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Sword Art Online, Vol. 12: Alicization Rising

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By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Last time I mentioned that the regulars not named Kirito barely appeared in the book, and this time they don’t appear at all – even Asuna isn’t in it, as we spend our entire time in Underworld watching Kirito and Eugeo slowly make their way upward in order to stop our chief villain of this arc. It can be a bit frustrating, especially as Kawahara excels at introducing new characters who could conceivably be quite an interesting addition to the ensemble and then leaving them by the side of the road. Eugeo, at least, continues to play the second protagonist role admirably, and once again the narration of the book is divided, with first-person Kirito for the first half and third-person Eugeo for the second. The book, in fact, somewhat mirrors the last one – just as that ended with a pile of exposition after a series of cool fights, so this one begins with the exposition before we get to the fighting. Kirito even gives us a “for those of you just starting this series” intro.

My favorite part of the book was probably the two girls on the cover, Fizel and Linel. They’re introduced at a point where the ordinary reader would be very suspicious, which is why the cover fakeout is so clever – given that they flank Kirito, clearly they’re meant to be new allies that he picks up along the way. A heh. Perhaps not. That said, once their subplot is done they are tossed out of the way like everyone else, and I do wonder if we’ll ever see what becomes of them, particularly if Kirito wins the day, something that is still not entirely certain. The best fight scene in the book goes to an Integrity Knight named Fanatio, which has to be intentional as she certainly seems fanatical. She has a complex about being a feminine knight, both because she was treated as weak by other men before and also because Alice has just arrived and is pulling off being feminine and hella strong perfectly. Kirito, who points out that he’s had the crap kicked out of him by women in fights before, is all too happy to duel her and teach ehr the error of her ways. It’s not terrible, but I’m not sure it comes off the way he wants it to – there’s still a tinge of sexism here.

Of course, we knew that before we reached the top of the tower and the final villain we’d have to fight Alice again. And, as if proving Fanatio to be even more wrong, she proceeds to absolutely kick Kirito and Eugeo’s asses, at least until the obligatory cliffhanger. Given everything that we learn about the Integrity Knights in the early infodump, I am curious as to whether Kirito and Eugeo will be able to snap her out of it – I suspect that may take up a good deal of the next book. In the meantime, Sword Art Online continues to be exactly the sort of series you think it is. The highs still high, the frustrations still omnipresent. I’d still argue it’s well worth a read, unless you hate Kirito.

Also, I found it hilarious that Kirito points out he has now failed to graduate THREE times – from middle school (trapped in SAO), high school (being trapped here), and sword academy (for breaking the taboo index). It’s OK, Kirito, there’s always McRonald’s.

Attack on Titan, Vol. 23

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By Hajime Isayama. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Ko Ransom.

It is not uncommon, particularly in shonen manga, to see what is generally referred to as a “time skip”, where events jump ahead a few years and we see the cast has grown and changed (see One Piece) or, for some strange reason, is almost exactly the same (see Fairy Tail – twice). It allows the author to jump ahead to the next part of the story they want to tell. It’s also not unheard of for a series to debut a new cast, meant to carry on from the original – you see this in some school series where time actually passes and therefore the regulars cant’ help but graduate. The new cast are usually introduced gradually, interacting with the popular regular characters till they have enough popularity of their own to take over. (K-On! tried this, but it didn’t really work well.) And then there’s Attack on Titan, which thinks nothing of trying to do both at the same time.

Reiner is still around, to be fair – in fact, he and Zeke (the Beast Titan) are the only ones, bar flashbacks. Instead, we’re introduced to a new group of child soldiers, who are here to take out enemy supply lines, blow shit up, and sic titans on people. The kids run the gamut from tortured and brooding young man who may be our lead going forward to the confident (some may say overconfident) girl who screams out “I am going to be killed or horribly maimed to teach an important lesson”, but so far seems to be riding on pure awesome and adrenaline. They’re fighting their own battles, but things aren’t going to well, and it turns out that having a giant pile of titans is not nearly as awesome as it could be, even without the special equipment Eren and company had. Perhaps it’s time to go back to the island and get back the powers of the founding titan.

I’m going to be very honest here, but I’m debating dropping the manga if this keeps up. I don’t really read Attack on Titan for the plot, which manages to be both “war is hell” and very right-wing militaristic at the same time. Likewise, the titans themselves have never interested me except as conduits to help the human characters grow and change. It’s no surprise that the moments I enjoyed most in this volume were the smaller, quieter ones – such as Reiner’s reverse psychology when he threatens Falco for not respecting the Titans enough, or his memories of everyone back on the island (in which we realize that Sasha eating the potato is once again the only thing ANYONE remembers about her). But I really hope that Eren, Mikasa and the others show up soon, because I’m just not as into this new cast.

Attack on Titan is still worth reading if you like cool battle scenes (that are beginning to actually be drawn… OK? Not horribly?), political discussions, and tortured angst. Just be aware that there’s a sea change here, and most of the beloved characters you liked have been left behind.

The Asterisk War: Battle for the Crown

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By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Melissa Tanaka.

I always enjoy each volume of Asterisk War I read, despite the fact that you can see every plot beat and character development coming from eight miles away. The good thing about it is, it’s the RIGHT kind of character development. This being a tournament arc, you would expect that the losers among our heroes get shuffled off to the side to watch from the stands, like… well, every other tournament arc in manga and anime. But no, Saya and Kirin (yes, it’s a spoiler that they lost, but not much of one if you have any idea about how narrative works) not only get to save the day in their B-plot, but Saya actually gets something of a resolution in the argument she had with Rimcy a couple books ago. And speaking of Ardy and Rimcy, their character arc is not winning the tournament, it’s showing that they are capable of growing and striving just as humans do, and it’s also carried off very well. The well-worn path this walks is comfortable, and has tea at the end.

The girl on the cover this time around is Sylvia, president of the all-girls institute that’s one of the six schools. She essentially shows up to give Ayato a hand in the kidnapping B-plot and to tease him – even the author admits he had planned to add her later. She’s cute, though, and I look forward to seeing how she differs from Claudia in the Ayato harem sweepstakes. As for the tournament part of it, there are two really good fights and one sort of mediocre one – we know that Ayato and Julis are going to reach the finals, and so the battle they face to get there feels perfunctory and short – which is better than perfunctory and long, I suppose. Saya and Kirin fare better – as I said above, they have to lose for plot reasons, but they do a damn good job, forcing Ardy and Rimcy to bring out their secret weapon earlier and generally showing that they are not just stoic/meek (delete where applicable) girls.

They also get to rescue the kidnapped girl, despite severe injuries from the tournament, injuries that are also handed to Ayato and Julis in the final. The final battle takes up the most space in the book, and is mostly worth it, though perhaps drags on a bit long – yes, even in books as short as The Asterisk War, scenes can go on too long. But Ardy is fun, and I liked the way that Ayato and Julis finally got together to take down the pair, which is clever, finds a way around Ayato’s big weakness, and is also quite shippy. That said, their pledge at the end of the book to keep allying in the other two competitions no matter what just seems to be inviting trouble, if you ask me.

So one tournament down, and apparently next time we get a slight break before jumping into Tournament Two. In the meantime, The Asterisk War continues to be, in my opinion, predictable cliches done right.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/1/18

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Drifters, Vol. 5 | By Kohta Hirano | Dark Horse Comics – It is becoming harder to avoid mentioning the elephant in the room with the Drifters series, which is that the lead villain, the so-called “Black King,” is clearly meant to be Jesus Christ. If that weren’t plainly obvious yet, it’s definitely obvious when we hear the Black King can give his troops food by breaking loaves and fishes. The author will likely avoid showing his face or naming him for obvious reasons, but he’s certainly enjoying teasing us. In fact, that’s the main reason to read Drifters. It may be frustrating, confusing, sexist, and filled with more goofy superdeformed caricatures than actual serious poses, but you can tell on every page that the author is having an absolute ball drawing it. – Sean Gaffney

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 8 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Mikuri and Hiramasa continue to live separately and, as he grows increasingly anxious about the situation, we see her discovering that she’s really good at coming up with ideas to help a local business association attract more customers. This is interesting, but waaaay more compelling is the dynamic between Mikuri’s aunt Yuri and Kazami, a man 25 years her junior who has confessed his romantic interest in her. I really love getting to see Kazami be embarrassed and vulnerable, and the insights into his past are valuable. Despite having many girlfriends, he has little experience with romance, and even though Yuri rejects him in the end, he’s still grateful to know that he was capable of genuinely falling for someone. Of course, I still hope they’ll get together in the ninth and final volume. Looking forward to it, even though I’ll miss this series! – Michelle Smith

Kimi ni Todoke: From Me to You, Vol. 28 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – The manga keeps rolling along, and the only remaining unresolved plot, aside from “will everyone pass their exams?,” is Ayano and Pin. As a result, that shoulders the bulk of what’s going on here, and it’s still unclear if Shiina is actually going to pull the trigger or not. In fact, it’s unclear if Pin is being overly dense or if he is deliberately being overly dense—I suspect the latter. Certainly the rest of the cast have no trouble with Ayano going after her teacher, possibly as she’s ALMOST of age, as opposed to a lot of other teacher/student romance manga. Beyond that, we get warm and fuzzy by the bucketload, including Sawako spending the night at Kazehaya’s house (no, nothing happens.) – Sean Gaffney

Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi, Vol. 9 | By nanao and HaccaWorks* | Yen Press – The main story of Of the Red… ends here, with many things explained, including the fates of Yoshiki and Akane as well as Yue’s origins. It’s bittersweet and more or less makes sense. That said, there have always been a few things about this series that I’ve never really understood, and though I’ve got a better sense of things now, I’m still not 100% clear on how things happened at the end. But I think I know, and I like the characters and the atmosphere, and that’s evidently good enough for me to enjoy a series. I’m looking forward to volume ten, which appears to be an epilogue of sorts, and wouldn’t grumble too much if the bittersweet ending became a happier one. – Michelle Smith

One Week Friends, Vol. 1 | By Matcha Hazuki | Yen Press – I’m quite fond of a lot of 4-koma-style slice-of-life series. I’m quite fond of cute-but-serious romances. Combining the two of them, though, I’m not sure if it works out. I suspect the author and publisher aren’t too sure either, as One Week Friends waffles back and forth between 4-koma style and longer, regular manga-style stories. The issue is there aren’t very good punchlines in the 4-koma, which defeats the purpose. The story itself, about a girl who for some reason or another forgets all her good memories after one week (and thus can never make friends) is decent enough, but I kept watching it slowly stop and start and try to rev its engine and the whole thing just needed to be better. – Sean Gaffney

Say I Love You., Vol. 18 | By Kanae Hazuki | Kodansha Comics – And so another shoujo manga comes to an end. Yamato and Mei’s post-high school life has sped along, and now Yamato is out of college and struggling to get his photography career off the ground. It’s nice to see he’s not instantly hailed as some superstar, and by the time he achieves sufficient success to propose to Mei (evidently when they’re both 25), it feels hard-won. Too, I appreciated Megumi’s struggles, and liked how her story played out, both career-wise and romantically. I suppose the fact that everyone ends up paired off and/or married is a shoujo trope, but it still makes for a satisfying resolution, and I admit I totally cried at Yamato’s proposal. I’ve really enjoyed this series and look forward to rereading it one day. Definitely a keeper. – Michelle Smith

A Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School!, Vol. 1 | By Mai Tanaka | Yen Press – Another day, another yokai series—I’m starting to miss vampires, let me tell you. This one is definitely on the comedic side, and features the titular terrified teacher, Haruki, as he starts at a new school only to discover that everyone in it is some sort of yokai. For the most part, the yokai we see are very traditional, and we get such classics as the girl with the long neck and the Zashiki-warashi. There are extensive endnotes, which are helpful, and the class is goofy and fun without being annoying. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said about the teacher—I simply didn’t like Haruki much, and given he’s the star that’s a problem. I hope he gets a bit less terrified as this goes on. – Sean Gaffney

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 4 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – I enjoy each volume of this more than the last, always a good thing with an ongoing manga series. Here we get more of the Water Dragon God trying his best to see how humans work, and for the most part failing rather miserably. He’s still a jerk (and indeed Asahi tells him this), but he’s also the most interesting romantic interest, as Subaru has unfortunately become a bit faceless. And there’s also the problem that they’re starting to get noticed, which brings Asahi to the Emperor of Not-Japan, who is young and clearly wants a miracle worker, whereas all Asahi can offer him is human advice. (Also terrific impressions.) I’ve never gotten into Toma’s stuff before, but this is really good. – Sean Gaffney

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 7 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – We’ve finished Day One of the race, and the result is… well, let’s just say inconclusive. It does remind you why Midosouji is such a good antagonist, though, and it’s not just for his extremely creepy faces. (It is mostly for that.) Meanwhile, it was just about time for the unfortunate injury to occur, though here it’s not so much an injury as illness that does in Tadokoro, who seems to be suffering from heat exhaustion of some sort. Fortunately, Onoda is not about to leave anyone behind, even as everyone else is telling him to do so. That’s just not how he rolls. Singing Pretty Princess songs is how he rolls. Will Day Two finish by the end of the next omnibus? I wouldn’t bank on it. – Sean Gaffney

Water Dragon’s Bride Vol. 4

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Water Dragon’s Bride Volume 4 by Rei Toma

One of the reasons why this manga is so fun to read is that each volume starts out with a slight change in circumstances for the characters. In volume 4 the Water Dragon is now undercover as a human, and Asahi is looking at him as a odd experimental subject, as she teases him into eating human food, even though it isn’t going to have an effect on him. Subaru is a bit creeped out by this new arrangement, but still determined to serve as Asahi’s human protector.

As Asahi completes her yearly ritual, she requests that the Water Dragon God take her and Subaru on a trip during her usual three days of disappearance after the ritual is completed. One of the areas on narrative tension in this series is contrasting the Water Dragon God’s basic inhumanity with the inhumane behavior of humans to each other. When the trio travel to a distant country that happens to be under threat from a natural disaster, the villages there try to offer up a girl as a sacrifice. Asahi can’t get the Water Dragon God to intervene, so she offers herself up as a substitute. She relies on her power to make it rain when she cries to fend off the threatening fire.

Asahi’s powers end up placing her in a priestess role again, and she has to intervene in an outbreak of illness and contend with the local boy emperor. Toma’s illustrations, which often contain little to no backgrounds when the characters are experiencing emotional turmoil, help the reader appreciate the symbolic and otherworldly nature of the situations Asahi finds herself in. Asahi attempts to shield Subaru from her intense sadness, but he understands what she’s trying to hide from him. The Water Dragon God gradually seems to be taking on more human emotions, so it will be interesting to see how his personality continues to evolve, and if Asahi will ever be able to find her way home.

Pick of the Week: Starting 2018 Off With Manga

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SEAN: Starting off 2018, as usual for first weeks of the month, my eyes turn to Viz Media. There’s some really good shoujo out this week, what with Kimi ni Todoke, The Water Dragon’s Bride and Anonymous Noise. That said, every volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends is a treat, so that’s my pick this week.

KATE: I just checked out the preview for Drifting Dragons, and the artwork is AWESOME. The story is similar to Delicious in Dungeon in that characters spend a lot of time discussing how best to prepare monster meat, but there’s a lot more action; the first chapter has a well-staged sky battle that’s more dynamic than any equivalent scene in Dungeon. Looking forward to reading more!

MICHELLE: This week brings new installments of two sports manga I’m really enjoying—Haikyu!! and Ace of Diamond—but since that literally happens every month, I share Sean’s eagerness for a new volume of Natsume’s Book of Friends, which we haven’t had since last March.

ASH: This really is a great week for shoujo! I am terribly far behind with Natsume’s Book of Friends, but it’s an honestly lovely series. Catching up with it would seem like a wonderful way to start off the year!

ANNA: Water Dragon’s Bride is one of my favorite current series, so I’m not going to pass up the chance to make that my pick!

Yokai Girls, Vol. 1

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By Kazuki Funatsu. Released in Japan as “Youkai Shoujo -Monsuga-” by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Young Jump. Released in North America by Ghost Ship. Translated by Jennifer Ward. Adapted by Bambi Eloriaga-Amago.

I have in the past been somewhat hard on manga that are fanservice for fanservice’s sake, particularly when it’s coming from Seven Seas, who for a while had the reputation of picking up that sort of series. (They’re growing out of it, and in fact the creation of Ghost Ship may have been partly to give said titles their own forum.) That said, like almost all genres, I’m not against a particular type of manga provided it’s written well. And, much to my surprise, Yokai Girl is written well. It shouldn’t be too much of a surprise, as this is by the author of the legendary (if unlicenseable) Addicted to Curry, which ran for almost 50 volumes in Young Jump between 2001 and 2012. It’s basically a foodie manga, only it has, well, an excessive amount of fanservice, enough to make it hard to put out over here even if it weren’t incredibly long. For a followup, the author tries the same thing – this is essentially a yokai manga, only with an excessive amount of fanservice.

Yatsuki is our hero, looking somewhat sheepish on the cover. He’s a recent graduate who seems a bit of an “ordinary normal harem protagonist” sort, though there’s more to his backstory than meets the eye. He works part-time, lunches at a maid cafe with a cute girl waitress he’s attracted to, and has a younger sister (we think) back at his apartment. One day he runs into a girl stuck up a tree, and after getting her down in the classic ecchi tradition (crotch to the face, then an accidental grope of the substantial chest), she ends up passing out and he takes her back to his place. Though nothing happens, they’re clearly both attracted to each other… which is why he’s very surprised to find that she’s a yokai, a rokurokubi, or the girl with the really long neck that you’ve seen in some titles. And of course this proves to be only the beginning of his troubles, as soon more girls arrive, and more girls we thought we knew turn out to be related to supernatural origins. Fortunately, Yatsuki seems to be hella tough and also good at dealing with yokai.

As you’d expect, if you don’t like fanservice, stay away. Not only do we have a ton of panty shots, nudity, and mildly sexual situations (i.e. don’t expect any sex), but even the yokai are racier than I’d seen it titles like Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan. The Kakiotoko is not a yokai who I want to describe in the confines of this review, except that he looks like a very buff Freddie Mercury and is hilarious. More importantly, there’s an actual serious plot behind all the not-quite-porn shenanigans, as Yatsuki has a very good reason to want to seek out and work with both yokai and yokai hunters, and the fight scenes can be bloody and vicious. So, while there are a fair share of groanworthy moments (the running gag of his offending the maid cafe waitress gets old fast), for the most part this is a very good example of what you get when an established author with a good sense of timing and character turns his hand to “let’s titillate the teenage reader”. Recommended for fanservice fans.

Thank You for Reading Experiments in Manga

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After a little over seven years of writing about manga, Japanese literature, and related items of interest here at Experiments in Manga, I am now largely retiring the blog. The content that’s here will remain for the foreseeable future, and I will continue to respond to any comments that are made, however I will no longer be regularly posting at the blog. It’s possible that I may very occasionally be inspired to write a long-form review or feature for Experiments in Manga, but in general my manga blogging will be moving to Manga Bookshelf proper. There I will continue participating in the Manga the Week of and Pick of the Week posts and will be contributing to the Bookshelf Briefs features as well. Another place that I will be found discussing manga and such is on Twitter, where I hope to be a little more active with my account going forward.

A huge thank you to everyone who has read and supported me and Experiments in Manga over the years! In part I started this blog as a way to connect with other people interested in manga. I am delighted that I can say I was successful in doing that. I have met so many wonderful people because of Experiments in Manga and it makes me tremendously happy to know that from time to time others found it useful, interesting, or even entertaining. To all of my friends–readers, fellow bloggers, creators, and more–thank you and thank you again. Writing at Experiments in Manga and getting to know you all has meant more to me than I can adequately express.

That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime, Vol. 1

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By Fuse and Mitz Vah. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken” by Micromagazine Publishing. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

I may simply be tired of the genre. God knows a lot of fans say they are – isekai and reincarnation titles have drawn more groans than cheers lately when new licenses are announced, though sales of the popular ones still seem to be good. It could also be that this comes only a month after publication of “So I’m a Spider, So What?”, a series with which it shares a ridiculous amount of details. That said, the spider book entertained me throughout, whereas this had me constantly checking to see how many pages there were until the end. It features most of the things that are overdone in these sorts of stories – endless discussion of RPG-style attacks and level ups, goblins, elves and dwarves all present and correct, and of course an incredibly overpowered hero whose bland narration does not help the situation. It does have an interesting side story about a young girl possessed by an Ifrit, which I wish the book had been about.

Our hero is a somewhat jerk-like middle manager who is killed by a random goon one day in Japan, and ends up being (try to contained your surprise) reincarnated as a slime monster living in a cave. That said, he’s immediately given two amazing skills to start with, and those allow him to quickly become very strong even as his viewpoint tries to assure us he has no idea about his power. When you’re befriending the equivalent of Smaug within the first few pages, you may be a bit ridiculous. Leaving the cave, he runs into a race of goblins and starts powering them up as well – names have power, something he belatedly realizes after naming everyone he sees willy-nilly. He decides to civilize them, which involves getting some materials from a dwarf city, and showing off more of his awesome slimeness (he’s not like other slimes, you see).

Far more interesting are the occasional looks at humans in this world that we get. The Ifrit girl is also from Japan, transported after a WWII bombing raid that killed her mother and severely burned her. The demon who called her seems to have been looking for something else, but her sheer desire to not die is so strong that he binds an Ifrit to her anyway – which is a curse and a blessing, as she’s not dead but the Ifrit controls her – whether she likes it or not, as one of her first friends finds out. Her long struggle against this takes a lifetime until she is (hold onto your hats) saved somewhat by the titular slime. I also liked the idiot trio of adventurers who the slime meets, who provide amusing comedy whenever they’re on the page – more amusing than the “idiot goblin” assistant, who also gets a short story that seems to be about his simple yet likeable ways. I found it more the former.

There’s some interesting world building here once you get past all the attack names and level descriptions, and I’ll probably give it another volume to see if it improves. But let’s face it, when your book is titled That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Smile, and the Slime is the least interesting thing in the book, there’s a real issue here.

Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, Vol. 1

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By Megumi Morino. Released in Japan as “Ohayou, Ibarahime” by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Dessert. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley.

We’ve all seen the type of story where you meet someone, start to fall in love with them, and then find out that either a) they have a terrible secret that they’ve been hiding, or b) they actually turn out to be completely different from how you thought they were. And sometimes it’s both, as is the case with Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty, which actually has the guy as the viewpoint character for once, and the girl as the one around whom the plot revolves. It’s a good plot, one that draws on the supernatural but doesn’t overly drown in it, and the story is dramatic and serious without being too angsty. I would argue that the heroine suffers from something of a lack of presence… but given that’s almost the point, it seems churlish.

Our hero is Tetsu, a bright young lad who has some tragedy in his life that is driving him to earn money, over the objections of his father, who doesn’t think he’s mature enough to move right into the workforce. (Dad is right, but Tetsu’s the hero, so he’s going to get away with it.) Tetsu ends up becoming a housekeeper at a mansion owned by a rich family. They’re under orders not to go into the small house at the back of the garden, where the family’s reclusive daughter, Shizu, lives. So, what does Tetsu do within the first few pages? Goes out to the garden and meets Shizu, who at least seems nice. Sadly, he also loses his bankbook at some point, and desperately goes to search for it. Shizu has it, and turns out to be a lot less frail and willowy than she first appeared – in fact, she’s a bit of a hyperactive terror. Is there a reason for the difference? And will Tetsu be able to keep being friends with her once he finds out the truth?

It’s sort of hard to discuss the manga without discussing its gimmick, but I will do my best. Shizu’s nature means that she is very different at different times, and for the most part we follow Tetsu as he finds out about it, falls into a state of shock, recovers, tries to be friends with her anyway, has a disastrous outing, tries to distance himself, and finally returns to the “be friends” with greater resolve. He’s a good kid, and I like his family as well – thank goodness that he’s fighting with his father but it’s not the standard evil uncaring manga dad. (I also love one of the sisters, Ryo, but I admit she barely appears – she just fits a type I really like). The book balances out mystery, romance and pathos in equal doses, and the leads are nice – you want them to overcome their problems. Also, it’s only 6 volumes, so should not wear out its welcome. If you want to try a new shoujo series with a sweet male lead who’s working hard, Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty is a good choice.