Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 5

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By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

This has spoilers for the entire volume, sorry. They’ll be after the cover art.

We have been slowly working our way through the main female characters of this series. The second volume focused on Yuzuki, the third one Asuka, and the fourth one Haru. The cover of the first volume was Yuuko, but that volume was more an introduction to the entire cast, and the “heroine” of the volume was actually Kenta, the otaku “saved” by Chitose. So we haven’t really had a volume about Yuuko till now. The group seems to revolve around her and Chitose, and much of the time when she suggests something everyone automatically agrees to it. As we learn here, that’s been the case pretty much her entire life. She’s a spoiled princess, but unlike a lot of these characters remains kind and likeable. That said, she really wants people to treat her normally, and when someone does (Chitose), she falls for him hard. How’s that work out this book? Let me put it this way: she AND Chitose both think “I wish these happy days could last forever”.

It’s summer vacation, and there’s a lot of fun things Chitose could choose to do. He could go on a “we’ve agreed not to date but are still clearly hung up on each other” date with Asuka. He could play catch with Haru some more, who confessed to him last time if you recall. He could go see the fireworks with everyone, and have Yuzuki steal him away for a moment all to herself. He could meet Yuuko’s mom, who’s one of those “gosh, she’s so young-looking she looks like an older sister” types. Heck, he can even stay at home and have delicious food cooked for him by his not-wife Yua. But the back half of the book is dedicated to the cast going on a study camp, a 3-day outing where students and pick teacher’s brains while studying in a beachfront hotel. Studying does get done, I promise. That said, of course there’s beach time as well. In the midst of all this, Yuuko, who is very aware that she has not had a “plot” with Chitose to herself by now, takes drastic measures.

This book is written like a tragedy, with the wait for the other shoe to drop being excruciating. I kept waiting for Yuuko to tell everyone she’s moving to America or that she’s dying. But no, she’s just in love, very aware that all her other best friends are in love, and it’s killing her inside. The most devastating scene in the book has her asking Yuzuki, Haru and Yua if there are any guys they like, because they’re at a study camp getting ready to sleep, and that’s when you talk about boys. But the others girls, knowing Yuuko is in love with Chitose and “has dibs” because she’s the obvious choice – first girl we meet, got the first cover, etc. – all say they’re not in love with anyone. And that kills it. That makes her decide to knock it all over. So she confesses, knowing Chitose, who is absolutely not ready for this, will reject her. Which he does.

The book ends with Yuuko, surrounded by everyone else in the group, sobbing, and Chitose, also sobbing, surrounded by just Yua, who plays the saxophone to try to cover up his incoherent grief at the loss of his static but wonderful high school days. I bet she gets the next book, she’s the only one left. This is a great series, but the romcom aspect is definitely romdram this time.

Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online: 5th Squad Jam: Finish

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By Keiichi Sigsawa and Kouhaku Kuroboshi, based on the series created by Reki Kawahara. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Stephen Paul.

This is the 13th volume of the SAO:GGO series, and I’m pretty sure it has probably gone on longer than Keiichi Sigsawa originally planned it for. The nature of the series, after all, is basically “death game” only for once it really IS a game so we don’t need to worry about death. Which actually helps with the longevity. The cast here is large, and except for our main group we may not remember everyone all that well, but Llenn is not the only one who’s gotten famous, she’s just the poster child. We’ve also grown to see David’s seriousness as he tries his hardest to finally achieve something in a Squad Jam and always seems to not quite get there. There’s Vera, who took the series’ funniest running gag (the machine gun bros) and made them into the most dangerous team out there, taking out more of our main characters than anyone. And there’s SHINC, of course, who still don’t get to face off against Llenn. Alas.

The last volume ended with the shock of Shirley sniping Pitohui and removing her from the game. But there’s no time to dwell on that, as Llenn still has a bounty on her head and everyone wants the money associated with it. M, Fukaziroh, Boss, and Anna are trying to protect her while also getting to the center of the castle that is their final battlefield… because they’ve been told that the rest of the castle except that battlefield will soon ALSO drop off and doom everyone still in it to death by extreme falling. Clarence is holed up in a tower with good defense, but can’t really move. And Shirley has had her fondest wish granted, but is finding that “Sniper” is not really a good choice for the REST of this game. And wait, are those… ghosts?

Usually there’s one part of each book in this series that I am surprised, and here it was Pitohui returning as a ghost. I thought for sure she’d be back sooner, and torment Shirley, but no – the ghosts don’t show up till the climax, and she and Shirley never interact. Instead, the series does one of the things it does best, with is provide some ridiculous death, badass deaths, and badass AND ridiculous deaths in one book. The climax of the book is hilarious, exciting, and thrilling – I was not actually sure if Llenn really would get killed off by someone else or not till the last few pages, and everything about the rivalry between Fukaziroh and Anna – and, let’s face it, Fukaziroh in general – makes me giggle. There is even a smidge of depth here, as Karen/Llenn starts to realize, and later is told point blank by Fukaziroh, that she’s not the same shy wallflower she was at the start of the series – the game has been good for her in real life as well. It’s therapeutic.

We’ve caught up with Japan, so I’m not sure when we’ll get another of these. It’s a satisfying finish for fans of the series, though.

Rascal Does Not Dream of His Student

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa My Student no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

With the first two books in the “college” part of this series, I have struggled to see why it’s been ongoing at all beyond “this is now a franchise with ongoing multimedia, you will write more until we tell you to stop” coming from Dengeki Bunko. With this book, I think I’ve gotten a handle on where this is going, helped out by a much stronger “cover character” than the others, even if she’s far less likeable. The original Rascal books were, for the most part, “a traumatic event in someone’s past displays itself as external symptoms that are horrible”, with Sakuta attempting to fix things in the same way that Koyomi Araragi or Hachiman Hikigaya try to fix things, i.e. throw themselves at it with little regard to danger. But Sakuta has learned better by now, helped by Mai literally dying for him, and so self-sacrifice isn’t on the menu. More importantly, the external symptoms are now wonderful.

Sakuta is still doing his cram-school job while also attending college, working his part-time job, trying to figure out what’s up with the Santa girl only he can see, and also spending time with his girlfriend. This is a lot. The prophetic dream thing is still ongoing, and Sakuta has a dream that on Christmas Eve he’s on a train … not with his girlfriend, but with Sara Himeji, a new student in his cram school class who has had two cram school teachers apparently try to make a move on her and be fired. Sakuta is #3, and is determined to avoid that possibility, despite events conspiring against him at every turn. And there’s also the fact that Sakuta from the other world where he’s more competent has told our Sakuta that Mai is in danger because of Touko.

Sara may not be 100% likeable, but she’s one of the best characters we’ve seen in this series for a while. She’s basically not had to struggle her entire life, and people are naturally drawn to her. As a result, when something does not go the way she wants, it ends up devastating her in a way that’s pretty easy for Touko to exploit. The best part of the book is the solution to the problem, as Sakuta spends most of it doing detective work to try to find a way out of this dream future, and ends up going with “do what the dream says and see what happens. But then Mai invites herself along. Mai being part of the solution is something that works very specifically for Sara, who is poleaxed at seeing what a real couple really in love is like, and when Mai starts reeling off things she loves about Sakuta and informs her she can do this all day, it cracks the Adolescence Syndrome like an egg. You can see and hear Sara grow up.

There is an ominous cliffhanger to this book, which implies that once again the universe is out to kill Mai. That said, the title of the next book is Rascal Does Not Believe in Santa Claus, so presumably we’ll confront Touko at last.