Sean Gaffney

Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Karin Suzuragi. Released in Japan as “Higurashi no Naku Koro ni: Matsuribayashi-hen” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Joker. Released in North America by Yen Press.

As I review this final volume of the main Higurashi series, it’s worth noting something: Ryukishi07 really, REALLY loves his shonen cliches. It’s something I’m sure I’ve said before, but to properly enjoy this volume you really have to buy into the fact that it is going to be totally ridiculous. A majority of this volume is a counterintelligence task force from Tokyo getting their asses kicked by a group of 12-17 year old teenagers.

The manga actually tones down the original source a bit – Mion brags about her leadership skills briefly, but the narration praising her to the skies is mercifully cut. Even so, the physical battle between her and Okonogi (who has elf ears just so you know he’s EVIL) should spell out how this has become an action movie. Everyone gets to do their thing – Keiichi beats up soldiers with his bat, Rena pounds ‘adowable’ guys with cute kitty buckets stuck to their heads, Satoko deals out horrible traps to Amakusa from Umineko’s manga (making a brief cameo here, possibly to remind us not to trust him in the other series) and Rika, her future finally secured, gets to pat people on the head.

There’s another team sent to deal with the clinic – they’re there to rescue Tomitake and move the comatose Satoshi somewhere else. Shion, by the way, does NOT get to be awesomely shonen like everyone else – possibly as repentance from her former villain status, she runs off half-cocked and gets captured. But then, she’s just found out that Satoshi is alive, and is not in the best of mindsets. I did like Rika forgiving her – in our eyes for the events of the Eye Opening Arc, but to Shion more of a general ‘you are a good person after all’ forgiveness.

Of course, there’s still Takano to deal with, but we’ve spent 6 volumes showing how she’s not so much an evil villain as a horribly broken PTSD-afflicted tragic villain. The scene at the start with Tomitake is one of the best in the book, where she says that after all this is over she’ll return to the orphanage to die – i.e., kill herself. Even more lucid Takano knows she’ll be killed once her usefulness is over. And she’s absolutely correct, as Okonogi, whose team is working for Nomura and not her, gives her a gun to blow her brains out with.

But she doesn’t want to die, so instead runs off to have a final confrontation with Hanyuu, who is her mirror in many ways – especially spelled out in this final scene, where Hanyuu also notes that after all this is over she plans to die, or at least return to her incorporeal state. It’s Rika who, pulling one last deus ex machina from her deck, stops time and stops the bullet Takano fires from hitting anyone. (She shows off the bullet afterwards, and it seems totally ridiculous, but I wonder if Rika simply grabbed a bullet casing and is using narrative structure to bend reality to her story? But that way lies Umineko…)

So in the end everyone lives, and we get a long epilogue showing the happy endings. Rika planning for her first post-June 1983 days. Mion mildly preparing for college, but still stuck on Keiichi and unable to get past his denseness. Rena in the same boat, but happier about it. Satoko learning cooking and awaiting her missing brother, Shion reading to him in hopes he’ll wake up. Even Takano, recovering in the clinic from Hinamizawa Syndrome, isn’t condemned, and Hanyuu wonders if she’ll be up and about telling everyone scary stories before long. (Optimistic, I suspect, Hanyuu. Have you discussed this with Rika?)

Two odd discordant notes in the happily ever after, by the way. Firt, we get the report done with the Tokyo Government, with edits by Nomura. She gets away with everything 100% here, and Ryukishi07 admitted in interviews that this was on purpose, as he wanted to show that not everything gets wrapped up in a big bow (likely why Satoshi doesn’t wake up either.) Second, we get the odd epilogue where an adult Rika meets a child Miyoko Tanashi, on the morning her parents are killed, and manipulates her into going with them. History is changed, though, and no one dies in the crash. No more Miyo Takano… which means many, many things change in the future. Where could this be leading?

If we see the Dice-Killing Arc, we may find out. In the meantime, this is an excellent (if at times ridiculous) conclusion to a series that proved to be far more than just “Lol killer lolis”, as I expected from opinions from anime fans. I really came to adore the franchise, and have since read the sound novels it was based on, and urge everyone to do the same (it’s out in English via Mangagamer, though beware when you buy – it’s their one non-porn title.) And if you enjoy Ryukishi07’s writing, there’s still more Umineko to go!

By Utako Yukihiro and Madoka Takadono. Released in Japan as “Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist” by Ichijinsha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Zero Sum. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

It’s timely that Dictatorial Grimoire has just ended, because this series has a very similar feel to it. A young, somewhat serious man discovers that he has a larger role to play in the supernatural, and is attended by a somewhat smug older man who can explain the plot to him. The man in this case is William Twining, whose family business (I’m guessing tea, from the name) has just collapsed, leaving him struggling to figure out how to stay at his expensive English public school. Luckily, he stumbles across a magic circle that summons a Duke of Hell, which is having a bit of a succession crisis.

This is the sort of series that lies of dies by its protagonist, and luckily Devils and realist has a protagonist who is up to the job. William Twining is the Number One Reason to read this manga, as his humorless bullheaded approach to life is alternately his one saving grace and also completely hilarious. We sympathize with his inability to immediately accept that such things as Dukes of Hell and Goat Butlers exist (clearly he hasn’t read enough Umineko), but as the volume goes on and more and more supernatural things and people come into play, his denial starts to drive the humor as well as the plot. He can calmly explain to his friend what’s really going on, and then immediately denounce everything he just said with cries of “SCIENCE!”. I loved him.

I am less enamored with the rest of the volume. Dantalion, the Duke of Hell in question, is a lot less interesting, though it’s good that he doesn’t have the completely invulnerable aura of smug that so many of these characters do. (It’s there, it’s just not invulnerable.) William’s friend Isaac seems to be thrown into the mix merely as contrast, as he’s a magic user and believer in all sorts of occult things (naturally, this means he gets our heroes into trouble.) And far too much of the plot relies on people explaining the machinations of Hell and its elections to William, instead of them coming naturally from the plot. Honestly, I want to go back to Hell for a bit, rather than lurking around the school.

Still, there’s a good foundation to build on here. The cast can be pleasingly snarky, particularly William. There’s clearly something going on with his one remaining servant, Kevin, which I’m sure we’ll see in future volumes. There’s also lots of BL tease for those who are inclined. I’m not sure whether I really care who ends up being the new King of Hell (the Kings seem to be the Permanent Secretaries to Lucifer’s Prime Minister), but I do very much want to see William having to decide everything and finding it incredibly annoying. And saying so. At length. A good fantasy, recommended for fans of Black Butler, Dictatorial Grimoire, and the like.

By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa. Released in Japan as “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun” by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

Last time I noted that Academy City was fostering an entire world of superheroes, and this new volume shows us how dark that world really is. Every time we’ve seen a science or research project in either Index (now licensed by Yen Press!) or Railgun, it’s been bad news for those being experimented on, those uncovering the conspiracy, and even random passersby. And now with this new volume we have two of the bigger ‘experiments’ meeting each other, as Misaka and Shokuhou reluctantly team up to try to save the sisters. Unfortunately, the sisters are not the endgame of our latest mad researcher villain, Misaka is – which means we once again get a really nasty cliffhanger.

It is not particularly a surprise that Shokuhou turns out to not be quite as evil as she seemed, but her similarities and differences with Misaka are fascinating nevertheless. They both grew up as lab rats and are now having to deal with the results of that, either a) through destruction (Misaka) or b) through manipulation (Shokuhou). Of course, growing up as a mind reader and manipulated the way she was, Shokuhou also ends up being VERY PARANOID INDEED, which is what drove most of her actions against Misaka in Vols. 7 and 8. She doesn’t want to deal with anyone whose mind she can’t get at. As for Misaka, once she finds out that there’s a different enemy behind all this she allies with Misaki, though there’s a halthy dose of mistrust on her end as well (leading to a wonderfully amusing scene where Misaka thinks she’s been betrayed only to find it’s just Shokuhou’s bad physical exertion.)

The rest of the cast get some nice things to do, bar Uiharu who is sadly just used as bait this time around. Kuroko gets to be badass with a wheelchair, one of the most dynamic shots of the entire volume. (I’m a little annoyed at her ‘I’m straight’ towards Misaka at one point (this is during her memory loss). Are we supposed to read this as her not being gay but just obsessed with Misaka? Either way it makes me grumpy, really, but then Kuroko’s character is problematic in general.) As for Saten, she gets to do some detective work and show off that being a Level 0 does not mean you are merely cannon fodder in this world. Oh yes, she also meets A Certain Protagonist for the first time…

I’m not sure how I feel about Touma showing up here, particularly as I suspect it will lead to Misaka being in peril and having to be saved by him (judging from the cliffhanger). Now admittedly the entire plot of Index can be summed up by “X in in peril, Touma saves them”, but this is Misaka’s series, and so far the only time she’s really had to rely on Touma bailing her out is during the Sisters arc, which was already canon in Index so couldn’t really be written around. We’ll see how well the manga carries it off, but I suspect we’ll be seeing a lot of Touma’s right hand in Vol. 10.

Another excellent volume, overall, though, with a pleasingly smug villain who it will be lovely to see get his eventually. Sadly, given we’ve caught up, we’ll have to wait till January to see what happens next. In the meantime, enjoy everyone fighting against the conspiracy (which, this being the Indexverse, is almost all true).

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

We’ve had a lot of revelations in the last few volumes of Attack on Titan, revelations that the group really haven’t had time to take in what with the kidnappings, fleeing and screaming at each other. And we get one more big one at the end of this volume, as we discover the reason why Eren is so important to the Titan cause (and no, it’s not his temper). Mostly what this volume does, though, is strengthen and reinforce the themes of the series in a ‘battle to the death’ context: friendship vs. duty, love vs. safety, and what it means to be a human.

Let’s start with Ymir, who gets the largest picture on the cover, even if it’s in her titan form. Ymir’s devotion to Historia has been apparent almost from her first appearance, and this volume pretty much spells out how much Historia means to her – she’s willing to side with the rest of the Survey Corps unless Reiner and Bertolt can meet her demands. (This does lead to two of the only pieces of humor in the entire volume – first, when Historia delightedly spots Ymir’s titan only to go ‘eh?’ as she’s promptly swallowed in her mouth; and 2nd, Ymir’s defense of titans, where ‘eating people’ gets a Some Like It Hot response – nobody’s perfect!) Once Ymir and Historia are reunited, they spend no time in trying to out self-sacrifice one another, and Historia shows that the obsession is not merely a we-way street. (I’ll be using Historia, by the way, in the future, as this is the name she now wants to use for herself – Krista is a pseudonym.) In the end, though, they simply CAN’T be together, not right now.

As for Reiner and Bertolt, they’re still guilt ridden over what they had to do, and Bertolt screams out how they don’t enjoy killing anyone and that no one would choose to do this. This doesn’t stop them from needing to take Eren and Historia to the Titans. Armin, who is getting craftier (and more morally grey) with each volume, starts needling them about their comrade Annie, who Armin says is currently being tortured by the scientists back home. I’m not entirely sure this is true – in fact, I highly suspect it is false – but that doesn’t matter. Armin can see how torn the two of them are by what they’re doing, and uses it to his best advantage. God help us all if that boy turns evil.

Mikasa mostly spends this volume screaming and beating the crap out of people, but her most telling moment comes when she’s too injured to protect Eren anymore, and a Titan is upon them… the same Titan that ate Eren’s mother so many years ago. Mikasa tends to show her softer side only to Eren, and even then only when she senses one of them is near death. Here she wants to show Eren the depths of the familial love (I refuse to ship them, shut up) that she has for him. Speaking of familial love, they are both promptly rescued by the sacrifice of Hannes, who was important at the very beginning of this manga but has since fallen out of focus. It makes thematic sense that, after losing Eren’s mother, we would now see a father figure fall to the same titan. This does not make it any less depressing, though.

And so the long battle is over, and arguably our heroes won. Eren and Historia are back with the Survey Corps. Erwin lost an arm, but is alive. Reiner, Bertolt and Ymir got away to an uncertain future (it’s hinted Ymir may be walking to her death, something that she’s surprisingly OK with – Historia’s ‘goddess’ habit is rubbing off). Where do we go from here? I’m not sure, but this volume certainly will give readers more of what they like to see in this series. Still recommended. (Needs more Sasha, dammit. Where is she, anyway?)

By CLAMP. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

(This review is based on an advance copy provided by the publisher.)

There is a genre of fanfiction that is quite popular these days called ‘fix fic”. This is when you have a beloved series that then does something horrid to your favorite character or pairing, and moves in a direction you hate. You then write something to resolve this dilemma, either bringing the character back, breaking up the hated pairing, etc. You could also try simply ignoring that anything happened after a certain point. Tara fans who watched Buffy like doing this, saying their fanfic ignored everything from Seeing Red onwards. And now we have CLAMP, returning to their own work only a couple of years after wrapping it up with a contested ending. And we have what seems at first to be a bizarre case of the creators writing their own fix fic.

If you enjoyed the early volumes of xxxHOLIC, boy, is this the volume for you. We see the return of the entire cast. Yuko is getting drunk, harrassing Watanuki, and acting mysterious. Watanuki is angry at absolutely everything, and tends to have supernatural events drawn to him. Doumeki continues to be the stoic not-boyfriend (the BL tease is through the roof here, something noted by Yuko). Himawari is there to, well, bounce plot ideas off of – for some reason Watanuki’s crush on her isn’t focused on quite so much, possibly as CLAMP know their audience. And there are some nice moments of existential horror, such as when we see what’s been following Watanuki around and asking him questions. I also loved the customers of the volume, which continues a theme of xxxHOLIC of supposedly mild, pretty women hiding amazingly petty depths.

And yet anyone who read the original series is left to ask “what the hell is going on here?”. Doumeki still has his egg, so this isn’t a total reboot. And there are little hints that this is not really a reset but something of a continuation after all. Is Watanuki trapped in some sort of fantasy where he goes about the early manga shenanigans? Is this the world we’d be seeing if the dreaded name “Li Syaoran” had never crossed anyone’s lips? I suspect this is the case, even though I don’t want it to be, because I really did not like xxxHOLIC’s ending at all, and would really like to avoid ending up back in that place. And so you’re left with the ambiguity, which of course is what CLAMP revels in with this series.

Nevertheless, even if I worry about the endgame, this is a terrific volume to pick up for those who dropped the series around the 30,000th Tsubasa crossover. The art is terrific, still one of the main selling points (just look at that cover!). There’s some examination of human nature that’s cringeworthy – in a good way. And there is Watanuki, still the best creation CLAMP has come up with in the past ten years, back to trying to come to terms with his life and not simply accepting that he has to live in Yuko’s shop for the next 100 years. That alone is worth the price of the book. Let’s see how long it keeps up before the illusion is ripped away.

By Kanae Hazuki. Released in Japan as “Sukitte Ii Na Yo” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dessert. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

(This review is based on an advance copy provided by the publisher.)

For every manga series out there that the reader immediately falls in love with the moment they read the first chapter, there are four others that take a while to get cooking. This can be dangerous, as readers are very casual these days and can drop a work fast if it doesn’t reach out and grab them. But even in works that aren’t lights out, there is a spark of something, be it a background, a secondary character, or what have you, that keeps you wanting to come back in hopes of getting more. That’s where I am with this manga, whose first volume I found flawed yet intriguing at the same time.

The author, Kanae Hazuki, may be familiar to reader with long memories and a habit of buying everything – her one-shot volume Voices of Love was published by Aurora under the LuvLuv imprint, their unsuccessful attempt to jumpstart a market for romantic and slightly smutty josei manga here in North America. This title is her breakout hit, and runs in Kodansha’s shoujo/josei borderline magazine Dessert, so I suspect it won’t get as explicit as most of her other works, but you never know – the lead male is hinted to be sexually active, something you rarely see in the fluffier shoujo titles.

The premise is ‘popular boy meets bullied girl and finds her interesting’, not exactly the most original one in the book. But Hazuki, in an afterword, notes how she wanted to focus on the bullying aspects, and it’s done quite well – by the end of the volume Mei and Asami may be friends, but the majority of the class is still not above being vicious to her, and Mei is not about to get any help from others – indeed, at one point after getting beaten by a couple of girls in her class, Mei notes to Yamato, “I fell.” This manga appears to have a more serious tone than My Little Monster, the other Dessert title Kodansha recently picked up, and that all starts with Mei. She has low self-esteem and most of her emotions have been repressed for years, so when Yamato shows interest in her she’s even more confused than before.

As for Yamato, his popular guy conceals a dark past, and we see why he would be nice to someone like Mei, who the rest of the school seems to delight in abusing. (Teacher figures are entirely absent from this volume, of course.) In fact, a lot of his behavior in this volume makes more sense in retrospect after the final chapter where he talks about his middle school years, and I honestly spent most of the volume not really liking him much. It didn’t help that his friend Nakanishi is the loud obnoxious type and his own romantic relationship was resolved, in my opinion, far too quickly, possibly so that there can be a couple that each of the leads can go to for advice later on.

There was a lot of awkward here. The characters didn’t reach out and grab me except for Mei, the pacing read like the author intended it to be another one-shot and was startled at having to expand it into multiple volumes, and there are a few consent issues here as well. At the same time I liked the basic themes, I want to see Mei’s character development, and I want to read more about how the cast battles back against the culture of bullying they live in. This volume is a bit half-cooked, but tasty enough that I’ll stick around for more.