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Bibliophile Princess, Vol. 3

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By Yui and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Mushikaburi-hime” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alyssa Niioka.

We’ve been seeing a lot of light novels lately, particularly on the shoujo end, where it’s clear the author has a story in mind, wrote that specific story, and now the editors are telling them the story is popular, please write more and they get a little stuck. I’m not sure if that’s the case with Bibliophile Princess 3 (like the others, this does seem to have been published on the web first), but it definitely feels like that. We’re not ready for the wedding yet, and so we need to introduce more conflict. Unfortunately, the conflict that is introduced will feel very familiar to readers of the first volume, as it’s of a similar nature. Even after promising to talk to each other and not misunderstand things anymore, Christopher and Elianna are still struggling – him because he’s drowning in so much work that he doesn’t have the time, and Elianna because she is finally growing up and gaining emotional depth – for good and for ill.

She’s been going through royalty training, with Queen Henrietta trying her hardest to ensure that she’s prepared for the hardcore power politics that is life as a royal. A large part of Elianna’s teenage years was spent with Chris hiding her from this sort of thing, so there’s a lot of catch up to do. And Elianna is an introvert and wallflower (well, unless books become involved). She hears of one of her ideas being stolen by another noble family, and is shocked (mostly as it means there’s a mole close to her). There’s a Christmas ball (OK, it’s not “Christmas” per se, but everything about it reads like a Christmas holiday) where she’s supposed to dazzle everyone, and she is reluctant to be the Queen’s dress-up doll to perfect that (as the Queen has abused the privilege in the past). Worst of all, she keeps hearing about the prince’s childhood friend, and how she’s the one who REALLY should be with him.

Again, we’ve walked this journey before, in the first book. Elianna has a tendency to either downplay or simply not understand at all what she’s done for the kingdom, and we get that again here. That said, sometimes her emotional agony rings quite true, and the scene where she finally breaks down and cries in Christopher’s arms was well handled. I was not particularly fond of Lady Sharon – not as an antagonist, she works perfectly well there, being the typical bratty kid, but because she’s 10 years old and is being married off to Lord Glen, something that thankfully does not actually happen. I know back in the day such royal marriages across countries were typical, but this is not that day. That said, Sharon also led to the funniest scene in the book, when she tries to get Elianna to abandon Chris by offering an extremely rare book – and Elianna, while she eventually makes the correct decision, is sorely tempted.

So all told this is a very up-and-down volume in the series, which is struggling to try to find new ways to say the same thing. I hope in future books it finds different things to say.

Aria the Masterpiece, Vol. 5

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By Kozue Amano. Originally released in Japan by Mag Garden, serialized in the magazine Comic Blade. Released in North America by Tokyopop. Translated by Katie Kimura.

It may be forgotten in these days when Aria is a classic with multiple anime box sets released to great acclaim, but the manga once seemed to be under a curse. It was originally licensed by ADV manga (ask your parents), and petered out about Vol. 3. Then Tokyopop (1st edition) picked it up and made it through Vol. 6… and then did their “sorry, we’ve decided to stop publishing manga”. Now they’re back, and Mag Garden still speaks to them, so here we are having finally caught up with actual new material in this omnibus. The good news is that Aria remains exactly what its readers want it to be, giving us gorgeous artwork, laid-back slow-life travelogues, and the occasional dab of character development. And, given the larger trim and color pages, this is a very good edition to pick up for anyone who enjoyed the anime and wants more, or who was wary of getting this a third time for fear that it would strike out. (The 6th omnibus is due out soon!)

Alice (and Maa) are on the cover, and indeed there’s a sense in this volume that the author is really trying to stop having this be The Akari Show. Now that we’ve introduced Athena and the core cast is complete, we can work with them as a group, or in pairs, or alone. The volume opens with a sea change, as during a group barbecue Aika accidentally gets her hair set on fire, leading to a need for a haircut. Given that Aika’s crush on Alicia has involved her trying to grow her hair out, this feels a bit like the author trying to metaphorically move on from that static point and have Aika grow (going to visit Al makes her all flustered – the manga is content to tease yuri ships, but will never actually go there). Alice also gets a couple of good arcs here, as she’s the youngest and most immature, so her stories can be more straightforward – although an entire arc which amounts to “you should smile more” feels weird these days.

That said, it’s hard to get away from Akari’s charm, and she is still the linchpin that the series revolves around. This despite the fact that her characterization is actually the least developed – she’s never going to stop being the somewhat naive girl who finds joy in everything, as that’s what we love about her. I’d argue she could be a little more self-aware – the chapter where she hears about a ghost who spirits women away when they take her for a boat ride, then literally does exactly that and has to be rescued by Cait Sith, makes you smack your head a bit – but heck, even everyone around her spends time simply watching her walk around. The best chapter in the volume has Aika and Alice follow Akari around for the day to see what makes her special. (The answer is “she has “slow life” powers, and also the ability to be lovely to everyone even if she’s meeting them for the first time.)

There’s much more here to talk about, including the disturbing revelation that Akatsuki’s mother looks just like Aika, but the point is that this is new Aria, and it’s awesome, and you should go buy it, if only to ensure that the entire series can finally come out in North America this time.

Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World!: The Strongest Duo!’s Turn

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By Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima. Released in Japan as “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

First of all, I want you to know that placing that exclamation point in the title where it belonged according to the cover art wounded me deeply.

The KonoSuba Explosion series has tried its best to be a dedicated prequel, but the end of this third volume finally has to take us into the main series proper. Most of it is spent with Megumin, on the outskirts, watching the wacky antics of Kazuma and Aqua. She’s trying to join adventurer parties, which are all desperate for spellcasters, but not her specific type of spellcaster. No one wants the girl who only knows how to fire off giant scary explosion and destroy property. Admittedly, she is faring better than Yunyun, who no one will approach because she’s too intense (read: desperate), and those who do approach her turn out to be predators. (Yunyun states she’s thirteen years old a lot in this book, a fact that I had conveniently erased from my brain but now it’s there again, being creepy and awful.) By the end of the book, after disparaging them so much, Megumin may finally be able to admit that what a girl like her needs is a party of idiots.

While genuinely a dedicated prequel, this series is also quite happy to set up events that we already know about in future books, such as Wolbach and Host, who is already having enough trouble dealing with Komekko without being forced to deal with even MORE Crimson Magic Clan folks. As is increasingly common in her character in these books (we don’t see all that much of this side around Kazuma), Megumin acts rude and nasty at times to cover up her own embarrassment at having to admit love and affection. This even applies to Chomusuke, who she at first talks about happily sacrificing before admitting that she’ll do no such thing. And of course it isn’t just her – the one major trait she has in common with Yunyun, who is otherwise a comedic punching bag, is their inability to deal with talking about who they like.

This pays off in a scene near the end, when Megumin (pretending to be asleep) actually hears just how much Yunyun respects Megumin and how cool she thinks she is. Of course, she then uses a sleep spell on Megumin so that she can go off and sacrifice herself, but it’s OK, the emotional moment was there – as Megumin will remind her over and over again. This book also has the job of separating the two here, given that when we first meet Megumin in the main series, Yunyun is nowhere to be seen, and it does a pretty good job, though not as well as it handles Megumin. Yunyun is a character that requires a certain balance to have the reader sympathize with her but also laugh at her, and the author, let’s face it, leans too far to one side much of the time. I worry, as does Megumin, how Yunyunn will fare on her own, but as seen in the main series, she’s still OK, if suffering.

And so this series comes to an end… except there’s a sequel to it out soon, KonoSuba Explosion Bonus Story!, which will tell us about events prior to Book 10 and why the princess looks up to Megumin so much. It should be silly and fun, with a small touch of heartwarming. Which is what you get with these books.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, Vol. 1

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

I was expecting great changes with this volume. When last we saw Rozemyne, she had had her past altered to make her the daughter of a noble, was then secretly adopted by another noble (who was also the archduke), and was getting ready to move to the noble part of town… while also maintaining her businesses, finding ways to employ the temple’s orphans, and assuming the role of high bishop. Some of the things that I was expecting did actually happen. Rozemyne had a bit of culture shock when she came across noble attitudes, and they in turn were unprepared for both Rozemyne’s health and her ways of thinking. She would start her high bishop duties and give lots of blessings, which would stun those who witnessed it both because of her age and then because of her ridiculous amounts of magic. What I did not expect, and this is totally a failure on my part, was Rozemyne organizing an idol concert.

Actually, there was a lot that did NOT happen in this book, which seems to want to give Rozemyne an easier time of it than the previous books. After the terrifying battle that ended book 7, this seems sedate by comparison. Rozemyne has to get used to her new family, including winning over Elvira, who is her new mother now… and it goes quite well, mostly as Elvira is a Ferdinand fanboy and will happily do anything he says, but also as Ferdinand has been grooming Myne this entire time to prepare her for her role as Rozemyne. (I will admit the grooming does worry me a bit. Given that Books 22 and 23 still show Rozemyne as a child, I don’t think romance is in the cards here, but it is suggested once or twice that Ferdinand and Rozemyne should be a couple, and please, no.) Ferdinand is even prepared for Sylvester’s spoiled son to not “get” that Rozemyne can’t run around, and has a solution – let her almost die in front of the boy.

Then there is the concert. I must admit, given what I’ve been writing about him in this review, I did feel Ferdinand sort of deserved what happened to him. That said, it’s also a terrific way to show that Rozemyne is not done coming up with innovative ideas just because she is now a noble. Her old ideas are also still going strong, of course, and I appreciated that Benno, Lutz, etc. did not simply vanish. (Myne’s old family appear slightly less, but they are also there, especially Tulli, who gets to learn manners from a most welcome tutor.) But Rozemyne needs money, and the idol concert was the best way to do it. I really enjoyed how she was able to spot, based on the reactions of the noble ladies to Ferdinand, that there would need to be attendants on hand for when they fainted. And the special final guest was also hilarious.

So far so good, then, but I expect trouble has not abandoned Rozemyne completely. In any case, if you enjoy books at all, light novels or no, this is a series that you should be reading.

The Extraordinary, the Ordinary, and SOAP!, Vol. 2

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By Nao Wakasa and ICA. Released in Japan as “Hibon, Heibon, Shabon!” by ArianRose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Emily Hemphill.

It has to be said, the hero and heroine of The Extraordinary, the Ordinary, and SOAP! are firmly in the ordinary category, and I feel would not be able to carry a typical shoujo romance on their own. The feelings between the two are, thankfully, resolved in this second volume, as Lucia is finally made to realize that she is the one Celes loves, and Celes is forced to admit his feelings out loud and straightforwardly rather than hoping that Lucia magically understands his heart without doing anything. This is even resolved in a pretty typical way, involving the two being separated from the rest of the cast by a brief disaster and having to make it on their own to catch up. Don’t get me wrong, they’re cute and I’m happy to see them get together, but Lucia x Celes is not the reason this got licensed. There are a couple of other reasons, the first being the premise itself.

I said this in the review of the first volume, and I still feel this way: I really like the fact that this is an isekai that takes place from the POV of someone from the fantasy world itself. Lucia, being the heroine, is of course big of heart and able to read emotions easily (I am hoping this isn’t just because she’s the only woman in the group, but yes, it probably is), but she also has her soap powers. And those powers, as it turns out, are perfectly capable of taking care of the cursed land that they brought in Maria specifically to fix. This leads to a great crisis for Maria, which I’ll get into in a bit, but it’s also a really good look at how quick these sorts of novels are to simply reach out to modern-day Japan to grab a savior rather than trying to address things on their own. It’s made even worse given that there is a conspiracy going on about the fate of Maria, the summoned heroine.

Maria is designed to be disliked by readers at first, with the theory being that we will gradually come to understand her as she grows as a character. That’s a hard hurdle to clear, however, especially with anime and manga fans, where you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Fortunately, the series plans to follow through for us, though admittedly it does so by taking Maria down even lower. Not only has she been pulled into a scary fantasy world and threatened by deadly monsters, but it turns out the nicer, bustier maid girl can actually save the day better than Maria can. When she hears the prince and his brother discussing having her killed (it turns out later she’s missing crucial information, but honestly, not that much – I worry how the return to the kingdom will go), she lashes out at Lucia with possibly tragic consequences. Her redemption might go a tad fast (Lucia is the heroine and gets the majority of the chapters), but it is there and welcome.

This series ends with the third volume, which seems about right given we’ve purified two thirds of the points we’ve been supposed tom, and the couple have confessed. Lucia and Celes may be typical, but the book they’re in has enough spiky edges to impress.

Infinite Dendrogram: The Forms of Love

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By Sakon Kaidou and Taiki. Released in Japan by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

At long last, after a year’s time, including a volume of short stories and a prequel, we are back with the main plot of Infinite Dendrogram. The plot itself involves a lot of setting things up for future books, though we also get one we’ve seen before, which is that the admins do not all get along with each other, and some of them are perfectly willing to destroy people’s lives if it means that they get to see their players evolve into a higher and stronger level. Once again, you are trying to figure out: is this a game? Is this some world pretending to be a game? How “real” are the NPCs? Certainly Ray has no issue with treating them as real, something which the princess appreciates, as she’s trying to get her little sister married off and out of harms way. Sadly, she’s as socially inept as every other woman in Ray’s orbit, so goes about it in exactly the wrong way.

There is also another plotline going on, and to be honest it involves one of my least favorite parts of the short story volume, which is the woman who was spurned by her real-life lover, so goes around destroying couples. She’s finally out of jail, and desperate to meet Figaro, who everyone realizes she is desperately in love with. The issue is that everyone is pretty sure that Figaro would much rather duel her than woo her, if indeed he’s realized what she’s after at all. What follows is admittedly predictable, but also probably the best part of the book, and reminds you that it’s not always wise to assume that characters who are super-focused on one thing are ALWAYS focused on that one thing. And, if nothing else, certainly provides contrast with Ray Starling, who may be our hero but can’t even dress himself properly, let along realize how many girls like him.

It has to be said: Ray may be a college student, but in terms of emotional depth he’s more like Tsukuyo than, say, B3. He is a chuuni, something Nemesis is trying to point out to him when she desperately attempts to get him an outfit that does not scream “bwa ha ha” but can’t quite make it. Of course, it’s that straightforward chuuni part of him that also lets him win the day – going up against a villain who loves to watch people’s emotional reactions to things, especially if it’s tragedy, Ray is simply pissed off beyond all measure, and manages to not only hand the guy his ass but also terrify him. (Given he has constellation-based powers, I sort of wanted Lucy from Fairy Tail to show up and beat his ass.) Admittedly, given what we’ve seen of Shu (whose past as a sentai actor is gone into here) and his oft-mentioned, never-seen older sister, Nemesis may have a long wait.

As I said, there’s lots of setup here, and not all of it has payoff. This has the feel of a story that’s nowhere near done, and provided the anime didn’t kill the franchise, we should be able to enjoy it for some time to come.

Manga the Week of 9/2/20

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SEAN: It’s always September, somewhere in Manga Land! What do we have for you this first week of the month?

Cross Infinite World has a 2nd volume of Beast Blood.

Denpa snuck out a release last week, though apparently the print comes a bit later. The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes (Sanpakugan-chan wa Tsutaetai) is a Gangan Pixiv manga about a girl with “mean eyes” and her travails. Our own Kate Dacey reviewed it here.

ASH: Thanks for the review, Kate! I’ve been curious about this one.

MJ: I have, too!

SEAN: No debuts for J-Novel Club this week, but a whooooole lotta other stuff. In print, we get An Archdemon’s Dilemma 7, the first Ascendance of a Bookworm manga (I guess that’s a debut), Infinite Dendrogram 8, My Next Life As a Villainess 3 and Sexiled 2.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying the Bookworm novels, so maybe I should give the manga a try, too. As for the second volume of Sexiled, I’m really looking forward to getting my hands on it.

SEAN: Digitally, there’s By the Grace of the Gods 4, Full Metal Panic! 8, The Greatest Magicmaster’s Retirement Plan 6, Kokoro Connect 10, The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar 12, The Unwanted Undead Adventurer 6, and A Very Fairy Apartment 4.

Kodansha has some print for us. Knight of the Ice 3, L*DK 15, Living-Room Matsunaga-san 4, The Quintessential Quintuplets 10, Saint Young Men 3, To Your Eternity 12, and Waiting for Spring 13.

MICHELLE: I’ll be reading several of those, and am especially eager for more Knight of the Ice.

ASH: Oh! It’s a good Kodansha week for me, too!

MJ: I need to catch up with both Knight of the Ice and Saint Young Men.

ANNA: Glad for the reminder about Knight of the Ice, I’m already behind!

SEAN: There’s also digital. The debut is That Time I Got Reincarnated (Again!) as a Workaholic Slime (Tensei Shite Mo Shashiku Datta Kudan), another spinoff of that popular series. This one is only 2 volumes long.

And we get All-Rounder Meguru 16, Cells at Work: Bacteria 3, My Boss’s Kitten 6, Smile Down the Runway 13, Stellar Witch LIP☆S 2, To Be Next to You 9, and Yuri Is My Job! 6. (The last will have print later, I imagine.)

MICHELLE: I’ve been getting caught up on To Be Next to You and liking it a lot.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts Cube Arts, a “gamer invited to beta test a game that is more than it seems” story. It ran in Shinchocha’s Comic Bunch.

Digitally there is a light novel debut: ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword!. A much requested yuri light novel title, this apparently starts off very dark (expect slavery), but has good buzz.

ASH: Hmmm, a yuri light novel could be intriguing.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has, in print, Makeup is Not (Just) Magic: A Manga Guide to Cosmetics and Skin Care, as well as the 3rd Arifureta: I Heart Isekai and My Monster Secret 21.

ASH: I’d actually like to give Makeup is Not (Just) Magic a read.

SEAN: Square Enix gives us a 2nd volume of My Dress-Up Darling.

ASH: Whoops, I haven’t actually read the first volume yet, so I’ve already fallen behind.

MJ: Oops, same!

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Ossan Idol! (Ossan (36) ga Idol ni naru Hanashi), an adaptation of a novel that runs in Comic Pash!. A Middle-Aged Man, bullied most of his life, turns his life around and gets buff, cool and handsome… but is unaware of this. Now he’s been scouted. This looks pretty fun.

Vertical has two debuts. The first we saw a digital release of earlier, but now the Weathering With You manga gets a print release.

MJ: I didn’t read this in digital, but I enjoyed the movie and I tend to like manga adaptations of Shinkai’s work, so I really should check it out.

SEAN: The other one, With a Dog AND a Cat, Every Day is Fun (Inu to Neko Docchi mo Katteru to Mainichi Tanoshii) is definitely for animal lovers. Expect “indie” art styles, too.

MICHELLE: Definitely checking this one out.

MJ: Okay, want.

SEAN: The rest is Viz, mostly. No debuts, but lots to look at. For shoujo stuff, we get Daytime Shooting Star 8, Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits 6, Love Me Love Me Not 4, Not Your Idol 2 (not a final volume, but the series is on hiatus in Japan after this), Skip Beat! 44, and Snow White with the Red Hair 9.

MICHELLE: I intend to read every single one of these, sooner or later. I didn’t realize that about Not Your Idol, though. That kind of stinks.

ASH: It’s a good shoujo week! I thought the first volume of Not Your Idol was excellent, so at this point I plan on reading the rest whenever it may be released.

MJ: Yes, same for me. Apparently my role in this week’s column is to point to whatever Ash says and repeat, “same.”

ANNA: It is a great week for shoujo! I’m sort of glad I didn’t read the first vol of Not Your Idol if it is on hiatus. I’m also especially happy to see a new volume of Skip Beat!

SEAN: On the shonen end, we get Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 16, Dr. STONE 13, Dragon Ball Super 10, Haikyu!! 40, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 16, One Piece: Ace’s Story 2 (final volume, and also a novel), and SPY x FAMILY 2.

MICHELLE: My love for Haikyu!! is pretty well documented at this point, so I will instead squee about how cute and great SPY x FAMILY is.

ASH: Likewise! Those are the two series from this batch which are getting most of my love this week.

ANNA: Nice, I need to read more SPY x FAMILY

SEAN: Lastly, Yen On had one August title skitter all the way into September: the 9th So I’m a Spider, So What? novel.

Which of these make the best titles to hide in your textbook while class is going on?

Arifureta Zero, Vol. 4

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takaya-ki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou Rei” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

I do sometimes worry that the author of the Arifureta series has forgotten why we’re reading it in the first place. In regards to the original series, it’s to see Hajime’s ludicrous overpowered antics and the wacky banter between him and his companions, and with Zero it’s the exact same thing only it’s Miledi. The main series has more harem romance to it than Zero, which seems content to tease only Oscar and Miledi and not have it go further, but, well, romance isn’t why I read it, at least. And, in regards to this volume of Zero, while I can appreciate the author writing some really cool battle scenes because he enjoys it, with lots of the bad guys and good guys bringing out increasingly ludicrous powers, fight scenes are not why I read Arifureta either. Sadly, that makes this volume a big ol’ slog, as a good eighty percent of it is battles.

We head into the forest that we’ve seen in Arifureta’s 2nd volume, home of the Beastmen, and here (at least at the start) at the height of its powers. Well, half the group are here. Things have gotten dangerous enough that Miledi’s Angels split up at this point, with Oscar and Vandre helping to settle everyone from the last book, while Miledi and the others head to the forest, there to meet their next potential Liberator, and also try to stop the battle, as the Church has gotten there first. Speaking of the Church, Laus is continuing to have doubts over what they’re actually doing, and things are not helped by the Church’s religious fervor taking on more and more aspects of brainwashing. Can he continue to fight for something he doesn’t believe in any more? Or should be change sides and joining the Liberators.

I will admit, which I said that I wanted more wacky antics and less fights, when we DO get wacky antics, I’m not sure they’re the ones I wanted. Lyutillus is the Elven Queen of the forest… and also a masochist. The author admits she’s meant to be a mirror to Tio in the main series, and given Tio is my least favorite of the girls in that, I wasn’t really going to be enjoying this. Better was Miledi’s usual stuff – when she’s deliberately trying to be annoying to distract the mood, it’s fantastic, and her confrontation with Laus towards the start of the book was absolutely hilarious. Laus, in fact, is the best thing about this book, as his loss of faith is very well handled. I’ve long since come to terms with the fact that the gods are villains in this world, therefore the fact that everyone in the Church tends towards being a monster is hardly a surprise. I am quite interested in seeing how this switching sides works out going forward.

…I say that, but we know how this is going to end – the main cast all dead (bar Miledi’s soul) and branded as heretics. The bad guys win is the premise of this. But we’ve still no idea how long it’s going to be, and I’m happy to see it play out. As long as it’s not just fights. Or creepy sexual gags. Sigh. Not gonna have much luck there, am I?

Full Metal Panic!: Continuing On My Own

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By Shouji Gatou and Shikidouji. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

Fans of the anime did not notice this as much, but the main series of Full Metal Panic! Novels very quickly dropped most of the humor from the series. Metatextually, the reason for this is the author started a series of side story volumes with short stories that contained all the wacky shenanigans and being hit with paper fans that anyone would need. Indeed, they even did a separate anime series, Fumoffu, that adapted many of these. But they also funneled some of them into the main series, which is good, because without it the series gets unmistakably grim. As this volume attests. The author urges in his afterword that we should not call it depressing, but yeah, sorry, it is depressing. This story of a child soldier whose hands are stained with blood and a girl who is essentially an esper superweapon has reached the point where “high school” has to end. And so it does.

Even the school is aware of this – early in the volume, Sousuke is approached by the outgoing Student Council President, who notes that he’s used his position to cover up Sousuke’s very obvious paramilitary activities, but the incoming council won’t be able to. Unfortunately, before he can do anything about this, Leonard has made his move, destroying most of Mithril and taking out several minor members of Tessa’s crew (so far, Mao and Kurz seem OK). As this happens, Leonard shows up at Kaname’s apartment and tells her “come with me”, and when she refuses and she and Sousuke flee, he responds by taking the school hostage and strapping bomb to Kyoko. Make no mistake about it, this is a supervillain who knows how to get what he wants. Much as Sousuke would wish otherwise, you can guess how Kaname responds to this.

As I said, this book is another series of gut punches, as Sousuke’s support structure is decimated, the school he’s grown fond of now knows who he is, and the woman he loves is now in the hands if the enemy. The final scene involves him showing up in class after all this has occurred, to the horror and disgust of most of the students, and telling them that he plans to bring Kaname back, and also to hate him rather than her. Understandably, because he loves Kaname he also wants to protect her “normal” life. That said, Kyoko’s in the hospital, the staff of the school is, blame or no, unlikely to let Kaname return… I dunno, I feel we’ve turned a corner here. In any case, I expect the next book will involve trying to figure out where Kaname is – I really hope she gets to do something besides be a damsel.

I’ve left out the battles here, which are quite well written and awesome – by this point, the author was writing with an eye for the anime, and it shows, though he’s always had a bit of that in his works. We do also get one major casualty in this book, which I don’t want to spoil, but after everything that’s happened in the last four it feels sadder than I expected. This remains a solid series, but there will be absolutely no bear mascots going forward – FMP is serious business.

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Anima, Vol. 3

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By Ikuto Yamashita. Released in Japan as “Shin Seiki Evangelion Anima” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Dengeki Hobby. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Nathan Collins. Adapted by Peter Adrian Behravesh.

Fans of the Evangelion Anime light novels will be pleased to hear that there is not quite as many millions of people turning into pillars of salt in this volume. Indeed, the focus turns a bit narrower, as we are very much concerned with battling the enemy, which has stolen Shinji’s heart. That said, are they an enemy? The various troops certainly think so, and the nations have now teamed up to battle the Angels and their spinoff monsters. Unfortunately, biblical imagery is still the main way to attack in this series, and so very quickly no one is able to understand one another, reminiscent of the Tower of Babel. As for Shinji… who is the real Shinji? Is it the one who’s fighting in Super-Eva for most of the volume, with at least one Rei there next to him (though not always the SAME Rei)? Or is it the heart that makes someone who they are?

Asuka certainly thinks so, though to be fair she spends almost all of this book in a sort of primal mode, her experiences from the second volume having merged her with her Eva (as the art within makes abundantly clear) and her personality vacillating between ‘small child’ and ‘adorable pet’. She’s got company, however, as with the Americans coming into the picture we’re introduced to Mari in this continuity. Mari has been experimented on by scientists, and now functions as a wolf pack, complete with actual wolves. She’s not quite as primal as Asuka, but it is noteworthy that the two are paralleling each other again. And Shinji ends up swapping Reis, as Trois’ self-sacrifice butts up against Quatre’s emotional instability and they essentially swap roles. This ends up being very good for Quatre, who was so angry she reminded me of Asuka at times, but I worry about Trois.

As you might guess by the fact that I’m actually discussing characters, this is a better volume than the first two when it comes to actual introspection and things that are not giant robot allegorical battles. Not that there aren’t plenty of those as well – they’re still the main reason to get the book. But this volume is not as frenetic as the first two, and pauses to take in Hikari and Toji’s romantic yet also battle-torn meeting (Toji also gets his arm back – which is both good and bad) and Misato briefly dealing with essentially being a damsel in distress for most of the second book. This book, as with the others, ends with a cliffhanger, and it will be interesting to see how it pans out – heck, this is Evangelion, we could actually see the Angel with Shinji’s heart take over the narrative as Shinji. It works metaphorically, after all.

There have been so many Eva spinoffs it’s hard to compare them. This is better than the first two books, but I’d still say it’s best for fans of the design and mecha work more than anyone else.

Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Senki vol 1

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Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Senki Volume 1 by Yuu Watase

The Fushigi Yugi universe is one I’ve been following for a long time. Many of my earliest volumes are from the initial Viz release back in the early 2000s, so I felt very nostalgic reading the first volume of the last Fushigi Yugi story 20 years later. While there have been glimpses of Suzuno before in previous series and the anime, seeing an entire series devoted to her seems like a fitting way to finish out the Universe of the Four Gods.

This first volume is structured as a prequel within a prequel, giving the reader insight into Suzuno’s character as both a child and a young adult and setting up an intriguing conflict that I expect to see explored more in future volumes. As Fushigi Yugi: Byakko Senki opens, a young Suzuno is spending time with her parents. Her father has the volume of The Universe of the Four Gods, burdened with the tragic legacy of Takiko Okuda and her professor father. As the Great Kanto earthquake strikes, Suzuno is trapped in her burning house and her father sends her into the book in order to save her life. In the Universe of the Four Gods, Suzuno is clearly unable to fend for herself, but she meets up with some people who are surely going to be pivotal figures in her life – Neiran, a psychologically damaged woman who can turn into a tiger, and the brothers Kasal and Karm. After narrowly escaping being kidnapped, Suzuno travels for a little bit with her new companions who begin to suspect that she might be the fabled priestess of Byakko.

Suzuno travels back to her own world in the aftermath of the earthquake, and the story line shifts to show her as a young woman, quiet and artistic and plagued by enduring visions and memories of what she’s lost. A shy, retiring heroine forced to adapt to a mystical new world isn’t exactly a novel plot point, but the overtones of impending tragedy and Suzuno’s resilience in difficult situations immediately make her an engaging heroine. Watase’s art is always clear and engaging, and I’m looking forward to seeing her portrayal of Suzuno’s mystical warriors and the unique world of the Universe of the Four Gods. This first volume mainly established Suzuno as a fully-fledged protagonist and I’m fairly happy with that pacing even though I put it down feeling a little impatient waiting to get started on the rest of the story. While I think is possible to enjoy this series without reading other Fushigi Yugi stories, I think at minimum someone reading Byakko Senki should be familiar with Genbu Kaiden, and hopefully the main series that started off this 20 year old saga.

The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes, Vol. 1

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Google the term sanpaku, and you’ll quickly discover why the word resists easy translation. In its most basic sense, sanpaku means “three whites,” a condition in which the iris sits a little higher or lower in the eye than normal, exposing more of the schlera. The significance of having sanpaku eyes, however, seems hotly contested, with some websites proclaiming it a curse and others declaring it evidence of great emotional turmoil. The heroine of Denpa Books’ newest series is neither doomed nor crazy, just deeply frustrated that her chronic Resting Bitch Face makes it difficult to show Katou, her crush, how cool and awesome she thinks he is.

Perhaps the most surprising aspect of The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes is the artwork. The illustrations are rendered in a warm, pink palette that captures Amane’s agitation more effectively than deformations and sweat drops alone could do. The character designs are somewhat generic—Katou is a standard-issue shojo prince, right down to his mega-watt grin—but Amane and her siblings are drawn with genuine individuality, revealing their shared family curse: all three look meaner than they are. Amane, in particular, stands apart from her galaxy-eyed peers with her cat-like pupils and scowling expression that make her look more like a bosozoku gang member than a sweet, timid high school student.

Though artist Shunsuke Sorato convincingly shows us how flustered Amane becomes in Katou’s presence, there’s almost no dramatic or comedic tension in this series; by chapter three, it’s obvious that the sweetly hunky Katou likes Amane, too, and is eager to reciprocate her affection. Therein lies the biggest problem with The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes: the story is so one-sided and predictable that it barely registers as a rom-com, since there’s almost nothing at stake in Amane and Katou’s exchanges. For middle-school readers navigating a first crush, Sorato’s storytelling approach will feel reassuring, but for older teens The Girl with the Sanpaku Eyes may be too anodyne to be truly engaging.

A review copy was provided by Denpa Books. Volume one will be released digitally on August 25th at the Denpa Books website and September 1st on additional digital platforms. The print edition will be released on September 15th.

THE GIRL WITH THE SANPAKU EYES • ART & STORY BY SHUNSUKE SORATO • TRANSLATED BY DAVID GOLDBERG • LETTERING BY GLEN ISIP • DENPA BOOKS • 128 pp. • NO RATING (SUITABLE FOR READERS AGED 10+)

Manga the Week of 8/26/20

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SEAN: The end of August, a time when most people think back on the good things about summer. Like manga!

ASH: At least some things were good!

SEAN: We start off with Ghost Ship, which has a 3rd volume of Destiny Lovers.

J-Novel Club debuts Monster Tamer (Monster no Goshujinsama), which comes from the Monster Bunko label, so it’s a specialty. The plot sounds like Arifureta. A lot like Arifureta, honestly. Perhaps a bit less dungeons and more forests, but…

They also have the 4th Demon Lord, Retry! and a 3rd manga volume for Sweet Reincarnation.

Kodansha has quite a bit. In print, we see Drifting Dragons 5; Fire Force 19; In/Spectre 12; Rent-a-Girlfriend 2; and Wave, Listen to Me! 3.

MICHELLE: I’m happy about Wave, Listen to Me! but mostly can’t wait ’til the end of September, when volume four (with material I haven’t already read digitally) comes out!

ANNA: I’m also happy about Wave, Listen to Me!.

ASH: Likewise! I’ve also been enjoying Drifting Dragons.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is ASHIDAKA – The Iron Hero (Tekkai no Senshi). This has been getting a simulpub release, but now the first volume is out. Hope you like metal arms. It runs in Monthly Shonen Magazine, and appears to be very old-school shonen. I’m hoping for big eyebrows.

ASH: Heh.

SEAN: You can also enjoy digital volumes for Abe-kun’s Got Me Now! 3, Altair: A Record of Battles 21, Guilty 6, Hotaru’s Way 15 (a final volume), I Fell in Love After School 7, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 16, Love Massage: Melting Beauty Treatment 6, Waiting for Spring 13, and When We Shout for Love 3 (also a final volume).

MICHELLE: I think this was originally the final volume of Waiting for Spring, too, but now there’s a fourteenth one with side stories and bonus content. In any case, I’m reading a bunch of these.

SEAN: Seven Seas is still doing the “yay, we can print books again!” thing. No print debuts, but we get Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter 6, Akashic Records of Bastard Magical Instructor 9, Arifureta Zero 3 (manga version), A Centaur’s Life 18, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 13, My Room Is a Dungeon Rest Stop 3, Neon Genesis Evangelion: Anima 3, Non Non Biyori 13, and Re: Monster 5. A lot of those had their digital version out already.

ASH: I’m not following many of these very closely, but I am glad to see print starting back up again.

SEAN: Digitally there are some debuts. Sazan and Comet Girl (Sazan to Suisei no Shoujo) is a done-in-1 omnibus from LEED Magazine’s Torch, and, despite being a LEED publication, does not appear to be in the style of Golgo 13. It’s a sci-fi story. It’s also in full color.

ASH: I’m curious about this one, though I’ll likely wait for the print volume.

MJ: That sounds interesting.

MICHELLE: It does!

SEAN: In light novels, we have The Saint’s Magic Power is Omnipotent (Seijo no Maryoku wa Bannou desu). An OL gets summoned to be the Saint… but gets rejected. Now she’s trying to live a slow life, but it quickly becomes apparent that maybe she is a saint after all.

Also digitally we have Adachi and Shimamura‘s 3rd light novel, D-Frag! 14, and Monster Girl Doctor 6.

Square Enix gives us The Misfit of Demon King Academy 2 and Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 2 (manga version).

Tokyopop has a 2nd volume of Koimonogatari: Love Stories.

Vertical has quite a bit. They haven’t publicly announced most of it, but given it’s there on their web page for all to see, I don’t feel guilty talking about it. They’re debuting some digital NISIOISIN novels. We get Owarimonogatari 1 & 2, Katanagatari 1-3, and Zaregoto 1-3. This would catch us up with the print releases… except they’re also putting out the 4th and final Katanagatari omnibus in print only. Oh yes, and a 4th Bakemonogatari manga volume in print.

They also, in non-NISIOISIN products, have The Complete Chi’s Sweet Home box set.

ASH: I still really love Chi’s Sweet Home.

MJ: Same.

SEAN: Lastly, Yen has some titles that slid back a week. Including The Garden of Words, the latest Makoto Shinkai multimedia emotional gutcruncher novel. Yen On also has Goblin Slayer 10, which is… not a Makoto Shinkai title.

ASH: Nope. It most definitely is not

SEAN: On the manga end, Yen debuts Fiancee of the Wizard (Mahoutsukai no Konyakusha), a Kadokawa title from one of their shoujo fantasy magazines. It’s a reincarnation isekai, but with a female lead, and is based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel.

MICHELLE: This seems pretty romance-heavy, at least by its description: “When a woman is reborn into a world of swords and sorcery as a young girl, her new life takes a turn for the fantastic as she meets an impossibly handsome yet surly son of a wizard. A future of magic, adventure, and romance awaits!”

ANNA: OK, I’m now much more intrigued by this description!

ASH: Potentially promising, for sure. (Even if I am well beyond burned out on most isekai.)

SEAN: We also get A Certain Magical Index 22 (manga version), High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World 8 (manga version), IM: Great Priest Imhotep 4, Interspecies Reviewers 4, Laid-Back Camp 9, Murcielago 15, School-Live! 12 (the final volume, though there’s a sequel out in Japan), Smokin’ Parade 8, Val x Love 9, and The World’s Strongest Rearguard 2 (manga version).

Typing ‘manga version’ a lot. It’s a multimedia world. What media are you consuming?

Bookshelf Briefs 8/19/20

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In which we extend our profound sympathies to Sean, languishing without internet thanks to a hurricane and his crappy ISP.

The Dorm of Love and Secrets, Vol. 4 | By Nikki Asada | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – Structurally, the conclusion of The Dorm of Love and Secrets is a lot like another of Kodansha’s short, digital-only, shoujo series, Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow. The heroine’s big secret is received with very little fanfare (in Asahi’s case, her high-achieving dormmates had already figured out she was a member of the normal class) and instead the focus is on reassuring the secondary character who’d been interfering with the main couple’s happiness that they are, in fact, a good person. Here, Asahi helps Tsukigase fight to save Midnight Oil Hall from being torn down. It’s a decent ending, though the plot thread about Yokaze’s grandfather’s dojo is never addressed again. I also would’ve liked more with Asahi and her older sister, who was largely responsible for Asahi’s inferiority complex regarding her supposed lack of intelligence. Ultimately, this was a pleasant series but not required reading. – Michelle Smith

Haikyu!!, Vol. 39 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – Karasuno has advanced to the quarterfinals of the Spring Tournament and their opponent is Kamomedai, a defensively skilled team with a “little giant” of its own. In fact, the original little giant is in the stands, and seeing him be impressed by the next generation of small players is great. My favorite part, though, is that a couple of Hinata’s classmates, who had assumed he was a benchwarmer, happen to catch the game on TV and are astonished by how good he is. In fact, throughout the volume, whenever he scores a point, Furudate-sensei will toss in a little panel of these guys celebrating his success. It’s a really nice touch. Oh, and also Tsukishima the elder literally sparkling with pride over his little brother’s performance. The volleyball part is as great as ever, but the sheer warmth exuding from these pages is why I love this series so much. – Michelle Smith

Love on the Other Side: A Nagabe Short Story Collection | By Nagabe | Seven Seas – Collecting six short manga, Love on the Other Side is more akin to Nagabe’s series The Girl from the Other Side than the The Wize Wize Beasts of the Wizarding Wizdoms anthology, although there are certainly some aesthetic similarities to that volume, as well. While the narratives in Love on the Other Side are unrelated to one another, the stories are all about an intimate (not necessarily romantic) relationship between a human child or young woman and a beast. In many cases, that beast is a literal monster. Some are kind-hearted, some are not, and with some, well, it can be difficult to tell. In part, the tension and unease caused by that is what gives Love on the Other Side such an effective and affecting atmosphere. The stories are beautiful and touching but also often unsettling—love shadowed by peril, uncertainty, and the unknown. Overall, it’s an excellent collection. – Ash Brown

Not Your Idol, Vol. 1 | By Aoi Makino | Viz Media – Given the fact that the main protagonist of Not Your Idol is an assault survivor, it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that the manga is intense, but I don’t know that I was fully prepared for the level of its intensity going into the first volume. I hesitate to call Not Your Idol “dark” (even though it is) as that could seem to imply that the story goes beyond reality when what makes it so disconcertingly effective is the horrifyingly realistic sexism and misogyny underlying the manga’s drama and psychological suspense. The first volume is not a feel-good debut, but it is a very strong one. I’m anxious to see where the series goes next, especially considering some of the twists towards the end of the first volume—I desperately want to know if those developments are truly what they seem or if there are more shocking revelations to come. – Ash Brown

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 4 | By Honda | Yen Press – Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san began as an amusing depiction of the hectic goings-on (and kooky customers) at the bookstore at which its creator worked. After volume three, though, Honda quit that job and is now hurting for material (by her own admission). In desperation, she interviews various people in the bookselling industry (and takes a trip to Taiwan), but the frenetic energy of earlier volumes is completely gone. Now it’s just informative and rather dull. The story peters out and then we get random short comics from Pixiv and Twitter. I did like a couple of things, like the page capturing the various ways people show joy before the shelves, and Honda’s reaction to a senseless act of destruction. Honda-sensei quit the bookstore to become a full-time manga creator, and I hope we see some of her other series here in the near future! – Michelle Smith

Wanna Try Dating Inoue? | By Fujitobi | Futekiya (digital only) – This is another exceedingly cute BL oneshot from Fujitobi, who also wrote Faded Picture Scroll. Although named for the first trio of stories, the volume is actually about two different couples at the same high school, set in a world where humans and anthropomorphic animal people coexist peacefully. Asthmatic first-year Yuzuta Inoue falls for a kind third-year tengu named Karasuma, and it is mostly cute, although Inoue’s persistence in trying to get Karasuma to fall for him crosses the line into problematic initially. Rooting for them are a couple of side characters named Asaka and Ookami, who turn out to be the protagonists of the next trio of stories. Ookami is 100% the best thing about this manga. He’s sweet, gentle, shy, and stuck in the big, imposing body of a werewolf. I love him. I hope we get more Fujitobi titles in the future! – Michelle Smith

Manga the Week of 8/19/20

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SEAN: The Yen Press juggernaut is back.

Let’s start with Yen. They have a couple manga debuts. Rascal Does Not Dream of Bunny Girl Senpai is the manga version of the popular light novel. This arc is a done-in-1 omnibus.

I Love You So Much I Hate You (Nikurashii Hodo Aishiteru) is an office romance yuri about two professional working women with a rivalry… or is it?

MICHELLE: I hope this is something kind of complicated, but I guess we shall see.

ASH: I do like that we’re starting to see more yuri with adult characters.

MJ: Yes, I do too.

SEAN: I Don’t Know How to Give Birth! (Shussan no Shikata ga Wakaranai!) is a comedic essay manga about the author struggling with her first-time pregnancy. It looks fun.

ASH: I’m super-curious about this one.

ANNA: I am too!

SEAN: Also from Yen this week: Teasing Master Takagi-san 9; Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization 6 (the final volume); Spirits and Cat Ears 9; So I’m a Spider, So What? 8 (manga version); an omnibus version of the Puella Magi Madoka Magica manga; Phantom Tales of the Night 5; Overlord: The Undead King-Oh! 4; Magia Record 2; Kakegurui 12; Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon: Sword Oratoria 12 (manga version); Hinowa Ga CRUSH! 4; Black Butler 29; As Miss Beelzebub Likes 10; Aoharu x Machinegun 18 (the final volume); and Angels of Death 10.

ASH: You weren’t kidding about the return of the juggernaut! And this is just the manga. Out of these, Phantom Tales of the Night is what has most of my attention.

SEAN: As for Yen On, it also has some debuts. Interspecies Reviewers should already be familiar from the manga and anime: this is a light novel version.

The Demon Sword Master of Excalibur Academy (Seiken Gakuin no Maken Tsukai)… yup, another demon lord in a magical academy.

MICHELLE: How many does that make now? At least three.

SEAN: Also: Sword Art Online 20, Rascal Does Not Dream of Petite Devil Kouhai, Final Fantasy I*II*III: Memory of Heroes, Do You Love Your Mom (and Her Two-Hit, Multi-Target Attacks?) 6, The Dirty Way to Destroy the Goddess’ Heroes 4, Bottom-Tier Tomozaki-kun 4, and 86 ~Eighty-Six~ 5.

From Viz: Venus in the Blind Spot is a best of collection from Junji Ito, and also has the exact same meter as “Mirror in the Bathroom” by The English Beat.

MICHELLE: My brain automatically went to “Heroes in a Half-Shell.” Which is strange, considering I never watched that show.

ASH: Hahaha! Whatever the meter, I’m always glad for more Ito in English.

ANNA: Always a good thing.

MJ: I’m on board for this!

SEAN: Also from Viz: Urusei Yatsura 7, Ooku: The Inner Chambers 17, Golden Kamuy 17, and Blue Flag 3.

MICHELLE: Hooray for more Ooku, but after the cliffhanger at the end of volume two, it’s Blue Flag I am desperate for.

ASH: Oh! This is a good week for Viz. And a bad week for my wallet; I’m reading most of these.

ANNA: Yes, super anxious to read the next volume of Blue Flag.

MJ: Ooku! And okay, I’m behind on Blue Flag, but I definitely want to know what all the fuss is about.

SEAN: Vertical has the 3rd Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro.

Udon has a 3rd Rose of Versailles omnibus, meaning I’m already behind.

MICHELLE: I only just got volume two last Friday!

ASH: I got the second volume on Saturday, but go ahead and bring on the third!

ANNA: Me too!!!

MJ: Help!

SEAN: Tokyopop has a 2nd volume of The Fox and Little Tanuki.

Sol Press has the 3rd Redefining the Meta at VRMMO Academy novel.

Seven Seas debuts a spinoff. The Ancient Magus’ Bride: Jack Flash & Faerie Case Files (Mahou Tsukai no Yome Shihen.75 – Inazuma Jack to Yousei Jiken), which should be a lot of fun for fans of the main series.

MICHELLE: Huh! I’ll have to check this out.

ASH: I’m a fan of The Ancient Magus’ Bride and I’m a fan of the writer Yu Godai, so I’m doubly-excited for this release.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Toradora! 9 (manga version), Skeleton Knight in Another World 5 (print), Reincarnated As a Sword 3 (manga version), Plus-Sized Elf 5, How to Train Your Devil 3, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 8 (manga version), Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends 18 (print), and Bloom Into You 8.

MICHELLE: I believe that’s the final volume of Bloom Into You, as well. I need to get caught up.

SEAN: No debuts from Kodansha. But we get, in print, Sweat and Soap 3, Saiyuki 2, O Maidens in Your Savage Season 7 and 8, Love and Lies 9, Gleipnir 7, and the 5th Cardcaptor Sakura Collector’s Edition.

ASH: I’m a little behind, but O Maidens in Your Savage Season is so good.

SEAN: Digitally we get That Blue Summer 8 (final volume), Space Brothers 37, Shojo FIGHT! 12, Orient 5, Mikami-sensei’s Way of Love 8 (final volume), Living-Room Matsunaga-san 8, Kakushigoto 6, GE: Good Ending 8, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 5, Dolly Kill Kill 5, and Cells NOT at Work 3.

MICHELLE: I have been enjoying That Blue Summer. Hard to believe it’ll be over so quickly!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one debut, but it’s a biggie: Slayers!. The classic fantasy light novel has been rescued and is coming out with a new translation. The first volume is out next week.

Also out from J-NC: Wild Times with a Fake Fake Princess 2 and How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom 12.

Ghost Ship gives us To-Love-Ru Darkness 16, Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight 3, and Parallel Paradise 2.

Lastly, Dark Horse has the 2nd volume of Dangan Ronpa 2: Goodbye Despair.

Mo’ volumes, mo’ problems. What’s weighing you down?