Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Blog

Is It Wrong To Try To Pick Up Girls In A Dungeon? On The Side: Sword Oratoria, Vol. 14

by

By Fujino Omori and Kiyotaka Haimura. Released in Japan as “Dungeon ni Deai o Motomeru no wa Machigatte Iru Darou ka? Gaiden – Sword Oratoria” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Dale DeLucia.

So, this wasn’t bad. It didn’t do anything wrong, and the climax moves up to “pretty good”. That said, it’s been a while since I last read a volume of Danmachi and my main reaction was “eh”. I think I can put some of this down to the basic premise, and how little it deviates from the expected. If I was to tell you that the plot of this book is “we find out how Finn, Riveria and Gareth ended up joining Loki Familia”, and asked what you thought would happen in the book, I bet you’d come up with something pretty similar to this. It hits the beats it needs to hit. Finn is clever and smug, Riveria is powerful but haughty, Gareth is strong but stubborn. And Loki is, well, Loki. This gives folks the backstories they wanted, but it has exactly zero surprises, unless you count Eine’s mom (who, as Loki tells us a few times, has got it going on).

Loki Familia is having a big celebration – though admittedly one close to home, as they’re short on cash to go to a bar right now – to celebrate the big news. Finn, Riveria and Gareth have all hit Level 7, and they did it at the same time, too. After a raucous feast with the whole family, the three of them and Loki have a quieter drink afterwards, and get to reminiscing. We see a Loki who’s just come down to the human world and has zero followers. She meets Finn, who has a tragic backstory but is also determined to show the world not to look down on prums, even if he has to give up his first love to do so. Riveria is shown as a princess who’s trapped in the forest with the high elves, and her escaping with her attendant and best friend Aine, despite her father and the other elves pursuing her. And we see Gareth in a small, poor mining town, doing his best to make sure everyone can live even though he’d really rather be out adventuring.

As always with this author, the fights get better as they go along, which means Gareth’s story is probably the one that hit best for me. I could have done without Loki’s sexual harassment, but honestly I’ve seen worse from her, and I know by now it’s meant to be her THING. I did mention Aine, and she does not do much, and clearly is not suited to be part of Loki Familia. Unfortunately, we don’t see how she married a human here – maybe there’s a side story or game that talks about it. The bulk of the book is “elves and dwarves hate each other”, with a side order of “hobbits are weak” – sorry, prums – and about the three of them learning to get along and discovering how strong they are as a fighting team. And Loki does manage to be clever once or twice in amongst being a horny brat.

So yeah, this is exactly what it says it is, no more, no less. The next book promises to tie back in with the main series, and also have more of Ais.

The Saga of Tanya the Evil: Dum Spiro, Spero, Part 2

by

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

It’s been quite a while since the last volume of these in English, even though in Japan, the two volumes came out only one month apart. That said, this is also the final volume of the series to date, as we have not yet seen the 15th volume in Japan as of this date. I don’t really blame the author, as it can be rather tricky to get the right tone for this series. It’s an anti-war but pro-military series, and it has to show us that war is hell while also managing to convey that reading about a good firefight is a hell of a lot of fun. It also can’t really kill off too many named characters – for all that we hear about people dying in this book (including, possibly, the greatest comedy character in the series, who returns in this book), the core of Tanya’s unit are still around. Even if they’re tired. So very, very tired.

The bulk of the start of the book is the aftermath of Tanya’s faked retreat orders, and how everyone seems to be disbelieving – not surprising, given everything we hear about the Empire. Fortunately, after Grantz flies all the way back to the capital and tries to avoid various court-martials and treason accusations as he barrels along, Zettour gets the message and is able to confirm – carry out those orders. Of course, that’s easier said than done, and Tanya and her group don’t even have that luxury – while the army retreats, they’re tasked with flying into the Federation attack, stopping supply trains, hitting disguised air bases, and trying not to die. And then after THAT, they get to take almost every mage in the entire not-German army on a suicide mission to take out various Federation strongholds. And then the worst possible thing happens – the enemy blows up their kitchen. (No really, think about it, surviving while exhausted on dry rations is TERRIBLE.)

I’m mentioning the exhaustion a lot because it really comes across here. By the end of the book Tanya’s comrades are dead on their feet, and even she sometimes gets to the point where fatigue is making her a little loopier than she normally is. They’re doing things that shame soldiers, as while they’re advancing on the enemy, they have to leave their own fellow soldiers to die – they cannot save them and attack at the same time. it’s frustrating, unless you’re Tanya, who coolly explains why it has to happen. The only one who seems firmly in her camp all the time is Visha, who is more worried about Grantz, who’s gotten more to do lately, replacing her as adjutant. Tanya reassures her. Weiss, meanwhile, thinks they’ve both “turned rotten”, and he’s not wrong. By the end of the book, they’re being sent off to fight again… but not in the East! Tanya may finally get an opportunity to defect.

Assuming we get the next book, of course. For now, the Empire still hangs on. We’ll be waiting to see if it makes it through Book 15. For fans of… well, the light novels, really. Fans of the anime should probably try the manga first. And fans of Isekai Quartet may just hate this.

The BS Situation of Tougetsu Umidori, Vol. 3

by

By Kaeru Ryouseirui and Natsuki Amashiro. Released in Japan as “Umidori Tougetsu no “Detarame” na Jijou” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

I like to theorize about what happens behind the scenes of an author, editor, and publisher, even though I am usually right about 1% of the time, if that. And when I got to the end of this third volume, I did wonder if the author was quietly told before it was written to plan for this to end with the fourth book (which it seems to have done, though I know better than to declare things definitively over now). The first two volumes of this book were very much concerned with the lies and the people behind them, and I was expecting this one to be as well. And to be fair, there is a situation with a lie and a person behind it. But the lie is incredibly pathetic, and it’s resolved in a way that’s deliberately comical. Because this is about Tougetsu Umidori, of course – and her story and its lack of lies are the whole point of the series, and not as easily solved.

Tougetsu has a problem. After avoiding it for nearly a year, her grandmother demands that she come home to visit or else she’ll be forced to move back home permanently. This upsets her, but she’s going to have to suck it up and do it – but it’s OK, Nara will come with her, as they’re friends, and Nara is tremendously curious about her family. That said, once they arrive, Nara finds that her grandmother is pretty nice and kind of normal… except around Tougetsu, where she turns into this stern scary woman. What’s more, she was really looking forward to meeting Tougetsu’s mother… who has fled the house. As it turns out, Nara ends up deeply regretting coming at all. Meanwhile, famous Kobe dishes are now thought to be famous Kakogawa dishes. Someone is altering reality so that Kakogawa gets all the cool Kobe dishes! It can only be a lie! Fortunately, Bullshit-chan has a solution – Youtubing.

There’s a lot of setup for the next volume involving the bad guys, as well as the true nature of Bullshit-chan, but let’s face it, the real meat of the book, and the best part, is the budding relationship between Tougetsu and Nara, and its near-fracturing here because of the way Tougetsu sees herself. Tougetsu’s inability to lie has led to her friendships being sundered, but she also has a lot of family trauma as well (which, be warned, involves an attempted suicide). What this means is that she seemingly feels no deep connections – if Nara broke things off and said she didn’t want to be friends anymore, Tougetsu would just accept it and distance herself. Which, of course, infuriates Nara. This is not a yuri series per se, but the only important male character in it is the villain, so it might as well be. Tougetsu and Nara make up at the end, and seem to come to a compromise, but I suspect it will take working out Bullshit-chan to work out Tougetsu.

Will this end in happiness or in tears? “Yes”, I suspect is that answer to that. Till then, please enjoy Bullshit-chan streaming cooking shows to save Kobe cuisine. And two kinda-gay teens trying to work things out despite one (one?) being really fucked up.

Sasaki and Peeps: A View-Count War Breaks Out on Social Media! ~My Neighbor’s Explosive VTuber Debut~

by

By Buncololi and Kantoku. Released in Japan as “Sasaki to Pi-chan” by Media Factory. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alice Prowse.

The danger of a series like this, which tries to change genres with every new volume, is that eventually you’re going to hit up against one that you’re not really all that interested in. When I saw that this volume was going to be about VTubers, I sort of groaned. It’s not my thing, and I don’t do the virtual idol thing either. So when Type Twelve decided to make this her new thing, I was prepared for this to be a slog. Fortunately, I was saved by the fact that the author knew which character to give the spotlight to this time around. Kurosu has gotten short shrift for a good deal of the series (when the anime came out, most wondered why she was even there at all), but her deadpan horrible personality meshes really well with trying to be a hot VTuber success, especially since we also still have her desperate 13-year-old horny urges to bang Sasaki (which is never going to happen, and I think she knows it deep down).

As noted above, Type Twelve is done with school because of … well, see Book 8. Instead, she’s decided to try uploading videos to Youtube (yes, they use the actual word). This becomes a competition, with everyone in the “family” (thus not including Elsa and Peeps, who already have a Youtube channel) competing to see who can get the most page views… and the winner has to order the loser to obey any command. Naturally, this gets Neighbor Girl tremendously excited, as even she knows that middle-management dude Sasaki is not going to be able to compete with four cute young-looking girls. She decides to (with Type Twelve’s tech help) become a cute, happy VTuber… which is a disaster. However, the backlash actually forces her to use it to her advantage, and she comes back admitting the happy girl was a fake and she’s a depressed introvert. This goes MUCH better… to the point where she’s scouted!

I’ve talked before about how the neighbor girl is so screwed up and horrifying that it almost comes around to being funny, but that’s not really sustainable if you’re going to have the series develop characterization (which is debatable – honestly, I think this author is far happier having its characters be cutely meta than learning anything about themselves). Over the course of the last few books she’s been forced to endure a lot and also interact with others far more than she ever did before. As a result, while her quiet cynical sarcasm is present and correct, as is her twisted sex with Sasaki fantasy, she no longer looks as if she’s actively trying to kill herself. Actually, she may have found a career path – her quick deductions at the scene of a crime, while getting in the way of the plot, show off a detective skill that’s actually kind of scary. Is she healing? A bit?

The others, rest assured, get stuff to do, and Hoshizaki gets the funniest part of the book. But yeah, this continues to interest me, even when it’s playing around in sandboxes I don’t care about.

Manga the Week of 10/29/25

by , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: You may now Halloween the week away however you want, including manga, spooky and otherwise.

ASH: Sounds like a plan!

SEAN: Airship has the print debut of Virgin Knight: I Became the Frontier Lord in a World Ruled by Women (Teisou Gyakuten Sekai no Doutei Henkyou Ryoushu Kishi), which features a world where sexual norms between men and women are reversed, and women are dominant! Into this comes our reincarnated hero, and he’s not standing for that!

ASH: Hmmm. This is something that could be done really well, or really not.

SEAN: Two ongoing print books from Airship. We see Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)! 4 and Witch and Mercenary 4.

For early digital we have a BL light novel. Bowing to Love: The Noble and the Gladiator (Ai ni Hizamazuku Toki) stars two men who are torn between duty, pure pleasure, and actual love amidst a vaguely Ancient Roman fantasy world.

ASH: I enjoy a good historical fantasy.

ANNA: Yeah!

SEAN: Also in early digital: The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 11.

Cross Infinite World has 2nd volumes for I Want to Be a Saint, But I Can Only Use Attack Magic! and Love & Magic Academy.

Ghost Ship has the 15th and final volume of Peter Grill and the Philosopher’s Time.

Hanashi Media debuts two new light novels, both of which you likely know from the manga that have been coming out here for a while. The New Gate stars Shin, who is essentially Kirito, fighting with others to escape from a VRMMO turned death game. But when he finally succeeds, he passes out… and wakes up 500 years later, in the “real” world of the game.

Re:Monster has our hero killed and reincarnated in another world as a lowly goblin. But he can gain power from eating, and also has his past memories. With these he will rise up to become someone greater.

They also have a 9th volume of Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy.

Inklore has a 5th volume of Father, I Don’t Want This Marriage.

J-Novel Club debuts another contest winner! The Dragon and the Blade Saint: This Isn’t Where We End stars a dragon who is furious that the revered “Blade Saint” killed all her people. She goes back in time to fix things… but now she’s a human?

The other debut is a manga, The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Ms. Aoi’s Lesson Plans (Isekai Tenishite Kyoushi ni Natta ga, Majo to Osorerareteiru Ken: Aoi-sensei no Gakuen Funtou Nisshi), based on a light novel J-Novel Club will be releasing soon. It runs in Comic Earth Star Online. A woman is reborn in another world with terrible regrets. But now she knows sorcery, and is headed to the magic academy. Can she do things better in this reborn life?

ASH: One would hope!

SEAN: Other light novels out next week from JNC: Isekai Walking 4.

And for manga we see 8th Loop for the Win! 6, The Conqueror from a Dying Kingdom 6, and I Only Have Six Months to Live, So I’m Gonna Break the Curse with Light Magic or Die Trying 4.

Kodansha debuts Light of My Life, a BL title from Gateau. Two best friends have grand dreams. Years later, neither of them is where they expected to be. Can they repair their friendship… and perhaps more?

MICHELLE: Well, I’m sucker for bittersweet BL, so count me in!

SEAN: Nezumi’s First Love (Nezumi no Hatsukoi) looks cute and adorable, but be warned it runs in the seinen Young Magazine. A young assassin falls in love for the first time, and now has to figure out how to chase her love and not have her bosses get in the way.

Also in print: AKIRA Hardcover Collection 3, Blue Lock 23, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 16, Nina the Starry Bride 12, Phantom of the Idol 8, and The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 19.

ANNA: Shouting out Nina the Starry Bride!

SEAN: In digital they have Am I Actually the Strongest? 15 and Gamaran: Shura 34.

Retailers say that KUMA has a one-shot debut. Director Akasaka’s Princely Training Course (Akasaka Buchou no Prince Boy Ikusei Keikaku) stars a guy with bad luck in love. But then he meets a handsome young man… that he’s supposed to train at his office! And the man is the future company president!

And we also see Happy Crappy Life 4.

ASH: This is a series I should probably catch up on at some point.

SEAN: One Peace Books has the 2nd volume of You Talk Too Much, So Just Shut It Already!.

ASH: I rather enjoyed the first volume.

Ponent Mon has a re-release of The Solitary Gourmet in a nice hardcover.

ASH: Very glad to see this release!

SEAN: Seven Seas debuts Hope You’re Happy, Lemon (Kuso Onna ni Sachiare), a Shonen Jump + series about a guy who broke up with his middle-school girlfriend after she admitted to cheating on him with multiple guys. Now he’s in college, and has a crush on another girl. But then Lemon shows up again… and now he’s bodyswapped into her body?!

MICHELLE: That took an unexpected turn!

ASH: It really did!

ANNA: Whoops!

SEAN: And we have My Twisted Eating Disorder (Meisou Senshi Nagata Kabi: Gourmet de Go!), the latest biographical manga from Nagata Kabi. It ran in Web Action.

ASH: Nagata Kabi’s works are heavy, but well done.

SEAN: Seven Seas also has The Ancient Magus’ Bride 21, The Condemned Villainess Goes Back in Time and Aims to Become the Ultimate Villain 5, Headhunted to Another World: From Salaryman to Big Four! 9, Ichi the Killer Omnibus 2, Kaya-chan Isn’t Scary 3, Magika Swordsman and Summoner 19, Mysterious Disappearances 7, Time Stop Hero 13, and Tokyo Revengers: Brilliant Full Color Edition 3-4.

MICHELLE: I really need to catch up on The Ancient Magus’ Bride.

ASH: Saaaaame. It’s a series I really enjoy, too.

Square Enix Books has Soul Eater: Soul Art Encore!, an artbook done after the Perfect Edition finished.

Tokyopop has Assassin’s Creed Dynasty Box Set, with 5 volumes now handy in one box.

They also debut I’ll Never Fall in Love With Amano! (Amano-kun to Koi Nanka Shinai!), a shoujo title from Dessert. Takahide is angry that she always comes second to Amano in academics. But when he mistakenly thinks she has a crush on him, she’s quick to take advantage…

MICHELLE: Why is it always the guy who’s “effortlessly brilliant” and the girl who can never quite manage to measure up?

ANNA: Sigh.

SEAN: Monster and Ghost is a manga that ran on the online Renta service. It’s a BL title about a delinquent everyone sees as a monster and the ghost who knows what he’s really like.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

SEAN: Yotsuya Ghost Knight is a BL one-shot that ran in from RED. An exorcist turns to a porn star for help in… well, read the book.

ASH: Oh, my!

SEAN: And Tokyopop also has I Was Reincarnated as the Heroine on the Verge of a Bad Ending, and I’m Determined to Fall in Love! 6.

Udon Entertainment have Mega Man X DiVE: Official Complete Works, which is what it sounds like.

Viz Media have Castle in the Sky: The Official Cookbook, which is what it sounds like.

They also have Hell’s Paradise: Jigokuraku Complete Box Set, which is what it sounds like.

One Piece: Law’s Story is a light novel giving us Law’s backstory.

Also from Viz: Boy’s Abyss 11 and Real 16 (the first new volume in four years).

MICHELLE: I legit gasped!

ASH: Real is one of my absolute favorites; incredibly excited for this.

ANNA: Wow!!!!

SEAN: Yen Press has its October titles at last, starting with Gals Can’t Be Kind to Otaku!? (Otaku ni Yasashii Gal wa Inai!?), the story of an otaku who likes shoujo stuff who meets two gals who also do. It runs in Comic Zenon.

ASH: I hope they can get along together.

SEAN: Monster-Colored Island (Kaijuu Iro no Shima) is a yuri series from Young Dragon Age. A longer girl with no friends finds a city girl at the top of a cliff… which they then fall off! After reviving her, the two find that strange things start to happen…

ASH: Gotta be careful around cliffs.

SEAN: Yankee & Carameliser is BL title that ran in B’s-LOVEY recottia. A supposed bad boy posts pictures of great desserts on social media. This is done in one, but has a sequel.

ASH: Delinquent food BL manga? I’m in!

ANNA: That’s a mix of genres I hsve not seen before.

SEAN: Also from Yen Press: Bungo Stray Dogs: Wan! 12, From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman 4, Goblin Slayer 16, Handyman Saitou in Another World 8, The Hitman Stans 2, Kaiju Girl Caramelise 8, Liar Liar 3, Lycoris Recoil 4, Mint Chocolate 13, Pink & Habanero 4, Shy 11, Spring Storm and Monster 4, The Summer Hikaru Died 6, Toilet-bound Hanako-kun 23, Übel Blatt Deluxe Edition 4, and Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke’s Mansion 9 (the final volume).

MICHELLE: I should revisit Pink & Habanero and Spring Storm and Monster, at some point.

SEAN: Not as large as I expected! Scary! What appeals to you?

Chitose Is in the Ramune Bottle, Vol. 7

by

By Hiromu and raemz. Released in Japan as “Chitose-kun wa Ramune Bin no Naka” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Evie Lund.

Throwing up the spoiler warning here: I discuss the big revelations in this book, but not till the third paragraph.

I was expecting something else, to be honest. After the trauma of the last few books, the sturm und drang and Yua playing Baker Street over a sobbing Chitose, that we would sort of go back to everyone smiling, going back to their normal high school lives, and have a nice, relaxing 7th book. And, to be fair, so was the author. There is an extra-long afterword describing their thought process while writing this book, and you can see how the first, oh, third of the book is written by a very different person from the one who wrote the last two-thirds. Because the author is correct, that is what the characters want. It’s what the readers want. We do not want more angst. We want to relax. Unfortunately, for the sake of the story, the author cannot give that to us. And so… see the girl on the cover>? She’s a first-year. She’s spunky, cute, and loves the whole cast. And she’s also a bomb.

After the events over the summer, Chitose is hoping that everything will go back to normal. And, aside from Yuuko having the traditional “moving on” haircut, they do. Which means it’s time to plan for the culture festival, which is two months away and seems to involve both a sports day AND a culture day. Naturally, Chitose and company are very involved, especially since, in his first year, he was not in the right headspace to handle a festival. Now he and the rest of the group want to be on the cheer squad. They’re joined by Asuka, who is happy to do something with them before she has to graduate. They are also joined by Kureha, a first-year who has heard all the stories about the very famous Chitose and his very famous friends, and is star-struck. She rapidly becomes part of their group. A bit too rapidly. The reader gradually feels that things are about to go very, very wrong.

As our little bomb sent everyone into a coma over the course of the last third of the book, I noticed that Yuuko was pretty much absent. She’s not like all the others, after all. She actually confessed and was rejected. So Kureha can’t really do much about her. It’s worth noting that Kureha is being written as a horrible villain after the reveal, and the reader sees her as one long before that, but to all the other girls, she’s not. Particularly Yuzuki, who is on the cover of the next two books in this series, and I strongly suspect is going to step past Yuuko to steal the main girl spotlight. But the way that Kureha demolishes Haru, Asuka and Yua with “innocent” ease shows off that much as we’d like all the girls to be equal in their chances to win Chitose, that’s not how love works. You have to commit. You have to be ready to hurt others to get what you want. Yuuko understood that, and the hurt was devastating to her. Kureha is able to hurt far more easily, but so far only Yuzuki, who has always been the most aloof of the group, is ready to take things to the next level.

As the anime seems to be polarizing people, the novels are hitting another high point. Just… be ready for things to not be safe and fun.

Pick of the Week: Nana Deku?

by , , , and Leave a Comment

SEAN: It’s the end of My Hero Academia, so of course that’s my pick this week, even though I know that the final chapter, exclusive to the volume, will no doubt reignite appalling ship wars.

MICHELLE: I’m with Sean. I’m not as enamored of this series as I once was, but I still would like to finish it, so I shall soon be embarking upon a marathon.

KATE: NANA! There’s a whole generation of readers who haven’t had the pleasure of reading this fervid paean to female friendship. Buy a copy for your favorite Young Person today!

ANNA: I’m with Kate, bring on the angst in NANA!!

ASH: Likewise! The re-release of NANA is where it’s at for me. It really is such a great series; I’m very glad it’s getting attention again.

The Wicked Princess and Her Twelve Eyes: The Legendary Villainess and Her Elite Assassins

by

By Daken and saino. Released in Japan as “Aku no Reijou to Juuni no Hitomi: Saikyou Juusha-tachi to Densetsu no Akujo, Jinsei Nidome no Kareinaru Musouroku” by Overlap Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by piyo (Irene Nakano). Adapted by Rei Geronimo.

I was going to buy this anyway simply as I like the genre, but then I saw it was by the author of Who Killed the Hero?. And then, for some reason, as I was reading it, I totally forgot that. I’m not sure why. But the first, oh, two-thirds of this book is content to just be a hoot. You’ve got the usual villainess who goes back in time and does things over again. There’s a large helping of humor, both because she’s an absolute sadist but also from the author themselves (one of the color pages tells us what each of her squires excels in, and one girl is simply “energetic!” in a “no thoughts, head empty” sort of way). That said, don’t worry, this *is* by the author of Who Killed the Hero?, and the last 50 pages or so made me sit up, and then made my jaw drop as I recalled all the things I hadn’t bothered to pay attention to.

Serena Rosenberg starts this book, as all good villainesses do, by getting her engagement broken in front of a large crowd of nobles. Unlike most villainesses, she really is guilty of a lot of attempted murder against the heroine. Even though none of her attempts succeeded, she’s sentenced to death. As she’s forced to drink poison, she realizes that her biggest fault was that she did not have competent minions. Then she wakes up as a baby again, but with memories of her past life. Unfortunately, she’s still pretty much a terrible person, but she definitely wants to avoid her previous fate. Therefore, she actually studies magic and the sword, getting good at everything. She also goes to an orphanage, grabs the six “problem children” from it, and puts them through training. Ridiculously hard training.

The bulk of this book goes sort of how you’d expect, being one of those “Serena does something with evil intentions, but everyone else sees it as good” sort of books. Her hellish training really is needed to snap this orphans out of their mindsets, and makes them better people. She gets them dogs, who become good pets and like family to them. She does this for absolutely WRETCHED reasons, but because she’s being so good, those reasons have to be abandoned. And as the book goes on, we see her realizing that she doesn’t really want to get revenge, and doesn’t care if the heroine marries the prince after all. It’s headed for a “doing good thing feels good” sort of ending… and then we’re reminded about things we took for granted because this genre has lots of mediocre things that make the brain assume. Like why does her mother avoid her? Like why did she go back in time in the first place? The last chunk of this book is here to answer the questions, and the answer is pretty terrific. And yes, author, I appreciated the added ending.

If you like this author, cool plot twists, or books where the protagonist is terrible but in a fun way, this is a must-read. Also, I teared up a bit when I realized what the title meant.

The Twelve Kingdoms, Book Two: Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea, Part 2

by

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

Last time I assumed that things would get better for Youko over the course of this second book, and to be fair they do SORT OF, but it does not remove the trauma of what has happened to her, especially once she discovers that this journey, much as she would like it to be otherwise, is pretty one-sided. By the end of the first book she was betrayed twice over, and is mentally and physically on her last legs, and so at the start of this book she regards any act of kindness at all as an attempt to soften her up before they betray her again. It doesn’t help that she’s still getting attacked by youma, which she’s getting quite good at killing – her sword skills are improving by leaps and bounds! – but it does also mean that she’s starting to regard herself as a bad person… and perhaps not even a person at all. Which, um, turns out to be correct. Except for the bad part.

After the events of the last volume, Youko is in bad shape, and unable to trust anyone. She ends up, fortunately, getting picked up by the best possible rat that she can. And no, I don’t mean a rat as in a terrible person, I mean an actual walking, talking rat. Rakushun is a Hanjyuu, a half-beast, who is smart and kind but unfortunately in the wrong kingdom to be able to get ahead. He spends a large portion of the start of the book trying to convince Youko that he’s not going to sic the guards on her the first chance he can get. He also gives her a lot more information about this world, which will come in handy when they are inevitably separated on their journey and she has to go on alone. Eventually she ends up in the kingdom of En, which is a LOT better than where she was. Unfortunately, the youma keep attacking her no matter where she is.

I was prepared for this to feel a lot different from the anime, as Sugimoto doesn’t exist in the novels beyond the very start. But wow, this book is concerned with Youko and her situation, and everything else about it is secondary. Not to spoil too much, but there’s a huge battle between an army of soldiers trying to protect a false queen and Youko and a number of crack troops, and it starts on page 209 and is done by page 210. The false queen herself takes up half of the cover art. We never meet her. This book is laser-focused on Youko and her thought process, and it’s absolutely riveting. We see her start at the lowest possible ebb, and as she gradually learns to trust again and gains more and more information, she realizes how intertwined she is with this world and how it’s practically impossible for her to run away without causing a catastrophe. The climax of the book is not the battle – it can’t be. It’s Youko’s choice. The rest is just an afterthought.

Now, the next book does not in fact focus on Youko, but moves to a different kingdom, as if to remind us that the title of the book is indeed The Twelve Kingdoms. I still can’t wait to read it.