Otherworldly Izakaya [Nobu], Vol. 1

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By Natsuya Semikawa and Virginia Nitouhei. Released in Japan as “Isekai Izakaya “Nobu”” by Kadokawa Shoten, serialization ongoing in the magazine Young Ace. Released in North America by Udon Entertainment. Translated by Caleb D. Cook.

There’s a small subset of isekai series that seem to involve a restaurant that is modern Japanese and yet caters to fantasy characters. This one is particularly odd in several ways, though. It’s based on a light novel series, which makes sense if you think of it as an isekai manga but no sense whatsoever if you think of it in its real genre, which is a “everyone enjoys food and describes it” manga. (I’m not sure it’s technically a foodie manga as there are no recipes. You aren’t supposed to make these yourself.) That said, if you DO see it as an isekai manga, it’s probably one of the few I’ve seen shown almost entirely from the POV of the existing fantasy characters. The “Chief” and Shinobu are the staff of the izakaya in question, and by the end of the first book we know the same thing about them which we knew at the start – nothing. It’s about the fantasy cast, and food.

Even the isekai part of the series is a bit vague. The plot involves this izakaya (think pub) in a side street of a medieval town, which gets traffic at first mostly from the guards who are exhausted after a day’s work (just like real izakayas). They are poleaxed by things like cold beer, oden, etc. – basic Japanese pub fare. It becomes somewhat clear as the book progresses that the izakaya has a “back area” that is connected to modern-day Japan, where Shinobu and the Chief get ingredients and (presumably) live. In other words, they are the ones who are transported to another world. But, as I said earlier, this is a series about the food and the people eating it. boisterous guards, their grumpy captain, an uptight tax collector (who is not Gustav St. Germain from Baccano!, but happens to look just like him), and a spoiled rich girl wander in, think they’re not going to like the food, and like the food.

In the end, you have to think of the series as a food manga to really appreciate it. The attention given to the food is, of course, excellent, and the characters make you really want to dig in. As I said earlier, Shinobu is the waitress girl on the cover, and she’s bright and helpful and that’s about it – likewise, Chief is straightforward and somewhat stoic. There’s some sort of language barrier that isn’t quite made clear – Shinobu using untranslated Japanese at times (particularly her long, drawn-out “haaaaaiiii!”) is meant to show this, but she can also clearly communicate with everyone. The other very odd thing about this isekai is that, as far as I can tell, there’s no magic or fantasy in this world whatsoever. It’s in some sort of German medieval world, but the only isekai think is the Japanese pub. It’s a very odd combination, but the relaxed mood and food descriptions in this volume means I’ll be coming back for more. And hopefully getting at least some backstory for our staff.

Outbreak Company, Vol. 5

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By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Every volume of Outbreak Company seems to begin trying its best to irritate me, I swear. It’s as if the creator has to present his bonafides before he gets into the meat of what he actually wants to do. Hence we begin with Shinichi, who has just been kidnapped by this world’s equivalent of Saudi Arabia or something similar, going on and on about moe fetishes for a bit, followed by his summarizing the entire plot for those readers who may have wanted to start with Book 5. That said, this book does show us, even more than usual, that Shinichi is very fond of these fetishes AS FICTION, and when they’re given to him in real life he is reasonably creeped out by them. And given that the entire premise of this book is basically “Shinichi has done the Eldant Empire so much good and now the entire female cast (who either love him or are at least good friends with him” proceed to rescue him:”, the reminder is needed. Shinichi is a model otaku – he can separate fiction and reality.

Myusel gets her second cover, and also pretty much separates herself from the harem pack here. We get a large chunk of the book narrated by her (out of necessity, as Shinichi’s been kidnapped), and her love and devotion to Shinichi is really impressive. As is her use of automatic weapons towards the climax, which given it gets two interstitial pieces of art may have been the excuse for the plot. At this point, if she’s not Best Girl by the end of the series I’ll be very surprised. Elvia too gets a lot to do here, given that it’s her country who has kidnapped Shinichi – we get to meet her sisters, and see how the family dynamic is. It honestly looks like it’s a good thing that Elvia was captured and stayed with the main cast. That said, it was rather startling how much she was treated as ‘evil spy’ at the start of the book given that she’s pretty much lazed around drawing and occasionally firing off soccer balls. No one forgets how she first arrived.

The plot itself is quite interesting. We’ve seen for the first four or so books Shinichi dealing with a very unequal world, where humans are the ‘norm’ and elves, dwarves, beastmen etc. are considered less than human. The core of the series has been showing that this is a bad thing. Now, however, we see Elvia’s country, whose king has set things up so that everything is equal – by force. People eat the same things, work the same jobs, are married in mass ceremonies to whoever the King picks out for them… it’s pretty damn appalling. Shinichi is supposedly kidnapped so that he can write something that will make the population of Bahairam love their king the way the magical girl movie made everyone love Petralka, and after wracking his brain and avoiding the obvious, he finally gives in. He can’t do it. Equality is important, but not at the cost of individuality.

Of course, all this may have been planned all along, and we see at the end that Shinichi’s idea of fixing things may be the smartest. Overall, though, this was a very good entry in the Outbreak Company series, and should appeal to those who enjoy it and don’t mind Shinichi occasionally leaping off of otaku cliffs.

Gear Drive, Vol. 1

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By Kabayakidare and Koutaro Sugi. Released in Japan by Overlap, Inc. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Matthew Warner.

Sometimes when I am reading fiction I am looking for something with deep philosophical themes, something that takes the characters on a tremendous journey and teaches the reader something about both the author and themselves. And sometimes I just want to kick back and have a rollicking good time. Gear Drive is definitely designed to be the latter, and I spent most of the book reading with a giant grin on my face. If I didn’t know better I’d swear it was a novelization of tome shonen manga from Jump or Sunday. It’s filled with ridiculous powerups, intense fight scenes, and showing off the truly important things, which is caring about the people around you and not just trying to look cool. And its heroine, Anti, is a great narrator, sounding very much her age without being too annoying to the reader. It’s actually a series I’d be quite happy to recommend to YA readers, especially as there’s only one volume out in Japan so far (the second comes next month).

Our story begins in a small fantasy village named, erm, Cardiff, where the inhabitants spend their days, erm, mining coal. Look, it really is a fantasy land and not Wales, though I know the two can be confused easily. Everyone in this world has magic, though some come to it more easily than others. Anti, our heroine, is one who needs a little help, so at the age of 15 she goes to the church to find out what her magic ability is. Turns out… it’s gears. She has no idea what this means, and nor does anyone else. Rapidly, however, it turns out to be a far more useful ability than expected, especially combined with two other items that her parents left her before they tragically died… no, wait, both her parents are still alive and active in the story! Fake shonen! At first being somewhat unhappy with her mystery gifts, Anti has to learn how to use them on the fly when a giant bear creature attacks the woods near her village and two young kids go out to stop it to prove they’re brave.

As I said, the high points of this book are many. There’s one scene in the battle between Anti and the bear creature that features one of the best uses of a standard fantasy “infinite bag of holding” I’ve ever seen. There’s Anti’s moral sense, which is present and correct throughout the book, and which she passes on to the impulsive kids she has to save. (I loved the illustration of the kids as adults later in life, looking straight out of Log Horizon.) There’s the standard “our eyes meet and we know we are destined to fall in love later in the series” scene, only it’s between Anti and a girl her own age, and I’m not sure the series is going to go there, but it still made me smile. The book is not perfect, of course. Anti’s gear powers combined with her parent’s items sometimes lead to “whatever the plot requires”. It clearly ends Vol 1 with about 1/3 of a book to go, so we get some quick short stories from other people’s perspective, and begin book 2 early, which means it ends in an awkward place. Also, the translator clearly had the ability to have someone say “Anti are you OK?” and didn’t, which made me sad. Still, I’m carping.

This came out in Japan in February 2018, and was apparently licensed immediately. I can see why. If it keeps this up, this will become one of my favorite series. Go get it now.