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Accel World: The Snow Sprite

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By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

Everyone has things they’re good and bad at, and realizing that is one of the best ways to stop being frustrated. To Reki Kawahara’s credit, I think he’s aware of his strengths. He writes good battle scenes. Especially these days, when he’s got years of experience that Sword Art Online (which, let’s remember, is mostly ported from his almost 20-year-old webnovel) does not. And this, the 21st volume of Accel World, finally gets to the big fight against White Cosmos that we’ve been waiting for for about a year now. As such, it should not be too surprising that this is one of the stronger volumes we’ve had in Accel World for some time. It also helps that, in among the action, which is exceedingly well-timed, there are also several plot beats that we’ve had hanging around for a while now that we actually get answers to. Not everything, of course – the reason White Cosmos are doing all this is left vague – but enough that the emotional payoff of the book is very satisfying.

We’ve spent a lot of time taking all sorts of precautions to make sure that Nega Nebulus are as prepared as possible to attack White Cosmos. It should therefore be no surprise to find that everything goes spectacularly wrong almost immediately. The group is forcibly taken to the Unlimited Neutral Field, then it’s transformed into a Hell Stage. 90% of the cast are caught in a “kill you over and over till you permanently die” trap, though fortunately no one permanently dies. Indeed, the biggest twist of the book is someone NOT dying. Sort of. In amongst this, Silver Crow and Lime bell are able to escape, but there are endless numbers of traps still waiting for them… heck, even the upper strata where Haruyuki can confab with Metatron proves to be attackable by our villains. How can they possibly win?

This isn’t all just fights, of course. The reason the fights work well in these books is the emotional beats we get along with them. Chocolat Puppeter helping to given everyone a leg to stand on, and also providing the best cliffhanger ever. Magenta Scissor, still in the throes of her heel face turn. Trilead Tetraoxide, outside the palace for the first time in the series, kicking a lot of ass. The villains are no less impressive. Kuroyukihime’s sister does not put in an appearance, of course, but we do get the snow sprite of the title, as well as a Rose Red to go with her, who proves a bit more noble than their counterparts. And there’s also the reveal on who the major power behind all these surprise moves is, why they’ve been coerced into doing it and who their parent is. It’s a great emotional climax.

So, well done, excellent book in the series. Next volume promises to be the equivalent of a Phoenix Wright trial, which could be very awesome.

Pick of the Week: Big Big Waves

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SEAN: It’s possible I’m not on the same WAVElength as the rest of the group, but I’m going to channel my inner nerd and pick the final (no really, finally final) volume of Haruhi-chan. A silly gag manga that may end up more remembered than its parent series, it gave us tiny Ryoko, balloon dog Taniguchi, and a ton of silliness.

KATE: As someone who teaches a class on the history of radio, I feel morally obligated to choose Wave, Listen to Me!! as my PotW. I also want to bang the drum for the new edition of Svetlana Chmakova’s Nightschool, which ticks so many boxes for tween readers that it should be part of any school library’s collection.

ANNA: I’m picking Wave, Listen to Me!! too, I’m curious to check it out!

MICHELLE: I am extremely happy that Wave, Listen to Me! is getting a print release. I read and loved the first three volumes in their digital editions, so it’s a clear choice for pick of the week. I’m also happy volumes four and five are now on the print schedule for fall!

ASH: As a close follower of Hiroaki Samura’s work in English, there really can be no pick of the week for me other than Wave, Listen to Me! I expect it to be more along the lines of Ohikkoshi rather than Blade of the Immortal, but either way, I’m thrilled to have it in print.

MJ: I’d like to echo what Kate said! My pick this week has to be Wave, Listen to Me!, no doubt. But I’m very happy to note the return of Nightschool and I hope it might generate new interest in the series!

The Weakest Manga Villainess Wants Her Freedom!

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By Kazuki Karasawa and Masami. Released in Japan as “Maou-gun Shitennou no Saijaku Reijou wa Jiyuu ni Ikitai!” by the author on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website. Released in North America digitally by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Charis Messier.

This book does not want to be messing around with the heroine’s past life – Truck-kun is on Page 1. In fact, because Elle doesn’t remember anything about her past life except the manga she was obsessed with, it’s mostly irrelevant. This leads to what I think is the strongest reason that I enjoyed Weakest Manga Villainess so much: Elle, our heroine, is a selfish, overdramatic tsundere twintail brat before she gains memories of how she’s killed, and afterwards… she’s exactly the same, only her selfishness (which the narrative hints was never as big as all that) is shown to be slightly better. She’s mostly been busy researching her magic (good at huge spells, bad at fine tuning), loving the Demon Lord, and kidnapping people to be her servants. Now, though, she wants to avoid her death, which starts with confronting the Demon Lord himself. And this… opens up a whole new can of worms.

As I said before, Elle is a treat. The author’s afterword tells us to love her because she’s cute, but honestly I love her because she’s fun. Her brief guilt over kidnapping a bunch of foreigners and making them wait on her is assuaged by, seemingly by accident (but actually by instinct) the fact that all of those people had miserable lives when they were taken and consider Elle their savior. As such, any guilt about her past actions leaves town, and the rest of the book is made up of her planning how to escape the Demon Lord, set up her own town with her as the grand sorceress mayor of Elle Village, a fact the reader will soon learn because she repeats it over and over while posing. Unfortunately for her, it turns out that she is far more valuable to the Demon Lord than “killed off first as she was the weakest” would imply, so escaping may be hard.

The supporting cast is also fun. Because this story is done in one volume, the love interests are limited to two: Julius, the guy on the cover, one of her fellow villains who finds himself fascinated by Elle, and Laurent, a young teen she rescued from a barren village who now devotes himself to learning magic so he can help her. I was amused by the running gag (well, not ha ha funny) of Julius always being ready to use lethal force and attack at a moment’s notice simply as he has no experience with trusting anyone. Bakarina fans may find one thing familiar: Elle is still assuming that the pairings will go the way that they did in the manga, so is oblivious to the fact that Julius is over the moon for her.

The stakes end up being relatively low here, mostly due to Elle’s magic abilities and the shoujo manga heroine’s healing powers. Indeed, a few people I was sure would be bumped off end up fulfilling an entirely different manga cliche. I suspect Elle is voiced by Rie Kugimiya. Or possibly, given how much the heroine feels like a younger, red-headed Rin Tohsaka, by Kana Ueda. The series will not win any originality awards, which is not surprising give it’s part of the “villainess tries to change her fate” genre. But it’s fun, reads impressively fast given its length, and has a heroine that I really loved experiencing.

Urusei Yatsura, Omnibus 6

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By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan in two separate volumes by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Camellia Nieh.

Every fan has their obsessive favorite minor character. Usually more than one. I have two when it comes to Takahashi’s work. I’ve already discussed Akari Unryuu, Ryouga’s girlfriend in the later parts of the manga in my reviews of that. As you might have guessed, my favorite Urusei Yatsura character makes their debut in this volume. No, not Kotatsu-neko, though he sort of amusingly stoic. No, not the school principal either, though it is funny that both he and Kotatsu-neko debuted around the same time. No, it’s Shutaro Mendo’s younger sister Ryoko, introduced here as essentially an agent of chaos in a series entirely composed of agents of chaos. Ryoko is fickle, bored, and also a sociopath, happy to trigger her brother’s fears of the dark, annoy him by flirting with Ataru, or simply toss a hundred grenades out her window because it’s fun. Most North American fans experiences her Ranma knockoff, Kodachi Kuno, first. Accept no substitutes, though, Ryoko is best unfiltered.

Having established most of the regulars by now, Takahashi is starting to experiment with her work, dialing up some things and ramping back some others. Ran, who’d vanished for a while, is back on a semi-regular basis. So is Rei, and we start to get the start of the eventual Ran/Rei pairing when we see the one thing that’s sure to win Rei over: food. (Lum’s cooking, usually lethal to Ataru, is implied at times to also be lethal to actual aliens – she fills the ‘can’t cook’ stereotype box.) Oyuki is starting to be the soft-spoken yamato nadesico, but is still wearing her battle bikini rather than her kimono. And she’s dipping back into Japanese history again – this is the first book to feature new, never before officially translated manga material, and I can imagine 1990s Viz translators wanting to cut the chapters where Ataru is Zenigata (no, not the Lupin one). Nowadays, there are actual endnotes to explain things like Ryoko’s kuroko attendants (being a drama major, they are another reason I love Ryoko).

Also, while it’s always been around, we’re really starting to see a lot more fourth-wall breaking here. Tezuka started this, of course, and Takahashi’s friend and colleague Mitsuru Adachi also does it. But Takahashi is as broad and blatant about it as with the rest of UY’s humor, with Lum appearing on the title page to complain that she’s barely in this chapter, and other characters complaining about Ataru not being in it at the start because he’s still in bed. UY is a performative manga that its characters know they’re in, but they aren’t actors. For the most part the stories are still one-shot chaotic messes, though sometimes chapters run into each other, such as the first part of the book detailing the students trying to leave school to get lunch outside campus, which ends up being the students simply ditching school entirely.

As these chapters were being written, the anime was also being created – it debuted in the Fall of 1981, right around the time the Ryoko chapters would have been in the magazine. As the manga goes on, there will be a little influence from one on the other – though less than you’d expect. Fans of the anime might be startled, though, by one chapter here early in the manga being the basis for the final episode of the anime. That said, even if you’re not an experienced UY fan, these volumes are still chaotic, funny fun.

Love Me, Love Me Not, Vol. 2

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Love Me, Love Me Not, Volume 2 by Io Sakisaka

At two volumes in, I’m not feeling quite as connected to the characters in Love Me, Love Me Not as compared to Strobe Edge, but Sakisaka is still doing a great job setting up a complicated and thoughtful teen romance drama. Yuna is still processing her feelings about the complex relationship between step-siblings Akari and Rio as she also deals with her own attraction to Rio. Yuna’s hesitation and introspection is prompted by the fact that she’s never experienced love outside of books. Rio also seems more attuned to Yuna than he is for girls who he has a more superficial relationship. He notices her being less shy around him, and figures out a way to set up their study group so she doesn’t feel hesitation about asking him questions. All along, Rio has encouraged Yuna to pursue a relationship with the boy she has a crush on, not knowing that she’s talking about him. Yuna’s love confession is unconventional, as she tells Rio about her feelings and says “Now, reject me.”

Rio reacts with a lot more compassion than he usually does with the girls who are attracted to him only for his looks, and Yuna deals with the aftermath. Both Akari and Kazu are impressed with Yuna’s emotional growth and general levelheadedness. While it is fairly easy for the reader to understand Rio, Akari, and Yuna, Kazu remains a perpetually cool enigma. Akari is fascinated by him, but he’s still a bit of a blank slate, defined only by his occasional blunt and insightful statements. I’m hoping that in the next few volumes his character becomes as well defined as the other series leads. This was a strong second volume, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the series develops. Sakisaka is great at capturing all the subtleties of emotion in her drawings, and even though much of this manga is people simply talking to each other in a variety of settings, her paneling and the emotional stakes involve keeps everything dynamic.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 19: Moon Cradle

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By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Well, having wrapped up the 10-volume Alicization arc, here we are back in the Underworld anyway. This book takes place in the subjective 200 years of time that Kirito and Asuna spent there before returning to the real world – in fact, it takes place in the first few months of those 200 years. There’s still a lot to be sorted out, mostly as the darklanders live in a barren wasteland (because it’s meant to be a game and they were meant to be evil) and the humans live in nice plentiful farmlands. Worse still, there’s a murder, something thought to be impossible. It quickly becomes clear that the murderer is trying to set things up so that there will be another war between the two groups. Can Kirito and Ronie find out who is behind all this? And can Ronie actually manage to confess to Kirito, something that seems to elude all the other heroines not named Asuna. Fortunately, she has a big advantage here: she’s the 3rd-person narrator, and the book is better for it.

Those who don’t like Kirito… well, first of all, why are you reading Vol. 19 of this series? But secondly, you won’t like this one, as he’s overpowered and also cheeky most of the time. It’s easy to see why Ronie loves him, and also easy to see why she feels inferior compared to Asuna, who is very much in the wise all-knowing mode here. She and Tiese have the same problem, but framed differently: Tiese is still in love with Eugeo, but he’s dead, and she can’t move on. Meanwhile, Ronie is in love with Kirito, who is in her face every day, but is also taken. In other words, Ronie falls into the same category as every other SAO heroine who isn’t Asuna (or, arguably, Alice). Ronie also has some doubts about her ability as a Knight, though those start to be resolved by the end of the book when she’s able to channel her inner Kirito and do seemingly impossible stunts.

We get not one but two babies in this book – Fanatio’s child at the start, who gets to be thrown hundreds of feet into the air and then caught, every baby’s dream, as well as the child of Iskahn and Sheyta, who shown off the two sides coming together and also sadly proves to be our baby in distress towards the end, though I suppose I should count myself lucky that there are no rape threats in this book. Indeed, with the lack of that and also the lack of a super evil sneering villain, this book shows off a maturity that the SAO series has lacked at times. This was, I believe, the last of the webnovel material to be adapted for light novels – which is important, because it means we’re moving past the sometimes amateurish writing from 15 years ago. And, as I said before, the book also reads better when not in first-person perspective. I wish he did that more often.

This is the first of a two-parter, and the next volume promises a bit more Asuna. Still likely filtered through Ronie, through, which is fine. I like her. SAO fans should find a lot to enjoy here, and SAO haters should find a lot of ammo.

Manga the Week of 5/27/20

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SEAN: It’s the end of May, and the schedule is still not back to normal, but we soldier on regardless.

ASH: Bring on the manga!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Parallel Paradise 2 (digitally) and Yokai Girls 10 (in print).

I’m starting to give up on predicting when Kodansha’s “digital early” releases of their print books will come out. Theoretically we’ll see Cells At Work: Code BLACK 5 and Yuzu the Pet Vet 2.

That said, actually coming out in print are the first two volumes of Wave, Listen to Me!. Now with a polarizing anime!

MICHELLE: Yay!

ANNA: I want to check this out.

ASH: I’m thrilled this is being released in print!

MJ: Definitely ready to give this a look!

SEAN: Digital-only volumes are out for Altair: A Record of Battles 18, DAYS 18, I Fell in Love After School 4, and Watari-kun’s ****** Is about to Collapse 6.

MICHELLE: I’ve enjoyed I Fell in Love After School thus far. And of course I am here for DAYS.

SEAN: One Peace has the 2nd volume of The New Gate.

Seven Seas have three debuts, all digital-first. Makeup is Not (Just) Magic: A Manga Guide to Cosmetics and Skin Care (Make wa Tada no Mahou Janai no Beginners) is actually a josei title from Kiss, and sounds like one of those “The Manga Guide To Quantum Mechanics” style books. A young woman learns about makeup through her glamorous friend. It’s done in one, though there is an (unlicensed) sequel that came out this year in Japan.

ANNA: I am intrigued by skin care manga.

ASH: I’ll admit, I am, too.

SEAN: My Senpai Is Annoying (Senpai ga Urusai Kouhai no Hanashi) is a comedic romance that runs on Ichijinsha’s Comic Pool site. It’s the same magazine that has Wotakoi. Let’s hope it is as good as Wotakoi: the premise of “huge guy with his tiny office coworker who looks like a child” starts with a strike against it. (He’s the annoying one.)

ASH: Hmmm…

SEAN: And the first PENGUINDRUM light novel is out digitally. Yes, I know I said it was back in March. It got bumped.

ASH: Will be waiting for this one to be released in print, personally.

SEAN: Also out (digitally) are Adachi and Shimamura’s 2nd light novel, A Certain Scientific Railgun 15, and Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid 9.

Vertical has a 4th Bakemonogatari manga out digitally, which should start the Suruga Monkey arc.

And now Yen Press, who nostalgically are releasing everything on the same week. This month is smaller than usual for them, though. And these ARE print (and mostly digital too).

ASH: Ah, remember the days?

SEAN: Yen On debuts – finally, it was originally scheduled for August 2019 – A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga. From the creator of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and You Call That Service?, this light novel seeks to answer the question “do casuals know enough about the Sengoku Period to know what this is talking about?”. It helps that the fantasy world this kid lives in doesn’t know either – when he gets “Oda Nobunaga” as his chosen calling, no one has any clue what it is. This could be a disaster, but it’s only 3 volumes long, so…

Also out from Yen On is The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life 3, The Asterisk War 13, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 11, Strike the Blood 15, and Suppose a Kid From the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 2.

Yen Press has no new debuts, but they are putting out the first Collector’s Edition of Nightschool, the OEL series from Svetlana Chmakova.

MICHELLE: I had this idea that Chmakova was going to continue Nightschool at some point, but that doesn’t seem to have happened. Perhaps this rerelease is to remind people about the series and gauge interest? I certainly would read more!

ASH: It’s been a while, but I do recall liking Nightschook.

MJ: I would read more Nightschool!

SEAN: Hey, remember when I said that The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan 11 was the final volume? Back in 2017? Possibly as it had the word ‘FINAL’ on its cover? Guess what, folks, the real final volume is out next week. You can tell it’s really finally final as they’re running away while waving to the reader on the cover.

ASH: Ha!

MJ: Huh.

SEAN: We also get Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 9 (manga version), Happy Sugar Life 5, IM: Great Priest Imhotep 3, I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years 2 (manga version), Kakugurui Twin 6, Karneval 10, the 6th and final volume of Nyankees, Overlord’s 12th manga volume, Trinity Seven 20, and the 2nd Woof Woof Story manga volume.

What manga are you reading instead of going to a parade?

Baccano!: 2002 [Side B]: Blood Sabbath

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By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

I’ve talked before about the Japanese tendency to write the blackest of black villains, so evil and horrible that it ends up being absolutely fine when our heroes kill them off in morally questionable ways. In general, I’m not a fan of these, and tend to prefer more nuanced or morally grey types. That said, I have to admit, Narita writes these sorts of people better than most light novel authors. We get two classic examples here, but one’s a spoiler, so I’ll talk about the other. Bride is the leader of SAMPLE, a thoroughly disturbing religious cult descended from the same cult that tortured Elmer when he was a kid. Bride is abusing children, mentally breaking and drugging a woman (investigating them undercover) into submission, killing large numbers of people, and being gleeful about it the entire time. But he’s sort of horrifyingly fun. Possibly as the book avoids the rape threats so many other authors would throw in (Bride makes a comedic play at his drugged wife, but this seems staged.) He also contrasts with the other villain of the book, who is… less fun.

The first half of this book takes place on Exit, the ship going from Japan to New York, and the sister ship to the one Firo and company are on. Elmer, Sylvie, Nile and Denkurou (who gets his first significant role here, though to be honest he doesn’t do much except moon over Sylvie) are invited, supposedly by Huey, to the ship, and they all go because if they don’t, Huey would arrange it so they do anyway. There they don’t find Huey, but they do find the Mask Makers, who are also on the other ship, who have a plan to get revenge for a killing that happened 300 years earlier by capturing Elmer. And the passengers also include SAMPLE, Bride’s religious cult, who are there for Sylvie. As for Isaac and Miria… well, they still aren’t here, they’re back in New York. Which is probably why everything starts to go wrong for everyone on both ships. Even Firo, who tries to look cool in front of his family, does not really succeed.

Speaking of spoilers, there is a question about how much constitutes one. This series, after all, is mostly read by fans who have already spoiled themselves on this book and future ones. And indeed we get a big spoiler for (one assumes) future books given to us as part of the plot early on here: the Mask makers are supposedly getting revenge on Huey for killing Monica 300 years prior, which might come as a surprise to those who read the 1705 book. That said, it’s possible that the reader will be more distracted by the end of the book, which reveals who the real Big Bad of the entire Baccano! series is… and it’s someone that we thought had already been dealt with. Interlocking and interconnecting plots and characters are how Narita writes, but this particular book works very well at making you want to go back and read some passages in older books while also making you anxious for the next ones.

So a much better book than the first part, as is typical with Narita two-parters. Bobby is still annoying, though. So, next do we go back to 1710 to see the tragic fates revealed in this book? Or do we continue in the 21st century to see how Czes and his family deal with this new and horrifying threat? Of course not, that would be too easy. No, next time it’s 1931, as we go back to the Flying Pussyfoot and the immediate aftermath, in a plot that might seem very familiar to those who saw Baccano’s 3 OAV episodes…

Bookshelf Briefs 5/19/20

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After-School Bitchcraft, Vol. 1 | By Yu Shimizu and Kazuma Ichihara | Yen Press – Afterschool Boobcraft would be a better title for this supernatural romance about Ririki, a ditzy high school student who accidentally discovers that her chemistry teacher is a sorcerer. Though Ririki quickly realizes that she, too, has hidden powers, nothing about her giggly, helpless behavior suggests that she’s competent enough to tie her own shoes, let alone cast a spell. Renji, her teacher, is even less of a character, defined primarily by his brusque demeanor and perma-scowl. Anyone reading for plot will find the the crude, obvious fanservice irritating, while anyone reading for fanservice will find the series’ pedestrian efforts at world-building an unwelcome distraction from the parade of costume failures and panty shots, all of which are drawn in salacious detail. Not recommended. – Katherine Dacey

Animeta!, Vol. 3 | By Yaso Hanamura | J-Novel Club – Miyuki Sanada is making gradual improvement as an inbetweener, though she’s been told that if she doesn’t pass the key animation exam within a year, she’s fired. Meanwhile, her fellow new hire, Maria Date, seems to be leaving her in the dust, is actively campaigning to take her place with the prestigious Studio 7, and gets invited to enter a character design contest by the big boss. I appreciate the sports manga feel this rivalry evokes, but the most compelling part of Animeta! for me is the plight of Yuiko Fuji, the inbetween checker who once tried to become a key animator but had no flair. She’s amazing at her current job, but seeing new talent getting promoted over her is tough. This series has really grown on me, now that its been fleshing out its characters more, and I reckon I’ll stick with it for the long haul! – Michelle Smith

A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 10 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamaji | Seven Seas – Last time I said the cliffhanger was chilling, this time that extends to much of the book. The Index series has usually been too concerned with action and harems to get into pure horror, but its spinoffs have no issues with it, particularly this one. Cannibalism of a scientific sort continues to be the norm here, with our tragic villain continuing to be sympathetic. As is Yomikawa, possibly the nicest character in the whole Indexverse. For those who aren’t reading this for nice, the good news is that Accelerator is back in action by the end of this and ready to beat villains up while continuing to state what a villain he is. Index fans will enjoy this, though may also be creeped out. – Sean Gaffney

Cocoon Entwined, Vol. 2 | By Yuriko Hara | Yen Press – Yes, it is still tempting to review these volumes by just saying “hair” and being done with it. I mean, the start of the second volume seems to be narrated from the POV of a former schoolgirl’s hair, which is now made up of the uniform of our heroine. But there is a bit more to it than that, as we cycle back a bit and get more insight into the mysterious Hoshimiya, whose hair drifting down in single hairlets (hairlets?) continues to be an emotional gut punch for most of the school. There’s also discussion of traditions, why they’re kept and when they might have to be broken for the sake of moving on and fixing things. It’s quite an emotional drama. And rest assured, it’s filled with hair. So much hair. – Sean Gaffney

The Golden Sheep, Vol. 3 | By Kaori Ozaki | Vertical Comics – The third volume of The Golden Sheep is its last, and while it was nice that the four friends at the center of the story ultimately resolved their differences, it all felt rather too easy and anticlimactic. I did like that Yuushin finds purpose in striving to achieve enough independence to live with the stray kitty he rescued, though. (It is an extremely cute kitty.) The volume is rounded out by a twisted short story called “Love Letter” in which an unborn soul chooses to be born to a teen runaway and ends up dying from neglect, but loves its mother so much that it opts to return to earth in any guise that allows it to see her, including another cute kitty who soon meets a tragic end. It left a weird taste in my brain. – Michelle Smith

How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift?, Vol. 3 | By Yabako Sandrovich and MAAM | Seven Seas – The first volume it was the fanservice that got my attention. The second volume it was the advice on keeping fit. And in this one it’s the comedy that’s really reaching out to grab you, taking the series in places I was not expecting it to go, like turning the main girls (including their teacher!) into a muscle-bound idol group, something that is impressively different but goes over like a lead balloon. Zina has fit in well with the others, and moreover she knows Satomi cosplays, so can cheerfully use that for blackmail. There are also hints that romance may come into this series—Hibiki has always been attracted to Machio when he’s not bulking out, but there’s a suggestion that her feelings may run a bit deeper than that. That said, I expect comedy to prevail. This is fun. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 14 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – The first half of this book is almost all dedicated to Kaguya and Shirogane finally, finally, confessing—not through words, but through actions. It’s the payoff everyone has been waiting for, and it’s handled perfectly. The second half of this book then drags it all back to hilarious comedy, with the chapter about Kaguya french-kissing Shirogane being the highlight of the volume and possibly the series. Of course, there’s the question of where do we go from here—Kaguya ends up breaking her brain so much over this that she reverts to her old icy persona, and there may be a new love triangle developing around Ishigami. So don’t stop reading just because Kaguya got confessed to—there’s still plenty more fun. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Smash!!, Vol. 4 | By Hirofumi Neda and Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – The gag series has caught up to the main storyline, or at least wants to avoid the Overhaul Arc, so for the most part this volume is original material. Sometimes that’s good—the author shows a surprising taste for very dark character-based jokes when they want to, including one with Todoroki talking about his mother that made me gasp. There’s also a parents’ day again (it goes a bit better than the one in School Briefs), which allows us to see parents we forgot existed, like Uraraka’s mother. That said, there’s also a sense that the series is starting to get a bit tired. The next volume is signposted to be the last, and that’s a good thing. Go out while you’re still flying high. – Sean Gaffney

Nori | By Rumi Hara | Drawn & Quarterly – Born in Kyoto and currently based in New York, Hara has been creating comics for about a decade, but Nori is Hara’s graphic novel debut. The volume has its origins in a series of self-published mini-comics which earned Hara multiple award nominations. Nori collects six short tales of varying lengths which feature the adventures of the titular Noriko, an imaginative three-year-old, and Hana, her grandmother and caregiver. Except for a surprise trip that takes Nori and Hana to Hawaii, the stories are largely set in Osaka in the 1980s. All of them are incredibly charming. Hara effortlessly blends mythology and legends with the characters’ day-to-day lives and Nori’s fantastical imaginings. Some of my favorite moments are Nori’s interactions with older kids—some of whom really aren’t sure what to do at first with a precocious toddler hanging about as they explore the natural world together. Nori is an undeniable delight. – Ash Brown

That Blue Summer, Vol. 4 | By Atsuko Namba | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Rio Funami is a Tokyo girl who’s been sent, along with her bookish little brother, to stay with her grandmother in the countryside for the duration of her 40-day summer vacation. She’s fallen in love with a local boy named Ginzo Izumi, who initially rejected her, believing they belonged in different worlds and valued different things. However, as time has gone on, Ginzo has come to see that’s not true. In fact, Rio seems enraptured by the village he calls home and understands the calling he feels towards graphic design while simultaneously feeling obligated to stay and take over the family liquor store. This is more than just a generic romance—it’s about passions versus practicality and finding reasons for joy in any situation. I’m enjoying it a lot and isn’t that cover a beauty? – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 14 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – The race that would never end has ended! And yes, our hero manages to capture first place, The first half of the book is really fantastic, showing off how good the author is at wringing drama and emotion from every last meter. The second half pales in comparison mostly as it’s setting up the next chunk of book, though seeing Onoda suddenly fail so hard simply as his mentor has left (transferred to another country) is poignant, and I suspect he needs another race or two before he can get back into form, so I expect more failure. Oh, and Kanzaki shows up briefly to remind us she exists and also help the core team get new bikes that work to their strengths. Still excellent shonen sports. – Sean Gaffney

Not Your Idol, Vol. 1

by

By Aoi Makino. Released in Japan as “Sayonara Miniskirt” by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Ribon. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki. Adapted by Nancy Thistlethwaite.

This is one of Viz Media’s strongest debuts in some time, and it’s taken me a while to find a way to put down some words and review it. There’s a number of reasons for that. It’s a strong debut but it’s not a fun book – this book wants to deliberately make you uncomfortable and challenge traditional views on things. It looks at idol culture and the obsessiveness of their fans, about reaching out to accept help and how that can be both a good thing and also a bad thing; about fighting back against the everyday sexism in the lives of women and why some choose not to. There’s a lot going on here, including some things that (possibly) spoil the entire book that I am going to do my best to dance around. In the end, though, this is a book that grabs you by the collar and rips your face towards the pages. I’m not sure I enjoyed it, but I really liked it.

Nina Kamiyama is a brooding, quiet high school student who dresses in the male uniform, and is immediately contrasted with the rest of her classmates discussing things like how good their legs look in skirts. We also meet Hikaru, a young man in the judo club who seems to be the only guy in their class who’s not turned off by Nina. Things come to a head when the teacher announces that someone is assaulting girls around their school area, so everyone should go home in groups. Of course, Nina is a loner, and also does not want to show any weakness, so she goes home by herself, despite clearly dealing with some past trauma. She is then confronted by Hikaru, who knows her secret: she’s Karen Amamiya, former member of a top idol group who retired after being knifed by a stalker at an event. He admits that his younger sister was sexually assaulted by a teacher, and that she became a fan of Karen’s idol group because they said it was “OK to be a girl”. Slowly Nina and Hikaru grow closer… but is that what’s really going on?

I don’t usually post pictures of panels in my reviews, which is a shame, as there’s lots of terrific ones here. Nina leaping on a desk to grab some jerk’s school tie, saying “girls don’t dress to please guys like you”. Nina and Hikaru helping a shy classmate when she’s groped by a stalker on a train. The entire last few pages of this volume. It’s not shying away from problematic behavior, from both boys and girls, and contrasts Nina heavily with the cute, bubbly Miku, who is everything stereotypically feminine. Nina is also in touch with her former idol group, and we learn how they’re struggling to keep popularity now that Karen has retired… and we also hear from her friend Sara that Karen was too good at suppressing her emotions and being “inhuman”. All this culminates in the climax to the book, which again I won’t spoil, but shows us everything we’ve learned about a character to date and makes us question it.

After finishing the book, I was on the fence about whether I really wanted to read more. I’ve since come around. I want to find out what happens next. I hope you do as well.