Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Voices of a Distant Star

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By Makoto Shinkai and Mizu Sahara. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Afternoon. Released in North America by Vertical Comics. Translated by Melissa Tanaka.

Of the various horrifying secrets I have, “has never seen a Makoto Shinkai anime” surely must rank among the largest. But it’s true. I’ve gradually stopped watching a lot of anime anyway, and what I do watch does not tend to fall into the introspective mode that Shinkai does so well. So, just like your name and The Garden of Words, I am coming into reading Voices of a Distant Star as someone unfamiliar with the original anime. Indeed, I never read the manga when it came out from Tokyopop back in 2006. But now I have read it and, as with most things Shinkai has been in charge of, I’m glad I did. The plot is slight, and the characters fairly easy to understand. but that’s because it’s going for a feeling that most of us know only too well, even if it’s couching it in the language of science fiction and time dilation.

We open on two middle school friends who clearly want to be more than friends. There’s just one problem. One of them has been chosen to go into space to help fight aliens, meaning they’ll be separated. But that’s OK – they have email! Unfortunately, this is a more realistic version of space travel, meaning that as time passes and the interstellar distances get longer, the communication gets leagues more difficult. Can their budding love stand the test of both time and space? Now, of course, what makes this even more interesting is that the pilot who’s been recruited is the girl, Mikako, and it’s her friend Noboru who’s staying behind on Earth, trying to live the live that she wanted to live and figure out what he wants to do next. Mikako gets a lot more to do, meeting fellow pilots, then losing them just as quickly, and also discovering the crushing loneliness that comes from a mission like this. Is this another Shinkai title with a bittersweet ending?

Well, no, it gets to be more sweet than bitter, though as you might expect the emphasis is on the ambiguity. In fact, from what I understand the manga actually made things clearer and more explicit (the manga seems to have expanded things a lot from the original anime, which was quite short). This is a one-volume manga, and it’s just the right length to let readers feel the ache of the story it’s telling without wallowing too much in it. The emotions are what we’re here for, adn they’re excellent. Noboru’s most stoic endurance cracking near the end, and Mikako’s love seemingly growing stronger the farther away from him she gets. I will admit that I wasn’t thrilled with the alien invasion subplot, which felt more like an excuse to put some action – any action – in a story that could just as easily have been about Mikako on a space exploration flight.

This is a quiet, emotionally devastating but ultimately uplifting story, and you really like the two kids even when they’re questioning themselves and their own feelings. It’s well worth the read.

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On The Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 5

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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? Gaiden – Sword Oratoria” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Liv Sommerlot.

Jealousy tends to be pervasive in the DanMachi series. Some of it stems from people being jealous of Bell’s power and the time he took to achieve it – Aiz falls into this category best. But sometimes it’s simply “I am in love with this person and have not confessed but am simply pining for them, and how DARE they look at that other person and not me?”. It’s very common, very ugly, and very realistic. That said, authors who write it into their series almost always expect readers to be amused by the antics of the jealous person, and in reality I tend to find that the reader ends up thoroughly pissed off instead. I’m not just talking about others here – Hestia’s jealousy of anyone coming near Bell is one of her biggest faults, and I don’t like the author hammering on it. The same applies to Lefiya in this side series. Unfortunately, this volume has few fights and a lot of jealousy.

Most of this 5th volume of Sword Oratoria aligns with the 5th volume of the main series, meaning we’re on the 18th Floor and having a rest. Loki’s team is coming back from their attempt on the 59th floor from the last book; Bell and company are coming down from their own disastrous mission. Aiz takes something of a backseat here, though there is some interesting discussion of her background and possible origins now that the Loki team can use Bell as a walking Wikipedia, as he’s read and memorized the most detailed and unexpurgated version of the myths and legends they all know. There’s also an amusing reminder that most of the elves we’ve dealt with in this series are not your typical sort, and that the proud, haughty elf is meant to be the norm. And of course we get the “backside” to all the DanMachi scenes from Book 5, including Hestia’s arrival (though the Loki cast leaves before the rest of that book happens.)

But most of what the reader will focus on is Lefiya’s insane jealousy of Bell, which goes up to eleven in this book and also gets them into big trouble when she chases after him in such a rage that they both get lost in the middle of the vast floor forest. These scenes are meant to show Lefiya that Bell is not the evil lothario she might expect him to be – inde3ed, like Aiz, she’s started to boggle in disbelief at how skilled he has gotten in such a short time. They also do work together well when pressured to, and Lefiya is able to forego her jealousy in a crisis. Still, I’m going to be honest, Lefiya’s obsession with Aiz is bad for her character. I thin k the author knows this, which is why she’s playing up Lefiya’s relationship with Filvis as well, which is far healthier and more grounded in mutual admiration and respect.

I think this is overall a volume with more positives than negatives, and of course there is also development of Sword Oratoria’s main plot with the Evils. If you are a Danmachi reader who dislikes “girl is jealous of other girls getting along with her crush” stories, though, be advised this volume wallows in it.

Pick of the Week: We Got the Beat

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MICHELLE: There’s a lot that I’m getting this week. Ace of the Diamond, Haikyu!!, One-Punch Man… But, honestly, this week’s pick was preordained because one of my favorite series only comes out twice a year: Skip Beat!, I choose you!

KATE: I’m suffering from a manga hangover at the moment, since last week was EPIC. Is it OK to plug Again!! and Silver Spoon a second time? ‘Cuz there’s nothing coming out this week that makes me as happy of either of those debuts.

SEAN: My pick this week goes to a title I know nothing about except really good word of mouth. There was much happiness when Kaguya-sama: Love Is War was licensed, and I am excited to see why.

ASH: Like Kate, I’m still thrilled about last week’s debuts. I’m looking forward to catching up on some ongoing series this week, though, such as Frau Faust and Haikyu!!.

ANNA: Last week was great and this week is pretty good too! Like Michelle, I’m always thrilled when there is a new Skip Beat volume, so that is my pick!

Psycome: A Murderer and the Deadly Love Affair

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By Mizuki Mizushiro and Namanie. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder.

The final volume of Psycome features something that previous volumes had been trying rather hard to avoid. For a series that starred a school full of teenage murderers, and innumerable theoretical murder attempts, there were very few actual murders among the cast members. That changes here, and while it’s not much of a spoiler to say that the main cast we’ve grown most familiar with are pretty safe, several of the antagonists we met in the athletic festival book meet a rather grisly end. It’s a good reminder of the basic premise of the series, something that Kyousuke and Ayaka need to accept: they are not here for the same reason as everyone else. They are not murderers. Nor is Eiri, our failed assassin, though she comes pretty close here. The rest of the students are, even Maina, whose murders may be accidental but they definitely exist. Kyousuke and Ayaka don’t belong here. And so we get the premise of this final volume, where they’re offered a battle in order to leave the school – get to the other end of the grounds while trying not to get killed.

We do finally meet Kyousuke and Ayaka’s parents in this volume. Honestly, they’re sort of exactly what I was expecting. I was more uncomfortable with the fact that they’re basically an older Kyousuke and Ayaka, only as husband and wife – Ayaka and Kyousuke’s brother/sister complexes have not been my favorite source of humor in this series, thank you very much. (Fortunately, by the end of the book, Ayaka at least seems to be moving on a bit.) Most of Kyousuke’s main “harem” is there to help him escape, even ones who seemingly are on the side of the school, like Shamaya, who is as foul-mouthed as ever. Maina’s big moment may seem a bit out of character, frankly, but it was nicely dramatic, though I wanted to see the fight itself. And then there’s Renko, who Kyousuke admits that he loves, and she loves him – but she wants to kill him, and he doesn’t love her enough that he’ll let her do this.

In the end, though, the winning girl is unsurprising, given Renko’s origins and basic personality. Eiri is a type, but it’s a good example of the type, and she’s grown up a bit in this series too – despite all of the yawning and tch-ing she does in this book, possibly a new record for her, she’s now able to admit her feelings, get her man, and also start a career as a supermodel almost without effort. Good for her. (I am less fond of the implied love between Kurumiya and Mohawk, which manages to combine about four different types of love affairs that make me uncomfortable. That said, it’s always been played for broad comedy, so even its “dramatic” ending made me laugh a bit.)

Sadly for fans who are always desperate for sex in their light novels, the book ends just before Kyousuke and Eiri consummate their love, though it’s implied. There’s also an implied observer of their covert love affair at the end, who the author admits might be Renko if readers want. Insert threesome fanfic here, I guess. There’s also a volume of short stories mentioned by the author that’s also coming out, though I suspect that may be in Japan only.

Psycome was always a surprise light novel license because it lacked other tie-ins – there’s no manga adaptation that I know of, and it never got an anime. Give the sheer amount of brutal, mostly comedic but sometimes serious violence scattered throughout the book, I can’t be surprised it stayed as a book series. But I’m pleased Yen picked it up. It grew on me book by book and I really came to enjoy the cast and their situation. The plot of this book echoes my point of view – it’s time to end it, but… it’s been really fun, hasn’t it?

A Certain Magical Index, Vol. 14

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

It’s hard, as this series goes on, not to feel that we are headed towards a certain point of no return. Indeed, Touma’s job in this book is to try to stop the world from descending into total war, and he only just manages to keep it in check. Both sides, magic and science, are clearly cruising for a bruising, so to speak, and I’m pretty sure that eventually there’s going to be no way to stop everything blowing up. This time around the French city of Avignon is completely destroyed, and though there are attempts to try to say “oh, they’re only knocking people unconscious”, there’s clearly significant innocent casualties. This is not helped by the Roman Cathol… Orthodox Church’s mid control weapon, or the fact that Touma and Accelerator are both used here as the equivalent of nuclear weapons dropped on the enemy. Despite Touma’s best efforts, things are getting worse, not better.

Introduced in this volume: Suama Oyafune, Monaka Oyafume. Terra of the Left also makes his first proper appearance here, though of course it’s also his last. We’re into October now, 3 months after the start of the Index series. Since the last book the Railgun cast has been busy, as most of the Dream Ranker arc has happened, and Saten and Frenda have continued to bond and become good friends. This assumes that you ignore the actual text of Index 14, in which Mikoto sees Uiharu and thinks “oh, that friend of Kuroko’s I don’t know”. On the bright side, in real life, the Index and Railgun mangas have both started, meaning hopefully that continuity will start to match up with them. And don’t worry, Uiharu, I bet you get a big scene soon! We’ve also seen the first Index short story collection come out. These sadly are not licensed by Yen, which is a shame, as sometimes they tie into the plot of the main storyline more than most short story collections. More on that next time. And, most significantly, this is the first volume that has not been made into an anime.

As for this book, Index is completely absent, and it’s Itsuwa who plays the heroine, as you might have guessed from the cover. Aside from the hand towel joke, which has already gotten old (as with almost all jokes the author attempts), I quite like Itsuwa. She’s capable, cute, and clearly meant to contrast with all the girls Touma knows who get angry and hit him at the drop of a hat. When he points out her top has become see-through due to rescuing him from a river, she just blushes and rushes off to change. No surprise that she rapidly became a fan favorite, and we’ll see her back soon. Tsuchimikado is also around in this book, mostly serving as Touma’s backup and deliverer of exposition, although we’ve reached the point in the series where Touma can figure most things out on his own. The plot is, to be honest, slight. Touma is sent to stop a magical maguffin that is causing Roman Orthodox believers to riot and want to destroy Academy City. He does, eventually. The end.

That said, there are important things going on here, not least of which is realizing that Touma’s last name, Kamijou, may be a lot more significant than we had previously expected. Touma’s right hand power, Imagine Breaker, is clearly a giant mystery still, and he hasn’t harnessed most of its power. Terra fo the Left implies that he knew more about it before the memory loss, but I’m not really sure that’s the case. More importantly, thanks to accidentally leaving his cell phone on during a battle, Mikoto also now knows about his memory loss – but not WHEN it happened. Given that she’s been worried lately that he’s been ignoring her, I suspect she thinks he may have forgotten the Sisters arc.

In any case, it looks as if Acqua of the Back, who has proven to be the most reasonable of the antagonists du jour, is up next. Before that, however, we’ll flip back to the Science side, which is having its own chaotic power struggles. Index fans will enjoy this one, although I suspect most of them are looking towards the next volume…

Manga the Week of 3/7/18

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SEAN: We continue to bring you Manga the Week of, despite the danger of last-minute announcements from Kodansha, despite the near-constant release date shifts from Yen Press. We are here for you, the reader.

Dark Horse has the 4th volume of that Psycho Pass prequel, Inspector Shinya Kogami.

Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of Yokai Girls, which considering its genre I found better than expected.

It’s a J-Novel Club release bonanza next week. We get a 5th Arifureta, a 7th In Another World with My Smartphone, a 5th Infinite Dendrogram, and a 10th Invaders of the Rokujouma?!. Something for everyone.

Kodansha has some print novels next week. They’ve got a 2nd hardcover of their re-release of Battle Angel Alita in a Deluxe Edition. (No, she’s still not Gally. Why confuse readers now?) and a 4th volume of Frau Faust.

MICHELLE: Yay, Frau Faust!

ASH: Indeed! I know a lot of people who are very excited about the deluxe edition of Battle Angel Alita, too.

SEAN: There’s also ongoing digital series, with Ace of the Diamond 9, All-Rounder Meguru 6, Black Panther and Sweet 16 7, Drifting Dragons 3, and Pumpkin Scissors 19.

MICHELLE: I do so love Ace of the Diamond.

SEAN: Seven Seas gives us 3rd volumes of more interesting than I expected Beasts of Abigaile, and less interesting than I expected Red Riding Hood and the Big Sad Wolf (this may be the final volume of the latter).

Vertical has a 10th Devils’ Line.

And the rest is Viz, I’d normally say, but we do have some Yen holdouts at the end. For Viz, though, there’s lots of fun stuff.

On the shonen front, we have Astra: Lost in Space 2, Bleach 72, Boruto 3, Haikyu!! 21, Hunter x Hunter 34 (yes, it still exists), One Piece’s 23rd 3-in-1, One-Punch Man 13, And Yu-Gi-Oh Arc V 3, which is still a very awkward title.

MICHELLE: I’ve missed One-Punch Man.

ASH: I’m probably most excited for more One-Punch Man and Haikyu!!.

ANNA: Haikyu!! is a favorite in my household, and I need to get caught up on One-Punch Man.

SEAN: Seinen debuts! Kaguya-sama: Love is War (Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai – Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen) is a Weekly Young Jump comedy/drama about two student council members who have fallen for each other but are determined NOT to be the first to admit it. I am looking forward to this one a lot.

Ongoing shoujo series include Anonymous Noise 7, Bloody Mary 10 (another final volume, I believe), The Demon Prince of Momochi House 11, Queen’s Quality 3, and Skip Beat! 40. (Is Skip Beat North America’s longest shoujo manga by now?)

MICHELLE: Yes, it has surpassed Boys Over Flowers, which had 37.

ASH: Lots of great shoujo coming out next week! I have some catching up to do.

ANNA: Very excited for shoujo!!!!

SEAN: Shoujo debuts! The Young Master’s Revenge (Kimi no Koto nado Zettai ni) is a LaLa series by Meca Tanaka, author of Meteor Prince and the “whoops, schoolteacher romance, can’t license this” series Faster Than a Kiss. A young man had a childhood where he was run ragged by his childhood friend. He’s now back to take revenge on her… but are things still the same?

MICHELLE: And a couple of older series like Omukae desu. and Pearl Pink. I haven’t read those yet, but I did enjoy Meteor Prince.

ANNA: I have Pearl Pink stockpiled somewhere in my house, but haven’t read it yet. Am looking forward to this series.

SEAN: We also have some Yen runoff from February… in fact, we’ll be having that all month. BTOOOM! is up to Vol. 20. Sigh. Dimension W is at 9, there’s a 7th Today’s Cerberus, and a 12th Trinity Seven.

Yen’s debut next week is Tales of Wedding Rings, which has already been running digitally on Crunchyroll. It appears to be a standard high school romance, but isn’t. Think fantasy with lots of fanservice. It runs in Big Gangan, so falls under seinen.

March is coming in like a lion! (though alas, March Comes in Like a Lion remains unlicensed). What are you getting?

Again!!, Vol. 1

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By Mitsurou Kubo. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Rose Padgett.

Yuri!! on Ice was a bit of a phenomenon, not just here but worldwide. But yes, also here, which is why we’re seeing two series that are by the writer of the famous ice skating anime. Again!! is the less surprising of the two licenses, though its subject matter means that it was fairly easily passed over back in the 2011-12 days when it was coming out weekly. (The other series, Moteki, is an even more unlikely license, but we’ll get to that when it comes out.) Again!! actually has a premise that seemingly would be quite popular over here: a young man with a scary face who has gone through high school with minimal interaction with people is graduating, having accomplished very few happy high school memories. He recalls the club that he was asked to join (but never did) when he started school, and goes to look at its now deserted clubroom, as the club died that year. While there, he accidentally terrifies a young girl who’s there to see her boyfriend, and she falls down a stairwell and cracks her head open. He then slips on a graduation bouquet and joins her.

The End! OK, not the end. He wakes up and suddenly begins to realize he’s back three years in the past, and is starting his school life all over again. Thinking this is a dream of some sort, he runs across the girl who invited him to join her club back then, and this time tries to give a different answer. And here we come to the elephant in the room: the club is an ouendan club. This is likely why the series was not licensed until YOI took off, as even fans of Elite Beat Agents may not have heard of ouendan. Kodansha’s notes list it as being sort of like a pep squad, and that’s not a bad analogy. Its members are usually male, but Usami, the lone remaining member, is a young girl. Now, if you’re thinking that this is going to be a sweet, heartwarming manga about a boy who rapidly discovers a love for ouendan and life that he never thought he had… well, it still could be, I suppose. But this first volume is here to tell you things will not be that simple. Usami is a hot mess with a difficult past, and it’s easy to see from ten seconds in her presence why the club died. Also, time travel is not as easy as it sounds, as both Imamura (our hero) and Fujieda (the girl who also fell down the stairs and went back in time, who is a walking disaster and the funniest part of the manga) discover. Oh yes, and the cheerleading squad leader is determined the end the ouendan.

This may not end up being my sort of manga – it relies somewhat on “watch people do embarrassing things” scenes that always make me cringe – but it’s absolutely compelling, and the lead manages to hold my interest despite being another in a long line of “guys with scary faces who aren’t really that scary”. I also do wonder how the time travel part is going to work out – is it just a one-way road? And can anyone convince Usami to turn the intenseness down to about an 8? There’s a lot developing here, but the series ran for twelve volumes in Japan, which seems to me just about the right length for a series like this. If you liked Yuri!! on Ice, you’ll obviously want to check this out, but it also appeals to readers with a taste for the quirky.

[New Life+] Young Again in Another World, Vol. 1

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By Mine and Kabocha. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Teng.

This was the first of two new licenses from J-Novel Club where my reaction was somewhat… muted, shall we say? The description of New Life Plus (Which is how I’ll be abbreviating it) did not really make it stand out among the Smartphones of this world. And as I began to read it, I started to tick off the usual isekai boxes. Here’s God, yup. Somewhat eccentric – in this case, God’s given herself the body and personality of a hyperactive young girl. Lead who has been chosen to go to another world for vague reasons. He ends up stupidly overpowered because God doesn’t really pay attention well, so that’s in order. He rescues two girls from attempted assault by the male companions they were traveling with, and then helps to stave off a goblin raid (goblins, check). Finally, after arriving at the adventurer’s guild (check) and getting ID cards (check), he is convinced to join the two girls on their adventures, against his better judgment. Check. Sigh.

I will break this down into bad and good again, though in this case it’s more bad and “has potential”. A lot – in fact, the majority – of J-Novel Club’s series are light novels that were originally on the internet as self-published web novels, but I don’t think I’ve seen a single series where it’s more obvious than this one. The writing quality is highly variable, to the point where I was actually wishing it was worse in places just so that it would be more consistent. Our hero is the ‘grim, realistic” sort as opposed to the “kind, helpful” and “perverted but doesn’t do anything” sorts, which sadly means I started to compare him to the hero of Death March. It’s never a good sign when you’re trying to clear Death March’s low bar. The author also has a running gag where he (the lead character, but also the author) gets lost in describing the immense breasts of one of the characters – in fact, at one point he seems to get so lost that he starts mixing up the names. The book also does that webnovel thing where it enjoys making fun of isekai tropes, but never quite does it enough to make it a deliberate satire – it’s having its cake and eating it too.

Am I dropping the series? No, at least not yet. Why? Well, there were one or two moments where I genuinely laughed out loud, I will admit. These usually involved the eccentric God or the “so naive it’s bordering on hilarious” adventurer Shion Femme-Fatale, whose name alone made me slap my head. The gimmick – our hero was a former Chinese Mafia assassin and wartime hero who killed 5000 men with his sword, founded schools of fighting, and died peacefully at 94, THEN was reincarnated in another world – is a clever one, though I’d be more impressed if God hadn’t wiped his memories of his life on Earth. But yeah, mostly I’m reading this because of that one character type I really like. Rona Chevalier (take a wild guess what her secret is) is the owner of the large breasts I mentioned before, but I was far more interested in her as a scheming, intelligent woman whose “I’m not angry” face is absolutely terrifying. She is able to convince our hero that keeping Shion’s naivete from killing her is more than a one-person job. Basically, the two women in the cast are far more interesting than the male lead. Not uncommon in isekai, but I liked Rona enough that I will try the second volume.

This is now up to 17+ volumes in Japan, and I am hoping that as the writer gains more experience – or perhaps better editors – it settles down a bit and reads less like “I am typing words and then immediately posting them, done”. If you enjoy isekai, give it a shot. The cast oddly made me think of Library Wars – If you wanted to see Iku and Shibasaki fighting fantasy adventures with a super-powered Doujima at their side, this is definitely the book for you.

Also, illustrator, if the author describes the hero’s face as perfectly average, try not to make it so that you look at the cover and want to punch him.

One Piece, Vol. 85

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

It goes without saying that the revelation about Charlotte Pudding in this volume does not come as a complete surprise. It will also not come as a surprise to me if she reverts later on, as Oda’s general treatment of women has gotten a lot more sexist and predictable over the years. The best thing about said revelation is Sanji’s reaction from outside the building, which is a simple grim silence. Oda’s panels can verge on chaos much of the time, and certainly do here, from Luffy trying to rip his hands off in order to escape to Chopper and Carrot’s pell-mell running through the mirrors, everything is traveling at 100MPH. So when Oda pauses to let a scene breathe, it has that much more impact. Charlotte’s ability is also a clever use of Devil Fruit to make what amounts to “memory erasure” look cool and also creepy at the same time. I tend to read One Piece slowly because little details always matter in it.

Reading One Piece slowly also helps you to notice the repeated themes Oda uses in his work, though to be fair this theme could be noticed from quite a ways away. Like Nami in the Arlong Park arc, and like Robin in the Enies Lobby arc, Sanji is desperate to get everyone to abandon him and save themselves. And of course when Luffy confronts him about it, his response is the same as the others: yes, I want to go with you. Please save me. I’m not entirely certain how many of the Vinsmokes are actually going to survive this arc, particularly after learning what Big Mom’s real wedding plans are. As I’ve said before, Reiju has “tragic sacrifice” written all over here. Still, I’m confident Sanji will survive, as he is a crew member. Speaking of which, will we get a new crew member at the end of this arc (which is still going in Japan)? Will it be Carrot? Or Jimbei, who rescues Luffy and Nami and joins the fun here.

Other things I noticed: I am vastly impressed with Brook for how he hid the poneglyph copies. That was clever thinking, and also clever on the part of Oda, who had to figure out where to hide a mass of paper on someone like Brook. Nami’s top takes some fire damage as part of her being rescued, and there’s some brief “will we see a breast? No.” fanservice, but I was amused she simply tied it back immediately – I wonder if she chooses her outfits so they can easily be fixed in case of ludicrous fighting? The alliance with Capone and Caesar Clown (who we simply can’t seem to get away from – Oda must love him as comedy relief) seems like it will be a disaster, but it does give us the opportunity to see Luffy in a nice mob suit. And why does Oda’s version of American football have the women wearing hot pants… wait, I know the answer to that one.

One Piece is not what it once was, but it’s still compelling, and should remain on your reading list for the foreseeable future.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/26/18

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Arakawa Under the Bridge, Vol. 2 | By Hikaru Nakamura | Vertical Comics – The conceit of the first volume was to show that everyone who lived under the bridge, including the supposed straight-man hero, was completely and utterly weird. This second book expands that to show that you don’t even have to be living under the bridge, as Rec’s father and underlings prove to be just as screwed up. That said, the best moments in this omnibus go to the already-introduced cast. Everything involving Maria is a delight, particularly her “helping” Rec in his deception. Rec becoming a schoolteacher is also a fertile ground for gags, as is the race. My favorite moments, though, are just the simple unfussy love Nino seems to have for Rec. It actually grounds the series. – Sean Gaffney

Behind the Scenes!!, Vol. 5 | By Bisco Hatori | VIZ Media – I couldn’t quite bring myself to abandon this series, and that may be a good thing, because volume five is quite a bit better than what’s come before. True, some things are treated in a very frivolous manner, like Ruka’s stalker who conveniently disappears after Goda thwarts him once, but some emotions ring true, particularly Ranmaru’s raging feelings of inferiority when it comes to Goda, whom Ruka, the object of Ranmaru’s unrequited affections, pines for unrequitedly and who not only protects her from the stalker but has superior design ideas at every turn. Of course, Ranmaru ultimately learns that Goda is so good at what he does because of hard work, not sheer talent, and by volume’s end he seems more driven to work hard himself. I might care enough to stick around a bit longer. – Michelle Smith

Bloom Into You, Vol. 4 | By Nakatani Nio | Seven Seas – The drama amps up in this fourth volume, which (as with previous volumes of this series) makes it more interesting. Touko’s self-hatred is really becoming harder to hide, as she not only reveals to Yuu the mask that she’s been wearing ever since tragedy struck her family, but also urges Yuu not to fall in love with her, as, of course, she hates herself. That said, it may be a bit late on that score, as Yuu might be asexual but she’s not aromantic. (There is a clever use of a word bubble to obscure a narrative text block that is fooling no one.) The play that is written, meanwhile, is a bit too close to Touko for comfort, and the ending feels off, which is why it’s good that Yuu may be trying to change that. I’m finally enjoying this quite a bit. – Sean Gaffney

Chihayafuru, Vol. 9 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – One of the things I like best about Chihayafuru is that the less-advanced members of the Mizusawa Karuta club are allowed to make valuable contributions. After watching the Master and Queen matches, “Desk-kun” tells Chihaya she shares a skill with the intimidating Master—the ability to discern more one-character cards than others—and one can’t help but think she’ll go far if she develops it. Meanwhile, Kana takes the education of new first-year members in hand (and proves to be right that it’s the poetry that hooks them) and “Meat Buns” trains the cocky newcomer who only knows the Hokkaido variant of the game. Everyone’s changing and they all have different goals and priorities, but two constants are their love of karuta and my love of this series. – Michelle Smith

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 4 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – The majority of this volume is dedicated to finally bringing down the red dragon that ate Laios’ sister, and it’s a pretty badass battle, showing everyone failing and succeeding in equal measure—it’s well-earned. Sadly, Falin is pretty much a skeleton by now, but that is not going to stop our heroes. This is actually a fairly odd development, one that requires a bit of a side story in the early part of the volume to set up so it’s not completely out of the blue. (It also shows off some worldbuilding, hinting at an ongoing plot beyond this book, which I suspect may have been the original “if this gets cancelled fast” ending. But the series is popular, so we get a menacing elf for a cliffhanger. This has become excellent. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 22 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – Thanks goodness, the recipes at the end of this book do NOT ask the reader to cook with bear—the meat is changed to something more prosaic. The whole book is devoted to Soma’s battle, though we do also see a few shots of the new players in the Council of Ten, including Hayama, and also discover Megumi has to be judged by the eccentric Rindo. Soma’s got his work cut out for him, though, as his judges are all relatives of the Nakiri family, including Alice’s little sisters. The idea of Southern Fried Bear boggles the mind a bit, but the beauty of Food Wars is its ability to make anything sound delicious. And Soma’s bearburg steak may end up saving the day—depending on if Hayama will eat it. – Sean Gaffney

Girls’ Last Tour, Vol. 4 | By Tsukumizu| Ywn Press – It’s hard for one part of this fourth volume to not completely overwhelm the rest of it. For the most part, Chito and Yuuri ride their tank around, take a still-moving subway car to a brand-new part of the city, discover real, actual chocolate, and the like. But when Yuuri fires off a tactical nuclear weapon, destroying a large portion of the city off in the distance, your jaw drops. I am told the anime played this scene a bit more seriously, and rightly so—Yuuri’s laughter is appalling (and it’s meant to be, I think). This volume assures us that this is genuinely after the end of the world, and there’s not going to be a final scene where they’re rescued. I was not expecting a slice-of-life series with two cute girls to be so chilling. – Sean Gaffney

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 8 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – OK, turns out that Soujiro’s opponent isn’t quite Nureha, but some sort of golem controlled by a person of the earth with a penchant for evil. Strangely, said character later ends up as a small girl, and gets adopted by the West Wind Brigade and named Kuroe (to contrast with Shiroe and remind you why everyone in the WWB suspects Soujiro has a crush on him). The rest of the volume wraps up the events of the fourth book, giving more insight into the missing memories and some terrific facial expressions of Raynesia. The series just announced it’s ending in Japan, but this sort of side story doesn’t really need a definitive ending. “And the adventure continues” will do fine. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: At Last, Farming Manga!

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SEAN: My pick this week is Silver Spoon Again!!, a touching story of a young man who dies from overworking himself as an agriculture student in Hokkaido, but is given the opportunity to go back and live his life again, and becomes an ouendan cheerleader for the school’s equestrian squad.

MICHELLE: Ha! I am behind that pick 100%!

KATE: I’m on Team Silver Spoon this week, but for selfish reasons: I’m hoping that Silver Spoon will be such a hit that Yen Press will rescue Hiromu Arakawa’s Hyakusho Kizuko and offer it in a snazzy print edition. JManga released the first volume in 2012 before folding up its tent, and I’ve always felt it deserved a second chance with American readers. Here’s a link to my original review; it has 100% more cow manure jokes than Fullmetal Alchemist.

MJ: I have been hoping for Silver Spoon so much for so long, that has to be my pick! Hiromu Arakawa is a manga goddess and I am always on her team. And hey, I will also get behind Kate’s argument. More Arakawa is always better!

MICHELLE: I’ll get behind it, too. There are definitely several JManga titles that I wish could find new homes.

ANNA: I’m also looking forward to Silver Spoon. I always feel like throwing a party whenever a manga I thought would never be available here gets released in translation.

ASH: Like everyone else here, Again!! and Silver Spoon are definitely at the top of my list this week. I’ve been waiting to read Silver Spoon longer, so I guess that’ll be my official pick, but I’m looking forward to the debut of both series a great deal.

Log Horizon: Homesteading the Noosphere

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By Mamare Touno and Kazuhiro Hara. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

At last, after four volumes that focused separately on various groups and their growth and development, everyone is back together and ready to deal with fresh new problems. Which is good, as there are quite a few fresh new problems. Westlande is about to go to war with Eastal, and the adventurers are caught up in the middle of things. They have to defend the young crown prince, Raynesia’s little brother, from assassination attacks. They’re being attackied by killer moths that put people into a deep sleep. Shiroe is feeling that he’s inadequate for the job (well, OK, that’s more a leitmotif for the entire series, as Akatsuki and Minori both point out). And, perhaps worst of all, due to various screwups in real life, will there ever be a Log Horizon Book 11? Yes, as it turns out, but we were wondering for a while there.

Shiroe’s inadequacies are part of a larger theme in this book of growing up and becoming an adult, and what that means to various people. For Serara, much as I might not like it, that means getting stronger so that Nyanta might notice her in a romantic way. (To Nyanta’s credit, his interest is still zero.) For Minori, it’s realizing that her feelings for Shiroe AREN’T romantic, and that they’re more a function of who she is and how she handles situations. For Isaac, it’s simply living from day to day, not really thinking deeply about things, and watching all the idiots around him. And then there’s Shiroe. He has to deal with Roe2’s letter, which goes into much greater detail about what sort of world they’re trapped in, and that it’s not just a weird “we’re caught in the actual game” thing. He has to think about how to get back home, and whether some people WANT to get back home. Nazuna describes him at one point as a “wimp”, and that’s true, but when he calms down and stops his self-loathing barrage, he can also be brilliant.

Towards the end of the book they find a sort of radio transmitter, which makes contact with Kanami and company, who are still making their way slowly to Japan, and who seem to have a surprise new member in their party. As I noted in the last book, it’s hard to focus on Kanami as a character as she’s designed to be “perfect”. As such, she instinctually comes up with the idea that Shiroe and the rest couldn’t – instead of thinking about how to get back home, think about how to connect the two worlds, so they can come and go as they please. For Kanami, this is simply because she wants to show her three-year-old daughter back on Earth the wonders of this land. For Shiroe and company, it’s a revelation – they can try to have their cake and eat it too.

There’s lots of other things that Log Horizon fans will enjoy in this book – the fights, as usual, are well-written but rely a bit too much on gaming terminology for me to really get deeply into them. At least I get some more Naotsugu/Marielle ship tease, which is nice. There are also a few appendices showing amusing and informative background on several things (Log Horizon is one of the few print-only series left from Yen On – it’s print-only in Japan too – and the appendices would certainly be a pain to convert.) As I indicated above, for various reasons (search Anime News Network for the author’s name if you’re curious), there was a huge gap between Book 10 and 11, which likely means we won’t see 11 for a while. But it’s coming out in Japan soon, and will answer a question many have been wondering: what’s Krusty been up to?

Oh, My Sweet Alien!

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By Kouji Miyata. Released in Japan as “Yome ga Kore na Monde” by Enterbrain, serialized in the magazine Harta. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

This sort of premise will be very familiar to anyone who reads books or watches television, aliens aside. The story of a normal man who ends up marrying a wife who has a supernatural secret – or even is just of an amusing foreign nationality – has been around forever, and Oh, My Sweet Alien! is simply adapting that premise to suit its own needs. That’s not to say that this manga is dull – predictable, yes, but I was entertained throughout, mostly as the author manages to find a nice balance between the wife being a “funny foreigner” type and the wife being a genuinely weird, unnerving alien. It never gets too horrific – this is a sweet comedy, after all – but we do see the collection of human skins she has to wear to pass herself off in this world, and at home she’s not above using her tentacles as easily as she does her hands – in fact, more easily. As the story progresses and they have a child, the complications remain the same – predictable, but fun.

As we find out in a flashback, Nobuo, our young man, was abducted by aliens to be fitted with an implant, seemingly as some sort of rite of passage for a young alien girl (who is referred to as “the wife” throughout, I believe). Somewhat delirious from the abduction, and touched by the fact that she doesn’t want to give him the implant, he proposes to her, and they move in together. The rest of the book could be described as “wackiness ensues”, really. We get alien in-laws, Nobue’s grumpy mother, and two more aliens (from Venus, no less) hell bent on breaking up the couple by seduction. All of these could easily be rewritten from “alien” to “foreigner”, as I said, but seeing how :”alien” plays out is what makes this fun. I was a little frustrated at times (Madoka, the female alien homewrecker, can be quite annoying before she’s gradually toned down a bit), and the gratuitous nudity feels a bit out of place (without it, honestly, you could lower the age rating a bit), but the sweet moments are really sweet, and the humor can sometimes be fantastic – I loved the “I will reveal my secret” gag of the final chapter, for example.

Sadly, this is all we’re going to get of this title – the author died of a brain hemorrhage three years ago. It’s a shame, because of the many varieties of western publishers’ “Monster Girl” series that have been flooding the market faster than you can say Alice in the Country of Hearts, this was on the cute, fun side, and it’s nice to see one that stars a happily married couple who love each other despite all of the obvious differences. It’s not for everyone (I will mention the nudity again, there really is quite a bit of it), but fans of the genre should definitely give this a try.

Manga the Week of 2/28/18

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SEAN: The end of the month, and we celebrate by doing this list in reverse order, mostly because I want to lead with the Big One.

Yen Press is bringing out Silver Spoon, Hiromu Arakawa’s farming manga that is her big followup to Fullmetal Alchemist. The story of a young man’s coming of age at an agricultural university, it’s a personal favorite, and I have been begging for its license for years. Everyone NEEDS to read this.

MICHELLE: So excite.

ANNA: I am also excited!

MJ: This is so exciting to me. I, too, have been begging for this license forever, somehow missed it had even happened, and now I’m just awash in joy.

ASH: I also share in the excitement! I really enjoyed the anime adaptation, but I’m thrilled that the original manga will finally be translated, too!

SEAN: There are also a number of ongoing Yen Press series that are not Silver Spoon. Scum’s Wish 6; the 3rd and final volume of Rose Guns Days Season 3 (STEEEELLLLAAAAAA!); A Polar Bear in Love 2; an 8th volume of Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, whose end was recently announced in Japan; Girls’ Last Tour 4; Delicious in Dungeon 4; and Aoharu x Machinegun 9.

MICHELLE: I still have every intention of reading Delicious in Dungeon!

ANNA: Me too, but sometimes my intentions do not manifest in reality.

ASH: Delicious in Dungeon is one of my favorite series being published right now. I was also surprised by how much I enjoyed the first volume of A Polar Bear in Love, so I’m looking forward to reading more of that series, too.

SEAN: We also have new light novels! Psycome comes to an end with its 6th and final volume (there’s apparently a short story collection as well, but I wouldn’t hold your breath). Log Horizon’s 10th volume catches us up with Japan, so it may be a while before Book 11. And there’s also a 6th Re: Zero, a 5th volume of the DanMachi spinoff Sword Oratoria, a 2nd volume of The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, and Vols. 4-5 of Kieli out digitally.

And speaking of digital, Yen has new digital volumes of Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun (4), Saki (14), IM: Great Priest Imhotep (5), Gesellschaft Blume (5), Corpse Princess (15) and Aphorism (14).

ASH: Saki!

SEAN: Viz also has a digital release, with a new volume of The Emperor and I.

Vertical Inc. gives us Nekomonogatari (White), which wraps up Tsubasa Hanekawa’s character arc by giving us a book narrated by her. Can the series hold up without Araragi’s eccentric and teenage-boy riddled monologues? Probably.

Vertical Comics gives us a 2nd omnibus of The Flowers of Evil.

Udon gives us the 2nd volume of Infini-T Force.

Seven Seas’ debut is another print release of a J-Novel Club digital novel series. Clockwork Planet will also be familiar to manga fans from Kodansha’s release, and anime fans from a relatively unpopular series. The novel is worth reading, though.

ASH: I’m really liking this partnership between J-Novel Club and Seven Seas.

SEAN: We also see Unmagical Girl 2, Freezing 19-20, a 2nd Devilman Grimoire, and most importantly for Manga Bookshelf folks, an 8th volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

MICHELLE: I now have a stack of The Ancient Magus’ Bride on my desk, courtesy of my local library!

ASH: Always glad to see a new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride! I also rather liked the first volume of Devilman Grimoire, though that series is a different beast entirely.

SEAN: Kodansha has some great print releases next week, with a 13th Kiss Him, Not Me! (still making me wonder if the pairing will stick), a 7th Clockwork Planet (the manga), and a 2nd volume of the Clear Card sequel series to Cardcaptor Sakura.

MICHELLE: I hope a bit more happens in this volume of Clear Card.

SEAN: The big debut, though, is Again!!, a manga by one of the creators of Yuri on Ice. If you always wanted to see Peggy Sue Got Married but with Japanese Ouendan cheerleaders, this is the title for you. I’m looking forward to this quite a bit.

MICHELLE: I might possibly be even more excited about this than Silver Spoon!

ANNA: AHHHHHHHHHH!

MJ: This sounds awesome.

ASH: Doesn’t it though?! This should be great.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital surprised us by announcing they were putting out a digital release of Dragon Head next week – all 10 volumes of this seinen thriller classic.

ASH: I was pleasantly surprised by this announcement! Dragon Head goes a little off the rails here and there, but overall it’s a great post-apocalyptic survival series. I’m glad to see it legally available in English again.

SEAN: There’s also new volumes for PTSD Radio (4), Pitch-Black Ten (3), My Brother the Shut-In (2), and My Boyfriend in Orange (3).

J-Novel Club debuts a new series called [New Life +] Young Again in Another World, which features the usual suspects you expect with a series that has “In Another World” in its title, but the gimmick is that the protagonist lived to be 94 before he was reincarnated.

They’ve also got a 2nd volume of Walking My Second Path in Life, whose first volume I really enjoyed. Plus, female protagonist!

And Ghost Ship has a 3rd volume of the “racier than the very racy original” sequel To-Love-Ru Darkness.

Aside from the must buy that is Silver Spoon (and, if I’m honest, you should get Again!! as well), what are you picking up next week?

Silver Spoon, Vol. 1

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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.

It’s honestly hard not to get a bit choked up reading this first volume of Silver Spoon, one of the manga licensing holy grails of the last few years. Cries of “it’s a new series by the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist! What’s stopping them?” were met with the response of “It’s a FARMING manga”. But here we are, and finally, seven years after its debut, we have Silver Spoon, a farming manga, in our hot little hands. In fact, I was rather surprised to see that “from the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist” is nowhere on the covers. It’s possible, of course, that they did not want to give mistaken impressions – fans of the fantasy action movie that FMA was much of the time would likely be taken aback a bit by this slice-of-agricultural life series. But in the end I think that’s fine, as Silver Spoon stands out on its own without any help. It’s a truly refreshing series.

Our hero is Yuugo Hachiken, who has arrived at an agricultural high school up in Hokkaido, the only student in the school who doesn’t come from some kind of farming background or family. We don’t learn his circumstances right away, except to see that he doesn’t seem to have a purpose in life. The other students definitely all are goal oriented – they have to be, given the nature of the industry they’re all in. Hachiken is an excellent student, but he’s also far too serious and tends to suffer from “if I don’t get straight A’s and the 1st place in class I am a failure” syndrome. Here, though, he’s thrown head first into farming life, with the help of the cute girl who “rescues” him after he chases a runaway animal on his first day and gets lost, Aki Mikage. He’s immediately smitten, but romance is on the back burner here. The main thrust of the series is seeing Hachiken learn about animals, farms, and the cycle of life, and trying to come to terms with it.

Arakawa grew up on a farm, and it shows. The attention to detail here is fantastic, and even though there’s a lot of exposition you never feel bored. Hachiken too is a well thought out protagonist. He’s uptight, and seemingly the sort of person you’d expect to break after a few days of the grueling work the kids have to put in at the school, but while he whines a lot, he never thinks of giving up. (And the one time he tries to slack off he’s quickly put in his place.) Moreover he’s quite happy to tutor the other kids in things like math and the like, and already seems to be showing signs of “trying to do it all”. The rest of the cast is also introduced well – Mikage is sweet and upbeat, the baseball-playing Komaba is stoic and serious, etc. Fans of Fullmetal Alchemist may find the gym teacher a bit familiar as well. And the animals are fun as well, particularly the horses – though there are hints there may be piglet drama coming up soon.

After waiting so long for this series, I am so happy to report that it doesn’t disappoint. It’s a relaxing, easy read, and you’ll also learn a lot about animal care. I urge everyone to go and buy this, as I desperately want it to succeed. Highly recommended.