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Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: One Last Love Story

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MICHELLE: Last time I had the option to pick Skip Beat!, I said that it’d likely always be my pick when it comes out, due to its biannual release schedule. Well, not this time. As much as I deeply love it, this is my final chance to choose My Love Story!!, so I’m gonna do it. It’s brain balm of the best kind—warm and sweet but never sappy or boring. I will miss it very much.

SEAN: So much to love this week, and I want to pick Queen’s Quality, as I do love me some Motomi, but I agree with Michelle: there’s no question that the final volume of My Love Story!! is going to be my pick. Some have accused it of being too sweet and sappy, and they’re absolutely correct, but that’s what I want from this series. Mainline the sugar into my veins, please!

KATE: I’m torn between the final volume of My Love Story!! and the latest installment of One-Punch Man, which deserves to be a Naruto-sized hit in America.

ANNA: This is a great week for manga for me. Like everyone else, I feel compelled to pick the final volume of My Love Story!!, it is such a uniquely quirky series that is heartwarming without being cloying.

ASH: I’m in agreement with everyone else here. While there are quite a few things that I have my eyes on this week–Captain Harlock, Haikyu!!, Sweetness & Lightning–it’s My Love Story!! that has my heart.

Manga the Week of 9/6/17

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SEAN: September begins, and it’s back to school with a giant crush of manga. As always.

Dark Horse has a 3rd volume of Psycho-Pass prequel Inspector Shinya Kogami.

J-Novel Club gives us a 5th digital Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash novel, which… may not be depressing? Possibly?

And there’s also a 6th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, which gives focus to our favorite underground priestess.

Did you know that Pumpkin Scissors is still running to this day? Somehow? It’s true! Kodansha is still rescuing it digitally with Vol. 13.

MICHELLE: I did not!

SEAN: On to non-Del Rey stuff, we have a 5th volume of GTO Paradise Lost, the latest in the author’s “no matter what I try to write, only Onizuka seems to sell” sequel.

ASH: I’ll admit, although I greatly enjoyed GTO, I haven’t really been keeping up with the sequels.

SEAN: And a 3rd Kounodori: Dr. Stork, which I am now behind on. Yay!

We also have two debuts from Kodansha digitally, that actually came out this week but Kodansha dropped them secretly as always. Black Panther and Sweet 16 (Kurohyou to 16-sai) is a Nakayoshi title that nevertheless seems very racy. It also has a weak female lead and pushy male lead. Ergh.

MICHELLE: Pass.

ANNA: I feel like I have seen this too many times before…

SEAN: And Elegant Yokai Apartment Life (Youkai Apato no Yuuga na Nichijou) runs in Shonen Sirius, and is what it sounds like – protagonist moves into an apartment filled with yokai.

MICHELLE: Hm. Maybe.

ANNA: That sounds promising, but I have a high tolerance for yokai titles.

ASH: As do I, for that matter.

SEAN: You want print? How about the 8th Sweetness and Lightning?

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: The series is such a delight! (And yes, print, please!)

SEAN: And there is also the 2nd Waiting for Spring for shoujo fans. Its first volume was unoriginal but soothing.

MICHELLE: I think there’s room for a series like that in my heart. I plan to read volumes one and two together.

ANNA: I have the first volume and haven’t read it yet, but soothing shoujo sounds nice.

Seven Seas has an 11th Arpeggio of Blue Steel, which continues to be the Tom Clancy novel of anthropomorphic personifications.

The debut next week is Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, the 2014 manga sequel that apparently updates Harlock for the 21st century. Despite the fact that it runs in Champion Red, I look forward to it.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a try, too.

SEAN: And there’s the 8th Golden Time. Still a soap opera, still enjoyable to me.

And Tales of Zestria has a 2nd volume.

ASH: Whoops, I’d already forgotten about this series (probably because it’s based on a video game I’m not particularly familiar with), but it seems like it could have potential.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 2nd Mobile Suit Gundam Wing manga, which continues to adapt Endless Waltz.

And now for Viz. So much Viz. Starting with the 4th Anonymous Noise, which I hope features some nice screaming.

MICHELLE: Volume three was the first time I had a “this is actually kind of cool” moment, so I will keep going for a little while to see if that becomes a trend.

ANNA: I think it has gotten better as the series develops, and I enjoy the screaming scenes.

SEAN: Bloody Mary’s 8th volume is not about vampires!… wait, yes, sorry. It is.

MICHELLE: *snerk*

ANNA: SO behind on this series, but I enjoyed the vampire angst in the early volumes.

SEAN: Boruto has a 2nd manga volume, which I imagine means the anime has already long since passed it.

Death Note gets an all-in-one edition, and at 2400 pages it comes close to taking the crown for best blunt object.

ASH: I really want to see one of these in person, just to see how it’s put together. I’ve been assured that the spine will hold up, but what about the readers?!

SEAN: Everyone’s still not getting married in the 6th Everyone’s Getting Married.

ANNA: I so enjoy this series. Hooray for Shojo Beat’s stealth josei publication practices!

SEAN: Haikyu!! 15 is out. But you knew that, as it’s a monthly. It’d be weirder if it weren’t out next week.

MICHELLE: I actually have a nice little pile of Haikyu!! to read now. I expect a mini-marathon will be great fun.

ANNA: I have a difficult time reading this series because my kids steal each volume.

ASH: Like Michelle, I’ve (unintentionally) been preparing for a mini-marathon as well. But I do enjoy Haikyu!! so incredibly much.

SEAN: Kimi Ni Todoke crawls to its conclusion some more. I dearly love it every time I read it, but admit that I wish it would hurry up.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I still can’t tell whether it’ll end after high school or actually follow the characters into their college endeavors.

ANNA: I need to get caught up!

SEAN: It’s the end for My Love Story!!, which has a lucky 13th volume to end on. Will the rain in Spain defeat our separated couple? Will we get a sweet happy ending! (spoilers: we will.)

MICHELLE: I’m counting on it!

ANNA: Such a great series.

ASH: It really is wonderful!

SEAN: And Nisekoi is also almost-but-not-quite done with this 23rd volume.

Chibi Sasuke’s Sharingan Legend is a superdeformed parody that aims to show us the humorous side of Sasuke. It should be about 4 pages long, then.

One Piece’s 21st 3-in-1 takes us to Fish-Man Island, so it’s slowly catching up with the main volumes.

One-Punch Man’s 12th volume will have some quality punching.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: And speaking of Quality, QQ Sweeper finally gets its sequel/reboot with Queen’s Quality. I love this author, so definitely want to read this.

MICHELLE: I’m glad this is finally out!

ANNA: Yay!

ASH: I’ve somehow still not managed to finish QQ Sweeper, but I’m glad we’re getting Queen’s Quality, too!

SEAN: Skip Beat! has a 39th volume, which I hope wraps up the arc with Kyoko’s mother.

MICHELLE: I just read it and it’s great. Of course.

ANNA: Skip Beat is always great, but I am also not fond of Kyoko’s mother.

SEAN: Lastly, it’s not a long Viz list unless it ends with a Yu-Gi-Oh volume, and we get the 2nd of “Arc V” here.

Got your pencils and paper? Or tablets and digital pens, whatever the kids use these days. Also, manga?

Otherworld Barbara, Vols. 1-2

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By Moto Hagio | Published by Fantagraphics

otherworldIt’s 2052 and Tokio Watarai, a dream pilot, is coming home to Japan for the first time in three years. Although his ex-wife and son are in Japan, he’s actually returning for a job involving a girl who’s been sleeping for seven years since being found with her parents’ hearts in her stomach. Her name is Aoba, and when Tokio enters her dream it’s all about an island called Barbara in which kids can fly and cannibalism factors in to funeral rites. Soon, he learns that his son, Kiriya, actually invented Barbara. So how is Aoba able to dream about it?

That introductory paragraph actually simplifies the story greatly. There’s also Tokio’s horrid ex-wife Akemi and the creepy priest Johannes whom she loves and who could possibly be Aoba’s grandfather but also head of an American orphanage in which cloned children were created, including one called Paris who comes to Japan and believes Kiriya might be a boy he knew called Taka. There’s Kiriya’s massive angst, his dreams of Mars, his dream conversations with Aoba, the girl Laika who fancies him, a psychiatrist who treated Aoba who is killed by a tornado she created, his identity-swapping and cross-dressing fraternal twin children, anti-aging research (potentially conducted upon the residents of Barbara) including a suit that turns Aoba’s grandma into a young woman who calls herself Marienbad and has a fling with Tokio, Daikoku’s ominous hinting that Kiriya will kill Tokio someday, parental regrets, etc.

By the end of the first volume, so very many plot threads are in the air that I was not at all sure that Hagio-sensei would be able to make everything make sense in the end. To use just one example: If Barbara is just a dream—and, indeed, no such island actually exists—then how is it possible that the blood of its residents is used for anti-aging medicine? And yet we see evidence that such advances are already in the works. And because of all this plot stuff, there’s not a lot of time for building solid relationships. There is angst aplenty, especially courtesy of Kiriya, but the whole Marienbad/Tokio hookup, for example, is just extremely random. The strongest bond, though, is definitely the love Tokio feels for his son and his regret over having been a crappy father.

Happily, the second volume does make with the answers, starting almost immediately. Not everything is answered with absolute certainty—one particular narrative thread takes a completely unexpected and surprisingly poignant turn. Even 90% of the way through, I would’ve said there was no way Otherworld Barbara would be able to make me cry, and yet it did. I won’t reveal how, but I loved the devastating consequences of a desperate act on Tokio’s part, and how it led him to have faith that Aoba’s dream of Barbara really could be shaping a vision of the future. That ending makes everything else worthwhile. Too, I enjoyed the contrast between Hagio’s uncomplicated, light-filled artwork and the dark and weird story she told.

Ultimately, Otherworld Barbara is definitely worth reading. Thank you, Fantagraphics, for releasing it!

Otherworld Barbara is complete in two 2-in-1 editions.

Review copies provided by the publisher

Bookshelf Briefs 8/28/17

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Black Clover, Vol. 8 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – This one’s all fighting, but the fighting is really good. There’s, if not genuine casualties, at least genuine damage (I wonder about Kahono’s voice in the future), and a minor villain who’s easy to hate and makes you root for Asta to pound him into sand. Noelle also gets to level up, and we get a lot more attention paid to Finral and Vanessa, two of the Black Bulls we hadn’t really seen beyond surface impressions. Vanessa is ‘the older drunk girl,’ and it’s hard not to think “Fairy Tail ripoff,” but she’s quite likeable, and Finral’s “I am secretly terrified” is also relatable. And through it all there’s Asta, carrying on and never giving up even when all common sense tells him it’s useless. This has actually gotten quite good, if still unoriginal. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 39 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – What an uplifting volume of Skip Beat!. Saena’s flashback comes to a close and Kyoko’s feelings about her mother have settled somewhat. She has accepted that she’s always going to want to attain her mother’s love, and even more calmly determined to achieve her acting goals. And so now we move into the next arc, where Kyoko is evidently going to be auditioning for a role on the samurai drama Moko will have a part in whilst also investigating a Love-Me case involving an actress using shady means to eliminate the competition. There’s some good stuff with Ren and Sho in this volume, but mostly it’s about Kyoko declaring her ambitions with clear-eyed focus, and I will never not love that. – Michelle Smith

Toriko, Vol. 39 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – As always, the more that Toriko is about strange and bizarre foods and the preparation thereof, the better it is. As such, I definitely enjoyed the first half, showing us Komatsu and company managing to do the impossible once again through his sheer power of food love (I also enjoyed the joke where he briefly got his old, volume one nose back), more than the second half, which featured Toriko and Starjun doing a lot of shonen battle moves in their face-off against the battle wolf. We also get some backstory for Neo and his all-devouring appetite, which gives a nice dose of creepy horror in an otherwise standard shonen series. Toriko is still enjoyable, but I admit I am counting down till its end. – Sean Gaffney

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 12 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | Vertical Comics – How much you enjoy volume twelve will likely depend on how much you can tolerate the petulant antics of Mr. Kohinata’s boyfriend, Wataru, also known as “Gilbert,” who throws a tantrum for a stupid reason and runs off to hide in a café for a month waiting to be found. This does lead to the most tension-filled moment in the series for some time, in which Mr. Kohinata makes a pass at Shiro, and though I’m disappointed that Shiro even considers it, he’s obviously unwilling to jeopardize his relationship with Kenji. Of course, there is cooking throughout, though some recipes seem strange to me (cabbage and sardine spaghetti?) and a new clerical worker at the law firm who has figured out Shiro’s sexual orientation, but doesn’t seem inclined to broadcast the information. Still extremely good, even with Wataru and the sardines. – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 6 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – Oh, how I do love this series. The initial drama involves Onoda being involved in a crash and ending up in last place and having to pass one hundred riders in order to rejoin his teammates and take over pulling them up the mountain so that Makishiba, who has been waiting for another climber to rely on so he could give attaining the mountain checkpoint his all, can race one last time against Toudou from Hakone. Toudou is a comical character, but I absolutely loved the joy he and Makishiba experienced just to be facing off against each other again. Dialogue isn’t deep (think “Sharghh!!”) but the mutual respect and gratitude is. Also, I am 1000% positive doujinshi exists for this pairing. Can’t wait for the next volume! – Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Scrounging for Choices

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SEAN: Despite the large number of manga available this week, my pick is the latest book in the Monogatari Series, the 2nd Nisemonogatari. I enjoy this series despite its fanservice, but this one may be challenging even with that. Toothbrushes out!

MICHELLE: As Sean predicted, the new releases that appeal to me the most are Kodansha’s digital sports manga. Days is shounen fun, but Giant Killing offers a seinen slant that makes it unique and my pick for this week.

KATE: I’m backing Michelle’s play by picking Giant Killing and Days, too. I’d love to see even more sports manga available in English, and supporting Kodansha’s digital publishing efforts seems like the best way to encourage them to be bolder in their licensing choices. We need manga about golfing, running, synchronized swimming, mountain biking, kayaking, sailing, speed skating, agility training, sled dog racing… the possibilities are endless!

MICHELLE: I’m still holding out hope for Mitsuru Adachi’s Rough, too. (Though not from Kodansha, obviously.)

ASH: Were I a digital reader this would be a great week of releases for me with new volumes of Giant Killing, Saki, and Space Brothers coming out. Limiting myself to print releases though there’s not much that I’m super-excited about, but I am very curious about the debut of Kigurumi Guardians.

ANNA: There’s not a ton out there that I’m reading this week, although I’m very happy that more sports manga is being released. I’m picking Altair: A Record of Battles volume 3, because that’s what I’m most likely to read… someday!

Manga the Week of 8/30/17

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SEAN: STUFF!

ASH: Lots of stuff!!

SEAN: J-Novel Club starts us off, with a second volume of color-coded heroine series Demon King Daimaou.

And also a second volume of Infinite Dendrogram, which seems to be… just about a gamer in a VR world. What, he’s not trapped or anything? Pff.

Another Del Rey rescue bites the dust with the 21st and final volume of Alive.

ASH: It’s been a long time since I’ve read the beginning of Alive. Now that the series has been completed, maybe it’s time I revisit it.

SEAN: Aho Girl was amazingly stupid but amusing, so I look forward to Volume 2.

On the digital front, Altair: A Record of Battles has a 3rd volume.

And on the Michelle front, there’s a 4th DAYS.

MICHELLE: Heh, you know it! Also, I really do need to read Altair.

ASH: Same!

ANNA: I haven’t read the first volume of Altair yet, but I will!

SEAN: The title that nobody remembers (even Amazon, who hasn’t listed it), we get a 3rd DEATHTOPIA from the creator of Cage of Eden.

More Michelle volumes with a 5th Giant Killing.

MICHELLE: Seinen sports manga is such fun!

ASH: I want this series in print so, so much! The anime adaptation was great, too.

SEAN: House of the Sun got of to a fast start but slowed down after that. Here’s a 6th book.

MICHELLE: I’ve started this series but struggled to connect with the characters. I haven’t given up, though.

SEAN: Briefly back to print for a debut. Kigurumi Guardians is a shoujo title from Nakayoshi, but its creator, Lily Hoshino, is better known for her BL titles. No surprise then that this manga has a lot of pretty boys.

MICHELLE: I’m hoping this is fun.

ASH: Hoshino’s manga can be a little hit-or-miss for me, but I’m definitely curious.

ANNA: Hmm, I am curious too!

SEAN: Another forgotten by Amazon digital title, B&N lists a 29th Space Brothers volume. Apologies for forgetting to mention the first 28 or so. It’s a great series.

ASH: Yes!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a sea of titles next week, including three debuts. The first is Absolute Duo. It’s based on a light novel. It’s from Comic Alive. It takes place at an academy filled with fighting. My lineface can possibly be seen from space, but I’ll add it just in case. :|

MICHELLE: Heehee.

SEAN: Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor is another debut this week. It’s based on a light novel. It’s from Shonen Ace. It takes place at an academy filled with fighting. :|

MICHELLE: *snerk*

SEAN: A Certain Scientific Accelerator has hit its 6th volume, and despite ALSO being a spinoff of a light novel title that runs in an otaku-oriented magazine and taking place at an academy filled with fighting, I quite enjoy it.

Theoretically, Don’t Meddle with My Daughter should get points for at least NOT being based off a light novel or taking place at an academy of fighting students. However, it runs in Young King and apparently has two doujinshi sequels by the author that are actual porn, so let’s just say my hopes are not high. It’s about a retired superhero mom who returns to action to protect her daughter, who is now taking over the family business, so to speak. Oh yes, it’s also by the creator of Dance in the Vampire Bund. It’s almost the perfect anti-Manga Bookshelf title.

MICHELLE: Sounds like it.

ANNA: It could be the Manga Bookshelf Kryptonite.

SEAN: And along the same lines, we have a 12th Monster Musume, which can be very ecchi. And not only that, but…

Yes, we’ve hit the trifecta of vaguely H titles, an 8th Pandora in the Crimson Shell! BINGO!

On the Vertical front, there is a 9th Cardfight!! Vanguard, which has fights… with cards! (Yeah, yeah, shut up.)

Vertical also has the 2nd Nisemonogatari novel, Tsukihi Phoenix, which features the youngest of the Araragi siblings, though honestly Karen’s toothbrushing scene will likely get all the attention. Also, are fans still going to be dagnabbit mad? Probably.

Yen has some digital titles, with new Corpse Princess (12), Gesellschaft Blume (2), IM: Great Priest Imhotep (2), and Saki (12). Something for everybody.

ASH: Saki!

SEAN: And of course there’s always a Yen straggler, and next week it’s Dimension W’s 7th volume. Why they always delay one or two books to the next week, I dunno. It’s one of those manga mysteries.

As you can see, there is much to choose from, though my colleagues may be staring at this and saying “Yeah, um…” So what are you getting?

Bookshelf Briefs 8/21/17

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Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 4 | By Bisco Hatori | Viz Media – I’m still vaguely enjoying this series, but I must admit I’m far more into it for the special effects department and studies about film-making and acting than I am regarding the main characters. Izumi’s amnesia really doesn’t seem like anything other than a necessary plot twist to drag things out a bit… and even then, he still gets the cookies in the end. More amusing is the brief cameo by Ranmaru’s parents, who are the opposite of what everyone was expecting, including the reader. But perhaps most importantly for the female readers of this manga, Goda cuts his hair! I enjoy this while reading it, but it feels like a “victory lap” series, the sort of thing an author writes after finishing a big hit. – Sean Gaffney

Descending Stories, Vol. 2 | By Haruko Kumota | Kodansha Comics – I knew that somewhere along the way we were going to get an extended flashback showing us the youth of Yakumo, but I wasn’t expecting to see it so soon, or for it to take up the majority of this volume. It’s told very well, making both Bon and Shin very sympathetic and likeable, and also introducing another woman who will no doubt become even more important in the third volume. More to the point, though, the series still at its heart continues to be about rakugo, and we see several examples of the art throughout the book, showing what’s good about it and what its flaws are—and also showing us how far Yotaro has to go to remotely get near competent. Not falling asleep would be a good start. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 14 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – Answering my question from last time, Daichi is not THAT injured, but injured enough so that he has to sit out the rest of the match—he’s lost a tooth. And so we get to see Ennoshita come in to take his place, which means that most of this book is about Karasuno struggling to regain its rhythm with a new person where their captain should be, and said new person trying to find a way to help them and not completely panic. (We also see the complete panic—Yamaguchi gets a point, but chickens out rather than do the serve he’s been training on. I expect more of this later.) And of course we get to see Karasuno move on to the next game, and I expect the next book will start by showing us who their opponent will be. – Sean Gaffney

Maid-sama!, Vols. 17-18 | By Hiro Fujiwara | VIZ Media – Maid-sama! ends at last. Much of what happens here is fairly predictable. Misaki rescues Takumi from England, but not before he realizes that his Walker relations aren’t actually that bad. There’s a proposal, and intense studying for exams, and Misaki realizing that she no longer needs to hide the fact that she works in a maid café. The bits that aren’t predictable are sometimes ridiculous, like the fact that Takumi supposedly befriended some pigeons who helpfully obstruct the paparazzi, but also sometimes nice, like a small moment (a single panel, really) in which a study-fatigued Misaki lets herself lean on Usui and tells him a few of the things that’re distracting her, trusting him to get them done. Also, Suzuna and Hinata make progress! This definitely wasn’t my favorite series, but it had its moments. – Michelle Smith

Nirvana, Vol. 1 | By Jin & Sayuki (Zowls) | Seven Seas – This new series feels like a cross between a standard reincarnation manga—a girl dies in a plane crash and is resurrected as the reincarnation of a goddess—and Magi, featuring a lot of the same Middle Eastern feel of that series. As you can tell by its presence in a Bookshelf Brief, I don’t have as much to say about it as I normally would, but that doesn’t mean it’s bad—it’s a decent series, with some nice fights and interesting backstory. The plot is clearly going to be “let’s gather together all the scattered heroes,” the sort of thing that could run for three volumes or twelve depending on how well it sells. And Yachiyo is likeable enough, though I suspect her “must help others at all costs” will get into major trouble down the road. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 7 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media – With the expanding cast, working together with pirates, and Yona genuinely being badass and intimidating, Yona of the Dawn continues to evoke the Basara feels, and that is very much a compliment. As the volume opens, she and Yun have infiltrated a human trafficking operation by posing as merchandise, and though her dragons are on hand to rescue her, it’s Yona who terrifies and then neatly kills the head bad guy. It’s super satisfying! I also loved that when she later has a surprise run-in with Su-won, she’s terrified, yes, but also thinking of seizing the moment to get revenge for her father. She’s come such a long way, and now I’m even more excited to see where the story goes from here! – Michelle Smith

Pick of the Week: Food, Glorious Food!

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MICHELLE: It is happy cruelty that this week I am forced to choose between Chihayafuru and What Did You Eat Yesterday?, both of which I love intensely. I think we will probably see another volume of Chihayafuru before volume thirteen of WDYEY, as it won’t even come out in Japan until next month, so that gives Yoshinaga the slight edge this time. But really, get them both.

SEAN: My pick this week is the final volume of Blood Lad, which I’ve definitely enjoyed more than I expected to. It feels like it’s just about the right time to end it, too. Also, Fuyumi cover!

ANNA: Chihayafuru is an easy pick for me. I am so happy this series is being translated!

KATE: There’s only one manga on my plate this week: volume two of Delicious in Dungeon. It reads like an episode of Martha Stewart Living crossed with a MMPORG, mixing action scenes with tips on how to get the most of giant scorpion meat. (Who knew it was good for tempura?)

MICHELLE: Oh, I didn’t even mention that or Yowamushi Pedal! So much great stuff this week.

ASH: There really are so many great manga being released this week, making it extremely difficult to choose just one! So, I’ll cheat a little and pick a subgenre instead–give me all the food manga you’ve got! Both What Did You Eat Yesterday? and Delicious in Dungeon are very high on my list and I’m definitely looking forward to sinking my teeth into them. (Not literally, of course.)

Manga the Week of 8/23/17

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SEAN: I can’t. I just can’t. How on earth is this much stuff coming out?

MICHELLE: And still none of it is 7SEEDS or Silver Diamond!

ANNA: Or Demon Sacred!

SEAN: Dark Horse gives us the 26th volume of the Vampire Hunter D novels.

ASH: I somehow managed to forget that the novel series was still ongoing.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a 2nd volume of adorable family series If It’s For My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord. Oh please stay an adorable family series…

Yes, there’s still more Del Rey rescues, with Princess Resurrection 17.

Somehow there is a new Animal Land out, Vol. 12. Only 9 months after 11! Is the series back on track?

ASH: Maybe?! The ending seems so close and yet so far away.

SEAN: Kodansha gives us a 4th volume of Chihayafura digitally. Will our ragtag bunch of karuta misfits get it together?

MICHELLE: Yay!!!!

ANNA: So excited!

SEAN: And there’s a 4th manga volume of Clockwork Planet, whose novel I enjoyed more than I did the adaptation.

Domestic Girlfriend hits Vol. 5 digitally as well.

As does Fire Force, which is print, and still not as good as Soul Eater, IMO.

Inuyashiki 8 comes out in print as well. It’s ended in Japan recently.

And Land of the Lustrous hopes to make slightly more sense with Vol. 2, but it will look gorgeous no matter what.

ASH: I’m looking forward to the beautiful mess.

ANNA: Maybe I’ll check it out from the library just for the pretty….

SEAN: The first debut next week is Love & Lies, which North American readers may find slightly familiar if they read it on the Mangabox app. It’s also got an anime coming out. The premise involves a Japan where everyone automatically gets an arranged marriage at 16.

Kodansha has a 2nd volume of Real Girl, meaning I should read the first, but TOO MUCH MANGA.

MICHELLE: I missed the first one, as well.

SEAN: The second debut next week is another of THOSE isekai adaptations. That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime is based on a novel Yen will be starting this December, and Kodansha’s adaptation runs in Shonen Sirius. The premise is… what the plot says.

ANNA: We live in interesting times.

SEAN: Lastly (for Kodansha), we get a 2nd digital volume of Tzuredure Children.

On to Seven Seas, who blissfully only have two releases next week. A Centaur’s Life has its own anime adaptation going on, which seems to be adapting a lot more than I expected, including scenes I was sure it would cut. This is the 12th volume.

There’s also a 6th volume of yuri potboiler Citrus.

Vertical has reached a dozen volumes of What Did You Eat Yesterday?. Will there be egg dishes? (Do eggs come in dozens in Japan?)

MICHELLE: !!!!!! I love when there are surprise things that weren’t on my radar.

ASH: I’m always read for more What Did You Eat Yesterday!

ANNA: Woo hoo!

SEAN: The rest of the list is Yen. They have a bunch of light novels. The 4th Asterisk War may not be the best of them, but my guess is that it’s the shortest.

A Certain Magical Index’s 12th volume is a ‘downtime’ book, with much of it taken up by wacky shenanigans. I suspect the cliffhanger will be less wacky, though.

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! has an 8th volume, and may finally be returning to Enta Isla for a bit.

Goblin Slayer’s 3rd volume features goblins being slayed.

The Irregular at Magic High School has a 5th volume that I would also classify as ‘downtime’, but we do get a Beach Episode out of it.

KonoSuba’s 3rd volume will, one hopes, be completely ridiculous.

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers has a 2nd volume, where we see how long they can extend the “one of us is a traitor” plotline.

And Sword Art Online’s 11th volume shows the ongoing adventures of Kirito and Eugeo training to become knights, this time complete with cute squire girls.

Yen manga also has one or two or twenty titles. Anne Happy has a 6th volume, and may be caught up with Japan by now.

Aoharu x Machinegun also gives us a 6th print volume.

ASH: The first volume was fun and I’ve been meaning to read more, I just haven’t gotten around to it yet.

SEAN: We have reached the final Blood Lad! You can tell it’s the final one as it’s not an omnibus, ending with a single-sized 9th volume. I will miss this underrated series.

BTOOOM! has an 18th volume, and I haven’t missed it at all, but it’s not going anywhere yet.

Delicious in Dungeon’s first volume was enjoyable enough, though I worry it will leave me with very little to review. Definitely getting its 2nd volume, though.

MICHELLE: I kept meaning to read the first, but now I’ll just have to review the first two together.

ASH: I loved the first volume and am looking forward to the next a great deal.

SEAN: There is also a 3rd Demonizer Zilch, which I keep forgetting Yen puts out.

More series whose premise I just couldn’t get past, we have a 7th First Love Monster.

Girls’ Last Tour will have an adorable post-apocalypse in Volume 2.

ASH: I didn’t find the characters overly compelling, but I did really like world and environment of the series.

SEAN: High School DxD is not dead, it merely seems like it after this recent hiatus. It returns with Vol. 9.

Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl has a 3rd volume of what will no doubt be adorable yuri stories.

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade does not have yuri, but it does have Soujiro, so there’s a tradeoff. This is Volume 6.

Murcielago’s 3rd volume will no doubt have yuri, but if you see “If you liked Murcielago, you may also like Kiss And White Lily for My Dearest Girl”, something is screwy with Amazon’s algorithms.

ASH: HA! Someone may be in for a surprise.

SEAN: Re: Zero’s 2nd arc has its 2nd manga volume, and no doubt features Subaru dying.

Rokka also has a manga adaptation, and it’s up to Vol. 3.

Vol. 3s are popular these days! We also have a 3rd Spirits & Cat Ears.

And double digits for Trinity Ten… um, I mean Seven.

Ubel Blatt also hits double digits with its 9th omnibus. If that makes no sense, you don’t know Ubel Blatt.

Lastly (thank GOD), a 6th omnibus for Yowamushi Pedal.

MICHELLE: Yay! This is a good week!

ASH: Yay, indeed! Yowamushi Pedal isn’t released nearly as often as I wish it was.

SEAN: You must be getting SOMETHING from this morass. What is it?

Bookshelf Briefs 8/15/17

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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

Pick of the Week: Heroes and Villains

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KATE:: For most readers, this week’s pick is a no-brainer: it’s the final volume of Tokyo Ghoul, which reaches its gory climax with volume fourteen. I never got on the Tokyo Ghoul train myself, so I’m more inclined to pick the latest installment of I Am a Hero, an even gorier series that manages to breathe fresh life into an undead concept by putting an unreliable narrator in the center of the action. (For the curious, I reviewed volume one.)

SEAN: Well, I mean, Tokyo Ghoul: re starts in October, so… in any case, I’m going to pick the 5th and final volume of Akuma no Riddle, a yuri manga that takes place at a school but is not like the 80 other yuri manga being released that take place at schools. I enjoyed this more than I expected, and I think it will benefit from a mass reread.

MICHELLE: There isn’t a whole lot that appeals to me this week, I’m afraid. So, even though I haven’t started the series yet, I’ll pick the fifth volume of All-Rounder Meguro to show support for Kodansha’s digital sports manga offerings.

ASH: Although I haven’t actually played very much of any of the games in the franchise, the release that I’m probably most curious about this week is the Assassin’s Creed manga adaptation, largely because I’ve greatly enjoyed Oiwa’s past adaptations.

ANNA: There isn’t a whole lot out there that is appealing to me this week either, but I’m probably going to check out Cosplay Animal in the hopes that it is fun and trashy, so that’s my pick.

Manga the Week of 8/16/17

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SEAN: Next week is the closest we get to a small week these days. Revel in it.

Dark Horse gives us the 4th I Am A Hero omnibus. Zombies! Not quite as sexy and dangerous as vampires, but they try harder.

ASH: I Am a Hero is definitely one of the more interesting takes on the zombie subgenre that I’ve come across. But yeah, not especially sexy.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has two more volumes out next week. The 5th My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World is out, and will continue to compare itself to the Haruhi Suzumiya series.

And Playing to Win in a VRMMO has a 6th volume.

Most of the list is Kodansha, both print and digital. On the digital side we start with a 5th All-Rounder Meguru.

MICHELLE: This is one digital sports manga that I’ve yet to sample.

SEAN: Two new digital debuts next week. Beauty Bunny is from the author of Peach Heaven and is about a girl whose life is transformed by makeup and hot guys, perhaps not in that order. It’s 8 volumes, and ran in Dessert.

Cosplay Animal also ran in Dessert, but is about 10 years older than Beauty Bunny. A cosplayer meets her ideal guy whole cosplaying as a high school student. The trouble is her ideal guy IS a high school student. From what I’ve read this sounds like AMAZING complete trash. I am interested.

MICHELLE: I don’t think either of these is for me.

ANNA: I have to say I will at least try the first volume of Cosplay Animal, that sounds amusing.

Fairy Tail gives us a 4th monstrous volume of its Master’s Edition super-omnibus.

ASH: If someone hasn’t read Fairy Tail before, this edition is definitely the way to go.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital also has a 13th Fuuka, which continues to be written by Seo Kouji.

Hotaru’s Way also gets a 2nd volume digitally.

Back to print for the 8th Maga-Tsuki.

Peach Heaven has a 5th volume digitally, and I’m sorry this is so dull, but I haven’t read many of these.

MICHELLE: Although I love most of Kodansha’s digital offerings, Peach Heaven didn’t really appeal to me, I admit.

ANNA: I did not care for it.

SEAN: I have read the 22nd and final volume of School Rumble, though. It’s famous! Well, OK, infamous. The ending has to be seen to be disbelieved. There was a 1-volume continuation, School Rumble Z, that tried to fix things, but I don’t believe Kodansha has picked that up. In any case, bye, School Rumble! Flag or Riceball, you were great either way. Mostly.

Lastly for Kodansha, a 4th xxxHOLIC Rei has managed to edge its way out onto shelves, despite CLAMP’s busy schedule of delaying and cancelling other series.

ANNA: I’m still sad and angry about X/1999!!!

ASH: Yeah…

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us the 5th and final volume of Akuma no Riddle, which has combined yuri and assassins into quite an attractive package.

And a 6th Shomin Sample, whose package is less attractive.

Titan Books rarely makes appearances on here, but they do have the 1st volume of the Assassin’s Creed manga, which actually is adapting the Assassin’s Creed IV game. It ran in Jump Kai, and the author has also written some Naruto spinoff novels.

ASH: I’m picking this up mainly because of the involvement of Kendi/Kenji Oiwa, who also worked on the manga adaptations of Welcome to the NHK and Goth.

SEAN: Vertical has the 8th Devil’s Line.

Viz gives us two titles, the first being the 4th Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt series. We now have two Gundam series coming out at the same time. How times have changed.

ANNA: This is amazing, and reminds me I need to actually read my stockpiled volumes of Gundam: The Origin.

ASH: I shamefully have a few volumes of that I still need to read, too…

SEAN: And lastly, there’s the 14th Tokyo Ghoul, which will interest casual readers more than any other title I mentioned on this list.

See? Next week is totally small and has nothing coming out! Aheh. What are you getting?

Pick of the Week: Across the Spectrum

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SEAN: The title I find most intriguing this week is Nirvana, which is a reincarnated in another world title with a female lead (a rarity), and apparently borrows from both Hindu and Buddhist mythology. I’m in!

KATE: Hmmmm… If I were picking a manga on the strength of the title alone, Am I in Love Or Just Hungry would get my vote — we’ve all been there — but Sean makes Nirvana sound interesting, so I think I’ll follow his lead this week and choose Adventures in Reincarnation, too.

MICHELLE: There are a few titles that I’m somewhat interested in, but what I’m looking forward to the most is seeing whether the lead couple of The Full-Time Wife Escapist actually makes any progress. So, that’s my pick this week!

ASH: I’m a bit more curious about Nirvana now that I know a little more about it, but I must say that after three years since the last volume, it’s Drifters that really has my attention. It’s not a series that necessarily makes much sense, but it’s certainly bombastic with energetic action sequences and outrageous characters. (At least if I recall correctly; it’s been a while… )

ANNA: I’m intrigued by Nirvana after seeing everyone talk about it more, but the manga I’m probably most likely to get and read this week is Altair: A Record of Battles Volume 2, once I read volume 1 that is!

Manga the Week of 8/9/17

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SEAN: Stuff, stuff, stuff! So much stuff!

Dark Horse gives us a new volume of Drifters, the 4th. It comes out sporadically, so I will no doubt have to refresh my memory about what’s happening besides cool old famous people reincarnated and fighting each other. Actually, no, that should do it.

ASH: Let’s see, the last volume was released in English in… 2014. I didn’t expect that we’d ever see more of the series! I suspect that last year’s anime adaptation may have something to do with that.

SEAN: And there is a 4th omnibus of “Like Evangelion, only stupider” spinoff manga Shinji Ikari Raising Project.

J-Novel Club has a new debut, but it may seem familiar: Clockwork Planet, whose manga adaptation Kodansha has been releasing. This is their first Kodansha license, and will hopefully open the way for more in the future.

And we have the 4th In Another World With My Smartphone, which I hear is where the plot really kicks off.

Kodansha has titles both digital and print. Digitally we have the 2nd Altair: A Record of Battles, which is clearly not on the fastrack like some other digital titles.

ANNA: Good reminder for me to read the first one!

MICHELLE: Same!

SEAN: And the 2nd Aoba-kun’s Confessions as well.

I was unprepared for the Attack On Titan: Before the Fall adaptation to be this long, but here we are, Volume 11. Huh.

ASH: I’ve fallen behind, but I do largely like how the manga further develops and expands the story and characters from the original light novels.

SEAN: Back to digital with the 5th Full-Time Wife Escapist. Will these two poor communicators finally get together?

ANNA: I enjoy this series!

MICHELLE: Me, too. I’m always happy when I see a new installment on the schedule.

SEAN: And L♥DK has hit double digits, and presumably has not run out of ways to frustrate its heroine.

Seven Seas has the most titles out next week. There’s a lucky 13th volume of Devils and Realist.

And the 2nd print volume of the light (hah!) novel Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.

Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid will try to ride out the post-anime depression with its 4th volume.

The debut next week is Nirvana, an action fantasy with a “trapped in another world” veneer, the gimmick being the protagonist is female for once. It’s written by Jin, the creator of Kagerou Daze, and runs in Comic Gene.

Not Lives gives us a 6th volume. Has the cast diminished yet?

Also at double digits next week is Servamp. (poses) Vampires! (peers around, crickets chirp) Could it be the running gag has gone on too long?

ANNA: Maybe we need more mermaids or pirates.

SEAN: SuBLime has a digital-only release next week with Am I In Love Or Just Hungry, from popular author Akane Abe.

In print, they have the 2nd Deluxe Edition of Finder.

And the 5th volume of Ten Count, which has managed to irritate most of Manga Bookshelf by now.

ANNA: Yeargh.

ASH: I’m still reading it, though I completely understand why people dropped the series. The character’s relationship is far from healthy–right now to me it actually reads more like a horror manga and less like a romance.

SEAN: Viz has a 5th digital release of The Children Nowadays, whose existence I keep forgetting.

In print, they have the 21st volume of Itsuwaribito, which must be reaching a climax of some sort, I say as if I read past Vol. 1.

And a 2nd Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

ASH: I’m enjoying this adaptation so far; I’m also glad that it doesn’t end with the second volume.

SEAN: Magi has reached 25 volumes! In Japan it’s wrapping up, here we still have a ways to go.

MICHELLE: I’m always kind of relieved to hear a series is ending. It’s probably the reassurance that I’ll actually get the complete story.

SEAN: Lastly, we have a 9th volume of Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter, which wars with Yu-Gi-Oh in how often it ends a Manga the Week of column and leaves me with nothing to say.

What do you say? Anything for you next week?

Bookshelf Briefs 7/31/17

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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