Michelle Smith

The not-so-brief edition!

Akuma no Riddle, Vol. 5 | By Yun Kouga and Sunao Minakata | Seven Seas – How much you enjoy this final volume of Akuma no Riddle may depend on how much you enjoy stories having a happy ending even if they have to pull the logic out of their asses somewhat. The anime finished long before this, but the beats are essentially the same, as is the result. That said, the manga is definitely making things a bit more “yuri,” and since that is the main audience for this series, I imagine fans will appreciate that if nothing else. Also, we have some really hot women in suits on the cover, and that’s worth the price of the book in and of itself. In the end, this is the lesser of the two “assassination classroom” titles, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it—I had a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 17 | By Yusei Matsui | Viz Media – The first two-thirds of this is fantastic, as we see the class square off against each other to decide whether they will try to continue to kill Koro-sensei, or work on saving him. While lots of people get to show off their previously unseen chops, we’re all here for Nagisa and Karma, and we are not disappointed. There’s some backstory that mostly amounts to “we were good friends but grew apart,” but they also represent two very different kinds of assassins. As you may have guessed, Nagisa wins the day. The last third of the manga is a bit ridiculous, or as ridiculous as you can get in this essentially ridiculous series, but I’m prepared to shrug my shoulders and hum “Pigs in Space” while we power through it. Top-flight shonen. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 19 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | VIZ Media – Central continues its “mop-up” campaign against Totsuki’s various research societies, and the volume begins with the last one of the day, during which Ryo Kurokiba manages to provide the only win out of 33 challenges for our heroes. That battle is interesting, as always, though there seems to be a bit more fanservice than usual, but what’s really fascinating is the cliffhanger ending. After unwittingly helping in a Central-style lesson by serving as sous chef for Eishi Tsukasa (current first seat of the Council of Ten), Soma ends up impressing him so much that Eishi invites him to join Central. Of course that doesn’t go well, and the volume concludes with the challenge: if Yukihira loses, he has to join Central as Eishi’s right-hand man, but if he wins, he gets first seat. Either way, it’s quite a big deal! – Michelle Smith

In/Spectre, Vol. 5 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – This is based off of a novel, and I’d be very interested to see what it was originally like. The manga does a very good job of managing to keep things interesting given that this is nothing but talk, talk talk the entire way through. The way this is done is by dramatizing the events that Kotoko is theorizing about as if they are happening (which leads to one of the few moments of humor in the book when Kotoko sets up Saki as the prime suspect) interspersed with Kuro fighting Steel Lady Nanase in the background, which is a well-choreographed if somewhat tedious fight—by its very nature it’s going to last the whole book. The next volume is the final one—will our trio pull it off? – Sean Gaffney

Kaze Hikaru, Vol. 25 | By Taeko Watanabe | VIZ Media – Every year, I am so happy when a new volume of Kaze Hikaru comes out and every year I get so annoyed with its main character. It’s to the point now where the series would genuinely be improved by her sudden demise. But yet, I do so love the deep feelings of love and loyalty between Hijikata, Okita, and Kondo, and those are enough to overlook Sei’s foolishness. She’s once again getting all bent-out-of-shape over bushi discipline which, again, she should’ve known to expect when she joined the troop. But she just can’t help making an undignified scene trying to spare an accountant guy his fate when money goes missing. At least in the end, she sees that Hijikata is not actually cruel, the accountant shouldn’t have been a bushi either, and the real culprit was a creep. If only it’d stick and she’d mature some. Oh well. I’ll still be eager next year, I’m sure. – Michelle Smith

Maid-sama!, Vols. 17-18 | By Hiro Fujiwara | Viz Media – As is appropriate for a two-volume omnibus, this is definitely divided into two halves. The first one shows us Misaki coming to Usui’s rescue, and it’s as ridiculous as you might have expected, complete with her trying to jump off a great height because she knows he would easily do it. (She sustains light injuries herself.) The second half shows us that after all this time the true antagonist is still Misaki herself, and her need to be respected warring with the fact that she works in a maid cafe. Once she gets over this and is able to tell everyone how proud she is to do that, there’s nowhere else for the series to go, so it ends with a wedding, albeit ten years in the future. Far more variable than expected, but overall I enjoyed it. – Sean Gaffney

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid, Vol. 4 | By coolkyousinnjya | Seven Seas – And this is where my enjoyment of the lead character and vague yuri is completely overshadowed by my dislike of stupid fanservice and annoying villains needing to be redeemed. Ilulu proved to be even more annoying than her introduction at the end of the last volume suggested, and I also groaned and slapped my head at the ‘let’s give Kobayashi a penis’ chapter. At times the series can still be intriguing, such as the chapter showing us how Kobayashi met Tohru on that drunken night, or the occasional depth Kobayashi receives. But it’s just not worth trawling through endless pages of ridiculous breasts and screaming lolis to get to it. Sorry, but this is the end for me. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 9 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Over the past few months, it’s become clear that we have a new contender to take over the “Big Three” position now that both Naruto and Bleach have ended, and that contender is My Hero Academia, which has gotten staggeringly popular. And with good reason, as reading this volume shows us the author at the top of his game, with several villains infiltrating our heroes’ training camp and attempting to abscond with Bakugo. Things get very rough for a while, mostly as, being heroes, the kids need permission to fight back with all their strength. But once they do, great things happen, particularly with Midoriya, who remains the star of this ensemble. If you haven’t read this series yet, please start now. – Sean Gaffney

Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 22 | By Naoshi Komi | Viz Media – As expected, Marika is written out, though in the end she’s not killed off OR married off—she’s sent to Pittsburgh, the only place that can cure the unnamed Love Story Disease she seems to have. But not before we get a thrilling rescue attempt with lots of wild fighting and far more helicopters than you’d really expect. Meanwhile, in terms of the only two girls who matter (sorry, Tsumugi), Onodera is still not QUITE ready to confess, but is trying to warm Raku up to it. I doubt that will go well. And Chitoge and Raku have another disaster of a date where she keeps completely misreading what he wants, which isn’t helped by his not really knowing. We’ve got three more volumes after this, so SOMEONE needs to get a clue soon. – Sean Gaffney

Scum’s Wish, Vol. 4 | By Mengo Yokoyari | Yen Press – We’re just about midway through this series, and I’m starting to wonder if it’s going to turn dark and tragic. Hanabi is travelling down a spiral that I’m not sure she’s able to control, and Minagawa is not helping there at all. Probably the most intriguing moment in the manga comes when Minagawa is bored out of her gourd on a date with Kanai… till he accidentally calls her Hana-chan, and it’s as if all of a sudden it matters to her. One thing that the author excels at is showing us the tempestuous fire of desire and sexual heat without ever, ever having it connect into anything resembling love. It’s so sordid, and again, I wonder how long things can go without someone snapping and a murder or suicide occurring. Addicting. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 11 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – There’s a lot of stuff happening in this book. Yukihime rejects Touta as she still loves Negi, we find out Negi was possessed by the big bad from Negima! and has been suffering the last 20 years, Fate and Eva are trying to save and kill him respectively, both thinking they carry out his true wishes, and finally far more of the Negima! cast are still around than we’d previously thought—indeed, Zazie’s even turned into a shipper. But no, at the end of the day this is the volume that tells us that Karin was actually Judas Iscariot, her immortality a result of betraying Christ, who Touta, seeing Karin suffering because of that, offers to punch in the face the next time he sees Him. I… don’t know where to begin. What the what? – Sean Gaffney

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 17 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – Well, Yukio is STILL keeping things a secret, though it’s getting very hard. Much of this volume belongs to Shura, who comes from a family who, due to a curse, tend to live to 30, give birth, then die. Sadly, Shura isn’t giving birth anytime soon, and is pissing off the local god her family made this bargain with. To the rescue come Rin and Yukio, which gives us an opportunity for them to hash things out and at the same time resolve absolutely nothing, as well as remind us that Rin is the standard shonen protagonist. I really could have done without young Shura going topless and trying to seduce Father Fujimoto, though. This is a pretty good volume, but not as good as the arc before it—it still feels like it’s marking time. – Sean Gaffney

Giant Killing, Vol. 3 | By Masaya Tsunamoto and Tsujitomo | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – ETU’s pre-season match against Tokyo Victory continues, and it’s great to watch the team gaining confidence and enthusiasm. The fans agree, and after Tsubaki makes a mistake that grants their opponents a 2-1 advantage, it’s former captain Murakoshi who reinvigorates everyone’s hopes. Next, Tatsumi talks big at a press conference, slaying the crowd with jokes and promising to spice up the soccer world and then, at their first game of the official season, ETU ends up losing 4 to 1. There’s no way ETU’s road to success would be smooth, but I do still relish the moments of triumph when they come. In this volume, there’s a great two-page spread when Murakoshi scores, for example, followed by a two-pager of reaction shots. The pacing of this series is masterfully exhilarating. If you like sports manga, you should be reading this! – Michelle Smith

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 5 | Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – This is an interesting volume of Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, in which quite a lot happens. Initially, the focus seems to be on Vergue and his hatred of humans for their rejection of him, and there’s a great scene in which Anna expertly manipulates him into coming to tea. (It gave me Hanajima/Kyo feelings, actually.) Engetsu, Anna and Alto, and Vergue all get a little more backstory, none of it good, and then Engetsu whisks Liselotte off to see the village festival, where she spies her brother and promptly flees. While she’s busy dealing with a new witch on the scene, Engetsu sits down for a conversation with her brother, Richard, about his plans for Liselotte. Pretty exciting, right? Eager for the next volume, right? Well, too bad. This series has been on hiatus since 2013. Join me in feeling very grumpy about that. – Michelle Smith

My Monster Secret, Vol. 7 | By Eiji Masuda | Seven Seas – While we do get another character introduced in the form of the world’s worst fallen angel, for the most part this volume continues to do what it does best—tell really funny stories about supernatural high schoolers who are super awkward. Fortunately, after the events in the last volume, Asahi and Youko make up, though it takes being stranded in a snowstorm and a bad cold to break past the discomfort. Youko’s father also shows up to play the world’s most dangerous game of Life, and though we keep getting hints that we’ll find out how he and Youko’s mother finished high school, we never do. The funniest chapter, though, is the competition to see who can be sexiest, which needs to be read to be believed. Great stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 6 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – I was right that Chinatsu was going to be partnering with Fujita berfore long, but it’s not smooth sailing—in fact, it’s the opposite of smooth sailing. Fujita’s been spoiled by having perfect partners till now, and Chinatsu’s struggling as before this she was the lead as she only danced with other female partners. Learning how to be a good lead is harder than learning how to copy others, especially as Fujita finds it’s the GUY they look at in the prelims, and if he and Chinatsu can’t sort this out it’s all over. Add to this the gorgeous artwork, which continues to show off the dancing to its best effect, and you have a gripping series, even as it pours on perhaps a bit too much angsty drama. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 2 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – First of all, I get what the author is trying to do with Zen, and yes I know there are guys like that in real life, but oh my God I want him OUT OUT OUT of this manga, he is making me very unhappy. Aside from that, this was a decent second volume, mostly focusing on Shimana’s burgeoning love, though there are signs of a larger plot, mostly involving Taiga, who remains the only adult in the room (which is sort of sad, given I’m sure we haven’t even begun to dig into his own issues). Shimana herself can be hard to take, but she grows on me as the book goes along. You can tell this came out before orange, which is stronger, but this is still quite a decent book. Only lose the moments of Zen. – Sean Gaffney

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 4 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) –Mikuri and Hiramasa make incremental progress toward genuine couplehood in this volume, particularly when Mikuri’s aunt gives them a voucher for a night’s stay at a swanky premium inn. I am always delighted to see that, beneath Hiramasa’s stoic exterior, there exists an inner spaz with the hots for Mikuri. At one point, it gets the better of him and he plants a smooch on her, which he’s then incapable of explaining. Meanwhile, Mikuri has realized that she loves him, but while he’s reining himself in lest he drive her away, she worries she’s just forcing her desires on him. After the kiss, there may be hope, but she’s just too scared to admit her feelings. In less capable hands, their failure to communicate and just get together already would be supremely frustrating, but somehow Umino provides just enough payoff to make it work. Looking forward to volume five! – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 13 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – We’re still in the middle of the qualifiers, and our heroes are taking on a team that likes to have FUN when they play. I was honestly expecting them to get curbstomped, but this isn’t that kind of manga (or sport, really) and once again Karasuno has to work hard and try new things in order to break through and beat them. We see how other teams can try to use their own moves against them (though I doubt they’ll be trying Hinata’s wall-jumping anytime soon). Then we go up against a normal, good team who’s simply well-disciplined and OK in all aspects—as noted by everyone, a bad draw for the eccentric Karasuno students. Will they win? And how injured is Daichi? Excellent shonen sports. – Sean Gaffney

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 7 | By Amu Meguro | Viz Media – How much you enjoy this volume will, I believe, depend on how much you sympathize and see yourself in Miyabi, who has absolutely no idea what to do with the feelings she now has and is also filled with social anxiety, leading to several bad choices throughout this book. I felt bad for her despite her being aggressive about trying to steal Taiga, because we know she has no hope whatsoever. Meanwhile, Nao is noticing what Miyabi is doing but is repressing her own feelings, which fortunately she gets told quickly is the WRONG thing to do. What follows manages to be sweet and cute, even if it’s about a girl trying to break up an already established couple. Nothing is fluffier than this series. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 5 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – Sometimes it is hard not to read this series and see echoes of Fruits Basket in it, particularly in this volume, as Vergue is acting an awful lot like Kyo. Fortunately instead of Liselotte, his interaction is with Anna, who gets to show off more of her true self and browbeat him into thinking about his circumstances. It’s probably the scene I liked best in the volume. Liselotte is not having an easier time of it; she’s traumatized at seeing her brother at the festival she’s trying to quietly spy on, and she finally meets up with the Woglinde, who magically gives Liselotte back her hair but I have no doubt is likely going to be more of an antagonist than anything else. Save up, as we’re caught up with Japan, but still good. – Sean Gaffney

Nichijou: My Ordinary Life, Vol. 9 | By Keiichi Arawi | Vertical Comics – Again, so much of the humor in Nichijou is about things simply being strange and bizarre for their own sake—you may let out a laugh at the bizarre goings-on, but this is the type of manga to inspire headtilts and chuckles more than tears of laughter. We get a flashback to Yukko and Mai meeting Mio, who is starting at a new school and is not prepared for it to be as super weird as it is, and also flashforwards to the future, where the Professor is going to school, Nano is keeping house, and strangely Nakamura is living with them. Oh yes, and in separate chapters, Yukko and Mio almost die. If you love Nichijou, you’ll love this. If you don’t, well, you likely dropped it long ago. – Sean Gaffney

Princess Jellyfish, Vol. 5 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics – It’d been a while since I read any Princess Jellyfish and I’d kind of forgotten how wonderfully unique it is. I haven’t read a story where a bunch of otaku work so hard at a real-world challenge, but they’re really trying to make a go of this clothing line. Meanwhile, Kuranosuke, who’s been the voice of encouragement this far, is getting a dose of reality on the state of the apparel business. I also love how Tsukimi has begun to change (and even to date!) and that Jiji, too, is getting out into the world and rediscovering some practical skills. I hope this series ends happily, but I appreciate how much detail we’re getting on the complexities of what they’re attempting, even if it means success is unlikely. Very highly recommended. – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 2 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – Not quite as disturbing as the first volume, but this is still a very dark and dramatic manga. We learn that Asahi is not the first person to have been spirited away to this world, and that the one she finds out about (a female doctor) never returned home and is buried there. Not the sort of thing you want to find out if you’re missing your mom and dad. As for the Water Dragon, he’s as annoyingly petulant as ever, making sure Asahi is not killed off, drowned, etc. but also treating her like an annoying pest, to the amusement of his fellow gods. I expect more romance in future books, as we end with the ever popular “10 years later,” showing us Asahi all grown up. Solid. – Sean Gaffney

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 3 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – I was wondering at some point reading this volume if we could simply make the series 200 pages per volume of Nino screaming into a mic. The scenes where she does so are so electrifying, they draw you in so much, that it makes the rest of the teen drama feel a bit less by comparison. Honestly, the series can also be exhausting, because Nino is just so MUCH—not just the singing, but everything she does is to the point of collapse and pain, and it makes you desperately want to tell her to slow down. I think the creator would do well to follow that advice as well—I could use a lull somewhere in here. But man, does this book ever succeed at showing the power of music. – Sean Gaffney

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 4 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics – We’re making progress here—Hiramasa and Mikuri seem to be able to admit to themselves that they’re falling in love, and both want things to be a bit more physical. But oh my God, the communication problems here are enough to ruin a reader’s enamel. I appreciate the slow burn here, but it’s hard not to bang your head against a wall every time these two think about finally opening up and hashing everything out, and then deciding not to. I do like the fact that they’re both equally at fault, really—Mikuri may be the viewpoint character but she compartmentalizes so much of what’s happening that accessing real emotions is proving difficult. Even hugs may not help here. – Sean Gaffney

Ghost Diary, Vol. 2 | By Seiju Natsumegu| Seven Seas – This title still walks a fine line between pandering and creepy, and it still remains on the creepy side, which is good, given it’s meant to be a horror manga. The Kukuri and Tatsumi chapter was probably my favorite, giving some depth to those two, even as it revolved around some pretty strange shenanigans (and twins who reminded me of the Sonozakis). Less successful is Mayumi, who too frequently falls into the garden variety tsundere mode, which frankly just isn’t enough by itself anymore. The series is at its best when it’s wrong-footing us and making us not completely trust Chloe, but there’s less of that here, and therefore I’d say it’s not as intriguing as the first volume. But it’s still worth a read for horror fans. – Sean Gaffney

Hana & Hina After School, Vol. 2 | By Milk Morinaga | Seven Seas – Last time we saw how fast Hina fell for Hana, adn this time it’s Hana who, by the end of the volume, is questioning how she feels about her friend. Hana doesn’t not have the past experience Hina does, though, so it may take longer. Of course, the fact that Hina has experienced rejection in the past leads her to try to distance herself from Hana, and so much of the volume has them not working together (their new co-employees are, shall we say, not as good). Fortunately, it’s all resolved by the end, in time for a festival with fireworks. That said, where would a yuri title be without the return of the ex-girlfriend? She doesn’t make a full appearance in this book, but she’s on the fringes, so I’m sure volume three will be all about her. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 8 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – There are some people who have complained that Horimiya isn’t as good as it was because it’s changed so much from its initial premise. I can sort of see what they mean, but I’m still really enjoying seeing these kids struggle through high school and try to have a relationship. Sex doesn’t come up again here, but we do get more of the weirdest BDSM relationship in all of manga, which is even weirder given it’s in public. The athletic festival is also amusing, if only as Hori does horribly as she’s so easily distracted. Bonus points for the ouendan costume as well. So yes, one could argue that the series is meandering a bit here, and needs real drama, but I also am happy just reading about these kinds being big doofs. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 8 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – It’s Sports Festival time for Katagiri High! Even though Miyamura is a third-year student, it’s his first time truly participating, and he really gets into it, cheering for his teammates, competing against Hori, etc. In the end, he’s surprised by how much fun he had and I was surprised by how not tiresome yet another sports festival arc was. After this, we see the return of the relationship dynamic in which Hori wants Miyamura to be mean/rough with her. While I can appreciate seeing that sort of predilection depicted in a teen romance manga, what troubles me is that he’s clearly not enjoying it and only doing it for her sake. It’s also odd that none of their friends or classmates is showing concern, especially when Miyamura questions a love rival’s ability to hit her. I’m not sure where Horimiya is going with all this. – Michelle Smith

Interviews with Monster Girls, Vol. 5 | By Petos | Kodansha Comics – Two-thirds of this volume is devoted to the same school antics as the previous ones, as we see the cast of friends getting closer, our succubus teacher continuing to fail to seduce Takahashi-sensei, and any number of monster girl trivia items. The last third moves to an apartment to show the adventures of a college girl who happens to live with a Zashiki-Warashi, and the complicated feelings this stirs up in her, especially as it’s not as easy to deal with as it sounds. This is cute but feels irrelevant compared to the main plot—I wonder if the author is running out of things to talk about. Still, ‘cute’ is pretty much the brief for this series, and as long as there’s plenty of that I don’t think the readers will complain. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 22 | By Izumi Tsubaki | VIZ Media – What a fantastic volume of Oresama Teacher! The Super Bun impostor is revealed, and though in retrospect I probably should have guessed who was responsible, it didn’t make the resulting story (and backstory) any less satisfying. Plus, the final chapters of the arc featured Mafuyu in a pig mask (Super Ham!) and the members of the Student Council working together to find the culprit. After that, there are a couple of bittersweet chapters about the third years graduating that are quite nice, but I really wasn’t prepared for that penultimate page. This series is frequently very silly, but a beaming Miyabi telling Mafuyu that she’s his hero made me tear up instantly. It’s a rare series that’s only getting better at volume twenty-two! – Michelle Smith