Assassin & Cinderella, Vol. 1 | By Yuzo Natsuno | Square Enix Manga – I was honestly expecting this to be a lot more smutty than it ended up being, and it may still end up there, but this first volume is actually a bit goofy and quite sweet. That said, the artist is absolutely obsessed with our heroine Neneko’s body, and that may be why I was mistaken—in terms of the reader’s gaze, this is pretty much already porn, there’s just no sex yet. As for the plot, well, Neneko is pretty much being led around by the nose by her supposed target, who she falls for almost instantly—but she’s fine with that, though she does wonder why he seems to know everything about her. As for him, he’s the classic shoujo boyfriend, sweet towards her and a literal killer towards most everyone else. Better than I expected. – Sean Gaffney
Friday at the Atelier, Vol. 3 | By Sakura Hamada | Yen Press – Last time I wondered if we would get a confession in the next book. That didn’t quite happen, but it’s very clear these two need to be a couple, as they make each other better. The best part of the volume has Tamaki writing a food column about the restaurant owned by Ishihara’s friend, and her vivid description of the menu item she had makes it take off—her writing is clearly compelling. We also see her friend Rei finally meet the man that she suspects is taking advantage of Tamaki, only to quickly realize that he’s a sweetheart. That said, he can be a clueless sweetheart, as when he fails to realize why Tamaki is annoyed when he disregards her worries about him. This ends with the next volume, and I hope it ends sweetly and weirdly, like the rest of it. – Sean Gaffney
Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 13 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – I wondered why it felt like I was missing something—I forgot to get the twelfth volume, and did not realize that till AFTER I read this one. Whoops. This one is excellent, as always, the second half a bit more so, as it focuses on Sarasa’s family. Ai realizes that she knows nothing about her parents, having not really thought about it much, and wonders if there’s something serious lying there. Yes and no, as we see the return of Sarasa’s mother, who is what is politely termed a “free spirit,” and Sarasa was raised by her grandparents partly due to this. The mom is a bundle of fun but also full of issues, and if I’m being honest is hard to like at this point. There’s plenty of acting lessons too, where Sarasa is taught to sing like Karen Carpenter. Now to read book twelve. – Sean Gaffney
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 33 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – One of the better things about this title is that it’s not just about Komi learning how to communicate with others better, but also shows that she’s using those skills to pick up on how OTHERS communicate and uses it to make things better. What seems to be a dumb gag near the end with a Japanese girl dressed in full “Egyptian woman” mode who only speaks single Egyptian-related words turns out to almost be a code that only Komi figures out. Elsewhere, the romance between Tadano and Manbagi is finally shot in the head mercifully, as she goes on a date with him, confesses to him, and gets shot down. I admit I’ve always wished that this series could have gone for the poly option, but this was pretty well handled nevertheless. – Sean Gaffney
Monthly in the Garden with My Landlord, Vol. 4 | By Yodokawa | Yen Press – This book focuses on the idol group Miyako left, and how they’re holding up now that the dynamics in the group are slightly changed. Especially as it turns out that their new leader is overextending herself a bit, which makes her manager worry, and also having meals and discussions with Ayako’s angry, stressed editor, which makes her manager worry a bit more. Fortunately, it turns out this is less “everything has changed since Miyako left” and more “Miyako helped disguise that the other girl has always been like this.” In happier news, Miyako meets Ayako’s parents, and they’re supportive, even though they immediately recognize who she really is. This feels like it’s ready to wrap up in the next book, which is good, as next book is the last book. – Sean Gaffney
A Star Brighter Than the Sun, Vol. 1 | By Kazune Kawahara | Viz Media – It’s always a treat to see a new Kawahara title hit these shores, and this one does not disappoint. Our heroine Sae has, or so she thinks, one main feature, which is that she is TALL. She towers over the rest of the girls in her class. She is not, however, taller than Koki, her childhood friend and first crush. She used to be, but puberty hit him hard, he shot above her, and now he’s tall… AND gorgeous. She seems to think she has no chance with him, and tries her best not to think about it, even as one of her new friends decides to make a play for him. Little does she know, but we the reader can tell, he’s already decided who he likes. This has all the things you want to read from this author, and absolutely does not disappoint. – Sean Gaffney
Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 20 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – This is the final volume of the series, and for the first half of the book you’d never know it, as it follows the same pattern as previous books… though Takagi is perhaps getting a bit more overt about her feelings, and Nishikata’s denials are more and more perfunctory. What sets up the finale is him being scouted for the track team, which leads him to realize a) he likes this sort of thing (leading to his adult profession of gym teacher), and b) he misses walking home with Takagi, leading to him finally accepting that he loves her. Which, to my surprise, he confesses in the final chapter, over the festival fireworks. Meaning she gets to pretend she couldn’t hear him and tease him one last time. We’re not getting the adult “side story,” but ah well. I loved this so much. – Sean Gaffney
0 Comments