Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Reviews

The Best and Worst Manga of 2022

by

When I sat down to compose my Best of 2022 list, I was certain I’d compiled a similar one as recently as 2017, only to discover that I hadn’t done so in almost seven years. In looking over some of my earlier efforts, I hardly recognize myself: who was this person with the energy to review 40 or 50 books in a year? Or who thought that Yowamushi Pedal was the best new series of 2015? It felt a little daunting to revisit those lists, honestly, as I’ve often let my blog lie fallow for months at a stretch as I adjusted to a more demanding teaching schedule or a longer commute; I’ve been vowing to “bring back” The Manga Critic for years. Reading other bloggers’ year-end lists, however, inspired me to get back in the saddle and take stock of the manga I loved—and didn’t—in 2022.

Best New Manga: Shuna’s Journey
By Hayao Miyazaki • Translated by Alex Dudok de Wit • First Second
In this deceptively simple work, Hayao Miyazaki creates a richly detailed world filled with beautiful, strange imagery that invites the reader to contemplate where and when the story takes place without definitively answering those questions. Miyazaki’s hero is just as mysterious as the landscapes he crosses; Shuna’s odyssey is not a journey of self-discovery but a practical quest that, despite its myriad hardships, leaves him fundamentally unchanged. Is a he a folkloric hero or a witness to environmental catastrophe? Miyazaki leaves that question unanswered as well, creating a work that’s more ambiguous and less didactic than Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind or Princess Mononoke, but similar in its emphasis on the complex relationship between humans and the natural world.

Best Archival Project: Talk to My Back
By Yamada Murasaki • Translated by Ryan Holmberg • Drawn & Quarterly
“For six years now, I’ve never walked at a pace that was mine,” notes Chiharu, the protagonist of Yamada Murasaki’s sharply observed Talk to My Back. First published in the 1980s, Murasaki’s thirty-six vignettes chronicle the small pleasures and intense disappointments of a middle-class Japanese housewife. Through spare linework and judicious use of blank space, Murasaki conveys Chiharu’s quest to define herself outside the role of mother and wife, documenting Chiharu’s anger, frustration, and alienation in a restrained fashion that suggests how stifled and powerless Chiharu often feels. In a thorough, thoughtful companion essay, translator Ryan Holmberg explores Murasaki’s trailblazing role as an alt-manga creator; Murasaki was one of the first women artists to be featured in the pages of COM and Garo magazines, opening the door for creators such as Akino Kondo and Junko Mizuno. Here’s hoping that Drawn & Quarterly decides to publish more of Murasaki’s work in English.

Best New Sci-Fi Manga: Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou
By Hitoshi Ashinano • Translated by Daniel Komen • Adapted by Dawn Davis • Seven Seas
I’m not sure if I would have been as receptive to Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou five or ten years ago, as its low-key depiction of life in the aftermath of an environmental catastrophe might have struck me as hopelessly twee. With the worst of the pandemic behind us, however, I found the series’ emphasis on small, everyday moments more resonant; Hitoshi Ashinano convincingly evokes the rhythm of everyday life in a world of scarcity, minus the Hobbesian emphasis on violent competition. Alpha, the main character, is an android who divides her time between running a small cafe and roaming the coastline on her scooter, photographing the empty roads and submerged towns as well as the small, vibrant communities where people still find time to hold rowdy association meetings and stage elaborate firework displays. Her efforts to document humanity’s final chapter offer a wistful—and hopeful—meditation on what it means to persevere in the face of uncertainty and change.

Best New Romance: Kowloon Generic Romance
By Jun Mayuzuki • Translated by Amanda Haley • Yen Press
The aesthetic of Kowloon Generic Romance is pure 80s manga—think City Hunter or RG Veda—but the story and characters suggest the work of filmmaker Wong Kar-Wai, as Kowloon focuses on an intense but unconsummated flirtation between Reiko, a real estate agent, and Kudou, her brash, horny colleague. Like Kar-Wai, manga-ka Jun Mayuzuki is as enamored of settings as she is of characters, leading the reader on a languid tour of Kowloon’s shopping districts, cafes, back alleys, and apartment blocks, conveying how densely settled this city-within-a-city truly is. Though there are some minor elements of science fiction in play, the main attraction is the artwork and pacing; Mayuzuki devotes an entire chapter to depicting, in rapturous detail, Reiko’s evening ritual of enjoying a cigarette on her flat’s meager balcony, allowing the reader to experience the moment as Reiko does: a brief, wordless respite from the hustle and bustle of Kowloon.

Best New Comedy: Phantom of the Idol
By Hijiki Isoflavone • Translated by Max Greenway • Kodansha
In this delightfully bonkers series, a grumpy male pop star swaps bodies with the ghost of a former teen idol whose discipline and talent help transform Yuya into a charismatic, telegenic performer. The twist? Yuya’s been possessed by Asahi Mogami, a perky girl whose budding career was cut short by a car accident. The physical slapstick takes the humor in some unexpected directions as Asahi navigates the complexities of inhabiting the lazy Yuya’s body, while the dialogue offers plenty of sly pokes at the music industry, as well as some not-so-subtle reminders that pop stardom can be as grueling as it is exhilarating.

Best Manga I Thought I’d Hate: The Men Who Created Gundam
By Hideki Ohwada, Hajime Yatate, and Yoshiyuki Tomino • Translated by Jason Moses • Denpa
Of all the ways you could tell the story of Japan’s most famous robot franchise, it seems only right that Gundam creators Hideki Ohwada and Yoshiyuki Tomino opted for an over-the-top manga that dramatically recreates key moments in the series’ early history. The prevailing tone is reminiscent of a VH-1 Behind the Music special, complete with sudden reversals and last-minute triumphs; every line of dialogue is delivered with the kind of urgency usually reserved for a nuclear crisis, even when the conversation is focused on the more mundane aspects of creating a hit television show. Interspersed among the chapters are brief but useful essays connecting the storylines to real events, offering readers a more nuanced explanation of how Gundam helped the create the template for modern pop-cultural fandoms around the globe.

Worst Manga I Thought I’d Love: Crazy Food Truck
By Rokurou Ogaki • Translated by Amanda Haley • VIZ Media
On paper, Crazy Food Truck sounded like a blast, a cross between Mad Max: Fury Road and The Great Food Truck Race. In practice, however, Crazy Food Truck was surprisingly dull, serving up fight sequences as unimaginative as the food its hero serves his few paying customers. The central joke might be funnier if Gordon’s menu was so good that people would risk life and limb for his gourmet sandwiches, but when a BLT with mustard is his signature dish, it seems more like a failure of imagination than a real attempt at humor, especially when creator Rokurou Ogaki frequently reminds us that Gordon has mounted a cannon on top of his truck to ward off bad guys. Gordon’s sidekick Anisa is a one-note character, inserted into the narrative primarily for fan service that’s so indifferently executed it’s hard to muster any outrage over her penchant for nudity. I have no doubt this series rocked some reader’s world, but I found it flavorless. (Reviewed at The Manga Critic on 6/7/22)

Worst Manga I Read in 2022: Rooster Fighter
By Sou Sakuratani • Translated by Jonah Mayahara-Miller • VIZ Media
Rooster Fighter is a disappointment: the premise is too slight to sustain a long series, the script is strenuously unfunny, and the storylines are numbingly predictable. In every chapter, the nameless hero wanders into a new town, antagonizes and befriends the locals in equal measure, then kills a grotesque demon that’s been terrorizing the community. About the only good joke in whole series is how the rooster kills demons; anyone who’s lived on or near a farm will enjoy a rueful laugh or two at the hero’s superpower. Otherwise, this series is a total Cock-a-Doodle-Don’t. (Reviewed at Manga Bookshelf on 8/16/22)

Hell Mode ~ The Hardcore Gamer Dominates in Another World with Garbage Balancing, Vol. 2

by

By Hamuo and Mo. Released in Japan as “Hell Mode – Yarikomi Suki no Gamer wa Hai Settei no Isekai de Musō Suru” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Taishi.

Having now circled back to read the 2nd book in this series, which came out about a year ago, I find that I will be struggling to write a review of it, because so many of the strengths and weaknesses in the book are the same as the previous volume. In general, whenever Allen is NOT using his summons to fight things, I am reasonably entertained. It’s an interesting reincarnation fantasy where we’re learning about the world at the same time as the main character is, and the climax of the book is action that is actually exciting and cool. Unfortunately, the weakness of this book is that it’s still written for game heads, and I do not give a rat’s ass about how many summons it takes to screw in an orc’s lightbulb this time around. Plus, this is a one-man series still. Cecil plays slightly more of a role here than Krena did in the first, but sadly most of that role is to run away or get kidnapped.

After the events of the first book, Allen is now at a Baron’s house, serving as the servant to the young lady of the house, Cecil. Of course, we don’t really see much of his servant duties. Instead, we see him leaving the city to go out and hunt monsters, experimenting with different types of birds, beasts, stone creatures, and even fish that can buff you. He also starts taking out goblins, then moves up to orcs, which gains him the attention of the local soldiers, who see that he is clearly not Talentless but turn a blind eye. Things change when (it’s implied because pf Allen’s activities) the local dragon moves to the other side of his mountain, meaning that the poor city will soon be able to be rich again. Unfortunately, there are evil nobles who want to change that reality.

The last quarter of the book really is the best part. Allen and Cecil’s escape from what amounts to a dirigible is exciting and also ludicrous (break both legs? Use a leaf and heal myself instantly!). You’d think someone who was a 2-level magic user might try to contribute a bit, but I’ll put it down to Cecil being sheltered. We also get a much better look at the world itself, as after saving his daughter the baron tells Allen the real secrets about this world… and how it ties into his Japanese self selecting “hell Mode” in the first place. Of course, what this ends up meaning is that we’re going to be going to a different locale for the third book in a row, though at least Cecil will be coming along (and I suspect we’ll see Krena again too). I really enjoy the plot, and wish that I didn’t have to wade through 150 pages of experimentation to get to it.

The series is out up to Book 5, but I’m taking a break here so I can read in increments another book people have been demanding I try. In any case, recommended for those who enjoy books with lots of gaming talk in them, as well as books where the hero is not immediately OP but has to work to be OP.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 7

by

By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

This is not, in general, a light and fluffy series in the least. However, with the exception of the start and final pages of this volume, this is definitely one that is on the lighter side. For one thing, our main group of six are now in their third year, and we’re long past their finding out how this school works – they know it well by now. Everyone (except Chela, who is sadly ignored for almost this entire volume, and who I hope gets some nice plot bits in 8 to make up for it) gets a chance to show off, especially Pete, Guy and Katie, who each get a nice bit at the start that allows them to be the elder student advising the newbies. This is especially welcome for Guy, who has honestly the least character development of the six. As for Oliver and Nanao, well, they get the bulk of the book to themselves, as always. Everyone is a protagonist, but some are more protagonist than others.

This book is the start of what amounts to a Tournament Arc, as there’s a Combat League competition coming up, and since there’s so no real stand-out winner in the election yet, it’s going to be a factional battle. Fortunately, the initial stages are grouped by year, meaning Oliver and company don’t have to fight Seventh-Years. That said, he and Nanao will need a third, as Chela’s dad clearly designed this year’s complicated rules, so she wants to keep a low profile. Fortunately, they have everyone’s favorite ball of sunshine, Yuri, to be on their team. (Guy, Katie and Pete also form a team, and get a chunk of the book to show off as well.) Their team will be up against three others that they’re unfamiliar with, which is a pain. Oh yes, and a seventh-year student is stealing other student’s bones.

That last bit is what forms the serious part of this book, and it is quite creepy, though it remains unclear how much permanent damage it actually does… or what the end goal is. It does show off Yuri’s worrying tendency to go after mysteries the way that the Scooby Doo gang do, and Oliver has to be the voice of reason multiple times throughout trying to keep him from haring off and getting himself killed. Other than that, this book is mostly here to show off everyone’s cool magic fighting. It does a very good job, and there are lots of interesting applications, but Oliver and Nanao are leagues above everyone else in their year, and that fact does not change with anything that we see in this volume. We also get to see the 4th/5th year and 6th/7th year fights, the latter of which is most interesting as it shows off Vanessa Aldiss, who loves to fight and who clearly is not above killing people if there aren’t rules in place. It’s clearly meant to show readers that the next Oliver v. teacher battle will be even harder and more vicious.

So yes, good volume. Needs More Chela. Not much to say.

In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 7

by

By Ceez and Tenmaso. Released in Japan as “Leadale no Daichi nite” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

One of the main reasons to read the Leadale series is to see the dissonance between Cayna as a centuries-old high elf who has great-grandchildren and can casually wipe out a continent with Cayna, who is a teenager who spent almost her entire life in a hospital bed and is still learning how to act like a normal person while also having the aforementioned massive power. That dissonance is felt keenly in this volume. At least twice in the book, Cayna overreacts to a situation so much that she causes terror in those around her. She claims that Opus is the dangerous loose cannon, but he (and the reader) know the actual truth. Watching the anime recently helped remind me of this, as there were a lot of viewers who could not get past Cayna’s “comedic violence” towards people, and the violence is no longer quite as comedic. She needs to get a handle on herself, especially now that she knows the true nature of where she is.

Cayna and Opus spend a lot of the start of the book looking around for the magic projector that will allow them to livestream the upcoming fighting tournament, which results in a sort of mini-tour of all the previous towers and shows off the eccentricities of the people who own them. This includes moving the giant turtle so it looks slightly less like it’s about to destroy the nearby city… as well as running into another relative, an elf queen who is rather enthusiastic about meeting Cayna. Unfortunately, now that Opus and Cayna are walking around together, her kids are starting to notice that Opus sounds exactly like who she said their dad was, which requires some last-second lying to avoid the topic. And then we get the tourney itself, which Cayna sits out but even so manages to accidentally ruin.

The world in general seems to treat Cayna as a natural disaster, and honestly the world isn’t wrong. She doesn’t react to things the way anyone would expect, mostly as she’s a teenager who never had a normal life being forced to deal with things that worry, upset, or embarrass her. She also looks like a cute l’il elf girl, so can occasionally be underestimated, though any of the players actually in this world who are able to see (or more accurately not see) her stats will be running away fast. She’s smart enough to know not to enter the tourney, but she then goes and gives Shining Saber one of her ludicrous monster swords, which results in the entire arena getting destroyed as he fights his opponent so hard that no one can continue. The reason I harp on this is because, unfortunately, I don’t think we’re going to see a lot of development with Cayna maturing. The series realizes that her overreactions are funny. So I will attempt to not take it too seriously. There are many funny bits here, which helps.

Leadale is never going to be great, but it’s always entertaining, and it’s a good read if you like fun fantasy with OP girls.

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Knapsack Kid

by

By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Randoseru Girl no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

My favorite episode of Urusei Yatsura (the original, not the 2022 reboot) has Lum end up in various alternate universes and unable to get back to the correct one. We see one where everyone is the opposite gender, one where her father actually invaded and everyone hates her, etc. Towards the end, she finds a world where everything seems to be absolutely perfect… including an Ataru who actually looks to be as handsome as she sees him, saying that he loves her. The look on her face when she hears “I love you” and knows that it’s the wrong world again may be the most heartbreaking moment in the series, topped only by her little “bye bye” as she flees, trying again to get back to HER Ataru. If you’re wondering what all this has to do with Rascal Does Not Dream, then I urge you to read this volume, which may be Sakuta’s best to date.

Things are going reasonably well for Sakuta. He’s still studying hard so he can go to college with Mai, Kaede has decided to start high school at the remote learning place, and he and Mai remain lovey-dovey (or at least as lovey-dovey as Mai ever gets). There’s even more good news coming – Sakuta and Kaede’s mother is getting released from the hospital and being allowed to go home, and she wants to see Kaede. Sakuta is naturally worried about how things will go, and does his best to be a good big brother and strong grownup for his sister. And indeed, things go very well. The reunion is a big success! The only trouble is that Sakuta is still running into the little girl version of Mai. Oh, yes, and one other problem – no one can see him anymore.

The callback to the very first book (though Sakuta does not wear a bunny girl outfit, or even consider it, which makes me sad) is appropriate given that this book pretty much resolves all the major plot points that were outstanding in the series to date. Sakuta’s parents were a constant invisible pressure on the series, but we only saw his father rarely, and we never saw his mother till this book. The middle part of this book is hideously depressing, especially when (helped by the child Mai) he does get back to a world where people can see him… but it’s the wrong one, and just makes him feel inadequate. Fortunately, Rio and Mai are the same no matter what universe, and give him some support… but unfortunately, the solution is something Sakuta will have to work out on his own.

This is not the final book in the series, but it feels like it is, with Sakuta’s entire third year being skipped as we jump to his graduation. There is more to come, and indeed there are teases for future books in this one, including a new character from Sakuta’s past. For this book, though, it’s all Sakuta. He ma never get a cover picture because of the genre he’s in, but if he did, this would be the book. Also: “Other Sakuta: fix your shit” is hilarious.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 3

by

By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

In my review of the 2nd volume I mentioned that it wrapped up the first arc in the series, to which I can only say: oops. That said, I am absolutely not complaining. This may not be the final book in the series (there’s at least two more out in Japan), but it’s definitely The Payoff. Following directly on from events in the last book, it has tons of conflict, but it’s all character-based and 100% understandable. It gets into worries about isekai/reincarnation journeys that I always love to see in those books, and also delves into the past of this kingdom and why trying to change it in the future is something that’s going to be very hard and yet absolutely necessary. Basically, this book is everything you wanted to see in this series wrapped up. Anisphia has come a long way from the Chaos Gremlin of the first book. (Not to worry, the anime starts next week, and from what I’ve seen, they’re hammering on that aspect.)

After the events of the last book, Algard has been sent off into exile, meaning that there’s only one really obvious candidate in line for the throne: Anisphia. She proceeds to put on a brave face, buckle down, and accept her fate in a way that devastates everyone around her, because they all know her far too well. This includes Euphyllia, who knows her better than anyone and refuses to accept Anisphia giving up her happiness and becoming a shell of her former self. To that end, she goes searching for a way to bypass Anisphia and find another heir to the throne… and finds there is another way, but it would involve a ton of sacrifice of her own. With both Anisphia and Euphyllia playing a weird game of chicken in trying to sacrifice their own love and joy for the sake of each other, who’s going to blink first?

As I mentioned above, my favorite part of the book was the look at Anisphia’s interiority, particularly something that she’s been half in denial about this entire time. She may have abdicated early in her life, but being a Princess is a very important part of her, and a reason that she’s constantly working herself to death. She also finally confesses to Euphyllia that she’s a reincarnation, and talks about her life back in her other world… as well as what that means to her current self. We’ve seen reincarnation isekai (particularly “villainess” titles) have our reincarnated heroine “overwrite” the original personality when they regain their memories, but here we see Anisphia’s horror at the very idea of doing that. And there’s also the fact that she was reincarnated as a royal that needs to use magic to rule but one who can’t use magic. That unfairness drives her, and also nearly breaks her. Spoiler: there’s a lot of crying in this.

But there’s kissing as well, and I was amused at the book dancing around the fact that the obvious solution is joint rule, but that would involve the country acknowledging their relationship, and I don’t think we’re quite there yet. That said, this was the best in the series by far. I don’t know if I want to see it adapted in the anime – if it is, the anime will have been quite rushed – but it’s a must-read for yuri fans.

The Invincible Little Lady, Vol. 1

by

By Chatsufusa and fuumi. Released in Japan as “Dōyara Watashi no Karada wa Kanzen Muteki no Yō Desu ne” by GC Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roman Lempert.

I’ve talked before about the fact that I think avoiding cliches is an overrated issue. There have been several fantastic light novels and manga out there that use the same old thing: reincarnated in another world, noble’s daughter publicly shamed, let’s start a new high school club, etc. But as long as they keep the audience’s interest and have a good story to tell using those same old hoary elements, that’s fine. That said… I have my limits. I like to think that the artist read a bunch of popular webnovels and thought to themselves “now here’s MY spin on this idea!”. Sometimes, though, I don’t get that impression. I get the impression that the writer really has no goal or desire beyond “get clicks, get published”. And unfortunately that’s the impression I got with The Invincible Little Lady, a novel that doesn’t really put a foot wrong when it comes to fun characters and amusing scenes, but which feels like it lacks a soul.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: a Japanese person lives their life weak and sickly, never leaving the hospital. As they finally pass on, they desperately wish for a strong body that will never lose to anything. Amazingly, God then announces that their wish is granted. Now she’s Mary Regalia, a duke’s daughter and the apple of her father’s eye, in a fantasy land of magic, monsters and swords. As she grows older, she starts to realize that God did the job a little too well. She’s immortal, can’t be harmed, and her strength is off the charts. Same with magic. She needs a maid to cater to her every whim… because if she puts on her own clothes, she tears them, and teacups shatter in her hands if she’s not careful. These are the stats of a great hero! But all she wants to do is life a quiet, peaceful life!

So yeah, if you thought of In the Land of Leadale, or Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average?, you aren’t alone. The author said in the afterword that they had read a bunch of webnovels and just sat down and started banging out one of their own, so it’s not surprising. And to be fair, it’s much better than it should be. The book for the most part avoids sexual assault, slavery, or the other isekai pitfalls. There’s not much fanservice aside from (sigh) Mary bemoaning her small chest and commenting on the chest size of others. It even attempts to have an in-world explanation for why she’s so ludicrously strong – she comes from a family that has ludicrous strength in it already, so no one is surprised. It ticks all the right boxes. But… why should I read more? What is the purpose of the series? I can’t find an answer after the first volume, and that’s a big flaw.

So yes, Sean vs. GC Novels has led to another loss for Sean. This is a well-written book that should appeal to those who want something to read on a plane or the beach. But I want more.

Haibara’s Teenage New Game+, Vol. 1

by

By Kazuki Amamiya and Gin. Released in Japan as “Haibara-kun no Tsuyokute Seishun New Game” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Esther Sun.

I think, like most people, I have no desire to go back in time and try to do things differently. Not because I’m reasonably content with all my life choices, but simply because I know that if I ever did I would be resolutely terrible at it, and probably locked away within the first week. I suppose with Haibara it helps that he’s not all that far removed from his past, but still: there’s too many ways for everything to go wrong. As indeed we find in this book, where we discover that the only thing worse than screwing up, is NOT screwing up. Fortunately, it turns out that Haibara’s old past was mostly self-inflicted, and that he’s hanging out with a nice gang of popular kids. Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle might argue this is a bit unrealistic, but it’s not meant to be. Everyone knows what they’re getting with this teenage fantasy. And to its credit, it’s written pretty well.

Natsuki Haibara is a college student who regrets his past. He tried to reinvent himself in high school, and it was such a failure that it cost him any friends he once had. He spent the rest of his time in a self-described grey existence. And so he makes a wish to God to get a do-over… and wakes up back in his parents’ home, 7 years earlier. He’s just graduated middle school, meaning he’s still overweight, wearing glasses, and fashion ignorant. He can’t do much about the last, but he can fix the first two, and goes on a month-long binge to get himself to the point where he can have a rainbow-colored high school debut… this time with the experience of knowing exactly where he went wrong. But that experience can cut both ways, and it turns out that just because you’ve gained 7 years worth of talents it does not make you less oblivious about other people’s feelings.

I appreciated that the main conflict in this first volume is not directly about Haibara and a series of girls who kind of like him (though that is of course here as well, as that’s the genre we’re in), but about trying to reconnect with one of the few friends in high school who supported him until he finally screwed up too much, Tatsuya. Initially Haibara is really wary of Tatsuya, and it shows, but he asks his friend Reita (who is the standard “cool hot boy” in these stories) to let him work it out himself. Then, he can’t take his own advice as he’s unable to realize that, thanks to years of extra experience, he’s now TOO perfect, to the point where he makes others jealous of him. And now he doesn’t realize that the answer is mostly “let Tatsuya work it out himself”. Luckily, everything turns out OK.

This can be hard to read at times, especially if you have no desire to relive the horrors of high school interrelations, but it’s solid and avoids most of the pitfalls I was hoping it would avoid. It’s decent romcom, with a minimum of rom at the moment, though I expect that to change.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 1

by

By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Henshaw.

When you’re talking about a genre, it’s never quite just the same thing. No, not even isekai series starring Potato-kun protagonists. There’s mix and match, there’s variations, there’s ways to make this different enough that we don’t get sued. And some genres cross over with others. For example, one genre I quite like is “everyone thinks that the protagonist is being ridiculously clever and crafty, when they’re really just improvising and winging it”. Tearmoon Empire is probably the best current example, but we’ve seen a few others. And, of course, there are BL fantasy novels, where true love is found even if you have to rewrite reality so that the kingdom is predominately gay. And, of course, there are villainess books, where our heroine ends up being accused of things she either never did, or only did in the source material. Put them all together and you’ve got this series, which asks: how would a kingdom run on BL really work out?

Maki was a girl who loved BL novels, particularly a series called The Noble King. It features a kingdom where the king is married to another man, and his son the prince is also in love with a man. In the novels, the prince’s younger sister, Octavia, was a big supporter of theirs, a perfect side character for a BL series. But now Mari has died and is reincarnated *as* Octavia, and has to deal with how the writer manages to have a working dynasty with all the nobility being gay: she will be married off (possibly to a not-gay man, possibly as a beard), produce a child, and then give him to her older brother and have him raise the child as his own. Needless to say, this does not delight Octavia AT ALL. She’s going to find a man of her own! There’s just one slight problem… everyone else thinks she has designs to take over the throne. And is possibly evil.

Octavia, in this first volume, is not an airhead like Katarina Claes. She sees her problem and takes actions to solve it. But she’s also not a clever genius like a lot of other Villainess heroines. Most of her action taking is spur of the moment and improvised, and sometimes quickly regretted. She is, in other words, a normal person reacting the way a normal person would to being in a novel that she’s very familiar with… to a point. (She died after Book 5, so has missed some later stuff.) Unfortunately, to a noble family who are used to everyone acting like they were born into nobility and set in very defined roles… she’s incredibly hard to read, and her actions frequently make no sense. Such as hiring as her new bodyguard a man who is likely an assassin. Or being ambivalent about her older brother’s relationship. Or… in political terms, she’s a bomb that hasn’t gone off yet. This provides terrific tension, which is offset by her narrative voice, which is very “chatty teen girl”.

Basically, this is excellent. It also moves a lot slower than I expected, as we only cover about three days in this first book. We don’t even get a ball where Octavia can be publicly shamed! Possibly next time?

Qualia the Purple

by

By Hisamitsu Ueo and Shirou Tsunashima. Released in Japan as “Murasakiiro no Qualia” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Daniel Komen. Adapted by Carly Smith.

I actually had to double check the dates after finishing this volume, to see which came first: Qualia the Purple or Puella Magi Madoka Magica. The answer is Qualia came first, by about two years. Still, folks who are familiar with the main plot of PMMM are going to find certain similarities to the main plot of Qualia, even if the two are handled quite differently. Qualia the Purple doesn’t involve Magical Girls, but it is a hard SF series about trying to save someone over and over again and being unable to fix things no matter how many tries are made, as well as the dangers of grief and obsession. The first third is a short story that won an award, the last two thirds are the expansion for the light novel. The last two thirds are the reason to read the book, but I would not blame readers who stop after Page 30 or so. The start of this book is deadly boring, and while the plot twist explains why, it’s still boring.

The girl on the cover, and the center of the book, is Yukari, a young “genius” middle school girl who sees everything as robots. When she’s looking at someone else, she sees them as a robot. This has led to difficulties. The narrator, and the actual protagonist of the series, is Manabu, aka “Gaku-chan”, an athletic girl in Yukari’s class who is her best friend and is, at least initially, the “normal” girl in the story. That begins to change when Yukari is drawn into the search for a serial killer. It changes even more when there’s a new transfer student in the second chunk of the book, Alice, who is determined to befriend Yukari and have her join an organization for geniuses. And everything completely falls apart when Yukari is killed, and the REAL plot kicks in.

Intellectually, I think this book is excellent… once you get past Manabu explaining Yukari to the reader in cute ways over the dire first 30 pages. The climax to the “short story” part of the book was well handled and surprising, and the hard SF gobbledygook that infests the second part (and there is an awful lot of that, be aware) is at least vaguely understandable. Manabu’s growing desperation and the lengths she will go to in order to try to save Yukari are jaw-dropping, and I can appreciate the writing quality and the thought that went into the plot itself. Emotionally, I sort of hated this. Mostly as I really, really started to hate Manabu. She does not skimp on telling us the things she does and the people she manipulates in order to do what she is doing, and some of it (particularly Alice’s subplot) are frankly loathsome. It’s on purpose, of course, but that doesn’t mean I want to read it. There’s also the problem, which Yukari herself brings up, that everything is being done for her sake but she’s not allowed to make the choice herself. Yukari ends up being a goal rather than a character in the last half of the book.

Of course, I’m supposed to feel all this. That’s the point. I do recommend this book, which is like a puzzle in many ways, and the way that Manabu’s narration changes as she does, sometimes from line to line, is amazing. Just… it’s not a feel good book.

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 8

by

By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hunter Prigg.

I hope people don’t read all my reviews of this series in order, because I inevitably end up repeating the same thing over and over again: this is a series about food. It’s there in the title, where it says these are Rimi’s CULINARY chronicles, not her rise to power or her romantic adventures. Likewise, you know that eventually in these books there’s going to be a big crisis, and it’s going to be resolved by a meal. OK, in this particular volume it’s not actually resolved, but it’s at least defused, which is good enough. Rimi spends a majority of this book in hiding, which means that she can’t say her name, and her identity is constantly called into question, given that she’s very bad at hiding it. Who is she? The future empress? The court flower? A poison that will destroy the entire country? None of those, really. She’s a cook. Food – and not just any food, but the RIGHT food – is how she interacts with others.

We pick up where we left off last time, with Rimi kidnapped by the Chancellor, who locks her in an old building on a far away estate, where he will quietly kill her once he makes arrangements. Fortunately, before he can do that, she’s rescued by a passing hottie (which feels ludicrously unrealistic even by the standards of this series, but hey). What’s more, the hottie is the very same person who’s being recommended to be the new Minister of Works. Now we have The Emperor desperately trying to find Rimi, Shusei desperately trying to find Rimi, the Chancellor, once he discovers she’s gone, desperately trying to find Rimi, and her mysterious benefactor being understandably unwilling to let her go because Rimi refuses to say who she is. In other words, situation normal for the Court Flower books.

Much as I would like it to be kicked slightly to the side, there’s only one OTP in this series, and it’s Rimi and Shusei. They reunite here, and Rimi opens up and admits that she’s still in love with him, but it’s hard to get past sheer male stubbornness, especially when said male thinks that he’s really being political. Frustration levels are high. On the bright side, the new character, Ryo Renka, is wonderful, an excellent addition to the cast who I hope we see more of. Ryo is also deeply tied into the past of the previous generation, which also includes Shusei’s father and the Chancellor, and it’s that past that provides the clue to help Rimi escape her deadly fate. I enjoyed the fact that this tim around the food has to be made in a rush and sloppily – because that’s how it was made originally by the amateurs who cooked it. It’s all about the vibe.

This has three volumes to go, and I expect civil war before the end. But it will be civil war with cooking, no doubt. Still greatly enjoying this, one of the strongest volumes in the series.

BLADE & BASTARD: Warm ash, Dusky dungeon, Vol. 1

by

By Kumo Kagyu and so-bin. Released in Japan as “Blade & Bastard: Hai wa Atatakaku, Meikyū wa Honogurai” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

One of the highlights of J-Novel Club’s appearance at Anime NYC this year was the announcement of a partnership with Drecom, a video game company that has recently been expanding into other media markets. There are several novels they could have chosen to start off this new partnership, and I for one was hoping for “I’m a Pharmacist Witch and a Part-Time Divorce Attorney”, but I can see why they chose to go with BLADE & BASTARD. First of all, it hadn’t come out in Japan yet – this book got a release in North America on the same date it came out in Japan. Secondly, it has a strong pedigree: the author is better known for Goblin Slayer, and the artist for Overlord. And the novels themselves take place in the world of Wizardry, the popular RPG series. With all that said, how does it hold up as a light novel if you don’t game and don’t really care for Goblin Slayer *or* Overlord? You’ve come to the right person to ask.

A town named Scale has a massive and dangerous dungeon. It’s filled with monsters and treasure, both of which also bring easy death. Our supposed protagonist is Iarumas, a highly competent but loathed man who wanders the dungeons collecting corpses, taking their stuff, and bringing them back to be revived by temple nun Aine. He has no memory of his past, and tries to go deeper and deeper in order to reconnect to it. Over the course of the book, he’s joined by Garbage, a feral girl who speaks only in barks and woofs but is excellent with a sword, and Raraja, a young put-upon thief who is probably the ACTUAL protagonist here. They explore the dungeon, trying to gain experience and also see what’s actually going on with Garbage, who – like Iarumas – has an obscure but important past.

If you’re looking for dark fantasy, this is a solid choice, as you’d expect from this author. The first volume also has 100% less sexual assault and fanservice than Goblin Slayer, which I count as another big plus. Iarumas is a bit too much of a brooding cipher for me to really latch on to, but Raraja’s journey from starving and easily tricked young boy to a solid adventurer in his own right is one of the two highlights of the book. The other highlight is Aine, a nun who uses religion to justify a mercenary streak and really, really loves swords and killing things with swords. (The narrative chooses to tell us – over and over again, it’s weird – that elves like Aine have normal human lifespans in this world.) The problematic part of the book is Garbage, who acts throughout like a dog – her only dialogue is barking, whining, and howling. The bit of backstory we get of her helps explain this a bit, but it’s near the end of the book, and you’d be forgiven for thinking she’s there for a bizarre kind of reader fetish before this. Perhaps future books will help her grow more human.

So yes, despite the constant death, this is less grim than I’d expected, and has a lively cast. A must-read for fans of the author, and not bad for fans of dark game tie-in fantasy.

My Daughter Left the Nest and Returned an S-Rank Adventurer, Vol. 6

by

By MOJIKAKIYA and toi8. Released in Japan as “Boukensha ni Naritai to Miyako ni Deteitta Musume ga S-Rank ni Natteta” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

At the start of this book Belgrieve is preparing to go and search for his old comrades, and by the end of the book he has only JUST set off to do so. That’s not to say that nothing happens in this volume, there’s actually quite a big threat. But this series is content to take its time with its ongoing plots, and the author freely admits we’re only about halfway done. What this means is that the first half is very slow life and leisurely, as our extended family are back in the country and farming and fishing… along with teaching the town how to fight, and sparring with the occasional adventurer who came along because, well, they’re all legends. If you’re wondering what stops them from going on their trip right away, well, the trees are on the march, and they’re not nice trees. They’re after Mit, and will do anything to get him, even if it means destroying the town.

Mit is theoretically an interesting character, and I hope gets a bit more to do after “growing up” a bit post-crisis at the end of this book, but unfortunately the lack of interiority and the suddenness of this growing up means he still falls far more on the “plot device” end of the spectrum, especially when compared to someone like Charlotte. It’s mentioned a couple times how he and Ange look like siblings, which of course is meant to remind the reader of Ange’s demon heritage, but I wish the growth in Mit had been handled better. On the bright side, we do get a new character in this volume, and she’s a tsundere! That said, she’s also a sword. Graham’s sword ends up with Bell by the end of this book, and can also speak to Ange and Graham (though not Bell), and I find her amusing.

Where the book is strongest is in the horror aspect this time around, as the moving trees are scary, and while we don’t see it actively take any lives in the present, we see the spirits of those they have killed in the past, and they’re also pretty scary, as the “please avenge us!” spirit can rapidly become “…by dying!” if you aren’t quick enough. The party all gets a lot of cool fighting to do, but (of course) the big final kill is saved for Belgrieve, who even has to temporarily give up his pegleg in order to get the job done. Frankly, by the end of the fight you’ll be inclined to agree with Ange about the coolness of her father. There’s also an excellent short story calling back to the first book, where Mit and Charlotte, both still scared of the woods after the events in the main volume, are taken by Ange to see the spirit fire. It shows how much father has taught daughter, and I really enjoyed it.

This is a solid series, and continues to have no romance at all, it’s a pure family story. Recommended for that alone.

Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back Whenever I Want!, Vol. 1

by

By Hiiro Shimotsuki and Takashi Iwasaki. Released in Japan as “Itsudemo Jitaku ni Kaereru Ore wa, Isekai de Gyōshōnin o Hajimemashita” by HJ Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Berenice Vourdon.

You frequently hear grumbling from light novel fans – the hardcore ones, of course, not the filthy casuals – about why so many isekai titles are licensed every single year over here, much in the same way that I imagine ten years ago everyone went “oh man, another Alice in the Country of _________” manga?”. But the answer is pretty basic: people buy them and people read them, and then they want more. If you go to AO3, you’ll tend to find that the most popular fanfics in the big genres are not doing something wildly innovative and different, they’re doing something that’s exactly the same as all the other popular fanfics, only with variations. It’s true comfort reading. You don’t have to worry as you read them. Peddler from Another World may be so unoriginal I wondered if an AI had written it, but it was well-written enough to have me finish it, grudgingly declare it decent, and want to read another. That’s all you can ask.

There are two types of male isekai protagonists, and Shiro Amata is the second one; not a high school kid, but a salaryman who just quit his job working for a “black company”. He’s now staying at his late grandmother’s place, after she disappeared seven years earlier and was declared dead. There, among her things, he finds a letter explaining what really happened – she’s from a fantasy world, something she hid from her family. Now Shiro too can journey to that fantasy world, and come back to Japan whenever he likes. Armed with two killer abilities – the usual infinite storage, plus the ability to convert fantasy money into Japanese yen and vice versa – he ends up in a town out in the boonies, and becomes a merchant, selling things that fantasy worlds need but don’t have – like matches.

First, I want to mention that I suspect the illustrator drew all the color pages in this volume before reading the book, as neither the cover nor the interior color illustrations match up with ANY of the scenes within. Secondly, it can be hilarious how derivative this series is. The matches merely got a shrug from me, and the “evil guy who is evil because villains in isekais are always 100% evil” made me sigh, but when we got to the cause of a woman’s deadly wasting disease, I groaned, because it’s the same disease it always is in these books. That said, the book is very readable. Shiro is a “nice guy”, but has a bit of a dark side to him, as we find out towards the end of the book. He also has at least three possible love interests at the end of the first book, as well as a girl who may as well be an adopted daughter. (The only reason I know this wasn’t written by an AI is that if it was, the little girl would be the one with the cat ears.) There are a few “oh anime no” tropes, such as the mayor’s large breasts, which get referred to quite a bit, but, I mean, you’re reading a light novel.

If you like reading slow life isekai, and want more of the same, this is a good choice. There is little to no sexual assault or slavery, and the little girl really is very cute. Just don’t expect surprises.

The Tatami Galaxy

by

By Tomihiko Morimi and Yusuke Nakamura. Released in Japan as “Yojōhan Shinwa Taikei” by Ohta Shuppan. Released in North America by HarperVia. Translated by Emily Balistrieri.

I was not having a good weekend when I read this book, and was perhaps a bit grumpy going in. Morimi has always been very hit-and-miss for me, and the sliding scale has depended on how much of his books are narrated by a pretentious but also pathetic college student, so I was not expecting much. The book gradually won me over, though, because it’s also filled with the things I do like about Morimi, especially his tendency to make places into characters. As with many of his other books, there are many refer4ences to (I assume) real-life streets and neighborhoods that the characters walk up and down, but it also extends to the four-and-a-half Tatami room that the main character lives in. The first 2/3 of this book could read like a normal novel with an odd time travel bent to it, but the fourth chapter goes all in on being uncanny, and explores the dangers of staying too far inside your own head. In addition, all the characters except the lead are great.

The book is narrated by an unnamed college student, who looks exactly like all college students do in books like this. He’s in his third year of college and drifting, with his only “friend” being Ozu, who feels more like a partner in crime than anything else, and is described by the narrator as looking like an oni. (The anime, which I haven’t seen, apparently takes this and runs with it.) He used to be in a film club, but got thrown out for basically being too much of a dick. There’s also a girl, Akashi, who he met at a bookstore and who seems to get along with him. Despite this, he has no girlfriend and his life is going nowhere. Then he meets a self-proclaimed God and a fortune-telling old woman, who between the two of them seem to send him on a series of what-ifs that show that choices may not matter as much as we think.

This got a VERY popular and influential anime, which I haven’t seen, so I definitely wanted to give it a shot. I ended up liking it more than not liking it. The protagonist is irritating, but of course that’s by design, and we’re not meant to like him that much at first. Ozu is the sort of wonderful character that you never, ever want to meet in real life, and Akashi, frankly, has the patience of a saint. The book has four chapters, each of which start with him deciding to join a different “club” in school, and those changes are reflected in what happens, though he seems to end up at the same resolution no matter what. After the final chapter, which is also probably the best chapter, I am hoping that he has managed to find some perspective, though Akashi can probably help him out. I also hope Ozu knows that he is being sent on a trip with a bunch of identical-to-the-serial-number 1000-yen bills.

If you’re a fan of the author, this is of course a must read. If you aren’t, try to power through it anyway, as it works best when you let the prose and locale wash over you. Also, is the dental hygienist in this the same one as in Penguin Highway?