Chainsawing Through the Manga Rundown

Yeah, no points for guessing one of the series I’ll be talking about here.  Yet it’s only one out of five that have made it into this particular rundown.  If you’re wondering what the rest of them are, just know that they involve two gay guys, a wannabe king, the most hapless crossdresser in manga today, and still more ridiculous canine-based clarivoyance.

With all that out of the way, Chainsaw Man vol. 5 wraps up the fight against Samurai Sword and his cohorts in thoroughly entertaining, nut-busting style.  Figuratively in the sense that it’s very funny, and literally in the sense that, well, you know.  No sooner has Special Division 4 taken the bad guys into custody than our hero finds himself… falling in love?  Yes, even though Denji has promised himself to Makima, he still finds himself drawn in by cutie-pie waitress Reze.  His two-timing is forgivable here mainly due to his guilelessness which is matched only by his dumbness (something that’s thoroughly relatable for most guys, I would imagine).  It’s actually a lot of fun seeing the two of them together, which is why it’s bad news when mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto looks like he’s going to fridge Reze before the end of the volume.  Even with Reze’s unpleasant future awaiting us, this is still another great volume of this series.

I honestly can’t remember the last time I wrote about this series, but now is as good a time as any to check back in with What Did You Eat Yesterday? vol. 15.  It’s not that the series has changed a whole lot over the last few volumes as it remains the same character-driven foodie delight that it has always been.  Highlights from this volume include Shiro trying to figure out the most socially appropriate gift to give his neighbor’s grandkid, Kenji cooking dinner after he gets off from work early, and one of Kenji’s co-workers dealing with an obsessive old flame.  It’s all everyday stuff, but it’s handled with all the care and attention to detail you’d expect from mangaka Fumi Yoshinaga.  Now if she could only find a way to keep the stories from grinding to a halt whenever the cooking starts…

Would you believe that the impending sexual assault Mariko was about to face in the previous volume was just a big misunderstanding involving a manga editor who got so relaxed he decided to take his underwear off along with his pants?  That’s the explanation we get in Raw Hero vol. 4 and it really shouldn’t surprise you if you’ve made it to this volume.  If you have, then this volume continues to deliver the funny, raunchy goods as Chiaki proposes to Mariko in the wake of that event and his life proceeds to go even more off the rails.  Not just because of the general idiocy of his boss and a particular co-worker, but because of a girl with cat-face panties he meets and winds up exposing his secret of crossdressing to (in as lewd a way as you’d expect).  Chiaki eventually finds out that she has her own heroic secret that’s just going to make his life that much more ridiculous, and entertaining for us as well.  Assuming you’ve been onboard with the series’ sense of humor up to this point.

The Heroic Legend of Arslan vol. 14 is very much “Business as Usual” insofar as this series is concerned.  As the Turanians lay siege to Peshawar Castle, Arslan and company do their best to try and break through.  If you think this is going to lead to Arslan letting his emotions get the better of him, only to be saved by a surprise return of a supporting character, and for Narsus to once again be three steps ahead of the enemies, then give yourself a pat on the back.  Or don’t, because anyone who has read this far in the series should have seen all of that coming.  While mangaka Hiromu Arakawa does her best to inject some flash and humor into the proceedings, they still can’t make up for the fact that the narrative feels like it’s spinning its wheels here with nothing of note being accomplished.  The good news is that the previews for vol. 15 lets us know that the MVPs of the previous couple of volumes, Andragoras and his wife Tahemany, will finally meet back up with Arslan.  There should be plenty of drama in that reunion, and if Andragoras wants to take control of the army back from his son, well… the most interesting character in the series certainly has my backing!

You’ve either made your peace with the fact that the Forgers now have a clairvoyant dog, or have stopped reading this series entirely.  I’m in the former camp and I can say that Spy x Family vol. 5 does a good job of minimizing Bond’s talent for comedic effect here.  Aside from that, the series is back to its brand of episodic espionage hijinks as Yor tries to make her cooking skills less toxic, Anya tries to not fail her midterms, and Loid does the “Take Your Daughter to Work” thing.  These are all fun, but the most memorable parts of this volume involve the introduction of a couple new characters:  Daybreak, a wannabe spy who is dumb as a brick and Nightfall, an actual spy who is determined to be the new mother in the Forger family.  Both bring new and different styles of comedy to the series and while Daybreak’s schtick is more consistently funny, I got the biggest laugh from how mangaka Tatsuya Endo used a few full-page shots to show us how deep Nightfall’s love goes.  All of this may mean that vol. 5 is just a volume of setup, but it’s a good one at that.