Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 9

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

This review is, by necessity, going to be divided into two parts. The first part, above the cover art, covers the first three quarters of the book, which goes up to the end of the anime. The second part, after the cover art, spoils the last quarter of the book, which the anime did NOT adapt. If you want to be surprised, stop reading early.

This was a very solid ending to Re: ZERO’s third arc, which ended up being six books long. Subaru comes up with a different plan after the last one went a bit pear-shaped: take out the Fingers and do the evacuations first, THEN go after Petelgeuse. It also relies on Subaru putting his trust fully in Julius, who he still dislikes on principle, but you can tell that it’s the dislike that “rivals” have for each other, and I would be very unsurprised to hear there’s slash of them on AO3. The fights are strong, Subaru actually gets to be cool and intelligent for once, and he even gets to have a dramatic confession. Plus, Emilia lap pillow! You can absolutely see why the anime wrapped it up here – it’s a great, heartwarming ending that resolves most of the plotlines of this arc.

And then we see why, when asked why Season 2 of re: ZERO has not been greenlit, fans who follow the webnovel tried to avert their eyes and hem and haw. So yeah, not QUITE the happy ending we envisioned. Two more Witch Cult members attack Crusch, Rem, and the others heading back to the city, and the outcome is dreadful. Half the force is killed, Crusch loses an arm and also all her memories, and Rem’s body remains sleeping, but everyone else has forgotten HER – including Ram. This was foreshadowed a few times in the book earlier, where Ram looks puzzled at Subaru implying she has another sister, but it does lead to the beautifully dramatic (it gets a full page all to itself) “Who’s Rem?” from Emilia. Even worse, the author really drives in the knife by giving Rem fans a short story that shows off what would have happened if she and Subaru HAD run away together – they’re both happy, have two kids, joke about his libido – it’s the sweetest thing you can imagine. And also not what actually happened.

I was very impressed with the final chapter, which skipped Subaru finding out about all this and went to the aftermath, where he looks over Rem’s comatose body and tries to figure out what to do next. We hear about his despair – he kills himself to try to “return” to save Rem, but finds his savepoint is him looking at her body, so that’s out. Worse, after what’s happened to Crusch, Ferris is ready to break their alliance, and has to be talked down by Wilhelm and Crusch herself, who is a lot meeker and milder than the woman we love, but is just as determined. More importantly, Emilia has her groove back, and is ready to move forward with Subaru at her side. The next arc is implied to give her the character development that Rem got in earlier books.

The trouble is, of course, that we’re not sure how long the books will have Rem in a coma. Rumor has it there will be a long wait – the next arc is supposed to also be six books long. Good news for the EMT fans, but given how for 95% of all anime fans Rem is the only thing to care about in Re: ZERO, you can see why producers have been vacillating. That said, here it is, and it’s well written, and… sorry, Rem fans? Enjoy the Rem Natsuki story, if nothing else.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 7

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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.

The middle of this volume has some cute, funny, and heartwarming moments, and thank God. I’m not sure how intentional it was, but if you enjoy having misery as the bread for your sandwich, then Silver Spoon 7 is absolutely for you. Now, to be fair, we knew the start was going to happen. Hachiken’s in the hospital, so of course his parents come to see him. Everything we’ve seen about his dad says this is not going to go well, and it doesn’t. Even the bacon, the one thing that Hachiken thought he’d made inroads on, was just his mother trying to be considerate of his feelings. Now, don’t get me wrong, I know what his dad means. He feels that Hachiken is wasting his intellect here, and is especially frustrated given the nature of his other son. But man, he’s such a bitter pill to swallow that I can’t feel any sympathy for him at all. And, unfortunately, the visit causes Hachiken to have a brief hissy fit at his mom as well.

This is important because, probably because he’s still upset about that, he donates his change to charity when he buys new glasses, and as a result has to walk back to the school… meaning he misses everything. Fortunately, he is blessed with classmates who a) really care about him, and b) will not take his shit, because he was all set to be a miserable “I don’t deserve to have any fun” type. Luckily, Mikage is there to remind him that the festival was a huge success because of his planning. And they wrote a book of memories he can read and then sob over. It’s really sweet. As for his date with Mikage… well, they try to have it. But it’s more going to a shrine. And of course it ends up being most everyone else as well. You can tell the cast is rooting for these two dorks (every other woman in Mikage’s class shows up to ensure she doesn’t get blocked at the last minute), but they’re still nowhere near a confession. That said, at least he can make fun of her accent, which he does. Repeatedly.

And then there are the baseball games. To an extent, this was also foreshadowed as well. We’ve seen that Mikage is a LOT more invested in Komaba’s team winning and going to the Nationals than the rest of the school, and Hachiken’s attempts to find out about it have gone badly for him. We’re still not quite sure why, but we can hazard a guess, because after they lose in the finals, he never returns to school. I have a sneaking suspicion this will be another lesson in how farming is hard and not everyone can succeed, but it’s a blow as Komaba, despite being so stoic, has been one of the more prominent characters to date, and you feel horrible for him. I suspect most of the next book will go into the aftermath and explain why he left school.

You probably don’t need me to tell you how good this series is by now, but I will anyway. Really good. I want more immediately.

Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf!, Vol. 1

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By Makishima Suzuki and Yappen. Released in Japan as “Nihon e Youkoso Elf-san” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

When you have so many isekais coming out in Japan all the time, it’s inevitable that someone’s going to want to try the reverse. Take a stock fantasy character and have them experience the wonders of Japan. We’ve seen this in manga a few times, mostly for comedy (Plus-Sized Elf comes to mind), but, though there are funny moments, this new series doesn’t really have comedy in mind. Arguably you could say it’s romance – the two leads are clearly sweet on each other, but she’s too shy and he’s too dense, as always. I don’t expect a relationship upgrade anytime soon. No, the Japanese parts of this book seem to have two goals in mind: first, to show off the cuteness of its female lead and show her having adorable slice-of-life situations. And second, so show off how wonderful Japan is and how swell the people in it are. Honestly, at times when I was reading this I wondered if it was a government mandated product (J-Novel’s licensing hint didn’t help).

That said, there was far less Japan in this first volume than I expected. Our hero is Kazuhiro (“Kazuhito” in the fantasy world), a 25-year-old salaryman who’s always had the ability to travel to a fantasy world in his dreams. He’s been doing this for some time, and is now a Level 72 adventurer. He’s also good friends with Mariabelle (Marie), an elf mage who has assisted him in the past. One day they’re investigating a ruined city and accidentally get killed by a dragon that happens to live there. As always when he’s killed, Kazuhiro wakes up in his bed in Japan. But this time he was holding onto Marie when he died… and now she’s in Japan with him! Now she, like he, can go back and forth between both worlds when they sleep. What’s more, she gets to experience the food, clothing, books, and so much more that Japan has to offer.

So yes, the elf is in Japan, but there’s also a good half of the book that’s in the fantasy world, with all the usual accoutrements. There’s trying to defeat the dragon, dealing with evil bandits, etc. This just wasn’t as exciting, to be honest – it wasn’t bad, but it’s not really why I wanted to read the book. The Japan segments were much better, summed up, as I noted before, by the word “cute”. The author is good at showing the friendly, unconscious flirting between the two leads, and it’s fun without getting too frustrating – you are content to let them awkwardly fumble it out. The cast so far is small, with the only other possibly relevant members being the dragon who killed them (who turns out to be nicer than you’d expect) and a local librarian who knows Kazuhiro (and who is married, the book clearly states – there’s no love rivalries here yet).

This won’t win awards for depth, but it put a smile on my face. It’s nice to see a lead guy who works as a regular Japanese corporate officer worker, though his “fantasy” appearance is still middle school (as is his narrative obsession with breasts). It’s a relatively new series in Japan, so Vol. 2 may be a bit, but I’m looking forward to it.

Manga the Week of 3/6/19

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SEAN: March is here (though the East Coast has the wind already). What does manga have in store for us?

Dark Horse (assuming it does not schedule slide, like DH do ALL THE TIME) has the 3rd Gantz G and the 2nd Mob Psycho 100.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Mob Psycho 100 intrigued me enough to try a second volume, so I’ll be snagging that one.

ASH: Likewise! I’m looking forward to reading more of the series.

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 19 (yes, for real this time).

Kodansha, print-wise, has the 2nd 10 Dance, the 6th and final Golosseum, The Quintessential Quintuplets 2, and The Seven Deadly Sins 31.

MICHELLE: 10 Dance all the way.

ASH: Yes, absolutely.

SEAN: Digitally… it seems light. TOO light. Bet there’s an unannounced debut. Till then, there’s just Chihayafuru 15.

MICHELLE: I’ll never complain about more Chihayafuru!

SEAN: Speaking of digital, Seven Seas has another ‘early digital release’ light novel with Division Maneuver. The plot… erm… well, the illustrations… erm. Boy, that sure is a light novel for teenage boys, isn’t it?

They’ve also got I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother! 11-12 (mercifully, a final volume), Little Devils 2, and Magical Girl Site 8, making this the most cliched old-school Seven Seas week we’ve seen in some time. I suppose Little Devils is cute.

Tokyopop has a 2nd volume of Yuri Bear Storm.

Vertical gives us Mobile Suit Gundam Wing 11, which is nearing its conclusion but not there yet.

And boy oh boy, what a lot of Viz. No debuts, but we do see the final Bleach omnibus (a 2-in-1), which gives me the chance to go WOO ICHIHIME WINS! one last time, and the 9th and final Everyone’s Getting Married.

ANNA: I enjoyed Everyone’s Getting Married. I hope we get more josei from Viz.

ASH: I would love to see more josei!

SEAN: Shonen! Boruto 5, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Taiba 5, Dr. STONE 4, Haikyu!! 31, Hunter x Hunter 35 (it exists!), Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 7 (technically seinen), One Piece 3-in-1 27, Seraph of the End 16, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Arc V 5 (technically Yu-Gi-Oh, which is its own genre).

ASH: I’ve fallen a little behind with Haikyu!! but am hoping to catch up soon.

Shoujo! Anonymous Noise 13, Behind the Scenes 6, Kakuriya: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits 2, and Skip Beat! 42. I am so ready for more Skip Beat!.

MICHELLE: ME TOO.

ANNA: ME THREE!

SEAN: Lastly, a Yen Press straggler with the 2nd volume of Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger.

That SEEMS like a light week, but that’s just because Kodansha took it off digitally and Viz is all bunched together. What’re you getting?

A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy, Vol. 1

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By Kazuma Kamachi and Yasuhito Nogi. Released in Japan as “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun: Astral Buddy” by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Nan Rymer. Adapted by Maggie Danger.

Let’s face it, spinoffs from A Certain Magical Index are obvious. Leaving aside the fact that both Mikoto and Accelerator, owners of the two other manga spinoffs, are far more popular than either Touma OR Index, the series is simply littered with people you want to have their own series. Even if you put that aside and regard this as purely in the “Railgunverse”, which it is, there’s still an awful lot that you could focus on besides the adventures of the main four girls in the cast. The most obvious, of course, being Misaki, but she’s already gotten a sizeable role in the Railgun franchise already. So who do you turn to? Who’s the next breakout star? If you answered “that princess curl girl with no name that Misaki mentally abuses”, then you’ve cheated and read ahead. Let’s face it, no one expected this girl to lead a series.

See, even the cover artist agrees with me. Front and center are Kuroko and Misaki, posing as if they know why readers are REALLY buying this book. Way in the background is princess curl girl, who finally gets a name, Junko, and the “astral buddy” (awful pun there, btw) who is haunting/stalking her and drives the main plot. Someone is theoretically assaulting people around Misaki… only it turns out they’re assaulting people around Junko, who is a bright and shiny pile of naivete (as we’ve seen in the main Railgun series when she’s made brief appearances). Once that plot point is resolved, and Junko is assured that girls can in fact like other girls (a constant thread in this volume, no surprise given Kuroko’s all over it), we move on to Junko’s new ghost friend, who may or may not be a ghost. And Misaki’s still around, of course, but for once she’s the damsel in distress.

This takes place right around the Indian Poker arc in Railgun, for timeline fanatics. Mikoto is not in it, probably as she’d match up too well with Junko – Junko is bright and shiny where Mikoto runs on frustration and grumpiness, but they’re essentially very similar people. The rest of the Railgun core all have significant appearances, though. As for Junko herself, the narrative is a bit kinder to her now that she’s the focus of a series. We see she’s a Level 4, and her powers do indeed look pretty damn handy – it’s almost like a “quirk” from My Hero Academia. (Arguably, all of Academy City is.) Even the annoying mind control gag from Railgun, where Junko is always dieting but Misaki, when annoyed, makes her overeat to offset it, gets an “amusing” spin – Junko is gaining weight, but it’s all in her chest. The actual plotline has barely started, but that’s certainly an impressive cliffhanger.

So in the end, I was prepared for this to be the most cynical franchise cash-in yet, given it’s a spinoff starring “who?”, but it proved surprisingly entertaining, and I have new respect for Junko, who’s a bit of an airhead but sweet. Aside from the usual “Kuroko is a predatory lesbian” warnings, this should be an excellent pickup for Railgun fans.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: Second Squad Jam: Finish

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By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

This volume picks up where the last one left off, showing us the bulk of the 2nd Squad Jam, featuring most of the teams we saw in the last one plus a few new ones. The bulk of the book is, of course, the audience waiting for the big fight between Llenn and Pitohui. I say “audience” rather than reader as a large part of this book takes place in a bar in the virtual GGO world, where non-participants and the newly killed can gather to watch what’s going on and cheer people on. It’s a fun conceit, and helps to break up long pages of descriptions of action/descriptions of guns. Moreover, while our heroes are still the stars, the other teams also get a lot of great things to do (provided you like action – I mean, this is never going to be anything but “OMG, GUN FIGHTS!”) and show off their cool sides. And we meet a couple of characters I expect will pop up again in the future.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen an author quite so gleeful about playing around in someone else’s sandbox as Keiichi Sigsawa is here. (He even writes himself in to have a pathetic “I get killed off” cameo – again.) Theoretically there should be an impending feeling of doom around the events in this game – after all, Pitohui is gaming it so that it may have real-life consequences – but honestly, you rarely get that sense because you’re too busy watching everyone have all the fun in the world. Miyu/Fukaziroh greatly helps here, and I love her addition to the cast so much – aside from being a classic “just cannot shut up” type, she’s a great foil for Llenn. Her crowning moment may be emulating the Black Knight in Monty Python when she gets her hands and feet shot off and still crawls along to try to do some damage.

The battle between Llenn and Pitohui is the climax of the book, with everything else as a mere epilogue (including the actual results of the game, which I found hilarious). Llenn’s desperation to think of something, anything in order to kill off Pitohui herself is admirable and also a bit laughable, especially when she gets stuck in a thinking mantra. She’s at her best when running on instinct, though, and when her gun finally breaks (again, and yes, it still speaks to her), she has her knife, and then a makeshift knife, and then… well, I was impressed, let’s leave it at that. After that sort of battle, the epilogue was a bit of a letdown, especially with the lamest attempt at a fakeout ever – and to be fair, Karen does not fall for it even one iota. Now that Llenn and Pitohui have resolved things, though, what’s next? A third jam? Can we combine the four leads and have the best team ever?

This is still the light novel equivalent of a sugar rush, and I recommend skipping the gun nerd prose unless you really care a lot more than I do. But otherwise the GGO spinoff offers the finest quality action you’ll see in some time. Certainly better than the main series, and I think Kawahara would likely agree.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/26/19

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Beauty and the Beast Girl | By Neji | Seven Seas – This seems to be complete in one volume, and despite a lot of backstory angst edges on the side of sweet. A monster girl living in the woods meets a blind girl (literally, her last name is Blind, but she is also blind) and starts to tell her stories in an effort to hide why she’s living alone in the forest. Naturally, their backstories merge together. Also naturally, they fall for each other hard and must therefore deal with the other humans who are horrified that Lily would be with a monster. It all works out in the end, though, as true love can defeat all. This is one of a number of “cute but slight” yuri titles we’ve seen here recently, and while it’s not the most subtle manga in the world, I’d say it’s worth a read. – Sean Gaffney

Black Clover, Vol. 14 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – More tournament arc. Asta’s fight is fairly typical, involving a large dose of “I want to fight TOGETHER with you” to get the loner to actually do something. The more interesting fight, though, is between Finral and Langris, as you might guess by the cover art. There’s a lot of bad blood between these two, and all sorts of fears and jealousies come rolling out during the fight, which rapidly starts to turn a lot more deadly than expected. (Without any actual death—at least not yet.) There’s also another character who believes in beautiful things getting completely wrecked, which may be a Jump thing, as we also saw it happen in Toriko. All this plus tragic backstory to show off that true magical knights care about people! – Sean Gaffney

DAYS, Vol. 12 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Seiseki’s game against Toin continues and Tsukamoto is playing his heart out. It’s gratifying to see the coach of the opposite team notice a change in Seiseki since the previous year, and also gratifying to see Ubukata recognized for her strategic analysis that resulted in Kazama scoring the goal that ties the game at 1-1. There are a lot of missed shots and squandered opportunities and moments where you think that finally Tsukamoto will triumph but instead Toin gets a penalty kick, etc. We also finally learn the significance of the series title—Tsukamoto’s dad died when he was little, and he’s learned never to take the present for granted. “Because someday, this will all be over. But if I try, maybe I can make these days last just a second longer.” I’m a sucker for sentiment in my sports manga. Recommended. – Michelle Smith

Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 6 | By Tsukumizu| Ywn Press – This is the final volume of the series. Last time I asked if it would end in death. Technically we don’t see the girls die, but the end of their journey certainly seems to be The End of Their Journey, if you know what I mean. That’s the trouble with post-apocalyptic After the End series; unless you pull a fast one to find civilization has simply moved elsewhere (for a moment I wondered if they were going to get on a rocket and go to space in this volume, but that’s probably also a bad idea) you’re left with the fact that humanity has died. There’s some good bits here. I loved Chiro finding the massive library, as well as Yuuri’s calming presence. It was a sad journey in the end, but I’m glad I took it with them. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 5 | By Afro | Yen Press – I was very pleased to see that, after last volume’s “camping with friends is fun!,” which Rin agreed with, that nevertheless almost all the camping this time around is by Rin by herself, because she loves camping by herself. This despite the fact that you can get trapped somewhere due to impassable winter roads. Fortunately for Rin, this is the modern age where cell service is everywhere, so even when camping by herself, she’s in constant contact with the others. Nadeshiko also meets up with Rin and introduces her to the wonders of expensive eel, as well as showing off a childhood friend and the fact that she’s lost a ton of weight recently. (She seems very cute either way.) This is such a peaceful series. – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 34 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | VIZ Media – Sean warned me that this volume had some creepy scenes, but I was not prepared. Sinbad has succeeded in becoming the god of the world and has rewritten the rukh so that everyone agrees with his methods for securing a peaceful future. This includes reverting the world to rukh, thereby killing everyone. Watching the populace cheer, and tearful kids looking excited to die, is seriously disturbing (in a good way). Alibaba and Aladdin are immune, and debate whether they have a right to try to change a fate everyone else seems to want, until a conversation with a brainwashed Morgiana convinces Alibaba that the present is worth fighting for. And so our heroes, accompanied by Judar and Hakuryu, must conquer, like, seven facets of Sinbad or something. It’s vague, but fine. I’m glad things are seemingly wrapping up. Three volumes left! – Michelle Smith

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol. 5 | By Kagiji Kumanomata | Viz Media – I was not expecting the hands-down funniest chapter of this volume to be our princess trying to find a toilet so that she could pee, but there we are. The chapter ends up being hysterical, particularly the facial expressions. Elsewhere, we see the princess has a poor memory for names… and faces. We also see (as if we hadn’t guessed) that she’s an incredibly poor communicator. Even when things AREN’T her fault it’s pretty easy to blame her—a chapter where she tries to be nice and do good things leads merely to fear and paranoia from the demons. There’s no real ongoing plot here, but as long as Princess Syalis remains who she is, there’s certainly ongoing laughs. – Sean Gaffney

A Strange & Mystifying Story, Vol. 6 | By Tsuta Suzuki | SuBLime – Man, A Strange & Mystifying Story has evolved sooooo much since its early volumes. Now it’s a gripping supernatural drama and it’s easy to forget it started out as something smutty with consent issues until Setsu shows up and gives Tsumugi terrible advice on how to make Kurayori his. Kurayori has been holed up in his shrine and just when he finally emerges to talk with Tsumugi, Magawa and Kai arrive to cause problems. I’m surprised Suzuki-sensei has made me like and sympathize with Kai so much so quickly, but she has. He may be a monster, but his desperate desire to be useful to mentally unstable Magawa so that he won’t disappear is genuine. Plus, we got a bonus chapter with my favorite couple! The next volume is the last and I’m really looking forward to seeing how everything plays out. – Michelle Smith

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 2 | By Tomo Hirakawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – There is still a modicum of danger here—the threat to NPCs is still real, and Kirito by his very existence will attract trouble. That said, the fact that everyone is alive in this version of SAO (well, OK, not Sachi, but the cliffhanger included an appearance from someone I definitely was not expecting to see) and that we get chapters devoted to things like teaching Yuuki how to do school homework properly (which leads to helping dead school ghosts to pass on, much to Asuna’s horror) makes it feel sort of like the Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family of SAO. Instead of food, though, we get cool battles and cute interactions. Fun, though again confusing for non-gamers. – Sean Gaffney

Urusei Yatsura, Vol. 1 | By Rumiko Takahashi | Viz Media – While Urusei Yatsura became one of Rumiko Takahashi’s first major successes in Japan, the small portion of the series that was initially translated into English has been out-of-print for the better part of two decades. Happily, Viz is once again hastening “The Return of Lum” by releasing Takahashi’s highly influential manga in a new omnibus edition. For the most part the series is episodic in nature. Although there are recurring characters and jokes, overarching plotlines are virtually nonexistent. The basic premise remains consistent from chapter to chapter, though—Ataru Moroboshi, a lustful high schooler, is a magnet for the absurd and supernatural. Early on he manages to accidentally engage himself to Lum, an alien princess. Honestly, I wish Lum held more of the series’ focus than Ataru, but I still get a kick out of the manga. In particular I appreciate Urusei Yatsura‘s numerous references to Japanese mythology and literature. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Tales and Rails

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MICHELLE: I thought it’d be an easy choice for The Tale of Genji, but now Maiden Railways is up in the mix, too. Guess I’ll just have to get both. Darn.

ANNA: Why not both? It seems like a good decision to me!

SEAN: There are many worthy choices, including the two titles mentioned above. That said, I have to go with Today’s Menu with the Emiya Family, the happy-ending-for-everyone series that every Fate fan wants deep down.

KATE: I’m stoked for The Tale of Genji! Waki Yamato is a shojo pioneer who has a flair for melodrama. If Genji is a hit with American readers, I hope that we’ll also see an English-language edition of Haikara-san: Here Comes Miss Modern, the series that won her the Kodansha Manga Award back in 1977. Hey, a reader can dream, can’t she?

ASH: The Tale of Genji has my official pick this week, too. Particularly impressive from me considering the fact that at the moment the series is only being released digitally.

MJ: I think my pick is probably pretty obvious. With my deep love for vintage shoujo manga, there’s no choice for me but The Tale of Genji. I am so excited to pick it up!

A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 18

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By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “To Aru Majutsu no Index” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

As with most two-volume arcs in Index, the second half of this is filled with a lot of action, though there is also some time taken for characterization, particularly of the Royal Family. But yes, fights, fights and more fights. Former allies fight each other, as the Knight Leader and Acqua of the Back face off. Many disparate groups team up, as Touma and Index ally with the English Puritans, Agnes Sanctis’ group, the Amakusa group, the third princess, and even the staff of Buckingham Palace to take down the Second Princess. In the end, she’s defeated by literally weaponizing all of England to fight her, as well as her mother pointing out that all of them are, essentially, trying to do what’s best for Britain, it’s just that Carissa is going about it the wrong way. And, unfortunately, we also get the “there’s always someone better than you” fight, as Fiamma of the Right manages to disable Index in some way, and also seems to have a third arm that is very reminiscent of Touma’s.

Introduced in this volume: Well, we do see Sasha’s other Russian Orthodox ally, Vasilisa, as well as her seeming hunter, Skogssnua. Sasha is no longer possessed by an Angel, and seems to have been picked up by Vento. We’ve seen Fiamma before, though this is the volume where he truly comes forward and shows he’s going to be the next Big Bad. Fans of the Index books will recognize that we see a few cameos of future characters in this book, so technically this is the first we see of Leivinia Birdway, Patricia Birdway, and Mark Space. Chronologically, of course, this takes place right after the events of Book 17. Book 19 takes place back in Academy City, and is taking place at the same time as 17-18. We’re very nearly at the big climax for Index (whether we’ll see New Testament, the sequel, is of course up to the readers buying the series and Yen Press), and everything is clearly heading towards a massive World War – but we aren’t quite there yet.

Possibly my favorite scene in the book is right in the middle (and it gets a big two-page color spread), as all the various factions allied against Carissa all unite in a field for a huge banquet before the final battle. As I said before, we see more cooperation in this book than ever before, and this scene is pure gold for seeing previous enemies just hanging out and eating. They’re being made fun of (Lucia and Angelina), they’re being given a pep talk of sorts (Sherry and Orsola), they’re making stupid maid outfit jokes that Kamachi just can’t let go (the Amakusas), or they’re just eating as much as possible (Index and Agnes). It’s a sweet scene that I suspect we won’t see much of coming up – the action seems to be shifting to Russia. There’s also more Brexit references… or they would be if this hadn’t been written nine years ago. And, since I just picked on Kamachi’s stupid humor, there is one terrific joke that involves Agnes hitting a knight in the groin and the definition of chivalry.

This is the longest Index book to date, and it’s almost all battles. But it’s worth it. Next time we return to Accelerator and Hamazura, who have their own problems.

Urusei Yatsura, Omnibus 1

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By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan in two separate volumes by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Camellia Nieh.

I had reviewed the first five volumes of UY back in the days before my blog was part of Manga Bookshelf. At the time, it seemed like a pipe dream that we’d ever see more of it over here. It was started by Viz then cancelled, then put into Animerica Magazine and then cancelled there, then it was back to 32-page floppies, and finally it ground to a halt after 9 volumes (which covered up to about Book 11 in Japan owing to them skipping a bunch of chapters). It was the classic “how many times do you want us to beat our heads against this wall?” series. But now the manga market is stronger, Takahashi’s reputation is super high, and so not only do we get the return of UY, uncut and in omnibus format, we also get it released digitally, the first time this has happened for her series over a multi-platform format. It is truly a love song for Lum. Of course, new readers may be wondering: what’s the big deal?

The manga was originally supposed to be about an unlucky boy (whose very name loosely means “born under a bad sign”), his long-suffering and hot-tempered girlfriend, and the amusing situations that happen in their hometown of Tomobiki. Ataru Moroboshi attracts trouble. In the first chapter, that trouble is aliens, as he has to run a tag race against alien ogres so the Earth is not taken over. His opponent is Lum, who is a hot babe but also has a volatile temper. And can fly. After defeating and accidentally proposing to her, the next chapter is Lumless, and you might be deceived (if it were 1978, which it isn’t) into thinking that Lum would be a minor one-shot character… sort of like many of the other girls introduced in these two volumes. That said, the series is translated as “Those Obnoxious Aliens”, and it’s clear in the third chapter that Lum is back to stay. And also insanely popular.

As with a lot of long-running series, the characterization at the start is a bit off. Ataru is almost sympathetic at times, and occasionally makes the effort to be faithful to Shinobu and not be what he is famous for being, a giant horndog. By the end of this omnibus, that’s mostly worn off. Lum too is far nastier than we’re used to seeing, clearly an antagonist. As for Shinobu… well, no, she’s pretty much the same, though she too is unsympathetic much of the time. In fact, if you’re looking for anyone to root for, “look elsewhere” might be the best answer. This series runs on pure comedy, and Takahashi’s brand of comedy means watching people be terrible for fun. It works. These are terrible people. It’s fun. Ataru’s parents constantly wish he’d never been born. The town despises him (because he brings massive property damage). Cherry is possibly the most irritating character in the entire 34-volume series, which says a LOT. But the humor is there. This is a romp. You’ll find yourself laughing, but also slapping your forehead.

We do meet a large number of the main cast in this book, but they won’t last long… for now. Benten and Oyuki are oddly there to be Lum’s rivals for Ataru’s affection – that will change soon. Ataru’s friends aren’t even named (one is definable by his glasses… and not, thank god, his love of Nazi memorabilia), but they too won’t last long. Much as Viz attempted to reboot the series a couple of times here in North America, Takahashi will also reboot her own series starting in the next volume, with the introduction of the fourth and final “main” character. As for whether you should buy it again… yes. The quality of the reproduction is MUCH better than the original Viz volumes, especially the digital version. The translation is also less intrusive than the original, retaining puns when they’re obvious, but not feeling the need to make more jokes than Takahashi already is. It reads very smoothly.

Again, if you find yourself wishing “I wish everyone was a smidge less awful”, the second omnibus may help a bit. Only a bit, mind. These are characters to laugh AT, not with. I can’t wait for more.

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On The Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 8

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By Fujino Omori and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka? Gaiden – Sword Oratoria” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Liv Sommerlot.

This volume of Sword Oratoria has a lot of the author’s strengths and weaknesses, minus Lefiya’s crush on Aiz, which gets a pass here. Instead, we get a mostly very serious book devoted to the backstory and current troubles of Bete, everyone’s least favorite grumpy asshole in Loki Familia. Picking up right where we left off in Book 7, i.e. with a lot of dead family members, we see Bete’s usual coping tactics at work – insulting and belittling his dead family members for being weak. Needless to say, this gets everyone so angry with him that he’s ordered to take a few days off away from the Family till things cool down. Right away, though, he runs into an Amazon who had a small appearance in the sixth book, and who Bete pounded in the abdomen back then. This has, in a typical Amazon way, led her to want to have his children. I’d say hijinx ensue, but this isn’t that kind of book. Instead, we get Valletta coming back and trying to cause Loki Familia even more pain.

Let’s get my major beef with this book out of the way: Bete’s backstory catches up with his current story at the end of Vol. 7, as it turns out that the one dead family member we actually knew anything about (Finn’s support mage) had a crush on Bete. If we combine this with a) his little sister (dead); b) his childhood friend (dead); and c) his first love (dead), we wind up with Stuffed Into The Fridge about five times over, as this is all to support Bete’s own emotional pain and his journey and explain why he’s so terrible. We’re also told that if you combine the looks of the three girls in Bete’s backstory you come close to Aiz, something that creeps me out more than a bit. Aiz, of course, can take care of herself, which is why Bete’s seemingly so fond of her. Oh yes, and the amazon girl, Lena, is also cut down in front of him halfway through the book. It’s hard not to groan at this point.

Other than that, I’ve said before that Omori specializes in writing fight scenes, and it’s still true, as they’re excellent as always, and keep the book moving briskly. Unfortunately, the author is less good when having to lay out exposition – learning why Bete is the way he is is laid out in several long interlocking scenes where Loki, Finn, Gareth and Riveria all tediously explain what we’ve long guessed to the rest of the family so they’re not mad at him any more. (That said, it does lead to the one great joke in an otherwise humorless book, as Loki convinces Aiz to cheer Bete up, which Aiz does as only a monotone deadpan character can.) This was probably a necessary book, as we needed Bete to get some backstory. I just don’t care for how it was handled. (And thank GOD for that editor, or else it would have been even worse.)

Kino’s Journey: The Beautiful World, Vol. 1

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By Iruka Shiomiya, Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi. Released in Japan as “Kino no Tabi – the Beautiful World” by Kodansha, serialized in Shonen Magazine Edge. Released in North America by Vertical Comics. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

(This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher.)

In olden times, when the internet was just a young man, the first Kino’s Journey novel was published in North America by Tokyopop. It was also the last Kino’s Journey novel published in North America. Rumors swirled around why it died so fast. The usual low sales for novels? (This was pre-boom.) Or was it, as the most popular rumor went, that the author/publisher was enraged that Tokyopop changed the order of the chapters in the first book and pulled permission? A popular theory, but I have to say, when I saw the first volume of this manga adaptation of Kino’s Journey began, as Tokyopop’s novel does, with the backstory of the lead character, I had to laugh. Clearly someone else also thought it was a good idea to start here. That said, while the backstory is important (and chilling), at heart Kino’s Journey is an anthology series where you get a different place every week.

I would say the series is about the journey that Kino and Hermes (a sentient motorcycle) are taking, but that’s not quite accurate either. The series is about human nature, and how often that nature can turn sad, or frustrating, or tragic. This is not a depressing series, but the smiles you’ll have while reading it are going to be winsome. We start off with a traveler named Kino arriving at a town looking to repair a “motorrad” and befriending a young girl who’s just about to become an adult. That said, we quickly discover that becoming an adult here is a lot more disturbing than you’d expect, and the whole thing takes a Shirley Jackson-style turn – it’s quite disturbing. Kino and Hermes get away from the town and begin to travel, and along the way they meet various people, and places.

The rest of this first volume consists of two stories. The first, and longest, is about Kino’s arrival at a city that’s seemingly deserted, with robots running most amenities. There are people around, but they tend to vanish just as quickly. Once Kino finally meets one of the residents, we discover that it’s a classic “do not bring up what you cannot put down” situation, where what seemed like a good idea at the time quickly turns unbearable. The second story is a simpler one showing how a lack of communication can make tasks completely pointless – or, alternately, a sad but heartwarming story about men who sacrifice everything to work hard for their families back home. Throughout these stories, Kino remains an observer, not staying long and not really offering up advice. We, the reader, do the same.

I’ll definitely be continuing this series. It’s a good adaptation (done over fifteen years after the original novels and the anime series – another Kodansha property, Bakemonogatari, had a similar situation recently). If you like pensive, melancholy series that tell good stories but don’t linger, absolutely give this a try.

Manga the Week of 2/27/19

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SEAN: The last week of February has far, far more titles than I expected. A ridiculous amount, given Yen was mostly the week before.

Cross Infinite World debuts a new light novel with Beast † Blood (which seems to be part of a series called The Beast’s Mate). It’s got a Japanese author and title, but the premise seems pure Western YA. Biotech Researcher meets Mutant Beast Hunter. Sparks fly!

Dark Horse has piled all their manga into next week. We get the debut of their “Deluxe Edition” of Berserk, as well as Fate/Zero 8, and I Am a Hero 9.

ASH: From the previews I’ve seen, the deluxe edition of Berserk looks gorgeous. It also has a price tag to match.

SEAN: Denpa Books has two debuts. The first is Maiden Railways, a one-volume collection of short stories that involve romance on the train. It’s from Hakusensha’s Rakuen Le Paradis, which means it’s a must buy for me.

MICHELLE: Ooooooh.

ASH: I’m very happy to have more of Asumiko Nakamura’s work available in English!

ANNA: I pre-ordered Maiden Railways, I am excited!

MJ: This sounds so interesting! Sign me up!

SEAN: They also have the first volume of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family, which just had an anime run this past year. If you love Fate/Stay Night but wish there was less blood and death and more delicious food (it has recipes!) and heartwarming moments, this is the title for you. It runs in Kadokawa’s Young Ace Up. Guaranteed not to have people die when they are killed.

ASH: I do like a good food manga, but I know almost nothing about Fate/Stay Night.

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us four new volumes, as we see Der Werwolf 3, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 7, Infinite Stratos 6, and Kokoro Connect 4.

Kodansha, on the print side, has Clockwork Planet 10 and In/Spectre 9.

Digitally the big debut is The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Dawn. This classic shoujo series started its run (in Kodansha’a Mimi magazine, which no longer exists) in 1979, and is apparently a terrific adaptation of the classic story. The author, Waki Yamato, is not as revolutionary as the Year 24 group, but certainly made popular shoujo titles. Can’t wait to read this – the first three volumes are all out next week.

MICHELLE: I am super excited for this. Stay tuned for an Off the Shelf feature!

ASH: I’ve wanted to read this for such a long time! I really hope this truly is one of Kodansha’s “digital first” series and that we eventually get it in print, too.

ANNA: I am also excited but would be more excited for a print release!

MJ: I could not be more excited about this. I have a couple of volumes in Kodansha’s old bilingual edition (gifted to me by Kate, I think!) and they are lovely. But to have a real full-length English edition is a dream come true. You all know how much I love shoujo manga from this era, so my excitement can’t possibly be news. But I intend to shout about it all the same!

SEAN: In non-Genji news, we see Ace of the Diamond 20, All-Rounder Meguru 9, Defying Kurosaki-kun 7, Kira-kun Today 4, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 10, Mikami-sensei’s Way of Love 3, and My Boyfriend in Orange 6.

MICHELLE: Insert obligatory sports manga wooting.

SEAN: I was hoping for a more Space Battleshippy sort of debut this week, but it’s been bumped to April. Instead, Seven Seas debuts Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary.

There’s also Alice & Zoroku 5, The Ancient Magus’ Bride 10, The 3rd Captain Harlock Classic Collection, Made in Abyss 5, Masamune-kun’s Revenge 9, and Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 11.

MICHELLE: I’m so looking forward to the new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, as we left off with Chise preparing to get some learnin’.

ASH: The Ancient Magus’ Bride is where my attention’s at, too.

SEAN: Tokyopop may give me mixed feelings overall, but there’s no way I’m passing up another attempt (please let it be completed this time) at Aria, the gorgeous manga about gondoliers on Mars. The Masterpiece Collection’s first volume will contain the two-volume prequel Aqua.

MICHELLE: Hm. Dubious face. I still have my old volumes of Aqua. It would’ve been nice if they’d started with Aria volume seven, but I guess that doesn’t make a ton of sense in terms of bringing in new customers even though it’d be a step toward making amends to the old customers.

ANNA: I had a couple volumes of old Aria and it was beautiful but I think didn’t have a ton of narrative substance? I don’t remember, I didn’t stick with it long.

MJ: I am skeptical but always full of hope.

SEAN: Vertical Inc. has a one-volume novel, 5 Centimeters per Second: one more side. This tells the story from the point of view of the heroine.

MJ: I am interested in this!

Vertical Comics, meanwhile, has the 3rd volume of the compelling and also unnerving series My Boy.

Yen has a couple of digital-only releases next week, as we get Corpse Princess 21 and IM: Great Priest Imhotep 11.

Yen manga, meanwhile, gives us ACCA 6, Durarara!! re;Dollars 4, Hakumei & Mikochi 4.

MICHELLE: I believe this is the final volume of ACCA, as well.

ASH: Oh, I think you’re right! I’ve been thoroughly enjoy the series.

ANNA: I still need to read it because I am terrible.

SEAN: And last, but not least, we see a digital-only manga hit print with a giant done-in one omnibus. Shut-in Shoutarou Kominami Takes on the World is a Big Gangan series about a hikkikomori who’s trying to fix himself and the gag manga writer who hopes he doesn’t. It’s apparently quite funny.

ASH: I’ll admit I’m curious.

SEAN: See? It’s a lot? What are you getting?

Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir!, Vol. 1

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By Inumajin and Kochimo. Released in Japan as “Wanwan Monogatari ~Kanemochi no Inu n shite to wa Itta ga, Fenrir ni shiro to wa Itte nee!~” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer O’Donnell.

Well, that had all the strengths and weaknesses of the current light novel glut. Everyone want to write an isekai, usually with reincarnation, as that’s what sells. But there’s already too many of the normal adventurer sort, so you try to find a gimmick. We were a bit spoiled by having the Vending Machine isekai come out earlier, which already stretched disbelief to the snapping point. Woof Woof Story does not quite go that far, and instead sticks with our hero Routa as a “dog”. Unfortunately, the goddess who reincarnated him in this world is just as flakey as the goddesses in KonoSuba, and so he ends up being Fenrir, the strongest animal in the world. To his horror. Now he has to pretend he’s just a happy-go-lucky puppy so that he can keep his wonderful relaxed life with his adorable teenage master Mary, who has no idea he’s a monstrous wolf. He’s just a big doggie.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, as I suspect it will irritate some readers. Routa is a dog, and as such speaks in dog sounds. However, the book needs to have him actually converse with other animals, witches, and yes, occasionally his master, who seems to understand what he’s saying in a “dog” way. So we get Routa’s dog sounds, followed by what he’s actually saying in parentheses and italics. This can take some getting used to. The plot itself mostly involves Routa discovering his true identity and trying to hide it while also trying to protect his master, who tends to do things like go swimming by the dangerous lake with monsters around it, or come down with horrible fevers that need a special medicine only found in a faraway cave. But she’s cute and scritches him. And he gets lots of yummy food. In fact, sometimes he eats the larder and is forced to go hunt new food. Oh yes, and the resident knight wants to kill him as she’s the only one who gets that he’s a legendary wolf monster.

If you leave out the ‘I’m a dog’ part of the story, this has a lot of standard isekai/reincarnation tropes. The knight, Zenobia, is a garden variety tsundere, as is lampshaded by Routa himself. Sadly, I expect her role in this story is to be useless. Routa also has a number of other wolves who call him their king, one of whom is female, but, as he insists constantly, he’s not a furry. Routa may be reincarnated as a wolf, but he still has human memories. As such, “I’m not a furry” is the equivalent of “but I’m not into little girls” that we see in so many other isekai to take the curse off the hero being surrounded by young girls. That said, the book is pretty fun, and anyone looking for a lighthearted romp should enjoy it. But honestly, even the vending machine novels had more depth than this.

My Solo Exchange Diary, Vol. 2

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By Nagata Kabi. Released in Japan as “Hitori Koukan Nikki” by Shogakukan, serialized in Big Comic Special. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Lianne Sentar.

By the end of this volume, the author has decided that she’s ending this diary, at least for public consumption. While this volume was also very good, I do think that may be for the best, as we are once again reminded that the life of a real person can cause more emotional pain that the life of, say, a 16-year-old girl in a girls’ private school. Apparently the last volume (the first Solo Exchange Diary) was not as popular with folks in Japan, particularly the last chapter, and that hit Kabi-san pretty hard. This final volume is much like the other two – some really good realizations and a few tentative steps forward, but also quite a few steps backward. The cover shows us two sides of Kabi-san talking with each other, the first being the one that’s resorted to alcohol, the other being the one who cuts herself. This remains a gripping but uneasy read.

At the start of the book she finds herself returning to live with her parents for a bit, and coming to terms with the fact that her mother is not her, and doesn’t deal with things the same way that she does. Her grandparents also get to see that she’s published two books, and carefully praise her for the publication while avoiding the content, which is very true to life. There are shots of the day-to-day life that the two had which I quite enjoyed. Unfortunately, in this volume Kabi-san also starts drinking beer. A lot. To the point where she’s wetting her bed by accident in the mornings. So much of the second half of the book takes place in the hospital, where she checks herself in so that she can deal with this. There are communication problems with the doctors and nurses, and at one point she’s cutting herself again. I find the fact that she’s putting this all out there on the page amazing.

At the end of the book, she’s out of the hospital, creating original manga, and realizing that the business of being “Nagata Kabi” is too much, which is likely the main reason why the Diary is ending. The best part, though, is that we get to see the original manga she created (it ran in Hibana magazine), and it’s really good. The story of two young people who are “rebelling against society” in a very literal way, it’s cute, clever and emotionally bruising all at the same time. The story is complete as is, but it does make me want to read more of Kabi’s original creations. As for her own life, I thank and applaud her for showing it to us, for good and ill, and I hope that the diary can continue in private even if it doesn’t in public. I felt it was an excellent read, and would also recommend it to anyone else who is dealing witd depression or other inner turmoil.