Kageki Shojo!!, Vol. 14 | By Kumiko Saiki | Seven Seas – The bulk of this volume shows us Sarasa’s parents, why they abandoned her with her grandparents to go off and have careers, and why they don’t really regret it. Sarasa does take after her mom in some ways, but the sympathy pretty much lies entirely with her, and I was happy to see that she seems to take it pretty well. She’s moving forward so much that she breaks up with Akiya—as a text!—because she feels she needs to stand on her own now, and regards their relationship as being her relying on him. That said, maybe she should have talked with Akiya about that, as he seems happy to try to ask her out again once she’s settled in. Fortunately, the last chapter in the book gets us back to the acting, and I assume that will take up most of volume fifteen. Love it. – Sean Gaffney
Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 34 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – The series ends with the 37th book, and as such there are a large number of students introduced here with two pages, learn what weird eccentricity they have, move on. I suspect the author is sort of wishing they had made it fifty friends, but that would not fit the folklore. Fortunately, there’s also a solid story in this volume as well, seeing Komi taking charge of the culture festival, where the class decides to run a ramen stand, and succeeds despite arguments and the rules of culture festival cooking regulations. Komi really shows off how far she’s come here, and is rewarded with a walk round the festival with Tadano… who is in women’s clothing, because of course he is. Never stop a running gag just because you’re near the end. Komi only has a few more friends to go, and also college worries. Fortunately, her romance seems to be on easy mode. – Sean Gaffney
Rainbows After Storms, Vol. 3 | By Luka Kobachi | Viz Media – Nanoha and Chidori… are keeping it a secret from everyone. But… they’re dating. I appreciated that they reversed the usual tagline! I also appreciated that it appeared a lot less. This mostly revolves around two big events. In the first, the friend group all goes to the beach, and Chidori wears a nice bikini and regrets it almost immediately, as all of her friends who are not Nanoha are leering at her. (Nanoha finds her super sexy, but is cognizant that Chidori does not like her large chest.) In the second half, there’s a school festival where Chidori’s old sempai shows up, who was her first crush and confession… but got a “we’re both girls” rejection. That said, after seeing Nanoha’s forthright “yes, we’re dating, what about it?”, the sempai is regretting things. Cute. – Sean Gaffney
Short Game: Mitsuru Adachi’s High School Baseball Collection | By Mitsuru Adachi | Denpa Books – If you’re buying a chicken sandwich, you want it to taste like chicken. As such, if you’re buying a collection of baseball short stories by the great Adachi, you know what you’re getting. Baseball triumphs, baseball failures, what happens after baseball. Lots of people who communicate strong emotions through seemingly blank expressions and relying on the other person to figure things out (the girls). The other person usually needing heavy-handed hints to figure anything out (the guys). There’s also a gag manga version of the manga Touch, which would be awesome if Adachi were popular enough to get more of his 40-year-old manga out over here. Since he’s not, I’m very happy with this excellent collection. – Sean Gaffney
A Star Brighter Than the Sun, Vol. 2 | By Kazune Kawahara | Viz Media – This one is a bit more disappointing than the first book, but that’s not the fault of the writing and characterization, which is fine. It’s just that this author is now famous enough to write long series, and therefore we simply can’t have these two talk things out, realize they’re each other’s crush, and get together this early. As such, fans of communicating with others may find this deeply annoying—though, to be fair, Sae does talk to all her other friends about this. It’s just she’s so certain that he loves someone else and not her that no one can see past her own denial. I do enjoy seeing, in a genre where timid heroines also tend to be shy wallflowers who don’t do much, that Sae takes change in class and is generally awesome. For genre fans and fans of the author. – Sean Gaffney
This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Vol. 4 | By Sai Naekawa | Yen Press – This remains very compelling but also very creepy, since it’s just drenched in Hinako’s suicide ideation. The idea seems to be, as of the fourth volume, that Shiori wants to help Hinako get what she wants to do, whereas Miko wants to help Hinako live, but that may not be what Hinako wants. This is also tied in with romantic feelings, of course. The back half of this book is the best, where Shiori bluntly says “the two of us will never be friends” to Hinako, but I think means it in a reassuring way. And we meet another monster, this one someone who normally doesn’t eat humans, but Hinako is once again said to be “just SO tasty.” Now, I can’t see this series ending with Hinako’s wish to die being granted, so I do wonder what’s going to change. Great stuff. – Sean Gaffney
A Witch’s Life in Mongol, Vol. 1 | By Tomato Soup | Yen Press – This one I knew was critically acclaimed, and it’s also very striking, with the artwork and the story combining well. A young girl is sold as a slave to a rich wife in Iran, and gradually begins to learn how to read and do science (and also falls for the young son of the household, who goes off to get more knowledge). Unfortunately, it’s the early 1200s, and here comes the Mongol Empire to ruin everything. They kill nearly everyone in the household, and they take the book of Euclid’s Geometry which everyone knows is incredibly important. Seeing Sitara, the girl who stars in this, go from sullen slave to intellectual sponge to broken captive to rage-filled young woman is quite a trip, and I absolutely want to read more of this. – Sean Gaffney
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