Manga: Again!! 5

Again!! Vol 5 
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Having seen Usami's lonely fate after the collapse of the ouendan, Kinichiro returns to the past again, more determined than ever. He flat-out tells Usami about his time traveling, and the two hatch their plan to change destiny. But when their newfound closeness is misunderstood, it sets off a gossip bomb that threatens to destroy everything. Has all of Kinichiro's time traveling been for naught? 

The secret is out and I can't decide if it's a good or bad thing, like it sends the Captain a little crazy along with the rumours Abe is gleefully spreading about she and Imamura. The way our two time travellers kept talking....it was a matter of time before they got found out, but I was still surprised to see it revealed in this way. It's going to be interesting to see how much it's going to effect the story. 

Anyway, the Ouendan are preparing a new cheer to showcase to us as well as the school and there's a lot riding on this practice game, and we actually do have D-Day in this volume. So we get the build up and then we get the beginnings of the practice game. The baseball team aren't the only ones going to war because our Ouendan is going to be facing off with the Ouendan from the other school led by the moustachioed weirdo. 

I really love how the story is growing and developing, we've seen the Captain change as a character and in this volume she's pretty badass. Plus Imamura is so far out of his comfort zone bless him. I'm actually really proud of his character! The one thing I'm side eyeing though...is there about to be a love triangle developing?! I'm not sure if I'm here for it or not! 

Manga: Fairy Tail Lightning Gods

Fairy Tail: Lightning Gods
Rating: 5/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Hot-headed wizard Laxus Dreyar is always on the lookout for the next challenge! So when Fairy Tail disbands, he and his loyal crew of Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow join the fun-loving guild Blue Pegasus. Before long, the guild's master Ichiya is kidnapped, and it's up to Laxus to save the day. However, when faced with a battle with a rival guild's female mages, Laxus learns a tough lesson... On the next mission, Laxus and his gang go up against an ancient relic of fearsome magic--one that will put their bonds of friendship to the test! 

I have been waiting for this volume for forever! I love this spinoff series, each one has been so brilliant and give us a really nice look in to the characters each volume focuses on! Laxus is just so hilarious to me, he's so grouchy and surly and I've been looking forward to him getting the spotlight for a bit! Plus the rest of the Raijinshu. 

Freed is definitely my favourite out of the three, don't get me wrong I love Bickslow and Evergreen but Freed cracks me up. He's such a Laxus fanboy. Not only do we get to see more of the three of them in this volume, but we get to see more of the Blue Pegasus crew too and I enjoyed getting to see more of their personalities and the dynamics between them. Plus we get to discover a new Guild as well!

This volume is hilarious, genuinely, but poor old Laxus has to figure some things out about himself, which I thought tied in really nicely with the main series. There's a lot going on this volume, we have two different storylines, both of which are given a nice amount of detail and are fleshed out really well, plus they're nicely paced. 

We get plenty of action, we get to see loads of all four characters and we even get to see a flashback to how the Raijinshu formed! Overall it's an entertaining and action packed volume, that slots in nicely with the main story! 

Manga: Boarding School Juliet

Boarding School Juliet

Rating: 4/5

Buy or Borrow: Buy

Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

The prestigious Dahlia Academy educates the elite of society from two countries: to the East is the Nation of Touwa; across the sea, the Principality of West. The nations, though, are fierce rivals, and their students are constantly feuding--which means Romio Inuzuka, head of Touwa's first-year students, has a problem. He's fallen for his counterpart from West, Juliet Persia, and when he can't take it anymore, he confesses his feelings. Now Romio has two problems: a girlfriend, and a secret... 

Well the opening is certainly attention grabbing, it's like aw swee-wait...whaaaat?! I have to say, I really liked the world, with the two warring nations who send their students to the island in between them. I'm assuming the East is Japan and the West is...the West. I'm kind of intrigued to learn more about both nations. 

Yes this is a little ridiculous at points, but honestly it just adds to the humour. Romio for instance...is hilarious. This thoughts, some of his lines...the crying. Don't get me wrong he can be a badass like you'd expect but...he has crybaby tendencies. Plus for someone who's supposed to be the leader...he gets little respect so I'm kinda of curious about why he is the leader?! 

Meanwhile Persia is an actual badass, and she's incredibly noble too and she has a plan and a dream. The relationship on her side is interesting because she's never thought of him as anything more than an enemy. I do really like the interactions between the two of them, I think they make a great pair, and I'm so ready to watch the romance grow and develop. 

I enjoyed the art, and the character designs, and I loved how some of Romio's expressions are drawn....they're just hilarious. I wasn't expecting the relationship to spring up in the first volume, the original synopsis I saw made it seem like the feelings might develop and then he'd have trouble confessing etc. But in this volume the confession happens, and boom they're in a relationship. Granted Persia is just getting to know him and will no doubt eventually come in to her feelings, although it seems like that's already happening anyway. It's quite fast paced and does really well at setting everything up. 

There's a lot of action, and never a dull moment between all the fights and the hilarity, the supporting cast are brilliant and it's so easy to binge read this volume! Plus it leaves you wanting more!

Manga: SDS Seven Days

The Seven Deadly Sins: Seven Days Vol 1
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Ban is a young, opportunistic thief, drawn to the Fairy King's Forest by the rumor that it holds the most splendid, invaluable treasure of all: the Fountain of Life. But when he meets the Saint of the Fountain, a young Fairy named Elaine, he finds the treasure he most desires may not be the one he originally came to seek. Thus begins the tale of the fated romance between Ban of The Seven Deadly Sins and Elaine, the Fairy King's sister!

This is the first in a two volume prequel series, and it's time to get the tea on Ban and Elaine. Sure we've seen flashbacks in the main series but it's time for all the details. Appropriate timing considering the role Elaine is taking in the main series! 

But it turns out it's not just Ban and Elaine, it was nice to get to see some of Helbram before he was mean, evil Helbram. It actually hit me right in the feels because we see the events with Helbram that led up to King leaving Elaine in charge of the forest and it's kinda heartbreaking. It makes Elaine's dislike for humans in the beginning more than justified. 

I liked getting to see and learn more about Elaine and Baby Ban before he was immortal, his whole attitude is so hilarious and his ale label collection...not the thing you'd picture him collecting. 

I feel like this first volume does really well at filling in some blanks, setting the scene for the next volume when things are going to heat up because we all know what happens to Ban and Elaine. We get to see the circumstances surrounding Elaine being in charge, we get to know her more as a character, and sure we've seen some bits before but this volume expands upon what we already know. I'm loving seeing them get to know each other and seeing Elaine's distrust of humans and Ban turn to intrigue. I can't wait to see them bond and grow even closer in the next volume! Ban is honestly my favourite SDS character and his entire personality and attitude always cracks me up, and I'm excited for him to finally be in the spotlight!

Manga: Heroic Legend of Arslan 9

The Heroic Legend of Arslan Vol 9
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Prince Arslan finds himself gifted with 3,000 cavalrymen for aiding Rajendra in the capture of his traitorous brother, Gadhevi. But the king's two-faced generosity is clouded with greed as he sets to ambush Prince Arslan and his Parsian army late in the night. And later, in Peshawar Fortress, more trouble lurks as a shadowy figure silently stalks Arslan and his retinue in search of a secret letter. 

Arslan has been cordially invited to a royal execution and thus the saga with Gadhevi is finally over. I'll be sad to the end of sassy Salima though. 

This volume see's us move away from Sindhura after dealing with the ever shady Rajendra. I don't think anyone fell for the generous, nice guy act, and we move on to the next stage of the story, turning our attention back to Pars and Lusitania. Of course, Jaswant is the latest addition to Team Arslan, and there's some interesting hints towards future conflicts. 

This is an interesting volume, as like I said, we wrap up one arc and start to head in to another but while we get a bit of Arslan and the rest as they have to deal with a mystery shadow at the fortress looking for a secret letter, we also get a lot of Hilmes. It turns out the King of Lusitania's brother is facing some...problems, the actual King is useless and leaves it all to him, and through the sections about him we get an interesting insight in to how things stand in the enemy camp. Bodin appears to have turned on them, surprising no-one I'm sure. 

More intrigue is added to the plot as Sam goes to visit the imprisoned King and we get some history to the Pars royal line, and Prince Hilmes and his father which has left me with a million questions because there is definitely a secret being hidden from us that appears to involve a prophecy. I do like the focus we get on Hilmes this volume and what's going on with his camp as it catches us up on what's been going on. Plus we locate Kubard....one of the other missing Marzbans. It remains to be seen if he'll take a side. 

Kubard seems like he could be a lot of fun, and I assume we'll see more of him...presumably on the right side. This volume had one battle scene and it's a smaller one than we've had recently but that fits with the tone of the volume which is very much one of us catching up and moving on. But don't worry, there's a nice and ominous cliffhanger! 

Manga: Tokyo Tarareba Girls 2

Tokyo Tarareba Girls Vol 2
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Turns out, sex isn't everything. After a misspent night with a hot model (and a little too much booze), Rinko wakes up feeling more depressed than ever, unable to shake her growing suspicion that, at 33, she's doomed to be forever alone. Her friends Kaori and Koyuki think they have found cosmopolitan bliss in an unavailable ex and a married man, but the daylight only brings increasingly devastating "what-ifs." And with younger, fitter, hungrier women entering the ring, these three will have to brawl their way to the win...or risk throwing in the towel for good. 

It happened. Rinko did the thing I was screaming at her NOT to do and it reaaaally doesn't help her. Honestly, Key is such an a-hole, the things he says to her, and then bringing Ryo to the bar I was like.....ffs Key you ****. Their bickering does provide some much needed humour however, I'm starting to wonder if I'm supposed to like Key? Yes, he says some things that you could argue are the truth but still. 

I enjoyed getting to see Kaori's background and her history and get to know her a bit bitter, even if it did end on a depressing note with her ex...I also felt vaguely hopeful for Koyuki but...nope. I was expecting the series just to focus on Rinko so it was a nice surprise to see Kaori and Koyuki getting some drama and story of their own! 

The thing is...her two friends are embarking on 'relationships' that you know aren't going to end well and they deserve so much better but they don't seem to think that they do and it makes me kind of sad how they view themselves and the sadder thing is that the thoughts they're thinking are probably true of a lot of women thanks to how society is. Which you know...is probably the point of this series. Rinko has a bit of a struggle with her feelings too, but I feel like she gets a much needed reality check in this volume. 

I'm enjoying the pace to this series, and it's going in directions I wasn't entirely expecting!