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Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Pick It Again, Nakamura!!

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SEAN: July 4th is always rough for me, as I live next to neighbors who love to shoot off fireworks and I have dogs. So I need comfort manga. Thus I pick My Hero Academia 31, which… is not a comfortable volume in the series, but eh. We like what we like.

MICHELLE: I’m in much the same boat, but with kitties, so I agree that comfort manga sounds like just the thing. For me, I’ll pick the fourth volume of My Love Mix-Up!. I’m actually a little behind already, but I am positive that getting caught up will be nothing short of delightful.

ASH: This week I’m thrilled to be selected to pick Go For It Again, Nakamura!! I was absolutely delighted by the original manga, so I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel. I’m not sure if it counts as a comfort manga or not, but maybe!

ANNA: I’m picking the latest volume of A Sign of Affection, one of my absolute favorite currently running series.

KATE: I’m joining Ash on Team Nakamura this week; I also found Go For It, Nakamura!! delightful and am looking forward to reading the sequel.

MJ: Okay, I somehow missed Go For It Again, Nakamura!! on the list when we were going through the new releases, but now I realize that it’s a must-read! Count me in!

The Festivities of Marielle Clarac

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By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Shukusai” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

We’re nine volumes into Marielle Clarac, and she’s been happily married for quite a few of them. That said, the audience is still more interested in her as the heroine of a mystery/thriller than it is her as a socialite and wife. Which she would probably think is a good thing, as Marielle is starting to doubt herself as a socialite and a wife. Growing up inevitably means feeling that you have not grown up enough, and Marielle is worried that she is not really bringing to her marriage the things that wives should be doing. Instead, she’s getting kidnapped, solving crimes, causing international incidents, etc. Fortunately for her, her husband is having the same sort of issues, wanting to always be there to protect her but knowing that that’s impossible, and still dealing with being jealous of any other man who’s remotely close to her. Which, in this series, is pretty much every man. Basically, they’re both awkward dorks, and made for each other.

The main plot of this book concerns Prince Gracius, the orphaned son of Orta’s former king. He’s recovered his memories, but is now having to deal with something that all rich and powerful people have to: sycophants and hangers-on. Indeed, the people around him seem particularly bent on making sure he listens to them, and they seem to hate Marielle in particular. She doesn’t really care about that, however, as she wants to make the prince experience Noël, their Christmas equivalent, without fear of getting assassinated. Even if this means having to call in Lutin in order to disguise him. For once things actually work perfectly, but Marielle does not endear herself to Gracius’ entourage. And now there are rumors that she’s being unfaithful?!

There’s a running gag in this book that’s actually about the series’ main running gag, which is that Marielle still thinks of herself as being able to blend into the background and be dull and plain, and it’s increasingly untrue. Sure, she can get away with it while hiding from those who want to frame her by having her sexually assaulted (a rare unpleasant part of this otherwise pleasant book), but when she’s around her peers she is now increasingly the center of attention… mostly because of what she’s been doing the previous eight volumes. This also means that the rumor doesn’t really go anywhere – anyone who knows Marielle even a little bit will know how ridiculous it is. I was also amused to see that she’s learning – she suspects a letter from Gracius is fake, brings her servants and a guard, tells Simeon where she’s going… and STILL gets drugged and kidnapped. Sorry, Marielle, it’s the genre, not you.

This series is simply a barrel of fun, and also one that is easy to recommend to casual readers, as Marielle’s BL obsession is the sole “this is definitely Japanese” element – no reincarnated villainesses, no isekais, and no game stats. Just a series of mystery thrillers.

Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 6

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By Mizuumi Amakawa and Mai Okuma. Released in Japan as “Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Maurice Alesch.

The last volume of Fushi no Kami finally resolved the burgeoning romance that’s been in this series since the first volume, as Ash and Maika are now old enough, at least in Ash’s opinion, so that he can’t get away with “she’s too young for me to be attracted to”. As such, they are now engaged, though not yet married, and apparently haven’t really consummated anything, despite Maika’s murmurings about wanting a baby. That said, fear not, romance is still in the air, as beta couple Reina and Hermes are still working on it… mostly because they’re essentially carbon copies of Maika and Ash, which is amusing but also lazy writing to an extent. And of course there is “foreign spymaster” Seire, who is clearly still very interested in Ash, not to mention Princess Alicia, aka Arthur. That said, everyone had better get on Maika’s good side if they want to get anywhere, and even so, I’m pretty sure this is not a polycule sort of book.

Ask and Maika may be engaged, but that’s not the plot of the series, the Industrial Revolution is. As such, we see the attempts at making a gas-powered engine (which sadly blow up), a steam engine (more successful), and other instances. Unfortunately, their little city has gone up in the world a bit too much, and the nearby areas have leaders who are Very Unhappy. Thus they’re seeing more bandits than usual, more refugees than usual, and, when all else fails, a full-blown invasion, supported by a few very familiar traitors who have always been jerks in previous books so it’s no surprise to see them being the bad guys here. That said, our good guys have Ash and Maika, who between them are good enough to stop any human plotting. Unfortunately, towards the end of the book, we get what every city fears – a demon invasion. We’ve seen Ash beat a werewolf beast before, can he beat over 200?

This remains a good series provided you accept all of its faults. Ash’s narration is always trying its hardest to pretend that he is just this ordinary dull normal guy, and sometimes it succeeds more than the author intends. Maika’s attachment to Ash and desire to protect him is funny much of the time, but when she has to be reminded not to murder people it’s a bit less fun. And, as noted, Reina and Hermes’ not-relationship is less interesting to me precisely because we’ve seen this sort of thing before. An attempt is made to give them a rival to draw them closer together, but he’s such a horrible person in every way that the big surprise at the end of the book was that he was NOT in fact a spy working for the bad guys… and I’m still not 100% convinced. On the bright side, the worldbuilding and fight scenes are still fun, and the humor can be very good.

This will probably always fall under the definition of “solid” rather than “good”, but sometimes solid is all you need.

Manga the Week of 7/6/22

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SEAN: July, and the fireworks are here. Oh god. They’re everywhere. *whimper*

MICHELLE: Someone in my neighborhood actually set off fireworks for Father’s Day. My cat was not amused.

ASH: Goodness! And here I thought my neighborhood was overenthusiastic with explosives.

SEAN: Yen On gives us I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 3.

Two debuts for Yen Press. The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend (Chikan Saresou ni Natteiru S-kyuu Bishoujo wo Tasuketara Tonari no Seki no Osananajimi datta) already has the light novels from Yen On, and this is the manga adaptation that runs in Manga Up!. The plot is the title. The manga has to struggle with art not being by Fly.

The other debut is Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included (One Room, Hiatari Futsuu, Tenshitsuki), a harem fantasy from Shonen Gangan about a guy who wakes one morning to find an angel in his bed. Literally. This is by the author of As Miss Beelzebub Likes, which I really enjoyed, so I am inclined to cut it more slack than it probably deserves. Expect more cute than sexy knowing this author.

Yen Press also has new volumes of Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 2, Durarara!! RE;DOLLARS Arc 7, The Eminence in Shadow 4, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 4: The Sanctuary and the Witch of Greed 4, Slasher Maidens 5, Sword Art Online: Project Alicization 5 (the final volume), and Val x Love 12.

Viz debuts a new Jump title, The Elusive Samurai (Nige Jouzu no Wakagimi). A former noble whose family was overthrown is on the run, his only power a truly superhuman ability to run away. This made it past the traditional 2-3 volumes death for most Jump series, so good for it.

ASH: Revenge, redemption, and by the creator of Assassination Classroom? Count me as officially curious.

ANNA: Me too!

MJ: Oh, interesting!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Dr. STONE 22, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 2, My Hero Academia 31, My Love Mix-Up! 4, and Vampire Knight: Memories 7.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on both My Hero Academia and My Love Mix-Up!.

SEAN: Seven Seas debut is actually a one-shot sequel: Go For It Again, Nakamura!! (Motto Ganbare! Nakamura-kun!!), the BL series that honestly may be better known for the memes parodying its cover art than its actual content. It ran in Akaneshinsha’s Opera.

MICHELLE: I really liked the original volume, and look forward to the sequel!

ASH: I’m really excited for this one, too! I unequivocally loved the first manga.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More 2, Non Non Biyori 16 (the final volume), The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World 3, semelparous 3, and Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 4

Kodansha has some print titles. Battle Angel Alita Mars Chronicle 8 (the final volume), EDENS ZERO 17, Fire Force 27, Noragami: Stray God 24, and Sensei’s Pious Lie 2.

ASH: Alas, I’m already behind and just finally got my hands on the first volume of Sensei’s Pious Lie.

SEAN: Digitally the first debut is Desert Eagle, a comedic gang title from the creator of Tokyo Revengers. it ran in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

We also get My Wonderful World (Boku no Subarashii Jinsei), a josei title from Be Love about a young man whose inability to read or write well is discovered to be dyslexia.

Also digitally: Changes of Heart 3, A Couple of Cuckoos 8, Drifting Dragons 11, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 25, My Master Has No Tail 7, Oh, Those Hanazono Twins 3, Saint Young Men 19, and A Sign of Affection 6. A Sign of Affection is awesome.

MICHELLE: One of these days I will actually read A Sign of Affection.

ASH: I really need to, too.

ANNA: It is so so so good!

MJ: I want to get excited over Saint Young Men but it’s been so long since I read any, I’m so far behind…

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a new digital light novel debut: D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared (D Genesis Dungeon ga Dekite 3 Nen). This is one of those “fantasy comes to Japan” works, about dungeons suddenly appearing everywhere.

Also digital: In Another World With My Smartphone 25, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 7, The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 4, Record of Wortenia War 15, and Tearmoon Empire 8.

Ghost Ship has Call Girl in Another World 4 and GUNBURED × SISTERS 2.

Cross Infinite World has The Drab Princess, the Black Cat, and the Satisfying Break-up (Jimihime to Kuroneko no, Enman na Konyaku Haki), one in the fairly recent romance drama of “not a villainess, but breaking off the engagement anyway” titles. It looks fun.

ASH: It does! And I like the title.

SEAN: Airship, in print, has new volumes. Loner Life in Another World 2 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 2.

The early digital debut is Vivy Prototype, a spinoff of the anime Vivy -Fluorite Eye’s Song- and written by the author of Re: Zero. The story of an AI who tries to prevent a war, any similarity to certain Macross franchises is purely coincidental.

ASH: I know nothing about Vivy, but stories about AI do appeal to me.

MJ: I loved this anime, so I’m here for it!

Any titles grab your eye here?

Bookshelf Briefs 6/30/22

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Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 5 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – I really like the fact that Sarasa is choosing the more difficult option. They’re doing auditions for a five-minute Romeo and Juliet, with singing, and Sarasa, who would make a much better Romeo, resolves to try for Tybalt again, as she wants to figure out the role and how she can make it not what the actress she emulated had done. This ends up impacting Ai, who’s going for Juliet, but realizes that she has absolutely no idea what being a girl who falls in love at first sight is like… until she starts thinking of Sarasa, and how they first met in a very romantically charged scene, and the bulb lights up. This may not be a yuri series, but as all good Takarazuka manga should, it’s not afraid to lean really hard into it. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 11 | By Afro | Yen Press – It’s rare to see real character development in a slice-of-life fluff series, so it’s quite something to see Rin in this volume, who is almost unrecognizable from the Rin at the start of the series. Camping with others has really helped to open her up to the point where ‘the stoic, unemotional one’ doesn’t even fit anymore. It works in reverse as well, as Nadeshiko is able to go off on her own solo adventures without us worrying about her getting in too much trouble. As for the camping trip itself, it involves crossing a lot of suspension bridges, some of which are fantastic and scenic, and some of which are simply terrifying. I know I would never be able to do any of them. Laid-Back Camp is pure ambience. – Sean Gaffney

Lost Lad London, Vol. 1 | By Shima Shinya | Yen Press – I’ve learned to temper my expectations when it comes to “mystery” manga, so it pleases me greatly to announce that Lost Lad London is the real deal and I loved it wholeheartedly. Al Adley is a somewhat aloof university student who happened to be riding the Tube at the same time that the mayor of London was murdered in one of the train carriages. It just seems like an odd coincidence until Al discovers a bloody knife in his jacket pocket. Thankfully, when Inspector Lenny Ellis turns up, he believes in Al’s innocence and they start working together to uncover whether Al was just a convenient scapegoat or if he’s being intentionally framed. The art style is striking, full of large, uncluttered panels, and I love seeing people of color in main roles. The final scene is wonderfully cinematic and I can’t wait for volume two. – Michelle Smith

Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, Vol. 15 | By Yu Tomofuji | Yen Press – We finally get the actual backstory of the king, and it’s a pretty tragic one. It also helps explain why Set is so intent on destroying them like this. That said, most of this final volume is spent wrapping everything up in a neat bow. The allies arrive just in time, the people love their king regardless of whether he’s a human or a beast, and he and Seriphi can now be married. We even get to see a little of their life after, with kids running around being little terrors. This series felt a bit too much like “Fantasy Fruits Basket” sometimes, but I think it was quite underrated, and is a great one for shoujo fans. That said… man, why didn’t our favorite crocodile couple make it official? Slowpokes. – Sean Gaffney

Skip and Loafer, Vol. 4 | By Misaki Takamatsu |Seven Seas – I really appreciate the fact that Mitsumi is allowed to screw up here, realize it, and resolve to do better without the help of a magical love interest to resolve things. As I said in the previous volume, Shima still has his own issues which are taking priority, including a realization that not everyone hates him because of his actions. Maybe they’re just awkward! Maybe they’re a child whose motives you’re misreading! There’s also some nifty parallels with The Sound of Music, which Shima is forced to act in despite his not wanting to because… well, because he’s supposed to be the swell guy in class. I admit the series is starting to meander a bit from its premise, but I’m here for the Loafer half as well as the Skip. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 10 | By Maybe | Yen Press – After last volume having “when are they going to do it” absent from the plot, and being better for it, this volume returns to it with a vengeance. Hime is overtaken by evil, and Satou tries various things to stop her, including dealing with different aspects of her personality (the childhood friend, the child, the princess, etc.). But, in the end, it turns out she just needs a good rogering and her magical power overflows with evil-destroying light. In fact, they do it a good five or six times to be sure. One might argue that plot resolution is a bit much, but honestly this entire series has been driven by “when is he going to rid these girls of their virginity,” so it seems rather apt. Still, more battles, less sex next time. Maybe. – Sean Gaffney

Unnamed Memory, Vol. 5

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By Kuji Furumiya and chibi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Tangney.

The six books in this series are divided into three books each, and this is the middle one of the second arc. As such, it tends to mirror the middle one of the first arc, in that it’s a bunch of shorter events that happen to our two leads rather than one big storyline. Of course, there’s a lot going on in those shorter events. The author describes this book as the lighter, fluffier one before the final book, and that does make me a bit worried, because this book was not all THAT light and fluffy. That said, there are many sweet moments in here, as Oscar accepts Tinasha’s love and they get engaged. We also get to know more about Travis and his relationship with Aurelia, which is also adorable in its own twisted way and I really hope does not end badly. But there is an ominous core to this volume that definitely will continue to the next: time travel made things bad, and the world needs to reset itself to its proper place.

We start things off with Tinasha solving the curse that’s on Oscar and (presumably) making him able to have children again. She’s then able to return to her coronation… but has a big announcement to make that will upend Tuldarr. We see Tinasha solve a particularly nasty incident at a magical academy, and help to fight off an invasion by another country, who are primarily using zombies as troops, which is annoying. Unfortunately, Valt is also still around, and he explains to Tinasha what the two orbs currently locked up in the two kingdoms do. Fortunately, we won’t have to deal with that particular subplot till Book 6. Oh, yes, and we also meet the Witch who cursed Oscar in the first place, and she’s very unhappy with everyone… and a lot more familiar to some than was expected.

Probably my favorite story in this volume was the academy one, which was simple tragedy with no purpose except to show that this world still has a tendency to run on death. It even gives us a little side plot with three students talking about the disappearances, and you wonder if we’re going to take a detour into a side story, but alas no. I also really liked Aurelia, who has a touch of the Maria Campbells to her but (like Maria) also a strong cure. She also works well with Oscar, which would create a love triangle in any book which is not this one. This book is all about the OTP. As for the witch, well, it certainly opens up Oscar’s past, which we finally get to see for the first time, and explains why his late mother has never dwelt much in his thoughts. But the key takeaway from that is “Oscar should be dead”, and I expect the final book may try harder to push on that.

This is another very solid volume. If you’re sick of the usual light novel brand of fantasy, you should absolutely be reading this.

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 6

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By Reia and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Andria Cheng.

It would be more accurate to call this volume, and apparently the two following it, “Accomplishments of the Duchess”, as we now begin an extended side story telling us about Iris’ mother Merellis. Featured in the first few books of the main series as a caring mother who seemed the sort to speak with her mouth behind a fan, the final book in the series showed us that behind all that etiquette is a dangerous swordswoman who will cut you down as soon as look at you. I said I wanted to hear her story, and it turns out iris does as well. Merellis’ past had never been revealed to her daughter, so Iris asks and Merellis tells up about her childhood, starting with the tragic murder of her mother by bandits, which sets her on a path leading to revenge and… well, revenge. What else does one need? the book was excellent, but fans of the series who loved it for the economic theory might be a bit thrown off.

After her mother’s funeral, Merellis is consumed with rage and a desire to take revenge on the bandits who did this to her family. Her father decides to train her in the sword to at least try to distract her, and, although from her own perspective the gains she makes and slow and inadequate, it’s actually rather terrifying how quickly she takes to it. Soon she is Mer, impersonating her own body double and rising through other guards, then knights, rapidly becoming an amazing military commander. Unfortunately, when all your life is dedicated to one goal, there are obstacles that are hard to overcome, such as your father getting his own revenge for his wife’s death and leaving you with no purpose in life. If only there was a guy her own age she could talk to about this…

As I said before, this feels like a completely different story. Merellis is not a meathead swordswoman, and very much shows she can take charge on a battlefield, but the book shows her worldview gradually opening up, as she goes from “I only care about my revenge” to “now what the hell do I do?” to “I want to protect my family” and then to “I want to protect others around me so that they do not suffer as I have”. At her side, though they’re not a couple yet (the two haven’t even hit puberty by the end of this first novel in the subseries, though the inner artwork may not have gotten that message) is Louis, son of the Prime Minster and Merellis’ future husband. She’s fairly smitten with him by the end of the book, but they also fight,as he tries to get her to see the bigger picture.

I suspect the next book will feature a lot more nobility and gowns and less fighting, but who knows? Merellis was clearly a little hellion until she got married (and then became a big hellion). This is a great book, but it’s nothing like its parent series, except maybe as it regards the greater good and how to move towards it.

Pick of the Week: Dances and Houses

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MICHELLE: I’m torn between Wandance and Burn the House Down this week. Sports-adjacent manga versus josei suspense/mystery. I think in the end, Burn the House Down has the edge, because I definitely want to support more genuine manga mysteries making their way into the English-speaking market!

SEAN: I’d feel guilty for picking Kodansha josei THREE weeks in a row, so my pick this week is the 5th volume of Unnamed Memory. The volumes may be super long, but it’s always a relief reading a fantasy novel not filled with anime and gaming cliches.

ASH: Wandance is the debut I’m most likely to read first out of this week’s releases, but it’s not every day that a new imprint is launched, so Steamship is my official pick. (That’s allowable, right?)

ANNA: Count me in for Wandance this week! Also excited to see what else will be coming out from Steamship.

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 12

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen

It was about 18 months in Japan between Vol. 11 and 12, and it’s been about the same here in the West as well. I was briefly worried that I’d forget literally everything that had been happening before, but that was before I remembered what series I was reading. Arifureta is not particularly interested in its own plot, or even that much in its characters. Arifureta is interested in people powering up and getting new special moves. The author has clearly drowned himself in Jump series as a kid, and as a result this book, especially the back half, can be summed up by using the “It’s over 9000!” meme over and over again. That said, there is a little bit of character stuff in the front half, but I was less happy with that, as it leans too heavily into an evil cliche stereotype I dislike. This is also NOT the final volume of the series – we’ve got one more to go after this. Fortunately, it’s scheduled for the fall in Japan.

Kaori gets a nice cover art picture, which makes it a shame that she’s the only one not in the main book, getting left behind to guard everyone else and make sure they’re not killed. (She gets a nice short story at the end to make up for it.) The rest of the book is divided almost exactly in half. In the first part, Shizuku, Ryoutarou and Suzu head over to try and beat Kouki and Emi up and return them to their senses. Only one of them actually gets beaten up enough to have that happen, and you can probably guess who. But hey, Suzu gets to say goodbye. In the back half, Hajime is sent ahead to go rescue Yue (which will clearly be most of Book 13), so we get Shea and Tio taking on a whole bunch of apostles and monsters, as well as Freid. Unfortunately, the bad guys seem to have forgotten how our heroines are basically nightmares themselves by now.

So yeah, we get Eri’s backstory here to explain why she’s incredibly evil, and it’s because her father died saving her from getting run over, her mother blamed her and abused her, and she was almost raped by her mother’s new boyfriend. Getting abused as a child leading to a bad person later in life is something we need to see less of. Kouki, meanwhile, remains a shallow parody of the standard shoujo boyfriend, so it’s no surprise that once the mind control is removed and he’s punched a lot he manages to recover what wits he has… though we’ll see what happens when he sees Hajime again. But really the majority of this book is exactly what I said earlier: yelling out attacks, just barely avoiding lethal moves, pulling off near lethal moves in return, and lots of shouting.

The return of everyone’s favorite Zero protagonist at the end of the volume is interesting, and I wonder if she’ll help Hajime in the next volume. Till then: boy, this sure was a volume of Arifureta.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 14

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By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

The subtitle of this volume could be summed up as “At Long Last”. At long last, we have finally caught up with where we left Shun, Katia and the rest of the human cast in Book 5. At long last, we get several extended flashbacks explaining to us the origins of Ariel, Potimas, and Guli-Guli… erm, Guliedistodiez. But perhaps most importantly, at long last, Potimas is dead dead dead. Yes, technically this is a spoiler and it happens at the very end of this volume, but I think most readers of the series won’t blame me too much, because every single one of us have wanted that asshole dead for almost ten books now, and it’s about damn time. Of course, there’s one slight problem with all these things happening at once, which is that none of them really land as satisfyingly as I want them to. For a book that should have been a home run, this ends up being merely “okay”.

The Imperial Army, augmented by hidden demon army members, has arrived at the Elf Village to kill every single elf there, including Potimas (but excluding Ms. Oka, who gets a pass for being nice to our spider long ago). Ariel asks White to leave Potimas all to her, which White very reluctantly does. But that’s fine, as it turns out there’s a lot more going on, including robots, giant robots, even gianter robots, massive sea urchin robots, and UFOs. All of these force White to work harder than she’s ever…. well, no, White barely breaks a sweat, but she does have to use a few tricks she’d been saving for later. As for the rest of the human cast? Erm, sorry, the title of this book is still about the spider. They barely get a look in. In the meantime, Ariel has flashbacks to her past, and the previous end of the world apocalypse, which is mostly thanks to Potimas, though the dragons helped.

There is some funny stuff here. White’s narration is always amusing, especially as Potimas keeps topping himself with more and more dakka. Her four spider daughters are also very amusing as they have to team up with Ronandt, something which pleases them a whole lot more than it does him. But for the most part I think the parts of this book set in the past don’t land as hard as they should, because they’re told from the perspectives of three people who were not present at the major events. It is interesting to see Ariel as a wheelchair-bound near death teenager, and helps to explain a lot of her actions (as well as her relationship with Potimas). That said, I’m going to be honest, the most interesting part of the book was the final line. White has always been a bit of a villain protagonist. Is she finally going to turn full evil?

So yeah, Spider fans will like this, but not a lot. The next book promises to be a banger, though.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 5

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By Hayaken and Nagu. Released in Japan as “Eiyu-oh, Bu wo Kiwameru tame Tensei su. Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kisi ♀” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mike Langwiser.

I am deliberately not reading prior reviews of this (which I normally do), because I know I will be typing the exact same goddamn thing again. There’s just no avoiding it. So here we go: This series only has one joke. It’s STILL a good joke. That said, the dichotomy between Reborn to Master the Blade as amusing reading about a meathead and her slightly less meathead sister and Reborn to Master the Blade as a dark fantasy with a lot of casual death is widening, and it does not always mesh together well. There’s a moment in this book where an entire city rises into the air, and Inglis notes that this is likely due to a LOT of people being executed to harvest their energy. And, as it turns out later, she is correct. However, we barely notice this as we’re listening to Inglis trying to figure out how to clone herself to solve her fighting problems.

Inglis and company are traveling in secret to Alcard, in order to try to do something about the impending war. Unfortunately, Alcard has changed a LOT since the last time Lahti, Pullum and Ian were there. The people are starving to death, their food having been taken at the behest of their heiral menace, Tiffanyer, who has the power to make anyone sing “I Think We’re Alone Now”… erm, well, I’m not sure if her power is literal brainwashing or merely incredible charisma, but she’s won over a lot of the knights of Alcard, including Lahti’s older brother. She’s also hella strong, meaning Inglish is having trouble focusing on the mission and not focusing on getting a really good fight with Tiffanyer. That said, the thing that shows up at the very end of the book makes even our favorite meathead step back and pause to reflect.

Again, the one joke is a REALLY GOOD JOKE. The running idea of Inglis thinking about cloning herself, and being told the many ways this is a bad idea, then trying to fix it by tripling herself… it’s hilarious. It will never happen, and THANK GOD, but it’s hilarious anyway. I also loved the desperate stupidity of the world’s two hungriest girls trying to get by on eating snow with sugar and salt sprinkled on top of it. Beyond that, however, things are pretty dark. There’s one point where they literally find a church full of dead children who starved to death due to the machinations of Tiffanyer. What’s more, she’s not merely evil for evil’s sake – she’s grabbing what she can because she knows the penalty for failure. It’s increasingly likely that peace is not something that’s coming anytime soon. And given what shows up at the end of the book, apocalypse is looking a bit more likely.

If you can tolerate the book turning from “this is a horrible tragedy with the corpses of children” to “dur hur Inglis love fighting!” this is still a fun series. Plus the books read fast.

Slayers: Hatred in Selentia

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By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

At last, I have something to talk about. That is not a good thing. The Slayers novels are fast-paced, action-packed, have some interesting fantasy plotting, and Lina and Gourry are fun, but let’s face it, the reason this series is beloved is that the anime took the characters and fleshed them out, made them human. Character development and deep emotional pain is not something that Kanzaka specializes in or is good at. And that’s going to be a problem with this book, whose second half relies entirely on the death of a beloved character and said death driving another character to an extended murder spree, one that I suspect may continue in the next book. There’s just one problem. The emotional impact is taken as read. The author assumes we will be devastated when this character dies, but mostly we’re merely surprised at how fast and pointlessly it happened. And the roaring rampage of revenge is more of a mildly simmering rampage of revenge. Slayers runs on snark and fighting. When there isn’t either of those, it gets into trouble.

Lina and Gourry come to Selentia, a city where religion is the biggest mover and shaker. There’s a high priest as well as four other slightly lower priests. Unfortunately, the high priest has just burned to death in an “accident” that no one thinks is an accident. Lina and Gourry are hired by the Sorcerer’s Guild to investigate, and find that there’s a lot of motive but not a lot of evidence. That is until we get more killings happening. What’s more, Luke and Mileena are here again, being hired bodyguards for one of the priests. Can Lina and Gourry figure out what’s happening and stop it before the entire city turns into a blood-soaked canvas? Answer: no.

Kanzaka apologizes to readers in the afterword for Amelia and Zelgadis not being in this, but for the wrong reason. He states that if they’d been there, they could have healed the fatal wound and thus avoided everything that came after. That said, I think the bigger problem is: this should have been Zel and Amelia, not Luke and Mileena. After being introduced in Book 9, the two of them have had “replacement scrappy” written all over then, despite occasional attempts at depth. Frankly, if Kanzaka had simply used Amelia and Zel in Book 9-14, and had Amelia killed off and Zel go on a rampage, the impact would have been much greater because we actually care about them. And, see, I say that, but I can’t bring myself to believe that either. Because Mileena’s death is so fast, so lame, and so emotionally void that it took me a while to realize it had happened. Kanzaka cannot write depth. And that means this book winds up suffering terribly, because it’s where depth is needed the most.

This second “arc” in the S;layers series will end in the next volume, and I suspect will wrap up Luke’s plot as well. I hope it’s filled with cool action sequences and magical battles. Because really, why else would you read this?

Manga the Week of 6/29/22

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SEAN: As June winds to an end, manga companies are watching closely, because July means the start of a new fiscal year. What manga will balance their books?

ASH: So many calendars to keep track of!

SEAN: Airship has some new print volumes. We see Adachi and Shimamura 9, Classroom of the Elite 11.5, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 4, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 6.

Digitally, we see an early debut for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard (Housekishou Richard-shi no Nazo Kantei), a mystery light novel series for women that has already gotten an anime. It is another of those series I say is “not BL, but BL-adjacent”.

MICHELLE: I was rather disappointed by the manga. Perhaps the light novel will be better.

ASH: I haven’t had the chance to read the manga adaptation yet, but I have hopes for the original novels.

SEAN: There’s also early digital for The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 5.

Cross Infinite World debuts Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes: The Spirit Hunters of Tomoe (Onmyouji to Tengugan: Tomoe Shiyakusho Mononoke Trouble Gakari), a title which asks “what if Felix Unger and Oscar Madison were both gorgeous men and fought the supernatural”?

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: There’s also Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace 4.

Ghost Ship gives us I’m Not Meat (Boku wa Oniku Janai), which ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Spirits. A man who works as a copywriter is terrified of women, seeing them as predators. Unfortunately, for his new ad campaign he really needs to understand dating. Can he overcome his instincts? This is very much a sex comedy in the old 80s use of the word.

They also debut Wicked Trapper: Hunter of Heroes (Magatsu Wanashi no Yuusha kari), an isekai about a game designer known for traps and sadistic games who arrives at a dungeon world… and the heroes are threatening him. What else to do but side with the villain and get revenge? This runs in Ultra Jump. Those with long memories may remember the author’s Tokyo Cycle Girls on the JManga site.

ASH: Oh, JManga is not a site I’ve thought about in a long while!

MJ: Oh, wow, same. Also… still sad about that.

SEAN: They’ve also got Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 3.

J-Novel Club has a digital debut. The Misfit of Demon King Academy (Maō Gakuin no Futekigōsha ~Shijō Saikyō no Maō no Shiso, Tensei Shite Shison-tachi no Gakkō e Kayou~) already has an anime out, and is one of the genre of “demon king wakes up after thousands of years and goes to magic school” books we’ve seen so much of lately.

Also out: Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 6, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers‘ 3rd manga volume, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village 6, The Tales of Marielle Clarac 9, and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer’s 8th manga volume.

Kodansha, in print, debuts Wandance, which runs in Kodansha’s Afternoon. A young man has fallen in love with a woman, and for her he will do anything… even learn to dance! This combines romance and sports, and is more freestyle dancing compared to ballroom dancing.

MICHELLE: This looks fun to me!

ANNA: Nice!

ASH: Looks like it could be fun to me, too!

MJ: Agreed!

SEAN: Also in print: APOSIMZ 9, Blue Period 7, A Sign of Affection 5, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime 19, and Welcome Back Alice 2. Oh yes, and Sayonara, Football 11, still not mentioned on their website.

The digital debut is Burn the House Down (Mitarai-ke, Enjou suru), a josei series from Kiss. A young housekeeper starts work at the house of a middle-aged housewife. But she has an ulterior motive, which is to investigate a past tragedy that ties them both together.

MICHELLE: Ooh, interesting!

ANNA: This does sound interesting.

MJ: Maybe, maybe…

SEAN: We also see Back When You Called Us Devils 14 (I’ve called this a final volume three times now, we’ll see if it sticks this time), Harem Marriage 18, Koigakubo-kun Stole My First Time 2, My Darling Next Door 5 (also a final volume), Tesla Note 5, That’s My Atypical Girl 5, and WIND BREAKER 3.

No debuts for Seven Seas this week (they’re all on their other imprints), but we do get Classmates 5, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon 3, Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 5, The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace 2, Otaku Elf 4, Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General 8, and The Tale of the Outcasts 5.

MICHELLE: I should really read Classmates.

ASH: I’m a few volumes behind and need to catch up, but I do live the creator’s work.

SEAN: Seven Seas also debuts a new imprint: Steamship! This seems to be “Ghost Ship for Women”, i.e. a smuttier kind of shoujo/josei. Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts (Out Bride – Ikei Konin) is from Hakusensha’s Manga Park, and has a young woman who dies in a car accident isekai’d to another world… where she’s the only human woman! Now four gods all vie for the right to have her bear their child!

ANNA: OK!

ASH: Happy to see this imprint launch.

SEAN: SuBLime has a 4th volume of Black or White.

Tokyopop has the 4th volume of Double.

They also have the digital debut of Aria The Masterpiece – all 7 volumes will be out digitally next week.

Viz has Fist of the North Star 5, Fullmetal Alchemist: Under the Faraway Sky (another re-release of a novel they put out in 2007), and Maison Ikkoku Collector’s Edition 8.

ASH: Still thrilled we’re getting all of Fist of the North Star!

MJ: I am, too!

SEAN: There’s a pile of Yen On light novels. Bungo Stray Dogs 8, Date a Live 6, Demon Lord 2099 2, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 6, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 9, Overlord 14, Unnamed Memory 5, Yokohama Station SF National, and You Call That Service? 6.

ASH: Yokohama Station SF National has most of my attention here.

SEAN: Yen Press’ debut is Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion (Kanojo ga Koushakutei ni Itta Riyuu), a reincarnated villainess story that’s actually a Korean webtoon. Yen is adapting it for print. As for the plot… I mean, it’s a reincarnated villainess story.

And we also see Catch These Hands! 2, Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana 3, and The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious 3.

Hi, I’m Sean Gaffney, and I’ll teach you how to BUY.MANGA.FAST.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 4: Founder of the Royal Academy’s So-Called Library Committee, Vol. 7

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Each of the parts of this series expands and builds on the one before it. We begin with Myne pretty much confined to her tiny home and the immediate area around it, and this expands when she starts doing her paper thing and meets Benno. Then we expand into the temple environment, where we see our first exposure to the religion of this world, Myne’s role in it, and noble society, where there is a chasm so great that Myne has to die and Rozemyne has to be born in order for the plot to move forward. The third arc gives us all we want to know about nobles and their infighting, and ends with Rozemyne in a two-year coma. In the fourth arc, we move to the Royal Academy and begin to see Rozemyne seriously influencing people beyond her duchy, up to and including the royal family. We’ve still got two more books after this, but after this one I think we all know where things are headed. Civil war.

Rozemyne may spend the first half of the book away from the Academy, but that does not mean that this is a laid back and relaxed sort of book. Things get serious right away when she reads the Bible, trying to find the bits of the Book of Exodus describing how to build an altar (this world, alas, does not seem to have that), and finds that she can suddenly see a magic circle hovering over her Bible. Ferdinand is so unnerved by this that he urges her to never mention it to anyone or even remember she saw it… but then she has to give testimony about all the cool things she did in the previous book, and admit that she learned dark spells form the Bible she has… which is not the same as the Bible other duchies have. This almost sparks a holy war, and I’m pretty sure we aren’t done with it. But I suspect that the terrorist attack we get at graduation time will distract people from it just a tad.

There are many funny moments in this book, not least of which is the introduction of the perfect partner for Hartmut, a woman who is just as obsessed with Rozemyne as he is AND able to threaten to kill him with a knife. Every man’s dream. That said, it’s hard not to focus on the more serious parts. The attack is harrowing, and has a body count… though the body count is not from Ehrenfest, which sadly, given the way nobles think in this world, means they’re actually under suspicion. We also get a prologue showing us how much stress Hannelore is under merely by being in Rozemyne’s orbit, and an epilogue showing us the tragic past of Eglantine is even more tragic than we had previously been told. I have a sneaking suspicion that Eglantine’s pacifism is going to tie into future books, and I’m not sure if that’s a good or a bad thing.

If you’re reading this series and wondering if you should pick up Book 19, you don’t need my review. But I’ll tell you anyway: yes, you should pick up Book 19. This remains a top-tier light novel series.

Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer!, Vol. 3

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By Hiro Oda and Tobi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijou wa Boukensha wo Kokorozasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Kim Louise Davis.

One of the gimmicks in My Next Life As a Villainess is that every reader laughs at Katarina continuing to prepare for her own doom, as they know that if she’d just relax and enjoy life with her harem, everything would be fine. Of course, later volumes show that’s not actually true. One of the things we’ve seen about villainess novels is that the narrative does not like being flouted, and will do its very best to make sure our villainess dies as she’s supposed to do. And few series have quite gone as hard about it as Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer!. Even though last book ended with Serephione safely ensconced in another kingdom, and with a fiance who adores her, there’s still the “heroine” to deal with. And this heroine may be the nastiest, most evil one we’ve seen to date. actually, that may be the book’s one big flaw: Maribelle gets no tragic backstory she’s just The Adversary.

As Serephione settles into her new kingdom, various parties try to bring her back to the old one. Her family is OK with her being there as long as she’s safe, though they want to actually see her again. But when the first prince comes himself to beg her to side with him, and her grandmother is cursed and nearly dies, it becomes apparent that there’s no real way of getting out of this throne war. Especialyl when the king is a drugged puppet, the queen is getting revenge on everyone, Schneider is still trying to destroy the book series he hated when he was back in Japan, and Maribelle… well, Maribelle remains a bit of an evil in the shadows until she’s finally forced to come out. When she does, it’s time for a magical duel, which normally Serephione would have no problems with, but Maribelle has the power of a different god on her side.

I get the sense that the writer of this book wanted to go for the tragic ending but the publisher made them stop. The ending, with Serephione resolving to be reincarnated as a warm breeze to always follow her beloved (and woe, that’s an absolutely wonderful moment) feels a lot more valid than what we actually get, which is “remember that scene where you wished on a star? No? Well, we’re cashing it in.” I was also annoyed that Erza came back, as I wanted her to, only to essentially be written out of the book due to Maribelle’s curse. That said, as I mentioned above, the biggest flaw in this book is that Maribelle is a one-note antagonist, whining and screaming when things don’t go her way. She gets the “love interests” on her side due to the power of the narrative, but I would have appreciated at least a little better idea as to what drove her to this.

So, in the end, a flaws series, but I was happy to read it. Three volumes seems just about right. Recommended for villainess fans.