humanist + humorist

Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei v1 - This is a premise I want to like - histrionic, despair-ridden suicidal teacher slice of life comedic classroom hijinks - but 32 students is a bit much. With a focus on one per chapter, we only got through the first 10 or so in this volume, which leaves two more volumes just to introduce all the characters. (I suddenly see why this series is 30 volumes long.) Mostly I just want to know what's wrong with this guy and why he's Like That, but so far no dice.

I watched the first episode of the anime several years ago; based on that, I thought this would be a 4-koma series, but it's not. The official English translation has pages and pages of notes at the end, which have made for some interesting reading. Will I read more? Who knows.

Sakura Wars v1-2 - This series combines two of my recent interests - Taisho-era Japan and Takarazuka - plus Tokyo plus steampunk mechs in a very '90s harem comedy battle seinen, but so far nothing's really caught my attention. Apparently, there is also a shoujo version, Kandegumi, with the gender roles flipped, which is very funny to me.

Kageki Shoujo: The Curtain Rises - Actual starting point for Kageki Shoujo!! which introduces the two leads and their backstories, and I enjoyed it. Picked back up with volumes 2 and 3 of Kageki Shoujo!!, and unfortunately, the kabuki and sports festival storylines are not nearly as interesting to me.

Chainsaw Man v16 - Somewhere between this volume and the last, I feel like I've lost the plot or at least I'm really bored by the Church of Chainsaw Man arc. It feels like the story has become a parody of itself, which I suspect is intentional, but oof, such a letdown. Here's hoping it picks back up again in the later volumes.

The Book of Night With Moon (Feline Wizards #1) by Diane Duane - Re-read. The cats tending the worldgates at Grand Central get dragged into an underground alternate earth full of dinosaurs. Solid, with cameos from the Young Wizards' human cast, but in retrospect, it seems like Duane really loves the "current generation has to re-enact the original mythos" as it keeps coming up as a key plot point in multiple books.