Archive for the Manga Category


Watashi No Oshi Ha Akuyaku Reijou. Maid Kitchen, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。 メイドキッチン)

November 23rd, 2023

Two girls in maid uniform hold out treats, while a girl with long blonde hair sips tea, surrounded by cookie designs.Lady Claire François, daughter of the Minister of Finance, has a problem. She turns to her maids, Lene Arrouseau and Rae Taylor to solve that problem…with food.

In Watashi No Oshi Ha Akuyaku Reijou. Maid Kitchen, Volume 1 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。 メイドキッチン), food is the answer, whether the problem is bored taste buds, or social status or a fever, or even the unpleasant temperature outside. There is nothing that can’t be solved by the application of just the right culinary item. Lene and Rae even conspire to cure Claire of her dislike for carrots.

The primary relationship here is between Claire and her maids – how they understand her, want her to be happy and healthy and through that, between themselves. Lene is given a little room to be seen as an individual and Rae gets to flex her knowledge of cuisine.

tsuke-sensei’s art is quite good – especially considering that readers are now used to Aonoshimo-sensei’s art. I find the use of goofy faces – including “horror face” suits the bwah-bwah-bwah tone of what is, at least in part, a gag manga with characters we already know and like.

We’re not given recipes here, but we are given enough information that, should we too wish to make a cake salé, it would not be hard to find a useful recipe. And, since it is Thanksgiving in the USA, today seems like a good day to bring something different to any shared meal you might be attending. The older I get, the more I realize how much of French cuisine is really just “what do we have in the house and how do we use it for dinner?” ^_^

Ratings:

Art – 8
Story – Claire has a problem, food solves the problem
Character – 7
Service – Rae is Rae
Yuri – Rae is Rae

Overall – 7.5

This is very much a manga for fans of the I’m In Love With The Villainess series. It won’t add anything to the story proper, but it will allow you to spend more time in the company of Claire, Lene and Rae. And food.

 





I’m In Love With The Villainess Manga, Volume 5

November 20th, 2023

Two girls in red jackets and blue skirt uniforms. One with short, pale hair looks smug, the other with medium-length brown hair looks angry. In the aftermath of the Commoner’s Movement and her loss of someone important to her, Claire has been listless and resistant to any attempt by Rae to lighten her mood. When her childhood friend – and first love – arrives at the Academy, Claire perks right up. But now Rae has a serious problem…now she has a rival.

Manaria Sousse, the Crown Princess of the Sousse kingdom, is a shockingly complex character. Her looks are the the boyish blond butch we are familiar with, flirtatious and charming. But underneath that is an apparently cruel person. And underneath that(!) is something like the truth. Manaria jokes easily about her complicated position in the family, and her desire to win Claire back. She pushes Rae very hard and despite knowing exactly where it will lead, Rae allows herself to be provoked.

I’m In Love With The Villainess, Volume 5 covers the “Scales of Love” arc which is one of the major turning points in this series.

There are two things happening simultaneously in this series. One is a shift from a goofy isekai series to serious criticism of income equality and unequal governmental representation. The Commoner Movement was the first major tone change in that theme, and more is to come.

The second shift in the story I have begun to describe this way: The story starts off gay and becomes queer. We’ve gotten a little of this as the narrative has made room for Rae to discuss her feelings and concerns about her previous  life as a lesbian. Now the story is doing something extraordinary – using it’s own tropes to make the story just a little bit queerer.  Both these two shifts will continue through the entire series and neither of them will back off. Narratively, it’s one of the best things about the whole series.

Visually speaking, this arc is the bomb. And, as it’s likely to be where the anime ends, we’ll get both the climactic battle and that extraordinary resolution to Rae and Manaria’s conflict. I commented in my review of this volume in Japanese that the art here is outstanding, and I thought that again as I re-read it. There is a panel where the princes and Misha are tensely watching events which has them leaning forward, concern etched into their faces, the rush of what is going on indicated by motion lines…it is absolutely perfect. Aonoshimo-sensei just kills it in this volume. I truly think Aonoshimo-sensei’s art elevates the heck out of the story, making this manga absolutely worth reading, even if you’ve have already read the light novels.

A fine job on translation by Joshua Hardy, and excellent work by letterer Courtney Williams. I hope Seven Seas gives her the time and money to go complete retouch, because on panels where it is full retouch, it just looks so good! Cover by Nicky Lim and George Panella is fantastic….every time I get a English-language manga with a great adaption of the JP manga cover I am made happy. I remember the olden days when getting cover art from JP rights holders was the equivalent of a publishing tough mudder. ^_^ Thank you all to the folks at Seven Seas for taking good care of this series.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7
Service – Manaria is a whole tropeload of service, on her own. ^_^

Overall – 9

Things are about to get serious again…then silly…then very serious, but from this point on, the series will always be queer. And I really appreciate that. Thank you inori.-sensei!





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 6 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

June 22nd, 2023

A girl with medium-length brown hair in a maid's outfit, lifts a blonde with big banana curls wearing an orange dress, in her arms. Green flowers blooms, a bird flies overhead, a water-blob creature wear scuba mask on the brown-haired girl's head. Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 6 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) manga covers a pivotal moment. Yes, Claire and Rae are on vacation and yes, Claire is finally getting a literal taste of commoner life and finding it, unsurprisingly, unpalatable. She meets Rae’s family, and some folks who knew her back in the day…and the mystery of Rae Taylor is no less mysterious for all that.

But then the story takes a a turn. A ship of the Undead has arrived, which is bad enough, but there is something much more malevolent at work here. One of Rae’s old acquaintances turns against them – an act of desperation, but also with a clear mission of stopping Rae Taylor and Claire François. Who is pulling the strings?

Rae and Claire prevail, but the truth of Lui’s decision further radicalizes Claire to hate income inequality. A hero has begun to be born, only she doesn’t know it yet. And we are looking at the beginning of a revolution. There are still some arcs to go, yet, however. Next up, we will meet Lily and the Church will become a piece on the board. The volume ends with a few short scenes, and a short story from Misha’s point of view.

inori-sensei’s story gets better every time I read it. I’m free to pay attention to smaller and smaller details each time. And Aonoshimo-sensei has shown themselves to as deft with big action scenes as they are scenes of domestic joy – i.e., Claire finally getting food she can eat – or beach pinups.  Always, this series is a delight. We’ll be getting Volume 5 in English from Seven Seas in October, so look forward to that.

Ratings:

Art – 9 The fight scenes are quite excellent
Story – 9 It’s starting to get serious
Characters – 9
Yuri – 5
Service – Bathing and bathing suits

I had a thought today – this mostly medieval society has bikinis. Huh.





Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 5 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。)

March 6th, 2023

Before we start today’s review, I want to let you know that until May my reviews are going to be less regular. I have a relentless schedule for March and April, but at the end of it, I hope I have a lot of fun stuff to share with you all.

Today, to get this new schedule off with a bang, we’re looking at Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou., Volume 5 (私の推しは悪役令嬢。) In the aftermath of the Commoner Movement and the resulting loss, Claire is depressed and Rae is desperately trying to cheer her up. But when Claire does cheer up, it is because Rae’s only real rival is arriving – Manaria, the crown princess of the neighboring country Susse. Manaria is good-looking, popular, accomplished and worst of all, she’s the only quadcaster in the world. She’s top-level at all four elements, to boot. Even worse than worst, Claire has a childhood crush on her “oneesama.” Manaria is an understandably popular character, but in the real world, she’d be insufferable. ^_^

Now it’s Rae’s turn to feel loss…and have her worldview challenged. Manaria pushes Rae to be honest about her feelings for Claire, then destroys her in a duel. But when Rae gets back up and challenges Manaria to an epic battle of vows of love, it will change everyone in the story. This is one of the most popular arcs of the original series, according to inori.-sensei. For good reason. There’s a lot of nail-bitingly good stuff here.

Art-wise, this book is phenomenal. From the tension on the spectators’ faces during Rae and Manaria’s duel to the incredible climax of the Scales of Love contest, there are whole volumes in Claire’s eyebrows. ^_^

This arc is a breather before the story takes a darker turn – a breather that is still quite intense. It’s also the first time Rae is able to meet someone in this world who admits to being queer…a remarkable thing that heralds many other remarkable occurrences in the series, as well as laying some foundations down for future arcs.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 7
Service – Manaria is a kind of service. ^_^

Overall – 9

This volume does not yet have a English-language release date, but when it does, don’t hesitate – it is wonderful. ^_^





I’m In Love With The Villainess Manga, Volume 4

February 16th, 2023

On a background of yellow lilies, A girl with long, blonde hair with a big red bow, looks up and away from the center, a girl in a maid's outfit, clutched a plate looking down and away in the opposite direction. Black letters read "art by Aonishimo, story by Inori., character design by Hanagata." "Manga 4" is set inside a solid pink compass-rose shaped sigil. It’s already been 5 months since I read the fourth manga volume of Watashi no Oshi ha Akuyaku Reijou. This volume is as I said in that review, “highly emotional and action-packed.” And now we are able to read I’m In Love With The Villainess, Volume 4  of the manga in English and the volume packs the same gut punches over again.

In this volume, the Commoner Movement arc comes to an end with a betrayal. And a redemption. And seeds of more betrayal and further redemption. At the risk of lazy writing, I want to quote myself from my review of the Japanese volume:

This is the volume where everything, all of the goofy light-hearted comedic moment fall away and what remains is social justice withheld, love perverted into betrayal and a new, unpredictable, danger. We finally meet Salas, the King’s right-hand man, a key player in the oncoming storm. I mention him because it is often stated how attractive he is in the novels – in fact, without him being attractive, his character fails to make sense…so I was really interested in seeing how he was portrayed. Not at all coincidentally, we also meet Lily, the nun, who also become a major player in the narrative, for the first time. I believe now all the primary pieces are on the board. The game begins with a huge loss. If you’ve read the novels, you know how huge a blow it will be for Claire, and as the end of the volume comes with a letter from Susse, what that means to Rae having to battle for her.

In this volume we learn how much Claire has lost, and how often her loss has come back to haunt her. For one brief flash, Claire will rely on Rae. Again, it sets seeds for the next arc, which will irrevocably change their relationship

Again and again, I am blown away by Aonoshimo-sensei’s art for this series. A turn of the eyebrow makes all the difference here. When we get Rae and Claire dressed up to speak to the King, phew! Those clothing choices slay. I appreciate an artist who can draw great clothing. Joshua Hardy’s translation has given us a solid “voice” for our characters, a voice I know we’re all looking forward to seeing be reproduced in animated form. Courtney Willams gives us solid lettering that really conveys the tone and depth of these emotional scenes.  Another fine volume from the team at Seven Seas.

Ratings:

Art – 9
Story – 9
Characters – 9
Yuri – 6, since it’s not the focus. But it soon will be.
Service – Rae in that outfit at the end is definitely service. Hope we get a standee of those looks.

Overall – 9

As I move back and forth between the Japanese manga, the print volumes of the novels, the spin-off series and the English editions, I have to tell you that this series doesn’t not lose it’s power with re-reading. It might even be more impactful every time, as I have the chance to catch one more thing than I did the last.