sci-fi

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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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Lenni Reviews – Challenge Edition: “Tender Is the Flesh” by Agustina Bazterrica & Sarah Moses (Translator)

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If you’ve been on my blog for awhile, I do movie reviews on occasion and have a side thing of “Challenge Edition” where I watch extreme movies. Now that I know extreme books are a thing you know I have to do that, too.

This book is a dystopian world where a virus has rendered all animal meat inedible. A worldwide campaign is launched to acclimate everyone to accept eating humans instead; classifying them as “head” that as strictly regulated. Marcos runs a slaughterhouse and in addition to his wife leaving him and his elderly father losing his battle with dementia in a nursing home, he struggles with the realities of what he does for a living.

I totally get the allegory; treading a certain class like cattle, the mental gymnastics to justify this, the tole it takes on people to eat people, Marcos desperately trying to hold on to his sanity in a world where humans are just buying time before they end up on a plate, cruelty is normalized, and everything is permeated with an undercurrent of fear. The writing is great and that ending? Woof… But my suspension of disbelief was tested. Because I’m a writer, librarian, and general nerd; I know the little factoid that cannibalism in humans causes diseases and is not a viable replacement for traditional meat. I had to keep pushing that aside and plow on but it was worth it. It’s depressing because, not too spoilery but damnit Marcos:

This book is good, I loved the prose. And the graphic descriptions of the slaughter of humans for consumption will turn your stomach if you’re sensitive. But if you’re in the mood, this is a great book. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Mujina into the Deep” Vol. 1, by Inio Asano

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

In this dystopian world, there exists a class of people called Mujina, who have given up their human rights, live off the grid, and usually end up as assassins. Terumi Morgan is coasting through life as a middle-aged man who just wants to watch his smut in his spare time. When he ends up with COVID, he sees an off the books doctor where he ends up involved with a Mujina called Ubume.

So… This is wild. Human rights are not a given in this world; they can be abdicated or revoked based on certain criteria and violence is rampant. I so appreciate the creativity but a lot of information was thrown at me and I feel like I need to know more before I decide if the world building is good or now. My main interest is in Ubeme and her story; not so much in Terumi. Terumi seems tangential at this point but we’ll see if he gets more involved later. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 4, by Kazuo Umezz

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

“Marilyn” has now renamed itself to “Shingo” and thinks of Satoru and Marin as it’s parents. Shingo struggles to make connections to humans and flees from the scientists who are hunting it down.

Shingo has quite the body count at this point so… I’m on the scientist’s side. This isn’t like Johnny 5 or Wall-E or anything cute and decent. This thing is a menace and I do hope they catch it and shut it down. At first, you sympathize with it wanting to live but now? Nah, just junk that thing. I don’t want it to be free. It’s killed children. Not to say this is a bad story just if it’s trying to make me feel for Shingo, it fails. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Alien Bros” Vol. 1, by Keigo Shinzō

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

Two alien brothers Fuyunosuke and Natsutaro are living on Earth in order to gain more information about the human race. Fuyunosuke is trying to help Natsutaro blend in to the life he’s built while still maintaining the mission to his superiors.

I was expecting some wacky fish out of water shenanigans and while there is that, there’s this lingering feeling that something is off. And I don’t mean the odd toilet “humor” (I can’t believe I need to say this but: trigger waring for piss drinking). The “brothers” have a classic funny/straight guy dynamic and the art style handles the uncanny eeriness of what these aliens are up to. This isn’t like Villain’s Day Off where it’s fairly light hearted and cute. This made me feel like there was always something lurking behind the scenes. 3.9 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “My Name Is Shingo: The Perfect Edition” Vol. 3, by Kazuo Umezz

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

Marin and Satoru’s run away is foiled and they are separated once again. Satoru visits Monroe who is now self aware and in danger of being demolished.

Trigger warning for dog death and some gory violence.

Now with the kids apart, the focus is now on Monroe and what it’s learning. And what it’s learning isn’t… Great. It’s not the worst humanity has to offer but it certainly isn’t the best. I honestly did not expect the level of violence in this volume since the others never went there. Marin’s parents are their usual useless selves so chalk up another trigger warning for attempted sexual assault and generally shitty parenting. 4 out of 5.

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