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Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 5

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By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

In general, I’m always a bit wary of ‘chosen one’ narratives, which Yona of the Dawn is shaping up into being. The difficulty is striking a balance between following the chosen one because you know they will be a good person who can change the world, and following the chosen one out of a literal compulsion you can’t control that draws you to them. Yona of the Dawn tries to have this both ways, and I like that the new Dragon, Jaeha, is reluctant to follow his supposed destiny, being very happy being what he is, which is a showboating, girl-loving pirate with the classic Hana to Yume “sleepy eyes”. Of course, this is still a shoujo manga, and thus the cliffhanger has him running into Yona and immediately his heart skips a beat, because of course it does – if you’re going to write romance cliches, do them properly.

Meanwhile, as predicted, the Blue Dragon decides to come with them, and even gets named by Yona, who is, of course, still the Chosen One but balances this out by being caring and loving and sweet and nice, etc. Names turn out to be pretty important in this book, as the male cast who aren’t Hak gradually start to call Yona by her first name. Hak is an exception, though, and this is the best scene in the volume, as Yona tells him the reasons that she wants him to still call her “your highness” and treat her as royalty. It’s so that they don’t forget her father or what he did. This is immediately followed up with the heartbreaking revelation that most people in the country seem to regard the late King with contempt as a terrible King, much to Yona’s distress. (In reality, putting the distance between her and Hak may be authorial fiat – let’s face it, this is a reverse harem manga with an obvious endgame, and it’s best to delay it as much as possible.)

Most of this volume is, of course, the standard quest, as Yona and company continue wandering the land hunting for Dragon Warriors. This means that they have to stop and fight injustice whenever they can, of course, even if they’re supposed to keep a low profile (Yona’s red hair really does not help with stealth missions). The humor in this book is fairly predictable, mostly revolving around Hak’s inability to practice what he preaches, and everyone (including Yona) seeming to think that he spent time in a brothel, much to his frustration. Jaeha looks like an excellent addition to the cast, balancing nicely with the other guys’ personalities. This of course assumes that he does join the main cast, and I suspect the next volume will show us Yona trying to convince him of the righteousness of her cause.

In the end, this is another top-notch volume of Yona of the Dawn, which continues to be one of Shojo Beat’s best series.

Bookshelf Briefs 4/17/17

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The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol. 8 | By Aya Shouoto | VIZ Media – Even though they both involve a girl with modest spiritual powers and a sexy, white-haired, fox-eared ayakashi guy, The Demon Prince of Momochi House is quite a distinct entity from Kamisama Kiss. That said, this volume’s plotline is somewhat reminiscent, as Himari goes in search of Aoi’s past in order to help him with a present predicament. What she finds out is quite sad, as readers likely expected, but the part I liked the best was when she was presented with the choice to either delve into Aoi’s past or her own. After indulging in a single pang for the things she was passing up, she chooses Aoi without hesitation. I always seem to say that this is Shouto’s best series by far, but it continues to be true. – Michelle Smith

Domestic Girlfriend, Vol. 1 | By Kei Sasuga | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This manga begins with the hero losing his virginity to a girl he just met, a somewhat unusual start for a romantic drama. Said hero, Natsuo, has a crush on his young teacher, and hopes this might get it out of his system. He then finds out that his father is remarrying, and the new wife is bringing along her two daughters. If you guessed the girl he slept with, one point, but you get ten points if you guessed that the teacher is ALSO now part of his family. And so begins a torrid soap opera of a manga. I found it worked best when not focused on the romance—Natsuo’s attempts to help stoic Rui make friends was hilarious, as was his dramatization of two people having an affair. A decent start, recommended for those who like more mature titles. – Sean Gaffney

Kuroko’s Basketball, Vols. 9-10 | By Tadatoshi Fujimaki | Viz Media – There’s a lot of character development in this omnibus—everyone’s trying to improve, even Kuroko, who’s practicing a secret move. We also get even more new characters, one of whom thankfully has long hair so I can easily pick him out from all of the crew-cut guys in this series. The sports manga cliches are all present and correct, but they’re well done—one of the best ways to tell a sports manga is exceptional is that you care equally whether they’re in a game or not. The game provides the cliffhanger, though, as Seirin gets a rematch with Shutoku and we find out that Midorima has been working on improving as well. Each volume seems to coincide with a desperate cliffhanger—bring on the next one. – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 23 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I knew we’d get more flashback here, but I wasn’t aware it would take up all of this volume (and presumably some of the next). In addition to hooking up Solomon and Sheba (who no doubt have Aladdin as their child), a romance that is honestly a bit rushed and underdeveloped, we also get discussion of the difference between a strong leader who rules with the will of the people and a king who rules by fiat. Solomon wants to avoid becoming power mad, a good lesson to learn, and is not being helped by everyone asking him to essentially be their chosen one. Meanwhile, David is still around, and not quite dead. A lot of good stuff, and even a bit of humor, but I’m wanting to get back to our main cast. – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 23 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | VIZ Media – Aladdin’s tale of the fate of Alma Tran continues. Solomon was the son of King David, an arrogant and authoritarian ruler, and desperately did not want to become like him. He strove to unite all species, aided by several faithful companions, including powerful magician girl named Sheba who falls in love with him. In time, he ends up reluctantly accepting the mantle of kinghood, and fathers a child with Sheba who I am assuming will turn out to be Aladdin. It’s not that it isn’t a compelling story, but it drags in spots when delving into deep discussions of rukh, and it still isn’t over, as the volume ends on a cliffhanger. I continue to be impressed with how complex Magi is for a shounen manga, but this might be a better volume to read when you’ve got the next one handy. – Michelle Smith

Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn, Vol. 7 | By Shirow Masamune and Rikudou Koushi | Seven Seas – Lots of action this time round means less wacky fanservice comedy, though there is an “activation” sequence, and the villain finds that opening what he thinks is the final firewall to what he wants merely uploads Buer’s upskirt pics to the entire world. Fortunately, most of it really is the cool action sequences, which are reasonably well done and clever, and show strong heroes and easy-to-hate villains. Lots of amusing cameos as well—in addition to Kabapu and his secretary as always, I saw “Sader” at one point, as well as Tatsuya and Miyuki from Mahouka. Pandora will always be a combination of mecha (Shirow), fanservice (both authors), and whatever the heck Rikdou wants to do. Pandora is Pandora. – Sean Gaffney

Toppu GP, Vol. 1

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In a week when The Fate of the Furious is roaring into theaters, it seems only fitting that Kodansha is releasing the first volume of Toppu GP, a manga that extols the virtues of “family values and hot rides” almost as doggedly as Vin Diesel and the rest of his car-boosting gang. The similarities don’t end there, either: both series boast cartoonish villains, pretty girls in skimpy outfits, and dialogue so ham-fisted you could serve it for Easter dinner.

I love them both.

The “family” unit in Toppu GP consists of Toppu, the eleven-year-old hero; Myne, the local motorcycle racing champion; and Teppei, Toppu’s father. Toppu is a classic shonen type: he’s sullen, brilliant, and reluctant to try anything outside of his nerdy comfort zone. (He likes to build elaborate Gundam models.) There are hints, however, that Toppu is destined for the track: he accurately gauges Myne’s qualifying times without benefit of a stopwatch, for example, and instinctually rides to victory in his second race by copying Myne’s technique.

Myne, too, is a familiar type, the sexy “big sister” who squeals and fusses over a smart, promising boy a few years her junior. (Toppu even calls her “Big Sis,” emphasizing the degree to which she’s part of his “family.”) She strides around in a tight-fitting tracksuit dispensing advice and hugs to her protege, goading him to victory with bribes. And just in case we find her more competent than adorable, she suffers from one of those only-in-manga ailments: pathological clumsiness so acute it strains credulity.

The third family member is Teppei, a single parent who’s raising Toppu while writing a novel. Though Teppei professes to be working hard on his book, his actions suggest he’d rather hang out at the track than sit at a typewriter; he spends most of volume one playing coach and mechanic to his kids, dispensing wisdom about the art of motorcycle racing. Dad’s editor must be a forgiving guy.

In contrast to the characters, who are painted in broad strokes, the layouts are executed with thrilling precision. Veteran artist Kosuke Fujishima drops us into the action through deft use of perspective and speedlines, capturing the bikes’ velocity and the riders’ positions, as well as the sheer danger of high-speed maneuvers in close proximity. Fujishima complements these images with a handy primer on G-forces, using an invisible hand to show us what Toppu and Myne feel when they accelerate down a straightaway or bank a sharp turn at high speed:

Perhaps the most astonishing aspect of Fujishima’s layouts are their economy. While many shonen artists might be tempted to stretch Toppu’s racing debut over several chapters, Fujishima uses just a handful of panels to show us how Toppu succumbs to the pleasures of competition. This transformation is bookended by two closeups, the first of Toppu’s terrified face as he pulls back on the throttle for the first time, and the second of Toppu’s gleaming eyes as he completes his final lap of the track. We see just enough action between these two panels to grasp the disparity between how quickly the race is unfolding and how slowly time passes for Toppu as he struggles to gain control of the bike, snapping back to “real” time only when Toppu realizes just how much he’s enjoying himself.

In a nod toward gender parity, Fujishima dedicates an entire chapter to showcasing Myne’s tenacity on the track as well. Though Fujishima employs many of the same strategies for immersing us in Myne’s race as he does Toppu’s, Fujishima periodically interrupts the competition with goofy, arresting images of Myne as a tracksuit wearing, sword-wielding avenger and a fiery, Medusa-haired biker. These fleeting visions are a nice bit of comic relief, echoing iconic scenes from Kill Bill and Ghost Rider, but they serve an equally important purpose: showing us how Myne’s rivals see her in competition.

As dazzling as these racing sequences are, I’d be the first to admit that the familial banter between Myne, Toppu, and Teppei feels as perfunctory as the dastardly scheming of the the Niimi brothers, the series’ first villains. (They resent Toppu’s meteoric rise in the standings and want to put him in his place.) The dialogue, too, often veers into the faintly pompous, with characters declaring how much they love “the roar of the exhaust pipe,” “the smell of burning gas and oil,” and “the gaze of the crowd” when they’re at “home.” But when Toppu or Myne jump on their bikes, the series shifts into high gear, offering the same kind of thrills as The Fate of the Furious: fast rides, fierce competition, and the ever-present threat of crashing. Recommended.

A word about buying Toppu GP: Kodansha is simultaneously publishing Toppu GP with the Japanese edition; readers can purchase new installments through Amazon and ComiXology on a weekly basis. Folks who prefer print will find the first volume available in stores now, with volume two to follow in September.

TOPPU GP, VOL. 1 • BY KOSUKE FUJISHIMA • KODANSHA COMICS • RATED T, FOR TEENS (13+)

 

My Week in Manga: April 10-April 16, 2017

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My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga was relatively quiet, but I did post the Bookshelf Overload for March. As mentioned in that post (and I think sometime prior to that as well), I’m currently in the process of changing jobs, so I’ve been a bit preoccupied to say the least. (If you follow me on Twitter, this largely explains my sporadic appearances there.) This week is my last week in my current position, so I’m understandably pretty busy with meetings and tying up loose ends and such. I still plan on finishing up and posting my review of the first volume of Nagabe’s The Girl from the Other Side sometime this week, but it will probably be towards the end.

Over the last week, Seven sees announced a couple more new licenses: Yoshikazu Takeuchi’s Perfect Blue novels (which were the basis for Satoshi Kon’s anime film of the same name) as well as Jin and Sayuki’s manga series Nirvana. Yen Press also had a slew of announcements: Natsume Ono’s ACCA 13 (probably the one I’m most excited about), Kudan Naduka and Nakoto Sanada’s Angel of Slaughter, Matoba’s As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Rihito Takarai’s Graineliers, Afro’s Laid-Back Camp?, Mufirushi Shimazaki’s The Monster Tamer Girls, Koromo’s A Polar Bear in Love, Matcha Hazuki’s One Week Friends, Fuse’s Regarding Reincarnating as Slime light novel (Kodansha Comics has licensed the manga), both the light novel and manga of Carlo Zen’s The Saga of Evil Tanya, Okina Baba’s light novel So I’m a Spider, So What?, Keiichi Shigusawa and Tadadi Tamori’s Sword Art Online: Alternative Gun Gale Online, Abec’s Sword Art Online Artworks artbook, Reki Kawahara and Shii Kiya’s Sword Art Online: Calibur, Mai Tanaka’s Terrified Teacher at Ghoul School, Kakashi Oniyazu’s Though You May Burn to Ash, and Ryousuke Asakura’s Val X Love.

As for crowdfunding efforts, Digital Manga will be launching its most recent Juné Kickstarter sometime later today in an effort to publish print editions of some of Psyche Delico’s manga which were previously only released digitally. (This is in addition to recently announced print licenses of Psyche Delico’s Even a Dog Won’t Eat It and Choco Strawberry Vanilla.) Another Kickstarter project to keep an eye on is Retrofit Comic’s Spring 2017 collection which includes Yuichi Yokoyama’s Iceland. (In general Retrofit Comics releases some great books, but this will be the publisher’s first manga to be translated.) Finally, the wonderful people behind Queer Japan are currently raising funds for the film’s post-production as well as some of the non-profit organizations featured in the documentary.

Quick Takes

Dawn of the Arcana, Volume 7Dawn of the Arcana, Volumes 7-13 by Rei Toma. I enjoyed the first part of Dawn of the Arcana a great deal and so was looking forward to reading the rest of the series. As the manga progresses it becomes less reliant on the standard fantasy tropes that form its base, although it never escapes them entirely. However, even considering this, Dawn of the Arcana is still a satisfying and enjoyable series. The story’s most dramatic plot twist I guessed at long before it was actually revealed, but there were still developments and directions that the story took that managed to surprise me. At times it felt like Dawn of the Arcana was only scratching the surface, as if the manga was only providing a summary version of a much more complicated narrative. The characters and story have depth to them, but not everything is thoroughly and completely explored, much of the more nuanced interpretations being left to the readers to form. I really liked Dawn of the Arcana. It can be heartbreaking–the characters’ struggling with circumstances that have no easy resolutions–but also thrilling as they find ways to take control of their own fates.

Murciélago, Volume 1Murciélago, Volume 1 by Yoshimurakana. I was forewarned about the violence, gore, and otherwise explicit nature of Murciélago, so I was well aware of what I was getting myself into by picking up the manga. Murciélago is ridiculous, absurd, extreme, over-the-top, and a great deal of fun if someone doesn’t have a problem with the series’ aforementioned blood and brutality. Interestingly, the risqué lesbian sex scenes which both open and close the first volume, while being deliberately lewd, scandalous, and outrageous are also entirely consensual and in a way are bizarrely one of the more wholesome aspects of the manga. The lead of Murciélago is Kuroko Koumori, a dangerous, murderous, and lecherous woman who has been sentenced to death for her crimes. Kuroko is a monster and is portrayed as such. (She’s an awful person, but I really like her as a character.) The only reason that she’s still alive is that the police have indefinitely postponed her execution in order to take advantage of her impressive skills as an assassin. So, yeah, Murciélago definitely isn’t a series for everyone, but I certainly plan on reading more of it.

Triton of the Sea, Omnibus 2Triton of the Sea, Omnibus 2 (equivalent to Volumes 3-4) by Osamu Tezuka. It has been a very long time since I read the first half of Triton of the Sea. So long ago in fact that I had forgot that I hadn’t actually finished the series yet. Fortunately, the manga was pretty easy to pick up again. I seem to like Triton of the Sea best when the story centers its focus on family. In the first omnibus, it was Triton’s relationships with his human family that really captured my attention and in the second it was his experiences as a new father that most delighted me. (It probably didn’t hurt that the baby merfolk were super cute.) Triton of the Sea is also a story of revenge. Triton is determined destroy the Poseidon clan for the sake of his people who have been nearly driven to extinction, his desire for retribution blinding him from seeing other courses of action that might allow the two clans to establish a lasting peace. This of course only serves to continue the cycle of violence that puts him and his loved ones in danger. Triton of the Sea isn’t Tezuka’s strongest or most notable work, but I did appreciate the themes that Tezuka was exploring with the series.

Wandering Island, Volume 1Wandering Island, Volume 1 by Kenji Tsuruta. The premise of Wandering Island is fairly simple: Mikura Amelia is a pilot for an air delivery service based in the Izu Islands that she and her grandfather established together. When he unexpectedly passes away, she understandably takes it pretty hard. While in mourning she discovers package among her grandfather’s belongings with an address on it that shouldn’t exist, leading Mikura to become obsessed with a search for a mysterious, disappearing island. Although there are some wonderful scenes of Mikura in flight, there’s not really much action in Wandering Island. Instead, the manga is rather leisurely paced with a contemplative and melancholic feel to it. Wandering Island is also beautifully illustrated, Tsuruta’s artwork being one of the series’ highlights. I love how Tsuruta is able to capture a sense of place and the people who live there. I’m not sure when or if the second volume of Wandering Island will be published in English (the Japanese edition itself isn’t even scheduled to be released until next month), but I would definitely like to see it translated.

Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains PureHorses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure: A Tale That Begins with Fukushima by Hideo Furukawa. Fukushima has been on my mind lately which reminded me of the fact that I had yet to read Furukawa’s Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure, one of the first major literary responses to the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear disasters associated with March 11, 2011. The work is rather curious, but it’s also worthwhile and powerful. In part it’s a sequel of sorts to Furukawa’s novel Seikazoku (The Holy Family), which hasn’t actually been released in English. However, familiarity with that earlier work isn’t at all necessary. Horses, Horses, in the End the Light Remains Pure also delves into the history of Fukushima as a whole, both before and after 2011. But perhaps most importantly, it’s an incredibly personal memoir. Though he was away at the time, Furukawa was originally from Fukushima. Soon after the disasters struck, he traveled back to the area in order to witness the aftermath of the events himself. A fair amount of the volume is devoted to Furukawa’s profound experiences while on that trip, combining fiction, history, and biography in a compelling way.

The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Vol 8.

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The Demon Prince of Momochi House, Volume 8 by Aya Shouoto

This volume of The Demon Prince of Momochi House opens with a crisis, as Aoi hasn’t been able to reverse his usual transformation into the Nue, and he might be lost forever as his ayakashi form completely takes over. Himari has to go on a quest to try to find Aoi’s lost memories, which are her only hope of getting him back.

Himari first tries to locate Aoi’s family to see if there are any clues there that she can use to restore him, but her encounter with them takes an unexpected turn to the unsettling. There are always a few moments that stand out in each volume of this series when the combination of the otherworldly setting and lush detail of the art make the reader feel transported. In this one, as Himari travels into the ayakashi realm with her way lit by Nekobaba’s hairpin, she manages to find her way past a guardian who makes some references to her true name and her long-lost parents. Himari ends up at an archive for memories, which I found quite interesting as a librarian. She sees “drawers of thought” stretching into the distance and is faced with yet another choice – recovering some of her own lost memories about her past, or forgoing that choice to save Aoi. Of course, Himari doesn’t hesitate in trying to save her beloved friend.

Aoi’s memories show him close to the spirit world as a young child, even before his existence was bound to Momochi House. As Himari travels back, liberating her friend might prove more complicated, as the Nue embarks on a seduction campaign in order to preserve his existence. Demon Prince of Momochi House blends unsettling movements of supernatural mystery with some short sketches of character development and found family antics with Himari and the Momochi House spirits. Things seem to be turning in a darker direction now, but I’m confident Himari will find a way to persevere somehow.

Paying to Win in a VRMMO, Vol. 2

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By Blitz Kiva and Kuwashima Rein. Released in Japan as “VRMMO wo Kane no Chikara de Musou suru” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

Having established its premise and characters in the first book, the Paying to Win series goes about trying to tweak and fix a few things that weren’t as strong as they could be in the second. This involves a) introducing a new potential love interest who isn’t in middle school and Ichiro’s cousin, and is also able to be a little more critical of Ichiro’s callous lack of tact; b) have a flashback to show us how he managed to get so ridiculously leveled up before Asuha was able to join him, and also explain things like how he got a suit of armor that is literally a business suit. But most importantly, and most effectively, this second volume doubles down on showing you how obviously, knowingly, and teeth-grindingly irritating Ichiro is to everyone and everything around him, and the effect this has on both the secondary characters and the reader.

I cannot emphasize this enough: holy Mother of God, Ichiro is annoying. You will want to punch him in his cool, smug, self-satisfied face multiple times as you read this book. It’s far more clear in this second novel that it’s deliberate, and reader sympathy is meant to be with the young gamer and wannabe fashion maven Iris rather than him. He is the sort of character that, were he an antagonist or a villain, would receive the absolute best retribution possible, possibly while screaming “THIS CANNOT BE!!!”. Sadly, Ichiro is the hero, and the book’s whole purpose is that he really is this good at everything. Only King Kirihito was able to actually challenge him in the game, and since this is a flashback to the previous week, you know that he’s going to succeed at everything ridiculously easily here. That said, I liked his insistence that it doesn’t matter if Iris’ butterfly brooch is aesthetically good or not – he likes it, so therefore it’s fine.

Iris herself is a good character, far more developed than Asuha/Felecia, mostly as she gets to express everything the reader wants to. Every time Ichiro praises her creations, it sounds like he’s really calling them awful, simply due to how bluntly he speaks all the time. I liked the glimpses of her real-world life, and showing off how talented kids who are used to being the center of attention can get crushed when they go to a school that specializes in talented kids and realize other people are, in fact, better than they are. She also has a nice sense for biting retorts, as I’ve said. The author’s afterword says that webnovel readers have nicknamed her “the Evil God”, and I look forward to seeing why, though I can hazard a guess or two.

Other than Iris, the main reason to plow through this book despite Ichiro is the writing style – it’s funny and assured, and the narration has its own distinct voice, something I always enjoy. This is also due to the translation, of course, which is excellent – probably my favorite J-Novel Club translation to date in terms of noticing the quality (though Sera did get gendered at one point, which only serves to remind us how ridiculously difficult it is to avoid giving away gender in English). Recommended to anyone who loves seeing smug jackasses win effortlessly and be smug about it. Also, bonus points for having Voltron show up, only one volume after the SAO sentai team parody.

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 1

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By Rei Toma. Released in Japan as “Suijin no Ikenie” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Cheese!. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Abby Lehrke.

Holy catfish, this is dark. Don’t be thrown off by the cutesy picture of the heroine looking adorable on the cover, this is a fantasy that comes close to pure horror at times. Starting off with every parent’s worst nightmare, we move from crisis situation to crisis situation, and it’s a small miracle that Asahi (the aforementioned heroine) manages to be as strong as she does throughout. The water dragon in question is one of those “what are these strange things called human emotions” types, who has to be reminded of things like “humans eat in order to stay alive” She manages to find a good friend in a small village, but sadly Subaru’s mother comes from the School Of Evil Moms (TM) and Asahi ends up in probably worse trouble than if she’d just stayed hidden. There’s a lot going on here, so it’s a good thing you can’t tear your eyes from it.

We actually start off in modern times, as Asahi is a normal and seemingly somewhat spoiled girl who ends up being literally dragged into her family’s backyard pond by a wave of water and winds up in a fantasy-style world. (I have a sneaking suspicion the parents will never be seen again, and shudder to think of their reaction to their daughter literally vanishing when they turned away briefly.) Luckily, she meets Subaru, a nice young kid about her age. Sadly, she has pink hair and purple eyes, something that this world does not seem to have run across, and therefore must be EEEEEVIL. As a result, they perform a ritual to the local Water God and offer up Asahi, which is to say they tie a large rock to her ankle and throw her to the bottom of the lake. Then she meets the Water Dragon, who reminds me a bit of Ayame from Fruits Basket. Sadly, it’s Ayame before he grew up and wised up, so he’s pretty much a callous jackass.

Things move on from there, and I won’t keep describing the plot, but I will once again say that there’s some amazingly traumatic stuff in here, and the artist captures it beautifully. Asahi’s sacrifice, the starvation, the skeletons in the water, the hallucinations of each other that she and Subaru see… there’s a good reason this runs in shoujo/josei hybrid Cheese! and not, say, Ribon. That said, it’s not all doom and gloom, mostly thanks to Asahi’s basic spunky personality, as even when she’s despairing she still tries hard. And there are a few laughs in the book, mostly involving the Water God getting roundly mocked by the other nature gods for being, well, a petulant manchild. I have no doubt that his maturation, with the help of Asahi, is the point of this book. That said, Asahi is about 8-9 years old, so if it does end up being a romance I’m rooting for her kid friend rather than the God. I suspect a timeskip in the near future.

In short, I was somewhat blown away by this new series. Dark it may be, but I can’t wait to read more.

Manga the Week of 4/19

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SEAN: It’s another one of those weeks next week. Hunker down.

We start off with J-Novel Club, which has the 3rd volume of Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash. This is the first book that wasn’t adapted to the anime (which stopped with Book 2), and is apparently even more grim than Grimgar normally is.

Kodansha has its usual plethora of digital-only license rescues next week. Alive 13, Gakuen Prince 11, Pumpkin Scissors 10, and Yozakura Quartet 9.

ANNA: I liked some of these when they were coming out, but probably not enough to snag them as digital only. Still, this is so nice for fans of these series who were left in limbo before!

SEAN: If you enjoy Attack on Titan’s anime adaptation, which has just started up again, Kodansha has Attack on Titan: The Anime Guide.

And Attack on Titan: Before the Fall has now reached double-digits, and still has more plot to go.

ASH: Overall, I do like the Before the Fall manga more than I like the original light novel; it seems more well-developed to me.

SEAN: Kodansha had some digital-only debuts THIS week, which I didn’t mention last week as Kodansha didn’t announce them till the day they came out, much to my frustration. The first is Domestic Girlfriend, a shonen romantic drama from the creator of fan-favorite GE Good Ending. It’s the shonen equivalent to those “shoujo potboilers” I talk about.

The second is a more familiar face: GTO: Paradise Lost has its first volume out. This has been running on Crunchyroll’s manga list for some time. It features Onizuka… in jail?

MJ: Hmmmm, I’m always a fan of GTO, so I may check this out.

SEAN: Back to next week: Kiss Him Not Me! has also reached double digits, and will likely go longer now that Kae has been reassured she doesn’t have to worry about stringing her guys along.

Maga-Tsuki has 13 volumes, and this is the 7th, so it’s the halfway point.

And there’s a 4th Welcome to the Ballroom, which I expect features our lead collapsing in exhaustion.

MICHELLE: Heh.

ANNA: Already behind on this series!

SEAN: One Peace has more than one title out this week! The first is the 4th volume of heartwarming, oddball, and sort of creepy Kuma Miko.

And there’s a 7th volume of Rise of the Shield Hero, for those who like isekai-style male power fantasies.

Seven Seas has an 11th Dragonar Academy.

Ghost Diary is the debut from Seven Seas, a supernatural fantasy from Dengeki Daioh that, at 3 volumes, is at least short. That said, it looks more on the Ancient Magus’ Bride end of the spectrum.

ASH: I’m really curious about this one! (Also, I didn’t realize it was only three volumes.)

ANNA: Huh, that sounds manageable.

SEAN: I missed a SuBLime title last week; they also have a 2nd volume of Spiritual Police.

MJ: Somehow I must have missed this first volume. But based on the title alone, I’m inclined to check it out.

SEAN: Vertical Comics gives us a 4th volume of Immortal Hounds.

Viz has a double dose of Tokyo Ghoul. Not only do we get the 12th volume, but we also get another novel based off the series, called Past.

And now let’s jump into Yen, starting with the light novels from Yen On. The Asterisk War has a 3rd volume of magical school battles.

Baccano! has a 4th volume the last one to be adapted to the anime. That said, the anime cut about half the novel from its adaptation, so there’s lots of new content for fans to get into here.

Black Bullet’s 6th volume wraps up another two-volume arc. Will it be depressing? Bet on it.

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! has a 7th volume that is composed of short stories set towards the start of the series.

Goblin Slayer’s 2nd volume promises a lot more… well, goblin slaying.

The Irregular at Magic High School’s 4th volume will wrap up its tournament arc, and is a very long book. It would be the longest out this month except…

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? tops it, with this 8th volume (ALSO composed of short stories) hitting 400 pages or so.

KonoSuba rolls out its 2nd volume only two months after its first (I think the first was meant to be December), and hopefully will be as hilarious as that first volume was.

The debut novel is much anticipated. Rokka: Braves of the Six Flowers, a fantasy with heroes and stuff that… OK, I know extremely little about, but I look forward to finding out.

Sword Art Online has a 10th volume, and Kirito is still stuck in Alice-land. Will he and Eugeo be able to rescue her? And will our other regulars get mentioned at all?

MJ: i have fallen way behind in my SAO reading… going to have to fix that.

SEAN: As for Yen’s manga titles, there’s a 10th Akame Ga KILL!.

Alice in Murderland has a 6th volume of very very pretty looking murder.

Aoharu x Machinegun has a 4th print volume.

ASH: So far I’ve only read the first volume of Aoharu x Machinegun, but I found it entertaining and so plan on reading at least a few more volumes.

SEAN: And A Certain Magical Index’s 9th manga volume is adapting the 7th light novel.

Fruits Basket’s Collector’s Edition comes to an end with the 12th and final omnibus. Given the series only had 23 volumes, I expect there will be a lot of extra content at the end to fill it out.

ASH: I’m really glad that Fruits Basket is back in print again. I’ve been meaning to give it a re-read; looks like the time is right for that.

MICHELLE: There was at least one fan book, and maybe two. So I guess a bunch of that stuff will be at the end.

MJ: So much love for this. So much.

ANNA: Looking forward to fan books!

SEAN: Horimiya’s 7th volume will have great romantic comedy and hopefully not have the binding fall apart on me like the 6th volume did.

ASH: Oh, no!

MICHELLE: Yay, Horimiya!

SEAN: KonoSuba also has a 3rd volume of its manga adaptation.

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest has a 4th volume, for a double shot of Takaya.

And everyone’s favorite guilty pleasure, Scum’s Wish, has volume 3.

ASH: I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the first two volumes.

MICHELLE: Me, too.

SEAN: Taboo Tattoo has a 6th volume, and I’m sorry this is starting to sound like a broken record, but I have little to say about these titles.

And I believe this is the 3rd and final volume of survival game manga Tohyo Game.

Finally, Yowamushi Pedal gives us a 5th omnibus or this cycling manga and its desperately earnest hero.

ASH: Woo-hoo! I enjoy Yowamushi Pedal so much! I wish there wasn’t such a wait between omnibuses.

MICHELLE: Same! For a series so long, even the omnibus treatment is going to take forever.

SEAN: That’s a ridiculous amount of manga. Are you getting any?

Skip Beat!, Vol. 38

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Skip Beat! Volume 38 by Yoshiki Nakamura

Skip Beat! is always emotionally harrowing, but after 38 volumes, there are plenty of different character relationships and plot points that can be explored for maximum drama. This volume finally confronts Kyoko’s relationship with her mother. After seeing the ways Kyoko has been damaged by her abandonment as a child throughout Skip Beat! up until this point, this confrontation is a long time coming, and Kyoko’s reactions and resilience show just how far she’s come.

This volume of Skip Beat! starts out with Sho being an idiot, because a little bit of comic relief is useful before delving into childhood trauma. Kyoko and Ren are also firmly locked into the misunderstandings and delicate emotional balance that causes any interaction between them to be weighted down with layers of unspoken feelings, elements of comfort, and pure anxiety. Kyoko’s encounter with Ren is helping build up her up psychologically, and she comments “I’ll prepare myself body and spirit, since I’ll be fighting a psywar in a blizzard”.

As Kyoko heads towards meeting her mother, she’s keeps her “Love Me” stamp with an infinite number of points that she received from Ren close by, like a token to take into battle. Kyoko first has a conversation with one of her mother’s co-workers in leading up to the main event. Kyoko begins to wonder about her father, and if her mother Saena experienced something similar to the rejection that she experienced from Sho, that kicked off her desire for vengeance. Saena is caught up in biases and assumptions, thinking that Kyoko dropped out of school and that she had a physical relationship with Sho. Saena’s stubbornness and strong facade makes it difficult to communicate with her.

As Kyoko and Saena face off, Nakamura’s portrayal of demons lurking in the background of the conversation and dramatic micro-expressions shows the charged nature of the confrontation. Their conversation is interrupted by flashbacks of a younger Saena struggling to make her way as a lawyer, and seemingly torn between her job and the idea of love. While Saena’s backstory might place her actions in context, it doesn’t really the cruel way she abandoned her daughter. This storyline is obviously going to be stretched out over several volumes, and I have to admit I’m feeling more anxious about Kyoko than I have in awhile! I’m hoping that the maturity that she’s built up over time helps her deal with whatever emotional bombshell her mother is about to drop. Skip Beat! continues to be extremely rewarding for readers, and I’m happy it is still going so strong after 38 volumes.

Assassination Classroom, Vol. 15

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By Yusei Matsui. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Tetsuichiro Miyaki. Adapted by Bryant Turnage.

(This review talks about *that* spoiler, the one everyone already knows, but I thought I’d warn you anyway.)

Now that we have the North American Weekly shonen Jump magazine, serializing the popular series at the same time they come out in Japan, surprises are very difficult to hold on to. Doubly so here, as the anime has also aired. But at the time when the Kaede Kayano revelation came out, it was quite a surprise, trust me, and everyone went back to look at their previous volumes to see if this was something truly planned fro the beginning or something that the author came up with on the fly. He helpfully tells us that it’s the former, showing us tiny specs of art that hinted that Kayano was Not What She Seemed. And this extends forward as well, as Kayano is in reality the younger sister of the class’ former teacher, who she alleges that Koro-sensei killed. How that happened is apparently part of the next volume. Yusei Matsui really ties this together beautifully, making it one of the best volumes in this already excellent series.

I’ve complained a few times about how, given she’s the closest thing we get to a female lead among the students, Kayano’s character has been somewhat flat. Now it turns out that this was not only deliberate but engineered on her part, trying not to attract too much attention and therefore setting herself up as the cute but plain friend of the real “main character”, Nagisa. The flashbacks not only show the lengths she went to to engineer her attack on Koro-sensei (who, as she reminds us herself, she named in the first place), but also the tremendous pain that hiding her altered state has caused her over the past several months. It’s been the perfect acting job. That said, sometimes you can get too caught up in your role, and Nagisa sees what Kayano isn’t letting herself – that she really has had fun in this class, made true friendships, and most importantly, has seen that Koro-sensei is maybe not the sister-murdering monster she thought.

This leads to the funniest scene of the volume, where Nagisa has to stop a dying Kayano from burning out her brain due to overuse of her tentacled form. He does this by a callback to Irina’s ‘foreign language techniques’, essentially kissing her into submission. Not only is this great ship fodder for fans of this pairing (and no doubt very annoying to Nagisa/Karma fans), but we also see Irina saying that he could have done better, the other students muttering that *they* could have done better, and Karma and Rio getting pictures and video of the whole thing on their cellphones, because they are glorious assholes. The entire scene just calls out how well-written the whole series is.

There are other things going on here, mostly in the first half. We learn about the principal’s past, which shows – surprise! – that he’s a former idealist who had tragedy turn him to the dark side. And the Peach Boy play, which is hysterical and also features a glorious moment where they discuss Kayano acting in a lead role, and she quickly ducks and says she’ll be in charge of props. (Highlights of the play discussion also include Irina suggesting the student’s do a strip show, and Karma suggesting Nagisa act in drag as Sada Abe (which Viz, wisely probably, forces the curious to Google). If you avoided the series before because it looked too silly or the premise was sketchy, you should definitely catch up, as it’s top tier Shonen Jump. And if you already read the weekly chapters and saw the anime, buy this anyway, as the reread factor is high.

My Week in Manga: April 3-April 9, 2017

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My News and Reviews

Last week at Experiments in Manga the winner of the Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid manga giveaway was announced. The post also includes a list of some of the manga available in print in English which feature dragons. Also posted last week was a guest review by my friend Jocilyn. She was inspired to write about Canno’s Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 1, the most recent yuri manga to be released by Yen Press. As mentioned previously, I’m currently working on my own in-depth review of the first volume of The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún by Nagabe. It looks like I should be on track to post it sometime next week.

Elsewhere online, Seven Seas has completely revamped its website, adding new features like browsing by genre, launching a newsletter, and so on. It looks great and what’s more, there will be a regular survey which provides readers an opportunity to give feedback and submit license requests. As part of the launch of the new website, Seven Seas also announced a few new licenses: Touki Yanagimi and Youhei Yasumura’s Anti-Magic Academy: The 35th Test Platoon, Shin Mashiba’s Yokai Rental Shop (I loved Mashiba’s Nightmare Inspector, so I’m really looking forward this one), and an omnibus of Fumiyo Kouno’s In This Corner of the World (Kouno is the creator of Town of Evening Calm, Country of Cherry Blossoms which is also excellent).

In other publishing news, some of Kodansha Comics digital-only titles were recently called digital-first, so there may yet be hope for print editions of some of the manga. I missed (or maybe forgot about) the initial announcement, but Titan Comics will be releasing Ravina the Witch? by Junko Mizuno in English later this year. (Ravina the Witch? was originally released in French in 2014.) In sadder news, Bruno Gmünder recently announced its bankruptcy (again). I’m not entirely sure what this will mean for the publisher’s past and future comics releases, including the Gay Manga line, but they might not stay in print long. (I’ve featured some of Bruno Gmünder’s releases here before; I’ll be sad to see them go if the publisher folds.)

As for a few of the interesting Kickstarters that I’ve discovered lately: Emily Cheeseman is raising funds to release the print edition of Gawain and the Green Knight, a beautiful webcomic that she’s been working on since 2015. I wasn’t previously familiar with the work of Elise Schuenke, but Living Space looks like it should be another great queer-themed comic. And speaking of queer-themed comics, the initial campaign for the Tabula Idem tarot anthology wasn’t successful but the creative team has revised and relaunched the project. Finally, anyone interested in Weird Al may be curious about Kelly Phillips’ comic memoir Weird Me about her experiences as the webmaster of a Weird Al fan site in her teens. (Weird Al’s music was a major touchstone for me growing up.)

Quick Takes

Dissolving ClassroomDissolving Classroom by Junji Ito. Lately there has been a resurgence in manga by Ito being released in English. In many cases they’ve actually been re-releases, but there have been a few newly-translated manga being published as well, Dissolving Classroom from Vertical Comics being the most recent example. I love Ito’s brand of horror manga and Dissolving Classroom was originally serialized in a josei magazine, so the volume was an obvious candidate for one of my most anticipated releases of the year. As expected, I thoroughly enjoyed the manga, but Dissolving Classroom didn’t end up leaving as strong of an impression on me as some of Ito’s earlier works. The loosely connected stories in Dissolving Classroom follow the demise of the people who meet Yuuma, a young man whose constant apologizing will literally make a person’s brain melt, and his incredibly creepy little sister Chizumi. Neither of the siblings are quite what they initially seem. Yuuma in particular comes across as a troubled but largely benign individual; very few people actually realize what’s going wrong before it’s too late. Dissolving Classroom is bizarre but certainly not the strangest manga that Ito has created. The visuals aren’t as shockingly memorable as some of Ito’s other series either, but they are still successfully disconcerting.

Everyone's Getting Married, Volume 1Everyone’s Getting Married, Volume 1 by Izumi Miyazono. While josei manga have recently become more common in translation (a trend that I would love to see continue), there still aren’t all that many to be found. I’ve generally enjoyed the josei manga that I’ve read in the past and I like to show my support for new releases, so I made a point to try Everyone’s Getting Married. Asuka is well-admired for her successful career, but what she really wants in life is to get married and become a housewife. When her boyfriend of five years unexpectedly dumps her, she suddenly finds herself looking for a new long-term relationship. That proves to be more difficult than she expected and unfortunately for her most likely candidate is Ryu, a man who has made it very clear that he has no interest in marriage. I’ve growing a little weary of high school romances, so I found Everyone’s Getting Married to be a wonderfully refreshing change of pace; I enjoyed reading about adults and their lives and relationships for once. I also like Asuka a great deal. She’s independent, knows what she wants out of life, and is willing to work hard for what is important to her. I’m looking forward to reading more about her and reading more of Everyone’s Getting Married.

Ghost in the Shell, Volume 1.5: Human-Error ProcessorGhost in the Shell, Volume 1.5: Human-Error Processor by Masamune Shirow. While I had previously read the first and second volumes of Ghost in the Shell, I had never actually read the manga’s third volume, something that I didn’t realize until Kodansha Comics recently re-released the entire series in a deluxe, hardcover edition. Even though it was the third volume of Ghost in the Shell to be collected and released, the events of Human-Error Processor take place between the first and second volumes (thus being numbered 1.5). The episodic chapters focus almost entirely Section 9 and the cases that group is investigating. A few intriguing new characters are introduced, but sadly the Major only makes the occasional guest appearance. Out of the three Ghost in the Shell volumes, Human-Error Processor is the most straightforward and easy to follow. While that’s something that I would generally welcome, the volume was somehow less interesting as a result even if it was more readable. As with the previous volumes in the series, some of the most interesting parts of the world-building in Human-Error Processor are actually only found in the footnotes instead of being directly incorporated into the manga.

NightlightsNightlights by Lorena Alvarez. It was the bold, vibrant colors and gorgeous illustrations of Nightlights that initially caught my attention. Alvarez is a Columbian illustrator; Nightlights is her first comic and my introduction to her work. Nightlights is about a little girl, Sandy, whose imagination takes flight at night. She gathers together small, mysterious, glowing lights and uses them to create anything that she can dream of. Come the day, she spends her time alone drawing what she has seen. It’s an innocent enough premise, but Nightlights can actually be pretty dark and some of the comic’s themes are fairly heavy. Nightlights could be described as an all-ages comic, but some younger readers might find it scary in places. There is also a depth and nuance to the comic and its narrative that only more mature readers will likely pick up on. Although the stories are notably different, Nightlights actually reminded me a little bit of the animated film The Secret of Kells which I likewise greatly enjoyed. Each in their own way the works are fairytale-like, telling stories about imagination, creation, and the unknown. Nightlights was a beautiful comic and I sincerely hope to see more work from Alvarez in the future.

Gone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life UnstrungGone: A Girl, a Violin, a Life Unstrung by Min Kym. In 2010, Kym’s Stradivarius was stolen from her in a London cafe. The violin was an integral part of her identity, not just as a musician but as a person, and its loss was devastating. Her burgeoning career as a soloist came to a sudden halt. The violin was recovered three years later, but circumstances didn’t allow Kym to reclaim the instrument as her own. Ultimately she had to put it up for auction, losing it once again. In part, Kym’s memoir Gone was written in an attempt to process these traumatic events, rediscover who she is, and move forward with her life. Telling her side of the story she recounts growing up as a child prodigy–as the youngest daughter, her family’s devotion to her talent as a violinist was at odds with their South Korean heritage–her development as a musician, and her relationships with the Stradivarius and the people around her. Gone is an incredibly heartfelt and personal memoir but it can be somewhat discursive; Kym’s style of writing is very informal and at times even chaotic. Her voice as an author isn’t as clear as her voice as a violinist, but her passion and pain resonates throughout Gone. Complementing the release of Kym’s memoir is a companion album available from Warner Classics.

Bookshelf Briefs 4/10/17

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Black Clover, Vol. 6 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – Most of this volume is taken up with one big fight, but the single focus is quite welcome, and it helps to give depth to another one of the Black Bulls, as Yami shows up to save our heroes and promptly shows off that his powers are (if you’ll pardon the cliché) on a completely different level from our heroes. He’s utterly cool, and I fully expect he will die tragically somewhere down the line, but that day is not today. Asta also does some leveling up, though, and we see that the Midnight Sun cult is after his grimoire—and is rather ticked off that he has it at all. Black Clover continues to remind me of various series mushed together (Magi stands out this time), but it’s fun and readable. – Sean Gaffney

Food Wars!: Shokugeki no Soma, Vol. 17 | By Yuto Tsukuda and Shun Saeki | Viz Media – I expected a more serious arc and I was right. Erina’s father has changed the rules so that all chefs are equal, but that just means that no one is allowed to express themselves in any way. The middle third of this book is like eating a bag of gravel, as smug snake Eizan is such an obvious villain that even one of his fellow Council members (Rindo, who is wonderful and appears to be siding with the enemy just because she’ll be more entertained by what follows) points it out. Meanwhile, the Polaris Dorm is due to be shut down… or at least it would be, but Megumi and company get out their riot gear and stand their ground. Hard to read in places, but excellent. – Sean Gaffney

Haikyu!!, Vol. 10 | By Haruichi Furudate | Viz Media – I tend to like the training parts of sports manga more than the actual matches, and that proves to be the case here, as this is a stellar volume. Everyone is watching the other teams to try to find ways to improve, and despite a fight over staying the course vs. risking failure with something new, Hinata and Kageyama are the same. The exception is Tsukishima, everyone’s favorite jerk, whose apathy is starting to concern everyone. Surprise, it stems from a tragic flashback that crushed his dreams. Can you really strive to improve yourself if you don’t really care all that much? How do you make something you’re good at fun? Haikyu!! is one of Jump‘s best pickups lately, and I am happy it’s a monthly concern. – Sean Gaffney

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 6 | By Amu Meguro | VIZ Media – Honey So Sweet is consistently cute and adorable, and this volume definitely offers up an assortment of heartwarming moments for our lead couple. That said, a fair amount of what happens here feels like something I’ve seen before. Even within this own series, in fact. It begins with Nao running into yet another wounded delinquent. This time it’s a guy named Nishigaki who, it turns out, idolized Onise in junior high and doesn’t think Nao is cool enough to be his girlfriend. When the new school term begins, he and his twin sister, Miyabi—yes, fraternal twin sibling firsties just like in Say I Love You.—begin attending school with the other characters, and Onise is very nice to socially clueless Miyabi, who seems to be developing feelings for him, which of course worries Nao. Still, I’m sure a happy ending awaits. – Michelle Smith

Honey So Sweet, Vol. 6 | By Amu Meguro | Viz Media – This was a stronger volume than the previous one, despite the fact that we’re introducing yet another love rival. Miyabi is a twin, and also very introverted, to the point that it takes her a minute or so to respond to anything someone has said to her. I appreciated that the solution was not “you just need to be more extroverted,” as it is in many other Japanese manga—the idea of telling people she responds slowly was good. That said, now we get to see how Nao deals with jealousy, though given that this is a pretty sweet manga, I think it will be fine. Taiga’s flashbacks were also quite good, showing off what drew him to Nao and the difficulty he has looking like a thug. Cute shoujo—not top-tier but definitely readable. – Sean Gaffney

In/Spectre, Vol. 3 | By Kyo Shirodaira and Chashiba Katase | Kodansha Comics – This volume has a large hurdle to get over, in that it’s almost entirely exposition, as our trio discuss what Nanase really is and how to deal with her, along with a heavy dose of Japanese urban legends. Luckily, Kotoko’s amazing pettiness and jealousy still livens things up, and despite her discussion of losing her virginity in the first book you sense she and Kuro haven’t gotten very far at all. We also get a discussion of how Kuro wins his fights—he can alter probabilities, to an extent. Of course, this tends to involve seeing a lot of bad futures. And he can’t be everywhere, as the cliffhanger shows another murder gumming things up. I still find this quirky mystery refreshing. – Sean Gaffney

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 5 | By Mizuho Kusanagi | VIZ Media – It was a foregone conclusion that Yona would persuade the Blue Dragon—ostracized for his abilities—to join her, but despite the predictability, her acceptance of him is still touching. She names him Sinha, and with his awkward kindness, he instantly becomes my favorite character. Unfortunately, he’s promptly sidelined during the second half of the volume, as the gang ventures into a port town in search of the Green Dragon, a pirate named Jaeha who plans to fight to escape his fate. And then he sees Yona at the end of the volume. I hereby predict that he will be won over eventually, too. A little formulaic? Sure, but it’s still good fun, and I’m always a bit sad to see a volume end. – Michelle Smith

My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World: Humanity’s Extinction Happens During Summer Vacation?!

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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.

After three volumes, I’m still not quite sure how seriously I should be taking this series. Based on the premise and what actually happens in the books, you’d think the answer would be ‘not seriously at all’. And that’s probably the right answer, given the sheer amount of ridiculous things going on here. This is a parody of a certain melancholic series, and as a result is going to be over the top. At the same time, this is also the “this was a success, please expand on the plot and backstory a bit” volume, so we start to try to understand why Mutsuko is the way she is, and why Yuichi woke up one day seeing ‘roles’ over people’s heads. It’s a worthy goal, I suppose, but does mean you get a lot of wordy exposition at the start of the book, and if you think about it too hard it doesn’t really explain much at all.

The story picks up where we left off, with the club (and younger sister, who is there just because) heading off to a remote island, where Mutsuko has planned survival training. The remote island is a bit blatant, to the point where the characters spend several pages discussing the Haruhi equivalent without actually naming it. Once they get there, after conveniently jettisoning the minor characters, they find themselves drawn into a cult conspiracy to sacrifice virgins in order to resurrect an alien who is being worshipped as a god by the local anthropomorphic villagers. Yuichi, along with Natsuki, his serial killer-turned-love interest, is sidelined from the sacrificing for the most part, which is likely a relief, as when he does arrive to confront the God, he ends up one-shot killing it. In between these events, we get Aiko worrying about her vampiric heritage, Yoriko vacillating about how incestuous she really is, and Mutsuko being both obnoxious and disturbing at the same time.

When the book is being as light and frothy as this synopsis makes it sound, it’s excellent. Yuichi’s deadpan “well, whatever” reaction to events is shared by others in the cast now, and makes the whole thing less ridiculous and overpowered than it would sound if it was written in a more grandiose manner. Much as the series is riffing on Haruhi (to the point where much of the exposition discusses the idea that certain people can influence the world so that it obeys their whims, with the implication that Mutsuko is one such person), Mutsuko and Yuichi are only superficially similar to Haruhi and Kyon. Where the book falters a bit for me is when it does try to take itself too seriously. Kanako’s discussion about why she likes isekai stories hints at a much darker take on her character than I’d expected, and given how little she matters in the books to date it feels like pure setup and nothing else. Also, if you’re going to mock the “the sacrifices have to be virgins” cliche, don’t follow through with the “the non-virgins were raped and killed” part of that. You can’t mock your cliche and eat it too. That left a bad taste in my mouth.

In the end, this is an enjoyable series of books, but I find I’m enjoying the metatext a bit more than the text. the series walks a fine line between deconstructing this sort of light novel schtick and just going along with it. So far it holds up, but it needs to realize that dropping more serious content into the middle of it may be harder than initially thought. We’ll see what happens next – judging by its subtitle, the fourth book looks to double down on the Haruhi comparisons.

Species Domain, Vol. 1

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By Shunsuke Noro. Released in Japan by Akita Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Champion. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Krista Shipley, Adapted by Karie Shipley.

Monster Girl titles are here to stay, and have tended to come in two varieties. Thankfully, this is the second variety, and so fanservice and borderline content is not on the menu. Instead, this is something that should appeal to fans of series like My Monster Secret or Interviews with Monster Girls, as it has much the same flavor. It can be a bit odd and off kilter, though not so much that it reaches the out there weirdness of A Centaur’s Life. Its strongest qualities is its dialogue, of which there is a lot – this is a series with a group of classmates who talk and talk and talk, and it’s a relief we find the talk funny. And there are the usual manga cliches present within – the elf girl is a misunderstood tsundere, the angel girl is overenthusiastic and puppydog-ish, the dwarf girl is low key and stoic, etc. It’s solid and unassuming.

This is not a “I must hide my secret from the world” sort of book – there are several fantasy types at the school, and it’s accepted as simply being part of how the world works. That said, Kazamori, the elf girl on the cover, is battling the fact that everyone assumes she’s an elf who can use cool wind magic and has powers – except she’s been raised by humans, so has nothing of the sort. What’s worse, she feels the need to act haughty and proud as an elf should, even though the turmoil of emotions that stir within her is a more accurate read of her character. It also leads to most of the humor in the book, particularly when she collides with Ohki, a normal boy who denies that magic exists – everything can be explained with science. Which is fine, except all of the ‘science’ he demonstrates is ludicrously impossible to anyone but him.

This is the start, but refreshingly we also do focus on the other characters. It’s hard not to look at Unli the dwarf and not think of Terry Pratchett’s Cheery, as she’s essentially a cute small schoolgirl with a full beard and a penchant for meat. I was very amused at the relationship between her and her human classmate Tanaka, which everyone interprets as romantic and then when they find out it’s really not all hell breaks loose in terms of their suppositions. The title really seems to enjoy making fun of audience expectations – there’s an omake chapter that has Kazamori dream of what would happen if she was the cool girl with elf powers she wants to be, and Ohki was the fired up “I will prove it is science” shonen lead, and it’s hilariously boring.

Like many recent licenses these days, this will not win any awards for originality or surprises, but it’s fun and likeable, the sort of manga that you read with a smile on your face, even if it sometimes turns into a bit of a smirk. The translation and adaptation are excellent as well, which is key for a series that depends so much on its conversations. A good debut, recommended for fans of the ‘monster girl’ genre or comedic school manga in general.

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Vol. 1

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It’s been some time since Experiments in Manga has hosted a guest post, but my friend Jocilyn was once again inspired and is back to review one of the more recently released yuri manga, the first volume of Canno’s Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl. (Also if you’re interested, you can find some of Jocilyn’s non-manga writings over at her delectable tea blog Parting Gifts!)

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Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 1Seeing Canno’s name on the cover of a book in English feels like quite the sea change. Not only is she somewhat obscure with only one full manga series and a couple of one-offs and anthology contributions to her name, her writing style also leans heavily toward the heart-throbbingly romantic yuri (which English publishers have traditionally avoided as being too risky/niche). Also, although not an uncommon setting for yuri manga, Canno’s Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl is the first genre title in English in a decade (i.e. Hakamada Mera’s Last Uniform and Hayashiya Shizuru’s Hayate X Blade, neither of which are exactly realistic), to give us a long look at dorm-life in a prestigious all-girls’ school. Finally, in case those weren’t enticing enough reasons, “Ano Kiss” has been translated by the matchless Jocelyne Allen, easily the most talented and enjoyable manga translator in the industry (and kind of my personal heroine). Hands down, Kiss & White Lily was my most anticipated manga of the year, and it has not disappointed.

To briefly summarize the plot, Ayaka Shiramine was told as a child that a 95/100 was an unacceptably low grade and ever since has never settled for anything less than no.1 in her class. Enter Yurine Kurosawa, a genius transfer student who can work academic and PE miracles with seemingly zero effort, who’s constantly seen sleeping in class. Indignant of the presumptuous upstart, Shiramine tries even harder than usual but still only manages second place on their midterms. In a fit of pique, Shiramine rips up her 98/100 test in front of Kurosawa declaring “It’s no good unless it’s perfect. If only you weren’t here, I would still be no.1” Kurosawa who had initially been impressed and quite smitten with Shiramine, amps up the rivalry and lords her superiority over Shiramine as a means to get closer to her. Before long Kurosawa has stolen Shiramine’s first kiss and being somewhat tsundere, Shiramine goes into total denial mode before being caught in a compromising position by her roommate cousin. Naturally, being a yuri manga, the cousin represents a B-story involving the boyish star of the track team and a hotly akogared sempai. Yada Yada Yada.

Kiss & White Lily for My Dearest Girl, Volume 1, Chapter 2I won’t belabor the obvious parallel to Kare Kano in overall plot. Kurosawa’s utter genius and complete ambivalence to nearly everything that doesn’t involve Shiramine is oddly cute and compelling. One scene that paints Kurosawa as particularly superhuman had me in stitches for a while the first time I read it, but I won’t spoil it for you here. Although Shiramine might be outwardly cool and dissembling toward Kurosawa, when they’re alone together she manages to unwittingly send all the right signals. As with its inspiration, the honor students’ relationship is all blushes and awkward but swoon-worthy and adorable.

Kiss & White Lily variously waxes exciting shoujo romance and lighthearted school girl fun in an enticing mixture. Although Canno does tend to use a lot of screen tones to the point of necromancing Kare Kano, her art style is very cute and emotive, moreso reminiscent of Shimura Takako. I very much enjoyed the gorgeous full-color introductory pages Yen was good enough to reproduce. Naturally Kiss & White Lily’s translation is nigh seamless perfection. I honestly cannot produce a single gripe this time. A thoroughly fabulous read!