reincarnated princess skips story routes

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Esther Sun.

As I got near the end of this volume, with the appearance of one of the characters I least expected to see, I began to realize that everything about this series makes complete sense if you just remember one fact: everyone in the book hates themselves. Now, sometimes this is obvious. Rosemary has humility as deep as the oceans, as high as the sky, to the point where it’s her biggest flaw. But everyone else, when you dig down into their psyche, also seems to suffer from crippling self-loathing and self-doubt. Even Kanon, the otome game heroine who finally gets summoned in this volume, arrives with a heaping helping of “why me?” that does not go away, though events help to reinforce her worries. Hell, even the CAT probably hates himself. The only, bright, sunny confident person in this volume dies only a little ways into it. That said… this is not a giant depressing. bleak read. Though it’s a downer to an extent.

We pick up right where we left off last time, and unfortunately events do not play out with a last-minute reprieve or God being kind. Now back home again, Rosemary has to deal with trying to live up to her father’s theoretical expectations (which are very different in her head from his ACTUAL expectations), the puzzling fact that everyone seems to lose their composure when she’s around them (especially the men), and of course the small problem of the game’s story starting up early, which means that they’re using ancient untested magic to summon a girl from Japan, who can hopefully be the one to contain the demon lord. All this plus mooning over Sir Leonhart. That said, things actually end up going pretty well… until an assassination attempt manages to screw everything up.

First off, I seem to have lost track of how much time all of this is taking, and somewhere along these six books Rosemary has aged 5 years. Since she’s now 15, and will be “an adult” in this book’s world in 6 months, I will try to complain a bit less about every single man in the cast except her father being in love with her. I do think that it’s laid on a bit thick, frankly, but that is kind of the genre of these sorts of romance books, and so I mostly have to sigh and let the flowery prose wash over me. The most interesting part of the book was near the end, where Rosemary’s near-death experience manages to get her mother, who has spent the entire series avoiding her, to her side. Fans of Endo and Kobayashi Live! might find some similarities here, as it turns out that her mother is merely very awkward and bad at love and emotions – a habit she shares with her husband, who admittedly is nicer to his daughter in this book than in the previous five books combined.

There’s two more volumes in this series to go, so I suspect next time we’ll get the darkness before the dawn. Till then, I am enjoying this book about all these sad little royals who have absolutely no idea how to un-sad themselves.

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Tom Harris.

Again, how much you like this series is going to very much depend on how much you can tolerate most of the cast being in love with a girl who is not yet “of age”. It’s been around since the start, and it’s not going away anytime soon. Leaving aside her main love interest Leonhart, who at least has the decency not to moon over her in an obvious way (i.e. the way that she’s mooning over him). there’s her brother, her two adopted mages, her bodyguard… the list goes on and on. Even when she goes to an outpost that consists of nothing but soldiers, the fact that she’s able to cook makes them all get starry-eyed. At its best it’s kind of exhausting, at its worst it’s pretty creepy. Fortunately, her father does not fall under this list, and he sets Rosemary out on a new quest directly related to the otome game she’s in: find the stone that seals the demon king. Alas, easier said than done…

Of course, first we have to wrap up the previous plotline. Rosemary has succeeded in stopping (well, at least for now) the plague that’s hit their neighboring country. After returning home and meeting all of her bright young boys (who all get scenes showing how over the moon they are by merely being near her), she is assigned, as I said above, to investigate temples where the stone from her “dreams” may be. The trouble is, those “dreams” are her memories of the otome game… and she’s already thrown it off the rails! Can she really rely on what she remembers? And does it really matter as long as she gets to spend some time with her beloved Leonhart?

Again, this is a “savior” sort of book, and if you are the sort who likes your fiction a bit more gritty and realistic it must be like drinking poison. Not only is Rosemary awesome (though, of course, when we’re in her head all she can do is think of the ways that she’s screwed up), but she also inspires everyone around her to be the best people they can be. Even the “grumpy prince” is forced to admit that he really does want to rule after all (which is good, as I’m pretty sure his people would not have anyone else). Of course, not EVERYONE immediately falls in love with our princess. Some people are married. Some people are assassins. And some people are restauranteurs… OR ARE THEY? That said, a good deal of this book is “Rosemary investigates and things happen around her”. Unfortunately, the ending of this volume reads very much like “the book is going to press, just finish the last page you’re on and we’ll call it the final chapter.” An epilogue would be nice.

I enjoy this series. I like Rosemary, and want to see her succeed. I frankly am 100% not invested in who she ends up with, mostly as she’s still in her early teens. If you can get past the fact that the book is very invested in that, it’s a good read.

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Tom Harris.

It could just be that I’ve grown so used to it that I’m actually starting not to notice it, but this volume seemed a bit less creepy about most of the cast being in love with Rosemary. And that’s despite the fact that a chunk of the book revolves around one of the cast kidnapping her to be his bride. (It turns out to be a lot more complicated than that.) But for the most part there’s less leering and more worshipping, as we get another of the classic reincarnated villainess tropes in force here, that of the villainess as messiah. Rosemary’s can-do attitude, combined with her knowledge from Japan and minimalist knowledge of the plot of the game (which is getting increasingly unreliable) has led to her winning over everyone around her (shades of Katarina Claes) and inspiring them to also be the best person they can possibly be (also shades of Katarina Claes). She’s savvy, too. (Sorry, Katarina.)

We pick up where we left off last time, with Rosemary being kidnapped. The book is about 60% her narration as we follow her… and she ends up in the village that she’s been looking or anyway, which is having trouble surviving (fewer children are living past infancy) for unknown reasons (Rosemary figures out pretty fast that it’s inbreeding). Now she has to win over the village, explain why she’s there, and get them to help her. And she has a time limit, as the other half of the plot involves her brother Johan, as well as Princes Nacht and Licht of Vint, discovering that the disease Rosemary has been trying to head off at the past has already ravaged this area of the kingdom… and is being covered up by a desperate noble. Will Rosemary make it in time to save everyone?

The best scene in the book is the one where the village chief convinces Rosemary to act the part of the Goddess from their past, using some stuff she has that can pass as “magic”… and she simply cannot do it, admitting she’s just a princess and winning them over with her earnest pleading instead. Over and over again we see that what matters most about Rosemary is not her past knowledge, but her ability to plead her case and get across how much she cares. She struggles at the daily physical tasks of the village, but she does them anyway, rather than complaining or half-assing it like a princess normally would. To be fair, this is not unique to her, and a lot of villainess books are like this, but it works quite well. It works for other characters as well – Nacht is beloved by his people, even though he’s a pessimistic grouch, because he clearly cares a great deal about everyone and everything. Deception does not win anyone’s heart here.

Fortunately, we don’t get a cliffhanger of “will the doctors arrive in the nick of time”, as Rosemary manages to gather everyone around her and get to where Johan is… even if that requires fudging how time works in a very Shakespearean way. That said, I won’t complain. I like Rosemary as well, and want to read more about her.

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tom Harris.

We’ve seen a lot of reincarnated as a villainess stories in the last few years, and one thing has become pretty clear: it’s much easier to be reincarnated as a duke’s daughter than as a princess. First of all, it’s easier in that there aren’t major political consequences in the game when said villainess is eventually shamed and exiled/killed. But secondly, there’s far more freedom to actually do things, such as not marry the future evil dude, or not go to the academy of bullying, etc. You can’t do this if you’re a reincarnated princess. Going anywhere means permission and a retinue. And sometimes you really do have to marry the dude to unite the kingdoms. This is why Rosemary is finding it a lot harder than she expected to prove her worth to the King. George goes off to look for the plague cure without her. She can disguise herself and sneak away, but even then she can’t take her crush because he is the Knight Captain of the Guard. Things are hard.

Thwarted in her attempts to go with George and Michael (who’s been avoiding her) to search for the medicine that can help them, she decides to disguise herself and board a ship to get where she needs to go. That said, first she has to figure out why there’s a sudden illness among the sailors that’s attributed to ghosts – if you guessed “here’s where she cures scurvy”, you’ve read your light novels before. Then she has to deal with the fact that she can’t take Leonhart with her, it has to be Klaus… who remains a pain in the ass and just a bit creepy. Speaking of which, she also meets Michael’s sister Bianca, who was a main character in Michael’s route and is the one where readers are upset there isn’t a yuri option. Sadly, she too really likes Rosemary more than is appropriate. And then they board the ship and things really get bad…

Fist of all, the book’s main flaw remains in place, which is not just all the characters seemingly obsessed with a 13-year-old girl, but the fact that Rosemary knows it’s creepy and so points it out to us as often as possible. I suppose it’s meta commentary, but you know, why not just have them not be creepers? The easy scurvy cure also made me roll my eyes a bit. That said, the second half of the book, once we actually board the ship, was excellent, showing Rosemary really suffering and panicking quite a few times, but always digging deep down into reserves of courage and managing to help save the day. Klaus also gets some much needed character development, as multiple people have told him that “just kill the enemy” is not a good way to protect his charge, but it’s only here when battling pirates that it manages to sink in, and he’s rewarded for that by almost losing his life.

And of course the book ends with a cliffhanger, where we find that letting the royal family 3wander around in disguise looking for the plot sometimes results in them finding it, and sometimes results in them being forcibly brought to it. Despite its flaws, this is good “villainess” stuff.

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tom Harris.

Generally speaking, most reincarnated folks who end up in the body of a little kid do NOT act like they’re an adult. This even applies to Rosemary, the protagonist of this series. Sure, she’s talking and making decisions that are far beyond what a child her age should be doing, but her emotional maturity remains at about the right level. There are many times this comes up in the books – her inability to get that other kids are in love with her is baked into the genre, but certainly her tearful confession to her crush and the scene that follows shows her as having the easily broken heart of a 10-year-old girl. This most applies, though, when she’s dealing with her father. Who, to be fair, is the King. But the reader recognizes the type that he is, and what he’s actually doing to help her – or at least test her – and I don’t think she sees this as the tough love it’s meant to be. It makes Randolf the most interesting character in this new volume.

Rosemary is still doing her best to try and avoid the dreadful fate her country is going to be in in a year or two, but it’s not easy, especially since she’s changed things so much that she can’t rely on her memories of the game shoe once played. She needs to research the Demon Lord, who possessed the body of a young priest… who she then runs across, pre-possession. She also discovers that most Demon Lord books are kept in the King’s personal library, which means she has to ask to read them and put up with his cold, calculating attitude. And, of course, she’s still in love with the Captain of the guards, Leonhart, who is quite a number of years older than she is – and also she’s ten, yes, a fact that definitely influences her thoughts on her crush. Worst of all, if she doesn’t figure out how to be incredibly useful to the King in the next two years, he’s going to do the obvious thing – marry her off to another country’s royal.

Rosemary remains the best reason to read this, especially when we see her (relatively low) opinion of herself versus everyone else’s (very high) opinion. This comes out best in a scene with Randolf, who castigates his daughter for thinking herself stupid for being unable to catch every possibility in advance. She’s not a God, even though she does have the knowledge of the game from her past life. Fortunately, she does reveal this (in a way, she treats it as a prophetic dream) to Leonhart, so at least has one ally she can turn to. Unfortunately, she’s falling more deeply in love with him by the day. And is, as I said, ten years old. So nothing’s gonna happen, but the emotional turmoil is still there.

The ending of this book implies the next one will likely be Rosemary’s tour of various lands, as she tries to discover more about what’s around her so that she can be a better person and of use to her father. I look forward to reading it, this is in the upper end of the Reincarnated Villainess charts, despite Rosemary not technically being a villainess.

By Bisu and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo wa Kyou mo Hata o Tatakioru” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tom Harris.

It’s no secret by now that it does not take much to make me add another “otome game villainess” story to my stack of light novels. As with isekai stories, a lot of them tend to hit the exact same story beats. Unlike isekai, though, they usually are at least trying to keep things interesting as much as possible. This story has a fairly standard premise. The title is not great. It’s relatively serious, so you can’t push it for the laughs. But, as with a couple other titles in this genre, it’s worth it for the inner narration of the title character, who has just the right amount of balance in terms of talking about her old life, and who seems to have things well in hand when it comes to avoiding her fate. Honestly, the one issue she might have is that she tends to have a bad case of self-deprecation. That said, like most villainess novels, she has a strong supporting cast to buff her up.

Princess Rosemary does have it slightly easier than other examples in this genre. She is indeed killed in a traffic accident, and ends up reincarnated in an otome game. But she was only a rival in the game, not a villainess. So she doesn’t have to worry about death or exile. That said… the game sucked. It had terrible romantic routes, and the actual nice, interesting characters were all NPCs. She absolutely does not want to deal with any of these guys when they’re grown up and terrible, so decides to fix things now while they’re young and malleable. Especially as one is her younger brother and one is her fiance. You’d think this would be easy, given she’s got a good 10 years before the heroine even shows up. But this princess is emotionally mature enough to realize this ISN’T a game… and these are real people whose fates she’s affecting. Which makes it even worse when two young sorcerers arrive… and she has to try to stop actual deaths.

As noted, Rosemary’s narration is fantastic, and great translation too while I’m at it. This book has the word fuck in it no less than five times, and each one of them is well-deserved and pitch perfect. Rosemary does have a group around her who are amazed at her, but they’re not ALL in love with her, and there is a lot of attention paid to her frustration at being a good 17-18 years younger than the guy she has a crush on. She has very sensible solutions to her problems, and they work… mostly. Some issues, like her personal guard, can’t really be stopped as much as toned down. And then there’s the climax of the book, where she is forced to act maturely even when an attempted murder takes place in front of her and the assaulter lies to her face. She can’t even be there for the climactic battle. She really is a 10-year-old royal princess who is guarded constantly, and that leads her to feel powerless… despite pretty much changing history. And it’s only Book 1.

So yeah, the usual “if you don’t like this sort of book, why are you starting another one?” warnings, but if you do like this sort of book, there’s no reason not to add this to the list. It’s a winner.