Our Dreams at Dusk: Shimanami Tasogare, Vol. 2

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By Yuhki Kamatani. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Hibana. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Jocelyne Allen. Adapted by Ysabet MacFarlane.

It was always a possibility, of course. We’ve seen that sort of thing in countless other titles. The new character comes along to an already existing group and is able to magically help all of them with their problems. And indeed, we saw Tasuku last time introduced to the drop-in center, and the bulk of this second volume revolves around Misora, the kid from last time who was rude and dismissive of Tasuku, and is on the cusp of puberty and also having gender identity issues. It would make perfect sense to see Tasuku help drag Misora out of their shell and help them come to firm realizations. Indeed, we start to see something like that. But life is just not that simple, and Misora’s issues are deep-rooted and not easily solved. And so we end with more lashing out, and more slurs used to hurt, and more art as metaphor with Tasuku’s world literally collapsing around him.

Both people on the cover are Misora, who dresses as a girl at the drop-in center but would never do anything like that at home. Their relationship with Tasuku is extremely bitter and confrontational, and Misora takes delight at times in not only correcting Tasuku’s misconceptions but also hammering on Tasuku’s wounds. At the same time, of course, Misora is also guardedly opening up to Tasuku and feeling him out, ready to lash out in pain and fury at the slightest sign of pity or confusion. But at least Tasuku has defined himself, even if he can’t admit it to the man he loves. Misora is not sure at all what they are – a boy, a girl, or what have you. And they also know that puberty is soon going to make this much, much harder. Meanwhile, Tasuku’s story is hardly over, as he’s spotted at the drop-in center, and outed to his crush… who may already have an inkling about things anyway.

The plot of this volume is very good, but it’s the journey that’s even better. There are no wasted pages, and the frustration burns off the pages as Misora spews more and more slurs at Tasuku – there’s lots of them in this book, all meant to push Tasuku away and also other him to a degree. There’s also more terrific art – I’d mentioned the collapsing building metaphor earlier that serves as the climax, but there’s also little moments like Tasuku taking a wave that Tsubaki gives to him and consuming it at stars, or Misora shown in the water of a glass that Tasuku drops, about to shatter to the floor. Little moments like these help to move the reader along, and the character moments – which can be agonizing – help to slow things down. (I also want to know more about Tchaikovsky guy, and hope we see him next time.)

If you’d been on the fence about reading this series (and I can’t imagine too many who were), pick it up. It’s a painful journey, but also amazing to read.

Last Round Arthurs, Vol. 1: Scum Arthur & Heretic Merlin

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By Taro Hitsuji and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan by Fujimi Shobo. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jan Cash.

Even the author knew what people were going to be thinking. In the afterword, he describes getting the premise from his editor and thinking that it had been done to death. The words “Fate/Stay Night” did not get mentioned explicitly, but the implication was certainly there. Actually, it appears the editor and publisher were really stepping up to the plate for this one. The author is known for Akashic Records of Bastard Magic Instructor, a very popular LN series with a manga out over here. They also brought in Haimura as the illustrator, who’s already busy drawing Index and DanMachi Sword Oratoria. All that and a series about a bunch of King Arthur wannabes fighting each other in a battle to the death to see who can be the Last Round Arthur (see what they did there?). The obvious flaw in this series is that it reeks at times, especially in the first half, of being written to be a franchise rather than a story. Fortunately, it gets better, especially in the last third.

The premise is essentially Mallory’s Arthur legends meets Fate/Stay Night meets Haruhi Suzumiya. Rintarou is a young man who is perfect at everything he’s ever done since he was born, which makes everyone think that he’s a monster – including his parents. He hears about a competition between those with the blood of King Arthur, a battle involving Kings and their “Jacks”, essentially a summoned Servant a la Fate. The winner takes over the world… which isn’t all good, as there’s also a reality incursion they’ll have to deal with. Rintarou wants in on this competition, and finds the weakest candidate – Luna Artur, a seemingly arrogant young woman who’s taken over the local Camelot High School and made it her plaything – and sold her Excalibur for cash. Despite thinking Luna is annoying and possibly bonkers, he becomes her vassal, mostly so that he can stop being bored with life. Of course, things aren’t going to be easy, as Luna’s childhood friend is fighting for the prize as well. And Rintarou also has a secret… which the title of the work may in fact give away.

Luna starts off as a weird mix of Haruhi and Gilgamesh from Fate, and it can make her hard to like until her true self shines through. In reality, she wants to see everyone happy and wants the power to achieve it. This does not mesh very well with Rintarou, who tends to be the pragmatic “let’s sacrifice their lives and sneak up behind the enemy” sort, but they eventually do get along quite well. I was less enamored with Sir Kay, Artur’s beleaguered Jack, but that’s the fault of the author, really – Kay is nice enough, but she’s Mikuru Asahina with a sword, and unfortunately I have no confidence she’ll rise above “comedy relief” in future books. The fights were well described and tense, which is good, as I think they may be the main reason people will read this. There’s also a few surprise revelations that AREN’T in the title, some amusing jokes, and some setup for the future.

When that future is I’m not sure – unlike the other July Yen debuts, Last Round Arthurs doesn’t have another book scheduled yet. It’s not fantastic, but it’s worth a read if you like modernization of Arthurian legend or just want a Fate book with the serial numbers filed off.

Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 1

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By Honda. Released in Japan as “Gaikotsu Shotenin Honda-san” by Media Factory, serialized in the magazine Gene Pixiv. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

I had (shocking, I know) not actually seen the anime that is based off of this manga and took the internet by storm a while back. As such, I was a bit surprised to find that the skull face is actually irrelevant. No, this is not about a walking skeleton who works in a bookstore. The protagonist is the author, and the skull face is a mask that hides their identity – all the employees of the bookstore have different types of masks, for exactly the same reason. When you’re basing things on a true story, but don’t want to actually upset any of your colleagues, this is a good way to go about it. Moreover, it focuses the reader’s attention on the faces of the customers, which are gloriously well-done and expressive. No, instead of walking skeletons we just have life at a large bookstore in Japan, and insight into what’s going on behind the scenes. That does not mean this title is not fascinating, because it is.

Actually, the large bookstore also surprised me. I’ve seen manga about sleepy bookstores where a customer walks in once in a while, and the huge chain bookstore is usually the villain in those titles, trying to crush the mom and pop store and its individuality. But no, this manga is about a LARGE bookstore and its MANY employees – in fact, just the employees of the manga department of the store. It’s not made clear where it is, but given the large number of Westerners who wander through it, it has to be somewhere in Tokyo. Most of the time we see Honda-san at the front counter, helping customers find the manga they’re looking for, no matter how embarrassing, confusing, or impossible the request is. It doesn’t help that, as I mentioned earlier, many of the customers are foreigners with little concept of Japanese, and Honda-san’s English is also iffy. Still, service is the important thing, and we can’t leave a customer unhappy – though they may change their objective a bit.

Among the ‘types’ noted on the cover of the manga are ‘801 girls’, and a large chunk of the start of the book is devoted to BL manga and those searching for it. Sometimes they’re at sea, such as a dad whose daughter has asked for Gintama BL doujinshi, something Honda-san has to tell him isn’t sold at this bookstore. Sometimes you get a feeling of being “the Ugly American” in a sense, such as Honda-san watching the very loud American BL fans gushing about the types they like in the middle of the store. (That said, there’s no judgment given, and Honda-san seems to admire their forthrightness.) We do also meet several other employees, who tend to run the gamut from busy and harried to harried and busy, but the emphasis here, apart from Honda-san, is on the customers. (One exception is the class Honda-san has to take on customer service, where he meets a gorgeous young woman from another store who has trouble smiling for work – it’s amusing.)

I’ll be honest, this almost reads like a travel documentary about the Book Buyers of Shinjuku or something. It can be a bit exhausting (Honda-san reminds you time and again how painfully busy and overworked they are), but the stories and faces of the people involved are worth it. Even if they come in looking for shoujo manga and end up buying Berserk.