Category Archives: reviews

Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear, Vol. 1

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By Kumanano and 029. Released in Japan by PASH! Books. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by Will Holcomb.

First of all, despite expectations, there really aren’t many bear puns in this book. Even the title, which I thought was one, is “くま　クマ　熊　ベアー” which is simply ‘kuma’ in hiragana, katakana, kanji, and ‘bear’ in katakana. It’s ‘Bear Bear Bear Bear’. The author, Kumanano, translates to “I’m a bear”. and the heroine, Yuna, appears on the cover wearing a bear onesie with bear gloves and bear slippers. I’m telling you this up front because if you’re already annoyed, best not to read this. It is absolutely saturated with bear. Despite what I had thought, Yuna CAN remove the bear suit if need be… but she’s as powerful as a 15-year-old human girl when she does. WITH the bear suit, provided to her by the God who runs this world, she’s ludicrously overpowered. Which tells you at heart this is sort of for fans of Make My Abilities Average and its ilk. Do you like teenage girls beating up jerks and monsters? You’ll like this.

Yuna is a young girl who likes to game, sleep, eat,and not much else. She hasn’t gone to school ever since she found she can get rich working the stock market. Her parents briefly protested… so she paid them enough money to leave her forever. And they left! (I mention this because it jars very much with the overall tone of most of the book, and I am wondering if it will ever come up again.) Then one day, Yuna gets an upgrade to the game she’s playing, along with special equipment… the set of bear items. Then, she’s asked if she enjoys real life (no), if she has people who’ll miss her (no), and anything really important to her in reality (money). After this… again, try to contain your shock… she finds herself transported to a fantasy world that’s very much like the game she had been playing. In a bear onesie.

I spent a whole paragraph talking about the first 5 pages or so because the rest of the book is exactly what you’d expect. There’s stats (though not as many as Yuna would like, and all bear related), there’s guilds, there’s killing wolves and orcs, there’s mana gems, there’s jerk guys who look down on Yuna just because she’s a cute young girl in bear pajamas… this lasts until she beats him so much he needs medical attention. There’s also a cute girl risking her life for her family who Yuna essentially adopts as a little sister. Originality is absent here. That said, it reads quite well, and I was never bored, despite the same old things happening. The weakness may be Yuna, who tends to react with little emotion to much of anything, and thus can come off as a bit mean (shades of Potion Girl) or callous. That said, this book also lacks a lot of the bad habits of light novels, possibly as it has a female lead and is written for a female audience. There’s no descriptions of breasts, Yuna shows no signs of getting a romantic harem, and there’s no slavery. I appreciate that.

This is run-of-the-mill OP isekai, but unlike some others I’ve reviewed recently, its gimmick (bear) is handled very well, being funny and never really irritating. If you like bears, or just like young women walking around and being cool, this might be a good light read. Oh yes, and the illustrator also does The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, so if you like their work, also check it out.

BL Metamorphosis, Vol. 1

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By Kaori Tsurutani. Released in Japan as “Metamorphose no Engawa” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Newtype. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Ysabet MacFarlane.

In troubled times, sometimes you just want to read something that puts a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Slice-of-life series can be all kinds of things, and this story of an old woman bonding with a teenager over BL manga fits perfectly. Ichinoi teaches calligraphy classes at her home, and is alone now that her husband has passed away. One day, the cafe she goes to closes down so she’s forced to go further into town, where she goes into a bookstore to cool off. Startled by how much of the store is now devoted to manga, she’s taken by a book with gorgeous artwork. She buys it, startling the bookstore clerk, Urara, because the book is BL – something Ichinoi is unaware of till she reads it later at home. That said, the love story within intrigues her, and she goes back to the bookstore for more – sparking a friendship with Urara.

The balance between the new friendship slice-of-life and the BL manga that connects the two is perfectly done. Ichinoi does not have a life that is wanting by any means, but she’s feeling lonely, and enjoys talking about the books with Urara. Urara is the sort of teen I’d describe as ‘naturally sullen”, and has trouble connecting with kids her own age, all of whom seem more together than she is. Discussing the books that Ichinoi is buying helps to break the ice, and Ichinoi is also a natural-born friend-maker, which Urara is very much not. By the end, they’re even going to a writer signing event, though the size of the event proves to be a surprise. It’s a very natural, well-paced budding friendship between two women with 50 years between them.

There is also discussion of the BL manga itself. Ichinoi last read manga back in the Aim for the Ace! days (1970s), so was unprepared for the BL relationship in the book she bought, but she immediately gets into the series. We see occasional pages from the series, showing a not-quite couple, both of whom seem to be bad at communicating their true feelings – one bright and outgoing, one inward and moody. The series is only three volumes long, and it only comes out every 18 months, so for Ichinoi there’s a very real worry she won’t live to see the end of it. The manga ties in with the protagonists’ lives so that it seems natural, and doesn’t overwhelm the day-to-day stuff (such as Urara’s crush on her childhood friend, which isn’t going anywhere as he’s dating someone else.

In the end, this is simply a terrific story, and I really want to see these two hang out and talk about BL manga or anything else they choose to. I’d also like to see more of their pasts – we see Urara had another childhood friend who’s no longer in her orbit, and the final chapter shows Ichinoi approaching a building (for the author signing) her husband wanted to take her to the top of but they never did. Absolutely recommended, whether you like BL or not.

Otherside Picnic, Vol. 3

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By Iori Miyazawa and shirakaba. Released in Japan as “Urasekai Picnic” by Hayakawa Bunko JA. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

I’ve talked before about how this book is well served by the fact that Sorawo is our narrative voice. This means, of course, that we see what she thinks of Toriko’s words and actions, but don’t get Toriko’s own POV in reverse. The fun part lies when the reader is able to infer what Sorawo isn’t. Certainly Sorawo is correct that Toriko is obsessed with finding Satsuki, but she seems to equate that with a romantic longing, and on our end we’re not so sure. More to the point, Sorawo can be very savvy in some ways and not in others – there’s a scene where Toriko mentions the fact that she was brought up by two mothers, and it’s very clear she’s dropped this information on Sorawo to see how she’s going to react… because of course Toriko is in love with Sorawo, something that has been clear for some time but is increasingly textual as the book goes on. It’s good characterization, and the narrative POV helps sell it.

There’s three main stories in this volume. In the first, Toriko and Sorawo go back to the other world and try going in a different direction, but their rooftop picnic (love the idea of an actual picnic in this book) is interrupted by some time-stretching shenanigans and the ominous presence of Satsuki, who is invisible to Toriko but very visible – and terrifying – to Sorawo. The second story sees the return of Sorawo’s kohai Akari, who Sorawo continues to be wary and uncomfortable with, and Akari’s childhood friend Natsumi, who has unfortunately not done as the creepy urban legend told her to, and is suffering as a result. Finally, Sorawo and Kozakura are kidnapped by a cult, whose leader has a voice much like Toriko’s hand and Sorawo’s eye, and said leader really, really wants to meet Satsuki. Unfortunately for all concerned, she does.

I will admit, the actual urban legends/ghost stories presented here did not ring a bell for me, nor are they really supposed to for Japanese readers, I think, despite all the documentation of 20-year-old 2chan threads in the book’s appendix. Indeed, Sorawo makes an important distinction here, as she hates “I know a guy who this happened to” stories, which are far more likely to be made up, and looks for real “this happened to me personally” legends. As with the second volume, the scarier stuff is at the back half here, though those with teeth phobias may wince at the second story. This includes Sorawo herself, who upon being kidnapped and locked up brings to the fore another part of herself only concerned with survival (though honestly, there’s not much difference between this and her normal self, IMO – I think a lot of it may simply be her psyching herself up.) The climax of the book leaves one dead, one maimed, and one big Satsuki problem that still isn’t going away, but at least our heroines are OK.

This is getting an anime soon, apparently, and it will be interesting to see how they convey some of the concepts here – a lot of the horror themes work best on the page. As for this volume, it’s another strong one in the series, and I look forward to the fourth one, if only to see how – or if – Sorawo responds to Toriko’s words at the end.