Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Archives for October 2021

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 3

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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.

If the first volume of Bofuri was showing us how a casual gamer can accidentally become one of the biggest monsters in it, and the second volume was dedicated to showing us how hardcore gamers are also capable of the exact same thing, then the third volume shows us that anyone, even you, can get a completely broken character. Of course, it also shows us there’s a right way and a wrong way to go about doing this. Simply trying to do exactly what Maple did isn’t cutting it – the admins have cut off doing that again. What’s more, trying to protect yourself against Maple by acquiring poison immunity assumes that this is all she has in her bag of tricks. Hardly – every 40 pages or so in this book, Maple gets a new, ludicrous ability. But thinking outside the box, as the other folks in Maple’s new guild realize, is the best way to go beyond and become like Maple.

Maple and Sally now decide to form a guild, called Maple Tree. Added to it are Kasumi, Kanade, Chrome and Iz, though they’re still looking for a couple more members to round things out. As the book goes on, each of the members of the guild, influenced by Maple and Sally, decide to go off on their own little side quests to try to get new skills as exciting and overpowered as hers. Meanwhile, this leaves Maple on her own. The third special event is designed to be for everyone BUT high defense sorts, so she’s not having much fun that way. Even recruiting newbie twins to the guild, who have maxed out in strength, doesn’t solve her wanderlust. What does? Well, fighting new battles so that she can become an Angelic Being. Or a Godzilla-like monster. Or even a mecha.

Reading these books is simply relaxing. They take place in an “idealized” game world, so there is no trolling, or sexual harassment. There’s just fun. It’s also been interesting, after having first experienced the anime, to see how it handled adapting this book. Some events are compressed – Kanade, Chrome and Iz’s fights were effectively compressed into a montage. Some stuff is changed – we meet Mai and Yui a bit later in the books than we do in the anime, and when Frederica shows up to fight Sally, there is not a beach party going on. The anime also makes things more… anime-esque, if you will. I would not call the light novel Maple deadpan per se, but she’s definitely a lot more mellow than her animated counterpart. The twins also seem a bit less hero-worshippey of Maple. These are things that don’t work as well in text, but when added to an anime give voice actors and animators a bit more to work with. It makes both enjoyable.

Next time we should get the team battles that formed the climax of the first anime season. Till then, enjoy this volume of Bofuri, which reminds you that you too can be ridiculous if only you try hard enough.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 2

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By Hayaken and Nagu. Released in Japan as “Eiyu-oh, Bu wo Kiwameru tame Tensei su. Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kisi ♀” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mike Langwiser.

In general, when you’re reading a series that stars a big dumb person who only likes fighting, you’re not supposed to be on their side. The reader can see that there are advantages to talking things through, or do finding another way, etc. But, of course, there’s fighting anyway, because our hero just leapt in there and starting whaling away. That’s definitely true with Inglis in this second volume. What’s worse, her fights are almost all one-sided beatdowns, as she is ludicrously strong and powerful, even without any runes or talent of that sort. She is every reader’s OP nightmare. And yet… let’s face it, while reading this book, I was agreeing with her. The parts of the book that really came alive and felt like the most fun were those where Inglis had her sword out and was fighting monsters, or bad guys, or bad guys turned into monsters. She’s great fun as a meathead. The rest of the book has trouble keeping up with her.

Now that she and Rafinha are in the Academy, Inglis is ready to start learning. And by learning I mean “learning how to fight stronger and stronger opponents”. She and Rafinha have very few problems, mostly as they’re the cool kids. Leona, on the other hand, their new friend whose brother turned traitor, is having a terrible time, especially when her new roommate (the princess curl type) refuses to live with her. On their first day the three of them happen to come across a sea monster which they prevent from destroying a ship… a ship that turns out to be owned by the Rambach Company, whose heir became a Highlander in the first volume, if you’d forgotten. As a reward, they’re invited to be guards for a very important summit meeting between the company and various factions. Could it be a trap? No worries, I’m r pretty sure Inglis can punch traps away.

As noted, the fun in these books is seeing how ludicrous Inglis is all the time. We get occasional mention of her past as a male king, mostly when she’s trying not to gawk at women in the bath, but for the most part it’s just a flimsy excuse to have Inglis be less “ladylike” than some folks would like. Rafinha is supposedly her voice of reason… but is almost as bad as she is, occasionally trying to stop her but more often joining in. They’re also both desperate for food, another fun running gag, as chunks of this book are written in “Talk-with-your-mouth-full-ese”. There are actual political things going on and genuine danger to the city and country… but Inglis is content to leave that to the royal family and the knights who have to worry about politics. Indeed, her suggestion to allow the woman currently spewing out monsters on occasion to stay at the academy is “cool, monsters to fight without sneaking out!”.

So, basically, if you like smart intelligent girls and politicking, this is not the series for you. If you read it and think “I wish there was even more of Inglis hitting things”, by all means keep reading, I’m sure you will be satisfied.

Bookshelf Briefs 10/4/21

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Do You Like Big Girls?, Vol. 1 | By Goro Aizome | Ghost Ship – The cover art and publisher of this particular title tells you exactly what’s going to happen, and that’s what happens. The premise is that a short college guy takes over managing his sister’s girls’ volleyball team, and they’re almost all very tall, big-breasted women. The actual premise is that he screws through the entire team, one chapter and one girl at a time, with the exception of his sister, but you get the sense that that exception will fly out the window when the second volume comes around. That said, the sex is consensual all around, the girls are fun, and the coach of the team is bi, something he has to repeat twice because our hero assumes bi = gay. If you’re looking for fun softcore porn, this is pretty good. – Sean Gaffney

I Wish I Could Say “Thank You” | By Yukari Takinami | Fanfare/Ponent Mon – When I think of Fanfare/Ponent Mon, I tend to first think of Jiro Taniguchi, but the publisher does in fact release work by other manga creators, all of which are also worth a look. I Wish I Could Say “Thank You” is one such volume, an autobiographical comic about the experiences of the creator and her family after her mother is diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. With this diagnosis also comes the knowledge that her mother does not have long to live, a shadow with which they will all have to come to terms. I Wish I Could Say “Thank You” is an honest work, simply but effectively told and illustrated. And though its subject matter is obviously serious, the manga is also not without humor, Takinami skillfully balancing hard-hitting moments with light-hearted ones as she delves into the complexities of familial relationships made even more complicated by an incurable illness. – Ash Brown

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 10 | By Afro | Yen Press – Rin frequently takes off from the main cast to do her own thing, but this time around she’s almost absent for a good chunk of the manga, as the rest of our camping kids all have fun without her, doing things like making makeshift stoves and homemade sausages. The back half does have Rin, but without Nadeshiko, who is taking a train towards their destination—instead Rin and Sakura do a little mini-tour of the area they’re going to, showing off once again how much the author loves the Japanese countryside, as well as the country 80 million suspension bridges. That said, discussion of the prices of camping equipment in this volume reminded me how expensive a hobby this really is. Can they keep up the financial pace? – Sean Gaffney

Mr. Bride, Vol. 1 | By Natsumi Shiba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Boy, I wanted to like this more than I did. It has a cute premise, as a woman who has it together at work but is a complete mess at home ends up having her horrified co-worker move in and become a “wife” as he’s actually really hardcore about cooking and cleaning properly. It even runs in Kiss! The trouble is… I really don’t like the female lead, who seems to be taking this very much for granted. I admit that it’s exactly the sort of thing I’d also hate if the genders were reversed, and I can see this appealing to women who want a little fantasy of being cared for, but I think this relationship, such as it is, is a bit too unbalanced to really appeal to me. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 29 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Sometimes, as heroes, you can come up with a brilliant plan, execute it perfectly… and it turns out not to work after all. This is what we see with our 1-A kids here, as between Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Kirishima they deliver a sleep dose right into Gigantomachia’s mouth… which is then pretty much shrugged off, as he continues to head for the heart of the city. Things aren’t much better there either, as Shigaraki and Izuku battle to see who can kill who the fastest, and the collateral damage gets wider and wider. And isn’t the named hero body count a bit small so far? Even if the heroes do win this battle, they may never be able to recover from the fallout. And it’s still going on. – Sean Gaffney

Ran the Peerless Beauty, Vol. 10 | By Ammitsu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I am a bit disappointed, I will admit, that the cover art is the only bit we get showing our hero and heroine getting married—the actual final volume itself is simply content to end at graduation. There’s one last problem left to solve, as Ran has to confront the guy who caused her to not get into the right school and assure him that it’s OK. He turns out to have his own issues, being the only med school student in a family of doctors who isn’t a natural born talent. But honestly, most of what we get here is Ran being gorgeous and kind, with the occasional full-page shot reminding us how gorgeous and kind she really is. This is Kimi ni Todoke-lite, and the lite is a flaw, but I still greatly enjoyed it. – Sean Gaffney

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 4 | By Suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics (digital version, print due in December) – One of the great things about A Sign of Affection is that, while Yuki is deaf, the manga is not about her being deaf, nor is it about how deaf people do romance. It’s simply a cute and budding romance between two college kids, one of whom is deaf. They’re finally a couple here, and are doing things like going on camping trips where they can point at things and learn what the sign language is for that particular object. We also get a bit more happening with our beta couple, as Rin and Kyouya are clearly into each other but reluctant to take the next step, though after the events of this volume that may start to change. We’ve been getting a lot of really sweet shoujo lately, and I for one love it. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 8 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – Kotaro ad Asako are still a brand new couple, and they got together very fast, so there are still a few things they get very embarrassed about, ranging from Asako’s worries that she’s gaining weight to the joys (?) of taking a bath together. That said, as the cover art may indicate, the main chunk of this book is taken up with a company beach party, which allows everyone to show off their swimsuit (or to wear a hoodie over it because you’re shy) and demonstrate their beach volleyball skills. The most important chapter, though, may be the one where they see a family while out shopping and both imagine how good a parent the other one would be. Two volumes still to go in this sweet romance. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Mixed-Up Picks

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SEAN: Lotsa stuff this week, including 80 gabillion Yen On light novels, as well as a new Shojo Beat title. But I’m gonna go with the new volume of Sunshine Sketch, because, like Yotsuba&!, it’s been three years since the last volume. I miss my vaguely yuri art college kids.

MICHELLE: This week has Wotakoi, Chihayafuru, Spy x Family, Yona of the Dawn, and Yowamushi Pedal. In a regular week, I could happily endorse any one of those. But it’s the new Shojo Beat title, My Love Mix-Up!, that interests me most. I loved the artist’s work on My Love Story!! and am intrigued to see how it pairs with a different writer’s story.

KATE: I heartily second Michelle’s pick since I also adored My Love Story!!. But I’m also stoked for another volume of Boys Run the Riot, a series I’ve been enjoying and vowing to review when I find the time.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great series coming out this week, and I’m totally going to read My Love Mix-Up!. But on a week when Yona of the Dawn is also coming out, that’s always going to be my pick.

ASH: I’m looking forward to every series mentioned so far, but the debut of My Love Mix-Up! is the one that I’m most curious about, essentially echoing Michelle here.

MJ: Well, My Love Mix-Up! seems to have my name written all over it, so I’m gonna have to go with that, no question!

The Magician Who Rose from Failure: Tales of War and Magic, Vol. 3

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By Hitsuji Gamei and Fushimi Saika. Released in Japan as “Shikkaku Kara Hajimeru Nariagari Madō Shidō! ~ Jumon Kaihatsu Tokidoki Senki ~” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

It’s time to talk about a tragic problem facing many young manga and light novel characters today. They’re young, clever, they want to be helpful. And yet… everyone seems to be suspicious of them. How sad! Is it because they never seem to show you which side they’re really on? Is it because they exude an aura of “I could be incredibly evil, if I wanted, but I choose not to be?” No, we all know the real reason. It’s because they never open their eyes. Studies have shown that nine out of ten characters who smile while constantly having their eyes shut later turn out to be villains in some way, shape or form. (Well, if they’re guys. For women, please see the “ara, ara” subclause.) As such, we identify very much with Arcus in this book as he meets a strange merchant who really wants to establish a connection with him, but cannot really get past looking and feeling incredibly shifty.

Despite the cover promising us delicious pizza, for the most part this book is all about battles and intrigue. After briefly spending a morning flirting with Sue (well, flirting on her end, not his), Arcus runs into a slight problem: he has to get silver to make more of his cool magic thermometer, but someone is buying all the silver in the kingdom. As such, he and his two bodyguards head west to a holding with lots of silver mines. There, they run into a different problem – bandits, who are busily trying to destroy a village, though it looks like their hearts aren’t really in it. Could these two problems be related? And can Arcus manage to figure this all out without a war starting between his country and the Empire? Oh yes, and in the meantime his sister is going on a magical quest and getting possessed by her ancient ancestors.

As with previous volumes, Magician Who Rose from Failure is good enough that you want to read the next book in the series, but not really good enough that you have a lot to talk about with someone else. Arcus remains cool. He gets to use his magic here, and everyone is amazed at how powerful he is. There is a bit more brutal death than the previous books, and Arcus briefly looks queasy about that, but by the end of the book he’s recovered enough to immolate one of the bad guys. We also meet the son of the local Lord, Deet, who has a minder of his own and who looks like the sort of kid who wandered into this series from the pages of Weekly Shonen Jump, He’s fun, and contrasts nicely with the staid and calm Arcus.

As the author indicates in the afterword,the next volume will likely focus more on the ‘war’ part of the book rather than the ‘magic’ part. Till then, this series remains ‘solid’, for good and ill.

Return from Death: I Kicked the Bucket and Now I’m Back at Square One with a Boyfriend Who Doesn’t Remember Me, Vol. 1

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By Eiko Mutsuhana and Hiyori Asahikawa. Released in Japan as “Shi ni Modori no Mahou Gakkou Seikatsu wo, Moto Koibito to Prologue kara (※Tadashi Koukando wa Zero)” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alyssa Niioka.

I must admit that I was expecting this book to be lighter fare than it turned out to be. And yes, I realize that’s on me, since the book being called “Return from Death” in English and having a variation on “Starting from Zero” in Japanese means that the author is likely very familiar with Re: Zero, but, I mean, look at the cute cover! There’s going to be wacky antics, surely! In fact, the start of the book did indeed promise these, but unfortunately for readers who prefer that sort of thing, they require a heroine who’s a bit less on the ball than Oriana is here. She’s not only gone back in time to try to stop the love of her life from dying mysteriously, but she’s also coming on far too strong, meaning he’s no longer the love of her life. So the solution is to wait, and be patient and a good friend, and deal with everything else.

Vince and Oriana were a lovely couple, and he was so sweet and kind to her. Then, a few days after their senior year ball, she finds him dead, seemingly with no cause… except she quickly succumbs to it as well. When she wakes, she’s back in her seven-year-old body. Fortunately for the narrative, we then immediately time skip six years to her entrance to the Academy where she first meets her true love. Sadly, he does NOT have memories of a previous go-round, and regards her excessive adoration and professions of love as extremely creepy and unwelcome. So, as I said above, the long game. She eventually does make friends with Vincent and Miguel, his bestie. She gets close to her roommate, foreign princess Yana and Yana’s bodyguard Azraq. And, like most teenagers, she proves to be very bad at recognizing when a guy is hiding his feelings out of stubbornness and embarrassment.

I haven’t read the author’s other CIW series, Hello, I Am a Witch and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion, but judging by this I may have to go check it out. The book is very much a teen melodrama, with hurt feelings at the forefront, and some of the pairings do not work out the way that Oriana (or, for that matter, the audience) would like. There’s a lot to negotiate here. Oriana is a commoner, even if she’s the daughter of a rich merchant, and Vincent is the son of a duke. Yana and Azraq have similar issues, only much much worse. There’s simply dealing with Vincent’s cold, sullen attitude every day, though that does improve as the book goes on. So yeah, the ending is kind of happy, but a bit bittersweet… well, until the cliffhanger. Yes, this is a multipart series, and the ending makes it very clear that saving Vince is not the solution to the original problem.

I tweeted that this book reminded me of all the things I hated about being a teenager, but that’s also good news for those who love that sort of thing. If you like YA novels, romances, or grumpy tsundere male leads, this is right up your alley.

Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools, Vol. 1

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y Hisaya Amagishi and Kei. Released in Japan as “Madougushi Dahliya wa Utsumukanai” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Nikolas Stirling.

Just as there are people who can read an isekai and somehow be surprised that our generic-looking male protagonist ends up with overpowered abilities and women falling all over him, there are presumably people who can be surprised that a romance novel has romance in it. To an extent, I get it. This book is supposedly about a woman, jilted by her fiancee on the day before their wedding, starting anew and devoting herself to her job. You can hear readers all over the world saying “Yeah! Kick ass in your profession, Dahlia! You don’t NEED romance!”. They are bound to be a tad annoyed that the majority of the rest of the book involves her meeting and going on not-dates with a knight whose tragic flaw is that he is simply TOO HANDSOME. That said… come on. This is a romance novel. It even has an extended makeover section where we get to see how gorgeous our mousey heroine really is once she gets the right clothes and makeup. If you accept that, it’s great.

Dahlia is, by the way, a reincarnated Japanese woman who died at work from a heart attack, but her former life only really comes up in her job, as she’s more easily able to visualize magical tools due to her experience with hair dryers and Coleman stoves. She grows up in fantasy world with her dad, who also makes magical tools, and is engaged to his apprentice. Things go great (well, aside from her dad’s death) till the day before the marriage, when her fiance says he’s in love with another woman, so can they not get married? Oh, and he wants to keep the house they bought. She’s stunned, but not as devastated as she expected to be, and she gradually realizes she was never in love with him. She decides to throw all her energy into her business, helped along by most of the rest of the town, who are on her side. Then she meets Volf, the aforementioned knight with golden eyes who can’t walk through the town without starting a fight over him, and who can’t keep friends. Fortunately, both he and Dahlia are on the same wavelength, and both decide to forego romance and stay as drinking buddies. And boy, can they drink. But how long will this last?

Dahlia’s ex, Tobias, is almost cartoonishly awful, not actually evil but such a dimbulb who is lost in the thrall of puppy love that he loses any ability to think – as his older brother hammers into him near the end of the book. Your jaw drops at the callous shit he says to Dahlia, who has also been deliberately making herself dowdy so that other men won’t look at her. Needless to say, he barely recognizes the beautiful redhead she becomes. As for Dahlia herself, she’s great, and her work ethic really is a major part of the book, don’t worry. In fact, it might be a little TOO strong – she tells a story about an accident with black slime where she had to go get healed, and Volf realizes in horror she had melted her hands down to the bone without realizing it. I think we know why she may have overworked herself to death in Japan…

So yes, good book, but don’t be surprised when Dahlia and Volf decide they do love each other after all in the next volume or so. It is still genre fiction.