion fairly soon. I hope Mikado emerges unscathed, but I do love that I am actually feeling some doubt about that. Can’t wait for the next volume! – Michelle Smith

One Piece, Vol. 92 | By Eiichiro Oda | VIZ Media – I was so worried going into this volume that Luffy was going to mess up the plans of the Wano rebels, which involve careful coordination and laying low for two weeks, neither of which he appears capable of. And, indeed, when he thinks Kaido has killed Tama, the little girl with whom he’s bonded, he picks a fight with the Emperor of the Sea. (I did appreciate seeing Luffy laid out by a single hit, though.) He ends up in a labor camp and, actually, this is for the best story-wise as it allows his more competent crewmates to help with the plan instead. It was so nice seeing Usopp distribute fliers, and Franky attempt to track down building plans for a mansion, and Robin snoop around in her geisha guise. I’ve missed those characters! This is shaping up to be a pretty fun arc! – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 43 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – I can’t recall there ever being a bad volume of Skip Beat!, but this one was exceptionally good. Kyoko has been cast as Momiji, but Moko did not get the role of Chidori, so Kyoko is worrying a lot about her (and feeling guilty). It turns out, however, that another challenging role has come Moko’s way. I very much love how these friends can talk to each other about their professional setbacks and opportunities. Meanwhile, Yashiro contrives for Ren and Kyoko to spend some time together, but it backfires when Kyoko, still beliving that Ren is in love with the horrible Morizumi, gets so overwhelmed by how he makes her feel that she gets mad. Poor baffled Ren. Still, I can’t help but feel that this is the start of some real progress for them. We shall see! – Michelle Smith

Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – This is a fun title to read, but there’s not particularly much to review here. Honda-san walks us through more problems that Japanese bookstores have, from author signings to employee turnover and reassignments, to the difference between BL manga and gay manga. We meet wholesalers, go to a drinking party, and once again deal with a wide variety of customers, including possible yakuza and those who simply buy 90 pounds of titles and can’t carry them out the door. And there’s also the fact that Honda’s manga is now out, which means trouble when one of the prior plotlines, the customer service coaching one, annoyed the bosses. Still good, but you may want to stick to the anime. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 6 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – It’s hard to top the last volume, which contains the two most famous chapters in the series to date. But this volume remains cute as a button, with an extended plotline involving a visit to a water park that shows off Nishikata’s nice side as well as his embarrassed and scheming sides, and reminds you why Takagi likes him so much. Even better is a chapter where she’s depressed (and thus not teasing him) all day, and he tries to find out why and cheer her up. Not that she’s willing to give up her place as the winner of every battle. That said, even the chapter with the eyedrops (which is another “will they try for a kiss” moment) has a tag reminding us these are still innocent middle-schoolers. Which is why this is so cute. – Sean Gaffney

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 5 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – We actually get a welcome reminder that Iris is a “reincarnated into an otome game” heroine in this volume, something that’s mostly been ignored aside from her accounting skills. But when her younger brother tries to apologize to her for what happened at school, her Japanese self wants to forgive him but the “Iris” part of her just can’t. It’s well handled. Elsewhere, Iris is going around looking into Yuri and also threats to her kingdom, and it’s starting to get her into trouble. She’s also falling for Dean, despite trying to have nothing to do with romance again. We end with a cliffhanger involving excommunication! Still a lot of fun—I’d love to read the novels. – Sean Gaffney

Anne Happy, Vol. 10 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This final volume doesn’t really “wrap up” the main plot—there is no magical anti-bad-luck MacGuffin that can fix things. We do get a very small flashback of their teacher which shows that she had perhaps worse circumstances than the rest of them, but has learned to keep happy and carry on, so to speak. Which is the moral of the series, really—smile even though life is bringing you down. Hibari is the one who needs that lesson here, as a chance at a family reunion is once again fouled up by her parents’ busy lives. That said, we do see here that luck can also be changed through determination, which is nice. And is that some slight yuri at the end? Anne Happy was never anything but fluff, but it was highly entertaining fluff. Good ending. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 10 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Well, I did it. I persevered to the end and finished Dreamin’ Sun. To the end, I never was fully convinced by the relationship between Shimana and Taiga, and that includes the big finale here, in which the gang is able to get Taiga’s dad to stop meddling in his son’s affairs—we never really get a good explanation why Taiga has remained under his thumb for so long—and thus Taiga is able to go to college (alongside Shimana) and finally pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. They also get married and I must boggle at the detail that they do so after having only kissed once, two years ago. I don’t expect realism in shoujo romance, but I guess my credulity has its limits. I did like Zen and Saeko, though. In the end, this never came close to measuring up to orange. Oh well. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 5 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Izaya is setting up his plots again here, when he’s not fighting with his sisters, but the real villains this time around are Ruri’s psycho fans, who bat Shinra bloody and also attack Anri. Fortunately, she is saved by her two best frie3nds. Unfortunately, one of them, Mikado, is revealed to now be the leader of the Blue Squares, much to Masaomi’s horror. You know all this from the light novel and the anime—once again the manga gets third place. Still, some of the fight scenes are good, and if you’re looking for a manga version of the story, this is that. Damning with faint praise. We’re still only up to book eight or so, too. You really should try the light novels, which have now finished. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya| Yen Press – The first chapter of this final volume once again irritated me for burying me in next-gen cast all at once (along with Hiro’s sister, who again is not a main character so gets to be seen). It gets better as it goes along, with a serious look at not letting your parents’ abuse become your own fault. Sawa, it turns out, is connected to the Sohmas in a far more serious way than she remembered, and one flashback scene verges on terrifying. (Shiki says “she slipped on snow,” but that’s not what we see.) Notably, the situation is not resolved—she’s still living with her mom in the end—but then, we also learn it didn’t resolve itself for the Furuba cast either—Ren is making Shiki’s life miserable, because she’s like that. As such, this justifies this spinoff’s existence—barely. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – In this final volume, we learn more about Sawa’s psychotic mother, including that she had some involvement with the Sohma family in the past. When Sawa asks about this, with much dread, Mutsuki reveals the full story and that everyone knew who she was all along. In fact, Shiki was central to this past event and, with Ren continuing her reign of terror he felt kinship with Sawa and worried about what had become of her. The Sohmas were indeed trying to help her, but they were also trying to help Shiki, too. In the end, this did come around to being genuinely compelling and I wish there were more, because as Sawa notes, she still hasn’t made it out of her horrible situation. If only we could’ve been spared one last appearance by Takei-sensei. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 5 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – The start of this book gives all the fanservice that four was missing and more, as we get naked massages before a bath. Half of this is tolerable, as Ringo tries to find it in her shy self to go on a date with Tsukasa, and we get her tragic past, which (surprise!) involves a lot of child abuse. The second half involves making more medicine since the penicillin isn’t prevalent enough—time for sulfa drugs. Sadly, there’s an evil doctor who’s in the way, so our heroin doctor, um, lobotomizes him? And this is presented as good and/or humorous? Yeah, OK, I’m out. This was a mildly entertaining take on the isekai fantasy with an entire group of OP geniuses, but what the hell? – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Several of Enjoji’s manga series are now available in English, but An Incurable Case of Love is actually the first that I’ve read. Five years ago, Nanase was inspired to go into medicine after meeting an attractive and accomplished young doctor in the hopes of meeting him again. Unsurprisingly, Tendo’s not quite the person she expected him to be when she finally gets the chance to work with him. In reality, her idealized prince has a harsh and exacting personality. Even though Nanase’s original motivation for becoming a nurse was perhaps less than pure, and while it may not be immediately obvious to some, she really does take both herself and her chosen profession seriously. Had it been otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked the manga, but the first volume is a largely enjoyable start to the series and I’m always glad to see more josei being translated. – Ash Brown

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – One of my initial exposures to Araki’s aptly named manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was actually through a tangentially-related work, Rohan at the Louvre, which features the character Rohan Kishibe, a rather intense genius manga creator. Rohan made his first appearance in Diamond Is Unbreakable, so I’ve been looking forward to his introduction since I started reading the series. His debut happens towards the end of this particular volume, following several other short story arcs including one, much to my delight, that proves any manga can indeed be a food manga. This volume has a fair amount of humor to go along with its strange brand of horror and absurd action, too. As a whole, this part of the series comes across a bit more episodic and perhaps slightly more comedic than its predecessors. I’m enjoying Diamond Is Unbreakble in all of its glorious ridiculousness a great deal. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!, Vol. 2 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – I don’t think I reviewed the first volume of this gag series spinoff to the famous shonen manga, but that’s a shame, as it’s really well handled. The gags are personality-based, and the series is not afraid to veer totally away from the source material when needed—half the sports festival is different events, and some battles that don’t lend themselves to gags are omitted. And then there’s Gran Torino, who does not live up to the adorable tsundere granddaughter teaching Izuku in his dreams. There’s a lot of great Uraraka stuff here, for her fans, and a lot of great Yaoyorozu gags as well, though her fans may be a bit annoyed at how socially inept she’s shown to be. Basically, this is hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 1 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – Given the cover art and the magazine that this ran in, I was expecting that I’d be reading about the lead couple on the cover. And I am, and they’re both cute—I like the fact that, despite having the “serious black-haired girl” personality type, Mafuyu is the only one whose grades are bad. But I’m actually more drawn to the other couple, Nana and Minori, best friends to main girl Koharu, who live in an apartment together to attend school and behave exactly like a married couple without actually being one. How yuri this will get is still unknown—so far we’re still at “I may like her”—but if you like your slice-of-life high school with a dash of sweet and cute, this will put a smile on your face. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 6 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Manga – I really loved how this volume of Shortcake Cake portrays Ten’s reaction to Chiaki’s surprising confession. She tries to let him down gently, and is upset about hurting her friend and conscientious about not leading him on. It’s not played for the drama of a love triangle—it’s just sad. And yet, she still does like Riku very much and wants to let him know that her feelings have changed, but now the Chiaki situation has made everything more complicated. Some really cute scenes ensue, but actually most of the volume takes place in Ten’s head as she worries and overthinks everything. We’re halfway through the series at this point and, though it seems like she and Riku will officially get together in the next volume, that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong somehow. Man, I love Margaret shoujo. – Michelle Smith

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – The second volume of Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san is much like the first, with Honda covering more aspects of the bookselling business, including the talented distribution chief with a knack for anticipating what will sell, dealing with “harmful publications,” wholesalers who never supply as many copies as are requested, the difficulty in promoting books that are receiving high-profile adaptations (particularly when bonus items feature popular idols), and dealing with a customer who happens to be a yakuza. It’s pleasant, but I was kind of bummed to learn that after Honda published the chapter about customer service training, she got in some trouble with her bosses and now has to get their approval for everything she writes and worries about being fired. That’s a shame. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this series was going to end with the next volume. The reason for that is a very surprise mutual confession between our two leads, something which I was not expecting to happen for at least a dozen more volumes. It is really well handled, though, and shows that these two shoujo protagonists are actually smart enough to pick up on signals. We also get some backstory for one of Zen’s two guards, Mitsuhide, who is asked by Zen’s older brother to watch over him and therefore must gain the trust of someone who doesn’t trust very easily—and even when he does, he seems to be betrayed. Zen and Shirayuki are very good for each other, and I’m excited to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | VIZ Media – This volume almost feels like a final volume, what with Zen and Shirayuki affirming their feelings for one another and their determination to stay by the other’s side, come what may. The final page seems to suggest a happy ending. Except this is volume four and there are 21 volumes so far. Maybe this was the point where the series changed magazines? In any case, it’s a very nice volume, with Shirayuki showing her willingness to act in Zen’s stead when his station prevents him from doing so—and giving us a glimpse of the upbringing that led to her always trying hard and being independent—as well as a revealing flashback to six years ago when Zen’s friend betrayed him but he found a new person to trust in Mitsuhide. I really enjoy this series! – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – There’s some gorgeous art here, which is good as it may take the mind away from the fact that this is really drawn out for a finale. The basic premise—send Asahi back and the water dragon dies—is obvious, despite Asahi’s protests, and you get the sense that the other gods will eventually do something about it, but it does take forever to happen, with lots of longing pages with no dialogue. Also, how does Asahi return to her normal life so quickly? Still, it’s a happy ending, and the last two pages of the “afterword” 4-kon section make up for it with a hysterical deconstruction of why the Water Dragon won the romance war and Subaru did not. Despite not quite sticking the landing, this was a very good series. – Sean Gaffney

Atsumori-kun’s Bride-to-Be, Vol. 3 | By Taamo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This continues to be a really cute, almost retro-feeling shoujo series. Atsumori and Nishiki are now officially dating, but he has stopped short of saying he loves her because he doesn’t know what that feels like. Meanwhile, she has come to understand how lonely he has been and how his future has been mapped out by his rich family. Basically, in this volume, they hang out at various times with her friends from her hometown. That’s it and yet, it’s wonderful! I love how honest Atsumori and Nishiki are with each other, I love how willing he is to try new things for her sake. And I love how he realizes that he does actually love her after all. Even a small detour into the cliché of “romantic rival who vows to take her away” can’t dispel my affections. Too bad we’re all caught up with Japan now. – Michelle Smith

Become You, Vol. 1 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – The brand new series from this creator (so new this is the only volume out in Japan as well) does not involve romantic pairings, at last not yet, though certainly there’s more going on with the childhood friend than she’s willing to reveal. Instead we have the story of two high school boys whose personalities are dissimilar and the way that they slowly bond through music. Very slowly—this takes a while to get going, and you can see why Hikari keeps brushing Taiyou off. The best part of the volume is Taiyou’s description of his tragic art past, featuring another dream-crushing teacher, which Japan seems to have in abundance. Again, this isn’t as grabbing as orange to me, but it’s still a very good start. – Sean Gaffney

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Vol. 1 | By Gou Tanabe | Dark Horse – Having greatly enjoyed Tanabe’s collection of short Lovecraftian manga adaptations The Hound and Other Stories, I was glad to see Dark Horse license more of Tanabe’s work. This time it’s a four-volume series adapting another story by Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness, about a scientific expedition to Antarctica that goes terribly, terribly wrong. I haven’t actually read Lovecraft’s novella, so I can’t compare Tanabe’s version to the original. However, I can say that so far the manga adaptation is immensely engrossing and that I look forward to the release of the remaining volumes. Tanabe does rely very heavily on wordless panels depicting the explorer’s faces as they look on in astonishment or horror, so the illustrations end up being a bit repetitive as a result. But at the same time this effectively tempers the pacing of the narrative, allowing the increasing sense of dread to slowly build. – Ash Brown

Hitorijime My Hero, Vol. 5 | By Memeco Arii | Kodansha Comics – I liked the first half of this volume quite a lot. Kousuke has a compulsion to play the hero, and he’s struggling to come to grips with the fact that Masahiro’s home life is a problem that cannot be solved by his intervention. I appreciate that Arii-sensei is acknowledging how Masahiro’s situation affects him, and how valuable it is for him to have someone like Kousuke to talk to about this stuff. They’re saving each other, in a way. All that was very nice, but then we segue into a plotline about how Hasegawa is frustrated by Kensuke’s disinterest in sex, culminating in a cliffhanger where it seems like he’s coming on to Masahiro. I could really do without all of this, especially as I predict misunderstandings will ensue. I have very little patience for that sort of thing. Still, I will keep reading. – Michelle Smith

In/Spectre, Vol. 10 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – I was amused at the general thrust of the first half of the book being about how horrible Kotoko is, if only as she’s pretty much the main reason people are fans of this series… including me. She’s still in the mystery club, giving realistic explanations for events even if they may be supernatural after all—this needs to continue to be a casual club. Then we get a story about a dying old man who wants Kotoko to force his kids to realize that he murdered their mother… even if in reality he hired a fox demon to do it. And Rikka is on the cover, but doesn’t do much except have phenomenal luck and hate Kotoko. Still a very well-written series. Oh, and Kotoko’s underwear is paisley. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 21 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The first half of this continues the Endeavor plotline, and also shows off Hawks, who gets to be an apparent triple agent. The best part of it, and one of the best moments in the entire series, is Todoroki’s reaction to his father’s massive facial scarring after the incident. Best noodle slurp ever. The second half has 1-A taking on 1-B in four-on-four battles, with Shinso being a fifth on both squads, one for A and one for B. If this leads to Shinso replacing Mineta, like he does in most fanfics, I’m all for it. In the meantime, 1-A wins the first battle, and the second is neck and neck, with Momo trying to show off her smarts. Will she pull it off? We’ll see next book, which is guaranteed not to be controversial at all. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 7 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – Kou’s in Paris, and her new boss is overly friendly in that French sort of way. Meanwhile, Rin is back home reading romance novels and literally imagining her and Kou as the couple. Oh yes, and the volume ends with a romantic dinner in an expensive restaurant when Rin comes to France to visit. All it lacks is “and then they went back to Rin’s hotel and made love the rest of the night.” As for the rest of the cast, it’s back to games, though this may be difficult for some—Aoba gets a bad cold, putting her in bed for a few days, and Narumi has to convince her traditional innkeeping parents that she’s not going to follow in their footsteps. Now that Sunshine Sketch has slowed to a crawl, this is a good replacement for it. – Sean Gaffney

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 7 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – Somehow I missed reviewing the sixth book, and may have missed reading it as well. In any case, things aren’t going well for our lead couple, which is suffering from the usual miscommunication drama that infects shoujo series like this. Indeed, it infects the rest of the cast as well, and so we have Kou’s brother getting in trouble for seemingly having an affair… with Futaba. It’s not what it seems. But it does inspire Shuko, who was terrified about what would happen to her crush, to confess to him. Fortunately, he’s a good teacher, so rejects her. We’re also getting some setup for a beta couple, which I think I would enjoy more if it wasn’t so obvious. This was a good volume, but I’ve grown to expect great from this series, and it wasn’t that. – Sean Gaffney

Cats of the Louvre | By Taiyo Matsumoto | Viz Media – I expected it would only be a matter of time before Cats of the Louvre was licensed, but I was initially a little surprised that Viz was the company bringing it over—up until this point, every volume of the “Louvre Collection” (including Hirohiko Araki’s Rohan at the Louvre and Jiro Taniguchi’s Guardians of the Louvre) has been released by NBM Publishing. But, on the other hand, Viz has been Matsumoto’s primary publisher in English. Viz has done a beautiful job with the release if Cats of the Louvre, combining both volumes of the Japanese edition into a single, hardcover omnibus. In part, the narrative follows a declining colony of cats that lives in the hidden corners of the Louvre and the humans that come into contact with it. Both Matsumoto’s storytelling and artwork are atmospheric, magical, and melancholic. But while there’s some darkness to the work, there’s also hope. – Ash Brown

Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods, Vol. 7 | By Takuto Kashiki | Yen Press – I think we’ve now caught up with Japan, so expect more of a gap before the next volume of this. Till then, we see our not-a-couple couple use bird mail delivery, get taken advantage of by local doctors, have troublesome friends over for the night, wait in a very long line for food that may not live up to the line, etc. Easily the best chapter is also the most serious, as an old mentor of Hakumei’s dies and sends her a final sake bottle, which she and Mikochi wander all over to try to drink quietly before Mikochi finally moves on so Hakumei can grieve a bit. This is always going to be the sort of series where “we couldn’t buy the cups” is gripping drama, but that’s why it has its fans. – Sean Gaffney

Himouto! Umaru-chan, Vol. 7 | By Sankakuhead | Seven Seas – Is this the end of the superdeformed Umaru? Well, no, but it makes for a nice change of pace, as Umaru realizes that she’s been hanging out with friends normally for a while, and wonders if she can admit to them her big secrets—both her slothful little self, and also her masked gamer. The message turns out to be “don’t rush growing up,” which is a bit disappointing but not surprising given this has like five more volumes to go. We also see the “rival” girl again, and she turns out to also be connected to this extended family in an oblique way. Unfortunately, emphasizing the similarities between her and Umaru works a bit TOO well—sometimes I can’t tell them apart. This is the definition of moe cuteness. – Sean Gaffney

Magus of the Library, Vol. 2 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – The main selling point for this series is present and correct—it is gorgeous, and rivals Witch Hat Atelier for the prettiest manga in Kodansha’s stable right now. The main plot involves a somewhat older Theo setting out to take the Kafna test, despite the fact that it’s a job, much like “librarian” is here, seen as being for women. He’s joined by a young woman who seems to tick off every single box in the “easily flustered love interest” box, to the point where I actually found her a bit annoying. The series sure does love its books, though, and also loves its grueling three-day-long test, which is known to break many of its participants. Can Theo pass? If you guessed “I bet we find out in Book Three,” you’re right. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 6 | By Hideyuki Furuhashi, Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – With the departure of Master, Vigilantes seems to be settling in for the long haul. Koichi discovers two new applications for his powers, which leads him to engage villains in ways he really shouldn’t, though this comes in handy when he helps Aizawa take on another enhanced Trigger user. In fact, there is lots of Aizawa in action, which I appreciate, as well as an example of how effectively Midnight’s powers work in the field when she goes undercover to figure out who is dosing young men with the drug. Meanwhile, there’s a mysterious speedster lurking about who easily dispatches the villain that Aizawa and Koichi struggled with. This prequel really seems to be coming into its own and I find myself increasingly captivated by it! – Michelle Smith

Mythical Beast Investigator, Vol. 2 | By Keishi Ayasato and Koichiro Hoshino | Seven Seas – Last time I called this very readable but extremely forgettable. The two qualities invert in this second and final volume, as the “twist” that happens halfway through the book is rather startling, but I don’t really like the way that it’s handled, which seems confusing and probably reads better in the novel this is based on. The focus, appropriately, changes over to Kushuna, the grumpy rabbit demon accompanying Ferry on her journeys, and we see how they originally met and how he was won over to her side. But… ergh, I don’t want to spoil the twist, but let’s just say I disliked it and leave it at that. On the bright side, I’m very glad the series ends with the second volume. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 9 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – The bulk of this volume is given over to the demon castle’s Summer Festival, which naturally Syalis is SUPER EXCITED for, despite meaning that outsiders might actually notice she has the run of the place. With that in mind, she does a café (well, haunted house was taken) which features her, as a hostage in big fake handcuffs, begging for food. It’s brilliant and also hilarious. We get a beauty pageant, which Syalis manages to lose despite seemingly being a shoo-in, as well as the final bonfire, which she sleeps through, much to her horror. The rest of the book is just as funny, and while the gags aren’t original they arrive with precision timing. This remains a fantastic comedy manga. – Sean Gaffney

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 3 | By Okura and Coma Hashii | VIZ Media – I reckon some people are going to be disappointed by the ending of That Blue Sky Feeling, in that Noshiro and Sanada are not yet formally dating, but if one looks only at the change in Sanada, then it’s a satisfying ending indeed. Probably because of his experience being accepted by Noshiro, when Sanada’s long-time friend Ayumi asks whether he likes boys, he tells her the truth. And when Noshiro starts going out with a girl, it’s Ayumi who knocks some sense into Sanada, telling him that his feelings do matter in this situation. After Noshiro ditches his date to hear what Sanada has to say, it’s confession time and it looks like the feelings may be mutual. But what really stands out to me is Sanada’s face there at the ending—happy and at peace. His love was not rejected! I hope we get more Okura in the future. – Michelle Smith

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 5 | By Fumita Yanagida | Seven Seas – Beta couple Carol and Misaki get the main focus in this book, though they aren’t actually a couple. Carol seems to be waiting for Misaki to take the lead, and he just isn’t doing that—though seeing her and Misuzu threatened by some punks turns on his inner rage, as the cover art shows. As for Carol, once she finds that Misaki is trying to get stronger by spending time with Tomo at her father’s dojo, Carol suddenly finds herself jealous—and decides to do something about it by seemingly seducing Jun. Of course, she’s not really doing this, but it does serve to show off Jun’s paralyzing fear of intimacy, and also possibly the sexiest “rawr!” in all of manga ever. I love this series. – Sean Gaffney

The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – After a wizard named Wizdom bestowed the shape and intellect of humans upon beasts, the demi-human tribes built a grand academy. The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms is a collection of BL short stories set at that school. I must say… as a major fan of Nagabe’s The Girl from the Other Side, I thought I’d like this more. Some stories are charming, like “Mauchly & Charles,” in which a human is clearly in love with his bear friend, but others are darker, like “Doug & Huey,” in which a crow sabotages his peacock pal’s efforts to find a girlfriend so that he can remain closest to him, or “Alan & Eddington,” in which the latter brews a love potion intending to make out with the former and leave him with no memory of their encounter. I was expecting more whimsy, I think. – Michelle Smith

Bakemonogatari, Vol. 1 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Vertical Comics – For years there wasn’t a Bakemonogatari manga. It’s not clear why; perhaps Nisioisin didn’t like the format, perhaps the iconic SHAFT anime made it a hard act to follow. In any case, getting Oh!great to draw the story was an inspired choice—the ridiculous over-the-topness that grew tiresome in Air Gear and Tenjho Tenge fits in perfectly with Araragi’s fevered fantasies and Senjogahara’s verbal lacerations. This first volume takes us almost to the end of Hitagi Crab—indeed, it cuts off right near the end, awkwardly so. Still, for anyone who gets overwhelmed by the novel’s verbiage, this is a great purchase. There’s even a bit of added content, though only a bit. – Sean Gaffney

If I Could Reach You, Vol. 1 | By tMnR | Kodansha Comics – Teenage love can be dumb, but not always. Sometimes people are well aware that the feelings they have are never going to be requited, but that does not actually stop the feelings from being there anyway. It’s especially troubling for Uta, the girl that she’s fallen for and her childhood friend. Unfortunately, her brother was also Kaoru’s childhood friend, and they’re now married. Uta is living there due to circumstances, and must continue going to school and living her life while falling deeper and deeper into her passions. I must admit I found her school life a bit more interesting than the home life. Still, this manages to be a potboiler but not in a Citrus way, which is good. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 3 | By Tomohito Oda | VIZ Media – After a second volume where I had to make it a full review so I could rant, this one settles down quite a bit. Yamai is still around but far less, and the emphasis is firmly on Komi trying to make progress. She does—in fact, her goal of “100 friends” is up to eleven by the end. We also get a better idea of her home life, and it turns out that both Komi and her brother take after their father, while the mother is a total chatterbox. As with the first two books, the best moments in the volume are more heartwarming than funny. Komi at the pool, where her accidental trip and fall means she has to sit by the side, leading to her castigating herself till Tadano steps in. There’s also a lovely festival at the end. Cute as heck. – Sean Gaffney

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, Vol. 1 | By Naru Narumi | Dark Horse – The back cover promises “a fun food manga that will show you around the authentic ramen culture of everyday Japan,” and on that, Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles delivers. I doubt I’ll be able to retain any of the information imparted, but it was interesting, all the same. Ramen-obsessed Koizumi is fine, but I’m less fond of Yu Osawa, the girl who’s desperate to become friends with Koizumi. Watching her friends become friendly with Koizumi—by demonstrating an affinity for ramen rather than interest in her—eventually drives Yu to the point of flailing on the ground and crying, “Why won’t you be friendly with meeeee?” It’s very unappealing. She does start to win Koizumi over by the end of the volume, though, which I guess is good for her. I’m not sure I’ll be back for volume two. Maybe. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: School Briefs, Vol. 3 | By Kohei Horikoshi and Anri Yoshi | VIZ Media – Set just before and after the U.A. students have moved into the dorms, the third volume of My Hero Academia: School Briefs has a recurring motif wherein Hatsume Mei’s inventions cause trouble, including a fun chapter where the kids, on edge from telling ghost stories in Tokoyami’s room, hear a strange buzzing sound that Aizawa begrudgingly comes to investigate. My favorite stories, though, are the a-day-in-the-life entries told from the points of view of Ida (who worries he has ostracized his classmates by being too strict) and Kuwai (Koji’s pet bunny, whose inner narrative turns out to be surprisingly and delightfully erudite). I especially liked that both stories showed Bakugo in a good light, including a moment in Ida’s story where Bakugo prevents a surprise from being spoiled and one in Kuwai’s where he checks on the bunny to make sure it’s okay after it briefly escaped Koji’s room. I’m really glad we’re getting these stories! – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 6 | By Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court | VIZ Media – This takes place a number of yeas before the main series, so we can’t really get cameos from 1-A. But we can see the teachers, some of whom aren’t teaching yet. This volume gives us a lot of Eraser, who ends up dealing with Koichi against his better judgment. Meanwhile, Koichi is doing the sort of quirk experimentation that 1-A requires in its students, and finds new uses for his quirk. This really does have in its background plot the idea that someone who fails (or in this case misses) an exam is not a terrible person, but society may treat them that way. And, yes, there’s still quirk drugs going around, this time lading to infiltrating a mixer, with the help of Midnight. Good times. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 23 | By Yuki Midorikawa | VIZ Media – It looks as if this is now a yearly series, but that makes each new volume a rewarding experience. This one has two main storylines. In the first, the boys of Natsume’s class get involved in a school’s urban legend about a painting, which may or nay not be supernatural in origin. Then, Natsume and Natori end up visiting a seemingly abandoned house that in reality is being maintained by Matoba and his people, and requires a certain ritual to go well. That said, nothing goes perfectly with Natsume around. Again, the big reason to read this is the natural empathy Natsume has to nearly everyone around him. He is absolutely a good boy—a cinnamon roll, in fact. – Sean Gaffney

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, Vol. 4 | By Natsuya Semikawa and Virginia Nitouhei | Udon Entertainment – I like the way that the semi-regular cast show up over and over, sometimes because they’re plot-relevant, and sometimes just to eat more of their favorite food. One of our lothario knights ends up having a food discussion with a woman who is clearly a noble, only he doesn’t really get this. A lady knight shows up looking for the enemy that she fell in love with years ago… only to find the waitress of the izakaya (the blonde, not Shinobu or the little girl) is his wife. Meanwhile, Nobuyuki may be getting closer to Shinobu, but it’s pretty clear food is more important to both of them. Still makes me hungry, but good stuff. – Sean Gaffney

The Poe Clan, Vol. 1 | By Moto Hagio | Fantagraphics – It’s always cause for celebration when more of Hagio’s work is released in translation, doubly so when that work is the highly influential shoujo classic The Poe Clan. Originally published in the 1970s, the series’ focus is on a family of vampirnellas and their interactions with humans, particularly how they prey upon them to sustain their own lives or to initiate them as members into their immortal clan. The first English-language volume from Fantagraphics, released as a beautiful hardcover omnibus, collects six chapters of Hagio’s epic. Though the chapters are all related to one another, the story isn’t presented chronologically and instead shifts between time periods as well as characters. But tying everything together is the presence and spectre of Edgar—a young man whose mortal and immortal life are both tragic. Delectably dark and dramatic, I’m looking forward to the final volume of The Poe Clan a great deal. – Ash Brown

Sacrifical Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 7 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – Sariphi is making friends and influencing people, but her royal fiancé is never far away. She needs to show that she can handle things on her own, so is sent to a nation to essentially bring greetings from the King. Things get complicated, though, because her bodyguard accompanying her is a hyena, and they’re treated as untrustworthy and evil. It doesn’t help that, in order to make himself look good, he deliberately puts her in danger so that he can save the day. But of course Sariphi can see the good within him. She may need to double down on that, though, as the cliffhanger implies he’s about to be framed. An underrated shoujo series. – Sean Gaffney