Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 11

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By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hunter Prigg and piyo.

I was a fan of Fruits Basket back in the day, when the manga was still running. When we got to the chapters where Yuki and Tohru define their actual relationship, I remember being somewhat baffled at the negative reaction by Yuki/Tohru fans. (Yes, I still use slashes. I’m old.) But of course I didn’t get it, I was a Kyo/Tohru shipper. There’s a reason people ship one pairing and not another, it’s because they don’t GET the other pairing. Now, to be clear, that’s not really what happens with Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower. I absolutely get Shusei/Rimi, it’s the primary pairing. But the last couple books have had Shohi have to assure both himself and everyone around him that Rimi ends up being just like a mother to him, and I found myself thinking “Ah, yeah, that’s why they were mad”. In the end, there really isn’t a choice between two love interests. It’s fate aligning so that one love interest can win and nothing else matters.

We begin with the action-packed finale, as Shohi’s forces do battle against Shusei’s forces, who (no surprise) turn out to have far more men than everyone thought. Fortunately, things work out for two reasons. One, the consorts finally realize what the Quinary Dragon thing means, and two, reinforcements arrive from Saisakoku out of nowhere, having been told to come by… well, gosh, it’s a mystery. After all of this, unfortunately, they do sort of have to execute Shusei, who was behind the entire traitorous revolt. That said, they immediately begin to waffle when it turns out that Shusei was in fact behind the ENTIRE traitorous result. On both sides. Meaning they’ve caught up with the reader, who probably realized what Shusei was doing a few books ago.

Despite my gripes, this is a decent finale. Rimi’s feelings for Shusei had been cast away as she was certain that “Lord Ho” had killed the Shusei she knew; once she realizes that it was all a massive trick, they come roaring back full force. Shohi will have to content himself with 2.5 of the 4 consorts (Ho is still going to remain loyal to Hakurei, and Yo hates men, but is starting to waffle). As for the solution of how to get out of the execution, it’s pretty clever, and relies very much on one of the past mysteries of the series also requiring a definitive execution to end it. I also liked hearing of Saigu near the end. Rimi’s one touchstone from her old country has never been seen in the series, but her presence has influenced Rimi’s maturation greatly. Still, I think the best part of the book was Keiyu, whose last middle finger to everyone was very clever.

So yeah, the shipper in me is grumbling, as I felt Shusei burnt too many bridges to have Rimi forgive him so easily. But that’s first love for you, I guess. In the end, I enjoyed this series about romance, mystery, and food.

Pick of the Week: Sweet Picks

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SEAN: I’ve been enjoying the Dahlia in Bloom series since it began, and Lucia has been an excellent recent addition to the cast. As such, I’m making Lucia and the Loom my pick this week.

KATE: I’ll cop to being curious about The Darwin Incident, though I may have to check out DoesTheDogDie.com just to make sure I’m not going to be an emotional train wreck if I read it!

MICHELLE: I haven’t yet managed to read Old-Fashioned Cupcake, but it seems to be sweet slice-of-life, which is my favorite sort of BL, so I’ll cast my vote for the sequel, Old-Fashioned Cupcake with Cappuccino, this week.

ASH: I am also curious about The Darwin Incident, but this week I’m going to join Michelle in picking Old-Fashioned Cupcake with Cappuccino… even though I likewise haven’t read the original volume. I’m in the mood for some vaguely food-themed BL manga, though.

Bookshelf Briefs 9/11/23

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I Don’t Know Which Is Love, Vol. 1 | By Tamamushi Oku | Yen Press – If you have been reading all those ridiculous harem comedies, the sort where it gets more and more ridiculous with each new love interest, and wished that there was a version for the yuri fan, I have good news for you. Our heroine is going to college to find a girlfriend after getting rejected in high school. She finds a number of girls, all of whom fall for her immediately. The harem members themselves include an up-and-coming idol, her roommate, her teacher, a drama student trying to lure her into acting (with a fetish for voices), and one girl who simply wants to have sex with her and is prepared to get very aggressive, full stop. The entire series would be questionable if it weren’t taken at such a fast pace and if it weren’t clearly designed for comedy, not romance. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 26 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – This isn’t the final volume of the series—there’s two more after this—but this is the resolution of all the plots we’ve had going forward; the rest is a victory lap. It’s a good resolution. Rescuing Kaguya and resolving her family issues is shown to be hard enough that it requires everyone working together to solve it (as well as a few frankly ludicrous physical feats on the part of Miyuki), but not too hard—after all, everyone survives even after having been shot at, chased over cliffs, etc. And, of course, we get the most dramatic confession of love ever, flying over the trees while dangling from a rope ladder under a helicopter. Of course, there are still a few loose ends, notably Ishigami’s love life, but that can probably be saved for later. Let the main couple have this. – Sean Gaffney

Medalist, Vol. 7 | By Tsurumaikada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Medalist will finally get a print release soon. It deserves it so much. One of the reasons it’s so great is that it balances its look at figure skating between its two leads. Yes, Inori is learning fast (a bit TOO fast, worryingly) about fantastic new moves that might help her catch up to her rival, including the biggie, the quadruple salchow. On the other hand, we also follow Tsukasa as well, who is leaning how best to coach her, when to recognize that she’s pushing herself too hard… and when to realize that he can’t help her and to call for help. All this combines with some truly stellar artwork, showing off the fast, gracious and athletic moves of these athletes to the hilt. It’s probably only getting print because an anime was announced, but I’ll take it. Read this. – Sean Gaffney

Offshore Lightning | By Nazuna Saito | Drawn & Quarterly – “Being alive is so much stranger than we think. More complicated, too. And it doesn’t make a lick of sense.” Collecting eight short manga from the early 1990s, two from the early 2010s, and an accompanying essay by Mitsuhiro Asakawa, Offshore Lightning is a brilliant introduction to the work of Nazuna Saito. Working within the gekiga tradition, the humanity present in Saito’s stories is remarkable, demonstrating great insight as well as empathy. There is an ever-present desire for human connection within Offshore Lightning, a deep sense of longing which still recognizes the absurdity of life with both humor and grace. Taking as her subject ordinary people, their lives, and their often fraught relationships, Saito shows that even the common can be interesting, engaging, and meaningful. It’s wonderful to see more alternative manga created by women make its way into translation; I would read more of Saito’s work in a heartbeat. – Ash Brown

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 20 | By Carlo Zen and Chika Tojo | Yen Press – I read the Tanya manga but don’t usually review it, since I leave that for the light novel. But the manga is its own thing, especially in its treatment of Visha, who gets a far larger role in the manga than she does in the novel (or even the anime). Indeed, there’s even a third, new recruit in the manga who is also a woman (unnamed as of yet), so the manga is making it so it’s not ONLY Tanya and Visha in an all-male group. On the bright side, Visha’s adoration of Tanya and willingness to overlook her more evil moments are funny and a bit disturbing. That said, her love for Tanya actually DOES seem romantic in the manga, and so you need to do the weird “35-year-old man in the body of an 11-year-old girl = ???” but mostly just ignore it. The manga is fun but odd. – Sean Gaffney

Liar, Liar: Apparently, the Lying Transfer Student Dominates Games by Cheating

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By Haruki Kuou and konomi. Released in Japan as “Liar Liar: Usotsuki Tenkōsei wa Ikasama Cheat-chan to Game o Seisuru Sō Desu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

Those who have read my reviews for years know that I always try to include the Japanese publisher in some way. It’s something I’ve done before this site came about, when I used to type up the weekly release lists on Livejournal. The reasoning is that sometimes you learn about your tastes and others by knowing what books a company puts out. Hence “my eternal nemesis, Monthly Comic Alive”. And it has to be said, I don’t really get on with MF Bunko J. Sure, it has Re: Zero and Torture Princess. And The Asterisk War and No Game No Life are fun trash. But, well, I’ve dropped a lot of series this imprint puts out. Including, appropriately, Classroom of the Elite, one of those series I just don’t understand the fuss about. I bring all this up to let you know that lightning has struck again, and Liar, Liar, a series trying hard to be Classroom of the Elite, is not a very good book.

Hiroto has arrived at The Academy, a massive elite high school with 500,000 students, as a transfer student. As he tries to find his bearings, he asks for help from gorgeous student Sarasa… and then, in trying to stop her from getting hit by a truck, ends up getting her soaked by a puddle. Now furious, she challenges him to a game, and he discovers that basically the entire school is run around these games. She also turns out to be an elite 7-star student. He, on the other hand, has one star. There’s no way he can win. After winning, he goes to see the provost and finds that he is now basically the most powerful student in the school. Or rather, he has to pretend to be, because of reasons. Can he really win game after game with everyone trying to dethrone him, despite, in reality, having very little power?

The series revolves around lies in every possible way. Hiroto is possessed of a trait that allows him to keep a straight face no matter what he’s thinking, which seems to be part of the reason he was scouted to the Academy despite relatively terrible grades. Sarasa’s backstory is changed, and then changed again a little later, and her personality also does a 180. She should probably get the cover art for the first book, but the publisher knows what readers really want, so we get Himeji the maid, who has much larger breasts, to sell it. Both of them are clearly falling in love with him by the end of the book. The trouble is that the shifting sands and changed priorities throughout the book make it hard to care what happens. Especially when the series revolves around games you know Hiroto has to win, because if he loses it is implied he will be quietly killed off. Oh, have I mentioned that the two girls are both possibly his long-lost childhood friend?

If you want to combine No Game No Life, Classroom of the Elite and Strike the Blood, go read those three series instead, honestly.

Revolutionary Reprise of the Blue Rose Princess, Vol. 2

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By Roku Kaname and Hazuki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Aobara-hime no Yarinaoshi Kakumeiki” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JC.

This second volume of the Blue Rose Princess trilogy has the same strengths and weaknesses of the first volume. On the bright side, Alicia remains a very compelling heroine, who manages to achieve the goals she’s striving for without really feeling too “overpowered” – indeed, she loses her temper at one point and bad things happen. In addition, the fact that things don’t seem to be going the way they did in her previous life means she has to do more detective work to figure out what really needs to be changed, and how things came to her dying last time. On the less positive side, this book remains very serious and earnest, with what minimal humor it has reserved for fairly obvious points, such as “the guy is in denial that he’s in love and shouts angrily while running off”. That’s fine, of course – not all villainess books have to be funny, of course. But this one just is a bit… boring? Not bad, just… satisfactory.

Alicia and Clovis have almost achieved their goal, getting their trading company that will help save the kingdom off the ground. Unfortunately for her, Duke of Sheraford is not on their side, and he’s not only in a stronger position and better at politics, but he has a secret that is making life even worse for them. It will take a bit more than just Alicia and Clovis being clever to get out of this one. Then, six years later, things are going well and Alicia is poised to be the next Queen. There are two issues with this. The first is that the Empress of Erdal is still trying to get Alicia married off to Price Fritz. The second, and more worrying, is that, of course, a Queen is not going to be able to marry her advisor. So being in love with Clovis is a problem…

While I said the book’s biggest problem is that it’s somewhat dull, that’s pretty much its only problem. The characters work well. I especially liked Riddhe, the arrogant son of Duke Sheraford, who at first appears to be exactly the same as all the other arrogant duke’s sons we’ve seen in books like this, but ends up having a stronger core of ethics that ends up saving the day. I also liked the fact that, while Alicia is trying to change her story so she’s not engaged to Fritz, here in this timeline the Empress is just as interested in getting Alicia married to him – but it’s because she wants Alicia’s smarts, not as a political wife. And then there’s Fritz, who we basically knew as “cheating bastard” in the previous life, but here we see WHY he became that cheating bastard, and what really drives him – and how it clashes violently with Alicia’s own goals. Good thing there’s a third book.

So yeah, this is solid, and I like the characters. I’m glad it’s only three books, though.

Manga the Week of 9/13/23

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SEAN: Mid-September, and the titles keep rolling in.

There’s just one from Yen, though. Yen On has the 17th and final volume of The Asterisk War. (insert joke mocking Chivalry of a Failed Knight here)

Viz Media debuts Star Wars: The Mandalorian: The Manga. This adaptation of the TV series runs in Big Gangan, and is from the artist behind The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage.

ASH: I’ll have to admit, I’m even more woefully behind with my watching than I am with my reading, but a lot of my friends are really into The Mandalorian.

ANNA: I want to see manga Grogu.

SEAN: Viz also has Animal Crossing: New Horizons 5, Call of the Night 13, Fly Me to the Moon 19, Helck 5, Mao 13, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 13, Pokémon Adventures: X•Y 6, Wolf Girl and Black Prince 3, and Yakuza Lover 10.

SuBLime has a one-shot, Old-Fashioned Cupcake with Cappuccino. This is a sequel to Old-Fashioned Cupcake from a few months back. It runs in ihr HertZ.

ASH: This still looks delightful.

SEAN: And there’s also His Favorite 13. (Catching up with Japan sucks, doesn’t it?)

ASH: Oh, His Favorite! I remember that one.

SEAN: Steamship has a 4th volume of Ladies on Top.

Square Enix debuts a novel that puts other light novel titles to shame. NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139…: Project Gestalt Recollections–File 01 is presumably based on the game whose guidebook I put on here two weeks ago. I think I’ll wait for ver.2.0 myself.

ASH: Got to get all those bugs worked out.

ANNA: I will wait for the 360 version.

SEAN: From Square Enix we also get Daemons of the Shadow Realm 2, My Happy Marriage 4, and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 14.

Seven Seas has the debut of Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout (Fantasy Bishoujo Juniku Ojisan to). This series that runs in something called Cycomics has an anime as well. It’s on the comedic end of the spectrum as far as trans issues go, but it does at least vaguely touch on them. The title is the plot.

ASH: Huh.

SEAN: They also give us The Country Without Humans 4, The Duke of Death and His Maid 8, The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom 3, Kiruru Kill Me 5, Soloist in a Cage 2, Who Made Me a Princess 2, and Yakuza Reincarnation 7.

And for danmei fans, we also have Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu 7.

One Peace Books has a 2nd manga volume for The Death Mage.

Kodansha debuted The Darwin Incident (Darwin Jihen) last week, but didn’t update their site till this week, so here it is. It’s an award-winning manga from Afternoon about a half-human, half-chimp becoming involved in terrorism. I beg the Manga Bookshelf team not to pick it as Pick of Last Week and further compound my shame.

No print debuts for Kodansha THIS week, but we do see print volumes of Battle Angel Alita Mars Chronicle 9 (not the final volume, but the series is on hiatus in Japan), Gleipnir 13, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 5, and Welcome Back, Alice 5.

MICHELLE: I want to read both Shonen Note and Welcome Back, Alice at some point.

ASH: Shonen Note is high on my list, too.

ANNA: Mine too!

SEAN: The digital debut is Cells at Work: Lady. When Cells at Work debuted in 2015, I had no idea it would be the Alice in the Country of Hearts of the 2020s. This runs in Morning Two, and has cells dealing with things like menstruation, pregnancy, and childbirth.

ASH: I’m not sure any of us were expecting that!

ANNA: The world of manga publishing is surprising and amazing.

SEAN: We also get Ace of the Diamond 45, The Fable 18, Gang King 9, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 15, Love, That’s an Understatement 3, Quality Assurance in Another World 9, and The Untouchable Midori-kun 5.

MICHELLE: Ace of the Diamond is almost done! Just two volumes to go. I hope Kodansha releases the sequel.

SEAN: Print from J-Novel Club gives us Ascendance of a Bookworm 20, Marginal Operation 15, Tearmoon Empire 9, and the 9th The Unwanted Undead Adventurer manga volume.

ASH: Woohoo, Bookworm!

SEAN: There are three digital debuts. Back to the Battlefield: The Veteran Heroes Return to the Fray! (Arafō ni Natta Saikyō no Eiyū-tachi, Futatabi Senjō de Musō Suru!!) is a series about a group of heroes who saved the world 25 years ago. Now… they gotta do it again.

The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects: Tales of Blue Dias and the Onikin Alna (Ryoumin 0-nin Start no Henkyou Ryoushusama) is a manga based on an as-yet unlicensed novel. Our hero is rewarded by the kingdom with land!… which turns out to be empty fields with no one in them. Fortunately, he finds a demon girl. This runs in Comic Earth Star Online.

Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness (Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku) is a spinoff of the Dahlia in Bloom series, featuring Lucia, Dahlia’s friend in the garment factory.

ASH: It seems like there has been a few fabric arts related series of late.

ANNA: Were there knitting manga? Where’s the knitting manga at?

SEAN: There’s also the 7th Cooking with Wild Game manga, I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest? I’m Not Even an Adventurer Yet! 3, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 24 (the final volume), Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 9, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 23, and Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord 2.

Ghost Ship has the 6th manga volume of JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World.

This is already out, but Denpa has Under Ninja 2.

Airship, in print, has Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 15.

And for early digital we see Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 7.

If it’s September, why is it still hot? Any manga heating you up?

Rising from Ashes: My Dear Emperor, You’re Putty in My Hands!, Vol. 1

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By Makino Maebaru and Yoko Matsurika. Released in Japan as “Torotoro ni Shite Sashiagemasu, Kōtei Heika. Moto Konyakusha ni Ie o Yakareta Tsuihō Miko wa, Ringoku Kōtei ni Chōai Sarete Sainō o Hanahirakaseru” on the Shōsetsuka ni Narō website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Zihan Gao.

This is the third series we’ve read this year by Makino Maebaru, who is getting along very well with the folks at Cross Infinite World. As you know if you’ve read The Inconvenient Life of an Arousing Priestess, or The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat, this author has a genre, and that genre is the “villainess” version of Cinderella. And sure enough, that’s what we have going on here as well. Our protagonist, doomed by canon to be executed for being evil, is rescued at the last minute by a really hot guy with wings who turns out to be the Emperor of the neighboring country. You know, the normal kind of romance. As for the book itself, it’s solid. It won’t bowl anyone over, but it’s a good novel with a heroine who hates herself a bit too much to notice everyone wants her to be happy.

Sai, reincarnated from Japan, finds that she is living the life of the “evil priestess” from an otome game she liked. Sadly, trying to be really good instead does not work, and she’s quickly falsely accused (the “saint” who was just summoned might have something to do with this) and imprisoned. But right before execution, she is saved by Haruka, who rules over the Orient Empire (the names in this are aggressively unsubtle). He tries to bring her right back, but has used too much mana, so they shelter in a cave. Here she discovers that she has enough mana to help to heal the emperor from his chronic magic fatigue. Then, when she gets to the Orient Empire, she discovers the Wagtail Priestess is beloved there, and she’s given a residence of her own, servants, and a purpose in life. Of course, the Emperor also seems interested in her, but that can’t be right. No one would ever be interested in someone as unsuitable as her.

So yeah, there’s a heaping helping of “abuse survivor” in this. Sai’s life after her parents were killed during a war is pure Cinderella, and by that I mean the evil stepsisters version. Her powers are ignored, she’s used basically as a maid, and her fiance not only belittles her but also hits her. (Some of this turns out to be the work of our “heroine” Saint, Lilly, who may be the most cynical, jaded “evil heroine” I’ve run across in these books.) Because of this, the very idea of people treating her nicely or wanting her to relax and enjoy life is anathema to her, and instead she resolves to work herself to death trying to make things better for the Empire. Of course, as everyone but her realizes, the best thing she could do right now is marry the Emperor. But, baby steps.

All this plus the “my powers make him horny” character tic that we also saw in Arousing Priestess. (I think the author wrote this first, so the influence may go the other way.) If you like romances by this author, this won’t disappoint you.

Moon Blossom Asura: The Ruthless Reincarnated Mercenary Forms the Ultimate Army, Vol. 1

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By Sou Hazuki and Mizutametori. Released in Japan as “Tsuki Hana no Shōjo Asura: Gokuaku Hidō no Yōhei, Tensei Shite Saikyō no Yōheidan o Tsukuru” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

Every once in a while I like to look at a book that otherwise has no appeal to me whatsoever. Sometimes it turns out I’m wrong, and I end up pleasantly surprised. Sometimes the book is so bad that I can’t even bring myself to finish it. And then there are those unfortunate books where I recognize the craft, and know that they will have an audience here, but that audience is not me. As you may have guessed, Moon Blossom Asura falls under the last category. It has fun, enjoyable characters, some good mysterious backstory, some exciting fights, and a determination to show us that war is hell. But the goal of this series seems to be to take idealists and show their faces into the dirt until they learn better, and I like my fiction just a bit shinier than that. It’s a rare series that makes me long for the happy times of The Saga of Tanya the Evil.

Moon Blossom is one of the most infamous mercenary groups in all the world. Currently working for the downtrodden kingdom of Arnia, they consists of our “heroine”, Asura, a reincarnated merc who is trying to recreate her old job in this new world of swords and magic; Lumia, a warrior with a past; Jyrki and Iina, two teen bandits turned into Asura’s soldiers, and Marx, a former soldier who now works on the side of … well, the devil? Asura is bad, but she gets the job done, and given how badly Arnia is losing their current war, that’s a good thing. Still, they may be in trouble with this new request from the young King: assassinate the Hero working for the opposing side. Despite the fact that killing a hero will earn the ire of everyone in the world.

So yes, obviously, reminded a lot of Tanya the Evil with this one. Unlike Tanya’s world-weary cynicism and desperation for the fighting to end, though, Asura LOVES this sort of thing, and the only reason that she hasn’t just decided to become a mass murderer is that she has Lumia around as her conscience. Though that goes both ways, as we find out towards the end of the book. This book contains a lot of the basic isekai tropes, such as magic, heroes, etc., along with our reincarnated protagonist. but its goal seems to be to show everyone that war ids a dirty, awful business and you cannot possibly win it by sticking to your ideals and morals. Iris, a hero that the group meets near the end of the book, wants to save Asura, who she thinks has snapped due to her past tragedies. Which, well, is KIND OF true, but honestly, Asura simply doesn’t want to be saved. Her goal is instead to show Iris how to live on a battlefield – which does not involve being an idealist and trying to save everyone.

This is well-written, and fans of bleak military isekai might like it. I just want to read something with more puppies and rainbows next, please.

Pick of the Week: Rainy Nights and Dancing Days

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MICHELLE: It has apparently been four entire years since I last read a volume of 10 Dance, so I’m very excited to get caught up on it. Thus, volume seven of same is my pick this week.

ASH: I’m definitely looking forward to another volume of 10 Dance, but the debut that has caught my eye is The Moon on a Rainy Night. I didn’t realize a series was coming out that ticked so many of my boxes: Yuri? Check. Musicians? Check. Underrepresented protagonists? Check!

SEAN: It’s definitely The Moon on a Rainy Night for me, which in addition to all the reasons Ash mentioned has the Erica Friedman Seal Of Approval (TM).

ANNA: I’m not going to deny The Moon on a Rainy Night as my pick for the week, especially since it seems like the only thing coming out that seems interesting to me.

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 7

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By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Eric Margolis. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

One of the reasons why this is such a difficult series to get anyone into (and trust me, there are so many reasons) is that it is trying to be so many different things. It is a military combat novel in this volume… or at least the start of this volume, as it turns out that Haruka, in fact, manages to take care of everything far more than anyone expected him to. It’s a raunchy sex comedy, with Haruka’s stats leveling him up to Sex God (no, really, it says that in his stats) and featuring a number of explicit sex scenes that nevertheless will likely get overlooked by the Powers That Be merely as they’re narrated by Haruka, which means they’re completely incoherent. That said, there is one thing that this series tends to put first, before anything else, and I 100% approve: the nobility sucks. Class warfare forever. Eat the rich. Because trust me, almost all the nobles we meet here are scum.

Haruka rushes back to the frontier in order to stop the army that’s headed that way, an army backed by the theocracy’s soldiers (who are quite content to let the regular army folks be killed off while they hang back) and the theocracy’s secret weapon, another Dungeon Emperor on the same level as Angelica. Oh, and they’re also unleashing monster rushes from nine dungeons around the kingdom, guaranteed to have the populace horribly murdered, which means none of Haruka’s allies can come to his side because they all have to stop this. Needless to say, Haruka… wins almost embarrassingly easily. And now he has a new Dungeon Emperor on his side, the gorgeous Nerfertiri (any resemblance to an ancient Egyptian queen is purely intentional) as his second “concubine”, and has saved the day. Time for a grand ball!

The lack of suspense in the first third of the volume is almost laughable, at least on Haruka’s end. I worried far more about Stalker Girl and her father, who are trying to defeat a mass rush of monsters despite essentially being a ninja spy force. The second third of this novel is basically comic relief and porn, though again, it’s porn written in the style of Haruka’s narration, so it’s not in the least bit arousing. He’s just banging two girls now rather than one. (Again, it’s hinted he refuses to do anything to the Japanese girls for past trauma reasons.) The last third, though, it easily the best part, as the grand ball turns out to be a trap to ensnare all the other evil nobles, baited by a play that gives all the credit to the war to the Princess and Duke, and none to Haruka – meaning they underestimate him. The girls at first asked why in hell he was making their ballgowns with so many defensive armor traits – it turns out they need every single one of them. It’s glorious.

So this long arc is over, and I assume we start something new next time. Might be a few months till the next book, so go back and try to translate Haruka to English, that’s my advice.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 6

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By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

So I have very good news for fans of this series: not once in this volume is Aileen threatened with execution as a result of something happening out of her control. Which makes a nice change from the first five books. Indeed, there’s a very “final volume” to this, despite the fact there are at least five more books coming. All the major subplots are tied up, most of the romantic couples are now together… well, mostly (try harder, Serena), Claude is no longer being forcibly possessed and turned into a dragon, and everyone gets something to do. Indeed, that may be my biggest complaint of the volume: this cast is too big, and I hate having to go back to the cast list at the start of the volume to remember who is who. Oh yes, and perhaps the most important part of all this: Aileen and Claude are finally allowed to consummate their marriage! Offscreen, of course. This isn’t Loner Life in Another World.

We pick up right where we left off, with everything having gone wrong and Amelia having won. That said, Aileen doesn’t know the meaning of the word quit: indeed, to everyone’s shock, she notes that if she can’t rescue Claude she’s going to have to kill him. In order to save the day everyone will have to do their best, despite the fact that one heroine is in a coma, one heroine is being a tsundere, and one heroine is still convinced that this is a game and that she doesn’t have to care about anyone as a person at all – though you get the sense she’s lying through her teeth. As for Aileen and her faction, well, she handles things like she always does, with brute force and blunt objects. Indeed, looking back to the past of Amelia and her sister, we meet Grace Dark, Claude’s mother, who turns out to be a lot like his current wife.

As with the previous few volumes, I’m fascinated with Lilia, possibly the best “heroine” in a villainess book not named Maria Campbell. Out loud, she’s the same as always, talking about backstories and routes opening up (Aileen does this as well, and the two are frankly far more alike than Aileen would like). Deep down, her feelings for Cedric are wavering, not enough that she’ll confess to him or anything (honestly, you get the sense she’d rather be in a bisexual relationship with Aileen and Claude), but because she’s going off to be brutally murdered by Amelia, and knows that saying “I’ll marry you when I return” is the biggest death flag there is. Unfortunately for Lilia, she’s surrounded by much better people than her, who can also work miracles, so rumors of her death become the reality of her wedding. Which, honestly, she’s a bit bitter about.

So, the end! Aileen is married and has now consummated her marriage! What could be next? Oh, short story volume? Right. Short story volume.

Looks Are All You Need: Shiika’s Crescendo

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By Ghost Mikawa and necomi. Released in Japan as “Kao Sae Yokereba Ii Kyōshitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

There’s a lot here that reminds me of other light novels, even though the premise itself is somewhat unique. If anyone remembers the old movie/TV Series Fame they will find this a bit familiar. But the two series it reminded me of most are No Game No Life and Spy Classroom. The former is obvious: it’s about a brother and sister, both eccentric, who have skills but have dealt poorly with social interaction in the past, being forced to socially interact. The good news is that, thankfully, there is precisely zero incest subtext in Looks Are All You Need, and Gakuto and Shiika feel like actual siblings rather than a weird fetish. As for Spy Classroom, this is another book that relies heavily on it being on the page. What this series does with music is something that can’t be conveyed aurally without losing the magic. Which makes me worry that, if it ever gets an anime, it’ll be Erna under the table all over again.

Seeker is a fairly popular virtual idol, who does mostly cover versions but has quite a following. In reality, Shiika is a shut-in who cares little for her appearance or social cues, who lives in an apartment with her brother, who is much the same but doesn’t have Shiika’s singing ability. One day they’re approached by a talent company, who were able to find out her real identity. They have a suggestion: go to Ryouran Academy and learn how to become a famous star. It’s tempting – Gokuto’s goal in life is to earn a ton of money without actually doing any work. Unfortunately, Shiika is a virtual idol for a reason. That said, they agree to have Shiika enter the academy and give it a try, provided that Gokuto can enter with her, as a sort of “supernumerary”. It ends up being the best thing that happened to the school.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected. I know the author from the series My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me!, which is also very good. But this hit a lot of buttons that I resonated with personally. Shiika is not only a talented singer, she’s also synesthetic, seeing sounds as colors, and that’s a huge part of how she handles people – when she sees a rival girl who has a 6-octave range, she’s not impressed but horrified, as her falsetto range is “ick” – it has bad colors. Speaking of which, I was in a high school chorus where an alto was forced to sing soprano doe to lack of good voices in the higher registers, and it did destroy her voice, so I feel for Erio, who’s all technique but no soul. I hope she and Shiika become friends. And then there’s Gokuto, who gives off that air of “I am just a clever shlub” the entire book, until the unseen climax, where we get to see his inner warrior peek out.

Basically, Shiika and Gokuto give off “I am a cliche” vibes, but are deep enough that I want to read more of them, especially Shiika. Definitely a strong start.

Manga the Week of 9/6/23

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SEAN: School days, school days, dear old golden rule days. Also, manga.

ASH: Manga is always a welcome distraction from the chaos of a new semester.

SEAN: We start with Airship, which has two print books. There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 2 and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 4.

And in early digital we see Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 4 and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 7.

Dark Horse Comics has the 12th volume of Mob Psycho 100.

ASH: I should probably catch up with this series at some point.

SEAN: From Ghost Ship, we get a 7th volume of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

ASH: This one, too, from what I’ve heard.

SEAN: It’s a quiet week for J-Novel Club, though they are debuting three manga series digitally. An Archdemon’s (Friend’s) Dilemma: How to Babysit a Crybaby Knight (Akuyuu no Ore ga Ponkotsu Kishi wo Miterarenain da ga, Dou Sewa wo Yakya Ii? – Madome Gaiden) is a manga spinoff from the Archdemon’s Dilemma series, focusing on the pathetic not-quite-romance between Barbatos and Chastille. I think it’s in Comic Fire?

The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom (Horobi no Kuni no Seifukusha – Maou wa Sekai wo Seifuku suru you desu) is based on the light novels also released by J-Novel Club. A Japanese NEET is reincarnated in a kingdom as a commoner boy, but quickly realizes this Kingdom doesn’t have much longer to go. This runs in Comic Gardo.

I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! (Nido to Ie ni wa Kaerimasen!) is based on the light novels also released by J-Novel Club. It also runs in Comic Gardo. It’s for people who think My Happy Marriage is too depressing.

ANNA: Who are those people?

SEAN: And they also have the 11th and final volume of Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower.

Apologies to Kaiten Books, as I missed this last week: Welcome to the Outcast’s Restaurant!’s 3rd manga volume should have been on that list.

Kodansha’s print debut is The Moon on a Rainy Night (Amayo no Tsuki), a Comic Days series about a deaf high school musician and the girl who gets closer to her despite her best efforts. I have heard VERY good things about this series.

ANNA: OK, this does sound intriguing.

ASH: Oh, my interest is piqued!

SEAN: Kodansha Manga, in print, also has 10 Dance 7, Don’t Toy With Me, Miss Nagatoro 15, Noragami Omnibus 7, and Noragami: Stray God 26.

MICHELLE: Yay for more 10 Dance!

ASH: Yes, indeed!

SEAN: And for digital titles they have Blue Lock 21, How to Grill Our Love 4, Life 7, My Wife is a Little Intimidating 3, Shangri-La Frontier 12, Those Snow White Notes 9, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 10, and Wandance 6.

One Peace Books gives us the 8th volume of Multi-Mind Mayhem.

Seven Seas debuts Soara and the House of Monsters (Soara to Mamono no Ie), a Shonen Sunday S series. A girl who spent her childhood preparing to fight monsters is now at a loss since the kingdom and monsters came to an agreement. Can she find a new career building monster homes?

Seven Seas also has Dinosaur Sanctuary 3, Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 5, Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 5, Otaku Elf 6, Tokyo Revengers 13-14, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 8, and What He Who Doesn’t Believe in Fate Says 2.

Square Enix has My Clueless First Friend 3.

Tokyopop has a 4th volume of Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide.

Udon has a third volume of Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant.

The debut from Viz is Blade of the Moon Princess (Gekka Bijin), a Jump Square series from the author of Spy x Family. This was his debut. A bratty young moon princess is sent to Earth in order to avoid a coup on the moon, and must learn to grow up.

There’s also two anime coloring books out from Viz, one for Bleach and one for Naruto Shippuden.

ASH: Is there still the same demand for coloring books that there used to be?

SEAN: We also see Blue Box 6, Dragon Ball Super 19, The Elusive Samurai 8, Ima Koi: Now I’m in Love 7, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 9, Like a Butterfly 2, and My Hero Academia 35.

Yen On debuts Liar, Liar. A school where everything depends on your rank has a new top dog, entering the school with the highest academic rank! There’s just one problem… this is all a lie. For fans of light novel covers that look like this one.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Yen On also has Your Forma 4.

On the Yen Press side, we see two debuts. Game of Familia (Game of Familia: Kazoku Senki) is from Dragon Age, so you know it’s trash of the highest order. A high school student moves in with his new family, including three stepsisters. But then the entire family is isekai’d!

The Witches’ Marriage (Majo no Kekkon) is a yuri series from Comic Newtype. A witch gets married to another girl in order to gain more power… but finds that the other girl is adorable.

And there is also Tales of Wedding Rings 12 and Trinity Seven 28.

It’s always September somewhere on the mangasphere! What are you buying?

Guardian: Zhen Hun, Vol. 1

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By Priest and Marmaladica. Released in China on the JJWXC website. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Yuka, Shry, amixy. Adapted by Ealasaid Weaver.

Its always tricky when you come at a series after everyone else. The hype can sometimes be too much to bear. I was being told about Guardian years ago by friends who had seen the live-action drama loosely based (fans always emphasize the “loosely based”, wanting you to be sure to know how many liberties the TV show took from the source) on this online novel series. When Seven Seas announced it a year or so ago the excitement was greater than almost any other danmei title they’d announced before. Hell, even the cover art draws you into the hype. Just look at those two! That said, the question as always is: is this any good or not? I’m delighted to say that it is. Guardian is a compelling supernatural police procedural mystery, with a great protagonist who’s a classic “jerk with a heart of gold”, and even a lot of the “jerk” is for show. As for the other guy on the cover… well, he’s the mystery.

Zhao Yunlan is head of a special department in the police that deals with supernatural crimes, and he and his somewhat pathetic newbie underling are called upon to investigate the scene of a very grisly disemboweling on the street. This leads him to a university, where he meets Shen Wei, a handsome young professor who Zhao Yunlan is immediately very, VERY attracted to. He proceeds to try to get to the bottom of the case while also flirting heavily with the awkward Shen Wei, who is giving off somewhat mixed signals. As they uncover missing underworld artifacts, a young woman desperate to keep her grandmother alive, and an anthropology field trip that gets somewhat hijacked by ghosts from the past, Zhao Yunlan is determined to find out why Shen Wei is so compelling to him… and so familiar.

BL is not really my wheelhouse, so I will simply note that the chemistry between these two is amazing and those who are here for that will not be disappointed. As for the rest, Zhao Yunlan is an excellent protagonist and a good detective, combining human psychology with a knowledge of the netherworld and various tricks up his sleeve. He tends to put himself in harm’s way a lot, as you’d expect from a “jerk who’s not really a jerk” guy, but he’s savvy enough that it comes off well. The supporting cast are mostly good, though it took me a while to get used to Guo Changcheng, who is the very definition of “comedy relief”, but does vaguely grow over the course of this book. The cases were also well done, though I am hoping when we hit the second book we’ll get a mystery that does not revolve around a woman being the cause of most of this. And the writing was extremely good (and, of course, that means the translation and adaptation as well), despite the need for lots of footnotes for Chinese terminology.

Basically: readers will enjoy this. Go get it. I give it a 9/10, minus one point for falling down right at the end and mentioning the dreaded word “cultivation”.

Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 4

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By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

This is another one of those books where, after I had finished it, I had to double check the publisher’s website to confirm that yes, there is a 5th book in the series, and it doesn’t end here. It wouldn’t be surprising if it did. So many romcom series end with the main couple getting together, and not to spoil, but that’s what happens in this volume. I’m not too worried about spoiling it because everyone reading this series knows who the girl he loves is, and who the girl he has to reject is. It was all just a question of how long the series would drag things out. The good news is that it’s not that long. This series, despite its “back in time” premise, tends to err on the side of realism, and these sorts of “waffling guy can’t decide between two girls” situations don’t last as long as they do in manga or anime. Now, there is one spoiler left (also not much of a surprise), but we’ll get to that.

It’s back to school for our cast, and preparation for the school festival. Natsuki is still trying to decide between Hoshimiya and Uta… or so he says, but not only do we know that he’s fooling himself, HE knows it as well. He likes the girl that he’s liked since this series began. So it’s just a matter of working up the courage to confess to her, and to reject the other as best he can and hope it doesn’t destroy the friendships he’s come to love. Into this waltzes Serika, the emotionally weird girl we met in the last book, and she has a suggestion for Natsuki, especially after hearing him perform at karaoke: join a band. Join her band, in fact. He did try playing a guitar in his previous life (as well as practice karaoke), so it’s feasible. Is it what he wants to do going forward, though?

There’s a lot going on here given that it’s basically “when will he finally stop vacillating” as the main plot. We get a lot more development from Serika, who is incredibly talented and even writing her own songs. If this were a different series she’d be a new “harem member”, and she does admit to liking Natsuki, but knows that he’s in love with Hoshimiya. Indeed, everyone knows it. Including Hoshimiya, because he literally asks her to help him write the lyrics to the song he’s going to use to confess to her – something so brazen that she has to laugh, and so did I. I also liked Shinohara, the bass player, who allows Natsuki to try to help out someone who is exactly like he was the first life around. That said, the biggest surprise of the book was not that Miori was also in love with Natsuki – we guessed that – but that Reita actually *has* fallen in love with her, even knowing that she loves Natsuki. And Miori is far unhappier than she’s trying to sound about his new love being a success.

So yeah, there is a fifth book, and I assume it will delve deep into that, as well as “wait, how do these books work if we’re a couple?’. This is one of the stronger romcoms out there now. I really enjoyed it.