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Altina the Sword Princess, Vol. 1

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By Yukiya Murasaki and himesuz. Released in Japan as “Haken no Kouki Altina” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

We live at a time when most light novels are trying to get readers attention by a gimmick. It might simply be an excessively long title. It might be a premise so ridiculous that people buy it out of curiosity. It might be piling on the fanservice or ramping up the angst and violence. As such, it’s refreshing to see a series that has a normal title, a normal plot and normal characters. I’m not criticizing here: this really does feel refreshing, coming across as a simple medieval fantasy, lacking even magic (so far) and relying on its two leads to make the reader stick around. (It helps that this series began in 2012 in Japan – its title might be more elaborate were it to come out nowadays.) An overly reckless princess, a needlessly self-hating strategist, and a fort in the middle of absolutely nowhere. No bells, no whistles, and I quite liked it. It does have a very snarky maid, I will admit. But that’s all.

Regis is an administrative officer who’s been demoted… well, OK, reassigned… to the northernmost provinces after a tragic battle that saw his mentor get killed. He is quick to take all the blame on himself, and in fact has a case of self-hatred that seems ridiculous and one suspects stems from some childhood issue. Once near the area, he finds, to his horror, that books up north are rare and expensive – he’s also a book nut. Fortunately, he runs into a girl headed to the fort who can take him there on her coach. Given she asks him to call her Altina, the reader is not in the dark about her identity, but Regis is, at last till they run into a blizzard and are attacked by wolves. So he’s met the princess and settled in… but can he get anything accomplished? Especially as no one at the fort takes Altina seriously?

This is by the author of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord, which worried me briefly, but it seems the author is quite good at writing to his intended audience. There’s a brief scene of Regis walking in on Altina changing, but that’s about all, and the fact that she’s fourteen, and thus too young to think of romantically, is constantly in his head. Which is good, as I think they both need to mature a bit. Regis desperately needs to have some good things happen to him to get rid of the “everything I do sucks” mentality, and Altina is going to get herself killed one day by her impetuous behavior. Her final battle with the fort commander, which has “if I win, you listen to what I say” as the prize, is very nearly a savage beatdown for her, and she’s saved mostly by her ludicrous sword (which, to be fair, is wielded by her ludicrous strength).

There’s clearly a lot of backstory here, some of which is given in this volume, involving the empire and its current power struggles among the sons and daughters. Altina’s goal of “don’t get married off to become a trophy wife” is a good one, and I look forward to seeing more of the family in future volumes. There’s nothing in this book that really knocks it out of the park or anything. But it’s a very solid read with likeable flawed people, and the flaws don’t irritate. Definitely getting more of this.

My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, Vol. 8

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By Wataru Watari and Ponkan 8. Released in Japan as “Yahari Ore no Seishun Rabukome wa Machigatte Iru” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

I have to hand it to the author, they are very very good at making me, as a reader, feel thrilling highs and desperate lows. Unfortunately, due to the nature of this series as a whole, each book always seems to end on a low, and so I often end up being depressed after a new volume of it. That said, I do still want to learn what happens next, even if I suspect it will once again be a journey where I grind my teeth and yell at everyone to actually have a decent talk with each other. But the nature of our three protagonists is such that that’s not going to happen – if they did, the series would have ended back at Vol. 3. Instead, buckle up for another adventure with Hachiman, whose cynical and roundabout narrative voice make me want him to meet Zaregoto’s Ii-chan someday. On the bright side, when he suggests his one solution to any problem, people are finally there to tell him to take his idea and shove it.

The soccer club manager we met in the short story volume has been nominated for Student Council President. She doesn’t want to do it, but also doesn’t want to deal with fallout of her dropping out or sabotaging herself. So she asks the club to help out. Hachiman suggests writing a bad speech so that everyone blames the speechwriter (him). This goes over like a lead balloon. Instead, first Yukino and then Yui decide to run against her, which will solve the problem, but also mean they likely would not be in the club any more. This also leaves Hachiman with nothing to do. After the middle of the book, which I will get to in a bit, he bands together with the rest of the main cast and comes up with a third option: convince Iroha that she really WOULD be a good Student Council President, thus removing the original request. Sadly, he does this without thinking of Yukino or Yui, particularly Yukino, and the result is the worst victory ever.

That said, the best reason to get the book are two scenes in the middle of it. The first has Hachiman and Hayama on the double date from hell, as his old classmate from middle school, Orimoto (the one he confessed to) and her friend want to get in with Hayama and he begs Hachiman to come along as he clearly doesn’t want to deal with this. After spending most of said date listening to Orimoto mocking and belittling Hachiman, Hayama snaps and tears them apart, pointing out the close relationships Hachiman has gained in high school. Tellingly, Hachiman is more upset by this than anything else. The second scene, my favorite, has Hachiman, at his lowest ebb, returning home and coming across Komachi, who he’d had a fight with at the start of the book. They make up quickly, and the ensuing conversation that follows is possibly the warmest, most heartwarming scene he’s had in the whole series to date, as he asks Komachi for her help and she talks about how worried she really is for him.

So the middle will make your heart grow three sizes, and the ending will make your face turn pale. But that’s typical of this series, which might better be called My Youth Romantic Soap Opera Is Wrong As I Expected. Like most soap operas, it makes you want to read the next book.

Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro, Vol. 1

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By Nanashi. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Magazine Pocket. Released in North America by Vertical Comics. Translated by Kristi Fernandez.

One of the bonuses that come with buying a volume of the manga that you’ve already read in a magazine or online is the interstitial art that goes in between each chapter. Many manga, particularly comedies, tend to have these, usually little ‘tags’ that follow the chapter, meant to add something to the reader’s perspective or give them another good laugh. Sometimes it can be fairly pointless, but sometimes it’s actively welcome. Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro is definitely a case of the latter. The interstitial art for the first few chapters shows a blushing Nagatoro, rushing away from the scene, wondering if she got her point across or took things too far. It makes it very clear that her previous actions were based on “girl who teases the guy she likes”. This is important, because, while it has righted itself by the end of the volume, the initial chapters of this series skew waaaaay too far towards the “bullying” end of the spectrum rather than “toying with”.

The protagonist is unnamed, as far as I can tell, and is generally called ‘senpai’ by the other lead, Nagotoro. He’s a bit of a schlub, and has a hobby of drawing manga. One day his underclassman, Nagatoro, discovers this and proceeds to grab his manga, read it aloud, and mock it mercilessly. As the volume goes on, she proceeds to take every opportunity possible to viciously attack him, and he is, understandably, feeling a little aggravated by this. Eventually, though, he discovers that she seems to only be like this with him, showing quite a different face to other guys that she’s around. What’s more, by the end of the book the reader, if not the senpai, realizes that she’s doing this because she’s got a crush on him. Of course, her methods may still involve bullying, but, well, that’s how she communicates, right?

There’s been a mini-genre in Japan of this sort of series, ranging from cute and innocent (Teasing Master Takagi-san) to unthinking and broad (Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out). Nagatoro takes a third tack. Nagatoro’s teasing verges on cruel, particularly at the start of the book, and if it had stayed that way I might have decided to drop it. It can be hard to get through. The tone softens as it goes along, if only a bit, though, and we start to see more of Nagatoro’s softer, more vulnerable side – and also see her get a bit flustered, particularly when she’s doing things like accidentally talking to her senpai via video chat. It’s important we come to like Nagatoro because unfortunately the senapi, as befits his lack of name, has far less character. He’s a bullied kid who cries a lot, and is quite good at art. If Izuku from My Hero Academia had given up on being a hero and gone to art school, he might be this guy.

So a bit of a mixed bag, but I like where the direction is going. We’ll see if it can keep it up.

Manga the Week of 11/27/19

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SEAN: Happy Thanksgiving! We give thanks for this bounty of manga and light novels.

ASH: We do, indeed.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 7th volume of the infamous Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.

J-Novel Club has two debuts, both digital manga. The first is the manga adaptation of The Faraway Paladin, a favorite series of mine. It runs in Overlap’s Comic Gardo, a magazine that seems to exist so that its novels can get manga adaptations.

MJ: When Sean says “a favorite series of mine” I feel like I should take note!

Sweet Reincarnation (Okashina Tensei) is a seinen manga from TO Books’ Comic Corona, which is to TO Books what Comic Gardo is to Overlap. This is the story of a boy trying to become the strongest in the world… at being a pastry chef!

MICHELLE: Huh! Sounds potentially fun.

ANNA: I will usually enjoy food manga.

ASH: Same!

MJ: Signing up to be hungry as I read, I guess.

SEAN: On the novel front, J-Novel Club has the 8th, and so far final, Amagi Brilliant Park, and the 3rd Record of Wortenia War.

Kodansha has some print releases. First among these is the Magic Knight Rayearth Box Set. This, the first of two planned sets, is a gorgeous hardcover bells and whistles edition of the manga, in larger trim size as well. It has the first three books (i.e. Season 1), which also are getting a digital release.

ANNA: Pondering this. I think I have the old Viz version in the larger size stashed somewhere in my house.

ASH: This is one of the few CLAMP works I actually haven’t read. The set looks really nice.

MJ: Here for this!

SEAN: We also get Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card 6, Fire Force 17, If I Could Reach You 2, and UQ Holder 18.

MICHELLE: I enjoyed the first volume of If I Could Reach You and look forward to reading the second.

SEAN: Digitally we’re getting Altair: A Record of Battles 12, Asahi-sempai’s Favorite 6, Boarding School Juliet 13, DAYS 15, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 3, Guilty 2, and A Kiss For Real 9 (the final volume).

Seven Seas has two debuts, which could not be farther apart from each other. One, The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese (Kyuuso wa Cheese no Yume o Miru), is one of the biggest BL titles in recent years, and much awaited. It ran in Shogakukan’s josei magazine Mobafura.

MICHELLE: So excite!

ANNA: Yay!!!

ASH: I’ve been waiting for this series for so long! For a while there, it seemed like it was going to be unlicensable. Very glad Seven Seas was able to come to the rescue.

MJ: This!!!

SEAN: The other is How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? (Danberu Nan Kiro Moteru?), a shonen title from Shogakukan’s Ura Sunday online magazine, just got an anime series. A girl who wants to lose weight goes to the gym, where she meets a lot of buff guys, but also the student council president, and a hot instructor. I’ve heard it takes its getting in shape quiet seriously.

ASH: I’m actually really curious about this one.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has Blank Canvas 3, the 5th Monster Girl Doctor light novel, and Servamp 13.

ASH: Blank Canvas is SO GOOD. (Granted, just about anything by Akiko Higashimura is… )

SEAN: Udon gives us a 5th Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu.

Vertical has the 3rd omnibus (containing Books 7-9) of Katanagatari: Sword Tale, from Nisioisin.

They also have the 13th Witchcraft Works.

Yen On also has a bunch of titles, though some of these are already out digitally. The debut is The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody (Shijou Saikyou no Daimaou, Murabito A ni Tensei Suru). The demon lord reincarnates but lacks a sense of perspective, and does not realize how powerful he is, or how many girls are in love with him, etc.

There’s also Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 2, The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Heroes 2, Do You Love Your Mom (and her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 4, and Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online 5. Light novel titles are long, film at 11.

Yen Press’s manga debut is Seven Little Sons of the Dragon (Ryuu no Kawaii Nanatsu no Ko), a collection of short stories by the creator of Delicious in Dungeon. It ran in Fellows!, so is a must buy.

MICHELLE: Ooh! This hadn’t been on my radar.

ASH: I love Delicious in Dungeon, so I’m really looking forward to reading more by the creator.

SEAN: Ending next week is Kagerou Daze, whose 13th and final volume comes out. For those wondering what do do next, watch/listen to everything in order! The order is 1) songs, 2) manga, 3) light novels, 4) Mekakucity Actors anime.

Also out are Angels of Death Episode.0 3, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody’s 8th manga volume, For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams 3, The Honor Student at Magic High School 10, Is It Wrong to try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Familia Chronicle: Lyu’s 5th manga volume, Kakegurui Twin 4, Monster Wrestling: Interspecies Combat Girls 2, and Phantom Tales of the Night 2.

ASH: Ah, that reminds me I haven’t read first volume Phantom Tales of the Night, yet!

SEAN: Assuming you’re not too full of turkey, what are you getting next week?

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 2

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By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird.

Having started to successfully negotiate life the way that he does games, Tomozaki now runs up against more treacherous waters. Inviting a group out for a lunch accidentally turns into a shopping trip (MUCH harder for someone like him), and he has to ask his library friend out to see a movie, something that would be adorably cute but unfortunately gets derailed by the main plot. The main plot being Mimimi, the overenthusiastic and hyper classmate of his, running for Student Council President… against Hinami. As we discover that Mimimi has a long history of coming in second to Hinami, and see just how far above everyone else Hinami really is, Tomozaki decides that he wants to help Mimimi take her down by winning the election. But is he really good enough to do that now? And isn’t this just ignoring the larger issues that Mimimi has? More to the point, is being the best at everything really something you can criticize? All this, and it’s only the second volume.

We’d seen a hint of Mimimi’s hidden depths in the first volume, but the second one goes into far more detail. (My suspicion is that each girl on the cover art will be the focus of the book in question, so expect library girl to take center stage next time.) It can be hard to constantly find yourself hitting an insurmountable wall, and even harder when it’s a person. There’s a core of self-loathing to Mimimi’s behavior here, as she can’t see a way past what she’s doing without feeling angry with herself. The “what’s the second highest mountain in Japan?” question was a good way to demonstrate it to Tomozaki – with everyone watching Hinami at number one, who’s going to look at the next best? But, as we hear towards the end, Hinami has felt that anger and frustration as well – in fact, it’s what led to this entire situation. As Tomozaki says towards the end of the book, nobody did anything wrong here.

There’s also a lot of good stuff here about student council elections in Japanese schools, and how you have to balance what kids want vs. what teachers will let you talk about. The reader is absolutely meant to root for Mimimi and Tomozaki here. That said, the reader also suspects the result will be as inevitable as Hinami says it is. (I’m still not sure how the author wants us to feel about Hinami – getting a very “Medaka Kurokami” vibe about her.) And then there’s Tomozaki, who does make some good steps forward here (I really liked his buying the hair wax), but needs to stop framing everything as “this is what normies do” and putting himself outside that box. Also struck by a naïveté I was not expecting from him – even I knew what Mimimi did to Tama, but he’s baffled by it the entire book.

So, to sum up: I enjoyed the plot, I liked the characters, the writing felt smooth and readable (very good translation here), and it doesn’t feel quite as much like a self-help guide compared to the first. Overall, it was excellent. Cannot wait for the next book.

Daytime Shooting Star, Vol 3

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Daytime Shooting Star by Mika Yamomori

I’m still enjoying this manga that focuses on the subgenre of teacher-student romance, even though I think the teacher in question has terrible boundaries and the only way for this story to end happily is for Suzume to actually date someone her own age. Perhaps an elaborate time jump where Suzume and Mr. Shishio get together after she has completed college and done a stint in the Peace Corps would also work.

Daytime Shooting Star 3

I was trying to pinpoint why I like this series so much when other Shojo Beat series are more seriously tackling the nature of grief (Ao Haru Ride) or delving into teenage introspection while juggling a love triangle (Shortcake Cake), and I came to the conclusion that for some reason I’m more affected by the art in Daytime Shooting Star. There’s something whimsical about the way that Yamamori designs her characters that just causes me to find practically everyone in the manga adorable and sympathetic.

Suzume deals with an onslaught of emotions as she confesses her feelings to Mr. Shishio when he is asleep, only to realize that he was actually awake. She endures a torrent of teenage embarrassment, and her emotional state isn’t helped all that much when Shishio’s super cool ex-girlfriend starts hanging around again. While Suzume starts researching hypnosis to discover if she will be able to erase someone’s memories, she is able to process her feelings more by talking to Nekota. Suzume decides to get things out into the open with Mr. Shishio, but then ends up running into Mamura who clearly still likes her. Will Suzume’s role as the one girl who Mamura doesn’t seem to be allergic to lead to a new, more age appropriate romance? Both the teenagers and youngish adults in Daytime Shooting Star all seem to be dealing with their own emotional issues due to a variety of reasons, and it is interesting to see Suzume evolve and take charge of her life, even though she’s aware that some of her actions are going to lead to disappointment.

Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension: The Alluring Cave Baths

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By Nagaharu Hibihana and Masakage Hagiya. Released in Japan as “Isekai Konyoku Monogatari” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sophie Guo.

I had to go back and reread my reviews of this series when the new volume came out, just to remind myself what had been happening. It’s been two years since the last book, mostly as the publisher caught up with the author’s webnovel, so had to wait for him to write more. I always recall that I enjoyed this nice, relaxing series, so I was surprised when I reread the reviews and found myself pointing out so many faults. But yeah, after reading Book 6, the faults are still there. The pacing of this series is so slow as to be soporific, there’s descriptions of breasts galore, everyone is so nice that they lack real character, etc. Despite all that, and the fact that I’ve forgotten who 3/4 of the cast are (the character page at the start only shows 6 out of about 24,975 named characters in this book) I still enjoy this nice, relaxing series. It’s easy to pick on, but hard to really hate. It also makes you want to have a good soak.

Touya and his party have arrived at the country of Ares, which is entirely in underground caves, trying to find somewhere they can safely put the cyclops people that are now displaced. After getting a blessing from the Goddess of Earth’s temple, Touya now has blessings from 6 goddesses, and his bath power means the area has now become a full-fledged hot springs inn, with multiple baths and three floors. Unfortunately, while touring the country, Touya accidentally awakens the Demon Lord, the very thing he was called to this world to prevent! Fortunately, as previous books have shown, the past was significantly rewritten by the winners, and additionally the Demon Lord is not really interested in destruction so much as bonding with his granddaughter. Unfortunately, other parties may have a different opinion.

As I said, it’s been two years since I read book 5 in the series/ In earlier reviews, I complained that Touya, in addition to his bath powers, also learned various magic and things, and complained he would be too powerful. Honestly, compared to other light novel protagonists these days, that fear is someone quaint. Tou8ya is not a fighter, he’s a facilitator, something made explicit when there’s a fighting tournament midway through the book, and not only does Touya not participate, he doesn’t even attend. He has more important things to do. Like trying to help Rakti regain her followers, wwhich may also mean telling everyone about the original Goddess of Chaos, the true creator of this world. And explaining to the royal family that, in fact, their history is biased and also their prophecy was misconstrued by everyone. That will probably go less well, and indeed leads into the cliffhanger for Book 7.

When that book arrives is beyond me – the author still hasn’t finished it online, so expect another break. Till then, if you enjoyed a nice, relaxed, possibly too relaxed isekai harem series where there’s little to no conflict between the heroines (because they’re all boring… sorry, that was mean), you should find this a nice little read.

Chivalry of a Failed Knight, Vol. 1

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By Riku Misora and On. Released in Japan as “Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Sol Press. Translated by Benjamin Daughety.

I have to admit, halfway through the first volume of this series I was ready to trash it to hell and back. It reveled in its cliches, at times even lampshading them so that they could get even worse (I’m thinking of the “yes, we’re blood related, but I still want to do my brother” plotline here in particular). And yes, I will admit it, as someone who has read Asterisk War first, a lot of this felt like something done better somewhere else. (For the curious, Asterisk War predates this series by 10 months.) But then things started to improve, not to the point where I ended up loving it, but enough so that I was able to get to the end and thing “Huh. That got better.” In fact, it almost reads like they fired the original writer halfway through and replaced them. So while it’s not my bag, I will admit that after a shaky start this is a decent light novel for those who enjoy magic academies, harems, and red-headed tsundere princesses – though the tsun vanishes fast here.

Ikki Kurogane is one of THOSE protagonists. You know, he’s strong, brilliant with a sword, his mind is sharp and analytical, he’s handsome (in fact, his face is boyishly cute), and he’s a relatively nice, if reserved, young man. But he has no magic. As such, he’s been abused by his family most of his life, is “Rank F” at the magical academy he attends, a rank which they literally admit later in the book is there just to have students that can be abused, a la Assassination Classroom, and due to his family leaning on the faculty he failed and is a first year student for the second time. But there’s a new school director who will allow him to actually fight and defend himself, and also a new student, Stella Vermillion, who is his polar opposite in most ways – a beloved foreign princess with Rank A fire powers and, ça va sans dire, large breasts. That said, they do share the trait of working hard – in fact, Stella despises people who call her “talented” as if she hadn’t trained for years to get to this point. Now that they’re roommates, can they avoid falling in love? And can Ikki win a fight at last?

I’ve already mentioned most of the things I didn’t like about the first half, but mostly it just felt like it was actively courting the typical LN fan without really trying. Things pick up with the arrival of Alice, who is the roommate of Ikki’s sister. (I’ll just skip his sister if you don’t mind.) Alice is a woman who was assigned male at birth, and this fact naturally freaks Ikki out a bit, as he’s a light novel protagonist, and therefore there’s a bit of “but I’m not gay!” here. But he rapidly adjusts, as does the audience, and the novel uses Alice’s preferred pronouns throughout. I was impressed. It helps that Alice is a “voice of reason” character among eccentrics. The final battle was also good, delving into Ikki’s repressed emotions and showing that, now that he’s allowed to fight, he has to open up or he’ll be crushed. Fortunately, he has Stella. The relationship arguably starts a bit fast, but honestly given most light novel hero and heroines that’s actually refreshing.

Gonna be honest, I read too many LNs these days, so the improvement is not enough to get me to continue this series. But it certainly seems like fans of the franchise should definitely enjoy it, and the presentation is fine. Tempting as it is to end this by saying “for fans of Asterisk War”, I know that would be mean. :) For fans of brooding boys and fiery girls.

Pick of the Week: Beasts, Eldritch Horrors, and Cute Girls

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SEAN: Yes, yes, Beastars. (see other entries below) My pick this week is a double shot of the girl tormenting the boy she likes, as I’ll pick the 6th volume of Teasing Master Takagi-san and the debut of Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagotoro. I enjoy this genre.

MICHELLE: Sean’s got me pegged. It’s high time I get on the Beastars train and I shall start by making it my pick of the week.

ASH: Me, too. The first volume was great and the second volume was even better. I’m really looking forward to seeing how Beastars continues to develop!

ANNA: I’ll go for Beastars as well!

KATE: As one of six people in the mangasphere who didn’t like Beastars, I’m going to buck the tide and pick the second volume of Gou Tanabe’s adaptation of At the Mountain of Madness.

Anime NYC 2019, Day Three

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My first and last panel for Sunday was the joint Kodansha and Vertical panel, featuring Ben Applegate and Misaki Kido from Kodansha Comics, Tomo Tran from Vertical, and Megumi Kitahara as the Japanese guest – she’s an editor at Dessert magazine. This is the 10th anniversary of Kodansha Comics as a label.

Vertical’s announcements came first, starting with a Chi’s Sweet Home complete boxset, with the whole series in four volumes. The rest of the Vertical news was all Nisioisin. They confirmed they’re doing Zoku-Owarimonogatari in July, the “final” book in the series (yes, they are aware there are more after this). They also had the cover for Owarimonogatari 2, which surprised me as I was unaware they’d shown us the art for Owarimonogatari 1 yet. 2 features, as readers might guess, Gaen and Shinobu. (1, which I did see at the Vertical VOFAN artshow booth, has Ougi and Sodachi.)

They also announced a new Nisioisin title unrelated to Monogatari… no, not Zaregoto 4. The first in the Bishonen Series was licensed! Pretty Boy Detective Club (Bishounen Tanteidan – Kimi dake ni Hikari Kagayaku Anmokusei) is, as you can see, a mystery series with pretty boys trying to help a girl find a star that only appears once every ten years. It’s from the Kodansha Taiga label, which markets towards readers in their 20s and 30s. It has five volumes total in Japan, though, as with Zaregoto (and Monogatari at first), only the first book is announced.

We then moved on to Kodansha Comics print releases, starting with Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi o Utau), which is a yuri manga from Comic Yuri Hime that has a bubbly girl and a reserved girl, and also involves a band. Blue Period is a seinen manga from Afternoon, from the author of She and Her Cat. A young man decides to pursue a career in the fine arts, then finds out how hard it can be.

Life Lessons with Uramachi-oniisan (Uramichi Oniisan) is from Comic POOL, Ichijinsha’s digital magazine, and is about the guy who hosts the morning calisthenics show they have in Japan and his comedic attempts to give children watching REAL life advice. It’s apparently a savage parody of children’s TV, and has an anime coming soon. Lastly (for print), Heaven’s Design Team is making the jump to the big leagues. It’s still running in Morning Two.

And now we get a monster pile of digital-only titles. To Write Your Words (Kuchiutsusu) is a 3-volume josei series from Kiss magazine about an author asked to write a racier novel than her usual, and the inspiration she gets from… a dentist? Ex-Enthusiasts: Motokare Mania is also from Kiss, and has a TV drama in Japan. A girl who broke up with her ex five years ago is startled to run into him again at the workplace.

Watari-kun’s **** is About to Collapse (Watari-kun no xx ga Houkai Sunzen) is a seinen title that started in Kadokawa’s Young Ace then moved to Kodansha’s Young Magazine. It’s an ecchi comedy with siscons and yanderes. They’re also doing the sequel to Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns! Will they finally get married? Eeeeehhh…

Two series from the same author follow. Atsuko Nanba gives us To Be Next To You (Tonari no Atashi), a 10-volume series from Betsufure, and That Blue Summer (Ao Natsu) is 8 volumes from the same magazine. Both seem to be very much “standard shoujo”, but again, that does not mean it’s bad, only that it’s not revolutionary.

The big surprise for me was GE: Good Ending, a 16-volume shonen romance from Weekly Shonen Magazine, from the author of Domestic Girlfriend. If you enjoyed that one, you’ll definitely like this one, and I recall that when it was running in Japan a lot of guys were arguing about who was best girl, was the ending good, etc. MabuSasa is a shoujo manga from the Palcy online app, about a girl who discovers that a hot guy… is reading BL?

Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow (Ashita, Naisho no Kiss Shiyou) is a Dessert title featuring a couple who are already dating but hide it when they enter high school… except he’s suddenly hot and she’s not getting the same attention. The Dorm of Love and Secrets (Koi to Himitsu no Gakuseiryou) is also Dessert, a 4-volume series about a commoner girl who, by circumstances, is now living in a dorm with “elites”.

I’ll Win You Over, Senpai! (Senpai! Ima Kara Kokurimasu!) is a five-volume series from Nakayoshi, has a girl who is used to love confessions going her way (because she sets them up that way) meeting her match… and finding that she can’t simply take the rejection and go away. Lastly, there’s I Fell in Love After School (Houkago, Koishita), also from Dessert, about a girl with very little presence who becomes the volleyball team’s manager and is dazzled by one of the boys.

After this Megumi Kitahara spoke about her work with Dessert magazine as an editor. Kodansha releases a lot of titles from Dessert, which caters to women from their mid-teens to mid-twenties. Most shoujo is for girls who have never fallen in love – Dessert is for girls who have already fallen in love and know the pain that can follow.

We then get a guide to the process of producing a monthly chapter, in this case the fourth chapter of Living-Room Matsunaga-san, already coming out from Kodansha Comics digitally. We see some of the original concept art and sketches, then a storyboard, the rough layout, and then the final product. She also discusses how hard it is to tell an author “this isn’t interesting”, but it is necessary to have the title succeed. Especially if, like the chapter we saw at the panel, it’s one at the end of a volume.

And that ends my Anime NYC for 2019! The con had a large number of improvements this year, particularly in regards to security and line management, and was entertaining from beginning to end. I can’t wait for 2020.