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The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent, Vol. 3

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By Yuka Tachibana and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Julie Goniwich.

One of the things that is difficult to admit for your average everyday light novel reader or reviewer is that we are unlikely to every be the savior of an entire world. The Saint, as seen here, has to deal with a bunch of difficult challenges to try not to advertise too much exactly who she is (especially now that the existence of the Saint, if not her identity, has been confirmed) while also trying to help as many people as possible by making many, many powerful potions, and also find the time to try to figure out how her powers actually work and why they only appear at unusual times. That said, sometimes even an omnipotent saint can end up being very relatable, as when Sei suddenly realizes what it is that triggers her superpowers, and… yup, so embarrassing it’s the power of love. This has been pretty obvious to the reader from Book one, but the author admits that the romance is going to be slow going, so…

The majority of this volume is spent away from Sei’s beloved potion research, but it’s for a good cause: the domain where they get their best ingredients is suffering from an attack of monsters and miasma, and therefore her powers are particularly needed. Upon arrival, after dealing with pomp and ceremony, and the fact that her cooking methods have become widespread… but only if you like meat… Sei gets down to the nitty gritty of her visit: quizzing the old potion expert they have there about ways to make a superior grade potion. As it turns out, they have the long-lost documentation that might be able to help her. That said, in order to succeed she’s going to not only have to come to terms with the fact that Albert is hot and she likes that, but also deal with a new guy interested in her… one who’s a bit more down to earth.

To be fair, I’m not sure that you can call Leo a love interest per se – he’s not interested in Sei as a person but rather in her abilities. He’s probably the funniest part of the book, being a well-meaning but tactless musclehead, apparently included by the author because muscle fetishes are in these days. The most interesting part of the book, though, shows us the diaries and research books of the Great Alchemist, which was thought to have been destroyed and lost forever. To no one’s surprise, she seems to be a lot like Sei, particularly in her attention to detail in regards to research. Given that we now have Sei’s ridiculous magic power combined with actual knowledge, I suspect big things are going to be happening in the next book. That said, I doubt one of those big things will be confessing to Albert.

This is getting an anime soon, so certainly has caught the eye of folks. It’s not the most exciting or original thing in the world, but it makes me smile, and I always enjoy reading it. It’s also a very good recommendation for folks who would normally be turned off light novels due to excess fanservice – only Leo’s muscles qualify here.

Manga the Week of 3/3/21

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SEAN: March comes in like a lion with a pile of new manga, though sadly none of them are March Comes in Like a Lion. Get on that, Viz.

MICHELLE: Seriously!

ASH: Right??

SEAN: Airship debuts a new light novel with Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist (Cheat Kusushi no Slow Life ~ Isekai ni Tsukurou Drugstore ~). It’s getting an anime in the summer, and gets an early digital release next week. Our hero reincarnates in a fantasy world with a potion maker ability, and treats various folks, including a werewolf girl who falls for him.

ASH: I’m largely isekai-ed out, but this variation intrigues me.

SEAN: Ghost Ship, meanwhile, has the 5th and final volume of Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight.

J-Novel Club has a lot of new print titles. The debut is Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles, which is coming out as 2-volume omnibuses.

Also in print: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 10, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 4, Infinite Dendrogram 11, and Marginal Operation 5.

On the digital side we get Altina the Sword Princess 7, the 5th manga volume of Demon Lord, Retry!, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 13, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 6, Marginal Operation 6, and the 3rd manga volume for The Unwanted Undead Adventurer.

In print, Kodansha Comics has Hitorijima My Hero 9 and Wave, Listen to Me! 5.

MICHELLE: I enjoy both of these for utterly different reasons.

ANNA: I’m so behind on Wave, Listen to Me!

ASH: I’m looking forward to catching up, myself!

SEAN: The digital debut is Araki Won’t Be Tamed (Araki-kun wa Kai Narasenai), a Dessert title about a young woman whose older sister is a famous actress. Now a famous actor declares his love for her… no, not her sister, her! She doesn’t buy this, but he’ll do anything to convince her… even be her pet. YMMV was invented for series like these.

MICHELLE: Yeeeeah.

ANNA: LOLOL

ASH: We shall see!

SEAN: All-Rounder Meguru comes to an end with its 19th volume. There’s also The Invincible Reincarnated Ponkotsu 4, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 2, My Sweet Girl 12, Smile Down the Runway 18, and the 4th and final volume of Star⇄Crossed!!.

MICHELLE: At some point I should check back in with My Sweet Girl and see how it’s going.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts the Berserk of Gluttony manga, based on the light novel. The story of a boy who gains people’s skills when he kills them, it runs in Comic Ride.

There’s also the 3rd and final Who Says Warriors Can’t Be Babes?.

Digitally, Seven Seas has the first four volumes of Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, which features Boris, and was one of the better series of the endless spinoffs.

ASH: I really liked this particular spinoff.

Viz has, as usual for the first week of the month, a lot of stuff. The first debut is a spinoff, Dr. Stone Reboot: Byakuya. Not an actual reboot but a prequel to the main series, showing us what actually happened with Senku’s father.

The second debut is also a spinoff, My Hero Academia: Team Up Missions. It runs in Saikyou Jump, a magazine devoted to spinoffs of Jump titles, and features the cast of Class 1-A teaming up with various pro heroes.

MICHELLE: I will read this, but I’d be ridiculously excited if this was Class 1-B doing the teaming up!

SEAN: And we also get: Daytime Shooting Star 11, Dragon Ball Super 12, Haikyuu!! 43, Love Me, Love Me Not 7, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 9, Naruto: Shikamaru’s Story (yes, I know, it got bumped), Oresama Teacher 28, Queen’s Quality 11, Skip Beat! 45, Snow White with the Red Hair 12, Spy x Family 4, and Twin Star Exorcists 21. I’m getting over half that list.

MICHELLE: Big same. I’m, of course, especially excited for a new volume of Skip Beat!.

ANNA: Tons of good stuff, I agree any week with Skip Beat! is a good week.

ASH: I agree – a really good Viz week!

SEAN: A lot of Yen’s February light novels got bumped to this week, making them March light novels. We get Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Love a Quiet Life in the Countryside 2, A Certain Magical Index SS 2, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 13, Re: Zero 15 (which ends the 4th arc), A Sister’s All You Need 9, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 8.

On the Yen Press side, there’s two debuts. Do You Like the Nerdy Nurse? (Hokenshitsu no Otaku Onee-san wa Suki Desu ka?), a seinen title from Shogakukan’s Yawaraka Spirits. The school nurse is gorgeous… but also a massive otaku, as one student finds out. Can he get her to fall in love with non-fictional people? This is a done-in-one omnibus.

Yen also has the manga adaptation of the Solo Leveling novel.

Lastly, there’s the 2nd volume of Sword Art Online’s manga adaptation of Project: Alicization.

What title catches your eye?

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 35

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

You would think, now that we are at the 37th volume of this series (counting the two .5 books), that we would be finished with introducing new characters to add to an already overloaded cast, and yet. Coming to Earth to help our heroes with their battle against Ralgwin and his troops is another Princess, Nefilforna Canon Forthorthe. Honestly, there are so many people in this cast I’d like to pretend she doesn’t exist, but unfortunately, she’s Canon. (I’m so sorry.) She arrives and promptly proceeds to kick Koutarou’s ass in a mock battle – as he readily agrees, he only won the second time thanks to all the support he gets from everyone. She’s compared to Theia in that, while Theia has a natural talent for combat, Nefi is the sort who got really good at it through hard work and grinding. Good thing, too, as the raid against Ralgwin’s base, especially now that they’re armed with spirit guns, proves to be a giant pain in the neck.

Harumi is on the cover again, and gets a fair bit to do. The most notable thing is that the troops of Forthorthe that are allied with Koutarou’s group ar4e working with her for the first time, and are… a but weirded out that she is essentially Alaia’s reincarnation/soul carrier/whatever. Even Koutarou is not quite sure how Harumi and Alaia’s relationship is, and honestly, I don’t think it’s going to matter much in the long run. They both love Koutarou, and they both kick ass. Everyone here gets some good time in the spotlight, though as always Yurika gets made fun of, this time for being their “chemical warfare expert”, as her image of being Card Captor Sakura gets further and further away. The one who suffers the worst is probably Theia, who I suspect wanted to try her cool powered suit and so rushes ahead – she’s fine, but she put those under her in danger. She’s still too hotheaded.

Unfortunately, the raid is not a complete success. Ralgwin wants to get revenge for his uncle, but also has an actual logical brain, so is a much tougher opponent. And he has the benefit of a new villain rescuing him, whose identity we don’t quite get yet (though I can hazard a guess), but who seems to have teleportation skills of some sort. Honestly, it feels more like the author using magical writing powers to make sure that the book doesn’t end that soon. Fortunately, our gang does not seem too upset about it. Also fortunately, while she certainly admires him, Princess Nefi does not seem to fall in love with Koutarou, which is good. A harem of nine or ten girls is already quite a lot even by light novel standards, and adding more would seem to be overegging the pudding a bit.

Side stories continue to take a break, as the next book continues the main Ralgwin plot. Till then, this is a decent volume in a very long running series.

ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!, Vol. 2

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By kiki and kinta. Released in Japan as “Omae Gotoki ga Maou ni Kateru to Omou na” to Gachizei ni Yuusha Party wo Tsuihou Sareta node, Outo de Kimama ni Kurashitai” by GC Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jason Muell. Adapted by Brock Wassman.

When I was younger I wrote stories, and a whole lot of them were what these days is referred to as “grimdark”. I killed off beloved supporting characters. I brought in cameos from other universes just to kill THEM off. I had the main couple become multiple murderers. But now I am older, and I gotta admit… I prefer happy endings, y’know? Grimdark can be exciting, and when you first create it you do feel sort of edgy and cool, but you run into the problem of how to top yourself, and before long, well, you’ve become an editor at DC Comics. (Zing!) All of this is a roundabout waty to say that, like the first volume, the second volume of Roll Over and Die has a Grimdark Problem. If you’re here for the lesbians, there’s about 10-15 pages for you. The book, however, is 299 pages.

As the second volume begins, our heroines are enjoying a relatively peaceful life while also trying to deal with the somewhat aggressive attacks from Dein, the “leader” of the section of town they’re in. Unfortunately, said peace is shattered when they come across a young girl with both eyes sewn shut, named Ink, who claims to have amnesia. She doesn’t, as they soon find out, and her origin is what drives this second volume, which ends up, once again, putting Flum through the ringer. She has more friends – both in the royal military and allies from the hero’s party who have now left it – but a lot of this book sees her suffering on her own, trying to avoid getting killed and finally being forced to go on a spree of killing just to defend herself. Can she uncover what the Church is up to while not sacrificing the lives of her friends?

Don’t get me wrong, the grimdark is compelling at times. This is a well-written book for walking up to the “too much horror” line, perhaps treading on top of it, but never quite going over it. (That said, there is a general eye and body horror warning for the whole book.) As noted above, Flum has a lot of allies this time around, but not only do they tend to get cut off from her just when she needs them most, but she is also reluctant to call for help in the first place. Having spent most of her life being treated as useless, it’s very hard for Flum to ask for any help at all, even now that she has her fantastic cursed sword and tendency to not die. The third quarter of the book reminded me very much of Sexiled, in that it’s a young woman beating the absolute crap out of a shitty man who won’t stop calling her insults, slurs and threats even up till his end. Still, it can be exhausting.

The author says in the afterword that the “slow life” part of the series is over, and honestly it didn’t last very long. I assume that we’re going to be focusing more on the Hero’s Party as we go along, which looks to be either falling apart of filled with evildoers. Till then, I will definitely be reading more, and I even enjoyed this for some factor of “enjoyed”, but man, Flum, hug a puppy or something.

Pick of the Week: Affection, Romance & Rock ‘n’ Roll

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SEAN: I’ve gushed about A Sign of Affection before, so I’ll make my pick Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance, because anything that runs in Flowers, even if it’s the online version of Flowers, demands my attention.

MICHELLE: I have to concur. I love suu Morishita’s Shortcake Cake, so I’m confident I’ll also love A Sign of Affection, but it’s hard to compete with Flowers.

ANNA: I’m very interested in Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance, but since Sean has handled the gushing for A Sign of Affection before I feel I must take up the banner and do some additional gushing, because it really is one of the best romance manga that I’ve read recently. I hope the arrival of the print version will inspire more people to check it out.

KATE: As someone who teaches a Rock History survey course, I am irresistibly drawn to Days on Fes. I can’t wait to see how the artist handles 20-minute guitar solos, long lines at the bathroom, and crazy pyrotechnics….

ASH: All three of the manga mentioned so far are at the top of my list this week, too! A Sign of Affection is probably the one that I’ll be reading first, though.

MJ: Like Ash, I’m interested in all the manga that’s been mentioned by my colleagues, but the one for which I’m most ravenous is A Sign of Affection. It’s at the top of my list!

Holmes of Kyoto, Vol. 3

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By Mai Mochizuki and Shizu Yamauchi. Released in Japan by Futabasha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Minna Lin.

One of the better things about this series is the way that it makes you look at art. And by art I don’t just mean paintings and sculptures, but also anything that is crafted with a purpose. In this book we see several times what it means to be a real artist, the sacrifices and mental anguish that sometimes need to be suffered to achieve this, and also the fact that imitations cannot, no matter how hard they try, get completely into the artist’s head. This is not to say that imitations are always invaluable – there’s a lithograph in this story that impresses everyone even though it’s merely a copy – but that it is very hard to keep the emotions of what you are doing while also thinking “hrm, he used to paint his ears like THIS”, etc. Holmes is very good at this sort of thing, and Aoi is starting to get better at it as well. Unfortunately for Holmes, Aoi – and indeed everyone else around him – have trouble seeing HIS heart.

After a brief prologue in which Holmes indirectly helps his father think of a subject to write about, we get three main stories here. In the first, Holmes and Aoi go to a Kabuki show, only to run into theatrical intrigue when the show’s star is threatened, both via letter and later on the stage itself. In the second story Holmes meets up with his ex-girlfriend, now engaged, who worries that her fiancee is lying to her about ending his relationship with his former girlfriend. And in the final story, Holmes and Aoi attend his grandfather’s birthday party, and a treasure hunt arranged by the family ends up being a lot of fun… until a surprise guest shows up. Throughout all these stories, of course, Holmes is making deductions and solving crimes, as well as showing off his well-trained eye for antiques. He’s a terrific guy. Unfortunately, Aoi suffers from a major case of low self-esteem, and so is convinced that he sees her as just a friend – clearly not true, as the reader knows.

Honestly, I am content with Aoi feeling like this, at least until she’s out of high school. The bigger question (OK, not really) is whether they become a triple rather than a couple, as every single time they have an outing they seem to run into Akihito, who ends up accompanying them. This is the funniest part of the book, and it’s amusing to see Holmes’ growing frustration, but the three really do have a great chemistry as a team. The mysteries themselves are also well-done, and the author has promised not to dip into more serious crimes like murder, so the stakes are low enough that the book is a relaxing read. Indeed, I was thrown off by the first story, where I incorrectly guessed the culprit. That said, like a lot of mystery books of this sort, I don’t think the books are written to have the audience guess before the detective, but to show off the detective’s awesomeness.

If you’re looking for a book about romance, I’d look elsewhere, but for a fun series of mysteries, Holmes of Kyoto is hard to beat.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/20/21

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Chihayafuru, Vol. 24 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Hooray, I’m finally caught up again on Chihayafuru! This volume finds Chihaya and friends lending their support to Harada-sensei as he vies for the Master’s spot. It’s satisfying seeing Harada-sensei begin to make use of the intel Chihaya provided about the current Master’s weakness, but absolutely the best part of this volume is spending more time with reigning Queen Shinobu, learning how lonely she is, and seeing once again how much she really needs someone like Chihaya in her life. I deeply hope that after this we’re able to see the two of them communicating more and supporting each other. I also really appreciate that despite being this intimidatingly good rival, Shinobu is also written with such warmth and sympathy. I want to see her happy. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 18 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The front half of this volume is filled with silliness and setting up future plotlines down the road, mostly in terms of Ishigami finally asking Tsubame on a date, but this volume is dwarfed by its back half, as we get one of the most serious chapters yet showing us Hayasaka’s day… which involves reporting on everything Kaguya does to her family… and her telling Kaguya that she’s quitting. Needless to say, Kaguya takes this as maturely and responsibly as you might guess, and the two of them head off to the class trip basically looking like a couple who just broke up. This is clearly going to spill over into the next book, and I expect it will be more serious. That said, there’s still tons of laughs here. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 11 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Manbagi takes a backseat here, and you get the sense that the author is mostly thinking of adding her to the cast herd—and boy, there sure are a lot of characters now, aren’t there? The best parts of this volume are developing the burgeoning… whatever between Komi and Tadano, who clearly are over the moon for each other but too reticent to do anything about it. Here we have a trip where their families run into each other, and a stargazing trip that heavy rain turns into snuggling up in a cabin to keep warm. The author of this series knows that its readers eat this like catnip, but is also aware that they can’t go to that well every single time. That’s why the cast keeps expanding all the time. – Sean Gaffney

Manly Appetites: Minegishi Loves Otsu, Vol. 1 | By Mito | Seven Seas – If there’s one combination of genres that I can’t seem to resist, it’s that of BL and food manga. And so I very happily picked up the debut of Manly Appetites and was delighted by its sweet silliness. While food is a legitimately important part of the manga’s story, so far the series doesn’t focus much on the food itself—there are no recipes given and hardly anything that could count as a cooking sequence is shown. Instead, the manga revolves around a single gag: Minegishi loves giving his office coworker Otsu food to eat, seemingly oblivious to the fact that he might be crushing on Otsu, too. Granted, Otsu doesn’t seem to be picking up on it either, much to the dismay of another colleague and friend. Manly Appetites is a cute and fluffy manga with lots of blushing, ridiculous humor, and charm; I’m looking forward to reading more. – Ash Brown

Takane & Hana, Vol. 16 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – There is still a very big issue with the age difference between Takane and Hana and the fact that she’s still in school, and as the series comes towards its conclusion, we know that eventually we’re going to have to see the consequences of it. That doesn’t happen here, but we come close, as Hiromi, struggling to understand a father who’s nothing like his idol, and having their secret exposed to that same father, promptly runs away from home. If nothing else, what follows shows how well Hana is maturing, handling the Hiromi situation like a pro (cell phone batteries aside), and also handling Takane quite handily too. They’ve both become experts on each other. That said, pretty sure everything goes public and falls apart next volume. – Sean Gaffney

UQ Holder, Vol. 21 | By Ken Akamatsu | Kodansha Comics – Fights, fights, and more fights. Punching the clothes off the women in the cast multiple times because that’s how we roll with Akamatsu. That said, the Love Hina days seem long ago as he really is here for the battles and not much else. We get some backstory for two more of the UQ Holder team, which is good to see but unfortunately all I keep thinking of is how much one of them looks like Nagi from Negima, which reminds us how bad the author is at drawing different people. There are some surprising villains here, as the mind-controlled puppet side brings over a few very powerful guests. Fortunately, Yukihime shows up at the end to kick ass. I suspect that will take up most of volume 22. For Akamatsu fans only. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 2 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Thankfully, while it still comes up once or twice, the second volume of this romantic comedy does not continue to be “will they ever have sex,” but instead focuses on the quirks and faults of the main couple, who are both adorable—and also very into each other. Honestly, I could watch Sumika doing anything and be entertained—her character type is right up my street. Ikuma is harder, but the author makes a bit more effort here, with an amusing chapter on trying to hide a binge of camping equipment expenditure from his non-outdoorsy wife, or seeing her in her native school nurse environment. (She does not like students clustering around him.) This is cute, funny, and still sometimes sexy. – Sean Gaffney

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 9

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By Kisetsu Morita and Benio. Released in Japan as “Slime Taoshite 300 Nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level MAX ni Nattemashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jasmine Bernhardt.

One of the main reasons to read this series, aside from the fact that it’s a relaxing read where you can be reasonably assured that nothing terrible will be happening to anyone ever, is the push-pull characterization of the lead character, Azusa was an OL in Japan, and she’s subsequently been living for… well, over 300 years by now… in a fantasy world. And yet, of course, for the most part she does not remotely act her age, because her mental state has remained in as much of an unchanging mode as her physical one. This allows for plots where she can be a bit doofy and cute, as well as the main role that she normally fills in the series, which is being a tsukkomi to everyone else. The best parts of this book are where we got to see an Azusa who’s not constantly making comebacks. That said, for those who love that, no fear, the book is still littered with examples.

Stories we see here: Azusa and company help Nintan to help get her followers back by figuring out what’s really driving the current mood; everyone goes to another world created by Godly Goddess and finds out what it’s like to be a slime in a world of slimes; Azusa gets a haircut that ends up being too short, and takes the opportunity to be “big sis” rather than “mom” with her daughters; she and the gang go to a “meat festival” which is basically a barbecue, then watch a bullfight with minotaurs which is EXACTLY like sumo; Azusa and her daughters visit the Great Slime and learn that a 3rd slime similar to them has been born… but she’s reluctant to make Azusa her new mom; and Sandra grows a mushroom hat after a big storm and learns the value of not getting too greedy. Meanwhile, Halkara’s spinoff exists.

The weak point of the book, as you may have guessed, is the Halkara spinoff chapters, which show no signs of getting a series like Beelzebub anytime soon. I like Halkara, but these prequel chapters simply aren’t very good. I’m also a little tired of Azusa having to say that she’s not gay at least once per volume – I get the sense the author knows there’s a large yuri fandom that follows this series and is unhappy about it. (Given the series has only women in it, I’m not sure what they expected.) Other than that, though, this is a pleasant enough book. Azusa’s reaction to her new “daughter” was quite amusing, and the constant comebacks in the bullfight were quite appropriate. The book does seem to really be leaning hard into Japanese culture once more – see the sumo, but also earlier, where a kanji pun has to be explained with the actual kanji for it to work. The translation is excellent, but the original makes for headaches, I expect.

It’s hard to write reviews for series like this, because there’s never going to be anything ever happening beyond the addition of new eccentric characters. But if you want something akin to Nisekoi or Laid-Back Camp, this fits the bill very well.

The Magician Who Rose from Failure: Tales of War and Magic, Vol. 1

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By Hitsuji Gamei and Fushimi Saika. Released in Japan as “Shikkaku Kara Hajimeru Nariagari Madō Shidō! ~ Jumon Kaihatsu Tokidoki Senki ~” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I ended up enjoying this book quite a bit, despite the fact that it is absolutely filled to the brim with things that should annoy me. Our hero’s parents treat him like absolute dirt because his magic levels are low, and don’t change their opinion even when he proves to be a genius magician in front of multiple people. Despite “low magic aether”, our hero can basically do anything, mostly because of his isekai memories helping him envision spells better. There’s a lot of girls in peril in the book. There’s the standard smug evil bastard. And of course the plot is “I’ll show them! I’ll show them all!”. Fortunately, this last one is nipped in the bud almost immediately, and we get not one but TWO examples of why “I will dedicate my life to revenge” is a dumb thing to do. That said, the author’s other series is also filled with cliches. He gets past them by making the books entertaining anyway.

Our hero is Arcus, a six-year-old boy who one day wakes up from dreams of a different life. His Japanese life does not overwrite this one, though, and that’s fine, as Arcus has a lot to deal with. His parents hate him due to his low magic levels. And unfortunately “build up your levels by working out or using magic a lot” isn’t a thing here – levels don’t get higher. Fortunately, his sister still loves him. Also fortunately, his uncle, also shunned by the family a while ago, agrees to train him. Then we discover that Arcus has a unique way of thinking, and can achieve a lot of things that magicians can’t. He makes friends in town (who turn out to be far more mysterious than he knows), invents things that will take the magical world by storm, and gets a cool butler. Then his sister gets kidnapped…

Gonna be honest, I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second. Which is interesting given it’s things like “Arcus invents a magical thermometer”. But seeing him tinker is a lot more satisfying than seeing him as an action hero, which is what the second half of the book entails. He has to break out of a prison tower, kill bad guys, rescue his sister and his (ex-)fiancee, and still find time to murder the real man behind all of this. Oh yes, he’s eight when he does all this, by the way. I think the book is a bit too casual with killing, to be honest. Of the other kids in the cast, Sue comes off best, being the right combination of bright young girl and mysterious manipulator. She also makes one of the few fart jokes in a light novel I’ve actually laughed at. Arcus’ sister Lecia, sadly, is very wet, but I’m hoping future books show her kicking some ass.

In the end, I can’t really think of a good reason to read this novel beyond “I read it all the way through and found it mostly enjoyable despite everything about it”. And, honestly, if authors manage to do that, we should support them. Hopefully they won’t abandon THIS series the way they did The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!!.

Manga the Week of 2/24/21

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SEAN: As I write this, Texas is being hit with blizzards. Why not curl up… in your dark house with no power… with some manga?

Airship gives us the print volume of the 2nd I’m in Love with the Villainess, and also a print volume for Skeleton Knight in Another World 8.

ASH: I haven’t finished reading the first volume of I’m in Love with the Villainess quite yet, but I suspect I’ll want to pick up the second.

SEAN: Denpa’s site says that The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes 2 is out next week.

J-Novel Club has a trio of light novels. By the Grace of the Gods 6, Campfire Cooking in Another World 9, and The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 8.

On the manga side, they have The Faraway Paladin 4 and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 5.

Kodansha has two print debuts, though we’ve seen them both digitally before. Cells at Work: Baby! is essentially the superdeformed version of the series.

ASH: I enjoyed the original series, but haven’t managed to keep up with all the spinoffs!

SEAN: A Sign of Affection (Yubisaki to Renren) is one that I’ve gushed about before, but here I am gushing about it again. This story of a boy and girl meeting and falling in love, it’s all about communication, as our heroine is hearing impaired, and our globe trotting hero does not know sign language. Fans of Kimi ni Todoke should check this out.

MICHELLE: I missed this when it was a digital debut, so I’m grateful for a second chance at it.

ANNA: Amazingly, this is one of the very few Kodansha digital titles that I have read, and it is absolutely wonderful. It is by suu Morishita, so fans of Shortcake Cake should absolutely pick it up. I’m sure I bought the first couple volumes digitally due to Sean’s gushing and just never posted about it. Morishita does some wonderfully innovative storytelling as the two main characters figure out how to communicate with each other, and the hearing-impaired heroine is portrayed with great sensitivity. I’m so rooting for Yuki and her first real romance!!

ASH: I’m really looking forward to reading this one now that it’s in print. Can’t pass it up with recommendations like that.

MJ: Well, how can I possibly resist after that glowing recommendation?

SEAN: Also in print: Heaven’s Design Team 3. The anime is currently airing.

ASH: I have legitimately learned things about animal life reading this series.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is How Do You Do, Koharu? (Gokigenyou, Koharu-san), by the author of (and in the same universe as) Say I Love You. Koharu (the younger sister of Yamato, the male lead in Say I Love You) prefers to keep her friends solely on the digital side… till she’s tempted by a follower who she might want to be more than just friends with. This runs, of course, in Dessert. I hope it is a bit less drama-filled than its parent series.

MICHELLE: I’d seen this one on the release calendar but didn’t realize it had any connection to Say I Love You. Interesting!

SEAN: We also see DAYS 22, Harem Marriage 2, Maid in Honey 6 (the final volume), My Best (♀) Butler 6, My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 2, Shangri-La Frontier 2, What I Love About You 3, and When We’re in Love 5.

Seven Seas’s biggest debut may be one that came out first nearly 10 years ago. After a period where it seemed that you couldn’t go a week without a new volume, the Alice in the Country of _________ series vanished, allegedly due to licensing difficulties with the original creator. But now it’s back… in digital form! It’s getting rolled out over several weeks. This week we get The Clockmaker’s Story and Love Labyrinth of Thorns (Julius) and The Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party 1 & 2 (Blood).

ANNA: I think I’m tapped out of Alice in the Country of stories but I’m amused to see these being released again.

ASH: Oh, wow! I had somehow previously missed this news.

SEAN: In actual new titles, the debut is Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon (Kaketa Tsuki to Donuts), a yuri office romance story that runs in Comic Yuri Hime. Always happy to see more non-high school students.

And there is The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 2, Days of Love at Seagull Villa 2, Failed Princesses 3, and How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 5.

MICHELLE: I still haven’t even read volume 1 of Seagull Villa!

SEAN: Square Enix Manga debuts Ragna Crimson, a Gangan Joker title whose summary has the words “dark fantasy” and “revenge-fueled quest” and I stopped caring.

In much better Square Enix manga news, we get A Man and His Cat 3.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: Yes!

SEAN: Apologies to Tentai Books, I missed their debut light novel which is actually out later this week. World Teacher: Special Agent in Another World (World Teacher: Isekaishiki Kyouiku Agent) is another of those books where the plot is described by the title.

Tokyopop has a debut. The Cat Proposed (Bakeneko Katatte Sourou) is a one-shot BL title from Canna. A man watches a play and sees one of the actors has cat ears. Turns out he’s a bakeneko, and has chosen our protagonist as his spouse!

There’s also the 3rd and final volume of Still Sick.

Vertical has Ajin: Demi-Human 16 and Bakemonogatari’s 7th manga volume.

Yen On has had a few date shifts (try to contain your shock), but we do get a few new volumes this week… and two old ones, as Haruhi Suzumiya 3 and 4 get reprints. 4 is considered the series’ high point.

And there is Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 8, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody 5, In the Land of Leadale 2, Konosuba 13, and May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace 3.

There’s also a Yen Press title I missed last week, as it’s out this Saturday. Megumi Hayashibara’s The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time is her new memoir, and Yen is putting it out digitally the same day it comes out in Japan!

ASH: I really hope this is released in print at some point, too! It should be really good.

SEAN: Because of various delays and date shifts, Yen Press has FIVE manga debuts next week. We start with Adachi & Shimamura, the manga version of which we’ve already seen the light novel and the anime. Please enjoy Adachi’s gay panic and Shimamura’s attempts to be a functioning human being in a new medium. This runs in Dengeki Daioh.

Days on Fes is a series about two friends going to rock festivals, and that’s about all it is, from what I hear. Sounds like a Laid-Back Camp vibe. This runs in Comic Newtype.

ASH: Oh, that could fun.

MJ: I might be into this? As someone who used to go to a lot of music festivals, that is.

SEAN: The Girl without a Face (Kao ga Nai Onnanoko) is a one-shot from Comic Beam. A boy and girl are in love. She’s a bit… expressionless – literally – but that’s just fine. This looks both cute and spooky?

ASH: This could be fun, too!

SEAN: Golden Japanesque – A Splendid Yokohama Romance is the sort of josei title folks were BEGGING for ten years ago. It runs in Flowers’ online magazine, and its author did Kare First Love, for Viz fans with long memories. A Meiji-era title about a half-Japanese girl who’s discriminated against and the boy who thinks she’s a fairy-tale character.

MICHELLE: Ooh! I actually do own all of Kare First Love, as it happens.

ANNA: I am a Viz fan with a long memory and I think I own most of Kare First Love too. I am officially intrigued and will be picking this up.

ASH: Same!

MJ: Same here!

SEAN: Lastly there is ID:Invaded #Brake-Broken, a title which hurts me when I try to say it out loud. It’s the sequel to the anime, and runs in Young Ace.

We also get Eniale & Dewiela 2, Mieruko-chan 2, Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! 6, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 13, Slasher Maidens 2, Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun 7, The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 2, and A Witch’s Love at the End of the World 2.

ASH: I’ll likely be picking up a few of those, too.

SEAN: What manga melts the weather all around you?