Michelle Smith

This week, Sean and Michelle look at recent releases from Kodansha Comics, Viz Media, and Seven Seas.

Arisa, Vol. 12 | By Natsumi Ando | Kodansha Comics – Yay, it’s over! Although this volume features a bomb, an over-the-top bitchy mom, several stabbings, and a healthy dose of redemption and forgiveness, none of it has any impact. It all just breezes past superficially. I’m kind of bummed that this is the sole example of shoujo mystery/suspense to come out in English in recent memory, because surely there must be better stories out there. One complimentary thing I can say about Arisa, however, is that the heroine (Tsubasa) does not get paired off romantically with the guy who helped with her investigation (Manabe). I thought for sure that would happen, but in the end, he actually likes someone else and Tsubasa derives closure from being able to get closer to her sister, and not from snagging a boyfriend. That counts for something! – Michelle Smith

A Devil And Her Love Song, Vol. 13 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – It seems appropriate that the first third of this volume deal with the adversarial relationship between Ayu and Maria, given that this is where it all began. Sure, they’re good friends now, but that does not change the fact that Ayu still loves Yusuke, Yusuke still loves Maria, and Maria is in love with Shin. And sometimes there’s no real solution to those things. Maria, at least, refuses to abandon any of her friendships, and Ayu does come around. After this, it’s a refreshingly happy and positive final volume, as Maria continues to see her family, finds fresh resolve to become a singer, and of course strengthens her relationship with Shin. Even Anna is mentioned as moving forward. the darkness this series had throughout makes this ending all the sweeter, and it feels well-earned as well. A terrific title. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 5 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – First off, let’s note that, even amusingly censored as it is, this volume has a lot – a WHOLE lot – of nudity. FYI. As for the plot, Yozora tries her hardest (the horse head helps), and there’s the hint that our trap may not in fact be a trap at all, but for the most part this is a very Sena-focused volume. We see her loneliness and need to bond when everyone but her has a cell phone, and we see her obsession for cute things such as Kodaka’s sister. Mostly, though, we see that she’s really fallen for Kodaka, in a tsundere sort of way, and given that she’s slightly less socially inept than Yozora, probably has a better chance of getting together with him. Oh yes, and her family are insane, but I could have guessed that. This was a fun read for fans of harem comedies. – Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 14 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – I sympathize with Nanami, I really do, given that the alternative is Tomoe’s death. But part of me just wants to grab her and scream “DO NOT MESS WITH TIME!” Yes, most of this volume takes place in the past, as Nanami resolves to stop Tomoe’s curse from killing him by preventing the curse from existing in the first place. The volume has plenty of magnificent Nanami moments, but fans of Kirihito and Mizuki will also find things to enjoy here. The other big attraction, though, is the evil past Tomoe, and how his history may already be changing just from meeting Nanami. (Or so we think – who knows? Do not mess with time.) This has the feeling of a multi-volume arc, so be prepared to spend more time in the past. Which I am fine with, as long as Nanami keeps being awesome. – Sean Gaffney

Strobe Edge, Vol. 8 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – There is so much self-sacrificing going on in this volume I want to punch a kitten. Don’t get me wrong, it’s lovely to see the angst and people being considerate of each other’s feelings and all, but I can’t help wonder how much longer this is going to go on with Ninako lying to herself? (Checks volume count – two more to go.) I do like the addition of the blunt guy who has nothing to do with Ninako or any of their friends – he makes a good sounding board, and hopefully will not be dragged into any love triangles, even though I suspect jealousy is going to rear its ugly head. I’m still enjoying this, but it’s a shoujo where everyone is sad most of the time, and that means that it needs to run its course soon. You can’t sustain angst over 10+ volumes. Luckily, next time is the penultimate one. – Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, Anna, and Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, Viz Media, Seven Seas, Kodansha Comics, and Vertical, Inc.

Black Butler, Vol. 16 | By Yana Toboso | Yen Press – Ciel remains on assignment at Weston College, looking into the disappearance of one of Queen Victoria’s relatives. It’s been pretty fun to see Ciel in this environment, be it currying favor with prefects or befriending an earnest boy his own age. In this volume, he’s putting Sebastians talents to use in an attempt to perform well enough in the annual cricket tournament (despite a near-total lack of athletic ability) to earn an invitation to tea with the headmaster, who could hold all the answers. Okay, brilliant this isn’t, but I liked that it became a little like a sports manga (with players shouting out their moves, like “Rushing Violet Vapour, Purple Burnoutt!!”) and enjoyed the subtle Harry Potter references, like the appearance of a Hedwig clone and references to some of the actors from the movies. – Michelle Smith

A Bride’s Story, Vol. 3 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – In this volume Mori shifts from mainly telling the story of Amir and her young husband Karluk to exploring what happens to the European researcher Mr. Smith when he travels to a town and has a chance meeting with Talas, a young woman who has been widowed many times. Talas’ mother in law views Mr. Smith as a last chance to ensure that Talas will be taken care of after she dies, and the young couple start developing a liking to each other in spite of all of the manipulations to throw them together. But as women Talas and her mother in law have very little autonomy or ability to decide how they are going to live their lives. As always, Mori’s painstakingly researched details combined with her facility for showing slice of live scenes in a market or herding sheep bring history to life. Amir and Karluk make a brief appearance, and we also see hints of the next Bride’s story as the young Pariya gets her own chapter as well. Delightful as always! – Anna N

Dictatorial Grimoire: Snow White, Vol. 2 | By Ayumi Kanou | Seven Seas – I must admit, I greatly enjoyed this volume while I was reading it. It’s a lot of fun, I really like the character of Hiyori, and the design of Rapunzel was incredibly striking. That said, there’s no denying that this is basically a series of shonen cliches wrapped up in a pretty-boys package, and so if originality is your goal, you can skip this. But as a tasty manga treat you’ll forget about 10 minutes after you read it, it’s pretty much dead-on. Snow White is amusingly snarky (the conversations between him and Hiyori are comedy gold), Otogi gets to find his missing resolve and start fighting again, and as a reward gets lots of BL tease with Cinderella. I’m actually very interested in what will happen i the next ‘arc, which seems to feature Red Riding Hood (also male, of course). – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 18 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – Sometimes when a volume of a manga gets too happy, I start to get worried. Let’s call this the Joss Whedon effect. Everything is going so well for Sawako and her friends and family in this volume that I actually checked to see whether the series was ending soon, because it definitely has that feeling. It doesn’t appear to be, so now I’m a little fretful. What’s going to happen to stir this all up?! I know; I really should be content with what we get here, because it’s been so well-earned. Sawako and Kazehaya are finally on the same page in their relationship, Ayane may finally have found the right guy, and Chizu is perhaps slightly less clueless than before. And I’m happy to see that the focus on female friendships is still going strong in Kimi ni Todoke, even with all the romance in the air. Unequivocally recommended. – Michelle Smith

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 4, by Tsutomo Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – I really enjoy the way Nihei juxtaposes giant robots fighting giant gross aliens in space with hints of an overarching back story about the history of the colonization spaceship Sidonia. There’s a bit of the whole Battlestar Galactica “This has happened before, and it will happen again” theme in this volume as Tanikaze gets increased responsibility and is relied upon in battle more than ever, slowly acting more and more like he is going to live up to the legacy of his creator/father. The occasional bit of daily life on the Sidona is also included, making it clear that Tanikaze’s comments about loving the food, organisms, and people on the spaceship reflect his protective feelings. Hints of human and Guana experimentation continue to maintain the elements of horror that make this manga much more interesting than a simple space opera. Still highly recommended. – Anna N

Otomen, Vol. 17 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – Well, I knew this volume was going to hurt, and sure enough, it did. Kiyomi’s emotional manipulation of her son reaches its zenith, and the fallout affects everyone around Asuka. Particularly Ryo. You know it’s a crisis when Ryo is suddenly cooking and sewing well. At the center of all of this is Asuka’s sense of identity, and how can he remain true to it and keep both his family and his love. Sadly, Asuka is making the wrong choices here, but then, it is the second to last volume of the series. It looks as if we’re setting up for a big finale speech, one that I suspect may get interrupted several times. The manga may be a bit melodramatic at times, but the characterization is solid (I’ve come to terms with every single male in the cast being a secret otomen by now) Bring on the final volume. – Sean Gaffney

Psyren, Vol. 14 | By Toshiaki Iwashiro | Viz Media – Oh dear, it’s an all-fighting volume of Psyren, where even the minimal word count I have to write for these briefs seems excessive. The writer enjoys trotting out the big book of shonen cliches, with “i was just holding back, now you’ve made me use my full power”, dead mentors, and “I can teach you how to do this, but it may destroy you.” Oddly, there’s also a subplot about how constant fighting is a bad end in itself, and when the main characters win, they think to themselves that destroying the other side is not a great feeling after all. Fighting to protect vs. fighting to destroy, fighting for a peaceful future world vs. fighting for the apocalypse that already exists… this is what Psyren’s been doing. I have a feeling next volume will be all fighting again, but as long as it heads towards that peaceful end, that’s fine.– Sean Gaffney

Sankarea: Undying Love, Vol. 4 | By Mitsuru Hattori | Kodansha Comics – The difference in cover art between the Japanese and American volumes has never been starker than it is here. And I honestly think I prefer this version, mostly as the moe antics are the least interesting part of this book. The best moments here are discovering more of Rea’s tragic backstory, and the constant war between Rea and her zombie desires – one she seems to lose more and more each time, despite the genuine love she seems to have for Furuya. It makes me curious to see how far this series can go. Given it’s also fond of fanservice and tsundere antics, can it really descend into pure horror and abandon its romantic comedy stance? And more to the point, will Rea actually kill anybody? That does seem to be a real turn=-off for many guys… though perhaps not Furuya, given his obsessions. – Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from Seven Seas, Viz Media, SuBLime, and Kodansha Comics.

Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party, Vol. 2 | By QuinRose and Riko Sakura | Seven Seas – If this were the first Alice volume that a casual reader had read, I think they’d be pretty satisfied. At only two volumes, Alice and Blood not connecting doesn’t last long, there’s lots of discussion of the basic themes of this world, and we get some mafia madness with a few timely rescues. As someone who’s been following all the spinoffs, though, it’s all a bit same-y. It’s likely a lot easier with the game, where you can purchase one copy and explore all the different routes. Here, as individual manga series, it’s like starting over again each time, with a slightly diminished return. Some of the spinoffs make it worth seeing what they do to poor Alice, but while this is skillfully done, there’s nothing here we haven’t read before, so in the end it’s inessential. – Sean Gaffney

Crimson Empire: Circumstances To Serve A Noble, Vol. 3 | By QuinRose and Hazuki Futaba | Seven Seas – With the Alice series, while she’s quite a good protagonist, I tend to be more interested in her male partners. In this series, it’s the reverse – I find the men rather dull, but Sheila fascinates me. There’s a core of self-loathing to her that Alice simply doesn’t have, even with the tragedy in her life that she’s forgotten. Indeed, even after her lover wins the day, and the two admit they’re in love, Sheila still thinks nothing has changed, except now she’ll be bodyguard for a different man. Sheila IS her profession, which is assassin/bodyguard ninja maid. Anything else is just beyond her, both subconsciously and consciously. And that’ means that despite its happy ending, Crimson Empire seems a lot more melancholy than Alice in the Country of Hearts. – Sean Gaffney

Fairy Tail, Vol. 33 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – After a somewhat teeth-grinding Vol. 32, it’s nice to see *some* things go our heroes’ way in this volume. Mirajane wins, as expected, but she gets the comedic fanservice win – though it does end in a powerful finish. Elfman also impresses, taking the fight that was supposed to be Erza’s and managing to be the manlier man. There’s a few other amusing things here as well, which is good, because there are implications of very dark things to come. Saber Tooth and Raven Tail are looking like even worse guilds than we expected, and the way they’re treating their members (female, of course – Mashima tends to have his women suffer nobly) is horrid. And what does Lucy have to do with everyone’s plans? This volume has a good balance between ‘tournament battle’ and other plot, overall.. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 15 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – I don’t even know where to begin in expressing my utter adoration for this series in general and this volume in particular. There’s just so much to love: the wistful tone, the episodic stories that still advance the overall plot; the comic relief provided by Nyanko-sensei; the yokai, who are often sweet, sad, and endearing; and, of course, Natsume himself, who is better able to discover the reasons for yokai activity at a former exorcist’s home than anyone else and single-handedly responsible for resolving things peacefully. As if all of this weren’t great enough (and it is), the last chapter in the volume is a special episode about Toko and Shigeru, the distant relatives who took Natsume in when the rest of his family had written him off as disturbed. It is simply lovely and prompted many a sniffle. Natsume’s Book of Friends is a true gem. – Michelle Smith

NightS | By Kou Yoneda | SuBLime Manga – Having enjoyed Kou Yoneda’s No Touching At All back in 2011, I was pretty eager to check out NightS, even though it’s a compilation of short stories, which aren’t really my thing. None of the stories included here is terribly unique in premise—an attraction between a “transporter” and a yakuza, a fairly standard high school romance, love blooming at the car dealership—but Yoneda fills her stories with intelligent, natural-seeming dialogue and characters (well, at least the adult ones) with interesting personality quirks and flaws that impact how they approach relationships. While the format prevents achieving much depth, and hence prevents the volume from matching No Touching At All for quality, it’s nonetheless an enjoyable read. – Michelle Smith

Pokemon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened | by Momota Inoue | Viz Media I have to admit, I am not really all that interested in Pokemon, but Pokemon fever is raging through my kids’ elementary school, so I read this book with them. This is a stand alone one-shot movie adaptation centering around the story of an ancient Pokemon called Genesect who has suddenly awakened, causing trouble for the present day Pokemon and their trainers. Mewtwo takes on an important role in dealing with the Genesect, although Ash and Pikachu also contribute. The art is consistent, my kids enjoyed spotting all the Pokemon, and they smuggled it out of the house to show off at school. So if you have young Pokemon fans, I feel safe in predicting that this manga will appeal to them! – Anna N

Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, Vol. 2 | By Nobuhiro Watsuki | Viz Media – This wraps up the revisiting of Rurouni Kenshin prompted by the recent live action movie. Really, the original series was so great, revisiting the series in a slightly different form wasn’t really all that necessary. Still it was nice to be reminded of Watsuki’s facility with character design, especially the villians, and most characters from Kenshin got a little bit of a showcase. This second volume featured more turns from Saito and Yahiko, as they also battle in the Meiji era. Even Watsuki’s author notes seem to indicate that he was going through the motions a little bit, pointing out small things that he changed that he ended up regretting. Really, the original series is so much more charming than this version, most people would be better off just picking up some of the VizBig versions if they are interesting in reading this shonen classic. – Anna N

This week, Michelle & Sean (okay, mostly Sean) look at recent releases from Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, Seven Seas, & Vertical, Inc.!

Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 13 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Dengeki Daisy is at its best when focusing on the romance between its leads, Teru and Kurosaki. Unfortunately, the past several volumes have focused on the “code virus” that Kurosaki created back in his hacker days and the search for information on the nebulous baddies who sought to use it. Although I have the feeling that we’re supposed to find all this cyber espionage stuff very exciting, the details are so vague that it ends up being rather boring. It’s better than episodic randomness, though, and I have to give the series credit for its heroine being able to get herself out of tricky situations and for a central romance where the age gap is acknowledged as an issue. Plus, there are a few nice, quiet moments here that are almost enough to make me overlook the ridiculousness of the last couple of chapters. I’ll probably keep reading this one to the end. – Michelle Smith

Fairy Tail, Vol. 32 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – The danger of telling a story where injustice happens to our heroes and they’re meant to be angry and frustrated with it is that the reader may end up being a little TOO angry and frustrated in sympathy, to the point where it affects their enjoyment of the volume. That’s where I ended up in this volume of Fairy Tail, which starts going though its tournament arc. I was expecting losses – after all, every hero/team has to come back from adversity. The combination of cheating from the other side and the extra dollops of humiliation felt a little too real, sadly, though you could argue that this is because I’ve come to care about these characters so much. I am hoping that Volume 33 (already out, I’m running behind) will help to balance the scales a bit. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 18 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – The cover art pretty much describes the mood of this volume – it starts with a kiss, and doesn’t let up on being romantic and heartwarming for the entire length. Sawako and Kazehaya have resolved their lack of communication problem, Ayane and Kento are now officially a couple, and as for Chizu… well, she’s working on it. Slowly. I loved the fact that the majority of this was just given to telling everyone what’s been going on in their lives – after seeing Sawako and Kazehaya’s guessing games recently, it felt even more satisfying. Even her father seems to have finally admitted to the fact that Sawako is growing up and has a boyfriend. I expect the next volume will be more devoted to college and the future, so I will enjoy this for what it is: a celebration of how we got here. – Sean Gaffney

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 6 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – The harem antics continue in Sidonia’s 6th volume – more and more characters are falling for Tanizake, and we even get ‘walking in on naked girls’ and ‘comedic choking of the hero’ here as well. However, this plotline exists, I think, to emphasize further the sense of wrongness that exists throughout this universe. There’s just so many things that already feel off about everything going on, even discounting the evil body horror antics of Kunato. The artwork, which I’m still getting used to, helps further by continuing to use characters who look a lot alike, particularly during battle. This can be annoying, but also contributes further to the sense of distance and otherness that emerges from this series. The goal is to do all this while still retaining reader interest, which Nihei has absolutely done. Also, poor Izana. – Sean Gaffney

Midnight Secretary, Vol. 3 | By Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – Having set up the premise of this series over the previous two volumes, Ohmi now begins to tear it apart for dramatic effect, as first Erde, the company Kaya was reassigned to, asks her to stay permanently, and then Kyohei resigns from his own position, striking out on his own. All of this, of course, plays second fiddle to the real story here, which is that these two are falling deeply in love and cannot keep their hands off each other. I’m actually surprised that the vampire part of this story isn’t playing a larger role – this could be edited to be non-supernatural fairly easily. Also, this title is rated M and lets you know it – the sex is red hot, and at one point you see Kaya staggering down the street, barely able to walk straight after their intense lovemaking. Right now, this tops Happy Marriage?! as Viz’s spiciest title. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 15 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – It struck me as I read this new volume how segmented Natsume’s relationships with all of his (human) friends are. For all that the series has shown Natsume starting to open up, trust and appreciate people again after so long being closed up, he still tends to keep everything to himself – and more importantly, take on everything himself. I fear this may get him in trouble soon, and not just him (there’s a suggestion in this volume that Taki’s spell circle is far more dangerous than it seems – and it’s seemed pretty dangerous). This is, however, balanced out by the 2nd half of the book, which is adorable, heartwarming, and shows the strengths of both humans and yokai. Darker tones may be arriving soon, but for now I will continue to enjoy this shoujo yokai manga’s relaxed and unhurried pace. – Sean Gaffney

Zero’s Familiar, Vols. 6-7 | By Noboru Yamaguchi and Nana Mochizuki | Seven Seas – As you might expect, I enjoyed the dramatic plotline that wrapped up here more than the attempts at fanservice and wacky harem antics. The discovery of the Dragon’s Raiment is a nice tie-back to the start of this series, and it was also a relief to see what we knew would eventually happen – Louise finds the magic that she is truly suited for, and turns out to be terrific at it. (That said, an entire battleship VANISHED, but no loss of life? Keep telling yourself that, princess…) The pacing sometimes suffers here, and I find the art, particularly in dramatic moments such as the side story with the Princess and late Prince, does not always convey emotional turmoil very well. Still, as an adaptation, this is probably good enough, and we’ll get another portion of it later this spring. – Sean Gaffney