Manga Monday: How deep does this conspiracy go?

More and more of the Survey Corps appears to be hiding a monstrous side in Attack on Titan Volume 10.

Note: Attack on Titan Volume 10 is part of an ongoing series. Check out the review for Volume 1 here, and Volume 9 here.  Otherwise, read on!

Part-time work can be a special kind of hell...

A good worker is a good worker, whether he's leading demon hoards or slinging burgers, in The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Light Novel) Volume 1.

It was a humiliating retreat. The Devil King Maou could not hold ranks, and the only avenue left to him was to open a portal for himself and his top general Alciel to flee through.

But after battling to a standstill against the Hero Emilia Justina, neither had the energy to control the intermensional portal they had created. They fell from the portal into a world unlike any they had ever seen before. Buildings reach up to touch the sky. Lights line the streets, stretching into the distance. 

And there doesn't seem to be the supply of magic that they're accustomed to in Ente Isla.

After a humiliating few days trying to acclimate themselbes to this strange, human-run world, The Devil King Maou and Alciel begin to get their feet under them. Using a bit of their remaining magic, they obtain the background paperwork necessary to obtain housing and employment.

Of a sort.

What folows is a hilarious fantasy/slice of life. The Devil King, now known as Sadao Maou, finds work at the fast food giant MgRonalds, and begins his plans for world domination through climbing the ranks within the MgRonalds corporation. Alciel - Shiro Ashiya - is focusing on his support role for Maou, keeping the household and budget in order, as well as researching any possible sources of magic in this new world.

Maou and Ashiya aren't the only ones frmo Ente Isla to find their way to Earth. The Hero Emilia followed her quarry through the portal, and has also set herself up with a job and a new identity. Being rather more pragmatic than her enemies, she manages to use her ability to comprehend and speak any language she hears to obtain a relatively cushy job at a call center.

The longer our exiled warriors stay on Earth, the more involved tehy get in their new lives. Maou earns the respect of his manager and subordinates alike. Ashiya becomes involved with the same challenges as any househusband, competing to get the best deals at market and bemoaning their lack of funds. Even The Hero Emilia - now Emi Yusa - makes a friend at work.

And strange things have been happening around Sasazuka station. Odd earthquakes that are very tightly centered around a coworker of Maou. Voices warning her of a bigger event happening soon. Even an attack on Maou and Yusa as they argue after Maou's shift at MgRonalds. It soon becomes clear that they are not the only new people in the area.

And whoever it is, they're upping the stakes.

The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Light Novel) Volume 1 gives more depth to the story than either the manga or the anime is able to. Motivations are more clear, and the interactions more detailed. The thoughts and feelings of Yusa, and the straightforward befuddlement of Maou, are both hilarous and telling. Th\is format lets the writing of Satoshi Wagahara shine, and shows why this is such a well-received series.

The Devil is a Part-Timer! (Light Novel) Volume 1 is both a great introduction to the series, as well as a supplement to the collection of media surrounding this story.

Highs: Maou's day out with Chiho was totally a date...to everybody but Maou.

Lows: I'd love more details about some of the side characters back in Ente Isla.

Verdict: This is perhaps the best way to first experience the series, and is both hilarous and endearing in turn.

Further Reading: The Devil is a Part Timer! (manga), My Neighbor Seki, Moribito, Rin-ne

Manga Monday: More shogi?

Seki is still at it, and Yokoi keeps being dragged along, in My Neighbor Seki Volume 2.

Note: My Neighbor Seki Volume 2 is part of an ongoing series. Check out the review of Volume 1 here. Otherwise, read on!

Ms. Marvel gets a serious case of the fangirls

As it turns out, a new superhero stretching her legs in Jersey City attracts a bit of attention from other heroes, as Kamala realizes in Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why.

Note: Ms. Marvel Volume 2: Generation Why is the second volume in a series. For the review of Volume 1: No Normal, click here. Otherwise, read on!

Manga Monday: Did you ever suspect your shift manager was a devil?

It's the eternal battle between good and evil, centered around Ente Isla. Emilia, the Champion of the humans is locked in mortal battle with the Devil King. As Emilia gains the upper hand, the Devil King opens a gate to another world, vowing to return and finish what he's started. As he and his second-in-command Alciel escape, Emilia has no choice but to pursue them, wherever that gate might lead.

And this is where we join our merry cast of characters in the manga The Devil is a Part-Timer (manga) Volume 1. To survive in this magic-bereft world, the Devil King (now called Sadao Maou) and Alciel (Shirou Ashiya) have to adapt to life on Earth. They get their paperwork in order, find a place to live within their nonexistent budget, and while Ashiya is researching magic in this world, Maou-sama gets a job to support them.

At MgRonalds. Taking orders behind the counter. Promoting their new Black Pepper Fries.

Eventually, the Champion Emilia Justina (now Emi Yusa) discovers where the Devil King has been hiding out, and confronts him. She's been marginally more successful at life on Earth, picking out a less strange name for herself, finding a decent apartment, and getting work at a call center. But even as she confronts Maou outside his work, there's something else going on as well. As they walk and bicker, his mighty steed Dullahan (a bicycle) receives a near mortal wound to its front tire. As they stop to inspect it, more gunfire erupts and they run for their lives.

Who else might know that they are more than they seem?

In the meantime, Maou-sama's coworker Chiho Sasaki has taken an interest in him as well. Ever since Maou appeared, she's been having strangely prophetic dreams about the earthquakes that have been plaguing the area, and she asks Maou out to talk about them. But with both Ashiya and Emi spying on them, things get awkward. And then another disaster.

The Devil is a Part Timer! (manga) Volume 1 does a good job keeping the action moving. Fans of the anime series might be annoyed that nearly four full episodes are contained in just the first manga. This shortening, however, keeps the pace quick and make sure the reader is never bored with overlong exposition. Fans who want a more in-depth look at the series may want to hold off and pick up the light novels when they come out later this year. However, for seasoned anime fans, as well as big fans of the anime, the manga is a fun reminder of the anime series and a good refresher before more of the plot is released for its English-speaking fans.

Highs: Emilia's backstory comes through better in manga form than it did in the anime, and really makes the reader start to cheer for the Champion

Lows: Pulled straight from the anime series, there's nothing new to offer storyline-wise

Verdict: The Devil is a Part-Timer! (manga) Volume 1 is a bit of a placeholder until further volumes come out for those who have watched the anime, but is still a hilarious romp for those for whom the story is new.

Further Reading: The Devil is a Part-Timer! Light Novel, Moribito, Rin-ne

From a village in Nepal to the streets of Calcutta

"It is a woman's fate to suffer...simply to endure is to triumph."

In Patricia McCormick's Sold, Lakshmi knows how to take pleasure in the simple things in life. Her pet goat, Tali. The way the sun rises over the mountains surrounding the village. The tinkle of gold in her mother's ears. 

Even though her stepfather spends his days at the teahouse gambling rather than working. Even though the old thatch on their roof lets in as much rain as it keeps out.

But after a terrible drought, followed by terrible rains, the family is left with nothing but debts.

Nothing, that is, except Lakshmi.

Lakshmi's best friend Gita left the village to be a maid to a wealthy household in the city. Lakshmi sees the tin roof that her friend's natal house now has. She sees the 'electric sun' hanging from a cord inside. She sees the weariness of her mother, and her tiny baby brother. So when the crops fail and even her mother's earrings are sold, Lakshmi can easily see what a great help it would be for her to go to work. And with a heavy heart, but a hopeful gaze, Lakshmi leaves with the beautiful stranger, and her stepfathers leaves with a handful of money.

As Lakshmi travels to the city, she sees many things she's never seen before. She sees the landscape race by her as she rides the train. She sees men in uniform, and is frightened of them. She sees a girl, in the gutter, with her head freshly shaven and with men throwing cigarette butts at her. She sees what happens to women her age who disobey the men in their lives.

Even after all these sights, Lakshmi still arrives in Calcutta with the hope that she'll be a help to her family. She walks into Happiness House with a straight back, hoping to show her new bosses that she is a hard worker. She sees girls in beautiful dresses, and she starts to wonder if working in this place might not be so bad after all.

Then Mumtaz gives Lakshmi her first 'job,' putting her in a room with a man who had paid for her.

Written in free verse, Patricia McCormick does an amazing job transporting the reader to Central Asia, contrasting the remote, idyllic village in Nepal where Lakshmi was born and raised to the dirty, bustling city of Calcutta. Written in free verse, the chapters flow together with the reader not realizing how quickly the story is passing until the final climactic pages.

Painstakingly researched, Sold is a beautifully written young adult book that keeps its readers in mind regarding content, and is a wonderful introduction for young people to the realities that girls face other parts of the world.

Highs: The wonderful stories of contentment taking place in the village give a sharp contrast to the bleakness of life at the Happiness House.

Lows:  Being a young adult book, it wraps up just a bit too neatly for my adult taste, but that's expected in the genre.

Verdict: A great book for a classroom, or a cross-generational reading group, with beautiful prose and a tactful manner of handling difficult subject matters.

Further Reading: The Good Women of China, Escape from Camp 14, The Boy who Harnessed the Wind

Manga Monday: What in heaven is the monstrosity on the cover?

Our intrepid Survey Corps members encounter what are by the most abnormal Titans yet in Attack on Titan Volume 9.

Note: Attack on Titan Volume 9 is part of an ongoing series. Check out the review for Volume 1 here, and Volume 8 here.  Otherwise, read on!