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True Tenchi Muyo!: Washu

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By Yousuke Kuroda and Masaki Kajishima. Released in Japan as “Shin Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-o-ki” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Lillian Olsen. Adapted by AstroNerdBoy.

The subject of this book may come as a surprise, given that the first two books in this series focused, not on Ayeka and Ryoko, but on Ayeka’s father and Tenchi’s grandfather. But yes, the third book is out, and finally we have one that gives us backstory on one of the main cast. The prologue to this story takes place after the Tenchi OAV episode where they all have to take care of the baby, and expands on Washu’s past that came out in that episode, which was that she’d had a husband and child, but they were immediately taken from her. As such, the bulk of the book goes back in time – way back – and shows us Washu as a young woman, leaving her adopted home planet and going to the Imperial Academy’s Department of Philosophy… at the age of eighteen, smashing all records. There she meets a familiar young man…

First of all, it’s simply odd to have most of the book dealing with a Washu that isn’t 20,000 years old (cryofreezing notwithstanding). Washu here is young and idealistic, though she’s already starting to work on her snarky side. This is helped along by her sempai at the academy, Naja, who seems to be another one of those characters that all Tenchi fans should know about because they read the ancillary material. Naja basically fulfills the function of Airi in the last book, only without the romance (mostly: there is a hint that Naja’s moaning about boyfriends is a front for something else, but it never goes anywhere and also plays into uncomfortable “watch out for the predatory lesbian” territory once or twice). No, the romance comes from a young man who has a knack of walking in on Washu even when she’s in libraries with very tight security. They fall in love quickly, and have a child, but he has a Secret Past (a theme in all these books), and their love is quickly shattered.

It is, to me at least, a bit disconcerting that Washu’s husband is basically a Rule 63 Mihoshi. It’s a bit less surprising for those who’ve seen the other OAVs and know that Mihoshi’s family and ancestors all look almost exactly the same, but disconcerting nonetheless. The best part of the book is simply watching Washu have to deal with being a big fish in a very big pond – everyone wants to treat her like a VIP, and she hates that. It’s also amusing to see Dr. Clay, the pathetic villain in the 2nd Tenchi OAV series, as a pathetic younger villain in these books – well, villain is the wrong word. Jerk? The best part of the book may be Washu’s covert meeting with her husband’s new wife, which leads to a jaw-dropping bit that the narrative, thankfully (if sadly), did not take. Very well done.

There were supposed to be three more books after this one. I believe the fourth was about Mihoshi’s family, and may have finally given us the backstory to her that only the OAVs really had (it was hinted she was a crack, serious police officer till something broke her). Alas, it’s been twenty years, so I think this is all we get. Still, it’s a wonderful nostalgia trip for Tenchi fans.

Bookshelf Briefs 3/26/19

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Anonymous Noise, Vol. 13 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – I’m not quite sure if the artist is going for “being happy in love damages your creativity” or “being with the wrong guy damages your creativity,” but either way I’m not wild about the fact that Nino is having trouble singing again after her confession to Momo. Yuzu’s forceful kiss is not really helping there, either. That said, it certainly helps keep up the potboiler aspect of this. I was more interested in Kurose and An, as even if she’s clearly a “last-minute pairing” addition, I like her style, and honestly Kurose is better off with her, though we aren’t there yet. Add to that the fact that the volume runs short so we can have another of the author’s early short stories, and it’s only an okay volume. – Sean Gaffney

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 5 | By Matoba | Yen Press – We get a lot more of Sacchan in this volume, and that helps explain why the anime expanded her role as well. Clearly she’s more popular as a blushing mess than she is as a violent stoic, and so that’s what we see here, as she clearly likes Astaroth but his playboy tendencies and her self-image issues torpedo any chances. As for Mullin and Beel, anime-watchers will no doubt recognize the cherry blossom chapters, but they’re sweet, and also help to give a bit of backstory to Pandemonium, which is getting to be less “Hell” and more “we’re moving to the next town over” in terms of wars with God. Still as light as a feather, but cute and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Candy Color Paradox, Vol. 1 | By Isaku Natsume | SuBLime – Onoe is a journalist working for a weekly magazine and he’s less than enthused when he’s assigned to partner with Motoharu Kaburagi, a photographer whom he considers his rival. Worse, it appears that Kaburagi has never even noticed him. When they go out on assignments together, Onoe keeps screwing up and eventually becomes downright incompetent at his job after he realizes he’s attracted to Kaburagi. Kaburagi notices, of course, and somehow finds Onoe’s tsundere-tastic protestations to the contrary endearing, so ends up falling in love with him. The parts of this volume I liked best were the few pages where they’re working together successfully and getting scoops, but now that they’re officially a couple, I’m pretty sure journalism is not going to be the focus. I’ll give it one more volume at least to see how it goes. – Michelle Smith

Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade, Vol. 11 | By Koyuki and Mamare Touno | Yen Press – “The operation was a success but the patient died” would be a good summary of the final volume of West Wind Brigade, as Kuroe is able to revive and save everyone, but the cost is very high. It’s a surprisingly serious ending to what has been a relatively light-hearted spinoff, so it makes sense that the actual ending is a festival with everyone trying to get Soujirou to take them around. This whole thing taking place in the first five or so volumes of Log Horizon, there’s not really a lot of plot-advancement it can do, though we see Shiro at the end, despairing about Soujirou’s harem and also talking about the nature of the world they’re in. This was fun. – Sean Gaffney

Love in Focus, Vol. 1 | By Yoko Nogiri | Kodansha Comics – I did very much enjoy this volume, for those worried about a “Vol. 1” appearing in Bookshelf Briefs; it’s just I don’t have much to say about it. It’s cute. It reminds me a lot of Shortcake Cake, though the dorm situation is most likely why. Mako is attending a high school far from her home due to its photography club, and bonds with a sullen dark-haired boy with a secret past and her childhood blond-haired friend who “sees her as a sister,” except that’s totally not true. A love triangle is in the works, though as with most of these series the final result is pretty obvious from the get go. It’s only three volumes, though, so I’m happy to read more of it. – Sean Gaffney

Love Massage: Melting Beauty Treatment, Vol. 1 | By Toki Sunazuka | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Honestly, I don’t know what compelled me to read this. It’s exactly what you would expect, going by the cover. Shiho Sannomiya is a lonely office worker who is surprised when handsome Haruki Toudou shows up when she schedules an in-home massage. She immediately begins sexually fantasizing about him, which makes it awkward when he’s transferred to her workplace. Dreams become reality when they immediately start making out. Various interruptions prevent them from doing the deed, including a note from another female client that leads Shiho to feel foolish for feeling special. But not to fear, for Haruki has immediately fallen in love with her! Everything happens swiftly and with zero depth whatsoever. I shan’t be reading volume two. – Michelle Smith

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 34 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I avoided reading this for a while as I knew what was coming. Yes, Sinbad has a plan, and that plan involves mind-controlling everyone into being totally fine with being killed and “reborn” in a better world. This unfortunately includes Morgiana, though at least she seems to be fighting it off. It does not include Judar and Harukyu, however, who were too evil to be affected, apparently. And so now they have to go battle Sinbad, which means conquering all the dungeons that he conquered when he was younger. This is pretty much the last arc of this title, so it makes sense that we’re back to dungeon crawling after so long. I do wish Morgiana could be part of it, though. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 42 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – After the last couple of volumes showed Kyoko’s growth as an actress, it makes sense that here we see she has a ways to go. In particular, her concentration is very touch-and-go, and almost loses her the role when she gets distracted. Thank goodness for Moko, then, who saves her butt, though she has to endure a little bit of devotion afterwards. It’s a kickass moment for her, but the cliffhanger worries me—I suspect we will not be seeing the Kyoko/Momo show we’ve all been waiting for. Still, there’s some fantastic acting here from Kyoko, as well as seeing how far an actress will go to win a role. Skip Beat! doesn’t come out as often anymore, but I’m always waiting for it. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, Vol. 5 | By Neko Nekobyou and Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – This was popular enough to get a second arc, so we get a new character, a complete newbie whose friends seem to enjoy fucking with her because she’s pretty gullible. Fortunately, she runs into our heroines, who help to set things straight. They also run into an old face from SAO… or rather from SAO Progressive, who hasn’t met the main cast here but is very familiar with Kirito and Asuna. And they’re going to need all the help they can get, as they’ve got to take on a new quest that has another group wanting it far more… enough to pay big money for it… or just beat them up for it. This isn’t as sweet and fluffy as it was before, but it’s lots of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart | By Syundei | Seven Seas – Go For It, Nakamura! was one of my favorite manga released last year, so I was very excited when another of Syundei’s works was licensed. Be warned, though—the two volumes are vastly different in tone. While there are a few adorable and heartwarming moments to be found in Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart, it is still very much a horror manga. If anything, the incongruity of its charming elements actually contributes to the underlying unease and disquieting mood of a story about serial killings, reincarnation, revenge, and corrupted love. It’s a blood-soaked and disturbing tale, and deliberately so. Admittedly, the dramatic climax does bring the volume to a rather abrupt and somewhat unexpected close, but overall Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is horror that is both effective and affective. I very much appreciate the creator’s versatility and sincerely hope to see more of Syundei’s manga translated. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Ummmmmm…

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MICHELLE: There are a lot of new volumes for series I haven’t started yet this week, which makes me feel kind of weird about picking them. Still, there’s no way I’ll ever resist a series called Dragon Goes House-Hunting, so I’ll choose the second volume with the certainty that someday I really will read it.

SEAN: Same here, so I will pick a 5th volume of Kakafukaka, a digital josei manga whose overall subdued mood and frustrating but fascinating characters I’ve really come to enjoy.

ASH: Despite the number of series being released this week, there are actually relatively few that I am actively following (at least at the moment). Inside Mari is one exception to that, however, so that’ll be my pick this time.

ANNA: My pick of the week is the stacks of unread manga in my house. Maybe I’ll get caught up on a series or two!

MICHELLE: Honestly, that should be my pick every week!

MJ: I’ve been sick for the past week, so I’ll join the catch-up group this week! I’ve got quite a backlog to get through.

Defeating the Demon Lord’s a Cinch (If You’ve Got a Ringer), Vol. 3

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By Tsukikage and bob. Released in Japan as “Darenidemo Dekiru Kage kara Tasukeru Maou Toubatsu” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Caleb DeMarais.

It’s becoming clear that these books live or die based on the “guest” characters. The last book had a poor orphan girl who was so fed up by the antics of Ares and Amelia that she willingly went along with the villain at the end. But she was somewhat grounded, and this made everything easier to take. This time around we have Stephenne, whose joke is that everyone assumes her to be faking her “dojikko” personality because no one could truly be that dumb and unaware, but nope, what you see seems to be what you get. If anything, Stephenne helps to highlight one of the points of the book. Everyone is appalled at her basic personality, especially because she’s a super high level and can crush most things. Why would you not have her in the party? Well, because she’s like that. Yes, I just describes Ares. Replace “dojikko” with “asshole” and they’re the same character. No wonder his boss gets headaches just talking to him. It’s like watching Maxwell Smart and the Chief.

The premise is much the same as last time – our hero party has entered a new place, but they need to level up and get stronger, so Ares and company tail them and try to facilitate things. Stephenne is supposed to help on both sides, but she’s such a walking disaster that no one wants anything to do with her. In the meantime, Golem Valley, where this book takes place, seems to be distressingly free of dangerous golems. Oh, there’s enough so that the hero can defeat them, but where are the super strong ones? As Ares investigates, he finds that the demon lord has also sent a party to Golem Valley. A confrontation is needed, and Ares has to do the only thing he knows how to do really well: piss everyone off.

Last time I found Ares slightly less obnoxious and awful, but that’s changed once more – he’s really terrible in this book, and you absolutely can see why most sensible people want nothing to do with him. Amelia, who is in love with him, isn’t much better, as for God’s sake, WHY? Seeing her jealousy at Stephenne hanging out with Ares and her increasingly unsubtle hints just makes me wince. They’re helped by a half-giant turned priest, who’s the nicest, most relatable character in the book and ends it by now speaking to Ares. Meanwhile, the hero party are suffering from now being good enough to defeat most low-level threats. All the major flaws from the first book have been explained or are about to be fixed. Unfortunately, that makes them all rather dull, with most of the interest, again, coming from Stephenne interacting with the party and being herself.

I’m not sure how much we’re supposed to sympathize with Stephenne here – the author doesn’t seem to like her much either, and the ending where her spirit familiar abandons her seems to be mean. But then the book runs on mean, because Ares is its star. It’s well-written and I like the plot beats, but man, you grit your teeth reading it. The fourth volume seems to be the last so far in Japan – perhaps Japanese readers feel the same? (EDIT: No, it’s apparently that the author is working on more than one series. It is still ongoing.)

Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart

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By Syundei. Released in Japan as “Gesshoku Kitan” by Akaneshinsha, serialized in the magazine Opera. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Amber Tamosaitis. Adapted by Lora Gray.

I was quite happy to read another manga by this author, Go for It, Nakamura-kun!, and so I decided to pick this up, figuring it would have more entertainingly mild BL and wacky retro-style humor that reminded me of Rumiko Takahashi. In a way, I was right, this did remind me of Rumiko Takahashi. But it’s along the lines of Mermaid Saga rather than Ranma 1/2. Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is another done-in-one series from Syundei that ran in Opera, but there the similarities to Nakamura end. This is a brutal horror story, filled with murder, revenge, reincarnations, and reincarnated revenge. It’s very much a mood piece, and while I did end up enjoying it I’d say it doesn’t quite reach the same audience as Nakamura did. It’s also a lot more explicit than Nakamura was – here be blowjobs, and there’s some non-consensual sex sprinkled throughout. That said, if you like dark BL and suspense/horror, this is definitely worth picking up.

Hoshino is a young man at an all-boys’ school with a crush on his classmate and a recurring dream where he’s killed by an older man. His crush, Yamada, comes on a bit too strong, and is a lot more comfortable being gay than Hoshino seems to be. Things get a bit more complicated when, after suddenly getting kissed in the park after school, a blond boy shows up and brutally murders Yamada. Horrified, Hoshino calls the police… only the body is gone. Now he’s in trouble with the cops. What makes things worse is that the next day Hoshino sees the blond on the street… and the blond has no memory of anything that happened the previous day. What exactly is going on with Yamada? Is he really dead? Is he also connected to Tani, another classmate in their school? Or the writer that Yamada lives with… and sleeps with? And what does this have to do with Hiroshi’s dreams of getting killed in the past?

This is a riveting read, and I really enjoyed the story, but I’m not certain that I’d call it fun. There’s no consensual sex here – even the kiss Yamada gives to Hoshino is forced on him – and Yamada is a twisted villain… well, sort of a villain. As I also said, there’s a lot of brutal murders here, of various kinds, from stabbings to drownings, and the book, while it doesn’t revel in the violence, does not back away from it either. The best reason to get the book is the creeping sense of doom and suspense that goes along with turning the pages. The mystery, being somewhat supernatural in tone, isn’t much of one, but the mood is great, and there’s a twist at the very end that I really loved, one that only works with the logic of everything that came before – or rather, a lack of logic that comes with this type of story.

This isn’t for everyone, but if you like your BL with a side of suspense and don’t mind the violence – sexual or otherwise – it’s a good read.

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 9

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Everyone’s Getting Married Volume 9 by Izumi Miyazono

I’m always glad when Viz puts out stealth josei under the Shojo Beat imprint, and while it might mean only one josei series from them running every year or so, I’ll take what I can get. The final volume of Everyone’s Getting Married reminded me a bunch of a last episode of a Korean drama, because Ryu and Asuka keep quasi breaking up and getting back together after long periods of time pass. Couples separating and reconciling in a dramatic fashion after many years is such a Korean drama staple!

everyone's getting married 9

All along, Ryu’s fervent opposition to marriage and Asuka’s total commitment to becoming a homemaker as her ultimate goal created plenty of dramatic tension throughout the series. It was difficult to envision a happy ending where both of them would be fulfilled, but this final volume showed in an episodic fashion how their personalities shifted a bit after they paused their relationship. Asuka started finding more fulfillment and rewards at work, while Ryu realized that he can’t be solely committed to his career. It takes the wedding of an equally unlikely couple, Rio and Hiroki, to bring Asuka and Ryu back together for good. This volume was much more episodic in nature than previous volumes, with the story unfolding more like a series of vignettes. I put down this volume appreciating all the emotional depth Miyazono brought to the story. Since most of the Shojo Beat imprint focuses on high school romance, it was refreshing to have a series featuring adults dealing with relationships and commitment issues. Now I’ve just got to be patient for fall when the Maki Enjoji series An Incurable Case of Love comes out for my next mainstream josei fix from Viz.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 5

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By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

There are a few series where you simply have to wait a few volumes/episodes for it to get really good. In fact, that’s the cry of the obsessive fan trying to get someone to try things. “By the way, it only REALLY gets good about the 26th episode!” they say, and then cry as they watch the interest in their new friend’s eyes die. But it’s true. Take, for example, the series So I’m a Spider, So What?. The first few volumes, while entertaining, suffered from a very real problem, which is that the spider slowly making her way out of the dungeon, along with the endless leveling up and pages of stats, was not inherently interesting. There were moments of excitement in the fights, and some plot development, but having her totally separate from the rest of the main cast was annoying – especially as it turned out she was separated by time as well. But now the spider is on the surface and interacting with the world. The result? The best book in the series, by far.

As with prior volumes, the books are divided into two segments which alternate. The first deals with our spider, who has run into a fellow reincarnated student, who is a vampire baby. Her parents are human, though, “vampire” is just the role she got when reincarnated. Spider takes an interest in her, and ends up getting embroiled in a fight between two countries that is turning deadly. There’s also a very familiar elf who wants to get that vampire baby… and kill her. Oh yes, and there’s also the demon lord, who is rapidly becoming a bit… different, personality-wise, thanks to one of Spider’s other minds hacking away at her own. Now I know why I thought Ariel was our heroine when I first met her. She has the “narrative voice” in her outward personality. But the spider (who I won’t name just yet, but we do seem to find out her identity here) is actually, when we’re not in her headspace, socially awkward and mostly silent.

Meanwhile, in the future, the demon lord’s army is taking on the elf village. The elves were not exactly nice when we went into the village last time, and here we find they’re possibly worse than the so-called villains – they’re dismissive of humans, physically abusive towards Anna, the half-elf girl, and in general you are not all that troubled by the idea of them getting wiped out in this battle. Which is good, because it’s leaning that way. Sure, the kids’ teacher is the elf leader’s daughter, but there’s only so much she can do, especially as everyone doesn’t trust her. And there’s the revelation that most of the “missing” kids – and indeed, one who was presumed dead – are on the side of the demons. It’s troubling for Shun, who is still a very shiny and noble hero. That said, one of the two or three cliffhangers we get here implies that may be changing soon.

While the “spider” part of the book ends in a very satisfying place, the “hero” part of the book is riddled with “what happens neeeeeeeext?” questions. Sadly, we’ll have to wait till the summer to find out. Till then, though, enjoy a book with excellent plot and character development, less stats than previous books, and some gripping fights. Really loving this now.

Manga the Week of 3/27/19

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SEAN: Another huge week. Lots of Kodansha. Lots of Seven Seas. Lots of Yen. Lots of everything.

Denpa has a 3rd volume of Inside Mari.

Ghost Ship gives us a 5th Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs.

Kodansha’s digital debut is Asahi-sempai’s Favorite (Asahi-senpai no Okiniiri) is a Betsufure title that – try to contain your surprise – has a popular boy teasing an easily flustered girl. Sometimes a bit too much.

There’s also a PILE of ongoing digital. We have Ace of the Diamond 21, Ao-chan Can’t Study! 5, Black Panther and Sweet 16 10, Boarding School Juliet 9, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 11, Hotaru’s Way 8, I Want to Hold Aono-kun So Badly I Could Die 4, Kakafukaka 5, My Boy in Blue 7, and Tokyo Alice 9. That’s a lot. I follow Ao-chan and Kakafukaka.

MICHELLE: I’m only following Ace of the Diamond currently, but there are several in this list I *want* to read if time ever permits.

ANNA: Honestly, there is too much manga, and I am so far behind, it is tricky to even contemplate reading everything I am mildly interested in.

SEAN: For print, we only have Yuri Is My Job! 2.

ASH: I somehow missed that this was an ongoing series!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a digital-first light novel debut this week. Skeleton Knight in Another World is another in an odd trend of “I’m in a fantasy world as a living skeleton” series, this one an isekai. If you thought “I wonder if it has a gorgeous elf woman”, five more points.

Seven Seas also has Arpeggio of Blue Steel 14, Bloom Into You 6, A Centaur’s Life 16, Dragon Goes House-Hunting 2, Dragon Quest Monsters + 2, Hour of the Zombie 8, My Monster Secret 15, New Game! 5, and Wonderland 2. Lots I like in that pile.

MICHELLE: I need to read Dragon Goes House-Hunting!

ASH: I was legitimately amused by the first volume.

SEAN: Vertical has a 5th volume of CITY.

Yen has a light novel debut with 86–eighty six–, a title so nice they said it twice. It’s a dark little story about an invisible district, suicide bombers, and constant warfare. I’ll give the first volume a try, but it sounds like not my thing at all.

Yen On also gives us Accel World 17, Durarara!! 12, and The Saga of Tanya the Evil 5, which may equal the page count of AW and DRRR!! combined.

Yen Press has a debut manga with Plunderer, a Shonen Ace title from the creator of popular but unlicensed series Heaven’s Lost Property. As such, I expect a lot of fighting and a male lead who’s a pervert. Let’s see if I’m right.

And the Yen Press Players! We get Alice in Murderland 10, As Miss Beelzebub Likes 5, BTOOOM! 24, The Devil Is a Part-Timer! 13 (manga version), Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler 9, Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl 8, Log Horizon: The West Wind Brigade 11 (a final volume), WataMote 13, One Week Friends 6, Re: Zero Arc 3 Volume 6 (manga version), Taboo Tattoo 13, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 6, and Triage X 17.

A stack of stuff! Stoked? Or stunned?

MICHELLE: Yeah, stunned. Very stunned.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?, Vol. 2

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

Here we are with the second volume of everyone’s favorite parody. Last time, I was very pleased with the over the top humor and the fact that, desp[ite “lol incest subtext” being the premise, the book did not lean overheavily on any actual incest subtext. That’s still the case with the second book, which is not QUITE as funny but still has lots of amusing moments. Now that it’s an ongoing series, the author has to figure out how much it can rely on “this is a parody” and how much it actually has to take its plot seriously. Sometimes it doesn’t succeed – there’s a couple of stock fanservice moments in the middle of the book that are meant to be funny but made me cringe. Fortunately it fares better with its ongoing plot, which is comparing and contrasting Mamako to other moms in this game and realizing that she is, in fact, pretty awesome.

As the cover might have warned you, this second volume gets Mamako into a sailor suit school uniform. Our heroes find their next quest involves taking a week of school at a stock high school with NPC Teacher guy and a class so generic that their faces are literally ASCII art. Technically it’s kids-only. In reality, Mamako is there as an “observer”, and of course can’t resist taking up the spotlight and embarrassing her son. Also there is a pretty newcomer, Medhi, and her own mother (who is named “Medhimama” throughout the book, but I’m assuming that’s shorthand, as opposed to Mamako’s blatant actual name). Medhi is saddled with a classic “Education Mama” to the nth degree, who insists she be number one in everything. And while Medhi seems to be taking this with grace and patience, in reality she’s a seething cauldron of resentment waiting to go off.

Let’s get this out of the way immediately: the middle of the book has Mamako briefly molested by a tentacle monster, though it doesn’t get very far. There’s also a scene where Mamako has to apologize to customers for something (school festival booth), and her bouncing breasts are leered at quite a bit. These two tropes are not particularly part of what Mom Isekai is parodying, and so I am less inclined to give them a pass. They’re bad. Also, and possibly running the risk of taking this series too seriously, the relationship between Medhi and her mother is pretty abusive and toxic, a fact explicitly spelled out. As a result, I was a bit annoyed that Medhimama was possessed by some sort of illegal “dark item” (it came up last time as well, if I recall) that made her much worse. This makes it sound like the abuse was not her fault, which isn’t what the author wanted to say, I suspect. On the brighter side, the relationship between Mamako and her son is much better in this volume. He’s a good kid, and she’s a good, if overly affectionate, mom.

I still enjoyed this volume in general, even with my carps above. Those who like wacky parodies will still enjoy it, those looking for hot hot mom-son love will probably be frustrated. And it definitely needed more of Mrs. Shiraaase, who appeared far less this time around.

Ran the Peerless Beauty, Vol. 1

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By Ammitsu. Released in Japan as “Takane no Ran-san” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Friend. Released in North America digitally by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Nate Derr.

One of the running themes of this blog has been about how a manga can be good even if it is not original. Trying to describe Ran the Peerless Beauty simply by the plot and characters alone might have a reader who’s very familiar with shoujo rolling their eyes and moving on, or at least asking how much it felt like reading a secret, 31st volume of Kimi ni Todoke. (Answer: a whole lot.) It’s true that the premise does not really surprise. But I enjoyed this first volume immensely. The romance was sweet, both leads are nice people who get along with a minimum of teasing. Ran is introverted without being a shrinking violet. Akira is ‘the popular guy’ but lacks the ego that frequently goes with it (I’m looking at you, Hatsu*Haru.) It’s also frequently funny without actually being a comedy. It’s kind of like finding a new burger place. It’s still a burger and fries, but man, it’s tasty. You want to come back.

We are introduced to the titular Ran, who is tall, gorgeous, gets great grades, is good in sports, family is well-off, etc. She’s so maxed out on perfect attributes, in fact, that most guys never even try to approach her. It doesn’t help that she’s fairly stoic and introverted. She’s on the school’s gardening committee, but that’s more to fill out its ranks than anything else. One day, while watering flowers and thinking about other things, she accidentally soaks one of her classmates, Akira. He’s a popular guy in her class, nice, talks to everyone… grades not so great, but hey. He thinks she’s cute. He also has a dark secret. OK, not so dark. His family runs a florist shop, and he’s very good with flowers! Ran discovers this, and the two gradually become closer.

I like these two a lot. Ran is sort of like a less intense Sawako, as she soon comes to appreciate things around her and open up to Akira. Akira is the sort of boy you’d call ‘refreshing’. The rest of the cast hasn’t quite opened up yet (Ran’s best friend is there to be the extrovert to her introvert, but we know little about her except that she had a boyfriend, then broke up with him.) Mostly, though, I enjoyed this so much as I did because of the little stylistic things. The artist has lots of side comments and funny background events that reminded me of the old cluttered Hana to Yume manga. It’s not a comedy per se, but there’s lots of funny bits that come from this, and I like that Ran’s family is a normal goofy shoujo family. Best of all may be the portrayal of the Student Council, who are all, men and women, the complete cliche of the “student council member”, as if they were chosen based entirely on their looks.

So yes, the plot is “cute buy meets cute girl and they cute together”, but that’s fine by me, and I found a great deal to enjoy here. There’s far too many Kodansha series that are digital only for me to keep up with, but this is going to be one I’ll definitely make an effort on.