@LightningLeaf said in Brilliant Healer Vol. 2 Discussion!:

I was wondering if Zeno's mentor tried to resurrect Afred and raised something else entirely, perhaps himself, perhaps not.

That was a thought I had too. In the manga chapter that just dropped, Zenos's mentor was very confrontational when Zenos started to try to use healing magic on a corpse. Like, if you don't know resurrection magic is impossible, his reaction looks... over-the-top, to say the least. If you know, however, that researching resurrection magic is hella taboo, then... well, suddenly his reaction comes across as someone who broke that taboo and had massive unintended consequences happen to him. And not just the "lost your job" type. The "came back wrong" type. The "what knocked at the door at the end of The Monkey's Paw?" type.

To borrow a phrase from the labor movement, "magical taboos are written in blood."

The further into the re-read I go, the more I feel like Mary isn't really dense per se, its more to do with where her priorities lie. She just has to stop lying to herself and accept that she'll always go out of her way to help those she cares about (though yes, she really needs to learn some self awareness!)

Ended up slowly re-reading the series again, forgot how much this book is the evolution of a certain maid from 'doting admirer' to a 'big sister' role in how she looks after Mary. ^^

@TheWickerMan said in Butareba Vol. 2 Discussion!:

Amused me that we get 5 pretty interesting sounding series described, but the 5th one, at least to me, the most generic sounding in title and premise, gets by far the most effusive recommendation. Between that and this series itself it's not hard to see where the author's personal tastes lie.

Would really like to get that Seiyu Radio series licensed - it's the only one that ranked above Buta, and also seems to be the only other one still ongoing, with 9 volumes. Also has an upcoming anime. Yen have licensed the 2nd one, which is a one-shot. The rest of them seem to be either short and complete or cancelled - the war one got only 1 volume, dystopia and fox-girl got 2 each and Bristol 3.

Out of the list I’ve only read the last series, Overwrite. There is a good fantrans of the series. I’d say that it’s completed at 3 volumes without dangling plot points. The author has also written another series with supernatural elements (also completed at 3 volumes). It’s refreshing to see authors attempting shorter completed series instead of focusing on those with extended runs which requires a much higher commitment to get into.

Overwrite is basically a coming of age story set in Bristol, which is interesting for its insight into a place and culture foreign to most of us (I’ve only been to London, and know next to nothing about graffiti other than having heard about Banksy the artist). If you’ve read Sayonara Piano Sonata (different author), you’ll have a feel of the troupes. It brings the arts to life in a way that even laymen can appreciate.

@sorvani - FUNA followed the age-old formula of "cute girls doing cute things" with a splash of "cute MC is heavily OP" borrowed from Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear.

As of volume 4 (Kodansha volume 3) of 80,000 Gold I agree with ranking that series first, though volume 1 of Abilities Average is my favorite of FUNA's work, with all of the comedy in the two schools and figuring out how "god" chose to understand the term "average."

Potions started strong for me but declined over time. "Season 2" was a chance to start fresh but I don't think FUNA has done a good enough job with the new characters to make them relatable and fun for me. Aside from the Spec Ops Orphans :) and they haven't gotten enough page time.

I just read this and I enjoyed it well enough. There's places where I wish it had improved, maybe more development than love at first sight, but I like Zeke so whatever haha

One page in and I'm done, looks like the memory thing takes books to resolve so I'm gonna pass and be done here.

Thematically, for most of V1 I was reading this as a screed against imperialism and colonialism (think James Cameron's "Avatar") with the leader of the Reincarnators eventually revealed to be some sort of undead combination of King Leopold II of Belgium, Hernán Cortés, and a corrupt corporate CEO.

But the reveal of the identities of the original colonists and the Reincarnators has led me to reconsider; I now think this is, thematically, an attack on transhumanism rather than colonialism. Dill's repeated criticism of the very idea of immortality fits with that as well. I know it's dangerous to confuse a character's voice with the author's voice, but in this case I think Dill is speaking from the author's viewpoint.

I swear, whoever the orphanage director was originally must have been a reincarnated SAS officer or something, the kids are downright terrifying. xD

Runa is adorable in the last part of this volume. Seeing her grow to understand both what she missed with past relationships and what she has now is touching.

Now onto stuff I didn't want to put into the opening post, since this'll probably be revised a lot:

How I was thinking of organising this was roughly:
Major Arc -> Minor Arc -> Chapter -> Parts

So as an example, some chapters from Volume 1 could end up placed as:

Shi Clan Hougong Stint 1 Cacao The Unsettling Matter of the Spirit Part Two The Threat

With the major arcs being the Shi Clan (volumes 1-4), Shaoh (5-7), and the Locusts (8+)

And the minor arcs being each change in Maomao's base location (e.g. her first stint in the Hougong, her time with Jinshi in the Outer Court, her return to the Hougong, and her time as a kidnapee for the Shi Clan arc)

Though I'll give everyone a chance to respond to the proposal before I try writing up an exhaustive list for minor arcs!

I see a bit of a development contradiction with Mikhail’s character. Up to this point he seems complete repentant and is finally able to put himself in Ryoma’s and Helena’s shoes. Following this, it seems it would be more in line with his new mindset to act with sadness and regret to see Ryoma and Helena together, saying something like “I see, so you two really have been conspiring. To the very end the consequences of my arrogance come back to haunt me.”

Good grief, these volumes are always so short...
Anyway, looks like we finally have some antagonists that are actually a threat to Abel. And after the teasing in the previous volumes, our protagonist got his first girlfriend...the first of many, I suspect.

@nappingcub said in Rebuild World 3 Part Two Discussion!:

Okay... I think that Katsuragi's real name is Marcus Kincaid (from the Borderlands games). They have the same type of personality and if you look up Katsuragi in the manga and compare it to Marcus images, they're pretty much identical.

I know it's late, but I just read the book yesterday, and I was thinking the exact thing. Let's hope Akira doesn't also meet the equivalent of Dr. Zed in his adventures.

The tankrantula is definitely something that should become the protagonist of a Z movie produced by Asylum.

It's nice to see that Akira is becoming stronger and stronger and he even managed to achieve something on its own.

Overall, another nice volume for this series.

@Almainera said in Fiancée No More Vol. 1 Discussion!:

Are there more books? Is this a serie too?

The second book released in JP about a week ago, so it shouldn't be too much longer for the second volume to start pre-pub.

@LurkingMcLurk What's the average turnaround on acquisition and translation?

So Arshay was the first king's sister, it seems...

Updating the omnibus for this series, I paused momentarily on the character sheet included with this volume, and felt a need to share my favourite entry with the rest of you:

Footstool(?)
Unidentified
Trait: For some reason, still has a sense of presence.

It almost makes me feel sorry for the guyfurniture...

@kuali said in Young Lady Albert Vol. 1 Discussion!:

Kinda weird to think that there are still games today using a technique that early games were using back before I was born,

stare
No, change that.
thousand yard stare

This is really one of the most unusal romance LNs I've read despite not having any other gimmick besides romance and the titular familial situation. It's the way the series delves into what people are thinking, what they're feeling, that gets me. That and the way it doesn't have a single protagonist, but switches viewpoint between the two of them, and often a lot of others too.

The other volumes were already very open about young people having all kinds of feelings, impulses and desires; this volume takes it quite a bit further, and at times stops, I'd say, just short of being erotica - while never being just that, because it's always also about people dealing with the complexity of their feelings and relationships. I think, at this point, it might be comparable to Scum's Wish - yes, there's young people having intimacy and sex, but it also serves the story foremost, and it's often obvious that the characters don't really know what they're doing, and what they're doing might be a mistake anyway.

This volume was a bit slower that the series usual; but even when not that much happens, we get to see the thoughts and emotions of the characters, which makes a lot of difference from just stalling, because there's always development, just not a physical one.