Manga Review: Betrayed by the Hero, I Formed a Milf Party with His Mom

 NEWS!

Isekai Teen Sleeps with All 4 of His Bullies Moms to Assert Dominance

It feels so strange that I'm actually giving this series a review, because let me be clear. This series is trash. Hot garbage. Very little redeeming content, but good lord the premise is funny, the women are sexy, and I'm dying to see the actual revenge come to fruition...

The title really fully encapsulates the plot of the book. Ceres, the MC, is the backbone of the Hero's Party, in that he does all their laundry, takes care of the paperwork, and makes sure they don't violate any local laws while they're on their quest to kill the demon king. The Hero steals Cere's girlfriend and kicks him out of the party.

Sorry Ceres. Nice guys finish last.... or so you'd think!!

Ceres, then heads off on his own, and finds that the Hero's mom has been sold into slavery by debt-ridden piece of shit husband, so he buys her outright (but doesn't free her.... odd) and turns her into his new girlfriend. She's incredibly happy to be rescued and flattered that he sees her as a proper sexy woman, but she's not happy that all of her former friends are in similar situations: loveless, sexless marriages, with good-for-nothing husbands who don't appreciate or value them.

Thus, with the encouragement of his new Milf/Wife, Ceres begins a new quest to reunite the legendary party of adventurers who gave birth to the current generation's Hero's party, then have sweaty, harem-orgies with all four of them.

The lewd bits are uncensored, but strictly top half only; still this is a manga so echi you won't believe it's not Hentai since they're boning in just about every other chapter after the setup is complete.

As far as critical analysis: Setting is extremely generic, in that isekai-adjacent fantasy way. Art isn't great. Characters are very, very tropey (though I'm a big fan of the warrior mom with glasses and the shredded abs). There's not particularly any deep world building, unique magic systems, or fantasy plot for that matter. Really, if you're reading this, you're here for the meme-factor, and eventually getting to see the reaction of the Hero when he realizes that his former party-mate gone and stole his mom.

This series should probably be like a 2 out of 10 on a critical scale, but I'm giving it a 9/10 after finishing volume 4 (the encounter with the Dark Dragon, powering up Ceres's bedroom stats had me actually dying of laughter). This series is so bad, but I just can't put it down.

Anime Review: mono

 

From the creator of Yuru Camp, comes another work of tourism propaganda. "mono" features an entirely new cast of characters (with some familiar cameos), taking trips together, exploring Yamanshi, Shizuoka, and the surrounding environs. They eat lots of food and get involved with the occult (what...). I loved this series, but as far as story goes... was there one? It felt like they completed lost the plot pretty early on. It was supposed to be about a couple girls taking on their senpai's legacy to continue the cinematography club, but it pretty much just devolved into a travel anime where the characters visit a bunch of real world locations and showcase the local cuisine and scenery. 

And what the hell was all that occult stuff about?? There's a specific character who's got a mysterious background connected to shrines and exorcism. They encounter ghosts, and characters get haunted. How does this have anything to do with film making... or travel??? It seems maybe like just the personal interest of the author. It worked though, and provided for some funny setups.

Am I complaining? Nope. But then again, I lived in Yamanashi for half a decade and the nostalgia I have for the area is crazy. I visited quite a few of the real world locations they visited like Katsunuma, and the wineries, but never got to explore a lot of the others (can't believe I never actually got to go to the wine tunnel when I lived like 30 minutes away) - and now I want to book a vacation to go back and continue where I left off. So, did this anime achieve exactly what it was aiming for? Probably!!

9/10 from a very biased former Yamanashi JET.

Twitter Reactions to News of Seven Seas Acquisition by Media Do and the threat of AI Slop

 What do we think of the Seven Seas acquisition by Japanese company Media Do...

FUCK AI

This only took about 15 minutes to grab these. There were so many more. Nobody's going to buy books translated by AI. 

Anime Review: A Wild Last Boss Appeared!

Been going through my watchlist trying to clear out some shows from my backlog - get a good binge in here and there on days off when I have the time. One of the shows I checked off recently was "A Wild Last Boss Appeared!", which aired during the Fall 2025 anime season. I totally missed this one as it was airing, actually didn't even know it existed, but saw some wild clips online and decided to give it a go.

TL;DR - 7/10 - Not bad for a seasonal isekai; I'll watch a second season if they make one. Doubt I'd buy the books though.

The opening premise of this show reminded me quite a bit of Overlord - too much in fact. Had to take off a couple points for originality right from the get-go. The male mc, who's a super-elite in a particular mmo game, gets sucked into the game world where he comes to embody the character that he used to play; the character happens to have a female character model, so we get some gender dysphoria to go with this  all too familiar package. A very standard adventure isekai with all the usual tropes ensues. Cute girls doing cute things, androgynous pretty boys, robo-maids, laughably evil demons, etc. etc. One particular use of the main character's power - to create a certain golem, gave me a PROPER chuckle. Definitely don't want to spoil this one with images, but trust me, once you meet Tanaka, you will understand. Tanaka, we salute you.

Series like this have been played to death lately, so I wasn't really expecting to be wowed by any of it.

The art style was pretty standard and safe and not anything I'd call special, but the animation was done competently enough that I'm not going to complain about the lack of visual directing. It's a popcorn isekai, not a Frieren. Good enough.

So, I shut my brain off, and just watched things play out, half paying attention, half doom-scrolling twitter, appalled by the state of affairs in the world. But, wouldn't you know it, eventually something surprised me enough I had to put my phone away...

There were a couple interesting elements that I don't want to spoil, which elevated things for me from what would probably have been a very mediocre 5.5/6. I suppose I could have, and really should have, seen these developments coming, but I think I underestimated the series too much. But, I'm glad I gave the show a chance to surprise me...

But... just when I had to sit up straight and consider that I may not have been familiar with this show's game after all, the ending left me more than confused, unsure of where this was all going. Maybe a second season will clear things up. I could definitely see this one getting another.

You can watch "A Wild Last Boss Appeared!!" on Crunchyroll.

Violet Evergarden Live in Concert

 On Sunday, February 15th, I went on a solo adventure to little Tokyo, then, in the evening, had the incredible opportunity to attend the orchestral performance of Violet Evergarden Live in Concert.

It's probably been almost ten years since I've been down to Little Tokyo. It's changed a great deal. I was blown away by the number of people there. The shops all had long lines out front to get in; made me feel like I was back in Akihabara. There were a number of Pop-up shops and collabs going on that weekend, so maybe it was more crowded than usual? Not too sure.

Iconic art on the side of the Miyako Hotel

The first try getting into the Square Enix Pop-up shop was a bust, due to the long line, but I browsed a bit at Jungle, grabbed a Yuka-chan (Blue Period) standee, and then prowled for snacks. It's a bit of a tradition to get Beard Papa whenever I'm in Little Tokyo, so couldn't skip that. Then pigged out on Melon-pan and Boba.

The Creme Brule style was interesting, but having the top cut off really weakened the structural integrity of the cream puff. The filling went everywhere. 5/5 would eat again. But bring a spoon.

Melon-pan at Yamazaki Bakery. Melon-pan is one of those sweets I didn't eat until many years into my Japan life because I generally don't care for melon-flavored anything. However... little did I know that this pseudo-desert bread doesn't taste like Melon at all. The naming simply comes from the cookie crust on top of the soft inner bread that makes it look like a melon. Taste is totally up my alley.

Light reading and cocktails before the show. Peanut-butter Espresso Martini + Yane no Shita no Artemis. Don't sleep on this one. And request it on Seven Seas Reader surveys please.

Bison and Wagyu Meatloaf at Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar

Crazy seeing Violet Evergarden up on the big Marquee like that

The line to actually take a picture at the photo opp spot was too long so I just snapped a couple shots of it while people were switching places.

The venue was packed, but most of the crowd was in the merch line right up until the show started. Quite a few people seemed to miss the opening song as well.

The seats were really good. I thought I might be a bit overdressed, but it turned out there were a lot of people who showed up in suits and cosplay.

The show itself was incredible. I held back tears for most of it (a couple songs broke the damn though not gonna lie). Sadly, unless I somehow missed it, I think they skipped one of my favorite songs from the show... just a two minute number, but whenever I think of VE this song is the one that pops up in my head. Song is called "Back in Business"

10/10 experience. First time attending an orchestral anime concert and I definitely think I'll try and look out for any other ones in the future.

Library Updates: 3100 Volumes and Counting

 

My manga library has passed the 3000 volume mark some time ago, but I've been too busy to clean the place up enough to post pics.

Organization-wise, I think it may be high time I make some changes. It's becoming a real pain in the ass to find anything in here with this many different series. I primarily keep all the romance/rom-com/drama/echi series on the right side of the room, and all the action/comedy/suspense/serious series on the left... but.... that's beginning to fall apart as I am getting pressed for space. Now, the motto has truly become: if it fits, it sits.

Things I'd like to change: probably going top pull up the LED's and remove the hanging style Christmassy white lights. I feel like they just get in the way, and I so rarely ever turn them on that it's not worth the hassle of having them up all the time. I'd also really like to do something about all the Funko... maybe move them to the card room (my MTG hobby got so out of hand the man-cave had to dig out another cavern).

This year's goal is to paint the walls which haven't been touched up since the house was purchased back in the 80's, and redo the flooring. I want to put some vinyl/wood floor in that doesn't look like a kid's playroom (which is exactly what this room used to be when I was a wee little child). I'd also really like to put in a hanging lamp, like one of those weird bulbous ones they sell at Ikea. There's a beam that runs across the ceiling, which could definitely support a chandelier of some kind, so I think trying to utilize that would be ideal. Would also be nice to put in some new drapes. 

Anime Review: Ruri Rocks

 

Last night I finished the last couple episodes of Ruri Rocks, so I wanted to go ahead and put my thoughts down on paper while it's still fresh.

I feel like Ruri Rocks belongs in a subset of CGDCT anime where the aforementioned Cute Girls are doing things that aren't very cute at all. Geology? Not cute at all. But, when these girls are out there in the middle of a river panning for gold? Maybe a little cute.

My mind wasn't blown by this series, but I did enjoy it pretty thoroughly. The animation staff took some serious liberties with the character design to push the fan service way, way over the top, which I think is kiiiiiinda weird, but given the overall quality of the show was so high, maybe these changes are more on the level of how the One Punch Man series changed from web comic to manga. (see also Horimiya).

Overall I liked experienced Ruri's character arc, but I think Shouko's was maybe more compelling and kinda wish they had introduced her much earlier in the series. I would also like to have seen more of Ruri's friend group from school, which seemed to be an underutilized group of characters, especially Aoi, who, outside of the Radio episode, really didn't get much screen time, but is right there in the background of the poster art.

As far as the smart, onee-san type characters, Nagi is sure to be a fan favorite for many, but I think I liked the more eccentric Youko more personally (it's the glasses).

I don't think this series created a newfound interest in mineralogy for me, but it did make me want to go on a hike.

8/10