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From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress!, Vol. 5

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By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W.

All otome game villainess stories are, by definition, somewhat metatextual. It has characters who are trapped in a world based on a game, trying to avoid Bad Ends. Even if they don’t talk to others about their choices, they narrate to the reader about them. But Two-Bit Baddie is even more meta than most. We have two people who’ve both played the game and know what’s coming, and discuss it with each other. We have a narrative that occasionally tries to lure them back into canon, even if they both want to disregard it. More to the point, the entire reason Elizabeth dresses and acts the way she does is to avoid a bad end that’s already passed. There’s no need to keep doing it. So when Richard asks why she’s dressed as a man, she answers “because I like it”, and I think not only does this surprise her but she means it. This is who she is now.

The book picks up where it left off last time. Elizabeth, Christopher, Edward and Lilia have to stay a little longer than planned. Sure, thanks to Lilia accidentally turning Diana into a BL fangirl, the marriage seems to be off the table. But there’s the troubling information that people are kidnapping nobles, and then giving them back the next day. What’s going on there? Meanwhile, Elizabeth and Lilia get an opportunity to explore a dungeon, and while they don’t find any monsters, they do come across some very human villains. When they are finally allowed to go home, after everyone finally realizes that Elizabeth is a woman and her brother is rejecting the marriage proposal, Elizabeth finds new problems. Yoh, the villain from the last book, has joined the knights and become a masochist. And worse, the plot of the second fandisc is beginning… four years too early!

The otome game mechanics are not the only things analysed in this volume. There’s an extra bonus route involving Lilia getting romanced by her teacher, a forbidden love sort of thing, and while Lilia is not interested in anyone but Elizabeth, Elizabeth is furious at the very concept of the route’s existence. She delivers a multi-page takedown of “teacher/student romance” as a concept, stating that anyone who would take advantage of a student in real life is the worst of the worst. Lilia finds this baffling, but that’s because Lilia is still caught up a bit too much in thinking in terms of tropes and fiction – to her, teacher/student romance is hot because of the forbidden aspects. It’s a very interesting diversion in what ends up being a solid but typical volume in the series. Elizabeth remains handsome and seductive but unable to see the very obvious affection anyone has for her – except Lilia, who had to literally confess. Subtlety is not gonna fly here.

The main drag on this volume is that it ends not even 2/3 through, and the rest is taken up with other POV stories and side stuff. It’s the equivalent of a LaLa volume, and I hate it. But the bulk of this is still pretty good.

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End ~Prelude~

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By Mei Hachimoku and Tsukasa Abe, based on the manga by Kanehito Yamada. Released in Japan as “Sousou no Frieren: Zensou” by Shogakukan. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

It’s another tie-in novel, and by now I think we know what to expect with these. The title says “Prelude” because it’s the safest place to play around it. You can’t change the story the original author is still getting to, and sometimes you can’t even tell stories set at the same time as the manga. But things that take place before the manga starts, or in the past, are fair game, provided you don’t change the future. As such, it’s no surprise this is a short story collection, and honestly of the five short stories three of them are really obvious: seeing Fern and Stark before they met Frieren is a gimme, and seeing Frieren with Himmel and party is also unsurprising. The other two stories are more interesting choices, and they’re also both pretty strong. I usually talk about whether a short story collection is front or backloaded, and this is the latter, which is good, as that means it gets better as it goes.

The five stories: 1) A young Fern practices her magic and worries about Heiter, who is not only very old but is also down with a cold, so she decides to go searching for herbs; 2) Stark is at the village with the dragon, which he “drove off” by being in its face when it decided to go away, and frets about his reputation, while also saving the one guy who doesn’t like him when he goes missing; 3) Kanne and Lawine are taking the test to prove they’re mages back in their hometown, but have to deal with a bratty rich girl mage and a stronger than usual monster; 4) Aura the Guillotine runs into the hero’s party and lives to regret it; while recovering from her wounds, she talks with other demons around her, most of whom are familiar to us; 5) Frieren wakes up on a wagon headed for… well, somewhere, and is distressed to see her friends getting off it and leaving her behind.

Fern and Stark’s stories aren’t bad, but they’re both very predictable and stay in their lane. Kanne and Lawine’s story is surprising in that it happens at all, but I enjoyed seeing them again, and their teamwork and bond is in full force here. Aura’s story may be the best in the collection. She’s a terrible… well, demon, not person, but you know what I mean. But the story is designed to poke around Frieren’s “all demons are evil and you need to kill them on sight” philosophy, as we see some demons trying o understand why humans do things and failing, and some continuing to make the effort regardless – we’ll be getting to that in the 3rd anime season late next year. Finally, the Frieren story is basically an “all things must one day pass” metaphor, but it’s well written and emotional, and works well with Frieren, who is coming to terms with people she cares about passing, bit by bit.

So yeah,k this is a solid book. Fans of the manga will definitely enjoy it. Casual buyers… read the manga first, OK?

Pick of the Week: New Aya Kanno

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KATE: So many manga… so little that interests me. I’d sit this week out, but I feel morally obligated to point out that there’s a new omnibus edition of Dragon Head, a stylish apocalyptic horror story that Tokyopop published back in the aughts. Volume two arrives in stores on Wednesday.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’m not really inspired, either. I suppose a new Aya Kanno series wins by default.

SEAN: I too am sort of meh about this week, so I’ll pick an ongoing favorite. The Tanaka Family Reincarnates is a delightfully silly light novel series AND it has giant cats.

ANNA: I’m with Michelle this week, new Aya Kanno is what I’m finding most interesting.

ASH: The debut of Aya Kanno’s Fruit of the Underworld is my pick as well, seeing as I’ve thoroughly enjoyed much of her previous work. However, I’d also like to highlight He Rolled Me Up Like a Grilled Squid considering the recent passing of Yoshiharu Tsuge. His work can be quite powerful and I’m so glad to see it being translated.

Though I Am an Inept Villainess: Tale of the Butterfly-Rat Body Swap in the Maiden Court, Vol. 10

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By Satsuki Nakamura and Kana Yuki. Released in Japan as “Futsutsuka na Akujo dewa Gozaimasu ga: Suuguu Chouso Torikae Den” by Ichijinsha Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Tara Quinn.

Something we’ve seen throughout this series but especially in this volume is the idea of what an “ideal” woman is in this Court Intrigue series. The series began by showing us that Reirin was delicate, fragile, and good at all the things that men prized in a woman, whereas Keigetsu was boorish, clumsy, and the one thing she’s really good at she has to keep hidden. Of course, we now know that delicate flower is not the word anyone would use to describe Reirin – except maybe Seika, and even she, by the end of this volume, has had the Reirin pedestal in her mind taken down. Here we also get a foreign delegate who explicitly regards all Ei women as weak and unable to fight back, and Seika (who among the five maidens has been the most feminine one) has to come to the realization herself, and then tell him, that in fact the Maidens all learn to be silk hiding steel. No more so than Reirin.

After the events of the last two volumes, everything is seemingly back to normal, and the maidens are back to learning how to be consorts. However, a foreign prince is visiting the country, and Seika is in charge of the welcome. She decides to rope in Reirin (because she adores her) and Keigetsu (because Reirin won’t go without her) to help her with the ceremony, which is mostly ceremonial – they roll out the red carpet and the prince says he is content, and everyone is happy. Unfortunately, it turns out that Seika, especially after torturing and starving the consort and effectively moving up in the power structure, is battling family who very much want to bring her down. What’s more, Seika’s seaside city is a lot less happy and content than she thought when she grew up there. And the prince, who has his own agenda, is far from content. Worst of all, I used the word “seemingly” at the start of the paragraph for good reason.

When I started this volume I was a bit puzzled. The last book ended with such a dire cliffhanger for Reirin, what happened to it? As it turns out, I had reckoned without Reirin’s powers of trying to make everyone around her think things are totally fine. We’ve had lingering in the background the fact that the bodyswaps seem to be affecting Reirin’s health to a degree, but it’s only to a degree – and after the last extended swap, she’s actually worse than before. Reirin has a chronic unknown illness that no one can find a cure for. She has been dying for years, and it feels much closer now. And she just cannot quite work up the strength to tell Keigetsu about it. Unfortunately, that means that when Keigetsu, trying to protect Leelee by being brash as usual, ends up in a dire situation., a bodyswap means that Reirin is now in the dire situation. Reirin, who has come very, very close to accepting this is how she dies.

Keigetsu, needless to say, is utterly devastated when she finds out, especially when she realizes that she doesn’t have the power for several days to swap them back. Keigetsu still has a tendency to feel that everything she has achieved is thanks to Reirin, and even more so, that everything bad that’s happened to Reirin is her fault, leading to her literally saying “let’s stop being friends” at one point. Keigetsu, of course, fails to realize that she is the best thing in Reirin’s life right now. One of the funnier scenes in this book is seeing Gyoumei trying his damndest to talk to Reirin via Keigetsu’s fire every day, and realizing, as does Keishou, that Reirin honestly is just not that into him – or anyone, really. Again, this isn’t yuri, but if there’s anyone Reirin is interested in most at the moment, it’s Keigetsu.

Fortunately, the fact that there’s been another body swap, as well as Keigetsu literally begging Reirin to live, makes things better for the moment. Though I’ve no doubt that Reirin’s chronic illness is the series’ final boss. In any case, next time, it’s Reirin’s time to fight back. And we all know what that means. There’s going to be utter chaos. Highly recommended, and I hope the anime is good.

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 7

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame.

The strength of this series does tend to be the fact that, in regards to everything except his own attractiveness to women, Nukumizu is a pretty savvy guy. While you want to beat his head in with a shovel during casual, downtime moments, when the chips are down and you’re having a crisis, he will be the one that’s there to offer the best thing to say that will make all your problem feel like they’re in focus. Unfortunately, it won’t make all your problems go away, and in other respects, as the girls note, Nukumizu is the worst. Not only is he absolutely a sucker for a pretty face, something his matter-of-fact narration denies but is obvious regardless, but he has hung out with all these insane losing heroines for so long that he will naturally assist them even if the idea is not only lunacy but literally illegal. If their teachers weren’t there this would be the final volume as they’d be expelled.

It’s the start of the new school year, and the literature club is in trouble. After a disastrous club presentation, none of the first years will give them the time of day, and without a fifth member they’re disbanded. Fortunately, their advisor has a first-year who will join… except somehow she’s already serving a two-week suspension. Riko Shiratama is cute and nice, and the guys love her, while the girls… don’t love her as much, but don’t despise her yet. Unfortunately, she has a problem. You see, her childhood crush is getting married, and it’s not to her, so she’s actually… a losing heroine! As such, Nukumizu is quick to offer the club’s help to let her get over her issues. Even if that means breaking and entering. Which she’s already been arrested for once already.

Riko makes a good addition to the cast, essentially being Kaju only without the incest, and she also reminds me of the new first-year in Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, in that she’s a lot more straightforward and honest about her feelings than the rest of the cast, and that means she’s going to make a lot of them very unhappy. Elsewhere, assuming your favorite isn’t Lemon, who’s barely in this because she had the last book, you should be pretty happy. Chika is a wreck, Kaju is obsessed and creepy, Shikiya is going to try to airhead her way into being married to Nukumizu, etc. As with a lot of these “balanced harem” series, though, the balance can be off, and if your favorite isn’t Anna, you may not like how I suspect this series would end if the author weren’t a coward. Anna gets several long scenes, both comedic and serious, with Nukumizu, and she identifies so much with Riko’s crush that she even genuinely loses weight in order to help. You could argue she and Nukumizu would be very bad for each other, but I mean, what series are you reading again?

All this plus the student council president seducing women while dressed as a man. Next is the eighth….. no it’s not. Short story collection? Short story collection.

Reforming an Icy Final Boss: Getting Back at the Self-Proclaimed Villainess with the Power of Friendship, Vol. 2

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By Takamedou and Nemusuke. Released in Japan as “”Jishou Akuyaku Reijou” ni Korosareta Last Boss no Yarinaoshi: Bocchi na Reitetsu Koujo wa, Dai Ni no Jinsei de Riajuu wo Mezashimasu” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Sheldon Drzka.

The famous Bible quote “the sins of the father are visited upon the son” can apply to daughters as well, and it certainly does here. Milly may be doing her best to make friends, show off, and live her best second life, but her father Kyle is still regarded by everyone as the absolute worst, and he is certainly not above destroying families because he’s in a bad mood. As such, no one wants to be close friends with Milly except those who know her really well – why risk it? What’s more, it turns out that her life is still in danger, mostly because there’s someone else trying to change the current timeline. Not, I hasten to add, because they’re another person who remembers the otome game. No, they just remember the first timeline, and they think the country is headed to ruin and Milly is helping it.

Milly is a bit stressed. She still hasn’t made friends beyond the Student Council and the girls she saved from Angelina’s evil plan in Book 1. And since final exams are upon them soon, there’s no time to make them. Fortunately, she’s good at studying, so can help the others, even if they may not really want her to. And then there’s her class, who are still terrified of her… at least until they see how adorably socially awkward she is, whereupon they fold like card tables. She’s even getting closer to her father, who she still sees as evil incarnate, but who we the reader see is simply very overprotective and even more socially awkward than she is. Will she be able to take first place in exams and get the First Dance at the next ball? Wait, isn’t Angelina still around? And is she the ONLY villain?

Last time I said I wanted to see more of Kyle, Milly’s father, and we do get a lot more of him here. The reason this plot is happening at all is that he’s got so much power, and the future shows him betraying the country, which almost destroys the country. Unfortunately, Milly is not really dealing with that end of the problem, focusing instead on not having everyone at school not care if she gets brutally murdered. She’s also still not great at picking up social cues. She gets that Ike hates her, and wants to fix it, but she hasn’t noticed that there’s someone else in the Council who remains cool to her, and that becomes a big issue. Also, the Council very quickly learns that “we want to keep this quiet so we’ll just keep her under house arrest” is not a great move if she, y’know, escapes. On the bright side, possibly as this is mostly not from the webnovel, Milly’s characterization is more consistent – not too stoic or too goofy.

This is a Dre Novels series, so I assume it will end with Vol. 3, which I don’t believe is out yet. Milly, talk to your father.

Manga the Week of 4/1/26

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SEAN: It’s a Marchey, Apriley sort of week.

ASH: That it is.

SEAN: Airship’s print title is the 13th volume of Failure Frame.

For early digital we debut Classroom of the Elite: Year 3 (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e: 3-Nensei-hen), the sequel to the first two years, which explores what to do when the protagonist is now your enemy.

Also early digital: Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex 2 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 16.

Cross Infinite World has a new one-shot, The Brooding Duke’s Guide to the Lie-Detecting Lady (Fukigen na Koushaku-sama wa Uso Hakkenki Tsuki Reijou no Torisetsu wo Goshomou desu: Ophelia ni wa Uso wa Tsukenai). A girl who can tell is someone is lying… and thus her life among petty nobles is a living hell… is recruited by her crush the Duke to ferret out vice.

ASH: I feel like I’ve read something else along these lines recently, but can’t quite recall what it was.

MICHELLE: Usotoki Rhetoric, perhaps?

ASH: Oh, right! That’s the one.

SEAN: CIW also has Breaking Up Was the Plan, the Duke Falling For the Villainess Was Not! 2 and Dinners with My Darling 3.

Drawn and Quarterly has a 5th volume in their Complete Yoshiharu Tsuge library. He Rolled Me Up Like a Grilled Squid collects stories from the mid-late 1970s.

ASH: This series has been so good.

SEAN: Ize Press has the 3rd volume of the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint novel, as well as Radio Storm 4.

No debuts for J-Novel Club. For light novels we get DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 12, Long Story Short, I’m Living in the Mountains 5, Peddler in Another World 12, and The Tanaka Family Reincarnates 6.

And for manga, we get Demon Lord, Retry! R 10, Fushi no Kami 9, The Invincible Little Lady 12, A Late-Start Tamer’s Laid-Back Life 9, and What’s with the Bag, Kamiyama-san? 2.

Kodama is putting out Sun-Ken Rock: Perfect Edition. The digital version had come out here years ago, but now it’s in print. Delinquent Japanese guy chases a girl to Korea and winds up in the Korean mafia. This is classic Boichi.

ASH: This should make some people happy.

SEAN: They also have Baki the Grappler 13 and 14 and Me and the Alien Mumu 2.

Kodansha Manga debuts Fruit of the Underworld (Meiou no Zakuro), the latest title from Aya Kanno. This runs in Champion Cross. A young man fell into a well as a child, and since then has been cursed with bad luck. But when he tries to get rid of what he thinks led to the bad luck, he finds himself in a much worse situation.

MICHELLE: Huh. Aya Kanno does shounen.

ASH: I’m looking forward to giving it a try!

ANNA: I’m curious!

SEAN: There’s also Dragon Head Omnibus 2, Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards 8, Omega Megaera 3, Senpai is an Otokonoko 5, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 21, Shangri-La Frontier 21, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime 29, and Wistoria: Wand and Sword 12.

ASH: I should really give Dragon Head a re-read.

SEAN: Digitally we get The God-Tier Guardian and the Love of Six Princesses 17.

Seven Seas’ one debut is When a Clueless First-Person Shooter Player Falls into Another World (Manuke na FPS Player ga Isekai e Ochita Baai), a seinen manga from Young Ace Up! based on the light novel they’re releasing digital only. The manga has print, though. Gun guy ends up in RPG fantasy world.

Other manga from Seven Seas: CALL TO ADVENTURE! Defeating Dungeons with a Skill Board 11, Chillin’ in Another World with Level 2 Super Cheat Powers 12, Drugstore in Another World 12, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 8, Dungeon People 6, Grand Metal Organs 2, Headhunted to Another World 10, His Majesty the Demon King’s Housekeeper 12, Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable! Omnibus 2, The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate 2 (the final volume), Made in Abyss 14, Magic Artisan Dahlia Wilts No More 8, The Masterful Cat Is Depressed Again Today 11, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Elma’s Office Lady Diary 10, Miss Kobayashi’s Dragon Maid: Kanna’s Daily Life 14, Nakamura-san, the Uninvited Gyaru 5, and Reborn as a Space Mercenary 10.

ASH: That’s a fair amount!

SEAN: Titan Manga has Villain Actor 2.

Tokyopop has a 2nd volume of Fated NOT to Meet.

And Udon Entertainment has Hidetaka Tenjin’s Artistry of Gundam, an artbook.

ASH: Udon’s artbooks are generally solid, quality-wise.

SEAN: And that’s it for a very Marchey, Apriley sort of list. Did something catch your eye?

MICHELLE: Not much, honestly.

ANNA: Yep, more time to get caught up on things!

Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! St. Evelyn’s Weird and Wonderful Friends, Vol. 2

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By Harunadon and Kurodeko. Released in Japan as “Tsuihousareta Seijo desu ga, Jitsu wa Kunijuu kara Aisaresugitete Kowain desu kedo!?” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Camilla L.

It can be difficult for me to do a review of a title that relies so much on just being funny. We aren’t really going to get much in the way of ongoing plot, and while there is character development, it’s not really why folks would want to read this book. This book is read for the laughs. Watching Evelyn suffer, seeing her misunderstand, seeing everyone else just completely losing their minds when she supposedly vanishes, and of course everything about the curse and its aftereffects that we get in this volume. The translator must have had a ball, as there a whole lot of puns that will make even the most inveterate jokester feel a bit sheepish. (Ahem.) Fortunately, there is a dramatic nugget to grab a hold of here, and it’s actually very interesting. It also involves a new character who is, rest assured, just as weird as the others, but can also give Evelyn something she desperately needs – a mother figure.

Evelyn is going through some tough times. She’s trying to learn how to be a proper noble lady, after years of only having to be The Saint. The problem is, she’s not very good at dancing, posture, etc. The bigger problem is all her tutors insists she’s perfect, they have nothing to teach her, and then they quit. Kira is the only one who seems to recognize that she’s upset at all this. So she decides to run away for a bit, taking Kira with her and leaving a note to explain things. Unfortunately, she tried to write the note in poetic language, which means folks think she ran off to commit suicide. She actually ends up at the shore of a lake, one with gorgeous scenery, a mysterious curse, and Europa’s mother, who has a tendency to pass out at the drop of a hat but is otherwise exactly what you’d expect from a light novel mother. She’s called Mamaropa, because of course she is.

There’s some other interesting things in this book, particularly the unexpected friendship (and maybe more? Yuri?) between Theodore’s younger sister Karin and Evelyn’s evil sister Mary, who is still a bit of a brat but is now far less evil thanks to Karin’s tutelage. But the main reason I enjoyed this is seeing Evelyn and Mamaropa interact. Evelyn’s issues in this book stem from one very specific problem – almost everyone in her life puts her on a pedestal, and refuses to tell her she’s doing anything wrong. She needs family guidance, and her family are either dead or mostly still bad people. Mamaropa is very silly (it is a comedy book), and the Mommy jokes can wear a bit thin, but she doesn’t talk to Evelyn like she’s The Beloved Saint, and may even manage to teach her – we’ll see, a third book is coming. Technically there’s also Kira, and he does function as a little brother, but he has to be there to be the tsukkomi when Evelyn can’t do it herself, so he’s too busy.

I think I enjoyed this a bit more than the first book. Assuming you don’t mind – I emphasize once more – this being very, very silly, it’s a fun read.

The Trials and Tribulations of My Next Life As a Noblewoman: A Ray of Hope, Part 1

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By Kamihara and Shiro46. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijo to Sūki na Jinsei o” by Hayakawa Shobo. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Hengtee Lim.

The one thing that I think has surprised me most about this series is its dedication to the “My Next Life” part of the title. Let’s face it, in a LOT of these types of series with, if not a villainess, at least a villainess shape, the actual reincarnated from Japan part sometimes gets forgotten. Deliberately so, in many cases – like the male counterparts, a lot of writers write villainess books because people will read that. Trials and Tribulations, though, has quietly continued to point out Karen and Ern’s isekai life, even when it already has a ton of other plot that it could more simply focus on. Last time we saw that Ern was bringing modern guns and gunpowder into a world not ready for it, and the genie really isn’t going back into that bottle. This time, we see there was a country of reincarnators. It even talks about how the original soul “dies” and is replaced with the otherworld one. This series remains a LOT.

As you’d expect, Karen is not doing well after the events of the last book, and ends up in her bedroom basically falling deeper and deeper into depression. Fortunately, she has an angry but kind-hearted tsundere to drag her out and force her to deal with life again. And she also has Reinald, who is not angry or tsundere but is still quietly very interested in her, though she does come far behind his ultimate goal. Karen, though, has far TOO much to deal with. Ern’s parents are being banished for being the parents of a traitor, and while they understandably are a bit pissed at Karen, they also give her a secret message. This allows Karen to discover Ern’s legacy, which can be seen on the cover art but which we’re not quite sure what’s it’s for yet. Six definitely seems to think it’s for him, though. Oh yes, and she’s getting honored by the Emperor for blowing her best friend’s brains out. As one does.

This book is filled with my favorite thing in the series, which is Karen’s matter of fact narration about herself and everything else, followed by someone asking if she could possibly have reactions like a real person. They’d love to see the part early on when she finally gets a delivery of rice, and she’s so overjoyed when she eats she starts to cry. Again, this series has not forgotten its isekai beats. As for Karen and Reinald, I do still think the series is working its way towards them being, if not married, at least engaged by the end. But wow, it’s making me work for that, as that’s quite a Napoleonic goal Reinald has. And it’s so very, very Karen for her advice to him being “why stop there?”. These two absolutely deserve each other. And that’s terrible.

The main flaw of this book is that it is, of course, only half a book. Presumably the subtitle will make more sense after the second part. Still great, though.

The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods, Vol. 3

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By Yanagi and Yoh Hihara. Released in Japan as “Mori no Hashikko no Chibi Majo-san” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Nathan Macklem.

There’s a famous early episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye tries to save a patient but fails, and is despondent about it. Henry Blake, in a rare serious turn, says that the first thing he learned in the war was two rules. Rule #1: Young men die. Rule #2: Doctors can’t change Rule #1. This third volume of Tiny Witch is very much about teaching Misha that lesson, as she goes through all the worst things a doctor – sorry, apothecary – can go through. There’s a pandemic that she finds near impossible to solve, people blame her for it and even attack her at one point, and even once she helps to find an answer, some people still die from it and her relationship with the survivors will never be the same. Being an apothecary is not just handing out magic medicine that makes everyone better. Sometimes people die. Misha does learn this lesson, but there are a lot of tears and breakdowns afoot here.

Misha is having a lot of fun at the Kingdom of Redford. She’s helped the princess regain some of her health, she’s made friends with the local children, and she even gets to walk around a town festival. Unfortunately, then those same kids come to tell her that one of them is sick. Along with her grandmother. And the sickness turns out to be very familiar – it’s the plague that almost destroyed the kingdom a generation ago. Now she has to try to solve what others couldn’t before, and without any other help… or so she thinks, but fortunately, some allies arrive to remind her that while the elves (cough) sorry, People of the Forest are loners who tend not to get involved in other people’s business, they will actually help her if she needs help. Even more fortunately, friends she made along the way in the first book turn out to be more valuable than she thought.

This is very much both a “Misha grows up” volume and also a reminder that Misha is not grown up yet, and also has had a lot of trauma in the past. As it turns out, and I’m sure this won’t become relevant in a later book, the woman who set up the death of Misha’s mother, who was confined to an asylum, has escaped. Her friend tries to ask if it’s OK to tell her the information, but the mere reminder of the incident sends Misha into a panic attack. Because she’s good at remaining outwardly nice and friendly, it’s hard to tell sometimes how she’s barely holding it together, and the plague absolutely does not help. By the end of the book, she’s the definition of sadder but wiser, especially with the children she made friends with, who now see her and can’t help but think “she promised to save my granny but did not”. Misha, think of those you did save as well.

The end of this book suggests that we will spend the next several books stuck in the People of the Forest’s closed-off village, and I am 100% sure that’s not going to happen, so it will be interesting to see how that gets derailed. Till then, this is a very solid fantasy.