The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 5 | By Kore Yamazaki | Seven Seas – Chise is an all-loving heroine sort of girl, and when she sees someone she naturally wants to help them. Which is fine, and leads to some nice heartwarming scenes here, but it also does a number on her body, as she simply can’t use all that magic and not pay for it in some way. This leads to much of this volume taking place in Fairy Land (and a return to winter later), where we meet a doctor with a harsh but effective bedside manner, and Elias is once again mocked by everyone who seems to see him as being too selfish. Again, it’s not clear how bride-like this series will ever get, but I’m content with detailed descriptions of magic plants and rituals and gorgeous art in the meantime. – Sean Gaffney
Barakamon, Vol. 11 | By Satsuki Yoshino | Yen Press – It’s hard to follow a volume as good as the last one, and much of this new Barakamon is spent wrapping that story up and starting a new one. No one really expected Handa to get married, and he doesn’t, but it is interesting seeing the idea of an arranged marriage for him being tossed about among all the other characters who’ve grown close to him. Once his parents have departed (and I think his father understands him better now, if not the reverse), we see the return of old rival Higashino, who Handa still doesn’t remember but who seems dedicated to theoretically ruining his life, although as always most of that is merely in Handa’s head. Will he be able to grow the best vegetable garden ever? Results are unclear. – Sean Gaffney
He’s My Only Vampire, Vol. 7 | By Aya Shouoto | Yen Press – Ever since the very first chapter, we’ve known that Eriya was going to show up eventually. And sure enough, he’s now here, conveniently at a time when Aki is still dealing with amnesia. Kana isn’t sure what to make of this—she’s having enough trouble dealing with the fact that Aki’s love for her is now history, though he seems to be backsliding a bit there. That said, Eriya seems to be evil, or at least rather selfish, using a chance at a “normal school life” to try to win Kana over for himself, with the use of liberal hypnosis to make the school OK with this. Kana is, by the nature of the series, a somewhat passive heroine, but I really hope she’s able to do something about this next time. – Sean Gaffney
He’s My Only Vampire, Vol. 7 | By Aya Shouoto | Yen Press – There are two distinct halves to this volume, and they don’t fit together terribly well. We begin with Aki having forgotten his feelings for Kana, due to trading the “lust” stigma in exchange for her release from her Tsubakiin captors. Eve the succubus and her dealer try to take advantage of Aki’s personality shift to cause the final stigma, “envy,” to manifest—mostly by making him kill deranged humans but also through a random beauty contest—and it also seemed like the story would be developing its love triangle by bringing Kana and Jin closer together, but then both of those threads are abandoned in favor of Eriya’s return, which might have been surprising if it hadn’t been foreshadowed so heavily. I’m afraid that as this series approaches the end, it’s going to get as convoluted as Shouoto’s Kiss of the Rose Princess did. That would be a shame. – Michelle Smith
The Honor Student at Magic High School, Vol. 3 | By Tsutomu Sato and Yu Mori | Yen Press – If ever there was a spinoff that felt like a spinoff, it’s this series, which never lets me forget throughout its entire reading that more important things are happening to the actual hero elsewhere while this is going on. The three ‘detectives’ are amusing, and they do achieve something, but compared to Tatsuya and Miyuki they’re mostly there as victims. Miyuki, of course, is not going to be your garden variety victim, and the best parts of this book show off how much of the “darkness” within herself she wants to hide from her brother so that they can live happy, normal high school lives. I suspect, as with the previous two volumes, this will read better after I’ve read the second irregular novel. – Sean Gaffney
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi, Vol. 3 | By nanao and HaccaWorks* | Yen Press – I’m guessing the author heard me when I said in my last review I’d drop the series if the cute little sister got erased. She not only doesn’t, but gets actual things to do, as she is able to tell that her brother is in trouble and get help for him! (Of course, this implies that she too knows more than she’s saying, and may have dark secrets of her own, but I’ll deal with that when I come to it.) As for said big brother, he is indeed in peril from one of the most dreaded monsters of all, the bratty girl sort, who is desperate to eat his soul but also toys with her food far too much, so she’s not going to be long for this world. I still have no idea where this is going, but it’s fun. – Sean Gaffney
Of the Red, the Light, and the Ayakashi, Vol. 3 | By HaccaWorks* and nanao | Yen Press – I compared the first volume of this series to Natsume’s Book of Friends, but now it has evolved to the point where there’s hardly anything similar about them. Of the Red… has a more defined plot—a delightfully creepy one that heightens the ethical dilemma for our hero—as well as multiple action scenes, as one of Yue’s new friends, Tsubaki, is revealed to be an extremely desirable and tasty target for the local ayakashi population. (Also, his sister seems to be protecting him somehow, and his dad recognized Yue as someone called “Yoshiki.”) The mysteries continue to unfold but the answers do, too, which I really appreciate. I continue to really enjoy this series and look forward to volume four! – Michelle Smith
