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Manga the Week of 5/22/19

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SEAN: Buckle up, kids, it’s another one of THOSE weeks next week.

Dark Horse debuts a new series in omnibus form, Elfen Lied. This one may actually be more familiar to older anime fans, as it had an infamous anime in 2004, and the manga is apparently just as noteworthy. It ran in Weekly Young Jump, and this has the first three volumes. It’s a brutal, violent, dark manga. But it has a lot of fans.

MICHELLE: I seem to recall hearing that a lot of amputations occur in this series, so that’ll be a pass for me.

ANNA: Yeah, amputations are not my thing.

MJ: I watched the anime way back and survived, so maybe?

SEAN: J-Novel Club debuts Ascendance of a Bookworm (Honzuki no Gekokujou), one of the more begged-for LN license requests of the last year or so. The subtitle has “I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!”, so this one may also appeal to the Manga Bookshelf folks too. A book-loving girl gets her dream job as a librarian… only to be killed and reincarnated in a fantasy world with low literacy. So to fulfill her dream of being surrounded by books, well… that’s the plot. I really want to read this. The print version is coming in the fall, but digital is out next week.

ASH: Perhaps because I’m a librarian, I really want to read this, too! I’m always interested in fantasy interpretations of my chosen profession. (I’ll probably wait for the print edition, though.)

ANNA: I am also interested in this as a librarian, but I tend to only like certain kinds of light novels. I’m definitely curious though!

MJ: This does sound kind of interesting.

SEAN: Kodansha, making up for two light weeks, has quite a bit next week. In print we have 10 Dance 3, Grand Blue Dreaming 6, Love in Focus 2, The Quintessential Quintuplets 3, and Yuri Is My Job! 3.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more 10 Dance! I did enjoy the low-key shoujo title Love in Focus, too.

ASH: 10 Dance definitely has most of my attention out of that bunch. Though, like Michelle, I also enjoyed the first volume of Love in Focus.

SEAN: Digitally, there’s Ao-chan Can’t Study! 7, Defying Kurosaki-kun 9, Kakafukaka 7, and Tokyo Revengers 7.

Seven Seas debuts an autobiographical manga by Akiko Higashimura, creator of Princess Jellyfish. Called Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artistic Journey (Kakukaku Shikajika), I reviewed it earlier this week, and it’s a must-read for fans of her work.

MICHELLE: SO EXCITE.

ASH: I got my hands on the first volume and it is VERY GOOD. I really love Higashimura’s work.

ANNA: OOH, this wasn’t on my radar at all.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has the print debut of Mushoku Tensei, as well as the 2nd volume digitally. There’s also the 3rd Make My Abilities Average! manga, and Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho 6.

Udon has a 10th Persona 4. We are apparently getting close to the end.

Vertical has the 4th volume of My Boy.

Viz has Children of the Whales 10, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 11, Ooku 15, Ran and the Gray World 3, and Urusei Yatsura 2. I’m most interested in the last, but I know the MB team wants its yearly dose of Ooku.

MICHELLE: I do, but I’ll also be reading Uruseu Yatsura one of these days.

ASH: Yes, I need more Ooku! While I’m following a couple of the other series, too, Ooku is the priority for me.

ANNA: I’m excited about both Ooku and Uresei Yatsura.

SEAN: And now we have Yen. So much Yen. And not even all the Yen, as they delayed 7 titles to the week after next.

JY has the third and final volume of the Little Witch Academia manga.

Yen On debuts Torture Princess (Fremd Torturchen), which is (try to contain your surprise) where our hero ends up contracted to the title princess, who has to kill demons. The artist also does Black Bullet’s art. I hope this is slightly less bleak than Black Bullet.

In lighter fare, we also have Wolf Children: Ame & Yuki, whose manga already came out via Yen. It’s another in the ‘adaptations of movies’ line.

There’s also Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 8, Goblin Slayer 7, Overlord 10, A Sister’s All You Need 4, Strike the Blood 12, and Sword Art Online 16.

As for manga, the debut is Happy Sugar Life, which… I hate to use the word “yandere” in describing a manga, as it’s very over-and-badly used, but this series about a high school girls who falls for a sweet and pure kid and makes sure nothing gets in the way of their happy life, even if it means murder, probably justifies the term. It runs in Gangan Joker.

MICHELLE: Ugh.

ANNA: No thank you!

SEAN: Ending with its 7th volume is Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, a series which debuted in 2006 but has only just now reached its 7th volume, which tells you a lot about its erratic publishing history. I love each volume, though I must admit “will Kuro survive?” is my primary question.

In other Yen manga news, we have Angels of Death Episode.0 2, Anne Happy! 9, Chio’s School Road 4, Dimension W 14, Graineliers 3, Hinowa Ga CRUSH! 2, DanMachi Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu 3 (manga version), Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl 9, Laid-Back Camp 6, Overlord 10 (manga version, out the same day as Overlord 10 the light novel, no doubt causing Amazon to have an aneurysm), Re: ZERO Arc 3 Volume 7, and Though You May Burn to Ash 5.

ASH: That is a fair bit!

SEAN: Aside from everything, what are you getting next week?

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 1

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By Sorata Akiduki. Released in Japan as “Akagami no Shirayukihime” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine LaLa. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Caleb Cook.

When I mentioned this title in Manga the Week of, I compared it to Yona of the Dawn, but on reading the first volume the two are more different than similar. Both have red-haired heroines, and they start out much the same, with a haircut and our heroine leaving her home. But Yona has rich backstory to detail right up front, while Snow White with the Red Hair is a typical LaLa series, meaning the first volume is essentially a bunch of one-shot tryouts that eventually resulted in a full series. This does not, however, mean that I did not fully enjoy Snow White with the Red Hair, as its heroine is a lot of fun, and the references to the fairy tale/Disney cartoon are also cute. Moreover, Yona is out to save the kingdom, but she has a lot of help from the guys around her. Shirayuki, however, is very much Herbs Over Boys, and despite the constant presence of Zen, the prince (there had to be a prince, it’s Snow White), this does not appear to be a romance. Yet.

I almost laughed at how fast the plot kicked off. By the fourth page Shirayuki has been told she’s been chosen to be the prince’s concubine (different prince), responds with a hearty “hell no”, cuts off her hair (which is highly unusual in this kingdom), and sets off into the woods. She finds a house and sleeps up against the side, but luckily is found by some dwarves… OK, no dwarves. Instead we mete Zen and his friends/bodyguards Mitsuhide and Kiki, who take her in and get to know her. Unfortunately, Shirayuki tends to stand out, so is discovered almost immediately, and gifted a present of I Can’t Believe They Aren’t Poisoned Apples. After a series of reversals, we discover that Zen is ALSO a prince (he’s one of those “I’m constantly under cover so I can see how my kingdom really works” types) and Shirayuki is safe… for now. This leaves her free to chase her dream of being an herbalist… and maybe one day she can be herbalist to Zen.

As you’d expect given the source of this story, Shirayuki tends to be in peril an awful lot. The good news is that the author takes pains to show Shirayuki doing her damnedest to get out of this peril herself, particularly in the second chapter, where she’s kidnapped and brought to a nearly escape-proof house, which she escapes from nevertheless. And then there’s the arrows being fired at her, and the Marquis who doesn’t trust Shirayuki and dislikes Zen’s attention to her. As I said earlier, this isn’t a romance yet on Shirayuki’s end, but we can see that Zen is already getting pretty smitten with her, and the two have a nice friendly bond and are both clever but overworking people. We didn’t really get to see quite as much of the supporting cast, however, two of whom I thought were simply bishie-looking men but are apparently women.

That said, the series is 20+ volumes in Japan, and so I’m sure as the cast expands everyone will get plenty to do. For the moment, I take pleasure in reading a series with a heroine who’s down-to-earth and nice, and a hero who is much the same.

Obsessions of an Otome Gamer: Middle School Years

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By Natsu and Shoyu. Released in Japan as “Ongaku de Otome wa Sukuenai” by the author on the Syosetu website. Released in North America digitally by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Charis Messier.

The first volume of Obsessions of an Otome Gamer stunned me, both in how ridiculously long it was and also how much I enjoyed it. This second volume is not QUITE as long, though it’s still about the length of a Tanya the Evil novel. But more importantly, it develops the characters from the first book, seeing them realistically learn from their mistakes, grow and mature… well, at least as much as they’re allowed to. Even when cliches are brought in, such as the rich younger sister of one of their teachers, they’re subverted, as she turns out to be a sweetie pie rather than an “ohohohohohohoho!” sort. And of course there’s the music, as Mashiro continues to have piano, not love, as her primary focus and gives the reader a crash course in classical music as well. That said, love is creeping in there, and the volume ends in a cliffhanger that will actually be decided via poll.

The title font is slightly more readable than the first volume, though I still think pink and white against a light background needed rethinking. As for the content, well, it’s Mashiro in her middle school years. After the events of the last book, Sou is in Germany, but he still hasn’t forgotten Mashiro, and she’s writing him and sending him origami trombones (far less origami in this book, alas). Kou, meanwhile, is also recovering from the bad impression he has seemingly hammered permanently into Mashiro’s mind, and I give him credit for being incredibly patient and trying his best to get back in her good graces. Since the first book came out, I have read three volumes of My Next Life As a Villainess, and it’s interesting to contrast Mashiro with Katarina. They’re both in otome game worlds and tend towards the dense when it comes to love, but Katarina is able to heal everyone’s problems through the sheer force of being her, whereas Otome Gamer is not that idealistic.

The author notes that the original title for this story was “The Maiden Can’t Save Through Music Alone”, and that brings me to Kon and her story. It’s dramatically necessary and worth it, as otherwise this sort of story would be as light and frivolous as they come, but it really is hard not to imagine that, whichever boy Mashiro ends up with, Kon is going to die. In her previous life she essentially sold her soul to Satan, and he’s in this book enjoying her despair and torment, despite the occasional setback (Mashiro recovers her past-life memories because, due to the game mechanics, she and Kon have maxed out their love and trust in each other). I would love to be proved wrong, but even Mashiro’s narrative has a lot of “I didn’t know it at the time, but…” that almost always signifies someone’s doomed. This sucks, I love Kon.

There are books for both boys being prepared, and there’s a poll that the publisher has put up so that readers can vote for which one gets published first. No, there isn’t a Kon Ending that I know of, though I do wonder if we’ll see a Bad End as an extra. In the meantime, fans of the first book and novels in this “otome game reincarnation’ genre will want to read this as fast as possible. And hey, why isn’t the publisher creating playlists of the songs for Spotify?

Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill, Vol. 1

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By Ren Eguchi and Masa. Released in Japan as “Tondemo Skill de Isekai Hourou Meshi” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Chen.

I’m very fond of what has become known as “slow life” light novels. The basic premise of them is that our hero/heroine ends up in another world and decides not to go adventuring or defeat the demon lord but to live quietly and enjoy themselves day to day. Now, of course, the narrative usually pushes against this, and a lot of slow life books have quite a bit going on. I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and every single book by FUNA are good examples of the type. That said, an author has to be very careful when writing this sort of series, as there’s a difference between ‘relaxing” and “boring”, and the line can get crossed very easily. Killing Slimes’ heroine verges at times on the dull, but for the most part manages to muddle through and keep our interest. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said of Mukouda, the salaryman who ends up in another world with the skill “Online Supermarket”.

Mukouda is summoned to a fantasy world along with three other heroes. He, however, is not a hero – he’s a victim. He was accidentally summoned, and has a skill that is, well, not very useful, as well as stats that are merely slightly above average. The heroes look down on him, the kingdom looks ready to abandon him, and the entire “save us” business is shady to begin with. So he sets off with a little borrowed money and tries to make his way elsewhere. That said, his “online supermarket” allows him to use ingredients from Japan in his cooking… and for those who’ve read standard fantasy isekai, that’s a big deal. Sure pure salt! Amazingly soft bread! He also attracts the attention of others, including a legendary Fenrir who becomes his familiar in exchange for constantly feeding him, a baby slime whose growth rapidly outstrips Mukouda’s own, and Aqua from KonoSuba… erm, sorry, Ninrir the Wind Goddess, who will grant blessings for sweets, and is absolutely not Aqua from KonoSuba, despite, well, looking and acting exactly like her.

Honestly, if it were not for the hero, this would be more interesting than it is. Fenrir is a lot of fun. The baby slime is really cute, and the goddess is pretty funny. There’s hints of plots that could go somewhere here, and a whole menagerie of fantasy monsters that manage to be both threatening and tasty. I suspect in future books more options are found with the supermarket skill that can lead to cool things. The trouble is, though, that Mukouda isn’t fun. He wants to level up the easy way, and when thrown into situations where he’s force4d to fight for his life is a total coward about it. Which is, well, very realistic, but I’m not hear to read about you or me, I want to read about a light novel protagonist. Mukouda isn’t a ditz, or a snarker, or hot-tempered. He does not murder entire nations because they’ve pissed him off, like other bland protagonists I could mention. He’s just a guy who cooks.

If you enjoy isekai cooking novels, you can give this a try. I think this one volume will be it for me, though.

Pick of the Week: Everything’s Coming Up Rose Kings

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SEAN: Pretty much Requiem of the Rose King for me. It consistently amazes.

ASH: Like Sean, it’s Requiem of the Rose King for me, too. I’ve actually been saving up a few volumes to read all at once because I’m always wanting more after I finish one. It’s such a dramatic and engaging series!

MICHELLE: I think I’ll have to buck the trend and go with the final volume of A Strange & Mystifying Story. The series started out with a couple of problems but improved dramatically by its third volume. Ever since, I’ve enjoyed it quite a lot! It contains one of my favorite BL couples, and though there’s a dramatic cliffhanger in need of resolution it’s their fate I most want to see.

ANNA: Requiem of the Rose King is so special, it is my automatic pick of the week.

MJ: I can’t possibly choose anything but Requiem of the Rose King. I send my apologies to everything else!

Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey, Vol. 1

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By Akiko Higashimura. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Cocohana. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jenny McKeon. Adapted by Ysabet MacFarlane.

The works of Akiko Higashimura have gotten incredibly popular in North America over the last few years, and of course in Japan she’s a top josei artist. Everyone knows Princess Jellyfish, and Tokyo Tatareba Girls is at least a cult hit. So it’s great to see a publisher pick up her autobiographical tale of how she became the artist she is today. And, as with many Japanese manga biographies, the story is filtered through telling us what a mess she was in high school, and how attempts to praise everything she did led her to have an inflated sense of herself. No one wants to read the story without struggle, after all. So Akiko has terrible grades, to the point where she can’t even pass the makeup tests. This wouldn’t bother her, because she thinks she can cruise into art school… but then she finds out just how far she has to go.

While other characters drift through here and there, mostly this is a story of three people. Akiko is the hapless art student with an immense ego; Futami is her best friend who, even in high school, has perfected the jaded seen-it-all snarker; and Kenzou-sensei is their art teacher, who teaches out in the middle of nowhere, seems to be constantly shouting and screaming, and hits his students with a kendo sword when they do things wrong – which is all the time. Akiko is absolutely horrified at this, but, after a brief attempt at giving up, keeps returning to the school. And it’s a good thing, too, as college is going to be rough. She doesn’t get a recommendation. She fails the Tokyo school that was her first choice. Is she really going to be able to realize her dream of being a shoujo manga artist?

Three’s a fun feel to this volume, even as you’re watching Akiko careen down her career path, hitting obstacles all along the way. I especially liked when she started to buy the “shady” test guides to help her study, the ones that teach you how to take tests rather than what’s actually on the test… and they helped her immensely, as that’s exactly the sort of learning she needed. As for Kenzou-sensei, he’s handled perfectly, with his seemingly violent nature balanced out by hidden (and not so hidden) acts of compassion. He’s clearly talented, and we see his “draw the same thing over and over and over till you have it memorized” teaching does start to have an effect on Akiko’s work. If there’s one thing that makes me wary, it’s that the narrative is making it thuddingly clear that this manga is going to end with his death; almost every chapter has a wistful, longing ending to it that kept making me think “OK, when’s he gonna die?”. Not at the end of this volume, and it’s five volumes long, so probably not for a while. But there’s an ominous feel to the whole thing.

If you’re interested in this author’s works, or just like seeing people struggling to make it, this is a great book to get. I’m definitely going to be reading more.

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!: Axis Church vs. Eris Church

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By Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima. Released in Japan as “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Shukufuku o!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

I was expecting more comedy this time around, and I was right. There are lots of very funny moments in this volume, sure to please the fan of KonOSuba. Chris’ secret is now known, but that doesn’t mean that she and Kazuma are not playing Robin Hood on the sly, burgling evil noble estates in order to acquire sentient armor that proves to be far more trouble than it’s worth. Meanwhile, the Eris Festival is upon us, and a jealous Aqua wants to have a festival dedicated to her as well. The result is the subtitle, a parody of Pokemon Red vs. Blue, in which the traditional religious festival gets turned (mostly thanks to Kazuma) into more of a giant blowout, complete with food stalls, beauty contests, and giant killer cicadas. However, just because it’s a full-blown comedy does not mean we can’t have character development.

It feels odd to be talking about character development in a series like KonoSuba, but it’s true. Megumin has come a long way from the start of the series, and despite the occasional explosion has become the most sensible of the group (Kazuma forfeits this title enough that you can’t use it for him anymore). Meanwhile, Darkness, after the events of the last volume, is acting Governor of their town, and is thus drowning in responsibilities (including having to police Kazuma and Aqua). The gag here is that, for a moment, you think the same thing might be happening with Aqua, who spends much of the book actually being sensible and responsible. But of course it can’t last – Megumin and Darkness have room built into their characters for growth, but Aqua’s “useless goddess” properties are much harder to move on from. She’s too funny not to keep it up.

And then there’s the love triangle. It’s clear from this book that both Megumin and Darkness have come to terms with their love for Kazuma and want to take things to the next level. It’s also clear that Kazuma knows this… the question is whether he’s too immature to actually be able to take their feelings seriously, as he brags to Chris about harem ends and the like. Of course, his words are bravado for the most part, and by the end of the book, where the cliffhanger seems to imply Megumin wants to confess properly, he seems almost terrified. I do wonder if a series like KonoSuba can bake an actual relationship into its premise. Can Kazuma answer either Megumin or Darkness properly, or will there be wacky comedy confessions and then back to the status quo? As for “harem” ends, the series thankfully still seems to be avoiding that sort of thing… Chris/Eris’ relationship with Kazuma is not the “bratty siblings” that he and Aqua have, but it doesn’t feel romantic, which is a good thing.

For all the romantic potential, at the end of the day KonoSuba still runs on its comedy, and there’s lots of that here. Fans of the series will get a kick out of this book.

Redefining the Meta at VRMMO Academy, Vol. 1

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By Hayaken and Hika Akita. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America by Sol Press. Translated by Benjamin Daughety.

I have lost track of the number of times, in writing reviews of light novels, that I have said “I’m not a gamer, but…”. So many LNs these days are built about RPG builds, RPG worlds, RPG fights, and the like. Most of them try to make at least a token effort towards appealing to non-gamer fans. Sometimes, like with stat-heavy series like Reincarnated As a Slime or Spider So What, it’s a very token effort. But we may have run across a series that I think is impossible to read if you aren’t very familiar with gaming. While reading this first volume, pages and pages of text went by with my staring at my phone and blinking. “What the hell?”, I would say, as the heroes would go on about tanks and getting your HP to the right level to trigger some event or attack. Far from the first volume of a light novel, this feels like a group just took their RPG log and put it on the page. And not even the main log. This would be the side log with all the chatter.

Our hero is Ren, who’s just arrived at a virtual high school that is entirely devoted to teaching game-obsessed students through the medium. Ren is already somewhat well-known for picking the lamest, weakest class in any game and finding ways to make it awesome. He’s done that here as well, as he’s a Symbologist, which has awful attack abilities and the support isn’t great either. He’s here because he promised his gaming pal Akira they’d go to high school together. But when they finally arrive, he’s startled to find that Akira, who played as a buff, burly dude, is actually a cute, busty girl! Together with her, the class president-ish Maeda, and extroverted “gal” Yuuna, they are here to level up, take out bosses, and also take classes when they have the time.

The series is… not without its good points. I was pleased to see that after the initial “Eeeeeeeh, Akira’s a girl?” reaction, Ren and Akira settled quickly into their old friendship (though he is not above taking advantage of her assets – he asks her to take the Sword Dancer class, which most girl gamers avoid as the costume is skimpy) and there’s no tension or fighting between them. When the four main characters aren’t gaming, the dialogue can be amusing and fun. Ren likes the female form, but does not openly perv on his companions or fall into them the way a typical shonen protagonist might. But man, 85% of this book is lines like “this class combines offensive and healing magic, but right now she can’t hit multiple enemies, and doesn’t have area-of-effect healing…” and I start to flip pages till I get to something actually happening.

If you’re a gamer who reads LNs, this is right up your alley, and the premise may interest you more than it does me. As for me, I liked the characters, but as long as they’re debuffing their hit points with MP sword equips, I think I’m going to have to pass.

Umineko: When They Cry, Vol. 19

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Story by Ryukishi07; Art by Kei Natsumi. Released in Japan in three separate volumes as “Umineko no Naku Koro ni: Twilight of the Golden Witch” by Square Enix, serialized in the magazine Gangan Joker. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Stephen Paul.

I have made no secret on Twitter and in my previous review that there are aspects of this omnibus (and the original VN) that I dislike intensely. Basically, I’m not sure how much the reader (i.e. you and I, not Ange-as-Reader) is meant to side with Battler here. I get what Battler is trying to do. Ange at the start of this book is desperate to reunite with her family, to be there in 1986 when everything happened. Ange is suicidal. As such, Battler’s game is there for a very specific reason: he wants to show her that she’s been poisoned, to an extent, by what everyone now says about the “real story” in 1986. He wants to show her that the Ushiromiyas were not the most toxic family ever, that there were times they were happy and even (gasp!) got along. Which is fine. Happy Halloween Kinzo, though, really really makes me angry. We’re not Ange. We’re a reader who has just seen it shown that this is a man who abused his children, raped his daughter, and everything else. I don’t want Battler to be saying “no, Ange, he really loved his grandkids and you’re just remembering it wrong”, because that’s gaslighting, as he readily admits later. I hate it.

This is not to say that the omnibus is overall terrible – it’s actually overall very good. I just dislike that choice A LOT. But – Battler is up against Bernkastel, who presents her own game. Her own game is designed to be “what would make Ange suffer as much as possible”, so, leaving aside all the red truths and purple truths (yes, there’s purple now), readers who read Umineko for the character beats are not going to be fooled. Battler, of course, is. Even as a Game Master who knows the truth, he’s shockingly naive when it comes to Bernkastel, and Beatrice should know better as well. Of course, we now have even morre witches being added to the games willy nilly. There’s Erika Furudo, returned from being in Bern’s doghouse to be Ange’s guiding light. And there Eva-Beatrice, who we hadn’t seen in forever, there to protect Ange from those badmouthing her family. Which is what the real Eva did too. She just sort of also abused Ange while doing it.

Other good things. After all of the “yay, we’re all sweet and nice and no one fights ever!” crap, the party is a lot of fun. The visual novel had a quiz game, which could be somewhat tedious, and winning unlocked various scenes. Here we don’t need to unlock things, so it becomes a game of hide and seek. Unlike Kinzo’s frivolity, I felt these were well-handled, particularly Natsuhi’s torment over Beatrice and Beatrice’s acceptance of it, and Rudolf finally – FINALLY – telling Kyrie the truth about Battler’s parentage. The second “party”, which allows for all the fantasy characters to attend, is riotous, and also lets Lion and Will return, having been rescued from certain death by Lambdadelta, who wanted to see the look on Bern’s face when she found out. (Note Lambda is once again happy to hang out with Battler and Beatrice, but also happy to be on Bern’s side during the game. She’ll need to make a real choice sooner or later.)

As a manga, this is very good, making the visual novel more interesting and adding things that weren’t there originally for greater depth (Rosa’s recollection of her own doll being destroyed – though I note even in the happiest, most idealized of worlds Rosa is still hitting her daughter). The issues I have are with Ryukishi07’s choices to present this to Ange as “this is true, you just remembered it wrong”, which leaves a foul taste in the mouth. In any case, next time, can Battler and the rest stop Ange from finding Eva’s diary? Will Ange learn the truth in the game world or from Hachijo? And will Erika ever stop being smug? (OK, we know the answer to that last one.) Tune in next time to see.

Tsukimonogatari: Possession Tale

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By NISIOISIN and VOFAN. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by Vertical, Inc. Translated by Daniel Joseph.

I am occasionally asked by those who have seen the Monogatari Series anime if it is worth getting the novels. SHAFT has done a decent job of adapting the series, and many of its eccentricities are more beloved than the original book (lampshaded here, as Araragi notes that the bathroom in their house is not nearly as grand as the anime made it out to be). In fact, as this was being written, Nisemonogatari had just finished, and Nisioisin’s self-deprecation comes into play here, as there are many “the anime’s over now” comments, and he asks for alarm clocks to wake him with the sounds of Karen and Tsukihi’s voice actors. The anime, of course, was nowhere near over. But back to my original question… You should read the books if you like words. Playing with words, extemporizing endlessly, dancing around what you really want to say, and hitting the fourth wall with a sledgehammer. The Monogatari novels do not let the reader simply coast along and take in the plot. Which is good, as the plot in this particular book is almost absent.

Yotsugi and her master are on the cover of this book, and technically Yotsugi is the “star”. It’s worth noting, though, that the book begins with what might be termed a “sequel” to Nekomonogatari Black, as Araragi and Tsukihi spend about fifty pages trying to verbally one-up each other as they compete to see who takes the bath first, then compromise and bathe together. As I said earlier, Nisemonogatari had just aired its anime, and I imagine the “toothbrush” scene had become the meme that it still is today. So there’s lots of “I don’t love my sister that way, but” stuff here, which would be far more annoying if the two involved weren’t bantering up a storm throughout. The main thrust of the plot, though, comes when Araragi looks in a mirror while bathing and notices… he doesn’t have a reflection. He seeks out advice form Kagenui, who informs him that he’s been abusing his “sorta vampire” powers so much – especially when he let Sengoku kill him over and over again for a month – that he’s almost a full vampire again.

This is not a problem that’s easily resolved, which is good as this is the first book of the “Final Season”, which is meant to wrap up the series as a whole. (It does not remotely do this.) By the end of the book, Araragi is not magically “cured”, and the one thing he can do going forward is simply stop using said powers as a crutch. Naturally, the moment he resolves to do this, his sisters and Kanbaru are kidnapped by a villain with so little presence that he even comments on the fact, saying that he and Araragi have been set up to have a villainous confrontation. Could there be someone pulling the strings? Readers who have been following the last three books have pretty much thought “it’s Ogi, isn’t it?”, and it certainly looks so here too, as she confronts Araragi just before he goes to save the day and talks about her own nature a bit. There’s also a rather dark and startling solution to the problem, meant to drive a wedge between Araragi and Yotsugi.

Even for a series as wordy as Monogatari, this was pretty damn wordy, and you should obviously only read it after the other books. As for what happens next, we’ll have to wait till the fall to find out, as over the summer we have the traditional short story volume – or volumes, as the case may be.