James Nicoll Reviews

Insomniacs After School, Vol. 5 is the fifth 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 Five is 2024.

Insomniacs Ganta Nakami and Isaki Magari can’t fall asleep anywhere else than their school’s astronomical observatory. To protect access to the observatory, the pair needs to revive the school astronomy club. Their previous effort at raising the club’s profile having been sabotaged by weather, they now focus on a photography contest. 

Isaki’s grandmother’s house enjoys scenic location, rife with stunning vistas. The house is currently unoccupied. Perfect for two teens to use for their own purposes. Who knows? Perhaps astronomy will be among their activities. 

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Giant Spider & Me: A Post-Apocalyptic Tale, Volume 1 is the first volume of Kikori Morino’s slice-of-life post-apocalyptic manga. Giant Spider was first serialized in web magazine Alterna pixiv beginning in September 2016. The English translation came out in 2020.

In another era, Nagi’s father would have been deemed criminally negligent. But thanks to an apocalypse about which readers will learn nothing, there are no authorities to compel attention to child welfare. Nagi’s father is free to leave twelve-year-old Nagi alone at home for extended periods while her dad explores what is left of the world.

Perhaps he died out on the road. Nagi does not know. What she does know is that she is alone and have been alone for some time.

Nagi’s isolation is about to change.

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Hye-young Pyun’s 2012 The Owl Cries is a horror-tinged thriller. The 2023 English translation is by Sora Kim-Russell.

Lawyer Ha-in Lee has no love for his abusive brother, Gyeong-in. Not only did Gyeong-in make Ha-in’s childhood a misery, as an adult Gyeong-in is a failure who sponges off Ha-in and their mother. Nevertheless, duty is duty. When Gyeong-in vanishes after a distraught, enigmatic phone-call, Ha-in sets out to find his missing brother.

This proves to have been a terrible decision.

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Sven Holm’s 1967 Termush is a post-holocaust novel. Originally published in Danish as Termush, Atlanterhavskysten (Termush, Atlantic Coast), Termush was translated into English by Sylvia Clayton in 1969. This edition includes an introduction by Jeff Vandermeer, copyright 2023.

Although billions perished in the great disaster, there is happy news. Those possessed of prudence and sufficient funds were protected from the calamity by Termush’s shelters. So were the staff required to serve the wealthy hand and foot.

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2019’s Magus of the Library, Volume 3 is the third 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 2020.

Having reached the fabled Aftzaak, City of Books, life as a kafna (librarian) stretches before Theo… provided he can pass the grueling entrance exams.

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Yoko Ogawa’s 2008 The Diving Pool is a collection of three psychological horror novellas that were originally published separately in Japanese. The 2008 English translation was by Stephen Snyder.

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1948¹​’s Death on Gokumon Island is the second volume in Seishi Yokomizo’s Detective Kosuke Kindaichi series. The 2022 English edition was translated by Louise Heal Kawai.

Like many Japanese men, eccentric detective Kindaichi spent 1937 to 1945 serving in the Japanese army. A lucky survivor, he was repatriated back to Japan. Kindaichi has one final war-related task, one that brings the no longer young man to ill-omened Gokumon (Hell’s Gate) Island.

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Gu Byeong-Mo’s The Old Woman with the Knife is a stand-alone thriller. First published as Pagwa in 2013, the 2022 English translation is by Chi-Young Kim.

Hornclaw is an unremarkable-appearing sixty-five-year-old woman. Hornclaw conscientiously avoids any detail that might stick in people’s minds. After all, it would not do to be a memorable-appearing ​“disease control specialist” … or as the police might phrase it if they ever caught her, assassin for hire.

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2020’s The Apothecary Diaries: Volume 9 is the ninth light novel in Natsu Hyuuga’s secondary-universe quasi-historical Apothecary Diaries mystery series. The illustrations are by Touko Shino. The 2023 English language edition was translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Series love-interest Jinshi removed himself from Li’s imperial succession by branding himself. Luckily for the badly burned Jinshi, he has Maomao on hand to treat the burn. Less luckily, Maomao is an apothecary, not an actual physician.

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2017’s To Your Eternity, Volume 4¹ is the fourth tankōbon for Yoshitoki Oima’s fantasy manga. Originally published as Fumetsu no Anata e, the series has run since 2016 in Weekly Shōnen Magazine. The English translation of Volume 4 appeared in 2018.

Fushi, a protean entity created by the mysterious Beholder for reasons poorly explained², has been a member of Gugu’s household for four years. This has permitted Fushi, an immortal shapeshifter, an opportunity to master looking human.

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