No Game No Life, Vol. 9

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By Yuu Kamiya. Released in Japan by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Daniel Komen.

This is, despite a few minor issues I had, a strong return to form for No Game No Life, which remembers what its main goal is besides being perverse, writing awkward prose, and occasional outbursts of plot: making the reader laugh. This is a funny volume, particularly if you enjoy seeing Sora suffer. While we do see [ ] in action towards the end, for the most part this is the Ex Machina, another of the Sixteen races and the ones who supposedly killed a God, trying to seduce Sora and get him to make babies with them. As you can see, this ridiculous premise hits on a lot of things that you know will be funny even without reading it: the war between Sora’s desire for sex, his fear of it, and his gamer brain trying to work out the actual plot behind it; the others’ over the top reactions to this, and the Ex Machina’s ludicrous attempts at seducing Sora, which run the gamut from offensive (the class of elementary schoolgirls) to actually well thought-out. Does Sora lose his virginity? Take a guess.

There is also the subplot which becomes far more important as the book progresses, which is Sora and Shiro closing the castle and devoting all their attention to becoming idol producers, with Holou as the idol in question. She’s still searching for answers, which means she compares nicely to Ex Machina, who are doing the same via this scheme. They declare that Sora is their “Spieler”, which is to say Riku from Book 6. But we already know that Sora isn’t, and deep down Ex Machina know that as well. Therefore what we end up with is “we want a purpose in life”, as well as how someone defines who they are. As robots, Ex Machina are not particularly unemotional, despite speaking in a very robot sort of way. Only two of them have actual roles, but they make them count.

Einzig is the “comedy gay” option among the otherwise female robots, and I like to imagine him looking like Koizumi from Haruhi, as he’s trying to do the same thing. Normally I might carp at this portrayal, but Sora’s “noooooooooooo!!!” is clearly meant to be mocked mercilessly rather than sympathized with. And then there’s Emir-Einz, named by Sora in a casual “your name’s too long to say” way that actually proves to be one of the more pivotal sentences in the book (also, props to him for remembering her full name anyway later). As with Einzig, she becomes a “type” – the obsessed stalker girl – but again, this is worth it because it’s funny seeing Sora in a state of constant panic. And Jibril, for that matter, who does not have her best book trying to help Sora escape these Droopy Dog robots. Steph is also mocked and embarrassed, but that’s par for the course, and she had a high point last volume anyway.

Assuming you enjoy the series, and can put up with what is still not the best translation in the world, this is a very good volume to pick up. The things I could object to are not things anyone reading this series to begin with would care about. Feel free to have fun with it.

In Another World with My Smartphone, Vol. 17

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By Patora Fuyuhara and Eiji Usatsuka. Released in Japan as “Isekai wa Smartphone to Tomo ni” by Hobby Japan. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Andrew Hodgson.

As with so many prior volumes of Smartphone, the lighter and fluffier the series gets the better it is. As such, let’s start with the less light and fluffy stuff, which is mostly towards the end. Touya and company get themselves involved in a murder mystery in another country, one that is – as with many countries we’ve seen in this series – having a succession crisis. Unfortunately, they’re being manipulated on both sides by what’s left of Yulong, the country taken out mostly by the Phrase in a previous volume. They say Touya did it, which he denies. This is true, but perhaps acting like a smug asshole and killing off the royal family part might be some of the reason. But this is Smartphone World, meaning that the bad guys are all REALLY REALLY EVIL, so it’s OK. This was my least favorite part of the book, mostly as Touya, who is passive at the best of times, is really unlikable as a passive killer.

The best section of the book is, without a doubt, the Mario Kart race. Now, names have been changed to protect the guilt,y but that’s essentially what we have here. Touya is asked to hook up the nerdy engineer price we saw in a previous book with another princess, who also turns out to be a nerdy engineer. They love the sweet cars – erm, Ether Vehicles – but disagree as to exactly how they should be modded, and so get really angry at each other. Clearly a race is the answer, and with a course designed by the Mad Scientists of the book, it’s gonna be Mario Kart. The main reason this is so fun is that Touya spends most of the race grumbling and not doing well, and then is the first one eliminated. Given that Touya is the standard perfect hero who an do anything (and is a literal God by now), this pleased me. Also, the couple bond over their cars and fall in love. Aww.

In between we have the rest of the book. Another country is wiped out by the Phrase, but this time in the reverse world. What’s more, the Red Cats base is destroyed, so now they’re in Touya’s universe. Which is going to be irrelevant soon, as the next book promises to have the two universes merge for good. Oh yes, and Touya also helps save a mom ‘n daughter diner from the forces of eeeeeeeevil (another typically broad villain from a series that can only write broad villains) and gives his spy/sex worker friend a magical panther to be her bodyguard. The other notable part of the book is Ende, who was introduced as the enigmatic know-it-all who gave Touya important info, and has somehow become comic relief, abused by his love interest and his teacher. How the mighty have fallen.

Should you read this volume of Smartphone? Well, if you’ve read the others, sure. It’s not a good jumping off point if you want to stop, and certainly has a good cliffhanger. I’d read it for the go-kart race.

Nicola Traveling Around the Demons’ World, Vol. 1

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By Asaya Miyanaga. Released in Japan as “Nicola no Oyururi Makai Kikou” by Enterbrain, serialization ongoing in the magazine Harta. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Christine Dashiell. Adapted by Rebecca Schneidereit.

The title and cover art alone tell you that this is another in what is fast becoming a genre of “innocent young girl walks around a fantasy world with her supernatural friend who is usually caustic and/or sarcastic”, and that is indeed what it is. That said, it managed to surprise me in several ways. The girl in Nicola, a human who has made it into the world of demons, where she is frequently unwelcome. Her guide around the world is Simon, who has a very nice hat and is also frequently exhausted by Nicola’s exuberance and lack of filter. Together they two of them negotiate an underworld bazaar, have some tasty demon food, meet new friends, find rare mushrooms, stay at haunted hotels, and get a bit too involved in a magic tournament. As events go on, Simon learns that Nicola may be far more than just an innocent human girl…

The first thing I wanted to point out is the art. Given that it’s in the same magazine as A Bride’s Story, Delicious in Dungeon, and Hakumei and Mikochi, there’s a high bar to clear, but Nicola sails over it with a compelling artstyle all its own. It feels as if the entire manga is pencilled, and the character design feels more like it came from a Charles Addams or Edward Gorey cartoon than a Japanese manga. There aren’t any “stunning art two-page spread” designs, the art is simpoly quietly excellent, prepared to show off the supernatural wonder when need be. The demons also have a wide variety of designs and types, and avoid falling into the standard fantasy tropes and/or yokai tropes that we’ve seen a lot of lately.

That said, the most interesting thing about the title may be Nicola herself. As the volume goes on, and the artist begins to see where to take the series, Nicola slowly goes from a Yotsuba-esque little girl to someone far more savvy. The second story has her chiding Simon for describing all the demons he points out to her in stereotypes, and then shattering each of those stereotypes in turn – including the one he uses for himself! Her backstory is merely hinted at, showing that she lived with a witch before coming to the demons’ world, which allows her to use some magic – she can conjure up flowers, and attempts to be able to use a light spell like the young demon girl she befriends. It’s clear that she has a lot of innate magical talent, she just hasn’t activated it yet. But honestly, even more than Nicola’s magic potential, it’s Nicola’s empathy that drives the series, and makes each chapter a delight to read. Simon is mostly there to play minder and make sure things don’t get TOO sweet. He succeeds admirably.

This may be a growing genre, but I don’t think we’re glutted on it quite yet, and Nicola is an excellent example. If you like clever and energetic young girls and fantasy landscapes, along with a unique artstyle, this is a definite pickup.