#I mean that she's depicted in the manga and concert more or less the same

[reinemichele]

I don't want to kick a hornet's nest in either direction, but I took a small glance at the horasan forums earlier, and... it's a little refreshing (?) to go from this webbed site-- where people cherry pick whatever they want from "canon", make things up, and harass others for not going along with what is basically Lying-- to the forums where someone brought up one of the concerts and IMMEDIATELY got slammed with "The manga and concerts aren't canon!!!" 😭

[nanakah]

Clothing notes

as i research manga panels for my art (im the slowest artist ever HAHAHAHAHAHAH), I ended up with some cute stuff

so i will share with yall a couple of cute observations that i abstracted, and given my previous attempt for their dance outfits not being so far off the mark, here's my casual clothing style observations for Ishimiko

I'll add pictures to it later and make it a separate post, I just had to get it out of my system before I forget about it completely

Ishigami: dresses like a teenager that had an emo phase but got over it (exhibits: converse, checkered stuff, scarves, slip on shoes, etc). It's unfair comparing him to Shirogane because Miyuki doesn't have the *money* to think about fashion, but Ishigami's outfits make it obvious that despite his hair giving off the wrong impression he doesn't care about his appearance, he knows about fashion. he probably reads about trends and flattering styles. his outfits are well coordinated and have a tangible style. his hair is not as unkempt as it looks, it's not greasy or messy. I ironically have the same hair cut LOL it doesn't stay as smooth as his if you don't blow dry it or if you dont trim/cut it regularly, and aka has said in an interview he cuts it once every 2 months. He takes notice of Miko's hair so it goes to show he probably cares about his. He also canonically owns a hair iron, so...

I'd describe his main style as hipster/urban/boho chic. probably wouldn't be caught alive wearing an anime or game shirt in public unless it's discreet enough to go unnoticed by normies (but would wear it at home/as pajamas)

Miko: Miko dresses very cute. She also has a very tasteful fashion sense and despite saying she doesn't dress up at school because of morals or whatever, whenever we see her in street clothes she's crazy adorable. I'm not sure if her ears are pierced or if Aka REALLY wants to pierce them, but she's often depicted with multiple earrings or with a focus on her ears. She dresses in a feminine/cute/girly fashion, but given the bad girl spread she could do harujuku well too.

I had a hunch about Miko after reading Aka's interview that she is supposed to have big boobs, and the dance chapter confirmed it. Miko does have a large chest, but she's modest rather than the kind that flaunts it. What I mean is, a lot of her clothes are classical women's clothes that conceal cleavage. Kaguya is more on the elegant side of the scale and Chika has more bubbly/vivid clothes and less worry about hiding her chest

She apparently likes dresses/skirts a lot and takes very good care of her hair, it's gorgeous.

She probably would wear an anime or game shirt under the same conditions as Ishigami, or in a place where it's the expected dress code. ex: concert, comiket, etc

[baconpal]

talkin bout fuckig manga

hey it’s me, haven’t had internet for over a week and i’ve been sick and uni and blah blah blah time for a rant about manga

this time its about  "Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru", tl;dr, good manga read it idk

lots of bullshit below the cut

Before anything I say gets too confusing or I go off on an insane tangent, just know my recommendation is that you read "Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru". It's not very easy to find online since it has an official English release (which my recommendation extends far enough to suggest I might pick up in the future, just to have it, but I am very stingy), but there's an alright torrent of all the volumes on your local anime torrenting website, and is at the very least worth the trouble of reading as such. There is also an anime that gets better as it goes, but the manga is my primary recommendation. Beyond this point I'm not gonna give much regard to what I write, so get ready for anything, read the manga and see if you agree with me, or don't and see if I care:

BOUT THE ANIME: The SoreMachi anime is one of those rare comedy anime you find where the animation and overall production is just really extra the entire time. Hopefully you know what I mean because I won't really be able to explain it any other way, it's simply one of those shows where the jokes are decent and it's a fun time for the most part. Unfortunately, the anime makes a couple of critical missteps that kept me from getting far into it when I first tried watching it about a year ago, and in retrospect seem even less reasonable.

Starting with the good, as an adaptation it does a good job with most chapters it covers, it properly sources where each chapter comes from incase you intend to read the manga and skip around to catch up, and the anime adapts some sections to have additional jokes that fit very naturally in to the story. It also covers up some of those problems only manga can have like having a concert segment without any actual music involved, until they invent mp3-paper it's just something we'll have to live with. Translation work was pretty good (I watched the [WhyNot] release for those who care), which is extra important for something as difficult to translate as jokes from another language. The set of episodes they chose to end on was very good, and was expanded to be a lot more impactful in the anime. If it wasn't for the last episode being as strong as it was I may have given up on finding the manga when I saw it wasn't super easy to read online.

As for what the anime fails in, some episodes feature some really blatant over-acting that doesn't really help make characters believable, and there's this obnoxious gag that continues the whole where through where most scenes have a few seconds long line from what is essentially a forced mascot character, which usually mean nothing and only serve to harm the pacing of many episodes (there isn't even any sort of equivalent bit in the manga so I really don't know why they did it, most of the anime original jokes are pretty good so I just really don't get it). The biggest issue the anime faces is that the source material is about 140 chapters, while the anime is only able to cover 24 chapters. This comes with a LOT of problems, the first being what I'd call the "required reading". SoreMachi is not a 1-note simple comedy where you can skip to any chapter and be completely okay; There are many small but meaningful subplots lying beneath, and characters have a fair bit of development throughout. What this means for the anime is that the first 3-4 episodes are just the first few chapters of the manga, which are a bit rough and not as good as the majority of the work, which is true of a lot of comics (god fuck I promise there will be more than a first chapter of my comic I promise it'll get better fuck). In terms of the anime by itself, I'd say episode 1 is decent, 2 is middling, and by 3/4 their still taking a while to introduce members of the cast, and I didn't immediately want to finish it. I put the show down for a long time until my internet started dying and I wanted to watch something fun. Slapping it back on at episode 5 I immediately had a great time and watched the rest of the show pretty soon after. While I understand the reasoning behind doing this, the anime does not pay off this structure, as beyond the first few episodes, the chapters start being presented out of release order and out of chronological order, kind of destroying any consistent throughline. This decision in and of itself isn't the worst, since the comic isn't always chronological, and the volume ordering is a bit different from the release ordering, but the inconsistency makes the first few episodes feel lessened without reason. The other large failure that comes with only animating about 1/7th of the entire work is that many themes and concepts that are core to the manga are not represented in the anime well at all. One of the biggest is the rare but unnerving supernatural chapters, of which only one is animated, and not a particularly good one. In order to talk about these themes I'll have to transition into talking about the manga itself, since they aren't part of the anime.

DA MANGA: So one last recommendation that you read the manga, the whole damn thing. Cus we're gettin into themes and character moments that take a long time to pay off, and obviously is all part of my interpretations, so if that stuff means anything to you don't let me ruin it for ya.

The title of the manga is, in essence, the entire manga's "punchline" in that every chapter could meaningfully end with simply the text "And yet the town still turns..." (My translation of the title, fuck "And yet, the town revolves" or "But the town moves"); by this I mean most chapters end in an anti-climax where a mystery is left unsolved, or a mystery is solved and undercut by the realization that life simply keeps on going without much change. This is used to essentially force your eyes open to all possibilities when reading, as the main character spends her time acting like a detective, and these mysteries end up as either misunderstandings, secrets, riddles, and sometimes something out of the ordinary happens that makes you unable to pin anything down firmly. Similarly, these endings aren't always read-and-forget scenarios. Several chapters come back in the form of a continued joke, a continued mystery, or contribute to some greater purpose later. Readers are properly rewarded for keeping everything they can in mind, while also tormenting such people with loose ends.

I enjoy Hotori as a protagonist due to her character being defined not in flaws and strengths, but in mindedness. Hotori seems like a simple "haha she's dumb" character to start, but consistently throughout she proves that her strengths are in memory, observation, and deduction, while lacking in some more common sense and abilities. Her brain works in strange ways that some people may or may not understand, such as her need to think through even the most trivial fictional scenarios, which I relate to deeply.

The art and paneling throughout are wonderful. Ishiguro Masakazu is one of those artists who draws very simple characters, but knows how to use details and depth to breath so much life into the artwork. He also clearly uses the occasional supernatural happenings as an excuse to draw what he loved, as all sorts of artistic depictions of the supernatural come out that simply look satisfying. These parts obviously meant a lot to him since he's been working on a primarily mystery-action manga that has a lot more of that stuff in it. (Also, as hindsight is 20/20, if you've read any of his new work you'll notice that the main character of it is eerily similar to a character who shows up very late in SoreMachi that the author obviously fell in love with, cus she just keeps coming back and even ends up with a really unsettling end to her character arc despite only being introduced as a component in a harmless mystery. Feel free to call me out for the same shit 30 years from now when I'll probably do the same shit)

I'd like to get into some of the major themes of this work, as a lot of them hit very close to my mind (which I guess is true of any theme you recognize for yourself, you wouldn't really "get it" if it didn't mean something to you...).

The simplest theme, again, comes from the title. The main character, Hotori, expresses a desire that the town she lives in continues going on, unchanged forever. This is obviously a fear of change, which ya know, same, but also an exploration of what it means to fear change. Hotori actively tries to keep businesses from closing down, keep friends from leaving, and keep relationships from changing, while simultaneously making all sorts of new relationships and solving mysteries. Hotori even comes to realize that simply learning the truth about something changes the world through your own perspective, and that such changes can't be undone. In spite of this, Hotori mostly gets her wish, any time she fears that a large change will impact the town, its resolved about the same as any other issue. Whether its a message that even time can't keep you from your loved ones and that change isn't worth fearing, or a concession that large changes to the setting would be a bad idea in terms of humor, I can't really decide. This theme reaches it's conclusion in what is one in a series of "ending" kinda chapters at the end of the series. Hotori is faced with a supernatural ethical situation, save her town from destruction at the cost of her existence, or live through the disaster, knowing her town and the people in it will forever be changed. While the actual result is that nobody disappears and nothing is lost, and the event may have simply been a strange dream, Hotori confidently decides that sparing the people in her town from a life altering event is worth giving up her memories with them. A kind of bold spit-in-the-face to the idea that change is okay, where we find that Hotori didn't fear change for herself, but rather for the people around her.

There's another major idea in this manga, which takes a very long time to pay off, and completes its arc at the very very very actual end of the series, the idea of "leading someone to be something". A character that rides that line between main and side character, Shizuka, is a writer of detective novels, who feels the best person to judge her works would be a version of herself without the bias of being the author. She tries to achieve this by leading Hotori to be interested in detective works (including her own) and generally be just like her, starting from a young age. The end result is a young girl dead set on being a detective herself (or at least another novelist), while Shizuka keeps her identity as an author secret. She then uses Hotori as a scapegoat for herself, attempting to see how she would solve various mysteries and use that as inspiration, and this is depicted as though Shizuka were some sort of villain, which she may feel like she is. The end result of it all, though, is that Hotori was likely already a detective-minded person, and that even if Shizuka pushed her down that path, it was Hotori's decision to continue down it, and the very end of the manga is a scene revealing that Hotori figured out Shizuka's secret at some point, and even still respected Shizuka and aspired to reach her, and the two accept each other for who they are. I enjoy this ending a lot, since as an artist I've worried that some of my love or aspirations for and from other artists came with an ulterior motive of wanting a better community for art to exist in, but people are people and will make their own decisions, and some day everyone may be able to become equals in a truly meaningful sense, where everyone is inspired by and guiding each other together.

So that probably didn't mean shit to nobody and I didn't even really talk about anything in the comic like most of the main characters or any of the shit goin on but ya know fuck you go read it, and thanks for reading this.

[putschki1969]

All about Hikaru’s Otaku Activities Vol.2 Translation

All about Hikaru’s Otaku Activities Vol.2 Start of summer anime season! On the topic of battle and non-battle anime

In this column Kalafina’s Hikaru talks passionately about the geeky things she loves. In the second edition we find out how Hikaru chooses her anime. On top of that she discusses the difference between battle anime and non-battle anime*.

Newcomers and old acquaintances alike, welcome to the second edition of my casual column “All About Hikaru’s Otaku Activities”! In the first edition I introduced myself so those who are new to this webseries please be sure to check it out ♪ (can be found here!)

With the beginning of July we have entered the summer anime season. At the end of June I started to check out which shows I would like to watch but of course we each have a different standard of what we like to watch, don’t we? Personally, I tend to make my decision based on the story outline and visuals. That doesn’t just apply to anime, it’s the same with manga and movies, the first thing I always do is check whether I like the design. The more I like it the easier it is for me to emphasise with the work, the more I can identify with the characters. Then I will read the story outline. In the summary I check for the genre of the work, the world view and other things I find interesting. In addition I will look up voice actors, actors and producers but for the most part I make my decision based on the two above mentions points.

This season I am watching around 30 shows, there really are many different animes…There are lots of anime categories but this time I would like to focus on “battle” animes and ones with “no battles”.

When you are talking about the “battle” genre it means that there are a lot of fight scenes, for example “Dragon Ball”, “Sailor Moon”, “One Piece”... currently airing we have “Fate/Extra: Last Encore - Irusterias Tendouron” or “Baki”. In most battle animes something very important is at stake. That’s why each and every word holds meaning. There are things that no one will ever give up, there’s lots of conviction. As a child I treasured the strong and cool heroes and heroines who bravely stood up against their opponents, that feeling of admiration has not changed at all but now as an adult when I am looking at them, I am not just attracted to the sparkling aspects of those characters. You end up being absorbed in those characters, your heart is swayed by the motives, suffering and internal conflicts which precede the actual battle. And before you know it you are on the edge of your seat, biting your nails and sucked completely into the world of that work.

I didn’t mention it before but for me personally “sports anime” are also included in this battle genre. For example “YAWARA!”, “Slam Dunk”, “Haikyuu!” or this season’s “Free!-Dive to the Future-“ and “Hane Bado!”. Even if I don’t actually practice any of these sports I am able to read through those works while learning about all the important rules. How will you be able to win within a chosen set of rules? There are so many different characters, people that are naturally talented, people that put in so much effort and literally claw their way towards success, their worries as well as their way of playing will be completely different. In case of a teamplay sports it’s not just about the individual person, it’s the relationship between friends that’s one of the most interesting parts.

When it comes to sports anime it’s all about time, physical strength, emotional strength, going beyond your limits, I think it’s easier to identify with this kind of everyday struggle instead of a “fantasy battle”. Therefore I always end up brimming over with excitement during those particularly emotional high points.

For me personally “battling” is all about showcasing the proper way how to stand up against something or someone. When you consider the circumstances many of these works will teach you how to challenge yourself. When those characters are fighting their opponents it seems like they are also fighting themselves. Rather than just exhaust themselves in battle, the characters will absorb as much as they can, they will learn and make progress. Feelings are also very important, everything has to be thought through carefully. Also, don’t have any regrets! You should make choices you won’t regret later on. While experiencing a work like that I feel like I want to live like that too, my way of thinking is changed and improved.

From here onwards I will be talking about non-battle animes. What kind of anime is this, you might wonder…? For example, “Chibi Maruko Chan“ , “ARIA”, “Himōto! Umaru-chan” or this season’s “Yama no Susume Third Season” and “Okojo to Yamane”.

There are lots of ordinary slice of life scenes. You will feel warm and fluffy and occasionally a chuckle will slip out without you even noticing and then at times those warm feelings will make you shed tears. Basically you can just relax and watch it with a smile on your face. Even though it’s all fiction, it feels like watching a scene unfolding in your neighborhood. You can really identify and sympathise with everything a lot so you can share the character’s pain and joy, you will find yourself muttering, “oh thank God!”. I think it’s that kind of natural intimacy that makes those stories so appealing. There are many comedic and unexpected elements and slowly but surely you will become obsessed *wry smile*

Also, one can’t talk about battle-less anime without mentioning love and romance. “Maison Ikkoku”, “Anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day“, “Kimi ni Todoke”, etc... They have all the typical ingredients of a love story, they make your heart beat fast, they make you feel excited and nervous. Often the main characters in a love story are still students so I will remember my student days when I still dared to have dreams of something like that happening to me, when I still wondered if that kind of love between people that is depicted in anime and manga actually existed in real life. Those memories always touch my heart. I will relive the preciousness of youth and all the bittersweet feelings that come with it. Even though I am fully aware that the world of anime and manga is a fantasy filled with ideals, I will still end up being completely immersed in that world *laughs* Loving someone, being considerate of them. Through a filter of love you can experience human relationships and emotions. I think that’s the appeal of this genre.

Even though there are no intense fighting scenes when it comes to non-battle animes there are lots of personal every day struggles, it’s all about living on, finding happiness and trying to face these challenges as best as possible. There are many ordinary things you will be able to identify with, with all of that piling up a bond will be formed. I guess it depends on the person whether or not you see it as a bond. Personally I want to live making space in my heart so I will be able to notice these things.

Battle animes as well as non-battle animes have their individual charms. If you can’t decide which one to love more I recommend you just try both without feeling bad about it. After all there’s so much to enjoy ♪ Who knows, you might be surprised and end up becoming addicted?

Last but not least, a small update on what’s currently happening.

I am busy preparing for my fan club event 『“Hikaru” Birthday EVENT 2018』 which will be held on July 31. The content of this event is mainly determined by the answers I received in the questionnaire from a while ago. It’s because all of you are there for me that I am able to create both a talk and a live part. I wonder how you will react to all of it…while thinking about that I am sorting out my talking parts and rehearsing for my singing parts. Just a little while longer till the event! I will do everything within my power to prepare as best as possible!

As for my private activities…I went to watch a play which inspired me a lot.

Then I went to a concert where I also got a lot of inspiration.

This summer has already been super stimulating

Well, until next time.

Hikaru

[*This is a literal translation. At first I thought I’d translate it as action and non-action but that doesn’t really fit]

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 12/5/17

Son of Cornucopia of Briefs!

Akashic Records of Bastard Magica Instructor, Vol. 2 | By Hitsuji Tarou, Tsunemi Aosa and Kurone Mishima | Seven Seas – Last time I said Glenn was too irritating, this time the opposite may be the case. Part of that is due to the fact that this is mostly just a big battle, as Rumia has been kidnapped and Sistine and Glenn have to rescue her. This involves a pile of fights, some of which are more exciting than others. The final fight is an anticlimax, partly as the villain is dull and gives up very easily, and partly as Rumia, in order to contrast with Sistine, is also quite dull. The best part was Glenn pushing Sistine out of the building, frankly. This is an OK series if you like magical high schools, but there’s honestly better ones out there. – Sean Gaffney

Anonymous Noise, Vol. 5 | By Ryoko Fukuyama | Viz Media – As I’ve said before, the quality of this series is dependent on the amount of music depicted in it, and this volume has a LOT of music, making it easily the best volume to date. Nino can be good at playing and singing, or she can blow everyone away with her voice and emotions, but she cannot, seemingly, do both at the same time. The result is a concert that looms towards trainwreck the entire time but never quite gets there, riding entirely on the skill of the band and Nino’s desperate cries of the heart. The art here is stunning, and remains the best reason to read it. The romance, honestly, is the weak link, and you’d really like it to resolve itself but know that it won’t. Get this for the band. – Sean Gaffney

Everyone’s Getting Married, Vol. 7 | By Izumi Miyazono | VIZ Media – The more things change, the more they stay the same. Ryu has been offered a promotion to the Washington, DC branch of his news organization, and, with encouragement from Asuka, decides to accept. They attempt to make the most of the months they have left, including a few fun dates and an outing in which Ryu introduces Asuka to his brother. He even proposes, sort of. “In spirit,” he says. But still, once he’s gone, we get essentially the same stuff as before. Vague glimpses at Asuka’s job, her brother showing up to poke his nose into her business, and, most significantly, yet more of Kamiya and his persistent angling for Asuka’s affections. It’s not bad, but it’s a dynamic that I’m pretty tired of. Still, it’s a quick, light read, so I’ll probably keep following it. – Michelle Smith

Frau Faust, Vol. 2| By Kore Yamazaki | Kodansha Comics – I must admit, I was very disappointed at the big plot twist of Frau Faust‘s second volume. I really liked the badass adult heroine, so seeing her, though the bargain she has with her demon, have her body stripped away so she looks younger and cuter strikes me as not the best bargain I’ve ever had. That said, her personality remains the same, and it wouldn’t matter if she was young or old, nothing was going to be able to stop Marion getting himself into trouble, as he possesses a thirst for knowledge second only to her own. And most of the horror in this book is given over to a creepy church with an evil priest and nun, always popular with readers. Despite the age regression, I’m still enjoying Frau Faust. – Sean Gaffney

The Full-Time Wife Escapist, Vol. 6 | By Tsunami Umino | Kodansha Comics – I expected to be happy and relieved when these two awkward failboats finally got it together, confessed they liked each other, and had their first time. And I was. The good news is that it does not in any way detract from the fact that they are still two really awkward massive failboats, even as they deepen their relationship. Because they still can’t think of it as a relationship—in particular, Mikuri is panicking at the fact that being his real wife means giving up on the income she’s been getting. Which you could argue is meant to be a comment on the sheer amount of unpaid work the average wife goes through, but I think is more meant to show that Mikuri has serious compartmentalization issues. I love this series. – Sean Gaffney

Idol Dreams, Vol. 4 | By Arina Tanemura | Viz Media – Idol Dreams has always been “problematic but readable,” and both qualities amp up in this fourth volume, as Chikage deals with her decision to date Ru as a 15-year-old. She thinks of things as an adult, so can’t really understand a teenage boy’s drives and desires, which almost leads to tragedy, and does lead to her doing something very cruel in order to “fix” things. The other problem is Chikage’s complete and total lack of self-worth. This is, after all, a woman who tried to kill herself near the start of the series. It’s so bad that she even gets “confidence” lessons from the other girls in the office. Tanemura is always readable, but I still can’t see this ending in any way other than everyone being very, very unhappy. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Vol. 2 | By Rin Mikimoto | Kodansha Comics – Despite still having issues deciding how much of a comedy it’s supposed to be, this is a better volume than the first. Our heroes have gotten together, though of course given Kaede’s idol status it’s a big secret—if found out, Hinana could be in big trouble. I liked the added depth we got from Hinana here—she does initially have confidence in her relationship with Kaede, but is still a teenage girl, so lies can persuade her. She also reveals that she’s adopted, which means she feels the need to excel in school, and being around Kaede all the time is not helping, especially when he keeps trying to distract her. (The sniffing scene was a highlight). I’m having sufficient fun to continue. – Sean Gaffney

Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 13 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | VIZ Media – As ever with Ooku, time moves on, and when I first started reading this volume, I missed the beloved group of characters involved with eradicating the redface pox. Soon, though, I realized that Iesada, the first female shogun in over sixty years, is awesome, and that Takiyama, her new senior chamberlain, is likewise awesome. Moreover, her female senior councilor (becoming more of a rarity as the male population recovers) Abe Masahiro is seriously awesome. Now they (especially Takiyama and Masahiro) are as beloved to me as the other group! The moral of the story is: never doubt Yoshinaga. She even knows how to give a reader goosebumps via a dramatic reappearance of a symbolic kimono design! I’m so happy there are at least two more volumes of this. – Michelle Smith

A Polar Bear in Love, Vol. 1 | By Koromo | Yen Press – This is a cute and seemingly heartwarming manga, but its relationship between predator and prey makes me a bit uncomfortable. I think the manga artist is aware of this—we get constant reassurance from the polar bear that he does not, in fact, want to eat the seal but has fallen in love with him instead. And the fact that they’re both male is also not overlooked. There’s a lot more going on here than you’d expect in a series that’s meant to run on “ooooh, adorable animals!” Still, there’s no denying that the seal is terrified the entire time and unable to really escape for a while, and the fact that he’s slowly starting to fall for the polar bear does not really quiet my misgivings. Warily recommended. – Sean Gaffney

Requiem of the Rose King, Vol. 7 | By Aya Kanno | Viz Media – Say what you will about Kanno, she really knows how to drag out the canon scenes to serve her own interests. And serve them very well, as this is another volume of Rose King that you absolutely can’t put down once you start reading it. Margaret’s downfall will be very familiar to readers of the Henry VI plays, but that doesn’t make it less tragic. As for Richard and Henry, Richard seems to be descending closer and closer to madness, and he doesn’t even need Joan of Arc’s ghost this time around—his mother fills in nicely. Add to this Anne being ABSOLUTELY BADASS, and you have another volume of what may be the best Shojo Beat series out there that isn’t Shojo Beat. You need to be reading this. – Sean Gaffney

Sword Art Online: abec Artworks | By abec | Yen Press – It’s always nice to see a series do well enough to justify licensing the artbook, and I’ve always liked abec’s work. We get some gorgeous art here, of course, along with some insight into the process (such as Kirito being added to the cover of book seven by editorial fiat). There’s also a short story at the end by Reki Kawahara, which involves an artist who’s trying to figure out a way to paint in Aincrad, whose game nature does not make it easy on artists requiring a large canvas. There are also lots of pieces unseen by North American fans, as we get art for promos and magazines. Basically, anyone who is a fan of Sword Art Online should be getting this. It’s also out digitally, but that may not do it justice—go for the bigger print book. – Sean Gaffney

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 9 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics (digital only for the moment) – I was equal parts anticipating and dreading this final volume of Tokyo Tarareba Girls, because I wanted a happy ending for Rinko and Key and Mr. Hayasaka, which was going to be impossible. That said, I’m quite satisfied with how things turned out. I won’t give away any plot details, but I loved how Rinko both changed and did not change, in that instead of saying “what if” and regretting the state of things, she’s now determined to say “because” and be grateful for events and people who have helped her grow as a person. She’s now more honest with herself and with others, and yet she’s still the Rinko who periodically gets sloppy drunk with her friends. This is a really strong conclusion that even made me a little sniffly! – Michelle Smith

By: Michelle Smith