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The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 3

By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT. Ideal Sponger Life continues to do what it does best: spend most of its time making that title a lie. Indeed, Zenjirou straight up admits it here. While he wanted to have a lazy, indolent life to recover from his Japanese work burnout, after a few months the mental turmoil is fixed and… he wants to do things! Fortunately, there are things to do. He can install air conditioners, he can help to better the water wheel, and he can continue to fend off attempts to try to bride, seduce, or flat out trick him into bad ideas. That said, one thing he…

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Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 13

By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper. At last, after missing each other for a few volumes, the Wonder Trio and the Crimson Vow finally meet each other in the latter half of this volume, which leads to the fated battle of who gets to have Mile as their bestie. The outcome of this is very much up in the air… theoretically. In-universe, certainly. In the meta sense, the outcome is very much set in stone, as we’ve been traveling with the Crimson Vow for 12 books now, and the Wonder Trio are merely beloved supporting characters and backstory for…

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Bookshelf Briefs 6/20/21

As Miss Beelzebub Likes, Vol. 12 | By Matoba | Yen Press – When you have a main couple as innocent and naive as this one, it’s going to take a lot of struggle to get them together. Indeed, even figuring out what love actually is is tough for Miss Beelzebub, much less that she’s in love with Mullin. And then, just as she’s ready to tell Mullin how she feels, he’s seized by self-hatred and doubt, thinking she’s far too high a station for him. This leads to her being depressed and avoiding him, which… repeat as needed. Thankfully, they do eventually manage to confess to each other. The series may not end with the wedding on the cover, but this is good enough. It was sickly sweet at…

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Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village, Vol. 4

By Mizuumi Amakawa and Mai Okuma. Released in Japan as “Fushi no Kami: Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki” by Overlap. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Maurice Alesch. Last time I asked for Ash to have a few failures under his belt, and we do get a bit of that here, showing that he can’t do ANYTHING he puts his mind to. Food preservation is still a big problem, and the wonders of canned food will have to wait for more advanced techniques. There’s more good news: by now, everyone has gotten so used to Ash being the greatest thing since sliced bread that they’ve started to stop talking about it, which means less page count devoted to everyone praising him to the skies. That said, there’s…

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Guide to the Perfect Otaku Girlfriend: Roomies and Romance, Vol. 1

By Rin Murakami and Mako Tatekawa. Released in Japan as “Dousei kara Hajimaru Otaku Kanojo no Tsukurikata” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Marco Godano. Contrary to popular belief, I don’t read everything. I don’t even read every first volume anymore, which I tried to do for a while, and my ‘should I check this out?’ meter has gotten higher, meaning less “I was the absolute worst talent, only it turned out it was the best” style books. (Well, excepting the ones I’ve already started.) That said, I have been trying to do every Vol. 1 of non-fantasy novels, simply because they’re still a refreshing minority in a sea of isekai and villainesses. It’s a good plan, and I’m usually happy, but sometimes…

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Manga the Week of 6/23/21

SEAN: June staggers on, despite all efforts to stop it. ASH: That it does. SEAN: Airship has print releases of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 6 and Classroom of the Elite 8. They’ve also got early digital releases for Neon Genesis Evangelion: ANIMA 5 (the final volume) and ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! 4. J-Novel Club has some manga volumes out digitally, including the debut of Der Werwolf (Jinrou e no Tensei, Maou no Fukkan: Hajimari no Shou), based on the light novel. It runs in Comic Earth Star. Also debuting in manga form is Welcome to Japan, Ms. Elf! (Nihon e Youkoso Elf-san), again based on the light novel. It runs in Comic Fire. The light novel debut…

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Reincarnated as the Piggy Duke: This Time I’m Gonna Tell Her How I Feel!, Vol. 1

By Rhythm Aida and nauribon. Released in Japan as “Buta Koushaku ni Tensei shita kara, Kondo wa Kimi ni Suki to Iitai” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Zihan Gao. For the most part, the “villainess” stories that we’ve seen a lot of lately have all been… well, villainesses. The genre began as a woman-driven creation, usually pairing the (former) villainess with various hot guys, because theoretically they live in an otome game. The male equivalent has not particularly shown up much. Visual novels meant for guys tend not to have a serious romantic rival for anyone. If for villainesses you think of sneering ladies covering their mouths with fans while laughing “OHOHOHOHOHO!”, then for villains in anime and manga you tend to…

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Outbreak Company, Vol. 18

By Ichiro Sakaki and Yuugen. Released in Japan by Kodansha Light Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach. (This review discusses the ending of the series, so spoilers abound.) OK, I’ve calmed down now. When I first finished this volume, the final one in the Outbreak Company series (let’s leave Gaiden aside for the moment), I was a little upset. The book ended up going in a couple of unexpected directions that threw me for a loop, which the author seems to specialize in – Bluesteel Blasphemer did the same thing. Unlike Bluesteel Blasphemer, I was able to finish this series and do recommend it, though I’m tempted to tell people to simply skip the epilogue. In the end, this book is a political one,…

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I Refuse to Be Your Enemy!, Vol. 6

By Kanata Satsuki and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Teki ni Narimasen!” by PASH! Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tara Quinn. It’s the final volume of this series, and I am pleased that it’s ending pretty much the way that it began: with lots of strategy and battles. There is some romance here, as the cover art will no doubt clue you in on, but for the most part this is still a military fantasy first and a romance second. e get to see the remaining bad guys be really bad, but also (well, in one case) see how they got to be that way, and witness Kiara say that if Reggie had died she’d totally have done something very similar,…

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