Sean Gaffney

By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz.

I’ve talked before about how frustrating Ranma can be if you take its characters too seriously. It’s an issue that has carried over to many anime fandoms: if you try to empathize with these characters, and make their actions emotionally realistic, you will find yourself thinking they are all selfish, horrible monsters. It’s not just Ranma, either: Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku ran on this as well, and to this day most of the one-shot ghosts in Rin-Ne are deeply unlikable. At the same time, though, you have to empathize with them to some extent, you have to like and root for the characters or else why would you be reading the series at all? Between these two poles is the sweet spot of Ranma 1/2, and we see some of that in these two volumes.

As always with Ranma, the best stories are the longest. The longest story here deals with Ryouga, who has found a way to weaponize his depression and use it against Ranma. He’s actually not aware this is what he’s doing until later in the arc, which is what makes his baffling attacks on Ranma more entertaining. But the most entertaining thing is seeing Ranma, who is getting beaten by this new attack, try to depress himself, which… really does not work at all. I was highly impressed with Ranma here, as he doesn’t need Cologne to explain an alternative to him, or find an alternate scroll with a better move, but comes up with the attack based on his own confidence purely on its own. I love seeing Ranma being a smart cookie, and wish it happened more often.

Ranma being a stubborn sullen teen fans will enjoy the arc where Ukyou, suffering a crisis of conscience after a 10-year okonomiyaki sauce she made turns out terrible (thanks to Ranma as a child, so he’s guilty) ends up staying with the Tendos and attempting to worm her way into Ranma’s life further. I’ve never seen much of the anime, which I understand softens Ukyou to a great degree, but Takahashi never bothers softening anyone in her manga, so here we see Ukyou being just as bad as Ranma (stubborn jerk) and Akane (jealous), trying to scheme her way into being Ranma’s real fiancee. It almost reads like an English farce at times, with all sorts of power balances going back and forth and sudden revelations, and also tries to bind up Ukyou’s self image as a woman and her self-image as a chef, which she finally resolves doesn’t have to be separated.

As for the rest of the volume, there’s the usual one-shot gag chapters. There’s also some Happosai here, but I hate him, so let’s skip those. Nabiki shows up more here, Takahashi having fully gotten a handle on her last time, selling pictures, information or anything really to the highest bidder. We even see Gosunkugi, who has been absent for a long time, and find out that he’s still as pathetic as ever. The cast of Ranma may be hard to empathize with, but they sure are funny, and you get a lot of humor in these volumes.

By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in a Shogakukan magazine to be named later. Released in North America by Viz.

One thing that Dorohedoro is lacking in is traditional romantic love. Very few of the characters do anything in this title because they’re in love with someone else. As a result, you get to think more about their motivations and why they’re going to such lengths, be it Noi’s kohai adoration of Shin, Fujita and Ebisu’s awkward teasing, or everyone’s respect and allegiance to En, even now that he’s dead. And then there’s Nikaido, who certainly seems to be going above and beyond for Caiman, using her “you can only use this a few times” magic in order to go back in time to try to figure out what’s going on with him. Why is Nikaido going to such lengths? As we see here, those lengths may be having side-effects as well – will Nikaido become a full-fledged devil?

This does lead to the funniest part of the book, though, where Nikaido uses her newfound devil powers to become MASTER GYOZA CHEF. Dorohedoro’s sense of humor has always been a bit skewed and violent, but it’s also been based heavily around gyoza, and it’s the same here. Sadly, it doesn’t last long, as Nikaido wakes from her massive food preparation unable to even remember what she was doing. (We also get a lot of fanservice from her this volume, as turning devil means a lot of exposed skin). But again, Nikaido’s motivation for Caiman seems to be based on their true friendship, rather than any romantic feelings.

The same goes for Fujita, who gets the bulk of the drama in the second half of this book. His non-presence has been a joke throughout the series, and now he’s using it in order to find out how to revive En. But he’s also young and impetuous – it’s just he’s been with people like Shin and Noi, so comparatively he’s looked meek. When he discovers the one behind En’s death, he cannot resist trying to get revenge. He’s pretty awesome about it as well, even if it does mean losing an arm and possibly dying – that’s the danger of cliffhangers. You can tell that it’s serious business as we see him without his mask – unlike Shin, Noi or Ebisu, he’s had his mask on almost the entire series. Oddly, he looks a lot like many other male characters. (Drawing different faces is not Hayashida’s strong suit.)

Meanwhile, of course, there’s the main plot, which as always is the most diffuse part of the book. What’s going on with the various factions fighting for power? Will we get to see En resurrected? Will Risu be able to control his desire to kill caiman? Is Caiman even good or evil anymore? I want to find out the answers to these things, but don’t really mind that it’s taking a while. In a series that’s all about the mood, the fact that the plot meanders is by no means an impediment. Dorohedoro remains a fascinating manga.

By Satoshi Mizukami. Released in Japan by Shonen Gahosha, serialized in the magazine Young King Ours. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

Akane is the one Beast Knight we’ve never really focused on, so it makes sense that he gets a lot to do in this new omnibus. As we expected, he’s introverted, sullen, and insular due to a poor home life. As is perhaps less expected, he’s also siding with the enemy, though as the book goes on it becomes clear that this isn’t really due to anything but misplaced anger, and that when genuine heroism and compassion are shown to him, he can’t find it in himself to keep up the facade. Like all the other characters in the series, time is taken to explore him in depth, and it’s worth it. Though we still remain puzzled as to what Animus and Anima are doing – are they enemies, rivals, relatives? Is Animus even trying to win? Is Anima even trying to fight? Or does she just love food?

Despite one of the most obvious couples in the series being torpedoed in the last omnibus by virtue of death, these are still mostly teenagers and young adults, so love still drives a lot of the plot. I’ll leave Yuuhi aside for now, but there’s also Yuki and Subaru, who are the two nicest, most innocent characters in the series, so get the most selfless wishes in exchange for becoming knights. Yes, OK, it’s not going in a romantic direction (Subaru’s crush on Mikazuki is so obvious it can be seen from space), but their friendship is amazing when you’re in a series that’s playing with cynicism like this one does.

That brings me to Yuuji. He’s the main character, and thus gets the bulk of the character progression. We see his desire to grow stronger in order to fight by Samidare’s side. But we also see how he uses that strength to grow emotionally as well. The death of his grandfather, after all that he did in order to prevent it at the start, is a shocker, though honestly its the lizard that shows all the outrage that Yuuhi won’t. Anima, though, allows him to achieve closure, both with his grandfather (who let’s remember abused him horribly as a child, something I think might be a bit glossed over here), and with Hangetsu, whose death Yuuhi also needs to move past.

So now that we’ve seen all this, the question remains: are he and Samidare still going to destroy the world? I think the other knights would have something to say about that, particularly Yayoi. And honestly, Samidare needs a bit more development before I can say whether or not she will. But with the final omnibus coming soon, I don’t think Yuuhi is going to be helping her anymore – though that may come as a surprise to him. We’ll see how it wraps up, but I want to say again how much I’ve enjoyed this poor-selling series, and I wish it did better.

By Kenjiro Hata. Released in Japan as “Hayate no Gotoku!” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz.

I’ve talked about Hayate’s parents before, and the sheer loathsome level of evil they produce. What’s worth mentioning is that they aren’t really alone, though they do stand at the top. Hina’s birth parents also left their children with an enormous debt, though it’s implied this wasn’t out of sheer malice. We also meet Chiharu’s parents here, who are having rough times and not selling their child yet, but do set their house on fire by accident. Even Ayumu’s relatively stable parents are not above giving her a gift certificate of $30 for her birthday and saying nit’s from both of them, so don’t go asking Dad for more gifts. In this title, though, being a jerk to your child is almost loving. The only reason Rumiko Takahashi’s parents are worse than Hata’s is that she actually has them ruin her children’s lives in person.

That said, this volume of Hayate is a lot more lighthearted than the past few have been, with Athena mostly removed from the picture (she does answer reader questions at the end, which goes badly as they’re all about her chest). The cast is starting to get tenants for the apartment complex they now live in, with the ‘complex has butler!’ advertisement winning Chiharu over. It helps that Hayate is a cut above… well, everyone. His natural charm and ‘gigolo’ nature (meaning he gets every girl he meets to fall for him without trying) comes up more than once here, and it’s not something that’s easily duplicated. Of course, like many harem protagonists who have all the girls, it’s balanced by a heaping dose of bad luck – this is even lampshaded here.

As for our supposed heroine, Nagi’s growth as always is somewhat fitful. Being an apartment landlord is something of a lazy way to keep earning money while she’s in exile, and we again see her skipping anything that involves physical exertion. But she is developing relationships outside of just Hayate and Maria. Chiharu’s addition to the apartments allows Nagi to have a fellow otaku to bounce things off of (though a horrified Chiharu reminds us several times how young Nagi really is), and in one of the sweetest chapters of the volume, confesses her loneliness to Ayumu in order to trick her back to a surprise party being held for her. She’s never going to be #1 in fan’s hearts, but she is slowly improving.

It is somewhat odd being back to 1-2 chapter long silly gag stories after the epicness of the Athena arc, but that is Hayate’s stock in trade, and the main reason why the manga is so popular. (Indeed, the anime has never animated Athena’s arc – and made it really obvious they’re deliberately avoiding it – likely as it would be too distracting in a ‘gag’ anime.) But those gags are still strong, and for those who are still hanging out for their twice-a-yeaar fix of Hayate, this volume will serve nicely.

By Kaoru Mori. Released in Japan in two separate volumes by Enterbrain, serialized in the magazine Comic Beam. Released in North America by Yen Press.

After the first omnibus set up the romance between our two reserved leads, the second volume keeps them apart until the very end. It’s better for both of them, really. Emma finds work at an estate Oop North that’s owned by a wealthy German couple, and impresses everyone at how fast she picks up on things and the smattering of actual education she has. Meanwhile, William is buckling down and doing everything that’s asked of him, behaving like a perfectly good heir – much to the shock of his sister, who wonders whether a pod person has possessed him. Honestly, I wish that were the case, because William still gets his moments of impulse, and they’re horrible – or will be soon.

Emma is by her very nature reserved and repressed, so it’s nice to see a few more loud, boisterous women added to the cast. The mistress of her new home is very casual about walking around naked, and Eleanor’s older sister Monica makes an immediate impression by storming into William’s house in the pouring rain to drip on his carpet and yell at him for stringing her sister along. Honestly, though she misinterprets what Eleanor says, she’s absolutely right, and sadly her anger leads to William being very stupid. Of course, I say this with a 21st century mindset. In his mind, he’s never going to see Emma again, so why not? After all, Monica’s “oh, I just picked the beau who worshiped me most’ marriage seems to have gone well…

We also meet William’s mother, though at first we’re not quite sure who she is. She offers a nice balance between the over-the-top dramatics of Monica and Mrs. Molders and the stoicness of Emma and Adele. We’re also not quite sure why she’s living away from the family – I’m sure that will come up soon. In any case, she offers the coincidence needed to reunite our star-crossed lovers, as she’s friends with Mrs. Molders, and therefore can borrow Emma from her to be her companion at a ball held to celebrate her son’s engagement. Emma’s shyness as she is prepared to debut in society is adorable yet painful, and the corset certainly doesn’t help. In fact, it may be the corset more than the revelation of William’s engagement that causes her to faint.

The end of this omnibus is absolutely beautiful. After so long apart, and some a shy, repressed love story in the first volume, Emma finally loses it and begins openly sobbing and holding William. Their kiss this time around is much more passionate, and I’ll be honest, I was expecting the worst possible choice to walk in. Luckily, it’s just his mother, and she’s possibly one of the few people who wouldn’t care. Still, this is a nice lead-in to the horrible fallout that I’m sure will happen in the third volume. I wonder if Monica will actually challenge William to a duel of honor? In any case, for those who missed this when CMX put it out, go get it. It’s a classic.

By Hajime Isayama. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

There is a term that has become popular, particularly with the rise of TV tropes, called ‘The Woobie’. It is a character who you are meant to feel sad and sorry for, sometimes to the breaking point of plot and characterization. While the entire cast of Attack on Titan has, at times, fallen into this category, I’d argue the two biggest woobies in the series are Eren, who got the cover of the last volume staring in dull surprise and Historia, who gets the cover of this volume staring in dull surprise. (It is possible that the reader who still has to keep up with Isayama’s art qualifies as a woobie as well.) The suffering the two of them go through is meant to be complementary, and most of this volume discusses what might happen if Historia takes over Eren’s role in the story, by literally eating him.

There’s a lot of backstory questions answered here (though the story posits new ones as well), with Historia’s family, Kenny Ackerman, and Eren’s father all getting closer and more disturbing looks. Kenny in particular gets more depth, though he’s still really unlikeable no matter what he’s gone through in the past. That said, though, only Historia can make the final decision, a decision that her family has made over and over again. She correctly wonders why her family has simply let the Titans roll right along, and realizes that just having this godlike power does not necessarily mean she will keep the compassion to use it.

And so she rebels, and it’s wonderful, as she tells everyone who’s attempting to show her how to live her life to get lost and saves Eren, even if he’s not particularly wanting to be saved at the moment. (Notably, it’s Ymir’s advice in a flashback that’s the tipping point.) Luckily for her, the struggle she just went through has been juxtaposed with the rest of the cast attacking the secret underground cavern, showing off how unstoppable they are in battle (well, OK, Hange gets hurt, but I’m sure she’s fine), and showing up in time to allow Historia’s choice not to be in vain, and to allow Eren to finally stop feeling pathetic and make his own choice to protect everyone.

This is not a perfect volume. There’s more torture, which I still loathe, even if it doesn’t actually succeed in getting information this time. The flashbacks are very dispassionate, not carrying the emotional load of the main storyline, even when they should. And I’ve already bashed the art, but I can’t help it – sometimes the desperate, tormented faces we’re supposed to see, particularly Grisha and Kenny, merely look hilarious, and distract from the tragedy we’re supposed to be witnessing. Still, overall more good than bad, and we’ll see if Historia et al. can escape from here and try to take on a giant Titan. Wow, fighting Titans, it seems like forever since we’ve done that.

By Satoshi Wagahara and 029. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen Press.

The second volume of this series does what is expected of it. It expands on the themes and characters of the first book, adds a new villain and a new sort-of heroine, and relies on its comedy and its action scenes to carry it through. Luckily, the writing style is excellent, so this works pretty well. Out of all of Yen’s recent releases, this is one of the most smoothly translated. It also flies by, even though it’s easily the longest book to come out in August by a good 40-50 pages. We’re dealing with fallout from the first book, as back in Enta Isla, the fantasy world our hero and heroine came from, political machinations war with religious purpose in order to find out how to deal with what’s happened. This results in a literal Inquisitor being sent to deal with Maou.

As with A Certain Magical Index, those of a religious inclination might take offense at some of the things this series has to say about the Church, which is portrayed as rather Machiavellian in nature. Suzuno is meant to be of a purer, more moral type, but that doesn’t mean she has not killed people in order to properly serve the church. And, like Emi in the first book, she’s disturbed and distrusting whenever she sees Maou not being evil. In fact, Emi continues to be disturbed by this, and her pursuit of Maou has drizzled down into a sort of “OK, I guess I’ll go stalk him now” duty. Again, I really wonder what sort of horrible things Maou personally did (as opposed to having other evil people doing things for him) in Enta Isla – Chiho speaks for the reader when she says that she can’t judge him based on things she hasn’t experienced.

The main reason to read the series continues to be the comedy, which remains excellent. The narrative voice gets in several cutting remarks as well, without sounding intrusive. There are the standard anime gags – both Emi and Suzuno are annoyed at being flat-chested in comparison to Chiho, and it comes up several times – but there’s also genuine character-based humor. I was especially amused at everyone’s treatment of Urushihara, whose tendency to have everyone think the worst of him is matched only by actually being the worst most of the time. Chiho’s straightforwardness is also refreshing, as she’s straight up admitted she’s in love with Maou, and said so to his face. This does not resolve anything, really – for all the sexual desire he’s shown in the series so far, Maou could be asexual – but it’s still nice to see.

There were a few things that annoyed me towards the end. Sariel is meant to be a gross villain, but the series really goes above and beyond, making him a wannabe rapist who sexually assaults Emi and has delusions of taking Chiho back to Enta Isla as his bride. Maou seems to imply these tendencies were known about Sariel even back in Enta Isla, which is also horrible. The fact that he’s allowed to stay as comic relief (rather than. say, end up in prison, as Olba did) irks me. Still, overall this was another very strong addition to the series, which manages to combine fantasy, humor, and slice-of-life in ways that make the pages fly by.

By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen Press.

I had wondered at the end of Fairy Dance how the series would justify there being more MMORPGs and not just having the entire virtual genre banned due to massive deaths. Well, Phantom Bullet answers that – the Seed that Kirito got from SAO’s creator is now all over the world, and basically the genre has ballooned to the point where it’s impossible to legislate – much like the internet, actually. As a result, more and more people are doing different types of games, including Gun Gale Online, the FPS that’s featured in this next arc. It’s not really Kirito’s genre, but he’s become a sort of government gun-for-hire (he feels he owes them due to the help he got rescuing Asuna), and he has to go into GGO to find out who might be, once again, killing players in real life. The answer turns out to be something a lot closer to the old SAO game than Kirito expected.

Once again, anime fans may be well ahead of light novel readers. In the LN continuity, this is the first we’ve heard of Laughing Coffin, the guild in SAO made up of players who kill for the thrill of it. The anime needed to pad out its episode count, and to be fair it’s a great way to do it, so added the guild to its ongoing story. Even SAO Progressive’s novels have introduced what may be a precursor to the guild in the volume out this June. So seeing it here is not as much of a surprise as it is seeing how they’re once again succeeding in remotely killing people, and we’re not even sure how yet. It also triggers a bit of PTSD in Kirito, who is still having issues coping with the fact that he had to kill several times over the course of SAO. Which leads nicely into his heroine this time around.

Asuna and Kirito complement each other well, but only share a few similarities. The same could be said of Kirito and his sister suguha. Shino Asada, though, aka Sinon, is a lot closer to Kirito. Like him, she’s naturally quiet and introverted except when in the confines of a game. Also, like his current self, she’s coping with PTSD, this one stemming from a real world incident when she shot a bank robber to death in order to stop him killing her mother, and found that Japan now regarded her as a monster. That said, like Asuna, she reacts poorly to embarrassment and the author attempting to be funny. I don’t blame her for that, really. And like Suguha, she has a ‘nice guy’ real-life wannabe boyfriend who I suspect will, also like Suguha, come second place to Kirito.

My experience of FPS games is next to nothing, so I’ve no idea how well the Gun Gale Online concept works as a system. It does make for exciting action scenes, including the final duel between Kirito and Sinon, framed as a bit of a wild west duel. The novel does not so much end as stop, and it’s clearly another two-volume arc which we’ll need to resolve in December. Still, there was no nasty cliffhanger. And no threats of rape, always a good thing. I’m sure we can keep that up for next volume. (Yes, I’m being sarcastic, do not reply in the comments.) If you like SAO and were irritated by Fairy Dance, you might want to give Phantom Bullet a try – Sinon is another in a line of very different heroines. I wish she got the cover, though, even if she is wearing a battle bikini with bulletproof vest combo.