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Manga the Week of 12/3/19

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SEAN: Last month of the year. Gotta squeeze in all the manga and novels you can.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a bunch of stuff, mostly print. We get print versions of An Archdemon’s Dilemma 2 (the novel) and a digital version of the same (only it’s the manga). Adventures of a Bookworm also gets a 2nd digital manga. Cooking with Wild Game has a 5th novel digitally. How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord has print (7) and digital (11) novels, which may catch us up with Japan. There’s print Vol. 6 of If It’s for My Daughter, etcetc., Etc. Smartphone, and the Magic etc. Is Too Far Behind 6. (Look, it’s hard to type those all out.) We get the print debut of the Marginal Operation manga, and the 10th Master of Ragnarok and Blesser of Einherjar novel digitally. I’m sure that paragraph makes total sense.

ASH: It makes me so happy that J-Novel Club releases print editions. (Still hoping for Faraway Paladin one of these days…)

SEAN: In print, Kodansha has Attack on Titan 29 and L*DK 14.

The digital debut is To Write Your Words (Kuchiutsusu), a josei manga from Kiss about an author who is great at platonic stories asked to being write something more sexual. She ends up getting help from… a dentist?

MICHELLE: As you do.

ANNA: That sounds hilarious, but I can’t keep track of all the digital manga!

MJ: I mean, that sounds great.

SEAN: There’s also Drifting Dragons 5, My Sweet Girl 9, Our Fake Marriage 2, Smile Down the Runway 4, and The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Down 9. There’s also digital debuts for the Satoshi Kon titles Dream Fossil and Tropic of the Sea, which came out a few years ago.

Seven Seas debuts PENGUINDRUM (Mawaru Penguindrum), a manga adaptation of the famous anime. It ran in Comic Birz.

ASH: Curious to see how the adaptation plays out since sometimes manga based on Ikuhara’s works can be dramatically different than their anime counterparts.

SEAN: They also have Harukana Receive 5, Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka 8, and a digital edition of the 4th Reincarnated As a Sword.

Tokyopop has a 4th Aria the Masterpiece omnibus and the 3rd Hanger.

Vertical has a gorgeous omnibus 20th Anniversary Edition of Paradise Kiss, which does admittedly remind me it’s also the 20th anniversary of fans begging for Neighborhood Story to be licensed.

MICHELLE: Yep.

ANNA: I would like to beg for Neighborhood Story! I have already bought Paradise Kiss two times, so I will probably not be getting this but it is great for those who haven’t already read the series.

ASH: Paradise Kiss is really, really good. Glad to see it’s being kept in print.

MJ: What everyone else has said so far! We need all the Ai Yazawa we can get, in whatever form it happens to appear.

SEAN: Viz has its usual pile. Debuting is Jujutsu Kaisen, a new Shonen Jump series that starts with a boy eating a finger and only gets weirder from there. For dark fantasy adventure fans.

MICHELLE: Urg. I was somewhat intrigued by this but finger-eating is pretty dang gross.

ANNA: Huh. I am curious although finger-eating does give me pause.

ASH: The cover of the first volume gives me Parasyte vibes, so I’m in, finger-eating and all.

MJ: Count me in.

SEAN: More Jump? Sure. Dragon Ball Super 7, Food Wars! 33, My Hero Academia 22, One Piece’s 30th 3-in-1 (which I think catches it up), One-Punch Man 18, Platinum End 10 (which still amazingly has not killed their careers), and We Never Learn 7.

MICHELLE: Several good things here!

MJ: I have not kept up with Platinum End, and I wonder if I’ve made a mistake.

SEAN: On the Shojo Beat end, we have Ao Haru Ride 8, Queen’s Quality 8, Takane & Hana 12, and Yona of the Dawn 21. Winners, all.

MICHELLE: Indeed, *all* good things, here!

ANNA: Yay!!!!!

ASH: A good week for good shoujo!

MJ: Even I’m reading most of these!

SEAN: Yen has a few titles that drifted into the first week of December. Debuting is You Call That Service?, a light novel series from Yen On from the creator of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years. It stars a man who winds up in the mountains and meeting a vampire girl. Expect humor.

Also from Yen On is Re: ZERO 11, So I’m a Spider, So What? 7, and Wolf & Parchment 4.

Just two manga from Yen: Happy Sugar Life 3 and KonoSuba’s 9th manga volume.

Have you finished your shopping yet?

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 8

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

It has to be said, our four heroines are getting just a wee bit famous, especially when they return to the area near where they went to hunter’s school. Sometimes this is good, as it means that we don’t have to have quite as many reaction shots of everyone boggling at their OP selves. And sometimes this is bad – for them, at least, as the funniest scene in the entire book as them running up against a guild master who saw their final exam battle way back in the early volumes. And bought the figures. With poses that… seemed cool at the time. Though it may not look like it, our heroines are slowly growing up, and part of that process is looking back on the dumb things you did in your youth and cringing. And nothing hammers this home quite like a figure of you in a dorky pose you thought was really cool being venerated by a creepy middle-aged man.

The book is divided into four large sections. The first has Mile and company returning to her homeland to save the kingdom. The interesting thing here is that, because of Adele’s sheltered upbringing both before and after her mother’s death, no one remembers her very well. So when Mile shows up, she’s actually assumed to be her late mother, literally returning from heaven to help them. (The best part of this is finding out that Mabel, Adele’s mother, was basically the spitting image of her daughter, and was also highly eccentric. Even without the reincarnated memories, Mile would still likely have been Mile.) The invasion is handled relatively easily, and starts up a nice running gag of Pauline and company charging everyone for food and drink that they desperately need. The second section has them returning to base… and immediately setting out again, before they can be married off or otherwise ensnared.

The third section has Mile and company, along with two other hunting parties, helping a group of soldiers battling an infestation of monsters that are sent by the neighboring enemy kingdom. This is probably the weakest section, and drives home the point that our heroes needs stronger enemies or they risk being bored… and having the reader be bored as well. The final section leads to a cliffhanger, and has the Crimson Vow go to a village of dwarves, who are unable to craft their materials anymore as the mountainside is infested with orcs and ogres. Abnormally strong orcs and ogres. This works very well as Mile is genuinely startled by this, and actually encourages everyone to fight their hardest. It promises a strong beginning next time. It also shows off something relatively rare: Mile plans ahead for the village by buying a lot of high-quality alcohol to sell to the dwarves, and… then sells it, despite the lampshading about it being the perfect plan. I was waiting for it to go wrong.

The anime adaptation of the series has now begun, and I hear adds a lot more fanservice. This volume does, like the previous ones, talk about everyone’s breasts more than anyone cares, but other than that (and Mile’s ludicrous Goddess costume) is content to let the characters and humor drive the book. A lot of fun.

Urusei Yatsura, Omnibus 4

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

I’ll be honest, I wasn’t looking forward to this volume quite so much. Don’t get me wrong, I love UY with all my heart. But I knew we were going to get a heaping helping of Ten here, and Jariten has always grated on me. That said, as I re-read these manga chapters, he didn’t come off quite as badly as I’d expected. The thing is, Ten was SUPER popular when he first appeared in Japan – if not with the readers, then definitely with the animators of the soon-to-come anime series, which took the liberty of inserting Ten into the third episode and having him shoehorned into most episodes after that. But “bratty little kid” has always been a harder sell in the West, particularly if they’re not the ‘sarcastic adult’ kind of brat – look at the four or five failed attempts to sell Crayon Shin-chan here. So it was always hard for me to not just grit my teeth. But here, in the manga chapters written specifically for him, he’s a lot of fun.

Ten, like Mendo before him, is meant to set up a basic truth of the series. Many of the male characters are set up to be contrasts to Ataru, only for it to turn out in the end that they’re exactly the same as Ataru. Ten is a “cute little baby” to most of the women around him, which he uses shamelessly, as he notes he’s not into young girls his own age. (What age that is is left up in the air – he certainly seems very angry when someone calls his tiger skin a diaper.) But of course, Ataru never gets anywhere with any girl not named Lum, and the same applies to Ten – sure, he can snuggle in some bosoms, but he’s essentially just as much of a sad sack as everyone else in the book. He’s also naive enough to be taken in by Ataru’s really, really obvious schemes – see the chapter where he and Sakura go on a “date” that is meant to have her beat him like Ataru but doesn’t work as Ten is a x-year-old boy.

Elsewhere, Ran settles in as a main cast member, though when the focus isn’t on her, her characterization can vary – during the poetry competition, she seems like a different person! There’s a 3-chapter arc set during the Heian period… sort of, note they’re all watching TV and have electricity… which is basically there to show that the cast’s crazy adventures are timeless. Probably my favorite chapter is one where Ataru has made an “anti-teenage gang” movie for the school. It’s absolutely terrible, and Mendo tries to have it destroyed, but instead, thanks to Lum’s alien projector, the delinquents in the movie come to life and terrorize the school… then fend off an invasion by delinquents from another school. From seeing the main cast dressed up as stereotypical delinquents, to movie-Ataru’s ‘LOVE AND PEACE!’, to movie-Lum and Shinobu literally being able to fire huge missiles from under their skirts, it’s pure Takahashi hilarity.

With Ten’s arrival, we’re almost at UY’s middle period here. Takahashi has settled in and is doing what she does best – writing zaniness. Anyone who loves seeing what comedy manga was like at its peak should be reading this.

Pick of the Week: Of Mice and Manga

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MICHELLE: I have wanted to read The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese for quite a few years, so to me there is really no other choice.

ANNA: Me too, I am excited for The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese!

SEAN: I’m going with Seven Little Sons of the Dragon, which has an amazing cover and I love its author’s other series. Short story collection 4tw.

KATE: I feel like a Vegas gambler stumbling across an all-you-can-eat buffet after being on a losing streak: I just want to fill up my plate with as much delicious manga as possible! Any week that brings a new volume of Blank Canvas, a one-shot manga by Setona Mizuhiro, and a collection of short stories by Ryuko Kui is a good week in my book. If I had to pick just one title, though, it would be Akiko Higurashima’s Blank Canvas, a funny, insightful, and brutally honest look at how she became a manga artist; it’s the perfect antidote for the testosterone-fueled nonsense in Bakuman.

ASH: I’m going to echo everyone here, Blank Canvas, The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese, and Seven Little Sons of the Dragon are all at the top of my list this week! It’s American Thanksgiving in a few days… no one minds if I take a couple extra helpings of manga picks, do they?

MJ: Even if I knew nothing about it, I’d pick The Cornered Mouse Dreams of Cheese based on the title alone. The fact that this is a much-anticipated title is just a bonus.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?, Vol. 4

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By Dachima Inaka and Iida Pochi. Released in Japan as “Tsujo Kogeki ga Zentai Kogeki de Ni-kai Kogeki no Okasan wa Suki desu ka?” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

There is a certain weariness to this volume of Do You Love Your Mom?. The author implies at the afterword that they had not expected this series to run quite as long as this, and taking that one gag and making it go over and over is hard. It shows in this volume’s villain, who manages to make the villain of Book 3 look competent. She has one trick, and when it doesn’t work she essentially whines and moans. There’s also a pile of mothers who are lured into the plot because, well, they’re not all that good at being mothers. It’s meant to set up the final moral, which is that it doesn’t matter if you’re bad at cooking and sewing as long as you have feelings for your children, but I do wonder: are there any dads in this world at all? Why can’t they do the housework? It likely won’t come up, as the premise is moms and children, but I am curious.

Our heroes wind up in Casino Town, and the goal is immediately to get rich so they can buy items and not have Mamako steal all the glory and level ups. Naturally, this goes badly. Masato and his mom end up going on a day-long date where Mamako dotes on him to a hideous degree (the entire “let me wash your back” scene can just go away), while the other three try to cheat at the casino and are immediately captured and converted into bunny girls. Yes, even Porta. Now Mamako and her son must invade the casino to win back the others, and also find out about a sinister plot that involves the mothers of this town disappearing, and their children imprisoned. Fortunately, Mamako has had an entire day of spoiling her son, so her mom powers are higher than they’ve ever been…

I am, as always, most pleased by the appearance of Shiraaase, a one-gag character whose gag never gets old to me. (Oddly, her gag seems stunted in this book, possibly as the villain talks in looooong, draaaaawn-out vowels and thus Shiraaase holds back to avoid confusing the two of them.) She even manages to achieve things before getting thrown back in her coffin. Speaking of which, the most satisfying scene of all may be one where Masato has to get through an army of skeletons to get at the big bad. He’s alone, and the fact that he actually has to rely on his own strength and weapon makes him so happy that he simply mows them down like they’re weeds. Now, this is undercut by the Big Boss essentially letting up on him because of a mom thing, but hey! He briefly did a thing!

The series is 9 volumes and counting in Japan, so any danger of the main plot wrapping up is nil. And the fanservice aspect of the series is, to be blunt, really irritating. If you really like Shiraaase or enjoy the main conceit, it’s still worth reading, but if you’re looking for a series to drop as it’s not good enough anymore, this one works fine.

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.