Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, Vol. 2

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.

When I reviewed the first volume I mentioned that Cross Infinite World was putting it out a lot faster than they normally do their series, and the reason for that became apparent shortly after the release of the first volume over here: it’s getting an anime. It’s a good choice: I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss got a decent if not dazzling anime as well, and the audience for the two series is exactly the same. Not just because of the author, but the same basic themes are here as well. iris may be a Villainess reincarnated into a game, and Jill a young woman who travels back in time to fix her past mistakes, but as protagonists they’re both doing the exact same thing: improvising and being badass as the universe does its best to kill them over and over and over again. And in this second book we get another think it has in common with Final Boss: for every Villainess there’s a Heroine, and heroines in these series tend to be evil.

Hadis and Jill are on their way to the capital to meet the rest of his family. Sadly, on arriving there, he’s attacked, accused of being a fake, and his magic and Jill’s is sealed. Hadis is mostly fine with this, and tries to make the series into a Slow Life book, gardening and cooking delicious meals. Jill is not particularly happy with his, so she and Zeke (half of her bodyguard duo) go into a nearby town so that she can join the Dragon Knights and gain intel. Easier said than done – she’s got the combat skills, even without magic, but the reaction of dragons to her means that she’ relegated to squire duties – which also means getting bullied. We also meet Hadis’ siblings, who turn out to not be as bad as she thought… at first.

Reading this book can be a struggle. Not because it’s bad, I really enjoyed it, but because Jill’s life is such a high wire act that at any moment you expect her to die and for this to become a Re: Zero sort of time loop story. Things are not helped by the introduction of Princess Faris, Gerald’s younger sister. In the first book she had merely been one half of the “ew” part of the story, as we knew Gerald was sleeping with her and that she was frail but not much else. Here we see her younger self, who turns out to be doing much the same thing Jill is – and for many of the same reasons. Alas, this makes them mortal enemies, and the two pretty much hate each other on sight by the end of the book. Final Boss also had its “heroine” antagonist, but Faris looks to be a lot nastier than Lilia ever was.

This really is “if you like Final Boss, it’s more of the same”. But that’s good, as it means it’s just as addictive. Roll on Volume 3.

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 22

by

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

When I was reading this book, I mentioned on Twitter that if you removed all scenes where Subaru is essentially acting as the “tsukkomi” to every else that the book would be 100 pages shorter. That said, I know that one of the reasons we enjoy Subaru so much is that this is how he copes with things. He’s always had three ways of dealing: overcompensating, trauma response, and sarcasm, and he’s gotten much better on the first two but the third is ingrained. You’d think this would make him very one-note, but it doesn’t, because each of the characters that he reacts this way to is so different. The way Subaru responds to Emilia, mocking her while also acknowledging his adoration, is very different from how he has to deal with Shaula, the new character, which is a mix of disgust and “what the hell is going on?”. He has a type, but the range is larger than you’d think… until the cliffhanger, which promises to upend this a lot.

Having finally arrived at the tower, and gotten the comatose Rem and the injured Patlash to the medical bay, our heroes now have to deal with the fact that the Sage they’ve been seeking is… probably NOT the sage. And also a bit of an airhead. They also have to pass a test to get access to the upper floors of the tower at all. The first no one is able to pass until Subaru, who is from Japan and suspects the creator of this test is as well, finds a solution to. Unfortunately, the floor they get to has a bunch of “book of someone’s life” books, and they’re in random order. So they need to get to the next floor… which requires another test. Unfortunately, not only is this one much harder, but they all have to pass it individually. Bad news, since the test giver is an insanely powerful swordsman.

This has the feel of a book that is a time-marker, to be honest. I never felt bored, but there’s a sense that we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, and since it doesn’t drop till about page 280, that’s a lot of waiting. There are some very nice scenes between Subaru and Julius, which shows off their friendship (Julius is kind of put through the wringer in this book), and EMT fans will be eating very well, as the relationship between her and Subaru has never been more romantic, even as she wins a fight by letting her opponent grope her tits, not understanding why she should feel offended at that. (Emilia’s “sexual innocence” continues to be at 120%.) And we’re also getting more of an idea about what Anastasia/Echidna is really after, and trusting them a wee bit more. Not much plot happens here, but a lot of good character stuff occurs.

Next book, judging by that cliffhanger, should be far more plot-driven, though I suspect it will also remain inside the tower. And hey, no death loops this book!

Manga the Week of 7/5/23

by , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: Hot hot heat. Must be July.

Viz gives us a debut, Like a Butterfly (Hibi Chouchou) is the latest from the author of A Sign of Affection and Short Cake Cake… except it’s not, it actually came out before both of those. A gorgeous high school girl is also shy and doesn’t like attention… so promptly falls for the boy who refuses to look at her. This looks sweet.

MICHELLE: I’m here for it.

ANNA: Surprising no one, so am I!

ASH: Likewise interested.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Box 5, Dr. STONE 26, The Elusive Samurai 7, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 8, Moriarty the Patriot 12, My Love Mix-Up! 8, One Piece 103, Romantic Killer 4 (the final volume), Tista 2 (the final volume), and Vampire Knight: Memories 8.

Square Enix has A Man and His Cat 8.

ASH: I should probably catch up with this series; I did enjoy what I have managed to read.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts Classroom of the Elite: Horikita (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e √Horkita), a spinoff AU series that focuses on Horikita, which may surprise anime fans who thought the series already focused too much on her. It ran in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

They’ve also got The Ancient Magus’ Bride 18, Berserk of Gluttony 8, Gap Papa: Daddy at Work and at Home 2, Kemono Jihen 6, Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World 4, Made in Abyss 11, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 16, and Versailles of the Dead 4.

MICHELLE: I didn’t realize volume 18 of The Ancient Magus’ Bride was coming out so soon; I’ve been working my way to getting caught up to 17!

ASH: Always glad to see a new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride!

SEAN: There’s some print from Kodansha. Drifting Dragons 14, EDENS ZERO 23, In/Spectre 18, Lovely Muco! 2, Noragami Omnibus 6, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts 14, and Yuri is My Job! 11.

ASH: Drifting Dragons is another series that I’ve been enjoying but need to catch up on.

SEAN: The digital debut is My Wife is a Little Intimidating (Boku no Oku-san wa Chotto Kowai), a Comic Days series based on a Twitter comic. The description reminds me a bit of We’re New at This if the wife were… well… intimidating, rather than stoic.

And there’s digital for The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 9, How to Grill Our Love 3, Life 5, MF Ghost 15, Matcha Made in Heaven 6, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: Aqua 2, Sakura’s Dedication 4, The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch 3, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 9.

ANNA: I’ve been eagerly awaiting the next Matcha Made in Heaven!

ASH: I haven’t read the first volume yet, but I still love the series’ title.

SEAN: No new series for J-Novel Club, but a whole lot of ongoing ones. The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! 2, The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent 2, An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 16, the 2nd manga volume of A Cave King’s Road to Paradise: Climbing to the Top with My Almighty Mining Skills!, Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte Disc EX (the final volume), Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 8, the 5th manga volume of Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 2, Magic Knight of the Old Ways 5 (the final volume), The Misfit of Demon King Academy 4 Part 2, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 7, the 4th manga volume of Rebuild World, A Royal Rebound: Forget My Ex-Fiancé, I’m Being Pampered by the Prince! 2, and To Another World… with Land Mines! 7.

ASH: Wow! That is a whole lot!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Love is an Illusion! 3 (OK, not technically Ghost Ship), Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! 2, and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 9.

Apologies, missed this last week. Fantagraphics has a one-shot, Minami’s Lover (Minami-kun no Koibito), a Garo manga from 1986 about a high school couple who struggle with everything when she becomes six inches tall!

ASH: Oh, yes! I just got my hands on that one!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 9th Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition. (It got bumped.)

ASH: I’ll be picking it up whenever it’s actually released.

SEAN: And Airship, in print, gives us Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 3 and Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 5.

We also get early digital for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 5 and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 23.

That’s it? Not too bad!

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 8

by

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Esther Sun.

Last time I wondered if this final volume in the series would be a victory lap, or if we would have one last plot twist for Rosemary to deal with in order to save her life. As it turns out, there’s nothing to worry about, this is pure fluff, an absolute victory lap that consists entirely of everyone praising Rosemary to the skies while she herself acts like a lovestruck teenager and frets that she’s about to screw everything up at any moment. Spoiler: she doesn’t. There’s always been an element of “everyone thinks of the best possible reasoning for our heroine’s behavior” to this series, but it’s tended to be balanced by action sequences or suspense. Here there’s none of that, and even the romance is handled fairly early, so it really is just wedding prep, wedding, and having all the other love interests get a narrative bit about how sad they are but how happy they are for Rosemary. The word “schmoopy” was invented for books like this.

After the events of the last book (and reassuring herself that her cat is not in fact dead), Rosemary spends the bulk of the first half of this book recuperating. Of course, that does not mean that she’s not doing things. First of all, she and Leonhart finally confess to each other with words and everything, and get across that, rather than merely tolerating the other’s presence, they are in fact giant dorks in love. This means there’s a wedding coming!… in two years time. While we wait for that, she says a final farewell to Kanon (who goes back to Japan, though she’ll return for the wedding itself) and concentrates of learning how to become a duchess, because the status gap between princess and count is too large, so they’re giving her a duchy to solve the problem. And, of course, there’s the hospital and medical schools. Plus, y’know, the rest of her harem.

As with prior volumes, the books alternate between Rosemary and various other characters. Most of this is what you’d expect, but we do meet Leonhart’s family, the most interesting part of the book. They’re husband, wife, and three sons, Leonhart being the eldest, and the men in the family all have the quirk of being uninterested in romance till they meet the one woman who they will love the rest of their days. As such, they’re a bit worried about Leonhart, as the princess might be trying to selfishly coerce him. Then they meet Rosemary, who is practically perfect in every way, and are quickly adoring her like everyone else. If you are the sort of person who is bothered by this, I assume you dropped the series long ago, but with no serious plotline to balance out the praise, it gets to be a bit too much even for me.

In the end, they get married and the book ends. I was wondering if we’d get a flash forward to the future, which we don’t in terms of Rosemary, but I did like the epilogue, which shows what her real legacy will be. So yes, I enjoyed this series, a good one for a combination of “avoid my fate” reincarnation and suspense thriller.

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Second Coming of Shooting Star and the Final Showdown in the Eastern Capital

by

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.

OK, I will admit, the author cleared the bar that I had set up for them. I’ve already grumped quite a bit about Lydia’s character arc during the last two to three books, and I had certain expectations of how it would resolve itself. I did not like those expectations, but I had them. Lydia was going to go berserk, everyone would make the terrible decision to kill her, and then Allen would return and talk her down. Thankfully, that is NOT what happened – at least not the last part. Lydia manages to get talked down by all the other love interests yelling “snap out of it, you idiot” at regular intervals till she does. This allows her to be part of the final battle, which I appreciated. Of course, I might be less grumpy if we ever learned more about Lydia and Allen’s past than anecdotes. Surprisingly, Tina doesn’t get much to do here either. Honestly, the love interest with the most focus is Lynne, as Narrator #2.

The rebellion is going very badly for the rebels, who decide to stake it all on one last battle for the Great Tree. Fortunately for those defending it, reinforcements are coming from all over the land. Unfortunately, Allen is still missing and presumed dead, meaning that most of the love interests are moping, and Lydia is… well, not in her right mind, we’ll put it that way. As for Allen, he’s trying to get the approval of an ancient ghost, and then has to battle the real enemy behind all this – the Church. (I know, the church, evil, in a Japanese light novel? Try to contain your shock.) Unfortunately, he may have finally come across something which really IS too much for him, as opposed to all the things he handles with ease while saying they’re too much for him. He may be forced to… ask for help.

Yeah, the final part of the book is basically “what if we all battled the final boss together?”, though the boss in this case is just a created monster thing. There was decent stuff in this book, but I won’t lie, I’m happy to see the back of this arc. In addition to Lydia running amok, I was also not fond of a death fakeout near the end, which was done purely to give Allen the rage and despair to fight even harder, but if you’re going to do that, don’t just do a “just kidding” afterwards. In the end, honestly, no one we care about died, or was even injured. One minor character’s father was kidnapped, which may be what starts the next arc, but other than that everyone does fine. A bit more than fine, honestly – Stella has become so overpowered I may have to start calling her Allen soon.

So yeah, good riddance to this arc, but I still enjoy the series. Next volume apparently stars Lily, the “Maid” of the Leinster family, and I am hoping will let her do something other than be comedy relief, because that’s all she’s done so far.

My Happy Marriage, Vol. 4

by

By Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon” by Fujimi L Bunko. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by David Musto.

There is generally a habit in books, whether they’re “mysteries” or not, of trying to conceal a surprise twist. Keep the audience guessing, don’t let them figure out what the twist is until it’s too late. In practice, this is quite hard to pull off, and tends to lead to rolling of the eyes once the big reveal happens. As such, I always appreciate when a book doesn’t bother to do that and just says “let’s give it away on page 1”. Which is exactly what happens here, as there’s a traitor in the group that’s trying to protect Miyo, and the number of people tat it could possibly be amounts to one person. So we see that person approached by the villain immediately, in a prologue, and know who it is. Which is good, as it can then help with that this author really IS good at, which is giving readers an ulcer as they wait for the bad things to inevitably happen.

We pick up where we left off last time, with Miyo and Kiyoka beset by a man who claims to be her real father, and is also really, really smugly evil. Now Miyo can’t be left on her own , so she starts going to work and coming home with Kiyoka every day. She also gets a bodyguard, Kaoruko, one of the few women in the military in what is a very misogynistic unit. This means that Miyo has to deal with a) all the other members of the unit badmouthing Kaoruko and telling her to stay in the kitchen, and b) the fact that Miyo is associated with a family no one trusts and everyone seems to despise. You get the sense that the title of the series is getting further and further away, especially as they’re still not actually married yet.

So yeah, this book runs on dread. Not the dread of a horror novel, but the dread of a book about an abused daughter who is still viewing herself as the absolute worst being attacked on all sides. She has Kiyoka, who does the best he can, but she really needs more allies. Sadly, the one friend she makes, Kaoruko, turns out to be one of Kiyoka’s former potential fiancees, and clearly still has feelings for him, which sends Miyo into another spiral of self-loathing. Now, she does get one scene late in the book where she stands up and lets the sexist soldiers have it, but it’s sort of like eating a riceball made of needles in order to get to the tasty plum inside. Why read the series at all? The needles are also VERY tasty. This author knows how to write depression, anxiety, and melancholy, and Miyo is an extremely well-drawn woman.

So yes, we’re still not happy, and one subplot hints that we may see more double (triple?) agents. But this is still really good angst. The anime debuts next week, and should be exquisitely painful.

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 3

by

By Yuishi and Kagachisaku. Released in Japan as “Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game de Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gal ga, Dō Mitemo Boku ni Beta Bore Des” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

It would appear that this series is going to be four volumes long, so if you were waiting for the payoff where they both finally confess to each other the one secret that is mentally destroying them both, well, you’ll have to wait a bit more. That said, almost everything else gets wrapped up here. Having finally confessed to both sets of parents that they’re going out, and getting approval from both of them, there’s not really much standing in Yoshin and Nanami’s way. Well, OK, there are a few things. Yoshin is still getting advice from his gaming group friends, and feels bad he hasn’t told Nanami about them. And on a more serious note, when Nanami asks him to drop the honorific when he talks to her, he chokes up and can’t quite do it. Is it repressed trauma? Or is it just another case of kids being jerks?

After dealing with the rumor mill at school, which says that either Yoshin has broken up with Nanami, is cheating on Nanami, or is in a harem relationship, we get to the bulk of the plot. Yoshin and Nanami’s parents have decides to take both families on a trip to a hot springs. That… really is the bulk of the plot, these aren’t complicated books. They go to the hot springs several times. They dress up in kimono/yukata and get a rickshaw ride around the town. There’s a few “whoops, I fell asleep and my hand is touching your stomach” moments, the punchline being that she’d prefer if he was groping her boob as she worries about her weight. There’s a cherry blossom viewing. And there’s what I mentioned above, as Nanami is convinced she’s done something to hurt Yoshin, but really it’s … well, as I said above, kids being jerks.

Sorry to spoil the one plot twist in this book, but it turns out that when he was in elementary school he asked a girl if he could call her by her name without an honorific, and she mocked him for it, then the whole class did. This seems mild, but it reminds you that they’re called formative years for a reason, as it led to him basically shutting himself off from other people for years. And, of course, not telling anyone about it. Sadly, I understand those feelings very well. That said, because this is the series it is, by the end of the book he’s managed to get over it, mainly because Nanami is sweet as pie and will forgive him anything. Oh yes, the other minor conflict from previous books is also mentioned – yes, the girl on his gamer group had a crush on him, but once she meets Nanami she pretty much gets over it.

So all that’s left is admitting “I did it for a dare”/”I know”, and the series is over. That will take another book, thoguh I’m pretty sure that book will also be filled with sweet, adorable moments. Which are basically the reasons that people read this series.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Nightingale

by

By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Nightingale no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

When I first saw the title, I wondered why we were getting two “singer” books in a row, and wondered if we’d be hitting all of Sweet Bullet. But no, this is not “Nightingale” as in “sang in Berkeley Square”, it’s “Nightingale” as in “Florence Nightingale”. I’m not sure if the author is TRYING to hit every single fetish, but it’s certainly true that, after commenting on the miniskirt Santa he met last time, he has to deal with several nursing school students this time around. Including, unfortunately, his old nemesis Saki. Fortunately, both of them have grown up to the point where they can actually tolerate each other in short bursts. As for the actual person who stars in this volume, we’ve seen her before as well. She was briefly in Sakuta’s high school in the “other universe” in Book 9, and he briefly saw her at college last book. And, as it turns out, she’s heavily connected to his past.

After briefly meeting up with Yuuma and Rio for a day outing, and confirming that Yuuma is quite happy being written out of the series, Sakuta goes back to trying to solve the problem of Touko Kirishima and the resurgence of Adolescence Syndrome. Of course, this being Sakuta, “trying” is perhaps too strong a word. What he ends up finding is that Ikumi Akagi, his old classmate from junior high, has been going around doing good deeds. Horrifying, right? It turns out that these good deeds are connected to a social media tag where people confess prophetic dreams, and Ikumi has been using that to try to stop the bad prochecies from coming true. This bothers Sakuta, who has first hand experience about why doing that can be a terrible idea. That said, what’s more bothersome is the fact that she’s making him remember what happened back in junior high, i.e. the events that led to the main plotline of this series.

This isn’t a harem series. Really. Sakuta has remained faithful to Mai the entire time, and the two have several lovey-dovey scenes together. It’s just that Sakuta has that combination of a bad-boy personality combined with good-boy actions that leads everyone to be drawn to him. Ikumi is no exception, and I actually want to be circumspect here, because I thought a lot of the aspects of her syndrome, as well as the cause and resolution, were very clever in a series that’s already pretty clever, so I don’t want to give it away. At heart, this is about how hard to can be to live up to your own expectations. Ikumi feels she failed Sakuta in junior high, and has never been able to get over it. Sakuta always feels like he’s doing the wrong thing, especially after going to the other world and finding a Sakuta who seemingly did everything right. We are our own worst critics.

Good stuff, even if it still feels like a series that ended at Book 9 and the publisher is locking the author in a room until they write more because it’s got movies coming out.

Pick of the Week: Edges, Goodbyes, and Homunculi

by , , , and Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: Psychological josei drama from Kyoko Okazaki? Gotta be River’s Edge this week.

SEAN: Much as I would love to pick the Okazaki, I know it’s gonna be too dark for me. So I’ll go with the final volume of The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, one of the better villainess series I’ve been reading.

KATE: Someone has to pick Good-Bye, Eri, so I’ll do it. Them’s the rules.

ANNA: I’m ready to go dark with i>River’s Edge.

ASH: Homunculus is one that I’ve been curious about for a while now, but I can’t pass up the opportunity to pick up another work by Kyoko Okazaki, so it’s River’s Edge for me, too!

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 4

by

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.

It was once said, a couple decades ago, that no one would ever license a sports manga because it wouldn’t sell. Nowadays, given the enormous number of people who obsess over series like Haikyu!, that seems a bit ridiculous, but it was true. I’m not entirely sure if there are a large number of unlicensed light novels that follow baseball or basketball teams the way that manga does, but I’m inclined to say probably not. And we certainly don’t have them licensed over here. You’re allowed to dungeon crawl, or try to break off your engagement so you don’t die, but please don’t mention the K word. And by K I mean Koshien. That said, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle is notable for having a LOT of jocks in its cast, by the nature of its premise. And it’s this fourth volume that drills right down to the heart of the jock, showing us what it means to dream big, and also balancing the harem again with its shortest member.

We’ve known since the start of the series that Chitose used to play baseball but quit. Now the team is back, begging him to come back as their star is injured, and won’t be ready in time for the first knockout game. Chitose, needless to say, is rather pissed off about this, as he had reasons for leaving the team – which, you’ll be grateful to hear, we finally hear about. He’s also dealing with the girls’ basketball team, which has a new captain, Haru, who’s a taskmaster and is pushing the others past their limits – which they hate. It’s needed in order to make them a better team, but it also makes Haru a very convenient target. Will Chitose manage to help Haru to reconcile things with her basketball team, and can he do that by giving in and playing his last ever baseball game? Even if it means breaking himself to do it.

The series’ best feature remains its ability to convince you, in each new volume, that the girl being focused on is definitely the one who should “win” the Chitose romantic partner sweepstakes. Last volume I said that Asuka was written out in the third book as she was so far ahead of the others. (As it turns out, she’s still around, though Chitose is mooning over her less.) In this volume, it feels like he and Haru also really belong together – they’re birds of a feather, basically, and a reminder that “opposites attract” is not always true. The book is also very good at showing the frustrations of the high school athlete. Haru is a fantastic basketball player. But she’s 4’9″, and there’s simply no way to make up that difference in height in a sport like that. As for Chitose, well, he’s cool. The best scene may have been when he’s wavering back and forth on what to do, and when he tries to do an uncool option Haru chimes in “I don’t like this Chitose.” It was adorable.

So yes, the light novel for normies remains excellent. We’ll see what the next volume brings – Yuuko is on the cover, will she be the lead girl?

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 16

by

By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

I had heard rumors that the Spider So What fanbase (yes, there is one, though perhaps not as much now) was unhappy with the webnovel ending and hoped it might be changed a bit for the light novel. Sad to say, I don’t think it is. Also sad to say, I get their point. Even if I haven’t liked her at times, or felt that she was being too much of an evil villain, the spider is the star of the show. White is the reason everyone is reading the book. I may enjoy following the adventures of the human cast more than the rest of the fans of this series, but that doesn’t mean that I want the book to star them instead. The book’s gimmick is its spider doing really cool things while chattering endlessly in her head. As such… why the author decided to have her appear only at the start and end of this book is beyond me.

We pick up right where we left off, with White battling Black for the future of this world. One side wants to kill half the population to save the goddess who’s being tortured to keep everything going, the other half wants to kill the goddess to save the population. There is a lot of angsting, hand-holding and self-doubt among the various cast members about this… at least until about halfway through the book, when everyone realizes what the reader pretty much knew: there are no sides, we are all in this against D, who simply wants to have bad things happen for the lulz. Everyone (except Black and White, still fighting) teleports to where D is, and some are shocked to discover that she’s the real Wakaba. They’re even more shocked to discover that she’ll give them what they want… if they defeat her.

This book ends up being a string of anticlimaxes. Chief among them I’ve already mentioned, which is White being absent from most of the book. Second among them would probably be White’s actual fate in the final pages, which I suppose is meant to be punishment for her hubris but reads like thumbing a nose at the reader. The rest of the book alternates viewpoints among the rest of this ludicrously large cast,. and the only ones who remotely get closure and a happy ending are the adventurer couple, who survive and live happily ever after mostly as she clonks him on the head and runs away from the final battle. The epilogue reads like the author lost the last hundred pages of the book so decided to submit bullet points instead. Shun’s romantic resolution is absolutely a “fuck you” to me personally. I could go on.

I made it through this whole series, and it started off great. But it began to flag a few volumes back, and the climax has been a painful experience. White deserved better than this.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story, Episodes 1-25

by

Written by Yōsuke Kuroda, directed by Takayuki Inagaki for Bandai Namco Pictures. Released in North America on the Crunchyroll Streaming Service.

(This review talks about plot points for the entire show, so spoiler warnings apply.)

Unlike almost every other person who watched Birdie Wing when it first came out, I grew up enjoying golf, though I never played it myself. I bought golf magazines. I watched the first Skins Game, back when they mic’d the golfers. I followed the career of Ben Crenshaw, the master of putting. As such, I did not find the premise of the show as personally offensive as other people did, despite my knowledge, later in life, of the dark side of golf. But I still had no plans to watch Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story, which I had never heard of. But then I saw everyone on Anime News Network reviewing the first episode and saying “Oh my GOD”, so I was curious. I then went and looked at the creators, and saw the writer, Yōsuke Kuroda, had written what seemed like half of all anime since 1996. So I thought, why not? Reader, I had no idea that this anime would become my new obsession.

Not based on a light novel, manga, or game in any way, but an ORIGINAL STORY (gasp!), Birdie Wing tells us the story of Eve, a teenage girl who we first meet impersonating a pro golfer for money but whose main job actually seems to be “golf hustler”. She certainly has the skills, which we gradually see she got from a mentor figure (who looks like Char from Gundam – more on this later), but is far too cynical and jaded to see what she does as anything other than “hitting a ball with a stick to make money”. Then one day, on a golf course, she meets top amateur Aoi Amawashi, who is in the country of Nafrece for a tournament, and whose golf excites Eve. And the feeling is mutual. They resolve to play a match against each other to see who is best. The next 24 episodes are about the universe doing everything in its power to try to stop this happening.

Birdie Wing is a sports anime. I’m going to say that over and over again throughout this review, because I think it really has been forgotten among a number of other people who wanted this to be some other kind of anime. It manages to combine elements of both shonen and shoujo sports, with everyone shouting their golf swings like it’s an attack name. The nature of golf conveniently divides most groups into pairs, so, especially once we hit the second arc (there are three), we get a series of golf rivals who are there to briefly suggest that they could be the ones to finally make Eve and Aoi notice someone else, and then promptly get demolished, because there is no one else. Eve and Aoi only care about each other, and in the end what takes them down is not another stronger golfer, but the plot.

That said… no one started to watch this because it was a good sports anime. We watched it for the mafia golf. We watched it for Vipere, a two-bit golf villain who distracted her opponents by unzipping her top down to her crotch to let out her psychotropic “belly button perfume” (sure, Jan) and who later became the series’ version of Speedwagon from JoJo’s (she even withdraws coolly at one point). We watched it for the transforming golf course that looked like Eva-3. We watched it for the rocket launcher. We watched it for THAT scene at the end of Episode 7. We watched it for the music videos in the middle of the show (there were two). We watched it for the weatherwoman certification. We watched it for the possibility that incest would sink our ship, and rejoiced when it turned out to merely be a very fucked-up backstory. And we watched it for Aoi’s 48-incher.

But again, this was a sports anime. It was sponsored by a large number of Japanese golf associations and golf courses, as well as golf clothing manufacturer Jack Bunny (yes, that’s a real company name),. It got a ridiculous amount of hype given what it was. There was the line of golf clothing. There was the virtual museum. There was the video game that just came out last week. There’s a mobile game on the way. And then there’s the Gundam. This series was DRENCHED in Gundam references. Most obviously, Aoi’s coach (and more than that, as the series goes on to reveal) was “Reiya Amuro”, played by the Gundam actor himself. Eve’s mentor Leo not only looked like Char but was played by Char’s voice actor (the two are real-life golf buddies). Eve’s first sidekick, Lily, is obsessed with Gunpla. The tournaments are named after Gundam shows. The final boss golfer quotes After War Gundam X. It was a whole big thing.

And I didn’t even mention Madlax. Remember Madlax? It’s back. In golf form.

This is a sports anime, sponsored by golf people, so of course it’s going to want to sell golf to viewers, and it manages to do this despite being ridiculously cavalier about every single rule of golf. We meet top golfers who take one look at the way Eve swings and run away, convinced that watching her more will destroy their own golf. We meet golfers who can shut off all outside stimulation for better concentration, or who can run at the tee and take a big hack at it like Happy Gilmore. And yet, and YET, the most important episode in the entire series may be the 17th. To the delight of everyone watching, Eve is back in Nafrece, and back in the underground mafia golf complex playing golf for high stakes against a cheating underground golf opponent. And the show tells us that no, we are WRONG to want this. Eve has moved beyond this fake golf. She wants, real, passionate golf. Golf she can only get with Aoi. (Note that Aoi never intersects the mafia plotline once.)

The characterization is great. Eve’s arc, going from a young girl angry at the world but who can find no way to fight against it other than hustling, to a young woman playing in the British Open against her rival, showing genuine grief at someone’s pain for possibly the first time in her life, and only managing to not win it all because… well, did I mention the golf hustling? Aoi is the second protagonist, and for the first half of the series (which ran in Spring 2022) it looked like she was merely a supporting character. But that’s because her storyline had all the non-mafia soap opera drama packed into the second half, which the producers say they did in the style of Korean dramas (I was reminded of Spanish-language “telenovelas” myself). Aoi suffers more than Eve, and loses heart more than once, but this makes her eventual triumph all the sweeter – even if it might be lived vicariously.

And then there’s Ichina, who is the best caddie ever except in the final episode when she backs off because the story demands it. (I get that – most of how Birdie Wing works is that something makes no logical sense but works perfectly as a narrative.) There’s Amane, who is a golf indentured servant who also achieves her goal and dreams. There’s Rose Aleon, a character so powerful that even after her final appearance in the 8th episode, we kept hoping the show would find a way to bring her back. Aoi’s happy go lucky grandfather, who turns out to be abusive and, of all things, a golf eugenicist. Aoi’s mother, who is so controlling that she almost kills her daughter (her line “golf is killing them all” might be the 2nd biggest meme of the series). Eve’s parents, who get a Romeo and Juliet style backstory before ceremoniously killed off. There’s something for everyone.

I have not actually mentioned the relationship between Eve and Aoi, which is another big reason that this became a cult classic. (It never did get to be a big hit and even now anime fans will still say they hadn’t heard of it till it was pointed out to them.) The two of them are drawn to each other immediately, but both stay 100% in character about it. What this means is that Eve teases and draws back and never really commits herself until the very end, while Aoi is a lot more upfront about her feelings, pines away, gets upset, and spends most of the second arc trying to beat Eve so she can get a kiss. Towards the end of the show, when Aoi collapses again, Eve is devastated, showing real grief for the first time. And then they manage to find a way to golf together even when they can’t, and Eve’s final shot, the one that wins the day, combines their two attacks. As was noted on Twitter, it very much was their child.

Does this end with a kiss? No. Does it end with Eve and Aoi saying they love each other, as a couple, or married? No. Is it yuri? Fuck yes. These two spend the entire show only seeing each other. All the other rivals are unimportant – in fact, that’s mined for humor once or twice. The show spends its entire time driving the two of them apart, by mafia shenanigans, by Love Story golf disease, by family on both sides. But the final scene shows them, years from now, still only seeing each, other, still golfing together, and having to be reminded to do so by their caddies lest they just look in each other’s eyes some more. The word “yuribait” was bandied around after the show ended. This wasn’t yuribait. Yuribait would be if the show had ended by showing them married off to some guys. It was never going to do that, because the only major male figures in this show were related to the two of them in some way, shape or form. Honestly, given the way the final episode played out, I think a kiss would have felt out of place. This is enough. They’re together forever, playing golf, just as Aoi said would happen.

Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story was the definition of Must See TV. The yearlong wait we had between the first and second halves made the anticipation all the greater, and in the end it delivered. Yes, the final episode was rushed, and I wish it had been 26 episodes. Yes, the animation quality was merely “adequate”, though it never really got as janky as some other recent series I’ve seen fall to rushed production. It leaves an open ending in case they ever decide to do more (the producer, in an interview, suggested a next-gen sequel might be interesting), or in case fanfic writers want to make the implicit yuri more explicit. It’s the sort of show you immediately want to rewatch,, and I desperately hope it gets a physical release over here in North America. It was amazing. And Aoi’s ball had Pac-Man on it.

Also, it’s “Venus Line”. It’s very audible. I never got the people who misheard it. Sheesh.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 10

by

By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

We’ve spent most of this series trying to understand, and in some cases attempting to like, Aoi Hinami. She’s the second protagonist of the series. She’s the driver of most of the changes that Tomozaki makes. She’s also the driver of most of the mistakes that he makes as well. In the last volume we saw things between her and Tomozaki come to a head, and their “partnership” broken up. As I’ve mentioned before, Hinami has seemed scary a lot of the time (rivaled only by the other main girl in the series, Kikuchi) and as the books have gone on we haven’t had a lot of information as to why. We know from a book or so ago that whatever problems she has seem to stem from family issues. And now here, in a book that is dedicated almost entirely to cheering Hinami the hell up after Book 9’s fallout, we finally see what is likely driving her to be the way she is. It’s grief.

Tomozaki has been a bit depressed since he and Hinami “broke up” last volume, and is dwelling on it (in front of Kikuchi, no less, who I continue to feel a bit bad for). What’s more important, though, is that Hinami has also been depressed, to the point that everyone around her notices the cracks in her perfect mask. Given that her birthday is coming up, all her friends decide to throw a “surprise” party with an overnight trip to Super Nintendo World (or its copyright-safe version, at least) amusement park. They also divide into three competing groups, each one trying to get Hinami the present that will make her the happiest. Meanwhile, Tomozaki is determined to talk with Hinami to try to repair their fractured relationship… and Mizusawa wants to finally confess to her. But what will Aoi think about all this?

I’ll be honest, I spent a lot of this book waiting for the other shoe to drop, and was rather surprised when it didn’t (though we may be saving that for the next book). The back half of this book is wonderful, showing everyone going around, getting on rides they know they’ll hate, eating lots of cheese-filled foods, and trying to get Hinami to show her real face to them. And, hey, it works! It turns out that it’s hard to always do the logical, reasonable choice when you are, say, zooming backwards on a terrifying roller coaster. It leads to the emotional climax of the book, where Hinami finally talks to Tomozaki about her past, and reveals that her need to be so certain about everything is down to an event in her life that she can never be certain about – one where the answer to her desperate question is impossible to find out. It really does explain a LOT of what Hinami was doing. That said, the actual end of this book may have more of an impact… will Hinami finally be seen to break down in front of others?

The 11th volume, from what I hear, is the final one. Unfortunately, its release in Japan has been delayed, so I’m not sure when we’ll see it. Till then, this volume is filled with happy and sad moments, and should be satisfying for all fans of the series.

The Ephemeral Scenes of Setsuna’s Journey, Vol. 1

by

By Rokusyou, Usuasagi and sime. Released in Japan as “Setsuna no Fūkei” by Dragon Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andria McKnight.

Theoretically, every new light novel series is someone’s first light novel. You could have a reader who has never read an isekai, who knows nothing of Japanese RPGs, and who would easily get lost in the world unless it’s laid out before them. Theoretically. In reality, everyone has read about 800 of the things, and we all know how adventurer’s guilds work, at least in the broad strokes. And this particular series starts off very badly by abusing “tell, don’t show” for the first hundred pages or so, having various NPCs walk the player character through what he needs to do in order to play this game. Except the player character is our hero, and this is a book, not a game. As a result, it’s mind-numbingly tedious much of the time. Fortunately, the book improves greatly in its second half, and it does feature a very clever premise, so it has my attention more than other slow life isekai otherwise would.

Setsuna is a young man who’s had major health problems his entire life, and has mostly been confined to a hospital bed. But then, he’s transported to another world, to become a hero!… wait, he’s just transported, not reincarnated. Which means he’s still slowly dying. He’s shoved in a room and ignored for a year or so, with the implication being that once a new hero is summoned he will be quietly killed. Then he’s visited at his bedside by the 23rd hero, who is there to give him powers from two different heroes, which will a) heal him, and b) let him do whatever he wants. Setsuna, who has rarely left his hospital bed, decides that he wants to travel the world and see the wonders of it. So, after escaping, he joins an adventurer’s guild, which is a decent first step.

I feel this book is warring against the premise it wants to tell. It’s supposed to be about Setsuna and his apprentice wandering the world and experiencing it, and those few scenes we get are among the best in the book. Getting there takes forever, though, and the relaxed slow life jars heavily with the sheer awfulness of the kingdom that summoned him, who use hero summonings as basically “free slave!” and apparently killed everyone who took care of Setsuna after he “died”. It’s not helped that, in a side story, we meet the 5th princess of the kingdom, who seems mostly ignorant of what is going on and is living in a completely different light novel series. Honestly, I wonder if the writers had three ideas – summoned but not healed, guild adventures with an OP hero, and man and his adopted son wandering the world – and decided to try to combine them all into one book for extra content. It just feels sloppy all round.

As I said, the scenes between Setsuna and his adopted apprentice are the best of the book, and that appears to be what the series will actually be, so that’s good. Good luck getting there, though.

Manga the Week of 6/28/23

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: June is almost over, so let’s get those last books out before the fiscal year ends.

ASH: I am unfortunately very aware of these deadlines.

SEAN: Airship has one print light novel: Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 7.

We also see early digital releases of I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 5 and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 2.

No debuts from Cross Infinite World, but we get two ongoing series: Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin 5 and The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor 2.

Denpa says this should be sold at AX, so I’ll stick it here, though I’m sure it will retail later. Fate/Grand Order: Chaldea Scrapbook (Fate/Grand Order Caldeas Clap) ran in Type-Moon Comic Ace, and is a series of shorts dealing with the FGO cast, including Mash’s backstory!

Ghost Ship brings us Call Girl in Another World 7.

No debuts from J-Novel Club, but lots of ongoing titles. We get Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 13, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 10, Grand Sumo Villainess Z (the final volume?), The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 16, the 5th Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! manga volume, I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying 2, The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 8 (the final volume), and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 6.

Kodansha Books has a 2nd volume of As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World.

Kodansha Manga has a one-shot debut from Kyoko Okazaki, author of Helter Skelter. River’s Edge is a dark tale showing us the lives of six emotionally stunted students, and it ran in CUTIE.

ANNA: Alright, I’m likely going to check this out.

ASH: Absolutely! I am very much looking forward to this release. Okazaki’s work is tremendous.

SEAN: Also in print: Blue Lock 7, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 6, Saint Young Men Omnibus 10, Shangri-La Frontier 6, and Shonen Note: Boy Soprano 4.

ANNA: Need to remember to pick up Blue Lock for one of my kids.

ASH: I’m still here for Saint Young Men!

SEAN: And we get digital volumes of Boss Bride Days 6, Gamaran: Shura 9, Getting Closer to You 5, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 14, I Want To Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 10, Lightning and Romance 4, My Home Hero 5, Saint Young Men 20, That’s My Atypical Girl 9, and The World of Summoning 2.

KUMA is here for the same reason Denpa is: this should be available at AX. Eiji and Shiro: From Zeroes to Heroes (Mobyama Aji to Mobtani Crou no Kareinaru Nichijou e no Chousen) is a BL title from Takeshobo’s Reijin! about two “background characters” trying to change their destiny of being “those two guys”.

MICHELLE: This might be silly fun.

ASH: It does look that way!

SEAN: And they should also have Happy of the End 2.

One Peace Books has a 3rd volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic (the manga version).

Seven Seas debuts Homunculus, which inspired a Netflix series. Coming out as an oversized omnibus of the first two volumes, it’s by the creator of Ichi the Killer. It’s part psychological suspense and part just plain horror, and it ran in Big Comic Spirits. A homeless man is offered money to be the subject of a mysterious experiment…

MICHELLE: “Psychological suspense” is up my alley.

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

SEAN: Also debuting is Obnoxious Hero-kun: The Complete Collection. This is a BL webtoon collection, which we’ve seen an awful lot of lately. Hope you like bondage!

ASH: There seem to be a few bondage-related manga out these days.

SEAN: There’s also 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 3, The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 5, Failed Princesses 6.5 (a 50-page digital only extra with a couple bonus chapters), I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend Into a Girl 3, Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 3, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 4, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 5, SPRIGGAN: Deluxe Edition 4 (the final volume), Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 5 (the final volume), There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 2, and Tokyo Revengers 11-12.

ASH: Need to catch up on (or start) some of these.

SEAN: Square Enix Manga gives us Otherside Picnic 5 and Ragna Crimson 9.

Steamship has Outbride: Beauty and the Beasts 4.

Tokyopop debuts Delivery for You! (Kime e Otodoke), a BL oneshot about a guy who collects figures falling in love with his deliveryman. It ran in Chara.

They’ve also got On or Off 4 (the final volume).

Viz debuts Goodbye, Eri, from the creator of Chainsaw Man. This one-shot about a filmmaker and how he deals with grief was beloved by everyone I know when it appeared digitally.

ANNA: OK, I’m curious.

Also they also have Wolverine: Snikt!, a 136-page Marvel collaboration I would normally ignore except it’s by the creator of Knights of Sidonia.

MICHELLE: Huh.

ANNA: ….still curious.

ASH: Oh!

SEAN: They’ve also got a second Demon Slayer novel, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba — Signs From the Wind. And Fist of the North Star 9.

ASH: Still very happy to be able to collect more of Fist of the North Star.

Lastly, Yen Press has a couple stragglers, as we see Phantom Tales of the Night 11, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, Chapter 4: The Sanctuary and the Witch of Greed 6, and Triage X 25.

That’s a lot more “end of June” than I was expecting. Anything for you?