Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Katherine Dacey

Pick of the Week: A Week Loaded with Goodies

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SEAN: For me it’s a week where I could easily pick six or seven things. Another digital Kodansha debit, Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live?; the dark but amusing The Voynich Hotel; Mari Okazaki’s new title Will I Be Single Forever?; the adorable looking Hakumei ad Mikochi; or my usual go-to obsession, Umineko: Then They Cry. But as I already indicated, my pick this week is Teasing Master Takagi-san, which simply puts a smile on my face. Teen romance was never this cute.

MICHELLE: What a position to be in, struggling to choose between two terrific-looking digital josei debuts! I really want VIZ’s experiment to succeed, as it might encourage them to release more stuff digitally (7SEEDS! ), but Is Kichijoji the Only Place to Live? looks like such a breath of fresh air. I think I’m gonna have to go with the latter.

KATE: This week’s new arrival list is one of the most eclectic of the year! If I had to pick just one title — and death was not an option — my vote would go to Mari Okazaki’s Will I Be Single Forever?, as I adored Suppli. If I could pick a second book, however, I’d add The Voynich Hotel, which sounds weird and funny (in a good way). What’s not to like about a manga starring a yakuza hitman, a witch, and a hotelier in a luchador mask?

ANNA: For me there is no question. I’ve often wished for more Mari Okazaki manga, and am delighted that there’s a manga of hers being translated again. Will I Be Single Forever? is my pick.

ASH: If Will I Be Single Forever? was being released in print, it would without question be my pick for this week. Alas, it’s only available digitally (for now???). I am rather curious about The Voynich Hotel, though, so I’ll happily be choosing that instead.

Pick of the Week: Delightful Digital and Precious Print

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MICHELLE: For the second week in a row, I’m going to pick one of Kodansha’s digital josei debuts. This time it’s Kakafukaka, a title I know almost nothing about except that it’s josei. We went so long without many josei options that they’re always going to pique my interest when they come along.

SEAN: It’s an odd little week, and there’s a few things I’m quite interested in but nothing that screams READ ME!. So my pick this week is the 10th Durarara!! novel, as I believe this is one of the ‘plot hammers going off’ volumes.

KATE: I’ve had mixed feelings about some of Inio Asano’s other work, but I am STOKED for volume two of his alien invasion dramedy Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDestruction. Great art, great story, and weird humor = win!

ASH: Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDestruction is definitely high on my list for this week, too, as is the most recent volume of Land of the Lustrous which is always a visual treat.

ANNA: I have to join in with Michelle in celebrating more digital josei, so Kakafukaka, for me as well!

Pick of the Week: Alice in the City of Tokyo

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ASH: It seems like I only get the chance to make Berserk my pick of the week once every three years or so, so I’ll once again take this opportunity to pick the most recent volume. (Plus, the characters are finally off the boat…)

MICHELLE: I’m not especially into shopping but I can’t pass up new josei, so I’m going with Tokyo Alice this week.

SEAN: Yeah, I too am going to go with Tokyo Alice, which looks intriguing.

KATE: At the risk of sounding like an old grump, I’m going to pass on this week’s bounty and hold out for next week, when a new volume of Dead Dead Demon’s DeDeDeDestruction hits shelves.

ANNA: I’m always up for more josei so Tokyo Alice is my pick, of course!

MJ: Okay, I admit I’m not super enthused by any of this week’s offerings, though probably I’d read Tokyo Alice and maybe Little Devils, so I’m going to instead make sure all our interested readers are aware that the new Banana Fish anime has begun! I was able to catch the first episode (available now via Amazon Prime Video) and it really hit the spot. It was definitely a little disorienting at first for the folks who watched it with me (neither of whom had read the manga), but by the end of the episode things were coming together for them, and we’re all looking forward to the next installment. As a long-time fan of the manga who has talked about it a lot over the years, this is honestly something I never imagined could happen, ever, so just the fact that someone is even making this anime of a weird shojo manga from the 80s is enough to send me over the moon. But I’m here to report that it’s also being really well done (even if we don’t get to enjoy the awful 80s fashions from the original).

KATE: VIZ announced that they will be republishing OOP volumes of the Banana Fish manga, FWIW. Anime News Network has the details.

MJ: Oooooh, amazing news! Thanks, Kate!

Pick of the Week: Going For It

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MICHELLE: There are many things coming out that I am interested in this week, particularly ongoing shoujo and shounen from VIZ and a slew of digital shoujo from Kodansha, but I find that what I most look forward to is some BL comedy in the vein of Go For It, Nakamura!. I just love that cover so much.

SEAN: I had never expected to see it over here, mostly as it’s years old now, so my pick of the week is definitely the One Piece Color Walk artbook. Seeing these beloved characters back in the old days will be great, especially with Oda commentary on the artwork.

KATE: Looking over this week’s list, I’m having a hard time limiting myself to just one title. I’ll be picking up the second volume of Kenka Bancho Otome, which is dumb as rocks, but in a delightful, cheeky way, and the second volume of Giant Spider & Me, which is also a delightful bit of escapism. I’m always down for new sports manga, so Harakuna Receive is on my list, despite the ever-present threat of fan service. And heck, while I’m at it, why not join Michelle in recommending Go For It, Nakamura!, which does indeed have an awesome cover.

ASH: It’s a Seven Seas sort of week for me, as well! I’m curious about Harukana Receive and Mushroom Girls, and am looking forward to reading more of Giant Spider & Me, but the release I really have my sights on is Go For It, Nakamura!, the publisher’s first real foray into BL.

ANNA: Water Dragon’s Bride 6 is coming out, so I’m so happy about that I can’t even think about anything else!

Pick of the Week: Claudine

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KATE: The obvious pick of the week is Riyoko Ikeda’s three-hanky drama Claudine, a sensitive (if sometimes melodramatic) story about a transgender man who struggles to find his place in society. As Sean pointed out in his terrific review, Claudine is surprisingly woke for a manga written in 1977, even if the ending is a major downer. In addition to Claudine, I’m also making space on my shelf for Shibuya Goldfish, a manga that dares ask the question, what really happens when you flush your pet fish down the toilet. (Spoiler alert: bad stuff.)

SEAN: It’s an embarrassment of riches this week, and I feel bad for not highlighting True Tenchi Muyo, one of the titles that got me into anime, or Little Witch Academia, a fun adaptation of a great (and kid-friendly) series. But yes, obvious, the pick is Claudine, which was worth the wait and reminds you why Riyoko Ikeda is still one of the most loved creators in Japan.

MICHELLE: I, too, am picking Claudine this week, but I do want to take a moment to highlight the print debut of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, which is really a terrific and fun josei series.

ANNA: Claudine Claudine Claudine, Claudine Claudine. CLAUDINE!

ASH: Yes! Absolutely no question about it! Claudine is my pick, too! (Of course, Tokyo Tarareba Girls and Silver Spoon are pretty high on my reading list as well…)

MJ: What they all said! Claudine it is!

Short Takes: The Promised Neverland and Silver Spoon

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Just a word to the wise: it’s impossible to discuss either Neverland or Spoon without divulging a few plot details, so be mindful if you’re the kind of person who hates–HATES–spoilers. Caveat lector!

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 4
Written by Kaiu Shirai, Illustrated by Posuka Demizu
Translated by Satsuki Yamashita
VIZ Media
Rated T+, for older teens

One of the pleasures of reading The Promised Neverland is its crack pacing: Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu have a knack for the perfectly timed reveal and the pulse-pounding action sequence. Volume three was a rare misstep for the series, saddled with too many contrived plot twists, but volume four is a return to form, briskly setting the kids’ escape in motion. The story occasionally flags when Emma, Ray, and Norman explain the finer details of their plan to one another, but these moments serve an essential dramatic purpose, helping us appreciate how perilous their journey will be. These conversations also remind us how much the principal trio rely on one another for emotional support, a point driven home by the authors’ decision to sacrifice one of the main characters. (And I mean a main character, not a red shirt.)

Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Promised Neverland is its feminist subtext. In the final pages of volume three, Krone reveals that the brightest orphan girls are groomed for house mother positions. The full horror of this arrangement, however, only becomes apparent in volume four. In a few suggestive images, Demizu vividly conveys the grotesque sacrifices that Gracefield Manor’s female residents make in order to survive their twelfth birthday. A brief interlude set in a factory evokes the grim spirit of The Handmaid’s Tale, imagining a world in which young women are cruelly exploited for their fertility, then coerced into perpetuating the very system that oppresses them.

I know — I’m making The Promised Neverland sound like Terribly Serious Reading, but rest assured it isn’t. The story is, at bottom, a juicy prison drama in which the jailers are actual monsters and the prisoners pint-sized MacGuyvers. Though the subtext enriches the narrative, inviting multiple readings, the story never feels like an obvious parable about factory farming or reproductive rights. Recommended.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 2
Written and Illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa
Translated by Amanda Haley
Yen Press
Rated T, for teens

After an introductory volume in which Hachiken (a) fell face-first into poop (b) insulted his classmates repeatedly (c) joined the equestrian club just to impress a girl and (d) realized that the piglet he was raising would soon be bacon, volume two affords him a rare moment of grace. The students’ discovery of an abandoned brick oven prompts them to make pizza — something only Hachiken knows how to do. The act of cooking for so many people forces Hachiken to improvise, rather than plan, forcing him outside his academic and social comfort zone — and making his brief turn in the spotlight even more satisfying.

Lest Hachiken’s triumph seem a little too tidy, the rest of volume two sees him reverting to bumbling city slicker, as he gets lost in the woods looking for cell phone reception, gags at the sight of a newborn calf, and, yes, falls face-first into another pile of manure. Hiromu Arakawa sells these moments with her trademark over-the-top reaction shots; no one can distort or bend a human face with the same verve as Arakawa, who turns every setback, humiliation, and surprise into an opportunity to draw rivers of snot and tears. Though she excels at slapstick, Arakawa tempers the jokes with moments of real drama that make Hachiken realize just how much Komaba and Mikage’s families struggle to keep their modest dairy farms afloat. It’s these quieter moments that remind us just what a capable storyteller Arakawa really is, and make Silver Spoon more than just a gag manga with farm animals. Recommended.

Pick of the Week: Blue Flowers One Last Time

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SEAN: I’m not getting all that much this week, so Pick of the Week is a choice between Golden Kamuy and Sweet Blue Flowers. I’m going to go with the latter, as it’s the final volume, but ideally I’d love to see a crossover between the two.

KATE: I agree with Sean: the pick of this week’s litter is Golden Kamuy, my favorite manly cooking manga (now with 200% more bears).

MICHELLE: It’s gotta be Sweet Blue Flowers for me!

ASH: Sweet Blue Flowers is my official pick, too! I’m so happy that the series was translated and hope that it may lead to even more of Shimura’s work being released in English. (I’m definitely looking forward to reading more of Golden Kamuy, too, though!)

ANNA: Sweet Blue Flowers is also my pick. Bring on the angst!

Pick of the Week: Love Is Hard, But So Is Loveless

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MICHELLE: I feel like I really should be picking Loveless, since it’s been so long, but I’m pretty sure someone else will have that covered. Instead, I’ll go with the second volume of Wotakoi. I’ve finally gotten around to reading the first one, and it’s amusing and charming and just really a lot of fun.

SEAN: I’m also ready for Wotakoi, as well as Captain Harlock. But my pick this week is Sleepy Princess in the Demon Caste;, because every Shonen Sunday license needs our support, and also because sleepy princesses sound awesome.

ANNA: I’m pretty stoked for Captain Harlock, but like Sean, I want to support Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, since Shonen Sunday series don’t come around too often.

KATE: I’m glad we’re finally getting a second volume of After Hours, one of the only licensed yuri series that focuses on adult women, but my heart belongs to Captain Harlock. Bring on the manly conversations about Loyalty, Courage, and Space!

ASH: So much great stuff is being released this week! After Hours, Captain Harlock, and Wotakoi are all very high on my list, and I’m rather curious about Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, however another tremendous series that hasn’t been mentioned yet it is To Your Eternity. The manga just started a new story arc which I’m sure will be just as devastating as the ones that preceded it, but I’ve come to expect great things from the series.

MJ: Michelle was right not to fret, because of course the only possible pick for me this week is volume thirteen of Loveless. Yun Kouga’s pretty much always got my number, with her chaotic, emotionally messy style that’s exactly my cup of tea. There can be few who don’t already know how much I adore Loveless, in particular, since I was never able to stop writing about it (and writing about it). After nearly four years since the last volume was released in English, I suspect the new installment will feel scant and less satisfying than I’d like it to be, but I’m so glad to finally see it, I can’t quite bring myself to care.

Heaven’s Design Team, Vol. 1

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Do you remember that moment in your manga-reading journey when you discovered that there was a manga about golf? Or pachinko? Or train station bento boxes? I do: I’d just read an entry in Shaenon Garrity’s Overlooked Manga Festival, and was astonished to discover that someone had written manga about Cup Noodle and 7-Eleven. I hadn’t been curious about the origins of either instant ramen or convenience stores, but the possibility of learning about them from manga was so irresistible that I tracked down copies. Neither manga were good, exactly, but I found them oddly compelling, both for their sincerity and their attention to small but interesting details.

I had a similar experience with Heaven’s Design Team, a new edu-manga that explains how different animal species are uniquely adapted to their environments. Its creative team has taken a bolder approach to their subject than Project X‘s, opting for humor over straightforward dramatization. The basic mode of storytelling, however, reminded me of Cup Noodle and 7-Eleven, relying heavily on talking heads to impart information.

Heaven’s Design Team has a faintly blasphemous premise: God is so busy running the world that He’s outsourced the creation of new animal and plant species to a crack team of designers. God still has a hand in deciding whether unicorns go into production or not, but He’s largely an invisible presence in the story, while the motley crew of consultants take center stage. Each designer has a signature animal — a horse, a cow, a snake, a bird — that he or she is trying to improve, and one well-defined personality trait — say, a fondness for lethal predators — that puts him or her into conflict with other team members.

That’s an imaginative strategy for teaching readers about the quirks of animal anatomy, but Heaven’s Design Team never quite finds its groove. Part of the problem lies with the authors’ dogged adherence to formula; at the beginning of every story, the design team fields an order from the Big Guy for an “adorably uncute animal” or “an animal that can eat tall plants,” then bickers their way to creating an actual species like the common egg snake, the giraffe, the armadillo, or the narwhal. Their design process yields nuggets of information about the creatures they’re envisioning that, at chapter’s end, turn out to be real attributes of real animals. So many of these factual tidbits are related through talking-head panels, however, that the manga often feels more like a PowerPoint presentation than a story, despite the authors’ attempts to make these info-dump conversations more animated with facial close-ups and dramatic poses.

From time to time, however, Heaven’s Design Team drops a joke that’s so weird or so well executed it earns a real laugh. In one scene, for example, two unicorns accidentally bump into one another, prompting a terse exchange straight out of Goodfellas. In another sight gag, Shimoda, the team’s most straight-laced member, visits the Insect Department, a division populated entirely by young men with identical haircuts and glasses–the ultimate worker bees. These moments last only a panel or two, but they hint at what the series might have been if the authors hadn’t suffered the same repetition compulsion as their characters. Your milage may vary. 

Heaven’s Design Team, Vol. 1
Written by Hebi-Zou and Tsuta Suzuki, Art by Tarako
Translated by
Kodansha Comics, 142 pp.
Rated E, for Everyone

Pick of the Week: We Want Everything

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SEAN: My pick this week is My Solo Exchange Diary, if only as I really want to find out what happens to our author next, painful as that may be. Also The Promised Neverland, Eclair, etcetcetc…

KATE: This is one of those weeks where I’m inclined to pick seven or eight titles. I second Sean’s recommendation of My Solo Exchange Diary, but I’m also excited for new installments of Princess Jellyfish, The Promised Neverland, and Descending Stories, three of my favorite ongoing series. I’d be remiss in my manga-critic duties if I didn’t also mention Yen Press’ yuri anthology Eclair, which has been on my radar since Erica Friedman reviewed it last year.

MICHELLE: I also have lots of things I’m looking forward to. Some ongoing shounen and shoujo faves from VIZ, Those Summer Days from Kodansha, Eclair from Yen Press, etc. But since it’s my final chance to choose quirky, unique, and addictive Princess Jellyfish, I’ve gotta go with that.

ASH: Absolutely sign me up for everything that’s already been mentioned and be sure to add on Vinland Saga, too. It’s such a tremendous series that somehow manages to only get better with each new volume that’s released.

ANNA: There’s a lot that’s great coming out, but I need to join with Ash in picking Vinland Saga for sure!

Again!!, Vol. 2

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The phenomenal success of Yuri!!! On ICE turned out to be a boon for manga fans, too, as American publishers snapped up two of Mitsurou Kubo’s better-known comics: Moteki: Love Strikes!, a seinen romance about a thirty-something loser who reconnects with women from his past, and Again!!, a time-travel comedy about two teenagers who get a second chance at high school. I won’t lie: Again!! was my hands-down favorite of the two, both for its raw honesty and its sharply observed characters.

Again!! avoids the sophomore slump by briskly advancing the plot without sacrificing the humor or heart that made the first chapters so appealing. Kinichiro and Fujieda both get a turn in the spotlight, with Kinichiro discovering the pleasures of cheering, and Fujieda experiencing loneliness for the first time. Volume two also introduces three new characters, all of whom used to belong to the ouendan: Okuma, the drummer; Masaki, the vice-captain; and Suga, the cheer sergeant. Although the trio’s ostensible role is comic relief, their real function is helping us understand why the ouendan failed, revealing the degree to which their unwanted advances, passivity, and flagrant sexism undermined Usami’s authority as captain and poisoned group morale.

While this information is crucial to the story, it also points to Again!!‘s biggest problem: Usami. Mitsurou Kubo is frank about why Usami resorts to shouting, scolding, and shaming to prove that she’s “man” enough to lead the ouendan — a compassionate insight into a character who often seems more harridan than human. Yet Usami’s actual personality remains a mystery. Everything we learn about her is revealed through other characters, whether they’re discussing her beef with Abe, the head cheerleader, or describing the flurry of media interest in Usami when she first joined the ouendan. We don’t know how Usami feels about her teammates, or why she’s so passionately interested in cheering — two questions that need to be addressed if she’s to become a full-fledged character.

Despite these flaws, Again!! manages to wring fresh laughs from its time-travel premise while depicting high school in all its unpleasantness. Fujieda, for example, vacillates between trying to profit from her knowledge of the future and lamenting her lack of friends. Kinichiro also is caught between past and present: he’s angry that his first kiss didn’t go as planned, and deeply self-conscious after a loud, public declaration of how miserable he feels — an exquisitely awful scene that acknowledges the depth of his pain while recognizing that his brusque behavior directly contributes to his sense of isolation and victimhood. It’s this kind of insight that makes Again!! such a compelling story, reminding us that our memories of being shunned, wronged, or ridiculed can be so one-sided that we’d make the same mistakes if given the opportunity to relive our teenage years. Recommended.

Again!!, Vol. 2
By Mitsurou Kobu
Translated by Rose Padgett
Rated OT, for Older Teens (16+)
Kodansha Comics

Pick of the Week: Still Fighting It

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MICHELLE: I’ll definitely be picking up the latest Waiting for Spring, and I’m somewhat curious about A Kiss, for Real, but the release that really makes me squee this week is the third volume of Shojo FIGHT!. The first two volumes hooked me good and I’m extremely happy to get to read more about Neri, the girl who sometimes turns into a jerk when she lets herself play volleyball without restraint and who wants to change. It’s good stuff!

SEAN: I’m a sucker for a good Guide Book, given how few of them are actually translated over here. So my pick goes to The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Merkmal. That said, I also want to read the new Shojo FIGHT!, and Kabukimonogatari is definitely near the top of my list too.

KATE: I was mourning the demise of Crimson Hero for years… that is, until Kodansha started publishing Shojo FIGHT!!, the best sports manga you’re not reading. It’s got great characters, great volleyball matches, and real-life conflicts that remind us how hard it can be for competitive female athletes. So I’m joining Michelle and Sean and bumping this one to the top of my list. (Sorry… not sorry.)

ASH: Alas! If only Shojo FIGHT!! was being released in print, I’m sure it would be my pick, too. And so instead, this week have my eyes on The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Merkmal.

ANNA: I have to join everyone else in picking Shojo Fight!! Good sports manga with female protagonists is hard to find in translation, so a new volume is a treat for sure.

Star Wars: Lost Stars, Vol. 1

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Remember the good ol’ days when a new Star Wars movie took three years to make, and no one was certain that George Lucas was going to get around to Episodes I, II, and III? I miss those days; new installments felt like a cause for celebration and not a dutiful obligation, and the films were an irresistible mixture of bad acting, thrilling space battles, and earnest conversations about the Force. When I’ve felt a twinge of nostalgia for my childhood Star Wars experience, I’ve found the manga adaptations of the original trilogy much more satisfying than the current batch of Disneyfied films. So I was curious to see what an original Star Wars manga might look like: would it explore new territory, or simply recycle the same plot points, a la The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi?

Turns out that Lost Stars is to Star Wars what Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead is to Hamlet, a retelling of an iconic story from the perspective of two peripheral characters. Many of the most famous moments from George Lucas’ original trilogy appear in Lost Stars — the capture of Princess Leia, the annihilation of Alderaan, the ice battle on Hoth — though the framing of these events is new, seen through the eyes of two young Imperial pilots: Thane Kyrell and Ciena Ree, both of whom enrolled in the Imperial Academy hoping for adventure and a better way of life.

The inclusion of these famous scenes is a double-edged sword; they provide a handy point of reference for the Star Wars greenhorn while simultaneously pandering to the hardcore fan by faithfully recreating iconic images, characters, and dialogue from A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back. There’s a dot-the-i quality to them that suggests that Yusaku Komiyuma was more concerned with nailing down the original details than imagining how Thane or Ciena would perceive — or participate — in these events. The other problem with these scenes is that they’re more dramatically interesting than Komiyuma’s brisk but flavorless adaptation of Claudia Gray’s novel. The most thoughtful elements of Gray’s work — particularly the class politics on Thane and Ciena’s home planet Jelucan — are presented in a bald fashion that reads more like CliffNotes than honest-to-goodness fiction, while important scenes of character development are too compressed to give us a sense of who these star-crossed lovers really are. The net result is a comic that successfully bridges the aesthetic worlds of Shonen Jump and Star Wars without achieving its own distinct identity as a manga or a Star Wars story. Your mileage may vary.

Star Wars: Lost Stars, Vol. 1
Original Story by Claudia Gray
Art and Adaptation by Yusaku Komiyuma
Yen Press, 192 pp.
Rated T, for teens

Pick of the Week: Sacrifices and Troublemakers

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SEAN: There’s several things I’m interested in. I already reviewed Golosseum, and the Devilman hardcover is a must-have. That said, both are a bit too violent for me to pick, so I will go with The Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts from Yen Press, as I will come running for a Hana to Yume series. It may also be violent, but I highly doubt it’s as violent as those two.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued by Devilman, I love Ace of the Diamond, and I’m sure I’ll love Delicious in Dungeon. That said, I’m also picking The Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts this week. Shoujo fantasy romance just seems so appealing at this moment.

ANNA: I know I’m predictable in my love for shoujo, so I’m sure it will be no surprise that The Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts is my pick as well.

KATE: And I’m equally predictable in my love of Historically Important Manga, so it’s no surprise that my vote goes to Baron Yoshimoto’s The Troublemakers. Manly manga for the win!

ASH: Like Kate, my pick this week goes to The Troublemakers, though I’m certainly interested in The Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts and am looking forward to another helping of Delicious in Dungeon, too. And of course there’s the debut of the original Devilman to consider as well!

Happiness, Vols. 4-7

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This review contains a few spoilers for later volumes of Happiness, and discusses one character’s efforts to cope with PTSD after a violent attack. Proceed with caution. 

The first three volumes of Shuzo Oshimi’s Happiness explore familiar terrain, using vampirism as a metaphor for the ravages of puberty, that moment when hormonal urges overwhelm the rational mind and the body morphs into its adult form. And while these early volumes contained some well-rehearsed scenes of bullying and bloodlust, Oshimi’s artwork — at once raw and refined, primitive and expressionist — made these moments feel strange, fresh, and specific to his story. One could feel fourteen-year-old Makoto Okazaki’s palpable anguish over being trapped in a body and a life he could no longer control, and wondered how he might escape his fate.

Volume four was a turning point in the series, culminating in a scene of frenzied violence in which a major character was killed, another forced into hiding, and a third — Gosho — badly wounded. The violence was grotesque in the Romantic sense of the word, a scene so horrific that it filled with reader with a strong sense of revulsion and pity. But a curious thing happened in the next installment: in the aftermath of this bloody cataclysm, Happiness became Gosho’s story. A time jump advanced the plot ten years into the future, showing us Gosho’s efforts to rebuild her life, one temp job at a time.

Though Gosho seems outwardly calm and self-possessed, her carefully constructed facade is shattered in volume six by a sensational newspaper headline: “Vampire Boy: Where Is He Now?” Oshimi captures Gosho’s experience of being triggered in all its nauseous horror; we can see a painful memory well up in Gosho, causing her to double over and fall to her knees as if she were trying to purge her body of all the fear and shame she’d experienced on that fateful night ten years ago. What makes this moment even more powerful is the skill with which Oshimi captures Gosho’s mounting terror through a series of closeups — first her face, then her eye, then the article itself, as her gaze darts across the page, lingering on a striking image or a suggestive snippet of text.

For all the emotional intensity of this moment, however, volume six is largely uneventful, focusing primarily on the tenative relationship between Gosho and Sudo, her co-worker. Much of their courtship unfolds in brief, wordless scenes depicting everyday activities: eating out, walking home from the train station, buying groceries. The normalcy of these vignettes suggests that Gosho has recovered from her anxiety attack — that is, until Gosho glimpses a boy who might be a vampire:

What makes this image so potent is its ambiguity: is it a figment of Gosho’s imagination, a flashback, or an actual vampire? We’re left feeling as unsettled as Gosho, and wonder what this bloody omen might mean.

That brings me to the hardest part of my review.

Despite the consummate skill and sensitivity with which volumes five and six explore Gosho’s psychic wounds, volume seven may be my last, primarily because I’m dismayed by Oshimi’s decision to further brutalize Gosho. In volume five, Gosho nearly died at the hands of a knife-wielding psychopath, an event that left her with an angry scar on her neck. The terror she felt, and the violence of the scene, seemed necessary at that juncture in the story, revealing the extent to which Gosho’s naivete, determination, and caring could be ruthlessly exploited by someone older and more experienced.

In volume seven, however, Gosho is captured by a cult leader who tortures her, mutilating her body and smearing it with her own menstrual blood. The violence in this scene is fundamentally sexual and, frankly, disgusting. One might argue that Oshimi is deliberately provoking the reader, making us complicit in Gosho’s exploitation, but nothing in Oshimi’s other work — Drifting Net Cafe, The Flowers of Evil — suggests that level of critical engagement with tropes. Instead, it feels as if Oshimi is using this violence as a shortcut, a way of revealing the cult leader’s depravity while providing Sudo motivation to seek revenge on behalf of his girlfriend. The scene also undermines Gosho’s agency — she broke into the cult’s compound looking for Okazaki — and dehumanizes her, reducing her womanhood to breasts and blood rather than her courage, intelligence, and determination to save a friend she hasn’t seen in a decade.

I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of reading and watching scenes like these, whether they serve a legitimate dramatic purpose or not. Oshimi’s undeniable artistry makes quitting Happiness an even more difficult decision for me, as I found his artwork and storytelling in the first six volumes compelling. (Hell, I’m quoted in the promotional literature for Happiness.) I don’t have the stomach for another scene of Gosho’s degradation, however, so I don’t think I’ll be reading volume eight.

HAPPINESS, VOLS. 3-7 • BY SHUZO OSHIMI • KODANSHA COMICS • RATED OT, FOR OLDER TEENS (VIOLENCE, PARTIAL NUDITY, SEXUALITY)