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An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me!, Vol. 5

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By Yuishi and Kagachisaku. Released in Japan as “Inkya no Boku ni Batsu Game de Kokuhaku Shitekita Hazu no Gal ga, Dō Mitemo Boku ni Beta Bore Des” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

Generally speaking, I enjoy these “sweet love story” light novels, enough so that I’m reading several in the genre, but they have their flaws, and this 5th volume of An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups shows off a big one: the lead couple is simply far too earnest. You would think that would not be an issue, especially since they’re now a genuine couple, but that’s exactly the crux of the problem. After spending the last quarter of the last book groveling and apologizing to each other for their mutual deceit, they both realize that other people were involved in this dare as well, and the other people realize it too, and (while not as bad as our leads) they are also very earnest people. And so the entire first THIRD of this book consists entirely of apologies. It is, frankly, exhausting, repetitive, and mildly annoying. Get back to being accidentally smooth with each other, please.

So yes, the book opens with Nanami’s best friends apologizing to them for the dare. Then they apologize to their families for the dare. And then Nanami’s mother apologizes to them because she knew about the dare. Then they go apologize to the guy who confessed to her while they were fake going out. Honestly, this was the most interesting apology, if only as Yoshin and Shibetsu are bonding so closely and so quickly you want to check the genre of the book you’re reading. After this, though, it’s all sweetness all the time, as they go to cheer Shibetsu on in his basketball tournament, visit a trampoline park (where Yoshin learns that sports bras exist and what they do), meet Hatsumi and Ayumi’s boyfriends, go to an indoor pool at night, and end up having a surprise wedding photo shoot, which they only put up token resistance for.

Yoshin spends a good deal of this book wondering if he’s really doing enough for his relationship, or thinking about his future and how to be a breadwinner, etc. The irony, of course, is that he’s way ahead of most of the cast when it comes to honest love and communication, and lacks the “this is too embarrassing” gene that most light novel guys tend to have. I think he’s probably going to be good no matter what he chooses to do. We also get a better look at the two boyfriends, as I said. I mentioned in an earlier review they both sound like they’re starring in light novels of their own. It’s still not wrong. The book lightly glides over the “stepbrother/stepsister” one, and the other one has a big age difference. There’s parental pushback, but not for the reason you might think. Basically, they’ve got a few more problems than the sickly sweet Yoshin and Nanami, who (it is literally pointed out) will be married the day they graduate high school and likely having their first child nine months later. The book is sweet and not sleazy, but these kids are quite horny for each other.

So yeah, the series could have ended fine as of Book 4, and I could have done without Apology Tour 2023, but this gives readers what they want. That cliffhanger suggests that the initial premise is not entirely gone, however…

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 5: Avatar of a Goddess, Vol. 8

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Most of the time, summarizing each plot of a typical volume of Bookworm can be difficult, and I inevitably leave things out, because these are chunky books and a ton keeps happening. That’s true here as well, but it’s a lot easier to summarize: War. We saw the start of it at the end of the previous book, but this one sees the full consequences: Rozemyne, with the help of Dunkenfelger’s battle-happy soldiers, invades Ahrensbach in order to save Ferdinand, while Ehrenfest prepares for Ahrensbach, or rather the more easily manipulated bits of Ahrensbach, to invade them, while Georgine herself goes incognito in order to assassinate Sylvester. Hell, even Hannelore, normally the scared fluffy bunny of this series, is in armor, ready for battle, and controlling a group of nasty looking fantasy Dobermans. As for Rozemyne herself, she’s going to basically do anything to get her “family” back together, even if that means becoming the Aub of her greatest enemy’s territory.

I hate to be a broken record, but Bookworm really does alternate viewpoints well. It’s a common feature in Japanese light novels, but usually the way that it’s done as like My Next Life As a Villainess does it: we get a scene from our heroine’s perspective, and then we see the same scene from the perspective of someone else who was in the scene, showing what they felt about everything. With Bookworm, the POV switches really are necessary, because Rozemyne’s lack of common sense (both because she’s used to the ethics, morals and customs of 21st century Japan and also, let’s face it, because she’s bonkers in general) really does need to be underlined… and Rozemyne’s POV is just as important, because sometimes she’s really in over her head. Everyone in this world is a lot more used to death and bloodshed than she is, and the dismay and nausea she feels when seeing stabbing victims is only going to increase as the series goes on.

And then there’s Ferdinand. There is a thing that happens a lot in series, where we have a heroine who is very obviously coded as asexual and everyone loves the fact that we finally have an asexual heroine… until the author ends up hitting the romance switch, at which point the asexuality slowly recedes. Bloom Into You is an obvious example, as is (sorry, anime onlies) The Apothecary Diaries. Bookworm may actually be one of the few to pull that trigger, though, as even though Ferdinand is clearly in love with Rozemyne, and everyone else in the land is horrified and appalled at the shameless way they’re all over each other, Rozemyne keeps emphasizing the fact that Ferdinand is family and of course that’s why she’s overthrowing a country for him. It’s mind-boggling, at least until you see Ferdinand going “welp, OK, in that case let me take all my limiters off” and you remember that he’s just as eccentric, perhaps even more, than she is. Towards the end, Rozemyne whines that Ferdinand never taught her about courtship or love or anything, and her attendants point out that’s because he’s a man, and this is a thing women tell to other women. Alas, Rozemyne was a book gremlin who looked 8 years old and spent years inside a magical cocoon. And now there’s war, and I get the sense it’s probably too late.

There are a number of scenes after the main action, which ends about 2/3 of the way through the book. We get an extended flashback dealing with our main villain, Georgine, who is treated far more sympathetically than Detlinde ever was. You can see why she’s doing this, though it does not extend into sympathy. We also get scenes from other territories showing us how the war is going in their area, meaning we get to see Brigitte again. We get to see Philine and everyone else at the temple and orphanage hunker down in what has essentially become a bomb shelter. We see Effa and the rest of Myne’s family taken to her library to shelter, and get Effa’s conflicted feelings on her birth daughter and how far she’s gone compared to their normal commoner life. And we see Gunther defending the borders, and just generally being a good soldier and dad. Both to his family and his troops. These stories were all very welcome and helped flesh out what is otherwise a “run at full speed” storyline.

The war’s not over yet, and I suspect the next book will show us Sylvester vs. Georgine. You won’t regret reading this. (Well, unless Rozemyne/Ferdinand bothers you, but if that’s the case I assume you dropped this already.)

The Manga Review: Out With the Old, In With the New

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Between the bad weather and the bad news from all over the globe, the first twelve days of January have felt more like the End Times than a fresh start. One thing that’s helped lift my spirits: browsing the best-of-2023 lists at Anime News Network, Anime UK News, Asian Movie Pulse, The Beat, The Comics Journal, From Cover to Cover, Okazu, and The School Library Journal. Though a few manga appeared on multiple lists, there was no real consensus among critics about the year’s best—a refreshing development, as best-of lists can sometimes feel more like an echo chamber than an expression of individuals’ own taste. Go, read!

NEWS ROUNDUP

Brigid Alverson pores over the December 2023 Circana Bookscan data for insight into end-of-year manga sales. Not surprisingly, Chainsaw Man, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Spy X Family all posted strong numbers, as did Demon Slayer and One Piece… Beckett Collectibles announced that it will rate, bag, and board manga, just as it does for floppies and trading cards… The Simpsons won an Emmy for poking fun at Death Note…  Makoto Ojiro, author of Insomniacs After School, will unveil a new series on February 5th… and Kia Asamiya is also launching a new series which, true to form, he describes as “retro future sci-fi action” and features the “Symphonica Waffe,” some sort of intergalactic weapon.

ESSAYS AND PODCASTS

Erica Friedman explains why she loves doujinshi, comparing it to a “schmaltzy mid-20th century American movie in which, oh, I don’t know, Rosemary Clooney or Donald O’Connor says, ‘Hey kids, let’s put on a show!'” She elaborates: “The appeal of that idea is the youthful energy of a bunch of enthusiasts who get together and make a thing. Well…in many ways, doujinshi is a different example of that ideal.” [Okazu]

In their first new episode of 2024, the Mangasplainers discuss one of last year’s best new titles: Kyoko Okazaki’s River’s Edge. (N.B. The podcast and the book itself contain some NSFW material.) [Mangasplaining]

Ed Pisko, Jim Rugg, and Geof Darrow explore the work of Taiyō Matsumoto. [Cartoonist Kayfabe]

Should ANN have pulled its controversial review of My Pancreas Broke, But My Life Got Better? Tony Yao weighs in. [Drop-In to Manga]

Over at Women Write About Comics, Kayleigh Hearn, Masha Zhdanova, and Carrie McClain dish the dirt on Asa Mitaka, “the HBIC” of Chainsaw Man‘s current story arc. [WWAC]

ICYMI: That Manga Hunter explores the complicated, frustrating discourse around “good enough shoujo.” As they explain, this term applies to “a series that’s not technically” shoujo or josei “but shares enough traits that it gets a pass. It’s well… good enough except in the only way that matters: targeting a female audience.” [That Manga Hunter]

REVIEWS

Before we get too deep into 2024, I wanted to highlight two recent reviews that you might have missed. The first is Tegan O’Neil’s in-depth essay about Osamu Tezuka’s One Hundred Tales and the second is Helen Chazan’s thoughtful critique of Shin’ichi Sakamoto’s Innocent. Both reviews demonstrate why they are two of the smartest, sharpest voices in comics criticism right now. If they haven’t been on your radar, both essays are an excellent introduction to their writing. Go, read!

Here are this week’s new review links:

Manga the Week of 1/17/24

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SEAN: January’s heating up… or cooling down, depending on where you are.

It’s still not Yen Press’s time yet, so we begin with Viz Media. There are two debuts. Steel of the Celestial Shadows (Taiyou to Tsuki no Hagane) is from the creator of Kasane, and runs in Big Comic Superior. A samurai who is cursed to be unable to pick up a sword is near suicidal, but he’s rescued by a mysterious woman. This looks gorgeous.

ASH: Oh, wow, it does! And it’s definitely up my alley.

ANNA: I’m curious about this!

SEAN: Tokyo These Days (Tokyo Higoro) is the new title by Taiyo Matsumoto, and is recommended to all fans of the same. This ran in Big Comic Original Zoukan, and is the story of a retired editor trying to find what manga really means.

MICHELLE: Could be good!

ASH: I’m certainly a Matsumoto fan.

ANNA: I want to know what manga really means.

SEAN: Viz also has Dark Gathering 5, Golden Kamuy 31 (the final volume), One-Punch Man 27, Record of Ragnarok 9, Show-ha Shoten! 4, Ultraman 19, and Undead Unluck 14.

ASH: I really ought to catch up with Golden Kamuy.

ANNA: I need to start reading it in the first place!

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Never Let Go (Kono Te wo Hanasanai de), a BL title from the magazine from RED. It’s an omegaverse series, and is the standard sort of “opposites attract” plot you see in those series.

There’s also a one-shot title, Send Them a Farewell Gift for the Lost Time (Loss Time ni Hanamuke o), a BL series about a man trying to break up with his boyfriend… but he keeps popping back up.

Tokyopop also has the third volume of Dead Company (a final volume).

Steamship has a 5th volume of Ladies on Top.

Seven Seas debuts a mature BL title, Love, a Kitten, and a Salty Dog (Koi to Neko to Salty Dog). The story of a vet and a college student who get closer while taking care of cats, it’s complete in one volume.

MICHELLE: Hm…

ASH: BL and cats has been a good combo in the past.

SEAN: In their Danmei line, we get Stars of Chaos: Sha Po Lang 2.

We also see The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 7, The Most Notorious “Talker” Runs the World’s Greatest Clan 6, My Wife Has No Emotion 6, Reborn as a Space Mercenary: I Woke Up Piloting the Strongest Starship! 6, The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent 8, Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) 6, What He Who Doesn’t Believe in Fate Says 3, and Yakuza Fiancé: Raise wa Tanin ga Ii 6. So many volume sixes!

One Peace Books has the 2nd manga volume of Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss But I’m Not the Demon Lord.

Kodansha Manga’s first print debut is Gachiakuta, a Weekly Shonen Magazine series about a young man, already living in poverty in a floating city, who is falsely accused of murder and sentenced to live on the surface, where things are much worse.

ASH: I’m at least vaguely intrigued by the setting.

SEAN: They also debut an omnibus of the first two volumes of King in Limbo (Limbo the King), a josei series from Itan. Years after a dangerous sleeping sickness devastated the world, it’s returning, and a retired military man must join up with the mysterious “King” once more to save the world again. From the creator of Apple Children of Aeon.

MICHELLE: How nice to see a josei series that is not a romance!

ASH: Oh! This absolutely has potential!

ANNA: Also curious about this!

SEAN: Also in print: Go! Go! Loser Ranger! 8, ORIGIN 2, Parasyte Full Color Collection 5, SHAMAN KING: FLOWERS 6 (the final volume), and Twilight Out of Focus 4.

Digitally we get Don’t Tempt Me, VP! 2, Gamaran 17, How to Treat a Lady Knight Right 2, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 18, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 9, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: Aqua 3, Searching for My Perfect Brother 4 (the final volume), Tsugumi Project 4, We’re New at This 15, and The World of Summoning 3 (also a final volume).

No debuts from J-Novel Club, but we see The Apothecary Diaries 10, the 10th An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride manga volume, Bibliophile Princess 7, Death’s Daughter and the Ebony Blade 7, Hell Mode 7, Holmes of Kyoto 16, the 3rd I’m Capped at Level 1?! Thus Begins My Journey to Become the World’s Strongest Badass! manga volume, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 3, Monster and Parent 3, Only the Villainous Lord Wields the Power to Level Up 4, Rebuild World 3 Part 2, and Reincarnated Mage with Inferior Eyes: Breezing through the Future as an Oppressed Ex-Hero 5.

ASH: The Apothecary Diaries is another series I really need to catch up on.

SEAN: It’s always harder to track down smaller publisher release dates, so I apologize to light novel publisher Hanashi Media for ignoring them till now. Next week they have a 7th volume of Another World Survival: Min-maxing My Support and Summoning Magic (Boku wa Isekai de Fuyo Mahou to Shoukan Mahou wo Tenbin ni Kakeru), which seems to have a bullied kid who was isekai’d with his high school class trying to get revenge against his bullies… sigh.

ASH: It really is hard to keep track of everything these days!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has a 16th volume of Parallel Paradise.

Airship sees the print debut of Modern Dungeon Capture Starting with Broken Skills (Koware Skill de Hajimeru Gendai Dungeon Kōryaku) which is, as you can see by the title, one of THOSE series. Dungeon crawls. Guy with awesome skills. Pixie showing her butt to the reader on the cover.

ASH: At least they make it easy to recognize the genre?

SEAN: They also have The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 6 and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 6, one of which is the most exciting volume of a light novel series I’ve read in a while, and other of which is The Case Files of Jeweler Richard.

ASH: Ha!

SEAN: They also have an early digital release for Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 11.

The lists are getting bigger! What are you fancying?

The Springtime Chime of Marielle Clarac

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By Haruka Momo and Maro. Released in Japan as “Marielle Clarac no Harurin” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Philip Reuben.

It’s been a while since we’ve last seen Marielle Clarac, but she’s still worried about whether she’s too childish. That said, I don’t think she has too much to worry about. Since the start of this series, she’s improved by leaps and bounds. She’s able to listen to people when they tell her she’s going too far or saying too much. Best of all, Simeon is learning when it’s a good idea to just let her off the leash and do whatever she wants. Marielle is featuring in a Murder, She Wrote knockoff, where everywhere she goes she can’t help but get involved in dangerous situations. There’s no murder here, but the same thing applies. That said, this is more than just a thriller or a mystery this time. It’s also a gothic ghost story, complete with creepy castle and ghosts that are said to curse those lying within. Now, neither Simeon nor Marielle believe in ghosts. But Marielle loves the IDEA of believing in ghosts a lot…

Marilee is dealing with a lull in her book series at the moment. People still like her books, but they want something a bit more bittersweet. A bit more adult (no, not like that). Unfortunately, despite her vigorous nighttime activities with her husband, Marielle is not sure she is mature enough to understand the appeal of a bittersweet love. She and Simeon, however, have bigger things to worry about. The prince’s uncle has recently passed away, and his wife asked asked Severin to come along and help her with a problem she’s having. Going along are Julianne, Simeon, and Marielle. Once there, they find that Laetitia, the Duchess, wants to leave the duchy and return to the town she grew up in. And take her daughter with her, despite the fact that her daughter doesn’t know that town at all. And what’s more, she wants to do it IMMEDIATELY. Why? Could it be… ghosts?

Given that this series started with Marielle being (according to herself) being the sort to be unnoticed and only listen to others, it’s really great to hear her give a few smacktalk speeches in this book. There’s a lot of people not communicating with each other in this one, and (of course) there’s also international intrigue, again. (No Lutin, though.) Honestly, for once Simeon is the more worrying one. When Marielle is in danger (again, yes, it’s that sort of series – at least she’s not successfully kidnapped this time) he grows terrifying in his desire to punish those responsible, but even scarier is his rage when some other man finds his wife attractive. The best part of the book might be how, in acquiescence of his wife’s wishes, he does an interrogation while holding his riding crop. The Simeon of only two or three books ago would never have done this. They really are in love.

There are suggestions that Marielle imagine what being a mother is like towards the end of this book, but I don’t think the series is ready to go there right now, if ever. It’s far more content watching Marielle sneak around in disguises she brought herself, find clues that her husband already knew about, and get in and out of peril. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Best and Worst Manga of 2023

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This weekend’s Nor’easter provided me a swell opportunity to finish my long-gestating Best and Worst Manga list for 2023. One of the things that tripped me up was the sheer volume of new work published last year; when I first started reviewing manga in 2006, it was hard to imagine a market that offered a title for every conceivable reader, from the Chainsaw Man enthusiast to the the romantic, the oenophile, the foodie, the soccer fan, the gore hound, the isekai buff, and even the middle-aged manga critic. Though I made a concerted effort to be as thorough as possible, I freely admit that my picks barely capture the sheer quantity and diversity of last year’s new releases. Instead, I focused on the titles that stayed with me weeks and months after I first read them, from the exuberant One Hundred Tales to the unnerving The Summer Hikaru Died. For additional perspective on 2023’s best and worst manga, I encourage you to check out the well curated lists at Anime News Network, Anime UK News, Asian Movie Pulse, The Beat, The Comics Journal, From Cover to Cover, Okazu, and The School Library Journal.

Best New Manga: Okinawa
Story and Art by Susumu Higa • Translated by Jocelyne Allen • Lettering by Patrick Crotty and Kayla E. • Fantagraphics
There are books that critics like, and books that readers like. I’d put Okinawa squarely in the first category, as it has all the hallmarks of a Serious Manga™: slightly naïve artwork, historically important events seen through the eyes of ordinary people, and detailed footnotes explaining the story’s cultural and linguistic nuances. If I sound a little cynical, I was; I put off reading Okinawa for months after its release because so many reviewers rehearsed the same talking points about how “harrowing,” “heartbreaking,” “complex,” and “haunting” it was. After reading Okinawa, however, I have to admit the critics were right: Okinawa is a deeply moving exploration of the island’s fraught relationship with Japan and the United States. It’s also a tribute to Susumu Higa’s parents, whose memories of World War II pervade many of Okinawa’s most affecting stories; a celebration of Okinawan resilience and spirituality; and the best manga I read in 2023.

Best New Drama: River’s Edge“Story and Art by Kyoko Okazaki • Translated by Alexa Frank • Vertical Comics
River’s Edge offers a gritty portrait of adolescence before chat rooms, cell phones, and social media, focusing on the slackers and misfits at a Tokyo high school. Haruna Wakakusa, the protagonist, is caught between her fierce sense of justice and her ambivalent feelings towards her on-again, off-again boyfriend Kannonzaki, a horny, hot-headed loser who bullies weaker classmates. Over the course of the story, Haruna forges an unlikely friendship with one of Kannonzaki’s targets, an aloof young man whose popularity with the girls belies his true sexual orientation. Okazaki’s spare, stylish linework is ideally suited to the material, as the character’s exaggerated facial features and ungainly proportions remind the reader of how confusing, weird, and uncomfortable it is to be on the physical cusp of adulthood. Okazaki also nails the casual cruelty and cluelessness of adolescence: her characters’ impulsiveness, selfishness, and inexperience often compel them to betray each other in small (and big) ways that feel true to life even when the plot teeters on the brink of melodrama.

Best Classic Title: One Hundred Tales
Story and Art by Osamu Tezuka • Translated by Iyasu Adair Nagata • Lettering by Aidan Clarke • ABLAZE
Over the course of his long career, Osamu Tezuka published three series based on the legend of Doctor Faustus, among them One Hundred Tales (1971), which ran in Weekly Shonen Jump. Tezuka takes a few liberties with the original story: his hero is not a brilliant scholar in search of knowledge but a lowly samurai who’s been sentenced to death for his employer’s misdeeds. In a fit of desperation, he sells his soul to a witch and is reborn as Fuwa Usuto, a dashing young man who wants two things: love and power. What follows is a rowdy picaresque, as Fuwo ventures into the lair of an alluring demon, saves his daughter from an arranged marriage, and insinuates himself into the house of a foolish daimyo in his quest to become more worldly and powerful. These episodes provide Tezuka ample opportunity to insert pop-cultural sight gags—Christopher Lee and Astro Boy both make fleeting appearances—but they also showcase Tezuka’s flair for character design and panel structure; the artwork is fluid and playful, equally suited to moments of exquisite silliness and heartbreaking sadness as Fuwo stumbles towards transcendence.

Best New Horror Series: The Summer Hikaru Died
Story and Art by Mokumokuren • Translated by Ajani Oloye • Lettering by Abigail Blackman • Yen Press
The Summer Hikaru Died begins with a familiar scene: two high school buddies are clowning around outside a convenience store, trading good-natured barbs. But something’s off, and midway through a seemingly ordinary conversation Yoshiki realizes that he’s talking to an impostor who’s the spitting image of his friend Hikaru. Though the mystery of what happened to the real Hikaru is resolved quickly, many questions remain: is it possible for Yoshiki to befriend “Hikaru” even though he has no real memories of their relationship? And what, exactly, is “Hikaru”? Mokumokuren resists the temptation to provide simple answers, relying instead on suggestion to create a tense, atmospheric story that skillfully blends elements of body horror, BL, and fantasy in a fresh, unsettling way.

Best New Cat Manga: Nights With a Cat
Story and Art by Kyuryu Z • Translated by Stephen Paul • Lettering by Lys Blakesly • Yen Press
Though there are dozens of great pet manga now available in English, Nights with a Cat has something genuinely new to offer: simple, observational storytelling that doesn’t shamelessly tug on the heartstrings or anthropomorphize our furry companions. The series explores the relationship between Fuuta and Kyuruga, his roommate’s cat. As someone who’s never lived with a cat before, Fuuta is fascinated by Kyuruga, marveling at Kyuruga’s anatomy—his pupils, his sandpaper tongue, his retractable claws—as well as Kyuruga’s ability to silently materialize in surprising places. Kyuryu Z doesn’t play these moments for laughs, choosing instead to emphasize how strange and amazing cats really are with illustrations that capture the fluidity of Kyuruga’s movements and the changeability of his moods. Recommended for new and long-time cat owners alike. (Reviewed at Manga Bookshelf on 5/21/23)

Best Ongoing Series: Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest
Story and Art by Irie Aki • Translated by David Musto • Vertical Comics
After a two-year wait, a new installment of Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest arrived in stores this fall, demonstrating once again why this odd, delightful, and occasionally thrilling story deserves a bigger audience. Strictly speaking, Go With the Clouds is a murder mystery, but Aki Irie refuses to observe the basic tenets of the genre, frequently interrupting her story for interesting diversions: a fitful romance between supporting characters, a brief lesson on Icelandic geography, a casual conversation between Kei, the main protagonist, and his trusty jeep. What prevents the story from being twee or mannered is its matter-of-fact tone. In the first chapter of volume six, for example, Kei uses ESP to track a kidnapping victim through the streets of Reykjavik by chatting up parked cars around the city, a goofy gambit that works thanks to Irie’s superb pacing and commitment to character development; Kei’s methodical approach suggests that his ESP is something he uses on an everyday basis, not something that manifests per the plot’s demands. Swoon-worthy art and twisty plotting add to the series’ considerable appeal. (Volumes one and two reviewed at The Manga Critic on 8/30/19).

Most Disappointing New Series: #DRCL: Midnight Children
Story and Art by Shin’ichi Sakamoto • Based on Bram’s Stoker’s Dracula • Translation Caleb Cook • Touch-Up & Lettering by Brandon Hull • VIZ Media
Let’s face it: Bram Stoker’s Dracula sucks, marred by turgid prose and a convoluted form. In the hands of other creators, however, Stoker’s ideas have thrilled, titillated, and shocked six generations of horror buffs. The introduction to #DRCL: Midnight Children suggests that Shin’ichi Sakamoto might be one of those creators, as he offers the reader a claustrophobic, suspenseful riff on Dracula‘s most famous chapter, “The Voyage of the Demeter.” The rest of volume one, by contrast, is a fever dream of short, incoherent scenes that bump up against each other like commuters on a rush-hour train. Anyone familiar with Stoker’s original novel will recognize the characters’ names but wonder why Sakamoto re-imagined Renfield as a nun who’s chained up in a dormitory room or Mina Murray as a short, scrappy redhead who’s an expert wrestler. (Also: a dead ringer for Anne of Green Gables.) It’s a pity that the story is so fragmented and overripe, as Sakamoto has a fertile imagination; the first volume is filled with hauntingly beautiful renditions of Dracula himself that instill a sense of awe and fear that’s missing from the rest of the story.

Pick of the Week: Do Manga Count As Snacks?

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SEAN: Without an exciting debut, my eye always goes towards the series I’m most excited to see more of. And since I last read Ascendance of a Bookworm two months ago, I’ll go for the new A Certain Scientific Railgun, which I last read twelve months ago.

MICHELLE: It’s the Ace of the Diamond finale for me, all the way! Please appreciate that I resisted making a pun about it being a home run.

KATE: There a few short series that are ending this week, which seems like an optimal time to give them a try! In particular, I’m interested in Soloist in a Cage and That Time the Manga Editor Started a New Life in the Countryside. I’m also curious about WIND BREAKER, which got an enthusiastic write-up at SportsBaka, one of my new favorite manga blogs.

ASH: The beginning of a final arc sort of counts as a debut, right? Either way, I’ll go ahead and officially name Ascendance of a Bookworm as my pick for this week. I’ve definitely fallen behind, but I’m enjoying the series a great deal.

ANNA: Nina the Starry Bride is my pick, it is such an enjoyable fantasy series.

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 11

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y Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette.

(This review gets a bit spoilery about the fate of one of the main characters, be warned. Though I try to glide over it.)

We’ve seen Tearmoon Empire be a fun comedy, and we’ve seen it be an action thriller, and we’ve seen it be a romance as well. But we really have not seen it as a dark tragedy. Or rather, it’s only been seen in flashbacks to the bad future, where we see the consequences of Mia being unable to save everyone and getting executed. And that’s tended to be more along the lines of “my God, what have I done?” The latter half of this book, though, goes as closely as this series is likely to get into the tragedy mode, and I’m kicking myself that I did not pick up on the ominous foreshadowing in the last volume, which I cheerfully thought was “oh boy, secrets are going to be told once this arc gets finished!”. Unfortunately, this leads to the question of “why won’t secrets actually be told?”, and the answer is possibly “because the person with the secrets is now dead.”

We pick up where the last book left off, with the race between Mia, on her “slow but steady wins the race” horse, and Xiaolei, on her “fastest in the land” horse. If you’re suspecting we’re seeing a retelling of the Tortoise and the Hare fable, you’re pretty much dead on. Mia is, of course, trying her best NOT to win, for various reasons, but we already know how that’s going to go. She does, however, manage to unite the tribes. Which is good, as unfortunately while this was going on Citrina was kidnapped by the Chaos Serpents, led by Abel’s older sister Valentina. Mia goes to rescue her, and oddly she is allowed to take other people with her, such as Abel and Dion. Why, it’s almost like the Serpents’ goal is not merely to kill off Mia but something far more sinister…

This is the second book I’ve read recently that felt like a final volume of the series, enough so that the author needs to assure us it’s not the end. The cliffhanger ending helps, as we’re introduced to what appears to be yet another Tearmoon from the future (?). As for the book itself, Mia is pretty great in it (I always enjoy a good “I won’t let the villains die, that would be too easy on them, they will have to live on” plot), but honestly the emotional lifting is done by Citrina and Bel. I joked on Twitter that since Mia had changed the future so that she doesn’t suffer, Citrina had become Tearmoon Empire’s designated woobie, and it’s not wrong. The other reason that this feels like a final volume is that we get a ton of flashforwards to “the good future”, the one Mia will eventually get to, with everyone alive and married off. It’s nice to actually *see* Grandma Mia rather than just hear about her. As for Citrina… well, I suspect the start of Book 12 will help. At least, I hope so.

I haven’t even mentioned the other high point of the volume, where Valentina tells us what the Chaos Serpents actually are. This was one of the best in the series. And again, the arc ended at the end of the book! Keep it up!

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 17

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

This one is really doing its best to trick you into thinking it’s the final volume. Hell, look at the cover, which screams “and the adventures continue…” And to be fair, that is how it ends, it’s just we go along with everyone when they continue their adventures. But what this amounts to, honestly, is a soft reboot of the series, which had grown fat and placid on its regular cast, sci-fi backstory, and ended the last book with Mile having finally visited the final “non-human” race she wanted to see, and announcing to the world that the invasion of monsters from another dimension is imminent. There’s nothing left to do but have the final battle, which takes up the first 40% of the book. But after that? What do you do when you’ve won? Worse, what do you do when you revealed all because you were planning on dying, but then DON’T die?

We pick up right where we left off, with Mile imitating the MGM lion as she broadcasts herself to everyone in the continent. She then explains that the invasion is coming in the next few days, that most of the armies who have to deal with it won’t make it in time, but that’s OK, because the Crimson Vow will take on all 100,000 monsters for them. She also reveals that she’s Adele von Ascham. And “Miami Satodele”, for that matter. From there, the four of them go off to certain death… and are very surprised to find that the ENTIRE cast has come to help them in the final battle. Really, everyone who can fight shows up here, including the elves, the demons, and the dragons. Hell, I was expecting Lenny to show up (she did not, but we do see her later on). The battle is indeed tough – they absolutely would have lost without the help of everyone – but they prevail. And… um… the battle was also accidentally broadcast to the continent via Mile’s MGM widescreen. Whoops.

So yeah, now they’ve all achieved their goals. They’re all nobility. Pauline has a successful business. Mavis is an S-rank hunter and is Mile’s holy knight. Reina is also an S-rank hunter, and can publish her memoir. And Mile… has been captured by everyone who’s been trying to catch her since Book 1, and is now being forced to be The Holy Saint. Needless to say, after six months of this they’re all bored out of their gourds. So it’s time for that soft reboot – they all run away and go to a completely different continent. (the Wonder Trio, as well as the Princess, follow them, because we can’t leave EVERYONE behind.) This will allow the author to start over with slightly different baselines – for one thing, the monsters in this new continent are a LOT smarter than the ones we’re familiar with. That said, Mile is still Mile. I’m sure it will be fine.

If you were looking for an excuse to stop reading the series, this is basically the perfect volume to do so. If you want more Mile and company, good news, that’s coming. This was a fun “finale” that wasn’t.

Manga the Week of 1/10/24

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SEAN: The first 2024 manga list was a bit small. Will this week be any bigger?

We start with Airship, which has the print debut of Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City (Okiraku Ryōshu no Tanoshii Ryōchi Bōei: Seisan-kei Majutsu de Na mo Nakimura o Saikyō no Jōsai Toshi ni), which is another one of those “reincarnated with a useless skill that’s really super awesome” books.

ASH: I mean, I like the underlying message. There are just SO MANY of these titles.

SEAN: They’ve also got the 9th volume of The Saint’s Magic Power Is Omnipotent.

In early digital volumes, we see Berserk of Gluttony 8 (the final volume) and Raven of the Inner Palace 5.

Dark Horse has the 3rd volume of its Hellsing reissue.

ASH: It is a very nice reissue.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has I’m Not a Succubus! 4 and a 5th volume of the Survival in Another World with My Mistress! manga.

It’s print week for J-Novel Club, and they gift us with Ascendance of a Bookworm 22 (the start of the final arc!), In Another World With My Smartphone 27, the 6th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga volume, and the 3rd Tearmoon Empire manga volume.

ASH: Oh no, the final arc of Bookworm? I really do need to catch up sooner rather than later.

No digital debuts, but we see Ascendance of a Bookworm 29, the 14th Black Summoner manga volume, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Sui’s Great Adventure 5, An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups: This Gyaru Is Head Over Heels for Me! 5, The Mythical Hero’s Otherworld Chronicles 6, Record of Wortenia War 22, The Tales of Marielle Clarac 10, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 12, and When Supernatural Battles Became Commonplace 9.

In print, Kodansha Manga has Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 15.

Their digital debut is I Left my A-Rank Party to Help My Former Students Reach the Dungeon Depths! (A Rank Party wo Ridatsu Shita Ore wa, Moto Oshiego Tachi to Meikyuu Shinbu wo Mezasu), a shonen fantasy harem manga from Magazine Pocket. The title is the plot.

Also out next week digitally: Ace of the Diamond 47 (the final volume, though there’s a 34-volume sequel), Cells at Work! Lady 4, The Fable 22 (also a final volume), Gang King 13, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 16 (also also a final volume), Nina the Starry Bride 11, That Time the Manga Editor Started a New Life in the Countryside (also also also a final volume), Those Snow White Notes 13, and WIND BREAKER 13.

MICHELLE: So here for Ace of the Diamond. I’ll be able to have a nice marathon up to the ending, too. Hopefully it did well enough that the sequel will get licensed, too.

ANNA: And I’m glad for another volume of Nina the Starry Bride although I need to get caught up!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 5th manga volume of The Wrong Way to Use Healing Magic.

The debut from Seven Seas is The White Mage Doesn’t Want to Raise the Hero’s Level (Shiro Majutsushi wa Yuusha no Level wo Agetakunai) is a Comic Meteor title, and is a “sexy fantasy romcom”, at least according to the publisher. Looks like it might shift to Ghost Ship if things get a bit racier. Then again, it’s only 4 volumes, so maybe not.

Also from Seven Seas: A Certain Scientific Railgun 18, Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 7, Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 6, Karate Survivor in Another World 5, My Cat is Such a Weirdo 2, My New Life as a Cat 4, Soloist in a Cage 3 (the final volume), and The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter 3.

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give Soloist in a Cage a try; I better get on that.

SEAN: Square Enix has the 16th manga volume for The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest.

The debut for SuBLime is Daisy Jealousy, a one-shot BL title from Magazine Be x Boy. This is the same author of Happy of the End and Yarichin Bitch Club. Feelings get complicated between two up and coming video game designers.

ASH: And also Escape Journey, I believe. I could pretty easily be convinced to read this one.

SEAN: Viz Manga debuts Pokémon Adventures: Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, which… is a Pokémon manga, come on.

They’ve also got Case Closed 89, Dandadan 6, Fly Me to the Moon 21, Helck 7, Komi Can’t Communicate 28, Mao 15, and YO-KAI WATCH 22.

And yeah, that’s it. It always feels like a small week without Yen Press. What are you getting?