Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother, Vol. 1

by

By Chidori Hama and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Rymane Tsouria.

First of all, because I know it’s the first question on everyone’s mind, there’s no incest subtext in this book. OK, there’s no sexual incest subtext. There’s tons of Brocon/siscon stuff, and the usual “I’m never marrying anyone I’ll just stay with you” nonsense, but there is zero sexual attraction between the two leads beyond Ekaterina thinking her brother is hot. Which he is. Secondly, in the afterword, the author says they got the idea for this series after reading another villainess book. They don’t say which one, but if it’s not My Next Life As a Villainess, I’ll be very surprised. This, like quite a few villainess books, reads like someone wanted to write the same series only with the main character being less of a complete dipshit. And this not only includes Ekaterina trying hard to avoid her doom, but also includes her befriending the heroine, who seems to fall deeply in love with her. That said, this will likely be about as canon as Bakarina as well.

Rina Yukimura is an OL in a Black Company-type job, who ends up dying of overwork and exhaustion while playing an otome game she loves. Now she wakes up as… the game’s villainess! Ekaterina Yulnova is the sister of a duke, and spends most of the game bullying the heroine until she eventually gets her comeuppance. So Rina has several things she has to do. First, she and Ekaterina start off as very different people, and meshing their personalities (well, more like Rina takes over) takes a lot of energy. Secondly, she has to work hard to not be the villainess, which means actually study hard and also read up on her family history, which was not gone into in the game, and turns out to be a lot darker than she expected. This is all before she gets to school, and meets Lady, Flora, a commoner who is now the adopted daughter of a baroness…

If that summary made you roll your eyes a bit, I don’t blame you. It’s a bit boilerplate, yes. Ekaterina is fun, though. Having died from overwork in her past life, she sees her brother running the entire dukedom and panics that he’ll do the same thing… while remaining blissfully obvious that she’s fallen into her own overwork habits from before. Flora is a shyer, more reserved Maria Campbell, but they even bond over good food – in this case, potato and bacon crepes rather than sweets – and seems to hero worship Ekaterina just as much, and some other ladies also look smitten by the end of this volume. That said, she’s also gaining male followers. In addition to her brother, who reads like Keith Claes only without all the creepy, there’s the Prince, who reads a lot like Jeord but without all the creepy. Oh yes, and there’s also monster attacks, which Bakarina doesn’t do as much but does allow Ekaterina to help save the day with her “common” Earth magic… which again, feels like a comment on Katarina Claes and her Earth Bump.

If you like villainess books, this isn’t bad. If you want Bakarina with the serial numbers filed off, it’s also not bad. Just… expect the yuri to go the same way it’s going to go in Bakarina.

The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat After Getting Dumped for Her Sister!, Vol. 2

by

By Makino Maebaru and Murasaki Shido. Released in Japan as “Kon’yaku Haki Sareta “Kūki” na Watashi, Nariagari no Dan’na-sama ni Totsugimashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

Last time I said that I enjoyed a romance with a few jagged edges, and this second volume provides. In fact, it provides a bit too much. This volume features sexual assault, threats of sexual assault, past histories of both sexual assault and murder, drug addiction, forced drug addition, kidnappings, and use of sexual language to degrade. And that’s all just Mikhail. It’s less “jagged edges” now and more “the floor is lava”. At its heart, though, like so many of this genre, the story is about examining the aristocracy, the power that they hold over the working class, and how it can be abused without anyone knowing or caring. Now, eventually they do care, trust me. But it takes a lot of evidence, and it also requires Iris to endure a large amount of the above, all for the sake of her husband, who people still don’t trust. It’s a lot.

When we last left Iris and Lucas, she had gotten a letter from her sister, who basically wrote (in nearly illiterate script), “come do everything for my engagement party because I demand it”, which causes Iris to briefly have a bit of a breakdown. After this, though, she resolves to not only return to her family to help with her sister’s engagement party, but to use this opportunity to cut things off with her family once and for all. Which, of course, is tricky because the first prince is still determined to ruin Lucas, and the easiest way to do that is through Lucas’ new wife. Iris also has her work cut out for her: her dad is drunk and gambling away all his money, her stepmother hates her, and her sister is a jealous spoiled brat who can’t even read or write well. Oh yes, and there’s her ex-fiancé, Mikhail. See above.

How much you like this volume may depend how much you can tolerate “I will stoically endure for the sake of my future happiness”. The scene at Mikhail’s mansion is harrowing, and this is even with Iris taking guards and maids just in case. Her family’s dissoluteness turns out to have been engineered, which does not make her sympathetic to them, but it does mean that at least we don’t long to see them die horribly like, say, we long to see happen to Mikhail. There’s also a fake ending, as I wondered if the main conflict would be wrapped up 3/4 of the way through the book and the series would end with a consummation at last. But no, this series turns out to be three volumes, not two, and the main villain escapes so he can once again kidnap, threaten, and exude his sexist fantasies at Iris. Worst of all, he’s not killed off (at least not on the page), so I suspect he’ll be back.

This is a good series, and Iris and Lucas’ romance is very well done. But man, there’s a lot of stuff to endure here. Jagged edges are best in moderation.

By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise, Vol. 1

by

By Ringo and Tsukasa Satsuki. Released in Japan as “Wake Atte, Hensō Shite Gakuen ni Sennyū Shiteimasu” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Alex Castor.

I had talked about artifact titles only a couple of days ago, and this is an even better example: after the first forty pages, the title becomes totally incorrect, as this book does not take place at the academy at all beyond that point. Which makes sense: like the best LaLa titles, this started off as a complete in 40 pages short story, which was then expanded, and is now a volume, with a second one on the way. Despite that… yeah, she’s still not attending the royal academy. Oh well, I’ll happily read it anyway, because I like the main couple. We have a heroine (and yes, for once it’s not a villainess or fallen noble but is playing the cliche straight) who is straightforward and blunt and also perhaps doesn’t care enough about her well-being, and a royal prince who is far more similar to her than he’d like. But she’s a commoner, so they can’t marry. Certainly not with everything getting in her way this volume, at least…

As the title suggests, Cesia is at the Royal Academy pretending to be Selene Diane, a noble lady who is a bit of a bitch, and doesn’t want to deal with the bullying she’ll get from being engaged to the handsome lothario Lord Raymond Chaser, so Cesia has been there the last two years in her place. A pile of money awaits her at graduation… unless she’s working for evil nobles. Oh, no, she’s working for evil nobles! So, after escaping from her imprisonment, she resolves to attend graduation to try and get some revenge… even if she has no idea what it is. Then she runs into Marcus, the second :Prince, who not only is here to help her with her revenge but also seems very familiar… After this, the rest of the book plays out, which basically involves Cesia working for the government and ending up in constant life-threatening danger.

There are several interesting aspects of this book, but my favorite is probably Maria. Maria was an acquaintance of Cesia’s at the academy… and also turns out to be Prince Marcus, who can disguise himself to magic to be a woman. Despite discovering this, Cesia continues to see Maria and Marcus separately. Part of this is likely due to the fact that Marcus is royal and it’s easier to be more casual with Maria, but a lot of it is simply subconscious, Cesia is more comfortable with Maria. Which makes Marcus… feel a bit ambiguous. The rest of the book is not all that original (jealous younger sister who turns out to be a total sweetie pie, decadent nobility taking drugs, Cesia almost dying like 4 times…) and ends with a nasty cliffhanger, but Cesia is fun, and really needs some self-esteem. Marcus calls her a “stray cat”, never wanting to settle down, and he’s not far off, but he’s also ignoring his own lack of self-regard, as he’s not the heir.

The second volume is coming out relatively quickly, which is good. For those who like a bit of thriller in their commoner/noble romance.

Manga the Week of 6/19/24

by , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: Despite various difficulties, Manga the Week of lives on!

ASH: Forward!

SEAN: We start with Airship, which has one print volume, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 10.

While early digital gives us Loner Life in Another World 9 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 6.

A debut for Dark Horse Comics, Danganronpa 2: Chiaki Nanami’s Goodbye Despair Quest (Super Danganronpa 2 – Nanami Chiaki no Sayonara Zetsubou Daibouken) is a retelling of the events of the second game from Chiaki’s point of view. It ran in Comic Blade.

Not Ghost Ship but mature, Seven Seas has a 6th volume of Love is an Illusion!.

No debuts for J-Novel Club next week, but we do see D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared 6, Demon Lord, Retry! R 6, I Could Never Be a Succubus! 3, the 4th manga volume of I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again!, My Magical Career at Court: Living the Dream After My Nightmare Boss Fired Me from the Mages’ Guild! 4, and RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’ 2.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga either, but we do see, in print, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 12, A Kingdom of Quartz 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 7, Ogami-san Can’t Keep It In 5, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! 4, Peach Boy Riverside 14, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 8 (the final volume), and Vinland Saga Deluxe 3.

MICHELLE: Well, I guess all of the procrastinating I did on Shonen Note means I now get to read the whole thing in one go.

ASH: Saaaaaame. Unrelated, those deluxe editions of Vinland Saga are gorgeous.

SEAN: And digitally we get The Beast Player 2, Gamaran 22 (the final volume, though see Gamaran: Shura), He’s Expecting 3 (the final volume), Issak 8, Mr. Bride 10 (the final volume), ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 8, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 9 (the final volume), Rent-A-Girlfriend 25 (the fin… no, no, it’s not, this series will never, ever end), Sayabito: Swords of Destiny 3, Undead Girl Murder Farce 6, WIND BREAKER 15, and Ya Boy Kongming! 16.

One Peace Books has the 3rd manga volume of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I’m Not the Demon Lord.

Two debuts for Seven Seas: Chasing Spica (Spica o Tsukamaete) is from Comic Yuri Hime. A girl has been losing to her respectable rival all through high school. Now, in their final year… she gets some blackmail material. A love hotel? With another woman?

ASH: A bit different than Twin Spica, then.

SEAN: Royal Tailor: Clothier to the Crown (Royal Tailor: Oukyuu no Saihoushi) is a josei series from Comic Zero Sum. A young woman dreams of being a tailor, but unfortunately, she lives in a world that discriminates against humans. Will her fortunes turn around?

ANNA: Hooray for josei!

ASH: Indeed! I would totally read this.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Invincible Shovel 7 (the final volume), My Stepmother and Stepsisters Aren’t Wicked 4, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 18, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 7, Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish 6 (the final volume), There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 5, Tokyo Revengers 21-22, and The Tree of Death: Yomotsuhegui 2.

Square Enix has The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses 10.

The debut for Tokyopop is Sweet for Sweets and Foreigners (Koisuru Okashi to Etranger), a josei title from Comic Qurie. A woman who’s good at sales but bad at life meets a handsome Frenchman.

ANNA: Even more josei!

SEAN: They also have Cover My Scars With Your Kiss 2 and Mitsuka 3.

The debut from Viz is Fool Night, a seinen title from Big Comic Superior. This can be summed up as “if you lived in a hellish dystopia, would you fight back, or would you let yourself be turned into a plant? Or both?” For those who want social commentary in manga, this is excellent.

MICHELLE: Sounds potentially interesting!

ANNA: I’m team plant.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: Viz also has Gokurakugai 2, Insomniacs After School 6, Magilumiere Magical Girls Inc. 2, Mission: Yozakura Family 11, Rooster Fighter 6, Show-ha Shoten! 5, and the 23rd and final volume of YO-KAI WATCH.

MICHELLE: I should probably read Show-ha Shoten!.

ASH: Likewise.

SEAN: That leaves us with Yen. Yen On debuts Babel, a semi-sequel to Unnamed Memory, taking place centuries later. This new series is an isekai, though, as a Japanese girl is transported to the future fantasy land, and needs to find a way back home while teaching her own Japanese language to a handsome linguist.

ASH: A handsome linguist, you say.

SEAN: Demons’ Crest is a new series from the creator of Sword Art Online, as he jumps into a completely different genre. Twins enjoy playing a MMORPG, but it suddenly starts fusing with the real world, and also turning deadly! Yup. Totally different genre. (cough)

Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table (Shibou Yuugi de Meshi wo Kuu) stars a young woman who wakes up trapped in a horrible death game. But that’s fine. That’s how she makes a living. I have been told this is better than it sounds.

ASH: Hmmm.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 7, Black Summoner 2 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Date a Live 12, Days with My Stepsister 3, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 10, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 5, I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time 3, The Kept Man of the Princess Knight 2, Kunon the Sorcerer Can See 3, Liar, Liar 4, Miss Savage Fang 2, The Other World’s Books Depend on the Bean Counter 2, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 3 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 6, The Unimplemented Overlords Have Joined the Party! 2, The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess 7, and You Are My Regret 2.

And yes, that’s just light novels. Time for Yen Press. Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra (Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra – Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku) is a manga adaptation of the light novel Cross Infinite World is releasing. The manga runs in Comic Walker. It’s the male version of In the Land of Leadale.

Senpai, This Can’t Be Love! (Senpai, Danjite Koi de wa!) is a BL title from Comic Fleur. The talented veteran is tasked to teach the new guy at their company, and is having trouble with his cool facade. The trouble is… the new guy is having trouble keeping the facade up.

A Sinner of the Deep Sea (Abyss Azure no Zainin) runs in Harta. A mermaid has to deal with the fact that her best friend has fallen for a human. The first of two mermaid debuts next week.

ASH: I’m curious about this one.

SEAN: Sister and Giant: A Young Lady Is Reborn in Another World (Onee-sama to Kyojin) is a fantasy title from Aokishi. A girl is reincarnated in another world, and chooses to bond with a giant. Unfortunately, guess what? Evil church.

ASH: Every time.

SEAN: Sword Art Online: Kiss and Fly is a manga adaptation of the short stories in this series. It runs in Dengeki Daioh.

This Monster Wants to Eat Me (Watashi o Tabetai, Hitodenashi) is a yuri series from Dengeki Maoh. A woman in a seaside town turns out to be delicious. A mermaid wants to eat her, but not till she’s older. So now she has to defend her from other supernatural beings who want a taste. I have heard good things about this, believe it or not.

ASH: I’m curious about this one, too.

SEAN: And there’s Visions 2023__Illustrators Book, the latest artbook.

Also from Yen Press: Adachi and Shimamura 5, Adults’ Picture Book: New Edition 2, Ako and Bambi 2, Assorted Entanglements 5, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 14, Black Butler 33, Black Summoner 2 (in their J-Novel Club imprint), Bungo Stray Dogs: Dead Apple 4, A Certain Magical Index 28, Cheerful Amnesia 3, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 6, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 9, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 10, The Detective Is Already Dead 5, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 21, Heterogenia Linguistico 5, Hi, I’m a Witch, and My Crush Wants Me to Make a Love Potion 4, I May Be a Guild Receptionist, but I’ll Solo Any Boss to Clock Out on Time 3, I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World 4, I Want to Be a Wall 3 (the final volume), Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 23, Kowloon Generic Romance 7, My Dear, Curse-Casting Vampiress 4, No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 23, Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire 3 (from their J-Novel Club imprint), So I’m a Spider, So What? 13, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 7, Unnamed Memory 5, The Witches’ Marriage 3 (the final volume), and Whoever Steals This Book 2.

ASH: Dang, that’s an impressive amount.

SEAN: What final volumes are you getting?

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, Vol. 4

by

By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Yarinaoshi Reijō wa Ryūtei Heika o Kōryaku-chū” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

I feel confident in saying that very few readers of this series will have gone through the same thing that Jill has. Which is good, really, because yikes, Jill once again goes through some stuff in this book. We’ve been reading the series from her perspective, and of course we know it’s a villainess-style “back in time” story, so we’re expecting a lot of fighting fate and never giving up, etc. The problem is that everyone else in the world does NOT have Jill’s perspective. And to them, this is absolute lunacy, and the Dragon Emperor is going to go mad, start a war, and destroy everything. Why on earth would they let this 11-year-old (yup, still, just assume I talked about it already) do whatever the hell she wants just because she says that the two of them are in love? Especially when that love is tested – again – and Jill is forced to once again fight for everything she’s achieved to date or else everything will be set back to the original track.

Jill and Hadis are headed off to get permission to marry from her parents, which requires essentially going through days of traps and dangerous travel because, unsurprisingly, Jill’s entire family are all as eccentric as she is. (It turns out she did the wrong test, too, because Jill is still not the brightest bulb.) Unfortunately, Jill has assumed this will mostly involve her dad saying “you can’t date my daughter, you cur!” and other wacky light novel cliches, forgetting that her family are, in fact, part of the kingdom of Kratos, and that it would be much, much easier, instead of agreeing to Jill and Hadis getting married, to start a war to get Jill away from him. Something which, to Jill’s horror, Hadis is 100% okay with.

Probably the best part of this book (aside from the ending, where Jill once again proves there’s no problem that cannot be solved by extreme violence) is how it ties back to the rest of the series. It’s paying close attention to its backstory, and has not forgotten about the other taboo subject in the series, with is Gerald and his sister starting the whole plot off with their incest. First of all, everything we’ve seen about Gerald in this new timeline makes that seems puzzling, as he just doesn’t seem the type. Then his father, who is a real piece of work, explains what’s actually going on to Natalie, who appears to be taking the role of Jill in this new timeline since Jill has abdicated. It’s not completely explained, but it’s certainly ominous, and is not helped by Faris, who appears to be about to go full evil. I also really liked the look we got at the past Dragon Consorts, and how they all tried to have a wonderful relationship with the Emperor only for it to fall apart. It weighed the tragedy and fate just right.

Assuming you kept reading past the basic premise, this is an excellent volume in the series, from an author who really knows how to make everything feel that the words “BAD END” will appear on the very next page.

Pick of the Week: Last Chance for Spring Picks

by , , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: This week is about digital favorites hitting print for me, so my joint pick of the week is Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection and the latest Tearmoon Empire.

MICHELLE: After reading Sean’s glowing praise of Sketchy‘s first volume, I am going to choose the second volume of same this week!

ASH: There are definitely a few really great ongoing series with new volumes this week, but my pick goes to The Untamed: The Official Artbook. One of the things that makes the live-action adaptation of Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation so great is its visuals, so this should be great, too.

KATE: Any week that gives us new installments of Even Though We’re Adults and Akane-banashi is a good one in my book!

ANNA: Picks are thin on the ground for me this week, but I will admit I am curious about True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends – One Star in the Night Sky.

Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor, Vol. 2

by

By Iota AIUE and Misa Sazanami. Released in Japan as “Nanashi no Ōjo to Reikoku Kōtei: Shītagerareta Yōjo, Konse de wa Ryū to Mofumofu ni Dekiai Sarete Imasu” by M Novels f. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by JCT.

I always enjoy it when a series with an “artifact title” manages to find a way to work it into future volumes regardless. An artifact title is when you title a book or a show after something that happens at the start that gets fixed, and you’re then left with that title even though it really doesn’t make sense anymore. See, for example, The Ideal Sponger Life. Third Loop was an obvious candidate, as the Nameless Princess gets a name at the end of the book: Angelina. As such, well, how is she nameless? This ssecond volume, though, comes up with something quite clever: people are calling her “the Polaris Princess”, but are seeing her as her title or her power rather than as a four-year-old girl. (To be fair, she’s mentally a lot older… well, kind of.) So she once again has o deal with enforcing her identity upon those who would deny it. Luckily, she has friends.

We’re coming up on a ten-day celebration and ritual for her older brother Kyril. Naturally, having won over everyone in the first book, Angelina will have a large role, despite being four years old. Indeed, one of the main parts of the ritual HAS to be done by her, as the Emperor, um, sort of killed off every other women in his family to ascend to the throne. As one does. That’s not the only issue she’s facing. The goddess of the Heavenly Sovereign Temple has descended for the ceremony, and she does Not Like Angelina At All. There’s also the issue of some wells in the commoner part of the kingdom freezing up… in high summer. Could this be related to the demon tribe that their nation has been at war with, who have arrived seemingly just to be jerks? And can Angelina really solve everything by gumption and cuteness?

Well, nearly. As I alluded to above, this series is not really very good at making Angelina act her age. This is not an uncommon problem with time loop or reincarnation stories that start with them as a baby – technically they should act like they’re in their thirties, but the reader wants to see her be an adorable kid who lisps when she gets stressed. But maybe that’s the way to keep her from being too OP, as it’s clear that Angelina being adorable and forthright solves almost every problem in this book. It’s how she gets gods on her side. It’s how she deals with introverted royalty, insecure priestesses, and her bodyguard and best friend. She’s weaponized being cute as a button. (Perhaps too much – I could have done without the standard “overprotective dad” joke where he worries his four-year-old girl is running away to get married.)

So yes, flawed. But honestly, if you’re hear for the cute? You can put up with a lot of flaws. And the gumption and forthrightness is also excellent.

Bookshelf Briefs 6/9/24

by and Leave a Comment

Bakemonogatari, Vol. 21 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Kodansha Manga – Gonna say something controversial here: is the manga the best version of this series? The anime is great, but can sometimes get too caught up in SHAFT being SHAFT. The light novel suffers massively from “lost in translation” and no character being able to shut their mouth unless they’re monologuing. That’s true here as well, but at least with manga you can have amazing background visuals going on as it happens. And, of course, Oh!great is who he is, so the massive tiger also turns out to take the form of a hot dark-skinned woman to satisfy fanservice fans. We see Senjogahara pretending not to see, we see Hanekawa suffering but also winning, and we also see Hanekawa demand Araragi grab her boobs with hilarious artwork. This is the purest form of this series. I can’t believe the next book is the last. – Sean Gaffney

Before You Discard Me, I Shall Have My Way with You, Vol. 1 | By Takako Midori and Selen| Steamship – There were two recent Steamship debuts, and of the two, this is definitely the darker one. Our protagonist is, of course, publicly dumped and shamed by the prince, who is dropping her for a (somewhat manipulative) other girl. Before accepting this, however, she decides to kidnap and sexually assault him. Her goal is to have everyone think she might be pregnant, so that she won’t be quietly killed (though she did take contraceptives). Unfortunately, what ends up happening is the prince now has a taste for non-consensual sex, only with him as the lead. How much you enjoy this depends entirely on your taste for non-con, but if that is your taste, then this should be right up your alley, as it does that well. – Sean Gaffney

Bless, Vol. 1 | By Yukino Sonoyama| Kodansha Manga – This is one of those “wait, this is shonen?” titles, as everything about it screams that it should be running in Betsufure or Be Love. A pretty boy model has a different dream—he wants to do makeup for others. His classmate Jun is introverted and hunched, as her face is full of freckles, but when she smiles and stands straight she’s gorgeous. Suddenly he has a model he wants to make even more beautiful. I liked how clear this series was about what makes success possible in the cutthroat world—yes, talent is important, but it helps to have the money and popularity to be able to get what you want, and even then that may not be enough, because there’s also an element of luck and je ne sais quoi. I’ll be checking out more of this. For fans of fashion. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 28 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – Each of the chapters here, until the final one, are basically “what happens to this supporting/main character.” The funniest is the resolution of the Nagisa/Tsubasa/Maki love triangle, which reminds you this ran in Young Jump, not Shonen Jump. The yuriest is Ai’s flashforward finale, showing that she’s essentially moved in with Chika and is living like a leech (runner up goes to Kaguya’s reaction to Chika possibly getting married). The most predictable is Ishigami and Iino, who have turned into the next generation in more ways than one. And the most heartwarming is the finale, where Miyuki tries to sneak into graduation and realizes how important he was to the entire school. I will miss this wonderful series. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate, Vol. 1 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – Kurumi is the star of this sequel/side story, and how much you enjoy it likely depends on how much of her you can take, because she is A LOT in this volume. She’s glommed onto Sawako in college, practically living with her, but things get difficult when she’s invited to a mixer. Not being ready to do this alone, she forces Sawako to pretend she does not have a boyfriend and go along… and attracts the attention of a total creep. Fortunately, a savior arrives. It’s Sawako’s cousin Eiji, who is cool, handsome, and immediately attracted to Kurumi, which freaks her out. The Soulmate of the title is likely eventually going to refer to Eiji, but at the moment it definitely refers to Sawako, as the main series may not be yuri but it sure does lean into it. Exhausting. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You: Soulmate, Vol. 1 | By Karuho Shiina | VIZ Media – Sean found this exhausting, but I actually really liked it. Kurumi, or Ume-chan as she is beginning to accept to being called, has put up a lot of walls because people only ever saw her for her looks. Sawako’s cousin Eiji, dashing as befits a shoujo hero, sees how protective she is of Sawako and challenges her own narrative that she’s a bad person. To him, she’s cute on the inside, much more so than the outside. I suppose this story does require a certain amount of tolerance for pricky tsundere heroines, but I enjoyed seeing Kurumi have to learn to accept that someone nice really does like her and that she’s come a long way from the person she used to be. I look forward to the remaining two volumes of this sequel. – Michelle Smith

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 29 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – The author finally introduces a new character who’s meant to be important and whose name isn’t an immediately obvious pun on her personality. Unsurprisingly, she’s from another school. She knew Tadano in middle school, when he was a massive chuuni, and rejected him as she wanted him to change. Now he has, great news! Unfortunately, he’s dating Komi. Most of the book is made up of Kawai challenging Komi to various games, implying that the loser is not good enough and should give up on Tadano. Komi doesn’t win the games, but does not give up on Tadano, because the world does not run on bullshit, not even the world of Komi Can’t Communicate. Still, Kawai made the volume stronger than the later ones have been, so well done. – Sean Gaffney

My Gemini | By Yuu Morikawa | Yen Press – I had hopes for this book, and sadly they were only half fulfilled. The manga starts from the POV of John, an Izuku Midoriya lookalike who is friend to the incredibly popular identical twins Jekyll and Hyde, and is the only one who seems to be able to tell them apart. Then one twin dies, leaving the other one devastated and searching for answers. First of all, and it’s rare that you’re hearing me say this, this would have worked better as BL. John appears throughout, but most of the emotional heft comes from the surviving twin, leaving him more as a sounding board and emotional teddy bear. The book also could have used more chapters to build up its angst—either it was cancelled fast, or the author found Mr. Villain’s Day Off was the stronger horse. That leaves this sadly half-baked. – Sean Gaffney

Neighborhood Story, Vol. 2 | By Ai Yazawa | Viz Media This volume is a lot more serious than the first one, and you can see Yazawa starting to struggle against the restrictions of shoujo that will lead her towards titles like Paradise Kiss and NANA. The romance—for Miwako, at least—is the easiest part, as it’s mostly just Miwako realizing her own feelings and actually acting on them. More difficult is her career, as she’s given a harsh lesson that fashion is for the consumer, not the designer. And then there’s her family issues, as her father comes back into her life… and turns out to have been trying to contact her. She wants to confront her mother about it… but now her mother has collapsed with an ulcer! This is starting to get the “tortured soap opera” feel of her later works, but is still silly and fun. – Sean Gaffney

Sketchy, Vol. 1 | By MAKIHIROSHI | Kodansha Manga – I want to love realistic josei titles a hell of a lot more than I tend to do in practice, so it’s great to see a book that grabbed me as fast as Sketchy does. Ako works a dead-end job in a video rental store, all her school friends are married with kids, and her boyfriend has made it clear that, though he’s not breaking up with her, there’s no way they’re getting married. Then she spots a young woman skateboarding, and can’t stop thinking about it. Towards the end of this volume the cast expands, and we see other young women in crisis, either of their own making or by happenstance, also reaching out to the ways of the skateboard. Yes, I want to see them doing cool tricked-out jumps, but I also really want to see them bond and realize that romance is not the only way to find fulfillment. Excellent. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 49 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – The funniest bits in this volume have to do with Kyoko, juggling a few secret identities, having to hide the fact that she finally, FINALLY understands Ren’s feelings… and of course now that she’s had to deny it he wants to have another chat with her. Elsewhere, we see Kanae’s ongoing concerns with her acting and her English, to the point that Kyoko goes along with her as a PA. Of course, this also means that Kyoko is brought in as an actor as well, because we’ve already seen that she can Jackie Chan it up with the best of them. This comes out so infrequently that I really should do a massive reread, but I don’t have the time, so let’s hope I remember what’s going on by the time the 50th volume comes out in ten months or so. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 49 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Kanae has been cast in a movie requiring her to act in English, and it’s nice to see her sharing her insecurity regarding that with Kyoko. Their agency, LME, not only assigns Kyoko to accompany her but also basically produces a practice film, giving many of its actors the opportunity to work in English. Unfortunately, during the course of filming, Kyoko is forced to say she now despises Ren for the tawdry tabloid romance he is allegedly having. When he later asks to speak with her, she’s worried he’s misunderstood, but I love that this concern does not keep her from turning in a stellar action sequence. And, then, of course, what he wants to talk about turns about to be something minor and yet kind of a big step for their relationship. It looks like it will be nearly an entire year before we see what happens, though. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

Tamon’s B-Side, Vol. 3 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – Utage’s dedication to being a fan rather than a real human being to these idols she knows has done well so far, but it’s starting to be pushed to its limits. It’s pretty clear that Tamon is becoming obsessed with her… and while this is a romance manga, it’s not entirely a healthy obsession. As for the raging asshole from the last volume, surprise, he’s also fallen for her, and is a lot less raging once he and Tamon resolve their issues. That said, there’s always a bigger fish, and it turns out that the sweet airhead of the group is really a calculating manipulator who does not like Utage at ALL. That said, the main reason to get this is still the humor, as Utage’s reactions are hysterical much of the time, especially when she’s proselytizing. – Sean Gaffney

Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord, Vol. 5

by

By Satori Tanabata and Tea. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijō Level 99: Watashi wa Ura Boss Desu ga Maō dewa Arimasen” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

The anime has now finished, and it ended up being a fantastic advertisement… for the manga. Great news for that, but as for the light novel, I think anyone who enjoyed the anime and reads it is not going to be anything other than pissed off. That said, I think the author, now that they are aware that this won’t be a short series, is trying to do something beyond “Yumiella is wacky and dumb” over and over again. For the first, oh, 4/5 of this book, we get a deeper Yumiella, who actually thinks and makes realizations that are actually correct. Admittedly a lot of this is because she spends a great deal of the book depressed, but it’s still a positive development. She’s dragged into politics that have been simmering since the first book, and does OK… well, till the last fifth of the book, where Yumiella reminds us who she is. Sigh. It was nice while it lasted.

Yumiella is supervising (well, not really) the building of several new structures in her territory in preparation for her upcoming wedding when she is lured to the capitol, supposedly to build cool sentai armor, but in reality to be fitted for her wedding dress. The one-two punch of having to endure the fitting and discovering that anime giant robot physics don’t apply in this world sends her into a funk, which is not helped by Eleanora – spotted in the capitol – being dragged into a dispute between the radicals and the moderates… which she only just now realizes was framed to her by those who support the moderate side. Now both sides are grappling for power, and are trying to use Yumiella’s position to get it, reasoning she is sensible enough not to punch people to death. Which is true. That is the end of the sensibility.

Let’s get the terrible out of the way first. Everything about the final bit with Yumiella and her parents is pathetic and awful and unfunny, and it does not help that everyone in the story agrees with me. Ugh. Leaving that aside, I did enjoy this. Yumiella is more sensible until the denouement, something she even notices herself. She also is starting to examine her own habits and thought processes and find them wanting, especially when it comes to observing others. That said, Eleanora is easily the reason to read this. The running gag in the book is that Eleanora, the duke’s daughter, is not the same person as Eleanora, the girl everyone knows is living with Yumiella. But that’s also very true – Eleanora has grown up. She is using her own special talents to help businesses. She’s mature enough to criticize Prince Edwin and even say that his own morose moping makes her hate him now (though she later melts down after realizing what she did). She’s terrific. Yumiella… ends up backsliding, alas.

It was nice to see the book wade back into the politics of the first two again, and it’s still fun to read, provided you completely separate it from its adaptations.

A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady, Vol. 1

by

By Mashimesa Emoto and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Minna Lin.

Fallen Noble Lady series are getting to be a bit glutted in this market. We’ve already had to separate them from Villainess stories (note the Japanese does not say Akuyaku Reijō), but even after doing that it seems you cannot throw a shoe without hitting another young woman being publicly humiliated by her fiancee. As such, you need to make sure, when you write another such story, that you have a gimmick. And it’s got to be a really good gimmick. Slime Duke? Controls slimes? Not bad, but could be better. Slimes are also, honestly, a bit overdone. She bakes yummy treats? Boooooring, seen it. She secretly has multiple men in love with her but is totally clueless? Boooooring, seen it. No, this series needed something more. Something truly astounding to put it ahead of the pack. It needed a duck. An attack duck. An attack duck that goes with the heroine to her new domain and proceeds to wreak a reign of terror (on the male ducks). It’s glorious.

Technically our heroine, Francette, is the sister of the Fallen Noble Lady. But said sister rebounds fast, and ends up the Queen of a neighboring country. This is not her story. Francette, however, does lose the family house, money, and everything else. She ends up staying with her father because, well, after seeing that she is rather tired of nobility. Unfortunately, her dad tends to run around with other women. And one day the husband of one of those women goes to see Francette, saying she has to pay 200,000 in restitution or he’ll force her into a brothel. Even her attack duck can’t help her out of this. Fortunately, out from a bush (it makes sense in content, but only later on) steps the owner of the slime that she took in from off the street, and he’s there to… propose to her!?

So, first of all, the biggest minus for this volume: the duck should have been on the cover. Come on. Also, word of warning, but Gabriel, the Slime Duke (he’s a human, not a slime, it’s a title) is a bit of a creepy stalker, in the sort of “I am too pathetic to express my infatuation so I will instead follow her around secretly” kind of dweeb. Fortunately, once they’re actually forced to meet, they turn out to be the best things for each other, as she builds him up and praises him, while he gives her a ;purpose and a new family. There are identical maid triplets with different personalities here as well, which is a trope that is almost impossible to get wrong, and this does not. It does have villains who are super, duper, ooper evil, and multiple threats of being forced into sex work, but at heart this is a fluffy story with a cute couple, cute slimes, and a vicious duck who will cut you.

My favorite part is when Gabriel introduces the mansion residents (his histrionic mother, the triplet maids, and the head servant who is a woman but dresses as a butler) and says that Francette is the only normal one there. He says this to her as she is holding her duck under one arm. Normal is overrated.

A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life, Vol. 10

by

By Yuu Tanaka and Nardack. Released in Japan as “Deokure Tamer no Sono Higurashi” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by A.M. Cola.

This book does so many things wrong and yet I still greatly enjoy each volume. Honestly, I think I’d enjoy it far less if I were a gamer. I’ve never gamed fighting games at all, so the concept of “oh look, its HP is down to 30% so it’s changing its attack pattern” is something I’ve only experienced through light novels, which generally speaking cannot shut up about being the author’s game log turned into prose. And yet. Somehow, Yuto and his cute li’l monsters fighting don’t really bother me (it helps that I know I can sort of read much faster when I get to this point). Likewise, the “we get Yuto’s POV, then switch to other POVs” can be very aggravating if it’s just repeating the same events, but this book doesn’t do that. Also, like Bofuri, the Forum Threads work well. Most of all, I love watching Yuto being the biggest dipshit ever when it comes to knowing how good he is at this game.

We’re still in that weird combination of prehistoric monsters and island beach adventure. Yuto is ready to start searching for pirate gold… well, no, he’s just trying to follow the clues to the pirate shi0p that’s in an underwater cove, which leads to a lot of dead pirate skeletons. He then meets up with some of his friends, who are streaming, and once again accidentally reveals one of the most important parts of the event without knowing it’s important or realizing he’s doing it, which forces the mods to have to alter the entire big finale. The finale is pretty big, though, with lots of top line players, including Holland, the top player in the game. Will he ;pull it off and kill the Big Bad? Or will Yuto accidentally back into being awesome again?

I mean, the title of the book should give the answer to that question. If you enjoy Yuto being nice, generous, and deeply clueless, this is a fantastic book. Even when he’s spending his entire winnings at the end of the book to trick out his Japanese house into becoming a mansion that would cost upwards of 10 million dollars to buy in the real world, he’s framing it as “oh, hey, cool thing here, I bet everyone else is doing this”. Yuto’s isolation is the reason this all works so well. Yes, he has lots of casual friends in the game, and talks to them about stuff. He also occasionally buys information. But he never searches forums to solve problems, or reads them at all, really, except in very rare cases. As such, he has no idea how other people are normally spending their time or their money. His idea of “this is obvious, everyone else must do it” is everyone else’s idea of “WHAAAAAAAAAAT???”.

So yeah, arc over. I have a feeling the next book may be a slow life sort of break. We shall see. In the meantime, please enjoy the male Bofuri.

Manga the Week of 6/12/24

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s officially hurricane season, and there’s a hurricane of manga.

The debut from Viz Media is Naruto: Sasuke’s Story—The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust (Naruto: Sasuke Retsuden – Uchiha no Matsuei to Tenkyu no Hoshikuzu), a manga adaptation of the light novel. The manga ran in Shonen Jump +.

Also from Viz: Akane-banashi 6, Call of the Night 16, Love’s in Sight! 7, Mao 17, Mashle: Magic and Muscles 16, One Piece: Ace’s Story 2 (the manga version, and the final volume), Skip Beat! 3-in-1 16, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 24.

ASH: Oooh, some good stuff there!

ANNA: Nice! I can’t believe there are so many volumes of Sleepy Princess.

SEAN: SuBLime gives us Birds of Shangri-La 3 and Finder Deluxe Edition 13.

From Square Enix we see The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl 5, My Clueless First Friend 6, and My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 13.

Seven Seas time. Danmei fans will enjoy The Untamed: The Official Artbook, an artbook for the Netflix series that was based on Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation.

ASH: Very nice.

SEAN: Seven Seas proper has one debut. Marriage to Kitsune-sama (Okitsune-sama ni Totsugimashite) is a BL title from Comic Marginal, and complete in one volume. A young man is betrothed to a handsome fox spirit, and both of them are happy. Unfortunately, the fox spirit is under a curse that makes him want to eat his husband.

MICHELLE: Oops.

ASH: When you say “eat”…

ANNA: Hmm……

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom 6, Even Though We’re Adults 8, I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl 6, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 9, Night of the Living Cat 4, and Re: Monster 9.

ASH: I really need to get caught up with Even Though We’re Adults.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 7th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

Kodansha Books has a 6th light novel of The Dawn of the Witch. This is the final volume.

Kodansha Manga has one debut, Ninja Vs. Gokudo (Ninja to Gokudou), a Comic Days series showing ninja fighting yakuza.

Also in print: The Fable Omnibus 3-4, How I Met My Soulmate 3, I Can’t Say No to the Lonely Girl 2, The Moon on a Rainy Night 5, Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 7, Sketchy 2, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime Omnibus 4-6.

ASH: Shonen Note is another great series I’m sadly behind on.

SEAN: Digitally we see Fungus and Iron 5, Gang King 18, Giant Killing 43, Having an Idol-Loving Boyfriend is the Best! 5, How to Treat a Lady Knight Right 5, I Have a Crush at Work 4, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 12, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP even at Level 1 13, and You Must Be This Tall to Propose! 3 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: One of these days, I really will get caught up on Giant Killing.

ASH: If it was ever released in print, I’d buy it in a heartbeat.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has some print. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection 1, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 9, the 7th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga volume, the 5th Slayers Collector’s Edition, and Tearmoon Empire 10.

One debut from J-Novel Club in digital, and it’s a manga. My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World (Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life) is the manga adaptation of the light novel JNC already released. It runs in Dengeki Playstation.

They also have After-School Dungeon Diver: Level Grinding in Another World 2, The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 3, the 5th Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers manga, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 9, the 9th Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon manga, the 2nd The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival manga, the 10th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 6.

Ghost Ship has a 10th volume of The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You.

ASH: Still haven’t managed to get around to reading the first volume, although I’ve heard I should.

SEAN: And for “not Ghost Ship but mature”, we get the 7th and final PULSE and the 2nd Punch Drunk Love.

Dark Horse has the 8th volume of its Hellsing re-release.

Airship, in print, debuts True Love Fades Away When the Contract Ends – One Star in the Night Sky (Unmei no Koibito wa Kigen Tsuki). This is from the author of Making Jam in the Woods, I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem, and The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent. A young woman trying to avoid getting married meets a young man with the same goal. Can they solve the problem by pretending to be in a relationship?

ASH: That will definitely work.

ANNA: Best way to avoid relationships. Except for I assume running off to make jam in the woods.

SEAN: It also gives us Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 7 (the final volume).

And in early digital we see The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 8 and Reincarnated Into a Game as the Hero’s Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes 2.

And that’s the story of the hurricane. What manga are you getting?

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 18

by

By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Tara Quinn. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

So if the last volume was a soft reboot, then this volume is a return to basics. That’s good news for the newbie reader, who may be unfamiliar with our cast of characters, but it’s very bad news for ongoing readers who really don’t need Mile’s Greatest Hits Vol. 18. To make matters worse, when we switch to the Wonder Trio they do the exact same thing that the Crimson Vow did in the previous book, meaning we’re repeating stuff that we saw Mile and company literally doing last time. Things do pick up towards the end, when we meet a new character who manages to be slightly different from everything we’ve seen before… but the main cast think she’s annoying (to be fair, she is) and are trying to get rid of her as quickly as possible. Again, this has the feel of a series where the author has run out of things to say, but can’t end it because it’s too popular.

The Crimson Vow have started over as lowly F-rankers… which doesn’t even last ten pages before they are promoted to C-rank so they do not immediately destroy the town, guild, and everything else by being themselves. They immediately take an inactive mission that’s been sitting there, going to a village to try to kill the wolves that have been murdering their livestock. Except the wolves are basically puppies. And the livestock isn’t eaten or dragged into the forest. Yeah, something suspicious is going on here. Meanwhile, the Wonder Trio are also in this new land, and discovering the exact same things Mile did last time – the monsters are much smarter here. Finally, the Crimson Vow meet a merchant Girl who is desperate to make her name, and will be incredibly annoying till they help her.

So yes, Arli the merchant girl was who interested me most in this book, though it appears most of what’s interesting about her will be left to the 19th volume. She’s refreshingly rude and blunt, but it turns out that this is just a front, and that she’s far more depressed and exhausted than she makes herself out to be. I’m intrigued. I am less intrigued by Mile absuing the elder dragons to solve problems – again – or the Crimson Vow utterly destroying a group of village elders who wanted to take advantage of them – again. As for the Wonder Trio, they’re more irritating here, as they’re going over old ground almost to the point of saying the same lines, and they’re being unthinkingly arrogant in a way that’s not funny to the reader. On the bright side, the Crimson Vow taking a group of old fisherman on one last sea hunt was pretty heartwarming.

So yeah, another FUNA book down, and it didn’t even have the decency to have atrocities committed, like I can get from Potion Girl. Disappointing.

Guillotine Bride: I’m Just a Dragon Girl Who’ll Destroy the World

by

By Daigo Murasaki and Kayahara. Released in Japan as “Dantōdai no Hanayome: Sekai o Horobosu Futsutsukana Tatsuki Desu ga” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kiki Piatkowski.

I almost wish this was worse. If there was something offensive about it, something that made me want to scream in rage (still looking at you, Livid Lady), I’d have no issues writing this review at all. Unfortunately, this has the misfortune of being bad in a bland, flavorless way, and so I’m reduced to looking down at my word count and see I still have 400 words to go. I joked on Twitter that this was a novelization of a harem anime from 2002, and it really felt like one… in all the worst ways. And, of course, it ended up being a cancelled series, so we’re not even getting any more of it. The author apparently also wrote Demon Lord 2099… which I didn’t even start to read. We get three love interests here (plus the childhood friend, who I fear suffered most from the cancellation as she’s barely in this), but none of them have the personality or pizzazz to carry a series. It’s just so… meh.

We open on a kangaroo court condemning a teenage girl, whose dragon powers can apparently destroy the world, to be executed, despite the efforts of the girl’s one friend. We then cut to a typical high school student council, where our hero Ryuunosuke is the vice president, and tends to do all the work. He has an assistant, a beautiful girl who’s in love with him. He has a cute childhood friend. The president is a cool beauty. Then he walks home, and a dragon girl, who had been blown out of the sky from the helicopter taking her to the execution, lands in front of him. Now he not only finds himself drawn to the girl, as he has the power to control her “destroy the world” shenanigans, but also his student council are far less normal than he expected.

So. Rinne is the dragon girl, and… she doesn’t have much of a personality beyond “loves Ryuunosuke and argues with Mari”. Mari is Ryuunosuke’s assistant in the student council, a vampire, and doesn’t have much more of a personality than Rinne, though I will grant it is a little more. Ranko is the student council president, cool scientist type, and mistress of exposition, and she doesn’t get much to do here except get shot and have a last minute surprise that doesn’t matter as there isn’t a second volume. And it’s not much of a surprise. As for Ryuunosuke… he’s Touma. He’s Tenchi. He’s Keitaro. He’s the sort of hero that Araragi and Hachiman are there to deconstruct. He is also boring as hell, and naturally when Rinne tries to strip and seduce him, his reaction is more “Whaaaaaaaaat?” than anything else. Even the final fight is kinda boring.

So yeah. Dunno why this was licensed. Anime coming? It might actually work better as an anime. It’s mind-numbing in print.

Durarara!! Side Stories?!

by

By Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Even more than the Index SS volumes, I’m surprised that this is coming out over here at all. With Index, at least, you can argue that the SS books genuinely affect the plot of future novels. This one is a collection mostly of stories that ran in one or more of Dengeki’s 87 million tie-in magazines, and half the book is a tie-in to either a Japanese video service or a Narita series that has not been licensed over here and likely will never be unless it gets an anime. That said… it’s still a fun volume, because this is Durarara!!, and it’s ridiculous, and I’m just happy to spend more time with these idiots. There are no short stories in here that made me annoyed, though I will note that two of them do accidentally feature the same sort of thing. As for Vamp!… yeah, can’t do anything about that. Hope that Vamp! gets an anime.

The stories: 1) While eating the hot pot as seen in the main novels, we get “what were Mikado and Masaomi like as kids?”, “how did Anri and Mika become twisted friends?”, and “how did Shizuo and Tom meet?”. 2) A goon decides to impersonate Shizuo, a decision so hilariously awful that the rest of the story coasts by on “watch him suffer”. 3) Some quick hit short-shorts starring Celty. 4) We hear about the coming-of-age ceremony of Shizuo, Izaya, Kadota and Shinra. You can imagine how well it goes. 5) A desperate Erika tries to get Celty to become a Niconico streaming star, as Erika is in a war with a rival streamer. The identity of this rival may surprise you. Or not. 6) In a crossover with Vamp!, an unnamed succubus comes to Japan to feed off the desires of victims, but quickly realizes that everyone in this series is dangerously unhinged.

There are, honestly, two short stories here that are head and shoulders above the others, and unsurprisingly they’re the two that feature information that we really should have gotten in the main series. Mika and Anri’s meeting and subsequent friendship is not only driven by Mika’s supposed “need to have someone around to make her look better”, but also the culture of high school bullying in Japan, and she’s fantastic in it. (Speaking of Mika, the succubus chapter points out that while she’s obsessed with Seiji, there is zero sexual desire involved.) The other really good story is Shizuo meeting Tom, who right away is absolutely the best thing that’s ever happened to him. Elsewhere, the fake Shizuo story was very silly and dumb, though I liked seeing Vorona again. The succubus story (I don’t think she’s a cast regular in Vamp!) mostly serves to show off how bonkers Walker is. And there’s honestly too much Erika here. Finally, the book’s surrounding interstitial material is basically “Shinra and Celty are adorable”, which we already know.

DRRR!! fans should feel happy reading this, and are now doubt asking Yen about Vamp! as we speak. It’s a nice look back.