We Never Learn Chapter 48

The incredible flirtation adventures of a tutor and the students he tries to teach continue with more inexplicable situations and embarrassments, along with a little bit of personal growth here and there. 

Chapter 48 finds our tutor Nariyuki out on a fake date with fellow cram school student Asumi, whose father suspects the two are not actually dating and is worried his daughter is too focused on school. (Yeah, because that's a problem.) So to ease the old man's mind they go out in a boat on the beach and take fake selfies for her father, which continues the We Never Learn tradition of incredibly creepy fathers with unhealthy obsessions with their daughters.

Continuing with We Never Learn tradition, Nariyuki realizes he's in a boat with an attractive woman in a bikini and suddenly feels uncomfortable. Asumi, as she has always done, torments him, asking him if he prefers the bosoms of his other students. Nariyuki goes into his usual shock. Then the inevitable wave hits the boat, we learn Nariyuki can't swim, and in the process of rescuing him Asumi loses her bikini top, the shaken Nariyuki being held to her now exposed chest.

The rest of the chapter deals with dealing with Asumi's half nakedness and getting back to shore without anyone seeing, which entails a fake make out session to throw off the inexplicable appearance of divers. The chapter ends with a cliffhanger with Nariyuki being confronted with another case of bikinis disappearing.

For a comedy that does not shy away from titillation (clearly), the success of We Never Learn lies with the characters. Despite the torment Asumi puts Nariyuki through, she clearly is fond of him, and he of her. (Asumi is the most adult of the cast, having fallen from the academic path and trying to still become a doctor through cram school and paying her expenses by working at a maid cafe.  With the eternal question of which of these girls Nariyuki will finally settle down with, Asumi seems to be the one best suited for his nervous disposition. )

Not much happens over all, but it's still a solid chapter. Asumi has been a recent addition to the cast, and she is the perfect foil to Nariyuki's deep repression and anxiety. A fun chapter in a fun series. 

Yet Another New Doctor Aphra #1

So here we go again.

Doctor Aphra is getting yet another relaunch, with another very profitable Number One slapped on the cover. This time around Alyssa Wong is handling the writing duties, with Marika Cresta on art. 

The first storyline is entitled Fortune and Fate, and sets up what looks to be a very by the numbers heist with an archaeological twist, since this is Aphra we're talking about. 

The story begins with Aphra and her new crew pillaging the abandoned Hoth base the Rebels escaped from in The Empire Strikes Back. Aphra's ability to plan and, more importantly, to never trust anyone, comes in very handy here. After escaping, Aphra returns to Shadow University on the Outer Rim where she is approached by Detta Yao, a fourth year grad student who wants Aphra's help in liberating some ancient artifacts called the Rings of Vaale. Of course they're cursed. Of course Aphra is interested.

And of course--in pure heist style--the next member of the team they have to recruit (a professor called Eustacia Okaa) has some jagged personal history with Aphra. 

The main villain of the piece is a rich piece of shit called Ronen Tagge, who had tried to recruit Okaa to help him before. (Tagge is related to General Tagge, the Imperial officer Vader choked out for his 'lack of faith' in A New Hope). He wants the Rings as well, but only because he loves to destroy precious art, knowing full well he was the last one to touch them.

The first issue isn't bad. It's clear that Yao is more than the wide eyed student she professes to be. It's also clear the Rings are going to be something other than described. There is a general air of mistrust around everyone, which is how heist set ups should feel. Yet somehow this issue feels like it's smoothing the edges around Aphra, making her more palatable to a new audience. 

One of the things that made Aphra stand out when Kieron Gillen created her was that she was not a nice person. She had two murder droids, for example, and stood by while they tortured people. She's a scam artist.  She's a thief. She assisted Darth Vader with his evil plans and managed to survive her exit interview. She can be pretty damn cold blooded. She isn't a hero. She's out for herself. Which is why she's so refreshing in the rather moral binary make up of the Star Wars universe.

Her moral grayness made her interesting. Yet with this issue, her murder droids are nowhere to be seen. A new droid who seems to major in being cute is introduced. And while Aphra does take the lethal route with a few people in this issue, she still seems far nicer than she's ever been. 

I'm curious to see where this series goes. Will the edges and darkness that make up Aphra be quietly erased, replaced with a more friendly approach? Did someone at Marvel/Disney realize how dark  she and issue a memo? Or will Wong continue on the path set by Gillen and previous writer Sy Spurrier? 

We'll see. Or if Marvel follows suit with titles that don't sell well, we'll never know. At least until the next Number One.