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ATLAS: Her, the Combatant, and Him, the Hero, Vol. 1

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By John Rohman and ttl. Released in North America by J-Novel Club.

This is another of the J-Novel Club Original Light Novel contest winners. In fact, this is the Grand Prize Winner. That said, I had put it off, mostly as the description made it seem sort of futuristic sci-fi dystopia, which is generally not my genre. And it certainly is that genre, but there’s more going on here than that. This is a story of two seemingly ordinary people who really aren’t, forced into a role that emphasizes how special they actually are. There’s a lot of prejudice and class struggle in this world (we see that on the “her” side), but even if you are comparatively privileged you can still end up being forced into things by those richer and more powerful than you (the “him” side). Of course, there’s also things familiar to light novel/anime fans here. Super sentai armor, lots of cool shonen battles, and powers that remind me a whole lot of My Hero Academia. That said, the main reason to read the book are her and him. They’re great characters, and even better when they interact with each other.

Calli is a young woman struggling to get a job in his world that is very prejudiced against those with her hair and skin. She’s a Stratan, and got an opportunity to make something of herself, which she is trying to do so she doesn’t have to crawl back home as a failure. Unfortunately, all she can find is temp work, and her co-workers mostly hate her on sight. Then she’s offered a special job. Meanwhile, Genesis is a young man who’s in charge of a loading dock where an explosion occurs. He got everyone out without injury, miraculously. A bit TOO miraculously, though, and the richest man in the city took note of it and wonders if he’s hiding a secret. A secret that might also give him a different job. Can these two people who end up opposing each other find common ground? And can you really meet cute when you’re a cop and a terrorist – sort of?

I won’t lie, this book starts slow as it serves up its worldbuilding, and I found the flashfoward at the start (which we never catch up to) somewhat pointless. But it gets better as it goes along, especially when it gets to the first big action sequence on the train. The best scene, though, is when Calli and Genesis meet cute for the SECOND time, and finally give in and decide to go grab some pizza. What ensues is a fantastic conversation as the two of them try to bitch about their respective new jobs without giving anything away… all while not realizing that they’d been desperately fighting each other earlier that day. Despite essentially being a terrorist for the money, Calli has a good head on her shoulders and cares about people, but she knows that sometimes you have to survive. As for Genesis, he wants to be a real hero, but finds his job doesn’t want that, and also some of the most famous heroes out there are just in it so they can beat the shit out of “bad guys”. Ideals are tough.

This ends the way most contest winners do, I assume, as it has enough of an ending to satisfy while still clearly promising more. I enjoyed her. And him.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 11

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By mikawaghost and tomari. Released in Japan as “Tomodachi no Imouto ga Ore ni dake Uzai” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Alexandra Owen-Burns.

It’s been well over two years since the last volume of this series, and that volume was a massive flashback, so it’s actually been almost three years since we were last dealing with Akiteru’s confrontation with Iroha’s mother. Since then an anime has been announced and is currently airing (I’m not watching it, but I don’t think it’s setting the world on fire). Also since then we’ve had just this book. The author apologizes for it taking so long (it was two and a half years between 10 and 11 in Japan). Fortunately, it’s a very solid volume, which mostly goes how I thought it would, but also contains a few surprises. The surprises are not related to Iroha, who honestly takes this a lot better than I’d expected. No, it’s something unrelated to the game or to Iroha’s voice acting, it’s Mashiro’s writing. In which we learn what happens when producers decide to adapt something into an anime without actually enjoying the work itself.

The confrontation between Iroha’s mother and Iroha’s crush ends pretty much as you’d expect. Amachi agrees to let Iroha continue to do her acting work… but she’ll be the one managing her career. He has to stay out of it. Possibly realizing that this is never going to work as long as he’s literally next door, Akiteru thus decides to vanish from everyone’s life… though in reality he asks for a temporary job at Canary’s book publisher, where he gains valuable experience at how deal making works in the land of adults. Unfortunately, only Canary knows he’s there, so the rest of the cast are feeling rather bereft. Iroha at least has a new job she’s doing providing multiple voices for a VTuber project… but when Mashiro is told that the anime team wants to change her anti-bullying revenge fantasy so there’s no revenge and the bullies don’t get harmed, she goes completely to pieces.

As I said, the most startling scene in this whole book for me was the fact that Mashiro showed up for the meeting with the anime team with a gun in her pocket. Yes, it was a model gun that doesn’t shoot, but still. Her yakuza fantasy may have helped her get through the meeting without breaking down, but it did not stop her breaking down after. Actually, “after” may be the biggest flaw with this volume – it feels like it was being written to a page count. There are several plot points (Mashiro, Akiteru’s schooling) where I wish we’d gotten a bit more closure than we did. We did get some great background on Canary, though, which reminds us that sometimes when you work in an industry where you promote others, and you screw up, you can destroy lives that are not yours. I also enjoyed Akiteru being reminded “your uncle is famous, so throw his name around a bit”. Sometimes being an adult means not being straight and narrow all the time.

This author loves to start new series, and start new series that get anime adaptations, so it may be a while before we get the 12th book. That said, with the new events here, I don’t think it’s wrapping up soon anymore.

Pick of the Week: Bullets, Bastards, and Darkness

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SEAN: This one may be a bit more angsty than I usually like, but I don’t care, I absolutely have to read Love Bullet to see what the buzz is about!

MICHELLE: I find that I’m in the mood for exploring haunted sites, so it’s The Ghostly Darkness of Kanata for me, this week.

ASH: I am definitely interested in both of those series, but I can’t help but add The Magnificent Bastard into the mix, too; I simply can’t miss Tetsuo Hara’s version of Maeda Keiji.

KATE: The Ghostly Darkness of Kanata seems like something I might dig, so that’s my PoTW!

In Another World with Household Spells, Vol. 3

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By Rika and HIROKAZU. Released in Japan as “Isekai ni Kita kedo, Seikatsu Mahou shika Tsukaemasen” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

There is a Looney Tunes cartoon called The Big Snooze, and at one point Elmer Fudd is running through a hollow log and Bugs Bunny positions it so he runs out of it off a cliff into midair. Elmer realizes what has happened, stares at the viewer, and turns into a lollipop with a hunter’s cap, with the word ‘SUCKER’ written on the lollipop. He then quickly scrambles from midair back to the log to run through it. Bugs merely flips the log 180 degrees so that this happens again. Elmer then turns into a ‘SUCKER’ again, and runs back to try a third time. This time he tests it first, discovers there’s ground, and runs back to get a head start… at which point Bugs flips the log again. The reason I mention all this is that Patience Granger is the Elmer Fudd of this scenario. She spends the entire book not wanting to do things and then ending up doing them anyway just because everyone’s just too assertive for her.

Patience is very, very busy this school year. She’s already doing a double track with home ec and civil service, but there’s also a lot of magic/alchemy related stuff she wants to do, as her goal is to make money so that her family can stop being so poor and she can provide for her adorable brothers. (Yes, the shotacon thing has not gone away, I’m ignoring it.) Unfortunately, Princess Margaret’s girl posse all hate her, Prince Keith can’t say anything to her without sticking his foot in his mouth, the alchemy club is trying really really hard to get her to join, the music club is asking her to write an opera, and the entire curriculum has changed to become far more practical, much to the horror of noble ladies who find they will have to sew their own ballgowns. And then there’s the Knight Club, whose new president is taking this a bit too far, and this may lead to the end of the club…

Much to my relief, despite hints in the 2nd book, no one is going dungeon crawling just yet. Indeed, this is a very school-oriented book, though I suspect the author has a bit of a grudge against mandatory education, as Patience (who has her past memories and also OP magic that everyone underestimates) ends up essentially passing most of her classes for the year in the first week. This allows her to meet the alchemists, who are generally regarded as weird creeps, and not without reason, but they also help her to create lamps with dimmer switches, and possibly even washing machines in the future. That said, when Margaret and Keith say Patience is painfully naive, they’re not wrong. She’s blind to Keith’s crush on her, as well as several other characters who are ready to propose. (Also, Patience, who is supposed to be far shorter than her peers, is 149 cm, which is… average for an 11-year-old girl?) Basically, Patience might want to take a bit less herbology and magic circles and a bit more “how noble society functions”.

This was VERY nerd-heavy and education-heavy, but assuming you don’t mind either, it’s a good read. Also, author, just because you have Patience realize she’s being a sucker doesn’t make it less true.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book Three: Sea of Wind, Shore of the Labyrinth

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By Fuyumi Ono and Akihiro Yamada. Released in Japan as “Juni Kokuki: Kaze no Umi, Meikyū no Kishi” by X Bunko White Heart. Released in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment. Translated by Kim Morrissy. Adapted by Monica Sullivan.

So I’m sure that after the events of the first two books, everyone is ready to dig in and find out how Youko settles in to her new ruling status. Well, hate to break it to you, but not only is Youko not in this book at all, but the entire volume takes place prior to the first two, and deals with a completely different kingdom. As I noted in the last review, the books are not called Twelve Kingdoms for nothing. That said, despite the fact that we get a new protagonist, a lot of this may feel very familiar. We see someone who grew up in Japan suddenly yanked to this world, where they’re forced to try to figure things out that everyone else assumes are either common sense or just come naturally. Youko dealt with this mostly through fury and increased paranoia. Taiki deals with it through depression and increased anxiety.

Up on Mount Hou, everyone is awaiting the birth of the new kirin, who will be the one to choose the next ruler of the country of Tai. Unfortunately, a storm blows the fruit containing the unborn Taiki off to god knows where. Ten years later, Kaname is an unhappy boy who lives with his family but can’t seem to please them, especially his strict grandmother. Then one day while standing outside in the snow as punishment, he sees a pair of arms reaching out from nowhere, and when he goes to investigate he finds himself on Hou Mountain. He *is* the missing kirin, and Tai needs a leader post haste, so he’s got to become a full-fledged kirin and choose the new leader. Unfortunately, kirin is a very instinctual position learned from birth, and since Taiki lived in Japan for ten years, he has none of that instinct. Good thing there aren’t also crushing expectations! Oh, wait, there are.

Despite the previous paragraph, this is a book with a great deal of heart. Taiki gets a lifelong familiar, Sanshi who sort of acts as a combination pet/mother/bodyguard. The sages of Mount Hou are all very nice to him… possibly they spoil him, but let’s face it, after passive abuse for ten years, Taiki needs a bit of spoiling. I really liked Youka, who we first meet ten years prior as a neophyte who still can’t find her way around the labyrinthian mountain, but who is also the best older sister for Taiki once he arrives. Taiki definitely feels like a ten-year-old with crippling anxiety throughout the book, so it’s good to see when he finally gets what a kirin needs to do, or when he’s actually enjoying and smiling over something. And for those who are sad about the fact that the first two books are in the future, Keiki is a supporting character here – indeed, he and Taiki bonding, and Keiki thus becoming less stoic and nicer, might be what leads to the troubles from the first two books.

So do we get a whole new cast next time? Not quite. The King of En has been supporting in both the first arc and the second, and the next book will look at his relationship with his own kirin. Till then, this is a wonderful fantasy series, highly recommended to everyone.

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Vol. 7

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By Matsuri Isora and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Silent Witch” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

This book’s pacing reminded me a bit of Tearmoon Empire. The first half is mostly action and big magic, as the Sages face off against one of their own. The second half, though, essentially starts a new arc, as Monica investigates Felix’s past and his upbringing. It should be overbalanced towards the former, which very much has a big action feel to it. But the latter half of the book makes the series feel like it’s actually gearing up towards an ending. Now, technically it isn’t, as the 11th volume is due out in Japan soon. But there are plotlines that you can’t drag on forever, and the biggest of these is who Felix really is, why Duke Clockford feels he can be used as a puppet, and what’s the story behind the execution of Monica’s father. As for romance? That’s thin on the ground here, as Monica spends most of the book annoyed that you cannot simply turn love into a mathematical formula, and if anything Lana is the one she’s closest to right now. (No, not like that.)

When we last left Monica, she, along with the other sages, was in the forest trying to find a way to get to the Gem Sage Emanuel Darwin, whose artifact is sending out clockwork soldiers and also can command spirits – such as Ryn, who is now attacking them. By splitting up and playing to their strengths, they’re able to save Cyril and Glenn, who are currently trapped in the thick of all this, as well as take care of the artifact and send the Gem Mage packing with his tail between his legs. Unfortunately, we also learn that Louis seems to be trusting Monica even less, and worries that she will in fact side with Duke Clockford because of her relationship with Felix. Also unfortunately, once Monica gets home, she finds that once again someone has infiltrated her attic bedroom – and this time it’s Bridget.

Now, readers of this series may be asking themselves, who is Bridget again? Since being introduced in the first book as part of the student council, Bridget has done somewhere between fuck and all, mostly serving as a signpost of “this jealous girl will be activated when a button is pressed, but no one is pressing it”. Fortunately, not only does she finally get things to do, but it turns out that she’s far more interesting than that, and that her backstory ties into Felix’s (which we expected) but is also fairly tragic (which we didn’t), and that she is absolutely not a rival for the affections of Felix now… if that is indeed Felix. More and more it’s looking like at some point around when he was eight years old, the gentle, sickly, cute but pathetic Felix was somehow turned into the handsome, capable, cool with ladies Felix we have now. Bridget may not have found an answer she wanted, but Monica did, and what she does next…

…will presumably come up in Book 8. Which we won’t get till after the next volume of the Louis spinoff. Still, this was a solid Silent Witch, and I am very happy to welcome Bridget to the cast.

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 17

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By Kisetsu Morita and Benio. Released in Japan as “Slime Taoshite 300 Nen, Shiranai Uchi ni Level MAX ni Nattemashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Tristan Hill.

I will admit that I never thought that I would be comparing the meandering, Cute Girls Doing Cute Things, decidedly ambivalent to romance despite its yuri fanbase I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 3400 Years to the energetic, Anything Can Happen, very very bisexual and horny series The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You, but here we are, they both tend to handle their casts the same way. Both have a cast that is simply too large to juggle everyone all the time. So 100 Girlfriends will see Rentaro going out on a date with four of his girlfriends, and a footnote will say “the others were busy and couldn’t make it”. Likewise, Azusa will always be involved in the wacky antics of the short story, but the supporting cast and expand or contract depending on the needs of the author. Which is good, as I tend to have a lot of trouble remembering who is who in 300 Slimes beyond the ones who live in the house.

The stories: 1) Flatorte goes to visit her parents, and the rest of the house residents come with. They end up babysitting a neighbor’s blue dragon child, which causes havoc as they have no idea how to deal with baby blue dragons; 2) Sandra has a flower grow on top of her head, and attracts attention, both good and bad; 3) Pecora feels her idol singing career is in a rut, so goes on a training camp, and forces Azusa to come; 4) Vania needs to get her Leviathan Flying License renewed, and forces Azusa to come along; 5) A demigod escapes from the underground and starts creating magical girls… pardon me, magical gurus; 6) Pecora is horrified to find a demonic sweets company is making knockoffs of Azusa’s edible slimes, and forces her to fix the problem; and the after story, starring Wynona, she goes to learn magic from Wizly, but finds that she’s actually a genius.

As you can see by the short stories, a lot of these involve pushy characters forcing Azusa to do things to advance the plot. This is the danger of having a passive character as the lead. Azusa is immortal, can defeat almost everyone in the world, and is quite content to hang at her cottage on the hill with her family and have nothing happen to her. This is very undramatic. Fortunately, other characters do seem to be growing, if only a little, in this series where even the author admits they cannot actually have dramatic events. Flatorte is noticeably more mature in the stories that feature her doing more than eating, and if folks had listened to her a bit more, the first story would have gone much easier. Likewise, while Halkara has her drunkard moments, she’s allowed to also be very intelligent and innovative. It’s nice to see in a series where nothing usually happens.

Look at that, 500 words. I have defeated another volume. See you next time.

Manga the Week of 12/10/25

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SEAN: December II: The December Strikes Back.

We start off with Ablaze, which has a 6th volume of Gannibal.

Airship has print releases of The Devil Princess 2 and A Tale of the Secret Saint 9.

The digital debut is Betrothed to My Sister’s Ex (Zutaboro Reijou wa Ane no Moto Konyakusha ni Dekiai Sareru), which has already had an anime. A girl who grows up with her sister being given all the nice things suddenly finds herself engaged after her sister is killed in an accident. But then it turns out the engagement is a misunderstanding. What’s really going on here? From what I hear, this is another “it turns out being raised as an abused child is bad, actually” Cinderella story.

ASH: Who would have thought!

SEAN: Also digital: I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 10.

Dark Horse Comics is releasing Lone Wolf and Cub again. They promise that THIS deluxe hardcover will be the last, honest. OK, no, they don’t. But we can hope. This is what, the 6th, 7th time?

ASH: I’ll admit to being tempted to triple-dip as this edition looks like it should be excellent.

SEAN: Ghost Ship has Parallel Paradise 24.

J-Novel Club has a pile of print. The debut is My Quiet Blacksmith Life in Another World (Kajiya de Hajimeru Isekai Slow Life), a classic slow life title. Guy dies, is reincarnated as a quiet, normal profession… but things keep happening to him.

ASH: Probably because he has skills.

SEAN: There’s also Ascendance of a Bookworm: Short Story Collection 2, the first volume of the 4th arc of the Ascendance of a Bookworm manga, By the Grace of the Gods 15, Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 5, Gushing Over Magical Girls 6, Invaders of the Rokujouma!? Collector’s Edition 13, the 3rd Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World manga, and the 12th The Unwanted Undead Adventurer manga.

ASH: I appreciate your clarification regarding exactly which Bookworm volume is being talked about here.

SEAN: Digitally, J-Novel Club has light novels for The Banished Former Hero Lives As He Pleases 6, D-Genesis Side Stories, From Villainess to Healer 6, Pens Down Swords Up 4, and The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes 10.

For manga, they have The Faraway Paladin 14, Flung into a New World? Time to Lift the 200-Year Curse! 4, and I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! 8.

ASH: For a moment there, my brain crossed How Heavy Are the Dumbbells You Lift? with lifting 200-year curses, which honestly are probably pretty heavy.

ANNA: I am guessing this already exists as a light novel. Something like “Maxing out my Gains Weight Training with 200-year old Curses in Another World, Despite the Fact that I’m Just a Middle Manager With No Skills, Although my Personal Trainer May Be a Bi-Curious Vampire Assassin.”

SEAN: Kodansha Manga debuts The Magnificent Bastard (Hana no Keiji: Kumo no Kanata ni), a historical drama from the writer of Fist of the North Star that ran in the early 1990s in Weekly Shonen Jump (yes, I know, it’s now owned by Kodansha). Gutsoon tried to put this out before dying, now we’re trying again. This tells the story of historical samurai Maeda Keiji, but I bet heads explode somewhere. This will be in 2-volume omnibuses.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ASH: Surprising no one, I can be counted as interested.

ANNA: Manly manga! I like the title.

SEAN: Technically also a debut, Girlfriend, Girlfriend is getting an omnibus re-release.

Also in print: The Fable Omnibus 11 (the final volume), The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity 10, I Want to Love You Till Your Dying Day 6, Issak Omnibus 4, Mobile Suit Gundam: THE ORIGIN Deluxe 3, A Kingdom of Quartz 4, Sailor Moon Manga Box Set Vol. 7-10 (Naoko Takeuchi Collection), Teppu 3, and WIND BREAKER 17.

ASH: Still need to get around to reading Issak.

ANNA: Oh my, me too!

SEAN: Digitally we get Fall in Love You False Angels 4, Gang King 36, Giant Killing 52, How I Met My Soulmate 5, I Have a Crush at Work 12, and With You and the Rain 8.

MICHELLE: Someday, Giant Killing. Someday.

SEAN: One Peace Books gives us My Death Flags Show No Sign of Ending 2.

Seven Seas somehow has no danmei next week, but they have a Korean BL light novel with KinnPorsche 5.

ASH: So close, and yet!

SEAN: In manga/manhua/manhwa, Seven Seas debuts BOSS, BXTCH, BABY, a BL webtoon. A man deep into debt gets rescued by a rich eccentric who says he’ll cover the debt if the man becomes his plaything for a year.

Chainsmoker Cat (Yani Neko) is a seinen title from Young Magazine. A catgirl is not only addicted to smoking, but a complete mess in every way. Can her friends make her better? (No.)

MICHELLE: I lol’d.

SEAN: And they also have an omnibus version of Hokkaido Gals Are Super Adorable!.

Also from Seven Seas: 100 Ghost Stories That Will Lead to My Own Death 4, Gene Bride 3, How NOT to Summon a Demon Lord 23, Mii-chan Wants to Be Kept 3, No Longer Allowed In Another World 10, Otaku Elf 10, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 21, World End Solte 4, and You Like Me, Not My Daughter?! 7.

Square Enix Manga gives us Always a Catch! 5, Daemons of the Shadow Realm 9, and My Isekai Life 22.

Steamship has Don’t Hold Back, Lord Hades 2.

SuBLime debuts Trickster’s Tale: Hu Yan Zhuan, a BL title from KiR Comics. Half-demon. Sage. Theirs is a forbidden love.

ASH: That’s a thing that happens sometimes.

SEAN: They also give us Black or White 11 and Finder Deluxe Edition 14.

ASH: It’s been a long time since I’ve thought about Finder!

ANNA: Wow, yeah!

SEAN: Titan Manga debuts a horror title, The Ghostly Darkness of Kanata (Yuuyami no Kanata). This runs in Comic Boost. A young woman, after a certain encounter, loses her ability to feel fear. To solve this problem, she starts going to haunted sites.

MICHELLE: This has reminded me of Ghost Hunt, which is a good thing!

ASH: Not a bad premise at all.

ANNA: Indeed!

SEAN: Three debuts for Tokyopop. Are they all BL titles that run in from RED? About a Love Song is. A musician struggling to write songs has a one-night stand with his co-worker… who turns out to be in high school! Now he’s trying to wait until graduation, but his lover is quite forward.

ASH: Music and BL tends to be a good combo for me.

SEAN: Fox and Puppy, a sequel to Star and Hedgehog, is also from from RED. A free (and bisexual) editor has a good work relationship with his author, but what happens when he’s caught with another man?

Yes! It’s a trifecta, and I swear I didn’t check in advance. My Noons and Midnights Are for You (Mayonaka no Ore o Mite) is a BL title that runs in from RED. A Vtuber is confident onscreen, but an introvert in real life. His manager is now sleeping with him… but surely he loves the outgoing onscreen guy. Right?

And they have My New Wife’s Fake Smile 2, which is not BL.

ASH: Or is it?

ANNA: I think we need more information about this new wife.

SEAN: Udon usually gets out a huge artbook before the holidays, and that seems to be Marvel VS Capcom: Ultimate Complete Works. It’s an updated artbook with 140 new pages. As for the content… come on, you know what this is.

No debuts from Viz, but we get Dandadan 16, Fly Me to the Moon 30, Girl Crush 4, Kill Blue 4, Komi Can’t Communicate 36, Minecraft: The Manga 4, Persona 5 14, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 14, Rainbows After Storms 7, and Spider-Man: Kizuna 2.

ASH: Oh good, the oldest kiddo at home has been asking for more Minecraft manga.

SEAN: Yen Press has one debut, but it’s had the biggest buzz of the year. Love Bullet is a yuri title from Comic Flapper. A girl who is good at giving out love advice but has never had a relationship is confessed to by her best friend… and then immediately killed when she saves her friend from getting hit by falling construction debris. Now dead, she’s a cupid whose job it is to get good partners together… but this will mean she’ll be forever tortured by her own unfulfilled life and love. This was an internet sensation, saved from cancellation by fans, and has a TON of folks talking about it.

ASH: The buzz has been huge! I’ve seen this series popping up in all sorts of places. (And I’m not nearly as online as I once was.)

ANNA: Sounds cool!

SEAN: There’s also a limited hardcover of The Guy She Was Interested In Wasn’t a Guy at All, [OSHI NO KO] “Coloring x Idol” Color Activity Book, and the Rascal Does Not Dream of a Sister Home Alone manga omnibus.

ASH: Ooooh, hardcover!

SEAN: And we still haven’t even gotten to mid-December yet. What are you getting?

Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 6

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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.

I think these volumes have started to hit their stride, in that I’m no longer incredibly annoyed with the main characters quite as much anymore. It helps that, for the most part, when I want to roll my eyes at Nukumizu, someone is there to do it for me. The conceit of this series is that its male lead is very familiar with the concept of light novel harem romcoms, but he’s also a normal teenage boy, and so, like all normal teenage boys, too dim to understand flirting and attraction towards him (a healthy dose of self-loathing helps too). The girls, meanwhile, are all very aware that they’re in a harem romcom, and are trying their best, but… (waves vaguely at Nukumizu). There’s a running gag which comes up a few times here where the girls try to have a romantic, sweet moment, and Nukumizu just watches as it goes right over his head, and they say “that right there…” to him. He never gets it. That right there is why this series is ongoing.

Yes, that’s Tsukinoki on the cover art, which means that for the first time we’re not seeing a Losing Heroine. That said, it’s the last time we’ll be able to see her, as graduation is here, and she and Tamaki are worrying about getting into university more than the current romcom plot. The current romcom plot is that Lemon has asked Nuzumiku out on a date, and after taking him to the aquarium and watching him be completely confused about why she would be doing this, she confesses she wants to quit her clubs. Plural. Both track and the lit club, which would be bad news for him and Komari. They end up making a bet – if he can beat her in a race, she’ll stay with both clubs. Of course, she’s an outstanding athlete who could compete in Nationals, and he’s a skinny, out-of-shape nerd. So she gives him a handicap… which likely still won’t be enough.

As noted above, this is not Tsukinoki’s book but Lemon’s, though the other girls all get a good scene or two. My favorite was Shikiya, who realizes that, like Araragi, Nukumizu is a guy who would “save anyone”, and she likes that a lot less than Senjougahara did. Lemon, meanwhile, is dealing with an issue she’s had before – she’s simply too good at track, and the coaches are understandably concentrating on her to get the school some notice and to get her into Nationals. She, however, is worried about all the other track girls, who are not as good as her and therefore not getting the attention. Of course, as it turns out none of the girls feel resentment towards her at all, mostly as Lemon is a sweetie pie who has not a single selfish bone in her body. Once he wins (sorry to spoil, but come on, this IS still a light novel), he solves the problem by telling her to be more selfish. The girls not being as good as she is is not her problem. Go for the gold. Too bad love isn’t like a track meet, no matter how much she tried to make it so.

So now our leads head into second year, and I bet that means a new character being introduced who’s a giant flaming loser of a girl. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, Vol. 6

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By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.

Still enjoy this series, still very hard to review without repeating myself. Boy, these two kids are overpowered and in love, and it’s not clear which is more important, though I will admit in this volume the OP outweighs the flirting. That’s because they spend a large chunk of the book apart – Raid heads back to the Second World to get help to save the First World, while Eluria stays behind to make sure that things don’t get any worse than they already are. But on the bright side, they’ve moved up to cheek kisses and forehead kisses, which means they may actually go all the way around Volume 62. Which we may actually get – the author says this was supposed to end with Book 4, but the manga took off, so now we have 6, and it’s still not done. Possibly as the author is still searching for anything that can make our two leads break a sweat – it doesn’t happen here, for sure.

After dealing with the “hero” Valtos, who like most jerks that run into Raid and Eluria has turned into comedy relief, our main characters are faced with a big issue – they just don’t have the people to fix everything. As such, Raid returns to his own world to enlist help from other nations. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he’s promptly arrested and accused of treason, because most everyone (including me) forgot about the plot of the first two books, which is that Raid has the skills to be a special-class magician, and the deeds, but a lot of people still really, really hate him and his non-magic using self. But that’s fine, Raid can use this to his advantage, with the help of a good old fashioned filibuster that offers the nations of this world that haven’t had war in a long, long time something they crave – new land in another world.

The author says they love to write Millis as she can lighten up any situation, and it’s true that she still gets the bulk of the comedy. Especially when she finally figures out what everyone else knew in Book 5, which is that supposedly she married Wisel – something that shocks and embarrasses her in equal measure. I did appreciate that Eluria took the time to sensibly talk with the freaking out Millis about what to do next, and guided her towards the right solution – put it on hold till she’s ready to deal with it and decides whether she really does like him romantically. Eluria can be a smart cookie when she’s not being used for comedy relief herself, as not only does she have her usual trouble waking up, but also her brilliant solution to the monsters attacking from across the sea is so brilliant it means she can’t go wild in combat… unlike Raid, who gets to terrify everyone by showing off.

This series is never going to get deep or tragic, but if you want more of the same, it is absolutely that.