Black Butler: Volume 5

by Yana Toboso, 176 pages

Let the curry battle begin! Sebastian uses Ciel, Soma, and the house staff as guinea pigs as he employs trial and error to make a curry that can beat Agni's. But who will have the final say at the competition?

I know Ciel is sick of curry long before the competition's conclusion, but it still makes me hungry. :) And watching an increasingly surprised and irate Sebastian counter too-honest-for-his-own-good Agni's repeated attempts to turn himself in makes me giggle. The silly clearly outweighs the dark in this volume, although there are definitely hints that the next one may swing some distance in the other direction. I mean, there's a circus in town. With clowns. Gothic, Victorian clowns. How is that not scary?!

Karakuri Odette: Volume 6

by Julietta Suzuki, 192 pages

Robot Travis wants to "marry" Odette, but his fellow robot Grace is jealous and takes matters into her own hands while their ambitious creator plots to acquire Odette's technology through whatever underhanded means necessary. But nobody bothers asking Odette what she wants. Robots trying to marry her or steal her head concern her less than do matters of her own teenage robot heart. With her friend Asao's graduation coming up, Odette struggles with her status as a non-human and worries about the future. Change is scary, even for robots.

Aw, Odette easily evading and completely ignoring the flailing mad scientist with a gun as she mopes over Asao's latest thoughtless comments is funny, sweet, and so indicative of her personality. And Asao verbally blowing her off as he rushes in to "rescue" her anyway is just as indicative of his. I almost got the sniffles over Travis and Grace's situation with their "Papa" and wanted to hug Odette's Professor Yoshizawa when he steps in. I don't know what the future holds for all of them, but with such strong bonds and strong personalities, it can't be all that bad.

Part of me is quite happy with the way this final volume turns out, and part of me is still pouting over its being the final volume. There's so much more for Odette to learn, so much more I'd like to see her through along with her friends and family. This series easily could have been twice as long without losing its charm, and while this volume itself doesn't feel too rushed, its role as the conclusion to the series does. But this is all there is, so I'll just have to deal and be happy there's any at all.

A Discovery of Witches

by Deborah Harkness, 579 pages

Diana Bishop is a witch. But not by choice. She has spent most of her life since the age of seven trying to bury that part of herself, focusing instead on seeing what she can achieve on her own, non-magic-assisted merits. To that end, she has studied diligently, earning a graduate degree in history, focusing on the history of alchemy as a turning point when science and magic at last went their separate ways. And that is how she finds herself in Oxford University's hallowed Bodleian Library, carefully examining some old alchemical manuscripts one minute and face-to-face with a vampire (who also has a doctorate) the next. So one of the manuscripts may have felt a little...tingley and...bespelled. And so what if it opened for her, despite its magical locks? Why is she suddenly having to fend off not just one suspiciously curious vampire but a host of other bloodsuckers, spellcasters, and dotty geniuses (a.k.a. daemons)?

A Discovery of Witches is a quite enjoyable contemporary adult fantasy--when it reads like an adult fantasy. The protagonist is a strong, intelligent, powerful woman who can call up whatever she wants from the bowels of the Bodleian...and make sense of it all! How cool is that? But then, as Jen H. warns in her review, it all goes a wee bit Twilighty* (there are even sparkles, I kid you not). Diana pines and sleeps a lot, especially when her "shadowed man" is out of the picture. It's Bella all over again. But then, thank goodness, she wakes up and starts figuring out how to kick some baddie backside. After discussing this with fellow staff who've read it, we decided that when Diana is with her books or on a mission, she's an adult; and when she's wallowing in romance, she reverts back to being a teenager. The novel's first-person narration makes this contrast even more noticeable (and frustrating). I hold out hope that the next installment will give us more of the grown-up Diana and less of the angsty teen. There are other Twilight parallels, but to say more would be spoilery, so we'll leave it at that and see where (and when) the next book takes us.

The alchemical history is fascinating, as are the depictions of life on and around Oxford's campus. And I love Diana's family home back in New England (it has a bit of a mind of its own and isn't afraid to give anyone a piece of it). Given that the author is a history scholar, herself, I look forward to seeing how she brings yet more of that knowledge into the story.

*No offense to Twilight fans. I read and enjoyed the whole series (minus a few things from book four). I just also enjoy making good-natured fun of it. :P

XxxHolic: Volume 16

by CLAMP, 180 pages

As payment for his own wish, Watanuki has vowed to wait, never leaving the shop, never aging, until he can see Yûko again. In the meantime, he takes over ownership of the shop (and, so, the granting of wishes and the dangerous business of receiving appropriate payment). Mokona and Maru and Moro are about again, keeping him company and helping keep up the shop (and, in the case of Mokona, helping him consume the saké supply). Kohane comes to visit and, one presumes, so does Himawari-chan. And of course Dômeki comes by most days (and nights, as well) to keep an eye on him and eat his cooking, but it seems he's waiting and watching for something, too.

It's so sad to watch Watanuki grieve and wait, stubborn and pitiful at the same time. He's all alone on the cover this volume, with Yûko on the back at a 1/4 profile mostly obscured by her hair and umbrella--symbolism! The time jump of a few years threw me for a few panels, and I wish we could have seen how Watanuki's early experiences at determining payment for wishes went instead of just hearing them referred to in vague, past tense terms. But I'm glad he's not alone. He'd better not revert to not caring about his own well-being, or we're going to have words!

Somehow, I psychically started reading these at just the right time to have them line up perfectly with my reading of the major concluding crossover events of Tsubasa, which was quite cool. But I've finally caught up to the English language releases, so now I have to wait for the next one to come out in September.... Gah!

Skip Beat!: Volume 23

by Yoshiki Nakamura, 185 pages

When Kyoko's costar, Chiori, lets her anger take over and bullies Kyoko offset, Kyoko decides to use her new character's persona to push Chiori into examining herself and playing right into Kyoko's (or, really, Kyoko's character Natsu's) hands.

Sheesh, I feel sorry for the poor actress playing the part of the girl getting bullied by Natsu and friends.... Chiori and Kyoko both are just a little too into their roles for the comfort of some. And the bit at the end, where Ren and Sho finally make brief appearances, cracks me up. Kyoko is so clueless.... (hee hee hee heeee)

V.B. Rose: Volume 11

by Banri Hidaka, 194 pages

Ever curious, Ageha pesters her boyfriend Arisaka about how he and his best friend, the irrepressible Mitsuya Kuromine, met and became friends. Mitsu is only too happy to spill all the embarrassing details. Only he gives away a little too much about his long acquaintance with their friend and colleague Tsuyu, whom he's always mercilessly teasing. Ageha senses romantic drama and goes to Tsuyu for her half of the story, only to find that it may finally be coming to an end.

The boys are so cute in their precociousness. And Mistu's attachment to Tsuyu is sweet in childhood and, now that we know the details, bittersweet in adulthood. If he doesn't want it to stay that way--or get even sadder--they're both going to have to get over their fatalistic attitudes before it's too late.

Demon Sacred: Volume 1

by Natsumi Itsuki, 192 pages

For the last fifteen years, the world has been combating Return Syndrome, a rare (though less so all the time), mysterious, frightening illness that causes its victims to physically regress toward childhood until they die. Normally, the disease progresses so quickly that victims don't even know they're sick, leaving behind nothing but a pile of clothing where they once stood. But fourteen-year-old Mona's twin sister Rina is one of the lucky ones. She has been slowly getting younger for years and now has the body of a nine-year-old. Mona can only hope that the slower progression gives their guardian, Shinobu, a scientist at a corporate research lab, enough time to find a cure before it's too late.

Although this first volume is very exposition heavy with characters spouting lots of artificially informative dialogue (why didn't she just make it part of the narration?), the story itself is engaging and different. As the girls' history is revealed and a face from the past resurfaces, the characters and the supernatural aspects of the story prove intriguing enough that the reader starts to think she might be able to overlook the clunky moments. The attractive art is a little old-school in style, with lots of whipping lines and strand-by-strand hair details.

I've read an impressive (and oh so sad) short space drama by the same author, so I'm willing to stick around a little longer and see what she does with this somewhat less-dark supernatural one.