Monthly Archives: April 2018

Baccano!: 1933 The Slash -Bloody to Fair-

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By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

“There’s always someone better than you.” A truism that this two-volume arc of Baccano! seems to be taking to heart. Last time we saw Maria devastated when her swordplay lost out to Adele’s spear, and the repercussions of that reverberate though this book. But it doesn’t just end with her. Adele herself gets shattered when Maria’s clever thinking is actually able to deliver a bad wound, and the newly introduced Christopher Shaldred can try all he wants to be a cool, constantly talking killer, but we already have Clare/Felix, so he’s inevitably going to come out second best, especially when you realize that Felix prolonged the fight solely for the reason that he wanted to fight back to back with his fiancee. And then there’s Tim, who finds that not only is he easily manipulated by Huey, but also gets verbally destroyed by Senator Beriam. The theme here is “stay humble”, though to be honest nobody really learns that lesson.

By the time this book had come out, Narita had already started his other popular novel series Durarara!!, and I have to admit that of all the Baccano! novels, this one feels the closest to DRRR!! style shenanigans. That said, DRRR!! never gets quite as bloody as Baccano! does, and the massacre of the employees of the Nebula Building is (at least temporarily) a bit horrifying. Again one is reminded that there really aren’t too many “good guys” in this series – even Jacuzzi and Nice are gang leaders, and honestly I think the only reason they don’t get taken to the cleaners at the end is because Chane is part of their gang. The new villains are also pretty bad, and continue the theme of “someone better than you” – Tim’s Larva group from the prior book is as nothing compared to Huey’s experimental Lamia children, and it’s notable that after the fight at the end of the previous book, Adele is ready to go off the rails at a moment’s notice.

And then there’s Maria. I savaged her pretty badly in the first volume’s review, and to be fair she was incredibly annoying then. That doesn’t completely change (Luck confronting her at the end may be the funniest scene in the book, especially as by then the reader had ALSO forgot what her original mission was), but she manages to overcome her fears and doubts, gets a ridiculously cool two-sword move (honestly, this book would be fantastic animated), and possibly hook up with Tick – she says he gets to decide if they’re friends or lovers, to which I think Tick’s response can best be described as “Buh?”. She’s certainly better off than Firo, who runs around trying to save Ennis only to find Ennis never really needed saving at all. and then has Ennis say that she thinks of Firo… as family. Good thing these two are immortal, they need all that time.

Narita’s afterword says that the publisher wanted to get away from the 1930s again (so The Children of Bottle apparently did pretty well), but he said he had far too many 1930s plots still to tell. As such, be prepared to start a THREE-part arc next time, as we advance one year but otherwise have the same old ruckus. Plus maybe we’ll see who rescued Christopher, last seen bleeding out. As for The Slash, the second part definitely is better than the first. This is a fun ride.

Oh yes, Dallas is in this too. Sorry, totally ignored him.

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 9

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By Izumi Tsubaki. Released in Japan as “Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun” by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Gangan Online. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Leighann Harvey.

It’s been a long nine months since we last saw Nozaki-kun here, the curse of having caught up with Japan. I’m relieved to say, though, that the wait is worth it, as this series’ one and only job is stillo being done incredibly well: I laugh a whole lot when reading this. In fact, one joke made me laugh so much I had to put the book down for a few minutes. (It involves the art club and their “perfect guys”.) Characterization remains strong but static: apart from Hori maybe realizing that Kashima is attractive as a woman (though that doesn’t necessarily translate to any love epiphanies), no one here grows or changes, but remains the same lovably exaggerated idiots we want and expect. Chiyo’s Nozaki-love is up to eleven, Seo continues to be the best troll, and Nozaki’s people watching is as entertaingly wrong as ever.

If there’s a straight man left in the series, it’s probably Mikoshiba, whose attempts at getting Mayu and Wakamatsu interested in visual novels is a hilarious disaster, given that they’re not really playing the game for the same goals. Mikoshiba continues to be Chiyo’s BFF (yes, even though he’s a guy), trying in vain to help her and Nozaki get closer. This culminates in the guys and girls having (separate) sleepovers, which predictably involves Mikoshiba an company staying up late and gossiping about the romance game they played, while the three girls (who have no idea how an actual slumber party works) just talk about what male underwear looks sexiest.

I’ve been reviewing this series with full reviews since it began, and I admit it can sometimes be a bit of a challenge given that there’s not much to say here beyond “this is what I thought was the funniest”. But it is funny, and I can admire the craft that Tsubaki brings to the title in developing each gag. This series is not really much at all like Oresama Teacher beyond the love of “tsukkomi” style punchlines. Nozaki-kun has to be punchier, faster, and not wait for the gag to land. It can also be hard to think up material every week – you might see some of that in Nozaki’s watching the drama club improv, where they all talk about how easy it is to end a scene by having everyone drop dead or be murdered.

I’m not sure when Nozaki will end – I suspect when Tsubaki and Square Enix decides it’s run its course. We’ve already had an anime,. and a 2nd season is not on the horizon. That said, I’m not sure I’d expect much resolution in any ending – much as the fans might want the three “main couples” to get together – or even Mikoshiba and Mayu – I’m inclined to agree with the drama club. Ending with a romantic kiss is cheap and easy. Especially for a series like this. Making us laugh, though? That’s guaranteed.

As for tanukis, well, just look at the cover.

Reborn as a Vending Machine, I Now Wander the Dungeon, Vol. 1

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By Hirukuma and Ituwa Kato. Released in Japan as “Jidou Hanbaiki ni Umare Kawatta Ore wa Meikyuu wo Samayou” by Kadokawa Shoten. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

If you’re going to be selling, as a regular series, a story about a guy reincarnated as a vending machine, you’d better go all in. Some stories work better as parodies (see the upcoming “Do You Like Your Mom?”), but I’m pretty sure this would not be any good if it weren’t 100% serious about its vending machine hero and the world he now lives in. The author says he wrote the book as a sort of push against the typical isekai harem protagonist, and I can see that. Yes, the machine gets a “blessing” that allows him to have a super cool force field, but it uses up HP fast, and its airtightness means it’s hard to keep humans inside. He also can’t move – he’s a vending machine. And his conversation is limited to six programmed phrases – he’s a vending machine. And he’s not getting a harem… well, OK, that remains to be seen.

Our hero is Boxxo (yes, really – thankfully it’s not his own choice of name), a young Japanese man obsessed with vending machines and the things that come out of them, who one day is killed in a brutal vending machine accident. He wakes to find he is now a vending machine, dispensing mineral water and corn soup. Unfortunately, he is sitting at the side of a lake deep in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by frog enemies trying to break him, and if he doesn’t sell things he’ll eventually run out of lifespan. Then he meets Lammis, a super strong, super spunky, super naive girl who has been abandoned by her party and is on the verge of death. He gives her food and drink, and in return she picks him up and carries him to the nearest settlement. (I did mention the super strength, right?) As the book goes on, he finds he can add new items (provided it’s something he previously bought when he was a human), camouflage himself, and other cool adventure powers. As for going on quests… you’d be surprised how important convenient food and drink can be in a battle.

As you can see, the premise can be as silly as you’d like. This is absolutely ridiculous. But the characters are all treated as real people rather than stock isekai types, even the guards at the door, the innkeeper and her daughter, and the town madam. (Oh yes, Boxxo can also sell condoms. I was surprised it went there, but it’s handled quite well. No, Boxxo is not going to be using them, he’s a vending machine.) Boxxo and Lammis get on great from the start, she’s very good at figuring out what he means when he’s using his stock “welcome!’ phrases, and having her around means the story is not totally stationary. I mean… the book has a subplot of Lammis falling in love with Boxxo, and it actually plays out as really sweet and cute rather than weird and creepy. I could have done without the constant breast size discussion, but that’s what you get in this genre, and at least Boxxo’s lack of a human body means he’s rather blase about it all – mostly.

I was going to be cute and say this was the best vending machine isekai I’d ever read, but that’s selling it short – it was a really good read, period. I enjoyed this a lot more than I expected, and definitely want to see what happens next. You will believe that a fantasy world can be transformed by a simple machine that gives you Pringles when you want them.