Some Thoughts on a Few vol. 2’s

It would appear that mangaka Satsuki Yoshino has found a formula that works for her with “Barakamon.”  While I expressed hope that she’d find a way to mix things up, it seems that the series is going to revolve around “Sensei” Honda slowly growing more acquainted with the quirks of the rural coastal village he’s found himself in.  Along with its inhabitants.  Notable plot points from this volume involve Honda getting addicted to pickled vegetables, finding out why he can never own a cat, getting admitted to a hospital for exhaustion, dealing with schoolgirl Tama’s manga aspirations and fujoshi fantasies, and taking all the kids in the supporting cast down to the beach.  It’s amusing enough, but what we get here is forcing me to break out the “if you didn’t like the first volume, don’t bother with the second” review cliche.  I’d like to say that the appearance of two of Honda’s friends at the end of the volume has the potential to shake things up, but I know better after reading this series so far.

There are times that I’m glad I order most of my comics through Amazon.  If anyone has the guts to buy a copy of the latest volume of “Pandora in the Crimson Shell” in public — with THIS cover — know that you’re a far braver person than I.  As for the manga itself, it continues to be an amusing yet harmless sci-fi action comedy.  The threat of Buer is stopped and Nene winds up with administrator control of Clarion after Sahar ditches their escape.  Now, Nene is living with Clarion in her Aunt’s home, though her initial escapade on the island of Cenancle is turning out to have more far-reaching consequences than she imagined.  The fanservice bits only cause me to roll my eyes at their lecherous shamelessness (like that cover, yeeesh…) and are a bit more frequent than I’d like.  In its favor, it looks like the plot is shaping up to be a bit more complex than I initially thought and Nene is at least an adorably ditzy heroine.

On one hand, things get better for the title character of “The Heroic Legend of Arslan” as he winds up recruiting the mercurial yet brilliant tactician Narsus through some clever reasoning.  On the other, Ecbatana, his home and the capital of the Parsian Empire, is brought under relentless siege by the Lusitanians.  This volume effectively makes some good progress towards building up Arslan so we can eventually believe he’ll have a heroic legend while fleshing out the opposing Lusitanian forces and other players on the periphery of this conflict.  As she did with “Fullmetal Alchemist,” mangaka Hiromu Arakawa makes switching between the horrors of war and goofy slapstick work without compromising either.  While I’m not planning on rushing out to get caught up on “Barakmon” anytime soon, the odds of that happening in regards to “Arslan” are significantly higher.