Most of Food Wars volume 8 is dedicated to the ongoing competition of the Fall Classic, as begun in the previous book, but there are a few digressions that serve as highlights. First, as the finals to determine the Classic participants conclude, Soma faces off with Akira, a spice expert, in making curry dishes. The importance of aroma in cooking is emphasized, as dishes are described as fragrance bombs. The descriptions are heavy on the virtues of various spices in […]

Love Stage!! (published by SuBLime Manga) is now the boys’ love manga series I’ve followed the longest, making it to three volumes with me still enjoying it. That’s because the characters, as written by Eiki Eiki and drawn by Taishi Zaou, are so fun and most of their encounters so good-hearted. Over the past two books, Izumi has come to terms with his burgeoning feelings for Ryoma. I imagine that the typical yaoi fan is something like Ryoma: comfortable with […]

Now that we’ve established the premise of Love Stage!! (story by Eiki Eiki, drawn by Taishi Zaou, published by SuBLime), volume 2 is about building the relationship between manga wannabe Izumi and actor Ryoma. The light-hearted tone of the story is established early on, when Ryoma drops by Izumi’s school to wait for him after class. Izumi, embarrassed by some of the physical contact they had in the previous book, runs away, but doesn’t get far, thinking to himself, “Crap, […]

The mismatched romance manga series by Maki Enjoji concludes in Happy Marriage?! volume 10. First, we have to abruptly wrap up the cliffhanger from the previous book, with Chiwa attacked on the street. Hokuto is handling the situation badly, since it reminds him of the event that killed his mother and setting him on the competitive path he took to take over the family company. That’s the big plot element that has to be resolved before we can get to […]

Case Closed volume 56 begins with a whodunit I was immediately attracted to. A famous mystery novelist is going to be featured in a magazine piece, so he, detective Richard Moore, the interviewer, and the photographer spend the night at his house. After we observe him berating his editor over a small, obsessive point, they all retire for the night — but in the morning, the writer is found dead! The attention to detail, the publishing characters, and the classic […]

In contrast to the previous book, which emphasized the emotional, personal discovery, Food Wars volume 7 jumps right into the competition, which means the book is a never-ending parade of creative food dishes, provided by a revolving list of student chefs with quickly definable quirks. There’s a character page at the beginning you’ll find yourself referring back to. Don’t read this volume just before dinner, either, because it will make you crave some variant of curry, the theme of the […]

It takes something special for me to enjoy a yaoi title, since I’m not a natural fan of the boy/boy sex genre. In the case of Love Stage!!, that extra element is humor in a celebrity context. The title’s story is by Eiki Eiki, it’s drawn by Taishi Zaou, and it’s published by SuBLime Manga. The premise is goofy but fun. Izumi’s parents are famous. They were filming a commercial involving a wedding 10 years ago, and Izumi, a boy, […]

So Cute It Hurts!! is one of those “only in manga” setups. Megumu (girl) and Mitsuru (boy) are twins. Neither has yet found true love, because she plays history games and he’s a player. He’s sporty and adored while she’s a bit of a fan-geek. He’s flunking history, so he badgers his sister into pretending to be him for the makeup test while he dresses as her. His ego isn’t affected by this at all, which is where the title […]