Search Results for: Yuuna

Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, Vol. 1

May 3, 2018 by Leave a Comment

By Tadahiro Miura. Released in Japan as “Yuragi-sou no Yuuna-san” by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Ghost Ship. Translated by Kayla Albarado. Adapted by David Lumsdon.

When I was first researching this manga, more than one site told me that it was “the spiritual successor to To-Love-Ru”. Which makes sense. Jump usually has one title that is written purely for the sake of teenage hormones, and for years To-Love-Ru was the one. And so, perhaps after briefly checking to make sure none of the cast are based on anyone’s wife, we have Yuuna and the Haunted Hot Springs, an ecchi Jump title which offers pretty much a lot of the same things that To-Love-Ru gave the reader. There’s a guy surrounded by a bunch of hot young girls. There is an awful lot of tripping and falling into boobs. There is a lot of violence towards the lead guy by said girls after that happens. And no doubt most of them will fall for him, though so far we only have the titular ghost. It’s Harem Comedy 101.

Our hero is Kogarashi, who has had a pretty unlucky life – he’s easily possessed by spirits, and it’s made his life very difficult, as well as made him very poor. Fortunately, he’s learned (almost out of necessity) to be an exorcist so that he can deal with these things. He’s also found an inn with attached hot springs where the rent is dirt cheap – because, of course, it’s haunted. He meets the residents, all of whom are gorgeous girls, and also the girl haunting his room, who is a cute fluffy-headed poltergeist with a bad habit of making things float around her when she is flustered, which is most of the time. Yuuna is a cute girl, so Kogarashi can’t exorcise her. Instead he befriends her, which works out even better (and also makes her fall head over heels in love with him). Then we discover the other residents are also… not ghosts, but various types of supernatural entities or those that deal with them. Can he get along with everyone? And what about school?

As you might be able to guess, this is not exactly the most original title in the world. At the same time, it has a job to do and does it well. Everything is in the standard ecchi harem language, but there was no point where I was bored or turned off by any of the various goings-on. Kogarashi is more of the “confident” Jump hero in the Luffy/Soma tradition, which makes a nice change from the meek nerds that usually inhabit such titles (as, for example, To-Love-Ru). Yuuna is as you’d imagine, but I did like the way she was translated/adapted, as she uses a certain amount of “Scooby-Doo” style exclamations at times, which is amusing as she’s a ghost, but also apropos as it shows she’s older than she should be. We’ve barely met the other residents yet (there’s a demon slayer who I still call Motoko as she hasn’t really differentiated herself from the Love Hina character), but I’m sure that will come soon.

So this won’t win any awards, but if you’re here for amusing comedic romance with lots of large breasts, and don’t mind no actual romantic resolution for 25 volumes or so (because did I mention it’s a comedic romance manga?), this could be the title for you.

Filed Under: reviews, yuuna and the haunted hot springs

These Legs Don’t Lie! Harumi’s Legacy as the Strongest Mimic, Vol. 1

February 1, 2023 by 1 Comment

By Tsuyoshi Fujitaka and Yuunagi. Released in Japan as “Bikyaku Mimic, Harumi-san: Tensei Monster Isekai Nariagari Densetsu” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Chen.

Sometimes a new series just doesn’t work out, OK? Leaving aside the actual content of this book, which I will get to eventually, I was informed as I began to read it that it was canceled after only one volume in Japan. Light Novel fans tend to dislike this, but after reading These Legs Don’t Lie Volume 1, I have to think, is another volume really needed? There were not really any horrible cliffhangers, there was no plot we really wanted to see resolved, the characters are not, on the whole, compelling. As a one-shot this was OK – a bit annoying at the start, very weird as it trundles along, but OK. That said, there’s no way that I would have been able to read, say, Vol. 8 of this series. I also recall the other series I read by this author, My Big Sister Lives in a Fantasy World, and how that declined as it went along too. So yeah, one volume then cancelled? Fine by me.

Our heroine is Harumi, who is a newly-born mimic (I had to look it up, as a non-gamer – think The Luggage from Discworld) being stuck at the top of a dungeon to be killed by adventurer newbies. She doesn’t want this to happen, and manages to forcibly grow legs to run away. Which does not work, but she attracts the attention of a thief with a fetish, who gives her magical high heels. As she discovers, this is a ludicrously powerful items that lets her make her opponents explode after she kicks them. She then goes on a reign of terror through the dungeon, kicking and exploding people, till the “event” has ended. Having grown far too powerful for this dungeon, she is then sent off to the place where the strongest monsters gather… if she can get there. It’s a long walk, and other folks are out for revenge against her.

Harumi is, frankly, a sociopath, who thinks very little of blowing up anyone and everyone. The way she comes across new attacks is somewhat similar to Maple, as is her somewhat ditzy narrative voice, but I’d say White from So I’m a Spider, So What? is a more apt comparison. The setting for this world is very bizarre, with humans and monsters essentially using each other to make money, and the dungeon being a kind of theme park – which means that Harumi massacring nearly everyone is a major bug in the program. Also, despite the cover art, she can’t grow an entire body by the end of this book. She can get legs/hips, legs and arms, or topless upper half, but not all three. This means there are scenes where she is running through the countryside, a treasure chest on legs, with a random urchin that she saved from bandits riding on top of her. Honestly, I wonder if the entire series was written for that image alone.

So yeah, as it turned out, after the first volume of this, My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered really started to take off, to the point where it’s getting an anime, and so the publisher probably said “why keep up with this title which is likely unbroadcastable due to the constant exploding people?” One is enough.

Filed Under: reviews, these legs don't lie

The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, Vol. 9

March 24, 2020 by Leave a Comment

By Gamei Hitsuji and Yuunagi. Released in Japan by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

This was, for the most part (I’ll get to the one really annoying bit at the end) a solid volume that gave fans what they wanted: Suimei back on Earth and reconnecting with everyone, and the three main heroines marveling at life in a science-based world and eating lots of delicious sweets. I will admit that those who like the battle scenes in Too Far Behind might find it wanting – the only battle here is about 3/4 of the way through, and it’s a one-way curbstomping. But honestly this is meant to be a pure fanservicey break before we go back to confront the Big Bad, and as such it functions fine. It also introduces us to a new heroine, though it doesn’t appear as if she’s going to be a love interest. Hydemary, Suimei’s disciple, is the girl on the cover art (with the series’ third artist, by the way, which may be why it was so late in coming), and she’s both more and less complex than I was expecting.

I mentioned three main heroines – Hatsumi does return with the rest of them, but spends the entire book essentially recuperating with her family, so is not participating. Her family being a set of terrifying swordsmen who work with Suimei’s family, the whole “we went to a parallel world” explanation is accepted very rapidly. (Reiji and Mizuki stayed behind, and we briefly hear about Suimei mind controlling their parents and the school to smooth things over, which ergh.) As for the other three, Liliana gets her cursed eye fixed at last, though given that it’s fixed by a mad scientist otaku it apparently got a few bells and whistles added to it. Also, she’s still wearing the eyepatch, because of course she is. Lefille learns that the best thing for her swordplay right now is to take a break and not obsess over winning, two very good pieces of advice. And Felmenia basically gets to immerse herself in books and sweets, but that’s good enough for her.

The main plotline involves Suimei, after telling the Magician’s Society sending Suimei (after he briefly explains where he was – they don’t really care) to stop a group who are trying to revive a God somewhere in Germany. Suimei keeps putting this off, much to the irritation of Hydemary, who has had to deal with a) him being gone for 6 months or so, b) him returning with a bunch of other girls; and c) her own self-worth issues, as she’s a homunculus, and thus while she has all the knowledge of the world her experience is minimal. Honestly, I was expecting this to be bigger than it was – I expected her to turn evil for a bit, whereas a pep talk was all it took to cheer her up. It helps that she’s about seven years old in actual years, and thus not a romantic partner – at least not that we can tell. Suimei treats her like a wayward but loved child.

The book ends with a side story showing how Suimei and Hydemary first meet, which was fine except when it turns out her creator was once pals with Hitler before he went bad. Keerist. The whole “Hitler was under the control of other magical forces” plot is very hard to do without being offensive, and it’s impossible when it’s done as a brief dash of backstory before it’s dropped. I really didn’t need to know Hyudemary’s creator was an ex-Nazi. That aside, though, we nearly wrap up the Earth arc and are set to return to Felmenia and company’s home – this time with Hydemary, as well as someone else who is evil and appears to be hitching a ride. When will we see it? Will it have a 4th artist? Who knows? But this was a pretty good entry in the series.

Filed Under: magic in this other world is too far behind!, reviews
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