Ash Brown

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 5 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – We actually get a welcome reminder that Iris is a “reincarnated into an otome game” heroine in this volume, something that’s mostly been ignored aside from her accounting skills. But when her younger brother tries to apologize to her for what happened at school, her Japanese self wants to forgive him but the “Iris” part of her just can’t. It’s well handled. Elsewhere, Iris is going around looking into Yuri and also threats to her kingdom, and it’s starting to get her into trouble. She’s also falling for Dean, despite trying to have nothing to do with romance again. We end with a cliffhanger involving excommunication! Still a lot of fun—I’d love to read the novels. – Sean Gaffney

Anne Happy, Vol. 10 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This final volume doesn’t really “wrap up” the main plot—there is no magical anti-bad-luck MacGuffin that can fix things. We do get a very small flashback of their teacher which shows that she had perhaps worse circumstances than the rest of them, but has learned to keep happy and carry on, so to speak. Which is the moral of the series, really—smile even though life is bringing you down. Hibari is the one who needs that lesson here, as a chance at a family reunion is once again fouled up by her parents’ busy lives. That said, we do see here that luck can also be changed through determination, which is nice. And is that some slight yuri at the end? Anne Happy was never anything but fluff, but it was highly entertaining fluff. Good ending. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 10 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Well, I did it. I persevered to the end and finished Dreamin’ Sun. To the end, I never was fully convinced by the relationship between Shimana and Taiga, and that includes the big finale here, in which the gang is able to get Taiga’s dad to stop meddling in his son’s affairs—we never really get a good explanation why Taiga has remained under his thumb for so long—and thus Taiga is able to go to college (alongside Shimana) and finally pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. They also get married and I must boggle at the detail that they do so after having only kissed once, two years ago. I don’t expect realism in shoujo romance, but I guess my credulity has its limits. I did like Zen and Saeko, though. In the end, this never came close to measuring up to orange. Oh well. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 5 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Izaya is setting up his plots again here, when he’s not fighting with his sisters, but the real villains this time around are Ruri’s psycho fans, who bat Shinra bloody and also attack Anri. Fortunately, she is saved by her two best frie3nds. Unfortunately, one of them, Mikado, is revealed to now be the leader of the Blue Squares, much to Masaomi’s horror. You know all this from the light novel and the anime—once again the manga gets third place. Still, some of the fight scenes are good, and if you’re looking for a manga version of the story, this is that. Damning with faint praise. We’re still only up to book eight or so, too. You really should try the light novels, which have now finished. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya| Yen Press – The first chapter of this final volume once again irritated me for burying me in next-gen cast all at once (along with Hiro’s sister, who again is not a main character so gets to be seen). It gets better as it goes along, with a serious look at not letting your parents’ abuse become your own fault. Sawa, it turns out, is connected to the Sohmas in a far more serious way than she remembered, and one flashback scene verges on terrifying. (Shiki says “she slipped on snow,” but that’s not what we see.) Notably, the situation is not resolved—she’s still living with her mom in the end—but then, we also learn it didn’t resolve itself for the Furuba cast either—Ren is making Shiki’s life miserable, because she’s like that. As such, this justifies this spinoff’s existence—barely. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – In this final volume, we learn more about Sawa’s psychotic mother, including that she had some involvement with the Sohma family in the past. When Sawa asks about this, with much dread, Mutsuki reveals the full story and that everyone knew who she was all along. In fact, Shiki was central to this past event and, with Ren continuing her reign of terror he felt kinship with Sawa and worried about what had become of her. The Sohmas were indeed trying to help her, but they were also trying to help Shiki, too. In the end, this did come around to being genuinely compelling and I wish there were more, because as Sawa notes, she still hasn’t made it out of her horrible situation. If only we could’ve been spared one last appearance by Takei-sensei. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 5 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – The start of this book gives all the fanservice that four was missing and more, as we get naked massages before a bath. Half of this is tolerable, as Ringo tries to find it in her shy self to go on a date with Tsukasa, and we get her tragic past, which (surprise!) involves a lot of child abuse. The second half involves making more medicine since the penicillin isn’t prevalent enough—time for sulfa drugs. Sadly, there’s an evil doctor who’s in the way, so our heroin doctor, um, lobotomizes him? And this is presented as good and/or humorous? Yeah, OK, I’m out. This was a mildly entertaining take on the isekai fantasy with an entire group of OP geniuses, but what the hell? – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Several of Enjoji’s manga series are now available in English, but An Incurable Case of Love is actually the first that I’ve read. Five years ago, Nanase was inspired to go into medicine after meeting an attractive and accomplished young doctor in the hopes of meeting him again. Unsurprisingly, Tendo’s not quite the person she expected him to be when she finally gets the chance to work with him. In reality, her idealized prince has a harsh and exacting personality. Even though Nanase’s original motivation for becoming a nurse was perhaps less than pure, and while it may not be immediately obvious to some, she really does take both herself and her chosen profession seriously. Had it been otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked the manga, but the first volume is a largely enjoyable start to the series and I’m always glad to see more josei being translated. – Ash Brown

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – One of my initial exposures to Araki’s aptly named manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was actually through a tangentially-related work, Rohan at the Louvre, which features the character Rohan Kishibe, a rather intense genius manga creator. Rohan made his first appearance in Diamond Is Unbreakable, so I’ve been looking forward to his introduction since I started reading the series. His debut happens towards the end of this particular volume, following several other short story arcs including one, much to my delight, that proves any manga can indeed be a food manga. This volume has a fair amount of humor to go along with its strange brand of horror and absurd action, too. As a whole, this part of the series comes across a bit more episodic and perhaps slightly more comedic than its predecessors. I’m enjoying Diamond Is Unbreakble in all of its glorious ridiculousness a great deal. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!, Vol. 2 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – I don’t think I reviewed the first volume of this gag series spinoff to the famous shonen manga, but that’s a shame, as it’s really well handled. The gags are personality-based, and the series is not afraid to veer totally away from the source material when needed—half the sports festival is different events, and some battles that don’t lend themselves to gags are omitted. And then there’s Gran Torino, who does not live up to the adorable tsundere granddaughter teaching Izuku in his dreams. There’s a lot of great Uraraka stuff here, for her fans, and a lot of great Yaoyorozu gags as well, though her fans may be a bit annoyed at how socially inept she’s shown to be. Basically, this is hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 1 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – Given the cover art and the magazine that this ran in, I was expecting that I’d be reading about the lead couple on the cover. And I am, and they’re both cute—I like the fact that, despite having the “serious black-haired girl” personality type, Mafuyu is the only one whose grades are bad. But I’m actually more drawn to the other couple, Nana and Minori, best friends to main girl Koharu, who live in an apartment together to attend school and behave exactly like a married couple without actually being one. How yuri this will get is still unknown—so far we’re still at “I may like her”—but if you like your slice-of-life high school with a dash of sweet and cute, this will put a smile on your face. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 6 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Manga – I really loved how this volume of Shortcake Cake portrays Ten’s reaction to Chiaki’s surprising confession. She tries to let him down gently, and is upset about hurting her friend and conscientious about not leading him on. It’s not played for the drama of a love triangle—it’s just sad. And yet, she still does like Riku very much and wants to let him know that her feelings have changed, but now the Chiaki situation has made everything more complicated. Some really cute scenes ensue, but actually most of the volume takes place in Ten’s head as she worries and overthinks everything. We’re halfway through the series at this point and, though it seems like she and Riku will officially get together in the next volume, that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong somehow. Man, I love Margaret shoujo. – Michelle Smith

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – The second volume of Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san is much like the first, with Honda covering more aspects of the bookselling business, including the talented distribution chief with a knack for anticipating what will sell, dealing with “harmful publications,” wholesalers who never supply as many copies as are requested, the difficulty in promoting books that are receiving high-profile adaptations (particularly when bonus items feature popular idols), and dealing with a customer who happens to be a yakuza. It’s pleasant, but I was kind of bummed to learn that after Honda published the chapter about customer service training, she got in some trouble with her bosses and now has to get their approval for everything she writes and worries about being fired. That’s a shame. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this series was going to end with the next volume. The reason for that is a very surprise mutual confession between our two leads, something which I was not expecting to happen for at least a dozen more volumes. It is really well handled, though, and shows that these two shoujo protagonists are actually smart enough to pick up on signals. We also get some backstory for one of Zen’s two guards, Mitsuhide, who is asked by Zen’s older brother to watch over him and therefore must gain the trust of someone who doesn’t trust very easily—and even when he does, he seems to be betrayed. Zen and Shirayuki are very good for each other, and I’m excited to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | VIZ Media – This volume almost feels like a final volume, what with Zen and Shirayuki affirming their feelings for one another and their determination to stay by the other’s side, come what may. The final page seems to suggest a happy ending. Except this is volume four and there are 21 volumes so far. Maybe this was the point where the series changed magazines? In any case, it’s a very nice volume, with Shirayuki showing her willingness to act in Zen’s stead when his station prevents him from doing so—and giving us a glimpse of the upbringing that led to her always trying hard and being independent—as well as a revealing flashback to six years ago when Zen’s friend betrayed him but he found a new person to trust in Mitsuhide. I really enjoy this series! – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – There’s some gorgeous art here, which is good as it may take the mind away from the fact that this is really drawn out for a finale. The basic premise—send Asahi back and the water dragon dies—is obvious, despite Asahi’s protests, and you get the sense that the other gods will eventually do something about it, but it does take forever to happen, with lots of longing pages with no dialogue. Also, how does Asahi return to her normal life so quickly? Still, it’s a happy ending, and the last two pages of the “afterword” 4-kon section make up for it with a hysterical deconstruction of why the Water Dragon won the romance war and Subaru did not. Despite not quite sticking the landing, this was a very good series. – Sean Gaffney

Atsumori-kun’s Bride-to-Be, Vol. 3 | By Taamo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This continues to be a really cute, almost retro-feeling shoujo series. Atsumori and Nishiki are now officially dating, but he has stopped short of saying he loves her because he doesn’t know what that feels like. Meanwhile, she has come to understand how lonely he has been and how his future has been mapped out by his rich family. Basically, in this volume, they hang out at various times with her friends from her hometown. That’s it and yet, it’s wonderful! I love how honest Atsumori and Nishiki are with each other, I love how willing he is to try new things for her sake. And I love how he realizes that he does actually love her after all. Even a small detour into the cliché of “romantic rival who vows to take her away” can’t dispel my affections. Too bad we’re all caught up with Japan now. – Michelle Smith

Become You, Vol. 1 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – The brand new series from this creator (so new this is the only volume out in Japan as well) does not involve romantic pairings, at last not yet, though certainly there’s more going on with the childhood friend than she’s willing to reveal. Instead we have the story of two high school boys whose personalities are dissimilar and the way that they slowly bond through music. Very slowly—this takes a while to get going, and you can see why Hikari keeps brushing Taiyou off. The best part of the volume is Taiyou’s description of his tragic art past, featuring another dream-crushing teacher, which Japan seems to have in abundance. Again, this isn’t as grabbing as orange to me, but it’s still a very good start. – Sean Gaffney

H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness, Vol. 1 | By Gou Tanabe | Dark Horse – Having greatly enjoyed Tanabe’s collection of short Lovecraftian manga adaptations The Hound and Other Stories, I was glad to see Dark Horse license more of Tanabe’s work. This time it’s a four-volume series adapting another story by Lovecraft, At the Mountains of Madness, about a scientific expedition to Antarctica that goes terribly, terribly wrong. I haven’t actually read Lovecraft’s novella, so I can’t compare Tanabe’s version to the original. However, I can say that so far the manga adaptation is immensely engrossing and that I look forward to the release of the remaining volumes. Tanabe does rely very heavily on wordless panels depicting the explorer’s faces as they look on in astonishment or horror, so the illustrations end up being a bit repetitive as a result. But at the same time this effectively tempers the pacing of the narrative, allowing the increasing sense of dread to slowly build. – Ash Brown

Hitorijime My Hero, Vol. 5 | By Memeco Arii | Kodansha Comics – I liked the first half of this volume quite a lot. Kousuke has a compulsion to play the hero, and he’s struggling to come to grips with the fact that Masahiro’s home life is a problem that cannot be solved by his intervention. I appreciate that Arii-sensei is acknowledging how Masahiro’s situation affects him, and how valuable it is for him to have someone like Kousuke to talk to about this stuff. They’re saving each other, in a way. All that was very nice, but then we segue into a plotline about how Hasegawa is frustrated by Kensuke’s disinterest in sex, culminating in a cliffhanger where it seems like he’s coming on to Masahiro. I could really do without all of this, especially as I predict misunderstandings will ensue. I have very little patience for that sort of thing. Still, I will keep reading. – Michelle Smith

In/Spectre, Vol. 10 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – I was amused at the general thrust of the first half of the book being about how horrible Kotoko is, if only as she’s pretty much the main reason people are fans of this series… including me. She’s still in the mystery club, giving realistic explanations for events even if they may be supernatural after all—this needs to continue to be a casual club. Then we get a story about a dying old man who wants Kotoko to force his kids to realize that he murdered their mother… even if in reality he hired a fox demon to do it. And Rikka is on the cover, but doesn’t do much except have phenomenal luck and hate Kotoko. Still a very well-written series. Oh, and Kotoko’s underwear is paisley. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 21 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The first half of this continues the Endeavor plotline, and also shows off Hawks, who gets to be an apparent triple agent. The best part of it, and one of the best moments in the entire series, is Todoroki’s reaction to his father’s massive facial scarring after the incident. Best noodle slurp ever. The second half has 1-A taking on 1-B in four-on-four battles, with Shinso being a fifth on both squads, one for A and one for B. If this leads to Shinso replacing Mineta, like he does in most fanfics, I’m all for it. In the meantime, 1-A wins the first battle, and the second is neck and neck, with Momo trying to show off her smarts. Will she pull it off? We’ll see next book, which is guaranteed not to be controversial at all. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 7 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – Kou’s in Paris, and her new boss is overly friendly in that French sort of way. Meanwhile, Rin is back home reading romance novels and literally imagining her and Kou as the couple. Oh yes, and the volume ends with a romantic dinner in an expensive restaurant when Rin comes to France to visit. All it lacks is “and then they went back to Rin’s hotel and made love the rest of the night.” As for the rest of the cast, it’s back to games, though this may be difficult for some—Aoba gets a bad cold, putting her in bed for a few days, and Narumi has to convince her traditional innkeeping parents that she’s not going to follow in their footsteps. Now that Sunshine Sketch has slowed to a crawl, this is a good replacement for it. – Sean Gaffney

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 7 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – Somehow I missed reviewing the sixth book, and may have missed reading it as well. In any case, things aren’t going well for our lead couple, which is suffering from the usual miscommunication drama that infects shoujo series like this. Indeed, it infects the rest of the cast as well, and so we have Kou’s brother getting in trouble for seemingly having an affair… with Futaba. It’s not what it seems. But it does inspire Shuko, who was terrified about what would happen to her crush, to confess to him. Fortunately, he’s a good teacher, so rejects her. We’re also getting some setup for a beta couple, which I think I would enjoy more if it wasn’t so obvious. This was a good volume, but I’ve grown to expect great from this series, and it wasn’t that. – Sean Gaffney

Cats of the Louvre | By Taiyo Matsumoto | Viz Media – I expected it would only be a matter of time before Cats of the Louvre was licensed, but I was initially a little surprised that Viz was the company bringing it over—up until this point, every volume of the “Louvre Collection” (including Hirohiko Araki’s Rohan at the Louvre and Jiro Taniguchi’s Guardians of the Louvre) has been released by NBM Publishing. But, on the other hand, Viz has been Matsumoto’s primary publisher in English. Viz has done a beautiful job with the release if Cats of the Louvre, combining both volumes of the Japanese edition into a single, hardcover omnibus. In part, the narrative follows a declining colony of cats that lives in the hidden corners of the Louvre and the humans that come into contact with it. Both Matsumoto’s storytelling and artwork are atmospheric, magical, and melancholic. But while there’s some darkness to the work, there’s also hope. – Ash Brown

Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods, Vol. 7 | By Takuto Kashiki | Yen Press – I think we’ve now caught up with Japan, so expect more of a gap before the next volume of this. Till then, we see our not-a-couple couple use bird mail delivery, get taken advantage of by local doctors, have troublesome friends over for the night, wait in a very long line for food that may not live up to the line, etc. Easily the best chapter is also the most serious, as an old mentor of Hakumei’s dies and sends her a final sake bottle, which she and Mikochi wander all over to try to drink quietly before Mikochi finally moves on so Hakumei can grieve a bit. This is always going to be the sort of series where “we couldn’t buy the cups” is gripping drama, but that’s why it has its fans. – Sean Gaffney

Himouto! Umaru-chan, Vol. 7 | By Sankakuhead | Seven Seas – Is this the end of the superdeformed Umaru? Well, no, but it makes for a nice change of pace, as Umaru realizes that she’s been hanging out with friends normally for a while, and wonders if she can admit to them her big secrets—both her slothful little self, and also her masked gamer. The message turns out to be “don’t rush growing up,” which is a bit disappointing but not surprising given this has like five more volumes to go. We also see the “rival” girl again, and she turns out to also be connected to this extended family in an oblique way. Unfortunately, emphasizing the similarities between her and Umaru works a bit TOO well—sometimes I can’t tell them apart. This is the definition of moe cuteness. – Sean Gaffney

Magus of the Library, Vol. 2 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – The main selling point for this series is present and correct—it is gorgeous, and rivals Witch Hat Atelier for the prettiest manga in Kodansha’s stable right now. The main plot involves a somewhat older Theo setting out to take the Kafna test, despite the fact that it’s a job, much like “librarian” is here, seen as being for women. He’s joined by a young woman who seems to tick off every single box in the “easily flustered love interest” box, to the point where I actually found her a bit annoying. The series sure does love its books, though, and also loves its grueling three-day-long test, which is known to break many of its participants. Can Theo pass? If you guessed “I bet we find out in Book Three,” you’re right. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 6 | By Hideyuki Furuhashi, Betten Court, and Kohei Horikoshi | VIZ Media – With the departure of Master, Vigilantes seems to be settling in for the long haul. Koichi discovers two new applications for his powers, which leads him to engage villains in ways he really shouldn’t, though this comes in handy when he helps Aizawa take on another enhanced Trigger user. In fact, there is lots of Aizawa in action, which I appreciate, as well as an example of how effectively Midnight’s powers work in the field when she goes undercover to figure out who is dosing young men with the drug. Meanwhile, there’s a mysterious speedster lurking about who easily dispatches the villain that Aizawa and Koichi struggled with. This prequel really seems to be coming into its own and I find myself increasingly captivated by it! – Michelle Smith

Mythical Beast Investigator, Vol. 2 | By Keishi Ayasato and Koichiro Hoshino | Seven Seas – Last time I called this very readable but extremely forgettable. The two qualities invert in this second and final volume, as the “twist” that happens halfway through the book is rather startling, but I don’t really like the way that it’s handled, which seems confusing and probably reads better in the novel this is based on. The focus, appropriately, changes over to Kushuna, the grumpy rabbit demon accompanying Ferry on her journeys, and we see how they originally met and how he was won over to her side. But… ergh, I don’t want to spoil the twist, but let’s just say I disliked it and leave it at that. On the bright side, I’m very glad the series ends with the second volume. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 9 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – The bulk of this volume is given over to the demon castle’s Summer Festival, which naturally Syalis is SUPER EXCITED for, despite meaning that outsiders might actually notice she has the run of the place. With that in mind, she does a café (well, haunted house was taken) which features her, as a hostage in big fake handcuffs, begging for food. It’s brilliant and also hilarious. We get a beauty pageant, which Syalis manages to lose despite seemingly being a shoo-in, as well as the final bonfire, which she sleeps through, much to her horror. The rest of the book is just as funny, and while the gags aren’t original they arrive with precision timing. This remains a fantastic comedy manga. – Sean Gaffney

That Blue Sky Feeling, Vol. 3 | By Okura and Coma Hashii | VIZ Media – I reckon some people are going to be disappointed by the ending of That Blue Sky Feeling, in that Noshiro and Sanada are not yet formally dating, but if one looks only at the change in Sanada, then it’s a satisfying ending indeed. Probably because of his experience being accepted by Noshiro, when Sanada’s long-time friend Ayumi asks whether he likes boys, he tells her the truth. And when Noshiro starts going out with a girl, it’s Ayumi who knocks some sense into Sanada, telling him that his feelings do matter in this situation. After Noshiro ditches his date to hear what Sanada has to say, it’s confession time and it looks like the feelings may be mutual. But what really stands out to me is Sanada’s face there at the ending—happy and at peace. His love was not rejected! I hope we get more Okura in the future. – Michelle Smith

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 5 | By Fumita Yanagida | Seven Seas – Beta couple Carol and Misaki get the main focus in this book, though they aren’t actually a couple. Carol seems to be waiting for Misaki to take the lead, and he just isn’t doing that—though seeing her and Misuzu threatened by some punks turns on his inner rage, as the cover art shows. As for Carol, once she finds that Misaki is trying to get stronger by spending time with Tomo at her father’s dojo, Carol suddenly finds herself jealous—and decides to do something about it by seemingly seducing Jun. Of course, she’s not really doing this, but it does serve to show off Jun’s paralyzing fear of intimacy, and also possibly the sexiest “rawr!” in all of manga ever. I love this series. – Sean Gaffney

The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – After a wizard named Wizdom bestowed the shape and intellect of humans upon beasts, the demi-human tribes built a grand academy. The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms is a collection of BL short stories set at that school. I must say… as a major fan of Nagabe’s The Girl from the Other Side, I thought I’d like this more. Some stories are charming, like “Mauchly & Charles,” in which a human is clearly in love with his bear friend, but others are darker, like “Doug & Huey,” in which a crow sabotages his peacock pal’s efforts to find a girlfriend so that he can remain closest to him, or “Alan & Eddington,” in which the latter brews a love potion intending to make out with the former and leave him with no memory of their encounter. I was expecting more whimsy, I think. – Michelle Smith

Bakemonogatari, Vol. 1 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Vertical Comics – For years there wasn’t a Bakemonogatari manga. It’s not clear why; perhaps Nisioisin didn’t like the format, perhaps the iconic SHAFT anime made it a hard act to follow. In any case, getting Oh!great to draw the story was an inspired choice—the ridiculous over-the-topness that grew tiresome in Air Gear and Tenjho Tenge fits in perfectly with Araragi’s fevered fantasies and Senjogahara’s verbal lacerations. This first volume takes us almost to the end of Hitagi Crab—indeed, it cuts off right near the end, awkwardly so. Still, for anyone who gets overwhelmed by the novel’s verbiage, this is a great purchase. There’s even a bit of added content, though only a bit. – Sean Gaffney

If I Could Reach You, Vol. 1 | By tMnR | Kodansha Comics – Teenage love can be dumb, but not always. Sometimes people are well aware that the feelings they have are never going to be requited, but that does not actually stop the feelings from being there anyway. It’s especially troubling for Uta, the girl that she’s fallen for and her childhood friend. Unfortunately, her brother was also Kaoru’s childhood friend, and they’re now married. Uta is living there due to circumstances, and must continue going to school and living her life while falling deeper and deeper into her passions. I must admit I found her school life a bit more interesting than the home life. Still, this manages to be a potboiler but not in a Citrus way, which is good. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 3 | By Tomohito Oda | VIZ Media – After a second volume where I had to make it a full review so I could rant, this one settles down quite a bit. Yamai is still around but far less, and the emphasis is firmly on Komi trying to make progress. She does—in fact, her goal of “100 friends” is up to eleven by the end. We also get a better idea of her home life, and it turns out that both Komi and her brother take after their father, while the mother is a total chatterbox. As with the first two books, the best moments in the volume are more heartwarming than funny. Komi at the pool, where her accidental trip and fall means she has to sit by the side, leading to her castigating herself till Tadano steps in. There’s also a lovely festival at the end. Cute as heck. – Sean Gaffney

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, Vol. 1 | By Naru Narumi | Dark Horse – The back cover promises “a fun food manga that will show you around the authentic ramen culture of everyday Japan,” and on that, Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles delivers. I doubt I’ll be able to retain any of the information imparted, but it was interesting, all the same. Ramen-obsessed Koizumi is fine, but I’m less fond of Yu Osawa, the girl who’s desperate to become friends with Koizumi. Watching her friends become friendly with Koizumi—by demonstrating an affinity for ramen rather than interest in her—eventually drives Yu to the point of flailing on the ground and crying, “Why won’t you be friendly with meeeee?” It’s very unappealing. She does start to win Koizumi over by the end of the volume, though, which I guess is good for her. I’m not sure I’ll be back for volume two. Maybe. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: School Briefs, Vol. 3 | By Kohei Horikoshi and Anri Yoshi | VIZ Media – Set just before and after the U.A. students have moved into the dorms, the third volume of My Hero Academia: School Briefs has a recurring motif wherein Hatsume Mei’s inventions cause trouble, including a fun chapter where the kids, on edge from telling ghost stories in Tokoyami’s room, hear a strange buzzing sound that Aizawa begrudgingly comes to investigate. My favorite stories, though, are the a-day-in-the-life entries told from the points of view of Ida (who worries he has ostracized his classmates by being too strict) and Kuwai (Koji’s pet bunny, whose inner narrative turns out to be surprisingly and delightfully erudite). I especially liked that both stories showed Bakugo in a good light, including a moment in Ida’s story where Bakugo prevents a surprise from being spoiled and one in Kuwai’s where he checks on the bunny to make sure it’s okay after it briefly escaped Koji’s room. I’m really glad we’re getting these stories! – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 6 | By Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court | VIZ Media – This takes place a number of yeas before the main series, so we can’t really get cameos from 1-A. But we can see the teachers, some of whom aren’t teaching yet. This volume gives us a lot of Eraser, who ends up dealing with Koichi against his better judgment. Meanwhile, Koichi is doing the sort of quirk experimentation that 1-A requires in its students, and finds new uses for his quirk. This really does have in its background plot the idea that someone who fails (or in this case misses) an exam is not a terrible person, but society may treat them that way. And, yes, there’s still quirk drugs going around, this time lading to infiltrating a mixer, with the help of Midnight. Good times. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 23 | By Yuki Midorikawa | VIZ Media – It looks as if this is now a yearly series, but that makes each new volume a rewarding experience. This one has two main storylines. In the first, the boys of Natsume’s class get involved in a school’s urban legend about a painting, which may or nay not be supernatural in origin. Then, Natsume and Natori end up visiting a seemingly abandoned house that in reality is being maintained by Matoba and his people, and requires a certain ritual to go well. That said, nothing goes perfectly with Natsume around. Again, the big reason to read this is the natural empathy Natsume has to nearly everyone around him. He is absolutely a good boy—a cinnamon roll, in fact. – Sean Gaffney

Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, Vol. 4 | By Natsuya Semikawa and Virginia Nitouhei | Udon Entertainment – I like the way that the semi-regular cast show up over and over, sometimes because they’re plot-relevant, and sometimes just to eat more of their favorite food. One of our lothario knights ends up having a food discussion with a woman who is clearly a noble, only he doesn’t really get this. A lady knight shows up looking for the enemy that she fell in love with years ago… only to find the waitress of the izakaya (the blonde, not Shinobu or the little girl) is his wife. Meanwhile, Nobuyuki may be getting closer to Shinobu, but it’s pretty clear food is more important to both of them. Still makes me hungry, but good stuff. – Sean Gaffney

The Poe Clan, Vol. 1 | By Moto Hagio | Fantagraphics – It’s always cause for celebration when more of Hagio’s work is released in translation, doubly so when that work is the highly influential shoujo classic The Poe Clan. Originally published in the 1970s, the series’ focus is on a family of vampirnellas and their interactions with humans, particularly how they prey upon them to sustain their own lives or to initiate them as members into their immortal clan. The first English-language volume from Fantagraphics, released as a beautiful hardcover omnibus, collects six chapters of Hagio’s epic. Though the chapters are all related to one another, the story isn’t presented chronologically and instead shifts between time periods as well as characters. But tying everything together is the presence and spectre of Edgar—a young man whose mortal and immortal life are both tragic. Delectably dark and dramatic, I’m looking forward to the final volume of The Poe Clan a great deal. – Ash Brown

Sacrifical Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 7 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – Sariphi is making friends and influencing people, but her royal fiancé is never far away. She needs to show that she can handle things on her own, so is sent to a nation to essentially bring greetings from the King. Things get complicated, though, because her bodyguard accompanying her is a hyena, and they’re treated as untrustworthy and evil. It doesn’t help that, in order to make himself look good, he deliberately puts her in danger so that he can save the day. But of course Sariphi can see the good within him. She may need to double down on that, though, as the cliffhanger implies he’s about to be framed. An underrated shoujo series. – Sean Gaffney