Log Horizon: The Larks Take Flight

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By Mamare Touno and Kazuhiro Hara. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

After spending the 6th book with Akatsuki and the other women of Akiba, and the 7th book with Shiroe and Naotsugu and their heist movie, this book continues the trend by turning to the rest of Log Horizon, the junior members. And for the most part it succeeds admirably, not only telling a good story and going into greater depth about what it really means to be trapped in a game, but also giving added depth to four out of the five main characters. (Apologies to Serara, but you still haven’t risen much above the level of a moeblob.) This goes doube for Isuzu, who has the biggest picture on the cover and arguably grows the most throughout the book, as she tries to overcome her amazingly huge amounts of self-loathing and realize that she can go past her limits and do something to save the People of the Earth.

Much of this book goes into greater depth about the People of the Earth; how they live their day-to-day lives, what life is like now that the adventurers are inventing so many amazing things (many of which the adventurers regard as commonplace or unimportant), and how they react to a girl going around singing music they’ve never heard before. Isuzu not only thinks that she’s a crappy musician (thanks to something her father told her, which we later learn she may have misinterpreted, and seeing her father’s own skills) but also that what’s she’s doing now isn’t even her skill as she only plays cover songs. It’s up to her not-boyfriend Rundelhaus (who is amazing in this book, and is about ten times more serious than the anime) to tell her the truth: this world only had 42 songs – the 42 pieces of BGM for the Elder Tales game. ‘Music’ and ‘the forty-two’ literally mean the same thing to them. So Isuzu really is changing lives. And when she finally begins to sing a song she composed herself, well, she cam move mountains. Or at least buildings.

Meanwhile, Touya and Minori are not left out. They’re both dealing with growing up as well, Minori trying to be the team strategist and thinking on her feet, and Touya by essentially being the team heart, and being able to see the true feelings behind a faked smile. We also get two new characters… well, sort of new. Roe2 is clearly related to Shiroe in some way, to the point that I was a bit aggravated that no one observed “isn’t that just Shiroe with breasts?” when they first saw her. As for Dariella, the book keeps her identity a secret till the very end (the complete opposite of the anime, which showed who she was from the start), and in retrospect you can see and feel a little bad for who she is and what she’s trying to escape. And for those who like a darker flavor to her Log Horizon books, we get the Odysseia Knights, who seems to have been driven half-mad by being trapped in the game, unlike Akiba’s “welp” sort of player, and Mizufa, a warrior who is a Person of the Earth, but just as terrifying as any adventurer.

It’s rare that I, a spoilerholic, say “I don’t want to spoil more”, but it’s true. This book is a delight, with many passages you’ll want to go back and reread immediately, and has Log Horizon’s usual depth of worldbuilding and characterization. I love Sword Art Online too, but if you’re going to read only one trapped in a game light novel, this should be the one.

Also, Isuzu says she sang a “Snoopy” cover to the People of the Earth, which makes me think it has to be “Snoopy vs. the Red Baron” by the Royal Guardsmen. It even works well with lute, drums and keyboard!

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun, Vol. 8

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By Izumi Tsubaki. Released in Japan as “Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun” by Square Enix, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Gangan Online. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Leighann Harvey.

For the most part, the Nozaki-kun manga has tried to stick to a relatively small cast, which pairs up into convenient couples (romantically or otherwise). Nozaki and Chiyo, Hori and Kashima, Seo and Wakamatsu. Mokoshiba used to be the odd one out, but lately he’s been paired with Nozaki’s brother Mayu. That said, there are a lot of other people in the story who’ve had impact, and this volume of Nozaki shows Tsubaki expanding the world a bit more to get them involved. So we see more of Seo’s brother, who gets a whole arc to himself, and we see Wakamatsu’s basketball team, struggling to deal with Seo focusing on all of them rather than Wakamatsu. That said, the core of the book is still our heroes – especially this late in the series, as everyone is starting to realize they’re in love, but never quite realize it in the right way.

A lot of this book takes place in the cafe where Seo’s brother works as a waiter – they need to take on more help, and due to a series of wacky misunderstandings (in Nozaki-kun? SHOCK!) think that his sister is a fragile flower. So they end up hiring Kashima instead, who I will admit makes the perfect waiter, but is also trying to do a part-time job when she should be rehearsing. As a result, the job becomes the rehearsal, and Seo’s brother is somewhat horrified to find that the customers are all fellow drama club members – and that one of them is punching his waiter in the face. He also meets Wakamatsu, which leads to even more hilarious misunderstandings as they both get a completely wrong first impression, then make it worse with everything else they say. Also, Waka is now the only person in the entire universe who doesn’t know Seo is Lorelai. (And by the way, Kashima’s impression of Seo was possibly the funniest thing in the volume.)

Elsewhere, Sakura is still obsessed with Nozaki to the point of ridiculousness. It’s odd to recall back at the start of the series where, aside from lovesickness, she was the sane one. Now she’s just another exaggerated joke gone mad, seeing beta work and Nozaki in her every waking moment. Which, let me assure you, is a good thing – she’s hilarious when she goes over the top. Seo, meanwhile, seems to have come to terms internally with her feelings for Wakamatsu, but is expressing them the best way she knows how – by being amazingly irritating. And then there’s Nozaki’s manga, which continues to make you wonder how it ever comes out and doesn’t get cancelled – his attempts at a unique and original plot are thwarted by a box filled with ridiculous suggestions, and his attempts to draw ‘extra stories’ in the 2-3 pages left for the volume just lead to Mamiko straight up eating a bird. Or at least that’s what it looks like. And then there’s Nozaki’s little sister, who seems to be an odd cross between him and Sakura.

Summing up: Nozaki-kun is still flat out funny, and I love it to bits. I will have to hold onto the love for a while, though; we’ve caught up with Japan, so the next volume may be some time. Get this one immediately, though.

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~, Vol. 4

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by ZephyrRz.

It took me far longer than I’d expected to finish this volume of Re: Zero, mostly because I had to pause and stop reading every time Subaru was an absolute idiot. Now, one might argue that the entire premise of the series is that Subaru is an idiot and grows and learns through a series of bitter, horrible experiences, and they’d be right. But this book in particular was filled with (mostly) well-meaning, decent people trying to help Subaru, and his ignoring and steamrollering through them because, deep down, he’s sure that he’s meant to be the protagonist of a story starring him. And in the end it all comes crashing down around him. He’s not dead, but he’s lost Emilia, and to him that may well be worse than death. Fighting against the injustice of the worst is very gritty and shonen, but it does help if you are something other than just this schlub in a tracksuit.

I’ve often said that the fourth book in a series is usually where you can tell the difference in writing between “maybe this will be a success” and “this is a success”, and Re: Zero is no exception. The cast, which had by design been small and intimate in the first three books, grows exponentially, as we’re introduced to all the various factions that are presenting themselves to lead the country – including Emilia, of course, who is understandably worries and upset and really does not need her pet loose cannon dropping in. As expected, Emilia is getting the cold shoulder for her heritage and her looks. That said, the other four candidates each have something that also makes the committee to help choose them want to scream and shout,l so she’s in with a better chance than you’d expect. Oh yes, and we see the reintroduction of Felt, the backalley thief from Book One who was spirited away. Spoiler: she’s a long-lost princess! Luckily, she’s still the Artful Dodger at heart.

In this mess we have Subaru, who was told by Emilia to stay behind and get healed while she deals with this alone, which he agrees to and then promptly disobeys the second she leaves. She knows that if he watches the ceremony at the palace, he’d only get really upset and make a scene. Then he ends up at the ceremony, gets very upset and makes a scene. To be fair to Subaru, he is kicking against the right people here. The knights are arrogant and elitist. They’re also badasses, and he is not. His ending fight with Julius is ridiculous and pathetic, showing that grim determination can only take you so far, and serving to destroy his bond with Emilia once and for all (or at least till a future book).

The book is well-written, and I genuinely want to see m ore, especially as it’s now been two whole books since Subaru last died. And I also want to see more from Rem, who is still far and away the most popular character in the series but is barely in this volume. So I’d call the book a success. But read it in small stages, and you may need to see your dentist afterwards. Let’s hope Subaru gains wisdom next book, though I’m not holding my breath.