Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Altina the Sword Princess, Vol. 13

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By Yukiya Murasaki and himesuz. Released in Japan as “Haken no Kouki Altina” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

A lot of Japanese fantasy novels tend to take place in “Europe with the serial numbers filed off”, and Altina the Sword Princess is no exception. That said, in terms of the haves versus the have-nots, one look at the map provided at the front of the book will show that the country belonging to our heroes is head and shoulders above the others. Sure, the battle against Britannia was rough, and Hispania seems to be doing the same sort of piracy that Spain was said to be doing back in the days when massive Empires controlled Europe. But Belgaria, the equivalent of France, is not really hurting either. Especially with its new King on the throne, who is not a dissolute reprobate. Unfortunately, what the new King is is someone who will only want eternal war. As a result, the new head of the army Altina and her strategist are headed down south to try to stop the equivalent of Italy from taking several highly prized cities.

Several surprises await Regis and Altina in this book. First of all, Britannia has finally decided to overthrow its current Queen after that disaster of a campaign and is looking for the next in line… who happens to be traveling incognito with our heroes. Secondly, the generals that have made up the fighting force in the south so far seem… slightly off. The Sixth Army is to be praised for having few casualties… but that’s mostly as it keeps retreating. The Eighth Army is at least more gung ho… indeed, their own general seems a little TOO gung ho. And what’s more annoying, the land and cities that are being lost are some of the most fruitful areas in Belgaria in terms of vegetables and wheat… meaning princes are going up due to shortages. The piracy is not really helping. Given all this, it’s no wonder that stopping Elenore from hitting on Regis is low on Altina’s priority list.

With every volume in this book the stakes have gotten higher, and I appreciate the book calling this out. First of all, we get real dead soldiers here, as Regis has to force the other armies’ hands with his own strategy, while at the same time fighting the Etrurian Army. He can’t rely on tricks and schemes to win the battle anymore… he has to find a way to get peace. Which means that he and Altina have got to do something about Latrielle, because the moment they achieve results here they’re told to invade Hispania. Latrielle will not be happy unless he’s fighting someone, the antithesis of what Altina wants. Something has to give soon, and it’s likely going to mean civil war. We also get some good discussion here on ways to fail but not get removed from your post… unfortunately, with Regis in charge, that changes swiftly. Both southern Generals are a different variety of infuriating, so this is for the best.

So, will the next volume be in not-Spain? Or will the gears of war start turning inward? If you like military fantasy, this continues to be a must buy.

Manga the Week of 3/30/22

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SEAN: The end of March, and manga is presumably going out like a lamb.

ASH: I’m not so sure about that…

SEAN: From Yen On we get the one-shot Josee, the Tiger and the Fish (Joze to Tora to Sakanatachi), a short story collection which includes the title story, which has been made into a movie. For fans of Yen’s other one-shot novels that can be summed up as “beautiful but sad”.

ASH: I’ve heard good things about this one.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! TRPG, which turns the world of KonoSuba into a tabletop role playing game, and features the authors of KonoSuba and Re: Zero doing a playthrough of it.

And we get The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn as a Typical Nobody 7.

From Yen Press, we see the debut of Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie (Akuyaku Reijou, Cecilia Sylvie wa Shinitakunai node Dansou suru Koto ni Shita), the manga version of the light novel also published by Yen. It runs in Comic Flos.

Yen also gives us If the RPG World Had Social Media… 2 (the final volume), Let This Grieving Soul Retire 2, Overlord: The Complete Anime Artbook 2, Phantom Tales of the Night 8, Teasing Master Takagi-san 14, and Uncle from Another World 4.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Phantom Tales of the Night.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has Steins;Gate: The Complete Manga (it got bumped) and Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu 10.

Tokyopop gives us the 2nd volume of I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess in an Otome Game but the Boys Love Me Anyway!.

Seven Seas has two debuts. Sheeply Horned Witch Romi (Youkaku no Majo Romi) is from Young Dragon Age, a manga where everyone in the world has fallen asleep except: 1) sheep; 2) a witch with sheep horns, and 3) the sempai with a crush on her!

MICHELLE: Here’s the lamb content we’ve been waiting for.

ASH: Ha!

MELINDA: Wait, wait, I’m HERE for the sheep.

SEAN: Yakuza Reincarnation (Ninkyou Tensei: Isekai no Yakuzahime) is a Sunday GX title. A yakuza badass is killed and reincarnated in another world… as a beautiful girl! This will not stop her from kicking ass.

ASH: As reluctant as I am to admit it, I am intrigued by this isekai variant.

ANNA: This does sound amusing.

SEAN: We also get The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash and the Faerie Case Files 4, Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 4, The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 2, THE EXO-DRIVE REINCARNATION GAMES: All-Japan Isekai Battle Tournament! 2, I Am a Cat Barista 2, My Next Life as a Villainess Side Story: On the Verge of Doom! 2, Reincarnated as a Sword: Another Wish 2, and Unicorns Aren’t Horny 2 (the final volume).

ASH: I need to catch up with the various Ancient Magus’ Bride spinoffs, too.

SEAN: No print debuts for Kodansha, but we do see The Hero Life of a (Self-Proclaimed) “Mediocre” Demon! 3, Something’s Wrong With Us 7, and UQ HOLDER! 25.

Two digital debuts. Bootsleg is a Shonen Sirius series from the artist best known for Yozakura Quartet and the Durarara!! novels. A young man whose family – and limb – were taken from him by a seeming serial killer meets up with the one person who might be able to stop them.

HIRAETH -The End of the Journey- (Hiraeth wa Tabiji no Hate) is from the creator of Our Dreams at Dusk, and runs in Morning Two. A woman despairing over the death of her best friend attempts suicide… and finds herself in another world! This is apparently great, though also dark – Kodansha’s blurb comes with a content warning for suicide ideation.

MICHELLE: Hm. The Our Dreams at Dusk link is very compelling.

ASH: That it is.

ANNA: This sounds exactly like the type of critically acclaimed work that I think I will read but don’t get around to because I’m not in the mood for despair right now.

MELINDA: Oh, this sounds perfect for my mood.

SEAN: Also digital: Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 23, The Great Cleric 8, Stellar Witch LIP☆S 5 (the final volume), Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 2, and Zatsuki: Make Me a Star 2.

MICHELLE: I need to check out some of these.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has some more print editions. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 2 Vol. 2 (manga), Infinite Dendrogram Omnibus 4, Marginal Operation 9, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 3, and Tearmoon Empire 4.

Speaking of Tearmoon Empire, the 7th volume is out digitally next week. We also see Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower 5, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 3, Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer! 2, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 39.

Ghost Ship gives us Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 5-6.

A new light novel from Cross Infinite World: Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds: Life in Another World with My Beloved Hound (Isekai Teni Shitara Aiken ga Saikyou ni narimashita – Silver Fenrir to Ore ga Isekai Kurashi wo Hajimetara). Dead salaryman. Huge overpowered wolf. Relaxed slow life. Fluffy headpats. This book knows what the audience these days wants.

Lastly, Airship debuts I am Blue, in Pain, and Fragile (Aokute Itakute Moroi), another tearjerker from the author of I Want to Eat Your Pancreas. This is the early digital release.

ASH: Glad to see Yoru Sumino’s work is still being translated. (Though, like so many things, I need to catch up…)

SEAN: Also out ahead of print: Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 3, Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 5, and The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 3.

What manga makes you want to go out like a lamb? Or a sheep… lots of sheep manga lately.

Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel!, Vol. 5

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By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao.

If there’s one thing that these villainess stories make clear (and this is definitely a villainess story, even if our hero is the “piggy duke”), it’s that “you can’t fight fate” is not an option. You HAVE to fight fate, because fate has already written the otome game/webnovel/anime in question, and it has you being the villain and dying. Much of this book involves Slowe trying his best to stop the anime plot from happening and war from breaking out, and it’s very, very difficult. It does not help that Shuya, who has merely been a minor pain in Slowe’s side in the first few books, is an active antagonist here, being the ultimate in stubborn, wrongheaded anime “heroes”. Unfortunately, that will lead to disaster, so Slowe not only has to try to stop the city from being destroyed, but also has to try to stop Shuya from being possessed and massacring all his friends. Remember when this was just goofy classroom antics?

Slowe and Charlotte do NOT return to their home country, much to Charlotte’s annoyance, but instead are headed to the Dungeon City, Zenelaus, where Slowe hopes to stop war from breaking out. Unfortunately, he can’t exactly tell Charlotte that he knows how the anime went and that’s why they’re here. Alicia is here as well, mostly as Shuya has decided to help everyone in the city out as an adventurer, and is feeling like he’s really achieving something. Alicia just wants to go home, but she can’t convince Shuya to leave. Nor can Slowe. As for the event that kicks off the war, it involves a lich, a dullahan, and the Eye of the Crimson Lotus, who will stop this insidious plot even if it costs his life… in fact, he seems to regard the loss of his life as a fait accompli.

Most of this book is taken up with what is essentially a siege, but it also gives us a lot more insight into Shuya and how his mind works (even if it’s semi-possessed a lot of the time). As with a lot of anime antagonists, he wants to get strong and protect everyone he cares about. Also like a lot of anime antagonists, he mistakes “being the best” for “being strong” and every time he sees Slowe’s effortless OP powers he gets upset. Gotta be honest, Shuya is really goddamn annoying in this book, and I hope we get less of him in the next one. That said, another very interesting part of this book is the interlude we saw with Slowe seeing Shuya in school for the first time and taking an interest. It’s interesting because this is Slowe before he gets his memories of his past life, and, while passive and grumpy, we also see his insight that shows us why his downfall was such a tragedy.

This was not my favorite in the series, mostly as it relied a lot on a) big fights and b) Shuya being a dumbass. But it was still pretty good.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 9

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by M.B. Hare.

Well, I did wonder in my last review if Yuna could solve problems by hitting things again soon. More to the point, we’re back at the dark end of this series again. Japanese media in general does not shy away from putting dark things into a show that’s ostensibly for children, as anyone who’s seen the end of the first season of Sailor Moon can tell you. That said, Kuma Bear is clearly written more for light novel adults than it is for kids the same age as the girls in it. As such, it can be very surprising to see things like “please come with me to investigate my master’s torture and murder chamber”. I mean, Non Non Boyori rarely deals with the death of everyone’s entire family, nor does K-On! have a string of child kidnappings. But something about “isekai”, putting something in a fantasy world that is not “modern”, makes the authors want to show us just how dark things can get. We’ve seen it here before. It’s still dissonant.

We wrap up the plot from the previous volume here. The party went well, so our evil noble’s evil grandson decides to solve the problem by having Misa kidnapped, and the kidnapper also punches Fina and Noa in the face while he’s at it. To be fair, evil kid’s dad is also kidnapping children of merchants as blackmail. That said, we really haven’t seen Yuna as mad as she is at the start of this book. She’s so furious that the entire city is terrified of her and her two bears tearing through going after the nobles, and its only Ellelaura that manages to stop her enough that she does not commit murder… something that Yuna, as per usual, only really recognizes and dwells on after the fact. The noble house here is pretty much what Yuna feared after playing so many cliches games and reading all these light novels like … well, like this one. The side stories are 100% serious, dealing with a maid who was blackmailed into working for the noble and her current mental state, which is not great.

After this, we have scenes of Yuna finally getting her ingredients from Wa and making mochi. Because of course we do, it wouldn’t be Kuma Bear without switching from serious to happy on a dime. We get warnings about the dangers of eating too much sugar, and we get piles and piles of stuffed bears given out. (Yuna seems to finally have come to terms with the bear onesie and her bear lifestyle in general.) The second half of the book has the guildmaster’s little sister Luimin come to get them because there’s a crisis at the elf village… a crisis which will presumably wait for Book 10, as the rest of this book is the journey there, which involves a group of adventurers and merchants who appear to be crooked, as well as Yuna showing off that crossing a raging river at high tide is nothing to a girl and her bears.

If you enjoyed the light novels, this will please you just fine. If you enjoyed the anime… be aware they cut the darker bits. And if the mood swings bother you… please just bear with it.

Pick of the Week: Caught Hands and New Legs

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MICHELLE: I’m not wildly enthusiastic about anything this week, but I did enjoy This Wonderful Season with You enough to make Deko-boko Bittersweet Days my pick of the week. Even if it is TOKYOPOP.

SEAN: I have heard so much good buzz about Catch These Hands! that it’s definitely my pick this week. I will punch the yuri into you!

KATE: My pick: the final volume of Blue Giant, an entertaining series about a self-taught saxophonist who honks, squawks, and improvises his way to jazz greatness. If you haven’t tried it, now’s a great time to pick it up, both for the terrific cartooning and for the author’s impressive knowledge of music; Blue Giant is one of the only music manga that didn’t make my inner musician cringe. Now that’s saying something!

ASH: Blue Giant is a solid choice, for sure! However, my pick this week actually goes to The Song of Yoru & Asa, another manga that’s at least tangentially related to music, but that comes with far more content warnings. That being said, I’m also really looking forward to giving Catch These Hands and Run on Your New Legs a try, too!

ANNA: I do enjoy sports manga, and for that reason Run on Your New Legs is my pick!

MELINDA: It’s a tough choice for me this week, because I’m tentatively interested in a lot of stuff, but not overwhelmingly obsessed with anything. Still, Catch These Hands sounds too cute to pass up, so I think I’ll be going along with Sean this week!

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, Vol. 13

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By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

As I mentioned last time, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected is not a love story between the dour cynic Hachiman and the bubbly optimist Yui. You know it. I know it. Heck, even Yui knows it. But the series ends with the 14th book rather than the 13th, so this volume is devoted to giving our third protagonist as much screen time as it can get away with given that Hachiman is still its first person narrator. She’s on the cover, and she’s also helping Hachiman with his plan, which can basically be summed up as “do dumb Hachiman stuff in order to draw all the consequences to him”, only by now everyone’s savvy enough not to fall for it – not to mention it’s pretty half-assed to begin with. She and Hachiman make a very good team. Unfortunately, everything he does in this book is for Yukino’s sake. There’s a technical cliffhanger here, but no one in their right mind would believe it. Poor Yui.

Yui suffers mostly from being a bright-eyed optimist in a world of bitter cynics. This includes Haruno, who can’t even drink herself into oblivion; Hayama, who likens himself to a scratching post and has a streak of self-hatred a mile wide; Shizuka, who’s being transferred to a different school (as frequently happens in Japan) and desperately wants to see her manipulations actually pay off and not be destroyed; and even Iroha, our little agent of chaos, who spends much of this book boggling at Hachiman still trying to throw himself against the wall that is Yukino over and over again. He can’t help her with prom, mostly because of that bullshit co-dependence thing Haruno spewed out (Yui needing this explained to her was a highlight). What he can do is serve as a distraction, and honestly, that’s what most of this book is; it’s tap dancing in front of us trying to wait till the resolution in the 14th volume.

While I’m still irritated with Haruno, I will grant that her muttered aside in front of Hachiman did save the day, as he quickly realized what was going on with Yukino’s mother… well, quickly realized it after she tore apart his plan like tissue paper. The running gag in this book is that Hachiman’s plan is rather half-assed and pathetic, and no one seems to think it’s good enough – not even the business minded president of their neighboring high school, who is as annoying as ever but has also earned the punishment of having a crush on Orimoto, which I would not wish on anyone. As for Yukino, well, mostly absent, except for a few very important scenes. Words still need to be said. They aren’t. They’re implied – we have BUCKETS of implication in this book. But “a man’s pride” is not good enough.

All this and we still have enough time for the best written sibling relationship in light novels. This is a strong volume in the series, despite the fact that it feels like delaying tactics. Can’t get away with that next time.

A Tale of the Secret Saint, Vol. 2

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By Touya and chibi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Sita Daiseijyo ha, Seijyo Dearuko Towohitakakusu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Kevin Ishizaka. Adapted by Matthew Birkenhauer.

At least I can respect its consistency, as the 2nd volume of Secret Saint has exactly the same flaws as the first volume did. It can be a lot of silly fun, especially when Fia is forced to be the straight ma in the group despite the fact that she is an airhead 100% of the time. This even holds true, mostly, for the fighting scenes when our heroes are battling the most deadly monsters they’ve ever seen before and Fia reacts the same way you would if you spotted a blue tit in your bird book. On the other hand, it does mean that when we get to the more serious stuff involving the pasts of both Fia and Zavilia, it feels out of place. It’s written well, don’t get me wrong, but out of place. Also not helping things is that this book is technically only 130 pages – the other 80 or so are side stories, interludes and bonus stories, meaning we don’t get much of the main plot.

After the events of the first book, it’s clear that Quentin, at least, has figured out who Fia’s tamed familiar really is. Unfortunately, that makes him into goofy airhead #2, as when he’s talking about powerful monsters he gets obsessive and over the top. The knights are going to set out on a mission to try to drive out the black dragon that is presumed to be in the forest and send it back to its lair, thus solving the “why are so many monsters hovering around here lately?” problem. There are two issues with this plan: 1) the reason the powerful monsters are coming around is they’re drawn to Fia; and b) the powerful black dragon is in fact the familiar that she’s putting bows on to make it look cuter. Still, I’m sure nothing will go wrong, even if it means forcing all the soldiers to deny everything they just saw.

While they feel awkwardly out of place, I will admit that the more serious parts of the story are also the most memorable. Zavilia’s past is the Ugly Duckling gone horribly wrong, and its moral is basically “people are assholes even if they’re dragons”. Far more impactful is Zackary, the most sensible of the captains, trying to get Fia to confess who she really is. She almost does, and feels like she can trust him, but when she starts to do so she has a complete panic attack. This is quite well handled, and Zackary does a good job of helping her recover and backing off, but it’s clear that the trauma of her past life is not remotely something she has gotten over, and therefore allies are going to need to either rely on good faith or assume that the world has turned weird.

I’d argue that if you’re looking for fun overpowered dimwitted swordswomen, Reborn to Master the Blade is probably a better choice. This is still pretty good, thogh, I do hope volume 3 gives us a bit less “let’s pad out the book with other people’s POV”.

Bond & Book: The Long, Long Good-Bye of “The Last Bookstore”

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By Mizuki Nomura and Miho Takeoka. Released in Japan as “Musubu to Hon: “Saigo no Honyasan” no Nagainagai Owari” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder.

If you are reading and enjoying Bond & Book, as well as the author’s prior series Book Girl, then I am going to assume that you are a fan of books. Not just “Oh hey, I like reading” or “I always get the new release of Index when it comes out”, but someone whose entire life is tied up in reading and the titles that have impacted them. Certainly this series is both about and for those people, and while it takes the time to explain the books that it focuses on, there’s a greater depth if you’ve already read the stories in question. Not that I expect too many light novel readers will rush out to buy The Field Guide to Extinct Animals, but certainly The Seagull and The Scarlet Letter are very important to this volume, and being familiar with both stories lends them an added emotional impact. Which is surprising, as the author already knows how to pack quite an emotional punch without the references.

After introducing us to what seemed like our main cast in the previous book, this volume sees Musubu on his own. the reason for that is that he’s gone to a distant town where the bookstores have been shutting down one by one. Only one is left now, and its owner just died in what was seemingly a tragic accident. Now it too is going to close, and Musubu is there to make sure that the books are cared for in their final days there. This irritates Minami, the bookstore’s longest-serving part-timer, who not only felt a close kinship with the former owner but is creeped out by this teen who says that he can talk to books – and they talk back. As the days pass and the closing of the bookstore becomes a major event in the town, will we find out about the owner’s past history and secrets?

Unlike the first volume in the series, this one is more of a novel than a short story collection – in fact, the afterword makes me think the author wrote this one first. It overflows with the love that you can get from reading a beloved book, and how that love can also lead to different things. A couple who loved each other from afar when they were teens reunite years later thanks to The Tomb of the Wild Chrysanthemum. A boy who has become terrified of earthquakes is given a fun series about aliens to read that will calm his mind. And, in the main plotline, an actress and a writer both have ties to this bookstore and its owner, and they’re more than just the Chekhov and Hawthorne stories that wrap around their lives. The ending of the book is incredible, wringing emotions out of you, and making you think that, years from now, maybe Bond and Book will be the series that lodges itself in your heart.

There’s two more volumes out in Japan, and this delights me. I just want to read more from this author, whatever it is. And I want to go back and re-read The Seagull. (Not The Scarlet Letter, though. Sorry, Nomura-san, your work can only take me so far.)

Manga the Week of 3/23/22

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SEAN: As we head towards the second half of March, what brand new titles get our attention?

Airship has a lot of new print titles. We get Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest ZERO 5, The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 2, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 6, and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 4.

ASH: Another reminder to self to move The Haunted Bookstore up on my reading list.

SEAN: There’s also early digital releases for My Status as an Assassin Obviously Exceeds the Hero’s 4 and Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 4.

Denpa Books has a 3rd volume of Heavenly Delusion.

ASH: Glad to see! I’ve been liking this series.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a debut this week with GUNBURED × SISTERS. It’s a Sunday GX series, and if you want a ecchi vampire yuri-tinged action series, this is certainly one of them.

Also from Ghost Ship: SUPER HXEROS 6.

From J-Novel Club, we see Altina the Sword Princess 13, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 4, Cooking with Wild Game 16, the 2nd manga volume of Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers, Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend: Roomies and Romance 5 (the final volume), and Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 5.

ASH: That’s a fair bit.

SEAN: Kodansha has a double dose of Attack on Titan in print next week, with Omnibus 4-6 and Omnibus 7-9. There’s also Blue Period 6, Fire Force 26, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 12, and Living-Room Matsunaga-san 10.

Two digital debuts. Getting Closer to You (Natsume-senpai ni Semarareru Hibi) is a new shoujo series from the creator of Four Kisses, in Secret, and it runs in Dessert Blue, the spinoff of Dessert for Miles Davis fans. A girl who loves muscles thinks she’s found her ideal man… but he’s going to make her manage the basketball team first.

MICHELLE: I think this is their second series about a girl who loves muscles!

ANNA: Some girls do love muscles.

SEAN: Also shoujo, from Betsufure, is I’ll Be with Them Again Today (Kyou mo, Karera no Otonari de), about a girl, Nao, whose next-door neighbors are now two brothers – one hot and friendly, the other unapproachable and scary. And now they’re going to school with her too! Nao-chan pinch!

Also digital: Back When You Called Us Devils 11 (the final volume), DAYS 28, Harem Marriage 15, ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 5, and That’s My Atypical Girl 4.

KUMA books has a debut, The Song of Yoru & Asa (Yoru to Asa no Uta). This oneshot BL title ran in Takeshobo’s Qpa, and features a band whose vocalist seems to be, well, a bit of a jerk. If you like your BL dark, this may be for you.

MICHELLE: Depends on how dark, but maybe!

ASH: I honestly never thought we would see Harada’s work licensed in English (at least in print). It can be pretty dark, but I’ve been hoping for something to be released for years.

ANNA: Interesting.

MELINDA: Oh, hmmmm… this is a strong maybe for me.

SEAN: Seven Seas has the 5th and final Blue Giant omnibus (maybe that’s why I made the Miles Davis joke earlier), The Country Without Humans 2, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 13, and MARS RED 2.

MICHELLE: One of these days I’ll actually read Blue Giant.

ASH: I need to catch up, but have largely enjoyed it so far!

ANNA: Me too, I have the first volume somewhere in my house.

SEAN: Square Enix gives us a 7th volume of The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest.

Tentai Books once again flummoxed me with a last minute scheduling. Already released digitally as you read this is the light novel I Kissed My Girlfriend’s Little Sister (Kanojo no Imouto to Kiss wo shita). Just your typical guy dating a girl and then the girl’s identical twin who was living with the other parent moves in story.

Tokyopop’s debut is Dekoboko Bittersweet Days, the sequel to Dekoboko Sugar Days. It sounds less sweet, and it ran in Gentosha’s LOVE xxx BOYS Pixiv. It’s also complete in one volume.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed This Wonderful Season with You by the same mangaka, so I’m looking forward to this one.

ANNA: Tokyopop is still not going to trick me.

MELINDA: Same. I realize it’s a one-shot, but even so…

SEAN: Tokyopop also has the 2nd volume of Double.

Yen On has some new light novels. We get Durarara!! SH 3, Strike the Blood 20, Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf 6, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 6.

Lastly, there’s a pile from Yen Press, including four debuts. Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! is a Young Ace Up title that is essentially Ten Little Bungo Stray Dogs. (Scramble Wars Stray Dogs?) Anyway, they’re chibis.

ASH: Goodness!

SEAN: Catch These Hands! (Watashi no Kobushi wo Uketomete!) is a yuri title from Young Ace Up. A former delinquent trying to straighten up now that she’s an adult runs into her old rival… who wants a fight! And if the rival wins… a date!

ASH: Okay, I’m intrigued.

ANNA: It sounds cute.

MELINDA: Oh, it really does!

SEAN: Minami Nanami Wants to Shine (Nanami Minami wa Kagayakitai) is a spinoff of light novel Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki focusing on our favorite runner-up. It runs in Sunday GX.

Run on Your New Legs (Atarashii Ashi de Kakenukero) is a Big Comic Spirits title about a soccer player whose career ends with the loss of his leg. But with a new prosthetic leg, can he become a paralympics track star?

MICHELLE: REAL but soccer!

ASH: Oooooh!

ANNA: Cool. Will be checking this out for sure.

SEAN: There’s also Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World! 5, The Eminence in Shadow 3, I’m a Behemoth, an S-Ranked Monster, but Mistaken for a Cat, I Live as an Elf Girl’s Pet 4, Interspecies Reviewers Comic Anthology 2, Lust Geass 5, Mint Chocolate 5, Monster Wrestling: Interspecies Combat Girls 4 (the final volume), Smokin’ Parade 9, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid 2, Sword Art Online: Project Alicization 4, Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir! 3, The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 2.

ASH: That’s a fair bit, too.

SEAN: That last part exhausted me to type out. What about you?

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 1

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By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

Manga and light novel trends tend to feel into each other, with parodies, homages, and deconstructions of the hot new thing happening three years later and becoming the next hot new thing. Nowhere is this more apparent than the halls of Gagaga Bunko, home to the cover art where every series looks exactly the same. Gagaga, I’m sure, must also have fantasy and isekai titles… but those aren’t licensed here. Instead we started with My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, where a cynical so-called loner psychoanalyses the nature of high school cliques. Then we saw Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, easily the most popular of the subgenre of “the popular kids can even turn you, a loser, into one of their own”. And now we get Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, where the main character IS the popular kid, and you will be surprised and shocked that he too has something to say on the nature of popular kids and high school cliques. Everyone’s riffing on someone else.

No, that’s not Chitose on the cover – Chitose Saku is our hero, a handsome cool high school kid who enjoys school and hanging out with his equally popular friends. He has several girls who are interested in him. He’s almost immediately made class president. He’s living the good life. And now he has a job to do, as the teacher has asked him to try to get Kenta, an otaku nerd type, to come back to school – he’s stopped going after getting shut down by a girl he confessed to. Chitose goes along with this, managing to get Kenta out of his room with a nice combination of encouragement, hot girl and good old fashioned violence. But Kenta, who whines about how Chitose gets everything handed to him and an easy life as a popular kid, decides to show Kenta how to actually make an effort.

As you can see, this synopsis bears more than a little resemblance to Tomozaki (Kenta is even named Yamazaki), and we do indeed get the “let’s shop for clothes that are not otaku schlub” and “here is how to actually converse with another person” scenes. At the same time, it also mocks that trend of “self-help” books as unrealistic, showing how difficult it can be to try to change your image and personality and not immediately get attacked. There’s a whole lot of jerks in this book, and the way Chitose and his friends handle them is a good look at “don’t punch down”. As for Chitose himself, he’s a protagonist who cries out for more than one book, so it’s a good thing this won an award and got a series. There’s hints of his past as well as his need to live up to his reputation that might get darker in later books. But overall, he and his friends are very likeable, fun people. If you’re reading this as you heard it was “romcom starring the popular kids”, you won’t be disappointed.

I will note that Chitose can come across – deliberately, he’s clearly doing it on purpose – as smug much of the time, and this may grate on readers who are more used to cynical sad sack narrators. That said, I am very curious to see how this handles being an ongoing series and how much we can peel back Chitose’s hero complex.

Goodbye Otherworld, See You Tomorrow: The Traveled Path and the Box of Hope

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By Kazamidori and Nimoshi. Released in Japan as “Sayonara Isekai, Mata Kite Ashita” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

There’s a wonderful moment in this book where someone points out to Keisuke one of the big reasons that he’s constantly identified as someone from another world, and it’s because he actually has optimism and positivity despite the fact that the world has ended. It’s an important thing to have, especially going forward as there are fewer and fewer people. Fortunately, that’s not quite true, as Keisuke coming into her life has made Nito a massive ball of sunshine and cuteness, to the point where it’s practically weaponized to use against the rest of the cast in this book. That said, the book is not all good times and fluffiness. As you read you will feel a war going on between positivity and hope on the one hand, and melancholy and regrets on the other. One side does win, but it’s a struggle, and while we don’t have suicide attempts like the first book, this book has some people who have mostly given up on life.

While the previous book had Keisuke and Nito traveling around to various places and interacting with the folks they find there, this book mostly centers around one area. Arriving at a village temple, they stay there for a few days with the old woman who cleans it when she’s not busy running her shoe workshop. Also there is Charolles, a young woman who is searching for the ending of an incomplete book that she once read. A little ways away, in a more built-up area, is a theater containing Paula, a wannabe dancer, and Jill, a very shy singer, as well as Monty, a guinea pig the size of a man who smokes a pipe. Naturally, over the course of this book, Keisuke and Nito find that all these characters have pasts with each other in some way, and are also consumed by fears. There’s only one way to solve this: have a festival!

There is some terrific trans representation here, with the reunion of Paula and Fago hitting the reader hard. I also enjoyed seeing the terminally introverted Jill force herself to interact with the others and even sing in public in order to help Paula. That said, my favorite character here was Charolles, who gets the most screen time and also most of the art within the book. (I was vaguely annoyed we did not get art of Paula and Jill.) Charolles’ journey is very similar to Nito’s, but she’s older and more cynical, and she’s the one who I was most worried about finding dissolved in a pile of crystals by the end of the book. Fortunately that does not happen, but she also very pointed does not join Keisuke and Nito on their travels (possibly sensing their relationship is a lot more romantic than either wants to say.) I hope things work out for her.

This volume has an open ending, but there’s no more volumes out in Japan, so if it does continue it will be a while. Still, I definitely recommend it. Great characters, great moody writing, and emotional.

Pick of the Week: Farewell to the Inner Chambers

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SEAN: We have a wealth of choices this week. I could pick the much requested Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, as the resident light novel person. There’s My Wandering Warrior Existence, the latest from Nagata Kabi. But I think I’ll pick something away from my tastes with Orochi: The Perfect Edition, which is from 1969 (a rarity in licenses these days) and was licensed pre-,manga boom and dropped, but is now being released again (also a rarity). It looks scary as hell.

MICHELLE: I’m taking my final chance to pick Fumi Yoshinaga’s epic Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. Though it’s been repeatedly heartbreaking to fall in love with various characters along the way, only to have them meet their cruel fate one way or another, it’s also been wholly fascinating and I look forward to seeing how she wraps it all up.

KATE: Gotta go with Sean on this one: classic horror FTW!

ANNA: Since this is my last opportunity to pick Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. I’m going to join with Michelle for her pick.

ASH: Echoing everyone else here, but I have to join in with giving Ōoku: The Inner Chambers a shout out for its final volume and a cheer for the debut of Orochi.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: Creating a New Legend with the Unbeatable Lady of the Sword

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

This book does not particularly advance much of the plot we saw in the first volume, and in fact reads a bit like “oh crap now it’s a series what do I do”, but I don’t think I care because this was so much fun to read. Apologies to the titular duke’s daughter, Tina, but Lydia is a delightful ball of tsundere cliches. We only saw a bit of her in the first book, but here she’s in full flower, bullying Allen, attacking him, defending him, beating nobles to death for him, and generally doing everything except saying “I-it’s not like I did it for you or anything!”. Wait, no, she does that too. Tina and Ellie, joined by Lydia’s little sister Lynne, are clearly infatuated with Allen, but they’re starting from so far back in the race that it’s kind of sad. And yes, I realize that a series like this is setting itself up to have Tina as the winning girl, but I’m not sure, at this point, how that is going to happen.

Allen is faced with a bit of a dilemma this volume. Lydia is having her ceremony to welcome her as a royal sorcerer at the same time that Tina and Ellie are having THEIR opening ceremony at the academy. There’s really no good way out of that (get used to me saying that about Allen and his romantic dilemmas), but he chooses the academy. There we meet his younger sister Caren, who only has a bit of a brother complex, and Tina’s older sister Stella, who has spent years proving her family wrong and making a name for herself at school only to have Tina waltz in and be better at everything. I expect her to snap and turn evil in Book 3 or 4. Unfortunately for Allen, without him at Lydia’s side, her investiture has gone to hell in a handbasket. the second prince, who is the reason why Allen is not also a royal sorcerer, has returned to claim what he feels is his, and… yikes.

Lydia may spend most of this book rather angry, as fits her character type, but it’s not without cause. The second prince is a cartoon villain, the sort of arrogant snot that has a face made for punching. Indeed, one of the climactic battles has as its main difficulty NOT killing him, as a living prince who can answer for starting it all in the first place is vastly preferable to a dead prince who will just lead to exile form the kingdom. But Lydia also has more important things to worry about. Allen seems far too close to Tina, as well as her sister, and let’s not leave out dark horse Ellie, who gets more head rubs than anyone else. Hell, even Lydia’s MOTHER is hitting on him constantly. Fortunately, Allen may still have the sexuality of a bowl of cold oatmeal, but even he knows that Lydia is in love with him. He’s just ignoring that.

Allen’s headspace may make this book too annoying for harem fans (who will also dislike Lydia’s cliched tsundere ways), but I find it equally hilarious. And we even get the standard head maid/assassin/spy” type here. Despite the presence of multiple 13-year-olds hitting on our hero, this series is simply hella fun.

Reflection of Another World, Vol. 1

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By Haruko Kurimoto and Vinegar. Released in Japan as “Yugami no Kuni Monogatari” as a webnovel. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Amber Tamosaitis.

When it comes to light novels, especially ones that have ‘another world” in the title, there is usually a certain blueprint that gets followed, and this goes for those written for a men’s marketplace as well as a women’s marketplace. But isekai has been around long before its rise to popularity in the 2010s. Most older fans who disparage the cliches and characters of modern isekai are quick to say “El Hazard and Rayearth don’t count!”. And then there’s Fushigi Yuugi, which I suspect more than a few people are going to think of then they read Reflection of Another World. The main character and the basic plot beats are not the same as that iconic series, but it has a sort of Fushigi Yuugi-ish veneer that permeates it. It helps the book to feel more like a shoujo manga being novelized than an isekai book. Which is good… and also bad, as it features the best and worst of the genre.

Our heroine is Yura, an introverted girl who is best friends with Tomoko, a lively and outgoing girl who’s also smart and good at sports. The other girls can’t really bully her – but they can bully Yura, who’s quiet and never speaks up for herself. One day, while she’s visiting after school at an antique store owned by one of Tomoko’s relatives, she sees a huge and mysterious mirror with writing on the sides. After a bit more suffering through the Japanese school system, including the classic “get blamed for stealing by your bullies who are the actual perpetrators”, when even Tomoko is upset that she always folds like a card table at any sign of conflict, she runs off to the shop and looks closer at the mirror… and gets pulled through it! Now in another world, she must deal with accidental marriage, everyone calling her the most beautiful thing ever, and a handsome man who is called ugly and kicked and abused. What is going on here?

I’ll be honest, a lot of this book was a struggle to get through. Yura, unfortunately, does not get called to another world for any reason we can see, so she rarely gets explanations when she does things wrong or doesn’t understand what’s going on. Also, the King seems to be a jerk, and most of the rest of the cast who are not Yura or her assumed love interest Sei are also not very likeable. The good news is that Yura, while not always likeable herself, is a very compelling character, and the writing does an excellent job of taking us into the head of an introvert who is forced every day to confront things that she really does not want to. Becoming everyone’s center of attention is her worst nightmare, and it felt very realistic that it took till near the end of the book – and, more importantly, for the danger to be to someone else rather than herself – for her to actually take a stand.

There’s a lot unanswered at the end of this book, so we’ll see what happens next. If Tomoko somehow joins Yura in Book 2, I will raise another Fushigi Yuugi eyebrow. Till then, recommended not for isekai fans, but for shoujo fans.

The NPCs in This Village Sim Game Must Be Real!, Vol. 3

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By Hirukuma and Namako. Released in Japan as “Murazukuri Game no NPC ga Namami no Ningen to Shika Omoe Nai” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns. Adapted by Aysha U. Farah.

I imagine that a dream that a lot of mystery writers have is to be able to write a book that’s all mystery and no solution, where you can just coast on being cool and baffling the reader. For the first two volumes of The NPCs in This Village Sim Game Must Be Real!, that’s pretty much where we’ve been with each book giving us a few hints here and there but making up for it with exciting battle scenes, heartwarming character development, and awesome lizards. Unfortunately, we only get two of the three in this third volume, as the rest of Yoshio’s family and his childhood friend-turned-wannabe-girlfriend are shuffled to the side so that he and Carol can figure out what the heck is going on. The result is… I dunno, it’s explained well enough, I just really didn’t like it. Then again, I’m not sure, with this kind of setup, there was an answer that I *would* like.

After surviving the attack from his co-worker and Player Two, Yoshio now has to deal with the fact that Carol has, through the power of the Gods, managed to mail herself to him. Fortunately, his family is away the next few days, and Seika is giving him at least a bit of the benefit of the doubt. That said, he not only needs to get her back into the “game”, but also figure out what’s going on. This is not helped by other people continuing to attack him, as a hit has been put out: attack Yoshio and get the Book of the Gods and Carol, and get a big reward. So he’s got to try not to get killed, protect Carol, and find the creators of the game, who are in a small town in Hokkaido. When he finally gets there, the answer is not what he expected. More importantly, though, can he get Carol back to her game world? Did anyone else survive that last monster rush? And can Yoshio protect them himself?

I don’t want to get too deep into the mystery reveals that we get here, but I think the main issue is that I find it a bit tonally jarring with the rest of the series. It feels as if the author decided to take some characters from another series they’re working on and have them make an appearance as the cause of everything we’ve seen. Which is fine, and I’m sure that series has lots of yuri antics from what we see here, but it feels like it has nothing whatsoever to do with Yoshio and his struggles. His journey has been so personal in the first two books that it doesn’t work when he’s meant to sit there and passively hear what’s going on from a third party. I admit I was amused, though, when Yoshio has to explain that no, he actually does NOT want to stay in the other world with cool powers, he just wants to go home and confess to his long-suffering sweetheart. (We don’t get to see that either, also to my irritation.)

The author hints that if this is popular enough there might be more, but there’s no more of the webnovel it was based on, and I suspect this is it. It’s a bit of a misstep, in my opinion, but those who enjoyed the first two should still read it.