Michelle Smith

Astra: Lost in Space, Vol. 3 | By Kenta Shinohara | Viz Media – Two things are the most notable about this volume of Astra, which otherwise sees our heroes going to more alien worlds and slowly firming up into the obvious romantic couples. The first is the big reveal that Luca is intersex, which comes out after a confrontation with Ulgar over Luca’s father, the senator. We’ve seen intersex characters in manga before, but it doesn’t usually hit Jump titles. The other reveal is back with the parents discussing their kids, who have now been missing for a month. It’s clear that there is some sort of big conspiracy going on here. That said, I’m not sure I’d really be continuing with this if I didn’t know the next volume was the last. I look forward to it ending, but also want to see the end. – Sean Gaffney

Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, Vol. 2 | By Yukito Kishiro | Kodansha Comics – Having recently started reading and enjoying the original Battle Angel Alita, I was naturally curious about Mars Chronicle. While the first volume of Mars Chronicle served as a prequel to Battle Angel Alita, taking place during Alita’s childhood as a war orphan on Mars, the second volume is a sequel set after the events of the Last Order series. Tying the volumes together are the characters and the Martian landscape. Alita finds herself caught up in a dramatic battle with Erica, her childhood friend and another expert martial artist, while larger efforts to establish a unified Mars are in danger of collapsing, Alita herself framed for an assassination attempt of the emerging leader. For the most part, Mars Chronicle is a fairly accessible series even for those who haven’t read the earlier manga, although some basic familiarity with the franchise can still be useful. – Ash Brown

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 24 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – One of the more iconic things about Food Wars! are the images that are drawn by the artist summing up the preparation of food. Sometimes, when it involves the judges eating, it’s pure fanservice, but not always. There’s two terrific portraits here of the different types of cooking that two of the teams do—the one with Gin, Takumi and Megumi is shown as a sort of cocktail jazz band, while the one with Soma, his dad and Erina is shown to be avant-garde Jackson-Pollock style painters. It’s great stuff, and helps get us into the big final matches, which start with Soma immediately having rotten luck destroy him, as he’s challenging a soba expert and the meal they’re doing is soba. Ah well, he’s the hero, I’m sure he’ll come up with something. – Sean Gaffney

Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017 | By Takuma Shindo | Kodansha Comics – Despite being subtitled 1995-2017, the recent Hollywood live-action Ghost in the Shell film is oddly the first incarnation of Shirow Masamune’s manga to be addressed by the README guide and artbook. The rest of the volume is devoted to the various anime films and series by Mamoru Oshii, Kenji Kamiyama and, most recently, Kazuchika Kise. Each of the adaptations is given a chapter of its own which includes general information, story summaries, character, mechanical, and landscape designs, an abundance of full-color artwork, and more. For me the most interesting parts of README were the essays, the interview with Atsuko Tanaka and Maaya Sakamoto (the voices of “The Major,” Motoko Kusanagi), and the roundtable featuring all of the Ghost in the Shell anime directors in conversation with one another. README will likely appeal most to established fans of the franchise, but it provides a terrific overview and general introduction, too. – Ash Brown

Horimiya, Vol. 11 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – It really is impressive how the author of Horimiya is just not letting go of the fact that Hori really gets turned on by being dominated/struck, and that this really seems to bother Miyamura. It’s one reason, perhaps, why the volume ends with a short chapter that shows that, though they love each other, they still have tremendous difficulty figuring out how the other thinks. And there’s also Hori’s rage issues, which they at least acknowledge but don’t really deal with. As for the other couples, well, Ishikawa and Yoshikawa (Ishiyoshi?) are still struggling a bit, mostly due to embarrassment and embarrassing family. Horimiya isn’t as fantastic as it once was, but it’s still fun. – Sean Gaffney

Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 23-24 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | VIZ Media – We begin with the conclusion of the Winter Cup semifinal game, during which Seirin manages to defeat Kaijo by a one-point margin. It’s tense and exciting and there is a lot of manly crying. Rather than move right into the finals, however, the story diverges into flashback mode, with Kuroko telling the story of his time at Teiko Middle. This arc is fabulous and I’m a little bummed we didn’t have it earlier, as it would’ve informed so many of Kuroko’s interactions with his former teammates. However, putting it before his big matchup against Akashi makes sense, since Akashi was the one who sensed his potential to develop a unique style in the first place. In particular, I wasn’t expecting to come out of the arc loving Aomine so much. It’s nice knowing he finally did find someone who could defeat him. One of the best volumes in a while! – Michelle Smith

Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 23-24 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | Viz Media – As you might expect, Kuroko solves things, and is even allowed to make the winning shot—something that stuns him a bit. We’re clearly getting near to the end of the series, which means it’s now time for a biiiig flashback showing how the Generation of Miracles actually came to be. As you might imagine given everyone we’ve seen, it was not free and easy. Kuroko is almost put off the team a few times and the others barely work together at all. (It’s also cute seeing a middle-school, pre-sexy knockout Momoi falling for Kuroko.) I’m glad that this flashback is coming now, as we’ve come to know all the leads, and it also gives us a break from the tournament while still being filled with basketball. – Sean Gaffney

Mushroom Girls in Love | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – If it weren’t for the length, this could easily have fit right into the middle of A Centaur’s Life, a series that seems to enjoy randomly wandering off into whatever the hell for a few chapters on end. Instead of animal-human hybrids, this time it’s fungi-human hybrids, as our heroines try to stay married and in love despite root rot, royalty trying to break them up, and evading gunfire and the world seemingly being against them. As with A Centaur’s Life, this is not so much comedic or dramatic as just plain weird. And then there’s the girls riding tarantulas like horses… I guess what I mean to say is that if you like A Centaur’s Life and wish that the lesbians were the main characters, give this a shot. – Sean Gaffney

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 9 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics – In many respects, this is a satisfying finale. Jelly Fish is back in business and it’s great to see the girls, particularly Jiji, finally able to don fancy clothes without hesitation in order to help Tsukimi’s visions become reality. In fact, I pretty much cried straight through from that point on. Reveals and reunions occur, but when one looks closer, one sees that several things remain unsettled. Amamizukan is still owned by Kai Fish, we don’t know whether Jelly Fish will actually be a success, and we don’t know how Tsukimi feels about Kuranosuke being in love with her (though I do love that he recognizes she doesn’t need a man right now). The feeling is all very optimistic, though, and perhaps it’s for the best that we just imagine a happy outcome without worrying about the details. It’s hard to believe it’s over! – Michelle Smith

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – If you enjoyed the first volume of Wotakoi, this second one gives you more of what you enjoyed. The four leads are still all otaku types, but realistic and not caricatured. We get to see how Hanako and Taro met, which temporarily turns Wotakoi into Haikyu!! for a bit, and also see the couples accidentally getting swapped thanks to a haunted roller coaster. And there’s a new character, introduced (I thought) to be a gay love interest to Naoya, but no, she’s just a shy girl who dresses like a schlub. Still, there’s some comedy to be mined from hiding this from Naoya for the time being. As an anime and manga geek, reading Wotakoi is both fun and heartwarming, and I like it a lot. – Sean Gaffney

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – I really liked the first Wotakoi omnibus, but I flatout loved this one. All of the characters are so great and so vivid, and there was an interesting structure to the two volumes included here. In the first, the continuing story of Hirotaka and Narumi’s first real date is interspersed with short vignettes and the story of how Naoya makes a friend. I came away with a much stronger idea of why Hirotaka loves Narumi, and how he feels like an inferior adult compared to her. In the second volume, the continuing story is an amazing flashback to Kabakura and Koyanagi in high school, with all the tsundere goodness one could wish for. Ordinarily, characters who bicker this much would bother me, but these two are the exception. This is a fabulous series that everyone should be reading. Get on it! – Michelle Smith

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, Vol. 2 | By Tadahiro Miura | Seven Seas – If nothing else, Yuuna is proving to be a slightly better ecchi Jump title than To-Love-Ru has, possibly as there’s slightly less emphasis on falling into everyone’s breasts all the time. Only slightly, though, and Yuuna still positions itself for one type of reader and one alone—the horny teenage boy. But if I were a horny teenage boy, I’d like this—Kogarashi is a bit less hapless than the typical ecchi protagonist, the girls are for the most part fun (I was amused that the drunken Kitsune wannabe is a manga artist), and there is the occasional sweet romantic tease. Still, if you’re expecting romance, read Nisekoi. If you want boobs, this is the book for you. – Sean Gaffney

ACCA 13-Territory Inspection Department, Vol. 3 | By Natsume Ono | Yen Press – Sometimes you have to pick a side, even when you don’t want to. Jean really doesn’t want to, and it’s getting him in a bit of trouble, whether it’s being kidnapped by a group of terrorists mostly by accident, or trying to do his job while everyone wants him to be a spy and give them intel—including his boss, who gets pissed off at him at the cliffhanger. Jean, of course, reacts to this the way a Natsume Ono hero always reacts—with a world-weary stare, and in this case a lot of cigarettes. As for the actual coup, it’s still percolating, and I suspect we won’t get any actual revolution until Jean’s toured every single province. I also don’t expect he’ll be able to retire. A good title for Ono fans. – Sean Gaffney

After Hours, Vol. 2 | By Yuhta Nishio | VIZ Media – Seldom am I in the position of wishing a story gave me more angsty drama, but that’s how I feel about this second volume of After Hours. It’s reasonably interesting watching Kei and Emi come up with an idea for a big rave event and get their friends on board, but I could have done with less of that and more of Kei learning that Emi is still technically living with a boyfriend. She’s irritated and worried after the discovery, but we just don’t see into her head enough to suit me. At one point she dares to hope that perhaps Emi will choose her, but when that does happen, the moment lacks impact. Even if there had been one pause, one panel that lingered wordlessly on Kei’s face to show us her happiness and relief, I would be content. Oh well. One volume left! – Michelle Smith

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 19 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – After Shiemi rejected Rin in the last volume, is she now being written out of the manga? After learning a dark and tragic secret about herself (which we the reader are not yet privy to), she opts to drop out of the exorcist course, to the horror of all her friends. She insists she’ll still be at the school, but let’s face it, she would barely see them. Clearly it’s time for an awesome Christmas party! As for the rest of the book, we’re finally getting some real answers from Mephisto about the nature of the Baal and what they’re actually trying to achieve. Does this have anything ro do with Rin? I’ll be honest, I’d worry more about Yukio. Still good, though its infrequent release means I tend to forget what happened. – Sean Gaffney

Captive Hearts of Oz, Vol. 4 | By Ryo Maruya and Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Seven Seas – Last time I appreciated the lack of romance but felt confused by the plot. This fourth and final volume, the plot finally makes sense and I appreciate it, but I also now have a romance I really didn’t want. It’s made clear that Dorothy and Oz are not the same ones as the books by L. Frank Baum—though Dorothy is named after the Oz girl—I honestly felt the romance was added because the series is meant to be the sort that ends with a pairing. Ah well. The nature of the ending, which implies the return of Dorothy and Oz (like their namesakes) is reminiscent of the Alice in the Country of Hearts books. This is its spiritual successor, and likely the end of an era. It was decent. – Sean Gaffney

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 3 | By CLAMP | Kodansha Comics – Out of all of the manga by CLAMP that I’ve so far read, Cardcaptor Sakura is one of my favorites, so I was excited when I learned that a sequel was going to be released. For the most part though, Clear Card has yet to live up to its predecessor. The third volume of the series seems a bit more substantial than the first two, which is good, but the point of the manga remains unclear even considering the attempts at ominous foreshadowing. I’ll keep reading Clear Card though. Granted, that’s mostly out of loyalty to the original series than anything else. However, I do still love the characters and the artwork is lovely in Clear Card, too. I just hope that the manga continues to pick up a bit more momentum and weight and is able to distinguish itself as something more than just a sequel to Cardcaptor Sakura. – Ash Brown

DNA Doesn’t Tell Us, Vol. 2 | By Mintarou | Seven Seas – This is the second and final volume of the series, and it wraps up fairly quickly, trying to do its best to work in the “wild animals” even though our focus is still on our tame leads. It’s odd to realize that this is actually a school for animal girls in the basic sense—they graduate and move on to real life once they learn how to interact as a human, and the series ends with our girls as dorm leader and student council president. Other than that, the series is unambitious but not uninteresting, with several new animal girls getting attention, including a mole girl and a donkey girl. As for any suggested yuri? Nah, there’s nothing there. This was cute, but two volumes seems just about right. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 6 | By Canno | Yen Press – As this series does best, we spend some time catching up on people we’ve seen in prior volumes, and some time with new people, most of whom intermesh and entwine with each other. Jealousy is the order of the day here, as the effervescent Amane doesn’t really get why she can’t simply love more than one person, and the somewhat possessive Nina is bad at being straightforward about it. Chiharu and Izumi, meanwhile, are dealing with the uncertainty of a second love, especially when the old girlfriend is coming back. The characters in this all manage to have obvious flaws that can be mined for storylines without being annoying. (Though Nina comes close here.) Still good. – Sean Gaffney

Loveless, Vol. 13 | By Yun Kouga | VIZ Media – It’s been several years since the last Loveless volume, so I reread volume twelve before tackling this one, which helped a lot. Alas, it also served to remind me how much I like this series and wish for more. Sigh. We do get some interesting things here, though, like the conclusion of Beloved’s battle against Moonless—during which Seimei’s former friend informs him that his bond with Soubi is neither love nor strength—and Natsuo recounting the stories of Seven Voices Academy as told to him by his creator, including intriguing cameos by Soubi’s mother and Ritsuka’s father. She has information about Seimei, too, but we don’t get to see that yet. Nor do we get to see Ritsuka act on his determination to get Soubi back. I hope volume fourteen comes reasonably soon! – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia, Vol. 13 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Sometimes, with a cast this big, some people are going to have to take a back seat for a bit. For My Hero Academia, it’s going to be Todoroki and Bakugo, the only ones in the class not to pass the exam—both due to anger issues rather than because of lack of ability. Well, technically another girl may have failed the exam as well—turns out that one of the other class members was our favorite blood-sucking, blushing villain in disguise, and she got some very interesting blood. Of course, before Bakugo can take a back seat, he has to confront Deku with something we’ve suspected he’s known for a while now—Deku’s quirk and how it relates to All Might. Time for MANLY FISTS to take the lead! Amazing series. – Sean Gaffney

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 4 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – A lot of Queen’s Quality has to do with Fumi trying to survive with her basic personality intact, be it because of her past (involving amnesia) or her future (involving possibly being possessed by one or more queens). So honestly, the last thing she really needs is an attempt to drive her towards the dark side by putting her in Ataru’s mind, which is as bug-filled as you’d expect. She luckily has Kyutaro to help her, but honestly his love for her is as much of a hindrance as a help half the time. Still, the author is very good at making you want to see what happens next, and I don’t even mind that this isn’t a wacky comedy anymore. Also, love those Dengeki Daisy references! – Sean Gaffney

The Young Master’s Revenge, Vol. 2 | By Meca Tanaka| Viz Media – Again, this is a Meca Tanaka series, almost by definition “good but not great.” There’s a likeable heroine filled with denseness and pluck, as well as a frustrated hero who can’t decide if he’s trying to get revenge or seduce her. The best thing about this book was Tenma trying to figure out, in conversations with others, what love means to her and what kinds of love there are. It turns out Leo may need the same lesson, as the fact that he’s head over heels for Tenma has to be pointed out by his biggest rival. Will things change now that one of the pair is actually aware of this? We shall see. In the meantime, this remains a cute but slight shoujo series. – Sean Gaffney

Arakawa Under the Bridge, Vol. 3 | By Hikaru Nakamura | Vertical Comics – It really does surprise me how invested I am in rec and Nino’s love affair, given that it’s not really an affair yet and this book is more about everyone being hopelessly weird. But in a series like that, you need something to ground you or else you risk not caring about anything, and for me it’s the moments when the two really show how devoted they are to each other. Elsewhere, a battle royale between the cast goes about how you’d expect in terms of the winner (hint: she’s on the cover), and there is also the occasional hint that these happy (sort of) days for rec won’t be able to last forever. Arakawa requires a love of gag comedy to appreciate, but if you do there are a lot of rewards here. – Sean Gaffney

Durarara!! Re;Dollars Arc, Vol. 1 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – The last time we had a DRRR!! manga volume come out over here, we were just beginning the light novel release. Almost three years later, here’s the new arc. This starts to adapt the fifth novel, meaning that Akane and Vorona, two of my favorites, make an appearance. There’s not a whole lot of extra content here for those who have seen the anime and read the novels, though I was very appreciative of Shinra’s fantasy of why Akane would want to kill Shizuo. But for those who like following DRRR!! in manga form, this adaptation remains a good go-to choice. It’s drawn by Aogiri, who also did the Aquarion Evol manga art. Sadly, it also has Izaya being Izaya Alas. – Sean Gaffney

The Elder Sister-Like One, Vol. 1 | By Iida Pochi | Yen Press – While I was reading this, the first thing that came to mind was “this reads like porn with the sex removed.” Which indeed it is—the original was a pornographic doujinshi, but the author made the relationship non-explicit and a bit more familial (only a bit, mind you) for this mainstream release. The premise involves a young man who has been passed along from relative to relative and his demonic familiar who becomes a sort of twisted family. If you’re thinking “This sounds like Natsume’s Book of Friends only written for guys and with lots more cleavage,” you aren’t far off. It actually manages to respectably straddle the line between supernaturally sweet and supernaturally skeezy as hell. We’ll see how long it can keep that up. – Sean Gaffney

Flying Witch, Vol. 6 | By Chihiro Ishizuka | Vertical Comics – The cast expands a bit here, as we meet Sayo, a “student council president” sort who thinks that Makoto is a bit too laid-back and relaxed about her witchly duties. Which, to be fair, is 100% correct. Fortunately, they bond over a case involving a repeating town block, and Sayo shows off her shy, cute side. Elsewhere in the volume, most of the rest of the cast show up for a barbecue of sorts, as we get much discussion of giblets and just how common it is to be loving it as a delicacy. Speaking of food, turns out the school’s pork cutlets are delicious to cats as well as humans, and also that you can get winter in July provided you’re associated with witches. Flying Witch is always peaceful, but never boring. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 24 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – I haven’t enjoyed this Central arc much, so it’s a relief that the end seems to be in sight. It turns out that Erina’s dad once idolized Soma’s dad and is unable to resist a challenge in which a defeated Joichiro would become his minion. Now the resisters are going up against the remaining council members, with the possibility of taking over the council themselves, and we get fun training action like a three-on-three battle during which Takumi reveals just how much he’s grown and Erina attempts unorthodox cooking for the first time. It’s a lot of fun and the air of amiable challenge that exists between Soma and Joichiro ends up inspiring Erina to stand up to her dad and publicly side with the resisters. We barely get started on the team shokugeki before the volume ends, but I’m happy to find myself once again enjoying this series immensely. – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 24 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – This was one of the best volumes of Haikyu!! I’ve read yet, and it’s not a coincidence that there’s no tournament going on. I do love the games, but volume after volume of them can get exhausting (and hard to review). Here we see a jealous and driven Hinata follow Tsukishima to the all-rookie camp… where he wasn’t invited. What’s worse, the coach of this camp is Shiratorizawa, whose motto is basically “no short kids.” Still, he lets Hinata be the ball boy. This is actually really good for him, as it allows him to realize how much there is to learn by just watching. His raw instinct is combining with actual game smarts, and it’s terrific to see. I am really waiting to see how this plays out in the future. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 2 | By Afro | Yen Press – I mentioned this in my review of the first volume, but it really is striking how much the series is trying to separate the main cast. We start off with Nadeshiko and her club at a hot spring camp, and Rin… far away, looking for another hot spring (which turns out to be closed) but finding her own solitary camping experiences. It’s nice to see that the manga tells people it’s fine to have fun on your own. Still, I think I appreciated it more when Rin and Nadeshiko were actually interacting in person rather than by phone, and I do hope that in future volumes we can have the four together… or maybe five, if we can convince Rin’s weird friend to come along. Still a nice series as laid-back as its name—I just wish it had more characterization. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 3 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Takane & Hana is still at its best when its romantic pair are snarking at each other, and there’s plenty of that here. Elsewhere, though, Hana’s grades are starting to slip, leading to a studying binge which Takane actually proves pretty adept at helping with. It’s not without cost, though, as he gets a bad cold, and she realizes just how much it is that he actually does. Meanwhile, a trip with Takane, Hana, and Hana’s friends also includes the high school boy who likes her, and he brings up the elephant in the room, which is the fact that Takane is a decade older than Hana, she’s still in high school, and this is pretty creepy if you stop and think about it. That said, I’m content right now to let the shoujo manga keep the romance on a slow simmer. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 12 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media –Yona of the Dawn is always good, but this volume is particularly so. Yona and her retinue get caught in the Fire Tribe city of Saika as an invading army from the Kai empire approaches. I appreciated the atmosphere of tension while everyone waited and also loved seeing Tae-Jun be brave, keeping his promise to protect the villagers. It turns out it’s all a traitorous plot and even though Yona would also like to get vengeance on Su-Won, she can’t let this army attack the palace lest they throw the nation into chaos. Potentially my favorite aspect of this, though, is that Kusanagi keeps showing that Su-Won actually is a better king than Yona’s father was. I expect eventually she’ll have to recognize that for herself. At turns light-hearted and intense, Yona of the Dawn really is something special. I’m glad this story exists. – Michelle Smith

Battle Angel Alita: Deluxe Edition, Vol. 3 | By Yukito Kishiro | Kodansha Comics – Alita has been many things since she was rescued from a scrap pile–a formidable bounty hunter, a talented motorball player, and now (of all things) a beloved bar singer and musician–but her destiny hasn’t finished playing out yet. Zapan, another cyborg and ex-bounty hunter who unfairly blames Alita for everything that has recently gone wrong in his life, is coming after her to seek revenge. He cares very little about anyone or anything else, resulting in massive casualties and destruction. As I’ve come to expect from the series, the numerous battles in this volume are intense and well-executed in addition to being incredibly gruesome. Kishiro also has a knack for creative and marvelously disconcerting cyberpunk designs. But what really makes the series work is Alita herself and the strength and depth of her character. While her circumstances are rarely very happy ones, she continues to persevere. – Ash Brown

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 5 | By Rin Mikimoto | Kodansha Comics – Last time I said that a lot of this was shoujo by numbers, and it still is to a degree, but you can feel the author fighting back against the obvious a bit. Shu spends much of the volume trying not to be the evil girl who gets between our hero and heroine, before seemingly just saying “screw it” and doing so for a good cliffhanger. That said, I continue to like the way the book is handling Kaede, who really is making an effort here in a way that most shoujo hotties, especially ones who are famous stars, wouldn’t do. It makes the butt stuff more tolerable. (It helps that both Hinana and Shu are also “pervy” to a large degree.) Add in more funny SD-faces, and it’s a pretty decent volume. – Sean Gaffney

Shojo FIGHT!, Vol. 3 | By Yoko Nihonbashi | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I was very happy to see this volume on Kodansha’s release schedule! In it, one of Neri’s new teammates, Nao, has gotten herself involved in a “volleybetting” enterprise in which the audience gambles on matches between scantily clad girls. The Kokuyodani team rallies to extricate Nao from this situation, but all is not as sordid as it seems. Their efforts, in part, involve putting together an audience team to help win Nao’s freedom, and Neri’s teammates assure her that now is not the time to hold back, so she’s finally able to play her hardest with teammates in full support. Meanwhile, Takako Yui returns from overseas and seems to be fairly evil, though I liked that Michiru and Odagiri start dating as a result of her machinations. Looking forward to more! – Michelle Smith

Sweetness & Lightning, Vol. 10 | By Gido Amagakure | Kodansha Comics – Sweetness & Lightning continues to be eyebleach in manga form. In addition to cooking some classic Japanese dishes in this volume—udon, oden, and sukiyaki—Kotori and Tsumugi achieve a few more growing-up milestones. I appreciated that witnessing Tsumugi’s success in learning to ride a bike helped Kotori pass her interview for culinary school, and also liked how Tsumugi is picking up on things more now, like how their time cooking with Kotori might soon come to an end, or that, despite her best efforts to be friends with everyone, there are just some people she doesn’t like. My favorite moment, though, was when Kotori’s father tasted her food and affirmed, “You’re good at this.” Overall, it’s a very nice series about nice people cooking nice food and sometimes one needs that sort of story. – Michelle Smith

To Your Eternity, Vol. 4 | By Yoshitoki Oima | Kodansha Comics – One of my favorite manga series currently being released in English is To Your Eternity. Admittedly the story can be emotionally devastating and heartbreaking, but it’s also a beautiful and compelling examination of life, love, and what it means to be human. In stark contrast to the beginning of his existence, Fushi has lived the last few years in relative peace. He’s once again become an integral part of a found family, but now he’s had the advantage of time to establish even deeper bonds with people as he grows and learns. Fushi’s language skills develop alongside his self-awareness and understanding of others. However, danger and tragedy isn’t far off–Fushi will have to face his fears and make tremendously difficult decisions in order to protect those he has come to love. He’s evolving to become more human-like even while the monstrous truth behind his creation and survival is revealed. – Ash Brown

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 4 | By Megumi Morino | Kodansha Comics – The cliffhanger that didn’t appear last time shows up in this volume, as Shizu’s father is back and he’s evil, alas. So it’s ‘put Shizu in an institution’ vs. having her run away with the boy who loves her, and I think we know what readers are going to go with, even in spite of the fact that this is dumb and will end badly. Before that, though, we pretty much get compressed adorable, as Tetsu and Shizu buy kimonos, attend a festival, and otherwise prove that she is indeed fully capable of interacting with the outside world provided she isn’t being constantly possessed. Sadly, I doubt Dear Old Dad will see it that way, and I expect the next volume to be rather dark. Still getting this anyway. – Sean Gaffney

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 6 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – There’s not a whole lot that happens in this volume plot-wise. Mitsuki challenges herself by serving on the cultural festival committee and does a very good job. Meanwhile, Aya-chan arranges for his team to have a practice game against our heroes, whereupon he and Asakura get into each other’s faces a bit. Mostly, though, this volume is about feelings. Asakura freely admits to his friends that he loves Mitsuki, which causes some strife with Rui, who was maybe starting to have feelings for her and has long had an inferiority complex where Asakura is concerned. Although I really don’t care about the Aya-chan stuff—or Rui, for that matter—I really like Mitsuki and Asakura and enjoy spending time with them as they work to better themselves and get to a place where they feel worthy of love. They’re a core couple worth rooting for. – Michelle Smith