As you know if you read Okazu regularly, I have been following the Light Novel series by Mato Sato, The Executioner and Her Way of Life, and the resulting anime. I haven’t, however, had a chance to read the manga at all and wanted to see how it holds up. Since I know the story, I felt it was perfectly acceptable to jump in at any volume. Thanks to the generosity of Yen Press, I have a review copy for just that purpose. So, here I am, beginning with The Executioner and Her Way of Life Manga, Volume 5, with character designs by nilitsu, illustrated by Ryo Mitsuya. 

Also, as you may remember, I have not been a fan of the art for the Light Novels, as they until recent volumes favored portraiture over illustration – a common enough issue in Light Novels and artist alleys alike. Overall, I find the manga artists for Light Novels have to do a great deal of work – especially in early arcs – to build up the look and feel of a world. I say especially, because in many cases, Light Novels that began as webnovels aren’t really fully featured in the writing, either. But now, having gotten to the 8th volume of this series in Light Novel and finding both story and character settling in to a fairly rich narrative, how would it feel to step backwards to those early days?

It wasn’t bad, honestly.

Mitsuya-sensei does a very solid job of conveying both the horror of the Human Error “Evil” and the action of the fight, in a way that the narrative did not fully communicate. The art still does not portray Menou as an unusual beauty, although Akari’s chest is portrayed as prominent. I do think that going forward the use of the word “boobs” is going to have to be a point off, though. Like “spicy” for a book with sex scenes, breasts, chest, decolletage even, but boobs will always feel infantile to me. As does the portrayal of said breast tissue moving in ways that they certainly do not naturally move. That said, due to the original character designs being followed pretty closely, it was easy to recognize everyone on sight.

A story like this, with a great deal of fighting, action and dramatic spellcasting really seems to do better with a more visual medium. I had enjoyed the anime, which did a decent job of paring down some of the early story building. Jumping into the manga at this point, might not be something a new reader could do, but I was able to skip a lot of the clumsiness of the early arcs.  This story still is an isekai, but it is not just a “game world” or a simple reflection of generic feudal life. The history and politics – and the magic use – in this world are worth delving in to.

Ratings:

Art – 7
Story – 7 (not my favorite arc, the story will get better from this point on)
Characters – 7 People’s motivations are still a bit muddy, something else that will become clearer as the story progresses
Service – Besides the aforementioned breasts, shockingly little in this volume
Yuri – 4 Momo’s feelings for Menou, toxic as they are, Menou’s feelings for Akati, as unfocused as they are

Overall – 7, but I hope to move quickly past this arc into the Mechanical Society arc, which I quite liked.

It was painfully apparent from Volume 1 that I am not the ideal audience for Tamamushi Oku’s Cheerful Amnesia series. As the story progressed, so many handwaves had to be added to the original premise to keep the joke going and each additional handwave felt more and more threadbare. In Cheerful Amnesia, Volume 4, the story comes to  climax, but…

Arisa’s amnesia has been traced to an overload of positivity, which makes her collapse. But she and Mari are going to get married anyway. Before they do so, Arisa wants to meet Mari’s mother, who has been presented as a conservative obstacle to their happiness. In between Mari stressing that she and Arisa are not having sex and Arisa stressing that they are not having sex, but being far too embarrassed and/or collapsing in an excess of emotion, the entire conversation rolls around the same territory of “boobs,” underwear and “sexy times,” which is great if we are 12 years old. As I am many decades past that, I found it all excruciating. But, wait! There’s more!

Added to the idea that Arisa lost her memory because she was “too happy,” and that neither she nor Mari can manage a single adult conversation about their lives and relationship, even as they plan on having a wedding ceremony, we must confront the fact that Arisa blurts out the most inappropriate and useless information and has absolutely no ability to speak coherently. That gaping mouth does, actually, indicate a person who shouts strange things to complete strangers. But the deal-breaker for me was Mari neglecting to mention her father or siblings, even as she brings Arisa home to meet her family. “Oh, I have a younger brother,” she said and later – as an aside- , “I have a sister, too.” and I just…snapped. What the actual fuck. (-_-)?!?!? Mari has confronted her mother’s disapproval, at least, and I guess yay for that?

Arisa and Mari do get married and, the kiss, when they finally manage it, seems to unlock Arisa’s memories and she does not collapse, so perhaps they will spend the remainder of their lives happily-ever-after.

Of course one cannot take this story seriously. Even knowing that, I found it absolutely exhausting. Nothing in it was even near the realm of “comedy” for me. Since the entire plot was predicated on two adult women who had a long-term relationship simply ignoring their history and not having a conversation, it was both annoying and frustrating. So why am I reviewing it? Mostly to tell our late friend Bruce that he was absolutely right in his final review here on Okazu.

Ratings:

Art – 7 Still noticeably better
Story – … 4
Characters – 5 They are adults who need to grow up already
Service – 6 “Sexy” things. “Boobs.” Come on already
Yuri – 9

Overall – 4

Thank you very much to Yen Press for the review copy. I hope to give it to a loving home.

Oh, and my prediction was totally wrong about the ending, phew. ^_^

Content Warning for off-screen violence and implication of intended sexual assault.

We have thus fa, been paying attention primarily to Ruby Canossa, that breath of fresh air that has come into her staid school that has many secrets, and “Steel” Steph the enigmatic and secretive older girl with a disability. In this volume we belatedly pay attention to Liz, Steph’s sister who is very possessive of and resentful about the older girl. In A White Rose in Bloom, Volume 3 we learn why and…phew, it is a lot.

Liz is, exactly as she seems – attention-starved and spoiled, but trying so hard to find love that she very nearly finds herself assaulted by a tutor. This explains her forcing herself on Steph in turn when she sees the older girl as a savior. It’s clear Steph cares for her sister, but has a lot of baggage with her own life to deal with and little energy for Liz. They both gain our sympathy once again, and now we’re hoping even more that Ruby can form a healthy bond with Liz.

Then we turn back to life at the dorm. A thief, a ghost, dire fortunes and a real-life mystery fill up the pages of the second half of the volume. What is the story of the missing items? Luckily, Volume 4 of Mejirobana Saku,  (メジロバナの咲く) came out last month in Japan (what timing!) but we’ll be waiting until next year to see it in English.

In the meantime, let us again revel in the first full-length serial Yuri from Asumiko Nakamura (creator of Classmates) and how she manages to keep us on a string with a sense of furtive feelings and cryptic histories, even as we delight in the change Ruby brings to the school, and how she forces the people around her to open up. Jocelyne Allan’s translation really manages to capture the dark shadows behind light words that match Nakamura-sensei’s art perfectly. Alia Nagamine’s letting is top-notch retouch for that authentic reading experience. Great work all the way down for the Seven Seas team.

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Service – 5 Predatory behavior and gaslighting is gross
Yuri – 7

Overall – 9

This series is probably flying under the radar – but it shouldn’t. It deserves a few soapbox rants, because it is an excellent edition of a fantastic story by a master story-teller.

In Volume 1, we meet Hinako, a girl who has lost almost everything and, as a result, doesn’t mind entertaining the thought of death. She is befriended by Shiori, a mysterious creature of the deep ocean, a mermaid, who assures Hinako that she wants the girl to live happily, so that she can eat her later.

Hinako’s only other friend, Miko, does not like Shiori and, in This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Volume 2, by Sae Naekawa, we find out why.

But first Shiori asks Hinako the question on all our minds, why is she is such a rush to die? Hinako looks back at the loss of her family and, again, prompted by Shiori, at her history with Miko. Shiori is really a monster, but she seems to think Miko is one, too?

In this eye-opening volume, in which much of what we were told turns out to be half-truths or full lies, Hinako will continue to reevaluate all her choices. When I read this in Japanese in 2021, I commented that it was a “freakin’ brillant volume of a manga” and I stand by that with this English edition. There is an underlying tension to this series that just fills one with foreboding, even when nothing in particular is happening. When the truth is uncovered, it is both a huge relief and a new chill on one’s spine.

This series is just the best summer horror tale with chills, thrills, a little blood and darkness, thus far rooted wholly in Japanese youkai – what lurks in the shadows in Japanese folklore. Caleb Cook once again brings a fantastic, nuanced translation. You can tell who is talking by how they talk. I can “hear” every character clearly. Bianca Pistillo’s lettering is good. I wish she was able to be amazing, but Yen’s house style of subtitling the sound effects is their style and I will just always whine slightly about it. ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – 8 Ominous and compelling
Characters – 8 The more we know, the less we know
Service – Blood. Violence. Monsters From the Deep. Secrets. More Monsters.
Yuri – Miko is possessive, Shiori is infatuating

Overall – 8

This volume is headed your way in mid-September. Don’t miss out on this fantastic low-key horror book. It takes all the mortifications of school life and gives it extra claws and fangs. ^_^

I have Volume 8 of Watashi o Tabetai, Hito de Nashi (私を喰べたい、ひとでなし) siting here on my to-review pile and I’m once again hyped to re-read and review it.

Thanks very much to Yen Press for the review copy! This is such a fantastic series, I always can’t wait to read it. ^_^