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Honey Lemon Soda Vol 1 by Mayu Murata

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Honey Lemon Soda Volume 1 by Mayu Murata

I was aware that there was a great deal of anticipation when Honey Lemon Soda was licensed, and the first volume lived up to the hype! Popular boy inexplicably adopting an incredibly awkward girl is a familiar plot in most shoujo manga, but Honey Lemon Soda takes this premise and runs with it, making the reader feel instantly sympathetic with the introverted heroine in question. Uka Ishimori’s gets in the way of an errant blast of lemon soda wielded by Kai Miura. She freezes up and is unable to respond to his friends’ expressions of concern and she runs away when Miura apologizes to her. His friends comment “It’s kinda like she’s living out a different genre than the rest of us” which is a good way of summarizing how disconnected Uka is from people her own age.

Honey lemon soda 1

In middle school, Uka was bullied, with classmates calling her “Rocky” due to her last name and stony expression. She’s determined to make friends and change in high school, and picked a school to go to based on its more laid back and flashy reputation instead of going to a school where people are devoted to studying. Every possible social interaction has Uka caught up in her anxious thoughts, as she has to force herself to offer to help a classmate with the answer to a question. Miura starts taking an interest, coaching Uka through some basic greetings. When she actually calls on him for help, he leaps in and defends her from some of her former middle school bullies. Uka starts expressing herself more often, although sometimes she’s so tense about communicating with others that her thoughts come out more like yelling accidentally.

Miura might look super cool with his effervescent blond hair, but he also seems to have more compassion than is typical in a shoujo hero, and he keeps dropping comments designed to help Uka become more comfortable with herself. Murata’s character designs are attractive, and there are plenty of dynamic panel layouts as the characters make their way through emotionally fraught situations. After reading the first volume, I am eager to see how Uka changes on her journey to break out of her shell and express herself more.

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 4

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By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

This review really cannot happen without spoiling the end of the book, so beware if you do not want to be spoiled, though I will try not to exactly spoil. Throughout most of this volume, this has the feel of a “makework” volume in the series, as events happen but it lacks the striking imagery of previous books, which was one of the major reasons we read it. It also is not as gay, which is the other reason we read it, mostly as Bisco and Milo spend most of the book separated from each other, and there’s only one or two moments, such as brief princess carry, or Milo staring in what is clearly jealousy at one point, that makes you realize the writer knows what they’re doing. But it’s all right. It’s got some really cool fight scenes, Bisco is funny at times, we have a new waif who needs to be guided/rescued, and we get a little more development of the post-apocalyptic works with a slave race. OK, that last part is questionable.

We open with a teenager escaping from what appears to be a maximum security prison, only to be caught almost immediately, and their rescue/medical treatment by Bisco and Milo, and we then backtrack to see why they’re in a prison in the first place. They arrive at what is supposed to be a mushroom keeper’s village only to find it nearly deserted, covered in sakura flowers. The tribe have been arrested and thrown into a maximum security prison by the warden, who is very big on justice in a “Shonen Cop Gone Bad” sort of way. Shishi is part of a tribe called the Benibishi, an artificially engineered plant-based species designed as slaves. All the Benibishi are ALSO in the prison, and Shishi’s father, their King, is due to be executed. Now Bisco and Milo have to get into the prison and try to resolve things… except that they’re promptly arrested and thrown in there anyway.

Starting off with the one really great part of the book. The third volume ended, to the surprise of most readers, with Pawoo marrying Bisco, and she’s come along in this book as well. Then, a third of the way through the book, the prison warden grabs her and simply throws her out of the book and back to her home town. We never see her again. It’s jaw-droppingly funny given the novels’ BL tendencies. Well, that’s the good out of the way. Shishi is briefly presented as trans, but it’s unclear if that’s gender-based or just has to do with the idea of “prince”, and the book uses female pronouns for Shishi throughout. The Benibishi all are jailed because there is a worry that they will go mad with revenge and try to kill those who wronged them. Their plant nature means they run the risk of getting caught up in murderous rage, and the King warns Bisco and Milo about it, so they help his daughter calm down and not choose violence.

And then comes the ending, which is like the author giving you a nice warm hug and then stabbing you in the back. Now, I will grant you there’s certainly a plot for Book 5 now, and I wonder if the only reason this happened is the author ran out of things to do in this series. But man, Shishi’s actions in the last three pages or so leave SUCH a bad taste in my mouth that I can’t really recommend this anymore. A merely okay volume of the series till the ending brings it down to bad.

High School DxD: Lionheart of the Academy Festival

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

Generally speaking, harem series rarely have to ask the question “why is the guy not understanding that all these girls who are literally naked in his bed saying “take me now, big boy!” kinda like him?”. The reason for that is that in most of these stories the answer is the same. It’s a variation on “don’t be silly, no girl will ever like me.” Harem protagonist never comes without a heaping helping of self-loathing, it would seem. Fortunately for High School DxD, it can actually give Issei a real reason for all that self-loathing beyond “because the plot requires it”. His first girlfriend, the one who he finally thought would be the girl that did not see him as a creepy pervert loser (which, sorry Issei, he is) rejected him bluntly multiple times. Oh yes, and turned out to be evil, tried to kill him, and was murdered in front of him. So when you ask “why does he not understand why Rias is so mad in this volume”, the answer can be, frankly, “trauma”.

We’ve had the sports festival and the school trip, so clearly it’s time for the culture festival. Maid cafe? Haunted house? Why not do both? As the Occult Research Club prepares to pull out all the stops, they also have a fresh new Rating Game, against an up and coming team whose leader, Sairaorg, has no demonic powers, but has to get by with his charisma and his brute strength. He is, frankly, a perfect opponent for Issei, and the fight takes up the entire second half of the book. Unfortunately, there’s trouble in paradise: After being as subtle as a truck and failing to get her feelings across to Issei, Rias spends most of the book miserable and thinking that he doesn’t actually love her. He’s not helping things by not understanding why calling her “Prez” feels like distance. Can they make up in time to win the match?

I haven’t mentioned breasts at all yet in this review, so I want to sadly reassure fans of the series that they’re still ridiculously essential to the plot, with the funniest fight in the book revolving around a woman taking off her panties before her bra, something that absolutely infuriates Issei. As for he and Rias, frankly, the two are more similar than you’d expect, and of course are the main couple of this series. And yes, finally we can say “couple”, given that we get an incredibly overdramatic and public confession (it’s High School DxD, where everything happens in front of the biggest crowd imaginable) which, more importantly, is followed by a quieter but just as firm confession when it’s just the two of them. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that this is a “marry everyone” kind of series, but it has to start with Rias, and now it has.

That said, haven’t things gone a bit too well for our heroes lately? (Well, except Akeno, who got annihilated in about ten seconds. Sorry, Akeno.) Gosh, I hope nothing absolutely tragic happens in the next book…

Manga the Week of 1/25/23

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SEAN: The heavy part of January has passed us by, but there’s still lots of titles still to go.

ASH: Woohoo!

SEAN: No print for Airship this week, but we do see a 4th volume of Survival in Another World with My Mistress! in early digital.

Ghost Ship has Into the Deepest, Most Unknowable Dungeon 5.

J-Novel Club has a debut. These Legs Don’t Lie! Harumi’s Legacy as the Strongest Mimic (Bikyaku Mimic, Harumi-san: Tensei Monster Isekai Nariagari Densetsu) stars a young woman who seems to have been reincarnated as… a mimic? One of those treasure chests that’s really a trap? Fortunately, she’s essentially Fantasy Betty Grable.

ASH: Wait, do mimics even have legs?

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: Ascendance of a Bookworm 23, Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers 6, Housekeeping Mage from Another World: Making Your Adventures Feel Like Home! 4, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 5, and VTuber Legend: How I Went Viral after Forgetting to Turn Off My Stream 3.

ASH: Bookworm!

SEAN: Kaiten Books has a digital volume of Gacha Girls Corps 4.

Kodansha has another print debut of a former digital only title: A Condition Called Love (Hananoi-kun to Koi no Yamai). It’s a Dessert title, about a girl who ends up going out with a popular guy after his messy breakup with someone else. But is she just a rebound, or something more?

MICHELLE: I started this digitally but didn’t get far, so I look forward to the opportunity to pick up with the print edition. This is by Megumi Morino, who also did Wake Up, Sleeping Beauty.

ASH: Oh! I did enjoy what I read of that series.

ANNA: I’m curious!

SEAN: Also in print: Blue Period 12, Noragami Omnibus 3 (Vol. 7-9), Wave, Listen to Me! 9, and the final 27th and 28th volumes of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches, a series that shows you exactly what happens when the publisher forces an artist to write more and more after it should have ended.

MICHELLE: I’ve really gotta get caught up with Wave, Listen to Me!.

ASH: I’m a couple volumes behind, but look forward to reading them. As for Yamada-kun… I’m going to have to agree with Sean’s assessment. Which is a shame since the earlier part of the series was so good.

SEAN: Digitally we get Burn the House Down 8 (the final volume), A Couple of Cuckoos 9, DAYS 33, The Food Diary of Miss Maid 3, Gamaran: Shura 4, Getting Closer to You 4, Saving Sweets for After-Hours 3, and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 6.

MICHELLE: Burn the House Down looks intriguing. I shall soon undertake a binge!

SEAN: KUMA has a debut: Happy of the End, a BL series from Qpa. A man wakes up lying on garbage with another man hovering over him. Then the memories return… weren’t they in a punch-up fight the day before?

MICHELLE: This one has a very pretty cover!

ASH: I am intrigued!

ANNA: Hmmm….

SEAN: Seven Seas has some debuts. My Secret Affection (Kimi no Koto ga Suki de Ienai) is a shoujo title from Dessert. After a meteorite fall 30 years earlier, everyone now only falls in love with the same sex. Except our heroine! Can she hide the fact that she’s cishet from her childhood friend and crush?

MICHELLE: Definitely going to wait for others’ reviews on this one.

ASH: Hmmm. I could see this premise being handled really well or really, really poorly.

ANNA: Same, I guess it certainly has a unique premise?

SEAN: Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō is a supernatural title from Monthly Action and is based on the light novels Seven Seas is also releasing.

ASH: I might have time to read the manga before I have a chance to read the novel!

SEAN: In addition, Polar Bear Café: Collector’s Edition is a re-release of the popular series with additional color pages.

ASH: Nice!

SEAN: On the danmei novel side, we get The Husky and His White Cat Shizun: Erha He Ta De Bai Mao Shizun 2.

ASH: Speaking of novels I haven’t had a chance to read yet…

On the manga side, we see The Dragon Knight’s Beloved 4, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 4, I Got Caught Up In a Hero Summons, but the Other World was at Peace! 5, Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World 2, MoMo -the blood taker- 3, Thunderbolt Fantasy Omnibus II (the final volume), and Yokai Cats 2.

Square Enix Manga has Beauty and the Feast 6, The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest 10, and Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 7.

Titan Books gives us Kamen Rider Kuuga 2.

ASH: Good to see Titan Books on the list!

SEAN: Lastly, from Viz Media we get How Do We Relationship? 8 and My Hero Academia: School Briefs 6.

ASH: A small showing from Viz this week, but I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve read of How Do We Relationship? so far.

SEAN: Something for everyone! Something for you? Are you everyone?

The Manga Review [Insert Snappy Title Here]

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Before I get to this week’s news and reviews, I’m making my quarterly appeal for help. Do you follow a podcast or YouTube channel that’s producing great manga-related content? Did you just launch a manga-centric Substack or blog? Have you recently joined the reviewing team for an established site like ANN or The Fandom Post? If so, let me know! Your suggestions have helped me cast a wider net for my weekly round-ups, so leave a link in the comment section or contact me through Twitter; my handle is @manga_critic.

NEWS

Earlier this week, Kodansha announced that it is suspending simulpub updates on Crunchyroll and Azuki, and will pull a number of series from these platforms on January 31st. Krystallina offers a thoughtful, in-depth analysis of the company’s decision, outlining several possible scenarios for what Kodansha might do next. [The OASG]

Yen Press just announced 10 new licenses for summer 2023. [ANN]

It’s that time of the month again: the Seven Seas’ January 2023 Reader Poll is now open. [Seven Seas]

For the curious: here’s a highlight reel of scenes and songs from the Attack on Titan musical, which is currently playing at the Nihon Seinenkan Hall in Tokyo. [Otaku USA]

…AND VIEWS

Translator Jocelyne Allen delves into the world of explainer manga. “These are born from the artist getting really, really into something,” she observes. “Rather than bursting at the seams with this new knowledge, they barf it all up into a manga. Which is not a bad thing. They do the work of studying and we get to learn something new in a fun and accessible way.” [Brain vs. Book]

The all-star line-up of Masha Zhdanova, Carrie McClain, Paulina Pzystupa, Alenka Figa, and Kathryn Hemmann discuss the manga and graphic novels they’re reading right now, from Oshi No Ko to Darlin’. [WWAC]

Kristin breaks down the cost of buying the full run of Bleach and Naruto in all their various formats, from individual volumes to box sets. [Anime Collective]

Over at Honey’s Anime, Brett Michael Orr names his five most anticipated yuri and yaoi manga of 2023, as well as five manga that will “help you stick to your new year’s resolutions.” [Honey’s Anime]

The Manga Machinations crew hold a round table discussion about three current series: Chainsaw Man, Kowloon Generic Romance, and Drowning Love. [Manga Machinations]

David and Jordan share their first impressions of Shounen Shoujo. [Shonen Flop]

The latest episode of Screentone Club focuses on Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou and My Wonderful World. [Screentone Club]

Once again, Jon Holt and Teppei Fukuda team up to translate an essay by manga critic Natsume Fusanosuke–this time, focusing on Jiro Taniguchi’s fruitful partnership with Natsuo Sekikawa (The Times of Botchan, Trouble Is My Business). [The Comics Journal]

REVIEWS

Tony Yao posts a thoughtful–and thought-provoking–review of Sensei’s Pious Lie, while Good Comics for Kids’ Renee Scott explains why My Sister, The Cat, is “by far one of the cutest found-family stories I’ve ever read.” Over at Anime News Network, Rebecca Silverman reads You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! so that you don’t have to, while Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and I warn readers off Love at Fourteen, The Music of Marie, and Rainbow Days. 

New and Noteworthy

Complete and Ongoing Series

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 9

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By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

The Tomozaki novels have always felt a bit like a college thesis. It’s the sort of series that Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle made fun of, detailing ways to improve your life and become a normie. As such, it’s not too much of a surprise that this book is very analytical of its three main characters. In fact, arguably that’s the plot of this volume. And what it shows us is scary. Hinami, Tomozaki and Kikuchi are all characters we like and root for (well, OK, maybe not Hinami), but at the same time they can be truly terrifying. In this book we see Tomozaki realizing that the path Hinami has been leading him down is the wrong one, but the self-discoveries that he comes to are also very dangerous, and he almost chooses a totally different but equally wrong path. God bless Mimimi, who may constantly be the romantic loser but I think sees the real Tomozaki better than any of the others. She knows WHY they all fell for him.

You will be relieved to hear that Tomozaki and Kikuchi do not break up after the events of the previous book, though I admit I am a lot less optimistic about their future by the END of this book. Tomozaki confronts Hinami about the advice she gave him regarding his new relationship, and finds she was trying to get them to have their first fight – which causes him to break off their sessions. He apologizes to Kikuchi and tries to work things out with her, but we discover that the aspects of dating that everyone else seems to take for granted elude him. This is shown best in a game of Atafami with his offline group, where she shows that he’s started to use a completely different character, something that almost makes Hinami have an emotion. Meanwhile, Kikuchi is writing a new online novel… one that, once again, seems eerily familiar.

Which sounds scarier, seeing the world only as a gamer or seeing the world only as a writer? Tomozaki’s reaction to Kikuchi’s new novel almost feels like it’s out of a horror story, where you find that she’s secretly behind him as he reads it. Meanwhile, Hinami simply IS a horror story. Her statement that she never does anything without a reason, and her bafflement that others find this creepy, forces Tomozaki to wonder why she’s been tutoring him on life this whole time. What is her real reason? If it’s just “I was annoyed by Tomozaki’s lameness”, that’s a sad reason. But no, it’s actually a way to validate herself that doesn’t damage herself – only him. I think we may be totally done with the life lessons, at least on her end. Just as it turns out Tomozaki was strong and cool all along, Hinami is still dealing with past trauma, and any lessons learned in the future are probably going to be hers.

There’s a new translator for this volume, as Jennifer Ward has been freed from Oregairu and moved on to a series inspired by it. Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki may not need a glossary at the end, but its volumes are filled with emotion, trauma, and psychoanalysis. I really enjoy this series.

Baccano!: 1935-C The Grateful Bet

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By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

The author has said a few times that this will be the final 1930s arc, and that after that there’s just one arc in 2003 to wrap up the series. (Admittedly he said that when this volume came out… almost ten years ago… more on that next time.) And on reading this volume, you get the sense that he’s sending the series off with a bang. Baccano! is known for its big cast, but here it feels like he’s trying to have every single main character from the series show up at the same time. We get Firo’s group, Luck’s group (with several additions from Drugs and the Dominoes and Man in the Killer), All Huey’s various Lamia and Larva, Jacuzzi’s gang, the girls from Time of the Oasis, etc. As for the 1700s immortals, for the most part they’re absent from the actual event (Maiza doesn’t count at this point, he’s part of Firo’s group more than he is a 1700s alchemist) but are trying to control or destroy everything there. It’s an all-star finale.

So yeah, Ennis has (sigh) been kidnapped in order to make Firo do something dumb. Fortunately, Firo has matured a bit from the last time this happened, so he merely smolders with controlled rage. The Martillos have his back (well, most of them, Ronny is AWOL) and consider Ennis one of their own. Meanwhile, there’s also the Runorata’s big casino opening, which everyone wioll be attending so that they can watch the other shoe drop. No one is quite sure what will be happening, but they all know it will be happening there. As for Melvi, we find out who he is in this book, but frankly he’s started his downhill slide already, given that he can’t even win against Ennis in an argument about what makes someone human. And then there’s Nader, the least likely protagonist, trying to help Eve and avoid getting caught by Leeza, but also running into someone who knows of his past.

Again, so much of this is just setup. I do wish Ennis had done more (Melvi is threatening her with Czes being tortured, but as we can see, Melvi doesn’t even have Czes, something Ennis can’t really confirm) but I did really enjoy her conversation with Melvi, where she shows she’s a much better homunculus than he’ll ever be. (Speaking of the Dormentaires, we get confirmation that only three of them got immortality in 1711 – Lucrezia, Niki, and Maiza’s dad. Sorry, Lucrezia/Carla shippers.) There’s a lot of potential confrontations that haven’t happened yet (Ladd vs. Claire, Nader and Sonia meeting again) as this book is STILL almost all setup, but we do get a couple scenes we’ve been waiting for, such as Leeza and Chane working together and Huey confronting Fermet. I’d mentioned above that almost everyone from the main cast and supporting cast is here, but Elmer is mentioned but not around – one wonders if he’ll be the fuse for this explosion to come.

The arc still isn’t over, so we’ll have to wait till next time for that explosion. Till then, enjoy the discussion of what makes a human, how much the world runs on fate, and other Baccano! philosophical debates.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 9

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By mikawaghost and tomari. Released in Japan as “Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

I’m not sure how much longer this series has to go in Japan – Vol. 10 just came out in October there – but I suspect this series is not going to get beyond Vol. 12 at the most, as it’s really starting to wrap everything up. Basically, all the secrets that everyone has been hiding come out here, and come out very publicly. In some cases this is a good thing. We’ve watched Mashiro’s character development from the start of the series, and here we see why she writes and what she takes inspiration from. She’s jealously guarded her own incredibly popular work because she worries others will change it and that it won’t be hers anymore, but coming to terms with her feelings for Akiteru has made her back off on that – and on the fake relationship, which she breaks because she feels it’s holding her back on the chances of a real relationship. She gets some of the best bits in this book… but is still probably coming in 2nd of 2.

The class has a free day, which is good because Akiteru got no sleep the night before as Mashiro, as I mentioned above, breaks up with him. That said, she’s now taking him out on a date to the not-Disneyworld theme park… you know, the one run by Iroha’s mother. Who happens to be there, and gives them free “extra special guest” passes. Of course, they’re followed by Midori, who is still fairly broken up about her rejected confession. Meanwhile, Mizuki takes Iroha to the set where they’re filming, and there they run into Otoi, who does not like Mizuki very much and it shows. After this, they too end up at the theme park, where Mizuki has a meeting. As Mashiro and Akiteru deal with a very scary haunted mansion… erm, sorry, ghost mansion… Iroha also ends up in the same mansion. How many dates is Akiteru going to have, anyway?

The best character in this volume may be Otoi, whose bluntness helps to cut through the aura of bullshit that everyone else around her carries, even if we still don’t know her first name (it’s implied to make people think of toilets). As mentioned above, Mashiro gets a great character development book, but in terms of romance it comes up short – Akiteru thinks they’re on a “real” date, whereas she thinks that they, the creators of a popular horror game, are here for research. It’s funny, but in a bittersweet way. Less funny is Iroha’s cliffhanger. The relationship between Iroha and her mother has always had an air of “final boss” to it, and here we see that Iroha is so terrified of her that when it comes time to admit out loud what she wants to do with her life, she runs away. It’s actually rather depressing.

This does sort of wrap up the arc from last time, but it also has a cliffhanger that promises us that the next book will be a flashback showing us how Akiteru and Iroha first met. After that, we basically have only two plotlines to resolve, as I said. This is a solid series, but I admit I’m more in it for the drama now than the wacky teasing.

Raven of the Inner Palace, Vol. 1

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By Kouko Shirakawa and Ayuko. Released in Japan as “Kōkyū no Karasu” by Shueisha Orange Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Amelia Mason.

Sometimes people just want variations on a theme. Looks at why isekai is so popular, despite the fact that everyone you talk to seemingly hates it. Heck, look at Villainess novels, where I feel like Holt from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. “I’ve read this story before.” “AND YOU’LL READ IT AGAIN!” And now we have the mini-genre of “intrigue in the inner court palace of the Emperor and his harem”, where I’ve already got The Apothecary Diaries (mystery series with a side of toxic romance), Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower (foodie shoujo with doomed romance very much not as the side), and Though I Am An Inept Villainess (bodyswap AND villainess AND romance AND intrigue). And now we have Raven of the Inner Palace, which has mystery, and also romance, but most importantly it has ghosts. So many ghosts, they’re honestly choking the Inner Palace. Fortunately, we have a young woman who can help them move on. Somewhat less fortunately, she’s stuck there for the rest of her life, because she is Special ™.

Jusetsu is the Raven Consort, who, unlike the other Consorts in the Inner Palace, does not spend the nights “having conversations” with the Emperor. Instead, she helps others in the court to find lost items, or to remove a curse with her mystical powers. Now the Emperor, who is relatively new to power after overthrowing the Dowager Queen (who is ludicrously evil in an almost laughable way, despite the fact that we never see her) is here to see Jusetsu to see if she can identify who is the owner of a jade earring dropped on the ground. From here, and despite Jusetsu being standoffish and prickly and the Emperor seemingly being stoic, the two grow closer, and each learns the backstory of the other.

As with a lot of mystery series, I don’t want to give the game away by talking about the plot too much. I do like Jusetsu, who different enough from the other “court intrigue” heroines to be her own person. She turns out to be socially awkward as hell, partly from her tragic past, but mostly, it’s inferred, from the training she got to be the next Raven Consot, which consisted of emphasizing that she should have a minimum of human contacts. That goes out the window in the first book. Not only is the Emperor clearly starting to fall for her (she doesn’t notice) and she gains a court lady and a second servant. This is clearly a good thing for her character development, but I suspect a lot of folks are not going to like her straying out of her lane in the future. It does help that she’s very good at the supernatural part, which is the other half of this book. The ghosts are more sad than terrifying, but I’m sure we’ll have even more of them in future.

This also got an anime in the fall (which, be warned, used the Chinese names rather than the Japanese ones as this translation does). It succeeds for the same reason the other three series I mentioned do. Not because of the genre, or because of the mysteries. It’s because they’re REALLY well written. I wasn’t planning to read more. It’s now definitely one I’ll read more of.

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 13

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by M.B. Hare.

Generally speaking, long-running light novels tend to come in two different varieties of some sort. The first is “there is a definite end goal in mind, but we can drag this on forever if it stays popular”. This applies to most romantic comedies where the end point is “he chooses girl X”, or to fantasy books which have a save the world sort of goal, where the world getting saved is the endpoint. The others are the ones where we create a world or a situation and then just write infinite variations on the situation, with no expected end beyond “and the adventure continues…” Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear is definitely the second kind of book. No one expects Yuna’s past in Japan to ever be relevant again beyond going to this fantasy world’s Japan analogue. Likewise, this isn’t the kind of book where it’s going to pair Yuna romantically with anyone – not seriously, anyway. Unfortunately, this does mean that after a while it’s hard to find a real reason to carry on. Yuna’s not going to change.

The ten-year-old girl showing off her legs on the front cover (sigh…) is Karina, the daughter of the local lord of Dezelt, where Yuna has been sent. The water gem that stops their land becoming a sand-infested monster home has cracked and needs to be replaced, and fortunately Yuna’s water gem she got from killing the Kraken is just what they need. Unfortunately, for magic reasons, only the lord’s wife (who is pregnant) or Karina can guide folks through the labyrinthine pyramid to get to where the gem needs to go… and Karina dropped the magic map in the labyrinth. Karina, wracked with guilt, has been trying to find a group of adventurers who will help her find the map again, but you’d need someone super powerful who has a soft spot for ten-year-old girls, and where in this series can we find anyone like that?

Forgive me for saying things I have said about ten times over the course of this series, but Yuna seems to have a tremendous issue with accepting praise. To the point where even casual people who have just met her see that it’s a problem. It’s pathological by this point, and even when she’s forced to accept rewards for saving the entire town, she still finds a way to quietly only take half of it. It’s frustrating to me because, as I hinted above, I don’t think this is going anywhere. The author has mostly dropped the darker aspects of the series as they’ve gone along, so we’re unlikely to hear more about Yuna’s past. And I don’t think we’re reaching any sort of crisis point where Yuna has a breakdown or admits that she has to change herself. The only way I can see that happening would be if it comes from Fina, but Fina’s not in this book. Instead we have a Finalike, who is nice enough but frankly is another earnest ten-year-old girl with a crush on Yuna to stack onto the pile of earnest ten-year-old girls with a crush on Yuna.

I am aware that I’m not the audience for this series, and that it’s squarely in the “Cute Girls Doing OP Things” genre. But man, don’t use psychological trauma as your heroine’s one character trait.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/14/23

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Hello, Melancholic!, Vol. 3 | By Yayoi Ohsawa | Seven Seas I don’t think this series was cancelled, per se, but I am sad that this is the final volume, as it felt like it was just getting started. As you can likely guess, this final volume focuses on our main couple (the other pairings get side chapters that, alas, are not collected here) and their attempts to realize that they actually do like each other that way, as well as dealing with Minato’s terminal anxiety. I appreciated the way that this book showed that sometimes pushing a person to do something way outside their comfort zone can be a good thing, and I also enjoyed Hibiki being forced to realize that she may be more like her father than she thinks. Easily the best trombone-related yuri I’ve ever read, this is also an excellent manga even without the trombone. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 24 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – This volume flat-out tells you that we’ve reached the final arc of the story, and the back half of it is dedicated to that arc, kicked off by Kaguya vanishing from school. Before that, we get a lot more Ishigami and Iino ship tease, some more of Maki being a good friend but a terrible romantic partner, and Chika wondering why on Earth she doesn’t have any romance in her life? (Kaguya offers to set her up with Hayasaka, and given how much Chika fawns over another girl in this book, it’s probably not a bad idea.) There are still plenty of laughs here, but no doubt the final arc will be a serious one. Let’s hope that Kaguya can not only stay together with Shirogane, but survive to the end of the series. – Sean Gaffney

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 22 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – It can be very, very difficult to confess your love to a crush, especially in Japan, where casual dating is far less of a thing than it is over here. That said, I feel the plotline of “when will Manbagi confess, get rejected, and try to move on?” is taking forever, and that’s not helped by this volume, which gives her the perfect opportunity to confess, but she just can’t work up the guts. It doesn’t help that this is killing Komi too, and Manbagi knows it. The rest of the volume is mostly just the rest of the school trip, the high point of which was my realization that they’re staying at the same hotel that I stay at when I go to New York. (It’s got a lot of international customers.) Still good, but get on with it! – Sean Gaffney

Love at Fourteen, Vol. 12 | By Fuka Mizutani | Yen Press – I don’t think I’ve been this disappointed over the direction a series went since Bunny Drop. Now, don’t worry, no one breaks up here or anything. We even get a flashforward showing our main couple still together (if fairly static). The issue is that the author ran out of ideas for the main couple and so decided to bring in their fetishes, and we pay as much attention to them as we do to the Love at Fourteen. There’s not one, but THREE teacher-student romances, one of which explicitly has the girl decide to romance the teacher so he’s not seduced by a gay man. There’s the middle schooler and the mature looking fifth-grader. There’s the middle schooler and the OL, who get married at the end. Why was this so seedy? – Sean Gaffney

The Music of Marie | By Usumaru Furuya | One Peace Books – In this visually arresting, maddeningly empty story, Usumaru Furuya envisions a world in which humanity has been stripped of its technological progress. Marie, an enormous clockwork automaton, floats through the sky, keeping a seemingly silent vigil over her creators. Only one person can hear her celestial music: Kai, a young man who is torn between his feelings for Pipi, a childhood friend, and his emotional connection to Marie. Furuya’s illustrations are gorgeous, but the story never quite finds its groove, see-sawing between Pipi’s increasingly desperate attempts to win Kai’s affection and Kai’s efforts to uncover who built Marie, and why. The script sounds a few cautionary notes about the dangers of idolatry and technophobia, but Furuya’s penchant for making icky jokes spoils the mood. – Katherine Dacey

No Longer Allowed in Another World, Vol. 1 | By Hiroshi Noda and Takahiro Wakamatsu | Seven Seas This manga has one joke, and if you’re not here for the joke, you’ll probably want to stay away. The joke is that the protagonist of famous novel No Longer Human, about to kill himself along with his lover Sacchan, is instead hit by the inevitable isekai truck, and ends up in a fantasy world. This is a broad comedy, and the parodies of isekais are hilarious if (like me) you’ve read too many of them. That said, the main character here tries to kill himself multiple times over the course of the volume, and if suicide as comedy bothers you, absolutely do not read this. For those with no such issues, and who are familiar with No Longer Human, it’s pretty funny. – Sean Gaffney

Orochi: Perfect Edition, Vol. 1 | By Kazuo Umezz | VIZ – It’s pretty rare for me to disagree with critics like Helen Chazan and Chris Mautner, but I was underwhelmed by Orochi, especially when compared with some of Kazuo Umezu’s other translated works. The stories read like half-recalled dreams, with baroque plot twists and dialogue that makes Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? seem like a work of cinéma vérité. To some extent, that’s true of Umezu’s other work, but at least Cat-Eyed Boy and The Drifting Classroom pack a visual and an emotional punch, both of which are sorely lacking in Orochi; the title character is such a cipher that she registers more as a walking plot contrivance than a person, thus blunting the tragedies she helps set in motion. – Katherine Dacey

Rainbow Days, Vol. 1 | By Minami Mizuno | VIZ Media – I typically enjoy manga that was serialized in Margaret or one of its offshoots, but in Rainbow Days I have found the exception. Natsuki Hashiba is a wholesome teen with more worldly friends, and when they try to warn him that his new girlfriend is a gold digger, he refuses to listen. Alas, they were right. I found Natsuki to be a bland protagonist, but he’s at least better than one of his friends, Katakura, whose only personality trait is “into S&M.” Practically any time he’s in a scene, he’s either holding a whip (at school, no less!) or making comments about mouth gags. At no point is any of this ever funny. I do like Natsuki’s new love interest—and her abrasive, overprotective, and smitten best friend—and honestly I just wish those two had their own manga instead, because I really can’t do fifteen more volumes of this one. – Michelle Smith

The Shadows of Who We Once Were, Vol. 8 | By Yae Utsumi | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I wouldn’t exactly say The Shadows of Who We Once Were has been a fun series to binge—it’s about teens being held hostage by a former classmate and forced to participate in deadly experiments, after all—but it’s certainly been riveting in its own bleak way. From the outset, readers knew the total of deaths related to the incident, and the final two turn out to be quite a surprise. I also appreciated how the reporter factored in, and the cynical detail that her subsequent article managed to change public opinion for, like, three months. The best part of the series, though, is the way the survivors have changed from the incident, in many cases for the better. Overall, I really liked this series and hope that it will one day have a print release. – Michelle Smith

I’m in Love with the Villainess: She’s So Cheeky for a Commoner, Vol. 1

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By Inori and Hanagata. Released in Japan as “Heimin no Kuse ni Namaikina!” by GL Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Kevin Ishizaka. Adapted by Nibedita Sen.

I’ll admit I was surprised when I heard that this spinoff was being written. After five volumes of the main series, with so much that’s possible to explore, do we really need to have a retelling of events of the first book from Claire’s perspective? Fortunately, the answer is yes, we do need to have this. When I reviewed Book Two of the main series I talked about how much I loved Claire’s character development even though so much of it had to be filtered through Rae’s POV. Now we’re able to see that first hand. That said, this is still an adaptation of the events in the first book, meaning that much of the character development is still to come. We do see Claire’s inherent goodness and kindness, but we also see a lot of arrogance and ignorance of the class system that has propped up families like hers. Over the course of the book, Claire starts to get better about noticing that other people – even her good friends – have differing opinions.

Claire Francois is enjoying her life as one of the elites in the Royal Academy… at least until one day a commoner starts pestering her, and harassing her, and confessing love to her. It’s maddening, of course. Especially when said commoner ends up getting hired as Claire’s second maid! That said, she’s just a commoner, so a spot of mild bullying should do the trick and drive her away. Unfortunately, Claire’s friends Pepi and Loretta have ideas for bullying that are far more sadistic than what the essentially good-hearted Claire has in mind, so she gets nowhere. Over the course of the book, Claire is forced to confront her preconceptions about her friends, her roommate Catherine, lesbians, and commoners. Then just when she thinks she has a handle on things, she’s faced with the worst kind of betrayal.

As you may have noticed, this is not just a straight “write the same scenes from the opposite POV” side story. For one thing, Claire’s friends, known to the reader (and to Rae) as “Those Two Girls” get actual things to do and times where they disagree with Claire… though they also rely on her a great deal. We also get a brand new character, Claire’s roommate Catherine. Catherine is deeply connected to Claire’s traumatic past, and is also the daughter of a family that rivals hers, though Catherine’s status as part of that family is less than ideal. Of all the new things introduced in this book, she’s the most interesting to me, and I have a sneaking fear she won’t survive the series. She may have an agenda of her own for all I know, but her main role in this book is to give Claire good advice and try to get her to open her horizons… though she ends up rather startled when Claire is able to return the favor later on by forcing Catherine to leave her gilded cage.

As for Rae herself, Claire consistently refers to her as “the commoner” in her narrative voice throughout this book. I expect that will change in future volumes. If you enjoyed the main series, there’s absolutely no reason not to get this as well.

Manga the Week of 1/18/23

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SEAN: Good news, Yen Press have finally decided to join 2023, and they have STUFF.

ASH: I’m not sure that I’ve fully joined 2023 yet, so that’s one up on me, at least!

SEAN: Yen On’s debut is Bride of the Barrier Master (Kekkaishi no Ichirinka), which features a young woman who has always let her twin sister take the spotlight… then she finds she has a super powerful ability! Can she avoid fuss? Can she avoid romance? Signs point to no.

ASH: Oh ho, a supernatural shoujo romance novel, you say?

SEAN: Also from Yen On: Baccano! 21, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki 9, The Detective Is Already Dead 5, Goblin Slayer 15, High School DxD 10, Sabikui Bisco 4, Sasaki and Peeps 3, Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 2, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town 11, and Your Forma 3.

Yen Press has seven, count em, seven debuts. Christ.

ASH: So. Many.

SEAN: We begin with Apparently, Disillusioned Adventurers Will Save the World (Ningen Fushin no Boukenshatachi ga Sekai o Sukuu Youdesu), which is based on the light novel (also from Yen) and has an anime that just began.

Doomsday with my Dog (Sekai no Owari ni Shiba Inu to) is the latest in the “let’s wander the post-apocalypse” genre, only with a girl and a dog instead of two girls. It’s a Comic Walker title.

ASH: I do tend to enjoy this particular sub-genre and we get relatively few dog manga!

SEAN: Honey Lemon Soda is a long-running shoujo series from Ribon about a shy girl who tries to change herself after a “refreshing” boy rescues her.

MICHELLE: Well, I’m all about long-running shoujo series.

ANNA: I think there’s a lot of pent up excitement for this series, and I am also here for long-running shoujo series. Woo!

ASH: Ditto!

SEAN: I’m Quitting Heroing (Yuusha, Yamemasu) is the manga version of the light novel. A hero defeats the demon lord… then is told to go away, as the people he saved find him too powerful. So he decides to help the demon lord rebuild.

Oshi no Ko is the biggest debut this week. The writer of Kaguya-sama: Love Is War and the artist of Scum’s Wish team up. Its premise is not being spoiled by the blurb, so I’ll just say it involves idols.

MICHELLE: Hm. Potentially interesting.

SEAN: Pandora Seven is a Young Gangan series about a young woman, the only human on an island of non-humans, who lives a happy life with her family and friends… until humans come to destroy it all.

ASH: I am intrigued.

SEAN: Your Forma is the manga version of the light novel. It runs in Young Ace.

Also from Yen Press: Angels of Death Episode.0 5, Bungo Stray Dogs 22, Bungo Stray Dogs: Beast 4 (the final volume), Cheeky Brat 5, The Elder Sister-Like One 6, Hakumei & Mikochi: Tiny Little Life in the Woods 10, I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 2, I Want to Be a Wall 2, In Another World with My Smartphone 7, Karneval 14 (the final volume?), Lost Lad London 3 (the final volume), Love of Kill 10, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Another Story 2, No Longer Heroine 2, Overlord: The Undead King Oh! 9, A Polar Bear in Love 5, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 18, Sword Art Online: Phantom Bullet 4 (the final volume), Triage X 24, and Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet 2.

MICHELLE: I’m excited for the finale of Lost Lad London!

ANNA: That’s a ton of stuff. I’m going to check out the second volume of Tsubaki-chou Lonely Planet.

ASH: So much manga! It’s been a while since I’ve thought about A Polar Bear in Love, but I did enjoy earlier volumes.

SEAN: Now for non-Yen stuff. Viz debuts Tatsuki Fujimoto Before Chainsaw Man: 17-21 (Fujimoto Tatsuki Tanpenshuu), a collection of short stories from the popular author.

Viz also has the 22nd and final volume of BEASTARS, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End 7, Record of Ragnarok 5, Seraph of the End 26, and Undead Unluck 10.

Tokyopop gives us a third volume of Our Not-So-Lonely Planet Travel Guide.

Square Enix Manga has the 10th and final volume of Hi Score Girl.

Seven Seas has two debuts. BARBARITIES is a BL title from Magazine Be x Boy about a man who is hired to bodyguard a lord, and his attempts to seduce the lord’s overly serious nephew.

MICHELLE: This is by Tsuta Suzuki, whose A Strange and Mystifying Story ended up being really interesting.

ANNA: Oh, now I’m curious since I’ve heard good things about A Strange and Mystifying Story.

ASH: I’ve been looking forward to giving this one a try; I’ve enjoyed Tsuta Suzuki’s work.

SEAN: Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Fafnir the Recluse (Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon: Okomorigurashi no Fafnir) is another of the endless Dragon Maid spinoffs, this one running in Monthly Action.

Seven Seas also has Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 4, Saint Seiya: Saintia Shō 16 (the final volume – yes, 15 only came out this week), and Sakurai-san Wants to Be Noticed 3.

One Peace Books has a 6th volume of Multi-Mind Mayhem.

Kodansha debuts Is Love the Answer? (Kimi no Sekai ni Koi Wanai), a one-shot josei title from Hatsu Kiss. It’s about a woman who wonders why she’s never felt any of this “love” stuff, till she goes to college and finds out what it is: she’s asexual.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

ANNA: Alright!

ASH: Hooray, josei!

SEAN: They also have the print edition of My Unique Skill Makes Me OP Even at Level 1 (Level 1 Dakedo Unique Skill de Saikyou Desu), they had already been releasing the digital.

Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 3, In the Clear Moonlit Dusk 2, PTSD Radio Omnibus 2, and Welcome Back, Alice 4.

Digitally we see Beast #6 2, The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 4, Gamaran 5, Blue Lock 17, Golden Gold 8, Hitorijime My Hero 13, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 5, Miss Miyazen Would Love to Get Closer to You 3, Mr. Bride 7, and The Untouchable Midori-kun 3.

MICHELLE: I look forward to getting caught up on Blue Lock.

ANNA: One of my kids is reading it in print form, so we’re a bit behind in my house.

SEAN: It’s print time for J-Novel Club. We see Ascendance of a Bookworm 16, In Another World with My Smartphone 25, Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles Omnibus 8, the 8th manga volume of The Unwanted Undead Adventurer, My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 6, and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 6.

ASH: Obligatory, “Yay, Bookworm!”

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one digital debut, The Game Master Has Logged In to Another World, a license rescue from the late unlamented Sol Press.

Also digital: Dungeon Busters 4, Formerly, the Fallen Daughter of the Duke 3, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon 3, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 6, and Yuri Tama: From Third Wheel to Trifecta 2.

Ghost Ship has the 5th and final volume of Does a Hot Elf Live Next Door to You?, as well as GUNBURED × SISTERS 3.

Airship has a 10th volume of Adachi and Shimamura in print.

While we get early digital volumes of Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 2 and I Swear I Won’t Bother You Again! 3.

That’s a lot. What of that pile are you getting?

The Manga Review: Coming Attractions

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According to the collective wisdom of the internet, Best of 2022 lists are out, and What to Read in 2023 lists are in! So in that spirit, here are a few articles to help you get off to a good start this year. The Beat’s list of 60 Anticipated Graphic Novels offers a pleasing mixture of manga, manhwa, and comics, while Brigid Alverson’s Manga Pick Hits highlights March’s big debuts. Over at Honey’s Anime, Brett Michael Orr organizes his recommendations by genre, naming his five most anticipated shoujo, shounen, josei, and romance manga. Readers looking for a complete overview of 2023’s most anticipated titles should click over to Anime Collective, which has compiled an exhaustive, month-by-month list of every new manga series debuting this year.

NEWS…

Over at ICv2, Brigid Alverson parses the December 2022 Bookscan data on the 20 Bestselling Adult Graphic Novels. “Six of the titles on the December charts are the first volumes of manga series that have been around for a while,” she observes. “It’s not unusual to see the first volume of a hot series, such as Chainsaw Man, in the Top 20, but first volume appearances on the chart seem to spike in December: there were eight or more first volumes on the chart in December 2020… and 2021.” [ICv2]

Topping the list of December 2022’s most popular manga are Chainsaw Man, Demon Slayer, Jujutsu Kaisen, and Spy x Family. [ICv2]

Coming soon to a screen near you: Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead, which is getting two separate treatments. The first is an animated television series, which will be available on Hulu in July, while the second will be a live-action movie, which will premiere on Netflix in December. [ANN]

Seven Seas is hiring: they need an editor for their extensive line of novels. [Seven Seas]

Australian fans’ demand for unlicensed manga has led to a surge in piracy Down Under. According to the Attorney General’s office, “There has been a general downward trend in the demand for unlicensed television shows, films and music since 2017, but a general increase in the demand for unlicensed publishing materials.” [The Guardian]

… AND VIEWS

Alenka Figa, Kayleigh Hearn, Carrie McClain, Paulina Przystupa, and Masha Zhdanova list their favorite manga of 2022, from Correspondence from the End of the Universe to The Vampire and His Pleasant Companions. [WWAC]

Also compiling a list of his favorite manga of 2022 is Tony Yao, who names Sensei’s Pious Lie and Akane-banashi as two of last year’s best debuts. [Drop-In to Manga]

Erica Friedman kicks off the fourth season of Yuri Studio with a preview of coming attractions and a reaction video. [Okazu]

Jocelyne Allen invites readers to “start your year off with some feminist manga” with a look at Takinami Yukari’s Watashi-tachi wa Mutsu Renai ga Shitai. [Brain vs. Book]

The latest Manga Machinations podcast focuses on three series: Tales of the Kingdom, Children of the Sea, and Welcome Back Alice. [Manga Machinations]

The folks at Taiiku Podcast have been busy, posting not one but two new episodes in the first days of 2023, the first exploring the work of panpaya (Invitation from a Crab, Guyabano Holiday), and the second critiquing Akane-banashi and Embrace Your Size. [Taiiku Podcast]

On the most recent episode of Shojo & Tell, Ashley and Colleen dish the dirt on Natsuki Tayaka’s Twinkle Stars. [Shojo & Tell]

REVIEWS

Sarah gives Phantom of the Idol solid marks, arguing that the series offers an “entertaining look at the world of idol culture that will appeal to readers who enjoy stories (like IDOLiSH7) set in the hothouse world of popular music.” Over at Beneath the Tangles, the gang posts a fresh crop of capsule reviews of Maison Ikkoku, Romantic Killer, Yakuza Finacé and Your Forma.

New and Noteworthy

Complete and Ongoing Series

 

Slayers: The Long Road Home

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By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

After the previous volume, which was essentially an anniversary special, Kanzaka seems to have remembered how much fun it was to write Lina and Gourry, and so has returned to Slayers once more to kickstart a new arc. That said, he knows that he’s already used up most of the plots and fight scenes that he can in Lina’s world. There’s only so many times that you can battle a Dynast General and not have it seem dull, you know? Of course, he COULD just give in and write Lina taking Gourry to meet her family, which she’s been trying to do for the last couple of books, but that would involve writing her family, and we already know that characters like Lina’s older sister Luna work better as an unseen threat. As such, this volume DOES start with a battle with a Dynast general… who promptly gives in because Lina’s reputation is Just. That. Bad. Unfortunately, when they emerge from the fight they’re not in Kansas… erm, Zephilia anymore, but in a completely different place.

As it turns out, Lina and Gourry hail from the demon lord side of the continent. There’s also a dragon side of the continent, separated by a strong barrier to keep the two sides from meeting. And now Lina and Gourry, thanks to that annoying Dynast general, are in Ceifeed lands, with no idea how to return home. They spend most of the start of the book trying to decipher the different writing system, figure out the money conversion, and slowly making their way towards a real city. Along the way they run into a spunky young girl, Ran, who may act like a hyperactive tween but also can use wind magic and has an incredibly powerful staff. Unfortunately, as they move along, it becomeds apparent that Lina’s type of sorcery is far more powerful than these foiks are used to… and they want it for themselves.

The main issue I have with this book is that it’s a setup for more books down the line. Ran is a fun character, but we learn next to nothing about her, nor do we know anything about her motivation for traveling with Lina and Gourry. The villains in this book (leaving aside the city guard guys, who are more mooks than anything else) tend to blend together like most minor Slayers villains do, but they certainly show a callous disregard for human life or property… something that becomes more understandable when you realize who they are. Other than that, this is a perfectly decent Slayers book. Lina and Gourry are always fun, and we get to see Lina trying to get past her own reputation even in a place where it doesn’t precede her. The fights are action packed, and if they ever animate Slayers again might be fun to see. It will be interesting to see where this arc goes.

Unfortunately, this book came out in 2019, and there’s no Vol. 18 on the horizon, so we may never see how the arc goes. Which is the most frustrating part of this book, to be honest.