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Bookshelf Briefs 5/28/19

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Creature Girls: A Hands-On Field Journal in Another World, Vol. 1 | By Kakeru | Seven Seas – This was another “I’ll get the first volume, how bad could it be?” sort of book. The answer is pretty bad, at least for readers of my taste. That said, for those in the market this is aiming for, Creature Girls must be a dream come true. A monster girl story with actual coitus, as well as deep down analysis of the girls’ bodies, almost to the point of parody. The plot is the standard “guy transported to fantasy world” stuff, and there’s a few mentions made of battles against enemies that he helps them with. But the target reader is not here for that. He is here to see monster girls show off their boobs, swear they’re 18, and get screwed. This book gives that to you, in spades. I’ll pass on future volumes. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 32 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – Oh boy, more full volumes of volleyball. They sure do (punches fist in air) PLAY that volleyball, huh? OK, OK, let me see… the twins’ backstory was quite good, and I enjoyed the end, where we see more of Hinata’s growth to the point where Tsukishima even praises him, as much as Tsukishima is ever going to praise anyone. And credit to the author, 32 volumes in, for continuing to find ways to not make volleyball boring. There are great poses and a fast pace which reminds you why this is such a popular series. The pace is not fast enough that the game is over, though, and I’m fairly sure that the next volume will have me groping for words once more. It’s a good series, though. – Sean Gaffney

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 1 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – Ten years after the final battle between Dio and Jotaro in Cairo, the fourth part of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure returns to Japan. In the first volume of Diamond Is Unbreakable, Jotaro has come to the town of Morioh to investigate a series of crimes and to search for Josuke Higashikata, his uncle and the illegitimate son of his grandfather Joseph Joestar. When Jotaro finds Josuke he discovers a high schooler with a very powerful Stand and a hair-trigger temper (both literally and figuratively) to go with it, a potentially dangerous combination. JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure continues to be a violent and grotesque series—the human and animal cruelty present will be too much for some readers—but I continue to love it for its strangeness, over-the-top action sequences, and ridiculous characters. Josuke in particular is one of those delinquents with a heart of gold that brings me tremendous delight. – Ash Brown

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits, Vol. 3 | By Waco Ioka and Midori Yuma | Viz Media – I’m wondering how much of this series is going to be Aoi healing people’s hearts through the power of delicious food. Oryo spends most of the volume sick (well, the impression is she’s also hiding), but even she will eat Aoi’s food. We also get backstory on Suzuran and Akatsuki, and take a trip back to Japan so that Suzuran can pay her respects to the late Shiro, and also stay behind. It’s a perfect opportunity for Aoi to stay behind as well, something her captor knows only too well, but she chooses to return anyway. This series looks pretty slow burn, so I think the food may outweigh the romance for a while yet. But I’m OK with that. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 9 | By Canno | Yen Press – Half this volume is Yukine and Ayaka, who are coming to realize that “winning” or “losing” is not the be-all and end-all of their relationship. Good thing too, as Ayaka finally wins. Elsewhere, we see a girl who’s a repeater (she was injured and couldn’t get attendance credits), so is something of a loner, but also a cosplayer. She ends up falling for a younger, puppy-dog sort of girl, but it’s hard to get over putting people at a distance, so they end up breaking up quickly. But is it really over? This volume frames the “main” pairing right in the middle, with the ‘volume’ pairing as a bookend, and it woks very well. Next volume is the last, so I suspect it will be all Ayaka and Yukine. – Sean Gaffney

Little Witch Academia, Vol. 3 | By Trigger, Yoh Yoshinari and Keisuke Sato | JY – The spinoff comes to an end here, and there’s no real climactic finale—they have to win a flying contest against another school, but Diana is ill, so Akko tries her hardest (and mostly fails) and succeeds in the end, because she’s just that plucky. In the end, I think this spinoff probably works best for the groups it’s marketed for—kids and those who watched the anime. I wasn’t as fond of it as I was the other ones, as it’s clear that any character development is going to be in the main series. But as an advertisement for the main series, it’s excellent—I certainly would like to see more of everyone. Something to get your niece for her birthday—at three volumes, it’s even affordable. – Sean Gaffney

My Monster Secret, Vol. 16 | By Eiji Masuda | Seven Seas – Every new volume of the series after its first “ending” seems to be designed to annoy me—something that also befell the very similar Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, if I recall. As the cover might give away, this volume doubles down on the teacher-student romance between Akari (who has at least appeared a lot) and Sakurada, best known as the least developed one of Those Three Guys, who looks much older than he is, which I guess is supposed to take the curse off the creepiness but doesn’t. Elsewhere, there is still some good comedy—I particularly liked the chapter with the supermarket sale—but more and more it appears this should have ended with the mutual confession. – Sean Gaffney

One-Punch Man, Vol. 16 | By ONE and Yusuke Murata | Viz Media – Still far too serious, and now faced with Saitama barely being in it. Certainly if you like cool fights it’s a good read, but I can get that from a dozen other manga titles. I read this for silliness, and that’s in short supply here. I did like the idea of the superhero “Megane,” who is pretty much just a guy with glasses. There’s also some good development from Garo, whose analysis is top tier, but who sadly is a bit too focused on the wrong things. But then again so are the A-rank heroes—there’s a fair bit of hypocrisy here. At least Genos knows what’s what, and we also get the return of Bang, who has a grudge of his own. It looks like Saitama will show up soon, and thank goodness. Who needs a totally serious One-Punch Man? – Sean Gaffney

Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 15 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | VIZ Media – Revolution is approaching as the most senior of Iesada’s ministers signs a trade treaty with America without waiting for Imperial approval. This fellow silences his detractors with harsh punishments and winds up assassinated by the end of the volume for his trouble. Meanwhile, the pregnant Iesada has evidently been gotten out of the way by somebody, but it’s unclear who, leaving her bereaved consort Taneatsu in the dark about her demise for a full month. Now he’s doing his best to guide her clever successor, who has just been married to an Imperial prince. She was concerned about deceiving the emperor, since the shogunate’s part of the deal was to oust foreigners, but a big reveal in the final pages proves they’re the ones who’ve been deceived. Still great, if sad. Poor Taneatsu. – Michelle Smith

Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization, Vol. 3 | By Tomo Hirokawa, based on the story by Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – The danger is ramped up a lot more in this volume, which also comes with the return of a familiar face from the Progressive series. When it comes to “NPCs can surpass their programming,” no one’s done it more often than SAO, with the current Alicization arc being all about that. Kizmel was (storywise, at least) first, though, and it’s heartwarming to see Kirito and Asuna reunite with her, even if she doesn’t know who they are. That said, this side story is still all about Premiere, who has a role that she is clearly there to fulfill… and also there’s more than one of her? Not for casuals, but SAO fans should find this a lot of fun. – Sean Gaffney

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 11 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – The joy of our whole team of six catching up with one another is tempered by the reminder that there can be only one winner of this race… and that the others are going to drop back and fail. It’s a hard lesson for Onoda to absorb, and by the end of the book he’s still struggling to. The rest of the book is filled with the most manly cycling ever, fortunately, and I have to say pound-for-pound this series even manages to out-shonen the Jump titles. That said, holy hell, this is a long race, and we’re still not done. Sports manga go on forever, and nothing says that better than this omnibus, which equates to vols. 21-22 of the original. I hope Sohoku eventually wins. And by that I mean Onoda. – Sean Gaffney

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 21

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

We’re back to plot-heavy in this volume of Rokujouma, which sees the enemy making its move. No, not the actual Big Bads of the series, though they do sort of sit at the side, watch, and offer occasional “help”. Instead, the military wing of Forthorthe has been sabotaging things behind the scenes, and they decide to finally make their move to either capture or kill Elfaria once and for all. Naturally her daughter is not going to take that lying down, so everyone gets on their spaceship and rides. (I will assume for the sake of the plot that it’s still summer break or something, as missing school is not brought up at all.) Of course, just getting there is not going to be easy, as they’re trying to remain undetected, and are dealing with both actual bad guys and soldiers who’ve been fed ‘the Empress is a traitor’ fake news for a while. Fortunately for the Empress, she has the Blue Knight and company on her side.

The book starts off with Theia looking romantically at magazines showing happy wives and mothers, and also getting a big revelation from the more scientific princesses in the group: Forthortians and Earthlings have near-as-dammit the exact same genetic makeup, so having kids won’t be an issue. Leaving aside the sheer unlikeliness of this (which is mentioned in text), one thing I’ve noticed about Rokujouma is how pure it is, especially given that it’s about a guy and his nine-girl harem. Theia is seen to be dreaming of having kids, but there’s no real mention of how those kids will be made, and the girls never really think beyond “kisses on the cheek”. Part of this is due to Koutarou’s ongoing intimacy issues, but part of it, I think, is that it’s just that sort of series, and that trying to make things sexier would almost be like removing a magic spell or something. Besides, at heart this isn’t about the girls “getting” Koutarou, it’s about family.

This is Theia’s book, really, and she gets to show off a lot of sides here, even (towards the end) her self-sacrificing side, as she’s determined not to let an innocent fighter pilot die even if it costs her own life. Of course, that doesn’t happen, thank to both Koutarou and a screaming but competent Magical Girl Yurika. (Yurika is pretty whiny this book, but given the circumstances, and that she’s out of her element, it’s mostly fine.) I suspect we’re going to get an awful lot of “you guys go on, I will stay here and hold them off (and die”) going forward. Naturally, this will always be counteracted by everyone else in the cast, but I’m pretty sure that things are only going to get harder from here on out. Especially as the actual bad guys still haven’t stepped in yet.

We’re starting to get towards the endgame here (the books “end” with the 29th volume, though they are still ongoing with ‘after stories’). I expect the next volume will have more political machinations and big ol’ battles. Which is fine by me, as the author does those pretty well. Just as long as the emphasis is on the bond between these sweet, pure kids.

Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World – Ex, Vol. 3

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

When this arrived, I didn’t read it for a while as I was expecting it to be the “second half” of Wilhelm’s tragic backstory. But no, as this volume ends we’re still in lovey dovey land, though there are echoes of bad things on the horizon. Instead this volume picks up where the last one left off, with Wilhelm having defeated Theresia in battle and thus proving that he can replace her as the main defense of the realm… or so he thinks, but given that he starts the book in a prison cell, it’s likely that he has a lot more convincing to do. What this actually is are three short stories mushed together telling the story of Theresia and Wilhelm getting married and going on their honeymoon, and all of the things that get in the way of their happiness, which at this stage are mostly played for comedy. That said, the main villain towards the end has some familiar equipment, and I’m wondering exactly how Big Bad he’s meat to be.

I get the sense that the author wrote these stories while taking a break from their usual “Subaru has the worst day ever” fare. I was not expecting this to be as light-hearted as it was, and in many ways it doesn’t even feel like a Re: ZERO novel. Having determined to become Wilhelm’s bride and not a sword master (Wilhelm at least adds “unless she wants to” to this, but the narrative still pushes hard on “cute girls should not fight” mode), Theresia now goes into full-blown tsundere mode, with lots of embarrassment, mild jealousy, and no doubt pouting while pushing out one cheek in the grand anime faces tradition. Wilhelm has become more human since the last book, but that does make him a bit less interesting, as he’s now the standard snarky male light novel lead – something Subaru takes pains not to be. Theresia’s overprotective dad doesn’t help either, as he is made of cliches.

The final short story is the most interesting. (Well, there’s a short fourth short story about Carol and Grimm’s romance, but it’s clearly an afterword sort of thing.) Our couple are on their honeymoon, accompanied by Carol (who loves Theresia a bit too much) and tailed by Theresia’s father (ditto). Things turn serious, unfortunately, when they run into Lord Stride, who is the classic “arrogant noble” of many a light novel, and his bodyguard/champion, a big guy with eight arms. Naturally, he and Wilhelm have to fight, and it’s the best fight in the book, though unlike the last book this one really isn’t about the fights. Stride reminds me far too much of Petelgeuse only witho0ut the insanity, and I have a sneaking suspicion he or a relative may be in the main story sooner or later.

This is a great change of pace for those who’ve been reading Re: ZERO waiting for bad things to happen to good people. On the downside, that does mean it’s a little boring. There’s no deconstruction here, just the author writing a fun little light novel where the sword cutie marries the sword snarker. No doubt this will be continued in the 4th EX, but that’s not out in Japan yet.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 16: Alicization Exploding

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By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Thankfully, this is a much stronger volume than the previous one. It helps that this time around we have very little POV of Gabriel Miller, though the little we get shows he’s as awful as ever, and has a new reason to be after Alice. There’s also no Kirito POV, as he spends the entire book still comatose. This allows a number of characters to get POV scenes, which Kawahara admits in the afterword he’s not really used to, but it plays out pretty well, as we’re introduced to a number of Integrity Knights, as well as some villains, and get a little more into what makes them human. Which is good, given that the entire premise of this arc is that the cast of the Underworld are meant to be just as important and sentient as our heroes, even if Alice is framed as the most special of all. And, coming down as a gift from heaven – literally – Asuna joins the fray, with God-tier powers and an immediate rivalry with Alice, because the author never met a cliche he didn’t like.

Unfortunately, sometimes that means cliches that shouldn’t really be used. I sighed when we got to the Integrity Knight with a massive crush on Fanatio, who was forced to become a knight because she fell in love with another woman, falls in love with Fanatio while a knight, and is promptly killed off protecting her. I should be grateful she wasn’t framed as evil or predatory, I suppose. The ‘bad guy’ cast also ranting about the “white iums’ (aka the good guys) also rankles, though I know that it comes from a fantasy base where white = good and black = bad, and was no doubt written into the Underworld by the developers. Better handled was the cowardly Knight who decides to hide from the final battle, and unfortunately for him ends up in the same tent as Ronie, Tiese and their unresponsive charge, and he is forced to learn the true meaning of Christmas. Or at least that some things are worth fighting for.

Most of this book is a fight sequence, and there are some good ones, particularly a battle between a stoic and (mostly) silent Integrity Knight and a Pugilist (who are basically a bunch of Hercules guys) on the opposite side who find that each has an equal bloodlust for a good fight. That said, we can’t avoid the plot entirely. Asuna is in the game now, but she won’t be enough, as the villains have hacked it to allow a bunch of Americans to log on – not telling them these are anything other than NPCs – and let them kill everyone. Fortunately, Yui – who laments the fact that she’s not as good an AI as Alice and company while at the same time surpassing her own limits, a scene that’s very deftly handled – is bringing in a few more ringers. Yes, at last, we’re getting the rest of the band back together, as the other “main” cast members prepare to enter the Underworld as well.

We have two more books to go in this arc, and I will be very surprised if the next one does not end with Kirito ascendant. But there’s no denying that things are tough right now. Fortunately, with the power of More Deban on its way, we can likely find a way past it. That said, SAO is every five months now, so be prepared for a slightly longer wait.

One Piece, Vol. 90

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Stephen Paul.

One Piece is ninety volumes long over here, in case you missed the title of the review. And it’s been running in Japan for twenty-two years, meaning many parents who started reading it in East Blue are having their kids pick it up with Cake Island. And while Oda tries his best to make everything accessible to casual readers, he really has his work cut out for him with this book, which sees the country’s leaders from all over the land get together for a meeting. The Celestial Dragons will be there… wait, who were they again? And Wapol’s back! … wait, who was he again? Even Oda knows that we can’t really recall everyone in every single volume. As result, not only does each chapter have ‘recap’ panels reminding us who these people are, there’s also an inserted 7-page ‘guidebook’ style entry going into even greater detail. You can’t tell the players without a scorecard. Especially since Oda seems to be reintroducing EVERYONE.

Of course, some characters don’t really need reintroduction, either because they’re still relatively new (Rebecca), hard to miss (Princess Shirahoshi), or iconic (Vivi). There’s an amusing scene where they all talk about how much Luffy did for all of them, and more people fall over themselves to talk about what a debt they owe the Straw Hats. Of course, not everyone reintroduced is a good guy. I mentioned Wapol before, though honestly he doesn’t seem that bad anymore, and I think is merely there to face off against Dalton and Kureha. No, I’m talking about the Celestial Dragons, particularly Stelly, the bratty kid who ruined Sabo’s childhood, who is now an even brattier adult. And of course there are the five elderly guys who run everything, who we rarely see but whenever we do it isn’t good. Worst of all, though, is the Dragon who appears riding Bartholomew Kuma like a mount. Sabo won’t take that lying down, and neither will Bonney, who’s infiltrated the party.

That said, it may be a while till we get back to this meeting, as we also have the Straw Hats, who have finally escaped from Big Mom, at least for the moment. Sadly, they’re without Jimbei, who has to stay behind to hold off the enemy, but he does resolve to join them soon, and I think we can safely say he’s a new crew member. And then we go off to the country of Wano, which allows Oda to bring out every single Meiji period cliche that he can. It also allows us to catch up with the cast who’ve been missing for a long, long time. Some are doing what they’ve always done (Franky is a carpenter, Usppp is lying), some are taking on tough new roles (Robin is a geisha), and some are… being executed? Well, at least they try to convince Zoro to commit suicide for the “crimes” he’s committed. It goes about as well as you’d expect.

So we’re kicking off a new arc, and Luffy seems to be once more separated from everyone else after the ship runs aground on the shore of an uncharted desert isle… wait, no, runs aground in Wano Country. What happens next? And when will we get back to Vivi and company?

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 1

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By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by Media Factory. Released in North America Yen Press. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

I do try not to be glib in my reviews too often, but I will admit it was tempting to have my entire review of this volume be “Loved the princess, hated the torture”. Honestly, it was a surprise to many people that I started this at all, given my wariness of overly dark and bloody titles. But I was on one of my “read the first volume of everything” kicks, so I worked my way through it. It was difficult at times, I will admit. The torture is no lie, and this isn’t even the pointless “torture them to get information” that you see in other, more annoying works. This is torture for the sake of gore, torture porn. Fortunately, the book also has three very distinct, likeable leads with expressive character voices and interesting through processes. I liked the way they went, and I want to see more of them. That said, it’s hard not to read this and think “the author wanted to write pages of torture description, so wrote a book around it”.

Kaito is a young man who has suffered at the hands of his abusive father his entire life, and finally is killed by said father. However, he ends up being transported to the land of the Torture Princess, Elisabeth Le Fanu. She brought him there to be her servant, and help (or at least watch) as she defeats thirteen demons and the people who have sold their souls to said demons. The demons enjoy torture and despair, and (seemingly) so does Elisabeth, so there’s an awful lot of it going on, and for a while the somewhat stoic Kaito is simply going with the flow. After a while, they also gain a robot maid, Hina (OK, a ball-jointed doll who is sentient maid, but for all intends and purposes she functions as a robot maid) with a devotion to Kaito that borders on the obsessive… well, OK, has moved into the obsessive and set up a knickknack shop there. Can they stop those contracted with demons from torturing innocents? Well, no. But they can at least punish them after the fact.

I will admit, I found Elisabeth, Kaito and Hina a lot of fun. Despite her name, Elisabeth is not a vampire, but she shares some of the same character traits, and the relationship between her and Kaito reminded me at times of Shinobu and Araragi from the Monogatari series. Kaito is snarky but not too much so, and most of this first book is seeing him regain a desire to actually find happiness and a purpose in life. And cliched as Hina is, she’s also hilarious and fun… and also provides the heart of the book, right near the end. It’s a good solid basis for a series. That said, dear sweet merciful Christ, after a while you will start flipping pages as you read about people lying in various bits, or having limbs chopped off, or being staked by demon crows, or… it almost went beyond exhausting to boring. It fits the florid Elisabeth’s Grand Guignol style, but that does mean that this is a book I can recommend only to the strong of stomach.

Manga the Week of 5/29/19

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SEAN: 5th weeks are always awkward, aren’t they?

Bookwalker has the 9th volume of The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress.

Cross Infinite World has another done-in-one light novel with Another World’s Zombie Apocalypse Is Not My Problem!. I haven’t read too many CIW titles, but I always enjoy them when I do.

Denpa has a 4th volume of Inside Mari.

ASH: Oshimi’s manga are always a fascinating mix of compelling and uncomfortable.

SEAN: From J-Novel Club, we have Demon King Daimaou 11, Der Werwolf 4, and Invaders of the Rokujouma!? 21.

Kodansha has a lot of titles. A whole lot. The print debut is I’m Standing on a Million Lives, which we’ve already seen digitally. It’s an isekai, which may explain why it got a print edition, and runs in Betsushonen.

They also have Gleipnir 2. Insert your own Electric Boogaloo joke here.

Digitally, there’s a lot more. All Out!! 10, All-Rounder Meguru 10, Asahi-senpai’s Favorite 3, Back Street Girls 11, Boarding School Juliet 10, Domestic Girlfriend 18, Elegant Yokai Apartment Life 13, Hotaru’s Way 9, My Boy in Blue 9, Tokyo Alice 11, and The Walls Between Us 6. So many series to say “whoah, I should read that someday but don’t have the time!” to.

MICHELLE: Yeah, at this point I just keep updating volume numbers on to the list of stuff I mean to read. I’ve seen parts of the animes for All Out!! and Elegant Yokai Apartment Life and enjoyed them, and then two of those titles—Hotaru’s Way and Tokyo Alice—are josei, which is obviously a big draw. It’s just a time problem! (I note that The Walls Between Us looks pretty cute, too.)

ANNA: I am SO far behind in the digital manga I want to read, it is sad. I’m also far behind in the physical manga I want to read as well.

SEAN: One Peace has an 11th volume of the Rising of the Shield Hero manga.

Seven Seas debuts Eve x Eve, a yuri anthology of short stories by the same author, which interconnect towards the end. It’s fairly explicit as these sorts of things go, and you’d better like magical yuri pregnancies, but it’s a good pickup for a fan of the genre.

ASH: I’m particularly interested in the speculative fiction aspect of the collection.

SEAN: There’s also the 2nd (and final) Division Maneuver light novel digitally, Holy Corpse Rising 7, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom light novel 3 (print edition), Magical Girl Site 9, Masamune-kun’s Revenge 10, Monster Girl Doctor’s 4th light novel, My Monster Secret 16, the 2nd and final omnibus of Ojojojo (which is great), and Servamp 12.

Vertical has a 4th Chi’s Sweet Adventures.

And Yen has the rest of the May lineup that didn’t already come out, as we get Forbidden Scrollery 7, Kakegurui Twin 2, Kiniro Mosaic 9, Shiboya Goldfish 4, Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization 3, Tales of Wedding Rings 6, and Trinity Seven 16.

MJ: I really want to be interested in something here. I really want to be. Um.

SEAN: Nothing really groundbreaking (and I expect the Manga Bookshelf peeps to have trouble with Pick of the Week), but a wide variety. What seems good for you?

Urusei Yatsura, Omnibus 2

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By Rumiko Takahashi. Released in Japan in two separate volumes by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Camellia Nieh.

UY gets a bit of a reboot about a quarter of a way into this omnibus. The cast is streamlined, with a lot of the alien girls after Ataru vanishing (some will be back – Benten, Oyuki – and some won’t – Kurama), and Megane and his three friends also vanishing from the manga (the anime will keep them around, for good and ill). In their place we get Shutaro Mendo, and he immediately shows us that he is going to be a main cast member fot the long haul. Indeed, after Ataru, Lum and Shinobu he’s the biggest member of the cast, and much of this volume is dedicated to showing off his best features (his money, his looks) and his worst features (everything else about him). Takahashi makes a point of showing early on that without his wealth and good looks, he’d be just like Ataru – but of course, he DOES have wealth and good looks, so the girls all fall for him anyway.

This includes Shinobu, who the endnotes at the end of the volume call out for having bad taste in men, and it’s hard to deny, as Mendo will forever be willing to abandon her at a moment’s notice if he can get Lum instead. (Shinobu will get a happy ending, but you may have to wait till Omnibus 16 or so to start seeing it.) There are a few chapters that show off Mendo trying to woo Lum, but he’s at a huge disadvantage, as Lum’s love for Ataru never really wavers at all – even when she’s dating others, it’s in an effort to make him jealous. Here we see her even disguising herself to save Ataru from his own foolishness, or alternatively so he can pretend she’s a real Japanese girl when they go out. As for Ataru, at the start we see he has the same attitude about Lum as he did before – he wants her gone – but this also changed as the story moves forward.

Ataru is, for the most part, a womanizing creep, and this won’t change, though it’s worth noting that even with these traits he’s still one of the better catches in the class. The ‘fake girl for Ataru’ chapter, which the anime put at Christmas and expanded greatly, is the first time that he actually realizes that Lum is gorgeous, and that plus the fact that she clearly went out of her way to help him leads him to soften his stance on her. He still declares that they aren’t going out or married, but she’s become an ally to him now. Two chapters in a row show this off best. In one, he befriends a caterpillar that wants to eat everything – and we do mean everything – and he and Lum try to protect it from the rest of the class, who find it creepy. This works out better than anyone could expect. In the other, possibly the most famous chapter of the series (its anime adaptation was voted the #1 episode by Japan), Lum vanishes, leaving behind only a cute little doll that looks like her, and Ataru worries that he genuinely drove her off.

Heartwarming moments like these are far more common in the anime than in the manga, but they do happen, and for a good purpose – now Ataru is fighting against his affection for Lum, rather than just seeing her as an invader. Now that the core cast of four has been solidified, we can also start to expand the world once more, and we’ll see that in the next volume. Also, Takahashi’s art settles down here – there are some gorgeous pieces of art on display in these pages.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 1: Daughter of a Soldier, 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.

There are people who read books about characters who are transported/reincarnated to another world in order to see fantasy battles, game-style powerups, harem antics, and a lot of plot packed into the first volume of the series. And I am here to tell you that those people should run screaming from Ascendance of a Bookworm, which I loved but is the very definition of “slow buildup”. In a way it’s sort of like Mushoku Tensei, in that a “loser-ish” protagonist is killed and reincarnated as a small child. But Rudy is born with lots of skills and gets training to use them fairly quickly. Myne, meanwhile, not only wakes up as a six-year-old in a fantasy medieval town that has few to no books, but she’s also constantly feverish and weak – even walking a short distance exhausts her. But, and I’m sure she’d be yelling at me for glossing over this, the important point is that there are NO BOOKS for her to read.

In Japan, Urano loved books so much that she was reading them in her family’s book-filled room when an earthquake struck, burying her under the books and killing her. Now she’s woken up as Myne, the youngest in a family that loves but doesn’t quite know what to do with her, as she’s almost always bedridden. Even now that she has Urano’s memories, she’s still weary after only a little activity, and it takes the entire book to get to the point where she can walk around town normally. Worst of all: no books, no paper, ink is super expensive, and the literacy rate for “commoners” is low. Sure, nobles have books, but Myne isn’t one of those. What can she do? Buy a book? Her family is poor, and there are no booksellers. Make paper? Much harder than it sounds. Clay tablets? Foiled by her sketchy knowledge from her prior life. Sure, she can read and do math faster than most kids, but with only one erasable slate to her name, what’s a book girl to do?

As you might guess from the unwieldy title, this is a long-runner. Part 1 is three volumes long. This first volume is fairly lengthy, and it’s also the shortest in the series – others will be longer. It does, however, reward a patient reader. There’s some terrific worldbuilding here, with Myne finding out about things at a reasonable pace. Myne can be very frustrating – her selfishness and anger is a problem throughout the book – but it makes sense given her health and situation. She really is that weak and feeble till about halfway through this, and seemingly has none of the “when you reincarnate, you get this cool sword/goddess/smartphone” cheats we’ve seen in other series. Thankfully, Urano read constantly, so has book knowledge… but the series does a good job of showing how that’s frequently not enough. (Helpfully, her mother was also a super handicraft woman, so Myne can break out a few skills beyond reading.) The book rewards patience, but it can be very frustrating seeing Myne bash her head against a wall over and over. While complaining.

There’s a revelation right before the end of the book that I won’t spoil, but it sounds like it will lead the way towards future arcs in the series. In the meantime, if you’re looking for a different kind of isekai, or are weary of “OP” heroes, this may be right up your alley.

Bookshelf Briefs 5/21/19

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Anne Happy, Vol. 9 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This is the second-to-last volume, but while there are a few hints of plot (Hibari’s family is lampshaded a bit), for the most part it’s devoted to another test of “happiness,” this time by a VR environment that causes everyone to resemble children. Given our main cast already know each other and are pretty good friends, the stakes are honestly pretty low, and there’s a bit less “everyone is useless” here—I don’t even think Botan coughed up blood once. It does make it feel like this is a series that needs to come to an end, though, which is why it’s good that it’s about to. If you’ve been following Anne Happy, this is a pleasant enough volume, and there’s no reason to stop just before the end. – Sean Gaffney

Blank Canvas: My So-Called Artist’s Journey, Vol. 1 | By Akiko Higashimura | Seven Seas – I’d loved everything by Higashimura that I’d previously read—Princess Jellyfish and Tokyo Tarareba Girls—so I was looking forward to the release of the award-winning Blank Canvas a great deal. After reading the first volume I can confidently declare that I’m still enamored with Higashimura’s work. Blank Canvas is an autobiographical series in which Higashimura, now a successful manga creator, reflects back upon her early days as an artist. The first volume shows her in high school as she’s preparing to apply for art school, a somewhat daunting challenge since up until that point she’d largely been coasting through her clubs and classes. Determined to become a famous shojo creator, she enrolls in a community art program, the teacher of which isn’t about to let her get away with slacking off. Told with Higashimura’s characteristic mix of humor, heart, and honesty, Blank Canvas is a tremendously engaging manga. – Ash Brown

Dr. STONE, Vol. 5 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Tempted as I am to just copy/paste my review of the fourth volume here, I will try to say something new. It’s hard, though, as the same two things I spoke about last time are focused on this time. Senku is very invested in science, but it’s a ridiculous shonen kind of science. Also, ridiculous is the order of the day elsewhere, as this series really goes over the top in everything it does. Thankfully, the tournament arc doesn’t last too long. The winner may surprise you, unless you’ve read any other shonen manga ever. I admit I laughed at Ruri’s sprint across the village. But we’re getting a backstory flashback as well, as Ruri knows Senku’s last name. How? We’ll find out next time. – Sean Gaffney

Eve and Eve | By Nagashiro Rouge | Seven Seas – Between Seven Seas and Yen Press, we’re getting quite a few yuri anthologies in 2019. This one is a collection of yuri-themed stories by the same artist, and the title comes from the first of these. They’re fairly explicit—Seven Seas actually labeled the title Mature, something they rarely do—and a few of them range towards science fiction. Two of them also involve getting pregnant in a handwavey sort of way, and in fact those ran in “Yuri Pregnancies” in Japan, which I assume is an anthology and not a magazine. There was nothing earth-shaking in here, but nothing truly bad either. If you like yuri, and don’t mind that it gets sexual (or the magical pregnancies), it’s a good volume to pick up. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 32 | By Haruichi Furudate | VIZ Media – Karasuno’s game against Inarizaki continues in (and beyond) this volume. The plot = “volleyball,” but that allows Furudate’s artistry to shine. Getting caught up in the drama of who will win is unavoidable, but I also marvel at the skill with which Furudate fleshes out the opposing team and imbues moments of individual victory with significance. For example, I loved when terminal bench-warmer Kinoshita thinks he’s missed his chance at heroism only to be credited by Nishinoya for helping him practice a move that pays off on the court. And I especially loved when Hinata not only manages to perfectly return an intimidating serve but proves so defensively competent that even Tsukushima comes to rely on him. That’s major progress! I love this series so much. – Michelle Smith

Hitorijime My Hero, Vol. 3 | By Memeco Arii | Kodansha Comics – I’m happy to report that Hitorijime My Hero has improved a lot since its first volume, which left me with some trepidations. In this volume, Masahiro’s friends find out about his relationship with Kousuke and one reacts badly, though it’s mostly coming from a place of feeling like he was the last to know something so important. Starting with volume two, Kousuke has been worried that Masahiro might focus on him instead of his “youth,” so he gives some good advice that helps them sort things out. I also appreciated that Kousuke’s friends are really concerned about his choices and grill Masahiro a bit to find out how much of a threat he poses. No, Kousuke doesn’t actually get arrested—although one of his friends is a cop, he’s an absolutely useless cretin—but it’s nice that it’s acknowledged that he could be. I’ll keep reading. – Michelle Smith

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 8 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – After the plot-filled seventh volume, we’re back to wacky gag chapters in this book. Which is good, as this series does comedy well. It’s still working Ino into the fun, but even when the humor is based around a Japanese concept (one chapter talks about collecting bellmarks, which helpfully is so old in Japan that it’s explained in the text) there’s still laughs. My favorite chapter might be the one where Chika tries to tell Kaguya about the one she likes, and paranoia makes everything so much worse (and also reveals Chika is well aware of Kaguya’s ambiguity towards her). As for our lead couple, well, even Kaguya literally collapsing and going to the hospital can’t stop the laughs—or get them together. Great fun. – Sean Gaffney

Laid-Back Camp, Vol. 6 | By Afro | Yen Press – There’s some actual character development here, though for the most part the series still runs on ‘cuties camping’ for all its attention. Nadeshiko has been sort of the airhead of the group for most of the series, and I was expecting her desire to own the camping lantern to be blown up in some way, but no—she gets a part-time job, is decent at it, and buys the lamp. The author even toys with us, having her trip and almost break the lamp, but then catching it. What’s more, she wants to try solo camping. Hopefully her camping goes better than Inuko, Aki and Ena, who try a cold-weather campout and thankfully don’t die—though they need a little help to avoid it. This is getting better as it goes on. – Sean Gaffney

Murcielago, Vol. 10 | By Yoshimurakana | Yen Press – I never thought I’d say this, but this is actually a pretty sedate volume of Murcielago. Oh sure, Kuroko finds a new girl she wants to seduce, and there’s some naked bathing, but there’s no sex in this one. Even the violence is relatively behind-the-scenes here, though I have a feeling the volume after this will take things up a notch. We’re at a fishing village with a dark secret at the local church, one that’s led to an awful lot of dead people being eaten by sharks. And, of course, Kuroko’s new girl turns out to be the key to it all—or rather, the rosary left to her by her late father is. Will Kuroko and Hinako save the day? Can Suiren avoid getting seduced? Likely no to that second one, but that’s what makes Murcielago what it is. – Sean Gaffney

Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 1 | By Yuhki Kamatani | Seven Seas – Tasuku Kaname has recently transferred to a new high school. His classmates are friendly enough, but soon a rumor starts circulating that he’s gay. Tasuku is quick to deny it, though the truth is he’s struggling to come to terms with his sexuality since it carries such a large social stigma. It’s only after he meets and learns the stories of several other people who are likewise not straight that Tasuku starts to feel less isolated and is able begin to accept himself. The fear, anxiety, and agony that results from not being able to freely live true to oneself both inwardly and outwardly is exceptionally well-conveyed by Kamatani in Our Dreams at Dusk. But while the first volume is at times heartbreaking, it’s also not without hope. Emotionally intense and tear-inducing for both sorrowful and joyful reasons, Our Dreams at Dusk is off to an incredibly compelling start. – Ash Brown

A Strange & Mystifying Story, Vol. 7 | By Tsuta Suzuki | SuBLime – And so, A Strange & Mystifying Story comes to an end. I could quibble with some aspects of this finale, like how Tsumugi convinced grief-stricken Magawa to give up on his destructive quest with ease to spare, but since it led to a happy ending for all concerned, I’m not going to argue with it. There are some great moments between Tsumugi and Kurayori, especially a tearful and relieved two-page hug once the effect of Magawa’s spell is reversed, and I adored their first love scene. It’s fumbling and awkward and loving and entirely about the characters. It felt necessary and not gratuitous. This series stumbled a little in the beginning but I’m glad I kept with it because from the third volume on, it became something special. I recommend it highly. – Michelle Smith

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, Vol. 7

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By Satoko Kiyuduki. Released in Japan as “Hitsugi Katsugi no Kuro – Kaichu Tabi no Wa” by Houbunsha, serialized in the magazine Manga Time Kirara. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

It is always lovely, especially in this age of experiencing media whose endings turn out to be trainwrecks, to see a series get it absolutely right. Everyone who has been reading the Kuro books should be absolutely satisfied by this ending, which wraps up everything we’d like to see and is probably the closest to a happy ending that this series was ever going to get. Indeed, this is lampshaded by a dream sequence showing us the Golden Ending of sorts, with Kuro cured and back to working for Sen, and you realize that no, you can’t just have that. It would ruin the story. And Kuro has been all about people’s stories, both in the reader collecting then as she and the kids make their journey, and also her own self-discovery, which also comes to a head here as she confronts Hifumi for the last time. But in the end, it’s Nijuku and Sanju who take the biggest steps, moving forward in a way that’s impossible for everyone else.

This is a volume that looks back as well as looking forward, especially in a chapter where Emily, a reporter trying to track down Kuro, comes across everyone else that Kuro’s come across on her journey, and what starts off with her terrifying ideas of the gender-ambiguous, vampiric Kuro and her beast-like children ends up being a series of interviews about how much Kuro, Nijuku and Sanju changed everyone they came into contact with. Including Emily, who never does get to meet Kuro but now desperately wants to, having seen just how much she’s affected everyone. That said, the first half of the book also presages the confrontation midway through, as Kuro’s creeping blackness, which we saw affecting Sanju last volume, is getting worse and worse. And then there’s Hifumi, who is having an identity crisis but also knows what she wants – those two kids.

The final half of the volume ends in a string of attempts at self-sacrifice, as Kuro and Hifumi confront each other, Hifumi in an effort to get to the two girls and Kuro in an effort to stop her, which pretty much involves trying to absorb her. This goes about as well as you’d expect, and between the two of them we get tragedy and realization… as well as a bit of closure, which is bittersweet but still has some sweetness in it. Kuro and Hifumi have always had that connection between them, and this merely reinforces it. In the end, though, neither one of them can be the ones to give Nijuku and Sanju a future – they have to make their own choice. Which they do, and it’s innocent and also sort of impossible and incredibly odd and ambiguous. Which is this entire manga in miniature, really.

This manga has been going for over ten years, with many stops and starts along the way, and another entire series by the same author (GA Art Design Class) in between. It’s a journey that will sound familiar to anyone who’s followed the title character, whose meandering was much the same. The author says there may be an eighth volume of short stories coming soon, but I wouldn’t hold your breath. Till then, though, enjoy what may be a perfect ending to this excellent series.

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 1

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Snow White with the Red Hair, Volume 1 by Sorata Akiduki

The “two volume” rule for judging manga series is something I tend to stick by because sometimes it takes six or seven chapters for a series to come together. In the case of Snow White with the Red Hair, the first volume is charming, but I was left a little confused about what the storyline would be to carry this series for 20 volumes. I’m assuming that this minor quibble will be cleared up with the second volume, or if not, it will continue to be a great slice of life series about herbalism with occasional low stakes kidnappings.

Snow White with the Red Hair

The woman with the red hair is actually not a princess at all, so the “Snow White” of the title is a bit of a red herring? What is it with red-haired heroines in shoujo manga anyway, is it a call back to Anne of Green Gables maybe? Shirayuki is an herbalist with striking red hair that unfortunately makes her a target for petty royals. In the first chapter, Shirayuki flees an overzealous prince who is determined to make her his new concubine, only to run into yet another prince – Zen, the second son of royalty for a neighboring kingdom. They immediately strike up a friendship, but in a subversion of the Snow White fairy tale, Zen eats a bit of a poisonous apple sent by Shirayuki’s would-be paramour and she has to rescue him.

One of the amusing aspects of Snow White with the Red Hair is the fairy-tale like setting combined with characters who are determined to make their own destiny. Shirayuki is devoted to the study of herbalism, and she decides that she’s going to make her own way in Zen’s country through her studies until she can become a court herbalist. Zen has a somewhat laid-back attitude to his royal position which is refreshing. I am not sure if I’ve seen a super chill prince in shoujo manga before. Shirayuki continues to be targeted, both because of her red hair and due to her new friendship with Zen. Seeing their initially quasi-platonic friendship slowly develop throughout the course of this volume made me look forward to what might happen next. On the whole, Snow White with the Red Hair reminded me a lot of the whimsical fantasy series that CMX used to publish, and then when I realized that it ran in LaLa, source of many CMX series, that all made sense to me. I’m glad that shoujo fantasy seems to be doing so well for the Shojo Beat imprint, because it is one of my favorite genres, and this series looks like it will be a worthy addition.

Kokoro Connect: Clip Time

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By Sadanatsu Anda and Shiromizakana. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Molly Lee.

Well, I did ask for more wacky school antics in this volume of short stories, so you can’t say I didn’t bring it on myself. This is definitely a volume that gets better as it goes along. The first story, where Inaba decides to help out two teachers in a secret sort-of relationship by publicizing it over the entire school, is the sort of plot that made me think “and then the club was disbanded and Inaba was expelled”, which didn’t happen. The chapter where Yui gets confessed to by a girl and dates her alternates between trying its best to handle the subject properly and making stupid “OMG, gay!” jokes, which, to be fair, they are teenagers, but it’s still pretty excruciating, especially Aoba and Iori. The third story features Inaba, between the second and third books, working herself into an emotional frenzy regarding the love triangle. It’s fun if you enjoy Inaba flipping out. That said, the REASON to get this book is the final story, which takes up half the volume.

Those two characters on the cover next to Taichi may be unfamiliar to the reader, as they’re new first-years who the Cultural Research folks are trying to recruit to the club… sort of. It’s one of those situations where, were this a normal club, there would be no issues beyond “I like the bond the five of us have and don’t want to risk upsetting it”. But of course, this isn’t a normal club, and our main cast are unconsciously pushing the new recruits away because they are worried about bringing Heartseed into someone else’s life. This is not an easy problem to solve, but they decide eventually that they do want these kids in the club, and that they will tell them about its more supernatural aspects… provided Heartseed doesn’t get there first.

As for the new kids, well, Chihiro is deliberately written to annoy the reader, I suspect. He’s standoffish and arrogant, annoyed at the school’s “you have to be in a club” policy, and not particularly enamored of anyone in the group apart from the “gorgeous” Iori. That said, it’s pretty clear from the narration we get from hi8m that a lot of this is defensive and a front. The cliffhanger implies the next book will delve further into him. As for Enjouji, she’s a very entertaining combination of fluffhead and blunt, and I admire her dedication and her desire to be with those that she admires the most. That said, her obsession with Taichi’s voice is both strange and hilarious. They both look like good additions to the club. It’s also highly unusual to see a major plot point happening in a short story collection, and I once again emphasize that if you’re following the novels you do need to read this one as well.

I’d honestly skip the first two stories in this book (though the Yui story was popular enough to get adapted into the manga AND a PSP game). The final half, though, is very strong, and makes me eager to read the next book in the series.

In Another World with My Smartphone, Vol. 14

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By Patora Fuyuhara and Eiji Usatsuka. Released in Japan as “Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

Well, you can’t blame the author for nothing happening in this particular volume of Smartphone. it’s very plot-heavy, with the Phrase coming up front and center and Touya also finding out that he’s going to be getting a lot more responsibility pretty soon. What’s more, the Reverse World gets another look-in, and that and Touya’s world may soon be much closer to each other than is really comfortable. Indeed, some of the Mutant Phrase (the ones influenced by the God) are now invading that world as well, and it doesn’t have its own Touya to come in and save the day… yet. And Touya still finds time to help out a kingdom that is at war with another. For once the entire ruling class aren’t poorly written sneering villains. But we do get a few of them. Whoever said “fat and ugly”, you sure know your Smartphone. Hated it before, still hate it. Light novel authors have to write better villains.

The main non-Phrase plot that happens here is that Touya is now the main “god” for this world, meaning that he needs to fix what’s going wrong with it (the Phrase invasion), or else the God of Destruction is going to destroy the world and everyone in it (bar Touya’s fiancees, who will be spared I suspect as they worry about his sociopathic tendencies already). This includes the Reverse World, which eventually is going to merge into the same world with Touya’s own. (Both worlds are flat, which helps.) This also means he has to get the Spirits on his side, who have mostly been absent from the series to date but as long as we’re adding to a cast that already numbers in the hundreds, why not? Getting them on his side involves the female spirits loving him and the male spirits hating him as a “harem bastard”, basically. But he can beat them up, so we’re all good. Oh yes, Touya also has his usual “ew, gay” reaction too.

I’ll gently glide over Touya’s helping two kingdoms in their war, except to note that the enemy kingdom’s chief knight turned out to be Ende, who’s become a little bit Brainwashed And Crazy. As Touya and company gets more powerful, so are the Phrase, and Ende ran afoul of another set of stock characters in these sorts of stories – Evil Twins. Fortunately for Touya, he has also now located the Phrase Princess, who is imprisoned for her own safety, but this does allow her and Ende to have some cuddle time. Speaking of which, the location of the Phrase Princess’ core, as well as getting it removed, was probably one of the more well-written parts of the book. And I also liked Yumina reassuring Touya about his godhood – Yumina is still “first among equals” among the fiancees.

Smartphone is, at heart, a very conservative series, despite the polygamy. Given I am not conservative, it’s not surprising that I frequently find myself infuriated with it. And no, everyone lampshading with a smile when Touya is ‘evil’ doesn’t help, really. That said, I can’t bring myself to drop it either. I’m hoping for less stock villains next time and more things like Touya building cars.

Ojojojo, Vol. 3-4

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By coolkyousinnjya. Released in Japan by Takeshobo, serialized in the magazine Manga Life. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Ben Robert Trethewey. Adapted by Clint Bickham.

I feel a bit guilty about this, as the author admits that this was one of their earliest series. But frankly, Ojojojo is easily the best thing we’ve seen licensed by this author, and it’s not even close. Dragon Maid is OK, but this was really, really good all the way through, keeping up the “plotless 4-koma” st5yle while actually having quite a good plot. There isn’t much of a plot, but that lets the series breathe, and allows its characters to drive things. We move towards a climax, taking in Haru’s little sister (who tries to be the bad guy, but isn’t, something that is cliched but works well), Tzurezure’s past (which reminded me a lot of Sousuke in Full Metal Panic!), and their attempts to communicate with each other better so that they can be better partners. Which, despite rich gossips and inheritance struggles, is the real enemy of this series, as the two of them just aren’t really good at communication.

(I’m using the color cover for Vol. 4, which annoyingly is not included in the omnibus, as I like it better.)

As noted, the only major addition to the cast here is Aki, Haru’s younger sister, who arrives from overseas and immediately sets out to make her sister’s life hell because, well, she’s decided she wants to play the villain for her sister’s sake. It’s amusing that almost everyone gets this immediately, despite the author’s attempts to drawing Aki with the world’s most ridiculous evil grin. As it turns out, she and Haru are both lonely rich kids at heart, so once everything is resolved they are allowed to rediscover the affection they have for each other… and Aki is allowed to tease Haru shamelessly by flirting with her man, something that works mostly as Tsurezure is so stoic about the whole thing. Akane and Chris also reach an agreement, though I’ll be honest, I like these two better as a “greek chorus” to the rest of the cast than I do as a couple. Akane as the only normal person is also very amusing.

There’s a lot getting in the way of the main pairing, though. Haru is a noblewoman, Tsurezure is a commoner. What’s more, he has a secret past, one which, if it gets out, could pose a lot of danger for them. (I forgot to mention his adopted family, who are both sweetie pies. Honestly, everyone in the series is a sweetie pie.) And Tsurezure is clearly brooding about this, to the point where he tries to run away and live in the woods, a sign that he’s not nearly as mature as he sometimes appears. Naturally Haru follows after him, in helicopter no less, and belts him across the chops for daring to decide everything for both of them. Her solution, oddly, also reads as very immature and ill-thought out… but actually works out for the best for everyone involved. In the end, they make a great couple.

So everyone lives Happily Ever After. (Well, except Aki. Sorry, Aki.) If you want a sweet romantic comedy with great characters who grow over the course of four volumes, I really recommend this. Plus Haru is frequently straight up hilarious. Especially when cooking.