Manga Review: Black Clover, Volume 18, by Yuki Tabata

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2019

Volumes: 26+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 17. 19.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

In a world of magic, Asta, a boy with anti-magic powers, will do whatever it takes to become the Wizard King!

Asta is a young boy who dreams of becoming the greatest mage in the kingdom. Only one problem—he can't use any magic! Luckily for Asta, he receives the incredibly rare five-leaf clover grimoire that gives him the power of anti-magic. Can someone who can't use magic really become the Wizard King? One thing's for sure—Asta will never give up!

With their friend and teammate turned into an elf, the other members of the Black Bulls will risk their lives to return Luck back to normal. But is their only hope Asta and his new sword?

 

Review:

 

The fight against the fae body-snatchers continues in this volume.

Asta barges in and tries to get his friends back to normal; there's a lot of stuff blowing up, a lot of emotions and arguing as they try to talk sense into them. The first half of the volume has Asta's fight continuing from the previous volume, then the latter half features Yami fighting. It's all very intense, blah blah blah. The volume ends with the hint of the main fight coming, I believe. We'll see.

I will admit this story line is a tiny bit more interesting than previous ones, but I don't care much for the characters. The inner turmoil all feels rather one-dimensional to me. Something about the fairies' hate also feels off to me, as well.

Meh, overall. The writing and characterization in this series is not enough for me.

 

A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Manga Review: Spy x Family, Volume 1, by Tatsuya Endo

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 2020

Volumes: 5+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volumes: 2.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

Master spy Twilight is the best at what he does when it comes to going undercover on dangerous missions in the name of a better world. But when he receives the ultimate impossible assignment—get married and have a kid—he may finally be in over his head!

Not one to depend on others, Twilight has his work cut out for him procuring both a wife and a child for his mission to infiltrate an elite private school. What he doesn’t know is that the wife he’s chosen is an assassin and the child he’s adopted is a telepath!

 

Review:

 

When a spy is forced into a new mission to infiltrate a school, he's ordered to get a child old enough to enter the school, and a wife so he looks like a nice family man. Only the child he finds in the orphanage, Anya, is actually a telepath. And then when he stumbles upon a woman suitable to be his wife, it turns out she's an assassin. Of course, none of them know this about each other. Instead, they get to stumble into being a family-unit.

Loid is thrown into this, and like any good spy, he does the best he can in a short period of time. Anya only wants a family, she wants a nice father and mother and home. Reading their minds only lets her know when to be careful of their double lives, and what to say if she's lucky, though. Yor, while an assassin, is actually quite shy and often shamed for being single. So despite all of their differences, and how little they know about each other, they seem to be a perfect fit.

I'd heard really good things about this series, and it sounded cute. And so I'm really happy that I was hooked from the very beginning. Especially once we meet Anya, who is just adorable. I think following how this family gets to know each other, Yor and Loid figuring out how to be parents and also slowly forming their romance, is going to be a lot of fun.

I'm excited for the next one.

Manga Review: Ao Haru Ride, Volume 11, by Io Sakisaka

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 2020

Volumes: 13.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 10. 12.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

Futaba Yoshioka has encountered her first love again in high school, but he seems different from the boy she once knew. With the help of his friends, Kou lets go of painful memories from his past. Futaba wants to get closer to Toma, but she ends up spending time with Kou.

 

Review:

 

Futaba and Kikuchi have been very good about talking to each other up to this point, about being honest about their feelings, especially with Kou involved. They come upon a road bump in this volume, when Futaba ends up following Kou to his old hometown.

It's important to Kou that he revisit his old home, form new memories and perspective of it. Having Futaba there is important, and helpful with that, even if he didn't intend it at the beginning. But Kou is still very clearly intending on winning her back, so he doesn't protest.

There's another scare with Futaba here, where she gets followed and lost. She wants Kikuchi to help her, because she's trying so hard for it to be him for her.

In the midst of all of that, we get some history on when Kominato started liking Murao, a brief history of them knowing each other. It's quite cute. After getting to know them a bit more, they seem like an odd couple. But I'm rooting for them regardless.

There's only two volumes left, so I imagine big things are coming next.

Manga Review: Given, Volume 1, by Natsuki Kizu

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: SuBLime (VIZ Media)

Release Date: February 2020

Volumes: 6+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

Love of music unites the four members of the band Given: hotheaded guitarist Uenoyama, playboy drummer Akihiko, gentle bassist Haruki, and Mafuyu, a singer gifted with great talent and burdened by past tragedy. Their struggles and conflicts may drive them apart, but their bond to the music—and to each other—always brings them back together again.

Ritsuka Uenoyama is bored with it all—with school, with his basketball club, and even with his one true passion: playing guitar. That is, until the day he finds his favorite hidden napping spot occupied by a strange boy cradling a broken-stringed guitar. At first, Uenoyama is nonplussed by Mafuyu Sato and his slightly odd behavior, but when, on a whim, he asks Mafuyu to sing, the power of that song pierces him to the core.

 

Review:

 

I've heard so much about this series, I was actually wary of not liking it. My fears were in vain, because I was hooked almost immediately.

Uenoyama likes to nap during breaks in school, and when he goes to the stairway one day, he finds Mafuyu. Mafuyu is also sleeping, only he's holding a guitar with a broken string. When he tells Mafuyu that the guitar isn't ruined and can be fixed it sets off a tidal wave of changes for them both.

Mafuyu is a precious boy, and I only ever want good things to come to him from now on.

Anyway. I hadn't watched the anime when I read this volume, and have since finished the anime. The pacing is quite a bit different—we're given a lot more of an idea of what Mafuyu is going through here, whereas it took a lot longer in the anime. We also haven't been given as much information about their bandmates at this point. It hits a little differently, but it's still intense and it's still the same story.

I feel so strongly for Mafuyu, and I really just want good things for him. I understand why Uenoyama has a hard time saying no to him. And I feel for the fact that Mafuyu clearly has so much to say and is going through so many things, and yet doesn't know how to express any of it.

I feel very strongly for these characters, already, and I just badly need more.

Manga Review: Ran and the Gray World, Volume 5, by Aki Irie

Rating (Out of 5): ~3.5

Publisher: VIZ Signature (VIZ Media)

Release Date: November 2019

Volumes: 7.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 4. 6.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

A young sorceress transforms into an adult and sets out on magical adventures full of charm and wonder!

Ran Uruma can’t wait to grow up and become a sorceress like her mother, so with the help of a magical pair of sneakers, she transforms into an adult and sets off! Her father and older brother Jin try to keep her home safe, but Ran is determined to advance her powers and have adventures of her own!

With the Door destroyed, bugs are an even greater danger than before. The sorceresses build a glass fortress, but it’s only a matter of time before the bugs break through. Meanwhile, Ran tries to protect Otaro from being hunted down, but will she end up jeopardizing the battle against the bugs?

 

Review:

 

There's a lot of people hiding out in the Uruma house, so thankfully they're all magic. There's some debating and hunting, and an impending doom lingering over everyone. About halfway through the volume, though, Ran discovers that Otaru is behind all this, which means that something is wrong with him, and so she has to fight against the clock to find him and get him safe while everyone is out to kill him.

This volume actually got a bit exciting near the end. Ran has been holding a lot of magic inside her up to this point, while still being a kid. It's been a struggle for her to deal with both, and finally some of that starts to come out and she has to face it.

The characters and the story lines are all very odd, but in a unique and interesting way to me. Same as the art—it's unique, but so pretty.

We're left at a pretty good point in this volume, thankfully. But there's still some questions left. While this is my last review volume, I might pick up the rest of the series at some point. This is just such a neat series, I would like to see how it ends.

 

 A review copy was provided by the publisher, VIZ Media, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!

Update (Again!)

Update 2:

So moving ended up being a much bigger thing than expected, with quite a few complications. The house is great but also has some issues we’re working through, and I’m in a whole new state and there’s a lot of changes. So I’m taking another week off.

I’m sorry, but if anything, this year has shown me not to unnecessarily push myself. I think that’s something a lot of people had to realize, what with the pandemic and everything.

So I will be posting reviews again starting the 12th, when I am also starting at my new workplace, and hopefully things will be somewhat normal.

Original Update:

So, this year has been crazy. 

Among all the COVID stuff (me being an “essential worker”, so no real quarantine for me), then riots, and now fires happening about half an hour from where I live, I’ve also had some family stuff and work changes, and now I am currently driving from the west coast to the eastern side of the Midwest, because I bought a house and am in the process of moving there. 

It’s been a lot, and it’s been tiring, and sometimes I have to give myself a break. I hate doing it, but I’m already behind on reviews because of everything that’s been happening, and I currently don’t have time to do anything about that. I’m currently posting this from my phone, which I’ve never done, because I don’t have access to my computer at the moment.

Which means, no reviews this week. Very likely no reviews next week. I’ve been doing 3 reviews a week, and I’ll probably keep at that when I do post again, up until I get fully settled and get the time to write and read more. 

Thank you to everyone who reads my reviews on this little blog, I appreciate it. It actually turned 9 on Friday (the 18th), and it’s surreal that I’ve been doing it this long. 

Manga Review: Yona of the Dawn, Volume 25, by Mizuho Kusanagi

Rating (Out of 5): ~5

Publisher: Shojo Beat (VIZ Media)

Release Date: August 2020

Volumes: 33+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 24. 26.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

A red-haired princess loses her family and her kingdom… Now she must rise and fight for her throne!

Princess Yona lives an ideal life as the only princess of her kingdom. Doted on by her father, the king, and protected by her faithful guard Hak, she cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, Su-won. But everything changes on her 16th birthday when tragedy strikes her family!

 

Review:

 

In a lot of ways, this was the volume we've all been waiting for.

Yona stakes her claim, and she doesn't back down. It's an important moment between her and Su-Won, but it's also just a tasting. There's still a lot of tension there, that I assume will be confronted at some point. There's a very different kind of tension brewing between Yona and Hak, which is also being put off till a later date.

And then the dragons. There's a lot of other things going on with the war coming, and underhanded attacks regarding it, and the contrast between the two princesses of Xing and Yona, and even with Riri. But the dragons. There's such a monumental big scene with them as the volume ends, and I can't contain myself. I've been wondering if something like this could happen, or what it would mean, and it's beautiful and stunning, and it makes me so happy.

This volume and the previous ones had very important moments in them. There's a lot of major plots being addressed, and I imagine it's only going to continue into the next volume, especially with that cliffhanger. I seriously cannot wait for it.

I've had to re-read the end of this volume like a handful of times, it just makes me so giddy.

Manga Review: Sweat and Soap, Volume 1, by Kintetsu Yamada

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Kodansha Comics

Release Date: February 2020

Volumes: 8+

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 2.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

In an office romance, there's a fine line between sexy and awkward... and that line is where Asako -- a woman who sweats copiously -- met Koutarou -- a perfume developer who can't get enough of Asako's, er, scent. Don't miss a romcom manga like no other!

Yae's living her dream, working at the toiletry maker Lilia Drop. Little do her coworkers know, the reason she loves the company so much is that she's ashamed of her body odor, and their soap is the only thing that does the trick. So when the company's lead product developer, a perfuming genius, approaches her in the lobby and wonders what "that smell" is, she's terrified... but could it be... that he likes it? And, even more surprising to Yae... does she like him?

The hilarious ups and downs of an office romance at a personal care products company are the subject of this sexy, strange romp. Sweat and Soap combines the odd-couple chemistry of Wotakoi, the "too real!" workplace comedy of Aggretsuko, and a heavy dollop of office steaminess!

 

Review:

 

Asako works at a toiletry maker, which makes her favorite soaps. Coincidentally, she has a bit of a sweating problem, which embarrasses her a lot. When all of a sudden Natori, with a super sensitive nose and who happens to make the scents, sniffs her out and is instantly entranced.

This sounds like a crazy start of a series, given how the love interest starts smelling Asako all the time and she kind of goes along with it, even though it embarrasses her. But really, they basically just start dating. He takes her out to eat, they have what looks like moments of fooling around, when really he's just sniffing her neck and taking notes of the scents. She's basically his muse.

I admit that this sounds very weird. When I first heard about this, I didn't particularly think to pick it up. It seemed like it would probably be an ecchi seinen series, especially when I heard it was adult. I think the subject matter is what gives that impression.

When instead, this very much feels like a josei series. Asako is the protagonist, and while clearly Natori has an odd fetish, she goes along with it, and even gets used to it. She's not being forced here. And very quickly, a romance starts to form.

I like a dirty josei romance, and one with an odd fetish is not at all a problem to me. Plus, I really liked the characters, and the pace and writing.

I'm basically hooked, which even surprises me. But that means I'll be reading more.

Manga Review: The Promised Neverland, Volume 15, by Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu

Rating (Out of 5): ~4

Publisher: Shonen Jump (VIZ Media)

Release Date: June 2020

Volumes: 19.

Spoilers?: Yes, light.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 14. 16.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

Life at Grace Field House is good for Emma and her fellow orphans. While the daily studying and exams they have to take are tough, their loving caretaker provides them with delicious food and plenty of playtime. But perhaps not everything is as it seems…

As Norman and his group prepare their plan to eradicate all of the demons, Emma searches for her own path. Can she find a way to create a new promise that achieves peace without resorting to violence?

 

Review:

 

The confrontation with Norman happens. He has information to share with Emma and Ray, just as they have their own worries to share. It's so hard to see Norman as this unmoving adult, when you know he's just doing what he believes is the right thing, but also when Emma has such bigger peaceful goals in mind.

We're given some new, surprising information in this volume. And then Emma and Ray are off on a timed mission, where it looks like they're starting a test for real answers. Norman has put them on a timer for it, but also the monsters have caught on and aren't going to let these human be for too much longer.

I'm intrigued to see where Ray and Emma are off to, and what's going to happen there. But this is also really hard to take. I'm afraid of where this series is going to go, cause I really don't want a bad ending for these three.

Manga Review: IM: Great Priest Imhotep, Volume 3, by Makoto Morishita

Rating (Out of 5): ~3

Publisher: Yen Press

Release Date: May 2020

Volumes: 11.

Spoilers?: No.

Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells. RightStuf.

Volume: 1. 2. 4.

 

Goodreads Synopsis:

 

The Ennead Priesthood has given Im a new objective: Return to Egypt and use "Damnatio Memoriae" to wipe the record of Prince Djoser clean from the record of the world. But when Djoser suddenly shows up-in the flesh?-the plan is forced to change. How will Im cope with seeing his friend again...when his only option is to kill him...?

 

Review:

 

Im is being put into a bad position, where he has to decide to ruin his best friend yet again, only it's even more important this time. He wants to fix things between him and Djoser, only to find out that that's not really an option for him. Not quite in the way that he expected, though.

Most of this volume was taken up with the friendship and feud between Im and Djoser. Im has regrets from his past, but he's also being put into a situation where he is forced to see what's happening in a new perspective and make a choice.

I'm not following this closely, but it's an interesting read. The characters are good and odd, and I find the Egyptian mythology/history really interesting. In the second half, Hinome gets to see Im playing at being a student, getting some carefree time. It's not something he's been able to experience before, and she discovers that he never got the chance to play and dream like a kid.

This has a surprising amount of depth, and I appreciate that.

 

A review copy was provided by the publisher, Yen Press, for an honest review. Thank you so, so much!