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Manga the Week of 10/11/17

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SEAN: The fields are full of dancing, full of singing and romancing, cause the manga never stops.

Dark Horse has a 6th omnibus of Oh My Goddess!, the only title to rival Dragon Ball for most re-releases.

J-Novel Club finishes up the 3rd volume of The Faraway Paladin, which was large enough to be split into two books, and this is the second.

ASH: I’m really hoping that Seven Seas might consider teaming up with J-Novel Club for a print release of The Faraway Paladin like they’ve done for other titles.

SEAN: Kodansha Digital is truckin’ like the doo-dah man. We start with a 3rd Aoba-kun’s Confessions.

MICHELLE: I am beginning to sense a trend with these musical references…

SEAN: As the Gods Will’s 2nd Series (the first, which I will always mention, was never license) has a 21st volume.

Chihayafuru’s 5th volume makes me feel guilty I haven’t finished the 4th yet.

MICHELLE: Yay!

ANNA: Double Yay here!

SEAN: Clockwork Planet has a 5th manga volume, and it’s also in print, novelty though that be.

Also in print is a 6th Fire Force.

Back to digital, we have the 2nd Magical Sempai, reminding us that honorific use in translation is still a hot button issue.

And there’s an 8th Real Account.

On to Seven Seas, who have the 3rd print edition of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash’s light novels, previously released digitally by J-Novel Club.

They also have a 5th Lord Marksman and Vanadis.

The debut next week is Spirit Circle, a new shonen title from the creator of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer. It’s a story of ghosts and reincarnation, and ran in Shonen Gahosha’s Young King Ours. It also had a Crunchyroll digital release.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving this one a try! Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer was such an odd series, but I rather liked it.

SEAN: SuBLime gives us a 3rd deluxe edition of Finder.

And an 8th World’s Greatest First Love.

Titan has collected a 2nd volume of its Sherlock manga adaptation that runs in Japan. Sherlock: The Blind Banker is out next week.

ANNA: We’ve picked these up at my library, and I think they circulate well.

SEAN: Vertical has a 10th volume of Ajin. Happy double digits!

Case Closed reaches Vol. 64. If we convert to Base 10, it’s reached 100 volumes!

Gangsta has a 3rd volume of its Cursed spinoff.

ASH: I hope to see more of the main series, but the spinoff is likewise compelling and incredibly dark.

ANNA: This reminds me that I bought the first two volumes of this series. Need to get caught up ASAP!

SEAN: Viz is also releasing a novel. Juni Taisen: Zodiac War is written by Nisioisin, creator of the Monogatari and Zaregoto series, and has illustrations by Hikaru Nakamura, creator of Saint Young Men. It also has an anime that just began. Its subtitle is its premise, from what I understand.

ASH: My curiosity is certainly piqued based on the creators involved.

MJ: I have to admit that “Saint Young Men” is the first thing on the list this week that has caught my eye at all. So yes, I’m in for something illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura.

SEAN: And a 26th volume of Magi involves a lot of fighting, I expect.

MICHELLE: At least the flashback is over!

SEAN: Lastly, more double digits boasting, as Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter reached that milestone.

This stack of manga has everything delightful and everything you need. What are you getting from it?

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 7

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

For the most part this book is just a straight up sequel to the fourth volume, with the drama club getting together with our heroes to put on a second play featuring the Blue Knight and the Silver Princess. Like the fourth book, there’s a lot of focus on Theia and Harumi, who compare and contrast even more with each other. And like the fourth book, everything gets derailed by Theia’s rival Clan, who’s out for revenge and has a better gun now. Oh yes, and can fly. That said, for about 4/5 of this book there’s not really all that much happening, and it seems to be content to be a Christmas-themed book showing how well everyone gets along now while seeding possible things for future books, such as Ruth pointing out that serving Theia as her Knight would involve Koutarou moving off-planet.

Ruth is on the cover of this volume, so you might expect to see her get a story in Vol. 8. That said, she does get plenty to do here, mostly acting as support for Theia and trying to nudge Koutarou in the right direction, though there is an amusing side plot of her wanting to get stronger so she can defeat the sentai warrior from last book – who was, of course, Shizuka, who feels uncomfortable about all this. That said, neither Ruth or Shizuka are part of the harem (yet), and so the bulk of the development goes to Harumi and Theia. Harumi is still trying to get Koutarou to treat her as less of a sempai and more of a friend – i.e., the way he treats Theia, which she explicitly is jealous of. Theia does not think about Harumi that much, but that’s likely because she’s unaware of the plot twist we all saw coming: Harumi is in some way possessed by or a reincarnation of the Silver Princess from Theia’s past, and as the end of the book makes clear, Koutarou is literally the Blue Knight.

The climax of the book involves the performance of the 2nd play, complete with Yurika as the most pathetic dragon ever (she’s back to being useless here, though smartens up when actual danger arrives, and the fact that she hasn’t realized her feelings for Koutarou yet helps her keep it together more). The play is, as I said above, interrupted by Clan, who remains petty, spiteful, and very easy to dislike. And then comes the climax of the book, which was a big surprise. Not the actual events, those were the least surprising thing ever. No, I was surprised that the book kept going past where I expected it to. Let’s just say there was a really obvious place for a cliffhanger, but the book chose to go a few more pages and actually resolve most of its built-up tension. It actually worked quite well.

I’m enjoying reading each volume of this series as it really puts an effort into showing how each of the characters is slowly maturing and gaining confidence and strength, as well as bonding with each other. Technically it’s a harem comedy, but the harem all get along, and there’s no real rush to confess, mostly as few of them have even admitted their feelings to themselves. It works very well as an ongoing series, doing the #1 thing such series should do: make you want to read more. That said, I’m pretty sure the next volume won’t feature Ruth, as it’s Vol. 7.5, and tells the story of what happened to Koutarou and Clan during the climax of this book. Be careful when searching Amazon to get the right order.

Manga Giveaway: Assassin’s Creed Giveaway Winner

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Assassin's Creed: Awakening, Volume 1And the winner of the Assassin’s Creed: Awakening manga giveaway is… Sean Kleefeld!

As the winner, Sean (who does some great writing about comics) will be receiving a copy of the first volume in Takashi Yano and Kenji Oiwa’s Assassin’s Creed: Awakening as published in English by Titan Comics. Since pirates feature very prominently in the series, I wanted to learn about some of the giveaway participant’s favorite pirates from manga. Perhaps unsurprisingly considering the popularity of the series characters from Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece were mentioned several times, but some lesser-known pirates can be found in the giveaway comments, too.

Some of the manga released in English featuring pirates:
Assassin’s Creed: Awakening written by Takashi Yano, illustrated by Kenji Oiwa
Basara by Yumi Tamura
Berserk by Kentaro Miura
Black Lagoon by Rei Hiroe
Bodacious Space Pirates: Abyss of Hyperspace by Chibimaru
Captain Harlock by Leiji Matsumoto
Captain Harlock: Dimensional Voyage written by Leiji Matsumoto, illustrated by Kouiti Shimaboshi
Cirque du Freak by Takahiro Arai
Elemental Gelade by Mayumi Azuma
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass by Akira Himekawa
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda
Princess Knight by Osamu Tezuka
Queen Emeraldas by Leiji Matsumoto
Stone by Sin-ichi Hiromoto
Vinland Saga by Makoto Yukimura
Wanted by Matsuri Hino
Yona of the Dawn by Mizuho Kusanagi

I’m certain that the above list isn’t comprehensive, but I was a little surprised by how few series I was able to easily come up with that feature pirates! Still, it’s an interesting mix which includes historical pirates, fantasy pirates, space pirates, and more. Thank you to everyone who participated by sharing your personal favorites with me! I hope to see you all again for the next monthly giveaway.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 8

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By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

This volume of Yona can be divided into two parts. The first sees Yona finally fulfill the first part of the prophecy, gathering the last dragon, and then trying to figure out where to go from here. The second takes us back to the kingdom where we see what Su-Won is up to, and figure out that he’s a far more ambiguous figure than everyone may thing (both reader and characters within the series). Both parts work equally well, and you get the sense that the author is declaring this the “end of Part 1/start of Part 2′ for the series, as Yona gets a new purpose that will still manage to keep her wandering around from town to town, and Su-Won shows that he is not a pacifist like Yona’s father, but that doesn’t mean that he’s gearing up for blood and carnage either.

After the epic adventures to find the various Dragons in prior books, it is very much an anticlimax to have the last one, Zeno, just pop up and say “OH HAI!” to our heroes, then join them on a whim. It’s intended on the author’s part, of course, and the rest of the cast are just as thrown off their game by this guy who seems like a giant flake but can occasionally show a flair for the serious, and also does not seem to have the deep emotional bond with Yona that the others do. Honestly, it wouldn’t be too much of a surprise if he turned out to not be what he seemed later on, but for now I’m content to go along with Zeno as he’s fun. We also return to Ik-Su the priest once Yun realizes that they’ve fulfilled the prophecy but nothing has actually happened. This leads to Yona questioning what she wants to do – does she want to regain the kingdom for her father? Well, no, she wants to help other towns in need. I suspect that’s what we’ll be doing for a while.

Meanwhile, back in the kingdom, we see a rather grumpy general, Geun-Tae, who is depressed that even though there’s a new, supposedly not pacifist king, he’s STILL not fighting in great battles. This allows us to see Su-Won’s too clever by half manipulation from another point of view, and that other point of view paints Su-Won as a clueless idiot. The audience already knows that’s not true, of course, so the chapters instead show how, in a mock war game, Su-Won can win the trust of an important ally, and also how he listens and pays attention to everything and uses it to better the kingdom. Su-Won is turning out to be a really good king, and therefore Yona’s decision is going to be even more difficult. (Also, I must resist calling Su-Won Henry IV.)

As always, there’s even more that I didn’t get to talk about, like Geun-Tae’s adorable tea-loving wife, and Yona deciding to learn how to swordfight by stealing Hak’s sword in his sleep, which goes about as well as you’d expect. The series remains compulsively readable, and even though it’s on the fasttrack with a release every two months, it still feels too long between volumes. More!

Bluesteel Blasphemer, Vol. 3

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By Ichirou Sakaki and Tera Akai. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

In general, authors do not read my reviews and listen to my suggestions, mostly as they’re Japanese and the book has already come out several years ago (and also because I rarely have anything constructive to recommend). But sometimes I can’t help but read a book and think to myself “wow, the author listened to me!” even if it’s not true. Such a book is this volume of Bluesteel Blasphemer, which I called ‘highly adequate’ last time. It still is, but the harem stuff I didn’t like is lessened (though watch out for the ‘tee hee everyone thinks he’s a lolicon’ scene at the start), Yukinari is getting more character development and a better class of villain going up against him, there’s some well thought out setup for the final book, and most of all, after suggesting last time that Berta needed a hobby, she gets one here. I wasn’t expecting it to be crack sniper, but hey, needs must as the devil drives.

The girl on the cover is Angela, a Holy Knight who’s there to be even more zealous and driven and to show off how much Arlen has changed, despite his still being mostly a jerk. She mostly faces off against Veronika, a former princess turned mercenary whose past… absolutely does not catch up with her in any way, so I assume that it’s being saved for Book 4. It does give her interesting backstory, though, which I suspect is its main function. Yukinari, meanwhile, is having to adjust his thinking, as he’s been solely devoted to protecting himself and Dasa and that’s about it. Now that he has to protect two villages and the denizens thereof, his fighting style has to change, and he has to rely on others far more. He seems to come to terms with this fairly quickly, though he’s of the stoic, no real personality style of Japanese light novel heroes, so heavy angst is not really going to come into it.

Berta’s development really pleased me, and is the highlight of the book. She’d been there in the first book as the sacrifice who wasn’t, and then in the second feeling rather useless and trying to offer her body to Yukinari mostly as she had no idea what to do with her life. You got the sense she was in the book to be the large-breasted option in the harem. But here Yukinari tries to make a sniper rifle, and because of its awkward design (he’s working from memories of his past in Japan, and is not as familiar with this type of gun) neither he nor Dasa are really very good with it. But Berta, who has never shot anything in her life and thus has no bad habits to overcome, turns out to be a crack shot… provided she’s shooting non-living targets. She’s just too sweet. Fortunately the threat of her friends being killed and getting shouted at by Arlen help steel her resolve, and she’s able to save part of the day. She also, after a talk with Veronika, realizes that hey, she is doing all this for Yukinari as she loves him, rather than because of a misguided sense of duty. Honestly, she should have been on the cover.

So overall, a bit better than the previous two books, and worth your time if you’re following the series. That said, I’m ready for it to come to an end in Book 4, which will feature the most obvious villain of all time – so obvious, in fact, that the author assumes in his afterword that we’ve already guessed who she is. I’ll be here to read it.

My Week in Manga: September 25-October 1, 2017

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My News and Reviews

September has ended and October has begun, but there’s still a little time left to enter the most recent manga giveaway at Experiments in Manga! The results will be announce on Wednesday, so be sure to get your comments in for a chance to win the first volume (actually, I think it may even be the first half) of Takashi Yano and Kenji Oiwa’s Assassin’s Creed: Awakening. For this giveaway, I’m interested in learning more about everyone’s favorite pirate characters in manga. Otherwise, it was once again a fairly quiet week here at the blog. It’s been a while since I’ve last mentioned any of the Kickstarter’s that have caught my eye, but Matthew Meyer’s campaign to continue his series of illustrated yokai guides launched last week. The Book of the Hakutaku: A Bestiary of Japanese Monsters will be the third volume following The Night Parade of One Hundred Demons: A Field Guide to Japanese Yokai (which I’ve previously reviewed) and The Hour of Meeting Evil Spirits: An Encyclopedia of Mononoke and Magic. I really love these books, and the artwork is fantastic.

Quick Takes

Love and Lies, Volume 1Love & Lies, Volume 1 by Musawo. In general, I don’t tend to gravitate towards high school romances, but I am a sucker for utopian and dystopian fiction, so when those two genres mix I can’t help but want to give the resulting story a try. Love & Lies is set in Japan in the near future. In response to the crisis of an extreme decline in population, the government has implemented a program which assigns marriage partners based on their genetic makeup and social circumstances so that any children born will be healthy, skilled, contributing members of society. Once both partners have turned 16, they receive a notice from the government revealing their identities to each other for the first time. Who they may or may not truly love isn’t really taken into consideration, but it also seems that program may be susceptible to corruption. I find the premise of Love & Lies to be very interesting; it has great potential to explore the nature of love and personal relationships in a dramatic and engaging way. When the entire purpose of marriage has become a government-funded reproduction program, the impact on society and its people will be tremendous. I also especially appreciate that Love & Lies includes at least one character who isn’t heterosexual seeing as a marriage program of this type would have particularly drastic social implications for a person who is queer in some way.

TaprootTaproot: A Comic about a Gardener and a Ghost by Keezy Young. I first encountered Young’s work through the ongoing webcomic Yellow Hearts which joined Sparkler Monthly‘s lineup of online comics relatively recently. Part of what I love about Yellow Hearts is Young’s gorgeous illustrations and use of color as well as the natural inclusion of queer characters in the story. Taproot is Young’s debut graphic novel and it, too, has what I’ve come to love and expect from the creator’s other comics. The graphic novel has a great amount of depth to it, more than the rather simple, straightforward subtitle would seem to imply. Hamal is young man who can see ghosts, an ability which has made it difficult for him to find acceptance from others. At least from those who are living. Many of the ghosts, on the other hand, are drawn to and quite like Hamal; Blue has even fallen in love with him, although being incorporeal presents a few challenges. But there’s an even greater problem that the two of them must face–the very existence of the local ghosts is being threatened by a frighting supernatural disturbance. There is a sense of loneliness and melancholy to be found in Taproot, but the comic is also incredibly heartwarming and endearing. Taproot is a sweet and touching queer romance with beautiful artwork, making it something that’s extremely easy to recommend.

That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime, Volume 1That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime written by Fuse and illustrated by Taiki Kawakami. There seems to be a preponderance of manga series right now with the underlying conceit of a person dying and then being reincarnated in some sort of fantasy world. I have read a few of these series, so I haven’t been completely avoiding them, but I’ve not really been seeking them out, either, having experienced genre-fatigue by proxy. However, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime still managed to pique my interest simply because it sounded like such a ridiculous spin on what has become such a well-worn story. And I’ll admit, the first volume of the That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime manga is surprisingly entertaining. The protagonist of the series also happens to be a 37-year-old man, which isn’t the most common in translated manga. Of course, as can be safely assumed from the title, he soon dies only to start life again as a slime, one of the lowliest monsters there is. Mikami accepts this turn of fate pretty quickly and focuses his attention on gaining the ability to verbally communicate with the adventurers and other creatures he encounters. What he doesn’t realize is that he’s essentially been leveling up the entire time he’s been trying to find a way to talk and has unintentionally become one of the most powerful monsters in the area, inadvertently gaining a large following in the process.

Notes of a CrocodileNotes of a Crocodile by Miaojin Qiu. So far, only two of Qiu’s long-form works have been translated into English. Last Words from Montmarte, originally published posthumously after the author’s suicide at the age of twenty-six, was released in translation in 2014 and the English-language edition of Notes of a Crocodile, described as a cult classic of queer Taiwanese literature, was more recently released in 2017. Notes of a Crocodile is also one of Qiu’s most highly acclaimed and well-known works. The novel is about a small group of lovesick and psychologically troubled queer college students coming of age in Taipei in the late 1980s. The narrative unfolds as a series of notebooks which contain a combination of diary-like entries, letters between friends and lovers, and fragments of a surreal story about crocodiles posing as humans, in part a metaphor for those who have to live hidden lives. The narrator of Notes of a Crocodile is nicknamed Lazi, a young lesbian woman with self-destructive tendencies who is struggling to come to terms with her sexuality. The women she falls obsessively in love with and their doomed romances feature prominently as do the tumultuous and fraught relationships between her and her small group of extremely close friends. Notes of a Crocodile is a beautiful work but it is also filled with pain, desperation, and longing–the novel resonated very strongly with me and I hope to read more of Qiu’s work.

Pick of the Week: Goodbye Kiss

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MICHELLE: There’s a healthy dose of sports manga due out this week—Ace of the Diamond, Haikyu!!, and Kuroko’s Basketball—as well as other favorites like Food Wars and Honey So Sweet, but I really have no choice but to avail myself of the final opportunity to pick Kamisama Kiss. This series has been consistently good across 25 volumes, and though a happy ending has been earned, I’ll be sorry to see it so. Sayounara, Kamisama.

SEAN: A lot of old favorites, and the shipper in me wants to pick Assassination Classroom, but I agree, Kamisama Kiss is absolutely the pick this week. I can never resist a wedding pic on the final volume of a shoujo manga!

KATE: At the risk of sounding like Manga Bookshelf’s resident picky eater, this week’s list doesn’t have any stand-out titles for me. There are plenty of decent continuing series — Assassination Classroom, Kurokuro’s Basketball — but nothing that I’m actively following. If I had to choose a title, though, my vote would go to Rave Master, since I missed it the first time around.

ASH: Although there are several manga that I’m looking forward to next week, such as the next installments of Haikyu!! and Yona of the Dawn, the release that I’m most curious about is the first volume of House of Brutes. In particular, I’m interested to see if it’s actually released at all considering the publisher’s current financial troubles. But I’ll be glad to see more of Gengoroh Tagame’s work released in English. (This is definitely different fare than My Brother’s Husband, though!)

ANNA: I’m a little torn, because there’s a ton of great manga coming out this week, with Yona of the Dawn always a highlight. But I’m also going to pick the final volume of Kamisama Kiss. It is such a jewel of a series, and even though all things must come to an end, I’m glad it is getting an appropriate send off with a special limited edition.

Bookshelf Briefs 10/2/17

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DAYS, Vol. 5 | By Tsuyoshi Yasuda | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Coming off the intense emotions of the fourth volume, in which Seiseki loses at the Inter-High Tournament, volume five at first feels like generic, episodic summer filler. The guys cram for finals so they can avoid remedial classes, then there’s a chapter at the beach, and one at a festival, and then it’s training camp time. But in each of these chapters, something important happens character-wise. In the beach chapter, we learn more about Kurusu and his relationship with his grandfather; at the festival we check in with Sayuri, who laments that soccer has stolen Tsukushi away from her; and at the training camp we get to know Haibara, an upperclassman whose rowdy behavior is just an act to cover his lack of self-confidence. And meanwhile, Tsukushi continues to make incremental improvement. Although not as exciting as its predecessor, this is still definitely a solid volume. – Michelle Smith

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 3 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas Entertainment – There’s no better way to make me hate a shoujo heroine than to have her melodramatically run out of the house after an outburst (in the rain, naturally), crying over lightning and internally wailing, “Someone! Please come and get me!!” Zen’s critiques used to seem overly harsh, but I was cheering him on this time when he said, “You should be thanking me for coming after your sorry ass.” Things don’t improve much as Shimana takes forever to realize that she has feelings for Taiga the landlord, though I did like Zen’s tearful confession to her. It’s intriguing, too, that princely Asahi, originally the supposed love interest, has faded so far into the background. Some of the subplots are picking up, as well, so despite my irritation at Shimana I’ll probably be back next time. – Michelle Smith

Genshiken: Second Season, Vol. 11 | By Shimoku Kio | Kodansha Comics – Again, the best moments are when this series treats things a bit more seriously. The scenes between Madarame and Hato are excellent, as they both try to figure out what is going on here, how Hato identifies, what attracts Madarame, and can either of them even try to make this work for real? The answer is probably no, but the tension is real here, and I greatly enjoyed it. Sue’s stuff is done well too—it’s very clear that we’re stuck between Hato, Sue, or no one, and you suspect Kio will go for the easy third choice. And then there’s Hato and Yajima, which is mostly trying to get past Yajima’s self-hatred and Hato’s inability to see her a a woman. Better than it should be. – Sean Gaffney

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 8 | By Amu Meguro | Viz Media – I had actually forgotten that this was the final volume of Honey So Sweet, though the cover should have tipped me off. Much of the book is devoted to Nao’s uncle, who has been putting his life on hold until Nao grows up and is ready to take care of herself… which reminds Nao that she’s still not all that great at that sort of thing. I did appreciate that the old flame who arrived stayed mostly old, though there are hints that may eventually change. On a lighter note, I’ve liked Yashiro best in this cast, and seeing her struggle with direct communication is fun. This was a sweet and cute shoujo fluff series, and just about the right length. You’ll enjoy it. – Sean Gaffney

Plum Crazy! Tales of a Tiger-Striped Cat, Vol. 2 | By Natsumi Hoshino | Seven Seas Entertainment – If you liked the first volume of Plum Crazy!, you’ll probably like this one, which is more of the same. I do wonder if readers reacted negatively to the Nakarai family not doing anything to stop new kitten Snowball from repeatedly attacking incumbent resident Plum, because there’s more emphasis on her bad behavior this time around, including a chapter in which Taku’s friend attempts to distract Snowball with other toys, only to make her aggression toward Plum worse. I can only assume we’re supposed to find these kitten antics cute (and I’m sure I’m taking this too seriously), but as a cat owner, they actually kind of stress me out. I very much look forward to Snowball growing out of this phase. Maybe then I’ll be able to relax and just enjoy the kittehs. – Michelle Smith

Skip Beat!, Vol. 39 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – I avoided reading this book for a while. Kyoko’s mother was the one part of her life I was dreading the confrontation with, and I had worried it would be too sympathetic. I should have trusted Nakamura more, as I think she strikes an excellent balance between explaining Saena’s behavior without downplaying the horrible abuse Kyoko suffered growing up. Kyoko can’t hate Saena, but also doesn’t quite forgive her. Instead she throws herself into a possible new role, finally working alongside Moko. That said, I have a feeling the role will prove to be a lot more trouble than it’s worth. These volumes were good, but I’ll be happy to get back to acting. – Sean Gaffney

Species Domain, Vol. 3 | By Shunsuke Noro | Seven Seas – I knew at some point we were going to see Dowa without her beard, so I wasn’t too surprised here. That said, kudos to the author for having her grow it back pretty quickly, showing that the character’s own desires are more important than looking “cute” for the audience. A more important detail here is Ohki’s “science” abilities, and how much of it is explained by genuine scientific principles. In a world like this, where there is literal magic, it’s hard to tell what is really going on—though Ohki seems very upset at the idea. There’s still lighthearted stuff, of course, with the constant fun that is Kazamori, as well as big sisters and little sisters. If you want a non-skeezy monster girls title, Species Domain is a good choice. – Sean Gaffney

Waiting for Spring, Vol. 2 | By Anashin | Kodansha Comics – The childhood friend who was thought to be a boy being a girl is fairly common in manga and anime, but seeing the reverse is a lot less common. The author sensibly keeps the attention on Mitsuki’s reaction to the whole thing, with her realization that this makes a number of childhood conversations very embarrassing. On the bright side, she’s getting closer to Towa, though he seems to be taking things a lot more seriously than she is at this stage. This is very much a ‘warmup’ volume, continuing to develop the characters and introducing a rival without moving things forward too much. It’s not fantastic, but it’s enough to make you want to read more. – Sean Gaffney

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 3 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – This continues to be a lot darker than I was really expecting—a couple of villagers are straight up murdered in front of us, not to mention the war that ensues. It’s well done, but there’s no denying that the main reason this holds up well is because of the relationship between Asahi and the two men in her life—especially now that one of them actually IS a man. Getting her voice back is also unsurprising, as now that she’s grown up it will help the storytelling, both in terms of potential romance and in terms of Asahi’s status as a priestess. And of course she still wants to go home, even after so many years. There’s a lot going on in this series, and I’m grateful it’s so well told. – Sean Gaffney

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 7 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Tatara Fujita and his partner Chinatsu are trying to meld together as a pair, but it isn’t going very well, particularly due to Tatara’s uncommanding lead and Chinatsu’s inability to follow. They decide to get help from Hyodo Social Dance Academy, and though Tatara does learn more of the basics there than he had at Sengoku’s studio, he’s still impatient to compete, leading to a humiliating forfeit at the Grand Prix. Summer rolls around and, in true sports manga fashion, it’s time for a training camp in the mountains. This volume’s theme seems to be “strife and striving.” Until recently, this series had been on hiatus in Japan and I was worried we might not get to see the outcome to all of this, but I’m happy to see a new volume has come out since I last looked. A bit on the melodramatic side sometimes, but totally addictive.– Michelle Smith

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 18

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By Yusei Matsui. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki. Adapted by Bryant Turnage.

Jump series tend to be highly variable in how they handle romance in the titles (discarding actual romance series such as Nisekoi). Some series are happy to have romance as part of the character’s motivations, such as Naruto or Bleach. Some are proud of the fact that they eschew normal romance in their titles, such as One Piece or Gintama. A lot of series go for the in between, where romance sometimes crops up but it’s never really the focus and you aren’t really gunning for pairings. Toriko, My Hero Academia… and Assassination Classroom, where we’ve previously seen that Kayano is sort of crushing on Nagisa and that Irina has a thing for Karasuma, but that’s about it. Of course, sometimes those series will then take the opportunity to leap into the romance waters head-first… and what better opportunity than Valentine’s Day?

Before that, though, let’s wrap up the “space station” arc, one which if I recall correctly was one suspension of disbelief too many for a lot of readers. The author does try to keep things as ridiculous as the premise (I love Nagisa’s bomb with ‘BOMB’ written on it), but it is a bit anti-climactic that the whole thing is resolved in one chapter, though it’s nice to see Ritsu actually doing something again. That said, this is all a setup for the main thrust of the first half of the book, which is that these are idealistic middle schoolers, assassins or no. They think because Koro-sensei exploding is now a less than 1% chance, that those odds mean they can save him. In the real world, that’s not how things work, and it’s no surprise that the bad guys are working hard on plan B. Even Irina is concerned, thinking that someone killing Koro-sensei in front of them will ruin the kids’ innocence.

But then there’s the Valentine’s chapters. Again, the author blissfully ignores the most popular fan pairing – Nagisa and Karma – but there’s still plenty to draw on here. We see the class playboy screw things up and then try valiantly to fix them, especially as Koro-sensei says his recommendation to a high school depends on it. We see Kayano, who not only has to work up the courage to give Nagisa chocolates, but has to do it without Koro-sensei spying on her and with the “help” of Rio and Karma, who turn into literal devils in some panels as if it weren’t obvious enough. (We also see Rio quietly admitting she likes Nagisa too, but feels Kayano made the better showing here.) If it’s frustrating, that’s because this is one of those ‘middling’ Jump romance series; hence, there won’t be a pairing because Nagisa needs to focus solely on the future. And the adults also get in on this, with Irina’s worries that I mentioned above prompting Karasuma to tell her to stop being an assassin and join the defense agency. Her compassion for the students also prompts him to give in to her affections… though it’s done Karasuma-style, with a subtle, almost non-existent proposal that he refuses to repeat. Irina’s facial reaction is the best reason to buy this book.

In short this novel is a shipper’s paradise, but we’re also told we’re not going to be getting a get Koro-sensei out of jail free card. It’s becoming more and more clear that Koro-sensei being killed is the endgame. As we get to the final volumes, will the kids keep their youthful innocence? I can’t wait to find out.

Shojo Fight, Vol. 1

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Shojo FIGHT! Volume 1 by Yoko Nihonbashi

I’m very happy about Kodansha’s recent investment in digital manga, since it means that some titles that might be not commercial enough to get a print release are being translated. At the same time, I’ve been burned by digital manga in the past, and I only have so much budgeted for digital comics a month, so I’ve been a little picky with my purchases. I was very interested to see a girls volleyball title coming out from Kodansha, because I do enjoy a good sports manga. The first volume of Shojo FIGHT! is largely set-up for the whole series, and it packs an impressive amount of drama in one short volume.

Neri spends her time on the bench for her middle school volleyball team. She seems to be content to be incredibly unassertive and dismissed, but she has a group of friends and fans who look after her. The manga starts by showing the dynamics of Neri’s current team. Koyuki seems to be noticed as much for her looks as her volleyball talent, while Chiyo is the seemingly evil teem member who is comfortable saying horrible things to everyone. While Neri doesn’t do much in the way of athletics in the first few pages, it is clear that she has the aura of somebody special. Neri has a built in fanclub that includes Odagiri, a girl who spends her time drawing volleyball manga. There are also the brothers Shikishima. The younger blond Shikishima is a carefree volleyball player while his his older brother with the dark hair has the burden of being the heir to his family’s osteopathic clinic, having magic injury soothing fingers, and also playing volleyball.

When Neri does get off the bench, it is clear that she’s been hiding her skills as well as her single-minded intensity towards the sport of volleyball. Part of the reason why she’s been able to hide so long is because her school tends to give starting positions based on the height of the players. Neri becomes aggressive and vocal, yelling at Koyuki to get her head in the game. Neri and Koyuki end up colliding when they go after the same ball. Neri’s travails in volleyball would be enough to carry this volume, but she also has a family tragedy that she’s dealing with as well. Slowly the details are revealed as the story progresses, and while Neri’s set up for a different type of volleyball career as she enters high school, she’s still dealing with plenty of baggage. It seems like her friends are always going to be around to support her, especially Shikishima the elder.

Part of my enjoyment of Shojo FIGHT! is due to the novelty factor. Perhaps because I haven’t been able to read many female-oriented sports manga, I found Neri’s portrayal as a volleyball hero with athletic prowess and intensity that could cause situations to get out of control refreshing, just because I’m much more used to seeing this type of character as a male protagonist. If this had been the 5th female volleyball manga that I’d read instead of the 2nd, I might not find it quite as charming though. Other reviewers have noted that the art of this volume looks very similar to OEL manga, with smooth dark lines, sparse backgrounds, and lacking the delicacy that most shoujo fans might expect. I was halfway wondering if it was as I was reading it if it was OEL, but as I looked up Shojo FIGHT, it indeed came out in Japan originally in the mid 2000s. Nihonbashi’s style made me wonder if it really was that unique, or if it comes down to just the type of series that tend to get translated for a North American audience. Nihonbashi’s high contrast style gives Shojo FIGHT a more graphic, less flowery sort of look, and while she is good at facial expressions, I did find myself wondering at times if Neri had variants of her stunned and shell shocked look as she grapples with her emotions. I did enjoy all the distinctive character designs. With such a large cast, having distinct looks for the characters helps the reader greatly.

There was enough drama for two volumes in the first volume of Shojo FIGHT!, but at the same time I’m reserving judgement a bit, because I expect the narrative to settle down in the second volume. I’m hoping to see if Neri is able to fight off her inner demons a bit for the sake of volleyball.