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Snow White with the Red Hair Vol 2

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Snow White with the Red Hair Volume 2 by Sorata Akiduki

Snow White with the Red Hair had a fairly episodic first volume, so I was curious to see what the second volume would bring now that the characters and setting had all been set up. This volume blended medical mystery and palace intrigue with a little hit of the undercurrent of emotions between Shirayuki and Zen, in a way that sets up a great escapist read for anyone wanting to disappear momentarily into another world.

Snow White With the Red Hair Volume 2

Snow White with the Red Hair doesn’t have the magical elements of a fantasy manga yet, but it has a quasi-medieval setting in an imaginary kingdom, and this volume opens with a low key slice of life situation as Shirayuki takes up her role as a court herbalist and finds out that she’s been paired with Ryu, a 12 year old prodigy as her new mentor. Ryu is brilliant, but not so great at dealing with people. Shirayuki’s open manner and genuine approach to dealing with people wins him over gradually. Shirayuki also learns some hard truths about Zen’s life when she gets a glimpse of his medical chart, which shows that however idyllic the setting of this manga is, people are still cruel to each other in unfathomable ways.

Shirayuki’s skills come to the forefront yet again when Zen investigates a fort where many of the soldiers are dealing with a mysterious illness. Here, all of Zen’s princely strategies aren’t all that useful, but Shirayuki’s keen knowledge and observational powers cause her to come up with a solution that he’d be unable to achieve. Things are complicated even further when Zen’s older brother comes back to the palace and shows himself to be thoroughly unpleasant. Even though there might be some manipulative scheming going on, the core of Snow White with the Red Hair is the gradually deepening friendship between Shirayuki and Zen. Seeing two characters who treasure each other so much invests this manga with a ton of heart. While most of their serious interactions are just a few panels here and there in between dealing with various tough situations, Akiduki has built up a tremendous amount of goodwill towards the couple in just two volumes. It is impossible not to root for them, even seeing that they will have plenty of obstacles ahead.

Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 2

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By Yuhki Kamatani. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hibana. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Ysabet MacFarlane.

It was always a possibility, of course. We’ve seen that sort of thing in countless other titles. The new character comes along to an already existing group and is able to magically help all of them with their problems. And indeed, we saw Tasuku last time introduced to the drop-in center, and the bulk of this second volume revolves around Misora, the kid from last time who was rude and dismissive of Tasuku, and is on the cusp of puberty and also having gender identity issues. It would make perfect sense to see Tasuku help drag Misora out of their shell and help them come to firm realizations. Indeed, we start to see something like that. But life is just not that simple, and Misora’s issues are deep-rooted and not easily solved. And so we end with more lashing out, and more slurs used to hurt, and more art as metaphor with Tasuku’s world literally collapsing around him.

Both people on the cover are Misora, who dresses as a girl at the drop-in center but would never do anything like that at home. Their relationship with Tasuku is extremely bitter and confrontational, and Misora takes delight at times in not only correcting Tasuku’s misconceptions but also hammering on Tasuku’s wounds. At the same time, of course, Misora is also guardedly opening up to Tasuku and feeling him out, ready to lash out in pain and fury at the slightest sign of pity or confusion. But at least Tasuku has defined himself, even if he can’t admit it to the man he loves. Misora is not sure at all what they are – a boy, a girl, or what have you. And they also know that puberty is soon going to make this much, much harder. Meanwhile, Tasuku’s story is hardly over, as he’s spotted at the drop-in center, and outed to his crush… who may already have an inkling about things anyway.

The plot of this volume is very good, but it’s the journey that’s even better. There are no wasted pages, and the frustration burns off the pages as Misora spews more and more slurs at Tasuku – there’s lots of them in this book, all meant to push Tasuku away and also other him to a degree. There’s also more terrific art – I’d mentioned the collapsing building metaphor earlier that serves as the climax, but there’s also little moments like Tasuku taking a wave that Tsubaki gives to him and consuming it at stars, or Misora shown in the water of a glass that Tasuku drops, about to shatter to the floor. Little moments like these help to move the reader along, and the character moments – which can be agonizing – help to slow things down. (I also want to know more about Tchaikovsky guy, and hope we see him next time.)

If you’d been on the fence about reading this series (and I can’t imagine too many who were), pick it up. It’s a painful journey, but also amazing to read.

Last Round Arthurs, Vol. 1: Scum Arthur & Heretic Merlin

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By Taro Hitsuji and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jan Cash.

Even the author knew what people were going to be thinking. In the afterword, he describes getting the premise from his editor and thinking that it had been done to death. The words “Fate/Stay Night” did not get mentioned explicitly, but the implication was certainly there. Actually, it appears the editor and publisher were really stepping up to the plate for this one. The author is known for Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor, a very popular LN series with a manga out over here. They also brought in Haimura as the illustrator, who’s already busy drawing Index and DanMachi Sword Oratoria. All that and a series about a bunch of King Arthur wannabes fighting each other in a battle to the death to see who can be the Last Round Arthur (see what they did there?). The obvious flaw in this series is that it reeks at times, especially in the first half, of being written to be a franchise rather than a story. Fortunately, it gets better, especially in the last third.

The premise is essentially Mallory’s Arthur legends meets Fate/Stay Night meets Haruhi Suzumiya. Rintarou is a young man who is perfect at everything he’s ever done since he was born, which makes everyone think that he’s a monster – including his parents. He hears about a competition between those with the blood of King Arthur, a battle involving Kings and their “Jacks”, essentially a summoned Servant a la Fate. The winner takes over the world… which isn’t all good, as there’s also a reality incursion they’ll have to deal with. Rintarou wants in on this competition, and finds the weakest candidate – Luna Artur, a seemingly arrogant young woman who’s taken over the local Camelot High School and made it her plaything – and sold her Excalibur for cash. Despite thinking Luna is annoying and possibly bonkers, he becomes her vassal, mostly so that he can stop being bored with life. Of course, things aren’t going to be easy, as Luna’s childhood friend is fighting for the prize as well. And Rintarou also has a secret… which the title of the work may in fact give away.

Luna starts off as a weird mix of Haruhi and Gilgamesh from Fate, and it can make her hard to like until her true self shines through. In reality, she wants to see everyone happy and wants the power to achieve it. This does not mesh very well with Rintarou, who tends to be the pragmatic “let’s sacrifice their lives and sneak up behind the enemy” sort, but they eventually do get along quite well. I was less enamored with Sir Kay, Artur’s beleaguered Jack, but that’s the fault of the author, really – Kay is nice enough, but she’s Mikuru Asahina with a sword, and unfortunately I have no confidence she’ll rise above “comedy relief” in future books. The fights were well described and tense, which is good, as I think they may be the main reason people will read this. There’s also a few surprise revelations that AREN’T in the title, some amusing jokes, and some setup for the future.

When that future is I’m not sure – unlike the other July Yen debuts, Last Round Arthurs doesn’t have another book scheduled yet. It’s not fantastic, but it’s worth a read if you like modernization of Arthurian legend or just want a Fate book with the serial numbers filed off.

Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 1

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By Honda. Released in Japan as “Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san” by Media Factory, serialized in the magazine Gene Pixiv. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

I had (shocking, I know) not actually seen the anime that is based off of this manga and took the internet by storm a while back. As such, I was a bit surprised to find that the skull face is actually irrelevant. No, this is not about a walking skeleton who works in a bookstore. The protagonist is the author, and the skull face is a mask that hides their identity – all the employees of the bookstore have different types of masks, for exactly the same reason. When you’re basing things on a true story, but don’t want to actually upset any of your colleagues, this is a good way to go about it. Moreover, it focuses the reader’s attention on the faces of the customers, which are gloriously well-done and expressive. No, instead of walking skeletons we just have life at a large bookstore in Japan, and insight into what’s going on behind the scenes. That does not mean this title is not fascinating, because it is.

Actually, the large bookstore also surprised me. I’ve seen manga about sleepy bookstores where a customer walks in once in a while, and the huge chain bookstore is usually the villain in those titles, trying to crush the mom and pop store and its individuality. But no, this manga is about a LARGE bookstore and its MANY employees – in fact, just the employees of the manga department of the store. It’s not made clear where it is, but given the large number of Westerners who wander through it, it has to be somewhere in Tokyo. Most of the time we see Honda-san at the front counter, helping customers find the manga they’re looking for, no matter how embarrassing, confusing, or impossible the request is. It doesn’t help that, as I mentioned earlier, many of the customers are foreigners with little concept of Japanese, and Honda-san’s English is also iffy. Still, service is the important thing, and we can’t leave a customer unhappy – though they may change their objective a bit.

Among the ‘types’ noted on the cover of the manga are ‘801 girls’, and a large chunk of the start of the book is devoted to BL manga and those searching for it. Sometimes they’re at sea, such as a dad whose daughter has asked for Gintama BL doujinshi, something Honda-san has to tell him isn’t sold at this bookstore. Sometimes you get a feeling of being “the Ugly American” in a sense, such as Honda-san watching the very loud American BL fans gushing about the types they like in the middle of the store. (That said, there’s no judgment given, and Honda-san seems to admire their forthrightness.) We do also meet several other employees, who tend to run the gamut from busy and harried to harried and busy, but the emphasis here, apart from Honda-san, is on the customers. (One exception is the class Honda-san has to take on customer service, where he meets a gorgeous young woman from another store who has trouble smiling for work – it’s amusing.)

I’ll be honest, this almost reads like a travel documentary about the Book Buyers of Shinjuku or something. It can be a bit exhausting (Honda-san reminds you time and again how painfully busy and overworked they are), but the stories and faces of the people involved are worth it. Even if they come in looking for shoujo manga and end up buying Berserk.

Manga the Week of 8/7/19

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SEAN: The dog days of August are here, but no worries. There’’s stuff here for you. A lot of stuff.

Cross Infinite World has The Werewolf Count and the Trickster Tailor, another romance novel from Japan. These are usually fun.

Ghost Ship gives us To-Love-Ru 15-16 and Yokai Girls 8.

J-Novel Club has a pile of print releases next week. How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 5, If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord 4, In Another World with My Smartphone 5, and The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 4.

They also have digital light novels, as we get Campfire Cooking in Another World 2, Crest of the Stars 2, Demon King Daimaou 12, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 22.

Kodansha has some print releases that Manga Bookshelf loves. We get 10 Dance 4, Again!! 10, and the 8th volume of Tokyo Tarareba Girls.

ANNA: So far behind on Again!!….

MICHELLE: All of which are worth reading!

ASH: They really are! I’m closely following all of these series.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital debuts Goodbye! I’m Being Reincarnated, a shonen series that started in Shonen Magazine R but has moved up to the weekly big leagues recently. A guy is visited by a princess who needs a hero from another world! The trouble is that he can’t be transported to the other world… he has to be reincarnated. Which means she has to kill him.

MICHELLE: Huh.

ASH: Well now, that could be an interesting twist.

SEAN: We also get My Sweet Girl 5, The Tale of Genji: Dreams at Dawn 6, and You Got Me Sempai! 6.

Seven Seas debuts the print version of Reincarnated As a Sword, which is apparently better than my attempt to read it made it seem. There’s also My Monster Secret 17, Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 7, Shomin Sample 10, and the 3rd digital novel for Skeleton Knight in Another World.

Vertical has a 13th Devils’ Line.

It’s the start of the month, so there’s a pile of Viz. The debut is another My Hero Academia spinoff, My Hero Academia SMASH! As you might guess from the title, it’s a gag comic. Should be silly and fun.

MICHELLE: I hope there is, like, zero Mineta.

SEAN: We also get, in shonen titles, Black Torch 5, Food Wars! 31, Hunter x Hunter 36, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Arc 4 Book 2, My Hero Academia 20, One Piece 91, One-Punch Man 17, The Promised Neverland 11, and We Never Learn 5.

ASH: JooooooJoooooo!

SEAN: Shoujo is just as filled with must-haves. Ao Haru Ride 6, the 7th and final volume of Behind the Scenes!!, Idol Dreams 6, Shortcake Cake 5, Takane & Hana 10, and Yona of the Dawn 19.

ANNA: AIEEE, so many favorites coming out this week.

MICHELLE: Dang. So many awesome titles for both demographics!

ASH: It’s true!

SEAN: Lastly, Yen has some stuff left over from July that’s coming out in August. Cocoon Entwined (Mayu, Matou) debuts; it’s a yuri story set at an all-girls school, but it’s from Comic Beam, so I have hope.

ASH: At the very least, the cover art is lovely.

SEAN: Killing Me! is also out; it’s also yuri, though the fact that it’s from Media Factory’s Comic Cune makes me think it’s definitely “yuri for guys”. Vampire and vampire hunter in school.

And we have High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 4, DanMachi: Sword Oratoria 8 (manga version), Murcielago 11, So I’m a Spider, So What? 6 (manga version), and Umineko When They Cry: Twilight of the Golden Witch omnibus 2.

While Kate ponders how to choose between Again!! and The Promised Neverland for Pick of the Week, what are you getting?

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 1

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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.

These days, whenever a light novel is licensed that does not in some way shape or form ground itself in fantasy, I take notice. This is the “isekai boom”, and even the titles released that aren’t isekai seem to involve fantasy worlds, adventuring, and demon lords. We have seen a few normal “romantic comedy” LNs – Toradora!, My Youth Romantic Comedy Etc. – but they’re in a tiny minority, and were licensed well after the anime became popular. So Tomozaki, a high school kids title with no fantasy and no anime (at least not yet) was a surprise. I wondered what attracted Yen to it, especially as the publisher rarely deals with North America on their light novel end. I ended up being very happy with it. The novel starts slow, but as both it and its main character gradually find their feet it gets more and more interesting till a final quarter that was fantastic. This is especially interesting because of the odd little genre the book turns out to be: it’s a self-help guide.

Tomozaki is our title character, a quiet and sullen young man who is fantastic at gaming – particularly ‘Atafami’, the current hot new game – but not so good at everyday social interactions. His narrative voice will remind a few people of Hachiman, though he’s not as clever or misanthropic. (In fact, let’s get that out of the way – this is going to get compared to OreGairu, and some of that is by design. Even the cover art styles look similar. There’s even a reference saying that Saitama (where the books take place) can beat Chiba easily (OreGairu’s territory) that made me think the author is well aware of what he’s doing.) In any case, Tomozaki ends up playing a really good player online, and they arrange to meet up. To his shock – and hers – she’s his classmate Hinami, the cute and popular girl. Meanwhile, she’s incredibly disappointed in him, as she assumed he’d be as cool in real life as he was in the game. When he goes off about how life is much harder than a game, she decides to tutor him in how to life.

The first half of the book, as I said, feels like someone wanted to write a self-help manual for the introverted Japanese high schooler but make it interesting. To my surprise, the gaming talk did not bore me at all – it’s made relevant to the conversations throughout, and even when we’re watching characters play Atafami, it doesn’t drown us in stats unless that’s the point. Hinami explains how to make Tomozaki’s real-life character better, starting with learning to smile, then posture, then a new outfit, etc. And conversation. He has to get better at that as well. As the book goes on, it turns out that he and Hinami have a lot more in common than you’d think, and that she’s not explaining this from a superior position – she continues to do every day just what she’s telling him to do. Constant practice, just like in a game.

The book gets better when we start to see the results of her tutelage. Tomozaki doesn’t get perfect immediately, of course, and he’s still socially awkward much of the time. But once he starts treating these tasks – “have two conversations with a girl in class every day”, etc. – like a game that he needs to beat, he shows that he can be very good about it. He’s also observant and speaks his mind, like most LN narrators. And so he can spot that the over-the-top genki girl is putting on something of an act, or that the overly serious girl never starts conversations herself. Towards the end of the book he starts teaching another girl to play Atafami (so she can impress a guy) and he’s now the one giving the excellent advice – and also applying it to life, telling her that it’s never too late to change your character if you don’t like it. His growth is both astonishing and not surprising at all, given his gaming skills.

The book was clearly written as a stand-alone, but there’s more to come. I want to read it. The cast is all likeable (in fact, it’s a safe bet that Hinami, the female lead, is likely the least popular, as always happens in “harem” stories like this) and Tomozaki is relatable without being overbearing or irritating (well, he’s irritating to start with). It’s been called a “kinder, gentler OreGairu” and that’s simplistic but not a bad starting point. I had a ball reading it.

Magus of the Library, Vol. 1

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By Mitsu Izumi, “based on Kafna of the Wind by Sophie Schwimm”. Released in Japan as “Toshokan no Daimajutsushi” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine good! Afternoon. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Stephen Kohler.

This one surprised me. The premise was promising, but the artist has previously done 7th Garden, which was OK but didn’t wow me. To my surprise, this ended up being one of the most gorgeous manga I’ve read all year – the fact that Kodansha released both this and Witch Hat Atelier within a few months of each other shows we are in a golden age of pretty manga. The characters looks cute, the ‘dream sequences are fun, and best of all, there’s attention paid to the books. Which is good, as this is a manga for book lovers first and foremost. Despite the fact that the first volume serves as a prologue to the series proper (we get a “Several years later” timeskip0 at the end), this is a great introduction to the adventures of Theo, a young boy who loves to read more than anything, and can often be found hiding out in the local library. Which I’m sure a lot of this manga’s readers will find very familiar – certainly I did that as a kid.

Despite what the cover may imply, Theo has not had the best life so far. He’s poor (which means the head librarian doesn’t let him read books there), and his pointed ears mean that he’s bullied by the other kids. His older sister works four jobs to get enough money to send him to school, and he has one friend – ironically, the daughter of the librarian. His one pleasure is sneaking into the library to read books, which cam take him places he’s never even dreamed of. But his life is upended when a group of librarians come to town looking for a book. This being a manga, these are BADASS librarians, and they impress Theo with their love and knowledge of books. Unfortunately, all the books may soon be in danger, as the librarian accidentally lets loose a book with a fire spirit in it. Can the books be saved? Can Theo turn his life around?

As I noted, the librarians in this volume are very cool. There’s their leader Anzu, who is the “outwardly serene and sweet but terrifying when angry’ sort I always love. Blunt Nanako is there to tell the librarians how they’re doing their jobs wrong, and how to properly preserve books. Pipiri is a fairy who also seems to be the ‘cheerleader’ of the group, and also the oldest, though she looks young. And then there is Sedona, who just loves books, and bonds quickly with Theo. Sedona also notices that Theo has a few odd things about him – in addition to the pointed ears (which his sister does not have), he can apparently tame savage wolves. An intriguing young boy.

An intriguing series, too. We see Theo at the end of the volume, now a teenager, leaving his town behind and trying to become a librarian. Like the best series, I want to read what comes next.

Bookshelf Briefs 7/30/19

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Black Clover, Vol. 16 | By Yuki Tabata | VIZ Media – It’s usually about this time in a long-running Jump manga that one of the cast is killed off for drama, usually an authority figure. And there’s no bigger authority figure in Black Clover than Julius, who is forced to fight against the leader of the Eye of the Midnight Sun and pays the ultimate price. That said, our heroes are also storming the villains’ base, which should allow for lots of cool fights. Unfortunately, we may also have some friends fighting friends, as magic beams have come down and converted some of our heroes—Luck in particular—into Midnight Sun cultists. That said, it’s the death of the Wizard King that looms over this volume, and while that opens up the position for Asta, this isn’t how he wanted it. – Sean Gaffney

Flying Witch, Vol. 7 | Chihiro Ishizuka | Vertical Comics – If it seems like it’s been forever since the last volume of this series, you’re right—it’s been about a year. That said, it’s easy to get back into the swing of this series that has always reminded me of Yotsuba&! only with the supernatural. The most amusing part of the manga was seeing our girls being given super soft candy that’s actually softened diamonds, and the reactions to this. We also ALMOST see Inukai cured, but family trumps that, in a sort of bittersweet but heartwarming way. And the mandrakes are back, only they’re adorable, and also running all over the house. Nothing ever really happens in this series (which is good as it may be a year till volume eight), but you’re always be smiling while reading it. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 6 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – We’re back to the regular serialized 4-koma here, though there’s a big change a-coming, as Kou decides to take advantage of an opportunity to go study in France, leaving a big hole to fill at Eagle Vision. Fortunately, there are new hires who are here to move into a kohai role, Sunshine Sketch-style. (Speaking of Sunshine Sketch, Kou and Rin have always seemed like Sae and Hiro, and that doesn’t change at all after reading this.) As for the new characters, Tsubame and Momiji, they both know each other—in fact they live together—and will no doubt add to the kinda-yuri pileup this series has. That said, they’re competitive. Will Aoba get to be the sempai she dreams of being, or will she lose out again? Cute stuff. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 26 | By Izumi Tsubaki | VIZ Media – Mafuyu has been abducted by her new teacher Seiichiro Maki and soon discovers that he’s actually a servant of the Hanabusa family. Despite her circumstances, the plot continues to be “Find out about Maki’s past,” and Mafuyu ends up getting the story from Toko Hanabusa, who visits her in captivity because she finds her stupidity amusing. It turns out that Maki has a history of helping lost little girls, having once rescued a young Mafuyu, and in this way ended up meeting Toko and filling the role of her big brother (since her family kept her apart from Miyabi) and shedding his delinquent past. I really wish I could care about any of this, but I do not. Not even a little. It might be time for me to stop reading this series. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 2 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – As a whole, I tend to thoroughly enjoy shoujo fantasy manga, so I’m always happy when a new title is licensed. What makes Snow White with the Red Hair stand out from other recently released series is that, so far, there are no magical or supernatural elements involved. Unless, of course, one considers the practice of medicine to be a form of magic. While she still has plenty to learn, Shirayuki has now successfully become a court herbalist in the kingdom of Clarines. This has earned her a rightful place in Wistal Palace, but there are still those who would question her motivations. Even in the face of this increased scrutiny, Shirayuki has consistently demonstrateda remarkable strength of character and sense of justice. Snow White with the Red Hair is a lovely tale of fantasy with endearing characters and just the right touch of court intrigue and romance. – Ash Brown

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 2 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – I hate these sorts of series. Not the actual manga itself, which is gorgeous and fantastic and makes you get heart eyes, but the fact that it’s hard to figure out what to say about it. I don’t really want to talk about what happens as that will ruin the sense of wonder that I think we’re meant to get from every volume. Several parts of the book I went back and read bits of over and over again just to enjoy the flow, and I also really liked the cliffhanger, which amps up the danger about one thousand percent. And Coco is simply fantastic, being the sort of YA fantasy protagonist everyone wants. Basically, aaaaah, flail flail flail, go buy this. You won’t regret it. – Sean Gaffney

World’s End and Apricot Jam, Vol. 6 | By Rila Kirishima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Hina and Anzu’s love story reached a natural conclusion at the end of volume five but apparently someone really wanted to see them do it, so we get these three “encore” chapters that take place 1.5 years in the future. “It feels like you turned 19 in the blink of an eye,” Anzu tells Hina on the first page, so everyone knows she’s of legal age when they finally have their love scene. Two short stories round out the volume, one of which is a pretty bad early effort and the second of which is about Hina’s friend, Nakatsu. I actually like that, rather than a love story for Nakatsu, this about him setting his girlfriend free when she falls for someone else. This series had some sweet moments and some silly, melodramatic moments, but in the end I enjoyed it. – Michelle Smith

Seriously Seeking Sister! Ultimate Vampire Princess Just Wants Little Sister; Plenty of Service Will Be Provided!

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By Hiironoame and Siso. Released in Japan as “Tonikaku Imouto ga Hoshii Saikyou no Kyuuketsuki wa Mujikaku Gohoushichuu” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Evelyn.

I’ve talked before about how publishers can sometimes choose a title for a series that makes me want to run away rather than look forward to it when I reviewed Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, a series that I think has lost a few readers who think it’s just a dumb harem series. (It *is* a harem series, but…) Similarly, when I saw the title of this book, I described it as ‘dire’. I owe it an apology; it has a few issues, but it’s actually pretty fun, and is not what I thought it would be, which was “vampire girl constantly glomps and feels up other girls”. In fact, consent is rather important in the one sorta relationship that exists in this book. (The amount of yuri you perceive in the book may depend on how you feel about “sucking blood = sex” motifs in vampire fiction.) No, what this is is another in the genre of “ludicrously OP girl boggles everyone’s minds”.

Ristia is a young vampire girl who is tired of being treated like a cute little sister by her powerful vampire family. She wants her own little sister to dote over! Sadly, vampires don’t procreate very often, so she decides to seal herself in stasis in a cave and wait for her little sister to wake her up. A millennium passes, and she’s women by Nanami, member of an adventuring party that’s run afoul of a dragon. Ristia can slay the dragon. Ristia can also get rid of morally bankrupt men, pull entire luxury houses out of her Item, Box, and create magical amulets that will literally regrow arms. But, she reassures Nanami, she’s just a normal girl. She ends up working for, and then taking over, an evil orphanage after purging it of its villains, and rebuilds it. To a ludicrous extent. And then starts a maid cafe. She can do anything… so why will no one see her as a little sister?!?!

A word of warning here, one of the girls in this book is a rape survivor, and it’s a function of her character and plotline. It actually felt rather odd to have a character like Maria is a story like this, which otherwise really enjoys leaning on the “silly” side of the fence. It should also be noted that Ristia looks like an older teen girl but that’s as a human; in vampire terms she starts the book pre-pubescent, and it’s her hitting puberty that also triggers part of the plot. My other major issue with the book is that it reads like it needed a better edit. The author comments on how they kept losing story contests for “bad structure”, and it’s still not that great; in particular, it reads like we get a little sister only to abandon her midway for a more interesting one. Don’t replace your cast halfway through a book.

That said, if you don’t mind OP characters, and can tolerate the word “normal girl” repeated so much it will make you sick (Nami from Zetsubou-sensei must be livid), this is a cute and fun read, and yes, has a little bit of fanservice and yuri, though not nearly as much of either as the title implies. So far this is the only volume, but there’s more of the original webnovel. I wouldn’t mind seeing more of Ristia.

Pick of the Week: We Love Honda-san

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ASH: Along with the usual variety of releases, this week also seems to have a fair number of series making their English-language debut. This includes the first volume of one of my most anticipated manga of the year, Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san. The series has already gained some recognition from its anime adaptation, but I’m thrilled to have a chance to read the original.

SEAN: Honda-san is definitely my manga of the week, but my pick this week is the first volume of new light novel Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki. In a marketplace where it seems the only things that can be licensed are those with some sort of supernatural/fantasy content, I want to champion the rare series that has none of those things. (It does talk about gaming a lot, though.)

ANNA: Skull-Faced Bookseller Honda-san is my pick, no question. It looks delightfully quirky.

MICHELLE: Yep, it’s bony booksellers for me, as well!

KATE: C’mon, guys, no love for The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life or Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General? You’re breaking my heart! I jest, I jest… I’m on team Skull-Faced Book Seller Honda-san 100% this week.

MJ: Okay, the truth is, I’m headed into production week of my teen opera today, so if Handel didn’t write it, it’s not really in my universe this week. But if I was in the same universe as my colleagues and any of this manga right now, I’d be Skull-Faced Book Seller Honda-san all the way. Do with that what you will.