Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Reviews

The Irregular at Magic High School: Reminiscence Arc

by

By Tsutomu Sato and Kana Ishida. Released in Japan as “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Last time I was feeling a bit grumpy about the all-consuming black hole that Tatsuya was, removing moments of characterization from others in order to betetr serve the dramatic battle scenes. That’s not an issue with this volume, which flashes back three years to show us Tatsuya and Miyuki in middle school. Sure, there are battles, and endless numbers of dead magician mooks, but the thrust of this book is to show us how Miyuki’s feelings for Tatsuya changed into what they are at present, and also show us their relationship with their mother (who is dead in the present series, I believe) and their aunt (who is very much not dead). It does a good job at the latter, but unfortunately the former doesn’t quite work as well. I get that we’re supposed to see how Miyuki notices what Tatsuya is suffering through every day, and what he’s doing for her sake, but it reads more like “I finally saw him really fight, and he’s so cool!”.

The book is interspersed with moments from just after the last book, with Tatsuya reporting to Maya and being asked to leave school and Miyuki. (He refuses – no surprise there.) The bulk of the book follows Miyuki’s viewpoint, though, as a typical pampered 12-year-old who is mostly pissed off at her brother because she doesn’t understand him. We see Tatsuya fight off a bunch of military brats, hear about him getting injured fighting someone while Miyuki was sleeping, and then see him really break out the whoopass once Miyuki is almost killed. Miyuki is also informed by her mother about the essential lobotomisation that was done to Tatsuya when he was young, and the fact that he has no strong emotions other than “loves Miyuki like a little sister” as a result. Miyuki is understandably horrified, and this is what has led us to our current situation of Tatsuya and Miyuki trying to push back against the Yotsubas as much as they can.

The most interesting part of the book is probably the last short story at the end, which goes back still further to show us Miya and Maya as 12-year-old girls. Sadly, it’s not a happy time when they’re playing cutely together. Maya was kidnapped by (please hold your surprise in) an evil Asian organization, raped, and experimented on for three days. (We thankfully do not see this ourselves, just hear about it.) Maya is broken by this, and the family ask Miya to fix it using her own powers. What follows is what led to the rift between the two sisters, as well as, to a degree, the main plot of the series – my guess is that a lot of the machinations we’ve been seeing are related to Maya’s trauma and her attempts to deal with it. It explains a lot, and makes compelling reading, but, much like the battle Tatsuya gets into as a middle schooler, it’s not particularly fun to read.

Like Tatsuya, I felt a bit emotionally dead after reading this volume. It’s well-written, and I want to see what happens next. The fights are nice provided you don’t mind knowing there’s no way they’re ending in anything but Tatsuya winning handily. But the reason that we stay with the high school and the students within it is to have their emotional center, which Tatsuya lacks – and Miyuki to, to a large degree. Thankfully, the next three books are a big arc that takes place at the school. Till then we have this, which basically says that brother-sister incest is the least of this family’s troubles.

Sweet Blue Flowers, Omnibus 4

by

By Takako Shimura. Released in Japan as “Aoi Hana” by Ohta Shuppan, serialized in the magazine Manga Erotics F. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by John Werry.

The final volume of Sweet Blue Flowers shows off all the strengths and weaknesses of this particular series. Akira and Fumi make very good leads, and there are some deft story touches in this book, particularly in how their breakup is conveyed wordlessly – we’re not actually seeing it straight on, but obliquely. And yes, there’s a breakup, but don’t panic, yuri fans. Just as the reader was meant to be very wary when Akira suggested dating while she sorts out her feelings, so the reader somehow knows that the breakup isn’t going to be permanent. It is interesting, given how negative and toxic the feeling is in so many other manga out there, that it’s Akira feeling jealousy of Fumi possibly seeing other girls that makes her realize “oh, I *do* love her like that.” She also looks so much better with her hair cut it’s not even funny. Their story was the main reason to read the series, and it’s worth the read.

This does leave the rest of the book and the rest of the cast, and I was sort of up and down about that. I still say that, even if the cast list is somewhat helpful, a lot of Shimura’s characters look and act too similarly, especially the giant pile of younger students. More than that, though, at times when the narrative was focused elsewhere I felt like I was drifting through the book like at a party, catching fragments of conversation about events that should be important but don’t have time to grab me before we’ve moved on. Now, to a degree this can be refreshing. It’s clear that every girl in the cast has things going on besides what we see on the page, and I like characters with full, rich lives. But I sometimes wish the manga had more focus – its desire to flit from cast member to cast member made me feel like I was reading though a gauzy haze.

Overall, though, I’m very pleased we finally got to see this series come out in North America. It’s girls in school falling in love, yes, but the diffuseness I mentioned above also helps to separate it from the series that followed in its wake, many of which we saw here first. I also enjoyed the odd serious moments of melancholy, such as the backstory with Kyoko and her mother, which was sad and depressing without making the reader feel angry. And the teacher was a highlight of the entire series, and we saw that her own attempts to come out more publicly had both its ups and downs – I’m not sure if she’s in trouble at school, like so many plotlines in this series it gets carefully examined and then we move on – but it was great to see her imagining a double bride wedding. I do think this series ended at just the right length – it would have been exhausting to carry on for 3-4 more volumes. In the end, Sweet Blue Flowers had its bittersweet moments, but the end showed that sweetness can win out.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: Squad Jam

by

By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

And so it’s finally here, the Sword Art Online novels for the fan who hates Sword Art Online. Or at least that’s how this is sometimes described. Sword Art Online is a very popular franchise, but it’s also the series that’s cool to hate, particularly its lead character. And so there’s a certain desire to play around in the universe but without all the baggage of Kirito and friends. Enter Alternative, where the author (best known here as the creator of Kino’s Journey, though he also is a specialist at playing in author author’s worlds) explicitly says that none of the main cast will ever be in these books. Nor is he really interested in the death game or its sequel. No, instead we have what is essentially Gunsmith Cats: the RPG, only Rally has been replaced by Goldie. The author loves guns, so do the characters, and you’d better be prepared to hear about guns.

For those who haven’t read the manga (which I reviewed last year) or seen the anime (which just ended this week), SAO Alternative stars Karen, a very tall girl who has few friends because she’s introverted and tall. Her friends tries to get her to do MMORPGs like ALO, but Karen’s character creation always gives her a really tall character – exactly what she doesn’t want. In desperation she tries to sci-fi apocalypse shooter Gun Gale Online, and finds, at last, she’s tiny! And cute! After playing around a bit, she runs into Pitohui, who is cool, gives good advice, and also seems to have a screw loose or two, though we don’t really get into that as much as I expected this book. She recommends that LLENN (as Karen names herself) participate in a new event called the Squad Jam, which is basically the BoB tournament but for teams. Sadly, Pitohui can’t make it, but she does provide LLENN with a partner, the hulking giant M, who also is there to give advice and backup. With a team of only two, can they possibly win this?

If you’re here for gun battles, then this is absolutely the book for you. The Squad Jam itself takes up two-thirds of the book, and is exciting, dramatic and fun. LLENN proves to be a natural at the game, and her headspace is also fun to follow. The purpose of the characters in this book seems to be “make them different from the real players” to contrast with the SAO crew. Karen has a short, tiny character, the stoic, invulnerable M proves to be, well, rather less stoic and invulnerable, and the team that LLENN ends up going against in the finals are a group of big burly Russian women who, it will not surprise the reader to know, are not big, burly and Russian in real life. It’s an escape. That said, while I enjoyed this book it’s not as ambitious as SAO – I’d say it’s better written but lacks the highs and lows of the original series. It feels like Sigsawa has no greater motivation than “I want to play in this sandbox”. It’s a fun sandbox, though, and if you hate SAO this may be for you.

Also, the Agatha Christie fan in me is annoyed that the team name is not “LLENN or M?”.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 3

by

By Hiromu Arakawa. Released in Japan as “Gin no Saji” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

Summer still takes up the first half of this book, but then it’s time to go back to school for the new semester. And Hachiken is still very much learning as he goes. He’s gotten used to the early hours and strength needed, and in fact (once again) has to be reminded to take it easy on occasion. But there’s still stuff he has to experience, like the taste of raw milk, as well as things he has to feel responsible for, like the loss of a lot of that raw milk due to a mistake he made. I use the phrase “overly serious” a lot when I’m talking about Hachiken, and while (as I said last time) he is a very realistic, well-rounded person, it is his most defining trait. In that sense, as you’d expect, he matches well with Mikage, who loves horses and wants a career in horses, but when you’re the farm’s sole heir that’s not really an option.

At the Mikage farm, we get more insight into cow births, and some wackiness involving the local prefecture’s cows getting mixed up with the farm’s. The main plot twist here, though, is the arrival of Hachiken’s brother. I love the fact that you can tell that Shingo and his brother are completely different and yet clearly were raised by the exact same family. They each deal with their father in different ways. Unfortunately for Hachiken (but fortunately for those who love Arakawa’s comedy), this means Shingo is a bit of a flake, having dropped out of Tokyo U once he got in to pursue his dreams of becoming a ramen chef. Except he’s terrible at cooking. Shingo’s presence basically serves to give us a bit more information about Hachiken’s home life without having to see him go back home, and it’s clear Shingo cares and worries about his brother in his own way.

When we get back to school, there’s an even better joke, as Tanako suffered from heat stroke over the summer and has come to school having lost all of her weight. The wonderful thing about the joke is that Tamako literally gives not one shit about this, and the first chance she gets she’s bulked right back up. Tamako knows her own gorgeousness. As for Hachiken, he’s still dealing with the piglet he named last time, who has now grown up to be a big pig – and is ready to be slaughtered. It’s impressive that everyone treats Hachiken’s angst about the pig seriously, and no one makes fun of it at all – they’ve all been there when they were younger. Hachiken’s solution, meanwhile, feels very much like something he would do. (There’s also another wacky subplot where the school things Hachiken has gotten Yoshino pregnant = which mostly serves to remind us that Tokiwa is the Mineta of this series.

I hate to keep banging the drum here (that’s a lie, I love to bang this particular drum), but every volume of Silver Spoon reminds me why we were begging for years for its license. Read this, you won’t regret it.

True Tenchi Muyo!: Jurai

by

By Yousuke Kuroda and Masaki Kajishima. Released in Japan as “Shin Tenchi Muyo! Ryo-o-ki” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Lillian Olsen. Adapted by AstroNerdBoy.

There have been a lot of things licensed and brought out in North America that surprised me, but honestly, “spinoff light novels for a series that hasn’t really been popular here since about 2002” takes the cake. To be fair, when Tenchi was big here it was VERY big. Along with Ranma 1/2 and Oh My Goddess!, Tenchi Muyo was one of the gateway anime for many fans, and also received one of the better known dubs out there. In Japan, it’s remained as popular as ever, with multiple animes, infinite doujinshi by the creators, and spinoffs galore. A lot of those have come out here as well, but it would not be exaggerating to say that Tenchi’s time was thought to be past. Enter Seven Seas, who have now licensed three volumes of a spinoff novel series that fills in important backstory for the OAV series. And this is definitely based on the OAVs, so don’t expect Kiyone here. Indeed, most of the main cast are relegated to cameos or smaller roles, as this book focuses on Ayeka and Sasami’s father, Azusa.

Yes, that’s Ryoko on the cover, and she does have a small role in this book, but she’s still basically Kagato’s puppet at this point. The main thrust of the book is seeing Azusa’s youth, as well as how he ended up married to Funaho and Masaki. To my relief, Azusa as overprotective Dad from hell is reserved for the prologue, showing yet another fiancee coming down to battle Tenchi only to be taken out by the force of nature that is Mihoshi’s luck. We then flash back to scenes of his youth, which range from seeing him growing up and being taken to Jurai by Masaki’s mother Seto (who really deserves a book or two to herself, frankly) to having the traditional tragic teenage romance, and finally ending up near Earth while chasing pirates – of course, this is Earth around 1250 CE, so there’s a lot less fish out of water antics than you’d expect – and dealing with the aftermath of telling Jurai that he’s not only marrying an offworlder but she’s going to be First Empress.

As I said, Azusa is serious-minded here and has flashes of temper, but is far more likeable and tolerable than the guy we see in the OAVs who exists to get pushed around by his wives and daughters. It’s also nice to see a less stoic “yamato nadesico” and more teenage Funaho. And, as I alluded to above, Seto makes a great mentor, and I definitely want to see more of her. The narrative is mostly straightforward, though I could have done without the annoying intrusive narrative voice name checking events in the Tenchi timeline – “little did they know this was their fated first meeting”, etc. This is especially annoying in one aside regarding Azusa’s second wife Masaki, which spoils a bit too much a future event that I was unaware of. That said, these books are clearly for Tenchi fanatics, and as such I can’t really be too grumpy about it.

Obviously, if you are a newbie to the Tenchi universe, this is a terrible introduction. Go watch the first two anime OAV series. But for those who are still fans, or people like me who hadn’t thought about it in years but still have fond memories, this book is a lot of fun. Plus it’s pretty short, so likely you can knock it back in an afternoon.

Harukana Receive, Vol. 1

by

By Nyoijizai. Released in Japan by Houbunsha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Manga Time Kirara Forward. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by David Musto and Amanda Haley. Adapted by Claudie Summers.

Sometimes when you see a new title, you’re never quite sure what it’s going to be. Harukana Receive in particular could slot into any number of categories. First and foremost, it’s a sports manga, with lots of beach volleyball advice and analysis, and the typical sports manga tropes, such as the newcomer with promising talent and the person who quit and has to be coaxed back. There’s also a healthy amount of fanservice, which honestly is to be expected in a title about beach volleyball, thoguh the service does not appear to be very skeezy. Most importantly, though, it’s a Kirara title, so we see a group of two girls meet up with another group of two girls, and they have discusssions and do things. In this case, the thing they do is beach volleyball. Which, of course, gets back to: this is a sports manga.

Haruka is a tall girl who’s recently moved to Okinawa to live with her cousin Kanata, who is… not tall. They are, as you may have gathered, the ‘Harukana’ of the title. Okinawa has beaches, and beaches means beach volleyball. Haruka immediately runs into two players, Narumi and Ayasa, and finds herself fascinated by the game. That said, beach volleyball is not regular colleyball. What’s more, Kanata seems strangely torn about participating in a game, and seems to have a past with Narumi. Can Haruka’s bright sunny attitude and innate talent (and height) help to bring everyone together? If you don’t know the answer to this, you haven’t been reading manga very much. Then, when Haruka finally goes to her new school, she runs into two sisters who also play the sport, despite the fact that, by definition, beach volleyball means running around in bathing suits. How embarrassing!

You can definitely tell that Harukana Receive is on the sports end of the seesaw rather than the service end because of the large amount of advice and instruction given about beach volleyball within its pages. From learning that the court is smaller to the ball not being fully inflated, Haruka has to take in a lot in a short period. Kanata, meanwhile, is dealing with an issue that might be familiar to Haikyu!! readers: she’s not tall enough, which is what led to her breakup with Narumi and her dropping of volleyball in the first place. Fortunately, she and Haruka seem to mesh well together. (I say breakup, but honestly if there is yuri in this title it’s so subtle as to be near nonexistent.)

This is a cute title, and it has an anime coming out in a week or so. I’d say fans of shonen sports manga would get the most out of it – if these were guys, it would fit right into Weekly shonen Jump. But since it’s a group of girls, it pretty much fits right into Manga Time Kirara. I’m definitely interested in more.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu

by

By Fujino Omori and NIRITSU. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?: Familia Chronicle: Episode Lyu” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

Given that the DanMachi series has, of late, been getting pretty dark, and even Sword Oratoria is going to some dark places when it’s not busy showing Lefiya being jealous, the average reader would not have been surprised to see this new spinoff, focusing on Lyu Leon, to be a description of her tragic past and the horrible deaths of everyone she knew and loved. Fortunately, we don’t get that. While Lyu’s past certainly affects her throughout this book, and the second half delves into the immediate aftermath of her revenge, this is an altogether more lighthearted affair. A tale told in two parts, the first half deals with Lyu and Syr disguising themselves and entering a fabulous casino to try to rescue a young woman gambled away by her father. The second story, as I hinted, deals with how Lyu ended up working at the Benevolent Mistress, as well as giving some backstory for two of the other waitresses. It’s a breezy, fun read.

The first story was my favorite, because come on, CASINO CAPER! Lyu and Syr listen to some schmuck of a dad’s story about his gambling addiction and how he ended up losing his daughter. Because Lyu burns with a sense of righteousness despite herself, she decides to rescue the girl. Because Syr is Syr, she tags along as well. Actually, Syr gets the most awesome moments of the story. I suspect the author had heard about the fan rumors that Syr was secretly Freya in disguise, and while not quite true, Syr certainly has a strong connection to Freya, and seeing her destroy the denizens of the casino in poker is worth the price of the entire book. We also get to see Lyu’s attempt to adopt a cool billionaire disguise, and how quickly it falls by the wayside as soon as she sees something that invokes her fury.

As for the other story, because it’s dealing with the tragic backstories of not only Lyu, who is found by Syr near death after finishing up her revenge against those who slaughtered her Familia, but also two of the other waitresses, Runoa and Chloe, who turn out to have been teenage bounty hunters/assassins in their youth. Both are ready to call it quits, but there’s one last job that has to be done: killing Lyu on behalf of the mysterious group paying them. The moment that you see they’re going to try to do this at the pub late at night, you know you’re in for some fun fights, amazing property damage, and seeing Mia go off on everyone present. Mia, like Syr, is tied in to the Freya family (you get the feeling they started the pub with just the two of them), and the pub itself seems more like a “home for wayward girls” after this story.

For those wondering if this is a Bell-free book, nope, he shows up in the casino, and plays a small role in the chaos that follows. But for the most part this book does exactly what it set out to do: expand on Lyu’s character and have a really good time. I’d like to see more in the series focusing on other supporting characters some day.

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 1

by

By Shizuki Fujisawa. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Betsucomi. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Alethea and Athena Nibley.

On first read, my general feeling on this volume was it was the start of a nice, but fairly typical shoujo manga. I’d been told at the start that the heroine had “violent tendencies”, but honestly she wasn’t so much violent as filled with righteousness. And the male lead who’s a bit of a playboy but who ends up falling in love for real for the first time is also something we’ve seen quite a bit. So imagine my surprise when I saw one of the final author’s notes , where she mentions her original plan: the heroine was a shy, blushing girl and the hero was a bright, cheerful guy. And the heroine was the focus. That’s when I realized that there are degrees of typical shoujo manga. Yes, Hatsu*Haru has things you’ve seen in shoujo manga before, but it’s not the default like the abandoned version was. Especially since the focus of this series is on the male lead, Kai.

Kai is set up for a fall almost from the very first page. He’s dating multiple girls, arranging to date even more, and enjoying the springtime of his youth. He’s got three other guy friends, and the whole group will likely make you think of Kiss Him, Not Me or Waiting for Spring. Unfortunately, one of his casual girls was more serious than expected, saw him arm in arm with someone else, and cried to her friend Riko about it. So Rika decides to solve the problem by beating the shit out of Kai. It works, but not the way that she intended – Kai is slowly, much to his frustration and unease, becoming fascinated with Riko. He has no idea how to deal with actual deep emotions, and his friends are trying to be sympathetic but also pointing and laughing a but. Oh yes, and there’s also the problem that Riko has a crush on a childhood neighbor who’s now a teacher at their school. That and, y’know, Riko thinks he’s a playboy and a jerk.

The editors were absolutely right, changing the POV to Kai helps the story immensely, mostly as he’s by far the more interesting character. Not that Riko is dull or anything – for all that she’s called a violent monster a lot, her actual temper seems to be only on occasional and reserved for those who deserve it. But Kai is the one who needs to change more, and we also need to see that deep down he really is the dhoujo hero we’d like to see. (We don’t see much of them, but I noticed he has a large family with nultiple younger siblings, which always seems to bode well for handsome shoujo guys.) And of course there’s also the matter of Riko’s crush, which he knows about. and the fact that Riko is hanging on to it even though it’s hopeless. He’s got a lot of work to do on himself and on the relationship he wants to have.

The series is shaping up to be about 13 volumes in Japan – it just ended – so I’m expecting a lot of subplots and probably a few side pairings. Another female support character would be nice in that regard. For the moment, though, enjoy Hatsu*Haru, a typical shoujo series, but not as typical as it could have been.

The Combat Baker and Automaton Waitress, Vol. 4

by

By SOW and Zaza. Released in Japan by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by Bookwalker. Translated by Ari and John Werry.

Despite taking place in a fantasy Europe-ish world where peace is very shaky and there are grudges galore, Combat Baker has been a fairly heartwarming, lighthearted series. There is the occasional assassination attempt, Lud’s past is not really made fun of, and there’s always the possibility of a horrible bread–related tragedy, but I think most folks read these books to see Sven freak out about people getting close to Lud, Sophia and Daian, and the occasional cartoon villain, like Hilde from the last book. Indeed, the setup for this book seems to be taking much the same route, as we see Hilde try again to assassinate Lud, fail miserably, and be forced to work at the bakery. The reader can relax as they realize that hijinks are about to ensue.

(Narrator voice: Hijinks did not, in fact, ensue.)

I probably should have suspected something was up when I saw Sophia’s cute and plucky Private First Class Deadmeat, who did everything but take out a picture of her boyfriend and tell Sophia that she’s retiring in two days. Yes, that’s right, this is NOT a light and fluffy book in the series, it’s the first of an extended arc, and it ends up in a very dark place. We are reminded once more that a core premise of this series is that it’s in a world sort of ruled by Germany, and that the fantasy equivalent of the SS are looking to move up in the world. As such, our main villain Genitz is NOT in the hilariously awful mode like Hilde was – he’s a nasty piece of work who you will come to loathe, and he ups the body count in this book significantly. I have no doubt that he’ll get his in the end – he already has one scheme too many, in my opinion – but as far as Book 4 goes, the bad guys win.

It’s not ALL doom and gloom, of course – as I said, the first three fourths of this are pretty fun. Yes, Sophia and her troops are holding back a siege, but it’s OK, they still have Rebecca in reserve, and lots of experimental weapons like bazookas. More to the point, the book humanizes Hilde. I went into the book groaning a bit about this, as Hilde was so obnoxious in the third volume that I wanted nothing more than for her to vanish from the narrative forever. And some of her redemption is clunky – Sophia’s recollection of a young girl singing and being humiliated at a noble’s party years ago screams “please enjoy this exposition which will be important later” – but her emotional journey does eventually feel earned, and I liked the way that she and Sven compared and contrasted. Also, the author does have some excellent subtle tricks later on – I didn’t realize the past connection between two characters until right before I was supposed to.

Still, things are bad. Two likeable people dead, one main supporting character possibly dead, another missing, one captured by evil soldiers, and our main heroine will, I suspect, be brainwashed for much of the next book. Can Lud and company turn this around? Probably, yes. In the meantime, the bakery’s closed after this excellent but dark volume.

Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy

by

By Sanzo. Released in Japan as “Imomushi Shoujo to Komyushou Danshi” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialized in the magazine Gene Pixiv. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Alexandra McCullough-Garcia.

I’m not sure what I was expecting going into reading Caterpillar Girl and Bad Texter Boy. I knew the basic premise, but that’s about it. I think I expected a cute, slice-of-life thing with heartwarming moments. I also expected by the end of the book everything would be back to normal. Neither of those things happen, and in fact the book goes to a lot of dark places that I wasn’t expecting. That makes it a richer experience, though, and even as I was reading along and going “holy crap”, I was appreciating what the author was doing, peeling apart the backstory of a hero that I honestly didn’t like at all at the start, and making you think twice about the love on his childhood friend, which goes from zero to obsession in the flashbacks. And then there’s the God who puts all this in motion. The book has a lot of balls in the air, but juggles them very well.

The book wastes no time getting into its basic premise. Suzume is pretty, accomplished, and popular. She is childhood friends with Akane, who is introverted, somewhat plain, and has a massive case of self-hatred. So when she confesses to him, his response is variations on “there’s no way someone like you could go for someone like me”. After which she promptly disappears… and then shows up in front of him as a giant human-sized caterpillar. No, this isn’t metaphorical this time around. She made a wish to a shrine god that she could be an ugly creature so that he wouldn’t have to worry about her being pretty and popular. The trouble is that she REALLY didn’t think this through, and can’t really grasp anything, food tastes bad, and she now feels totally useless. As for Akane, he still hates himself, but now he feels guilty. What’s more, turns out one of Suzume’s friends at school is in fact the God she was praying to… and she hates Akane.

The second half of this book, right about where we start to get the perspective of Ouga, the classmate and God mentioned above, ends up being so riveting that I don’t actually want to spoil it. Which, for those readers who know that I casually spoil absolutely everything, is really saying something. Seeing Akane’s backstory made me realize that he’s not just some whiny loser protagonist but has real built-up issues. We also see that Suzume’s love is incredibly unhealthy, both in her past as a human and in her present as a caterpillar, and as we head towards the ending (the book is complete in one volume) we realize that this is not one of those “happily ever after” books so much as “ever after”. There are no easy answers when you love someone so much you transform into a caterpillar for them.

This isn’t an easy read – the three leads all have difficult personalities that we have to deal with, and I think there are some readers who might have preferred the cutesy heartwarming story I thought we were getting going in. But I’m very happy I read this, as the emotional heft of it was fantastic.
Not your typical “monster girl” manga.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 4

by

By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

This is quite a short volume of Outbreak Company, and as such it doesn’t really do a heck of a lot to advance the forward plot. Its main thrust can be divided into three: 1) Due to the soccer game from last book being filmed and then leaked onto Youtube, Shinichi and company have to figure out how to cover up something that’s already gone viral; 2) Petralka is starting to burn out a bit, and her advisors aren’t really sure how to deal with a teenage empress; and 3) the author has realized that Minori hasn’t really had much of a backstory, and thus has Shinichi actually notice she’s uncomfortable when he calls her feminine and asks her about her past and background. In the afterword, the author says this was supposed to be Minori’s book but Petralka sort of shoved herself in; I think that may have been a good idea, as while Minori’s past is suitably sad, it doesn’t really tie into anything else. It’s there just for development.

Minori doesn’t even get the cover (she was the logical choice), as instead we have Magical Girl Petralka. Shinichi’s idea to stop the Youtube rumors is to put out a few more video clips that make it clear that this is a movie, and that it’s just CGI people saw. This dovetails nicely with Petralka needing a bit of distraction from the heavy weight of power, and so she ends up being the star. Unfortunately, as you’d expect from a girl who’s done nothing but rule the country or be prepared to rule the country, Petralka decides she likes life on the other side a bit TOO much, and needs to be smacked back with some harsh reality. These are probably the best scenes in the book, and show off the main reason why Outbreak Company is still a good read – Shinichi is very good at reading people, and figuring out what they need.

As for Minori, despite telling Shinichi about her past, and saying that she understands why the other girls have all fallen for him, there’s no indication that she has done the same, which is fine with me. She gre up as the Heir to the Dojo, but as iwth a lot of Heirs to the Dojo who are female, her dad wanted a boy and she can’t help but always be inadequate. Puberty also didn’t help, which is probably why Shinichi’s obsession wi8th her large breasts is not all that welcome (though I would not expect it to end either – this is still a Japanese light novel). That said, she gets to save the day when a large dragon attacks the film site (which is the one part of the book hinting at future plotlines, as the dragon seems to have been mind controlled by another nation), and hopefully she’ll feel more comfortable with herself as the series goes on.

This wasn’t the best volume of Outbreak Company, and it felt more like filling time than anything else. But there were still lots of good scenes and funny character bits, and it’s enough to tide us over till the next book, which I hope is more plot-heavy.

Little Witch Academia, Vol. 1

by

By Trigger, Yoh Yoshinari and Keisuke Sato. Released in Japan by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Ace. Released in North America by JY. Translated by Taylor Engel.

Despite this being another franchise where I’ve never actually seen the anime, I knew quite a bit about it to begin with. It was a Kickstarter series that blew up into a full-fledged TV anime, it’s been described as “Harry Potter if they were all girls”, and Akko/Diana is the preferred ship, I am told. Other than that, I was ready to be charmed by this manga, which is coming out here under Yen’s “JY” line, so is definitely being marketed to younger readers. Which I can see, as kids will love this. It’s a good title for adults as well, though, and Akko makes a fun heroine – fallible and sloppy, but also filled with a love of life that puts a smile on your face. It also helps that she’s surrounded by a few snarkers to help take the sugary edge off.

The manga does assume to a certain degree that you’re already familiar with its source, but for the neophyte, there is an introductory chapter. Akko is a wannabe witch who’s bad at flying, trying to make her way to the Witchcraft Academy, rather unusual for a Japanese student. Through a series of misadventures, she meets two other students – the glasses-wearing, earnest Lotte and the sarcastic, droopy-eyed Sucy – and she ends up at the Academy, ready to follow in the footsteps of her idol Chariot. The rest of the book shows various Academy events, as we see that Akko is not the best student in the world, but makes up for it with lots of energy, drive and GUTS! In other words, despite being all girls, this is a perfect series to run in Shonen Ace, and it wouldn’t be too out of place in Jump either.

For fans of Diana, she’s not as prevalent in this first manga as I was expecting, but there’s enough of her here to see why fans really like to pair off the two of them – they’re very Usagi and Rei. I can also see the Harry Potter comparison, mostly as the three main characters map somewhat to Harry, Hermione and Ron, though Harry was never quite this hyperactive, and Quidditch is replaced by volleyball – where they aren’t supposed to use magic, but do anyway. If there’s a fault with the manga, it’s that it does feel something like a side story to the main anime – there’s no sense that this is going in its own direction, but filling in some gaps that the main story, which was animated, left out. That said, there are hints that we’re going to be getting a bit deeper, such as the cliffhanger ending to this volume.

If you like the anime, or have kids who did, I can’t see why you wouldn’t pick this up. As for me, it makes me want to try the anime to see what I’m missing.

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Vol 1

by

Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle, Volume 1 by Kagiji Kumanomata

This manga was an unexpected delight. I was initially curious about Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle due to it being a Shonen Sunday title, which is a bit of a rarity. I feel like fantasy comedy series can be a bit hit or miss, but I found this title quite entertaining, mostly due to the way it subverts the whole idea of kidnapped princesses.

Syalis is the kidnapped princes in question and while the people in her kingdom pine for her and a idiotic knight vows to rescue her at the start of each chapter, she is solely concerned with getting some good rest. The demon castle lacks high quality pillows and bedding, and she is determined to secure what she needs by any means necessary. Syalis casually embarks on a reign of terror in the castle as she locates unique demons to use for her own purposes. She harvests fur from her guards, who look like fluffy teddy bears. She locates giant scissors and cuts off the body of ghosts in order to get some high quality fabric. Throughout most of the manga, her facial expressions are totally stoic, in contrast to the demons who are being driven frantic by her casual escape attempts. She also seems to have a knack for finding rare magical objects and repurposing them as sleep aids. There’s really only one joke in this manga, but it is executed very well. The unique character designs of the demons and the expanding cast of characters keeps the manga entertaining, even though the plot points in each chapter are so similar. I’m not sure how long the central joke can be sustained, as this series lasts for several volumes, but the first volume was so entertaining I’m definitely going to give it a try.

Napping Princess: The Story of the Unknown Me

by

By Genji Kamiyama. Released in Japan as “Hirunehime ~ Shiranai Watashi no Monogatari ~” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Yota Okutani.

We’ve been getting a lot of these sorts of books lately, the novelization of a popular animated film. Well, for some definition of popular – your name sort of hovers above everything else. But we’ve also gotten The Boy and the Beast, and we’re getting Fireworks: Long Title Here in the summer. And now we have Napping Princess, a book that adapts the film of the same name that came out in 2017. It’s a quick, breezy read with a likeable lead heroine and a few very interesting plot twists about two-thirds of the way through. It does, however, suffer from a problem that I really didn’t notice with the other books of this type. This sort of book is meant to enhance or add to the experience for those who saw the movie, and also make those who haven’t seen the movie want to see it. The problem is that after finishing Napping Princess, I’m left with the opinion that the movie is probably better. Which is an issue given I’ve never seen the movie.

The book starts out as a fairy tale, set in a magical kingdom that builds cars. There’s a wishy-washy king, an evil Grand Vizier, and a princess locked in a tower who can do magic. In fact, that’s why she’s locked in the tower. On the other side of things, we’re also in slightly futuristic Japan, where our heroine is Kokone, who lives with her mechanic dad in the middle of nowhere and gets by on imagination and pluck. She also likes to sleep, and dreams that she’s the princess from the fantasy kingdom. These two worlds start interacting together when her father is arrested, supposedly for data theft from Japan’s largest car manufacturer, which her dad worked for years ago. Is this all a setup? What does it have to do with her late mother? And why is it that Kokone has this magical ability to mesh the fantasy world and the real world when she dreams?

To be fair, we never get a good answer to that last question. “Magical realism” is what we’re supposed to think, I suspect. As I said, the plot is fairly straightforward, being a chase sequence for an extended stretch. Our villain ends up being so lame that the author has to put in a narrative jibe noting how much of a cliched villain he’s become – I was expecting to see some sort of story about how he and Kokone’s dad used to be friends back in the day, but no, he doesn’t even get that. The most interesting part of the book was the way the fantasy world overlaid on the real one, as both Kokone and the reader realize about the same time that the casting is somewhat different than expected. (The reader may pick this up a bit earlier, frankly, as the romantic tendencies between the princess and Peach (yes, it’s lampshaded) make little sense if Kokone is the princess.) As with most dead moms in anime, I wish we’d seen more of Kokone’s mother.

As a novelization, this book works very well. Every time it had a major set piece, I kept thinking “I’d like to see this animated”. As a novel, though, I’m not sure it works as well. Still, it’s not actually bad – just slight. It would make a good summer beach read.

Short Takes: The Promised Neverland and Silver Spoon

by

Just a word to the wise: it’s impossible to discuss either Neverland or Spoon without divulging a few plot details, so be mindful if you’re the kind of person who hates–HATES–spoilers. Caveat lector!

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 4
Written by Kaiu Shirai, Illustrated by Posuka Demizu
Translated by Satsuki Yamashita
VIZ Media
Rated T+, for older teens

One of the pleasures of reading The Promised Neverland is its crack pacing: Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu have a knack for the perfectly timed reveal and the pulse-pounding action sequence. Volume three was a rare misstep for the series, saddled with too many contrived plot twists, but volume four is a return to form, briskly setting the kids’ escape in motion. The story occasionally flags when Emma, Ray, and Norman explain the finer details of their plan to one another, but these moments serve an essential dramatic purpose, helping us appreciate how perilous their journey will be. These conversations also remind us how much the principal trio rely on one another for emotional support, a point driven home by the authors’ decision to sacrifice one of the main characters. (And I mean a main character, not a red shirt.)

Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Promised Neverland is its feminist subtext. In the final pages of volume three, Krone reveals that the brightest orphan girls are groomed for house mother positions. The full horror of this arrangement, however, only becomes apparent in volume four. In a few suggestive images, Demizu vividly conveys the grotesque sacrifices that Gracefield Manor’s female residents make in order to survive their twelfth birthday. A brief interlude set in a factory evokes the grim spirit of The Handmaid’s Tale, imagining a world in which young women are cruelly exploited for their fertility, then coerced into perpetuating the very system that oppresses them.

I know — I’m making The Promised Neverland sound like Terribly Serious Reading, but rest assured it isn’t. The story is, at bottom, a juicy prison drama in which the jailers are actual monsters and the prisoners pint-sized MacGuyvers. Though the subtext enriches the narrative, inviting multiple readings, the story never feels like an obvious parable about factory farming or reproductive rights. Recommended.

Silver Spoon, Vol. 2
Written and Illustrated by Hiromu Arakawa
Translated by Amanda Haley
Yen Press
Rated T, for teens

After an introductory volume in which Hachiken (a) fell face-first into poop (b) insulted his classmates repeatedly (c) joined the equestrian club just to impress a girl and (d) realized that the piglet he was raising would soon be bacon, volume two affords him a rare moment of grace. The students’ discovery of an abandoned brick oven prompts them to make pizza — something only Hachiken knows how to do. The act of cooking for so many people forces Hachiken to improvise, rather than plan, forcing him outside his academic and social comfort zone — and making his brief turn in the spotlight even more satisfying.

Lest Hachiken’s triumph seem a little too tidy, the rest of volume two sees him reverting to bumbling city slicker, as he gets lost in the woods looking for cell phone reception, gags at the sight of a newborn calf, and, yes, falls face-first into another pile of manure. Hiromu Arakawa sells these moments with her trademark over-the-top reaction shots; no one can distort or bend a human face with the same verve as Arakawa, who turns every setback, humiliation, and surprise into an opportunity to draw rivers of snot and tears. Though she excels at slapstick, Arakawa tempers the jokes with moments of real drama that make Hachiken realize just how much Komaba and Mikage’s families struggle to keep their modest dairy farms afloat. It’s these quieter moments that remind us just what a capable storyteller Arakawa really is, and make Silver Spoon more than just a gag manga with farm animals. Recommended.