*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Eguchi and Ikezawa get ready for the school festival.
Yeah, it’s not often that I drop a book. I DNF’d this after they needed to change their underwear at the school festival. Sorry, I have to draw my line in the sand. I am no prude. I read and write some degenerate smut, but it’s degenerate smut with adults. No rating. I’m just done with this series.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Kokudo revealed universe-altering life hacks to Hitsujiya, who has been using them, but these two aren’t the only ones who are aware of these reality-warping tricks.
I don’t know if this is weirdly weird or weirdly brilliant. Other than how oddly wholesome Kokudo and Hitsujiya’s friendship is, I’m just along for the ride. Play around with a hack that helps you win a prize by tricking your brain into thinking a food you hate tastes good? Go for it. It’s so absurd, I’m just enjoying the journey. 3.5 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.
While Chako is in the hospital, Gen and Reiji finally deal with Yuko. Ms. Shiba still has plans to keep Reiji to herself.
I swear, Minenami takes the phrase “can it get any worse” as a dare. Spoilers and trigger warnings, but I was NOT prepared for the incest and pimping out children to pay debts. Throw the whole family out. Hell, the whole damn town. I said it before, and I’ll say it again, Reiji needs to change his name and run far away from all these horrible people and start fresh in a place where the only person who knows anything about his past is his therapist, who can’t legally tell anyone. 3 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Amanatsu rushes to find Rinya’s show, where Rinya is trying to convince Hina to finally bite Amanatsu, but to practice on him first.
Now that all the feelings are out there, Hina does need to decide if she will have Victor break his contract with Amanatsu and replace it with her own to protect him and cement their relationship. This is such a big deal that her father decides to get involved. This would have been super interesting if some other person hadn’t shown up instead. Kinda took the wind out of that reveal for me. Its like when a joke is funny but not in the right place and sucks the energy out of a scene. Not terrible, but very meh. 3 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Yodaka is an operative for the Ninja Public Safety Force, and his next assignment is to be a bodyguard for a high school girl, Aoi. However, Yodaka does not like interacting with people, and Aoi has been targeted by the underworld.
While this comes off as a comedy, it does not skimp on the action. Yodaka can be goofy, and Aoi’s inability to win a fight with gravity made me laugh, but the ninjas in this comic mean business. It throws a good bit of lore for the world in this first volume, but this is a fun start to a series. 3.5 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Set in feudal Japan in 1560, Masayasu wants to become a shinobi to protect is village. As he’s training with Hanzo, The Templars have come to Japan to claim three sacred treasures. Hanzo becomes embroiled in the battle with the Assassins against the Templars.
A lot of this volume is Masayasu training with Hanzo and Tsuyu, a young woman Assassin. But when the action starts, it’s glorious. The action can have blank backgrounds but the human movement is well done, which is important with you’re dealing with a franchise known for its action. It’s an interesting start and I’m curious as to where this will go, as this was a LOT of set up. A tentative 3.5 out of 5 since the pacing is off in some places.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
After the battle with the god, there is a meeting of Japan’s strongest mediums as Yayoi reflects on when she first came into her powers after the accident that claimed her parents.
A good portion of this is back when Yayoi was learning about spirits while she’s in the hospital recovering from the accident. She gets to know another patient, Granny Sachiko, and wastes no time getting to know the rules and building her arsenal. The other mediums are concerned about the power vacuum left behind after Yayoi defeated Taisai. While I’m always down to expand this amazing universe, I have concerns about expanding the cast this much so quickly. This series hasn’t had any major missteps, so I should probably trust the process. I do love this insight into Yayoi. That was a great story and it hit so many emotional beats and had some amazing creature designs. 4.7 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Aki and Tsuki travel to the bowels of the village where those who have harmed others when their powers manifested are sealed away. They want to enlist their help to finally defeat Toki.
Oh, this volume has so many twists and turns. It feels like it’s over way too soon. While it may not be battle heavy, there’s plenty of plot to chew on. We get some interesting intrigue around what Aki has seen in her visions, as well as Toki’s backstory. She’s a classic twisted child villain and unapologetically evil. This series continues to explore all these angles I’d never considered and I’m really enjoying it. 4 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
Modori is a first year high school student, excited to run for a spot on the Student Council. Her classmate, Akira, is also running, putting Midori in close quarters with her crush.
This was just not for me. Sometimes, slice of life doesn’t quite hit that sweet spot of mundane but still interesting enough to read. It felt too mundane for me, if that makes any sense. I think the characters aren’t engaging me like other slice of life series I’m reading right now. It’s not bad but I didn’t like it as much as I like other series by this creator. 3 out of 5.
*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.
The search continues for Dr. Kudai, revealing differing alliances and serious threats.
Most of this is Yomiko trying to find Kidai and all the intrigue and espionage around it. They want to find out who did the procedure on Toshiro so it’s a lot of talking and much slower than all the previous stuff about Ivy. It’s not bad but all the action in the previous volumes set a tone that shifts so differently here. It’s interesting but it’s clearly setting things up to be exposed later so I’ll have to be patient. 3 out of 5.
