Sean Gaffney

By Shiden Kanzaki and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nita Lieu.

I’ve talked before about Black Bullet’s flaws – from its shoehorning of “lolicon’ style humor into the text to its simple unrelenting grimness – so let’s try to take this review to talk about what it does well. Because it does do some things very well. Black Bullet has a plan, and that plan is to let you know about the horrors of war. And over the course of this book’s 220-odd pages, you learn over and over again that the noble soldier fighting an unwinnable fight against an unkillable enemy is something that is going to result in hundreds, indeed thousands of casualties. Sometimes, I will admit, Black Bullet overdoes its message – there’s a scene with a cute 8-year-old getting her head cut off that was just so grand guignol it actually turned silly – but for the most part it’s just a sea of horror that hammers its point home nicely.

The other excellent thing in the book, though again it’s hard to enjoy, is Kisara. I had been ready to gripe about her being underused in the volume again, particularly as there were many times when we were told that she was the most dangerous and deadly of them all – including by the resident insane tykebomb – but we still don’t actually see her doing anything, given that for the most part Rentaro is the hero of this series and it follows his POV. And then we get the Epilogue, and boy howdy. Kisara discovers that one of her brothers is, in fact, responsible for the decay of the monument that led to the events of books 3 and 4 in the first place, and duels him. It’s interesting, because the brother is presented to the reader as being a Grade-A snake, horrible and loathsome, and you are totally not wrong to want to see her take him out.

No, the issue is that she takes joy in doing so, and, in her chosen method, drives a (semi) innocent bystander insane. Her glee and delight as she discusses her revenge being started reminds you what the subtitle of this volume was, and you realize that it was about her all along. Rentaro is, of course, shocked, as this is not the Kisara she normally shows to him. In fact, he realizes that one day he may in fact have to be the one to kill her if she keeps going on like this. I’m not sure when that will play out – final book in the series, I’m guessing – but certainly his utilitarian views are at odds with her “only evil can combat evil” revenge fantasy. It’s a stunning final 30 pages or so.

Of course, my own personal tastes remain an issue here too. This is well-written, the lolicon was at a minimum, and I enjoyed its themes and what it’s trying to say. I just hated reading it as a book for pleasure. It’s very good, bordering on excellent, but I felt the opposite of enjoyment. It was a slog. As such, Black Bullet remains a series that’s hard to recommend, though fans of the anime and of ‘grimdark’ style series will get a lot out of it.

By Natsuki Takaya. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

As I’ve said a few times before, you can usually tell when a series has suddenly become a big hit by the writing. Fruits Basket has hit it big, to the point where the Hakusensha editors must have told Takaya she can stretch it out how she wants. And so we can get extended flashbacks devoted to Uotani, Tohru’s yanki friend, and how she went from a middle school delinquent to one of Tohru’s strongest protectors. We also get a brief one-chapter day in the life of Minagawa, the over the top president of the Yuki Fan Club, who like any other teenage girl is filled with doubts and insecurities of her own. And we see foreshadowing that I had forgotten happens this early, as the new Student Council members, whose faces are hidden from us, discuss their interest in Yuki… and Tohru. Are they SECRETLY EVIL? (Answer: no, but it’s a nice ominous cliffhanger that won’t be resolved for a while yet.)

We are also introduced to two more Sohmas. I’ll start with Ritsu, as I’m less interested in him. He’s deliberately grating, in a way that irritates everyone not named Tohru, but it’s not without cause, and once again shows us how hard it is to be living with the Sohma curse, or living with someone who has it. Also, his meeting with Micchan is hilarious – they really are perfect for each other. More important to me is the introduction of Hiro, who I suspect will annoy the new reader even more than Ritsu does. Hiro’s a brat, there’s no mistaking it, and what’s worse, he’s smart and insightful but can’t deal with the emotions that go along with that. Throw in a crush on Kisa, and some veiled suggestion that telling Akito he was in love with her was the worst thing ever, and I find a lot to sympathize with. He also pegs Tohru perfectly, albeit rudely, and we start to see the first signs of the cracks showing in her all-loving facade here, as she admits that she focuses on others to the exclusion of her own needs mostly out of desperately not wanting to look hard at herself.

I’d mentioned foreshadowing before, and the other big introduction we see here will have to wait till next time, which is Rin. She’s in hospital, apparently put there by Akito, and judging by the fact that she’s recently broken up with Hatsuharu, seems to be trying to cut all ties – except to Shigure, who she’s convinced can help her. Rin looks scary, to be honest, and given how popular Haru is with fandom, it’s no surprise that she too gets off on the wrong foot in Furuba fandom, only she doesn’t have the benefit of being a cute guy in this female-driven fandom, so it seems worse. Oh yes, and we also get more of the Yuki backstory that was hinted at in the last omnibus, and I feel bad for saying that Akito smothered him – there was just as much abuse as everyone else has had to ensure. Being a Sohma is suffering.

This is about where the anime broke off, with its adapted ending that to this day doesn’t quite sit right with me. It’s also where Takaya hurt her hand, causing the manga to go on hiatus for a year. It stayed popular in Japan, and became huge over here, but I wonder if we may have gotten a second season otherwise. (Probably not – allegedly she had issues with the director, similar to Kare Kano.) In any case, the first few books in Furuba show us sad teens with emotional problems, but as we move forward, the depth of the writing shows that the sadness and the emotional problems have not begun to be plumbed. If you never read this the first time, you’re missing out.

By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Melissa Tanaka.

There’s a moment about two-thirds of the way through this novel where the hero and heroine are viewing the city, and she asks to eat at a fast food place. He is somewhat startled by this, as he’s discovered that she’s the princess of a European nation and expected her to only want to go to high-class restaurants. Eventually we do get an explanation for why she prefers to eat there, but her initial response to him is simply that this is fine, right? And that’s sort of how I feel about The Asterisk War. It’s not original by any means. In fact, that’s an understatement. It is so unoriginal that it may actually leech cliches from the books on your shelves that surround it (Go reread them – are they filled with twists?). That said, sometimes you want a burger and fries. And The Asterisk War is very good fast food, which I’d be happy to eat if I’m in a rush.

I will try to describe the plot without just linking to various TV Tropes pages. Our hero is Ayato, a young man who’s just arrived at a prestigious magic academy, one of six schools in the shape of an asterisk that fight each other (hence the name of the series). Supposedly he’s a perfectly normal student with a bit of sword training. In reality, of course, his true power has been sealed by his sister, who is currently missing and whose footsteps he is trying to trace. He has an unfortunate first encounter (if you guessed “saw half-naked”, you get no points as it was too obvious) with our heroine, Julis, who seems like the standard angry tsundere (she wields massive fire powers, because of course she does) but in reality is just bad at dealing with people and somewhat lonely. As Ayato learns about the school, running into a) the buxom and teasing Student Council President who has big plans for him, and b) his childhood friend, a sleepy and emotionless young girl who nevertheless carries a somewhat obvious torch for him, Julis deals with the fact that someone is trying to kill, or at least disable, her before the Big Competition that no doubt will serve as the plot of future books.

Now, if you’ve been keeping score, try to add up the number of other manga, anime, and light novels that the above description sounded like or reminded you of. If you got under ten, you weren’t trying hard enough. (I’m honestly amazed there wasn’t incestual subtext – clearly the author didn’t try hard enough.) But for all my snark, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The hero is likeable and strong without being overpowerful, and reacts to half-naked women like a normal teenage boy and not a manga cliche. Julis starts off over the top, but it takes less than half a volume for us to realize that she’s not going to be another tsundere – well, except when the fanservice or comedy requires it, then of course she will be. I’m also very fond of Saya, less because of good writing and more because I simply like that type of character. Same with Claudia.

So there’s nothing here you haven’t seen before. But the fanservice is light compared to other series, the plot twists are predictable but not irritating, and most of the cast is quite likeable. It’s fast food, but it’s filled with stuff you always enjoyed growing up. I’m perfectly happy to take it in and see what happens next. (Also, Chivalry of a Failed Knight doesn’t have its book licensed yet, so schtum.)

By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

I’ve mentioned before that some multi-volume arcs, particularly in light novels, can be seen as “the author just wrote a really long book and they had to cut it in half”. This book, the first of a two-part arc, is not that. We get the start of the story, but some characters are introduced and then forgotten as if they were meant to be minor characters, while others take center stage but then vanish 2/3 of the way through. But that’s OK, because this is one man’s journey to show some courage, defeat the bad guys because it’s the right thing to do, kiss his girlfriend for the first time ever, and also, yes, smuggle a huge amount of explosives into New York City in order to sell it off, as they are a gang as well – this is Baccano!, after all. Yes, this volume’s heroic journey is all about Jacuzzi Splot.

If you find the name Jacuzzi Splot to be somewhat unusual, or even laughable, well, you aren’t alone. Many people in Baccano! have odd names, but Jacuzzi’s is pretty much the one that gets folks talking. More to the point, you may be wondering why this, the second book in a series, features almost none of the characters from the first book. Firo, Ennis, Maiza and the Gandors make brief cameos, but for the most part we meet a new huge cast, which luckily proceeds to get violently whittled down as the book goes on, though in general the named characters seem to do pretty well for themselves. It all takes place on a luxury train going from Chicago to New York City, which has the misfortune to be taken over by a) black-suited terrorists who profess they’re trying to get their leader, Huey Laforet, released; b) white-suited psychopaths, led by a mobster’s nephew, who are here to kill people because it’s fun, and c) the aforementioned delinquent gang, the closest we get to good guys here.

We also get Isaac and Miria, who are the thread that draws the two books together. They’re on the train as well, having decided to rob a mafia gang in order to buy Ennis an expensive present to cheer her up, because that’s the sort of people they are. As always, they’re hilarious, but as with the first book, the novel gives them occasional hidden depths, such as Isaac’s rather subdued reaction to a cabinful of corpses, as if he’s used to this. They’re at their best when inspiring others, though, particularly Jacuzzi, who is the sort to take crappy lines like “there’s a gun… in everyone’s heart!” and take them completely seriously. In general, the new characters hold up well and deserve your attention. Goose is an exception. As a villain, he’s very flat, and probably the weakest part of the book, mostly as he pales next to the evil flamboyance that is Ladd Russo, who is jaw-droppingly horrible in a riveting way. Also, due to the nature of the book, several characters seem to be very underdeveloped, namely the unfortunate child Czeslaw Meyer, and Ladd’s passive to the point of being disturbing girlfriend Lua.

So yes, like Jacuzzi at the end of this book, the reader still has questions. Why did Ladd suddenly disappear midway through the book? Why was a child cut to pieces and tied to the bottom of the train? Who is the Grey Magician and why was he cut from the anime completely? And if the woman in fatigues isn’t the Rail Tracer, who is? (The anime reader is at a disadvantage here, knowing the answers to all but one of those questions. The book reads better if you don’t know the true identity of several people.) We will find out in the third book, which tells the same events as the second but from several different perspectives. In the meantime, smile with Jacuzzi, laugh with Isaac and Miria, and wonder who the hell Claire Stanfield really is.

By Tsutomu Sato and Kana Ishida. Released in Japan as “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Multi-volume arcs in light novel series are nothing new, and quite popular. The usual thing to do is a two-volume arc, though they can balloon up to 5 (Baccano’s 1935 arc) or even 10 (SAO’s Alicization arc). It’s rare to see a series begin with a two-volume arc, and as you read the second volume of Mahouka (as the series is commonly abbreviated to), you guess why – this was originally one huge book that the publisher demanded be cut in half. The author admits this in the notes at the end. As such, it’s not something meant to be taken in on its own, and doesn’t try to be. It’s the second half of the first book, with a few more terrorist attacks and less school prejudice.

There’s a lot of talk in these volumes, both in regards to how magic works in the world and in how the political landscape is affected by it. The narration is very much down on the side of those with magic, but at least tries to understand the viewpoint of one who does not have such magic skill, and has to look on in envy and frustration at those who do. In fact, I felt one of the biggest flaws of this book was towards the end, where it was revealed that the cute kendo girl who was working for the bad guys was doing so mostly due to simple mind control, rather than her own misguided beliefs. I suppose the author wants to keep her around rather than expel her, but still, you’d be surprised how often misguided beliefs are a good enough reason on their own and don’t need extra help.

I said this last time, and I will again: I have no idea how the anime handles Tatsuya’s thought process, which is constant throughout the book, but if it simply cuts it and goes with what he’s saying out loud, that’s a horrible mistake. There’s several times throughout this book where he’ll say something and then think to himself that he’s saying that just to go along with the flow, or put people off their guard, and that his feelings are almost the opposite. This even applies to the unfortunate incest subtext that’s still hanging around. It’s not all on Miyuki’s end, and we can see that she and Tatsuya both play it up to the hilt because they know if they exaggerate it that others will dismiss it – as Erika seems to here. Of course, this does not mean it isn’t there.

There’s also a lot of fighting towards the end, and it’s reasonably well done, though of course it does point out that Tatsuya is, shall we say, good at nearly everything. This is not going to change anytime soon, and he’s hardly the worst offender in light novels, but it can be frustrating to an audience that is seeking out a more flawed hero. It’s especially frustrating when combined with his stoic personality, though that can also be a blessing, as imagining Tatsuya as some shonen hothead but with the same abilities gives me a headache. In the end, this was a decent if flawed start to the series, and the next two volumes (this time seemingly intentionally written as an actual two-book series) look to show off an athletics festival between the various schools. Note this comes out in North America at the exact same time as A Certain Magical’s Index’s 2-book athletic festival series, which is an amusing coincidence. Fans of Index, SAO, or magic schools might find Mahouka worth getting.

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.

For the most part, the Index series has Kamijou Touma as the viewpoint character, with most of the books being from his perspective. The exceptions we’ve seen are the 5th book, which has a substantial chunk from Accelerator’s POV, and this novel, which has Shirai Kuroko taking center stage, though honestly the way the book is framed also seems to imply that she really shouldn’t be doing this. Not that she isn’t badass and awesome – she does a number of amazing things throughout the book – but the book puts her through even more damage than Touma, and suggests that this is sort of the thing that happens to protagonists. In addition, she and Touma have the same general outlook as to why they’re getting involved, at least when Misaka is involved – protect her worldview. And if Misaka is an optimistic girl who thinks people are basically swell except a few bad apples, then by god it will be so. Which is fine, except Touma is much better equipped to take on said world, which has a lot more to it than Misaka’s clone experiment.

Introduced in this volume: Uiharu Kazari, Kongou Mitsuko (For once I refuse to acknowledge Yen’s official spelling), Musujime Awaki. Technically we’d seen Awaki twice before, but we didn’t know it was her. Continuity-wise… eurgh. This is the volume where it’s very clear that this is being written before A Certain Scientific Railgun has really gotten off the ground – it comes out a full year before the Railgun manga debuts. As such, Uiharu’s characterization seems very odd with her obsession with being ladylike. The “teasing Kuroko” thing is still around, though, and Kuroko still does not react well. This is right around the time Kongou is introduced in the Railgun manga, which is why it sounds like she’s meeting Kuroko for the first time, and talking about Cliques. That said, in the anime, where she’s introduced much earlier, this makes no sense. This is why spinoffs give me a headache. Oh, and Accelerator and Last Order are still in hospital, being watched by Aiho, who it’s revealed here is friends with Yoshikawa Kikyou.

Whenever I’ve discussed Kuroko before, I’ve said I’ll save my beef with her till this review, and here we are. So let’s face it: Kuroko is a “Comedy Lesbian”, something much beloved among Japanese anime and manga authors. Kuroko is a bit more single-focused than many others, but exhibits the same symptoms – a constant desire to get into Misaka’s pants, even if that means sexually assaulting her without her consent. This is OK to the reader because it’s clearly meant as “comedy” scenes, not to be taken seriously, and Misaka always fends her off. It drives me nuts. It particularly drives me nuts as whenever she’s not in that mode, Kuroko is quite a nice character, devoted to keeping the peace as part of the student task force “Judgment”. At least I won’t get as much of it in the novels, where Kuroko is a minor character by dint of simply not being all that involved with Touma.

The storyline itself ties together many of the loose ends from Books 3 and 5, as Awaki helpfully notes, being very much in the “school of villains who love to hear themselves talk’. She is very clearly set up to be a dark counterpart to Kuroko, right down to similar hairstyles and similar powers – they’re both even Level 4! But Awaki’s villainy is based around selfishness and fear, and Kuroko’s heroism, comedy lesbian antics aside, around selflessness and pride. There is much discussion of the powers that Academy City is developing, and how students who are found to have that kind of power really feel about them. There is also a LOT of technobabble, and Kamachi’s flaws as an author sometimes become apparent in that he will get more excited about his worldbuilding than he will about what’s actually going on. That said, the fights in this are top notch, and Accelerator vs. Awaki at the end has a great quotable line.

So another good book for Index fans, and quite short too – I think it’s the shortest in the series to date. Next time won’t be that, though, as we get Index’s first two-book arc, devoted to the Citywide School Athletic Festival.

By Moto Hagio. Released in Japan as “Barbara Ikai” by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine flowers. Released in North America by Fantagraphics. Translated by Matt Thorn.

For many readers, no review is necessary – just seeing the words “Moto Hagio” on the cover will make this a must-buy. But for those of you who have not yet been captivated by one of Japan’s premier artists, let me assure you that this first omnibus volume of Otherworld Barbara is absolutely worth the extra expense of a hefty hardcover. At times melancholy, amusing, heartbreaking and terrifying, it’s a trip through the senses, as with Hagio’s other work that’s recently come out over here (A Drunken Dream). This has the added benefit of being a complete story, and so you can see how she sets up various plot points and then allows them to sit percolating until they can be used again to devastating effect.

I was faked out at first, I admit. We’re introduced to an odd fantasy hybrid of a world, where a little girl who has difficulty flying like her friends do has happy fun adventures, but right away we see that Aoba is odd – eating the book gives it away if nothing else. It’s an odd hybrid of Peter Pan-style fantasy and reality, as there are several quasi-connections with the Tokyo we know. Then all of a sudden we’re away from that, and following the story of Dr. Watarai, a man whose job it is to enter other people’s dreams, and the troubled relationship he has with his teenage son Kiriya, who is a teenage boy in so many ways. I had assumed that the manga would now shift back and forth between the two “worlds”, but no, we don’t go back to the fantasy world till the second half of the book, where it becomes far more relevant – and creepy.

The fantasy stuff is excellent, but the book really shines when getting involved in the interpersonal relationships Dr. Watarai has with everyone from his bitter, slightly hysterical ex-wife to a somewhat overenthusiastic young protege. His fractured relationship with his son feels very real, especially as there are no good, easy fixes. Kiriya is also dealing with difficult times, as aside from his father he’s being courted – well, stalked to a degree – by a classmate, and also dreaming of Dr. Watarai’s latest patient, a woman who’s been in a coma for years ever since a devastating accident involving her parents. Where the two worlds collide is that this woman is named Aoba, and is clearly the same person as the young girl in the fantasy world.

There’s a lot more going on here, including age regression that almost turns into personality overlay, deadly psychic tornados, terrifying killer dolls, and a seeming suicide that makes you go back to the title page for the chapter and say “Really? You really went there?”. It’s definitely not a book for kids. But there’s so much going on here – in plot, which the reader figures out at the same time as the characters do, and in mood, which is always my go-to reason to read Hagio’s manga. things promise to get a lot more complex for the second and final book, as we also find out about a connection to Mars, and a sinister conspiracy led by a not-so-noble priest. If you enjoyed manga that rewards endless rereads with both its art and style, you can’t go wrong with Otherworld Barbara.