Category Archives: reviews

Toradora!, Vol. 9

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By Yuyuko Takemiya and Yasu. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jan Cash & Vincent Castaneda. Adapted by Will Holcomb.

The character arc of Toradora! as a whole has generally been each of the characters trying to save each other from jumping off a cliff by jumping off the same cliff first, and that reaches a crescendo here, in a volume that might as well be called “Toradora!: Everyone Hates Themselves SO MUCH”. Ryuuji is the poster child here, of course, shouting into the void that no one will let him sacrifice his life and future. To be fair, he has very real concerns. His family are indeed poor, and his mother, despite being a comedy character for almost the entire series to date, is working herself sick so that he can have a better life. But his solution in the course of “realistic ideas” is stubborn, petulant and bad, and you want to strangle him. Things are not helped by Taiga being absent from the first part of the book, dealing with her own drama, which doesn’t become apparent till the climax. Hell, even Ami is super angsty here. Everyone wants to run away.

We’re back at school after the events of the last volume, but everything is not back to normal, no matter how much Ryuuji tries to make it happen. He’s having nightmares about Taiga dying at the ski slopes… while in class. The class is sympathetic, but this is a far cry from the Ryuuji of the start of the series. His main concern is the career survey he hasn’t turned in, though: he’s determined to get a job so that his mother can take it easy, and he might do college later. His mother is adamant that no, he will be doing college, even if she has to work a second job to earn more money. Taiga does eventually show up, having recovered from a head wound she got from her fall, but she too is reluctant to complete the career survey, and, when it’s eventually revealed that it was Ryuuji who saved her and heard her confession, shows she’s just as unable to deal with the fallout. The book ends with the two, confronted by their mothers, literally running away from everything.

As for the supporting cast, aside from one of Those Two Guys showing off he’s had a girlfriend all this time (which reads as somewhat out of nowhere), it’s all about Ami and Minori. Ami is almost as bad as our two leads in the “why am I so terrible?” sweepstakes, bemoaning that she let things like friendship stop her from transferring out like she planned to earlier in the year… and is now planning to do again, without confessing to Ryuuji or patching things up with Minori. As for Minori, she admits (in an extended rant while chasing Taiga) that she’s loved Ryuuji all this time, but that’s no excuse for Taiga to sacrifice everything for her. In fact, that’s the theme of the whole book: Self-sacrifice for the sake of others is painful and dumb.

The next book is the last in the main series (there are three side-story novels as well, but I wouldn’t hold my breath), and I’ve no doubt things will eventually work out. For now, though, enjoy everyone being very, very sad and flagellating themselves.

What’s Michael?: Fatcat Collection, Vol. 1

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By Makoto Kobayashi. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Weekly Morning. Released in North America by Dark Horse, originally in six separate volumes. Translated by Dana Lewis, Toren Smith, Jeanne Sather, Alan Gleason, Hisashi Kotobuki, Lea Seidman, and Elin Winkler.

This is the first of two huge re-releases of Dark Horse’s What’s Michael? collections, this one containing the first six volumes. Despite that, it’s only 530 pages – they weren’t big volumes. They’re compiled as they were in the late 1990s, so don’t expect the book to read right-to-left or the missing chapters with violence and nudity to be put back in. That said, I’m not particularly concerned, as it allows this marvelous creation to come back into print after all this time. What’s Michael? is not only a joy to read if you love cats, but it’s also a wonderful experience for those who love its creator, Makoto Kobayashi. This is his most famous title, though Dark Horse did also try to publish his early 90s host club comedy Heba! Hello-chan (aka Club 9), which also desperately needs a re-release. Kobayashi’s cartoonish, rubbery humans are even more fun than his cartoonish, rubbery cats.

Michael is the titular cat, and is the sole recurring character in every chapter. The series has a sort of semi-continuity, in that there are a series of households, any one of which has Michael as their pet for the duration of the 6-page chapter. He doesn’t travel around from house to house – you’re just supposed to say “ah, this time it’s the young OL who owns him”, and then a new chapter happens and “ah, this time it’s the couple with the kid”, etc. Kobayashi picks the owners that best fit the mood of the chapter. Sometimes, although not nearly as often as its reputation suggests, we also see an “all-cat” chapter where Michael and other cats act like humans, as he’s interrogated by police, has a boxing match, etc. For the most part, however, Michael is a cat who acts like a cat here, albeit a cat who can be quite eccentric. Kobayashi has clearly enjoyed a lot of cat-watching creating this series, and owners will find much to identify with here.

There are a few running gags throughout the series, such as the tough guy yakuza who tries to hide how much he loves cats (his talk about the danger of the “Kodansha gang” reminded me of Pop Team Epic’s treatment of Takeshobo), and the burly guy who’s just trying to live a catless life but finds the neighborhood cats constantly wandering into his house to hang out with him. Reiko, the OL, is the most frequently seen owner, and with her Michael is one of about ten cats that she has, most of whom sleep on top of her and make it impossible for her to get a good night’s sleep. On the other hand, the married couple have Michael as a father with a wife and kid (an early chapter sees them buying a female kitten for Michael, and she grows up rapidly to fit the role). As I noted, the series is curated to be all-ages, with the possibly exception of one chapter where Michael ends up at what is clearly a cat brothel, but I think adults may find this funnier than kids for the most part.

I believe that Dark Horse released 11 volumes total, so the next collection should have the remaining five. They’re an absolute must get for cat lovers, and for those who want to experience the unique eccentricities of Makoto Kobayashi.

Kokoro Connect: Step Time

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By Sadanatsu Anda and Shiromizakana. Released in Japan by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Molly Lee.

I get the feeling the author needed a break from the angst as much as the reader did. The last few regular volumes of Kokoro Connect have been rather excruciating, if well-written, and all signs point to the next two books coming up as being even worse. (There are some hints and foreshadinwg in this book as well, the only really serious moment in it.) As a result, even more than the last collection of Short Stories, Step Time allows us to relax and enjoy the cast being together without the threat of Heartseed hanging over them. It also allows the author to go back and take care of some business. Kokoro Connect began with the Cultural Research Club fully formed, our heroes all in it and friends with each other, and Iori and Inaba best friends. So here we get to see how that happened in the first place, in two stories which read like one part destiny to eight parts slice of life.

The book has four largish stories in it. The first, as I suggested, deals with how the CRC was first formed by their teacher (still a normal lazy teacher at this point) and Taichi and the rest talking and realizing they don’t share many interests and all want to be in different clubs anyway. That said, there’s clearly something about these five kids… it’s not the most subtle story in the world, but does a good job of showing why the CRC hang out with each other in the first place. It’s part of a mini-theme in this book of “don’t overanalyze things”, which brings us to the second story, where Inaba and Iori tell the CRC how they came to be friends. This is probably the strongest story in the book (the lack of Taichi POV helps), as Inaba’s natural grumpy cussedness hits up against Iori’s “I am already losing my ability to pretend” complexes and the two have to deal with a stalker of Iori’s.

The third story is also good, though you kind of want to take Kurihara and throw her into the nearest lake. She’s one of the group of girls in the class who aren’t Iori, Inaba or Yui, and she’s very frustrated at the fact that, although there are now three couples in their little group, none of them are having lovey lovey date time. As such, she and an enthusiastic Iori decide to have the three couples (Taichi x Inaba, Yui x Aoki, and that other girl x that other guy) do a triple date, supervised by Kurihara herself. The best part of this is Taichi and Inaba, who really are a terrific couple, as they find out. The last story focuses on Fujishima, who is once again brilliant at everything except ordinary social interaction, and her attempts to figure out why others in their school consider the CRC members “cool”. She’s joined by the two junior CRC menbers, Shino and Chihiro, both of whom are equally socially awkward. What follows is, again, “don’t overanalyze things”, with a healthy dose of Fujishima being oblivious to her own powers of attraction. (She also confirms she is bisexual, almost offhandedly.)

So again, if you love the cast but hate seeing them suffer, this is a terrific volume to pick up. And if you enjoy seeing them suffer… well, Volume 9 should be coming soon.