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Anime NYC 2023: Remote Musings, Saturday

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The second day of Anime NYC, were I there (which I am not), would have likely begun with me feeling very awkward at the Ize Press panel. I will admit, I don’t cover Ize Press much in the Manga the Week of posts. There are a few normal reasons for this (I have enough trouble adding all the Japanese releases; I just don’t vibe with the Korean romances as much; I never got the “long strip” webtoon format), but the real reason is likely far more nerdy. See, I started the Manga the Week of lists on Livejournal so that I could point to which series were in Hana to Yume, or Weekly Shonen Jump, or “whatever Wings is”. And, y’see… I can’t do that with the Korean titles! Basically, I suck, and this is why I would be feeling awkward at the panel.

But I’ll still point out what they announced. The big one, which even I have heard of, is Beware the Villainess!, an insanely popular webtoon title that’s been translated into umpteen languages. As for the plot, well, imagine if Bakarina decides to beat the crap out of all the male leads instead.

The Villainess Is a Marionette is a webtoon about, well, a villainess who’s now died multiple times, and decides to be the puppeteer, not the puppet.

Marriage of Convenience is a loop novel, where the horrible villainess realizes, right before she’s killed, the error of her ways, and gets sent back in time to try to do it right.

My Secretly Hot Husband is in the genre of “I was married off to a scary man, but he turns out to be really nice”.

SSS-Class Revival Hunter is NOT a villainess book, but it does involve the hero gaining the power to go back in time after he’s killed, so it’s sort of Re: Zero meets dungeon crawler.

Tied to You is a BL title, a first for Ize Press, and is a “red string of fate” book – except the red string is going to the wrong brother!

After this we get Yen Press’s panel. First of all, they announced three “media tie-in” manga the day before, as a treat. Days with My Stepsister manga, based on the light novel (Shonen Ace plus), Sword Art Online Re:Aincrad, which seems to be an attempt to reboot the (very rushed) original manga adaptation (Dengeki Daioh), and The Kept Man of the Princess Knight, the manga based on the upcoming light novel, also from Yen (Comic Walker).

At the actual panel, they started with the Bungo Stray Dogs Official Comic Anthology. These have been around in Japan since forever, but rarely get released over here. It’s by various artists.

Goblin Slayer: A Day in the Life is a manga spinoff of the main series that adapts short stories from the light novels that were skipped in the main adaptation. It runs in Big Gangan.

No Game, No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union reminds us that this manga runs on a “one arc every ten years” schedule, so adapts the 2nd arc of the light novels. It runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

We then got some light novels. Guillotine Bride (Dantōdai no Hanayome: Sekai o Horobosu Futsutsukana Tatsuki Desu ga) is from the creator of Demon Lord 2099. A dragon princess on her way to execution finds herself blown up and lands in front of a young man. He’s even more startled when she asks him to marry her.

Brunhild the Dragonslayer (Ryū-goroshi no Brunhild) was probably the biggest “name” of the panel – it’s a very acclaimed series, and J-Novel Club recently got the rights to release it in German. A girl is raised by a dragon to never harbor hatred in her heart… then her dragon parent is killed by humans. Will she fall to vengeance?

The God of Nishi-Yuigahama Station (Nishi Yuigahama-eki no Kami-sama) is a novel about a train disaster that claims many lives… or rather it’s about what happens after, as a rumor of ghosts of the dead passengers has brought their loved ones there to see if they can see them once more.

Back to manga for She Likes Gays, but Not Me (Kanojo ga Suki na Mono wa Homo de Atte Boku de wa Nai), a manga based on a critically acclaimed novel that ran in Comic Bridge. A gay high school boy hiding his sexuality discovers a young woman with a huge love of BL manga. Can he have a “normal” life with her?

Friday at the Atelier (Kinyōbi wa Atelier de) is probably the manga announcement that most interested me. It runs in Harta, and features a bored woman who agrees to be a nude model for a famous painter. Indeed, she agrees a little too easily. What’s up with her? This honestly looks pretty cute.

Yen Press also announced some new audiobooks, for Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Bungo Stray Dogs… and Baccano!. The last one has me delighted, as the Baccano! fandom is small but fierce.

After this, I would have gone to Dark Horse’s panel, but it appears they didn’t license any new titles. They did say they’re reprinting some Berserk volumes, so that’s nice.

Kodansha Manga began with a big announcement: a new manga, The Spellbook Library, from the creator of Is Love The Answer. And it’s coming out in English first, on the Kodansha app. It kind of sounds like a cuter version of Magus of the Library.

Speaking of that same creator, coming out digitally next month is Sayabito: Swords of Destiny, a post-apocalypse drama about human weapons. It ran in good! Afternoon.

Also out digitally in December is Don’t Tempt Me, VP! (Amayakasanaide Fuku Shachou: Danna-sama wa SSR), a josei title from Ane Friend about an OL, deep in debt thanks to her horrible ex, getting a proposition from her company’s vice-president: marriage.

Next we get a bunch of new licenses out next year. Versus has a story from the creator of One-Punch Man, and runs in Shonen Sirius. A group of humans try to make a stand against the evil demon lords.

Pupposites Attract (Seihantai na Watashitachi) is from Comic Pool, and is a romance between two humans of opposite personalities who have two dogs that are also very dissimilar.

The Boy I Loved Became the Jaded Emperor (Mukuchi na Koushaku Reijou to Reitetsu na Koutei – Zense Hirotta Kodomo ga Koutei ni Natte Imashita) is from Comic Zero-Sum. A prince whose life was saved as a child by a mysterious woman grows cold when she’s killed, however, he discovers her reincarnation is a duke’s daughter.

Snow & Ink (Yuki to Sumi) is a seinen title from Comic Days. A criminal accused of murder is purchased by the daughter of a rich family, and takes him on a journey to the north. Can they both escape their sordid pasts?

Home Office Romance (Telework Yotabanashi) is a one-shot from the creator of Sweat & Soap. It ran in Weekly Morning. A man whose life has been turned around by remote work falls for his grad student neighbor. But what about the poor office building landlords?

Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up (Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai shite Iru) is a josei title from Comic Pool, about two high school students who each completely redid their look and personality for high school. Will they be able to hide everything?

Spoil Me Plzzz, Hinamori-san! (Amaesasete Hinamori-san!) is a yuri title from Comic Yuri Hime. Our heroine looks up to the “perfect maiden” of the school… only to find she’s a childish brat who needs to be spoiled or else.

Sheltering Eaves (Koboreru Yoru ni) is a josei title from Kiss (!) from the creator of Perfect World. A young boy who was abused by his mother ended up at an orphanage, cared for by another orphan. Now they’re both in high school, and he’s trying to wrestle with his past and his feelings.

Lastly, they’re doing an omnibus release of Your Lie in April, for those who just like to cry a lot.

Today has just two Industry panels I’d be attending – Azuki Manga and Star Fruit. Hope the last day is a good one!

I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness: I’ll Spoil Her with Delicacies and Style to Make Her the Happiest Woman in the World!, Vol. 2

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By Fukada Sametarou and Sakura Miwabe. Released in Japan as “Konyaku Haki Sareta Reijō o Hirotta Ore ga, Ikenai Koto o Oshiekomu -Oishi Mono o Tabesasete Oshare o Sasete, Sekai Ichi Shiawase na Shōjo ni Produce!-” by PASH! Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Yui Kajita.

Last time I said that how much you liked this series depended on how much you could put up with its one joke, that of the protagonist using the word “naughty” to mean things other than sex. Thankfully, there is far less of that in this second book. That said, there’s still a caveat here. How much you like this series now depends on how much you can deal with the syrupy sweetness of it. This is clearly not meant to be a long-runner, as Allen and Charlotte realize their feelings and confess to each other over the course of the fist half of this book. There are, in the words of one of the other characters, the “pure” sort of couple, the kind where you have to look away when they hold hands as the light is too blinding.

Things are much the same in Allen’s mansion… even if he finds out that its previous owner is not quite as vanished as he would like. That said, there is still the issue of Charlotte being wanted by her kingdom, dead or alive. And the fact that he sees a legendary bounty hunter and his goons hanging around the town, waiting for her. Still, all that pales in comparison to the most important thing: confessing to her. Can he do so smoothly and lovingly? Or will it accidentally come out in the heat of the moment when she’s kidnapped by a monster? And even if they do become a couple, what about Charlotte’s sister? The only one of her abusive family who truly cared about her? Is she doing all right? Or has the stress of the whole situation made her become… a delinquent?

This is definitely a book that gets better as it goes along. The first chapter, with the elf who’s also a novelist, had me groaning and rolling my eyes, and was not all that fun except in the places where it focused on the couple’s cuteness. Better was the “let’s have a date while avoiding assassins” chapter, which has a very obvious punchline, but it’s a punchline we don’t mind, because the purity of the heroine is just that good. The best part of the book is the back half, where Allen and Charlotte return to his old school, where his father has asked him to deal with a little problem: Natalia, Charlotte’s younger sister. This had a lot of great comedy and character building, and Natalia is adorable in a “she can beat me up and she’s only 7 years old” sort of way.

This isn’t going to win any awards, but it’s inoffensive enough, and the next volume is, I think, the final one. Still have that pesky wanted poster to deal with. If you are the sort to buy a sugar donut and sprinkle more sugar on it, this might be for you.

Anime NYC 2023: Remote Musings, Friday

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So it’s Anime NYC! And I am… not there this year, taking a year off for various reasons. But that doesn’t mean I don’t have things to say. So this is not so much news as “what does Sean think of the new licenses?”, consider it news lite. And of course it is missing the pithy remarks of the panelists themselves, alas.

Were I going, I likely would have started the con with Viz Media… but I don’t know what happened at their panel, as they had no new announcements. This happens sometimes, especially with New York Comic Con a month earlier. I suspect the panel was mostly about Undead Unluck and Jujutsu Kaisen.

Crunchyroll also had a panel, but it was mostly about streaming dates for upcoming anime and new dub casts, rather than, say, Blu-Ray news for Birdie Wing. There was no news about that. Alas.

The big panel of the day, at least in terms of Sean-related things, was J-Novel Club. They always bust out a lot of new licenses for the con, and this year is no exception. They started off with a few manga titles, beginning with Duchess in the Attic (Yane Urabeya no Kōshaku Fujin). This is based on a light novel of the same name, which did not get licensed but, as we’ll see later on, there’s always hope it might in the future. A duchess with a bad reputation for no real reason is marries off to a duke who also treats her coldly. Heck, there’s a childhood friend of the duke everyone loves far more than our heroine. How can she reverse her fortune? This runs in Flos Comic.

Next we have Through the Viewport: Child of a Ruined World (Shūmatsu Sekai no Hakoiri Musume), a MAGCOMI title about a post-apocalypse girl and her robot. This sounds like a few other “girl and companion travel across desolate post-apocalypse landscape” titles we’ve seen recently.

A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires (Buchigire Reijō wa Hōfuku wo Chikaimashita. Madōsho no Chikara de Sokoku wo Tataki Tsubushimasu) is also based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel, and runs in Comic Fire. You’ve seen this story before. Duke’s daughter, engagement broken, imprisoned, etc. This one, though, decides “to hell with it” and sets off to get her revenge.The artist also did the Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop manga.

Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- (Buta no Liver wa Kanetsu Shiro) is the manga version of the light novels J-NC is already releasing. It runs in Dengeki Maoh.

Now we move on to light novels. Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden (Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku) is one of those rare titles where our “reincarnated into another world as a child” protagonist is not from Japan, but was a great hero in her previous life! Alas, there was a bit of Red Sonja to her, as she kept looking for a warrior to defeat her, but never found one. Now she has a new life… and she’s frail and sick. Well. That simply won’t do. For fans of Reborn to Master the Blade. The author also writes Kunon the Sorcerer Can See Through.

The Exiled Noble Rises as the Holy King: Befriending Fluffy Beasts and a Holy Maiden with My Ultimate Cheat Skill! (Tsuihō Kizoku wa Saikyō Skill “Seiō” de Henkyō kara Nariagaru: Haikyōsha ni Nintei Sareta Ore da kedo Cheat Skill de Mofumofu mo Seijo mo Nakama ni Shichaimashita) is a “the title is the plot” sot of series, as our protagonist is excommunicated (that’s new), but he has a powerful cheat skill (that’s not new), and befriends cute fluffy beasts (also not new) and cute holy maidens who have been sent to kill him (very not new). If you like your light novels with a ratio of 1 new to 3 not new, check this out. It’s from the creator of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! (Mujikaku Seijo wa Kyō mo Muishiki ni Chikara o Tare Nagasu: Imadai no Seijo wa Anede wa Naku, Imōto no Watashi Datta Mitai Desu) is the light novel whose manga J-Novel Club licensed previously. The plot? Noble lady looked down on by everyone in favor of her sister is married off, moves to another country, and turns out to be SUPER POWERFUL!

The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival (Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyō Survival) is a TO Books title (Bookworm, Tearmoon), so has my attention. A young orphan runs away, only to find someone trying to kill her. She realizes she’s meant to be an otome game protagonist… but has to fight for survival in this dog-eat-dog world. If you wanted more death game in your villainess books, great news.

The Water Magician (Mizuzokusei no Mahōtsukai) A reincarnated boy is trying to be the protagonist of a Slow Life novel, but – .like many other Slow Life protagonists – deadly attacks and large battles keep getting in the way. He also just keeps getting stronger and stronger. J-Novel Club also licensed the manga for this title, which runs in Comic Corona. So also TO Books, then.

I had been one of the few people watching Management of a Novice Alchemist (Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei) in Fall 2022, and I found the anime very appealing. I am therefore delighted to see J-Novel Club licensed the novels. (The author also writes To Another World… with Land Mines!, and the illustrator also works on The Invincible Little Lady.) Sarasa has just become a state alchemist, and her master gives her the graduation gift of her own shop. But… it’s in the middle of a tiny village. And also pretty dilapidated. This is a Cute Girls Doing Cute Things series, provided you don’t mind some of the cute things are killing bears made entirely of fire.

Sword Saint Adel’s Second Chance (Ken Seijo Adel no Yarinaoshi) is a new series from the creator of Reborn to Master the Blade, and in fact has almost the exact same story. Only this powerful warrior who regrets his life choices is not reincarnated in the future but in the past. That said, they’re both reincarnated as gorgeous young women. Anyay, now he can protect the princess. Possibly yuri? Eh. I doubt it.

The Banished Former Hero Lives as He Pleases (Dekisokonai to Yobareta Moto Eiyū wa, Jikka Kara Tsuihōsareta node Suki Katte ni Ikiru Koto ni Shita) is from the creator of I Surrendered My Sword for a New Life as a Mage. It’s also getting an anime next year. A young man is deemed useless and banished… but in his past life, he was a hero! Now he can do what he likes… except he can’t seem to stop helping people. This one is also TO Books, exciting!

The best title of yesterday’s licenses goes to RVing My Way into Exile with My Beloved Cat: This Villainess Is Trippin’ (Akuyaku Reijō wa Camping Car de Tabi ni Deru). I had seen this on Drecom’s site a few months ago, and was eager to see J-NC pick it yup. Are you a villainess who’s been exiled and shamed? Why not take with you a magic camper van that evolves as you travel!

The big news of the panel, though, was the long-awaited license rescue of Chivalry of a Failed Knight (Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry). This light novel was originally released by Sol Press, but when they went under it seemed to be the only un-rescued title. Now it’s back, and you can enjoy the series beyond the first few volumes. The plot… is very similar to The Asterisk War, something I have made a bit of a running gag, so I’ll just note it here.

J-Novel Club also announced that their light novel contest would be judged by Akiko Fujita, Kadokawa’s head editor, and Carlo Zen, author of The Saga of Tanya the Evil. And Bookworm audiobooks are coming, with the dub actress for Myne doing the narration.

Denpa Books was the next panel, and they had two new announcements. Wolf Pack will come out on their KUMA imprint, and runs in Daria Comics e. Two alphas have to find a way to get along, despite seemingly being opposites.

ODDTAXI got a very popular anime last year, and the manga runs in an offshoot of Big Comic Superior, Superior Darupana. It’s the story of a taxi driver who also happens to be a walrus, and how he gets mixed up in a much bigger plot.

Honestly, after Denpa I likely would have left to go back to The New Yorker hotel and type this up, but there was also a Comikey panel. I don’t follow the new streaming manga services as much as I should, mostly as the micropurchases for chapters are not my bag. They announced a bunch of stuff that is already available on Square Enix’s online platform, as well as a few new manga from a new company which I can’t find a lot of info about.

As for today, we should see titles from Kodansha, Yen Press, and Dark Horse. Hope everyone is having a great time!

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 7

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Covers always spoil of course, but this one perhaps spoils a bit more than most. That said, we were due. Given that Rozemyne keeps being engaged to various people, as well as the clear “we are each other’s destined forever” relationship she has with Ferdinand, keeping her looking nine years old forever is a non-starter. That said, this is only one of the huge things to happen in this book. The time for set up volumes is done, we’re now ready to fire off all the guns on the wall. Fourth year? What fourth year? Instead we get war, or “true ditter” as the book calls it, with Rozemyne being forced to choose between the life of one man and the fate of the entire kingdom and chooses the one man, because really what has the kingdom ever done for her? And honestly, she has a point. In other news, Letizia manages to pass Hannelore for “most unlucky person in the series”, though that naivete costs her a lot more.

The book starts off relatively normally. Rozemyne is headed back to school for her fourth year, and there’s a lot to do. She has to prepare for the move to the sovereignty, investigate the giant magic circle only she can see above the school, and of course get everyone to pass all their exams and get first in her year again. Sadly, that last one won’t happen, as while praying to the odd statue on the 2nd floor of the library, she is whisked away to meet the Gods. There she gets a book!… forced into her head, with so much knowledge that it’s painful. Worse, it’s not even the entire book – about 30% is with someone else. (Ferdinand. Come on, it’s Ferdinand, we all know.) In addition, after seeing that her “vessel” is far too tiny for all the mana she has, they get the God of Growth to give Rozemyne the body to match her age at last… which, unfortunately, means a lot of PAIN.

She gets back (yes, this is still a summary, it’s that kind of book) to find that the school year has come and gone without her (no first in class for her… heck, she may have to redo the year) and that Georgine’s plans are far more advanced than anyone realized. Everyone prepares to combat Georgine, but Rozemyne is mostly going to leave that to others. Then, um, Ferdinand is poisoned. And is slowly dying. And crying out to Rozemyne via a psychic link (we actually saw this before like 25 books ago, with Myne calling out to Lutz to save her, so kudos there) so that she knows exactly what’s going on. Now they have to go to war IMMEDIATELY, which means they need more manpower. Gosh, if only Rozemyne was best friends with a girl whose father was head of the most war-happy duchy around…

So yeah. It’s a lot. Oddly, despite the poisoning and general dire things going on, the Rozemyne sections are still the light-hearted part, if only as whenever we cut to someone else’s POV it’s much worse. Letizia is totally schnookered into being an attempted murderer, and might be executed, and she also essentially had the corpse of her closest ally thrown at her feet. Meanwhile, Detlinde is 100% OK with a foreign invasion as long as people continue to praise her and kowtow to her, though she perhaps is unaware that it’s all massively phony. (Her attendant isn’t, but sorry attendant, pretty sure you are also going to die by the end of this.) And then there’s Ferdinand, who still expects Rozemyne to have the common sense of this world, and also have an ounce of romance in her body, and she has neither of these things. Consciously, at least. Even if you don’t ship them, you have to feel bad for him.

Next time, TO WAR! Bookmaking will be taking a back seat for a while. Also, this series may end with Rozemyne as the supreme ruler of everyone. Be afraid.

Manga the Week of 11/22/23

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SEAN: Duck or bump, folks.

No debuts for Yen On, but a lot of ongoing titles. We see 86 ~Eighty-Six~ 12, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 5, The Misfit of Demon King Academy 2 (in their J-Novel Club print series), The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?) 11, Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway 5, High School DxD 12, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 12, Rascal Does Not Dream of His Student (the 12th in the series), Sabikui Bisco 6, Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online 13, Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 12, and You Can Have My Back 2.

ASH: That is a fair amount! I’m not sure I’m actively reading any of the relevant titles, but I’m still glad to see the collaboration with J-Novel.

SEAN: For Yen Press, we start with 15 Minutes Before We Really Date (Maji de Tsukiau 15-funmae), which ran in pixiv Ace. Two childhood friends have grown up together, and everyone assumes they’re a couple, except they aren’t. What if they tried it?

ASH: What if, indeed.

SEAN: Higurashi When They Cry: GOU Comic Anthology is what it sounds like, an anthology of comic manga by various artists based around the modern retool of Higurashi, Higurashi GOU.

Kiss the Scars of the Girls (Shoujo-tachi no Kizuato ni Kuchizuke wo) is a yuri title from Comic Newtype that is basically “what if the cast of Maria-sama Ga Miteru were vampires?”.

Lord Hades’s Ruthless Marriage (Hades-sama no Mujihi na Konin) is a shoujo series from Asuka about Lord Hades, king of the underworld, who sadly now has an arrow in his head from Eros. Only true love can remove it… and there are many candidates.

ANNA: Hmmmmmm.

ASH: Count me curious!

SEAN: One More Step, Come Stand by My Side (Ato Ippo, Soba ni Kite) is a collection of one-shots that ran in Comic Beam. They’re apparently very good.

ASH: I like one shots; they’re harder to fall behind on reading.

SEAN: Rascal Does Not Dream of Logical Witch (Seishun Buta Yarou wa Logical Witch no Yume wo Minai) is another two-volume omnibus of the manga adaptation of the 3rd light novel of this series. It ran on Comic Walker.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire (Eiyuu Ou, Bu o Kiwameru Tame Tenseisu – Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kishi) is also from their J-Novel Club in print imprint. The manga runs in Comic Fire.

The Shiunji Family Children (Shiunji-ke no Kodomotachi) is a seinen title from Young Animal. Do you like “incest but not really?” then you’ll love this.

MICHELLE: …

ANNA: I do not like it!

SEAN: When I Became a Commoner, They Broke Off Our Engagement! (Kizoku Kara Shomin ni Natta no de, Konyaku wo Kaishou Saremashita!) is a shoujo title from Flos Comic. A young woman finds out that she was switched at birth by a fairy! You know what that means. Disowned, engagement broken, left to starve in the streets, etc. Those are some lovely cookies on the cover.

ASH: They really are.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Associate Professor Akira Takatsuki’s Conjecture 2, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 6, Bungo Stray Dogs 23, Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 6, Call the Name of the Night 3, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy 4, The Eminence in Shadow 8, Goblin Slayer 13, Honey Lemon Soda 4, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 4, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? On the Side: Sword Oratoria 21, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 7, Love and Heart 9, [Oshi No Ko] 4, The Reformation of the World as Overseen by a Realist Demon King 2, Saint? No! I’m Just a Passing Beast Tamer! 2, Shadows House 5, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 2, Sunbeams in the Sky 3 (the final volume), Touge Oni: Primal Gods in Ancient Times 2, Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 5, Val x Love 15, Yokohama Station SF 3 (the final volume), and Your Turn to Die: Majority Vote Death Game 4.

MICHELLE: I should check back in with Honey Lemon Soda and Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet.

ANNA: Oh yeah, I have some volumes stacked up in my house. Gotta catch up!

SEAN: Debuting from Viz Media is Takopi’s Original Sin (Takopii no Genzai), a done-in-2-in-1 omnibus from Shonen Jump +, and an award-nominated work. A naive alien here to spread happiness meets a depressed, abused girl.

They’ve also got Choujin X 4, Dark Gathering 4, Heart Gear 2, Jujutsu Kaisen 21, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 20, Seraph of the End 28, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 12.

Udon Entertainment debut Team Phoenix, a Bessatsu Shonen Champion series that asks the question “what if the most iconic characters in Tezuka’s manga became space pirates?”.

ANNA: This sounds like a good question to ask.

ASH: Huh! I hadn’t thought to ask it myself, but I’m glad that someone did!

SEAN: Square Enix has Beauty and the Feast 11 (the final volume), Ragna Crimson 11, and SINoALICE 5.

Seven Seas has three debuts. ENNEAD is a BL webtoon inspired by Egyptian mythology, and comes in two versions: paperback (Teen rated), and hardcover (mature rated).

ASH: Now, that’s an interesting approach!

SEAN: Lonely Castle in the Mirror (Kagami no Kojou) appears to be a death game manga without the death. It runs in Ultra Jump.

ASH: Oh, I hadn’t realized that Mizuki Tsujimura’s novel had a manga adaptation!

SEAN: Orb: On the Movements of the Earth (Chi – Chikyuu no Undou ni Tsuite) is a Big Comic Spirits title that’s won oodles of awards. It’s about the age of reason meeting heresy. This is an omnibus of the first 2 volumes.

ANNA: OK, I’m curious about this.

ASH: Oodles of awards, you say? I am likewise intrigued.

SEAN: Orange Complete Series Box Set contains the 5 main volumes, plus the two that came after, in one handy box.

ASH: Very nice.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Anti-Romance 2 (the final volume), Delinquent Daddy and Tender Teacher 2, The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 6, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 3, The Knight Captain is the New Princess-to-Be 2, Last Game 3, School Zone Girls 5, Tokyo Revengers 15-16, and The Two of Them Are Pretty Much Like This 4 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: I enjoyed Anti-Romance volume one, so looking forward to the conclusion.

ASH: I should really give that one a read.

SEAN: One Peace Books has Parallel World Pharmacy 2.

Kodansha Books has a 4th volume of Am I Actually the Strongest?.

Kodansha Manga debuts in print ORIGIN, which comes from the artist of Dr. Stone and creator of Sun Ken Rock. I think it will be more like the latter than the former. In the near future, a space railroad has a serial killer running amok. Trying to stop them… is Origin. This ran in Young Magazine.

Also in print: A Condition Called Love 5, Fire Force Omnibus 7, The Great Cleric 6, I’m Giving the Disgraced Noble Lady I Rescued a Crash Course in Naughtiness 2, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 3, Wandance 7, Wave, Listen to Me! 10, and When Will Ayumu Make His Move? 14.

MICHELLE: Also gotta catch up on Wandance!

SEAN: The digital debut is How to Treat a Lady Knight Right (Ima Made Ichido mo Onna Atsukaisareta Koto ga Nai Onna Kishi o Onna Atsukai Suru Manga), which might seem familiar – it’s another rescue from everyone’s favorite punching bag, Sol Press. This ran in Suiyoubi no Sirius, and is basically for anyone who loves blushing, because god, this series is riddled with it.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: Also digital: The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses 10, A Condition Called Love 13, A Couple of Cuckoos 14, Gamaran 15, Issak 4, Searching for My Perfect Brother 2, and Those Snow White Notes 11.

Four J-Novel Club debuts next week: two manga, two light novels. 8th Loop for the Win! With Seven Lives’ Worth of XP and the Third Princess’s Appraisal Skill, My Behemoth and I Are Unstoppable! (Loop 8-shume wa Shiawase na Jinsei wo: 7-Shuubun no Keikenchi to Daisan Oujo no “Kantei” de Kakusei shita Ore wa, Aibo no Behemoth to Tomo ni Musou suru) is the manga adaptation of the LN also out from J-NC. It runs in Comic Pash!.

Fake It to Break It! I Faked Amnesia to Break Off My Engagement and Now He’s All Lovey-Dovey?! (Konyaku Haki wo Neratte Kioku Soushitsu no Furi wo Shitara, Sokkenai Taido datta Konyakusha ga “Kioku wo Ushinau Mae no Kimi wa, Ore ni Betabore datta” to Iu, Tondemonai Uso wo Tsuki Hajimeta) is a light novel about a woman who is tired of her seemingly uncaring fiance, so fakes amnesia to break off the engagement. The trouble is, he tells her that she was madly in love with him!

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone (Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken) is a light novel series about a humble sword instructor who is now invited to the royal capital by his former students. What can they learn from an average guy like him? I’m getting S-Ranked Daughter vibes from this.

The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Disgraced No Longer, I’m Finding Happiness with the Prince! (Mujikaku Seijo wa Kyou mo Muishiki ni Chikara wo Tarenagasu – Koushaku-ke no Ochikobore Reijou, Totsugisaki de Shiwase wo Tsukami Toru) is a manga based on an unlicensed light novel. Disgraced daughter with no magic power, abused by her family, married off to another kingdom, turns out to have a ton of power really. You know the drill.

There’s also the third Dragon Daddy Diaries: A Girl Grows to Greatness manga volume, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 5, Haibara’s Teenage New Game+ 5, I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons 2, I’m Not the Hero! 2, The Ideal Sponger Life 14, Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes: Breezing through the Future as an Oppressed Ex-Hero 4.5, The Retired Demon of the Maxed-Out Village 2, and Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord 3.

ASH: A strong showing from J-Novel this week.

SEAN: Dark Horse Comics debuts Innocent, a legendary manga that ran in Young Jump about 10 years ago. The story of Charles-Henri Sanson, the executioner of the French Revolution, it’s coming out in three omnibuses, this contains Vol. 1-3. It’s an absolute must read.

ANNA: This was not on my radar before, but now I’m curious!

SEAN: The creator also wrote #DRCL Midnight Children, out recently from Viz. Their art is amazing.

ASH: This is a series I’ve been waiting for!

SEAN: No print from Airship, but we do get an early digital debut. Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City (Okiraku Ryōshu no Tanoshii Ryōchi Bōei: Seisan-kei Majutsu de Na mo Nakimura o Saikyō no Jōsai Toshi ni) is another one of those “reincarnated with a useless skill that’s really super awesome” books.

Are you thankful for manga? I’m thankful I finished typing this up. It took two hours.

ASH: Only two?!

A Royal Rebound: Forget My Ex-Fiancé, I’m Being Pampered by the Prince!, Vol. 3

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By Micoto Sakurai and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha ga Uwakiaite to Kakeochi Shimashita. Ōji Denka ni Dekiaisarete Shiawase nanode, Ima sara Modoritai to Iwarete mo Komarimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A. M. Cola.

I’m afraid the law of diminishing returns is hitting this series very hard. I was surprised there was a second book after the first seemed self-contained, and was also surprised that there was a third after the second seemed to run out of things to talk about. And now here is the third, and we’re told in the afterword this is the final book. It stars Amelia. She’s very nice. She’s engaged to Sarge. He’s also really nice. He has three brothers. They’re all swell guys. They have fiancees. All the fiancees get along and have sleepovers together. But wait, didn’t this series start with her getting bullied at the academy? It’s OK, they’re reforming the academy so this sort of thing never happens again. Fortunately, there is a country next door where everything is still terrible, because otherwise this might be 210 pages of just wedding prep.

Unfortunately for Sarge and Amelia, the magical devices they gave to the Beltz Empire are not working the way that they work back home – in fact, in some cases they’re making the drought worse. Going to the Empire to try to figure things out, they find that the issue seems to be the Empire itself, which causes magic to drain at a much faster rate than back in Bedeiht. While there, they get caught up in a succession war and foil an attempted assassination, but honestly neither of those events seems to have much of an impact on our two leads, who are basically concerned with weather, crops, and nothing else. They need to track down what is draining all the magic, and do this before the Empire becomes too hot to live in – or before a war is started.

Honestly, that paragraph makes this sound a lot more exciting than it is. The closest we get to actual danger is when Sarge accidentally gets locked in a magical basement while trying to investigate it, but even when when they break in and get to him, he’s basically fine and far more concerned with magic circles. We also have to deal, throughout the book, with Amelia’s massive case of Imposter Syndrome, which verges on self-loathing. She absolutely refuses to take a compliment to the face, and insists that everyone else around her does the cool things, all she does is have the odd idea or two, not realizing that the ideas are the spark of inspiration that everyone is looking for. It’s meant to be adorable, instead I want to strangle her. In any case, we do finally resolve things and get the pile of weddings I suspected would take the entire book. We then get a honeymoon… which involves going back to Amelia’s hometown to do crop samples some more. Once a nerd couple, always a nerd couple.

This was probably two books too long, but didn’t do anything hideously wrong, apart from needing to take in conflict from an outside source because things are super lovely at home. I wish the cast a happy, dull as dirt life.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 3

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By FUNA and Touzai. Released in Japan as “Rōgo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-Man-Mai no Kinka o Tamemasu” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Kodansha Books. Translated by Luke Hutton.

(A reminder that the English Vol. 3 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 4.)

I feel a certain regret in my past choices. When I started to review I Shall Survive Using Potions!, I had only read the first volume of 80K Gold, and given Kaoru’s, um, tendency towards war crimes, I described 80K Gold as “beginning” FUNA, Make My Abilities Average as “intermediate”, and Potions as “hard”. The thing is, though, all of these series are essentially exactly the same. You could take Mile, Kaoru and Mitsuha and swap them into each other’s books and not much would have to change, except the Potions cast would wonder where their grumpy cuss went. They are all basically “a girl who looks younger than she really is wreaks havoc on a fantasy landscape, collecting other young girls along the way”. And boy, is much havoc wreaked in this volume. Mitsuha is going on a world tour, and she’s brought a camper van and her own barrel of war crimes.

Having vanquished the invading country with their newfangled ships and weapons, Mitsuha and company now have to tell the neighboring countries about the same danger. While also trying to get them to form an alliance, and possibly sell them some cool guns. A diplomatic team is put together… with Mitsuha as a supernumerary, not part of the actual team, so she can do whatever the hell she wants. She takes Sabina and Colette with her, and, after introducing the two of them to Japan and the wonders of Japanese food (and, after overeating, the wonders of Japanese toilets), she buys an RV that she names the Good Ship Lollipop and sets off in style and comfort… while occasionally waiting for the diplomatic party to catch up to her.

There are always a few light novel series that make me uncomfortable with where they sit on the political spectrum, and this is one of them. The author and the main character love their guns, and we get more discussion of them, along with which ones are best to use in which situation. The diplomatic mission amounts to blackmail most of the time, as basically the other countries have to give in or they won’t get any of Mitsuha’s armaments… and, after observing the effect of one rifle on their standard suit of armor, they HAVE to give in. It can feel a bit mean. She also wins over a new princess and solves the succession crisis for her (good) but also gets her addicted to gambling (bad). This series never gets too serious, unlike Potions, but there is some melancholy as Mitsuha realizes that her unaging self means that in a couple of years she will have to give up her Japanese life for good to avoid unwanted questions. It depresses her.

That said, it doesn’t depress her enough that she’s not rolling through a fantasy world in a camper van with her two child soldiers… erm, assistants at her side. As always, if you like FUNA, you’ll like this. If you don’t, you’ll hate this.

The Troubles of Miss Nicola the Exorcist, Vol. 2

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By Ito Iino and Kinokohime. Released in Japan as “Haraiya Reijō Nicola no Komarigoto” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Joshua Douglass-Molloy.

DRE Novels is a relatively recent imprint, and they don’t have any series longer than three volumes. So it’s no surprise that when they get a series that does really well – such as winning the Gold Medal in their light novel awards, as the first volume of this did – they’re going to tell them “hey, write more” even when the series wrapped up perfectly fine in the first book. It’s not all that hard. Nicola is, after all, a grumpy cuss, and the lack of life experience other than “exorcist” in her previous life and noble politeness in this one have left her ill-equipped for feelings of love. So she spends a bit of this book asking the other members of the cast what they think love is. That said, that’s not enough to sustain a second book. What is enough, though, is doubling down on the ‘exorcist’ part of the series and turning a lot of this into straight-up horror.

We pick up right where we left off at the end of the last book. Olivia is dead, Nicola and Sieghart like each other but she’s too embarrassed to own up to it on her end, and supernatural things still love Sieghart to death – and in some cases are trying to make that literal. Olivia’s death, unfortunately, means that Alois needs a new fiancee, and Nicola is one of only three candidates – and the top one, at that. The group decide to go on a trip to meet the other two fiancee candidates – Charlotte, daughter of a marquess and a maid who grew up starving on the streets till they were taken in and made an heir; and Elfriede, another marquess’ daughter who has been so sickly no one has seen her in years. There are a few surprises, as you might guess. Charlotte’s identity is a major shock. And what’s really happened to Elfriede is beyond the pale.

This isn’t quite as good as the first book, which makes sense given that it’s a sequel the author had to be talked into writing. Emma, Charlotte’s older sister, is far too underdeveloped a character given her role in the book’s plot, and there is a “I don’t want this to be TOO depressing” bit near the end that takes suspension of disbelief and tosses it out the window. The book excels, as you might expect, with Nicola, who remains very grumpy throughout, even as she tries to figure out what these feelings she has for Sieghart are and why everyone else already knows that she has them. There’s also the horror, especially in the back half. This book comes with a big old “child death” warning, and we see the brutality of some of these deaths. But it’s not done to shock but to horrify, and is handled very well. If the series ends here, I would not mind the author writing more horror.

Will the series end here? Well, Nicola has actually put a name to her love, but they’re still not actually married, so who knows? Till then, this doesn’t have as many dead children as Roll Over and Die, but it makes the deaths count more. (Also, why do I keep bringing up Roll Over and Die in my reviews lately?)

Pick of the Week: Affection Still Strong

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ANNA: There’s lots of great manga coming out this week, and I’m very intrigued by the prospect of a new Io Sakisaka series with Sakura, Saku. However I think everyone should be reading A Sign of Affection, so the 7th print volume is my official pick this week.

MICHELLE: I am in complete agreement with Anna!

ASH: I’ll join in with support for these selections, too, but will make Sakura, Saku my official pick since it’s the debut. (And I’ll also be making sure to move A Sign of Affection much higher up on my to-be-read pile!)

SEAN: I’m gonna join in too, A Sign of Affection is the top flight shoujo manga title of the week.

Marriage, Divorce and Beyond: The White Mage and Black Knight’s Romance Reignited, Vol. 1

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By Takasugi Naturu and kieshi akaz. Released in Japan as “Saishō Hosa to Kurokishi no Keiyaku Kekkon to Rikon to Sonogo: Henkyō no Chi de Futari wa Fūfu o Yarinaosu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Olivia Plowman.

Generally speaking, when I am supremely irritated with a book, it tends to be for a few basic reasons. “Your attempts at comedy aren’t funny” is a good one. Also “your attempts to be horny are merely deeply misogynistic”. And occasionally “your violence is so ridiculous it’s stopped being horrifying”. It’s very rare, however, that we get “your desire to show how bad things are for the heroine are so amazingly over the top that it verges on torture porn”. This book is theoretically a romance, and you do sort of get that in the last third or so. And yes, I understand that the author has an agenda, and that agenda is “hey, husbands and wives need to actually talk to each other”. But oh my god, getting through the middle third of this book was like punching myself in the face over and over again. Sheer misery. I read books to enjoy them, remember?

The book opens with the lovely wedding of Lina, a Black Knight whose job it is to fight against dragons due to the old magic she has, and Joshua, a white mage who can use his compatible magic to protect her before she goes out to fight dragons. We then cut to four years later, when she’s just received grievous wounds from a dragon because her white magic protection was inadequate – and her injuries are so bad she’s been fired. The rest of the front half of the book traces he steps before and between those points, as we see Lina struggle with a nobility that despises commoners and a tendency to suffer nobly, and her husband Joshua contends with work never allowing him time with his wife and a tendency to not be overly expressive. The result is disaster.

We’ve had evil nobility in many light novels before, but they’ve tended to be cartoon evil nobles. The prejudice and disdain in this book is played 100% for drama (there may not be a funny line in the entire book) and you just want Lina to go apeshit and start stabbing everyone. Then there’s the end of the book. Not to spoil TOO much, but essentially everything that’s been happening to Lina and Joshua since their marriage has been engineered. We find this out right near the end. The evil mastermind was… a guy we met towards the start of the book, who gave friendly advice, and who I had completely forgotten about. He references his past history with Joshua at the academy, which sure would have been nice to see in flashbacks, but no. Oh yes, and on realizing that the man who he’d asked to reform the nobility and stop the hatred of commoners is in fact an evil noble, the prince’s first reaction is “welp, I tried, guess I’d better stop reform” and he has to be talked back into it.

Lastly, it’s never a good sign when you realize that all the heart-wrenching scenes you’ve written aren’t enough, and you have the heroine dream of scenes that are exaggerated parodies of these scenes, just to make her more miserable. Fortunately, this wraps up nicely and neatly in one book, so I can cheerfully ignore the “1” on the cover and go on to read more happy, upbeat things, like Roll Over and Die.