Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Outbreak Company, Vol. 3

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

Japanese anime and manga cater to their audience, and knows what the audience wants. And since Japan lives sports, that means a lot of sports manga. Over here in North America, we’re finally at the point where sports manga is also very popular, but for years it was the opposite, and titles like Whistle! or Prince of Tennis were the odd ones out. It didn’t have a built-in audience. And that’s the issue that Shinichi is dealing with in this volume, as the elves and dwarves in his class are unable to relate to the various types of sports manga that are being offered, because… there really aren’t any sports in their world. So there’s only one thing for it: it’s time to introduce the Eldant Empire to the glories of soccer. Of course, best-laid plans and all that… if you guessed that this would end with a giant melee battle, you’d be right.

Since we’re presented with that cover at this point, let’s get what I didn’t like about this volume out of the way here. I am not all that fond of when Outbreak Company tries to be a typical harem comedy romance, which means that the whole plotline of Elvia being in heat didn’t do much for me, nor was I bowled over by Petralka sitting on Shinichi’s lap and his reminding us constantly how much like a little girl she looks (and frequently acts). Myusel is a notable exception to this , and the interaction he has with her has a greater depth of feeling than any of the others – I’m not sure if romance will ever be resolved in this title, but I know who Best Girl is in my opinion.

That said, the rest of the book is far stronger. The plotline of the second book is mostly dropped, as the Japanese government deals with yet another prime minister and so has dialed things back. The introduction of soccer, and the inherent disasters that become revealed o0nce you realize that most of the players involved can do magic and there are no explicit rules saying you can’t use it, is fast-paced, funny, and entertaining. The best part of the book, though, was the development of Brooke as a character, giving us a tragic backstory, but also greater insight into how the Lizardmen think and react to things. Outbreak Company’s goal is to show that prejudice against other races is bacd, and in this volume we see that even the seemingly cold and impenetrable Lizardmen can turn out to have similarities to humans deep down. It was really well handled.

I’m not really sure if there is a grand final plan for this series beyond “introduce otaku things and watch the fun stuff that happens”, “continue to show that equality is a good thing”, and the occasional “oh no I’m getting aroused by these gorgeous girls but don’t realize they may actually like me” moment. But I’m content to find out, and regard Outbreak Company as a nice solid series in J-Novel Club’s lineup.

Umineko: When They Cry, Vol. 17

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Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Eita Mizuno. Released in Japan in three separate volumes as “Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Requiem of the Golden Witch” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Shonen Gangan. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Stephen Paul.

(If you aren’t spoiled about Umineko by now, best not to read this review.)

It does feel something of a cheat to be introduced to Will and Lion and then have them barely appear for the entirety of this next omnibus. Indeed, the author lampshades it. But it’s also something of a necessity. Battler wasn’t able to solve this. To a large degree, neither was the reader. And thus Will is here to reveal the culprit and have them explain everything. We’re not getting ALL the answers here, and the story plays a bit coy with the culprit by using Clair as the personification of the backstory. But here we learn about Yasu’s life as a servant in the mansion, her interaction with Battler, and what exactly it was that led to everything that happened in 1986. Yes, we finally learn Battler’s sin, and it’s the sort of thing that’s very hard to blame a young boy for but also very easy to.

That said, one of the answers we get spelled out here will, I suspect, frustrate the reader immensely. The Riddle of the Epitaph has always been fairly hard to figure out, but here we find that not only would it be hopeless for Western readers, even more Japanese readers were never going to get anywhere. Not because of the tortuous alternate kanji readings that infest every aspect of it, but simply because the one clue that would have started things off is deliberately hidden from us till this book, which is Kinzo’s “hometown”. Even Yasu, who ends up solving the riddle right at the end of the book, needs Genji to explicitly give the hint of “Taiwan” to start the ball rolling, and it’s *still* frustratingly obtuse. I credit the translator for not simply giving up and throwing his hands in the air.

I was, admittedly, about ready to throw my hands in the air when we got to the final scene, where “Beatrice” dons her regalia and is presented to Kinzo so that he can grovel and apologize to her. What Kinzo has done to Beatrice is so loathsome that even Genji, putting out feelers to see if he can get away with revealing who Beatrice really is, all but asks “Are you just going to rape her again?”. Ryukishi07 means this scene to be somewhat sad and pathetic for Kinzo, but I still can’t get over my intense hatred and loathing for the man who abused his family and made them into what they are in 1986. That said, the rest of this volume is excellent. The scenes of Beatrice and Shannon in the Golden Land are very well-adapted and help explain why Beatrice is so fixated on (and in love with) Battler. The art is also very good, conveying several times the “…wtf?” face that is the only reaction to events here.

We have one more large omnibus to go, and clever readers will be wondering what Bernkastel is up to. But Yasu’s story is not quite finished either, so put up with the backstory a little more. As for those dissatisfied with the riddle’s solution, well, can’t help you there. Umineko fans will find this essential, though.

The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, Vol. 1

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

If you’re going to lure people in to reading another isekai these days, you need a compelling concept. Not necessarily a strong concept – vending machines and hot moms will also do – but a concept where a potential reader will think “that actually sounds like it might be interesting enough to wade through more interminable “you have been summoned here to defeat the demon lord” claptrap. Too Far Behind! (as I will call it going forward) isn’t lights out, but it’s a pretty decent idea. Our hero, his not-quite-girlfriend, and their cynical best friend are teleported to another world, and told to fight the bad guys. The concept is that we follow the best friend, who is not given tremendous superpowers by the journey, but does already have some secrets up his sleeve. As a result, we have the inverse of the usual isekai themes – the protagonist comes into the story already having cool powers, and finds the world he’s now in is completely inadequate.

Suimei is our protagonist, brought to another world with his friends Reiji and Mizuki. Reiji is the actual hero, imbued with tremendous strength that will help him to defeat the demon lord. Mizuki and Suimei were caught up in the summoning as well, but have no new powers. Mizuki will help Reiji anyway, as she has a crush on him. Suimei, however, heard the story of millions of demon lord foot soldiers hankering to hunt some humans and puts his foot down – there’s no way he’s getting involved in something this dangerous. And so, while the hero and his not-girlfriend (and the princess, who has already fallen for the hero almost immediately) train so that he can save the world, Suimei holes up in the castle and seemingly sulks. Of course, Suimei has a secret that he’s never told his friends, and that no one except the court mage has discovered – he’s actually a magician!

I’m going to say this right off the bat: this story introduces us to Felmenia, talks about how strong and powerful she’s gotten with her magic, and then proceeds to write her as a ditzy dojikko deep down. When Suimei reveals his true self, she’s so impressed by how big and powerful his magic is that she can’t help but fall in love with him – at least after a battle where he proceeds to humiliate her (which, I will grant you, even he admits was petty of him). Basically, it’s that kind of plotline for Felmenia, and I couldn’t help but sigh and sort of rub my temples. Once I got past that, though, I was surprised how enjoyable the rest of the book was. Suimei is a cool protagonist without being emotionless, and we occasionally see him make mistakes and let his emotions get the better of him. Reiji is not belittled by being the hero, and we appreciate his motivations and more straight-ahead “shonen hero” thinking. As does Suimei, who’s just concerned Reiji is going to die. Even the King is one of the nicest kings I’ve ever met in an isekai. And Felmenia is fine, once I got past what type she was going to be. She’s cute and very earnest.

The book ends with Suimei setting off to another kingdom to research how to get back home, and I suspect Book two will introduce a new heroine. This isn’t breaking any isekai rules, it’s just looking at them from a different perspective. Fans of the genre should be relatively happy with it.

Manga the Week of 4/25/18

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SEAN: A lot. A whole lot.

Kodansha has some print manga delights. We get a 6th Aho-Girl, a 2nd Battle Angel Alita: Mars Chronicle, and a 4th To Your Eternity.

ASH: I’ll definitely be picking up To Your Eternity. The series is certainly heartwrenching at time, but it’s very well done.

ANNA: Bought but haven’t read the first volume of this so I am already hopelessly behind.

SEAN: There’s also a box set collecting manga Vols. 1-4 of Attack on Titan, or Season One as they’re calling it.

On the digital front, the debut this week is Defying Kurosaki-kun (Kurosaki-kun no Iinari ni Nante Naranai), a Betsufure shoujo title about (sigh) a plain girl at a high school who ends up in a love triangle between a princely guy and a super sadist type. I may try it, but it sounds not my bag.

MICHELLE: Yeah. Not really into super sadists, personally.

MJ: Ugh. Lots of ugh.

SEAN: There’s also a 5th Beauty Bunny, a 7th Kokkoku: Moment by Moment, a 4th My Brother the Shut-In, a 5th PTSD Radio, and a 6th Until Your Bones Rot.

MICHELLE: I think Beauty Bunny also involves a jerk who called the lead girl ugly before “transforming” her via makeup. No, thanks.

MJ: MORE UGH.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts the 2nd Perfect Blue novel, Awaken from a Dream.

ASH: I’m glad to see this being released! It’s a collection of stories that take place in the same setting as the original Perfect Blue.

SEAN: They’ve also got a 4th volume of Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage, a 3rd Hatsune Miku’s Everyday Vocaloid Paradise, a 2nd Made in Abyss, a 7th Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation, and we have somehow reached double digits for Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying Dimensional Voyage. I’m looking forward to the release of the original Captain Harlock, too.

SEAN: Vertical gives us the 2nd volume in Nisioisin’s Zaregoto novels, Strangulation: Kubishime Romanticist. This was released by Del Rey about 10 years ago, so is nice to have. Will they continue the series? I suspect sales will determine that.

Vertical also has an 11th Witchcraft Works.

Viz gives us a 5th volume (digital only) of élDLIVE, whose formatting always makes me cry.

And Yen. SO MUCH YEN. Let’s start with the ongoing light novels. There’s a 6th Asterisk War, which has finished its (first?) tournament arc. Baccano! has a 7th volume, the 2nd of a two-parter. The Devil Is a Part-Timer! is at Vol. 10, and there’s a 5th KonoSuba. Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers remains one of the few print-only Yen On titles with Vol. 4, Sword Art Online hits lucky 13, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime is at Vol. 2.

There are two debuts, and we’ll begin with the less silly one. I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level. Yes, I promise, that is the less silly one. Notable for a female protagonist, but it is an isekai with an overpowered hero(ine). That said, I hear the mood is meant to be “relaxed”.

And we also have the apex of silly light novels coming out, at least until the hot spring one gets licensed. Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon is exactly what it sounds, and I hope it will succeed on pure moxie, because come on. Really? REALLY?

MICHELLE: Hahaha. I would like to see the adventures of a wandering vending machine depicted in manga form.

ASH: Sometimes a premise is just so ridiculous I can’t help but take a look despite genre fatigue.

MJ: I feel like I have to check this out just to witness it for myself.

SEAN: Yen also has a giant pile of manga, which I will divide into three. First, ongoing manga titles not based on light novels. Akame Ga KILL! 14, Aoharu x Machinegun 10, Gabriel Dropout 3, Kiniro Mosaic 6, Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun 9, Murcielago 6, Of the Red, the Light and the Ayakashi 10 (this is its final volume), a 4th Sekirei omnibus, the second Silver Spoon (Manga Bookshelf folks breathe a sigh of relief that they at least get something to pick this week), Taboo Tattoo 10, Today’s Cerberus 8, Val x Love 2, and the 8th Yowamushi Pedal omnibus.

MICHELLE: Hooray for Nozaki-kun, Silver Spoon, and Yowamushi Pedal! I’ll also be picking up the final Of the Red… volume, but although I kept up with this series, I never really fell in love with it.

ASH: Ditto what Michelle said! And if I’m honest, I’ll probably be picking up Murcielago, too.

MJ: Silver Spoon! Silver Spoon! Silver Spoon!

SEAN: There are also new manga titles. We have As Miss Beelzebub Likes (Beelzebub-jou no Oki ni Mesu mama), a 4-koma where the demon lord is not quite as expected. It’s a Shonen Gangan title.

We also see the debut of Napping Princess, a manga adaptation (it ran in Newtype) of the novel that’s based on the anime. It’s this year’s The Boy and the Beast, I think? And I would wager is about a princess. Napping may also be involved.

There are also a lot of manga based on light novels. We see A Certain Magical Index 13, The Honor Student at Magic High School 8, Hybrid x Heart Magias Academy Ataraxia 3, Magical Girl Raising Project 2, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 8, Overlord 6, and the 3rd volume of Re: Zero’s 3rd arc.

Not as much banter this time as there were simply too many titles to discuss. Are you getting any of them?

Moteki: Love Strikes!, Vol. 1

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By Mitsurou Kubo. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Evening. Released in North America by Vertical Comics. Translated by Ko Ransom.

Several years ago, when I was in New York City on a trip, I used to go to the Japanese bookstore to pick up random manga magazines and see what sort of things they had in them that would never be licensed over here. One of the more interesting ones was Evening, a magazine put out twice a month by Kodansha, meant as a complement to the mainstream Weekly Morning and the otaku-oriented Afternoon. Evening wasn’t as experimental as some magazines, but it tended towards manga for adults, with adult problems and solutions that didn’t necessarily come easily. Moteki is one of those titles, and I had bought it in Japanese back then thinking it would never be put out over here – it wasn’t the sort of thing publishers would look at. But then Yuri on Ice became THE PHENOMENON, and here we are. And I’m pleased, because Moteki is quite a good story, even if it can be extremely uncomfortable at times.

Yukiyo is our hero, though I use the term loosely. He’s almost thirty and seems to be coasting his life away – content to work temp jobs that are easy to get and easy to quit, living in bachelor-land, and having no luck with women, or so he thinks. Then all of a sudden his co-worker seems to be coming on to him; his old classmate is back in his life and going on trips with him; the girl he crushed on is back in his life as well; heck, even the high school delinquent girl is back and screaming at him that he’s a moron. It’s his moteki, which is to say that period in your life where guys suddenly tend to get very popular. There’s just one problem – Yukiyo is a passive wimp who keeps waffling about what kind of signs he’s getting from the women, and thus doesn’t really accomplish much of anything.

There is a certain self-awareness to this manga, both in the comedy extras – the author hooking Yukiyo up right away, and being reminded that this manga is supposed to be read by fellow losers – and in the main text, with everyone happy to point out to Yukiyo just what he is or isn’t doing. I think this is a very good thing, as it saves the manga from being a bit too didactic. Yukiyo can be very hard to take, and thus we appreciate it when the characters say this for us over and over. He does seem to be improving by the end of the volume, but… is he really? The girls also get some focus on their own where we can hear their own frustrations and insecurities – Itsuka is my favorite, and also probably the closest mirror to Yukiyo, but none of them are purely there as props.

Moteki is a relatively short series, and the second omnibus will wrap things up. I’m not sure if it will resolve a romance – this sort of title is the kind that tends to go for “I don’t need to resolve the relationships as long as I show personal growth” – but given how much personal growth is needed, I’m fine with that. If you don’t mind excruciating passive guys getting called out on their shit a lot, Moteki is an excellent examination of adult love lives.

Infinite Stratos, Vol. 1

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By Izuru Yumizuru and CHOCO. Released in Japan by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Holm Hinners.

I knew this one was going to be difficult, and kept repeating to myself as I read it, “Remember this came out in 2009, before all those other ones.” But it’s hard. I never saw the Infinite Stratos anime (I know, you’re shocked), which itself is almost five years old at this point. And we’ve had endless works of a similar type or variety since then, intentional or not. Guy arrives at a school, lots of girls, his relative is a higher-up, gotta pilot a giant mech… I should go re-read my review of Hybrid x Heart to see if I’m repeating myself from there. I have no doubt this series was a big influence on them. Which is fine, and I tried, but man, this feels really tired. There are too many tsunderes, the lead’s obliviousness had better be faked or else I’m going to have to rip his arms off, and the occasional interesting plot moment gets derailed at every point for harem antics.

So: in the near future, powered suits have been invented that revolutionize the world. However, only women can pilot them. As a result, men are somewhat second-class citizens now. But guess who is, for some unknown reason, the only man who can pilot an IS? That’s right, our hero Ichika, who is now going to be attending the all-female high school where he can learn how to be a fearsome mech pilot. The mechs, judging by the illustrations, are more Bubblegum Crisis-style suits than Gundams, and the documentation on them is thick and difficult to memorize, particularly if you are a dense male lead. Fortunately, Ichika will have help from his childhood friend Houki (grumpy tsundere), the British Cecilia (haughty tsundere), and his OTHER childhood friend Lingyin, aka “Rin” (standard garden-variety tsundere). Oh, and his older sister, who hits him in the head a lot, but means well. We think.

There are a few things this does well that I can appreciate. Ichika may be the only man in the world that can pilot an IS, but that doesn’t make him immediately the best pilot in the school, though a lot of that is implied to be simple ignorance of how the suits actually work. It is also refreshing, though perhaps unappreciated by me, that the book doubles down on the harem antics so quickly. Most of the stories of this sort that I’ve seen before try to balance out the plot and the harem equally, but IS doesn’t really seem that into its plot, which is a shame as it’s implied that enemies were trying to either kill or kidnap Ichika towards the end – likely related to why he’s the only man who can pilot an IS. And, it has to be said, in 2009 harems and tsunderes were HUGE. Not so much in 2018. I can easily see why this got an anime.

We’ve only had about 12 volumes of this since it began, mostly due to the author’s poor health (which he discusses in the afterword), so it’s not as big as it could be. I will say this: most of the series that have derivative plots that we’ve seen over here before are manga-only, so if you wanted to read actual harem prose, you’ve come to the right place. I’d recommend this book to those who like the anime as well.

Pick of the Week: Again!! Again

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MICHELLE: I am, of course, looking forward to DAYS 8 and Giant Killing 12, as well as the second volume of Again!!, but I’ve been anticipating Wotakoi for a long time, so it’s gotta be that.

SEAN: I really should be picking Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction, but I’ve had experience with thinking I’ll love Asano titles and then finding them too dark. So instead I too will go with Wotakoi, which looks like a lot of fun.

KATE: Oof… there’s too much good stuff to pick just one title this week. If I had to limit myself to one, however, my vote would be for volume two of Again!!, a fresh take on the time-travel-to-high-school genre. It’s funny, rueful, and sometimes cringe-inducing — just like high school, only with better jokes.

ASH: I’m thrilled by pretty much everything that’s been mentioned so far. For ongoing series Again!! and Spirit Circle are probably the top of my list this week. As for debuts, I look forward to giving Wotakoi a try, but I’ll make Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction my official pick since no one else has yet. (I will never be able to say or type the title without looking at it though, and maybe not even then…)

ANNA: I liked the first volume of Again!! so much, I’m happy the second volume is coming out so soon after I finished the first one! That’s my pick!

Bookshelf Briefs 4/16/18

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Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor, Vol. 2 | By Hitsuji Tarou, Tsunemi Aosa and Kurone Mishima | Seven Seas – Perhaps I was just in a bad mood the first two volumes, but it seems to me that this third volume of Akashic Records is much stronger than the previous ones. It’s essentially a tournament arc, and features a lot of the standard cliches that you would expect. But I’ve gotten used to the proclivities of the characters by now, and the narrative does something very good in regards to Rumia and her hidden past, showing how she clearly wants to make things better but also can’t get over exactly what was done to her. Unfortunately, she’s also accused of treason. Which kinda sucks. This has gotten good enough that I want to read more, which is impressive given its bad start. – Sean Gaffney

Baccano!, Vol. 2 | By Ryohgo Narita, Shinta Fujimoto and Katsumi Enami | Seven Seas – After a first volume that functioned as a prologue to the series, this second book begins the actual adaptation of the first novel, which means we get a whole lot of Isaac and Miria being hilarious. That said, I’d still argue that this series is meant more for the hardcore fan than a newbie wondering what the fuss is all about—several references thoughout the volume only make sense if you know what’s going to be happening down the road. But in the end, as I said when I reviewed the first novel, I think the series at this point is about Ennis, and how she grows beyond what she was created to be. The scenes with Ennis are my favorite in the book, and I can’t wait for the last volume. – Sean Gaffney

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 3 | By CLAMP | Kodansha Comics – It feels like I spent the entirety of this volume just waiting for something to happen, already. True, Sakura collects a few new cards, but they both appear and are dealt with swiftly. She has a date with Syaoran, but we only see a couple of pages of it. Most of the volume is just mundane school stuff, particularly involving the new transfer student Akiho. For example, Akiho decides to join the choral ensemble and she and Sakura discover they both despise konnyaku. Be still my heart. It does seem like something is probably going on with Akiho—she has a plushie pal that reminds me of Kero-chan—but I guess I would’ve liked just a little more hinting that all is not as inconsequential as it seems. Oh well. I suppose I’ll keep reading for a while longer, at least. – Michelle Smith

Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card, Vol. 3 | By CLAMP | Kodansha Comics – We’ve introduced a new cast member, Akiho, who fits in quite nicely with the rest of the group, i.e. she’s sweet and charming and rather well-off, to the point where she has a butler, though he functions more like a guardian. I’m not sure what the relationship between those two is—you’d think after writing Rika out of the series they’d have clued in to the idea that January/December romance is bad, but I can’t quite trust it. I’m also not sure if she’s going to end up being a villain, though I highly doubt it. Other than that, this is cute and fluffy, and also exactly what the old series used to be—I sometimes wonder if it’s actually the exact same chapters with new dialogue. For hardcore fans only – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 6 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Zen makes his triumphant return in this volume, as the relationship between Shimana and Fujiwara can’t even last an entire chapter before crashing and burning. It’s not quite a train wreck, but you definitely get the sense the author was barreling towards a six-volume series and then was told to stretch it out a bit. And so there’s tears, and self-hatred, and Zen being honest and helpful and getting emotionally stomped on, which is his role in this series. I’m going to be honest, the main issue I have with this series remains the main pairing, who I still think do each other more harm than good. But in the end, I can only go where the author takes me, and I’m entertained enough to soldier on. – Sean Gaffney

Dreams of the Days | By Kyungha Yi | Netcomics – Having previously read Yi’s earlier and very aptly named series Intense, I was glad to discover that her newest boys’ love manhwa was also recently released in English. Dreams of the Days follows three young men about to graduate from high school who are having recurring dreams. Though they don’t share the intimate details with one another, Howon describes his as horror, Jihyung freely admits his is erotic, while Changwoo says his is a crime mystery. The reality is that all three dreams cause them to reexamine their sexuality. Jihyung’s reaction is the most refreshing (and amusing)–he’s an incredibly straightforward individual with no qualms about liking a guy. On the other hand, Howon struggles to accept that he could be gay largely due to societal pressures. As the most reserved of the three, Changwoo’s character arc is even more bittersweet. – Ash Brown

The Faraway Paladin, Vol. 4 | By Kanata Yanagino | J-Novel Club – As we get more and more light novel series, I am likely going to have to skip full reviews for some of them. Unlike Demon King Daimaou, though, that doesn’t mean I think anything less of Faraway Paladin, which remains one of the purest of the fantasy light novels out there. This one is a collection of three longish short stories, featuring an unlikely but cute marriage (no, it’s not William, who it’s made clear here only has eyes for his Goddess); a trip to a wizard castle to help Bee research a song (I love Bee); and a fight against an old and stubborn giant who really just wants to have friends again. The series is earnest as hell, which is actually its main selling point—if you’re tired of snarky light novel heroes, try this out. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 22 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – The boys from Karasuno are almost entirely absent this volume so that the story can focus on the Tokyo qualifiers, where Nekoma is striving for a spot at the Spring Tournament. They’ve reached the top four and, after being squashed by Fukurodani in straight sets, must compete for the “venue sponsor” slot against Nohebi, a team who uses taunts to goad Nekoma’s hotheads yet acts obsequiously polite to referees in order to earn their favor. It’s all appropriately slimy (“hebi” means snake, after all) and it gets even worse when Nekoma loses their excellent libero to an injury. I did appreciate the brief appearance of some Karasuno characters as Nishinoya explains just how fabulous Nekoma’s libero is, but otherwise, while this was decent enough, it’s just not the same without characters one cares about. – Michelle Smith

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 7 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – The kids are fifteen rather than fourteen, so it’s time to start thinking about high school, and the fact that you can’t just make a school choice based on what your boyfriend is doing. Or maybe you can, as the moral here actually turns out to be “talk to your partner about future plans and don’t just assume.” There is also a dream Kanata has of being a flight attendant, which is so “WTF?” given her intelligence that Yen had to include a footnote explaining how glamorous Japan finds the position, and how it’s meant to be “jetsetting.” And yes, Nagai and Hinohara and their rather tortured not-quite romance, which alters between heartwarming and disquieting. I enjoy Love at Fourteen even though it makes a lot of choices I wouldn’t. – Sean Gaffney

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 5 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – Given that this is a shoujo series that is not making any brave choices, it’s astonishing how much I’m still enjoying it. But, as I’ve said before, sometimes a reader wants “the exact same thing I’ve read before only with different people,” and Waiting for Spring gives us that. The cute but low-confidence female lead, the brooding male lead, the smooth-operator rival, the friends who also subdivide so nicely that I thought I was reading Kiss Him, Not Me for a moment. There’s nothing here that makes you have to read this, but there’s lots of things that make you want to read it—everyone’s likeable, the situations aren’t too forced, and you’re content to see it take its time. What more can one ask? – Sean Gaffney

Arifureta Zero, Vol. 1

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takaya-ki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Rei” by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

If a spinoff of Arifureta was going to be done, the Liberators were the only obvious choice. And, despite the novel starting out trying to make us think that Oscar was going to be the main character (which he is to an extent), this is all Miledi’s plan and all Miledi’s book. As such, enjoyment of this book will depend on how much you enjoyed Miledi in the second novel. She’s deliberately written to be annoying, and even though we get a tragic backstory here to explain why she does that it can still make you want to grit your teeth at times. That said, her drive to try to change the world and go up against the gods is laudatory, and her recruitment of Oscar (and later on Naiz) also allows plenty of scenes of her getting physically and emotionally abused for comedy purposes. (She reminded me of Shea a bit, to be honest, without the trolling that Miledi does all the time.)

(The author wonders if we were surprised at Miledi’s appearance, but honestly, this is pretty much exactly how I imagined her.)

As I said, Oscar is the focus at the start of the book, a synergist (much like our hero in the main series) trying to keep a low profile to avoid the Church. Said low profile falls to bits once Miledi arrives and starts harassing him, but honestly the church is so evil anyway that it was somewhat inevitable that it wouldn’t last. We also get a pile of adorable plucky orphan children, and once Oscar and Mikedi team up to find Naiz we get two more plucky adorable children, all of whom are put in deadly danger by events of the plot. And do you want tragic backstories? You’ll love Miledi’s, whose childhood was pretty crappy and then got much, much worse. There are also several very cool fights, as you’d come to expect from Arifureta, involving clever manipulation of gravity, creating impossibly hard shields via a cool umbrella (apparently a reference to Kingsman, though I kept thinking of Ryouga Hibiki), and teleportation badassery. And, as I said before, Miledi being really, really annoying.

This actually came out a mere 4 months after the Japanese release, so I would not hold your breath for the second volume right away. That said, I can’t imagine fans of Arifureta not enjoying this, even though the regular cast are nowhere to be seen. You get a good sense of the three leads and why they made the dungeons that they did. It also reminded me that Miledi’s spirit is technically still around in the main series, and I wonder if she’ll do anything else. (I also wonder if she and Oscar will ever hook up. Probably not, I suspect.) Basically, this is exactly the sort of thing you’d like a spinoff to be, and I will definitely enjoy more of it whenever it comes out.

Monster Tamer Girls, Vol. 1

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By Mujirushi Shimazaki. Released in Japan as “Kaijuu no Shiiku Iin” by Houbunsha, serialized in the magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amber Tamosaitis.

When I reviewed New Game!, I went into a bit of detail regarding the classic Kirara work, i.e. “a group of girls doing but really just relaxing and chatting a lot”. It’s a shame, because it would help to pad out the word count of this review, as there’s a lot of that happening here as well. To be fair, Monster Tamer Girls does have the girls taming monsters a hell of a lot more than, say, K-On! has the girls playing concerts. This is a world where monsters are still being analyzed to a degree, and as such, even though it’s treated as a typical high school club, the need for girls like Ion and her friends is absolutely needed. Sadly, Ion is rather shy and tends to still be wary of monsters, which is why we also have Sora, who has no talent for taming but is spunky, outgoing, and really loves monsters. Stop me if you’ve heard of this type of twosome before.

As you might guess by the cover, if you were expecting cute Pokemon-style monsters you’re in for a surprise. The main monster we see here is essentially a dinosaur, and even the short cute one that follows after the girls quickly grows to enormous proportions. Joining our two main heroines are Tsukiko, an overly serious monster tamer with horrible naming sense, and Kotomi, a teen genius in the graduate program whose chief job seems to be providing yuri subtext, although honestly there’s plenty of that to go around. And then there’s Kyouko, who is not only a level above every other monster tamer girl (she’s a monster charmer), but is also the girl who saved Ion from a monster when she was just a kid. Sadly, Kyouko is straining her voice from too much abuse (as a former chorus student, I can attest to how easy it is to do that), and also worries that Ion does not have what it takes to do the job.

As a first volume, this did its job very well, and manages to be a “monster” series without the fanservice that usually goes with that sort of thing, possibly as the girls aren’t the monsters in this case. Sadly, it apparently wasn’t interesting enough for Japanese readers, as the second volume will be the last one. I think it will definitely appeal to those who like relaxing, girls-in-school type manga, and I’d argue its main audience may be the yuri fan. There’s no yuri here, but, y’know, girls hug other girls and say they missed them, so it’s not all that hard to connect the dots. This may actually be a good series to wait till summer and get both volumes as a gift for someone else. And since the fanservice is nonexistent and the yuri is all hypothetical, I wouldn’t object to younger readers looking at it either.

Accel World: Signal Fire at the Water’s Edge

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By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

A lot of what I’ve seen in Accel World has been the author recognizing, lampshading, and attempting to either fix or downplay the faults that we’ve seen in his previous series, Sword Art Online. The lead here, Haruyuki, is if anything even more powerful than Kirito, but while Kirito does have inner turmoil (something the anime was not that great in bringing out), Haruyuki is all inner turmoil. Kirito spends most of his time in SAO either solo playing or reluctantly partnering up; Haruyuki cherishes working with people and forming friendships. Also, while Kirito may be your typical light novel hero and amass a harem of girls who like him, Haruyuki is short, stout, and has twice the number of girls after him. And what’s more, with the exception of the current Alicization arc, Kirito’s problems tend to be easy to solve, while the Accel World narrative never quite wraps anything up, and things just continue to snowball forward in one broad narrative.

Niko is on the cover, and it has been a while since we’ve seen her, even though the book is filled with reminders that the last several books or so have only happened over a period of a few days. She shows up as some other Brain Burst user, who seemed very similar to Kuroyukihime, was being evil, and thus some of her legion took it upon themselves to challenge Nega Nebulus (which now has a new addition as another old face we’re already familiar with returns to the fold). It’s all a misunderstanding, but reminds us that the Acceleration Research Society is still trying to get their way, which involves parasitizing as many users as possible with ISS kits, including sadly a very familiar face. Niko shows up in order to apologize for the rash actions of her legion and also add some muscle in their fight, along with Pard. And they’ll need the help, as they decide they can’t afford to wait any longer, they have to attack Metatron NOW.

The book, as always, is well written, with lots of funny moments, good fights, and emotional scenes. My favorite scene was probably the most chilling, though, which is where Niko notes how safe they feel around Haruyuki. She’s quite to point out that it’s not that he’s a “nice guy” per se, it’s just all female-type avatar users have a certain fear of being found in the real world, and Haruyuki, who knows a ton of them, doesn’t trigger that fear. He cares about what they think, and listens to what they say. For an author who I have yelled at for going to the “rape as drama” well far too many times, this is a surprisingly nuanced take – and all the more chilling for it, as all these girls are 15 years old or less by definition. It’s something that girls have to deal with every day in our real world, and it’s sad and yet very realistic that even in the future, female gamers still risk getting attacked.

The author lets us know this is going to be another multi-book arc, though honestly, as I noted above, this book feels far more like one long narrative than SAO ever did. I really want to find out what happens next. The 14th book better arrive soon.

My Boy, Vol. 1

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By Hitomi Takano. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shounen” by Futabasha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Monthly Action. Released in North America by Vertical Comics. Translated by Kumar Sivasubramanian.

When this title was announced by Vertical, I raised an eyebrow. The concept seemed a bit… dangerous? That said, I probably should have trusted them. My Boy is an award-nominated work in Japan. And, much as it might look at it at times, it is most definitely not about the love story between an adult office lady and a 12-year-old boy. Instead it seems to be about found families, about how much you can support someone when technically you aren’t responsible for their upbringing, and the difficulties of child abuse, particularly “is this abusive enough to actually do anything about?”. And it’s also about how abuse can affect your basic mindset, to the point where you see acts of kindness as huge, impactful things that you need to repay rather than just everyday niceness. It is a good, meaningful work, told with a deft hand.

Satoko is an office worker dealing with an ex-boyfriend being a colleague at her job (and also showing off his new girlfriend), who takes her temperature every morning even though she can no longer seem to recall why. She runs into Mashuu, a pretty long-haired boy who is lurking at the local park and trying to play soccer by himself – badly. She gives him a few pointers and moves on, but he’s there again the next day (and easy prey for potential molesters), so she gradually learns more about his life. It’s not a pretty life – his dad works late and doesn’t seem to care enough to even make sure he’s changed clothes. His younger brother is named Ryouichi (ichi means “first” in Japan, and is not usually a name you give a second child). Little acts of kindness and caring make him cry. He’s a product of a neglectful home. As the days go by, Satoko gets more and more involved in his life, taking him to soccer games and a sushi restaurant. Is this what she wants in her life? And what *is* this?

The book is self-aware enough to know what some readers might be thinking. There are news reports at the start about abduction and molestation of children, and a creeper attempts to do the same to Mashuu until Satoko intervenes. Satoko and Mashuu’s relationship feels more familial, and the title “My Boy” suggests a parental substitute might be what’s going on here. Mashuu is a sweet kid, even at school, when he’s talking to the shy classmate who realizes there’s something going on, but he desperately needs basic affection and care, and right now only Satoko is the one that can give it to him. But of course she isn’t his mother. It’s implied, though I’m not sure if this is the case, that he’s from a previous marriage or similar. In fact, we never even see his family – the book, with the exception of the scenes at Mashuu’s school, is focused on the relationship between Satoko and Mashuu, and how it’s changing both of them.

Now, it’s possible this could develop in a different direction, and I’ve been wrong before – hi, Bunny Drop. But this doesn’t feel like a romance. It feels like a family story, about about how sometimes the family you make is better and more loving than the family you have. That said, I’m pretty sure there will be more drama in future volumes. I also recommend skipping the author’s notes at the end, which do play up the “older woman/young boy” fetish, to my annoyance. But definitely read My Boy. It’s a touching, heartaching story.

Manga the Week of 4/18/18

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SEAN: April continues, as does the inundation of manga. Let’s get down to business.

Ghost Ship debuts World’s End Harem. It’s about a post-apocalyptic future that’s killed nearly all the men in the world, and about a man who thus needs to impregnate as many women as he can. Needless to say, this being a mature manga and not a hentai manga, he stays true to his (missing) love and tries to find a cure rather than, say, having tons of sex. I suspect the main audience of this title will be annoyed by this, but hey.

Haikasoru has a 6th Legend of the Galactic Heroes novel.

MICHELLE: Woot. I noticed that the release schedule for these seems to have sped up a bit (unless I am imagining things). We’ll also be getting volumes seven and eight this year.

ASH: That does seem to be the plan!

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us a 3rd volume of Outbreak Company.

They also have two debuts. Infinite Stratos is a series that most folks assumed would have been licensed years ago – in fact, most of its innovations have been done to death by other series. We’ll see if it can succeed after all this time.

There’s also The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, an isekai where an already practicing magician gets summoned to a world… and decides not to bother saving it just yet.

Kodansha gives us a slate of digital-only titles. Cosplay Animal 5, DAYS 8, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 6, Giant Killing 12, and The Prince’s Black Poison 4.

MICHELLE: My sports-manga-loving heart is appeased.

SEAN: They also debut Peach Mermaid (Momoiro Ningyo), a Dessert title that makes me wonder if mermaids are the next hot new trend.

MICHELLE: Could be!

ANNA: OK!

ASH: Merfolk do seem to have become increasingly popular/common over the last few years.

SEAN: On the print side, we’ve got a 2nd Again!!, a 6th Descending Stories, the 2nd and final Fairy Tail S, and the 5th That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime manga adaptation.

MICHELLE: I’m definitely looking forward to the first two.

ASH: Yes, definitely!! I was also amused by the beginning of That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, though I’ve certainly fallen behind with that series.

SEAN: The print debut (it’s also digital) is Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku (Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii), notable (at least to me) for being the first non-Kodansha title released by Kodansha Comics. It’s an Ichijinsha series that runs in the little known Comic Pool, and has an otaku and a fujoshi meet up again years after they knew each other in school. Looking forward to this shoujo/josei-ish title.

MICHELLE: Me, too!

ANNA: Interesting…

ASH: I am also intrigued!

SEAN: One Peace has everyone’s favorite bear manga, Kuma Miko 8.

Seven Seas has a 2nd volume of the Magical Girl Doctor light novel, and a 3rd Spirit Circle.

ASH: Spirit Circle has been great, so far; looking forward to more.

SEAN: Vertical has the 3rd and final volume of Nisioisin’s weird psychological drama Imperfect Girl.

Viz has a 2nd Fire Punch, which will have to try hard to top the jaw-dropping atrocities of the first volume. They also give us a 4th Tokyo Ghoul: re.

Viz also debuts another Inio Asano title, one of the weirder ones even for an artist known for his eccentric titles. Dead Dead Demon’s Dededede Destruction asks what happens when you combine aliens, political warfare, slice-of-life schoolgirls, and Asano. The answer is fascinating.

ANNA: Hmmm. Well I’m guessing weird Asano is always worth checking out.

ASH: Definitely! (And for those who may not already be aware, Asano will be visiting North America next month for the Toronto Comic Arts Festival.)

MJ: Hm, might check this out.

SEAN: And Yen Press has some more titles creeping into stores. We get the 2nd Baccano! manga adaptation, the 3rd volume of The Isolator manga adaptation, a 9th Kagerou Daze (yup, adaptation of novel), the second Goblin Slayer manga adaptation, and the 10th Strike the Blood manga adaptation. Somehow, in among all these light novel spinoffs, we also get a 6th volume of The Royal Tutor, which is NOT based on a light novel.

So? What are you getting? Huh? Huh?

Me, a Genius? I Was Reborn into Another World and I Think They’ve Got the Wrong Idea!, Vol. 1

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By Nyun and Sakana. Released in Japan as “Isekai ni Tensei Shitandakedo Ore, Tensai tte Kanchigai Saretenai?” by Overlap, Inc. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Shaun Cook.

When I first saw that this title was licensed, I noted the lengthy title, the fact that it was an isekai that WASN’T a dungeon crawl or similar, and that it was a comedy and got a certain idea in my head of what it would be like. I though it would be ordinary boy in ordinary family, but reincarnated, coming up with common sense ideas from his old world that no one in this new one had heard of, and thus being mistaken for brilliant. Laffs follow. Now… to a certain extent, I’m not wrong? Well, except for the ordinary. The ordinary in that last sentence is so wrong I’m surprised I wasn’t arrested when I wrote it. But, as the author says, he enjoys writing stories based on everyone misunderstanding everyone else. And that includes the reader. I misunderstood Me, a Genius, which is one of the loopiest light novels I have ever read in my life.

Kouki is a former researcher who dies and is reincarnated in another world, certainly. He actually has his full memories from even before he’s born, which is unusual in this genre, mostly because even the most isekai of authors would try to work that one our realistically and go “ummmmm”. He’s born in a world with its share of problems – World War II started early, a plague devastated Europe, etc. It’s now 2091, and Kouki is an ordinary boy in a… OK, look, his mom is a former quantum mathematician turned housewife, and his dad is in a secret UN special ops unit. In Kouki’s mind, he’s doodling as a child, trying to research the history of this world, and occasionally do normal things like weed the lawn in his mobile suit. To his mom, he’s a terrifying prodigy who solved quantum equations, created devastating pesticides in his spare time, and is HER LITTLE BOY WHO MUST BE PROTECTED. Luckily, there is a school for the incredibly brilliant that he can be sent to when he hits 16.

A word of warning: this book requires you to throw out the window any consistency of character, particularly Kouki’s character. Sometimes he’s a normal schlub you’d see in a harem romcom. Sometimes he does feel like a guy who did research a lot of complex things in his former life. And sometimes he feels like what everyone thinks he is, the product of a marriage between two clearly brilliant people who is even more insanely brilliant. For all that the series is supposed to be about “misunderstandings”, sometimes Kouki’s “common sense” makes you want to beat your head against the wall. The book’s tone is also occasionally inconsistent – when it’s being gonzo it’s fine, but sometimes it takes a breather and does things like investigating the school’s seven mysteries and turns deadly boring. Fortunately, mostly it’s gonzo.

Everyone in this book leaps to the silliest possible conclusion not only about what Kouki is thinking, but about what everyone else in the world is thinking as well. I’ve seen light novels where the protagonist is normal and everyone else is eccentric. I’ve seen books where the leads are eccentric but there’s one normal person. But here everyone is, in their own way, amazingly bonkers. The mom is threatening the United States president with war should her son be in danger, and he can only cower. Kouki’s friend (and later girlfriend) Alice has a gobstopping plot revelation dropped about 3/4 of the way in… and then nothing ever really comes of it, nor does Kouki discover it. There are cockroaches who do work nanomachine style. Heck, at one point Kouki really does end up in a fantasy world and defeats the demons, picking up a pet dragon as a reward.

This book series is only three volumes long, and thank God. This is not the type of series that could sustain itself over the long run. It also has hideous plot and character flaws – anyone who takes light novels seriously might get an allergic reaction to it. But I was laughing throughout, and kept thinking “Damn, this is fun. Ridiculous, but fun.” Please enjoy this story of a boy and the world he’s reincarnated into, where every human alive just talks past one another.

Mermaid Boys, Vol. 1

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By Yomi Sarachi. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Aria. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Christine Dashiell.

I admit that it’s been years since I last read Andersen’s The Little Mermaid, and I don’t think I ever did get around to seeing the Disney version beyond clips of “Under the Sea”. But that’s OK, because the new shoujo title Mermaid Boys owes a lot more to standard shoujo manga than it does to the classic fairy tail. The initial plot beats are sort of there, but gender reversed. Boy mermaid meets girl, falls for her, goes to the upper world to be with her. But honestly, if he’d been a sudden transfer student who met the girl when she was on vacation and then ended up at her school, much of the story would be the same. But that’s OK, the story is still a lot of fun. What the book really ends up being about is preconceptions of love, learning not to put your crush on a pedestal, and (of course) growing up.

Naru is the hunky mermaid on the cover. He’s actually a Mermaid PRINCE, and has a bevy of gorgeous young suitors to choose from. He’s not interested in them, however; he’s obsessed with the human world, and has various trinkets of human life that he’s scavenged and whose purpose he’s gotten completely wrong. Then one day he sees a cute young schoolgirl on the surface, and rescues her when she almost drowns. Determined to be with her, and despite his mother locking him up for interacting with the humans (his aunt apparently died this way), he makes a deal to be able to go to the surface as a human in exchange for “his beauty”. It’s a pretty good exchange, as it seems to mostly involve him getting his hair cut so he looks “cute” rather than “hot”. Unfortunately for him, if he goes back in the water he’ll transform back. Also unfortunately, the sweet young girl he fell in love with turns out to think he’s a pervert (mostly as he has no clue how humanity works), and he now has to deal with who she really is, a young woman dealing with the death of her father and the financial instability of their family inn.

Naru’s over the top reactions are the best reason to read this so far. He’s so overexcited about humanity, but at the same time he’s unprepared for things like personal space, thinking about others, and wearing pants. You can tell that his journey is going to be leading him to mature. He’s getting there slowly, and would have looked pretty cool defending Nami from a bunch of jerks who are bitching about her inn if he weren’t standing there bottomless. Nami too is interesting, as her father’s death (he died in the water) has led her to have a fear of swimming, which she used to love. This, of course, allows her to contrast well with our hero, a literal mermaid. (I wonder if her dad’s death has something to do with Naru’s aunt’s death?) And of course there’s the obligatory rival, as well as the semi-villain, a sneering young man who finds out Naru’s secret and forces him to be a lackey.

This isn’t lights out shoujo, but it’s a very good start, and there’s a lot to develop for future volumes. I’m not sure how long it will run (Aria Magazine just folded), but the start of Mermaid Boys is certainly worth your time.