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Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart

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By Syundei. Released in Japan as “Gesshoku Kitan” by Akaneshinsha, serialized in the magazine Opera. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Amber Tamosaitis. Adapted by Lora Gray.

I was quite happy to read another manga by this author, Go for It, Nakamura-kun!, and so I decided to pick this up, figuring it would have more entertainingly mild BL and wacky retro-style humor that reminded me of Rumiko Takahashi. In a way, I was right, this did remind me of Rumiko Takahashi. But it’s along the lines of Mermaid Saga rather than Ranma 1/2. Total Eclipse of the Eternal Heart is another done-in-one series from Syundei that ran in Opera, but there the similarities to Nakamura end. This is a brutal horror story, filled with murder, revenge, reincarnations, and reincarnated revenge. It’s very much a mood piece, and while I did end up enjoying it I’d say it doesn’t quite reach the same audience as Nakamura did. It’s also a lot more explicit than Nakamura was – here be blowjobs, and there’s some non-consensual sex sprinkled throughout. That said, if you like dark BL and suspense/horror, this is definitely worth picking up.

Hoshino is a young man at an all-boys’ school with a crush on his classmate and a recurring dream where he’s killed by an older man. His crush, Yamada, comes on a bit too strong, and is a lot more comfortable being gay than Hoshino seems to be. Things get a bit more complicated when, after suddenly getting kissed in the park after school, a blond boy shows up and brutally murders Yamada. Horrified, Hoshino calls the police… only the body is gone. Now he’s in trouble with the cops. What makes things worse is that the next day Hoshino sees the blond on the street… and the blond has no memory of anything that happened the previous day. What exactly is going on with Yamada? Is he really dead? Is he also connected to Tani, another classmate in their school? Or the writer that Yamada lives with… and sleeps with? And what does this have to do with Hiroshi’s dreams of getting killed in the past?

This is a riveting read, and I really enjoyed the story, but I’m not certain that I’d call it fun. There’s no consensual sex here – even the kiss Yamada gives to Hoshino is forced on him – and Yamada is a twisted villain… well, sort of a villain. As I also said, there’s a lot of brutal murders here, of various kinds, from stabbings to drownings, and the book, while it doesn’t revel in the violence, does not back away from it either. The best reason to get the book is the creeping sense of doom and suspense that goes along with turning the pages. The mystery, being somewhat supernatural in tone, isn’t much of one, but the mood is great, and there’s a twist at the very end that I really loved, one that only works with the logic of everything that came before – or rather, a lack of logic that comes with this type of story.

This isn’t for everyone, but if you like your BL with a side of suspense and don’t mind the violence – sexual or otherwise – it’s a good read.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 5

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By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

There are a few series where you simply have to wait a few volumes/episodes for it to get really good. In fact, that’s the cry of the obsessive fan trying to get someone to try things. “By the way, it only REALLY gets good about the 26th episode!” they say, and then cry as they watch the interest in their new friend’s eyes die. But it’s true. Take, for example, the series So I’m a Spider, So What?. The first few volumes, while entertaining, suffered from a very real problem, which is that the spider slowly making her way out of the dungeon, along with the endless leveling up and pages of stats, was not inherently interesting. There were moments of excitement in the fights, and some plot development, but having her totally separate from the rest of the main cast was annoying – especially as it turned out she was separated by time as well. But now the spider is on the surface and interacting with the world. The result? The best book in the series, by far.

As with prior volumes, the books are divided into two segments which alternate. The first deals with our spider, who has run into a fellow reincarnated student, who is a vampire baby. Her parents are human, though, “vampire” is just the role she got when reincarnated. Spider takes an interest in her, and ends up getting embroiled in a fight between two countries that is turning deadly. There’s also a very familiar elf who wants to get that vampire baby… and kill her. Oh yes, and there’s also the demon lord, who is rapidly becoming a bit… different, personality-wise, thanks to one of Spider’s other minds hacking away at her own. Now I know why I thought Ariel was our heroine when I first met her. She has the “narrative voice” in her outward personality. But the spider (who I won’t name just yet, but we do seem to find out her identity here) is actually, when we’re not in her headspace, socially awkward and mostly silent.

Meanwhile, in the future, the demon lord’s army is taking on the elf village. The elves were not exactly nice when we went into the village last time, and here we find they’re possibly worse than the so-called villains – they’re dismissive of humans, physically abusive towards Anna, the half-elf girl, and in general you are not all that troubled by the idea of them getting wiped out in this battle. Which is good, because it’s leaning that way. Sure, the kids’ teacher is the elf leader’s daughter, but there’s only so much she can do, especially as everyone doesn’t trust her. And there’s the revelation that most of the “missing” kids – and indeed, one who was presumed dead – are on the side of the demons. It’s troubling for Shun, who is still a very shiny and noble hero. That said, one of the two or three cliffhangers we get here implies that may be changing soon.

While the “spider” part of the book ends in a very satisfying place, the “hero” part of the book is riddled with “what happens neeeeeeeext?” questions. Sadly, we’ll have to wait till the summer to find out. Till then, though, enjoy a book with excellent plot and character development, less stats than previous books, and some gripping fights. Really loving this now.

Do You Love Your Mom and Her Two-Hit Multi-Target Attacks?, Vol. 2

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By Dachima Inaka and Iida Pochi. Released in Japan as “Tsujo Kogeki ga Zentai Kogeki de Ni-kai Kogeki no Okasan wa Suki desu ka?” by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America digitally by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Here we are with the second volume of everyone’s favorite parody. Last time, I was very pleased with the over the top humor and the fact that, desp[ite “lol incest subtext” being the premise, the book did not lean overheavily on any actual incest subtext. That’s still the case with the second book, which is not QUITE as funny but still has lots of amusing moments. Now that it’s an ongoing series, the author has to figure out how much it can rely on “this is a parody” and how much it actually has to take its plot seriously. Sometimes it doesn’t succeed – there’s a couple of stock fanservice moments in the middle of the book that are meant to be funny but made me cringe. Fortunately it fares better with its ongoing plot, which is comparing and contrasting Mamako to other moms in this game and realizing that she is, in fact, pretty awesome.

As the cover might have warned you, this second volume gets Mamako into a sailor suit school uniform. Our heroes find their next quest involves taking a week of school at a stock high school with NPC Teacher guy and a class so generic that their faces are literally ASCII art. Technically it’s kids-only. In reality, Mamako is there as an “observer”, and of course can’t resist taking up the spotlight and embarrassing her son. Also there is a pretty newcomer, Medhi, and her own mother (who is named “Medhimama” throughout the book, but I’m assuming that’s shorthand, as opposed to Mamako’s blatant actual name). Medhi is saddled with a classic “Education Mama” to the nth degree, who insists she be number one in everything. And while Medhi seems to be taking this with grace and patience, in reality she’s a seething cauldron of resentment waiting to go off.

Let’s get this out of the way immediately: the middle of the book has Mamako briefly molested by a tentacle monster, though it doesn’t get very far. There’s also a scene where Mamako has to apologize to customers for something (school festival booth), and her bouncing breasts are leered at quite a bit. These two tropes are not particularly part of what Mom Isekai is parodying, and so I am less inclined to give them a pass. They’re bad. Also, and possibly running the risk of taking this series too seriously, the relationship between Medhi and her mother is pretty abusive and toxic, a fact explicitly spelled out. As a result, I was a bit annoyed that Medhimama was possessed by some sort of illegal “dark item” (it came up last time as well, if I recall) that made her much worse. This makes it sound like the abuse was not her fault, which isn’t what the author wanted to say, I suspect. On the brighter side, the relationship between Mamako and her son is much better in this volume. He’s a good kid, and she’s a good, if overly affectionate, mom.

I still enjoyed this volume in general, even with my carps above. Those who like wacky parodies will still enjoy it, those looking for hot hot mom-son love will probably be frustrated. And it definitely needed more of Mrs. Shiraaase, who appeared far less this time around.