I often begin this column by noting the wide variety of manga and light novels we’re covering that week, and while I always mean it, this week particularly takes the cake. We’ve got isekai and crossdressing manhwa (got it…); an artbook and a coloring book (wow, cool!); and a Magic: The Gathering-focused romance set in the 90s and a series that combines Madoka Magica with sci-fi (WOH). Check out our thoughts on these diverse series below and let us know what you’re reading!

Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga (Vol. 1) • Finding Camellia (Vol. 1) • Hero Syndrome (Vol. 1) • Spy x Family: The Official Coloring Book • Uncle from Another World (Vol. 10) • Visions 2023: Illustrators Book (pixiv)

Hero Syndrome, Light Novel Vol. 1

What do you get when you stuff the themes and artistry of Madoka Magica inside a sci-fi military series? In the case of Hero Syndrome, the result is a compelling if uneven light novel premiere. The setup is this: scientist and military officer Kaguya Shinohara is investigating a way to save humans who are transformed into “heroes,” monstrous beings who cause great havoc and death but are a largely unknown phenomenon to the people of Japan, only able to be seen by adolescents. To her consternation, Kaguya is reassigned from her cozy lab to a frontline unit, Charon, comprised of young men and women who were survivors of a hero’s attack when they were young. Charon members can effectively use powerful, organic weapons against the heroes and are led by the cool and all-business Captain Asuma. The captain and Kaguya do not get along—his sole mission is to destroy heroes while Kaguya wants to research them and possibly provide a long-term solution. But when she becomes directly involved in an assault, the Charon team realizes that there’s promise in Kaguya’s approach, and she begins to realize something fantastic and terrifying about herself. Volume one is a breeze to read. There’s so much of significance happening—both action sequences and deeper matters about who the heroes are and if they can be stopped without violence—that it’s hard to put the book down. Really, it’s so dense! Accompanying illustrations of the heroes (which unfortunately stop partway through) are physically reminiscent of the Madoka witches; they also, of course, bring to mind the idea of innocents being turned into awful creatures at the whim of an interdimensional being, just like that classic. Sounds fantastic, right? Well, pump those brakes a bit. While the book is stunning because of all that’s transpiring page after page, it’s also a little too much; the book feels like one-and-a-half or two volumes’ worth of action, all put together so that the climax of volume one could deliver a home run. There’s little room for proper characterization and the emotional high points—and there are a number of them in this volume—aren’t so high. The feelings we’re supposed to feel haven’t been earned by the writing, which I should also note is a mix of captivating and frustrating, the former because it’s often sharp and fun and the latter because I can’t suspend disbelief when elite and intelligent characters are making choices and drawing connections that make little sense. I mean, they are adolescents, but these bad decisions aren’t purposefully written in consideration of their ages; the poor writing extends to other areas as well, such as how time isn’t properly considered in battle sequences. Still, there’s a lot of potential here, possibly for this series but maybe more so for author Rei Ayatsuki’s future books. For now, we’ll see if Ayatsuki can resolve the issues in Hero Syndrome and if a book that ends with relative finality can continue onward as a full series. ~ Twwk

Hero Syndrome is published by Yen Press.

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Finding Camellia, Manhwa Vol. 1

Taken from an impoverished hovel—effectively kidnapped while her mother works as a prostitute to keep her and her daughter alive—12-year-old Camellia discovers that her father is a noble of House Bale and that from now on she is to live life as “Camellius,” a substitute of sorts in case her old brother, the kind but sickly Kieran, doesn’t survive to adulthood. Away from her mother and by nature a shy and frightened girl, Camellia finds this new life as a boy among nobles and reared by an evil stepmom causes her a great deal of anxiety. But somehow, she thrives and becomes an impressive young lady; well, of course she does, because this is manhwa and Camellia must move on to the true setting of the story—a prestigious boarding school at the nation’s capital where the acquaintances she met briefly at the story’s open are now her possible paramours. But this romance doesn’t feature any of the sparkly fairy tale stuff you might imagine it to (aside from the lovely character designs and beautiful colors); instead, it’s just a discomforting mess. Abused and kidnapped, Camellia doesn’t want to live life as a boy, but we as readers are meant to awww at how ladylike she looks in her new gender. Meanwhile, the characters around her are kind of gross, all wanting to “own” her in some fashion. The knight in shining armor is perhaps the exception here, but he’s somewhat of a two-timer. Meanwhile, we as readers are also supposed to find pleasure in the characters alternately being attracted to “Lius,” as she’s nicknamed, because he’s a feminine boy…or are we meant to like her because she’s a girl? Or do we wish she was a boy? The gender confusion and the dark nature of the characters are meant to make us feel abhorrence but also be titillated. Um, no thanks. I’m out. ~ Twwk

Finding Camellia is published by Yen Press.

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Visions 2023: Illustrators Book (pixiv), Artbook

Wow, where to begin! This volume showcases double-page spreads of multiple works from over 150 pixiv artists, all in stunning, glossy color. The artists are split fairly evenly between those focused on character design and portraiture and those who seek to tell an entire story through their illustrations, using backgrounds and characters alike. There are a handful of concept artists as well, rounding out the diversity of content. Diversity really is the key word here, as the works cover an impressive range of styles—from realism to chibi cartoon and everything in between—from artists who hail from around the world, including Korea, China, Taiwan, Indonesia, the UK, America, Canada, New Zealand, Portugal, and Russia, in addition to multiple prefectures from across Japan. On these pages, veterans of the Hollywood film industry, like Andrei Riabovitchev (who is in his 50s), sit side by side with newbie artists only two years into their artistic explorations; university students are followed by their professors, and illustrators of international renown like Yoneyama Mai or Mika Pikazo (whose work features on the cover), established character designers like INPLICK (Link/Click), and mangaka like nagabe (The Girl from the Other Side) receive the same treatment as beauticians and office workers who draw for fun and high schoolers fueled by aspiration. It’s a refreshing snapshot of the positive side of social media and the ways it has opened up the artistic world. The design of the volume wastes no time with preambles and dives straight into the illustrations, giving the reader what they want right from page four. Each spread includes the artist’s avatar, email, socials, short bio, and—mostly importantly for students of illustration—digital tools. This key info blurb is the final touch in what makes this volume so effectively dual purpose: you can simply enjoy the artwork, scanning the QR code to go straight to the artist’s pixiv to see more, or you can use this book as a study resource in wrapping your head around the rich world of professional illustration. Either way, this is a beautifully crafted publication! ~ claire 

Visions 2023: Illustrators Book is published by Yen Press.

Read Reviews of Visions: 2021 // 2022

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Uncle from Another World, Manga Vol. 10

It’s been forever since Yen Press released a volume of Uncle from Another World—so long, in fact, that I’d forgotten exactly what it is that’s going on in the current arc. Thankfully, this creative and hilarious series is far less about the isekai goings-on than it is about Uncle himself. And so I quickly caught up with the finale of the Magatsu-Koto-no-Noshi story, where that titular god, who has possessed Elf, also tries to steal Uncle’s powers. After the arc resolves, it’s on to more daily life-type chapters, particularly focused on Uncle’s reckoning with Sega’s demise as a console manufacturer. Both sides of this volume are equally captivating, the former because it’s neverending fun to see how Uncle, who should be a total dud in the fantasy world, is uncommonly OP because of his absolutely unique and nerdy way of thinking, and the latter because there’s much hilarity to be had in seeing Uncle’s adjustment to the modern world. The relationships between the characters, too, which have never been the strongest point of the series, have become compelling; not only am I interested in seeing the would-be couples pair up (Uncle + Elf and Takafumi + Fujimija), but we’ve reached a point where cross-relationships are just as interesting, like how Uncle now interacts with Sawae, who had previously mistrusted him, and how he also has a growing friendship with Fujimiya. There’s a real heart imbued in the characters, who, though drawn and developed in a way that’s sometimes frenetic, have over time come to feel very human. And combined with the humor and creativity of the series, that heart continues to make Uncle from Another World one of my very favorite manga. ~ Twwk

Uncle from Another World is published by Yen Press.

^{READ Reviews of Uncle from Another World: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6 // Vol. 8 // Vol. 9}

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Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga, Vol. 1

Let’s jump back all the way to 1998: chatter about the world ending the next year is everywhere, Final Fantasy VIII is just about to come out, and Magic: The Gathering (MTG) is finding its audience, with groups meeting together at various establishments to play the trading card game (TCG). And it’s that last bit that manages to tie together geeky and loud Hajime Kano and prim and perfect Emi Sawatari, who are otherwise rivals for the top academic spot at Tokiwagi Middle School (though is it a rivalry if Sawatari always wins?). When they discover their shared love of the TCG, their uneasy relationship begins to thaw—in fact, is this a friendship I see developing? Well, us manga fans are of course hoping for something even more than that, and will feel that especially strongly after reading this sweet story. Kano is so adorably dorky, and Sawatari is easy to root for—prideful but vulnerable, strong and weak. In fact, one of the most curious and captivating parts of volume one is Sawatari’s home life. The opening volume hints at her unhappiness and of her participation in Magic gatherings as an escape. She’s also fixated on Nostradamus’ prediction about an apocalyptic event to come in 1999. The other fascinating part is, of course, the heavy use of MTG in the plot. Katsura Ise, the writer of this work, was similarly aged to his protagonists at the time in which this series is set and was likewise an MTG fan; there’s a ton of detail related to the game, which I assume fans of it will enjoy, and further assume is accurate to the time, given the amount of detail and Ise’s passion for it. There’s also an actual card gifted with the book, sealed in an envelope at the end (the one in my copy was mentioned in the volume and is named on the outside of the envelope). With all the positives noted above, you can see why I’m so excited about this series—fans of Magic: The Gathering, 90s culture, and romance series should surely feel the same! ~ Twwk

Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga is published by VIZ Media. Volume one releases on October 8th.

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Spy x Family: The Official Coloring Book

A coloring book? Yep, and it is so much fun. This Spy x Family coloring book broadly captures the series, covering material that reaches through much of the recent anime season (for fans of the anime) and featuring art by Tatsuya Endo (for manga fans). It allows coloring hobbyists to add their own shades of color to iconic scenes from Spy x Family, including Loid pledging himself to Yor, lying on the sofa cuddled up with Anya, and dressing in ridiculous gear on a cruise ship. The drawings heavily feature the primary members of the Forger family, though other fan favorites like Damian, Becky, Yuri, and Fiona also make appearances. The coloring level is basic, so those deeper into the hobby may find themselves bored by the book, but it’s perfect both for amateurs like me and just generally fans of the series. This is a worthwhile addition to any Spy x Family collection, with the caveat that though it’s a “coloring book,” it’s not necessarily for all ages, featuring a bit of violent content (Yor’s work, of course). ~ Twwk

Spy x Family: The Official Coloring Book is published by VIZ Media. Volume one releases on October 8th.

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“Reader’s Corner” is our way of embracing the wonderful world of manga, light novels, and visual novels, creative works intimately related to anime but with a magic all their own. Each week, our writers provide their thoughts on the works they’re reading—both those recently released as we keep you informed of newly published works, and those older titles that you might find as magical (or in some cases, reprehensible) as we do.