Category Archives: reviews

Rascal Does Not Dream of a Lost Singer

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Mayoeru Singer no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

As we hit double digit volumes for this series, and we start what is basically “Rascal: The College Years”, it’s probably a good time to ask ourselves what we really want out of the series. Let’s face it, I’d be perfectly happy just watching Sakuta interact with the rest of the cast, no plot or dangerous supernatural phenomenon needed. Add in 40-50 pages of descriptions of subway stations, which is about the average with this series, and you could say that we don’t NEED the main premise of the series anymore. The main cast, for the most part, has accepted their past and trauma, and made a good effort at moving on. Sakuta and Mai are adults in college, and even Kaede will probably be graduating soon. There’s no NEED for what has been termed “Adolescence Syndrome”. And so, until the last page of the book, I assumed that this was the point of this volume. That the problems Uzuki had were totally normal.

You can sum up the plot of this volume as follows: “What measure is a non-airhead?”. Sakuta and Mai are now at college, and living the blissful couple life (well, except they barely see each other due to her job). He’s also tutoring two students from his old high school at a cram school, and hasn’t had to worry about any supernatural phenomenon in a year and a half. Uzuki and Nodoka, from Sweet Bullet, are also there, and Uzuki is in a lot of Sakuta’s classes, as they share a major. Uzuki is, of course, her usual lovable ditz self, and seems to get along with everyone in the class. “Seems” being the operative word. Because one day, Uzuki shows up at class, and something is… off. She’s making efforts to fit in more. She’s picking up social cues. What the hell is going on? This is so unlike her!

There’s actually a whole new mini-cast introduced here, which no doubt will get more of a look-in in future volumes. We meet Miori, who honestly seems to be Rule 63 Sakuta a lot of the time, and her obvious attempts to insert herself into his life. Ikumi, who we briefly saw in the last book, is briefly seen again, and Sakuta is still vaguely uncomfortable around her. There’s the cram school kids. I feel the author is apologizing for a lot of the old cast only making token appearances, but such is life. As for Uzuki and her issues, I thought it was very well handled and sometimes very sad, and the climax of the book was excellent. The actual resolution, though, feels not QUITE as happy as I’d have liked… especially given the OTHER new character we see at the end, who implies that this really WAS supernatural, not just Uzuki suddenly maturing. Enter Touko Kirishima.

No, it’s Touko, not Touka, this is not becoming a Tokyo Ghoul crossover. Exactly what it’s becoming is still undecided. But I will admit feeling unsatisfied that the catalyst for Uzuki’s issues was actually a third party. I will have to content myself with the fact that the conflict and resolution of it was all Uzuki, and she did very well.

Sword Art Online, Vol. 26: Unital Ring V

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By Reki Kawahara and abec. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

It’s not clear how much ;longer this arc of Sword Art Online is going to go, or if it really is the final arc in the story. I don’t think even the author knows, especially given that his afterword talks about how he gets distracted by side stories and diversions all the time and can’t advance the plot. But I think he’s thinking about it, and we get a little of that with Silica here, who gets to have most of the narration that isn’t Kirito’s when he’s in the Underworld. She’s been one of the original SAO gang for so long it’s sometimes hard to remember that she’s three years younger than most of the others, and she’s noticing that Asuna and Lisbeth aren’t playing games quite as much as they used to. It’s not framed in a “put away childish things” sort of way – indeed, Silica notes one of her friends think she’s the weird one for continuing to game so much after SAO – but hey, adulting is necessary. The real world beckons.

The plot here is neatly divided in half. On the Underworld side, Kirito, Asuna and Alice finally get to see Alice’s sister frozen in time, awaiting her return… along with two other surprise guests! Unfortunately, unfreezing them will involve Kirito and Eolyne becoming astronauts, going to one of the satellites where Kirito, pre-memory wipe, hid the information. But, of course, while there they find bad guys doing terrible things. On the Unital Ring side, the rest of the main cast need to find more ore in order to keep up with the other gamers, and doing so will involve facing off against a giant wasp nest! Can they use a dangerous flower that the SAO players know very well to try and swing the battle a little more their way? can can we really get to see a scene with Silica sitting on top of a giant bear fighting a wasp? Because that sounds pretty awesome, frankly.

This book not only thinks about the future a little bit, but also manages to recall the past. We get more “what measure is an NPC?” philosophy, but this also involves Asuna clearly thinking of Kizmel, and almost having a little breakdown. Those reading the Progressive books will know that Kizmel is hugely popular and I think the author is dragging things out a bit to use her more, but it’s also plainly obvious that she’s not going to stick around till the 75th floor, so we can guess what likely happened. And of course, we get more Underworld stuff, though of all the minor characters from that arc to make an emotional reappearance, the elevator operator was not the first one I would have guessed. It works well, though, and also allows our heroines to have a nice long bath, satisfying both Asuna’s love of bathing and also abec’s love of drawing fanservice.

So yes, the plot progression was minimal here, but this was a solid, fun read. SAO fans should be happy.

Culinary Chronicles of the Court Flower, Vol. 9

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By Miri Mikawa and Kasumi Nagi. Released in Japan as “Ikka Kōkyū Ryōrichō” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hunter Prigg.

This is one of those volumes where the audience knows the answer that the rest of the cast are searching for, but even by the end of the book they still have not quite figured it out. So much of this volume is about sacrificing personal hopes, dreams and happiness for the sake of the country, and the assumption that, deep down, everyone else will also be doing the same thing. Unfortunately for them, we’re able to peer inside Shusei’s head, and we’ve already read the previous eight books, so we know why he’s so determined to burn the entire country down to get what he wants. His birth father was able to throw it all away for the sake of love, but Shusei cannot do that, given Rimi’s position. He has to throw away everything else so he can have Rimi. And even Rimi still doesn’t quite get that, mostly as she still has the self-worth of a bent blade of grass at the side of the road.

After the events of the previous book, Kojin and Renka are being politely held at the palace so that it can be determined what happened to Rimi. The only trouble is that Rimi refuses to point any figures. That said, the answer is obvious, and Shohi has his first massive temper tantrum in some time. This results in Kojin resigning and going back to his seaside estate, and Renka saying she’d like to take up the position being offered, but won’t do it without the Chancellor agreeing to it. And the Chancellor just resigned. So someone has to go to Kojin’s estate and play peacemaker, trying to persuade him to give Shohi another chance so that the country can remain peaceful and stable. The perfect choice to do this, obviously, is the woman Kojin recently tried to murder.

Fear not, those who worry about such things, there is plenty of food in this volume, and it plays the major role in reconciliation here.l Not between Kojin and Shohi, though that happens as well, but between Kojin and Shusei, as we learn that sometimes when you think the only answer is “tough love” but you’re also terrible at real human emotions, it can come off as hatred. I always love how these mysteries are filtered through Rimi, who is actually trying to understand why they’re stubborn and unyielding but can only do so in terms of imagining what foods would and wouldn’t work on them. Kojin’s breakdown is very well handled, and I also enjoyed reading about how yes, his wife really DOES love him, surprise! That said, all this is drowned out by the cliffhanger ending, as Shusei makes war inevitable.

I am assuming that the next volume will be that war. I am also hoping that we finally get a reveal as to Mars’ identity, if only so they can be killed off. (There was an attempt at a tragic backstory here, which didn’t work well because it was too similar to the main tragic backstory.) In any case, this remains an addictive shoujo thriller.