Ash Brown

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 13 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – I’m not quite sure if the artist is going for “being happy in love damages your creativity” or “being with the wrong guy damages your creativity,” but either way I’m not wild about the fact that Nino is having trouble singing again after her confession to Momo. Yuzu’s forceful kiss is not really helping there, either. That said, it certainly helps keep up the potboiler aspect of this. I was more interested in Kurose and An, as even if she’s clearly a “last-minute pairing” addition, I like her style, and honestly Kurose is better off with her, though we aren’t there yet. Add to that the fact that the volume runs short so we can have another of the author’s early short stories, and it’s only an okay volume. – Sean Gaffney

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 5 | By Matoba | Yen Press – We get a lot more of Sacchan in this volume, and that helps explain why the anime expanded her role as well. Clearly she’s more popular as a blushing mess than she is as a violent stoic, and so that’s what we see here, as she clearly likes Astaroth but his playboy tendencies and her self-image issues torpedo any chances. As for Mullin and Beel, anime-watchers will no doubt recognize the cherry blossom chapters, but they’re sweet, and also help to give a bit of backstory to Pandemonium, which is getting to be less “Hell” and more “we’re moving to the next town over” in terms of wars with God. Still as light as a feather, but cute and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Candy Color Paradox, Vol. 1 | By Isaku Natsume | SuBLime – Onoe is a journalist working for a weekly magazine and he’s less than enthused when he’s assigned to partner with Motoharu Kaburagi, a photographer whom he considers his rival. Worse, it appears that Kaburagi has never even noticed him. When they go out on assignments together, Onoe keeps screwing up and eventually becomes downright incompetent at his job after he realizes he’s attracted to Kaburagi. Kaburagi notices, of course, and somehow finds Onoe’s tsundere-tastic protestations to the contrary endearing, so ends up falling in love with him. The parts of this volume I liked best were the few pages where they’re working together successfully and getting scoops, but now that they’re officially a couple, I’m pretty sure journalism is not going to be the focus. I’ll give it one more volume at least to see how it goes. – Michelle Smith

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 11 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – “The operation was a success but the patient died” would be a good summary of the final volume of West Wind Brigade, as Kuroe is able to revive and save everyone, but the cost is very high. It’s a surprisingly serious ending to what has been a relatively light-hearted spinoff, so it makes sense that the actual ending is a festival with everyone trying to get Soujirou to take them around. This whole thing taking place in the first five or so volumes of Log Horizon, there’s not really a lot of plot-advancement it can do, though we see Shiro at the end, despairing about Soujirou’s harem and also talking about the nature of the world they’re in. This was fun. – Sean Gaffney

Love in Focus, Vol. 1 | By Yoko Nogiri | Kodansha Comics – I did very much enjoy this volume, for those worried about a “Vol. 1” appearing in Bookshelf Briefs; it’s just I don’t have much to say about it. It’s cute. It reminds me a lot of Shortcake Cake, though the dorm situation is most likely why. Mako is attending a high school far from her home due to its photography club, and bonds with a sullen dark-haired boy with a secret past and her childhood blond-haired friend who “sees her as a sister,” except that’s totally not true. A love triangle is in the works, though as with most of these series the final result is pretty obvious from the get go. It’s only three volumes, though, so I’m happy to read more of it. – Sean Gaffney

Love Massage: Melting Beauty Treatment, Vol. 1 | By Toki Sunazuka | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Honestly, I don’t know what compelled me to read this. It’s exactly what you would expect, going by the cover. Shiho Sannomiya is a lonely office worker who is surprised when handsome Haruki Toudou shows up when she schedules an in-home massage. She immediately begins sexually fantasizing about him, which makes it awkward when he’s transferred to her workplace. Dreams become reality when they immediately start making out. Various interruptions prevent them from doing the deed, including a note from another female client that leads Shiho to feel foolish for feeling special. But not to fear, for Haruki has immediately fallen in love with her! Everything happens swiftly and with zero depth whatsoever. I shan’t be reading volume two. – Michelle Smith

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 34 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I avoided reading this for a while as I knew what was coming. Yes, Sinbad has a plan, and that plan involves mind-controlling everyone into being totally fine with being killed and “reborn” in a better world. This unfortunately includes Morgiana, though at least she seems to be fighting it off. It does not include Judar and Harukyu, however, who were too evil to be affected, apparently. And so now they have to go battle Sinbad, which means conquering all the dungeons that he conquered when he was younger. This is pretty much the last arc of this title, so it makes sense that we’re back to dungeon crawling after so long. I do wish Morgiana could be part of it, though. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 42 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – After the last couple of volumes showed Kyoko’s growth as an actress, it makes sense that here we see she has a ways to go. In particular, her concentration is very touch-and-go, and almost loses her the role when she gets distracted. Thank goodness for Moko, then, who saves her butt, though she has to endure a little bit of devotion afterwards. It’s a kickass moment for her, but the cliffhanger worries me—I suspect we will not be seeing the Kyoko/Momo show we’ve all been waiting for. Still, there’s some fantastic acting here from Kyoko, as well as seeing how far an actress will go to win a role. Skip Beat! doesn’t come out as often anymore, but I’m always waiting for it. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, Vol. 5 | By Neko Nekobyou and Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – This was popular enough to get a second arc, so we get a new character, a complete newbie whose friends seem to enjoy fucking with her because she’s pretty gullible. Fortunately, she runs into our heroines, who help to set things straight. They also run into an old face from SAO… or rather from SAO Progressive, who hasn’t met the main cast here but is very familiar with Kirito and Asuna. And they’re going to need all the help they can get, as they’ve got to take on a new quest that has another group wanting it far more… enough to pay big money for it… or just beat them up for it. This isn’t as sweet and fluffy as it was before, but it’s lots of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart | By Syundei | Seven Seas – Go For It, Nakamura! was one of my favorite manga released last year, so I was very excited when another of Syundei’s works was licensed. Be warned, though—the two volumes are vastly different in tone. While there are a few adorable and heartwarming moments to be found in Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart, it is still very much a horror manga. If anything, the incongruity of its charming elements actually contributes to the underlying unease and disquieting mood of a story about serial killings, reincarnation, revenge, and corrupted love. It’s a blood-soaked and disturbing tale, and deliberately so. Admittedly, the dramatic climax does bring the volume to a rather abrupt and somewhat unexpected close, but overall Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is horror that is both effective and affective. I very much appreciate the creator’s versatility and sincerely hope to see more of Syundei’s manga translated. – Ash Brown

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 10 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – Welcome to the first volume of Chise Potter, though hopefully we won’t get a Professor Quirrell. Chise gets settled in at college, choosing a dorm by choosing cats, which in my opinion is how every college should do it. Elias follows along, of course, as a teacher, and there’s a gaggle of new characters, most of whom I didn’t really get much from at all. Chise is, thankfully, much less awkward at being social than she used to be—in fact, it’s her roommate who’s the tough nut to crack. That said, most of this volume was pure setup, and I suspect it will read better after I’ve read the next two. I’m definitely grateful that this series is continuing, though, and it’s worth the eventual reread. – Sean Gaffney

Cutie Honey: The Classic Collection | By Go Nagai | Seven Seas – My first real introduction to Cutie Honey was through Shimpei Itoh’s modern manga adaptation Cutie Honey a Go Go!. It was a fun series, so I was looking forward to delving into Go Nagai’s original manga from 1973. Fortunately, along with an essay by novelist Hirayama Yumeaki and an afterword by Go Nagai, Seven Seas has collected the entirety of Cutie Honey in a single hardcover omnibus. Cutie Honey is an entertaining if somewhat absurd series. Much of the manga’s humor tends towards the lewd and admittedly some of the jokes aren’t as socially acceptable as they may have once been. Between the titular heroine’s transformation scenes and the frequency of characters’ clothing being ripped to shreds, there’s a fair amount of nudity in the action-oriented manga. Since the cast is primarily made up of women, it’s mostly female nudity, but the men aren’t immune from sudden clothing loss either. – Ash Brown

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 4 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Once again, I’m left feeling that the anime and novels handled this material better—the wait between releases doesn’t help, plus the author’s plotting, which involves everything happening at once, makes the manga more diffuse and confusing than it has any right to be. The best bits probably involved Ruri and Shizuo’s brother, who bond over their difficulty with basic human emotions, like so many other Narita couples. Last time I said Izaya was about to jump start things, but he’s absent from this book, meaning that it meanders a bit too much. It really needs someone making everyone’s lives miserable again. Which I’m sure will happen soon. Maybe. – Sean Gaffney

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 9 | By Izumi Miyazono | Viz Media – The final volume of this series ties up everything that’s been getting in the way of Asuka and Ryu getting married. Ryu decides he does love Asuka and resolves to return and fight to save their relationship. Asuka realizes that she doesn’t have to get married NOW and uses that to spend three years doing so well at her job that she can now take a year off to get married and have a baby and NOT have to worry about being fired for being a married woman. Heck, even Asuka’s friend who was perfectly happy to not get married is getting married. So in the end the title proves to be true, and you’re really happy to see the two of them finally work everything out. A very good josei series, bring on more of them. – Sean Gaffney

Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods, Vol. 4 | By Takuto Kashiki | Yen Press – I joked on Twitter that after the girls from Girls’ Last Tour died, they were reincarnated as Hakumei and Mikochi, and while Hakumei may be a bit too sensible for that to map exactly, there is very much the sense of exploration across both volumes, even though the two should be more familiar with their setting. We meet Mikochi’s sister in this volume, who is a writer and a tease, not in that order. There’s a festival chapter (sort of), a hot spring chapter (sort of), and a chapter which will make you cry at the death of a coffee grinder. In short, most of why readers read this series is on full display here. I enjoy this more and more with each volume, and always smile as I read. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 7 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – There’s some good comedy here at the head and tail of the book. My favorite chapter was probably the one involving Miyuki, who is no longer sleep-deprived, losing the bags under his eyes—which terrifies everyone and makes Kaguya realize that her love of them may be a fetish. But the bulk of this book is to introduce a new major character, Miko, the girl on the cover who is super earnest and also super awkward. She’s running against Miyuki in the election, and her ideas are great but her stage fright isn’t. Fortunately, Miyuki takes a page from Hachiken’s book and makes himself the bad guy to fix things—fortunately he wins anyway. I want to see how Miko adds to the dynamic. – Sean Gaffney

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, Vol. 2 | By Waco Ioka and Midori Yuma | Viz Media – I enjoyed this second volume more than the first, not uncommon with Shojo Beat stories. Aoi’s still having trouble getting anyone to give her a job, but after she gives some home-cooked food to a passing drunk who turns out to be really important, she’s making important connections. More to the point, Aoi compares her story explicitly with Beauty and the Beast, and she’s not wrong. There’s also a jealous woman who attempts to sabotage things and is caught and about to be humiliated. That said, that’s the cliffhanger, and I’m fairly certain Aoi’s going to save her with the power of niceness. I am OK with following this yokai series now that Kamisama Kiss has ended. – Sean Gaffney

Maiden Railways | By Asumiko Nakamura | Denpa – Somehow, I’d gotten the impression that this was a girls’ love anthology, but in reality, only one couple depicted herein fits that bill. Instead, we get stories about a pickpocket helping an inattentive husband make up with his wife, a girl who’s moving away seizing the moment to confess to a boy, a ghost with lingering regrets, and a guy whose wife thinks he’s cheating on her because he works late and brings home cake. Trains figure prominently in each story—in a couple we get some detailed timetables as one party tries taking a different train to catch up with someone, but in some stories the action is just rooted around a train station, or perhaps about a beloved late relative’s model train set. They’re all low-key and they’re all enjoyable, even if they ultimately don’t leave a strong impression. I look forward to Doukyuusei by this author, coming soon! – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 42 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Kyoko’s audition for the role of Momiji continues. She’s emerged victorious over the scheming Kimiko in terms of swordfighting, but that alone isn’t enough to convince the director to cast her. Overhearing another actor deduce that Kyoko likes Ren, Kimiko manages to convince Kyoko that Ren is in love with her, with nearly disastrous results. There are some frustrating things in this volume, like Kyoko almost telling Moko about her feelings for Ren but chickening out and her taking in some intel about Kimiko liking some other guy without actually questioning her conclusion that Ren’s secret love is Kimiko. I know, I know. Shoujo gotta shoujo. But I am just so ready for some real movement on this point, as much as I love seeing Kyoko kick ass career-wise. Soon, please? – Michelle Smith

ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department, Vol. 6 | By Natsume Ono | Yen Press – And so, ACCA ends as it began, with endless discussions between relatively stoic middle-aged people. This is pretty much the definition of Natsume Ono’s career, so no complaints here. Things work out. Being the leader of a revolution is the last thing that Jean wants, and it’s amusing to see how he’s theoretically promised something to every single territory without actually promising anything. Moreover, ACCA manages to threaten the new ruler without actually removing him, and there are hints that he’ll be nicer—to Jean’s sister if no one else. Six volumes seems like the exact length for this series, and I’m happy to have read it, even when it was intensely talky. – Sean Gaffney

The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 10 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – It’s a new direction for The Ancient Magus’ Bride, as Chise is off to attend the alchemist college. The alchemists want to study Chise in hopes of creating an artificial sleigh beggy substitute and in return she gets to audit classes for free. I liked that her primary goal is learning how to help people without sacrificing herself (with the side goal of thus keeping Elias from undertaking any more the-ends-justify-the-means efforts to save her) and also potentially find cures for the two curses now afflicting her arm. Many new characters are introduced, Chise is reminded that she’s “really bad at dealing with people and school,” and the church realizes that Elias’ observer has been lax and prepares to send out someone different. I’m enjoying this arc so far and remain very glad I got caught up on this series when I did! – Michelle Smith

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 13 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – Yuzu’s back and just in time for In No Hurry to participate in the Tokyo Sailing concert series. The only problem is that Nino is “catastrophically terrible” in rehearsals, which she attributes to having nothing left to yearn for now that she and Momo have finally gotten together. A lot of angst ensues, culminating in a performance where Nino seems unconcerned that she’s damaging her voice, convincing the two main guys in her life that she’s planning on giving up singing. Yuzu seems poised to try to reign her in by joining her on vocals—this would be a huge development—buuuuut then we end the main story to make way for a bonus story that is fine, I guess (it does have a cute cat), but not what I wanted to be reading. This series is still occasionally infuriating, but I guess I’m hooked now. – Michelle Smith

Barakamon, Vol. 17 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – Hiroshi’s absence is felt here, mostly as he does NOT call home all the time or immediately return. Hilariously, Handa tries to fix things by dying his hair blond and doing incredibly bad Hiroshi impressions. The bulk of the humor in this book, though, comes from the arrival of a two-person documentary team, here to videotape the countryside but not really prepared for the sheer presence of most of the cast, (and also having tremendous trouble not flirting shamelessly with each other, something everyone picks up on). Barakamon is wrapping up next volume, and that seems about right—this volume seems to be dragging things out a bit, and most of the main plot points have been wrapped up. – Sean Gaffney

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 6 | By Ukami |Yen Press – The last half of this volume of Gabriel Dropout deals with the school trip, and has some good laughs, including two times where I literally laughed out loud (both involve Gabriel). Which is good, because that’s the main reason anyone is reading this series. The characters are not really here to develop, even as we introduce more of them. Another human girl gets a spotlight here, trying to make friends with Mei despite her being a devil and also really shy. Raphiel gets to snark, Vignette gets to overplan, Satanichia gets to do her “evil ojou” impersonation… everything is present and correct. Should you still read this series? Yes. It’s funny. It’s not deep, but I always smile at the end of it. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 5 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – If a direct confession doesn’t work, well, try the forceful kiss again, I guess? Really, a lot of Hatsu*Haru revolves around how bad Kai is at being a cool shoujo lead, and I don’t expect this to end well for him. Meanwhile, Riko’s crush is finally married, so she can theoretically move on—though most of this volume is about how moving on is hard. And in a blow to my shipper heart, Ayumi and Takaya are faking a relationship in order to try to get Kai and Riko together… but don’t actually seem to have any sublimated feelings for each other. Darn. Ah well, the manga is still young. Till then, please enjoy teens being really emotional and awkward about romance. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 9 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – Again we get two stories in this volume, one shorter and one long. The short one shows us Kotoko in high school, being asked to join a mystery club that’s about to be dissolved and in her spare time figuring out that the club is more about a forbidden romance than any actual mystery, though I was amused at “spoiling” a mystery that isn’t a spoiler in the first place. The longer story is more serious, about a young woman with a deadly past that… is not being brought up by the media, and about Kotoko and Kuro solving the mystery and also revealing a lot to us about lucky cat statues. There’s less of Kotoko being silly and horny in this one, but the stories are fun. – Sean Gaffney

NE NE NE | By Shizuku Totono and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – The opening scene of NE NE NE shows the wedding between Koyuki and Shin, an arranged marriage in which the groom is twenty years older than his teenaged wife. While this premise certainly had the potential to enter into somewhat questionable territory, the manga is actually quite charming and sweet. I’m not sure that I was ever entirely convinced by the difference in Koyuki and Shin’s ages based on how they were portrayed as individuals, but I did enjoy seeing their relationship naturally deepen over the course of the volume. Of the two leads Shin is the more fully-developed character—he at least gets a backstory while almost nothing is known about Koyuki beyond the fact that she desperately wants to be a good wife. But even so, they’re adorable, both together and on their own. With an additional dash of humor and magic, NE NE NE is a delight. – Ash Brown

Ran and the Gray World, Vol. 2 | By Aki Irie | VIZ Media – The opening chapter of this volume pissed me off righteously, as it involves teen-version Ran hanging out with Otaro the creeper and telling him, “You’d better not touch me” only for him to immediately glomp her. Actual quote from my notes: “THIS FUCKER DOES NOT LISTEN AT ALL. I WANT TO KICK HIM INTO THE SUN.” He promises he’s got “lots more” in store for her, but thankfully her new magic teacher arrives and the story moves on to deadly magical insects (one comes thiiiiiis close to killing Otaro but, sadly, he survives), magical training, and classmates who have crushes on Jin and Ran. I vastly prefer Ran’s age-appropriate love interest, Hibi, and sincerely hope having a friend her own age inspires her to stay away from Otaro. At least Jin is on to his womanizing ways. – Michelle Smith

Ran and the Gray World, Vol. 2 | By Aki Irie | Viz Media – The good news is that all the reasons that I enjoyed the first volume are here again. Ran is a delight, I also like her brother (and his maybe relationship with a new girl whose looks and personality remind me of Hinata Hyuuga), the bug subplot is creepy but also drives the story forward well, and the art is absolutely gorgeous. The bad news is that the main thing I didn’t like about the fist volume is also here: Otaro, the sleazy older guy from the first volume, is back and still trying to get into Ran’s pants. Even if she weren’t really a young girl using magical shoes, he’d still be the absolute worst, something the manga artist knows—they show him being reprehensible. Maybe he’ll die in the next book? Nah, I’m not that lucky. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 5 | By Maybe | Yen Press – I was prepared to meet the fifth Ring Princess in this book, which we do (she’s on the cover, in case you hadn’t guessed). It’s the rest of the book that took me by surprise. Things go very bad very fast, and all of our main harem end up being shunted back to Earth in order to save them from the encroaching doom. This is… annoying given that Satou and the Ring Princesses’ sole purpose is to save the world from encroaching doom. It does mean we get to see cute things like shopping for clothes and going to libraries. It’s also fortuitous, as the fifth princess was on Earth all along. Will we be headed back next volume? And will Satou ever manage to go all the way with Hime? Honestly, I suspect no, but this is still fun to read. – Sean Gaffney

Beauty and the Beast Girl | By Neji | Seven Seas – This seems to be complete in one volume, and despite a lot of backstory angst edges on the side of sweet. A monster girl living in the woods meets a blind girl (literally, her last name is Blind, but she is also blind) and starts to tell her stories in an effort to hide why she’s living alone in the forest. Naturally, their backstories merge together. Also naturally, they fall for each other hard and must therefore deal with the other humans who are horrified that Lily would be with a monster. It all works out in the end, though, as true love can defeat all. This is one of a number of “cute but slight” yuri titles we’ve seen here recently, and while it’s not the most subtle manga in the world, I’d say it’s worth a read. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 14 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – More tournament arc. Asta’s fight is fairly typical, involving a large dose of “I want to fight TOGETHER with you” to get the loner to actually do something. The more interesting fight, though, is between Finral and Langris, as you might guess by the cover art. There’s a lot of bad blood between these two, and all sorts of fears and jealousies come rolling out during the fight, which rapidly starts to turn a lot more deadly than expected. (Without any actual death—at least not yet.) There’s also another character who believes in beautiful things getting completely wrecked, which may be a Jump thing, as we also saw it happen in Toriko. All this plus tragic backstory to show off that true magical knights care about people! – Sean Gaffney

DAYS, Vol. 12 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Seiseki’s game against Toin continues and Tsukamoto is playing his heart out. It’s gratifying to see the coach of the opposite team notice a change in Seiseki since the previous year, and also gratifying to see Ubukata recognized for her strategic analysis that resulted in Kazama scoring the goal that ties the game at 1-1. There are a lot of missed shots and squandered opportunities and moments where you think that finally Tsukamoto will triumph but instead Toin gets a penalty kick, etc. We also finally learn the significance of the series title—Tsukamoto’s dad died when he was little, and he’s learned never to take the present for granted. “Because someday, this will all be over. But if I try, maybe I can make these days last just a second longer.” I’m a sucker for sentiment in my sports manga. Recommended. – Michelle Smith

Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 6 | By Tsukumizu| Ywn Press – This is the final volume of the series. Last time I asked if it would end in death. Technically we don’t see the girls die, but the end of their journey certainly seems to be The End of Their Journey, if you know what I mean. That’s the trouble with post-apocalyptic After the End series; unless you pull a fast one to find civilization has simply moved elsewhere (for a moment I wondered if they were going to get on a rocket and go to space in this volume, but that’s probably also a bad idea) you’re left with the fact that humanity has died. There’s some good bits here. I loved Chiro finding the massive library, as well as Yuuri’s calming presence. It was a sad journey in the end, but I’m glad I took it with them. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 5 | By Afro | Yen Press – I was very pleased to see that, after last volume’s “camping with friends is fun!,” which Rin agreed with, that nevertheless almost all the camping this time around is by Rin by herself, because she loves camping by herself. This despite the fact that you can get trapped somewhere due to impassable winter roads. Fortunately for Rin, this is the modern age where cell service is everywhere, so even when camping by herself, she’s in constant contact with the others. Nadeshiko also meets up with Rin and introduces her to the wonders of expensive eel, as well as showing off a childhood friend and the fact that she’s lost a ton of weight recently. (She seems very cute either way.) This is such a peaceful series. – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 34 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | VIZ Media – Sean warned me that this volume had some creepy scenes, but I was not prepared. Sinbad has succeeded in becoming the god of the world and has rewritten the rukh so that everyone agrees with his methods for securing a peaceful future. This includes reverting the world to rukh, thereby killing everyone. Watching the populace cheer, and tearful kids looking excited to die, is seriously disturbing (in a good way). Alibaba and Aladdin are immune, and debate whether they have a right to try to change a fate everyone else seems to want, until a conversation with a brainwashed Morgiana convinces Alibaba that the present is worth fighting for. And so our heroes, accompanied by Judar and Hakuryu, must conquer, like, seven facets of Sinbad or something. It’s vague, but fine. I’m glad things are seemingly wrapping up. Three volumes left! – Michelle Smith

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 5 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – I was not expecting the hands-down funniest chapter of this volume to be our princess trying to find a toilet so that she could pee, but there we are. The chapter ends up being hysterical, particularly the facial expressions. Elsewhere, we see the princess has a poor memory for names… and faces. We also see (as if we hadn’t guessed) that she’s an incredibly poor communicator. Even when things AREN’T her fault it’s pretty easy to blame her—a chapter where she tries to be nice and do good things leads merely to fear and paranoia from the demons. There’s no real ongoing plot here, but as long as Princess Syalis remains who she is, there’s certainly ongoing laughs. – Sean Gaffney

A Strange & Mystifying Story, Vol. 6 | By Tsuta Suzuki | SuBLime – Man, A Strange & Mystifying Story has evolved sooooo much since its early volumes. Now it’s a gripping supernatural drama and it’s easy to forget it started out as something smutty with consent issues until Setsu shows up and gives Tsumugi terrible advice on how to make Kurayori his. Kurayori has been holed up in his shrine and just when he finally emerges to talk with Tsumugi, Magawa and Kai arrive to cause problems. I’m surprised Suzuki-sensei has made me like and sympathize with Kai so much so quickly, but she has. He may be a monster, but his desperate desire to be useful to mentally unstable Magawa so that he won’t disappear is genuine. Plus, we got a bonus chapter with my favorite couple! The next volume is the last and I’m really looking forward to seeing how everything plays out. – Michelle Smith

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 2 | By Tomo Hirakawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – There is still a modicum of danger here—the threat to NPCs is still real, and Kirito by his very existence will attract trouble. That said, the fact that everyone is alive in this version of SAO (well, OK, not Sachi, but the cliffhanger included an appearance from someone I definitely was not expecting to see) and that we get chapters devoted to things like teaching Yuuki how to do school homework properly (which leads to helping dead school ghosts to pass on, much to Asuna’s horror) makes it feel sort of like the Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family of SAO. Instead of food, though, we get cool battles and cute interactions. Fun, though again confusing for non-gamers. – Sean Gaffney

Urusei Yatsura, Vol. 1 | By Rumiko Takahashi | Viz Media – While Urusei Yatsura became one of Rumiko Takahashi’s first major successes in Japan, the small portion of the series that was initially translated into English has been out-of-print for the better part of two decades. Happily, Viz is once again hastening “The Return of Lum” by releasing Takahashi’s highly influential manga in a new omnibus edition. For the most part the series is episodic in nature. Although there are recurring characters and jokes, overarching plotlines are virtually nonexistent. The basic premise remains consistent from chapter to chapter, though—Ataru Moroboshi, a lustful high schooler, is a magnet for the absurd and supernatural. Early on he manages to accidentally engage himself to Lum, an alien princess. Honestly, I wish Lum held more of the series’ focus than Ataru, but I still get a kick out of the manga. In particular I appreciate Urusei Yatsura‘s numerous references to Japanese mythology and literature. – Ash Brown

Crocodile Baron, Vol. 2 | By Takuya Okada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Crocodile Baron was initially part food manga, part whimsical story about a gentlemanly crocodile novelist named Alfardo J. Donson (a stellar name). In its second volume, the food is still there—I mean, technically, Alfardo and his pal Rabbit Boy travel around and eat various foods—but there’s even less focus on it than before, and it wasn’t much to start with. Now, it’s more about the quirky characters they meet, from a chameleon who wants to get the scoop on Alfardo’s wild side to a lonely jackal to a spoiled rich bunny girl to a competitive beaver. It’s good for a few chuckles, but there’s not much about it’s that’s exciting or compelling. The third volume is its last, and that’s the right length for this offbeat series. – Michelle Smith

Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms | By Hiromi Takashima | Seven Seas – This seems to be a transitional volume of Kase-san, telling a few stories from around the high school years but also putting things in place to get our girls into college, which they do. There’s a certain intentional disconnect between Yamada the emotional girl who cries at everything, which we certainly see at several points here, and Yamada the mature young woman, which she is slowly coming with the help of Kase. This may also be why we get another love scene towards the end, which shows us that “cherry blossoms” is also a metaphor. And they agree to use first names, which I suspect is not going to lead to a series name change. Still adorable and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 17 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Superpowers/quirks can be awesome and empowering, but they can also be terrifying. Usually they’re both. That’s especially the case with Eri, whose quirk literally erased her father from existence. Fortunately, she has folks like Mirio and Izuku trying to save her. Unfortunately, Mirio’s quirk is erased, and I get the feeling (the cover doesn’t help) that it’s going to be permanent. In amongst all the chaos (which features Toga impersonating Deku, something you’d think she’d have saved for a less pointless moment), the goal seems to be to get Eri to believe in them and reach out her hand to be saved. Which she eventually does, and just in time, as Izuku almost kills himself. Again. Fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 25 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – The most interesting part of this volume to me is how it handled Mafuyu’s memory loss of large parts of her childhood. For a while it was almost a joke—”lol, head trauma from falling off a jungle gym”—but now it appears that mental trauma may be a cause. What’s more, it appears to have had an effect on Takaomi, who was not always the smiling sadist Mafuyu is used to. It all seems to come down to the new teacher, who turns out (like everyone else in this series) to be connected to the delinquent battles of West and East High. Oh, and there’s also Hanabusa’s little sister, who I’d almost forgotten about. Lots of funny jokes, here, don’t get me wrong, but this is a very plot-heavy Oresama Teacher. – Sean Gaffney

Please Tell Me! Galko-chan, Vol. 5 | By Kenya Suzuki | Seven Seas – There’s more of what everyone wants from a Galko volume here. Lots of random discussions, a few sex-related but some not. There’s the “we watch foreign movies and discuss them” mini-chapters, which I guess are a thing now. There’s the author’s artstyle, which still makes this a series I really wouldn’t recommend to kids —there’s no actual nudity, but there’s lots of extremely large breasts and butts. To my surprise, there’s even a serious storyline near the end, as Galko’s older sister goes on a date with Otako’s older brother, planning to take his virginity, but it turns out his purity actually makes her feel bad about it (and it doesn’t happen in any case.) Still interested. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 3 | By Suu Morishita | Viz Media – It turns out that I never reviewed the first two volumes of this series. I certainly enjoy it enough, but my guess is that this is going to be one of those shoujo series where I don’t have much to say. There’s a love triangle. The heroes are 1) quiet intellectual and 2) seeming playboy. The heroine has a few issues as well (and a nice set of nightmares, which may have been my favorite part of the book). The cast is likable. That said, if I currently have titles like Yona of the Dawn and The Water Dragon’s Bride at the top of my Shojo Beat list, this one sits comfortable at the end of the middle tier. It’s quite enjoyable, you won’t regret purchasing it, and you will totally forget about it till the next book comes along. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 7 | By Yuki Shiwasu | VIZ Media – Takane’s coping better with being poor, helped by Hana providing regular meals and Kirigasaki requesting a transfer to help maximize Takane’s efficiency at work. He’s slowly regaining ground and it’s clear he appreciates what Hana has done for him. When he gives her a key to his new apartment, it’s not just that he trusts her but that he also finally understands that all the extravagant gifts really were meaningless to her but this will be a significant one. For her part, Hana’s still determined to keep the fact that she’s in love with Takane a secret from him—ostensibly because he’d be insufferable but partly because she’s afraid how their relationship would change if it came to light. I do look forward to some fun gloating when that day arrives, but the best moments are always the sweet ones. I continue to enjoy this series a lot. – Michelle Smith

The Voynich Hotel, Vol. 3 | By Douman Seiman | Seven Seas – By the third and final volume of The Voynich Hotel, all the seemingly disparate storylines and characters converge in a rather dramatic and admittedly violent fashion, which honestly is not all that unusual for the series. Even the gags that initially appeared to be one-off throwaways are ultimately revealed to be of great significance to the plot. Astonishingly, Seiman manages to combine ancient goddesses, witches, demons, undead, yakuza, hitmen, serial killers, drug dealers, tourists, amusement parks, maids, wrestlers, pop culture references and so much more in ways that somehow make weird and darkly amusing sense. The manga’s humor ranges from the completely random to the decidedly risqué. Along with quirky characters, peculiar settings, and bizarre happenings, The Voynich Hotel makes for an exceptionally strange but engaging and sometimes even surprisingly endearing series. I greatly enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind seeing more of Seiman’s work translated in the future. – Ash Brown

We Never Learn, Vol. 2 | By Taishi Tsutsui | Viz Media – Much to my relief, the core “three girls” seems to stay the same by the end of this volume. Not that we don’t meet more characters—Sawako is a self-proclaimed rival to Rizu who, like most self-proclaimed rivals in anime and manga, turns out to be a really good friend who just expresses it through rivalry. More intriguing is a teacher in the school, Kirisu, who seems determined to show the girls that they’re not playing to their strengths this way, and that Nariyuki’s study help will hurt them in the long run. She has a very valid point, but it’s not a point that you should be making within the confines of Shonen Jump, so they’re allowed to continue, despite the constant threat of mild fanservice. – Sean Gaffney