CITY, Vol. 3 | By Keiichi Arawi | Vertical Comics – I apparently never reviewed the second volume of this, which is fun if you like Arawi but it’s getting really difficult to see why it’s not simply more Nichijou. The three main characters are very hard not to think of as Mio, Yukko and Nano, and they get into similar wacky situations. The manga works best, unsurprisingly, when they’re all playing off each other, such as when they argue over the treasure map, or just be funny. Unfortunately, when the manga is away from the main cast, it simply doesn’t hold the reader’s attention enough to have it pull off the weirdness. Nichijou had a similar issue, to be honest, but faked it better. This is still a good read if you want more Nichijou (which it technically isn’t). – Sean Gaffney
The Delinquent Housewife!, Vol. 1 | By Nemu Yoko | Vertical Comics – Usually when I review volume ones as a brief, it’s not a good sign, but I quite liked this first volume, I just don’t have much analysis of it. It has a strong premise—a young woman is brought into a household that is not all that warm to her, the husband then leaves for Singapore on business, and it turns out that she’s an ex-yanki and also can’t cook, clean, or anything else. With a premise like that, the gags write themselves, but fortunately Komugi has a few allies in the groom’s younger brother and his not-as-senile-as-he-seems grandfather. Komugi the yanki is a lot more interesting than Komugi the housewife, but seeing how long she can keep this up is what will make this manga fun. I’ll read more. – Sean Gaffney
Dementia 21 | By Shintaro Kago | Fantagraphics – A few of Shintaro Kago’s works have previously been released in English by Hollow Press, a small Italian publisher, but Dementia 21 is only the second collection of Kago’s manga to be released in North America, the first being Super Dimensional Love Gun. Much of Kago’s work falls within the tradition of ero guro and can be pretty intense, but overall Dementia 21 is relatively tame when compared to some of Kago’s other work. The stories are not nearly as eroticized or as visually gruesome as, say, those collected in Super Dimensional Love Gun, but they are still incredibly bizarre, strange, and surreal with a wickedly dark sense of humor. The short manga in Dementia 21 all follow Yukie Sakai, a young woman who works as a home health aide caring for elderly patients. The astonishing and frequently horrifying situations she finds herself in are entertainingly absurd, the volume rife with satirical readings. – Ash Brown
The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Vol. 5 | By Nagabe| Seven Seas – This series is so many things simultaneously. The relationship between Teacher and Shiva is incredibly charming—especially near the end of this volume where they’re trying to evade a persistent soldier and she’s attempting to cheer up Teacher with optimism and silly faces—but that makes their plight especially worrisome. For the first time, I really appreciated the distinction between original Outsiders and beings of Teacher’s ilk, especially since Auntie was one of the latter and quickly succumbed to a sad fate that seems to be Teacher’s eventual path, as well, particularly given the dream Shiva has about one day being left all alone. I desperately want things to be okay for these two, but I just really don’t see how that’s going to be possible. What a great series to evoke so many feels! – Michelle Smith
Haikyu!!, Vol. 27 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – I missed a Haikyu!! brief somehow. I blame the format of sports manga in general, where games can stretch out for six to seven volumes at times. We don’t really see anything here we haven’t seen in the last few volumes, but that’s the point —all the extra work everyone did in the last few volumes is showing here, and we’re marveling at how much our heroes have grown since the early days. I especially liked the little things—how fast Kageyama adjusts to the far larger stadium he’s playing in, the fact that Hinata has learned to read the flow of the game, the fact that the opposing team finds Tsukishima as annoying as the reader always has. This is a great sports manga, for better and worse. – Sean Gaffney
Skip Beat!, Vol. 41 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – There’s so much going on in this volume, and all of it is about Kyoko and how far she’s grown as an actress. She may still be unable to love, which is the main reasons she’s in the Talento group, but her method acting, ability to learn fast and well, and sheer physical ability are jaw-dropping. I’d suggest buying two copies of the manga just to lend it to a friend for the fight scenes, and I love how much it’s emphasized that these are fake stage fights, meant to look cool, not be dangerous—in fact, it can be hard NOT to be dangerous. So Kyoko may have won a role, but will she get to act with Kanae at last? And what about Ren, who’s back in Japan and ready to meet up with a strangely reticent Kyoko? – Sean Gaffney
Toradora!, Vol. 8 | By Yuyuko Takemiya and Zekkyo | Seven Seas – Now that Seven Seas has licensed the Toradora! light novels, I can put the manga in the briefs. That said, it’s been about 36 months since the last volume dropped, so I would not blame those who have completely forgotten what’s going on. The cover art is an enraged Taiga, and the fight between her and Kanou is easily the highlight of the volume. The rest of it is the lead-up to Christmastime, but the main issue is that something’s wrong with Minorin, who’s been avoiding everyone. She says it’s due to softball humiliation, and to be fair knocking over the tree really was a shocker, but there’s something else happening, and I suspect we’ll find out next time. Unless the light novels catch up first. – Sean Gaffney
Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 6 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – Ah, what a satisfying ending! The spirits who have been borrowing Shizu’s body know that soon they will have to go. The more Shizu becomes herself, the less time they’re able to spend in control of her. I couldn’t have predicted who’d be the first to go, though, and it was bittersweet, even though Shizu gained a new friend in the process. I loved that after they’re gone, the story doesn’t just end. Shizu is really distraught without them, and of course it’s Tetsu who helps her pull through, and we get the suggestion that just because she can no longer interact with them doesn’t mean that they’re not still hanging around, watching over the new couple. The we’ll-get-through-it-together vibe is strong between the two leads, especially regarding Tetsu’s mother, who is still unconscious. But man, that final panel is a doozy. Highly, highly recommended. – Michelle Smith
Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 6 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – The conclusion to this series gives almost everything a reader could ask for. Another of the ghosts manages to find peace and come to terms with the manner of their death, and as an added bonus Shizu gets a new friend. The ghosts hang around enough to help Shizu, who has simply not had the life experience to be able to see the signs, realize what she’s feeling for Tetsu. The finale is heartwarming, and while the resolution of Tetsu’s mom’s fate is left as a cliffhanger rather than being explicitly laid out, I think that works just as well. In the end, this was a sweet little winner of a shoujo manga, just the right amount of volumes. A greater starter for those wondering about the genre. – Sean Gaffney