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Lovesick Ellie, Vol 1

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Lovesick Ellie Volume 1 by Fujimomo

I picked this up on a whim, and I knew I was in for something a little out of the ordinary when I saw the title of the first chapter, “#HoorayforPervs!” The Lovesick Ellie in question is a fantasy twitter account run by Eriko Ichimura, a girl who remains largely invisible to her classmates. She’s decided to dedicate herself to living her best life in her imagination and pretends to be secretly dating the most handsome and popular boy in school, Ohmi.

Lovesick Ellie Volume 1

One day Eriko overhears Ohmi talking in a casual way to one of their teachers, and she discovers that he’s nothing like the smiling polite facade he maintains around everyone else. He’s actually not all that happy about being singled out for so much attention. Eriko is discovered and she promptly runs away, leaving her cell phone behind! Ohmi picks it up and reads her tweets and finds them hilarious. All of this happens in the first few pages of the manga, and the rest of the volume shows Eriko and Ohmi striking up an unlikely friendship. Eriko gradually realizes that Ohmi’s actually lonely. He encourages Eriko to befriend another girl who is as obsessed with costuming as Eriko is with over the top fake date narratives. Eriko’s tweets appear here and there to contrast reality with fantasy. There’s plenty of blushing and over the top emotions in the art, but Eriko isn’t really believable as an invisible plain girl because all the character designs are generally attractive.

Eriko’s twitter asides are genuinely hilarious, as she will take a small detail like a misplaced jersey and spin it out into paragraphs of slightly perverted situations. For Ohmi, it seems like Eriko is one of the few people he can actually be himself around, and while he takes a certain delight in teasing her, he’s actually having some difficulties navigating his own emotions as their relationship develops. For a manga with such a goofy premise, it actually ends up being rather heartfelt. I found myself smiling multiple times reading Lovesick Ellie, which is a great shoujo title for anyone wanting something funny and romantic.

Pick of the Week: My Melancholy Baby

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MICHELLE: Although I’m excited about catching up on Yona of the Dawn, the cover of Hello, Melancholic! is just too dang cute for me to not pick it this week.

KATE: You had me at “tall but shy trombone players,” so I’m going to join Michelle and name Hello, Melancholic! as my Manga of the Week.

SEAN: Short of a Jack Teagarden manga series, this may be the closest we get to trombone supremacy. I too will go with Hello, Melancholic!

ANNA: I’m also excited for more Yona and Hello, Melancholic! sounds delightful. However I’m not going to pass up the chance to pick Knight of the Ice two weeks in a row, such is strength of my devotion!

ASH: While I’ve been enjoying both Knight of the Ice and Yona of the Dawn, my pick of the week goes to Hello, Melancholic!, as well. To be fair, I’ll give just about any music-related manga a try, but this series honestly seems like it should be great.

MJ: I’m going to have to go with the crowd this week and choose Hello, Melancholic! Trombone supremacy, indeed!

I’ve Been Killing Slimes for 300 Years and Maxed Out My Level, Vol. 11

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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 Jasmine Bernhardt.

I read this volume immediately after a volume of The Saga of Tanya the Evil, and I highly recommend it, because it probably made the book feel better than it actually is. That said, there are other reasons this is a very solid book in the series. First of all, the stories are slightly longer, which allows for a bit more depth to a series for which depth is eternally absent. Secondly, the side stories at the end move to focus on Laika, and I am far happier to read about Laika at Lillian Girls’ Academy (or whatever its name is here, MariMite is clearly what it’s supposed to be, though) than I ever was with Halkara. Seeing Laika wound up so tightly is both nostalgic and also a bit bittersweet – at least we know she has a peaceful future ahead of her. As for Azusa, well, she’s discovering that just because she’s resolved to take it easy and relax in her next life doesn’t mean she has to do that all the time.

Stories in this volume: our main cast has a moonlight picnic, which unfortunately leads to an existential crisis for the newest cast member Canimeow caused by our other newest cast member, Wynona; Azusa learns that, in fact, this world does have actual physical laws that she cannot break, so a trip to the moon is not happening soon; The cast take a day off by visiting the demon world’s main town, and help Fighsly raise a slime child… pet… whatever; after Azusa is paying too much attention to an injured Sandra, Falfa and Shalsha decide to run away from home; Halkara wondering what it would be like to eat a slime leads to a jellyfish that feeds off negative emotions; the aftermath of that, as Halkara, freed from her base desires, is super annoying; and the entire cast run a relay race.

The most interesting story was probably the relay race. Pecora has been reading yuri romances again, and declares that Azusa and Beelzebub have been “taking their friendship for granted” and not bonding the way that true friends do. Which Azusa is not going to be bonding with anyone anytime soon, she does come to a realization that she can occasionally try her hardest. Her past life doesn’t get a mention in this book specifically, but it’s clearly what has been driving her to sort of half-ass everything in this new life. She literally worked herself to death before. So of course she’s not going to want to do anything that goes near that. But at the end of the race, when she has to run faster and harder than she ever has before, she discovers that sometimes it’s OK. Sometimes you can try your hardest. Hopefully this is something that she can continue to teach her extended family in future volumes.

All this plus Laika at school, where we see her desperately trying to get out from under her sister’s shadow, and only partially succeeding. Despite the excitement of the race at the end, this is still a book for those who enjoy relaxed fare.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil: Omnes una Manet Nox

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By Carlo Zen and Shinobu Shinotsuki. Released in Japan as “Youjo Senki” by Enterbrain. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Emily Balistrieri.

The start of this volume makes it seem like it’s going to be a breather after all the battles from last time, and to be fair there are fewer battles here, but breather is absolutely the wrong word. After nine books, it appears that Tanya and Colonel Lergen are finally on the same page. That’s not a good thing. Especially when they’re saying things like “hey, would you be OK with strafing the government and making it look like an accident?”. Then we get Tanya meeting with first Uger and then von Rudersdorf try to get Tanya to have actual, real human reactions to things and she simply… can’t. She is unable to see why people might be wanting to cry at the fact that the Empire is on the verge of ruin. She gets the danger, and in fact is already thinking of fleeing the Empire for another country, but… the combination of her previous life’s Eliezer Yudkowsky approach to everything and her current self’s being brought up in the Army literally most of her life have led to a broken person.

Now to be fair, after looking at the cover of this volume (whose Latin roughly means “the same night awaits us all”) you might be wondering what the hell I am talking about. But there is a very big difference between Tanya screaming and ranting in her head and how Tanya actually interacts with other people. The cover picture is probably meant to be her reacting to having to deal with Doctor Schugel, who has found a much better way to make mages into guided missiles than he did the last time. While most of the brigade has actual shore leave, Tanya’s core group has to go provide escort over the seas so that General Romel and his men and retreat form the South. Which means taking on a British fleet. Easy peasy. Of course, the ones left behind on shore leave are not having an easy time of it either, as the Commonwealth has decided to do a sneak attack, and the Navy is too incompetent to see through it.

Because I always talk about Visha, let me just say that I find it interesting that, while Uger and von Rudersdorf cannot seem to fathom the way Tanya thinks, Tanya feels the exact same way about Visha, wondering how she is able to blithely take care of things with a smile on her face and a song in her heart. Especially when our little team passes through “neutral” Ildoa, and has it ground into their faces how far the Empire has fallen in terms of offering even the basic staples. Just eating a delicious fish dinner is enough to nearly destroy Tanya, because she understands the message it’s sending. And this also leads back to the cliffhanger, where the Empire is being told to invade Ildoa – a seemingly impossible task. Just how many more seemingly impossible things will they be forced to do? After all, they’re soldiers, not politicians.

As always, this is the opposite of a light read, and as lengthy as ever, but if you can put up with Tanya sounding like she’s posting to “AITA?” on Reddit sometimes, it remains a rewarding series.

Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer!, Vol. 1

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By Hiro Oda and Tobi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Reijou wa Boukensha wo Kokorozasu” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kim Louise Davis.

A lot of these Reincarnated Villainess titles are deconstructions of romance novels and games. It’s baked into the premise, really. That said, some are more deconstructing than others, and it’s usually when we see the sharp edges of the original plot poking out that we get the most rewarding reading. Our heroine here is not as eccentric as other villainesses we’ve seen, and she has even revealed her secret to a few people. She’s doing all the right things. But there’s still something that’s really trying hard to have events go the way that they did in the book she read back in Japan. And if that involves breaking reality to “fix” things, well, that’s life. It ups the stakes a great deal. Especially when you realize that there’s a heroine here as well… and she’s not going to be falling in love with the villainess anytime soon. This heroine is going to get her happy ending if it kills her. Or, more accurately, if it kills our protagonist.

Serephione is a young noble girl who has memories of her past life in Japan, where she read a fantasy novel set at a magic academy. In this novel, the commoner girl heroine wins the hearts of everyone around her despite the best efforts of the powerful mage … Seraphione. Yeah. To prevent this, our girl decides she’s going to avoid the magic academy altogether. This is not as easy as it sounds. She’s loaded with powerful magic. She’s bonded with the Heavenly Beast of the West, a powerful familiar. All signs point to her following the book’s plot. But Seraphione is stubborn, and is not above asking her guardian beast to cheat the system. Now the “magicless” Seraphione is at the knight school instead, making friends and breaking all sorts of records because trust me, she’s hella strong too. But has she REALLY avoided her fate?

The other really good part of the book is Seraphione’s grandmother Erza. The Author mentions in the afterword that they had been taken to task in their last book for not giving the heroine a powerful female role model, and that’s certainly what Erza is. Indeed, the entire family seems to be known for being ludicrously OP, so one one is going to think twice about Seraphione being able to do things like one-shot knock out princes from another country with her mad combat skills. I also liked how the grandmother also starts training her other friends up, not wanting to see any knights who are unable to use both their combat power and their feminine wiles to get what they want. Though perhaps training everyone in poison resistance – by poisoning them ALL THE TIME – is a bit much.

I’m sure by now everyone who reads my reviews of Villainess books is rolling their eyes, but it really is a genre that I love. This one especially caught my eye because of the way that the narrative is trying to bend back… which may or may not be the fault of the seemingly naive and selfish “heroine” (who is named Maribella, which is not Maria but close). I’m adding this series to the stack.

Manga the Week of 2/2/22

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SEAN: Traditionally, February is the most depressing month of the year. Let’s find some manga to cheer you up.

ASH: Sounds good to me!

SEAN: Yen Press has Interspecies Reviewers 6.

Viz has a stack of Jump and Beat for you. We get Black Clover 28, Chainsaw Man 9, Dr. STONE 20, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 5–Golden Wind 3, Jujutsu Kaisen 14, Seraph of the End 23, The King’s Beast 5, We Never Learn 20 and Yona of the Dawn 34. (Psst. Read Yona.)

MICHELLE: I need to get caught back up on Yona!

ASH: It’s such a great series! I’m happy to get my hands on more of JoJo’s, too.

ANNA: Always love to see Yona on the release list.
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SEAN: Tokyopop gives us the 6th and final volume of Laughing Under the Clouds, though there are prequels and sequels as yet unlicensed.

MICHELLE: Hey, they finished something!

MJ: lol

SEAN: Two debuts from Seven Seas. 5 Seconds Before a Witch Falls in Love (Majo ga Koi suru 5 Byou Mae) is a one-shot from Comic Yuri Hime. Witch vs. Witch-Hunter. Will sparks fly?

Also in a yuri vein is Hello, Melancholic!, also from Ichijinsha. Tall but shy trombone players. It’s already won me over just with that.

MICHELLE: The cover for this is super cute!

ASH: I am so here for this one.

MJ: Oh my god, yes.

SEAN: And we get Dance in the Vampire Bund: Age of Scarlet Order 5, I’m in Love with the Villainess 2, Muscles are Better Than Magic! 4 (a final volume), Reborn as a Barrier Master 2, and THIGH HIGH: Reiwa Hanamaru Academy 3 (also a final volume).

ASH: I’ve been meaning to give Thigh High a try.

SEAN: One Peace has the 7th The Reprise of the Spear Hero manga.

Kodansha has the, um, 9th volume of Knight of the Ice a week after the 8th. Huh. It also debuts The Seven Deadly Sins in omnibus format, with Vol. 1-3. And we get Orient 7, Peach Boy Riverside 5, and Vampire Dormitory 3.

ASH: Supply chain issues do funny things to release dates.

ANNA: Looking forward to binging on Knight of the Ice.

SEAN: Digitally we get a huge re-release of an old favorite, especially with Kodansha’s Japanese arm, which keep hoping it will get popular again. GTO, aka Great Teacher Onizuka, is back. All 25 volumes of the original series, and the 9 volumes of semi-sequel 14 Days in Shonan are available digitally. Yes, only digitally, come on, I know Attack on Titan sells well, but not well enough to justify so much print. I loved Onizuka back in the day, though I suspect he may be a bit less fun these days. Also, looking at the preview, this looks to just be a straight-up scan of the old Tokyopop version.

ASH: I largely enjoyed it back in the day, too. Glad to see it available again in some fashion!

ANNA: Yes, always great to see older series have better availability.

MJ: Oh, this is great!

SEAN: The new digital debut is Lightning and Romance (Inazuma to Romance), a Betsufure series from the creator of Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight. Girl wants a high school romance, but her new seatmate is… 20 years old?

Also debuting digitally is Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister (Amagami-san Chi no Enmusubi). It is a Weekly Shonen Magazine title from one of the assistants of The Quintessential Quintuplets… and sounding a lot like it. A guy trying to get into medical school is allowed to stay at a shrine… provided he marries one of the beautiful daughters that live there.

Also out digitally: the 4th and final volume of Ashidaka: The Iron Hero, Chihayafuru 30, A Condition Called Love 9, Kounodori: Dr. Stork 20, My Darling, the Company President 3, My Idol Sits the Next Desk Over! 2, and My Master Has No Tail 3.

MICHELLE: I’m looking forward to a nice Chihayafuru binge.

ANNA: I’m so far behind on Chihayafuru, but vow that one day I will catch up.

SEAN: In print, J-Novel Club has My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In For Me! 2, Tearmoon Empire 3, and The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap 2.

A rare manga-only week for J-Novel Club’s digital side. Campfire Cooking in Another World with My Absurd Skill 6, I Shall Survive Using Potions! 8, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Reckless Journey 5, and Villainess: Reloaded! Blowing Away Bad Ends with Modern Weapons 3.

Airship has print releases for Disciple of the Lich: Or How I Was Cursed by the Gods and Dropped Into the Abyss! 2, Grimgar of Fantasy and Ash 17, and The NPCs in this Village Sim Game Must Be Real! 2.

Digitally, Airship has early digital for I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 2 and Reincarnated as a Sword 10.

That’s actually pretty thin? Well, that’s February for you…

Altina the Sword Princess, Vol. 12

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By Yukiya Murasaki and himesuz. Released in Japan as “Haken no Kouki Altina” by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roy Nukia.

This volume is divided into two parts; the main story, which runs to a little over half of it, and a side story showing us what Jerome has been doing since he left Altina’s side. Gonna be honest, I’m far more interested in the former than the latter, so let’s get Jerome out of the way. He and his men are at the front, where the attacking nation is the one whose beloved princess was just murdered by Latrielle. The main fortress should not have an issue taking them on, but there’s a problem with a small, remote fortress that is trying to protect a city of older folks and kids. What to do? Have Jerome go over there and take charge. This whole section was meant to show off how badass he is, and there is some of that, but mostly it showed me that if a woman is not Altina he will happily punch her unconscious. I’m happy to leave him at that front.

The main storyline starts with Regis managing to reunite with Altina (and thus preventing a bloody battle, as she was quite ready to go to total war over his alleged death). Unfortunately, despite his best efforts with the rumors going around about patricide, he’s unable to prevent the coronation, meaning the dream of Altina ruling the Empire is dead. That said, Altina does not seem particularly put out by this, partly because she’s a bit of a meathead, but also because as long as she can continue to strive towards her ideals she’s fine taking whatever role. That said, she may not have been expecting the role she ends up being given: Latrielle, somewhat backed into a corner by Altina’s feats of war heroism and the presence of Regis (who he tried to have murdered, if you recall) at her side, makes her the head of most of the army.

The most striking scene in the book is probably Latrielle ascending the stairs to his coronation while being haunted by everyone that he had to murder in order to achieve it. There’s a very Shakespearean quality to him, complete with a seemingly tragic past love. He’s mostly blind, still somewhat wounded, and the man he fears could lead to his downfall pops up fine and dandy with the fourth AND third royals at his side. Macbeth never quite had this many obstacles. I did also like the occasional stabs at humor, the best of which was Regis realizing that he forgot to write his sister and let them know he wasn’t dead, and that the fake headless body was even shipped to her. That’ll go well. That said, even the author admits that this book is mostly setup for a new arc, as Altina and Regis head to the south to a new battlefield… with an incognito Britannia princess in their cargo.

And then there’s the cliffhanger, as a woman I’d honestly totally forgotten about pops up asking for help. Altina continues to be a strongly written military fantasy… provided it stays away from misogynistic warriors.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/26/22

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Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 16 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – This is definitely a volume that is heavier on the back half. We get the culture festival, and eventually it’s decided to do a play. Naturally, it’s mostly as everyone wants to see Komi act. Unfortunately, Komi Can’t Communicate, so acting as a beautiful princess is a bit of an issue… UNLESS it’s opposite Tadano. Then she can get the words out. Meanwhile, Manbagi is still trying to deal with her burgeoning feelings for Tadano and why she gets so frustrated and embarrassed around him. Unfortunately, right as she’s about to finally make a move, she sees the play, and gets what everyone else doesn’t. The past panel of the volume is heartbreaking. We’re in the middle of a great arc, folks. – Sean Gaffney

Lupin III: Greatest Heists | By Monkey Punch | Seven Seas – A collection—and it’s not even chronological—of some of the best Lupin III manga stories, this is definitely NOT one for fans of The Castle of Cagliostro. This is raw, unfiltered Lupin, and sexual assault is used like a comma towards the start of the book. At the same time, it also does show off the reason that the series remains so popular—Lupin is a wonderful rogue, complete with allies who turn on him a lot more than they ever do in the animated version. We get disguises galore, lots of fakeouts and “wait, let me turn back and check the previous pages,” and an art style that clearly riffs on Sergio Aragones. Hardcore Lupin fans will have to get this. For the rest, it’s fun but has several content warnings. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions, Vol. 2 | By Yoko Akiyama and Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – Last time I said this used the main cast too much and could be a lot better, and clearly they listened to me, as this has far more cast variety and is a lot better. This is mostly due to two of the stories, I admit. One has Ojiro and Hagakure going to teach some kids and trying to deal with Ojiro’s running gag of being “ordinary.” It has more ship tease and more Hagakure than the rest of the main series. The second has Bakugou, Todoroki and Kirishima team up with Camie from the other high school to do a sentai performance in order to save an amusement park, and it is hilarious. Also, I have a new OT4. There’s also some stuff that is less good, but those two tales made me rate this high.-Sean Gaffney

My Next Life as a Villainess Side Story: On the Verge of Doom!, Vol. 1 | By nishi, Satoru Yamaguchi and Nami Hidaka | Seven Seas – A spinoff that asks: what if Katarina ended up trying to escape the otome game on hard mode? In the regular series, she regains her memories as a child, and has years to win over the entire cast. Here, she’s already in school and bullying Maria when she regains them. That’s… a lot harder, and some, like Keith, won’t even give her the time of day to try to change. But change she does, winning over Anne and Mary, and possibly Jeord, by dint of… well, being exactly like she was in Japan. Other people would try not to change so much they attract attention, but Katarina has the sensibilities of a bull. All this and new cast members for her to seduce! – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 12 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – It may be second year now for our middle-schoolers, but everything is exactly the same in Teasing Master Takagi-san. She proposes contests. He goes along with them thinking he’s sure to win. He overthinks everything. He loses. Hell, half the time she directly confesses and he misses it. It’s not really a series that invites long reviews, but it’s so peaceful and smile-inducing. Anyone thinking Takagi is being mean to him simply isn’t reading this properly, as she’s clearly over the moon for him—and he for her. They even blush around each other, then get to blame how dark it is outside. And if they’re only fourteen now, how much sweeter will this be in high school? File under: totes adorbs. – Sean Gaffney

Therapy Game Restart, Vol. 1 | By Meguru Hinohara | SuBLime Manga – Therapy Game Restart picks up where its precursor Therapy Game (itself a sequel/spinoff to Secret XXX) left off. Prickly Minato (new to love and prone to worry) and devoted Shizuma are an established couple now, but Shizuma’s demanding new job at an animal clinic is keeping them apart. A lot of the volume is Minato being down on himself for feeling so needy and trying not to cause any problems for Shizuma. He wants to be okay alone, but then Shizuma suggests moving in together, and taking a step that big is pretty scary. What I love about this series is the character depth. Sure, there are explicit scenes, but the real point is these guys and their growth, together and separately. Minato is one of my favorite BL characters so I’m very happy to have more of his and Shizuma’s story. – Michelle Smith

Can Someone Please Explain What’s Going On?! ~The Contract Couple’s Happily Ever After~, Vol. 8

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By Tsuredurebana and Rin Hagiwara. Released in Japan as “Dareka Kono Joukyou wo Setsumei Shite Kudasai! ~Keiyaku Kara Hajimaru Wedding~” by ArianRose. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Tara Quinn.

At long last, one volume until its finale, I think this series has finally learned what is fun to read and what is not fun. This feels like a normal romance novel, and does not contain any of the numerous red flags that previous volumes were infamous for containing. The downside of this is that… well, the book’s a bit boring? That’s to be expected, honestly. The main story has wrapped up. There aren’t many side couples to pair up either, though we do see that Rohtas has, in fact, been in a relationship for some time… but it hasn’t gone further because Cersis keeps him so busy. In fact, the story itself is a flashback of sorts, as Cercis and Viola’s adorable daughter is asking how she was born. Readers may be wondering that as well, given that Viola frequently seems to think of Cercis as an afterthought, and I’m still rather surprised the marriage has even been consummated. Oh well.

Viola’s pregnancy is not the main thrust of this book, which instead deals with what happened just before. She and Cercis are going to a party held by her friend Verbana’s family, which turns out to be another in a string of “please marry my grumpy and willful daughter” parties. It goes about as well as the previous ones have – Verbana doesn’t want to be married right now, especially since her one true love is, in fact, married to Viola, and radiates this from her entire body. But still, they get to see her family’s new estate, have a lot of tea parties, and go to a lot of evening ballroom dances. Unfortunately, this leads to the back half of the plot – at some point between arriving at the estate and that evening’s dance, Viola’s huge sapphire has been swapped out for a fake! Now she and Cercis have to play detective to catch the criminal.

I am pleased that this volume is back to being entirely narrated by Viola’s so we get her amusing and skewed observations about everyone else. Sadly, this also includes her poor self-image, which really takes a starring role here. No matter what, no one can seem to convince Viola that she has the looks of a tall runway model – she’s always going to be the plain stringbean in her own mind. (The funniest part of the book is towards the end, when Viola is about six months pregnant, and she cheers about having “bazongas” at last.) She also does not seem to understand why all the other women of the kingdom flock to her and hang on her every word. Oh well, better that than the alternative. The mystery itself is basically a string of “which family desperately in need of cash would do this?”, but I am quite grateful that for once all the potential bad guys are in fact rich nobles. This is a rarity in a series that tends to praise rich nobility.

The next volume is the last, and will no doubt have Viola giving birth. Till then, it’s nice to see a volume of the series that does what I hoped it would and does not feature evil foreigners or “LOL GAY” jokes.

How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom, Vol. 15

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By Dojyomaru and Fuyuyuki. Released in Japan as “Genjitsu Shugi Yuusha no Oukoku Saikenki” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

This feels like a volume we’ve been waiting for a long time. Fuuga is still in it, but for once he is not the entire focus of the series. Souma gets to play a large, active role. We even get to see the Empire again, and get a sense that Maria is unhappy but very good at hiding it. All of this leads up to one of the better volumes in some time, even as it takes on an issue that the author was a bit wary of doing when they were writing the webnovel. Yes, it’s a pandemic, though this is not a viral infection like COVID-19 and is more parasite oriented. And of course there’s the revelations we get about Souma’s summoning, which feels like it’s been a long time coming. It makes a lot of sense given what we’ve known about this world, and also explains why some of Souma’s reforms have gone so smoothly. Oh yes, and in case you were worried, MORE BABIES!

The story starts with us getting a look at one of the few nations we haven’t dwelt on yet, the Spirit Kingdom of Garland. They have not made a good impression in the series so far, being high-elf supremacists and also driving out their reformer Merula. That said, they have a more pressing problem: the demons have overtaken one of their two islands, and they want Souma’s help to get it back. Unfortunately, the negotiations go badly. They go badly with Maria as well. Fortunately… or not… Fuuga can see an opportunity to conquer more lands, and agrees, planning to overthrow the current kingdom and install a puppet state (something that gets a big boost when the royal princess of the Spirit Kingdom falls head over heels for one of Fuuga’s aides). Unfortunately… there’s a sickness going around the spirit kingdom.

Realist Hero has never been known for its subtlety, and this book in particular is a bit on the nose with its insistence that all countries must put aside differences and unite when there is a pandemic that could kill us all. Fortunately, unlike Machiavelli’s teachings (which do come up here a lot as well, no fear), I am 100% behind this. I also appreciated Souma lecturing on the danger of making ideas too simple and that it might lead to people accepting conspiracy theories. (*cough*) That said, my favorite part of the book was the big summit which unites the three main powers in the world. This gives Maria a chance to talk with Liscia, and drop several unsubtle hints that Liscia nevertheless completely fails to pick up on. “Gosh, I wish someone else was ruling the Empire! Oh hey, Souma even has rulers from other countries as his wives! Nudge, nudge, wink, wink.” I don’t think Souma is going to take over the Empire anytime soon, but I also don’t think it will be long before Maria becomes part of the polycule, somehow.

By now everyone knows the kind of series Realist Hero is, and those who don’t are certainly arguing about it on anime forums, as the second season is currently running. But for novel readers, this should give you a lot of what you want.