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Yuzu the Pet Vet, Vol. 1

By Mingo Ito. Released in Japan as “Yuzu no Dobutsu Karte” by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Nakayoshi. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Julie Goniwich. The afterword of this manga volume revealed that it was actually a collaborative spinoff of a game (Bow Meow Animal Hospital: Let’s Become a Great Vet) that came out for the 3DS. This surprised me, because as I read it in fact I was feeling a different kin of nostalgia: I was reminded of the older shoujo manga of the 1990s. Shoujo has mostly skewed older as the years have gone by, and these days when you think of it you think of high school girls having to choose between the sullen black-haired guy and the sunny blond-haired guy. (She chooses…

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Manga the Week of 4/1/20

SEAN: Let’s briefly talk turkey here. I try to do these lists about a week before the books come out. And given what’s going on over the world, some of these release dates are going to shift. A lot. I know one publisher has already pushed all their May and June titles to later in the summer. And Diamond Comics is not distributing to comic shops till this has passed, meaning more outlets are gone. I will continue to do my best to keep up with this, but… well, I’d expect a lot of delays. For obvious reasons. ASH: Thanks for keeping track as best as you can! There’s a lot in flux right now. SEAN: We start with Ghost Ship, which has two new debuts, both smutty, but with…

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The White Cat’s Revenge As Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap, Vol. 1

By Kureha and Yamigo. Released in Japan as “Fukushuu wo Chikatta Shironeko wa Ryuuou no Hiza no Ue de Damin wo Musaboru” by ArianRose. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Evelyn. I was excited to read this one, but unfortunately I think it ended up a bit of a mess, for several reasons. It certainly improves after the first section, which is good, as I was tempted to drop it ten pages in. Our heroine is Ruri, who is pretty, smart, has a mother who’s a model, etc. The trouble is she has a “best friend” named Asahi, who clings to her like a limpet… and whenever Asahi’s around other people, they start to love Asahi and hate Ruri. As a result, her life has…

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The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, Vol. 9

By Gamei Hitsuji and Yuunagi. Released in Japan by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki. This was, for the most part (I’ll get to the one really annoying bit at the end) a solid volume that gave fans what they wanted: Suimei back on Earth and reconnecting with everyone, and the three main heroines marveling at life in a science-based world and eating lots of delicious sweets. I will admit that those who like the battle scenes in Too Far Behind might find it wanting – the only battle here is about 3/4 of the way through, and it’s a one-way curbstomping. But honestly this is meant to be a pure fanservicey break before we go back to confront the Big Bad, and…

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Knight of the Ice, Vol 1

Knight of the Ice Volume 1 by Yayoi Ogawa I think Tramps Like Us (Kimi Wa Pet) started coming out here in the mid 2000s, and 15+ years is a long time to wait between Yayoi Ogawa series. Fortunately for anyone in the need of sports-based josei distraction in these trying times, Knight of the Ice serves up plenty of Ogawa’s off-kilter humor along with workplace romance hijinks. The heroine of this story is Chitose, who works at a magazine. She’s so incredibly tiny that she’s sometimes mistaken for a child, which causes her some problems in the workplace. Chitose’s childhood friend Kokoro is a champion figure skater, who is able to keep up his flawless facade on the ice only when Chitose is present to cast a magical girl…

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Kakushigoto: My Dad’s Secret Ambition, Vol. 1

By Kouji Kumeta. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Monthly Shonen Magazine. Released in North America digitally by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Kevin Gifford. Kouji Kumeta, back in the olden days when he was romanized as Koji Kumeta, wrote a series called Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei that was dear to my heart. Featuring a despairing teacher, his eccentric class of students, and overanalysis of Japanese trends and cliches, it ran for 30 volumes and features a very surreal, quite disturbing ending. Sadly, it sold less and less well over here in North America, and petered out with the fourteenth volume. But now, moving from Weekly to Monthly Shonen Magazine, we have a new series from Kumeta, starring a father who desperately wants to hide his profession from his elementary…

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Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest Short Stories

By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Shouhenshuu” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen This was not the Short Story collection I expected, to be honest, at least not till the final third of the book. What it is is a rounding up of most of the very short stories that the author wrote for giveaways, store-exclusives, etc. A lot of series have these, few bring it out as a real volume. (J-Novel Club has quite a few of them as Premium Extras for subscribers, and indeed I think a lot of these originally appeared as exclusive extras in earlier books.) The book breaks down in four sections: the first are short-short stories taking place…

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Something’s Wrong with Us, Vol. 1

By Natsumi Ando. Released in Japan as “Watashitachi wa Douka Shiteiru” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Be Love. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Sawa Matsueda Savage. One of the first things I noticed when I began to heavily overanalyze manga artists is that shoujo artists started out in the magazines for younger readers – the Margaret, Nakayoshi and Hana to Yume types – and then, after many years of long and faithful service, graduated to the magazines for adult women – You, Be Love, and Silky. I used to wonder if it was like being kicked upstairs into the House of Lords. I suspect it may be more that the josei magazines come out with far less frequency and are thus easier to handle…

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Bibliophile Princess, Vol. 1

By Yui and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Mushikaburi-hime” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. The great thing about first-person narration is that not only is it a good way to get inside the head of the main character, but it can also be used to obfuscate, and even to fool the reader entirely. The Murder of Roger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie is probably the most classic example, but Japanese light novels are also filled with narrators who conceal and/or lie about their own thoughts. Fortunately, Elianna Bernstein is not that sort of narrator. No, instead her narration is sort of like a puffball, floating alongside events while missing the point of most of them. This is especially true…

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