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Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 5

By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee. o/~ Come on baby now throw me a right to the chin Just one sign that could show me that you give a shit But you just smile politely And I grow weaker… o/~ –Ben Folds Five, Selfless, Cold and Composed For a little less than half of this volume of the series, it is a very typical Adachi and Shimamura. Adachi stresses out and worries about what Shimamura is doing/thinking and whether any of it involves her. Shimamura, in contrast, barely thinks of Adachi, instead living her normal life and occasionally attempting to have a real human emotion. Tarumi, her childhood friend with a crush that is…

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Altina the Sword Princess, Vol. 8

By Yukiya Murasaki and himesuz. Released in Japan as “Haken no Kouki Altina” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia. Since this volume was released on the same day as the short story compilation, you end up with two Altina reviews in a row. Fortunately, there’s a lot of ground to cover here, as we pick up right where we left off – with Latrielle having just murdered his dissolute father and consort in a fit of disgust. Naturally, this particular part is covered up, but the fact that the King is dead is absolutely not – meaning not only that Latrielle is going to be the next King, but that Altina is no longer in the line of succession. Admittedly, he’s…

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Manga the Week of 5/19/21

SEAN: As the days get warmer, why not try some manga to cool you off? Airship debuts a new release, out next week digitally and in print next month. I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! (Kondo wa Zettai ni Jamashimasen!) features a somewhat familiar plot – a villainess who is in prison for the crimes she has committed ends up in her past self, and is determined to do things right this time. As with many of these stories, I suspect bothering will, in fact, occur. ASH: Ha! SEAN: There’s also an early digital for Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 6. In print, we debut I Have a Secret, from the author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. There’s also the 2nd volume of Trapped in a Dating Sim:…

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Altina the Sword Princess: Loose Threads

By Yukiya Murasaki and himesuz. Released in Japan as “Haken no Kouki Altina” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia. Yes, as you guessed from the title of the book, it’s time for a short story collection. That said, there’s only three stories in this volume, so they’re pretty long. The first of these stories is essentially an Encyclopedia Brown story with Regis as the title character and Altina as Sally, made all the more impressive by the fact that they haven’t actually met each other yet when it occurs. Altina is at her new command, but no one is taking her seriously yet. Meanwhile, Regis’ commander has just died and he’s busy waiting to be demoted/exiled. And then a crate of…

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Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 2

By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alex Keller-Nelson. Much to my surprise, after a humdinger of a reveal towards the end of the first book, the second book in the series does not build on that reveal beyond a few ominous scenes. Instead, this book proves to be 100% magical academy adventures. This is not a flaw, as the author is really excellent at writing magical academy adventures. We get broom lore, epic sword and magic duels, wacky classwork, terrifying classwork, and more of The Labyrinth, which is likely going to take up more and more of the books as the series goes on. Here our group of…

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Reincarnated As the Last of My Kind, Vol. 2

By Kiri Komori and Yamigo. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shitara Zetsumetsu Sunzen no Kishou Shuzokudeshita” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Roman Lempert. It’s always fun to see a cute, slow life sort of tale fight against its own narrative, which is trying to make sure that the slow life speeds up in a hurry. This second volume sees Tina and her family continuing to try to make improvements to the inn, better food, and better quality potions over the course of about four years. Indeed, when the call comes to invite her to a school where she can learn to be a better alchemist… she declines, as she’d rather stay where she is right now. Unfortunately, these are…

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Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 1

By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by afm. It is somewhat hard not to start reading this and not think of The Apothecary Diaries, which also features a young woman arriving at the Emperor’s palace and featuring a number of young women who are there to be his courtesans, as well as a eunuch who is rumored not to be. Oh yes, and clearly based on Chinese rather than Japanese tropes. That said, the two series end up going in a slightly different direction, as Maomao’s one smart cookie who’s there to be a Jessica Fletcher sort. Meanwhile, all poor Rimi wants is somewhere to prepare delicious food and a…

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Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, Vol. 5

By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof. Word of warning: this review is filled with spoilers. If you do not want to be spoiled, you should only read everything above the cover image. The final volume of this particular arc sees Rozemyne finally managing to achieve everything she needs in order to fix her mana and her body. Given that we’d previously seen the expedition to get the ruelle ingredient, and saw it fail, it should not be surprising that we see it succeed here. The main new plot point is the introduction of the Archduke’s daughter Charlotte, who adores Rozemyne…

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My Alcoholic Escape from Reality

By Nagata Kabi. Released in Japan as “Genjitsu Touhi Shitetara Boroboro ni Natta Hanashi ” by East Press, serialized in Matogrosso. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Lianne Sentar. If you have read the previous volumes of Nagata Kabi’s biographical examination of her past struggles, seeing the title and the cover art for this new book probably makes you think “Oh no.” But yes, once again life is not as simple as it seems, and recovery can be a path you walk on that might just lead you to a different wrong path. After dealing with mental and emotional struggles in My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness and My Solo Exchange Diary, and resolving to stop writing memoir-style manga (as she worries it makes…

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