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Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 15

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

As many have noticed by now, this author really, really loves playing around in isekai tropes and cliches, and the more cliched the better – in fact, it comes as a surprise in this series when it ISN’T the cliche. When they’re investigating a local noble, you can guarantee that he is going to be a scummy noble who treats those he’s responsible for like crap, because scummy nobles are just what isekais do. (This is not unique to FUNA – Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear has similar ideas, though subverts them more often.) It doesn’t help that isekai’d Mile tends to regard this world as a giant bucket list full of things she wants to do, and most of this volume happens because she’s desperate to find a village of beastmen… mostly so that she can pet the little beastgirls. Let’s face it, FUNA is also not afraid to show that Mile can be creepy a lot of the time.

Mile and company start off by having a meeting with the Elder Dragons, which ends up being short on information but long on nail art. We then get the bulk of the book, as Mile really, really wants to find a beastman village, despite the fact that most beastmen are NOT like Lenny but are actually very wary of humans… and we see why when they get to the village, only to find that some of the village’s children have been kidnapped! Unfortunately, this is not a mission the Crimson Vow an take on officially… fortunately, Mile can get in touch with the Crimson Blood, who coincidentally look, act, and are the same as the Crimson Vow! But they’re not on the clock. Now it’s up to our heroines to investigate the kidnappings, which are genuinely happening, but also where each kidnapped girl ended up, which… does not go quite as expected.

So word of warning here, if you’re the sort who avoids slavery in your isekai books… well, first of all, you must read very few isekai books, but secondly, this book delves deeply into the nitty gritty of slavery in this world. It’s illegal officially, except in the “I am broke and enslave myself to pay off my debts” way, but unofficially it’s definitely around. Two of the three kidnapped girls are indeed either being worked to death for no money or imprisoned and in the process of being sold abroad. Mile and the others have no issues destroying the ones responsible. Sometimes, though, kidnapping can actually be a way out. When you’re a girl in a backwater village expected to marry a guy from the same village, which is a very misogynist one… honestly, getting taken in by the local evil noble ends up sounding like a pretty good deal. Especially if the noble, like Mile, has a taste for the fluff. Make My Abilities Average has always had an undercurrent of “sexism is everywhere, and it’s terrible”, and we even see it in a slavery plotline here.

The book ends with the Crimson Vow off to check the last item on Mile’s list… visiting a demon village. Will this advance the plot? Are we getting towards the end of the series? Who knows? But pretty good stuff.

Bookshelf Briefs 3/16/23

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Confessions of a Shy Baker, Vol. 1 | By Masaomi Ito | TOKYOPOP – Initially, Confessions of a Shy Baker felt to me like a discount knockoff of What Did You Eat Yesterday?. You have a gay couple who have been together for years and live together. One of the men (Gon) is more laidback and is out to his coworkers in a service industry job. The other (Toshi) is more reserved and closeted at work and is the one who lovingly prepares homemade baked goods for his boyfriend. The strange art style—Toshi has giant ears and looks cross-eyed—and instant dive into LGBTQIA+ issues rather than focusing on the characters didn’t help, either. Thankfully, the story seems to relax halfway through and we get chapters about Gon’s obnoxious college friend and Gon and Toshi inheriting a cute dog. In the end, I liked it enough to continue. – Michelle Smith

Doomsday with My Dog, Vol. 1 | By Yu Isihara | Yen Press – In this post-apocalyptic comedy, a young woman wanders a devastated landscape with her trusty shiba inu. The two encounter a variety of animals and aliens in their search for food and shelter, but not much happens; by the middle of volume one, the storylines have fallen into a predictable pattern in which the scatterbrained owner makes a rash decision, seeks counsel from her wise pet, then ignores Haru’s advice. Though a few scenes elicited a chuckle, the aimlessness of the storytelling and the plainness of the artwork left me cold; I never clicked with the characters or the script, not least because the main human character was a flighty bore. Your mileage may vary. – Katherine Dacey

HIRAETH ~The End of the Journey~, Vol. 3 | By Yuhki Kamatani | Kodansha Manga (digital only) – This series comes with a warning that it deals with suicide ideation, and reader discretion is advised. And sure enough, Mika does in fact make the effort when she finally gets to the end of her journey… but she can’t. Her journey has given her too much life and love and joy to go chasing after her lost love. That said, we also get Hibino on the cover, and this is really his book, as he’s forced to confront his immortality and the reasons for it, as well as his own realization that, unlike Mika, he really is ready to move on. This author’s series are usually fantastic, and this was no exception. it’s not for everyone, but it’s why the word “evocative” was invented. – Sean Gaffney

Kitaro | By Shigeru Mizuki | Drawn & Quarterly – Somehow, it’s been nearly a decade since Drawn & Quarterly introduced its first anthology of stories from Shigeru Mizuki’s manga GeGeGe no Kitaro. I loved the collection and so was sad to see it fall out of print and become increasingly hard to find. But now a second edition has been released; I couldn’t be happier that these incredibly influential stories are readily available again. Revisions to the second edition include a new introduction by Zack Davisson (replacing the essay by Matt Alt) and updates to Jocelyne Allen’s translation as well as notable improvements to the lettering and overall book design. Davisson’s glossary of yokai is retained in the re-release, too, further augmenting the general presentation of Mizuki’s manga—thirteen delightful stories originally published in the mid-1960s which have more than stood the test of time. In addition to being an important cultural touchstone, Kitaro is just so much fun. – Ash Brown

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 23 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – At last, the payoff. Manbagi confesses, waiting to get rejected, and actually ends up having Tadano say yes, because Tadano is the way he is. So she has to sort of nudge him to admit that he’d rather be going out with someone else, and by the end of this volume, we have finally achieved blushing confession. This was a fantastic sacrifice on Manbagi’s part, and I sure hope that she’s not going to just become a minor character after this, because that would be terrible. (Foreshadowing, your key to quality literature.) At the moment, though, this was a great payoff, and I’m happy for these two dorks, who still need massive injections of self-confidence but are good kids. – Sean Gaffney

Marmalade Boy: Collector’s Edition, Vol. 1 | By Wataru Yoshizumi | Seven Seas – It had been years since I read this series back in the dawning days of shoujo manga being a thing here in America, and mostly what I remembered was that the romance between Meiko and her teacher, which I quite liked back in the day, reads far less positively to me now. Which is true, but that’s not till the end of this volume. Till then, it served to remind me what a good series it is, with likeable, fun leads, a lot of humor, and the shoujo drama does not yet have the heavy hand that it would get later. Also, we have The Parents, and when you say The Parents to a shoujo manga fan, they always know who you mean. Na-chan dating his underage student drowns out the parents. They’re TERRIBLE. Overall, this was great to reread. – Sean Gaffney

Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand | By Yoko Komori | Viz Media – This is an unusual license for Viz—You is not usually a josei magazine they dip their toes into, and I’m not sure there’s a forthcoming anime or anything. I’m very glad they did, though, as this is a beautiful story well told. A young girl moves with her father to a remote seaside village after the breakup of her parents’ marriage, and she must try to make new friends while also searching for the man who saved her life when she was last there at the age of four… and who was a mermaid. The series toes just the right line between “are Mermaids real here, is this a fantasy?” and the mystery of why a town might want to make mermaids real. Complete in one volume, this is a must read. – Sean Gaffney

Manga the Week of 3/22/23

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SEAN: Warning: It’s Yen Press week. Be prepared for more than usual.

ASH: Good to know!

SEAN: Airship has some print titles. We get Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 21, Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 3, and Vivy Prototype 3.

And in early digital we see 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 3 and The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 7.

Denpa Books has an artbook out, TabeGirl: The Art of JUN. It seems to involve pretty women eating food. For those who want to see that, great news!

ASH: I am curious, for sure.

SEAN: A trio of titles from Ghost Ship: 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 5, Do You Like Big Girls? 6, and It’s Just Not My Night! – Tale of a Fallen Vampire Queen 3 (the final volume).

J-Novel Club has a digital manga debut next week. It’s the manga version of a light novel they’ll be releasing next month. A Cave King’s Road to Paradise: Climbing to the Top with My Almighty Mining Skills! (Doukutsuou kara Hajimeru Rakuen Life – Bannou no Saikutsu Skill de Saikyou ni!?) is a Comic Walker title that’s another of those “you have a bad skill and therefore it is OK to bully, shun, and literally exile you” stories. As you can guess, it’s not a bad skill really.

ASH: Very few skills seem to be, honestly.

SEAN: We also have Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 13 (the final volume), The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 3, the 4th Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! manga, Lady Rose Just Wants to Be a Commoner! 2, My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World 6, the 4th Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire manga, and Record of Wortenia War 18.

Kodansha has some print titles. A Condition Called Love 2, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 3, Noragami Omnibus 4, The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 9, and the 28th and final volume of UQ Holder!.

Digitally, we see And Yet, You Are So Sweet 7, Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 5, Blue Lock 18, The Café Terrace and Its Goddesses 6, Gamaran 7, A Girl & Her Guard Dog 8, GTO: Paradise Lost 20, and She’s My Knight 3.

MICHELLE: A couple of cute-seeming shoujo series in this mix. And a fun sports manga.

SEAN: One Peace Books has Captain Corinth: The Galactic Navy Officer Becomes an Adventurer 2.

ASH: The first volume set up some interesting premises.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Eccentric Doctor of the Moon Flower Kingdom (Gekkakoku Kiiden), a shoujo title from Asuka (!!!). A prince survives an assassination attempt thanks to a mysterious girl. Just who is she?

MICHELLE: Hm.

ASH: Intriguing.

ANNA: Hmmmm….Intriguing…..

SEAN: There’s also the print debut of The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter (Hone Dragon no Mana Musume). J-Novel Club published this digitally, now Seven Seas is picking up the print. This is another in the genre of “Powerful fantasy being adopts adorable urchin”.

ASH: It is a subgenre I tend to enjoy.

SEAN: They’ve also got The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 6, Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest 10, Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon 4 (the final volume), The Duke of Death and His Maid 5, His Majesty the Demon King’s Housekeeper 3, Lazy Dungeon Master 3, My [Repair] Skill Became a Versatile Cheat, So I Think I’ll Open a Weapon Shop 3, PULSE 3, and The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes: Ultramarine 3.

ASH: Well, that’s a sign I should get around to reading Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon sooner rather than later.

SEAN: Viz Media has a debut in its Signature line. Insomniacs After School (Kimi wa Houkago Insomnia) is a seinen title from Big Comic Spirits. A guy who’s extremely unpopular due to his attitude has a secret: he has insomnia! Then he finds a girl with a similar issue. Can the two of them find both a way to fall asleep more easily? This has an anime starting next month.

ASH: Signature offerings are generally of interest to me.

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Alice in Borderland 5, Beast Complex 2, Children of the Whales 21, Crazy Food Truck 3, Jujutsu Kaisen 19, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 19, Orochi: The Perfect Edition 4 (the final volume), and Spy x Family 9.

ASH: Still glad for this Orochi release.

SEAN: Yen On debuts Hollow Regalia (Utsuro Naru Regalia), a new light novel series from the creator of Strike the Blood. One day giant dragons appeared and destroyed Japan. Our hero survived by drinking dragon’s blood, making him immortal. There’s only one thing left for him to do… find precious artwork in the ruined city of Tokyo and bring it to art dealers.

ASH: There are a few twists there I was not expecting.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 8, The Executioner and Her Way of Life 6, Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway 3, Ishura 3, Magistellus Bad Trip 3 (the final volume), Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 11, Overlord 15, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Lost Singer (10th in the series), Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 21 (which starts the 6th arc), Secrets of the Silent Witch 3, Solo Leveling 7, Sword Art Online 26, and Wandering Witch: The Journey of Elaina 10.

ASH: That’s a pretty decent batch of novels.

SEAN: Debuting from Yen Press is Call the Name of the Night (Yoru no Namae o Yonde). It’s from Harta (yay!), and stars a girl whose illness makes her call forth darkness in times of stress, and the doctor trying to cure her.

MICHELLE: Hm (reprise).

ASH: Indeed.

SEAN: The Otherworlder, Exploring the Dungeon (Ihoujin, Dungeon ni Moguru) is a Comp Ace adaptation of the light novel Yen On is already releasing. It’s about a guy who is hired to join a team of experts and take on a dungeon in another world. The trouble is, after the transport, he’s the only one there. Can he find allies?

The Villainess Stans the Heroes: Playing the Antagonist to Support Her Faves! (Akuyaku Reijou wa Kyou mo Karei ni Anyaku suru Tsuihougo mo oshi no Tame ni Akutou to Shite Shien Shimasu!) is a manga based on a webnovel, which runs in Gangan Online. It’s in the subgenre of “girl tries to be a villainess and fails badly”.

ASH: It’s a fun subgenre.

SEAN: There is also (deep breath) The Abandoned Empress 4, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 4, Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 4, Coffee Moon 2, Goblin Slayer Side Story II: Dai Katana 4, Hirano and Kagiura 2, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 2, In the Land of Leadale 3, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? II 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 10, Kiniro Mosaic: Best Wishes (an epilogue volume), Love of Kill 11, MonsTABOO 3, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 5, Please Put Them On, Takamine-san 5, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, The Frozen Bond 3 (the final volume), Shadows House 3, She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat 2, Shy 2, So What’s Wrong with Getting Reborn as a Goblin? 2, Studio Apartment, Good Lighting, Angel Included 2, Touring After the Apocalypse 2, and Yowamushi Pedal 22.

MICHELLE: Yay for Yowamushi.

ANNA: I need to pick that up for my kids.

SEAN: Assuming you got through that last blast of manga, what are you getting?

An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 2

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

In my review of the first volume of this light novel series, I said that it reminded me of an eroge where the reader was just following the walkthrough, not wanting to get remotely near any choices that resulted in a bad ending. That still applies, fear not. That said, it also is similar to that genre in other ways. This series is never going to have any sexual content, or if it is it will be much later on. But for all that it is sweet as pie, it is also here for the horny male that is its main reader. Nanami has large breasts, something that the text of this volume will absolutely hammer home over and over throughout, and she and Yoshin are clearly thinking of each other sexually, even if the closest we get is kisses on the cheek/forehead and sticking his arm against her chest as they walk. Which, honestly, does feel pretty teenage.

Nanami and Yoshin are now a couple, and naturally are going to have the standard problems that couples have. Well, to a degree. They have the problems, it’s just they’re dealt with in a ridiculously easy way. For Yoshin it’s that the teachers don’t believe he’d be dating a hot girl, so worry that she’s bullying him. For Nanami, it’s that the other girls in her class are amazed she’s dating an introverted loner. Resolving this takes about five pages at most. There’s also the matter of Nanami meeting Yoshin’s parents, but as it turns out they accidentally run into the couple while they’re sharing a bubble tea. This also goes REALLY well, the only issue being that Yoshin has been taking the lunch money his parents had been giving him every day, since Nanami is making him lunches. There’s nothing getting in this couples’ way, so clearly it’s time for an aquarium date.

The series’ strongest point is the sweetness. These two are ridiculously pure and likeable. Yoshin may be an “introvert”, but unlike a lot of titles like this that does not mean that he’s a loser socially inept dweeb sort. Indeed, we learn late in the book that the whole “dare” that started this series was instigated by Nanami’s two friends in order for her to have someone to watch over her after they graduated, and that Yoshin was their first choice. I think the author realizes that the “we dated on a dare” part is still hanging over the couple, and although most of the rest of the cast knows the truth, Nanami hasn’t confessed it to Yoshin, nor has he told her he knew from the start. That’s the ONLY conflict. Everything else is 80% adorable couple-ness and 20% sexy hot girl, look. It’s almost a perfect example of its genre.

There’s a third book coming, and I’m not sure we’ll be getting to the “confession” that is supposed to happen in a month’s time – this series moves very slowly. But if you’re looking for cute, and are OK with sexytimes that never go anywhere except rated PG, this is a can’t miss title.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 41

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

No short stories this time around, we’re heading to Forthorthe and things are about to get serious. The start of this series, forty-odd books ago, was very much a slice-of-life comedy, with the aliens, magical girls, and underground girls essentially acting as wacky neighbors in a high school romcom. Clan’s arrival, and Koutarou’s subsequent trip back in time, started to kick that in the head. And now here we are, with the back half of this volume featuring a thoughtless disaster on the part of the villains turned into an even more nightmarish disaster by the most unhinged villain, and you get things like living corpses (I’d call them zombies, but they run very fast, so that might give you the wrong idea) in the remains of a burning factory being weaponized and turned on a nearby city and you realize that this has actually gotten pretty dark, hasn’t it? Fortunately, the first half, which involves introducing cool new tech to the masses, is more relaxing.

Our heroes are now back in Forthorthe, and the big question on everyone’s mind is: who is the Blue Knight going to marry? Sadly, for reporters, the Blue Knight is still running away from that question, so there’s no real progress there. There is much more success in introducing a personal force field that can, among many other things, act as replacement limbs for disabled people as demonstrated by Nana doing various gymnastic maneuvers with just a force field for support. Koutarou thought that would be it, however, many other companies, including the military, quickly realize the other uses this sort of tech could provide, and now he’s even richer, to his quiet despair. There’s no time to enjoy it, though: they’ve found one of Ralgwin’s bases, and it’s time to play catch that villain!

As hinted in the first paragraph, catch that villain does not go very well. Rokujouma!? has gotten more serious as the books have gone on, even including a war, but I don’t think we’ve really taken as much time to appreciate the loss of lives as we did here. Now, these are all factory workers we’ve never met before, so it’s not like the author is killing one of the main characters, but the fury at how this came to be from our heroes is very well done. Meanwhile, on Yurika Watch, she gets to do cool things, and her running gag of “magical girl uses evil powers” is still funny, but this is Ruth’s book to shine,. as the author admits that if he’s going to have a balanced harem series he has to work hard to maintain that balance, and Ruth, mostly, rarely gets to fight at the front line. That gets fixed here, and shows off her awesome analytical skills (and love for Koutarou) in a fantastic manner.

Sadly, the villains get away, but I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of them. Till then, enjoy a more serious volume than usual.

Pick of the Week: Dragons, Actors and Tea

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MICHELLE: Although I’m tempted to pick the jerk/paragon danmei, my love for Therapy Game is strong, and it’s The Dragon’s Betrothed that wins the week for me.

SEAN: Given the way that Kageki Shojo!! left off last time, it’s definitely my pick this week, mostly as I want to see if Sarasa destroyed her career.

ASH: Kageki Shojo!! is always a good pick, but like Michelle, I’m feeling the BL love this week. In addition to The Dragon’s Betrothed, there’s not only one but two titles by Minta Suzumaru. And from to different publishers, too!

ANNA: I’m very excited for volume 5 of Matcha Made in Heaven! Digital josei for the win!

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 7

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By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

As I was reading this volume, I was reminded of that meme that went around a while back from the Buzzfeed Unsolved show. “I did meet some of the most insufferable people in the world, BUT they also met me.” Maomao may spend a great deal of time bemoaning the folks she has to deal with, but there’s no denying that she’s even more of a pain in the neck on a regular basis. “Please ignore that man, one of the most powerful in the country, who keeps stalking me and says I’m his daughter. Please ignore that I am good friends with the Empress and Consort #2. Please ignore that I apparently love to ingest poison for fun. I am just a normal woman and want to quietly go about my day… oh look, another murder attempt.” Honestly, some readers might feel less exhausted if this were the adventures of Maomao the cat, back at her apothecary house, avoiding snuggles and yawning, rather than the prickly Maomao the human.

Maomao is forced to take the Civil Service exam once more, and is told that She. Will. Pass. She reluctantly passes, and is now back in the palace, one of five new medical students. Erm, three medical students, as two get culled for essentially being extra baggage. The other two are Yao, who seems like a bullying ojousama at first but turns out to merely be a sheltered and earnest girl, and En’en, her friend and attendant who enjoys watching everything that Yao does. As the three of them learn their trade, we also pick up with events from previous books, as the Shrine Maiden of neighboring Shaoh is now ensconsed in a remote part of the palace, and there seems to be something wrong with her. Is she hiding something? Is she really who she seems? And is she going to be publicly assassinated in a way that might lead to war?

First of all, the best part of this book, by far, are the two new characters. Yao is wonderful, and frankly I was very, very worried that she was going to be killed off for tragedy. (It’s a near thing, and the book lampshades that she’s avoiding the very real consequences of what should have happened to her.) En’en allows us to see a smart, crafty woman who doesn’t have Maomao’s natural bitterness and eccentricity. She’s also in love with Yao, something that is mostly used for comedy here (Jinshi picks her as his attendant as he knows she won’t be there just to hit on him), but which I’m hoping might be taken more seriously later on. And while Apothecary Diaries is not a foodie book like Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, a lot of this volume relied on food knowledge and what it can do to the human body. It’ll make you hungry, but good luck eating what’s in here.

All this plus zero sexual assaults! A strong volume, and I hope that Yao and En’en become regulars going forward.

An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 15

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By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

If the 13th volume in this series was the big climactic finale, and the 14th was a short story interlude, then this new volume is very much “start of the next season”. We are reminded that there are a few archdemons that we still have not met, and that many of them are terrible people in almost every way. We also have fallout to deal with from the previous “season”, which means that Kuroka has to go into hiding and Foll needs to get used to being one of the main players on the board. And of course there’s also room for love – Nephy’s birthday is coming up, as is Chastille, and the men in their lives are scrambling for the BEST present. Alshiera’s old crush has been resurrected… as has her old husband, Zagan’s dad. Love triangle? Not so much. Zagan’s dad may, in fact, be there to torpedo the one yuri relationship in this series, alas. In any case, A LOT OF STUFF.

After the big battle from Vol. 13, there are new Archdemons galore… though unfortunately, there’s no room for Barbatos, as there’s a missing sigil meaning he doesn’t get to join in the fun. Fortunately, he’s too busy competing with Chastille in “who can be the lamest possible person” sweepstakes to care. Foll, meanwhile, has been designated by Zagan to handle the Nephilim, who regard Zagan as The Enemy but might be more amenable to a dragon girl. Foll is pretty much sweet as pie and also hella strong, so things go well… till an amnesiac girl arrives. Though she calls herself Lily, her true identity is Asmodeus, one of the Archdemons, and a mercenary who will steal anything and sell out anyone. Is she faking her amnesia? And if so, is it right to just kill her?

The book does not really answer that last question all that well. It’s framed by Asmodeus towards the end of the book that she was faking it all along, but given that we even had POV narration from “Lily” that belied that, I’m inclined to believe she’s lying, possibly to herself. She’s an interesting character… but there’s also a sense that we’ve seen her character arc before with different people. It’s even pointed out they have ANOTHER amnesiac girl to help her out, in a case of non-subtle lampshading. As for the other new Archdemon (well, the one who gets actual screen time), he’s clearly not here to be redeemed by the power of niceness the way Asmodeus is, so is allowed to simply be a terrible monster, though his debate with Zagan about what you should feel when murdering something is interesting in a “cool motive, still murder” sort of way. And for all that this book starts off making a big deal about getting Chastille and Barbatos to admit they’re in love, it really doesn’t follow through at all, does it?

So an OK volume of the series, that will probably read better when this new “season” really gets going. Who knews, maybe the anime will have a release date by the time the next volume comes out, and I can’t see this series ending till that airs.

How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart, Vol. 2

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By Kakeru Takamine and Ichigo Kagawa. Released in Japan as “Kouri no Reijou no Tokashi Kata” by Monster Bunko. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by Callum Conroy and Alejandro de Vicente Suárez.

This may be the most unfortunately timed light novel volume I’ve seen in some time. The first volume of How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart, which I quite liked, came out in July 2021. Since then, Tentai Books has been dealing with the various things a small publisher has to deal with in terms of scheduling, and the co-translator also changed, meaning that the 2nd volume has come out in February 2023. And between those two dates there has not only been a giant pile of “sweet romance between a couple with little conflict to speak of” stories (some of them also put out by Tentai Books, to be fair), but The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten has exploded in popularity and gotten an anime running RIGHT NOW, whose quality you can argue about (I certainly will), but whose takeover of the “couple charts” is indisputable. And Ice Queen’s Heart is basically Angel Next Door with the genders swapped. Well, to a degree. it’s still a male fantasy.

We pick up immediately where we left off, right after Christmas, and with Asahi and Fuyuka feeling very close to each other. Asahi in particular, however, has trouble putting a name to this feeling until the very end of the book. In the meantime, there’s a New Year to have, which includes a shrine visit. Which also means introducing one half of this cast to the other half of this cast, and fortunately they get along fine despite the obnoxious couple being an introvert’s worst nightmare. There’s a birthday, which Asahi nearly blows simply as he never really converses with Fuyuka about anything but cooking. There’s Valentine’s Day, where Asahi can’t actually blow off this year the way he usually does. And there’s also Fuyuka’s maid returning to the apartment, which he fears will mean the end of their relationship, which of course only involves his cooking lessons. Right?

I mentioned this was a sort of inverse to Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten. Asahi has a similar personality to Amane, but Amane’s the one with the troubled past that has led to his personality being like this in that series. In this one it’s Fuyuka with the tragic past that has led to her being the “ice queen”, as we see when she talks about visiting her mother to tell her all about Asahi. This seems an awfully big step till you realize fairly quickly that she’s visiting a grave. Fuyuka’s story did not get as dark as I feared it would, which is good. It’s just a case of a loving mother passing away and a daughter now left bereft of any emotional support. Now that she has this, in Asahi, she’s opening up and starting to care again. And this, more than anything else, is why Asahi realizes he loves her at the end of the book. (Her own love for Asahi is far more obvious throughout.)

Are they a couple? Not yet – admitting love to yourself is not the same as confessing it. What’s worse, this volume came out two years ago in Japan, and the afterword suggests there may not be more (The Japanese publisher has very little patience with underselling ongoing series). This was a sweet little series, and I quite liked both volumes. But it drowned among more popular titles in this genre.

The Manga Review: Buy Local

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If you live in the Greater Boston area, Comicopia should be on your radar. This small shop is packed to the gills with manga, from best-selling shonen titles—Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen—to kid-friendly series, yaoi and yuri, horror, manly-man manga, and a few OOP treasures, as well as a modest selection of books in Japanese. I discovered Comicopia when I relocated to the Boston area in 2008, and it felt like an oasis. I’ve always found the staff friendly and funny, and the atmosphere comfortable; no one will judge you for buying something popular or—heaven forfend—girly. For more insight into what makes Comicopia a great place to shop, check out this interview with Comicopia’s Matt Lehman and Dan Palomares conducted by fellow Bostonian Brigid Alverson.

NEWS

This opening sentence pretty much says it all: “Hit Japanese manga One Piece is coming to Netflix as a live-action series — a development that’s both exciting and worrisome for fans who have seen mixed success in a growing list of Hollywood adaptations.” [Associated Press]

And speaking of One Piece, creator Eiichiro Oda consulted ChatGPT on an upcoming storyline, but rejected the bot’s suggestions as “boring.” [NDTV]

Band geeks unite! Azuki has just licensed Crescent Moon Marching, a coming-of-age story about a teenager who joins a marching band to get away from the stress of her fast-paced life in Tokyo. Look for the first chapters on March 16th. [Azuki Manga]

Everything old is new again: Dark Horse will be re-issuing Hellsing in a new paperback edition this fall. [ICv2]

Krystallina has the scoop on the upcoming merger of Manga Planet and futekiya. [The OASG]

Although the February 2023 NPD Bookscan numbers confirm what most of us know—folks loooooove Chainsaw Man and Spy x Family—there were a few surprises on last month’s Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels list, including the first volume of Blue Box and the seventh volume of My Dress-Up Darling. [ICv2]

Why is Osamu Dazai having a moment on TikTok? The New York Times investigates. (Hint: it involves Bungo Stray Dogs.) [New York Times]

LISTENING IN

On the latest episode of Screentone Club, Elliot and Andy discuss Slasher Maidens and Oshi no Ko, “two things that everyone loves – ladies kicking arse and ladies being idols.” [Screentone Club]

If you’ve been curious about Ramen Wolf & Curry Tiger, Xan has some thoughts about this unusual culinary manga. [Spiraken Manga Review]

The OverMangaCast gang weigh in on chapters 100-127 of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba (better known to fans as the Swordsmith Village arc). [OverMangaCast]

Walt Richardson and Emily Myers review the February 2023 issue of Shonen Jump. [Multiversity Manga Club]

On the most recent episode of Manga in Your Ears, Kory, Apryll, and Helen discuss Is Love the Answer? and the first volume of Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou. [Taiiku Podcast]

Anyone nostalgic for Planetes will want to tune into Manga Machinations, which is doing a multi-part retrospective on this sci-fi classic. [Manga Machinations]

Ashley and Asher also take a trip down memory lane with a look at Duklyon: CLAMP School Defenders, “a strange, comedic, and loving send up of tokusatsu shows.” [Shojo & Tell]

REVIEWS

If you read only one review this week, make it Leonard Pierce’s lovely, in-depth analysis on Gengoroh Tagame’s Our Colors, an honest look at a young teenager wrestling with his sexual orientation. “Tagame has been open about this being his own coming-out story in many ways,” Pierce observes, “but the manner in which he projects it into a contemporary setting while retaining its personal character is excellent storytelling.” At Brain vs. Book, Jocelyne Allen explores the surreal humor of Wayama Yama’s Onna no Sono no Hoshi, a comedy about a beleagured male teacher at an all-girls’ school… Carrie McClain explains why you should be reading The Invisible Man & His Soon-to-be-Wife and Gap Papa: Daddy at Work and at Home… Masha Zhdanova gives a thumbs up to Mermaid Scales and the Town of Sand and thumbs down to volume two of Rainbow Days… and The Japan Times gives a big thumbs down to the big-screen adaptation of Inio Asano’s Downfall, pronouncing it dour and boring.

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