Archive for the English Manga Category


She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Volume 4

May 30th, 2024

A large-bodied woman in sweatshirt and sweatpants, with long black hair in a ponytail holding a bunch of yellow flowers walks with a slighter woman in white blouse and green skirt with medium-length reddish brown hair holding a box from a doughnut chain. They hold hands and smile gently at one another.In She Loves to Cook, and She Loves to Eat, Volume 4 important things happen, there are beginnings and endings, but the most important thing is that delicious food is eaten, together. But first! Valentine’s Day.

Nomoto makes herself crazy making sweets for the woman she’d like to be her sweetheart, and Kasuga-san overthinks what to get Nomoto, as well. Ultimately, as they share chocolate, Kasuga-san also shares news that is going to cause a huge shift in both their lives.

While Nomoto and Kasuga-san negotiate new boundaries and discuss a major life change, Sena also works on some of her issues and begins to find a way forward for herself. We learn what Yakko’s experience with love and identity was like. And, while these powerful emotional stories are happening, we also thrill to the everyday joy of s’mores (although Ritz crackers are a questionable choice. Around these parts it has to be graham crackers.) While explaining important issues of life and love to readers, this series continues to be incredibly warm-hearted and enjoyable. I won’t lie, when my wife and I watched the live action series, we went out to get shokupan, for this volume’s red bean paste toast with butter. No regrets. ^_^

Caleb Cook’s translation is fantastic, and the entire Yen team really makes this series a pleasure to read. Whatever technical issues was plaguing this series earlier seem to be resolved. Phil Christie is being given time to retouch more often, which I love. It makes the reading experience smoother.

Every moment with this series is delightful time spent with characters I have come to care about. I actually thought to myself today, “my darling daughters” and the had to otaku-correct myself, because All My Darling Daughters, by Fumi Yoshinaga is not a warm fuzzy manga at all. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 10
Characters – 9
Service – 0 Unless, like Nomoto, you consider watching Kasuga eat “service.”
LGBTQ+ – 10

Overall – 10

“I think it’s cute the way you blush all the way to your forehead.” These characters are just so damn cute and wholesome.

Yuzaki-sensei was ill when she drew the first half of Volume 5, then the story took a hiatus so she could recover. But let me assure you, it is an excellent volume narratively speaking and you will absolutely want to read it when it comes out from Yen Press!

Queer identity, social and personal issues and eating delicious food with friends. A perfect volume of manga.





Vampeerz – “My Peer Vampires,” Volume 3

May 27th, 2024

On a plain yellow background surrounded by a bright red frame, are two girls in white school sailor-style blouses and black school uniform skirts. One girl with long, dark hair, kisses the blonde girl on the upper cheek from behind.by Christian LeBlanc, Staff Writer

I found the last book somewhat vile,
But this volume did make me smile.
Basketball, talking crow, 
The return of Jiro, 
And artwork made this all worthwhile. 

If you’re a human (as opposed to a vampire) and you live to be a certain age, you may find your doctor warning you about your blood pressure, and you may then find yourself looking at ways to lower said blood pressure. Proper sleep. A little exercise. Consuming less salt. 

Less salt, as it turns out, is a sub-optimal way of dining if you prefer eating food that is delicious. You can disguise the tastelessness, however, by adding other things to your meal: garlic, ginger, pepper, vinegar, lemon juice, etc. You may even find some recipes improved when you use these other seasonings. 

So, too, has Vampeerz, Volume 3 (by Akili, published by Denpa) improved, by making better use of its extended cast. We still have the tastelessness I complained about in my review of Volume 2 (14-year-old human girl Ichika is horny for vampire girl Aria, who claims that she has no interest in romance because she looks and thinks like a child). The hustle and bustle of activity in Volume 3 shifts the focus away from this, however, in favor of vampire power intrigues (Aria turns out to be an important vampire figure, and there are allusions to other vampire factions wanting to do something about that) and, of course, school hijinx. 

So, yes, we still get the odd panty shot or bath scene of self-described-as-child-like-Aria, but this is lessened by how she takes the initiative in her relationship with Ichika. And yes, while we may see someone popping a squat in the bathroom, we then also get hilarious moments like Khara in attack mode running full-tilt while wearing one of those whacky rubber horse masks.

Speaking of Khara (introduced last volume, along with her talking, size-changing crow, Jayanti) – Ichika initially (and hilariously) despises her as a rival for Aria’s affections, but soon friendlies up when they both realize that having someone to discuss Aria with is a lot more fun than staying hostile. Khara also joins the vampire intrigue with Jiro (Aria’s servant) and Sakuya (also Aria’s servant, whose cover is acting as school nurse, a position whose authority she abuses from go). It’s nice to see a larger cast interacting and bouncing off each other, and helps to make the book feel more ‘lived in.’  

In addition to some vampire faction business, Ichika’s and Aria’s relationship is moved along when Aria accidentally gets a girlfriend while she’s washing her hands in the bathroom, causing some hurt and jealousy with Ichika. It might be a thin excuse for drama (or even satirizing how these misunderstandings occur in romance manga), but it’s good to see some progression between the two.

Regarding the art, this volume has one of my favourite layouts in any comic, a two-page spread that initially got me interested in this series when I saw it shared on Twitter some time ago: Aria sinks a 3-point shot while the arc of the basketball forms the gutters separating some panels, with a close-up of her lining up her shot in the foreground with thicker linework. It’s a gorgeous setup that can only be done in comics, and adds a great deal of visual depth and immersion. 

Molly Rabbitt’s translation is mostly stellar, but could have used a second pass in a couple of places, as when a teacher refers to Paul McCartney’s song “Blackbird” as a poem that helped inspire the American civil rights movement, rather than having lyrics that were inspired by it. Clarity aside, the translation generally feels very fresh and authentic, particularly whenever the mood turns goofy.

Ratings:

Art – 9 I really enjoy Akili’s art style, and the kill-faces Ichika makes at Khara as she’s seized by jealousy made me laugh. 
Story – 6 I feel like we’re still just setting up the pieces, but I’m enjoying seeing things get set up at least. There’s really not much plot to speak of, yet.
Characters – 7 I don’t feel super attached to anyone, but they’re fine to pass the time with.
Service – 7 I might not mind the service if the characters were all coded as older than fourteen, so as it is, it just feels off-putting. 
Yuri – 8 Rivals for love! Bloody kisses! 

Overall – 7 A much more enjoyable entry than last volume’s creepiness. 

I’m hesitantly looking forward to Volume 4, which should already be out by the time you read this. I doubt that what I find unpleasant in this series is going away any time soon, but the artwork, humor and growing cast are the seasonings I need to keep me going.

But take that with a grain of salt, of course. 





How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend?, Volume 1

May 24th, 2024

by Luce, Staff Writer

Imagine you are a Japanese schoolgirl, and you’ve just realised you have a big crush on your friend! What do you do? Your options: 

A: pine ad infinitum. This crush goes to your grave. This is a pretty safe option, filled with yearning gazes and trying to hide your feelings, but someone more proactive might get there first, leaving you in a world of angst!

B: confess immediately. It’s a high risk option, but if you’re the gambling kind, it might pay off. After all, you’re already friends, so you know you get on. But be careful – it might make things pretty strained between you if they don’t return your affections…

C: try and win then over. You’re pretty sure they don’t see you romantically… yet. But there’s plenty of time for that to change, right? All you gotta do is show them how great you’d be as a couple – put on that winning smile, take them out on that date, and woo the heck out of them! 

How Do I Turn My Best Friend Into My Girlfriend?, Volume 1 which tells the story of Minami and Yuzu, who have been childhood friends since elementary school, firmly picks option C. They’ve been very close, physically and emotionally, for a long time, but when Minami accidentally overhears plot device guy confessing his love to Yuzu, she’s suddenly hit with the revelation that she’s in love with her. 

She has one chapter of panicking about this, notably absent of ‘but we’re both girls!’. After she admits it pretty easily to her other friend, Hinori, that she works with, who is thankfully supportive, she decides that the only option is to try and get Yuzu to think of her romantically. 

Not to say this necessarily goes that well, but she’s trying. It’s the thought that counts. Minami hasn’t ever liked anyone romantically, and has never dated anyone – and like any studious person in manga clueless on a subject, turns to textbooks! Hinori points out that none of those books are ‘textbooks’, and acts as a sensible hand to try and help. 

They end up on a date to the planetarium, because Yuzu is very into space. I now want a Saturn plushy. The date is cute and goes pretty well, but Minami feels like it’s getting her heart rate up more than Yuzu’s. Nonetheless, she does try to confess at the end, interrupted by some of the other friends…? 

This isn’t exactly a ground breaking manga, but it was quite refreshing in so much as Minami is actually trying. I love a good bit of pining, but sometimes it is nice to see someone going for what they want in a relationship. How I feel about it in the long term will largely ride on how long the ‘cannot spit it out’ continues. The situation presented at the end could go several ways, but it’s probably going to end up being a big misunderstanding for some conflict. Rather than drag its feet on getting them together, I’d actually like this manga to explore the transition from friends to lover, or focus on Yuzu a bit more – she doesn’t really show any signs of romantic affection for Minami, so it would be interesting if they explored that. 

All said, I will check into the next volume – it’s not the strongest Yuri manga out there, but if you like a more proactive protagonist and a complete lack of ‘but we’re both girls’, you could do a lot worse. 

Ratings:

Art: 7 
Story:
Service: 3, solely for an imagine spot where Minami is considering her feelings towards Yuzu, and one page says, without showing anything explicit, that is definitely sexual as well, or could/will grow that direction
Yuri: 9

Overall: 7

The translation and lettering all felt normal, that is too say I didn’t notice any glaring errors or oddities, which was done by Matthew Johnson and Giuseppe Antonio Fusco respectively. Volume 2 is due out in late September, as per the Seven Seas website.





Run Away With Me Girl, Volume 3

May 22nd, 2024

Two women in wedding dresses laugh happily holding a colorful bouquetGuest Review by Matt Rolf

Having run away with high school friend Makimura as an adult in Volume 2, Midori wants to keep running in Run Away with Me Girl, Volume 3. Fortunately for her and for the reader, we are finally at a point in this series where Midori has to make a clear decision about what she’s going to do. Battan graciously provides some clarity and closure to this interesting series, but don’t expect much more than that in this final volume.

The first volume of this series was rocky and dealt with challenging relationship questions; the second volume gave the characters space on an island away from the ordinary to try and answer those questions. The third volume, by comparison, is something of a letdown. The main plot point gets wrapped up, but a lot of the hard issues raised by the first two volumes get swept under the rug.

What is sexual orientation? How does that square with societal expectations and our own desire? How do we reconcile our day-to-day responsibilities when they may not be compatible with our core values? What if we push our core values away and make toxic choices in an attempt to meet those responsibilities? What does it mean to commit to someone? And what does it mean to unwind one’s life after having committed? All of these questions are raised implicitly or explicitly by the first two books. While these are admittedly hard questions without easy answers, the final payoff comes without addressing them fully. Maki and Midori’s epilogue is fine, if a bit too obvious. Komari’s epilogue is annoying, bordering on infuriating to this reviewer.

Perhaps, like Midori through most of this work, we’re not supposed to think too hard about the answers to those questions. Maybe the answers are just matters of the heart. Even so, I think the characters deserved a more thorough reckoning with the choices that they made. Maybe once Battan has some distance to this story they will reconsider and give us another volume.

The artwork is still good, but the impact is less than the first two volumes. Battan gives the culmination of the book the rich attention it deserves. Outside of that, the drawings don’t hit that hard.

Finally, this book is yuri. Exhausting, aggravating, and annoying, but in the end, yuri: the exploration of a semi-toxic relationship between women that concludes with as little character growth as possible. And that, if nothing else, will make you think.

Final Verdict: A disappointing ending to a challenging series.
Series Verdict: Worth reading and thinking about.

Published by Kodansha Comics, with translation by Kevin Steinbach and lettering by Jennifer Skarupa.

Ratings

Art – 8
Story 5 – This is fine.
Characters – 7 I wouldn’t be let down if I hadn’t had any expectations.
Service – 5 Tease me, please me, no one needs to know. -Scorpions
Yuri – 8
Overall – 5 for this volume, 7 for Vol 1-3 inclusive.





Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Deluxe Edition Volume 4

May 20th, 2024

An android with blue hair, wearing a long coat and a young woman with green spiky hair, wearing a jacket look stand in front of a a huge white sky, looking out at something.In a series in which most of the “people” are androids, there are still humans on the planet. Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou, Deluxe Edition Volume 4 spends some time with the other people in Alpha’s life.

But first Alpha and Kokone take a trip which both she and I read as a date. Alpha plays in the snow. Meruko scouts the competition. We meet a new human and can see that Maki is no longer a child, and Takahiro is planning on leaving, ready to be a man.

The days themselves pass, with joy, wonder melancholy and sometimes, whether it be a mysterious record, the flight of a bird-like ship passing over in the sky, or mysterious black sugar, Alpha touches something deep and moving in the world, feeling it intensely.

Time marches on, people, come and go, but Alpha is running her cafe, for now, and welcoming guests as they pass through. Very likely, we will never know the answers to the questions this series poses but it doesn’t matter. Have a cup of coffee, contemplate life and watch the grass blow.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 1 pinups of Alpha are drawn with love, not service
Yuri – 6

Overall – 9

The final volume is headed our way in August. I’m as ready for the end of the world as I can be.