Dorohedoro, Vol. 23

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By Q Hayashida. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazines Ikki, Hibana, and Monthly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by AltJapan Co., Ltd. (Hiroko Yoda + Matt Alt).

I knew it had been a while since the last volume of Dorohedoro, but I did not realize that it had been a year and a half. It’s been a long journey – the manga started here in 2010, so almost ten years ago. And in Japan it’s been since 2002. This volume is packed – it’s 350 pages long, so essentially a double volume – trying to get everything resolved before the end of the series. As a climax, I think it’s very fitting. It is not without some last minute deaths (the Cross-Eyes, who have been the designated butt monkeys of this series, continue to fare badly) and is filled with lots of blood, gore and zombies, as you’d expect from Dorohedoro. But for the most part, this is as close to “and they all lived happy ever after” as you’re going to get from this story, and I was quite pleased. (It also stayed firmly on the side of “this is not about romance” – the three “couples” are together, but there’s nothing suggesting they aren’t just friends.)

I really can’t discuss this volume without discussing its major brilliant move. Caiman, for the most part, has been defined by his search for who is the head in his mouth – we now know – but also by his love of gyoza. This love has been far more than just a light coedy personality thing for some time now, but it’s in the final volume where it reaches its zenith. To stop the sorcerer-destroying monster, Caiman is made into a sorcerer, which gives him a magic rod that he can use how he sees fit. This ends up essentially turning him into Magical Gyoza Caiman, complete with a magical familiar gyoza, which we have, of course seen before. Together Caiman essentially functions in this final volume like Sailor Moon, going up against tthe big bad and the big bad’s final monster, and trying to rescue his friend, who has died. It’s Episodes 44-45. Except that Caiman actually survives.

Once this is taken care of and Nikaido is resurrected (she does not get much to do here, but her arc resolved before Caiman’s), it’s time for the epilogue. Well, actually, we do see Shin and Caiman join forces to defeat the monster right at the end, despite still having an understandable antipathy between each other. The epilogue shows Shin and Noi are still partners, Fujita is the only one who seems to think of honoring the dead, and that more than being a devil or being a sorcerer, Nikaido wants to run the Hungry Bug. Oh yes, and there’s Turkey, who offhandedly remarks that they apparently transitioned to a female for the past few years – something that En’s family notably doesn’t care about in the least, instead being more surprised that Turkey’s mask IS a turkey you can eat. I thought this was a terrific offhand character moment that fit right in.

And so we end Dorohedoro. Easily the most popular of the series that Viz debuted under the SigIkki imprint, I believe that its end means the end of that imprint as well, though I could be wrong. It was worth it. This was a badass, dark but hilarious journey from a woman manga creator filled with violence, nudity, friendships, tragedy, magic, and gyoza. I loved it.

Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World, Vol. 1

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By Kei Sazane and Ao Nekonabe. Released in Japan as “Kimi to Boku no Saigo no Senjou, Aruiwa Sekai ga Hajimaru Seisen” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jan Cash.

Let’s get this out of the way first: that is one awkward title, and it’s actually the much better choice, as when this was first announced by Yen the title was the even worse “The War Ends the World / Raises the World”. It’s trying to convey a certain apocalyptic mood, asking whether this book will feature the end of everything or the rebirth of something. This world has two power blocs fighting each other to the death. The Empire is a nation of science, with a mysterious council behind the scenes and battle-hardened swordsmen and engineers. The Sovereignty is a magic-dominated world, run by a royal family descended from their progenitor, and controls the very elements. They hate each other a whole lot. The Empire has just released its best swordsman, currently serving life in prison, to defeat the Sovereignty’s most powerful astral mage. He was a boy. She was a girl. Could I make it any more obvious?

If I was to be even more glib than I was in that last sentence (something I’m not sure is humanly possible), I’d say that this book is something like “Romeo and Juliet meets A Certain Magical Index”. Certainly Index fans will have a feeling of similarity with the magic and science sides of this particular world, especially given each have mysterious and possibly evil heads of state. Iska doesn’t quite have Touma’s bad luck, but the whole reason for his imprisonment seems to be that he saved an enemy mage (she didn’t have much power, and therefore he didn’t feel she deserved the treatment she got), which is very Touma. As for Aliceliese, there’s a good deal of Mikoto in her, particularly her tendency to get overemotional and upset when she keeps running into Iska coincidentally despite their being (supposedly) bitter enemies. Of course, they’re actually falling in love at first sight. Which, to be fair, is not much like Index, which will never given Touma romantic feelings.

This book is pretty solid, with some nice fight scenes, very amusing comedic romantic moments, and a reasonably-sized (for now) supporting cast. I will admit I did not immediately warm to Mismis, Iska’s commanding officer and “big sister”, mostly due to a very unfortunate interior illustration which can be described as “lol, huge boobs”, and I felt that her “empathic” skills that are apparently why everyone respects her should have been used a bit more often than the “ditzy klutz”. Speaking of the illustrator, they may be familiar to North American readers from Battle Divas, as well as the 2nd (of 3!) artists for The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!. Not a fan. Despite these flaws, though, I was intrigued enough to try more. It’s not as serious and dramatic as I’d have liked (for those who want that, give 86 a try), but if you want an “anime-style” action romance that for once does not seem to involve magic academies, this is a decent start.

Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles, Vol. 1

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By Naru Narumi. Released in Japan as “Ramen Daisuki Koizumi-san” by Takeshobo, serialization ongoing in the magazine Manga Life Storia. Released in North America by Dark Horse Comics. Translated by Ayumi Kato Blystone.

We have had so many food-related manga coming out over the past few years that it’s become somewhat hard to break away from the pack, especially given that there’s dungeon crawl foodie manga, isekai foodie manga, Fate/Stay Foodie, etc. When I picked up the first volume of this, I was uncertain what we would get besides a lot of loving descriptions of ramen. And we certainly do get those. The title is no lie, and Koizumi will happily ramble on and on about broth, sauces, ingredients, soft or hard noodles, etc. But the series actually does a good job balancing out the ramen with a real cast of characters. Koizumi is a recent transfer student, and another student, the hyperactive, overly affectionate Yu, wants to be friends with Koizumi. (And possibly more, yes, but if there’s yuri in this it’s really tiny.) The difficulty is that Koizumi loves ramen noodles but not much else. And also Yu pushes way too hard.

The plot, such as it is, involves various ramen places and Koizumi eating in them, while Yu attempts to get to be her friend and mostly fails miserably. There are two other girls in the cast, the popular but fragile Misa and the “class president”-esque Jun, both of whom amusingly seem to bond with Koizumi much better than Yu, who is simply trying too hard. The series is light-hearted so this isn’t too much of an issue, with Koizumi mostly being very cold about it. And it does throw Yu a bone towards the end, when Koizumi collapses due to a personal tragedy (the ramen shop is closed today), and Yu makes her special (and weird) homemade ramen. The chapter with Misa, where she eats spicy ramen with Koizumi to get over a breakup, is excellent (I was expecting her to fold when she first tasted the ramen, but no…) and Jun’s chapter will resonate with anyone who has terrible eyesight.

The other star of the manga is, of course, the ramen. I’m not a ramen student, so mostly just smiled and nodded when Koizumi went off on her long tangents explaining ramen’s styles and variations, but they do seem very informative. I was especially amused by the chapter where she managed to find ramen in a McDonald’s (it was in Hawaii), and by contrast once ate a burger and fries in a ramen shop. She’s not Chie-sensei, she can eat other things. The ramen and eating of such are also drawn nicely, giving the reader a healthy appetite, which is the goal. Given that the series is seven-plus volumes in Japan, I’m sure we haven’t even begun to get into all the ramen discussion we could be having, though I hope that it continues to balance things out with stories of the four lead girls.

Food manga enthusiasts, or those who like manga starring a bunch of cute high-school girls, should like this. Just… take it down a notch, Yu.