Monthly Archives: July 2018

Tokyo Alice, Vol. 1

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By Toriko Chiya. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Kiss. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Production by amimaru.

(Note: Tokyo Alice has no translator credit, but also has a “production” credit I rarely see, so I’m considering them equivalent for now.)

The number of times I’ve started a review by saying “I’ve never seen _______” is starting to number in the hundreds, but it has to be said. No, not the Tokyo Alice live-action drama that went out last year. Something a bit more relevant: I’ve never seen Sex and the City. As such, I’m not entirely sure how similar this series, about a group of four friends who live in the big city, whose lives we occasionally follow, and who are (mostly) living together by the end of the first boo9k should remind me of said series, except it does by sheer cultural osmosis. The sex so far is on the light side (one of the lead women has a different guy in her bed every night, and says she’s never had an orgasm, but we don’t see this beyond guys coming and going), but the bond between the four friends is strong, and if the series can keep it up I’ll be pleased to follow along.

Of course, some heroines are more equal than others. The lead here is clearly Fu, a 26-year-old woman who works for a design company and loves shopping. Somewhat surprisingly, at least at the start, men don’t really apply to her, something that bothers her when she dwells on it. She is otherwise the classic ‘ditzy’ shoujo lead, only this is josei so she’s all grown up. I imagine the reader may find her a bit frustrating, which is something of the point. Her friends include Mizuho, a shoujo manga artist with a loser boyfriend who finds that she has trouble drawing real love; Rio, a stylish doctor who has lots of suitors but rejects them as she’s got a crush on… well, the answer surprised me; and Sayuri, who I mentioned above, who will one day have to marry who her parents want her to but in the meantime plans to fool around and have fun.

When I mentioned Fu loves shopping, it’s possible that I wasn’t emphatic enough. shopping consumes Fu, and much of the first volume deals with her buying things and then living to regret it when she sees her bank balance. (I wonder how long she’ll last living with her friends before she’s thrown out for missing rent.) This feels very much like a josei manga catering to its readers, who are also likely twenty-somethings living in a big city and wondering what to do next. We get the occasional flashback to the friends when they were in junior high, talking about the type of guy they want to end up marrying. Reality has ensued for most of them (and Fu is rather startled to realized the sweetest, most idealistic one of them became the somewhat hedonistic Sayuri), and Fu in particular needs to be more aware of the situations (and men) around her. But if you don’t mind that, then Tokyo Alice is a good start.

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 7

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released iJapan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jeremiah Borque.

There is apparently something of an argument among Re: Zero fans about whether the overall story is meant to be a deconstruction of the typical “light novel” hero. I can see why people would come to this conclusion. Subaru frequently acts like he can glide through every situation based on guts and gumption, and the series is very quick to put him in his place over and over again. It shows what might actually happen in a situation like that. And, much as I get very, very frustrated with Subaru, this is an excellent way to handle his character. That said, I think it’s a great character idea, but I don’t think the book is a deconstruction in general. And the reason for that is books like this, where Subaru takes everything he’s learned from previous books where he was a giant dumbass and uses it to save the day, becoming the light novel hero whether he wants it or not. If you think it’s a deconstruction, you’re likely annoyed. As for me, I’m saying ABOUT DAMN TIME.

Subaru, knowing he needs help from everyone and also knowing that “let’s rescue Emilia!” is not going to get him jack, works with what he already knows from prior loops of failure: he knows when and where the White Whale will show up. This is big news, especially for Wilhelm, whose backstory we finally get here for those who didn’t already read it in the 2nd EX novel which came out earlier in North America. He lost his beloved wife to the Whale years ago, and is bent on revenge. And Crusch is there to help him, having mobilized tons of resources (something Subaru had been quietly noticing before) in an effort to try to best it. Subaru’s “here is the exact time it will be here” is, therefore, a blue-chip piece of info. What follows, for the rest of the volume, is that battle against the whale, who proves to be amazingly difficult to do anything about, as you’d expect.

Throughout this battle, we see Subaru doing exactly what he can/ As a combatist, he’s worse than useless. But he can exude the Witch’s scent to lure the whale to him, he can come up with a final plajn that takes it out once and for all, mostly as he has no qualms about destroying a centuries old legend, and most importantly his “never give up, give it GUTS and GUMPTION!” is finally appropriate for the situation. We see it when he gives the order to Rem to start the battle while Crusch is still boggling at the whale’s full glory, and we see it after many casualties (who, the whale’s attack being what it is, are now forgotten) when he rallies everyone to not give up and never say die. He’s finally learning when it’s best to be a light novel hero and when it isn’t. And yes, this means he finally finds it in him to apologize to Julius as well.

We’re still in the middle of the arc – after all, the Whale may be taken care of but the Witch Cult lives on. But if Subaru keeps this up, I may actually grow to respect him has a character. He’s learning to be a real hero, rather than just thinking good things wwill happen because of who he is. Well done.

Invaders of the Rokujouma!?, Vol. 14

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By Takehaya and Poco. Released in Japan as “Rokujouma no Shinryakusha!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Warnis.

I have found that a series like Rokujouma is at its best when the cast it set up against a strong enemy. Be it Theia’s home planet’s military or the dark magical girls, this allows Koutarou and the girls to be able to use their strong bonds to maximum effect. It also makes it heartwarming whenever they go on and on about said strong bonds. Unfortunately, that does lead to an annoying side effect, which is that when you have a book where there ISN’T a strong conflict, the series can sometimes turn a bit smug. When Koutarou was asked to grade all the girls he liked on a scale of 1-100 (100 being “would marry her in a flash), and even Yurika, considered the “weakest” of the lot, still gets over 300… the tendency to roll the eyes can be very strong. We know where the author is going with this, but sadly Koutarou’s nature means that we’re a ways away from him knowing it, I expect.

This book essentially consists of three short stories. The second is the one I was telling you about above, which involves Koutarou realizing how important all the girls are to him, Ruth suggesting that he start a cadre of Knights he can command (with her as second in command, natch), and Yurika getting comedically tortured, because honestly that’s still pretty funny. It’s a pretty slight story, though, and the other two do better. The longest involves Shizuka, whose past we finally hear about. I’m going to be honest here, the moment I heart of the fate of her parents I knew where the climax of this story was going to end up, and it sure did. But I like her as a character, and she now no longer has to be kept in the dark, and can officially be added to the “harem”. Basically, it’s the Shizuka depth we’d been waiting for.

The last story follows up on Vol. 13, where it was made clear that Koutarou and Clan had met Theia’s mother before in their apparently endless time travel. Here we see that meeting happen. It’s fun if a bit predictable – Ellie is a strong princess who nevertheless falls hard for Koutarou like everyone else, and since she’s not going to be part of the harem, Koutarou is allowed to realize that. And we see that even back twenty years prior, the military was a bit out of control – essentially, the planet’s history has reached the crisis point that Koutarou’s presence can solve once more. I wish a bit more had been done with the fact that Koutarou was still in love with Alaia at this point, but it’s given short shrift in favor of time travel “do I have the right?” stuff.

So this is not the strongest book in the series, and might seem self-satisfied to a casual reader. But I’m sure that more conflict will come along soon, and it’s good to see Shizuka officially be part of the main group at last.