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Pick of the Week: Double Vision

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SEAN: I realize that it’s offering comfort to the enemy, but I have to admit, the title that attracts me most this week is Double, from Tokyopop, those who betrayed us all so long ago. It just looks cool and interesting.

MICHELLE: It does, damn it. However, I find I’m most keen to get caught up on heartwarming feline fare. A Man and HIs Cat for me this time.

ANNA: If Knight of the Ice is on offer, that’s always going to be my pick. Hilarious josei romantic antics AND figure skating for the win!

KATE: Double reminds me of the kind of WTF?! gems that Tokyopop used to publish by the truckload–the kind of manga that sounded absolutely preposterous when you tried to explain the plot to someone, but were wildly entertaining. I agree with Sean that Tokyopop has an abominable track record of finishing series, but I’m throwing caution to the wind this week and making Double my pick as well.

ASH: Kodansha seems to have most of the series I’m interested in on the same release schedule this week, so I’ll cheat a little and just wave my hands in their general direction. In addition to the already mentioned Knight of the Ice, there’s also Wave, Listen to Me!, To Your Eternity, and Saint Young Men that I’m looking forward to reading.

So I’m a Spider, So What?, Vol. 13

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By Okina Baba and Tsukasa Kiryu. Released in Japan as “Kumo Desu ga, Nani ka?” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jenny McKeon.

This volume might be frustrating for some fans, as it is in many ways a recap of what happened in Books 3-5, only from the POV of the other side. I do not have this problem. For me, the recap is greatly appreciated as I can barely remember what happened in Book 12, much less nine books ago. More importantly is the fact that this is from the other side’s POV means we get a lot of White in this book, and she’s just as funny/terrifying (don’t delete where applicable, she’s both) as ever. She doesn’t care at all about many things that we cared a lot about, but she’s also very interested in things that had appeared minor or unimportant. Here we see her and Ariel finally making their plans to kill Potimas. Yeah, I know, I’ll believe it when I see it. Still, they’re even getting help from the Church! We also get a lot more insight into exactly how she and Ariel are trying to save the world, and how it’s still a gamble.

To no one’s surprise, White turns out to be the mastermind behind most of the baffling things that happened in the previous books, such as the downfall of Shun’s kingdom and his becoming Public Enemy Number One. Her matter-of-fact reasons for doing this are cool and logical and make you a bit ill, to be honest. That said, she is not without emotion… I was particularly amused at her observance of Katia literally blowing herself up to escape the brainwashing, and then Shun bringing her back from the dead. It was a combination of “Holy shit, he can do that!?” combined with “just fuck already!” that left me laughing. We do also get a look at White from other people’s point of view, particularly the Pope, who is well aware that Ariel may be the Demon Lord but White is the one who is changing the entire world.

As for the rest of the cast, it was nice seeing the humans again, if only from a distance – because this is mostly White’s POV, we barely get to talk to them. I liked the contrast between Shun’s “this is all I can do right now, why am I not as powerful as my brother” and White’s “HE’S GOT TOO MANY CHEATS CHRIST”, and indeed a lot of the plotting and scheming that she does is to try to plan for all the extra special hero stuff he can pull out of his ass. We also finally get a good look at Sariel, the goddess currently wired into the system and giving out all those game bonus stats. Not a pretty site, but at least it leads to the one big battle in the book, as White fights what are basically security robots and is actually challenged for once… mostly as if she goes all out it would destroy the system, which is what she wants but not like this.

So, a lot of setup, but it does promise that the next volume will finally catch us up to where the two sides left off in book… 5, was it? Till then, congratulations, there’s a lot of spider in this book.

Sabikui Bisco, Vol. 1

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By Shinji Cobkubo and K Akagishi. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jake Humphrey.

I admit that I was a little wary of this title. It got a HUGE amount of buzz when it first came out and when it was first licensed, which is all very well and good, but the last two times that happened it was The Detective Is Already Dead (which I bounced off of hard) and Osamake (which people stopped demanding the license of once they actually knew the plot). Not to mention that, let’s face it, this does not feel like a Dengeki Bunko light novel, it feels like a shonen manga. Even after I finished the book, I wanted to see what Jump or Magazine title it was novelizing. But no, it’s a real live light novel. It’s just loud, and boisterous, and action-packed, and stars two guys who feel like they could definitely be popular Shonen Jump characters. And, of course, there is one other reason why it reminded me of some of the more popular titles like, say, Reborn or Haikyu!: the two male leads are about as gay as you can possibly be without actually saying it.

Sometime in the future, and try not to be too shocked by this, a huge disaster has leveled Tokyo and left the other prefectures around it in an arid, desert state. What’s worse, people can get infected with rust, which spreads and eventually kills. Rumor has it this is all caused by the Mushroom Keepers, who have control over mushrooms and have gone underground after being accused of destroying the world. Our hero, Bisco, insists that in fact the mushrooms are what can save people! Now he must team up with a naive yet determined panda… erm, doctor named Milo (there’s a big cookie naming theme going on here, in case you didn’t get it) and try to get a cure for the rust before it kills off Bisco’s old mentor and Milo’s sister. This is not being helped by the many people trying to kill Bisco… including Milo’s sister.

This is definitely one of those “gets better as it goes along” books. It starts slow, and I tweeted after about a third of it that I thought it was trying too hard. But around about the time when the pink-haired mercenary who’s also been following them around spouts off every single cliched line in the world in one paragraph, I began to feel its vibe, and the last half flies along. It’s helped by its two leads. Milo bonds with Bisco immediately, and though Bisco takes longer to get used to Milo’s concentrated niceness, by about halfway in they’re both sacrificing their lives for the other. Milo even literally confesses “I love you” to Bisco. I suspect it may have made the editors uncomfortable, as Milo will occasionally try to tell Bisco how hot his sister is and how big her breasts are. It would be sad if it weren’t so funny – the tacked-on feel of it makes it hilarious.

There is one other big problem with this book – it’s a perfect one-shot. Which is an issue, as there’s currently 8 volumes and counting. Contest winner, I expect. In any case, that’s for future Sean to worry about – this volume, for once, actually deserves its hype.

My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me!, Vol. 5

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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.

This series has a tendency to be very metatextual, and we certainly get a lot of that in this book. Everyone may not think that they’re in a light novel series, but they certainly know the way said series tend to go, and they’re noticing that all the things happening around Akiteru pretty much line up with those sort of plots. That’s not good news for him, as he’s supposed to be fake dating Mashiro, who has already not-fake confessed to him. His uncle is clearly very aware of the things going on in his life, especially the presence of Iroha, but for now seems to be content to give him enough rope to hang himself as long as he keeps making Mashiro happy. (Even if he is jealous of the little bastard.) As for Iroha herself, she should be reassured, given that in light novels her type tends to win rather than Mashiro’s type, but she is not. Are the others, a year older than she is, really going to abandon her?

So yes, Mashiro’s father, and Akiteru’s potential benefactor, has noticed that the fake dating part of the books has been left by the wayside almost since it began, mostly as Akiteru can’t quite bring himself to do it knowing she loves him for real. They’re going to have to try, though, and the upcoming festival seems like a good chance. Before that, though, Akiteru needs to continue his quest to find Iroha a friend who can take his place in her life (not realizing that this would be devastating to her). He may have found one in Sasara, Iroha’s classmate who is a classic “always comes in second to her” rival character who is also socially awkward. He may be on to something here. But that’s for later. For now, he has to pay attention to Mashiro on their fake date and not be a “piece of shit”.

First of all, the best possible news about this book: Sumire’s barely in it at all. Which means we get precisely zero shotacon jokes. Hooray! More seriously, Mashiro gets the focus for the first time since the second book, and she has all the hallmarks of the sweet, low-confidence girl that always comes in second in these harem genres. She’s trying her hardest here, determined to get stronger than she was as a kid (when she went to the same festival with Akiteru) and to outshine Iroha. But she may be running a bit late on that, because now that he’s suddenly realized that Iroha *can* be cute, Akiteru is leaning towards her almost unconsciously. Honestly, if it weren’t for the presence of Iroha’s mother, who will no doubt be the final boss, I’d say this series was ready to end by the next book. But that’s not happening.

So yes, fans of Mashiro will enjoy her here, and fans of Iroha… well, Iroha is the other protagonist, so you’re always happy. In any case, this remains a fun romcom, with Akiteru trying his best to logic love to death and failing.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 8

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By Toshio Satou and Nao Watanuki. Released in Japan as “Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shonen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Youna Monogatari” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

Because this series is such a broad comedy, I sometimes forget that it is actually trying to have a plot too. There’s more plot in this book than in any of the previous others, as we get a lot more information… well, OK, a little more information… about the Japanese research group that apparently kickstarted whatever this world is, and where they are now. Unsurprisingly, there’s mostly a bunch of loud awkward guys, even if here they’re powerful demon lords. On a more disturbing note, Alka continues to be the gift that keeps on giving even when we don’t want her to. The revelation of her past with the hero was fine. Even hearing that Lloyd is essentially a replacement for the man she once loved, I mean, at least that explains the obsession. But in a series filled with thirsty women, Alka remains the thirstiest, with a line here that made my jaw drop. It’s not welcome.

Despite the cliffhanger from the last book, this volume has the least amount of Lloyd to date, as until the very end he’s reduced to simply standing around and reacting to others. The volume essentially consists of two things: 1) Allan muddling his way through life despite everyone misunderstanding him, and 2) the actual competition to see which clan gets to be the leader. The first part is amusing inasmuch as Allan is a schlub – if you like schlubs trying to blurt something out but failing, you’ll enjoy it. He does gain a demon lord. And a wife. Meanwhile, the competition is where most of the volume’s broad comedy comes out, as we manage to work in swimsuits, cavalry battles, loincloths and farming. The final battle is Allan vs. Lloyd, which Allan is pretty sure he will not survive, but it’s OK, as it’s interrupted by – I’m not making this up – a GIANT CRAB BATTLE where you must hit its weak point for massive damage.

Most of the forward movement in this book happens away from our main cast, who pretty much all act as you would expect them to. The supporting cast, though, are more interesting. Half of them are still recovering their memories, or simply getting used to being impossibly powerful. Alka and Eug are still on opposite sides, though it’s now being made clear that there’s someone trying to play both sides against each other. And we also meet a new player in the game at the very end, who (as with damn near everyone in the cast) is accidentally awoken by Lloyd, who just wants to use the bathroom. Despite all this, there’s a lot going on but the book feels fairly light. The setup comes out in odd bits and bobs, and the main plot is so “wacky” that a lot of it bounced off me.

Oh well, at least this arc is over, though given Allan is married now I suspect we’ll be seeing the newly introduced cast stick around for the next arc. In the meantime, this works best if you don’t think about it.

Manga the Week of 1/26/22

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The last week of January brings us no manga whatsoever!… OK, I lie, there’s a lot.

ASH: You almost had me there!

SEAN: Airship, in print, has the 8th volume of Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear.

And in early digital we see Berserk of Gluttony 5 and She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 3.

Dark Horse has the 3rd volume of Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken!.

ASH: Which reminds me that I still need to read the first two, but I suspect that it’s a series that I’ll enjoy.

SEAN: J-Novel Club has two debuts. The light novel debut is Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer! (Tensei Reijou wa Boukensha wo Kokorozasu). You can likely guess how this one goes.

ASH: I do find it fascinating to see how these trends evolve over time.

SEAN: The manga debut is Full Clearing Another World under a Goddess with Zero Believers (Shinja Zero no Megami-sama to Hajimeru Isekai Kouryaku), based on the light novel J-Novel Club also puts out. This runs in Comic Gardo.

We also see the 7th An Archdemon’s Dilemma manga, the 5th Black Summoner manga, By the Grace of the Gods 10, The Ideal Sponger Life 6, My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom! 11, the 2nd Reborn to Master the Blade manga, the 6th Record of Wortenia War manga, and Sweet Reincarnation 6.

Kaiten Books has a digital 3rd volume of The Yakuza’s Guide to Babysitting.

Kodansha debuts in print a new boxset holding the first 7 volumes of The Quintessential Quintuplets. Go read the part of the manga that everyone loved because they were sure their girl would win.

ASH: Haha!

SEAN: Also debuting in print is The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse (Mokushiroku no Yonkishi), a prequel to The Seven Deadly Sins that runs in Weekly Shonen Magazine.

There’s also the 13th and final CITY, If I Could Reach You 6, the 12th and final Kiss Me at the Stroke of Midnight, Knight of the Ice 8, Saint Young Men omnibus 7, To Your Eternity 16, Wave, Listen to Me! 8, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 7, the last volume before the timeskip.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on Knight of the Ice and Wave, Listen to Me!.

ANNA: Knight of the Ice is one of the rare series that I’m actually caught up on because it is just that good!

ASH: This is a good Kodansha week for me! In addition to those two series, I’m particularly interested in Saint Young Men and To Your Eternity.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is Zatsuki: Make Me a Star (Zatsuki ~Watashi o Sutaa Nishi Nasai~), a shoujo title from Palcy. Two teenage stars whose careers are going in opposite directions meet at high school.

MICHELLE: I’m at least moderately interested in this.

ANNA: Me too.

MJ: This sounds very enjoyable!

SEAN: Also digital: Back When You Called Us Devils 9, Even Given the Worthless “Appraiser” Class, I’m Actually the Strongest 3, Harem Marriage 13, I’m Standing on a Million Lives 12, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 3, ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 4, Saint Cecilia and Pastor Lawrence 8, Tesla Note 2, Those Not-So-Sweet Boys 5, and What I Love About You 8.

Seven Seas debuts The Girl I Want is So Handsome! (Ikemen Sugidesu Shiki-senpai!), a done-in-one omnibus from Comic Yuri Hime. Shiki falls for an older girl at her school. She’s so handsome, and so cool… and so oblivious!

ASH: Count me as curious.

MJ: Same.

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: the 10th and final Gal Gohan, Happy Kanako’s Killer Life 3, Harukana Receive 9. Tamamo-chan’s a Fox! 4, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 3, and Wonder Cat Kyuu-chan 4.

Square Enix has A Man and His Cat 5.

MICHELLE: Yay!

MJ: I, too, say “yay!”

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Double, a manga from a magazine called Flat Heroes. Two friends are actors in the same theater troupe. One is asked to “double” the other, even as his career takes him in a new direction. Somehow this turns into a seinen thriller? Gonna be honest, this sounds fascinating.

MICHELLE: Hm.

ANNA: You still won’t trick me, Tokyopop!

ASH: Exactly so.

MJ: Ugh, the nerve of them releasing something that sounds interesting. I mean that with complete sincerity.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I’m certainly trepidatious. Speaking of hurts I shall never forgive, I have taken to requesting Silver Diamond on all of Seven Seas’ monthly license-request surveys. It’s BL and isekai-adjacent, so maybe? I figure it’s at least worth a shot!

SEAN: They’ve also got The Fox & Little Tanuki 4.

Viz has another massive One Piece box set that has Vol. 71-90 of the series.

Yen On has a 2nd volume of Spy Classroom.

Two debuts for Yen Press. The Abandoned Empress is a Korean webcomic that is one of those “spurned noble ends up going back in time to try to fix things” stories.

ASH: I like that Korean comics haven’t been forgotten by publishers these days!

MJ: Ah! Agreed!

SEAN: Spy Classroom is an adaptation of the light novel – see two lines up. It runs in my nemesis, Comic Alive.

Also from Yen Press: Breasts Are My Favorite Things in the World! 4, Cocoon Entwined 4, The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess 4, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 11, I Cannot Reach You 3, I’m the Hero, but the Demon Lord’s Also Me 3, Kaiju Girl Caramelise 5, The Maid I Hired Recently Is Mysterious 2, My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As I Expected 17, Sword Art Online Alternative Gun Gale Online 4, The World’s Strongest Rearguard: Labyrinth Country’s Novice Seeker 4, and Yowamushi Pedal 19.

MICHELLE: I need to catch up on I Cannot Reach You and Cocoon Entwined and, most especially, Yowamushi Pedal! I reckon the Inter High has gotta be finished by now!

ANNA: One of these days I need to read Yowamushi Pedal. My kids read it though so I just need to figure out where it is in my house.

ASH: I’m slowly catching up, myself. Hime Hime!

SEAN: See what I mean? Barely any manga at all. What are you getting?

Adachi and Shimamura, Vol. 8

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By Hitoma Iruma and Non. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Molly Lee.

There was a three-year gap between the previous volume and this one, and you can sort of tell. There’s a bit of a priority shift in the way the story is being told. For one thing, while Adachi still gets the occasional POV scene, the book has finally admitted that it should be called “Shimamura and Adachi”. Shimamura gets 90% of the first-person narrative, and the entire book is about forcing her to confront how she feels about Adachi, what she wants to do in a relationship with Adachi, and what they mean to each other. The answer will not surprise you, because the book begins with a flash-forward to ten years later, when we see the two of them living together and planning a trip to San Francisco. Given the ‘alternate universes’ of the previous volume, I was expecting ‘it was all a dream’ or something similar, but no. That said, there is one sad part. Sorry, toy shippers, Yashiro and Shimamura’s little sister is not gonna happen. She’s perpetually ten.

The non-flash-forward part of the book is also about a trip – the school trip, which is going to Kitakyushu. Naturally, Adachi is a combination of nervous wreck and jealous child, but for once we don’t really dwell on her. Instead we focus almost entirely on Shimamura, who is dealing with several problems. She’s in a group with Adachi and the three girls she briefly made friends with at the start of the school year, and things are… awkward, mostly as her new relationship is not nearly as secret as she’d like. Yashiro has stowed away in her backpack like a Doraemon invention. And an evening at a hot spring means that she is suddenly very aware that Adachi not only loves her in a romantic way but loves her in a sexual way. Being Shimamura, she’s not sure what to do about any of this, but she does come away with one thing – she wants to be with Adachi for the foreseeable future.

As noted, this book came out after a three-year gap, and it shows in the writing (and not just because Yashiro throws in a Demon Slayer reference). For one thing, Shimamura is asked point blank if she’s a lesbian, something I don’t think would have happened in this series even a few years earlier. (As you might guess, she doesn’t give a straight answer, but it leans more towards “Adachisexual”.) In the same conversation (it’s the best part of the book, and it did not escape my attention that that may be because Adachi’s not in it) Shimamura is also called a “hot mess”, and I laughed because it’s true. But she’s actually trying to fix that in real ways, being more tactile with Adachi, suggesting things like holding hands or snuggling, and trying to tease her without having Adachi take it the wrong way. As for Yashiro… well, if you don’t like her, this is not the book for you. She’s in this more than any other book, and she even has some good philosophical advice for Shimamura. She’s part of the writer’s world.

The flash-forward does show that Adachi is no longer a ball of vibrating gay whenever she’s around her girlfriend, which is good, though I hope I don’t have to wait ten years for that to kick in. In the meantime, Shimamura has gone from a creature who tries to emulate human emotions but can’t work up the energy to a real live human being. I can’t make fun of her anymore.

My Happy Marriage, Vol. 1

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By Akumi Agitogi and Tsukiho Tsukioka. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Shiawase na Kekkon” by Fujimi L Bunko. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by Kiki Piatkowska.

Brief content warning: this book features an abusive family, and unlike other light novels we’ve seen to date in this genre, they do not vanish after the first 20 pages. The marriage, though, is not abusive.

It’s rare that a book affects me so much that I think to myself that I may have to drop another, similar series for being thoroughly inadequate, but that’s sort of how I feel. After reading the first volume of My Happy Marriage, I suspect any time I try to get back into I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again!, a book with a very similar premise, I will come away thinking it shallow and boorish. Because My Happy Marriage is wonderfully written but also amazingly painful, the story of a woman who has spent most of her life being thoroughly abused by her family suddenly finding herself in a marriage that turns out to be the best thing that ever happened to her… and feeling that she doesn’t deserve any of it. Miyo’s pain and suffering suffuses this first volume.

Seemingly set in a Meiji-period Japan where some families have superpowers, this is the story of Miyo Saimori. Hers is a Cinderella story, but that also means it starts out the way Cinderella’s does as well – after her mother dies and her father remarries, she’s despised by her stepmother, and her younger sister is raised to hate her as well, particularly as she seemingly has no powers of her own. She has a maid on her side… till the maid is fired. She has a childhood friend who has a crush on her… but he’s too cowardly to do anything. She’s reduced to worse than a servant. So when she’s suddenly told she’ll be engaged to the powerful Kiyoka Kudou, she doesn’t know what to think. He’s been looking for a bride for some time, and has rejected all of them. Will Miyo be what he really needs? And can he possibly help her out of the deep pit of self-loathing and despair that is her life?

This book is very compelling but also very hard to read, as you are drenched in Miyo’s POV, and she is an abused woman. Despite being taken to Kiyoko’s house near the start of the book, we continue to focus on her family, who are losing power and influence and desperate to get it back. Fortunately, once she gets to Kiyoko’s house, she does start to have some allies. Kiyoko is, as his reputation says, cold and dismissive at first, but that’s mostly because he’s had a succession of women after his position and power. In fact, once he opens up to Miyo he becomes quite the loving fiancee. His elderly maid is also wonderful, and the first person that Miyo really opens up to. As for her supposed lack of power… it’s heavily implied in this book that she does indeed have strong powers, and that they just awaken late (something her mother was trying to get across to her father before she died). I suspect future books will go into this.

I also hope that future books will better try to match the title of the series. I want to read more of My Happy Marriage, but that’s mostly as I really want to see the happy part. This was good setup, and very much needed to get a good look into Miyo’s psyche, but it’s not what I would call a “light” novel. (Actually, given there are no internal illustrations, it probably should be classified as a light novel at all.)

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Vol 1

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Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End Volume 1 by Kanehito Yamada and Tsukasa Abe

I’m always curious about new Shonen Sunday titles since some of the series that I’ve enjoyed from the magazine just end up having more emotional and narrative depth than the more formulaic series in Shonen Jump. Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a deliberately paced fantasy story that examines the question of what happens next after a group of heroes succeeds in their ultimate mission. The party of friends on the verge of retirement includes character types that would not be out of place in any DnD campaign: Frieren, an elven mage, Himmel the Hero, Heiter the priest, and Eisen, a dwarf warrior.

The manga opens as the companions have completed their ten year quest to defeat the Demon King. The group splits up, with Frieren not quite understanding how time is going to pass much more quickly for her companions. She promises to check back with everyone in 50 years with the air of someone who’s going to drop by again next month, and leaves to continue her journey doing magical research. When she does return she finds Himmel transformed into a bald old man with an impressive white beard. When Himmel dies shortly after their reunion, Frieren finds herself more interested in reexamining her memories and trying to think the way humans do. She begins to retrace her party’s previous path and finds some low key magical adventures along the way as she starts to engage more with the idea of time passing for humans. Heiter tricks Frieren into taking on a human apprentice mage named Fern, so Frieren has a new companion along as she begins to come to terms with her past.

There’s a slow and gentle quality to the pacing of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. I think it would appeal to anyone who also enjoys Snow White with the Red Hair. There’s also plenty of humor as Frieren attempts to get better at understanding emotions and the human pace of the world. The art is attractive, capably portraying the medieval fantasy settings and capturing the emotional dynamic between the characters. I found reading this first volume both diverting and relaxing.

I’d Rather Have a Cat Than a Harem! Reincarnated into the World of an Otome Game as a Cat Loving Villainess, Vol. 1

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By Kosuzu Kobato and Hinano Chano. Released in Japan as “Sonna Koto yori, Neko ga Kaitai ~ Otome Game no Sekai ni Tensei Shimashita ~” on the Shousetsuka ni Narou website. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Jenny Murphy.

As always, the first question you should be asking yourself is “what makes this different from every other villainess book?”. In this case, there are multiple answers. The first is that it is not just our nameless Japanese heroine who dies and reincarnates as the villainess, her entire family also died and has reincarnated as her villainess family! They all gained their memories when they were ten years old, so Amy has a built-in loving support structure. Secondly, she and her mother both agree that they want her to avoid the fate of the otome game, and decide to do this by… fattening her up, so that she’s too pudgy to be a bride. Before you ask, yes, this is handled quite positively, and ends up having huge benefits to her healing magic powers. Third, and most importantly, she loves animals, and they love her. Especially big, big cats. I mean, it is the title of the book.

One more difference from other villainess books: Amy is rather shy and retiring, and the idea of getting engaged at the age of ten would likely fill her with horror even if she was not trying to avoid a Bad End. Unfortunately for her, the fact that she’s not trying to gain favor with the third prince and instead wants to gush about animals is what makes her attractive to him. It also helps that she manages to save his wounded pet owl with her magic. As the book goes on, we start to see that, while Amy may be content to hang around her family and play with her cat all day, the world has bigger plans for her. She’s discovered four of the six ‘capture targets’, and they’ve insinuated themselves into her life. And there’s a girl walking around who looks exactly like Maria Campbell, and we know what THAT means. Can Amy still avoid her doom?

As I said earlier, I was a bit wary when I heard part of the plot is “let’s make you chubby so no one will want to marry you”, but in context it’s treated really well. Amy is super healthy and active, climbing trees and roaming the land with her giant cat, so even keeping the weight on her at all is a challenge. What’s more, and the reader realizes this even if no one else does, gaining weight is clearly what leads to her having much stronger magical power than anyone else her age… or even above her age. Amy feeling bad that she can only heal a 2-inch cut on someone’s face, and everyone else reacting “You healed a wound from a monster and didn’t even leave a scar?!?!” is fun. There’s also a character introduced towards the end, Letizia, who is a delightful cliche of a tsundere, in all the best ways. I definitely hope we see more of her.

Honestly, this feels more like a slow life book than a villainess book, especially as we’ve only seen glimpses of the heroine. But it was a lot of fun, and had enough interesting variations to make me recommend you add it to your 70-foot-high pile of villainess books.