Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Fears Rhapsody” Vol. 2, by Akira Sugito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Hachiro is as enamored with the human world as ever and is trying to make a human friend.

Okay, it was way more entertaining for me to see Hachiro and Kosuke showing a bunch of elderly tourists around than is probably should have been. Even though this can get dark with bloody fights and such but the calm and funny moments are so endearing. I guess I have a weakness for lovable goodballs like Hachiro. While there is absolutely a bigger threat – not like in Villain’s Day Off where the invasion doesn’t seem to be taken very seriously – the parts with Hachiro are so much fun! Overall, it’s well balanced and I can’t wait to read more. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Planeta” by Ana Oncina

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Valentina lives in a cabin in the woods with her dog, Soup. Every night, she dreams of living on an isolated planet with a woman named Ane. Their relationship seems perfect, but the world around them is strangely barren, making Valentina wonder where reality ends and dreams begin.

This is so wistful and sad. But it is beautiful. The way the color palette reflects the two different worlds is such a simple thing, but so damn effective. The writing makes it easy to get attached to the characters, even the side characters, and the love story is so sweet. While the story leaves it up to the reader to determine what is real or not, my head canon is that the sci-fi story is all dreams, and our couple gets to live happily ever after with that adorable dog. 4 out of 5 for making me sad because I’m probably wrong.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Alien Bros.” Vol. 3 Keigo Shinzō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Fuyunosuke and Natsutaro are still studying humanity when their command suddenly cancels the plan to colonize Earth. Now, they need to decide if they will leave for another assignment or remain on our planet.

This is my favorite volume in the series. It hits some emotional beats and has some humor along with the mature bits (trigger warning for attempted rape when they try being women for a day). This really shows the connection between the brothers better than previous volumes. They actually seem like family here. I think this is the last volume so, way to end this on a high note! 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Mujina into the Deep” Vol. 2, by Inio Asano

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is recommended for mature readers.

After getting wounded, Ubume is looking to maintain her reputation as an assassin. The opportunity arises when someone orders a hit on The Megidos; a couple who abuse children under the guise of training them to be stars.

Of course the government has a special task force to monitor specific mujina. They’re non-citizens until it’s inconvenient for them. The mujina could blow up a city block filled with blind orphans and puppies but if they target the wrong politician? Round up the troops! Anyways, this volume feels like we’re setting everything up to start making our main cast miserable and even though the fights in it were cool, this has the feeling of waiting for the next volume for the actual pay off. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fool Night” Vol. 5, by Kasumi Yasuda

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

As Ivy’s existence highlights very reasonable debates over transfloration, Kamiya and Hourai look into who is behind the anti-transfloration protests: Dr. Koudai.

While we get a funny story involving Kanaero hunting for a special goldfish, the cracks in the system are widening and it’s looking like this mysterious doctor is gonna make things very dangerous for the transfloration company. This may not be such a bad thing since the way people are being taken advantage of is horrific. It’s not sustainable. Why the doctor has been absent for 40 years, why he helped create a murderous plant, how all this will shake out morally for Kamiya and Hourai as their jobs are on the line will all remain to be seen. I can feel things ramping up and it’s all very interesting. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Fist of the North Star” Vol. 17, by Buronson

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Ken and Ryu arrive in Sava where 3 brothers squabble for the throne of their dying father, King Asam.

While after the 3 brother’s drama there is another story, the stand out here is King Asam. Unlike a lot of the rulers and/or in this series, he’s powerful, empathetic, and loving instead of comically evil. I wouldn’t mind a side series just about him. I’m a little annoyed that his daughter doesn’t get more regocnition as she’d the one child of his that seems to care about him (at first) and – absolutely spoilers for this volume and the movie – this story suffers from the Four Brothers problem (where I was pissed that one of them died leaving only three brothers). You’d expect the life lesson of them working things out between them but nope. They just fight and kill. It felt like a chance for a good story there. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Alien Bros.” Vol. 2, by Keigo Shinzō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Under his superior’s directive, Fuyunosuke must teach his brother, Natsutaro, how to properly blend in, hold down a job, and find a mate. It’s a seemingly impossible task as Natsutaro nearly gets them caught. Especially now that a group of kids is determined to expose them.

This volume is much more pleasant than the first. The brothers are still trying to fit in and Natsutaro has his kooky antics but there’s a lack of grossout humor that I appreciated and stuck with the humor in the aliens trying to make sense of human culture and behaviors. There’s even a bit of them exploring human emotions. This is what I’d expected from the first volume and while I shouldn’t hold that against it since defying expectations can be a good thing, this was much more fun for me. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Fears Rhapsody” Vol. 1, by Akira Sugito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

In a world where humans have to deal with monsters called “Fears” – named such that they feed on human fear, Hachiro was bred to be a destroyer. But he’d much rather enjoy what human life has to offer, particularly ice cream.

While at first I was getting Mr. Villain’s Day Off vibes, this comic is much darker. The other Fears can, do, and enjoy killing humans, and this volume has a significant body count. One moment, it’s bloody mayhem; the next, Hachiro goes back to being a big goofball. It’s a bit of whiplash, but it works, and I think it’s because Hachiro is entertaining. I want to follow whatever wacky journey he’ll be going on. There’s even a superhero group that’s trained to fight Fears, and Hachiro’s creator is lurking about so, it’s not all slice of life. We’ve got some good plot to look forward to. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Jungle Juice” Vol. 4, by Hyeong Eun & Juder

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The task force is on Black Rock Island and Suchan exhibits abilites that give the big wigs at Nest some huge concerns.

This volume doesn’t have much downtime. It goes right from Black Rock to some precarious midterms, to the attack on Nest. Again, the abilities presented are so creative and amazing to look at. The names of some of the moves are delightfully cheezy and fun and again, this colume moves so damn fast. Even when it does a flashback, it’s action-packed. Once they’re all out, this would be such an easy series to binge. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “After God” Vol. 3, by Sumi Eno

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Just as Waka learns what god is inside her (Alura), things change when a mission ends in the deaths of several Institute members. In the chaos, a traitor is revealed.

This is a very twisty volume and by that I mean it has a bunch of twists in it. Not to spoil anything but there’s a lot of “this guy is really working for THIS guy” and “this guy is disguised as THIS guy” or this guy is dead, NOPE he’s not!” It’s not bad; it feels fast-paced and dripping with dramatic intrigue. If you’ve been waiting for a bunch of lore about Waka and Alura, that takes a back seat for a bit but it’s still action-packed. 4 out of 5.

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