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Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta, Vol. 2

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By Toshizou and Kuro Shina. Released in Japan as “Yuri no Ma ni Hasamareta Watashi ga, Ikioi de Futamata Shite Shimatta” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tristan K. Hill.

“Sean,” my readers say to me. “I’m happy that we’ve gotten a lot more yuri titles in the last few years, but what about fans of incest? Is there a book out there that looks closely at younger sisters who love their older sister and tries hard to do a deep analysis about whether it’s OK or not?”. OK, no. My readers never say that to me. That said, if that’s what you want, I have good news, the second volume of Yuri Tama is all about said feelings, and whether Yotsuba will decide to dump her new girlfriends for her sisters, or just have all of them in a giant polycule, or what. So yeah, good news for fans of that. If, on the other hand, you read the above and said “what the actual fuck?”, then you are like me and stared at this volume with dull horror. The author can certainly write. It’s just what they write that’s the problem.

Yotsuba has managed to pass all but one of her exams, despite possessing the worst self-loathing of any light novel protagonist ever. This means she has most of her summer break free, and she plans to spend it dating her two girlfriends (separately). Unfortunately, each date is seen by one of her younger sisters, and now they’re both furious. Yotsuba is sure they’re upset that she’s “two-timing” the girls she’s dating, or they’re upset that she didn’t tell them she was dating at all. They’re not. They’re upset because they’ve been in love with Yotsuba since they were little children, and the idea that two other hussies have snatched her away is appalling. Can a family trip to a hot spring allow Yotsuba to explain? Or will it just make things worse?

So, let’s tick off the things I didn’t hate. 1) The author is somewhat self-aware that they are writing ridiculous shit, and it gets lampshaded a few times. 2) There is an attempt at discussing the differences between sexual attraction, familial love, and close friendship. It’s an attempt that is somewhat steamrollered by the plot, but the attempt is made. OK, I’m done with good things. Yotsuba remains the most annoying narrator ever, not being able to go more than three paragraphs without reminding us how awful and pathetic she is. Her sisters are, not to put too fine a point on it, creepy, and Yotsuba seriously considering loving both of them sexually boggles the mind. And unfortunately, because of this plot, Rinka and Yuna are sidelined. The dates may be the best part of the book, both because they’re not incestuous and also because Yotsuba shows an odd confidence that she doesn’t seem to be aware of herself. I want to explore that, not whether incest is OK.

I wish I could say that the series ended here, but a third volume of this came out last month in Japan. If you are really really desperate for yuri… please read something else anyway. Also, please use the word “two-timing” correctly! It’s consensual! They both know! Explain that!

Honey Lemon Soda Vol 1 by Mayu Murata

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Honey Lemon Soda Volume 1 by Mayu Murata

I was aware that there was a great deal of anticipation when Honey Lemon Soda was licensed, and the first volume lived up to the hype! Popular boy inexplicably adopting an incredibly awkward girl is a familiar plot in most shoujo manga, but Honey Lemon Soda takes this premise and runs with it, making the reader feel instantly sympathetic with the introverted heroine in question. Uka Ishimori’s gets in the way of an errant blast of lemon soda wielded by Kai Miura. She freezes up and is unable to respond to his friends’ expressions of concern and she runs away when Miura apologizes to her. His friends comment “It’s kinda like she’s living out a different genre than the rest of us” which is a good way of summarizing how disconnected Uka is from people her own age.

Honey lemon soda 1

In middle school, Uka was bullied, with classmates calling her “Rocky” due to her last name and stony expression. She’s determined to make friends and change in high school, and picked a school to go to based on its more laid back and flashy reputation instead of going to a school where people are devoted to studying. Every possible social interaction has Uka caught up in her anxious thoughts, as she has to force herself to offer to help a classmate with the answer to a question. Miura starts taking an interest, coaching Uka through some basic greetings. When she actually calls on him for help, he leaps in and defends her from some of her former middle school bullies. Uka starts expressing herself more often, although sometimes she’s so tense about communicating with others that her thoughts come out more like yelling accidentally.

Miura might look super cool with his effervescent blond hair, but he also seems to have more compassion than is typical in a shoujo hero, and he keeps dropping comments designed to help Uka become more comfortable with herself. Murata’s character designs are attractive, and there are plenty of dynamic panel layouts as the characters make their way through emotionally fraught situations. After reading the first volume, I am eager to see how Uka changes on her journey to break out of her shell and express herself more.

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 4

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By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

This review really cannot happen without spoiling the end of the book, so beware if you do not want to be spoiled, though I will try not to exactly spoil. Throughout most of this volume, this has the feel of a “makework” volume in the series, as events happen but it lacks the striking imagery of previous books, which was one of the major reasons we read it. It also is not as gay, which is the other reason we read it, mostly as Bisco and Milo spend most of the book separated from each other, and there’s only one or two moments, such as brief princess carry, or Milo staring in what is clearly jealousy at one point, that makes you realize the writer knows what they’re doing. But it’s all right. It’s got some really cool fight scenes, Bisco is funny at times, we have a new waif who needs to be guided/rescued, and we get a little more development of the post-apocalyptic works with a slave race. OK, that last part is questionable.

We open with a teenager escaping from what appears to be a maximum security prison, only to be caught almost immediately, and their rescue/medical treatment by Bisco and Milo, and we then backtrack to see why they’re in a prison in the first place. They arrive at what is supposed to be a mushroom keeper’s village only to find it nearly deserted, covered in sakura flowers. The tribe have been arrested and thrown into a maximum security prison by the warden, who is very big on justice in a “Shonen Cop Gone Bad” sort of way. Shishi is part of a tribe called the Benibishi, an artificially engineered plant-based species designed as slaves. All the Benibishi are ALSO in the prison, and Shishi’s father, their King, is due to be executed. Now Bisco and Milo have to get into the prison and try to resolve things… except that they’re promptly arrested and thrown in there anyway.

Starting off with the one really great part of the book. The third volume ended, to the surprise of most readers, with Pawoo marrying Bisco, and she’s come along in this book as well. Then, a third of the way through the book, the prison warden grabs her and simply throws her out of the book and back to her home town. We never see her again. It’s jaw-droppingly funny given the novels’ BL tendencies. Well, that’s the good out of the way. Shishi is briefly presented as trans, but it’s unclear if that’s gender-based or just has to do with the idea of “prince”, and the book uses female pronouns for Shishi throughout. The Benibishi all are jailed because there is a worry that they will go mad with revenge and try to kill those who wronged them. Their plant nature means they run the risk of getting caught up in murderous rage, and the King warns Bisco and Milo about it, so they help his daughter calm down and not choose violence.

And then comes the ending, which is like the author giving you a nice warm hug and then stabbing you in the back. Now, I will grant you there’s certainly a plot for Book 5 now, and I wonder if the only reason this happened is the author ran out of things to do in this series. But man, Shishi’s actions in the last three pages or so leave SUCH a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t really recommend this anymore. A merely okay volume of the series till the ending brings it down to bad.

High School DxD: Lionheart of the Academy Festival

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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.

Generally speaking, harem series rarely have to ask the question “why is the guy not understanding that all these girls who are literally naked in his bed saying “take me now, big boy!” kinda like him?”. The reason for that is that in most of these stories the answer is the same. It’s a variation on “don’t be silly, no girl will ever like me.” Harem protagonist never comes without a heaping helping of self-loathing, it would seem. Fortunately for High School DxD, it can actually give Issei a real reason for all that self-loathing beyond “because the plot requires it”. His first girlfriend, the one who he finally thought would be the girl that did not see him as a creepy pervert loser (which, sorry Issei, he is) rejected him bluntly multiple times. Oh yes, and turned out to be evil, tried to kill him, and was murdered in front of him. So when you ask “why does he not understand why Rias is so mad in this volume”, the answer can be, frankly, “trauma”.

We’ve had the sports festival and the school trip, so clearly it’s time for the culture festival. Maid cafe? Haunted house? Why not do both? As the Occult Research Club prepares to pull out all the stops, they also have a fresh new Rating Game, against an up and coming team whose leader, Sairaorg, has no demonic powers, but has to get by with his charisma and his brute strength. He is, frankly, a perfect opponent for Issei, and the fight takes up the entire second half of the book. Unfortunately, there’s trouble in paradise: After being as subtle as a truck and failing to get her feelings across to Issei, Rias spends most of the book miserable and thinking that he doesn’t actually love her. He’s not helping things by not understanding why calling her “Prez” feels like distance. Can they make up in time to win the match?

I haven’t mentioned breasts at all yet in this review, so I want to sadly reassure fans of the series that they’re still ridiculously essential to the plot, with the funniest fight in the book revolving around a woman taking off her panties before her bra, something that absolutely infuriates Issei. As for he and Rias, frankly, the two are more similar than you’d expect, and of course are the main couple of this series. And yes, finally we can say “couple”, given that we get an incredibly overdramatic and public confession (it’s High School DxD, where everything happens in front of the biggest crowd imaginable) which, more importantly, is followed by a quieter but just as firm confession when it’s just the two of them. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that this is a “marry everyone” kind of series, but it has to start with Rias, and now it has.

That said, haven’t things gone a bit too well for our heroes lately? (Well, except Akeno, who got annihilated in about ten seconds. Sorry, Akeno.) Gosh, I hope nothing absolutely tragic happens in the next book…

Manga the Week of 1/25/23

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SEAN: The heavy part of January has passed us by, but there’s still lots of titles still to go.

ASH: Woohoo!

SEAN: No print for Airship this week, but we do see a 4th volume of Survival in Another World with My Mistress! in early digital.

Ghost Ship has Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 5.

J-Novel Club has a debut. These Legs Don’t Lie! Harumi’s Legacy as the Strongest Mimic (Bikyaku Mimic, Harumi-san: Tensei Monster Isekai Nariagari Densetsu) stars a young woman who seems to have been reincarnated as… a mimic? One of those treasure chests that’s really a trap? Fortunately, she’s essentially Fantasy Betty Grable.

ASH: Wait, do mimics even have legs?

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Ascendance of a Bookworm 23, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 6, Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! 4, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 5, and VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream 3.

ASH: Bookworm!

SEAN: Kaiten Books has a digital volume of Gacha Girls Corps 4.

Kodansha has another print debut of a former digital only title: A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai). It’s a Dessert title, about a girl who ends up going out with a popular guy after his messy breakup with someone else. But is she just a rebound, or something more?

MICHELLE: I started this digitally but didn’t get far, so I look forward to the opportunity to pick up with the print edition. This is by Megumi Morino, who also did Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty.

ASH: Oh! I did enjoy what I read of that series.

ANNA: I’m curious!

SEAN: Also in print: Blue Period 12, Noragami Omnibus 3 (Vol. 7-9), Wave, Listen to Me! 9, and the final 27th and 28th volumes of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, a series that shows you exactly what happens when the publisher forces an artist to write more and more after it should have ended.

MICHELLE: I’ve really gotta get caught up with Wave, Listen to Me!.

ASH: I’m a couple volumes behind, but look forward to reading them. As for Yamada-kun… I’m going to have to agree with Sean’s assessment. Which is a shame since the earlier part of the series was so good.

SEAN: Digitally we get Burn the House Down 8 (the final volume), A Couple of Cuckoos 9, DAYS 33, The Food Diary of Miss Maid 3, Gamaran: Shura 4, Getting Closer to You 4, Saving Sweets for After-Hours 3, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 6.

MICHELLE: Burn the House Down looks intriguing. I shall soon undertake a binge!

SEAN: KUMA has a debut: Happy of the End, a BL series from Qpa. A man wakes up lying on garbage with another man hovering over him. Then the memories return… weren’t they in a punch-up fight the day before?

MICHELLE: This one has a very pretty cover!

ASH: I am intrigued!

ANNA: Hmmm….

SEAN: Seven Seas has some debuts. My Secret Affection (Kimi no Koto ga Suki de Ienai) is a shoujo title from Dessert. After a meteorite fall 30 years earlier, everyone now only falls in love with the same sex. Except our heroine! Can she hide the fact that she’s cishet from her childhood friend and crush?

MICHELLE: Definitely going to wait for others’ reviews on this one.

ASH: Hmmm. I could see this premise being handled really well or really, really poorly.

ANNA: Same, I guess it certainly has a unique premise?

SEAN: Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō is a supernatural title from Monthly Action and is based on the light novels Seven Seas is also releasing.

ASH: I might have time to read the manga before I have a chance to read the novel!

SEAN: In addition, Polar Bear Café: Collector’s Edition is a re-release of the popular series with additional color pages.

ASH: Nice!

SEAN: On the danmei novel side, we get The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun 2.

ASH: Speaking of novels I haven’t had a chance to read yet…

On the manga side, we see The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 4, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 4, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 5, Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World 2, MoMo -the blood taker- 3, Thunderbolt Fantasy Omnibus II (the final volume), and Yokai Cats 2.

Square Enix Manga has Beauty and the Feast 6, The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 10, and Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 7.

Titan Books gives us Kamen Rider Kuuga 2.

ASH: Good to see Titan Books on the list!

SEAN: Lastly, from Viz Media we get How Do We Relationship? 8 and My Hero Academia: School Briefs 6.

ASH: A small showing from Viz this week, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read of How Do We Relationship? so far.

SEAN: Something for everyone! Something for you? Are you everyone?

The Manga Review [Insert Snappy Title Here]

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Before I get to this week’s news and reviews, I’m making my quarterly appeal for help. Do you follow a podcast or YouTube channel that’s producing great manga-related content? Did you just launch a manga-centric Substack or blog? Have you recently joined the reviewing team for an established site like ANN or The Fandom Post? If so, let me know! Your suggestions have helped me cast a wider net for my weekly round-ups, so leave a link in the comment section or contact me through Twitter; my handle is @manga_critic.

NEWS

Earlier this week, Kodansha announced that it is suspending simulpub updates on Crunchyroll and Azuki, and will pull a number of series from these platforms on January 31st. Krystallina offers a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of the company’s decision, outlining several possible scenarios for what Kodansha might do next. [The OASG]

Yen Press just announced 10 new licenses for summer 2023. [ANN]

It’s that time of the month again: the Seven Seas’ January 2023 Reader Poll is now open. [Seven Seas]

For the curious: here’s a highlight reel of scenes and songs from the Attack on Titan musical, which is currently playing at the Nihon Seinenkan Hall in Tokyo. [Otaku USA]

…AND VIEWS

Translator Jocelyne Allen delves into the world of explainer manga. “These are born from the artist getting really, really into something,” she observes. “Rather than bursting at the seams with this new knowledge, they barf it all up into a manga. Which is not a bad thing. They do the work of studying and we get to learn something new in a fun and accessible way.” [Brain vs. Book]

The all-star line-up of Masha Zhdanova, Carrie McClain, Paulina Pzystupa, Alenka Figa, and Kathryn Hemmann discuss the manga and graphic novels they’re reading right now, from Oshi No Ko to Darlin’. [WWAC]

Kristin breaks down the cost of buying the full run of Bleach and Naruto in all their various formats, from individual volumes to box sets. [Anime Collective]

Over at Honey’s Anime, Brett Michael Orr names his five most anticipated yuri and yaoi manga of 2023, as well as five manga that will “help you stick to your new year’s resolutions.” [Honey’s Anime]

The Manga Machinations crew hold a round table discussion about three current series: Chainsaw Man, Kowloon Generic Romance, and Drowning Love. [Manga Machinations]

David and Jordan share their first impressions of Shounen Shoujo. [Shonen Flop]

The latest episode of Screentone Club focuses on Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and My Wonderful World. [Screentone Club]

Once again, Jon Holt and Teppei Fukuda team up to translate an essay by manga critic Natsume Fusanosuke–this time, focusing on Jiro Taniguchi’s fruitful partnership with Natsuo Sekikawa (The Times of Botchan, Trouble Is My Business). [The Comics Journal]

REVIEWS

Tony Yao posts a thoughtful–and thought-provoking–review of Sensei’s Pious Lie, while Good Comics for Kids’ Renee Scott explains why My Sister, The Cat, is “by far one of the cutest found-family stories I’ve ever read.” Over at Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman reads You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! so that you don’t have to, while Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and I warn readers off Love at Fourteen, The Music of Marie, and Rainbow Days. 

New and Noteworthy

Complete and Ongoing Series

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 9

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

The Tomozaki novels have always felt a bit like a college thesis. It’s the sort of series that Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle made fun of, detailing ways to improve your life and become a normie. As such, it’s not too much of a surprise that this book is very analytical of its three main characters. In fact, arguably that’s the plot of this volume. And what it shows us is scary. Hinami, Tomozaki and Kikuchi are all characters we like and root for (well, OK, maybe not Hinami), but at the same time they can be truly terrifying. In this book we see Tomozaki realizing that the path Hinami has been leading him down is the wrong one, but the self-discoveries that he comes to are also very dangerous, and he almost chooses a totally different but equally wrong path. God bless Mimimi, who may constantly be the romantic loser but I think sees the real Tomozaki better than any of the others. She knows WHY they all fell for him.

You will be relieved to hear that Tomozaki and Kikuchi do not break up after the events of the previous book, though I admit I am a lot less optimistic about their future by the END of this book. Tomozaki confronts Hinami about the advice she gave him regarding his new relationship, and finds she was trying to get them to have their first fight – which causes him to break off their sessions. He apologizes to Kikuchi and tries to work things out with her, but we discover that the aspects of dating that everyone else seems to take for granted elude him. This is shown best in a game of Atafami with his offline group, where she shows that he’s started to use a completely different character, something that almost makes Hinami have an emotion. Meanwhile, Kikuchi is writing a new online novel… one that, once again, seems eerily familiar.

Which sounds scarier, seeing the world only as a gamer or seeing the world only as a writer? Tomozaki’s reaction to Kikuchi’s new novel almost feels like it’s out of a horror story, where you find that she’s secretly behind him as he reads it. Meanwhile, Hinami simply IS a horror story. Her statement that she never does anything without a reason, and her bafflement that others find this creepy, forces Tomozaki to wonder why she’s been tutoring him on life this whole time. What is her real reason? If it’s just “I was annoyed by Tomozaki’s lameness”, that’s a sad reason. But no, it’s actually a way to validate herself that doesn’t damage herself – only him. I think we may be totally done with the life lessons, at least on her end. Just as it turns out Tomozaki was strong and cool all along, Hinami is still dealing with past trauma, and any lessons learned in the future are probably going to be hers.

There’s a new translator for this volume, as Jennifer Ward has been freed from Oregairu and moved on to a series inspired by it. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki may not need a glossary at the end, but its volumes are filled with emotion, trauma, and psychoanalysis. I really enjoy this series.

Baccano!: 1935-C The Grateful Bet

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By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

The author has said a few times that this will be the final 1930s arc, and that after that there’s just one arc in 2003 to wrap up the series. (Admittedly he said that when this volume came out… almost ten years ago… more on that next time.) And on reading this volume, you get the sense that he’s sending the series off with a bang. Baccano! is known for its big cast, but here it feels like he’s trying to have every single main character from the series show up at the same time. We get Firo’s group, Luck’s group (with several additions from Drugs and the Dominoes and Man in the Killer), All Huey’s various Lamia and Larva, Jacuzzi’s gang, the girls from Time of the Oasis, etc. As for the 1700s immortals, for the most part they’re absent from the actual event (Maiza doesn’t count at this point, he’s part of Firo’s group more than he is a 1700s alchemist) but are trying to control or destroy everything there. It’s an all-star finale.

So yeah, Ennis has (sigh) been kidnapped in order to make Firo do something dumb. Fortunately, Firo has matured a bit from the last time this happened, so he merely smolders with controlled rage. The Martillos have his back (well, most of them, Ronny is AWOL) and consider Ennis one of their own. Meanwhile, there’s also the Runorata’s big casino opening, which everyone wioll be attending so that they can watch the other shoe drop. No one is quite sure what will be happening, but they all know it will be happening there. As for Melvi, we find out who he is in this book, but frankly he’s started his downhill slide already, given that he can’t even win against Ennis in an argument about what makes someone human. And then there’s Nader, the least likely protagonist, trying to help Eve and avoid getting caught by Leeza, but also running into someone who knows of his past.

Again, so much of this is just setup. I do wish Ennis had done more (Melvi is threatening her with Czes being tortured, but as we can see, Melvi doesn’t even have Czes, something Ennis can’t really confirm) but I did really enjoy her conversation with Melvi, where she shows she’s a much better homunculus than he’ll ever be. (Speaking of the Dormentaires, we get confirmation that only three of them got immortality in 1711 – Lucrezia, Niki, and Maiza’s dad. Sorry, Lucrezia/Carla shippers.) There’s a lot of potential confrontations that haven’t happened yet (Ladd vs. Claire, Nader and Sonia meeting again) as this book is STILL almost all setup, but we do get a couple scenes we’ve been waiting for, such as Leeza and Chane working together and Huey confronting Fermet. I’d mentioned above that almost everyone from the main cast and supporting cast is here, but Elmer is mentioned but not around – one wonders if he’ll be the fuse for this explosion to come.

The arc still isn’t over, so we’ll have to wait till next time for that explosion. Till then, enjoy the discussion of what makes a human, how much the world runs on fate, and other Baccano! philosophical debates.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 9

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By mikawaghost and tomari. Released in Japan as “Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I’m not sure how much longer this series has to go in Japan – Vol. 10 just came out in October there – but I suspect this series is not going to get beyond Vol. 12 at the most, as it’s really starting to wrap everything up. Basically, all the secrets that everyone has been hiding come out here, and come out very publicly. In some cases this is a good thing. We’ve watched Mashiro’s character development from the start of the series, and here we see why she writes and what she takes inspiration from. She’s jealously guarded her own incredibly popular work because she worries others will change it and that it won’t be hers anymore, but coming to terms with her feelings for Akiteru has made her back off on that – and on the fake relationship, which she breaks because she feels it’s holding her back on the chances of a real relationship. She gets some of the best bits in this book… but is still probably coming in 2nd of 2.

The class has a free day, which is good because Akiteru got no sleep the night before as Mashiro, as I mentioned above, breaks up with him. That said, she’s now taking him out on a date to the not-Disneyworld theme park… you know, the one run by Iroha’s mother. Who happens to be there, and gives them free “extra special guest” passes. Of course, they’re followed by Midori, who is still fairly broken up about her rejected confession. Meanwhile, Mizuki takes Iroha to the set where they’re filming, and there they run into Otoi, who does not like Mizuki very much and it shows. After this, they too end up at the theme park, where Mizuki has a meeting. As Mashiro and Akiteru deal with a very scary haunted mansion… erm, sorry, ghost mansion… Iroha also ends up in the same mansion. How many dates is Akiteru going to have, anyway?

The best character in this volume may be Otoi, whose bluntness helps to cut through the aura of bullshit that everyone else around her carries, even if we still don’t know her first name (it’s implied to make people think of toilets). As mentioned above, Mashiro gets a great character development book, but in terms of romance it comes up short – Akiteru thinks they’re on a “real” date, whereas she thinks that they, the creators of a popular horror game, are here for research. It’s funny, but in a bittersweet way. Less funny is Iroha’s cliffhanger. The relationship between Iroha and her mother has always had an air of “final boss” to it, and here we see that Iroha is so terrified of her that when it comes time to admit out loud what she wants to do with her life, she runs away. It’s actually rather depressing.

This does sort of wrap up the arc from last time, but it also has a cliffhanger that promises us that the next book will be a flashback showing us how Akiteru and Iroha first met. After that, we basically have only two plotlines to resolve, as I said. This is a solid series, but I admit I’m more in it for the drama now than the wacky teasing.

Pick of the Week: Soda, Idols, and PTSD

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MICHELLE: I’m intrigued by [Oshi no Ko] and Honey Lemon Soda, but how could I not pick the finale of Lost Lad London, which I have enjoyed exceedingly thus far? I hope we see more mysteries in manga form in future!

SEAN: I’m a big fan of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, and I enjoyed Scum’s Wish as much as anyone can enjoy a series like Scum’s Wish. The idea of a collaboration intrigues me, so I’ll go with [Oshi no Ko].

KATE: One of my favorite horror series of the last five years was PTSD Radio, a collection of interconnected vignettes that are every bit as spooky and weird as Junji Ito in top form. If you missed out on this series when it was digital-only, now’s your chance to pick up the first two omnibus volumes; the final omnibus will be available in May, so you won’t have to wait long to read the conclusion.

ANNA: I’m very curious about Honey Lemon Soda, looking forward to checking it out!

ASH: As a fan of horror manga, I appreciate Kate’s reminder about PTSD Radio, which I somehow haven’t actually read yet. My pick this week goes to the debut of BARBARITIES, however; I’ve been looking forward to giving another manga by Tsuta Suzuki a try.