Hachi hates school and would rather nap all day, especially if there's a nice bit of sun to bathe in. Nothing really interests him until the transfer student shows up. Aoi is a lizard boy with his tail hidden in a sleeve, and Hachi, who is a cat boy, finds his coloring and manerisms to be interesting and soothing. The two start hanging out after school or sneaking away to an abandoned stairwell for lunch. One day, Aoi takes the sleeve off his tail, and Hachi is transfixed. It's a beautiful, bright shade of blue! Hachi lets Aoi pet his tail too as a trade off, and both promise not to share their secret with any other students. But Hachi doesn't really know how to have a friend, and he easily gets jealous when others start to become interested in Aoi. For his part, Aoi doesn't trust predators after a terrible incident at his last school that caused him to lose part of his tail. The two learn to be vulnerable with each other and navigate their (at times) uneasy friendship
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Sanko, Avadian, and Shimada have infiltrated a cult devoted to the light that was actually the beginning of Photosphere. Sanko is captured, and the other two disguise themselves as believers in order to save him. Along the way, they find the fourth member of “The Four Little Shits,” Hajime Damemaru, who was taken prisoner in the previous volume. Damemaru appears to be dead, so Avakian brings him along in case his bones can be sold. Meanwhile, a priest takes it upon himself to try and harvest Sanko’s bones for himself. Sanko manages to escape, although badly injured, and he’s finally reunited with his friends. Damemaru’s paggy also reunites with its master and is able to revive him into his old (looking) self. Once back on the Moja, the group gets a tour and finally gets to enjoy all of their purchases from the previous volume.
I've switched over to collecting the hardcover editions of this book, so this review is for volumes 4-6 of the individual tankobon books.
Auntie has come back to the forest with Shiva, and, despite not getting along with Teacher, the two decide to try living all together for Shiva's sake. But, Teacher is not as forthcoming with his pupil as he should be, as he knows what is going to eventually happen to Auntie, even though he strangely seems to be immune to the worst of becoming an Outsider. Later, the guards from the city start to hunt Shiva, so she and Teacher pack up to move across the countryside to another settlement where Auntie had some relatives. The small farming village is already deserted, and the two stay hidden until the snow falls. 
One day, as Hinata walks by a free kitty in a box, he decides to adopt it and names it Kyuu-chan. Kyuu-chan turns out to be adorable and makes Hinata's life more interesting! Kyuu-chan loves playing with toys, but more than that, Kyuu-chan loves spending time with Hinata, including curling up inside his scarf. Like most cats owners can attest, Kyuu-chan also loves the box more than the toys that come in it. Kyuu-chan also loves snacks and getting his fur on the bottom of Hinata's pant legs. The two are always doing things for each other, including Kyuu-chan traversing half the city and the subway to bring Hinata his forgotten lunch!
The evil secret societ of cats has one mission: to make humans fear the feline race! To that end, a motley cast of cats is here to take over the lives of unsuspecting folk and all media they consume. Under the leadership of the Feline Commander is Dr. Meow, with his fiercer creations, including Robocat, Queen, and Destroyer. Fighting to save humanity is Doggoman and his little sister who have trained under the wise Master Yorkshire. To round it all out is Hariyama, the owner of a cafe and one of the only neutral sights between the Society and Doggoman. Presented in yonkoma form (four-panel comic strips).
Nakamura is overwhelmed by his crush on Hirose, so much that he's stunned into silence for most of his class interactions. Many of his classmates think he's either shy or standoffish. One day, Nakamura gets an opportunity to talk with Hirose, and even be cast in a play with him! As Nakamura slowly starts to open up, he and Hirose strike up a timid friendship that is often interrupted by other classmates. One observant classmate draws an amateur manga of Nakamura and Hirose being in a relationship, and Nakamura absorbs some of the confidence from his alter-ego. On a class field trip, Nakamura strikes off on his own to the aquarium and is startled to find Hirose tagging along. The two converse at length about the fish and especially the octopi, Nakamura's favorite. At the end, Nakamura confesses his wish that he and Hirose would be friends, while Hirose admits he felt they were already friends.
Sanko and Avekian have a new ship, the Moja, but it has no furnishings. Their helpful doggo interface has found them what is basically a floating interstellar IKEA, and the three set off shopping. While picking out all manner of comfort, Shimada Death catches up with them and explains the nature of the Fleshbots who help run the store. Sanko theorizes that there has to be a place on board where the robots go to “die”, which is probably full of bones. Sanko and Shimada go check it out and find enough for their mutual benefit. Sanko narrowly escapes being blown up with the shopping ship but makes it back in time to make his favorite Meapswich - meatball spaghetti sandwich. In another part of the Galaxy, Hajime Damemaru, another powerful being, is pursued by Photosfere, the dastardly corporation running most of the galaxy.
This autobiographical manga presents Asuka's journey of self-discovery with their gender. In Japan, X-Gender is a term for nonbinary, but even these umbrella terms are not helpful enough to help Asuka navigate the LGBTQ+ community or to find a girlfriend. Asuka also provides some introspection and analysis as to why having a period is so emotionally disturbing to them as it reminds them of their female anatomy. Throughout the manga, Asuka tries to go on dates, participate in speed-dating events specifically for LGTBQ+ folks, and navigate friendships and attractions.
The villain known as Josef/Cartaphilius brings Chise to his home and prepares her for the deal she’s now entered into: she is going to give Josef her cursed left arm. Josef is in quite the predicament. When he merged with the cursed being, Cartaphilius, he started to slowly decompose over centuries, but he can never fully die. He’s convinced that with Chise’s arm cursed from the dragon, he might finally have some relief from his torture. But first, he exchanges eyes with Chise to make sure his body won’t reject her arm, and in doing so, the two share their past memories and share their tragic backstories.
Shiva’s auntie comes back for her and is horrified to find an Outsider chasing after them! Town guards load the two into the back of a wagon and shoot arrows at Teacher, which do nothing but stun him, and they manage to get away. Shiva and her aunt set back up in their old house in the eastern village of the town, but Shiva misses Teacher. Shiva doesn’t have any signs of having been touched and cursed by an Outsider, but that isn’t true for other folks in the town. She runs away from the king’s men once again and finds herself in the forest with Teacher. The two go back to their house but Shiva is so exhausted she falls asleep on the floor of the hallway, unable to make it to her room.
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About MeI've been reading manga and comicbooks for years. Now, I write reviews and other helpful things for School Librarians, teachers, parents, and students. Search this site
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