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Manga the Week of 4/27/22

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SEAN: The end of April means the end of innocence, getting ready for the boys of summer, and other things that are not Don Henley songs.

We start with Yen On, who have Cross-Dressing Villainess Cecilia Sylvie 2, In the Land of Leadale 5, and Orc Eroica 2.

Yen Press has a whooole lot. We see A Certain Magical Index 25, Days on Fes 5 (the final volume), Dead Mount Death Play 7, Goblin Slayer 11, Golden Japanesque: A Splendid Yokohama Romance 5, Hinowa ga CRUSH! 6, I Was a Bottom-Tier Bureaucrat for 1,500 Years, and the Demon King Made Me a Minister 3 (also a final volume), In Another World with My Smartphone 5, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level 8, Laid-Back Camp 11, Love of Kill 7, Please Put Them On, Takamine-san 3, Plunderer 9, The Royal Tutor 16, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 15 (also also a final volume), Sasaki and Miyano 5, Shibuya Goldfish 10, and Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 13. I am getting… well, two of those.

MICHELLE: I’m at least getting Sasaki and Miyano!

ANNA: Not much there for me, since I’m not super into bureaucrats for the Demon King killing slimes after their levels are maxed-out.

ASH: I really ought to catch up with Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts; I’ve enjoyed the volumes that I’ve read. Also Toilet-bound Hanako-kun!

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Yagi the Bookshop Goat (Honya no Yagi-kun), a BL title from Chara about a goat boy who loves to read books… and eat books! No one trusts him in a bookstore, can he convince the wolf manager to give him a shot? Honestly, this looks damn cute.

ANNA: I don’t care how cute it is!

ASH: Tokyopop keeps trying to tempt me.

MJ: Must… not… look… no. no.

SEAN: Tentai Books has a print light novel debut. You Like Me, Don’t You? So, Wanna Go Out With Me? (Kimitte Watashi no Koto Suki Nandeshou?), another high school romance between a mopey guy and the perfect girl. This genre has gotten popular lately, though usually with more irony than this has. The author also writes Are You OK with a Slightly Older Girlfriend? and When Supernatural Battles Become Commonplace.

Square Enix has a 4th volume of Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?!.

MICHELLE: I need to resume this series; the first volume was very good!

ASH: It’s true!

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan (Saikyou no Shien-shoku “Wajutsushi” Dearu ore wa Sekai Saikyou Kuran o Shitagaeru), based on the light novel also released by Seven Seas. It’s one of those “everyone says I’m weak but I’m secretly strong” series, and runs in Comic Gardo.

Seven Seas also has Cat Massage Therapy 2, The Dangers in My Heart 4, The Dungeon of Black Company 7, Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 3, Kingdom of Z 5, Our Teachers are Dating! 4 (the final volume), Skeleton Knight in Another World 8, and Time Stop Hero 4.

KUMA has two new titles. sick is a BL oneshot about a young college student. He’s handsome, popular, has all the girls he wants. So why can’t he stop teasing the shy boy in his class? This ran in Takeshobo’s Opa.

Also one volume is Boys of the Dead, which KUMA describes as ZOM-BL!, and I can’t top that. It ran in Canna.

MICHELLE: I am potentially here for ZOM-BL.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Honestly, I’ve enjoyed most of KUMA’s releases, so far.

MJ: Okay, also count me in as possibly here for ZOM-BL.

SEAN: Kodansha has some print debuts. First we see Blackguard, a horror series from the creator of Devils’ Line. A mysterious virus called shojo is attacking people and… no, it’s not turning them into shojo manga, it turns each person into an identical carrier. Presumably our hero fights back. Also, given the title, presumably he’s not very nice.

ASH: Count me as curious.

SEAN: We also get A Galaxy Next Door (Otonari ni Ginga), a new series from the creator of Sweetness and Lightning. A young manga artist struggling to feed his family finds himself a new assistant, who’s almost otherworldly… and also says they’re engaged. This runs in good! Afternoon.

MICHELLE: I can’t say I’m wild about the premise but there’s enough residual goodwill left over from Sweetness & Lightning that I’ll check it out.

ASH: Sweetness & Lightning was such a delight.

MJ: Hm, yes maybe.

SEAN: And then there is Sensei’s Pious Lie (Sensei no Shiroi Uso), an 18+ series that ran in Morning Two. A young teacher is raped by her friend’s fiance, and struggles to keep it from her friend and also connect with her students. This has won awards, but as you might guess, is pretty intense and not for everyone.

MICHELLE: Sounds heavy but good.

ANNA: Way too heavy for me.

ASH: I’ve heard very good things about this series.

MJ: Cautiously interested.

SEAN: Also out in print: EDENS ZERO 16, Hitorijime My Hero 12, and Something’s Wrong With Us 8.

The digital debut is WIND BREAKER, a new manga from Magazine Pocket. I can’t believe, 20-odd years after WORST bombed in English, we are finally getting another delinquent manga about beating the shit out of other students. Awesome.

ASH: Ha! I’ll admit, I do like delinquent manga.

MJ: I mean.

SEAN: Also digital: Back When You Called Us Devils 12 (the final volume), Bootsleg 2, Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 4, Getting Closer to You 2, and Harem Marriage 16.

Kaiten Books has a digital release, the 3rd and final volume of My Dad’s the Queen of All VTubers?!.

J-Novel Club has the 9th and final volume of Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?!, Fantasy Inbound 2, Maddrax 3, and Saint? No! I’m Just a Passing Beast Tamer! 2. On the manga side, we see Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight -Origins- 6, Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons 4, and Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! 5.

Ghost Ship has a 3rd and final volume of Shiori’s Diary, as well as Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs 19.

Cross Infinite World gives us a 2nd volume of I Reincarnated As Evil Alice, So the Only Thing I’m Courting Is Death!.

Finally, Airship has the print debut of The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior, as well as Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 9, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 4, and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 3.

And we see early digital volumes for Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 10 and The Most Heretical Last Boss Queen: From Villainess to Savior 2.

Want to buy manga? Or all you want to do is dance?

Bookshelf Briefs 4/21/22

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Catch These Hands!, Vol. 1 | By murata | Yen Press – I’ve been enjoying the recent upswing in yuri manga starring actual adults and aimed at adults. That said, just because you’re now old enough to be an adult does not automatically give you a free “you won” pass. A former gang leader at her local high school is seeing all her comrades getting married and having children, while she’s still working whatever job she can find. Her resting bitch face is also probably not helping. Then she runs into her old rival, now working at a clothing store… and gets asked out! What? Weren’t they supposed to be fighting? Now they’re dating? The fun of this series is in seeing Takebe’s baffled reaction to literally everything, and I hope that she continues to grump her way through future books. – Sean Gaffney

Chieko Show | By Momoto Makiru and Fukumimi Noburo | Star Fruit Books – Don’t be fooled by the cover: Chieko Show is not a forgotten shojo masterpiece, but a raunchy comedy in the manner of Mad Magazine or Beavis and Butthead. The central joke of Chieko Show is that its galaxy-eyed heroine loves making salacious comments and gestures that elicit horrified reactions from adults. Adding some extra “ick” to the punchlines is that Chieko often sounds as if she’s propositioning her family members. As someone who’s reading this work in translation, it’s hard to know if this is an affectionate spoof of Yoshiko Nishitani’s work or just a gross-out gag manga, but the author’s strenuous attempts to shock and amuse didn’t work on me. Your mileage may vary. – Katherine Dacey

Delicious in Dungeon, Vol. 10 | By Ryoko Kui| Yen Press – The wonderful thing about Delicious in Dungeon, as everyone who’s become a fan of it knows, is how it can go from the silliest comedy to the most terrifying horror at the drop of a hat, and sometimes over the course of only a page or two. And we even get some drama here, seeing the backstory of our “villain,” who unsurprisingly is not merely evil for the sake of it. And everyone is still trying to save Falin, which I approve of, as every single flashback we see of her shows off what a wonderful person she was. There’s even attention paid to biology, as Laios notes how hungry she must be given her human head vs. her monster body that has to be nourished. Still essential reading, even if it’s yearly now. – Sean Gaffney

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 20 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – So it turns out you can only go so far in changing the ending. The author apparently had a falling out with his editors, publishers, and readers, all of whom were reading the book to see who ended up together rather than reading it to see the bonds of friendship between them. So he kicked most everyone to the curb (bar Sena, the only one who is not definitively rejected, though they’re still not a couple) and ends with graduation coming and going and the friendship being the impact. The manga did a good thing in taking out the Yukimura plotline of death, but, with apologies to the author, we WERE reading this for the romance, so it feels unsatisfying. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 22 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – I knew we were headed towards a climax with these characters, but I didn’t think we would get a literal one in this volume. Things start off extremely silly, with Miyuki and Kaguya’s discussion of boobs and sex being very much “only virgins have these discussions!” But then one thing leads to another, and the two are alone in his new apartment with the rest of his family out for the evening, and, well… it’s actually refreshing to see a series as popular and as funny as this one showing us that yes, teenagers still do have sex. Of course, there is still the overall “Kaguya’s family” problem to solve… as well as the fact that Kaguya has still not told Chika that she and Miyuki are a couple. That may go badly. – Sean Gaffney

Kaiju No. 8, Vol. 1 | By Naoya Matsumoto | VIZ Media – Meet Kafka Nibiro: he belongs to Monster Sweeper, Inc., a dedicated crew of professionals who clean up the streets of Japan in the aftermath of monster rampages. Though Kafka would rather be fighting monsters than disposing of their remains, he’s repeatedly failed the entrance exam for the elite Defense Forces Unit. A freak accident endows Kafka with kaiju-like strength, however, emboldening him to take the test one last time. Up until this moment in Kafka’s journey, Kaiju No. 8 feels like it’s headed somewhere new, but the exam chapters follow an all-too-familiar formula in which an ordinary person discovers his hidden strength through competition with snottier, less principled rivals. The paint-by-numbers quality of these scenes doesn’t bode well for future volumes, as its seems like Naoya Matsumoto is more interested in writing a monster-fighting manga than writing a thoughtful story about a man who unwittingly becomes a monster. – Katherine Dacey

My Wandering Warrior Existence | By Nagata Kabi | Seven Seas – This is probably the easiest to read of Nagata Kabi’s biographical manga essays, but that’s only by a matter of degree—one chapter in here is jaw-droppingly horrible in terms of something that happens to her and the aftermath of how it is dealt with. That said, most of this is the author seeing others fall in love, get married and have children and wondering how she can do this, if she wants to do this, and why would ANYONE do this? The answers do have some humor and heart in them, but they also make excellent points, and I really enjoyed the journey she takes to finding out that this is not necessarily something that has to happen NOW, and also that sometimes buying a fridge is far more fulfilling. – Sean Gaffney

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 10 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime (digital only) – It’s always a little sad when a beloved series comes to its end, but at least The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window does so in very satisfying fashion. In this final volume, Mikado and the others infiltrate the Professor’s compound and work together to bring him down and rescue Hiyakawa. Really, the Big Bad here is hatred, or specifically clinging to hatred and using it as a power source to hurt others. Ultimately, Mikado rather easily unravels the Professor’s hatred while Hiyakawa finally relinquishes his own, confessing that what he really wants is to be with Mikado. There’s not even a smooch, but the fact that they emerge from the compound holding hands speaks volumes. Mikado tears up his contract, symbolizing that he’s Hiyakawa’s partner now rather than his employee, and in the final pages they get back to work, together. Happy sigh. – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 46 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media – Even though I was extremely eager for Ren and Kyoko to finally admit their feelings for one another, I must say it’s kind of a relief that they agree their relationship shouldn’t change yet, not when they’re still on the way to achieving their ambitions. (Still, “No matter where I am, my heart will always belong to you” is some squeeworthy progress!) The latter half of this volume reminds readers that Kyoko still has no idea about Ren’s troubled past, and it seems more movement on this plot point will be forthcoming. Too, there’s the threat of internet sleuths and what they might find out about Ren and Kyoko. These potential complications are certainly compelling, but what interests me most is seeing Kyoko in costume as Momiji and about to start filming that role. I’m down for a career-focused arc! – Michelle Smith

The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess, Vol. 1

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By Kotei Kobayashi and riichu. Released in Japan as “Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

As every writer will tell you, it’s much harder to write comedy than it is to write drama. Something that is funny to one person will be boring, annoying, or offensive to four other people. It can be especially difficult when you’re trying to balance out your book, having a lot of funny things in the front half before it gets dark and turns serious. I’ve talked before about Japanese light novel authors in particular being bad at this, singling out the writers of A Certain Magical Index and Strike the Blood for putting in lowbrow harem comedy “whoops I fell into her boobs” moments to lighten up the honestly very well written action and drama in those books. The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess has comedy that is absolutely dire and painful to read, but it does eventually up the stakes and make things more serious. Unfortunately, that only improves the book very slightly.

Terakomari Gandesblood is the daughter of a renowned family of vampires, so it’s sort of a shame that she’s weak, can’t use magic, is clumsy, and looks younger than she is. Then one day a maid shows up and announces that she’s going to be one of the new Seven Crimson Lords who wage war on behalf of the Empress of their country against the other six countries that surround them. This HORRIFIES Komari, who has barely left her room in the last three years owing to a bullying incident while at school. What’s worse, she’s assigned a company full of perverts, murderers and wastrels, who are famous for mutiny against their new commanders. How on earth is she supposed to deal with this? Can she stop her new maid from being a complete pervert? And why does she have no memory of the incident from three years ago that supposedly started her shut-in days?

Saying what’s wrong with this book will take a while, so let’s dig right in. The first 40% or so is the comedy part, and it’s not funny. Lots of jokes about Komari almost peeing herself (always a bad sign in light novels), the main constantly sexually harasses Komari, the military company are all tenth-generation Irresponsible Captain Tylor rejects, and there is also a guy who raps. Through the entire book. I also dislike the main conceit, which is that they live close to what is essentially a magical resurrection thingummy, so while nearly everyone is brutally murdered in this book, no one actually dies. And once we get Komari’s true backstory and who she really is – and more to the point how it’s covered up – it feels like the villain might be a bit justified in being upset. As for the serious bits, as noted, they’re handled better than the comedy, but they’re also very predictable – the entire final fight had precisely zero surprises.

To sum up: having lesbian maids trying to grope our teenage heroine when she’s trying to go to the bathroom isn’t funny, light novel authors. Thank you.

Hazure Skill: The Guild Member with a Worthless Skill Is Actually a Legendary Assassin, Vol. 1

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By Kennoji and KWKM. Released in Japan as “Hazure Skill “Kage ga Usui” o Motsu Guild Shokuin ga, Jitsuha Densetsu no Ansatsusha” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jan Mitsuko Cash.

This is the fourth of the books that I never read when they initially came out where I had a Twitter poll to see which I should read. It came last. I can see why. That said… all the other books, after finishing them, I was immediately left with a sense of “I don’t want to read any more of this series”. The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs has a protagonist I really hate, Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra is in a genre I try to avoid, and Min-Maxing My TRPG Build in Another World was so boring I didn’t even do a review. This one, though… if I get another gap in my reading schedule, I might try the next one. It’s in the genre of what I call “McDonald’s” books, i.e. big dumb fun. More to the point, it’s filled with fantasy light novel cliches but mostly avoids the bad ones. Note the mostly.

Roland is part of the party that has been sent to defeat the demon lord. His talent, being unobtrusive, was thought to be completely worthless but makes him a fantastic assassin. He ends up defeating the demon lord himself, though he lets the rest of the party take the credit. Now what he really wants is to retire from his assassin work and live a normal life. The trouble is he has absolutely no idea what normal is. AT ALL. He ends up in a town with an adventurer’s guild, and decides to join… as a guild receptionist. Naturally, as the book goes on everyone else in the cast realizes that he’s far more than he seems. Also, isn’t the demon lord supposed to be dead? Who’s that hot girl who’s hanging out at his house?

I was not kidding when I said this was Big Dumb Fun. It reads like one of those fanfics where the author makes the main character able to do literally anything and have any woman he wants. Unlike a lot of light novels, Roland screws his way through a lot of this book, bedding not only the former demon lord but also the head of the guild and even a passing adventurer. Also, despite his “useless skill”, he’s had so much training that he can literally do almost anything. The reason this is not absolutely unreadable is that Roland is, at heart, a nice person… but he does not ACT like one, as a majority of the OP light novel potatoes do. Roland is brusque and rude, and really does have no idea what normal is, but he not only is incredibly powerful, but he’s good at teaching other people how to maximize THEIR useless skills to become more powerful. This was probably my favorite part of the book, where we see him pinpoint exactly how an adventurer can best be utilized.

So yeah, not going to immediately pick up the next book in this series, but if I get another lull in my reading, I might try the second volume. Which I guess makes it the winner of my poll, even though it came in last.

Pick of the Week: No Skipping Pick Day

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KATE: I only have eyes for one series this week: the delightful Skip and Loafer, a manga that portrays the inner life of a Serious Girl with humor and heart. If I had a thirteen-year-old daughter, this would be required reading in my house, not least because it suggests that being smart, ambitious, and unabashedly nerdy aren’t obstacles to romance, even if those qualities can make that pathway more complicated.

SEAN: Skip and Loafer is terrific, and this is also a week with a new Kageki Shojo!!. That said, it’s A Bride’s Story all the way for me, as Mr. Smith slowly works his way back the way he came so we can see everyone again.

MICHELLE: I really need to read both Skip and Loafer and Kageki Shojo!!, and I’m also happy about a second volume of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System, but what appeals to me most at the moment is Medalist. Some fresh new sports manga just sounds perfect.

ASH: There are some great releases this week! In addition to the titles already highlighted, I’d like to mention two more. It took years of waiting, so long that I didn’t expect to actually see either of these in print, but the beginning of The Faraway Paladin and the end of No. 5 will now be available in my preferred format!

ANNA: I’m going to go with Kageki Shojo!!. One day I will read it!!!

MJ: I wasn’t sure what my pick would be this week, but Kate won me over with her praise for Skip and Loafer, so that’s going to be the winner for me! Thanks, Kate, for making my mind up for me!

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 6

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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.

This honestly may be the best volume in the series to date. We get a plotline that was completely unpredictable and fun, development of the ongoing love triangle, a lot of great humor, seeing Akiteru try to be proactive and sympathetic but missing the point a good 3/4 of the time, and while the book does have a bit of Sumire in it, she’s mostly in school and forced to be in teacher mode, and thus no shotacon jokes for the second book in a row! The series continues to do a very good job of making everyone likeable – even Akiteru, despite being the classic punchable oblivious guy. It helps that he’s so supposedly “logical” and matter of fact, and thus a different type from the usual pleasant potato. The whole thing ends up in a beauty contest, which features gorgeous pictures of Iroha (in a dress) and Mashiro (in a suit). Sadly, I must report that the illustrator and publisher are goddamn cowards.

It’s the culture festival, which means maid cafes, as well as the school beauty contest. Before that, though, there is the problem of Iroha, who is still freaking out over the fact that she can’t be friends with Mashiro AND be trying to win Akiteru’s heart at the same time. Taking Otoi’s advice to try to see things from the perspective of people other than her own, she spends most of the book acting out the “roles” of her friends and classmates, including Mashiro, Sumire, and Midori. Unfortunately, all of this is frustrating Akiteru, who is trying to demonstrate to Iroha that she can simply be herself and does not have to be the perfect honor student OR other people, she can be as annoying as she wants to be. She’s never going to agree to that, because her being annoying is a form of flirting reserved only for him. So there’s only one thing he can do, really: dress up as a woman and enter the beauty pageant to defeat her.

There is a large amount of this book devoted to Akiteru dressing up as a woman, including some good makeup tips, and it is remarked upon how gorgeous he looks as the end product (provided he doesn’t speak, something he manages to pull off. I actually flicked back and forth over the book three times to make sure I was not missing an obvious illustration. But no, this book is written for teenage boys, and they do not want to see boys in dresses. Feh. The highlight of the book, though, is the growing friendship between Iroha and Sasara, as it turns out most of the “rivalry” stuff was simply because Sasara saw that Iroha was wearing a mask and hated it. Getting her to remove it is fantastic, and it’s nice to see that, despite deliberately ignoring romance for the time being, Akiteru’s sense of what Iroha needs is probably accurate.

As is common with this series, we get a vicious cliffhanger at the end, and I suspect the next volume will make Akiteru very uncomfortable. Till then, this is excellent high school romantic comedy.

Reborn to Master the Blade: From Hero-King to Extraordinary Squire, Vol. 4

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By Hayaken and Nagu. Released in Japan as “Eiyu-oh, Bu wo Kiwameru tame Tensei su. Soshite, Sekai Saikyou no Minarai Kisi ♀” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mike Langwiser.

I have stated before that the main reason I enjoy this series is that it has only one joke: Inglis is a meathead who only cares about fighting, food, and Rafinha, in that order. The trouble is that the author wants to hammer home to the reader that this is not entirely amusing and something to appreciate for the lulz. I say trouble because we’re introduced halfway through to a girl who lost her entire family when her village was destroyed and therefore has… sigh… been sold and is working “in servitude”. Rafinha is appalled that this is happening, while Inglis points out the political realities of trying to shut it down everywhere. The trouble is that Inglis does not care about any of this. She’ll support Rafinha if she wants to fight against slavery, but that’s because she’ll follow her anywhere, not because of any actual moral center. Inglis’ moral center is: I want a good fight. And she will cheat and manipulate to get it.

While working to help rebuild the school (and, more importantly, the school cafeteria), Inglis is called to the throne to be offered a position as Captain of the Royal Guard. A huge honor, but far too much work and would mean she would not get to do whatever the hell she wants, so she talks her way out of that one. More importantly, the acting troupe Inglis has met before are back in town, and they want her to play one of the roles and put on a spectacular fight scene. Inglis realizes that if she cons Yua into taking the other role, then she can get to fight the half-assed but equally strong women in a real (theatrical) battle. That said, there is a problem… the winner has to kiss the male lead, and the mere idea of this causes Inglis to flip out. That said, there may be even bigger problems… like an assassination attempt. Or an invasion.

I’m glad that Yua has essentially become Inglis Mark 2, because she’s just hilarious all the time, whereas Inglis occasionally has to play the straight man. Yua’s complete apathy to nearly anything extends even to her own self, as we discover that she may have a lingering side-effect from her death battle in the previous volume, to which her response is essentially “ah”. This is why it’s even funnier seeing her thirst for the girly-faced Ian, to the point where she spends most of the epilogue of the book carrying him around under her arm like a sack of potatoes. As for Inglis, she gets to have some really good fights here, so she must be happy. We also get to see the mothers of Inglis and Rafinha pay a visit, and it turns out that huge appetites definitely run on the mothers’ side, as between the four of them they terrify everyone with the amount of food consumed.

This series is never really going to get into Big Questions and Ethical Dilemmas, and even if it does it probably is not going to be Inglis having the dilemma. She gets why things are wrong. She gets they can be hard to fix. She doesn’t care. Fight now plz.

Manga the Week of 4/20/22

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SEAN: Are you buying manga, or eating the ears off your easter bunnies?

ABLAZE Comics has a Collected Edition of the Space Pirate Captain Harlock comics they released with the artist Jérôme Alquié. It’s a hardcover and comes with extras.

ASH: Oh! I had completely missed this when it was first being serialized. A good time to check it out, it would seem.

SEAN: Airship has but one title, an early digital release of Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 16.

Cross Infinite World has the 3rd volume of Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin.

Danmei has the 2nd volume of The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System: Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong.

MICHELLE: Alas, I haven’t even finished the first one yet!

ASH: Same, although it is the next one on my list. Better get reading!

ANNA: Me either! Already behind!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of 2.5 Dimensional Seduction and also a 2nd of Cat in a Hot Girls’ Dorm.

J-Novel Club has a bunch of print. The debut is The Faraway Paladin, which is getting a hardcover edition. Also in print: By the Grace of the Gods 8, Her Majesty’s Swarm 3, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 7, In Another World With My Smartphone 21, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 5, Slayers Omnibus 2 (also a hardcover), and The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 5.

ASH: I have been waiting for the print edition of The Faraway Paladin! Glad to see it finally coming out.

SEAN: Digitally, meanwhile, we see Ascendance of a Bookworm 18, Holmes of Kyoto 9, and John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 6.

Kodansha has a new omnibus edition of Apollo’s Song out next week. From the God of Manga, Osamu Tezuka, this is definitely more on the adult side of his career. Apollo’s Song explores the meaning of love by depressing the hell out of you. It originally ran in Shonen Gahosha’s Shonen King.

ASH: The fact that publishers other than DMP are releasing (or re-releasing) Tezuka manga again can only be a good thing.

ANNA: I agree.

MJ: Yes.

SEAN: Also in print: The Seven Deadly Sins Omnibus 3 and Toppu GP 8.

The digital debut is Irresistible Mistakes (Ano Yoru Kara Kimi ni Koishiteta), a josei title from Comic Tint based on an otome game. A girl flees a hotel room after a one night stand with no memory of the night before. Who did she sleep with?

Also digital: Am I Actually the Strongest? 6, I’ll Be with Them Again Today 2, The Lines that Define Me 4 (the final volume), Medalist 4, Mr. Bride 5, Our Fake Marriage 9, Piano Duo for the Left Hand 2, The Prince’s Romance Gambit 10, and Tesla Note 4. Everyone should read Medalist.

MICHELLE: I really should.

ASH: I have heard very good things.

MJ: Oh? I’ll have to check it out!

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

Seven Seas debuts Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More (Madougushi Dahlia wa Utsumukanai – Dahlia Wilts No More), the manga version of the light novel released here as Dahlia in Bloom: Crafting a Fresh Start with Magical Tools. The manga runs in Mag Garden’s Comic Blade.

ASH: I initially misread “fresh” as “flesh” and that’s an entirely different manga.

SEAN: We also get Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 4, Kageki Shojo!! 5, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 15, My Senpai is Annoying 7, Necromance 3, The Savior’s Book Café Story in Another World 2, Skip and Loafer 4, Tamamo-chan’s a Fox! 5, and Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 4.

MICHELLE: I also really should read Kageki Shojo!! and Skip and Loafer.

ASH: I likewise have some catching up to do…

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Square Enix has The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! 2.

Tokyopop debuts Alice in Kyoto Forest (Kyouraku no Mori no Alice), the 179th title that ends in “no Mori no Alice” that I know of. A girl runs away to Kyoto to try to become a geisha, but finds it’s totally different than what she remembers! This was originally a webcomic, and was picked up by Mag Garden’s MAGKAN.

Also from Tokyopop: Assassin’s Creed Dynasty 2.

Udon Entertainment has Persona 5: Mementos Mission 2.

Viz has the 4th and final volume of No. 5, as well as Asadora! 5 and Record of Ragnarok 2.

ASH: So happy to have the entirety of No. 5 in print this time!

Yen On has two debuts. The Holy Grail of Eris (Eris no Seihai) has a young girl about to be framed for a crime she didn’t commit. She allows the ghost of a former noblewoman to possess her to solve the problem. Unfortunately, the ghost is now out for revenge on the ones who killed her a decade ago, and won’t give up her new body!

ASH: I am intrigued.

MJ: Okay, so am I.

SEAN: The other debut is The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess (Hikikomari Kyuuketsuki no Monmon) is about, you guessed it, a shut-in vampire princess. Weak and reviled by her peers for not drinking blood, now she has to lead an army of miscreants.

Also from Yen On: Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 8, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 21 (the final volume), and Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! 16.

Finally, Yen Press has A Bride’s Story 13 (yay!) and Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 7.

ASH: Yay, indeed!

ANNA: Woo!!!

SEAN: Easter is here and A Bride’s Story has risen from its hiatus! What are you buying?

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 1

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By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

We’ve had enough villainess books by now that everyone knows the “Stations of the Canon” so to speak, and so therefore it warms my heart to see that we don’t have to dwell on them forever. One of our heroines, the reincarnated princess (who is NOT the villainess in this story) gains her memories of her life in Japan, discovers she’s in a fantasy world, and rushes off to go learn magic!… and then twelve years pass. As for the supposed villainess, we hit the high points in the by now traditional scene. Her fiance shames her in a public setting. Every other guy she knows is also sneering at her. She’s innocent, but no one believes her. No offense, but we’ve done this. And then our princess smashes through the window on her magical science broom, immediately realizes that this is a villainess shaming story, and yeets the villainess out the window with her. No time for that, there’s SCIENCE to be done!

Anisphia, aka Anis, is the titular princess. In a land where magic power is strongest in the royal family, she can’t use magic at all. But that’s not going to stop her dreams. She removes herself from succession, retires to a side mansion, and proceeds to use her vague knowledge from Japan and sheer GUTS to make tools that work using magic but that can be wielded by anyone… including her! For the most part, this has meant kettles powered by spirits, etc. But she has grander plans, and needs an assistant, preferably one who is a magic savant. Enter Euphyllia, aka Euphie, the duke’s daughter and fiancee to Anis’ younger brother. Having just been publicly shamed in front of most of nobility and dumped by her fiance, Euphie’s marriage prospects are near zero. So why not let her assist Anis in creating new tools? And if they have to fight a dragon too, well, so be it.

The manga of this series is coming out in a month or so, and I’m not sure how well it’s going to work, because so much of Anis and Euphie depend on the reader hearing the inner narration. Anis can seem like a ball of chaos, and she is a lot of the time, but there is real method to her madness, and deep down she’s desperate for the magic that everyone else has. As for Euphie, it’s rare we see the “villainess” (she’s nothing of the sort) so broken by having her engagement called off, and she spends most of the first half of this book feeling miserable and like she failed everyone. Seeing her gradually come into her own is a huge treat. As for the “yuri” of the series, well, though the word “lesbian” is not used, Anis has stated that she likes girls and will not marry a boy, which is close enough, probably. She freely admits one reason she wanted Euphie as her assistant is she’s gorgeous. I suspect once the two work out their issues romance will blossom quickly.

There’s still a lot left unresolved at the end of this book, most notably Anis’ younger brother, the instigator of all this, as well as the baron’s daughter who has “otome game protagonist” written all over her. But honestly, I’m not here for the villainess vibe. I just want to see Anis and Euphie hang out together and invent new things. A definite winner.

Apocalypse Bringer Mynoghra: World Conquest Starts with the Civilization of Ruin, Vol. 1

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By Fehu Kazuno and Jun. Released in Japan as “Isekai Mokushiroku Mynoghra: Hametsu no Bunmei de Hajimeru Sekai Seifuku” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Charis Messier.

This was the runner-up in my “what book that I skipped reading should I give a try?” poll, and unlike The World of Otome Games Is Tough for Mobs, I didn’t actually know anything about it in advance; it just did not sound like my thing. Honestly, when it was announced I was surprised. Cross Infinite World is a publisher that has a back catalog that, while not genre-specific, tends to lean more into “I am a girl in a fantasy world and romance is involved”. Licensing not just an isekai but also one from the POV of the “evil” side seemed like a step out of the comfort zone. Still, I think it’s done pretty well for them; it’s getting an audiobook, which shows that it must have some dedicated fans. That said, after reading the first volume, I think I will stick with my original premise: this series isn’t for me.

We open with Takuto Ira dying, as so many of these books do. He’s a rich kid who unfortunately has spent most of his life in a hospital bed, and has finally passed away from the incurable disease that kept him there. Then he wakes up… in what appears to be the game that he played so much in the hospital, Eternal Nations. Together with his most beloved NPC, the sludge girl Atou. Surprisingly, she remembers all the playthroughs she had with him, even though she is also surprised that this is where they are. As both try to figure out what’s going on, they have to deal with a tribe of dark elves on the run, some paladins who are investigating a dark prophecy, Takuto’s own communication disorder, and the possibility that this is not merely “I’m now in the world of my beloved game”. Also, they’re evil.

I said this series is not for me, but if you’re a fan of Overlord, or Her Majesty’s Swarm, then this is absolutely in your ballpark. It does a good job setting up its world, and while there is perhaps a bit more gaming talk than I’d like, it makes sense given that is where Takuto and Atou think they are. The relationship between the two of them is adorable, and also contrasts nicely to their relationship with everyone else in the cast. This all leads up to the climax of this first book, where – I hate to break it to you – there’s a lot of violent slaughter. This is not all that interesting in and of itself – in a book where the main cast is on the evil side, you sort of expect it – but the reaction of Takuto to it is the best part of the book, if only as it’s so disturbing. He’s shown no sign of not being “normal Japanese guy”, he’s talked before about trying to live in peace. So the sudden loss of morality and ethics in his behavior unnerves Atou and the reader at the same time.

For what it is, this is a good book. Not for me. But if you like dark fantasy with an emphasis on the dark, it’s fine.