Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke, Vol. 2

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By Ichibu Saki, Nemusuke, and Ushio Shirotori. Released in Japan as “Moto, Ochikobore Koushaku Reijou desu” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

The author admits in the afterword that a lot of the fans of this work were very thrown off by the twist at the end of Book One, and even more by the start of the events in the second book. I can’t really blame them. Book one read like a nice, pleasant villainess story with a happy ending. A bit boring, but not actually so much so that you walk away. And now we’re back to the start, and we have to do things all over again. The trouble here is that our heroine does not quite have the self-esteem needed to try to regain her fiancee, so we get nearly an entire book of “it’s OK if he doesn’t love me this time around, I’m fine with being friends”. The other issue, of course, is Charlotte, who remains The Absolute Worst. It’s never quite made clear if she also has memories from Japan, but there’s certainly a lot of “I’m the heroine, why is everything not going my way?” to her.

After the events at the end of the last book, Claire finds herself back where she started, in her old country and about to get her old baptism. She manages to make a few quiet changes (like taking her mother’s note to her so it can’t be used by Charlotte), but for the most part everything goes as it did last time. Except… her family seems a lot nicer and more considerate? In fact, she’s being sent off to school in the country that she fled to in the last book, and can reunite with her old friends and old fiance. But there’s a hitch. Claire is not the only one that went back in time for a redo. And the forces of evil are using the power of capitalism to try to destroy any chance Claire has at getting the powerful magic she needs to achieve her happy ending.

The book keeps its feet firmly in the fantasy in this volume, with almost no mention of the “Japanese game” part of the series. For the most part, as I noted, the most interesting part of the book is Claire reacting to her family being nice to her. Claire never explicitly states this, but being treated like garbage in the previous world hurt her a lot, and it means that when her ex-fiance or brother are kind and caring towards her (indeed, the fiance is trying to fix the ‘ex’ part) it just throws her off. There is an iffy part of the book, though, which involves brainwashing someone. First of all, the setup to this is ham-handed and obvious, and I rolled my eyes. Second, even though the person being brainwashed is an antagonist, and Claire freaks out and tries to undo it, it really seems like an easy “get out of bad plots free” card. Fortunately there’s still Charlotte around to make everything worse, but still.

This book does NOT end with another loop, much to my relief, and there is a third volume in the series. I’d put this in the middle tier of villainess books.

7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy!, Vol. 2

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By Touko Amekawa and Wan*Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuukimama na Hanayome (Hitojichi) Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Amy Osteraas. Adapted by Aysha U. Farah.

I’ve frequently made fun of the fact that many villainesses in these books, with Katarina Claes being the best example, keep constantly trying to “solve” all the problems facing them without realizing that the problems have solved themselves simply due to being empathic and kind. Because Katarina, and Rishe in this series, know the real truth: even if you are as sweet as pie, never assume that the narrative has gone away. Rishe knows that her recurring deaths, and the war that leads to them, are not something that can be solved by simply marrying the man behind it all and showing him how to be happy. There’s a lot more to it than that. This is especially true of this second volume, which brings back a number of characters from her life as an apothecary. Including one who is, for all intents and purposes, a terrorist.

Rishe remains dedicated to her efforts to live a happy, carefree life by overworking herself to death in order to get it. She takes sword training from Arnold, and when she realizes that she absolutely lacks the stamina she had in her knight life, not to mention the elite training Arnold’s knights have, she secretly disguises herself as a boy and enrolls in the knight course. As this is happening, a delegation from Coyolle, a country which has relied on its mining to help it not be taken over and destroyed by other countries, has arrived, including Prince Kyle, who Rishe knew in her apothecary life, and Michel, an alchemist who enjoys inventing things, and if they’re weapons of mass destruction, well, they need to be used. You can’t just NOT use poison once you’ve made it.

Michel was probably the best character in this volume. He’s given a tragic backstory, of course, but for the most part he is the genial mad scientist, willing to blow up the world as long as it shows that his theories are correct. He and Rishe get along surprisingly well. Then again, getting along with everyone is Rishe’s thing. And this includes Prince Kyle, who briefly makes Arnold jealous as in his country all women are meant to be venerated, meaning his attention to Rishe is, shall we say, too much for our grumpy Crown Prince. That said… war does appear to be the the first response for him, and Rishe has to work her ass off to show that diplomacy is the better answer in this case. The answer to “why do I keep dying?” is still not an easily solvable one, but at the very least Arnold finds her fascinating, and is unlikely to brutally murder her this time, unless some horrible misunderstanding happens. Which is unlikely, I mean, this is a light novel…

Fans of the genre, or just fans of shoujo romance, should find plenty to dig into here.

Pick of the Week: Kaiju, Foxes, and Apocalypses

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MICHELLE: There are a lot of appealing BL or BL-adjacent works out this week. I need to get caught up on I Think Our Son Is Gay and Sasaki and Miyano (so that I can read the spinoff), and The (Pet) Detective Agency looks pretty cute too, but quirky and retro-looking BL will always win out with me in the end, and thus my pick this week is The Gay Who Turned Kaiju.

ASH: The Gay Who Turned Kaiju is certainly one of the highlights for me this week, and I will happily be reading the others Michelle mentioned, too. That being said, I really enjoy Tomihiko Morimi’s work and have been reading a fair number of short stories these days, so I’m actually going to make Fox Tales my official pick.

SEAN: My pick this week is the yuri-ish Touring After the Apocalypse, which really, really REALLY sounds like Girls’ Last Tour.

KATE: Touring After the Apocalypse. I don’t know that I have a particularly thoughtful or well-informed reason for choosing it, but I like the cover’s juxtaposition of two totally normal, cheerful people going about their business in a hellscape. That feels like a pretty accurate reflection of what 2022 has been like for most of us!

MJ: I suppose I am also choosing Touring After the Apocalypse as my pick this week. Even with so many titles coming out, my feelings echo Kate’s this this week!

High School DxD: Pandemonium on the School Trip

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

This may be the least horny DxD volume to date. Which, trust me, means it’s still ridiculously horny, and filled with consensual groping and non-consensual destruction of clothing. But the title is actually High School DxD, and this volume wants to remind you of the first part, as Issei and his class are going to Kyoto. And they actually do make an effort to put in the “look, I did the research” work. There are, of course, supernatural bad things going on on their trip. And they naturally seem to center around Issei. But his teachers say to leave it to them, and to try to have a normal fun school trip. Which makes sense. Most of our protagonists are either demons, fallen angels, or angels, and “high school romcom” is theoretically not high on the list of things they have to do. Unless you’re High School DxD, of course, where Issei cannot walk two steps without having another gorgeous young woman fall in love with him. This volume’s candidate is very young indeed.

As noted, everyone’s off to Kyoto!… well, almost everyone. Rias and Akeno are, of course, one grade higher than Issei, so aren’t going, much to their annoyance. That said, everything is official and they even have special thingummies that will allow them to visit the very religious temples without, y’know, bursting into flames or the like. Things are going well… despite a growing rash of breast gropers among the populace. And the elementary-school aged fox girl who demands that Issei give back her mother, who has been kidnapped. That said, if you recall the events of the seventh volume and wonder “if this perhaps the work of the guys trying to reverse engineer balance breakers so humanity can fight angels and demons?”, you would be absolutely correct.

I will admit that the human side does have a point here, in that if you happen to know about angels and demons and dragons and the like, and they’re all fighting each other, you start to feel like a pointless statistic in comparison. That said, if you want humanity to triumph, I’m pretty sure “terrorist acts” is not the way to go. As for Issei, he’s getting better not only at fighting but also at leading, which is good because without Rias the group seems to lack anyone to give them strategy beyond “hit things very hard”. (Or heal things very hard, in Asia’s case.) I was also amused to see that Issei’s power is very similar to Izuku’s in My Hero Academia (which came out well after this book), complete with prior users who give him cryptic advice. And are also a fan of his signature breast moves. Which is a real sentence that I just typed out, and I still can’t really believe that.

So we’ve had the sports festival, and the class trip, so I think I know what’s coming next. Till then, enjoy a solid volume in this horny series.

I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, Vol. 4

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By Sarasa Nagase and Mai Murasaki. Released in Japan as “Akuyaku Reijo Nanode Rasubosu o Katte Mimashita” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

A lot of light novels, particularly in the Villainess genre, have trouble sometimes coming up with what comes next. Looking in particular at My Next Life As a Villainess, which one can argue has sort of been spinning its wheels since the start of Book 3. Fortunately, some authors are much better at coming up with compelling storylines, even if the storyline is “oh, there was another game”. It helps that we have Aileen, who of all the Villainess protagonists is probably the best at being a “villain” personality, i.e. a confident and dynamic young woman who does not take shit from anyone. Well, except perhaps her husband. That said, she gets help here from the “heroine”, Lilia, who is not exactly on her side but is not the antagonist this time, and whose gleeful fourth-wall breaking and sneering bitchiness make this book even more entertaining than it already is. They’re taking on the third game, which has an Arabian feel to it, but still involves the same old otome game tropes.

Aileen and Lilia, along with attendants Rachel and Serena, are headed on a boat trip to Hausel. A dragon went wild while Claude had amnesia, and they need to attend an inquiry to explain it. Unfortunately, on the voyage, the boat’s women are all kidnapped! They’re now in the Kingdom of Ashmael, and are part of the royal harem. Unfortunately, Aileen and Lilia both recognize this scenario: it’s the third game! The “heroine” is Sahra, a holy daughter of God who can repair the Holy Sword. The “villainess” is Roxane, a stoic and reserved woman who is Baal’s main consort. That said… certain aspects of the game seem to have already happened before Aileen and company arrive. Is someone else pulling the strings? Can Aileen avoid being unfaithful to her husband? And why haven’t they consummated their marriage anyway?!

Every time Aileen and Lilia are in the same scene it is a delight. Lilia is absolutely terrible in a way that would be excruciating in real life but is wonderful on the printed page. The fact that the two of them are forced to team up here makes it even better. As for Roxane, like the other villainesses in this series she turns out to be far more than she seems, and I hope we see more of her. We’re definitely going to be seeing more of Sahra… at least I hope we are, as her arc was rushed and lacking, the one part of this I didn’t enjoy. The implication near the end is that Cedric is going to take her in as sort of a way to keep Lilia interested, which I’m sure won’t rebound horribly on him in any way. And, of course, Aileen and Claude are adorable together. It is amusing that everyone – everyone – who knows Aileen thinks she’s cutest when she’s crying. (We also get some brief backstory drop, and wow, her family is very much “you will be awesome or you will die, no other options.”)

This is the first volume that won’t be animated by the current adaptation, and if you’re an anime-only fan it’s a great one to dive into. This remains one of the top-tier titles in the Villainess genre.

Anime NYC 2022, Day Three

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The third and final day of Anime NYC, like the first, was quiet. The main issue was that half the subway lines weren’t working, which is not the con’s fault. I did note that masking was more optional than I’d hoped, but did see a lot of masked people, and they did require masks walking into the panels, which was good. The main panels I attended was Kodansha Manga, whose site may still be under maintenance, and whose Kodansha Books line was eerily silent, but they still had a lot to announce.

They started off with the November digital debuts, including Matcha Made in Heaven, which is already out. The other debut is The Food Diary of Miss Maid, a seinen title from Comic Days about an English maid who ends up living by herself in Japan, and decides to immerse herself in Japanese cuisine. They then moved into 2023 print titles, and there certainly were a lot of them.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Chat Noir is a manga based on the popular French cartoon, which runs in Shonen Sirius. It seems to loosely adapt the original, with some changes. I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I’ll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World! wins the prize for the longest title announced at Anime NYC. This Comic Pash! manga features a wizard running across a disgraced noble who has collapsed near his place. After hearing her sad story, he decides to teach her naughty things… like cake eating! And late night ramen! In other words, sweeter than it sounds. The light novels it’s based on were written by the author of From Toxic Classmate to Girlfriend Goals.

Origin is a manga by Sun-Ken Rock and Dr. Stone artist Boichi. Running in Young Magazine, it features androids trying to destroy humanity, and sounds a lot darker than Dr. Stone – more for Sun-Ken Rock fans. Virgin Love is a josei title from Shufu to Seikatsusha’s magazine Ar (Kodansha Manga has been branching out beyond their own name), with six strangers with love troubles living together at the ‘Love house’. And two new titles in the Maiden’s Bookshelf series were announced: The Girl Who Became a Fish and Spring Comes Riding in a Carriage, both based on classic (and depressing) Japanese stories.

The Darwin Incident runs in Afternoon, and stars Charlie, a half-human half-chimpanzee hybrid who was rescued by terrorists from an experimental lab. 15 years later, he’s trying to live a high school life and get to know the misunderstood girl, but terrorism still lurks around him. The Moon on a Rainy Night is a yuri title from Comic Days, about a girl who (literally) runs into a classmate. Her classmate is deaf, but they can still bond through music. Ogami-san Can’t Keep It In is another Afternoon series, about a girl who simply can’t stop thinking about sex and a boy who forces people to say what they think when they touch him.

On the BL front, we get My Ultramarine Sky, a one-shot title from Gateau about two boys who realize their romantic feelings after being put in different classes. It’s by Nagisa Furuya, who also gets The Summer with You: The Sequel licensed, showing college life for the main couple from that series. It also ran in Gateau. Also in Gateau is Super Morning Star, a BL comedy about a boy who has to hide his identity and his relationship. Sentai is also involved.

My Lovesick Life As a 90s Otaku is a josei series from Kiss. A divorced woman with a daughter flashes back to the mid-90s, when she was a secret otaku, because it was a lot less accepted at that time. How I Met My Soulmate is the new shoujo series by the author of Waiting for Spring, and it runs in Dessert. College student who has misconceptions about love meets a bad boy. King in Limbo is a josei title from Itan, a thriller about a virus that kills people by feeding on their traumatic memories, and a soldier who has to help fight it off. Lastly, and getting the biggest reaction of the panel, Witch Hat Atelier Kitchen, the spinoff manga from Morning Two that focuses on Qifrey and Olruggio… but really it’s about food.

There’s also some re-releases and box sets coming. Vinland Saga is getting nice hardcover omnibuses. Cells at Work is getting 2 omnibuses. Blue Period is getting a box set. Magic Knight Rayearth is getting a paperback release, and I aged visibly as I watched Kodansha talk about how old the series was. And some digital-only series are getting print – though not, alas, Medalist, my current favorite, which I asked the company to shill during Q&A. Instead we’ll see print for Wind Breaker, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister, Nina the Starry Bride, and She’s My Knight.

Anime NYC seemed to run far smoother than last year, and the Anime NYC crew were all friendly and helpful. (The Javits crew less so, but hey.) If you enjoy New York City and conventions, it’s always a great place to go.

Anime NYC 2022, Day Two

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The second day of Anime NYC is traditionally the busiest, and this year was no exception. The publishers were announcing PILES of titles, and pretty much when I was not at a panel I was eating or trying to avoid collapsing in fatigue.

We start off with Yen Press, who had so many announcements that they only did half of them at the panel – the other half were livetweeted afterwards. I’ll start with the panel announcements. But before that, they brought out the author TurtleMe, creator of The Beginning After the End, a webseries that was picked up by Yen about a King who dies realizing that power isn’t everything, so in his reincarnated life he tries to experience different things. The author was extremely happy to be published and available in bookstores, though he admits the name “TurtleMe” is a username that followed him around.

We then went to manga announcements. Appare-Ranman! is based on the light novel, and will be coming out as a 3-in-1 omnibus. Described by Yen as similar to the old show Wacky Races, it has an inventor and a samurai trying to win a cash prize with a steam powered car. It was in Young Ace. Manner of Death is based on a Thai novel, and is apparently a BL murder mystery. It looked pretty cool from the cover. It runs in Enterbrain’s B’s-LOVEY. Magical Girl Incident features a salaryman who finds one day he can transform into… a magical girl! Of course, only one person knows the secret. It’s also from Young Ace.

Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree is already being published by Bookwalker, and is based on the popular game. It can best be described as “What if Elden Ring were a comedy? The announcement is that it will be getting a physical release. It’s in Kadokawa’s Comic HU. Then very exciting news for me personally: Higurashi When They Cry Gou! I may have mixed feelings about the anime, but the manga is usually more solid in the Higurashi series. It’s 4 volumes, and ran in Young Ace Up. In addition, the original manga is coming back into print!

After a prize break, we moved to light novels. My Summoned Beast Is Dead looks quite amusing. A guy at a magical school where the most powerful students summon great magical beasts summons… a giant corpse. And now has to figure out how to succeed in school… with a corpse. Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture is a series about a college kid who can tell when people are lying, which as you can imagine makes him unpopular. He meets up with the title character, a professor who has a love of anything weird, which includes our hero.

Yami-Hara is a creepy sounding novel about people who have darkness (yami) in their hearts, and how that darkness can influence other people. How to Win Her Heart on the Nth Try is a slow-burn romance about an office lady unlucky at love who runs into her childhood friend. He’s been in love with her forever, but she sees him only as a friend. How can he make his feelings known? Lastly, in the same vein as Spice and Wolf, we get A Certain Magical Index Old Testament. This will have all 24 books in the Index series in one massive, massive TOME, similar to the Spice & Wolf one.

(No, they did NOT announce New Testament, but the fact that they’re using “Old Testament” as a prefix tells me it’s probably only a matter of time.)

More manga! Scribbles, by Kaoru Mori. A sketchbook with annotations or her drawings and ideas, from the creator of Emma and A Bride’s Story. Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun will be getting a box set (that looks like a bathroom stall) of the first ten books. And they have a Korean webtoon, Bloody Sweet, about a weird daughter of a shaman who happens to come across a weird vampire in a haunted house, and they are weird together.

Lastly, we have Ize Press, who announed a new title from the creator of The Boxer. The Horizon is about a boy who loses his mother and decides to simply start running. They also have A Business Proposal, a Korean tapas series that also has a live-action version. A girl who agrees to go on a blind date by pretending to be her friend finds… her date is the CEO of her company! And now he wants to marry her! How can she convince him to forget her… because otherwise she’ll be fired!

While the panel was going on, Yen also announced MORE titles on Twitter, which still amazingly exists. Sword Art Online: Progressive – Scherzo of Deep Night is the new continuation manga for the Progressive series, and runs in Comic Walker. Yokohama Station SF came out from Yen as a novel, and now they have the manga, which is three volumes total and runs in (again) Young Ace Up. Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Memoria Freese is a manga based on the DanMachi spinoff game, and runs in Manga UP! (no relation to Young Ace Up).

Handyman Saitō in Another World is a 7+-volume manga from Comic Walker, about a guy who discovers “handyman” is a lot more useful and valued in a fantasy world than it is in Japan. A Reincarnated Witch Spells Doom is from Flos Comic, and is 5+ volumes. A shut-in decides to try to go out in the real world and immediately meets Truck-kun. Now reborn, everyone thinks she’s a witch! I Want to Be a Receptionist in This Magical World is a manga version of the light novel The Sorcerer’s Receptionist, which came out here a couple of years ago. It’s also from Flos Comic.

What This World Is Made Of is a 3-volume manga from Dengeki Maoh. Two brothers desperate for money try a shady app and now end up monster hunters. Me and My Beast Boss is a josei title from B’s-LOG Cheek, about an OL who endures harassment just because she’s a human… till one day she’s made the private secretary of the beastman CEO! My Dear Curse-Casting Vampiress is a Shonen Gangan title from the creator of When a Magician’s Pupil Smiles, about a powerful vampire hired by humans to battle other vampires. The Essence of Being a Muse is a Comic Beam title, already good news. It’s about a woman rejected from Art School who decides to give in and do what her mother wants. It sounds soul-crushing, but I’m sure that’s merely at first.

Additional light novels announced: Even If These Tears Disappear Tonight is a sequel to Even If This Love Disappears Tonight, and is for those who like to read books and cry a lot. Maiden of the Needle seems to combine about four different popular genres, as we see a girl reincarnated in a fantasy world, who can speak to fairies, but who can’t do the RIGHT seamstress magic, so she’s disowned and taken in by another nobleman. And The Ephemeral Scenes of Setsuna’s Journey is a story of a man summoned as a hero… but he’s weak and sickly, so they give up on him. That said, guess what? He actually has the inheritance of the original hero!

Lastly, there’s a new omnibus of Puella Magi Suzune Magica, because how better to wrap up nearly 30 titles than with another Madoka Magica spinoff?

The second panel I went to was Dark Horse, which only had one new manga announcement, but it’s a doozy. Before that, Carl Horn discussed the history of the company, going back to the Godzilla manga they did in 1988, as well as Outlanders. (Remember Outlanders?) They also announced a new artbook, The Art of Octopath Traveler, which is a Square Enix video game series. The big news, though, was Innocent, the 9-volume series from Weekly Young Jump, which is the English debut of acclaimed author Shin’ichi Sakamoto. The story of a family of executioners in 18th Century France, it has won PILES of awards. It’s going to be coming out in 3-in-1 omnibuses.

They had other things to discuss, of course. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Serviced is back, with Vol. 15 out as part of the 5th omnibus. They’re also finishing up Psycho-Pass after a long hiatus. Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! 4 is the first one that has stuff not in the anime. (The series is also apparently an absolute bear to translate.) The Art of Star Wars Visions is self-explanatory, but it was interesting to hear about how the creators were able to play with the original Star Wars characters but chose not to, as well as how they were NOT influenced by Ghibli. The creator of Vampire Hunter D, meanwhile, is living the good life – he was at an Italian convention 3 weeks ago that was held in a cathedral!

The last panel I attended was J-Novel Club, and they had almost as much to announce as Yen, with several new partnerships. Karate Master Isekai is a new manga from Comic HU, and is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. They’ve licensed rescued Let This Grieving Soul Retire! from the Sol Press dungeon, and will be re-translating Vol. 1 and releasing past Vol. 1, just to spite the late unlamented original publisher. Grand Sumo Villainess: This Reincarnated Rikishi’s No Pushover! is a new Villainess light novel, asking “what if the villainess could solve everything through Sumo mastery?”.

Peddler in Another World, which J-NC already does the light novel for, is getting a manga license as well. The manga runs in Comic Fire. Enough with This Slow Life! I Was Reincarnated as a High Elf and Now I’m Bored is another one of those “the title is the plot” light novels, but is apparently more of a “I travel the road” wanderer series. I’m Capped at Level 1?! Thus Begins My Journey to Become the World’s Strongest Badass! is a new manga title that runs in Comic Walker, which sounds like a standard “weak to strong” series, but the ability to gain powers from the corpses who had those powers might be interesting.

The Disowned Queen’s Consulting Detective Agency is from the creator of I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, and is in a similar vein, as the disowned noble lady decides to follow in her late grandmother’s footsteps and be a detective. I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest? I’m Not Even an Adventurer Yet! is a light novel series from Earth Star Entertainment (as indeed most of these license announcements were) about a guy who’s trained to be #1 at parrying. He just can’t do anything else. But who cares? PARRY! Their last “regular” announcement was a “gaiden” sequel to Outbreak Company, taking place after the end of the series. This will be one volume.

They then announced a pile of new audiobooks, thanks to two new partnerships with both RB Media and Podium. We’ll see audiobooks for By the Grace of the Gods, Reborn to Master the Blade, Black Summoner, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Faraway Paladin, Hell Mode, My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned As an S-Ranked Adventurer, Min-Maxing my TRPG Build In Another World, and, inevitably, In Another World with My Smartphone. And, of course, the Slayers audiobook is finally out, with narration by the original Lina Inverse, Lisa Ortiz!

J-Novel Club is also partnering with Yen Press to do some physical releases of popular digital light novel titles. Yen will release, in print, The Misfit of Demon King Academy, Hell Mode, and My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! (both the LN and the manga). J-Novel Club actually asked me at their booth if I would give Hell Mode, which I skipped when it first came out, another try, and so I might pick it up and see how it is.

The biggest partnership announcement was with Drecom, a company that just started a light novel line last month. They’re debuting – in Japanese and English the same day – a new series by the creators of Goblin Slayer (author) and Overlord (illustrator). Called Blade & Bastard – Warm Ash, Dusky Dungeon, it’s a novel based on the RPG game Wizardry. I’ll be honest, absolutely nothing about this series interested me until Sam casually said “Oh, yes, the nun also has a sword”, and that made me sit up and pay attention. That said, it’s definitely more for Goblin Slayer fans than for me.

They have a number of titles already out in Japan the last two months, and we will also be getting these sometime in 2023. Official titles are not available yet, so I won’t go over all of them, but there’s a time loop villainess story, a noble dumped by her fiancé gets a better deal story… actually, there are TWO titles for each of these genres… and, perhaps best of all, “I’m a Pharmacist Witch and a part-Time Divorce Attorney”, a title that sounds like it was written specifically for me personally. They’ve also got a new series from the author of Unnamed Memory, which I know will make some people sit up and take notice.

Drecom had some of their executives there at the panel, and they also talked about the various multimedia strategies they would be doing (which include NFTs, but this was not mentioned at the panel itself, probably with good reason – I think it would have been booed). Sam noted that the fact that they’re so closely partnered does mean we may see some series cancelled, but it was mentioned that English-language sales may help stave that off even if it’s doing badly in Japan.

This was a lot of stuff. If this sounds more like a list of things than previous years, it’s probably due to the fact that there were less panels that are more “fan-oriented” this year. However, there are a few of those on Sunday, along with Kodansha Manga. We’ll see you there.

Manga the Week of 11/23/22

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SEAN: The deluge.

ASH: Ride the wave!

SEAN: Yen On has some debuts. Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian (Tokidoki Bosotto Roshiago de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san) is basically one of those “sweet high school romcom” series, only with a Russian flavor. Sadly, she doesn’t realize the guy she likes can understand Russian!

ASH: That’s a twist on communication breakdown that I don’t think I’ve seen yet.

SEAN: Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World (Ningen Fushin no Bōkensha-tachi ga Sekai o Sukuu Yō Desu) tells the tale of an adventurer who was screwed by his party. Now he joins forces with others who had similar issues and together they will be the bitterest adventurers around.

The one-shot is Fox Tales (Kitsune no Hanashi), a short story collection from the creator of Penguin Highway and The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl.

ASH: I’ve really enjoyed Tomihiko Morimi’s past work, so I look forward to reading this one.

SEAN: Gods’ Games We Play (Kami wa Game ni Ueteiru) has a former goddess and a genius boy teaming up to win a rigged contest between gods! This is from the creator of Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World.

And King’s Proposal (Ōsama no Propose) is from the creator of Date a Live, but I guess I’ll talk about it anyway. A dying witch who is the only one with the power to save the world gives her powers to a passing Ordinary High School Student. Now he’ll need to attend a magic academy… posing as her!

Also from Yen On: The Asterisk War 16, Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 3, Eighty-Six 11, Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway 2, The Holy Grail of Eris 3, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 4, My Happy Marriage 3, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 10, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 20, Secrets of the Silent Witch 2, So I’m a Spider, So What? 15, Spice & Wolf 23, Strike the Blood 22 (the final volume), Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 11, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 15, and The World’s Finest Assassin Gets Reincarnated in Another World as an Aristocrat 6.

ASH: It’s been a while since I’ve thought about Spice & Wolf. I did enjoy some of the early volumes I read.

SEAN: As for Yen Press, they have debuts as well. Coffee Moon is from Dengeki Maoh, and is about a girl trying to live a normal life during what appears to be the apocalypse, and what happens when one day she cannot.

ASH: Okay, I’m at least vaguely intrigued.

SEAN: The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai) is based on the light novel, which is not too bad for a “magical academy has a demon lord” book. (Yes, that is a genre.) It runs in Shonen Ace.

Embrace Your Size: My Own Body Positivity (Jibun Size de Ikou Watashi nari no Body Positive) is a one-shot serialized on pixiv’s essay site, and then published by Kadokawa. It is, as you might imagine, a story of how society does not accept anything other than the “accepted” body type, and how to learn to love your body anyway.

ASH: I do like the range of autobio manga we see these days.

SEAN: The Gay Who Turned Kaiju (Kaijuu ni Natta Gay) is a one-shot LGBTQ title that was originally published as a series of ten doujinshi, then collected into a volume by Enterbrain. A bullied gay teen wishes he could be someone else. Surprise! That said, this is apparently really good.

ASH: I’ve heard good things, too.

Hirano and Kagiura is a sequel/side-story to Sasaki and Miyano, and is BL Basketball. BasketBL? It runs in Comic Gene.

MICHELLE: I should really read Sasaki and Miyano.

SEAN: So What’s Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin? (Tensei Goblin Dakedo Shitsumon Aru?) comes from the author of My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1. Reborn as hated thing, weak to strong, exhausted office worker dies by getting truck’d, harem of devoted women… it’s all here. This runs in Tonari no Young Jump.

Touring After the Apocalypse (Shuumatsu Touring) runs in Dengeki Maoh, like Coffee Moon, and also appears to be post-apocalyptic, like Coffee Moon. That said, the plot sounds exactly like Girls’ Last Tour: the non-SF version. Also, its author just started a Super Cub manga spinoff starring Reiko. HINT HINT.

ASH: Hmmm…

SEAN: Yen also has Adachi and Shimamura 4, Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 5, Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World! 6, Catch These Hands! 3, A Certain Magical Index 26, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 6, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 19, The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend 2, Goblin Slayer Side Story: Year One 8, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story 5, The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious 4, Mieruko-chan 6, Murcielago 20, Overlord 16, Shadows House 2, Slasher Maidens 6, and Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion 2.

That’s it! What will you be… buying… wait. That’s only Yen Press. I’ve only done ONE publisher. (sobs)

Viz Media, fortunately, doesn’t have a lot. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5–Golden Wind 6, the light novel Naruto: Sasuke’s Story—The Uchiha and the Heavenly Stardust, Urusei Yatsura 16, and (digitally) WITCH WATCH 4.

ASH: Still glad we’re getting so much of JoJo translated.

SEAN: Square Enix has Beauty and the Feast 5, The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 4, I Think Our Son Is Gay 4, Ragna Crimson 7, and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 9.

ASH: I need to catch up on I Think Our Son Is Gay, but I really like the first volume.

SEAN: Seven Seas has some debuts as well, of course. Steam Reverie in Amber is not a manga or light novel, it’s an artbook/tarot thing from an artist famous for Final Fantasy art.

ASH: Interesting.

You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! (Musume Janakute, Watashi ga Suki Nano!?) is a “momcom” from the creator of When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace and You Like Me, Don’t You? (and takes place in the same universe as the latter). A young woman raises her niece as her own daughter after the death of her sister and brother-in-law. Then one day, a confession from the guy next door… Not to her daughter, but to her!

Also from Seven Seas: COLORLESS 2, Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 2, Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 6, The Ideal Sponger Life 12, Tokyo Revengers Omnibus 5-6, and Young Ladies Don’t Play Fighting Games 4.

One Peace Books has the debut of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic’s manga (Chiyu Mahou no Machigatta Tsukaikata – Senjou o Kakeru Kaifuku Youin). Based on the light novel (also from One Peace), it runs in Comp Ace.

KUMA debuts The (Pet) Detective Agency (Tantei Jimusho no Kainushi-sama) is a one-shot BL hardcover volume about a detective who is skilled at finding lost pets, and the boss he’s in love with. It ran in Canna.

MICHELLE: Huh. Potentially cute.

ANNA: It does sound cute.

SEAN: Kodansha’s site being under construction and its solicits being hard to find means that the information is, frankly, a mess. I can only apologize.

Kodansha’s print volumes: The Best of Attack on Titan In Color 2 and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 8.

A print volume I missed from 11/8 is Avant-Garde Yumeko, another Shuzo Oshimi title which is, and there’s no getting around this, about a girl who likes penises. It ran in Young Magazine in 2003.

ASH: Oh, well, it’ll probably be well drawn at the very least?

SEAN: Digital… their site is still down. But let’s try going by solicits. Blackguard 5 (the final volume), Burn the House Down 6, DAYS 32, Gamaran: Shura 2, WIND BREAKER 7, and You’re My Cutie 4.

Books that are already out from 11/8: Ace of the Diamond 40, The Fable 8, My Maid, Miss Kishi 5, Police in a Pod 18, The Shadows of Who We Once Were 6, and Space Brothers 41.

Books that are already out from 11/15: Blue Lock 16, Boss Wife 5, The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 2, Gamaran 3, Golden Gold 6, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 11, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 6, Our Fake Marriage 10, A Serenade for Pretend Lovers 6 (the final volume), The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 6, She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons 4, Tesla Note 7, and Ya Boy Kongming! 9.

MICHELLE: I am, as ever, here for all the josei and sports manga!

ANNA: So am I, theoretically!

SEAN: J-Novel Club light novel debut: Making Magic: The Sweet Life of a Witch Who Knows an Infinite MP Loophole (Maryoku Cheat na Majo ni Narimashita ~ Souzou Mahou de Kimama na Isekai Seikatsu ~). This is a reincarnated in a fantasy world that’s like a game but has a cheat ability sort of book. Despite that, female protagonist, so I’ll try it.

Also from J-Novel Club: Ascendance of a Bookworm: Fanbook 3, Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools 5, Holmes of Kyoto 12, the 15th Marginal Operation manga, Perry Rhodan NEO 10, and Redefining the META at VRMMO Academy 5.

Not technically Ghost Ship but I’m putting it here because it’s explicit, The Titan’s Bride (Kyojinzoku no Hanayome) is a mature BL title which features a high school man who finds himself in a fantasy world of giants! And yes, EVERYTHING about them is giant! And one wants our hero as his… bride?

ASH: I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: Actual Ghost Ship: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 4, Call Girl in Another World 5 and Ero Ninja Scrolls 4.

It’s not just Kodansha I find hard to find. Dark Horse Comics released Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! 4 on 11/8 and I missed it.

Finally (!!), Airship has, in print, Classroom of the Elite Year 2 3 and Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 11.5.

And in early digital they have Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 6.

(collapses)

MICHELLE: Sean? Sean?!?!

Anime NYC 2022, Day One

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This year’s Anime NYC had some good points and bad points right off the bat. The size of the panel rooms was an issue last year, so they made sure that the panel rooms are much larger. The downside to that is that there are far fewer panels this year. In addition, most of the really popular panels had a “lottery” system where fans bid to get a place in the audience, so there’s no way for me to, say, drop in on the Kaguya-sama anime premiere this year. I expect this will have a knock-off effect on the other panels as well, as folks unable to get into the Attack on Titan panel decide to go see Dark Horse instead, for example. The gist of all this is that I just have one panel to cover today, though it was a good one.

But first: The Exhibition Hall and Artist’s Alley were packed with folks this year. While I wish masking were better (the con is enforcing masking, but it’s simply impossible to police somewhere like the Exhibition Hall), it’s always fun walking around and seeing folks. Viz and Kodansha have major spaces, and even Yen and J-Novel Club had much larger booths than previous years. Unfortunately, when I walked by the booth devoted to Gundam, there was no Birdie Wing: Golf Girls’ Story merch. Missed opportunity there, I think. Artist’s Alley was also crowded and filled with people buying art and talking to artists, which is what you want to see.

The panel I went to today was a joint one between Denpa Books and their BL spinoff imprint, KUMA. Denpa was, of course, represented by Ed Chavez, and Andrea Donohue joined on the KUMA end. There was only one new license per se, but a lot of their titles are still awaiting release, so it was good to go through everything that we can expect in late 2022 and 2023. KUMA went first, discussing The (Pet) Detective Agency, a detective series with BL and animals; Happy of the End, which sounded like the most “typical” of their BL titles, and a new edition of Canis: Dear Mr. Rain, with new covers and added material. This will gradually replace the older version.

Those were all in the “Older Teen” category. In the “Mature” line, there’s A Home Far Away, a drama with tragic overtones about a sheltered young man going on a road trip with a transient; Crappy Happy Life, a BL comedy that I may honestly pick up, as it sounds hilarious. It’s not often you get to sell a title with flying dildos *and* the “and then they were both bottoms” meme. A Hero in the Demon’s Castle (did the hero kick Princess Syalis out?) involves a demon lord who reluctantly battles people, and the airheaded hero who wants to control his OP tendencies.

Eiji & Shirou: From Zeroes to Heroes is an anthology volume, the main story of which involves two losers in high school who decide to raise their popularity by pretending to be a BL couple. Terano-kun and Kumazaki-kun is an AO3 fic in manga form, as it has a relationship between the student council president and the class delinquent, but the delinquent is the bottom. And the one new license was a Kuma title, The Ruthless Commander & His Reincarnated Warhorse (Shouwaru Boukun Kishu to Nagasare Senba), a reincarnation BL about a guy who is reincarnated as a horse… then when he saved a warlord, is made a war horse! Unfortunately, his true form as a human is soon discovered. This ran in Shodensha’s On Blue.

Ed then discussed Denpa’s recent and future releases. This includes Nana & Kaoru, the wholesome (???) BDSM romance that illustrates why consent is both important and really hot. It’s coming out as six 600-page omnibuses. Inside Mari has just had its final volume with Vol. 9, and if (like me) you want to like Shuzo Oshimi but keep bouncing off him, this is a good one to check out. Under Ninja is a silly-looking comedy which has, frankly,, far too many ninjas. It’s also apparently getting an anime soon. Guyabano Holiday is the new title from the creator of Invitation from a Crab, and is definitely for fans of “indie comics” type manga.

Rakuda Laughs! is an action/noir manga from an artist who’s more known for their fine art, and it’s definitely another title in the Denpa line where the striking art was the reason to get it. Pleasure and Corruption, the BDSM title that is not Nana & Kaoru, also recently wrapped up with its 6th volume. There’s also an artbook coming out from the famous artist JUN, and – easily the title the audience was most excited about – March 2023 should see the first volume of March Comes in Like a Lion, the shogi drama that has won so many awards they had to create new awards just to give it to them. A short Q&A followed, and for those wondering about They Were Eleven, this is the danger of a company run by four people. Kaiji has priority, so until Kaiji 4 & 5 come out, no They Were Eleven just yet.

So a somewhat quiet first day, but at the same time I don’t think they had any major issues like last year’s line problems. Tomorrow is the busy day.

The Bride of Demise, Vol. 2

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By Keishi Ayasato and murakaruki. Released in Japan as “Shūen no Hanayome” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jordan Taylor.

Sometimes you are an author with a wonderful idea, a grand epic tale that will span 30, nay, 50 volumes, and then you get told by editorial to wrap it up in the next chapter. So goes life. Then there is the opposite problem. Sometimes you get an idea for a great, short, punchy horror story with a side of friendship and bonding, and it’s great. In fact, it’s so great the publisher asks where the next volume is. There… isn’t one? It’s complete? Nonsense, you will write more. Because it was popular. Now, I’m not sure that’s exactly what happened with Keishi Ayasato and The Bride of Demise, but it would not surprise me if that was the cast. There’s nothing wrong with this book. It’s got evocative prose, startling horror, and some cool battle scenes. It’s just it doesn’t feel like it’s actually telling us all THAT much that’s new about the world, except for one thing which isn’t much of a surprise. But, if you enjoy Ayasato, it’s still very good.

Kou Kaguro, after 15,000 deaths to get there, finally has his happy ending. He’s at the Academy in his special class with his beloved White Princess. He even gets a big surprise when Millennium Black Princess joins the class as a “new transfer student”, something so blatantly false that the class boggles in disbelief. And they get a second teacher, Hibiya, who proves to be far more adept at actual teaching than the eccentric Kagura. Plus, it’s School Festival time! Admittedly, as part of the secret class, it’s harder to walk around the festival, but that’s why masks were invented. They’re even doing a haunted house, and trust me when I say it will be scary. Everything’s coming up roses for Kou… at least till he gets stabbed to death. And then stabbed again. And again. By his closest friends.

Kou can be a relatively passive protagonist, something he is called out for here by Kagura and Hibiya, who both tell him that he uses his time powers like a magical do-over, and that eventually that will get him into trouble. But he’s still trying to be a good guy… a “hero of justice”, as it’s explicitly stated here, and towards the end of the book he finally gets a handle on this, realizing that sometimes justice makes you need to do terrible things to people that don’t really deserve the=m. We also get some new insight into the kihei, which should be too surprising if you’re read enough conspiracy novels, but also lends a nice air of “uh oh” to the series going forward. And there’s even a smidgen of romance, though for the most part it’s either of the “let’s hold hands” variety (Kou and his princesses) or an ominous setup for the third book (Asagiri).

So yeah, this was good, and I enjoyed it. But I don’t think the book was all that necessary. Possibly the publishers agreed – the next book is the final one in the series, I believe.

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 9

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By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

It might come as a surprise, particularly if you read the early books, but the main character in the Torture Princess novels is, in fact, the Torture Princess. Kaito is definitely the co-protagonist at the start, but as the volumes go on it becomes clear that he’s more an ideal, a symbol of hope, rather than the one whose character development we see as the books go on. That’s Elisabeth’s role, and in this final book we see her mask cracking more than any other, as she tries to keep up the “you want to die, fine, whatever” attitude even as she cries blood trying to stop everyone from dying. If you have read every volume of Torture Princess, Elisabeth is probably the main reason. (Yes, OK, Izabella and Jeanne are probably the main reason, I’ll get there.) The plot of this book is not really “will Elisabeth win?” or “will Alice win?”, it’s “how dark can the author make this and still have us care about the outcome?”. The answer is, unsurprisingly, pretty dark.

The big confrontation with Alice is happening, and unfortunately each person being brutally slaughtered leads to more power for Alice. Fortunately, a savior arrives (no, not him – not yet) to essentially remove Alice from the plot for the first half of the book, so that Elisabeth can deal with the fallout of everything else. There’s the Sand Queen, who may be dead but that’s not stopping them. There’s the battle between humans, mixed race and beastmen. And there’s the fact that even now she really wants to see Kaito one last time. Sadly, in the second half of the book Alice returns, and gets down to the mass extinction event that she’s now wedded to. Is there anything that can be stopped? And can the book actually manage to not kill everyone off?

Spoilers: not everyone dies. That said, a lot of people do die. I mentioned Izabella and Jeanne, and I must admit that Izabella has had “I am going to die tragically” written across her forehead from the moment we met her. Indeed, the arc of her character is how she keeps NOT dying. That and her love for Jeanne, which comes dangerously close to stealing the show here. I love Elisabeth, and she’s great here, but the best MOMENT in the final volume is the impromptu marriage ceremony that Izabella and Jeanne perform. It will make you smile and cry at the same time. I also appreciated how Alice’s story ended. There was literally nothing anyone in this world could do for her anymore, so she simply got dumped back in modern Japan. It’s cruel, yes, in a “not our problem” sort of way, but cruelty is old hat in Torture Princess. As for the very end, it’s possible to read it as metaphorical. It might seem a bit too pat if you read it literally. Either way, though, I’m fine with it.

In the end, though, it may be the grand guignol, over the top prose that was the main reason everyone ate this series up. Kudos to Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher for translating it. This was a good series, which I doubt is getting an anime anytime soon. A bit too much torture for that medium.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 7

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

A lot of people, particularly since the anime debuted, have discussed the way that this series handles its Divine Blessings. Indeed, one might say that how to handle them is the point of the entire series. It comes down to how much is pre-determined and how much is free will, so is naturally going to be a bit contested by readers. That said, I think the series is trying to navigate an interesting middle ground, showing that in this world you have a role but you can manipulate that role how you like. Admittedly that’s easier for some than for others – see Ruti’s entire plot for the first four books. But even then, once she was able to free herself from the blessing’s stranglehold on her, she’s been saving people in the way she wants to, rather than the way she’s destined to. Leonor, though… oof. There’s trying to fight fate and then there’s ignoring fate.

We pick up where we left off last time. There’s pirates and princes in Zoltan, and its reputation as a backwater town where nothing happens is in jeopardy by an impending war. Red and company manage to work things out with the pirates, though admittedly the tragic backstory that is revealed helps an awful lot there. Leonor, though, is a very different matter. She will not stop until she destroys everything. And what’s worse, we discover that she and Red met back when he was a young knight, and she really, really, really took a liking to him. So she’s now determined to have him as well as destroy her sister and also make sure that her kingdom is taken over by demons. As for the demons themselves… they’re just doing what demons do, really. They may not have blessings, but they enjoy being jerks.

The outcome of the battle is not really in doubt. Zoltan has Ruti, who is basically this series’ equivalent of “we have a Hulk”. But it hits the right beats anyway, showing how well Rit can command a force even though, as she repeatedly says, all she wants to do now is live her lovey-dovey apothecary life with Red. Red shows off how well actual practice and skill can trump “Oooh, I’ve got a cool blessing”. And we also see that people do not HAVE to be beholden to what their urges tell them to. Tisse is an assassin. She’s really good at killing people. But here we see her take the Cooking skill, just so that she can join Red in making really good food. Heck, Mister Crawly Wawly also takes the Cooking skill! I am hoping that “Tisse and Mister Crawly Wawly write a spider cookbook” is a genuine subplot in this series, as that would be awesome.

Unfortunately, Slow Life may have to wait – again – as there’s a new hero in town, and I get the sense that the Church wants to make his first mission “destroy the old hero who dared defy us”. Still, for now peace reigns again, which is all we can ask. And hey, Season 2 of the anime coming soon.

Pick of the Week: Quality Assortment

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MICHELLE: This may well be too far out of my comfort zone, but I’m still too happy that we’re getting danmei here to refrain from picking The Husky and His White Cat Shizun!

SEAN: I’ll go with the first volume of <i.Futari Escape, which seems to be a fun read for a quiet week.

KATE: I’ve been enjoying Naoki Urasawa’s Asadora!: it’s a period piece featuring a plucky heroine and crusty old pilot who will stop at nothing to save Japan from a Godzilla-like threat. The characters are all drawn in broad strokes, but the artwork is terrific and the story unfurls at such a brisk pace that it’s easy to forgive Urasawa a few narrative missteps. The last volume came out in… (checks notes)… April, so I’m primed and ready for volume six.

MICHELLE: I’ve been meaning to check out Asadora!.

ASH: I was really excited to learn that a rendition of Atsushi Nakajima’s The Moon Over the Mountain was scheduled to be released later this year, not realizing that it was part of a series. Now that I know that it is, I’m really looking forward to reading the series’ debut volume, Hell In a Bottle.

ANNA: Even though I am so far behind, I’m going to pick Requiem for the Rose King.

MJ: There are a number of interesting-sounding options this week, but I’m going with Requiem for the Rose King, too! I can’t resist!

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 13

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By Kisetsu Morita and Benio. Released in Japan as “Slime Taoshite 300 Nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level MAX ni Nattemashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jasmine Bernhardt.

Perhaps the author has been listening to me a little bit more, as this volume thankfully features no fake yuri tease followed by Azusa saying that she’s straight. Instead it leans entirely on the found family side of the equation, while doing what it does best: adding new characters and telling fun stories. There’s no plot to this story, no ongoing goal or character development, so as always there’s very little to grab on to for a review, but in terms of “cute girls doing cute things”, it serves well enough. The closest we get to depth in this one is when we’re introduced to the Grim Reaper by the two goddesses, and Azusa realizes that, having lived 300 years, she is definitely the baby in the room compared with the others, who casually discuss trying something as a hobby for fifty thousand years to see how it goes. Which of course makes it all the more impressive that she’s one of the biggest powerhouses in the world.

In this volume: everyone gathers at the city of the undead to celebrate Rosalie’s 200th Deathiversary; The group hikes up a mountain to see a historical citadel that fascinates Shalsha; Pecora forces Azusa and Beelzebub to join her in re-enacting a favorite book… by running across the countryside on giant robot Godzillas; Godly Goddess and Nintan invite Azusa to meet the world’s grim Reaper, who turns out to be a frustrates author (and is also entirely covered in hair, it’s implied because of introversion); Godly Goddess gets Azusa to try out her new “training program”, which ends up essentially being a Super Mario game, complete with Pecora as the final boss AND Pecora as the Princess in the castle; a phanton thief vows to steal one of the exhibits in Halkara’s museum, and Halkara is quick to capitalize on this; and in the side story, Laika fights her old master and her sister.

A lot of these feel more like they’re there to entertain the author rather than the reader. The citadel one in particular is very “let me show off all the research I couldn’t put into my Oda Nobunaga series”. Those who enjoy nerd references in their titles will be amused by the robot kaiju, as well as the long parody of platformer games. There’s also some actual fanservice, as Azusa gets stripped to her underwear by the game, but I think it’s meant to amuse rather than titillate. The author also apologizes to the artist for having to draw someone who isn’t a cute girl – I assume he means the reaper, who is indeed a ball of hair, but I have no doubt that a future book is going to take care of that. Basically, the series keeps chugging along, and that’s fine. The Laika stories seem to come to an end with this volume, and I wonder who will take their place now that we’ve had Beelzebub, Halkara, and Laika.

So yes, fluff, good fluff, but plotless fluff. The goal with these is always ‘is there enough here for a full review?” Just barely.

Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World – Ex, Vol. 5

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Last time I mentioned that the 4th side story volume was actually a setup for the 6th arc, which had not come out yet. It still hasn’t – expect it in 2023. Worse news, this volume is mostly a setup for the seventh arc of the series, so I’d say expect that in late 2024. Fortunately, this one can be read as a standalone relatively easily, mostly as it stars Priscilla, who we are already familiar with. That said, you might want to brush up on the 4th book in the Ex series, as several characters from that show up here, even though this book takes place a few years earlier. This book can basically be divided into two stories: 1) a throne war with 32 siblings trying to kill each other, and 2) a death battle stadium where the competitors take over, but one of them has an ulterior motive. That said, it’s a Priscilla book. So honestly, the real plot is “Priscilla is fabulous”. (Oh yes, and Al as well. Hi, Al. You sort of sound like Subaru, but less tsukkomi.)

In the first story (framed as Priscilla reading what might be her diary to Schult), we meet Prisca Benedict, age 10… who is immediately murdered by her servants. But it’s OK, that was just a body double! This should give you an idea of the sort of thing we have going on. It’s betrayal, backstabbing, and zero sibling affection, as Prisca tries to stay alive and become heir over her cunning older sister and powerful older brother. Who has the power of the previous book on his side, which shows he wins. The second story shows us Al, who has lost his arm but lacks his helmet. He’s spent ten years fighting death battles for an audience on an island devoted entirely to that purpose. Unfortunately for him, the other “sword-slaves” are rising up in rebellion, even if that’s a terrible idea. Will Al be able to talk them down? What about that ulterior motive? And what is Priscilla Pendleton, now on Marriage #1, doing there?

The biggest frustration with this volume is that it’s NOT how Priscilla and Al first meet – they spend the entire second story apart from each other, and never meet. We also don’t get a shot of Al’s face, though he’s there on the front cover and also one illustration seen from the back, showing off his ponytail. Priscilla has her intelligence and arrogance here, but is also ten years old, so is now quite the powerhouse we see in the main series. She’s helped by Arakiya, a dog girl who gains monstrous powers by “eating” spirits (and can somehow hold on to her sense of self), and one things I really like about the Re: Zero books is seeing characters who are otherwise terrible people and show the people that they like and respect. Priscilla may regard 95% of everyone around her as clowns, but she’s rarely WRONG about that either, and I enjoyed her scenes with Arakiya. Al shows that he has similar people-judging qualities, too.

I’m sure I will forget 95% of this book when we get to Book 26 and Arc 7. Oh well. It’s still a solid entry in the series, especially if you like Priscilla: The Early Years.