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REVIEW | "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun: IruMafia" - Vol. 1 | B3crew.com

Out of all of the good boys in anime and manga, no one reaches the top tier quite like Iruma-kun. The star of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun has the biggest of hearts, the best of friends, and the strongest of wills. (In fact, he’s the only protagonist that I’m okay with having all of the women that are smitten by him; he’s that nice!) But would Iruma-kun act the same if — instead of the Underworld — he found himself in the middle of the mafia? Yes, it’s an odd thing to ponder, but the spinoff IruMafia is here to answer that question!

Instead of his teenage years, IruMafia starts off with Iruma at the age of five. He’s homeless, parentless, and goes day-to-day to find his grub. Yet even when he absolutely needs to eat, he often gives what he finds to other less-fortunate people. One day, Iruma finds an older man passed out near his sleeping quarters. True to his nature, Iruma nurses the man back to health, even giving him his lone loaf of bread.

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REVIEW | "Monmusu Paradise ~Visitors~ | B3crew.com

I’ll be blunt: I’m a sucker for good monster girls content. Monster Musume, Monster Girl Doctor, and Interviews with Monster Girls are just a handful of series that I’ve consumed and enjoyed thanks to my love for these demi-humans. So when I came across Siluman Soft’s new erotic adventure game Monmusu Paradise ~Visitors~, I was intrigued enough to give it a play-through. After I had completed every task, Monmusu Paradise left me feeling like I only reached first base.

The premise of Monmusu Paradise ~Visitors~ is pretty simple. You arrive on Paradise Island, but you don’t have a lot of money to spare. So in order to get the dough to experience the pleasures of Paradise Island, you will have to do a few quests. They can range from fetch quests to aiding with certain tasks.

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Shameless Tuesdays: Livre 168 | Robin Ross | B3crew.com

Sometimes you gotta get in touch with nature in order to find that magical sound. Pennsylvania's Robin Ross & The TW Howlers got in touch so much, they named their latest EP based on the experience! Back To The Forest may be an audible experience, but it has a very piney scent to it throughout its five tracks. This is very clear in "Walk With Me", which goes heavy with the slide guitar whilst tipping its cowboy hat to the things that breed inspiration. With the power of the dual lead vocals and guitar of Ross & TW Howell, Back to the Forest acts like a solid camping buddy for your ears. And like a careful woodcarver, the band's leader Robin Ross has whittled for us a Shameless Tuesdays playlist that embraces the Great Outdoors!

Click here to listen!

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REVIEW | "Dogsred" - Volume Two | B3crew.com

Bostonians know how important it is to keep a legacy alive. Whether it was the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick dynasty of the New England Patriots or watching Bobby Orr rewrite the hockey game for defensemen, we know how much it means to keep these sports history moments alive for the sake of the fandom. But like all legacies, they don’t last forever, as an undefeated team will one day know what it’s like to taste the agony of defeat. The second volume of Dogsred showcases this well, as one team is on the cusp of its twentieth straight championship.

That team is the Oinokami High School hockey squad. For these high schoolers, all they’ve known is how to win. With their championship game on the horizon, Rou decides to watch, skipping out on his former figure skating rival’s big moment in the spotlight. At the packed arena, Rou witnesses just how intense a real hockey game can get, with Oinokami going up against Hachinohe High School. Standing as close as he can get, Rou pays attention to what makes hockey one of the most brutal and fast-paced sports in the world!

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REVIEW | "Let’s Do It Already!" - Volume Five | B3crew.com

Let’s face it: the Katsuragi Family outright sucks! Poor Keiichiro can’t be allowed to have a normal school life, much less enjoy his relationship with Yuri Hasegawa. Nevertheless, our romantic leads in Let’s Do It Already! have often found ways to overcome the rules that Keiichiro’s family keeps forcing down their throats. With that being said, those bastard parents have gone too damn far in the manga’s fifth volume!

At first, it seemed like we would have some big progress with our leads. Keiichiro is asked by the school staff to tutor Yuri, in order to avoid her failing and being pushed back a grade. It’s in this moment where we see the true lengths of Keiichiro’s love goes for Yuri, as he spares nothing when it comes to getting his girl to pass. This includes hiring tutors, using visual aids, and the most deep and mind-numbingly dense study guides imaginable!

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REVIEW | "The Alters" | B3crew.com

You’re on a distant planet. All of your crew mates are dead, but you need more help to escape from this dire situation. And you have a few days to get off, or risk losing it all. Thankfully, with the aid of a magical material, you can create new crew mates from your own DNA. But having just more yous around just won’t cut it; you’ve got to adjust their destiny. Thus begins the tale of The Alters, the latest game from 11 bit studios (This War of Mine).

The concept of The Alters is very much out of left field. Players take control of Jan Dolski, the remaining crew member of a massive planetary base. With everyone else dead, Jan must create new life with Rapidium, a newly discovered element that allows him to bring new variations of himself to life. Using the base’s quantum computer, Jan then alters the lives of his clones, thereby giving them new jobs such as mechanic, miner, doctor, or even botanist.

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REVIEW | "Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life" - Vol. 1 | B3crew.com

We’ve all heard myths of werewolves, ranging from how they transform in a full moon to their thirst for human flesh. But that’s the thing about myths: they’re not real. However, if a werewolf were to exist, there’s a good chance that they’d be as chill as the average human being. That is, if they’re anything like the titular character in Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life.

The main focus of the manga isn’t Tsumiki, but rather the human Yutaka Shinso. He’s the kind of guy who chose to go to school two hours away from home, in order to get a fresh start in life. The problem wasn’t due to him being unable to make friends and the like. Rather, it was the fact that Yutaka found himself trying way too hard to fit in, to the point where he lost his true self. Thankfully, that’s where Tsumiki comes in to save the day!

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REVIEW | "How Do We Relationship?" - Volume Twelve | B3crew.com

And just like that, we are back to square one. It seemed pretty obvious that the writing was on the wall for the main couples of How Do We Relationship?. Even as both Miwa and Saeko found compromise with their girlfriends, Tamaki and Yuria, it felt like something was amiss. And as Volume Twelve of How Do We Relationship? shows, that feeling can grow into an inevitable gut instinct to just break things off.

The first casualty is the pairing of Miwa and Tamaki. Even with the amount of love the two had for each other, the needs of one couldn’t be satisfied by the other. In fact, a night of sex transforms Miwa into an emotional wreck, with her unable to even look Tamaki in the eye afterwards. It evolves into the realization that the two just really aren’t compatible. Yes, they love each other, but what Miwa wants in life, Tamaki can’t deliver without exiting her comfort zone.

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REVIEW | "Kaiju No. 8: B-Side" - Volume One | B3crew.com

Spinoffs can be tough. While the writer of the main series can “advise” a spinoff, they don’t often contribute to the actual storytelling. As such, the outcome of the spinoff can sometimes be terrible. (I’m looking at you, My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions!) Kaiju No. 8: B-Side is different. Not only does Kaiju No. 8 creator Naoya Matsumoto contribute to the narrative (which he cowrote with author Kenji Ando), but it does the one thing spinoffs absolutely should: take the spotlight off of the main character.

The first volume of B-Side is actually based off of Ando’s Kaiju No. 8: Close-up! The Third Division novel. Chapters 1-4 focus on Soshiro Hoshina, who’s being followed around by a camera crew. New rookies are in the middle of training, as Hoshina talks about the potential these up-and-comers have. It then gives Hoshina a chance to reflect on how he became a member of Third Division.

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REVIEW | "Mission: Yozakura Family" - Volume Seventeen | B3crew.com

When you’re dealing with a big family of assassins and spies, the thought of one of your own joining the side of the enemy may pop up from time to time. So it felt inevitable that within the story of Mission: Yozakura Family, a couple of siblings may find themselves working alongside Papa Momo. At the end of the last volume, Futaba and Shinzo were brainwashed into joining Momo, leaving the family frustrated. So now the question is, how are they going to get them back?

Volume Seventeen first begins with the aftermath of the brainwashing. Sibling versus sibling, in a couple of fights that show just how strong Futaba and Shinzo really are. So strong, in fact, that no other sibling can actually take them down and slap some sense into them. Kyoichiro may be the strongest out of everyone, but you’d need at least three of him to take down their brother and sister.

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Shameless Tuesdays: Livre 167 | Linds Sais | B3crew.com

A good pop song doesn't just bang; it rides high into the sunset! Canada's Linds Sais gets back on the saddle with her latest EP Glitter Cowgirl (in stores this Friday), which has more in common with the Deep South than the Great White North. Taking a cue from the likes of Sabrina Carpenter, Orville Peck, and Rina Sawayama, Sais blends cyberpunk pop and epic country to craft six songs that breathe lust and empowerment into every beat and syllable. The real highlight can be found in "Golden Hour", which oozes with Spanish horns and flamenco flair. Now with her bronco roped in, Sais kicks her spurs into this week's Shameless Tuesdays!

Click here to listen!

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REVIEW | "Akane-banashi" - Volume Twelve | B3crew.com

Where Akane-banashi shines is in its storytelling. Rakugo has been around for hundreds of years, with just as many tales to spin in the profession. But our heroine has come up with a concept that many other rakugo performers haven’t ever pondered: the shared universe of the rakugo. It’s in this very idea where Akane-banashi glows gleefully in its twelfth volume.

Things have kicked off at Asagao’s futatsume promotion, with Akane telling the tale of “Tanuki Dice”. But her own promotion is on the line too, with Arakawa Arch Four member Taizen there to watch her do her thing. But with a certain Afro-haired member already telling Taizen not to promote her, it seems like fate has already made its roll. Fortunately for Akane, the loaded dice is in her favor.

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REVIEW | "I Wanna Do Bad Things with You" - Volume Six | B3crew.com

Boy meets girl, girl becomes boy’s minion, boy and girl commit chaos, and feelings happen. It’s that old storytelling cliché we see in many rom-coms, but I Wanna Do Bad Things with You seems to get a whole lot of it right. And in its sixth volume, some major progress happens, the kind that changes lives and brings the sunshine onto a cloudy day. And it all starts at the tail end of the summer festival.

After Kei gives her a hand at making the perfect summer festival date happen, Mamori finds herself alone with Soshi. The fireworks are happening, and Mamori is feeling tuckered out. It’s a moment that allows Soshi to be her lap pillow, a situation that leaves Mamori flustered. But within all of the noise of the fireworks, Mamori utters something: “I love you, Fuji.”

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REVIEW | "Show-ha Shoten!" - Volume Seven | B3crew.com

Akinari Asakura isn’t just great with comedy; he also knows how to tell one hell of a story. This should already be known by now for those who read Show-ha Shoten!, which is drawn by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata. However, this tale of manzai comedy isn’t just focused on the laughs these comedians bring to the stage. As Volume Seven shows, it’s also about the teardrops that pave their road to stardom.

Once again, One Way Ticket to the Top doesn’t take up much of this volume’s spotlight. After Broken Glass Slipper wows the judges, the next three duos go up and try to win the Wara-1 Koshien finals. Kamikaze Yellowtail, whose bit is about the love of swimming, gets some laughs from the crowd, but not as big as Broken Glass Slipper. Their score ranks lower, meaning they’ve been completely eliminated from the competition.

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Shameless Tuesdays: Livre 166 | Celeste Corsano | B3crew.com

It's important to have a yin-yang balance, even when it comes to creating music. Celeste Corsano knows this well, as her two recent songs offer that perfect symmetry between light and dark. "Sunlight Gazing" has that walk-in-the-park vibe that brings to mind swing sets, slides, and the occasional cigarette smoke from the teens loitering in the back. Meanwhile, "Nightbird" may seem like a melancholy melody, but its loud chorus delivers haunting chills that'll dance on your backbone. These are only two songs Celeste Corsano is unleashing this summer, with more to come while the temperatures run hot and the air-conditioners run cool. So until it's time for the next batch of songs, Celeste gives off a Shameless Tuesdays playlist that offers a solid balance of moods and styles.

Click here to listen!

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REVIEW | "Rainbows After Storms" - Volume Four | B3crew.com

At long, long last, Luka Kobachi has finally stopped telling her readers that Nanoha and Chidori are dating. This constant reminder was a major headache in Rainbows After Storms, as anyone who has been reading it can clearly see that these two are girlfriends. On top of that, Volume Four actually delivers some solid storytelling when an old fling of Chidori’s suddenly appears. But first, it’s summertime!

When the sun’s out, that means readers are in for the contractually obligated beach storyline. Chidori is a little self-conscious about herself in a swimsuit, whereas Nanoha has the confidence of a supermodel. Both want to do couples things, like renting a swim tube for two, but it’s hard to be doing date stuff when their friends are right there. So a little compromise is made, and everyone gets to have a ride.

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REVIEW | "You and I Are Polar Opposites" - Volume Five | B3crew.com

I don’t know what it is about You and I Are Polar Opposites, but something feels very off. It’s not that it has had a change in tone, nor is it because its characters are losing their charm. What it could be is the fact that there are all of these moments in its fifth volume that are manga rom-com staples, but they lack anything new or unique to it. Dare I say, it’s making You and I Are Polar Opposites lose its luster.

First, let me focus on the positive aspects of this volume. The duo of Tani and Suzuki still make for a great couple. Despite their differences, they find ways to bond and strengthen their relationship. A night making Christmas cake at Suzuki’s place (maybe) gives the couple their first kiss, all the while keeping things both cute and tense between the two of them. How Suzuki’s brother comes in and almost ruins the mood is also pretty entertaining, and his reaction to seeing another man’s shoes in the hallway is — without a doubt — great!

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