Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 3

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By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

Calling your main character a “genius prince” can be a bit of a two-edged sword, as you need to have him continuing to be reasonable clever while not killing the audience’s disbelief. So far these books do a good job in holding to that balance. Sometime it leans straight up in Wein’s direction, such as when he describes having a book ghostwritten that will give bad advice to nobility and make it easier for him to eventually take them down. And sometimes it has Wein straight up flummoxed or panicking, which is just plain fun (as the illustrator of the book will tell you). And then there are the moment when you realize that Wein has a steel core that lives for one person alone, and threatening that person can cause things to get very dark very fast. All this comes together in this book, where Wein has to deal with possibly becoming one of a group of noble elites… all of whom seem to be extremely broken.

Wein and Ninym (who are on the cover again – these covers are very Strike the Blood in their choice of subjects) have just returned from touring the country in the middle of winter, but have to head right back out again when Win is invited to the country of Vavarin for a conference and also a religious festival. It smells like a trap. It is a trap, but that’s not going to stop Wein. That said, he also has to deal with the Remnant Army, the remains of Marden, which was torn apart in a previous book. After getting separated from his guard by bandits, he ends up taking in a representative from the army, Zeno, who is a) a girl dressed as a boy, and b) probably even more than that. (It’s not much of a surprise, trust me.) Zeno is filled with thoughts of revenge, but is also fascinated by Wein, who is doing his best to keep several balls in the air… and then trying to move as quickly as he can when all the balls drop.

There is one really terrific scene in this book, which I will try not to spoil much but involves a murder. These books can get a bit too intellectual for their own good at times, so it is good to remind us that Wein is a royal prince who can get away with a lot of things that other people cannot. It also reminds us that insulting Ninym is bad enough, but threatening to kill her means your life is forfeit. Speaking of Ninym, I wish she had more to do in these books – she gets some good scenes, but this is a series about Wein first and foremost. I wish there could be more balance in their relationship which is imbalanced by definition. I also enjoyed the rebellion by home by the traitorous general, which again did not surprise me in its twists and turns but was very satisfying narratively. As was the twist ending, showing how much Zeno really learned from Wein.

These are great books, especially if you like political intrigue. I’m anxious to read the next one.

Umineko: When They Cry, Vol. 21

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Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Kei Natsumi. Released in Japan in three separate volumes as “Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Twilight of the Golden Witch” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Joker. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Stephen Paul.

This is the final volume of Umineko: When They Cry, unless Yen licenses Tsubasa, which I suspect is about as likely as Hinamizawa Bus Stop. It’s a very good climax, essentially divided into two parts. the first is the “action finale”, showing off Ange and Battler doing battle with Erika and Bernkastel, with everyone getting a chance to kick some ass (even Krauss, in one of the funnier bits) and with Lambdadelta going above and beyond the call of duty, essentially sacrificing herself to save the siblings. Now, given we’re in the meta world, sacrificing yourself is not as permanent as it sounds, but it’s still quite heartfelt. From the sdtart, Lambda has been more interested in fun than Bernkastel, who just wants pain and suffering. (Of course, if the pain and suffering was fun, Lambda was all in.) We see another Higurashi flashback that reminds you of Lambda’s origins as Miyo Takano, though honestly there’s a lot of Satoko in her as well.

(It’s also my last chance to complain about Squeenix insisting on using “the first cover” every single omnibus, as it means we don’t get the awesome BeaBato final cover on the outside.)

The second half of the book is the aftermath, which faces up to the fact that most of the cast is dead, and that if Ange wants to have a future she’s going to have to “die” as well. Fortunately, if there’s one thing we’ve learned from Ryukishi07 it’s how words can be manipulated to mean multiple things. Ange erases her identity and lives on as a famous children’s author, who writes books essentially starring Maria and Sakutarou. (Well, mostly. This was based on a game, as you know, and the manga did include the game’s “bad end”, where Ange decides magic is a lie and kills everyone around her, earning praise from Erika. I appreciate the need for completeness, but it feels really out of place in the manga itself.) As a Higurashi fan, I must admit it’s very odd to see a nice, friendly Okonogi here. But then again he’s getting everything he wants. Certainly I’m sure he prefers dealing with Ange to dealing with Takano.

The other reveal is what we’d seen hints of this entire arc: Battler survived the tragedy as well. Well… sort of. One one last twist that combines the real life and the meta world, Touya (his new name) has a sort of amnesia – he recalls Battler’s life but doesn’t think of it as his own memories. This is why Ikuko’s books were so accurate. After a number of years (both are in middle age), Ange is finally invited to meet Touya and get the explanation, and Battler’s spirit is able to find peace (and separate itself from Touya). That said, the REAL ending of the book feels like the one with Battler and Beatrice, showing what really happened as they escape the mansion’s tragedy. Unfortunately, as we already know, this ends badly, as Beatrice/Sayo still can’t imagine Battler accepting her body and can’t forgive herself for coming up with a mass murder plan, even if she wasn’t the one doing the murders. It a gorgously bittersweet tragedy, that ends happily only provided you believe in magic.

So I think in the end Uminako manga readers will be very happy with this. Umineko visual novel fans may be slightly less happy, but this ended up being a story that needed to be told more tha a mystery that needed to be solved. Don’t be a goat. Enjoy Umineko.

The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker, Vol. 3

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By Tôwa and Huuka Kazabana. Released in Japan as “Sekai Saikyou no Kouei: Meikyuukoku no Shinjin Tansakusha” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

Tempting as it might be to simply cut and paste my review of the second volume here, I will try to find new words to say about this series. For one thing, I think I’m going to have to come to terms with the fact that I enjoy it quite a bit, and not just because I’m hate-reading it. It’s still not a good series objectively, but subjectively it’s fine. It reminds me quite a bit of In Another World with My Smartphone, but so far has avoided all the traps that that work fell into, such as making its hero something of a relaxed sociopath. Arihito continues to attract women, and continues to be relatively oblivious to their overtures towards him. It’s a relatively huge light novel which takes place over a mere day and a half, and there’s still stats galore, including picking out new bonuses, etc. It should be dull as dirt and mildly offensive. Instead… it’s peaceful.

Arihito’s party (still unnamed, which is brought up but not dealt with here) arrive on Level 7, which has a lot more people on it but also a lot more people who have essentially stopped trying – it’s hard to go from 7 to 6. Well, hard unless you’re our heroes, who over the course of this book defeat two of the three named monsters you need to move up. They soon team up with a four-woman group called the Four Seasons (a name pun) who they saw being harassed/blackmailed by a group that are being set up to be antagonists but in this book are mostly just foreshadowing. The two parties team up and fight off giant moles and insects, then go to the next dungeon level and battle killer sheep. Once again, everyone does amazing things, and once again, everyone feels as if they need to “be the one protecting” everyone else. All this, plus a nice Chinese dinner and a bath/massage.

Reading this series is sort of like reading a game of Jenga, because it would take only one wrong move for the whole thing to come tumbling down. Arihito has to remain self-deprecating and mild-mannered because the alternative is a leering guy banging his (by the end of this book) eleven women who have fallen for him. Likewise, they’re all perfectly content to simply make the occasional overture (that he doesn’t get) and have a few bouts of self-hatred themselves. The battles are very well-written, to the point where I don’t even mind the inserted stats, which says a lot. I will admit that, in a book trying to remain so emotionally placid, sometimes it aims for a tearjerker and doesn’t quite get it – the scene with the demihuman and his late fiancee was not quite as sad as the author meant it to be. But for the most part, there aren’t really any sharp edges in this. It’s an isekai that a salaryman can happily read on the train home.

As noted, this volume does introduce a few plot points that are then left dangling – I expect the next book will take care of that. At least they didn’t move to Level 6 already. Still, this remains a book that’s easy to read.

Manga the Week of 7/22/20

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SEAN: It’s another one of those weeks. Get ready to be buried.

ASH: It’s good to see some things returning to normal!

SEAN: First, some late additions; these are out this week, but the release date was only just confirmed. They’re both Bookwalker titles. The first is Tenpuru, an ecchi harem manga from Kodansha’s Comic Days (I think Tenpuru is meant to be Temple). The second is Why the Hell Are You Here, Teacher?! (Nande koko ni sensei ga!?), an ecchi not-harem title about a guy who can’t stop getting into risque situations with his teacher. It runs in Kodansha’s Young Magazine. Both titles recommended for horny guys.

As for next week, Dark Horse debuts its deluxe edition of Hellsing. The manga was always a lot more… bonkers than the anime, so I’m not sure if I’m going to reread it, but it’s worth checking out.

ASH: If it’s anything like the Berserk deluxe edition, this should be a great release of Hellsing for those interested in the series.

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us the long-awaited second volume of Tearmoon Empire, as well as the 3rd Teagonia.

Kaiten Books debuts a new digital manga license, My Dad’s the Queen of All VTubers?! (Oyaji ga Bishoujo ni Natteta Hanashi). It’s a Manga Action series from Futabasha, seems to be a comedy. Title is likely the plot, as we see a lot these days.

Kodansha’s latest digital debut, Cells at Work: Baby!, is not about Red Blood Cell and White Blood Cell finally getting their groove on, alas. It’s about the newest cells and what their job is. It runs, believe it or not, in Kodansha’s Morning magazine.

ASH: I hadn’t realized just how many spinoffs of Cells at Work there already were!

SEAN: Also debuting is Sue and Tai-chan, which was delayed from a previous Manga the Week of, so let me go copy and paste. It’s another cat manga from the creator of Chi’s Sweet Home. This one runs in Be Love magazine, so seems more for housewives than kids. But… I mean, it’s still a cute cat manga.

MJ: I love Chi, so I’d always take more cat manga from this creator!

SEAN: In print? Living-Room Matsunaga-san 3, Something’s Wrong with Us 2, and The Seven Deadly Sins 38.

Digitally, we get Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! 2, Dolly Kill Kill 4, GE: Good Ending 7, Gleipnir 7, Kakushigoto 5, MabuSasa 4, Something’s Wrong with Us 3, That Blue Summer 7 and The Seven Deadly Sins 39.

One Peace has a 9th volume of Hinamatsuri.

Seven Seas debuts, in print, Buck Naked in Another World, a light novel that does not live up to its title.

ASH: Ha!

MJ: Also got a laugh out of this.

SEAN: Also out in print: Classroom of the Elite 5, Dragon Goes House-Hunting 5, Goodbye My Rose Garden 2, Himouto Umaru-chan! 10, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life 7, My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s 2, Our Wonderful Days 3, and Primitive Boyfriend 2.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give Goodbye My Rose Garden a try; better get on that before I get too far behind!

SEAN: There’s also an early digital release for Classroom of the Elite 6.

Sol Press has a 3rd digital volume for the light novel Why Can’t a Detestable Demon Lord Fall in Love?.

Tokyopop has a new print BL title: There Are Things I Can’t Tell You (Kimi ni Ienai Koto ga Aru). It’s from the publisher Printemps Shuppan, runs in their magazine Canna, and is about childhood friends growing up and realizing they love each other.

MJ: I have to admit this sounds like my kind of title.

SEAN: Vertical, in print, has the 6th Knights of Sidonia Master Edition.

They also have digital editions of Bakemonogatari 5 and CITY 9.

The big debut from Viz is Mujirushi: The Sign of Dreams. This is complete in one volume, ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Original, and is a father/daughter psychological drama.

ASH: Not only that, it’s by Naoki Urasawa, one of the creators who solidified my love of manga. I’ll definitely be checking this one out.

ANNA: Oh! This might be the one thing I’m interested in this week.

MJ: Oooooo.

SEAN: Viz also gave us a series of RWBY anthologies before, but now we have RWBY: The Official Manga. This is a prequel to the animated series, and ran in Shonen Jump’s online app.

Also from Viz: Beastars 7, Children of the Whales 15, Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku 3, Levius/est 5, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 14, and No Guns Life 6.

ASH: Beastars and Hell’s Paradise Jigokuraku are my priorities out of this bunch.

SEAN: Yen On has three different light novel debuts. High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! (Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu!) is one where we’ve seen the manga before, and it’s had an anime as well. This is the isekai you get when only geniuses are summoned.

I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet (S-Rank Monster no Behemoth Dakedo, Neko to Machigawarete Erufu Musume no Kishi (Pet) Toshite Kurashitemasu) is what it sounds like, but it’s also notable for being the first Yen On light novel to have a Parental Advisory warning. From what I hear, it’s simply because of the constant mention of boobs in the series. Sigh.

ASH: Huh. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an advisory warning on a novel before.

SEAN: May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace (Uchinukareta Senjou wa, Soko de Kieteiro) is a more serious, war-torn drama type of story, along the lines of 86.

Also out in light novels: Bungo Stray Dogs 4, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody 3, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious 4, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 12, the second volume of Kingdom Hearts III: The Novel, the third and final volume of KonoSuba: An Explosion on this Wonderful World! (don’t worry, there’s a sequel to this side story in a couple of months), Magical Girl Raising Project 9, Re: Zero 13, and the WorldEnd EX side novel.

Yen’s manga side has two debuts, and the first is… oh dear. To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? (Sekai wo Sukuu Tame ni Ajin to Asa-chun Dekimasenka?) is the latest in a series of not-quite-porn-but-pretty-close licenses Yen has picked up, this one runs in Young Dragon Age (which, judging by its title, is for series TOO RACY for Dragon Age, a terrifying thought). The plot involves… well, I can probably guess.

MJ: Why, Yen, WHYYYYYYYY?

SEAN: The second is a spinoff. That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation. It runs in Micro Magazine’s Comic Ride.

Yen also has some less appalling titles. Barakamon 18 + 1 is a welcome return to that series. There’s also The Case Study of Vanitas 7, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 5, Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One 5, The Hero Is Overpowered but Overly Cautious 2 (the manga version), Horimiya 14, I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 2 (the manga version), Monster Wrestling: Interspecies Combat Girls 3, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 16, RaW Hero 2, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 10, and the 4th print volume of Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun.

ASH: I’m mostly here for Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun, which I’m thoroughly enjoying.

MJ: Has anyone kept up with The Case Study of Vanitas? I was such a big fan of Pandora Hearts, but the beginning of this series wasn’t as strong as I hoped. Has it gotten better?

SEAN: Yen’s release schedule always seems to exhaust me. Are you picking anything up?

The Invincible Shovel, Vol. 2

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By Yasohachi Tsuchise and Hagure Yuuki. Released in Japan as “Scoop Musou: “Scoop Hadouhou!” (｀・ω・´)♂〓〓〓〓★(゜Д゜ ;;) .:∴DOGOoo” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Elliot Ryoga.

It should not come as too much of a surprise to find that this second volume is not quite as funny as the first. The Invincible Shovel has a few choice gags that it hammers on with the subtlety of a truck hitting an isekai protagonist, And so the element of surprise is gone here. That said, this ended up being funnier than I expected, particularly as it went along. We meet a couple more heroines who add themselves to the uninterested Alan’s not-quite-harem, including a ditzy sage and a sheltered princess, everyone misunderstands things in a sexual way due to the use of ‘shovel’ to mean absolutely everything, and we get somewhat incrementally closer to finishing the quest, as there’s a mid-range boss to defeat and we get a glimpse of the big bad. And then there’s Lithisia, who definitely levels up in this book… in both good and bad ways. Alan may be the OP hero, but in the end Lithisia is the most terrifying.

I’d mentioned in my review of the first volume that the word ‘shovel’ was used 703 times, and in this second book it’s 880. Note that we don’t really get variations – at one point an illustration shows Lithisia is clearly holding a trowel, but it’s referred to as a shovel, and we don’t see spade or other types either. This is deliberate, both for the comedy – the overuse of the word, especially from Lithisia inventing new words including it, is ridiculous – but it’s also meant to be exhausting, to leave the reader so drowning in shovels that they just learn to let it roll over them. We feel much like Catria, the sole voice of reason in this title, who wants things to make sense but is constantly cursed by Alan using his shovel to make instant tunnels through gigantic mountains, remove a memory block to help someone recall their past, and force the villain to confess his evil deeds by literally digging his own grave.

As for Lithisia, I will admit that I did get very tired of her constant horniness, which ends up carrying over to the other characters. The idea of ‘shovel’ meaning sex… or, frequently in this book, masturbation, as Alan says that they can learn to shovel better by themselves, is the sort of thing that’s mostly interesting to 15-year-old boys. Fortunately, there’s more to her than that… in a somewhat scary way. Lithisia devoting herself to the Way of the Shovel is funny, but Lithisia being able to brainwash others to the same vision is alarming. The shovel is gaining more and more followers, though as a worried Alan notes, they don’t actually have the shovel superpowers that she assumes come with the job. This actually has a serious core at its deluded center: she’s afraid that when the quest is over, Alan will leave her, and so vows to TAKE OVER THE WORLD! to ensure she remains by his side. It’s… sweet? In a way?

As I said earlier, your enjoyment of this title may end up being how tolerant you are of the word ‘shovel’ and the female cast being horny on main most of the time. But it’s still gloriously silly enough that I’ll be shoveling the next book. Um, reading. I meant reading. Shovel.

A Wild Last Boss Appeared!, Vol. 1

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By Firehead and YahaKo. Released in Japan by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Chen.

Sometimes you get books where the concept is drab and you’ve seen it before, but the execution is excellent, and sometimes you get novels with a great concept that can’t quite pull it off. This comes closer to the second type, which may surprise readers given that it’s another “Japanese gamer is pulled into his game world” sort of book. But there are intriguing things going on here. It’s sort of reminiscent of Overlord, in that we have a gamer who arrives in his game world as the villain he created, complete with minions (most of whom have to be tracked down, admittedly) and whose self of self is being somewhat overlaid with the character. That said, this book does not seem to be nearly as dark as Overlord gets. It’s just Lufas getting used to being back in the world (which is 200 years later), getting used to being a woman (the gamer who created her was male), and getting used to being far, far more powerful than everyone else. Does it work? Somewhat.

As noted, our hero is a gamer who played a fun MMORPG (she’s the blonde on the cover, not the blue-haired girl), taking on a character who ended up playing the role of the villain. She was taken down by seven heroes in a massive battle (which the gamer was totally in on, this was a controlled event) and killed off. Suddenly the gamer finds himself in what appears to be that world, two hundred years later, summoned as part of a botched spell to summon a hero. Lufus has no interest in dealing with the folks who summoned her (the character is a woman, something that actually has a lot less relevance than you’d expect) and so goes back to her old Dark Tower, which she finds is rather decrepit but still standing. It also has her minion and expodump girl Dina, who Lufas created as an NPC and then forgot about, but who can helpfully explain what’s happened since Lufas’ death. She decides to round up her twelve monster companions, which first involves talking one of them down from his roaring rampage of revenge.

There are interesting things going on here. The gamer’s memories and Lufas’ have sort of melded together, and as the book goes on the relevance of “this is a game I played in Japan” lessens, which is interesting. To my surprise, the book also has virtually no fanservice at all, and in fact Lufas notes that she doesn’t really feel any desires for women anymore – or men, for that matter. This does, admittedly, make you wonder why the gender bender was conceived of to begin with, except that Lufas looks really beautiful. There’s also some foreshadowing that one of the characters is not what they seem, and it’s handled very deftly. I am rather relieved that the book slowly starts to drop the gamer stuff as it goes along, as the gamer sometimes uses vocab and ideas that make me suspect he was one of those basic sexist Japanese guys. More to the point, while I appreciate that it has a long game in mind, the book meanders. It’s not meant to be a slow life title, but sure feels like one at times, especially when Lufas is doing things like making Golem Winnebagos.

So I’d say that the series has not quite gelled yet. That said, it’s interesting enough that I’ll read more, and folks who (have I said this a lot in my reviews lately?) don’t mind overpowered heroes will find something to enjoy here.

Pick of the Week: Love and Cats

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MICHELLE: Despite not loving The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms as much as I’d hoped to do, I am still really looking forward to Nagabe’s Love on the Other Side short story collection. Perhaps the inclusion of the word “poignant” on the back cover blurb indicates there will be fewer disturbing stories. Not that disturbing stories are a bad thing, but given the state of the world at present, it’s sweetness that I crave.

SEAN: Not too hard for me: the 2nd volume of A Man and His Cat is definitely my pick this week. I want to see if it can keep up the balance between man and cat.

ANNA: I’m also curious about Nagabe’s Love on the Other Side, so that’s my pick!

KATE: I also have a bad case of A Man and His Cat-scratch fever this week.

ASH: I enjoyed the first volume of A Man and His Cat, and I’m also really looking forward to the next installment of Blank Canvas, but I’m thrilled that more of Nagabe’s work is being released, so my pick this week goes to Love on the Other Side.

MJ: I’m ashamed to say I still haven’t read the first volume of A Man and His Cat, so though I’m sure I’d love it, I can really only give my pick to Love on the Other Side. It’s nice to find myself interested in multiple titles this week, though, which has been happening less and less often.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 14

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By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha Light Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Short stories here, two starring Shinichi and one Hikaru, of varying quality. The three together do remind you that this series has been sort of coasting ever since the Japan arc. The author says that he plans to end it in three more volumes (it ended up being four), so they at least have an endgame in mind, but there is very much the sense of “killing time” here. That said, at least the stories, for the most part, avoid the worst of Shinichi’s otaku qualities. The first one is a continuation of the prior volume, and offers us our hero hiding in his room to avoid seeing the girls in love with him. The second one involves Brook and Cerise hatching a family, and Shinichi trying to bond with the new lizard baby, who unfortunately sees him as food. And in the final story, another magical maguffin is found that ends up turning Hikaru into a girl for real.

The first story is the weakest. For all that the series has seen Shinichi achieve a lot of things and even save the world once or twice, there has been little to no actual maturity in his character. That’s really been emphasized in the last couple of books, as he’s totally unable to deal with the idea that more than one girl might be in love with him. Seeing him deal with this by hiding in his room and reading manga/playing games is totally in character but also 100% annoying to a reader who sort of wants him to grow up. That said, there was some nice suspense writing here as the team uses an obvious but effective lure to get him out. As for the second story, it shows Shinichi in a slightly better light. He could have simply given up and avoided the new baby, but he’s stubbornly determined to make it like him. This shows off the qualities Myusel and Petralka see in him.

The final story is the most interesting, though it loses a bit when the author admits the editors gave him the idea. It’s actually a sex-change slime, discovered in the caves and turning out to be yet another piece of long-lost technology. It fastens onto Hikaru and essentially leaves his real body there while putting his consciousness in a female body. The rest of the cast have some discussion of how Hikaru identifies – Shinichi discovers that he wears real bras and panties rather than male underwear, and they discuss how much he might identify as a woman. That said, Hikaru’s own POV narration is more matter of fact about it – he thinks of himself as a man, and is attracted to women, but dresses as a girl for reasons of family upbringing. Probably the most interesting part of the story is seeing Elvia forcibly bathe Hikaru, who realizes that getting involved in wacky harem comedy “I saw your boobs!” scenes is easier than it seems.

There weren’t really any big missteps taken here, and it’s certainly pleasant enough. That said, it’s not a good sign when, after each volume finishes, you’re thinking “When will this series come to an end?”.

Bookshelf Briefs 7/11/20

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How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | Viz Media – This title has a lot of things going for it, once you get past the “draw them in with sex” opening pages. It’s a college-aged relationship, still rare enough to be notable. The pair get together very quickly, but navigating being a couple is different for both of them—they have different experiences in lesbian relationships, different comfort levels in being “out,” and different ideas of when they can move forward in terms of intimacy. It’s a push-pull that feels more realistic than a lot of the yuri manga that end when the couple get together, and I’m not entirely sure that this series will end with the couple together. There’s also one really weird friend who can’t keep her mouth shut—I liked her. Want to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

How Do We Relationship?, Vol. 1 | By Tamifull | VIZ Media –Miwa Inuzuka knows that it’s totally normal that she loves women, but she still lacks romantic experience, despite her physical attractiveness. Just when she’s about to come out to the first friend she makes upon starting college, upbeat and unabashed Saeko, Saeko beats her to the punch. And since they’re the only lesbians they know, they decide to try dating. This is kind of an unromantic start, but I still really enjoyed this first volume. Miwa’s and Saeko’s personalities come through clearly, and all of the hurdles in their relationship come from who they are as people. The one thing that bugged me is that twice Tamifull cuts away from a scene of conflict and picks back up after apologies have been rendered off-camera. That’s kind of unsatisfying. On the whole, though, I’m really looking forward to volume two. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 15 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – There is a good amount of humor in this volume—Ice Kaguya’s desperately obvious attempts to do couple things, and Shirogane’s equally hilarious denseness, is a highlight, as is the Christmas party. But for the most part the drama is more interesting, as “Ice” Kaguya is in charge but her headstrong and blunt approach merely sends a stressed-out Shirogane into the hospital. Their views are polar opposites (she doesn’t want to hide her real self, he desperately does) but talking things out helps a lot, and their second kiss is quite sweet. There’s still a lot more ground to cover in this title (Ishigami’s love life, Kaguya’s awful upbringing, what’s the deal with Hayasaka, etc.), but at least the main premise of “when will they confess” has been put to bed. They’re a couple. – Sean Gaffney

Little Miss P: The Second Day | By Ken Koyama | Yen Press – The second volume of this manga that teaches people about periods has stories that are a lot more long-form than the first. A young couple’s relationship can’t survive a vacation with Little Miss P; two people who don’t match their gender norms deal with periods and a zombie manifestation; an elementary school has a co-ed discussion of periods; an alien couple are trying to get pregnant; a middle schooler who’s been bullied into not attending school worries about her future; a manga editor deals with something that ISN’T her period; an ovarian cyst; and an idol competition is filled with periods and various remedies. This may be better than the first book; it has more variety, and is very well done. – Sean Gaffney

Magus of the Library, Vol. 3 | By Mitsu Izumi | Kodansha Comics – This series is very pretty and likable, but it has to be said it’s not really breaking any new ground. There’s a lot of standard shonen beats here, and you can easily guess what will be happening next. Theo has to learn to work together with another woman who is arrogant and haughty, and does so. He has to think that he’s done horribly at one part of the test and become convinced he’s failed (he hasn’t). He has to meet a random crotchety old woman and befriend her, only for her to turn out to be much more than she seems—check. That said, provided you don’t mind not being surprised, this is good stuff, helped along by the lush, expansive art and the occasional action sequence. It’s a good series that I think we’re already caught up on, but hopefully more soon. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 12 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – Every time Richard and Buckingham are on the page together I want to drop this. I really dislike their relationship and the power dynamics that it shows off. And yes, I know it’s not meant to be a good thing, but that does not change the fact that I hate it. That said, there’s always one woman being awesome at some point in this series, and for this volume it’s Anne, who is given a fine chance to kill her husband and get away with it, but finds the idea that everyone she is surrounded by being a horrible person rather appalling. As such, she chooses the devil she knows, but does it with BADASS panache. Meanwhile, the War of the Roses continues apace, though we’ve wandered far from Shakespeare here. A problematic fave. – Sean Gaffney

Something’s Wrong with Us, Vol. 2 | By Natsumi Ando | Kodansha Comics – I mentioned last time that I wasn’t ready for the author accelerating immediately to ‘everything is awful’ quite so fast, and that doesn’t let up here, as things go from bad to worse with Nao. She’s banned from the kitchen, the family HATES her with varying degrees of “I want her literally dead” to “I want her to simply go away,” and even Tsubaki, her husband, indicates that if “Sakura” ever appeared to him again, he’d make her disappear. Really, it’s amazing Nao is able to concentrate on sweets at all. That said, Tsubaki may want Sakura to disappear, but he’s slowly falling for Nao, and she for him. They consummate their marriage at the end of this book, but… are things going to get worse and worse? – Sean Gaffney

Toilet-bound Hanako-kun, Vol. 3 | By AidaIro | Yen Press – While the first two volumes firmly established Hanako as an enigma, some of that mystery begins to unravel with the third. Up until this point, much of Hanako’s past was only hinted at. But with the introduction of important new characters in this volume come distressing new revelations about who he really is (or was, considering he’s currently a ghost). The comedic aspects of Toilet-bound Hanako-kun and the goofiness of many of its characters keep the series from becoming overwhelmingly oppressive, but there are still some pretty dark elements. Both Nene and Kou—the closest things to friends that Hanako has had in a long while—wanted to know more about him than he himself had revealed; now they have to come to terms with what they’ve learned and how it will impact their friendships. I look forward to seeing how Toilet-bound Hanako-kun continues to develop a great deal. – Ash Brown

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 6 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – It’s hard not to make the entire review “OMG GORGEOUS,” because so much of what I love about this series is the artwork, which never gets tiring no matter how much you reread it. There’s more to it than the art, though. The girls’ test was interrupted, and they’re brought to one of the Big Witches in this world, who demands as a make-up test that they simply surprise him with magic. This doesn’t go well at first, but after realizing that they should work together to do this, they come up with a brilliant idea (Coco) and execution (the others) to win him over. Even the translation is great, with some hilarious wordplay around Agott’s name. This is one of the best manga releases out there right now. – Sean Gaffney

The Beloved of Marielle Clarac

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

I enjoyed the first Marielle Clarac series while noting a couple of flaws, and I’m pleased to say that this second book at least does a good job fixing one of them. (The “BL tease but no more” aspect is, I fear, not going away anytime soon.) But the mystery/thriller aspect of the book works even better than the first, keeping us guessing as to the motivations of the antagonist (who is not really a villain) and switching immediately to the thriller aspect the moment things are revealed. There’s also a good helping of elements of the first book I greatly enjoyed: Marielle and her tendency to see everything in terms of romantic ‘shipping’ tropes, who gets to simultaneously be very clever and good at reading people and also capable of the most shockingly dumb moves when trying to chase after a lead. She’s not quite an amateur detective, but it’s on the verge of that genre. And the relationship between her and her fiancee Simeon is fantastic.

It’s wintertime, so all the garden parties are inside. More importantly, the Crown Prince (Simeon’s best friend) is being forced to step up his attempts to find a bride now that Simeon and Marielle are engaged. Marielle recommends, in possibly the best scene in the book, the girl who had been bullying her in the past, because she’s clearly not concealing any hidden side and would stop doing it if her husband demanded it. The prince, however, falls for Michelle, a shy and withdrawn young woman who would rather be anywhere but at this party but who reluctantly opens up to the prince anyway. The Prince invites Simeon and Marielle to Michelle’s estate to basically be on his side, and they discover that the family seems to treat her with contempt, or at least treats her as a pawn rather than a daughter. What secrets does Michelle hold? And why is Lutin here and pretending (IS he pretending) to be an Earl?

Marielle and Simeon may have admitted their love to each other in the last book, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not still filled with doubts and misgivings. Marielle has a tendency to describe herself as plain and dull so often that it would come across as self-loathing if she weren’t so confident – it’s practicality turned inward and twisted, and I’m glad Simeon tries to get her to see that she can in fact be attractive. Marielle also has a tendency to get herself into trouble, and while I doubt that’s going away she does at least understand how much it’s panicki8ng him when she does this. The last third of the book has a number of excellent chase scenes, and shows that the author is just as good at action as they are at mystery and romance. As for Michelle’s secret, it’s relatively obvious (Marielle guesses it), but also not quite as obvious (Marielle is stunned), and is handled slightly better than I expected.

It’s suggested that the wedding might be in the next book, though given the subtitle for the third volume is The Temptation of Marielle Clarac that may not happen. But I’m definitely going to be reading more in any case. These are a fun addition to the J-Novel Heart line, and will interest any romance readers, even those not interested in Japanese light novels.

Manga the Week of 7/15/20

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SEAN: It’s still hot, there’s still manga.

ASH: I’m glad for one of those things.

SEAN: Apologies to Kaiten Books, who I forgot to add last week. They had Loner Life in Another World 2 come out digitally.

Denpa has the second volume of Pleasure and Corruption.

J-Novel Club’s debut is A Wild Last Boss Appeared! (Yasei no Rasubosu ga Arawareta!), a fantasy series where the Overlord has returned after being defeated years ago in a game world. A guy playing the game now finds himself in the Overlord’s body, and has to deal with her return after 200 years. Yes, her. This could be fun or awful, not sure which.

They also have the 2nd volume of The Extraordinary, the Ordinary and SOAP!; Lazy Dungeon Master 11; and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen 7.

Kodansha’s digital debut is Cells at Work again: Platelets! (Hataraku Kesshouban-chan). This runs in Shonen Sirius, and is basically “adorable grade schoolers” in the Cells at Work vein.

ASH: The platelets were pretty cute to begin with in the original manga.

SEAN: In print, we get The Quintessential Quintuplets 9. In digital, we get The Quintessential Quintuplets 13, the second to last volume, and find out once and for all which Quint is the winner.

Also out digitally: Ace of the Diamond 27, Giant Killing 21, Grand Blue Dreaming 11, Hitorijime My Hero 8, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 9, Sailor Moon Eternal Edition 8, The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 4, and Tokyo Revengers 16. Some of those will get print later, some will not.

MICHELLE: I’m a few volumes behind on Giant Killing. I expect catching up to be a great deal of fun.

ASH: I would pick this series up in a heartbeat if it ever gets a print release; I enjoyed the anime adaptation a great deal.

SEAN: One Peace has the 17th volume of The Rising of the Shield Hero.

Seven Seas has the print debut of Adachi and Shimamura, the popular yuri light novel series.

Also debuting in print is Love on the Other Side, a short story collection from the author of The Girl from the Other Side, which promises to be heartwarming and creepy in about equal measure.

MICHELLE: Woot!

ASH: Very excited for this volume!

ANNA: Nice, me too!

MJ: This sounds great!

SEAN: There is also Blank Canvas 5, A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy 3, Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 2, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 13, and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out! 3. Most of those we discussed when the digital version came out.

MICHELLE: I really, really need to read Blank Canvas.

ASH: It is so, so good.

MJ: I also need to get around to this.

SEAN: Out early digitally is the 2nd Buck Naked in Another World, and let’s just leave that there.

Square Enix has, in print, the 2nd A Man and His Cat and the debut of the Wandering Witch manga.

MICHELLE: I am so there for A Man and His Cat.

ASH: I really enjoyed the first volume.

MJ: I need to catch up!

SEAN: Debuting digitally first for Square Enix is The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest (Shikkaku Mon no Saikyou Kenja – Sekai Saikyou no Kenja ga Sara ni Tsuyokunaru Tame ni Tensei Shimashita). Fantasy, harem, magic academy, strong guy who is supposedly weak, etc.

SuBLime has a debut called Jealousy, from Scarlet Beriko, the author of Jackass!. It’s a yakuza BL title, and looks pretty serious.

ASH: I’ll expect that I be checking this one out at some point. I liked Jackass!, though this manga sounds to be in quite a different vein.

MJ: I’ll cautiously consider.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 6th volume of My Boy.

Viz’s debut is a spinoff, Splatoon: Squid Kids’ Comedy Show. I have no idea, really.

They also have Case Closed 75 (good lord), the 3rd Persona 5, Radiant 12, Record of Grancest War 7, and RIN-NE 34.

What manga cools you off?

Bleach: Can’t Fear Your Own World, Vol. 1

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By Ryohgo Narita and Tite Kubo. Released in Japan by Shueisha. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Jan Cash.

There have been several Bleach novels released in Japan, but I believe this is the first one to be licensed for the West. Previous books either tended to be novelizations, tie-ins to games, or… well, no, I don’t know why they didn’t pick up We Do (Knot) Always Love You, except shipping reasons. This trilogy, though, is explicitly a direct sequel to the main manga, exploring aftermaths that Kubo couldn’t get to because they cancelled Bleach a bit earlier than expected. Moreover, it’s written by a known name to English-speaking readers: Ryohgo Narita, the creator of Baccano! and Durarara!!. Narita’s series are also known for their huge, hard to wrangle casts and slow-burn plots that end in explosions. Moreover, unlike Kubo, Narita actually knows how to pace. So it makes sense that this is the first novel we see of Bleach over here, and fortunately it’s a good choice, wrapping up several things while introducing a new villain to the piece. And boy howdy, Narita also knows how to write villains. This guy is smug scum who makes you long for Aizen.

Aizen is in this book briefly, and he gets to be smug as well. That said, as the cover might suggest, the star of the book is Hisagi, who is in his capacity as roving reporter for the Soul Society’s newspaper. The newspaper, as you might imagine, was not being published during the last, oh, 30 volumes of Bleach, but it’s starting up again, and he’s trying to interview the participants in the Thousand Year War, figuring that it’s best to get opinions now while it’s fresh than years from now. Unfortunately, a new story inserts its way into the narrative: there’s a new head of one of the Four Great Noble Clans. He’s paying to have the newspaper talk all about him. Oh yes, he’s also a known murderer. Of his wife. Who was Tosen’s best friend. This is not a spoiler, he pretty much admits it. And he has a plan to install a new King in Soul Society. Fortunately, this plan MOSTLY does not involve Ichigo.

The “main” cast of Bleach are pretty much absent from this book, and you get the feeling that will be the case for the other two books as well. Narita seems to have two goals in this book. The first is to wrap up Bleach proper, as we see a lot of the aftermath of Hueco Mundo (including several people I was sure were dead who are, in fact, not dead) and the Sternritter (including several people I was sure were dead who are, in fact, not dead). If you dislike the fact that Jump tends not to kill off characters, this volume may annoy you. The other goal of this book seems to be saying “screw the class system”, and I’m behind that. We’ve seen before that Soul Society has a lot of skeletons in its closet, but here we really get a sense of what it means to be privileged. The villain is absolutely over the top, not in a laughing crazy way but in a smug snake way, and he reminded me not a little bit of another villain Narita has written in his series. I assume he and Hisagi will eventually confront each other.

In the end, I’d say this book succeeds in that it made me interested in Bleach again. I’ll definitely be getting the second in the series. And there’s no romance at all in it, so even shippers can buy it without fear. Maybe Kubo should hire out a writer and just plot his next work. Then again, that did not work very well for Naruto’s creator…

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 2

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by Will Holcomb.

There’s a lot less focus on bear in this second volume of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, mostly because Yuna herself has gotten used to it – at one point she casually names something with a bear motif, showing that unconsciously she’s accepted that’s what she is now. Instead the focus is on Yuna and her general attitude towards everything. Yuna is, in both her own internal narration and dialogue, a grumpy girl with minimal emotional range, and we see lots of that here. That said, the point of the books is to show that Yuna, underneath that, is a caring girl with a heart of gold. Here she helps a nearby orphanage, employs Fina’s mother so that she doesn’t have to return to adventuring, helps save a village from a giant snake, and protects a newbie group of adventurers from a giant wolf. All in a day’s work for our overpowered heroine, who has a few moments here where she has to break a sweat and not simply overpower everything in her path… but only a few.

As with the first book, if the idea of OP heroes irritates you in any way, steer clear. Here not only does Yuna do awesome power moves to defeat strong monsters, including having an army of tiny bears made of fire march down the gullet of an enemy, she’s also learning cure and heal, so that she can be an all-purpose team all on her own, and also save Fina’s mom from her tragic ending. Other than that, though, Yuna doesn’t really have very many motivations in this book. The ending of the book indicates she’s going to the capital city of this world, and that might be a good idea, because she’s a bit unmotivated. We see her looking at several quests and rejecting them all as she doesn’t feel like doing them. It’s hard when you’re stuck in a rut only a few weeks after you arrive in your “trapped in a game world” world.

One interesting thing (in both good and bad ways) that was done here is the local lord of the Town, who Yuna meets in this volume. He’s a nice guy with an adorable daughter, but Yuna, having read far too many light novels in her old life in Japan, immediately thinks he’s going to be cruel and arrogant, with a snide, privileged son. This turns out not to be true… however, the lord *is* negligent, as we see when Yuna discovers kids begging on the street and a run-down orphanage losing its funding. Yuna is understandably furious, even as she fixes the problem all on her own (because of course she does). That said, it turns out the reason for all this is an evil aide and his evil family. The aide is REALLY evil – as in “kidnapping young girls, raping and killing them” evil. It’s tonally awful in a book that is supposed to be “cute girl in bear suit is awesome”, and I didn’t enjoy it, mostly as the lord, who was negligent in not noticing this, is very quickly forgiven. (The first book also had that mindboggling “so I paid my parents off till they abandoned me” moment, and it was just as jarring.)

Putting that aside, though, the book delivers what its readers want, though I wish Yuna’s stoic emotionlessness didn’t sometimes carry over to the actual prose. It will be interesting to see what a larger city does for our favorite bear.

Pick of the Week: Blue Skies, Knights and Acting

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SEAN: I admit I tend to be more of a meat-and-potatoes manga reader, and there’s a ton of Viz stuff that I’ll be getting this week. That said, my pick is definitely Drawn & Quarterly’s The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud, a collection of Kuniko Tsurita’s works that ran in underground manga magazine Garo and elsewhere. It just looks wonderful.

MICHELLE: It does, but I have just been looking forward to act-age for so long that I can’t quit now. I don’t know what to expect from a shounen series about acting, but I am dying to find out.

ANNA: This seems like a great week for quirky manga in general. I’m going to have to go for the second volume of Knight of the Ice, because I’m not going to pass up any chance to celebrate a Yayoi Ogawa series.

KATE: I’m all in for The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud because if nothing else, I’m super-predictable when it comes to old, weird, or historically important manga. If I’m being a little less high-minded, I’m also totally on board with volume two of Knight of the Ice. It’s not as good as Tramps Like Us, but as Anna said, any Yayoi Ogawa manga is worth supporting, even if the supporting characters are more memorable than the lead romantic couple.

ASH: The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud is definitely my pick this week, too! I’m always interested in creators who published in Garo, but Kuniko Tsurita is one of the few women whose work has been translated, so I’m doubly interested.

MJ: I’m certainly excited about The Sky Is Blue with a Single Cloud, but this week I’m going to live dangerously and join Michelle in crossing my fingers for act-age. I just have to give it a shot!

Kokoro Connect: Asu Random, Part 1

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By Sadanatsu Anda and Shiromizakana. Released in Japan by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Molly Lee.

Here we are, folks, the final arc of Kokoro Connect. (There’s another short story book after this, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s more of a victory lap than a plot mover.) This one is big enough to be divided into two books. When you finish it you will see why. Everything that the Club has been doing for the last year and a half – every victory, every heartwarming moment, every time they managed to win out and not completely lose it – has now turned into a liability, as it turns out that they’re simply TOO STRONG for Heartseed. And so there are new dangers on several fronts: other students are now suffering bodyswaps/emotional rages as they once did; people are finding out about the Club’s real activities, particularly their families; and there are now FOUR Heartseeds, some of whom are (supposedly) good guys now, and some of whom are determined to erase everyone’s memory of the last eighteen months. Even if that means destroying lives.

These books have always had a high amount of teen drama, and this one is no exception, though for once our main heroes aren’t actually part of it. By design. (Actually, I was rather surprised that the two main couples didn’t reflect more on the fact that their budding relationships might soon be completely undone, but to be fair they’ve got a LOT going on.) Indeed, all their secrecy is now coming back to haunt them, as it’s fairly easy to see them as the cause of the problem. There’s also a lot of brainwashing in this book, to a disturbing degree. Everyone has heard rumors of the school vanishing, but no one knows where from. The teachers don’t seem to care that everyone’s skipping class… or not there at all. Even Iori’s mother and Taichi’s sister, tho literally go to the school to investigate, end up being influenced. And then there’s Misaki, who serves as the test case for what’s going to happen to everyone – after talking with the Club, she loses her memories, and is mow merely casual acquaintances with her former best friends. It’s scary.

If this sounds a bit over the top and unrealistic, well, the Club points that out as well, as to how big an undertaking it will be to do this and not have the world notice. What’s also interesting is that they have not one, but TWO former enemies seemingly on their side – I say seemingly merely because Heartseed, as always, is deeply untrustworthy, be in the first or the second one. But they admit what I’ve been suspecting for a while – the reason they’re doing this so much is to see the emotions that humans have, and the Club has been influencing them more and more to try to retain their observations and emotions. As I said, the Club is simply too good at being emotional wrecks, in both good and bad ways. Now the entire school is in anotehr dimension, along with most of the first and second years, and it’s up to our heroes to rescue them.

Will they do it? Probably, though if any series was going to play with a tragic ending it would be this one. We’ll see what happens in the 2nd part. In the meantime, get reading for a shipfull of feels. (Speaking of ships, is it me or does polyamory feels REALLY natural with these five?)