Fruits Basket Collector’s Edition, Vol. 4

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By Natsuki Takaya. Released in Japan by Hakusensha, serialized in the magazine Hana to Yume. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

As I’ve said a few times before, you can usually tell when a series has suddenly become a big hit by the writing. Fruits Basket has hit it big, to the point where the Hakusensha editors must have told Takaya she can stretch it out how she wants. And so we can get extended flashbacks devoted to Uotani, Tohru’s yanki friend, and how she went from a middle school delinquent to one of Tohru’s strongest protectors. We also get a brief one-chapter day in the life of Minagawa, the over the top president of the Yuki Fan Club, who like any other teenage girl is filled with doubts and insecurities of her own. And we see foreshadowing that I had forgotten happens this early, as the new Student Council members, whose faces are hidden from us, discuss their interest in Yuki… and Tohru. Are they SECRETLY EVIL? (Answer: no, but it’s a nice ominous cliffhanger that won’t be resolved for a while yet.)

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We are also introduced to two more Sohmas. I’ll start with Ritsu, as I’m less interested in him. He’s deliberately grating, in a way that irritates everyone not named Tohru, but it’s not without cause, and once again shows us how hard it is to be living with the Sohma curse, or living with someone who has it. Also, his meeting with Micchan is hilarious – they really are perfect for each other. More important to me is the introduction of Hiro, who I suspect will annoy the new reader even more than Ritsu does. Hiro’s a brat, there’s no mistaking it, and what’s worse, he’s smart and insightful but can’t deal with the emotions that go along with that. Throw in a crush on Kisa, and some veiled suggestion that telling Akito he was in love with her was the worst thing ever, and I find a lot to sympathize with. He also pegs Tohru perfectly, albeit rudely, and we start to see the first signs of the cracks showing in her all-loving facade here, as she admits that she focuses on others to the exclusion of her own needs mostly out of desperately not wanting to look hard at herself.

I’d mentioned foreshadowing before, and the other big introduction we see here will have to wait till next time, which is Rin. She’s in hospital, apparently put there by Akito, and judging by the fact that she’s recently broken up with Hatsuharu, seems to be trying to cut all ties – except to Shigure, who she’s convinced can help her. Rin looks scary, to be honest, and given how popular Haru is with fandom, it’s no surprise that she too gets off on the wrong foot in Furuba fandom, only she doesn’t have the benefit of being a cute guy in this female-driven fandom, so it seems worse. Oh yes, and we also get more of the Yuki backstory that was hinted at in the last omnibus, and I feel bad for saying that Akito smothered him – there was just as much abuse as everyone else has had to ensure. Being a Sohma is suffering.

This is about where the anime broke off, with its adapted ending that to this day doesn’t quite sit right with me. It’s also where Takaya hurt her hand, causing the manga to go on hiatus for a year. It stayed popular in Japan, and became huge over here, but I wonder if we may have gotten a second season otherwise. (Probably not – allegedly she had issues with the director, similar to Kare Kano.) In any case, the first few books in Furuba show us sad teens with emotional problems, but as we move forward, the depth of the writing shows that the sadness and the emotional problems have not begun to be plumbed. If you never read this the first time, you’re missing out.

The Asterisk War: Encounter with a Fiery Princess

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By Yuu Miyazaki and okiura. Released in Japan by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Melissa Tanaka.

There’s a moment about two-thirds of the way through this novel where the hero and heroine are viewing the city, and she asks to eat at a fast food place. He is somewhat startled by this, as he’s discovered that she’s the princess of a European nation and expected her to only want to go to high-class restaurants. Eventually we do get an explanation for why she prefers to eat there, but her initial response to him is simply that this is fine, right? And that’s sort of how I feel about The Asterisk War. It’s not original by any means. In fact, that’s an understatement. It is so unoriginal that it may actually leech cliches from the books on your shelves that surround it (Go reread them – are they filled with twists?). That said, sometimes you want a burger and fries. And The Asterisk War is very good fast food, which I’d be happy to eat if I’m in a rush.

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I will try to describe the plot without just linking to various TV Tropes pages. Our hero is Ayato, a young man who’s just arrived at a prestigious magic academy, one of six schools in the shape of an asterisk that fight each other (hence the name of the series). Supposedly he’s a perfectly normal student with a bit of sword training. In reality, of course, his true power has been sealed by his sister, who is currently missing and whose footsteps he is trying to trace. He has an unfortunate first encounter (if you guessed “saw half-naked”, you get no points as it was too obvious) with our heroine, Julis, who seems like the standard angry tsundere (she wields massive fire powers, because of course she does) but in reality is just bad at dealing with people and somewhat lonely. As Ayato learns about the school, running into a) the buxom and teasing Student Council President who has big plans for him, and b) his childhood friend, a sleepy and emotionless young girl who nevertheless carries a somewhat obvious torch for him, Julis deals with the fact that someone is trying to kill, or at least disable, her before the Big Competition that no doubt will serve as the plot of future books.

Now, if you’ve been keeping score, try to add up the number of other manga, anime, and light novels that the above description sounded like or reminded you of. If you got under ten, you weren’t trying hard enough. (I’m honestly amazed there wasn’t incestual subtext – clearly the author didn’t try hard enough.) But for all my snark, I actually enjoyed this quite a bit. The hero is likeable and strong without being overpowerful, and reacts to half-naked women like a normal teenage boy and not a manga cliche. Julis starts off over the top, but it takes less than half a volume for us to realize that she’s not going to be another tsundere – well, except when the fanservice or comedy requires it, then of course she will be. I’m also very fond of Saya, less because of good writing and more because I simply like that type of character. Same with Claudia.

So there’s nothing here you haven’t seen before. But the fanservice is light compared to other series, the plot twists are predictable but not irritating, and most of the cast is quite likeable. It’s fast food, but it’s filled with stuff you always enjoyed growing up. I’m perfectly happy to take it in and see what happens next. (Also, Chivalry of a Failed Knight doesn’t have its book licensed yet, so schtum.)

Baccano!: 1931 The Grand Punk Railroad: Local

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By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by ASCII Mediaworks. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

I’ve mentioned before that some multi-volume arcs, particularly in light novels, can be seen as “the author just wrote a really long book and they had to cut it in half”. This book, the first of a two-part arc, is not that. We get the start of the story, but some characters are introduced and then forgotten as if they were meant to be minor characters, while others take center stage but then vanish 2/3 of the way through. But that’s OK, because this is one man’s journey to show some courage, defeat the bad guys because it’s the right thing to do, kiss his girlfriend for the first time ever, and also, yes, smuggle a huge amount of explosives into New York City in order to sell it off, as they are a gang as well – this is Baccano!, after all. Yes, this volume’s heroic journey is all about Jacuzzi Splot.

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If you find the name Jacuzzi Splot to be somewhat unusual, or even laughable, well, you aren’t alone. Many people in Baccano! have odd names, but Jacuzzi’s is pretty much the one that gets folks talking. More to the point, you may be wondering why this, the second book in a series, features almost none of the characters from the first book. Firo, Ennis, Maiza and the Gandors make brief cameos, but for the most part we meet a new huge cast, which luckily proceeds to get violently whittled down as the book goes on, though in general the named characters seem to do pretty well for themselves. It all takes place on a luxury train going from Chicago to New York City, which has the misfortune to be taken over by a) black-suited terrorists who profess they’re trying to get their leader, Huey Laforet, released; b) white-suited psychopaths, led by a mobster’s nephew, who are here to kill people because it’s fun, and c) the aforementioned delinquent gang, the closest we get to good guys here.

We also get Isaac and Miria, who are the thread that draws the two books together. They’re on the train as well, having decided to rob a mafia gang in order to buy Ennis an expensive present to cheer her up, because that’s the sort of people they are. As always, they’re hilarious, but as with the first book, the novel gives them occasional hidden depths, such as Isaac’s rather subdued reaction to a cabinful of corpses, as if he’s used to this. They’re at their best when inspiring others, though, particularly Jacuzzi, who is the sort to take crappy lines like “there’s a gun… in everyone’s heart!” and take them completely seriously. In general, the new characters hold up well and deserve your attention. Goose is an exception. As a villain, he’s very flat, and probably the weakest part of the book, mostly as he pales next to the evil flamboyance that is Ladd Russo, who is jaw-droppingly horrible in a riveting way. Also, due to the nature of the book, several characters seem to be very underdeveloped, namely the unfortunate child Czeslaw Meyer, and Ladd’s passive to the point of being disturbing girlfriend Lua.

So yes, like Jacuzzi at the end of this book, the reader still has questions. Why did Ladd suddenly disappear midway through the book? Why was a child cut to pieces and tied to the bottom of the train? Who is the Grey Magician and why was he cut from the anime completely? And if the woman in fatigues isn’t the Rail Tracer, who is? (The anime reader is at a disadvantage here, knowing the answers to all but one of those questions. The book reads better if you don’t know the true identity of several people.) We will find out in the third book, which tells the same events as the second but from several different perspectives. In the meantime, smile with Jacuzzi, laugh with Isaac and Miria, and wonder who the hell Claire Stanfield really is.