Archives for March 2022

Hello, Melancholic!, Vol. 1 | By Yayoi Ohsawa | Seven Seas – Minato Asano is great at playing the trombone, but ostracization in junior high has rendered her timid and terrified of offending people or asserting herself. She can’t give up on music, though, so she uses her exceptionally good ear to just blend in with whatever others are doing. Hibiki Sugawa persistently recruits Minato for the school band she’s been working to reinstate, and though her pushy tactics are a bit much, she’s genuinely compelled to help Minato enjoy music again. This is a yuri series but it’s taking its time, which I appreciate. The most pivotal moments are when Minato can’t stand to see Hibiki enraptured by the skills of another girl and when she alone can detect subtle differences in Hibiki’s playing that reveal she’s been hiding an injury. I really enjoyed this first volume and these characters, and look forward to volume two! – Michelle Smith

The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, Vol. 1 | By Rikito Nakamura and Yukiko Nozawa | Ghost Ship – The premise and the imprint for this book made me go in expecting the worst, but this turned out to actually be really great. I assume the Ghost Ship content is in future books, as there’s not much naughtiness here. Our male lead is a thoughtful, kind and loving young man, who tries his best to have multiple girlfriends without pissing them off or prioritizing any of them. The girls are all types, but work well together. And the series leans hard on the fourth wall, making references to it being a manga. I assume as we get more girls involved things will go off the rails, but in this book there’s only three, and I quite liked it. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 17 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – This is the one, folks. Most fans of the series regard this volume as the high point of the entire series. It’s easy to see why. For one thing, Komi speaks—really speaks—more in this volume than the previous sixteen combined. And there’s a good reason for that, as Manbagi, her best friend, is trying to throw herself and her love for Tadano under the bus so that Komi can be happy. But it doesn’t work that way, and it requires all of Komi’s newfound communication skills to convey this to her. You will cry, you will also laugh, and you will see Tadano in drag an awful lot. So yes, the love triangle is now official, and sure, we all know Manbagi is doomed, but damn, it doesn’t matter, because this is so sweet and heartwarming. – Sean Gaffney

Lovesick Ellie, Vol. 2 | By Fujimomo | Kodansha Comics – “Cute shoujo manga continues to be cute” isn’t the most surprising assessment, but Lovesick Ellie continues to build on the slightly off-kilter relationship dynamics of the first volume as the teenage protagonists miss the last bus away from the school festival only to end up in close proximity to (what else?) a love hotel, which is the perfect setup for Eriko to engage in more of her thirsty fantasies about Ohmi. Ohmi’s old friend Aoba keeps popping up in this volume which prompts her to wonder, “Am I in a hottie sandwich?” While the premise of the manga is plenty goofy, Eriko’s insistence on getting to know the real Ohmi shows that she’s starting to be able to navigate relationships in the real world despite her first reactions to most situations being firmly rooted in fantasy. Lovesick Ellie provides a refreshing spin on shoujo romance. – Anna N

The Mermaid and the Prince | By Tada Yumi | Glacier Bay Books – Though not a strict retelling of The Little Mermaid, Tada Yumi’s short manga The Mermaid and the Prince does take clear inspiration from that classic fairy tale. What’s immediately most striking about the manga is its artwork, the full-color illustrations with their gentle hues and soft lines. (Other examples of Tada Yumi’s luscious, languid artwork are included in a small illustration gallery at the end of the volume.) Narrative-wise, the plot is less important than the overall mood and atmosphere of the manga. Tada Yumi creates a beautiful, dream-like story that is intimately melancholic and tragically romantic, but that is also not without moments of humor. The mermaid declaring “what a useless fellow” in exasperation while aiding the shipwrecked prince in particular brought me great delight. (Also, she’s not wrong.) The Mermaid and the Prince is a lovely manga; I hope to see more of Tada Yumi’s work released in English. – Ash Brown

Murcielago, Vol. 18 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – The previous volume, despite being filled with violence, was fairly light and fluffy. This is not. The main story involves Noel, a young girl arriving at the classroom of child killer (trying to do better) Rinko, who wonders why the girl seems so familiar, then realizes that he literally murdered Noel’s father. This leads to her having a breakdown and running off. Unfortunately, that’s NOT the darkest part of this book, which also features Noel getting kidnapped by a man who wants to make her into his new daughter. This is portrayed without the usual goofy parts of the manga that offset its morbid moments. As such, it’s merely terrifying and awful. And, of course, we now have to wait to see how it’s resolved—cliffhanger! – Sean Gaffney

My Love Mix-Up!, Vol. 2 | By Wataru Hinekure and Aruko | VIZ Media – For those who liked the first volume of this series, the second volume delivers more of the same, with further mix-ups in the developing love quadrangle that is sure to prompt plenty of ongoing misunderstandings. As the volume opens Aoki, Ida, Aida, and Hashimoto decide to have a study session together which provides plenty of opportunities for anguished teen internal monologues due to the close proximity of all the characters. Aruko continues to be a great comedic artist. While little can match the hilarity of the sight gags in My Love Story!!, Aoki’s over-the-top reactions and expressions as he announces that he’s going to exile himself to a lonely mountaintop only to take refuge on a jungle gym were a highlight of this volume. While the reader might need a complex diagram to document all the misunderstandings and awkward moments in this volume, all of the romantic drama is unfolding with a group of friends who are genuinely supportive and understanding of each other, which makes this series both wholesome and extremely funny. – Anna N

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 14 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – This volume might best be read with the one after it, as it’s very much ‘the big finale.’ That said, as you might guess, this is all the bad stuff happening to people volume. Our king is outed as—gasp!—partly human, and Set is taking advantage of this to start up his own kingdom where the haves and the have-nots know their place. Fortunately, Sariphi is a complete badass, and has spent most of the series slowly winning over strong allies, so she has the support of most of the regular cast. Unfortunately, that may not be enough right now, especially as the King himself is suffering from a bit of an identity crisis. Can’t wait to see how this ends next time. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 17 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – This really is not Mitsuhide’s arc, though he is taking the attempt to frame him for multiple murders with far more aplomb than is in fact deserved. Indeed, he, Kiki and Zen seem to have all of this pretty well in hand, though it feels a lot like the ‘calm rage’ you tend to see in such characters. As for Tariga and Tsuruba, well, unsurprisingly they’re the focus of this arc, and we get a few explanations why they are the way they are and why they’re doing what they’re doing. It’s all quite tense. As for Shirayuki, she does appear a bit, but for the most part she’s absent here—even Obi, now returned to Zen’s side, gets more to do here. This is up there with Yona of the Dawn as one of Shojo Beat’s best. – Sean Gaffney

Species Domain, Vol. 12 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – The final volume wraps everything up in a nice bow while also going in directions I did not remotely anticipate, such as having a massive flying tree city be where our epilogue takes place. As you’d expect with a series like this, most of the main couples get together, there’s some marriages and children, and everything has worked out for the best. I also enjoyed seeing how magic and science have finally managed to understand each other and work together, though magic honestly has the advantage here. This was one of my favorite quiet yet fun comedies of recent years, and while it sagged a bit near the end, I’m happy to see it had a solid ending. I’ll miss it. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 13 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – This series continues to do what it does best, which is make any situation between our lead couple adorable. Nishikata tries to sense Takagi’s presence, fails at making a wish due to modern road construction, tries to guess the prince of Takagi’s school supplies, goes back to retrieve something after school and is horrified to find only couples hang out then, finds out at the beach that he’s unable to lip read from a distance very well, fails to be a star pitcher during cleanup time, etc. The cutest is probably the rock/paper/scissors match where she gets away with kissing his forehead as she knows he’ll never admit to it having happened. Honestly, Takagi has the patience of a saint. – Sean Gaffney