Monthly Archives: April 2018

Re: ZERO -Starting Life in Another World – Ex, Vol. 2

Leave a reply

By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

In Japan, these two volumes came out slightly later than they did here – the first one came out after Book 6, and this second one after Book 7. It didn’t really matter with Crusch’s book, but I get the sense with this second volume that we’re missing the impetus as to why we’re suddenly getting a side story devoted to Wilhelm when he hasn’t really had a large role in these books to date. Of course, as fans will know, the cover of the next volume of Re: Zero out in North America prominently features Wilhelm. In any case, despite feeling as if I came in after the start of the movie, this was a very good volume of Re: Zero’s spinoff, showing us a moody young man who tries to shut himself off from everyone except his sword, and his meeting a lovely and teasing young woman in a construction site with a flower garden. It also manages to have another excellent message that we’ve seen before: war is an awful thing.

The start of the book doesn’t even has Wilhelm as the viewpoint character, though that changes about one-third of the way in. Grimm is his fellow soldier and a far more “normal” person, which is to say he has his doubts, wants to avoid combat and run away when things are bad, etc. Wilhelm seemingly finds him detestable, but the fact that he’s also the only person to repress those feelings and fight valiantly anyway says a lot in his favor. As Wilhelm gradually (very gradually) begins to open up to the reader and to others, Grimm is no longer needed, though I was annoyed that the narrative went so far as to remove his voice from it literally. We also meet what… I guess is meant to be Roswaal’s mother or grandmother? It’s not very clear, and the fact that they talk and act exactly the same makes me wary and suspicious. (If you know, don’t tell me in comments, I’m happy to be unspoiled.) And we also get a whole lot of dead soldiers, both humans and demi-humans, to show that, again, war is an awful thing.

There’s also Theresia, who for most of the book seems to be just an ordinary young girl who likes to hang out in the middle of deserted vacant lots in the poor sectio0n of town for fun, but who turns out to have a much bigger secret. A surprise to you all, I’m sure. Honestly, I wish I could have had more of her – this is a very male-oriented narrative, given that it’s mostly from Wilhelm’s POV, and both he and Carol, Theresia’s friend and retainer, think the same thing: she is made for peace and fluffy things, not as a maiden of war. Which is all very well and good, and I understand that in an anti-war book you want to have that sort of opinion, but a longer section from Theresia’s POV might have helped me not see it as “pretty girls shouldn’t fight!”, which is what it comes off as.

Fortunately, their story is not over yet. This comes as a surprise to me, as after the first Ex volume I came in assuming we’d see another awesome character getting killed off for tragic backstory. But no, the book ends on a triumphant note. And there’s a 3rd volume coming out soon in Japan that looks like it will continue the story. So this is definitely recommended, though readers may want to wait till after Vol. 7 is out before they give it a try.

Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 11

1 Reply

By Mizuho Kusanagi. Released in Japan as “Akatsuki no Yona” by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by JN Productions, Adapted by Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane.

This volume of Yona of the Dawn is a return to the beginning in many ways. It opens with an extended flashback showing the trio of Yona, Hak and Su-Won as children, sneaking out against orders to see what the town looks like, which ends up turning into a disaster after Yona is kidnapped almost immediately. It’s a terrific sequence, showing off the strong friendship that the three had, as well as showing that Hak and Su-Won each are jealous of the qualities they see in each other. And of course it’s tragic because of what came later, something that is still affecting both Yona and Hak deeply, as we see later on. He has nightmares about Yona, both in regards to Su-Won’s betrayal and also her becoming a warrior rather than a princess. And Yona is feeling the same thing, only she knows what side she’s going to choose going forward.

Yona and company are moving north, arriving in a village that is much the same as the fire tribe one they left, but is much better off due to developments in their grain. This excites Yun so much that he’s willing to do a festival dance in order to get more information about it – or at least have Yona do it, as Yun can’t dance at all. Hak notes that Yona has danced in the past, but it’s been rather awkward and amusing more than anything else. That changes here when Yona uses the dance to show what she’s become and where she’s headed, in a performance that makes everyone’s jaw drop, including Hak’s. For shippers, there’s a giant pile of Hak being in love with Yona here, but he’s fighting back against too many things, including Yona being mostly oblivious, for it to go anywhere. But man, the burning unsaid passion in this book is amazing.

Rest assured the book is also filled with humor – one two-page section had me laughing out loud just from the use of ‘pondering’ and ‘lounge’ as comedic weapons. A lot of this comes from Jaeha, who has become my favorite non-Yona character (those who recall my I Hate You More Than Anyone reviews may guess why – he’s basically Honjo as a superhero. He also knows that Hak/Yona is the endgame, which grates on him a bit – but not enough to stop him giving Hak some good, if needling, advice. That said, I don’t think anything more is going to be happening anytime soon. I do wonder if we’ll be seeing another female cast member soon – this volume has them go to a village with a lot of young women who remind us that Yona is walking around with a bunch of hunky guys, and some female friendships would, I think, do her good and make her a bit less serious.

To sum up, this remains one of the best Shojo Beat titles being released by now, and an essential purchase. Buy it, you’ll love it.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 2

1 Reply

By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

This series continues, very deliberately, to be a book of two halves, albeit unequal halves. The main thrust of the story remains our spider heroine slowly ascending the dungeon and defeating stronger and stronger monsters while keeping up an inner monologue that sounds like she’s high on a dozen pixie stix all the time. The other half of the story is interspersed in between this, and deals with Shun and the rest of the reincarnated students having a far more normal isekai life… well, normal compared to the spider. The difficulty is that forward plot progression is entirely confined to the latter – a couple of the students have clearly gone a bit mad from the new world, Shun finds being a hero actually involves killing things, there’s a giant demon invasion happening as we speak, and oh yes, the demons are seemingly led by another reincarnated classmate. I want to know more about this. I have to be content with Spider Levels Up And Reads Her Stats.

Spider’s progress is the biggest strength of the book. She is hilarious, and it gets even better when she’s able to subdivide her brains so they can think about different things, and they start arguing with each other. She’s arrogant as heck except when she’s being attacked by killer monsters, and there’s an ongoing disturbing thread about her not realizing that she’s lost any moral or ethical sense – every time she reads about her taboo increasing and wonders why that is, you sort of smack your head. At the same time, spider’s progress is the book’s biggest weakness as well. There is endless discussion of her stats and skills, complete with charts (which are what pile up the page count), and she has to overanalyze all of them. Sometimes this is amusing, but a lot of times it can get very tedious, even with her excitable inner voice.

As for Shun and company, as I said, they’re pursuing a much more common isekai narrative. We’re introduced to Hugo, another classmate who seems to have gone completely insane and power mad, as well as Yuri, who has accepted God as her savior in a very over the top way. (Given that God in this work appears to not only exist but be the sysadmin, not too mad an idea, but she’s a pure “religious zealot” type, so will no doubt be an antagonist.) The most interesting thing going on here is Katia, who was a boy in Japan but was reincarnated as a woman here, and seems to be the ONLY one who’s not the same sex. She becomes very accepting of this, and is also clearly starting to have feelings for Shun, which everyone notices except her. It’s not, perhaps, as amusing as the author wants it to be, but it’s definitely interesting, and handled pretty well.

The book ends with a nasty cliffhanger for those on the surface, even as our spider heroine just keeps rolling along. I’m enjoying these books, but I really hope that the two plots converge soon, as I’m drawning in stats a bit too much.