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tsukiyadori · 2 months ago

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Reading+Listening(+Watching) Log 2024.10 - October

Previous: Reading+Listening Log 2024.09 - September

Just look at that cover. It's breathtaking. (And the chapters that are going to be in there had me gulp twice.) Coming out November 20th 2024!

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Reading languages: German, English, French, Japanese, not listing which was what. (There’s also been some feeble attempts at Chinese, but that was more music.)

Titles are as I’ve read them either first or most and thus remember it for that title mostly

Not going to bother putting in the original titles of translated reads unless there is something worthy of note to it

Cursive titles have been completed

If it says a volume number, it may mean it has been finished or is still in progress

Some notes’ content may be subject to repetition here and there, as I also copied some older notes from casual conversations over and didn’t go through any rounds of cutting things down.

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October

A fairly short month this time.

I completely fell off reading anything from Manga Apps again…

I wholly expected this month to be as good as a pure Kemutai Hanashi month for several reasons, and I did sit before it, some of it, all of it, a good deal of it, but still somehow I didn't quite get on to finish that plan. The reason could be best described as 'trepidation'. Like you know it is great, it's going to hit somewhere in between hard, home, compf and wholesome and then go on to inspire something new, unknown, hopeful, maybe. And the prospect was suddenly weirdly daunting in a way, which I noticed this month as being the same reason, I let even a number of those pixiv chapters that were behind comicnettai pile up. I think that's probably because all the reservations I held over this series have fallen off. I still remember how I started the series and knew immediately it was very good and beautiful, but also there was a vague, but persistent veil of skepticism. Because. It's just too good to be true, is it? Turns out, it actually is indeed true. Ever after that bomb-like chapter 12 dropped, I felt like this was one of those titles that, had it existed earlier, had I known it earlier, could have been a game changer to some of the turns my life have taken in the past. Turns out, it's probably still going to have this sort of role anyway in some other ways looking forward. Which is to say, I am really quite looking forward to things coming.

No (classfied) this month. Actually, I've been missing it a bit, as I wound up quite liking it...

Light Novels/Web Novels/Asian Novels:

A Certain Magical Index NT v1 Clockwork Clues: When Death Comes Ticking Contest sample Global Examination Rosmei Preview I Met You After the End of the World v3 Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? v10 Mein ruhiges Leben als Schmied in einer anderen Welt V1p1 Sasaki & Peeps v1 The Apothecary Diaries v3 The Boy Who Ruled the Monsters V1p1-6 The Isolator v5 The Saint's Magic Power is Omipotent LN v1 Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! v1

Manga:

An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride ch64-65 Beastars v19-22 Burberry x Blue Period Dead Mount Death Play v8 Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu ch114-115 Domestic na Kanojo v21-23 Dr. Stone v9, v23-27, v3, v10 Flüster mir eine Liebeslied v2, v6-8 Fuwafuwa Therapist ch1-3, ch12, ch11 Haikyu v44 Hana to Kurage to Refrain ch1-2.1 Hell Mode v4, v5 I Parry Everything: What Do You Mean I’m the Strongest? I’m Not Even an Adventurer Yet! (Manga) Ch4-v2 Kemutai Hanashi ch1-4, reading and re-reading all over the place in between up to ch31 Knitter's High ch31.1-3 Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata Ch88 Liebe ist (k)ein Wettkampf v3, v5 Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch35 Moriarty the Patriot v2ch7 Mr. Mallow Blue ch32 Natsume to Natsume ch1-4 Shinigami no Hanayome - Yomei 7-nichi kara no Koufuku ch1-3 Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch79-81 The Heroic Legend of Arslan v16 Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch41-42.2

Webtoons:

Silent Lover ch196-204(S2ch54-62) Taberare Usa ch123

Movie Recaps/Essays

Raise the Red Latern Moon Man

Music/Music Videos:

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 02 - 蜃楼 Mirage

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 08 - 缝合

Zhou Shen - Shenself - 11 - 没关系

Zhou Shen - 我的答案

Zhou Shen - 人是_ (电影《流浪地球2》定义主题曲)

Zhou Shen, Terry Zhong - 春雪

Zhou Shen - Endless Sailing（电视剧《三体》主题曲）

Zhou Shen - 永恒孤独（《三体》电视剧主题曲）

G.E.M. - 面壁者 (《三体》动画片尾主题曲)

谭维维 - 歌者《三体》广播剧最终季主题曲

咻咻满 - 《歌者 Singer》 Cover 【三体 Three Body Problem】广播剧最终季主题曲

咻咻满 - 《奇点》三体同人印象曲

Zhou Shen - 浮光

TommyMuzzic - Different Kind Of Beautiful

TommyMuzzic - Different Kind Of Beautiful (8D Audio)

Alec Benjamin - Different Kind Of Beautiful (Piano Version)

Alec Benjamin - Different Kind Of Beautiful

redrose - Isolated (feat. Ivri)

redrose - memories

redrose - Origins - 01 - Held on a Thread

redrose - serene moments

redrose - A World Gone Blue (feat. Elle)

Notes:

Kemutai Hanashi ch1-4, reading and re-reading snippets all over the place in between up to ch31: Chapter 30/31 sorts of kinda hit home, with how Arita is stuck with mulling over the question of "what would it change" and finding the answer, that... really doesn't solve anything, but still feels like a bucket of cold water thrown over. I had an episode of that in 2022 myself, (my version that question was pretty much an alternate translation of Arita's question, "What diffrence would it make?"), and after a few weeks to month brooding over it the answer was the same: What a dumb question. Of course it'd make a difference. A whole world's worth of it. And maybe at the same time it doesn't really. (For now anyway, however long "now" will last.) Now 2022 really isn't that long ago, and this series has even existed by then and I was even reading it, but darn did I wondern what would have been, if it had started serializing a bit more early.

I asked a stupid question. "What would it change" Of course it would change things. Other than that I begun my (very throughout) 're-read' up to ch4. And I did already know this series was very scenic and doing a lot of still life scenes that just showed literal slices of their life. But I think on my first read I completely underestimated just how much it was. Actually it's more like almost cinematic with all the little details that are just shown, the many little sounds that are there here and there at the sides, especially many of those still scenes with no dialogue. It may be still scenes and moments, but it's definitely not actually 'still' and in unmoving or still as in quiet or inanimate. It gives just a clear air of where they are living (and the series is very much certainly very Japanese in all those details.)

A Certain Magical Index NT v1: There is no Touma in this volume so far and that makes it (unsurprisingly) far more insteresting. Pretty much because it means there is no Index in action there. (She is quite obnoxious to me...) Hamazura himself is rather pathethic, but when it counts he quite shines with a strengh that has no foundation in any sort of OP-power trump card. Wverything around him tends to be far more interesting due to everything happening because things are interconnected and not because of some underdog special power. Accelerator by now is also much more like Mikasa, as in knows his high level powers, has some brains and sticks his nose into whatever he deems necessariy, but still knows his limits. While Mikasa is more limited in maturity, Accelerator's are more immediately tangible. (Plus he has no teleporting fangirl at his side.) The whole thing around this really varied (downright nuts) found family is also fairly compf. Maybe, finally, Index as a series is coming to a point to having the same strength of Railgun. (Index always struck me having more interesting cards in terms of all the wordbuilding, while Railgun was much more character driven, but the plotlines themselves tended to be somewhat not too exiting.)

I Met You After the End of the World v3: Oh well. That ending. Came sudden. And the situation is somewhat back to square one at where the volume began. Also a grave now popped out, but still no actual corpse or mention thereof, so who knows what is what. I'll say I am curious how it'll go on, and v4 is on the horizon soon, so probaly not long until finding out.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? v10: It is a slog. A slooooog. 1/3 still to go. I am really tempted to just skip it, given I read v11 already anyway…

Sasaki & Peeps v1: Euh. This was. A slog to the end. Many plotlines, not really interconnecting much, the magical girl remains not enticing and the neighbour girl's questionable ideas only got much worse by the end. Maybe I'll continue it, if the vols just somehow drop into my hands, but in no hurry whatsoever.

The Apothecary Diaries v3: Maomao remains impressive, as in, she wholly can recognize how mind blowingly beautiful Jinshi apparantely is, can even loose a breather or two about it, and really not manage to not mention it, but other than that. It does nothing of relevance onto her. (Which together with previous comments still give me a whole aroace vibed air about her.) Nevertheless, there is a sort of connection building up between her and the folks around here. She does have a trusted place in the crowd and it's wholly earned by herself. Her torments are also funny to follow. Those poor mushrooms, indeed. Still have to finish the volume and see how the singular cases connect to each other. They were a bit fragmented, but this time also heavily lampshaded from the beginning to have something more overarching hanging over them.

The Boy Who Ruled the Monsters V1p1-6: Oh, it's another unfairly kicked out of the adventurer's party plot. Then it was followed by an Oh, it's another slave girl story. Eh. Do I even want to continue? Dunno, maybe someday.

The Isolator v5: So, it's been a few years I read v4. There were some more hints in this volume that sounded like buildups for later reveals and there's this whole new subplot around Stargazer. But really, the most eyecatching thing is that Liquidizer very much quite rocks. And the afterword's mention of that she'll be sticking around as a recurring character is promising. Not promising is the entire lack of a sign for a v6 however. ._.

Words Bubble Up Like Soda Pop: This was a weird read, something about it felt okayish narratively, but also strangely… shallow? Somehow lacking flourish. Maybe it's because, as the afterword states, this is an adaption of the anime movie? I don't know. As for the content it just really is. so. puberty. teenagers. Resonance or value seriously zero, as I never had any such experience like that.

You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! v1: The title definiely is clickbait. Not that it is wrong per se, but it very very fast lets the cat out of the sack, so that misunderstanding doesn't even really get past half a single chapter. But I was pleasantly surprised that Taku is actually an adult there and a colleage student, so there isn't that sorta iffyness Are You Okay with a Slightly Older Girlfriend? has. (Where it's like the guy is totally his age as in teeeenaaaagerrrr and the girl is kinda…. an extreme late or maybe even no bloomer in terms of mental maturity.) Everyone already feels surprisingly mature and down to earth, even Miu, the actual teenager character.

An Archdemon's Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride ch64-65: Chastille, Chastille. Oh Chastille… Way to dig your grave.

Beastars v19-22: And to the series finished pile it goes. I think the series has lost me. Well not so much the content, but really…… what is it even trying to say? So many hoops, indeed actually interesting themes and whatnot, but in the end it doesn't feel like much has happened. (Especially not around the Beastars significance.) I will give it though, that this is one of the rarer series, where it starts in school and goes beyond to feature them growing out of it and as adults. It makes up about or slightly more than a third, which is kind of a lot of screentime. And this was funny, about lossing your wits over a disgruntled bun.

Burberry x Blue Period: This. uh. was okay? Maybe it'd be better if I actually read the main series. (Still stuck at v1.) Will maybe revisit later again.

Dead Mount Death Play v8: The volumes are pretty thick, but the plot still feels like progressing somewhat slow.

Domestic na Kanojo v21-23: Haaa. v21: As usual Hina is born to suffer. And just when you kinda feel bad about her, it does on to... v22: Oh Hina. Hina. Can you… just stop being so… @_@" And then we go off to another side quest to Natsuo's author senpai/mentor, and well, it's okay? But whyever does Natsuo have to get a crisis now.... v23: Unsprisingly that just feeds in more drama and Rui does probably the only good thing for her own mental health, put a line down. Too bad Natsuo himself is terrible with that (also, Hina where are you, why do you keep missing your best timing chances??) and so a new girl shows up. With... problems. A whole bunch of them... So are we gettign some Yakuza action now?

Dr. Stone v9, v23-27, v3, v10: Finshed that one now, and kinda all over the place with the gaps and filling them. But the last few volumes were definitely more interesting than the beginning. Probably not least because not so much annoying Taiju and Ryu has grown up. I think I quite am on board with it's concept. It's educational, while not forgetting to tell a plot that's for entertainment and the coolness factor to attact younger readers. There is never harm to charm people into the wonders of science. But darn is the beginning a read that requires patience, because everyone's so annoying. The ending with the time machine is even more of a stretch than the series is anyway, but it does feel like it does tie the string with Byakuya. It always felt somewhat off with that scene of him dying in the river full of sorrow and regret, despite everything else being rather hopeful and plot amory-they manage everything. In the end, they even pulled this teary emotional scene about that Whyman.

Flüster mir eine Liebeslied v2, v6-8: Ok. I will say the art is pretty. And those later volumes after the gap jump are ever so more enticing than the first volume manages to be. I always thought this was completely unlike Given, in tone, vibes and everything, but there is two things they have in common aside the band thing: Everyone's in pain and somehow just about everyone is revealed to be gay/lesbian. Just what are the odds of so many assembling in one place so coincidentially?

Fuwafuwa Therapist ch1-3, ch12, ch11: MC gets diagnosed with 'fluff illness' and gets send to 'fluff therapy' with a 'fluff specialist'…. who turns out to be a very uncannily propotioned bunny that can transform into a bunny-man. Soon it is revealed, he got sick with this illness because his rabbit (an actual rabbit-rabbit) he's been living together with for 10 years has died. Now there's been a bit too big of a gap to see the progression, but I definitely was checking the tags again for any BL tag in ch12. But anyway. While this doesn't have be hooked I subscribe to the premise. It's a bit like Hari to Hitsuji no Fune, but instead of a needlework course, you get a fluff therapy. Like. Right. I want to have a fluff therapy by a cute bun myself (without the rabbit death trigger tho). Just please an actually cute one, because this

is not convincingly looking like a fluff bun whatsoever.

Hana to Kurage to Refrain ch1: This is looking like a compfy series with a bittersweet tinge to it. Curious how it will go on. It definitely does a good job of feeling animated though its art.

MC Kafuu is also very much a scaredy cat mood.

That's whole gradient right there.

German initial impressions:

Plot ist: MC Kafuu, ist ziemlich schreckhaft in allen Angelegenheiten Horror. Sie ist Teil vom Occultic Club, praktisch dahin verschleppt worden von ihren Senpais, weil weil sie das "Spririted Away Child" ist. (Sie selbst meint nur, sie habe sich als Kind verlaufen.) Als Kind ist sie mal bei einem Fest alleine zum Tempel, verschwand spurlos, um dann später am gleichen Ort in gleicher Gestalt einfach so wieder aufzutauchen. Befragt zu was passiert sei, schüttelt sie nur den Kopf. Ihre Club Senpais rufen sie eines Tages wieder zu dem Tempel, da sie Gerüchte gehört haben und dem nachgehen wollen. Da treffen sie auf Nukumori (der Junge mit der Brille), der sie als Ursprung der Gerüchte entpuppt. Sie reden etwas, Kafuu merkt derweil, dass sie voll die weiche Knie bekommen hat so wie Nukumoro aus dem Gebüsch kam. Man bringt sie zu einer Bank beim Tempel, die Senpais holen was zu trinken und die MC unterhalten sich etwas. Nukumori macht einige mysteriöse Andeutungen scheint umherzuziehen und allen Spirited Away Vorfällen nachzugehen, weil er etwas/wen sucht. Sie frägt danach, da kommen die Senpais wieder. Tags drauf beim Essen meinen die Senpais, sie sollten Nukomori einladen, füttern sie aber noch mit einem grusligen Gerücht, weswegen sie dann ganz nervös ist, als sie sich zu Nukumori auf macht. Sie findet ihn dann (nicht ohne einen Schreck vorher, weill sich was hinterm Bücherregal bewegt), läd ihn ein zusammen Mittag zu essen, er sagt geht nicht, weil er kann nicht vor anderen Menschen essen, sie wundert sich in Gedanken über die Formulierung, läd ihn dann noch ein, dem Club beizutreten, und redet auf ihn ein. Er frägt, warum sie sich so Mühe gibt, sie meint, dass sie ihn für einen guten Menschen hält. Er verneint das und lehnt auch ihre Einladung ab. Sie stolzert dann fällt auf ihn und durch die Berührung fällt seine menschliche Gestalt ab. Es entschuldigt sich dafür, sie erschreckt zu haben, da erinnert sie sich wie ein Junge ihr als Kind in dem Fest-Yukata die Richtung gezeigt hat. Er meint noch, er hätte noch weiter mit ihr interagiert, aber jetzt da sie seine wahre Gestalt, muss er sie verschwinden lassen. Kapitel Ende. Tag/Logline nach ist das wohl eine RomCom Von den Zutaten her wirkt es jetzt nicht nach etwas furchtbar weltbewegendem, aber es hat hat Good Dork Faces und setzt sie auch gekonnt ein, dass aus den Figuren direkt Persönlichkeit spricht. Die Andeutungen und der Mystery Anteil speisen sich aktuell noch sehr à la Mystery Box Effekt, was auch gut für den Cliffhanger funktioniert. Hab aber den Eindruck es wird das Augenmerk nicht drauf legen. (Dafür ist bisschen sehr naheliegend, dass Nukumori und Kafuu sich früher schon getroffen haben und sie es ist, den er sucht.) Sonst ist es vermutlich trotz übernatürliche Wesen etwas das Richtung compf gehen wird, MCs erscheinen beide als viel zu liebe Wesen, die in allem das gute sehen und Nukumoris Name schreibt sich schon mit den Zeichen für warm und Wald und ist homophon zu Wärme. Was der Titel nun zu bedeuten hat erschließt sich mir aus Kapitel 1 bislang noch nicht so ganz. (Flower vermutlich weil das Ka in Kafuu Blume heißt. Vielleicht ist Nukumori eine Art Quallenwesen oder so fürs Jellyfish? 🤔 ) Intro der ersten Seiten hat so eine Rückblickende, bittersüße Note, die schon verrät, dass sie sich noch verlieben wird, aber klingt auch bisschen so an, als würde nichts draus werden, weil es nur eine Erinnerung ist.

Nach Kapitel 2.1.: Lag erstmal falsch, der hat gar nicht jemanden gesucht, sondern einen Weg nach Hause. Riecht auch etwas nach fluff, auch wenn es das noch nicht ist

Knitter's High ch31.1-3: I am somewhat amazed this series is so long and I'm sure 90% of it won't stay in my memory (actually more than half has already vanished). But it's probably reaching an end soon. School is ending after all. The ending note about feeling somewhat forlorn kinda looked pretty nice.

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch88: So after a cheese death it goes on to be compf and fluff, but then he worries about essential cheese deaths again.

Following them I really just circle back to what Yoimachi said about watching them and it's pretty on point to the sentiments I have watching those two. That being said. It's been a while with Yoimachi last showing up, I'd love to see more of her again, too.

Liebe ist (k)ein Wettkampf v3, v5: This is really…. not good. Way too much macho and rotten cheese nonsense.

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch35:

Cat version of the grand jump of chapter 1? Still cool.

And darn is this hairdo pretty!!

Moriarty the Patriot v2: This was an accidential re-read I only noticed near the end of the volume. Ha. Ha. Brain? I did not permit vacation for you.

Mr. Mallow Blue ch32: Yikes. Yume is just yikes. That flashback of why she became Sakura's enemy is already yikes, but it's getting worse… Sakura already is one that gives off the impression that she direly needs some therapy to sort out her issues, but Yume is way way worse. Meanwhile at Aoi's camp:

Cute-compf by a supportive character probably just is the best medicine, if somehow professional help doesn't exist.

Shinigami no Hanayome - Yomei 7-nichi kara no Koufuku ch1-3: The cover is eyecatching. And that way of dying does supply a sorts of morbid, but beautiful imagery material. Her half-insane, but also kinda alluring smile only adds to it. That being said the plot seems to be a bit on the more edgy side, but it leaves that premise behind fairly soon already. Curious what will come now. Too bad it's probably going to be without the flowers, through.

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch79-81: Euh. Okay. The teacher's detective arc is over apparantely? Or is it postponed? Anyway, the conclusion gotten is uh. Anticlimatic? Or beside the point, but still not very comfortable. Meanwhile it's going back to the family issues. Which really come back to that every single one of them are terrible communicators.

But it's definitely more lighthearted overall now with these little cute titbits inbetween.

Silent Lover ch196-204(S2ch54-62): This is completely ludicrous now and that prince deserves some serious slaps. The complete absence his birth father and the other adoptive father of the other MC is still puzzlingly suspicious. Maybe there will be a twist about, oh they knew about the illness so went to a trip to call upon that old royal dynasty's advanced wisdom to get a cure?

On Movie Recaps/Essays: The new category here... Recently Youtube has thrown me a number of movie recaps or film analysis video essays over, but this month probably for the first time, these was one that had a lasting impression and so I decided to list some of those titles off as well.

Raise the Red Latern: I've not watched the movie. Also I don't think I want to now. It's terribly uncomfortable. But what footage I did see went all across the whole movie and it definitely is a whole piece of art. Also adressing something you always see in royal court harem dramas, but here it's "just" a rich man and commoner mistresses. Yet the same sort of system applies and if court harems always do come off a bit like power hungry, here there are also power games, but it's looking more purely just desperate. The ending is also just really really gloom.

Moon Man: So, it's a bit of The Martian at first, except the premise happens because the guy is a cheese stricken idiot. Then it goes cringe, and then……… a kangaroo appears, when it has a few Wandering Earth vibes and the ending is also sounding like the same sort of Amageddon inspired heroic sacrifice blockbuster. Except it's also a comedy. Probably mostly a comedy. I'm not sure what to make of it. (Or if I actually want to watch the whole thing.)

Music/Music Videos: The second half of Septemer's playlist moved over, but somehow all that Three Body Problem/Wandering Earth part fizzled off somewhat soon. Diffrent Kind of Beautiful stuck around for a while, until it it lost effect and then I put the randomizer up again for a bunch of days. That had me hit upon Isolated and which then had me pull out some other redrose tracks again. (I've always liked serene moments, somehow it always makes me have a sort of Mono no Aware moment.) Isolation and A World Gone Blue otherwise were mainly the tracks that accompanied my Kemutai Hanashi trip (serene moment's previous associations kind of never managed to peel off and get dyed in this) and Held on a Thread was just forgotten to be taken out again. That's always been something of a "theme track" of a large middle portion of Higurashi ga Naku Koro ni for me, which ironically is probably as far off away from Kemutai Hanashi as it gets. Isolation and A World Gone Blue were also subjects to some habitual severe lyrics mishearing yet again. I'm not sure how I got "Undefined, sick and tired" out of "Can I say goodnight" (I was already going Hnnngh, another gloom song about sleepless nights??), but there we go… Same for A World in Blue, I misheard "poignant" as "pungent" and that paired with the "I didn't question it" tained the whole song with me thinking, oh no, not again another toxic relationship one. Turns out Isolation is indeed about sleepless nights, but there is a sort of determination in there to get through it all and A World in Blue doesn't actually have a trace of toxidity in it after all. (Altho it's still a bit gloom, because clearly it's mourning the absense of another person.) But Pfeeew. A half break from my curse of either finding cheese or questionable lyrics songs. That's nice.

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tsukiyadori · 9 months ago

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Reading (Watching) Log 2024.02-2024.03 - February-March

Previous: Reading Log 2023.12-2024.01 - December-January

Finding the good things be just like chasing after elusive bubbles and wondering how long they'll last

Reading languages: German, English, French, Japanese, not listing which was what

Titles are as I’ve read them either first or most and thus remember it for that title mostly

Not going to bother putting in the original titles of translated reads unless there is something worthy of note to it

Cursive titles have been completed

Tumblr's four thousand so and so max characters per block is annoying as hell

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FEBRUARY

JNC Nina licenses Unnamed Memory both in French in February and German in March. And so now I am reading it for a second and third time simultaneously and also got a subscription for it and then you gotta not waste the buffet, do you?

The reason I never subbed to the JNC English site was because I feared I'd never read my other backlog if I'd get roped into chasing expiry deadlines over all the time, so there was extra zeal on that too avoid the nightmare scenario.

And soooo the LN pile read off has had an increase not seen in years.

Light Novels:

Anime Supremacy

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki LN 8.5-9

Hell Mode v1-2.7

I Met You After the End of the World v1-2

See You When the Snow Falls

Spice & Wolf v21

The Apothecary Diaries v1-2

The Eminence in Shadow v1

Unnamed Memory LN v1.p1

Manga:

100-nengo ni Tenseishita Watashi, Zense no Juukishi ni Kyuukonsaremashita: Heika wa Watashi ga Moto Oujo da to Okizukidenai you desu ch15.1-3

A Certain Scientific Accelerator v10-v12

A Certain Scientific Railgun v17-18

A Kingdom of Quartz ch1

A Side Character's Love Story ch35.2-50.1

After God ch53-54

Alabaster ch5.3-10.2

Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch15-16.1

Beauty as the Beast ch36-49

Black Butler v31

Bloody Bites at Boarding School v1

Boku no Diamond Star final chapter

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki Manga ch8-24.2

Buta no Liver wa Kanetsushiro ch33-34.4

Captain Ken ch1-7

Close to your Skin

Daijuukou to Unicornis no Otome ch14.1

Dance Dance Danseur v1-3 (JP v1-6)

Dekiru Neko wa Kyou mo Yuuutsu ch104

Der Geschmack nach Melone v1

Diamond in the Rough v1

Die Braut des Wasserdrachen v8-9 (out of order read)

Gebt mir mehr, bitte sehr v2

Geliebter Wetterfrosch v2ch6-11

Girl Crush ch62-63, ch81-82

Give Her Back to Me

Gleipnir v2-9, ch59-88

Haikyu v34-39

Harebare Biyori ch23.1

Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch9.1-2

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni Meguri ch19.1-2

I have a Crush at Work ch1

I'm cute enough to get away with it ch20

Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei: Super Pink

In the Sunset ch0-12

Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch17.2-4

Kakan no Oukoku no Hanagirai Hime ch10-11.2

Kijima-san & Yamada-san ch1-6

Knitter's High ch25-26.2

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch79

Kono Koi wo Hoshi ni wa Negawanai ch11.1-2

Lust auf ein Date? v9-10

Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku ch18.2-4

Mr. Villain's Day Off ch54-64

My Awkward Senpai ch1-37

Okaeri Aureole

Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru node Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch23.2-3

Oshi no Ko ch139

Our Dedication

Porno Superstar

Porträt eines Vampirs v2

Ran the Peerless Beauty v4

Reincarnated as the Daughter of the Legendary Hero and the Queen of Spirits ch19.4-58

Rental Girlfriend v19

Requiem Of The Rose King v9-10

Resist Destiny v3ch10-15

Ride-On King v3

Sakura, Saku v3ch11

Sasaki and Miyano v7

She is also cute today ch52-75

Shinde Miro to Iwareta no de Shinimashita. ch9-10

Shuumatsu Touring ch35

Sky Link v1

Snow Fairy v1

Snowball Earth v2-5

Solange wir zusammen sind v1

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch64-66

Sooper Spooky ch1-4

Spice & Wolf - Die Abenteuer von Col und Miyuri v1-2

Suicide Notes Laid on the Table ch1-9

Sweet & Tart Boyfriend Ch39-53

Take Over Zone v1ch5

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten ch13.3-14.1

The Diamond of Heart v3ch11-15

The Heroic Legend of Arslan v12ch71-76

The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl ch16-38

The Killer Inside v1-6, ch53-97

The Villainess's Guide to (Not) Falling in Love ch12.2-15.1

To be Winner ch76-114

Together Forever ch36.2-42.2

Tomorrow, make me yours

Unnamed Memory Manga ch34.1

Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch35.1-36.1

Zombie 100 v10ch38

Webtoons:

Breed my Dear Enemy ch92-110

Can the Grand Duke and the Marquis be Friends? ch13-32

Flowers in the Secret Place ch1-52

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira ch8-41

Marry my Enemy ch8-60.5

SOS My Love has a Bug ch0-3

Spirit of Peach Blossom ch49-80

Taberare Usa ch88-92

The Giantess wants Love ch96-170

The Mermaid Wears a Dress ch38-60

The Villainess Behind the Mask ch1-53

To be or not to be ch12-36

Non-Fiction:

Some Greek mythology book (ISBN 9789463598965)

Notes:

Bottom Tier Character Tomozaki LN 8.5-9 Wow. Wow. So I thought volume 8 was kinda really not too great for me, but ultimately that (and v8.5) are built up to volume 9, and ho boy was this a surprise. It even starts right off with doing the right thing about dating - talking it out - then root issues and problems are being pointed out and then there is also still the Popol and the Fireling analogy going on. And Kikuchi's then even in world essentially totally realizing that she is effectively up against narrative fate. And then there is Hinami. And it's not like Tomozaki has a crush on her, like he does with Kikuchi. While he can perfectly be attracted to her, it's not like he has all the crushy feels he has for Kikuchi. But that bond is there. And it's so paramount, most important he's ready to let go from Kikuchi, when it looks like he can't have both without some sort of suffering happening somewhere. At this point I steadfastly declare this series as being pretty much queer. I thought this before already, that Tomozaki isn't really all that straight, like he is easily attracted to a lot of the girls, but also he's got the heart flutter moment with Misuzawa already and just generally looks up at him copying it. If this had wanted to take a BL turn, this wouldn't really have come out of nowhere either. While this potential route probably is not ever going to be explored, what he has there with Hinami just screams queerplatonic to me. They have all the issues of naming and describing it, the next best thing they can tangibly go for is, she is his mentor in the game of life. But there is definitely more going on from both sides, and at least for Tomozaki it's overly clear how huge her existence is in his life. And he longs to keep it. But it's not the same thing he has with Kikuchi and what's more Kikuchi just.... gets it. And yes, it's a queasy and axiety inducing, but ultimately that ending being like all in the break up mood and she being like she's gotta make a decision herself, so asks him to let her make the request - how often do we get a girl finally stands up to make a decision for herself to end things? Not Kikuchi, she does the entire opposite. Rather than ending it, she reinforces that ending of v7, that this is a selfish wish, but she desires him. And it's not just her crush, it's because he also is her ideal Popol. Which he wouldn't be without Hinami being there as such a paramount existence. And it's just this whole great thing about that ultimately decisions and what one makes out of it is the most supreme thing of all. And what Kikuchi did is, she gave narrative fate a middle finger.

The thing with the badges is kinda a bit of sappy cheese, but it definitely feels well earned. And next to that, there is also this whole setting of boundaries with Hinami, too. When Tomozaki just goes and requests Hinami to shut up, when she is saying her logical, but not empathetic reasoning and he makes it clear, that this is not rejection, not rejecting her, not rejecting her values, but self-preservation, that he needs that distance to protect his emotions and to prevent himself for developing bad ones towards her. It's just so really beautifully respectful while drawing that important boundary. And he also follows up with that game meeting, just to prove, it wasn't just empty talk. He still fully intends to have her in his life. That makes it just buyable. And that also makes the ending clear, that he is upset with her for using him like that, but he does not even contradict her on her methods of working. He just doesn't agree with her attitude and motivation in this. And it's a clear telling off, but it also doesn't feel salty, because clearly after all this, he's not just going to let her walk out of his life AND IT'S NOT BECAUSE OF ANYTHING ROMANCE. (In a RomCom(Drama), set up a bit harem-like no less.)

You have all that talking with Mizuzawa about you can't have it all, things are spilling, you gotta at least be aware and deliberately toss something and usually this is where people go and pick Za most important loved one to become the OTP and what does this guy do? Starts ditching everything that by all means logic is transient and "replaceable" - until Mimimi makes it clear to any reader she is way too good to let go - is all ready to ditch his new self he has come to like himself, is ready to ultimately ditch the notorious supreme SO. breathes in ISN'T THIS OUTRAGEOUS??

Like completely outrageously rare. I did not expect this. I was all whining that I didn't want to see it end on Tomozaki and Hinami winding up the OTP simply by virtue of the narrative fate of first girl to show up, and the Kikuchi just comes and trashes it down. This is great stuff. And then it is even more, it's talking about compatibility, it's talking unbalance, it's talking about how the solution ultimately was Kikuchi sucked it up, but it's not entirely one sided, either, as it also was her deliberate intentional steadfast choice to put an ideal over her anxious feelings. And it's just so neatly full circle to v7. And it also manages to level up Rena who really was slap worthy in v8. She really is in it to push the limits, but once Tomozaki clearly tells her off, she backs away. So all you have to be steadfast, for everything else, you only deserve to be her prey. That's an interesting one, too, especially considering, who she really comes off as somebody who doesn't respect any boundaries, but all it needed was steadfastness? And then her and Mr. Professional Player talk about relationships from an adult perspective, it being about setting boundaries for the partner meaning relationships and it's all really interesting and convincing for a healthy relationship and Tomozaki is pondering about it and it all looking like it completely falls apart, but then Kikuchi finds a different way that does away with the conflict. .... Isn't that kinda quintessentially queer(platonic)? To not be all following whichever norm was out there set by your predecessors. But not necessarily denying all and everything of it either. And then it ALSO brings in the subject of what loser or winner means in life and that line about how Tomozaki actually is a winner type - because he can recognize status and value, but it entirely not attached it so has no second qualms to just let go it, because he doesn't see it as something that propels himself forward - was really a thing to think about, while it finally tied the gamer aspect into it the rest. Tomozaki never had a need to validate himself, and it was actually something he's had from the beginning. But since he had such a self-sabotaging resigned attitude and approach it perverted it into merely being an arrogant loser. But turns out it actually was just lacking the toolset and guidance to make use of what he's always had. And really just the sheer miracle of meeting somebody, who is equipped with an eye to see that value and then confront and nourish it, even if it may be out of questionable motivations (but it's not like they are exactly harmful to him), it's just so so grand, and.... I think I'm rather jealous of it. Does this even happen in reality? This series makes it buyable that it may actually be possible.

Hell Mode v1-2.7 Here we go with a case of you just read it, because it was there. One of the few current titles on JNC Nina and it just felt like a waste to not make use of it. Turned out, it's not so bad, although it's nothing I'd ever actually pick up on my own. The steady leveling up and checking out stats and experimenting with it is quite like By the Grace of Gods, just without any of it's healing compf properties. The protagonist kinda reminds of the one from Gamers!, just in less of a pathetic loose-type. Maybe that makes him more like the protagonist of Shangri-La Frontier, but in terms of personality he's a bit off. But it takes its very decent solid time to establish actual stakes, the one major thing that made Shangri-La entirely not work for me. The MC even mentions it himself, it's a whole pain to have been reborn and spending all these years, but though it he has a bond with them (which kinda is like Ascendance of a Bookworm, now that I think about it), and these are his stakes. He doesn't just do things because of his gaming obsession, but also because he wants/needs his family to get into better conditions. Not a bad read, it solidly does what it sets out to do so far.

See You When the Snow Falls Uh, hmmmmm. This tried to jug multiple genres and then none of them were exactly terrible, but somehow though the split none of them managed to shine. The split was actually fairly even, too. The mystery bit turns out to be an actual murder mystery, and it was even guessable to the reader, but because it's always background focus it ends kinda anticlimatic, despite being fairly round. And to begin with, nothing about the premise (and the compf cover) looks like a murder mystery.

Cheese wise it was, err, uncommon, I guess? Meets the ghost, looks like a the fated person, meets another girl, also has an air of a fated person, actually starts dating somebody entirely else, and after some detour winds up with his future wife. Some lines really weren't bad, and there is some of the ugly side of relationships depicted quite down to earthly, but maybe it was just way too matter of factually reported, this hardly qualifies as romance as in the genre either. And as a coming of age drama of something who lacks any direction and purpose in life it's too entangled to those two subplots than to shine, he kinda gets dragged around by them and big dramatic moment happens and then just happens to do his thing, because why not.

It has a nice realistic sense to it at places, but somehow it's completely not what you'd think it'd be from the cover and blurb.

(Also has nothing to do with that other 2 volume series, which I only found out after finishing this one.)

As an oel otherwise it was a bit weird at places. Aside from "a kuro tech company" it uses words like chikan, keiko just like that in Japanese with italics and those are words that really need not have to be Japanese, next to some Nee sentence starts (why not simply "groping", "honorifics", "hey"?). Not too many lines, but they have a strange weeb show off effect. At some point it also has a bit of an air about flaunting knowledge of that culture, like how it comes around with explaining how onsen were used for talks because nude means you can't hide weapons. I'd guess this is an obvious snippet of knowledge to any native writer as I've never seen it show up explained anyway beyond No Game, No Life where it was just in a tirade to distract from the main topic and Zombie 100 where the weeb foreigner comes to flaunt her knowledge. 🤔

I Met You After the End of the World v1-2 And there I thought these were all the volumes of this series, but apparently there's gonna be a v3… I was surprised by this series. It was present already in See You When the Snow Falls, but it's clearer here. This writer's style has a distinctive male gaze, and it doesn't shy away from sexuality and being just a bit philosophical contemplating. This kinda reminds me a lot of Asano Inio or Haruki Murakami or Oshimi, but it's not like…. as wrecked. Not that it is to say that there isn’t lots and lots of doom material by premise and setting, as well as plenty of assholes, but the few that are there are kinda all side characters (who get their just desserts by plot). The MC is quite upstanding instead and treats the female MC very respectfully. And it starts off with a mood that comes to a close around a third to half line in the first volume. They are alone in a Tokyo, where everyone died of a virus. It takes months until the stink of the corpses emerges and then it needs the electricity network breaking down for them to properly have it sink in, that they were spending their whole time next to corpses en masse and now need to leave the place. I was thinking the reason why there was no stink was kinda hard to buy at first, but then it's maybe not entirely impossible either. And you'd think, why are they such idiots and didn't prepare stocking up on fuel before gas station electric pumps would fail, why not stock up on battery charge, but not look for this and that. Didn't they know this was gonna break down sooner or later? They even mentioned having feared it before. But it all seems so plausible with the mood. You have this guy, who just is totally burned out from life and was all ready to simply wait for his death by the virus and the girl has her own share of issues and they just are there enjoying the luxury of modern life without its responsibilities and artificial social pressures and they just spend their time to… heal. Did they know to be more clever in preparing more? Probably. Somewhere in the back of their heads. But they also looked to me entirely not being in the mental state of actually following up on it. And this is just the worst thing about extended periods of exhaust. You lose that onlook or care about even a mildly midterm future. Just floating in and out of the days. I didn't even know I'd find that mood interesting, but here were are.

After this it turns into a road trip and the obligatory romance was gonna progress, too. Heads up for a perspective of, the female character can get horny as well and that being solidified as something perfectly not shameful. (Even if the phrasing of “people have their needs” used to cement it is a clunky one that can go to hell.) And some meetings are almost always mystery cases, in between. (I find it rather funny that she'd carry that book about cults of all things all the way from Tokyo to the south, just to have it ready at the right time, lol.) All the hints of more survivors being there is a nice set up for potentially something grander and will be interesting how this is going to weave together with the romance between the two. It gives me slight Eden It's an Endless World vibes there. The end of the world, humanity and everything…. but look there, after a while you'll see humans still survive after all and you gotta see how to live in this world where some things just never change. Could imagine that coming in as a theme, too, but we're not there yet. The MC is already contemplating personal true value vs. artificial social value and the whole thing about it already was dead, but the tsunami comes and and sinks everything down and even the hubris is gone. There was just such a solemn mood about it, like all the things you hated, but you also realize you were attached to it nonetheless. And just how that hits down as a very lonely thing. Kinda reminded me when I heard that my old school was torn down and I looked up some pictures taken from the teardown side filled of rubble. AND THEN volume 2 comes in with…. a ghost and a deity. Huh???? Suddenly it's also Fantasy???? I have no idea where it is wanting to go. But not even a date for v3 yet…

The Apothecary Diaries v1-2 I have to say the beginning was a bit dry and if there was anything at all it was just the narrator’s cheeky tone going for me. It was like the narrator has a personality entirely of their own, while omnipotently knowing about everything past and future and present and sometimes doing a little commentary. (Unfortunately that one vanished quite soon enough.) It requires its time to set up all the characters and especially Maomao. I was expecting that it would just utilize the fact that she is just too into her special interest and doesn’t see anything else of the world trope to justify it until said interest would shift, but surprisingly she is not wholly obsessed about it for larger parts of the first volume at all. And her being so entirely in the know about the Red District certainly doesn’t make her the too innocent-trope. So when the narration goes to state she expressly has no interest, despite the ability to see the attraction by common standards my eartips perked up. This increased with all the weary moods over watching other people’s marriage going right or going wrong and there is just this whole mood of like Ah-Dou and the emperor not really being lovers but bosom friends and confidantes and her just being a strong support to him rather ever really be his concubine. Or Maomao and her adoptive father and just how remote romance and sexual indulgence can be from a home to get back to. At that point I thought that would have been interesting with Jinshi being an Eunuch and that being mentioned as 'losing sometime vital', something that isn’t at all so vital to Maomao herself. If Maomao was pretty much as good as ace, that could have made an interesting match, of one who is dumbly in love and the other entirely not, but slowly finding some intellectual and emotional ways to connect. Like she did with her entire found family. But duh, of course that couldn’t stay that way.

I raged at that v1 epilogue. WTH do you mean she got pink cheeks, blushing from a darn cheese move? At the end? This last minute?? It felt so entirely like, that v1 was set up to work standalone and then it’s just bait, like, imagine the rest of that ship on your own. Which felt entirely like betrayal to the set up of Maomao herself and also if that was where it was gonna go, then it was just half-baked. My best guess was that it was just being bait, and look there volume 2 just goes and essentially retconned it. And then adds a comment in that volume to have Maomao say it was she left everything love in the womb of her mother. Now that’s a really cool phrasing that I’m inclined to use for myself if a need may pop out. In any case, Maomao is such a mood (just replace poison with rabbits for me), her facial descriptions about Jinshin’s cheese advances or the deadpan expressions of exhaust, resignation to annoyance when others have gossips are so quintessentially me as a teenager and her aloofness about just really knowing a whole lot about worldly flesh matters (but all theoretical) and then being stared at is similar to my adult self now. I was surprised how quickly that escalated with everyone getting headaches and Jinshi even resorting to wall punching. What I found too bad about v2 is that ultimate her poison hobby obsession got played as the expected trope after all and then Jinshi just has to be the Ugly Duck (or more like the swan among ducks?) that he is and I was kinda disappointed that Maomao wound up being blood related to her adoptive father after all. Like it was really interesting how things interconnected with the mystery cases, but then it says that coincidences piling up like this suggest something intentional and things in her surroundings and family are also all too coincidentally also very connected and who’s the mastermind there? (It looks a bit like the former empress?) Anyhow. Volume 1 and 2’s mood and tone does feel considerably different at places, I’m not sure which one I actually like better. (What I think is also kind of funny is how it’s like a sort of reverse Jeweler Richard? Both guys are described has heavenly beautiful defying gender and having everyone turn their heads and the narrator and even Maomao can’t stop making mention of this, but Maomao and Seigi are at complete opposite extremes of reacting to it, and yet Jinshi is already like a v6 Richard and Maomao is like a mix of dofus Seigi and early volumes Richard?)

Later I found out that the shousetsu ni narou version was still up and it looks like v1's content is largely the same to the WN. So looking up the phrasing of that v1 epilogue it says utsuru for her thought esclamation that it's catching on to her and then she gets those pink cheeks. Now utsuru is a word descibing catching diseases other things contagious. Which is to say, this is reminicent of that explanation Oda does in One Piece about Ruffy having a reaction at nude Nami, simply because he is in a group and the group mentality caught on. I still entirely don't like that bit of the epilogue, but I suppose this makes it look a bit less disappointingly baity.

That and that the author writes in a postscript to WN v1 that from then on it'd be all about raising flags and then destroying them. So maybe that was intentional. But then it was also one comment I'd have wanted to read right after the epilogue, because darn, was I annoyed/disappointed by that last minute titbit. ._.

The Eminence in Shadow v1 - Another one, read because not reading would be a waste of the subscription, but helluva what even is this. I don't know.

Unnamed Memory LN v1.p1 I said I was gonna be quick to sub if for example UN showed up and then it actually did show up on JNC Nina. Okay, so sub done and started reading it. And I have ??? about the translations. Like I'd say my French sucks, so at some places I had the English version next to it as a crutch for double checking. Which inevitably makes me notice that it differs at some places from the English one and it's not just the name romanizations. And when I compared some of them with the JP preview and looks like the French one.... actually looks more accurate by those samples? That was interesting, but now I am in doubt about the English translation, which on its own actually had read itself just fine.

Black Butler v31 After Zombies, Titanic, Harry Potter Houses, Cricket, and Idol Group (WTH?) Now we have HAZARD SUITS. I don't even with this series.... It’s boldly thick skinned in doing whatever it wants, that much is for sure. Also, I somehow managed to buy volume 23 again instead of buying 32. How the hell did that happen...

Dance Dance Danseur v1-3 (JP v1-6) It’s a very good sports series. It’s been utterly exhausting however. If one had to sum up the first 4-5 volumes it’s like TEENAGERS. All the stupidity, all the worries, body changes, nervousness, and attraction and horniness and lots, lots, lots of it. That’s just everything I do not resonate with because I never really had that phase. In between it shows some really assy prejudices, but also goes to kick them in the ass. While the latter is rewarding the former still happens and just makes me go yuck right of the first pages. But it does a fair job of not just demonizing that side and even the characters with that assy attitude turn out to be really just human in their own way.

German ramblings from right after reading v3: Wandert auf die wird weitergelesen (wenn auch nicht mit Prio) Liste. Ist zwar immer noch so voll mit Elementen zum Weglaufen für mich, aber es ist mittlerweile nicht mehr ganz so übel TEENAGER und wie das alles zusammenkommt mit den Nebenfigurenelemente ist echt schickt zusammengefädelt.

Die Doppelbände bleiben aber ein Krampf zum in der Hand Halten q_q"

Es hat leider sind es immer noch weitgehend Zutaten, die bevorzuge ich eher in kleiner Dosis, selbst wenn es gut verpackt ist…. Beim Pantyshot und dem "mach doch was männliches" oder den Mobbinszenen hatte ich schon paar 🤢 Momente. Das ganze Pubertäts-Hormonmoster-blabla, ist teilweise auch sehr OTL, vermute mal einigermaßen realistisch getroffen? Hatte das halt nie und dann das ganze hin und her mit Miyako oder er ist nur bei der Schule gelandet, weil der Pantyshot im den Kopf verdreht hat. ufffffz. (Bei Bakemonogatari fängt effektiv auch alles mit einen Pantyshot an, aber da ist es durch die Eskalation der Ereignisskette so extra absurd, dass es was passend sureales hat.) Und das Thema um Passion/Talent wiederfinden/verfolgen/fördern ist halt auch bisschen weiter weg als jemand der gar weder das eine noch das andere hat. Und mit Tanzen kann man mich IRL eigentlich jagen gehen. 🩸

Aber ist schon gut eingebaut mit Nuancen und aufeinander abgestimmt, sieht man selten so, aber auch, Band 2 war echt bisschen zu viel TEENAGER HORMOOOONNEEEEEE. Die Richtung seit Band 3 war mir da echt willkommen. Grad auch dass das mit dem Mobbing wieder kommt. Das hatte sich zwischenzeitlich recht verwässert und unter den Tisch gekehrt angefühlt, aber dann war es doch nur die Ruhe vor dem Sturm.. Also erzählerisch macht es eine sehr gute Figur und bei so vielen Bänden sieht es nach Mehrgängemenü aus~

Diamond in the Rough - Finished It is a pretty solid Shonen read, with an interesting setting, but hell, what is this ending? Did it get axed? It totally just feels like an arc ending shortly before a post time skip part 2 and then it’s suddenly simply just the end.

Girl Crush ch62-63, ch81-82 I found out that it actually has a web serialization elsewhere than just Line Manga (which is geoblocked), so straight shoot at it even if it meant gap jumping. It's still rock solid and great, also it's clearly in the build up stages for the next fireworks. Tenka is just so gorgeous.

Give Her Back to Me That was... creepy, in an intended way. It was interesting, but also just slightly brain frying. I suppose that was also intended.

Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei: Super Pink I also call this 'the horny porny that shouldn't exist'. It's a spin off doujin by the author from Iki Dekinai no wa Kimi no Sei/Breathless Momentum and it's, well, been quite honest about what its content was going to be about from the preview of the thing. Which is to say it has no plot only plot. All I had when I learned of this release was a jerk reaction of WHY. Didn't the author tweet before there were never gonna be ero scenes in her work? And isn't Breathless Momentum really great, because it's just so utterly unabashed horny, but manages to be that while also never being porny or smutty? (You don't usually get this.) Why now this. I'm all whiny. That being said, as for PLOT it was still one of the better ones I guess. You don't just get horny, it's not just about shanking another up till insanity, but it's also about foreplay and really just enjoying the whole thing with their minds still all sound (you also rarely get something like that) and it's just two who are really hot and horny about another, it's far from their first time, and there is just this sort of self-evident natural playfulness to it. And there's even funny little panels and humor in between. And visual cuteness (they get all hearts in their eyes as pupils over their delectable snacks.) So now, please can I have all the elements like these without the need of beams and holes and overly explicitness and also have it actually be integrated into a main plot please? At least it established the horniness in the main series already, unlike say What did you eat yesterday? - which is also to say, unlike some doujins there, where I wanna scream why it wasn't part of the main plot, because of very important emotional characterization, Super Pink is entirely neglectable to the main plot. But some of its seasonings would have peppered the main series nicely, too, if they were spread out more and not going deep into the horny pot like that....

Isekai de Ane ni Namae wo Ubawaremashita ch17.2-4 This series got licensed by Yen Press. Everyone go read it. It's good~

Lust auf ein Date? (How do we Relationship?) v9-10 Finally the How to we NOT relationship manual turns into a How DO we relationship advice box. But ho girl was the path to it exhausting. A very good series that does lots of things right and well written, but that are things I just don't manage to really like. But how the two mains are going for and knowing how people are gonna likely misunderstand it and one of their girlfriends being all like “you can’t have enough harbors outside of just your lover” just really really makes it looks like it’s going for some queerplatonic angle and I think I’m gonna whine a whole lot if those two wind up being a couple after all in the end.

Okaeri Aureole This is 50% cute-wholesome and 50% the guy deserves a bloody punch. Like how can you have things like this:

And then also have one go and assault the other one in some run in the mill-bad nonCon trope?

Reincarnated as the Daughter of the Legendary Hero and the Queen of Spirits ch19.4-58 This was a surprise and probably not one I would have touched if I couldn’t have tried checking it out on Manga Up. the title is kinda really unfortunate as is its isekai reincarnation premise. It’s kind of pretty irrelevant to the plot and MC literally goes like “but that’s not relevant so story for another time” (which probably will never really happen?) Well, anyway. It has a nice mix of badass girls and mums, intrigues and politics, an interesting fantasy world with some lore, two parents who are just dumbly in love with each other (they remind me of Spice and Wolf, but just more stupid-funny-cute), who can be funny, idiots, dorks and then entirely mature and serious at the switch of a button. The art is cute, too and in general it just has this playful air about it, being very compf, while it’s still interspersed with darker bits of the world and it’s a really nice balance of savory and compf-cute-sweet.

Ride-On King v3 I am not sure what I read there. Probaby same stuff as v1-2, but it has been a while.

Sasaki and Miyano v7 I closed the gap from print and web-reading. Good heavens I’ve read this as it was chapter-serialized in JP, so I already knew what was coming, but darn it is this cheese death worthy collected in a book like this. How to despair as you gotta rereaed the last few pages every 5 pages because your brain just chimed out.

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch64-66 I’m entirely not sure where this is going to go. The premise conflicts are more resolved than not, so a new character comes in to retrace some of it and then it opens up new themes. Which is like…. gender/trans/nonbinary themes? One scheming girl who’s not below selling her own body?? I’m not entirely sure, as I dumbly missed out on reading some chapters in time before their free reading expired. The kuudere MC teenager's starting to go cheese, while her mother is finding all her sappyness back? Ok.. But it’s kind of interesting how Ichika went from “I’m just on their way, they can spend more cheese twosome time with each other” to But if she went back, she’d not have as much time to spend time with her cheese-subject.

This was still cute tho and absolute nothing I'd ever have expected from this series:

The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten ch13.3-14.1 TINY BITS OF FLUFF FODDERRRRRR, where is the next chapterrrrrr q_q But anyhow! The release date of v1 in German is out and there’s a limited edition with extras and a variant cover, everyone go buy the fluff perfection (for as long as it lasts to be that)~

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira ch8-41 This has turned into a slight surprise hit so far. The art is solid and knows to be pretty when it needs to. The premise is very fantasy and gender bender driven, but frankly, if this wasn’t fantasy and Kira simply was a boy, it still would have a lot going for it simply by virtue of the art, character interactions and the politics and norms of the world spinning around. Unfortunately I'm now caught up on comikey and have no idea when there’s gonna be more chapters… (until finding out the month after they seem to come regularly now.)

The Villainess Behind the Mask - Finished This seemed like it started with Shinde Mirou to Iwareta Shinimashite x 7th Time Loop at first, it’s like the former in the MC having all that special magic, it is the later in terms of the MC’s character and personality, just not as rich and optimistic and more vengeful. It’s decent enough, but the ending was just a tat anticlimactic and in terms of romance it has a few moments, but they never really got enough room to build up enough chemistry and there’s a whole “buts…!” raised up only to be smashed down at an ending that does feel a little bit too much like axed. Too bad.

To be Winner - Finished. From beginning to end this has positively cute to gorgeous art. The later has been fairly abundantly with the fantasy game settings, but ultimately, it’s just characters on a screen in the world of this story that is just like everyday contemporary RL life so it just felt a bit dissonant. In terms of its actual plot it’s a sports-plot with a romance side-plot with solid execution. E-Sports really is anything but my field of interest, but the rest kept it going regardless. The ending feels round enough, but also a bit like being on the fence about between stretching it on or just finishing on a side plot in the last arc and by the time it decided to be the last chapter it didn’t feel like one whatsoever…

——————————————————————————

MARCH

It is a whole scrumble to keep up with expiry dates on JNC Nina already.

Reading in French is slow business, as is Japanese compared to Englisch and German, and darn it. q_q

One little accidential anime slipped in. Actually I did feel like watching Apothecaries and maybe something else, too, but somehow in the end I just wound up putting all their soundtracks into the playlist to listen to instead...

Anime:

Winter Memories Honkai Impact 3rd Concept Animation

Light Novels:

7th Time Loop V1

Fushi no Kami V1

Hell Mode v2

How to Survive As a Villain Novel ch1-41

Spice & Wolf V21-22

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard v13p10-14

The Eminence in Shadow v2p1-6

The Executioner and Her Way of Life v1

Wolf and Parchment v4

Your Forma v4

Manga:

100-nengo ni Tenseishita Watashi, Zense no Juukishi ni Kyuukonsaremashita: Heika wa Watashi ga Moto Oujo da to Okizukidenai you desu final chapter.1

A Side Character's Love Story Ch49-50.1

Akuma to Keiyaku v1

Ano Natsu ga Houwa suru. ch16.2

Are You Okay with a Slightly Older Girlfriend? Ch1-2.3

Arte Ch84-85

At 30, I Realized I Had No Gender

Black Butler v32

Captain Ken Ch1-16

Cherish v1

Daijuukou to Unicornis no Otome ch14.2-15.1

Domestic na Kanojo v4

Frieren - Nach dem Ende der Reise v4

Girl Crush ch82

Goblin Slayer Year One v9ch61-70

Haikyu v40ch357

Harebare Biyori ch23.2

Hari to Hitsuji no Fune ch10.1

Hiso Hiso v2-3

Horimiya v14-16

I Cannot Reach You v6

I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs ch1

I'm cute enough to get away with it Ch20-23

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Familia Chronicle Episode Freya Manga v1ch4

Josou Joushi no Nakasekata v1

Kakan no Oukoku no Hanagirai Hime ch11.3-12.2

Keine Cheats für die Liebe v9-11

Kemutai Hanashi ch13-16

Kijima-san & Yamada-san Ch4-17.2

Knitter's High ch26.3

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch80-81

Kono Koi wo Hoshi ni wa Negawanai ch12.1-2

Koroshi Ai After File prologue, ch1

Küss den Kater v5ch20

Living With My Brother's Wife Ch1-11

Loop 7-kaime no Akuyaku Reijou wa, Moto Tekikoku de Jiyuu Kimama na Hanayome Seikatsu wo Mankitsusuru ch30

Love and Fortune v6ch31

Lovers High - Meine beste Freundin, ihr Freund und ich v1-2

Marry my Enemy Ch59-60.5

Miryou no Otome to Katabutsu Hittou Majutsushi no Hatsukoi Kiroku bangaihen1-2

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Elma's Office Lady Diary v4ch36

Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid Kanna's Daily Life v8

Mr. Mallow Blue ch29

My Awkward Senpai Ch28-54

Okazari Ouhi ni Nattanode, Kossori Hataraki ni deru koto ni Shimashita ~Usagi ga Iru no de Hitorine mo Sabishiku Arimasen!~ ch23.4-25.2

Oshi no Ko ch140-144

Repeating Your End Together ch5

Sasaki and Miyano v7-9ch46

She is also cute today Ch60-125

Shin Henkei Shoujo Ch1-2

Shuumatsu Touring ch36.1-4

Sick v1

Solange wir zusammen sind v2-v7ch28

Sonna Kazoku nara Sutechaeba? ch67

Sooper Spooky Ch1-17

Spring, Love and You v3-5

Suicide Notes Laid on the Table Ch8-19

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Ch71-80

The Heroic Legend of Arslan v13-v15ch94

The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl Ch39-56

The Strongest Tank's Labyrinth Raids Ch1-2

Unnamed Memory ch34.2-35.2

Urban Prince and the Amazon Girl Ch1-4

Victoria's Electric Coffin v1ch4

Virgin Road v2ch13

Watashi wo Tabetai, Hitodenashi ch36.2-37.2

Wind Breaker v1ch5

Webtoons:

Breed my Dear Enemy Ch99-181

Flowers in the Secret Place Ch45-87

Ice Lamp: The Chronicles of Kira Ch42-44

Taberare Usa ch93-96

The Blind & The Homeless Ch1-7

The Giantess wants Love Ch164-218

The Goddess of Healing Ch54-66

The Mermaid Wears a Dress ch50-60

To be or not be Ch24-122, 1-23

You Are My Lovely Dragon King Ch1-16

Non-Fiction:

Some Greek mythology book (ISBN 9789463598965)

Notes:

How to Survive as a Villain AKA This Villain Emperor's Gotta Charm the Male Lead to Survive! AKA To Be or Not to Be AKA Please Decide on a Title Already The former is the closest translation to the Chinese title, while the second's length and summary-in-title does all the justice to it being an isekai and the last is a bit ??? in hindsight after reading it, but then it's apparantely the official English subtitle and also what made me pick it up on Comikey in the first place, so I should not complain. This is also a series I can dub as 'how to get interested only really at chapter 41 of 122 and then get hooked at chapter 88ish after having everything before read with pretty much just half attention' and it's another specimen to prove that me getting hooked tends always to happen rather late, which makes finding the next great thing really complicated beyond grinding though as much of everything as possible by sheer brute force and patience. (What do I envy people who can judge that right from the beginning.) Well, I'm gonna have some fun rereading it.

Anyway, this series by premise is a bit like My Next Life as a Villainess, but the isekai'd main doesn't have baka trait of Bakarina, then the world being reincarnated to isn't a tropey heavy otome-game thing, but a novel set in Ancient China (no cultivation and other fantasy elements there as a bonus) and the whole thing is also a BL and the narrative has slices of Romeo & Julia, but without that one's teen pathos (stupidity). The isekai'd main Xiao YuAn is a bit ridiculous and funnily goofy at times, but not dumb and stupid either. It's also been strangely weird, but convincing to me how it takes like 60ish chapters for him to notice he's fallen in love with his favorite novel male lead-turned real, and that it doesn't even occur to him until it's being spelled out in clear words and to boot, he is being transmigrated into the body of an emperor known to be gay and everyone's being thinking the thing for far longer and even his beloved male lead Yang HeQing caught onto his own feelings by what, chapter 12? And yet it felt strangely buyable to me at the same time. Very slow burn and organic progression. In the middle there is even a dish of melancholic facing your impossibilities in the world. (Maybe that’s some Weltschmerz and what the Hamlet quote title tries to reference? The vengeance part probably is less so.)

It sets up a lot and then develops it until it reaps its payoff. Which is to say, the series has 3 parts/seasons and the first two and beginning of the third are really rock solid, but the third is there to reap off all the payoffs from before and does it well, but in comparison feels weak because unlike the prior two parts it doesn't set up anyone or anything for itself much beyond the minimum and just reaps previous buildups. There's no new side character beyond the sister of a side character (Hong Xiu kicked ass really) that got killed off and really she is just a paler, meeker Hong Xiu 2.0, which is really too bad, because it could have integrated another new Kingdom into the spotlight, have some mentioned original novel side character show up or have some more side characters come back like they did from part one to two. The overarching plot is also not has interweaved with all the side tales going on and as a result it feels--- a bit simple I guess. That also makes the focus on the pair's lovey dovey shenanigans more heavy and Xiao YuAn is actually just about as silly and goofy as ever, just now knowing what he wants and entirely unhinged about it, and otherwise it's not so very different to the beginning, but due to the extra spotlight it has with not much more else going on it looks more lower dimensional than it needs to be.

Also somehow the last part seemed a bit visually weaker. And I've been really wondering why. Because it wasn't the art's lines or coloring itself. Was that because his second transmigration has made him get a more manly body than that slender, sickly more androgynous body and I maybe liked that style better? But then this never came across as one of those BLs that just shoves a female strereotype on one of the guys as often the case and if it did I'd likely hate it. Or was it the completely unhinged air? Or that he has a more sturdy body that far better can fend itself, but gets all those princess carries and doesn't even complain about them? Was it the thicker eyebrows? Eventually it turned out to be.... Eyelashes!!! The two mains of them, they both have fairly long eyelashes. And supposedly his second transmigration's body is pretty much like his original body, same face and everything, but!!! Every show up of that one at the beginning totally also has him have those longer eyelashes!! And yet in the third part the only times he mostly gets to have longer eyelashes is when he makes pretty eyes for his guy and it's... it's strangely weirdly irritating. Where is the consistency!!! Or well, I didn't know I found longer eyelashes aesthetically pleasing. What do I do with that titbit of knowledge now... Anyway, to my chagrin I had to find out that there was a Japanese print release for this series, but weirdly enough they only released one volume which has firm 1 cipher plastered on its cover and then no further volume afterwards. It's also licensed in English, but by Monogatari Novels who apparently still haven't released any of their releases in English and keep pushing the dates. :/

The art is also really nice, tho I have to moan about its key illustrations that really really look a bit misleading in terms of vibes and the third main key illustration is basically either misleading or a big fat spoiler. (And the fourth that also is being used on Anilist apparently is mostly used as a merch illustration?) Artwise it's really nice to look at, a really nice color palette that freely uses vibrant to darker parts of the spectrum, lots of wardrobes and because guys in Ancient China also all had long hair, lots of wavy fluttering bangs and ponytails in the wind or hairdos or decorations. And long sleeves and robes, too. It looks good (and just made the special chapters in contemporary times look immensely boring in comparison. Where's the wavy hair!! (and the eyelashes!!). (.... I'm getting ridiculous about this.)

That bit in the middle about the conflict of being yourself but also being that new entirely different identity after being isekai'd and the limited amount of people knowing that is also a quite nice mood I feel like that has gone lost from many of the genre from the modern wave. There's also a nice conversation about how the man's caught up in choices and how he's all doubting to being guilty about the choice being made and how ultimately it was never about doing the right thing, but making a choice and feeling bad, because all choices were important, but he had to pick. Also choices are the thing that defy fate literally. There is something soothingly comfy about it there.

How to Survive as a Villain Novel As it goes, the webtoon on Comikey has.............. parts of overtly dubios translation and editing quality and then also other parts with fairly interesting side notes (clearly these parts have to be from diffrent staff working on it??) and while the translation overall feels more clunky than not, it definitely made hints of making a fair number of literary or cultural references that all got lost in translation. And then I found out there's a novel and also there is a fantranslation and that it was taken down because an English release was licensed in Singapour by a somewhat new publisher and pre-orders closed on that on in January, like 2 darn month before I discovered this series. How cursed. Well, not like that the fantransation isn't to be found elsewhere, and it's worth already just for the footnotes on all the literary references and idioms and occasional contemporary slang. Really interesting. But aggregator rip off sites are still all cursed, because there's a good bunch of chapters that have annotation number markings but they haven't copied the footnotes over. Dang it, I'm interested in those!!!

Anyway. The webtoon definitely cut and changed a good few of things, which makes for a more smooth read and at places with additional flourish. Especially the beginning of the novel is equal parts of wtfh and lmao. And it then it dawned on me why it seemed strangely convincing to me that the main Xiao YuAn gets transmigrated into the body of that gay emperor and while he perfectly knows that fact, he doesn't even ever really think much about his attraction to his favorite male lead (that he has been fawning in a few ways over from the beginning). The way he is introduced in those beginning chapters of the novel pretty much introduces him as never having fallen for any woman, his family goes nuts, tries to ship him with some women, but then he's like bolting and running and family goes like wait, no, is he gay then?? and try to ship him into dubious BL ships and he is running and beating them up and like just. Nope. There's nobody. Probably. Anway, onto more important things!!! How about just focus on work and be a useful person to society. Which is such a mood. And add how it takes him a while to accept that Ancient-China-from-the-novel world as properly a real thing of its/his own now and his not even considering the idea despite being perfectly acquainted with the flags kinda feels like more than just the usual amount of density. Besides he really isn't dumb about it, he quickly gets it once it's been clearly spelled out and he gives it its due thinking over, so like just the whole air of him having all the pieces before his eyes all along but not even considering it at all in that way that's not even exactly dense or phobic of some sort is kind of really interesting.

The other part is how he had already killed himself in his original life to begin with. More or less because he was terminally ill and doomed anyway, but also because some brother asked him to. Which is a bit ??? It checks with how the big turning point in the third part plays out and the man may be whiny and a scaredy cat and all silly with his fear of death but actually doesn't even think twice about facing death in all the serious moments that count (which thinking about it is very reminicent of Haku from Utawarerumono Maskt of Deception/Truth), but him just jumping off the fifth floor in those beginning chapters also feels just random. The webtoon definitely did a good job kicking that brother character out of the plot. Apparently the sheer ludicrousness of attempted shipping offs by his family still made it to the webtoon in post-chapter extra scenes; at least I saw some on chinese raws, but the comikey version has them all cut. (And he's got long eyelashes in his original body there!!) Anyway, less than 1/4 read so far and I'll probably space it out for it to last longer. Also, darn it, somebody license the book already. With lots of translation notes and everything please!

Breed my Dear Enemy Ch99-181 So, apparently that’s actually two completely separate series under the same title belt and the first one finishes here. (with a completely nuts numbering order at the end of it on Comikey.) Isekai-transmigration into the body of a child, spanning over a decade, that has a short reverse-isekai adventure, court intrigues, knowing the novel contents already-cheats and there is a deal of courting and romance and a slice of cultivation and some really pretty art at places (especiallyfemale MC Ye Mu’s wardrobe). Ye Mu is also pretty cool in being just absolutely badass in wits and kicking ass herself. The isekai cheat is a bit excessively convenient though - She hasn't even read the book on her own accord, but while she accidentially trips into the book Fushigi Yuugi-style while doing a military raid and gets sucked into that world she literally gets the book contents downloaded into her brain. It does more with the isekai that you'd expect at the end, but somehow that plot device for plotline cheat skills was still extremely deus ex machina. What I also thought was a bit surprising between this and To be and Not to Be both having it was how their last thirds are both quite so very unhinged at being horny and explicitly things happening but without them being graphically explicit. Also both are from China. I did not expect this level of unhinged horniness from that country at all. What happened.

This panel background otherwise was almost phone wallpaper worthy:

It also had some nice ones ones with bamboo trees.

Domestic na Kanojo v4 I am not sure I know what I am even reading.

Frieren - Nach dem Ende der Reise v4 Fern deserves some sla… stern talking tos about her treatment to Stark and no Sein, I very much disagree, they should totally not be together already like that at all.

Fushi no Kami V1 The isekai premise is so old now it is annoying the MC himself already and lots of cheats, but the world’s cultural mystery hook is not too uninteresting, but everything Maika side it a whole slog and I feel like wanting to drop it out of the window every time a PoV change comes to this cheese stricken girl.

Girl Crush ch82 It’s good, it’s still good!

Hell Mode v2 This is strangely keeping me interested enough to stick to it despite it not really having anything outstanding. My best guess is really just that it’s my surrogate to By the Grace of Gods after all.

Horimiya v14-16 - Finished That took some years to get to these last few vols. But I was taken off guard. First I don’t remember any of the side characters anymore. Second. Was Hori always this bad of an obnoxious violent tsundere despite the guy clearly suffering from it? And you can’t even slap her for it, because she’d enjoy it!!

I Got Reincarnated in a (BL) World of Big (Man) Boobs ch1 I’m crying. In “What a whole darn waste!!” So I am still following Adekan. And when it’s good it’s gorgeous in its art and just all that morbid twistedness of human nature and desires so when it’s good it’s usually really good and when it’s bad it's also atrociously bad to my tastes. This one from the same author ditches any chance of a setting to flaunt or otherwise exhibit her talent for all that gorgeous dreamlike, fantastical artwork. And it’s so dumb and it’s kinda bad and it knows it, which I suppose makes it more bearable than the worst parts of Adekan due to the self-aware 4th wall element. But also it’s just such a waste!!! and yet you can clearly feel, this is what the author has fun with and plenty of fun Nao Tsukiji has with this particularness and who am I to criticize a person doing what they like, but still. I cannot help but cry out: What a waste!!!!

Kemutai Hanashi ch13-16 It's been a great series already and now it addresses yet another thing that is hard to put in words, but was captured brilliantly in its mood design by sheer power of character expressiveness. It will be very interesting if it does go on to capture it in words, too, like that brilliant conversation I raved about last time.

Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata ch80-81 Wow. So we had this Aishiteru Game-ish arc, but it quickly moved on to the theatre play arc and frankly that was sweet and solid, but lacked any sense of a wow effect and probably that was the whole point, because wow did that twist (caused through one of the most old trodden tropes boring tropes at that!) hit at the end. It’s like… of course that was always in the cards. But somehow it managed to catch a surprise anyway and wow does it well circling back to one of its main messages it had been delivering so very well across all the series before.

Sasaki and Miyano v7-9ch46 I died a few cheese deaths and I had even read the web version before. I am regressing in my cheese resistance. Help!

Spice & Wolf V21-22 It was easy enough to get back into that after all those years it took me to pick it up again and the Holo-Lawrence bantering just really doesn’t get old. And everytime at the end of the books, where there are stories about Myuri and Col it just strikes how much less engaging that duo is as main characters. Also, seriously, at the end of all the church reforms it’s just gonna be like marriage is allowed for priests and those get together, is it? Hurry up and please get it over already. sigh.

Wolf and Parchment v4 Actually in their own series, it’s less of a slog to read, as there is still a mystery plot to be had around politics and the setting and everything. But I retain, those two are a bit exhausting…

Spring, Love and You v3-5 I had read v1 and actually thought it was surprisingly pretty aroace and also describing how the friction of being that way and the world not being that way can be hurtful and then I read v2 and OF COURSE this was a shoujo and she was gonna fall in love and then I dropped it for years. But now with having read the rest of it… Not like it ever addressed it as such, but the two mains impress a bit as demi or otherwise still a good deal as still on the aroace spectrum and cluenessness about ok, so they are dating and now? and then there is a side character who really looks like very aroace to the end and there is this girl having a crush at him and confessing in a really respectful way of not making him feel guilty or indebted and there’s a really wholesome part to her being kinda in pain, but also just placing good wishes and hopes for him to have somebody special to him, if it comes to that. And the guy goes like instead of feeling happy about any such a confession he feels like he lost something important and ultimately it ends on him hurrying after her, because he doesn’t want to lose her, a really close, trusted friend so far. And then they are dating and the series ends and the girl is happily blushing in the midst of her crush and he is entertaining her crush with a romantically coded gesture (that he does with a completely straight face), but if you ask me, this looks so much like an act of despair of not wanting to lose something precious and not because it winds up he fell for her like that. It would have been really interesting if that could have been explored, because this setup is bound to have all sorts of challenges, but then this series never was gonna be about something like this, was it? Which is a bit sad, because to me it unfortunately will be the only thing I will actually remember about this series. The characters aren’t exactly bad, they are buyably realistically portrayed, but they are also a bit (very) unmemorable and there isn’t much of an actual plot in this school setting to hook you in either.

She is also Cute Today - Finished (??) This was supposed to be some GL, but then it was more like deep friendship and finding your crowd, with a bunch of opposites attract comedy but after some dozens of chapters it's having more clear hints about being more romantic than not, but before it really ever went to get into that more deeply it says end of part 1 and somehow no more other chapters. (According to Anime Planet it's finished??) Well, in terms im GL that's now kinda like what you get from most GL. Something that just barely has a little bit more than a regular deep intimate friendship. But it does introduce a gender NC theme across the series that has a clear queer message said out loud, so just when I starting to think it could go beyond the usual fare but.... Where is Part 2? :<

Taberare Usa ch93-96 Just what the hell am I even reading there now…

The Case Files of Jeweler Richard v13p10-14 I ACTUALLY STARTED. Meanwhile even v7 in English has arrived and I haven’t even touched v6 after that disappointing peek into it.

The Giantess wants Love - Finished It turned out to be a nicely decent read. There’s some solid art throughout and once the romance is official it actually is mature and makes no big deal out of it. The fashion industry setting is nicely used for a number of pretty outfits. One of the last chapters also just barely turned the scales around over at humanizing a gay side character who went to be all like this predatory asshole criminal. There’s quite a gap between the villains and the good guys, with a few having feets on both sides, but like some of these villains just are a bit taxing on patience to sit though.

The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses Ch71-80 Seriously, this series and all its cheese is above my wits.

The Goddess of Healing Ch54-66 picked it up where I originally went on a binging frenzy to the end. It’s still good and the MCs bantering is cute, dorky, wholesome and fun, but the villains are getting a whole deal more annoying now. There is also less ambivalence in character being virtuous or not. While motivations are being shown how the villains became that way, there is still a clear divide between the good guys and the bad ones. Looks like I like the ambivalence more that How to Survive as a Villain offers in that same Ancient Chinese setting.

Your Forma v4 Solid. But one plotline was unfortunately super obvious already right at the beginning of the book. It still managed to play with it and put another twist over it, but the first one was unfortunately a bit too obvious to not guess. But then, actually that was already the case in the previous volume, so maybe it’s a bit of a pattern?

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