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86 –Eighty-Six–, Vol. 12: Holy Blue Bullet

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By Asato Asato and Shirabii. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Roman Lempert.

During the course of reading 86, we’ve been following soldiers who are very, very good at their job. Sometimes that job is simply not dying, but that doesn’t matter. They get the job done, they know what to do, they follow orders, but they also think about what’s behind them. They’re good folks. But of course we’re in the middle of total war right now, and the entire Federation cannot be made up entirely of really fantastic elite soldiers. Someone else has to fill out the ranks, to be bodies or ticks on a ledger. Someone who may not have the right schooling or tactical training, but can drive a truck or count supplies. They’re also very frustrated with the war, and increasingly upset with those in charge of it, especially after the hideous events of the last book. All this plus a company made up entirely of a low-level noble and those who follow her unquestioningly, and what do you have? A nightmare is what you have.

The repercussions of last book’s disaster are still being felt throughout the Federation. Everyone is feeling guilty and on edge. Lene is so burned out that she’s sent on enforced leave, and sits this entire book out. But there’s still work to be done. Years ago dams were built to change the course of a massive river, but the war has gone on, the habitats that were in the basin created by the dams are wiped out, and the best way to impede the legion now is to blow up the damn and reverse the effect. That’s what the Strike Package is here to do, and it should be quick and easy, since the Legion don’t know they’re there. Sadly, a rogue regiment called the Hail Mary have decided enough is enough, they’re going to win this war their own way, by stealing some leftover radioactive material left at a nuclear power plant and using it to make a bomb. Um. Yeah.

The books continue to examine prejudice very well, trying to show that it’s not simply a matter of “all the bad guys do it, all the good guys do not”. The Federation is supposedly all about freedom, but freedom also comes with responsibility for having that freedom, and that can be a very hard idea to get across. The people rescued from the Republic have not magically become good and kind after being rescued, and in fact are actively making things worse and using abused children to spy on enemy movements. And the soldiers formerly in the Republic who are now in the Federation army, like Lene, Annette, and others, are faced with resentment and anger, which simmers in the background of this whole book. On the bright side, once the Hail Mary Regiment are brutally dealt with, the actual dam mission goes swimmingly, and they defeat the Legion easily, giving everyone a big mood pickup. Maybe this isn’t a spiraling failure after all.

This series is now basically once a year, so we’ll wait a while for the next book. Till then: war is hell.

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 5

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By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

This has spoilers for the entire volume, sorry. They’ll be after the cover art.

We have been slowly working our way through the main female characters of this series. The second volume focused on Yuzuki, the third one Asuka, and the fourth one Haru. The cover of the first volume was Yuuko, but that volume was more an introduction to the entire cast, and the “heroine” of the volume was actually Kenta, the otaku “saved” by Chitose. So we haven’t really had a volume about Yuuko till now. The group seems to revolve around her and Chitose, and much of the time when she suggests something everyone automatically agrees to it. As we learn here, that’s been the case pretty much her entire life. She’s a spoiled princess, but unlike a lot of these characters remains kind and likeable. That said, she really wants people to treat her normally, and when someone does (Chitose), she falls for him hard. How’s that work out this book? Let me put it this way: she AND Chitose both think “I wish these happy days could last forever”.

It’s summer vacation, and there’s a lot of fun things Chitose could choose to do. He could go on a “we’ve agreed not to date but are still clearly hung up on each other” date with Asuka. He could play catch with Haru some more, who confessed to him last time if you recall. He could go see the fireworks with everyone, and have Yuzuki steal him away for a moment all to herself. He could meet Yuuko’s mom, who’s one of those “gosh, she’s so young-looking she looks like an older sister” types. Heck, he can even stay at home and have delicious food cooked for him by his not-wife Yua. But the back half of the book is dedicated to the cast going on a study camp, a 3-day outing where students and pick teacher’s brains while studying in a beachfront hotel. Studying does get done, I promise. That said, of course there’s beach time as well. In the midst of all this, Yuuko, who is very aware that she has not had a “plot” with Chitose to herself by now, takes drastic measures.

This book is written like a tragedy, with the wait for the other shoe to drop being excruciating. I kept waiting for Yuuko to tell everyone she’s moving to America or that she’s dying. But no, she’s just in love, very aware that all her other best friends are in love, and it’s killing her inside. The most devastating scene in the book has her asking Yuzuki, Haru and Yua if there are any guys they like, because they’re at a study camp getting ready to sleep, and that’s when you talk about boys. But the others girls, knowing Yuuko is in love with Chitose and “has dibs” because she’s the obvious choice – first girl we meet, got the first cover, etc. – all say they’re not in love with anyone. And that kills it. That makes her decide to knock it all over. So she confesses, knowing Chitose, who is absolutely not ready for this, will reject her. Which he does.

The book ends with Yuuko, surrounded by everyone else in the group, sobbing, and Chitose, also sobbing, surrounded by just Yua, who plays the saxophone to try to cover up his incoherent grief at the loss of his static but wonderful high school days. I bet she gets the next book, she’s the only one left. This is a great series, but the romcom aspect is definitely romdram this time.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: 5th Squad Jam: Finish

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By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

This is the 13th volume of the SAO:GGO series, and I’m pretty sure it has probably gone on longer than Keiichi Sigsawa originally planned it for. The nature of the series, after all, is basically “death game” only for once it really IS a game so we don’t need to worry about death. Which actually helps with the longevity. The cast here is large, and except for our main group we may not remember everyone all that well, but Llenn is not the only one who’s gotten famous, she’s just the poster child. We’ve also grown to see David’s seriousness as he tries his hardest to finally achieve something in a Squad Jam and always seems to not quite get there. There’s Vera, who took the series’ funniest running gag (the machine gun bros) and made them into the most dangerous team out there, taking out more of our main characters than anyone. And there’s SHINC, of course, who still don’t get to face off against Llenn. Alas.

The last volume ended with the shock of Shirley sniping Pitohui and removing her from the game. But there’s no time to dwell on that, as Llenn still has a bounty on her head and everyone wants the money associated with it. M, Fukaziroh, Boss, and Anna are trying to protect her while also getting to the center of the castle that is their final battlefield… because they’ve been told that the rest of the castle except that battlefield will soon ALSO drop off and doom everyone still in it to death by extreme falling. Clarence is holed up in a tower with good defense, but can’t really move. And Shirley has had her fondest wish granted, but is finding that “Sniper” is not really a good choice for the REST of this game. And wait, are those… ghosts?

Usually there’s one part of each book in this series that I am surprised, and here it was Pitohui returning as a ghost. I thought for sure she’d be back sooner, and torment Shirley, but no – the ghosts don’t show up till the climax, and she and Shirley never interact. Instead, the series does one of the things it does best, with is provide some ridiculous death, badass deaths, and badass AND ridiculous deaths in one book. The climax of the book is hilarious, exciting, and thrilling – I was not actually sure if Llenn really would get killed off by someone else or not till the last few pages, and everything about the rivalry between Fukaziroh and Anna – and, let’s face it, Fukaziroh in general – makes me giggle. There is even a smidge of depth here, as Karen/Llenn starts to realize, and later is told point blank by Fukaziroh, that she’s not the same shy wallflower she was at the start of the series – the game has been good for her in real life as well. It’s therapeutic.

We’ve caught up with Japan, so I’m not sure when we’ll get another of these. It’s a satisfying finish for fans of the series, though.

Rascal Does Not Dream of His Student

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa My Student no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

With the first two books in the “college” part of this series, I have struggled to see why it’s been ongoing at all beyond “this is now a franchise with ongoing multimedia, you will write more until we tell you to stop” coming from Dengeki Bunko. With this book, I think I’ve gotten a handle on where this is going, helped out by a much stronger “cover character” than the others, even if she’s far less likeable. The original Rascal books were, for the most part, “a traumatic event in someone’s past displays itself as external symptoms that are horrible”, with Sakuta attempting to fix things in the same way that Koyomi Araragi or Hachiman Hikigaya try to fix things, i.e. throw themselves at it with little regard to danger. But Sakuta has learned better by now, helped by Mai literally dying for him, and so self-sacrifice isn’t on the menu. More importantly, the external symptoms are now wonderful.

Sakuta is still doing his cram-school job while also attending college, working his part-time job, trying to figure out what’s up with the Santa girl only he can see, and also spending time with his girlfriend. This is a lot. The prophetic dream thing is still ongoing, and Sakuta has a dream that on Christmas Eve he’s on a train … not with his girlfriend, but with Sara Himeji, a new student in his cram school class who has had two cram school teachers apparently try to make a move on her and be fired. Sakuta is #3, and is determined to avoid that possibility, despite events conspiring against him at every turn. And there’s also the fact that Sakuta from the other world where he’s more competent has told our Sakuta that Mai is in danger because of Touko.

Sara may not be 100% likeable, but she’s one of the best characters we’ve seen in this series for a while. She’s basically not had to struggle her entire life, and people are naturally drawn to her. As a result, when something does not go the way she wants, it ends up devastating her in a way that’s pretty easy for Touko to exploit. The best part of the book is the solution to the problem, as Sakuta spends most of it doing detective work to try to find a way out of this dream future, and ends up going with “do what the dream says and see what happens. But then Mai invites herself along. Mai being part of the solution is something that works very specifically for Sara, who is poleaxed at seeing what a real couple really in love is like, and when Mai starts reeling off things she loves about Sakuta and informs her she can do this all day, it cracks the Adolescence Syndrome like an egg. You can see and hear Sara grow up.

There is an ominous cliffhanger to this book, which implies that once again the universe is out to kill Mai. That said, the title of the next book is Rascal Does Not Believe in Santa Claus, so presumably we’ll confront Touko at last.

Manga the Week of 11/29/23

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SEAN: The end of November, the start of December, and the time when the stores are far too full.

ASH: It can get a bit crowded at times.

SEAN: We start with Airship. In print, they’ve got How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 17 and Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 3.

And for early digital we have The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 5.

Cross Infinite World debuts A Young Lady Finds Her True Calling Living with the Enemy (Oguni no Kōshaku Reijō wa Tekikoku nite Kakusei Suru), a light novel about a woman married off to another country as part of war reparations, who has to fend for herself because everyone seems to hate her.

They also have Fluffy Paradise 2 and So You Want to Live the Slow Life? A Guide to Life in the Beastly Wilds 3.

Ghost Ship itself has no debuts, but there are two Mature BL titles that would likely fit here. Anyhow, the Rabbit Is Infatuated with the Puppy (Nanse Usagi wa Koinu ni Muchuu) runs in LiQuille, and is complete in one volume. An introverted office worker who plays MMOs as a beautiful bunny girl goes to an offline meetup with his wolf partner. Will sparks fly when they find out who they really are?

ASH: Mature BL, you say?

SEAN: Training Mister Sakurada (Sakurada-senpai Kaizou Keikaku) is also a one-shot, it ran in Reijin Uno!. A playboy who loves to sleep around with other women one day wakes up in a hotel to find his subordinate there… ready to show him the wonders of kinky gay BDSM. This was censored in Japan, but apparently will be uncensored here.

ASH: Interesting! I wonder how they went about doing that.

SEAN: Actual Ghost Ship has Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 7 and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 10.

J-Novel Club has two debuts, both manga. I Want to Escape from Princess Lessons (Hikyouiku kara Nigetai Watashi) is based on the light novel also released by JNC, and runs in Comic Pash!.

The Invincible Little Lady (Douyara Watashi no Karada wa Kanzen Muteki no you desu ne) is also based on a light novel released by JNC, and runs in Dra-Dra-Sharp#.

Also from J-Novel Club: The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects: Tales of Blue Dias and the Onikin Alna 2, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 18, the 2nd The Magician Who Rose From Failure manga volume, Moon Blossom Asura: The Ruthless Reincarnated Mercenary Forms the Ultimate Army 2, the 2nd My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer manga volume, Perry Rhodan NEO 16, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 10, The Saga of Lioncourt 6 (the final volume), and the 10th The Unwanted Undead Adventurer manga volume.

Kodansha Books has the 3rd volume of Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for my Retirement.

Kodansha Manga has an omnibus edition of Cells at Work!, with the first three volumes.

ASH: I am glad to see this remaining in print; the original series is a lot of fun. (And educational, too!)

SEAN: Also debuting, My Lovesick Life as a ’90s Otaku () is a josei manga from Kiss. A divorcee thinks back to her high school days, when she was a huge otaku but trying to hide it. She especially tries to hide it from her crush, a basketball ace who despises otaku.

MICHELLE: 100% here for this.

ANNA: Me too!

ASH: Josei, nice!

SEAN: Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 8, Beyond the Clouds 5 (the final volume), and the Naoko Takeuchi Collection version of Sailor Moon 5.

Digitally, we see Boss Bride Days 11, DAYS 38, Drops of God: Mariage 3, Gamaran: Shura 14, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 17, My Home Hero 10, Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! 8, and Teppu 4.

One Peace Books gives us Farming Life in Another World 9.

Seven Seas has a new danmei novel out, Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu 8. This is the final volume, and also comes in a Special Edition and a B&N Exclusive Edition.

ASH: Special and exclusive editions seem to becoming more prevalent.

SEAN: The manga debut is Gold Kingdom and Water Kingdom (Kin no Kuni Mizu no Kuni), a josei title from Flowers (!). Two nations at war pretend to resolve things by marrying off the most beautiful woman in one nation to the smartest man in the other… and then they both send pets instead. Can the two royals find love? Or at least pet snuggles? This is complete in one volume.

MICHELLE: Woo, more josei!

ANNA: OK, this sounds cute and if it is complete in one volume then I can’t fall too far behind in it.

ASH: I’m here for it, too.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 17, The Invincible Shovel 6, The Kingdoms of Ruin 7, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 2, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 5, No Matter What You Say, Furi-san is Scary! 5 (the final volume), Reborn as a Barrier Master 5, and A Stepmother’s ‏Märchen 2.

Square Enix Manga has the 10th volume of The Apothecary Diaries.

Tokyopop debuts Bergamot & Sunny Day, a one-shot BL title from Canna. A man who’s bad with relationships finds himself in bed with the owner of the cafe he goes to.

They’ve also got A Gentle Noble’s Vacation Recommendation 7 and Sengoku Youko 4.

Udon has a 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.

Two debuts from Viz. The 6th “arc” of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure debuts, with Stone Ocean. This one stars Jotaro’s daughter Jolyne.

ASH: Woohoo!

SEAN: There’s also Tekkonkinkreet: Black & White 30th Anniversary Edition, a 624-page hardcover for anyone who hasn’t already read this classic.

ASH: This is a really great work. VERY glad to see it coming back in print, and in a hardcover, too!

SEAN: We wrap up with Yen, which has a few titles. Debuting from Yen On is Agents of the Four Seasons (Shunka Shūtō Daikōsha), a fantasy about Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall as lovers.

Also from Yen On: Goblin Slayer 16, Liar Liar 2, and Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf 7.

And there’s a 2nd volume of Scribbles.

ASH: I somehow missed this was a series! Gotta love Kaoru Mori’s illustrations.

SEAN: Are you hiding from capitalism? Buy these anyway.

High School DxD: Supplementary Lesson Heroes

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

I’ve talked before about how difficult I find it to review this series without just constantly saying the same things over and over again. There’s only so many times you can say “this is just combining shonen battle manga with ecchi harem manga” before the audience starts to nod off. And it’s the same with this book. Boy, those sure are some cool fights. They sure do bust out new special moves they got after training hard. And yeah, Issei really likes tits, news flash, film at 11. With this one I thought I’d have a bit more to work with, given the last volume ended with Issei being killed off. As I read it, I also realized that I could talk about how all the women were sidelined so that the male characters could get all the important fights. I could talk about that as well! Then the author, in the afterword, says “hey, did everyone notice the women were sidelined and the men got all the fights?”. So back to the first of those points, I guess.

As you might guess, the bulk of this volume is narrated by Kiba, given that Issei is dead. Kiba is devastated by this, of course, but he’s also the only one who is not romantically in love with Issei (possibly… more on that running gag later), so he’s the only one who can actually tell us what’s been happening and what’s going to happen next without having it just be silence or sobbing. Because the Gremory Family is shattered. Rias and Akeno won’t leave their rooms, Koneko, Ravel and Asia can’t stop crying. Fortunately, the rest of the family is off getting extra training/powerups after getting the crap beaten out of them, so they’re not there to be devastated by the news. That said, even from the end of last volume we suspected Issei would be back. After all, the dragon has not found a new person to give its power yet. And the Evil Pieces are still linked to Issei. Can he possibly return from the dead? In a way that doesn’t involve breasts?

Believe it or not, the answer to that last question is mostly yes, though there is a certain amount of “clap for Tinkerbell” involving chanting the Breast Dragon catchphrase involved. But yes, Issei comes back from the dead, and may arguably be more powerful by the end of the book. And he gets a date with Rias at the end as a reward. As for the rest of the heroines, I hope that they take a lesson from this and try to get a bit less dependent on Issei, but I’m not all that optimistic – they are young women in love, and it is a shonen series. The heroine who comes off best in this book is, of course Kiba – and yes, he is described in the afterword as a heroine. I’m not usually fond of the whole “make lots of jokes about men being attracted to Issei but have him no homo his way out of it” as a plot device, but for some reason with Kiba it just works. It helps that he has no concrete romantic interest in anyone female.

We’re told this is the end of an arc, and the next arc will be introducing magic users and also getting deeper into Gaspar’s nature. That said… there’s another short story volume next. Gotta be patient, I suppose.

Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 5

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By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

In my review of the last book I mentioned that I was not entirely sure where the series would be going after this, since it seemed to end so decisively with the fourth volume: Natsuki has confessed to Hikari, rejected Uta as best he could, and also done a “God Knows” musical moment on the crowd. But of course, having a fulfilling high school life is the goal that he had when he went back in time, and romance is not the only thing in high school. That said… it is a pretty big thing. The Fellowship is still a bit broken after he made his confession, with Uta pouring everything into basketball and Tatsuya completely remaking his entire personality. And there’s the fact that he’s childhood friends and best friends with Miori… which makes everyone think they’re ALSO dating, and makes Hikari a little jealous (though she won’t say it out loud). That said, most of what we get in this volume is the other high school mainstay: sports!

No, it’s not a full blown sports festival (which is a shame, as I wanted to see some bread eating and scavenger hunt antics), but a ball game competition. The class divides into groups, each doing a different sport. For Natsuki’s class, the boys have basketball and the girls have soccer. That’s fine by Natsuki, who has all the training he got in his past life when he was trying desperately to be a cool athlete. But the actual cool athlete, Tatsuya, is still in an incredible funk over giving Uta up to Natsuki and then having Natsuki reject her anyway. As a result, he’s trying to BECOME Natsuki, pouring effort into studying to raise his grades. But does Uta even want someone who’s “just like Natsuki”? Also, is Miori finally going to snap, or will that wait till next book?

We’ve guessed that Miori has a hidden crush on Natsuki since the start of the series, but it’s now getting a lot less hidden. For one thing, she’s dealing with nasty rumors that she’s cheating on Reita with Natsuki, because they’re both on the Sports Committee and also clearly close. She’s also not dealing with with his new relationship with Hikari, trying to distance herself from him but failing, and pulling off a genuine “What if… I was in love with you all this time… ha ha just kidding… unless?”. Most importantly, Reita is well aware that she loves Natsuki, and is basically patiently waiting for her to either get past it, confront Natsuki, or break up with him. None of those things is happening. She and Natsuki are both much better at giving advice on love than dealing with it themselves, to be honest – Natsuki is flailing around trying to figure out how to behave when dating someone, and both he and Miori are fantastic when getting their cute nerd friends to confess to each other but less so otherwise.

So yeah, it turns out that returning to high school not only gets you a rainbow-colored youth but also typical high school drama. Still a fun series in the high school romcom genre.

I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again!, Vol. 4

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By Reina Soratani and Haru Harukawa. Released in Japan as “Kondo wa Zettai ni Jama Shimasen!” by Gentosha Comics. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Molly Lee. Adapted by Lorin Christie.

As I was reading the previous two volumes of this series, I was starting to get very disturbed by Yulan’s obsession with Violette, mostly as he’s clearly also meant to be the main love interest. That doesn’t really change all that much in this volume, at least on his end. That said, after reading this volume, I think I’ve changed my mind. Yes, Yulan and Violette are totally codependent, and, amazingly, they also have a maid who is also codependent to Violette along for the ride. But if it gets Violette out of this house, away from her abusers, and away from this family forever, then I honestly am OK with it. Be as codependent as you like. It’s better than the alternative. That said, there’s still another volume coming, so there’s surely some fresh new awfulness that can happen. I said in an earlier review I read light novels to have fun. This is not “fun” per se. But it’s spellbinding.

Yulan has finally arranged everything he needs to get Violette away. All he needs to do is to tell her. Unfortunately, Maryjune intercedes as he’s trying to do this and asks if she can speak with him first. What follows is Yulan ripping his mask off completely and destroying a young women in front of us all. He reduces her to ashes. Unfortunately, that also means he’s forced to wait till tomorrow to talk with Violette… and there may not be a tomorrow for Violette, as that evening she’s also visited by a devastated Maryjune, who begs her to say it ain’t so, say that they’re a real loving family and Violette is a wonderful sister… right? Violette makes a choice that I think was necessary, telling Maryjune exactly what she thinks about her and her family. Unfortunately, this also brings her father to the room.

I’ve left out a good 2/3 of the book, which reads like a thriller a lot of the time, because I don’t want to give it all away. I spent a lot of the time, as with the 3rd book, worried that Marin was going to die. She’s one of my favorites, essentially being in a non-romantic relationship with Violette that nevertheless is even more codependent than Yulan’s. He straight up says he wants Marin to come with as he’s pretty sure they cannot live without each other. The other fascinating character in this is Maryjune, who remains very NICE, in a derogatory way. She basically spends the book having her entire life torn to shreds in front of her, and if the last scene in the book suggests what I think it does, she may end up having an ending that I’d worried would happen to the rest of the cast. She’s done nothing wrong except be unaware of the reality of everyone around her since the day she was born. But that’s enough.

So yes, one time I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! punched me in the face! It was awesome!

Bookshelf Briefs 11/20/23

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#DRCL Midnight Children, Vol. 1 | By Shin’ichi Sakamoto | Viz Media – This is one of those books that I wouldn’t normally pick up except for that art. Horror is not always my thing, and I’m not sure I needed “what if Mina Harker were battling against sexism at an English boarding school and also looked like Anne of Green Gables?” But there is that art. WOW. That art. This book gets its way entirely through vibe. That’s not to say the story is not good or compelling—it is, and I like seeing some of the characters usually left out of adaptations get a look in. But when you’re seeing Renfield in a nun costume killing rats and making them dance like puppets, or men on a ship with plants growing out of their backs to destroy the crew? You’re a vibe manga. And what a vibe manga it is. Very recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 27 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – How much you enjoy this volume of Komi Can’t Communicate may depend on how much you enjoy Among Us, as a large chunk of the volume is devoted to the cast all playing a massive Among Us game, trying to find the imposter. (With the serial numbers filed off, of course.) Mostly what this does is demonstrate to us how far Komi has come since the start of the manga, and how well she now CAN communicate with others. That said, in many ways she is just a pure young maiden, and when the idea of kissing comes up, on the cheek is really the farthest she can go for the moment. That said, I’m pretty sure that more significant kisses are going to be happening soon. Doesn’t have the highs of the books in the teen volumes, but still good. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 14 | By Afro | Yen Press – Last time I mentioned we might be seeing new characters, and sure enough the two girls we met in the previous volume are new students at the school. This would be a great opportunity to increase the members in the camp. Except… camping is now so cool that every club is offering camping along with their normal activities, so no one wants to join a club for JUST camping! The new characters fit in pretty well, which is to say they are cute but also eccentric. As for the older cast, well, we don’t see as much of Rin in this book as usual, but we do see Aki go on her first solo camp adventure, and discover the wonders of nature surrounding your tent and the inability to know how harmless that nature is. This is hard to review, but is basically “nice.” – Sean Gaffney

She Loves to Cook and She Loves to Eat, Vol. 3 | By Sakaomi Yuzaki | Yen Press – Food is not only a joy to see in this volume because of the way the main characters gleefully prepare and devour it, but it can also be a way to find comfort from real life. The chapter where Kasuga has to talk to her father is nauseating but also very true to life, and we’re also introduced to a new neighbor, Nagumo, who has trouble eating a lot of food, and is also massively introverted in general. Fortunately, the power of food and friendship is strong in these women, and I loved seeing the get-together near the end with the three of them and Notomo’s friend Yako, the “normal” one in the series. That said, these two have pretty much realized they’re in love with each other, but haven’t taken things further. Next book, perhaps? – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family: The Official Guide | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – This is a standard guidebook, which means you should not expect anything earth-shattering in it. It doesn’t even have a short story or short manga, opting instead to have the author do various interviews with other manga creators, such as Blue Exorcist‘s creator. That said, if you wanted a guidebook for the series you love, this is the one to read. It goes through volume nine, which is to say right before we learn about Loid’s past, so that’s not in there. But you can learn how tall Loid is, or see the original character design and descriptions for Yor (the word “dumb” appears here, though I’d argue “ditzy” would fit a lot better). And there’s color pictures with annotations for all the promotional art the series has had, which is a lot. You don’t need me to tell you to get a guidebook, but if you like SxF this shouldn’t disappoint you. – Sean Gaffney

Spy x Family, Vol. 10 | By Tatsuya Endo | Viz Media – This book has two major events that dwarf everything else in it. The first is the massive 80-page chapter at the start that has a flashback to Loid’s childhood, which as you can imagine is filled with the horror of war and the death of loved ones. Heck, even when we think he’s avoided the death of loved ones it’s still coming. The second is the introduction of Melinda Desmond, Damian’s mother and Donovan’s wife. The series has been positioned to show Donovan as an abusive, or at least neglectful father, and that’s true, but seeing Melinda in this chapter may be even more chilling. There’s clearly something going on there, but we’re not sure what, and all we know is that she’s SCARY. This book is a turning point in the series. – Sean Gaffney

Tamon’s B-Side, Vol. 1 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – If you read Takane and Hana and thought to yourself “I want a different plot and different characters, but the exact same humor and vibe,” I have good news, because that’s what you’re getting here. Utage is a bonkers idol fan with a part-time job, and her top idol that she stans is Tamon. But when she arrives at her part-time housekeeping job one day, she discovers it’s Tamon’s apartment… and that in real life, he’s a desperately introverted self-loathing pile of poo, who is constantly saying he wants to quit. The premise is that no idol of hers is going to have that attitude, so she’s going to snap him out of his funks and get him back in the groove. The humor is that the two of them are completely bananas. I had a lot of fun with this. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 14 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – The main couple in We’re New at This do not feel that they’re ready for children of their own yet, and they’re probably right. They both need a bit more maturity. But they’re getting there, and the scenes where we see them with other kids, or dealing with Sumika’s pregnant friend, shows they will eventually be terrific parents. As for the “horny” side of this title, it’s absolutely still there too, with an entire chapter devoted to shaving pubic hair, and how Ikuma likes it on Sumika and Sumika does not. The author’s other series, Ao-chan Can’t Study, was also ridiculously filled with sexual stuff, and I get the sense that’s the hook to draw readers in so that they can get hit with the very sweet, relationship goals stuff that is the other half. – Sean Gaffney

Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 11 | By Kamome Shirahama | Kodansha Comics – This isn’t a yuri manga, but I would not blame fans for chipping Coco and Agott as hard as possible, especially after this book. Coco is a lovely girl who inspires everyone around her, but like so many of those characters she thinks very little of herself and her own needs. Agott dwells on herself and the others who have wronged her in the past too much, and oddly finds inspiration in Coco being stuck and frustrated like a normal person. Sadly, Coco’s original idea is practical but not cool, so no one likes it. But with a little help from her bestie, it becomes 100% cool and useful. It would be a shame if they aren’t able to achieve anything because of the incursion of a giant monster over the city tied in to Custas… oh, hi, cliffhanger. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: An Innocent Manga

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SEAN: There’s a clear 100% pick for me. Dark Horse’s release of Innocent is something I’ve been waiting for since it was announced. That it’s coming in three massive 650-age omnibuses makes it even better. The story of Charles-Henri Sanson is masterfully adapted in this, and the art is amazing.

KATE: I’m curious about Innocent, though the preview I read at The Comics Journal made me wonder if the exposition-heavy dialogue would drive me bananas. (Show don’t tell, people!) My vote goes for Team Phoenix instead; when Sean described it as “a Bessatsu Shonen Champion series that asks the question “what if the most iconic characters in Tezuka’s manga became space pirates?” I immediately pre-ordered a copy.

MICHELLE: I’m intrigued by the space pirates, no doubt, but yes: Innocent all the way.

ASH: Innocent is my pick this week, too. I’ve actually been waiting for it even before it was announced. It was one of those series that regularly popped up on my radar; I would invariably be left wishing that it would be licensed. And now its release is nigh!