Reviews

By Fujino Omori and Suzuhito Yasuda. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by Softbank Creative. Released in North America by Yen On.

Well, I suppose I asked for it. In the last few reviews of this series I kept mentioning how the mechanics of the series meant that Hestia, the supposed female lead, kept getting less screen time than everyone else. Now we have a book where she actually comes along on a dungeon crawl in order to rescue Bell, and it’s sadly fairly cliched. She can’t use godly powers in there, so she’s useless in the fighting. She spends much of the time post-rescue jealous of the fact that every girl in the entire series has fallen in love with Bell (though honestly, I think what Aiz is feeling is deep jealousy of Bell’s progress, but that doesn’t matter to Hestia), *and* she gets kidnapped and has to be rescued.

The others fare better. Bell too needs to be rescued, but that’s not really his fault, and he, Welf and Lilly show off their excellent teamwork here. (Lilly also shows a lot of jealousy, but she’s more cynical and sarcastic about it, and thus appeals more to Western readers.) Bell’s reputation is starting to precede him, and much of this volume is devoted to the fact that if you are an overpowered character in what is for all intents and purposes an RPG, you’re going to have players assuming you’re cheating, or getting help, or just plain old “who does he think he is?”. And so we see the return of some old bullies from Book 2, who decide to teach Bell a lesson – and by that I mean beat the crap out of him. The trouble is, Bell is just too good for that to work.

The big debut this volume is Hermes, who’s the standard trickster god type, also out to teach Bell a lesson: stop being so naive and realize that some humans are bad people. This lesson does not work, because Bell is Bell, and this isn’t Black Bullet. Hermes is amusing, and I love the fact that everyone just accepts that he’s something of an asshole – indeed, when we get the standard “whoops, Bell is peeking on the girls at the hot spring, lol” scene, literally everyone there knows this isn’t something Bell would do, and blame Hermes instead. I was ecstatic to see that. He also lets the cat out of the bag about Bell’s ancestry, but honestly I think everyone had guessed that by now anyway.

For those who enjoy battles, the one in the last third of the book is very epic, with a huge cast of characters all teaming up to take out a nightmarish monster. Lyu, one of the waitresses from our favorite pub, gets a tragic backstory and a serious chance to show off. In fact, I’d argue the series has more women kicking ass than men by a large margin – which is partly for the service, but it’s also simply nice to see. In the ‘odd’ department, we meet one of the Japanese gods and his all-Japanese human team, who do well but feel out of place in this land of Greek fantasy archetypes. On the whole, though, it’s another strong volume, though I hope Hestia can get over her jealousy soon. (Yes, I know.) Also, we’ve now caught up with the anime, so the next book should be new to viewers.

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

Sometimes, when I review a new series, I come into it relatively unspoiled beyond a basic premise. And then there are times where the series is somewhat infamous, and so I’m spoiled no matter what I do. The Irregular at Magic High School, aka Mahouka, is one of the latter. It’s become somewhat infamous on the internet for its immense volume of technobabble, for its bizarre and skewed views of world politics, but most of all for its hero, who tends to get even more flak than Kirito for being perfect in every way. The term “Mary Sue” has been used to incorrectly in recent times that it’s become meaningless, and “Gary Stu” was never really anything more than a desperate attempt to try to not look sexist. That said, one has to admit: Tatsuya’s pretty cool.

The basic premise is that our hero and his adoring sister (more on that later) go to a school for magic users. Miyuki is a magic prodigy. Tatsuya, while brilliant in every other way, does not have much in the way of actual magic power in him. As a result, which she’s handpicked for the student council and the freshman representative, he’s placed in Course 2 with the other students who have skills but not actual power behind them. And, this being a typical high school with typical teenagers, that means there’s a lot of bullying and prejudice against Course 2 students. Tatsuya, though, is not going to let a little thing like magic power stop him from using his analytic abilities and natural-born intelligence to be the best. Oh, and his martial arts. So he’s scouted by the discipline committee in order to help keep peace on the campus.

Tatsuya, thank goodness, is not your typical schlub light novel narrator. He’s somewhat stoic and emotionally stunted, and frequently has difficulty grasping the basic concept of people actually wanting to be friends with him – I suspect his past is filled with bad things. We already know he’s estranged from his parents. Luckily, he has a close relationship with his sister – too close, possibly, for many readers. There is a whole load of incestuous subtext in this first book, and it’s not all on Miyuki’s end, though she’s the largest supplier. This plot point, plus the fact that Tatsuya sometimes bends the narrative his way like he’s the star of a Dark!Grey!Independent Harry Potter fic, means the book can be hard to take. Oh, and the technobabble is just as bad as people said it would be.

There are some bright spots. Tatsuya’s narration can be quite amusing, and helps to define his character in much the same way that Kyon’s defines his – I wonder how much of his inner monologue was left in the anime. Mayumi, meanwhile, is a delight – my favorite character so far, a classic student council president type who knows she’s that type and plays it to the hilt. Tatsuya’s frank description of her as “evil” is hilarious but not inaccurate. In general, though, I think this series is one for those with a high tolerance for heroes who can do everything without breaking a sweat, and who don’t mind that the younger sister has an obvious crush on her brother. Yes, that does sound a bit like Sword Art Online as well, but multiply both of those factors by two in this case.

By Satoshi Wagahara and 029. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen Press.

As this series goes on, and more and moe horrible demons attempt to break into Japan for some reason or another, it has become more and more apparent that Maou and company are eventually going to have to go back to Enta Isla and deal with the giant power vacuum that they have left in their absence. I don’t expect it will be permanent – the whole point of the series would be lost if you take Maou away from McRonald’s for long – but Maou seems a responsible enough guy, and Emi definitely is, to try to fix what they may have inadvertently broken. We see part of that in this book as well, even though if you don’t look too closely it feels like a typical “beach episode”.

The best part of the volume is when the author builds on the character development we’ve seen in prior books, particularly in regards to Chiho and Emi. Chiho is starting to realize that, as the only person in Maou’s circle without any power, there’s little she can do beyond be emotional support, and is resolving to better herself so she can help in other ways as well. (Her declaration that she wants to be one of his Four Generals is possibly the funniest part of the book.) As for Emi, she’s made of stronger stuff than I had envisioned at the end of the last book, and it only takes a few well-worded lectures from Chiho to have her helping out Maou in both his attempt to restore a beachside cafe and also defeat an invading demonic army – without killing them, much to Suzuno’s surprise. Emi is realizing that not everything is clear-cut.

There were parts of the book that didn’t work as well for me. I enjoyed Amane more as a relaxed and absent-minded shop owner more than I did a Guardian of Earth, and I felt that this was shoehorned in just a bit in order to avoid padding out the already substantial volume with too many fights. And I was just as annoyed as the rest of the cast with Camio’s unfortunate tendency to peep every other sentence due to being trapped as a cute little bird. On the other hand, the best part of the book was once again seeing how well Maou can do middle management when he tries hard. Seeing the run down and decrepit beach cafe transformed into a bustling popular spot is impressive, and shows off everyone’s talents (and comedic foibles) at their best. Yes, even Lucifer, who is still unloved and unlovable, but proves here to be far more aware of external events than some of the other demon generals around him.

While not the best volume in the series – the ending also felt very rushed, and I suspect the book may have been heavily cut in editing – this is still a solid addition to the series, and will please those who have been following Maou and Emi’s adventures in the past. I am hoping that the next volume will give us more fast-food shenanigans – that’s where the series seems to do its best.

By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen Press.

As I was reading this volume, I kept thinking that there was a pacing issue, and that events were happening far faster than I was expecting. As I came to the end, the reason why occurred to me: other than the first book, this is the only stand-alone Sword Art Online novel. In the main series, Books 2 and 8 are short story collections, 3-4 and 5-6 are two-volume arcs, and 9 onward is an epic 9+ volume arc. But this book completes its story in one compact volume, and it’s even pretty short compared to some other books in the series. Once the brain has adjusted to that, the reader can see what’s really going on: this is one of the best books in the series, where Kawahara finally balances storycraft and emotional manipulation perfectly, to the benefit of Asuna, who’s the co-star and narrative focus of this book.

Fear not, Kirito isn’t the other star of the book; for once he only has a small supporting role. (Though he does appear on the cover, apparently at the request of the editor.) No, the other star is Yuuki, the spunky girl with the sword you see next to Asuna on the cover. The first half of the book introduces her to us and has as its main mystery why she is so good with a sword – to the point where she can defeat Kirito, twice. She defeats Asuna as well, but Asuna gets closer than anyone else, so Yuuki introduces her to the rest of her Guild and asks for her help in taking down the boss of one Level – in a party of seven. Boss fights normally have at least 50. Clearly there’s another reason why they’re so desperate, and as Asuna discovers it despite Yuuki’s best efforts, we get the last third of the book, which will put a lump in your throat.

The second half of the plot is Asuna’s stormy relationship with her mother, who has demanded that she transfer out of the SAO survivor school and also set up a marriage for her (with her second cousin, because Japan). The repressed frustration and anger that Asuna feels whenever she talks to her mother will be achingly familiar to many readers, and it’s through Yuuki and her own struggles that Asuna finds the strength to fight back and stand up for her own life and experiences. (As an aside, I note that Yuuki seemed quite happy when she talked about getting married to Asuna in order to get around one of her problems.) SAO may have been a traumatic death game in many ways, but it did allow Asuna to really grow and reach out to others, and her refusing to be put back in her mother’s little box is a triumphant moment.

I’m trying to avoid spoiling more than I usually do in a review, but the book isn’t perfect. I am not a medical person, but even I could see that a lot of the details of the medical treatment and cause for it was a bit sketchy here. Also, I grow rather weary of the plot continuing to talk about how noble and good Kayaba was long after his death, given that he trapped 10,000 people in a game where they were allowed to die as his thought experiment. That said, Asuna and Yuuki are pitch-perfect in here, and for once the emotional and gut-wrenching final feels fully earned (Bonus points for not featuring sexual assault as a plot point, at last). Even if you gave up on SAO during Fairy Dance, I’d recommend getting this volume, as it’s one of the best in the series.

By Shiden Kanzaki and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen Press.

When an author is writing a grim dystopia of a series, they have to be very careful sometimes. Because let me tell you, as a writer, the temptation to have horrible things happen to your characters can be unbearable. And I imagine this is particularly true in Black Bullet, where the only levity of the entire series of books is provided by wacky lolicon jokes. (We do get more of those here, and they’re worse than ever.) It’s entirely possible that the events of this book, and the ending in particular, are part of a long-term plan to advance the growth of Rentaro as a character and stop having him try to take on everyone’s problems. But I can’t help but hear the author, in a Beavis and Butthead sort of voice, telling me no, killing off 20 or so innocent young children in a horrific way is really brutal, and therefore cooler.

(As a side note, that cover has so much stuffed into it that it verges on the incoherent. As long as I’m complaining.)

This book, which starts the popular light-novel schtick of a two-volume arc, begins with a bunch of killings as well, but those at last are plot-relevant and not there to make you gape at the page in a stunned silence. One of the monuments that protects the Tokyo area is breaking down, and once it collapses the Gastrea from outside will enter and basically kill/convert everyone in the city. As a result everyone has to band together to head off the monsters until a replacement can be built. This includes our heroes, who are asked to put together a strike force in order to be part of the maneuver. Of course, there’s a problem with this – Rentaro is a high school aged kid who’s moved up 10000 ranks in the last two books, and no one likes or trusts him.

This does lead to the best parts of the book, as we see him and Enju slowly trying to get anyone to work with them. The pairs he ends up with are not the most original in the world, but they bounce well off of a miserable stoic like our hero. We also get some lovely scenes between him and Kisara, who gets slightly more to do here than in the previous two books. I suspect her burning desire for revenge is going to come back and nite her in the ass one of these days, but as long as we get scenes of her and Rentaro staring at the stars and almost but not quite confessing, I’ll deal with it.

The volume ends with the beginning of a protracted battle that I suspect will take up all of Book 4. It’s a battle to save the citizens of this city, including the Cursed Children. So ending the book the wey it does sort of kicks the feet out from under the reader, making them, if not Rentaro, think “is it really worth saving a world like this?” More importantly, is it really worth slogging through so much death and hopelessness? Black Bullet continues to be well-written, and has good introspection, but if I wanted grimdark, I’d be reading American mainstream comics.

By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hibana. Released in North America by Viz.

Well, I said last time that I thought Dorohedoro might get a little more gory in the next volume, and I was not wrong. Dorohedoro is something of a horror-fantasy-comedy, and frequently the horror elements take precedence, as they do in this volume big time. It mostly plays out with the fates of Shin and Noi. Noi’s love for Shin has seemed a bit one-sided at times, but we no know that he does want to protect her, even if it means slicing her brain open and inserting Sho’s ‘thingy’ into her head. (I’m sure the sexual implications are intentional.) Of course, he should maybe think about protecting himself, as somehow (as always, it can be difficult to follow chains of events without a reread) Shim ends up in a corpse factory, and seemingly killed and turned into a murderous zombie. Whoops.

Not that things are any better with the other groups. Fujita’s invisibility has worn off, and he’s forced to make an uneasy peace with the cross-eyed guy, though we hear both of them ;planning to double cross each other later. (Fujita is good at being idealistic and self-sacrificing, less good at scheming.) Of course, given they run into zombie Shin, neither plan is really going to come off. Noi, once she recovers from Shin’s lobotomy, ends up finding a trail of body parts, Hansel-and-Gretel style. And Nikaido’s group is torn up as well, as the department store is going to hell – possibly literally – and Risu and Asu both end up getting taken out over the course of the volume. This may not, admittedly, matter much to Nikaido, who is getting more like a Devil than ever, and spends most of the volume with a giant :D expression on her face.

In between all this gore, there is still something of a plot, most of it taking place with Kasukabe, who through a wacky set of circumstances ends up inside his wife Haru’s devil body, as the devils attempt to figure out what the hell is going on with Ai. Your guess is as good as mine, but we do see that Ai and company apparently have a revolving set of heads, although some are already dead. Whatever it is, it leads to a cliffhanger that I wasn’t expecting, as Nikaido discovers Caiman – with his lizard head, and seemingly with his regular old gyoza-lovin’ memories. The reunion will have to wait for next time, though. Oh yes, as an added bonus, we see what’s happening with En in hell, and it’s not pretty, though it is pretty funny.

I’ve often said Dorohedoro is not for the squeamish, and this volume proves that more than ever. But if you don’t mind blood, gore and dismemberment in graphic detail, it’s hard to think of a title out there with more style than this one. Which, as anyone will tell you, is far more important than pesky things like a coherent plot.

By Liar Soft. Released in Japan as “Okujou no Yurirei-san”. Released in North America by Mangagamer, also available on the Steam app.

In general I don’t review visual novels on this site, but I’d heard a lot about this one. First of all, it was hyped as being “uncensored” on Steam’s site, as if it was supposed to have a ton of porn in it. (Spoilers: there’s not much here TO censor.) Secondly, it was hyped as being a ‘yuri’ game that wasn’t marketed to the male otaku market – indeed, it reads a lot of the time as if it’s meant for female readers. But most importantly, it has strong plot and character development, is amusing and as realistic as you can get for a game starring two ghosts, and you just like it a lot.

The premise is that our heroine, Yuna, spends much of her time on the roof avoiding socialization due to a trauma from her past. While on the roof, though, she finds who ghosts (only she can see them), who are able to convince her through a mixture of politely asking and being excited about the whole thing (as well as a few veiled threats) to help the two of them hook up various female couples at the school. The goal is that when they hook up, they’ll get it on in the school itself. Since the ghosts can’t leave the campus, this is the only way they can really see how girls “do it”.

After typing that out, I realize that those who read me talking about a realistic, well-developed game are pointing and laughing by now. But it actually does a good job. Most of the cast get backstories that help make sense of their character and show why they have their various personality quirks. Two of the girls are already a couple before the series begins, and two of the girls, against all odds, don’t hook up with anyone. (It’s a very linear visual novel – you can’t make choices that really influence the game). As for the couples themselves, they’re not all the same types.

While the word ‘lesbian’ is not explicitly used, it’s made clear throughout that these are meant to be real relationships that last beyond high school. Some of the girls are thinking about their future plans as a couple, or how to explain things to their parents. One even explicitly says that she’s always been attracted to women, which helpfully avoids the “what is this strange feeling in my chest?” cliche, though we get that as well.

We get three types of ‘scenes’ we can read. The main one has a bear icon, and is Yuna going through her school life and attempting to make vague efforts to help the ghosts hook people up (though, by her own admission, her role is very passive) while also moving past her middle school trauma, embracing the fact that she’s really a take-charge leader sort, and finding her own love she was totally unaware of (it was under her nose all along! – the game is still filled with cliches, fear not). As the plot moves along, you get ‘cherry’ scenes, which are from the POV of the various other girls, showing us scenes that happens when Yuna isn’t there.

Speaking of which, several of those scenes involve sex. That said, though there is mild nudity (a few breasts) and some explicit terminology, anyone who buys this for the “good bits” will regret it immensely. As for the sex writing, it’s not horrible, but also not great – the post-coital pillow talk is usually more important.

After you complete the game’s main “plot”, you unlock various ‘apple’ marked scenes, and can unlock more by going back to the game and making the pointless choice you didn’t make before. (As I said, nothing affects the main plot, so you mostly just get briefly different dialogue). The ‘apple’ scenes are basically the same as the ‘cherry’ scenes, only they tend to involve spoilers – i.e., the characters reflect on things the reader was unaware of at the time. This can occasionally be harmful to the game itself – Hina gets most of her development in these apple scenes, as the game wanted her to be the stoic girl whose thoughts were a mystery to us. Which is fine, and she’s one of my favorites, but this led to her being undercharacterized for most of the game itself.

There are elements that don’t work. I mentioned Hina’s development already. Another character, Ano, has two conflicting sides that don’t always mesh very well together in the writing. There is also a teacher/student relationship, which is handled as well as can be expected, but I’d still rather have done without, especially as the teacher is the standard ‘looks like a little kid’ type. And of course, being a visual novel, you’d better be prepared for reading a whole lot of text, with repetitive music. The game is partially voiced, piping up for important scenes.

Overall, I’m pleased that I got this game, which ended up being better than I expected. The girls are all fairly intelligent, or at least idiotic in a fun, amusing way. The pairings all make sense. There’s a lot of content to justify its somewhat expensive price. And it treats its sexuality seriously, and has the girls thinking seriously about it. (Indeed, one of the two ‘unpaired’ girls, Nena, could easily be asexual and aromantic judging from the text.) If you’re curious about this sort of thing, it’s definitely recommended.

By Ken Akamatsu. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

Seven volumes into UQ Holder, and again I’m asking the question I’ve wondered about since it started: who is this meant to be for, exactly? I don’t know how Japanese fans of Negima reacted when it came to its messy end, but the Western fans were appalled and angry, for the most part. And after seemingly destroying his own series due to an argument with the parent company (details will likely remain forever sketchy), Akamatsu has now leaped 80 years into the future, helpfully thus losing most of the main cast of Negima, and begun what seemed like a spiritual sequel but has now amounted to a direct sequel. And just as Negima was able to ditch some of the wacky comedy and naked fanservice of Love Hina in favor of fighting and battles, UQ Holder takes it further, and you can almost safely read this in public.

I know that there are readers of this series who have not read Negima, having picked up the series via Crunchyroll or Kodansha, and are purely interested in the new story and new generation of characters. This volume must be particularly frustrating to them, as almost all of it features old Negima cast members, old Negima plots that never got resolved, and teases of Negima characters long-dead doing badass things. As a Negima fan, I admit it’s nice to see Mana again, and even if it was just a tiny flashback, the idea of Ku Fei and Yue teaming up to win the Grand Magic Games tournament is both hilarious and awesome. And, of course, we have the major UQ Holder characters who *are* carryovers from Negima: Yukihime (aka Evangeline) and Fate.

This leads to what is probably the most interesting part of the volume, when touching an application for Tota to do the Grand Magic Games triggers a booby trap that shows them a vision of Negi, Nagi… and the Mage of the Beginning, who is delighted to see Evangeline again, and (it’s implied) Tota as well. The reason this is the most interesting part of the volume are Eva and Fate’s reactions, which are desperate and yearning, the most emotion we’ve seen from either of them this entire series. Eva’s love for both Negi and Nagi was a significant part of Negima, and now in UQ Holder it seems it hasn’t diminished.

Of course, this leads to what kickstarts the next arc, as after this she realizes (I assume, motives are murky) that Tota is in danger if he’s near her, and forbids him from fighting in the tournament, or even leaving headquarters. Needless to say, all this does is spur him on to try harder. And it also spurs the author on to work in more Negima references. Not only can Tota seemingly use Dark Magic Erebea, but he is revealed to literally be a clone of Negi, which will no doubt lead to some excellent soul-searching and character development on his end, but from a meta perspective is both hilarious and sad.

I enjoy UQ Holder for what it is, but then I’ve read Negima, and have gotten over my grudge. For anyone else trying this series, I imagine it must seem like the image of Negi we see in this volume: a cool image surrounded by the dark, binding tentacles that make up its past.

By Hajime Isayama. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics.

Attack on Titan has never really been a laugh riot to begin with, but you get the sense that the fun is over with this volume. There’s one last effort to have wacky survey corps times here, with Sasha going completely bugfuck over meat, and Eren and Jean having a nostalgic fistfight, but it feels a bit out of place and wrong, and just makes the reader realize that those times are probably gone for good. A feeling that only intensifies as the volume goes on and we reach Wall Maria, where Reiner and Bertholt (OK, mostly Reiner) as well as the Beast Titan await, luring our heroes into a trap that they’re mostly aware of and walking into willingly. I suspect the volume after this will be wall-to-wall action.

Meanwhile, the flashback with Instructor Shadis gives us the longest look yet we’ve had of Eren’s parents, and also discusses the mindset that the Survey Team needs to have to function properly, a mindset that some people (like Shadis himself) struggle and ultimately fail to find. Eren’s father Grisha is found outside the walls, and it’s implied came from even further outside. He’s able to find his calling in life, though, and it’s not the Survey Corps but medicine. As we see Shadis desperately attempting to prove that he’s special, that he’s better than everyone else and failing, we see Grisha fall in love, get married, have a family… and do scientific experiments on his children, of course, though this volume doesn’t get into that.

Nietzsche’s concept of the Übermensch has never really resonated with me, and Attack on Titan plays with the concept without choosing sides. Certainly we have characters throughout the series who seem to succeed with what appears to be a minimum of effort and looking cool while doing it – Mikasa, Levi – but Eren, who’s support to be the most special of them all, is seen constantly struggling and failing. He notes in this volume he’s not special – just the son of a special man. Shadis gives up command of the Survey Corps because he has a crisis of confidence and supposedly”realizes” that he’s not special while someone like Erwin is. But Hange, correctly in my opinions, calls that simple cowardice. Again, the ambiguity is discomfiting but appreciated.

Speaking of people struggling with being special, Armin has found that being the idea guy is not all it’s cracked up to be when time is running short and you can’t explain your ideas very well beyond “it’s a hunch”. Eren, Mikasa and Armin function best as a threesome because each one of them has something the other two lack, and I enjoyed the flashback to their youth as probably my favorite scene in the entire volume. Sadly, as I said, the volume ends with Reiner making his appearance, and even though he’s almost beheaded he isn’t quite, so I’m sure he’ll be back before you know it. Attack on Titan can be a struggle, but always makes you think and question why you’re making choices. That’s a big reason it sells as well as it does.