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Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, Vol. 6

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By Natsume Akimoto and Kakao Lanthanum. Released in Japan as “Sentouin, Hakenshimasu!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Noboru Akimoto.

Given this is a series about an evil organization, it’s not a surprise that there haven’t been very many heroes seen so far – at least not by the standard definition – and those we have seen have been quietly shuffled away as quickly as possible. Six and company are not battling against a heroic organization, they’re battling against the Demon Lord in order to gain control of this planet. And even that battle was taken care of last time. So it’s no surprise that we need something to fill the void, and it comes in the form of Adelie, a self-proclaimed Hero of Justice who has all of Amelia’s vim and vigor but none of her political savvy. She’s here to stir things up and set the table for the next arc, and she does a great job of it. Plus, for the second new character in a row, she doesn’t remind me immediately of someone from KonoSuba. The two series are gradually separating from each other.

The Demon Lord and her people have settled rather nicely into Six’s organization, as you can probably see by her presence on the cover. She continues to be the one person in the entire series that is sweet as pie and always means well. Even when she tries to remind herself she has to be evil now. Actually, Six’s group has sort of turned into a combination refugee camp and soup kitchen, and there’s not really a lot of evil points being acquired as we start the book. That said, though, there is someone who is going around causing chaos and ruining everything… and no, believe it or not, it’s not Snow either, as even Snow gets to have one or two moments of triumph in this book. No, it’s Adelheid Kruger, the Umbral Savior! She’s here to see how evil everyone in this Kingdom is, and she finds, well, Snow, who is happily taking bribe after bribe; Six and Alice, who are happy to throw anyone to the wolves for their own gain; and even Princess Tillis, who may seem to be trying to hold the kingdom together (she’s even doing her best to say Dick Festival now), but who may have the blackest heart of all…

This book is a lot of fun, even the ending battles. Everyone gets a chance to be cool and a chance to be incredibly dumb, which is the best reason to be reading this author. Rose shows that she cannot read the emotions of even the simplest minds; Grimm’s jealousy leads to more deaths and more curses,, and Snow is of course horrible all around. That said, Snow briefly turns into a real military soldier here when her entire life is on the line, and I loved the epilogue where it pointed out that, despite the bribery, she actually was being a very good governor and making sure everything ran smoothly. Combatants likes to look at the definition of what Good and Evil are and make people think harder about it.

That said, this is the last volume to date – despite the anime coming and going, there’s no sign of Vol. 7 over there. So it may be a while. Till then, this is a strong entry in a series where everyone is pretty scuzzy – but not TOO scuzzy.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 3

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By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alex Keller-Nelson.

The third volume in this series is very much “Part 2” of the second volume, as we ended with a nasty cliffhanger last time. Pete is in the hands of Ophelia, along with several other boys from the school, and is not expected to be found alive. Our heroes need to go after him, but the labyrinth is not off limits for no good reason, and there are also upper-year students also searching for them. Still, Nanao, Oliver and Chela are actually good enough to survive it, and are joined by a former enemy who turns out to be helping them… though not necessarily out of the goodness of her heart. While this is happening, we get the tragic backstory for Ophelia, who is a succubus whose scent can inflame male passions, and therefore not only had trouble making friends when she first got to school, but was slut-shamed to the point where it drove her to… well, bad actions. Can she be saved? Can she at least have a remotely peaceful death?

It was mentioned to me on Twitter that this series probably would work better in animated form than it does as prose, and I can certainly see why. There are an awful lot of cool battles here, and while they are definitely cool enough being described to us they cry out to be seen. Each of our six protagonists gets something to do… though Katie and Guy can only help in indirect ways, and Pete, of course, has to do something about their own kidnapped situation. Pete’s reversi nature is rapidly becomeing a far more well-known secret, which I suspect might have consequences in future volumes, especially given the fate of one of their support mechanisms here. And yes, Oliver is clever, Chela is clever, and Nanao is… well, NOT clever, but she’s very battle savvy, and her not cleverness can provide some of the few light moments in this book.

Those who have read my previous reviews know that I have been studiously avoiding mentioning a certain other well-known fantasy series that Seven Spellblades reminds everyone of, and that comes into play here as well, as a lot of what Ophelia goes through is reminiscent of another group in that series. That said, Ophelia’s is far darker and more tragic. Her backstory is welcome mostly as it shows us that she was once also a first-year who was slowly drawn into a group of friends, just like our heroes at the start of the first book. It shows us that we should not get too comfortable, and that any of of them could easily be sharing an equally tragic fate in the next few books. My money, in fact, is on Oliver, who may be the main character but also has far too many weak sports.

The main weak spot of this book is the ending, as the book simply stops like a Target Doctor Who paperback that has reached Page 128. I’m not sure if the author was trying to set a somber, downbeat book with that or was working to a pagecount, but either way, I think an epilogue would have been better here. That said, it’s still another strong volume in the series, and I eagerly await the fourth book, where apparently our heroes move up a year.

Also, love Milihand, and I really hope she sticks around as a regular character, or at least a mascot.

How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart, Vol. 1

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By Kakeru Takamine and Ichigo Kagawa. Released in Japan as “Kouri no Reijou no Tokashi Kata” by Monster Bunko. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by Alejandro de Vicente Suárez and Noor Hamadan.

We’ve discussed this before. In order to make the male lead of a romance – be it light novel, manga or game – appeal to the average reader who is basically plastering their face on his, they must have as few defining traits as possible. They should have middling to lower grades – but not actually failing – and either be average at sports or avoid them altogether. They tend to be members of the Go Home Club, unless of course the romance in question involves a club, which it usually does. This is all very well and good, but it always leads to the question: what on Earth does she see in him? In fact, “they”, because usually these sorts of books have multiple girls all falling for the hero. Fortunately, How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart, in addition to avoiding most of these pitfalls, has an excellent answer as to what she sees in him and why her heart melts: HE CAN COOK.

Asahi is a young man who is somewhat reserved, not really prone to sarcasm or cynicism, and his biggest problem seems to be dealing with his best friend and his best friend’s girlfriend – who are both very loud, energetic, and flirty with each other. He doesn’t pay much attention to his classmate Fuyuka, a stoic young woman who is the Ice Queen of the title – she avoids interpersonal relationships. One day, when she does not show up for school, he finds that not only does she live next door to him in the apartment complex, but she’s also suffering from a bad cold and high fever. Initially throwing off all attempts at his help, she finally gives in after passing out in the hallway. After he cares for her and makes her food to feel better, she tries to pay him back, at first with plain old cash (he refuses), then by helping him study. From here, romance blossoms.

There’s not really a great deal to this book beyond the romance – it is here for one thing and that is seeing these two nice kids slowly start to fall for each other. Naturally, Fuyuka’s ice queen reserve is more “socially awkward” than anything else, though she seems to have a tragic past. Asahi does not have a tragic past per se, but he does have two “famous” parents and their restaurant, which is the main reason he’s living by himself. The two mostly bond through cooking lessons (him) and study lessons (her), and we also get a sports festival which involves a prize which traditionally is given to the person you love, trying to hide your not-quite-relationship from the two Worst Best Friends out there, and how to negotiate a night out on Christmas Eve when it’s spent at a restaurant not only run by Asahi’s parents but literally named and themed after him.

It’s sweet. It’s heartwarming. It’s got virtually zero drama or wacky comedy shenanigans – there’s not even any fanservice! It is a light novel you could happily introduce to your parents – though beware if your parents are as goofy as Asahi’s. I liked this a lot.

Manga the Week of 8/4/21

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SEAN: August! Is there any dog manga?

MICHELLE: Guru Guru Pon-chan?

SEAN: Airship has two print debuts of light novels we’ve talked about before when the early digital came out: The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 1 and Loner Life in Another World 1.

Airship also has, in print, Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! 13, Neon Genesis Evangelion ANIMA 5 (the final volume), and ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! 4.

Digital-first, the debut is The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! (Murazukuri Game no NPC ga Namami no Ningen to Shika Omoenai), a light novel about a NEET shut-in who gets a game in the mail featuring NPCs he can control and guide as their “god”. Trouble is, these NPCs feel very, very real. This is from the creator of Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, so I’m more intrigued than I normally would be.

Also we have Muscles Are Better Than Magic! 3.

Dark Horse has a 3rd deluxe hardcover version of Blade of the Immortal.

Denpa Books has the 4th Pleasure & Corruption.

Ghost Ship debuts JK Haru Is a Sex Worker in Another World (JK Haru wa Isekai de Shoufu ni natta), the manga adaptation of the light novel that J-Novel Club released several years ago. A high schoolgirl and her creepy classmate are killed and reincarnated in another world. He’s an adventurer. She’s… not. Despite the description, if this is as good as the light novel, it should be well worth a read. It runs in Shinchosha’s Ufufu, which is quite a magazine title in itself.

J-Novel Club, for light novels, gives us I Shall Survive Using Potions! 7, My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 9, and Slayers 9 – the first previously untranslated volume in the series.

On the manga end, we see Black Summoner 3, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 6, The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 7, and Marginal Operation 8.

Kaiten Books has, digitally, a 2nd volume of Gacha Girls Corps.

Kodansha has a print debut that may seem a bit familiar: Battle Angel Alita is coming out with a new translation in paperback. This is the original version from 1990. It also sounds very familiar because I wrote this two weeks ago – it got bumped.

Also in print is Sachi’s Monstrous Appetite 3.

Kodansha’s digital debut is I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability (Tensei Shitara dai Nana Ouji dattanode, Kimamani Majutsu o Kiwamemasu), a Magazine Pocket about a magic nerd reincarnated as the 7th prince… meaning he has tons of time to do nothing but research magic.

Also digitally, we see Chihayafuru 27, Drifting Dragons 10, My Dearest Self with Malice Aforethought 7, Shangri-La Frontier 3, With the Sheikh in His Harem 4, and Ya Boy Kongming! 3.

MICHELLE: Yay Chihayafuru!

ANNA: I’m so far behind!!!

SEAN: Seven Seas has three debuts. Happy Kanako’s Killer Life (Shiawase Kanako no Koroshiya Seikatsu) is a long-anticipated title from pixiv about an OL who accidentally finds she’s become a crack assassin… but what are morals when the pay and alcohol are good? I’ve seen some of this, and it’s hysterically funny.

MELINDA: Interesting???

SEAN: Pompo: The Cinéphile (Eiga Daisuki Pompo-san) runs in Media Factory’s Gene Pixiv, and stars a fantastic movie producer… who happens to look like a little girl.

Lastly, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs is a manga adaptation of the light novel (which we’ve already seen) which runs in Fujimi Shobo’s Dra-Dra-Sharp#.

Seven Seas also has Bite Maker: The King’s Omega 2, Days of Love at Seagull Villa 3 (a final volume), I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 2, Rozi in the Labyrinth 2, and Servamp 15.

Tokyopop has the 3rd volume of Laughing under the Clouds.

Viz debuts the start of the 5th arc of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind!

That said, the big story is what’s ending this week. We get Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 23, Haikyu!! 45, and The Promised Neverland 20, all of which are the final volume. That said, Haikyu!! already has an After Story in Japan, and Demon Slayer became such a monstrous hit you know we haven’t seen the last of it. As for The Promised Neverland, I think it stands as a good example of why popular titles can sometimes fail if they run too long.

MICHELLE: I’ll finish The Promised Neverland, but of course my heart here belongs to Haikyu!!.

ANNA: There are many Haikyu!! fans in my household.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Black Clover 26, Chainsaw Man 6, Jujutsu Kaisen 11, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 20, Kaze Hikaru 29 (!!), The King’s Beast 3, Snow White with the Red Hair 14, We Never Learn 17, and Yona of the Dawn 31.

MICHELLE: Oh, it’s Kaze Hikaru time again!

ANNA: Kaze Hikaru time is the best time of the year! I’m also excited for <Snow White with the Red Hair and of course Yona of the Dawn.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press has the 2nd Uncle from Another World.

Oof. Any highlights?

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 7

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda.

Last time I talked about how one of the most interesting aspects of the Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear series for me was the fact that it kept getting dark, despite being about cute girls doing cute things. Naturally, this new volume therefore has none of that, with no dark moments and very little real conflict at all. It is almost pure fluff. Fortunately, I am at a point right now where I need pure fluff, so this book was like a nice balm to my soul. If there’s any conflict in the volume it comes from Fina, who is still terrified whenever she has to be around nobility, and here is passed off the Ellelaura and the actual King. She’s convinced that she’ll do something to screw up and get herself executed, and spends the entire time in a froth. Yuna, of course, does not understand this at all, not even when Fina spells it out for her later in the volume. Yuna has no issues interacting with anyone, of course.

We start off with Yuna going into the mines to deal with the pesky respawning golems. She’s joined by the friendly adventurer party we’ve seen before, and also opposed by a rival adventurer party, whose leader is quite a jerk. (Yuna, amusingly, compares the rival party to the Power Rangers.) Unfortunately, most of the things Yuna does to defeat enemies would also cause a cave-in, so trying to get to the golem that’s the cause of all of this is going to need a bit more strategy. After this, Yuna manages to score mithril knives for Fina and her sister (who is seven, but it’s never too early to give a child a knife) and some mithril weapons for herself. The rest of the book is made up ,mostly of cooking, as Yuna finds one of Morin’s relatives in the capital who wants to be a baker and sends her to Cremonia to meet up, and then invents strawberry shortcake.

In general, the funniest parts of this series involve either a) Yuna getting belittled for wearing the bear onesie, or b) Yuna having no concept of social customs, mores, or ethics. We get both of those here, with the highlight being when Yuna gives Fina the mithril knife – for free – and then tries to give her another one for her sister, and Fina simply loses it, berating Yuna in the middle of the street about how much mithril costs normally, and that Yuna cannot simply live her life not giving a crap about the economy, giving away all this and expecting nothing in return. This is especially true of Fina, a very serious girl who is unfortunately saddled with Yuna for a best friend. Other highlights include Yuna visiting the royal family with her bears in cub form, and finding it very hard to get Flora and the Queen herself from letting go of them.

So yeah, nothing much happens, but it’s cute. This is what folks think every volume in the series is like. That’s not really true, but this is fine too.

Memoirs Most Charming, Part 1

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I’ve read a handful of charming memoirs lately, and more are on the way!

luckyguyI’m a Lucky Guy by Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr.
This was a reader suggestion from Anne!

Here, Frank B. Gilbreth, Jr. (writing without sister Ernestine, his sometime collaborator) recounts various happenings and misadventures from his early adulthood, beginning in 1929 when he’s headed off to college and ending somewhere around 1946, when he has returned from serving in the Navy and resumed his career as a newspaperman. These include things like going out for football whilst scrawny, being mistaken for a gun-toting gangster whilst attempting to hide booze (prohibition was still on) from the cops, pranking an odious professor (and, later, an odious superior officer), and repeatedly failing to live up to the standards of a demanding admiral to whom he has been assigned as aide.

On the whole, I found all of these stories entertaining, though the sole moment that made me laugh out loud was when Frank’s soon-to-be wife and mother-in-law completely excused the lascivious behavior of his friend, which a moment before had scandalized them, upon learning he was Methodist (their preferred denomination).

“You don’t think he’s a Ten Commandment breaker?” I asked.
“Why, I’d trust him any place,” Liz said indignantly.
“So would I,” said her mother. “I’ve always said that people shouldn’t be judged by circumstantial evidence.”
“You’re so right,” I assured her.
“Probably,” she continued, fishing around for a likely excuse, “probably—well, probably the doctor sent that girl over to your apartment to change the boy’s bandage, again, before he went to bed.”
I was tempted to break into a high-pitched giggle, but I looked at Liz and caught a warning.
“That’s probably just the way it happened,” I nodded gravely.

Unfortunately, it does seem Frank shares a little of the antipathy toward overweight people that his sister possesses. I don’t mind when he accurately describes a person’s physical characteristics—if a bosom is ample and an abdomen abundant, there’s really no getting around that—but when he makes comments about fellow student Sallye—whom he later proclaims to be “a real friend”—like no “male student in his right mind” would give her their fraternity pen, it’s just unnecessarily mean. True, Sallye has a tendency to be loud and overbearing, and I’m fairly sure that’s part of what he meant, but not the whole of it.

That criticism aside, I did enjoy this book and I’m glad I read it. Thanks, Anne!

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography by Eric Idle
Initially, although it was an enjoyable read, I wouldn’t have classified this “sortabiography” from the Monty Python co-founder as charming. Idle recounts his childhood, school days, introduction to the world of comedy, the formation of Monty Python, the run of the original series, and the Python movies without a tremendous amount of detail. He does elaborate more about his independent endeavors, and I especially appreciated learning more about the creation of The Rutles. Using the song “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” as a sort of framework, Idle chronicles the various circumstances after The Life of Brian where he was called upon to sing it, ranging from Graham Chapman’s funeral to the Royal Variety Performance to the closing ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

As is common for a book of this type, there is a lot of name-dropping, but in this case a lot of the names were people I genuinely like, like Harry Nilsson, George Harrison, David Bowie, Stephen Fry, Peter Cook, Robin Williams, and Eddie Izzard. And, too, Idle toots his own horn rather frequently, which is admittedly justified when you’ve accomplished as much as he has, and makes sure readers know there were times in his life when he was having loads of sex.

Where he really shines, though, is penning touching tributes to friends who are no longer with us. My husband and I listened to Idle read the unabridged audiobook version together, and by the end of the chapter entitled “George,” we were both in tears. The chapter about Robin Williams is no less lovely. I cannot stress enough how wonderful these two chapters are; they alone are worth the price of admission. It does make one wonder why he doesn’t delve so deeply into the character of his comedy partners, and only makes a few mentions of Terry Jones’ dementia, but perhaps it is because they were all still living in 2018, when the book was published. I shall have to find out whether Idle penned any tributes to Jones on the sad occasion of his passing last year.

savagesLife Among the Savages and Raising Demons by Shirley Jackson
I’d heard such good things about these books, but my reaction to Life Among the Savages wasn’t what I expected. True, some of the “lightly fictionalized” anecdotes Jackson relates are somewhat amusing, like the family’s struggle to find a house to rent in Vermont, or insisting to the hospital intake person that her occupation is “writer” as opposed to “housewife,” or her son’s fascination with all the gory details after he gets hit by a car. But the vast majority of the stories involve her children behaving badly, and I had very little patience with these at all.

I imagine that other mothers sympathize with these episodes. Perhaps they see their own experience reflected, and so they laugh but also feel all warm inside, in a loving, maternal way. Not so me, I’m afraid. No, whenever the son showed arrogant condescension toward his mother, or her daughter became intolerably fixated on proper decorum, or one kid or the other was insolent and disrespectful, it just made me angry. In fact, I might have said “Shut the fuck up!” aloud a time or two. This is why it is probably a very good thing that I am not a parent.

Thankfully, Raising Demons contains less of that sort of thing (though significantly more than none). I really loved the section in which Jackson waxes nostalgic about her adolescent obsession with making clothespin dolls and her snarky description of life as a faculty wife (who is expected to have “hemming dishtowels” among her hobbies). The story of how she got a new refrigerator was a highlight, as well.

You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism by Amber Ruffin & Lacey Lamar
Having seen and adored whimsical clips from The Amber Ruffin Show, I was very excited to see that Amber Ruffin and her older sister Lacey Lamar had written a book together. Although the topic is racist incidents the sisters have endured (mostly Lacey, who lives and works in Omaha), the approach at least attempts to be light-hearted. These aren’t stories where someone gets hurt or dies; instead, they elucidate the kind of crap Black people are just expected to swallow or forget.

I did laugh a few times, particularly at Ruffin’s effervescent line delivery—I listened to the unabridged audiobook read by the authors—but after a while, the unrelenting wave of absolutely flagrant ignorance and hate becomes overwhelming. The commentary on the stories is funny, but the situations themselves are stressful and horrible and eye-opening in the most abject, despair-inducing kind of way. I have never been one to deny that racism exists, but I admit to being surprised and horrified by a lot of these stories, espcially the awful things done to kids. A beautiful drawing torn to shreds, a group of teens accused of stealing car keys when none of them is old enough to drive, kids threatened at gunpoint by a crazy neighbor but nobody calls the cops because who will the cops believe… I also feel terribly naive for being surprised.

I’m glad I read this.

nutsinmayOur Hearts Were Young and Gay and Nuts in May by Cornelia Otis Skinner
Note: The former was co-written with Emily Kimbrough.

Our Hearts Were Young and Gay recounts the three months in the early 1920s that two young American women spend abroad in Europe, written when they are older (“Emily and I have now reached the time in life when not only do we lie about our ages, we forget what we’ve said they are.”) and nostalgic for more innocent days. It’s written in Cornelia’s voice, though Emily provides many of the details, and tells of the time their ship ran aground, the time Cornelia caught the measles and evaded quarantine, the time they met H. G. Wells and Emily made an embarrassing first impression, the time they mistook a brothel for a boarding house, the time bedbugs gave Cornelia a swollen lip “shining like a polished tomato,” the time their dogs piddled in a swanky Parisian restaurant, etc. For the most part, it’s quite amusing, but there are a few comments that expose the girls’ ignorant attitudes regarding people of other races and sexual preferences.

Rather than focusing on one particular adventure, Nuts in May is a collection of humorous yet unrelated anecdotes Skinner wrote for publications like The New Yorker. Topics include but are not limited to: actors being asked to lend their talents in aid of charitable organizations, a Protestant family’s audience with the Pope, people who laugh at anything, dizzying real estate transactions, and being interviewed by Dr. Kinsey. Occasionally, the tone turns more domestic and reminds me some of Shirley Jackson, such as in “Bag of Bones,” when Skinner’s son insists that the bones they find on a Colorado trail belong to a dinosaur, or “Those Friends of His,” about her son’s reticence on the origins of his friends who come to visit. The latter also makes reference to a car “teeming with hamsters,” which is a phrase and a visual that I adore. Indeed, there were quite a few giggles to be had, and I reckon I might seek out more of Skinner’s work in the future.

High School DxD: Vampire of the Suspended Classroom

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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.

To a certain degree, all “harem” series (at least those with multiple girls all in love with the same guy) all suffer from the same major flaw, which is that the guy has to be fairly normal and dull. It might seem surprising that I’m saying this about Issei, someone who literally cannot go three pages without talking about tits some more. but it’s true. All the girls love Issei. They get jealous when he’s with another girl. They fight over him. They offer up their virginity to him. And why? Well, he’s nice to them? I mean, with Asia I get it, he literally is her savior. You could say the same for Rias, though it’s a higher bar to clear. But Akeno? Xenovia? Why does this lecherous dipshit who won’t even grope anyone without passing out offer such temptation? Well, frankly, it’s probably what he’s got inside him. The sacred gear, and the dragon that comes with it, make Issei an important player in the battle between the angels, fallen angels, and demons. That is… if there is a war.

No, Akeno is not the titular vampire (and I apologize for having to use the word titular when discussing High School DxD). I thought this might be her “focus” book, but while we do get some hefty revelations about her past, it’s clear her time is still to come. No, the new character here is Gasper Vladi, who is the vampire of the title, and who ticks off several more “light novel cliche” boxes. He’s a boy who everyone mistakes for a girl; he’s got cripplingly low self-esteem and a fear of interacting with others, and he’s ludicrously overpowered, as he can cause people to freeze in time… though, like Issei, his power has more weaknesses than strengths right now. That said, while trying to coax Gasper out of his shell, Rias’ group also have to deal with a peace conference, which risks blowing up before it begins.

Despite the previous paragraph, there’s not a lot that happens in this book compared to the previous three – it’s a lot of setup for the next few books, as we introduce a couple of major players who look like they’ll give Issei trouble (though one of them turns out to be more of a mecha otaku than anything else). Indeed, I was more surprised at things that didn’t happen. The book starts off by telling us about parent-teacher conferences, which will not only feature Issei’s parents going but also Rias’. Any other light novel series would make this a book of its own, but here it takes fewer pages than the pool battle between Rias and Akeno to see whose breasts get to be groped by Issei. The series manages to work for its target audience because it not only assumes its readership are horny teenage boys who don’t have the guts to cop a feel, but that all the women in this series are essentially ALSO that. It’s… weird.

Still, the one fight we got was pretty cool, and if there’s any series you can’t get mad at for staying on brand, it’s this one – there are breasts in High School DxD? Who knew? Recommended for those who read the fan translated PDFs years ago.

Unnamed Memory, Vol. 3

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By Kuji Furumiya and chibi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Tangney.

After a first volume where I had trouble with the characters, and a second volume where I had trouble with the way the story was laid out, here I didn’t have trouble with either, and as a result we get our strongest volume to date, a truly compelling read. Indeed, if it weren’t for the last fifth of the book, you might think that this was also the final volume. It certainly has a wedding on the cover art, but this is a light novel, not a shoujo manga, and I believe we still have three more books to go after this. The question is whether those books will star Oscar and Tinasha, who seems to get a fate that’s going to be hard to overcome at the ending. Before that, though, there’s everything you want in an Unnamed Memory book, and for once that includes requited love and some real sweetness – along with a bunch of sudden death battles, of course. I mean, Oscar and Tinasha can’t escape their own pasts. Or can they?

Tinasha has truly settled into life at the castle now, to the point that she’s truly startled when some little kids try storming her castle (she’s able to dissuade them). That said, villains we’ve seen before and villains who we do not yet know continue to try to make life terrible for her, and after yet another nearly fatal attempt on Oscar’s life, she is willing to give up and admit that OK, she may have feelings for this big lug and sure, they can get married I GUESS. This is actually a bigger deal than you might expect, as spiritual magic works by the age-old rules of “no virginity no strong magic” – fortunately Tinasha is strong enough that she still has strong magic, it’s just not LUDICROUSLY strong anymore. Bad timing on that front, too, as she has to fight another Witch, this one with a grudge.

The back half of the book is taken up to a great extent by one big battle, and it’s very well written, showing off how things go back and forth and also giving us a bit of the backstory of the Witch Who Cannot Be summoned, the one trying to take out Oscar and Tinasha. She’s the classic “I want to manipulate people because I get bored” sort, but her backstory is surprising and also touching. Then there’s that final story, where Oscar picks up an orb that he shouldn’t and is sent back into the past, to Tinasha’s old kingdom, before she becomes a witch. While there’s a bit of the classic time travel dilemma here, and in fact it drives the ending, the main reason this is cute is getting to see Oscar and teenage Tinasha interact, and seeing her falling for him hard despite the fact that this changes history. It’s adorable and bittersweet.

So, not to give away the ending, but now what? The afterward suggests we’ll be looking at some other people in the history of Oscar’s family, but I can’t really believe the author would choose to end things here, so I’m raising an eyebrow at that. That said, no matter what future volumes do, you should read this one.

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 16

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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. Translated by Nan Rymer.

The beloved and sadly very out of print Even a Monkey Can Draw Manga had one of its chapters dedicated to the subject of “power creep” in shonen manga, which Railgun definitely falls under, despite its magazine technically falling under the seinen umbrella. (Dengeki Daioh’s readership is basically “otaku, of any genre”.) If you have a bad guy that you defeat, then the next villain has to be slightly more powerful, and so on and so forth till you’re eventually fighting against the biggest threat in the entire universe, and it all gets a bit silly. Railgun has that issue, but not for its villains – instead, it’s the heroines who struggle with it. We’ve already seen Misaka nearly go out of control when they tried to force her to evolve to Level 6. Now here we see Uiharu, who is supposedly a Level 1 “thermos”, force-evolving her hacking powers to literally rewrite reality in order to save the day, which… I suspect we won’t be seeing down the road.

Of course, that is not the only thing that Uiharu does in this volume. This is her arc, after all, and after spending most of the last volume on ice, she’s back in command here, showing us the same strength that allowed her to stare down Kakine and suffer only a broken collarbone. We even see her – gasp! – use her ability, rather than her hacking, in order to escape from her guards, and it’s a very clever usage as well. That said, the bad guys also know what her weak spot is. Railgun’s yuri poster child may be Kuroko, but I suspect the number of fans who think Misaka and Kuroko will end up together is zero. But Uiharu and Saten have just as much if not more subtext, and this volume really hammers it home. Uiharu is so dedicated to Saten that she’ll suffer great pains to get to her. And when told Saten has been fatally poisoned, Uiharu almost turns evil, to the point where she is literally just a cloud of blackness… until Saten, who is dying but not dead, snaps her out of it, saying that’s not the path she should follow. The Fullmetal Alchemist fan in me was recalling a similar scene, let me tell you.

On the down side, it’s not that I dislike any of the young kids who are being forced by Academy City’s evil science department to become supervillains, it’s just… we’ve seen this backstory about eight different times in Railgun alone, and it’s hard not to have the first thing I think be “here we go again”. Honestly, it’s something of a wonder that Mikoto ended up as well-adjusted as she is, and she’s the one with a super fiery temper. The other problem is that the arc doesn’t end in this book – there’s one epilogue chapter to go… which means we’ll have to wait till (presumably) 2022 to see if Saten survived (signs point to yes) and if Uiharu remains the most powerful being in the world (signs point to no). That said, this volume is quite strong and fans of the series should love it.

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 6

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By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

(I try not to spoil much, but honestly, if you read this you’ll guess what happens in it. Be warned.)

I’ve spent five volumes talking about Shimamura and her tendency to try not to feel too hard about things, which contrasts nicely with Adachi’s feeling very, very hard about everything… well, everything to do with Shimamura, that is. And if there’s any change that’s going to be happening, it’s going to have to be from Shimamura herself. Honestly, Adachi is expending all her energy not simply exploding in a giant cloud of gay. That said, good news: this is a big breakthrough volume for Shimamura, and probably the one that deals with her and her emotional reserve best. I don’t know that it works as well as it should – the author really relies on the reader connecting a lot of dots, and sometimes I don’t think they connect – but by the end of the book Shimamura is far more willing to reach out and deal with everything, including Adachi. Especially Adachi. Shimamura may not have worked out how she feels about Adachi just yet, but she’s definitely stopped ignoring the fact that Adachi is madly in love with her.

Sadly for Adachi, the first half of the book has Shimamura going to her grandparent’s place out in the country, so she’s going to have to suffer for a while on her own. Going back there, a place she’s spent many summers, fills Shimamura with memories, especially since the puppy which she played with when she was a little girl is now old and having trouble moving around like they used to. This causes Shimamura to think hard about her life, in particular the way that she’s chosen to close herself off from caring too much recently. When she returns (the return is the highlight of the book, for reasons I won’t spoil), she’s quick to phone Adachi, and they then agree to go out to another festival (I mean, it’s summer in Japan, there is always a festival somewhere). Oh yes, and before that they bathed together, which was… weird, but also led to Adachi confessing when she overheated. Will Shimamura finally face this fact and give Adachi a response? And will the response be something other than “well, OK, whatever”?

First off, I am spoiling one thing that does NOT happen in the book – the entire front of the book is setting the reader up for the dog to die. Hell, every time Shimamura sees the dog she herself is thinking that it’s going to be dead. But Adachi and Shimamura did not win the Newbery Medal, and therefore the dog does not die. I was relieved. As for Adachi and Shimamura, well, this is a turning point, certainly. I’m not sure it’s necessarily a good move all around – Adachi is worse than ever this volume, and I think if they ever animate it she’s going to have to simply be vibrating in place by the end. Shimamura has made great strides, and I was actually impressed with her through most of the book, but her response to Adachi still is more “sure, we’ll try that” rather than a big emotional investment. Which makes sense – honestly, even getting a small emotional investment is a victory.

So how will things progress from here? Will it be cute and teen romancey, or will it get realistic and have everything fly apart because these two are far too emotionally scattered to really connect right now? Still, Shimamura trying is infinitely better than the Shimamura we’ve had until now, so I’m in favor overall.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 12

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By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

With this volume we have almost, but not quite, caught up with Shun’s “present” that we left off in the 6th volume. This book is the huge human/demon war that led to Shun becoming the Hero, with huge casualties on both sides. The book is essentially a war diary from various points of view, showing off the various battles going on around the world. We see the demons use revenge monkeys to completely destroy one fort; another demon army wiped out by Ronandt’s long-range magic; the cute childhood friend couple from Japan being a cute childhood friend adventurer couple here; Sophia saying “well, well, well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions”; Wrath basically winning easily; and the big final battle with Julius versus several demons, including Bloe and Agner, and White trying to cut the thread (so to speak) by bringing in a Queen Taratect to ruin everything. Which it does, but not quite in the way that she’d planned…

I talked about this last time as well, but I think the author has been trying their best to make sure that the reader cares about the human side and the demon side equally, and from what I’ve seen, that’s just not happening. In fact, honestly, the readers don’t want to see the demon side EITHER. The readers want spider. Lots of spider. Sorry to say, White is still a minor character in this book. She gets cute little sidebars explaining each battlefield in her usual hyperactive way, and we see her interactions with the demon lord, Bloe, and Sophia and the 10th unit. None of them really see White as we know her, though I think the demon lord is starting to figure it out. She’s also getting far more talkative and better at actually explaining her actions. Basically, White is maturing. This will be handy when they inevitably run into the giant pile of reincarnations we left off with ages ago, but can be frustrating right now.

The battles are well handled. As you might guess, this is mostly tragedy… with one exception. The story of Sophia’s adventures at school, complete with her version of the handsome jerk and the class president, are absolutely hilarious, especially given they all end up in the same military unit anyway. I hope we see more of them being absolute bitches at each other. And as I hinted above, everything about Kunihiko and Asaka’s relationship is adorable and heartwarming, and I don’t THINK they’re dead yet… (crosses fingers). But there’s lots of depressing stuff we knew was coming here, as all but one of the hero party gets wiped out, and it also takes out several major parts of the demon party as well. What’s more the demon lord and White didn’t even achieve their main objective – the one-kill anything sword is still around, and can now be used by the new hero against the demon lord. Annoying, that.

This is an excellent book, but the overall impression I get at the end is “can we PLEASE get back to the main storyline we started in Volume 1?”. Recommended for those who like war memoirs and cute lovesick girls getting crushed to death by giant spiders.

Manga the Week of 7/28/21

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SEAN: The end of July should be quiet, right? Everyone’s on vacation, right? Right?

ASH: I actually will be on (a very much needed) vacation!

ANNA: Me too!

SEAN: Airship has the print edition of Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 1, and an early digital for Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 2.

Cross Infinite World has the 2nd volume of Mia and the Forbidden Medicine Report.

Denpa Books has a 2nd volume of Heavenly Delusion.

ASH: Nice to see this one finally coming out; it encountered some delays.

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! (Hagure Idol Jigokuhen), which is coming out in 2-volume omnibuses and runs in Nihon Bungeisha’s Bessatsu Manga Goraku. A wannabe idol and karate expert is tricked into the adult entertainment industry, and forced to fight the sex equivalent of a death match game.

MICHELLE: …

ASH: Huh.

ANNA: Erm.

SEAN: J-Novel Club gives us The Faraway Paladin’s 5th manga volume, John Sinclair: Demon Hunter 3, Monster Tamer 5, Perry Rhodan NEO 2, and the 4th Sweet Reincarnation manga.

Kodansha’s print titles include the debut of Pretty Boy Detective Club (Bishounen Tanteidan). They’ve released the first three novels for this already, now we’re getting the manga, which has run in Aria, Palcy, AND Shonen Magazine Edge, so is sui generis. It’s about a middle schooler who gets caught up in a very strange club.

MICHELLE: The first novel didn’t thrill me, but that was largely because of the narrative style. Could be that I would enjoy it more as manga.

ASH: I’ve found that to be true of some of NISIOISIN’s other work as well; at times the stories seem better suited for manga (or anime) rather than prose.

SEAN: Also in print: Boys Run the Riot 2, CITY 12, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 10, Sweat and Soap 7, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 6.

ASH: Boys Run the Riot is high on my list. And this is a good reminder for me to give Sweat and Soap a try.

SEAN: Digitally we see two debuts. My Darling Next Door (Tonari no Otona-kun) is a Betsufure series about a high school girl who falls for an older salaryman who’s just moved next door. Hrm…

ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! (Onii-chan wa Oshimai) runs in Ichijinsha’s Comic Rex, and is about a young man who is turned into a woman due to his mad scientist Little Sister. No comment.

We also see And Yet, You Are So Sweet 4, Back When You Called Us Devils 3, Harem Marriage 7, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 11 (print has nearly caught up), Quality Assurance in Another World 2, Saint Cecelia and Pastor Lawrence 2, Saint Young Men 12, She’s My Knight 2, The Slime Diaries: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 5, and the 10th volume of When We’re in Love, which is not a final volume but the series has gone on hiatus after this.

MICHELLE: Cue lamentations about being so far behind on everything.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a few debuts. I’m in Love with the Villainess is based on the light novel, and the digital version has been out for some time, but the print edition of the manga is now released.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: Seaside Stranger (Umibe no Étranger) is a BL story from Shodensha’s On Blue, about two men who bond with each other at a seaside town… only one of them isn’t staying long. Can they reconnect?

MICHELLE: I’m definitely looking forward to this one!

ASH: Same! I’ve heard good things.

ANNA: Sounds good.

SEAN: The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary (Kuitsume Youhei no Gensou Kitan) runs in Hobby Japan’s Comic Fire, and is based on the light novel that Airship is releasing. A cynical merc finds it hard to change careers and become an adventurer.

Also from Seven Seas, Berserk of Gluttony 3, Blue Giant 5-6, My Senpai Is Annoying 5, the 5th and final volume of the PENGUINDRUM manga, and The Demon Girl Next Door 3.

ASH: For the most part, I’ve been enjoying what I’ve read of Blue Giant.

ANNA: I have yet to read the first volume, but I have it!

SEAN: Square Enix debuts The Great Jahy Will Not Be Defeated! (Jahy-sama wa Kujikenai!), the story of a demon lord whose mana crystal is shattered and who ends up powerless in the human world. Can she regain her power despite being small, weak and somewhat pathetic? This has an anime coming out this summer, and is, sigh, from the same writer as Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World! and The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious.

They’ve also got The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 4.

Tentai Books gives us How to Melt the Ice Queen’s Heart (Koori no Reijou no Tokashi Kata), a light novel which seems to be a sweet high-school romance series.

Tokyopop has a 4th volume of Ossan Idol!.

Viz has a formerly print-only release now released to digital – all 19 omnibuses of it! If you haven’t heard of Ranma 1/2, I’m sorry, I don’t know what to tell you.

ASH: Ha!

ANNA: What an obscure title!

SEAN: They’ve also got a digital release of Jump title Ayakashi Triangle, a series so ecchi it can’t appear on the normal Jump app. It’s from the To-Love-Ru creator, natch.

Yen On gives us Combatants Will Be Dispatched! 6, The Executioner and Her Way of Life 2, Goblin Slayer 12, In the Land of Leadale 3, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? 16, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Home Alone (the 5th in the series), and Reign of the Seven Spellblades 3.

Yen Press debut? We’ve got it. Captivated, by You (Muchuu sa, Kimi ni) is a one-shot short story collection from Enterbrain’s Comic Beam about strange high school kids, and has won some awards. It’s also a hardcover release. Anyone seeing the words “Comic Beam” should have already added this to their buy list.

ASH: Ooooh, this does look good.

ANNA: Sign me up!

SEAN: Yen also has Cirque Du Freak: The Manga’s 3rd Omnibus re-release, Cocoon Entwined 3 (hair), IM: Great Priest Imhotep 10, Karneval 12, and RaW Hero 5.

Hey, that’s not quiet at all! What suits your tastes?

Bookshelf Briefs 7/22/21

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A Certain Scientific Accelerator, Vol. 12 | By Kazuma Kamachi and Arata Yamaji | Seven Seas – I was surprised that this is the final volume. It wraps things up pretty well, tying things off as well as tying into the eighth Index novel, showing us Accelerator’s side of his walking up to Awaki and punching her suitcase full of badness into tiny bits. It works well as a capper for the whole series, which is filled with what Accelerator does best: saving the day while thinking to himself Touma could have done it better. We also get to see Yomikawa once again show she is the only sensible goddamn person in the entire City, and also the only one trying to help the kids grow up to not be monsters. Good luck with that; Railgun shows it’s not going well. – Sean Gaffney

Fist of the North Star, Vol. 1 | By Buronson and Tetsuo Hara | Viz Media – It’s hard to get a good read on this series, because it’s become so influential and referenced that you feel like you’ve already read it before you have. The author’s name could also be “Bronson,” as in Charles, and that tells you about the sort of story we get here. Kenshiro walks across an apocalyptic waste, finds injustice being done and innocents being killed, and starts exploding folks and saying things like “You Are Already Dead.” The humor is almost zero, it’s tremendously violent, and yet it’s also really compelling and readable. You can see why it became an ’80s classic. Don’t read this unless you know what you’re getting, but if you do, it’s essential. – Sean Gaffney

Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 1 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – The series had moved from Shueisha’s Jump Kai to Hakusensha’s Melody with this volume, so, despite the renumbering, I was expecting a bit of a reintroduction to everyone. Nope. You’d better have read the omnibus or you’ll be wondering what the heck happened. This seems to be several months after the omnibus, and shows that Ai in particular has mellowed out a lot. Fans of the anime running this summer will note that several scenes from this volume were folded in with the adaptation of the omnibus, but they work well here too. Especially the cliffhanger ending, where Sarasa does an absolutely brilliant acting job in class… and the teacher explains if she continues to do it that way, she’ll never be a star. Fantastic. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 13 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Last time we were introduced to a young girl who’s staying with Komi’s family who has communication issues herself, though not the same as Komi’s. The majority of this book is her fighting with and bonding with Komi, who not only proves to be a sweetie pie but can also rally the entire town, Hinamizawa-style, when there’s a crisis. Meanwhile, she’s been improving so much lately that she hasn’t been needing Tadano… which upsets both of them. Then we get some of the class teaming up for a night out… which includes a test of courage, where Tadano is paired with first Komi and then Manbagi. Who is trying hard to push Tadano away, and it’s just not working. We’re headed for a crisis soon. – Sean Gaffney

New Game!, Vol. 11 | By Shotaro Tokuno | Seven Seas – After a fanservice-laden start that reminds you that, while the series may not have any men in it, the reader is definitely meant to be a man, we’re back to business as usual in New Game!. Hotarui returns to France, finding that it’s the best place for her art to grow. We see how difficult it can be to communicate the issue when something is just slightly off in the game designs and you’re not sure why. The big development, though, is that the team decides to make every NPC more playable than usual, meaning they all need unique designs and attention. The designs end up looking very much like our New Game! cast… with the exception of Rin, who wants to avoid her yuri crush becoming canon elsewhere. Cute as always. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, Vol. 7 | By Neko Nekobyou and Reki Kawahara | Yen Press I’m not entirely certain how horrified the reader is supposed to be here, but certainly “the souls of those who died in Sword Art Online are being used to inhabit NPCs in the new game” is creepy as hell to me. And to Luz, who of course has someone dear to her that has now shown up again. There’s also a lot of clever fights here, and we get to see Luz use her Kirito-copy mod in order to fight as well. I also laughed at Argo trying her best to help everyone out… but nothing worked, so she ran off. And of course this whole arc ties in to one of Kawahara’s biggest themes, “what defines an NPC.” This ends with the next volume, and I hope the girls all get something cool to do. Even Leafa, the Zoidberg of SAO. – Sean Gaffney

Takane & Hana, Vol. 17 | By Yuki Shiwasu | Viz Media – OK, that turned out to be far less dramatic than I expected, and indeed less dramatic than Hana and her family expected as well. Turns out everything is fine… well, at least once Takane actually confronts his grandfather and admits what’s been obvious all along. There’s even time for a ski trip with a dramatic death-defying cliffhanger… well, it would be death defying if it were not the world’s tiniest cliff. Takane & Hana, despite the occasional dramatic turn, knows what its readers are here for, and that’s laughs and sentimentality. We get plenty of both here, and we even end with a wedding… well, with a marriage license, I assume the wedding will come in volume eighteen, which is the final one. Recommended for fans of snarky girls mocking jerky guys. – Sean Gaffney

Tales of Wedding Rings, Vol. 9 | By Maybe | Yen Press – Thankfully, after a break of over a year, this volume of the series has precisely zero “are they going to bone?” scenes in it, mostly as the hero and heroine are separated for most of the book. Satou is still trying to gain a few advantages in fighting, and seeing that legendary swords are not all they’re cracked up to be, while Hime struggles in trying to learn magic that seems to come easily to everyone else. Luckily, she’s helped out by what, to her, seems like a kindly woman who is very similar to her late mother. Unfortunately, to everyone else, it appears she’s talking to a black cloud of pure evil, and it’s no great surprise that everyone else is correct here. This was a stronger volume than previous ones, mostly due to the lack of “will they get it on?” to the plot. – Sean Gaffney

Those Not-So-Sweet Boys, Vol. 3 | By Yoko Nogiri | Kodansha Comics – Although Midori Nanami originally only became involved with a trio of truant boys to preserve her own scholarship, they’ve genuinely become friends. The more Midori has gotten to know Rei Ichijo, the thoughtful and lonely son of a rich, negligent father, the more she has fallen for him. By the end of this volume, it would appear her feelings are reciprocated. On paper, this series looks like pretty formulaic shoujo romance, but Yoko Nogiri has a way of imbuing her stories with realism and intriguing complications. Here, the main obstacle is Rei’s friend Yuki, who objects to Midori and Rei getting closer, but encourages his other bestie, Chihiro, to go after her. Does Yuki have feelings for Rei, or is he just deeply dependent on him? I’m really enjoying this series so far and am especially looking forward to further exploration of Yuki’s motivations. – Michelle Smith

We’re New at This, Vol. 7 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Having achieved stability in their relationship, our favorite cute and sexy couple decide to get a bigger place. There’s some nice discussion about finances and give-and-take, and I like that it shows that constant communication is what makes this couple work so well, and when they don’t communicate well things tend to go badly. This ends up leading to the next major problem, which is that Ikuma’s client he was working for goes under, meaning money he had assumed was coming in is now most definitely NOT coming in. He manages to find a quick solution, but doesn’t talk to Sumika about it first, which does not go over well. Can the marriage survive salaryman Ikuma over contracter Ikuma? Dunno, but I bet it’ll be cute and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Last Round Arthurs, Vol. 5: Once King & Future King

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By Taro Hitsuji and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jan Cash.

Yeah, that really did not stick the landing, did it? After a series that mixed up wacky romcom “shout at the appalling girl being appalling” stuff with Shonen Jump battles, the series goes all in on the latter here at the end. Which is fine – given the glimpse of Kay and Emma *still* in fetishwear in the epilogue, I’m quite happy to have a final volume of serious fighting. The trouble is that the fighting is not all that great, and the beats are very, very predictable. I’ve compared it to Jump before, but here it sort of reads like one of those Jump series that gets cancelled 2-3 volumes in and told to wrap things up here. We meet the final boss, who is exactly who you’d expect, and our heroes are almost defeated, as you’d expect, except Luna simply! will! not! give! up!, as you’d expect. What about Rintarou, you ask? Well, he’s trapped in another dimension. Will he make it back just in the nick of time? Take a guess.

We pick up where the last book left off, as our merry crew (minus Rintarou) have gotten back from their Holy Grail Quest to find that New Avalon has been overrun by monsters, and that evacuation of the island is being cut off by magic. Someone wants a massacre here. (Casualties are implied, but we never see or hear about dead bodies, so…) There’s also a massive dark evil castle in the center of the city now. Making their way there, our heroes split up to take on the bad guys: the original King Arthur, who has been corrupted into evil, his two companions, and Morgan Le Fay, who we find in this book would like the entire world to end so that she can be reunited with a nebbish ordinary knight she fell in love with back in the day. Luna may declare herself to be the next King Arthur, but can she go up against the original without Rintarou’s help?

Well, no, because the entire point of the series is that you get a partner for your quest and rely on them. Plus, again, Jump-esque series. When Rintarou showed up to save Luna in the nick of time, all I could think was that she’s going to hit him and tell him “You’re late!”, and sure enough, that’s exactly what happens. There’s a lot of discussion of what makes a king here, especially when Luna gets all the other candidates to basically give up and join her as subordinates. Luna says that being a king is about determination and never giving up, which certainly defines her, though give the fights in this book I sometimes get the sense she’s a Tex Avery dog slamming against a door over and over till it opens. Rintarou basically had his character development finish last time, so he essentially is absent for most of this book until he comes to save the day.

And so we end with Luna in charge, a new Round Table, and a world that is now aware of magic and monsters, which means that we’re seeing more of them across the globe. You get the sense that Luna’s going to turn the new Round Table into a modern-day Avengers. Fortunately, the series ends here, so I don’t have to worry about it. There wasn’t anything really bad with Last Round Arthurs, unless you dislike obnoxious women, but it never really rose above “yeah, it went there” in terms of narrative thrust.

Tearmoon Empire, Vol. 5

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By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by David Teng.

The structure of this book is slightly off, as the author admits that the story got away from them and the island arc that should have concluded the 2nd “arc” of this story ended up being the first third of this 5th book as well. Still, it works out, as we get to see Mia turn a corner and fend off another of her fates written in a long history book… or at least it was long. Yes, sometimes when you’re trying to stop the bad guys who can mess with the fates, you end up finding that your fate can sometimes get even worse. Now Mia’s not being executed at the guillotine or cut down in her adult years for not being Empress, the history books say she’ll be killed in a few scant months. Can she avoid this fate while continuing to work hard to save her kingdom from famine, win over more allies by being kind and charming, and also eat delicious sweets? The answer should be obvious.

The one thing I took away from this book is that I think Mia handles plots against her, or large conspiracies, much better than sudden random events conspiring against her. When she has to deal with a cave-in, a seemingly deadly fish attacking her, or even just horses sneezing in her face, she seems to always end up on the wrong foot. But the larger, more epic scenarios are where she shines – and yes, by now even the narrator is having trouble saying EVERYTHING she does is due to her selfishness and need to eat sweets, although god knows they try to say so anyway. In her confrontation with Esmeralda, where she sees the traitorous past of their nation as found in a secret underground ruin, stares destiny right in the face, and says “to hell with that”, she really is learning to be a good person – and yes, it’s framed as her having to “deceive” Esmeralda by saying they’re best friends, but I don’t doubt it’s actually going to come to pass. Mia is no longer as passive or luck-driven as she was in past books.

The 2nd half of the book, back at school, is even better. Finding from Bel’s now-changed history book how she’s going to die, she takes steps to avoid it, the first of which is getting even better at riding horses. The way she does this is actually quite clever. You see, she gets up early, practices really hard, learns to read the movements of the horse, and treats them well, even going so far as to help save the life of the pregnant horse that she had been eyeing up as a replacement mount (as opposed to the horse that keeps sneezing on her). See? I told you it was clever. Mia is doing things correctly and doing them well. This culminates in the highlight of the book, where she races Ruby, the daughter of the House of Redmoon, in a Belmont Stakes with one of her retainers at stake. The race is fantastic, with Mia being both very much in character (she’s screaming and whining the entire time) but also incredibly awesome. And we also see her changing history once more, as one reason she was executed her first go-round is that she pissed off Ruby so much she persuaded her father not to support them with military might… something that ended up being fatal to them both. This time around, everyone wins, and Mia’s solution to what to do about Ruby is brilliant. I don’t even care if she wasn’t thinking long-term here. It’s still brilliant.

There are, of course, a few plotholes with the new arc, but they’re acceptable. Miabel did not vanish when Mia’s fate changed, despite the fact that she did not live long enough to have kids, much less grandkids. Even the author acknowledges this is a handwave, but it’s fine, as we also get sweet scenes of Miabel managing to stay her innocent, sweet self even in a bad future where she has to be hidden from the world. That said, Mia is still the star, not her granddaughter, and Mia is the reason that these books keep getting better. I can’t wait for the next one, and I would say that this is essential light novel reading.