One Piece, Vol. 88

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By Eiichiro Oda. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Released in North America by Viz. Translated by Stephen Paul.

Ah, it’s *another* one of those “200 pages of fighting” One Piece volumes. As ever, though, there’s stuff we can talk about. Let’s start with Luffy, who spends much of this volume facing off against Katakuri, the seemingly stoic villain who Luffy can’t do anything against… except he can, because Luffy has been analyzing the fight as he goes and figuring out how the powers are being used. The dialogue literally calls out Luffy for being clever, but it’s worth saying out loud, because the reader tends to associate Luffy with the classic dumb shonen hero whose solution to everything is to punch it. And, well, that is still Luffy’s solution some of the time. But training with Rayleigh has forced him to mature and be clever, and it’s finally beginning to pay off here. I also liked his advice to Nami about the mirrors (and seeing how Nami immediately trusted Luffy). Luffy is finally evolving into someone we thing CAN become the Pirate King.

The rest of the cast also seem to be at their best when inspired by Luffy, but of all people to level up and start kicking eight kinds of ass, Carrot is not who I was looking at. Turns out, though, that she’s a were-rabbit of some sort, and when the full moon comes out becomes a combat nightmare. Similar to Chopper, except she’s meant to be badass rather than terrifying, and doesn’t lose her reason. That said, she helps but Big Mom’s pirate crew is HUGE, and they’re still nowhere near being able to escape. This despite the triumphant return of Al Capone…. um, Bege, who not only decides he’s going to rescue his wife but goes out fighting with their baby at his side. It’s ludicrous yet also heartwarming, like the best One Piece moments.

And, I am forced to admit, Sanji is pretty cool in this volume. I’ve talked before about my ambiguous feelings about Sanji, whose “pervert” personality stopped being funny about 75 volumes ago. But here Sanji has to be serious and cool in order to support Oda’s current running gag, which is Pudding’s romantic feelings whenever she sees this. Honestly, I don’t think the two of them are really going to end up together, but if they did, they certainly have a similar vibe, both being made up of one core personality the readers like, and one annoying personality that Oda likes. Also, together they can make an impressive cake, which is good, as Big Mom is still on the warpath, and the lack of sweets seems to be making her smaller and smaller (she’s merely a “very large woman” by the end of the book), though I’m pretty sure she’s just as dangerous. Will they have to abandon the Sunny to get away from her? Either way, I’m pretty sure the arc’s not ending in the next book, so get ready for more fighting, and more of me being able to talk about it anyway. That’s what makes One Piece still good after all this time.

The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind!, Vol. 7

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By Gamei Hitsuji and Ao Nekonabe. Released in Japan by Overlap. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

Well, clearly someone did have a talk with the illustrator since my last review, as there is now a new illustrator, and there are lots of interstitial art pieces, which is good, as I’d honestly forgotten that Lefille wears that hat. That hat is not something that should be easily forgotten. On the prose side, this is perhaps a book that is overbalanced towards the back half. The start of the book features a lot of magic lectures, even for this series that seems to be almost entirely magic lectures. The middle third deals with our heroes having to prove themselves to the Elite Guard who will be fighting with them, and needless to say by the end of it the Elite Guard is not so elite. Even Mizuki’s alter ego hands them their asses (actually, her final power move may be the funniest moment in the book). Things end on a more serious note, though,l as the “this is somehow connected with Suimei’s home world” plotline that’s been suggested comes into full flower.

There is a sense in this volume that the author is starting to settle in for the long haul, and thus starting to do something about the supporting cast. I’ve mentioned before that I appreciate that Reiji, the nominal hero, is not written out of the book or made jealous of Suimei, but that does mean that he’s been a bit bland. That doesn’t change here, but he does try to double down on his heroic qualities, realizing that he has to get stronger in order to keep up with everyone else – “rely on others” only feels like good advice if you can rely on yourself sometimes too. Likewise, Felmenia is starting to feel left out, being the defense expert among a group of attackers, and wants to learn how to have a mana furnace like Suimei does – and if that means becoming “inhuman”, so be it. Unfortunately, the actual scenes of her doing this aren’t in the book itself, but we do at least see the results, and she kicks much ass.

Though the author is trying to think ahead and develop characters, there are still a few problems. While this book *is* meant to have a cliffhanger – the mastermind helping the demons and what their relation to Suimei is – I don’t think it’s meant to feel quite as open-ended as it does. For one thing, the Lefille fight with the demon who cursed her is completely abandoned, and I’m not even sure if she made it back to be with the others. Speaking of that fight and the others like it, seeing our dragonewt antagonist and his party show up and announce “we’re helping you, don’t ask why” begs to be followed by “because the author couldn’t think of a good reason”. Oh well, at least the fights are decently written, particularly the duels midway through, and Lefille is no longer a little girl size, though I’m sure that won’t last. As for where we go from here… who knows? The next volume is the last one in Japan to date.

Onimonogatari: Demon Tale

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By NISIOISIN and VOFAN. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by Vertical, Inc. Translated by Ko Ransom.

Every once in a while there comes along a volume where NISIOISIN shows off exactly why people are turned off by his writing so much, and I think that Onimonogatari may set a record there, as it’s extraordinarily difficult to get through. While Araragi is the narrator again, a large chunk of the book is told by Shinobu explaining past events to him, and helps to show off (as she herself admits!) why she’s a bad storyteller and why the rule that “aberrations shouldn’t narrate the series” is a good one. Moreover, given that the main interactions Araragi has in this book are with Shinobu (who looks eight), Hachikuji (who looks ten), and Ononoki (who looks twelve), we really get far, far too many pedophilia jokes, and having the other girls be really pissed off at him for them really doesn’t help, no. That said, the book isn’t a total writeoff, and you get the sense that a lot of this book is the author realizing they need to have a genuine backstory and goal for the series, and creating one on the spot.

We’re back in August again in the Monogatari timeline, and the events of Kabukimonogatari have just finished. But Araragi still can’t go back to school and actually start classes, as he and Hachikuji are being pursued by a mysterious darkness that consumes all in its path (well, seemingly all in its path). After being rescued by Ononoki, they end up holing up in the abandoned cram school, where Shinobu tells Araragi and the reader about her first visit to Japan four hundred years ago, which led to her first encounter with “the Darkness” and also the backstory with her first thrall, Araragi’s predecessor. Unfortunately, the Darkness is really good at coming after them – or more accurate, after Hachikuji, who seems to be its goal. Can Araragi figure out what’s going on and save her? If only there was someone who knew everything to offer even MORE explanations…

NISIOISIN has often taken the advice “show, don’t tell” and stomped all over it in hobnail boots, but this book may take the cake in that regard, as there ends up being very little action and a whole lot of talking about the problem, both from Shinobu (who, as I said, is not a good storyteller) or by Izuko Gaen (who is deliberately written to be arrogant and uncaring). “The Darkness” may tie into the ongoing plot – is it related to Ogi, who it turns out Araragi has been narrating the entire book to? We also get discussion of MORE events on that busy August weekend that haven’t happened yet, which I assume will be in a future book. Where this book does succeed is a) it’s meta-humor, particularly Shinobu shilling for the Kizumonogatari movie, which is especially hilarious as it ended up coming out five years after the book did – and b) the ending, which I won’t spoil but is touching and a bit heartbreaking.

A necessary read if you’re interested in the world of Araragi and company, in the end I found Onimonogatari to be a bit of a slog. The book teases that Senjogahara will be narrating the next book in the series, but let me spoil this and say: no she doesn’t. As for who does? Well, it’s not Araragi either. We’ll find out.