#social inept Riku

[lostinwoods]

A satire of How the Inuyasha world went to shit and Yashahime happened!

Before anyone reads any further, there are certain warnings.

Warnings: Mentions of the rainbow pearl being a secret porn stash with nefarious powers. Pedomaru is an imposter.

Trigger: Depicts trauma of an underage Rin. 

A poorly made imagine by an enraged fan, where only Sunrise Pedomaru ( read imposter) is a piece of shit but the rest are moral characters.

Note: Do not be like Pedomaru. Be moral, do not follow porn logic! I honestly did not want to but I realised there is no other sane way to somewhat absolve Sesshoumaru-sama and simultaneously keep it trashacanon. So, blame the plot!

-----How the conversations might have happened back then-----

Kirinmaru- Hey, you Naraku! I gave you life even after having severe case of racism... You have an important mission to complete.

Naraku- Kukuku.... I am the great Naraku-sama. Who do you think you are to make me your underling?

Kirinmaru- The dude who sent the demons materializing in your body. I am the one who turned you half!

Naraku- Fuck you! I am not your slave.

Kirinmaru- *grits teeth* Okay, fine, you youngsters don't know how to work without taking bribes. I would give you the chance to regain the Shikon and would allow your one wish upon it!

Naraku- *Smirks* All according to plan!

Naraku- So, what would you have me do?

Kirinmaru- Do anything, I mean anything but keep away that demon named Sesshoumaru from his home.

Naraku- Why?

Kirinmaru- *Inhales slowly* That guy's got a collection of pedophilia porn stash there, hidden in two rainbow pearls. He is not....and I repeat not to be allowed near his house and most importantly that porn stash.

Naraku- Why?

Zero- Because the Shikon has told me that there would be a union which would be a catastroph in making.

Naraku- So?

Zero- You dimwit, there would be Kids' as a result of his pedophilic relation with his human ward. Even we demons do not support such notions!

Naraku- Wow, never thought a guy could be more twisted than me.

Kirinmaru and Zero- No kidding! Just know that the union should not happen!

-------- 8 years later after Naraku's death-------

What no one will ever know is that the real Sesshoumaru was being kept captive in an underground dungeon and his twin brother, Pedomaru (a sick twisted pedophilic fuck) was postering as him and taking his place after Naraku’s end. He took the rainbow pearls the original Sesshoumaru was keeping away from him.

Zero- Bro, bro... Wake up! Sesshoumaru (she doesn't know he is an imposter) defeated Naraku and now he is spending time watching his porn stash and preparing gifts for his human ward.

Kirinmaru- *Slurs, half asleep* Ya? Go and burn 'em down and keep that kid away from him.

Zero- Yes bro, Imma on my way!

Zero- *Sends Root-head to cause havoc and distract Sesshoumaru. Meanwhile, she flies to his sky castle and steals the rsinbow pearls*.

-----Another 2 years later------

Zero- Bro, wake up! Terrible news, Sesshoumaru's gonna be a dad!

Kirinmaru- *Sits up straight and wears his horse mask to hide the disgust on his handsome face* Keep the kids away from the pearls at all cost!

Zero- Okay, on my way.

------10 mins later-----

Zero- I should have never allowed you near that porn stash. I am a terrible failure of an aunt!

Pedomaru- Zero!

Zero- Oh, you remember my name.

Pedomaru- How could I not. You have no clue what you did. I was on my last episode of 'Boku no Pico' and you took them down. I did not even get to know whether they....

Zero- *Eyes almost falling out of its sockets* Not only Loli but Shota as well??? You are the scum of this century!

Pedomaru- *Smirks* And that got me kids.

Zero- *Smirks* And the rainbow pearls with me!

-----Meanwhile on the other side----

Riku: Kagome-sama? You are the leg. Shikon priestess correct?

Kagome: Yes, I am!

Riku: I am Riku and I am a pirate.

Kagome: Yeah and I am the destroyer of Naraku and also an awesome time traveler. But such things are rocket science to you, Mr. unreliable narrator.

Riku: So, there's gonna be a comet and it's gonna bring calamity. Thus it should be destroyed by the inu brothers.

Kagome: Sure...... Because comets can also do other things...you know things other than setting the ground on fire or creating a hole on the ground... you know, like bringing literal darkness.

Kagome: Oh and Mr. Unreliable narrator, have you heard that my bro-in-law is a major creep who actually had sex with his daughter figure. I am sure the comet can do nothing more terrible.

------10 mins. Later. In a hut----

Inhabitants collectively: God, we should have seen this coming.

Kagome: Yeah, why didn't I take that tongue twister seriously?

Sango: Man, you telling me I have to see this shit happening to a girl the same age I was when I started slaying demons? I had hoped nothing worse could happen to a girl my age, think I jinxed it!

Kaede: Poor Rin!

Rin: *After birthing for several hours* Huh, only if I was an adult, I could have actually given birth without going through two miscarriages in the last two years.

Kagome and Sango: Sorry Rin, we should have never allowed you to go and stay at his palace for those two years. Back then we thought that he was your caring father figure. But, that bastard actually showed you such crap porn and coerced your consent! Rin, you should have reached out to us faster, at the time when he had started those things!

Rin: *With silent tears in her eyes* Yes, back then I did not understand anything. But I started understanding after my second miscarriage. Thus I sent Inuyasha-Sama that SOS. I am only thankful that he barged as my saviour at the right time! The least I could have asked for at this point is healthy kids. They look so beautiful. Finally I can hold them in my....

Pedomaru: *Saunters in and picks up the kids* They need to pass the rite of courage and cowardice.

Rin and the rest: Fuck you too asshole! You dare take them away with a shit like pass some rite. Keep your disgusting hand off them. Get outta here! Right this moment!

Jaken: *Tearfully* I will take care of the rest!

Rin: *Wails mournfully* I lost them again. The one time I could see them with my eyes, that nymphomaniac takes 'em away. Should have listened to Master Ungai back then!

-----In a forest----

Pedomaru: *Places the bundles of the kids on the ground and whips out the rainbow pearls holding his secret porn stash. Then he inserts said jewels in the eyes of each girl*

Jaken: *Erects a barrier that could easily be seen through by Zero* 

Zero: I order you to burn that place down. I am sure he's got some of his stash hiding in that tree. Get the kids away but do not forget to remove 'em, the main stash's in the kids' eyes.

------In a certain Shrine----

Kagome: *Kisses her daughter's forehead and hands her a beni* We had always decided that if we ever had a daughter, we would give her this beni. Keep this with you Moroha, it is an anti-pedo lipstick. It will keep you safe from your piece of a shit uncle.

Inuyasha: *Unsheaths Tessaiga* Kagome, the Pedo and his boytoy's here!

Pedomaru: *Zooms past Kirinmaru and digs into Inuyasha's eye and fishes out a black pearl* Finally found the secret porn stash of Dad. I had always wanted to get to this. Finally! *Seals off InuKag in the pearl and turns towards Kirinmaru* I hope this is fine. Let them watch some porn and educate themselves!

Kirinmaru: * Resets his mask lest it slips off and shows his disgusted face* Well, I guess it's fine for now!

Kirinmaru continues to side eye Pedomaru all the while ploting how to get rid of those porn stashes.

He returns to his abode and speedily creates some underlings.

Kirinmaru to underlings: I order you all to collect the rainbow pearls that are scattered around the continent. Remember, do not look inside them and never use them. They are weapons of great caliber.

Underling 1: *In a nasaly voice* Kirinmaru-sama what is in those pearls.

Kirinmaru: Listen carefully because I would say it once. Those pearls are secret porn stashes of dubious content. They should be removed at all cost. Find them and bring them to me. Oh, and never allow Riku to get a hold of them. That boy has already lost his articulate power of narration after he began that black market piracy of the rainbow-pearl porn stash.

The underlings all shouted in sync: Yes, understood Kirinmaru-sama!

And thus began Yashahime: A tale of twins who embark on a journey to save the world from the rainbow pearls and their wrath!

We sincerely hope they could choose their boat carefully! And the real Sesshoumaru is brought to justice. RIP Pedomaru, the imposter!

[system-of-a-feather]

[[This is meant to be a joke and not an actual vent or genuine commentary on anything.]]

Sometimes I forget that most people don’t understand that it is possible to barely be present and actively focused on your job yet somehow also be 100% focused and energized towards your job.

Yeah I don’t remember what I did three minutes ago. Yeah I am just on autopilot and going with the motions. Yeah I am zipping through time and not paying attention to anything, but like, don’t underestimate my dissociative autopilot. I’m not inept, unfocused, or unreliable. My dissociative autopilot has been fine tuned to get me through long science labs and to socialize, lead, and do complete marching field shows.

Smh. I’ve been doing this since I was a child by accident when I got tired or didn’t want to be somewhere smh smh.

To be honest XD It used to kind of worry me because like, I would usually realize when anyone questioned me I didn’t remember what I was doing and couldn’t answer a lot of questions and wouldn’t be sure if I did something right, but over time, I noticed 95% of the time, the tasks were done almost as well as they would have had I been fully focused and not dissociated, so I’ve just kinda grown a meme-run trust of this dissociative fugue-like state as my therapist calls it. According to him, I’m the only one in the system that reports this. Probably related to having a subsystem.

-Riku (Host)

[renatogpadilla]

Will I ship SoKai until the day I die because it’s the ship (along with CloTi) that made me DIE for the “Childhood Friends” trope and basically shaped my concept of romance from childhood? Yes... DO I realize and accept that Riku is a socially inept Bisexual DISASTER of a man who probably didn’t recognize his own crush on his best friend until he couldn’t do anything about it, so now he supports SoKai with all his heart because he wants them to be happy? ALSO yes. And (as a MASSIVE SoKai shipper) DO I RECOGIZE that if Sora, who didn’t recognize true love in himself and Kairi until “Kingdom Hearts 3″, had gotten any clue as to how to deal with his feelings before the whole Raft ordeal started there’s a chance he probably would have been gay for Riku?

Yes!

Because (as much as a part of me still hates to say and see it) there’s that underlying theme with Riku and Sora throughout the Saga. I may not really like it, but I can see where the SoRiku shippers come from. “Having you for a friend”? If that had been Kairi (and/or if I had been more accepting in my young age) I WOULD HAVE D I E D on that hill too. Like, I GET it guys!

It’s probably why I ship NamiKu (or RikuNami, whatever) so much... Because, not only does it mean they don’t end up alone. It means Riku gets to keep a small part of Sora (and Kairi too, I guess) for himself after all he’s done and sacrificed.

And I, for one, think that’s beautiful.

[sasuhinasno1fan]

Matching my love for you

@succubustykisses I’m your secret Santa for the @shklance-exchange! I’m writing this while on my trip to London, so I hope this is really good and not crap because I was tired from any trip I went on while here in London. Please enjoy!

Keith did not enjoy crowds. He was a socially inept introvert who preferred to do things by himself. Odd, seeing how he was dating two guys, one of which he considered to be the most extroverted person on the planet. And it was because of that extroverted person, Keith was standing in a crowded mall in a jewellery store, hoping a ring he wanted was still available. Well two rings technically.

Lance was a huge Kingdom Hearts fan, so when he heard about a jewellery designer creating paired rings that looked like the Nightmare Break and Mirage Split keyblades, Lance wanted them. There was a whole collection of rings, mostly engagement rings, but none of them were ready for that commitment. Be that as it may, Lance wanted the rings and when he found out they’d be sold in America to a few stores, Keith couldn’t say he was surprised that Lance found out which store it was. The only problem was the price tag. It was a bit expensive, so Lance couldn’t get it and Shiro and Keith had to hear about how Lance would rather get the ring then spend the money getting his car fixed. Keith had to remind him that the only other form of transportation they had was Keith’s motorcycle and Shiro worked at a school that was in the opposite direction of the security firm Keith worked for and the studio for the dance company Lance was signed to. There were times Keith wouldn’t be able to come to work on his bike, hence they needed the car.

“Ok fine, but I can still pout about it.”

“It wouldn’t be you if you didn’t. Besides, didn’t you just order that Riku bag?”

“That’s not the point Keith. I could have done without the bag if I knew I could have gotten the ring instead.”

Keith just shook his head at him.

But with a bonus he got for the Christmas year, and talking it over with Shiro, the two decided to get Lance a joint gift of the rings that he wanted. Just the night before Lance’s bag had come in and the blue eyed man went into another rant about how he wanted to get the ring.

“If he isn’t happy with this, I’m gonna get really annoyed.” Keith said.

“He might kill you with how hard he hugs you when he sees it.” Shiro pointed out.

“Hello.” An attendant came over, “how can I help you gentlemen today?”

“Hi, we’re looking for a ring we were told you carry? It’s the Kingdom Hearts collaboration ring?” Shiro asked.

“Oh, the one modelled after those swords?”

“Keyblades.” Keith corrected.

“Right. Is it for the two of you?”

“No, it’s for our other boyfriend.” Shiro said, already knowing what was going to happen.

“Your other what?”

“Boyfriend. Polyamorous relationship?” Shiro gave Keith a look for the snooty tone, though he understood.

“Of course. Do you know his ring size?”

“Not really, but Keith here’s worn his college ring a few times and it’s fit him, so we can use his hand as a model.” Shiro said.

The assistant looked slightly uncomfortable but grabbed the large ring of sized rings for Keith to try on. It didn’t take long for them to find the size to fit and they got to see the ring.

“So, you’re ordering this in the size?”

“Yes, and splitting the price between two cards. Will it be ready to pick up before Christmas?” Shiro asked.

“The sample size is about the same, so it shouldn’t take any time at all.”

“Oh, I’m so glad it actually came on time.” Lance said coming from the front door to where his boyfriends were waiting in the living room to continue opening presents.

“What did you order now?” Keith asked, still trying to fit his new phone case onto his phone.

“The one thing I’ve been wanting to get.” Lance said, dropping himself onto Shiro’s lap.

“Well before you open that, Keith and I got something for you.” Shiro said, gently pushing Lance onto the couch so he could go under the tree and grab the small gift bag. “We know it’s something you really wanted and after Keith got his bonus, we talked it over and got it for you.”

“What on earth did you get me that warranted spending Keith’s bonus?” Lance asked, surprised as he took the bag.

“Something you’ll be happy with.” Keith said, finally snapping the case on, ready for the crying.

Instead of crying though, Lance started to laugh when he opened the ring box.

“Oh my god. Oh, my god.”

“What? Don’t you like it?” Keith asked.

“No, I do, it’s just, oh god.” Lance closed the box and put it back in the bag before picking up the package again and easily tearing through the tape. He dropped a ring box on his lap and handed it to Keith. “Just open it.” Was all Lance said to Keith’s confused face.

Keith cracked open the box and stared at its contents. “I don’t know why I’m surprised.” Keith said, showing Shiro. Sitting in the ring box was the Kingdom Hearts rings Lance wanted, the same ones Keith and Shiro got him.

“How did you afford this?” Shiro asked.

“There was a sale and I won the lottery to get into the sale. I didn’t think you guys would get them for me or I would of save my money to get you two more presents.”

“The amount of presents we have is fine but I never thought you’d go get it yourself, not after all the complaining you did about how expensive it was.”

“I’m sorry. I couldn’t help myself.” Lance said, looking apologetic.

“Will you at least wear the ones we got you?” Keith said, looking a bit embarrassed.

“Why?” Lance asked confused.

Keith pulled the box out of the bag again and handed Lance the open box. “Look at the rings.”

Lance pulled the Nightmare Break one out and took a good look at it when he noticed there was an etching on it. It was Keith’s name, Shiro’s name on the Mirage Split. Lance looked over at Keith, who was blushing and not looking at him and smiled before fitting the rings on his ring finger, lacing his free arm though Keith’s.”

“It’s a perfect fit. Thank you for getting it for me.” Lance said, pressing a kiss to Keith’s cheek before leaning over and kissing Shiro’s.

“You’re welcome, though, what are we going to do with this one?”

“Well, how’d you get the size for this?” Lance asked.

“Keith tried it on since we didn’t want to ask what the size was for your ring finger.” Shiro explained.

“Then, Keith should wear it! And we can get you one.” Lance suggested. “The sale is happening again later and I’m getting my pay check from the last dance performance soon. And I mean, didn’t we say we were considering promise rings anyway?”

“Bit much for promise rings isn’t it?” Keith said.

“Ok, maybe, but who cares? It would give me an excuse to brag about how my boyfriends got me a ring I wanted and got matching ones because they love me.”

“Is there any chance you’d even be able to win the lottery again?” Shiro asked.

“Maybe. I do have amazing luck. How do you think I ended up with you two?”

“Pretty sure you made us swoon with your dancing.” Shiro reminded.

“You would of swoon if I hadn’t anyway. I’m irresistible.”

“I thought it was pronounced irritating.” Keith said, flinching when Lance pinched him. “Ow!”

“How’s that for irritating?”

“Guys, come on. Behave.”

“You three disgust me.” Pidge said, glaring at her friends.

Apparently, Lance got very lucky. He won another sale ticket and was able to get another ring set for Shiro, who then got his and Keith’s rings with the other’s names. Of course, when they came to New Year’s dinner with their friends, the rings had been quickly noticed, Coran thinking it meant they were engaged and begged to officiate the wedding.

“You’re just jealous.” Lance said.

“Seeing how I don’t want a relationship that isn’t with a computer, I somehow doubt that.”

Lance stuck his tongue out at her and paid attention to Shiro’s ring as he played with it. Keith’s ringed finger was resting on Lance’s leg as he ignored Pidge to focus on his phone. Shiro rested his cheek on Lance’s head as he turned his hand to lace with Lance’s. Pidge could say what she liked, but that had been the best gift Lance ever received.

[koukoupepia]

relatively new experience for me wrt writing a narrative is really having to listen to the versions of characters in my head, based on what extra traits I've already given them in what I've written, and going “ok this event is going to happen so what would they do as opposed to what i want them to do”

i ended up writing riku as shier and a bit more socially inept than he is in canon and within the span of 1000 words he has:

-been so uncomfortable talking to a stranger that he chewed his cheek until it bled

-gotten so stressed out thinking about his crush that he threw up 

[silverxblade]

((Continuation from here [ x ] @alongxthexroadxtoxdawn ))

“Where I come from if you share a fruit like this your destinies are intertwined. I’m not risking it.” Riku muttered refusing to look at what he’d discribe as a Paupu fruit. He could recognize the awkwardness of the other but chose not to say much. While most people thought he was cool he knew he wasn’t any good at social stuff. “Right, pleasure to meet you I guess.”

「 ??? 」

                          ⚔  ▸▸  Admittingly, that answer was utterly unexpected. It even left Lass speechless, if not almost. Almost. Dropped the star fruit shaped plant within his hand. Maybe another word with the person who sold it, Flora, to understand the in depth definition of such stranger flowers she have being selling to him and his entire team for almost two years now. ( While lacking this knowledge. ) This error must be rectify within immediate.

                                     “I see....” Isn’t this perfectly awkward.

                           “Had I hold knowledge of this...” By the Aernas’ Goddesses, this was utterly embarrassing. “Would a standard procedure of a friendly hand shake suffice? I fear I am inept with such greeting,” That wasn’t part of the politics and diplomacy with the general councils or ambassador of varies continents. “Or perhaps, we can have a friendly chat over coffee?” Hopefully a change in atmosphere would clear some tension.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 11/15/19

Accomplishments of the Duke’s Daughter, Vol. 5 | By Reai and Suki Umemiya | Seven Seas – We actually get a welcome reminder that Iris is a “reincarnated into an otome game” heroine in this volume, something that’s mostly been ignored aside from her accounting skills. But when her younger brother tries to apologize to her for what happened at school, her Japanese self wants to forgive him but the “Iris” part of her just can’t. It’s well handled. Elsewhere, Iris is going around looking into Yuri and also threats to her kingdom, and it’s starting to get her into trouble. She’s also falling for Dean, despite trying to have nothing to do with romance again. We end with a cliffhanger involving excommunication! Still a lot of fun—I’d love to read the novels. – Sean Gaffney

Anne Happy, Vol. 10 | By Cotoji | Yen Press – This final volume doesn’t really “wrap up” the main plot—there is no magical anti-bad-luck MacGuffin that can fix things. We do get a very small flashback of their teacher which shows that she had perhaps worse circumstances than the rest of them, but has learned to keep happy and carry on, so to speak. Which is the moral of the series, really—smile even though life is bringing you down. Hibari is the one who needs that lesson here, as a chance at a family reunion is once again fouled up by her parents’ busy lives. That said, we do see here that luck can also be changed through determination, which is nice. And is that some slight yuri at the end? Anne Happy was never anything but fluff, but it was highly entertaining fluff. Good ending. – Sean Gaffney

Dreamin’ Sun, Vol. 10 | By Ichigo Takano | Seven Seas – Well, I did it. I persevered to the end and finished Dreamin’ Sun. To the end, I never was fully convinced by the relationship between Shimana and Taiga, and that includes the big finale here, in which the gang is able to get Taiga’s dad to stop meddling in his son’s affairs—we never really get a good explanation why Taiga has remained under his thumb for so long—and thus Taiga is able to go to college (alongside Shimana) and finally pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. They also get married and I must boggle at the detail that they do so after having only kissed once, two years ago. I don’t expect realism in shoujo romance, but I guess my credulity has its limits. I did like Zen and Saeko, though. In the end, this never came close to measuring up to orange. Oh well. – Michelle Smith

Durarara!! re: Dollars Arc, Vol. 5 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda, and Aogiri | Yen Press – Izaya is setting up his plots again here, when he’s not fighting with his sisters, but the real villains this time around are Ruri’s psycho fans, who bat Shinra bloody and also attack Anri. Fortunately, she is saved by her two best frie3nds. Unfortunately, one of them, Mikado, is revealed to now be the leader of the Blue Squares, much to Masaomi’s horror. You know all this from the light novel and the anime—once again the manga gets third place. Still, some of the fight scenes are good, and if you’re looking for a manga version of the story, this is that. Damning with faint praise. We’re still only up to book eight or so, too. You really should try the light novels, which have now finished. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya| Yen Press – The first chapter of this final volume once again irritated me for burying me in next-gen cast all at once (along with Hiro’s sister, who again is not a main character so gets to be seen). It gets better as it goes along, with a serious look at not letting your parents’ abuse become your own fault. Sawa, it turns out, is connected to the Sohmas in a far more serious way than she remembered, and one flashback scene verges on terrifying. (Shiki says “she slipped on snow,” but that’s not what we see.) Notably, the situation is not resolved—she’s still living with her mom in the end—but then, we also learn it didn’t resolve itself for the Furuba cast either—Ren is making Shiki’s life miserable, because she’s like that. As such, this justifies this spinoff’s existence—barely. – Sean Gaffney

Fruits Basket Another, Vol. 3 | By Natsuki Takaya | Yen Press – In this final volume, we learn more about Sawa’s psychotic mother, including that she had some involvement with the Sohma family in the past. When Sawa asks about this, with much dread, Mutsuki reveals the full story and that everyone knew who she was all along. In fact, Shiki was central to this past event and, with Ren continuing her reign of terror he felt kinship with Sawa and worried about what had become of her. The Sohmas were indeed trying to help her, but they were also trying to help Shiki, too. In the end, this did come around to being genuinely compelling and I wish there were more, because as Sawa notes, she still hasn’t made it out of her horrible situation. If only we could’ve been spared one last appearance by Takei-sensei. Sigh. – Michelle Smith

High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World!, Vol. 5 | By Riku Misora and Kotaro Yamada | Yen Press – The start of this book gives all the fanservice that four was missing and more, as we get naked massages before a bath. Half of this is tolerable, as Ringo tries to find it in her shy self to go on a date with Tsukasa, and we get her tragic past, which (surprise!) involves a lot of child abuse. The second half involves making more medicine since the penicillin isn’t prevalent enough—time for sulfa drugs. Sadly, there’s an evil doctor who’s in the way, so our heroin doctor, um, lobotomizes him? And this is presented as good and/or humorous? Yeah, OK, I’m out. This was a mildly entertaining take on the isekai fantasy with an entire group of OP geniuses, but what the hell? – Sean Gaffney

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 1 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Several of Enjoji’s manga series are now available in English, but An Incurable Case of Love is actually the first that I’ve read. Five years ago, Nanase was inspired to go into medicine after meeting an attractive and accomplished young doctor in the hopes of meeting him again. Unsurprisingly, Tendo’s not quite the person she expected him to be when she finally gets the chance to work with him. In reality, her idealized prince has a harsh and exacting personality. Even though Nanase’s original motivation for becoming a nurse was perhaps less than pure, and while it may not be immediately obvious to some, she really does take both herself and her chosen profession seriously. Had it been otherwise, I don’t think I would have liked the manga, but the first volume is a largely enjoyable start to the series and I’m always glad to see more josei being translated. – Ash Brown

JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, Part 4: Diamond Is Unbreakable, Vol. 3 | By Hirohiko Araki| Viz Media – One of my initial exposures to Araki’s aptly named manga series JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure was actually through a tangentially-related work, Rohan at the Louvre, which features the character Rohan Kishibe, a rather intense genius manga creator. Rohan made his first appearance in Diamond Is Unbreakable, so I’ve been looking forward to his introduction since I started reading the series. His debut happens towards the end of this particular volume, following several other short story arcs including one, much to my delight, that proves any manga can indeed be a food manga. This volume has a fair amount of humor to go along with its strange brand of horror and absurd action, too. As a whole, this part of the series comes across a bit more episodic and perhaps slightly more comedic than its predecessors. I’m enjoying Diamond Is Unbreakble in all of its glorious ridiculousness a great deal. – Ash Brown

My Hero Academia SMASH!, Vol. 2 | By Hirofumi Neda| Viz Media – I don’t think I reviewed the first volume of this gag series spinoff to the famous shonen manga, but that’s a shame, as it’s really well handled. The gags are personality-based, and the series is not afraid to veer totally away from the source material when needed—half the sports festival is different events, and some battles that don’t lend themselves to gags are omitted. And then there’s Gran Torino, who does not live up to the adorable tsundere granddaughter teaching Izuku in his dreams. There’s a lot of great Uraraka stuff here, for her fans, and a lot of great Yaoyorozu gags as well, though her fans may be a bit annoyed at how socially inept she’s shown to be. Basically, this is hilarious. – Sean Gaffney

Our Wonderful Days, Vol. 1 | By Kei Hamuro | Seven Seas – Given the cover art and the magazine that this ran in, I was expecting that I’d be reading about the lead couple on the cover. And I am, and they’re both cute—I like the fact that, despite having the “serious black-haired girl” personality type, Mafuyu is the only one whose grades are bad. But I’m actually more drawn to the other couple, Nana and Minori, best friends to main girl Koharu, who live in an apartment together to attend school and behave exactly like a married couple without actually being one. How yuri this will get is still unknown—so far we’re still at “I may like her”—but if you like your slice-of-life high school with a dash of sweet and cute, this will put a smile on your face. – Sean Gaffney

Shortcake Cake, Vol. 6 | By suu Morishita | VIZ Manga – I really loved how this volume of Shortcake Cake portrays Ten’s reaction to Chiaki’s surprising confession. She tries to let him down gently, and is upset about hurting her friend and conscientious about not leading him on. It’s not played for the drama of a love triangle—it’s just sad. And yet, she still does like Riku very much and wants to let him know that her feelings have changed, but now the Chiaki situation has made everything more complicated. Some really cute scenes ensue, but actually most of the volume takes place in Ten’s head as she worries and overthinks everything. We’re halfway through the series at this point and, though it seems like she and Riku will officially get together in the next volume, that’s a lot of time for things to go wrong somehow. Man, I love Margaret shoujo. – Michelle Smith

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san, Vol. 2 | By Honda | Yen Press – The second volume of Skull-Face Bookseller Honda-san is much like the first, with Honda covering more aspects of the bookselling business, including the talented distribution chief with a knack for anticipating what will sell, dealing with “harmful publications,” wholesalers who never supply as many copies as are requested, the difficulty in promoting books that are receiving high-profile adaptations (particularly when bonus items feature popular idols), and dealing with a customer who happens to be a yakuza. It’s pleasant, but I was kind of bummed to learn that after Honda published the chapter about customer service training, she got in some trouble with her bosses and now has to get their approval for everything she writes and worries about being fired. That’s a shame. – Michelle Smith

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that this series was going to end with the next volume. The reason for that is a very surprise mutual confession between our two leads, something which I was not expecting to happen for at least a dozen more volumes. It is really well handled, though, and shows that these two shoujo protagonists are actually smart enough to pick up on signals. We also get some backstory for one of Zen’s two guards, Mitsuhide, who is asked by Zen’s older brother to watch over him and therefore must gain the trust of someone who doesn’t trust very easily—and even when he does, he seems to be betrayed. Zen and Shirayuki are very good for each other, and I’m excited to see where this goes. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 4 | By Sorata Akiduki | VIZ Media – This volume almost feels like a final volume, what with Zen and Shirayuki affirming their feelings for one another and their determination to stay by the other’s side, come what may. The final page seems to suggest a happy ending. Except this is volume four and there are 21 volumes so far. Maybe this was the point where the series changed magazines? In any case, it’s a very nice volume, with Shirayuki showing her willingness to act in Zen’s stead when his station prevents him from doing so—and giving us a glimpse of the upbringing that led to her always trying hard and being independent—as well as a revealing flashback to six years ago when Zen’s friend betrayed him but he found a new person to trust in Mitsuhide. I really enjoy this series! – Michelle Smith

The Water Dragon’s Bride, Vol. 11 | By Rei Toma | Viz Media – There’s some gorgeous art here, which is good as it may take the mind away from the fact that this is really drawn out for a finale. The basic premise—send Asahi back and the water dragon dies—is obvious, despite Asahi’s protests, and you get the sense that the other gods will eventually do something about it, but it does take forever to happen, with lots of longing pages with no dialogue. Also, how does Asahi return to her normal life so quickly? Still, it’s a happy ending, and the last two pages of the “afterword” 4-kon section make up for it with a hysterical deconstruction of why the Water Dragon won the romance war and Subaru did not. Despite not quite sticking the landing, this was a very good series. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown