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By Izumi Tsubaki. Released in Japan as “Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun” by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Gangan Online. Released in North America by Yen Press.

There are certain benefits to doing a series that is entirely devoted to gags. The expectations that you have as an artist are significantly different from, say, a shoujo title like the one Nozaki himself draws. What’s most important is the punchline. As a result, though, you can be free to use other standard manga tropes without worrying too much about what the fan or editorial reaction will be. Thus Nozaki-kun has any number of ‘pairings’ within its pages, which are used and abused for gag purposes and don’t need pesky things like development or depth. That’s for fans to write in their fanworks (and believe me, they do.)

Sakura’s crush on Nozaki is an excellent example of this. Its intensity never wavers, but the focus on it can change. In the first chapter of the volume, when Nozaki takes her out to examine clothing he can work into his series, and asks her bluntly to wear a sailor uniform so he can see how it looks on her, you wonder what she sees in this somewhat dense lunk. But then we get scenes such as the art class, where all the girls draw Mikoshiba in ridiculous fantasy poses they want their boyfriend to be in but Sakura has him posing as Nozaki drawing. Or when Miyako draws Nozaki in a giant tanuki costume in a vain effort to stop her insane editor’s demands, and Sakura is entranced by it, that you realize that no, she is not the sensible one here either.

If there is a sensible one in this manga, it may just be Hori, who also gets a chapter devoted to his bizarre relationship with his drama underclassman Kashima. Even though Nozaki is not particularly keeping his manga a secret, it has become one for most of the characters working on it. As a result, when Kashima catches Hori walking around with Nozaki’s manga, she thinks it’s because he really likes shoujo manga. This, bizarrely, leads to several pages with Kashima as the tsukkomi – as I said before, any of the main characters can be the setup or punchline depending on the joke. There’s also slightly less violence here, as we focus instead on Kashima’s adoration or her sempai contrasted with Hori’s complete inability to deal with her ‘prince’ antics.

And then there’s Wakamatsu and Seo, as the last of our main cast is introduced in this volume. While I love all the main ‘ships’ in Nozaki-kun, I will admit this one is my particular favorite, and it also revolves around secrets. Wakamatsu is a first-year basketball player who gets abused on the court by Seo, still being brought in to show the teams what not to do. Off the court, he’s become entranced by the singing of the school “Lorelei”, which helps him when he has trouble sleeping. The gag is twofold; 1) he doesn’t realize that Seo *is* Lorelei, and 2) he has no idea how to communicate his frustration to her, so resorts – as Kashima does – to reading shoujo manga for advice, which results in the funniest scene of the entire book, his rooftop “confession”, complete with oven mitts.

So misunderstandings galore are the fuel for this comedy. Nozaki doesn’t know Sakura loves him, Wakamatsu doesn’t know that Seo is his rival AND crush, and Kashima and Hori simply have no idea how the other one thinks at all. It works well, and I continue to giggle aloud as I read the series. Always a treat.

Also, there are still tanukis.

QQ Sweeper Volume 2 by Kyousuke Motomi

This was easily one of my most anticipated second volumes, because Motomi’s Dengeki Daisy is an all time favorite manga of mine, and found the first volume of this series both delightful and intriguing. I was interested to see how the story would develop further, now that the premise had been set up in the first volume.

One of the things I enjoyed greatly about Dengeki Daisy was the theme of emotionally scarred people gathering together and healing each other, and I was happy to see that carried through to this series but executed with new characters and new situations. While there’s a bit of a monster of the week aspect to the plot as Fumi and Kyutaro join together to spiritually cleanse a student who has been stricken by bad feelings, the core of the manga focuses on the (not yet a) couple learning to trust each other. This volume delves a bit more into Kyutaro’s past and the brief respite he experienced during a stressful time by making a new friend who might have been Fumi, pre-amnesia. At the same time, Fumi’s memory loss and recent history with people she’s befriended turning on her and claiming that she’s cursed is making it difficult for her to settle in to her new role.

There are still mysteries to unravel for the young protagonists, and there’s a hint of a sinister paranormal plot against them that I’m sure will be explored more in future volumes. Motomi’s quirky touches like the revelation of the identity of Kyutaro’s guardian owl and the illustrations of young teens heading into high-stakes supernatural battles armed only with cleaning supplies make this series fun to read. I’m very glad that QQ Sweeper was picked up so soon after Dengeki Daisy ended, so I didn’t have to feel too deprived!

By Hirohiko Araki. Released in Japan as “Jojo no Kimyou na Bouken” by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz Media.

Because everything is so ridiculous all the time, it can sometimes be hard to remember how influential JoJo really was on the Weekly Shonen Jump era. Yes, JoJo has its predecessors as well – we’ve seen sink-or-swim training since the dawn of time – but most of the story and fight beats here are something you’d see in your average One Piece or Bleach. Indeed, I have to wonder if Aizen decided to carry out his evil plan after reading “It as me, Dio!” a few too many times. That said, One Piece and Bleach may go over the top a lot but they still can’t touch JoJo, where every single page is a dramatically shouted moment, and even the evil Nazis have retirony moments.

Joseph also needs his Speedwagon-esque sidekick, of course (made somewhat odd by Speedwagon actually being there at the start), and for that we have Caesar Zeppeli, who starts off as a typical Italian lothario who does not like Joseph at all, but they quickly bond when they have to battle the ancient villains who are trying to regain power or somesuch. There is a plot going on throughout the book, but it comes secondary at all times to the ridiculous poses, dialogue, and characters. Speaking of which, I was quite happy to see that Joseph and Caesar’s training mentor is female – Lisa Lisa, a young woman who does not let herself get lost in emotion (see what I did there?) when it comes to honing the pair’s hamon skills. I hope she survives, as she’s very cool.

There are still some moments of drama and horror – we’re near the start of World War II, so there’s a lot of Nazis running around, and they get the majority of the corpses in this volume. Mark, JoJo and Caesar’s young driver, is quickly marked for death the moment he shows us a locket with his girlfriend in it, and saying he’s about to propose is just icing on the cake. And a whole bunch of Nazis get their life energy drained out of them in a rather unsettling sequence. I would argue that the Nazi villains are perhaps not being treated as seriously as they should be, but that would imply that JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure should treat something seriously, and I can’t really get behind that.

The majority of the last half is taken up by JoJo battling one of the major villains, Esidisi (yeah, it went there. We also got Loggins and Messina in this volume as well), which shows off JoJo’s quick thinking and rashness. The best moment of the whole volume may be when JoJo’s trademark “you’re about to say this” schtick is used against him, a fact that I think wounds him more than any physical pain. In any case, this is just as overblown, manly and ridiculous as ever, and if you like Jump Manga you should enjoy it immensely.

By Bisco Hatori. Released in Japan as “Urakata!!” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine LaLa. Released in North America by Viz.

It can be hard to find a balance between trying new things and doing what you know you do best. This is particularly true for manga authors, as they have a popular style or way of writing, and fans who get their new series expect more of the same, only different. As do editors. And Bisco Hatori has earned her reputation from the insanely popular series Ouran High School Host Club, which ran for almost 10 years. As a result, it’s not really a surprise that her new series, Behind the Scenes!!, also features a school club filled with eccentrics where the new character is dragged around and slowly learns what the people are really like.

The main difference is in the main character. Hatori no doubt wanted a contrast from the blunt, deadpan Haruhi of Ouran, who could get frustrated at the antics of those around her but was, for the most part, rather quiet and matter of fact. Ranmaru, on the other hand, is a new student from a fishing family who is trying to be shy and retiring, mostly due to his past school life where he ended up, for one reason or another, being the scapegoat. It’s left him with a low opinion of himself, which informs his character during the entire first volume. That said, when the chips are down he proves to be a wonderful improviser, something that the club he’s accidentally gotten involved with notes right away.

The club, on the other hand, is filled with extroverted eccentrics. They provide costumes, props and special effects for the college’s four varied film clubs, and the clubs are of course all egotistical impresarios, so they’re always changing things at the last minute. It is, unfortunately, the sort of club where the reader will need several volumes to get them all straight, with the exception of Ryuji, who is the manipulative but with a good heart sort who bullies Ranmaru into joining the club for his own good. There’s a nice balance shown between the various functions of the club and the need for last minute changes – as well as the pettiness of your typical director with a vision.

The drawback, of course, is that this all feels a bit more-of-the-same. As I said, that’s what readers and editors want, and it’s great to see more of Hatori’s standard humor, but there’s less room for experimentation, such as the sort we saw in her earlier series Millennium Snow. Nothing really surprises you, and the plot beats roll out exactly as you’d expect. There is, perhaps, less of the BL tease that was found all over Ouran, but given how much of it turned out to be simply tease, that’s likely not a bad thing. Fans of Bisco Hatori will enjoy this, but I would wait a volume or two before making judgment – I think it’s a slow burner, and so far it’s merely simmering.