Falling Drowning, Vol. 3 | By Yuko Inari | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s the final volume and, inevitably, Honatsu has begun to regain her memories. With them, she remembers that Shun was once her most precious person. Unfortunately, she’s currently dating Toma. Seasoned shoujo readers might expect that Honatsu choosing one of them would be the culmination of the series, but it’s actually her relationship to her past self that has the biggest payoff, as she eventually comes to recognize that young Honatsu was never really as invincible as everyone thought, and the past six years have taught her how to talk about her weakness and sadness without hesitation. It’s clear from the author’s notes that she was told to wrap things up quickly and that there had been more she wanted to draw. While things do feel somewhat rushed, Falling Drowning still comes to a satisfying conclusion. – Michelle Smith
Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 3 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – This is an improvement on the second volume. There is still the occasional mention of Shiraishi lacking any presence, but for the most part we’re moving on from that and starting to show WHY Kubo seems to be so over the moon for him. Because she 100% is, far more than the Takagis and Nagatoros of this world. It can be embarrassing, as she would no doubt freely admit when her older sister starts drunkenly teasing her in front of Shiraishi (who now worries this is his fault somehow). I’m not sure when these two cuties are going to get together, and I’ve no doubt it will be a few more volumes. But guaranteed money they’ll do it before the other two girls I mentioned above. – Sean Gaffney
Lost Lad London, Vol. 2 | By Shima Shinya | Yen Press – To be honest, the central mystery of Lost Lad London—who is framing Al Adley for the murder of his biological father, the mayor of London?—doesn’t move forward much in this volume. The most significant thing that happens is that the cops decide Al’s their prime suspect, haul him in for questioning, and search his residence without a warrant. The real charm is the atmosphere. This feels like a proper mystery, for one, but there is also some amusing interplay between Al and Ellis that makes me yearn for an adaptation of some kind. Too, I appreciate that the characters discuss the racism and sexism they’ve had to contend with in their lives. I look forward to the third and final volume for the solution (and to see if my guess is right) but I’m bummed our time with these characters will have been so brief. – Michelle Smith
Queen’s Quality, Vol. 15 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Suddenly Queen’s Quality has gotten a lot more depressing. Certainly this helps with the aimless feel we’ve had the last few books, and the cast is now winnowed down to people I can remember. But man, when the “good end” is your hero protecting everyone by destroying all the memories he’s ever had, that’s bleak. Fortunately, I doubt that Fumi and company are going to let Kyutaro get away with that. Unfortunately, all their alternatives also seem to involve sacrificing themselves. Hell, even some of the terrible villains are falling to horribly gruesome deaths. I don’t THINK this is the sort of manga to end with its main couple dead or dying. But I guess we’ll have to see. – Sean Gaffney
Spy x Family, Vol. 8 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – Not gonna lie, this is THE best arc of Spy x Family to date, and the entirely of this book is right in the middle of it. Not only do we see Yor take out dozens of assassins, either in public (so she has to incapacitate them) or in private (where she can murder them). She is simply amazing, and it’s also stunning to see a Jump series show off this much blood, gore, and death—expect the anime to cut this heavily. At the heart of this, though, is the core of Yor’s story arc—her goals in becoming an assassin are mostly fulfilled now, or can be fulfilled by the family that she loves dearly but doesn’t know it yet. She wants to give it up. Unfortunately, she can’t right now, as she has to save the mother and daughter from death. Amazing book. – Sean Gaffney
We’re New at This, Vol. 11 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Aside from one chapter right at the start of this volume which tries to get into the topic of fetishes and flounders badly, this is a very good entry in the series, mostly because of a discussion I don’t think I was expecting it to have, even if it doesn’t dwell on it ling. When our married couple go to buy a car and Ikuma has to take a call, he returns to find that the salesman was “waiting for the man” to offer his card and start the pitch—something Sumika notes happens ALL THE TIME. Indeed, when Ikuma does the bare minimum of pointing out that women should be treated as equals, he gets a round of applause from every woman in the dealership. An unexpected surprise in this otherwise cutesy volume. – Sean Gaffney