Michelle Smith

Inu x Boku SS, Vol. 11 | By Cocoa Fujiwara | Yen Press – The finale of this series gets a few more extra pages to be able to show the final battle and all of the villainous tragic backstory that precipitates it. It ends up tying in with the time-traveling tree we’ve seen in prior volumes, but honestly, I wasn’t as interested in the villains as I was in seeing our heroes be cool. All the appropriate couples end up together (though surprise, the supposed lesbian isn’t so much in the end), and we even get some closure from the future-that-wasn’t cast as well. I enjoyed this series a great deal, with several of the plot twists taking me totally by surprise (though sometimes, as with the fate of Kagerou, there is utter non-surprise). I’ll miss it. – Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 21 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I have consistently enjoyed Kamisama Kiss, but now that we’re moving into the endgame, it’s gotten even better. Tomoe has decided to become human, but his first attempt has left him in fox form instead. Nanami is supposed to stay behind while Mikage seeks treatment, but of course she doesn’t, and her shortcut leads to a run-in with one of Kirihito’s minions who reveals that her life force has been so diminished by what happened between her and his master in Okinawa that she’s got at most six months to live. I am absolutely sure a shoujo manga won’t allow its heroin to die—though I can think of one notable exception—so the parts that I actually found most interesting involved Kirihito’s schemes coming nearer to fruition along with inter-minion power plays. I love the darker atmosphere Suzuki evokes in their scenes; I hope there are many more of them to come! – Michelle Smith

Non Non Biyori, Vol. 4 | By Atto | Seven Seas – I was a bit irritated with the last volume of this slice-of-country-life series, but luckily things are a bit better this time around. Natsumi’s irritating qualities are kept to a minimum, and we get more of Renge, possibly due to reader demand as she is the young, cute (and very strange) one. Of course, you could argue the entire cast is strange in its own way, and the series is at its best when it’s at its silliest, such as the Koshigaya Sisters playing around with persimmons, or a flashback to the day baby Renge was brought to school and caused total havoc. There are some sweet moments as well, of course, such as the trek to see the New Year’s sunrise, but for the most part you read this for good, if mild, laughter. – Sean Gaffney

orange: The Complete Collection, Vol. 2 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Given how deeply I loved the first volume of orange, it would’ve been hard for the second to surpass it, so the fact that I liked it a little less shouldn’t be construed as disappointment. I merely thought the ending was a bit rushed, with Suwa giving up on his feelings for Naho seemingly without much angst and an argument between Naho and Kakeru that felt somewhat forced. (Surely Naho is intelligent enough to see where her future self went wrong before essentially repeating the mistake!) There are many intensely lovely scenes between the group of friends, however, including a memorable sports festival, and I’m very fond of all the characters. To top it all off, I actually really liked the bonus story, too. This is a manga I will be rereading and foisting on friends for sure. – Michelle Smith

A Silent Voice, Vol. 7 | By Yoshitoki Oima | Kodansha Comics – Those who were wondering if the two tormented leads would ever get together at the end of this may be a bit disappointed by the ending to A Silent Voice, where the closest we get to romantic resolution is Naoka showing off a ring a tall, hot model gave her—which turns out to be from Miyoko. (OK, that’s not romantic resolution, it’s yuri tease.) What is resolved is the film everyone was making, which doesn’t get any awards but ends up being personally satisfying, and Shoko and Shoya, who are both able to come to terms with their past and move on. After a series that dealt repeatedly with abuse and suicidal thoughts, this comes as something of a relief, and I am delighted with the finish. – Sean Gaffney

Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, Vol. 8 | By Miki Yoshikawa | Kodansha Comics – The first half of this is pure setup, as they learn what the power of the seventh witch is (the cliffhanger from last volume being totally wrong), realize what will happen if they figure out who said witch is, and have contingency plans to deal with said fallout. And then, naturally, everything goes horribly wrong. The second half of this volume can be very painful to read, especially for anyone who’s always secretly wondered if maybe their friends all have more fun whenever they aren’t there. Yamada-kun puts a brave face on things, which leads to hilarious scenes of him trying to clean his way to happiness, but an emotional breakdown isn’t far off, and I suspect things will get worse in the next volume. – Sean Gaffney

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 13 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – It’s been a long time since the last volume of Yotsuba&! came out, but after reading a few pages it feels like we’ve never really been away. We get Asagi being bemused at Yotsuba’s childlike logic, Fuuka suffering from the same, and Yanda getting just plain abuse. But the majority of this book is about Yotsuba’s grandmother, who comes to stay with her son for a few days. She’s new to the reader but not to Yotsuba or Koiwai, which leads to many familiar yet unfamiliar situations. She’s also naturally got a dour face, even if her mood is not matching, so we get amusing contrasts between dialogue and expression. But, most importantly, we discuss Yotsuba sleeping on her own for the first time! Will time actually move forward? – Sean Gaffney

Cage of Eden, Vol. 20 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – Cage of Eden ditches the rape threats and infighting, thank goodness, and gets back to one of its two big strengths—exploring things and discovering horrifying secrets. This also leads to a death, and we haven’t gotten a character death in a while, so it would almost be a surprise if it weren’t telegraphed heavily beforehand. Meanwhile, it’s always been apparent that our heroes are not just on some J. Random Dinosaur island, and it’s also becoming very clear that something else is involved. The unrecognizable cars and robots are also a clue. The next volume is the final one—will it have answers? More to the point, can it possibly resolve everything in that short a space? – Sean Gaffney

A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 3 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamachi| Seven Seas – The setup of the first two volumes leads to the chaos that I said would occur, and it’s certainly chaotic, as we are introduced to yet ANOTHER group of overpowered teens and tweens who hover between sociopathic and just needing a hug. Railgun readers should already be familiar with this sort of thing; Index novel readers will have to wait a while for it to make sense. That said, anyone familiar with Aiho Yomikawa will love this volume, as she shows off both what an incredible badass she is and the compassion and love that drives it—though admittedly, in the world of Index, those who say “no, they really are using us as guinea pigs” are always correct. Sorry, Yomikawa. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 20 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – This is a transitional volume, as we wrap up, for the moment, Hayasaka’s family and the manipulations of Momichi. If nothing else, this should show the average reader not to mess with mind control, as Hayasaka’s memories, combined with the trauma of his well-meaning but also somewhat appalling father and Momochi’s hypnotism, are something resembling swiss cheese. (The funniest moment of the volume, if only as it’s so unexpected, features Saeki going to Momochi’s room every day. We expected the rug to be pulled from under us, but not that way.) So naturally, now that he’s finally recovering, is the time when he may finally realize the truth about Super Bun. Always recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 4 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – There’s far less Henry and Richard having ambiguous sexual tension here, but that’s only because the political machinations of almost everyone comes to the fore. Everyone wants the throne or wants to influence the power behind it. George is pitted against Edward, and poor Anne refuses to be used as a pawn, but is unfortunately overheard and misunderstood in exactly the worst way. Throughout all this flits Richard, who honestly is at his best when being a stereotypical shoujo hero for Anne, but we all know that’s not what’s going to happen, and so does he. Of course, this assumes that he can survive the latest coup attempt to take out his family. Shakespeare and shoujo go together amazingly well. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 4 | By Aya Kanno | VIZ Media – After Richard flies into a rage and nearly kills his beloved Henry, not yet knowing that he and the former king he blames for his father’s death are one and the same, he is sent off to stay with Warwick for a while. He spends time with Warwick’s eldest daughter, Anne, and is relieved that he can feel romantic thoughts towards a woman, and hurt when he mistakenly believes she was faking it on her father’s orders. It’s a hardened Richard who observes Warwick and George’s uprising against Edward and coolly considers whose side it would be more advantageous to join. If it sounds like a lot happened this volume, it does, and that’s my only real complaint. Everything is fascinating and dramatic, but it all happens so fast. I feel like it’d have more emotional impact if we just slowed down a little bit. – Michelle Smith

Say “I Love You,” Vol. 13 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – I could have done without the author’s afterword saying that Megumi needed to be “punished” because she was so mean in prior volumes, as I think it’s conveyed well enough as being simply what the business is: Megumi’s big in Japan, but that means nothing in France. We’ll see how trustworthy her patron is—I’m not sure I trust him just yet. In the non-Megumi part of this volume, which is much smaller, we get the ever popular “I don’t care if you don’t love me just go out with me” appeal, which is a horrible idea and literally everyone knows it. But hey, this is what happens when the main couple have worked out all their issues. Still recommended, but we’re in extra innings here. – Sean Gaffney

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 13 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – It’s been over two years since the last volume of Yotsuba&! came out, and I struggled a bit with getting back into the swing of things. Either that or I’ve turned into a curmudgeon, because seeing Yotsuba’s bossy behavior go uncorrected was starting to seriously bug me. Happily, Azuma picks this moment to introduce Grandma (unless we’ve seen her before and I’ve forgotten since it’s been so long!), who imparts many valuable lessons and life skills onto Yotsuba that her dad hasn’t thought to address. It’s wonderful to watch Yotsuba go from a kid who just wants Grandma’s souvenirs to one who would give them up if only Grandma would stay. And then we get a few moments showing how she and her dad are great together, as well. It’s a strong finish, and one that leaves me ready for volume fourteen already. – Michelle Smith

Arpeggio of Blue Steel, Vol. 7 | By Ark Performance | Seven Seas – Arpeggio of Blue Steel is thankfully more about the submarine battle thriller more than harem antics, but there’s no denying that this volume is about Takao trying to prove her worth to the man she’s fallen in love with, even if that means sacrificing her own life. It’s just as battle-oriented as the last one, so there’s lots of depth-charge explosions and tactical maneuvering, and luckily some more mental models who haven’t quite decided what side they’re on yet and get to have ambiguous morality. As for our heroes, they don’t do much except fire one shot—but what a shot! It looks like they’ve attracted even more attention, though—will Yamato get involved? Still hideously underrated. – Sean Gaffney

Blue Exorcist, Vol. 15 | By Kazue Kato | Viz Media – Izumo’s plot is wrapped up here, and even though it involves some personal sacrifice, at least there’s no horrible permanent damage. And we get to see Nori again! Remember her? In any case, the bulk of this book deals with the revelation that Renzo was actually a double agent all along, and by his own choice. This is hardly surprising for the reader—Renzo is simply not the character type to be secretly evil, just secretly chaotic—but it does lead to a lot of soul-searching for our heroes, and a few explanations by Mephisto. Of course, Renzo is still a bit of a manipulative dick, and he knows something’s going on with Yukio. I suspect that may be the next major plot arc, but we shall see. – Sean Gaffney

The Heiress and the Chauffeur, Vol. 1 | By Keiko Ishihara | Viz Media – This is a very short (two volumes total) series that ran in LaLa, so there’s not much time to build up much other than the main plotline, which is a strong-willed but physically weak heroine and her cool chauffeur who clearly has a thing for her but nothing is being done about it because FORBIDDEN ROMANCE. This takes place at a girls’ school, so please enjoy the brief not-yuri that exists there, but for the most part this is a two-hander between Sayaka and Shinobu. They’re both likeable, so I look forward to seeing them hook up next time. There’s also a cute short story about a pair of twins and a thief who steals things that move his heart. Good value for money here. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 24 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – In general, I am pretty much over school festival stories in manga, but when Karuho Shiina does it, it ends up making me verklempt. It’s now been a year since Sawako and Kazehaya started dating, and though their relationship moments in this volume are poignant (Kazehaya’s desire for Sawako to be happy and attend the university of her choice is at war with his instinct to cling to her), the most affecting part for me was seeing Sawako voted class MVP. Not only that, but this volume is full of mono no aware, as she realizes that “getting closer to the future means the present is ending.” She tries to capture certain moments in her mind to remember forever, and it really gives me a sense that the series could be ending soon. I don’t necessarily want it to, but it would be a satisfying spot to wrap things up. – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia, Vol. 4 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The tournament arc continues, as you can likely see by the huge pile of cast members on the front cover. We see Todoroki’s tragic past and resolve to not knuckle under to his jerkass father, Midoriya realizing that once you’re on the top it’s very difficult to actually stay there (especially in an event like this), and various other heroes big and small showing off what makes them tick and how important it can actually be. (One hero’s power is actually illegal to use except in certain circumstances!) It looks like the cliffhanger will give us Uraraka vs. Bakugo—while I’d like to see a female lead defeat a male in a tourney like this, I suspect the plot will drive Bakugo to the final. But we shall see. – Sean Gaffney

Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 15 | By Naoshi Komi | Viz Media – Remember when I wrote off Haru from the harem battle, saying that the author was beginning to winnow the candidates down? Yeah, sorry about that. The last half of the volume is one giant Haru fiesta. (Also, is it me or is her best friend completely in love with her?) As for Raku and his high school age girls, they continue to trundle along, with the added chemistry that Yui brings to the mix now. We get a “King Game” with lots of amusing humiliation, and Marika placing far too much value on advice from love magazines for comfort. Still, Nisekoi is starting to spin its wheels a bit, as it’s popular enough to continue along but really needs to resolve its romance soon. Even if, being a harem title, that likely means a huge drop in popularity. – Sean Gaffney

One Piece, Vol. 78 | By Eiichiro Oda | VIZ Media – Is anyone else beyond ready for the Dressrosa arc to be over? Unfortunately, that doesn’t happen in this volume. What does happen, though, is that events become more epic, and although I didn’t quite get swept up in them to the degree I might wish, my enthusiasm for this arc was somewhat rejuvenated. Even while one female character is relegated to pristine/protected status, Robin gets a badass moment shielding her from an enemy attack. Zolo’s up next, with a spectacular finish to his fight against Pica. The supporting characters continue to be great, too. The real show, though, is Luffy versus Doflamingo. What I like best about their faceoff is that Doflamingo has more interesting and critical comments for Luffy than past foes have had. It seems he gets under Luffy’s skin more, and that’s a welcome sight. Now I can say I’m genuinely excited for volume 79! – Michelle Smith

One-Punch Man, Vol. 6 | By ONE and Yusuke Marata | Viz Media – Another volume, another giant pile of cast members added to the pile—this time the top heroes of the city. The most interesting ones include Tornado, who is short, curt, and tends to go superdeformed just like Saitama; King, who everyone seems to respect despite apparently being useless; and Metal Bat, who makes me think of Paranoia Agent if it ended up being about superheroes. Despite them all showing off some awesome stuff, though, as always it’s about Saitama and his mind-numbing ability to one-hit every enemy. Of course, we may have met the first persona that actually does require more than one punch here—naturally, Saitama’s reaction is understated. Hilarious shonen fun. – Sean Gaffney

Genshiken: Second Season, Vol. 8 | By Shimoku Kio | Kodansha Comics – The first half of this volume has a lot of amusing antics, but let’s face it, the second half is where the truly eye-popping stuff happens. Madarame is still having trouble getting his head around the fact that four different people are interested in him, and confesses to Kugayama (when did we last see HIM in this series?) that he thinks he’s just nervous as he’s still a virgin. So he gets talked into going to a host club, and naturally it’s the one Keiko works at. What follows shows off that Madarame has more issues than just his lack of experience to work through—if he can’t notice Keiko trying to get into his pants THAT blatantly, then there’s something terribly wrong. Will this subplot be ending anytime soon, however? Or is it the main plot? – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke, Vols. 24 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – Usually, I don’t mind the slow pace of this series, as it has a mood that would be somewhat ruined by Hakusensha-style fast-paced violence. I will admit, though, I did think this volume dragged a bit, as we wait endlessly for Sawako to realize what everyone else does first: she wants to go to the educational university, not the one Kazehaya is going to. As for our other couples (or ex-couples), Chizuru and Ryu are dating but she still struggles with the fact that cheering him on means separating. And Yano is discovering that getting into a top-flight university really is as hard as it seems. This is still an excellent series, of course, and I’m hoping the next volume will give us more forward progression. – Sean Gaffney

Love Stage!!, Vol. 5 | By Eiki Eiki and Taishi Zaou | SuBLime – After showing signs of improvement in the previous volume, Love Stage!! trots out some truly eyeroll-inspiring material in volume five. After arguing with Izumi about the time he’s spending with their lecherous producer and being intimidated by Izumi’s acting talent, Ryoma is rendered incapable of performing. Instead of dwelling on their professional rivalry, which might’ve been interesting, we instead get a plot in which the producer’s hypnosis causes Ryoma to forget Izumi entirely, leading to much angst and, ultimately, the two of them falling off a cliff. Yes, really. And then they have to huddle together for warmth because a freak thunderstorm has delayed the search party. Siiiiigh. And yet, I will probably read the next volume anyway. – Michelle Smith

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 20 | By Izumi Tsubaki | VIZ Media – With Hayasaka’s memory now restored, volume twenty first clears up his (needlessly) complicated family circumstances before moving on to reveal the nature of the arrangement Momochi and Hanabusa have made. I like that Hanabusa has been shown to be a good guy, and liked too that Aki was disgruntled that the gang kept Hayasaka’s recovery a secret from him in order to ensnare Momochi, but this is a series that doesn’t delve deep into its characters, so instead of more time with either of them, we get an interlude about Mafuyu and Okegawa unknowingly being penpals (bonus: there are panels from the overworked carrier pigeon’s POV!) and a fast-forward to a Christmas party, during which Hayasaka might’ve figured out Mafuyu is Super Bun! I hope he really did, but I expect comedic deflection in the next volume. We shall see! – Michelle Smith

Shomin Sample: I was Abducted by an Elite All-Girls School as a Sample Commoner, Vol. 1 | By Risumai and Takafumi Nanatsuki | Seven Seas – I almost didn’t get this simply because of the reprehensible cover, and I still cringed every time there was a blatant panty shot in this series. That said, there were one or two moments in the book that I was indeed amused, which shows off my low standards if nothing else. The story is pretty much given in the subtitle above, and most of the good humor relies on the sheltered young girls being naive about everything, The bad humor relies on things like panty shots, walking in on someone in the bath, and whenever our hero isn’t being a smartass (as that’s his best trait). If you read Seven Seas and Yen’s skeezier titles, this is right up your alley. For others, I’d pass, even though it wasn’t the worst thing in the world. – Sean Gaffney

The Wallflower, Vol. 36 | By Tomoko Hayakawa | Kodansha Comics – Spoilers: no, they don’t. But honestly, if that surprises you, you were reading the wrong series. Hayakawa has said for eons she’s good at comedy and bad at romance, and that shows in the final volume of The Wallflower, which at least makes an effort to hit the series’ core themes: Sunako likes dark, Halloween-ish stuff; Sunako can be quite the lady when she tries, but doesn’t care to; and Kyohei and Sunako are perfect for each other and both are ignoring that fact heavily. There’s more non-SD Sunako here than in many, many volumes, which is a nice treat for the readers. I’ve always enjoyed this series even past its sell-by date, but admit it’s time for it to end. And so it has. – Sean Gaffney

Barakamon, Vol. 10 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – This is without a doubt the best volume of Barakamon to date, coming full circle to show off what began the title: Handa’s troubled relationship with his father, and his inability to stop overthinking his calligraphy. He can’t avoid the topic this time, though, as his parents are in town to visit, and we begin to see that Handa’s father is not the heartless strict man that previous chapters may have made him out to be. It all culminates in a father/son battle at Naru’s school, showing off how good his father REALLY is, but also that when Handa isn’t trying, he can have moments of genius that make his father realize that he has a true rival on his hands. A brilliant volume, and I didn’t even get to Kirie, a trans character who’s very well-handled. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 3 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – Being best friends can be very comforting, whereas being in love can be terrifying. So it’s no surprise that much of this third volume of Horimiya sees Hori and Miyamura desperately trying to avoid their relationship changing, even if it means simply sticking their fingers in their ears and going la la la. In the meantime, we meet a couple of new cast members, one of whom seems to have a thing for Ishikawa, in case you wondered if we weren’t going to have more love triangles. It’s all relaxed and heartwarming rather than angsty or wacky, though, and so it just feels good to read. I especially liked the simple presence that Miyamura gives Hori when she’s sick, possibly the sweetest moment in a sweet volume. – Sean Gaffney

Maid-sama!, Vols. 7-8 | By Hiro Fujiwara | Viz Media – This was better than the previous volume, I will grant you. Admittedly, I found both side-stories fairly tedious, even if it gave us a chance to see Misaki as a delinquent. Misaki still spends most of the volume flushing in embarrassment, but is beginning to admit her feelings, even if it’s like pulling teeth. Usui’s perfection may be put to the test soon, as we see his jealousy and longing observing the wacky-yet-loving antics of Misaki’s family. (We also meet her younger sister, one of my favorite characters.) And we get set up for what I suspect will be the next major plot arc, the student council elections. Will Misaki get re-elected, or will the guys manage to get their Dark Horse in? Also, we’re now caught up with Tokyopop. – Sean Gaffney

Maid-sama!, Vols. 7-8 | By Hiro Fujiawara | VIZ Media – As I’ve been rereading Maid-sama! in VIZ’s new editions, I’ve had cause to wonder why I’d been so eager for a license rescue of this series. Now, at last, I remember. After several volumes of harassment, bickering, and episodic filler, Misaki and Usui are finally honest with each other about their feelings. Although I could argue that the smooch they share to the accompaniment of fireworks is somewhat cliché, this welcome development still makes me interested to find out how much the series might improve going forward. I do hope, however, that we’re not expected to take dull-as-dishwater Hinata seriously as a romantic rival, though I do sadistically enjoy it when Usui torments him. Aoi can also feel free to fall off the face of the Earth. – Michelle Smith

Missions of Love, Vol. 12 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – Well, there was no way that Hisame was going to be able to keep up being irredeemably evil for the rest of the series, particularly given that the rest of the cast aren’t exactly wonderful people. And so over the course of this volume it becomes apparently that he’s really just a petulant child who enjoys breaking his toys and hates it when they’re taken away from him. Mami is his old favorite, and the idea that she might actually be falling for Akira infuriates him. And his new toy, Yukina, is having trouble coping herself, especially with Shigure MIA for most of the book. Her novel is being affected by the fact that true love is not running at all smoothly. Still 100% trash, and 100% addictive. – Sean Gaffney

Nichijou, Vol. 2 | By Keiichi Arawi | Vertical Comics – The ensemble is an important part of Nichijou, and we get to see more of them here, including Nakanojou’s non-mohawk personality traits, the amusing (and possibly romantic) antics of the Go/Soccer Club, and Misato becoming such a tsundere that aliens literally suck her up into the sky out of embarrassment. At its heart, though, the series knows that it stars Yuuko, whose puns are too lame to react to, whose tsukkomi reactions are simply unstoppable (though at least in the end she manages to get Mai to show something other than her poker face), and whose daydreams involve time cubes destroying the world (possibly as they have more or less than four). Nichijou remains strange and wonderful. – Sean Gaffney

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Vol. 10 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | Vertical, Inc. – I just want to sigh contentedly after finishing a volume of this much-beloved series. Not only does so much of the food look delicious—things that made me salivate this volume include croquettes and pancakes!—but I genuinely adore Shiro and Kenji, and find myself identifying with them a lot, especially in relation to their aging woes. Parents having surgery, middle-aged partners who lament the loss of their youthful physique… definitely some universal rites of passage. No, there’s no big drama here, unless you count a new hairstyle for one of the protagonists or future career prospects for Shiro, but it’s so all so comforting and lovely that I am not complaining one little bit. My love for What Did You Eat Yesterday? knows no bounds! – Michelle Smith