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The World Bows Down Before My Flames: The Dark Lord’s Castle Goes Boom

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By Hiyoko Sumeragi, Mika Pikazo and mocha. Released in Japan as “Waga Homura ni Hirefuse Sekai: Mao Jo, Moyashitemita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by James Balzer.

This advertises itself as a comedy, and that’s certainly true. If you’re the sort who loves to see teenage girls be horrible little gremlins, then this is right up your street. There’s funny situations, amusing banter, and a lot of hypocrisy. That said, I want to emphasize that this is a dark, cynical comedy, something that will be very obvious once you hit the end of the book. The world that our… “heroines” have been reincarnated into is absolutely terrible, and by the end of it we’ve seen a giant pile of death, some of it achieved by our main cast, because when I said that the girls would be horrible little gremlins, I meant along the lines of “committing atrocities”. Towards the end it turns serious for a bit, and I must admit I wavered. I’ll read the next one, but I hope it’s funny throughout – I don’t need each volume of this series ending with pure horror.

We start with the end of the series, with our five protagonists (as you’ll discover, heroines is absolutely the wrong word) having defeated the demon lord and burned his castle to the ground. Indeed, the fire is still burning as they bicker with each other. We then flash back to see them summoned before a goddess: POV character Homura, mad scientist Saiko… erm, Psycho, katana-wielding assassin Jin, alien robot girl Proto, and human experimentation victim Tsutsumi. They’ve been summoned to defeat the demon lord and save the world they’re now in. Unfortunately, the world they’re now in is kinda crappy, two of them look like monsters so have to hide their appearance, and the one normal girl in the cast may actually be the least normal one of all.

I’m not sure if each of the books will focus on a different girl, but this one is definitely Homura’s book. For the most part, she’s a somewhat shy, normal girl who suffered a life of bullying and abuse (and be warned, her suicide in the previous world is shown). Pretty soon we figure out that “normal” not the case, and it’s not really a spoiler, since it’s both the title AND the cover art. Actually, what is a bit of a spoiler is that Homura already had her powers before she was reincarnated – which means that, well, they’re a bit overpowered and over the top. And they also seem to influence her mind, something we see near the end of the book when she uncovers her inner bad girl. Everyone in the cast is a terrible person, and it just takes till the end of the book to figure out Homura is the worst of them. Sure, they’ll save the world, but not because they want to help people – they just like to kill bad guys.

This series is not for everyone – the most horrifying thing in the book is done by Psycho, the mad scientist – but it’s certainly striking, and I can see why it won an award. I’ll try another.

Last Quarter Vol. 1 by Ai Yazawa

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Last Quarter Volume 1 by Ai Yazawa

Last Quarter is an appropriately spooky manga for October, but it begins with a familiar story of angsty love between a Japanese schoolgirl and a foreigner who likes to lurk around Shibuya playing the guitar. Mizuki is struggling with a change in her family’s circumstances and becomes entranced by Adam’s music. Adam latches on to Mizuki as though she’s a life preserver, they quickly grow close. This type of self-destructive romance is done much much better by Yazawa herself in her later series, so seeing a similar story compressed into a chapter with less time to become invested in the characters made me just want to yell at Mizuki “Run Away Girl!!!” rather than hoping for a happily ever after scenario.

Last Quarter Volume 1

Mizuki’s story is cut short and Last Quarter shifts to exploring the ghost investigations of Hotaru and her classmates. Hotaru meets a mysterious ghost girl in an abandoned mansion. The girl has few memories of who she is or why she’s tied to the mansion, except she keeps playing the same song over and over and has strong memories of a long-lost love. Hotaru starts to investigate, and pulls in some of her friends, who are quite startled when they see that the ghost that only Hotaru can communicated with is capable of influencing the physical environment of the abandoned house. Hotaru nicknames her ghost Eve and they strike up a warm if somewhat disconcerting friendship.

Yazawa’s character designs are as always on-point and stylish, and it is nice being able to read earlier works of hers and compare them to Paradise Kiss and Nana. There’s a real sense of emptiness and distance as Eve continues her diminished existence in the mansion with only half-remembered feelings tying her to Earth. The dynamics in Hotaru’s friend group are engaging as they throw themselves into figuring out what happened to Mizuki/Eve, but Adam very much remains a cypher. I’ll be curious to see how the story continues to develop.

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 12

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

The good news is that there’s a lot more relaxing in the countryside in this volume. Oh, don’t get me wrong, everyone still gets a chance to kick ass, and we also get the start of the plot that will presumably form the 13th and 14th volumes (I am assuming that 15, already announced to be the final volume, will be Red and Rit’s wedding). But there’s also lots of showing off exactly why Red and Ruti settled down in Zoltan, and how they aren’t alone. Not everyone in this town has been banished from the hero’s party, but it does seem to be pretty full of people who used to be in a violent, adventure filled life, and then they decided to just… stop, and come live here and do whatever the hell they want. That said, sometimes what they want is to save people and protect them, because while it’s bad to be forced to be a hero against your will, being heroic is still OK.

Yaralandra has decided she wants to build herself a modern ship. Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of shipwrights who can do what she wants locally, so she gets everyone to join her in revisiting the ship they sank in the last book. While there, they end up seeing ANOTHER ship that is clearly on its last legs, and therein they find a princess of the Jade Empire, near death, and her plucky ninja protector. They manage to get them back to Zoltan, where the princess, Torahime, can recover. This leaves the gang with no choice but to take in the ninja girl for the next few days. That said, the ninja girl seems to lack a lot of common sense, and in many ways seems a lot more childish than you’d expect from someone protecting a princess. What’s really going on here?

The plot twist in this book is so obvious as to be visible from space, but that’s fine. The main purpose of this book is twofold: to introduce us to a fun, if somewhat annoying, new character in Habotan (who even speaks in overly polite speech just to make her extra grating), and to help Ruti realize that just because she is no longer the hero controlled by God does not mean that she can’t be a hero for someone else. There’s also a heaping helping of “sacrificing your own life to protect someone you care about may not, in fact, be the best solution” here, as this honestly is a world where everyone tends to be ludicrously self-sacrificing and we’re trying to get away from that. The last few pages are very much “building up to the final battle”, complete with an old enemy returning one last time.

That said, there’s still plenty of Red and Rit gazing softly into each other’s eyes. There may be less time for that in 13, though. Oh, and we get to see Mr. Crawly-Wawly wear tiny little spider sunglasses on top of his head.

Pick of the Week: Tigers, Brides, Adults and Lycoris

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SEAN: This is another “sometimes you just want McDonald’s” week for me, as my pick is the debut of the Lycoris Recoil manga. Guaranteed to be less yuri than the fandom wants!

MICHELLE: I wish that the cover of Tiger & Dragon were more encouraging, but alas. I think I’m gonna go with Even Though We’re Adults this time.

ANNA: I’m going to go with the latest volume of Nina the Starry Brida as a reminder to myself to get caught up on the manga and actually check out the anime.

KATE: My vote goes to Even Though We’re Adults (or “Good Luck Babe: The Manga”).

ASH: Even Though We’re Adults is a solid pick, for sure. Debut-wise, I’ll have to admit to being curious about The Lady Knight and the Beast-Eared Child and JoJo A-Go!Go! is definitely worth mentioning, too.

The Reincarnator and the Goblin Maiden’s Happily Ever After: Using a Past Life to Keep a Joyful Wife, Vol. 1

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By Shinten-Shinchi and Tokima. Released in Japan as “Goblin Reijō to Tensei Kizoku ga Shiawase ni Naru Made: Konyakusha no Tame no Zense Chishiki no Jōzu na Tsukaikata” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Geirrlon Dunn.

Before we start, I really enjoyed one of the big twists in this book, and am going to have to discuss it, but I’ll put it after the cover image, so spoiler FYI.

And since I’m going to be talking about something I love as a spoiler, let’s start the review with something I loved less. This is, for the most part, a very good book, and I enjoyed both lead characters, their cool families, and their battle maids. But it does have a plot that I have always hated whenever I see it in both Eastern and Western books, TV< movies, manga, etc., which is the "if you're being bullied, the best thing to do is to get mentally stronger". Now, this isn't quite as bad as some – Ana's appearance is not, as of this first volume, something she can control, and we're given a real reason she doesn't simply tell an authority figure (in this case her mother). And the bullies do get theirs. But they only get theirs after Ana steps up and stops acting bullied. That leaves me conflicted.

Our protagonist is Ginorious, aka Gino. The fourth son of a viscount, he’s a commoner merchant due to being unable to inherit the title. Fortunately, he’s able to rely on his past memories from when he lived in Japan to help his business take off. Then one day his family get a marriage proposal from a duke’s family – i.e., they can’t turn this down. The family want him to marry their daughter Anastasia, who, due to a curse, has a lumpy forehead, long pointed ears, and green skin. She looks very much like a goblin, and has acquired a nasty nickname. Her other marriage partners were disgusted with her and treated her horribly the moment they were out of parental range. Fortunately for her, in his past life in Japan, Gino also had a terrible facial appearance, and spent his whole long life alone and unloved. So like hell he’ll let that happen to her.

So yeah. Let’s face it, when you hear “reincarnated from Japan”, you expect it to be, well, OUR Japan. And nothing in the first seventy pages or so says otherwise, except the occasional hint that Gino wears a mysterious ring. But as it turns out, the Japan he’s from is filled with magic, golems, etc. In fact, he was a golem engineer in Japan for most of his previous life. And what’s more, in Japan they knew a lot more about exactly what Ana’s curse is – it means she’s got far too much mana. Unfortunately, this isn’t Ehrenfest, and Ana cannot simply pour mana into various instruments until she’s better. Indeed, this world doesn’t really “get” mana that much. But it does mean that he knows a possible way forward. This was a great twist that helped distract me from “of course this will end with them curing her and she’ll be gorgeous”, which seems to be the actual long-term plot.

for the most part, this is really sweet and syrupy. It’s less good in the second half, not just from the bullying and more that I’m a bit sick to death of the school full of nobles by now. But it’s still a strong debut, and I will happily read a second volume.

The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain, Vol. 3

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By Bakufu Narayama and Ebisushi. Released in Japan as “Danzaisareta Akuyaku Reijō wa, Gyakkō-shite Kanpekina Akujo o Mezasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Alyssa Niioka. Adapted by Vida Cruz-Borja.

The general premise of “heroine goes back in time to her earlier self” stories, which Japan calls Yarinaoshi Loop, is that our protagonist tries to change things in order to change the future and in the end ends up changing everyone else’s lives for the better as well. Sometimes this ends up being the entire kingdom, where we see her do things like unite various kingdoms and solve famine (looking at you, Mia). But occasionally our heroine has a narrower focus. Claudia, in her first lifetime, ended up being sold into a brothel, and had firsthand experience of what a wretched life it is, as well as how, for so many women, there may be no other choice. We’ve already seen her rescue Helen from that life in the first book, and in the second book disguise herself to invest in the brothel she used to work in. But she’s not done. Here we see she wants to make sex work legal. Light novels rarely venture into this area.

(As a side note, if your villainess does not look at least as hot as Claudia does in that suit and hat on the front cover, try harder.)

There’s another foreign prince arriving in town, this one from fantasy… Britain? Denmark? One of those. Prince Seraphim is there to visit Sylvester. They have a Church problem – Seraphim’s nation is not monotheistic, and therefore the church which rules over Sylvester’s nation, as well as most of the others, dislikes them and won’t trade with them at normal prices. Seraphim is looking for allies. Meanwhile, Claudia accidentally murmuring about business when she’s thinking about ways to save the sex workers means her father gifts her a business to run – actually, more accurately an entire shopping center. And wouldn’t you know it, it’s in Seraphim’s home country! Now they’re all traveling to try to do various things, the most important of which may be to stop the evil church guy that always pops up in Japanese light novels.

The most interesting part of this book, aside from its putting the plight of sex workers front and center, is the addition of the cardinal, Nigel. Towards the end of the volume, the book felt it was moving far too fast, and I briefly wondered if it was a two-parter. That’s not the case, but I get the feeling that the author realized as they were writing Nigel that he made a great antagonist for Claudia now that Fermina is out of the picture. Nigel fills a lot of villain tropes – besides being a churchman who loves luxury and will happily kill women and children to get minions to obey him, he’s also dreadfully bored and regards Claudia, an unexpected element, as a challenge. Clearly we’ll be seeing more of him.

This isn’t fantastic, but is on the high side of very good, and Claudia is a great lead character. I’m happy to read more.

Bookshelf Briefs 10/24/24

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, Vol. 11 | By Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe | Viz Media – I suspect that the Frieren author’s attempts at explaining the worldview of demons in this series is never really going to 100% appeal to the core audience, who are simply uncomfortable with “there’s no chance of reconciling, kill them all.” Indeed, we find out here that the whole demon vs. human war ages ago was because the Demon Lord wanted to understand humans better. Fortunately, this volume is mostly a giant battle, and Frieren and Denken acquit themselves well, with help at the end from Fern. Which means it’s time to start a new arc at the end of the volume, as Frieren, traveling again, accidentally activates an artifact that sends her mind back to her old body—and Himmel. Essential. – Sean Gaffney

Gabriel Dropout, Vol. 14 | By Ukami | Yen Press – Given that there are literally no men in this series, it should not be too big a surprise to find out that Michael is—gasp!—a girl, and furthermore has a desire to be a cutesy idol, a desire that is somewhat hampered by crippling shyness. Fortunately, Gab can steamroller over any problem with the power of “well, whatever.” Elsewhere, Raphael takes a break from tormenting Satanya to torment Vigne, who is feeling all at sea without anyone to mother in her classroom. That said, she also suffers here, as we learn that she tends to gain weight, while the others don’t. And we meet Gabriel’s sister Haniel, who is small and cute and finds everything fascinating, even Satanya being tied-up bondage style. In any case, please enjoy more of “These Bitches Gay! Good for Them!” The Manga. – Sean Gaffney

I Was Sold Dirt Cheap But My Power Level Is Off the Charts, Vol. 1 | By Cambria Bakuhatsu Tarou | One Peace Books – I’m not really the target audience for most isekai manga being translated these days, but I was curious about I Was Sold Dirt Cheap But My Power Level Is Off the Charts, mostly because of the use of mecha within a fantasy context. After reading the debut of Tarou’s adaptation of Ryoma’s light novels, I definitely understand the genre’s general appeal. Like so many stories of its type, the premise is already outlined in the title. The basic plot isn’t particularly unique—the protagonist becomes a hero because he’s much more powerful than anyone assumed. The art isn’t particularly spectacular, although I do like the look of the mechs. To distinguish itself, the series has to rely on its specific combination of story elements. It’s fun and I appreciate its humor; the series doesn’t take itself too seriously. Nuanced literature it’s not, but sometimes simple fantasy is all that’s needed. – Ash Brown

In/Spectre, Vol. 20 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Manga – Last time I talked about the great humor of this series, and it’s still here, including the return of Robot Kotoko, now with added kittens. But I also want to highlight that the series is primarily a mystery series—well, more accurately, it’s a detective series. The detection is far more important than the mystery, and it’s always wonderful to see Kotoko propose solutions, then discard them, then come up with other solutions. Usually she arrives at what SOUNDS like the truth, but there’s usually a sting in the tail, and we see that here to a degree. We also see that no one but Kuro should be in love with Kotoko, because holy crap, she is still the most annoying person in the entire world. Kuro, please bed your weird yokai-adjacent girlfriend soon and calm her down. – Sean Gaffney

Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Vol. 3 | By Yodokawa | Yen Press – The first half of this volume shows Miyako realizing that she really is in love with Ayako, and trying to get it across subtly, and then less subtly. The issue, unfortunately, is that Ayako has had a lot of bad relationships with women in the past, and what’s more, she was always the one who fell in love first. As such, Miyako confessing to her (which does happen here, and well done for not dragging that out) is a first for her, and she’s not sure how to take it, asking for more time to think about it. In the meantime, they may not be a couple romantically, but as landlord and tenant, the two of them are basically married at this point. We’ve got two volumes to go, I believe, which is hopefully just enough time for these two to make it work. – Sean Gaffney

Oba Electroplating Factory | By Tsuge Yoshiharu | Drawn & Quarterly – Considering the provocative impact of the manga included in Nejishiki, the third volume in Drawn & Quarterly’s collected works of Tsuge Yoshiharu, other volumes, no matter how masterful, will to some extent always be compared to that one. The fourth volume, Oba Electroplating Factory, collects seven of Tsuge’s manga from 1973 and 1974 in addition to an essay by the translator and comics scholar Ryan Holmberg examining their historical context. While the manga collected in the previous volumes of the series were predominantly drawn for avant-garde manga anthologies like Garo, the works in Oba Electroplating Factory were largely originally published in more commercial, mainstream venues. As a whole, they are less surreal and arguably more approachable than Tsuge’s previous works, often utilizing autobiographical elements akin to those found in I-novel literature. But while potentially more realistic, they can still carry a bite; Tsuge doesn’t shy away from shadier aspects of human nature. – Ash Brown

When the Villainess Seduces the Main Heroine, Vol. 1 | By Kasai Fujii | Yen Press – The first two-third of this is clearly showing its origin as a pixiv/Twitter sort of story, with most chapters being 2-3 pages. Our villainess, Akuya Kreijou, and the heroine, Sei Hi Roin, hook up after a two-page denouement of the prince, and spend much of the book either screwing each other or being embarrassingly lovey-dovey. The last third or so attempts to actually give depth to this: we see how Sei got to the point where she was at the start of the book, and also that she’s not afraid to use sex (which she loves) to get out of difficult jams like being kidnapped. We also see how she’s a genuinely good person, and so is Akuya, who spread her OWN rumors of her being evil just to get away from the prince. We get a second volume, but I expect that’s the last. Good, if horny. – Sean Gaffney

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 2

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Acro.

I had better get used to these books being backloaded in the second half, because I had the exact same experience with this volume that I had with the first. The start of this volume is packed with scenes designed to make the main characters annoying in a funny way, but I mostly found them annoying in an annoying way, particularly our narrator, who may be trying to contrast with the usual light novel romance narrators, but not by much, because like all of them he’s emotionally sensitive to everything but his own mind. As the book goes on, and it delves into the ongoing issues of Losing Heroine #2, and the way that sometimes even after you’ve been rejected you still have to see the guy you like every day, it gets a lot better. When he’s dealing with other people’s love lives, Nukumizu excels. When he’s dealing with his own inability to know what love feels like, you find yourself rooting for Anna. And I hate rooting for Anna.

As mentioned, our three losing heroines have all been rejected, but life still goes on. Anna attends a reunion and is horrified to discover her childhood friend and his new girlfriend acting like they’re already married. Chika is still in the same literature club with the girl who is now dating her crush, and is still being very smug about it. And then there’s Lemon, who seems to be… walking around town with Ayano? What? Is he cheating on his new girlfriend? Is Lemon trying to horn in on a brand new relationship? Nukumizu absolutely does not want to get involved, but he and Anna are forced to when they run into Ayano’s actual girlfriend, Chihaya, who also worries that something is going on between them, and decides to solve the problem by planting tracking devices on her boyfriend and following him around. This is a bad idea, FYI for new couples.

Lemon, frankly, has always given off the impression that she’s supposed to be the dumb one in our cast, but that’s mostly because the characters are all varieties of trope because this book is trying to be a deconstruction (which it succeeds at roughly 1/3 of the time). In reality, she studied hard with her childhood friend and crush so they could go to school together, and concentrates so hard at track because her family are all known for their brains and she doesn’t want to disappoint them, so plays to her strengths. She’s pretty emotionally mature here once she stops literally running away from her problem. As for Anna, who is clearly the secondary protagonist in these books, she kinda likes Nukumizu, and would be amenable to dating him, but she’s still too hurt by her previous relationship. so she needs him to do the job of asking her – and he’s NOT emotionally mature, so that’s not happening. I expect it won’t be happening anytime soon.

All this plus a very funny parody of Villainess isekai which, frankly, could easily be one – Chika should take that to a publisher ASAP. A combination of really irritating and quite heartwarming. In that order.

Manga the Week of 10/30/24

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SEAN: Halloween is here! BOO!

Yen On’s October debuts all got delayed to next week, so here they are. In My Seventh Life, I Met a Monster Princess (Boku wa Nanadome no Jinsei de, Kaibutsuhime wo Te ni Ireta) is a one-shot. A man who keeps getting killed wants revenge, and after getting killed for the 6th time he meets a monster princess who might be able to help.

Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods (Kami no Niwatsuki Kusunoki-tei) stars a man who lives in a remote house filled with evil spirits… at least, until the house is purified by the man’s amazing skills. Now gods are drawn to the residence instead.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: Love Is Dark (Koi wa Ankoku) is a twisted love story. A boy who has a normal high school life moonlights as an assassin. Things get awkward when the school idol asks him out. Things get more awkward when she shows up at his latest job. This is from the creator of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash.

ASH: That does seem like that would be rather awkward.

SEAN: Reign of the Seven Spellblades: Side of Fire (Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai Suru: Side of Fire – Rengoku no Ki) is a prequel to the main series set five years earlier, focusing on Alvin Godfrey.

The World Bows Down Before My Flames (Waga Homura ni Hirefuse Sekai) stars a girl who really, really, really wants to set things on fire, and has the power to do it. Now she has to defeat the demon lord… but will she go overboard? Signs point to yes.

ASH: Sometimes you just really need to set things on fire.

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Demon’s Crest 2, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 6, Playing Death Games to Put Food on the Table 2, and The Vexations of a Shut-In Vampire Princess 8.

The one manga debut is Lycoris Recoil, a manga adaptation of the popular anime series. Why are assassins all cute high school girls? Read on to find out! Actually, likely this is meant for those who’ve already watched the anime…

There’s also the 2nd manga volume of No Game No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union Arc.

The one release from Viz is JoJo A-Go!Go!, an artbook about JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, now available as a standalone hardcover.

ASH: Very nice; I’ve had my eye on this one even before it was released outside of Japan.

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 3rd volume of FANGS.

Two debuts for Seven Seas: The Lady Knight and the Beast-Eared Child (Onna Kishi to Kemomimi no Ko) about a lady knight who, well, adopts a beast-eared child as her apprentice. He teaches her how to appreciate life’s quieter moments, she teaches him that the world they live in is pretty murderous.

ASH: Sounds promising to me.

SEAN: Tiger and Dragon is a shoujo manga from Margaret. A girl had a crush on her friend when they were tots, but then he moved away. Now, ten years later, she’s ready to move on with her other childhood friend… but guess who’s back?

MICHELLE: Margaret, you say?

ANNA: Is there something from Margaret!? This is the rumor I’ve been hearing.

ASH: That does seem to be the case.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 9, Even Though We’re Adults 9, Monster Cats 2, and Reincarnated as a Sword 13.

MICHELLE: I really need to read Even Though We’re Adults.

ASH: I need to catch up, too.

SEAN: One Peace Books gives us Hero Without a Class: Who Even Needs Skills?! 2.

Apologies to KUMA, who I left out of last week’s list (like Denpa, KUMA’s release dates are fluid, so it can get difficult). They have the debut of Yata-Momo, a BL title from Qpa. It’s from the author of The Song of Yoru and Asa and Happy Crappy Life, and is about a relationship between a slovenly mess and a straight-laced reliable guy.

MICHELLE: The blurb for this actually contains the word “himbo.” I am… kind of intrigued!

ANNA: Who isn’t intrigued by himbos?

ASH: I’m in.

SEAN: Debuting in print for Kodansha Manga is Ajin: Demi-Human Complete, an omnibus collection. This has the first three volumes.

Also in print: Blue Lock 15, Gachiakuta 4, Nina the Starry Bride 7 (watch the anime!), Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen 6 (the final volume, as it’s been an omnibus), and Shangri-La Frontier 14.

ANNA: Woo, Nina the Starry Bride!

SEAN: And digitally we get The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 14, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: Aqua 4, and TenPuru -No One Can Live on Loneliness- 11.

In print, J-Novel Club has a 3rd volume of the Black Summoner light novel.

J-Novel Club has one debut. The Dorky NPC Mercenary Knows His Place (Kimo Ota Mob Yōhei wa, Mi no Hodo o Wakimaeru) is a “space opera” comedy about a short, plain mercenary who just tries to keep his head down and be a side character… but gorgeous women keep trying to get close to him!… possibly as he’s the best pilot in the galaxy.

ASH: These things happen sometimes.

Also out next week: the 4th The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom manga volume, The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 4, Earl and Fairy 8, The Fake Hero Crashes the Party 2, the 6th The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects manga volume, the 6th My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer manga volume, the 8th Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon manga volume, The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along! 4 (the final volume), A Pale Moon Reverie 3 (the final volume), Record of Wortenia War 26, and, most importantly, The Magic in this Other World is Too Far Behind! 10, the first new volume in almost 5 years.

No Ghost Ship releases, but two mature Seven Seas titles, both BL webtoon titles. debuting is Checkmate, about a man who’s drifting through life till he sees his old high school rival, who he could never beat, enmired in scandal. Now he has a new goal… to destroy him! Enemies to Lovers, do I hear you calling?

There’s also The Dangerous Convenience Store 4.

Denpa Books has Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack 3 and Under Ninja 4.

Dark Horse Comics has a 6th volume of Cat + Gamer.

ASH: This is another series I should really give a try at some point.

SEAN: Two debuts from Cross Infinite World. The Frugal Priestess Becomes a Saint (Isekai kara Seijo wo Yobe to Muchaburisareta Shinkan wa, Cost Performance no Tsugou de Seijo ni Naru) features our heroine, who is a member of the clergy, preparing to isekai someone to be the next saint whose magic power is omnipotent. Unfortunately, summoning dying from overwork Japanese women is really, really expensive. And… our heroine has black hair. Maybe she can pretend to be the Saint? It will save the country so much money!… wait, why is the prince obsessed with her now?

ASH: Whoops!

SEAN: How I Swapped Places with the Villainess, Beat Up Her Fiancé, and Found True Love (Danzai Sareteiru Akuyaku Reijou to Irekawatte Konyakusha-tachi wo Buttobashitara, Dekiai ga Matteimashita) is a more traditional villainess work. Our heroine, surprise surprise, dies and wakes up as a villainess getting condemned by her fiance. Snapping, she beats up the fiance… then she finds herself in the past? Yes, it’s an otome game villainess AND a fix the timeline book.

CIW also has Expedition Cooking with the Enoch Royal Knights 5.

No print releases for Airship next week, but we get a digital debut. Mushoku Tensei: Redundant Reincarnation (Mushoku Tensei – Dasoku Hen) is basically an “After Story” for the main series.

Also out in early digital: Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 7.

Is there, perhaps, too much manga? Is it like Halloween candy?

ASH: Only if you don’t have the stomach for it!

Loner Life in Another World, Vol. 10

by

By Shoji Goji and Saku Enomaru. Released in Japan as “Hitoribocchi no Isekai Kouryaku” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Andrew Schubauer.

First off, we have a change of creative team in the copyright. To Eric Margolis: thank you for your service, please have a rest now. To Lorin Christie: I see you got a promotion, please continue to help us enjoy this as editor. To Andrew Schubauer: Welcome to our new Meat Shield Translator!

I’ve mentioned before that this series does have a real meaning and moral behind “let’s watch Haruka bang his gorgeous monster concubines”. This volume in particular hits it hard at the end of the volume. If you are in power, if you enjoy the largesse of the people, then you have a responsibility to care for those people and make sure they are happy and content. If you do not do this, if you ignore the people saying it’s too hard to help them, or if you actively say that suffering is a good thing, then you are scum and deserve everything you get. When everyone arrives at the Beast Kingdom, the reader is briefly puzzled why Haruka and the girls are so utterly furious, but then it becomes clear – to get there, they had to pass through the devastated beast villages filled with dead people that the rulers didn’t bother to save. As for the Church? Well, using religion to genuinely make everyone’s lives better is still approved of. But the bulk of the Church isn’t doing that. And as for God, no one is impressed.

The last book implied this one would have the visit to the Beast Kingdom and then the attack on the Pope, but you know Loner Life is never going to do things quickly. No, this one is 463 pages, and you feel every one of those pages as Haruka decides to try to level up (remember, something damn near impossible for him to do) by sneaking into dungeons, fighting dungeon bosses, and getting killed/revived over and over till he’s a bloody mess. Needless to say, he does not win any friends by doing this. In his spare time, he rescues some adventurers who had heard about how awesome life was on the frontier, came to test their skills, and then discovered why the frontier is still terrifying. Finally, Haruka ends up setting off for the Beast Kingdom/Battle against the Church, and yes, everyone does come with him – much as he wants to protect them, he can’t put the girls off this time.

One thing that happens at the start of the book is that the Jocks (or Meatheads, as even Class Rep is calling them now) reveal that they’ve gotten engaged to five of the First Division’s warrior women, and, while pretending to be embarrassed, seem pretty happy about it. What’s more, we hear again that the Nerds have gotten into relationships with four of the Beast Girls in their kingdom. Despite all this, Haruka is still talking about searching the Theocracy to try to find something that can get everyone home. Class Rep is already aware that he means “everyone but him”, and that’s just not acceptable. It’s become pretty clear that, much as they miss Japan, the cast have decided that this is their home which they love. The reason Haruka has not cottoned on to this, of course, is because he is determined to distance himself from everyone he cares about and therefore he cannot understand why anyone would want to be around him unless he’s literally enslaved them. And even then, with the Mean Girls, he still doesn’t get it. Class Rep ALMOST confesses to him at the end of this book, but not quite, and it looks like he barely notices.

As I write this, the anime based on the manga is airing, but it really does seem like a completely different series. There’s still a lot to love about this series once you get past everything to hate about this series.