Booklog: Iwanaga

[nebroadwe]

岩永 亮太郎 [Iwanaga Ryotaro] (tr. Ikoi Hiroe), Pumpkin Scissors 1

Reread. At last, a truce has been declared between the Empire and the Republic of Frost, and while it holds, the Empire is attempting to repair the damage left by the long conflict. Lt. Alice Malvin brings the same gung-ho attitude toward making peace that her fellow nobles adopt toward war, but the rest of the easy-going staff of Imperial Army State Section 3 (aka Pumpkin Scissors) doesn't exactly share her enthusiasm, not even the mysterious, soft-spoken Cpl. Randel Oland, late of the 901 ATT (aka the Gespenster Jäger -- and if that doesn't constitute fair warning ... ) who can take down a tank single-handed. This opening volume is all set-up and the characters are straight out of Shounen Central Casting, but they're character types I like operating in a pseudo-European interwar milieu I can appreciate with hints of actual plot-driving mysteries to be unraveled. Think Rurouni Kenshin crossed with Fullmetal Alchemist. Good character designs, decent layout, minimal backgrounds but enough to set the stage and keep you properly oriented. I am provisionally intrigued.