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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Features & Reviews

In Another World with My Smartphone, Vol. 17

November 9, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Patora Fuyuhara and Eiji Usatsuka. Released in Japan as “Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

As with so many prior volumes of Smartphone, the lighter and fluffier the series gets the better it is. As such, let’s start with the less light and fluffy stuff, which is mostly towards the end. Touya and company get themselves involved in a murder mystery in another country, one that is – as with many countries we’ve seen in this series – having a succession crisis. Unfortunately, they’re being manipulated on both sides by what’s left of Yulong, the country taken out mostly by the Phrase in a previous volume. They say Touya did it, which he denies. This is true, but perhaps acting like a smug asshole and killing off the royal family part might be some of the reason. But this is Smartphone World, meaning that the bad guys are all REALLY REALLY EVIL, so it’s OK. This was my least favorite part of the book, mostly as Touya, who is passive at the best of times, is really unlikable as a passive killer.

The best section of the book is, without a doubt, the Mario Kart race. Now, names have been changed to protect the guilt,y but that’s essentially what we have here. Touya is asked to hook up the nerdy engineer price we saw in a previous book with another princess, who also turns out to be a nerdy engineer. They love the sweet cars – erm, Ether Vehicles – but disagree as to exactly how they should be modded, and so get really angry at each other. Clearly a race is the answer, and with a course designed by the Mad Scientists of the book, it’s gonna be Mario Kart. The main reason this is so fun is that Touya spends most of the race grumbling and not doing well, and then is the first one eliminated. Given that Touya is the standard perfect hero who an do anything (and is a literal God by now), this pleased me. Also, the couple bond over their cars and fall in love. Aww.

In between we have the rest of the book. Another country is wiped out by the Phrase, but this time in the reverse world. What’s more, the Red Cats base is destroyed, so now they’re in Touya’s universe. Which is going to be irrelevant soon, as the next book promises to have the two universes merge for good. Oh yes, and Touya also helps save a mom ‘n daughter diner from the forces of eeeeeeeevil (another typically broad villain from a series that can only write broad villains) and gives his spy/sex worker friend a magical panther to be her bodyguard. The other notable part of the book is Ende, who was introduced as the enigmatic know-it-all who gave Touya important info, and has somehow become comic relief, abused by his love interest and his teacher. How the mighty have fallen.

Should you read this volume of Smartphone? Well, if you’ve read the others, sure. It’s not a good jumping off point if you want to stop, and certainly has a good cliffhanger. I’d read it for the go-kart race.

Filed Under: in another world with my smartphone, REVIEWS

Skip Beat 43

November 8, 2019 by Anna N

Skip Beat! Volume 43 by Yoshiki Nakamura

It says something about the enduring appeal of Skip Beat! that even though I have stacks of shoujo to read, whenever a new volume comes out it is my immediate priority. Kyoko has fought through an intense audition process to win the role of Momiji, but as usual in Skip Beat! this means that the drama is just beginning.

Skip Beat

Part of what made the most recent round of auditions so intense is that Kyoko and Moko had the possibility of working together. When Kyoko finds out that Moko isn’t cast, she has a torrent of emotions and anxiety about how her best friend might be feeling. It turns out that the producer has Moko in mind for a role in another project, and things get smoothed over. Kimiko does not accept losing the role of Momiji so gracefully, as she attempts to drug Kyoko and fling her off the roof of a building, only to be foiled by Erika putting a plan in motion to expose Kimiko’s insanity. This all seems like enough soap opera shenanigans for one volume of manga, but the story continues to unfold with Kyoko and Ren continuing to misunderstand each other, even though they’ve been able to acknowledge their feelings internally.

Kyoko’s quirkiness as a heroine is perfectly summed up when she calmly assesses her danger by concluding that she didn’t know how high up she was, and she probably would only have broken a couple of bones. There’s also a hilarious panel where Kyoko senses that Ren is looking at her and from her perspective his stare turns into the predatory glare of a snake, only for her to turn to look at him and be confronted by his usual pleasant expression. A innocuous picnic with a bento that Kyoko makes ends up turning into a prompt for some intense internal thoughts about budding romantic feelings. With the forced proximity element of Yashiro serving as manager to both Kyoko and Ren, I’m hoping that this story arc might move things forward a little bit. Then again, we are a good 43 volumes in to Skip Beat! and I’m entertained no matter what happens.

Filed Under: Manga Reviews, REVIEWS Tagged With: shojo beat, shoujo, Skip Beat!, viz media

Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World, Vol. 1

November 8, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Asaya Miyanaga. Released in Japan as “Nicola no Oyururi Makai Kikou” by Enterbrain, serialization ongoing in the magazine Harta. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Christine Dashiell. Adapted by Rebecca Schneidereit.

The title and cover art alone tell you that this is another in what is fast becoming a genre of “innocent young girl walks around a fantasy world with her supernatural friend who is usually caustic and/or sarcastic”, and that is indeed what it is. That said, it managed to surprise me in several ways. The girl in Nicola, a human who has made it into the world of demons, where she is frequently unwelcome. Her guide around the world is Simon, who has a very nice hat and is also frequently exhausted by Nicola’s exuberance and lack of filter. Together they two of them negotiate an underworld bazaar, have some tasty demon food, meet new friends, find rare mushrooms, stay at haunted hotels, and get a bit too involved in a magic tournament. As events go on, Simon learns that Nicola may be far more than just an innocent human girl…

The first thing I wanted to point out is the art. Given that it’s in the same magazine as A Bride’s Story, Delicious in Dungeon, and Hakumei and Mikochi, there’s a high bar to clear, but Nicola sails over it with a compelling artstyle all its own. It feels as if the entire manga is pencilled, and the character design feels more like it came from a Charles Addams or Edward Gorey cartoon than a Japanese manga. There aren’t any “stunning art two-page spread” designs, the art is simpoly quietly excellent, prepared to show off the supernatural wonder when need be. The demons also have a wide variety of designs and types, and avoid falling into the standard fantasy tropes and/or yokai tropes that we’ve seen a lot of lately.

That said, the most interesting thing about the title may be Nicola herself. As the volume goes on, and the artist begins to see where to take the series, Nicola slowly goes from a Yotsuba-esque little girl to someone far more savvy. The second story has her chiding Simon for describing all the demons he points out to her in stereotypes, and then shattering each of those stereotypes in turn – including the one he uses for himself! Her backstory is merely hinted at, showing that she lived with a witch before coming to the demons’ world, which allows her to use some magic – she can conjure up flowers, and attempts to be able to use a light spell like the young demon girl she befriends. It’s clear that she has a lot of innate magical talent, she just hasn’t activated it yet. But honestly, even more than Nicola’s magic potential, it’s Nicola’s empathy that drives the series, and makes each chapter a delight to read. Simon is mostly there to play minder and make sure things don’t get TOO sweet. He succeeds admirably.

This may be a growing genre, but I don’t think we’re glutted on it quite yet, and Nicola is an excellent example. If you like clever and energetic young girls and fantasy landscapes, along with a unique artstyle, this is a definite pickup.

Filed Under: nicola traveling around the demons' world, REVIEWS

Manga the Week of 11/13/19

November 7, 2019 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Ash Brown, M.J. Beasi and Anna N Leave a Comment

SEAN: The manga never stops.

Cross Infinite World has a new title out next week. Of Dragons and Fae: Is a Fairy Tale Ending Possible for the Princess’s Hairstylist? (Kamiyuishi wa Ryuu no Tsugai ni Narimashita (Yappari Machigai Datta Sou Desu)) is a fantasy romance, showing if nothing else that female-oriented titles can have names just as long as the male-oriented ones.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us the 10th Blade of the Immortal omnibus.

ASH: I’ve got my (out-of-print) single volumes, but the omnibus edition is a great way for people who don’t to collect the series.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a manga debut next week: The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, based off the light novel series, also out by J-Novel Club.

There’s also a bunch of light novels. Arifureta Zero 3, Ascendance of a Bookworm 4, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 3, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 14+ (note the odd numbering), and Infinite Stratos 10.

Kodansha… does not seem to have a digital debut? Is that possible? They do have 1122: For a Happy Marriage 2, Farewell My Dear Cramer 4, Giant Killing 17, My Boyfriend in Orange 8, Queen Bee 3, Ran the Peerless Beauty 6, Tokyo Revengers 13, and You Got Me Sempai! 7. Yay, Ran!

MICHELLE: I am very excited about more Ran and also more Giant Killing!

SEAN: Lest you forget they do print, there is also Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 6 and Witch Hat Atelier 4. Go get that second one, it’s a must-have.

ASH: It is truly lovely.

ANNA: I adore Witch Hat Atelier.

SEAN: One Peace debuts the manga version of The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

There’s some stuff from Seven Seas. Debuting we see Our Wonderful Days (Tsurezure Biyori), which seems to be Comic Yuri Hime’s “cute girls doing cute things” series, only because it’s Yuri Hime, they’re allowed to be more explicit about the yuri? In any case, looks very cute.

We also get Arpeggio of Blue Steel 15, Classmates 3, the 8th Make My Abilities Average! digitally, Freezing 25-26, Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 8, and a double dose of Skeleton Knight in Another World: the 2nd manga and the 4th novel digitally.

Sol Press announced a surprise license: Chivalry of a Failed Knight, a very popular “magical academy” series that got an anime and also gets compared a lot to Asterisk War. Its first three volumes are out in a bunch next week, both in print and digitally.

SuBLime has the 8th Blue Morning, and also debuts Yarichin Bitch Club, about a very special photography club, which runs in Gentosha’s Rutile. Seems to be comedic.

MICHELLE: I have really enjoyed Blue Morning. This looks to be its final volume, too!

ASH: The eighth volume is also the final volume of Blue Morning. I’m a few volumes behind in my reading, but I’ve really been enjoying the series.

SEAN: Vertical has a 4th Kino’s Journey.

MELINDA: I’m behind on the manga adaptation of Kino’s Journey, but as a big fan of both the source material and the anime adaptations, I have to say, “Yay!”

SEAN: Viz has Dragon Ball: A Visual History, which seems to be an artbook as well as Transformers: A Visual History, which is probably the same.

They also debut A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow (Nettaigyo wa Yuki ni Kogareru), a Dengeki Maoh title that’s two high school girls who become friends… and maybe something more? Lotsa yuri this week.

MICHELLE: I’m super looking forward to this one! The covers are promising, at any rate.

ASH: I feel very much the same!

MELINDA: Sounds great!

SEAN: There’s also the 7th Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition, Radiant 8, Record of Grancest War 5, and Rin-Ne 31, but most importantly Requiem of the Rose King 11.

ASH: That is important!

MELINDA: Okay, I have to give at least a small shout-out to anyone who is getting to read Fullmetal Alchemist for the first time with these new editions. But also, REQUIEM OF THE ROSE KING ALWAYS AND FOREVER.

ANNA: Indeed.

SEAN: Yen Press has oodles of titles, some of which are ending and one of which is beginning. Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! is a comedic 4-koma series based on the Overlord LNs.

Ending this week are Anne Happy with its 10th book, Fruits Basket Another with its 3rd, Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl (also 10), and Sekirei (also 10, albeit the 10th omnibus).

NOT ending or beginning but just ongoing are Angels of Death 8, Chio’s School Road 6, Delicious in Dungeon 7, DanMachi: Sword Oratoria’s 9th manga volume, Hatsu*Haru 9, Murcielago 12, Nyankees 4, Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san 2, and Star Wars: Lost Wars 3.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Honda-san!

ASH: Me, too! And I’ll definitely be picking up Delicious in Dungeon, as well.

MELINDA: Chiming in for Honda-san as well!

SEAN: Oof. Stuff. What are you getting?

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 1

November 7, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Toshio Satou and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shonen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

First things first, this was hilarious. And, unlike some other books I’ve reviweed recently, I mean that in a good way. Last Dungeon Kid is funny in a KonoSuba/Cautious Hero sort of way, with clueless leads, over the top heroines, fourth-wall breaking narration, and “anyone can be the straight man” style humor. Well, anyone except Lloyd, our hero. As the title implies, in the village he grew up in, he’s a weak little kid everyone pities. But the village he grew up in is a legendary village where everything is a next-level monster and the townspeople are all at Level 99. So when he decides to go to the big city, everyone thinks he’s doomed, except the village chief (who has ulterior motives herself). But the city he goes to is not nearly as dangerous or terrifying as his own village… so he’s suddenly stupidly overpowered. If only he realized this.

The humor in this book strikes a nice balance, never settling on being one specific thing, except of course for the premise of “Lloyd thinks he’s a weak wussy kid but is actually stupidly strong”. Six-foot-tall locusts are just ‘pesky bugs’ to him. His strength with a sword annihilates the practice target when he applies to be a soldier. His magic uses ancient runes no one has seen in a thousand years. Major plot points in the book are resolved offscreen by Lloyd simply saying “oh, by the way…” He’s a hoot. He’s also cute, sweet, and can cook and clean just like the perfect wife. Now, this is the first of (so far) eight books, so the reader will have to be aware going into the series that Lloyd is not going to “wise up” anytime soon, as that would defeat the premise. He’s always going to misunderstand. If he keeps up like he does in Book 1, that should be fine.

The rest of the cast are mostly the girls who fall in love with him. I wasn’t impressed with the village chief, but that’s mostly as I don’t like her “type”. We meet a young witch who holes up in a small house in the poor end of town, who turns out to be far more than she seems. She functions as the straight man half the time. The other half is taken up by (I swear I’m not making this up) Riho Flavin, a mercenary who will do anything for money and has a robot arm made of mithril. Yes, despite that description, she’s the normal one of the group, mostly thanks to Selen, a girl who grew up with a cursed leather mask on her face, something almost instantly undone by Lloyd. She proceeds to fall in love with him HARD. I dislike using the term yandere, as it’s frequently applied wrong, but… yeah, that’s what we have here. (Also, the illustrations of her choose to ignore the author’s description so that she can be “really pretty and cute” instead. Shame.)

This book was fun, and looks like the sort of thing that you can easily make a series out of. If you enjoy silly light novels that mock the usual tropes, it’s an absolute winner.

Filed Under: REVIEWS, suppose a kid from the last dungeon boonies moved to a starter town

Full Metal Panic!: Ending Day by Day, Part 1

November 5, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Shouji Gatou and Shikidouji. Released in Japan by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

Welp, it’s another of those “I tried to make it fit into one book but it got away from me so have a two-parter” books, meaning this volume is VERY short by modern light novel standards. That’s not to say that there is not a lot going on in it, however. The title implies the end of the status quo, and that’s not a lie. After a first half that’s mostly action sequence, Sousuke is told that he’s being pulled off of Kaname bodyguard duty and sent back to finally figure out how to bond with the Arbalest that he’s been not-so-secretly grumbling about. This upsets Sousuke, who takes it out on Tessa, who in turn takes out her own spurned love on him. And in the meantime poor Kaname is left baffled and afraid. But really, this is Sousuke’s book, as he’s forced to confront a question that he’d never really thought of before now: what does he want to do with his life? As a child soldier who can die anytime, this never came up. It does now.

Sousuke and Kaname spend almost the entire book apart, but it’s telling that two of the best scenes involve the two of them. The first is hilarious, as Kaname, back at school, is on the phone with Sousuke trying to see how he’s doing, and Sousuke (in an overloaded car running from the Sicilian mob, which I suspect is a Lupin III homage) is answering as best he can whi8le avoiding explosions. The second is sweeter, where, after a disastrous attempt at getting a haircut at a salon goes south, Kaname offers to cut Sousuke’s hair. This shows off how much he trusts her now, and is really sweet, but also leads to darker things. Kaname has two bodyguards, one “hidden”, and the other bodyguard, in Sousuke’s opinion, has been incompetent. “Wraith”, the hidden bodyguard, also seems to hold Sousuke in contempt. In fact, Sousuke is rather untrusting of most of Mithril at the moment.

Which may not be a bad idea, as the reader (and Tessa) go from last volume’s “there was a mole or two in our ranks” to “are half our ranks and our entire intelligence system filled with enemies”? It’s well handled, as the decision to recall Sousuke is both a good one (he really does need to bond with his AI, it’s become a real problem) and also highly suspicious. (Honestly, I’m amazed Kaname wasn’t kidnapped IMMEDIATELY after this happens, but they seem to be ramping up her own paranoia as well.) It also leads to the final “best scene in the book”, the frustrating screaming match between Sousuke and Tessa that reminds you that no matter how brilliant these kids are they probably should not be in major paramilitary anti-terrorist organizations. It doesn’t help that Sousuke is still clueless about Tessa’s feelings.

So everything is set up to blue up in the next book, which should have more action adventure and lots more angst. Is Sousuke’s new commander *another* enemy agent? Is Kaname’s hidden bodyguard an enemy agent? Is the nice general Tessa used to work for an enemy agent? It’s hard to tell who the good guys are anymore. Well, Kaname’s good. We have that.

Filed Under: full metal panic!, REVIEWS

Toradora!, Vol. 7

November 4, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Yuyuko Takemiya and Yasu. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by Will Holcomb.

Despite the fact that it’s a Christmas volume, and it does feature the two leads realizing (if only to themselves) that they are in love, this is one of the more emotional, gut-wrenching volumes in a series that usually wears its heart on its sleeve to begin with. The premise involves the class (with Taiga now back after her two-week suspension) coming up with a Christmas party idea, helped along by Kitamura, who is newly popular after his very public confession and rejection. Sadly, Minorin is in a massive funk, refuses to talk to Ryuuji, and also says she won’t be at the party. Taiga decides that this is absolutely the time when she will finally get the two of them together, and pulls out all the stops to do so… only realizing after a visit from “Santa” that this isn’t what she wants at all. Meanwhile, Ami is merely sad that she arrived in the second book, too late to do anything about our tortured couple.

The astute reader knows why Minorin is in a funk, of course, as she too sees what Taiga and Ryuuji do not. Ami is merely somewhat melancholic about coming in second, though, Minorin is devastated – the narrative not helping things by having her errant foul ball destroy the class’s Christmas tree in a metaphor from hell. The final cliffhanger scene of the book is well-written but terrible – Minorin’s choice, and callback to the fourth book, is absolutely wrong and will be very bad for her. Speaking of Ami, she tries a bit here – her “you’re like her father” metaphor would work very well if Taiga and Ryuuji were not the endgame, but it obviously is so it’s wrong. I admit that I do find the leads’ codependency a bit worrying, but it’s obvious to literally everyone by now that they can’t live without each other.

Then there’s Taiga’s “good girl” act this book, as well as her discussion of Santa Claus. No question, the middle part of the book, with Taiga and Ryuuji at the post office, is one of the two highlights of the whole thing, showing off how far the palmtop tiger has come from just being a ball of rage and the loneliness – and desire to erase other’s loneliness. It allows Ryuuji to realize just how much his life revolves around her now. The other highlight is, of course, Ryuuji’s desperate run back to the apartment to be Taiga’s Santa – something she knows immediately, of course, but buys into anyway. It’s unbelievably sweet and lovely, and makes her emotional devastation after he leaves to go find Minorin even harsher. (I wonder why he was hospitalized afterwards and she wasn’t, given she ran into the cold in bare feet? Possibly he spent the entire night just staring into the air and losing core temperature.)

So yes, we are reaching peak realization. Sadly, everything is terrible as a result. We’ve got three more books till the end, so I know we can’t fix everything in Book 8, but can we at least fix something? This was a fantastic book, and hurts so good.

Filed Under: REVIEWS, toradora!

Infinite Dendrogram: After the Storm, and Before the Storm

November 3, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Sakon Kaidou and Taiki. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

We’re taking a bit of a break from the main plot here, as we get what Dendrogram had not yet had to date: a short story collection. It’s bookended by various aftermath stories involving Ray and the past couple of books. Ray starts college properly and deals with the hurricane that is Tsukuyo, and also cleans up after the crisis in Quartierlatin. Both of these things involve B3, though the latter is somewhat more amusing as it reinforces the cluelessness of Ray as a harem lead. It’s not entirely amusing, though, as we’re reminded of another reason that Azurite hates Masters, and it goes all the way back to the first couple of books. There’s also some suggestion of future plot points, as a technical master – who we’ve met before, in a different context – finds something that might actually help the beleaguered kingdom out for once. But for the most part this book is about the short stories, which, as you might imagine, vary in quality. That said, there are no real duds in here.

The first story gives us a description of what life is like in one of the other countries, this one essentially based on Edo Japan, meaning there is no peace, just all fighting and alliances shifting all the time. A group of rather sad villains try to take advantage of this, and are humiliated. This bookends nicely with the final story of the book, in which we see more about life in the gaol, featuring Gerbera, who we’d met before but is busy sitting around the coffeeshop within it and being bitter. This is a fun story, partly as the King of Crime is basically another of those really calm, placid guys who is secretly unkillable and also because Gerbera’s POV is fun, especially her broken sense of her own power. Less successful were stories about Logan, the villain from the last two books, which is actually successful in a plot way but I also sort of hate “villain recruits villains” stories, and a Valentine’s Day story that is about a very very spurned woman beating up people in love, and is funny if you like that sort of character.

The best story in the book is also the longest, as usually seems to be the case with short story volumes. It’s mostly from the POV of Hugo, who is looking for new experiences and so heads off to a desert casino sort of country currently run by the not-Chinese not-mafia. Now that we know the actual identities of Hugo and Franklin, we can really get into Hugo’s head a lot more (it also means we get more of Cyco, who is awesome). The new character we meet here is AR-I-CA, who is so over the top that for a moment I thought the revelation would be that she’s Ray and Shu’s oft-mentioned but never seen older sister, That doesn’t seem to be the case, but she’s certainly a lot of fun – and also actively bisexual, something you don’t normally see in a light novel, or at least not this blatantly. This story also has hits of future plot, but it’s also a hell of a lot of fun.

It will be even longer till we get back to the main action, apparently, as the 11th volume will be a prequel taking place before Ray joined. Still, this should tide over Dendrogram fans nicely as they wait for the upcoming anime.

Filed Under: infinite dendrogram, REVIEWS

Ao Haru Ride Vol 7

November 3, 2019 by Anna N

Ao Haru Ride Volume 7 by Io Sakisaka

With both Shortcake Cake and Ao Haru Ride coming out at the same time, it feels like the Shojo Beat imprint is going full steam ahead with romance manga that is a bit more introspective than usual. I’m finding all the interior soliloquies more diverting than usual in this series. Is there any kind of tension worse than seeing the slowly moving train wreck of someone making the wrong decision for seemingly noble reasons? It is pretty clear that Kou likes Futuba, and yet his traumatic past and issues dealing with his own grief have led him to willingly step into the role of quasi boyfriend for Narumi, who is surely having her own issues but is also spinning them in order to ensnare Kou into a closer relationship.

Futuba is avoiding Kou and falling back into her overly boisterous behavior, but Kikuchi keeps showing up to talk with her, despite some hilarious glaring from Yuri whenever she is at Narumi’s side. The attempt to put distance between Futuba and Kou utterly fails when Mr. Tanaka sends her over to check on Kou when he is sick. Futuba decides to confront Narumi about her and Kou’s weird co-dependent relationship that has them both stewing in grief, and Narumi promptly admits her tactics and then turns things back around on Futuba by accusing her of being selfish herself for intervening. This of course sends Futuba into another bout of introspection where she questions her own motivations. The forbidden attraction between Mr. Tanaka and Shuko almost spills over into a genuine incident at the school, but Ao Haru Ride tends to keep moving forward through plot twists while preserving the points of tension with the character relationships that keep the larger story suspenseful. The exploration of grief contrasted with the romantic foibles of teenage characters continues to make this series a compelling read.

Filed Under: Manga Reviews, REVIEWS Tagged With: Ao Haru Ride, shojo beat, shoujo, viz media

Sword Art Online, Vol. 17: Alicization Awakening

November 2, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

I’m not sure why it is that odd volumes of SAO seem to be irritating me so much. It could simply be because I’m rather weary of this arc, which is an excellent reminder to authors about why you should not make your story arc ten volumes long. It could also be because, once again, this series cried out for authorial and editorial intervention and did not get it. I know that one of the reasons that publishers are so happy to pick up Japanese webnovels and turn them into light novels is that they know the work is already written to a large degree, so deadlines aren’t a thing. But this is about the 4th book or so where Kawahara has written in the afterword “I sort of cringe at what I wrote here, but decided not to change it”. Not sexual assault this time – although that’s in here as well – but the feelings between Japan, China and Korea, which is, like a great deal of SAO proper, an interesting plot point that is handled somewhat hamhandedly.

That’s Leafa and Sinon on the cover with comatose Kirito behind them, and good news for fans of one of those characters, they do get some really good scenes. Of the non-Asuna female characters that Kawahara has created, Sinon is the closest he’s had to another success, and I really liked her here, despite the fact that she deals with Gabriel Miller at his most “I am eeeeeeeeevil!” self. He also turns out to be known to her from GGO, and her battle is probably the action highlight of the book. As for Leafa, it’s almost comical in how badly she’s been treated since… well, her introduction? Here she comes down nowhere near the other characters, gets another egregious sexual assault scene (it’s even framed as ‘worms’ and ‘tentacles’, just to make it more obvious), and finally arrives too late to really affect anything for the ending “darkest before the dawn” climax. I just get so frustrated when I read Leafa’s character.

Other things, some good, some bad. Lisbeth’s discussion of how the SAO survivors are treated in school, as ticking timebombs who are required to get therapy (and, I suspect, will need to get SAO-related jobs or not get hired after graduation, similar to what Kirito is doing now) is really really interesting and therefore I wish we’d had any indication of it at all before this. There’s another traitor towards the end of the book, tied in to both the Administrator plotline and going back to the Fairy Dance plotline who is yet another “I am written to be as evil, creepy and misogynist as possible so you don’t like me”, which, y’know, objective obtained, but you already have Gabriel. On the bright side, the ongoing “what defines a real human” plotline is reasonably well handled, and we’ll see him handle it even better in the Progressive series. And, much as I am completely sick of Laughing Coffin, it is nice to have an antagonist who is not driven by lust, just love of death and cruelty. Welcome back, PoH, I look forward to seeing you get yours eventually.

I was expecting, given the title, the book would end with Kirito back in action. I was wrong, though it looks like it’ll happen early in the next book. Which will be the last in this arc, thank God. Till then, you have to read this if you follow the series, but be ready to lose more of that tooth enamel.

Filed Under: REVIEWS, sword art online

Bookshelf Briefs 11/1/19

November 1, 2019 by Ash Brown, Sean Gaffney and Michelle Smith Leave a Comment

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

Filed Under: Bookshelf Briefs

A Few Thoughts About Stranger Things

October 31, 2019 by Katherine Dacey

Over the course of three seasons, Stranger Things has devolved from an engaging period piece to a Potemkin village whose neon surfaces, vintage movie posters, garish fashions, and spiral perms have displaced the heart, humor, and horror that made the first two seasons so compelling. The proof lies in the media’s response to the current season, as the New York Times and Vulture have breathlessly cataloged every cereal box and song cue that link Stranger Things to The Goonies and The Neverending Story. In choosing to fetishize the material and pop culture of 1980s, however, the Duffer brothers have neglected the capable team of actors who’ve been selling audiences on the idea that Hawkins is the epicenter of an inter-dimensional catastrophe, lavishing their creative energies instead on recreating that most 80s of artifacts: the mall.

Don’t get me wrong: the idea of a shopping mall concealing a portal to the Upside Down has subversive potential, but the Duffers are too invested in making sure that everything looks right to care whether their story has anything new or meaningful to say about Reagan-era consumer culture. We’re treated to numerous tracking shots of the mall itself, with the camera lovingly documenting the stores, food court, and movie theater as teenagers shop to the sounds of Madonna’s “Material Girl.” Perhaps most tellingly, the characters never really look like they’re at the mall; these scenes look like an 80s sitcom’s idea of what hanging out at the mall was like, right down to the cartoonish portrayal of teenage mating rituals and clique behavior.

Adding insult to injury is the poor writing. Most of the problems lie with the scriptwriters’ decision to lean into the angrier, more compulsive side of Hopper’s personality, with little thought of how his behavior might appear to audiences. Hopper bullies Mike, for example, rather than examining his own feelings about Mike and Eleven dating. These scenes are played for laughs—dads always want to “kill” their daughters’ boyfriends, right?—but the intensity of Hopper’s anger makes these scenes uncomfortable to watch. If anything, his anger is a potent reminder of season two’s biggest flaw: the unexamined way in which Hopper’s desperate, violent attempts to keep Eleven safe crossed a line between loving concern and possessiveness. (Yes, Hopper and Eleven’s relationship was even more egregious than the much-maligned Punk Rockers episode.)

The once poignant dynamic between Joyce and Hopper has also curdled into something sourly antagonistic. Though their first heart-to-heart conversation in Melvald’s is moving, conveying both Hopper’s insecurities and Joyce’s ambivalence towards Hopper as a romantic prospect, the relationship goes downhill from there. Hopper behaves like a boor when Joyce stands him up for a dinner date, even though Hopper had repeatedly stressed that he wasn’t asking her out. That scene might have played better if we were encouraged to see Hopper as entitled or insensitive, but instead Joyce becomes the villain in this scenario, a scatterbrain who’s so obsessed with proving that something awful is happening in Hawkins that she’d rather chat about magnets with a high school science teacher than split a bottle of Chianti with Hopper. The script then puts Hopper and Joyce in a strenuously unfunny holding pattern as they bicker in a manner that’s supposed to show how much they’re secretly attracted to one another. Ryder, whose fierce intensity was an asset in seasons one and two, is particularly unsuited to this kind of banter, overselling every comeback with too much mugging. Worse still, the dialogue is so flat that it barely registers as amusing, let alone flirtatious.

Perhaps the biggest failing of season three, however, are the monsters. Though there’s a genuine ick factor to the Mind Flayer’s new form, it looks too much like raspberry Jello-O to be the stuff of nightmares; only a gruesome scene in which hordes of rats spontaneously explode registers as horrific. Other potentially scary moments–Nancy confronting the Mind Flayer in a hospital ward, Billy being dragged into the Flayer’s den–are too self-consciously derivative of Alien to make much of impression on viewers familiar with the Duffers’ favorite pop-cultural touchstones. As a result, season three lacks a single scene that’s as unnerving as Barb’s disappearance, or as harrowing as Eleven’s visits to the astral plane, two of the defining moments of season one.

There are a few bright spots, thanks to the Duffers’ generous treatment of the supporting characters. Steve and Robin’s friendship, forged through insults and amateur sleuthing, adds some screwball zest to the proceedings, demonstrating Joe Keery and Maya Hawkins’ potential as romantic comedy leads; their scenes crackle with the kind of wit and energy that’s sorely missing from Hopper and Joyce’s ill-fated courtship. Noah Schapp continues to impress as Will, bringing soulful presence to a character who’s often pushed to the margins of his own story. As his friends pair off in season three, Schapp makes us feel Will’s contempt for Mike, Dustin, and Lucas, who’ve traded Dungeons & Dragons for trips to the mall and awkward dates; Schapp’s facial and body language capture his frustration and shame at being relegated to the status of uncool friend.

Alas, little else in season three of Stranger Things feels as honest or scary as Will’s dilemma. Most of season three registers as 80s fanservice with its on-the-nose needle drops and acid-washed fashion, with little sense of what it was actually like to be alive in the Reagan years. Unless the writing team figures out how to bring back the suspense and humor that made seasons one and two so irresistible, Stranger Things will continue to feel more like Goonies cosplay than a horror story that just happens to take place in the 1980s. Not recommended.

Seasons one through three of Stranger Things can be streamed on Netflix.

Filed Under: Manga Critic, Movies & TV, REVIEWS Tagged With: Stranger Things

Manga the Week of 11/6/19

October 31, 2019 by Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith, Anna N, Ash Brown and M.J. Beasi Leave a Comment

SEAN: November brings an absolutely ludicrous amount of stuff, and December’s no better, so get used to it.

ASH: I’m ready for the cooler weather and avalanches of new manga and novels!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a lot. Starting with Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 26, 27, and 28, which are actually out now.

The novel debut (digitally) is Demon Lord, Retry!, which had an anime recently. It seems to be Overlord with less skeleton.

The manga debut (digitally) is Discommunication, an ancient manga (it began in 1992!) that ran in Kodansha’s Afternoon, from the creator of Mysterious Girlfriend X. It’s gotten VERY good buzz, and I’ve been told does not have quite as much drool as MGX, so I’ll be taking a look.

MICHELLE: Hm. I’ll wait for the results of the drool analysis.

ANNA: I too, am concerned about drool.

ASH: Drool aside, I enjoyed what I read of Mysterious Girlfriend X.

MELINDA: I like early 90s manga, so I may risk the drool.

SEAN: J-Novel Club also debuts An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride in print, along with print for Ascendance of a Bookworm (2) and Infinite Dendrogram (3). Also, digital volumes for Arifureta (10), The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress (2), and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen (5), and the 2nd A Very Fairy Apartment manga digitally.

ASH: I just got my hands on the first volume of Ascendance of a Bookworm. Good to know I won’t need to wait long to get my hands on the second if desired!

SEAN: In print, Kodansha has Cells at Work: Code BLACK 2 and The Quintessential Quintuplets 6.

Digitally, our debut from Kodansha is Our Fake Marriage (Usokon), a shoujo/josei title that runs in Ane Friend. 29-year-old woman, no job, nowhere to live, runs into her old childhood friend, now a handsome successful architect, and he suggests… well, look at the title.

ANNA: I enjoy faked marriages in fiction!

ASH: There are some really good ones out there.

MELINDA: I would like to see one where the love interest is not a handsome, successful architect, but like… a nerdy school teacher or something.

SEAN: Also digitally? Cells NOT at Work 2, Fairy Tail: City Hero 2, My Sweet Girl 8, Our Precious Conversations 5, Seven Shakespeares 12 (where had this gone?) and Smile Down the Runway 3.

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading several of these!

SEAN: Denpa Books has a new BL line, called KUMA, and their debut is a done-in-one called Melting Lover. It runs in Futabasha’s Comic Marginal, and looks pretty interesting. BL fans, support this new imprint!

MICHELLE: Nice to see a new imprint!

ASH: Melting Lover is an interesting BL collection with some speculative fiction flair to the stories. Also, KUMA will yuri in its lineup, too!

MELINDA: Very interested in what Denpa has to offer for BL!

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts two titles, one print, one an early digital. The print is Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World (Nicola no Oyururi Makai Kikou), from Kadokawa’s Harta. Adorable human child, land full of demons, just wandering around… this has become a genre by now. Still, I’ll try anything from Harta.

ASH: I like this genre a lot.

MELINDA: I can also get behind this genre.

SEAN: The early digital light novel is Magic User: Reborn in Another World as a Max Level Wizard (Magic User: TRPG de Sodateta Mahoutsukai wa Isekai demo Saikyou Datta), whose sole point of interest seems to be that it’s from a rare LN publisher, Gentosha. Otherwise, well, look at the title.

Seven Seas also has Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 5, and the 7th Make My Abilities Average! in print.

Tokyopop gives us a 6th Futaribeya.

Vertical has the 14th and final volume of Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Viz time! No debuts, still lots stuff. Shoujo: Anonymous Noise 17, Daytime Shooting Star 3, Shortcake Cake 6, Skip Beat! 43, Snow White with the Red Hair 4, and the 11th and final Water Dragon’s Bride.

MICHELLE: I will read every one of these! Of course, I’m particularly asquee for more Skip Beat!.

ANNA: So much great shoujo, I am excited.

ASH: We all should be!

MELINDA: I’m behind on many of these, but I should fix that!

SEAN: On the shonen end, we see Black Clover 18, Boruto 7, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 9, Dr. STONE 8, Haikyu!! 35, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Arc 4 Vol. 3, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 11, My Hero Academia SMASH! 2, and One Piece 92.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed My Hero Academia SMASH! more than anticipated, and so look forward to volume two!

ASH: I’m getting a kick out of the Diamond Is Unbreakable arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. I’ve fallen behind with the anime, so this is all new content for me!

SEAN: Finally we get Yen, who have quite a bit as well. Debuting from Yen On is Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town (Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shounen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari), which is about– whoops, ran out of space.

Ending next week is The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, with its 7th volume. There’s also new volumes of The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious (2), Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria (10), My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected (8), and Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir! 3. As you can see, long titles are the new Alice in the Country of.

On the manga end, we debut the manga version of Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World. Also getting manga volumes are A Certain Magical Index 19, Durarara!! Re;Dollars 5, and High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 5.

I was reincarnated into another world and ended up with manga release date analysis as my only power! What are you getting next week?

MICHELLE: *snerk*

Filed Under: FEATURES, manga the week of

The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker, Vol. 1

October 31, 2019 by Sean Gaffney

By Tôwa and Huuka Kazabana. Released in Japan as “Sekai Saikyou no Kouei: Meikyuukoku no Shinjin Tansakusha” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

I’ve talked before about the times when I read a bad book and people ask me “is it bad in an MST3K way?” and I have to tell them no, it is bad in a bad way. However, we may finally have a winner. The World’s Strongest Rearguard is sort of what happens if you tell an author all the pitfalls they should avoid when writing a Japanese light novel, only he mishears you and uses them as must haves. It is a gloriously over the top power fantasy starring a hero who is so beige he verges on see-through, a harem of adoring women, and his magical job, which we’re assured is super perfect though it’s never quite made clear why he’s the only one who’s ever done this. It should be like dragging yourself across broken glass, but… it’s very readable and guileless. There are tons of “game stat” battles, which I will never ever enjoy, but aside from that, this is some of the finer trash I’ve seen in a light novel.

Arihito Atobe is a corporate wageslave who’s too good at his job, so he’s overworked by his manager – who’s also younger than him. And super hot. On their way to a corporate event, along with various other folks, their bus crashes and they are killed. Reincarnated in a world filled with labyrinths where you need to seek and defeat monsters to be able to have a place to sleep at night, Arihito is forced to choose a class – Rogue, Vakyrie, Shrine Maiden, etc. Getting an explanation from the guild receptionist, he chooses “Rearguard”, a far too general classification that is nevertheless accepted. Now he discovers that while he’s not good at attacking on his own, with the right party, he can provide fantastic buffs, restore vitality, and improve morale. But who would possibly form a party with a man such as himself? Oh, right, everyone.

I’m not even sure where to begin, so let’s start with the other cast. Kyouka, the Valkyrie, is his former boss, who apparently left her tsun back in Japan when she reincarnated and ends up all dere. The author says in the afterword that the webnovel version was too mean, so he toned her way down. I think he overdid it. She’s had a crush on him for ages. Theresia is a lizard woman… not what you (or Arihito) is thinking, it’s almost a costume. She looks like a small Japanese woman put on her robe and lizard hat. She’s a demi-human who was defeated in the dungeons by a lizard monster and so became this, and is also mute. Now she works as a mercenary, and Arihito (presumably) is the first to treat her with kindness. (Actually, this is one of the book’s few clever ideas, and I like how it avoided just making her a slave like other books would.)

Elitia is a Level 8 swordswoman who’s been here a while, but everyone avoids her due to her cursed sword. Suzuna is a sweet and mellow shrine maiden, and Misaki is her friend (they were on the bus together) who is the classic genki girl who lives for the moment and tends to get in trouble because of this. She’s a Gambler. Finally we have Louisa, the guildwoman, who is boggled by the fact that Arihito’s generic “rearguard” job was accepted and that his party keeps defeating stronger and stronger monsters. Every single one of them falls for Arihito almost immediately, and all seem to have issues accepting any sort of compliment, so any time a battle is won there’s a round of “it was all thanks to you”, “no, it was really your win”, etc. They think Arihito is their leader and let him make all the decisions. Oh yes, and he also exudes some sort of magic that, when asleep and behind them, makes them aroused. Nothing explicit happens. Yet.

As you can see, this is absolutely bonkers. It should be terrible beyond belief. It sort of is? Arihito has the personality of lint, and I started to refer to him as Huckleberry Hound due to his blase reaction to everything (he also seems to spend the entire book in his suit and tie), but let’s face it, if he had a personality this would be unreadable. The “reincarnation” aspect of the book reads like a job fair, with everyone keeping all their memories and appearance, they’re just shifted to this new world, which is explicitly designed to be “game world”. The sheer amount of rewards he gets for everything made me giggle. By the end of the book he’s found the secret level that no one else knows of and awakened a sleeping God (who, of course, is a naked robot sort of god) who vows to give her support from afar… though even SHE has severe self-hatred issues and is over the moon when Arihito and his party say they want to work with her. And there are a few plotlines that clearly are being introduced for further books (Elitia, Louisa and Theresia’s backstories, the “other gods”, why Arihito’s job works the way it does), so things are not going to get less extra.

So, again: this isn’t a good book. But, coming at it from the right angle, it’s a fun book. You won’t want to throw it away in disgust. Just read it as if Joel and the Bots were at the bottom of the page making comments, and you can’t go wrong. I can’t wait for Book 2.

Filed Under: REVIEWS, world's strongest rearguard

Cats of the Louvre

October 30, 2019 by Katherine Dacey

Weird. Uncanny. Melancholy. Beautiful. Those were just a few of the adjectives I jotted down while reading Taiyo Matsumoto’s Cats of the Louvre, the latest volume in the museum’s ongoing graphic novel series. Like Nicholas De Crécy’s Glacial Period and Jiro Taniguchi’s Guardians of the Louvre, Cats of the Louvre is less an illustrated guide to the museum than a story that happens to take place within its walls—in this case, the attic, where a colony of cats have taken up residence. Through a series of eighteen vignettes, Matsumoto gradually reveals that the cats’ primary caretaker—an elderly night watchman—has dedicated his life to searching the museum for his missing sister, who disappeared into one of the paintings when she was a child.

The key to finding Arrieta turns out to be Snowbébé, a kitten who frequently escapes from the attic to roam the galleries, hiding inside canvases to avoid detection. Snowbébé’s gift is both an essential plot point and an opportunity for Matsumoto to luxuriate in the smaller details of his favorite paintings, as is evident in a lovely, strange sequence that unfolds inside Henri Lerambert’s The Funeral Procession of Love (1580). From a modern viewer’s standpoint, Lerambert’s painting seems a little kitschy, with its parade of cherubs, poets, and philosophers strolling under the watchful eye of the goddess Diana:

Once Snowbébé steps into the painting, however, the landscape comes to life in unexpected ways: the flowers grin, the animals speak, and the laws of gravity disappear. In one brief but delightful sequence, for example, Snowbébé and Arrieta cavort across the ceilings and walls of a temple, while in another they board Diana’s chariot for a ride through the Milky Way. Yet for all the joyful (and weird) imagery, there’s a wistful quality to these two chapters, as Snowbébé slowly realizes that he cannot remain inside the Parade forever; his presence has disturbed the painting’s equilibrium, bringing storm clouds and disrupting the flow of time itself, forcing him to choose between staying with his new friend, or returning to the “cold and smelly and noisy” world of the Louvre.

What prevents Snowbébé’s odyssey from seeming twee or precious is Matsumoto’s studied primitivism; his characters’ mask-like faces, oddly proportioned bodies, and grotesque smiles are genuinely unnerving, creating a surreal atmosphere in which the boundaries between reality and imagination are blurred. Nowhere is this tendency more obvious than in the way he draws Snowbébé and his friends: the cats look like animals to their caretakers, but assume a humanoid form when interacting with each other. In Matsumoto’s hands, they look more like people in cat costumes than pussycats, with their essential feline features—ears, whiskers, tails, elongated limbs—rendered in an exaggerated fashion that gives them a faintly alien appearance.

Matsumoto’s depiction of the Louvre is more straightforward, recreating iconic works with fidelity to the originals, whether he’s drawing a lesser-known genre painting or a genuinely famous sculpture. His rendition of the physical environment—the claustrophobic, dusty garret where the cats live, the grand staircases and hallways that lead to the galleries—is similarly precise, helping the reader envision the sheer size and opulence of the museum. As a result, the Louvre transcends its basic function as a setting, taking on the qualities of a living, breathing organism whose vaulted ceilings and majestic columns invite comparisons with dinosaurs or whales:

And while all the comics in the Louvre Collection have done an admirable job of depicting the museum, Cats of the Louvre approaches its subject matter without didacticism or pedantry; though Matsumoto’s human characters express strong feelings about art, those conversations spring organically from the story. Equally important, Cats of the Louvre has its own personality; unlike Hirohiko Araki’s Rohan at the Louvre, which recycled ideas and characters from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Matsumoto’s story stands on its own, capturing his unique response to the museum and its collection. But the best reason to read Cats of the Louvre is its hero Snowbébé, whose quest to find a place for himself in the world invites us to see the Louvre through fresh eyes, as a place of danger and sadness, but also of wonder, magic, and possibility. Recommended.

A review copy was provided by VIZ Media. To read a short preview, click here.

CATS OF THE LOUVRE • STORY AND ART BY TAIYO MATSUMOTO • TRANSLATED BY MICHAEL ARIAS • RATING: TEEN • 432 pp.

Filed Under: Manga, Manga Critic, REVIEWS Tagged With: Cats, Louvre Museum, Taiyo Matsumoto, VIZ, VIZ Signature

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