Reviews

By Jin (Shinzen no Teki-P) and Sidu. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On.

Writing something that is merely one part of a massive media franchise can in many ways be even more difficult than it is to create an original story – even if you’re the original creator. The writer has to balance out giving the fans who know everything already exactly what they’ve been expecting, and trying to create a space where new readers who may pick up the book sight unseen are encouraged to continue. Kagerou Daze is one of these books. It’s based on a series of songs created for the Vocaloid series, which became wildly popular. They thus spawned this light novel series (6+ volumes), a manga adaptation (also 6+ volumes), and an anime series with a completely different name (Mekakucity Actors, complete in one season and highly controversial.)

The novel is told in two parts, essentially. The first concerns Shintaro, a young man who has been holed up in his room for the past two years and whose narration verges on the histrionic, and Ene, his sentient AI whose job is apparently to annoy him so much that he forgets to be depressed. When his keyboard and mouse are damaged and the Obon holiday means he actually has to leave the house to replace them, he goes to a department store and gets caught up in one of the stupider terrorist attacks I’ve ever seen. The second and third sections are narrated by his sister Momo, a pop idol despite her best efforts who is having tremendous trouble dealing with the fame and the fact that she apparently causes it without really knowing why. She meets up with a group of teens who all have superpowers stemming from their eyes, and finds they can teach her how to control her own abilities to make everyone watch her.

So far so good, and the characters are all mostly likeable, though I think the guy whose outward persona is ‘be a jerk until people relax around each other’ is trying a bit too hard. There’s typical anime ‘types’ here – said jerk; the grumpy NEET; the ditzy younger sister (I know she’s bad in school, but 2 out of 100 is pushing it); the stoic girl with a side of tsundere, the shy to the point of extremes girl. The problem for me is that after finishing the first book (it’s quite short, probably the shortest of the recent Yen On releases), I’m not actually remotely sure where it’s going or what the plot is. There’s a cliffhanger ending of a sort, involving danger to someone we’ve never met before. There’s also interludes featuring a young sort-of couple who are apparently reliving the same trip to the park over and over again, possibly as one of them keeps dying, and it’s almost Higurashi-esque.

It’s diffuse. There’s very little to hang your hat on, so to speak. As I said above, these are based on a series of songs that, taken together, tell a sort of plot. I admit after listening to the first, “Artificial Enemy”, I am very glad that the creator chose to not end it by killing off the AI, who is annoying but probably the most amusing part of the cast. But it reads very much like a series where the author knows he can take his time to draw the plot out over several books as he has a built-in audience which will get it no matter what. That could be the case here as well – Kagerou Daze has over 2K stories on Fanfiction.net, even more than Sword Art Online. I just wish I knew more about what was going on.

By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in a Shogakukan magazine to be named later. Released in North America by Viz.

Readers of this manga will know already that it can be very, very violent and blood-filled. It’s not all buff babes and gyoza, there’s a good deal of death and dismemberment – the main reason it’s rated M, in fact. But even for Dorohedoro, Vol. 15 really pushes the envelope of what its readers can take, offering up some truly disturbing and grotesque imagery. And it’s actually rather fitting, as the main character sees his various personas fractured beyond belief… oh yes, and we find out that the main character has been a lot more characters than we may have previously believed.

This is not really news for anyone who has been following the plot of the last few volumes closely (and if you are one of those people, I commend you – I love this series, but half the time I can’t remember what’s going on), but this volume spells it out: Caiman = Aikawa = Kai = Ai. Of course, we as the reader know this, but the cast are still somewhat in the dark. The cross-eyes wonder why their boss doesn’t have the distinctive markings. Risu needs to know more about the details of his curse. And En’s group don’t really care about Ai, as they’re still trying to find a way to resurrect En, who is busy attempting to incite rebellion in Hell (and failing), thus showing us that he really is dead. But as we’ve seen in Dorohedoro, death rarely means much. (Unless you’re Natsuki. Sorry, Natsuki.)

Dorohedoro is so addictive in part due to its imagery, and there are some excellent examples here. It rains in the Hole, which is pretty much unheard of – and bad news for most sorcerers, who find it nearly crippling to them. Nikaido may now be able to use her magic to change time and other deus ex machina things, but it comes at a cost – her magic is now literally rendered as a giant gun with only 5 shots, and she’s already used one of them – four left and then she has no more magic ever. Oh yes, and she’s still dealing with the whole ‘devil horns’ thing. And as for Ai, fusing with a giant mutated monster covered with severed heads seems all too appropriate given what’s been happening with him.

This far into the series, I’m not sure there’s much to offer the new reader, but there’s also not much to make old readers drop it, either. What we’ve gotten before is what we get now. There’s some amusing humor scattered throughout. There’s some nudity and fanservice once in a while (for a certain definition of fanservice). Sometimes we get both together, as when a recovered Ebisu realizes she’s naked among a group of her close friends and completely freaks out. But most of all, Dorohedoro has finally started to answer most of the mysteries it’s been posing, and we’re eager to see what’s going to happen next. Will En be resurrected? Will Nikaido manage to save Caiman? Is there even a Caiman to be saved? Provided you can accept the fact that this volume is twice as disgusting as a normal Dorohedoro volume (is there such a thing?), you’ll enjoy pondering these questions as well.

By Kore Yamazaki. Released in Japan as “Mahou Tsukai no Yome” by Mag Garden, serialization ongoing in the magazine Monthly Comic Garden. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

There have been so many fantasy series released over the past few years that it can be a bit difficult to sort out the wheat from the chaff, and you find yourself looking for some plot point or character that makes the new license stand out from the pack of selkies, vampires, goblins and fairies that dot the manga landscape. I’m not sure that The Ancient Magus’ Bride possesses anything that makes it immediately leap out at a reader, expect perhaps for the skull of said magus himself. But what it does have it a strong plot, likeable characters, solid, pretty art and a desire to get the next volume in the series the moment you set the first one down. In other words, no flashy stuff here, just a very, very good book.

The premise is that a teenage girl who has spent most of her life shunned by friends because she can see “invisible things”, and whose mother has passed away, is kidnapped by a bunch of alchemists, who realize that she is a Sleigh Beggy, which is to say a giant magical sponge. Luckily for her, the one who purchases her is Elias, who may have a face like a cow skull and claim that he plans to make her his bride one day, but in practice seems happy to take her on as an apprentice, showing her the joys and dangers of a world where magic is slowly dying but still present, and allowing her to use her considerable power to try to help those in need.

As I said above, I’m not sure where the ‘bride’ thing is going, but given that Chise is 15, I hope it’s nowhere anytime soon. Chise herself is a fairly quiet, reserved type, as you’d expect from a child with her past – we see her pondering suicide in one flashback – but she is also very much attuned to the wonders of the world she is now part of. This can be dangerous – in the first chapters, she’s almost kidnapped again by “helpful” fairies who try to take her to their own land – but also tremendously heartwarming, as when she’s kidnapped AGAIN, but this time manages to help a dying dragon have a vivid and wonderful final dream before he passes on.

It’s a bit difficult to know what else to say in a review like this, as I don’t want to spoil too much, but I will say that I was smiling a great deal as I read it. There’s likeable supporting characters – Angelica in particular is awesome, and there are some interesting bad guys who pop up near the end as well. As I said before, the art is excellent, showing off the world it’s creating without being too complex or showy. And you really want to see Chise learning more and growing into her power fully, as well as realizing what life can hold for her and learning to love herself after spending so long on the edge of despair. There’s also some humor, mostly from Elias – or rather, against Elias, who gets beaten up for not remotely recognizing the trembling of a young maiden’s heart.

There’s nothing specifically outstanding about this title so far, but it doesn’t put too many feet wrong, and as such ends up adding up to something excellent. Mag Garden’s titles are somewhat genreless, but I think this is a title that could appeal to both men and women, even if it has a bit of a shoujo feel to it. Seek it out immediately.

By Yoshitoki Oima. Released in Japan as “Koe no Katachi” by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

There have been many manga releases here in North America that deal with the subject of childhood bullying – it’s a theme in Japanese manga that is getting more and more of a workout lately, as the ability to simply blame the victim and look away gets harder to do. This doesn’t mean, however, that it’s always accepted or welcomed. A Silent Voice won an award for its original one-shot chapter, but took years to get released as a series – in fact, there were apparently lawsuits. This is likely due to the fact that it has not one but two things that there is a desire to gloss over and not bring out into the open – childhood bullying, and disabilities.

The blurb on the back cover says the word heartwarming was made for a manga like this, and I can only imagine readers will finish the first volume and want to give the writer of that blurb a good swift kick, as this initial volume is all heartbreaking instead. You can see why this title was shied away from. It’s not shy about showing exactly how a culture of bullying works, and how quickly it can turn against anyone. It shows the apathy and outright cruelty of teachers, how parents can seethe with anger or merely stand there unable to do anything. And in the end our hero, who’s a childish brat who discovers that harassing a deaf girl is a good outlet for his anger and boredom, is driven to the point where at the end of this volume he’s looking to put all his affairs in order so that he can kill himself. This is a heavy book.

If there’s a fault in this initial volume, it’s that there’s really TOO many characters who we simply don’t like. Shoya’s boredom and desire for excitement (and lack of desire for learning) is understandable, but you desperately hope he will mature, and cringe as the book goes deeper and deeper into how he feels about Shoko’s mere presence. The children are quick to go along with what Shoya does, mostly as they find it incredibly annoying to have to deal with Shoko’s disability. And the kid’s teacher is loathsome, wanting nothing more than to shuffle these kids on and make sure they don’t do anything embarrassing, with a side dose of cruelty.

As for Shoko, she’s a bit of a cipher right now, aside from being shy, but there’s a bit of deliberateness in that. She is the outsider, the different one, the one who NEEDS special attention over the other kids. It’s notable that she’s deaf but doesn’t know sign language – a well-meaning but easily cowed teacher tries to get the kids to learn it, but that goes precisely nowhere. Shoko’s disability doesn’t automatically make her better, faster, or stronger like other cliched works – she’s an average kid, can’t sing because of her hearing… honestly, it’s seeing her insistent effort on trying to br friendly with everyone despite all the abuse that is the most heartwarming part of this series.

We end on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I suspect that this reunion will go poorly, but I really want to see more. Most of these characters are horrible, but the author does a great job of making you want to see them mature. And it’s also a good, non-shiny look at how disabled children might be treated in a society that believes the nail that sticks up must be hammered down. Definitely recommended.

By Yuyuko Takemiya and Akira Kasukabe. Released in Japan by ASCII Media Works, serialized in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

Sometimes a series has to work hard to get out from under the preconceptions it carries and also the tropes it seems inspired by. Evergreen is from the author of Toradora!, something I was rather surprised wasn’t mentioned at least on the back cover, and therefore already has some expectations since Toradora! is one of those rare harem series that actually is enjoyed by female readers. Unlike the author’s other series, this one is a manga original, though. It also has the extreme misfortune of coming out scant weeks after Kodansha’s shonen series Your Lie in April, which features a sullen teen who has given up on any hopes or dreams who is inspired by a gorgeous beauty who turns out to be rather eccentric. As it turns out, the series don’t really share much in common besides that, but there is a threat of “Manic Pixie Dream Girl” hanging over the whole thing.

Having gotten that out of the way, there’s a lot I enjoyed here. On-chan (if she gets a full name, I missed it) is really fun, carrying most of the comedy on her back, and having a nice love-hate relationship with Sora, who she will clearly end up with but for now is content to simply beat up. As for the two leads, the awkwardness both of them have interacting with each other is handled very well, and I like Hotaka’s imaginary “I am smooth and cool” fantasies that occasionally intrude before reality ensues. The awkwardness doesn’t just end with his relationship with Niki, though – his past guilt and physical condition have left him a bit broken, and I empathized with him a great deal when he visited his paternal grandmother, who is dying in the hospital.

I am interested to see if the plot goes in the direction that it’s hinting at, and how the manga will handle it. Hotaka’s heart condition seems to have a parallel with the sudden nosebleed that Niki got, and the visit to the grandmother reveals that there is another sibling who is supposed to be involved that we don’t know about. It’s not hard to put two and two together, but if I skipped every manga because of potential incest these days, I’d never read anything. I am pretty confident, having read Toradora!, which handles various serious plots like parental neglect and abandonment with a deft hand, that Evergreen is not likely to go down that road. And the art is quite pretty (fanservicey color page aside), making this a very smooth read. It’s only four volumes long, so I don’t think that any of the major plot bombs hinted at should drag on too long, and these are good kids, so I want to see them overcome their difficulties.

To sum up: Evergreen is not exceedingly original, and may rely a bit too much on some well-worn cliches, but its heart appears to be in the right place, and I want to see how it deals with the reveal I have a sneaking suspicion is coming soon.

By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa. Released in Japan as “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun” by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

I have to be careful not to repeat myself too much here, as the third Index novel is out in a couple of weeks and covers similar themes. But Academy City, as we’ve seen, breeds superheroes. Which is fine, except that you’re left wondering what they want an entire city of superheroes for. And when you get to the Level 5s, and the quest to get one of them to Level 6, be it Accelerator, Misaka, or what have you, it’s no longer about superheroes but about nuclear weapons testing. Many of the scientists we’ve seen in Index and Railgun regard morality and ethics as something that gets in the way of results – in fact, Yoshikawa may be the only nice scientist we’ve met to date (in Index), and she ends up almost dying for her sins. Gensei, on the other hand, is perfectly happy to wipe out the entire city in the name of science.

You’ll note that Misaka’s in the background of the cover art, while Misaki and Kuroko take center stage. That’s a somewhat accurate look at the volume itself – given that she is the weapon being tested, Misaka doesn’t get much to do here except be used. That said, the other two end up carrying the “women in this series are awesome” load very well, and Uiharu also provides assistance with her amazing hacking skills. Kuroko in particular is impressive, and reminds us how brilliant she can be when she’s not scheming to get into Misaka’s pants. Misaki outgambits not only the villain, but also herself. And then there’s Mitori, the main miniboss of this arc, who may be trying to help Gensei but is still, like the rest of the weapons being created in Academy City, just being manipulated herself. So after a mammoth beatdown we see her bonding with Misaki, and the two of them reuniting with their past.

I should also mention Touma, as he’s here as well, though doesn’t do as much as expected. (For Railgun readers wondering why Touma’s arm can turn into a dragon, the 2nd Index novel can help with that.) The author is quite fond of the grand gesture of “saving the girl”, and it’s not going to go away – the only way to keep it out of this title is to have him not appear. A better appearance here was Gunha, another Level 5 who had barely appeared in either series till this point. He’s even more of a shonen hero than Touma is, dealing with problems by punching them and insisting that “guts” is the solution to absolutely everything. He’s a nice light-hearted moment in what is otherwise a very serious book.

The arc wraps up here with almost a sitcom ending – Misaka is forced to dance with Touma at the conclusion of the athletics festival and Kuroko naturally kicks her way in between then – but overall this arc with Misaki and Misaka was one of the most satisfying of the entire series. Which is good, as it may be at least another year before we see a new volume here.

By Mamare Touno and Kazuhiro Hara. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen Press.

As I’ve said in a few Manga the Week of posts before this, the first I ever heard of Log Horizon was when I was researching Sword Art Online after reading that series, and TVTropes saying that the two series had a “fandom rivalry”. This is unsurprising, given that the two series essentially share a very similar plot – gamers suddenly find themselves trapped inside a game and have to find ways to deal with it. That said, once you get past that there’s a lot that’s different. In SAO you have “if you die in the game, you die in real life” lending an air of tension and menace to everything. Log Horizon, on the other hand, generates its tension from the opposite: even death merely has you regenerated at your start point, so there’s no point to anything at all.

Our hero is a quiet, thoughtful, introverted sort, who has those “mean eyes” that fans of Toradora! might recognize, and a tendency to see everything in a cynical way. He’s partnered with a big, outgoing guy who enjoys making perverted jokes as a way of breaking the ice (though, as we later see, he can’t take it when it’s dished out to him), and a quiet, even more introverted assassin who, once she’s in her proper body, proves that Ayanami Rei expies are still alive and well in the world of anime and manga. Much of the novel has them figuring out what the rules of this new-yet-familiar world are, realizing that a lot of combat techniques they did in their sleep seated at a computer are much harder when a genuine threat is speeding towards you, and trying to rescue a young girl trapped in a faraway city that has fallen into lawlessness as some people realize that since there’s no real consequence to death except that you get to loot their stuff, that that’s a great way to pass the time.

This is very much a novel for experienced MMORPG players, and has a lot more mechanics in it than SAO did. Given that I’m not a gamer, I found myself skimming the explanations at times. The characters fared much better – Shiroe and Akatsuki I especially liked, and I enjoy that the two suggested couples (though nothing’s likely to happen for at least 10 volumes is my guess) are both similar types – there’s no “opposites attract” cliche here. It’s actually refreshing seeing two introverts driving an action series at all, and that also came across very well. And the series’ worldbuilding is excellent, taking its time and showing us what you can and cannot do – the food problem is particularly frustrating for all involved.

I would say that I find Sword Art Online more exciting and gripping – Log Horizon has a certain dry tone that matches that of its hero. But it’s a very good start to a series, and I look forward to seeing how things go, and if “returning to the real world” even becomes a plot point at all – it’s mentioned very little here, with a lot of folks just assuming they’re trapped forever. In any case, between this, No Game No Life, DanMachi, and SAO, gamers certainly have their hands full of Yen On titles right now.