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High School DxD: Ouroboros and the Promotion Exam

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By Ichiei Ishibumi and Miyama-Zero. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

This contains spoilers for the end of Book 11, but not till the third paragraph.

High School DxD remains one of the most shonen series ever written, because it’s absolutely filled to the brim with what makes a shonen series – on both sides. On the one side we have the shonen battle manga, with lots of powerful enemies, dealing with almost certain defeat, discovering that the person you just struggled to take out was merely the weakest of the ones you have to fight, etc. It’s the classic old-school “you defeat the bad guy by everyone in the cast shouting the hero’s name in unison as they hit him” shonen. But it’s also very much the other kind of shonen, in that the hero is excessively horny and can only think of sex, the girls are all in love with him and have big breasts, and the one who doesn’t have big breasts asks him to marry her once she grows up and gets them. That kind of shonen series. And when we combine them, what do we get? Well, we get the Breast Beam, of course, possibly the most High School DxD thing ever.

Issei, Kiba and Akeno have been through a lot recently, and have many accomplishments to their names – enough that they really should be high-ranked demons. But there are procedures to follow, so first they must take the exam to become MIDDLE-ranked demons, which, because demon society bases a lot of things on humanity, consists of a written and a practical test. The test itself proves to not be too much of an issue, even for a “poor grades” guy like Issei. The problem is that they’re being forced to take in a hideously powerful infinity dragon, Ophis, because Azazel is trying to achieve a greater peace with the other factions and hopes that she can help. Ophis, for her part, just wants to sit back and observe Rias’s group. Unfortunately for Azazel, if he wants peace, he’s in the wrong series.

Most English-speaking High School DxD fans, and yes, that includes the ones who actually *buy* the books, are familiar with the series to a ridiculous degree. They know that it’s 25 volumes long, and has a sequel that might equal that. And, of course, there’s the afterword from the author, where they discuss what’s going to happen in Book 12. That said, if High School DxD was not selling as well here, maybe if it was more like Index, it would be cruelly amusing for Yen On to simply cut the afterword and pretend that this was the final book in the series. “Yup, Issei dies. Bit of a downer ending, huh?” Of course, even someone who isn’t spoiled probably doesn’t buy that Issei’s death is anything but temporary. Still, it does make the final moments in this book nicely depressing, and also makes me wonder who’ll be narrating the next volume.

Solid book in the series. Fights. Breasts. And tragedy.

Baccano!: 1935-D Luckstreet Boys

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

At last, we are forced to discuss the elephant in the room. This volume came out in Japan in August 2016, and there has not been another one since. Ryohgo Narita has been battling a lot of health issues. He’s also been writing another Bleach novel series, which was licensed in North America, and an ongoing manga series, which was licensed in North American AND got an anime. And, most importantly, there has been Fate/strange Fake, a light novel spinoff of the super duper popular Fate series, which began in 2014 but has had five new light novels since the last Baccano!, the most recent being this year. And it’s ALSO getting an anime. It has to be said, Dengeki Bunko know what is popular and what is merely a cult series. It has gotten to the point where, after I joked on Twitter about Narita forgetting about Baccano!, he actually replied to me to apologize and say it’s coming. So we’ll hold out hope. But till then, hope you enjoy this, as it may be a while till the conclusion we’re supposed to get with 1935-E.

The main thing that happens here which ends up dragging everyone into one place is that Charlie, the massive grizzly bear from a previous book, is now wandering around the streets of Manhattan. Fortunately, he very quickly ends up at the Grey Doctor’s office, where he finds friends in Isaac and Miria (who will befriend anyone). Unfortunately, Firo and Victor are also there, and they’re quickly joined by Ladd and Graham. Then everyone there (including the bear) is lured to Central Park, where ALL the Lemures have gathered, along with Maria and Luck’s other paid shit-stirrers. Oh yes, and Chane has come running, seeing that Ladd is there and really, really, REALLY wanting to kill him. None of this is surprising. What *is* surprising is that Lua gets a couple paragraphs all to herself, possibly the most she’s spoken in this entire series.

Usually in Narita’s books there’s always some normal guy who has to pretend not to be normal in order to get by. In Durarara!! it was Mikado, though he very quickly shot past that character type in a big way. It’s been a few people in Baccano!, most notably Jacuzzi. But in this entire arc, it’s been Nader, and that continues here – he’s basically the protagonist of this arc. (Melvi should be the antagonist, but everyone the last two books has spent all their time talking about how pathetic he is compared to the rest of the cast, so nah.) Nader is a two-bit villain who does not have the drive to be anything more, but when he finds out that Sonia is not only no longer in his hometown waiting for a hero to save her, but is actually the protege of Spike… well, let’s just say this is where the dramatic theme music starts playing behind him. Even Ladd notices the difference. I hope he lives, but it’s gonna be tough.

It’s also gonna be tough waiting for the next book, but at least we’re waiting a lot less time than Japan. Come back to Baccano! soon, Narita-san!

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 8

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By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I have grown used to this series casually killing people off. It’s easy to guess when they’re one of the people on Oliver’s hit list, but we’ve also seen the glorious death of Diana Ashbury and others. The author knows this, of course, and plays with it throughout this book, making me assume once or twice that we were going to see yet another tragic student fate. Because, well, every student at this academy has a mission just as important to them as Oliver’s, a mission that they will kill for (OK, maybe not Guy, I can’t see Guy turning into an instrument of vengeance), and that unfortunately a lot of these goals and missions end prematurely and in death. It’s the nature of how they’re being taught in this academy that, frankly, takes sink or swim to all-new heights. It doesn’t help that – again – this volume ends with no epilogue or cooldown, just a climactic final scene and then the end.

The combat league continues, but there’s a more important issue to deal with: Godfrey’s sternum bone has been stolen by Cyrus, and without it his abilities are down to about 1/20th what they should be. No, this is still enough for him to slip through the early rounds of this tournament, but he needs that bone back if he’s going to get further – or win the election. And so everyone who is supporting him in the election, including our heroes, go on a journey to find Cyrus and get the bone back. Along the way they discover exactly WHY Cyrus is going around stealing everyone’s bones, and it will come as no surprise to find that it’s not because he’s just a giant jerk, but because of a life goal he has to achieve.

Fans of Spellblades will find a lot of things they like in this, including the fact that every single time Oliver and Nanao converse with each other at all, it’s interpreted by everyone else as “flirting” – much to the annoyance of Katie and Pete, the others in his unwanted harem. (I say again, poor Guy, who has so many issues. He’s the least developed character of the six, he’s clearly being paired off with Katie but she likes Oliver, and he’s R*n W**sl*y in all but name.) There are also some truly fantastic fights, and we get to spend time with the badass Lesedi Ingwe and the badass but also hilarious Tim Linton. That said, the best part of the book is Cyrus and why he’s doing this, and the final pages are really well handled. To say more would be to spoil.

I have no idea what’s going to happen next, thanks to this volume ending so abruptly. I assume more combat league stuff, as you can’t really drag a tournament arc on too long… (stares nervously at The Asterisk War)… right?