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Reviews

Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight, Vol. 7

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By Hyougetsu and Nishi(E)da. Released in Japan by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

For the most part, Der Werwolf has been one of those reincarnation isekai series that tends to ignore the reincarnation most of the time. Veight’s old life in Japan is still mostly a blank to us, and aside from bringing in a few modern ideas to medieval fantasy land, it hasn’t really impacted this story either. That may be changing soon, however, as the cliffhanger at the end of this book seems to show us another Japanese reincarnation, someone who’s looking for Veight specifically. Before that, though, Veight has to finally wrap up this long story arc, helping Eleora to ascend to the throne, fighting off even more plots to try to usurp it from various lords and family members, march through sewers and jump out of windows like a boss, deal with a rival group of werewolves and also a few vampires, and, most importantly, get back home in time like he promised before Airia kicks his ass. He accomplishes… most of these things.

After a number of books that have slowly been killing off the royal family one by one, the theme of this book is trying to solve problems with the least amount of bloodshed. Veight is called “soft” a few times for this, and it’s not inaccurate, but it’s also very politically savvy. The book starts with Ashley on the throne, but he’s a bad emperor for these warlike times. There’s a lord who is clearly plotting… something, and the great joke about him is that every single thing he says is so suspicious that it’s impossible to know how many plans he’s got in his pocket. (Answer: a lot of plans.) There’s also the eldest princess, Dillier, who has grown tired of waiting for a perfect political marriage to be arranged for her and has allied herself with Lord Shallier, thus making one of the most awkward pairing names in some time. (ShallDill?) She’s not evil so much as fed up, so is a lot less difficult to stop.

This book is rather light on its usual tropes. Veight only mentions being a humble vie-commander once or twice, and may even be getting used to people thinking well of him. It helps that he runs into a bishop who is essentially his religious equivalent. Speaking of religion, these books have not been kind to the devout, and that doesn’t really change here, even though the church are not the bad guys this time around. Editing scripture to guide people into doing what you want is a total villain move, but here it’s being used for good. the book is light on Veight being oblivious to everyone being in love with him, too. Eleora clearly is but duty comes before love, so she lets him go. Airia clearly is and I suspect is wondering if she can ask for a kiss or something given Veight promised he’d do a favor for her (as punishment for being late in returning).

And there’s also the shrine maiden we meet in the cliffhanger. Is she going to fall for Veight’s charms? And we we finally get more details about why Japanese folks keep popping up in this world? Not sure, but Der Werwolf remains very well-written and confident. It’s one of the best under-the-radar J-Novel Club series.

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 2

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By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

When I started this book, I had a very low bar I wanted it to clear, and to its credit, it did. I said on Twitter I was looking for Shimamura to be slightly more interesting and for Adachi to be slightly more gay. On one of those points, the book sails over the bar easily – Adachi’s freaking out about her love for Shimamura, what that says about her, what that says about Shimamura, trying to confess while also desperately hoping she is never found out, and (towards the end) realizing that yes, there is a physical desire in this love as well is probably the highlight of the book. As for Shimamura, sadly, she still narrates a large chunk of the book. She works best when around people more interesting than herself (i.e. the rest of the cast) and especially when she is dragged in an odd direction, which she just goes along with because she’s that sort of person. We saw this last time with the alien girl, and we see it here with her friend Nagafuji.

The book revolves around Christmas in Japan, meaning it’s a lover’s holiday, and also you eat fried chicken. Adachi, trying to convey her feelings without actually doing so, wants to invite Shimamura out to spend the day with her. The first third of the book or so has her working up the courage to do this. The second third splits our heroines into odd pairings – as I noted above, Shimamura and Nagafuji go to get a nice present for… well, for Adachi, but Shimamura, who is not completely clueless about what’s going on here, says it’s for her little sister. Meanwhile, Hino, the other half of “those two girls”, goes to the same mall with Adachi to help her get a present for Shimamura. In the final third, the two go on their not-date, have a relatively nice time, exchange presents, and Adachi tries to confess but doesn’t quite make it.

As with the last book, I think the strengths here lie in the unexpected making an appearance. In this book it’s the boomerang, a ridiculous present to give but also one that appeals highly to Shimamura, who falls in love with the image of Adachi throwing it. (Adachi isn’t wild about it, but it’s a present from the girl she likes, so it’s fantastic. She frames it on her wall. No, really.) I was also somewhat surprised that the book may be trying to pair the spares already, which given its tiny cast makes sense, I suppose. There are a few tiny scenes where you get the sense Hino and Nagafuji are also edging closer to each other, but again, they aren’t quite there. The entire book contrasts comfort (the same old thing every day) with danger (a risk of losing it all, but a big reward if successful. In the end, Adachi chooses to try to fall between the two poles, asking if Shimamura is not just her friend, but her BEST friend. Which, well, she is. For now, I guess Adachi will make do with that.

The flaws of this book are obvious: it still tends towards the dull and ordinary, and even the space alien girl is proving to be just another one of the cast now, hanging out with Shimamura’s younger sister. Oh yes, and there’s a jarring scene at the start when Shimamura, swimming at a fitness center, spots a creeper watching the little kids getting swimming lessons and saying “ew”. It’s meant to be slice of life, and I’m sure this does happen in Japan, but it felt out of place, and I wanted Shimamura to do something about him. Overall, though, if you liked the first book you should like the second. I do wonder how long it can string this out till Adachi finally confesses, though.

Blue Flag, Vol 1

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Blue Flag Volume 1 by KAITO

It is fair to say that I read plenty of manga, but now and then I read a series that is just so well executed that it feels incredibly refreshing. I knew Blue Flag had plenty of fans, and I was excited to read it when I heard that it was licensed, but my high expectations were surpassed by the first volume.

The volume opens with some character introductions that remind most readers of standard characters, but the insightful look into Taichi’s inner thoughts as he starts a new school year plays against readers expecting something more stereotypical. Taichi has a small friend group, who all look like they came out of a shonen playbook of nerd 101. He’s fairly content with remaining under the radar at school, but something quickly breaks him out of his usual routine. Taichi’s elementary school friend Toma is going to be in Taichi’s class for the first time in several years. Taichi and Toma are opposites in many ways. Taichi is short and has hair that seems to defy any grooming attempt. Toma is tall, athletic, and extremely popular, but his effortless way of making friends is the result of him being genuinely nice rather than anything overly calculated. Taichi’s friends consider Toma to be a different species than them, and are mystified that Toma keeps popping up to keep randomly talk to Taichi even though Taichi claims that they aren’t close anymore.

Taichi seems to have a special kind of antipathy to Futuba Kuze, a girl in his class who is painfully shy and clumsy. He starts to realize that he’s reminded of his own failings when he looks at her, because she’s similar to him. After an incredibly awkward chance encounter in the library, Futuba asks Taichi for advice because she has a crush on Toma. He thinks that any help he would provide would be useless, but she’s incredibly determined, following up with any random reference that Taichi tosses out. Eventually Taichi agrees to serve as Futuba’s spectacularly uninformed tutor in the ways of teen romance. Taichi is brutally realistic with Futuba about her chances of attracting Toma, but she’s not fazed by the idea that she isn’t his type. Eventually Taichi and Futuba strike up an odd friendship as he keeps trying to draw her in to his usual interactions with Toma. Blue Flag is invested with a ton of emotional resonance as the characters investigate childhood games, deal with homework, and share memories. Futuba explains to Taichi that one of the reasons she’s been nursing a crush towards Toma is that when he accidentally knocked down her plant in the school garden with a stray baseball, he returned every day until it was healthy again.

Towards the end of the volume, the reader gets a sense of what is actually happening in Toma’s head and the realization that the love story that’s unfolding is going to be much more complex and surprising than one would think. Blue Flag rewards the re-reader, who will be able to go back and detect hints in the body language and attitudes of the characters. This is by far one of the most promising shonen series I’ve read in a long time, and the focus on the emotional complexity of teenage live reminded me a bit of Cross Game. I highly recommend Blue Flag, and I’m impatiently waiting for the next volume.

There’s No Way a Side Character Like Me Could Be Popular, Right?, Vol. 1

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By Sekaiichi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Yujinchara no Ore ga Motemakuru Wakenaidaro?” by Overlap. Released in North America by Tentai Books. Translated by Alejandro de Vicente Suárez.

One thing that needs to be made clear about this book’s basic premise is that it only works if our protagonist is using anime/manga terms to talk about real life. Tomoki goes on about the fact that he is a ‘side character’, the best friend to the real protagonist Ike (two syllables, I believe). Ike is handsome, popular, does well in school, etc. Tomoki, on the other hand, has the classic “resting bitch face” that makes everyone terrified of him, rumors of a violent past, and has trouble making friends. Um… Tomoki, I hate to break it to you, but Ike’s type is never, EVER the main character. You are. I therefore assume that he means the ‘main character’ of real life, sort of what the Japanese term ‘reajuu’ – someone who has it together. I will admit that between this, the artist ignoring all Tomoki’s descriptions in the text and drawing him as darkly handsome, and Tomoki’s obliviousness, this didn’t start well for me. That said, it was intriguing, so I read on, and it ended up being pretty decent.

The plot starts when Ike’s younger sister, Touka, a first-year, comes up to Tomoki and asks him to be her boyfriend. She has similar issues to her brother – popular, pretty, good in school – and has a desire to get rid of potential suitors, so needs Tomoki to fake date her. Or at least, so she says. In reality, she’s a lot brattier (and more interesting) than she lets on, and is doing this to try to divide Ike and Tomoki’s friendship. She runs into the brick wall that is Tomoki’s ability to read the room, however, so it doesn’t work, and his essential decency and ability to see her as a real person rather than as “Ike’s sister” lead her to gradually develop real feelings for him. This is upsetting to others, notably Kana, a girl who Tomoki sees as “constantly terrified of him” who, to the reader, clearly has a massive crush on him instead; Kai, Touka’s classmate who has a crush on HER and sees Tomoki as a thug; and Chiaki, their teacher, who… well, we dunno.

As I said, there are some things wrong with this book. It doesn’t start strongly, so bored readers might drop it. More importantly, it can’t decide if it’s a stand-alone or an ongoing series. We get little hints of backstory in regards to Tomoki, particularly from his teacher, who seems sad about something, and Kai, who at some point saw Tomoki beating up a bunch of folks (we see that as well on one of his dates with Touka – the guys are assholes trying to pick her up who go after him first). In other words, Tomoki clearly has a backstory desperately trying to be told. What is it? We don’t really find out here, sadly. On the bright side, Touka is great, striking just the right amount of “I am a brat but also cute” and showing greater depth than I anticipated. And, while initially aggravated at Tomoki’s cluelessness, I really liked that it’s explicitly supposed to be a function of his lack of social skills from ostracization, rather than a comedy “the girls are in love with me and I don’t get it because I am a protagonist” bullet – though it’s partly that as well, of course.

This is a debut from Tentai Books, and the translation seemed decent enough – if a bit over-colloquial at times. (That could simply be me disliking the phrase “smell you later”. On the other hand, “we live in a society, bro”? *chef’s kiss*) I’ll be interested in their other title as well, now. As for the book itself, good and bad, but in the end I did enjoy it, and want to read more, if only to find out what’s been going on before this story began. (That said, the 2nd volume has Kana on the cover, making me worry this will be a “save one heroine per book” series.)

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 3

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By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird.

I’m not sure this series has ‘arcs’ like some other light novels, but there’s no denying that this third volume feels like the end of part one and the start of part two, and it would not surprise me if the upcoming anime decides this is a good place to wrap things up. Here we see Tomozaki finally go on the movie date with Kikuchi that he didn’t do in the last volume, and also invite her out to fireworks, This is part of Hinami’s life plan of getting him dating a girl by the end of summer break. Along the same sort of lines, he goes on a group barbecue/camping trip with the main group, tries to help the others get two of their friends together, and even gets a part-time job. He’s come a long way. The question is, how much of this is him being genuine and how much of this is him doing what Hinami says? And is Hinami really all that successful at life anyway?

The first 3/4 of this volume is merely very good, showing off the characters and situations we like. Tomozaki’s date with Kikuchi is indeed as adorable as expected, as is the fireworks viewing, and it’s her pure and basic honesty that helps him decide how to move forward (and, also, that dating her because of a gaming strategy is not a thing he wants to do). Crucially, she finds it easier to talk to him when he’s not trying to be a “normie”… but doesn’t reject the fact that he’s trying harder. The bulk of the middle of the book is the campout, and it’s fun, and also reminds you that these are, at heart, immature teenagers: a discussion of which girl in the group is hottest revolves around breast size, and Tomozaki may be the first character I’ve seen to canonically get a large penis (it comes up in guy talk), as opposed to in fanfics written about a character.

The last quarter of the book is where things really take off. Misuzawa has seen what Tomozaki has been doing, and finds his odd combination of “trying to be normal” and brutal honesty refreshing. So he tries to open up to Hinami… which goes disastrously. The afterward with her and Tomozaki also goes disastrously, leading to a break in their “teacher/student” relationship and for Tomozaki to backslide into old habits. The best part of this is that it doesn’t reject either premise: Tomozaki’s honest niceness and desire to not do something if he doesn’t want to is a good and sensible thing… and at the same time he dislikes the old, don’t care about appearances or posture self that he gained by learning with Hinami. He likes the fact that he grew as a person… he just wants to do it without moving into uncomfortable directions, like “date the library girl because I told you to.” Best of all, he manages to get Hinami to acknowledge this and start coaching him again, which is a big get given she was ready to completely shut him out of her life.

So another excellent volume, and it also shows that moving forward it will likely be Hinami who has the much harder road ahead. That said, Izumi is the cover girl for the next volume. This has rapidly become a must-read series.

A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga, Vol. 1

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By Kisetsu Morita and Kaito Shibano. Released in Japan as “Oda Nobunaga to Iu Nazo no Shokugyou ga Mahou Kenshi Yori Cheat Datta Node, Oukoku o Tsukuru Koto ni Shimashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alex Wetnight.

Another in the many examples we’ve seen lately of “how can I get my webnovel to rise to the top of the rankings when it’s just a basic power fantasy?”, A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga is by the author of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years but is almost its polar opposite. It oozes cocky masculinity from every page. Honestly, also like many light novels I’ve read lately, its gimmick is somewhat irrelevant. Oda Nobunaga is in our hero’s head, talking to him about this and that, but I think only gives him specific advice once or twice. The rest of the time, Alsrod is simply being a brilliant warlord, and Nobunaga is in his head going “ah, yes, this reminds me of the time in Japan when I did this! Well done!”. That feeling when one of the greatest Japanese warlords is a backseat driver.

Alsrod, at the age of 18, is ready to get his job that will help to guide his career path. Some get fighter, some get thief. He gets… Oda Nobunaga, and no one has any idea what it means. Not good news. Less good news is that his brother the viscount is ordering him to go defend a castle that is on the verge of certain death… and he can’t refuse because he has to care for their younger sister, who is sickly. All he has is his new job and his childhood friend Laviala. Then he discovers that he has an aptitude for battle and warfare. He occasionally hears Game Stats in his head (very occasionally, thank God), and they help to make him and his allies more powerful. As the book goes on he removes his brother from power, attacks various neighboring provinces, and plans on how to move even further up in the kingdom.

I did mention this book was the opposite of Killing Slimes for 300 Years, and that applies to the pacing as well. This book zooms. By the halfway point Alsrod has killed his brother, become Viscount, is on his way to becoming Count, and taken his childhood friend as a lover and also a buxom and politically savvy wife. (Content warning, he also takes a third lover, who is said to be fifteen years old. This feels like one of those “it’s okay because it’s ancient times” author decisions that is not actually okay.) He carves through the neighboring areas with ease, never facing a single setback in the entire book. There is one brief hint that the second book might have actual conflict – another character has a job that is also a Sengoku Period job, and it’s the retainer who killed Nobunaga, so you sense there will be betrayal. But that’s not in this book. This book is “watch Alsrod be awesome and manly.”

If you like a plain old male power fantasy in every possible way, this is actually an excellent book for you to pick up. It has all of that. If you want conflict, or depth, or even Oda Nobunaga actually doing something, you might want to find another series.

The Melancholy of Suzumiya Haruhi-chan, Vol. 12

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By Nagaru Tanigawa and Puyo. Released in Japan as “Suzumiya Haruhi-chan no Yuutsu” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Shonen Ace. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Paul Starr.

And now, the end is near. And so we face the final curtain. Since the Haruhi Suzumiya novels began in Japan in 2003, we’ve seen two manga, two anime series, a movie, two manga spinoffs, and two anime of said manga spinoffs. In 2006, Haruhi was the hottest franchise around. But in 2020, quietly, the last Haruhi spinoff has come to an end, and as far as I can tell there’s nothing out there to replace it. The novels are effectively finished, as the author apparently has massive writer’s block. The main manga ended, and Nagato Yuki-chan’s manga ended. And now we have the final volume of Haruhi-chan, though… wait a minute, didn’t we see this before? In 2017? Remember, the volume with the word ‘FINAL’ on it? In fact, didn’t I write these same words back then? And yet here we are with one more Haruhi-chan… and one more short-story from the original author, a sort of “thank you for the gag comic” story.

At least this cover looks a bit more final than the last one. Indeed, the author is far more prepared than last time for the end of the series. In perhaps the funniest chapter in the book, we see Haruhi at college, reminiscing about the old times and telling us what everyone’s up to now… except she can’t, as she’s constrained by the fact that the original source material didn’t tell us anything beyond her and Kyon being in college. (That said, we do get some amusing panels showing Kyon’s sister as a young (and grumpy) teenager, showing that Puyo is at least not constrained when it comes to her.) There are also three final chapters in a row, each concerned with one of the main heroines. Nagato’s is about stasis… She’s in the apartment and Ryoko is there basically being her housewife (Ryoko’s in big mode more than little mode in this book.) Mikuru tries to hint to Tsuruya that she’s going away and won’t be able to be contacted, till Tsuruya insists she’ll just magically invent something that will keep them in touch. And Haruhi seems to be bringing back the very first novel, as once again she’s recreating “Adam and Eve” and Kyon will have to kiss her out of it. (We don’t see that, of course.)

The rest of the volume is more plotless gag-oriented. There’s one last New Year’s dream story, mocking the fact that the cast has grown so large. One last beach episode, featuring Kyon and Sasaki’s gang (don’t worry, the Haruhi gang is out buying swimsuits and tormenting Mikuru). We do not see that picture of Haruhi as a sexy hot 30-year-old that had been floating around the Internet, but we do see college Haruhi looking pretty sexy. And then there’s that short story by the original author at the end, which in effect “fictionalizes” this gag comic, as Haruhi decides to make a gag manga of their lives, and finds someone to draw it… who Kyon and the others can’t actually track down. As a story it’s not much, but it is a sort of sweet thank you, and it’s nice to see that Tanigawa can still write SOMETHING.

Gag comics are not for everyone, and honestly at 12 volumes this one probably went on longer than it should have. But I usually found a great deal to enjoy as I read it – Puyo knows the series inside and out, and allows the characters to be exaggerated while never feeling out of character, even if they’re the butt of the joke. If you enjoyed the Haruhi franchise and want to delve into it one more time, the book makes a pretty decent wake… didn’t I write this before too?

Bibliophile Princess, Vol. 2

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By Yui and Satsuki Sheena. Released in Japan as “Mushikaburi-hime” by Ichijinsha Bunko Iris NEO. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alyssa Niioka.

The second volume of Bibliophile Princess also consists of three stories, but the biggest (and best) takes up the first 2/3 of the book. Prince Chris has to go away on kingdom business for several days, and so Elianna will be representing him at a noble’s hunting-dancing-and-being-rich party. Naturally the party turns out to be a web of intrigue, from the expected (Elianna, despite being officially engaged to the Prince, is still not very popular with many young women, leading to a lot of catty remarks) to the dangerous (Elianna is almost killed by a runaway boar, knocked from her horse, threatened with violence by an assholish noble trying to mack on one of her new friends, and locked in a room with another noble in an attempt to besmirch her reputation). Fortunately, Elianna is able to get through it with a nice combination of book-learning, air-headedness, and a surprising amount of muscle. Takes strength to climb those library ladders searching for books, after all.

The author knows that Elianna’s personality is the main reason we’re reading the book, and shows it off nicely. That said, she grows in this book, not quite floating through every situation like a dandelion puff. Indeed, a lot of what goes on in this book could be a life lesson in “don’t be so naive and oblivious”, as is pointed out several times, especially by her cousin Lilia, who stomps through this book in a perpetual state of aggravation, which is great. When several young ladies snipe at her, she actually does get that they’re being insulting now, even if she chooses not to bother to respond. And she remains dedicated to her ideals – there is a subplot here involving the warlike nation they decided to give aide to in the last volume, and how a lot of people on both ides would feel more comfortable if the aid were military rather than otherwise. Elianna defends herself wonderfully, the only time she gets emotional in this book when it doesn’t involve books.

The other two stories are shorter and also less successful. Glen has fit into his role as the series whipping boy very easily, but it doesn’t mean I want to read a whole chapter about it. His company whine about why they have bad luck with women – just listening to them should tell you. That said, I will also admit (and this applies to the main story as well) that Prince Chris can be… a bit exhausting. Dial it back a bit, guy. There’s also a “is Elianna pregnant?” scene here that wouldn’t work if anyone took two seconds not to be mad and simply think about Elianna’s personality. The second story is another one that shows two people who are deeply in love with each other but don’t think that the other one is, leading to misadventures in a locked warehouse and Elianna getting to show off how she can still be terrifying in the right lighting and when covered in red dye.

Still, the first story is what sticks with you, and it’s excellent. I’m not sure if the next volume will have Elianna and Chris’ wedding – it’s in the spring, we’re told, but that’s still months away here – but I am hoping that the series will continue to have Elianna doing what she does best. And perhaps kicking a few more guys in the balls, too. That was fantastic.

Shortcake Cake, Vol 8

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Shortcake Cake, Volume 8 By suu Morishita

Some shoujo series have fast-paced drama, and others have stories that unfold much more slowly like Shortcake Cake, which finally gets around to hinting at more details between the oddly hostile relationship between Riku and Rei. Morishita’s is so great at presenting her story with a slow, slice of life feel that I don’t feel annoyed at all that I was waiting until volume 8 to get a few more clues about Riku’s past.

Shortcake Cake 8

This volume is set during Christmas and New Year’s and Ten decides to take Riku on a date to her hometown, where she gives him a tour of all the places that were meaningful to her during her childhood, and they drop in on her parents and her older brother. It might be way too early for Riku to meet her parents, but he carries off the surprise visit with his characteristic aplomb. Ten and Riku enjoy actually being able to spend time together since they have to keep apart and pretend to not be dating at the boarding house. Ten wants to continue to support Riku and get to know him better, but she senses some inner pain that she’s not able to interpret or help with. Ten and Chiaki decided to team up to learn more about Riku because they both want to support him. Ten ends up reaching out to Shiraoka, who has a bit of a messy approach for telling them what he knows about Riku’s past, setting up a situation where they end up witnessing a painful family confrontation.

I always enjoy the way the story in Shortcake Cake is tied so closely with the seasons, as Ten and Riku share some cozy winter bonding time, the image of red lights on the snow suggests both festivities and danger, and the rain during a memorial services highlights the emotional state of the characters. Even when the characters are dealing with some heavy emotional burdens, the pacing and execution of Shortcake Cake makes it feel like a brief escape from the real world while reading it.

Accel World: The Snow Sprite

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By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

Everyone has things they’re good and bad at, and realizing that is one of the best ways to stop being frustrated. To Reki Kawahara’s credit, I think he’s aware of his strengths. He writes good battle scenes. Especially these days, when he’s got years of experience that Sword Art Online (which, let’s remember, is mostly ported from his almost 20-year-old webnovel) does not. And this, the 21st volume of Accel World, finally gets to the big fight against White Cosmos that we’ve been waiting for for about a year now. As such, it should not be too surprising that this is one of the stronger volumes we’ve had in Accel World for some time. It also helps that, in among the action, which is exceedingly well-timed, there are also several plot beats that we’ve had hanging around for a while now that we actually get answers to. Not everything, of course – the reason White Cosmos are doing all this is left vague – but enough that the emotional payoff of the book is very satisfying.

We’ve spent a lot of time taking all sorts of precautions to make sure that Nega Nebulus are as prepared as possible to attack White Cosmos. It should therefore be no surprise to find that everything goes spectacularly wrong almost immediately. The group is forcibly taken to the Unlimited Neutral Field, then it’s transformed into a Hell Stage. 90% of the cast are caught in a “kill you over and over till you permanently die” trap, though fortunately no one permanently dies. Indeed, the biggest twist of the book is someone NOT dying. Sort of. In amongst this, Silver Crow and Lime bell are able to escape, but there are endless numbers of traps still waiting for them… heck, even the upper strata where Haruyuki can confab with Metatron proves to be attackable by our villains. How can they possibly win?

This isn’t all just fights, of course. The reason the fights work well in these books is the emotional beats we get along with them. Chocolat Puppeter helping to given everyone a leg to stand on, and also providing the best cliffhanger ever. Magenta Scissor, still in the throes of her heel face turn. Trilead Tetraoxide, outside the palace for the first time in the series, kicking a lot of ass. The villains are no less impressive. Kuroyukihime’s sister does not put in an appearance, of course, but we do get the snow sprite of the title, as well as a Rose Red to go with her, who proves a bit more noble than their counterparts. And there’s also the reveal on who the major power behind all these surprise moves is, why they’ve been coerced into doing it and who their parent is. It’s a great emotional climax.

So, well done, excellent book in the series. Next volume promises to be the equivalent of a Phoenix Wright trial, which could be very awesome.

The Weakest Manga Villainess Wants Her Freedom!

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By Kazuki Karasawa and Masami. Released in Japan as “Maou-gun Shitennou no Saijaku Reijou wa Jiyuu ni Ikitai!” by the author on the Shosetsuka ni Naro website. Released in North America digitally by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Charis Messier.

This book does not want to be messing around with the heroine’s past life – Truck-kun is on Page 1. In fact, because Elle doesn’t remember anything about her past life except the manga she was obsessed with, it’s mostly irrelevant. This leads to what I think is the strongest reason that I enjoyed Weakest Manga Villainess so much: Elle, our heroine, is a selfish, overdramatic tsundere twintail brat before she gains memories of how she’s killed, and afterwards… she’s exactly the same, only her selfishness (which the narrative hints was never as big as all that) is shown to be slightly better. She’s mostly been busy researching her magic (good at huge spells, bad at fine tuning), loving the Demon Lord, and kidnapping people to be her servants. Now, though, she wants to avoid her death, which starts with confronting the Demon Lord himself. And this… opens up a whole new can of worms.

As I said before, Elle is a treat. The author’s afterword tells us to love her because she’s cute, but honestly I love her because she’s fun. Her brief guilt over kidnapping a bunch of foreigners and making them wait on her is assuaged by, seemingly by accident (but actually by instinct) the fact that all of those people had miserable lives when they were taken and consider Elle their savior. As such, any guilt about her past actions leaves town, and the rest of the book is made up of her planning how to escape the Demon Lord, set up her own town with her as the grand sorceress mayor of Elle Village, a fact the reader will soon learn because she repeats it over and over while posing. Unfortunately for her, it turns out that she is far more valuable to the Demon Lord than “killed off first as she was the weakest” would imply, so escaping may be hard.

The supporting cast is also fun. Because this story is done in one volume, the love interests are limited to two: Julius, the guy on the cover, one of her fellow villains who finds himself fascinated by Elle, and Laurent, a young teen she rescued from a barren village who now devotes himself to learning magic so he can help her. I was amused by the running gag (well, not ha ha funny) of Julius always being ready to use lethal force and attack at a moment’s notice simply as he has no experience with trusting anyone. Bakarina fans may find one thing familiar: Elle is still assuming that the pairings will go the way that they did in the manga, so is oblivious to the fact that Julius is over the moon for her.

The stakes end up being relatively low here, mostly due to Elle’s magic abilities and the shoujo manga heroine’s healing powers. Indeed, a few people I was sure would be bumped off end up fulfilling an entirely different manga cliche. I suspect Elle is voiced by Rie Kugimiya. Or possibly, given how much the heroine feels like a younger, red-headed Rin Tohsaka, by Kana Ueda. The series will not win any originality awards, which is not surprising give it’s part of the “villainess tries to change her fate” genre. But it’s fun, reads impressively fast given its length, and has a heroine that I really loved experiencing.

Urusei Yatsura, Omnibus 6

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

Every fan has their obsessive favorite minor character. Usually more than one. I have two when it comes to Takahashi’s work. I’ve already discussed Akari Unryuu, Ryouga’s girlfriend in the later parts of the manga in my reviews of that. As you might have guessed, my favorite Urusei Yatsura character makes their debut in this volume. No, not Kotatsu-neko, though he sort of amusingly stoic. No, not the school principal either, though it is funny that both he and Kotatsu-neko debuted around the same time. No, it’s Shutaro Mendo’s younger sister Ryoko, introduced here as essentially an agent of chaos in a series entirely composed of agents of chaos. Ryoko is fickle, bored, and also a sociopath, happy to trigger her brother’s fears of the dark, annoy him by flirting with Ataru, or simply toss a hundred grenades out her window because it’s fun. Most North American fans experiences her Ranma knockoff, Kodachi Kuno, first. Accept no substitutes, though, Ryoko is best unfiltered.

Having established most of the regulars by now, Takahashi is starting to experiment with her work, dialing up some things and ramping back some others. Ran, who’d vanished for a while, is back on a semi-regular basis. So is Rei, and we start to get the start of the eventual Ran/Rei pairing when we see the one thing that’s sure to win Rei over: food. (Lum’s cooking, usually lethal to Ataru, is implied at times to also be lethal to actual aliens – she fills the ‘can’t cook’ stereotype box.) Oyuki is starting to be the soft-spoken yamato nadesico, but is still wearing her battle bikini rather than her kimono. And she’s dipping back into Japanese history again – this is the first book to feature new, never before officially translated manga material, and I can imagine 1990s Viz translators wanting to cut the chapters where Ataru is Zenigata (no, not the Lupin one). Nowadays, there are actual endnotes to explain things like Ryoko’s kuroko attendants (being a drama major, they are another reason I love Ryoko).

Also, while it’s always been around, we’re really starting to see a lot more fourth-wall breaking here. Tezuka started this, of course, and Takahashi’s friend and colleague Mitsuru Adachi also does it. But Takahashi is as broad and blatant about it as with the rest of UY’s humor, with Lum appearing on the title page to complain that she’s barely in this chapter, and other characters complaining about Ataru not being in it at the start because he’s still in bed. UY is a performative manga that its characters know they’re in, but they aren’t actors. For the most part the stories are still one-shot chaotic messes, though sometimes chapters run into each other, such as the first part of the book detailing the students trying to leave school to get lunch outside campus, which ends up being the students simply ditching school entirely.

As these chapters were being written, the anime was also being created – it debuted in the Fall of 1981, right around the time the Ryoko chapters would have been in the magazine. As the manga goes on, there will be a little influence from one on the other – though less than you’d expect. Fans of the anime might be startled, though, by one chapter here early in the manga being the basis for the final episode of the anime. That said, even if you’re not an experienced UY fan, these volumes are still chaotic, funny fun.

Love Me, Love Me Not, Vol. 2

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Love Me, Love Me Not, Volume 2 by Io Sakisaka

At two volumes in, I’m not feeling quite as connected to the characters in Love Me, Love Me Not as compared to Strobe Edge, but Sakisaka is still doing a great job setting up a complicated and thoughtful teen romance drama. Yuna is still processing her feelings about the complex relationship between step-siblings Akari and Rio as she also deals with her own attraction to Rio. Yuna’s hesitation and introspection is prompted by the fact that she’s never experienced love outside of books. Rio also seems more attuned to Yuna than he is for girls who he has a more superficial relationship. He notices her being less shy around him, and figures out a way to set up their study group so she doesn’t feel hesitation about asking him questions. All along, Rio has encouraged Yuna to pursue a relationship with the boy she has a crush on, not knowing that she’s talking about him. Yuna’s love confession is unconventional, as she tells Rio about her feelings and says “Now, reject me.”

Rio reacts with a lot more compassion than he usually does with the girls who are attracted to him only for his looks, and Yuna deals with the aftermath. Both Akari and Kazu are impressed with Yuna’s emotional growth and general levelheadedness. While it is fairly easy for the reader to understand Rio, Akari, and Yuna, Kazu remains a perpetually cool enigma. Akari is fascinated by him, but he’s still a bit of a blank slate, defined only by his occasional blunt and insightful statements. I’m hoping that in the next few volumes his character becomes as well defined as the other series leads. This was a strong second volume, and I’m looking forward to seeing how the series develops. Sakisaka is great at capturing all the subtleties of emotion in her drawings, and even though much of this manga is people simply talking to each other in a variety of settings, her paneling and the emotional stakes involve keeps everything dynamic.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 19: Moon Cradle

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

Well, having wrapped up the 10-volume Alicization arc, here we are back in the Underworld anyway. This book takes place in the subjective 200 years of time that Kirito and Asuna spent there before returning to the real world – in fact, it takes place in the first few months of those 200 years. There’s still a lot to be sorted out, mostly as the darklanders live in a barren wasteland (because it’s meant to be a game and they were meant to be evil) and the humans live in nice plentiful farmlands. Worse still, there’s a murder, something thought to be impossible. It quickly becomes clear that the murderer is trying to set things up so that there will be another war between the two groups. Can Kirito and Ronie find out who is behind all this? And can Ronie actually manage to confess to Kirito, something that seems to elude all the other heroines not named Asuna. Fortunately, she has a big advantage here: she’s the 3rd-person narrator, and the book is better for it.

Those who don’t like Kirito… well, first of all, why are you reading Vol. 19 of this series? But secondly, you won’t like this one, as he’s overpowered and also cheeky most of the time. It’s easy to see why Ronie loves him, and also easy to see why she feels inferior compared to Asuna, who is very much in the wise all-knowing mode here. She and Tiese have the same problem, but framed differently: Tiese is still in love with Eugeo, but he’s dead, and she can’t move on. Meanwhile, Ronie is in love with Kirito, who is in her face every day, but is also taken. In other words, Ronie falls into the same category as every other SAO heroine who isn’t Asuna (or, arguably, Alice). Ronie also has some doubts about her ability as a Knight, though those start to be resolved by the end of the book when she’s able to channel her inner Kirito and do seemingly impossible stunts.

We get not one but two babies in this book – Fanatio’s child at the start, who gets to be thrown hundreds of feet into the air and then caught, every baby’s dream, as well as the child of Iskahn and Sheyta, who shown off the two sides coming together and also sadly proves to be our baby in distress towards the end, though I suppose I should count myself lucky that there are no rape threats in this book. Indeed, with the lack of that and also the lack of a super evil sneering villain, this book shows off a maturity that the SAO series has lacked at times. This was, I believe, the last of the webnovel material to be adapted for light novels – which is important, because it means we’re moving past the sometimes amateurish writing from 15 years ago. And, as I said before, the book also reads better when not in first-person perspective. I wish he did that more often.

This is the first of a two-parter, and the next volume promises a bit more Asuna. Still likely filtered through Ronie, through, which is fine. I like her. SAO fans should find a lot to enjoy here, and SAO haters should find a lot of ammo.

Baccano!: 2002 [Side B]: Blood Sabbath

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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.

I’ve talked before about the Japanese tendency to write the blackest of black villains, so evil and horrible that it ends up being absolutely fine when our heroes kill them off in morally questionable ways. In general, I’m not a fan of these, and tend to prefer more nuanced or morally grey types. That said, I have to admit, Narita writes these sorts of people better than most light novel authors. We get two classic examples here, but one’s a spoiler, so I’ll talk about the other. Bride is the leader of SAMPLE, a thoroughly disturbing religious cult descended from the same cult that tortured Elmer when he was a kid. Bride is abusing children, mentally breaking and drugging a woman (investigating them undercover) into submission, killing large numbers of people, and being gleeful about it the entire time. But he’s sort of horrifyingly fun. Possibly as the book avoids the rape threats so many other authors would throw in (Bride makes a comedic play at his drugged wife, but this seems staged.) He also contrasts with the other villain of the book, who is… less fun.

The first half of this book takes place on Exit, the ship going from Japan to New York, and the sister ship to the one Firo and company are on. Elmer, Sylvie, Nile and Denkurou (who gets his first significant role here, though to be honest he doesn’t do much except moon over Sylvie) are invited, supposedly by Huey, to the ship, and they all go because if they don’t, Huey would arrange it so they do anyway. There they don’t find Huey, but they do find the Mask Makers, who are also on the other ship, who have a plan to get revenge for a killing that happened 300 years earlier by capturing Elmer. And the passengers also include SAMPLE, Bride’s religious cult, who are there for Sylvie. As for Isaac and Miria… well, they still aren’t here, they’re back in New York. Which is probably why everything starts to go wrong for everyone on both ships. Even Firo, who tries to look cool in front of his family, does not really succeed.

Speaking of spoilers, there is a question about how much constitutes one. This series, after all, is mostly read by fans who have already spoiled themselves on this book and future ones. And indeed we get a big spoiler for (one assumes) future books given to us as part of the plot early on here: the Mask makers are supposedly getting revenge on Huey for killing Monica 300 years prior, which might come as a surprise to those who read the 1705 book. That said, it’s possible that the reader will be more distracted by the end of the book, which reveals who the real Big Bad of the entire Baccano! series is… and it’s someone that we thought had already been dealt with. Interlocking and interconnecting plots and characters are how Narita writes, but this particular book works very well at making you want to go back and read some passages in older books while also making you anxious for the next ones.

So a much better book than the first part, as is typical with Narita two-parters. Bobby is still annoying, though. So, next do we go back to 1710 to see the tragic fates revealed in this book? Or do we continue in the 21st century to see how Czes and his family deal with this new and horrifying threat? Of course not, that would be too easy. No, next time it’s 1931, as we go back to the Flying Pussyfoot and the immediate aftermath, in a plot that might seem very familiar to those who saw Baccano’s 3 OAV episodes…