Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, Vol. 1

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By Natsume Akimoto and Kakao Lanthanum. Released in Japan as “Sentouin, Hakenshimasu!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Noboru Akimoto.

Sometimes you can have an isekai without all of that pesky dying and being reincarnated, or being transported to another world by a magic spell. It’s as easy as making the “fantasy world” on another planet, and having our heroes sent to it to see if it can be taken over… erm, colonized. That’s the basic premise of this series, which features the nameless Combat Agent Six and his android partner Alice Kisaragi sent via a teleport (that is totally tested and functional, honest) to a planet that is apparently dealing with a demon lord invasion. On the one side we have the kingdom of Grace, with knights, princesses, castles, etc. and the demon lords, who have golems and are your standard demonic types. On the other side we have Six, Alice, and their newly befriended band of misfits… erm, crack squad, and modern weaponry. Oh, yes, and one other thing that should be noted: Six and Alice work for an evil organization, and can only get weapons and equipment by doing evil acts.

Actually, one other thing should be noted: this is by the author of KonoSuba. Actually, it was written online before Konosuba, and picked up by Kadokawa after the latter’s success as a light novel/manga/anime franchise. This means, needless to say, that the best reason to get this is the comedy. It’s not a full-on parody like KonoSuba, but the humor tends to be along the same lines. (Actually, the humor can sometimes, like KonoSuba, cross a line or two – I was not all that pleased with the “take photos of the evil sorceress in a certain pose” moment, even if it’s a PG-rated version of same.) The cast may also ring a bell as well – Six is not that far from Kazuma, and Snow is basically what would happen if Aqua and Darkness had a kid. There’s a lot of great humor, provided you don’t mind the cast all being horrible people to one degree or another.

The best reason to get the book is the bantering relationship between Six and Alice. Like Kazuma and Aqua, there’s no real romantic tension between these two. Instead, they function as snark factories, ready and willing to tear down anything for the sake of evil and/or their own amusement. The other good reason to get this is the few moments when the protagonists are allowed to be cool. Because it’s not a parody like KonoSuba, the cool moments are allowed to exist without getting undercut, and actually impressed me a bit, even when they were also hilarious (Rose and Grimm’s “you shall not pass!” moment, the land mine trap, the chainsaw ending). There’s also some nice character development for Snow, who is arrogant and sword-obsessed but also has something of a righteousness to her, which contrasts well with Six, who is supposedly working for an evil organization but relies on petty, assholish acts to cover up the fact that he can’t be REALLY evil when it counts.

The color pages note that Snow is “this volume’s heroine”, so I expect the next book will focus on either Rose, a chimera girl who’s trying to follow in her grandfather’s footsteps, or Grimm, an archbishop of death who actually uses a wheelchair most of the book – something rarely seen in a light novel. (Yes, she can on occasion get out of it, but for the most part really does need it.) A must-read for KonoSuba fans, and those who enjoy comedy light novels and don’t mind characters whose default is “jerK” will also be happy.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 10

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By Hiromu Arakawa. Released in Japan as “Gin no Saji” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

It has to be said, the love story in Silver Spoon can sometimes be frustrating. Not so much on the Hachiken/Mikage end, as I’m perfectly content with these two to slowly make their way into a relationship. It’s more the reaction of the rest of the students. There are not any noticeable “beta couples” in this series, which is not primarily a romantic comedy in any case, so what you end up having is a bunch of teenage farm kids watching their friends be adorable AND oblivious at the same time. They want to be happy deep down, I’m sure. But in reality… they’re pissed. And you get the sense the author is as well. So for every cute, heartwarming moment, such as Mikage’s New Year’s text, you get the inevitable crushing of it – literally, in this case, as Hachiken’s phone is destroyed via horse and via the obnoxious Ookawa. Fortunately, the rest of the book devotes itself to Ookawa’s downfall (honestly, the series as a whole also does this).

One of Silver Spoon’s general themes is that this may be shonen manga but things are not always magically going to work out. Mikage is studying now, but her grades aren’t suddenly terrific. The kids make sausage (which takes up a third of the book – again, Silver Spoon is a farming manga) but a lot of it is misshapen and weird. And then there’s Komaba, who lurks around the edges of this volume. He’s not back at school, but he is doing about eight jobs a day in order to earn money to pay back debt. As a result, he runs into Hachiken over the holidays, and then is lured into showing up at the Winter Festival. Sometimes we can’t achieve our dreams, and reality ensues. That’s certainly what happened to Komaba, and it sucks. But when you don’t achieve your dreams, that does not really mean you give up and resolve to never have fun or see your old friends again ever. This lesson he still needs to learn.

Speaking of lessons, Hachiken and Mikage might want to look over at his brother, who met a Russian girl and married her almost immediately. As always, the brothers end up being completely different. We meet said wife, Alexandra, towards the end of the book. That said, their relationship is glossed over and we get a whole bunch of Russia jokes instead. A lot of these are well-researched and amusing, but it does sort of remind me of the old 80s sitcoms where Yakov Smirnoff was the guest star. The “Silver Spoon” joke in particular is hilarious but also tremendously cliched. Still, it’s nice to see that she likes Hachiken, and I’m glad we get to see an actual functional couple, even if Hachiken’s brother still can’t cook to save his life. (Or Ookawa’s life. RIP, death by borscht.)

The next volume promises to lean a bit harder on the romance, as it’s Valentine’s day. Will we get a kiss? Don’t count on it. But do expect more of these lovable and frustrating farming goofballs.

Manga the Week of 9/11/19

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SEAN: No time to talk! Manga is coming!

J-Novel Club have new volumes for Cooking with Wild Game (4) and How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord (10).

Kodansha debuts the “official” adaptation of Fate/Grand Order, called mortalis:stella. It’s one of many FGO manga out, but this is the “story” one, apparently. That said, it only ran two volumes, so I suspect the story is compressed, though there is a sequel of sorts. It ran in Ichijinsha’s Zero-Sum.

ASH: Oh, interesting! That makes it on the shoujo and josei end of things, doesn’t it?

SEAN: In print, Kodansha also has Eden’s Zero 4.

Digitally the debut is Queen Bee (Seishun Otome Banchou!), from an author familiar to readers with long memories, Shizuru Seino. She did Heaven!!, Power!!, and Love Attack!. Love Attack! never finished over here, which is a shame, as this is about the daughter of the leads from that series. She has a scary face… and disposition… but is still a girl in love. This ran in Betsufure.

MICHELLE: Oh, I actually read all of Power!! (released by TOKYOPOP as Girl Got Game) back in the day! I failed to make the connection.

ANNA: I read some of Love Attack! back in the day, and I think I have a couple volumes of Girl Got Game somewhere in my stacks of unread manga.

ASH: I rather enjoyed what I read of Love Attack!.

SEAN: We also get Giant Killing 16, The Knight Cartoonist and Her Orc Editor 2, Red Riding Hood’s Wolf Apprentice 3 (this is a final volume), The Slime Diaries 2, and Tokyo Revengers 11.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Giant Killing! It’s been quite a while.

SEAN: Seven Seas has THREE debuts. The first is a spinoff, Arifureta Zero, adapting the spinoff light novel with the same title. It runs in Overlap’s Comic Gardo.

Become You (Kimi ni Nare) is the latest series from the author of orange. Like orange, it’s likely “shoujo in a man’s magazine”, as this runs in Futabasha’s Monthly Action. It’s got guys, and bands, and childhood dreams.

MICHELLE: I hope this is as good as orange.

ASH: Me, too! I’m also interested in it for the music aspects.

SEAN: The Brave-Tuber (Haishin Yuusha) is your standard fantasy world with adventurers, etc… except it has the Internet. Two guys try to find a way to build subscribers and defeat monsters. This runs in Mag Garden’s Comic Blade and is also a short, two-volume series.

Seven Seas also gives us Mushoku Tensei: Roxy Gets Serious 2 and There’s a Demon Lord on the Floor 7.

SuBLime has Candy Color Paradox and the 9th Deluxe Edition of Finder for its BL readers.

ASH: I finally picked up a copy of the first volume of Candy Color Paradox! (Now I just have to read it.)

SEAN: Vertical has the 5th volume of My Boy.

Viz gives us the 34th volume of Hayate the Combat Butler, still entertaining readers in the West thanks to the wonders of contractual obligation. They also have Radiant 7, Splatoon 7, and Yo-Kai Watch 12.

Lastly, Yen Press has a 5th volume of Chio’s School Road. It’s not like those OTHER roads.

ASH: Nope, not at all like those other roads.

SEAN: Thoughts? Concerns? Complaints?

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 1

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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.

While the word “treason” in the title is technically accurate, I feel that it might do a disservice to the genius prince, who is not nearly as bad as that title makes him out to be. Sure, he wants to pass the leadership of the country off to someone else, and is totally fine with that someone else being another country, but this does not mean he’d do it if it meant that the people in the country would suffer. Instead this book is along the lines of a few other LNs featuring “genius” characters, who are always brilliant but not quite brilliant enough to stop misunderstandings or prevent things happening elsewhere that destroy their clever plans. Which is good, as otherwise Prince Wein might be insufferable. As it is, he’s a pretty likeable guy, though it helps that he has a beautiful childhood friend/aide who is willing to stick potatoes up his nose when he screws up.

In the mountainous and remote Kingdom of Natra, the old King is dying, and the Prince Regent, Wein, is running the country. To his subjects, court, and little sister, he’s the perfect thoughtful and intelligent King. To Ninym, his childhood friend, and only Ninym, he’s a whiny selfish brat who desperately wants to slack off and be lazy but can’t because he’s a Prince with a country to look after. He tries making overtures towards the Empire that controls half the country to take it over… then the Emperor dies and that goes south. When a neighboring country invades, he tries to have a quick little war that will end in negotiations, but that goes south in a hurry. Even holing up in a newly conquered gold mine just means finding out that it’s nearly out of gold. Fortunately, Wein really is brilliant. He’ll need that brilliance.

This ended up being a lot of fun. For one thing, we’re in a “medieval kingdom” sort of world that does NOT appear to be filled with magic and monsters. There are the Flahm, a race who seem to be regarded as slaves by some other countries but not in Natra, as Ninym is a Flahm and treating her as a slave would… not be advisable. I was expecting elf ears or similar, but it looks like “albinism” might be the only difference. I was also pleased to see that, despite Wein occasionally taking note of the large-breasted Imperial Ambassador, this does not really appear to be a harem series at all. Ninym clearly loves Wein, and worries about whether he feels the same. Given that he literally has people killed who belittle or insult her, I think that might be a clue, but hey. They make an awesome power couple even if they’re not a couple, and their back and forth is the main highlight of the book. (Future book covers also feature only the two of them, meaning we’re unlikely to have a “stack up a new heroine every volume” syndrome many LNs have.)

If you enjoy warfare and politics but are sick of isekai and gaming-style fantasy worlds, this book may be the perfect antidote. It’s fun and entertaining.

Bookshelf Briefs 9/4/19

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Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 23 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Seido is reeling from their surprising loss in the final round of the West Tokyo qualifiers. Promptly, the third years retire to focus on college while the rest of the team gears up for the fall tournament. Many pivotal spots have been left vacant, so the junior varsity players are fired up to finally secure a place on the varsity squad. Not fired up are Eijun, who has trouble shaking the image of his pitch hitting a batter, and Kawakami, who squandered Seido’s lead and ruined the upperclassmen’s hopes of making it to Koshien. I always appreciate anything that leads Eijun to a more humble state of being and also really liked seeing Miyuki seriously step up to a leadership role after he is made the new team captain. I’m excited to see how this iteration of the team fares. – Michelle Smith

Barakamon, Vol. 18 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – Much of the final volume in this series involves showing us that time is slowly marching on. There’s no time skip or anything, but life keeps happening. Tama gets a manga published. Miwa’s father is leaving to work on a ship, similar to Naru’s father, and Naru and Hina move on to the next grade, though the island is so small that they don’t get any underclassman to be sempai to. As for Handa, he’s become the stable part of the group; still teaching calligraphy, still being a bit of a goofball, but not going anywhere—this is where he belongs now. The overall tome of this series was relaaxing and fun, and that’s how it ended up, with the characters undergoing mild but meaningful journeys. I’ll miss it. – Sean Gaffney

Count Fujiwara’s Suffering | By Mahito Aobe | Yen Press – I’ve talked before about how I think that omnibuses of comedy manga are a bad idea, and this 540-page volume bears that out. That said, I don’t think I’d love this even in single volumes. Count Fujiwara is a cat, whose thoughts we are privy to. He’s dealing with two sisters—one an airheaded NEET who stopped going to school after a past event we only find out about near the end; the other is a more “normal” girl who has an unfortunate crush on her sister—unfortunate in that it contains all the annoying “comedy lesbian” tropes. There’s a speck of a storyline here about what happened to make Shizuka like this, but for the most part it’s “look at the silly girls and their frustrated cat.” You can do better. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 8 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – I have occasionally wondered as I read a manga where a character discusses the fact that they’ve never felt love like other people if said character will actually end up being asexual. It’s rarely happened, and I don’t expect it to happen here, but it’s an interesting thought. Ayumi’s thoroughly analytical personality is great for a career as a newshound, but very bad when dealing with Takaya, who we’ve known for a while has fallen for her in his quiet, hard-to-read way. Her thesis paper on why they should or shouldn’t go out doesn’t help. Fortunately, we have Kai and Riko being adorable fluffs in love to balance things out. And this time Kagura’s on the cover, but STILL gets nothing to do. Arc when? -Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2 | By Tomohito Oda | VIZ Media – Much of this volume is cute. A classmate declares herself Komi’s rival in the national health exams. Komi attempts to tell (lame) jokes in writing. The gang goes out for ramen after school. Najimi encourages Komi to go shopping for clothes and the gang all chooses different outfits for her to try on and rate. And then there’s Ren Yamai, who has a crush on Komi and promptly goes into scary, knife-wielding psycho mode. I liked that Yamai’s threats against Tadano prompted Komi to firmly state (in writing) that she decides who her friends are, as well as the fact that this whole situation prompted Komi to “talk” a lot with Tadano and allowed for some funny Najimi moments. But I really disliked that, after all Yamai’s terrible, alarming behavior, Komi consents to be friends with her after all. Yamai is the Mineta of an otherwise really fun series. Sad face. – Michelle Smith

Murcielago, Vol. 11 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – The police have had a very odd relationship with Kuroko, for obvious reasons, but they find themselves more drawn into the current case than usual. The people getting eaten by sharks rapidly led to brains in jars, including the wife of Tsuru, who he’s been trying to avenge but sadly reality gets in the way. Also, his partner may be secretly evil? Fortunately, Suiren is saved, and deals with her grief. She’s not even seduced by Kuroko—yet. And so we move on to a new arc, which involves someone going around killing master swordsmen. Murcielago will never win any good taste awards, and its leads are all sociopaths (even the police, to a degree), but it’s fun, and there are some great Kuroko faces here. – Sean Gaffney

One-Punch Man, Vol. 17 | By ONE and Yusuke Murata | Viz Media – When the hell did this get so boring? Its strength remains its humor, and the best parts of the volume are showing off that humor, such as Fubuki desperately trying to rally the incredibly apathetic troops, or Saitama only getting really pissed off because the hero hunter keeps ignoring him. But for the most part, it’s serious fights between serious heroes and serious villains, and honestly I can get that much better in My Hero Academia. The world is also pretty nihilistic here—we need the heroes because the villains are not going to stop and wait for them, as a Private Merc Force finds out when they are quickly beaten and enslaved. I want more funny stuff, please. – Sean Gaffney

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 8 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – It’s time for new employee orientation, including a field trip and a hot springs visit. This actually means a bit more fanservice than the other seven volumes combined, as of course Syalis goes along with everyone—they have to pretend she’s working as a demon in order not to give it away. (This being a comedy manga, the author lampshades that Syalis is in a swimsuit twice within three chapters.) The jokes are the same, though—Syalsi is spoiled and a bit appalling but also too difficult to say no to, and also sort of cute and adorable. At least she’s not gleefully killing everyone anymore, so that’s a plus. It even feels a bit like an extended family now. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 7 | By Maybe | Yen Press – We’ve hit a new harem manga record with this volume, as fully HALF THE BOOK is set up to have Satou and his fiancées get it on so that they can gain the power needed to defeat the Abyss King. Sadly, for anyone hoping for a payoff, there’s lots of skin and titillation but everyone is still a virgin by the end of the book. We also get some details of the prior hero, who was seemingly corrupted by the situation of “get to bone all these girls” and ended up getting killed by said girls, one of whom is still around thanks to the long lives of elves. Will Satou end up going down the same path? Well, not if this keeps up. This is a good series for fantasy fans but harem fans may be getting irritated. – Sean Gaffney

We Never Learn, Vol. 5 | By Taishi Tsutsui | Viz Media – As with the series’ spiritual successor, Nisekoi, We Never Learn is very good at balancing out each girl in the romantic comedy stakes so that they all get something to do. Unlike Nisekoi, the choice is not obvious from chapter one, either. It doesn’t help that Fumino seems to be honestly trying to help Naruyuki get together with someone else… even as she gets the shippiest chapter in the book, the classic “we have to share a hotel room and there is only one bed” trope. But the others get their moments as well (including the teacher, which I suppose I will have to get used to), and it’s cute, fun, and a bit sweet and romantic as long as you don’t mind it then snapping back to status quo. – Sean Gaffney

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 3 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – Sometimes series can falter after their respective love interests get together, but so far that hasn’t been an issue with Wotakoi. There are some chapters that I find less engaging (generally the few that take place “in game”—I prefer the manga’s exploration of real life experiences), but as a whole it’s still consistently entertaining. I especially appreciate the importance placed on the series’ non-romantic friendships. The fact that Hirotaka and Narumi are dating is still being kept a secret in the workplace, so one of my favorite running gags in the third omnibus of Wotakoi is that their coworkers are all essentially rooting for them to hook up. In part this requires Fujita to introduce a few new recurring side characters who end up being a rather amusing addition to the manga. I continue to greatly enjoy Wotakoi. – Ash Brown

Yuri Life | By Kurukuruhime | Yen Press – Yuri Life is a collection of 4-koma vignettes about various cohabitating couples, the vast majority of whom are working women in their twenties. Some stories are kind of cute, but none is in the least bit funny, so it’s not that kind of 4-koma. Probably the best story in the lot is “Life with a Grim Reaper,” in which a grim reaper falls in love with a woman who’s supposed to die soon. I could see a concept like that filling at least one volume, but not so much the rest. The collection also includes “Life with a Yandere,” in which we get creepy inner monologues like, “If I snipped off those small, slim fingers, would I be the only one you touched?” Um, that is seriously fucked up! Why is that in the same collection as these other frothy tales? This is definitely a mixed bag. – Michelle Smith

Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight, Vol. 5

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By Hyougetsu and Nishi(E)da. Released in Japan by Earth Star Entertainment. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

Honestly, I’m starting to feel that the author is spoiling me at this point. Der Werwolf 5 has Veight and Eleora going to Rolmund, which is essentially not-Russia, pretending that she defeated Meraldia in order to suss out the political situation back in her country. And thus we get an entire book filled with political machinations, double-dealing, duels, and Veight telling everyone he’s just a humble vice-commander. It’s excellent, and reminds you how good this author can be at making just two people sitting in a room discussing economics interesting. Which is a good thing, as we’re not done with this arc yet, nor does it sound like we will be next time. Rolmund still runs on a lords and serfs-style of rule, and their agricultural yield has not been all that great lately. And, honestly, no one was really expecting Eleora to win. (Which she didn’t, but let’s not split hairs.) As a result, things are… complicated. At least till Veight gets through with them.

Given that Veight is in diplomacy mode here, there’s not quite as much derring-do, especially as he and his fellow werewolves have to keep their true nature hidden during the visit. (I don’t expect THAT to last either.) He does get a duel against Count Von Evilcount, who he wipes the floor with despite the count having the sword equivalent of an Agonizer. Actually, he ends up fighting LOTS of duels, though only a few are people legitimately trying to cause him harm, and it gets to the point where by the end of the book he’s telling old war stories (edited for state secrets) to the easily impressionable son of one of the crown princes. Actually, he’s feeling out all the royals, be it eating not-so-poisonous berries from a private garden, having blunt discussions with the most ambitious of the group, and realizing that at the rate it’s going, Rolmund is going to be dealing with mass starvation and death in a generation or two.

There is a running gag here (among the many running gags in Der Werwolf) about Eleora being very repressed and precise, and everyone except Veight noting how much she’s relaxed and mellowed out since the invasion of Meraldia. She does not, thankfully, seem to be joining the group of women in love with Veight – honestly, this is still a harem with one big front-runner, and things will likely not be helped by Veight, to provide a cover story, says that Airia is his fiancee. Pretty sure that will get back to her, and also pretty sure that she won’t mind one bit, provided he doesn’t try to walk it back. But with Eleora we don’t get that dynamic, we just see that Veight has the ability to change those who come into contact with him, as we see when she manages to overcome her trust issues and reunite (sort of) with her uncle.

We’re just at the start of this arc, and I’m pretty sure things are going to go pear-shaped next time. Till then, enjoy the light novel equivalent of a John le Carré book.

Pick of the Week: Phantom Tales and Other Stories

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KATE: Last week’s INSANE manga haul has left me scarred: there was so much good stuff to choose from that I felt paralyzed when trying to choose one or two for our weekly round-up. This week, by contrast, I only have eyes for one series: Phantom Tales of the Night, which sounds a lot like Pet Shop of Horrors and has a pretty snazzy-looking cover to boot.

SEAN: I’ll go with a digital debut this week. Everything I’ve heard about Smile Down the Runway suggests it’s a josei title in shonen’s clothing, and apparently it has a terrific look at fashion and the struggle between doing what you love and earning a living. I want to take a look.

MICHELLE: There’s lots of Shojo Beat goodness, but for me this week is all about the sports boys. When Yowamushi Pedal is pitted against Haikyu!!, much as I love the former, I have to go with the volleyball kids. They’re just so dang endearing!

ASH: I certainly enjoy both Haikyu!! and Yowamushi Pedal, but I’m with Kate this week for my pick. I generally like horror manga, but I find shoujo horror particularly difficult to resist, so <Phantom Tales of the Night it is!

ANNA: There’s so much to choose from! I’m going to go with Daytime Shooting Star just because we don’t get much teacher-student romance shoujo here.

The Poe Clan, Vol. 1

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By Moto Hagio. Originally released in Japan as “Poe no Ichizoku” by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Betsucomi. Released in North America by Fantagraphics. Translated by Rachel Thorn.

As with a lot of stories by Moto Hagio, it can be hard to describe how The Poe Clan works as a collected manga story because the reader has a tendency to get lost in the feel of it. Indeed, sometimes I got a bit too lost – the final story in the book, The Birds’ Nest, made me feel at times as if pages with important continuity had been removed to add to the impact. But of course the impact IS the point. This is especially clear in the first part of the book, which features the introduction of Edgar, his sister and Lost Lenore Marybelle, and Alan, the teenage boy who gets entangled in Edgar’s life and later becomes his companion. It actually reads like it was written after the later material (it may well have been – chronological publishing order is not required, especially in early manga collections) and has a lot more action and violence than the back half of the book, which relies on menace and mood. It’s hard to put down.

Oh yes, I haven’t mentioned, this is about a clan of vampires. Or vampirnellas, as they are referred to throughout the book. Edgar and Marybelle are adopted into the family, which tends to live its life on he run and trying to live like typical English aristocrats while not getting noticed. Unfortunately, Edgar is very good at getting noticed, being a gorgeous teenage boy and also having that brooding thing going on. His sister is also highly noticeable, but for the opposite reason – she is a ray of sunshine in everyone’s lives, causing even passing strangers to be mesmerized by her (or accidentally shoot her – you know how it is). Needless to say, her eventual fate, while not a surprise (with a cover like that, you aren’t expecting Edgar and Marybelle to have wacky adventures) hangs over the rest of the book, as well as most of Edgar’s actions. As for Alan, well, there are some homoerotic elements to their relationship, particularly in the final story, but Alan is so far not as good a character as the siblings.

The art is, as you’d expect, amazing. Flip to a random page and chances are you’ll find something that will have you staring. A possible exception to this are the ‘comedy’ elements of the final story, particularly the production of As You Like it, which has lots of goofy faces that help to alleviate the mood from the rest of the plot, which involves a seeming murder that may be a suicide and tortured young men in love. Much is made of the almost inhuman beauty of the vampirnellas, particularly Edgar, an no linework is spared in conveying that to the reader. This is absolutely a work you will want to keep on your shelf. (That said, the spine of my copy has “The Poe Clan” written from bottom to top, which contrasts sharply with most books in my collection, so use caution when shelving.)

The second and final volume of this series hasn’t been scheduled yet by Fantagraphics, but I hope to see it sometime next year. If only for more shots of brooding boys and gentle girls.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 6

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

Alas, for those who want to know what happened after the cliffhanger on the “hero” side of these books, you’re still going to have to wait. The sixth volume takes place entirely in the “past” part of the books, showing our spider heroine, Ariel, Sophia and Merazophis mostly going from town to town and bonding, while at the same time the world recovers from the battle that happened in the fifth book. The non-Spider parts of the narrative bounce between Sophia, who may be a vampire baby but is also a reincarnation, so we get her thoughts on everything that’s going on, and Ronandt, the elder mage who honestly spends most of the book as ridiculous comic relief till he finally snaps out of it. There is one big battle near the end, featuring a much better Giant Spider Invasion than the one we saw on MST3K, but for the most part this book is far more introspective than previous volumes. There’s barely any stat listings!

I am at last allowed to talk about the spider heroine while using a name. Ariel names her White, fitting her appearance. This is in fact something of a power play, as naming something works the way it does in a lot of high fantasy, but it doesn’t have much effect on White as she’s already ridiculously powerful. Indeed, after Ariel figures out exactly HOW White is able to continue to be immortal, she reluctantly concludes that she HAS to ally with her, as not doing so could be disastrous. As for White herself, her thought processes are still “teenager with no real moral or ethical sense’, who’s able to cheerfully force a baby to march through the forest in order to build up their stats. That said, she’s definitely better off being influenced by Ariel, as we find when she has to confront her parallel minds, who have gone rogue and decided to destroy all of humanity. Thus we get the one battle of the book, as it’s spider vs. spider.

Ronandt, as I said, is still reeling from his first encounter with White, and unfortunately proceeds to learn exactly the wrong lesson from it, which is to try to study the spiders in the labyrinth to see how they grow stronger. The humor here has a dark edge to it, as while it’s somewhat amusing to see Ronandt run around nude and be treated as creepy by anyone who sees him, it also reminds the reader that White is a SPIDER, and that the ways that she gets stronger are not human ways. Nor should they be. This leads to a rare heartwarming moment in this mostly cynical book, where he realizes why he became a mage in the first place and goes out to stop the spider invasion even though he knows it will mean his death. (Fortunately, White gets there first.) I also liked him bonding with Julius, here a young and emotionally broken hero rather than the confident (and dead) older brother figure we meet later.

There’s some other good stuff here, such as the confrontation with the Pontiff who runs the world’s largest religion, or Sophia’s reflection on her past life (she was the stereotypical bullied nerd) and why she hates White so much (White was sort of like Komi in that her paralyzing inability to communicate came off as cool beauty.) It’s enough to make this volume very good indeed, even though I wish we’d checked back to the future with the other reincarnated cast.

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2

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By Tomohito Oda. Originally released in Japan as “Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by John Werry.

I had honestly expected that Komi, like most manga I review, would get a Vol. 1 review and then go to the Bookshelf Briefs pile. Then those four chapters happened. In the aftermath of those, I got a number of folks reassuring me that this is as bad as it gets and that I won’t have another plot quite like this, which OK. All manga have growing pains, and if I read and supported Teru Teru x Shonen I can move past this. But Christ on a bike. In any case, let’s first discuss all the OTHER chapters in the book, which are cute and advance the premise. Komi tries ramen, Komi goes clothes shopping for the first time, Komi and Tadano share an umbrella in a moment that would be really shippy if I thought the series was going to move in that direction, which I don’t. It continues to build on the strong premise at the start, has some really funny gags, introduces two new “eccentric” characters who are not literal criminals… OK, yeah, let’s talk Ren Yamai.

Here’s me in the review of Vol. 1: Likewise one of the minor characters in this book, Yamai, reads like a worryingly stereotypical psycho lesbian, and I really hope it doesn’t go down that road. Well, I was right to worry. The four chapters named “Ren” focus on Yamai, her obsession over Komi, and her realization that Tadano is in the way. She proceeds to kidnap Tadano and leave him tied in a chair in her bedroom while she goes to school to get closer to Komi. Later, after inviting Komi to her house (?!?!), she hides Tadano in the closet, then after he is found breaks down and confesses “I did it for you!” My teeth ground, my toes curled. The series wants to be funny overall, hence why Yamai actually invites Komi to her home like a numbskull – but she’s literally kidnapped and threatened Tadano – and still does after “apologizing”. It’s absolutely dire.

The really frustrating thing is that these four chapters also contain the BEST part of the book, which is Komi’s reaction to all of this. After discovering Tadano and hearing Yamai’s “explanation” for what happened, Komi’s “I decide who’s my friend” is a punch the air moment. Likewise the chapter afterwards, where Komi feels guilty for being the “cause” of all this, and tries to break off with Tadano only to have her own words turned back at her, is incredibly sweet and caring, and it would ALMOST be worth all the previous garbage if Yamai’s apology wasn’t an excuse to having her join the cast herd. She gets no real punishment for her actions, and seemingly integrates with the rest of Komi’s friends afterwards, with only one or two token “lol obsessed with Komi” jokes for the rest of the book. Honestly, she needed to leave the school and never be seen again.

So yeah, it’s one of THOSE volumes. You can’t even advise readers to just skip it, as the stuff with Komi and Tadano is the best part of the volume. You just have to read it while screaming and cursing. Not a good look for a lighthearted, heartwarming comedy about making friends.

I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, Vol. 15

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By Namekojirushi and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Ore ga Heroine o Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Mokushiroku!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mana Z.

Honestly, I think this would have been a much stronger book if combined with the equally short Vol. 14. I get that this series has never really had long volumes, but as with the previous one, by the time you get into the meat of this book it’s over. Fortunately the meat of the book is pretty good. Rekka, L, and the Doctor (no, still not that one) arrive in the future to try to track down the missing heroines. Unfortunately, Rekka’s mere presence causes war to break out. Speaking of which, we finally find out what caused the big war in the first place – no prizes for guessing who got the ball rolling – and hear a little bit about future Rekka, though he remains resolutely absent. (Given the series’ tendency towards parody at times – that’s what it started as, after all – I would not be surprised if Future Rekka is the Big Bad.) Fortunately, Rekka also has some future heroines who will listen to him, even if he’s not their Rekka.

While there are various things done to try to mess up Rekka’s sense of how far this is into the future, most of the girls look to be about 7-10 years older than they were in the main series. Some are almost exactly the same (Satsuki, staying on brand with the childhood friend type, and Lea, who has literally hidden herself away to avoid all this). Some are All Grown Up, in the trope sense of the word, as Harissa has gained confidence and Fam is now a Pirate Queen. The majority don’t show up at all, and the afterword has the author lamenting the fact that he wants the final book to have all the heroines get a role but has no idea how to do this. And then there’s Iris, who in her grief and anger started all this (raise your hand, who’s surprised? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?) Fortunately, like almost all the future heroines, a hug from Rekka is all it takes to dispell most of the incipient problems. They are in love with him, after all.

As for the actual heroines that were kidnapped, we catch up with them at the end – well, some of them. The enemy has brainwashed those with the most combat power to take out our heroes. The enemy is on the cover there, and at first I wondered if it was Hibiki, but no, the answer is in fact even more obvious than that. The enemy also has managed to brainwash R, which leads to what would be an epic confrontation if it didn’t last all of half a page. I suspect the artist drew the cool color page but the author ran out of time, and so the solution is “a punch in the face fixes everything!”, which feels like a big disappointment. That said, the majority of the book is pretty fun, keeping things moving and taking Rekka back to his roots, as he has to think up clever schemes constantly in order to advance.

Now that we’ve revealed the supposed mastermind behind this – and found they may not be as mastermindy as we thought – what’s going to happen in the 16th and final volume? Will Rekka save the day? (Likely.) Will Rekka choose a girl? (Unlikely.) I look forward to finding out.

Manga the Week of 9/4/19

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SEAN: It’s always September somewhere in the manga lists.

J-Novel Club has infinite light novels, or at least Infinite Stratos 9 (digitally) and Infinite Dendrogram 1 & 2 (print). There’s also the print debut of Ascendance of a Bookworm, as well as the 3rd light novel digitally, which wraps up the first arc. And we get the 3rd Full Metal Panic! novel.

ASH: Oh, print debut! That means it’s time for me to check out Ascendance of a Bookworm!

SEAN: In print, Kodansha debuts a spinoff, Cells At Work: Code Black. Unlike the relatively healthy body the main series takes place in, Code Black takes place in an unhealthy middle-aged body. It also seems to have Rule 63 Red and White Blood Cell. It runs, believe it or not, in Morning Magazine.

MICHELLE: Probably I will read this.

ASH: I will absolutely read this! I greatly enjoy the original Cells at Work.

SEAN: Digitally we get another debut with Smile Down the Runway (Runway de Waratte), a manga about a girl who’s trying her best to be a runway model at her father’s agency. Unfortunately… she’s only 5’2″. Can a short woman still have what it takes to be a model? Despite a very josei-sounding premise, this actually runs in Weekly Shonen Magazine. That said, it doesn’t seem like it has the usual “danger signs” of Shonen Magazine series.

ANNA: Hmmmm.

MJ: I feel like there’s no way this can be anything but horrifying. But. As Anna said, “Hmmmm.”

SEAN: There’s also Blissful Land 4, Boarding School Juliet 12, Goodbye I’m Being Reincarnated! 2, My Pink Is Overflowing 3, My Sweet Girl 6, Our Precious Conversations 4, and The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Dawn 7.

ASH: I still have my fingers crossed for print release of The Tale of Genji.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts the Arifureta Zero light novel spinoff in print. They’ve also got Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor 7, A Centaur’s Life 17, Nirvana 4, and Non Non Biyori 12.

Tokyopop gives us a 3rd Aria the Masterpiece, and a 6th Futaribeya, but still can’t provide any cover artwork without a giant ‘coming soon’ banner on it. Not that I’m bitter.

Viz has no debuts this month, alas. But hey, this does not mean they don’t have a ton. On the shonen end, we get a giant Assassination Classroom box set with every single volume. There’s also Black Clover 17, Blue Exorcist 22, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 8, Dr. STONE 7, Dragon Ball Super 6, Haikyu!! 34, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 10, One Piece 3-in-1 29, Twin Star Exorcists 16, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V 6.

MICHELLE: Of these, I’m only reading Haikyu!!, but my love for it is boundless.

ANNA: One of these days I need to catch up on Haikyu!!, but my kids love it and read every volume as it comes out. I am enjoying Dr. STONE too.

ASH: Ack! I am so far behind on my Shonen Jump reading!

SEAN: On the shoujo end, there is Anonymous Noise 16, Daytime Shooting Star 2, Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits 5, Snow White with the Red Hair 3, and The Demon Prince of Momochi House 14.

MICHELLE: Quite a lot of goodness here! I’m perhaps most keen for the newer titles like Snow White with the Red Hair and Daytime Shooting Star.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Likewise, although The Demon Prince of Momochi House still has its hooks in me, too.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press may be into September but it still has its August titles, some of which are debuts. Combatants Will Be Dispatched! (Sentouin, Hakenshimasu!) is a new light novel series by the creator of KonoSuba, and is supposed to be quite funny. A mix of sci-fi and fantasy, it’s about an evil minion who finds he has to invade a fantasy-based world.

The other light novel debut has a more light novel-ish title, The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) (Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~). Again, the title is the plot. The prince wants an easy life without much to do, so decides to betray his country. Sadly, he’s too good at being a genius, and every scheme he comes up with makes the nation’s people love him more.

ASH: That sounds like it could be amusing.

SEAN: There’s also an 11th Baccano!, which takes us all the way back to 1705; The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 14; and I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 5.

On the manga end, Yen debuts three titles, though one is a light novel adaptation. Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two Hit, Multi-Target Attacks)? needs no introduction by now, so we’ll move on, except to say it runs in Young Ace Up.

Phantom Tales of the Night (Bakemono no Yawazukushi) is a shoujo-ish series from Comic Gene, and is about an inn which takes its payment in secrets. Sounds sort of anthology-esque to me.

ASH: Oh! I’m always interested in new shoujo horror manga!

SEAN: Reborn as a Polar Bear: The Legend of How I Became a Forest Guardian (Shirokuma Tensei: Mori no Shugoshin ni Natta zo Densetsu) runs online on the Comic Walker site, and its title is, again, its plot. But, werewolf sisters! Also, the polar bear seems unlikely to amass a harem.

And we get Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger 3, Happy Sugar Life 2, DanMachi: Episode Lyu’s 4th manga, Kakegurui Twin 3, Plunderer omnibus 2, a 9th Sekirei omnibus, Spirits & Cat Ears 8, Star Wars: Lost Wars 2, and Yowamushi Pedal omnibus 12.

MICHELLE: Yowamushi!!!

ASH: Yay!!!

SEAN: So what titles are you hiding behind your textbook at school to read?

Outbreak Company, Vol. 10

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

The general thought behind my giving almost all light novels full reviews (as opposed to manga, where most series find their way into Bookshelf Briefs as they go on) is that the length of the book is such that I can always find something to talk about for 500+ words. Admittedly, there are times when that theory is tested, and this is one of those times. It doesn’t help that this is the second shortest light novel in my digital library, and easily the shortest in the series to date. But the other problem is that it’s mostly the 2nd half to a book where most of the plot and character beats were in Part 1. There are more cool action sequences, there’s a touching farewell to Shinichi’s family, and there’s a certain sense that we will not be returning to Japan anytime soon in this series. And there are a few more hints in the romantic resolution, if any, that this series will have. So let’s see what we can discuss.

The author straight-up admits that Shizuki was written as the series did not have a classic “tsundere” type. Petralka comes closest, but she’s too much of a softie. It’s a reminder that these series really do tend to be written around tropes and cliches, especially if you’re an author that’s been around as long as Sakaki has. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the series, we’re not allowed to develop that beyond “my brother is not as much of a loser as I thought” and see the love and affection that led to her renouncing him in the first place. Myusel praising him to the skies likely helped. Speaking of Myusel, she’s still front-runner in the “will the romance be resolved?” sweepstakes. Shinichi’s dad asks if there are harems in Eldant, and unfortunately for Shinichi, the answer is “no”, so something is going to have to be done – though of course “resolve nothing” is always an option, and one that’s more popular these days with authors, if not with fans. Still, Myusel really loves Shinichi.

As for the international intrigue part of the book, I will admit that the beginning of the book, with Minori being threatened by multiple copies of Putin (sorry, Pu**n) and the ultimate torture of having a pairing she loves reverse the ‘seme/uke’ positions was very funny, and welcome in a book that otherwise is mercifully light on fanservice. In reality, of course, Minori is merely tied up in a room somewhere, and rescuing her is the easiest part of things. Unfortunately, our heroes all then proceed to become absolute fools, as blithely getting onto a bus to return to Eldant and not realizing that there would be even more attempts to capture them was so shortsighted it counts as a flaw in the book. Fortunately, the day is actually saved by the JSDF – and how often can you type that in an anime/manga review?

The author seems to be up in the air about what to do next, but it will definitely be back in Eldant. Till then, this book is slight but enjoyable.

JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World: Summer

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By Ko Hiratori. Published by arrangement with Hayakawa Shoten. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Emily Balistrieri.

It is a rare series that creates such buzz that a publisher is ready to say “we also want to put out those unpublished short stories you have on your webnovel site”, but JK Haru is one such series, and so we have this book which I don’t believe was even collected in Japan. It’s a series of interlinked short stories taking place mostly after the events in the first book. Honestly, I was expecting something a lot more inconsequential than this, something along the lines of the “I want to eat ramen” or “let’s celebrate Christmas!” stories. And those are very cute. But the main short stories are the meat of the book, and their depth and characterization reminds the reader why the first book was so talked about. I wanted to read more about these characters, and now I can. And, while Haru is still a sex worker, there is 100% less of her working in this book, so don’t come into it expecting more sex. But if touching scenes of family and friends are what you want, good news.

The ‘wraparound’ stories in the book feature Chiba, the other guy hit by the truck and transported to another world with Haru. He wasn’t very likable in the original book, and honestly for a good portion of these stories he remains fairly unlikable, with his immaturity and need for a “mother” figure getting lampshaded in the text. He works best in a short story that pairs him up with another immature brat in Kizuha, who is the much mentioned but never seen top ranked sex worker where Haru is. Despite revolving around rampant drug use and innumerable uses of the word ‘dick’ (it’s apparently the name of the animal they both adopt, but is used knowingly as a play on words throughout the story) it actually made both characters, who elsewhere in the book are resolutely awful, appeal to me.

The best story in the book is ‘Mom’, which gives us backstory and character development for Lupe, Haru’s friend and fellow sex worker who is being groomed to take over for the current madam but spends most of the story being rather overwhelmed by events, as Haru and Kiyori are away killing the Demon Lord and without her support system she begins to accumulate stress, which she has no good way of getting rid of. It’s a terrific character examination, and you WILL cry over a scene where everyone is throwing cake at each other. Kiyori gets some wonderful depth in these stories as well, with her hero worship of Haru translating into a need to help to make this world less misogynist and awful. There’s also some ship tease with Sumo, Haru’s chef friend, but much like her feelings on Haru it’s hard to gauge where ‘love’ ends and ‘inspiration’ begins.

All this and Haru doing a Detective Conan impression. If you’ve read the original book, these stories are essential, and will put a big smile on your face.

The Night Is Short, Walk on Girl

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By Tomihiko Morimi. Released in Japan as “Yoru wa Mijikashi Arukeyo Otome” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Emily Balistrieri.

I had read this author’s Penguin Highway, though had not seen the adaptation, so it seems appropriate that I read this book by the same author, one where I also have not seen the adaptation. I sometimes feel a bit guilty about reading books like these, where the only reason that Yen On has licensed the book in the first place is because of the popular anime adaptation – usually a movie – of the source. The core market here are those who enjoyed the movie and want to see how it reads in prose. In addition, this is also connected the the author’s Tatami Galaxy – which also got an anime that I also haven’t seen. That said, the book does not lose any of its charm by not having visuals attached to it – indeed, it rewards the imaginative reader by allowing their flights of fancy to picture what’s going on in all its chaos. For this book is, in many ways, three stories of a seemingly peaceful event turned to chaos, and a young woman who walks among it, unaware.

The book has two narrators, neither of who are named. The titular girl is a young woman at college who belongs to a club, the other narrator is the man who is her sempai at the club, and who also has a crush on her. Being a classic socially awkward Japanese man,he deals with this by stalking her and ‘arranging coincidentally’ to run into her, in hopes that they will meet cute and fall happily in love. Fortunately, this is not the main plot of the book. The plot of the book is four separate events where the girl is walking around an event of some sort – a night out on the town drinking, a used book fair, a cultural festival, and the town brought low by a nasty cold – and interacting with various people as she does. The man is interacting with the same people, but mostly seems to just miss her, or if he does see her it’s not in the best way. That said, the plot is mostly irrelevant, as the story runs on mood, and the mood is sensational.

The story seems to be toying with being a sort of fantasy realism, and there are many times when we get so-called gods or fantastical events happening, but they could just as easily be metaphorical imaginings. The girl’s joy of life is infectious, and the guy gradually finding it in himself to analyze his own actions and wonder why he’s been doing what he’s doing is at least acceptable. Honestly, I found the romance the weak part of the book, and felt it might have done better without it. But the book is worth reading for the amusing characters, for the ridiculous small eve4nts that blow up until they’re a huge mess, and the heart that it wears on its sleeve, ending with the girl running all over town trying to care for everyone, the only person not down with a cold.

If you enjoyed the movie, you should definitely read this to see how it compares. As for me, I do want to try the movie out now, and definitely recommend this to anyone who likes great imagery and fantastical weirdness.