James Nicoll Reviews

Insomniacs After School, Vol. 4 is the fourth tankōbon of Makoto Ojiro’s manga series. Serialized in Shogakukan’s seinen manga magazine Weekly Big Comic Spirits, Insomniacs After School has been ongoing since May 2019. The English translation of Volume Four will appear in December 2023. 

Two insomniacs, Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari, had a meet-cute in , their high school observatory, which turned out to be the sole place where either could sleep. Access to the observatory being dependent on there being a recognized astronomy club, the pair have been relentlessly working to restore the moribund club¹. This demanding effort has kept the boy and girl busy, so that they have no time to ponder just why it is that they enjoy each other’s company so. Nevertheless, their shared hobby is fun and entirely calamity-free².

In this volume: calamity strikes!

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2018’s Magus of the Library, Volume 1 is the first tankōbon in Mitsu Izumi’s secondary-universe fantasy manga series, Toshokan no Daimajutsushi in the original Japanese. Magus has been serialized in Good! Afternoon since November 2017. The English translation appeared in 2019.

Although he is but a young boy and impoverished at that, Theo provides his village with a valuable service. Being not merely from the slums but of mixed-heritage as well, the half-Haupi boy is a person at whom all may sneer, all may bully, without consequence.

Theo is relentlessly upbeat. Nevertheless, one aspect of his lowly status weighs on him. Children from the slums may not use the town library.

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2019’s Roses & Violets is the first volume of Gry Kappel Jensen’s Rosenholm Trilogy. The 2023 English translation is by Sharon E. Rhodes. 

Four very different young women receive invitations to the mysterious Rosenholm Academy on Denmark’s Zealand Island. Maternal Chamomile; timid, sheltered Kirstine; grumpy Malou; and rich Victoria are all potential mages. Rosenholm can teach them how to safely use (Norse-flavored) magic.

Another way to look at it is that Rosenholm will provide a killer with potential victims.

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2020’s Kaiju Girl Caramelise, Volume 4 is the fourth tankōbon of Spica Aoki’s comedic kaiju romance manga. Titled Otome Kaijū Kyaramerize in the original Japanese, Kaiju Girl Caramelise has been serialized in Monthly Comic Alive since early 2018. The English translation of Volume 4 was published in 2021.

Public revelation of Kuroe Akaishi’s relationship with handsome fellow student Arata Minami provokes a reaction — although not the one Kuroe expected.

Background: when stressed, Kuroe transforms into the massive kaiju Harugon. It was as Harugon that she kissed Arata. The press is hounding Arata, who has been dubbed the Kaiju Prince.

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Kozue Amano’s Colori Colore Creare is an on-going science fiction manga. It appears to have launched in 2022.

Adorable young Aka lives with her grandfather on the island of Onobori. Focused on his coffee shop, the old man allows Aka and her buffalo-sized cat Kuruchan to run around unsupervised … provided Aka follows certain reasonable guidelines to avoid plummeting to her death over one of Onobori’s many precipices.

One day, a stranger comes to town.

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2022’s Witch Hat Atelier, Volume 11 is the eleventh tankōbon of Kamome Shirahama’s Witch Hat Atelier fantasy manga series. Witch Hat Atelier (Tongari Bōshi no Atelier in the original Japanese) has been serialized in Kodansha’s Monthly Morning Two magazine since July 2016. The English translation of Volume 11 first appeared in 2023.

Having been convinced to demonstrate some wonderous new spell in an upcoming procession, Coco encounters a foe too formidable even for her: spellcaster’s block.

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2014’s Survivors is the first book in Nahoko Uehashi’s The Deer King series. The 2023 English-language edition was translated by Cathy Hirano.

The sole survivor of the Lone Antler Warriors¹, Van was captured by the Empire of Zol and consigned to the Aquafa salt mine. His life as a slave would have been unpleasant and short, were it not for the black dogs.

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Usotoki Rhetoric Volume 3 is the third tankōbon in Ritsu Miyako’s historical mystery manga series. Usotoki Rhetoric was published in Bessatsu Hana to Yume from June 26, 2012 to March 26, 2018¹.

Showa Era Detective Iwai Soma and assistant Urabe Kanoko board a train on a very important mission. That mission? Ducking out on the debts Soma cannot pay.

A chance encounter with Soma’s journalist sister Miyabe proves diverting. Miyabe has a genuine case, one for which her insolvent brother’s talents could be useful: the case of the doll murderer.

Is that a doll that murders? Or a doll that is murdered? The answer appears to be yes.

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Monster, Volume 1 is the first tankōbon collecting Naoki Urasawa’s thriller manga series. Monster was published by in Big Comic Original between December 1994 and December 2001.

Second son Kenzo Tenma sought his medical fortunes in Düsseldorf, West Germany. Brilliant neurosurgeon Tenma caught the eye of Eisler Memorial Hospital Director Heinemann. Provided only that Tenma remain a superlative surgeon while obeying Heinemann’s every directive¹, Tenma is ensured wealth, status, and the hand of Heinemann’s beautiful daughter Eva in marriage.

Too bad for Tenma that Tenma has a conscience. Too bad for the world.

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2022’s Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Volume 2 is the second tankōbon in Hiromu Arakawa’s ongoing modern fantasy manga series. Yomi no Tsugai in the original Japanese, it has been serialized in Monthly Shōnen Gangan magazine since December 2021. Volume 2 in English translation was released in 2023.

Following an attack that killed most of the adults in the rustic mountain village of Hagashimura, young Yuru, his guardians Dera and Hana, and his two demons, Right and Left, fled to Japan’s lowlands. Although he is utterly unfamiliar with modern society or its technology, Yuru is determined to find the woman who led the attack, a woman who claims to be his twin sister Asa.

Yuru’s quest was completely successful except for two details. He did not find Asa. He was captured by members of the Kagemori household.

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