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By Akiko Higashimura. Released in Japan in two separate volumes as “Kuragehime” by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Kiss. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

This is another one of those titles where I haven’t seen the anime that was based on it, but sheer word of mouth has made me incredibly excited for its release. First of all, it’s very rare to see Kodansha Comics taking a chance n josei over here at all – lately they’ve been licensing some Dessert, but that’s still shoujo for older teens. Kiss is for young women, and it shows – this title features adults, even if much of the cast are jobless and living off their parents. Its humor and energy are absolutely worth a read, though I found more flaws in it than I was expecting.

Our heroine is, as you may have guessed, the girl in the braids in the foreground, not the pink-haired pretty thing behind her. Tsukimi is a shy introvert with an obsession for jellyfish, who has to force herself to go outside her apartment – an apartment she shares with similar-minded women, all of whom are obsessed with something (kimonos, trains, older men, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms). Then one day, while trying to work up the nerve to tell a fish store employee that the ways he’s put the jellyfish into the tank will kill one of them, she runs into Kuranosuke, who she assumes is a gorgeous, extroverted young woman who helps her out and ends up back at her apartment. Then it turns out that Kuranosuke is a man.

The main reason to read this title, and it’s absolutely worth it, is the humor. Tsukimi may be a massive introvert, but her reactions are nicely over the top and horrified much of the time, especially trying to deal with this new free spirit in her life. Of the rest of the female cast, Mayaya is the one that stands out the most, something she brings on herself with all of her posing and dramatic declarations. Kuranosuke’s own frustrations at his family, his new friends, and his growing realization that he actually likes Tsukihi is also highly amusing. The art is also excellent, helping to show off the humor and being distinct but not overly busy.

That said, I do have a few issues. This is a little progressive, but not overly so – Kuranosuke emphasizes he’s not gay a couple of times, and there’s some slangy ‘homo’ refs sprinkled throughout, which the endnotes helpfully tell us isn’t as caustic as it sounds here, but is still very defensive. The main villain of the piece, meanwhile, is almost a cliche, and it doesn’t help that she uses sex as a weapon to get what she wants – this is likely meant to contrast with the ‘pure’ Tsukimi, and I was happy to see one or two times when she didn’t act like a cartoon character, but it was only once or twice. Lastly, Kuranosuke’s attempts to drag these women out of their shells and have them ‘don armor’ to deal with the real world is both inspiring and frustrating – I sense he’s of the school that feels that introverts just aren’t trying hard enough to be extroverted.

All that said, this is still a definite title for your collection. Tsukimi is sweet and a bit over the top, and I look forward to seeing her Cinderella-type story, while hoping that she still retains the parts of her that are why we fell for her in the first place. Want to see more of this.

By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On.

One of Accel World’s strongest points is its ability to built on plot and themes from prior books without overwhelming the reader too much. The last book showed us that the Disaster Armor had not entirely left Silver Crow, and much of this volume is about the fallout from that. We worry about what such a thing would do to the game itself, and then later on find that crude copies of it may be racing out of control via other people, making the question moot. Or it would be moot if this wasn’t in may ways a desire for the others to punish Kuroyukihime through Haruyuki, as by now everyone can see their bond. We’re also asked to see one of the core tents of her past in a different light, as it’s hinted that there’s more to her killing off the Red King than just wanting to get to Level 10.

As for Haruyuki’s self-loathing, it’s gotten slightly better. We get a minimum of school here, and I was a bit faked out when we were introduced to two fellow classmates who I thought Haru would either bond with or get bullied by, but who ended up being mostly irrelevant, another way of showing that Haruyuki is not like the normal “cool” kids, who skive off their club work the first time we see them. Of course, this determination to get better and discover new things is what makes him such a success in the game world, as is pointed out by Chiyuri. One reason that Kuroyukihime, Fuko, and even Ash Roller like him to much is that he’s always seeking ways to get better, ways to play the game that are more than just “get strong and then stop”.

We also get a new character, the titular shrine maiden of the title. She’s around 9 years old, and half of the somewhat tossed off fanservice in the volume is dedicated to accidentally getting her wet with a garden hose (the other half being Kuroyukihime changing in front of Haru – and the cover, if we’re going to be honest). For once, though, it looks like the lolicon is not meant to be the primary driving force. Utai is interesting, from her game persona’s Sailor Mars-style powers, to the Incarnate she unleashed somehow being related to Noh Theater, or simply because she can’t speak – something prevents her from getting the words out, so she types all her dialogue in ways that would be very difficult if people in this universe didn’t already have neurolinkers. And, of course, by definition of the fact that she’s playing Brain burst, her home life is somewhat broken, though we get few details.

And, of course, there’s still the best reason to read Accel World: Kawahara writes excellent battle scenes. They’re understandable, easily visualized, and emotionally raw. They may also make you scream at the ending, as yes, this is a cliffhanger that will hopefully get resolved in the next book. It’s not as popular as Sword Art Online, but Kawahara’s other series quietly goes about telling its story well, and if you can get past Haru’s beating himself up narrations, well worth your time.

By Ryohgo Narita and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On.

Anyone who reads any of Narita’s two main series, Baccano! and Durarara!!, knows how much he likes his gangs and gangsters. Be it yakuza, mafia, camorra, or just kids wearing colors and yelling about territory, it’s a huge theme in his books. And with the teenage gangs he does a very good job showing off how much the desire for control and power is motivated by simple fear, and how easy it can be to let situations spiral out of control. We learned at the end of the last volume about who Masaomi Kida really is, but this third volume shows us that, of the three teens who have been our protagonists so far, he may be the weakest… which of course makes his comeback and true strength just that much more satisfying.

I think Narita’s habit of creating a bunch of divergent situations and then arranging them so that they all crash into each other at the end is something that might work better in a novel than in an anime – a lot of people have complained about the episodes of DRRR!! where nothing happens, but of course it’s all just required setup. the book doesn’t really have this problem, and so you enjoy seeing more and more information get revealed as time goes on. Both to the reader AND to the characters – the reader has been aware of the true identities of Mikado, Anri and Masaomi for some time, but it’s not till the climactic battle that each of them sees the truth.

We also meet Saki, Masaomi’s not-quite-girlfriend and the target of much hatred among the fan pairing community, mostly for existing. I like her, while acknowledging that we aren’t supposed to at first. She’s almost Izaya’s thrall, and as with everything Izaya touches, we’re automatically leery of her. Her constant smile is also not helping. It’s only towards the end of the book that we see the other side of her, the one that genuinely did fall in love with Masaomi, and see her crying and showing emotions. Honestly, it’s easier to blame Izaya here, who loves emotionally manipulating people just to see what happens and because it amuses him. He remains the most punchable person in the entire cast, and given this cast also has Namie, Seiji and Mika that’s saying something. Except wait, there’s someone more punchable.

Yes, this is the volume where we meet Shingen, Shinra’s even-more-eccentric-than-the-son father, who immediately establishes himself as an impulsive freak designed to give Celty migraines (except, of course, she does not have a head, but I suspect Shingen gives them to her anyway). As with Shinra, it’s never really clear when he’s decided to turn serious or not – or how much of his goofing was done to deliberately throw Celty off her game. In any case, a word to the wise, he can be teeth-grindingly annoying, and I know a few people who skip past him in the anime.

This is the longest book in the series to date, and the extra words work well. We get someone of the other minor characters fleshed out a bit, such as Kadota, Erika and Walker. The translation is smooth, only faltering a bit when it has to deal with the Japanese prose habit of never identifying who is speaking, so you have to make more contextual judgments than is strictly necessary. And the art is finally starting to mature a bit and be less flat-faced, with a bold, striking cover. If you enjoy DRRR!!, and can put up with Shingen, then this is definitely an excellent purchase.