Michelle Smith

Sean and Michelle briefly review new releases from Kodansha, VIZ, and Yen Press.

Barakamon, Vol. 7 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – We’re back on the island, with the calligraphy once again taking a backseat to Handa’s somewhat hapless life among the natives. Sometimes this leads to running gags (broken windows galore) and sometimes to heartwarming sweetness (visiting the island’s 99-year-old matriarch). There’s also an expansion of the cast as we meet Miwa’s parents, introduced through a horrific misunderstanding. One set of parents is still notable in their absence, though, and Handa thinks about asking Naru about her own situation but opts instead to avoid getting serious with her. There’s no major revelations or developments here, but it’s sweet in a relaxed, daily life way. – Sean Gaffney

First Love Monster, Vol. 2 | By Akira Hiyoshimura | Yen Press – Perhaps reading my misgivings about the first volume of this series, the second one tries to make it more obvious that this is meant to be a comedy rather than a romance. We meet another resident, who looks like a new “rival” for all of about three seconds before she reveals her true intentions, and the one sensible 11-year-old among the cast winds up falling for a girl who is (sigh) the male buttmonkey of the cast dressed in drag. Oddly, despite my sounding like I didn’t like it, this series is best when it’s at its most broadly comedic. When trying to examine the genuine emotional turmoil of a young girl and her elementary school boyfriend, things simply get too uncomfortable. – Sean Gaffney

Idol Dreams, Vol. 1 | By Arina Tanemura | VIZ Media – Tanemura describes Idol Dreams as “a magical-girl series for adults,” and it kind of is, given that the protagonist, Chikage Deguchi, is a mousy, 31-year-old virgin who regrets the state of her romance-free life. But her age is really the only thing mature about Chikage, as her mentality fits much better into the 15-year-old body a former classmate’s experimental drug provides her. I like that Chikage plans to embrace this opportunity to change herself, but it’s still pretty creepy to see this grown woman crushing over the 15-year-old boy band member who provides her with her first kiss while she fills in for an advertising photo shoot (as you do). I can’t help but wonder what kind of reaction such a plot gimmick would get if the genders were reversed. I will probably read the next volume, but I don’t expect my opinion to change much. – Michelle Smith

Junji Ito’s Cat Diary: Yon & Mu | By Junji Ito | Kodansha Comics – In case you were wondering, this is indeed just an amusing cat diary, which chapters like Yon getting out of the house or Yon giving preferential treatment to Ito’s wife. (Mu plays a far lesser role). But of course the joy of reading this manga is in seeing Ito’s over the top expressions, familiar to those who’ve read his horror manga, applied to such mundane topics. He even draws his wife without pupils, giving her an evil, soulless look that belies the actual material. The art is 3/4 of the reason to pick up this book—the other 1/4 is that these are indeed cute yet willful cats, and Ito’s struggle to master them and play with them at the same time is hilarious. Cat lovers will need to pick this up. – Sean Gaffney

LDK, Vol. 1 | By Ayu Watanabe | Kodansha Comics – The initial setup of LDK sounds extremely trope-y: second-year high-school girl Aoi Nishimori lives alone in an apartment, hunky but cold-hearted school prince Shusei Kugayama moves in next door, and “a series of crazy happenings” result in them having to live together. Burgeoning romantic feelings ensue. And because of this surfeit of tropes, I excused Shusei’s initial behavior as a trope, too. Sure, he’s a git, but he is being hounded by fangirls, and that can’t be fun. But as the volume wore on, and he did more and more egregious things—culminating with forcing Aoi to try on a swimsuit while handcuffed to him—I began to realize he’d crossed the line into flagrant asshole territory. Aoi does confront him and he apologizes, so I’m willing to read one more volume to see if any change seems imminent, but otherwise I am pretty disappointed. – Michelle Smith

Missions of Love, Vol. 11 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – The manga has been building up to Yukina finally making her choice between the childhood friend milquetoast Akira and the brooding yet caring Shigure. The trouble is that it’s not even close to being over yet. And so Yukina ends up making… the wrong choice, one that we immediately know is wrong, and Yukina soon finds out, as she still can’t separate her own personal life and the novel she’s writing—especially now that she’s in competition with another author. In addition, perhaps thinking that these people making terrible decisions were becoming too sympathetic, we meet Shigure’s brother Hisame, who is introduced in such a way that he may as well have “I Am Evil” on his shirt. Still so wrong, yet so addictive. – Sean Gaffney

Yukarism, Vol. 4 | By Chika Shiomi | VIZ Media – Sadly, Yukarism comes to a close in this fourth and final volume. Selfishly, I wanted more, but in terms of the story, wrapping it up here means there weren’t any painful filler episodes to dilute the tense atmosphere Shiomi-sensei managed to maintain until the finale. I’m not going to spoil the specifics of how things are resolved, but I will say it was a very satisfactory conclusion and I got teary-eyed at least twice. Ultimately, though I was a little critical of the first volume, Yukarism soon won me over in a big way and it ended up becoming not only a keeper that I can foresee myself rereading but also a series that I think I will be foisting upon others who are not yet maniacal manga fans. I consider this a must-read for any shoujo fan. – Michelle Smith

Sean and Michelle take a look at manga from Kodansha, Seven Seas, Vertical, and Yen Press.

Genshiken: Second Season, Vol. 7 | By Shimoku Kio | Kodansha Comics – The manga continues to balance between Madarame’s “harem” and his lack of wanting to really do anything about it, and Hato’s identity issues. The latter makes the far more interesting story, frankly, particularly as it’s a very unbalanced harem—Angela and Keiko are both character types who blatantly aren’t going to win this battle. As for Sue, her denial is getting more and more frustrating, but I will admit that moving her into the apartment next to Hato brings together the two most likelies in this pentangle. I’m enjoying Genshiken in a vague way, but I’m not sure it has much of its original fanbase left, and I think its new fans would like more Hato and less everything else. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 1 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – When I saw the cover and read the synopsis of Horimiya, I thought I would probably like it, but I did not expect to be utterly charmed by it. Belonging firmly in the “it ran in GFantasy so it’s shounen but it feels like shoujo” family, it’s a warm comedy about Kyouko Hori, a pretty and popular high school girl who secretly shoulders a lot of responsibility at home, and Izumi Miyamura, who looks like a gloomy otaku but is secretly a sweet, naturally tactless hottie. What I love most is that though there are inklings of deeper feeling between them, the first volume is all about the strong friendship they form. Miyamura is adorable, but I also appreciate Hori’s competence, and this is a rare comedy that actually succeeds in making me laugh. Horimiya was a delightful surprise and I very much look forward to volume two! – Michelle Smith

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 14 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical Comics – I think Nihei is apologizing to those of his fans who prefer science fiction, action and horror with this volume, which certainly picks up the pace a great deal—it’s as if they’ve realized the end is near. Much to my dismay, the mind-controlling eye worms also make another appearance, and with them a bunch of plot revelations from our wounded but not out of it captain. (It also leads to some suggestive off-screen stuff that I really didn’t need, but is certainly in character for its screwed-up cast.) In any event, half the fighting crew may now be lost, including Tsumugi, and the Gauna are on the rise. I’m still not sure if this ending will be happy, bittersweet or just depressing, but it’s coming soon. – Sean Gaffney

Nurse Hitomi’s Monster Infirmary, Vol. 3 | By Shake-O | Seven Seas – I was somewhat surprised to see the latter half of this volume actually have some genuine depth to it—of course, for a series as light and frothy as this one, that’s merely going from one-D to two-D. But yes, Fujimi’s relationship with her grandfather, now dead and apparently in Hell, as well as her former ‘rapid healing’ quirk translating to ‘undying’ after an unfortunate encounter with a tornado, proved quite interesting and fun. Less so the other half, which showed Hitomi’s younger sister (siscon, multiple personalities) and two new girls who serve to contrast each other and metatextually reflect on the manga itself, which is less interesting than the author thinks it is. Silly, but highly variable. – Sean Gaffney

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Vol. 2 | By Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi | Seven Seas – Brand loyalty can sometimes be a terrible thing. When I read the first volume of this series, I read it at the same time as the loathsomely boring Magika Swordsman and Summoner, and it looked more tolerable in comparison. Now, I’m reading it without that dose of sense, and it’s even more clear that Shirow and Koushi simply reinforce each other’s worst habit—they’re both massive lolicons, and it shows in much of the art, particularly the cover, which makes you wonder whether God even exists in the world anymore. The story itself is mostly amusing comedy fluff, but the fanservice is beyond the pale. Unless you have to read anything by these two authors, skip. – Sean Gaffney

Tokyo ESP, Vol. 1 | By Hajime Segawa | Vertical Comics – There are no shortage of manga about teenagers with special powers and abilities, but prior to Tokyo ESP, I hadn’t read one with such a traditional superhero feel. Enigmatic, costumed figures have released a bunch of glowing fish that bestow powers on certain individuals. Some of the recipients are good—like impoverished teen Rinka Urushiba and her musclebound, former detective father—and some are criminals. (And one is a hippo.) In a setup reminiscent of The Flash TV show, Rinka and her new friend Kyotaro Azuma use their powers to bring the supervillains to justice. But also there is some personal growth for Rinka, a mysterious background for Azuma, and a flying penguin with the ability to revoke powers. I’m making it sound like a chaotic mess, I fear, but it really isn’t. I enjoyed the first volume and look forward to continuing the series. – Michelle Smith

Sean, Anna, and Michelle take a look at recent releases from VIZ and Kodansha!

The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 2 | By Aya Shouoto | Viz Media – This manga suffers a bit in comparison to the overwhelmingly excellent Kamisama Kiss, since they are so similar in plot and sometimes character design, but I did enjoy this volume because it gave more hints of the troubles associated with Aoi’s attachment to Momochi House. He’s been at the house since he was a young child and can’t leave. In a reversal of the rescue the trapped princess trope, Himari is more and more determined to free him. There’s a bit of humor as yet another super cute ayakashi shows up. This manga is good for light and fluffy reverse harem demonic fun. – Anna N.

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 19 | By Julietta Suzuki | Viz Media – Now that we’ve mostly resolved the love story of Nanami and Tomoe, it’s time to try to figure out where to go next, as clearly the series is popular enough that it can’t just end. And so we get the resolution of the dugong plot, with Nanami’s ‘normal’ friends learning about her deity status, and seemingly OK with it. As for Kurama, I liked that his slowly getting closer to Nanami is not getting in the way of him still being a basic jerk—this transformation is slow, and thus more realistic. As for Mizuki, I’m not sure if this will actually stick, but he certainly seems to have come into his own when charming the mermaid with self-image issues. I sense the series is being dragged out, but so far I’m OK with that. – Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 19 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – This latest arc—a school trip to Okinawa—started so tamely that I had zero memory of it when I started this volume. And yet, it ended up being significant for two supporting characters! With Nanami mostly sidelined by having her energy drained by Kirihito, Mizuki and Kurama set out to rescue their classmate, Ami. While Kurama ends up revealing more of himself to Ami than he has to anyone else, sowing the seeds for a presumed future relationship, it’s Mizuki who quells the wrath of a lonely mermaid by promising to be her husband. I 100% believe he would’ve honored his word and stayed with her, but when she sees how much he cared for Nanami, the mermaid (Unari) lets him go. In a way, this volume feels like it’s dealing with Nanami’s other potential suitors, clearing the slate for the final arc about Kirihito. We shall see! – Michelle Smith

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 14 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – The first half of this volume wraps up Hakuryu’s arc, and the thought that he’s meant to be a darker version of Alibaba is not going away, from his murder here right down to his hasty confession to Morgiana (who I think is far too overwhelmed with new and confusing emotions to answer any confession right now). The second half sticks with Aladdin, as he finds that there’s a difference between being a Magi and actually learning and using magic, so he goes to a manga Hogwarts to try to get the basics from the ground up. Since he needs to conceal his true nature, this is harder than it seems. I can do without Aladdin (and the author’s) boobies obsession, but otherwise this is another excellent volume. – Sean Gaffney

My Little Monster, Vol. 10 | By Robico | Kodansha Comics – I love the smell of plot guns in the morning. Haru’s past, and his effortless academic excellence, have been on reader’s minds since the first volume. Now we get a long arc showing how he and Yuzan got to be the way they are, and how Shizuku likely has far more in common with Yuzan than she expected. It can be very frustrating to see someone like Haru in your life, and Shizuru needs to get past that – and I’m sure she will. Unfortunately, she doesn’t here, and Haru is likely going to react badly to this. Adding to that the beta couple, Natsume and Sasayan, also not really going anywhere (mostly due to Natsume’s ongoing issues), and it’s possible this series may end with no romance at all! Somehow I doubt that, though. – Sean Gaffney

My Love Story!!, Vol. 6 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | Viz Media – We’ve been slowly watching Takeo learn how to be a good boyfriend over the course of this series, and now we get to see him learn how to be a good big brother, as his mother is finally giving birth. (Speaking of which, seeing how Takeo’s father courted his future wife and proposed is possibly the funniest moment in the entire book.) After this there’s some cute Valentine’s Day shenanigans, but the more intriguing thing is the promise of more Suna in the next volume. He remains a difficult character to grasp, deliberately so—indeed, he has trouble grasping himself. He knows he hasn’t found the love that Takeo has, though. Will new girl be able to get through to him? – Sean Gaffney

My Love Story!!, Vol. 6 | By Kazune Kawahara and Aruko | VIZ Media – Just when I thought I couldn’t possibly love My Love Story!! more than I already do, we get this adorable volume. First, we spend a bit of time with Takeo’s parents, Yuriko and Yataka, learning how they met and how Yuriko can’t help but try to take care of other people, just like her son. (Also, I absolutely love that Yataka was attracted toYuriko for being reliable, confident, and hard-working!) Next, pregnant Yuriko is admitted to the hospital, and panicked Takeo is gently steered in the right directions by calm, kind Sunakawa. And, ultimately, the family welcomes big, strong daughter Maki—there’s a great panel in which Takeo magnanimously declares that he’ll allow Sunakawa to marry her—and Takeo begins to think that he might like to have a career helping people. He’d make a fabulous fireman. Also, I would read that manga! So much love for this series. – Michelle Smith

Sean, Anna, and Michelle present a smattering of briefy goodness.

The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 2 | By Aya Shouoto | VIZ Media – At first, I thought this must be a short series, since Himari and Aoi already have feelings for each other by chapter four, but it’s not especially so. Thankfully, the pace slows down a little more toward the end of the volume, as Himari transfers into a new school. Curious classmates follow her home to her notoriously haunted house, and after a bit of comedic drag by the bishounen occupants, we learn that one of the visitors is already dead. It’s a nice bit of creepiness that will carry over into the next volume, hopefully boding well for more stories of a similar nature down the pipeline. Too, I liked the too-short bonus story of how Aoi came to reside within Momochi House. I am intrigued and will continue to follow this series! – Michelle Smith

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 8 | By Yoto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – I leave out contributor Yuki Morisaka in these briefs for reasons of space, but it’s fairly clear that she’s a second food expert on this title. The addition of the recipes makes sure that the series doesn’t get too ridiculous with its culinary competitions—when Alice uses liquid nitrogen to prepare her bento meal, it’s lampshaded that the bento recipe provided is a “super-easy” version of same. As for the contest, after Megumi’s spotlight last time, this time it’s Soma that gets to move on—though Megumi does have a not-so-shocking realization about her feelings for him. The question is not whether Soma will get past Alice—the nature of the title is not going to have him lose here. It’s how that makes us want more. – Sean Gaffney

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 14 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical Comics – Perhaps it’s an understatement to say that things are not looking good for the crew of the Sidonia. Spurred into the offensive against a huge cluster ship by the fact that it will only get bigger if they wait, two attack fleets are dispatched without injured ace Tanikaze and soon more gauna materialize to destroy half of them. Still more gauna threaten the Sidonia and, oh yeah, there’s a rogue crazy hybrid out there to contend with, as well. It’s a tense volume and I love that I can actually believe that Nihei really will allow humanity’s last hope to perish. My sole quibble is that when the captain tells Tanikaze about his origins and seemingly attempts to seduce him he has basically no reaction to the former and we never see response to the latter. You’d better not cheat on Tsumugi, you jerk! – Michelle Smith

Library Wars: Love & War, Vol. 14 | Original Concept by Hiro Arikawa, Story and Art by Kiiro Yumi | Viz Media – As ever, the basic premise of Library Wars is essentially ridiculous, and as a result it’s pretty hard to care about all the plotting the gang is doing to get an author whose freedom of expression is being denied to a foreign embassy so that he might defect. And yet, this setup does result in some terrific moments, like Shibazaki being omniscient (to anyone familiar with Suits, Shibazaki is the manga equivalent of Donna), Iku slinging an injured Dojo over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes, and the impossible-not-to-love two-page spread depicting a certain couple’s first kiss. Library Wars is very far from deep, but it is fun, and I expect that the next and final volume will offer up some satisfying resolution. Wonder if VIZ will release the sequel! – Michelle Smith

My Little Monster, Vol. 10 | By Robico | Kodansha Comics – Remember just one volume ago, where sweetly, slowly developing high school romance reigned supreme? Quite adeptly, Robico turns things on their head in volume ten. It’s Yuzan’s birthday, and his scandal-prone famous father is adamant that Haru attend the party for the sake of public appearances. He goes, and it’s awful, but before then we get some much-needed insight into Yuzan’s perspective. All along, I kind of thought Haru’s effortless academic superiority was just a throwaway attribute, but it turns out that it’s the source of all his problems. Young Yuzan envied Haru so much that he contrived to get him thrown out of their father’s house, and when Haru learns that Shizuku is jealous too, he can’t take it. It’s an excellent, though upsetting, volume and I absolutely love feeling that a happy ending is not a foregone conclusion. Even more strongly recommended than previously! – Michelle Smith

Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign, Vol. 6 | by Takaya Kagami and Yamato Yamamoto | Viz Media – This volume continues to show a bit of world building and backstory as Yu and Kimizuki face the demons inside their cursed weapons to gain yet another level of power. The political machinations in the Japanese Imperial Demon Army and the vampire nobility are also explained a bit, as Yu and Mika are set up for yet another confrontation. I enjoy the blend of character development and demonic weapon vs vampire action in Seraph of the End, mostly because there’s are more interesting storylines in this manga than the typical shonen action title. – Anna N

Toriko, Vol. 30 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – I do wonder if the reason for the big romance advancement this volume in a series where romance, let’s face it, is way way down on the list of importance was to dial back the series’ burgeoning BL fandom in Japan. Jump often gets accused of pandering to BL fans. Toriko isn’t Gintama, but they too can’t quite resist making fun of it—when Toriko accepts Rin’s proposal, Sunny straight up asks what about Komatsu? And Komatsu has dinner with a cute, like-minded chef not long after that. I think it would have more impact if Rin had been given a larger role in the story to date, but it’s still pretty heartwarming, particularly as it’s not the “I have no idea what I just agreed to” proposal acceptance I was assuming. – Sean Gaffney

Sean and Michelle present another round of Bookshelf Briefs!

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 6 | By Yusei Matsui | Viz Media – It’s unsurprising that there are people in Class E who are somewhat resentful of what Koro-sensei is trying to do. The entire class, as we’ve seen, is not of one mind, and Terasaka is perfectly happy scraping along at the bottom. Of course, Koro-sensei can win anyone over, though it also takes some tough love from Karma as well. Things are going pretty well for our heroes, though, which is why it’s time to introduce a new villain—this one the son of our main villain, the school principal. Asano is there to ensure that Class E does not make headway in the school exams. I’m not sure if he’ll succeed, as the class making headway would result in their promotion, which would make it hard to continue the series. Good stuff. – Sean Gaffney

He’s My Only Vampire, Vol. 4 | By Aya Shouoto | Yen Press – Aki’s pursuit of the seven stigmas needed to gain the power to wake his slumbering brother continues, despite the objections of a pair of angels, culminating in the acquisition of a third stigma and the apprehension of the serial killer who’s been on the periphery since the beginning of the series. This is an entertaining volume, largely due to some manipulation of shoujo tropes. A classmate goes missing, and ordinarily we would expect the heroine and friends to succeed in rescuing her, but that does not happen. Then we get the “our leads fill in for a school drama performance” plot, including Aki in drag, but this old idea is made fresh by the lurking supernatural menace. Of the three Aya Shouoto series coming out presently, I like He’s My Only Vampire the best. The tone is darker and more consistent and plotting feels more sure-footed as well. Recommended! – Michelle Smith

Kokoro Connect, Vol. 5 | By Sadanatsu Anda and CUTEG | Seven Seas – Being an ongoing light novel series whose manga was going to end here, I’m not surprised that Kokoro Connect has a very open ending that doesn’t really resolve the main love triangle or Heartseed. But it does continue to do what it does well, which is put its cast through the wringer—particularly Inaba, whose self-loathing turns out to be just as bad if not worse than Iori’s sense of self issues. The weak link here is Taichi, whose “knight complex” gets called out here without nearly as much development in the narrative. Still, it’s a solid ending that leaves things open for a second series (though one hasn’t happened as of yet in Japan). A surprisingly emotional romantic comedy with psychological underpinnings. – Sean Gaffney

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 4 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – As the focus expands slightly to show us other students in this series, it’s clear that not only do Kazuki and Kanata have the whole ‘mature’ thing going for them, but their own love affair is the only one that’s going relatively smoothly. There are issues like a need for closeness and face time, but given they’re both fourteen that’s understandable. To contrast this, we have the ongoing teacher/student relationship that knows it’s wrong but just can’t stop itself, the yuri writer whose Kanata fantasies are getting more robust, and the standard “why the hell won’t he notice me, dammit” girl who’s growing her hair out for the clueless guy she likes. Honestly, the main couple is the main reason to read this—the rest grates. – Sean Gaffney

QQ Sweeper, Vol. 1 | By Kyousuke Motomi | VIZ Media – Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Here we have a Kyousuke Motomi shoujo manga featuring a custodian with past trauma for which he blames himself and the plucky orphan who is recruited to work alongside him. Happily, while there are obvious similarities to Dengeki Daisy, the tone of QQ Sweeper distinguishes itself nicely and its lead characters are distinct, as well. (Also, while Kyutaro describes himself as “the custodian of the Genbu Gate,” it’s not really a janitorial position.) I particularly like Fumi, both in character design and personality, especially her unabashed pursuit of a rich husband but unwillingness to get in the way of true love. I’m still positive she and Kyutaro will end up together, but for now I love that she’s not even considering him romantically, despite telling him “you’re special to me.” I really enjoyed this debut and look forward to more! – Michelle Smith