Category Archives: reviews

Infinite Dendrogram: The Beasts of Undeath

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By Sakon Kaidou and Taiki. Released in Japan by Hobby Japan. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

Much as people criticize the warnings on the back of manga noting when there is sex, nudity or violence, sometimes I do think it’s worth telling people in advance, particularly if it’s something that would upset a fairly significant chunk of the audience. So let’s get that out of the way first. This second volume of Infinite Dendrogram contains multiple grotesque and graphic murders of children – in fact, for the first half or so, child kidnapping and murder is the plot. It reaches his zenith when Ray and Nemesis come across skeletons and zombies with the remaining souls of the murdered children inside, and have to destroy them all to move on. This ties in with the main theme of the book, which I’ll get to in a bit, but boy howdy could I have used a warning. So, warning: LOTS OF MURDERED CHILDREN.

That said, of course, they’re not ‘real’ children, but ones designed by the game developers. I spoke before about the fact that Dendrogram is about the only light novel around that has a normal hero playing a game without getting caught in it, or the game being the actual fantasy world, or any one of a thousand other light novel game tropes. Ray still has to log out and eat/sleep, though that’s given somewhat short shrift here. And this means that we the reader view this as a game a bit more than we do in, say, Sword Art Online. Ray’s death means that the quest may not be completed, and some NPCs may suffer, but it doesn’t mean his actual death. As a result, Ray and his new friend Hugo find that no one has actually tried to stop the child murder scheme because it would be a pain in the ass to fix and likely not worth the cost. That said, Ray (and Hugo, it turns out) are of a different stripe. The “maiden” support they have, in the form of Nemesis and Hugo’s companion, means they are “too caught up” in the story. They’re the sort who would rescue the doomed children in a game, even for little reward and high difficulty, because it’s morally heinous.

Ray is helped along here by his brother, whose actions we helpfully see in a flashback. Ray’s brother hasn’t done much in the series besides introduce him to the game and make bear puns, but we see that he is definitely “the protagonist of another story”, as he gets a grievous injury right before a martial arts match, then goes on to win it anyway through the sheer power of GUTS! I take that back, he’s not the hero of another story, he’s the cool mentor who gets killed off midway through – ominous sign. But it does also signpost why Ray acts the way he does, and why he comes to the conclusion that it’s OK to treat the NPCs as real people. Admittedly, his main concerns may need to be the other players – the final scene in the book reminds us that there are various sections of the map all poised to wipe out Ray’s section, in a very ‘Horde vs’ Alliance’ sort of way.

Dendrogram is well-written, with a likeable hero, and I’ve even gotten over the underage pimp and his PG-rated pimp squad. It’s worth a read, but I have to admit the main thing I took away from it was “wow, that was some graphic child murder description I did not need”.

Frau Faust, Vol. 1

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By Kore Yamazaki. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Itan. Released in North America by Kodansha Comics. Translated by Stephen Paul.

There is a scene towards the start of this manga where the title character is quizzing her protege about the history of their land that he had read. He parrots what he learned perfectly, but she quickly corrects his facts, saying that the actual reality wasn’t what was in the history books. This is something every kid growing up is going to come across sooner or later – certainly my generation learned a very whitewashed history in elementary school – and is always well worth pointing out. Don’t always take facts that you’re given at face value. The manga itself is another example, as it takes place seemingly in a world where the classic story of Faust is well known. But into this story comes our heroine, Johanna Faust, who most certainly is not the antihero we expected. And as we get further into the story, we find that a lot of other Faustian bargains may also be more than they seem.

The narrative of this story is not unfamiliar to manga readers, or indeed any reader of classic stories. Frau Faust comes to a small town on a mission, and happens to run into a boy, Marion, who’s being chased for stealing a book. After helping him escape, he explains that it was in fact his family’s book – their stuff was sold off, and he was trying to get it back. Needing a pasty – sorry, partner in order to achieve what she wants, she decides to become his tutor for a few days, and quickly blows his mind with both what she can teach and the way that she teaches it. Of course, she does have an ulterior motive in mind – she needs a pure-hearted boy like him to invite her into the local church, there to meet the demon Mephistopheles. Or at least a part of him. And their relationship seems to be somewhat more complicated than you’d expect.

As mentioned on the front cover, this is by the author of The Ancient Magus’ Bride, another series I greatly enjoy. This is a bit less introspective, but just as concerned with the nitty gritty of magic and the supernatural. And as you would expect with this author, the artwork is evocative and attractive, giving Faust and her co-stars excellent expressions. As for Faust herself, I was sort of expecting her to be a sly woman who turned out to be a big softie at heart, but I wasn’t expecting it to happen quite so fast, and the second and third chapters had moments of real sweetness in them. Be warned, like a lot of first volumes of shoujo and josei series (this is the latter – Itan is a supernatural/fantasy-oriented josei magazine), there is an unrelated short story at the end. But it’s good, dealing with a young girl whose family has divorced, whose mother drinks a lot, and who isn’t quite as mature as she wants to be, and her encounter with a museum of oddities. The mood fits well with the rest of Frau Faust.

I’ve been looking forward to this series since the moment I heard it was licensed, and it did not disappoint. Definitely any fans of fantasy should pick it up, but even if that’s not your thing give it a try. This makes you want to read the next volume right away.

The Irregular at Magic High School: Summer Vacation Arc +1

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By Tsutomu Sato and Kana Ishida. Released in Japan as “Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei” by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Prowse.

Yes, just like Maou-sama and DanMachi in April, it’s now Mahouka’s time to have a short story collection. As such, the stories in this volume are highly variable. That said, there are two that manage to be relevant to the ongoing story, so I’ll deal with them separately. As for the rest, we get a story with the grumpy guy who hates Tatsuya, Morisaki, who rescues a young woman from being abducted and then has to be her bodyguard; Eimi, who we met in the Competition stories, having a nasty amusement park encounter with thugs trying to steal her family spells; Ichijou and Kichijouji trying to recover after their loss last time, and making annoying lolicon jokes simply as Ichijou’s younger sister likes George; and a jaw-droppingly syrupy date between Tatsuya and Miyuki that seems to do nothing but take the incestuous subtext this series is filled with and rub it in your face. These stories are all readable but not great.

The first story in the collection, which is a beach episode, also starts off pretty fanservicey and pointless, and seems to be about Honoka trying to attract Tatsuya’s attention by almost drowning herself, which backfires in a typical anime “you saw my swimsuit fall off” way. The surprise, and actual plot relevance, comes towards the end. First of all, Shizuku, who’s mostly been in Miyuki’s corner, decides to ask Miyuki the rude question: does she like her brother in a romantic way? The answer is not really satisfying to me, but very much in character for Miyuki, so that’s acceptable. Better is Honoka actually working up her courage and confessing, and Tatsuya’s honest answer: he’s incapable of emotions like that. Of course, this is not stopping her from carrying on liking him till she finds someone better, as Tatsuya says he’d feel the same way about anyone else. I honestly wasn’t expecting one of the main pairings of this series to be shot down this fast, and it’s somewhat refreshing.

The longest story here is the last one, which deals with the fact that Mayumi is retiring, and would like to pass on the Student Council President position to someone she trusts. Hattori is the first that comes to mind, but he doesn’t want to do it. This leaves Azusa, but she’s simply too terrified to do it, having always been the meek one in the group. This is eventually resolved by one of the most blatant yet hilarious scenes in the book, which I will try not to spoil. More importantly, the successor is also carrying on Mayumi’s will by seeking to eliminate the prejudice against Course 2 students by allowing them to hold Student Council Positions. It’s a good reminder of the prejudice that still exists in many ways, which we haven’t really focused on since the first book. It also shows us that Miyuki’s immaturity is still hanging around, and that she can be TERRIFYING when lashing out – there’s a reason she wasn’t chosen to succeed as President. Yet.

The Irregular at Magic High School has likely locked in its audience already. If you enjoy the series, you’re going to pick up and enjoy this. If you’re one of those who despise Tatsuya, this is not going to change your mind (I didn’t even get into the politics occasionally on display here). Recommended to the former group – this isn’t an easy series to hate read, so the latter should move on.