Although the premise of Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! is ludicrous — if you’re a virgin when you turn thirty, you get telepathy by touch to make up for it — there’s a sweetness to the BL series by Yuu Toyota that I appreciate. There are plenty of familiar tropes; the second volume had the group vacation trip, while in this third volume, Adachi is sick and Kurosawa, who likes him, comes over to […]

I became familiar with the work of Gengoroh Tagame, as so many people did, through My Brother’s Husband. That’s a well-meaning, comfortable story about a man learning not to be afraid of gay people by meeting his dead twin’s husband. Many of the chapters are almost lessons, or even in the style of a very special sitcom episode, the kind that educates on social issues. The Passion of Gengoroh Tagame of course shares the art style, with glorious images of […]

A Man and His Cat volume 6 continues with dramatic events. I’m more comfortable with them this time around, compared to the last book, because they happen to the humans, not the felines. The man of the title, Mr. Kanda, has performance anxiety. He used to be a famous pianist, but he can’t stand to be on stage any more. He works with another man, Moriyama, who dreams of being in a band… and his dreams are coming true. He’s […]

With volume 10, Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu has really settled down into a comfort read, much like the comfort food it promotes. One of the soldiers who’ve been frequent customers of the pub has an issue. His wife is pregnant, and her family has sent them excessive amounts of dried squid from her homeland. They want to give it away, so they enlist the izakaya’s help. (I was reminded of a similar problem that arises with Southern US home gardens, although […]

A Man and His Cat volume 5 was much more dramatic than I expected — or maybe wanted. I like this series by Umi Sakurai because seeing a lonely older man and an overlooked cat find each other was comforting and cozy. While this volume follows up the theme of the previous book about allowing oneself to rely on friends, the actual events were somewhat nerve-wracking. Another cat that Fukumaru recognizes from the pet shop is lost and hurt. When […]

I’m impressed that as the Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu series has continued, our knowledge of the recurring cast has allowed for stories that move beyond delicious food to more subtle explorations of family and political motivations. Although the delicious food is still present, making my mouth water as I read. In volume 9, those stories include some humanizing moments for Gehrnot the tax collector. He almost has a reunion with his brother, the traveling actor, and he helps some warehouse owners […]

I haven’t written about this series in a while, but I’ve kept enjoying it. It’s a quiet pleasure, particularly as we continue to rotate through moments in the life of its recurring cast of customers and guests. The Japanese restaurant continues to serve basic dishes from that cuisine to medieval Europeans through its unspecified magical location. Otherworldly Izakaya Nobu volume 8 shows us several milestones in the lives of those vsitors: Former soldier Hans has quit his job in the […]

Umi Sakurai continues to build out this world, balancing moments of substantial emotional depth with scenes of cute cat behavior with universal appeal. A Man and His Cat volume 4 follows up from the previous volume. Hibino’s resentment towards Mr. Kanda, from the days when they were both concert pianists, is explained. Thankfully, they get new chances to interact, now that Kanda has retired from the stage, when they meet in the pet store and Kanda begins helping Hibino with […]