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Bookshelf Briefs 11/7/17

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Cosplay Animal, Vol. 2 | By Watari Sakou | Kodansha Comics – I think I will continue to enjoy Cosplay Animal as long as the heroine remains ludicrous and the tone remains fun, both things that I can tick off with this second volume. Yes, there’s a gay guy who makes out with his employees that’s sort of a bad stereotype, but he barely stands out here next to Rika, who is dealing with not having enough stamina during sex, trying to get some with her boyfriend while being forced to work at a hot spring (she broke a vase), and, in the story that edges between the most serious and also the most ridiculous (I called “no way” a few times), trying to student-teach at Hajime’s school. Not for those easily offended, but if you like pure trash, you’ll love Cosplay Animal. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 4 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – I have resolved myself to the fact that the main romance in this series is probably going to be between Shimana and the landlord, who’s getting more tsundere by the volume. This is not good news for Zen, who always looked like the sort of overeager guy who’s destined to be romantic runner-up, but I’m not sure he expected it this soon. We wrap up the boxing plotline here and start to get into Fujiwara’s past and present, including the fact that he’s a lawyer because his family wants him to be, but not particularly happy about it. Since the point of this series seems to be “don’t throw away your dreams and accept a bad reality,” I expect that to change, especially with Shimana’s basic shininess working against it. I’m still not over the moon about this series, but it’s always a solid read. – Sean Gaffney

Idol Dreams, Vol. 4 | By Arina Tanemura | VIZ Media – When we left off, 31-year-old Chikage Deguchi had decided to date a teenager (in the guise of her 15-year-old self) whom she didn’t love in order to learn about relationships. And, judging from her reaction, she hadn’t even considered telling him the truth about herself until her friend brought it up. Compounding this folly, when she realizes that he’s exhausting himself trying to impress her (he’s in a boy band, naturally) she contrives to dramatically break his heart. Way to screw with a poor kid’s head!! Are we supposed to root for this freakin’ clueless dingbat?! I don’t know why I even keep reading this, honestly. Perhaps it’s time to officially call it quits. – Michelle Smith

RIN-NE, Vol. 25 | By Rumiko Takahashi | VIZ Media – As per usual, nothing changes in this volume of RIN-NE. It briefly looks as though Rinne might actually have a chance at obtaining a gold shinigami license after defeating his dad but.. nope. The rest of the stories are the standard episodic fare about ghosts who need to pass on or Sabato’s hijinks. I did find it odd that there were two stories in this volume that were very similar, both involving a bespectacled spirit who was about to declare his love in a roundabout way, then discovered the girl he loved was dating a coworker/classmate, and died while rushing to prevent the message from being seen. Sakura makes a remark that suggests this might have been intentional, but it’s not at all clear. That would be a whole other level of repetitiveness for this series! – Michelle Smith

Scum’s Wish, Vol. 5 | By Mengo Yokoyari | Yen Press – Cosplay Animal was gloriously fun trash. Scum’s Wish is also trash, but it’s not nearly as fun, as you continue to watch young people who are dealing with out-of-control hormones make the wrong decisions and then regret it. Moka’s date is pretty much exactly what she wanted, and yet you wince as you turn each page, as her pain and despair rip out at you (even though she’s smiling and keeping up a fairy-tale inner monologue). As for Hanabi, she finds an older guy who seems to be into her, but she’s not ready to sleep with him, and that’s exactly what he wants. The book ends with her alone, realizing she has no real friends. Two more volumes of this may be all I can take, but it’s very well written. – Sean Gaffney

Toppu GP, Vol. 2 | By Kosuke Fujishima | Kodansha Comics – It’s hard to even scrape up enough words for a brief, honestly, given that this volume is 180 pages of “motocross is cool.” But really, Fujishima is a master at what he does by now, and there’s no denying it—when you see these races, you DO think it’s really cool. Toppu suffers a loss here, and his frustration also is conveyed very well on the page —the winner is smug without being dislikable, and I like their rivalry. We also get a girl his own age who clearly likes him, and is not happy with the gorgeous, older and perfect Myne, who (at this point) can do no wrong, and has still not been killed off to advance the plot, though I wouldn’t count that out. Do you like bikes? Read this. – Sean Gaffney

Kitaro: Kitaro’s Strange Adventures

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By Shigeru Mizuki. Released in Japan as “Gegege no Kitaro” by Kodansha and Shogakukan, serialized in various magazines. Released in North America by Drawn & Quarterly. Translated by Zack Davisson.

As the title might suggest, there’s no really big epic in this volume of Kitaro. We get two medium sized adventures and some shorter stories, all of which are decent and show off the strengths of the Kitaro manga and characters. Kitaro not only battles against Chinese yokai who are trying to invade, but also demons from hell. And here we see that Kitaro and his world are something for children – they’re the ones who see and interact with Kitaro, and they’re the ones who are endangered. Occasionally we see an adult with issues, such as the man who has a cursed hand, but mostly in terms of yokai Kitaro is something that adults don’t believe in anymore, but kids know is real. It’s a good way to get the reader on your side, and Mizuki is a master at it.

Though we do see several recurring yokai, this is not the cozy Kitoaro of the 1990s (Neko Musume is mentioned in the accompanying history but nowhere in sight), and there’s honestly only three who are of any importance here: Kitaro, his eyeball father, and the amazingly two-faced Nezumi Otoko, who continues to show off why he became the breakout favorite character of this series. He’s such an appalling ass, showing off that he’ll do anything for money, will say anything to save his own skin, and that he gives up super easily and accepts a horrible fate – he seems to literally have no positive traits whatsover. Except, of course, that he makes the reader laugh. (Kudos to Zack Davisson’s translation here, by the way, which excels at making Nezumi Otoko funny – I lost it at “I’m just a carefree college student!”.)

I will say that it’s very clear that these are being written on the fly, and that Mizuki puts down all the ideas he has on the page, and when he runs out of them the story stops – sometimes quite abruptly. None of these are week-to-week serials with cliffhangers, they’re all self-contained. Sometimes the climaxes are epic, such as the final battle against the Chinese yokai, which is essentially two armies going after one another. And sometimes the need to wrap up a story in order to meet the page count is so obvious it becomes hilarious, and you get moments like “Kitaro fires his machine gun teeth and hits the monster in the nuts”, which is, let’s face it, something that you are highly unlikely to see in most modern manga. Though I think One Piece might give it a shot.

This is another solid volume of Kitaro, and I’m delighted to see the anthology coming out over here, containing stories approved by Mizuki before his death. And while all the stories are about yokai you never quite know what you’re going to get next – I understand the next volume crosses over with Buffy and the Beatles! OK, probably not. But it’s definitely going to be a must read. These are good editions of classic influential manga.

My Week in Manga: October 30-November 5, 2017

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My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga I announced the winner of the Oresama Teacher giveaway. The post also includes a select list of some of the manga released in English that have notable delinquents (and in some cases ex-delinquents) in them. In licensing news, Dark Horse recently announced that it will be releasing The Flame Dragon Knight, a novel by Makoto Fukami which is based on Kentaro Miura’s manga series Berserk. Also, Yen Press is adding more yuri to its catalog: the manga anthology Eclair and the light novel adaptation of Napping Princess will both be released in English in 2018.

Quick Takes

Yokai Rental Shop, Volume 1Yokai Rental Shop, Volume 1 by Shin Mashiba. I greatly enjoyed Mashiba’s earlier manga series Nightmare Inspector: Yumekui Kenbun and so was very excited when Yokai Rental Shop was licensed. I have been looking forward to giving the manga a try not only because of Mashiba’s involvement but also because yokai play a prominent role. Hiiragi is a public servant who recently learned, on his mother’s deathbed, that he has a half-brother. Initially he’s thrilled, but then he actually meets Karasu, a man who doesn’t hesitate to help his customers realize their darkest desires. So far, Yokai Rental Shop has yet to really distinguish itself from any number of other horror series featuring a supernatural boutique. Additionally, one of the things that made Nightmare Inspector so engaging–the use of a wide variety of illustration styles–is largely missing from Yokai Rental Shop. The major exception to this is how most of the yokai in the spirit district are drawn to be more reminiscent of traditional ink drawings, an artistic touch that I particularly appreciated. While at this point Nightmare Inspector would seem to be the stronger manga of the two, there’s enough about Yokai Rental Shop that interests me that I plan on continuing the short series.

Otomo: A Global Tribute to the Mind Behind AkiraOtomo: A Global Tribute to the Mind Behind Akira edited by Julien Brugeas and Ben Applegate. In 2015, Katsuhiro Otomo won the Angoulême International Comics Festival’s Grand Prix, a prestigious award recognizing comics creators for their lifetime achievements. As part of the celebration, an art exhibition showing work by creators from around the world in a tribute to Otomo was held. A limited-edition catalog of illustrations was also produced at that time, becoming the basis for the Otomo artbook. The English-language edition expands upon the original and includes contributions from more than eighty creatives, resulting in an attractive, oversized, 168-paged hardcover volume. Otomo is probably best known as the creator of Akira, so it isn’t too surprising that most of the artwork in Otomo make reference to either the anime or manga version of that story, but other works like Domu also provide a source of inspiration. There is a fantastic variety and a great range of styles represented in Otomo; some of the individual pieces are truly stunning. Accompanying each illustration is a short biography of the artist. Some also include a section in which the contributors write about their encounters with Otomo and his work. (I wish there were more of these.)

Juni Taisen: Zodiac WarJuni Taisen: Zodiac War written by Nisiosin, illustrated by Hikaru Nakamura. My interest in the Juni Taisen novel largely stemmed from creators associated with it. Nisiosin seems to be something of a cult favorite and has had a fair number of stories translated recently (Juni Taisen is actually the first that I’ve read, however) and Nakamura is the creator of Saint Young Men and Arakawa Under the Bridge (it turns out Nakamura’s contributions to the novel are fairly limited). On top of having notable creators, the physical production and design of Viz Media’s release of Juni Taisen is beautiful. I have also been known to enjoy battle royale-type stories. Sadly, Juni Taisen is rather unsatisfactory as a novel and comes across as superficial, though I suspect the related manga and anime will be more successful. Twelve characters, none of them particularly likeable, are brought together in a battle to the death known as the Zodiac War. The winner will be granted a single wish, although there’s an even greater purpose to the contest. Juni Taisen has potential. The various super powers and abilities of the characters result in tactics and strategies that are interesting and even clever. Unfortunately, the coolness factor is undermined by inconsistent logic, repetitiveness, predictable narrative developments, and a sore lack of worldbuilding and a meaningful context.

The Empty Box and Zeroth Maria, Vol. 1

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By Eiji Mikage and 415. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Luke Baker.

This series intrigued me from the moment it was licensed, as it was one of those rare licenses that didn’t seem to have any hype behind it. This series does not have an anime airing in 2017, nor did it have a manga adaptation. And it’s finished at 7 volumes, meaning those things likely aren’t on the horizon either. The only other equivalent title I can think of is Psycome. Zeroth Maria (as I will call it going forward) is nothing like that, fortunately. Instead, it’s a psychological thriller with supernatural overtones which, by its very nature, has me comparing it to Higurashi When They Cry. We see a group of friends reliving the same period over and over, everything ends in a murder, and one girl is determined to break this fate. That said, Higurashi was more about the friends and their relationships, whereas Zeroth Maria is about the mystery and the plot. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it’s a good plot.

That’s the titular character on the cover, though you don’t necessarily know she’s connected to the title right off the bat. (Get used to her face – like Strike the Blood, these covers are going to be a one woman show.) We open with her arriving in a classroom as a transfer student, singling out a seemingly normal guy, and saying that she plans to break him. The time looping is not the mystery – it’s laid out on Page 1, and made obvious by the book’s somewhat anachronic order, bouncing back and forth between old loops and new, as we see Kazuki (the seemingly normal guy) deal with this very strange transfer student, try to have fun with his friends, and think about his love for the beautiful Kasumi, a love that is quite strong but he can’t quite remember when it began. As the novel goes on, people are killed by trucks, disappear from the narrative, are killed by trucks some more, are simply stabbed to death brutally, and are killed by trucks even more. Kazuki, though the loops, gains memories, finds the culprit, and together with our heroine, defeats the bad guy.

The characters are few, and you get the sense that one or two of them are there to be generic “best friends”, but the four “main” characters are believably broken. I will admit that the identity of the main villain was not all that hard to guess, but to be fair I don’t think the author was hiding it that hard. If there’s one thing that gives me pause and makes me wary for future volumes, it’s the fact that there ARE future volumes. This was a very good, self-contained single volume mystery novel, resolving all its loose ends, and the fact that there are six more worries me – are we going to be time looping again? Something different? And is this going to be another “how depressing can I make everything?” type of series, as this one had many very depressing moments.

That said, I wholeheartedly recommend THIS volume, provided you don’t mind a bit of death, and think it’s a good series to pick up.

Imperfect Girl, Vol. 1

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By NISIOISIN and Mitsuru Hattori. Released in Japan as “Shōjo Fujūbun” by Houbunsha, serialized in the magazine Young Magazine. Released in North America by Vertical Comics. Translated by Ko Ransom.

I first got to know the work of NISIOISIN through his series for Weekly Shonen Jump, Medaka Box, which I’ve commented on at length elsewhere, and is unlikely to ever be licensed over here. That said, I’d argue he’s better known over here for his novels, particularly the Zaregoto and Monogatari series, both of which are currently being released by Vertical’s novel side, Vertical Inc. Surprisingly, though, neither one of those very popular series ever got a manga adaptation. Zaregoto’s spinoff Zerozaki series was tipped for one instead, and both series have wildly successful (Monogatari) or noble failure (Zaregoto) anime series which are highly stylized and artistic. A straight-up manga adaptation of either series would get lost in the crushing verbiage, which was something that Medaka Box (also very verbose and metatextual) struggled with its entire run. This, however, is a quick, three-volume series based on a single novel, and the think that struck me the most is how reserved the hero is.

The narrator is a college-aged author who isn’t named, and seems to be looking back on this period of his life from the future as he writes about it. I’m not sure if it’s meant to be a self-insert of NISIOISIN, but certainly he can probably identify with the struggles of an author who knows how to write but not necessarily how to write something that will sell. Out one day, he sees a traffic accident where a young girl is brutally killed by a truck. What strikes him, though, is the girl’s “best friend”, who sees the accident, carefully saves her game she was playing, puts it away… then reacts in horror and despair. She also spots our hero, though, and before he knows it he’s kidnapped by her at knifepoint and brought to her house… where she proceeds to lock him in the closet and leave him. Most of the book is his internal dialogue and analysis of U’s behavior, U being the girl.

The art may seem familiar to manga fans, as the artist has been out over here with his Sankarea zombie series. He does a good job at showing the creepy horror of several of the scenes, as well as the heavy-lidded brokenness of the titular Imperfect Girl. Our nameless hero is less successful, and may have worked better in prose – there are several points in this volume where he is forced to do something totally stupid to serve the plot, and he goes right along with each one. Worse, he lacks personality – Araragi may be intensely irritating at times, but you can never say he’s boring, and Ii-chan’s lack of personality is a mask that he wears to obscure. This guy simply seems dull, and you get the sense that “the author” telling us this story in the future wants to show how the incident forced him to stop being so nebbish. I hope it takes.

All in all, this first volume was OK, and I’ll read the other two because they’re short and I’m a NISIOISIN fan. I do wonder if it might have worked better as one omnibus, though.

Beasts of Abigaile Vol. 2

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Beasts of Abigaile Volume 2 by Spica Aoki

I enjoyed the first volume of this series more than I was expecting to, so I was hoping that the second volume would deliver more paranormal romance trashy fun, and I was not disappointed. Nina continues to attempt to survive her undercover existence at werewolf school, ending up with more power and influence than anyone would have predicted.

Towards the end of the first volume, Nina takes an interest in Poe, a somewhat non-verbal artist who as an Omega, gets picked on by the rest of the students and the instructors. Nina is unhappy about the unsanctioned fight clubs that put students up against real live wolfs. Meanwhile, Roy and mean girl Eva seem to be having some significant fractures in their relationship, as Roy continues to find Nina fascinating, and Eva lurks in the bushes like a lupine Maleficent, spying on her possible female rival. Nina wants to let Poe into her pack, the White Rose Maiden Association, but the art kids that she hangs out with don’t want their status to drop by taking him in. They’d also be put in a position of danger in needing to defend him against other students as well. Eventually the situation boils over and Nina impetuously volunteers to take Poe’s place in the fight club. She declares herself Poe’s Alpha and says that she’ll fight all his battles for him. While Nina’s karate skills come in handy, she’s eventually rescued by Giles, who always seems to be around when she needs him.

This volume filled in a little bit of the backstory, both with Nina’s past history with bullying that makes her a relentless advocate for the downtrodden, and also some of the history of the school and why Poe has been placed in such a lowly position. Roy continues to be a total jerk, and I’m hoping that Nina doesn’t end up with him in the end, but with the way shoujo manga tends to go I’m guessing Nina’s influence will change him from being a terrible person. The art in this series continues to be well-executed, even if it doesn’t have a very distinct style. I’m still enjoying this series, but I tend to be a bit of an easy mark for supernatural shoujo.

Infinite Dendrogram: Clash of the Superiors

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

It is very common, in both light novels and manga, for a volume to be augmented at times by various side stories and extra chapters. Particularly if content is running a bit short. For the most part, I’ve found that these extra stories are not as good as the main fare – either they’re totally unrelated, in which case they read as the author’s attempt to get their early work collected, or they’re a bit more fanservicey and subpar, because they’re meant to be taken as stand-alone and not have an impact on the main storyline. That said, there are exceptions, and I’m pleased to say that Infinite Dendrogram’s third volume is one of them. The main bulk of the book takes up the first 2/3 or so, and is perfectly serviceable, though the reader may be annoyed that it’s all setup, with the payoff being in the next volume. The stories afterwards range from very good to excellent.

In the main storyline, we see Ray dealing with the aftermath of his heroics in Book 2, and finding that even though most players didn’t give a rat’s ass about the piles of dead NPC children, the actual NPCs certainly did. As a result, he not only gets a huge reward, but also many tearful thanks for taking out such reprehensible killers. Ray handles this with his usual awkwardness, and then goes to see what Marie used their other reward money for, which turns out to be box seats for a fight between two Superior Players – something that’s unprecedented. As it turns out, Ray’s brother is also very involved in this, as Figaro, one of the fighters, is a good friend of his. (It’s becoming quite clear Ray’s brother is one of the top fighters in the game, but he’s hiding that from Ray for now.) The fight is quite well-written, and I liked the Chinese-styled opponent as well. But, as I noted, it does end on a bit of a cliffhanger.

The two side stories do a great deal to expand on the others Ray met in the first book. The first deals with Rook trying to get a new monster for his party. We get some hints of a disturbing backstory for Rook’s real-life person, who seems to have been through a lot, and also shows off he is far more than the cute innocent boy who is the perfect underage ‘pimp’ – Rook will go far. Even better is Marie’s story, which dovetails up with some of the other events in Book 2, i.e. the missing princess who was thought to be kidnapped by the child murdering gang. I don’t actually want to spoil this one too much, but suffice it to say that Marie shows off immense depth in both her online player persona as well as her real life character. I don’t game, but honestly the way that she created a character and built up traits based on her past felt very real to me. Plus there are many stupid thugs getting handed their asses, which never grows old. I also liked the denoument, even though the mystery wasn’t really the point of the story.

I’d been waffling back and forth about this series, which seemed to excite other readers more than me. The third volume is a definite step forward, though, and I can honestly say I’m greatly looking forward to the next one.

Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro, Vol. 6

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

It has to be said, each new volume of this series has been more ominous than the last. It began alternating somewhat unnerving stories with occasional sweet fare, and there’s still a bit of bittersweetness in here, but as the reader slowly progresses through the book they are likely wondering how the author is going to end this without making the audience cry. Kuro, who has been spending her last few years trying to find the witch so that she can return to what she was, has now realized an important truth: regaining that will mean losing Kuro, effectively killing herself. And she isn’t ready to do that, even when offered the chance midway through. Meanwhile, Nikuju and Sanju are still soaking up the world, but they’re also increasingly worried about Kuro, who may be literally coming apart. Are they the key to everything? And why do I have a bad feeling about that?

We do get the occasional ‘traditional’ Kuro tale here as well, with Kuro running into someone trying to solve problem ‘x’ and helping them out, only to turn out that the helper was part of the problem all along. The story with the ghost and the photographer brought a smile to my face, though I will admit it was a wistful smile. There is also an extended interlude in an all-girls’ school, which Kuro has infiltrated (this came out the same week as Murcielago 4, which has the same plotline, and the justaposition makes me shudder to imagine the crossover) in order to investigate something that sounds similar to her witch but is instead tied to the same sorts of things you’d expect at a Japanese school for young ladies: status, bullying, and fear. It’s a high point of the volume, and for once doesn’t seem to end in half tragedy.

That said, I suspect most people are going to have stronger feelings about the story in the middle and at the end, dealing with Kuro’s past and future. Seeing Sen and Kuro in the illusive city in the middle of nowhere is intentionally dream-like, and I had assumed the author was, as usual, not quite letting us see the ‘old’ Kuro’s face, which helped set up the impact of the panel where we do. It’s very well-drawn. And then there’s the last two sequences, which are almost pure horror, as Kuro’s confrontations with Hifumi grow more and more ominous, and Sanju decides to help her, even if it may mean sacrificing her own innocence.

The author has said that the next volume should be the last, though I’m uncertain when it will be out – this one took a year and a half, so it may be about the same. It’s probably for the best – Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro is something to savor at special occasions, like a 40-year-old scotch, rather than a manga where you drink fast and move on to the next one. I don’t think Shoulder-a-Coffin Kuro is going to end with full-blown depressing misery, but I do think it will be sad, and I expect tears may gather in the eyes.

Manga the Week of 11/8/17

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SEAN: The frost is on the pumpkin and nothing’s stopping the manga.

From this week, solicited too late for last week’s list, Kodansha Digital have PTSD Radio, a horror anthology that looks creepy. There may also have been one or two ongoing series I missed – I’m starting to get jaded. Give me more lag time!

For next week, Cross Infinite World has another light novel debut, as they bring us Yusen Ruten: An Era of Red. I sadly know little about it.

Dark Horse has a 4th Blade of the Immortal omnibus.

ASH: Blade of the Immortal was one of my very first manga series; I’m glad that Dark Horse has found a way to keep it in print.

SEAN: Kodansha still has Del Rey rescues, with Pumpkin Scissors 15 and Yozakura Quartet 18.

In new digital titles, we get a sixth Ace of the Diamond, a 6th Real Girl, and most importantly, a 6th The Full-Time Wife Escapist.

ANNA: I need to get caught up on Full-Time Wife Escapist! Such a fun and quirky series.

MICHELLE: Yay! I was starting to get Full-Time Wife Escapist withdrawal.

SEAN: There’s also a 4th Descending Stories, which may finally end its flashback.

ASH: Planning on picking this one up!

SEAN: And Ghost in the Shell README: 1995-2017, a hardcover detailing the history of the franchise.

Seven Seas has a 4th Dreamin’ Sun, and a 7th Testament of Sister New Devil. Don’t get them mixed up.

MICHELLE: Dreamin’ Sun is enjoyable!

SEAN: Udon debuts Dragon’s Crown, based on a game and running in Kadokawa’s Comptiq magazine. If you’ve seen the fantasy RPG manga that have been commonplace lately, you’ve seen this.

Vertical has hit double digits for Cardfight!! Vanguard.

Viz has a lot, though 3 titles got delayed due to a warehouse fire. Look for them at the end of the month. So we start with Black Clover, which I enjoy despite its anti-originality.

ASH: Maybe I’ll finally give Black Clover a try while I wait a few weeks for my dose of Shojo Beat titles to arrive.

SEAN: Bleach 3-in-1 reaches Vol. 21. Will it catch up with the main series before it ends?

It’s gonna be close, here’s Bleach 71 as well.

Haikyu!! 17 will feature… volleyball!

ANNA: WHAT!?

MICHELLE: Who could imagine?

ASH: Incredible!

SEAN: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure continues its road movie with a 5th Stardust Crusaders.

ANNA: Another series I am criminally far behind on.

ASH: I’ve already read Stardust Crusaders, but the new hardcover release is so nice I can’t help but double-dip.

SEAN: My Hero Academia hits Vol. 10, and should begin speeding up in the spring due to increased demand.

We are ALMOST done with Nisekoi, as its 24th volume tries to play up the “which one will he choose” one last time, even though it’s obvious.

One Piece 84 may be a very tasty volume! If nothing else, it will make you want sweets.

Seraph of the End hits lucky 13!

ANNA: Vampires woo-hoo!!!!!!

SEAN: Toriko is nearly done, but not quite, even as it gets to the big 4-0.

And everyone loves Yu-Gi-Oh! omnibuses. Here’s the 12th.

Think we’re done? Think again! Yen has its run-off from last week, starting with the 7th Aoharu x Machinegun.

Erased is in omnibus format, meaning I’m further behind than I thought. Here’s the 3rd omnibus.

ASH: The last volume was gripping; I’m looking forward to seeing where the story goes.

SEAN: And a 4th Murcielago should appeal to Maria-sama Ga Miteru fans, so I hear… provided they’re also into gore and twisted unlikeable people.

ASH: That sounds about right.

SEAN: Prison School has an 8th omnibus out. Ash, you still reading this?

ASH: … I am behind, but yes, yes I am.

SEAN: Puella Magica Oriko Magica has a 3rd Sadness Prayer, and… they must be running out of spinoffs soon, right?

Scum’s Wish 5 will make me feel filthy and awful, and I can’t wait.

MICHELLE: I have fallen a few volumes behind on this, but I worry a marathon might cause an overdose of sordid.

SEAN: Spice & Wolf gets a 14th manga volume.

And we’re up to the 8th Taboo Tattoo.

Lastly, there’s a 4th Twinkle Stars omnibus. I seem to recall the series had an odd number of volumes. Where will it end?

MICHELLE: Yay!

ASH: I need to catch up, but I really enjoyed the first two omnibuses.

SEAN: And so another huge week comes to a close. Do you know where your manga is?

My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World: Humanity’s Extinction Actually Happens This Time With the Evil God’s Revival?!

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By Tsuyoshi Fujitaka and An2A. Released in Japan as “Neechan wa Chuunibyou” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

This was one of the first series that J-Novel Club ever put out, and I recall being quite pleased with the ridiculousness of the first volume. Since then, however, J-Novel has released much better and much more ridiculous series, and Big Sis feels like it’s now running second to last in the marathon, just trying to finish the course so it doesn’t get extra laps from the teacher. The plot that’s been shoehorned in the last couple of volumes gets a lot more exposition, but sadly that doesn’t make it more interesting, and I cannot help empathizing with Yuichi when the Chinese waitress girl starts to introduce her own convoluted backstory and he says “nope, not dealing with this”, so we never find out what it is. Fortunately, when it comes to actual confrontations with bad guys, the series is still pretty fun.

I was going to start this review by saying that the narrative is divided into two halves, but that’s not really true. The narrative is divided into about 7 sections, but the divisions are poor and they all melt together after a while. Natsuki, who was absent from the last book, is fleeing the titular evil god, and unfortunately does nothing in this book other than be a damsel who needs to be rescued, because she’s handicapped by trying not to actually be a serial killer anymore. Yuichi is busy training behind sacred shrines (and destroying sacred forests as he is not a hero who thinks about things) and learning important backstory, and we finally see how he got the ‘soul reader’ ability in the first place. And then we have the search for the Evil God’s body parts, which brings together a variety of heroes and villains in various melee battles, including the Little Apocalypse wannabe from the last cliffhanger (who proves more boring than I expected), led by the Evil God himself, who may need to be revived but this does not prevent him creating a body to walk around and be smug in.

As I said, the final part is the best, as the villain is very punchable, and it’s always nice seeing smug people get what’s coming to them. That said, honestly, Yuichi and Mutsuko are starting to get a bit smug themselves. Mutsuko has been absent from these pages for far too long, and her running commentary on the fight was the funniest part of it. I also liked the setup for the next volume, which goes into Mutsuko’s own powers, and how they affect Yuichi easily beating universe-shaking horrors with one punch. The difficulty is that the plot of this series has become so convoluted and hard to follow that it’s almost become the series it was supposed to be making fun of. The next volume is the final one in the series (the author says there may be more, but so far there isn’t), and I am slightly looking forward to the conclusion, but the Big Sister has long since worn out her welcome.

Yokai Rental Shop, Vol. 1

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Yokai Rental Shop is a classic example of Monkey Paw Theater, in which a foolish person comes into possession of a magical object, uses said object to grant an ill-advised wish, then pays a terrible price for his rash decision. Author Shin Mashiba puts a Japanese spin on W.W. Jacob’s famous story, substituting a nekomata and an okuri-inu for a cursed paw, but otherwise conforms the tenets of the genre. The clientele of Pet Shop Crow seek quick or unwise solutions to everyday problems: one mourns the untimely demise of her favorite idol, another dreads his daily encounter with bullies, and a third worries that her younger sister is trying to steal her boyfriend. To help each client “solve” her problem, shop owner Karasu rents them an exotic pet with special abilities. That pet comes with specific instructions — defy them and the deal goes sideways, resulting in bodily harm or emotional trauma.

I liked this story better when it was called Pet Shop of Horrors.

Part of the problem is that Karasu’s clientele is an unsympathetic lot, especially when contrasted with the characters in “The Monkey’s Paw” or Pet Shop of Horrors. The bullying victim, for example, is so enraptured by his yokai companion’s powers that he explicitly ignores Karasu’s instructions, fantasizing about how he will utilize his new-found strength. Within two pages, however, he realizes the folly of his arrogance, as the okuri-inu metamorphoses into a canid Godzilla with a taste for human flesh. Only a quick intervention from Karasu prevents the chapter from devolving into a gruesome spectacle, though you may wish that Karasu had adopted a more laissez-faire attitude towards his foolish client.

The other major issue plaguing Yokai Rental Shop is that Mashiba doesn’t stick with the monster-of-the-week formula for long. A subplot involving Karasu and his half-brother Hiiragi, a fussy civil servant, takes a detour into InuYasha territory when Karasu makes an important discovery about their father. Mashiba tries milking the brothers’ temperamental differences for laughs, but the jokes don’t land with much force; if you’ve seen one episode of The Odd Couple or read a chapter of xxxHolic, you’ve seen this dynamic executed with more gusto and imagination, two qualities that Yokai Rental Shop sorely lacks.

Neither of these deficiencies would be so glaring if the artwork was less perfunctory, but Mashiba’s serviceable character designs and settings do little to imbue the story with its own identity. The shop’s clientele, in particular, are blandly interchangeable; they look like they belong in a government-issue manga about tax returns or recycling, lacking the kind of individuality that might highlight the poignancy of their dilemmas or underscore just how determined they are to get what they want. Even the “turn” in each story — in which the yokai reveal their true natures — is executed in get-the-job-done manner, relying too much on dialogue, smudgy screentone, and slashing lines to suggest what’s happening.

By skimping on these moments, Mashiba misses a crucial opportunity to make the reader feel pity, revulsion, satisfaction, or fear at the outcome of each story; the strongest reaction that any of these scenarios elicits is a shrug of the shoulders. The reader is left wondering why the author even bothered with the horror angle when her true objective seems to be writing a dramedy about a Mutt-and-Jeff pair of brothers—albeit eccentric ones.

YOKAI RENTAL SHOP, VOL. 1 • BY SHIN MASHIBA • TRANSLATED BY AMANDA HALEY, ADAPTED BY JULIA KINSMAN • SEVEN SEAS ENTERTAINMENT • RATED TEEN

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 8

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Honey So Sweet Volume 8 by Amu Meguro

I’m a little worried about Shojo Beat’s list of titles now, because with both My Love Story!! and Honey So Sweet ending, it seems to be like there is a slight lack of super adorable manga currently being published. I’m sure something else will come along soon to full fans’ need for low conflict shoujo where everyone is genuinely nice to each other, but in the meantime I might have to get that extra warm and fuzzy feeling by rereading older series instead of from new manga.

This final volume focused on the characters’ all getting their lives together as Nao and Taiga start to approach the end of high school. In particular, Nao’s uncle Sou finally has a chance at a life outside of being a parent, as a long-lost love from his past suddenly reappears in his life. Sou has put aside his own feelings to a degree, with all of his efforts focused on Nao’s happiness. Nao is determined to demonstrate that she’s capable of being more self-sufficient, with the goal of encouraging Sou to move on. She has some predictably funny mishaps in her first attempts at household management.

In the end, Taiga’s usual blunt nature and heartfelt feelings cut to the heart of the matter in a conversation with Sou. Sou might find a way to move on as the young couple enters adulthood together. There’s a predictably happy ending, and a bonus story in the back of the manga that shows the first, one-shot version of the story. Overall, while Honey So Sweet might not be the most challenging manga to read, the whimsical illustrations and gentle pacing of the plot in each volume made it a perfect stress relieving manga. It is difficult to feel cynical about the world when reading Honey So Sweet, and that’s the main reason why I enjoyed this series so much.

Log Horizon: Go East, Kanami!

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By Mamare Touno and Kazuhiro Hara. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

We continue our tour of the Elder Tales universe, with this volume not even taking place on the Japanese server for the most part. Instead we take a look at a group in Central Asia (Kazakhstan, to be precise) and their attempt to move slowly east so that they can swim to Japan (which seems ludicrous, but remember, adventurers). The reason to swim to Japan is quite a clever one: the whole disaster that caused the players to get caught in this world happened before the expansion pack had actually dropped… except in Japan, where they got it by virtue of the time zone. The group is led – sort of – by Kanami, a name that has come up quite often in previous books. The former de facto leader of the Debauchery Tea Party, she’s more a force of will than a leader. That said, it makes sense that of the main cast of this book, she actually gets the least attention – she has no character arc, being basically perfect.

No, instead, the main character for this book is Leonardo, who dresses like his favorite American hero, silly as it may seem, and says “Cowabunga” during desperate attacks. And is named Leonardo. But it’s OK, because this is a frog, not a turtle. Which makes this OK! Seriously, the mind reels at how much Touno wanted to use Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles here, and the serial numbers aren’t so much filed off as covered over with see-through tape. Leonardo is actually a New Yorker, which is refreshing, and we get a passable idea of what his life was like in the real world before this (he seems to be a computer nerd). Here, he’s a very competent assassin, though he’s still not quite invested in their current situation, and has trouble seeing the People of the Earth as anything but NPCs. A lot of this book is showing him the error of his ways, including a subtle romance with Coppelia, a girl with a mysterious past.

The Log Horizon anime did a good job of steadfastly putting each book on the screen… with the exception of this book, which got short shrift, getting only one episode devoted to it. As such, if anime fans wanted to know which one they had to buy to get more details, this is definitely the one. There is the usual endless discussion of game mechanics, far more than almost any other LN in a game world bothers to do, but there are also some very cool battles. And we get more insight into what exactly is happening, and how the People of the Earth and its denizens are reacting to it. Lastly, I was very amused by the occasional mention of the series’ big bad, Indicus, the smug maid who’s using Nureha as a puppet ruler. Every time she’s mentioned, it’s in a “My friends… and Zoidberg” way, showing that almost nobody can stand her. I expect a confrontation between her and Shiroe soon.

This volume didn’t blow me away like the previous one did, but it’s a rock-solid volume of Log Horizon, and fans of the anime will absolutely have to get it. And remember, this Leonardo likes SUSHI, not pizza.

Bookshelf Briefs 10/30/17

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Alice & Zoroku, Vol. 2 | By Tetsuya Imai| Seven Seas – I’ll be honest, I have next to no interest in the science fiction part of this series, which involves mysterious powers, political intrigue trying to control those powers, a woman with a tragic backstory who is happy to use said backstory to kidnap children if it allows her to be close to her husband, etc. It’s told in a reasonable manner, but mostly left me cold. Where the series really takes off is when Zoroku is on the page—his righteous rage and straight-ahead manner no doubt frustrates his family endlessly, but they’re exactly what Sana needs, and his speeches to her were the highlight of the book. It’s an interesting balance between the two, but I’m still invested enough in the story to see where the author goes with it. – Sean Gaffney

Beasts of Abigaile, Vol. 2 | By Spica Aoki| Seven Seas – Most shoujo series live and die on the strength of the heroine, and that one big plus that Abigaile has going for it. Nina is spunky, righteous, and inspires others. She’ll sacrifice herself in order to save someone else, and also do her best to make friends AND try to figure out why she’s changed and how to escape this prison. We also get a little better look at why she left Japan, as it becomes clear it wasn’t just bullying but boomerang bullying. Naturally she’s about to get that here, as we have Eva clearly ready to take up the torch and become the Evil Girl who is there to make Nina’s life miserable. Not much in this series is surprising, but I enjoy its heart being on its sleeve, and fans of werewolves and shoujo will want to get it. – Sean Gaffney

Black Butler, Vol. 24 | By Yana Toboso | Yen Press – When a new volume of Black Butler comes out, I always think, “Ooh!” but then I read it and I’m like, “Oh yeah.” Because every time, I experience a mixture of mild interest and “I really don’t care about these characters.” In this installment, Ciel is up investigating a popular music hall that is extracting blood from its customers. Rather than raze it, he decides it’s wiser to set up an alternative to capture people’s hearts, and so he does, and we get another boy band performance from more students at the boys’ school. I suppose if one reads this series for fanservice reasons, this is plenty satisfying, but since I don’t, it’s rather ho-hum. I don’t know why I can’t just drop this series, but I guess I like it just enough to keep going with it. Faint praise, indeed. – Michelle Smith

The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, a Rún, Vol. 3 | By Nagabe| Seven Seas – After the first two volumes were unsettling with occasional suggestion that things might get a bit scary, this volume jumps headfirst into terrifying, especially towards the end of the book. I will also give it credit for a major fake out—I was fairly certain that one of the characters reintroduced here was either a fake or dead, and the fact that they’re not really shook me. Of course, they’re not untouched by the events going on in the book. The whole infection thing appears to be very real, and we understand Teacher’s feelings and hands-off attitude with Shiva a lot better now. And, of course, the best reason to read this series: the art is amazing. Do yourself a favor and pick this up. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 9 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – I’m happy to report that there was no sign whatsoever of Hori cajoling Miyamura into being rough with her in this volume. Instead, we get a series of vignettes about the Hori family kotatsu and how it lulls the unsuspecting into lengthy naps, plus a recurring theme about Hori eating too many tangerines. I really liked the final scene between Hori and Miyamura, as it’s the kind of important romantic development we haven’t had in a few volumes now, but my attention was most captivated by Yuki and Tooru, who are still pretending to be dating. Yuki doesn’t want to drop the ruse, even when it breaks Sakura’s heart, yet also doesn’t want to suggest that it could be the real deal, lest she lose what closeness she does have with Tooru. I find I’m pretty invested in the outcome of their side drama. – Michelle Smith

Please Tell Me! Galko-chan, Vol. 4 | By Kenya Suzuki| Seven Seas – By now you know what you’re getting with a volume of Galko-chan. There’s not as much constant sex talk as the first volume, though it definitely crops up, and the art occasionally loves to emphasize the bodies of the girls. On the bright side, while the author clearly loves large breasts, the bodies are drawn relatively realistically for such characters. But honestly, the real reason to read this series is the friendship between Galko, Otoko and Ojou, and their daily conversations and obsessions. Galko’s obsession with Western films is getting more and more attention, and we even get a Snakes on a Plane mention. One of the better slice-of-life style series out there. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops, Vol. 4 | By Neko Nekobyou and Reki Kawahara | Yen Press – I will admit, it’s possible that the outcome of this volume—which wraps up the storyline with Lux’s past in SAO—was a bit too overwhelmingly sweet and heartwarming. SAO doesn’t really lean on the whole “power of friendship” trope as much as some other shonen series, but Girls’ Ops is not afraid to take it and run, with our villain doing her best to break Lux and her new friends apart, and completely failing to do so. And the villain is saved too, and turns out to be another ojou like Lux (and Asuna—honestly, the game must have been expensive as it had a lot of rich kids playing it). And Silica got to be smart and cool! I like that. The series does continue, likely in another year or so. – Sean Gaffney

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 8 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics (digial only for the moment)- Just as Rinko has found easy-going happiness with Mr. Hayasaka and has moved in with him, her friends and Mami turn up on her doorstep with the revelation that Key might be in love with her. To Rinko’s credit, she protests a great deal while en route to see him, but the fact is… she got in the car of her own free will. And man, Higashimura-sensei is so wonderfully cruel about depicting what ensues. Once Rinko and Key meet again, their chemistry is undeniable, resulting in some great dramatic moments, but these developments are intercut with scenes in which sweet Mr. Hayasaka thinks how nice it is to have someone to come home to and plans the nice dinner he’s going to make for their private housewarming party. It’ll be brutal to see how much he is hurt by this, but I still desperately want that final volume ASAP! – Michelle Smith

My Week in Manga: October 23-October 29, 2017

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My News and Reviews

In addition to the usual My Week in Manga, two other features were posted at Experiments in Manga last week. First up was the most recent monthly giveaway. The winner won’t be announced until Wednesday, so there’s still a little time left to enter for a chance to win the first volume of Oresama Teacher by Izumi Tsubaki. (I finally got around to reading Oresama Teacher because I love Tusbaki’s other manga series Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun so much. I am delighted to report that Oresama Teacher is great, too.) I also posted my review of the first omnibus of Sweet Blue Flowers by Takako Shimura last week. The manga was one of the debuts that I was most excited for this year and I was not at all disappointed. Like Shimura’s earlier series Wandering Son (which is an extremely important manga to me personally), Sweet Blue Flowers is a beautiful work. I’m so glad that it’s finally getting the print release it deserves and look forward to reading the rest of the series. (Now if only the rest of Wandering Son could be published, too! My fantasy is that Sweet Blue Flowers will be so successful that more of Shimura’s work will be translated.) Once again, I wasn’t actually online much last week and I worked on Sunday so I’m sure there’s plenty of news that I’ve missed. However, I did catch that Thomas Baudinette posted a translation of “Painting the essence of gay erotic art”–an interview with Gengoroh Tagame from a 2014 issue of the art magazine Bijutsu Techo.

Quick Takes

Fairy Tail: RhodoniteFairy Tail: Rhodonite by Kyouta Shibano. At first I was a little confused by the “2” emblazoned upon the cover of Rhodonite since it’s not in fact the second volume of Rhodonite. Instead, it’s the second volume in Shibano’s Fairy Tail Gaiden manga, one of a multitude of series spinning off from Hiro Mashima’s Fairy Tail that have recently been translated into English. Despite retaining the volume designations, the Fairy Tail Gaiden manga are being released as independent works by Kodansha Comics. Shibano’s three spinoff volumes, while relying very heavily on the original series, largely stand alone from one another. Rhodonite collects two side stories featuring Gajeel Redfox, one of the Dragon Slayers associated with the Fairy Tail Guild. Since I’m not especially well-versed in the Fairy Tail franchise, I’m not exactly sure where the first story, from which the volume gains its name, fits in. However, it does reveal more of Gajeel’s past and backstory as the guild is investigating the magic drug trade. The second story takes place while Gajeel is a member of the Magic Council during Fairy Tail’s disbandment. In this story he temporarily teams up with Cobra to rescue a group of children who were kidnapped to be sold as slaves. Already intended for those already familiar with Fairy Tail, Rhodonite will even more specifically appeal to those who are fans of Gajeel.

Spirit Circle, Volume 1Spirit Circle, Volume 1 by Satoshi Mizukami. I rather enjoyed Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, currently the only other manga series by Mizukami to be licensed in English. I would have been interested in Spirit Circle for that reason alone, but I’ve also been hearing great (and well-deserved) things about the manga beyond that. Like it’s predecessor in English (which is actually briefly referenced in passing), Spirit Circle is a manga that’s a little strange and quirky but that also has a great deal of heart and soul. Fuuta Okeya has the ability to see ghosts. That by itself would generally be enough to form the basic premise of a series, but thanks to a new transfer student, Fuuta must now also confront his past lives. Though meeting Fuuta for the first time in this life, Kouko Ishigami is very familiar with his previous incarnations. Historically, their encounters haven’t always gone so well, though. In the first volume of Spirit Circle, Fuuta is made to relive two of his pasts to the point of his deaths and parts of a third life are revealed as well. So far, I’m loving Spirit Circle. Fuuta and Kouko’s past lives are filled with heartbreaks and joys, echoes of which are apparent in the teenagers’ current existences. Taken separately, the stories are interesting, but together they’re marvelous. I’m very curious to see where Mizukami takes the series next.

Sweet Bean PasteSweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa. The 2015 film adaptation of Sukegawa’s novel An has been released internationally under several different titles–Sweet Red Bean Paste, An, and Sweet Bean–and now the original work has been translated into English with yet another title variation, Sweet Bean Paste. I’ve not seen Naomi Kawase’s film, but it seems to have been generally well-received. As for Sukegawa’s original novel, it makes for a fairly quick and light read despite some of the story’s more tragic undercurrents and philosophical musings. Sentaro is a man with a criminal past, out of prison but still working off his debt by making and selling dorayaki in a confectionery shop owned by the widow of his boss. He’s not particularly invested in the job, but that begins to change when an elderly woman named Tokue, her hands disfigured from a childhood illness, convinces him to let her join him at the shop. Bringing a unique perspective on life along with a recipe for sweet bean paste more delicious than any other Sentaro has tasted, Tokue has a huge influence upon the younger man as their unexpected friendship blossoms. Although much about Tokue’s past is unfortunate and she continues to deal with the stigma associated with leprosy, she has still found a way to live on in the face of prejudice and discontent. Sentaro has much to learn from Tokue, even if the lessons are bittersweet.