Manga Bookshelf

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Sean Gaffney

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?

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 1

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By Tomo Hirokawa, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Maoh. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Fair warning, this review contains spoilers for the video game Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization. And while the average reader may be staring at their screen now and saying “DUR!”, believe me, they came as a surprise to me. I have not played any of the SAO games, but assumed that this adaptation would not really have a lot of barriers to me picking it up and just reading it. And that’s… somewhat true? The main issue being when all the other girls in Kirito’s life start showing up. There’s our usual main harem, but then I ran into a girl who I was pretty sure died tragically in one of the prior books, and Yui’s little sister, and a sysadmin helping the group, and… I had to run crying to the Sword Art Online wiki. Not a pretty sight. So yes, for readers of the manga who have NOT played the game (and its prequels)? You will be confused.

The premise is that Kirito and company are beta testing a new version of SAO based off the original game… but without the ‘trapped and dying’ parts. They immediately run into a few NPCs, including one who appears to be more of a blank slate than you’d expect, particularly as the NPCs here are more lifelike and real than had been seen in SAO previously (let’s leave Kizmel to the side for the moment). Asuna names the NPC Premiere, and we begin to watch her slowly develop wants and needs, such as the desire to protect herself. And she certainly needs to protect herself too, as players are going around killing NPCs for their stuff… and the NPCs don’t return afterwards. Can our heroes help Premiere achieve sentience while also stopping the ‘it’s just a game’ PCs and a creepy swordsman named Genesis?

The concept of NPCs being more than what they seem is something SAO (and indeed many other ‘trapped in a game world’ series) has come back to many times, especially since Kawahara began the “Progressive” series. In fact, one of the very first SAO doujinshi the author wrote, back when it was still a webnovel, featured Kirito and Asuna arguing over whether it was OK to sacrifice NPCs in order to clear a level. Clearly the story is meant to have us rooting for Premiere and her fellow non-players, and I’m fine with that – she’s cute and likeable without being overly cloying. As for the rest of the cast, they all show up, but mostly it’s the Kirito and Asuna show, which is fine by me – there’s lots of “they’re so in love with each other” interaction that makes Lisbeth and company a bit ill. (Quiet, Liz, the artist was very kind to you.) And as I indicated there’s a few extra girls who also show up here, and if Mother’s Rosario left you wishing that it could have gone differently… you might want to check this out, though you’ll be whistling for explanations – “buy Lost Song” is apparently the answer.

Overall, this is a fun tie-in manga that I suspect will appeal more to those familiar with the game, though (as I’ve shown) you can read it without any game knowledge and just be slightly confused.

No Game No Life, Vol. 7

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By Yuu Kamiya. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Daniel Komen.

Until I read the afterword of this volume, I was going to comment a lot on how this volume’s release was delayed, I believe, four times, to the point where I’ve forgotten almost everything that came before it. But the afterword indicates that it was delayed in Japan the exact same number of months, which made me suspicious and wonder if it was delayed here deliberately. Probably not, but given the nature of this series, you can never be too paranoid. Things are not helped on the “remember what happened previously” end by the fact that Volume 6 was a flashback, and also the best volume in the series, which Kamiya sheepishly agrees with – he had writer’s block trying to top it. Sadly, I don’t think he did here, as this 7th volume of NGNL is bout 3/4 irritating and wordy faffing about, and it only really picks up towards the end. That said, if the ending is doing what I think it’s doing, the 8th volume may be much better. It’s out in February. Theoretically.

We start off in media res, which is a difficult thing to pull off for a normal writer, and even more difficult when you’re this writer, who tends to expound about eight times more than is necessary. Sora, Shiro and the rest of the cast have apparently agreed to play a game against an Old Deus, with the shrine Maiden’s life at stake. This surprises them, as they have no memory of having agreed to the game. It’s a dice game with complicated rules, which Sora says is based on a game from Earth but which I was mostly blank on. Much of the volume is spent with our heroes (and Steph, who sadly is reduced to a cliche here) whining and being creepily fetishistic as the dice board is the same size as the world, which is to say it takes days to travel across spaces. And they also gain or lose age depending on the dice they have, meaning a lot of 2-year-old Steph here. And when you arrive at a space, you have to do a task that another player has assigned, which can be very difficult and dangerous.

I’ve talked a bit about the translation before. I don’t think it’s the worst thing ever, like some NGNL fans do, but it’s not doing the prose any favors either. Kamiya, as I said earlier, tends to expound a lot, and Sora and Shiro also speak in a jaded gamer sort of way. Add to that the fact that, unlike a lot of other translations, there’s very little “Sora said” or “Steph replied” added to the text to help the reader, and you get a book that feels like a slog much of the time. Thankfully, this changes towards the end, when we see a) Plum trying to become a full-time villain in the real world, and b) Jibril challenging [ ] to a game where SOMEONE is going to have to die. Actually, the nature of the game she’s challenging them to intrigues me quite a bit, and I’m interested in seeing how it’s handled.

Unfortunately, looking forward to Vol. 8 does not make Vol. 7 better. Kamiya was right in his afterword, this is a step down from the previous book. Still, if you enjoye NGNL, you’ll need to read it anyway.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/6/18

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Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 16 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digitals only) – It’s the semifinals of the Tokyo preliminaries and Sawamura’s middle school friends have come to watch him play. He’s hung up on the previous game, during which he was replaced mid-inning after he fell apart after giving up a home run, but this time he manages to keep it together and Seido advances to the finals. I enjoyed his former classmates noting how he has both changed and hasn’t changed, especially as talking to them prompts him to declare that he loves and respects his teammates and wishes he could play with them forever. Mono no aware at its finest! Next, we’re introduced to the two teams competing to be Seido’s opponent in the finals and Terajima-sensei expertly manipulates me into desperately hoping one of them comes out on top. Alas, I suspect they won’t. I love this series. – Michelle Smith

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 11 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – It’s the last show of In No Hurry’s tour and Twitter is abuzz with a rumor about Cheshire’s true identity. To counteract this, Silent Black Kitty joins In No Hurry on stage whereupon Yuzu and Momo seemingly have a guitar battle for Nino’s affections. A kiss from Momo throws Nino into a tizzy, but she calms down with Yuzu’s help, which foreshadows later developments, wherein during an intense moment with Momo (requited love, hooray!) she’s longing to sing Yuzu’s music. I like this dynamic—she loves one boy and is super-grateful to the other one who gives her an outlet for these intense emotions—but must say Fukuyama does better at depicting the frenetic energy of concerts that interpersonal drama. It’s big moment after big moment and I find myself longing to spend some more time with Yuzu and his bitter feelings. Oh, well. – Michelle Smith

Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, Vol. 3 | By Inio Asano | Viz Media – I noted how much fun the second volume of Dead Dead Demon was, and while there are a few jokes here and there in this third volume, it mostly serves to remind you that this is still being written by Inio Asano. Fortunately, the book maintains its high level of writing and characterization even as things get more bleak and tearjerking, including one major event that I will endeavor to dance around in this review. That said, we are moving forward, as the girls have now graduated (though both our leads failed to get into college), and there’s also a narrative foreshadowing that implies that the friendship that the readers are enjoying may be fractured sooner rather than later. Fantastic, but the fun’s over. – Sean Gaffney

Grand Blue Dreaming, Vol. 2 | By Kenji Inoue and Kimitake Yoshioka | Kodansha Comics – Although partying and boozing remain a prominent part of Grand Blue Dreaming, they have been (ever so slightly) toned down in the second volume when compared to the first. Notably, the second volume’s opening devotes a little more time to the series’ other primary subject matter—diving. Iori didn’t really intend to join the Izu University diving club but, like it or not, he’s been roped into the group. Despite not knowing how to swim, Iori slowly becomes more comfortable in the water as he learns more about diving, his upperclassmen assuring him that swimming ability isn’t technically required. However, it doesn’t take long for college antics and club hazing, drunken and otherwise, to return to the forefront of the manga. (Oh, and copious amounts of male nudity.) Grand Blue Dreaming can be pretty ridiculous at times with most but certainly not all of the absurdity resulting from alcohol-infused revelry. – Ash Brown

Heaven’s Design Team, Vol. 2 | By Hebi-Zou, Tsuta Suzuki, and Tarako | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – In the vein of Cells at Work!, Heaven’s Design Team depicts the biological processes of evolution as a workplace, complete with angels who relay God’s sometimes random requests (like for stripey animals or a species whose males produce milk for their young) to a staff of designers, each with their particular specialties. It’s not a bad series, but the format grows repetitive and dull even before the end of the first volume, which isn’t a good sign. Thankfully, there’s a bit of variance halfway through this second volume, as the designers go on vacation and then (briefly) have a mystery to solve, but then it’s back to the usual. I’m a little bit intrigued by the sudden downfall of one of the angels at the end of the volume, but I’m not sure that’s enough to compel me to return. – Michelle Smith

Spirit Circle, Vol. 5 | By Satoshi Mizukami | Seven Seas – Last time I asked where this was going, and boy, do we find out in this volume. Well, the second half of this volume. First we get a cute, fluffy, gender-reversed life that leaves Fuuta more puzzled than anything else, and he and Kouko go on what is essentially a date so that she can kill him with no hesitation. But why is she SO intent on killing him? Well, we finally get a flash to the Fortuna life, which features the origin of East and Rune, and looks to be just as slice-of-life but unassuming as all the other lives… until you get to the (spoilers go here). Not going to lie, the last quarter of this book makes your jaw drop, and while I don’t want to see Fuuta dead, I absolutely see why Kouko wants to kill him now. Fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

Mob Psycho 100, Vol. 1

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By ONE. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Ura Sunday. Released in North America by Dark Horse Comics. Translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian.

Most folks likely first heard of the manga artist ONE via the series One-Punch Man, which was originally a webcomic (as is Mob Psycho 100) that was picked up by Shueisha. Shueisha, however, realized that it could sell better with an artist with, shall we say, a bit more technique than ONE, and so Yuusuke Murata does the art, though you can see traces of ONE’s style in Saitama and Tatsumaki. Needless to say, One-Punch Man was a success. But there are other series that ONE has written as webcomics, including this one, about a young man who has an average presence but also super psychic powers. This also became big enough in Japan to have an anime, and now we’re getting the manga over here. And in this case, there’s no other artist – ONE’s art is here in all its glory. Sometimes it helps the story/humor immensely, but I will admit at times I felt like I really wanted Murata to be drawing this.

Our hero… arrives on the scene after a bit of a fakeout, as we’re first introduced to Reigen, a supposed spirit medium and exorcist who actually functions more as comedy relief than anything else. This lowly assistant, Shigeo (the ‘Mob’ of the title, referring to his looks being the sort you’d see in a ‘crowd mob’ drawing) is the one with the actual powers. When he’s not helping Reigen with his exorcist work, he’s a “normal” high school student with a crush on a girl (who barely appears) and one of the few people not in a club. This jumpstarts the plot, as the Telepathy Club is desperate for members to avoid getting shut down, and sets their sights on Shigeo. He’s not interested, but ends up dragged in anyway. Even worse, he also ends up being targeted by a group of religious cultists.

For the most part, this is meant to be a funny manga with the plot as an excuse for bizarre reactions and gags, and it succeeds quite well. It definitely picks up in the 2nd half, though, when Shigeo faces the religious cult that forces laughter on people. This leads to the other half of the title, which is the ‘Psycho 100″ part. Shigeo is a very laid-back, mellow sort of guy, but that’s because he’s repressing his emotions. When he hits ‘100%”, he explodes with rage, easily the highlight of the book, and one where the sketchiness of ONE’s art pays off. Unfortunately, sometimes ONE’s art simply looks poor. I realize that’s its charm point, but the flat faces on many of the characters tend to lead me to flat emotions when I think about them, regardless of what they say. I wonder if this is a series that works better in animated form.

Despite those misgivings, this is a very good start to a series, and it’s refreshing to actually have one of the ‘psychic’ manga that used to be omnipresent in Japan but rarely came over here licensed. I look forward to more of Shigeo’s flat, dead face and hope he can keep his rage in check… well, OK, no I don’t. I want more rage.

Pick of the Week: We Enjoy Wide Variety

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ASH: For me, it’s a shonen sort of week. In addition to a number of ongoing series from Viz that I’m following (JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Haikyuu!, and so on) there’s also the new one-shot That Time I Got Reincarnated as Yamcha which looks like it should be a ridiculous amount of fun.

KATE: As hard as it may be for me to say this… I’m not really jazzed about anything arriving in stores on Wednesday. I think this is going to be a tackle-the-stack week for me. But that’s OK — I have new volumes of Dead Dead Demon, Again!!, The Promised Neverland, and Silver Spoon on my nightstand, as well as a pristine copy of My Favorite Thing Is Monsters that begs to be read.

ANNA: I thought the first volume of Shortcake Cake was super adorable, so volume 2 is my pick this week.

SEAN: I’m still greatly enjoying Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, a very funny take on two overly intellectual nerds and their attempts to understand love. I’ll make that my pick this week.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to more Haikyu!! and to checking out Shortcake Cake, but it’s gotta be Chihayafuru for me!

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 8

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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 arc continues to be very long, with most of this volume involved with trying to destroy the Witch Cult of Sloth, which proves, unsurprisingly, to be very difficult. It doesn’t seem that way at first – Petelgeuse is taken out with apparent ease, to the point where Subaru is naturally thinking “when is the other shoe going to drop? – but as we get further into the story and the Witch Cultists get more and more insane/clever/both, we start to have lives being lost. None of the named characters, mind, but it upsets Subaru nevertheless, as he feels that this time the deaths are directly attributable to his asking them to help him. Actually, this is a very good volume for Subaru watchers – even though he’s on an upswing and not doing stupid things too much, he’s still having trouble with Julius (Ferris notes his apology in the last book was half-assed) and with Emilia (who shows up to save the day towards the end here, but there’s no joyous reunion as of yet.

The cover and color illustrations feature Felt and Reinhard, and at first I wondered if my copy of the book was missing a scene, as they’re not actually IN the book – what you see in the color illustration is what you get. Instead we have the vast we had at the end of the last book, trying to destroy the Witch Cultists and doing lots of cool things. This includes Wilhelm, who is awesome but very injured by the end of the book; Ferris, who is desperately trying to save lives, even of the enemy, and having very little luck; and Julius, who proves to be an excellent combatant and can control spirits, which is of great benefit to Subaru when they save his life. Subaru’s plan is pretty good, though it ends up having one major flaw, which is that the Witch Cult is EVERYWHERE, even among people Subaru assumed were allies.

As for Petelgeuse, as I noted, he is seemingly killed off early on, but appearances can be deceiving. Indeed, the very nature of the Archbishop of Sloth proves to be somewhat elusive until the very end of the book, when Subaru realizes what is going on and flees (this is why we get no warm reunion with Emilia). This leads to the climax of the book, which has something I was not expecting. I have to assume that there’s going to be a new “reset point” and that we’re not going to have to do the entire White Whale battle again, but it’s ironic that just as Subaru is learning the fragile nature of life, his overpowered ability to avoid death has to be the solution. That said, I’m fairly certain the next volume is the final one in this book. Will he fix things? Will he reconcile with Emilia? And what of Rem, entirely absent from this book?

This was a solid volume of Re: Zero, with a lot of action, and Subaru still being less annoying than he has been. I’m looking forward to more.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 12

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By Fujino Omori and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird.

It stands to reason that over the course of a well-written series, you’d expect the characters to grow and change. That said, it’s rare we get such a direct look as we do here. This entire volume of DanMachi is about Bell and his familia’s growth over the course of the last eleven books, and it underlines several times how they’ve matured and are growing up, even if they may not be aware of it themselves. Sometimes the growth is mental, sometimes physical, and sometimes both, but these are not the same people that we met in the first book. It helps that this book is also a pure dungeon crawl, the first in a very long time, and that they face off against a very clever Irregular monster – not one of the Xenos that we’ve gotten to know in the last few books (and we meet another one here), just a monster who was smarter than his brethren, and then started to eat their cores, and now is smart *and* evil.

Bell and Lilly are on the cover, and it’s appropriate that this growth metaphor focuses the most on them. Bell’s has been easier to see in terms of battle prowess, but now we see how he’s matured as a person as well. His “mind has caught up with his body”, as Mikoto puts it, and this has made him a more capable adventurer. That said, he’s still Bell, much to Lilly’s relief, as she worried he was getting too far ahead of everyone else. As for Lilly, she’s learning more how to be a leader, being trained by Daphne here and also imagining a Finn in her head that she strives to be like. (The real Finn does not always match the Finn in Lilly’s head, and I wonder if she knows that his last-minute plan is basically “make myself lose control and go nuts”?) She’s also dealing with abandonment issues, both not wanting to be forsaken by the man she loves and also when she’s told to abandon the injured in her party and escape and seriously considers it. Her maturity is in realizing that’s the most sensible plan… but not doing it.

We meet another Xenos here, a mermaid who seems nice and sweet and has already fallen for Bell, and I suspect we’ll see her again in the future. (I am grateful to the author forgetting her farewell confession to Bell out of the way BEFORE Lilly and the rest arrive – it’s a heartwarming scene that did not need a jealous harem added to it.) We also see that Hestia’s group is now a D group, meaning they have to accept missions from the main office. This first mission was “conquer a new floor”, basically, and it’s implied they failed as they got derailed by this nightmare of a monster, though I’d argue the fact that they took it out should work in their favor. That said, it looks like the next volume may be a murder mystery more than a dungeon crawl, judging by that cliffhanger.

I’m in danger of sounding like a broken record, but DanMachi is simply very well written, and benefits well from being confined to a single volume for once. Any fan of fantasy light novels should have it at the front of their queue.

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 1

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By Riku Misora, Sacraneco and Kotaro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Choujin Koukousei-tachi wa Isekai demo Yoyuu de Ikinuku you desu!” by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Caleb D. Cook.

I’ve talked before about whether we’ve reached isekai critical mass in terms of the sheer number of titles. If you went by message boards and forums, you’d think the trend was long over and that fans were desperate for something else. But from what I understand, sales don’t really support that – in fact, they seem to support the opposite, and it’s “anything but isekai” that is suffering. That said, I certainly understand feeling a little burned out by the variations on a theme. This new title, based on a light novel (unlicensed here in North America) hits a lot of the standard fantasy isekai buttons, and reminds me quite a bit of Realist Hero. But the very title itself implies that there will be a minimal amount of conflict, and warns the reader in advance that these are not your “average harem hero” isekai students – they’re top tier. OP is what they have for morning coffee.

We’re briefly introduced to the titular group in their own element – seven teen geniuses who between them control most of Japan. They also all know each other from school, which is why they’re all together on a plane that has a fateful plane crash. When they wake up, they’re in another world, with magic and dragons and overendowed elf girls like the one on the cover, who is absolutely not one of the teen geniuses, but she’s cute, right? They’re not sure if they can get back, but looking around at the poor farming village and the folks who saved them from the wreckage, they are sure they can do something to repay them by bettering their life. But they’ll have to deal with tributes to the local lord, and bandits, and merchants who control the economy, and (inevitably) slavery. Can they turn things in their favor? Easily.

As you’d expect in a series supposedly starring seven kids, not all of them get focus here. Also unsurprisingly, it’s two of the guys who get the bulk of it in this first volume. Tsukasa is Japan’s prime minister (yes, he’s still in high school) and seems the “sensible yet compassionate bishonen” sort, and is also clearly being romantically paired with the elf girl, as if the “I’ll feed you by mouth” wasn’t obvious enough. There’s also Masato, a genius businessman who’s the perfect person to help the village sell their wares and not knuckle under to gougers. They’re both likeable types, but they’re also very obviously types, not people yet. As for the others, the only other one who makes an impact is Shinobu, the reporter/ninja girl who’s there to be perky (and also punish Masato when he reveals she isn’t a virgin, in a tired gag that is nevertheless the best gag in the book). This is very much a first volume, and we’re waiting for more depth.

I suspect I might have enjoyed this more in prose, but it’s all right. If you’re looking for another isekai with cute girls, this is perfectly serviceable. But like its premise, it promises absolutely nothing to the reader who dislikes overpowered heroes who cruise through everything. That is what these kids are. But they invent mayonnaise, so we’re good.