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Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir!, Vol. 1

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By Inumajin and Kochimo. Released in Japan as “Wanwan Monogatari ~Kanemochi no Inu n shite to wa Itta ga, Fenrir ni shiro to wa Itte nee!~” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer O’Donnell.

Well, that had all the strengths and weaknesses of the current light novel glut. Everyone want to write an isekai, usually with reincarnation, as that’s what sells. But there’s already too many of the normal adventurer sort, so you try to find a gimmick. We were a bit spoiled by having the Vending Machine isekai come out earlier, which already stretched disbelief to the snapping point. Woof Woof Story does not quite go that far, and instead sticks with our hero Routa as a “dog”. Unfortunately, the goddess who reincarnated him in this world is just as flakey as the goddesses in KonoSuba, and so he ends up being Fenrir, the strongest animal in the world. To his horror. Now he has to pretend he’s just a happy-go-lucky puppy so that he can keep his wonderful relaxed life with his adorable teenage master Mary, who has no idea he’s a monstrous wolf. He’s just a big doggie.

Let’s get one thing out of the way, as I suspect it will irritate some readers. Routa is a dog, and as such speaks in dog sounds. However, the book needs to have him actually converse with other animals, witches, and yes, occasionally his master, who seems to understand what he’s saying in a “dog” way. So we get Routa’s dog sounds, followed by what he’s actually saying in parentheses and italics. This can take some getting used to. The plot itself mostly involves Routa discovering his true identity and trying to hide it while also trying to protect his master, who tends to do things like go swimming by the dangerous lake with monsters around it, or come down with horrible fevers that need a special medicine only found in a faraway cave. But she’s cute and scritches him. And he gets lots of yummy food. In fact, sometimes he eats the larder and is forced to go hunt new food. Oh yes, and the resident knight wants to kill him as she’s the only one who gets that he’s a legendary wolf monster.

If you leave out the ‘I’m a dog’ part of the story, this has a lot of standard isekai/reincarnation tropes. The knight, Zenobia, is a garden variety tsundere, as is lampshaded by Routa himself. Sadly, I expect her role in this story is to be useless. Routa also has a number of other wolves who call him their king, one of whom is female, but, as he insists constantly, he’s not a furry. Routa may be reincarnated as a wolf, but he still has human memories. As such, “I’m not a furry” is the equivalent of “but I’m not into little girls” that we see in so many other isekai to take the curse off the hero being surrounded by young girls. That said, the book is pretty fun, and anyone looking for a lighthearted romp should enjoy it. But honestly, even the vending machine novels had more depth than this.

My Solo Exchange Diary, Vol. 2

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By Nagata Kabi. Released in Japan as “Hitori Koukan Nikki” by Shogakukan, serialized in Big Comic Special. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Lianne Sentar.

By the end of this volume, the author has decided that she’s ending this diary, at least for public consumption. While this volume was also very good, I do think that may be for the best, as we are once again reminded that the life of a real person can cause more emotional pain that the life of, say, a 16-year-old girl in a girls’ private school. Apparently the last volume (the first Solo Exchange Diary) was not as popular with folks in Japan, particularly the last chapter, and that hit Kabi-san pretty hard. This final volume is much like the other two – some really good realizations and a few tentative steps forward, but also quite a few steps backward. The cover shows us two sides of Kabi-san talking with each other, the first being the one that’s resorted to alcohol, the other being the one who cuts herself. This remains a gripping but uneasy read.

At the start of the book she finds herself returning to live with her parents for a bit, and coming to terms with the fact that her mother is not her, and doesn’t deal with things the same way that she does. Her grandparents also get to see that she’s published two books, and carefully praise her for the publication while avoiding the content, which is very true to life. There are shots of the day-to-day life that the two had which I quite enjoyed. Unfortunately, in this volume Kabi-san also starts drinking beer. A lot. To the point where she’s wetting her bed by accident in the mornings. So much of the second half of the book takes place in the hospital, where she checks herself in so that she can deal with this. There are communication problems with the doctors and nurses, and at one point she’s cutting herself again. I find the fact that she’s putting this all out there on the page amazing.

At the end of the book, she’s out of the hospital, creating original manga, and realizing that the business of being “Nagata Kabi” is too much, which is likely the main reason why the Diary is ending. The best part, though, is that we get to see the original manga she created (it ran in Hibana magazine), and it’s really good. The story of two young people who are “rebelling against society” in a very literal way, it’s cute, clever and emotionally bruising all at the same time. The story is complete as is, but it does make me want to read more of Kabi’s original creations. As for her own life, I thank and applaud her for showing it to us, for good and ill, and I hope that the diary can continue in private even if it doesn’t in public. I felt it was an excellent read, and would also recommend it to anyone else who is dealing witd depression or other inner turmoil.

Bookshelf Briefs 2/19/19

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Crocodile Baron, Vol. 2 | By Takuya Okada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Crocodile Baron was initially part food manga, part whimsical story about a gentlemanly crocodile novelist named Alfardo J. Donson (a stellar name). In its second volume, the food is still there—I mean, technically, Alfardo and his pal Rabbit Boy travel around and eat various foods—but there’s even less focus on it than before, and it wasn’t much to start with. Now, it’s more about the quirky characters they meet, from a chameleon who wants to get the scoop on Alfardo’s wild side to a lonely jackal to a spoiled rich bunny girl to a competitive beaver. It’s good for a few chuckles, but there’s not much about it’s that’s exciting or compelling. The third volume is its last, and that’s the right length for this offbeat series. – Michelle Smith

Kase-san and Cherry Blossoms | By Hiromi Takashima | Seven Seas – This seems to be a transitional volume of Kase-san, telling a few stories from around the high school years but also putting things in place to get our girls into college, which they do. There’s a certain intentional disconnect between Yamada the emotional girl who cries at everything, which we certainly see at several points here, and Yamada the mature young woman, which she is slowly coming with the help of Kase. This may also be why we get another love scene towards the end, which shows us that “cherry blossoms” is also a metaphor. And they agree to use first names, which I suspect is not going to lead to a series name change. Still adorable and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 17 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Superpowers/quirks can be awesome and empowering, but they can also be terrifying. Usually they’re both. That’s especially the case with Eri, whose quirk literally erased her father from existence. Fortunately, she has folks like Mirio and Izuku trying to save her. Unfortunately, Mirio’s quirk is erased, and I get the feeling (the cover doesn’t help) that it’s going to be permanent. In amongst all the chaos (which features Toga impersonating Deku, something you’d think she’d have saved for a less pointless moment), the goal seems to be to get Eri to believe in them and reach out her hand to be saved. Which she eventually does, and just in time, as Izuku almost kills himself. Again. Fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 25 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – The most interesting part of this volume to me is how it handled Mafuyu’s memory loss of large parts of her childhood. For a while it was almost a joke—”lol, head trauma from falling off a jungle gym”—but now it appears that mental trauma may be a cause. What’s more, it appears to have had an effect on Takaomi, who was not always the smiling sadist Mafuyu is used to. It all seems to come down to the new teacher, who turns out (like everyone else in this series) to be connected to the delinquent battles of West and East High. Oh, and there’s also Hanabusa’s little sister, who I’d almost forgotten about. Lots of funny jokes, here, don’t get me wrong, but this is a very plot-heavy Oresama Teacher. – Sean Gaffney

Please Tell Me! Galko-chan, Vol. 5 | By Kenya Suzuki | Seven Seas – There’s more of what everyone wants from a Galko volume here. Lots of random discussions, a few sex-related but some not. There’s the “we watch foreign movies and discuss them” mini-chapters, which I guess are a thing now. There’s the author’s artstyle, which still makes this a series I really wouldn’t recommend to kids —there’s no actual nudity, but there’s lots of extremely large breasts and butts. To my surprise, there’s even a serious storyline near the end, as Galko’s older sister goes on a date with Otako’s older brother, planning to take his virginity, but it turns out his purity actually makes her feel bad about it (and it doesn’t happen in any case.) Still interested. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 3 | By Suu Morishita | Viz Media – It turns out that I never reviewed the first two volumes of this series. I certainly enjoy it enough, but my guess is that this is going to be one of those shoujo series where I don’t have much to say. There’s a love triangle. The heroes are 1) quiet intellectual and 2) seeming playboy. The heroine has a few issues as well (and a nice set of nightmares, which may have been my favorite part of the book). The cast is likable. That said, if I currently have titles like Yona of the Dawn and The Water Dragon’s Bride at the top of my Shojo Beat list, this one sits comfortable at the end of the middle tier. It’s quite enjoyable, you won’t regret purchasing it, and you will totally forget about it till the next book comes along. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 7 | By Yuki Shiwasu | VIZ Media – Takane’s coping better with being poor, helped by Hana providing regular meals and Kirigasaki requesting a transfer to help maximize Takane’s efficiency at work. He’s slowly regaining ground and it’s clear he appreciates what Hana has done for him. When he gives her a key to his new apartment, it’s not just that he trusts her but that he also finally understands that all the extravagant gifts really were meaningless to her but this will be a significant one. For her part, Hana’s still determined to keep the fact that she’s in love with Takane a secret from him—ostensibly because he’d be insufferable but partly because she’s afraid how their relationship would change if it came to light. I do look forward to some fun gloating when that day arrives, but the best moments are always the sweet ones. I continue to enjoy this series a lot. – Michelle Smith

The Voynich Hotel, Vol. 3 | By Douman Seiman | Seven Seas – By the third and final volume of The Voynich Hotel, all the seemingly disparate storylines and characters converge in a rather dramatic and admittedly violent fashion, which honestly is not all that unusual for the series. Even the gags that initially appeared to be one-off throwaways are ultimately revealed to be of great significance to the plot. Astonishingly, Seiman manages to combine ancient goddesses, witches, demons, undead, yakuza, hitmen, serial killers, drug dealers, tourists, amusement parks, maids, wrestlers, pop culture references and so much more in ways that somehow make weird and darkly amusing sense. The manga’s humor ranges from the completely random to the decidedly risqué. Along with quirky characters, peculiar settings, and bizarre happenings, The Voynich Hotel makes for an exceptionally strange but engaging and sometimes even surprisingly endearing series. I greatly enjoyed it and wouldn’t mind seeing more of Seiman’s work translated in the future. – Ash Brown

We Never Learn, Vol. 2 | By Taishi Tsutsui | Viz Media – Much to my relief, the core “three girls” seems to stay the same by the end of this volume. Not that we don’t meet more characters—Sawako is a self-proclaimed rival to Rizu who, like most self-proclaimed rivals in anime and manga, turns out to be a really good friend who just expresses it through rivalry. More intriguing is a teacher in the school, Kirisu, who seems determined to show the girls that they’re not playing to their strengths this way, and that Nariyuki’s study help will hurt them in the long run. She has a very valid point, but it’s not a point that you should be making within the confines of Shonen Jump, so they’re allowed to continue, despite the constant threat of mild fanservice. – Sean Gaffney

I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, Vol. 12

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By Namekojirushi and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Ore ga Heroine o Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Mokushiroku!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mana Z.

What struck me most about this volume of Little Apocalypse was what a well oiled machine Rekka’s heroine saving has become. We get three heroines arriving one right after the other, and Rekka and company know what’s going to be happening – he’s got to save them all. He picks out his crack team of Rekka’s Angels based on who he feels would fit best with what’s planned, and for the most part he’s absolutely right about it. The girls occasionally fight over him, but it’s “offscreen” so we don’t actually need to see it, and when times get tough they’re all business. They’re also the main “muscle” of the story – Rekka admits point blank that he’s the sort of person to rely on the powers of others, and they certainly have a lot of power. That said, there are certainly some spanners in the works in this volume, both on the heroine end and the plot end.

Our heroines this time include Haruka Tenou… erm, I mean a phantom thief who has unfortunately put a cursed tiara on her head; Setsuna Sakurazaki… erm, I mean a noble samurai girl from 500 years in the past trying to save her princess; and another princess, this time from Atlantis, 1000 years in the past. As you can imagine, there’s going to be some time travel here, but by now everyone mostly shrugs it off. The phantom thief is the easy part of Rekka’s mission (and honestly the dullest – she’s too perfect). The samurai is more of an issue, as Rekka, due to events, chooses to prioritize the other two girls first, which pisses her off, especially as she hasn’t yet seem Rekka in action and doesn’t trust him. Why would you trust a guy with a harem of girls who says he can fix everything? Moreover, the Atlantean princess, who as a tragic ghost was noble and sweet, as a living being is… well, a spoiled princess.

The other spanner here is the plot twist near the end, which I thought was rather clever. You know that things are going badly when R can actually talk to Rekka about his actions – usually she can’t influence him. It also allows Rekka to save the day at the end with a very clever device that relies on his “greed” – not for money or power, but his desire to save all the heroines (who are listed in order, which is helpful as I’ve forgotten some of them). I was also amused, if somewhat ruefully, at the twist at the end. Rekka thinks that, due to the fact that two of his three heroines this book live in the past, that he’s not going to have them joining the cast herd. Nope – here they are, and the explanation actually works. This is what you have to face up to when you’re a man whose inability to get it romantically led to the end of the world.

So a strong volume in the series, and we’ve only four more to go. How many more heroines can we stack on? And will Rekka manage to graduate?

Pick of the Week: Not Just Silver Spoon

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SEAN: I am, of course, picking Urusei Yatsura. For reasons I have already stated. That said, I suspect I know where the other picks will be headed. Again. Which is fine, as I love that too.

MICHELLE: I haven’t read that title in question yet, and thus feel weird picking it, so I’m actually going for the second volume of Ran and the Gray World. Although there’s one character I could entirely do without, the premise is neat, Ran’s brother is pretty awesome, and the art is freaking gorgeous. I just hope the story goes in a direction that isn’t creepy.

MJ: I mean, do you even have to ask? There’s some good stuff on the list, but y’know. Silver Spoon. Always Silver Spoon.

ANNA: I feel the same way about Michelle about Ran and the Grey World, but I have read a little bit of Urusei Yatsura before, and while it might not be as polished as Takahashi’s other works, it is a true manga classic. I’m glad it is going to be in print again, so it is my pick.

KATE: I’m going to be predictable and recommend Silver Spoon again, but I’m also going to back Sean’s play with Urusei Yatsura. Hiromu Arakawa and Rumiko Takahashi are the undisputed Queens of Shonen and deserve some love from American readers!

ASH: I’m looking forward to reading more of Ran and the Gray World and of course Silver Spoon, too. But all else being equal, I tend to favor debuts for my official picks, so this week I’ll be choosing Urusei Yatsura. Though, I suppose technically it’s not a really a debut… but it will be the first time I’m reading it!

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 8

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By Dojyomaru and Fuyuyuki. Released in Japan by Overlap, Inc. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

After a book that was mostly politics last time, we spend much of this book with warfare, as the tiny kingdom of Lastania is under attack by a horde of monsters from the demon territories. This is relevant to Souma and company because Roroa’s brother Julius, who has been wandering around ever since he got his ass handed to him in the early books, has settled down in this kingdom due to falling for the kingdom’s insufferably cute and plucky princess, Tia, who is on the cover despite not getting nearly as much focus in the book as I expected. Julius is a bit desperate here, as the Kingdom is falling to the monsters, so asks Souma for aid even though it may mean his own death. That said, readers of this series know that Souma is (usually) not one to carry grudges, especially not against members of his fiancee’s family. He also has the ability to show up and lead a charge to wipe everything out, which he does.

Given the nature of this series, there’s not really much of an actual threat here. We do see a few of the regulars get to show off their skills, including Hal, Kaede and Ruby, now pretty much working as a well-oiled OT3; Kuu and Leporina, who remain the perfect overenthusiastic royal and harried bodyguard; and Komain and Jirukoma, who are reunited here as Jirukoma is part of Julius’ forces. Honestly, despite all the battles, you get the feeling that the author is more interested in the romance. Leporina clearly has feelings for Kuu, but is waiting for him to mature enough to see them. Poncha, Serina and Komain appear to be forming an OT3 of their own, but Komain may be the only one who actually realizes this. Jirukoma hooks up with one of the Captain’s of Lastania’s forces, Lauren, in a classic “I am too dim to recognize obvious signals” sort of way. Oh yes, and on Souma’s end, Maria is still hinting she would not mind hooking up with him, Excel is hitting on him to the displeasure of ALL the fiancees, and we also hear about a beautiful young warrior from not-China as a tease for the next book. (Hopefully Realist Hero’s not-China holds up better than Smartphone’s not-China.)

There are a few drawbacks to this volume. I’ve talked before about the “Native American” stereotype for the refugees, and we get more art showing it off here. Still don’t like it. Given we’re focusing on how Julius has been reformed, partly due to the power of love, I wish we’d had a bit more time spent with him and Tia, who pretty much exists as a thing to protect. That said, I approve of villains who can reform, and Julius’ guarded conversations with Souma were excellent. I also liked an exhausted Souma confessing his fears of becoming too jaded and uncaring when he becomes king, and Roroa and Naden’s reassurances. I would like to see Liscia again – we do get a scene with her, revealing she’s pregnant with twins, but the nature of the universe, and the “realist” part of it, means she’s still being treated like fine china.

So a mostly solid Realist Hero here, and we’re edging closer to the actual coronation and wedding(s). That said, it appears we have another detour coming up next. Does Souma need an artist?

One Piece, Vol. 89

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

So, as I have said before, and will again, I have difficulty doing full reviews of these volumes of One Piece that are just a bunch of giant melee battles. And yet, One Piece is also one of the series where I am dedicated to giving full reviews to each volume – no Bookshelf Briefs as that would be cheating. So let’s see what we have here. First of all, I pretty much enjoyed this volume as much as I have the last few, which if anything else puts this arc above Dressrosa, where I was desperate for an ending by the second to last volume. As this manga moves towards the inevitable Volume 100, it’s nice to see that Oda really is mastering his craft, and still learning from his mistakes. The last few arcs have had him “write out” members of the Straw Hats because he doesn’t want everything to be too cluttered – in this arc that means no Zoro, Robin, Franky, or Usopp. This also allows him to introduce a truly ridiculous number of minor villains and allies.

Big Mom’s pirates are the villains here, but even among them there are varying degrees of Good and Evil. We’ve already seen Big Mom’s empathetic but also horrifying backstory, and have gotten hints that Katakuri, Luffy’s opponent throughout the volume, is a “noble villain” sort. We get that confirmed here with the peanut gallery help from Flampe, one of the many family daughters, and a brat with a brother complex that, like most brother complexes, doesn’t take much to get destroyed. Her attempts at ‘helping’ her brother in his fight by shooting needles at Luffy completely miss the point, especially if you view the fight as a “many battle between men”, which, this being Shonen Jump, it absolutely is. Naturally, when Luffy Haki’s up and gets serious, Flampe is one of the first to foam at the mouth and fall unconscious. There are rules of cool in One Piece, and only certain characters can flout them and get away with it.

Meanwhile, the replacement cake has finally been delivered, and there really is an awful lot of discussion about it being poisoned, and Big Mom possibly being affected by the poison. I’m gonna be honest, I simply cannot see Sanji poisoning a cake, at all, for any reason, so I think they’re waiting in vain here. I think it’s pretty much just pure delicious – which is at least enough to slow Big Mom down, as she has to eat it if nothing else. It even makes her nostalgic for her childhood party that went terribly wrong. That said, this also means it’s time for Sanji and Pudding to break up, at least for now. There’s no real romance in One Piece, and we were never going to get a big damn kiss, but we come as close as Oda is ever going to show us, and it was pretty cool. Again, when he’s not being a comedy lech, I really like Sanji.

There’s a cliffhanger ending to this volume, of the sort that’s “did all our heroes get killed just now?” Probably not. Still, it definitely looks like next volume we’re moving on to a new arc, and gathering up the rest of the Straw Hats. Which pleases me, but this arc has been, on the whole, very sweet.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 16

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Yona of the Dawn Volume 16 by Mizuho Kusanagi

I often put down a new volume of Yona of the Dawn thinking “this was my favorite volume”, which is a testament to Kuanagi’s storytelling abilities. I’m willing to go on the record now and forever (or at least until volume 17) that 16 is my favorite volume of Yona of the Dawn. I had high hopes when I saw that the cover featured an extremely angry looking Hak.

This is the concluding volume of the Water Tribe story arc, and things have been headed towards a major confrontation, what with all the terrible drugrunning, Riri’s seizing her father’s power of hereditary rule, Su-Won and his minions appearing and hanging out near Riri, Yona getting herself injured, and people in general being repressed. As the story opens, Yona and her companions are determined to attack the fleet of the enemy and crush the drug traffickers. Jaeha has managed to secure a mini-army of attractive female divers due to his habitual flirtatious charm to aid in the attack.

yona 16

Even though it is painfully obvious from the beginning of the series that Hak and Yona are in love, there’s so much going against their romance that Hak is an incredibly sympathetic character and somewhat in the position of the underdog. He’s not acting very much on his feelings for Yona since he’s in the position of being her protector and he’s not nobility. While Hak has some great martial arts abilities, he’s not supernaturally gifted like the Dragon Warriors, and he doesn’t share the emotional/psychic bond that binds Yona and the Dragons together. All along Kusanagi shows Hak and Yona sharing a quiet moment here or there set against the backdrop of the great adventure that they’re on, but the reader hasn’t seen multiple panels showing what Hak is actually feeling before.

Most of the action external to Hak’s journey is handled fairly quickly. Riri has found her strength thanks to Yona’s friendship, and it feels like this series has to feature a pirate ship battle every seven volumes or so. As Yona, Riri, Su-Won, and their companions are standing in town and about to be pinned down by archers sniping at them, Su-Won stands in front of Yona to protect her and cautions her not to reinjure her back by firing arrows at her would-be assassins. Yona doesn’t back down from a fight though, and she has a brief reunion with Ju-Do that causes him to reflect on his own choices in staying to support Su-Won. As the local drug kingpen tries to do away with Yona once and for all, Hak comes out of nowhere to protect her from a dagger strike. He then turns incandescent with rage when he sees Su-Won.

What follows are several nearly wordless panels that dramatically portray Hak’s rage and desire for vengeance. Hak’s pupils contract, and Kusanagi switches over to using dramatic black tone and cross-hatching as Hak goes after Su-won. Hak has to go through Ju-Do first, and Jaeha tries to stop him from continuing to fight. As expected, Hak only stops when Yona steps in front of him. The rest of the volume deals with the fall-out of the incident, as Yona’s companions heal their wounds and Su-Won returns to his palace. Kusanagi has paced the story of Yona of the Dawn so well, every few volumes an event will happen that will dial up the emotional intensity and affect the relationships between the main characters even more. Seeing the rage that Hak has masked inside for so long makes the reader contemplate how controlled he’s been up to this point. Yona of the Dawn is embarking on a new story arc as Yona and her companions say farewell to the Water Tribe and I’m eager to see what happens next.

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 1

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Garrison Denim.

This was honestly not at all what I expected. I expected this series to be a very ‘slow life’ sort. The heroine would be reincarnated in another world, start a potion shop, get a couple of assistants, etc. Kind of like Killing Slimes for 300 Years, that sort of thing. This is 100% not that sort of series. Kaoru is not interested in a quiet life, just a life with freedom. Like Katarina from My Next Life as a Villainess, she has “evil eyes”, i.e. the sort that slant up, and wherever she goes she changes the lives of people around her. But Katarina is a sweetie pie, whereas Kaoru is more of a tactical nuclear missile. As the book moves from place to place, and Kaoru and her potions affect more and more people, the reader’s jaw begins to drop as to what will happen next. And woe betide the evil baron or sketchy gate guard who gets in the way of a really good plan. Kaoru is here for one reason alone: Kaoru.

A brief summary: Kaoru is a 20-something OL who’s on her way home on the train when she literally EXPLODES and dies. This is the fault of higher beings who were trying to do something else and she got caught up in it. They offer to reincarnate her in a medieval-style world, and she proceeds to ask/blackmail them into giving her a LOT of things. Language skills, a box of infinite holding, etc. And the ability to create any potion she can think of, along with containers for same. The kicker here is that she thinks she’s going to be in a standard light novel fantasy world. But no, there’s no magic here beyond dragons, and it’s more ‘hunting’ than ‘adventuring’. As such, when Kaoru uses her potions to heal a gravely wounded hunter, the general reaction is “WHAAAAAAAAAT?”. Now Kaoru finds herself moving from kingdom to kingdom, getting involved, healing people with potions, and trying to live a free life.

There are so many light novels out there that are male power fantasies, where the hero gets a harem of slave girls, awesome adventurer powers, etc. that it’s weird to read a female power fantasy like this. Most of the other series we’ve seen over here with female protagonists (including Make My Abilities Average!, by the same author as this) tend to have them as nice girls who are “plucky”. Kaoru is not that sort of heroine, and is almost anti-plucky. Occasionally she is in mild danger, such as when she’s captured by the evil nobles who want to get her potion abilities, but she’s got a plan, which involves knocking out the maid, dressing up as her, stealing the entire room, and walking out. (The poor maid eventually gets her dress back, and we’re reassured is not beaten or anything.) That said, most of the people whose lives Kaoru makes miserable are men, and sometimes you get the feeling she’s going out of her way to be awful to them. That said, she really does help a number of people suffering from grievous injuries, rich or poor. As well as, um, de-aging a female knight who’s too old to get married so she can try again.

By the end of this book I was enjoying it quite a bit. I will warn that it may make some readers uncomfortable. Kaoru is a lot to take, and can tease men or destroy their lives at a whim. But then, that’s what it means to live the free life, rather than the slow life.

Manga the Week of 2/20/19

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SEAN: Usually I go in alphabetical order by publisher when I do this, but sometimes I need to shill, and this is one of those weeks.

Urusei Yatsura is one of the seminal titles of anime and manga. It started a brilliant career for its creator, Rumiko Takahashi. Its female lead, Lum, is recognizable even by those who don’t follow anime. It was licensed here back in the 1990s, but that wasn’t the right time for it. This is. It’s coming out in 2-in-1 omnibuses, the art looks fantastic (all right, the art looks really crude and 1978, but the restoration looks fantastic), AND it’s the first Takahashi title to get a digital release in North America. I realize the early volumes can be hard to take. These aren’t likable characters. But God, they’re funny. Pick up this little slice of history.

MICHELLE: I don’t expect to find this funny, but I feel like I ought to try it, at least. I do like Takahashi in general.

ANNA: An important part of manga history! I’m glad it is being issued again.

ASH: I’ve been wanting to read the series for a while now, but the old edition was becoming difficult to find. Glad that I’ll finally get a chance!

MJ: I’ve never been as much of a Takahashi worshiper as I feel like I should be, but I guess this gives me another chance to try to become one.

SEAN: And now back to the routine, which means Ghost Ship. We get To-Love-Ru 11-12, To-Love-Ru Darkness 9, and World’s End Harem 4.

J-Novel Club has another debut next week with Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! A young man has dreams where he’s in a fantasy world fighting next to a beautiful young elf. One day, he wakes up… no, he’s not in the fantasy world. Instead, the elf is now in Japan. It’s Isekai Reverse!

There’s also Ao Oni: Forever, An Archdemon’s Dilemma 4, and the 13th Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.

Kodansha print-wise has Fire Force 14 and Grand Blue Dreaming 4.

Digitally, we debut World’s End and Apricot Jam (Sekai no Hajikko to Anzu Jam), a Dessert series about a young apartment manager who finds that one of the tenants (whose keyboard she accidentally breaks) is actually a famous musician!

There’s also a pile of digital-only ongoing series. Back Street Girls 8; DAYS 12; A Kiss, for Real 7; Living Room Matsunaga-san 5; Perfect World 8; and Tokyo Revengers 4.

MICHELLE: Hooray for DAYS. I think A Kiss, for Real also looks pretty cute.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 2nd Hinamatsuri.

Seven Seas debuts a spinoff of a spinoff, as the Railgun manga gets its own side story, A Certain Scientific Railgun: Astral Buddy. It stars one of Misaki’s two henchwomen.

There’s also the 2nd Fairy Tale Battle Royale, Freezing 23-24, a 6th Holy Corpse Riding, and the 5th Saint Seiya: Saintia Sho.

Vertical has a 3rd volume of Chi’s Sweet Adventures.

In addition to Urusei Yatsura (see above), Viz also gives us Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 10, Ran and the Gray World 2, the 4th and final RWBY manga anthology, and a 9th Tokyo Ghoul: re.

MICHELLE: The first volume of Ran and the Gray World was pretty neat! I hope they jettison the creepy dude in volume two, though.

ANNA: I have a feeling that is not going to happen, but the art really blew me away so I’m still curious about volume 2.

ASH: Same!

MJ: I’m definitely here for the next volume of Ran and the Gray World!

SEAN: And now Yen buries us in books, though as always a few titles seem to have slipped to the week after next.

On the Yen On end, the debut is Woof Woof Story: I Told You to Turn Me Into a Pampered Pooch, Not Fenrir!. It’s a reincarnation isekai. And again, our hero isn’t a human. He’s a dog. A… very big dog. OK, a wolf. A VERY BIG WOLF.

MICHELLE: Wow. That title is something else.

ASH: Sometimes the titles and concepts are more impressive than the actual execution of the story. I wonder if that will be the case here.

SEAN: There’s also A Certain Magical Index 18, The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria 5, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 8, the 7th My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, the 9th Re: Zero, and a 3rd volume of Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online.

The one debut for Yen’s manga side is a spinoff: Kakegurui Twin, a prequel to the main series.

Non-adaptation titles include Barakamon 17, Dimension W 13, Forbidden Scrollery 6, Gabriel Dropout 6, Girls’ Last Tour 6 (a final volume), Hatsu*Haru 5, Laid-Back Camp 5, Prison School 12, School-Live! 10, Shibuya Goldfish 3, Silver Spoon 7, Tales of Wedding Rings 5, Though You May Burn to Ash 4, Trinity Seven 15.5 (a half volume?), and Val x Love 5.

MICHELLE: More volumes to add to the Barakamon and Silver Spoon to-read piles!

ANNA: I haven’t read the first couple volumes of Silver Spoon but I will one day!

ASH: Shhh, don’t let MJhear you. (But you really should give it a try; Silver Spoon is great!)

MJ: SILVER SPOON SILVER SPOON I AM NOT LISTENING TO ANNA LA LA LA.

SEAN: It’s a light month for light novel adaptations, though. We see the 2nd Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Familia Chronicle, a 9th Overlord, and the 2nd Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization.

ROCK THE PLANET! Buy Urusei Yatsura! And what else?