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Babel: Condemned by the Magic Kingdom

By Kuji Furumiya and Haruyuki Morisawa. Released in Japan as “Babel II: Mahou Taikoku Kara no Danzai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Amelia Imogen Mason. Being transported to another world is, in many ways, far more difficult than being reincarnated. For one thing, if you’re reincarnated you at least grew up learning basic things like how to walk, talk, etc. in the same way as everyone else in your fantasy world. Whereas the average isekai’d Japanese person is thrown into a town and expected to immediately be able to cope with the Adventurer’s Guild and what exactly mana is. Usually the book simply decides not to bother to deal with it at all, but occasionally you get a handwave that this is a…

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Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 5

By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse. This volume definitely has the feel of the author realizing that they can take their time and add the subplots that they were going to skip if this ended up being just 5 volumes long. As a result, we get more ominous foreshadowing as to what Felix’s goal is, and how it ties into what Duke Clockford wants for him… or rather wants to do to him. This ends up being connected to Monica’s own past as well, in a very sinister way. I remains convinced, especially after this volume’s backstories, that this is gonna end with a Felix/Monica pairing, but man, at the…

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Bofuri: I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense, Vol. 14

By Yuumikan and KOIN. Released in Japan as “Itai no wa Iya nano de Bōgyoryoku ni Kyokufuri Shitai to Omoimasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham. I’m sure I’m not telling you anything you don’t know when I say that this series entirely revolves around its star. Maple is why people read this series, and for the most part Maple is omnipresent throughout this series. Even the PVP events have been heavily Maple-centric, and several books have mostly just featured her and Sally taking over the narrative for 2/3 of the pages. So it was something of a surprise to see that this is easily the most balanced book in the entire series when it comes to the increasingly huge cast. Oh,…

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Nia Liston: The Merciless Maiden, Vol. 4

By Umikaze Minamino and Katana Canata. Released in Japan as “Kyōran Reijō Nia Liston: Byōjaku Reijō ni Tenseishita Kami-goroshi no Bujin no Kareinaru Musō Roku” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by okaykei. I will admit, as I was reading this new volume about a small little girl beating the absolute hell out of things she has no business beating, I could not help but think of Do-Over Damsel, which has an anime running this fall and also features lots of this sort of thing. They even have similar “this is vaguely creepy but doesn’t quite cross a line, but I’m watching you” characters. That said, whereas with Jill I tend to really enjoy it when she finally lets loose and lets violence be her…

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Manga the Week of 10/23/24

SEAN: Psst. Halloween’s behind you. Creeping ever closer. Step by step. ASH: Wait, behind me? What month is it?? SEAN: Airship has print releases for Easygoing Territory Defense by the Optimistic Lord: Production Magic Turns a Nameless Village into the Strongest Fortified City 3, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 11, Modern Villainess: It’s Not Easy Building a Corporate Empire Before the Crash 5, and Raven of the Inner Palace 7 (the final volume). And for early digital we have The Case Files of Jeweler Richard 9 and Survival in Another World with My Mistress! 7. Ghost Ship has Booty Royale: Never Go Down Without a Fight! 15-16, Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time 13 and Welcome to Succubus High! 6 And in mature…

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Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 6

By FUNA and Keisuke Motoe. Released in Japan as “Rōgo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-Man-Mai no Kinka o Tamemasu” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Kodansha Books. Translated by Luke Hutton. (A reminder that the English Vol. 6 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 7.) I seem to recall that in earlier reviews of this series, I would applaud the very rare effort to give Mitsuha some depth, such as her reaction of grief when discussing her family in the first book, etc. Anyone who has been following later volumes of this series will, I think, agree with me when I say that depth is the last thing I want now. That honestly applies to all three FUNA series, I think. As they’ve gone on and…

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Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 8

By Saki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Albert-ke no Reijō wa Botsuraku o Goshomō Desu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Ray Krycki. Usually when I say that a final volume of a series is doing what I call a “victory lap”, I don’t mean it literally. And yet that’s exactly what happens here, as we join the main cast as they take a tour of every major character we’ve met before, every major place we’ve visited, and have all the possibly comedy antics you could want. Honestly, probably more than you’d want. It’s been so long since the first volume that I’d forgotten how particularly thick-headed Mary can be when she wants to ignore things that troubled her, A lot…

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The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 12

By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach. It’s very tempting to just type “Holy crap!” and leave the review at that, but I will try to go into more detail. This is the final book in the Western Capital arc (yes, we are back home by the end of the book, woo hoo), and it fires off all the guns it has been saving up since the 9th volume, with the last two-thirds or so being a very tense ride in which (sorry to spoil you a little, but this shouldn’t surprise you too much) Maomao is caught up in events and gets sort of kidnapped. She and Jinshi are…

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Lucia and the Loom: Weaving Her Way to Happiness, Vol. 2

By Hisaya Amagishi and Esora Amaichi. Released in Japan as “Fukushokushi Lucia wa Akiramenai: Kyō kara Hajimeru Kōfuku Keikaku” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by A.M. Cola. Dahlia, the protagonist of the main series, and Lucia, the protagonist of this spinoff, are on the face of it not all that alike. Aside from their tendency to deflect all achievements away from them, that is. Dahlia is reserved, while Lucia tends more towards the firey. But it is interesting how both the main series and its spinoff are pushing their respective protagonists into very similar situations. Dahlia keeps coming up with wonderful, insane inventions that will change their entire nation, and as a result is rapidly heading towards a future where she’d better be married…

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