Vol. 5 set up a hell of a situation for Narancia to overcome.  With his mouth possessed by a Stand that caused him to say the opposite of whatever he means, he had to convince his friends that they were all under attack.  I don’t need to tell you that he eventually finds a way […]

Nearly three years passed between the release of volumes two and three of this series, and I can still remember sections of vol. 2 like I had just read them.  Particularly the opening fight between Shinobu and her friends, and the villains who moved into her house on Ishikunagijima island.  It wasn’t just proof that […]

Osaragi and Ino were once the best of friends.  Now their relationship is on the outs about how they feel about Ishigami.  It’s this fracture that drives vol. 24’s opening chapters as they slowly work through their issues in ways that are more dramatic than comedic.  The comedy comes back in subsequent chapters as Chika […]

Had I engaged in a bit more planning and/or patience, I’d have talked about this volume when I did the podcast for the series.  In the end, I was left hoping that the stories collected here would offer some additional insight into the ending we got with vol. 11.  That’s not the case here.  Vol. […]

The last time we caught up with the crew of the Quin Zaza, Vannie had run away to take part in the civil war in her homeland while a good chunk of the crew followed after her.  That storyline is wrapped up halfway through vol. 12 with the same level of quality that you’d expect […]

Asa, with a little help from Keiichi, managed to avert a kaiju attack on the Japanese coast in the previous volume, saving countless lives, averting lots of property damage, and allowing the ‘64 Olympics in Tokyo to start without a hitch.  Vol. 6 doesn’t continue that momentum as Asa and Kasuga are placed on standby […]

Vol. 19 teed up the return of master sniper Reiko to the series, implying that sparks (or at least fists) would start flying between her and Kuroko again.  This turns out to be something of a bait-and-switch as Reiko only features minimally into the plot of this volume.  Which involves a gathering of the family […]

There’s some quality work with the various members of the Hero Association throughout this volume.  It starts off with three of the sword guys and one of the mercenaries tracking an escaped monster to a vault that houses one of the Monster Association’s most powerful assets.  Things go about as well as you’d expect for […]

Tanuki treasure?  That’s what Asakusa and Mizusaki are chasing at the start of this volume when they go for a trip in the countryside during school break.  Their quest takes them through a village with an interesting history and a lot of tanuki wandering around its rural parts.  Yet even if the treasure isn’t found, […]