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Manga the Week of 8/18/21

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SEAN: Mid-August, and I cannot confirm this, but I imagine it’s hot. At least here in North America. Australia might be saying something different.

Airship, in print, gives us Adachi and Shimamura 6 and Mushoku Tensei 12.

Digitally, the early debut is The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe (Wagaya wa Kakuriyo no Kashi Honya-san), a fantasy about a girl who lives in a bookstore that caters to spirit people. Then one day she rescues a boy from an exorcist family! Can she convince him all spirits aren’t evil?

ASH: This appeals to me on multiple levels.

MJ: Okay, same.

SEAN: There’s also The Hidden Dungeon Only I Can Enter 5.

Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of the enjoyable but exhausting to say title Since I Was Abandoned After Reincarnating, I Will Cook With My Fluffy Friends: The Figurehead Queen Is Strongest At Her Own Pace.

Dark Horse has the 2nd and final What’s Michael: Fatcat Collection, rounding up the rest of what Dark Horse published from this classic 80s manga.

MICHELLE: Oh, hey! I was wondering what had happened with this.

ASH: Glad to see it finally coming out! I love the series and am happy to see it back in print.

MJ: Oh!!

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Shiori’s Diary (Shiori no Nikki), from Nihon Bungeisha’s Manga Goraku Special. A wife finds a diary showing evidence of her husband’s many affairs, so decides to start a diary of her own… and start having sex with others as well. From what I hear, this is more ‘high tone’ than Ghost Ship’s usual fare.

ASH: Huh!

SEAN: They’ve also got Destiny Lovers 7 and the final volume of Yokai Girls.

J-Novel Club has some nice print stuff for us this week. We get the debut in print of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, which is a skeleton isekai, but this one is a kinder, gentler skeleton.

MICHELLE: I was not prepared for the existence of the skeleton isekai genre.

ANNA: Nor was I.

MJ: Well, huh.

SEAN: Also debuting in print is the manga omnibus of The Faraway Paladin (which is also getting an anime soon). If you ever wondered what Superman would be like in a high fantasy world, this is not far off. This has Vol. 1-2.

ASH: I’m still waiting for the original novels to be released in print (supposedly coming next year!), but I’ll take the manga in the meantime.

Also out in print: Ascendance of a Bookworm 9 (aka Part 3, Vol. 2); By the Grace of the Gods 5; In Another World with My Smartphone 17; and Otherside Picnic Omnibus 2, with Vol. 3-4.

Digitally, J-Novel Club has Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?! 6, Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into a Top-Tier Party 6, Otherside Picnic 5, Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel! 2, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Wayward Journey 13.

In print, Kodansha brings us the latest Kaoru Yuki title, Beauty and the Beast of Paradise Lost (Rakuen no Bijo to Yajuu). This runs in Kodansha’s Palcy, and is probably in the artist’s usual genre of “is this romance, horror, or both?”.

MICHELLE: That cover is great.

ANNA: Good to see more Kaoru Yuki coming out.

ASH: Ooooh! Kaoru Yuki!

MJ: Oh, I’m so excited!

SEAN: They’ve also got That Wolf-Boy Is Mine! Omnibus 1, containing the first two volumes.

Also in print: Blue Period 4, the 16th and final volume of Boarding School Juliet, and Go with the Clouds, North-by-Northwest 5.

The digital debut may be more familiar to mystery fans: The Decagon House Murders (Jukkakukan no Satsujin), a manga based on the classic mystery novel. A mystery club travels to a remote island to solve an unsolved murder… but is this really all it seems? Umineko fans will find a lot of this rings a bell.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to this one!

ASH: Oh, nice! I enjoyed the novel, so will want to check the adaptation out, too.

SEAN: Also out: Cells NOT at Work 4, Nina the Starry Bride 4, Undead Girl Murder Farce 3, and Will It Be the World or Her? 8.

One Peace debuts a new title: I Belong to the Baddest Girl at School (Pashiri na Boku to Koi suru Banchou-san), a Kadokawa series from Young Ace Up. A boy is being used as an errand boy and bully victim by the girl gang leader of the school… or so he thinks. She’s actually trying (badly) to confess. I am always down for banchou girls.

ASH: Same!

SEAN: Also from One Peace, the 5th manga volume of The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

Seven Seas debuts Level 1 Demon Lord and One Room Hero (Lv1 Maou to One Room Yuusha), a title from Houbunsha’s Comic Fuz that seems to be part of the popular ‘demon lord in modern Japan’ genre.

They also have Slow Life In Another World (I Wish!) (Isekai de Slow Life o (Ganbou)), an Overlap series from Comic Gardo. A reincarnated guy does his best to avoid conflict in his new world… but he’s getting attacked, he’s getting slaves, and he’s getting more problems.

There’s also Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor 12, The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Wizard’s Blue 3, Arifureta: from Commonplace to World’s Strongest 7th manga volume, Magical Angel Creamy Mami and the Spoiled Princess 2, School Zone Girls 2, Superwomen in Love! Honey Trap and Rapid Rabbit 2, and Thigh High: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy 2.

ASH: I’ll have to admit, despite greatly enjoying the original series, I have yet to actually try any of the spinoffs of The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

Viz has a new Junji Ito manga, Sensor. Is anyone else reminded of the days when an Arina Tanemura manga would come out from Viz every month? It seems like we’re at that point with Ito.

ANNA: I would like to read more Arina Tanemura manga!

ASH: As would I! And more Junji Ito for that matter.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Asadora! 3, Assassin’s Creed: Blade of Shao Jun 2, Golden Kamuy 23, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 16, Urusei Yatsura Omnibus 11, and Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead 3.

Yen On debuts the print version of Megumi Hayashibara’s The Characters Taught Me Everything: Living Life One Episode at a Time, which had a digital version out a while back. This memoir is part talking about roles she’s had over the years and part self-help book.

ASH: I’m looking forward to this one.

SEAN: Yen On also has Baccano! 17, which wraps up the 1700s arc (and might seem familiar to anime fans), and Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 6.5, which, as you may have guessed from the number, is a short story volume.

What manga will you read no matter which continent you’re on?

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 7

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan as “Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

After essentially rebooting the series last volume, possibly the biggest surprise here is how little Kaoru has to survive using potions. They come up a few times, notably when some of the cast need to be healed ASAP, but they aren’t the running gag of “make me an ‘x’ that’s really a potion bottle’ that they used to be. Mostly her abilities have become similar to Mile’s Storage, which is to say she can whip out transport or food when needs must. This is not to say that she’s just sitting around and doing nothing however; she and Reiko are getting a business off the ground, using their two new ex-orphans as employees, and there’s also the occasional muttering about finding a husband, though even Kaoru seems to have realized it won’t happen as long as she looks that young. Indeed, most of the first quarter of the book is about starting the business… and Kaoru finding loopholes to avoid paying taxes. Then they go looking for more employees…

Kaoru, of course, always seems to think that she can disguise her absolutely ludicrous abilities and just be an average, everyday businesswoman, and Reiko seems to be going along with this. Both of them seem to have forgotten what happened 70-odd years ago, and how Kaoru was literally enshrined into myth and legend. The running gag for this book, which is quite amusing, is how all of the young kids working for her know who she is but try not to say anything because she’s clearly avoiding the subject… even as she once again does something that only the legendary Kaoru could do. Speaking of the kids, this is a fantasy world isekai, so I will warn there is a lot of child labor here. That said, they’re paid well, and it’s an improvement on the virtual slavery they were stuck with before. As with Kuma Bear, you’re supposed to regard it as heartwarming.

The other subplots in the book feature Leia, another goddess who has essentially come down to Kaoru’s country so she can see why Celes is so fascinated with it. For the most part, she acts like a somewhat naive ojou, but there’s a very nice scene at the end of the book where she starts to realize what living actually means, and it’s well-handled. The other big event, right at the end of the book, is Kyoko’s arrival, the third of the “KKR” trio from Japan. As far as I can tell, the rule of thumb of their lives in Japan was that, while Kaoru threatened her way out of trouble, and Reiko blackmailed her way out of trouble, Kyoko seems to have simply gotten into trouble – she’s presented so far as a bit of a fluffhead. She shows up in a UFO, as her ability is to be able to create literally any ship – sadly, she can’t create crew for these ships, so she’s reduced to crafts that can be used by one person. She promises to add even more chaos.

For those who miss the old supporting cast, there is a brief after story showing what Francette and Roland are up to… and the answer is “raising kids so powerful that no one can defeat them, along with a Red Sonja-esque desire to marry only someone who can defeat them”. Still, while this wasn’t as world-shattering as the last book, it was a good solid volume.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/11/21

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Sean is our hero as he shoulders the burden of this column solo.

D-Frag!, Vol. 15 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – This manga is here for romance and jokes, but the jokes are so prevalent that the romance tends to fall by the wayside. Technically there are a bunch of girls who have fallen for Kazuma, but honestly, in reality he and Takao seem to have the only relationship with actual sexual chemistry. This is especially helped by a wacky sequence where Kazuma has to dress up as a girl to avoid Takao’s protective father, and ends up being quite a believable one. Takao has now finally left Kazuma’s house (minus one bra, which becomes another running gag), but the others are still there, despite the meteor preventing them from moving back home being taken care of by the power of EEL. Deeply silly. – Sean Gaffney

The Dangers in My Heart, Vol. 1 | By Norio Sakurai | Seven Seas – This bizarre little comedy was not quite what I was expecting. Our “hero,” Kyotaro, is a wannabe edgelord who keeps narrating inside his head and dreams of killing his classmates… except no, he doesn’t, as he’s far too much of a wuss to do anything. He has a repressed crush on Anna, the “best girl” in class, who is not only popular but also turns out to be a model on the side. That said, as he and the reader slowly realize, Anna is… strange. Stranger than she likes to let on, really. What ensues are a series of short chapters where he tries to stop the other horny teens in his class from sexually harassing the girls, while also watching Anna break her stereotype. Not sure if recommended? It was OK. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 15 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – We’re nearing the end of the manga at last, after the misstep that was the anime (not a disaster, but not as well-received as hoped). The anime helped highlight the manga’s main flaw, which is that it absolutely will not let Hori’s temper and tendency to hit Miyamura go away, and it continues to walk a fine line between “it’s funny in a Looney Tunes way” and “this is abusive behavior and I, the author know it,” with a side of “they know they’re into S&M so it’s OK.” It feels weird, frankly. Yuki and Tooru are still the secondary not-quite-a-couple, but frustratingly, that’s all they seem to be. And of course there’s the focus on endless minor characters I can’t remember. This is still a mess, but it’s almost over. – Sean Gaffney

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 10 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – Do you love age-gap romance? Or romance that looks like age-gap romance? Then this is the manga for you… at least when it’s not focusing on its main couple, who continue to be the main reason to keep reading it. We’re not walking back the moving away yet, and it’s really hitting them both hard, to the point where they do a “day trip” to talk about how far away it will be. There is talk of them having sex (which they are quick to point out is legal between two fourteen-year-olds in Japan), but neither one has knowledge beyond rudimentary, so they back off to research it. Frankly, it’s too soon. As for the others, well, they are what they are. I do like the sad lesbian helping out her next-gen equivalent, though. – Sean Gaffney

Ran the Peerless Beauty, Vol. 9 | By Ammitsu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Resolving the cliffhanger from the last volume turns out to go exactly the way every reader thought it would. Ran is taken away by her dad and there’s a bit of “you can’t see him again” going on. It’s all mainly because her dad is sad that his little girl is growing up. Akira manages to win the dad over by basically being his usual self, and in the end Ran agrees not to have any sex before marriage, because … well, because they’re so pure, really. That said, we’re only a volume away from the finale, so it’s time for one last little wrinkle from Ran’s past to show up and stress everyone out. If you miss Kimi ni Todoke and wish you could read more of it only with even more innocent leads, this is the manga for you. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 8 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Turns out that Ikuma being a salaryman is not that big a shift from Ikuma being a contract worker, though it does mean he has to go out with his boss and get drunk more often (a staple of Japanese corporate culture, and I’ve never liked it). Fortunately, while he and Sumika still sometimes have trouble communicating their needs and desires, they still communicate better than 90% of the other married couples in manga. That said, things end with a fight here, as Ikuma’s womanizing friend has finally met a nice girl, and Ikuma and Sumika differ on whether this is a good thing or not. Their fight will probably spill into book nine, though given the cliffhanger I’m guessing Ikuma is correct here. Sweet fun. – Sean Gaffney

The Whole of Humanity Has Gone Yuri Except for Me | By Hiroki Haruse | Yen Press – This two-volume series is out here in one omnibus, and that seems to be the correct decision, because I doubt this premise could sustain a long series. A high school girl wakes up one day to find everyone in the world is now a woman, and always has been. She’s in a parallel world… and she’s straight! Or is she? If that premise makes you go “heck yeah!,” you’ll be fine with this SF series, as she and her seemingly aloof, secretly disaster lesbian schoolmate try to figure out what happened and if she can return to her own world. If you saw the premise and sighed, it’s not going to magically be any different than what you’d expect. – Sean Gaffney

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 2

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By Reia and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Koushaku Reijou no Tashinami” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Andria Cheng.

It’s not always easy trying to reform something. First of all, how much can you really do? Iris is the acting governor of her land, and is doing a great job of building it up and modernizing it. But what about the next domain over? What about the entire Kingdom? What about the Kingdom next door, which is not nearly as well off as you are? These are not questions one can easily answer, and Iris has trouble coming up with answers either, though she’s doing her best to try to make changes that everyone is going to want to emulate. Fortunately, as I noted in my previous review, she has a ridiculous number of allies who are there to help her make those changes. Unfortunately, she also still has a large number of enemies. The villainess otome game aspect of this continues to be a very small part, while the politicking and intrigue are definitely at the forefront. Which is for the best, really.

Iris may be the glory of Armelia, but that means little to the Kingdom as a whole, which does not know she’s behind the Azuta Corporation and thinks of her as the noble who got shunned by the second prince. That said, an invitation by the Queen Dowager to a major function helps her start to reintegrate into high society, helped along by the prince, who is being an absolute dick, and also Yuri, the protagonist of the otome game that this supposedly is based on, who is at best ridiculously unaware of everything and at worst an actual enemy agent. Then, just when things seem to be going really well, word comes from the Church that Iris has been excommunicated! With employees leaving her company and neighboring domains refusing to allow trade, is there anything Iris can do to possibly get herself out of this? If only she had a really hot assistant who was secretly the first prince…

As I said earlier, the otome game aspect of these books is minimized, but I do want to come back to the character of Yuri. I’m not sure if the author of Duke’s Daughter read My Next Life as a Villainess before starting this (there are many other examples of the genre, but Villainess did begin on the web about 8 months before this title), but it’s hard to look at Yuri and not see Evil Maria. Which makes sense, given that Iris is essentially Good Original Catarina, without the personality of the Japanese girl overwriting her. I appreciate that Iris can’t be sure if Yuri is a spy that is seeking to have the kingdom collapse simply because if she is, she’s so bad at it. There are many other ways to go about doing this rather than acting like a cliched otome game heroine trying to get all the Good Ends with the various boys. I doubt we’ll ever get anything from Yuri’s perspective, but it would be interesting.

With another crisis solved, you’d think the series would be wrapping up quickly. But alas, the first Prince absolutely does not want to marry Iris, as he’s far too content seeing her “flying free” and changing the entire world. it’s hard to disagree with him. That said, I hope Dean sticks around, if only for her own mental health. This was an improvement on the first volume, though it has the same flaws.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Home Alone

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

The first four books of the series had its main character, Sakuta, helping out a different girl each time who had what he termed “Adolescence Syndrome”, where an inner issue they were suffering from showed itself in an exterior way. Mai was turning invisible, Tomoe was time looping, Rio twinned herself, and Nodoka bodyswapped herself with her sister. Through all this, though, we were also learning of Sakuta’s own past – both his encounter with a high school girl named Shouko (who he rediscovers but not in high school) and his sister, whose reaction to bullying, and his frustration and reaction to her own pain, is what jumpstarted all of this. Now, at last, in this 5th book, we finally get to focus on Kaede. She’s more determined than ever to leave the apartment and go to school, to the point where she has a list of tasks in her diary. Together with Sakuta, can she succeed? Well, yes, but that’s not necessarily a wonderful thing for all involved.

Much of this book is about moving forward and trying to take a next step. For Sakuta that means actually applying himself. Mai, despite her celebrity, is going to college, and Sakuta wants to follow her there a year later. For Kaede, this means a whole lot of things. Just going to school is fraught with tensions, given that whenever she sees someone she doesn’t know, especially someone wearing her school uniform, she has a panic attack. She’s also re-exhibiting signs of her adolescence syndrome, which is definitely not a good thing. (Given that when this happened before, the authorities thought her mother abused her, I worried they might zero in on Sakuta, but thankfully this does not go there.) And there’s another, even larger issue: Kaede, as we discover here, has no memories from before two years ago. Given the way amnesia works, there’s a danger that she might lose herself no matter what the outcome.

There is a large chunk of this book that is very heartwarming. Seeing Kaede’s determination is great, trying to take small steps despite her terror. Sakuta strikes exactly the right notes, knowing when to push and when to retreat. The scenes at the zoo were magical, and brought a smile to your face… which of course makes the last fifth of the book all the more tear-jerking. It’s startling to see not just Kaede but also Sakuta re-develop symptoms from adolescence syndrome, and of course it happens when Mai is out of the city and can’t help him. Fortunately, he has Shouko – the older version – to help him once again. That said, she’s not Mai, and I wish that Mai had been there to talk him out of it. Mai remains the best part of this series. In any case, I’m not sure where Sakuta’s family relationship will go from here, but hopefully his romantic relationships will survive the cliffhanger. They probably will, she’s eminently sensible.

I joked on Twitter that the next two books would be light and fluffy – trust me, I saw the movie reviews, and while I don’t know what’s going to happen I know it’s a tear jerker. But so is this, in its own way, as we take a look at what makes up a person’s identity, and how fragile that can really be.

The Executioner and Her Way of Life: Whiteout

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By Mato Sato and nilitsu. Released in Japan as “Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

The second volume in this series picks up right where the first one left off, with Menou and Akari arriving in the Port City Libelle. Akari is here to have a vacation, Menou is here to try to kill her, and makes an attempt, but it fails as the others have. More worryingly, the terrorist organization we saw on the train in the first book has also got a hook into this city, and it appears to actually have the approval of the royal family – or at least the royal princess, who seems somewhat… detached from life. Menou’s not getting any help from the Church – they loathe her. The fight-loving princess finally meets her, but, unsurprisingly, just wants to fight. And Momo is doing her best to help, but things might be a little more difficult than any of them had assumed. Why is one of the four Human Errors out of her fog prison? Why does she know Akari? Even more chillingly, why does she know Menou?

So, first of all a warning: while this is not quite as bad as, say, Roll Over and Die 4, it is a very gore-filled and violent book. Pandæmonium is our villain here, and she’s a little girl who can essentially resurrect herself from her own body and blood – meaning that she can be killed endlessly and literally crawl out of her dead body. This is, needless to say, disquieting, both as a concept and as prose. She’s a classic type – the killer little girl – but that does not make her any less difficult to deal with. Akari’s own subplot is also rather chilling, as we get a lot more time in the head of the original Akari, the one who is not an airhead (though both are in love with Menou – indeed, that’s pretty much the one trait they share). The revelation from Book 1 is gone into further, and I wonder if a happy ending is truly possible for her – or if death is the only solution.

Not that the world has really had a solution to the isekai’d heroes before. We don’t get much more backstory, and a lot of it is filtered through Pandæmonium, who sees everything in terms of a movie, but it’s pretty clear there’s more going on here than just “the four human errors turned evil and were all destroyed”. For one thing, the one who put them down has also vanished from history… maybe. We get hints here and there as we go through this book that Menou’s past is tied to the human errors more than she’s aware of. (She’s also mostly figured out what Akari is doing, so it’s not simply making her ignorant on purpose.) As with the first book, everything ties back to her mentor Flare, who she gets her nickname (Flarette) from. Good news! They may reunite soon! That is the end of the good news.

Apologies for being somewhat oblique, but this is the sort of book that runs on mysteries, and I’m not ALWAYS a giant spoiler factory. If you’re reading this for the yuri, you may be disappointed – it’s there but isn’t a focus. If you’re reading this for lots of cool action, dark mysteries, and a bit of existential horror… OK, more than a bit… then this should serve you quite well. If you got off the Roll Over and Die train after Book 4 caught up to Japan, pick this up.

Manga the Week of 8/11/21

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SEAN: August continues. It’s still 2021, you know. Not 2022 yet, I promise.

ASH: I do sometimes wonder at what year it is, so I appreciate the clarification.

SEAN: Two print novels from Airship: Drugstore in Another World: The Slow Life of a Cheat Pharmacist 2 and Skeleton Knight in Another World 9.

In early digital news, we get two debuts. Monster Musume The Novel – Monster Girls on the Job! is pretty much exactly what it says.

ASH: Huh, I had missed that there was a novel, too.

SEAN: She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man (Kenja no Deshi wo Nanoru Kenja) is about a gamer whose OP character is an old man. Then one day he falls asleep and wakes up in the world of the game… but he’s a young girl! What else can he do but pretend that she’s his disciple?

Denpa Books gives us Gambling Apocalypse: KAIJI 3.

ASH: Glad to see this coming out!

SEAN: Ghost Ship debuts Sundome!! Milky Way, a Shueisha series from Grand Jump about a salaryman who runs into an alien girl who wants to have his baby. The trouble is, when she gets embarrassed she reverts to her alien form. This is from the creator of Yokai Girls.

ASH: Not to be confused with the now out-of-print (though still available electronically) Sundome by Kazuto Okada.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has, in novels, Are You Okay With a Slightly Older Girlfriend? 4 and The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 10.

On the manga side, they debut Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons (Doushitemo Hametsushitakunai Akuyaku Reijou ga Gendai Heiki wo Te ni Shita Kekka ga Kore desu), whose light novel we’ve already seen. The manga runs in Suiyoubi no Sirius.

And we also get Record of Wortenia War’s 3rd manga.

In print, Kodansha has the 3rd volume of the delightful A Sign of Affection.

MICHELLE: I really will read this at some point.

ANNA: I love this series. It is one of the few series that I decided to get digitally because I didn’t want to wait for print.

ASH: I just recently picked up the first volume! I’m looking forward to giving the series a try.

SEAN: The digital debut is Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad (Yamaguchi-kun wa Warukunai), the story of a girl who finds the scary-looking classmate of hers is actually quite a kind person. It runs in Betsufure.

MICHELLE: I know this is a well-trodden shoujo genre, but dangit, I usually like these.

ANNA: Unsurprisingly, me too!

ASH: Saaaaaaame.

SEAN: They also have Are You Lost? 7, Cells at Work and Friends 5, A Couple of Cuckoos 5, Defying Kurosaki-kun 16, Giant Killing 25, and Police in a Pod 3.

MICHELLE: Insert perennial Giant Killing squee here.

ASH: I really enjoyed the anime; I still need to read the manga!

SEAN: A lot of debuts for Seven Seas. Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World (Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku – Jichou o Shiranai Kamigami no Shito) is another “the title is the plot” isekai, and it runs in Mag Garden’s Beat’s.

I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! (Yuusha Shoukan ni Makikomareta kedo, Isekai wa Heiwa deshita) is a Kadokawa series from Comp Ace. Our protagonist is accidentally transported due to a hero summons… but there’s no war? Demons are our friends? No adventuring either? Good thing there’s piles of girls to glom onto our potato of a lead guy!

Skip and Loafer is a series from Kodansha’s Afternoon about a country girl who thinks she is completely prepared for life in the big city!… She isn’t. This is award-nominated.

MICHELLE: This sounds fun! The cover is cute, too. Kind of has a Silver Spoon vibe.

ANNA: This does sound cute.

ASH: I am intrigued!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon 2, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 2, Harukana Receive 8, How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? 7, and Tamamo-chan’s a Fox! 3.

Square Enix has a 7th volume of Hi Score Girl.

SuBLime has a 2nd volume of horror BL series MADK.

ASH: I’m so far behind on so many series, but this one is higher up on the ever-growing pile of manga to be read.

Tokyopop gives us Glass Syndrome (Glasstaion Shoukougun), a one-shot BL manga about two teens who both have tons of issues and how they get together. It ran in Kaiousha’s Gush.

MICHELLE: Another nice cover.

ANNA: Tokyopop, you still can’t trick me.

SEAN: Viz has Call of the Night 3, Fullmetal Alchemist: Fullmetal Edition 14, Komi Can’t Communicate 14, the 7th volume of Persona 5, Radiant 14, and Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 15.

ASH: Some good selections in that list.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen Press has The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 3, ID:Invaded #Brake-Broken 2, Love of Kill 3, Mint Chocolate 3, and Sasaki and Miyano 3.

What manga are you reading if you get transported to another world?

In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 3

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By Ceez and Tenmaso. Released in Japan as “Leadale no Daichi nite” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

As we get more and more into this series, I am starting to wonder if it may be more connected to Keina’s life than I had thought. I had assumed that the general horribleness of her life before getting trapped in this “game world” was basically for drama purposes, and indeed we get a flashback to the car accident that saw her permanently on life support and killed her parents here, as well as showing why she’s so much more ludicrously ovepowered than everyone else – she literally had nothing else to do but lie in the hospital and game. That said, the narrative also notes that she’d been ill her entire life, and also offhandledly says her family were somehow involved with Leadale’s production. And we also heard form some other players who got trapped in the game that its shutdown was a huge surprise, and no one could work out why. Things that make you go “Hmmm”. That said, most of this book is not concerned with that at all.

That’s not to say that the book is not concerned with the interweaving of “game world” and this world with real, actual people, as it very much is. Cayna starts to find that old “game events” are seeming to reactivate years later… only now killing all the NPCs is far less easy to shrug off. With the help of two other players, she helps to clear out one of them, but the villages that were wiped out remain very much wiped out, and Cayna ends up adopting the one survivor, a little girl. There’s clearly ominous stuff happening. That said, the other half of the book is pretty much just Cayna being Cayna. She’s creating beer and whiskey, she’s battling dark elves with ease, and she’s basically about 200 levels above everyone else. That said, social interaction is still an issue, especially now that she has to be a mom. Keina did not emotionally mature much in hospital… and it shows in Cayna.

Given we’re seeing a few more gamers who have ended up in this world (and woe betide them if they try to explain “well, see, 200 years ago” to the authorities) we get an answer to a question that was bound to crop up eventually: what about players who gamed as the other gender? Turns out the game did not let you do that… but that did not stop one player, who used an illegal mod to play as a woman. Now she’s in the game, and is having troubles. Fortunately, this book is almost entirely service-free, so the troubles are more “I talk like a brash guy in this body”, something Cayna finds amusing. We also get two more servants that Cayna calls upon (and then keeps around, since it’s unclear what happens to them when unsummoned). They’re a cat butler and cat maid, and they both hate each other a whole lot. Comedy ensues. Sometimes it’s even funny. Mostly, though, the laughs come from Cayna and her ludicrous power.

So yes, this remains a slow life series with a potentially dark, chewy center. I’m enjoying it quite a bit.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, Vol. 16

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By Fujino Omori and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

Look, I know the spoiler. You know the spoiler. Most readers following this series have long since figured out the spoiler, if only as they googled the name and were redirected in a spoilery way. But yeah, this review is gonna talk about Syr, so if you say to yourself “oh, the shy but also sly waitress who likes Bell!”, I’d advise not reading this till you’ve read the book. We’ve seen Syr in action in one of the spinoff books, where she and Lyu go to a casino and she absolutely destroys a group of gamblers. But we’ve never quite seen Syr like this. This is Syr’s Last Stand. In the last volume we had a festival of remembrance, and in this one, hot on its heels, we have a festival of harvest. It’s meant to be a happy, joyous occasion, and is very popular with couples. As such, when Syr asks Bell out on a date, all hell breaks loose.

Admittedly it’s hard to pretend you’re avoiding a spoiler when the cover also heavily references the spoiler. So yeah, Syr is Freya. We all had guessed this by now, especially if we knew any mythology, and the derivation of the name Syr. That said, there’s another twist to it (hinted at in the Freya spinoff that came out last year) that makes things more interesting. For a good 3/4 of this book, however, this is really a cute romcom – something the author admits they were going for. Syr is, for obvious reasons, protected by the Freya Familia, and if she’s going to be dating Bell Cranel, then by God, she will be dating the BEST Bell Cranel, leading to a hilarious 5-day training from hell trying to teach Bell how to be a sexy boyfriend. (Poor Cassandra.) At the same time, Hestia is flipping out, and she and Aiz team up to follow Bell… as do Lyu and the rest of Syr’s co-workers. There’s funny moments, there’s sweet moments, there’s touching moments.

…and then it all goes to hell. Another slight spoiler, but the end of this book absolutely sets the table for the next arc, which I suspect is going to be “Freya Familia tries to kill all of Hestia Familia over and over again”. It has nothing to do with Bell figuring out Syr is Freya – he doesn’t. It’s simply that Syr left all her emotions and love on the table, begged Bell to accept her, and he CAN’T. He loves Aiz. (This is not stated explicitly with her name, but, um, see the previous 15 books). And it’s devastating and tragic until the last five pages or so, when you realize that oh shit, no, it’s going to be “fuck it, burn it all down” for Freya as she decides to have Bell Cranel By Any Means Necessary. It’s a stunning ending, and made me appreciate the comedy in this book all the more – I doubt we’ll see it in 17.

As with the wait between 15 and 16, 17 is not yet on Yen On’s schedule. Still, I hear 17 isn’t the end of the story arc either, so if you want to wait to binge, I’d advise against it. This works well as a stand-alone showing us what happens when someone who can get anyone she wants falls hard for the boy who won’t sleep with her because it would be wrong.

Fist of the North Star, Vol. 1

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Fist of the North Star, Volume 1 by Buronson and Tetsuo Hara

Here’s a flashback for you and a demonstration of my advanced age, Fist of the North Star as it was produced back in 1989 as a flipped monthly comic and the new hardcover edition. I was curious what it would be like to read a whole volume of Fist of the North Star, after all the idea of a delayed attack (“You’re already dead!”) that results in blood explosions is pretty much a shonen cliche at this point, but what’s the source material like? While I did read the first chapter way back in the day I’d never read more of the story although I’ve read plenty of references and jokes about Fist of the North Star since then.

Fist of the North Star

Fist of the North Star takes place in the future after a cataclysmic event in the late 1990s has produced a world where water is scarce and people attempt to survive in a post-apocalyptic landscape of city-states. The enigmatic Ken travels from town to town, demonstrating is extreme stoicism and manliness as a practitioner of the martial art Hokuto Shinken. I was immediately struck by how much Fist of the North Star reminded me of the Mad Max series due to the roaming bands of motorcycle gangs. As the story opens a motorcycle gang called the Zeed discovers that their scouts have been killed with some sort of localized explosions coming from inside their bodies, and a parched Ken gets caught in a trap as he approaches a town. A young girl approaches his cage to give him water, and when another prisoner grabs her Ken fends him off easily in his weakened condition. Ken soon finds himself battling the Zeed for the town that captured him. The action scenes are dynamic and gory, with the lack of expression on Ken’s face contrasting with the horror and surprise of his enemies as they find vital parts of their bodies exploding. I enjoy all of Ken’s calm proclamations as he informs his enemies of his impending demise by naming martial arts techniques and flatly declaring “Scum like you cannot possibly kill me.” The art often plays with perspective, with Ken fighting enemies that appear to be two or three times his size, which creates a little bit of dramatic tension in the battles even though Ken’s victory is always assured.

Ken sets out on further adventures, accompanied by the young former prisoner named Bat, who provides ongoing amazement and commentary on Ken’s martial arts feats. As he approaches the city of the Southern Cross, he has to deal with confronting his past and the reader learns more about the pain and trauma that lead Ken to be the master of martial arts who still stops to protect the weak throughout the dystopic remains of human civilization. This volume packs in so much origin story I’m curious to see if the rest of the series is more episodic, or if even more of Ken’s past is revealed in future volumes. This is a great hardcover edition that historic shonen collectors should appreciate that will look nice on a bookshelf with the other recent deluxe volumes Viz has been producing.

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.

MJ: 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.