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The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place, Vol. 6

By Toryuu and hamm. Released in Japan as “Kimo Ota Mob Yōhei wa, Mi no Hodo o Wakimaeru” by Overlap Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Josh DM. The highlight of each volume of this series continues to be John vs. the plot. The plot has John involved in major battles, John being highly desired by everyone around him, both professionally and personally, John being colleagues with most of the movers and shakers in the galaxy, John is the star of this book. John, meanwhile, considers himself “just a guy”, makes sure to be one of the nameless mercs involved in battles, avoids interaction with other women as much as he possibly can, with the exception of his friend Gonzalez, who is a man in a…

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Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On The Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 15

By Fujino Omori and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka? Gaiden – Sword Oratoria” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia. This series, as well as the main one it’s spun off from, really requires the reader to remember who everyone is, which is tricky as there are eleventy billion characters in it. So you either get a spreadsheet going or you hope that the series comes out every three months like it used to. Well, bad news and good news on that front. The bad news is that it’s been a year since the last Sword Oratoria, and even worse, that was a prequel. The good news is that Japan had…

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End ~Prelude~, Vol. 2

By Mei Hachimoku and Tsukasa Abe, based on the manga by Kanehito Yamada. Released in Japan as “Sousou no Frieren: Zensou” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon. I wasn’t expecting a second volume of these short stories, and it’s interesting to see what we get. Frieren is the obvious one who gets a story devoted to her in both books – it’s her series, after all – but Fern and Stark only appear briefly at the end of that story, and are not otherwise in this book. And while I’d love to get more of Methode, she too only has a small supporting role here. Still, there are a few things the author can do. The stories involving Ubel and Serie are clearly…

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Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 15

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 Andrew Cunningham. Reign of the Seven Spellblades is one of those rare light novel series that has, if not a huge fan wiki, at least a relatively up to date wiki, which is very useful when you have dramatic tragic deaths and you cannot actually remember who these people are. At one point I paused, looked up a name, went “ah, right, from Book 8!”, and moved on. That said, this is the final volume of the big Kimberly invasion arc, and we’re fifteen books is, so the author is finally killing off, permanently, actual people who have been around a long…

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Agents of the Four Seasons, Vol. 7

By Kana Akatsuki and Suoh. Released in Japan as “Shunka Shūtō Daikōsha” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sergio Avila. My friend Erica Friedman has talked before about an annoying characteristic of many light novels, manga and anime, which is the “emotional torment of children for plot purposes”. It’s relatively easy to win over the reader by doing this, and lets the main characters being abused be sympathetic – you really want them to have a nice blanket and a hot cup of cocoa. But as the author said in the afterword to Book 6, that is just not happening in Agents of the Four Seasons. These kids (and we’re introduced to more kids in this new book, all of whom are in some…

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Even a Replica Can Fall in Love, Vol. 5

By Harunadon and raemz. Released in Japan as “Replica Datte, Koi o Suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. While I’ve very much enjoyed this series, each of the previous four volumes has explored topics related to replicas in some way. What are replicas, why do people have replicas, can replicas fall in love (title drop), and what happens when a human with a replica dies. This led us to the climax of the fourth book, which was about what happens if a replica dies… except no, it did not work out that way, because in the interim Sunao decided to get her life together, move beyond the need for having a replica, and finally grant Nao autonomy so that she could…

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Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian: Insider Stories

By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn. Oh god, store exclusive stories. Let’s try to break it down here: 1) Alya gets hit on and stalks Masachika; 2) Yuki buys otaku merch and stalks Masachika; 3) Touya and Chisaki are super in love, Part 1; 4) Test of courage; 5) Alya is tricked into wearing a sexy cat costume; 6) Touya and Chisaki are super in love, Part 2; 7) Alya and Masachika go to a fancy dessert place; 8) Yuki briefly feels guilty for manipulating Alya; 9) Alya is tricked into wearing a sexy maid costume; 10) Masachika goes on amusement park rides with Nonoa…

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Manga the Week of 10/21/26

SEAN: Still not Halloween, but this list says otherwise. ASH: I won’t complain too much. SEAN: Debuting from Viz in a 2-in-1 omnibus is The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao’s Notes on the Inner Palace (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto: Maomao no Koukyuu Nazotoki Techou). Apothecary Diaries has two manga series, one in Big Gangan (the one Square Enix is putting out), and this one from Sunday GX. This one has been called “too straightforward”, the Gangan one supposedly omits some stuff. Why not get both? Also, does this count as a cat manga? ASH: You know, it just might. SEAN: Viz Media also debuts two Horror Picture Books, 32-page books starring children but not for them, this is more teen. Is It There Or Not? is from the creator of The Summer of…

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Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 18

By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. I’ve enjoyed Bofuri over the years, but as I hit the end of this volume, and realized that the next book would be the final one in the main series (yes, of course there are after stories), I could not help but think “thank God”. This is a classic example of a series that just went on far too long. In this penultimate volume, the author is not about to introduce any fun new characters, or give Maple a weird new skill. The series has also shifted away from its “look at what Maple’s doing now”…

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