#Mizuki Mizushiro

[yukiranyan]

мизуки и маширо скетч омммггг...^⁠_⁠^

[blog-de-segunda]

Murder Lock: School of the Killing by Mizushiro Mizuki & Ko-dai

[shazzeaslightnovels]

Reading Log - April 2019

Volume Count: 8

My first month without Saekano and I finished off Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu and read all my volumes of Ankoku Kishi wo Nugasanaide. I also read Cafe de Blood, a one-shot by the author of Psycome and started Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Nattemashita and Saijaku Muahi no Bahamut.

This post does contain spoilers for Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu vol. 4, but other than that are no spoilers. I put the mini-review for Iriya at the very bottom of the post so you can easily avoid spoilers.

(Finally figured out how to shrink image sizes so I can put the volume covers to make this post look more interesting. Yay! Let me know if they aren’t visible to you.)

Ankoku Kishi wo Nugasanaide 2 & 3 by Shinichi Kimura

Putting these under the same entry because my feelings on them didn’t differ much between them. After my lukewarm feelings on the first volume, I didn’t have much hope that the following volumes would be better and I was right. I was rewatching Kore wa Zombie desu ka? and I didn’t like it nearly as much as I used to so it’s possible that I’ve just grown out of this type of humour but I do think that KoreZom is better than this series as Ayumu really stands out as a protagonist while Kurama lacks anything that makes him interesting. He’s a bit of an idiot sometimes but that’s it. The reader has no reason to care about him. The other major issue is that I found the scenes to be too long so I would start a scene being somewhat interested but would quickly get bored before it was over. Volume 2 was a little bit better than volume 1 but volume 3 introduced a perverted lesbian character who doesn’t understand the meaning of consent and my views of this series dropped to rock-bottom. I do think that it’s possible to enjoy this series if you’re into this kind of humour and found KoreZom to be hilarious but I won’t be buying any future volumes.

Slime Taoshite 300-nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level Max ni Natteshimatta 1 by Kisetsu Morita

It took me 10 days to read this which is a lot longer than I usually take for a volume of this size. Amazon lists the volume as 281 pages while BookWalker says it’s around 320 pages. Either way, it felt like the page count was pushing it for a story where not a whole lot happens. It was relaxing at first but I quickly got bored of it. For most of the volume, each chapter introduces a character and you get to spend a little bit of time with them before moving on to the next character. And I don’t think it spent enough time getting me to care about the character it just introduced before moving on to the next one so I didn’t really care when the “climax” happened. Also, I don’t think the 300 years thing was really thought out - it’s just there to get Azusa at an OP level but we barely know what she did for those 300 years. We know that she read a lot, killed slimes, learned how to use herbs to make medicine and helped some villagers but I want to know what kind of books she read because you would think that after 300 years of reading books, she would be quite knowledgeable in just about every field but other characters still have to explain things to her for the sake of the reader. Another issue I had with this volume is that even though Azusa is a female protagonist, she’s not really written like one. The series still uses a male gaze. A really good example of this is when Halkara is introduced and the first thing Azusa notices about her is her large boobs and butt and not in a yuri way but more of in a breast envy way. You could change her into a male character and not much would change. I don’t think this will bother too many people but it sure did bother me. In general, I think this series will be a good relaxing series but it lacks any overall direction to be an entertaining series. I’d recommend if you want to take it easy and I’d especially recommend it if you’re learning Japanese and want to read a story set in a fantasy a world as it’s pretty easy to read though there are a couple of tricky parts. If you want a slice of life set in a fantasy world, this would probably do the trick.

I’m not sure if I will continue with this series. I can see that it has some nice elements to it and I do feel like the series will feature more yuri in future volumes if the covers are anything to go by but I’m not sure it’s the series for me so we’ll have to wait and see.

The manga version of this is pretty good. It has a cute art style (though I prefer Benio’s art in the original) and is a 1:1 adaptation but doesn’t improve the source material much so it’s probably not worth reading unless it’s the only version of the story you have access to or you really like the novels.

Yen-press is currently publishing this series in English under the title of I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level so please pick it up if the series interests you.

Cafe de Blood by Mizuki Mizushiro

This is a one-shot from the author of Psycome and it’s kind of what you’d expect from the title: it’s about a café that serves vampires blood and the human male who works there. It’s not terrible but it’s pretty plain and the heroine doesn’t stand out much. While I do think that people who like vampires would find this worth the read, it features one of the more plain versions of vampires that I’ve seen. There’s also some pretty annoying stuff in it like a paedophile/lolicon vampire who talks in a mangle of English and Japanese and is super annoying as well as a character who’s only function seems to be to have big boobs. It might have been a good first volume for a longer series but it’s not a memorable one-shot. If you liked PsyCome, I do think you would like this a lot but I just found it too plain to care much for it. I do love Namanie’s art style though so that was definitely the highlight of the book for me.

Saijaku Muhai no Bahamut 1 by Senri Akatsuki

Little known fact about me: I actually really like this kind of school battle fantasy. I know most of them follow the same template but I’ve always enjoyed reading them anyway and I enjoyed this volume a lot. I loved the characters and their interactions, I loved the battles and I loved the atmosphere that comes with these kinds of stories. Don’t get me wrong, Bahamut is far from being original but reading this volume was so much fun and I got really interested in the plot. I love that Lisha’s a geeky mechanic and I love that the story has the old empire being corrupt while most modern light novels would make this a story about Lux manipulating everyone into getting him back on the throne. I do think that the exposition was sometimes awkward and I don’t think this would be a fun read for people who place importance in originality but I certainly had fun with it. I was surprised by how much I liked this given that I remember reading this volume in English a few years back and not caring for it but I did and I can’t wait to read the second volume for my girl Krulcifer.

The anime adapts this volume into 2 episodes and cuts out a lot of good character moments but I think they probably made the right call as so many light novel adaptations have failed due to the staff’s unwillingness to do anything but a 1:1 adaptation (Seirei Tsukai no Blade Dane comes to mind; I don’t know anyone who really enjoyed this series prior to volume 4 but the anime only adapts the first 3 volumes). The anime has really clumsy exposition even more so than the light novel. I liked the novel more but I think the anime serves as a good advertisement for the series so, if the anime got you interested in the plot, I highly recommend checking out the light novels.

The manga is a closer adaptation and it’s fine but the novels are better. The manga does make some interesting character design choices though like making the teacher indistinguishable from the students. Probably wouldn’t recommend the manga unless you don’t have access to the light novels.

Juuou Mujin no Fafnir by Tsukasa

And here I thought Bahamut had clumsy exposition but at least it only provided the reader with information on a need-to-know basis and spread it out over the volume. Fafnir just gives it to you in the first couple of chapters and the battle mechanics are way to complicated to do that. In my opinion, the author should have made the battle mechanics more simple or spread it out more instead of dumping it at the start and hoping the reader paid attention when it becomes relevant later. Otherwise, I didn’t really like this volume but I didn’t hate it either. I think the story has potential and Iris is a charming main heroine and I enjoyed seeing her character and relationship with Yuu grow throughout the volume. But, aside from Iris and maybe Mitsuki, none of the characters really stand out. Yuu’s your typical protagonist with a bit of a snarky attitude and a dark past. I’ve seen worse protagonists but he doesn’t strike me as particularly interesting and characters like Lisa and Firill don’t really do much and are just kind of there. That has the potential to change in future volume but it’s an issue in this one. I will probably continue with this as I remember being fond of the later volumes when I read them in English but it might be take a while to get around to.

I won’t be covering the manga or anime on this blog as I don’t have easy access to them.

Dokuhaki Hime to Hoshi no Ishi by Izuki Kougyoku

Last month, I talked about Torikago Miko to Seiken no Kishi which is actually a spin-off to this novel which in turn is a sequel to Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou. I didn’t mention this then because I didn’t realize that characters from Torikago Miko would actually show up in this. I just thought they were in the same setting. And it’s been so many years since I read Mimizuku that, while I know that some of these characters are from Mimizuku, I wouldn’t be able to tell you exactly which ones. Regardless, this didn’t impede my enjoyment of this novel at all so I don’t think that reading Mimizuku is required to understand and enjoy this story.

Regarding the work itself, I really liked it. I think it was a perfect one-shot that was incredibly compelling. I loved Elsa. She’s very different from the usual female protagonist in that the best ways that I could describe her at the start of the story are “feral”, “angry” and “broken”. She’s experienced so much abuse in her life and I think this story is really about healing after so much trauma and finding a place that will accept you where you can be free to be whoever you want. I really enjoyed that theme of the story. I didn’t find Claudius to be that interesting of a character but he’s a nice guy and I’m glad that Elsa found someone to support her. I recommend this work if you want to read a fantasy story that’s really about healing, especially if you’re a fan of fairy-tale inspired stories.

I’d be interested in doing a closer re-read of this in the future and doing a proper essay-type post on the themes because I think there’s a lot going on underneath the surface of the story here and I think there���s a lot to say about how Elsa is the only character to express her anger and sadness in a straight-forward manner while everyone else tends to be more passive-agressive about it.

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR IRIYA NO SORA, UFO NO NATSU 4! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!

Iriya no Sora, UFO no Natsu 4 by Mizuhito Akiyama

Before I read this volume, I was panning on doing a full review of the series but, before the first 100 pages of the volume were over, someone tries to sexually assault Iriya. I do not know whether this attempt was successful or not because, as soon as I realized what was happening, I had to skip through the scene. This scene is incredibly poorly done. We never get to see Iriya’s POV of this event either during or after it happens. Instead, the story decides to continue to focus on Asaba and how stressed he is. Perhaps I’m thinking too hard about it but the fact that this scene is juxtaposed with a scene of Asaba acquiring a porn mag and masturbating and that adolescence is a primary theme of the series makes me think that this scene is meant to imply that “boys desire girls while girls get to be desired” as neccesary part of adolescence. Furthermore, at the end of the volume, Iriya dies and it feels like she got fridged for the sake of Asaba’s character. And, to be honest, Iriya has never really felt like a proper character to me. She’s always felt too perfect to be one. The only time she felt like one was during the eating battle with Akiho. We’ve never gotten the story from her POV and that prevents her from becoming a proper character like the others. She feels like an idealised Mysterious Girl who motivates the other characters but has no real motivation for herself. Part of this is undoubtably because of when it was written but I can’t overlook these flaws because of that, espcially since I was around the ages of 3 and 5 when this was written so I don’t feel that same nostalgia that this series is trying to make me feel. I never went to middle school either and Australia high schools are very different from Japanese ones so I feel none of the nostalgia that this series is praised for.

I think this series has it’s charming moments and it’s not as though this volume was boring but I just can’t overlook the things I’ve mentioned. I could only really recommend this series if you are interested in the history of light novels or you are interested in reading a coming-of-age story with a bit of sci-fi.

[viyagari]

Reading: Murder Lock - School of the Killing Vol. 1

I came across Ko-dai’s account while I was deep in the Twitter browsing rabbit hole. Not gonna lie, the moment I saw his drawings of handsome middle-age men, I was instantly hooked. At that time, he just started his debut by releasing a monthly webcomic titled そのヲタク、元殺し屋 (Sono Wotaku, Moto Koroshi-ya/That Otaku, Ex-Hitman) on Comic-Walker. I will talk about “SonoWota” in a separate post. Right now, I want to talk about his other debut manga with a well-known light novel writer, Mizuki Mizushiro.

“Murder Lock – School of the Killing” (マーダーロック-殺人鬼の凶室-) tells the story of Koutarou Kudou, a delinquent teenage boy who was known as the "Streets' Strongest." Once, 13 thugs, thirsty for revenge, kidnapped his younger sister Hinami. Koutarou beat the thugs and saved Hinami, but on the same night, he was arrested on suspicion of murder, as each of them was later found dead. He was then forcefully enrolled to a certain school called Kokuyou Academy, in which all students must met "a special criteria" to enter. Oversaw by a sinister, domineering teacher named Shinobu Kirihara, Koutarou must learn how to survive in his three-year service at this academy or die trying.   

“Murder Lock” initially debuted on October 2020 in Young Gangan Magazine and the first volume was released on April 24, 2021. The chapters in the first volume cover how Koutarou got admitted to Kokuyou Academy, the reveal on how the academy was a government-funded program to reform teen murderers into professional killers, and how Koutarou befriended Shouko Utsurogi (the class’ current MVP from the Opening Death Ceremony) and tried to find another way out. Pace-wise, nothing big has been revealed yet as this is still the first book after all. Story-wise, it reminds me of early-2010s dark survival series such as “Deadman Wonderland” or “Mirai Nikki”. If this manga is your cup of tea, you can read the first chapter here or the entire chapters of vol.1 at MangaUP! app.

As for me, I bought the first volume at melonbooks via a local proxy because I want that Shinobu Kirihara illustration card above lol.

[mighel]

[deluscar]

Psycome Review

Literally Psycho Love Comedy, the title of this light novel is just as what you would expect… with a particularly extreme twist to a classic genre. Written by Mizushiro Mizuki with illustrations by Namanie, how does Psycome hold up? (more…)

[yenpress]

Psycome, Vol. 6 (light novel)

By Mizuki Mizushiro

The school festival has arrived, and the students of Class A are putting together a maid cafe. Renko Hikawa returns to the school after collapsing in her fight against Kyousuke at the athletics festival, and she's looking forward to a school life even more enjoyable than before. When Renko's parents visit for the festival, they're even more determined to put an end to the relationship between their daughter and Kyousuke--by demanding him to drop out of school! With both the school's deadly exams and Renko breathing down his neck, will Kyousuke finally sort out his feelings for the Murder Maid?

[mangabookshelf]

Psycome: Murder Maiden and the Fatal Final

Psycome: Murder Maiden and the Fatal Final

By Mizuki Mizushiro and Namanie. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder. The good news is that this is a much more tonally consistent book than the first two, and has a better idea – most of the time – as to when to be over the top funny and when to have the reader genuinely disturbed. Renko remains the best character, getting in so many…

[rowel-anime-trends]

Creators of Restaurant to Another World manga, Psycome light novels launch manga in September-October

[kidaoocom]

Psycome Vol. 3 (light novel): Murder Maiden and the Fatal Final by Mizuki Mizushiro

http://dlvr.it/RKd5cV

[justusrstone]

Review of the light novel Psycome (Psycho Love Comedy) Volume 3 Murder Naiden and the Fatal Final by Mizuki Mizushiro Review is of the official English release of the light novel series by Yen On

📔LIGHT NOVEL INFORMATION TITLE: Psycome AKA: Psycho Love Comedy, サイコメ AUTHOR: Mizuki Mizushiro ILLUSTRATOR: Namanie PUBLISHER (English): Yen On TRANSLATOR: Nicole Wilder RELEASE DATE (English): February 21, 2017 PURCHASE (Amazon.com): https://amzn.to/2ta329M PURCHASE (Book Depository): http://bit.ly/2MTgbxa

PUBLISHER (Japan): Famitsu Bunko RELEASE DATE (Japan): August 30, 2013 VOLUMES RELEASED (Japan to Date): 6 (complete) +1 Short Story volume ANIME SERIES: None

[blog-de-segunda]

Murder Lock: School of the Killing by Mizushiro Mizuki & Ko-dai

[recentanimenews]

Psycome: A Murderer and the Deadly Love Affair

By Mizuki Mizushiro and Namanie. Released in Japan by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nicole Wilder.

The final volume of Psycome features something that previous volumes had been trying rather hard to avoid. For a series that starred a school full of teenage murderers, and innumerable theoretical murder attempts, there were very few actual murders among the cast members. That changes here, and while it’s not much of a spoiler to say that the main cast we’ve grown most familiar with are pretty safe, several of the antagonists we met in the athletic festival book meet a rather grisly end. It’s a good reminder of the basic premise of the series, something that Kyousuke and Ayaka need to accept: they are not here for the same reason as everyone else. They are not murderers. Nor is Eiri, our failed assassin, though she comes pretty close here. The rest of the students are, even Maina, whose murders may be accidental but they definitely exist. Kyousuke and Ayaka don’t belong here. And so we get the premise of this final volume, where they’re offered a battle in order to leave the school – get to the other end of the grounds while trying not to get killed.

We do finally meet Kyousuke and Ayaka’s parents in this volume. Honestly, they’re sort of exactly what I was expecting. I was more uncomfortable with the fact that they’re basically an older Kyousuke and Ayaka, only as husband and wife – Ayaka and Kyousuke’s brother/sister complexes have not been my favorite source of humor in this series, thank you very much. (Fortunately, by the end of the book, Ayaka at least seems to be moving on a bit.) Most of Kyousuke’s main “harem” is there to help him escape, even ones who seemingly are on the side of the school, like Shamaya, who is as foul-mouthed as ever. Maina’s big moment may seem a bit out of character, frankly, but it was nicely dramatic, though I wanted to see the fight itself. And then there’s Renko, who Kyousuke admits that he loves, and she loves him – but she wants to kill him, and he doesn’t love her enough that he’ll let her do this.

In the end, though, the winning girl is unsurprising, given Renko’s origins and basic personality. Eiri is a type, but it’s a good example of the type, and she’s grown up a bit in this series too – despite all of the yawning and tch-ing she does in this book, possibly a new record for her, she’s now able to admit her feelings, get her man, and also start a career as a supermodel almost without effort. Good for her. (I am less fond of the implied love between Kurumiya and Mohawk, which manages to combine about four different types of love affairs that make me uncomfortable. That said, it’s always been played for broad comedy, so even its “dramatic” ending made me laugh a bit.)

Sadly for fans who are always desperate for sex in their light novels, the book ends just before Kyousuke and Eiri consummate their love, though it’s implied. There’s also an implied observer of their covert love affair at the end, who the author admits might be Renko if readers want. Insert threesome fanfic here, I guess. There’s also a volume of short stories mentioned by the author that’s also coming out, though I suspect that may be in Japan only.

Psycome was always a surprise light novel license because it lacked other tie-ins – there’s no manga adaptation that I know of, and it never got an anime. Give the sheer amount of brutal, mostly comedic but sometimes serious violence scattered throughout the book, I can’t be surprised it stayed as a book series. But I’m pleased Yen picked it up. It grew on me book by book and I really came to enjoy the cast and their situation. The plot of this book echoes my point of view – it’s time to end it, but… it’s been really fun, hasn’t it?

By: Sean Gaffney

[leupac]

Manga haul – weeks of Jan. 31 - Feb. 7, 2017

New manga arrivals were a little behind, having not shipped in a few weeks, but when they did arrive, there was plenty to choose from, with fifteen volumes from Yen Press, Seven Seas Entertainment, Vertical Comics, and Viz Media.

Starting things off with the first image, on the top row, four new releases from Yen Press. Starting on the left, the eighth volume of Kenji Saito and Akinari Nao’s Trinity Seven, the second volume of Konosuba: God’s Blessing on this Beautiful World, from Masahito Watari and Natsume Akatsuki, the fourth volume of Makoto Kedouin and Toshimi Shinomiya’s Corpse Party: Blood Covered, and the third volume of Mizuki Mizushiro’s Psycome light novel series (published under the Yen On imprint).

Moving down to the second row, one new release from Vertical Comics, on the left. The deeply disturbing, and yet highly entertaining, Dissolving Classroom, from Junji Ito.

Still on the bottom row, three more new manga from Seven Seas Entertainment. The fourth volume of Takafumi Nanatsuki and Risumai’s Shomin Sample, the fourth volume of Tsukasa Saimura’s Hour of the Zombie, and the second volume of Re: Monster, from Kogitsune Kanekiru and Haruyoshi Kobayakawa. I have been looking forward to the next volume of Re: Monster, as well as watching the Shomin Sample anime, which was recently released by Funimation.

Working down to the second picture, seven new releases from Viz Media. Starting from the top left, Yusei Matsui’s Assassination Classroom volume eleven, the seventh volume of Kohei Horikoshi’s My Hero Academia (both published under the Shonen Jump imprint), the sixth volume of Keiichi Hikami and Shin Yamamoto’s Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter, and the eleventh volume of Tokyo Ghoul, from Sui Ishida, and published under the Viz Signature line. In the bottom row, three new manga published under the Shojo Beat imprint; the eleventh volume of Kazune Kawahara and Aruko’s My Love Story!!, the thirteenth and fourteenth omnibus volumes of Hiro Fujiwara’s Maid-sama!, and the fourth volume of Yona of the Dawn, from Mizuho Kusanagi.

It may have been quiet for a few weeks, but once my latest arrivals got here, there was a lot to choose from. With this much variety, I should be busy until the next box arrives.

[fandompost]

Third 'Psycome' Light Novel Gets Illustrated Promo

Third 'Psycome' Light Novel Gets Illustrated Promo

Psycome With the way light novels can hit the market quickly and with a lot of material behind it, it can get surprising how fast they can come out. Case in point is Psycome, a new light novel series by Mizuki Mizushiro with artwork by Namanie, which began in February of this year and now has...

Check out the full article by Chris Beveridge at http://www.fandompost.com/2013/08/09/third-psycome-light-novel-gets-illustrated-promo/

[yenpress]

Psycome, Vol. 5 (light novel)

By Mizuki Mizushiro

Even cutthroat murderers have school athletics festivals! Aiming for the top place in the school’s first murderathon, Kyousuke and his classmates suffer through backbreaking conditioning. His life gets even more complicated when Renko’s mother, Reiko Hikawa, pays a visit. She gives the pair an ultimatum: if their class doesn’t win the athletics festival, Kyousuke and Renko can’t get married! Can he sort out his ambiguous feelings for Renko while surviving the upperclassmen’s bloodlust?