Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Blog

My Week in Manga: September 11-September 17, 2017

by

My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga I posted August’s Bookshelf Overload which lists the manga, comics, and other media that found their way into my home last month. Otherwise, it was fairly quiet here at the blog, but I did come across some great interviews elsewhere online: Paul Semel interviewed author Kazuki Sakuraba whose novel A Small Charred Face will be released in translation this week. (I actually recently reviewed the book; it’s well-worth picking up.) Susannah Greenblatt interviewed Motoyuki Shibata, one of the cofounders of the Monkey Business literary magazine, discussing translation and Japanese literature among other things. (I’ve previously reviewed some of the early issues of Monkey Business.) And for something a little more manga-centric, Brigid Alverson interviewed manga editor Yumi Sukimune who works with Akiko Higashimura on Princess Jellyfish (which I greatly enjoy) in addition to other series.

And then there’s the licensing news from last week. Udon Entertainment, for example has plans to release Yuztan’s Dragon’s Crown manga adaptation. Most of last week’s manga and light novel licensing announcements came from another Seven Seas’ sprees, though: Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter manga by Reia and Suki Umemiya; two companion volumes to Kore Yamazaki’s The Ancient Magus’ Bride (which I’ll definitely be picking up); Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest manga by Ryou Hakumai and RoGa; the original Cutie Honey manga by Go Nagai; The Dungeon of Black Company manga by Youhei Yasumura; Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! light novels and manga by FUNA, Itsuki Akata, and Neko Mint; Go For It, Nakamura! manga by Syundei (probably the one I’m personally most excited about); Himouto! Umaru-chan manga by Sankaku Head; How Not to Summon a Demon Lord manga by Yukiya Murasaki and Naoto Fukuda; How to Treat Magical Beasts manga by Kajiya; Hungry For You: Endo Yasuko Stalks the Night manga by Flowerchild; If It’s for My Daughter, I’d Even Defeat a Demon Lord manga by CHIROLU and Hota; Little Devils manga by Uuumi; Mushroom Girls in Love, a one-volume manga by Kei Murayama; Precarious Woman Executive Miss Black General by Jin; Satan’s Secretary manga by Kamotsu Kamonabe; The Voynich Hotel manga by Seiman Doumanv. It’s an interesting mix!

Quick Takes

Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 2Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 2 by Ryoko Kui. I absolutely loved the first volume of Delicious in Dungeon and after reading the second volume my opinion of the series hasn’t changed–I still find it tremendously entertaining. The conceit of Delicious in Dungeon is fairly simple and straightforward. Basically, Kui has taken a dungeon-crawling adventure and turned it into a food manga. It’s a brilliant combination of subgenres with endless possibilities when it comes to the sheer variety monsters that could end up as a meal for the manga’s protagonists. While this alone could carry the series a fair distance (especially considering the immense creativity Kui exhibits in how fantasy creatures might be used to either directly or indirectly support an adventurer’s diet), Delicious in Dungeon also benefits from having a main cast that largely consists of a bunch of endearing goofballs. Kui has also started to expand on the actual worldbuilding of the series, too. While the manga still relies fairly heavily on the well-established tropes of fantasy role-playing games, small details are being introduced that make the setting of Delicious in Dungeon a little less generic. Of course, part of the series’ humor and charm is firmly based on Kui taking familiar fantasy elements and twisting them just a bit. It’s all great fun.

Sweetness & Lightning, Volume 6Sweetness & Lightning, Volumes 6-7 by Gido Amagakure. Although I love food manga, I never generally read a particular title thinking that I’ll actually make any of the recipes that might be contained within it. If I ever did, though, Sweetness & Lightning is probably the series that I would turn to. Since the main characters are in the process of learning to cook (and one of them is a preschooler about to start kindergarten), the dishes that they tackle typically tend to be within the reach of a beginner and aren’t usually overly-complicated. The fact that Sweetness & Lightning is a food manga is what initially brought the series to my attention, but at this point it’s really the characters which keep me coming back for more. I’m particularly impressed by the portrayal of the father-daughter relationship between Inuzuka and Tsumugi. Amagakure is also incredibly successful in depicting little kids in a convincing way. Sweetness & Lightning is in turns adorable and bittersweet, and these two volumes have some especially poignant and heartbreaking moments. Since Tsumugi is so young she still doesn’t entirely understand the death of her mother and Inuzuka still grieves the loss of his wife. But the sixth and seventh volumes also introduce more members of their extended family which was lovely.

What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 12What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 12 by Fumi Yoshinaga. The English-language edition of What Did You Eat Yesterday? has essentially caught up with the original Japanese release so the individual aren’t published as frequently as they once were, but I’m always very happy to get my hands on the latest installment in the series. The food in What Did You Eat Yesterday? is beautifully illustrated from start to finish. The individual ingredients, the techniques used, and the resulting dishes are wonderfully and realistically rendered. Visually, the people in What Did You Eat Yesterday? aren’t nearly as detailed as the food they are eating, but the believably complex and nuanced characterizations in the series is exceptional. The characters certainly have their personal flaws and Yoshinaga isn’t afraid to reveal them; rather than portraying some sort of romanticized ideal, Yoshinaga captures the messiness of real-life relationships in the series. It’s an approach that I particularly appreciate. What Did You Eat Yesterday? follows the day-to-day lives of two adult men who are in a committed, long-term relationship with each other which of course is something that I also greatly value. At times the food aspects of What Did You Eat Yesterday? seem tangential to everything else going on, but it’s still a great series.

Pick of the Week: Flower Girls

by , , , , and Leave a Comment

KATE: This week’s manga haul has something for everyone: new installments of digital-only releases like Tokyo Tarareba Girls, new volumes of perennial favorites like Nichijou and Master Keaton, and a handful of debuts like Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight and Sweet Blue Flowers. And while I’m intrigued by Sweet Blue Flowers, my vote goes to volume nine of A Bride’s Story, Kaoru Mori’s gorgeously illustrated chronicle of life on the Silk Road. What say the rest of the MB gang?

MICHELLE: Despite the handful of Seven Seas titles that I’m genuinely looking forward to, I really can only choose Sweet Blue Flowers. I’ve been looking forced to reading this series in English for years! (I even bought the Japanese volumes for a while!) Thanks, VIZ!

SEAN: It’s light novel week, so you know I want to say Baccano!. And there’s a bunch of other titles I want in this monster week. But as with Michelle, my choice goes to Sweet Blue Flowers finally getting the treatment it deserves. Can’t wait.

ASH: Like Kate, I’m certainly looking forward to the next installment of A Bride’s Story, and there are plenty of other manga being released this week that I’ll definitely be picking up (such as Descending Stories), but I’ll be joining Michelle and Sean in choosing Sweet Blue Flowers as my official pick. Shimura’s Wandering Son was an incredibly important series for me personally, so I am thrilled that more of her work is be released in print.

ANNA: There are quite a few great series coming out this this week! I’m going to have to go with the last volume of Master Keaton. Urasawa is always at the top of his game, and I’m going to miss all the insurance investigation shenanigans.

MJ: I find myself echoing what others have said so far regarding Takako Shimura’s Sweet Blue Flowers. A real release of this series has been a long time coming, and I’m thrilled to see it finally hitting the shelves. I can’t wait to read it.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 6

by

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.

First off, going back to my worries from the last review, I am delighted to see that Yurika’s character development from the previous book is not only kept but noticed by others. Yes, she is still sometimes the butt of the joke – this is a comedy, after all – but she’s far more content with her lot in life now, talking easily with Koutarou and realizing that using her abilities secretly so that no one knows about it may actually be the best thing she can do right now. The other cast members are also keeping their growth – Koutarou is noticeably less formal with Harumi here, and the cast is all starting to realize they’re in love with Koutarou without having it become their defining trait, always a worry in harem titles. Rokujouma may be light as air at times, but there’s more depth here than I was expecting.

Of course, sticking with the ‘heroine is the cover girl of the previous book’ rule, the main focus here is on Kiriha, the last of the ‘main girls’ in the room to be fleshed out, provided you’re not counting Harumi, who’s sort of the plus one in this situation. (I’m not sure if Shizuka is going to do anything but be the landlord who knows lots of martial arts – she certainly gets more do do in this book than usual, but her feelings for Koutarou are not brought up.) Kiriha has been the teasing older woman sort in the series, but naturally we discover that this is mostly a front to disguise her true motives, which are actually pretty pure and noble given she was supposed to be a vanguard for a race trying to invade the Earth’s surface. In reality, what she has in mind is more like immigration than anything else, and Koutarou is relieved to discover this.

She also has a childhood dream she wants to fulfill, as when she was a kid she ran away to the surface and met a young man who she immediately fell in love with. Now, I have been saying how much I enjoy Rokujouma here, but it does have a few downsides, and the biggest one is that it’s about as subtle as a brick to the head. Time travel has not really come up yet in the series, though given the amount of weird tech we’ve seen so far it would be no surprise. Also no surprise is the fact that the boy Kiriha fell for all those years ago is clearly ‘our’ Koutarou, who no doubt will find a way to slip back in time in some future book. Then again, I’m not sure that subtlety and mysteries are what the author is going for here. I think we’re meant to be winking along with the narrative.

Of all the ‘light, fluffy romance series with no real point’ I’ve been reading in light novel form, Rokujouma is probably my favorite. It’s always a relaxed, easy read, and some of its jokes made me laugh out loud this time (particularly Koutarou’s reaction to the five-team sentai squad when they first show up). If you don’t mind harems, it’s an excellent light novel starting point.

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 1

by

By Kyousuke Motomi. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Comic (“Betsucomi”). Released in North America by Viz. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

This is, of course, not so much Vol. 1 of a new series as a reboot of an old one, which is why I’ll continue to use the QQ Sweeper tag for it. Just looking at the covers might show a difference, though – the first QQ Sweeper volume had Kyutaro front and center, with Fumi getting less attention. But now the Q in the title has changed to refer to Fumi herself, and she is front and center. It’s also a more dramatic, serious cover, which is appropriate, as while there are still many lighthearted moments in the book, the overall mood is darker, particularly towards the end. The series examines the popular idea of negative emotions manifesting themselves and how to fight that. And, also a popular idea, the answer is to get in touch with the darkness in your soul without letting it overwhelm you.

While the essential plot is much the same – under the guise of cleaning around the school and residence, Fumi and Kyutaro seek out bug infestations, and work out where they may have come from. But Fumi’s true nature is revealed now, making her more self-conscious, but not nearly as badly as it affects Kyutaro, who has no idea how to act around her anymore, especially given their past together – a past he’s not allowed to talk to her about. Sometimes it’s best not to rip the band-aid off all at once. They even bring in an expert to test Fumi’s ability, though I wasn’t too fond of him – but that’s mostly because I just don’t like his type. That said, they do grow closer, especially in the shopping sequence, the most fun adn heartwarming part of the volume, where we discover Fumi’s dreadful fashion sense.

Things get dark fast, though, and the last chapter is showing us just how terrifying the Black Queen can be when she’s active. And active she has to be, as Fumi can’t learn how to control her dark side without knowing what it is and how it can take over. The scene of her gleefully torturing her teacher – who is, to be fair, a nasty piece of work – and ordering her to never close her eyes again for the rest of her life is chilling, reminding me a bit of Delirium at her worst in the Sandman comics. Fortunately, Kyutaro reminds us that he’s not just there to be a potential romantic lead, he’s also got the experience and determination to bring Fumi back from this, even if afterwards she’s terrified.

And so we get what will likely be the plot going forward: teaching Fumi to use her powers for niceness instead of evil, with the villains (who pop up here and are somewhat generic, though there’s a hint they’re not truly black-and-white evil) trying to corrupt her over to their side. Balancing this sort of serious drama with cute romance is what Motomi does best, of course, as readers of Dengeki Daisy will no doubt remember. I’m not quite sure why the series rebooted itself, but I am happy to see it back, and look forward to more volumes.

My Love Story!! Vol. 13

by

My Love Story!! Volume 13 by Kazune Kawahara and Aruko

I had postponed reading the final volume of this series because I didn’t want it to end, but my curiosity about the conclusion helped me deal with my final volume procrastination syndrome. The final story arc was set up previously, with impending separation between Takeo and Yamato. I’ve probably been watching too many k-dramas where a couple gets separated and then they meet again 3 years later, but one of the refreshing things about this manga is that it actually deals with the problems of long-distance relationships instead of just conveniently fading to black and glossing over the separation period.

One of the hallmarks of this series is that in addition to the interest created by having a hulking giant of a boy as the main character in a shoujo series, My Love Story!! is able to step through some conventions shoujo plot elements and make them seem fresh due to the way the manga is infused with so much enthusiasm and heart. When Yamato goes to Spain Takeo is determined to bring his grades up so they can eventually go to the same college. He throws himself into studying with Suna constantly at his side. The unique circumstances surrounding Takeo and Yamato’s provide an opportunity to visit again with characters from throughout the series, as it seems everywhere Takeo goes someone feels the need to encourage him in his epic romance.

There are some hilarious scenes as Takeo goes to Spain in order to visit Yamato, and while a manga series set in high school ending at the point when the characters are about to head off to college is extremely typical, My Love Story!!, as always, ends on a note of such infectious optimism that I put the book down with a smile. This is going to be one of those series I keep around and read whenever I need to cheer myself up.

Bookshelf Overload: August 2017

by

Over the last few months my manga buying habits have been slowly changing. In general I’m preordering less (which is rather unfortunate as that’s one of the best ways to support the manga industry), opting to wait to catch up on series until there’s a good sale of some sort. And so, in August I ended up finally picking up more of Akane Shimizu’s delightfully entertaining and educational Cells at Work! and Haruichi Furudate’s upbeat sports manga Haikyu!! among other things. As for older series that are new to me, I discovered that Izumi Tsubaki’s Oresama Teacher has a mix of humor and heart that I find irresistible. However, there were a few August releases that I was particularly looking forward to, like Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 2 by Ryoko Kui, Otherworld Barbara, Omnibus 2 by Moto Hagio, and the comic Fantasy Sports, Volume 3 by Sam Bosma. I also decided to give the anime Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace directed by Seiji Kishi a try, mostly because I came across a set for a great price and because I have an affinity for all things even tangentially related to Edogawa Rampo.

Manga!
Assassin’s Creed: Awakening, Volume 1 written by Takashi Yano, illustrated by Kenji Oiwa
Blame!, Omnibus 4 by Tsutomu Nihei
Cells at Work!, Volumes 2-3 by Akane Shimizu
The Crater by Osamu Tezuka
Delicious in Dungeon, Volume 2 by Ryoko Kui
Drifters, Volume 4 by Kohta Hirano
Fruits Basket, Omnibus 3 by Natsuki Takaya
Girls’ Last Tour, Volume 2 Tsukumizu
Goodnight Punpun, Volume 7 by Inio Asano
Haikyu!!, Volumes 13-15 by Haruichi Furudate
Iceland by Yuichi Yokoyama
I Am a Hero, Omnibus 4 by Kengo Hanazawa
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 3: Stardust Crusaders, Volume 4 by Hirohiko Araki
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time by Akira Himekawa
Love and Lies, Volume 1 by Musawo
Nirvana, Volume 1 by Jin and Sayuki
Melody of Iron and Other Short Stories by Osamu Tezuka
Murciélago, Volume 3 by Yoshimurakana
My Love Story!!, Volume 13 written by Kazune Kawahara, illustrated by Aruko
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi, Volumes 6 by Nanao
Oresama Teacher, Volumes 2-13 by Izumi Tsubaki
Otherworld Barbara, Omnibus 2 by Moto Hagio
Queen Emeraldas, Volume 2 by Leiji Matsumoto
Record of the Glass Castle by Osamu Tezuka
She and Her Cat written by Makoto Shinkai, illustrated by Tsubasa Yamaguchi
Sweetness and Lightning, Volumes 6-7 by Gido Amagakure
Survival in the Office, Volume 1 by Risu Akizuki
Under the Air by Osamu Tezuka
What Did You Eat Yesterday?, Volume 12 by Fumi Yoshinaga
Wolfsmund, Volume 8 by Mitsuhisa Kuji
Yona of the Dawn, Volume 7 by Mizuho Kusanagi
Yowamushi Pedal, Omnibus 6 by Wataru Watanabe

Comics!
Always Raining Here, Volume 2 by Hazel and Bell
By Chance or Providence by Becky Cloonan, colors by Lee Loughridge
Dates, Volume 2 edited by Zora Gilbert and Cat Parra
Fantasy Sports, Volume 3: The Green King by Sam Bosma
Fallen, Volumes 1-2 by Burukku Ogawa
How to Be Alive by Tara Booth
Mirror Mirror, Volume 2 edited by Julia Gfrörer and Sean T. Collins
Monster Pop!, Volumes 1-2 by Maya Kern
Moonshot, Volumes 1-2 edited by Hope Nicholson
Short Gay Stories by Hanna-Pirita Lehkonen
Sound of Snow Falling by Maggie Umber
Starfighter, Chapter 4 by HamletMachine
Titty-Time, Volume 2 by Amanda Lafrenais

Novels!
The Book of the Dead by Shinobu Origuchi

Anime!
JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Phantom Blood & Battle Tendency directed by Naokatsu Tsuda and Ken’ichi Suzuki
Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace directed by Seiji Kishi

Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, Vol. 2

by

By Ishio Yamagata and Miyagi. Released in Japan by Shueisha. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

(Despite the fact that this isn’t a whodunnit beyond page 1, I won’t reveal the culprit’s name in the first paragraph of the review. After that, though, I will. FYI.)

The first volume of this series was strongly concerned with the ‘whodunnit’, and did a decent job, but also left us with a cliffhanger that made me worry we’d have to go through the whole thing again. Sensibly, the second book dispenses with the ‘who is the traitor’ question right off the bat, for the most part (there are still hints there’s yet ANOTHER traitor, but I’ll leave that for now) and tells us on the very first page. And then we get a flashback as to how we got to that situation, though there’s no record scratch noise, nor does the guilty party look towards the camera. So instead of whodunnit, or why did they do it, we have a sort of ‘how are they gonna get out of it?’ situation, as a very nice person has been personally put through the wringer the past three years and may have to commit the worst act to save those they hold dear.

Mora was presented to us in the first book as an overly serious woman, perhaps a bit stubborn, but determined to fill her role as a Brave and defeat the Evil God. And to be fair, she really IS a Brave, rather than a fake. That said, she’s being blackmailed, and being (I think) the oldest of the Braves, she has to deal with a very old and familiar form of blackmail. Do what the villain says or your daughter will die horribly. The strongest part of the book is taking us into her head and her tortured motivations for doing exactly what she has to do to save her family and yet also try not to take a life. Tellingly, the book still keeps some information secret from us, but it’s obvious why, and I don’t blame it a bit, as suspense novels need, well, suspense.

As for the rest of the book, there is still a ‘who is it?’ aspect to the book, and lots of debate about same, but as with the first book, the debates are interspersed with enough action so as not to be tedious. Also, unlike the first book, we get a great number of scenes of our heroes fighting demons… though they don’t do as well as they could, given that they still suspect each other of being a traitor. Adlet remains the ‘hero’ type character, but is a bit more likeable here, possibly as he refers to himself as the Strongest Man in the World slightly less. I did have one egregious moment of “OK, I call no way” involving searching for a ludicrously tiny thing across the ruins of a battlefield, but every book leads at least one time when the disbelief suspension bridge breaks and you plummet to your death.

The main reason I’m still interested in reading this is that it’s not very much like a lot of the other light novels we’re getting these days. Yes, it’s a fantasy with fiends, magic, etc. but style-wise we’re a long way removed from ‘I am in another world and dungeon crawling’. That said, I do wonder how many volumes it will drag out “one of us is a traitor”. But overall, well worth your time, and if you missed the insane bunny girl, there’s a cliffhanger here with your name on it.

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 1

by

By Rin Mikimoto. Released in Japan as “Gozen 0-ji, Kiss Shi ni Kite yo” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Friend. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Melissa Goldberg.

It’s a cliche, but it’s true: the best type of success is meant to look effortless. We always admire those who manage to achieve things with nothing more than a hair flip and a cool smile. But unfortunately, the reverse is also true. We look at those who strive, who struggle to achieve by any means necessary, and we think: they’re trying too hard. So not cool. You can see the sweat. And this is sometimes a shame, because those folks are trying just as hard as everyone else. but there you have it. And I got that feeling as I read this new shoujo manga. I finished the first volume, and my thought were “that was pretty good, but it’s trying too hard so it doesn’t quite come off”. It looks a bit too calculated, and the calculation’s off. That said, it’s still quite good, just not reaching the next level.

First off, a word of warning: this book does feature a blonde girl paired up with a blond guy. This is actually so unusual in shoujo manga that it attracted my attention: usually one of the couple will have darker hair for the ‘contrasting’ look. Hinana is our heroine, a high schooler with a reputation as a perfect and gorgeous student. Of course, this is just a reputation – in reality she’s as boy crazy as everyone else, she just hides it better. But fate smiles on her when an up-and-coming actor and ex-idol appears at her school during break to shoot scenes for a movie, and she’s chosen as an extra! He’s hot! He’s next to her! He’s… looking at girls’ butts? Yes, Kaede is also not quite what he seems, and his list of what he desires in a woman finds ‘DAT ASS’ in the first position. Can these two people who both project a false exterior find love with each other?

There are some very amusing things in this manga, which I enjoyed quite a bit. The running gag of how Hinana wakes up every morning made me chuckle, and the faces she makes are eccentric enough to get a montage on the back cover. Kaede’s ludicrous butt fetish is also funny, even more so when we see Hinana’s reaction to the “butt alien from the planet Butt”, as she goes on to describe him. The issue, I think, is that the humor doesn’t really go far enough. When it plays things for drama, such as when Hinana is falsely accused of putting a picture of Kaede’s shoes online it tends to fall into the “this is like every other dramatic shoujo” box. Hinana herself is also not as eccentric as you’d expect given the introduction showing how she’s not really the perfect princess – it reads more like “I’m secretly just like you, reader, so please identify with me”. And sometimes the punchlines are too telegraphed – the identity of Scarlet was pretty obvious to me.

Despite my misgivings, this was a decent beginning, and there are a few plot points that will hopefully bear fruit when they’re developed. I just hope that future volumes manage to have a bit less drama and a bit more weirdness. Also, what on earth does the title have to do with anything in the manga?

Manga the Week of 9/20/17

by , , and 1 Comment

SEAN: They did it again, so let’s talk Kodansha Comics. I love their digital line, even if I can’t keep up with it. I love it, but the short turnaround time on solicits/announcements means that I can never get it into Manga the Week of on time. And Amazon is also frequently very late with solicits (or absent with them), so sometimes I miss even more. So let’s start with what’s already out digitally.

Magical Sempai (Tejina Sempai) is a gag manga about a magician’s club that runs in Young Magazine.

And Grand Blue Dreaming is a title from good! Afternoon which combines the writer of Bakas, Tests and Summoned Beasts with the artist of the Amagi Brilliant Park manga. It’s about scuba diving (and romance, and ecchi situations – come on, look at the creators).

Now onto next week’s titles. J-Novel Club has the 5th volume of I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, which is not as good as it once was, but let’s see if more girls can solve that.

As the Gods Will 2nd Series is another one of those titles that have been sneakily getting digital all along but which Amazon only recently started listing. Vol. 20 is out next week. And no, the first series was not licensed.

Descending Stories gets a 3rd volume, and will no doubt have a great story to relate.

ASH: I’m still so glad this series is being translated!

SEAN: Hotaru’s Way gets a 3rd digital volume, House of the Sun gets a 7th, and Kasane gets a 5th. (Sorry, have to streamline, too much stuff this week).

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight (Gozen 0-ji, Kiss Shi ni Kite yo) is a shoujo debut for Kodansha, from the Betsufure magazine. It is a “comedy romance”, and the creator also does Love’s Reach, which Kodansha is putting out digitally.

MICHELLE: I was kind of looking forward to this one ’til you mentioned Love Reach, which I didn’t enjoy too much. Oh well. I’ll give it a shot, at least.

ANNA: Huh, I’m usually good for at least the first volume of a new shoujo series.

SEAN: More digital. Peach Heaven 6 and Tokyo Tarareba Girls 7. Enjoy getting further behind!

MICHELLE: At least Tarareba has gotten less depressing!

ANNA: ARRGH, still need to read the first two volumes!

SEAN: And some print, with the 22nd Seven Deadly Sins, as well as the 7th Welcome to the Ballroom. Two titles unlikely to get a gimmicky crossover with each other anytime soon.

ASH: That’s probably true.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a quartet of titles, mostly for their female readers (yes, Seven Seas has female readers). There’s a 3rd Bloom into You for yuri drama, a 3rd Dreamin’ Sun for cishet drama, a 2nd High School Life of a Fudanshi for not-really-BL comedy, and a 2nd Plum Crazy for KITTY! fans.

MICHELLE: I’ll be picking up three of the four!

ASH: That’s pretty good odds! I still need to give Plum Crazy a try. I like High School Life of a Fudanshi more in concept than execution but largely enjoyed the beginnings of both Bloom into You and Dreamin’ Sun.

SEAN: We have reached the final volume of Nichijou with Vol. 10, surely one of the more bizarre comedies to get licensed over here. But fear not, its spinoff, Helvetica Standard, is coming soon, also from Vertical Comics!

The second volume of Golden Kamuy is out from Viz, and I understand it’s slowly transitioning to a cooking manga.

ASH: I think at heart it was always a cooking manga. (And of course I’ll be picking it up.)

ANNA: Really??

SEAN: Goodnight Punpun has its 7th and final volume out next week. A gripping and well-told narrative that I found myself absolutely unable to read, but that doesn’t negate its power.

ASH: Once I’m feeling brave enough, I’ll read the sixth and seventh volume together. It’s a tremendous series, but not at all an easy read.

SEAN: Master Keaton also reaches an end with its 12th volume. Will we ever get more insurance investigator manga?

MICHELLE: Someday, I really will read this.

ASH: And someday I will finally finish reading it!

ANNA: It is so good!

SEAN: Sweet Blue Flowers had a sort of aborted digital release from DMP a while back, but this omnibus edition from Viz is the real deal, and in print. It’s a great story and I can’t wait to read it.

MICHELLE: Yay!!!

ASH: One of my most anticipated releases this year!

SEAN: Yen On has a series of light novels, several of which I have dropped from my reading list. So fans of things that are really dark/evil will have to enjoy Black Bullet 7 and Overlord 5 without me, and fans of isekai-by-numbers will need to read Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody’s 3rd volume.

As for series I am still reading, Accel World’s 11th volume will kick off a new arc. Baccano! surprises readers by jumping forward about 70 years (don’t worry, it’ll be back to the 1930s soon enough). Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? has a 9th volume that sees if Bell Cranel really can do something to piss off the entire cast.

There’s also the 3rd My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected, which refreshingly was not delayed. And a 7th Strike the Blood, which remains generic but highly readable.

As for Yen proper, let’s start with adaptations of light novels. We have a 5th Asterisk War, a 10th Devil Is a Part-Timer!, a 6th OreGairu (which is shorthand to avoid having to type out My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Epxected again), a 2nd of the No Game No Life Please! spinoff, an 8th Strike the Blood, and Vol. 3s of SAO titles Mother’s Rosary and Phantom Bullet.

There are non light novel adaptations as well, believe it or not. Alice in Murderland gives us a 7th volume of Kaori Yuki at her Kaori Yuki-est.

Barakamon has a 14th volume, and if you want to read the prequel, now’s your last chance, as we also have the 7th and final Handa-kun out in print.

MICHELLE: I watched some of the Barakamon anime recently, which convinced me I will love the manga when I finally get around to reading it.

ASH: I think you’ll like it!

SEAN: Big Order’s 3rd omnibus brings us closer to world domination, maybe?

A Bride’s Story may come out once a year here and in Japan, but it’s always welcome, and I will definitely want to read its 9th volume, even if I still find its main female lead a bit dull.

ASH: I really love this series. Mori’s artwork is stunningly beautiful in it.

ANNA: The art really is such a standout on this title.

SEAN: In titles I have nothing to say about, there’s a 4th Bungo Stray Dogs, an 8th Dragons Rioting, the 2nd Kakegurui – Compulsive Gambler (now in print), a 4th Kiniro Mosaic, a 3rd Royal Tutor (now in print), the 8th School-Live!, and a 5th Today’s Cerberus (now in print).

ASH: I need to catch up on Bungo Stray Dogs for the sake of all its J-Lit references if nothing else.

SEAN: Madoka Magica continues to push out spinoffs, with the 3rd Homura Tamura and the 4th Tart Magica.

Lastly, Rose Guns Days begins its 3rd Season, which presumably will feature a new main character to interact with Rose and her brothel of eccentrics.

Sorry for the compressing, but come on, look at all those titles. I have to save space. What’re you getting next week?

Infinite Dendrogram: The Beasts of Undeath

by

By Sakon Kaidou and Taiki. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

Much as people criticize the warnings on the back of manga noting when there is sex, nudity or violence, sometimes I do think it’s worth telling people in advance, particularly if it’s something that would upset a fairly significant chunk of the audience. So let’s get that out of the way first. This second volume of Infinite Dendrogram contains multiple grotesque and graphic murders of children – in fact, for the first half or so, child kidnapping and murder is the plot. It reaches his zenith when Ray and Nemesis come across skeletons and zombies with the remaining souls of the murdered children inside, and have to destroy them all to move on. This ties in with the main theme of the book, which I’ll get to in a bit, but boy howdy could I have used a warning. So, warning: LOTS OF MURDERED CHILDREN.

That said, of course, they’re not ‘real’ children, but ones designed by the game developers. I spoke before about the fact that Dendrogram is about the only light novel around that has a normal hero playing a game without getting caught in it, or the game being the actual fantasy world, or any one of a thousand other light novel game tropes. Ray still has to log out and eat/sleep, though that’s given somewhat short shrift here. And this means that we the reader view this as a game a bit more than we do in, say, Sword Art Online. Ray’s death means that the quest may not be completed, and some NPCs may suffer, but it doesn’t mean his actual death. As a result, Ray and his new friend Hugo find that no one has actually tried to stop the child murder scheme because it would be a pain in the ass to fix and likely not worth the cost. That said, Ray (and Hugo, it turns out) are of a different stripe. The “maiden” support they have, in the form of Nemesis and Hugo’s companion, means they are “too caught up” in the story. They’re the sort who would rescue the doomed children in a game, even for little reward and high difficulty, because it’s morally heinous.

Ray is helped along here by his brother, whose actions we helpfully see in a flashback. Ray’s brother hasn’t done much in the series besides introduce him to the game and make bear puns, but we see that he is definitely “the protagonist of another story”, as he gets a grievous injury right before a martial arts match, then goes on to win it anyway through the sheer power of GUTS! I take that back, he’s not the hero of another story, he’s the cool mentor who gets killed off midway through – ominous sign. But it does also signpost why Ray acts the way he does, and why he comes to the conclusion that it’s OK to treat the NPCs as real people. Admittedly, his main concerns may need to be the other players – the final scene in the book reminds us that there are various sections of the map all poised to wipe out Ray’s section, in a very ‘Horde vs’ Alliance’ sort of way.

Dendrogram is well-written, with a likeable hero, and I’ve even gotten over the underage pimp and his PG-rated pimp squad. It’s worth a read, but I have to admit the main thing I took away from it was “wow, that was some graphic child murder description I did not need”.