Category Archives: reviews

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 2

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By Tomohito Oda. Originally released in Japan as “Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu” by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz Media. Translated by John Werry.

I had honestly expected that Komi, like most manga I review, would get a Vol. 1 review and then go to the Bookshelf Briefs pile. Then those four chapters happened. In the aftermath of those, I got a number of folks reassuring me that this is as bad as it gets and that I won’t have another plot quite like this, which OK. All manga have growing pains, and if I read and supported Teru Teru x Shonen I can move past this. But Christ on a bike. In any case, let’s first discuss all the OTHER chapters in the book, which are cute and advance the premise. Komi tries ramen, Komi goes clothes shopping for the first time, Komi and Tadano share an umbrella in a moment that would be really shippy if I thought the series was going to move in that direction, which I don’t. It continues to build on the strong premise at the start, has some really funny gags, introduces two new “eccentric” characters who are not literal criminals… OK, yeah, let’s talk Ren Yamai.

Here’s me in the review of Vol. 1: Likewise one of the minor characters in this book, Yamai, reads like a worryingly stereotypical psycho lesbian, and I really hope it doesn’t go down that road. Well, I was right to worry. The four chapters named “Ren” focus on Yamai, her obsession over Komi, and her realization that Tadano is in the way. She proceeds to kidnap Tadano and leave him tied in a chair in her bedroom while she goes to school to get closer to Komi. Later, after inviting Komi to her house (?!?!), she hides Tadano in the closet, then after he is found breaks down and confesses “I did it for you!” My teeth ground, my toes curled. The series wants to be funny overall, hence why Yamai actually invites Komi to her home like a numbskull – but she’s literally kidnapped and threatened Tadano – and still does after “apologizing”. It’s absolutely dire.

The really frustrating thing is that these four chapters also contain the BEST part of the book, which is Komi’s reaction to all of this. After discovering Tadano and hearing Yamai’s “explanation” for what happened, Komi’s “I decide who’s my friend” is a punch the air moment. Likewise the chapter afterwards, where Komi feels guilty for being the “cause” of all this, and tries to break off with Tadano only to have her own words turned back at her, is incredibly sweet and caring, and it would ALMOST be worth all the previous garbage if Yamai’s apology wasn’t an excuse to having her join the cast herd. She gets no real punishment for her actions, and seemingly integrates with the rest of Komi’s friends afterwards, with only one or two token “lol obsessed with Komi” jokes for the rest of the book. Honestly, she needed to leave the school and never be seen again.

So yeah, it’s one of THOSE volumes. You can’t even advise readers to just skip it, as the stuff with Komi and Tadano is the best part of the volume. You just have to read it while screaming and cursing. Not a good look for a lighthearted, heartwarming comedy about making friends.

I Saved Too Many Girls and Caused the Apocalypse, Vol. 15

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By Namekojirushi and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Ore ga Heroine o Tasukesugite Sekai ga Little Mokushiroku!?” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mana Z.

Honestly, I think this would have been a much stronger book if combined with the equally short Vol. 14. I get that this series has never really had long volumes, but as with the previous one, by the time you get into the meat of this book it’s over. Fortunately the meat of the book is pretty good. Rekka, L, and the Doctor (no, still not that one) arrive in the future to try to track down the missing heroines. Unfortunately, Rekka’s mere presence causes war to break out. Speaking of which, we finally find out what caused the big war in the first place – no prizes for guessing who got the ball rolling – and hear a little bit about future Rekka, though he remains resolutely absent. (Given the series’ tendency towards parody at times – that’s what it started as, after all – I would not be surprised if Future Rekka is the Big Bad.) Fortunately, Rekka also has some future heroines who will listen to him, even if he’s not their Rekka.

While there are various things done to try to mess up Rekka’s sense of how far this is into the future, most of the girls look to be about 7-10 years older than they were in the main series. Some are almost exactly the same (Satsuki, staying on brand with the childhood friend type, and Lea, who has literally hidden herself away to avoid all this). Some are All Grown Up, in the trope sense of the word, as Harissa has gained confidence and Fam is now a Pirate Queen. The majority don’t show up at all, and the afterword has the author lamenting the fact that he wants the final book to have all the heroines get a role but has no idea how to do this. And then there’s Iris, who in her grief and anger started all this (raise your hand, who’s surprised? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?) Fortunately, like almost all the future heroines, a hug from Rekka is all it takes to dispell most of the incipient problems. They are in love with him, after all.

As for the actual heroines that were kidnapped, we catch up with them at the end – well, some of them. The enemy has brainwashed those with the most combat power to take out our heroes. The enemy is on the cover there, and at first I wondered if it was Hibiki, but no, the answer is in fact even more obvious than that. The enemy also has managed to brainwash R, which leads to what would be an epic confrontation if it didn’t last all of half a page. I suspect the artist drew the cool color page but the author ran out of time, and so the solution is “a punch in the face fixes everything!”, which feels like a big disappointment. That said, the majority of the book is pretty fun, keeping things moving and taking Rekka back to his roots, as he has to think up clever schemes constantly in order to advance.

Now that we’ve revealed the supposed mastermind behind this – and found they may not be as mastermindy as we thought – what’s going to happen in the 16th and final volume? Will Rekka save the day? (Likely.) Will Rekka choose a girl? (Unlikely.) I look forward to finding out.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 10

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By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

The general thought behind my giving almost all light novels full reviews (as opposed to manga, where most series find their way into Bookshelf Briefs as they go on) is that the length of the book is such that I can always find something to talk about for 500+ words. Admittedly, there are times when that theory is tested, and this is one of those times. It doesn’t help that this is the second shortest light novel in my digital library, and easily the shortest in the series to date. But the other problem is that it’s mostly the 2nd half to a book where most of the plot and character beats were in Part 1. There are more cool action sequences, there’s a touching farewell to Shinichi’s family, and there’s a certain sense that we will not be returning to Japan anytime soon in this series. And there are a few more hints in the romantic resolution, if any, that this series will have. So let’s see what we can discuss.

The author straight-up admits that Shizuki was written as the series did not have a classic “tsundere” type. Petralka comes closest, but she’s too much of a softie. It’s a reminder that these series really do tend to be written around tropes and cliches, especially if you’re an author that’s been around as long as Sakaki has. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the series, we’re not allowed to develop that beyond “my brother is not as much of a loser as I thought” and see the love and affection that led to her renouncing him in the first place. Myusel praising him to the skies likely helped. Speaking of Myusel, she’s still front-runner in the “will the romance be resolved?” sweepstakes. Shinichi’s dad asks if there are harems in Eldant, and unfortunately for Shinichi, the answer is “no”, so something is going to have to be done – though of course “resolve nothing” is always an option, and one that’s more popular these days with authors, if not with fans. Still, Myusel really loves Shinichi.

As for the international intrigue part of the book, I will admit that the beginning of the book, with Minori being threatened by multiple copies of Putin (sorry, Pu**n) and the ultimate torture of having a pairing she loves reverse the ‘seme/uke’ positions was very funny, and welcome in a book that otherwise is mercifully light on fanservice. In reality, of course, Minori is merely tied up in a room somewhere, and rescuing her is the easiest part of things. Unfortunately, our heroes all then proceed to become absolute fools, as blithely getting onto a bus to return to Eldant and not realizing that there would be even more attempts to capture them was so shortsighted it counts as a flaw in the book. Fortunately, the day is actually saved by the JSDF – and how often can you type that in an anime/manga review?

The author seems to be up in the air about what to do next, but it will definitely be back in Eldant. Till then, this book is slight but enjoyable.