What I read in May 2013: Digest Version, part 1 of 4

b Bride's Story 4: Two rambunctious twin girls do their best to steal the show a bit in this volume.  They are not particularly demure and sort of come as a set, so they aren't particularly marriageable, and they worry that their father (who is not wealthy) is not doing enough to find them husbands.  There's a cute and awkward set of quasi romances that end well.  Meanwhile, our sociologist POV character ends up getting pulled into their little dramas and then serving as a doctor all while he needs to be getting to the border before hostilities between his home country and the aggressive neighbors make him a target.  And the drama that played out in the first and second books when the original female lead's clan decided they wanted to take her back after marrying her off is coming back around and could lead to bloodshed or peace.  It's 100% sociological slice-of-life fiction set in a meticulously researched and rendered Asian setting.  I adore the art and the culture, and I will follow it wherever it meanders.

b Bunny Drop 8:The end is nigh, and there are choices that are becoming more and more clear.  I'm spoiled on the ending, so I may not be as horrified as some folks on the internet, and, of course, since I don't read trying to figure out what will happen, I don't get as cynical about certain kinds of plot points.  I just enjoy the cute, sweet story and wince as it unfolds with some of the awkwardness of reality.

b Cross Game 8 of 8: This volume really brings home the fact that this series is primarily a drama and only secondarily a sports story.  Facts and scores and stats and results that would be pretty vital in a sports story just don't matter.  Not that the games are boring or short-changed; it's just that they're the backdrop against which many dramas are playing out.  I love the tension and the understated nature of so much that happens here.  Plot advancement comes sideways through sometimes seemingly unrelated conversations, not through loud and clear declarations of intent.  The subtlety is really very refreshing.  I really wish I were able to read stories like Touch that I've heard about, but I am really pleased I was able to read (and own) another series by Mitsuru Adachi.  He's just good at telling stories that have sports in them but never lose focus on the human drama.

b Dengeki Daisy 12:The plan to rescue Rena is executed, and it is full of tension and hilarity.  Evil bad guy mastermind is, of course, just a pawn, but taking him down feels mighty good.  And maybe, just maybe, the mastermind makes an appearance?  Or is he just a higher level pawn?  We don't know, but Kurosaki is kind of a wreck after crossing paths with him.  Instead of freaking out and retreating into himself and doing something dumb and repeating the cycle, he brings it to the attention of the gang.