Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 3

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

This was a relatively good volume of Arifureta provided you understand what genre you are reading – it’s a teenage power fantasy of the strongest kind – so let me get the weak point out of the way straight away. It’s not hard, she’s sitting on the cover. Judging by Arifureta fans’ reaction, I’d expected to dislike Shea, introduced last time, but instead I really found myself taken with her. Tio, introduced in this volume, is not nearly as fortunate, mostly as she’s a walking sex joke (it’s a sad state of affairs when the buxom bunny girl is NOT the walking sex joke). She’s a dragon person who is mind controlled to kill the party that Hajime and company are tasked to rescue, and is unsurprisingly very hard to kill. Hajime, who as we know prefers overkill anyway, ends things by shoving a giant spike up the dragon’s bottom… which apparently not only dispels the mind control, but triggers her masochistic side. She spends the rest of the book making the standard “your abuse turns me on” jokes. Also, if you’re going to develop a heroine, don’t do it at the end in an extra story. It just looks like you forgot to.

Leaving Tio aside, the rest of the book is much better. The teacher of this sent to another world bunch, Aiko, gets the bulk of the development, and honestly probably should have gotten the cover, especially as I suspect she’s eventually going to be part of the inevitable harem, though I’m not happy about that. She still has a tendency to be a bit too much of a ripoff of Komoe-sensei from Index, but her desperate idealism and desire to help everyone she meets – as well as all her students, even when they’ve turned totally insane or (in Hajime’s case) become cynical and bitter. In fact, she’s far stronger than you’d expect, and when she goes up against Hajime to convince him to do the right thing and save the town, it’s him who blinks first. Yue also helps here, saying that the Hajime she fell in love with is not someone who will kill for no reason. Having taken the hero as dark as we can, it’s time to start bringing him back to the light.

That will take some time, and may never completely happen, though I particularly liked his reasoning for killing the villain at the end, even though he was dying anyway. Hajime, Yue and Shea continue to be the most broken trio ever, and Shea has now fully integrated herself into their little group (though he still won’t sleep with her.) If you read a series in order to see the hero overcome hardships and struggles, this is so not the book for you. If, on the other hand, you enjoy seeing a ridiculously overpowered twink waltz his way through a fantasy world and occasionally be reminded that he once had an actual soul, and don’t mind him abusing nearly the entire cast, you should enjoy this quite a bit. I would not go as far as Yue and say that Hajime is a tsundere, though. Maybe he’s a tundra.

Pick of the Week: Zodiac Killers

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SEAN: I must admit there’s not a whole lot that’s inspiring me in this week’s list. I’m interested in Spirit Circle for sure. That said, I think my pick this week will be for Juni Taisen: Zodiac War. It’s rare that I choose what is essentially a ‘kill the cast one by one’ genre, but the creators are luring me in, so I am intrigued.

MICHELLE: Ch-ch-ch-Chihaya! I love Chihayafuru so much, and I’m dying to see what happens with Arata, now that he’s begun to think he can best honor his grandfather by continuing to show the world his style of play. I literally have geekbumps thinking about it.

ASH: I’m with Sean this week, and largely for the same reasons. I’m certainly interested in Spirit Circle having found Satoshi Mizukami’s Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer to be enjoyably quirky and even powerful at times despite its uneveness. But the release that I’m most curious about is Juni Taisen: Zodiac War simply because of the creators involved.

KATE: Add me to the “meh” column again. Instead, I’ll point budget-conscious manga readers to VIZ’s big JoJo sale. The first three story arcs — Phantom Blood, Battle Tendencies, and Stardust Crusaders — are on sale at the VIZ website. If you’re looking for a wallet-friendly way to catch up on the first eleven volumes of the JoJo saga, this is a great way to do it. Word to the wise: this is a digital-only initiative.

ANNA: And I’m going to join Michelle in picking Chihayafuru! This is one of those series I thought would never be translated so I’m delighted to celebrate each volume being released here.

MJ: The pickings are slim for me this week, but I am fairly interested in Juni Taisen: Zodiac War, based mainly on its artist, so that’s what I’ll go with.

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 25

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By Julietta Suzuki. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Tomo Kimura

I haven’t done a full review of Kamisama Kiss in over 7 years, but it’s always been near the top of my want to read shoujo titles, and I’m impressed with it for lasting 25 volumes, which is more than four sets of Karakuri Odette. (Does anyone recall that series? It’s been about one fandom generation since it came out.) I was wondering what the author was going to do with this final volume, given that almost everything was resolved in the previous book. And it’s true, this is a victory lap of a sort, a light and cheerful final volume devoting itself to wrapping up the romances and getting Nanami and Tomoe married and living in the human world. It’s well worth the read, though, as it’s a well-told victory lap, and will put a smile on your face.

You’ll note the cover art is a bit different from the ‘wedding pose’ cover that the regular edition had. I picked up the Limited Edition, which comes with this alternate cover and a separate, hardcover minibook that features all the color pages from the series, as well as an epilogue chapter taking place several years later. I think it’s worth shelling out for the extra edition – the art is gorgeous, even if pretty small (this is still the size of a regular manga volume) and we also get one of those ‘extra chapters’ that always tend to happen in Hana to Yume series but so rarely get collected into North American (or indeed Japanese) volumes. Without spoiling anything, fans of Akura-Oh and Ami will absolutely want to pick up the Limited Edition.

As for the main event, I like how it shows that even after all this time, Nanami still has a tendency to sublimate her own desires if she thinks Tomoe will be uncomfortable or dislike anything, and I like the fact that the entire cast serves to clamp down on that and give her the epic wedding that she (and the series) deserves. As for the other human x supernatural pairings, Ami and Kurama is left up in the air, mostly as Kurama has not gained as much experience with human emotion as Tomoe has, but it’s pretty clear that she’s not going to be moving on. As for Himemiko and Kotaro, they’ve got a few more things conspiring to keep them apart, including some of what Nanami has dealt with before (the “they must be unhappy, it would be best if I left them” feelings), but they also have a very good reason to stay together, and the result is dealt with subtly but will put a smile on your face.

As will the entire volume, really. Kamisama Kiss has had its fair share of drama, and so after all the near deaths and trips to the afterlife it’s a relief to see such a sweet ending. Admittedly Mizuki may not agree with me, as Nanami and Tomoe becoming human means a parting from the spirit wold, but even that may be only a temporary thing, we discover. As with most really good manga, finishing this series makes a reader want to go back and start over from the beginning.

Manga the Week of 10/11/17

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SEAN: The fields are full of dancing, full of singing and romancing, cause the manga never stops.

Dark Horse has a 6th omnibus of Oh My Goddess!, the only title to rival Dragon Ball for most re-releases.

J-Novel Club finishes up the 3rd volume of The Faraway Paladin, which was large enough to be split into two books, and this is the second.

ASH: I’m really hoping that Seven Seas might consider teaming up with J-Novel Club for a print release of The Faraway Paladin like they’ve done for other titles.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital is truckin’ like the doo-dah man. We start with a 3rd Aoba-kun’s Confessions.

MICHELLE: I am beginning to sense a trend with these musical references…

SEAN: As the Gods Will’s 2nd Series (the first, which I will always mention, was never license) has a 21st volume.

Chihayafuru’s 5th volume makes me feel guilty I haven’t finished the 4th yet.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ANNA: Double Yay here!

SEAN: Clockwork Planet has a 5th manga volume, and it’s also in print, novelty though that be.

Also in print is a 6th Fire Force.

Back to digital, we have the 2nd Magical Sempai, reminding us that honorific use in translation is still a hot button issue.

And there’s an 8th Real Account.

On to Seven Seas, who have the 3rd print edition of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash’s light novels, previously released digitally by J-Novel Club.

They also have a 5th Lord Marksman and Vanadis.

The debut next week is Spirit Circle, a new shonen title from the creator of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. It’s a story of ghosts and reincarnation, and ran in Shonen Gahosha’s Young King Ours. It also had a Crunchyroll digital release.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a try! Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer was such an odd series, but I rather liked it.

SEAN: SuBLime gives us a 3rd deluxe edition of Finder.

And an 8th World’s Greatest First Love.

Titan has collected a 2nd volume of its Sherlock manga adaptation that runs in Japan. Sherlock: The Blind Banker is out next week.

ANNA: We’ve picked these up at my library, and I think they circulate well.

SEAN: Vertical has a 10th volume of Ajin. Happy double digits!

Case Closed reaches Vol. 64. If we convert to Base 10, it’s reached 100 volumes!

Gangsta has a 3rd volume of its Cursed spinoff.

ASH: I hope to see more of the main series, but the spinoff is likewise compelling and incredibly dark.

ANNA: This reminds me that I bought the first two volumes of this series. Need to get caught up ASAP!

SEAN: Viz is also releasing a novel. Juni Taisen: Zodiac War is written by Nisioisin, creator of the Monogatari and Zaregoto series, and has illustrations by Hikaru Nakamura, creator of Saint Young Men. It also has an anime that just began. Its subtitle is its premise, from what I understand.

ASH: My curiosity is certainly piqued based on the creators involved.

MJ: I have to admit that “Saint Young Men” is the first thing on the list this week that has caught my eye at all. So yes, I’m in for something illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura.

SEAN: And a 26th volume of Magi involves a lot of fighting, I expect.

MICHELLE: At least the flashback is over!

SEAN: Lastly, more double digits boasting, as Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter reached that milestone.

This stack of manga has everything delightful and everything you need. What are you getting from it?

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 7

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

For the most part this book is just a straight up sequel to the fourth volume, with the drama club getting together with our heroes to put on a second play featuring the Blue Knight and the Silver Princess. Like the fourth book, there’s a lot of focus on Theia and Harumi, who compare and contrast even more with each other. And like the fourth book, everything gets derailed by Theia’s rival Clan, who’s out for revenge and has a better gun now. Oh yes, and can fly. That said, for about 4/5 of this book there’s not really all that much happening, and it seems to be content to be a Christmas-themed book showing how well everyone gets along now while seeding possible things for future books, such as Ruth pointing out that serving Theia as her Knight would involve Koutarou moving off-planet.

Ruth is on the cover of this volume, so you might expect to see her get a story in Vol. 8. That said, she does get plenty to do here, mostly acting as support for Theia and trying to nudge Koutarou in the right direction, though there is an amusing side plot of her wanting to get stronger so she can defeat the sentai warrior from last book – who was, of course, Shizuka, who feels uncomfortable about all this. That said, neither Ruth or Shizuka are part of the harem (yet), and so the bulk of the development goes to Harumi and Theia. Harumi is still trying to get Koutarou to treat her as less of a sempai and more of a friend – i.e., the way he treats Theia, which she explicitly is jealous of. Theia does not think about Harumi that much, but that’s likely because she’s unaware of the plot twist we all saw coming: Harumi is in some way possessed by or a reincarnation of the Silver Princess from Theia’s past, and as the end of the book makes clear, Koutarou is literally the Blue Knight.

The climax of the book involves the performance of the 2nd play, complete with Yurika as the most pathetic dragon ever (she’s back to being useless here, though smartens up when actual danger arrives, and the fact that she hasn’t realized her feelings for Koutarou yet helps her keep it together more). The play is, as I said above, interrupted by Clan, who remains petty, spiteful, and very easy to dislike. And then comes the climax of the book, which was a big surprise. Not the actual events, those were the least surprising thing ever. No, I was surprised that the book kept going past where I expected it to. Let’s just say there was a really obvious place for a cliffhanger, but the book chose to go a few more pages and actually resolve most of its built-up tension. It actually worked quite well.

I’m enjoying reading each volume of this series as it really puts an effort into showing how each of the characters is slowly maturing and gaining confidence and strength, as well as bonding with each other. Technically it’s a harem comedy, but the harem all get along, and there’s no real rush to confess, mostly as few of them have even admitted their feelings to themselves. It works very well as an ongoing series, doing the #1 thing such series should do: make you want to read more. That said, I’m pretty sure the next volume won’t feature Ruth, as it’s Vol. 7.5, and tells the story of what happened to Koutarou and Clan during the climax of this book. Be careful when searching Amazon to get the right order.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 8

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By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

This volume of Yona can be divided into two parts. The first sees Yona finally fulfill the first part of the prophecy, gathering the last dragon, and then trying to figure out where to go from here. The second takes us back to the kingdom where we see what Su-Won is up to, and figure out that he’s a far more ambiguous figure than everyone may thing (both reader and characters within the series). Both parts work equally well, and you get the sense that the author is declaring this the “end of Part 1/start of Part 2′ for the series, as Yona gets a new purpose that will still manage to keep her wandering around from town to town, and Su-Won shows that he is not a pacifist like Yona’s father, but that doesn’t mean that he’s gearing up for blood and carnage either.

After the epic adventures to find the various Dragons in prior books, it is very much an anticlimax to have the last one, Zeno, just pop up and say “OH HAI!” to our heroes, then join them on a whim. It’s intended on the author’s part, of course, and the rest of the cast are just as thrown off their game by this guy who seems like a giant flake but can occasionally show a flair for the serious, and also does not seem to have the deep emotional bond with Yona that the others do. Honestly, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he turned out to not be what he seemed later on, but for now I’m content to go along with Zeno as he’s fun. We also return to Ik-Su the priest once Yun realizes that they’ve fulfilled the prophecy but nothing has actually happened. This leads to Yona questioning what she wants to do – does she want to regain the kingdom for her father? Well, no, she wants to help other towns in need. I suspect that’s what we’ll be doing for a while.

Meanwhile, back in the kingdom, we see a rather grumpy general, Geun-Tae, who is depressed that even though there’s a new, supposedly not pacifist king, he’s STILL not fighting in great battles. This allows us to see Su-Won’s too clever by half manipulation from another point of view, and that other point of view paints Su-Won as a clueless idiot. The audience already knows that’s not true, of course, so the chapters instead show how, in a mock war game, Su-Won can win the trust of an important ally, and also how he listens and pays attention to everything and uses it to better the kingdom. Su-Won is turning out to be a really good king, and therefore Yona’s decision is going to be even more difficult. (Also, I must resist calling Su-Won Henry IV.)

As always, there’s even more that I didn’t get to talk about, like Geun-Tae’s adorable tea-loving wife, and Yona deciding to learn how to swordfight by stealing Hak’s sword in his sleep, which goes about as well as you’d expect. The series remains compulsively readable, and even though it’s on the fasttrack with a release every two months, it still feels too long between volumes. More!

Bluesteel Blasphemer, Vol. 3

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By Ichirou Sakaki and Tera Akai. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

In general, authors do not read my reviews and listen to my suggestions, mostly as they’re Japanese and the book has already come out several years ago (and also because I rarely have anything constructive to recommend). But sometimes I can’t help but read a book and think to myself “wow, the author listened to me!” even if it’s not true. Such a book is this volume of Bluesteel Blasphemer, which I called ‘highly adequate’ last time. It still is, but the harem stuff I didn’t like is lessened (though watch out for the ‘tee hee everyone thinks he’s a lolicon’ scene at the start), Yukinari is getting more character development and a better class of villain going up against him, there’s some well thought out setup for the final book, and most of all, after suggesting last time that Berta needed a hobby, she gets one here. I wasn’t expecting it to be crack sniper, but hey, needs must as the devil drives.

The girl on the cover is Angela, a Holy Knight who’s there to be even more zealous and driven and to show off how much Arlen has changed, despite his still being mostly a jerk. She mostly faces off against Veronika, a former princess turned mercenary whose past… absolutely does not catch up with her in any way, so I assume that it’s being saved for Book 4. It does give her interesting backstory, though, which I suspect is its main function. Yukinari, meanwhile, is having to adjust his thinking, as he’s been solely devoted to protecting himself and Dasa and that’s about it. Now that he has to protect two villages and the denizens thereof, his fighting style has to change, and he has to rely on others far more. He seems to come to terms with this fairly quickly, though he’s of the stoic, no real personality style of Japanese light novel heroes, so heavy angst is not really going to come into it.

Berta’s development really pleased me, and is the highlight of the book. She’d been there in the first book as the sacrifice who wasn’t, and then in the second feeling rather useless and trying to offer her body to Yukinari mostly as she had no idea what to do with her life. You got the sense she was in the book to be the large-breasted option in the harem. But here Yukinari tries to make a sniper rifle, and because of its awkward design (he’s working from memories of his past in Japan, and is not as familiar with this type of gun) neither he nor Dasa are really very good with it. But Berta, who has never shot anything in her life and thus has no bad habits to overcome, turns out to be a crack shot… provided she’s shooting non-living targets. She’s just too sweet. Fortunately the threat of her friends being killed and getting shouted at by Arlen help steel her resolve, and she’s able to save part of the day. She also, after a talk with Veronika, realizes that hey, she is doing all this for Yukinari as she loves him, rather than because of a misguided sense of duty. Honestly, she should have been on the cover.

So overall, a bit better than the previous two books, and worth your time if you’re following the series. That said, I’m ready for it to come to an end in Book 4, which will feature the most obvious villain of all time – so obvious, in fact, that the author assumes in his afterword that we’ve already guessed who she is. I’ll be here to read it.

Pick of the Week: Goodbye Kiss

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MICHELLE: There’s a healthy dose of sports manga due out this week—Ace of the Diamond, Haikyu!!, and Kuroko’s Basketball—as well as other favorites like Food Wars and Honey So Sweet, but I really have no choice but to avail myself of the final opportunity to pick Kamisama Kiss. This series has been consistently good across 25 volumes, and though a happy ending has been earned, I’ll be sorry to see it so. Sayounara, Kamisama.

SEAN: A lot of old favorites, and the shipper in me wants to pick Assassination Classroom, but I agree, Kamisama Kiss is absolutely the pick this week. I can never resist a wedding pic on the final volume of a shoujo manga!

KATE: At the risk of sounding like Manga Bookshelf’s resident picky eater, this week’s list doesn’t have any stand-out titles for me. There are plenty of decent continuing series — Assassination Classroom, Kurokuro’s Basketball — but nothing that I’m actively following. If I had to choose a title, though, my vote would go to Rave Master, since I missed it the first time around.

ASH: Although there are several manga that I’m looking forward to next week, such as the next installments of Haikyu!! and Yona of the Dawn, the release that I’m most curious about is the first volume of House of Brutes. In particular, I’m interested to see if it’s actually released at all considering the publisher’s current financial troubles. But I’ll be glad to see more of Gengoroh Tagame’s work released in English. (This is definitely different fare than My Brother’s Husband, though!)

ANNA: I’m a little torn, because there’s a ton of great manga coming out this week, with Yona of the Dawn always a highlight. But I’m also going to pick the final volume of Kamisama Kiss. It is such a jewel of a series, and even though all things must come to an end, I’m glad it is getting an appropriate send off with a special limited edition.

Bookshelf Briefs 10/2/17

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DAYS, Vol. 5 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Coming off the intense emotions of the fourth volume, in which Seiseki loses at the Inter-High Tournament, volume five at first feels like generic, episodic summer filler. The guys cram for finals so they can avoid remedial classes, then there’s a chapter at the beach, and one at a festival, and then it’s training camp time. But in each of these chapters, something important happens character-wise. In the beach chapter, we learn more about Kurusu and his relationship with his grandfather; at the festival we check in with Sayuri, who laments that soccer has stolen Tsukushi away from her; and at the training camp we get to know Haibara, an upperclassman whose rowdy behavior is just an act to cover his lack of self-confidence. And meanwhile, Tsukushi continues to make incremental improvement. Although not as exciting as its predecessor, this is still definitely a solid volume. – Michelle Smith

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 3 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas Entertainment – There’s no better way to make me hate a shoujo heroine than to have her melodramatically run out of the house after an outburst (in the rain, naturally), crying over lightning and internally wailing, “Someone! Please come and get me!!” Zen’s critiques used to seem overly harsh, but I was cheering him on this time when he said, “You should be thanking me for coming after your sorry ass.” Things don’t improve much as Shimana takes forever to realize that she has feelings for Taiga the landlord, though I did like Zen’s tearful confession to her. It’s intriguing, too, that princely Asahi, originally the supposed love interest, has faded so far into the background. Some of the subplots are picking up, as well, so despite my irritation at Shimana I’ll probably be back next time. – Michelle Smith

Genshiken: Second Season, Vol. 11 | By Shimoku Kio | Kodansha Comics – Again, the best moments are when this series treats things a bit more seriously. The scenes between Madarame and Hato are excellent, as they both try to figure out what is going on here, how Hato identifies, what attracts Madarame, and can either of them even try to make this work for real? The answer is probably no, but the tension is real here, and I greatly enjoyed it. Sue’s stuff is done well too—it’s very clear that we’re stuck between Hato, Sue, or no one, and you suspect Kio will go for the easy third choice. And then there’s Hato and Yajima, which is mostly trying to get past Yajima’s self-hatred and Hato’s inability to see her a a woman. Better than it should be. – Sean Gaffney

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 8 | By Amu Meguro | Viz Media – I had actually forgotten that this was the final volume of Honey So Sweet, though the cover should have tipped me off. Much of the book is devoted to Nao’s uncle, who has been putting his life on hold until Nao grows up and is ready to take care of herself… which reminds Nao that she’s still not all that great at that sort of thing. I did appreciate that the old flame who arrived stayed mostly old, though there are hints that may eventually change. On a lighter note, I’ve liked Yashiro best in this cast, and seeing her struggle with direct communication is fun. This was a sweet and cute shoujo fluff series, and just about the right length. You’ll enjoy it. – Sean Gaffney

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 2 | By Natsumi Hoshino | Seven Seas Entertainment – If you liked the first volume of Plum Crazy!, you’ll probably like this one, which is more of the same. I do wonder if readers reacted negatively to the Nakarai family not doing anything to stop new kitten Snowball from repeatedly attacking incumbent resident Plum, because there’s more emphasis on her bad behavior this time around, including a chapter in which Taku’s friend attempts to distract Snowball with other toys, only to make her aggression toward Plum worse. I can only assume we’re supposed to find these kitten antics cute (and I’m sure I’m taking this too seriously), but as a cat owner, they actually kind of stress me out. I very much look forward to Snowball growing out of this phase. Maybe then I’ll be able to relax and just enjoy the kittehs. – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 39 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – I avoided reading this book for a while. Kyoko’s mother was the one part of her life I was dreading the confrontation with, and I had worried it would be too sympathetic. I should have trusted Nakamura more, as I think she strikes an excellent balance between explaining Saena’s behavior without downplaying the horrible abuse Kyoko suffered growing up. Kyoko can’t hate Saena, but also doesn’t quite forgive her. Instead she throws herself into a possible new role, finally working alongside Moko. That said, I have a feeling the role will prove to be a lot more trouble than it’s worth. These volumes were good, but I’ll be happy to get back to acting. – Sean Gaffney

Species Domain, Vol. 3 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – I knew at some point we were going to see Dowa without her beard, so I wasn’t too surprised here. That said, kudos to the author for having her grow it back pretty quickly, showing that the character’s own desires are more important than looking “cute” for the audience. A more important detail here is Ohki’s “science” abilities, and how much of it is explained by genuine scientific principles. In a world like this, where there is literal magic, it’s hard to tell what is really going on—though Ohki seems very upset at the idea. There’s still lighthearted stuff, of course, with the constant fun that is Kazamori, as well as big sisters and little sisters. If you want a non-skeezy monster girls title, Species Domain is a good choice. – Sean Gaffney

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 2 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – The childhood friend who was thought to be a boy being a girl is fairly common in manga and anime, but seeing the reverse is a lot less common. The author sensibly keeps the attention on Mitsuki’s reaction to the whole thing, with her realization that this makes a number of childhood conversations very embarrassing. On the bright side, she’s getting closer to Towa, though he seems to be taking things a lot more seriously than she is at this stage. This is very much a ‘warmup’ volume, continuing to develop the characters and introducing a rival without moving things forward too much. It’s not fantastic, but it’s enough to make you want to read more. – Sean Gaffney

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 3 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – This continues to be a lot darker than I was really expecting—a couple of villagers are straight up murdered in front of us, not to mention the war that ensues. It’s well done, but there’s no denying that the main reason this holds up well is because of the relationship between Asahi and the two men in her life—especially now that one of them actually IS a man. Getting her voice back is also unsurprising, as now that she’s grown up it will help the storytelling, both in terms of potential romance and in terms of Asahi’s status as a priestess. And of course she still wants to go home, even after so many years. There’s a lot going on in this series, and I’m grateful it’s so well told. – Sean Gaffney

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 7 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Tatara Fujita and his partner Chinatsu are trying to meld together as a pair, but it isn’t going very well, particularly due to Tatara’s uncommanding lead and Chinatsu’s inability to follow. They decide to get help from Hyodo Social Dance Academy, and though Tatara does learn more of the basics there than he had at Sengoku’s studio, he’s still impatient to compete, leading to a humiliating forfeit at the Grand Prix. Summer rolls around and, in true sports manga fashion, it’s time for a training camp in the mountains. This volume’s theme seems to be “strife and striving.” Until recently, this series had been on hiatus in Japan and I was worried we might not get to see the outcome to all of this, but I’m happy to see a new volume has come out since I last looked. A bit on the melodramatic side sometimes, but totally addictive.– Michelle Smith

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 18

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By Yusei Matsui. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki. Adapted by Bryant Turnage.

Jump series tend to be highly variable in how they handle romance in the titles (discarding actual romance series such as Nisekoi). Some series are happy to have romance as part of the character’s motivations, such as Naruto or Bleach. Some are proud of the fact that they eschew normal romance in their titles, such as One Piece or Gintama. A lot of series go for the in between, where romance sometimes crops up but it’s never really the focus and you aren’t really gunning for pairings. Toriko, My Hero Academia… and Assassination Classroom, where we’ve previously seen that Kayano is sort of crushing on Nagisa and that Irina has a thing for Karasuma, but that’s about it. Of course, sometimes those series will then take the opportunity to leap into the romance waters head-first… and what better opportunity than Valentine’s Day?

Before that, though, let’s wrap up the “space station” arc, one which if I recall correctly was one suspension of disbelief too many for a lot of readers. The author does try to keep things as ridiculous as the premise (I love Nagisa’s bomb with ‘BOMB’ written on it), but it is a bit anti-climactic that the whole thing is resolved in one chapter, though it’s nice to see Ritsu actually doing something again. That said, this is all a setup for the main thrust of the first half of the book, which is that these are idealistic middle schoolers, assassins or no. They think because Koro-sensei exploding is now a less than 1% chance, that those odds mean they can save him. In the real world, that’s not how things work, and it’s no surprise that the bad guys are working hard on plan B. Even Irina is concerned, thinking that someone killing Koro-sensei in front of them will ruin the kids’ innocence.

But then there’s the Valentine’s chapters. Again, the author blissfully ignores the most popular fan pairing – Nagisa and Karma – but there’s still plenty to draw on here. We see the class playboy screw things up and then try valiantly to fix them, especially as Koro-sensei says his recommendation to a high school depends on it. We see Kayano, who not only has to work up the courage to give Nagisa chocolates, but has to do it without Koro-sensei spying on her and with the “help” of Rio and Karma, who turn into literal devils in some panels as if it weren’t obvious enough. (We also see Rio quietly admitting she likes Nagisa too, but feels Kayano made the better showing here.) If it’s frustrating, that’s because this is one of those ‘middling’ Jump romance series; hence, there won’t be a pairing because Nagisa needs to focus solely on the future. And the adults also get in on this, with Irina’s worries that I mentioned above prompting Karasuma to tell her to stop being an assassin and join the defense agency. Her compassion for the students also prompts him to give in to her affections… though it’s done Karasuma-style, with a subtle, almost non-existent proposal that he refuses to repeat. Irina’s facial reaction is the best reason to buy this book.

In short this novel is a shipper’s paradise, but we’re also told we’re not going to be getting a get Koro-sensei out of jail free card. It’s becoming more and more clear that Koro-sensei being killed is the endgame. As we get to the final volumes, will the kids keep their youthful innocence? I can’t wait to find out.

I Saved Too Many Girls And Caused the Apocalypse, Vol. 5

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By Namekojirushi and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Ore ga Heroine o Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Mokushiroku!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam Lensenmayer.

After a couple of books where I was fairly dissatisfied with the series, this is a much stronger volume of Little Apocalypse. It still has its cliches that it falls into, and has pretty much given up being a parody, but that also means the plot gets much more serious and thrilling. Rekka actually manages to achieve cool things, and his wishy-washyness about the heroines is a bit less frustrating. Also R has a lot more to do, and has become the reader stand-in, admiring the girls and tweaking Rekka. We also get a second book in a row where one of the heroines turns out to be not what they seem, but this one actually comes as a bit of a surprise, one of quite a few genuine surprises I had reading this book. There are still a few major problems with it (more on that below), but rating it against other books in the series, it’s the best since the first.

The plot kicks off when Iris invites Rekka to a water planet for the weekend to do some swimming. By now Iris has gotten used to the fact that she can’t have Rekka all to herself as much as she wants, so she even goes as far as to invite the others as well. (The revolving heroine door revolves again this time – Lea can’t make it, but instead Tetra gets a much larger role, to make up for being absent in the prior book.) Upon arrival, they find the planet, in order to survive, has basically become a resort, with the mermaid palace a glorified hotel. Unfortunately, the palace is soon attacked by pirates, whose motive is murky but who seem prepared to kill. Rekka teams up with his usual crew, along with Rain, the princess of the mermaid planet; Shirley, a scientist who seemingly was simply there on holiday as well; and Fam, one of the pirates who’s noticed that the captain has not been himself lately. Interestingly, only the last two are identified as ‘heroines’ by R; I wasn’t sure why Rain wasn’t, but in the end she ends up being one anyway.

As I said, for the most part I enjoyed this. The first at the end was quite good, and the villain’s broken motivation was treated with sensitivity by Rekka when almost any other hero would have simply taken them out. That said, I had two big problems. The first is Raul, a Lupin wannabe who seems to be there to do all the things that the author realized would be impossible for Rekka to achieve, which is nice except that seeing how Rekka achieves impossible things is the main reason to read the series. He’s a deus ex machina character. The other is the ending, which I knew was coming but still cringed at. If you’re going to have a villain threaten an entire planet with death and be well advanced in actually achieving this, even if the motivations do turn out to be “I have never had friends and am desperately lonely”, I’m pretty sure you still have to serve time. The Get Out Of Jail Free Because I’m A Heroine card works far less well here than it does for Rosalind.

But oh well. Little Apocalypse is never going to be perfect, particularly as it keeps advancing its ridiculous premise. Most of the book works pretty well, some neglected heroines get things to do (and no doubt will be neglected again while others rotate in), Rekka gets to be cool and yet still unaware that people are attracted to him, and R is snarky. We’re almost a third of the way through the series, and I’m starting to be curious as to how the author can keep this up without it collapsing.

Sweet Blue Flowers, Omnibus 1

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By Takako Shimura. Released in Japan as “Aoi Hana” by Ohta Shuppan, serialized in the magazine Manga Erotics F. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by John Werry.

The reason for the somewhat awkward ‘omnibus 1’ up there is that I’ve already reviewed the first volume of this series back in April 2014 when DMP did a somewhat aborted digital release of it. But now we have a handsome paperback of the first two volumes, with a new translation and looking excellent. As for the series itself, it’s odd coming at it now after so many of the series that came after it have done the same thing. The average reader interested in yuri may well ask what they can get from this they aren’t getting from Bloom Into You, or Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, or even Citrus (well, OK, don’t bring Citrus into this). The biggest answer, of course, is that this is written and drawn by Takako Shimura, and thus is simply well-crafted, with characters whose school days and intimate lives are laid out in sometimes crushing precision by an expert.

One thing that sets this series apart from other ‘girls fall for other girls at a school’ series is that we’re dealing with two different schools. Akira (sailor uniform school) is bright, bubbly, a bit overearnest and not particularly interested in romance at all, at least not at first (though the arranged fiancne of one of her friends seems interested in her). She’s just reunited with childhood friend Fumi (apron-like dress uniform school), who was a big crybaby back in the day and, well, still is. She’s also in love with her cousin, and therefore somewhat devastated when said cousin ends up marrying a guy. She’s quick to rebound, though not with Akira – even though she slowly realizes over the course of the book that Akira was her real childhood crush, she’s now head over heels with Yasuko, who is a charmer and a Takarazuka type if ever there was one. Unfortunately, Yasuko also has issues in her life, namely a crush she used to have on a male teacher. So that’s not likely to work out either.

As you can see, this tends more towards the melodramatic side of the scale, at least when you write out what’s actually going on. As with Shimura’s other classic, Wandering Son, though, it doesn’t feel overwrought as you read it – the emotions feel real without attempting to drown the reader, and everyone reacts (mostly) sensibly. You’ll also note that I mentioned men a few times – even though both schools our heroines attend are girls only, this is not a series where men simply never pop up. And sexuality is not precisely binary either – Yasuko’s somewhat exasperating family note the fact that Yasuko dating Fumi means she’s bisexual now, and we see a few examples of the classic ‘I’m in love with a girl while in school but I will ‘grow up’ and marry a guy’ trope which is, well, very indicative of real life in Japan, though that’s starting to change.

So yes, Sweet Blue Flowers is absolutely worth reading and checking out, both if you like yuri and if you like Takako Shimura. It’s also only four omnibuses, so shouldn’t devastate your bookshelf too much.

Manga the Week of 10/4/17

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SEAN: Next week is October! Are you ready for your pumpkin-spiced manga?

Technically I’ve no idea when in October this will be out, but Bruno Gmuender has listed House of Brutes 1 on Amazon for ‘Oct 2017’, so let’s stick it here. If you like burly gay men getting tied up, you’ll love this.

ASH: The publisher declared bankruptcy earlier this year, so some of the releases are up in the air or have been moved around in the schedule. But should this actually exist, I’ll definitely be picking it up.

SEAN: We’ve seen a lot of male power fantasies this year, but Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest may be the most iconic. The 3rd light novel arrives from J-Novel Club next week.

We also get the 3rd Bluesteel Blasphemer novel, from the creator of Outbreak Company, which J-Novel Club just licensed.

And our monthly dose of Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 7 this time.

Kodansha Digital celebrates October with a 14th Pumpkin Scissors, and also a 17th Yozakura Quartet.

ASH: There really is pumpkin manga for October!

SEAN: Speaking of license rescues, they also are releasing ALL of Rave Master digitally next week. I assume these are the Tokyopop editions with the serial numbers filed off, but it’s nice to see them available again.

As for newer digital titles, we have a 5th Ace of the Diamond and a 7th Domestic Girlfriend. No print for Kodansha next week!

MICHELLE: Yay for Ace of the Diamond!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a 6th volume of revenge comedy Masamune-kun’s Revenge, although “revenge angst” might be more appropriate at this point.

And a 2nd Tales of Zestiria, which I think I may have mentioned in a prior post – did its date slip?

Vertical, Inc. has the Anime Supremacy! novel, which I know nothing about but looks pretty cool.

ASH: I’ve heard it described as a prose version of the Shirobako anime, which I know has more than a few fans.

SEAN: And also the 9th Devil’s Line from Vertical Comics.

Viz has a pile of titles, as always. The 6th 7th Garden seems numerically off somehow.

Assassination Classroom 18 features that most popular holiday, Valentine’s Day! Will anyone hook up?

The Demon Prince of Momochi House reaches double digits with Vol. 10.

ASH: I’ve fallen a little behind in the series; it’s probably about time I catch up!

ANNA: I enjoy it a lot. It surprises me sometimes!

SEAN: And Food Wars! has gotten to Vol. 20.

Haikyu!! is at sweet sixteen – will it still be popular now that we have a woman’s volleyball title as well? (Hint: yes.)

MICHELLE: There’s definitely room in my heart for both of them.

ANNA: One day I will wrestle the volumes of this series away from my kids and get caught up.

SEAN: We have a lot of final volumes next week, starting with the 8th and final Honey So Sweet!. My guess is it will live up to its name as always.

MICHELLE: It does.

ANNA: Aww, I think Shojo Beat needs another super cute series to fill the void left by Honey So Sweet and My Love Story!!.

SEAN: Kamisama Kiss comes to an end with its 25th and final volume. There’s also a limited edition with extra content – you may want to get that.

MICHELLE: So many shoujo conclusions recently!

ANNA: Glad it is getting a nice sendoff with a special edition.

SEAN: Back to series not ending anytime soon, Kuroko’s Basketball’s 8th 2-in-1 shows the end of the big game – well, the big game of the moment.

MICHELLE: Woot. I still haven’t read the seventh omnibus, so I will have fun tackling four volumes’ worth of sportsy goodness at once.

ANNA: Will Kuroko be invisible AGAIN!?

SEAN: Naruto has a 20th 3-in-1.

More omnibuses! Rurouni Kenshin’s 4th 3-in-1.

Another series ending, with the 15th and final volume of So Cute It Hurts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!. And my last attempt to make that lame joke as well.

Twin Star Exorcists also joins the double digits club with Vol. 10.

The Water Dragon’s Bride as a 3rd volume.

MICHELLE: This series has grown on me—not surprising since I really liked Dawn of the Arcana—and I find I’m looking forward to volume three quite a bit.

ANNA: I love this series. Everyone should be reading this!

SEAN: And we have a 17th World Trigger, which hopefully will resume in Japan soon.

Lastly, there’s an 8th Yona of the Dawn, always guaranteed to put a smile on the face of the Manga Bookshelf crowd.

MICHELLE: The closest thing to Basara coming out currently, I will always be on board for this.

ASH: Same here!

ANNA: EEEEE!!! for Yona of the Dawn!!!!

SEAN: So what’s your preferred title?

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon?, Vol. 9

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

DanMachi is not a game world per se, but it runs on game mechanics. Adventurer’s levels are literally written on them, and most of the plot involves killing monsters, drinking healing potions, etc. And this means that the villains tend to be mindless, unthinking monsters. Which makes for good fight scenes – in fact, it has to. If you hesitate or lose it for a moment, you’re dead. We’ve seen Bell Cranel and his group come perilously close to this several times. Be swift, be strong, and kill the monsters. That’s how you survive. So when Bell comes across a newborn monster that not only is not trying to kill him, but is crying – and can talk! – his world is upended a bit. And so is the reader’s, as it’s made clear that this is a game-changer.

The girl on the cover is the monster in question, a vouivre, which may require a little googling – it seems to be related to wyverns. In any case, she shows consciousness, awareness, and intelligence, something previously unknown in the dungeons. Bell being Bell, he decides to take her back to the mansion with him, much to the chagrin of everyone else, who would probably protest more if it weren’t for the fact that they’ve all been rescued from bad situations by him in the exact same manner. Naming her Wiene (not sure how this is pronounced – I went with “vine-uh” while reading), she learns incredibly rapidly, and also bonds with most of the family (sorry, Lilly, you’re destined forever to be the grumpy suspicious one) very quickly. The difficulty is with what she is. If monsters have intelligence now and can be nice, will that make adventurers think twice before killing them? That will lead to a lot of dead adventurers. How do you tell a populace born and raised on ‘monsters are evil’ that some aren’t? And if you spend your life devoted to killing monsters, and now some are folks like Wiene, are you a murderer?

DanMachi 9 doesn’t focus on these questions quite as much as I’d like, but it’s also not finished – the author apologizes for this being a two-parter, and says that the next volume will resolve the subplot. It becomes clear that this is an ongoing thing, and that some of the gods are trying to advance it – using Bell’s ever-loving kindness as a catalyst – so that monsters and humans can live together. Easier said than done, though. Speaking of catalysts, Hestia serves once more as an exposition catalyst, though honestly that’s preferable to some of her former jealous antics. She learns what’s going on, and what price her family could now pay… a price that I think the next volume may deal with.

As always, DanMachi is well-written, with excellent fights, nice characterization (less fanservice than usual this time), and smooth prose, so that you don’t tend to notice how much larger these books are compared to some other light novels. Is this new development going to change the course of the series? Or will everything turn tragic in Book 10? Luckily, as Vol. 9 was pushed back a month, we only have a 3-month wait to find out. Ignore the gimmickey title – this is one of Yen On’s best series.

Shojo Fight!, Vol. 1

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By Yoko Nihonbashi. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Evening. Released in North America digitally by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Rose Padgett.

One of the benefits of the wave of digital-only titles we’re seeing in 2017 is the glut of a genre that was almost invisible until a few years ago – sports manga. Kodansha in particular has been pouring out titles devoted to soccer, baseball, soccer, rugby, soccer… and now we have women’s volleyball, with the emotionally gripping Shojo Fight!. You’d expect, given that all the male-oriented soccer manga run in either shonen or seinen magazines, that this might be a shoujo title. The title might also make you think that. But no, this runs in Kodansha’s Evening magazine, a counterpart of the mainstream Weekly Morning and the otaku-oriented Afternoon. So Shojo Fight! is reaching an older male audience. Fortunately, this does not mean that the series is filled with cheesecake. Shojo Fight! is a sports title first and foremost.

The series seems to begin in medias res, but it turns out that the first volume is about the end of middle school, and we’re setting up for high school to be the main event. Our hero is Neri, a strong but short young woman with a natural talent for volleyball and a tragic past, which keeps her mostly benchwarming. Her teammates include Koyuki, who is the school idol but whose volleyball skills don’t measure up as much, and Chiyo, who is absolutely furious at Neri and yells at her all the time in that “I am only angry because I see you have given up” sort of way. Neri is in danger of getting cut from the team, which prioritizes tall girls, and she seems to be OK with that, despite pushback from various others. One accidental injury later, however, and Neri is playing in a real game. Can she keep her emotions under control and not let the driving need to play volleyball take over?

It seems to be a sort of cliche to mention that the art in this looks a bit like OEL, so I will say that as well. More to the point, though, the art fits the subject matter. The volleyball matches that we see are straightforward, lacking the ‘cool’ art that we see from titles such as Haikyu!, but being quite understandable and easy on the eyes. I also really liked Neri’s facial expressions, particularly when she’s traumatized in the second half of the book. That dazed, emotionally hollow look makes your heart ache, and you’re grateful for her future coach (I assume) from coming by to stop her making a choice that would be terrible. I’d mentioned the lack of cheesecake: Neri’s male friend Shigeru is a massage therapist, and when Neri strains her back he massages her – in the girl’s bathroom stall, as student’s aren’t supposed to fraternize. It’s quite innocent, but turns into a nasty rumor that gets people punished, and the art shows both the innocent act while signposting how it’s going to be viewed.

It looks like the cast is going to expand vastly in the second volume, not unusual with sports titles. There are some eccentrics in the high school team, and I have to admit the idea of a barbed-wire volleyball net made me laugh. The series isn’t perfect (some of the exposition about the tragedy was really shoehorned in), but it was highly enjoyable, and I can’t wait for future volumes to see if Neri comes into her own as a player.