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Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, Vol. 1

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If your chief criticism of King of Eden was “not enough boobs,” have I got the manga for you: Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, a comedy about a corporate drone whose life is transformed by the onset of a zombie plague. Its hero, Akira Tendo, sees opportunity where others see only chaos, and decides to make a bucket list of 100 things he wants to do before he, too, becomes one of the walking dead. His top priorities? Telling his voluptuous co-worker Ohtori how much he likes her—even if she is the “boss’ side piece”—and tracking down a mysterious hottie he encounters in a convenience store.

While Akira’s quest doesn’t sound particularly memorable, his new-found optimism makes him an agreeable guide through a Tokyo overrun by zombies. His palpable joy in quitting a soul-crushing job is infectious—if you’ll pardon the expression—as he finds pleasure in small things: riding a motorcycle for the first time, scavenging for his favorite beer, playing video games during normal business hours. No matter how much carnage he encounters, or how many of his bucket-list errands don’t go according to plan, Akira’s can-do spirit remains undiminished. So, too, is his loyalty to others, as evidenced by his willingness to rescue his childhood friend Tencho from a hotel overrun by zombies.

The hotel scene is indicative of what’s good and not so good about Zom 100. On the one hand, the friends’ shared ordeal leads to a heartfelt exchange in which they discuss why they drifted apart after college. Their dialogue is a little on-the-nose—“I got jealous of how successful you were and took my anger out on you,” Akira confesses in a torrent of tears and snot—but the characters’ sincerity makes Akira and Tencho’s reconciliation feel like a genuine moment of maturity.

On the other hand, the main reason this scene begins in a hotel—specifically, a love hotel—is to offer some good old-fashioned fan service, as Kencho is trapped in a bondage chamber with an irate, naked zombie who’s been chained to the wall. The zombie is drawn in loving detail, right down to her perky breasts, but serves no real dramatic purpose; she exists mainly to make young male readers gawp at Kencho’s predicament. The same goes for several other gratuitous moments of nudity and pin-up posturing, none of which feel necessary or demonstrate artist Kotaro Takata’s skill at drawing attractive, anatomically correct women. (All of his figures seem to have a few extra vertebrae.)

The fan service is indicative of a deeper problem as well: the zombies—or the boobs, for that matter—don’t feel essential to Akira’s story. Almost any catastrophe or life-altering event could have set the plot in motion, whether it was a devastating medical diagnosis or Earth’s impending collision with a meteor. Equally disappointing is that Akira’s quest feels more like a to-do list than a real emotional journey; even he seems disappointed in his inability to come up with a sufficiently long or imaginative bucket list. As a result, Akira seems like just another standard-issue shonen lead, blessed with an optimism that sometimes makes him seem a little dim, a superhuman ability to escape life-threatening situations, and an uncanny knack for stumbling into situations with hot women. I don’t know about you, but I would have enjoyed this series 100% more if the gender roles had been reversed, if only for the sight of a former office lady cheerfully riding a Harley through a zombie horde on her way to score a few brews.

To read a brief excerpt of Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, click here.

ZOM 100: BUCKET LIST OF THE DEAD, VOL. 1 • STORY BY HARO ASO • ART BY KOTARO TAKATA • TRANSLATION BY NOVA SKIPPER • TOUCH-UP ART & LETTERING BY VANESSA SATONE • EDITED BY KARLA CLARK • VIZ MEDIA • RATED: OLDER TEEN (PARTIAL NUDITY, GORE, VIOLENCE) • 159 pp.

Bookshelf Briefs 3/1/21

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BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 3 | By Kaori Tsurutani | Seven Seas – This third volume might even be stronger than the first two. Urara wants to invite Ichinoi to the winter Comiket, but after realizing just how hellishly long the line and walk would be in that season she bails on it… and indeed drops contact for a while, which makes her feel terrible. Then, when studying for college is taking too much toll on her, she reconnects, but this only reminds her that even after growing up and living your best life, you too will eventually have to sort it all into things to keep and things to throw away. The narrative doesn’t hammer this into the reader, it’s subtle and lovely. Something to cherish. – Sean Gaffney

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 9 | By Ukami |Yen Press – There’s no major new characters introduced here or any plotlines that are not “excuses for character-based humor,” but that’s fine, because character-based humor is what Gabriel Dropout does best. That said, there are also a few heartwarming moments here as well, particularly in the festival arc, as everyone gets separated. Gabriel is, as always, weak to physical exertion, but will still come through in a pinch. Raphael finally meets someone she can’t seem to tease in the form of Mei, and almost forms a motherly bond with her. And as for Satania and Tapris… well, no, that’s not heartwarming, but it is hilarious. This series probably has nowhere new to go, but I don’t seem to mind at all. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 26 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Most of this book is taken up with Endeavor showing our three male leads the ropes, which actually goes pretty well, and also having his daughter invite everyone over to their place for dinner, which goes a lot less well. Even if you leave out the fact that Natsuo ends up getting kidnapped by a villain with what might be the oddest quirk we’ve seen to date, the dinner itself is even more awkward than you might have imagined, and hammers home to Endeavor how much he can’t make up for the abusive father he’d been most of their lives. He needs a distraction, and we’re about to get one—Izuku’s ominous narration implies that a horrific event is coming soon. Still must-read shonen manga. – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 5 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – This remains one of the best titles currently being released for fans of sweet romance, and I urge everyone to try to get past the “he likes to smell her sweat” premise. We get to meet the parents here—hers, at least—and discover that Asako seems to get her heavy sweating from her dad, who also seems to have her perpetually worried disposition. Fortunately, Kotaro is able to make a good impression. Then we get more of them trying to move to a place of their own, which comes with a lot of good advice for young couples trying to do this, as well as “how to look over a potential home for possible huge flaws.” And, well, the manga is still more than a little horny too, but also in a nice way. Highly recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Tono Monogatari | By Shigeru Mizuki | Drawn & Quarterly – In 1910, folklorist Kunio Yanagita published Tono Monogatari, a collection of legends from Japan’s Tono region as conveyed to him by a local storyteller, Kizen Sasaki. Nearly a hundred years later, many of the stories found in this pivotal work were adapted as short manga by Shigeru Mizuki. A folklorist in his own right, there couldn’t have been a more perfect match between creator and subject matter—Mizuki’s love for these supernatural tales and their place of origin is readily apparent from his pages. Similarly, another scholar of Japanese folklore, Zack Davisson, has now translated Mizuki’s Tono Monogatari into English, writing additional supplementary material and essays to accompany it. The volume is a treasure. Mizuki’s beautifully detailed landscapes establish Tono as the real place that it is even while the stories themselves focus on the uncanny. Reaching through time, the chilling tales are often short fragments, but effective in their brevity. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Listen to Our Picks

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MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to getting caught up on Wave, Listen to Me! and Haikyu!! and Spy x Family are extremely high on my list of favorites, but there is not much that could top a new volume of Skip Beat! for me, unless it actually was an announcement about March Comes in Like a Lion.

SEAN: Agreed, March Comes in Like a Lion would be the perfect pick if it were licensed, but alas. There’s tons of great Shojo Beat titles out this week as well, including Oresama Teacher and Skip Beat!. But my pick goes to the light novel Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World-, which ends its fourth arc just before the anime currently airing does. I will just barely be able to finish it before I would have been spoiled.

KATE: I’m behind on SPY x Family, so I’ll plug another series I like: Wave, Listen to Me, an appealing dramedy about a twenty-something woman who discovers she has the voice and the presence to be a radio host. If you’re yearning to read about messy people getting their act together, Wave is your jam.

ANNA: If Skip Beat! is coming out that is my pick! There can be only one and Skip Beat! is it!!!!

ASH: Despite greatly enjoying the series, I’m further behind in my reading of Skip Beat than I would like to admit. So my pick this week instead goes to another series that I’ve been enjoying Wave, Listen to Me, seconding everything that Kate has already said about it.

MJ: I’ve been embarrassingly behind on all these series, but I’m still pretty hyped up about Wave, Listen to Me!, which is the first of these I’d catch up on. So I guess that’s my pick!

In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 2

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By Ceez and Tenmaso. Released in Japan by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

Last time I jokingly said that the series was “Overlord meets Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear”, and I was not expecting that to be doubly true in the second volume, which features Cayna serving as a guard/guide to students going out in the woods for the first time (Kuma Bear), but also searching for other “players” and starting to discover that she is not the only one who ended up in this supposed game world far into its future (Overlord). Surrounding this are scenes of Cayna getting pissed off when getting called “grandmother”, Cayna having absolutely no knowledge of current currency at all, and Cayna one-shotting various terrifying monsters that would normally take 15 high-level people to take out. In other words, it’s a slow life series without the actual slow life. It FEELS like a slow life series in both the meandering pacing and Cayna’s somewhat blase personality, but there’s far, far too much going on here, and too many mysteries still to be solved. It is a lot of fun, though, and very quotable.

We pick up where we left off, with Cayna arriving at the capital of Helshper to deliver a message for Mai-Mai. The message turns out to have been a ruse, as it was going to the leader of the largest merchant house in the world… who is also Mai-Mai’s son, and thus Cayna’s grandson. Oh yes, and her granddaughter is a member of the city knight brigade. Cayna doesn’t like surprises like this (she’s also not fond of being called grandma given she still feels like a 17-year-old), but hey. The city is having a bit of a bandit problem, and as Cayna helps with it, she finds out that yes, there ARE other players trapped in this “post-game” world, though whether they think it’s a game or real depends on the mindset. Elsewhere, she gains a small fairy helper, continues to go to the other top player bases, and, to the disappointment of her children, decides to settle and build a house somewhere AWAY from the big city.

So yes, Cayna is not alone in being in Leadale as a gamer, though she does seem to be late – the other players have been there for years, and it’s suggested this might have something to do with the fact that she died in the real world before the game shut down. That said, she’s still far and away the most overpowered person in the entire world, and we see examples of that throughout this book – anyone who dislikes overpowered characters… well, should stop reading Japanese novels, really. Cayna’s delivery continues to be a treat, be it when she’s angry, happy, or otherwise, and I like how her priorities are simply nothing like what anyone else expects them to be. She finds out that another of the top players she knew had an NPC daughter who wants to meet her , and her reaction is “sounds like a pain, so no”. Keina spent half her life in bed on life support. As Cayna, she has absolutely no fucks to give.

So yes, another enjoyable volume in the series, and I definitely recommend it more to those on the Kuma Bear end of the spectrum rather than the Overlord end, though there is a suggestion of malevolent things going on in the epilogue. Cayna’s a treat.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 5

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda.

Apologies for the slang here, but as I was reading this volume of Kuma Bear, I kept thinking about recent discussion of ‘gap moe’. Sure, I’m certain there are some people who read this series for the cute girls doing cute things, or for Yuna being stupidly overpowered, or even for the food descriptions. But I think the best reason to read it is for those moments where Yuna’s deadpan, staid character is forced to actually react to things – usually embarrassment, but not always. As I’ve said before, her desire to not take credit for anything she does is starting to feel like a complex, and people are beginning to notice – even kids like Fina. That’s not to say it works all the time, as her Bear Tunnel shows us. What’s more, Yuna gets as uncomfortable with the rough, spiky parts of this world as the reader does, and would much rather try not to think about the whole thing – though she does help out in the end. She hopes by thinking of herself as dull and normal, it will rewrite reality.

Most of this book is devoted to the seaport Mileela, and the aftermath of Yuna wiping out the bandits and boiling the kraken. Returning to normal is not something that can happen as fast as the anime implied it. The town is still pretty much devastated by the last few months, the foreign ships don’t know that they can start sailing there again, and while they would like to ally themselves with Cliff’s city Crimonia, but there’s still that huge mountain in the way. Fortunately, they have Yuna, who once met common sense in passing but promptly went somewhere else. Now there’s a huge tunnel connecting the two areas. Problem solved! Well, except it needs lights. And air. And monster cleanouts. And guards. Yuna may be an overpowered bear girl, but cleaning up after her remains a very exhausting job.

Not sure this counts as ‘gap moe’, but the scene that intrigued me the most, as I implied above, is when Yuna is asking the innkeeper’s daughter Anz to run her new shop. Anz asks if she can have some help in the form of the young women Yuna rescued from the bandits last book – that is to say, the ones whose families were killed and were raped by said bandits. Unsurprisingly, they find still living in the town incredibly uncomfortable. It’s these sort of scenes that you really would not see in this cutesy bear and girls sort of book – indeed, the anime tries to gloss over this – and the fact that it comes up over and over again, ever since Book 1 (where, you’ll recall, Yuna in Japan paid her parents off to go away and leave her alone) just won’t let me go. That said… the majority of this book *is* Bear does OP things” “Bear hangs out with cute kids”, “Bear comments sarcastically on events”, etc.

We get setup for what I assume is the next book near the end, where Yuna is asked to guard a bunch of pampered royals as they journey to the forest to hunt some low-level monsters. It is implied that Yuna’s sharp tongue may be more devastating than any monsters, but we shall see. Till then, this remains a cute, if sometimes more disturbing than expected, book. (Oh yes, and LOL at Yuna accidentally walking around in the white bear outfit one day, which she compares to walking outside in her pajamas.)

Banner of the Stars: Destiny’s Refrain

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By Hiroyuki Morioka and Toshihiro Ono. Released in Japan by Hayakawa Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Giuseppe di Martino.

I admit, I frequently have difficulty plowing through these books. I enjoy the plotting and characterization, but the writing is a bit on the dry side, not to mention all the bolded vocab. Usually I have a lot of banter between Jint and Lafier to hold me over, but in this book they appear less than they have in any of the others – and for good reason. If you ever looked at the massive Abh Empire and thought “wow, they seem arrogant, I wish they’d lose everything they have”, well, wish granted, my friend. We get an awful lot of dead cast members, though most of the ‘current’ younger generation, including our two leads, are fine. But it does mean that you’re reading an entire book about the downfall of an entire people, which can be… bleak. Honestly, it’s at times like this that I’m grateful for the Abh’s blase attitude towards everything, as this would be a lot worse if people were screaming and crying as they died.

Picking up right where the last book left off, it turns out that the Hania Federation has pulled a fast on the Empire (and indeed on its own negotiators), joining with the Three Nations Alliance. The Abh very quickly realize that they are screwed, and a good deal of the book is seeing them trying to evacuate to a safe haven as many people as possible while also having those in change (including the Empress, Lafier’s grandmother) nobly try to hold off the enemy as long as possible. Lafier’s brother Duhier also gets a subplot as he tries to be a soldier despite the entire world working to make sure he can never do anything productive – it would normally be funny, but we feel his frustration. As for Jint, he’s busy moving gravestones, which to the Abh are far more important than his own life or Lafier’s.

The book is not entirely a downer. Sporr makes a welcome return towards the end, as does her aide, and they’re as hilarious as ever, as she is essentially the Abh version of the princess-curled ojousama. Jint manages to talk to the old Baron who helped them escape from his son’s clutches, and there is some amusing teasing about his relationship with Lafier – literally everyone assumes that they are lovers, though if they are neither one communicates that to the reader. But for the most part this book is about last stands and picking up the pieces, and I suspect that the next book, when it comes (which is also the most recent book, having come out in 2018), will have the Abh taking on more of a freedom fighter sort of role. In the meantime, this is good space battle stuff, assuming you don’t mind the technical banter, the bolded words and, of course, the piles of death, most of which, like the Abh, is communicated to us very matter of factly.

I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again!, Vol. 2

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By Milli-gram and Yuki Kana. Released in Japan as “Nidoto ie ni wa Kaerimasen!” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Emily Hemphill.

Reading this immediately after The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent was probably a mistake, as the two series share much in common. At least the Saint is in her thirties, though. Chelsea’s age and emotional innocence are still front and center in this book, and it can sometimes be discomfiting. The complains once or twice about being treated like a child, but, well, she’s twelve, and honestly acts like she’s six much of the time. What matters most to her are Glen and delicious food, possibly not in that order. And, of course, she has a heart as big as the world and wants to save everyone. In a non-fantasy world she’d be a perfect magical girl candidate – heck, she even looks a bit like Madoka – but here it’s easy for her to be coddled. She’s protected at all times by Glen, ends up getting a new head chef, and a new set of bodyguards once Glen – who is a good 8-10 years older than she is – proposes. So yeah. Anyway, about the rest of the book…

Most of the book involves a journey to a neighboring kingdom, which is definitely having a miasma problem, apparently due to the fact that their new ruler has been cutting down sacred trees and other terrible things. Glen, Chelsea and company decide to see how the former ruler is doing – he’s still around, he just has a terrible mana-draining illness – and Chelsea being essentially a walking plot device, this is soon resolved and he returns to the throne. That said, there are a few hints that there are greater things going on here – the horrible ruler turns out to have been slightly brainwashed by a mysterious fortune teller, who turns out to be working for someone who really, really hates Chelsea – no one is quite sure why. Is this going to be the end of her slow, pampered lifestyle? I mean, no, probably not.

I won’t begrudge Chelsea having a pleasant experience with one the occasional “I did too much and passed out” to worry about, she’s had a rough life and deserves happiness after so long, but it does make the book a bit dull at times. I was amused at her grandparents’ description of Chelsea’s mother – they’re polar opposites – as well as Chelsea’s poleaxed reaction to it. The book also continues to make very light usage of its big clever idea – that Glen is an isekai’d from Japan prince – and we find the former ruler of the other kingdom, a dragon man, is also a forner Japanese person now in a fantasy world body, which leads to some amusing discussion of – as always – how to get miso in a fantasy world. That said, this also means that when Glen proposes to Chelsea he’s called a lolicon… which, well, she’s twelve. At least it doesn’t appear they’ll actually get married till she comes of age.

So yeah, like the first book, this is hit or miss for me – a bit more miss this time – but it’s still warm and fluffy at heart. Also like the first book, I assumed this second volume would be the end of the series, but there’s apparently a third volume out in Japan next month. Recommended for those who love waifs – no, not waifus, waifs.

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.