Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlor in Another World

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By Kaya Kizaki and Shiso. Released in Japan by Shueisha. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

First of all, you will note the lack of a volume number in the title – this seems to be a one-shot novel. And thank goodness for that. Not that I didn’t find this novel about a pizza hero and his cute, clumsy, and jealous elf fiancee (yeah, they don’t actually get married here) charming, but it’s really the sort of premise that can’t hold up over an extended period. It barely holds up over the course of this book, and it’s a very short book. But on its own, as something you’d read over an hour or so on a train ride or at the beach, it’s perfectly pleasant. The pizza is pretty much the most original thing about it – characters are of the sort that the moment you see their design you immediate know what they’re like and how they’ll talk. And that includes our hero, who is as generic as he appears. But he’s nice. And earnest. He also likes pizza.

Our hero is Kaito, a working drudge who is hit by a pizza delivery bike and killed, in the time honored Japanese light novel tradition. He needs a goddess who offers him three worlds he could reincarnate as a hero in – sword master, magic master, or pizza master. Sadly, Kaito is a bit overwhelmed and dithers too much, so the first two options are taken by other dead light novel protagonists, leaving him with pizza hero. (You get the sense that the goddess nudged events towards this happening, and also perhaps nudged Kaito into being a bit more pizza-obsessed than one normally is.) He’s reincarnated in a small town populated by thin elves who eat only vegetables and greens, at the behest of their Queen. Kaito will soon change that… with PIZZA! He’s also given the village leader’s daughter Lilia as an assistant/wife, and while Kaito finds the wife part disconcerting at first, he gradually falls for her.

There’s no real satire or deconstruction going on here, I will warn you – everything is pretty much what it seems. Lilia is essentially Index as an elf, with a truly voracious appetite and a tendency to get upset whenever Kaito speaks with any other girl. We also meet the Queen, Eleonora, who is haughty, stubborn, and loves pizza (they ALL end up loving pizza) but needs to keep up appearances. She also falls for Kaito, as does a rich yet ill girl, but given this is one volume and that volume ends with Kaito proposing to Lilia, there’s no real harem action besides “cute girls like the hero because he exists”. The plot is a series of short stories revolving around Kaito making pizza (he gets the knowledge and most of the ingredients via magical cards, with is very convenient) and making elves happy by serving pizza. Even the village-destroying dragon is won over by pizza.

Again, this is light, pleasant, and utterly inessential. If you’re looking for a quick read, or like pizza, it’s there for you.

Anime NYC 2018, Day Two

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Yesterday was light to nonexistent. The same for tomorrow. But today? We had ALL THE THINGS! Starting off with the joint Kodansha and Vertical panel, which was in a nice big panel room and there was no line. A good start!

Ben Applegate was there from Kodansha and Tomo Tran from Vertical. They talked about all the giveaways they had at the booth, with Summer Wars stickers, After the Rain music download cards, Devils’ Line stuff, Pop Team Epic “shitty merchandise” (nicely done), and some of the Monogatari art exhibit being available to look at. Vertical then announced a new artbook from VOFAN, the artist for the Monogatari Series novels. This is actually a collection of his non-commercial art, so it should be far more intriguing than just another collection of stuff you’ve seen before in a larger size. It’s coming in Fall 2019.

Kodansha ran through some of their titles currently being released, including the Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, and mentioned the Sailor Moon musical is coming to NYC and DC. They then got on to new titles, though one is a collected edition: Princess Jellyfish is getting a Complete Box Set! Given at one point they weren’t sure they’d even finish the series, this is terrific news. Tales of Berseria is a three-volume series from Ichijinsha’s Comic REX, and is a fantasy title based off of a video game – I think it has an anime as well.

Fate/Grand Order gets its first manga adaptation license with the mortalis stella series, a 2-volume manga that is also Ichijinsha, from their Comic Zero Sum. I believe this stars Mash. Lastly, Kodansha is doing a new Cardcaptor Sakura edition with all the bells and whistles – hardcover, some new covers, new translation – the whole nine yards. I was a bit surprised by this, given it wasn’t too long ago that Dark Horse had re-released the series, but I’ve heard this will be worth the repurchase.

There were also two new digital announcements, coming out the first and second week of December, respectively. Red Riding Hood’s Wolf Apprentice (Akazukin no Ookami Deshi) is a Betsushonen title with Little Red Riding Hood as a beast hunter, and it’s supposed to be amusing. And on a more ridiculous note, we have Crocodile Baron, a Weekly Morning title that is three volumes long. Kodansha emphasized that the synopsis was irrelevant because there was a crocodile in a top hat on the cover. They’re not wrong.

After this there was Q&A, but I had to leave right away to get to the debut panel for Denpa Books, run by Ed Chavez (ex-Vertical) and Jacob Gray (ex-Fakku). They had special guests at the panel, though they quickly had to leave, so weren’t the focus – Range Murata, character designer for Last Exile and others, whose futurelog artbook is out next month and has ALL the bells and whistles – seriously, I could not believe how tricked out this artbook is. Hiroyuki Asada is known here for Tegami Bachi, but is putting out a more experimental title via Denpa, PEZ.

Most of the titles talked about have been mentioned before in some way or another. I was most interested in Invitation from a Crab and Maiden Railways, both of which seem to come from Hakusensha’s Rakuen Le Paradis, as well as Dining with the Emiya Family, for Fate/Stay Night fans who know what the most important thing in the Fate franchise is – FOOD.

The new titles included Super Dimensional Love Gun, a Shintaro Kago title that Fakku had previously released, but this is a nicer edition. It contains the usual Shintaro Kago warnings – if you aren’t a fan of his, you’ll likely be grossed out. Heavenly Delusion (Tengoku Daimakyou) is a brand new seinen series running in Kodansha’s Afternoon, and Denpa managed to license it before the first volume was even out in Japan. They’re super excited for it – it’s post-apocalyptic slice of life, a popular genre lately. The creator may be better known for SoreMachi. The last Denpa title was Pleasure and Corruption (Tsumi to Kai), from Square Enix’s Young Gangan. Honestly, it feels more like a Fakku title than a Denpa title, but it’s being sold to those who liked the sort of dark sexuality of Flowers of Evil. Expect BDSM themes.

After eating lunch, I had a choice: I could go to Viz, or go to Vertical’s Katanagatari panel. I chose the latter (sorry, Viz, I always seem to miss you at these events). Vertical’s panel had the translator, Sam Bett, who walked through some of the things they’re doing with the title – the footnotes, which are half gag and half serious, as well as the hardcover omnibus editions. Given its author, you can imagine how much sword wordplay and how many sword puns there are. Most of the audience has already seen the anime, but Sam was quick to note that even given the novels are short (each is approximately 100 pages in English, meaning the omnibus is 300), there is a lot the anime had to adapt or leave out.

Even leaving aside that it was Nisioisin, translating it could be difficult – these are not “light” novels, and there’s lots of obscure or archaic Japanese terms that need adapting. He also explained why he used “mutant blades” rather than “deviant blades” – he felt the latter made them sound more evil than they really should be seen. It takes him longer to do Nisio’s translation than other titles, but not a LOT longer – about 20% longer, on average. He said even a Japanese reader might find themselves reaching for a dictionary to look up words with this one.

Despite not being at the Viz panel, I will be looking at their announcements anyway, at least the manga ones. My Hero Academia SMASH! is a 5-volume comedy series that ran in Shonen Jump +, and is, as you might have guessed, a wacky 4-koma take on the popular series. This license was obvious, but I am quite pleased nevertheless. Komi Can’t Communicate (Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu) was a very popular license announcement, being a Shonen Sunday title with a lot of buzz. Komi is the cool, aloof beauty according to the school, but in reality, she’s just bad at communication.

Beastars is a Weekly Shonen Champion title (nice to see Akita Shoten stuff out over here in a (mostly) post-Tokyopop world), and it’s an award winning manga about anthropomorphic high school students. It’s 11+ volumes, and looks dark but cool. Lastly, Haikasoru has a new sci-fi novel announcement with Automatic Eve, that seems to be a steampunk title.

I was lurking waiting for Yen Press, so I checked out the GKids panel. They’re a group that puts out a lot of the “anime movie” series we’ve seen recently, the most recent varieties being Mirai and Fireworks: Shall We See It from the Side or the Bottom?. They’re also now in charge of the Ghibli line, with nice handsome DVD/Blu-Ray releases of those titles. They are clearly cery excited about getting these releases into theaters, and the trailers for the movies looked exciting and fun – I particularly liked the Miyazaki documentary.

My last panel of the day was Yen Press, but they also announced the most titles – easily. The panel room filled up rapidly, being near standing room only 15 minutes before, but I think everyone who wanted to get in was able to. Announcing for Yen were Kurt Haessler and Tania Biswas, as well as Carl, Ivan, and Anna, who sadly remained last name-less. Unlike all the other panels I went to, Yen knew it had a pile to announce, so did not do a run-through of any recent releases – through they did have some poster giveaways, including Psycome, much to my surprise.

We began with the novel of Wolf Children: Ame and Yuki. Yen had previously released the manga, but they now have the novel adaptation of this popular movie. (Anna spoiled a death when describing the plot, which Kurt mercilessly mocked her for.) Whenever Our Eyes Meet is a yuri anthology a la Eclair, but this time the protagonists are all adult women, for those who are tired of the usual high school girls. Speaking of yuri, we also have Killing Me!, a one-volume title from Comic Cune about two high school girls who are a vampire and a vampire hunter. It looks very much like a “yuri for guys” series.

Also one volume is Little Miss P (Seiri-chan), an Enterbrain series about an anthropomorphic period. As in menstruation period. The audience was taken aback, but Yen clearly really enjoyed talking about this one, and think it will be great fun. Last Round Arthurs: Scum Arthur and Heretic Merlin is a brand new fantasy title – brand new in Japan too, so there’s not much info about it. The author did Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, the artist does Index. It seems to be about an Arthurian tournament, and is two volumes to date.

On a darker note, they have both the novel and the manga for Torture Princess (Isekai Goumon Hime), whose artist has also done Black Bullet. It’s a Media Factory title and is apparently quite violent, about a man who is reincarnated in an artificial body and the demon hunter who wants his help. The German subtitle is Fremd Torturchen, and the manga runs on Kadokawa’s Comic Walker site. We also get an Enterbrain light novel called The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Hero (Megami no Yuusha wo Taosu Gesu na Houhou). No, not that kind of dirty. The demon lord just wants to eat tasty food, but heroes keep trying to kill them. So… they summon their own hero.

Back to manga with The Monster and the Beast (Bakemono to Kedamono), a BL title from Asuka Ciel, about a nice monster and a nasty older man, and their budding relationship. Yuri Life is another yuri title, this one taken from Pixiv artist Kurikurihime, and also features two women in their late twenties, not late teens. It’s very sliec-of-yuri life. For fans of Beasts of Abigaile, we have a title from the same creator. Kaiju Girl Caramelizer (Otome Monster Caramelize) runs in my old nemesis, Comic Alive (pauses to shake fist at sky), but looks good anyway, and is about a girl who has an affliction that when she gets upset, her body parts “monsterize”.

More light novels with Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki (Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun), a Shogakukan title (in other words, expect print-only for this one) about a loser gamer guy who thinks the world is awful, and a winning gamer girl who shows him the “cheats” to help him succeed at life. It gets points for not being a fantasy title, I’ll say that. The artist is also pretty fly. (I’m so sorry.) Back to manga for God Shining Moonlight Howling Moon (Mahou Shoujo Flaming Star), by the creators of Trinity Seven and High School of the Dead. Given that combo, you know there will be breasts a plenty. It also runs in Bessatsu Dragon Age, which sort of clinches that, and is about a Magical Girl called upon to save the Earth… but is she one of the good guys?

The last one is another light novel, The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious (Kono Yuusha ga Ore Tueee Kuse ni Shinchou Sugiru), a fairly recent Kadokawa series. A fantasy world is in desperate straits. They need a hero. They get a really strong one… but he’s far too wary, never wanting to attack unless he knows he can win. What makes this interesting is that the book is from the POV of the goddess who summoned him, and she has to find a way to make him do what needs to be done. It’s five volumes in Japan. After that came Q&A, but honestly, let’s just move along now.

And with that, I wrapped up my second and busiest day of Anime NYC. Again, I was pretty happy. The staff was nice and knowledgeable, the crowds were large but reasonable, and I got to see everything I wanted. Tomorrow I have no panels I want to see, so will take in Artist’s Alley, and may also scope out the AMV contest.

Amagi Brilliant Park, Vol. 2

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By Shouji Gatou and Yuka Nakajima. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

This volume of Amagi Brilliant Park is not as shockingly cynical as the last volume (I suspect the author realized it might become an anime and needed to walk things back… indeed, the anime cut the surprising part of the ending to Book One entirely). That said, I also think that the story settles in a bit better for the long haul here, and while our two leads still feel a bit cliched (indeed, the prose occasionally shows self-awareness that it is a cliched light novel series), they don’t feel like they’re only made of cliches. The premise is much the same as last time – the deadline was kicked down the road, but the “get visitors and make money or get shut down” threat is still there. The money is more important than the visitors right now, as without a staff the park can’t function. And so Seiya thinks hard about how to get a) more money, and b) more staff. He has the help of Isuzu… sometimes, when she’s not under the influence of truth serum.

Princess Latifah (who hopefully will never become Queen, because boy would that be awkward) is on the cover, looking a lot more happy than she is in the book. She’s lost her memories from the first book (another thing the anime changed), and as such is both a) judging her past self harshly for being unable to come up with good solutions, and b) judging her current self harshly for being unable to live up to her past. Seiya tries to help, but I get the feeling that this is a plotline that’s going to be playing out over the course of the series. He’s also still harboring some feelings for her… though he also has some feelings for Isuzu, who he thinks might reciprocate them (the truth serum helped), but isn’t quite willing to actually ask when she could tell him, and afterwards of course she’s back to her normal curt self.

We do meet some new characters. One seems to exist only for the sake of a dumb gag, though she does seem sweet – I’m hoping the gag is not a running one. The other one seems to be a gung-ho high school girl who is determined to work at the park, and is not going to let foolish things like getting stabbed and needing immediate medical attention stop her. This sequence succeeded mainly due to its complete ridiculousness. As for Seiya, he’s still a somewhat morally questionable hero – the magic ability I mentioned he barely used in the first book is used here with a vengeance – but it’s all offscreen, and it’s used in order to help him gain blackmail material so that he can make a financial agreement with this world’s equivalent of Walmart. It’s not as jaw-dropping as the first book, but there’s still the sense that he’ll do anything to win, and Isuzu will simply stand next to him and ask if there’s anyone he needs shot.

The market for this is definitely teenage boys (Isuzu waking from a nightmare by having her gun emerge from between her legs and fire into the ceiling is possibly the most unsubtle joke I’ve seen in any light novel to date), but Amagi Brilliant Park is fun, easy to read, and still has a bit of a cynical, bitter taste to it.

Anime NYC 2018, Day One

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It’s always been the case that conventions that run Friday to Sunday tend to load the most important stuff on the second day. That said, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it quite as bad as this year’s Anime NYC, with a total of zero things I was interested in covering today but a plethora of stuff tomorrow. As such, most of the meat of this report will be coming at you in about 24 hours or so. This is not to say Anime NYC Friday did not have lots of interesting stuff. There were panels galore, mostly for anime producers, and oodles of autograph sessions. And the crowd. Oh, very large crowd. I was impressed.

After getting my press badge, I lurked on a staircase for a while before getting up at 1 to go into the exhibition hall, where the companies and dealers were, which was scheduled to open at 1. Unfortunately, due to a promotion for Crunchyroll that allows their people earlier access, it was more like 1:30 by the time the line began to move. If I recall correctly, a similar thing happened last year. Once inside, though, everything was fine as I was able to peruse and talk to most of the publishers who are here.

One of those publishers is a new one run by a familiar face: Denpa, with fomer Vertical frontman Ed Chavez. They’ll have a panel tomorrow, but had a few of their titles available for purchase already, including Pez and Inside Mari, which I discussed in Manga the Week of. Because I am me, I also chided Ed for leaving Sakura Matou off the back cover copy of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family (out in early 2019). One Peace books also had a booth, which was mostly dedicated to Rising of the Shield Hero and Hinamatsuri, though they also had some copies of I Hear the Sunspot. I urged them to get a Twitter account, so that I can start tagging them better in posts.

Kodansha and Vertical have had combined booths and panels over the past couple of years, and they’re also the booth at which I spent actual money, as I got a copy of the Katanagatari hardcover novel ahead of its November 27th street date (footnotes! copious footnotes explaining the wordplay!) and also the 3rd Wotakoi omnibus, due out either November 20th or 27th depending on whether you’re getting it from Amazon or not. I also picked up Pop Team Epic fuzzy mini-dice, because come on, the very idea is awesome, cute AND funny. Lastly, I dropped by Mangagamer’s booth – they have a panel tonight, which I can’t make due to a prior commitment, but honestly I was there for only one thing. Unfortunately, as I expected, Minagoroshi, the 7th Higurashi arc, is stuck in programming – fortunately its next in the queue.

Throughout the day, I was struck by the fact that everyone was not only having fun but also being nice. There was lots of cosplay, lots of pictures of cosplay, and very little of people blocking through-ways because of pictures of cosplay. Everyone was discussing anime and manga they were following now, and also what they’d followed back in middle and high school. Best of all, there were not one but TWO ball pits where people could get pictures of themselves wallowing in – one of which, which I believe is a joint promotion between Kodansha and Yen, featured little ‘slimes’ as the balls, as in That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime. It’s good to see the Dashcon ballpit being redeemed and used for good in the modern convention world.

Lastly, while I’d mentioned that most of the panels announcing new licenses are tomorrow, Seven Seas (who are not allowed to leave the West Coast or else their souls wither, I think) came out with a new light novel announcement, though the name may be familiar to anime and manga readers. Restaurant to Another World (Isekai Shokudou) is from Shufunotomosha’s Hero Bunko line, and features a restaurant that is fairly normal six days a week… but on that seventh day, it caters to a more fantasy-oriented clientele. The manga has been coming out here digitally via Crunchyroll, and I believe Crunchyroll also has the anime. Best of all, at least for me, is that the illustrations are being done by Katsumi Enami, who also draws illustrations for Baccano!.

And that’s it for today! Tonight I go out to eat at a nice Manhattan restaurant, rest my aching ankles (standing for hours on end is getting to be something I simply can’t do), and prepare for Day Two, featuring ALL THE PANELS!

Manga the Week of 11/21/18

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SEAN: We give thanks for this manga, and it seems appropriate we start by giving thanks for a new manga company.

Denpa is releasing its first two titles next week. The first may be familiar to Crunchyroll manga readers. Inside Mari (Boku wa Mari no Naka) is a seinen series from Futabasha’s Manga Action, where our lead ends up inside the body of the girl he likes, and has to figure out what’s going on and how to act like her.

The other debut is PEZ, by Hiroyuki Asada, best known for Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee. It’s small (just 72 pages), but gorgeous, and published originally in the ROBOT anthology.

MICHELLE: Welcome, Denpa!

ASH: I am definitely interested in both of these (and everything else to come)!

MJ: Exciting!

SEAN: J-Novel Club also has two debuts next week. We start with Apparently It’s My Fault That My Husband Has the Head of a Beast. This one appears to definitely be geared towards female readers, and stars a Princess who shuts herself in because she sees people’s faces as beast heads. Then she meets a prince, who seems unaffected… at first.

The other debut is a one-shot, ECHO, based on a Vocaloid song, a la Kagerou Daze. I know nothing about it except it has excellent buzz.

And for more typical fare, we also have the 11th In Another World with My Smartphone.

This may have been on the list before, but dates slip, you know the drill. Kodansha has Battle Angel Alita: Holy Night and Other Stories, a collection set in the Alitaverse.

ASH: I suspect it’s something that I’ll get around to reading at some point.

SEAN: Print-wise, there’s also Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 5, UQ Holder 15, and Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku omnibus 3. Honestly, I’m giving up on Amazon’s dates, as they seem to hate Kodansha right now, and going with the company site.

MICHELLE: Yay for more Wotakoi!

ASH: Yes, indeed! I really do love the series.

SEAN: Digitally, Kodansha debuts Good Dog, Cerberus! (Meiken Keru-chan), a one-volume manga about a cute but clumsy demon dog from Hell. It runs in Kodansha’s Aria, but is being marketed as all ages.

MICHELLE: The cover is crazy cute.

MJ: I’m a sucker for demon dogs from Hell.

SEAN: Also digitally, there is All Out! 7, Are You Lost? 2, Back Street Girls 5, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 8, A Kiss, for Real 5, and Shojo Fight! 5.

MICHELLE: Shojo Fight! continues to be great.

ANNA: I need to catch up!

SEAN: One Peace has the sequel to the original I Hear The Sunspot, subtitled Limit.

ANNA: Loved the first volume.

ASH: I was really impressed by I Hear the Sunspot, so I’m looking forward to reading more.

MJ: I need this.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a bunch of stuff. Wonderland is the manga debut, and yes, it’s another horror take on the Alice story. This ran in Shogakukan’s Big Comic Superior, which almost never gets English licenses. Premise: everyone wakes up tiny! How can they survive?

Also debuting is a one-shot novel with the misleading title I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. No, it’s not a horror novel, and is well worth your time AND your pancreas.

ASH: I’ve heard good things.

SEAN: There’s also the 5th Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor, a 4th Beasts of Abigaile, the 6th Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, the print version of the 4th Make My Abilities Average light novel, The 3rd and final Juana and the Dragonewts’ Seven Kingdoms, a 9th Shomin Sample, and the 3rd Toradora! novel.

MICHELLE: I look forward to reading more Beasts of Abigaile.

ANNA: Me too! It covers my need for goofy paranormal shoujo manga.

SEAN: Udon gives us more foodie isekai manga with a 2nd Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu.

ASH: While in some ways not as immediately compelling as some of the other fantasy foodie manga being released right now, I did rather enjoy the first volume.

SEAN: Vertical has the 2nd Delinquent Housewife!, and also packs the first 7 Monogatari novels into a nice box, which is sadly only available if you buy the books all over again. (You have been buying the books, right?)

We end with Viz, who also have a debut. Ran and the Gray World (Ran to Haiiro no Sekai) is an Enterbrain title from Harta, something which always makes me happy. It’s about a powerful but immature sorcerer and the big brother who has to be her minder.

MICHELLE: Otherworldly Izakaya, Delinquent Housewife, and Ran and the Gray World are all on my list!

ANNA: Ran and the Gray World looks nifty!

ASH: It really does!

They also have Children of the Whales 7, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 9, the 3rd RWBY Anthology, and… drumroll please… Ooku: The Inner Chambers 14! Rejoice Manga Bookshelf writers!

MICHELLE: Verily, I am rejoicing!

ANNA: Indeed, I am rejoicing as well!

ASH: Rejoice! Rejoice!

MJ: What they said!

SEAN: So is your manga a turkey? (In a good way, of course.)

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 17

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

This is essentially a series of short stories taking place right after the events of the last two volumes, and is therefore as light and fluffy as you can imagine. Everyone goes to the beach, then everyone goes to a festival, then everyone goes to an amusement park. When the group aren’t going places, we see Yurika struggle to do all the homework she completely forgot about in two days, and we also see Koutarou’s father, who hasn’t shown up since the first volume, drop by to check on his son and meet his nine new daughters. I’m kidding only slightly, as the series is starting to make the not-too-shocking chess moves to allow this to be a full-fledged harem in the future. It’s always had this somewhat implicitly, but here two of the girls agree that if one of them marries Koutarou, the other is allowed to cheat with no worries. Honestly, at this point I think fans would be angry if he DID choose only one girl.

We do seem to have capped the number of girls at nine, however. Elfaria was certainly in love with Koutarou back when he was in the past, and it’s fairly obvious that she still harbors feelings for him, but she also knows that she can provide a role for him that the other girls can’t, which is to be a mother figure. Rokujouma is never really all that subtle with its character development, and has had the other girls talk about everything being on hold till Koutarou emotionally matures enough to be able to accept and move past his mother’s death. That said, given the rest of the girls are putting ‘Koutarou’s family’ first, it makes sense that Elfaria is thinking about being a mom for him, something the others aren’t able to do (Kiriha could pull it off, I think, but likely wants Koutarou romantically too much for that to happen).

Koutarou has developed since the series began – something the series is unashamedly fond of spelling out, as his dad tells him straight up in the last story how the old him would never have allowed himself to get this close to all those other girls. That said, my favorite chapter was probably (try not to be surprised) the Yurika one, which also shows off how much she has grown and changed despite still being the author’s go-to when he needs someone to whine and be pathetic (as we can see in the beach chapter, where she proves to be a hammer). Sure, she needs some motivation, mostly from Koutarou (he does a stick, then a carrot, which works very well), but I really did admire her refusal to get “magical help” to finish the homework, or to give up. I also liked that Shizuka noted there were errors in the work, but didn’t correct them – Yurika has to improve enough to get into college with Koutarou and Harumi, and that means fixing her own mistakes.

Of course, it also means dealing with the other evil magical girls, and the ending implies that the next book will feature their return. Rokujouma continues to truck along nicely, and even this slight volume provides smiles and chuckles.

One Piece, Vol. 88

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Ah, it’s *another* one of those “200 pages of fighting” One Piece volumes. As ever, though, there’s stuff we can talk about. Let’s start with Luffy, who spends much of this volume facing off against Katakuri, the seemingly stoic villain who Luffy can’t do anything against… except he can, because Luffy has been analyzing the fight as he goes and figuring out how the powers are being used. The dialogue literally calls out Luffy for being clever, but it’s worth saying out loud, because the reader tends to associate Luffy with the classic dumb shonen hero whose solution to everything is to punch it. And, well, that is still Luffy’s solution some of the time. But training with Rayleigh has forced him to mature and be clever, and it’s finally beginning to pay off here. I also liked his advice to Nami about the mirrors (and seeing how Nami immediately trusted Luffy). Luffy is finally evolving into someone we thing CAN become the Pirate King.

The rest of the cast also seem to be at their best when inspired by Luffy, but of all people to level up and start kicking eight kinds of ass, Carrot is not who I was looking at. Turns out, though, that she’s a were-rabbit of some sort, and when the full moon comes out becomes a combat nightmare. Similar to Chopper, except she’s meant to be badass rather than terrifying, and doesn’t lose her reason. That said, she helps but Big Mom’s pirate crew is HUGE, and they’re still nowhere near being able to escape. This despite the triumphant return of Al Capone…. um, Bege, who not only decides he’s going to rescue his wife but goes out fighting with their baby at his side. It’s ludicrous yet also heartwarming, like the best One Piece moments.

And, I am forced to admit, Sanji is pretty cool in this volume. I’ve talked before about my ambiguous feelings about Sanji, whose “pervert” personality stopped being funny about 75 volumes ago. But here Sanji has to be serious and cool in order to support Oda’s current running gag, which is Pudding’s romantic feelings whenever she sees this. Honestly, I don’t think the two of them are really going to end up together, but if they did, they certainly have a similar vibe, both being made up of one core personality the readers like, and one annoying personality that Oda likes. Also, together they can make an impressive cake, which is good, as Big Mom is still on the warpath, and the lack of sweets seems to be making her smaller and smaller (she’s merely a “very large woman” by the end of the book), though I’m pretty sure she’s just as dangerous. Will they have to abandon the Sunny to get away from her? Either way, I’m pretty sure the arc’s not ending in the next book, so get ready for more fighting, and more of me being able to talk about it anyway. That’s what makes One Piece still good after all this time.

The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, Vol. 7

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By Gamei Hitsuji and Ao Nekonabe. Released in Japan by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Well, clearly someone did have a talk with the illustrator since my last review, as there is now a new illustrator, and there are lots of interstitial art pieces, which is good, as I’d honestly forgotten that Lefille wears that hat. That hat is not something that should be easily forgotten. On the prose side, this is perhaps a book that is overbalanced towards the back half. The start of the book features a lot of magic lectures, even for this series that seems to be almost entirely magic lectures. The middle third deals with our heroes having to prove themselves to the Elite Guard who will be fighting with them, and needless to say by the end of it the Elite Guard is not so elite. Even Mizuki’s alter ego hands them their asses (actually, her final power move may be the funniest moment in the book). Things end on a more serious note, though,l as the “this is somehow connected with Suimei’s home world” plotline that’s been suggested comes into full flower.

There is a sense in this volume that the author is starting to settle in for the long haul, and thus starting to do something about the supporting cast. I’ve mentioned before that I appreciate that Reiji, the nominal hero, is not written out of the book or made jealous of Suimei, but that does mean that he’s been a bit bland. That doesn’t change here, but he does try to double down on his heroic qualities, realizing that he has to get stronger in order to keep up with everyone else – “rely on others” only feels like good advice if you can rely on yourself sometimes too. Likewise, Felmenia is starting to feel left out, being the defense expert among a group of attackers, and wants to learn how to have a mana furnace like Suimei does – and if that means becoming “inhuman”, so be it. Unfortunately, the actual scenes of her doing this aren’t in the book itself, but we do at least see the results, and she kicks much ass.

Though the author is trying to think ahead and develop characters, there are still a few problems. While this book *is* meant to have a cliffhanger – the mastermind helping the demons and what their relation to Suimei is – I don’t think it’s meant to feel quite as open-ended as it does. For one thing, the Lefille fight with the demon who cursed her is completely abandoned, and I’m not even sure if she made it back to be with the others. Speaking of that fight and the others like it, seeing our dragonewt antagonist and his party show up and announce “we’re helping you, don’t ask why” begs to be followed by “because the author couldn’t think of a good reason”. Oh well, at least the fights are decently written, particularly the duels midway through, and Lefille is no longer a little girl size, though I’m sure that won’t last. As for where we go from here… who knows? The next volume is the last one in Japan to date.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/12/18

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Chihayafuru, Vol. 12 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The Mizusawa karuta team returns to the national tournament and this time (so far), they do not have to forfeit on account of Chihaya falling ill. It’s a battle to keep her focused, however, since she’s convinced Arata is present (she’s right), but they end up prevailing in their first two matches. The first is against a team of Japanese-born foreigners who love the game as honestly as anyone, despite their looks, and the second is against a team of quiz-bowl champs who are ostensibly using karuta as a memory aid but who secretly love it, too. It may not be the most exciting volume out there, but it’s solid and takes us a little bit closer to a reunion with Arata. I look forward to volume thirteen! – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 29 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – I realize that any sports manga is going to involve its protagonist getting better at their chosen sport, but with Haikyu!! that is somehow more rewarding than most. I think part of it is that, instead of acting on pure athletic instinct, Hinata is actually really thinking now and others are picking up on that, even critical people like Tsukishima and Kageyama. I loved that Hinata was able to mimic a particularly bothersome blocker he’d faced in the past as well as execute a passable emergency set and that he was really keen to have a chance to play defense, whereas before he was obsessed with scoring. I also nearly cried when Yamaguchi nailed a service ace. So, in short, I am a major sports manga fangirl and this volume was my jam. – Michelle Smith

Idol Dreams, Vol. 5 | By Arina Tanemura | Viz Media – Even if she’s not doing anything about the fact that she’s masquerading as a 15-year-old and having boys fall for her, Chikage still does quite a bit right in this volume. First of all, she helps Tokita to move on from her (even if she’s not aware he’s moving on) and reconcile with his girlfriend, whose own lack of self-worth in school has led to her making bad choices now that she’s blossomed into womanhood. I was impressed that the two worked it out, and really felt Chikage did a great job. On the idol front, she also wins by putting on the better “performance,” even if she’s not necessarily the better or more talented idol. Still expecting a train wreck, but at least it’s been put off a bit. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 5 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – There’s some great comedy here, involving things like telling fortunes, gutting a fish in class (in which Fujiwara shows she simply cannot avoid trying to help Shirogane, even as it goes as badly as she expects), and such. But for once, the best parts of Kaguya-sama are about the drama, as it’s summer vacation, and Kaguya’s strict father is not letting her go see the fireworks with her friends. The solution to this, and the emotional roller coaster that follows, is fantastic, even if Shirogane looks back on it later and is hideously embarrassed. More to the point, you realize that once these two idiots finally get together (which isn’t going to happen for a long time), they’ll be a terrific couple. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 4 | By Afro | Yen Press – At long last, the entire group is camping together, including the club, Rin and Saitou, and their new teacher/advisor, who is the drunken camper we saw last time—and she takes the opportunity to get drunk again. There’s lots of interesting camping talk, including discussing Saitou’s expensive sleeping bag and the different kinds of grills that you can use. For the most part, though, this volume is about showing Rin that it can be just as fun to camp with friends as it can be to camp alone, and drag her out of her shell. It’s mind, to be fair, mostly as Rin is not solitary because of any trauma—she just likes being by herself. But honestly, if you’re going to hang with Nadeshiko, you’re going to have to get used to people. Cute as heck. – Sean Gaffney

Little Witch Academia, Vol. 2 | By Trigger, Yoh Yoshinari and Keisuke Sato | JY – This is an adaptation of a very cartoon-ish anime, and it’s appropriate that the art style is very cartoonish and exaggerated—my favorite example of which is when Akko charging ahead literally breaks Andrew’s word balloon warning her not to. Andrew is introduced here, speaking of which, and he’s your classic British boyfriend type, though given what I’ve heard about Akko and Diana, he may be out of luck here. For the most part we continue to watch Akko Potter trying to succeed at magic school, and she’s having a lot less luck than Harry did—her grades are so bad she can’t even attend the banquets. Will she turn things around? This is marketed to kids, but all ages should love it. – Sean Gaffney

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 10 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – Last time I wondered if this was the spinoff’s final arc, and it’s pretty clear that it is. It’s one big fight scene this time around, and things are going very badly for our heroes, though they’re trying their hardest. We continue to filter things through Soujirou—both why he loves gaming and doing what he does, and also why he has so many girls fall in love with him. The eventual solution they come up with, to seemingly drive the monster crazy by information overload, is a clever one, though it’s not clear whether or not it worked. This series started out as a somewhat lighthearted (sometimes TOO light hearted) comedy, but it’s gotten more action oriented at the climax. – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 2 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – The end of this volume features what seems to have been the pilot for the series, and I’m glad it was included, as it shows off how much it was improved to make it the sweet and amusing series it is today. Takagi’s eyes being “evil” makes her teasing seem more mean-spirited, especially given Nishikata is more of a schmuck here. Nishikata works best when he’s sort of that Charlie Brown “this time I’ll kick the football” sort of guy. Likewise, Takagi’s teasing works best because you absolutely get the love that she has for him, and that she does see him as a great guy—who’s simply really fun to tease and to watch reaction faces of. This series makes me feel warm and fuzzy. – Sean Gaffney

Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku, Vol. 2 | By Fujita | Kodansha Comics – Despite the subtitle of the series, I rather easily fell in love with the first omnibus volume of Wotakoi. The manga was funny and charming with adult characters who, to me, were immediately endearing. The second omnibus continues the trend of the first while introducing a new character, Ko, who manages to be both heartbreakingly and heartwarmingly socially awkward and anxious. Ko is paired with Naoya, but it remains to be seen whether their relationship will evolve into a romantic one. I suspect that at some point it may—after all, Wotakoi is at least in part a romantic comedy—but then again they could simply be destined to be close friends. The emphasis that Wotakoi places on friendship is actually one of the things about the series that I find particularly appealing. In fact, while arguably little romantic progress is made in the second omnibus, friendships are strengthened. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Yotsuba & Picks!

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SEAN: A ridiculous amount of stuff, as I said. I’m interested in Bakarina, and the final volume of Frau Faust. There’s always a place in my picks for Requiem of the Rose King too. That said, given it’s been TWO AND A HALF YEARS since the last volume, I feel I can only pick Yotsuba&! this week.

KATE: Any week that brings us new installments of Delicious in Dungeon and Yotsuba&! is a good week! ‘Nuff said.

SEAN: Right, and Delicious in Dungeon, which gets more disturbing and dark by the volume (in a good way).

MICHELLE: Oh, man. So much great stuff this week! Since some of my other faves have been acknowledged, I reckon that frees me up to go with the final volume of Frau Faust, which I am looking forward to very much. It wasn’t until I’d read the first few volumes of Frau that I went to check out Kore Yamazaki’s The Ancient Magus’ Bride, and I love it so much that it now makes me sad Frau Faust is so short. Oh well. I bet it’ll be a humdinger of an ending.

ASH: Delicious in Dungeon is definitely one of my favorite series currently been released, but then so is Requiem of the Rose King. It seems like it’s been longer since I’ve had the chance to read Requiem of the Rose King though, so I’ll happily make that my official pick.

MJ: I absolutely have to go with Requiem of the Rose King. I missed my chance to flail with excitement during the last “Manga the week of,” so I’ll do that here instead. *flail*

ANNA: Requiem of the Rose King is such a special series, any week it comes out it will always be my pick.

Onimonogatari: Demon Tale

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By NISIOISIN and VOFAN. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by Vertical, Inc. Translated by Ko Ransom.

Every once in a while there comes along a volume where NISIOISIN shows off exactly why people are turned off by his writing so much, and I think that Onimonogatari may set a record there, as it’s extraordinarily difficult to get through. While Araragi is the narrator again, a large chunk of the book is told by Shinobu explaining past events to him, and helps to show off (as she herself admits!) why she’s a bad storyteller and why the rule that “aberrations shouldn’t narrate the series” is a good one. Moreover, given that the main interactions Araragi has in this book are with Shinobu (who looks eight), Hachikuji (who looks ten), and Ononoki (who looks twelve), we really get far, far too many pedophilia jokes, and having the other girls be really pissed off at him for them really doesn’t help, no. That said, the book isn’t a total writeoff, and you get the sense that a lot of this book is the author realizing they need to have a genuine backstory and goal for the series, and creating one on the spot.

We’re back in August again in the Monogatari timeline, and the events of Kabukimonogatari have just finished. But Araragi still can’t go back to school and actually start classes, as he and Hachikuji are being pursued by a mysterious darkness that consumes all in its path (well, seemingly all in its path). After being rescued by Ononoki, they end up holing up in the abandoned cram school, where Shinobu tells Araragi and the reader about her first visit to Japan four hundred years ago, which led to her first encounter with “the Darkness” and also the backstory with her first thrall, Araragi’s predecessor. Unfortunately, the Darkness is really good at coming after them – or more accurate, after Hachikuji, who seems to be its goal. Can Araragi figure out what’s going on and save her? If only there was someone who knew everything to offer even MORE explanations…

NISIOISIN has often taken the advice “show, don’t tell” and stomped all over it in hobnail boots, but this book may take the cake in that regard, as there ends up being very little action and a whole lot of talking about the problem, both from Shinobu (who, as I said, is not a good storyteller) or by Izuko Gaen (who is deliberately written to be arrogant and uncaring). “The Darkness” may tie into the ongoing plot – is it related to Ogi, who it turns out Araragi has been narrating the entire book to? We also get discussion of MORE events on that busy August weekend that haven’t happened yet, which I assume will be in a future book. Where this book does succeed is a) it’s meta-humor, particularly Shinobu shilling for the Kizumonogatari movie, which is especially hilarious as it ended up coming out five years after the book did – and b) the ending, which I won’t spoil but is touching and a bit heartbreaking.

A necessary read if you’re interested in the world of Araragi and company, in the end I found Onimonogatari to be a bit of a slog. The book teases that Senjogahara will be narrating the next book in the series, but let me spoil this and say: no she doesn’t. As for who does? Well, it’s not Araragi either. We’ll find out.

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On The Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 7

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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.

First of all, I apologize, as it turns out I’ve been crediting the wrong illustrator for this series all along. The main series does indeed have illustrations by Suzuhito Yasuda, but this side story uses Kiyotaka Haimura, the illustrator of the A Certain Magical Index series, instead. Honestly, it’s pretty obvious if you just look at the style – it feels very Index-ey. As for the content, this takes place just before the events in the 7th book of the main series, and involves the Loki Familia hunting down more evidence on the Evils and the other things they’ve spent the last six books trying to deal with. Unfortunately, though most of the book is a dungeon crawl, it’s not the main dungeon they have to deal with here, but one created by Daedalus, and it proves to be far more deadly for the familia than the lower levels of the main dungeon.

Ironically, though Aiz is alone on the cover, this isn’t really her turn to shine – she actually gets beaten up worse than ever here. In fact, that sets the tone for the book itself, which is separated into halves. The first half shows our heroes getting into big big trouble and dealing with seemingly insurmountable odds. The threat is made significant by taking out Finn early on, meaning everyone is having to rely on their wits rather than do what they’re much better at doing, which is following orders. That said, the second half shows our heroes regrouping and kicking much ass, though they don’t so much win as survive. Several of the more minor characters show off their strength – though Raul showing off his strength just leads everyone to laugh at him, alas. But it gets the point across. Unfortunately, not everyone is so fortunate – a few minor characters who’ve been around since the start are killed off in a brutal last-minute downer ending. This is not Loki Familia’s finest hour.

Loki Familia is joined in their quest by Filvis, and in case it wasn’t really obvious beforehand, Filvis has a massive crush on Lefiya that everyone but Lefiya can see. Honestly, I think that Lefiya would be much better off with Filvis, but a key running theme in the Danmachi books is that the most obvious pairing isn’t going to happen because we cannot control who we love. Lefiya loves Aiz. Likewise, as much as Finn is correct that he and Lilly would be a really awesome pairing, she loves Bell, so oh well. Much of DanMachi’s harem elements run on frustrated unrequited love, and the author is good at simply letting it speak for itself without belaboring the point.

The next volume is supposed to focus on Bete, which I’m not all that wild about, but he’s much more tolerable in this side story. I also hope that it’s just a bit lighter in tone. The last two volumes have been pretty damn bleak. For those who enjoyed DanMachi, this is a very good side story, even if you didn’t like its adaptation.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 5

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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.

I am fortunate enough to say that I am not one of those people who is naturally good at organization and so ends up completely buried when everyone comes to them and asks them to help/supervise/do everything. However, I am the son of such a person, so I am very familiar with how it works. It seems like it will be OK to take on something, and then one thing leads to another, and you find yourself taking on five other things. This is the dilemma that Hachiken is dealing with here. He’s nice, and competent, and doesn’t know how to say no, and everyone is independently asking him for help and now realizing that he’s getting piled on. So far everything seems to be holding up, but judging by the narrative, we’re headed for a nasty fall soon. But we’re not there yet, so we can all also revel in the joys of preparing for a cultural festival, ag school style.

There’s a big highlight in this book, as Hachiken is still learning how to ride that horse that seems to have it in for him. He’s not used to animals, and doesn’t understand how to interact with them or see that they’re even more important than the rider is. He thinks of horses like you would a car. As such, there’s a number of great scenes in this volume showing how much love and trust Mikage and the other riders give to their animals, and it helps him to see what’s missing from how he treats Chestnut. This also ties in with his self-esteem, as we see him freaking otu as everyone but him is able to manage the jumps – he’s seeing this as falling behind in class, and it’s VERY UPSETTING. Fortunately, Mikage and the others are able to show him what he’s missing. (There’s some romantic tease, but at this point Silver spoon isn’t really about that.)

Mikage and Komaba are still dealing with their own issues, though fortunately things seem to be OK betwen them and Hachiken again. (That said, no one has figured out why it happened – lack of communication is still a major obstacle among the main cast. Komaba is pouring his struggles into baseball, which is terrific… provided the team continues to win. Mikage seems to simply be giving up and accepting she won’t achieve her dream, which is even ore depressing. Dreams are important, even for a group of kids whose goals – take over the family farm – seem to be set in stone from the moment they’re born. This is why Hachiken arriving at school is great for both him and the other kids, as it leads to new perspectives. And also pet dogs. Because, as you’d expect from the running theme of this volume, Hachiken can’t say no to ANYONE.

Will we get a successful festival next time? Will Hachiken end up stressing out about everything? Will he and Mikage ever really talk to each other and not at each other? Not sure, but I can’t wait to find out.

True Tenchi Muyo!: Yosho

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By Yousuke Kuroda and Masaki Kajishima. Released in Japan as “Shin Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-o-ki” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Lillian Olsen. Adapted by AstroNerdBoy.

The three novels in this series came out around 1997-99 or so in Japan, which was between the 2nd OAV series (the one that came out here when Tenchi was still huge) and the 3rd OAV series (which came out here when Tenchi’s popularity was waning). As such, they serve as both a ‘filling in the blanks’ backstory for what we’ve already seen and a ‘taste of what’s to come’ teaser for future episodes. The first book was something that I enjoyed but it didn’t reach out and say “that was great”, partly as I don’t find Azusa all that likeable. The second volume is a much better book, partly as Yosho may be staid but he’s also a lot of fun, and partly as this volume features Ryoko’s attack on Jurai and everything that comes along with it, so the book ends with an epic battle sequence before it settles down on Earth. We’re also introduced to Airi, who is Yosho’s first love… well, OK, second love, but first consummated love.

Yosho is the 12-year-old crown prince of Jurai, and is being sent off to Galactic Boarding School, essentially, mostly as he’s developing a crush on his stepmother, who has no sense of personal space. (If this surprises you, you’ve never seen Tenchi, which uses incest as a spice – liberally). While there he meets Airi, an older student who’s there to show him around and also comes from a planet of religious zealots. The book balances its time between Yosho coming out of his shell and he and Airi falling in love and the political machinations of Jurai, which is still dealing with the shock and horror of having Funaho as the First Empress. Their relationship is a bad idea politically, at least for now, and what’s more Ryoko attacks Jurai at the behest of Kagato, so Yosho rapidly vanishes to that he can bring her down – and also, it has to be said, to get away from the repressive heritage that he really doesn’t want to deal with.

Lest you think the book is all romantic drama and action movie sequences, there’s also a great deal of humor here as well. Airi is a loud, blunt girl who tells you that she likes you by putting you in a wrestling lock, and she pairs very well with Yosho, who even at his most emotional exhibits a certain Mr. Spock quality. There is a repeated sequence with puppies that is both adorable and hilarious. And I can’t not mention Funaho’s drunken duel with someone who insulted her son, which shows off why you should never, ever get Funaho drunk. In other words, it’s very much still a Tenchi book. It also shows off Ayeka’s massive crush on her brother, and why he finds it uncomfortable (because it reminds him of his crush on Misaki). I haven’t seen the 3rd OAV series, which I understand has Airi in it, but for those who only recall 90s Tenchi, this is also a great read, with a good look at Ryoko’s personality pre-Tenchi.

There’s one last book in the series, which will focus on Washuu. I’m looking forward to it. These books have been a real treat for Tenchi Muyo fans, especially because it reminds them of the time when the series walked the anime fandom like a colossus.

Manga the Week of 11/14/18

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SEAN: Here we go again, folks. 62 titles next week. Please cry with me.

ASH: Those are tears of joy, right?

SEAN: Dark Horse has a 7th Blade of the Immortal omnibus to start us off.

ASH: A great way to collect the series since many of the single volumes are out-of-print.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts My Next Life As a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom!. They’re marketing this to men as well, and it does have a sizeable male fandom here, but Bakarina (as it’s known) is actually from a female-oriented publisher. The premise might seem familiar – a woman wakes up in the body of the villain of the otome game she’s been playing, and has to figure out how not to die or be exiled – but I’ve heard very good things about it.

ANNA: Hmmmm.

SEAN: They also have the latest in the Ao Oni series, subtitled Grudge, a 2nd Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles, and a 2nd volume of Amagi Brilliant Park.

In terms of print, there’s no debuts from Kodansha, but they do have Frau Faust 5 (which Amazon seems to be shipping a bit late on Amazon), Golosseum 4, L*DK 12, Land of the Lustrous 7, Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai 5, the 2nd Sailor Moon Eternal Edition, and the 9th Waiting for Spring.

MICHELLE: I’ve been eagerly anticipating the final volume of Frau Faust!

ASH: Oh, I didn’t realize it was the final volume! I’m definitely picking it up, though.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is Alice’s Diet Quest, a Bessatsu Shonen Magazine title about a priestess in a fantasy world who wants to lose weight using any method she can. This… sounds a bit too similar to Plus-Sized Elf for my tastes.

ANNA: No thank you!

SEAN: And we have Boarding School Juliet 6, Kamikamikaeshi 5, The Prince’s Black Poison 8, Tokyo Alice 5, and The Walls Between Us 2.

MICHELLE: I’m already behind on the latter two. Sigh.

SEAN: One Peace has the third volume of the Mikagura School Suite manga.

Seven Seas has only one title, believe it or not: the 2nd Devilman Classic Collection.

ASH: I really liked the first collection, so I’m looking forward to the second.

SEAN: And Vertical Comics has the 9th Mobile Suit Gundam Wing.

Viz debuts Record of Grancest War, which is a fantasy manga based on a light novel with lots of warring states and the mage and knight who try to stop it. It runs in Hakusensha’s Young Animal, so I suspect will also have fanservice or gore.

There is also The Complete Art of Fullmetal Alchemist, which is… what it says.

ASH: Should be great, is what!

ANNA: Yay!

SEAN: Speaking of Fullmetal Alchemist, we have the 3rd Fullmetal Edition omnibus, a 2nd Radiant, a 9th Requiem of the Rose King, and a 28th Rin-Ne.

MICHELLE: Hooray for Requiem of the Rose King!

ASH: I really love this series.

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: That just leaves Yen, who are shipping most of their titles a bit early this month. JY has the 2nd volume of Little Witch Academia.

Yen On has, believe it or not, only the 2nd silliest light novel debut this month, with The Hero and His Elf Bride Open a Pizza Parlor in Another World. I believe this is just one volume, and corners the market on pizza isekai stories.

Yen On also has A Certain Magical Index 17, Magical Girl Raising Project 5, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 6, Sword Art Online Progressive 5, and WorldEnd: What Do You Do at the End of the World? Are You Busy? Will You Save Us? 2. So Elf Pizza is not the longest title this week.

On the manga side, we debut Interspecies Reviewers, a monster girl title that runs in Kadokawa’s Dragon Age and looks… um… designed for teenage boys needing to relieve some stress. If you know what I mean.

There’s also two spinoff debuts, as we get the first volume of the manga adaptation of DanMachi’s Lyu sidestory, and also Sowrd Art Online: Hollow Realization, a manga adaptation of the video game that runs in Dengeki Maoh.

Speaking of light novel adaptations, next week we also have the 4th Goblin Slayer manga, an 11th High School DxD, the 4th Hybrid x Heart Magic Academy Ataraxia, a 7th KonoSuba, the 10th Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, the 8th Overlord manga, and the 5th volume of Re: Zero’s 3rd arc.

And in titles not based on a novel, we have ACCA 5, Akame Ga Kill! ZERO 8, Angels of Death 5, Chio’s School Road 2, Delicious in Dungeon 6, Dimension W 12, Forbidden Scrollery 5, Fruits Basket Another 2, Laid-Back Camp 4, Love at Fourteen 8 (honestly, they’re almost 16 by now), Mermaid Boys 3, No Matter How You Look At It, It’s You Guys, Fault I’m Not Popular! 12, The Royal Tutor 10, Tales of Wedding Rings 4, Trinity Seven 15, and last but not least, a 14th volume of Yotsuba&!.

MICHELLE: There are several things in that list that I’ll be checking out, but Yotsuba&! for the win!

ASH: Indeed! Delicious in Dungeon and ACCA are very high on my list, too.

ANNA: Been a long time since there was a new volume of Yotsuba&!.

SEAN: This is a lot. (Yen pushed back eight titles two weeks, or it would be even more.) Are you getting anything, or just staring in horror and disbelief?