Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Blog

Bookshelf Briefs 7/3/18

by , and Leave a Comment

Ace of the Diamond, Vol. 12 | By Yuji Terajima | Kodansha Comics (digital only) –Seido had been sure their opponent for the quarter-finals of the East Tokyo qualifying tournament would be Ichidai, but when that team is taken out by Yakushi in a surprise upset, Seido is suddenly facing a team full of fearless batters. In this tense volume, Yakushi fields their fiercest batter first, and I was bracing for Furuya to crumble under the pressure, but instead he has a lot of fun, having faith in his reliable upperclassmen and demonstrating some growth in his fielding capabilities. In an effort to keep Yakushi from becoming accustomed to one pitcher’s style, Sawamura is switched in but before he can do too much, the volume’s over. This is really a series that benefits from being marathoned, for though it’s great fun the way that it is, it’s probably going to be immensely satisfying to binge 40+ volumes back-to-back. – Michelle Smith

After Hours, Vol. 2 | By Yuhta Nishio | Viz Media – This second volume does a nice job alternating between Emi and Kei trying to put on a live event and Emi trying to decide what to do about her relationship, if that’s what it is, with Kei. I was pleased that the manga chose to negotiate a fairly melodramatic path without going overboard—the emotions feel fairly realistic given what Emi is going through, and Kei is not ignored either. There’s also some great scenes of Emi meeting more members of the dance club crew, and making friends and bonding with them. Usually with yuri manga you’re following it for the romance and that’s about it. But this is a more mature yuri title, and that doesn’t just mean sex, it means career motivations and such. A keeper. – Sean Gaffney

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 9 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media –Anonymous Noise, Vol. 9 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | VIZ Media – It took me a long time to get to this point, but I think I’m finally ready to declare Anonymous Noise a keeper. In No Hurry has embarked on their first national tour, which is interesting in and of itself, but it also feels like Fukuyama has achieved a good balance between her characters’ professional growth—Nino’s gotten more experience, Momo has decided that he wants to release music that’s true to who he is—and their personal angst. Yes, the main love triangle is still going, and though Yuzu attempts a few times and Momo declares his intentions, neither boy has made clear their feelings to Nino. But now I at least care a little more about that, while predominantly being excited for what might happen for them career-wise. I’m glad I grew to truly enjoy this series. – Michelle Smith

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 2 | By Matoba | Yen Press – It can be difficult when you’re rooting for a cute couple to get together in a series and that series is, at heart, a goofy comedy. It’s a shame, because when the series is focusing on the cute Beelzebub and her secretary Mullin, it’s pretty adorable. But that’s not what the author is here for, really. As such, we get some new characters in this volume, including a shotacon (bleah) and a shota for the shotacon to obsess over (meh). Belphegor’s crush on Azazel is more promising, mostly as there’s a bit less about how nervousness makes her want to pee and more actual affection. This is a cute series, but at heart it’s a comedy, and the comedy is hit-or-miss. It should try to be more of a romance. – Sean Gaffney

Claudine | By Riyoko Ikeda | Seven Seas – For a variety of reasons, one of my most anticipated manga releases of 2018 was Claudine. First of all, it’s by Riyoko Ikeda, one of the Magnificent Forty-Niners, a group of women who were extraordinarily influential to the development of shoujo manga in the 1970s and many of whom continue to create exceptional work. I was also particularly interested in Claudine due to its sympathetic, albeit tragic, portrayal of a transgender man, a rarity in comics of any country or era. First published in 1978, the manga follows the titular Claudine, a young man growing up in France who struggles with the perceptions others hold of him in regards to his gender and sexuality. Claudine repeatedly finds and loses love over the course of the short manga, acceptance and betrayal often following one after the other. Claudine is gorgeously illustrated and heartwrenchingly melodramatic, a beautiful and at times troubling work. – Ash Brown

The Elder Sister-Like One, Vol. 2 | By Iida Pochi | Yen Press – Strangely, given this is still based on a porn doujinshi, the author and editors have done a very good job at making it mainstream while keeping a goodly amount of fanservice. The core relationship between Yuu and his demon sister is familial here, despite the occasional suggestiveness, and the best scenes in the book show off the family connection that he desperately needs. There’s also hints of something darker, and the clever reader will realize this is not a lifestyle that is going to be sustainable for much longer. Something is bound to go wrong. Till then, I’m happy with Yuu’s heart slowly being healed, as long as the creators remember to avoid getting too salacious. – Sean Gaffney

Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, Vol. 2 | By Kikori Morino | Seven Seas – Despite the attempt of various dramatic events to make us think otherwise, at heart this is a cooking manga, and the core of each chapter shows off the various recipes. We get an addition to the cast of Belle, who is the grumpy snarker that sets off Nagi’s perky optimist nicely, and the two become fast friends. There’s also a stroll into town, which surprised me, and the town reacts to a giant mutant spider about the way you’d expect it to. Fortunately, the giant spider is a sweetie pie, and indeed might be a baby giant spider, which helps to explain why Nagi’s TLC is helping. Of course, there’s another cliffhanger with Nagi being kidnapped, but given how the last cliffhanger resolved, I’m not TOO worried. – Sean Gaffney

Monster Tamer Girls, Vol. 2 | By Mujirushi Shimazaki | Yen Press – As with a lot of series that end after only two or three volumes, there’s a sense of “please wrap this up as quickly as possible” to the ending of the book, but it’s still rather cute and romantic, with Koto and Tsukiko’s relationship getting as close to canonical as a series like this is going to get. I also liked the backstory for Sora, as we see that she was rescued by a monster as a child, and then we see that same monster needing to be “rescued” in a different sense. At heart a series more about building and continuing relationships than about monsters, two volumes was probably about the right length for it. Still a good read if you like cute girls and monsters. – Sean Gaffney

My Monster Secret, Vol. 11 | By Eiji Masuda | Seven Seas – Yes, Asahi and Youko are together, but this series isn’t even half over yet, so don’t expect a lot of dating and holding hands here. Instead it’s more comedy, which is good as My Monster Secret does comedy very well. Even the melodramatic drama is comedy, as Nagisa’s tearful return to her home planet is undercut by a) a running gag of her worried about public spankings, and b) the punchline. There’s also a return of Youko’s hyperprotective father, which leads to an endless string of amusing gags. About the only time that My Monster Secret misses is when the gags it relies on are too tired, such as Akari’s age. This still has the capacity to make me laugh a good deal. – Sean Gaffney

The Troublemakers | By Baron Yoshimoto | Retrofit Comics – Only a few manga have been released by Retrofit Comics, the most recent of which is The Troublemakers, a collection of Baron Yoshimoto’s short manga curated and translated by comics historian Ryan Holmberg. Along with an accompanying essay by Holmberg placing Yoshimoto and his work into historical context, The Troublemakers collects six stories originally published between 1966 and 1974. The volume isn’t necessarily intended to be a “best of” collection. Instead, the manga included are meant to be a representative sample of not only Yoshimoto’s creative output but also of the types of gekiga and seinen manga being published for men in Japan around the 1970s. The stories are engaging and provocative, sex and violence featuring prominently as part of intense and dramatic narratives with protagonists who are frequently society’s outsiders. Based on the manga collected in The Troublemakers, I’m intrigued and certainly interested in reading more work by Yoshimoto. – Ash Brown

Sweet Blue Flowers, Omnibus 4

by

By Takako Shimura. Released in Japan as “Aoi Hana” by Ohta Shuppan, serialized in the magazine Manga Erotics F. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by John Werry.

The final volume of Sweet Blue Flowers shows off all the strengths and weaknesses of this particular series. Akira and Fumi make very good leads, and there are some deft story touches in this book, particularly in how their breakup is conveyed wordlessly – we’re not actually seeing it straight on, but obliquely. And yes, there’s a breakup, but don’t panic, yuri fans. Just as the reader was meant to be very wary when Akira suggested dating while she sorts out her feelings, so the reader somehow knows that the breakup isn’t going to be permanent. It is interesting, given how negative and toxic the feeling is in so many other manga out there, that it’s Akira feeling jealousy of Fumi possibly seeing other girls that makes her realize “oh, I *do* love her like that.” She also looks so much better with her hair cut it’s not even funny. Their story was the main reason to read the series, and it’s worth the read.

This does leave the rest of the book and the rest of the cast, and I was sort of up and down about that. I still say that, even if the cast list is somewhat helpful, a lot of Shimura’s characters look and act too similarly, especially the giant pile of younger students. More than that, though, at times when the narrative was focused elsewhere I felt like I was drifting through the book like at a party, catching fragments of conversation about events that should be important but don’t have time to grab me before we’ve moved on. Now, to a degree this can be refreshing. It’s clear that every girl in the cast has things going on besides what we see on the page, and I like characters with full, rich lives. But I sometimes wish the manga had more focus – its desire to flit from cast member to cast member made me feel like I was reading though a gauzy haze.

Overall, though, I’m very pleased we finally got to see this series come out in North America. It’s girls in school falling in love, yes, but the diffuseness I mentioned above also helps to separate it from the series that followed in its wake, many of which we saw here first. I also enjoyed the odd serious moments of melancholy, such as the backstory with Kyoko and her mother, which was sad and depressing without making the reader feel angry. And the teacher was a highlight of the entire series, and we saw that her own attempts to come out more publicly had both its ups and downs – I’m not sure if she’s in trouble at school, like so many plotlines in this series it gets carefully examined and then we move on – but it was great to see her imagining a double bride wedding. I do think this series ended at just the right length – it would have been exhausting to carry on for 3-4 more volumes. In the end, Sweet Blue Flowers had its bittersweet moments, but the end showed that sweetness can win out.

Pick of the Week: Going For It

by , , , and Leave a Comment

MICHELLE: There are many things coming out that I am interested in this week, particularly ongoing shoujo and shounen from VIZ and a slew of digital shoujo from Kodansha, but I find that what I most look forward to is some BL comedy in the vein of Go For It, Nakamura!. I just love that cover so much.

SEAN: I had never expected to see it over here, mostly as it’s years old now, so my pick of the week is definitely the One Piece Color Walk artbook. Seeing these beloved characters back in the old days will be great, especially with Oda commentary on the artwork.

KATE: Looking over this week’s list, I’m having a hard time limiting myself to just one title. I’ll be picking up the second volume of Kenka Bancho Otome, which is dumb as rocks, but in a delightful, cheeky way, and the second volume of Giant Spider & Me, which is also a delightful bit of escapism. I’m always down for new sports manga, so Harakuna Receive is on my list, despite the ever-present threat of fan service. And heck, while I’m at it, why not join Michelle in recommending Go For It, Nakamura!, which does indeed have an awesome cover.

ASH: It’s a Seven Seas sort of week for me, as well! I’m curious about Harukana Receive and Mushroom Girls, and am looking forward to reading more of Giant Spider & Me, but the release I really have my sights on is Go For It, Nakamura!, the publisher’s first real foray into BL.

ANNA: Water Dragon’s Bride 6 is coming out, so I’m so happy about that I can’t even think about anything else!

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: Squad Jam

by

By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

And so it’s finally here, the Sword Art Online novels for the fan who hates Sword Art Online. Or at least that’s how this is sometimes described. Sword Art Online is a very popular franchise, but it’s also the series that’s cool to hate, particularly its lead character. And so there’s a certain desire to play around in the universe but without all the baggage of Kirito and friends. Enter Alternative, where the author (best known here as the creator of Kino’s Journey, though he also is a specialist at playing in author author’s worlds) explicitly says that none of the main cast will ever be in these books. Nor is he really interested in the death game or its sequel. No, instead we have what is essentially Gunsmith Cats: the RPG, only Rally has been replaced by Goldie. The author loves guns, so do the characters, and you’d better be prepared to hear about guns.

For those who haven’t read the manga (which I reviewed last year) or seen the anime (which just ended this week), SAO Alternative stars Karen, a very tall girl who has few friends because she’s introverted and tall. Her friends tries to get her to do MMORPGs like ALO, but Karen’s character creation always gives her a really tall character – exactly what she doesn’t want. In desperation she tries to sci-fi apocalypse shooter Gun Gale Online, and finds, at last, she’s tiny! And cute! After playing around a bit, she runs into Pitohui, who is cool, gives good advice, and also seems to have a screw loose or two, though we don’t really get into that as much as I expected this book. She recommends that LLENN (as Karen names herself) participate in a new event called the Squad Jam, which is basically the BoB tournament but for teams. Sadly, Pitohui can’t make it, but she does provide LLENN with a partner, the hulking giant M, who also is there to give advice and backup. With a team of only two, can they possibly win this?

If you’re here for gun battles, then this is absolutely the book for you. The Squad Jam itself takes up two-thirds of the book, and is exciting, dramatic and fun. LLENN proves to be a natural at the game, and her headspace is also fun to follow. The purpose of the characters in this book seems to be “make them different from the real players” to contrast with the SAO crew. Karen has a short, tiny character, the stoic, invulnerable M proves to be, well, rather less stoic and invulnerable, and the team that LLENN ends up going against in the finals are a group of big burly Russian women who, it will not surprise the reader to know, are not big, burly and Russian in real life. It’s an escape. That said, while I enjoyed this book it’s not as ambitious as SAO – I’d say it’s better written but lacks the highs and lows of the original series. It feels like Sigsawa has no greater motivation than “I want to play in this sandbox”. It’s a fun sandbox, though, and if you hate SAO this may be for you.

Also, the Agatha Christie fan in me is annoyed that the team name is not “LLENN or M?”.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 3

by

By Hiromu Arakawa. Released in Japan as “Gin no Saji” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

Summer still takes up the first half of this book, but then it’s time to go back to school for the new semester. And Hachiken is still very much learning as he goes. He’s gotten used to the early hours and strength needed, and in fact (once again) has to be reminded to take it easy on occasion. But there’s still stuff he has to experience, like the taste of raw milk, as well as things he has to feel responsible for, like the loss of a lot of that raw milk due to a mistake he made. I use the phrase “overly serious” a lot when I’m talking about Hachiken, and while (as I said last time) he is a very realistic, well-rounded person, it is his most defining trait. In that sense, as you’d expect, he matches well with Mikage, who loves horses and wants a career in horses, but when you’re the farm’s sole heir that’s not really an option.

At the Mikage farm, we get more insight into cow births, and some wackiness involving the local prefecture’s cows getting mixed up with the farm’s. The main plot twist here, though, is the arrival of Hachiken’s brother. I love the fact that you can tell that Shingo and his brother are completely different and yet clearly were raised by the exact same family. They each deal with their father in different ways. Unfortunately for Hachiken (but fortunately for those who love Arakawa’s comedy), this means Shingo is a bit of a flake, having dropped out of Tokyo U once he got in to pursue his dreams of becoming a ramen chef. Except he’s terrible at cooking. Shingo’s presence basically serves to give us a bit more information about Hachiken’s home life without having to see him go back home, and it’s clear Shingo cares and worries about his brother in his own way.

When we get back to school, there’s an even better joke, as Tanako suffered from heat stroke over the summer and has come to school having lost all of her weight. The wonderful thing about the joke is that Tamako literally gives not one shit about this, and the first chance she gets she’s bulked right back up. Tamako knows her own gorgeousness. As for Hachiken, he’s still dealing with the piglet he named last time, who has now grown up to be a big pig – and is ready to be slaughtered. It’s impressive that everyone treats Hachiken’s angst about the pig seriously, and no one makes fun of it at all – they’ve all been there when they were younger. Hachiken’s solution, meanwhile, feels very much like something he would do. (There’s also another wacky subplot where the school things Hachiken has gotten Yoshino pregnant = which mostly serves to remind us that Tokiwa is the Mineta of this series.

I hate to keep banging the drum here (that’s a lie, I love to bang this particular drum), but every volume of Silver Spoon reminds me why we were begging for years for its license. Read this, you won’t regret it.

True Tenchi Muyo!: Jurai

by

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.

There have been a lot of things licensed and brought out in North America that surprised me, but honestly, “spinoff light novels for a series that hasn’t really been popular here since about 2002” takes the cake. To be fair, when Tenchi was big here it was VERY big. Along with Ranma 1/2 and Oh My Goddess!, Tenchi Muyo was one of the gateway anime for many fans, and also received one of the better known dubs out there. In Japan, it’s remained as popular as ever, with multiple animes, infinite doujinshi by the creators, and spinoffs galore. A lot of those have come out here as well, but it would not be exaggerating to say that Tenchi’s time was thought to be past. Enter Seven Seas, who have now licensed three volumes of a spinoff novel series that fills in important backstory for the OAV series. And this is definitely based on the OAVs, so don’t expect Kiyone here. Indeed, most of the main cast are relegated to cameos or smaller roles, as this book focuses on Ayeka and Sasami’s father, Azusa.

Yes, that’s Ryoko on the cover, and she does have a small role in this book, but she’s still basically Kagato’s puppet at this point. The main thrust of the book is seeing Azusa’s youth, as well as how he ended up married to Funaho and Masaki. To my relief, Azusa as overprotective Dad from hell is reserved for the prologue, showing yet another fiancee coming down to battle Tenchi only to be taken out by the force of nature that is Mihoshi’s luck. We then flash back to scenes of his youth, which range from seeing him growing up and being taken to Jurai by Masaki’s mother Seto (who really deserves a book or two to herself, frankly) to having the traditional tragic teenage romance, and finally ending up near Earth while chasing pirates – of course, this is Earth around 1250 CE, so there’s a lot less fish out of water antics than you’d expect – and dealing with the aftermath of telling Jurai that he’s not only marrying an offworlder but she’s going to be First Empress.

As I said, Azusa is serious-minded here and has flashes of temper, but is far more likeable and tolerable than the guy we see in the OAVs who exists to get pushed around by his wives and daughters. It’s also nice to see a less stoic “yamato nadesico” and more teenage Funaho. And, as I alluded to above, Seto makes a great mentor, and I definitely want to see more of her. The narrative is mostly straightforward, though I could have done without the annoying intrusive narrative voice name checking events in the Tenchi timeline – “little did they know this was their fated first meeting”, etc. This is especially annoying in one aside regarding Azusa’s second wife Masaki, which spoils a bit too much a future event that I was unaware of. That said, these books are clearly for Tenchi fanatics, and as such I can’t really be too grumpy about it.

Obviously, if you are a newbie to the Tenchi universe, this is a terrible introduction. Go watch the first two anime OAV series. But for those who are still fans, or people like me who hadn’t thought about it in years but still have fond memories, this book is a lot of fun. Plus it’s pretty short, so likely you can knock it back in an afternoon.

Harukana Receive, Vol. 1

by

By Nyoijizai. Released in Japan by Houbunsha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by David Musto and Amanda Haley. Adapted by Claudie Summers.

Sometimes when you see a new title, you’re never quite sure what it’s going to be. Harukana Receive in particular could slot into any number of categories. First and foremost, it’s a sports manga, with lots of beach volleyball advice and analysis, and the typical sports manga tropes, such as the newcomer with promising talent and the person who quit and has to be coaxed back. There’s also a healthy amount of fanservice, which honestly is to be expected in a title about beach volleyball, thoguh the service does not appear to be very skeezy. Most importantly, though, it’s a Kirara title, so we see a group of two girls meet up with another group of two girls, and they have discusssions and do things. In this case, the thing they do is beach volleyball. Which, of course, gets back to: this is a sports manga.

Haruka is a tall girl who’s recently moved to Okinawa to live with her cousin Kanata, who is… not tall. They are, as you may have gathered, the ‘Harukana’ of the title. Okinawa has beaches, and beaches means beach volleyball. Haruka immediately runs into two players, Narumi and Ayasa, and finds herself fascinated by the game. That said, beach volleyball is not regular colleyball. What’s more, Kanata seems strangely torn about participating in a game, and seems to have a past with Narumi. Can Haruka’s bright sunny attitude and innate talent (and height) help to bring everyone together? If you don’t know the answer to this, you haven’t been reading manga very much. Then, when Haruka finally goes to her new school, she runs into two sisters who also play the sport, despite the fact that, by definition, beach volleyball means running around in bathing suits. How embarrassing!

You can definitely tell that Harukana Receive is on the sports end of the seesaw rather than the service end because of the large amount of advice and instruction given about beach volleyball within its pages. From learning that the court is smaller to the ball not being fully inflated, Haruka has to take in a lot in a short period. Kanata, meanwhile, is dealing with an issue that might be familiar to Haikyu!! readers: she’s not tall enough, which is what led to her breakup with Narumi and her dropping of volleyball in the first place. Fortunately, she and Haruka seem to mesh well together. (I say breakup, but honestly if there is yuri in this title it’s so subtle as to be near nonexistent.)

This is a cute title, and it has an anime coming out in a week or so. I’d say fans of shonen sports manga would get the most out of it – if these were guys, it would fit right into Weekly shonen Jump. But since it’s a group of girls, it pretty much fits right into Manga Time Kirara. I’m definitely interested in more.

Manga the Week of 7/4/18

by , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: Next week is July. It’s hot. But there is manga! Let’s keep it short and sweet.

MICHELLE: Our heat index today is 102. :(

SEAN: Dark Horse has a spiffy Gallery Edition of Lone Wolf and Cub, which I sometimes feel is the only title they really still love.

ASH: It does seem that way sometimes; this edition should be gorgeous.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 2nd volume of World’s End Harem.

J-Novel Club has a 14th Invaders of the Rokujouma!?.

In print, Kodansha has a 25th Attack on Titan, and a 27th volume of The Seven Deadly Sins.

ASH: I somehow missed that The Seven Deadly Sins had surpassed Attack on Titan in length!

SEAN: Digitally, we see new volumes of Beware the Kamiki Brothers! (3), A Kiss, For Real (2) Those Summer Days (2), and You Got Me, Sempai (3).

MICHELLE: Eventually, I really will get around to checking out all of these.

ANNA: That’s too much. Too much digital!

SEAN: Seven Seas has three debut titles next week. Go For It, Nakamura! is a cute romantic comedy that’s being marketed more as that than as BL. It is done in one, and ran in Akaneshinsha’s BL-oriented magazine Opera.

MICHELLE: I love the retro-looking art on the cover!

ASH: I’m really looking forward to this release!

SEAN: Harukana Receive is a beach volleyball series, and features lots of girls in minimal clothing. Despite both these things, it runs in Houbunsha’s Manga Time Kirara Forward, so I’m expecting strong female friendships.

Mushroom Girls in Love (Kinoko Ningen no Kekkon) is a one-shot from the creator of A Centaur’s Life, and is just as weird as that long-running series is. It ran in Ohta Shuppan’s Pocopoco, which is a seinen magazine.

ASH: Weird can be good; I’ll admit to being curious.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has a 2nd volume of the Arifureta manga, and a 2nd volume of Giant Spider & Me.

MICHELLE: Woot.

ASH: I greatly enjoyed the first volume of Gian Spider & Me, so I’ll definitely be picking up the second!

SEAN: Vertical has the 2nd and last Moteki omnibus. Will the protagonist get together with one of the girls? I wouldn’t count on it.

Viz time. One debut, one spinoff debut, and one artbook debut. The new series is Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, a Weekly Shonen Jump title. I’ve heart it’s heartwarming. I’ve also heard it’s dark and FILLED with violence.

ASH: I’ve heard similar things about the series.

SEAN: The spinoff is My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, and you can probably guess the plot given MHA is a series about licensed heroes. These are not those heroes. The artist is better known for Harukaze Bitter Bop over here, one of the many series that died when Tokyopop first did. The writer has also done the K manga.

MICHELLE: I’m a little hesitant about this one, since it’s not by the original creator, but I suppose it could be good.

SEAN: The artbook is Color Walk, the first One Piece artbook to actually come out over here. Experience the very beginning of the series, looking gorgeous and with commentary by Oda.

Ongoing shonen? We’ve got it. Bleach 73, Dragon Ball Super 3, Haikyu!! 25, Naruto’s 23rd 3-in-1, One-Punch Man 14, Rurouni Kenshin’s 7th 3-in-1, and a 9th Yo-kai Watch.

ASH: Look at that! Two volleyball titles in one week!

SEAN: Ongoing shoujo? Plenty of that too. Anonymous Noise 9, The Demon Prince of Momochi House 12, the 2nd and final Kenka Bancho Otome, and the 6th Water Dragon’s Bride.

MICHELLE: Definitely several in both categories that I’m following!

ANNA: YAY!!!!

SEAN: Ongoing seinen marketed as shonen? Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 3 is for you.

MICHELLE: Heh.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen On has a 3rd volume of The Empty Box and the Zeroth Maria.

Beating the heat? Celebrating the Fourth? What manga are you doing it with?

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu

by

By Fujino Omori and NIRITSU. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

Given that the DanMachi series has, of late, been getting pretty dark, and even Sword Oratoria is going to some dark places when it’s not busy showing Lefiya being jealous, the average reader would not have been surprised to see this new spinoff, focusing on Lyu Leon, to be a description of her tragic past and the horrible deaths of everyone she knew and loved. Fortunately, we don’t get that. While Lyu’s past certainly affects her throughout this book, and the second half delves into the immediate aftermath of her revenge, this is an altogether more lighthearted affair. A tale told in two parts, the first half deals with Lyu and Syr disguising themselves and entering a fabulous casino to try to rescue a young woman gambled away by her father. The second story, as I hinted, deals with how Lyu ended up working at the Benevolent Mistress, as well as giving some backstory for two of the other waitresses. It’s a breezy, fun read.

The first story was my favorite, because come on, CASINO CAPER! Lyu and Syr listen to some schmuck of a dad’s story about his gambling addiction and how he ended up losing his daughter. Because Lyu burns with a sense of righteousness despite herself, she decides to rescue the girl. Because Syr is Syr, she tags along as well. Actually, Syr gets the most awesome moments of the story. I suspect the author had heard about the fan rumors that Syr was secretly Freya in disguise, and while not quite true, Syr certainly has a strong connection to Freya, and seeing her destroy the denizens of the casino in poker is worth the price of the entire book. We also get to see Lyu’s attempt to adopt a cool billionaire disguise, and how quickly it falls by the wayside as soon as she sees something that invokes her fury.

As for the other story, because it’s dealing with the tragic backstories of not only Lyu, who is found by Syr near death after finishing up her revenge against those who slaughtered her Familia, but also two of the other waitresses, Runoa and Chloe, who turn out to have been teenage bounty hunters/assassins in their youth. Both are ready to call it quits, but there’s one last job that has to be done: killing Lyu on behalf of the mysterious group paying them. The moment that you see they’re going to try to do this at the pub late at night, you know you’re in for some fun fights, amazing property damage, and seeing Mia go off on everyone present. Mia, like Syr, is tied in to the Freya family (you get the feeling they started the pub with just the two of them), and the pub itself seems more like a “home for wayward girls” after this story.

For those wondering if this is a Bell-free book, nope, he shows up in the casino, and plays a small role in the chaos that follows. But for the most part this book does exactly what it set out to do: expand on Lyu’s character and have a really good time. I’d like to see more in the series focusing on other supporting characters some day.

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 1

by

By Shizuki Fujisawa. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Betsucomi. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley.

On first read, my general feeling on this volume was it was the start of a nice, but fairly typical shoujo manga. I’d been told at the start that the heroine had “violent tendencies”, but honestly she wasn’t so much violent as filled with righteousness. And the male lead who’s a bit of a playboy but who ends up falling in love for real for the first time is also something we’ve seen quite a bit. So imagine my surprise when I saw one of the final author’s notes , where she mentions her original plan: the heroine was a shy, blushing girl and the hero was a bright, cheerful guy. And the heroine was the focus. That’s when I realized that there are degrees of typical shoujo manga. Yes, Hatsu*Haru has things you’ve seen in shoujo manga before, but it’s not the default like the abandoned version was. Especially since the focus of this series is on the male lead, Kai.

Kai is set up for a fall almost from the very first page. He’s dating multiple girls, arranging to date even more, and enjoying the springtime of his youth. He’s got three other guy friends, and the whole group will likely make you think of Kiss Him, Not Me or Waiting for Spring. Unfortunately, one of his casual girls was more serious than expected, saw him arm in arm with someone else, and cried to her friend Riko about it. So Rika decides to solve the problem by beating the shit out of Kai. It works, but not the way that she intended – Kai is slowly, much to his frustration and unease, becoming fascinated with Riko. He has no idea how to deal with actual deep emotions, and his friends are trying to be sympathetic but also pointing and laughing a but. Oh yes, and there’s also the problem that Riko has a crush on a childhood neighbor who’s now a teacher at their school. That and, y’know, Riko thinks he’s a playboy and a jerk.

The editors were absolutely right, changing the POV to Kai helps the story immensely, mostly as he’s by far the more interesting character. Not that Riko is dull or anything – for all that she’s called a violent monster a lot, her actual temper seems to be only on occasional and reserved for those who deserve it. But Kai is the one who needs to change more, and we also need to see that deep down he really is the dhoujo hero we’d like to see. (We don’t see much of them, but I noticed he has a large family with nultiple younger siblings, which always seems to bode well for handsome shoujo guys.) And of course there’s also the matter of Riko’s crush, which he knows about. and the fact that Riko is hanging on to it even though it’s hopeless. He’s got a lot of work to do on himself and on the relationship he wants to have.

The series is shaping up to be about 13 volumes in Japan – it just ended – so I’m expecting a lot of subplots and probably a few side pairings. Another female support character would be nice in that regard. For the moment, though, enjoy Hatsu*Haru, a typical shoujo series, but not as typical as it could have been.