Apparently, even a charming school story can have an echoed pair.

Earlier this year, Mahō Gakuin Seishun Hakusho — 魔法学院青春白書 celebrated the friendships, rivalries, and everyday drama of school manga. Somewhere between semesters, the colors disappeared and sacrifice became required reading.

Across five mono-black cards, 飯沼ゆうき/IINUMA YUUKI, 古海鐘一/SHOWICHI FURUMI, ウスダヒロ/HIRO USUDA, 荒巻美由希/ARAMAKI MIYUKI, and 松本光司/KOHJI MATSUMOTO turn ordinary academic milestones into black-and-white horror manga, with every scene revealing something stranger the longer you study it and another reason to read the syllabus before class starts. Class participation is high, lunch has received several personal touches, and the class pet is multiplying on schedule. It is, by any reasonable standard, a very successful term.