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In a way, this volume is peak Mashle: solid shonen battle scenes, garbage people suddenly finding redemption, and Mash doing dumb nonsense that has me laughing. The door scenes will never not be funny to me, just absolutely has me rolling.

I almost by default enjoy reading these, but man it's weird reading about some young teens breaking up a smuggling ring, fighting with murderous adults, getting shot at... The vibe is very different than the first book.

"None of this makes even the slightest bit of sense!!" - Finn Ames: Friend, Colour Commentary, Genius, Prophet

This last sequence of a series of shonen boss battles is a bit formulaic and the comedy only shows up every now and then. Lemon's fight is probably the best if only because immediately freeing and adopting the dogs is funny as heck. 

The bonus panels are peak in this volume, though. Absolutely killed me.

Finally, the protagonist, Ryoh Grantz, arrives. 

Also: "Take this and feel better. It's a cream puff. Only half-eaten." lmao

Haven't read these books since I was a kid. It's honestly just a lot of fun. These kids should clearly not be involved in any of this stuff, but you know what? They're fine, it's the 20s, they're having a grand ol' time.

This was a really good overview of fear, along with some closely related emotions, and how they affects people and politics. Most of the chapters focus on fear, disgust, misogyny, and similar concepts, while the last chapter tries to looks forward towards more productive idead of how to change things.

Other than that final chapter this book was fantastic, but the final chapter on hope felt rather naive and occasionally unfocused. The book was written after Trump's first election, and I read it shortly after his second; it may just be terrible timing, but it's Nussbaum's point feels like it isn't strong enough to combat the reality that this climate of fear has put us in. 

Even for a series where I love every volume, this one feels like a standout. We see Maomao pushed in a variety of different ways, showing capabilities and limits that we're occasionally privy to but not so directly. The development of Shikyou, Hulan, Chue, and Xiaohong are all interesting to see—especially seeing more behind the scenes of Chue—and the overall story arc was interesting to follow.

Very good volume, very excited for moreas always.

Buck is a good boy.

I feel ill equipped to enjoy this book. Not that I don't understand what happened, or that it's something I dont think is my thing, or that it's too difficult for me to follow. No, there are just clearly layers and layers of stuff to sift through that I don't have the time or patience to sort out. 

Like, this doesn't just talk about Irish home rule, it talks about the detailed specifics of Irish politicians in Joyce's time. I can get that, but the amount of research I need to do to actually understand what's being communicated in some sections is a lot.

I can see why there are whole courses dedicated to this book in some English programs. Holy hell.

Anyways, the prose is phenomenal, just flows directly into the brain making the whole thing feel like a fever dream, which it sometimes basically is, and I would …

This book is roughly divided into two parts: why growth (and capitalism) is driving ecosystem and climate changes, and why degrowth (or moving away from capitalism) is the solution.

The first part is so brilliantly put together that it's hard to grapple with at times. Hickel isn't saying anything that hasn't been said a hundred times, but he pulls together a huge variety of sources to put forth a sweeping narrative covering centuries of growth and exploitation harming the environment. In a relatively short time he puts forth one of the most scathing and well-justified critiques of capitalism and the modern approach to combating climate change that I've ever seen.

The second part, explaining degrowth, is still good, but doesn't have the same vision and clarity behind it. The presentation jumps around between a variety of concerns and some of the more salient bits lack a bit of detail. A …

Goofy volume, as always. Weirdly, the lack of progress in the main story does feel like a bit of a downside, although it's fun seeing Rya and the return of Patches.

Honestly I felt like a lot of this volume was a bit meandering on Alina's part and a bit too blunt and obvious about the mystery. I enjoyed it, as I simply enjoy the characters, but it felt like a fairly weak volume.

But I think the climax and denouement are handled so well that it redeems the weakness of the first 70% or so of the book. There's a solid emotional impact, it drives home solid themes (maybe a bit too blatantly, but not poorly, at least), and develops the overall plot with the dark gods, overtime, and the relationship between Jade and Alina in good ways. It turned out to be a good entry that just took a long time to get going.

I've been reading this online just about since it came out. Very good romance, or coming of age, or whatever story, with a great mix of characters who... well, they're teenagers. But you sure as hell want to root for the main couple, despite their awkwardness and idiocy.

The whole grafting competition is just plain funny. And Aseo's reaction to the two fingers is just so perfect. Stupid manga, gotta love it.