Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: Fragrant Flowers and Second Hand Loves

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MICHELLE: In a week with new Iruma-kun and Chihayafuru, not to mention a couple of shoujo debuts, I still think Second Hand Love looks the most appealing!

SEAN: Agreed, though I’m also definitely interested in The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity and Let’s Do It Already!.

ASH: Everything mentioned so far is of interest to me, too, but Second Hand Loveis the release I’m most excited about this week. Having previously enjoyed Talk to My Back, I’m really looking forward to the chance to read more of the creator’s work.

ANNA: I’m going to go all in on The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity just because I really like the cover. Feeling extra shallow this week.

Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon? Astrea Record, Vol. 2

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By Fujino Omori and Kakage. Released in Japan as “Astrea Record Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka?” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

I hate to break it to the author of this series, but the core readership are not 15-year-olds. They, I think, would get the most out of Lyu’s angsty rage and Erebus’ ridiculous trolley problems. The core audience of this series are the ones who have followed it since it began, which means my guess is most are in their thirties. And those folks might find Lyu’s emo teen phase just a little annoying. Or indeed a lot annoying. It’s very true to teenage life, I will admit, but I mean, having Lyu throw a shitfit is baked into her backstory already, do we really need for it to happen again, especially in a novel based on a game story that cannot actually affect canon? Fortunately, there are good parts to this book, including several rousing speeches. But honestly, if you want a light novel version of the “yet you participate in society! Curious. I am very intelligent!” cartoon by Matt Bors, you’re in the right place.

The cover shows Lyu looking down at the ground, despondent and despairing. Behind her is Ardee, who is smiling broadly, possibly as she’s dead and therefore doesn’t have to be in this book. Ardee’s death weighs heavily on a lot of people in this book, and she’s not the only one who’s died. The Evils are on the loose, and their goal is to make the adventurers give up. Lyu, being one of the shiniest and most idealistic of them, is the perfect breaking point, so Erebus is determined to break her. In the meantime there’s tons of fights, deaths,. gore and despair, but also some really cool life-saving, desperately never giving up, and some strong speeches by Finn, who has either been reading Churchill or Henry V. Who will win? (This is a prequel taking place 7 years before the series begins. We know who will win. And yet.)

There is one point in this volume that is easily the best by far, and it’s when Lyu, who is acting like a child, runs into 9-year-old Ais, a literal child, and the two of them have what is basically the sword version of a slapfight. I especially love Riveria, who stops the fight not by yelling at them, or by getting in between them, but by bonking Ais on the top of the head like she’s in Yotsuba&!. It was a lovely break from the rest of the volume, which is made up of half “Become vengeance, Lyu. Become wrath.” and half “I know you’re still in there so fight, damn you!” Astrea Familia gets a lot of time on the page, but I’d argue that the stronger moments go to the characters we know from the main series. There’s nothing wrong with Astrea’s folks, they’re just don’t have the raw impact of, say, Syr cheering them up while also handing out soup to everyone (a moment that works even better after the events of Book 18).

There’s one more to go, and hopefully we’ll get some answers about the Zeus and Hera bad guys, because let me tell you, I do not give two shits about any of the other villains. Still worth it for Danmachi fans, but prepare to be frustrated.

Spy Classroom: A Glint in Monika’s Eye

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By Takemachi and Tomari. Released in Japan as “Spy Kyoushitsu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Thrasher.

Generally speaking a large chunk of fiction, especially fiction written for drama and starring teenagers, revolves around one major problem: the entire plot would not happen if only the characters would communicate with each other. Talking solves the problem, so we have to prevent that, either by character flaw or by authorial fiat. Fortunately, this new volume of Spy Classroom does not have that problem. Oh, sure, things are very bad and Monika is very much not talking about it. But, as the volume goes on, we come to realize that, at least if Monika is going to act in a way that’s true to herself, she cannot talk about this. As it would involve sacrificing a friend. Or a team. Or a country. Unfortunately, that’s very bad news for literally everyone else in the cast. Including most of the bad guys. And Monika, who by the end of the book is not quite suicidal, but close. Wacky fun times are absent here.

We pick up right at the cliffhanger ending of Book 6, with Monika betraying Lamplight. She breaks Thea’s arm, beats up Erna, puts Annette in the hospital, and kidnaps Grete. She’s teamed up with Green Butterfly, who is, of course, blackmailing her something fierce. Monika, being very clever, quickly realizes that “fake traitor” is not going to work in this case – though that’s not to say that she just completely turns evil – there are plans within plans, as is always the case in these books. Meanwhile, the rest of Lamplight are devastated and upset, but also still dealing with the fallout of the last two books. Can they manage to find out why Monika has betrayed them? And does it even make a difference?

I try to avoid giving away the major surprises in these volumes, and I will in this review as well. But we gotta talk about one, as it’s been around almost since the start, and it goes from subtext to text: Monika is gay, and unfortunately in the suspicious, Cold War-esque world that this takes place in, homosexuality is illegal. And while we’ve been told before that she’s in love with one of the members of Lamplight, here we find out who it is. It’s not too much of a surprise, and of course the enemy uses her as a threat against Monika – which works very well, as the seemingly cold and emotionless Monika has far less experience with feelings of love than anyone else in the group. If you enjoy old-school lesbian angst, with sturm und drang, unwillingness to confess because they’re sure the other party doesn’t love them, and a last-minute “I love you” before Monika gets sent to Super Hell cliffhanger ending’d on us, this is right up your alley.

So the next book should, theoretically, wrap up this arc. Unfortunately, most of the cast is in prison, in the hospital, or presumed dead. The good news is that if you love Lily, Sybilla or Sara, you’re going to have a ball. Sara gets the cover at last, and for once we don’t have a SS volume breaking up up. That said… how are they gonna resolve this?

Banished from the Hero’s Party, I Decided to Live a Quiet Life in the Countryside, Vol. 11

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By Zappon and Yasumo. Released in Japan as “Shin no Nakama ja Nai to Yuusha no Party wo Oidasaretanode, Henkyou de Slow Life Surukoto ni Shimashita” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

I did not intentionally line up two books in a row where the plot is “the author tries to write a light and fluffy vacation volume, but cannot help hammering on the more serious plot”, it just turned out that way. So yes, if you read Seven Spellblades and this series, you may want to stick something else in between them. As for the book itself, it’s quite good, continuing to hammer on the main themes of this series (destiny vs. free will, fighting god, etc.) while also trying to let our heroes get in some swimming and beach volleyball. That said, when you have to remind yourself to make happy memories, there’s something going wrong, and it’s arrived in the form of the latest antagonist, who is (what a surprise) on a mission from God. The end of the series has been announced in Japan, but I think that Red and Rit will be battling till the end.

It’s the height of summer, and Zoltan is far too hot, meaning no one is shopping for apothecary items. Perfect time to take a vacation, right? They can also invite along Tanta, who we just discovered has the blessing of the Cardinal, which definitely gets in the way of following in his parents’ footsteps. Heading out to a remote island, they get in some swimming (and fighting sharks), some boat building, some fishing, and some barbecue. Unfortunately, also on the island is an ascetic woman who has blinded herself to better serve her faith for God, and she’s clearly very suspicious, and very eager to talk to Tanta. Can he really achieve his dream of being a carpenter? Or is he going to have to be indoctrinated by the Church, (and, it’s implied, have to fight Ruti and Red)?

There’s a lot of good stuff here. The series themes are handled very well, with some good discussion of how to work with your blessing without letting it control you, and Eremite is seen as someone whose family couldn’t do that, and she is course correcting far too much in the other direction. She makes a very good one-book antagonist, though she may come back. Tanta is the real winner here, being forced to use his skill points for healing (which puts him on the fast track to the Church, not the house building), but his response about what he thought when he saw the family in that collapsed house is wonderful. As for the “little things” in the series, Red and Rit are cute and flirty, Ruti is badass, Mister Crawly Wawly is fantastic, and there is, thankfully, zero incest subtext this time around.

There’s a prologue I skipped over, and now that we know we’re in the final third I’m sure it will be relevant in future books. For now, though, I’m still quite pleased with this slow life series that, like most of them, struggles for every relaxing moment.

Reign of the Seven Spellblades, Vol. 11

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By Bokuto Uno and Miyuki Ruria. Released in Japan as “Nanatsu no Maken ga Shihai suru” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Even when the author is trying to write a light, fluffy heartwarming volume to balance out the trauma and awfulness in Book 10, they can’t quite pull it off. Oh, there’s lots of fun stuff in here, especially at the start. Seeing the main six in the cast, with plus ones Marco and Teresa, going on boat journeys, getting completely hammered in a “fun drunk” way, seeing Katie’s family home, meeting Chela’s mother… this is all great stuff. There’s a scene with Katie forcing everyone into a deeply Nordic sauna experience that’s both heartwarming and hilarious. And yet at the same time there is the undercurrent of “how long until Katie finally turns and has to be put down like a dog”, as well as “I am already not going to live much longer than five years so I might as well continue to help you”. And that’s not even getting into the faculty trying to find their killers. That, said, this is genuinely fluffy compared to last time, I promise.

So we’re now three teachers down, and in the faculty meeting discussing things the voice of reason, new faculty member and Boston Red Sox outfielder Ted Williams points out that there must be something they have in common, and it’s probably related to Chloe Halford. As for the students, well, it’s end of term, and for once everyone is actually going home. This includes Marco, who is coming with Katie to meet her folks and the local trolls, and Teresa, who Oliver has invited along so that she can experience the world outside of Kimberly. They’re beset by pirates (who are defeated ludicrously easily,), and then they meet Katie’s parents, who are very nice but also have some very pointed questions for Oliver Horn. They then meet Chela’s mother, the elf Mishakua, who wants to see how they measure up in terms of a potential match for Chela. (Oliver fails badly.) Sadly, the ongoing Tir incursion ruins our peaceful fluff of a book.

I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again – this series is fantastic at showing a truly wonderful polycule, with six people who are all wonderful in their own way, while also making you understand that there is no way the series ends with them all graduating and moving into a big house to start their own detective agency or something. I especially appreciated Guy, who gets a bit more to do here, and is starting to shape up as the emotional center of the group, along with Chela. I especially liked his relationship with Katie, where he’s there to be her comfort hug for a while because she can’t bear being near Oliver when he and Nanao are, well, CLOSE, but he draws a line and says she has to actually confront him about it. (Which she… doesn’t quite do.) But, I mean, this series started as a grand revenge story, and I’m pretty sure it’s going to go out that way too, and grand revenge stories do not end well for the revenger. That said, he may live longer than Katie, who even has her parents thinking she’s going to need to be killed by her friends to prevent her turning towards the Tir side.

I’m not sure if we’ll continue the grand tour of everyone’s home in Book 12 or just cut back to the next year at school, but it doesn’t matter, because next up is a Side Story. We’re going to get a good look at the past of Alvin Godfrey, who just graduated in the main series. Till then, this is fluffy fun. Ish.

Manga the Week of 6/5/24

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SEAN: June manga, and the temperature is rising as I type this.

ASH: It’s been pretty warm here where I am already; I’m not looking forward to the additional heat.

SEAN: Airship, in print, debuts The Mimosa Confessions (Mimosa no Kokuhaku), an LGBT novel from the creator of The Tunnel to Summer, the Exit of Goodbyes. A young man gradually drifts away from his more popular guy friend. In high school, he meets a cute girl, and falls for her. However, when he walks home one night, he sees his old friend… in a girls’ uniform and crying?

ASH: Now that it’s in print, I may need to check this one out.

SEAN: Also in print: Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear 18 and Yes, No, or Maybe? 3.

The early digital title is Riku Can’t Be a Goddess (Riku-kun wa, Megami ni Narenai). The story of a girl who serves as a dress form for her crush who wants to cross-dress and uses her to see how to be feminine. Then he kisses her and she flees. This apparently is part of an anthology about their high school class and identity in general.

ASH: Hmmm. I am intrigued.

ANNA: Is she a dress form or a fit model? I was picturing sentient headless mannequins for a second.

SEAN: Drawn and Quarterly gives us Second Hand Love, a second collection by the late Yamada Murasaki. They did the author’s Talk to My Back earlier, and this is apparently just as good. A story about adultery that focuses on the ones who are involved in it and the ones that it affects.

ASH: Definitely looking forward to this. Talk to My Back was excellent.

ANNA: This reminds me that I should dig up and read my copy of Talk to My Back.

SEAN: From Ghost Ship we get Parallel Paradise 18.

Three debuts from J-Novel Club. Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother (Akuyaku Reijō, Brocon ni Job Change Shimasu) is a villainess title (the title likely told you that). An OL who loves the brother of the villainess in an otome game wakes up as that villainess. Now she has to not only stop her own villainous fate but also save her brother. I hear this leans into the brocon/siscon tropes but does not quite become incest.

There’s also the shoujo manga adaptation of the same title. It ran in Flos Comic.

The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1: Wrecking Reincarnators with My Hidden Dungeon (Level 1 kara Hajimaru Shoukan Musou: Ore dake Tsukaeru Ura Dungeon de, Subete no Tenseisha wo Bucchigiru) seems to combine a few popular trends. Grinding up from Level 1, protecting a sibling from an abusive parent, and of course being reincarnated in a game world.

ASH: Of course.

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride 17, Black Summoner 17, Cooking with Wild Game 24, the 9th Cooking with Wild Game manga, Finding Avalon: The Quest of a Chaosbringer 3, and the 8th Rebuild World manga.

Debuting in print for Kodansha is The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity (Kaoru Hana wa Rin to Saku) is an ongoing romcom from Magazine Pocket. A boys’ school with thugs and layabouts is next door to a girls’ school for lovely young maidens. Naturally two of them fall in love.

ASH: I would read this.

ANNA: Me too!

MICHELLE: Its cover is cute, if nothing else.

SEAN: Also in print: As a Reincarnated Aristocrat, I’ll Use My Appraisal Skill to Rise in the World 10, A Condition Called Love 8, Quality Assurance in Another World 8, Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 5, WIND BREAKER 6, and Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! 8.

In digital land, we see Chihayafuru 44, I Guess I Became the Mother of the Great Demon King’s 10 Children in Another World 10 (the final volume), Life 15, SHAMAN KING: THE SUPER STAR 8, and Those Snow White Notes 18.

MICHELLE: Really, really, really gotta catch up on Iruma-kun and Chihayafuru!

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 4th volume of It Takes Two Tomorrow, Too.

ASH: I enjoyed the first volume; I should read more.

SEAN: Seven Seas has a debut, and it’s a danmei novel. Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu features the 8th son of a traitorous prince, who (of course) has the entire nation hating him for his father’s deeds… especially the hot young prince who wants him dead.

ASH: Hooray, for danmei!

MICHELLE: Indeed!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: The Ideal Sponger Life 16, Kemono Jihen 11, Last Game 5, Lonely Castle in the Mirror 3, A Tale of the Secret Saint 6, and This Is Screwed Up, but I Was Reincarnated as a GIRL in Another World! 12.

Square Enix gives us Cherry Magic! Thirty Years of Virginity Can Make You a Wizard?! 11 and A Man and His Cat 11.

MICHELLE: Looking forward to both of these!

SEAN: Tokyopop has Acid Town 6 and Since I Could Die Tomorrow 3.

Viz’s debut is a shoujo title. Let’s Do It Already! (Hayaku Shitai Futari) is a Margaret title about two high school kids who have the same route to their schools. They’re falling in love, but… he’s from a prestigious family of politicians who don’t want any scandal… and she won’t stop flirting with him!

ANNA: Sounds cute.

MICHELLE: I always love Margaret titles, so…

SEAN: Also from Viz: Blade of the Moon Princess 4, Kaiju No. 8 10, The King’s Beast 13, My Hero Academia 38, Queen’s Quality 19, Rainbow Days 10, Sakamoto Days 12, and Snow White with the Red Hair 26.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Queen’s Quality.

MICHELLE: A lot of good stuff and then also Rainbow Days.

SEAN: And the only title from Yen Press is No Game No Life Chapter 2: Eastern Union Arc (No Game No Life – Dai-Ni Shou – Toubu Rengou-hen), which adapts the second arc, as you might guess. It runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

There’s some great titles in this list. What attracts you?

A Certain Magical Index NT, Vol. 2

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By Kazumi Kamachi and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Shinyaku To Aru Majutsu no Index” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

I’ve talked before about how much I don’t like Kamachi trying to be funny. His idea of good humor for the books is very much in the “whoops, I just fell into your boobs and you hit me so hard I became a star in the sky” sort of humor. That doesn’t happen here, but we do get about ten different love interest attaching themselves to Touma like lampreys, Itsuwa beating her superior officer to death in order to help him save face, seemingly every single female character grading themselves on breast size, etc. That said, it didn’t grate on me quite as much as usual. Maybe I’ve gotten used to it, but I think it’s more that it was needed in this book for a greater purpose. No, not to balance anything depressing. But rather, to balance out Leivinia Birdway Explains It All For You. She’s got an exposition hammer and she’s gonna use it, and even Index can only go along with her and chime in. Oh, hey, it’s Index! Hi, Index.

Introduced in this volume: Maria Kumokawa, Mjolnir. And by the end of the volume we know the next major antagonist group will be GREMLIN, and so no doubt they’ll start popping up as we go along. This takes place immediately after the first book in NT. As for the plot, well, Touma’s back in Academy City, and all his love interests are very relieved, though not above biting his head. (To be fair, Touma asked for it.) Eventually, he, Accelerator, and Hamazura end up back at Touma’s dorm room, where, as I noted above, Birdway (with occasional interruptions from Index) explains the differences and similarities between magic and science, the goals of each side, how World War III started, and what happens next. What happens next is the plot with Kaori Kanzaki, who is trying to stop a Colony Drop in the making.

I will admit, I left out a bit of humor in the list above, mainly because it was not “this is a wacky anime” style humor and also because it was genuinely funny. I laughed out loud, but also cringed. Mugino introducing herself to Fremea by saying “Hi, I’m the one who killed your sister” is jaw-droppingly awful but also deeply in character, and it was glorious. That said, the rest of ITEM, as well as Accelerator’s double Misaka combo and Touma’s own original flavor Misaka, take a back seat. Again, though at least Mikoto is trying to stop it in regards to the next book. Instead we get our three heroes coming together to save Academy City, each using their own strengths. And if it’s badass action you want, Kaori has it covered, with a fight against a Nightmare at 20,000 Feet. She is quite badass. Shame no one sees it.

It appears the next volume will head over to America. Will Mikoto manage to succeed in getting Touma to take her along while he tries to save people “for his own sake”? Will the cast get even more unwieldy? We’ll see. Till then, enjoy the humor that is the spoonful of sugar to help Birdway’s exposition go down.

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 6

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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.

Over the course of this series, we’ve had the original book, with the plot of the otome game, where Mary has to try to avoid… pardon me, create… her own doom. Then we had the second book which brings in the plot of the sequel, where she has to figure out how to interfere in a plotline that never involved her at all. And of course there is the anime adaptation, which ended up bringing in a THIRD woman trying to change things who runs up against the force of nature that is Mary. But most of those have been along the same lines. The heroine (really the antagonist) is defeated, and ends up, mostly, being won over by Mary. But what if we had a guy end up in the world of the game? A guy who is a minor son of a minor house in another country, not interacting with the plot at all. And he sees Mary defying her fate, and gets really pissed. Is the world of this otome game tough for a mob?

Mary is suspicious. Supposedly her brothers have revealed to her a necessary part of becoming the next head of the family, which involves touring other countries and showing that you have the right stuff to be a leader of the nobility. She’s suspicious because their supposed book looks an awful lot like a sweet and fun “take a vacation with our beloved sister” plan instead. Still, whatever. She’s happy to go to the nation of Feydella and meet her aunt and uncle. That said, she’s slightly less happy with the customs of the country, which is fine with men and women having multiple lovers, and thus everyone is hitting on her. Constantly. Worst of all, a minor noble accosts her and says that he knows her secret – she remembers this is a game and has been using her prior knowledge to manipulate things for her benefit.

The climax of this book is not unexpected, but it is rather clever, as it relies on something that I’d forgotten about this series. In general, for “I remembered my past life” sort of books, either characters remember almost from birth or at a very young age, or they remember right before the plot of whatever main plot they’re the villainess for has begun. And Mary is the latter – she only remembered her past life right before Alicia started school. She’s been worried about what everyone might think of her if she tells them the truth about her past life, mostly as the mob guy knows how to prey on insecurities. But, as Patrick points out, if she got her memories when she met Alicia, that means that all the time before that she was the ‘real” Mary Albert… and she’s always been like this. There was no change of personality whatsoever. Past life or no, Mary is ultimately a kind and clever (if daffy) heroine who attracts good people to her like flies. Which also means the antagonists of the other game and anime. But does NOT mean mob boy, who I suspect we won’t see again unless it’s in a comedy stinger.

So yes, good book, very satisfying. I think we have two more to go in the series, and there’s a limit to what new plots we can come up with. We’ll see what’s next.

Pick of the Week: When in Doubt, Eat

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SEAN: A somewhat barren week for me, I think I’ll go with By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise, as I’d like a nice revenge novel to wash the taste of the Livid Lady one out of my mouth.

MICHELLE: Ditto. But having just reread Antique Bakery, one of my very favorite series, I’m in the mood for more Fumi Yoshinaga, so I’ll cast my vote for What Did You Eat Yesterday?.

ASH: Ah, such a good series! While none the debut releases this week tend to excite me, I am definitely looking forward to the next installment of What Did You Eat Yesterday? as well quite a few of the other ongoing manga like Usotoki Rhetoric and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.

ANNA: Count me in for the general affection for What Did You Eat Yesterday?.

Brunhild the Dragonslayer

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By Yuiko Agarizaki and Aoaso. Released in Japan as “Ryugoroshi no Brunhild” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jennifer Ward.

About a month ago I gave a rather savage review to a villainess-style novel about a lady getting her revenge because the revenge she got was beyond all possible reason. It made her loathsome. It defied the genre. That’s why I really hated it. That is not, though, to say that I inherently dislike tragedies with the death of innocents. They just need to be set up correctly. Everything about Brunhild the Dragonslayer, from the quote on the frontispiece of the book to the afterword, tells you that this is not going to be a happy book. But the genre is, essentially, opera. It’s Wagnerian, and everything about it, from the start to the end, tells you this will end in blood and gore. When a villainess “gets revenge”, at most it ends in a heroine having to be shut away in a hospital or a prince being exiled. When Brunhild gets revenge, the heavens cry and the city weeps. It’s that kind of book. It’s also really excellent.

A powerful silver dragon lives on an island of Eden, where everything is… well, much like the Garden of Eden. The dragon occasionally has to massacre the humans who come to the island to try to kill him and get the treasures and knowledge from the garden, a somewhat fruitless endeavor given that the moment the dragon dies the garden burns up. But one day a 3-year-old girl, mortally wounded, is found on the island, and she’s covered in the dragon’s blood, which is lethal to humans. Well, mostly. 1 out of 10,l000 humans survive. Guess what, the girl is one of those. For the next several years, the girl grows on the island, and eats the fruit of the island, is friends with the fauna, and loves her dragon dad. Then humans finally invent tanks and poison gas, and the dragon is killed. His final request of his daughter is not to seek revenge. Erm. Bad news there.

Getting the bad out of the way here, there is some weird incest subtext in this that I felt was unneeded, and it comes up a couple more times as the book goes on. IMO, it’s unneeded. (Probably down to the Wagner motifs.) The rest of the book, once we get to the girl (now called Brunhild) and her life in the human world, is riveting. Every time that she asks an innocent character who seems to like her where her father is (her human father, that is), you can hear the metaphorical tolling of a bell. It’s also terrifying how quickly she is able to manipulate the human heart, playing on the same emotions that other see in her in order to try to achieve her goals. There is one case where she actually seems to bond with someone – her human father’s other son, Sigurd, who is dealing with a bad case of parental disinterest and jealousy, genuinely bonds with her. But that bond is not enough. Revenge has to win.

After finishing the book, you will no doubt be as surprised as I am that there’s a second volume coming out soon. Judging by the synopsis, it features the same themes but a different cast. As a standalone, though, this is gloriously bleak, tragic, and upsetting. Recommended.

The Princess of Convenient Plot Devices, Vol. 5

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By Mamecyoro and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Watashi wa Gotsugou Shugi na Kaiketsu Tantou no Oujo de aru” by B’s-LOG Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

As the afterword says, this is very much a “wrapping up the arc stuff that began in the previous book” type of story. Romance, for the most part, takes a back seat till the end, with the one exception (and possibly the funniest part of the book) where Octavia asks, in a written note, if Guy wants to be her fake boyfriend. Guy, who seems to be the only person who can obviously see how jealous Klifford gets of anyone who gets near Octavia, is understandably terrified at the suggestion, and makes the obvious suggestion as to who the perfect fake boyfriend would be. But Octavia cannot bring herself to do that – for some reason she can’t quite work out. It’s fitting, therefore, that at the end of the book Klifford also decides that he has no idea how he feels about Octavia except she’s like a weapon. These two broken dumbasses are going to take 15 more books to kiss.

The book features Octavia’s brilliant plan to smoke out the traitor, which involves going on a jaunt around the city and leaving really obvious openings for a traitor to attack, then relying on the prince’s well-trained bodyguards and her own (suspected traitor) Klifford to solve the problem. Astute readers who read the fourth volume will see the flaw in this plan. On the bright side, she gets to have a nice lunch with her friends, only slightly marred by someone dosing it with truth serum, and she also has a slight detour in order to meet her grandparents (who are *very* unhappy to see her) and ask some pointed questions… though it’s the answers to what she doesn’t ask that may be more important. Why is there a sibling no one wants to talk about? And does it tie into Sirius’ busted memories?

Last time I complained we didn’t really learn as much about Sirius as I wanted, but we’re definitely getting there. He seems to be fighting both deliberate brainwashing and a traumatic event in his past, and the dichotomy between the old Sirius and new Sirius is what actually ends up being the driving force behind the traitor, as well as the arc question “if you were given two conflicting orders, which would you obey?”. It’s pretty clear that the “good” Sirius is definitely on Octavia’s side, and would no doubt help her try to stop the way this kingdom runs, but the “bad” Sirius is being railroaded into the game plot, and Octavia interfering means that he distrusts and suspects her and everyone close to her. The scene at the very end between him and Klifford is the best scene in the book that isn’t funny, and really makes you want to read Book 6.

Fortunately, that book is out in a few months. This remains an entertaining thriller.

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 11

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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.

Every once in a while on television you get a season where a character doesn’t appear for a while, or only appears on a couch, because the actress is pregnant or the actor has broken a leg. Or in Doctor Who, you get “Doctor-lite” episodes where he’s busy filming something else, so you write something where he’s absent most of the time. Obviously a book does not need to do that, but you might be forgiven for thinking that this volume had to have Maomao and Jinshi be fairly sedentary for a while, and not involved in the action all that much. Instead, the entire climax to the book is one of the big payoffs we’ve been waiting for, but Maomao is completely absent from it. In her place, we get confirmation about a character”s true agenda (which we all guessed), and get another character’s tragic backstory, which turns out to be very, very relevant.

We’re still dealing with the aftermath of the grasshopper invasion, not helped by the occasional aftershock of grasshoppers passing through. They’re low on food, low on fuel, and low on medicines. Maomao is helping to make “not quite as good” medicine with the next best thing, while also taking the time to save the life of a little girl who finds that hair and persimmons don’t mix. That said, the Western Capital is doing it’s best,. and it’s all thanks to… no, not Jinshi. Well, yes, Jinshi, however, someone else is taking all the credit, and that someone is Gyoku-ou, who has an agenda, and it involves the rumors that he thinks he has completely figured out about Jinshi’s parentage and a fierce desire to go to war with another country. Can he be stopped from dragging Jinshi into a war he doesn’t want any part of? And what does coal have to do with all of this?

Having worried you all, fear not, Maomao is in the majority of this volume. She’s separated from Jinshi most of the time, which means he spends much of the book in a bad mood. This is not helped by the fact that Chue squealed to Jinshi about the fact that Rikuson asked if Maomao would marry him last volume. This leads to some amusing scenes of Jinshi being jealous and angry and Maomao mostly being annoyed, but as it turns out there’s a very good reason behind what both of those characters did. They know who the important people are in the Western Capital, and the most important is not Gyoku-ou. That said, I wished he’d be a good antagonist, and he absolutely is that, coming across as clever, brutal, and with grand ambitions that sadly are a bit beyond his means. He’s also deeply tied up with the backstory we’ve been chasing about the Yi Clan, and I’d love to talk about that, but it really is a good spoiler.

All this plus a brief cameo from Yao and En’en, and even more Chue. Still one of the top light novel series coming out over here.

Taking My Reincarnation One Step at a Time: No One Told Me There Would Be Monsters!, Vol. 5

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By KAYA and Naru. Released in Japan as “Tensei Shōjo wa Mazu Ippo kara Hajimetai: Mamono ga Iru toka Kiitenai!” by MF Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Amy Osteraas.

It’s always interesting reading a final volume that isn’t. This is NOT the final volume in this series – the 6th book is running on the JNC chapter release schedule as we speak – but if you didn’t know that, and you finished this volume, which does not even have an afterword, I think you’d be pretty convinced that this was the ending. It wraps up almost all the plot points from the previous books – though I still say Sara is a monster attractor. She finally goes to the capital, she accepts the fact that she’s a celebrity and will have to deal with it, she, Allen, Nelly and Chris realize they’re all a family, and she not only gets the prime minister to reject Liam’s marriage proposal but rejects him personally. It does everything but say “our fight has only just begun”. Still, I’m glad there’s more of this, as I like the cast, and I like Sara. She’s just fun to head when she’s snarking.

Everyone is getting invited to the capital, it would seem. Sara has to go for multiple reasons – not only does she have to introduce herself to the King (and deal with Liam’s annoying marriage proposal), but the capital is asking for extra apothecaries due to the dragon migration currently going on – the same thing that tore Nelly away from Sara in the second book. Unfortunately, once Sara gets there she discovers similar problems to previous books – she’s only 14, and looks about 12, and she’s only been an apothecary for two months, though she’s already a prodigy. As such, she’s disregarded and belittled once she’s there, and paired off with the other rookie commoners. Fortunately, Sara is the heroine, so the plot comes to find her anyway.

Sara admits in this book that she is very happy to be an apothecary, but honestly I think her true talents may lie in management. When they wrap things up in the capital, and Sara realizes they’re just going to do the same thing with the same problems next year, she gets very angry. And then it’s explained to her that none of the guilds collaborate with each other at all, or even help out unless asked, and thus no one has given any thought to anything but the immediate problem of that month. Long-term thinking doesn’t happen here, mostly as everyone’s competing for power and prestige. Fortunately, Sara is an Invited, and has some of the most powerful people in the company as her found family, so she is able to call everyone around to the royal table and cut through the bullshit. Though admittedly, she doesn’t recognize the King. As for marriage… there’s a minor hint that Allen is thinking about marriage, but for the most part this book is content on the two of them having a sibling bond, and for now that’s absolutely fine.

So, NOT the end, I guess. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next arc.

Manga the Week of 5/29/24

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SEAN: May comes to a close in a quiet, peaceful way… mostly.

We start with Yen Press, which has some stray manga that got delayed from this week. The debut is Bungo Stray Dogs: The Official Comic Anthology, which should speak for itself.

ASH: I’ve not been keeping up with Bungo Stray Dogs like I should, but I do like these sorts of anthology projects.

SEAN: And we have Elden Ring: The Road to the Erdtree 3, Stray Cat & Wolf 3, and Teasing Master Takagi-san 19.

Viz Media has JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 6–Stone Ocean 4 and Pokémon: The Complete Pokémon Pocket Guide 2 (the final volume).

ASH: I have some catching up to do with JoJo, too.

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has a 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.

The debut from Tokyopop is a one-shot BL title from the magazine & Emo. The Genius Puppeteer Loves the Holy Knight Fiercely (Ningyou Yuugi Roku) is about a knight who, on the verge of execution, is rescued by a sadistic genius who wants to use the knight to create the perfect puppet. For “dark yaoi” fans.

Tokyopop also has the 13th volume of Konohana Kitan.

Square Enix has a 5th volume of the Wandering Witch manga.

Seven Seas also has a one-shot BL title, this one from Rutile. Only the Stars Know (Hoshi Dake ga Shitteru) is about a man who’s lost his job and his girlfriend ends up in the local park, bonding with a stranger… who then kisses him?

ASH: As one does.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Breakfast with My Two-Tailed Cat 2, The Country Without Humans 5 (the final volume), Dungeon Builder: The Demon King’s Labyrinth is a Modern City! 9, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 4, The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 6 (the final volume), Otaku Elf 7, and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 11.

One Peace Books has the 7th volume of Usotoki Rhetoric.

ASH: Yay!

SEAN: The debut for Kodansha Manga in print is Turns Out My Online Friend is My Real-Life Boss! (Online Game Nakama to Sashi Off shitara Shokuba no Onijoushi ga Kita), a BL title that was originally digital-only back in 2021. It’s from Ichijinsha’s Gateau, about a guy who tries to destress after days dealing with his evil boss by talking with a gaming friend online. Then they meet up in real life and… yeah, you guessed it.

ASH: Drama!

SEAN: Also in print: The Blue Wolves of Mibu 2, The Great Cleric 9, Magus of the Library 7, ORIGIN 4, Tsugumi Project 5, Vampire Dormitory 11, Wandance 9, and What Did You Eat Yesterday? 21.

MICHELLE: How on Earth did Wandance get up to volume nine already?! I also gotta catch up with What Did You Eat Yesterday?.

ANNA: Those are both titles I feel like I would be reading if I was better at keeping up on things.

ASH: It feels like it’s been awhile since we’ve seen a new volume of Magus of the Library, too.

SEAN: Digitally we get A Couple of Cuckoos 17, DAYS 41, Gamaran: Shura 20, My Home Hero 16, Teppu 7, and With You and the Rain 6.

J-Novel Club has a debut, as we see A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady (Slime Taikō to Botsuraku Reijō no Angai Shiawase na Konyaku). Our heroine does not get her engagement broken – her sister’s engagement is the one that is broken. And soon after, a disaster leaves her family penniless. Selling pastries in the slums, she meets a slime, who introduces her to the Slime Duke, and suddenly she’s married? This had better be better than it sounds.

ASH: Dare I ask what a Slime Duke is?

ANNA: I’m afraid to know.

SEAN: Also from J-Novel Club: The 4th manga volume of The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 10, the 2nd manga volume of A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even: How I Crushed My Homeland with My Mighty Grimoires, Only I Know That This World Is a Game 4, and Villainess Level 99: I May Be the Hidden Boss but I’m Not the Demon Lord 5.

Hanashi Media has The Dark Guild Master’s Smile Would Fit Best 2 and The Fruit of Evolution: Before I Knew It, My Life Had It Made!.

Four titles from Cross Infinite World, including one debut. By a Twist of Fate, I’m Attending the Royal Academy in Disguise (Wake Atte, Hensou Shite Gakuen ni Sennyuu Shiteimasu) stars a servant who spends her school days pretending to be a noble’s daughter, as she’ll get enough money to live freely when she graduates. Then they go back on her word. Can she get revenge?

Also from Cross Infinite World: The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor 4, The Invisible Wallflower Marries an Upstart Aristocrat After Getting Dumped for Her Sister! 2 (the final volume), and Third Loop: The Nameless Princess and the Cruel Emperor 2.

In print, Airship has Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! 18 (along with the not-early digital) and Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 6.

And digital-only (no print) is Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation – Recollections, a short story/artbook/interview collection for the famous (infamous?) series.

OK, kind of relaxing? What interests you?

I Don’t Want To Be the Dragon Duke’s Maid! Serving My Ex-Fiancé From My Past Life, Vol. 2

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By Mashimesa Emoto and Masami. Released in Japan as “Ryū Taikō no Senzoku Jijo wa Goenryō Shitai! Tensei Saki no Okyūji Aite wa Zense no Moto Konyakusha Deshita” by Arian Rose. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Amanogawa Tenri.

I had assumed that this was going to be one of those artifact title type of books, sort of how The Ideal Sponger Life never actually manages to do anything remotely connected to that title after the first half of Book 1. But credit to the author, we actually do get a reasonable excuse for having Mille-Feuille once again disguise herself as the dragon duke’s maid and serving the ex-fiance from her past life. The problem, of course, is that just because she and Van are married does not mean that everyone automatically approved of the pairing. There was an assassination attempt on her last book, and there’s another one near the start of this book, to the point where she’s using body doubles most of the time. Fortunately, we have something that can take her mind off of things: tourism. Now that she’s solved the “donating mana puts women in a coma” issue, folks can actually see the sights. Erm… what sights do they have?

Mille-Feuille and Van are wracking their brains to try to come up with a way to stop having the one vacation destination be “the lake”, if only as the lake is starting to feel the effect of all those tourists. Mille-Feuille then draws on her memories as Charlotte and recalls that up north, in the snowy mountains of the kingdom, there are places where you could have a natural hot spring! And since Van and Mille-Feuille have not had their honeymoon yet, they decide to pay the place a visit, accompanied by his sister and knights and her best friend, battle maid, and squirrels. Unfortunately, when they get there they run into Fenetra, Van’s cousin and one of his fiance candidates from before. And she does not seem to like any of the woman in Van’s party. At all.

Not to spoil too much, but this series comes to a close with this volume, so we can’t exactly bring in too many subplots. Things are both helped and hindered by Mille-Feuille herself, whose dry, matter-of-fact narration works well in some places, but in others you can tell why they need to include a literal “she barely shows any emotion, she’s always been like this” hand wave. Opera, Van’s sister, turns out to be a lot more fun now that she’s no longer a jealous little sister, and the pairing up of her with Van’s chief bodyguard was so blatant and shoehorned in – both in universe and out of it – that I ended up laughing. There’s some nice near death experiences, a few mass brainwashings, and a villainess who turns out to tie back to our heroine’s previous life. Nothing is stunning, but like the first book, it reads well.

The volume (and series) ends with Mille-Feuille announcing she’s pregnant and then giving birth to a son, which might surprise folks who assumed they just never had sex ever. I liked this. And good news, the author has a new series out from J-Novel Club next week.