#funabori (d frag)

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D-Frag

Episode 7 end card by Hikagi Tatsuhiko

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I miss D-Frag. 

[cowzroc]

February 7th Happy birthday, Funabori!

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D-Frag! Funabori is in Kenji’s class & she does chores & everyone praises her.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 10/11/20

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 10 | By Matoba | Yen Press – While there is a tiny bit of forward movement with some of the couples in this volume, for the most part the author knows that people read this series for cute fluffiness, and cute fluffiness we shall have. This even extends to a skiing vacation that the cast takes, where the snow piles up and Beelzebub’s innate inability to ski leads to her and Mullin freezing in a cabin in the woods… but don’t worry, the status quo is not yet ready to break. We also check back in with the wannabe succubus, and discover that this is her second choice after failing to be an idol. Good news awaits her!… sort of. The series has wrapped up in Japan, so it’s just a matter of seeing how definite an ending this fluff has. – Sean Gaffney

D-Frag!, Vol. 14 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – By the end of this volume, at long last, we are preparing to finally get everyone out of Kazuma’s house, which is good, because there’s only so much tsukkomi he and his sister can do before they’re exhausted. The big surprise, though, is Kazuma’s dad appearing, hair wax and all, and he’s just as ridiculous as the rest of the cast, which quickly decides to have a came of Concentration to decide who stays and who goes. Funabori is just over for the day, and Takao sadly is unable to really show that she belongs there at all, but the Shibasaki siblings at least have the excuse of the meteor that hit their home. That said, the plot in this manga is completely irrelevant to the rapid-fire gags, which are all present and correct. – Sean Gaffney

Fiancée of the Wizard, Vol. 1 | By Syuri Nakamura and Masaki Kazuka | Yen Press -This one starts off like so many lately: killed in an accident on Earth, a young woman is reborn in a fantasy world that has magic! Unfortunately, she’s not very good at magic. And there’s knights with swords! Which she also isn’t that great with. What she is good at is not judging by appearance and first impression, which allows her to win over the heart of a super-powerful boy who everyone nevertheless fears and loathes. We get a seven-year timeskip in this first book, taking us to young adulthood, and now that our Wizard is a political tool, they want to marry him off to a higher status girl. But he’s having none of that… despite treating our heroine, erm, badly. It’s OK, he’s awkward! This seems fun. – Sean Gaffney

Ping Pong, Vol. 2 | By Taiyo Matsumoto | Viz Media – The second and final omnibus of Ping Pong is just as magnificent as the first; the storytelling and artistry exhibited is tremendous. Matsumoto’s artwork is astonishingly dynamic and expressive while the narrative structure entwines the characters’ pasts, presents, and futures as they wrestle with themselves and with one another. Perhaps surprisingly, the ending of the final tournament game isn’t actually shown—one coach declares and is absolutely correct that “in this particular match, who wins and who loses isn’t even relevant”—although the outcome is ultimately revealed in the last chapter, which takes place five years later. In addition to the conclusion of the manga itself, the volume also includes an engaging essay by Yasuki Hori, the editor who worked with Matsumoto on the initial development of the series. I can still hardly believe that Ping Pong is finally available in English, but I am so incredibly glad that it is. – Ash Brown

The Promised Neverland, Vol. 16 | By Kaiu Shirai and Posuka Demizu | Viz Media – Apologies to Promised Neverland, which waited sixteen volumes to get exiled to Bookshelf Briefs. It’s not because of the quality; the first half of this in particular is filled with gloriously surreal imagery as Ray and Emma continue their vision quest and both show off how clever they are in different ways. We then follow up with the other team, Don and Gilda, who are not QUITE as clever, unfortunately: they know there’s a mole in their party who wants to kill Mujika and Sonju, but fall for the obvious choice rather than suspecting the cheerful one. It’s a rather tense volume all around, as we also get flashbacks showing how easy it is to lose your ideals. Will Norman end up in the same place? – Sean Gaffney

Sweat and Soap, Vol. 3 | By Kintetsu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – The relationship between Kotaro and Asako is getting more and more obvious to anyone who watches them interact, and it can’t be hidden from work forever. An extended business trip (which Asako is not on) allows Kotaro to finally admit to his crushing kohai that he and Asako are dating, which mostly puts that to bed. The crux of this volume, though, is the fact that these two are still very, very hot for each other, and the enforced absence of the trip is only amping up their drives. I do like that the soap part of the title is not ignored, as they discuss the fact that bars cannot be easily used sometimes and it would be nice to get the same experimental fragrances in liquid soap. Still excellent and sexy. – Sean Gaffney

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 8 | By Fumita Yanagida | Seven Seas – The final volume of this series wraps things up nicely (and does not give Misuzu a ‘pair the spares’ boyfriend, for which I am very grateful). After more panicking and running away, Tomo and Jun finally confront their feelings for each other as well as Tomo’s worry that if they start being lovers they can’t be friends. Then there’s the old “you can’t date my daughter till you defeat me” chestnut, which is harder to do in a series where half the cast are judo experts. Also, as a huge Carol fan, I loved the little scene where she tries to quietly remove herself from Tomo and Misuzu’s heart-to-heart but Misuzu wants her to stay. (Let’s face it, Carol and Misuzu is the ship we all wanted but didn’t get.) A fantastic and funny series. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown

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Bookshelf Briefs 4/24/17

D-Frag!, Vol. 11 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – I keep emphasizing in these reviews that D-Frag!is a comedy first and foremost, and that’s still true. That said, there’s no denying that there are some romantic undertones in the series—Takao and Funabori most obviously, but also Roka more subtly loves Kenji. So it’s no surprise that we end up with both of them having to live at Kenji’s house…

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D-Frag!: 1x9

D-Frag!: 1×9

After getting flustered by Kenji’s demands to hide his bag from Shio and Ataru, Funabori ends up preempting the boys by sticking her own head in the bag. Kenji’s little sister comes to visit her brother’s club room, but ends up getting increasingly scared by the girls inside, then flees after Takao accidentally smacks her against a bookshelf. Takao tries to make nice with her to get closer to…

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D-Frag

Episode 8 end card by Atto

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D-Frag

Episode 5 end card by Sanada Juuichi

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D-Frag!: 1x6

D-Frag!: 1×6

Pretty boy and newest Game Creation Club (Provisional) member Shio appears to proclaim his love for Roka, but Roka is only interested in Kenji, and Kenji wants nothing to do with either of them. Later, after Funabori reveals she washed and cleaned one of Roka’s bags, Shio, Kenji and Roka decide to have a contest over who owns that bag, and Chitose expands the contest into a school-wide event that…

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 4/24/17

D-Frag!, Vol. 11 | By Tomoya Haruno | Seven Seas – I keep emphasizing in these reviews that D-Frag! is a comedy first and foremost, and that’s still true. That said, there’s no denying that there are some romantic undertones in the series—Takao and Funabori most obviously, but also Roka more subtly loves Kenji. So it’s no surprise that we end up with both of them having to live at Kenji’s house for a bit—Roka due to a meteor strike (yes, really), and Takao simply due to fretting over having Roka get the drop on her. Thankfully, D-Frag! knows that its tsukkomi is always more important than its rom-com, and the jokes still fly fast and furious. Also, bonus points at the start of the book for remembering this is a school and there are actual grades involved. Great fun. – Sean Gaffney

Horimiya, Vol. 7 | By Hero and Daisuke Hagiwara | Yen Press – Last time I noted how little losing their virginity changed the lead couple in this series, and that’s still the case, but more interestingly, we get to explore consensual kinks in this volume. To be precise, Hori is turned on by Miyamura being forceful towards her—she’s not sure why, but her father’s explanation for it likely fits the bill. That said, it makes Miyamura uncomfortable, so I’m not sure how far they’ll take it in the future. In the meantime, Yuki takes the stage for most of this volume, as she asks Tooru to be her pretend boyfriend in order to help answer a guy’s confession. Only the guy quickly becomes a member of the main cast, and what’s more, the fake boyfriend thing is going to completely torpedo Sakura’s love. Will this end well? Probably not. – Sean Gaffney

Kiss Him, Not Me!, Vol. 10 | By Junko | Kodansha Comics – I suppose, given this has become one of the more popular Kodansha shoujo titles and therefore is not ending anytime soon, that we were due for a new rival. He’s a tough one, too—not only is he a voice actor who plays Kae’s latest obsession, but he and Kae were childhood friends—in fact, they were both fat at the time! It’s actually Kae’s weight that drives a lot of the plot—Takeru finds out about her harem, and due to some misunderstandings thinks that they only care about her thin, cute, busty self. (In fact, the main cast went through this several volumes ago, and (mostly) concluded it didn’t matter.) So now he’s kidnapped her and seems to be force-feeding her, as he’s also a bit evil. Fun, but highly variable. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 4 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – It is becoming more apparent that the shot we saw in volume one of Liselotte taking up arms against her brother is not what actually happened, and in fact the more we find out about her the more we realize that she’s another of Takaya’s favorite kind of heroine, the plucky Pollyanna with the hideously broken past. That said, there are a few signs that her brother isn’t completely evil here. We also get a lot more information on witches, including the fact that Vergue and Hilde were once human, and clearly becoming a witch was something very painful and isolating to both of them. There’s still some shots of light humor—Anna is shaping up to be a smiling villain in the best way—but for the most part things take a turn for the serious here. – Sean Gaffney

Liselotte & Witch’s Forest, Vol. 4 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – Liselotte is attempting to live a peaceful life with her friends, sewing frilly shirts and tending to her vegetable garden. The back cover promises an attack by the witch Vergue, and though it’s true that he ends up significantly damaging her house, he’s also driven away simply by her shoujo heroine powers of empathizing with his rejection of humanity in favor of a place he belongs with the witches. The most interesting parts of this volume are actually the flashbacks the Vergue situation evokes, as Liselotte recalls more of what happened with her brother, who maybe isn’t actually her biological sibling, and who seemed to be giving her the chance to get away from the capitol and find happiness. That’s far more intriguing than a straight-up villain, so I hope we learn more about him in the next volume! – Michelle Smith

Tokyo Tarareba Girls, Vol. 2 | By Akiko Higashimura | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – After her unexpected hookup with hot model and younger man Key, Rinko struggles to figure out what it means. With the help of her pals, both real and hallucinated, she ultimately concludes that it was just a spur-of-the-moment whim on his part, but that doesn’t keep her from being curious about him, especially when she learns that a woman he loved passed away. Meanwhile, we get some very welcome chapters from the points of view of Kaori and Koyuki, Rinko’s friends. I love that, in time, they too start experiencing hallucinations, although it’s pretty heartbreaking that they both end up in sexual relationships without love or future prospects. This series is funny and whimsical, but also fairly bleak and depressing. I do love it, but it’s probably best in small doses. – Michelle Smith

Welcome to the Ballroom, Vol. 4 | By Tomo Takeuchi | Kodansha Comics – Fujita learns some important lessons in this book—actually, the entire book is filled with important lessons. For Fujita, it’s that he’s still a beginner and has a long way to go, and that until he grows he’s going to come last. For Mako and Gaju it’s that they weren’t really observing the other person when they danced, and they want to reunite in order to compete properly. For Shizuku it’s that she can still feel jealousy over someone being judged to be more beautiful than she is—and also hate herself for having those feelings. Even Hyodo is beginning to rediscover a passion for dancing that has been cooled by his injury. But most importantly, there is the dancing, and the art conveying the dancing, and that is still amazing. – Sean Gaffney

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 5 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – The Inter-High race begins! Before we get to that, though, we have to establish what some of the rivalries are. Kinjou will face off against Fukutomi again, the rider who caused his defeat the previous year, while Imaizumi is up against creepy Midousuji. We’ve been hearing about Midousuji since the beginning, but this is the first time he’s actually appeared and he looks and acts like some deranged creature from a horror manga. After that, though, the race is on and it’s a mad rush for the sprinters to claim the top spot at the first checkpoint. As usual, it’s riveting and the enormous volume goes by too quickly. The climbers take center stage next time, but we’ll sadly have to wait until August for that. – Michelle Smith

By: Michelle Smith