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Sean Gaffney

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 13

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By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by A.M. Cola.

Those readers who dislike the frequently seen characterization of a lead as “seems completely unaware of how good/loved/savvy he really is” will have, I assume, dropped this series after the first volume, since that’s entirely what it runs on. Even those of us who enjoy that sort of thing, though, may find this volume trying. We do get the usual share of Yuto trying various recipes and accidentally inventing something amazing, of course, but the back half of this book is taken up with a genuine raid boss fight, which everyone assumes (except Yuto) that he will take part in, and that everyone assumes (except Yuto) that he and his tamed monsters did the most to help win, and then all the NPCs assume (to Yuto’s shock) that he is their leader and the one who they should give all the cool new quests. He will never stop being astonished by this, and he will never stop immediately forgetting it within five minutes.

The first quarter of the book is mostly Yuto puttering around, figuring out you can get medicinal plants when they’ve been trapped in amber, etc. He then meets up with Akari, one of the front-liners he (and we) have not seen for some time. They’re trying to befriend yokai, which you can’t tame per se but you can summon after befriending them. They also (thanks to Yuto’s really high NPC favorability) find a beastgirl who leads them to a village of beastpeople… and a huge, raid-sized monster, which is blocking the way to the sea village they trade with. Realizing that this is likely the way to open the next level that everyone has been searching for, they quickly gather allies and prepare to fight. Though Yuto also makes sure to do those little wandering things he always does, and as such gets all the good info about defeating it.

There’s minimal Alyssa in this book, but that’s mostly a setup for a gag. When Yuto wants to discuss dyeing and miracle herbs, Alyssa is offline, so he goes to someone else in their group, Maple. (No, not that one.) At first she’s fairly blase about what he’s brought, but when she runs across a major find, she quickly explains that he can only speak to Alyssa about this. Sorry, sacrificial meat shield Quick Cat! Only you can overreact to Yuto’s ridiculousness. I was also amused, though a bit annoyed, at Yuto’s anger at the cute couple that’s making eyes at each other while he and Akari are investigating… especially since he’s walking next to a beautiful girl at the time! Yuto is presumable mid-20s, given he’s an a=office worker, and this series is not doing romance, but his occasional “not gay!” or “damn normies” personality quirks seem out of character compared to the rest of him.

So a fairly decent volume of this series, and it gives people what they want. Unless they want Yuto to gain animal traits, he’s said no to that.

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 5

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By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

There are quite a few villainess books where I would describe the plot as performative, but Goodbye Overtime really leans into that. Ekaterina admits that these are real people that she loves and not just characters in a game, and also admits that she’s likely derailed things so much that the whole “doom” part of the game is not going to happen. But the monster from Book 2 shook her, and she remains panicked that if she takes her eyes away from things for one moment, everything will get back on the rails. I was startled to hear that she even saved one of the minor villainesses from a previous book, getting her a job as a maid (and the villainess is actually doing it well!) because she sees it as an inevitable future for herself. Ekaterina is very bad at seeing herself as others see her, but she’s also bad at confessing why she’s worried. At some point I think she’ll have to admit the reincarnation.

It’s STILL summer vacation, and after all her adventures across the territory last time, Ekaterina is back next to her brother and hosting events at her domain’s castle. The special guest is Mikhail, the Crown Prince, so all the red carpets are being rolled out. Flora is also there, and rumors are flying. Rumors are also flying about Ekaterina herself, and those rumors might be a lot closer to reality than she knows. Let’s face it, Mikhail is in love with her, Flora is in love with her, Vladforen is in love with her… and she’s completely incapable of seeing any of this, something all her love interests already know. She only has eyes for her brother, and he for her. Though thankfully, it’s made a little more clear that this is not romantic or sexual.

In any case, there’s a party, where they reintroduce a traditional dance her grandmother had banned, and a hunting party, where women are allowed to hunt again as her grandmother had banned that. Really, we see more evidence that her grandmother is simply terrible, though we are also rewarded with the idea that her father may have loved her mother more than she thought. We also see her almost enter into a contract with fairies, which underlines what the other nobles are saying – she may be gorgeous, and brilliant, and a pioneer in business, but she is painfully naive, and one of these days someone will get her away from Alexei and bad things are going to happen. (This is the second book in a row where she’s been spirited away from her main, and I suspect Mina is stressing out about this.

If you think this review is short on substance, the book is also pretty light. On the bright side, we’re finally heading back to school next time, and hopefully we can advance the plot. Though, like Bakarina, this is a series that relies very heavily on romance not happening despite everyone mooning over the heroine.

D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared, Vol. 2

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By KONO Tsuranori and ttl. Released in Japan as “D Genesis: Dungeon ga Dekite 3-nen” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by JCT.

Probably my favorite thing about this series so far is how it’s content to just ignore all the obvious plots that people (and indeed a lot of the cast) expect to happen when there’s a series about dungeon diving and killing lots of monsters. This book does have a lot more dungeon diving than the first book, along with a few moments of peril, but for the most part no one is in danger and no one stresses. There is a lot of political wrangling behind the scenes, which our heroes ignore, with the exception of their liaison with the government, who they basically bring into the team full-time here. There is even a brief action sequence near the end, featuring Keigo literally putting Miyoshi under one arm and leaping out of danger. But that’s irrelevant, as what this book is really about is rambling conversations, nerd analysis, food, and cute puppers. Yes, they’re hellhounds. But they’re cute puppers!

Keigo and Miyoshi need to actually go further into the dungeon than slime level, and that means tricking themselves out with all the bells and whistles. They buy an RV and put metal plating all over it. There are multiple kinds of steel balls for Miyoshi to toss. So they should be pretty safe against most of the harder monsters the dungeon has to offer them. Miyoshi ends up taming found monsters who are basically black death shadows in the form of large dogs the size of her. She adores them. They are also very good at keeping her (and, reluctantly, Keigo) safe from assassins. Because the main reason they’re down there is to get another language comprehension orb, which will upset the balance of power in the world. As a result, almost everyone is watching them like a hawk. Well, Russia is trying to kill them.

Despite trying to avoid the politics, the end of this volume makes it clear that they can’t do that for much longer. Staying quiet and anonymous is very difficult with the information they manage to find out. Not that they won’t stop trying. It turns out the person who’s getting the language orb is a 14-year-old genius girl who will be locked away in the US and made to translate. She’s resigned herself to this, but Keigo emphasizes that she has he power to defy that fate and make her own life. Even though we find out that the dungeon can, if used (and abused) properly, give out infinite gold and infinite food, they are still doing their damndest to make sure no one knows who they are for the most part, and that they can still go to nice places and order really good booze. I hope that keeps up.

As with the first book, the more this fights just going from level to level and killing monsters, the more I enjoy it. For nerds who like to ramble.

Pick of the Week: Defying Worlds and Traveling in Time

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MICHELLE: I guess I’m in the mood for comedic BL this week, as I find myself having to choose between My Instructor Won’t Yield and A Man Who Defies the World of BL. In the end, I’ll have to give the advantage to the latter for its unique concept!

SEAN: Honestly, given there’s not a lot that interests me this week, I may take a flyer on some BL too and go for A Man Who Defies the World of BL. Perhaps he can defy it and end up with a nice girl! (Signs point to no.)

ANNA: I really got nothing this week, I’m going to pick the mountains of unread manga on my bookshelves!

ASH: It’s not manga, but I will admit to being curious about Breathless Time Traveler. I tend to enjoy time traveling stories. And, while I haven’t read it myself, I do know quite a few other people who really enjoy the creator’s other work, Toradora!.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/17/25

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ALTERNATIVE[SELF LINER NOTE] | By Chiaki Yagura | Manga Mavericks – As a new publisher, Manga Mavericks has entered the field with a strong selection of short indie works. ALTERNATIVE[SELF LINER NOTE] is among its initial releases, one that I was particularly drawn to as it takes for its subject matter music as a form of creative expression. The manga is a beautifully introspective work, following an alt-rock musician who is struggling with self-doubt. Her internal voice, ever-present in the manga, is constantly questioning what she is doing with her life. She can’t help but notice the successes of others—close friends as well as more famous individuals—and feel crushingly inadequate. It’s an incredibly authentic portrayal of artistic turmoil. ALTERNATIVE[SELF LINER NOTE] is the first original short by Yagura, who hopes that it “leaves an impression or resonates within your hearts.” I can absolutely say that it does and that I am very glad to have read it. – Ash Brown

Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a MILF Party with His Mom!, Vol. 2 | By Ishino Yassan and Makoto Kuon | Ghost Ship – I had not really planned on reviewing more beyond the first volume of this series, but there was enough in this second one that I thought I might give it a try. First of all, I appreciated the fact that, despite their crappy actions towards him and general badness, our hero is not all that interested in revenge on the hero’s party—he just wants to move on. Admittedly, the moms may get revenge regardless. (We’re already seeing the classic “without him they turn out to be terrible” cliche.) As for mom #2, we don’t get cheating or a horrible husband; instead, we’re reminded that this weird world considers late thirties to be old age, so everything’s consensual. Still what it is, but better than expected. – Sean Gaffney

BONDS | By ZENZO | Manga Mavericks – I’m always excited to see another publisher starting to release print indie manga, but I was particularly interested in reading BONDS. I’m not familiar with ZENZO’s work, understandable as this is the creator’s first original manga, but I am familiar with the story. BONDS presents a brief episode from The Journey to the West, taking place soon after Goku joins the Buddhist priest Sanzo as his bodyguard. While there are differences, ZENZO’s version doesn’t stray far from the original. The resulting manga is an earnest and immensely enjoyable retelling. I love the character designs, especially Goku’s, as well as the expressiveness of the illustrations in general. Thematically the story focuses on bonds, both literal restraints and the figurative ties that bind people together. BONDS is a short, quickly paced manga, but ZENZO’s exploration of the developing relationship between Goku and Sanzo is excellent. I hope to read more of ZENZO’s work. – Ash Brown

Friday at the Atelier, Vol. 4 | By Sakura Hamada | Yen Press – There was only one thing that had to happen in this book. Ishihara has accepted his feelings and knows he wants to be with Tamaki, but she’s still not quite getting there. As it turns out, much of her life has been spent not thinking about her life, and just going on automatic pilot. But even though that’s helped get her through some mental issues (there’s a really good metaphorical shot of her working at her desk while next to an underwater shipwreck, thinking “I’m fine”), in order to move on she has to think, realize this is love, and that she does want to date Ishihara. All ends well, and I think this was just the right length. And we get a bit more of the beta couple, who don’t hook up but might soon. Weird fun. – Sean Gaffney

Medalist, Vol. 12 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics We’ve seen that this series is first and foremost about the rivalry between Inori and Hikaru, but for the most part it’s obviously been from the Inori side of the fence. That changes in this volume, which spends 2/3 of its time on Hikaru leaving her team and transferring to Riley’s group… which will hopefully be good for her? Riley seemed eccentric last time; the artwork this time makes her seem a bit evil? Also, now it’s Hikaru’s turn to deal with the horror of skating first. As for Inori, the main thing we notice is that she’s kept up the intensity but lost a lot of the nerves. That’s a good thing, as she’ll really need to be amazing to get anywhere in this competition. One of the best manga out there, sports or otherwise. – Sean Gaffney

A Sign of Affection, Vol. 11 | By Suu Morishita | Kodansha Comics – After putting off the payoff for what seemed far too long, at least the manga is getting to Itsuomi’s backstory, why he’s so dedicated to traveling overseas, and what that travel really entails. It’s a terrific look at the social and economic inequality in this world, and how sometimes you can’t do anything to stop death and despair, especially when you’re just a kid. But it also is about not giving up and just thinking “that’s the way things are, I guess,” which feels entirely apropos lately. Yuki handles all of this pretty well, in fact. That said, we do still have one boiling plot tumor to lance, and it appears it’s coming in the next volume. Will Oushi stay friends, or cut himself off from his past completely? A nice volume. – Sean Gaffney

Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life, Vol. 1 | By Miyu Morishita | Viz Media – Well, this was just freaking adorable. Tsumiki is a werewolf girl, in a world where all of a sudden mythological beasts went public, and they have started to be accepted into the world. That said, it’s still a work in progress. Tsumiki seems to have her life together a lot more than the indecisive Yutaka, who is human and trying to have a “high school debut” but failing. However, Tsumiki’s family worry about her trying too hard, and we see that there are a lot of issues to think about with non-humans in this world—even vampires who are seemingly smug and arrogant are putting on a front. All this plus a budding romcom. If you want another sweet Shonen Sunday romance, this is a great one. – Sean Gaffney

Wolf’s Daughter: A Werewolf’s Tale, Vol. 1 | By Yui Kodama | Seven Seas – I wasn’t sure what to think about this manga, which I mostly got as it runs in the magazine Flowers, which needs more love over here. Our heroine is a high school girl who feels adrift. Then one day she runs into a young man selling wine, who immediately knows what she doesn’t: she’s actually a wolf—and so is he. After trusting him just a bit too much (as is acknowledged throughout the volume—her adoptive parents are worried), she goes to meet his family and finally transforms—but she’s a GREY wolf. This is almost unheard of? What’s more, because this is a josei manga, there’s a rival for her affection. This is compelling, even though there’s a frisson of stranger danger to the whole thing. – Sean Gaffney

The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic, Vol. 1

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By KUROKATA and KeG. Released in Japan as “Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata: Senjou wo Kakeru Kaifuku Youin” by MF Books. Released in North America by One Peace Books. Translated by Kristi Fernandez.

Last year I was at Anime NYC, and happened across the One Peace table. I admitted I had not reviewed any of their books, and asked which one they would recommend (not Shield Hero). This was the one they picked, so I picked up a copy. A year later, I’m about to head to Anime NYC again, and I felt, you know, I’d better read this or the conversation at the table’s going to be really awkward. The book did not really win me over from the start. Any time our main character starts a bo0ok by telling us how drab, generic and normal he is, I resist the urge to simply stop reading. As it turns out, though, there’s a few interesting ideas going on with this book, and by the time we’re one day into the fantasy world we know one thing for absolute certain: He is not remotely normal at all. That is a bald-faced lie.

Usato is (groan) An Ordinary High School Student (TM). One rainy day he runs into classmate and resident pretty boy Kazuki and student council president and perfect girl Suzune. Since someone took Usato’s umbrella, they walk with him … and suddenly a magical circle appears under them, and they’re summoned to another world to be heroes! Well, Kazuki and Suzune are summoned to be heroes. Usato was accidental. Kazuki has rare light magic! Suzune has powerful lightning magic! They decide to test Usato as well, because why not, and find… he has HEALING magic? Suddenly everyone in the throne room is terrified, and we soon find out why: Usato is abducted by an incredibly strong woman named Rose, who announces she’s going to be training him to be a healer! Of course, Rose’s training puts spartans to shame. What the heck is going on here?

This book knows exactly what genre it’s contrasting itself with. The king and his ministers are horrified and apologetic when Usato is accidentally summoned, and his isekai power turns out to be incredibly valuable. It’s the opposite of all those “useless power and thrown out of the castle with no money” books. Rose’s reason for the spartan training comes up near the end of the book, and it works psychologically. As does Usato’s dogged determination, as he finally gets a great opportunity to not just be some nebbish high school student. Best of all is Suzune, who turns out, once summoned, to be a massive otaku who had to hide it from everyone as she was a rich ojou-sama. Here she gets to live out her isekai fantasies, fire off cool final attacks with her lightning bolts, and flirt with the guy she likes. The last of these does not go well, alas, as Usato has Protagonist Syndrome, so thinks she’s kidding.

So I’m not incredibly sad I missed this when it came out – it is a very common genre, and I try not to read the standard ones unless they have a weird thing going on – but it was pleasant enough, and if I get a gap in my schedule I may read more. For isekai fans.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life: Wish Upon a Star, Pray to a Flower

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By Mato Sato and nilitsu. Released in Japan as “Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

Well, back to reality. After a volume where I actually managed to enjoy it from beginning to end, we’re back to business as usual for The Executioner and Her Way of Life. The first 40% or so of this book is absolutely dire, and I was once again wondering why I had not dropped the series. The difficulty is that most of the people who remain in the cast are profoundly unlikable and selfish, and it’s not fun to read about them. This is also a book whose plot synopsis can best be summed up as “everyone is ignoring everyone else’s feelings and desires for the sake of their own”. Now, frequently this is understandable. The color soldiers are looking for a new homeland, and worry that this will cause the humans to try to eradicate them. (Correctly.) And Menou’s grand plan for saving Akari amounts to “kill myself”, so it’s not surprising that Momo is not down with that. Everyone is, frankly, at the end of their tether, and it shows.

Menou, Maya, and Sahara have fled to the Mechanical Society with Abbie’s help, but Michele, Momo and Hooseyard are hot on their trail, and trying to work out a way to break in there. Menou’s goal is the Starseed, but things prove more complicated than expected when they discover that another one of the Four Evils, Gadou, is still alive. After dealing with the fact that Gadou has literal split personalities, Menou puts her plan into action, despite the fact that her memory has gotten so bad that she’s forgotten Flare, Momo, and everything else about her past. Momo, meanwhile, has an Akari-in-a-Box, and a plan to get Menou and Akari both back with their memories attached, but this plan sort of relies on killing Menou first. Just for a bit. A little killing.

This book really does get good in the second half, as everyone starts to fight for their lives and their goals, and realize that there’s no way that everyone can end this alive. Indeed, Menou’s self-hatred and death wish is about all that’s fueling her now, and it helps the reader to sympathize with Momo a great deal, even when she tries to solve a problem by taking Akari from her luggage and hurling her at Menou’s head. Momo and Akari still hate each other, for obvious reasons. That said, Momo’s plan wouldn’t have worked without Akari, so they can at least be grateful for that. By the end of this book, most of the cast are almost back to normal and we’re at the end of the arc. If only Ashuna were back in the series I’d be perfectly happy. (Monkey’s Paw twitches) Oh no…

So yeah, Ashuna is the cliffhanger, and I am no longer happy. I suspect in this world that runs on war, death, and genocide, a lot of other people aren’t going to be happy either. Still, at least with Menou and Akari back to normal, there’s potential for more yuri in Book 10. Recommended, but be prepared for the traditional slow start. Also, warning, this book contains Hooseyard, and she’s still really annoying.

Manga the Week of 8/20/25

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SEAN: It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights, it’s time to meet some manga.

ASH: I reflexively sang that to myself.

SEAN: Just one release from Yen Press, the 9th volume of The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend.

No debuts from Viz, but we do see Battle Royale: Enforcers 4, Cosmos 2, Hirayasumi 6, Hunter x Hunter 3-in-1 3, Jujutsu Kaisen 27, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 9, Mission: Yozakura Family 18, Rooster Fighter 8, Show-ha Shoten! 8, Snowball Earth 6, and The Way of the Househusband 14.

ASH: I really should get caught up with The Way of the Househusband.

SEAN: Tokyopop, shockingly, has a one-shot BL title debuting. The magazine is from RED as well, can you believe it? The Desert Butterfly Yearns to Be Caught (Sajou no Chou wa Torawaretai) stars the young prince of a desert country and his ex-slave/bodyguard. They like each other, but can’t be honest with each other.

ASH: That is shocking!

SEAN: We also get Confessions of a Shy Baker 5 and World’s End Blue Bird 4 (the final volume).

Titan Manga has Somali and the Forest Spirit 3.

SuBLime debuts A Man Who Defies the World of BL (Zettai BL ni Naru Sekai VS Zettai BL ni Naritakunai Otoko), which runs in Kurage Bunch. Our theoretically straight protagonist has just realized that he’s in a BL manga! And he has to comment on all the tropes he sees around him. This is a comedy, obviously, and much anticipated.

MICHELLE: Huh. I don’t usually love fourth-wall-breaking, but this could be potentially fun.

ANNA: It does sound amusing.

ASH: That it does.

SEAN: Steamship has a second volume of Adored By an Elite Officer and a third volume of Loving Moon Dog.

From Square Enix Manga we get Wandering Witch 6 and Wash It All Away 3.

Seven Seas time. Let’s begin with the danmei debut, My Husband and I Sleep in a Coffin. A “reclusive gay virgin” wakes up one day to find he’s in the body of a thousand-year-old corpse. What’s more, sleeping next to him is an immortal warrior obsessed with his dead lover… who is that same corpse.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ANNA: It might be too many corpses for me.

ASH: Granted, I think I prefer that they are both corpses…

SEAN: Also danmei: Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu 5.

Lost in the Cloud is a manwha/webtoon about a guy who’s been snapping pictures of his crush… till he’s caught by his crush’s best friend! Blackmail ensues.

ASH: As it so often does in these cases.

SEAN: Sacrifice of My Manly Soul (Ore no Dankon ♡ Sacrifice) is a seinen title from Young Magazine Web. A boy who has to avoid debt by dressing as a girl and attending an all-girls’ school finds the entire student council are all doing the same thing.

ASH: Well, then!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons 3, The Ideal Sponger Life 19, It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love 3, My Girlfriend’s Child 8, My New Boss Is Goofy 2, No Love Zone 4, Tiger and Dragon 4 (the final volume), The Too-Perfect Saint 3, and Yonoi Tsukihiko’s Happy Hell 3.

One Peace Books has The New Gate 15.

Kodansha time. My Instructor Won’t Yield (Chiba Kyoukan wa Nabikanai) is a new BL title. A kind driving instructor has all the girls after him, but he rebuffs them all. Then he has to teach the “school prince”, who is also secretly a manga artist.

MICHELLE: This looks kinda cute!

SEAN: Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: IruMafia Edition (Mairimashita! Iruma-kun if – Episode of Mafia) is an AU spinoff asking what would happen if Iruma was a mafia member?

MICHELLE: Oh, dear.

SEAN: Also, out *this* week, as they updated their website after I went to press, is Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN Deluxe 1. Which is a 900-page oversized behemoth.

ASH: Dang! The original release could do some legitimate physical damage, I can only image what this edition can do. (By the way, this series is excellent, in case anyone missed it the first time around.)

SEAN: We also see Go! Go! Loser Ranger! 14, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 27, I See Your Face, Turned Away 4, Issak Omnibus 2, Noragami Omnibus 9 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 32, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement 12, and Shangri-La Frontier 18.

ASH: Right! I meant to read the first Issak omnibus!

SEAN: And the digital title is Matcha Made in Heaven 12.

Kana has Eden of Witches 4.

J-Novel Club has one print title, The Misfit of Demon King Academy 6.

A quiet week for JNC digitally. We get Black Summoner 21, Goodbye Overtime! 5, the 3rd manga volume of I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying, Knock Yourself Out! The Goddess Beat the Final Boss in the Tutorial, So Now I’m Free to Do Whatever 2, and A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 13.

Ize Press gives us A Business Proposal 10 (the final volume), Kill the Villainess 3, Murderous Lewellyn’s Candlelit Dinner 2, Solo Leveling 13, The Villainess Is a Marionette 2, and Unholy Blood 7.

Ghost Ship has Do You Like Big Girls? 7-8 and Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! 9.

Airship gives us print books for Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord 5, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 9, and Sword of the Demon Hunter 10.

The early digital debut is Breathless Time Traveler (Anata wa Koko de, Iki ga dekiru no?), a one-shot from the author of Toradora!. A college girl is killed in a traffic accident, but now finds herself time looping up to the moment of her death! Can she fix things?

ANNA: I’m curious about this!

ASH: I could be pretty easily be convinced to read it.

SEAN: Also in early digital: Drugstore in Another World 7.

Why do we always come here? To read manga. What are you buying?

Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 16

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By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Bofuri is, in the end, a series about what goes on inside a VRMMO, and most readers are here to follow the fun antics of Maple and Sally. Now, there are real players involved here, Kaede and Risa, and we have seen them on occasion. But we rarely have a chance to be in their heads for more than a couple of pages before we’re back in the gaming world seeing Maple eat a giant lump of poison. The series began with a brief mention that Risa had tried to get Kaede into some other games, but nothing clicked till New World Online. This volume, however, very definitely says the end is near. And as a result, we’re getting a little (very little) background into Kaede and Risa. Which is good! But given it’s the real world, we may actually get some real-life drama in Bofuri, the anti-consequences series. As frankly, Risa is starting to get very desperate about gaming with Kaede as much as possible before it’s too late.

Last time I said there would be an after-event recap of some sort, but nope. We’re straight into more gaming, as everyone goes around clearing dungeons, battling new monsters, and preparing for the 10th stratum. When that’s finally revealed, it’s shown to be the previous nine floors all in one – each section is one of the prior floors. The goal here is to Kill The Demon Lord, so Maple and Sally and the rest of Maple Tree start investigating to figure out how to do that. And they want to do it fast, as Maple and Sally have made things clear at last: they’re going to be third-year high school students soon, which means the days of gaming for hours a day are gone forever. It’s time to start getting serious about college.

It’s been clear from a while ago, and is made more explicit here, that Sally wants to fight Maple in a PvP battle, but holds off as she knows Maple doesn’t enjoy those. Maple is aware of this, though, and as their deadline draws near she’s starting to dwell on it more. She has no trouble fighting (and destroying) Frederica, mind you, but Sally is different. Back in the real world, not only is Risa anxious about those halcyon days with Kaede ending forever, but there’s also implications about Kaede’s past. We’d guessed that they’d been friends since they were kids, which is mentioned here without any detail. But now we hear how much Maple has changed since starting New World Online, and that she had never been so excited or enjoyed herself so much before. I want to know more about this! What was pre-Bofuri Kaede like? Was she bullied? Was she introverted? What’s going on here? And is there anything besides her latent crush and possibly different colleges that is the reason Risa is so desperate to enjoy this time with Kaede while she can?

There’s so much story I want to know about, and we get more of it here than most other volumes. But there’s still very little of it. Trust me, if you want to see Maple create poison copies of herself that explode, you’re also in the right place. Next time, probably more grinding and investigation.

Engaging with the Plot: A Former Cat’s Attempt to Save Her Now Temporary Fiancé, Vol. 1

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By Usagi Hoshimi and Qi234. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha-sama ni wa Unmei no Heroine ga Arawaremasu ga, Zantei Konyaku Life wo Mankitsushimasu! Anata no Noroi, Kiraware Akujo no Watashi ga Toicha Dame desu ka?” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Minna Lin.

It’s always dangerous when you’re making stew. When you have something that’s just “let’s throw as many common ingredients into the pot as we can, stir it up, and eat that for supper”. A lot of the time it just ends up being an ugly, overcomplicated mess. Sometimes, though, all the ingredients manage to coalesce into something really tasty. You wouldn’t dare call it original – the exact opposite – but the common muck ends up being just what you wanted. We get that here. This is a villainess story with a capital V, having all the trimmings, and yet it works because it doesn’t take itself remotely seriously (at times I wondered if it was actually trying to be a parody) and because it has a really good story to tell about love, and what happens to people who get it and people who don’t.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but we open the book with our main character being dumped publicly by her fiance, the second prince. Lucille was well-meaning and did her princess lessons well, but she knew the princess didn’t love her and was trying much too hard to change that. Now she’s engaged to the “cursed marquess”. Felix. This causes her to pass out… and when she wakes up she has memories of her past… eight lives. Yes, this is her ninth life, but her first as a human. In the previous eight, she was a beloved pet cat of some of the most influential and powerful people in history. And what’s more, she has a prophecy, which shows her pissing off Felix, getting into dark magic, and being killed by the Saint who’ll be arriving in a year. Fortunately, with her past memories and her premonitions, she can change literally everything about this plot.

A lot of this just made me laugh. It’s always nice to see an isekai’d Japanese girl who’s part of the supporting cast rather than the lead – one of Lucille’s past owners was a reincarnator who loved her “smol” kitty. The second prince is a buffoon who cannot recognize that the beautiful woman in front of him is his ex-fiancee, just not wearing heavy makeup, and it just gets sillier and sillier as he rants. But there’s also some really good stuff here. Lucille, being an ex-cat, does not remotely worry about what anyone thinks of her and is very confident. And she’s surrounded by people who are filled with self-loathing or self-doubt, ranging from the cursed Marquess to her new friend Mary Hunt… erm, Alice Rohans, who suffers from being the normal one in a generation of geniuses, to her own father, who is caring but it comes out as uncaring. If there’s a weakness, it’s that the dialogue can seem a bit TOO overly elaborate. Sometimes these people speak as if they’re reading words off a page rather than being in the moment.

This has a second volume coming, which I assume will resolve the curse as well as the cliffhanger we saw. If you liked Lady Bumpkin, and you liked Bakarina, and wondered what would happen if you smashed them together, this is that book.

Pick of the Week: More Straw Grasping

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SEAN: No debuts stand out to me, so I will go for a light novel. Should I pick The Executioner and Her Way of Life, which is genuinely yuri but likely to end with both of them dead, or Bofuri, which isn’t yuri but everyone wishes it was and they’re just gaming? I’ll tip towards the doomed yuri.

MICHELLE: Hm. This is a tough one for me, also. I like the general vibe of Long Period, so though it mightn’t be groundbreaking, I will probably enjoy it, so I’ll go with that.

ANNA: I’m just going to go with the box set of Witch Hat Atelier, it is such a great series and nice to have a good option for gift-giving.

ASH: All excellent picks! I’m going to take a chance with Rai Rai Rai, which I know almost nothing about, but which seems to have the potential for high levels of action-packed absurdity. I could really go for something like that at the moment.

Lacey Longs for Freedom: The Dawn Witch’s Low-Key Life after Defeating the Demon King, Vol. 3

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By Hyogo Amagasa and Kyouichi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Majo Lacey wa Jiyū ni Ikitai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri.

This one snuck up on me. I was sort of gently mocking the book as I went through the first half, which is very much on the “low-key life” part of the title. Lacey invents oven mitts. Lacey invents a camera. But then it turns out that all of this, as well as the previous two books, are important as Lacey is asked to come back to the capital. And, while there’s a lot of backsliding and introverted panicking, the difference between the Lacey of the start of the first book and the one we see in this volume is night and day. She’s an incredibly powerful witch, and everyone and their brother want to use her. But while she does want to bring the kingdom happiness, she also wants the privilege of choosing how she is used. And people are taking notice. Best of all, Lacey finally cottons on to what her feelings for Wayne actually are. She’s not quite ready to do anything yet, but the feelings are recognized.

Wayne shows up at the village again, and this time he’s here for a full month, though he doesn’t say why. We see Lacey helping Cedric, who turns out to have a daughter who is getting married, and he wants to bake something special for the wedding but can’t figure out what. After the wedding, discussion of how the kids are having trouble remembering what the dress looked like makes Lacey want to create photography, which she does through a wonderful series of trial and error and the help of her phoenix. Finally, though, Wayne reveals why he’s there. The princess (you know, the one who cheated with Lacey’s fiancee in Book 1) is getting married, but has locked herself in her room right before the wedding. The king is asking Lacey to help do something about that. But why is the princess there in the first place?

After getting a fairly typical “evil noble” in the last book, the most refreshing part of this one is seeing how it handles the prior antagonists. The King is mindboggled by how much Lacey has changed from just a year away from saving the world and being the Dawn Witch. Alicia, the princess, already fully regrets her philandering, but being married off to a foreign prince (who’s fine, at least) has her lonely and homesick before she even leaves. Heck, we even get a side story showing that Raymond, whose fault all of this really is, has gotten used to life on the farm where he’s been exiled too, and is even coming through with delicious vegetables. If there’s a weak spot in the series, it continues to be Wayne, who I sort of but not really wish would be found to have a dark side, or a secret he hasn’t revealed. He’s just this bland guy.

But we’re not here for him, we’re here for Lacey, and she’s fun. She also reminds me of Monica, so Silent Witch fans should also get this. The next volume, which should wrap the series up, is not out in Japan yet.

Reincarnated As a Sword, Vol. 1

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By Yuu Tanaka and Llo. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shitara Ken deshita” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Mike Rachmat. Adapted by Jaymee Goh.

When this book first came out in 2019, I read about 25 pages of it and stopped, abandoning the book as I really didn’t like it. I mentioned this recently to some other folks, whose reaction was mostly “wait, you didn’t even get to the catgirl?”Sure enough, I guess there is a catgirl on the cover. And as I deal with a slow August, I thought that maybe I had just been in a bad mood that day, and I started the book again, determined to finish it. Well, I did finish it. And it definitely does improve when Fran shows up. But I also was not wrong back in 2019. This might be the worst start to a popular light novel series I have ever read. Our hero is annoying, he’s overly chuuni, he kills a lot of monsters without remorse (oddly, he gets the remorse later, after meeting Fran), and there’s also a ton of stat counting. And, of course, “Oh, I guess this world has slavery.” Said like you’re going to the deli.

Our sword protagonist, who doesn’t even remember his old name, is hit by… a sports car (not a truck!) and wakes up in a fantasy world as a magic sword. He spends the first eighty pages or so of this book trying out cool powers, defeating increasingly dangerous monsters, being being incredibly smug and annoying. Unfortunately, he then ends up stuck in a land that saps mana, and can no longer move around. Cue Fran, a catgirl who’s part of a group of slaves who ran into monsters. After taking care of the monsters, and the slave owner, Fran and the sword (who she names “Teacher”) team up, and head to the nearest large city. From this point the book gets far more generic and predictable, which is actually a point in its favor. The writer stops trying to make the sword entertaining and focuses instead on the sword trying to teach Fran how to get strong and also possibly not become a sociopath.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. Aren’t I a huge fan of A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, by the same author? I am indeed. Oddly, the books seemingly start off very similar, with our main character going around, experimenting, and looking at their stats go up when they do things. The Tamer book, though, is actually a GAME, not reality, so I don’t need to apply the same morality to it. Yuta’s experimentation, due to his class, avoids fighting for the most part, while the sword’s revels in it. Yuta is generally nice to everyone and gives away things without realizing their value. The sword eventually starts to realize that killing goblins while literally imitating Stormbringer is perhaps a bit too evil, but since this is a world where all monsters are default evil, he doesn’t dwell on this too much. At least he doesn’t lech on Fran, who is only twelve years old. Her stoicness, while clearly the result of trauma, also makes her more interesting in contrast to her partner.

So yes, this gets better. I’m sure later volumes are interesting. But I’d rather stick needles in my eyes than read the start of this book again. Moving on.

Manga the Week of 8/13/25

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SEAN: Are these the dog days? Or are the dogs days later in the month?

ASH: It’s cat days more often than not with manga. (And Japanese fiction, in general, for that matter.)

SEAN: Airship has The Devil Princess (Akuma Koujo) in print. A demon who longs to have family and friends and a brighter life ends up being forcibly reborn into the body of a human princess. She’s revered as a saint, but her demonic impulses – and other demons – haunt her.

There’s also print for Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 11.

For early digital we see Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 12 and Reborn as a Space Mercenary 13.

Ghost Ship has Inside the Tentacle Cave 5.

ASH: I wonder what’s going on outside the cave.

SEAN: Two debuts for J-Novel Club. The light novel is Engaging with the Plot: A Former Cat’s Attempt to Save Her Now Temporary Fiancé (Konyakusha-sama ni wa Unmei no Heroine ga Arawaremasu ga, Zantei Konyaku Life wo Mankitsushimasu!) You know how this starts. Framed for crimes she didn’t commit, broken engagement. And she’s engaged to a man who is “cursed”. Then she recalls her past life… as a cat!

ASH: See? Cat days!

SEAN: We also get Make It Stop! I’m Not Strong… It’s Just My Sword! (Yametekure, Tsuyoi no wa Ore Janakute Ken Nanda……!), an adaptation of the LN already released by J-Novel Club. It runs in Drecomics.

Also from J-Novel Club: An Archdemon’s (Friend’s) Dilemma 3, D-Genesis 6 (the manga version), and Lacey Longs for Freedom 3.

Kodansha Manga has a nice box set of Witch Hat Atelier coming out, with the first six volumes and some cards.

ANNA: Nice! Glad to see this getting the special treatment.

ASH: This does look lovely.

SEAN: Also in print: Blood Blade 5 (the final volume), Dead Rock 3, The Fable Omnibus 9, Fed Up With Being the Spoiled Queen’s Genius Butler, I Ran Away and Built the World’s Strongest Army 2, I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day 4, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 11, and Wandance 13.

And in digital we get Gang King 32 and Giant Killing 50.

MICHELLE: Insert my standard comments about how I should really catch up on Wandance and Giant Killing.

ANNA: Insert my standard comment about how I should have started reading these in the first place.

SEAN: One Peace Books has a 7th volume of Parallel World Pharmacy.

Seven Seas time. The Demon King is Way Too Overprotective! (Yo ni mo Kahogo na Maou-sama) is a Betsufure title about a girl who’s struggling to make ends meet, and now she’s dealing with a demon king who says he’s crossed universes to be with her. For fans of “possessive and irritating boyfriend is so hot that the heroine gradually falls for them”.

Fake Fact Lips BREAK is a done-in-one omnibus, and a sequel to Fake Fact Lips. As for the plot, well, sometimes fings… break, don’t they, Dino?

ASH: Whoops!

SEAN: Long Period is a BL series from the creator of The Two Lions. Our hero is angry at his best friend, who if he applied himself cold get into a great university and really go places! So why does he just want to hang out all the time?

MICHELLE: I’m in!

ASH: Yeah, I’d read it.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: 100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death 3, Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon 9, The Barbarian’s Bride 4, How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift? 18, The Last Elf 2, Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World 8, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life 13, Mushoku Tensei 21, My Cat is Such a Weirdo 7, Perfect Buddy 4, The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter 5,

And they’ve got a 4th volume of the KinnPorsche novel.

ASH: Haven’t read any of this series yet, but it’s still pretty cool it’s being translated.

SEAN: Square Enix debuts Exquisite Blood: The Heretic Onmyoji (Miyabichi no Onmyouji), which runs in GFantasy. Demons have stolen ten important treasures, and it’s up to the Onmyoji to get them back! For readers who don’t need the word onmyoji translated.

ASH: LOL! That might be me then.

SEAN: Also from Square Enix: Dragon and Chameleon 4, The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl 10, My Isekai Life 20, and Smoking Behind the Supermarket with You 5.

Steamship has Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze 9.

Two debuts for Tokyopop. Cute but Not Cute (Kawaiikedo Kawaikunai) is a BL oneshot that ran in from RED. A CEO who has it all is feeling lonely. Luckily his assistant, who’s loved him for years, is here to help.

Reincarnated in a Mafia Dating Sim: A Yakuza Heiress Becomes the Top-Ranked Villain’s Romantic Target! (Akutou Ikka no Mana Musume, Tensei Saki mo Otome Game no Gokudou Reijou deshita. – Saijoukyuu Rank no Akuyaku-sama, Sono Dekiai wa Fuyou desu!) is a Comic Corona manga based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel. This is from the author of 7th Time Loop.

Tokyopop also has Merry Witches’ Life 2 and My Beautiful Man: Interlude.

Viz Media debuts Rai Rai Rai, a shonen manga from Ura Sunday. A girl is trying to make ends meet by killing “space vermin”. Then she’s abducted by aliens, given a weird arm, and told to kill all humans. This is a comedy, I suspect.

ASH: Potentially interesting?

Also from Viz: Akane-banashi 13, Fly Me to the Moon 29, Girl Crush 2, I Wanna Do Bad Things with You 7 (the final volume), Mao 21, Not-So-Shoujo Love Story 2, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 13 (the final volume?), Rainbows After Storms 5, Sakura, Saku 8, and Snow Angel 2.

Yen On has two debuts. Remember that “as yet unlicensed” light novel I mentioned 3 weeks ago? Yeah, I’d forgotten, here it is. Almark. A city in the north is home to powerful mercenaries, but one boy just isn’t as strong as the rest. His father sends him south to a magic academy to try to be a sorcerer instead.

Nagisa Natsunagi Still Wants to Be a High School Girl (Natsunagi Nagisa wa Mada, Joshi Kousei de Itai) is a spinoff from The Detective Is Already Dead. Nagisa can now finally be healthy enough to live a normal school life, thanks to a heart transplant. But who is the donor?

Also from Yen On: Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture 6, Bofuri 16, The Executioner and Her Way of Life 9, Pitch-Black Infatuation (the 2nd Sasaki Agency volume), and Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table 4.

No dogs at all. Sad. What are you getting?

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 5

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame.

Given that this is a series that, about half the time, frames itself as a parody of the standard light novel high school harem genre, I should not have been surprised with the outcome of this volume. And yet. I was surprised. I had certainly seen the previous four volumes, showing Nukumizu’s sister Kaju as, shall we say, dangerously obsessed with her brother, but other series have also done that (looking at you, Goodbye Overtime), and have known that it’s OK to show them as being far too close for a brother and a sister without saying straight out “there is sexual desire here, this is meant to be incestuous for real”. Losing Heroines goes there, and so this comes as a content warning for those who might be put off. That said, I think most who would be put off wouldn’t have gotten this far into the series anyway, and it’s not as if Nukumizu has the ability to understand anyone’s attraction to him, much less his sister.

It’s time for the middle school students to visit prospective high schools, and that means our protagonists have to show off what makes their school great. For some this is easy due to talent (Lemon, who may be held back a grade but boy can she run). For some it’s easy due to personality (Anna, despite her foibles, can be outgoing and personable). The literature club is in trouble, though, with its two introverts who hate dealing with others. Nukumizu, however, has other problems. It’s Valentine’s Day soon. He heard his sister recently on the phone talking about… a guy! And she’s got plans in the calendar the siblings share that imply dates! She’s 14, that’s far too young to date, surely! Everyone else tells him he’s overthinking this, but they’re not getting through to him, as he’s in full big-brother mode. Hijincks, of course, ensue.

As always this is a well-written book, with a lot of laugh out loud gags. Anna is funny whenever she opens her mouth, and her chocolate cannonball was deserving of the interstitial art it got. Nukumizu, as always, is so good at reading the hidden subtext of most of the relationships of others around him that he fails to see the actual TEXT of girls throwing themselves at him. He is told by his friend Ayano that he needs to realize how he looks to everyone around him who doesn’t have the full story, and Nukumizu… brushes him off. And let’s talk about the elephant in the room. Not only does Kaju provide a story for the literature club about a brother who has knocked up his little sister, but she’s also really desperate to help her friend Gondou with her own doomed relationship, despite the fact that Gondou knows that Kaju is really thinking about herself. She knows she can’t have sex with her brother. She knows he just sees her as family. And, as this volume makes explicit, she HATES that.

Now that we’ve unlocked the barn door and let the horses out, I assume that she’s going to get more blatant in future volumes, which does not thrill me. But she also won’t be the focus, so I’ll bear with it for now. For romcom diehards and people who don’t understand why I don’t like that sweet, sweet incest.