Category Archives: reviews

Spy x Family, Vol. 1

Leave a reply

By Tatsuya Endo. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Jump+. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by Casey Loe.

I have technically reviewed this before. Back when Spy x Family was a brand new manga on the Mangaplus app, I was so taken with it that I did a review of the first four chapters even though it hadn’t even been collected into volumes in Japan. Since then it’s gotten up to four volumes there, been picked up by the Shonen Jump app, gotten ludicrously popular (though rumors of an anime coming soon are likely merely rumors), and now we have the first volume from Viz. Is it worth a reread if you’ve already seen it on the app? Of course. This is a manga that rewards rereads. It’s also the perfect combination of funny and heartwarming, and the Spy and the Family in its title are in almost perfect balance. It also features three leads who can each play the clueless one when the plot allows (yes, even Loid). And of course it’s a found family manga, showing off that when you have people you care about, it can be hard to see them as just pawns for your mission.

Spy x Family takes place in not-Cold War Germany, with tensions brewing between thinly renamed versions of East and West Berlin. Agent Twilight is a master spy, good at almost everything, who is now forced to have a wife and child so that he can infiltrate an exclusive private academy. Going by the name Loid Forger (why not Lloyd? I dunno. Why not Gerald instead of Jellal/Geord?), he goes to an orphanage to adopt Anya, a girl who seems brilliant to him, but it turns out she’s a telepath who just reads his mind to get the right answers. She really wants out of the orphanage, and things Loid is cool. As for a wife, he meets Yor, an office lady who is over 25 yet has no husband, suspicious in this cold war environment. She and Loid both agree to have a sham marriage to prop each other up. Oh yes, she’s also an assassin for the other side. Neither Loid nor Yor know each other’s secrets. Anya knows both, but she thinks it’s really cool, so it’s fine.

This manga is funny. It’s filled with great lines from everyone. Loid’s over-seriousness is mined for comedy. Anya’s childishness and ability to read minds is mined for comedy. Yor is perhaps the best at it, as despite being a lethal assassin, she’s also an airhead of the finest kind. I’d happily read this if it were just broad comedy. But the other reason everyone loves it is the gradual love and affection the family develops for each other, particularly on Loid’s end. The entire reason for him doing this was to infiltrate the school (which they do, in a ludicrous chapter that involves a child stuck in mud, a stampede of wild animals through the campus, and THREE different outfits for everyone “just in case”), and yet when they get there and one of the interviewers starts to humiliate Anya and Yor, Loid snaps and almost hits him, then walks out. His family became (even briefly) more important than the mission. It’s fantastic.

There’s a joke that says that the author came up with the idea of this manga by reading the most popular AO3 tags and mushing them together. It does feel like that at times. But like the best found family/enemies to lovers fanfics, it also has a strong plot, and it’s a lot of fun. I can’t wait for the next volume, even if I have read it before on the Shonen Jump app. It’s just that good.

Der Werwolf: The Annals of Veight, Vol. 7

Leave a reply

By Hyougetsu and Nishi(E)da. Released in Japan by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

For the most part, Der Werwolf has been one of those reincarnation isekai series that tends to ignore the reincarnation most of the time. Veight’s old life in Japan is still mostly a blank to us, and aside from bringing in a few modern ideas to medieval fantasy land, it hasn’t really impacted this story either. That may be changing soon, however, as the cliffhanger at the end of this book seems to show us another Japanese reincarnation, someone who’s looking for Veight specifically. Before that, though, Veight has to finally wrap up this long story arc, helping Eleora to ascend to the throne, fighting off even more plots to try to usurp it from various lords and family members, march through sewers and jump out of windows like a boss, deal with a rival group of werewolves and also a few vampires, and, most importantly, get back home in time like he promised before Airia kicks his ass. He accomplishes… most of these things.

After a number of books that have slowly been killing off the royal family one by one, the theme of this book is trying to solve problems with the least amount of bloodshed. Veight is called “soft” a few times for this, and it’s not inaccurate, but it’s also very politically savvy. The book starts with Ashley on the throne, but he’s a bad emperor for these warlike times. There’s a lord who is clearly plotting… something, and the great joke about him is that every single thing he says is so suspicious that it’s impossible to know how many plans he’s got in his pocket. (Answer: a lot of plans.) There’s also the eldest princess, Dillier, who has grown tired of waiting for a perfect political marriage to be arranged for her and has allied herself with Lord Shallier, thus making one of the most awkward pairing names in some time. (ShallDill?) She’s not evil so much as fed up, so is a lot less difficult to stop.

This book is rather light on its usual tropes. Veight only mentions being a humble vie-commander once or twice, and may even be getting used to people thinking well of him. It helps that he runs into a bishop who is essentially his religious equivalent. Speaking of religion, these books have not been kind to the devout, and that doesn’t really change here, even though the church are not the bad guys this time around. Editing scripture to guide people into doing what you want is a total villain move, but here it’s being used for good. the book is light on Veight being oblivious to everyone being in love with him, too. Eleora clearly is but duty comes before love, so she lets him go. Airia clearly is and I suspect is wondering if she can ask for a kiss or something given Veight promised he’d do a favor for her (as punishment for being late in returning).

And there’s also the shrine maiden we meet in the cliffhanger. Is she going to fall for Veight’s charms? And we we finally get more details about why Japanese folks keep popping up in this world? Not sure, but Der Werwolf remains very well-written and confident. It’s one of the best under-the-radar J-Novel Club series.

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 2

Leave a reply

By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

When I started this book, I had a very low bar I wanted it to clear, and to its credit, it did. I said on Twitter I was looking for Shimamura to be slightly more interesting and for Adachi to be slightly more gay. On one of those points, the book sails over the bar easily – Adachi’s freaking out about her love for Shimamura, what that says about her, what that says about Shimamura, trying to confess while also desperately hoping she is never found out, and (towards the end) realizing that yes, there is a physical desire in this love as well is probably the highlight of the book. As for Shimamura, sadly, she still narrates a large chunk of the book. She works best when around people more interesting than herself (i.e. the rest of the cast) and especially when she is dragged in an odd direction, which she just goes along with because she’s that sort of person. We saw this last time with the alien girl, and we see it here with her friend Nagafuji.

The book revolves around Christmas in Japan, meaning it’s a lover’s holiday, and also you eat fried chicken. Adachi, trying to convey her feelings without actually doing so, wants to invite Shimamura out to spend the day with her. The first third of the book or so has her working up the courage to do this. The second third splits our heroines into odd pairings – as I noted above, Shimamura and Nagafuji go to get a nice present for… well, for Adachi, but Shimamura, who is not completely clueless about what’s going on here, says it’s for her little sister. Meanwhile, Hino, the other half of “those two girls”, goes to the same mall with Adachi to help her get a present for Shimamura. In the final third, the two go on their not-date, have a relatively nice time, exchange presents, and Adachi tries to confess but doesn’t quite make it.

As with the last book, I think the strengths here lie in the unexpected making an appearance. In this book it’s the boomerang, a ridiculous present to give but also one that appeals highly to Shimamura, who falls in love with the image of Adachi throwing it. (Adachi isn’t wild about it, but it’s a present from the girl she likes, so it’s fantastic. She frames it on her wall. No, really.) I was also somewhat surprised that the book may be trying to pair the spares already, which given its tiny cast makes sense, I suppose. There are a few tiny scenes where you get the sense Hino and Nagafuji are also edging closer to each other, but again, they aren’t quite there. The entire book contrasts comfort (the same old thing every day) with danger (a risk of losing it all, but a big reward if successful. In the end, Adachi chooses to try to fall between the two poles, asking if Shimamura is not just her friend, but her BEST friend. Which, well, she is. For now, I guess Adachi will make do with that.

The flaws of this book are obvious: it still tends towards the dull and ordinary, and even the space alien girl is proving to be just another one of the cast now, hanging out with Shimamura’s younger sister. Oh yes, and there’s a jarring scene at the start when Shimamura, swimming at a fitness center, spots a creeper watching the little kids getting swimming lessons and saying “ew”. It’s meant to be slice of life, and I’m sure this does happen in Japan, but it felt out of place, and I wanted Shimamura to do something about him. Overall, though, if you liked the first book you should like the second. I do wonder how long it can string this out till Adachi finally confesses, though.