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Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 3/3/21

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SEAN: March comes in like a lion with a pile of new manga, though sadly none of them are March Comes in Like a Lion. Get on that, Viz.

MICHELLE: Seriously!

ASH: Right??

SEAN: Airship debuts a new light novel with Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist (Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life ~ Isekai ni Tsukurou Drugstore ~). It’s getting an anime in the summer, and gets an early digital release next week. Our hero reincarnates in a fantasy world with a potion maker ability, and treats various folks, including a werewolf girl who falls for him.

ASH: I’m largely isekai-ed out, but this variation intrigues me.

SEAN: Ghost Ship, meanwhile, has the 5th and final volume of Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight.

J-Novel Club has a lot of new print titles. The debut is Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles, which is coming out as 2-volume omnibuses.

Also in print: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 10, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 4, Infinite Dendrogram 11, and Marginal Operation 5.

On the digital side we get Altina the Sword Princess 7, the 5th manga volume of Demon Lord, Retry!, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 13, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 6, Marginal Operation 6, and the 3rd manga volume for The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

In print, Kodansha Comics has Hitorijima My Hero 9 and Wave, Listen to Me! 5.

MICHELLE: I enjoy both of these for utterly different reasons.

ANNA: I’m so behind on Wave, Listen to Me!

ASH: I’m looking forward to catching up, myself!

SEAN: The digital debut is Araki Won’t Be Tamed (Araki-kun wa Kai Narasenai), a Dessert title about a young woman whose older sister is a famous actress. Now a famous actor declares his love for her… no, not her sister, her! She doesn’t buy this, but he’ll do anything to convince her… even be her pet. YMMV was invented for series like these.

MICHELLE: Yeeeeah.

ANNA: LOLOL

ASH: We shall see!

SEAN: All-Rounder Meguru comes to an end with its 19th volume. There’s also The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu 4, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 2, My Sweet Girl 12, Smile Down the Runway 18, and the 4th and final volume of Star⇄Crossed!!.

MICHELLE: At some point I should check back in with My Sweet Girl and see how it’s going.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts the Berserk of Gluttony manga, based on the light novel. The story of a boy who gains people’s skills when he kills them, it runs in Comic Ride.

There’s also the 3rd and final Who Says Warriors Can’t Be Babes?.

Digitally, Seven Seas has the first four volumes of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, which features Boris, and was one of the better series of the endless spinoffs.

ASH: I really liked this particular spinoff.

Viz has, as usual for the first week of the month, a lot of stuff. The first debut is a spinoff, Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya. Not an actual reboot but a prequel to the main series, showing us what actually happened with Senku’s father.

The second debut is also a spinoff, My Hero Academia: Team Up Missions. It runs in Saikyou Jump, a magazine devoted to spinoffs of Jump titles, and features the cast of Class 1-A teaming up with various pro heroes.

MICHELLE: I will read this, but I’d be ridiculously excited if this was Class 1-B doing the teaming up!

SEAN: And we also get: Daytime Shooting Star 11, Dragon Ball Super 12, Haikyuu!! 43, Love Me, Love Me Not 7, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 9, Naruto: Shikamaru’s Story (yes, I know, it got bumped), Oresama Teacher 28, Queen’s Quality 11, Skip Beat! 45, Snow White with the Red Hair 12, Spy x Family 4, and Twin Star Exorcists 21. I’m getting over half that list.

MICHELLE: Big same. I’m, of course, especially excited for a new volume of Skip Beat!.

ANNA: Tons of good stuff, I agree any week with Skip Beat! is a good week.

ASH: I agree – a really good Viz week!

SEAN: A lot of Yen’s February light novels got bumped to this week, making them March light novels. We get Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Love a Quiet Life in the Countryside 2, A Certain Magical Index SS 2, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 13, Re: Zero 15 (which ends the 4th arc), A Sister’s All You Need 9, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 8.

On the Yen Press side, there’s two debuts. Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? (Hokenshitsu no Otaku Onee-san wa Suki Desu ka?), a seinen title from Shogakukan’s Yawaraka Spirits. The school nurse is gorgeous… but also a massive otaku, as one student finds out. Can he get her to fall in love with non-fictional people? This is a done-in-one omnibus.

Yen also has the manga adaptation of the Solo Leveling novel.

Lastly, there’s the 2nd volume of Sword Art Online’s manga adaptation of Project: Alicization.

What title catches your eye?

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 35

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

You would think, now that we are at the 37th volume of this series (counting the two .5 books), that we would be finished with introducing new characters to add to an already overloaded cast, and yet. Coming to Earth to help our heroes with their battle against Ralgwin and his troops is another Princess, Nefilforna Canon Forthorthe. Honestly, there are so many people in this cast I’d like to pretend she doesn’t exist, but unfortunately, she’s Canon. (I’m so sorry.) She arrives and promptly proceeds to kick Koutarou’s ass in a mock battle – as he readily agrees, he only won the second time thanks to all the support he gets from everyone. She’s compared to Theia in that, while Theia has a natural talent for combat, Nefi is the sort who got really good at it through hard work and grinding. Good thing, too, as the raid against Ralgwin’s base, especially now that they’re armed with spirit guns, proves to be a giant pain in the neck.

Harumi is on the cover again, and gets a fair bit to do. The most notable thing is that the troops of Forthorthe that are allied with Koutarou’s group ar4e working with her for the first time, and are… a but weirded out that she is essentially Alaia’s reincarnation/soul carrier/whatever. Even Koutarou is not quite sure how Harumi and Alaia’s relationship is, and honestly, I don’t think it’s going to matter much in the long run. They both love Koutarou, and they both kick ass. Everyone here gets some good time in the spotlight, though as always Yurika gets made fun of, this time for being their “chemical warfare expert”, as her image of being Card Captor Sakura gets further and further away. The one who suffers the worst is probably Theia, who I suspect wanted to try her cool powered suit and so rushes ahead – she’s fine, but she put those under her in danger. She’s still too hotheaded.

Unfortunately, the raid is not a complete success. Ralgwin wants to get revenge for his uncle, but also has an actual logical brain, so is a much tougher opponent. And he has the benefit of a new villain rescuing him, whose identity we don’t quite get yet (though I can hazard a guess), but who seems to have teleportation skills of some sort. Honestly, it feels more like the author using magical writing powers to make sure that the book doesn’t end that soon. Fortunately, our gang does not seem too upset about it. Also fortunately, while she certainly admires him, Princess Nefi does not seem to fall in love with Koutarou, which is good. A harem of nine or ten girls is already quite a lot even by light novel standards, and adding more would seem to be overegging the pudding a bit.

Side stories continue to take a break, as the next book continues the main Ralgwin plot. Till then, this is a decent volume in a very long running series.

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Vol. 2

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By kiki and kinta. Released in Japan as “Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na” to Gachizei ni Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jason Muell. Adapted by Brock Wassman.

When I was younger I wrote stories, and a whole lot of them were what these days is referred to as “grimdark”. I killed off beloved supporting characters. I brought in cameos from other universes just to kill THEM off. I had the main couple become multiple murderers. But now I am older, and I gotta admit… I prefer happy endings, y’know? Grimdark can be exciting, and when you first create it you do feel sort of edgy and cool, but you run into the problem of how to top yourself, and before long, well, you’ve become an editor at DC Comics. (Zing!) All of this is a roundabout waty to say that, like the first volume, the second volume of Roll Over and Die has a Grimdark Problem. If you’re here for the lesbians, there’s about 10-15 pages for you. The book, however, is 299 pages.

As the second volume begins, our heroines are enjoying a relatively peaceful life while also trying to deal with the somewhat aggressive attacks from Dein, the “leader” of the section of town they’re in. Unfortunately, said peace is shattered when they come across a young girl with both eyes sewn shut, named Ink, who claims to have amnesia. She doesn’t, as they soon find out, and her origin is what drives this second volume, which ends up, once again, putting Flum through the ringer. She has more friends – both in the royal military and allies from the hero’s party who have now left it – but a lot of this book sees her suffering on her own, trying to avoid getting killed and finally being forced to go on a spree of killing just to defend herself. Can she uncover what the Church is up to while not sacrificing the lives of her friends?

Don’t get me wrong, the grimdark is compelling at times. This is a well-written book for walking up to the “too much horror” line, perhaps treading on top of it, but never quite going over it. (That said, there is a general eye and body horror warning for the whole book.) As noted above, Flum has a lot of allies this time around, but not only do they tend to get cut off from her just when she needs them most, but she is also reluctant to call for help in the first place. Having spent most of her life being treated as useless, it’s very hard for Flum to ask for any help at all, even now that she has her fantastic cursed sword and tendency to not die. The third quarter of the book reminded me very much of Sexiled, in that it’s a young woman beating the absolute crap out of a shitty man who won’t stop calling her insults, slurs and threats even up till his end. Still, it can be exhausting.

The author says in the afterword that the “slow life” part of the series is over, and honestly it didn’t last very long. I assume that we’re going to be focusing more on the Hero’s Party as we go along, which looks to be either falling apart of filled with evildoers. Till then, I will definitely be reading more, and I even enjoyed this for some factor of “enjoyed”, but man, Flum, hug a puppy or something.

Pick of the Week: Affection, Romance & Rock ‘n’ Roll

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SEAN: I’ve gushed about A Sign of Affection before, so I’ll make my pick Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance, because anything that runs in Flowers, even if it’s the online version of Flowers, demands my attention.

MICHELLE: I have to concur. I love suu Morishita’s Shortcake Cake, so I’m confident I’ll also love A Sign of Affection, but it’s hard to compete with Flowers.

ANNA: I’m very interested in Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance, but since Sean has handled the gushing for A Sign of Affection before I feel I must take up the banner and do some additional gushing, because it really is one of the best romance manga that I’ve read recently. I hope the arrival of the print version will inspire more people to check it out.

KATE: As someone who teaches a Rock History survey course, I am irresistibly drawn to Days on Fes. I can’t wait to see how the artist handles 20-minute guitar solos, long lines at the bathroom, and crazy pyrotechnics….

ASH: All three of the manga mentioned so far are at the top of my list this week, too! A Sign of Affection is probably the one that I’ll be reading first, though.

MJ: Like Ash, I’m interested in all the manga that’s been mentioned by my colleagues, but the one for which I’m most ravenous is A Sign of Affection. It’s at the top of my list!

Holmes of Kyoto, Vol. 3

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By Mai Mochizuki and Shizu Yamauchi. Released in Japan by Futabasha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Minna Lin.

One of the better things about this series is the way that it makes you look at art. And by art I don’t just mean paintings and sculptures, but also anything that is crafted with a purpose. In this book we see several times what it means to be a real artist, the sacrifices and mental anguish that sometimes need to be suffered to achieve this, and also the fact that imitations cannot, no matter how hard they try, get completely into the artist’s head. This is not to say that imitations are always invaluable – there’s a lithograph in this story that impresses everyone even though it’s merely a copy – but that it is very hard to keep the emotions of what you are doing while also thinking “hrm, he used to paint his ears like THIS”, etc. Holmes is very good at this sort of thing, and Aoi is starting to get better at it as well. Unfortunately for Holmes, Aoi – and indeed everyone else around him – have trouble seeing HIS heart.

After a brief prologue in which Holmes indirectly helps his father think of a subject to write about, we get three main stories here. In the first, Holmes and Aoi go to a Kabuki show, only to run into theatrical intrigue when the show’s star is threatened, both via letter and later on the stage itself. In the second story Holmes meets up with his ex-girlfriend, now engaged, who worries that her fiancee is lying to her about ending his relationship with his former girlfriend. And in the final story, Holmes and Aoi attend his grandfather’s birthday party, and a treasure hunt arranged by the family ends up being a lot of fun… until a surprise guest shows up. Throughout all these stories, of course, Holmes is making deductions and solving crimes, as well as showing off his well-trained eye for antiques. He’s a terrific guy. Unfortunately, Aoi suffers from a major case of low self-esteem, and so is convinced that he sees her as just a friend – clearly not true, as the reader knows.

Honestly, I am content with Aoi feeling like this, at least until she’s out of high school. The bigger question (OK, not really) is whether they become a triple rather than a couple, as every single time they have an outing they seem to run into Akihito, who ends up accompanying them. This is the funniest part of the book, and it’s amusing to see Holmes’ growing frustration, but the three really do have a great chemistry as a team. The mysteries themselves are also well-done, and the author has promised not to dip into more serious crimes like murder, so the stakes are low enough that the book is a relaxing read. Indeed, I was thrown off by the first story, where I incorrectly guessed the culprit. That said, like a lot of mystery books of this sort, I don’t think the books are written to have the audience guess before the detective, but to show off the detective’s awesomeness.

If you’re looking for a book about romance, I’d look elsewhere, but for a fun series of mysteries, Holmes of Kyoto is hard to beat.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/20/21

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Chihayafuru, Vol. 24 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Hooray, I’m finally caught up again on Chihayafuru! This volume finds Chihaya and friends lending their support to Harada-sensei as he vies for the Master’s spot. It’s satisfying seeing Harada-sensei begin to make use of the intel Chihaya provided about the current Master’s weakness, but absolutely the best part of this volume is spending more time with reigning Queen Shinobu, learning how lonely she is, and seeing once again how much she really needs someone like Chihaya in her life. I deeply hope that after this we’re able to see the two of them communicating more and supporting each other. I also really appreciate that despite being this intimidatingly good rival, Shinobu is also written with such warmth and sympathy. I want to see her happy. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 18 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The front half of this volume is filled with silliness and setting up future plotlines down the road, mostly in terms of Ishigami finally asking Tsubame on a date, but this volume is dwarfed by its back half, as we get one of the most serious chapters yet showing us Hayasaka’s day… which involves reporting on everything Kaguya does to her family… and her telling Kaguya that she’s quitting. Needless to say, Kaguya takes this as maturely and responsibly as you might guess, and the two of them head off to the class trip basically looking like a couple who just broke up. This is clearly going to spill over into the next book, and I expect it will be more serious. That said, there’s still tons of laughs here. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 11 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Manbagi takes a backseat here, and you get the sense that the author is mostly thinking of adding her to the cast herd—and boy, there sure are a lot of characters now, aren’t there? The best parts of this volume are developing the burgeoning… whatever between Komi and Tadano, who clearly are over the moon for each other but too reticent to do anything about it. Here we have a trip where their families run into each other, and a stargazing trip that heavy rain turns into snuggling up in a cabin to keep warm. The author of this series knows that its readers eat this like catnip, but is also aware that they can’t go to that well every single time. That’s why the cast keeps expanding all the time. – Sean Gaffney

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu, Vol. 1 | By Mito | Seven Seas – If there’s one combination of genres that I can’t seem to resist, it’s that of BL and food manga. And so I very happily picked up the debut of Manly Appetites and was delighted by its sweet silliness. While food is a legitimately important part of the manga’s story, so far the series doesn’t focus much on the food itself—there are no recipes given and hardly anything that could count as a cooking sequence is shown. Instead, the manga revolves around a single gag: Minegishi loves giving his office coworker Otsu food to eat, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he might be crushing on Otsu, too. Granted, Otsu doesn’t seem to be picking up on it either, much to the dismay of another colleague and friend. Manly Appetites is a cute and fluffy manga with lots of blushing, ridiculous humor, and charm; I’m looking forward to reading more. – Ash Brown

Takane & Hana, Vol. 16 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – There is still a very big issue with the age difference between Takane and Hana and the fact that she’s still in school, and as the series comes towards its conclusion, we know that eventually we’re going to have to see the consequences of it. That doesn’t happen here, but we come close, as Hiromi, struggling to understand a father who’s nothing like his idol, and having their secret exposed to that same father, promptly runs away from home. If nothing else, what follows shows how well Hana is maturing, handling the Hiromi situation like a pro (cell phone batteries aside), and also handling Takane quite handily too. They’ve both become experts on each other. That said, pretty sure everything goes public and falls apart next volume. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 21 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – Fights, fights, and more fights. Punching the clothes off the women in the cast multiple times because that’s how we roll with Akamatsu. That said, the Love Hina days seem long ago as he really is here for the battles and not much else. We get some backstory for two more of the UQ Holder team, which is good to see but unfortunately all I keep thinking of is how much one of them looks like Nagi from Negima, which reminds us how bad the author is at drawing different people. There are some surprising villains here, as the mind-controlled puppet side brings over a few very powerful guests. Fortunately, Yukihime shows up at the end to kick ass. I suspect that will take up most of volume 22. For Akamatsu fans only. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 2 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Thankfully, while it still comes up once or twice, the second volume of this romantic comedy does not continue to be “will they ever have sex,” but instead focuses on the quirks and faults of the main couple, who are both adorable—and also very into each other. Honestly, I could watch Sumika doing anything and be entertained—her character type is right up my street. Ikuma is harder, but the author makes a bit more effort here, with an amusing chapter on trying to hide a binge of camping equipment expenditure from his non-outdoorsy wife, or seeing her in her native school nurse environment. (She does not like students clustering around him.) This is cute, funny, and still sometimes sexy. – Sean Gaffney

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 9

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By Kisetsu Morita and Benio. Released in Japan as “Slime Taoshite 300 Nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level MAX ni Nattemashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jasmine Bernhardt.

One of the main reasons to read this series, aside from the fact that it’s a relaxing read where you can be reasonably assured that nothing terrible will be happening to anyone ever, is the push-pull characterization of the lead character, Azusa was an OL in Japan, and she’s subsequently been living for… well, over 300 years by now… in a fantasy world. And yet, of course, for the most part she does not remotely act her age, because her mental state has remained in as much of an unchanging mode as her physical one. This allows for plots where she can be a bit doofy and cute, as well as the main role that she normally fills in the series, which is being a tsukkomi to everyone else. The best parts of this book are where we got to see an Azusa who’s not constantly making comebacks. That said, for those who love that, no fear, the book is still littered with examples.

Stories we see here: Azusa and company help Nintan to help get her followers back by figuring out what’s really driving the current mood; everyone goes to another world created by Godly Goddess and finds out what it’s like to be a slime in a world of slimes; Azusa gets a haircut that ends up being too short, and takes the opportunity to be “big sis” rather than “mom” with her daughters; she and the gang go to a “meat festival” which is basically a barbecue, then watch a bullfight with minotaurs which is EXACTLY like sumo; Azusa and her daughters visit the Great Slime and learn that a 3rd slime similar to them has been born… but she’s reluctant to make Azusa her new mom; and Sandra grows a mushroom hat after a big storm and learns the value of not getting too greedy. Meanwhile, Halkara’s spinoff exists.

The weak point of the book, as you may have guessed, is the Halkara spinoff chapters, which show no signs of getting a series like Beelzebub anytime soon. I like Halkara, but these prequel chapters simply aren’t very good. I’m also a little tired of Azusa having to say that she’s not gay at least once per volume – I get the sense the author knows there’s a large yuri fandom that follows this series and is unhappy about it. (Given the series has only women in it, I’m not sure what they expected.) Other than that, though, this is a pleasant enough book. Azusa’s reaction to her new “daughter” was quite amusing, and the constant comebacks in the bullfight were quite appropriate. The book does seem to really be leaning hard into Japanese culture once more – see the sumo, but also earlier, where a kanji pun has to be explained with the actual kanji for it to work. The translation is excellent, but the original makes for headaches, I expect.

It’s hard to write reviews for series like this, because there’s never going to be anything ever happening beyond the addition of new eccentric characters. But if you want something akin to Nisekoi or Laid-Back Camp, this fits the bill very well.

The Magician Who Rose from Failure: Tales of War and Magic, Vol. 1

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By Hitsuji Gamei and Fushimi Saika. Released in Japan as “Shikkaku Kara Hajimeru Nariagari Madō Shidō! ~ Jumon Kaihatsu Tokidoki Senki ~” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit, despite the fact that it is absolutely filled to the brim with things that should annoy me. Our hero’s parents treat him like absolute dirt because his magic levels are low, and don’t change their opinion even when he proves to be a genius magician in front of multiple people. Despite “low magic aether”, our hero can basically do anything, mostly because of his isekai memories helping him envision spells better. There’s a lot of girls in peril in the book. There’s the standard smug evil bastard. And of course the plot is “I’ll show them! I’ll show them all!”. Fortunately, this last one is nipped in the bud almost immediately, and we get not one but TWO examples of why “I will dedicate my life to revenge” is a dumb thing to do. That said, the author’s other series is also filled with cliches. He gets past them by making the books entertaining anyway.

Our hero is Arcus, a six-year-old boy who one day wakes up from dreams of a different life. His Japanese life does not overwrite this one, though, and that’s fine, as Arcus has a lot to deal with. His parents hate him due to his low magic levels. And unfortunately “build up your levels by working out or using magic a lot” isn’t a thing here – levels don’t get higher. Fortunately, his sister still loves him. Also fortunately, his uncle, also shunned by the family a while ago, agrees to train him. Then we discover that Arcus has a unique way of thinking, and can achieve a lot of things that magicians can’t. He makes friends in town (who turn out to be far more mysterious than he knows), invents things that will take the magical world by storm, and gets a cool butler. Then his sister gets kidnapped…

Gonna be honest, I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second. Which is interesting given it’s things like “Arcus invents a magical thermometer”. But seeing him tinker is a lot more satisfying than seeing him as an action hero, which is what the second half of the book entails. He has to break out of a prison tower, kill bad guys, rescue his sister and his (ex-)fiancee, and still find time to murder the real man behind all of this. Oh yes, he’s eight when he does all this, by the way. I think the book is a bit too casual with killing, to be honest. Of the other kids in the cast, Sue comes off best, being the right combination of bright young girl and mysterious manipulator. She also makes one of the few fart jokes in a light novel I’ve actually laughed at. Arcus’ sister Lecia, sadly, is very wet, but I’m hoping future books show her kicking some ass.

In the end, I can’t really think of a good reason to read this novel beyond “I read it all the way through and found it mostly enjoyable despite everything about it”. And, honestly, if authors manage to do that, we should support them. Hopefully they won’t abandon THIS series the way they did The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!!.

Manga the Week of 2/24/21

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SEAN: As I write this, Texas is being hit with blizzards. Why not curl up… in your dark house with no power… with some manga?

Airship gives us the print volume of the 2nd I’m in Love with the Villainess, and also a print volume for Skeleton Knight in Another World 8.

ASH: I haven’t finished reading the first volume of I’m in Love with the Villainess quite yet, but I suspect I’ll want to pick up the second.

SEAN: Denpa’s site says that The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes 2 is out next week.

J-Novel Club has a trio of light novels. By the Grace of the Gods 6, Campfire Cooking in Another World 9, and The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 8.

On the manga side, they have The Faraway Paladin 4 and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 5.

Kodansha has two print debuts, though we’ve seen them both digitally before. Cells at Work: Baby! is essentially the superdeformed version of the series.

ASH: I enjoyed the original series, but haven’t managed to keep up with all the spinoffs!

SEAN: A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) is one that I’ve gushed about before, but here I am gushing about it again. This story of a boy and girl meeting and falling in love, it’s all about communication, as our heroine is hearing impaired, and our globe trotting hero does not know sign language. Fans of Kimi ni Todoke should check this out.

MICHELLE: I missed this when it was a digital debut, so I’m grateful for a second chance at it.

ANNA: Amazingly, this is one of the very few Kodansha digital titles that I have read, and it is absolutely wonderful. It is by suu Morishita, so fans of Shortcake Cake should absolutely pick it up. I’m sure I bought the first couple volumes digitally due to Sean’s gushing and just never posted about it. Morishita does some wonderfully innovative storytelling as the two main characters figure out how to communicate with each other, and the hearing-impaired heroine is portrayed with great sensitivity. I’m so rooting for Yuki and her first real romance!!

ASH: I’m really looking forward to reading this one now that it’s in print. Can’t pass it up with recommendations like that.

MJ: Well, how can I possibly resist after that glowing recommendation?

SEAN: Also in print: Heaven’s Design Team 3. The anime is currently airing.

ASH: I have legitimately learned things about animal life reading this series.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is How Do You Do, Koharu? (Gokigenyou, Koharu-san), by the author of (and in the same universe as) Say I Love You. Koharu (the younger sister of Yamato, the male lead in Say I Love You) prefers to keep her friends solely on the digital side… till she’s tempted by a follower who she might want to be more than just friends with. This runs, of course, in Dessert. I hope it is a bit less drama-filled than its parent series.

MICHELLE: I’d seen this one on the release calendar but didn’t realize it had any connection to Say I Love You. Interesting!

SEAN: We also see DAYS 22, Harem Marriage 2, Maid in Honey 6 (the final volume), My Best (♀) Butler 6, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 2, Shangri-La Frontier 2, What I Love About You 3, and When We’re in Love 5.

Seven Seas’s biggest debut may be one that came out first nearly 10 years ago. After a period where it seemed that you couldn’t go a week without a new volume, the Alice in the Country of _________ series vanished, allegedly due to licensing difficulties with the original creator. But now it’s back… in digital form! It’s getting rolled out over several weeks. This week we get The Clockmaker’s Story and Love Labyrinth of Thorns (Julius) and The Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party 1 & 2 (Blood).

ANNA: I think I’m tapped out of Alice in the Country of stories but I’m amused to see these being released again.

ASH: Oh, wow! I had somehow previously missed this news.

SEAN: In actual new titles, the debut is Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon (Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts), a yuri office romance story that runs in Comic Yuri Hime. Always happy to see more non-high school students.

And there is The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 2, Days of Love at Seagull Villa 2, Failed Princesses 3, and How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 5.

MICHELLE: I still haven’t even read volume 1 of Seagull Villa!

SEAN: Square Enix Manga debuts Ragna Crimson, a Gangan Joker title whose summary has the words “dark fantasy” and “revenge-fueled quest” and I stopped caring.

In much better Square Enix manga news, we get A Man and His Cat 3.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: Yes!

SEAN: Apologies to Tentai Books, I missed their debut light novel which is actually out later this week. World Teacher: Special Agent in Another World (World Teacher: Isekaishiki Kyouiku Agent) is another of those books where the plot is described by the title.

Tokyopop has a debut. The Cat Proposed (Bakeneko Katatte Sourou) is a one-shot BL title from Canna. A man watches a play and sees one of the actors has cat ears. Turns out he’s a bakeneko, and has chosen our protagonist as his spouse!

There’s also the 3rd and final volume of Still Sick.

Vertical has Ajin: Demi-Human 16 and Bakemonogatari’s 7th manga volume.

Yen On has had a few date shifts (try to contain your shock), but we do get a few new volumes this week… and two old ones, as Haruhi Suzumiya 3 and 4 get reprints. 4 is considered the series’ high point.

And there is Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 8, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody 5, In the Land of Leadale 2, Konosuba 13, and May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace 3.

There’s also a Yen Press title I missed last week, as it’s out this Saturday. Megumi Hayashibara’s The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time is her new memoir, and Yen is putting it out digitally the same day it comes out in Japan!

ASH: I really hope this is released in print at some point, too! It should be really good.

SEAN: Because of various delays and date shifts, Yen Press has FIVE manga debuts next week. We start with Adachi & Shimamura, the manga version of which we’ve already seen the light novel and the anime. Please enjoy Adachi’s gay panic and Shimamura’s attempts to be a functioning human being in a new medium. This runs in Dengeki Daioh.

Days on Fes is a series about two friends going to rock festivals, and that’s about all it is, from what I hear. Sounds like a Laid-Back Camp vibe. This runs in Comic Newtype.

ASH: Oh, that could fun.

MJ: I might be into this? As someone who used to go to a lot of music festivals, that is.

SEAN: The Girl without a Face (Kao ga Nai Onnanoko) is a one-shot from Comic Beam. A boy and girl are in love. She’s a bit… expressionless – literally – but that’s just fine. This looks both cute and spooky?

ASH: This could be fun, too!

SEAN: Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance is the sort of josei title folks were BEGGING for ten years ago. It runs in Flowers’ online magazine, and its author did Kare First Love, for Viz fans with long memories. A Meiji-era title about a half-Japanese girl who’s discriminated against and the boy who thinks she’s a fairy-tale character.

MICHELLE: Ooh! I actually do own all of Kare First Love, as it happens.

ANNA: I am a Viz fan with a long memory and I think I own most of Kare First Love too. I am officially intrigued and will be picking this up.

ASH: Same!

MJ: Same here!

SEAN: Lastly there is ID:Invaded #Brake-Broken, a title which hurts me when I try to say it out loud. It’s the sequel to the anime, and runs in Young Ace.

We also get Eniale & Dewiela 2, Mieruko-chan 2, Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! 6, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 13, Slasher Maidens 2, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun 7, The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 2, and A Witch’s Love at the End of the World 2.

ASH: I’ll likely be picking up a few of those, too.

SEAN: What manga melts the weather all around you?

The Asterisk War: Gathering Clouds and Resplendent Flames

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By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

I was going to spend this review of the latest Asterisk War talking about how awesome Saya Sasamiya is, the girl whose main solution to every single problem is “I guess I just need a bigger gun”, but then I looked at my review of the previous volume and realized I’d done that already. But I mean, come on, what do you expect me to talk about? The fights? That said, there is a little bit of non-tournament stuff here. The King Arthur school is back, and one of their members is now mind-controlled and evil, and has a backstory that makes me wonder if the author of Asterisk War read A Certain Scientific Railgun one day and thought “Hmmm”. And we finally get the end of the Sugary Days flashbacks with Akari and Madiath Mesa, which shows off his reasoning for being the big bad of the series, and I guess it’s all right as a motivation, but I dunno, the bad guys in this series just feel really boring. I guess I do need to talk about the fights.

Kirin’s on the cover, but, as with the previous book, isn’t actually the focus. We get instead 1) Ayato vs. Fuyuka, who essentially calls up a spiritual tag team to beat the crap out of Ayato (he still wins – hard to avoid that spoiler given he also fights later in the book); 2) Orphelia vs. Sylvia, which gives us some more of Sylvia’s backstory and thankfully does not kill her off, though it’s a close one; Saya vs. Lenaty, where even the announcers are making fun of Saya (who is, admittedly, wearing what amounts to an elementary schooler’s backpack), and again MORE DAKKA wins the day; and finally Ayato vs. Julis. The last battle you’d think would be called off, as his sister’s “you have a bomb in my body” problem is dealt with here as well, but when Ayato hears what Julis is actually planning to do…

Asterisk War is never going to be winning any “favorite series” competitions – as far as I can tell, its current fanbase is divided between those who hated the Ayato and Julis fight because he was too overpowered and those who hated it because he wasn’t overpowered enough – but it chugs along its fights never wear out their welcome, and, as I said at the start of the book, it has Saya. I was amused at the epilogue, which discusses the finals as if Saya has already lost. Saya, while admitting she thinks the same thing, is rather pissed off about this, but doesn’t want to forfeit even though she’s grievously injured and Orphelia literally tried to murder her last opponent, because she has something she “wants to try out”. Several times she thinks to herself that she’s the weakest of those in the quarterfinals, but now she’s in the semis, and I highly doubt the author will kill her off for drama, so I look forward to seeing what happens.

But that may take a bit. Yes, those dreaded words, we’ve caught up with Japan. The 16th volume is out there at the end of March, but I suspect we won’t see it till the fall at the earliest. Till then, Asterisk War is still coasting on being “okay”, but it has Saya, and that’s good enough for me.

Strike the Blood, Vol. 17

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By Gakuto Mikumo and Manyako. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Bourque.

This is the first of two books that will be adapting stories that originally came out back around the time of the first anime, from 2014-2015. This one was also originally a 7-page short story, but, needless to say, has a lot more going on now that it’s around 250 pages. (Remember when Strike the Blood books were short?) It’s not too much of a spoiler, really, so I will note that this is a ‘daughter from the future’ sort of plot, and honestly I am a sucker for those sorts of things. That said, there’s also a lot more added here to tie in to the rest of the series and to set up events going forward. Shizuri is now officially a main cast member, getting quite a bit to do, and we also see Yuiri and Shio showing up again. As for the enemy, well, it’s fairly light as Strike the Blood enemies go – it’s a rampaging demon beast. Still enough to cause massive amounts of property damage, of course.

After beating up Kojou and Shizuri’s two allies from the previous book, the demon beast has to be taken down – and Kojou can’t do it, as the beast basically feeds on magical and demonic energy. Yukina is able to temporarily defeat it, but – as the subtitle of the book suggests – this causes her main weapon to be destroyed. This is bad news all around, as she’s now being summoned back to Lion King Agency Headquarters and Yuiri is going to take her place watching Kojou. Both Yukina and Kojou hate this, but are still both in the “what do you mean we’re not in love with each other?” stage of things, so there’s mostly a lot of moping. To Yukina’s additional consternation, there’s a fake Yukina running around as well. Looks just like her… except Reina is a vampire, knows a lot more about everything than she should, and sometimes calls Yukina “mom” by accident.

Reina is the most fun part of the book. As you can probably guess, she doesn’t seem like the sharpest knife in the drawer, but she’s certainly got powers out the wazoo, and is here to make sure that Yukina is NOT recalled from the island… which would lead to her fading out of existence. I also liked Asagi trying to be a bit more proactive and creating a school club that’s on the lookout for demonic activities – if nothing else, hopefully this will help Kojou have fewer days absent. There’s also a lot of politics behind the scenes – there are those who want Yukina gone because, since she has no family to threaten, she could easily turn against them, not to mention her status as a Blood Bride. And, of course, this being Strike the Blood, half the book is fights, which are well-written as usual, and I’m sure look very good animated. Oh yes, and there’s evil twins.

So, overall, given I’m not making fun of it, I’d say this was on the high side of Strike the Blood volumes. Next time we see Kojou going to a party of La Folia’s, and hopefully get Sayaka, who has been absent from the story for I don’t know how many books, back in the equation.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 1

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By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

I’ve been waiting for this one for a long time (this first novel came out in Japan in 2014), and it would have taken a major misstep for me not to be delighted by it. Spoiler: there was no major misstep. Now admittedly, I can see that it’s not a book for everyone. If your ideal of a fun light novel is along the lines of Sword Art Online or Haruhi Suzumiya, this is not going to be for you. I almost added A certain Magical Index to the list, but I’ll be honest: if you read Index for the political infighting (there must be some who do), this is your sort of book. It will also appeal to fans of Ascendance of a Bookworm, Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter and other series heavy on worldbuilding. But most importantly, this will appeal to fans of the classic mystery. Maomao is a reluctant forensic detective, but that is what she is called on to be here, and she excels.

The story opens in the Emperor’s vast royal palace, with our heroine, Maomao, already working there. She was kidnapped while in the woods one day and sold to the palace by “merchants”. For the most part, she does laundry and tries to keep a low profile… till she notices that two of the Emperor’s consorts, and their children, have taken ill with what Maomao (and the reader) can clearly see is mercury poisoning. She tries to subtly convey this, but is discovered by Jinshi, a eunuch who works for the Emperor, and is promoted to be poison tester for the consort whose life she saved. As the book goes on, Maomao finds herself getting involved with more poisonings, assassination attempts, and even standard bullying. The reader, meanwhile, discovers that Maomao is far from the stock shoujo light novel heroine… and even the stoic ones aren’t quite as odd as she is.

As you might guess, Maomao is the number one reason to read this. Her matter-of-fact dialogue and banter with Jinshi is beautiful (the translation shines throughout), and you can see exactly why Jinshi grows so attached to her so fast – she sees through his pretty face for the manipulator he really is, and looks at him “like a worm” – something that I’d say would turn him on if he weren’t a eunuch. (That said, I will not be too surprised if he has a secret to hide about that.) Maomao’s detective work is excellent, both when she’s in her wheelhouse of poisons and also when she’s having to guess motive and opportunity. And, well, she’s weird – curiosity always wins out for her, even when it comes to potentially lethal drugs or foods. I also liked the consorts and the wars between them, from the far too young girl who is passively bullied by her attendants, to the older one with a past to hide, to the sexy one who is on the outs with the Emperor till Maomao gives a very obvious – and hilarious – implied suggestion – as well as Maomao’s own savvy mistress.

The book ends in such a way that it could have been a one-shot, but there are nine volumes to date in Japan, and it has a manga that is being published here by Square Enix. Very much driven by the mysteries and its heroine, I found I was unable to put this book down. Bring on the second volume.

Pick of the Week: Old Favorites and New Choices

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MICHELLE: I have really loved Lovesick Ellie throughout its run, and though I’m sad to see it go, I’m sure I will love the finale, as well. That’s my official pick this week, but honorable mention to Those-Not-So-Sweet Boys. The premise is not the most original in the world, but I’ve loved the other Yoko Nogiri titles Kodansha has published, so I’ll be giving this one a shot, too.

SEAN: I’m reading my Pick of the Week as I speak, and it’s as good as I’d hoped. The Apothecary Diaries has been a long-awaited LN that needed the LN market to be robust to justify a license. It now is, and I hope this sells well, because it is good – especially Maomao, the eccentric and somewhat terrifying heroine.

KATE: I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each, and their message is loud and clear: “Buy volume two of Mermaid Saga, the price is within reach.”

ASH: It’s a week with quite a few interesting new titles being released, but I find that I’m drawn to the re-issue of Mermaid Saga for my pick, too. The series is dark, disconcerting, and utterly fantastic – I’m so glad that it’s finally back in print again.

ANNA: Out of what’s coming out next week, Blue Flag volume 6 is what I’m most likely to read first, so that’s my pick!

As the Villainess, I Reject These Happy-Bad Endings!

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By Iota AIUE and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Tensei Akuyaku Reijōnanode, Meribaendo wa Soshi sa Sete Itadakimasu! !” by Berry’s Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Molly Lee.

By now we are so familiar with the Reincarnated As a Villainess genre that we start to look for differences or alternate takes that make this stand out from the pack. On that score, Happy-Bad Endings (as I’m going to call it) doesn’t hold up so well. This is almost textbook reincarnated villainess, down to the letter. Actually, it’s a good sign that, as I was reading along, I found myself thinking “I want to read the original VN the heroine was playing, it sounds ludicrously over the top. Iris as a heroine is not cheerful yet dim like Katarina, but she does possess a bit of the same “I cannot see this person as anything other than their character from the game”, which certainly frustrates her love interest, the prince. That said, I found this a very good book to read, mostly as it does the genre very well, and it has some individual scenes that are stellar set-pieces.

One morning, Iris du Chevalier wakes up from a horrible nightmare of the world burning to discover… she’s not in Japan playing her favorite otome, game, she’s in the game. And Iris is the villainess. And the game is notorious for even its happy endings being dark and twisted. Her twin brother chains up the love interest and brands her, the prince imprisons her in a tower forever, and the mage discovers that they’re really half-siblings and destroys the world. And, in ALL the endings, good or bad, Iris suffers. Death is not actually the worst thing. Now she has to a) make the three love interests less twisted, b) deal with the soilpox scars on her arm that cause her to be shunned, c) deal with going to the academy despite having literally zero magic, and d) avoid horrible fates. It’s harder than you think!

As I said, the plot itself is pretty much otome villainess 101, but it’s handled well. Iris searching for a way to beat soilpox (this world’s smallpox) is a compelling plot that has nothing to do with the game’s events. The world itself has several elements that weren’t present in the game at all, and finding out about them both gives Iris a huge leg up and also confuses the hell out of her. The heroine, Camille, is sweet as pie but also invites trouble – as you’d expect of an otome heroine. My favorite scene is near the end, where the cast approaches what, to Iris, is the final fate of the most dreaded of her bad ends. She’s long since made sure that this end is not going to happen, but it doesn’t matter – the fact that she is Iris, in the game world, and at THIS place causes her to have a tremendous stress reaction. It’s fantastically written.

So yes, once again, cliches can be defeated when the writing is good enough, which this certainly is. It’s also done-in-one, so you don’t need to worry about a cost sink. A must for Villainess fans, and a good read for shoujo light novel fans.

Also, please don’t name your otome game love interest de Sade. I beg of you.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 27

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By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

While the manga occasionally dips its toes into romance, that’s not its main function. As such, it feels quite refreshing when the end of the last volume and the start of this one focus so much on the feelings that Hak has had for Yona for so long, and finally telling her in one big burst of repression boiling over. This volume focuses on the aftermath, and does a very good job of both being lighthearted and funny about it but also taking his confession and Yona’s response to it seriously. I was worried there would be a “forgot about what happened last night” plot, but nope, Hak knows exactly what he said.As for Yona, while she’s a bit poleaxed there’s no reciprocation here, at least not consciously – she’s still more concerned with doing what they do. Which is good, but it also appears that the days of the Happy Hungry Bunch are being replaced with something a bit more legendary.

We’ve spent the last few volumes seeing the Four Dragons grievously wounded and depowered, and even for the first part of this book they’re still recovering. And while that was a good and important story to tell, it’s a joy and a relief to see everyone getting back to kicking eight kinds of ass. There’s also more humor here, as Hak is trying to alter the legend to add a 5th dragon, though no one’s going along with it. More to the point, though, they’re making themselves known now to world leaders rather than just disgraced princes and poor villages, and the disguise is not working – everyone knows who Yona is. She says, and rightly so, that Su Won knows they’re alive and hasn’t done anything, but they weren’t the chosen ones then.

They’re also not children anymore. Probably my favorite scenes of the book are the conversations between Riri, who is hanging around at the palace mostly as she functions well as Su Won’s beard (something she questions him pointedly on, and he admits a lot of people do think he’s gay). In fact, she’s getting a bit TOO casual with him, as one somewhat chilling scene shows. But there’s a wonderful moment when he goes to look at a mausoleum that he had been forbidden from entering when he was a child. He’d built up this huge idea of it in his head, and is incredibly disappointed to find that it’s just a room. The cast growing up has been one of the most important parts of Yona, and that applies just as much to Su Won as it does to Yona and Hak. Childhood illusions can be powerful, but should not replace the underwhelming reality of life.

Fans of the series don’t have to wait for the next book – my reviews are running behind. But as always, everyone should be reading Yona of the Dawn, and this is a particularly good volume.