Category Archives: reviews

A Sister’s All You Need, Vol. 1

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By Yomi Hirasaka and Kantoku. Released in Japan as “Imouto sae Ireba ii” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

I will admit, I wasn’t originally planning to start this series at all. Its reputation, from the anime that was adapted from it, was so well known that I kind of recoiled. That said, most of that reputation is either from the first scene of Episode 1 or based around the antics of one character. And I’m always reluctant to condemn something without at least trying it first. Plus the author has also written Haganai: I Don’t Have Many Friends, whose manga I have enjoyed despite the fact that it too seems to revolve around “the author shows off his fetish grab bag” just like this series does. Would this series be a case where I could see beyond the blatant pandering and appreciate the satire that the author is clearly also trying to sell readers here? Well… yes and no. It’s readable enough, but I’m not sure I really need to read any more of it.

Our hero, such as he is, is a light novel author with a particular obsession with little sisters, Itsuki. He’s actually had a few series published, but it’s notable that after the first one they’ve all been one-shorts or 2-3 volumes. Fans are tired of everything he writes revolving around little sisters. Much of the humor in the book comes from his ridiculous attitude towards this particular fetish. Other participants in the book include Chihiro, his stepbrother and minder who is e3ssentially perfect (no, the back cover even admits it as well); Miyako, his old friend from college who is there to bring something of the voice of reason to things; Haruto, his fellow light novel author who’s savvier than he is but also a bit jealous of Itsuki’s creativity; Puriketsu, an illustrator who’s perfect at art for a giant flake at life; Ashley, who was possibly my favorite, there to save Itsuki money on taxes; and Nayuta.

Let’s just say it up front: the reason people will want to continue with this series at all is Nayuta. The reason people will want to drop this series like a hot potato is ALSO Nayuta. She is by far the most interesting character in the book. When that works, it’s great – sometimes what she says is genuinely startling and funny, and I felt she had the best developed backstory in the group. If it weren’t that the author of this book also wrote Haganai, a series famous from blowing up its fandom to avoid a real ending, I’d suspect that she and Itsuki were an obvious end couple. On the other hand, her filthy mouth can sometimes just be shock for the sake of shock. From the beginning she’s saying “I want your hard cock” to Itsuki, and we also get “walking blowjob machine” and other similar things. Nayuta… is perhaps trying a bit too hard. And that can be trying for the reader, even if her feelings are genuine.

The other reason to read this series is the insight it gives into the light novel writer/editor process, and also satirizing that a bit. The book namedrops all over the place, including Haganai’s OWN little sister characters getting mentioned more than once, and a RPG where the players essentially steal abilities from Index and Fate/Stay Night. It’s not exactly a book to take seriously. That said, I’m not sure I enjoyed it enough to get another volume, mostly as I found the lead, who is supposed to be an amusing sister-obsessed freak, the dullest part of the book. And while that’s fairly common in the light novel world, it’s still not a good thing. If you like light novel meta, or teenage girls talking dirty, though, this may be the series for you.

Satan’s Secretary, Vol. 1

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By Kamotsu Kamonabe. Released in Japan by Earth Star Entertainment, serialization ongoing in the magazine Comic Earth Star. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jennifer O’Donnell. Adapted by Jamal Joseph, Jr.

Western publishers have had quite a few titles lately that fall into the broad category of “one-gag concept” manga. In other words, the premise of the series revolves around a gag. This can be dangerous if it quickly grows wearisome, but if it’s a good gag, then it can frequently do very well playing variations on the basic theme. Satan’s Secretary has just such a gag. To be fair, we’ve seen this sort of thing very recently – As Miss Beelzebub Likes has essentially the same concept. But there the series was less about “the demon king has a secretary” as much as the everyday life of the demon king and her secretary. This one, though, is entirely dedicated only to the one gag: The Lord of Darkness has kidnapped a secretary, and she’s very good at her job. In fact, one might argue she’s TOO good at her job.

Not that her talents aren’t really needed here. The Lord of Darkness is pretty half-assed, to be honest, and in his slumber the demons have gotten really pathetic. When he finally awakens (13 years late… he was sleeping in, give him a break!), he orders a minion to kidnap one of the human’s wisest scholars to torture for information so that he can go about his conquest and defeat the chosen hero. He winds up with the local kingdom’s secretary, who is deadpan and somewhat reserved, but seems to be all in for destroying the humans. The subtitle of the series seen on the cover is something of a running gag (particularly the “except me”), and it’s not till the end of the book that we get any motivation for her actions beyond “is a really good secretary prepared to help the company”. What does this mean? It means job interviews. It means salaries and benefits. It means plans to wipe out humanity that are not merely “go out in a group and get killed by adventurers”. Satan is… a bit taken aback, to say the least.

As I noted before, Satan is in fact pretty annoying throughout the book, being the very picture of a lazy boss coasting on past victory and not wanting to put in much time at his actual job. As such, the secretary carries the bulk of the plot, characterization and gags – there are a lot of other demons, but for the most part we don’t really get to know too many of them beyond genericness. There are some very funny gags here, such as getting the demons going out to kill humans to sign a liability waiver, or the secretary’s reaction to being fed an aphrodisiac they’re testing – she’s certainly all in for the demon lord breeding, but not her, and it’s all related to her job. I appreciate that this is not really a fanservicey manga, beyond a shot of the secretary in her slip at one point. There’s even a bit of depth at the end, when she reveals that she’s never even had a name, and tells Satan (and the reader) why she’s perfectly happy to let humanity burn.

The cliffhanger seems to suggest we’ll be seeing the supposed hero soon, and that may shift the focus a bit… but I doubt it. Satan’s Secretary works best when it’s fulfilling its genre of “demonic office comedy”, with the secretary running the ship with an iron hand. Better than it sounds, I definitely recommend giving this title a shot. Death to humanity (except her)!

Arifureta: From Commonplace to World’s Strongest, Vol. 6

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By Ryo Shirakome and Takayaki. Released in Japan as “Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou” by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Ningen.

Arifureta is taken from a web novel, which the author and publisher then rewrite, add to, and extend in order to make the published light novel version. As such, it seems a bit ridiculous to suggest that the author was told by the editor to move things along as they need to cut to the chase. But that’s what seems to be happening here, as several plot threads wrap up so fast that you expect some other hand behind it all. Aiko was rescued so quickly that I actually was worried that a chapter had been skipped, and the resolution of who is the traitor among Hajime’s fellow students also seemed to happen very fast (though if you looked at the cover and said “who the heck is that?”, you might have had an inkling). Other than that, this is a typical volume of Arifureta – over the top fighting, the occasional really good character introspection, and turning very bad when the author tries to be funny – something he shares with other light novel authors I could name.

The strengths of the book are quite obvious. The author likes to write overpowered fights, and is good at it. Seeing Yue and Shea team up to fight a horde of demons was fun, especially as absolutely nothing seemed to faze them. This contrasts with Hajime’s fight with an Angels sent to kill him, which goes very badly for him, mostly as he’s trying to fight while also holding Aiko. Once that problem is solved, things proceed to go Hajime’s way a lot more. Aiko is once again probably the best character in the book, as she’s forced to use her powers in order to completely wipe out the church bishops and priests (yes, her farming powers – it makes sense in context) and feels hideous amounts of guilt and shame for murdering people. The aftermath of this, and Hajime’s response to her, is beautiful, and makes the entire book worthwhile.

Some other parts don’t make the book worthwhile, sadly. As I said before, the pacing of this volume seems incredibly rushed, and a lot of it felt like the author wanted to clear the decks so he could start on the second half of the series (I think we’re about halfway through it right now). Our villain, once she gets revealed, gets to fall straight into the yandere stereotype, and is far duller than I’d hoped based on past manipulations. I’ve no doubt we’ll see her again, but I doubt she’ll have any more significant successes. And I hated absolutely everything about the scene with the okama muscle guys, which is grotesque negative stereotype central. Hajime’s harem stays the same size here, though he is aware Aiko loves him, and the narrative is aware that it’s only a matter of time for Shizuku. Oh yes, and Kaori’s now got an Angel body after being murdered by her insane classmate, meaning she gets to be as ludicrously overpowered as the others – which is what she’s always wanted, to be fair.

Arifureta is always going to have that air of “I am getting back at the bullies who tormented me in school” to it, and the villains this time round make that comparison more painfully apt than usual. Still, it’s fun mostly, provided the author isn’t being humorous, and should definitely please ongoing fans.