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Bookshelf Briefs 9/17/18

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The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 9 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – I read the first eight volumes of The Ancient Magus’ Bride back-to-back, so it was a little weird reading this one on its own. We pick up with Chise having made a deal with Josef that ultimately involves each getting to see the other’s painful past. She eventually must agree that he’s suffered even more than she has, though this doesn’t give him an excuse for hurting people. I’m not sure if her message of understanding really got through to him, but it was pretty neat that, although Elias was prepared to do something terrible to save her, Chise essentially saved herself. Perhaps a bit too neatly, everything more or less resets in time for the next phase of the story—the “college arc”—which begins next volume. I’m looking forward to it! – Michelle Smith

A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 15 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – Last time we had a lot of war and very little of the main cast; this time the main cast are more heavily involved, but only because the war comes to them. Honestly, if anything, the series gets even more bizarre, something I thought impossible, mostly thanks to the snake people and their “world in a bubble” reality generator, which makes me wonder how much of what we’ve seen has been in one of those. As for Hime, though the cover may make this look like a final volume, it isn’t—but she is almost killed by terrorists, who go after the little triplet girls as well. A Centaur’s Life has found the line between cute (and sometimes perverse) monster girls and anti-war otakudom, and is proud to step back and over over that line. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 2 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press -The concept of the playboy high school guy who ends up knowing nothing about what real love feels like is not a new plot in the slightest, but the author does a very good job of keeping us interested despite that. Kai’s attempts to force a kiss on Riko get him in deep trouble for almost half the volume, and justifiably so. But Kai is genuinely trying to understand Hiro, and understand why she continues to be in love with another man even though she knows he is with someone else and can’t reciprocate it. The series gets a bit more cliche when it moves to the other main characters—honestly, the Buddhist guy/Shinto girl pair made me groan at how cliched it was. Do we need to pair the spares already? Still, overall good. – Sean Gaffney

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon Four-Panel Comic: Odd Days of Goddess | By Masaya Takamura and Fujino Omori | Yen Press – The second volume of this 4-koma parody series is not as good as the first. Honestly, it has to be said: seeing Hestia and Lilly getting jealous over Bell is not really why fans over here read the series, and since it’s exaggerated in a parody, that makes it more annoying. This second volume came out around when Sword Oratoria was taking off, so the second half focuses far more on Lefiya and company, but the humorous tone is still the same. Oddly, the best parts of the volume are when it briefly turns serious, or at least sweet, showing off Bell and Hestia’s pure and innocent kind-of love. If you like the series, this may make you smile. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 4 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – I suspect I may love this a bit more than other manga bloggers do, but oh well. I love it. Shirogane’s sister is on the cover, and she does come to visit the student council room, though she’s on her best behavior. And there are a few classic Chika moments. But for the most part this volume is dominated by Kaguya and Shirogane and their desperate attempts to get the other to confess first so they can just GO OUT ALREADY. This includes pretending to be cold, which goes disastrously on both sides, and Kaguya then CATCHING a cold, which leads to an actual crisis when Shirogane can’t control his teenage hormones and Kaguya thinks he went too far… or not far enough. I can’t stop laughing when I read this. – Sean Gaffney

The Night Beyond the Tricornered Window, Vol. 5 | By Tomoko Yamashita | SuBLime Manga (digital only) – I wasn’t exactly lulled into a false sense of security by the episodic first half of this volume, given the pervasive ominous feeling that always lingers on the fringes of this series, but I was still taken by surprise when some pivotal things suddenly happen in the back half, including Hanzawa having a run-in with Erika and readers suddenly learning some very major and disturbing truths about Rihito’s past that both render him more sympathetic as a character and provide further evidence that he’s likely a very dangerous person for Mikado to be hanging around with. I love this series so much, from the spare yet expressive art to the creepy cases to the leads and their complicated relationship. What it reminds me of the most is Tokyo Babylon, so if that’s your jam, please read this series! – Michelle Smith

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 5 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – This volume of Queen’s Quality felt more like a shonen series, filled with dramatic battles, swords, and flashbacks of dead childhood friends in the best One Piece tradition. Fumi is getting closer to becoming a true queen, and succeeds in at least moving from the Black Queen to the Dark Grey Queen this time around (would she sing the Seven Seas of Rhye?), but she has to figure out a way to work with white as well, and it’s implied that she has to recover all her memories to do so. Meanwhile, Kyutaro is having trouble dealing with how much he’s in love with her, and even her very presence can relax and heal him. This new arc involving a spring break training trip will have trouble topping the excitement of the arc that ended here. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 41 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | VIZ Media- Kyoko’s audition for a ninja role in a samurai drama continues, and the majority of this volume can be summed up as, “She proceeds to be very badass.” Some of what happens to make her stand out was a calculated move on Yashiro’s part, but the fact is that she has prepared more than any of the other candidates, and even the fact that she’s a “talento” with LME instead of an official actress doesn’t seem like it’ll hurt her much. I love the way Nakamura-sensei depicts Kyoko when she’s in character, and her ninja persona is very cool indeed. I’d be super happy to see some serious stardom start to come her way, especially with Yashiro as her manager. The final couple of pages hint for some movement on the romance front, too. I still love this series very, very much! – Michelle Smith

Slum Wolf | By Tadao Tsuge | New York Review Comics – Although it’s the first volume by a Japanese creator to be published by New York Review Comics, Slum Wolf is the second major collection of Tadao Tsuge’s work to have been translated into English. (Trash Market was released a few years ago by Drawn & Quarterly.) Slum Wolf brings together nine of Tsuge’s short manga originally published between 1969 an 1978, most of which first appeared in the influential alternative manga magazine Garo. In addition to an autobiographical article by Tsuge, an essay by the volume’s editor and translator Ryan Holmberg which provides additional historical context for the manga is also included. The stories themselves have autobiographical influences as well. Filled with vagrants, punks, hoodlums, and other tough guys living in the shadow of the Second World War and the American occupation that followed, the short vignettes in Slum Wolf share a similar atmosphere and mood, themes, and even a few recurring characters. – Ash Brown

Pick of the Week: Easy Pickings

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SEAN: My Brother’s Husband 2. Wow, that was easy.

MICHELLE: Yep.

KATE: In the interest of making this a polysyllabic Pick of the Week, I’ll agree with Sean and Michelle’s choice while adding two of my own: volume six of Golden Kamuy, everyone’s favorite manly cooking manga, and volume one of 20th Century Boys, back again as a series of handsome two-in-one omnibus volumes. If you missed Naoki Urasawa’s twisty thriller the first time around, now’s your chance to discover what all the fuss is about.

ASH: The final volume of My Brother’s Husband is definitely my pick this week although, like Kate, I have my eye on a few other things as well, including Golden Kamuy, the debut of Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu, and the last bit of Erased.

ANNA: There’s a lot of great manga coming out this week, but I’m going to take the opportunity to celebrate the new edition of Twentieth Century Boys. A great opportunity for people who missed it the first time around.

MJ: I will use more than one syllable, but there’s only one choice for me this week. My Brother’s Husband. The end.

Dragon Goes House-Hunting, Vol. 1

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By Kawo Tanuki and Choco Aya. Released in Japan as “Dragon, Ie wo Kau” by Mag Garden, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Blade. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Nan Rymer. Adapted by T Campbell.

It can sometimes be hard for a book to live up to its premise. Some series just have such a good starting point that the imagination takes off before you even read it, and this can lead to expecting too much. Fortunately, there are a lot of funny moments in Dragon Goes House-Hunting, a book that mostly relies on the titular dragon reacting in a ridiculous manner to the various houses that he’s being shown. Because make no bones about it, the premise of the title is absolutely what happens. Every chapter the demon lord who is also the dragon’s realtor has a fresh new house to show off, and every chapter we see the ludicrously off-putti9ng reasons no one up till now has bought it. If I’m being honest, there’s only one big flaw in this series: I found Letty, the dragon himself, to be rather irritating and wussy. But that is pretty much the point.

Letty is a pampered NEET of a dragon who has been thrown out of his parents’ house for accidentally letting the dragon eggs he was watching get stolen. Letty seems to live IN a video game world, as he points out the eggs will just respawn when the next adventurer party cones along, but gets thrown out anyway. He is a young, naive dragon with lots of people who want him dead, and so, after many harrowing situations, ends up in the hands of Dearia, who is a respected architect and real estate broker… as well as a demon lord, a fact that is third on his list. Dearia is pretty mild-mannered, and seems quite happy to find Letty a house. The trouble is, this is a fantasy RPG-land. And Letty is a massive wuss. Combining these leads to things like the house with all the built-in traps, or the house that’s haunted, or the house with the portrait that reveals your deepest secrets if you don’t give the right password.

Despite Letty irritating me a lot of the time, he’s basically good at heart, and the best part of the book was the growing friendship between him and Dearia. Towards the end Dearia simply decides to build him a house to order, and while this works out fine at first, it does highlight the problem that Letty is not like other dragons, and would much rather just curl up and stay away from the hustle and bustle of the universe. Dearia seems to have been friends with another dragon in the years before he met Letty, and it’s not hard to see that the endgame here may simply be Letty staying with Dearia and going on journeys with him. But if that happens, we wouldn’t see more ridiculous houses and Letty’s reaction to them, i.e. the primary reason to read this series. It may not quite match up to the premise in my head, but it’s pretty fun.

Skip Beat!, Vol. 41

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Skip Beat!, Volume 41 by Yoshiki Nakamura

There’s something about picking up a new volume in a long-running shoujo series that is the manga equivalent of comfort food to me. It is great to settle in to a story arc, even if the situations are similar to what has happened before, seeing how the characters have grown and evolved as they encounter new challenges still makes it rewarding for the reader.

Kyoko has a big audition in this volume, and even though this has happened so many times before in Skip Beat!, this was very satisfying to read simply to see the way she’s grown into her comfort zone as an actor. Also, Skip Beat! excels at serving up sweet sweet revenge as Kyoko proves people who underestimate her wrong with her unique skill set. In this case, Kyoko is competing for the role of the ninja Momiji against the spoiled niece of the director. Kyoko is able to bring something unique to the role due to her recent training in stage fighting, combined with her skills and instincts as an actor. One of the many things that makes Skip Beat! so special after 41 volumes is Nakamura’s gifts at drawing the process of acting. Kyoko’s body language and intensity utterly change when she’s inhabiting a role, and seeing her dynamic approach to her character’s demanding physical scenes makes it clear that the executives are crazy if they cast anyone else.

Kyoko is at her best when proving herself, and her agency isn’t afraid to pile on a little extra difficulties by manipulating the situation behind the scenes, in an attempt to improve the casting possibilities for all the actors who get started as “talent” on variety shows instead of the pure acting track. Rory’s oversight and machinations doesn’t just stop at Kyoko’s career. This volume is largely Ren free, but we get a hint at what might be happening in the next few volumes as Ren returns and Rory tips him off to a situation that might actually inspire jealousy in Ren! As always I’m having it hard to manage my anticipation until the next volume.

Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles, Vol. 1

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By Yuri Kitayama and Riv. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mana Z.

Ooof. Despite the fact that this combines the hot new trends of the last few years – reincarnation into a fantasy world AND going to a magical academy – the first volume of this series felt older than its 3 or so years, like something that came out in the dregs of the late 00s. Sadly, I use the word ‘dregs’ deliberately, as I did not really enjoy this book very much. It has almost no humor, which doesn’t help. In fact, the author seems to have decided that since they’re going to be writing a hero who is overpowered and also has the ladies falling for him, the way to balance this out is to make his entire life as miserable as possible. The reincarnated hero finds out that his childhood sweetheart he promised to marry seems to have forgotten about it.. and then she disappears anyway. He’s then killed in a bus crash. And put in the body of a 7-year-old orphan working for a group of thugs. Who are then all murdered. It’s that kind of life.

The cover features the disappeared girl prominently, which is surprising as she never appears in this new world as I expected her to. It’s possible she’s in the memories of one of the other girls we see in this book, but if so she’s hiding it well. Our hero ends up in the body of Rio, and his own memories and Rio’s merge together to create one of the more staid, boring heroes I’ve ever seen in a light novel – and I’ve read Black Bullet, for God’s sake! The new merged Rio sees that his life is a constant parade of crap, and the cynicism and knowledge he gets from his Japanese part allows him to stoically endure everything. He ends up rescuing one of the princesses… only to be tortured because they think he was in on it. When cleared, he’s sent to the magic academy… filled with nobles, so everyone hates him. He works hard and doesn’t make waves… which really doesn’t help, because the first time a scapegoat is needed when a noble screws up, guess who gets blamed? It’s wearying.

So what does Rio have going for him? Well, the heritage of his parents, who were from the fantasy equivalent of Japan before being murdered (we’re in fantasy Europe, no doubt) allows him a different type of magic from the others, and it lets him enhance his body physically. His older self did kendo and the like before getting killed, so Rio is also an excellent swordsman. Everyone praises him for being mature, because, well, he has the knowledge of a whole other person in his head, and he also doesn’t get mad. Or happy. Or anything in between. Oh yes, and his teacher Celia, who’s five years older than him, has fallen in love with him in a sort of cliched anime way. As has the princess he rescued. We’re also introduced to the older princess and the class president, who haven’t fallen yet, but it’s only a matter of time. Usually there’s at least one guy introduced to be a token friend (see: Demon King Daimaou). Not here. He’s Valentino, men fear and hate him, women adore him. Or will once he grows up, he’s still only 12. But such a mature 12!

The book ends with him leaving the school (as he’s been scapegoated – again) and setting off to his parents’ homeland. An assassin is being sent after him, but she’s cute and female, so I’m not holding out high hopes. This has quite a few volumes in Japan, and there was the occasional time I was almost interested – mostly when around the teacher, Celia. Sadly, the hero is such a dull, depressing blank I can’t really recommend going any further.

Sunshine Sketch, Vol. 9

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By Ume Aoki. Released in Japan as “Hidamari Sketch” by Houbunsha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Manga Time Kirara Carat. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

Bless me, Father, for I have sinned. It’s been thirty-three months since my last Sunshine Sketch review. This is mostly as it’s been that long since the last volume – the series is coming out at a far slower pace now, so it’s taken a while to get the new volume to these shores. That said, it really doesn’t feel like we’ve been away. There’s not quite as much art class here, though we do see several of the student doubting their art progression. The majority of the volume is devoted either to the class trip that Yuno and Miyake and company take to Kansai, as well as visiting Hiro’s college and starting to think about where they want to go to school after graduation. Yuno shares the cover with Matsuri, the new girl introduced last time, and she seems to be nice, sort of like Miyako without the weirdness. It does beg the question, though: the series survived Sae and Hiro graduating, can it survive Yuno and Miyako too?

Of course, Sae and Hiro are at their nearby colleges, so they do manage to show up here as well, when Yun o and Miyako visit for an open campus tour. This allows us to get in several “lol, Hiro is pudgy” jokes, which aren’t very funny, as well as Hiro tossing Miyako like a caber in revenge, which is. As for the school trip, the characters of Nakayama and Mami, Yuno and Miyako’s classmates, are greatly expanded on here so that we can have the standard “we are in a group of four” field trip fun. Nakayama seems to be terrified of anything “naughty”, which leads to a few amusing gags, but Mami is more “generic friend”. The group visits temples, has pillow fights, etc., and we occasionally cut back to Nazuna and Nori, who are back at the apartments missing them.

Despite Sae and Hiro’s appearance, there’s little yuri tease there. Instead it comes from Natsume, who is also at college with Hiro and whose tsundere love for Sae does not really seem to have diminished, and Miyako, who does her best “Sae-san” impression a couple of times on Yuno, and we see that the subtext may not be quite as broad as it was before but it’s still there. At one point, it’s lampshaded that no one at the school is boy crazy at all. Funny, that. It’s almost like Ume Aoki knows what would make her lose a large portion of her audience. That said, for the most part this series is still meant for those who like 4-koma slice of life stuff, and runs on the charm of its main cast. Yuna and Miyako are still the best things in it. I’m hoping it won’t be another thirty-three months before the next volume.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, Vol. 2

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By Hirukuma and Ituwa Kato. Released in Japan as “Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umare Kawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

It’s time for the vending machine isekai to try that difficult second album, and as you’d expect, it’s not quite as good as the first. Don’t get me wrong, Boxxo tries his hardest, but the limitations of the premise are starting to make themselves felt. The first half of the book is essentially a series of short stories revolving around everyday life in the town Boxxo and Lammis life in, as Boxxo does things like compete in a magical item competition, battle against a chain restaurant trying to infiltrate the village, and add another girl to his growing, if strange, harem – Hulemy, Lammis’ mad scientist friend from the last volume, is a major character in this book, and is intrigued by Boxxo. The second half of the book is a more standard fantasy dungeon crawl, as Boxxo accidentally ends up on the floor below and has to bide his time till he can be rescued.

Last time I noted that the harem aspects of the book were OK, mostly as Boxxo had no libido as he’s a vending machine. This does, however, cause issues when he’s placed in mortal peril or experiencing heartwarming events and has the same sort of similar “oh, that’s a thing” reaction. Boxxo is emotionally flat, and we need to rely on the other characters to be emotional for him. (Lammis excels in this regard, as her love for Boxxo has grown a bit terrifying – when he goes missing, she turns into a berserker.) He also levels up here, allowing the reader to see that Japanese vending machine varieties are truly ridiculous – he can also be an air hose and car wash, and pump out dry ice, and turn himself into a balloon vending machine or a cardboard vending machine. (Boxxo/Danbo OTP.) It’s a bit sad when your protagonist is a vending machine who can’t move on his own or talk properly and he’s still overpowered.

That said, there’s still a lot to enjoy here. Hulemy is an excellent addition to the book, as she’s smart enough to figure out what’s really going on with Boxxo – that he’s a human soul trapped in a vending machine. The consequences of this are then examined, as it turns out (in one of the few emotional funks that Boxxo allows himself to get into) that he’s somewhat wary of beeing turned back by whatever fantasy “reward” this world can give him. In Japan, he was a typical nebbish Japanese guy with a vending machine obsession but little else. Here he’s the heart and soul of the village, and one of the adventurers outright suspects that he’s a “Hero”, which is played up as a cliche in-universe. If Boxxo changes back to an unuseful guy, what will happen to his bond with everyone else? It’s a very well-explored side plot. Oh yes, and major props for Boxxo for delivering what young ladies adventuring in a swampy area in the middle of nowhere really need – a portable toilet.

I note that this series has only three volumes, and the last was about 18 months ago. I suspect this may be other of those “does not so much end as stop” light novel series – after all, if Boxxo is turned back into a human, the series has to end. Still, I’m impressed enough with the characters and worldbuilding to move on to the third book. Still better than you’d expect.

Takane & Hana, Vol. 4

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Takane & Hana, Volume 4 by Yuki Shiwasu

This is my far one of my favorite current light romance reads, mostly due to Takane’s surly facial expressions and imperious manner and Hana’s excellent way of totally deflating him with a cutting remark. This volume opens with the aftermath of the big school trip, where handsome scions of industry decided to hang out with a group of high school kids.

In this volume, some major conflict arises from the corporate world, as Takane’s evil Uncle decides to assign a new, alarmingly efficient assistant to him. Kiragasaki acts alarmingly unemotional, although sometimes he looks more animated when the light glints off his glasses. He observes Takane closely, but doesn’t have much to report other than his stellar performance and dedication to his work. When Kiragasaki figures out that Takane is meeting again with a girl from an arranged marriage meeting he manages to discover the truth about who Hana is.

One of the frequent plot elements in Takane & Hana that I never get tired of is seeing how the couple supports each other in their unusual relationship. Kiragaskaki ends up going to Hana and requests that they break up, because he sees how other people in the company will use their relationship against them. Hana has some hard decisions to make, but Takane’s unshakable confidence ends up being rooted in reality, because he sees his excellence at his job as a shield against corporate manipulations. Takane wins Kiragasaki over by just being himself and rising above any corporate plots.

Aside from the more serious core story of the volume, there are plenty of hijinks as Hana steps through some manga plot staples like preparing for the school festival. Each volume of this series is breezy and fun, and made a little more lively and unusual due to the odd-couple nature of the relationship, and Shiwasu’s gifts at comedic art.

Manga the Week of 9/19/18

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SEAN: Wake me when September ends?

Dark Horse starts us off with the official Berserk Guidebook. This is a guide to the world of Berserk, and not a guide to why it’s on hiatus so often, FYI.

ASH: Hahaha! Either way, I’m still picking it up.

SEAN: There’s also a 7th volume of dark as pitch Fate/Zero.

Ghost Ship has a 6th volume of To-Love-Ru Darkness.

J-Novel Club has two one-shot novels, both very much off the beaten track from the typical light novel. JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World *sounds* like it should be dire, but apparently it’s really well-written and the translator has been pushing it as hard as she can.

And Last and First Idol won oodles of awards, including the prized Seiun Award (the Japanese equivalent of the Hugos), and this collection includes that story and a couple of others.

ASH: I’ve certainly enjoyed the other Seiun Award titles that I’ve read.

SEAN: In more typical J-Novel Club fare, we also have How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 7 and In Another World with My Smartphone 10.

Kodansha debuts The Walls Between Us, which is a shoujo title from Dessert starring a girl who is confessed to by her childhood friend. The trouble is, his personality is awful.

ANNA: Ok, this does sound potentially amusing.

MICHELLE: I typically like Dessert offerings.

MJ: Sounds like this could be fun.

SEAN: And they have Back Street Girls 4, Kamikamikaeshi 4, Karate Heat 3, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 4, and Perfect World 6.

In Kodansha print, we have Interviews with Monster Girls 6.

One Peace debuts Hinamatsuri, which seems to be “yakuza meets supernatural girl”. I don’t know much about it, except it runs in Harta, so is awesome by default.

ASH: Count me curious!

ANNA: I do enjoy the fact that One Peace comes up with some out of left field titles now and then.

MJ: I plan to take a look at this!

SEAN: They also have a 2nd manga volume of Mikagura School Suite.

Pantheon has the 2nd and final omnibus of My Brother’s Husband. Can’t wait to read this.

ASH: Yes, this! I am still absolutely thrilled and delighted that this series was translated.

ANNA: Going to try to order it for my library!

MICHELLE: I’m also really looking forward to this one.

MJ: Oh, wonderful! I’m so excited!

SEAN: Seven Seas has a light load, with only Getter Robo Devolution 2 and High-Rise Invasion 3-4.

Udon debuts a manga that does not have the word “Persona” in its title! Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu is a Young Ace title that features an izakaya whose food can literally transport you elsewhere.

ASH: Hooray for more fantasy food manga! (Or is it food fantasy manga?)

ANNA: Food manga is always a genre to be treasured.

MICHELLE: Huh! Sounds interesting!

SEAN: Vertical has a 3rd volume of CITY.

Viz debuts the perfect edition of 20th Century Boys. If you haven’t read this title before, this is a great way to get it. If you have, you may want to get it anyway. It has bells and whistles.

ANNA: Yay!

MICHELLE: I will never not love the opening pages in which T. Rex’s “20th Century Boy” is played over a school intercom.

SEAN: There is also Children of the Whales 6 (meh) and Golden Kamuy 6 (yay!).

ASH: I’ve fallen very far behind on Children of the Whales but Golden Kamuy is always a reading priority for me.

SEAN: Yen has no light novel debuts, but they do have a number of ongoing titles. Accel World 15, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 6, Goblin Slayer 5, The Irregular at Magic High School 9, Overlord 8, A Sister’s All You Need 2, Strike the Blood 10, and the 2nd Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online.

Yen also, oddly, has no manga debuts in September either. It’s all ongoing series! As Miss Beelzebub Likes 3, Bungo Stray Dogs 8, Erased 5, the 2nd DanMachi 4-koma, Odd Days of Goddess, Kiniro Mosaic 7, One Week Friends 4, Puella Magi Oriko Magica Sadness Prayer 4, the 5th volume of the 2nd Re: Zero arc, The Royal Tutor 9, Sunshine Sketch 9, A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School 4, Though You May Burn to Ash 3, and the 11th Ubell Blatt omnibus, Ubel Blatt 10. (NEVER FORGET UBEL BLATT NUMBERING.) Of that list, I’m most interested in the Sae-and-Hiroless Sunshine Sketch.

ASH: I’m looking forward to reading the last bit of Erased, myself.

MICHELLE: Someday, I’ll manage to read Erased.

MJ: I’m ready for more Erased.

SEAN: So, to sum up: September’s not over. What are you getting?

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 1

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By Fumita Yanagida. Released in Japan as “Tomo-chan wa Onnanoko!” by Star Seas Company, serialization ongoing on the online site Twi 4. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jennifer O’Donnell. Adapted by T Campbell.

When you’re doing a 4-koma series based around a very simple premise, it takes a lot of care to make sure that the audience comes back on a daily basis to see what happens next. The characters have to be interesting but not annoying, and the premise has to amuse but not bore. Tomo-chan Is a Girl! does a pretty good job of this. In Japan it’s helped by being released daily on a website, one comic at a time, much like a Western comic strip. Here, however, we read it in volumes, so the bar to clear is a bit higher. Especially when three of the four main characters are, for lack of a better word, dense in some degree or another. If you’re reading the series and thinking “man, I hope that they figure things out and get together soon”, I would drop it right now if I were you. Payoff will eventually come, but the whole point of series like these is a long, slow burn based around comedy and frustration.

Tomo is the titular heroine. She grew up as a tomboy, learning karate at her father’s dojo and hanging out with her best friend Jun. Now they’re in high school, and Tomo has grown tall and busty, but is still very much the rough tomboy sort. This is a problem, as she’s in love with Jun, but he just sees her as one of the guys! Can she make it clear that she likes him the way a girl likes a boy? And if she ever did this, would she even notice, as it rapidly becomes clear that she’s just as bad at noticing the obvious when it comes to matters of love. Indeed, Jun’s obliviousness may be played up to hide his real embarrassment over the whole thing. Added to this mix are Misuzu, Tomo’s best friend who is there to offer jibes and support, in that order, and Carol, an exchange student who may be flightier than the rest of the cast, and is definitely bustier. Will anyone end up making their feelings clear?

Not so far, but I’m enjoying the journey. The first few chapters are rougher and a bit less fun, and it’s very clear that Jun is not playing things up, something that rapidly changes as the book goes on and the author realizes he can’t keep that going forever. Tomo is a likeable yet very fallible girl, who longs for reciprocated affection but wouldn’t know what to do with it if she had it. And I know, you’re shocked) Misuzu is my favorite character, as her dry retorts and “war” with Jun over who’s closest to Tomo ground the series a bit and also adds a new vein of humor. This is 7+ volumes in Japan, so I’m not sure it can quite keep up the pace, for reasons I mentioned above. But for now I’m amused by Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, and want to see how far the series can go with its (seemingly) dense leads.