Michelle Smith

Golosseum, Vol. 1 | By Yasushi Baba | Kodansha Comics – I approached Golosseum with some amount of trepidation (honestly, that feeling hasn’t completely left after reading the first volume), but the series would seem to be an oddly addictive and pulpy ultra-violent manga. After highly-advanced technology known as “Peacemakers” have rendered most weapons obsolete, battles are fought and won through suplexes and hand-to-hand combat. It’s a premise that starts to fall apart under close scrutiny, but to be fair Golosseum really isn’t a series meant to be taken too seriously. The manga is incredibly over-the-top, its appeal originating from the absurdly extreme martial arts (and bodies) on display. Supposedly, Golosseum is also intended to be a political satire of sorts. Along with not-Hulk Hogan and not-Bruce Lee, important appearances are made by not-Hillary Clinton and not-Vladimir Putin (as well as actual-Grigori Rasputin). However, it remains to be seen how successful that particular aspect of the manga will ultimately be. – Ash Brown

New Game!, Vol. 2 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – We get to see the rest of the game release in this volume, as everyone works really hard to make sure it gets out and has been properly tested. This allows Aoba’s friend Nene to temporarily join the cast herd, and let’s her get as fleshed out as anyone is ever going to be in this genre. We also meet Umiko, who also tests the games but in general wants to tell you about her gun hobbies a lot more. As for our heroines from the first book, they’re still here, doing cute 4-koma things and doing their best today. If it sounds like I’m mocking New Game!, it’s only a bit—it really is a fun title to read and the girls are cute. But this is not exactly the most ambitious title in the world. Recommended for fans of the genre. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 8 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – It has to be said, whenever a woman in this series kicks ass, it always comes back to do them the most harm later. Here it’s Anne, who I praised in my brief for the last book, finally married to Richard but not at ALL in the way she wanted after what happens in the aftermath of book seven. And poor Isabelle just ends up dead, seemingly from a “witch,” though I’m somewhat skeptical about that. Richard, meanwhile, is at his broodiest yet, and even with a timeskip in the middle of the book seems to have shut himself off completely after the death of Henry. Of course, this assumes that Henry is actually dead. Requiem of the Rose King may be wandering off the Shakespeare track at times, but remains addictive. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 8 | By Aya Kanno | VIZ Media – Nobody ever really has a good time in this series, but that’s really true in this volume, with the possible exception of Edward, who is throwing drug-fueled orgies with his new favorite mistress, who happens to be a witch. She’s also behind the plot that brings down George and Isabella, which Richard allows to play out because George really is a threat to the House of York and his insulting behavior towards the king has not gone unnoticed. For his part, Richard is disgusted by the king, too, and makes a pact with Buckingham to start working towards taking the crown for himself. Meanwhile, he’s cold as hell to Anne and claims his soul died when he had to kill Henry. But did he really? Twisted, but essential. – Michelle Smith

Scum’s Wish, Vol. 7 | By Mengo Yokoyari | Yen Press – This is still well written, but I can’t say I’m enjoying Scum’s Wish anymore. Part of the problem is the ongoing Ecchan plotline, which goes exactly the way that I thought it would and just leaves everyone upset. No surprises, it was never going to end happily, but part of me sort of hoped Ecchan’s sexuality might be gone into a bit more. As for Akane, this volume delves into her past and why she’s acting the way she does, which essentially amounts to a combination of “I’m really good at it” and “I’m empty inside.” Unfortunately, the idea that the reader is rooting for her to end up with Narumi is ludicrous at this stage. The layout, plotting and dialogue of Scum’s Wish is superb. I’ll finish it, but I wish I liked it more. – Sean Gaffney

A Strange & Mystifying Story, Vol. 3 | By Tsuta Suzuki | SuBLime – This was a reread for me, but it’s been quite a few years. I had forgotten how utterly lovely and charming the romance is between forty-something museum director Minamiura and the unfriendly-seeming-but-unexpectedly-honest twenty-something Hatoki. Hatoki is captivated by Minamiura’s easygoing air, and I love that eventually Minamiura grows tired of waiting for Hatoki to do something about it that (in the brief bonus store) he eventually pounces on him. I wish the whole series were about these two, in fact. The second half of the novel is about Minamiura’s former stepson and the guardian beast who was expecting a girl to be his bride, and it’s fine, but I hope we don’t go back towards supernatural smuttiness of the first two volumes. Still, I’m looking forward to volume four finally being available in English! – Michelle Smith

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Vol. 5 | By Taiki Kawakami | Kodansha Comics – I will readily admit that I have been enjoying That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime far more than I ever thought I would. There have been a few missteps here and there, but overall the series has been a highly-entertaining read that plays around with well-established tropes of the fantasy and isekai genres. This volume focuses on the conclusion of Rimuru’s fight against the Orc Lord and the immediate aftermath of the battle. Despite Rimuru being so incredibly superpowered, the showdown was still an engaging one because the potential for failure remained. Rimuru himself may be able to survive just about anything, but that outcome isn’t guaranteed for his allies. More and more monsters have joined forces with Rimuru over the course of the series–goblins, ogres, lizardmen–at this point it seems like he’s being setup to become something of a saviour figure. – Ash Brown

To-Love-Ru, Vols. 7-8 | By Saki Hasemi and Kentaro Yabuki | Seven Seas – To-Love-Ru is a title that by its very nature is always skirting around the edge of being bad. So when you get a subpar volume like this, it’s hard not to sigh and try to flip ahead a bit. We see investigating haunted houses, trapped on a deserted island, and more of the tsun-heavy prefect, which means that Rito gets the crap beaten out of him even more than usual. Why does he get the crap beaten out of him, you ask? Because To-Love-Ru is for teenage boys, and thus the girls are frequently naked and he is always falling into their boobs. It’s never a good sign when you’re longing for the subtlety of Love Hina. To-Love-Ru gives its readers what they want, but I’m pretty sure I don’t want it anymore. – Sean Gaffney

Baccano!, Vol. 3 | By Ryohgo Narita, Shinta Fujimoto and Katsumi Enami | Yen Press – This final volume of the manga is a relatively straightforward adaptation of the first volume, with a few Easter Eggs thrown in for hardcore novel fans, such as a flashforward to Firo and Ennis’ wedding (Christopher! Rail! People blocked by an annoying arm!). Of course, the manga is cagey about when that wedding takes place—trust me, it’ll be a while. As for other aspects of the adaptation, it’s worth noting that Enami more than the anime or the novels is making Isaac and Miria explicitly a romantic couple rather than a mere comedy double act. There’s some really sweet moments here that shows off their love. Baccano! fans who saw the anime and read the novels will want this too. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 11 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – There’s a lot going on here, and as always with Black Clover very little of it will take you by surprise. We see brainwashed villains overcoming it (as well as villains in love), Asta manages to control his anti-magic and become more powerful, and an arrogant sneering villain gets to apologize. We also see Vanessa face off against the Queen of Witches, which gives us a nice opportunity to talk about how much Jump loves found families. A whole lot. The whole is not greater than the sum of its parts—honestly, the whole is about the same as the parts—and I suspect I’ll forget what happened in this volume before the next. But I do enjoy Black Clover as I read it. It’s dumb fun. – Sean Gaffney

The Bride Was a Boy | By Chii | Seven Seas – It probably isn’t much of a surprise that The Bride Was a Boy was one of the manga releases that I was most looking forward to this year. It’s fairly rare in translated manga to see realistically portrayed characters who are transgender, but rarer still is the opportunity to read a manga that is both about and by someone who actually is transgender. The Bride Was a Boy is the autobiography of Chii. It’s an adorably sweet manga about her experiences as a transwoman in Japan, including aspects of her transition and her marriage to her wonderful husband. Some may criticize the work for being too free of conflict–that it doesn’t adequately show the hardships that so many transgender people face–but it’s incredibly refreshing to see such a charming and positive work. Happy, hopeful stories about transgender lives are valuable and important to have, too. – Ash Brown

Chihayafuru, Vol. 11 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Mizusawa’s karuta club has earned a spot at the national tournament no matter what happens in their final match against Hokuou, though it’s still a disappointment when they don’t come away with the victory. Part of the problem is that Chihaya is looking ahead to her next game against Shinobu and spends the entire first half trying to improve her accuracy rather than relying on her real strength—having a higher number of “one-character cards” than anyone else. I love that her resulting funk is short-lived and that her perseverance also serves as an inspiration for her sister, who’s having a bit of a career crisis. After a nice bit of encouragement from the wind instruments club, the gang is off to nationals. I consistently love this series more with every volume and don’t foresee that ever changing. – Michelle Smith

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 5 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – The joy of getting Falin back lasts for about five pages into this fifth volume, and I hope you weren’t looking forward to her as part of the team. But no, instead we get a new villain, the “Lunatic Magician,” who shows the reader what they had guessed all along—Falin came back wrong. Hopefully we’ll see more of her later, but for the moment our heroes have to go back to the surface—they’ve finally gone as far as they can living off the dungeon. We also meet a few other groups, some of whom are familiar with Laos and company, and learn that Laos and Falin are viewed as… rather creepy by everyone else in the area. The series is getting darker, but I’m still enjoying the places it’s going. – Sean Gaffney

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 8 | By Izumi Miyazono | Viz Media – The series proves to be very good at looking at multiple aspects of a long term, non-married relationship, and that’s good news for the reader but bad news for Asuka, who has to deal with her workplace hearing she’s involved, and thus demoting her as they expect her to leave to be a housewife. This is so very, very Japan and it’s sad that everyone treats it as “yeah, that’s what happens.” Asuka and Ryu try their best, but she’s also hammered on by the folks in the United States that they need Ryu to be there—and not with Asuka. As such, the end of this volume is sad but inevitable. Fortunately, it’s not the end of the series. This was a bit excruciating, but well told. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 23 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – This is the second volume in a row not to deal with the main Karasuno club, as we’re still playing out Nekoma’s match for the majority of the book. It’s a good match, but I must admit it does not exactly lend itself to new things to say in a review. Cool things happen, people learn about volleyball, their are heartfelt flashbacks, and eventually a team is the winner. The next volume definitely looks like it’s heading back to Kageyama, though, as he’s been picked as what sounds like the equivalent of an All-Pro. Can be do actual teamwork with a team other than his own, though? And what does Hinata feel about this? Fine out next time, same Haikyu-time, same Haikyu-channel. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 2 | By Maybe | Yen Press – There’s a bit of fanservice here, but for the most part Tales of Wedding Rings impresses me by not going for the obvious harem fantasy tropes. We travel to the country of the elves to meet the next princess (described in the blurb as well-endowed, presumably to separate her from the well-endowed main heroine). Unfortunately, Nefritis is a massive introvert with a fear of others, and her brother not only has a massive brother complex but also seems to have a hate-on for the ring bearer—the two may be connected. There’s some emotional scenes and a nice battle in among the cliches here, and while I’m expecting more well-endowed girls next time around, I still think this is worth your time. – Sean Gaffney

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 4 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty has always been good, but I was not expecting so many feels. It all starts so well. Shizu has come so far as her true self, and has a lovely evening with Tetsu at the summer festival. Tetsu patches things up with Chihiro, whom we learn sees a lot of himself in Shizu. With Chihiro’s encouragement, Tetsu begins to ask the spirits occupying Shizu about their lingering regrets, hoping to maybe help them move on. It’s so hopeful! And then evil dad returns and we’re plunged into bleak darkness. Thankfully, it’s brief, as Tetsu has come to care too much about Shizu to let his guilt over being paid to befriend her keep him from helping her escape her dad’s clutches. Evil dad won’t be happy with this turn of events, but I personally can’t wait to see what happens next. – Michelle Smith

Erased, Vol. 4 | By Kei Sanbe | Yen Press – While there’s technically one more volume of Erased, the main series ends with the fourth omnibus. At this point, Satoru has lived through his fifth-grade year three times as he tries to stop a string of serial killings. Although he largely succeeds, the third time leaves him in a coma which he only recovers from fifteen years later. The murderer was never arrested and has taken a particular interest in Satoru. For his part, Satoru is still determined to bring the killer to justice. A showdown between them is inevitable. Occasionally I felt that Erased would have been even better as a novel–the visuals used to make dramatic plot reveals work sometimes seemed like cheating (or maybe Sanbe just didn’t have the artistic chops to pull them off in a completely convincing way yet)–but the manga’s story was still wonderfully engaging. As a whole, Erased is a very satisfying series. – Ash Brown

Juana and the Dragonewt’s Seven Kingdoms, Vol. 2 | By Kiyohisa Tanaka | Seven Seas – This is not a long-running series (it ends with its third volume), so it’s very content to simply barrel along with its adventure plot. The characters are very relateable, despite being dragonewts—indeed, that’s the point, as we see Nid’s resolve and also their ‘vamp’ friend Zoila’s efforts to rescue her own friend from the evil circus. These are understandable people. And the presence of Juana in their narrative, alternating as a ball of sunshine and a bolt of energy, is a great thing. We also get some hints of issues with Nid’s family, which I’m sure will be cleared up next time, as well as whether Juana is here to stay or not. For those who like fantasy adventures, this is a great buy. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 2 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – Even as it moves into Weekly Young Jump proper with this volume, Kaguya-sama maintains its basic amusing premise with aplomb. Miyuki and Kaguya continue to attempt to mentally manipulate each other into doing anything that could be considered as a gesture of love, despite the fact that when it comes to matters of the heart (and indeed social interaction in general), they’re both such dorks. Chika, the seemingly bubbleheaded secretary of the Student Council remains my favorite character, providing excellent balance between the two leads’ overbearingness. And there are, as you might expect, one or two really sweet moments in this as well. I’m happy to see this drag out over several volumes. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 29 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – OK, folks, we can breathe out, at least for now. Much as I felt Yano and Pin was a great romantic pairing in my heart, my head was going “No, no, don’t do that.” And so we get a confession here, and a rejection. That said, graduation is coming up, and I’m wondering if a flash-forward to the future may still run with it. Graduation and college plans are on most people’s minds here, especially Sawako and Kazehaya, who are also reflecting back on their relationship. As is the manga in general, reminding us of its origins with “Sadako” and having the girl who gave her the nickname apologize. And that valedictorian speech is just amazing. I am so going to miss this when it ends next volume. – Sean Gaffney

Mermaid Boys, Vol. 1 | By Yomi Sarachi | Yen Press – Very loosely based on The Little Mermaid, Sarachi’s manga Mermaid Boys features Prince Naru, a merman who falls in love at first sight with Nami, a human girl. He makes a bargain with a sorcerer allowing him to transform into a human for a chance to win her affections, but if he fails, he’ll turn into sea foam. Most of the similarities between the two stories end there. I like the premise of Mermaid Boys, and the end of the first volume introduces additional intrigue, but I would probably enjoy it more if I actually liked Naru better. The series’ humor can be pretty hit-or-miss, too. However, I did like just about every other character, especially Nami who doesn’t put up with Naru’s crap. I also appreciate that her personality is completely different from what Naru had assumed, putting him in a rather awkward situation in regards to his deal. – Ash Brown

One Piece, Vol. 86 | By Eiichiro Oda | VIZ Media – This is shaping up to be my favorite arc in a very long while! It’s a lot of fun seeing the Straw Hats (at least temporarily) team up with Bege in order to take down Big Mom. We know what the plan is supposed to be, and when things inevitably go awry, waiting on our heroes to ensure certain pivotal moments still transpire is very exciting. I continue to be happy that Brook is getting important things to do in this arc, and taking Big Mom out would feel like such a big achievement and turning point for the series, particularly as Brook was able to copy a vitally important ponegliff last volume. Of course, she’s gotta have a sad backstory—well, only kind of sad since she’s been unhinged since childhood—and we’ve gotta end on a cliffhanger. It’s a really cool one, though! – Michelle Smith

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 24 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – First off, let’s face it, the true identity of ‘Inuzuka’ is so obvious that I think its obviousness is the joke. That said, there are certainly some surprises here, mostly in regards to Mafuyu’s new teacher. I thought he was just going to be a simple villain, and he’s certainly an antagonist, but he also gets caught up in what seems to be the running motif of this entire series—loss of memories. Mafuyu has memory issues (seemingly due to head trauma as a child), and so does Hayasaka. Momochi’s entire plotline involved memory erasure. The concept of memories are very important to Tsubaki. That said, rest assured, this series remains absolutely hilarious—I laughed out loud half a dozen times this volume. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 24 | By Izumi Tsubaki | VIZ Media – Last volume was the start of Mafuyu’s final year in high school, and by the end of this volume, we’re already at summer break. Miyabi’s troublesome little sister has forced Saeki to resign, and for some reason he’s guarding the bancho at a nearby school, where he runs into Mafuyu’s new homeroom teacher, Maki, putting up surveillance cameras. Why? Who knows. But to find out more about Maki, Mafuyu and friends travel to her hometown over the summer, where there are elaborate lies to hide her bancho past from Hayasaka as well as a thoroughly random watergun fight with some delinquents from West High. Honestly, I don’t even really attempt to follow the plot, and I don’t even laugh at the humor. There’s just something about this series that keeps me reading. – Michelle Smith