Among the volumes we’re covering this week is the first in the newest series from the mangaka behind Tokyo Revengers; the initial two volumes in the Let’s Get to Villainessin’ series; and two by author Ao Juumonji. Check out our reviews of those and others on this week’s column!

Astro Royale (Vol. 1) • Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside (Vol. 10) • GOGOGOGO-GO GHOST! (Vol. 4) • Honey Lemon Soda (Vol. 9) • How to Eat Life (Vol. 1) • Kill Blue (Vol. 2) • Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner (Vols. 1-2) • Love Is Dark (Vol. 3)

Honey Lemon Soda, Manga Vol. 9

A new semester is here, with our new couple unfortunately being in separate classes! While Uka is bummed and feels a little lonely, she is also excited for a new school year and what friends she’ll make. However, when she helps someone in Kai’s class, she learns there are people out there just like her, bringing new questions and insecurity that she hasn’t felt before… That ending was so painful! Sobs! I really like how the development of Uka changing and growing, to the point she doesn’t “need” Kai, was shown and explored in this volume. It felt like such a natural progression that Uka would start to feel new feelings because she may not need Kai in the same way she has before, but she does deeply love him and still wants him. Those feelings are very real, but having another girl who really does act like Uka seriously could cause insecurity to rise in Uka. Goodness, even I felt it as a reader because it was very unnerving how this new girl copied everything Uka was doing. Granted, I don’t think Kai’s feelings changed at all! But it all felt like it was getting worse when he seemed to act similarly to the way he had when he helped Uka be braver, like she is now. Then, when people started spreading rumors as to why this new girl could be acting like Ishmori, which of course is going to reach Uka, I felt so emotionally upset! Truly, our poor girl! More sobbing! My heart really hurt with that ending, and I hope things are cleared up quickly in the next volume because I love seeing Uka take a bold stand in befriending her classmates without “allies” around her and want more of that! She continues to be so fearless, but I don’t want to see her as broken as she is right now. Please tell me volume ten will be released ASAP?! I need it! ~ Laura A. Grace

Honey Lemon Soda is published by Yen Press.

READ Reviews of Honey Lemon Soda: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 6 // Vol. 7 // Vol. 8

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Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner, Light Novel Vols. 1-2

You’ve seen a lot of protagonist “villainesses” who aren’t villainous at all, and a fair number of non-protagonist villainesses who are truly villainous, but you probably haven’t encountered a protagonist trying her hardest to be an actual villainess while feeling bad about it. Mio finds herself recruited to play the role of villainess in a world based on an otome game. See, the girl who actually reincarnated as the villainess (Shizuki) wants to avoid her doom, but she also says the story needs to play out somewhat close how the game went. This means she needs someone else to play villainess for the next three years before meeting doom. But Mio is actually a rather kind and caring person, which leads to some interesting complications. For one thing, she’s a rare villainess who truly acts like a jerk but constantly suffers a guilty conscience over it. Also, she can’t quite hid that kindness of hers, so while less perceptive observers see her as scum, the more insightful ones interpret her as a huge tsundere, rather than a true villainess. There are some contrived elements to the plot, but maybe that comes with being in a world based on a game; plus, there are strong hints that Shizuki is keeping secrets and we don’t have the full picture yet. Anyway, the story is an intriguing take on both the “villainess” genre and the “villainess” character archetype, one not quite like any other I’ve read, wrestling as it does with the emotional toll of being a villainess and questioning what could motivate someone to act that way, as well as looking at how other people would respond to such a person. These first two volumes only cover about six months, and I’m quite curious to see where the story goes from here. ~ Jeskai

Let’s Get to Villainessin’: Stratagems of a Former Commoner is published by Cross Infinite World.

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Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Manga Vol. 10

I’ve mentioned this before, but Banished from the Hero’s Party excels when it lives in the slice-of-life moments as opposed to the more story-driven, action-adventure chapters. Although volume ten does start with chapters that note a larger storyline involving the hero’s journey and ends with one putting Red possibly in harm’s way, much of the work is really just comfy, fun stuff. Ruti is getting used to life around her brother again and away from being “the hero,” and it allows her cute side—which had been pushed down by an uncontrollable power that drives her toward heroism, but which is temporarily being held at bay—to come out. There’s some work that needs to be done in her life, certainly, but also in dealing with her relationships with both Red and Rit. Meanwhile, the MVPs of these last few volumes have been Tisse and her spider; they are both adorable and have more or less become the source for the warm feels that started the series as Red and Rit started to fall for one another. Still, I think Banished from the Hero’s Party has probably peaked, but with only four volumes remaining, I’ll be riding this journey to the very end. ~ Twwk

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside is published by Yen Press.

READ Reviews of Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3 // Vol. 4 // Vol. 5 // Vol. 7 // Vol. 8 // Vol. 9

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How to Eat Life, Light Novel Vol. 1

I am on a Ao Juumonji high lately—first with his excellent series, Love Is Dark, and now with the first volume of How to Eat Life, which has a unique origin. The protagonist—traumatized loner, Tobi Otogiri—is a previously existing character from a manga and music video by artist Eve. This LN imagines him accompanied everywhere he goes by Baku, his talking backpack. All is as normal as can be until a girl from his class asks about Baku; you see, no one else can hear Baku talk—at least that’s what Tobi and his backpack thought. And when students in their classroom start to have terrible accidents, it becomes clear that Tobi, Baku, and others are going to be getting involved, whether they want to or not. I think that description gives you a taste for both the kawaii (including, yes, that talking backpack, as well as the illustrations by one of my favorite artists, lack) and darkness of this volume, which is no surprise—mixing the two is Juumonji-sensei’s calling card. It works tremendously well. The writing is crisp and compelling, and though it becomes a little hard to track which student is which, the school-focused narrative is still lively and interesting in both its more cutesy moments (generally when the girl, Ryuuko, is bonding with Tobi) and the scarier ones. Even better, for me, was one section that was focused on adult characters, and which provides some context for the fuller story. All in all, this is an excellent start—and I’m eager to eat my way through volume two, hopefully soon! ~ Twwk

How to Eat Life is published by Yen Press.

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GOGOGOGO-GO GHOST!, Manga Vol. 4

GOGOGOGO-GO GHOST! returns with its most fascinating volume yet! While the “villain of the week” format is basically retained—this time including a rude apartment dweller and, gasp!, a stuck-up influencer—the series takes huge steps in unraveling a central question in the series. In fact, GOGOGOGO-GO GHOST! comes straight out and finally explains just who Masako is and how she died. It’s kind of stunning just how plainly and practically Masako’s story is laid out, but it works so well with the rhythm and tone that’s been set out in this series; it’s treated neither too trivially nor as an end-all, be-all moment. Instead, Masako’s story really feeds into what’s becoming the more significant part of this tale, one that’s hammered home not just in that chapter but in a stunning one involving Toshi—can these spirits ever really become friends? Can they be “good”? I’m enjoying the depth of those questions as they accompany what’s become a fun, warm, and quirky series. This remains a lovely, engaging read! ~ Twwk

GOGOGOGO-GO GHOST! is published by Yen Press.

READ Reviews of GOGOGOGO-GO GHOST!: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2 // Vol. 3

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Kill Blue, Manga Vol. 2

Volume two of Kill Blue is absolutely as much fun as the first, as Juzo Ogami continues his life as an assassin trapped in his middle-school-aged body, and keeping an eye on pharmaceutical heiress Noren, who has become his “fake girlfriend.” This volume introduces further complications in the form of two new characters who may also have eyes on Noren—and who present unique challenges to Ogami. This series is full of laughs—including a pacifier assassin in this volume—and likable characters. I also appreciate that for a series that could so easily travel down the road of having its protagonist participate in inappropriate romances, or at the very least hint at them, Kill Blue is instead using the transformation storyline to have Ogami consider his poor choices with his ex-wife and daughter, and presumably present a road to redemption. The manga has humor and heart—that’s for certain. And what more could you ask for? ~ Twwk

Kill Blue is published by VIZ Media.

Read: Kill Blue Vol. 1 Review

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Astro Royale, Manga Vol. 1

Ken Wakui, the mangaka behind Tokyo Revengers, returns with sci-fi gangster tale, Astro Royale. No surprise, this new series feels a whole like that one—it’s just a little less precarious (so far), introduces superhero powers, and makes the gang leader the protagonist rather than a more feeble character. How does it add up? Well, I’m a bit on the fence after volume one. Hibaru Yotsurugi is an attractive lead; he’s the only biological son of the recently passed head of the Yotsurugi yakuza family, and he is courageous, kind, and full of integrity. When a meteorite hits Tokyo, everything falls apart—not just the city, but the crime family too, which had already been teetering toward a war of succession. Volume one traces Hibaru’s design to bring his adopted siblings together in love, even if it means fighting them to do it. The story is terribly predictable so far, and because it’s so obvious, the emotional high points don’t feel particularly high at all. I feel like I should like Hibaru even more than I do, and that I should feel affection for the first brothers he encounters and fights, but I don’t. I’m hoping the story takes some twists and turns and—knowing the bit I do about Tokyo Revengers—I think it will. If it doesn’t, even with as much heart as Wakui-sensei is trying to inject into this series, it’s going to be a forgettable one. ~ Twwk

Astro Royale is published by VIZ Media.

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Love Is Dark, Light Novel Vol. 3

After three volumes of this violent assassin/school life series, all that’s excellent about Love is Dark remains really good, while the parts that aren’t as compelling are also starting to come around. For instance, the cast of school friends—which had hitherto felt a little too formulaic for me to emotionally bond with—gets fleshed out in volume three. They feel more alive, and a new one is added too, whom I really enjoyed getting to know. The development of these characters is vital to the plot, with volume three emphasizing Kuchina and Sousei’s eagerness to make friends and live a normal life, though in both cases, the consequences of going against their “masters” are heavy on them. There’s quite a turn involving this in the novel, and while I won’t spoil it, I should note that we are all going to be awaiting volume four with bated breath. Meanwhile, the excellent assassin scenes in this series are even better in volume three; Author Ao Juumonji does such an excellent job of conveying the danger, fear, and yes, gore involved in the assassinations, and in building up incredible villains in a short time, most of whom are quickly disposed of. It feels like such a waste to create amazing villains (Darth Maul syndrome?) that last only a few chapters, but Juumonji is building toward something grander, and I appreciate that very much. Love is Dark is such a wildly compelling series, and one that’s getting better and better. I can’t wait to see how it develops from here! ~ Twwk

Love Is Dark is published by Yen Press.

READ Reviews of Love is Dark: Vol. 1 // Vol. 2

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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.