Michelle Smith

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 9 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – And so, The Full-Time Wife Escapist comes to a close. It’s a little disappointing that Mikuri and Hiramasa spend most of their time fine-tuning their living arrangements (divvying up chores, etc.) and not rejoicing in their love for each other, but they do get some nice moments near the end. I was way more interested in the Yuri/Kazami pairing anyway, and this finale did not leave me hanging in that regard (although I’d like to kick Kazami’s audaciously meddling coworker Igarashi to another planet). Even Numata gets a boyfriend, though it’s not quite “pair the spares,” since Mikuri’s friend remains single. She’s the one who speaks what I reckon might be the theme of the series: “There are all sorts of directions you can go in life, huh?” Indeed. This series has been a very enjoyable demonstration of that fact. – Michelle Smith

Giant Killing, Vol. 10 | By Masaya Tsunamoto and Tsujitomo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – For the first time in three years, East Tokyo United has made it through the Japan Cup qualifier league. They face a challenge in their next regular match, though, since Murakoshi and Gino are sidelined (for reasons of penalty and injury, respectively) in the game against a team with a lot of talented young players. Tatsumi decides to field many of the older veterans in the match, but temporarily awards the captain’s armband to Tsubaki to help him build confidence. It’s your typical exciting soccer stuff, really, though I appreciate meeting another coach who cares a lot about seeing his players grow and Tatsumi’s curry party with the fans was nice, too. I’m starting to get a sense for more of the players on the team, and they’re starting to buy into Tatsumi’s vision. Perfectly executed sports manga! – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 20 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – Here I am once again, trying to fill up a Bookshelf Brief with words that are more than “Well, that sure is volleyball” while also trying to convey that I am genuinely enjoying this series. We go from the fourth to the fifth set here, and it’s starting to take its toll on both teams, who are becoming rather exhausted. There’s more injuries to deal with too, as Tsukishima, already having achieved his character development, seems to break a pinky. But the most interesting part to me was the breaking of the “back and forth” scoring, as Karasuno runs up a big lead and then sees it vanish and they end up in a big hole. Haikyu!! makes volleyball seem exciting and I hope makes young kids want to play it. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 3 | By Rin Mikimoto | Kodansha Comics – Still having fun, and I’d call this series ‘solid’ now. As the back cover makes clear, the faces continue to be a comedic highlight—the top of page sixteen is probably not as filthy as I thought it was, but it made me chuckle regardless. Much of this volume is devoted to a narcissistic member of Kaede’s old idol group, and his desire to seduce Hinana just so that he can rub it in Kaede’s face. This goes about as well as you’d expect, which is to say not at all. No, if there’s an upcoming serious danger, it may be more on the career front. I like how this manga is quite sexy without going into the sometimes sordid side that you see in some shoujo titles. Definitely a keeper by now. – Sean Gaffney

orange: future | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – This sixth volume of orange features Suwa as the protagonist. The first part gives an accelerated version of his point-of-view of the original story and culminates in a “ten years in the future” moment that the future selves get to see in a shared dream. The rest of the volume shows how the future originally played out after Kakeru’s death, and how Suwa wooed Naho with some of the things Kakeru had said he wanted to do with her (thus using him and feeling like a scumbag for it) but managing to win her heart by being himself. It’s sweet, and though theirs is a different sort of love, it doesn’t feel unearned. I was happy that Takano-sensei has recaptured the same magical feeling; no need to worry that reading this will spoil your orange experience. – Michelle Smith

Red Colored Elegy | By Seiichi Hayashi | Drawn & Quarterly – Several volumes of Hayashi’s avant-garde manga have now been released in English, but the first and perhaps most immediately accessible was Red Colored Elegy, an influential work from the early 1970s which originally graced the pages of the alternative manga magazine Garo. The book has since gone out of print, but happily Red Colored Elegy will soon be re-released in a new edition accompanied by an extensive and incredibly illuminating essay by comics scholar Ryan Holmberg outlining the context and legacy of Hayashi and his manga. Red Colored Elegy is a stylistic and moody love story following the lives of Ichiro and Sachiko, two struggling young artists working in the animation industry, and the tumultuous relationship between them. It’s been a few years since I first encountered the manga, but even after multiple readings it remains a tremendous and beautifully crafted work with striking visuals and an emotionally resonant core. – Ash Brown

SP Baby, Vol. 2 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – The author implies in the afterword that this series ended at only two volumes because of her pregnancy and subsequent childbirth, but honestly I suspect it wouldn’t have had a long life regardless. There was one section of the book I genuinely really liked, which had Tamaki reliving her traumatic past after an attempt of Kagetora’s life, which felt real and earned. Unfortunately, this is followed by such a manufactured climax that I had trouble realizing what actually happened before it was already resolved. At least we did have her realize she’s much rather kick ass as a bodyguard than stand around being a housewife. Still, in the end this is a bit of a damp squib. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 41 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – Still lots of fights, still very little food preparation, though they at least attempt to discuss how to prepare god. Sadly, I fear that in the end Toriko is far more influenced by battle manga than I’d like, and I miss the series’ early charm. Also, Komatsu is almost entirely absent from this book, and it shows. This despite the fact that we get what seems like every single cast member since volume one showing up to help in the final fight. (Tommyrod? Really?) If you like shounen GAR, there’s plenty to sink your teeth into here, with lots of “you fool, you underestimated me.” “No, you underestimated ME!” going on. As for me, still counting down to the end of this series that’s worn out its welcome. – Sean Gaffney

Frau Faust, Vol. 3 | By Kore Yamazaki | Kodansha Comics – I see we’re doubling down on the “religion of EVIL” here, even if the priest is seen to regret what he’s done. It’s no surprise that a series called Frau Faust would have a plot revolving around… well, Faustian bargains, and as we see here, it doesn’t end well. That said, we do meet some new cast members, who show that some people are a little better than others when it comes to resisting the call of the demon. I like Sarah, and hope bad things don’t happen to her. Certainly I have more hope for her than I do for Johanna. The series is still just finding its feet, but I’m greatly enjoying each volume, and I recommend it especially for fans of The Ancient Magus’ Bride. – Sean Gaffney

Frau Faust, Vol. 3 | By Kore Yamazaki | Kodansha Comics – I love that Johanna deals with the priest’s daughter-turned-monster with both compassion and certainty and, I might add, not before assigning Marion the task of discreetly making off with Mephisto’s leg while Lorenzo is distracted. We see more of the priest’s fate than I expected and got some ominous hints about what the church is up to. Then it’s off to the town where Johanna went to university. Her former roommate Sarah is a great character! At first it just seems she’s there to mend Nico, but then you realize that she’s got a fascinating backstory of her own, and fills Marion in on Johanna’s college years. This series is seriously so well crafted. I am already bummed there are only two more volumes. – Michelle Smith

Golden Time, Vol. 9 | By Yuyuko Takemiya and Umechazuke | Seven Seas – This feels like it wrapped up far too fast, though I’m pretty sure the novels were about the same. I think it needed an extra chapter of “epilogue,” especially after all the horrible emotional trauma going on here. Banri’s issues with amnesia are not just wacky amnesia that you see in other manga, he’s dealing with two different sets of memories and selves, and the one we’ve come to know and love is on the losing end. It’s no surprise that Kouko can’t take it and tries to pull back to where SHE began the series. It all ends OK, though, and I’m happy I read the manga—but I suspect this series is one I’d enjoy more as a light novel. Maybe if Toradora! sells well… – Sean Gaffney

My Boyfriend in Orange, Vol. 2 | By Non Tamashima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Shoujo manga has its share of series in which the heroine repeatedly requires rescue, but the first volume of My Boyfriend in Orange made it seem as if such rescues were the whole point, and it was quite tiresome indeed. This second volume is a little better, though that might be damning it with faint praise. Moe Sasaki has recently lost her father, and so she’s drawn to handsome firefighter Kyosuke Ebihara because he makes her feel safe. This is the kind of story where, when Moe’s little brother suddenly goes missing at a cookout, there’s absolutely no suspense because it’s a foregone conclusion that Ebihara will save the day (and that Moe will do something dumb like fall in a river). Likewise, the male classmate we meet is going to have feelings for her. The result isn’t horrible, just exceedingly bland. – Michelle Smith

My Neighbor Seki, Vol. 10 | By Takuma Morishige | Vertical Comics – Bad news for Seki fans, as the series is going on hiatus after this volume—not only here, but in Japan as well, as the author admits he’s taking a break as it’s hard to think up new things for Seki to do that are unique and fun. You do sort of see his point, as when the purpose of your series is seeing which Rube Goldberg device Seki has come up with today, there’s a desire to keep topping yourself. My favorites were Seki testing video games, the school cultural festival, and Seki’s cardboard fort being so hard to figure out Yokoi gets stuck under his desk trying to do so. Yokoi may not think of Seki as a friend, as the epilogue shows us, but everyone else can see what’s really going on between them. – Sean Gaffney

SP Baby, Vol. 2 | By Maki Enjoji | VIZ Media – SP Baby (the SP stands for “security police”) is a two-volume josei series from the creator of Happy Marriage?! and, I must admit, it’s pretty ridiculous. Tamaki Hasegawa has been hired as a bodyguard to Kagetora Sugou (the prime minister’s handsome nephew) and is trying to adhere to a professional working relationship, but he keeps dressing her in skimpy miniskirts and kissing her (while he is engaged to someone else). But we’re supposed to root for them because she has past trauma about being unable to save her little sister from drowning, whereas Kagetora is someone she has been able to save . It’s all very flimsy and the resolution is swift, complete with a “Tamaki takes out armed attackers with the power of kicks” finale. Sometimes, a brief, light story like this might hit the spot, but I just wasn’t feeling it this time. – Michelle Smith

To-Love-Ru, Vols. 3-4 | By Saki Hasemi and Kentaro Yabuki | Seven Seas – To-Love-Ru is a series for teenage boys that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump (at least at this point), and it certainly knows exactly what teenage boys want—if you took all the fanservice in Nisekoi, you might get about two pages of the fanservice in To-Love-Ru. In some ways I feel that the fanservice *is* the plot. As for the supposed actual plot, again I feel that the authors wanted to rewrite Urusei Yatsura but couldn’t get permission from Rumiko Takahashi. Nothing here is necessarily terrible, and the main cast is nice enough, but again every single beat of this is terribly predictable, except perhaps that Lala and Haruna really like each other. If you’ve never read a single harem series, To-Love-Ru is for you. – Sean Gaffney

A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 7 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamaji| Seven Seas – Much to my surprise, there was one less death than I predicted in my last brief. Other than that, though, this went sort of how I expected—our heroes fought a long, hard battle and won eventually, though Estelle is warned by Accelerator that she should stay out of “the dark side” of Academy City. From what I recall in the main Index series, that’s easier said than done, though of course Accelerator simply means stay away from HIM. Of course, Accelerator cannot stop being a trouble magnet, just like Touma. And, just like Touma, he now has a beautiful girl fall out of the sky in front of him. Index was hung like a futon, and this new princess seems to have been in a suitcase. What will happen next? Good times in any case. – Sean Gaffney

My Monster Secret, Vol. 9 | By Eiji Masuda | Seven Seas – Akemi and Aizawa are on the cover this time, as if to announce that the harem sweepstakes, which has never exactly been a small part of this series, is now ramping up quite a bit. Of course, this all stems from Youko’s actions at the end of the last volume—something she’s still freaking out over, to an extent. There’s a lot of comedy but very little forward progress here, as you’d expect from this sort of series. Still, the comedy is funny, and there’s even a bit of plot. It’s also amusing to have the characters we aren’t allowed to see play a big role—Akemi from the future and Shiho’s mother. If you get frustrated by lack of forward progress, come back in a volume or two. Otherwise, this continues to be funny. – Sean Gaffney

Spirit Circle, Vol. 2 | By Satoshi Mizukami | Seven Seas – I’m really enjoying this series, but it’s surprisingly grim, even from the creator of Biscuit Hammer, which was also filled with lots of trauma. It’s probably for the best, as the humor here is not the high point. What is the high point is that we get another past life for Fuuta, which takes us back to Ancient Egypt. It shows how his past lives can get screwed over by Kouko’s past lives even if they don’t kill each other. That said, his life was not terrible. Unfortunately, doing all of this reliving of past lives may be unlinking Fuuta to his own identity, which could have ominous consequences. Spirit Circle‘s plot is intriguing and its characters are likeable. I want to see where it’s going. – Sean Gaffney

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 4 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – This is a shoujo romance and not a shonen basketball manga, so the result of the game may not go the way everyone wants it to. We do get some nice interaction between Mitsuki and the four guys, though, and also some suggestion that this may be a reverse harem after all, as there’s some brief ship tease with Rui and Kyousuke. This does lead us to a very good point regarding this romance, which is that things can’t progress until Mitsuki admits her own feelings, something she seems to slowly be coming to terms with. I was also amused by a healthy dose of humor AND fanservice, as everyone imagining their hot guy/girl in a swimsuit gave us a lot of amusing reactions. This is a cute, fun romance series. – Sean Gaffney

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 4 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – In my long review of the first three volumes, I wished for a little more basketball and this time I got my wish. Anashin-sensei achieves a good blend of tournament action and shoujo romance here, particularly as the guys are worn out from their first game and can’t sustain their lead in the second. Their loss turns into an opportunity to show rather than tell how much they’ve accepted Mitsuki into their inner circle, as she’s permitted to be present when they discuss their feelings, self-recriminations, determination to improve, etc. Ryuji endeared himself to me by crying over the loss, and even playful Rui had some harsh words for himself. I’m starting to feel like this heartwarming series might be just what I need to sustain me when Kimi ni Todoke wraps up its run in another couple of volumes. Definitely recommended. – Michelle Smith

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 2 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – It’s rare that we get to see a male lead dealing with his weaknesses as much as Tetsu does here. Still dealing with family issues, his general fear of the supernatural, and the simple nature of what’s going on with Shizu, he’s not making the best choices all the time. But he’s trying, and he’s a good kid. As for Shizu, we do eventually see more of her actual self, though that may be a worrying part of the story—due to her constant possession, she has very little idea of who she is or what she likes. That said, she’s starting to like Tetsu, and I’m wondering what will happen when she decides that she wants to control her own action more. Meanwhile, yay, a clearly villainous dad arrives just in time for the cliffhanger! Intriguing. – Sean Gaffney

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 2 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – I really appreciate Tetsu’s sense of ethics here. He’s still afraid of Shizu and her situation, but thinks to himself, “I have to earn what I’m being paid. I have to stop being scared and be a better friend to her.” Soon, he realizes that he’s not actually afraid of Haru and Shinobu, the friendly spirits who regularly inhabit Shizu and look after her, and even infuriating Mirei helps him to loosen up. It’s just Shizu herself who scares him, since she lacks a strong sense of self, but he endeavors to learn her likes and dislikes and soon realizes that she’s actively trying to make him happy. She just has an utterly self-sacrificing way of going about it. What could’ve made her this way? Enter Evil Dad, right on cue. I will definitely be seeing this short series through to its conclusion. – Michelle Smith

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 6 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – On the heels of the electrifying performance in volume five, volume six was likely destined to be somewhat of a disappointment. The story jumps ahead three months. Momo has been gone the whole time—for completely unclear reasons he insists he can’t stay and be together with Nino—and Nino has been in a singing slump. Meanwhile, Yuzu has made some mysterious promise to his mother and has been composing like a fiend, although nothing he’s written is very good. This volume is, essentially, about everyone finding the desire to move forward, be it Nino learning that her voice did reach Momo before he left, or Yuzu realizing Momo’s songs are currently better than his, or Haruyoshi convincing Miou to go out with him. I suppose it’s good that I care a little more about the band members now, but that central love triangle is never going to captivate me. – Michelle Smith

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 5 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – The beginning of this volume is excruciatingly cringe-inducing, as Shimana (teen girl) attempts to induce Fujiwara (grown man) to fall in love with her by dramatically proclaiming her love in a crowded auditorium at her school’s Founder’s Day Festival. It was so bad I actively wanted him to reject her, but he bafflingly agrees to consider it. It seems like he’ll say no, but then one of the teachers, with whom he obviously has a history, shows up and suddenly he declares that he likes Shimana and is going to date her. Later, he clarifies that he doesn’t like her the same way she likes him, but that he’s determined to fall for her. Um, why her? Why not the perfectly nice age-appropriate lady who likes you?! The creepy teacher keeps popping up and it turns out she has a kid… who looks to me like Fujiwara! Dun dun dun. – Michelle Smith

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 5 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – I was impressed that this volume went in a few ways that I wasn’t expecting it to. After Shimana’s public confession, which made me cringe because I HATE THOSE, I was expecting a rejection, as the landlord clearly is not that into her. But he agrees to date her, which made me wonder if this was going to get a lot more angsty than I was expecting. Then, much to my surprise, we get an awesome conversation where he admits he doesn’t love her but wants to—he wants her to make him fall for him. That’s rather sweet, but could also go SO BADLY. Given we’re at the halfway point of the series, I’m expecting things may get worse before they get better. Also wow, did Zen get written out entirely? Poor Zen! – Sean Gaffney

Imperfect Girl, Vol. 2 | By NISIOISIN and Mitsuru Hattori | Vertical Comics – The story makes no bones about the sheer brokenness of both main characters, and much as “U” is clearly the more broken of the two, I like that it doesn’t skimp on showing us just how screwed up our narrator is. The “looking back at my past” narration helps there as well, though the best chapter in this volume may be the one that shows us the girl’s day at school. (I was expecting her to be bullied, but no.) That said, the preview worries me, and I really hope that this series stays away from any disquieting relationships. I think it will, though, if only as there’s only one volume left. I series that runs almost entirely on pure mood, but that’s not really a bad thing. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 21 | By Yuki Midorikawa | VIZ Media – I hope I always feel this delighted to read a new volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends. There are some truly charming stories this time. First, Natsume helps a lowly minion wake his master when others (including Nyanko-sensei) would like to thwart him and receive the reward themselves. Next, he helps the yokai protector of a bookstore defeat an evil spirit, and there’s a few nice moments between the yokai and Natsume’s friend, Kitamoto. But my very, very, very favorite story involves a miniature clay figurine of Nyanko-sensei and the noble spirit who inhabits it. There’s something so adorable and touching about watching this dinky little kitty making sure he’s taken care of the evil spirits near the shrine where he used to live before finally moving on, paddling along a stream in his little wooden bowl. I couldn’t possibly love it more. – Michelle Smith

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Legend of the Piko Piko Middle School Students, Vol. 2 | By Yushi Kawata, Yukito and khara | Dark Horse Comics – It has always seemed to me that Evangelion has had more “gag comic” spinoffs than most series, and with Piko Piko they seem to have hit on a real winner. While it’s hard to top the amazing front cover, I found myself laughing hard at multiple times while reading this, which is all you want out of a humor title. The cast are exaggerated to extremes, but still feel in character, oddly enough. There are a lot of hysterical visuals, such as the sushi belt, but the dialogue takes the cake—Carl Horn’s adaptation is absolutely the best reason to buy this, and adds so much to what’s already pretty funny. Honestly, this may be the most enjoyable Evangelion that’s not the original manga. – Sean Gaffney

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Vol. 9 | By Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi | Seven Seas – The most interesting part of this volume of Pandora may come in the author’s notes, where Rikudou admits he’s not drawing the manga anymore, but has farmed it out to Hitotose Rin due to health issues. He’s still doing the story (thus presumably confirming that Shirow’s no longer even remotely involved), but there’s no change in the artist credit either, no doubt due to Japanese manga rules. As for the volume itself, it was fairly light and fluffy for a Pandora volume, and the sequence with the runner who had prosthetics verged on being interesting. Still, I found myself getting bored faster than usual, making me wonder if this is finally the time to drop it. – Sean Gaffney