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Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 26

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

It’s the end of the Forthothe arc, and so most of it ends up being a big battle. Some villains are attacked and kidnapped, as are some of the heroes. And behind it all remains Vandarion, still the weak part of the book. Screaming mad villains just aren’t my thing, and after his main henchman is killed off, he loses whatever sanity he has and just screams threats for 75 pages. He’s helped by a hellmouth of some sort, which means he has the power to keep attacking the Blue Knight even after his mecha-dragon is destroyed, and indeed even after his own body is vaporized. It’s meant to be a terrifying show of willpower, but I have to say I wanted the cast to just kill him off already. Especially as the clever parts of the plan (kidnap Green, then use her to kidnap the royals) was quite good and well handled. Heck, even the henchman’s death was handled pretty well. I get the sense that Takehaya was trying to pad out the battle.

As for what finally kills off the villain, naturally it’s the power of Koutarou and all of his girls. The power of the bond they have between each other is strong, and can repair his giant killer swords to be even more giant and killer. That said, it’s the middle of a space battle, so we unfortunately do not have time to get deeper into Koutarou’s psyche – his mental scars still seem to be in place. It’s only the fact that they might die doing this that prompts the girls to say that while they know that he loves them as family, they want him to love them as women. His reply is said under high emotion, and is not really dwelt on. The series is ongoing after this, so I’m sure we will get back to it. Koutarou needs to be taught to be romantic – and yes, sexual. But not here.

Elsewhere, Elexis and Maya also join in the final battle, helping Koutarou at the cost of their ship and (seemingly) their lives – they’re last seen drifting off into space and can’t be found at the end of the book. That said, I will be VERY surprised if we never see them again. (They also profess their love for each other, though like Koutarou it’s under duress and not particularly sensual – this is a very pure harem series.) Darkness Rainbow’s homeworld makes an agreement with Forthothe, which means that the dark magical girls have achieved what they need to do. All that’s left is to go home and explain why they were gone for two months to their school – I have a sneaking suspicion this will go well for everyone but Yurika. That said, next volume is short stories, which honestly is welcome after an arc this long. It was very good, but I’m happy to see the end of it.

Anime NYC 2019, Day Two

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Saturday started with a live drawing from TAa, the author of Today’s Menu for the Emiya Family. Denpa’s panel Friday did not have much time to introduce her, so this was very welcome. She loves Fate, and her art is excellent – throughout the panel she drew Saber smiling and holding a rice bowl.

TAa started doing Fate fanart as a hobby, then was asked to do a chapter for an anthology, which is how she got a foot in the door. She was then approached to do the EMiya Family manga as a one-shot, and then when it was successful it got picked up as a series. She did that plus her day job for a year and a half, then this became too much, and now she draws manga full time.

She has assistants now, but did not at first, which shows how much work she was putting into the series. As for Fate itself, she got into the series through Fate/Zero, then bought the FSN game and became totally obsessed with it – this is why she started to draw art. She also loved Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, FSN’s sequel game, though notes it’s very hard to find these days. (One of the Emiya Family chapters with Assassin was almost an adaptation of a scene from Ataraxia.)

Ed Chavez, who was the moderator of the live drawing, talked about how cute and soft the anime was, and also the time and budget that UFOTable put into it. When she first heard about the anime, TAa thought she was being pranked! It was a rapid production from inception to release date – possibly as the company is so familiar with the Fate characters. She also got some new ideas discussing things with the anime staff.

When thinking of a new idea for a chapter, usually the food idea comes first, then she thinks of the characters that best suit that food. She also incorporates a lot of seasons and holidays. Type-Moon has almost no involvement at all – this is all her.

We then got some Q&A. She enjoys Japanese food as her comfort food, says obviously she’d want Shirou to cook for her if she had a choice. She and the editor do eat the meals that are in the manga – a tonkatsu was her favorite, though that chapter is not published yet. She was then asked what her favorite characters are to draw – she loves long-haired characters, particularly Rider.

Someone asked if we might see Bazett, the star of Fate/Hollow Ataraxia, and someone else asked if the mysterious robed figure hanging out with Gilgamesh is Caren rather than Kirie. She hedged on the second, but definitely has Bazett in mind for a future chapter if she can think of a good way to introduce her and incorporate the food. Someone also asked about New York City food in the manga – Shirou buys bagels for everyone?

It was agreed that the flashback episode with Shirou and Kiritsugu was the best of the anime episodes. She tries to keep the series very kind and “happy in life” – since Fate was a big battle game originally, she wanted to see more of the day-to-day life. As such, don’t expect a lot of Zero characters or the Lancer “hot dog” joke from Ataraxia. This series is too nice and sweet for things like that.

This is considered the right time for a series to come out – not because cooking manga are new in popularity – in Japan, they’ve always been popular – but because of the popularity of Fate, which ten years ago was not as high. She was also asked her favorite heroine, and the audience tensed – it’s a dangerous question. She likes them all, but picked Saber.

My next panel was Square Enix, which was doing its first Anime NYC panel. After quite a bit of audio difficulty, we started with a video showing off SE’s most famous properties. Tanya Biswas (formerly with Yen) and Leyla Aker (formerly with Viz) are the people behin things in America, with Masa also on the panel as the Square Enix rep. Masa has been to this con before, notes how fun it always is.

They did a recap of prior licenses, and trailers for two of them. Most of these have been talked about before – A Man and His Cat, Cherry Magic and Soul Eater’s Perfect Edition got the most talk. They also gave away A Man and His Cat merch, including a fantastic plushie. We then got several new announcements.

Ragna Crimson is a dark fantasy title from Gangan Joker. A man sets out to get revenge on the dragons who destroyed his partner. The Apothecary Diaries (Kusuriya no Hitorigoto) is probably the title I was most interested in. A woman working in the palace and trying to keep a low profile is found to have knowledge of herbal medicine, and after saving a royal heir, she’s promoted and ends up involved in palace intrigues. She’s apparently quite eccentric. This runs in Big Gangan.

Beauty and the Feast (Yakumo-san wa Edzuke ga Shitai) is a May-December romance, sort of, as a 28-year-old widow finds herself cooking for her 16-year-old neighbor, and food (and possibly romance, but mostly food) follows. It runs in Young Gangan. The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! (Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai!) is a Gangan Joker title about a former demon villainess who’s now in modern Japan and also a cute little girl. Can she get her poweres back? Can her frustration stop being cute? Likely no to both questions.

By the Grace of the Gods (Kamitachi ni Hirowareta Otoko) just had its novel licensed by J-Novel Club. It’s from SE’s MangaUP! app and stars a reincarnated salaryman reincarnated as a boy with magic powers, who discovers that slimes are more valuable than you’d expect. Finally, we get the only novel of the panel, NieR Automata – Yorha Boys. It’s a prequel to the game, and another novel in a series which has already had some novels released by Viz Media.

Next up was Yen Press, who had a ton of new books and also a ton of light novels. The biggest surprise came first – High School DxD, whose manga was licensed in 2014, finally is getting the light novels released. This was a constant request, right up there with Date a Live and Gamers!. I recall not liking the first manga much, but suspecting I’d be more interested in a prose version. Now I get to see if I’m right.

They alternated between manga and novel announcements, so next was Bestia, a Shonen Ace series about a boy who goes to London to discover his past and finds magical beasts and adventure. We then got another surprise LN – High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World, whose manga started coming out in 2018, from the creator of Chivalry of a Failed Knight, also recently licensed.

Lust Geass is a Young Ace title that will play well with fans of ecchi manga, the story of a boy who finds a spell that will cause women’s sexual desires to explode. Restaurant to Another World has already had a manga release digitally via Crunchyroll, but Yen are now going to be releasing it in print. And another light novel, The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai) which combines demon lords and magical academies – two hot genres in one!

A monster girl harem manga came next, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? (Sekai wo Sukuu Tame ni Ajin to Asa-chun Dekimasenka?). It turns out our hero is destined to father the hero who will defeat the demon king… and so everyone wants to sleep with him. (When did Yen Press become Seven Seas?) Another light novel follows, more on the slow life side: Banished from the Heroes’ Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasareta node, Henkyou de Slow Life suru Koto ni Shimashita), a Kadokawa series whose title is its premise.

Sadako at the End of the World (Shuumatsu no Sadako-san) is a post-apocalyptic Sadako manga, where she finds that those who watched the videotape are delighted to see her, as she’s another human being in this wasteland. It sounds fun, is complete in one volume, and ran in Comic Gene. Another light novel, In the Land of Leadale (Leadale no Daichi nite), about a girl with injuries who ends up in a game world. Judging by the cover, this is also a slow life series.

A yuri manga is next: I Love You So Much I Hate You (Nikurashii hodo Aishiteru). A Kadokawa manga, it’s an office life yuri title with adult concerns and problems. The last novel announced is a one-shot, Three Days of Happiness (Sugaru Miaki), a dark fantasy about a young man who sells his lifespan for cash. It’s apparently quite interesting. Lastly, Yen has licensed the Carole and Tuesday manga, based on the anime, which runs in Young Ace.

Q&A then started, but remembering how excruciating that was last year, I left early.

My last stop was J-Novel Club’s panel, with Sam Pinansky and Aimee Zink introducing a giant pile of new
series. They started with two new print announcements – Sexiled, which has had huge buzz ever since it came out, and My Next Life As a Villainess!, which is also getting an anime next year. (More villainesses are coming later in this panel.)

Kodansha has a new imprint called Legend Novels, and from it JNC licensed five new novels. (No new manga announcements this time, these are all novels.) The Economics of Prophecy: Avoiding Disaster in Another World (Yogen no Keizaigaku) seems to be along the lines of Realist Hero, as a reincarnated economics whiz and a princess with prophetic abilities try to save the world.

Kobold King features a gentle man who was very powerful and respected in his time trying to quietly relax and befriend the local kobolds… who are very mistrusting of his powerful self! Outer Ragna (Game Jikkyō ni yoru Kōryaku to Gyakushū no Isekai Kami Senki) doesn’t have the Japanese protagonist, a livestreamer, enter a game world himself – instead he possessed the female lead! Her Majesty’s Swarm (Joō-heika no Isekai Senryaku) has a girl ending up in a game as an evil queen, and unlike a lot of villainesses in these sorts of books, seems to embrace her evil. Also, spiders warning for this one.

Isekai Rebuilding Project (Isekai Saiken Keikaku) was touted by Sam as the first North American book with “isekai” untranslated in the title. It’s about a Japanese man who is called to “fix” worlds where the isekai’d hero has saved the world and gone home… but left too many cultural issues that can’t be put back inside Pandora’s box. Also, the hero has a friend who is a dragon. Seems to be a slow life title.

A new partner for J-Novel Cliub, Pash! Books, gives us the next few series. Teogonia was described as “what if a Ghibli movie was a light novel?”, and he notes this is pure Japanese fantasy about a booy who awaken old memories and discovers the real rules of the world. The World’s Least Interesting Master Swordsman (Jimi na Kensei wa Soredemo Saikyou desu) sounds like a cross between One-Punch Man and I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years, as a reincarnated boy practices his sword skills for 500 years and is the strongest around… but his techniques are boring!

We’re then told about a new label, J-Novel Heart, that will be publishing shoujo light novels! This has long been requested by fans. (By the way, My Next Life As a Villainess!, which is a shoujo LN in Japan, will switch to this new label in print.) The first book is called Tearmoon Empire, which features a spoiled brat of a noble who ends up getting killed because of her family. She ends up redoing her life, and (despite still being spoiled) tries her hardest to avoid getting killed again.

The Tales of Marielle Clarac (each book will be called “The _______ of Marielle Clarac”) isa romance and mystery book, as the rather plain noble girl tries to figure out why the super perfect man of her dreams wants to marry her – is there an ulterior motive? It’s a good book “for wallflowers”. The Bibliophile Princess (Mushikaburi-Hime) is another book with mystery, conspiracy and intrigue, and (as you might guess) has a book lover as the main character.

I Refuse to Be Your Enemy! (Watashi wa Teki ni Narimasen!) is another in those “my reawakened memories tell me I’m actually a villain who gets killed off” sort of books, only instead of trying to fix things with the various handsome young men this girl tries to flee from everything. That won’t go well. Fukushu wo Chikatta Shironeko wa Ryuuou no Hiza no Ue de Damin wo Musaboru, which has a tentative but unapproved English title of The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap, has the best friend of the heroine abandoned in a forest, then turned into a cat. We follow the friend as she tries to get revenge on the “heroine” who abandoned her.

The final license was the biggest surprise: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Isekai, a doujinshi light novel collaboration between six light novel authors, including those behind Tanya the Evil and Re: Zero. It’s a short story anthology, essentially, that began when the authors asked themselves what they’d do if they were isekai’d. This is licensed directly from the authors – no company involved! It’s also pretty short, so should be available soon.

That was the final announcement, and I then headed out to get dinner and type all this up. Tomorrow we get one big panel, and that’s about it. Surprise me, Kodansha and Vertical!

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 2: Apprentice Shrine Maiden, Vol. 1

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

The fourth volume of Bookworm starts a new arc, as Myne has managed to cajole and finagle her way into being an apprentice shrine maiden – and a blue-robed one at that, the elite noble sort of shrine maiden. But things aren’t all magically wonderful, despite the fact that she can now read books. She has three attendants, all of whom dislike her to some degree, and she is not remotely used to talking and acting as a noble should. Despite having an outlet for her Devouring now, she’s still sickly and weak, particularly when she’s reading so much she forgets to eat. The temple has an orphanage that is a nightmare, and Myne has to deal with the fact that if she wants to do something about it, she can’t just half-ass it – she needs to be a benefactor. Can she overcome all this, plus the fact that every time she finds a “solution” to a problem, it creates five more?

Myne may have the knowledge from her past life, but even her past self tended to be a bit flighty, so one of the biggest roadblocks she faces is her acting the way that a normal kid would act – acting on something as soon as she sees it, without thinking of the consequences. This has always been a headache to Benno, but now it’s a headache for the High Priest as well. Honestly, things would go far smoother if she was to simply ask more “common sense” questions about nobility, but “tell me what I don’t know” is hard to answer. I was rather amused when, towards the end of the book, when trying to resolve the issues with Lutz’s family, she’s given a magic device that literally means no one else can hear her talk. Oh, if only this existed in real life.

As for the three attendants, honestly, Myne wins them over fairly rapidly. One is disturbed she’s not acting like a noble and also worries he’s been demoted; another is a bratty kid who’s just never gotten praise for good work before, and the third is the High Bishop’s planted spy, who is trying to stay on the one path available to her, even though “mistress to a noble” strikes Myne as not something to strive for. We also get the usual inventions and ideas from Myne, as we make pizza, create clothes hangers, and discover that the fruits used in a festival event actually can become the rare paper-giving trombes if mana is poured into them – something that could also have huge ramifications down the road, as now the commoners would have a way to fight the Devouring. Myne has to (once more) be sat down and lectured, as life is not as simple as “now no one will have mana poisoning!”.

Those watching the current anime know this is a slow-burn series, and this volume is much the same, despite Myne also becoming an orphanage director. At least she’s reading books… though her revelation that she doesn’t really retain anything she reads boggles my mind. It really is pure pleasure for her, isn’t it? This new arc is four books long, so I look forward to seeing how Myne makes everyone around her smack their foreheads in future volumes.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/15/19

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Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 5 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – We actually get a welcome reminder that Iris is a “reincarnated into an otome game” heroine in this volume, something that’s mostly been ignored aside from her accounting skills. But when her younger brother tries to apologize to her for what happened at school, her Japanese self wants to forgive him but the “Iris” part of her just can’t. It’s well handled. Elsewhere, Iris is going around looking into Yuri and also threats to her kingdom, and it’s starting to get her into trouble. She’s also falling for Dean, despite trying to have nothing to do with romance again. We end with a cliffhanger involving excommunication! Still a lot of fun—I’d love to read the novels. – Sean Gaffney

Anne Happy, Vol. 10 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This final volume doesn’t really “wrap up” the main plot—there is no magical anti-bad-luck MacGuffin that can fix things. We do get a very small flashback of their teacher which shows that she had perhaps worse circumstances than the rest of them, but has learned to keep happy and carry on, so to speak. Which is the moral of the series, really—smile even though life is bringing you down. Hibari is the one who needs that lesson here, as a chance at a family reunion is once again fouled up by her parents’ busy lives. That said, we do see here that luck can also be changed through determination, which is nice. And is that some slight yuri at the end? Anne Happy was never anything but fluff, but it was highly entertaining fluff. Good ending. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 10 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Well, I did it. I persevered to the end and finished Dreamin’ Sun. To the end, I never was fully convinced by the relationship between Shimana and Taiga, and that includes the big finale here, in which the gang is able to get Taiga’s dad to stop meddling in his son’s affairs—we never really get a good explanation why Taiga has remained under his thumb for so long—and thus Taiga is able to go to college (alongside Shimana) and finally pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. They also get married and I must boggle at the detail that they do so after having only kissed once, two years ago. I don’t expect realism in shoujo romance, but I guess my credulity has its limits. I did like Zen and Saeko, though. In the end, this never came close to measuring up to orange. Oh well. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 5 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Izaya is setting up his plots again here, when he’s not fighting with his sisters, but the real villains this time around are Ruri’s psycho fans, who bat Shinra bloody and also attack Anri. Fortunately, she is saved by her two best frie3nds. Unfortunately, one of them, Mikado, is revealed to now be the leader of the Blue Squares, much to Masaomi’s horror. You know all this from the light novel and the anime—once again the manga gets third place. Still, some of the fight scenes are good, and if you’re looking for a manga version of the story, this is that. Damning with faint praise. We’re still only up to book eight or so, too. You really should try the light novels, which have now finished. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya| Yen Press – The first chapter of this final volume once again irritated me for burying me in next-gen cast all at once (along with Hiro’s sister, who again is not a main character so gets to be seen). It gets better as it goes along, with a serious look at not letting your parents’ abuse become your own fault. Sawa, it turns out, is connected to the Sohmas in a far more serious way than she remembered, and one flashback scene verges on terrifying. (Shiki says “she slipped on snow,” but that’s not what we see.) Notably, the situation is not resolved—she’s still living with her mom in the end—but then, we also learn it didn’t resolve itself for the Furuba cast either—Ren is making Shiki’s life miserable, because she’s like that. As such, this justifies this spinoff’s existence—barely. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – In this final volume, we learn more about Sawa’s psychotic mother, including that she had some involvement with the Sohma family in the past. When Sawa asks about this, with much dread, Mutsuki reveals the full story and that everyone knew who she was all along. In fact, Shiki was central to this past event and, with Ren continuing her reign of terror he felt kinship with Sawa and worried about what had become of her. The Sohmas were indeed trying to help her, but they were also trying to help Shiki, too. In the end, this did come around to being genuinely compelling and I wish there were more, because as Sawa notes, she still hasn’t made it out of her horrible situation. If only we could’ve been spared one last appearance by Takei-sensei. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 5 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – The start of this book gives all the fanservice that four was missing and more, as we get naked massages before a bath. Half of this is tolerable, as Ringo tries to find it in her shy self to go on a date with Tsukasa, and we get her tragic past, which (surprise!) involves a lot of child abuse. The second half involves making more medicine since the penicillin isn’t prevalent enough—time for sulfa drugs. Sadly, there’s an evil doctor who’s in the way, so our heroin doctor, um, lobotomizes him? And this is presented as good and/or humorous? Yeah, OK, I’m out. This was a mildly entertaining take on the isekai fantasy with an entire group of OP geniuses, but what the hell? – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Several of Enjoji’s manga series are now available in English, but An Incurable Case of Love is actually the first that I’ve read. Five years ago, Nanase was inspired to go into medicine after meeting an attractive and accomplished young doctor in the hopes of meeting him again. Unsurprisingly, Tendo’s not quite the person she expected him to be when she finally gets the chance to work with him. In reality, her idealized prince has a harsh and exacting personality. Even though Nanase’s original motivation for becoming a nurse was perhaps less than pure, and while it may not be immediately obvious to some, she really does take both herself and her chosen profession seriously. Had it been otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked the manga, but the first volume is a largely enjoyable start to the series and I’m always glad to see more josei being translated. – Ash Brown

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – One of my initial exposures to Araki’s aptly named manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was actually through a tangentially-related work, Rohan at the Louvre, which features the character Rohan Kishibe, a rather intense genius manga creator. Rohan made his first appearance in Diamond Is Unbreakable, so I’ve been looking forward to his introduction since I started reading the series. His debut happens towards the end of this particular volume, following several other short story arcs including one, much to my delight, that proves any manga can indeed be a food manga. This volume has a fair amount of humor to go along with its strange brand of horror and absurd action, too. As a whole, this part of the series comes across a bit more episodic and perhaps slightly more comedic than its predecessors. I’m enjoying Diamond Is Unbreakble in all of its glorious ridiculousness a great deal. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!, Vol. 2 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – I don’t think I reviewed the first volume of this gag series spinoff to the famous shonen manga, but that’s a shame, as it’s really well handled. The gags are personality-based, and the series is not afraid to veer totally away from the source material when needed—half the sports festival is different events, and some battles that don’t lend themselves to gags are omitted. And then there’s Gran Torino, who does not live up to the adorable tsundere granddaughter teaching Izuku in his dreams. There’s a lot of great Uraraka stuff here, for her fans, and a lot of great Yaoyorozu gags as well, though her fans may be a bit annoyed at how socially inept she’s shown to be. Basically, this is hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 1 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – Given the cover art and the magazine that this ran in, I was expecting that I’d be reading about the lead couple on the cover. And I am, and they’re both cute—I like the fact that, despite having the “serious black-haired girl” personality type, Mafuyu is the only one whose grades are bad. But I’m actually more drawn to the other couple, Nana and Minori, best friends to main girl Koharu, who live in an apartment together to attend school and behave exactly like a married couple without actually being one. How yuri this will get is still unknown—so far we’re still at “I may like her”—but if you like your slice-of-life high school with a dash of sweet and cute, this will put a smile on your face. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 6 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Manga – I really loved how this volume of Shortcake Cake portrays Ten’s reaction to Chiaki’s surprising confession. She tries to let him down gently, and is upset about hurting her friend and conscientious about not leading him on. It’s not played for the drama of a love triangle—it’s just sad. And yet, she still does like Riku very much and wants to let him know that her feelings have changed, but now the Chiaki situation has made everything more complicated. Some really cute scenes ensue, but actually most of the volume takes place in Ten’s head as she worries and overthinks everything. We’re halfway through the series at this point and, though it seems like she and Riku will officially get together in the next volume, that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong somehow. Man, I love Margaret shoujo. – Michelle Smith

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – The second volume of Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san is much like the first, with Honda covering more aspects of the bookselling business, including the talented distribution chief with a knack for anticipating what will sell, dealing with “harmful publications,” wholesalers who never supply as many copies as are requested, the difficulty in promoting books that are receiving high-profile adaptations (particularly when bonus items feature popular idols), and dealing with a customer who happens to be a yakuza. It’s pleasant, but I was kind of bummed to learn that after Honda published the chapter about customer service training, she got in some trouble with her bosses and now has to get their approval for everything she writes and worries about being fired. That’s a shame. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this series was going to end with the next volume. The reason for that is a very surprise mutual confession between our two leads, something which I was not expecting to happen for at least a dozen more volumes. It is really well handled, though, and shows that these two shoujo protagonists are actually smart enough to pick up on signals. We also get some backstory for one of Zen’s two guards, Mitsuhide, who is asked by Zen’s older brother to watch over him and therefore must gain the trust of someone who doesn’t trust very easily—and even when he does, he seems to be betrayed. Zen and Shirayuki are very good for each other, and I’m excited to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | VIZ Media – This volume almost feels like a final volume, what with Zen and Shirayuki affirming their feelings for one another and their determination to stay by the other’s side, come what may. The final page seems to suggest a happy ending. Except this is volume four and there are 21 volumes so far. Maybe this was the point where the series changed magazines? In any case, it’s a very nice volume, with Shirayuki showing her willingness to act in Zen’s stead when his station prevents him from doing so—and giving us a glimpse of the upbringing that led to her always trying hard and being independent—as well as a revealing flashback to six years ago when Zen’s friend betrayed him but he found a new person to trust in Mitsuhide. I really enjoy this series! – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – There’s some gorgeous art here, which is good as it may take the mind away from the fact that this is really drawn out for a finale. The basic premise—send Asahi back and the water dragon dies—is obvious, despite Asahi’s protests, and you get the sense that the other gods will eventually do something about it, but it does take forever to happen, with lots of longing pages with no dialogue. Also, how does Asahi return to her normal life so quickly? Still, it’s a happy ending, and the last two pages of the “afterword” 4-kon section make up for it with a hysterical deconstruction of why the Water Dragon won the romance war and Subaru did not. Despite not quite sticking the landing, this was a very good series. – Sean Gaffney

Anime NYC 2019, Day One

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A very busy start to Anime NYC this year. First of all, the line management seemed to be much better this year, though I do wish they’d let people into panel rooms before the actual start of the panel. The first panel I attended was the Shonen Jump panel, with the creators of Dr. Stone as guests. Since I can’t make tomorrow’s much larger Dr. Stone panel, I thought this would be a good choice.

They started off with some giveaways, notably to those with good costumes. We then got some Shonen Jump announcements. Most of the new titles had already been announced at NYCC, but they did have some new things to promote. Naruto is 20 this year, and Hisashi Sasaki talks about how exciting they thought the original proposal was, and that green-lighting it was a no-brainer.

Jujutsu Kaisen is out soon, and there were early copies of the manga at the exhibit hall. They also announced that the suddenly super duper popular Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba will be getting a speeedup to catch up with Japan faster – monthly releases starting in the spring. They’re also adding chapters to the “Shonen Jump Vault” for members.

Speaking of that vault, there was a passel of digital-only license announcements, all rattled off at the speed of sound. Robot x Laserbeam, Red Sprite, Love Rush!, Hi-Fi Cluster, Yui Kamui Lets Loose (from the Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan creator), The Last Saiyuki, Ne0;lation, Hell Warden Higuma, and Stealth Symphony (from the Baccano! writer). Most of these are 2-3 volume series from the last four years or so of Jump, and they would not otherwise get releases here. It’s nice to see them.

Also mentioned, and previously revealed at NYCC, were the new Bleach, One Piece and Naruto light novels.

After that we got Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi, the creators of Dr. Stone, as well as their editor Honda-san. Riichiro seemed very extroverted, and tried out some English on us. Boichi was more soft-spoken and quiet. Most of he questions came from the Viz team, rather than the audience, which I felt worked very well.

When the editor wanted to team up Inagaki with an artist (he had previously written Eyeshield 21 as well), Boichi naturally came to mind. Inagaki starts with the storyboards, which he calls scribbles but Boichi says are quite detailed. (There was a lot of “you’re the best – no, you are” during the panel, which was very fun.) Both also insisted they had the easiest job.

They were both very interested in science as kids, with Boichi saying he did a high school physics competition. He noted Arthur C. Clarke as an influence. They also discussed favorite scientists, including (inevitably) Einstein, but also Newton, Dawkins, Hawking, Carl Sagan (singled out by Boichi for making science “warm”), as well as the Japanese scientist who discovered Gibberellin, the seedless grape chemical (who is also the grandfather of Inagaki’s wife!).

Honda was asked what the Japanese editor does, and explained it was a lot of support and logistics – tries to make things possible for the creators. They were asked, given the location of the con, if Senku and company would make it to New York, and it was pointed out they would need a very good reason. Pizza? Could be a good reason.

Boichi was also asked about his very detailed art, and discussed how backgrounds and real-life detailed things take a lot of time due to the research, while characters took him less time. Boichi then stunned the room by stating that it took him one to one and a half hours to finish a page. For those playing along at home, that’s VERY fast. Even with three assistants, all apparently excellent artists.

Inagaki was asked how this differs from Eyeshield 21’s writing, and he said that, being a sports manga, he was far more beholden to rules and regulations with Eyeshield – here he can go wild a lot more. The Dr. Stone characters don’t have special powers like a lot of Jump characters, so he has to rely on science – it needs to strike a balanced tone between scientifically valid and fun. (When asked if Eyeshield 21 and Dr. Stone were in the same universe, the answer was a big NO.)

Boichi was asked about Dr. Stone’s memorable “gag faces”. Again, Boichi states they all are drawn up in the storyboards, and he just touches them up – while Inagaki insists his art is horrible compared to Boichi’s. Favorite character to draw? Kohaku, not just in terms of gag faces but all faces. He jokingly says “I don’t care about Senku.”

Asked whether anime will be invented by Senku, “not with the level of tech they currently have” seems to be the answer. Back to Honda, who notes how much fun editing is, mostly as he gets to read everything first. Indeed, with the finished chapter, he reads it before Inagaki! They then talked about the process for the new spinoff, which Boichi is both writing and drawing. Boichi also talked about using the old French-Canadian film Quest for Fire as a reference for the prehistoric landscapes.

Both creators seemed happy to be there, and were very receptive to the American fans.

The next panel was Denpa, who had as special guest TAa, the artist behind Today’s Menu with the Emiya Family. But first we had panel announcements, which included some stuff they’d announced at the previous Anime NYC – this year has been a “learning experience” for Ed and Jacob, but the schedule seems to be firming up now. They did have a copy of the Gambling Apocalypse Kaiji omnibus, which looks highly impressive.

Much discussion of titles out already or out in the next few months followed, including “Fate/Stay for Dinner” and Heavenly Delusion, which had an animated promo. The Girl with the Fierce Eyes also appeals to me, and it will be interesting to look at Shino Can’t Say Her Name and see if it can avoid getting as dark as Flowers of Evil or Happiness.

After mentioning they were close to launching a new website, we did get some new licenses. Baby Bar’s Bakery (a tentative title) is from Shogakukan, and is about a baby bear that also happens to be a master baker. It’s sweet and cuddly, and really big in Japan, collaborating with sweet shops and stores.

Fate/Go Chaldea Scrapbook is another Fate license, a one-volume manga from Kadokawa. It seems to be amusing takes of the FGO franchise – I spotted Mysterious Heroine X among the heroines in the art.

The big license, at least in my opinion, was L’il Leo. This Moto Hagio title from Flower Comics is about a kitten who grows up with a child and then decides that it too can go to school, get a job etc. It’s one volume, and apparently plays to Hagio’s strengths at bending the concept of what is human.

Lastly, we got The Men Who Created Gundam a two-volume series being released as one omnibus here. Part biography, part comedy, this series from Hideki Owada will tell the story of Gundam as it’s never been told before.

After this we had a few minutes to meet TAa, who will also have a livedraw session tomorrow. She talked about how happy she was to walk around New York and admire the buildings, and how stunned she was at the huge poster for her work in the exhibit hall. When asked if American Fate fans were different from Japanese ones, she notes that “all Fate fans are lively”.

After walking about the Exhibit Hall a bit, my final panel for the evening was “?! vs !? – The Great Debate”. Here Zack Davisson and Erica Friedman debated each other on important issues such as Honorifics, romanization, translation notes, localization, and regional accents. The panel was quite fun, mostly as Zack and Erica were mock-attacking each other all the time.

The audience also seemed to be having fun, though when scanlation came up it got a bit grumpy. Needless to say, both Zack and Erica are very pro-official release and anti-scanlation, and almost all the audience quesitons at the end were about that, with most of them being variations on “yes, but this is an exception, so I have to keep reading scanlations”. It did not go over well. Despite that, it was a highly enjoyable panel. Oh yes, and ?! and !? are meant to convey two completely different things. Apparently. Also, when Zack argued that shounen is pronounced “ooo”, when it should be ‘oh’, my first thought was of Seanan McGuire, and I wondered what Seanan Jump would be like.

This was a busy day, but tomorrow is even busier. Hopefully I will be able to give you a lot of news – the lines may be murder.

Manga the Week of 11/20/19

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SEAN: There’s more November to come, and more manga as well.

Bookwalker gives us a 10th volume of The Ryuo’s Work Is Never Done!, which according to LN fans is still the best series that I’ve dropped after reading the first page.

Lots of folks seem to have this already, but Dark Horse gives us a 2nd volume of At the Mountains of Madness, the new H.P. Lovecraft manga adaptation. Expect loss of sanity.

ASH: I’ve not read the source material to know how it compares, but I found the first volume engaging and plan on reading up more.

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts Altina the Sword Princess, which comes from the pen of How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord’s author, but I will try not to hold that against it. A gorgeous redhead with a big sword teams up with an apathetic soldier who reads a lot of books. Can they change the world?

We also get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 8, the 3rd Arifureta Zero spinoff, and Mixed Bathing in Another Dimension 6, the first new volume of this underrated series in two years.

Debuting from Kodansha is Tales of Berseria, another adaptation of a video game manga.

Also in print is Gleipnir 5, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 4, and The Seven Deadly Sins 35.

Digitally, there’s Cosplay Animal 9 (the first new volume of this series in over a year), Defying Kurosaki-kun 13, Fairy Tail: 100 Years Quest 2, My Boss’s Kitten 2, and The Great Cleric 4.

There’s a cliche that the moment a light novel is licensed, some horny LN fan will ask if there’s sex in it. The answer, at least for licensed novels, is almost always no. But good news for horny fans! Sol Press has a new imprint called Panty Press, and they’re debuting the first 18-rated light novel in North America, Busy Wizard: This Warlock Just Wants to Provide for His Wives!. A warlock who’s grown strong in the mountains makes his way towards the imperial capital, but finds young women as he goes along.

ASH: Huh. I somehow missed the news about the new imprint.

MJ: I’m trying to figure out how to react to the name of that imprint. I don’t think it’s a great reaction.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a digital-first debut with Citrus+, the sequel to the popular yuri soap opera. Yuzu and Mei are now openly dating, what comes next?

The fourth Classroom of the Elite light novel also gets its digital-first release.

As for print, no debuts here, but we do get Classroom of the Elite 3 (in print), Generation Witch 5, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord’s 6th manga volume, My Monster Secret 18, My Next Life As a Villainess! has a 2nd manga volume, Reincarnated As a Sword gets its third LN in print, Shomin Sample 11, and Wonderland 4.

Tokyopop debuts Still Sick, a Mag Garden series about a woman who secretly draws yuri doujinshi and her bright and sunny colleague who finds out.

Udon has the 2nd Stravaganza omnibus, which hopes to be as bananas as the first one was.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give this series a try; maybe that time has come.

MJ: Same.

SEAN: Vertical debuts Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagotoro (Ijiranaide, Nagatoro-san), which is part of a hot new genre of girls teasing guys (see also Teasing Master Takagi-san and Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out!). Nagotoro seems to be more aggressive about it than those others.

Viz debuts Levius/est, a continuation of the original Levius that changed names when it changes publishers – this runs in Ultra Jump.

ASH: Another manga I’ve been meaning to try! (I’ve apparently got some catching up to do…)

SEAN: They also have BEASTARS 3, Children of the Whales 13, No Guns Life 2, Ran and the Gray World 5, and the 4th Urusei Yatsura omnibus, which is the most important of those. (Look, if you want unbiased release lists, go somewhere else.)

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on BEASTARS.

ASH: The first volume was great! I just got my hands on the second, so hopefully the trend continues.

ANNA: I need to get caught up too!

SEAN: Yen On has the 3rd volume of 86.

Yen Press gives us Bungo Stray Dogs: Another Story, a spinoff manga of the light novel which is a spinoff of the original series.

ASH: That seems appropriately meta.

SEAN: They also have Kemono Friends a la Carte, a manga anthology with lots of cute stories written by various artists.

Lastly, we get Kaiju Girl Caramelise 2 and Teasing Master Takagi-san 6.

See? I told you we’d have more manga. What’s in your wishlist?

The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody: The Myth-Killing Honor Student

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By Myojin Katou and Sao Mizuno. Released in Japan as “Shijou Saikyou no Daimaou, Murabito A ni Tensei Suru” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

Sometimes I read light novels and feel that, despite the annoying main character, the ludicrous power levels, and the ongoing “horny teenager” vibes, that it’s worth it in the end because the author has something interesting to say behind all that. Sadly, sometimes I do not. Here we have a case of the latter, a series that wants to be “merely entertaining” and succeeds in the sense that I made it to the end of the book, but I was dragging my feet towards the end. Our hero is either frustratingly dense or frustratingly blase, the entire female cast is sorted by the size of their breasts, and the main joke, which is that he’s trying to hide the fact that he’s a reincarnation of the ancient demon lord, is not really something that can be stretched out over an entire series – though apparently we’re going to try. The author says they’ve only been a writer for a year, and I feel that this could be an example of publishers moving to the webnovel well too fast.

Varvatos is a demon lord who has saved the world countless times over but is alone and friendless. He decides to die and reincarnate himself as a normal human being, Ard, several hundred years later, so that he can make friends and have a happy life. There are several problems with this. The first is that he retains his demon lord memories, and he’s just as socially inept as he was before, so making friends is hard. The second is that he’s the son of two of the three great heroes, and what he’s been thinking of as “relatively weak magic” is actually “I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!” powers. So any attempt at living a normal life is out of the question. With the help of Ireena, a shy and busty elf girl who’s his neighbor and first actual friend, and Ginny, a busty succubus with self-esteem issues and a liking for harems, he will start life at his magical academy and be… not a typical nobody.

You’ll notice I wrote ‘busty’ twice in that last paragraph, but that’s simply as Ard tells us about the size of his friends’ breasts over and over again throughout the book. This is at least excusable with Ginny, a succubus who is actually trying to seduce him, but Ireena is his “childhood friend” who he feels a “fatherly affection” for, so it just gets annoying. And yes, the fatherly affection bit is him in denial. Given that he’s already one of the most powerful people in the world at the start of his school life, there’s also a distinct lack of conflict that makes you wonder who will prevail. The sole threat comes towards the end, when Ireena is kidnapped by the villain, stripped naked, and threatened with a tentacle monster. Sigh.

There are one or two plot points that actually surprised me, mostly involving the circumstances of Ard and Ireena’s births, but on the whole this was a bit of a slog. Recommended if you like describing all your friends based on their breast size and also if you like super strong protagonists who constantly get to show it off.

One Piece, Vol. 92

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Stephen Paul.

When One Piece was a young, relatively new series, ages ago, it was relatively easy to jump right into, with story arcs that rarely bled into each other all that much. Once they arrived in the New World, though, all that has changed, possibly as Oda realized that a 92-volume series is much harder to have people jump right into with no information. As such, storylines have bled together a lot more than they used to. Law is back again, of course, and the rest of the supernovas seem to be following, as when Luffy is thrown into prison midway through this book, he meets up with Kidd, and the two of them seem to be competing to see who can be the most badass prisoner (it’s a tie). There’s drug-running… pardon me, artificial devil fruit running, which Luffy upended by taking down Doflamingo. And of course Big Mom is back, chasing after the Straw Hats, though the cliffhanger suggests she may have a very different role to play this time.

She’s covered up by the 92 (a very unfortunate placement), but I did notice Robin’s expression along with Usopp and Frankie’s was enough to make the cover art this time around. This is nothing new for Usopp and Frankie, but I still tend to remember Robin as being the one who has “normal facial reactions”, as per Oda himself, and so it always startles me whe I see things like this, even though this isn’t the first time she’s overreacted comedically. I guess it’s meant to be a sign that she’s fully integrated into the crew now – or, perhaps more accurately, a sign that Oda no longer sees her as “untouchable”. It helps that she’s not around the rest of the crew – though everyone’s in Wano, several of the cast are still investigating on their own, which allows Robin to try to be a spy (unsuccessfully), Nami to try to be a ninja (semi-successfully), and Frankie to play a wonderful game of “who’s got the plans?” that goes nowhere.

And then there’s Sanji, who I have discussed many times before. There is a bit of his “I only care about women” behavior here as he runs his soba stand and leers at Robin as a geisha, but once the mob moves in and he has to actually defend people he turns into the cool Sanji that women might actually be attracted to if he could stop being an eternal perv around them. Speaking of which, I found it amusing that one of my least favorite parts of Thriller Bark – Sanji yelling about losing his dream of turning invisible so he could spy on naked women all the time – is seen in a flashback here, as he puts on a superhero suit (no, really, it’s literally that) to fight, because once again he’s the one whose identity is still unknown. And this also ties in with his family as well, showing that self-contained arcs really are in the past now.

The cliffhanger involving Big Mom is quite interesting, and I will not be at all surprised if she and our heroes now team up in some way (because why else give her amnesia?). Till then, enjoy a volume of One Piece that is a bit less chaotic than most of the recent ones, but still excellent.

Short Takes: No Guns Life and Ryuko

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This month’s Short Takes column checks in with two previously-reviewed series: No Guns Life, a sci-fi thriller whose principled hero sounds like Sam Spade and looks like a Remington; and Ryuko, a thriller starring a yakuza assassin who’s hell-bent on avenging her mother’s kidnapping.

No Guns Life, Vol. 2
Story and Art by Tasuku Karasuma
Translation by Joe Yamazaki; Adaptation by Stan!
VIZ Media, 224 pp.
Rated T+ (Older Teens)

After a decent, if predictable, first volume, Tasuku Karasuma finds his groove in volume two of No Guns Life, maintaining a brisk pace while allowing his characters’ personalities to emerge more fully. Though the action occasionally pauses for the characters to expound on important plot developments, these dialogues are less of a drag on the story than they were in volume one; here, they add badly needed layers of  complexity to a familiar noir plot line. Better still, Karasuma introduces several new characters who push the narrative in a more interesting direction, hinting at the power and secrecy of the Berühen Corporation, as well as the general public’s mixed feelings about living alongside cyborgs. If Karasuma engages in a little too much fanservice, or relies too heavily on speedlines and sound effects to enliven his fight scenes, No Guns Life is still entertaining enough to make all but the most discriminating reader root for Juzo to succeed. Recommended.

VIZ Media provided a review copy. Click here to read my review of volume one.

Ryuko, Vol. 2
Story and Art by Eldo Yoshimizu
Translation by Motoko Tamamuro and Jonathan Clements
Titan Comics, 226 pp.
No rating (Best suited for older teen and adult readers)

Paging the exposition police! The second volume of Ryuko has all the swagger of the first, but leans more heavily into Talking Points Conversation to help expedite its resolution. In some respects, these exchanges are a welcome development, as they clearly—one might say baldly—delineate the various factions’ interest in the Golden Seal, an object whose significance was glossed over in volume one. These passages also help the reader untangle the complex web of relationships among the characters, making it easier to grasp why Ryuko forges an alliance with an avowed enemy and why US military forces are trying to manipulate the outcome of her feud with the Sheqing-Ban. These conversations would feel less forced if the pacing were more even, but the two-volume format is too compressed for such an ambitious, labyrinthine plot to unfold at a reader-friendly pace.

Volume two’s chief attraction is the same as volume one’s: the artwork. Eldo Yoshimizu has a flair for staging car chases, fist fights, gun battles, and dramatic escapes, immersing the reader in the action with his creative use of perspective and fastidious attention to detail; Ryuko’s leopard-print catsuit is practically a character in its own right. In less capable hands, this maximalist approach might be overwhelming, but Yoshimizu’s layouts have a strong narrative pull that leads the eye across the page at the speed of the action, creating an almost cinematic experience. The final confrontation between Ryuko and evil American operatives is a show-stopper involving a motorcycle stunt so outrageous that even Jackie Chan would be impressed with its audacity. None of the story makes much sense, but Yoshimizu’s energetic, bold, and—yes—sexy artwork is cool enough to carry the day. Recommended.

Click here to read my review of volume one. 

The Hero Is Overpowered But Overly Cautious, Vol. 2

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By Light Tuchihi and Saori Toyota. Released in Japan as “Kono Yuusha Ga Ore TUEEE Kuse Ni Shinchou Sugiru” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matt Rutsohn.

This is very much a book of two halves. The first half is very much like the first book. They’re still trying to fight demon generals, Seiya is still rude and appalling, Rista is still screaming at him (and also lusting at him), etc. It’s funny, though not as funny as the first book, and I am reminded why I thought it would be hard to sustain over a long series. Then halfway through Rista realizes, as they head towards a major battle, that Seiya did NOT say “I’m perfectly prepared”, and everything turns very dark very fast. Normally that would be a disaster in a series like this, which is supposedly a lighthearted comedy. But in this case it’s so well-handled and emotionally draining that I have to applaud. We also get Seiya’s backstory, which I had suspected earlier, and it makes sense. And we also get Rista’s backstory, which was far more of a surprise. You will forgive the lack of humor.

This is not to say that the front half of the book is not funny. It might actually be better animated – the anime is airing as I write this, and there’s something about Seiya throwing Rista around like a rag doll that cries out to be seen and not read. We meet Rosalie, and if I said “daughter of the emperor and swordswoman” you can probably guess her entire personality from there. She and Seiya clash immediately, and he’s far more obnoxious towards her than even those who know Seiya are expecting (the reason for that comes later). Seiya needs to learn some more new tricks, and so gets bow and arrow training from a very thirsty goddess (making Rista jealous) and additional training from the goddess of Destruction, which involves being naked in bed together (and leaves Rista infuriated).

But then comes the second half, and I will try not to spoil everything but do have to talk about some things. You know that things are taking a turn for the dark when you see an old man cheerfully holding his wife and child’s severed heads in a bag, and it has to be said that Seiya is undone more by humans turning bad than demons. He then tricks Rista and the others into staying behind while he fights the Demon Lord by himself – because (as I’d guessed), this is not his first isekai, and in a previous world he was far more typically charge ahead and get things done so as to save the most people. The horrifying result of this means that he tells his future summoned self (who does not have memories of this) to be super, super cautious about everything. Fortunately, Rista finds out about this, and the ending, while relatively tragic, is also inspirational – the “I’m perfectly prepared” line will leave a lump in your throat this time.

This book feels like it could have ended here very nicely. The world is saved, but Seiya is “dead” and Rista needs to be punished for using her goddess powers on full blast to help him, a forbidden act. They are thus sent back to Seiya’s first world, now a hellish nightmare run by the Demon Lord. The series does go on, of course, though I’m now less concerned with whether the author can keep up the madcap humor as to what happens when he returns to it. Still, props to this excellent second book, which is not nearly as funny but very emotionally satisfying.