The mysterious Kaguya gives advice to a stressed out classmate on how to pass a math exam, and we learn more about her genius and her sad home life. Nasa continues his job tutoring at a high school, and when the girls find out he lives at a public bath, they invade so they can sneak a peak at his cute wife. Later, the girls want to film their own version of The Blair Witch Project at an abandoned but luxurious local mansion that is reportedly haunted. Nasa and Tsukasa want to peak on the inside to get furniture and decorating tips, but the girls need a teacher chaperone.
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Illustrated by Nekokurage
Maomao discovers that the hair pins she collected at the banquet in the last volume can be used to gain passage out of the little palace, so she calls upon one of the men to take her back home to the Pleasure District in exchange for notes of introduction to well known courtesans. Maomao isn’t aware, though, that these hair pins and exchanging favors is also akin to entering into social contract and talks of marriage with the young men, so rumors begin to spread while she is visiting home. Her trip isn’t restful as she is immediately put to work saving two young folk in an apparent attempted lover’s suicide, but her father, an even more observant apothecary, challenges her to look beyond the obvious and see what hidden clues the poisoned victims have left behind to tell their tale. 
Simon receives a message that his father might be in trouble, so he and Nicola travel back home to discover his father, who is a penguin-like demon, has been playing with wing-like inventions and trying to fly. Simon helps his father with another type of invention and ensures he can safely test it, while Nicola learns about Simon's childhood. Later, Simon finds a rare mummified demon arm that he really wants to buy and gift to a friend who studies rare mummies. He sets up shop and tries to sell his wares to make enough money, but Nicola spies another customer buy it. She spends her whole day chasing down the customer and trying to learn more about him to get the arm back for Simon, but ends up being known around town as the little girl obsessed with mummies! When Nicola finds a rare item that could lead her to clues about her mom, she tries to track down the shop who sold it her to discover more about her mom's time in the demon's world.
Fukumaru continues to explore his new domain and gets himself into a little bit of trouble, like when he finds himself on top of a high shelf of a family altar and can’t get down. He wages war on “the black thing” (Kanda's piano) but brings a shelf of Kanda’s CDs down on himself instead. While slightly mad about his broken possessions, Kanda is surprised to find himself more concerned for Fukumaru’s safety than his belongings. We also learn about Kanda’s upbringing and how strict his mother was with him, and why his relationship with Fukumaru is so special. Kanda continues to heal and grieve with the help of Fukumaru’s restorative kitty-cuddles as he fondly remembers his wife’s affinity for cats, especially now that Fukumaru is helping him understand her feelings.
 Vol 1: If I only had a Heart, co-created and illustrated by Drew Zucker, colored by Vittorio Astone, lettered by AndWorld Design
In 2024, Dark Horse began a publication of Canto, the story by David M. Booher and Drew Zucker. This story was originally published with IDW, so to find the synopses, check out my original reviews of the paperbacks below: vol 1, vol 2, vol 3, vol 2.5-3.5 This review is of the new hardcovers specifically and how I believe this format will best serve library patrons. Note: 2.5-3.5 will be re-release as Vol 3, while Vol 3 will be re-release as Vol 4 under Dark Horse. 
On the remote island of Mesa's Boon, Bandit and Thatcher run an underground kitchen providing fresh meals to locals using recipes their dad taught them. But, if only they had more ingredients, which are usually hoarded by a greedy company that squanders resources on the island. In an ill-conceived attempt to sneak in and stockpile fresh foods, the siblings find much more -- Zawa, a creature of myth, but also of cookies? She's been trapped below the surface, feeding on garbage and industrial waste, but she also could be the Spirit of the Mountain, and she also loves Bandit's cookies he fashioned to look like the Spirit. After an escape and some helpings of fresh food, Zawa's temperament completely changes, though her appetite is still ravenous! There's much more going on behind the company's door than shackling spirits and hoarding resources, including what Bandit and Thatcher's mom has been up to at work, and it all shakes the very foundation of the town, forcing the citizens to question the relationship they have with the natural world around them.
Adapted by Antstudio
Aria continues her machinations to ruin her sister Mielle’s life by trying to undermine the relationship between Mielle and her future betrothed, Oscar. Instead, Aria finds out many of her plans are backfiring. She discovers the business tips she gave to her stepfather in volume one were attributed to Mielle, so the nobility believe Mielle to be a budding economic genius. Mielle also sends maids to “help” Aria, who are actually spying on her, so Aria uses the hourglass to pick out one of Mielle’s maids who is young and potentially easy to win over. At a spring festival, Aria runs into Lord Asher again and tried to steer clear of him, but unexpected explosions have them running for safety together. 
Adapted by INA
Tia and her father escape to a countryside manor for a while where she continues her training and tries to put behind her the thought of betrothals, successions, and the betrayal she felt at Allen not believing her when she revealed her past life. A month goes by, and Lord Monique sends for Sein to come to the manor because he must return to the capital to resume his work with the knights. Meanwhile, Prince Ruve is determined to figure out why Tia is so afraid of him, and he stops by the manor on his way to inspect the border camps. The meeting sends Tia into a shock for several days. After her recovery, she decides to return to the Capitol to try tackling some of her fears and to continue challenging her fate. 
Adapted by SUOL
The big hunting tournament is here, and Penelope is invited to a tea party beforehand to celebrate. She quickly realizes that she is there to be an object of curiosity with her hunting outfit and crossbow after the events of last year where she threatened many nobles. Penelope leans into it again and warns a lady once again at crossbow point that she would be happy to amuse the crowd with a display of violence, albeit non-lethal. After her antics, she goes to the small game hunting ground and tries to score a rabbit, but finds herself lost on the large game ground and face to face with a bear. None other than the crown prince steps in to save her, but the two are beset by a crowd of assassins and must work together to evade them. Their escape leaves them stranded in the forest overnight, long enough for evil rumors to begin spreading about Penelope. 
Illustrated by Mo9Rang
One day, a child fashion designer works herself to her literal death and awakens as the queen in the fairytale-inspired story she was reading. Now living as Abigail, she finds herself trapped in a loveless marriage with a husband who gives her the creeps, and the worst case of Resting-B**** Face that scares the daylights out of everyone, including her beautiful step-daughter Blanche, the Snow-White figure of the story. Abigail can’t stop herself from wanting to continue to design clothes, but the person she would love to dress up more than anything is afraid of her, and the entire castle still thinks she's a terrible villain. First, she has to repair some of the relationships with the maids that former Abigail has terrorized, Blanche, who is deathly afraid of her wicked stepmother, and her husband Sabrian, who doesn’t trust her at all. |
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