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The Manga Review, 10/14/22

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Historically, New York Comic Con was the event for big licensing announcements, but in recent years manga publishers have focused more on promoting their best-selling series than on unveiling new acquisitions. While this year’s event yielded some licensing news–VIZ, for example, revealed that it would be publishing a new Spiderman manga–the bigger story is that many companies are casting their nets widely for new content. “One notable trend,” Deb Aoki observes, “is the growth of webtoons, including comics content originally from Korea and China, and original comics created by a wave of international creators featured on such mobile comics platforms such as Webtoon, Tapas Media, Manta, Lezhin, and Tappytoon.” Yen Press, in particular, was enthusiastically promoting its new Korean comics imprint Ize Press, which will release its first titles this fall. Will readers embrace Korean comics this time around? Hard to say, but given the current wave of teen interest in Korean music, television, and movies, it’s not a stretch to imagine that Yen Press will find a more receptive audience for manhwa than it did ten or fifteen years ago. Stay tuned…

NEWS AND VIEWS

For the second year in a row, Chainsaw Man won the Harvey Award for Best Manga, beating out Blood on the Tracks, Blue Lock, Cat + Gamer, Red Flowers, and Spy x Family. [The Beat]

Seven Seas announced three new additions to its spring 2023 schedule: Last Game, The Great Snake’s Bride, and A Story of Seven Lives. [Seven Seas]

Erica Friedman files a report from New York Comic Con. [Okazu]

Whether you’re new to manga or just want to refresh your library’s collection, Sara Smith has you covered. Join her for Manga 101 at this year’s SLJ Summit. [SLJ Summit 2022]

If you listen to only one podcast this week, make it the latest episode of Mangasplaining, which focuses on Jun Mayuzuki’s Kowloon Generic Romance. Come for the thoughtful commentary, stay for the fascinating history lesson on the neighborhood that inspired the story. [Mangasplaining]

Ashley and Asher jump in the WABAC machine for a look at Yuu Watase’s Absolute Boyfriend. [Shojo & Tell]

The latest Taiiku Podcast focuses on When a Cat Faces West and Reincarnated as a Sword. [Manga in Your Ears]

Ryosuke Arakane interviews Kazuo Umezu about his creative process as both as a painter and a manga artist. “Having a childlike spirit is a profound thing,” he notes. “It’s a great thing I picked up. My stories feature children, so there’s a connection… The difference between adults and children is that adults might think something is childish, but children might think the opposite.” [Tokion]

REVIEWS

Krystallina reviews Risky Business, a digital-only offering from Media Do. “Risky Business sounds like a gambling manga, but the only gamble is the one you take on this series,” she notes. “On one hand, the manga is very intriguing with all the manipulation and underhanded tricks going on. On the other hand, man, this manga has a high amount of unlikable characters.” Over at Okazu, Erica Friedman explains why she’s looking forward to more installments of She Loves to Eat, She Loves to Cook.

New and Noteworthy

Ongoing and Complete Series

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 4: Founder of the Royal Academy’s So-Called Library Committee, Vol. 9

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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.

And so another arc in the Bookworm series comes to an end, this one the longest arc yet, at nine volumes. The arcs tend to end with big dramatic world shifts, and this one is no different, as Ferdinand finally departs for Ahrensbach to start his new role as victim… erm, husband to the delightful Detlinde. That said, Ehrenfest is managing to stay busy. The entire volume has the air of waiting for an axe to fall, which does make it a wee bit frustrating that it doesn’t quite fall yet. It can make for uncomfortable reading. We are basically watching our heroes getting ready to carry out a series of politically-motivated murders, and only Rosemyne is bothering to question it. And even then, she’s just saying “are you really going to kill the 5-year-olds as well?”. The other uncomfortable part is the relationship between Ferdinand and Rosemyne. It’s still very mentorish, but is rapidly becoming The Elephant In The Room.

The author makes a joke about how Eckhart and Justus are also on the cover, but they’re hidden by the title box, but that does sort of fit the “main” segment of the book very well, as Ferdinand and Rozemyne prepare to be separated from each other, and we watch each of them try to outdo each other in “being strong” and also “giving amazing going away presents”. Unfortunately, his departure happens a lot faster than they would like, owing to the ill health of the Ahrensbach Aub. As such, there’s only time for one more big deadly adventure, as Rozemyne arrives back at the temple after Ferdinand’s heartwarming and hilarious Italian dinner, only to find that something seems off. Her intuition helps her avoid death, but there’s still a sense that Georgine has won the day somehow, and that means that Ehrenfest is also going to have to get rid of the former Veronica faction once and for all…

So yeah, let’s talk about Ferdinand and Rozemyne. The relationship between the two of them has become, for many people, the main reason to read the book. Certainly it’s more interesting than the relationship between Rozemyne and Wilfried, which seems utterly doomed, mostly as the two of them really are not interested in each other at all – even political marriages need SOME sort of connection. Ferdinand has been a teacher to Rozemyne, as well as a mentor, and it’s to the writer’s credit that he’s never felt like a father. Rozemyne has a number of dads, but Ferdinand is not one of them. And then there’s the protective hairpiece he gives her on his departure – something that everyone around notes is the equivalent of a marriage proposal, even if Rozemyne totally does not take it that way. I think the book is edging in that direction. The main problem with it is that Rozemyne, even if the book says she’s been growing “slightly”, STILL looks eight years old. Nothing should happen unless that changes. To sum up, your discomfort level may vary.

The next arc is called ‘Avatar of the Goddess’, which makes me worry that Hartmut’s gospel of Rozemyne is spreading much too far. We shall see. Till then, this was a good Bookworm, but also has all the stuff in it that makes you say “It’s great, BUT…” when you recommend it.

Manga the Week of 10/19/22

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SEAN: Is it Halloween yet? No.

ASH: Just treats until then, right?

Airship has a print debut of one of my favorite 2022 light novels, Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court (Futsutsuka na Akujo de wa Gozaimasu ga – Sūgū Chōso Torikae Den). You may think “but I already read The Apothecary Diaries *and* Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, do I really need another of these?”. Yes. Yes, you do.

ASH: If those are comparable series, then that’s a solid recommendation.

SEAN: Digitally we see the early debut of Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess, whose manga Seven Seas has also released, so let me copy paste: A newbie gamer gets a new VR game from her younger sister… but her character build is horrible! Now she’s a zombie.

We also get the 2nd volume of Vivy Prototype.

Ghost Ship gives us a 4th volume of JK Haru is a Sex Worker in Another World.

J-Novel Club debuts Backstabbed in a Backwater Dungeon: My Trusted Companions Tried to Kill Me, But Thanks to the Gift of an Unlimited Gacha I Got LVL 9999 Friends and Am Out For Revenge on My Former Party Members and the World (Shinjiteita Nakama-tachi ni Dungeon Okuchi de Korosarekaketa ga Gift “Mugen Gacha” de Level 9999 no Nakama-tachi wo Te ni Irete Moto Party Member to Sekai ni Fukushuu & “Zamaa!” Shimasu!). I wish I was lying about that title. You’d think with a title like that it’s a parody, but I’m told it isn’t.

ASH: With a title that long, I’m not sure the novel would actually provide many more details.

SEAN: We also see Black Summoner’s 8th manga volume, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 8, D-Genesis: Three Years after the Dungeons Appeared 2, Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! 3, John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 8, The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind!’s 9th manga, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 19, To Another World… with Land Mines! 4, and VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream 2.

Kodansha Manga has, in print, EDENS ZERO 19, Fire Force 29, and That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest 6.

Digitally there is more. We see And Yet, You Are So Sweet 6, Are You Lost? 10 (the final volume), Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 12, Cells at Work! White Brigade 3, Doing His Best to Confess 3, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 24, Gamaran 2, Golden Gold 5, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 6, Medalist 5, A Serenade for Pretend Lovers 5, and She, Her Camera, and Her Seasons 3. Medalist is, as always, something everyone needs to read.

MICHELLE: I am going to start Medalist this week!

ANNA: I need to start it too!

SEAN: One Peace has a 5th manga volume of Higehiro: After Being Rejected, I Shaved and Took in a High School Runaway.

More piles of debut volumes for Seven Seas. CANDY AND CIGARETTES runs in Young Magazine the 3rd, and features a retired cop who needs a job to pay for his grandson’s medical treatment, so partners with… an 11-year-old killer?

ASH: Not a combo I would have expected.

SEAN: The Evil Secret Society of Cats (Aku no Himitsu Soushiki Neko) is from the publisher Eastpress, and their magazine Matogrosso. A group of cats try to show humanity they are to be feared… but shucks, they’re just so adorable! This is in full color.

ASH: Always ready to give cat manga a try.

ANNA: It sounds cute.

SEAN: I Got Fired as a Court Wizard so Now I’m Moving to the Country to Become a Magic Teacher (Kyuutei Mahou-shi Kubi ni Nattande, Inaka ni Kaette Mahou-ka no Sensei ni Narimasu) runs in Takeshobo’s Web Comic Gamma Plus. The plot is the title.

ASH: The premise could have potential.

SEAN: The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent: The Other Saint (Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu: Mou Hitori no Seijo) is a spinoff of the main light novel series, telling the story from the perspective of Airi. It runs in Kadokawa’s Flos Comic.

Also from Seven Seas: The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 5, How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 9, The Idaten Deities Know Only Peace 3, and The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes: Ultramarine 2.

Square Enix Manga has Soul Eater: The Perfect Edition 8.

Tokyopop has a 2nd volume of Yuri Espoir.

Viz Media has a one-shot, Drip Drip (Bota Bota), with a …striking cover. A young woman can’t see anything she thinks is dirty without getting a massive nosebleed. Can she find love? This is from the creator of BEASTARS, which is likely the only reason we’re seeing it, and it ran in Manga Goraku.

ASH: That is quite the cover.

ANNA: I feel safe skipping this.

SEAN: We get the print debut of Mission: Yozakura Family (Yozakura-san Chi no Daisakusen), which is up to 14 volumes in Japan so it was hard to ignore any longer. It’s a Jump title, about a boy who ends up involved with a family of spies.

Speaking of Jump, The Shonen Jump Guide to Making Manga is what it sounds like, and features commentary from your favorite Jump artists.

Viz also has Children of the Whales 20, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 6, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 18, My Hero Academia Box Set 1 (the first 20 volumes, with an exclusive booklet), Persona 5 9, Record of Ragnarok 4, Twin Star Exorcists 26, and Undead Unluck 9.

ANNA: I need to get caught up on Frieren.

SEAN: Yen On has a lot of ongoing favorites. Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, so I’ll Max Out My Defense 7, Date a Live 7, Dragon and Ceremony 3, The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend 3, The Irregular at Magic High School 20, Magical Explorer: Reborn as a Side Character in a Fantasy Dating Sim 3, Magical Girl Raising Project 14, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected 14.5 (the final volume), Spy Classroom 4, Unnamed Memory 6 (the final volume), and Your Forma 2.

Yen Press has several debuts. The Executioner and Her Way of Life (Shokei Shoujo no Ikirumichi) is an adaptation of the popular light novel, running in Young Gangan.

I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top (Ichioku-nen Button wo Renda shita Ore wa, Kizuitara Saikyou ni Natteita: Rakudai Kenshi no Gakuin Musou) is an adaptation of the popular light novel, running in Young Ace Up.

Sasaki and Peeps: That Time I Got Dragged into a Psychic Battle in Modern Times While Trying to Enjoy a Relaxing Life in Another World ~Looks Like Magical Girls Are On Deck~ (Sasaki to Pi-chan: Isekai de Slow Life o Tanoshi Mou Toshitara, Gendai de Inou Battle ni Makikomareta Ken – Mahou Shoujo Up o Hajimeta You Desu) is an adaptation of the popular light novel, running in Shonen Ace Plus.

ASH: These titles…

SEAN: She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat (Tsukuritai Onna to Tabetai Onna) has a woman make far too much food due to stress from work. Fortunately, her next-door neighbor loves food! This is apparently a yuri series, though slow burn. It runs in ASCII Mediaworks’ Comic It, and is not an adaptation of a popular light novel.

ASH: Slow burn yuri food manga, you say? I’m in!

We also get The Abandoned Empress 3, Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside 3, Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle 2, Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 7, Daughter of the Emperor 2, The Geek Ex-Hitman 2, In the Land of Leadale 2, Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler – 15, Kakegurui Twin 11, MonsTABOO 2, Nights with a Cat 2, and No Matter How I Look at It, It’s You Guys’ Fault I’m Not Popular! 20.

What manga are you reading? Is it based on the popular light novel?

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 10

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By Toshio Satou and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shonen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

If this series were not as successful as it has been, I could easily see this being the final volume. It has a final volume sort of feel to it – no, it doesn’t wrap up anything romance wise, but if you think this series is going to end with him picking one of the girls I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you. It does, however, wrap up almost all the plots that we’ve had bubbling under the last few books when the series hasn’t been trying to be wacky comedy (which is to say, rarely). Lloyd’s dark older brother figure Shouma finally is forced to realize that he’s projecting onto Lloyd heavily, and that sometimes people can in fact be nice. We get the backstory of Sou, which ties into the backstory we’ve seen before, with Alka and company in the past. And we get Lloyd being the equivalent of a high school student, unable to fill out that career survey.

The career survey is actually hitting cadets a little earlier than usual. mostly because the King is trying to figure out a way to get Lloyd and his daughter together – which might work better if Lloyd ever actually figured out that Marie is the princess. He does not. He’s also very unhappy with the survey, though, mostly as he’s not sure what he wants to do with his life. Cue a series of internships, each of which are basically an excuse for shenanigans from the entire cast. Unfortunately, while this is going on, Sou has bribed/blackmailed a noble into helping with what appears to be a curse on the military city, causing people to lose control of their emotions and lash out in a rage. Can our heroes figure out what’s behind this and stop it? And what job is Lloyd best suited for anyway?

I’m always a fan of times in broad comedies where the characters show a glimpse of self-awareness. This is hard to come by in this series, especially with everyone’s favorite yandere Selen. So it pleased me greatly when she got my favorite moment in the book, where she explains to Shouma (whose mental breakdown has been nudged along by Sou into “kill his friends before they betray him”) that the fact that she’s completely obsessed with Lloyd has nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that he was strong enough to undo the belt curse, or even that he saved her at all, but that he treated her like a normal person. Again, Lloyd is nice to a fault, and not in a standard light novel potato sort of way, but genuinely altruistic. Even Riho, who confesses she *was* planning to fleece Lloyd, admits that went out the window the more time she spent with him. He’s just a good kid.

So we’ve dealt with almost everything… maybe. We still have the queen who likes to dress in a rabbit costume, and I think she’s the next major arc. Till then, this book is always funny (particularly the narrative voice), but also has some slight narrative heft this time around.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 8.5

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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 Winifred Bird.

I was wondering if any of these short stories would show the lead up to the cliffhanger from Book 8, but it’s the opposite. Most of these stem from the end of Book 7, and the two weeks or so where Tomozaki and Kikuchi are in love-love couple mode before he decides to forget that he has a girlfriend. That said, the real value of this book is the insight into the characters of Hinami and Rena. They’re similar in a couple of ways, with one basing her life around “goals” and the other around “guys”. More to the point, you could argue that both are vying to be the antagonist of this series. It’s become clear since the start of the series that Hinami’s advice to Tomozaki should be taken with a massive grain of salt, and that reaches its apex in Book 8. As for Rena, we get her tragic backstory, which also seems to be similar to Hinami’s in a way, in that both are characters whose minds do not work the way that we’re used to with light novel teenagers.

The stories here are: 1) a party to celebrate the success of the play, on Christmas Eve, complete with snow; 2) Some more insight into Hinami’s character, including additional allusions to her tragic past that are not third-hand like the previous book; 3) Mimimi coming to terms with the fact that Tomozaki has chosen Kikuchi over her, and talking with Kikuchi about this; 4) Rena’s past and some scenes leading up to her scenes from the 8th volume; 5) everyone gathers together to sing karaoke, and Tomozaki has the assignment to sing a song with everyone else there; 6) Kikuchi’s post-Christmas pre-New Year’s romantic glow, which also includes a conversation she had with Hinami at the Christmas party; and 7) an adaptation of a Bonus CD audio track, featuring the cast trying a virtual reality game.

Some of these stories are more important than others, frankly. The Hinami one was fantastic, and makes it even more clear (as does her conversation with Kikuchi) that she is going to be having a complete breakdown at some point before the end of this series. We’re still not sure what happened with her family, but certainly there were three siblings and now there are two. Her story, and Kikuchi’s, really hammer home how she has turned her life and her sense of self into a joyless empty shell, and I think she knows this deep down and that’s why she was briefly angry at Kikuchi for essentially figuring it out immediately. I also really enjoyed Mimimi’s story, though it once again reminds me she’s coming in third in a two-person race. As for Rena’s, it was certainly insightful, but also difficult to read. I don’t like her much.

So this was pretty much about what you want in a group of short stories, and the end audio CD story has a very satisfying beatdown that I’m sure isn’t a metaphor for anything. Good stuff. Now, let’s have Tomozaki fix his punctured romance ASAP, please.

Pick of the Week: A Bevy of Riches

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SEAN: This is a ridiculously stacked week for manga fans. Viz has a hot new Jump series in Dandadan, Seven Seas gives yuri fans what they’ve always wanted (women beating the shit out of each other) in Black and White: Tough Love at the Office, and Kodansha has both Last Gender *and* Shonen Note: Boy Soprano in the same week. That said, I’ll throw in with One Peace Books this week and Usotoki Rhetoric, because I love a good 1920s shoujo.

MICHELLE: Perhaps I’ll be disappointed by the mystery aspects of Usotoki Rhetoric, but it still looks so much my sort of thing that I have to pick it. Definitely honorable mention to Shonen Note, however.

KATE: I’m glad to see Drawn & Quarterly is keeping Shigeru Mizuki’s works in print, so my pick is Onwards Towards Our Nobel Deaths.

ASH: Usotoki Rhetoric has certainly caught my attention, too, but Shonen Note has been on my radar longer. I’ve been looking forward to it for awhile now, so I’ll make it my official pick (though I’ll be making a point to read both series!).

ANNA: Usotoki Rhetoric does look interesting, I shall make it my pick!

The Executioner and Her Way of Life: The Promised Land

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By Mato Sato and nilitsu. Released in Japan as “Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

There is a famous quote (actually he said it a number of times) by Anton Chekhov about dramatic principles. One of the quotes says “If in the first act you have hung a pistol on the wall, then in the following one it should be fired. Otherwise don’t put it there.”. This is a perfectly fine dramatic tenet to use, and I have no real issues with it. That said… you still need to write something OTHER than the pistol hanging on the wall. You can’t just have 90 minutes of ‘pistol on the wall, la de da’ and expect the audience to stay invested. In case you’re wondering where I’m going with this, the 5th volume of The Executioner and Her Way of Life does have some guns go off near the end of the book. But the first half of this volume may be one of the most boring I’ve seen in Japanese light novels, as everyone walks around aimlessly, reiterates what we already know, and waits for Menou to have some revelations about herself.

Everyone’s arrived at the Holy Land. Flare has taken Akari, put her in an ivory tower, and given her an existential crisis to keep her busy for most of the book. Momo and Ashuna arrive there, and have some warmed-over banter before Ashuna promptly exits the plot after seeing a future plotline. Momo is, to her surprise, taken in by the Archbishop and put to work with Hooseyard, who is a summary of all the “naive but nerdy” glasses girls in anime. Manon, Pandaemonium, and Sahara have arrived to wreak havoc. And Menou has arrived to fight Flare and lose, because she knows that’s going to happen. The problem is that she’s right for the wrong reasons. Something she figures out when they fight and it becomes clear that Menou has surpassed her master… in all ways but one.

The book turns around, as I said above, once Menou has a horrific realization: she’s only killed strangers she barely knew, and when she tries to kill someone close to her, like, say, Flare… she can’t do it. In other words, despite forcing herself into the role of a “villain”, she has empathy. Surprise! That said, it is pretty dramatically satisfying, and I enjoyed her burst of hysterical laughter. Akari has the misfortune of spending most of the book in a state of shock after realizing that if Menou dies, and she has to rewind time again,. she’s probably going to start losing her memories of her time with Menou, which nearly destroys her. Of course, there’s an obvious answer to this for both of them, one that Flare (who seems to be trying to commit suicide by cop throughout this book – Menou is the cop) is trying to hammer home. By the end of this book, we’ve finally moved past “I’m going to kill Akari/Only Menou can kill me”, and it will be interesting to see where things go next, especially after seeing the last few pages, which confirm something hinted since the start of the series.

I’ll keep going with this, because I want to see what happens to the characters. But “writing style” is not a reason anyone should read this series, and it makes the front half of this volume sheer murder.

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 14

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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.

It’s been a while since we last had the adventures of Mile and company in front of us. Most of the reason for this is that the series got a new publisher in Japan, Square Enix, which necessitated renegotiating the license for the series, which takes time. But now, a mere 16 months after the last book, we have a new volume of the series. Perhaps sensing that this was a chance to show off why the series was picked up by a larger publisher, the author has decided to get slightly more serious than usual this time around. Oh, not to worry, there’s still plenty of “Mile does OP stuff” and fourth wall breaking, it’s just that the volume as a whole seems to want to go back to the main plot of the series, the one it usually ignores for books on end. It’s going to get harder to ignore from now on, though, as there are portals opening from another world.

That said, we have another plot to get through first. The Crimson Vow are hired as escorts/bodyguards… supposedly… to take Clairia and her fellow elves back to their village. The reason turns out to be trickier than that, as they wanted the Vow to distract from what turns out to be a “get married already” meeting set up by the village. This involves a lot of inbred misogyny, and the Vow quickly take matters into their own hands. The Guild then hires them to investigate a nearby kingdom, where things are just going… slightly worse than usual. For no stated reason. Mile is the perfect person to figure out what’s really going on… robots are making portals to their world from another world and sending in stronger, smarter monsters to take out the adventurers!

The elf stuff was not as good as the rest of the book, mostly depending on “ha ha, it’s funny because elf men are lolicons” and a heaping helping of “women should stay in the village and breed more elves”. The latter, to be fair, the narrative rips apart with its bare hands, and indeed one of the main themes of the entire series has been “you don’t have to get married immediately”. The second part is more setup for the next few books, made more amusing by Mile literally sacrificing some of her nanos to a portal to another world just to get information, and their irritated response. We also see that the Crimson Vow are a mature, powerful, respected team… but only in their own lands, and when they go elsewhere, or when their intelligence is disseminated by the Crown, it still has an air of “these are stupid kids, why should we care?” to it. Mike needs to become more famous, and not just as an author.

This is a good, not great book, with the series’ usual flaws. But it also has the series’ usual strengths as well, and fans should be pleased.

Emma Dreams of Stars: Inside the Gourmet Guide

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Before Yelp! and Open Table made it easy to find a good restaurant, you had two options: consult your local newspaper’s Arts & Leisure section, or buy a guidebook that ranked and sorted joints by price, cuisine, decor, and service. Zagat’s, for example, offered pithy, sometimes withering, assessments of restaurants that were capped by a starred rating, while The Fearless Critic used a ten-point scale that resembled the scoring system for a gymnastics meet. The most trusted—in the US, at least—was the Forbes Travel Guide, which employed an army of undercover critics to evaluate hotels and restaurants, and rank them on a scale from “average” to “one of the best in the country”. Though different in tone and format, all three owed a debt to a much older publication: The Michelin Guide, which was introduced in 1900.

The Guide was the brainchild of Édouard and André Michelin, founders of the Michelin Tire Company. At the time their booklet debuted, France was just beginning to embrace the automobile; the brothers hoped that distributing free copies might encourage people to buy their first car, as the Guide contained a wealth of information for the would-be motorist, including maps, auto repair tips, and lists of hotels, garages, restaurants, and attractions. In the 1920s, the Guide introduced its first rating system, eventually settling on a scale of one to three stars. The Guide also began hiring anonymous male inspectors to visit restaurants and hotels around Europe, reasoning that the nature of the job—travelling solo for weeks at a time—made it impossible for a woman to perform.

Enter Emmanuelle Masionneuve, who joined the Guide almost 100 years after Michelin introduced its star system. Masionneuve had an unusual path to becoming an inspector, training first as a lawyer and journalist before pivoting into the culinary industry. After working for three France’s most esteemed chefs—Michael Bras, Alain Ducasse, Alain Passard—she decided to put her food expertise to the ultimate test by auditioning for the Michelin Guide. Emma Dreams of Stars: Inside the Gourmet Guide, co-written with Julia Pavlowitch and illustrated by Kan Takahama, tells Masionneuve’s story.

In the early chapters, Emma functions both as a character and a reader surrogate. We follow Emma through every stage of her training, from her initial interview to her first solo trip, along the way gleaning interesting tidbits about how inspectors maintain their anonymity, interact with chefs and hoteliers, and avoid heartburn. (Eating rich meals all day isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.) Emma Dreams of Stars also explores Maisonneuve’s efforts to navigate the stuffy male culture of the Michelin Guide, where she’s reminded on a daily basis that she’s the only woman inspector. Though most of her male peers are collegial, she feels the weight of being a trailblazer, worrying that even the smallest mistake will jeopardize her future with the Guide.

Of course, Emma Dreams of Stars is also a story about French cuisine, and that front, the authors deliver exceptionally well. Throughout the book, there are lengthy discussions about the merits of various cheeses and wines, as well as numerous soliloquies extolling the virtue of simply prepared dishes, locally sourced ingredients, and regional specialties. Artist Kan Takahama does an expert job of rendering the food, using a soft palette that captures the texture and presentation of each meal in life-like detail. The same is true of her backgrounds; every setting demonstrates similar attention to light, pattern, and color, making it easy for the reader to feel the atmosphere of every restaurant and hotel that Emma visits, from a chic Parisian cafe to a dim but cozy rural pub.

Whenever the shop talk threatens to stop the story in its tracks, Takahama breaks up the stream of chatter by breaking the flow of her tight, orderly grids. Characters burst out of the frame, allowing us to more fully appreciate their enthusiasm and resolve. As these panels demonstrate, Takahama has a great talent for faces, working in a naturalistic style that’s reminiscent of Naoki Urasawa; Takahama imbues each one of her characters with an individuality that speaks volumes about their age and experiences, as well their taste in food and wine.

Though Takahama’s artwork is stellar throughout the book, there are a few passages where the authors didn’t fully trust the images to tell Emma’s story, most notably when depicting her strained relationship with Thomas, her long-term boyfriend. The two never meet in person, but exchange increasingly tense voice mails and text messages that reveal just how much Thomas resents Emma’s growing independence. Takahama’s artwork does a great job of showing us how conflicted Emma feels, but the authors saddle these moments with heavy-handed voice overs that spell out what the reader can readily grasp from Emma’s facial expressions and body language: she’s determined to have a meaningful career on her own terms, even if that means leaving Thomas behind.

If these moments feel a little forced, Emma’s interactions with other female foodies do not. In one particularly delightful chapter, for example, the Guide dispatches Emma to the Côte Vermeille, where a chance encounter with Natalie, a local vinegar maker, leads Emma to a lively farm-to-table bistro on the outskirts of town. As Natalie and Emma chat about the terroir–the secret ingredient in Natalie’s concoctions–we can see how their expertise and enthusiasm helps them form an immediate bond; by the time they arrive at the restaurant, they’re chatting like old friends.

The same spirit of mutual respect animates Emma’s interactions with another culinary expert: Kanami, a travel guide who leads Emma through a whirlwind tour of Tokyo. Kanami explains the origins of particular dishes, challenges the Michelin rating for a famous restaurant, and takes Emma to the Tsukiji Market to see how local fishmongers transform enormous tuna into delicate morsels. Emma is humbled by the depth and breadth of Kanami’s knowledge, and vows to return to Japan so that she can “keep learning and growing.” By the time I finished Emma Dreams of Stars, that’s how I felt, too. I was reminded of how little most of us know about the food we eat, and pledged to develop a deeper, more thoughtful relationship with the meals I prepare, and the dishes I enjoy. Recommended.

EMMA DREAMS OF STARS: INSIDE THE GOURMET GUIDE • BY EMMANUELLE MAISONNEUVE AND JULIA PAVLOWITCH • ART BY KAN TAKAHAMA • TRANSLATED BY EAMON FOGARTY • KODANSHA COMICS • NO RATING • 192 pp. 

 

Sugar Apple Fairy Tale: The Silver Sugar Master and the Obsidian Fairy

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By Miri Mikawa and Aki. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Beans Bunko Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder.

Frequently in romance novels, in both English and Japanese, I find myself waiting for the bomb to go off. It’s always really easy to spot the bomb. It’s the guy who we first meet. He’s not on the cover art. He’s usually a Swell Guy ™. He loves the heroine. He says so. A lot. Ignoring whatever she might have to say about it. Sometimes everyone else around her also assumes that they’re fated to be together. And, credit to our Sugar Apple heroine, she is deeply aware of this and runs away at the earliest opportunity. Alas, the bomb follows her. That’s when I started to get annoyed. I was on edge, waiting for the Asshole Bomb to go off, and when it finally did, I breathed a sigh of relief. Now, it does mean the identity of the villain in this first book is immediately obvious from about page 3, but that’s fine. This first book is not about Asshole Dude, it’s about a teenager who just lost her mother weeks before trying to cope with overwhelming grief.

Our story takes place in the Kingdom of Highland, where they have candy crafters, the highest ranked of which are Silver Sugar Masters, whose candy is basically endorsed by the Crown. Our heroine, Anne, has bee traveling the country with her mother Emma, learning at her elbow and growing up. Then Emma gets sick and dies. Anne resolves to travel to the main city of the Kingdom so that she can pass the test to become a Silver Sugar Master. She needs to do this by the next holy day, so that her mother’s spirit can rest in peace. Of course, she can’t make it in time till she takes a nasty and brutal shortcut… for which she will need a bodyguard. Fortunately, this Kingdom also has fairies! To be their slaves.

So yeah, I liked this book, but it has a very high bar to clear. There’s slavery here, and our heroine immediately buys a slave, because she needs a bodyguard to get there in time and does not have the ability to stick to her principles. She talks about slavery being wrong, and frees him at the end of this book, but… yeah. Fairies are still slaves, that’s not going away. As for the rest of the book, the romance was OK, but I think my favorite part was exploring Anne’s attempts to be plucky and have gumption in the wake of her mother’s death, which the book needs to remind us a few times was only about three weeks before the start. She’s an excellent candy crafter, but she’s not making her OWN candies, she’s making the candies her mother made. She needs to accept her grief, then she can flower as a true artist. That’s the good part of the book.

I also enjoy Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, by the same author. This series came out before that one, and is 17 volumes, so we have a ways to go. If you like romantic fantasies, and can get past “slaves are bad, but here I am buying a slave”, this is a solid start.