Manga Bookshelf

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Archives for December 2021

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, Vol. 1

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By Mo Xiang Tong Xiu and Xiao Tong Kong (Velinxi). Released in China as “Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong” on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Faelicy & Lily.

It’s rare I read a book that features so many genres that I normally don’t really deal with. I haven’t really read any Chinese “light novels” before. I don’t really do BL all that much. And I am almost totally unfamiliar with Xianxia, the supernatural fantasy “cultivation” genre that this novel is both part of and also parodying. But there were three very famous books coming out from this author that were getting MASSIVE buzz, and I wanted to read at least one of them. I picked this one partly as it was the shortest volume, and partly as it seems to be the least popular of the three (I like my problem children), but mostly because it’s also squarely in a genre I do read obsessively: Reincarnated Villainess. Or, in this case, villain. Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe may not quite match up exactly with Katarina and Maria, but at times it feels like it’s not for want of trying. As for the book itself? I’m glad I read it.

Shen Yuan has been reading a Chinese webnovel obsessively, despite raging in the comments about how the author is a hack. When the book ends, he gets so upset he actually dies… and finds himself in the body of Shen Qingqiu. No, not the hero. The hero’s evil master, who mercilessly abused and bullied the actual hero of the novel to the point where his eventual brutal torture and murder is one of the most disturbing in the book. Needless to say, this does not fill Shen Qingqiu with joy at ALL. Nor does the fact that there’s an omniscient System Voice telling him what he can and cannot do… which means he can’t simply change his evil ways right away. Can he manage to somehow avoid his bloody fate? Can he actually get Luo Binghe to look at him in a better light?… and wait, does he really want him to look at him in THAT kind of light?

Knowing nothing of the books and their genre, I was expecting this to be more serious than it was. It’s a hoot a lot of the time, particularly our hero’s screaming at the incredibly bad plot devices and scenarios that he is now forced to live through. That said, he gets wrapped up in both the people of this world and his charge, Luo Binghe, very quickly. The ‘danmei’ in this first book is pretty light, mostly consisting of Luo Binghe falling for his master in a very obvious way and Shenj Qingqiu boggling about the fact that he’s suddenly become the heroine rather than any of the hundreds of women that Luo Binghe was supposed to be bedding in the original (we even get the equivalent of “that’s the line she says to the guy in the game!” from Bakarina). There are also a few genuinely great plot twists along the way, and the characters are obvious cliches (that’s the point) while remaining fun to read.

So yes, I’m definitely happy I picked this up, and will definitely be reading the second book in the series. I’m not sure whether I’ll venture into the other two series, though – how funny are they?

If I Stay, Books 1-2 by Gayle Forman

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If I Stay
Mia has a perfect family (hip parents, adorable younger brother) and a perfect boyfriend (Adam, a sensitive punk rocker) and is a perfect cellist (surpasses multiple teachers!) whose perfect audition landed her a spot at Juilliard after graduation. Her perfect life (well, okay, there’s a modicum of tension with Adam about her moving away to New York in the fall) is destroyed when a car accident on a snowy day claims the lives of her parents and brother and leaves Mia in a state of astral projection, able to see what’s happening to her body while she struggles to decide whether to stay and live out her life after such a devastating loss or die and potentially join her family.

I’m not sure what I expected from If I Stay, exactly. Perhaps something spookier? Instead, it mostly alternates between Mia reflecting on memories with various loved ones and observing the goings-on at the hospital, including an episode in which Adam, instead of simply asking Mia’s grandparents to help him get in to see her, stages an elaborate distraction involving a rock star singing in the corridor outside the ICU. It’s as cringey as it sounds. I also wasn’t fond of the suggestion that it’s inherently virtuous to like classical music.

Despite my complaints, though, I didn’t hate it. Mia’s “this can’t be real” terror is conveyed well and I did get unexpectedly verklempt a couple of times. The book also gets much better once Mia’s best friend, Kim, is introduced. It’s through stories about Kim that we finally start to see Mia as someone less than perfect, which is decidedly welcome. I do find, though, that I wish the whole book had been about Kim in the first place! I find her much more interesting than Mia.

In any case, I did like this enough to check out the sequel.

Where She Went
Where She Went is quite a lot better than its predecessor. Told from Adam’s perspective, it’s set three years in the future as he—now a world-famous, Grammy-winning rock star and yet totally miserable—runs into Mia in New York City. It turns out Mia dumped Adam only a few weeks after she went off to Juilliard and never told him why, which completely destroyed him for a while until he channeled his pain into a batch of songs that would catapult Shooting Star’s major-label debut into multi-platinum status. They each have one night before they’re due to head out on tour and Mia suggests they spend it checking out some of her favorite spots around the city.

I thought Adam’s mental state was conveyed well. He’s hurt, he’s angry, he’s closed off, he’s sick of being tabloid fodder, and he no longer feels any love for music. Although he once vowed to let Mia go if she would just stay, it’s clear that he hasn’t been able to do that. Throughout the course of their conversation, however, he’s finally able to see that the person who’s really been harming him all this time is him, not Mia. The payoff here felt well-earned. Also, Mia does not come off as perfect here as she did in the first installment, which I appreciated.

In a series with some supernatural touches around the edges, it’s notable that the thing that really stretched my credulity is that everyone is so ridiculously successful at such a young age. Adam is a huge celebrity. Mia was extra special even at Juilliard and their meeting occurred at a concert she was giving at Carnegie Hall. Not only that, she’s somehow famous enough that a journalist from the rock scene knows about her and wants the scoop on her and Adam’s relationship. Even Kim has become a war photographer who sells her photos to The New York Times.

Still, this was quite good and made me a bit sniffly, which I perversely enjoy.

Bookshelf Briefs 12/16/21

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In which Sean valiantly goes it alone yet again.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 1 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe | Viz Media – This is award-winning, which piqued my interest, and also a rare Shonen Sunday license, which did as well. Turns out the hype is justified. This is a beautiful and poignant story about the elf of a hero’s party who, after they slay the demon lord and break up to go their separate ways, discovers that she has no idea how people who are not her think, be they human, dwarf, or what. She realizes this too late to talk with the hero, and almost too late to talk to the party’s priest, but eventually decides that she needs to experience more in life, and learn how people who don’t have thousand-year lifespans live. The first volume spans about 6-7 years, so our own sense of time may be skewed. It has humor and heart. – Sean Gaffney

My Lovey-Dovey Wife Is a Stone Cold Killer, Vol. 1 | By Donten Kosaka | Seven Seas – This manga is here for one reason and one reason alone, and that’s the lovey-dovey part of the title. It absolutely does not want the reader to think too hard about her other job beyond as a means for comedy. Certainly the husband doesn’t—as the title begins, he already knows his wife kills people for a living, and is absolutely fine with it. The book itself is filled with romcom staples—though it’s worth noting that, as with apparently quite a few Japanese couples—these two have been married for months and their sex life is still 100% absent. But that’s OK, we still have disapproving sister-in-laws, going out to shop, and trying to understand your partner’s needs even when they’re a husband, not a target. For fans of We’re New at This. – Sean Gaffney

My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!, Vol. 6 | By Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka | Seven Seas – This is pretty much the same as what I said about the series last time: if you’ve read the novels and seen the anime, it’s almost unnecessary. The ‘almost’ part is because Nami Hidaka (who also illustrates the light novels) is clearly having fun doing a full manga version, and the expressions that she gives everyone can be highly entertaining. This especially goes for Susanna/Lana/Larna, who manages to make “I am first in line to be the Queen” easily the least interesting of the jobs she’s currently doing. This wraps up the third novel, and I assume volumes seven and eight will take on the fourth, which is… well, not a popular book, shall we say. But hey, it’s Bakarina. You know you have to take the bad with the good. – Sean Gaffney

Skip & Loafer, Vol. 2 | By Misaki Takamatsu | Seven Seas – Still enjoying the general mood of this title more than anything else. Mitsumi is the sort of character who would simply be an airheaded flake in lesser series, but here she’s not only quite smart and studious, but also good at figuring out ways that she may have accidentally screwed up socially and trying to fix them. This is good, as her not-yet love interest Shima is a very tough nut to crack—a childhood acting career has left him adrift, and he seems to be perfectly happy to stay that way. An upcoming volleyball game is also handled well—Mitsumi is bad at sports, and has to be trained by Egashira, who is still angry at Mitsumi for bad reasons, but does it anyway. The result… is that Mitsumi noticeably improves, but isn’t great. Best realism in Manic Pixie Dream Girl manga. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 16 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – This arc with Shirayuki being away is, frankly, taking forever, so it’s no real surprise that it shifts its focus for most of it to Mitsuhide and Kiki. They’re a popular fan pairing, they get ship tease here and there, but… honestly, it does not seem as if the author is all that into them. Things are not helped by her primary husband candidate seeming to clean up his act and pursue her hand with greater effort. That said, the largest problem might be that her other candidates for marriage keep getting attacked. There are a few candidates, but the cliffhanger tells us that the prime suspect is … well, just who we don’t want it to be. If Shirayuki and Zen’s romance is obvious and forthright, Mitsuhide and Kiki’s is deceptive and fluid. Great stuff, though. – Sean Gaffney

Species Domain, Vol. 11 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – Having crushed Kazanori’s spirit, and suggested that Ohki might in fact be asexual, we now need to remember how this manga initially started and work on getting the two of them together. It’s going to be tough, but Ohki starts to get a clue here and there as the manga goes on, which is more than he’s done the previous ten, so that’s good. In fact, all the pairings look close to becoming official by the end of the book, which is likely why a cliffhanger is thrown in with Jin and Hanei being in danger from an unknown assailant. This book should have ended a while back—its humor is not quite as sharp anymore, and some of these romances have dragged—but I still enjoy it as a unique sort of title that manages to go several places without actually offending. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 10 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – The start of the book is entirely dedicated to defusing the situation we had in the last volume, and it’s handled, as the rest of the series has done, with love, communication, and reaching across to help each other. With a good dose of loving sex at the end as a reward, of course. Now that Asako’s issues with her body odor have mostly been taken care of, it’s wedding time. The actual marriage is a quick license ceremony, with the wedding itself being done months later. That said, they chose a date which leaves them very little time in which to plan, and I suspect the final volume (the next) may feature some crises. Still, at least we get Asako in not one but THREE wedding dresses—all of which are wrong for her, alas. Still fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – As with the last volume, this final volume of Takane & Hana is here to remind you that all the drama and conflict have been dealt with beforehand, and we can just enjoy the two leads playfully at each other’s throats. My favorite part may be during the wedding reception, when guests wonder if Hana really thinks she deserves to be Takane’s wife, and she responds point blank “I absolutely do.” Hana’s self-confidence and ability to tear Takane a new one when he needs it have been the main reason to read this. There’s also a limited-edition volume with a different cover and a 30-page booklet with a “7 years later,” showing Hana had triplets (!!!) and that everyone else is doing fine. This was one of the funniest shoujo manga I’ve read in years. I’ll miss it. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 12/22/21

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SEAN: If you buy these books they probably WON’T get there by Christmas. Santa is sad.

Yen On has one title: Kingdom Hearts: The Complete Novel Collector’s Edition. This box set collects 12 novels, along with a box, prints, and a keychain. It’s a must for Kingdom Hearts fans! (I am guessing, not being a Kingdom Hearts fan.)

ASH: I haven’t read the series myself, but that does look like a pretty sweet set.

SEAN: Three debuts for Yen Press. The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time (Nidome no Yuusha wa Fukushuu no Michi wo Warai Ayumu) is a Comic Walker adaptation of the light novel due out from Yen On, erm, next week. If you love everything I hate about light novels, this is absolutely the title for you. It almost drips with ichor.

I’ve Become an Omega Today (Kyou Kara Omega ni Narimashita) is a BL title from Media Factory’s Comic Fleur, and is complete in one volume. Our hero’s in love with his best friend… but his best friend is an Alpha, and he’s a Beta!… OR IS HE?

ASH: Duhn, duhn, duhn!

Let This Grieving Soul Retire!: Woe Is the Weakling Who Leads the Strongest Party (Nageki no Bourei wa Intai Shitai – Saijaku Hunter ni Yoru Saikyou Party Ikuseijutsu) is a manga based on a light novel licensed by the late unlamented Sol Press. Our protagonist has vowed to become a hero along with his friends!… but they’re talented, he is not. What can he do? Well, he can beg and plead!

Also out next week: I’m the Catlord’s Manservant 2, Murcielago 17, and So I’m a Spider, So What? 10.

Get your children the Christmas Gift all families enjoy: Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection. Out from Viz, it has 100% more melting faces than Santa normally provides.

ASH: Happy! I’m still here for it.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Fist of the North Star 3, Golden Kamuy 24, Levius/est 9, Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 6, and Real 15… wait, what? Real? As in the wheelchair basketball manga? As in Vol. 14 of Real came out in 2016? That Real? Holy guacamole!

MICHELLE: !!!! I had given up hope on seeing more Real!

ANNA: I think I only have the first five volumes, but I’ll order this on principle!

ASH: I’m excited for quite a few of these, but Real is one of my top series ever, so I’m absolutely thrilled to see a new volume being released.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment gives us Persona 5: Mementos Mission, which I think is also a Comic Walker title. As for the premise, well, it’s a Persona manga.

Square Enix Manga has Beauty and the Feast 2.

ASH: I didn’t enjoy the first volume as much as I expected I would, but I’m always glad for food-oriented manga.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a pile of debuts. Cat Massage Therapy (Neko no Massageya-san) is a josei manga from Comic Qurie. If you liked cat as a barista, you’ll love cat as a massage therapist!

MICHELLE: Oh, jeez. “As the professional “meowsseur” digs soft toe beans into Nekoyama’s aching muscles, his heart warms and his worries melt away.” I think this is too much even for me, lover of both cats and josei manga.

ANNA: LOL

SEAN: The Country Without Humans (Ningen no inai Kuni) runs in Futabasha’s Manga Action. The last human in the world tries to survive and make friends. This has ‘hauntingly beautiful tragedy’ written all over it.

ASH: That’s a subgenre I generally appreciate.

SEAN: Lupin III: Greatest Heists – The Classic Manga Collection is a curated collection of the best of Monkey Punch’s manga that inspired the incredibly popular franchise. It was specially [published in Japan after his death. Now we have it.

ASH: I somehow completely forgot about this license!

SEAN: The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World (Isekai ni Kyuuseishu to shite Yobaremashita ga, Around 30 ni wa Muri na no de, hissori Book Café Hajimemashita) is a shoujo title from Ura Sunday Jyoshibu. A woman is summoned to another world to save it!… but hell, she’s over 30 and tired, so no thanks. Instead she’ll start a book cafe. No, the novel it’s based on isn’t licensed.

ANNA: This sounds amusing.

ASH: If I’m going to read isekai, a book-themed series is probably where I’ll turn. (Also, “over 30 and tired” hits home for me…)

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest ZERO 5, Berserk of Gluttony 4, Dragon Goes House Hunting 7, and The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 4.

And they also have an early digital version of I’m in Love with the Villainess 2 (manga).

One Peace has The Riding of the Shield Hero 22.

No print debuts for Kodansha, but we see Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost 3, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 9, Fire Force 25, Hitorijime My Hero 11, and In/Spectre 14.

Digitally the debut is My Darling, the Company President (Darling wa Shachou-kun). This josei title from Ane Friend is about a “plain” office lady who finds the new company president is the boy she used to tutor! I hear this one is spicy.

Also digital: Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 2, Blue Lock 10, Boss Wife 3, Doing His Best to Confess 2, GTO Paradise Lost 16, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 5, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 8, and Our Bodies, Entwining, Entwined 2.

MICHELLE: I need to get on the Blue Lock train before it completely passes me by. Doing His Best to Confess also looks cute.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has Ascendance of a Bookworm 16, Der Werwolf 13, Holmes of Kyoto 7, Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party 8, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire ♀ 3, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 17, and Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 7. Rozemyne for Christmas!

ASH: Speaking of book-themed isekai, hooray for Bookworm!

SEAN: Lastly, Airship has, in print, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 3. And in early digital form we get Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 2.

What’s in your stocking?

Magical Explorer: Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim, Vol. 1

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By Iris and Noboru Kannatuki. Released in Japan as “Magical Explorer – Eroge no Yuujin Kyara ni Tensei Shita Kedo, Game Chishiki Tsukatte Jiyuu ni Ikiru” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by David Musto.

I will admit that I am not nearly as familiar with the ‘eroge’ genre as our protagonist is in this book. Certainly I’d thought that they all tended to be the same as most visual novels: you pick a route, you make choices, you get a girl, coitus ensues. Magical Explorer tells me that this genre is far broader than I expected. The game that our protagonist suddenly finds himself in (it’s never explained how, and he seems to have no desire to return to Japan) is a fantasy dungeon crawling game, with party balancing, learning new spells and skills, and the like. AND a lot of hot girls that the hero gets it on with. Honestly, given that at one point we’re told that in order to get all the route extras you have to buy five copies of the same game from different stores, I feel happy to be ignorant. That said, what about this book in particular?

Our nameless protagonist suddenly finds himself in the body of Kousuke Takioto, who is… NOT the hero of the dating sim world he finds himself in. He’s the “best friend” side character who is loud, flashy and crass to contrast with the hero’s dull, “insert reader here” qualities. As the hero amasses more and more girls, most players don’t bother to keep Kousuke in their party – why would they? This is an eroge! So he’s in the body of someone doomed to be left behind and ignored? Or… more importantly… he’s in a world where he can use magic powers! Yes, friends, let’s not pretend guys are only interested in sex. Cool powers are also high on the list. After moving in with the headmaster of his new school due to a tragic backstory (which he was entirely unaware of, being it never came up in the game), he decides to get his magic more powerful, explore dungeons, and leave the game plot behind. But will it leave him behind?

Given that our hero’s first thought on being in a porn game is “I wonder how I can level up my magic”, I assume he must have seen the School Days anime and knows the dangers of trying the more obvious “I will bed all the girls” choice. And there is a certain amount of cool magical and fighting content here… that I suspect no one is really reading the book for. No, they’re reading the book for scenes that you’d normally get special CG art for, and we get quite a few of those. Our hero accidentally falls and grabs tits and asses. He walks in on girls getting out of the shower. He manages to level up his magic to the point where he can see through steam and blindfolds to ogle women. And the final scene in the book runs on porn logic, and so is so stupid I hesitate to even bring it up. It’s all here.

This wasn’t bad, per se. It’s very good at giving its readers exactly what they want. If you decided to buy this, you’ll likely enjoy it. If you thought “ew, no”, you’re probably not even reading this review anyway. I think I’m done here, though.

Goodbye Otherworld, See You Tomorrow: The Traveling Paintbrush and the Hefty Backpack

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By Kazamidori and Nimoshi. Released in Japan as “Sayonara Isekai, Mata Kite Ashita” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

We tend to see, with isekai novels, a hero summoned to a world that’s in peril, usually by the royal family. Sometimes the summons goes wrong, or they summon some other person they didn’t want. We’ve even seen a few where the hero was summoned AFTER the big bad has been defeated, leaving them with nothing to do. We’ve seen heroes fail, and usually they go back in time to try to get it right this time or they’re reincarnated long into the future. But this one in particular is a bit much – by the time our hero, who is living in the woods after running away from his family, stumbles across another world, the world has lost almost everyone in it, turned to crystals by a sudden explosion of mana. All our hero can do, really, is drive around, try to get supplies and possibly find the dark man who gave him advice when he first arrived, and find a reason to go on. The last proves the hardest.

Keisuke does not have much, just his watch and phone (which don’t get more reception from Japan here) and a big truck that he doesn’t really know how to drive that well. Then the truck breaks down when he gets to an abandoned train station. Fortunately, he runs into a half-elf named Nito, who is a painter by trade and reluctantly starts to open up to him seeing as her means of transport is also busted. Together they get their respective vehicles repaired thanks to the last mechanic in the world who responds to distress flares, and set out on a journey – him to find the dark man I mentioned earlier, and her to see if her mother was telling her the truth when she talked about the Golden Sea in a book of paintings that are Nito’s most treasured possession.

So, spoiling something important right here and now: no one commits suicide in this book. This is important to note because we have no less than four different suicidal people at some point i this book, either genuinely trying and failing to take their life or having given up all hope on living. The fact that they do live, and that the See You Tomorrow in the title is meant to be uplifting and affirming, is probably the best thing about the book. The other big plus is the evocative prose – there’s a sense of Kino’s Journey to this series, but it doesn’t have an anti-war agenda like that does, and the disaster that wiped out nearly everyone remains a mystery by the end of the book. Instead we get a series of scenes where we see people who want to end their life finding reason to go on by communicating with others. I love that. It’s a series of passing meetings, but each one has impact.

I’d heard this was the most anticipated of the four J-Novel Club licenses that came out at the same time, and I can see why. It’s just a treat to read, though again I warn there are suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in this. If you want a different sort of isekai, this is the one for you.

Pick of the Week: Danmei At Last!

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SEAN: Um, it’s the three Danmei books. I believe Heaven Official’s Blessing has the most buzz? It’s certainly the longest of the three. In any case, these three novels sort of dwarf everything else on the list.

KATE: Anytime there’s a new volume of Kageki Shojo!! is a cause for celebration, so volume three is my pick o’ the week.

ANNA: Seems like a Danmei week to me!

MICHELLE: I’m ridiculously excited about the Danmei. I hope these books are a spectacular success for Seven Seas and prompt them to license even more. ‘Cos when is a geek never not grateful on one hand and greedy on the other? :)

ASH: I’d be remiss if I failed to mention Vinland Saga, which is still one of my favorite series even with the releases now being so far apart. But, I’ll also have to admit this is a Danmei sort of week for me; I’m particularly looking forward to Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance!, Vol. 2

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By Kei Misawa and poporucha. Released in Japan as “Torawareta Ōjo wa Nido, Shiawasena Yume o Miru” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Evie Lund.

This author is very good at making the reader feel tension because something has not happened. For the most part, through about three-quarters of this book, Reset feels like the 2nd book in a two-part series. Annabel is invited to the country where Prince Daniel, her husband from her past life, is from. But… he seems fine? If a little wary. There’s also Princess Karina, the woman who destroyed Annabel’s life and had her thrown in prison. But… she’s sweet and nice? Something screwy’s going on here, and it likely has to do with the sullen, taciturn mage that Karina drags around with her. But it’s OK, because everything gets resolved in the end… well, sort of. The resolution feels rather off. And wait, there’s still how many pages of book left? And then we reach the final chapter, and you realize no, this is going to be a three-parter, and everything goes to hell in a handbasket.

The intriguing plot does help to cover up the author’s weakness, with is character. As I said in my review of the first book, Annabel is an interesting character to read because, if you’ll pardon the expression, she’s not like those other reincarnated villainess girls. Annabel is not a villainess, of course. She’s not trying every hour of every day to avoid her fate – months go by between chapters with not much happening. She isn’t even oblivious to the affection of everyone around her – this is very much a one-couple romance. We the reader figure out what’s actually happening before she does, which works, as it’s fun to watch her slowly realize that the Princess Karina that she knows is no longer herself. That said… she’s a bit generic? As is her boyfriend Ed, who also feels fairly standard.

Then we get the interesting bits, which are interesting because they grate against the reader’s sensibilities. The actual villain of the piece gets a backstory that talks about how she was taken from her people and forced to be a mage, and that her people later completely vanished. The response from the royalty of the kingdom seems to be “Hrm, well, not entirely accurate but yes, somewhat accurate, we’ll try to do something about it”, and we learn that she has essentially been abused her entire life. This makes her fate rather tragic… except the way it happens is so open-ended that the reader just goes, “And? AND?!?!” It’s like waiting for the other shoe to drop, only it takes sixty years. There’s a happily ever after! Annabel and Ed marry and have kids! Annabel dies at a ripe old age! And then we find out what the villain ACTUALLY did, and man, I want to read Book 3 now.

Alas, I will have to wait a few months. Still, Reset is a very good combination of typical characters and not so typical plot, and I hope Annabel can muddle her way through into finding happiness. Again.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: Starting Magic Lessons with a Few Modest Tricks

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

Yes, I know, I’m surprised too. Given that I have occasionally muttered that I need to cut down on my light novel intake, it’s a bit of a shock that I picked up a series whose title and cover make it sound like it was introduced by Gilbert Gottfried on USA Up All Night. That said, the book itself is… well, exactly what you’d expect with a title and cover like that. A lot of focus on 13-year-old girls trying to seduce their 17-year-old instructor. Said instructor turns out to be ludicrously good at magic and also has at least three girls in love with him by the end of the book, with the promise of more. There’s a lot of “you are hugging my daughter and are therefore a creeper who must be murdered” schtick. Oh, and there’s a red-headed angry tsundere who flits around the plot, finally showing up at the end. Despite that, I finished it, and I want to read the next in the series. It works despite everything about it.

Our hero is Allen, who has just failed his exams when we meet him, for reasons that we never actually hear until the very end of this volume. This despite being one of the school’s two prodigies (the other being Lydia, the aforementioned redhead). He doesn’t even have the money to return home, so takes a job in a northern dukedom to train the daughter of the family in magic. Tina is smart as a whip and great at everything… except magic. She clearly has a ton of mana, but can’t cast any spells. Allen’s job is to either train her and her best friend/maid/rival Ellie so that they can pass the Royal Academy exams… or else convince Tina, who’s being stubborn about it, that it’s hopeless. That said, Allen has dealt with this sort of thing four years ago, so has a few ideas in mind. Hopefully ones that will not destroy the dukedom…

I always find something to latch on to in these sorts of books, and in this case it’s Allen. He spends the entire book trying to play himself off as a dull, boring, unskilled potato of a protagonist, which might trick the reader at first, but goes out the window whenever he meets anyone and they say “So I see you’re just as big a freak as the rumors say.” I actually wonder if he’s something of a parody, and I’m certain that his constant head-patting, hugging and general close contact with his two charges is tolerable only because he has all the sexual drive of a nerf ball. His world is loaded with little sister figures, with the exception of Lydia, who essentially refuses to let him peg her like that, so he calls her an ‘albatross’ – as in around his neck – instead. Honestly, the book’s big flaw is that we don’t get the story of him and Lydia from four years ago, which honestly sounds better than this one.

If you are the sort to complain about a light novel hero, don’t even start this one. Walk away and never look back. It will melt your eyes. If you don’t take it too seriously, it’s actually pretty fun, and I will read more to see what happens next and if there are any girls in it not in love with Allen.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 4

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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.

First of all, the big news regarding this 4th volume in the series is that it actually manages to come to a logical conclusion that feels like the end of a volume, as opposed to the last two volumes, where the ending was just “finish the page you’re writing now and we’ll send a courier to pick it up”. That said, the events of the first three books are not forgotten, and have great impact on the 4th, as our heroes start their second year at Kimberly. Everyone is also growing up; our second years are sixteen, and there is a lot of discussion of sex here, why and how it should happen, and who to watch out for. It’s considered as a rite of passage rather than a shameful act. That said, events from the previous book also leave Oliver a bit… pent-up, shall we say. Fortunately, one of his friends notices this and helps him out in a scene that is actually really well written and well characterized. Further, deponent sayeth not.

Aside from talk of sex and relief from sex-based spells, there’s a lot of magical academy stuff going on here as well. We get new teachers, including one with the improbable name of Ted Williams, who stuns the entire cast by being a reasonable, normal instructor. Nanao excels in her broom-riding sport, so much so that she’s promoted to the upper-year senior league… where she finds, for once, someone she can’t blow her way past with natural talent. The kids all go out to the local town, something that takes up the back half of the book, where they get into fights with rival schools, experience the terror of British food, and deal with a mysterious man who keeps assaulting magicians. With all this going on, will Oliver finally find time to get around to why he’s actually there?

On Twitter I posted a poll asking how everyone thought the books would end: with the main cast in a polycule, or with the main cast all dead? Unsurprisingly, the poll was almost dead even, because really both options seem likely. Leaving aside Oliver and Nanao’s deep chemistry, and Nanao’s desire to want to fight him to the death (I’m hoping for redefining death in a future book), it’s pretty clear that Chela also likes Oliver a lot. Pete, of course, is also falling for Oliver. Guy and Katie have that vague R*n and H*rmoine vibe, but honestly that feels like one of the least likely, at least until Guy gets his act together. As for the death part, well, come on, look at the school. If nothing else, I’m fairly certain Oliver’s plan is not going to go swimmingly all the way to the end. Especially since his next target has taken a special interest in Pete…

I haven’t even mentioned half the things going on here – these books are very dense, and there’s a lot going on. If you enjoy magical academy stories and don’t mind them being darker and more adult than the typical light novel fare, this is still a must read.

Manga the Week of 12/15/21

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SEAN: If you buy these manga, they should still arrive by Christmas!

Denpa Books has Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI 3.

ASH: Looking forward to this one coming out after all the delays!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a debut, Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? (Tamarowa), a Comic Days title about a game show where debt-ridden women try to show a rich guy why they’d be a great wife. Most of it seems to involve their, um, technique, shall we say.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but lots of ongoing digital light novels and manga. We see Cooking with Wild Game 15, Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 4, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 2, Dragon Daddy Diaries: A Girl Grows to Greatness 2, The Emperor’s Lady-in-Waiting Is Wanted as a Bride 3, the 7th Faraway Paladin manga, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village 5, and Her Majesty’s Swarm 4.

Kaiten Books has Gacha Girls Corps 3 digitally.

No debuts from Kodansha either, but we get some finales. In print, we see Ajin: Demi-Human 17 (the final volume), Gleipnir 10, Magus of the Library 5, Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite 5, A School Frozen in Time 4 (the final volume), That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime 18, and Vinland Saga 12.

MICHELLE: The first volume of A School Frozen in Time was fun. I look forward to seeing how it wraps up.

ANNA: I’ve had Vinland Saga pre-ordered forever.

ASH: Same! I love that series so much. Glad to have more of Magus of the Library to read, too.

SEAN: The digital debut is SHAMAN KING & a garden, a spinoff of the main series focusing on the women in the cast. It runs in Nakayoshi, so is definitely for shoujo readers.

There’s also Are You Lost? 8, Cells at Work and Friends! 6 (the final volume), Giant Killing 28, Peach Boy Riverside 9, Police in a Pod 7, A Sign of Affection 5, Vampire Dormitory 7, and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 5.

MICHELLE: I need to have a Giant Killing marathon and soon.

SEAN: One Peace Books gives us Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway 2 and The New Gate 7.

Seven Seas has no light novels, print or digital, out this week. Because they’re devoting all their energy to the debut of three Chinese Danmei novels, which are SUPER SUPER POPULAR. Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: Mo Dao Zu Shi, Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu, and The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong are all out next week. I’ll be giving the last of those a try, since it’s a reincarnated villain(ess) book.

MICHELLE: I am very, very excited about these.

ANNA: I expect even more (is it possible?) Danmei fever.

ASH: I am likewise very excited for these! Having greatly enjoyed watching The Untamed, I’m looking forward to reading the source material and then some.

SEAN: Seven Seas also have some manga debuts. semelparous runs in Comic Yuri Hime, and asks what Attack on Titan would be like if it were a yuri series.

ASH: Huh.

SEAN: The Two Lions (Futari no Lion) is a one-shot BL series that ran in Gentosha’s Rutile. A guy trying to change his reputation goes to a distant university. Unfortunately, the only one there who befriends him is a classmate from his high school!

ASH: I’m intrigued.

SEAN: There is also Dai Dark 3, Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 5, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 3, Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 2, Kageki Shojo!! 3, Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 3, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 11, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 2, ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! 2, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 3, Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 3, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 6.

ASH: That’s quite a bit! Dai Dark is the one that has most of my attention, though.

SEAN: Square Enix has Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 5.

SuBLime debuts Therapy Game Restart. First there was Secret XXX, then Therapy Game, and now its sequel, Therapy Game Restart. Also running in Dear +, the main couple try to avoid Moonlighting Syndrome.

MICHELLE: I’ve heard good things about Therapy Game so should probably check this out at some point.

SEAN: Also from SuBLime is the 2nd volume of Black or White.

ASH: Which reminds me that I still need to read the first…

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 2nd and final volume of Springtime by the Window.

Viz, for some reason, did not have Natsume’s Book of Friends 26 on their website (they still don’t), so I missed it was out this week. Pretend I didn’t! It’s totally on last week’s Manga the Week of!

ASH: Such a good series, whenever it’s released.

SEAN: Viz Media gives us Call of the Night 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: The Land of Sand (a light novel), Kirby Manga Mania 3, Komi Can’t Communicate 16, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 2, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 16.

Yen On debuts Magical Explorer: Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim (Magical Explorer – Eroge no Yuujin Kyara ni Tensei Shita Kedo, Game Chishiki Tsukatte Jiyuu ni Ikiru), where a young man is reincarnated into an 18+ dating sim with gorgeous girls who all sleep with the hero!… except he’s not the hero. He’s the goofy best friend. Who gets no girls. Well, THAT will change.

We also see the 11th and final volume of Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?, and In the Land of Leadale 4.

Two debuts for Yen Press. The Detective Is Already Dead (Tantei wa Mou, Shinde Iru) is a Comic Alive title that adapts the light novel of the same name.

The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid (Kaibutsu Maid no Kareinaru Oshigoto) is a Comic Newtype series. A phantom girl hunting for her master ends up in a foreign world inhabited by demons, where she must… become a maid?

Also out from Yen: Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 7, Teasing Master Takagi-san 12, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 5.

Which of these looks like a great Christmas gift?

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, Vol. 3

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By Saekisan and Hanekoto. Released in Japan as “Otonari no Tenshi-sama ni Itsu no Ma ni ka Dame Ningen ni Sareteita Ken” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder.

Tempting as it is to simply cut and paste my review of the 2nd volume here and call it a day, I will try to find new things to discuss. This series runs on sweet but slow burn, and there are very few surprises. On the downside, that makes it somewhat boring. On the good side, you know exactly what you’re getting and you get a lot of it. The main difference in the third volume is that Mahiru tries to come on to Amane a lot stronger to get past his impenetrable shell of self-hatred. She fails, but it’s the effort that counts. She is starting to get a bit sick of his attitude, though – as is the rest of the cast, including his new friend Yuuta, the “class prince”, who sees a kindred spirit in Amane and is rather startled that the feeling isn’t mutual. By the end of the book, everyone is dragging him constantly to feel better about himself. Will it help? Possibly?

Usually the 2nd paragraph of my reviews is where I summarize the plot, but the plot can essentially be summarized in three words: Mahiru Tries Harder. As such we get a lap pillow, and more spontaneous touching. We get Amane seeing another guy ask Mahiru out, and see just how difficult it can be for her to reject them, especially when they refuse to accept it. We see Mahiru managing to actually join Amane for lunch and get away with it. Most importantly we get Golden Week, where Mahiru asks Amane on a date. Of course, it’s not a romantic date to him – not at all, after all, how on earth would she ever have feelings for him? It’s just going out to a cat cafe, a mall (where much trying on of clothes is done) and an arcade (where there is winning of stuffed animals) but as Just Friends. That said, a return to school shows some folks spotted her on the date, so something may break next time.

The author knows Amane’s big flaw can be annoying to the reader, but instead of trying to disguise this it is shoved in our faces – and his. We do finally get his own tragic backstory here, which amounts to “I grew up rich and naive and then met typical middle-school two-faced jerks”, but it’s left him bitter, mistrusting and thinking he’s the absolute worst. This even plays into the title, as he regards everything Mahiru is trying to do in order to get her feelings across to him as “spoiling him”, so he automatically pushes back. Multiple times in this book she, Itsuki and Yuuta all tell Amane to man up, have confidence, and actually try to show Mahiru how he feels about her. The end of the book implies we may see this in the next volume, but for now, this is painful.

Still, the sweet and cute romance outweighs wanting to strangle the lead man, so I’m still invested in it. Imagine how sweet it will get once these two actually confess. Like eating Pixy Stix.

Arifureta Zero, Vol. 5

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takaya-ki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Rei” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

It’s been a good sixteen months since I last read Arifureta Zero… and come to think of it, eleven months since the last Arifureta in the main series. This is the danger of catching up with the Japanese release, and I knew this meant that a lot of my time was going to be spent trying to remember who everyone apart from the main characters were. Little did I realize that that was going to be ALL of my time. This is the 2nd to last book in the series, and as such it has to gather everyone in the cast together for the big battle in the finale. And I do mean everyone – every single ally we’ve seen in the books to date pops up again, along with new characters we haven’t seen before, and they’re all written as if we remember who they are and are nostalgic to see them again. It’s exhausting. Fortunately, there’s BIT more going on than just setup.

A month after the end of the previous book, Miledi is still in a coma, which has everyone stressed out, especially Oscar, whose fighting abilities are actually being affected by his worry. Fortunately, she wakes up soon after the book begins. Unfortunately, she’s… a bit different. Yes, it’s We Want Our Jerk Back, the light novel. The largest chunk of the book is spent getting Laus, their newest ally, to the rest of them, as he’s being hunted by the entire church… including two of his own sons. (This is framed as a big reveal, but it’s telegraphed so badly I feel no remorse revealing it here.) Once he’s arrived, and Miledi puts everyone through RIGOROUS TRAINING, it’s discovered that three of their allies are going to be put to death publicly by the Church. So Miledi decides now is the time. the Big Battle. (In Book 6.)

The author apologizes for this book being so long, and he should. It’s too long, and a lot of this wasn’t needed. The “checking in with everyone who the Liberators ever met in prior books” section is a lifeless slog. Better were the scenes with Miledi waking from her coma, but she’s missing her annoying. Without it, she’s a cute adorable teenage girl in love with Oscar and not ashamed to say it. This is mined for much comedy, and for once it actually works quite well, especially her reaction once she returns to normal. Speaking of love, Miledi and Oscar don’t confess here, but that’s because they want to wait till after the battle – their feelings are known to each other. Oh yes, and there’s an incredibly annoying bunny girl in this as well, who seems to combine all the worst parts of Shea and none of the good points. The author loves to write “incredibly annoying but secretly goodhearted and awesome” people – indeed, the lesson of this book is that all of the Liberators are eccentrics – but sometimes I feel they overdue it.

So next up is the finale, and it’s not a spoiler to say that Everybody Dies – this is a prequel, after all. But it’s not the journey, it’s the destination, and so we’ll see how it all happens and how many times our heart can be broken. If you like Arifureta, you should read this, but be aware – it’s long and has boring bits.

Pick of the Week: Foodies, Weddings, and Robots

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KATE: I’m gonna need a bigger boat for this week’s haul! I’m excited for several of Wednesday’s big debuts, including Akira Toriyama’s Manga Theater, Kaiju No. 8, and Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow. If I had to pick just one title, however, it would be Emma Dreams of Stars, which Vertical Comics promises will give readers a “rare glimpse into the inner workings of The Michelin Guide, and the grueling yet rewarding life of an undercover professional foodie!” Three stars for Emma!

MICHELLE: There are some nifty oneshots coming out this week, and a new volume of Yona of the Dawn is always something to celebrate, but I simply must pick the final volume of Takane & Hana. I have enjoyed the series immensely and will miss it when it’s over, but still look forward to these two having their happily ever after.

SEAN: Must agree. Whether you get the regular (him holding her) or special edition (her holding him), Takane & Hana Vol. 18 is a must-read for shoujo comedy fans.

ASH: There really is a bunch of interesting releases this week! While I’m particularly fond of food manga, robot stories are another weakness of mine, so my pick this week is the award-winning Robo Sapiens: Tales of Tomorrow. I’m really looking forward to giving the omnibus collection a try.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great manga coming out this week! I’m always lured by new series though, so I’m going to make reverse harem vampire manga my pick and go with Rosen Blood.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dreaming Girl

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Yumemiru Shoujo no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

In my review of the last volume in this series, I mentioned I wasn’t aware of what happened in the next two books beyond it being sad. I’ll admit: I was lying. Generally these days, if you are following a series in any capacity on the internet, and the anime has already come out, there is no real way to avoid being spoiled. I didn’t have the main story beats of this book spoiled to me, but I knew what the last five pages would be, and so they are. That said, let’s not talk about those, let’s instead discuss the previous 250 or so pages, in which we find that Sakuta’s own adolescence syndrome has a very different cause from what he (and the reader) thought, learn exactly what’s going on with Shouko, and discover that it’s still hard to say you’re different from Bakemonogatari or Oregairu when you decide the best way for the hero to fix things is to sacrifice himself to save the girl.

Sakuta’s apartment is getting a bit crowded. Kaede is back, though with her “original” personality, and is struggling to catch up with the two years she’s lost. College-age Shouko is there, being very mysterious and Kasumi Tendo-ish. And Mai stays over once as well, because frankly the situation screams “my boyfriend is cheating on me with an older woman who’s also a middle-school student”, and who among us hasn’t felt agitated when that happened to them? The drama starts then Sakuta discovers that Shouko is back in the hospital – and getting worse. She has an old elementary school assignment about dreams for the future she never completed, as “die” would upset the teachers. Now it’s mysteriously being filled out… and the details seem to match up with college-age Shouko very well. Sakuta is concerned about the “get married’ part, though…

One of the more interesting things about this series is that it has all the wacky misunderstandings that harem anime usually has, but without any of the actual misunderstandings themselves. Mai and Sakuta are simply too sympatico with each other to really believe that there’s cheating or lying going on. Indeed, the fact that they’re so in tune with each other is what leads up to the tragedy in the final pages. Other than that, the most affecting part of the book for me may not have been the ending but everything leading up to it, as Sakuta drifts through school looking like a man who’s about to die. When even Kamisato is deeply concerned with him, in her own “drop dead” way, you know things are bad. And Rio and Mai’s scenes are even worse. Everyone seems to know what’s going to happen, but they also know that talking Sakuta out of this is next to impossible. As indeed it proves to be.

So what’s next? Well, if this were the movie, we’d only be halfway done. But it’s a book, so we’ve got to wait a few months. Rest assured I doubt it will kill off a main character, but I’m not as optimistic about its dreaming girl. Till then, enjoy an emotional gut-wrencher.