Bookshelf Briefs

This week, Sean, Anna, and Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, Viz Media, Seven Seas, Kodansha Comics, and Vertical, Inc.

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Black Butler, Vol. 16 | By Yana Toboso | Yen Press – Ciel remains on assignment at Weston College, looking into the disappearance of one of Queen Victoria’s relatives. It’s been pretty fun to see Ciel in this environment, be it currying favor with prefects or befriending an earnest boy his own age. In this volume, he’s putting Sebastians talents to use in an attempt to perform well enough in the annual cricket tournament (despite a near-total lack of athletic ability) to earn an invitation to tea with the headmaster, who could hold all the answers. Okay, brilliant this isn’t, but I liked that it became a little like a sports manga (with players shouting out their moves, like “Rushing Violet Vapour, Purple Burnoutt!!”) and enjoyed the subtle Harry Potter references, like the appearance of a Hedwig clone and references to some of the actors from the movies. – Michelle Smith

A Bride’s Story, Vol. 3 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – In this volume Mori shifts from mainly telling the story of Amir and her young husband Karluk to exploring what happens to the European researcher Mr. Smith when he travels to a town and has a chance meeting with Talas, a young woman who has been widowed many times. Talas’ mother in law views Mr. Smith as a last chance to ensure that Talas will be taken care of after she dies, and the young couple start developing a liking to each other in spite of all of the manipulations to throw them together. But as women Talas and her mother in law have very little autonomy or ability to decide how they are going to live their lives. As always, Mori’s painstakingly researched details combined with her facility for showing slice of live scenes in a market or herding sheep bring history to life. Amir and Karluk make a brief appearance, and we also see hints of the next Bride’s story as the young Pariya gets her own chapter as well. Delightful as always! – Anna N

Dictatorial Grimoire: Snow White, Vol. 2 | By Ayumi Kanou | Seven Seas – I must admit, I greatly enjoyed this volume while I was reading it. It’s a lot of fun, I really like the character of Hiyori, and the design of Rapunzel was incredibly striking. That said, there’s no denying that this is basically a series of shonen cliches wrapped up in a pretty-boys package, and so if originality is your goal, you can skip this. But as a tasty manga treat you’ll forget about 10 minutes after you read it, it’s pretty much dead-on. Snow White is amusingly snarky (the conversations between him and Hiyori are comedy gold), Otogi gets to find his missing resolve and start fighting again, and as a reward gets lots of BL tease with Cinderella. I’m actually very interested in what will happen i the next ‘arc, which seems to feature Red Riding Hood (also male, of course). – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 18 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – Sometimes when a volume of a manga gets too happy, I start to get worried. Let’s call this the Joss Whedon effect. Everything is going so well for Sawako and her friends and family in this volume that I actually checked to see whether the series was ending soon, because it definitely has that feeling. It doesn’t appear to be, so now I’m a little fretful. What’s going to happen to stir this all up?! I know; I really should be content with what we get here, because it’s been so well-earned. Sawako and Kazehaya are finally on the same page in their relationship, Ayane may finally have found the right guy, and Chizu is perhaps slightly less clueless than before. And I’m happy to see that the focus on female friendships is still going strong in Kimi ni Todoke, even with all the romance in the air. Unequivocally recommended. – Michelle Smith

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 4, by Tsutomo Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – I really enjoy the way Nihei juxtaposes giant robots fighting giant gross aliens in space with hints of an overarching back story about the history of the colonization spaceship Sidonia. There’s a bit of the whole Battlestar Galactica “This has happened before, and it will happen again” theme in this volume as Tanikaze gets increased responsibility and is relied upon in battle more than ever, slowly acting more and more like he is going to live up to the legacy of his creator/father. The occasional bit of daily life on the Sidona is also included, making it clear that Tanikaze’s comments about loving the food, organisms, and people on the spaceship reflect his protective feelings. Hints of human and Guana experimentation continue to maintain the elements of horror that make this manga much more interesting than a simple space opera. Still highly recommended. – Anna N

Otomen, Vol. 17 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – Well, I knew this volume was going to hurt, and sure enough, it did. Kiyomi’s emotional manipulation of her son reaches its zenith, and the fallout affects everyone around Asuka. Particularly Ryo. You know it’s a crisis when Ryo is suddenly cooking and sewing well. At the center of all of this is Asuka’s sense of identity, and how can he remain true to it and keep both his family and his love. Sadly, Asuka is making the wrong choices here, but then, it is the second to last volume of the series. It looks as if we’re setting up for a big finale speech, one that I suspect may get interrupted several times. The manga may be a bit melodramatic at times, but the characterization is solid (I’ve come to terms with every single male in the cast being a secret otomen by now) Bring on the final volume. – Sean Gaffney

Psyren, Vol. 14 | By Toshiaki Iwashiro | Viz Media – Oh dear, it’s an all-fighting volume of Psyren, where even the minimal word count I have to write for these briefs seems excessive. The writer enjoys trotting out the big book of shonen cliches, with “i was just holding back, now you’ve made me use my full power”, dead mentors, and “I can teach you how to do this, but it may destroy you.” Oddly, there’s also a subplot about how constant fighting is a bad end in itself, and when the main characters win, they think to themselves that destroying the other side is not a great feeling after all. Fighting to protect vs. fighting to destroy, fighting for a peaceful future world vs. fighting for the apocalypse that already exists… this is what Psyren’s been doing. I have a feeling next volume will be all fighting again, but as long as it heads towards that peaceful end, that’s fine.– Sean Gaffney

Sankarea: Undying Love, Vol. 4 | By Mitsuru Hattori | Kodansha Comics – The difference in cover art between the Japanese and American volumes has never been starker than it is here. And I honestly think I prefer this version, mostly as the moe antics are the least interesting part of this book. The best moments here are discovering more of Rea’s tragic backstory, and the constant war between Rea and her zombie desires – one she seems to lose more and more each time, despite the genuine love she seems to have for Furuya. It makes me curious to see how far this series can go. Given it’s also fond of fanservice and tsundere antics, can it really descend into pure horror and abandon its romantic comedy stance? And more to the point, will Rea actually kill anybody? That does seem to be a real turn=-off for many guys… though perhaps not Furuya, given his obsessions. – Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from Seven Seas, Viz Media, SuBLime, and Kodansha Comics.

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Alice in the Country of Hearts: The Mad Hatter’s Late Night Tea Party, Vol. 2 | By QuinRose and Riko Sakura | Seven Seas – If this were the first Alice volume that a casual reader had read, I think they’d be pretty satisfied. At only two volumes, Alice and Blood not connecting doesn’t last long, there’s lots of discussion of the basic themes of this world, and we get some mafia madness with a few timely rescues. As someone who’s been following all the spinoffs, though, it’s all a bit same-y. It’s likely a lot easier with the game, where you can purchase one copy and explore all the different routes. Here, as individual manga series, it’s like starting over again each time, with a slightly diminished return. Some of the spinoffs make it worth seeing what they do to poor Alice, but while this is skillfully done, there’s nothing here we haven’t read before, so in the end it’s inessential. – Sean Gaffney

Crimson Empire: Circumstances To Serve A Noble, Vol. 3 | By QuinRose and Hazuki Futaba | Seven Seas – With the Alice series, while she’s quite a good protagonist, I tend to be more interested in her male partners. In this series, it’s the reverse – I find the men rather dull, but Sheila fascinates me. There’s a core of self-loathing to her that Alice simply doesn’t have, even with the tragedy in her life that she’s forgotten. Indeed, even after her lover wins the day, and the two admit they’re in love, Sheila still thinks nothing has changed, except now she’ll be bodyguard for a different man. Sheila IS her profession, which is assassin/bodyguard ninja maid. Anything else is just beyond her, both subconsciously and consciously. And that’ means that despite its happy ending, Crimson Empire seems a lot more melancholy than Alice in the Country of Hearts. – Sean Gaffney

Fairy Tail, Vol. 33 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – After a somewhat teeth-grinding Vol. 32, it’s nice to see *some* things go our heroes’ way in this volume. Mirajane wins, as expected, but she gets the comedic fanservice win – though it does end in a powerful finish. Elfman also impresses, taking the fight that was supposed to be Erza’s and managing to be the manlier man. There’s a few other amusing things here as well, which is good, because there are implications of very dark things to come. Saber Tooth and Raven Tail are looking like even worse guilds than we expected, and the way they’re treating their members (female, of course – Mashima tends to have his women suffer nobly) is horrid. And what does Lucy have to do with everyone’s plans? This volume has a good balance between ‘tournament battle’ and other plot, overall.. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 15 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – I don’t even know where to begin in expressing my utter adoration for this series in general and this volume in particular. There’s just so much to love: the wistful tone, the episodic stories that still advance the overall plot; the comic relief provided by Nyanko-sensei; the yokai, who are often sweet, sad, and endearing; and, of course, Natsume himself, who is better able to discover the reasons for yokai activity at a former exorcist’s home than anyone else and single-handedly responsible for resolving things peacefully. As if all of this weren’t great enough (and it is), the last chapter in the volume is a special episode about Toko and Shigeru, the distant relatives who took Natsume in when the rest of his family had written him off as disturbed. It is simply lovely and prompted many a sniffle. Natsume’s Book of Friends is a true gem. – Michelle Smith

NightS | By Kou Yoneda | SuBLime Manga – Having enjoyed Kou Yoneda’s No Touching At All back in 2011, I was pretty eager to check out NightS, even though it’s a compilation of short stories, which aren’t really my thing. None of the stories included here is terribly unique in premise—an attraction between a “transporter” and a yakuza, a fairly standard high school romance, love blooming at the car dealership—but Yoneda fills her stories with intelligent, natural-seeming dialogue and characters (well, at least the adult ones) with interesting personality quirks and flaws that impact how they approach relationships. While the format prevents achieving much depth, and hence prevents the volume from matching No Touching At All for quality, it’s nonetheless an enjoyable read. – Michelle Smith

Pokemon the Movie: Genesect and the Legend Awakened | by Momota Inoue | Viz Media I have to admit, I am not really all that interested in Pokemon, but Pokemon fever is raging through my kids’ elementary school, so I read this book with them. This is a stand alone one-shot movie adaptation centering around the story of an ancient Pokemon called Genesect who has suddenly awakened, causing trouble for the present day Pokemon and their trainers. Mewtwo takes on an important role in dealing with the Genesect, although Ash and Pikachu also contribute. The art is consistent, my kids enjoyed spotting all the Pokemon, and they smuggled it out of the house to show off at school. So if you have young Pokemon fans, I feel safe in predicting that this manga will appeal to them! – Anna N

Rurouni Kenshin: Restoration, Vol. 2 | By Nobuhiro Watsuki | Viz Media – This wraps up the revisiting of Rurouni Kenshin prompted by the recent live action movie. Really, the original series was so great, revisiting the series in a slightly different form wasn’t really all that necessary. Still it was nice to be reminded of Watsuki’s facility with character design, especially the villians, and most characters from Kenshin got a little bit of a showcase. This second volume featured more turns from Saito and Yahiko, as they also battle in the Meiji era. Even Watsuki’s author notes seem to indicate that he was going through the motions a little bit, pointing out small things that he changed that he ended up regretting. Really, the original series is so much more charming than this version, most people would be better off just picking up some of the VizBig versions if they are interesting in reading this shonen classic. – Anna N

This week, Michelle & Sean (okay, mostly Sean) look at recent releases from Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, Seven Seas, & Vertical, Inc.!

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Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 13 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Dengeki Daisy is at its best when focusing on the romance between its leads, Teru and Kurosaki. Unfortunately, the past several volumes have focused on the “code virus” that Kurosaki created back in his hacker days and the search for information on the nebulous baddies who sought to use it. Although I have the feeling that we’re supposed to find all this cyber espionage stuff very exciting, the details are so vague that it ends up being rather boring. It’s better than episodic randomness, though, and I have to give the series credit for its heroine being able to get herself out of tricky situations and for a central romance where the age gap is acknowledged as an issue. Plus, there are a few nice, quiet moments here that are almost enough to make me overlook the ridiculousness of the last couple of chapters. I’ll probably keep reading this one to the end. – Michelle Smith

Fairy Tail, Vol. 32 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – The danger of telling a story where injustice happens to our heroes and they’re meant to be angry and frustrated with it is that the reader may end up being a little TOO angry and frustrated in sympathy, to the point where it affects their enjoyment of the volume. That’s where I ended up in this volume of Fairy Tail, which starts going though its tournament arc. I was expecting losses – after all, every hero/team has to come back from adversity. The combination of cheating from the other side and the extra dollops of humiliation felt a little too real, sadly, though you could argue that this is because I’ve come to care about these characters so much. I am hoping that Volume 33 (already out, I’m running behind) will help to balance the scales a bit. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi ni Todoke, Vol. 18 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – The cover art pretty much describes the mood of this volume – it starts with a kiss, and doesn’t let up on being romantic and heartwarming for the entire length. Sawako and Kazehaya have resolved their lack of communication problem, Ayane and Kento are now officially a couple, and as for Chizu… well, she’s working on it. Slowly. I loved the fact that the majority of this was just given to telling everyone what’s been going on in their lives – after seeing Sawako and Kazehaya’s guessing games recently, it felt even more satisfying. Even her father seems to have finally admitted to the fact that Sawako is growing up and has a boyfriend. I expect the next volume will be more devoted to college and the future, so I will enjoy this for what it is: a celebration of how we got here. – Sean Gaffney

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 6 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – The harem antics continue in Sidonia’s 6th volume – more and more characters are falling for Tanizake, and we even get ‘walking in on naked girls’ and ‘comedic choking of the hero’ here as well. However, this plotline exists, I think, to emphasize further the sense of wrongness that exists throughout this universe. There’s just so many things that already feel off about everything going on, even discounting the evil body horror antics of Kunato. The artwork, which I’m still getting used to, helps further by continuing to use characters who look a lot alike, particularly during battle. This can be annoying, but also contributes further to the sense of distance and otherness that emerges from this series. The goal is to do all this while still retaining reader interest, which Nihei has absolutely done. Also, poor Izana. – Sean Gaffney

Midnight Secretary, Vol. 3 | By Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – Having set up the premise of this series over the previous two volumes, Ohmi now begins to tear it apart for dramatic effect, as first Erde, the company Kaya was reassigned to, asks her to stay permanently, and then Kyohei resigns from his own position, striking out on his own. All of this, of course, plays second fiddle to the real story here, which is that these two are falling deeply in love and cannot keep their hands off each other. I’m actually surprised that the vampire part of this story isn’t playing a larger role – this could be edited to be non-supernatural fairly easily. Also, this title is rated M and lets you know it – the sex is red hot, and at one point you see Kaya staggering down the street, barely able to walk straight after their intense lovemaking. Right now, this tops Happy Marriage?! as Viz’s spiciest title. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 15 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – It struck me as I read this new volume how segmented Natsume’s relationships with all of his (human) friends are. For all that the series has shown Natsume starting to open up, trust and appreciate people again after so long being closed up, he still tends to keep everything to himself – and more importantly, take on everything himself. I fear this may get him in trouble soon, and not just him (there’s a suggestion in this volume that Taki’s spell circle is far more dangerous than it seems – and it’s seemed pretty dangerous). This is, however, balanced out by the 2nd half of the book, which is adorable, heartwarming, and shows the strengths of both humans and yokai. Darker tones may be arriving soon, but for now I will continue to enjoy this shoujo yokai manga’s relaxed and unhurried pace. – Sean Gaffney

Zero’s Familiar, Vols. 6-7 | By Noboru Yamaguchi and Nana Mochizuki | Seven Seas – As you might expect, I enjoyed the dramatic plotline that wrapped up here more than the attempts at fanservice and wacky harem antics. The discovery of the Dragon’s Raiment is a nice tie-back to the start of this series, and it was also a relief to see what we knew would eventually happen – Louise finds the magic that she is truly suited for, and turns out to be terrific at it. (That said, an entire battleship VANISHED, but no loss of life? Keep telling yourself that, princess…) The pacing sometimes suffers here, and I find the art, particularly in dramatic moments such as the side story with the Princess and late Prince, does not always convey emotional turmoil very well. Still, as an adaptation, this is probably good enough, and we’ll get another portion of it later this spring. – Sean Gaffney

This week, Michelle, Anna, & Sean look at recent releases from Yen Press and Viz Media.

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Demon Love Spell, Vol. 5 | By Mayu Shinjo | Viz Media – Miko’s father allows his daughter and Kagura, the lecherous incubus, to move out together, but not only will he be withholding financial support, he also places a curse on Kagura’s nether regions that prevents the advent of sexy times. Miko is determined to become more powerful than her dad so that she can break the curse, and it’s nice to see both her abilities improving and a teenage girl with a healthy interest in getting it on with her hot boyfriend. Briefly it seems that she and Kagura will be opening a demon consultation office, but this gets derailed when Kagura becomes a pop idol to earn money and various jealousies and complications ensue. Demon Love Spell may not be the best shoujo manga I’ve read, but it’s definitely the best Mayu Shinjo manga I’ve read, by a wide margin. I think I might even go so far as to recommend it! – Michelle Smith

Magi, Vol. 3 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – Morgiana graces the cover of Vol. 3, but she really only appears at the end (there’s also a surprise reappearance of Layla from Chapter One). That said, she makes good use of her minimal screen time, deciding to effectively become Batman/El Santo in order to stop some bandits. As for Aladdin, he’s still trying to figure out his purpose in life, which is given new direction by defining our title – well, semi-defining it. Magi are those who can choose a king. I have a sneaking suspicion that I know who will be chosen by the end of this series, but let’s leave that aside for now. The rest of the volume deals with noble Queens, evil Viziers, and the benefits and drawbacks to your village coming under protection. Not quite as awesome as the first two volumes, but still solid. – Sean Gaffney

Nisekoi: False Love, Vol. 1 | By Naoshi Komi | VIZ Media – The back cover blurb for this debut volume describes Nisekoi as a “laugh-out-loud feel-good manga series,” but I only mustered a smile once and halfway through wanted nothing more than to be able to stop reading it, already. Getting tired of a premise and characters 100 pages in is not a good sign! Raku Ichijo and Chitoge Kirisaki are the children of rival gangsters, but they don’t realize this until their fathers force them to pretend to be in love in order to prevent all-out gang war. But there’s nothing amusing about their pretense, because practically all they do is hurl insults at each other until finally one of them does something fractionally nice, causing the other to reevaluate them a tiny bit. I think my synopsis makes it sound less grating than it really is, actually. Suffice it to say that Nisekoi is definitely not my cup of tea. – Michelle Smith

Soulless: The Manga, Vol. 3 | By Gail Carriger and REM | Yen Press – After her werewolf husband reacts badly to her should-be-impossible pregnancy, Alexia and friends flee London to escape both the ruthless gossip and the vampire assassins intent on preventing the birth of her child. As someone who is not steeped in the mythology of the novels upon which Soulless: The Manga is based, I sometimes find the adaptation to be a bit confusing and disjointed. Such is the case in volume three, which has the added problem of an antagonist who is glimpsed only briefly. (Seriously, a scene-stealing yappy dog makes more of an impression.) Still, I thoroughly enjoyed the read! The dialogue is witty (a line about hedgehogs made me laugh out loud) and I like the characters. REM is also especially good at drawing amusing facial expressions and portraying werewolves’ personalities while they’re in their lupine forms. I may feel a bit lost sometimes, but I’m always entertained! – Michelle Smith

Strobe Edge, Vol 8 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – I have to confess that this is the point where I started feeling a tiny bit impatient with Strobe Edge Ando’s ex shows up and as one might expect, immediately throws an obstacle in the progression of Ninako and Ren’s budding romance. She tells Ninako that Ren and Ando used to be best friends until she came between them, and now the love triangle with Ninako will make things even worse. Ninako is determined to suppress her feelings yet again, just when she was on the verge of confessing to Ren. The couple prevented from getting together because of good intentions and lack of communication is a shoujo staple, and I’m starting to wish that this series would start wrapping up even though I do like reading it. Sakisaka’s art gets better and better, and while the plot might be a little pedestrian, this is one of the prettiest and most visually well-executed shoujo titles out there. Still recommended! – Anna N.

Toriko, Vol. 19 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – Most of this volume is dedicated to two things: 1) Watching Toriko eat food no matter what the cost to his body (with a brief break to beat up a giant bear monster) and 2) Everyone loving Komatsu, and I do mean everyone. Here his devotion to food and food preparation help to turn a man who specializes in cheating, draining memories and generally being evil towards the light side simply by sheer virtue of Komatsu’s… well, virtue. (Mustn’t forget about Coco, who also does a terrific job here as the brains of the team.) The fact that this is a very popular manga with BL fans should surprise absolutely no one. All that said, we are basically watching a giant game of Memory for an entire volume, so be prepared for a bit less action and punching than previous volumes. But just as much food. -Sean Gaffney

It’s all Viz this week, as Michelle, Sean, & Anna take a look at several recent releases.

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Arata: The Legend, Vol. 16 | By Yuu Watase | Viz Media – It’s hard to describe “that Shounen Sunday feel” to someone who’s never read a series from that particular magazine, but boy does Arata have it! This volume is a perfect example, in that the gang is theoretically doing something pivotal in collecting ancient musical instruments to battle a “demonized” Sho who uses sound as a weapon, but the majority of the enterprise is portrayed comedically, with one gag revolving around enemy attacks that gradually destroy the characters’ clothes, leading to a panel where Arata makes a heroic declaration whilst clad in barely there short-shorts. The whole thing has a certain Rumiko Takahashi vibe, where the interplay between the characters seems to be the main point, so it’s pleasant enough, but renders the cliffhanger ending kind of ho-hum. I’ll probably have forgotten all about it by the time volume 17 comes out in March. – Michelle Smith

Dengeki Daisy Vol 13 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – Dengeki Daisy has settled into a bit of a formula, but fortunately it is a formula that I love. The McGuffin in this volume is the last will and testament of M, but the team realizes that they’ve actually been manipulated into searching for it despite their misgivings. Kurosaki and Riko have a significant talk, and Teru finds one secret hidden in her cell phone, leading to the team getting some suitably bizarre, funny, and useful information from her dead brother, even though he did set up a strange funhouse scenario to put everybody through their paces. Dengeki Daisiy is reliably quirky and at times very serious and suspenseful, which is hard to find in shoujo manga land. Still very highly recommended. – Anna N

A Devil And Her Love Song, Vol. 12 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – Having wrapped up most of Maria’s issues in the last volume, we’re left with Shin, who is disgusted and ashamed with himself for not being totally self-sacrificing and pure. Thus, as he’s got to go to America anyway to get operated on, he decides this is a perfect time to split with Maria – this despite the fact that he notes to others he’ll love her for the rest of his life. Sigh. Needless to say, Maria is sad, frustrated and angry in equal measure, which all comes out at what may be the best Ave Maria performance we’ve seen the entire volume. It’s not all angst and depression – Maria asking her friends for advice about sex is quite funny, and I am intrigued to see how Maria’s burgeoning YouTube career will go. Still, it’s a good thing we’ve one volume to go – I want these kids to be happy, dangit. -Sean Gaffney

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 18 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | Viz Media – Because we need to get the backstory for the Hundred Stories group, this entire volume takes place in Edo Japan at the time when Nura’s father was a young and brash man stating to take up his new role as leader. It’s refreshing to see a few more glances at some other characters, particularly Rihan’s first wife Yamabuki, who seems to have a permanent attack of the melancholics, as well as a group of young kids who, because it’s easier to draw, bear a striking resemblance to our normal human cast. In amongst this walks Sanmoto, one of the more loathsome and disgusting villains we’ve seen in a series with no small amount of loathsome and disgusting villains. He’s entirely human, too… at least until the cliffhanger. A good solid volume for Nura fans. -Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat! Vol 32 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – Each new volume of Skip Beat! makes me cackle with fangirl glee. Emotions are running high in this volume as Sho exhibits his jealousy about Kyoko’s relationship with Ren, not that Kyoko will pick up on that. Ren’s carefully constructed psychological barriers are beginning to crumble, and Kyoko with her trademark insight into anyone but herself is able to quickly see that he’s not acting like “Ren” or “Cain” but as a third party that she doesn’t even recognize. While Ren is in a panic over Sho and Kyoko being in close contact again, he reveals his own insight into her personality, pointing out that she is in no way equipped to deal with men, and he knows that she still has some deep emotional wounds to heal from.Ren’s actually acting like himself for the first time in many years, which has me eagerly awaiting the next volume. – Anna N

Voice Over! Seiyu Academy, Vol. 2 | By Maki Minami | Viz Media – I just can’t explain what it is about Voice Over!… As with volume one, the second is undeniably generic, but I can’t help liking it. Things get off to a slightly aimless start, with a plot in which the “stragglers” of the voice-acting program must help a visual artist find a new crush so that she’ll be inspired to create an anime for them to dub, but this ends up dovetailing into a new direction for Hime, whose talent for princely male voices is at odds with her desire to voice cute female characters. I’m not sure she’s ready to embrace her obvious true destiny yet, but she’s determined to make something of herself and cease being a disappointment to her mother, which leaves me cautiously optimistic that this series is about to get a little more focused; for now it’s earned a third volume read, at least! – Michelle Smith

This week, Sean and Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, Seven Seas, and Viz Media.

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Bloody Cross, Vol. 1 | By Shiwo Komeyama | Yen Press – Has there been something missing in your life ever since JinJun Park’s Raiders came to an end? Well, you’re in luck, because Bloody Cross is here to fill that void! Seriously, with its stark black and white artwork and religious themes, I was getting some major Raiders flashbacks while reading this! Tsukimiya and Hinata are mixed-race angels who have been placed under a deadly curse by God and they’re working together to break it, even if it means double-crossing each other at every opportunity. There are some elements I’m not fond of—Tsukimiya is a half-vampire angel because of course she is, not to mention the random fanservice and infantile female demon foe—but I was genuinely surprised by the way the volume ended and I think I may have to check out volume two just to see how Tsukimiya and Hinata get out of that predicament. Not quite recommended, but not bad, either. – Michelle Smith

Demon Love Spell, Vol. 5 | By Mayu Shinjo | Viz Media – I am beginning to suspect, especially given the cute little omake at the end of this volume, that this will be one of Shinjo’s titles where the sex doesn’t arrive till the very end. Which is fine, particularly if the storyline remains as strong as the one we see here. Kagura and Miko move out to their own place, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re getting it on – her father is still wary of trusting an incubus. But Kagura is easily the least jerk-like of the Shinjo heroes we’ve seen translated over here – ironic, given he’s a demon – which makes it easier to deal with both of them getting jealous over the course of this book. All this and an interesting dovetailing of demonic possession and the entertainment industry, where people will likely not realize you’re different. This is Shinjo’s best Viz series to date. – Sean Gaffney

RIN-NE, Vol. 13 | By Rumiko Takahashi | Viz Media – “Pleasant but pointless” is how I would sum up this most recent volume of RIN-NE. True, one might apply that label to most of the series, but volume twelve did have the Black Cat Ranking Exam, which was a nice change of pace. Volume thirteen features one-chapter cameos by antagonists like Masato the devil and Rinne’s deadbeat dad and introduces a supremely unfunny sibling duo that specializes in scythe modifications, including one made of bonito flakes that helps cat spirits pass on. (That bit, at least, was kind of cute.) Nothing is outright bad, but I do have to wonder how Takahashi’s editor keeps from yawning when ideas for new chapters are proposed. Perhaps Takahashi is so revered—and her sitcom stylings so familiar and comforting—that no one minds when her stories go nowhere. And, really, I guess that’s why I’m still reading, too. – Michelle Smith

The Sacred Blacksmith, Vol. 3 | By Isao Miura and Kotaro Yamada | Seven Seas – There’s a fair bit of fanservice here, and gratuitous dressing up as maids (very common in fantasy not-quite-medieval stories). But there’s also a lot of worldbuilding, as the arrival of a young woman and her entourage proves to be far more serious than I had initially thought. The selfish ojou front quickly drops away from Charlotte, as we see the desperate young woman beneath, and the bond between her and her three guardians is very well told. There’s also some excellent action sequences here, as Cecily takes on said guardians in an indoor battle that destroys the building but saves the day. All this plus an ominous warning of a future bad guy. Of Seven Seas’ recent fantasy titles, this has been far and away my favorite. -Sean Gaffney

Voice Over!: Seiyu Academy, Vol. 2 | By Maki Minami | Viz Media – I was pleased that the first half of this volume fleshed out Hime’s group of ‘misfits – indeed, the male love interest barely appears in this volume at all. Instead, we continue to show that despite her dreams, Hime is at her best with male roles – something underlined by her posing as a male at the end in order to satisfy her producer’s plans. On the more dramatic front, her mother proves to be the classic horrible shoujo mother as seen in so many series, and the sadness comes from seeing how Hime has grown so used to it that it doesn’t even register as sorrow anymore – just a weary determination to one day show her mother she’s not useless. Even Haruka, the aforementioned producer, is taken aback – and knows that to succeed, the first step for Hime is to get out of that house. Mission accomplished. -Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from Seven Seas and Viz Media.

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Alice Love Fables: Toy Box | By QuinRose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Seven Seas – This is pretty much what it sounded like, a series of short stories, all romance-themed, on QuinRose’s 3 properties. Arabians Lost is the first (and dullest), Alice in the Country of (blank) gets the majority, and Crimson Empire rounds it out. I’m most familiar with Alice, so those were the most enjoyable, even if they lack the twisted core I like in my Wonderland. She gets stories with Peter and Grey as love interest, something we haven’t gotten books for yet. And the Blood story is really adorable and sweet. As for Sheila, she’s the most interesting of the three heroines, but is rarely served as well by her male leads, so her stories don’t really gel as much. Still, nothing here truly bothered me, and it’s a good stocking stuffer for Alice fans. – Sean Gaffney

Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 13 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – By now everyone knows that this is one of the best shoujo manga coming out today, with laughs, thrills, excitement, and frustratingly unconsummated romance that gets even more tantalizing here. Heck, even Akira, who’s been a horrible thorn in the side of our heroes, looks like he may get a bit of redemption after all, once we hear of his tragic past. (You know, the one every character in this series has.) What I really noticed in this volume was the way the art has matured. There’s a scene with Riko receiving something belatedly from Soichiro, and it’s made even more intimate by our never seeing what it is (even though we know). It shows a lovely subtlety that contrasts with the wacky “what color are Teru’s favorite panties” schtick that’s going on next door. I will be so sad when this ends. – Sean Gaffney

Kimi Ni Todoke, Vol. 18 | By Karuho Shiina | Viz Media – This volume, set during Christmas, is the perfect manga to read while curled up by a fire and enjoying some hot chocolate. Lack of communication has caused some issues with Sawako and Kazehaya’s budding relationship. They have a breakthrough around Christmastime, and finally acknowledge how much they care about each other. Sawako and her friends Ayane and Chizu get together for some post-date gossip, as each girl has new romantic developments to report. The whole gang gets together at Sawako’s house for a party, and even Sakako’s overprotective father begins to acknowledge how good Kazehaya is for his sheltered daughter. This slice of life manga works through plenty of emotional developments in a warm and cozy manner, making it the perfect volume for some winter relaxation. – Anna N

Midnight Secretary, Vol. 3 | By Tohmu Ohmi | Viz Media – Things continue to be hot and heavy in the 3rd volume of this josei paranormal romance series. Kaya’s extreme competence as a secretary allows her to work for a subsidiary office by day and then return to her lover/ex-boss and vampire Kyohei at night to serve his secretarial, carnal, and blood bank needs, but her double life begins to take a toll on her. Kaya collapses, and it results in Kyohei trying to rearrange his life to accommodate their new unusual lifestyle. Along the way he begins to realize that he might actually care for Kaya, even though she is a human woman. This series is top notch paranormal romance for those who enjoy that kind of thing, which I certainly do! – Anna N

Skip Beat!, Vol. 32 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – For those who love the love triangle between Ren, Kyoko and Sho, you will revel in this volume and all its glorious horribleness. Sho in particular is in fine form, showing off both his consummate skill at reading Kyoko and his complete and total immaturity when it comes to what she wants or needs. (I could do without Shoko starting to fall for him, though.) He tries the same mental manipulation on Ren, and while it may not work while Sho is there in person, Ren’s distrust of himself is enough to make it niggle regardless. This all comes to a head in the hotel room, where a phone call from Sho causes Ren and Kyoko to both fall out of character… or maybe, given the incestuous subtext between Cain and Setsu, the character and the self may be bleeding together. I warn you, the cliffhanger will drive you nuts. Can’t put this down. -Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 32 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – What a dramatic volume! It definitely feels like the beginning of the end here, with Kyoko getting an inkling of what might’ve happened in Ren’s past, Sho pushing her buttons expertly and getting her to declare that she’ll never fall for Ren (lest she lose herself even more than she did with Sho), and then Sho promptly informing Ren of this fact. Poor Ren’s barely hanging on by a thread (a thread named Kyoko) and with two guys out to possibly snag her affections, he snaps and breaks character when they’re supposed to be on assignment as the Heel siblings, scaring her with the darkness he’s desperately trying to hide. It’s not that I want this series to end, but these developments definitely have me excited for a grand finale to come! – Michelle Smith

This week, Sean, MJ, & Michelle look at recent releases from Kodansha Comics, Yen Press, Seven Seas, and Viz Media.

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Cage of Eden, Vol. 12 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – There really is an awful lot of being threatened by giant predatory animals in this series – indeed, that makes up about half of this volume – so it’s nice to see a return to the basic question posed by the series. Where are they, why is the entire place filled with animals from conflicting time periods, and can they even escape at all? A rather disturbing stone monument is found, with words the cast can’t read, not being fluent in Latin, but we can – Requiescat In Pace. The idea that everyone is, in reality, dead and this could be a rather horrific afterlife is a downbeat one, and I’m fairly sure that it won’t turn out to be quite that bad. Still, we get another death here, and one worries that soon we may start running out of young, nubile teen girls to bathe naked in rivers. -Sean Gaffney

The Infernal Devices 2: Clockwork Prince | By Cassandra Clare & Hyekyung Baek. | Yen Press – This adaptation of Cassandra Clare’s prequel to her popular The Mortal Instruments series began as seemingly perfect girls’ “manga” fodder—so much so, in fact, that its careful adherence to shoujo manga tropes made it feel a little cold and emotionally manipulative. In this second volume, the series out-shoujos itself, with its increasingly spunky heroine and a cruelly dramatic love triangle. But while you might expect all this to reinforce the first volume’s contrived feel, in actuality, it finally gives the series some real heart. Clare’s supernatural world is still less interesting than the people she’s placed in it, but that hardly matters in the face of true romantic torture. I’m officially hooked. – MJ

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 15 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – Just when I start to think that Oresama Teacher maybe isn’t for me, along comes a volume like this one. The first couple of chapters were pretty boring school trip hijinks, but then I found myself unexpectedly captivated by the attempts of a doll-like member of the student council to win over Shibuya (the Public Morals Club’s newest member) with her finely honed cute act. Probably it’s because I enjoy skewering the transparent schemes of manipulative people, but I actually really liked their chapters together and now kind of want them to end up as a couple. I didn’t expect much at all from Shibuya when he first appeared, but now I definitely find him more interesting than Kurosaki, the main character, which doesn’t exactly bode well for the series. Still, it’s enough to keep me reading, if not rereading. – Michelle Smith

Slam Dunk, Vol. 31 | By Takehiko Inoue | Viz Media – To properly convey how much I love sports manga in general and Slam Dunk in particular, I kept a tally of how many times this volume made me verklempt. The total? Eight. I just find it so moving when someone finds the thing that they love and the “unwavering resolve” to go after it, changing the trajectory of their life in the process. True, the series doesn’t end like I had expected, but I actually think the most important thing that needed to happen occurred a bit earlier on—Sakuragi and Rukawa finally recognized each other as trustworthy teammates. There’s a great moment where Sakuragi recovers a loose ball and trusts Rukawa to deliver on it, a gesture that’s later repaid when a blocked-in Rukawa counts on Sakuragi in a crucial moment. The change in their eyes as they regard each other is so palpable it gives me goosebumps to contemplate it. I heart this series like whoa. – Michelle Smith

World War Blue, Vol. 3 | By Anastasia Shestakova and Crimson | Seven Seas – Any goodwill I may have possessed towards this series is gone by now, as it tries to tell a story with cute video game references but can’t rise above the most hackneyed cliches. So we have aggrieved siblings who chafe at the policies of their peaceful country and strike off on their own; we have the ‘weak’ member of the party reminded that war is hell and that she has to contribute and stop worrying that she’s useless (she’s even slapped, because of course), and the tragic narration “this was the last time we would ever fight together” setting up future events that I don’t care enough about. Even the side story, about a female slave with ridiculous strength who is rescued by a rather casual hero, leaves a bad, somewhat sexist taste in the mouth. It’s a shame, this started off with promise. – Sean Gaffney

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 12 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – I’ve said before that I enjoy Yotsuba as a catalyst more than an actual character. Luckily, she’s rarely on her own in this volume, and her interaction with everyone else drives the humor and the heart. Torako is learning to be just as good as Asagi at handling Yotsuba, even if it’s in a grumpy truculent way. Fuuka and Shimau are hilariously weird and cute as a team, spotting the potential of Yotsuba and awkward pumpkin costume straight away. And the camping trip that takes up the 2nd half is filled with exactly what we want in the series: the wonders of everyday life, people being adorable dorks, and lots of cute. Yotsuba’s final page quote makes one think the series is ending (it isn’t), but honestly there’s far more that can be done here The wonders of childhood are limitless. – Sean Gaffney

Yotsuba&!, Vol. 12 | By Kiyohiko Azuma | Yen Press – New volumes of Yotsuba&! are sadly few and far between these days, but at least each one is solidly consistent and guaranteed to raise a smile. True, nothing much changes, but the series does have its own internal slice-of-life continuity, with Yotsuba’s newfound fascination with tying bows factoring into future chapters not to mention the repercussions of her naughty adventure with paint. “Everyone gets blue hands sometimes!!” on its own might not read as much of a punchline, but Azuma’s excellent (as ever) depiction of Yotsuba’s body language effortlessly communicates how embarrassed she is by her predicament, and it’s nice to see how her dad handles her misbehavior. Too bad it’ll probably be at least another year before volume thirteen. – Michelle Smith

Voice Over! Seiyu Academy, Vol. 2 | By Maki Minami | Viz Media – As pleasantly sugary as Hana to Yume series are known to be, I admit that I found the first volume of Voice Over! Seiyu Academy to be more sickly than sweet. Its perky, dim heroine and and obvious romantic setup, though certainly no grave sins in the context of current shoujo manga, languished within a lackluster premise. Volume two begins pretty much the same way, as heroine Hime and her gang of student seiyu “stragglers” trudge through a tired plotline involving the value of friendship. Fortunately, a late-volume twist changes things for the better, utilizing an equally overused trope that somehow feels just right here. Can a shoujo manga live or die on its precise combination of clichés? Time will tell. Tentatively recommended. – MJ

This week, Sean and Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media.

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Midnight Secretary, Vol. 2 | By Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – As ever with the josei series we’ve seen Viz license in Shojo Beat, this second volume is dedicated to much angsting and lying to oneself. Unlike most Shojo Bdeat series, all the angsting ends in a fairly hot sex scene, which actually feels earned, mostly as we do get to see both Kaya and Kyohei making the same journey. Kaya “But I’m just a secretary” drives the first half, and Kyohei’s “Vampires should not love humans” drives the second, but they’re essentially the same concerns; each is losing themselves to the other, and it’s scary. I am pleased that we continue to focus on how good the two of them are at their jobs, and I suspect that Kyohei’s family will play a larger role as things go on. In the meantime, enjoy all the fretting and frothing leading to a whole lot of pleasure for all concerned. – Sean Gaffney

Psyren, Vol. 13 | By Toshiaki Iwashiro | Viz Media – I like the fact that so much attention is given in Psyren to showing us how the villains came together as a team. Usually the heroes band together with the power of friendship, etc., so it’s nice seeing it coming from the other side, with folks having agendas other than ’cause we’re evil like that’. Also, given Jump action series almost never really focus on the romance, I also liked seeing Sakurako freaking out at what her alternate self did with Ageha, even if it was played for the broadest comedy. (As was Maria being jealous, which was also very cute). Then it’s back to the Psyren world for more fighting, as things get livened up by the addition of a genuinely unhinged serial killer on the villain’s side – the flashback to his victims being found is chilling. Hopefully the series cam keep the momentum going, next volume looks like all fighting. – Sean Gaffney

Rin-Ne Vol. 13 | By Rumiko Takahashi | Viz Media – Never let it be said that Rumiko Takahashi’s comedy hasn’t been consistent as we travel from UY to Ranma to Rin-Ne. Her characters are funny because they are all gloriously selfish asses who are truly horrible to each other for the most petty reasons. There is the occasional heartwarming bone thrown here, but even then you never know when it will be yanked away from you, as with the chapter with Rinne’s horrible father. Even Sakura gets in on the act, not having issues with Rinne being a thief, but musing he wouldn’t be so bad at it if he were. Even the ghosts everyone is helping are petty, vindictive and shallow. If I hadn’t been reading Takahashi for almost 20 years now, I’d be fairly repulsed at this entire cast. As it is, it feels like putting on your favorite old electric blanket. – Sean Gaffney

Strobe Edge, Vol. 7 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – One of the things that makes Strobe Edge so great it’s that it’s often sweet, but never sappy. Some of the best moments occur when mature-seeming character show their vulnerabilities and insecurities to the select few they care about, which means these scenes area always firmly rooted in character. The primary focus of this volume is the growing closeness between Ren and Ninako and the latter’s unwillingness to let go of their friendship to try for something more, especially since she knows Ren is still sad after breaking up with his girlfriend, unlike the other girls in school, who are eager to nab him without truly knowing him. Then there’s Ninako’s friend, Sayuri, who is worried that her current boyfriend has fallen for another girl just like her last one did. I suppose there’s nothing really new here, but it’s done so well that I just don’t care. – Michelle Smith

Sunny, Vol. 2 | By Taiyo Matsumoto | Viz Media – How does one craft something that’s sad but simultaneously uplifting and charming? Introspective and yet a page-turner? I have no clue, but thankfully Taiyo Matsumoto does and has instilled those qualities in Sunny. I especially love that the kids in this series (who live together in a group foster home) are not idealized. They tell lies, act tough, fail to show gratitude for their caretakers, and hang out with the wrong crowd but Matsumoto shows us the vulnerabilities that make them behave this way. One can’t help but feel for them, with the painful truths they’re confronting at such a young age. My favorite chapter involves relative newcomer Sei taking the latest arrival under his wing, only to say goodbye when the boy’s mother actually keeps her promise to come for him. It’s just beautifully done all around, which is yet another reason why you should be reading Sunny. – Michelle Smith

This week, Sean, Anna, & Michelle look at recent releases from Viz Media and Vertical, Inc.

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Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 5 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – There is quite a good space battle towards the end of this, but as usual I’m focused on other things. The reason that I keep coming back to Sidonia is the balance it maintains between different aspects. I will never get over how this is still a wacky harem manga, complete with Nagate being a clueless dope and Izana running off in best cliched “I hate you!” form. But I will also never get over the scene with Tahiro’s possession – and, I have to assume, death – which is some of the sickest body horror I’ve ever seen, and is done slowly and silently so that you revel in its horribleness. These are both in the same manga! And yes, there is also a great Star Wars-style battle with SPEED GAUNA and Nagate showing off his awesome skills as well. It’s become a must-read title. – Sean Gaffney

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 5 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – I honestly never thought I’d love a mecha-centric manga like I do Knights of Sidonia, but then again, this is not your average mecha manga. Humanity’s desperate fight for survival never lets up—which isn’t to say the series is devoid of light moments, only that they are few and far between—and just when it seems they’ve possibly got a leg up on the enemy, the enemy grows more clever while an unknown threat begins to grow within Sidonia itself. The characters have become even more endearing, too, especially Izana Shinatose, Tanikaze’s “middle-gendered friend,” and this is the kind of series where people can easily end up dead—dead en masse, in fact—so watching them fly into battle can be a somewhat stressful reading experience, but oh so addictive and rewarding. I’m counting the days until volume six! – Michelle Smith

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 15 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – The class trip that I thought would take the entire volume only took half of it, but things are all the better for it. First, we get just enough time devoted to Mafuyu trying once again to hide her past, Yui realizing that his deep cover role is a lot deeper than I suspect he’s truly comfortable with, and Saeki once again being ridiculous. To my surprise, though, I also loved the second half. I didn’t think much of Shibuya when he was introduced, as he was putting up a very false front. Now, with everyone else off on the trip, we can delve closer into that, and see what happens when he runs up against someone he can’t read like a book. As for our latest mini-villain, Komari… well, she’s finding the exact same thing happening to her. Clearly these two are made for each other. Depth is always welcome in my favorite shoujo comedy. – Sean Gaffney

Oresama Teacher, Vol. 15 | By Izumi Tsubaki | Viz Media – I’m a bit in awe of the capacity of this series to seem absolutely silly and hilarious even as the cast grows and almost nothing happens in terms of forward-moving plot. The class trip is funny, and I especially enjoyed Saeki’s unholy obsession with ping pong. While sometimes the large cast gets a bit tricky to keep track of, the story shift in the latter half of the volume to Shibuya fending off Komari’s aggressive cuteness is both amusing and intriguing from a character development standpoint. It is always nice to have a manga to turn to that always makes me smile, and Oresama Teacher delivers every time. – Anna N

Slam Dunk, Vol 31 | By Takehiko Inoue | Viz Media – The final volume! It feels a bit like the end of an era. I didn’t think this basketball game could get any more intense, but the tension and strain were palpable as the underdog heroes of Shohoku High face the final minutes of their battle against Sannoh. There’s a bit of bittersweet resolution as Sakuragi and Rukawa acknowledge each other as teammates in the closing moments of the game. I feel like this series has just been a wonderful gift, seeing Inoue’s style and storytelling skills evolve and grow over the 31 volumes of this series serves as a master class in manga appreciation. I would happily have read 31 more volumes of this series, yet it is utterly appropriate that Sakuragi gets the last word, delivered with his characteristic confidence to conclude the volume. – Anna N

Strobe Edge, Vol. 7 | By Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – I would like to note that it is starting to beggar belief that every single ex of every single character is converging on the same school now. But, having gotten that out of the way, this was a solid volume of Strobe Edge. The focus on Sayuri was appreciated, and showed how experiences (and indeed lack of communication) from past relationships can affect future ones. I’d argue that even more than most shoujo manga, this series reads like a primer for first love, with the characters talking about their feelings out loud far more than we normally see. Sadly, Ninako and Ren are rather static right now, as they enjoy their close friendship and think “This is enough, right?” Well, no, it’s really not, and I think Ren is going to be the first to break. We shall see… – Sean Gaffney

Vampire Knight, Vol. 17 | By Matsuri Hino | Viz Media – For the past several volumes of Vampire Knight, I’ve noted that I’ve enjoyed its mood and flavor, but really haven’t been able to follow the plot from one volume to the next. That’s getting worse and worse, and this volume can only coast on style for so long before I start to skim. We’re clearly in endgame, but most of what’s happening involves Kaname trying to kill Sara and Yuki trying to stop him, and everything else here is pretty much added window dressing to those two things. There’s some attempt at development for Ichijo, and some romantic sacrifice by Souen, but honestly it’s been 17 volumes, I should not still be turning to the back to remember who everyone is. Still, the art is gorgeous, and everyone suffers beautifully. It’s the manga equivalent of Rococo art. – Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean, MJ, Michelle, & Anna look at recent releases from Seven Seas, Viz Media, Kodansha Comics, Yen Press, and 6 Degree Works, Inc.

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Burning Love on the Aegean Sea | By Harumo Sanazaki | 6 Degree Works, Inc – This is a somewhat random Ohzora manga that I bought on impulse for my Kindle. It is a basic mishmash of Harlequin story tropes, without the elements of humor or lush art that makes romance manga more enjoyable to read. Christian is a man with anger issues and lush, long dark hair who comes back to a Greek island after being expelled with tons of money and revenge in his heart. Leda is the innocent heroine with a trampy older sister and ethically challenged father who is forced to stay on the island when her ex-lover appears, all while raising her sister’s son. Everything is very dramatic, and the illustrations of windswept hair and turbulent seas combine to underscore the tortured relationship of the two leads as they grow closer. Still, something this manga makes it feel more like it is going through the motions as opposed to telling an interesting story, and there’s plenty of other romance manga out there that will be more satisfying for most readers. Anna N

Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, Vol. 4 | By Yomi Hirasaka and Itachi | Seven Seas – The majority of this volume continues the basic theme of the entire series, which is this group of misfits and outcasts having fun as friends without realizing that’s what they’re actually doing. They write a round-robin fanfic which basically involves torturing each others’ self-inserts, they play the world’s most ridiculous RPG, and they fail mightily at karaoke. There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering here, though the cliffhanger promises that next volume may ramp that up, as Kodaka is invited to meet Sena’s father. As it is, though, romance continues to sit on the back burner here, as the title is more concerned with seeing these broken people insult each other, mock each other, and likely form bonds they’ll cherish for the rest of their lives. -Sean Gaffney

Midnight Secretary, Vol. 2 | By Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – As heroine Kaya becomes further dependent upon her vampire boss’ sexual attention (to the point of attempting to free herself by leaving his employ) and boss Kyohei is slowly driven mad by his feelings for a “mere human,” I’m aware that I should be fleeing the scene as quickly as possible. After all, it’s these tormented, controlling love interests I despise the most, isn’t it? Isn’t it?? Alas, I can’t deny that I’m enjoying Midnight Secretary, despite myself. I’m captivated by Tomu Ohmi’s tortured love story, her occasional humor, her clean artwork, but most of all, her competent, serious heroine, whose devotion to her work still trumps all, even sexy vampire bosses. Even for this grumpy old lady, sometimes trashy, over-the-top romance really hits the spot. Midnight Secretary is just that kind of romance. Recommended. – MJ

Pandora Hearts, Vol. 18 | By Jun Mochizuki | Yen Press – I had wondered how volume 18 could top 17, with its many answers and “um… whut?” ending, but I think it does, largely because Mochizuki manages to provide still more answers to long-standing questions in a way that’s unexpected but absolutely fits with what’s gone before. (Well, what I can remember of what’s gone before. At some point, I’d love to start over from the beginning and see how it all hangs together.) I love how everything is tilted on its head in ways that remind me a little of Loveless, actually. I know this is more fangirl gushing than a legitimate review, but hopefully that just goes to show how much I enjoyed it and how eagerly I await the next volume. “Where do we go from here?” indeed. – Michelle Smith

Real, Vol. 12 | By Takehiko Inoue | Viz Media – Oh, Real. I seriously love you so much. Why you come out so seldom? Anyway, this volume finds Togawa in pursuit of change—he’s not entirely sure what it is he’s lacking, but he’s banking on finding it at basketball camp. It doesn’t entirely turned out as planned, but some insights from Azumi on his rush-ahead attitude are very welcome. Meanwhile, Hisanobu continues to give rehabilitation his all, and once his formerly estranged father learns about his son’s goal of participating in wheelchair basketball, Inoue-sensei crafts a thoroughly lovely non-verbal sequence wherein the dad learns all about the game and then silently prays for his son’s dream to come true. Sniff. Okay, yes, this volume is full of unabashedly feel-good stuff, but it’s not cloying about it. There’s plenty of sweat, tears, and frustration, and everything is drawn beautifully. Even if you don’t like sports manga, you should make an exception for this one. – Michelle Smith

Sankarea, Vol. 3 | By Mitsuru Hattori | Kodansha Comics – The cover to Vol. 3 continues to show how this is being marketed to a very different sort of fan than you’d expect. Yes, there are still elements of harem comedy here, though Wanko is perhaps starting to realize that “I see you like a sister” is a hole that’s usually too big to crawl out of for the typical harem girl. Where the manga really succeeds is in the drama and horror, with the addition of the annoying but informative Darin, and the realization that being dead is not something that Rea can simply deal with and live the rest of her life as normal. The cover art shows this off, as she stares at the stump where her arm used to be. It’s put back, but it’s a sign of a more dangerous trend, which is that she really is a zombie, therefore happily ever after may not be an option here at all. – Sean Gaffney

This week, Sean and MJlook at recent releases from Seven Seas, Yen Press, Kodansha Comics, and Viz Media.

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Alice in the Country of Joker: Circus and Liar’s Game, Vol. 3 | By QuinRose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Seven Seas – This continues to be the best of all the many Alice spinoffs we’ve seen by a wide margin, as it’s particularly good at developing the themes that made the original game so interesting. People you once knew vanishing and getting replaced, the fact that everyone in the world – except Alice – CAN be replaced, and wanting everything to stay in a happy stasis so that nothing bad ever has to happen are all driving factor’s in Alice’s mindset. But it’s a bad mindset to be in, which is probably why this world is always on the cusp of violence, why everyone (except Ace) keeps urging Alice to choose them, and ultimately why we keep coming back to the image of Alice’s older sister Lorina, whose appearance – supposedly – makes up the cliffhanger to this volume.-Sean Gaffney

Fairy Tail, Vol. 31 | By Hiro Mashima | Kodansha Comics – We’re essentially starting fresh after this time skip, so this volume is a good one to reinforce the basic talking points of the series to date. We see the continued connection between Fairy Tail’s world and Edolas, the reappearance of Jellal, who tries to get Erza to abandon him in one of the most transparent lies ever – no one, particularly Erza, believes a word of it. And we see Lucy’s bond with her Celestial Spirits, which help her to finally move past the death of her father. This all helps set up the Grand Magic Games, the fighting tournament that will dominate volumes to come. Fairy Tail may be back at the bottom of the heap, but the awesome teamwork shown at the end means we can’t count them out just yet. Still a fun shonen romp. -Sean Gaffney

Magi, Vol. 2 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I had assumed that Jamil, the ruler we meet here, would end up being one of the series’ first major antagonists. But no, he’s just a minor antagonist, and so is allowed to show his evil, cowardly, and gutless ways right off the bat. Indeed, this volume reads very much like “if the series isn’t popular, it can end here”, with only the last few pages, sending Aladdin off into another plotline, showing that it’s moving on. Aladdin continues to be more than he seems, but we don’t really find out how much more. Instead, I was more fascinated with Morgiana, and the manga discussing how slavery works not only through physical chains but also the sheer emotional beatdown that convinces a slave that escape is impossible. I hope we see more of her soon. In the meantime, get on the Magi train now while it’s still early. – Sean Gaffney

Missions Of Love, Vol. 5 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – Despite what the cover may lead you to believe, this is not the latest from Project H Manga. It still runs in Nakayoshi, a magazine for elementary school and junior high girls in Japan. And the actual content inside is less salactious, ear-biting aside. The author is far more interested in seeing the back and forth involved with four selfish people who see no harm in abusing the others for their own ends. Shigure, however, is probably the nicest of the four, and therefore he seems to suffer the most, between Yukina’s appalling mixed signals, Mami’s emotional manipulation, and Akira’s willingness to do whatever it takes to make Yukina his. It all adds up to a giant teen hormone cocktail, and it’s as addictive as ever, even if it’s still bad for you. – Sean Gaffney

Pandora Hearts, Vol. 18 | By Jun Mochizuki | Yen Press – A day or two ago, a kind soul came along in comments to a recent post to reassure me that nobody dies in volume 18 of Pandora Hearts. But, y’know, some revelations can be more painful than death, and that’s certainly true of this volume. Fortunately, that’s just how I like it. Jun Mochizuki continues to hurt me in all the best ways, as she begins to really unravel the truth behind both Oz’s origins and Alice’s death. Her frenetic style generally sends me back for a second read shortly after I’ve finished the first, but I’ll admit I enjoy every second of it. Unfortunately, this has never been a series that can welcome new readers into its middle volumes, but if you like lively, delicious artwork and complex plotting, this series is well worth hunting down from the beginning. Still recommended. – MJ

This week, Sean, Michelle, & Anna look at recent and upcoming releases from Seven Seas, Vertical, Inc., and Viz Media.

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Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Vol. 6 | By QuinRose and Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Seven Seas – Despite the fact that once again this is half the main story and half a side story, it feels like a complete book because the side story also features Alice and Boris, rather than Crimson Empire. As for the main story, as always Ace steals every scene that he’s in. Ace and Boris contrast very well here, given that Boris, despite his jealousy, just wants Alice to be happy and at peace. Whereas, as Ace says flat out, he finds Alice most interesting when she’s stressed, vacillating, and indecisive. If you recall that this manga is sourced from a visual novel, this works quite well: Boris (and some of the others) want Alice to finish the game and find an ending, Ace wants anything but that. We’ll see how this resolves in 7, the final volume. – Sean Gaffney

A Devil And Her Love Song, Vol. 11 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – I had thought that the issues with Maria’s voice would be easily solved at the start of this volume, but nope. This volume turns out to be the one where most of the plot ends regarding Maria’s past are tied up, as we see that the tragedy in her past that has caused her such pain has also effected everyone else connected to that tragedy – her father, her grandparents, everyone. I found the way the last name “Cross” was tied into the plot to be a bit mind-numbingly coincidental, but hey, it’s a shoujo manga. So with Maria’s issues now mostly resolved, and Shin finally realizing that he can’t keep using his hand with it injured like that, we wrap up here, right? Wrong. Two volumes to go, and the cliffhanger for this one, with Maria saying “nothing can possibly go wrong now”, is very ominous. – Sean Gaffney

Happy Marriage?!, Vol. 2 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – The line between miscommunication being a necessary tool to tell the plot of your shoujo manga and miscommunication being the last straw that makes your reader give up and drop the title can be very fine indeed, and the fact that I’m only 2 volumes into a 10-volume series and already vacillating on it doesn’t bode well. Not that I don’t understand the characters. Despite being husband and wife, it’s a paper marriage, so there’s that sense of ‘I should give her some space’ on Hokuto’s part – which is easy for him anyway, as he’s the sort to be very subtle and oblique. Meanwhile, Chiwa’s idea of working for another company isn’t bad, but one run by a former flame? That’s bad. This is the volume where Happy Marriage?! had to make its plot longer, and sometimes you can see the stretching. – Sean Gaffney

Midnight Secretary, Vol. 2 | by Tomu Ohmi | Viz Media – I’m still enjoying this supernatural romance about Kaya, an unusually dedicated secretary and her developing feelings for her vampire boss Kyohei. This volume centers around Kaya acknowledging her feelings for her boss and deciding to pull away, because there’s probably not much future for a woman with extra tasty blood and a man who regards human women largely as snacks. This doesn’t go well, as Kyohei likes to have Kaya around for more reasons than he is willing to admit to himself. The woman brimming with emotions and her emotionally withholding target of affection is a fairly common romance scenario, but the moody art, emotional turmoil, and paranormal elements combine to make this manga very enjoyable. – Anna N.

Sickness Unto Death, Vol. 2 | By Hikaru Asada and Takahiro Seguchi | Vertical, Inc. – Well, that didn’t go the way I expected at all. Which was, of course, the point. One of the best things about this serieds is the way it sets up situations and then pulls the rug out from under you. There’s also some really terrific analysis of coping with trauma, and I like how it shows Kazuma trying to help as a therapist but still being far too close to the situation (there’s really an awful lot of sex in this book, probably to attract Young Animal readers). As for the ending, I found it rather disquieting, and it made me ask lots of questions I’m not sure I wanted the answers to. Which I’m pretty sure is absolutely 100% intentional. I’m not sure this is a series that can be easily loved, but I think it has a high reread quality, and I’m very pleased Vertical put it out. – Sean Gaffney

Strobe Edge, Vol. 7 | by Io Sakisaka | Viz Media – This is really one of my favorite currently running shoujo series, with sympathetic characters and an engaging supporting cast that helps divert me from noticing that the relationship between naive Ninako and super-popular and enigmatic Ren is developing very slowly. Now that Ren is no longer in his previous relationship and Ninako, Ren, and Ando are all in the same classroom at school the potential for love triangle developments is high. This volume focuses a bit more on Sayuri and her old boyfriend, who it turns out was Yutaro, Much of the volume deals with Ninako’s struggles with continuing to relate to Ren as a friend only, while Sayuri and Yutaro finally achieve a bit of unexpected but welcome closure. – Anna N

Sweet Rein, Vol. 1 | By Sakura Tsukuba | Viz Media – If the name Sakura Tsukuba looks familiar, that’s because CMX published two of her series (Land of the Blindfolded and Penguin Revolution) back in the day. And that probably explains why Sweet Rein feels kind of like CMX shoujo to me. It’s a short series (complete in three volumes, it looks like) that works for all ages and has some fluffy fantasy elements, but which is still a little off the beaten path. For example, the leads in this series are a bonded Santa/reindeer pair. Yup. So far, drama comes from sad little kids with cancer in need of miracles and bishounen grandpa ghosts warning the reindeer boy that what he feels for his master isn’t genuine love. It may inspire mockery, but the overall feel so far is kind of cozy and old-school and the chibi reindeer are insanely cute. I think that’s enough to sustain me for three volumes. – Michelle Smith

This week, Sean, Anna, MJ, & Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, Viz Media, SubBLime Manga, and Vertical, Inc.

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A Bride’s Story, Vol. 5 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – The first half of this volume wraps up the wedding of the twins, who are adorable as they vacillate between wanting food, rest, and time to relax and wanting their wedding to be perfect and everyone to approve of them. The best part was probably the point when they leave, as it finally hits them that they’re leaving their family and have a minor breakdown. Luckily, their spouses are awesome. After this, we leave Mr. Smith on his way to Turkey and head back to see what’s going on with Amir, whose husband is still not quite grown up enough, despite her growing feelings for him. There’s a darker aspect to this plot that we’ve seen before with Amir’s family, but I also like the basic fact that she wants to be with her husband now as she really loves him, and the frustration is palpable. Nice volume, and Amir is finally growing on me. – Sean Gaffney

Knights of Sidonia, Vol. 3 | By Tsutomu Nihei | Vertical, Inc. – I remember being surprised by Sean’s reviews as he was reading this series because he referenced some wacky sex comedy antics, and I could not picture how that would fit in with the more serious tone with all the giant mecha fighting disturbing blobby alien shape shifters. Sure enough, there are enough bathhouse scenes in this volume to make up for any perceived lack of them earlier on in the series. What I enjoyed most in this volume though was learning more about how hero Nagate Tanikaze was born and why he was raised in isolation from the rest of the ship. This series still manages to be very intriguing, and the combination of space fights and the horror elements invoked by the squishy and possibly sentient aliens still make for a unique reading experience. – Anna N

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 2 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – It’s funny how things happen sometimes. A little over two months ago, I knew nothing about Magi. Now, I wish the whole series was out already so that I could binge-read it (though it’s still ongoing in Japan, so I’d be left hanging either way). The promise evident in volume one is developed nicely in volume two, with all sorts of fun adventure and shounen friendships and everything that still manage to feel fresh and unique. To top it off, the story heads off in a new direction and some new layers of complexity are introduced that I find really intriguing. The characters are endearing, but not bereft of mystery, and even the villains can be sympathized with in the end. I think I might have found a new shounen favorite. Thank you, VIZ, for giving me something I didn’t know I needed! – Michelle Smith

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 17 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | Viz Media – In amongst all the shonen back and forth of the last few volumes, it’s been tricky to remember that these are all yokai tales, and that they can be quite scary. It’s a good thing we get this volume, then, which not only serves to set up our next villainous group, but also has some terrifying things going down. The conclusion of the Ripper storyline has schoolgirls with no faces… except the faces are also there, separate, crying out in pain and anguish. Then Rikuo’s friend Torii is captured, which is nothing new, but giving a yokai her form puts a nice creepy spin on things. In between we have the Keikain family investigating a haunted village, which is less interesting, but still has its shares of scares. Nura is at its best when it evokes mood rather than plot, which this volume does very well. – Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 18 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | Viz Media – As the manga has gone on, it’s gotten much better at giving Komatsu something to do besides look shocked at Toriko’s actions and cook yummy food. He’s finding foods that are the best kind for him to prepare, such as the Shining Gourami. He’s also not losing his moral sense, unlike his childhood friend who has become an even more popular chef through bribery and pandering. As for Toriko himself, we’re off to get a new food – this time it’s Meteor Garlic, which of course is much, much better than your ordinary variety. Naturally, this means we need more insane places to gawp at, insane food to drool over, and insane fights that Toriko and Coco (now back in the story after he placed 2nd in a poll and the author brought him back) can get into and look cool doing so. Not the smartest manga out there, but a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Sleeping Moon, Vol. 2 | By Kano Miyamoto | SuBLime Manga – As volume one of this series brought to mind a favorite novel from my teens, volume two reminds me just how much I wish that BL series were regularly given the page count necessary to play themselves out as satisfyingly as novels can. This volume is just as compelling as the first, and the tension in its mystery and its relationships are everything a supernatural romance fan could hope for. But there’s also an unavoidable sense that we’re missing a few chapters that might have given the story’s climax more power. Don’t get me wrong—the story does come to a real conclusion, and overall this release is not to be missed. I just can’t help but think about what could have been. That said, I’ll be picking up anything I can find from this author from now on. Definitely recommended. – MJ

This week, MJ, Sean, Anna, and Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press and Viz Media.

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A Bride’s Story, Vol. 5 | By Kaoru Mori | Yen Press – A Bride’s Story is a series that has been, over the course of its first four volumes, alternately educational, moving, funny, and just plain lovely to look at, and here in volume five it manages to be all those things at once. Despite some shaky early moments for this former vegetarian, involving the careful, detailed slaughter of a small herd of sheep, the twins’ wedding is even more delightful than I had ever imagined (and I imagined substantial delight). Even more charming are the subsequent chapters, in which we are reunited with the series’ original protagonist as she grows slowly closer to her young husband. I hadn’t realized how much I missed Amir until she was back in front of me, and this volume’s last few poignant, slice-of-life chapters were the perfect follow-up to the twins’ general wackiness. This is my favorite volume yet. Highly recommended. – MJ

A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 11 | By Miyoshi Tomori | Viz Media – I thought there would be more emotional fallout from the events in the previous volume, but Shin and Maria move forward into the next phase of their relationship, somewhat distracted by the search for Maria’s real father. This series is always preoccupied with themes of forgiveness and redemption, and while part of me thought that Maria’s father was forgiven way to easily for past events, a single panel of Maria telling her father that he’s a terrible singer with a gentle expression on her face did a lot to sell this particular storyline. While Maria seems more settled, I’m now incredibly uneasy about what lies ahead for Shin. This series more than any other Shojo Beat series does a lot to instill disquiet in its readers, which is part of its unique appeal. – Anna N

Happy Marriage, Vol. 2 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – I enjoyed the first volume of this series very much, and the second volume delivered up plenty of frothy fun. Newlyweds of convenience Chiwa and Hokuto are having difficulties navigating their new relationship due to their various communication issues, and things aren’t helped by the parade of handsome men that suddenly appear. First, there’s Chiwa’s new co-worker Yu Yagami, who uses his “nice-guy” whiles to become Chiwa’s confident. She’s so oblivious she is unaware of his feelings for her, and she ends up friend zoning him in an amusing way. More serious is the appearance of Chiwa’s old college senpei, who tries to woo her to his company. Hokuto begins to realize that he can’t be so complacent with his relationship with his new bride if plenty of other men are noticing her too. This continues to be a fun josei series. – Anna N

One Piece, Vol. 68 | By Eiichiro Oda | Viz Media – It’s pretty much routine for things to get crazy in One Piece as an arc nears its presumed end, but this volume is crazier than most. A manaical villain, human/animal hybrids, a rampaging slime monster, body swaps, samurai, giant kids, a Naval presence, and a pirate alliance… It’s a bit much, but Oda keeps it together. This may also have been the first time when I really and truly didn’t see any way out of their peril for a significant chunk of the volume. It’s a testament to Oda’s skill that he can still create something this exciting on volume freakin’ 68 of his series. One Piece has been running since 1997, and to still feel this fresh is nothing short of a miracle. I’ll never get tired of extolling its virtues. – Michelle Smith

Soul Eater, Vol. 16 | By Atsushi Ohkubo | Yen Press – There are several cool moments for our heroes in this volume, particularly Maka and Soul, who get some good development over idealistic over practical, i.e. big fluffy angel wings vs. bat wings. They end up siding with practical, which is a good thing, as the enemy, i.e. Medusa, is ramping up her game. So much of this series has taken place right on the edge of madness – I mean, just look at the sun and moon, for goodness sake! – that it can take a while to realize just how far the madness has come since Vol. 1. Entire towns are now falling prey to Medusa’s influence, and Kid is still captured. And then of course there’s Crona, whose suffering Medusa seems to be deliberately pursuing for her own ends. I’m not sure how well that will end for her, but in the meantime Crona’s presence isn’t good for ANYONE. Another terrific volume. -Sean Gaffney