Aria The Masterpiece, Vol. 4

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By Kozue Amano. Originally released in Japan by Mag Garden, serialized in the magazine Comic Blade. Released in North America by Tokyopop. Translated by Katie Kimura.

It is, a great deal of the time, very difficult to remember that this manga takes place in the future on a different planet. Honestly, a lot of that may be engineered by the residents of Aqua, who have deliberately set things up so that anyone coming to Neo-Venezia is going to be thinking “old-time Venice”, not “new, modern, future Venice”. It’s brought up explicitly in the chapter where Akari helps the old mailman deliver his letters – why are there so many letters, when the world has email? We’ve even seen Akari send emails. But it’s because people who stay here want to revel in the low-techness of it all. It’s for the mood. There’s also an element of slight fantasy throughout, usually involving Cait Sith, but even that makes the reader think of older stories of that nature rather than an alien for The Planet Formerly Known As Mars. And let’s face it, we the reader want that as well. With the odd exception of floating islands and Woody’s Miyazaki-esque bike, we want to take it easy.

The last of the main cast is introduced in this omnibus, as we meet Alice’s mentor Athena, who also turns out to be the last of the “three fairies” along with Alicia and Akira. Athena’s skill is in her gorgeous singing voice (which, by the way, is another reason to get the anime adaptation, which really does a great job), but she’s also an oddball who frequently simply flakes out or is misunderstood by the Very Teenage Alice. She and Alice, both being the “oddballs” of their groups, balance out Aika and Akira (angry tsunderes) and Akari and Alicia (balls of sunshine). And, like Akira and Alicia, she’s keeping a close eye on Alice and trying to help her develop into a first-class undine… despi8te occasional hiccups like the right-handed Alice deciding her left hand is useless, or the sudden adoption of a tiny Martian cat found at canalside. They make a good pair.

When I called Akari a “ball of sunshine” earlier, I wasn’t alone – one of the themes in this book is people staring open-mouthed at her ability to enjoy everything and describe how wonderful it is. Whether it’s glass-blowing, mail delivery, fireworks, or simply sitting at a cafe that keeps moving its seats to stay in the sun, Akari is a one-woman tourist brochure… a fantastic quality for an undine, of course, even though she remains blissfully unaware of her own talents. She’s still got a ways to go with the gondola, of course, and we’re only halfway through the manga, but we are gradually seeing the three apprentices mature and grow up, and the though it beginning to niggle into our heads that this may end with the older generation moving on to make way for the younger.

Fortunately we aren’t there yet. What’s more, starting with the next omnibus we’ll be reading material as yet unseen in North America. I can’t wait, this series is itself a ball of sunshine.

Arifureta Zero, Vol. 3

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

I’ve been comparing Miledi to Hajime in these reviews of Zero. And just as Hajime was written to be the ultimate in “I am cool and badass and will happily abandon anyone other than Yue to a fiery death” and then walked back to where he is now reasonable a decent person, likewise Miledi was introduced in the main series as the most annoying person in the world and then we gradually see in Zero how much of it is a front. It’s a front she feels more comfortable with, in fact – despite her complaining, she’d much rather be yelled at for being irritating than praised for being a force for good, mostly as it embarrasses her too much. It’s also a good way to avoid simply having her be too perfect – Miledi is going to save everybody, loves everybody, and has magical powers that can take out a demon lord possessed by a God. Of course she has to be annoying. You need SOMETHING.

As you might guess by the cover, the new Liberator who join’s Miledi’s forces in this book is male, and men don’t get Arifureta covers, meaning Meiru and Miledi pull double-duty. They’re headed back to meet up with Oscar and Naiz’s group, to see if they can revive the comatose kids (spoiler: not quite yet), when they suddenly find out that there was an attack on the base and most of the group was kidnapped. As it turns out, they were kidnapped to avoid ANOTHER kidnapping. Vandre is half-demon, half-dragon, and all tsundere, as he kidnapped Miledi’s group to try to get them to help him own group of people being tortured for experiments by the Demon King. Of course, Miledi will totally save them anyway, especially when it looks like there’s more to the Demon King than meets the eye. But can she do it while fighting off a powerful local disease?

First off, the book begins and ends with broad characterizations of cross-dressing gay men who are, of course, sexual predators for the lulz. Ugh. This is not the first time the author has gone to this well, either. Aside from that, it’s a decent enough book. As with the other Zero books, it leans heavily on fight scenes, particularly in the second half, but there is also a decent amount of characterization, particularly of Vandre, the new guy, and Miledi. Vandre and Oscar also look to be adding a new annoying trait to the Liberators, as they don’t get along and snipe at each other constantly in a “vitriolic best buds” sort of way. I do wonder if they can actually weaponize this trait, the way that Miledi has weaponized being annoying to the point where it throws villains off.

We do also get a look at the Church here, briefly, and see that, thanks to evil people and also brainwashing, it may only have one sensible person in it. They’re also trying to get a jump on Miledi in snatching up Ancient Magic Users, so next time we head off to the forest. Till then, this remains a decent spinoff, particularly if you like fight scenes.

Gal Gohan, Vol. 1

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By Marii Taiyou. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Animal. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. Adapted by Bambi Eloriaga-Amago.

Sometimes Japanese manga companies have a broad spectrum of things they release across all genres and age groups… and sometimes they specialize. Hakusensha is one of the latter – it has no shonen titles per se, and is best known over here as the top shoujo publisher with its magazines Hana to Yume and LaLa. But… they do also have Young Animal. As with most magazines with ‘Young’ in the title, it caters to the young adult male, with each cover featuring a cover and insert section of an idol singer or model. Unlike the shoujo end of the company, Young Animal titles rarely get licensed over here – the most famous one still going is probably Berserk, which has lots of the gool ol’ ultraviolence. But there’s also fanservice and ecchi titles, and Young Animal has plenty of those as well. A good example of which we’re reviewing today, Gal Gohan. That said, like some of the best ecchi manga, there’s a certain purity of tone to it.

Shinji is a relatively new teacher, having difficulties making connections with students and doubting himself as with all good newbie teachers in manga like this. Shinji, however, teaches home ec, which makes it even harder – he doesn’t even see the students as much. Meanwhile, Miku is a very stereotypical “Gal” – tanned skin, loose socks, accessories, etc. – and is in danger of flunking out of school. The jaded principal suggests bribing her teachers with cookies, and so she goes to Shinji to try to get some help. Things go badly at first, but he gradually realizes that under her Gal exterior is a rather tender young maiden, and she starts to fall for him pretty hard – to the point where she decides to join the cooking club, even though – well, actually, because – it’s just the two of them. How far can Miku take her teasing… and how serious is it meant to be? And can Shinji avoid the temptations of his student?

This pretty much is the perfect setup to a series designed to entice young men. Miku is pretty, outgoing, busty, and is not ashamed to panty flash her teacher… at first. As the manga goes on, she starts to get a little shyer about that sort of thing, hinting that her teasing has gotten closer to an actual crush. Despite being a manga about a cooking club, there’s minimal attention to the recipes or preparation – this is not a foodie manga. You’re here to see if Shinji can resist the extreme forwardness of Miku (he has so far), and if Miku can get across to her teacher that she’s not just teasing but really does like him (she hasn’t so far). Part of Shinji’s reticence is simple – he’s her teacher, she’s his student, this is a forbidden relationship. But we also do get a bit of him not quite understanding a “maiden’s heart”, which allows Miku to be frustrated in a cute way.

I’m assuming anyone reading this knows what sort of manga they’re getting. But it caters to its readers very well, enticing without getting too over the line – Miku’s teasing and flashing of her body is relatively innocent compared to where the series could have gone. Worth a read if you like this genre.