Instead of the occasional civil servant workplace jokes we got in the first volume by Karino Takatsu, Servant x Service volume 2 is pretty much all soap opera in four-panel comics. Which is a shame, since I don’t care that much about these characters to enjoy 300 pages of will Hasebe successfully ask out the book-obsessed Lucy? can they recover the chief, who speaks through a stuffed rabbit, when he’s accidentally mistaken for a toy? will Chihaya ever tell her […]

The Devil Is a Part-Timer! has a fun concept with a tiny bit of social commentary behind it. It’s a multi-platform franchise, beginning as a light novel series by Satoshi Wagahara, translated and available from Yen On, with four volumes out so far. There was a great war of supernatural forces. The demon generals were defeated at the cusp of victory by a hero rallying the human forces. They all fled to other dimensions, and Sadao (formerly Satan), accompanied by […]

For cute and silly manga fun, Anne Happy: Unhappy Go Lucky! by Cotoji is a pretty good choice. It’s got a weird yet approachable premise: unlucky kids are all put in one high school class together. Hibari, with long dark hair, is our identifiable protagonist. She’s bemoaning her bad luck on her way to the first day of class when she meets Hanako (the Anne of the title, with a short orange cut), who managed to wind up hanging off […]

Servant x Service is a 4-koma manga, a collection of four-panel comic strips. Possibly the best-known of this type in the US is Azumanga Daioh, featuring a group of girls in a school setting. Many of the genre we see published here are based around a similar premise. Servant x Service differs in that it’s a workplace comedy. The series by Karino Takatsu focuses on three new public service workers: Yamagami, whose parents gave her a ridiculous number of names […]

With this fourth omnibus volume of Emma by Kaoru Mori, reprinting the original serialized volume 7 and volume 8, the main storyline concludes after 52 chapters. The leads, by this point, have nearly changed places. William, after being confronted by those who think he’s wronged his ex-fiancee, Eleanor, is determined to find his true love, Emma. Instead of doing what he’s supposed to, he takes action by scooping up Hakim and setting out on a search. Emma, meanwhile, who normally […]

Yowamushi Pedal volume 1 seems like it might be a sports manga, with its focus on cycling, but it’s really about a loner guy learning how special he is. Sakamichi is a meek nerd. He regularly rides his “mommy bike” a long distance over hilly roads to get to Akiba, where he can buy limited-release DVDs and toys and other signs of fandom. (Thanks to the translation notes, I found out “Sakamichi” means “hilly roads”.) He doesn’t realize how hard […]

As expected, I greatly enjoyed A Bride’s Story Volume 7, although my recommendation comes with caveats. Kaoru Mori’s artwork is as lovely and detailed as always, but much of it this time around is dedicated to drawing women at the bathhouse, which means lots of lovingly illustrated naked breasts. Americans who get upset over nudity won’t want to read this volume (but they probably aren’t aware of this series anyway). There is something refreshing about the variety of bodies she […]

Emma Volume 3 is where William and Emma’s relationship really gets interesting. But first, there’s a charming digression that establishes essential background information about William’s family. (See Volume 2 for more history.) William’s father Richard Jones had money but no background. His attempts to join society were rebuffed, with the “right people” blatantly talking about how unsuited he was. We see him meet his eventual wife Aurelia, who is considered hopeless for having no talents. The two marry and create […]