Manga Bookshelf

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Bookshelf Briefs 7/9/23

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Bakemonogatari, Vol. 18 | By NISIOISIN and Oh!great | Kodansha Manga – I hadn’t been reviewing the manga version of Bakemonogatari, as, while stylistically fantastic, it was pretty much an adaptation of the source I’ve already reviewed. The manga is ending with the Tsubasa Cat arc, though, and Oh!great is trying to cram in everything he can before it ends. So we pause in the middle of the arc for all of Koyomi Vamp, the arc that came after it. We also see Nadeko meeting up with Kaiki, the swindler, resolving her own plotline rather than having him meet Karen in the Nisemonogatari series. It makes the series more interesting, as I wasn’t sure where it would go next. Still only recommended for ecchi manga fans, but it’s great if you’re one of them. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 16 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – The final volume took almost two years to get here after the previous one, and I admit that I started to forget who the cast was (perhaps the upcoming anime sequel will help). The book is basically half the ending of the main series and half prequels and sequels. The main story revolves around Miyamura, who has an alternate universe sequence about his bleak life if he’d never met Hori, and comes to terms with his new self. The sequel involves Hori’s little brother, now in high school, and the girl who was his childhood friend, who is rather troubled by the lack of interest she seems to get. The prequel is how Hori’s parents met, which is hilarious. And hey, no S&M gags! I will miss this, though it went on too long. – Sean Gaffney

Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible, Vol. 7 | By Nene Yukimori | Viz Media – I really like how much Kubo and Shiraishi impact each other. Kubo’s impact is more obvious, as Shiraishi is getting more and more “visible” and also showing his emotions more, but he’s also being there for Kubo when she’s vulnerable—which, as we see, she is when she’s not teasing Shiraishi. Something about the two of them brings out their best sides, and it’s really sweet to see. The rest of this book is pretty much “aw, look, this is adorable” over and over, with tons of hot blushing action, and minimal romantic success, as it’s fairly clear these two won’t confess till the very last chapter. Oh well, it’s fun to see then interact cutely with each other. – Sean Gaffney

Marmalade Boy: Collector’s Edition, Vol. 2 | By Wataru Yoshizumi | Seven Seas – I have a confession to make. When I first read Marmalade Boy, I hated Miwa. Hated Hated Hated him. Hated his smug little face. And I was really irritated when he was coming on strong to Meiko, because after all, she had… her teacher… look, I was much younger and stupider, OK? Obviously the Nacchan plotline reads horribly today, and I wish I could say it ends here. Sadly, that doesn’t make me like Miwa, but at least I will try to be nicer to him. That said, at this point he’s less Nacchan’s romantic rival than he is Miki’s, as “oh my god are they… gay?” is another plotline here that hasn’t aged particularly well. As for Ginta and Arimi, we’re starting to see they’re perfect for each other, even if they don’t. Still happy this is here again. – Sean Gaffney

May I Ask for One Final Thing?, Vol. 2 | By Nana Otori and Sora Hoonoki | AlphaPolis (digital only) – Have to admit, this author knows that this series has one (1) gimmick, and they are here to milk it for all that it is worth. That said, we cannot see Scarlet punching jerks in the face for 167 pages, as that would be an artbook, not a manga. There is a real plot here, which mostly features Scarlet and Julius breaking up a slave auction using a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence. Gotta say, the main reason to get this is that it’s simply funny, and Scarlet is a badass. And we also get more proof this is a villainess book—the “heroine” is a reincarnation. That said, I’ll have to wait till the third book to see how Scarlet punches that problem away. – Sean Gaffney

My Engagement Got Broken Off (lol), Vol. 1 | By Yoshiki Takemoto and Daifuku Ikura | AlphaPolis (digital only) – Another series along the same lines as May I Ask One Final Thing?, this feels like a combination of that and some of Cross Infinite World’s titles. Elise is absolutely delighted that her engagement is broken off, as she knows exactly what being married to the prince will entail—being a broodmare. What’s more, she doesn’t need to directly exact revenge, as she has a doting family who are perfectly willing to do that for her. So instead, she decides to work on making food better in this light novel world she’s reincarnated in, one where soy sauce literally grows on trees. If you enjoyed the other Alphapolis villainess book, you’ll like this one. – Sean Gaffney

Skip Beat!, Vol. 48 | By Yoshiki Nakamura | Viz Media – It’s been a while since I’ve really been able to appreciate Kyoko’s acting abilities, so I really enjoyed the scene where her character gets a fantastic action scene, showing off her physicality as well as her emotions. Meanwhile, this being Skip Beat!, there’s a new eccentric creator to deal with, and he’s reminding everyone of Tuxedo Mask. And it’s nice to see something good FINALLY happen to Kanae. But yes, it’s the end of this volume that folks will talk about, with Ren putting a full court press on to try to get past Kyoko’s broken love-ometer. I really hope he can do it, but I’m not optimistic, because at the moment I think this is Hakusensha’s flagship series, so I doubt it’s ending soon. – Sean Gaffney

We’re New at This, Vol. 13 | By Ren Kawahara | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – It’s fun to see how these two still manage to make the other one swoon. For Sumika it’s the times when Ikuma is just honest about his pure and strong love, using a straightforward manner that she can’t quite pull off. For Ikuma it turns out to be when Sumika takes the lead, and is more active during sex, something that he finds incredibly arousing but also (since it involves admitting he’s submissive) hard for him to say. We even get a bit of drama, as a trip to Hokkaido goes south when, due to various wacky manga accidents, Ikuma is lost and without a phone. Still finding ways to make me smile, even as it also tries to find ways to make the reader horny. – Sean Gaffney

Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte: Disc EX

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By Suzu Enoshima and Eihi. Released in Japan as “Tsundere Akuyaku Reijou Liselotte to Jikkyou no Endo-kun to Kaisetsu no Kobayashi-san” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Minna Lin.

The “Disc EX” should tell you exactly what you’re getting with this volume. This is not a new volume in the series per se, nor is it a sequel or a side story. Even as a collection of short stories, that description feels inadequate. It’s the sort of bonus content you get when a game has done well and the creators are taking a victory lap. It’s not going to have any drama or threats – indeed, the one scene where there is a brief threat of actual consequences is quickly resolved by simply deciding to ignore the problem. Instead, you get exactly what you want from a fan disc – more of the cast being themselves. More of Lieselotte being tsundere, more of Sieg being overwhelmed by how cute she is, more of Endo and Kobayashi narrating out loud (even when they’re in the actual world itself). You don’t have to read this. But it will bring a smile to your face.

The goddess Lirenna has made things so that Endo and Kobayashi can be there on the day that Lieselotte and Siegwald’s wedding day, as we saw in the final scene of the 2nd book. They have most of the whole day there, so while there they ask about various things they didn’t see or missing pieces from the first two books. We hear about Lieselotte’s Memoir, which here is a simple diary of her last few years but in the fan disc at the end of the game Endo and Kobayashi played it was a dark chapter that showed you what Lieselotte was really like and drove home the tragedy. (We don’t get excerpts from the bad diary, that would be depressing, and against the premise of this book). After various short stories show off the supporting cast, the two are wed, and Endo and Kobayashi return to Japan permanently – except the game now has a video epilogue from its cast.

As I hinted above, the most interesting part of the book is where Endo and Kobayashi express surprise that Fiene gave in and got engaged so fast, as they know that she’s suffering from subconscious trauma due to being Eve and having her husband (Adam, aka Baldur) murdered in front of her by Kuon. They debate telling her about this, but realize that there’s really no good reason to do so, and a few good reasons they should not, so they just… don’t. I appreciated this. No need to lift lids off cans of worms. I was also amused at the side story devoted to Leon, and why he showed up with everyone at the final battle. The cast are all frustrated that they don’t know why, but we all know why – he’s madly in love with Fiene’s mother. I suspect he might eventually wear her down, but this is – again – a fun little bonus that readers know about but most of the cast don’t, which fits the fan disc theme.

I’d have liked more about Endo and Kobayashi’s relationship – they’re on first name basis now, but that’s about it – but this is fine. As a volume likely only commissioned because of the anime, it does its job quite well, and fans should be pleased.

An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 16

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By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

These books are getting increasingly hard to review, as there’s simply not much that’s left in terms of “dangling plotline” beyond one or two minor things introduced here. Zagan has gotten to the point where he’s ready to propose to Nephy, and has a ring, but a) is waiting for Nephy to be emotionally prepared for a proposal, and b) has to use the ring as a magic tool when battling a demon. Barbatos and Chastille are still trapped in tsundere hell, but are at least able to go out on dates now, and it won’t be long before they manage to somehow get married while denying it to the last breath in their bodies. The only real ongoing new plot of interest is Asmodeus, who, as predicted, is trying to pretend that the whole Lily thing didn’t affect her, but it totally did.There’s also getting spirits out of angelic swords, but unless we meet any of these spirits, I don’t care.

Chastille’s birthday is coming up soon, and Barbatos is *so* bad at romance that Gremory actually asks another archdemon for help, Vepar. Vepar would rather chew glass, as he regards Barbatos as evil and thinks Chastille is being forced into this, but after a while hanging around Barbatos he starts to get the picture – Barbatos is just lame. Vepar, meanwhile, wants a chance to fight his former master Asmodeus. While this is going on, Barbatos is also approached by Astrologian Eligor, who is trying to recruit Barbatos to switch sides and fight against Zagan. Most of what follows is a string of wacky misunderstandings. While this is going on, actual demons have been appearing in the country more and more, and both Zagan and Asmodeus are trying to stop it. Though Zagan’s may be hard, as it’s 10.000 demons standing on each other wearing a trenchcoat.

There’s nothing really wrong with this volume. The humor is funny if you like tsunderes. The couples are cute, though I’m less fond of Selphy, Lilth and Furcas’ love triangle, possibly as I suspect Selphy will end up on the losing side of it. Zagan gets to do cool things, Nephy gets to do cool things. And another innocent kid walks down an alleyway when they hear a noise, which has happened in this series already about four times, and I feel the need to remind the populace about taking basic safety lessons. But while there’s nothing wrong with the book, it’s not exciting either. It’s there to incrementally move things along, but it has the air of “I can drag this out as long as my publisher lets me”, and it’s starting to show. The manga spinoff that just started probably isn’t helping.

So fans of the series should read this, but don’t be surprised if you, like me, feel a bit tired of the whole thing.

The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent, Vol. 2

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Yasuyuki Syuri. Released in Japan as “Kusushi no Majo Desu ga, Nazeka Fukugyō de Rikon Daikō Shiteimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Satoko Kakihara.

When reviewing the 2nd volume of The 100th Time’s the Charm, I talked about all the ways that it was a good example of how NOT to do a 2nd novel for a series that seemed pretty wrapped up with the first, and suggested that it might be because DRE didn’t want a lot of one-shots to start their novel line. Feeling a bit guilty about that, I’m happy to say that the 2nd volume of The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent is a good example of how the author SHOULD do this. It gives us a lot more details about Carla’s past, but also leaves us a lot of mysteries still to solve. It also touches on Thane’s past, and why he has such a mad-on about witches. Both characters still flirt by being sarcastic at each other, and are mostly unaware of their own feelings – at least Carla is. Basically, if you read the first book and thought “more of this, please”, good news.

It’s the time of the year when all witches have to convene at a secret spot for their annual convention, and much to Carla’s annoyance that includes her. Thane wants to go with her, as he wants to ask the Fortune-Telling Witch, who used to be the Foresight Witch, about his past – as the Foresight Witch was supposedly related to the death of his father and downfall of his family. He can’t go to the convention itself, but Carla mentions it, and said witch agrees to meet with Thane after Carla does a job for her – and yes, it’s another divorce request. A noblewoman is not only puzzled why her husband and father-in-law are conspiring late at night, but lately she’s been unable to move out of bed at night to check. Is this a genuinely bad marriage that will allow Carla to successfully negotiate a divorce at last? What do you think?

There’s a subplot here involving the Queen from the first book, and how she turns out to be tied to Carla’s past far closer than we’d imagined. We do learn a lot about it, but it’s mostly along the lines of “this was no accident, it was murder”, which honestly is such a non-surprise I’m not even worried about spoilering it. It does help us get a lot more insight about why Carla is the way she is. On the magic side, it’s fairly clear that her magic is suppressed in some way, likely due to emotional trauma and memory loss, and no doubt when she regains her memories she will become a lot more powerful. On the personality side, everything I like about Carla’s attitude is also a major flaw – she has almost no regard for her own person or safety, barely eats at the best of times, and does not understand why this is odd at all. It’s no surprise that Thane’s sullen personality is explained very well in this book, while Carla is the ongoing story.

I really enjoyed the first book in this series, and I enjoyed this book just as much. I’m really hoping for more, this is one of the best DRE licenses.

The Manga Review: Straight, No Chaser

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If you weren’t able to attend Anime Expo, fear not: Brigid Alverson has a handy round-up of major licenses from Kodansha, which include a new edition of Initial D and a new series from Tsutomu Nihei (Blame, Knights of Sidonia), while Josh Piedra runs down the licensing news from Square Enix, VIZ, and Yen Press.  Also of note: Noir Caesar will be teaming up with Tezuka Productions for a new graphic novel based on Alabaster… UDON announced four new acquisitions… and the final volume of Mashle: Magic and Muscles will be published in Japan on October 4th.

AROUND THE WEB

This week’s must-read essay focuses on Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, “the poster child of mono no aware works in otaku media.” It’s a lovely reflection on why this series remains a touchstone nearly three decades after its initial publication, and how it inspired more recent titles such as Girls’ Last Tour. [Sakuga Blog]

Jon Holt and Teppei Fukuda translate Natsume Fusanosuke’s essay “Memories of the Live-In Age: Hayashi Sei’chi and Kamimura Kazuo’s Dōsei Manga.” [The Comics Journal]

The Mangasplainers share an excerpt from Akino Kondoh’s delightful Noodling in New York, an autobiographical comic about her life in the Big Apple. [MSX: The Mangasplaining Extra Newsletter]

Martin de la Iglesia just published The Early Reception of Manga in the West,  which “examines what the first translated editions of Kazuo Koike and Gôseki Kojima’s Lone Wolf and Cub and Shôtarô Ishinomori’s Japan Inc. looked like, and how readers in the United States and in Germany reacted towards these manga.” [The 650-Cent Plague]

Vonmandelbrot offers his thoughts on the value of slow reading. [The Taishō Café]

Bill Curtis compiles a list of July’s new manga and light novel releases. [Yatta-Tachi]

New month, new manga: The Reverse Thieves name Summer of You as their pick of the month. [Reverse Thieves]

If you’ve been curious about Akane-banashi, let Chike Nwaenie persuade you to try this entertaining series about a young woman breaking into the male-dominated world of rakugo. [How to Love Comics]

Jocelyne Allen recommends Ami Uozumi’s Tsumetakute Yawaraka, a manga about two thirty-something women dancing on the edge of a relationship. [Brain vs. Book]

Erica Friedman explains why she resonated with the Super Cub anime and manga. “Mainstream media, focused on stories of romance and  – oh, you know straight women doing straight women things with wine and man bashing and other things completely alien to me – rarely shows women just relying on each other, being there for each other,” she observes. “Which is why I so obsess over She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat.  Super Cub does tell just exactly this story, from the perspective of a girl who has been so cruelly treated by life, she literally describes herself as having nothing in every way. By the end of this volume, she has one thing – Koguma has a Super Cub –  and that one thing is going to lead her to many other things.” [Okazu]

LISTENING IN

The OverMangaCast gang are “dialing up the patriotism” with a roundtable on volume three of Eagle: The Making of an Asian-American President. [OverMangaCast]

Is Takeki Ryuusei worth a look, or is it just another Fist of the North Star wannabe? David and Jordan investigate. [Shonen Flop]

Honey and Vixen join Ashley for an in-depth conversation about Naoko Takeuchi’s Codename: Sailor V. [Shojo & Tell]

The Trash Manga Friends discuss Dark Gathering, “a supernatural horror manga about one lil’ girl’s quest… to help save her family and friends from eternal damnation.” [Trash Manga Friends]

If you thought Kindergarten Cop was too tame, the Mangaroos have the series for you: Kindergarten Wars, an action-comedy set at a preschool “where the children of the world’s super-elite” are supervised by “lethal assassins.” [Mangaroos]

REVIEWS

Over at Anime News Network, MrAJCosplay describes Tatsuki Fujimoto’s Goodbye, Eri as “a quiet story that plays with your expectations to the point where it feels like you’re questioning reality by the time you reach the end”… the latest Reader’s Corner offers a smorgasbord of short reviews… and Paloma Linares tackles Satoshi Kon’s OPUS, “a mind-bending dreamlike piece of metafiction, which foreshadows the themes and style of Kon’s future projects.”

New and Noteworthy

Complete, OOP, and Ongoing Series

* NSFW content!

Manga the Week of 7/12/23

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SEAN: (bad white blues singer voice) Well I woke up this morning, with some manga near my bed…

Airship has lots of print. Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 5, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 19, The Haunted Bookstore – Gateway to a Parallel Universe 6, and Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court 4.

ASH: Always a fan of print!

SEAN: And there’s an early digital release for Loner Life in Another World 6.

Ghost Ship gives us Parallel Paradise 14.

It’s print week for J-Novel Club! Debuting is the manga version of Tearmoon Empire, which is just as good as the novels. It runs in Comic Corona.

ASH: I should give this a look.

SEAN: We also see Ascendance of a Bookworm 19, the 5th Infinite Dendrogram manga omnibus, and the 4th Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles manga omnibus.

ASH: I’ve got some catching up to do with Ascendance of a Bookworm, but I do really enjoy the series.

SEAN: Digitally J-Novel Club has Black Summoner 13, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill: Sui’s Great Adventure 4, Earl and Fairy 2, The Skull Dragon’s Precious Daughter 3, VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream 5, Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster 2, and Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta 3.

Kodansha has no debuts, but we do see print volumes for A Galaxy Next Door 5, SHAMAN KING: FLOWERS 3, Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie 3, and Twilight Out of Focus 2.

The digital debut is one that made anime fandom very happy when it quietly appeared on bookstore sites. Teppu ran in good! Afternoon about 15 years ago, and is about mixed martial arts, which means it’s filled with very well-drawn hot teenagers beating the hell out of each other. That said, I hear this is more character-driven than, say, Baki the Grappler is.

MICHELLE: I’m always willing to give a new sports manga series a chance!

ANNA: Hmmmm…..

ASH: Count me curious!

SEAN: And also digitally we have Ace of the Diamond 44, The Fable 16, Gang King 7, Girlfriend, Girlfriend 14, A Kiss with a Cat 6 (the final volume), Life 2: Giver/Taker 5, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 7, Phantom of the Idol 6, and Watari-kun’s ****** Is About to Collapse 14.

One Peace Books has the 8th manga volume of The Reprise of the Spear Hero.

From Seven Seas we get BARBARITIES III, Cinderella Closet 2, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 6, I Get the Feeling That Nobukuni-san Likes Me 3, Malevolent Spirits: Mononogatari 3, MoMo -the blood taker- 5, My Girlfriend’s Child 2, My New Life as a Cat 2, My [Repair] Skill Became a Versatile Cheat, So I Think I’ll Open a Weapon Shop 4, and No Longer Allowed In Another World 3.

Square Enix Manga has The Apothecary Diaries 8 and The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 13.

ASH: The Apothecary Diaries is another series I enjoy but need to catch up on.

SEAN: SuBLime has Finder Deluxe Edition 12 and The World’s Greatest First Love 16.

ASH: I’ll admit, I’d forgotten that both of these series were ongoing.

SEAN: Tokyopop gives us a 2nd volume of Sengoku Youko.

Udon Entertainment has Persona 4 Arena 3 (the final volume).

Viz debuts Disney Twisted-Wonderland, based on the Japanese game, and running in GFantasy. Yu is at a magical academy… despite having no magic. And no way to leave campus.

Also from Viz: Case Closed 87, Dandadan 4, Devil’s Candy 3, Fly Me to the Moon 18, Helck 4, Kaiju No. 8 7, Kirby Manga Mania 6, Mao 12, and Wolf Girl and Black Prince 2.

(bad white blues singer voice) I was asking what you were buying… and then a demon slayer from another world with a harem of catgirls cut me dead.

MICHELLE: *tosses a buck in Sean’s guitar case*

The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?!, Vol. 2

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By Yuji Yuji and Nami Hidaka. Released in Japan as “99-kai Danzaisareta Loop Reijō Desu ga Konse wa “Chōzetsu Aisare Mode” Desutte!?: Shinno Chikara ni Mezamete Hajimaru 100-kaime no Jinsei” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

Despite what a lot of writers will tell you, it’s pretty easy to write some more of what you’ve already written. When you’ve done a volume, introduced the character, the situation, etc. you can think of some ways to extend it out, add another subplot, new villain, etc. This is especially true if your publisher is brand new to the light novel market and does not want to have a bunch of single-volume series lest people think they’re failing. But honestly, sometimes the author has to take a step back, look at what they’ve already wrapped up in a satisfying manner, and say “I could write more. But do I *need* to write more? If I write another volume in the series, will it actively damage everything that I’ve created to date?” Unfortunately, we have a textbook example of that here, in a second volume of a series that really should have been a one-shot.

This is a book of two halves. The first half is fine. Alphina, who has mostly succeeded in running away from her suitors, infiltrates the school her brother Carl is attending to make sure he’s doing all right. She disguises herself as an assistant teacher, and the biggest problem she has is a classmate of Carl’s, Hipper, who seems to hate Carl for reasons that go beyond simple “jealousy” or the like. Alphina ends up uncovering a plot by religious cultists, which she is fortunately able to stop. Unfortunately, in doing so she reveals her identity, and has now been captured by the royal family and will be marrying the prince, someone that absolutely delights everyone except Alphina. This leads to the second half of the book, which is not fine.

I have complaints. The first volume found a good balance between “funny” and “annoying”, this second one tips it too far towards the latter. The comedy is so broad in places as to beggar belief. The use of the time loop, which frankly I thought was a gimmick we were done with after the first 10 pages of the first book, could actually have been clever were it not attached to the aforementioned annoying comedy, so it seems like a wasted opportunity. Most importantly, though, isn’t this supposed to be a romance? It’s a J-Novel Heart title, am I right? Why is it then, after two volumes, that every single love interest remains shallow at best and creepily possessive at worst? The book thankfully ends with a marriage averted for the moment, but the reader can’t help but agree with Alphina – marrying any of these zeebs would be a nightmare. Even the cover art has that “this is the final volume of a romance, let’s end on a wedding shot” art, except Alphina’s sweatdrop shows us she really, really doesn’t want to be here.

All this plus the return of a character I never wanted to see again. There’s room left for a third book in the series, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see one, but man, if you want to give Alphina a happy ending, try making the guys more than cardboard cutouts for the sake of the comedy.

My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex: “Just a Bit More Like This”

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By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

I’ve talked a lot about the fact that this is in many ways a very typical Japanese high school romcom. There’s an obvious winning couple. But there’s also a second, losing love interest who is far more interesting than the main one, mostly because she has no filter whatsoever. Isana would be a nightmare to deal with in real life, as Mizuto and Yume have both observed, but as fiction she’s wonderful. And there’s also the fact that these are all teenagers, about 17 years old, and they are seriously horny. And this series has never been shy about its fanservice, having a very, very high “count the number of times the main characters think about breast size” ratio. This only increases with this book, as we get a new supporting cast when Yume joins the student council. There’s a cute-first year who’s short but stacked. There’s a spunky second-year who’s also… seemingly… top-heavy. Yume’s not small. Isana is very large. You get the ideqa. This book is for guys.

Yume is now on the student council, and is dealing with several things at once. The most normal is that the sports festival is coming up, and the council have to help out there. Also, one of the council members regards Yume taking first place as offensive, and declares herself a rival who will take first place in the next exams… even if that means studying a bit TOO hard. But most importantly, there’s Yume’s desire to try to break down Mizuto’s emotional walls. There’s humorous ways to try (which I’ll discuss below) and heartwarming ways, such as their joint birthday party, where we also learn that their parents actually met much earlier than either of them knew. That said… all of this may be for naught when Isana’s bra breaks during the sports festival and creates misunderstandings galore.

The funniest part of the book, if only as it has the most characters acting completely ludicrously, is where Yume gets advice on seducing Mizuto by taking a bath with him. This idea comes from Akatsuki, who does just this sort of this with Kawanami, but Yume does not really realize that Akatsuki is a TERRIBLE person to get seduction advice from. The scene almost turns heartwarming, but is also seriously funny, especially when Mizuto’s towel drops and… well, Yume’s not disappointed, at least. Other than that, Isana has pretty much resolved herself to being as blatantly forward as possible until Mizuto stops her, and most of the sexual humor in the book is hers. (Most of the painful comedy is hers as well – falling on your breasts while not wearing a bra and getting dragged along HURTS.) As for the main romantic relationship… baby steps. The presents were nice, but Mizuto is still not quite ready yet. This may take till graduation.

So yeah, another decent volume in this series. It won’t light a fire under you, but it’s cute and fun and has likeable leads.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor, Vol. 2

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By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Yarinaoshi Reijō wa Ryūtei Heika o Kōryaku-chū” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

When I reviewed the first volume I mentioned that Cross Infinite World was putting it out a lot faster than they normally do their series, and the reason for that became apparent shortly after the release of the first volume over here: it’s getting an anime. It’s a good choice: I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss got a decent if not dazzling anime as well, and the audience for the two series is exactly the same. Not just because of the author, but the same basic themes are here as well. iris may be a Villainess reincarnated into a game, and Jill a young woman who travels back in time to fix her past mistakes, but as protagonists they’re both doing the exact same thing: improvising and being badass as the universe does its best to kill them over and over and over again. And in this second book we get another think it has in common with Final Boss: for every Villainess there’s a Heroine, and heroines in these series tend to be evil.

Hadis and Jill are on their way to the capital to meet the rest of his family. Sadly, on arriving there, he’s attacked, accused of being a fake, and his magic and Jill’s is sealed. Hadis is mostly fine with this, and tries to make the series into a Slow Life book, gardening and cooking delicious meals. Jill is not particularly happy with his, so she and Zeke (half of her bodyguard duo) go into a nearby town so that she can join the Dragon Knights and gain intel. Easier said than done – she’s got the combat skills, even without magic, but the reaction of dragons to her means that she’ relegated to squire duties – which also means getting bullied. We also meet Hadis’ siblings, who turn out to not be as bad as she thought… at first.

Reading this book can be a struggle. Not because it’s bad, I really enjoyed it, but because Jill’s life is such a high wire act that at any moment you expect her to die and for this to become a Re: Zero sort of time loop story. Things are not helped by the introduction of Princess Faris, Gerald’s younger sister. In the first book she had merely been one half of the “ew” part of the story, as we knew Gerald was sleeping with her and that she was frail but not much else. Here we see her younger self, who turns out to be doing much the same thing Jill is – and for many of the same reasons. Alas, this makes them mortal enemies, and the two pretty much hate each other on sight by the end of the book. Final Boss also had its “heroine” antagonist, but Faris looks to be a lot nastier than Lilia ever was.

This really is “if you like Final Boss, it’s more of the same”. But that’s good, as it means it’s just as addictive. Roll on Volume 3.

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 22

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

When I was reading this book, I mentioned on Twitter that if you removed all scenes where Subaru is essentially acting as the “tsukkomi” to every else that the book would be 100 pages shorter. That said, I know that one of the reasons we enjoy Subaru so much is that this is how he copes with things. He’s always had three ways of dealing: overcompensating, trauma response, and sarcasm, and he’s gotten much better on the first two but the third is ingrained. You’d think this would make him very one-note, but it doesn’t, because each of the characters that he reacts this way to is so different. The way Subaru responds to Emilia, mocking her while also acknowledging his adoration, is very different from how he has to deal with Shaula, the new character, which is a mix of disgust and “what the hell is going on?”. He has a type, but the range is larger than you’d think… until the cliffhanger, which promises to upend this a lot.

Having finally arrived at the tower, and gotten the comatose Rem and the injured Patlash to the medical bay, our heroes now have to deal with the fact that the Sage they’ve been seeking is… probably NOT the sage. And also a bit of an airhead. They also have to pass a test to get access to the upper floors of the tower at all. The first no one is able to pass until Subaru, who is from Japan and suspects the creator of this test is as well, finds a solution to. Unfortunately, the floor they get to has a bunch of “book of someone’s life” books, and they’re in random order. So they need to get to the next floor… which requires another test. Unfortunately, not only is this one much harder, but they all have to pass it individually. Bad news, since the test giver is an insanely powerful swordsman.

This has the feel of a book that is a time-marker, to be honest. I never felt bored, but there’s a sense that we’re waiting for the other shoe to drop, and since it doesn’t drop till about page 280, that’s a lot of waiting. There are some very nice scenes between Subaru and Julius, which shows off their friendship (Julius is kind of put through the wringer in this book), and EMT fans will be eating very well, as the relationship between her and Subaru has never been more romantic, even as she wins a fight by letting her opponent grope her tits, not understanding why she should feel offended at that. (Emilia’s “sexual innocence” continues to be at 120%.) And we’re also getting more of an idea about what Anastasia/Echidna is really after, and trusting them a wee bit more. Not much plot happens here, but a lot of good character stuff occurs.

Next book, judging by that cliffhanger, should be far more plot-driven, though I suspect it will also remain inside the tower. And hey, no death loops this book!

Manga the Week of 7/5/23

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SEAN: Hot hot heat. Must be July.

Viz gives us a debut, Like a Butterfly (Hibi Chouchou) is the latest from the author of A Sign of Affection and Short Cake Cake… except it’s not, it actually came out before both of those. A gorgeous high school girl is also shy and doesn’t like attention… so promptly falls for the boy who refuses to look at her. This looks sweet.

MICHELLE: I’m here for it.

ANNA: Surprising no one, so am I!

ASH: Likewise interested.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blue Box 5, Dr. STONE 26, The Elusive Samurai 7, Kubo Won’t Let Me Be Invisible 8, Moriarty the Patriot 12, My Love Mix-Up! 8, One Piece 103, Romantic Killer 4 (the final volume), Tista 2 (the final volume), and Vampire Knight: Memories 8.

Square Enix has A Man and His Cat 8.

ASH: I should probably catch up with this series; I did enjoy what I have managed to read.

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts Classroom of the Elite: Horikita (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e √Horkita), a spinoff AU series that focuses on Horikita, which may surprise anime fans who thought the series already focused too much on her. It ran in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

They’ve also got The Ancient Magus’ Bride 18, Berserk of Gluttony 8, Gap Papa: Daddy at Work and at Home 2, Kemono Jihen 6, Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World 4, Made in Abyss 11, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 16, and Versailles of the Dead 4.

MICHELLE: I didn’t realize volume 18 of The Ancient Magus’ Bride was coming out so soon; I’ve been working my way to getting caught up to 17!

ASH: Always glad to see a new volume of The Ancient Magus’ Bride!

SEAN: There’s some print from Kodansha. Drifting Dragons 14, EDENS ZERO 23, In/Spectre 18, Lovely Muco! 2, Noragami Omnibus 6, To The Abandoned Sacred Beasts 14, and Yuri is My Job! 11.

ASH: Drifting Dragons is another series that I’ve been enjoying but need to catch up on.

SEAN: The digital debut is My Wife is a Little Intimidating (Boku no Oku-san wa Chotto Kowai), a Comic Days series based on a Twitter comic. The description reminds me a bit of We’re New at This if the wife were… well… intimidating, rather than stoic.

And there’s digital for The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 9, How to Grill Our Love 3, Life 5, MF Ghost 15, Matcha Made in Heaven 6, Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch: Aqua 2, Sakura’s Dedication 4, The Transcendent One-Sided Love of Yoshida the Catch 3, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 9.

ANNA: I’ve been eagerly awaiting the next Matcha Made in Heaven!

ASH: I haven’t read the first volume yet, but I still love the series’ title.

SEAN: No new series for J-Novel Club, but a whole lot of ongoing ones. The 100th Time’s the Charm: She Was Executed 99 Times, So How Did She Unlock “Super Love” Mode?! 2, The Apothecary Witch Turned Divorce Agent 2, An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 16, the 2nd manga volume of A Cave King’s Road to Paradise: Climbing to the Top with My Almighty Mining Skills!, Endo and Kobayashi Live! The Latest on Tsundere Villainess Lieselotte Disc EX (the final volume), Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 8, the 5th manga volume of Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 2, Magic Knight of the Old Ways 5 (the final volume), The Misfit of Demon King Academy 4 Part 2, My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex 7, the 4th manga volume of Rebuild World, A Royal Rebound: Forget My Ex-Fiancé, I’m Being Pampered by the Prince! 2, and To Another World… with Land Mines! 7.

ASH: Wow! That is a whole lot!

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Love is an Illusion! 3 (OK, not technically Ghost Ship), Please Go Home, Miss Akutsu! 2, and World’s End Harem: Fantasia 9.

Apologies, missed this last week. Fantagraphics has a one-shot, Minami’s Lover (Minami-kun no Koibito), a Garo manga from 1986 about a high school couple who struggle with everything when she becomes six inches tall!

ASH: Oh, yes! I just got my hands on that one!

SEAN: Dark Horse has the 9th Blade of the Immortal Deluxe Edition. (It got bumped.)

ASH: I’ll be picking it up whenever it’s actually released.

SEAN: And Airship, in print, gives us Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 3 and Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut 5.

We also get early digital for The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 5 and Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 23.

That’s it? Not too bad!

The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes, Vol. 8

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By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Esther Sun.

Last time I wondered if this final volume in the series would be a victory lap, or if we would have one last plot twist for Rosemary to deal with in order to save her life. As it turns out, there’s nothing to worry about, this is pure fluff, an absolute victory lap that consists entirely of everyone praising Rosemary to the skies while she herself acts like a lovestruck teenager and frets that she’s about to screw everything up at any moment. Spoiler: she doesn’t. There’s always been an element of “everyone thinks of the best possible reasoning for our heroine’s behavior” to this series, but it’s tended to be balanced by action sequences or suspense. Here there’s none of that, and even the romance is handled fairly early, so it really is just wedding prep, wedding, and having all the other love interests get a narrative bit about how sad they are but how happy they are for Rosemary. The word “schmoopy” was invented for books like this.

After the events of the last book (and reassuring herself that her cat is not in fact dead), Rosemary spends the bulk of the first half of this book recuperating. Of course, that does not mean that she’s not doing things. First of all, she and Leonhart finally confess to each other with words and everything, and get across that, rather than merely tolerating the other’s presence, they are in fact giant dorks in love. This means there’s a wedding coming!… in two years time. While we wait for that, she says a final farewell to Kanon (who goes back to Japan, though she’ll return for the wedding itself) and concentrates of learning how to become a duchess, because the status gap between princess and count is too large, so they’re giving her a duchy to solve the problem. And, of course, there’s the hospital and medical schools. Plus, y’know, the rest of her harem.

As with prior volumes, the books alternate between Rosemary and various other characters. Most of this is what you’d expect, but we do meet Leonhart’s family, the most interesting part of the book. They’re husband, wife, and three sons, Leonhart being the eldest, and the men in the family all have the quirk of being uninterested in romance till they meet the one woman who they will love the rest of their days. As such, they’re a bit worried about Leonhart, as the princess might be trying to selfishly coerce him. Then they meet Rosemary, who is practically perfect in every way, and are quickly adoring her like everyone else. If you are the sort of person who is bothered by this, I assume you dropped the series long ago, but with no serious plotline to balance out the praise, it gets to be a bit too much even for me.

In the end, they get married and the book ends. I was wondering if we’d get a flash forward to the future, which we don’t in terms of Rosemary, but I did like the epilogue, which shows what her real legacy will be. So yes, I enjoyed this series, a good one for a combination of “avoid my fate” reincarnation and suspense thriller.

The Manga Review: Love Is All You Need

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With the Fourth of July right around the corner, and two big conventions on the horizon, there were only a handful of real news stories this week. The biggest? Tokyopop just launched an imprint for romance manga called LoveLove, which will offer “age-appropriate content for readers ranging… from 13+ to older teens (16+) to ones aimed strictly at mature readers (18+).” The first title—The Black Cat & The Vampire—arrives in stores on October 12th… Jujutsu Kaisen has sold a staggering 80 million volumes worldwide… Masashi Kishimoto is hard at work on a new Naruto story… and the NBA will be introducing a line of t-shirts, satin jackets, and hoodies that allow fans to express their love of My Hero Academia and their favorite basketball team.

AROUND THE WEB

Kate Sánchez praises Netflix’s new adapation of Ōoku: The Inner Chamber for “staying true to the original manga” while “using animation to bring Yoshinaga’s vision to life with a vibrancy” that “can only be done in animation” [But Why Tho?]

Laura Grace posts a new installment of the Shojo Alphabet with a list of great series beginning with the letter “I.” [ Beneath the Tangles]

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of Barefoot Gen, Asahi Shimbun traces out the publication history of Keiji Nakazawa’s classic drama. [The Asahi Shimbun]

Over at Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman interviews Ryo Sumiyoshi about his fantasy series Centaurs. [ANN]

Also worth a look is Christopher Farris’ interview with Jun Mayuzuki, author of After the Rain and Kowloon Generic Romance. [ANN]

Alex, Vrai, and Tony dedicate the latest episode of Chatty AF to Yuri Is My Job!. [Anime Feminist]

If you’ve been curious about the Mangamo! digital platform, check out Gee and Ray’s in-depth review. [Read Right to Left]

Not manga, but relevant: Kazuma Hashimoto traces out the history of the JRPG label, noting the degree to which it influences consumer behavior in the video game marketplace. “It’s clear that the mainstream only courts a specific idea of Japan as being acceptable — often reinterpretations of feudal Japan, largely spanning from the 1500s to late 1800s, when the samurai were still part of Japanese society,” he observes. “This extends to what Japanese-made games Western publishers will support… and this diminishes the rich tapestry of games released under the ‘Japanese role-playing game’ umbrella in order to fulfill a fantasy for non-Japanese consumers.” [Polygon]

For more commentary on the “othering” of Japanese media, see Tony Yao’s essay on how Americans perceive manga, and perceive Japanese culture through manga. [Drop-In to Manga]

REVIEWS

Over at The Comics Journal, Tegan O’Neill reviews Minami’s Lover, new out from Fantagraphics, while Hagai Palevsky tackles the Eisner-nominated horror series PTSD Radio. Elsewhere on the web, Tony Yao gives a “shout out” to Manga in Libraries: A Guide for Teen Librarians… Adam Symchuk reviews two indie titles, The Rabbit Game and Words Bubble Up Like Soda… and the crew at Beneath the Tangles offer pithy assessments of Bloody Sweet, Heavenly Delusion, and Scribbles.

New and Noteworthy

Complete, Ongoing, and OOP

Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter: The Second Coming of Shooting Star and the Final Showdown in the Eastern Capital

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By Riku Nanano and cura. Released in Japan as “Koujo Denka no Kateikyoushi” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by William Varteresian.

OK, I will admit, the author cleared the bar that I had set up for them. I’ve already grumped quite a bit about Lydia’s character arc during the last two to three books, and I had certain expectations of how it would resolve itself. I did not like those expectations, but I had them. Lydia was going to go berserk, everyone would make the terrible decision to kill her, and then Allen would return and talk her down. Thankfully, that is NOT what happened – at least not the last part. Lydia manages to get talked down by all the other love interests yelling “snap out of it, you idiot” at regular intervals till she does. This allows her to be part of the final battle, which I appreciated. Of course, I might be less grumpy if we ever learned more about Lydia and Allen’s past than anecdotes. Surprisingly, Tina doesn’t get much to do here either. Honestly, the love interest with the most focus is Lynne, as Narrator #2.

The rebellion is going very badly for the rebels, who decide to stake it all on one last battle for the Great Tree. Fortunately for those defending it, reinforcements are coming from all over the land. Unfortunately, Allen is still missing and presumed dead, meaning that most of the love interests are moping, and Lydia is… well, not in her right mind, we’ll put it that way. As for Allen, he’s trying to get the approval of an ancient ghost, and then has to battle the real enemy behind all this – the Church. (I know, the church, evil, in a Japanese light novel? Try to contain your shock.) Unfortunately, he may have finally come across something which really IS too much for him, as opposed to all the things he handles with ease while saying they’re too much for him. He may be forced to… ask for help.

Yeah, the final part of the book is basically “what if we all battled the final boss together?”, though the boss in this case is just a created monster thing. There was decent stuff in this book, but I won’t lie, I’m happy to see the back of this arc. In addition to Lydia running amok, I was also not fond of a death fakeout near the end, which was done purely to give Allen the rage and despair to fight even harder, but if you’re going to do that, don’t just do a “just kidding” afterwards. In the end, honestly, no one we care about died, or was even injured. One minor character’s father was kidnapped, which may be what starts the next arc, but other than that everyone does fine. A bit more than fine, honestly – Stella has become so overpowered I may have to start calling her Allen soon.

So yeah, good riddance to this arc, but I still enjoy the series. Next volume apparently stars Lily, the “Maid” of the Leinster family, and I am hoping will let her do something other than be comedy relief, because that’s all she’s done so far.

My Happy Marriage, Vol. 4

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By Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon” by Fujimi L Bunko. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by David Musto.

There is generally a habit in books, whether they’re “mysteries” or not, of trying to conceal a surprise twist. Keep the audience guessing, don’t let them figure out what the twist is until it’s too late. In practice, this is quite hard to pull off, and tends to lead to rolling of the eyes once the big reveal happens. As such, I always appreciate when a book doesn’t bother to do that and just says “let’s give it away on page 1”. Which is exactly what happens here, as there’s a traitor in the group that’s trying to protect Miyo, and the number of people tat it could possibly be amounts to one person. So we see that person approached by the villain immediately, in a prologue, and know who it is. Which is good, as it can then help with that this author really IS good at, which is giving readers an ulcer as they wait for the bad things to inevitably happen.

We pick up where we left off last time, with Miyo and Kiyoka beset by a man who claims to be her real father, and is also really, really smugly evil. Now Miyo can’t be left on her own , so she starts going to work and coming home with Kiyoka every day. She also gets a bodyguard, Kaoruko, one of the few women in the military in what is a very misogynistic unit. This means that Miyo has to deal with a) all the other members of the unit badmouthing Kaoruko and telling her to stay in the kitchen, and b) the fact that Miyo is associated with a family no one trusts and everyone seems to despise. You get the sense that the title of the series is getting further and further away, especially as they’re still not actually married yet.

So yeah, this book runs on dread. Not the dread of a horror novel, but the dread of a book about an abused daughter who is still viewing herself as the absolute worst being attacked on all sides. She has Kiyoka, who does the best he can, but she really needs more allies. Sadly, the one friend she makes, Kaoruko, turns out to be one of Kiyoka’s former potential fiancees, and clearly still has feelings for him, which sends Miyo into another spiral of self-loathing. Now, she does get one scene late in the book where she stands up and lets the sexist soldiers have it, but it’s sort of like eating a riceball made of needles in order to get to the tasty plum inside. Why read the series at all? The needles are also VERY tasty. This author knows how to write depression, anxiety, and melancholy, and Miyo is an extremely well-drawn woman.

So yes, we’re still not happy, and one subplot hints that we may see more double (triple?) agents. But this is still really good angst. The anime debuts next week, and should be exquisitely painful.