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Our Crappy Social Game Club Is Gonna Make the Most Epic Game, Vol. 1

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By Oriori Siki and Azuri Hyuga. Released in Japan as “Jakushou Soshage-bu no Bokura ga Kamige wo Tsukuru Made” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Mikey N.

Sometimes you just have to power through even when your initial impression is bad. This novel started off iffy for me. A sad-sack protagonist who had difficulties communicating with others. A perky, happy ball of sunshine who ends up dragging him back into a world he was desperately trying to avoid. Even the world the book takes place in didn’t impress me; it’s not a fantasy or isekai, but it does take place in a world where education has become driven by “gacha”, that game mechanic where you spend money to get a cool thing – possibly. I’m not sure why it needed to jump through the extra hoops, unless a pre-reader asked why everyone cared so much about social games. Fortunately, after a rough start it settles into what the book is actually about: the trauma of past failures crippling your ability to move forward and recognize your own worth, and how others can help you move past that.

Kai has just moved far from Tokyo after being driven from his previous school, one of the best in the country, for sabotaging a popular social game for reasons we are not immediately privy to. He’s trying to move on and have nothing to do with social games, but unfortunately, he’s arrived at one of those “everyone has to be in a club” schools, and the girl showing him around, Aoi, is head of the Social Game club, which consists of her, programmer and gacha-addict Aya, and perpetually angry artist Eru. The club is about to be shut down, and the Student Council President hates it, so Kai joins up impulsively. Unfortunately, the club is a mess – Eru is angry at Aoi, Kai, and most everything else, Aya is never there as she has to gacha all the time, and Aoi’s bubbly, happy side masks a girl who fears she is useless and a burden. Can the club be saved in time?

As I said, when you get past the original cliches (there’s also a pervy older sister who loves to tease Kai, and the arrogant/snarky student council duo are pure 100% cliche), there’s more to like here than expected. Kai, of course, did not sabotage the game back in Tokyo because he was being a villain, it was for a very good reason. Both he and Aoi suffer from crippling self-doubt, and both of them have to have it demonstrated to them, explicitly, that their fears are unfounded. Kai really does have terrific value as a planner, as his sempai at the Tokyo school (who is awesome, and has a great semi-robotic speech pattern) demonstrated to him, and while Aoi’s art is still not as good as Eru’s, she is improving constantly and is ready to take the next step. They make their game better AND they step in to help save the original game that Kai sabotaged. It’s quite the feel good ending.

So yes, there’s gold to be found here, though I’d recommend liking gacha games a whole lot more than I do if you really want to get the full experience.

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 5

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By Toru Taba and Falmaro. Released in Japan as “Tensai Ouji no Akaji Kokka Saisei Jutsu ~Sou da, Baikoku Shiyou~” by GA Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

This volume was always going to have trouble living up to the high point of the previous one, and it does. It’s a very short light novel, coming out at not even 160 pages. And that, I think, is the problem – this volume is too rushed, leaving everything sort of half-baked. The joy of these books is seeing Wein come up with plans, wriggle around as they’re upended by a surprise disaster, and then come up with even more clever plans. but you need time for each of those things to simmer, and we don’t get that here. There’s also very little of Falanya, who was the star of the fourth book, and also a minimal amount of romantic tension between Wein and Ninym. There’s nothing wrong with the book, it’s reasonably fun to read, and gets exciting a few times. But the reader is left with the feeling that “that could have been better”.

Natra has been doing very well for itself under Wein’s leadership… VERY well, and has started to attract attention to itself, both good and bad. It also has to worry about Marden, its recent acquisition, which is far better located than Natra itself, and could easily wind up surpassing Natra itself. They need more allies. So he turns to the nations beyond Marden, Soljest (which is run by Gruyere, the very obese Holy Elite we briefly saw in Book Three, and Delunio, which is basically being ruled by its slimy Prime Minister. Wein heads to Marden, expecting Zenovia to try to solve Marden’s problems by a marriage proposal, which he plans to turn down, and then goes to Soljest, where he ends up suggesting that the two nations ally themselves to each other, something Gruyere quickly agrees to. And then… well, everything falls apart for Wein.

By now, the strengths and weaknesses of this series are pretty well locked in. Sadly, I find the art a weakness, as it’s frequently just too goofy for my tastes, and also leans into fanservice when it shouldn’t (there is a low-angle shot of Zenovia sleeping on her tits at a desk that should be taken out back and shot). The plotting and scheming is fun, both when Wein is being brutally clever and also when he’s being out-thought, and I really liked the idea that Zenovia *is* in love with him but refuses to marry him if she’s not his equal at being a clever person. Gruyere is also a lot of fun, and I did like the introduction of his daughter, who appears to be there mostly so that she can be a rival to Falanya in future books. But… everything happened too fast. The battles, the scheming, the dialogue, even the dumb goofy comedy. Ninym screws up Wein’s hair in an amusing way! Why was nothing done with that?

The series is still worth reading, and I look forward to the next book, but this one just feels… half-baked.

I’m in Love with the Villainess, Vol. 2

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By Inori and Hanagata. Released in Japan as “Watashi no Oshi wa Akuyaku Reijou” by GL Bunko. Released in North America by Seven Sas. Translated by Jenn Yamazaki. Adapted by Nibedita Sen.

(While I try not to spoil TOO much, this does talk about events in this book a bit more than some might be comfortable with, so this is your spoiler warning.)

When we last left Rae and Claire in the first volume of this series, things were still great fun, with lots of teasing and tsundere antics, but there was also excellent discussions of LGBT identity and a few hints of ominous rumblings on the horizons. This second volume proceeds – immediately – to walk up to our heroine’s happy, relaxed life and clever plotting and scheming and kick at it till it falls over, requiring a stronger structure. Things do not relax from that point forward. Even a trip back home to visit Rae’s parents, the slightest chapter in the book, is still filled with economic inequality and the difference between the haves and have nots. Rae’s past in Japan, which barely came up in the first book, gets an amazing flashback in the third chapter, which also gets into transgender rights. And all of this? Is before the Revolution that is the subject of the original otome game. Rae may be trying to save Claire… but is that what Claire wants?

There is a certain amount of ridiculousness to the plot that you are just going to have to accept. I won’t spoil everything, I will just note that there is a volcano eruption that is only fourth or so on the list of ridiculous things. It is also clear that the author has an agenda, and is here to push it, and honestly that’s great as well. I mentioned Rae’s past – as Rei – and it gets into the nitty gritty of coming out – internally and externally – and how that can be for good and ill and both. It also has a literal love square, the kind that you see arrow diagrams of, and also has Maria-sama Ga Miteru novels (or a very thinly disguised version of) as the gateway into this. So as you can see, it manages to combine the heartfelt and the over the top without sacrificing either.

Things definitely get more serious as the book goes on, though we know they’re going to right from the start, when Rae is forced to deal with her love for Claire, something that she states out loud multiple times a day, and how dedicated to it she really is. First as comedy, and second as tragedy, events conspire to force Rae to abandon her cool, logical, and calculating persona and admit that she does, in fact, not only love Claire but want to be with Claire for the rest of her life – fuck “I want my beloved to be happy” tropes. Once the actual revolution revs up, there’s no time for school – first Rae has to maneuver events so that Claire can avoid being executed for being the symbol of all that is bad as aristocrats, and then watch in horror as Claire’s growth, acceptance and love of Rae results in all those plans being shattered to bits.

Claire’s growth is, in my opinion, even more stunning than Rae’s because we get so much of it filtered through Rae, who gets it but also does not. She knows that Claire is far nicer than she pretends to be. She shows her what their country is really like, whose lives it is built on top of, and what the commoners really feel about all this. And Claire then resolves to make things better. She helps ferret out corrupt nobles with Rae. She helps pass out food to those who are starving with Rae. And, in the end, she makes a decision that Rae can’t do, which is to accept that she is a symbol of everything that was wrong with the class system, and go to her execution in order to take responsibility. As in the first chapter, Rae is devastated and almost gives up. Seeing how far Claire has come from the standard arrogant ringlet girl is my favorite thing about this book. It even pays off in the epilogue and side story, which shows Claire adapting to commoner life rather well – indeed, a bit better than Rae is.

There’s more I can talk about, like the whole plot with Yu and Misha, which revolves around (like, honestly, a lot of this book) a metaphor that turns out to be literal. There’s Manaria, who has gallant Takarazuka vibes up the wazoo, and without whom everyone would likely be dead. There’s the young cardinal who is in love with Rae and is also… well, I’ll leave that for now. There is the fact that the book has a large number of characters who are not only yuri, but also queer, a word used by Rae in the book. (As is lesbian.) There’s the fact that there is apparently a third volume in Japan, which surprises me given that this reads very much like an ending. Above all of this is the fact that the book is simply unputdownable – it has a very large page count, but I was forced to finish it in one day anyway. It may be the best light novel of 2021, and it’s only January 8th. Read it, please. You won’t regret it.

Slayers: The Battle of Saillune

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By Hajime Kanzaka and Rui Araizumi. Released in Japan by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Elizabeth Ellis.

The first three volumes of Slayers are filled with humor and wackiness, but they are also very, very dark, with the third one ending in the destruction of an entire city and everyone in it. It often feels like a fantasy version of Dirty Pair, with Lina and Gourry accidentally spreading chaos as they go from town to town. This volume, which introduces another one of our “regulars” (I use the word in quotes because everyone in the novels except Lina and Gourry tends to be mostly absent half the time.) also features a lot of dead bodies, and has Lina almost die at least three times, to the point where her waking up in a hospital bed is almost a running gag. Despite that… this feels like an attempt at a lighter, fluffier volume of Slayers. Sure, there’s assassination attempts on royalty, assassination attempts on Lina, betrayal, and lots of death… but any book with Prince Phil and Amelia in it is by definition lighter. Even if Amelia feels a bit odd at first.

When this book was first published, both in Japan and North America, it had a much more serious cover, featuring Lina and Gourry. But J-NC has licensed the updated reissues, and they know what readers want, and so we get Amelia pointing at us for justice. As for the plot, Lina, Gourry and Sylphiel arrive in Saillune and are caught up in a royal struggle, as someone is trying to kill Prince Phil. Lina, who has met the prince before, is underwhelmed, but she and Gourry quickly agree to help him try to resolve things, despite the fact that his brother seemingly has a mage on his side who can do all sorts of lethal things to our heroine. But how many “sides” are there in this battle? And why would the villain be trying to kill Lina personally as well?

As stated, Amelia shows up here for the first time, and seems… surprisingly savvy and clever. Honestly, it feels like her characterization takes a step back as the book goes on, with the author realizing on the fly that she’s funnier when she’s goofier, hence the additional cries of justice and the pratfall towards the end. The book is funny, though sometimes it’s not as funny as it would like to be – the way Sylphiel is written out of the book is simply dumb, no two ways about it. I was also very impressed at the traps that are created for Lina in the book, with the endless corridor you can’t get out of (which Lina promptly does), the evil bug that nearly succeeds in annihilating Lina and puts her in the hospital, and an assassin that really, really wants to kill her. We do get some reasons as to why this is happening towards the end, but a lot of it is still vague, and no doubt will be examined in the next book.

This book is very 1990s at times, and “ha ha, it’s funny because he’s not handsome!” is not the laff riot it’s meant to be, but this was a very solid Slayers, and introduces one of my favorite regulars, even if she’s not quite cooked characterization-wise. Next time we’ll meet another regular, a certain “priest”, and things should get even more chaotic.

Manga the Week of 1/13/21

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SEAN: Next week is a very quiet week. I’ll take it!

ASH: A chance to at least pretend I can catch up on my reading!

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a debut light novel, Reset! The Imprisoned Princess Dreams of Another Chance! (Torawareta Ōjo wa Nido, Shiawasena Yume o Miru), a “Peggy Sue” style story along the lines of Tearmoon Empire, about a princess whose life and kingdom are destroyed finding herself a 12-year-old once more.

J-Novel Club has quite a few ongoing titles. Campfire Cooking in Another World’s 2nd manga volume, Der Werwolf 10, The Epic Tale of the Reincarnated Prince Herscherik 3, Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts with a Village 2, Record of Wortenia War 9, Sorcerous Stabber Orphen: The Youthful Journey 2 (this is the manga), and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 3.

In print, Kodansha has Beyond the Clouds 3 and The Quintessential Quintuplets 12.

Digitally, the debut is A Couple of Cuckoos (Kakkou no Īnazuke), the new series from the creator of Yamada-kun and the Seven Witches. It combines “accidentally switched at birth” and “arranged marriage”, and sounds sort of like an updated Marmalade Boy.

ANNA: Hmmmm…

SEAN: Also digitally: Ace of the Diamond 30, Peach Boy Riverside 3, Practice Makes Perfect 4 (the final volume), Saint Young Men 9, The Story of Our Unlikely Love 2 (also a final volume), and We Must Never Fall in Love! 5.

MICHELLE: At last here are a few I plan to read!

SEAN: One Peace has Hinamatsuri 11.

ASH: Speaking of needing to catch up – I enjoyed the first few volumes of Hinamatsuri but keep falling further behind with the series.

SEAN: SuBLime has two Volume 3s, Coyote and Jealousy.

Lastly, we have Viz, who have Case Closed 77, Fly Me to the Moon 3, Persona 5… erm… 5, Pokemon Sun & Moon 9, Rin-Ne 37, Splatoon 11, and Yo-Kai Watch 16.

ANNA: My kids like Splatoon!

SEAN: See? Super short. Anything here for you?

Ascendance of a Bookworm: I’ll Do Anything to Become a Librarian!, Part 3: Adopted Daughter of an Archduke, Vol. 3

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Shisho ni Naru Tame ni wa Shudan wo Erandeiraremasen” by TO Books. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

Last time I talked about how Rozemyne, try as she might, is not going to drag this world kicking and screaming into the 20th century anytime soon. Indeed, anyone reading this series hoping for a class war starting between the elite nobles and the clever commoners has probably already checked out by now. Rozemyne may tell Ferdinand that she will never be comfortable with killing another person – and thank God for that! – but she is still going to stay a noble and try to follow noble rules. Of course, there are other ways to subvert society, and we find that her cards and picture books are doing this far more than most people are ready for. Kids are learning fast. Very fast. Heck, even Angelica, her bodyguard who took the job because it would mean she didn’t have to study at school – ends up learning with a sufficient reward dangled in front of her. The Revolution Will Be Printed.

As you can see by the cover, much of this book takes place in winter, though fortunately Rozemyne only has one “and then I was in bed for days” incident in the book. She’s gathering ingredients for her cure, which can involve fighting a massive snow leopard monster who can create hideous blizzards, or can involve collecting nectar from a hot spring that proves to be a lot more sentient than Ferdinand was expecting. So there’s actually a fair bit of action here. We also get to see Rozemyne play politics, as she gets the noble kids to work together, teaches them without it being overt (the best kind of teaching), and starts to create the idea of lending libraries, getting one poor noble’s daughter books in return for hearing new stories that her mother had told her. Honestly, if it were not for the resolution of what happened with the Mayor last book, this would be a light and fluffy volume.

It is not a light and fluffy volume. Rozemyne is forced to not only watch the Mayor, his wife, and a few people who had shown (thank to Ferdinand’s magic) that they were disloyal be killed, but also to see how nobility in general regards commoners as little better than animals, and their lives absolutely do not matter. Much as we would like to see her fix this, Rozemyne is still about 7 years old here, and cannot bend the world to their will quite that much. The execution itself is fantastical in nature but also horrific, and much is made of the fact that those killed with be unburied and unremembered. Fortunately, we do move from this to the Hot Springs episode, which, fortunately, does not lead to a bunch of fanservice as it would in any other title. The closest we get to fanservice is Rozemyne giving Brigitte a present of a fashionable dress, and remarking on her large chest. As for the hot springs ingredient gathering, it’s honestly hilarious, especially in retrospect. Even Rosemyne and Brigitte getting eaten by a giant toad just made me think of KonoSuba (it’s OK, they get out).

There’s two more volumes to go in this arc, and I’ve really no idea where it’s going to go, other than better printing, more books, etc. But that’s fine. Even the chapters discussing springs and leverage are interesting in this series. It remains a must read.

Bookshelf Briefs 1/4/21

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Black Clover, Vol. 23 | By Yuki Tabata | Viz Media – Given we came to the end of a very long arc last time, it makes sense that there’s a lot of goofy comedy before we start the next arc (which has a timeskip!). Fortunately, Black Clover is pretty good at being dumb and goofy in a shonen way—I’ve said before that it’s ripping off every single shonen series in the world, but it’s not doing it badly. Therefore we get a lot of silly love confessions, and priestesses who wear spiral “nerd” glasses like Mousse from Ranma 1/2. Oh yes, and Asta is not executed—for now. They still think he’s totally evil, though. Hopefully fighting a devil may help to change that opinion. This has become one of the longest-running Jump series now, and it’s easy to see why it’s still going. – Sean Gaffney

Days of Love at Seagull Villa, Vol. 1 | By Kodama Naoko | Seven Seas – Another yuri series from this author, this book starts with one of our heroines fleeing to the countryside after her boyfriend gets her best friend pregnant. She’s there to teach (and boy, her class could use some lessons in “don’t slutshame and don’t bully”), but she’s also staying with a young woman who’s raising a kid alone after her whole family was killed. The two are seeming opposites, but turn out to possibly have much in common. The yuri so far here is just a drunken kiss, but I’m sure there will be more to it. That said, the series seems content to introduce its cast and then start to simmer things to a slow boil. That’s good too. I want to learn more about this village. – Sean Gaffney

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Everyday Misadventures!, Vol. 1 | By FUNA and Yuki Moritaka | Seven Seas – I was expecting this to be a 4-koma sort of volume, but it isn’t. Instead it’s just goofy comedy chapters without the ongoing plot that we get in the normal series. So you get things like Reina trying to learn to cook, and Mavis getting hit on by women again, etc. The usual stereotypes apply—Pauline has large breasts, Mile is… well, Mile, Reina is hot-headed, etc. There’s also a flashback to Adele’s experiences at school, where it turns out that all the school’s “Seven Mysteries” are just her being stupidly overpowered. No one should get this who’s not a fan of the original, but those who are should be quite pleased. – Sean Gaffney

Dr. STONE, Vol. 14 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Most of this volume is trying to rescue everyone from the evil village “god” and his even more evil minion, who is unfortunately more overpowered than most of our team. On the cool side, most of the rest of the group gets un-petrified after recovering their bodies from the ocean floor, thanks to the power of Taiju being really strong and really dumb. On the less-cool side, Kohaku and Ginro are now petrified, though frankly that’s a good thing in Ginro’s case, as he was bleeding to death. This is probably the biggest villain that Senku and company have had to face before, so it makes sense that he’s finally taking a very dark step (as he himself says) and bringing guns into this world. Great fun. – Sean Gaffney

Eniale & Dewiela, Vol. 1 | By Kamome Shirahama | Yen Press – I was told when I saw who the author of this series was that I should not expect it to be much like Witch Hat Atelier, and that’s an understatement if anything. Oh, the art is still amazingly gorgeous, but the content is very much designed for those who enjoy the dynamic of, say, Gabriel Dropout. An angel and a demon are best friends despite sniping at each other the entire volume. Eniale is a bit of a featherhead. Dewiela has a bit of a temper. Together, they get involved in Very Wacky Situations. How much you enjoy this will depend on how wacky you find the situations. I found it fun, but I think I would enjoy it better in a magazine chapter by chapter than in volume form. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 13 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – This series about four couples—heavily overbalanced towards two of them—finally comes to a close by going back to its leads, as Riko’s mom is moving due to her job and… is NOT asking Riko to come with her. Yes, the final volume involves everyone trying to self-sacrifice the most, with lots of tears and angry words. Of course we know that Riko really needs to be with her mom, even if they may not have the best relationship, which of course means that she and Kai are now far from each other. Fortunately, it’s the final volume, so this can be resolved with a flash forward to college. This was a solid series, but I’ll remember it for Takaya and Ayumi more than anyone else—in fact, possibly just Ayumi. – Sean Gaffney

I Love You So Much, I Hate You | By Yuni | Yen Press – Ayako Asano and Saori Fujimura are both accomplished, successful career women working closely with each other at their company. But outside of the office they’re even closer—they’ve actually started sleeping with one another. Two women becoming romantically involved isn’t so much of an issue, but the fact that Ayako is both married to a man and is Saori’s boss poses some significant problems. I Love You So Much, I Hate You is a mature manga dealing with some mature themes. Initially, there are definite imbalances in Ayako and Saori’s relationship, each woman approaching it from a different starting point and hoping to get different things out of it. However, over the course of the volume their needs and desires begin to align. But it’s not easy for either of them for a variety of reasons; granted, a relationship that starts out as an affair is bound to be complicated. – Ash Brown

An Incurable Case of Love, Vol. 5 | By Maki Enjoji | Viz Media – Nanase and Dr. Tendo are a couple now, so, inevitably, we must introduce the rivals. This volume gives us the first one, a rich young man with a medical condition who cynically says that people only care about him because of his money. He runs into Nanase, who is, well, herself, and falls head over heels in love with her. I was impressed how the author took this old-standard josei manga trope and simply… had the leads act like adults. There are a few misunderstandings and small fights, but there’s no huge blowup or breakup, mostly as Dr. Tendo is very familiar with who Nanase is. That said, Nanase still has self-image issues, and the cliffhanger implies a stronger rival on the way. Maki Enjoji is always good. – Sean Gaffney

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War, Vol. 17 | By Aka Akasaka | Viz Media – While we’re still dealing with the consequences of Miyuki and Kaguya dating, the series really has gotten very good at the tiny little jokes. Including possibly the DARKEST ‘in between chapters’ gag I’ve ever seen, where Iino talks about how she enjoys pain as it makes her “feel safe.” As for Chika, I think she has realized that the author increasingly doesn’t know what to do with her. She probably does not have a big character-building arc like the other four, so she’s essentially the goofy one that annoys people, something she is catching on to. Though the funniest chapter in this book features Karen invading the main title from her spin-off manga—still sadly not licensed—and almost getting everyone arrested. – Sean Gaffney

Practice Makes Perfect, Vol. 3 | By Ui Hanamiya | Kodansha Comics (digitial only) – This volume has our lead couple finally going all the way, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t problems. For one, the first time HURTS, and even successive attempts are nine parts pain to one part pleasure for Nohara (who, amusingly, is still trying to handle this in a “sports” way, as is Yano). There’s also the fact that Yano thinks that Nohara is going to break if he tries to be anything but super super gentle, which… also is not helping, though it leads to the volume’s best joke. Fortunately, the next volume is the last. Unfortunately, it appears that we’re going to get a “hey, the girl I love spends her days surrounded by hot guys!” chapter. Still, this Rated-R manga is still a lot more fun than I expected. – Sean Gaffney

Pick of the Week: White Roses

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SEAN: It’s an embarrassment of riches the first week of 2021. There’s the new Ascendance of a Bookworm novel, the new Sweat and Soap, and any number of Viz titles. But the book I’m most interested in is A White Rose in Bloom. When Classmates came out I loved its tone, and I’m hoping that we’ll see the same attention to tone and character in this new series.

MICHELLE: I am very interested indeed in A White Rose in Bloom. Not just because of its pedigree, but because I’m a sucker for boarding school stories. However, I must admit that what most fills me with manga squee this week is the prospect of a mini-marathon to get caught back up with Haikyu!!. This will probably be the last catchup I do before I hoard the volumes leading up to the 45th and final one.

ANNA: There’s a ton of great manga coming out this week, but I’m going to pick Daytime Shooting Star, because that always seems to be on the top of my to-read pile whenever it comes out.

KATE: I never miss an opportunity to plug Drifting Dragons, which is one of the best-looking fantasy/adventure series on the market right now, but I’m also going to sneak in a recommendation Blue Period, an engaging drama about a high school student whose foray into painting leads him on an unexpected journey of self-discovery. Paging Bob Ross!

ASH: I’ve really been enjoying Drifting Dragons, too, but this week my eyes are on A White Rose in Bloom. The manga is good-looking and distinctive in an entirely different way and Asumiko Nakamura’s work is always a must-read for me.

MJ: I’m typically late with my picks each week, so Sean always has to nudge me for them. Then sometimes I’m still slow, so he’s always having to come up with some kind of clever line to get me off my butt. But his week was easy. He said, it “has a manga by the author of Doukyusei.” A White Rose in Bloom had me right there. That’s all there is to say.

Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?!, Vol. 11

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By FUNA and Itsuki Akata. Released in Japan as “Watashi, Nouryoku wa Heikinchi de tte Itta yo ne!” by Earth Star Novels. Released in North America by Seven Seas. Translated by Diana Taylor. Adapted by Maggie Cooper.

There was a point in the second story here, when they came across a scavenger that is trying to repair the machines keeping the world alive, that I realized that this was actually a plot that we had seen several volumes ago, and was meant to be quite important. MMAA does have an ongoing plot thread, but it can take many volumes to get back to it, as we’ve seen, and then it will happily wander away from it again. The book is here for fun overpowered little girls, and not much else. And you know, that’s fine too, because – sorry, nanomachines – I’m not really that invested in saving this world as a long-term plotline. And neither is Mile, who points out – possibly incorrectly – that she’ll be dead before it happens so doesn’t care. (I get the sense, honestly, that Mile may end up living forever.) I want to read fluff and cute character moments. We get both of those here.

Pauline is on the cover, and is also the focus of the first story, where our heroes meet a mother and daughter who are in trouble with money lenders. I appreciated Pauline’s vigorous defense of them, but of course, this book being the type of series it is, it turns out the money lenders ARE assholes, so she turns on a dime and gleefully destroys them. We then go to a mountain village which has a few golems on the mountain, who are mysteriously… not really doing much. This ties in most with the main plot I mentioned above, and is also an excuse to watch Mile and company accidentally go crazy without realizing it to help a group of orphans who live up there. We then cut back to Adele’s friends from the noble school, who have graduated and set off, at the princess’ request, to find Adele by any means necessary. Naturally, they walk right past each other without knowing it. The best story in the book has the Crimson Vow meeting up again with the Servants of the Goddess, who have managed to temporarily escape Leatoria’s protective father, and the two have a friendly competition.

I really liked this last story a lot. It had some great action scenes, and, given the groups weren’t trying to kill each other, relied a lot more on tactics than the group usually does. This also leads to Reina’s biggest concern with the Vow, which is that they’re not a TEAM – they’re four overpowered girls who basically blast through anything. They’re not coordinating the way most hunter teams do. (There’s also Reina’s crush on the leader of the SotG, but that’s mostly played for laughs – indeed, one senses the author found out about the slight yuri fandom this series has and took offense, as there’s another extra story at the end with Mile wishing she had a boyfriend… but her sights are set way too high.) Honestly, I think Reina’s concern is not really needed – the Crimson Vow may not fight as a tactical team, but they are still the best of friends.

Despite the occasional carp, this was a strong volume in the series, which I think is almost caught up with the Japanese release. We’ll see if the nanomachines get Mile to care a bit more about the world in the next book.

Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki, Vol. 5

by

By Yuki Yaku and Fly. Released in Japan as “Jaku Chara Tomozaki-kun” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Winifred Bird.

As I write this review, the Tomozaki anime is about to start, and I am very curious to see how it does, given how much of this series is just dialogue with very little action. It’s about two gamers, and at times reads a lot like you’re reading their gaming log, particularly when characters get together to try to decide how to fix things. On the bright side, Tomozaki has improved by leaps and bounds, and there is very little “normie” chatter here. He barely feels like Hachiman at all now. That said, he is somewhat humbled when he tries to apply the same lessons he, a shy cynical introvert, learned over months to Tama-chan, who is merely very serious and dedicated, and when she tries his helpful hints, she improves far faster than he ever did. That said, the true star here is probably Kikuchi, who starts high above everyone else and just soars ever higher. It’s a shame girls like her are never the lead.

Hinami is the lead, but… let’s save her for later, OK? A good 3/4 of this book is a lot of fun. Tomozaki tries to help Tama-chan by helping her change herself so that she’s more open and likeable to her classmates, which would defuse some of the tension caused by Konno’s bullying. Part of that is simply not fighting back constantly (It’s noted that Tama-chan is basically “attack, attack, attack” in terms of game metaphors), but also to try and have her fit in with banter, conversation, and self-deprecating jokes. There’s a great moment when everyone realizes that Tama-chan does not really care much about the rest of her class, and I enjoy that it’s seen as a flaw but she’s not shamed for it. He also bonds with Kikuchi, brought in as a conversation partner for Tama-chan, and I think he is beginning to realize he likes her as more than a friend.

That said, this is not helping with the basic issue, which is Konno. Except it isn’t, because in the back quarter of the book, we realize that Hinami has taken this far more to heart than Tomozaki or anyone else had expected, and she proceeds to wreak an absolutely epic r3evenge that almost destroys Konno. (It does not completely destroy her, and thank god for Tama-chan coming in at the end, or else this book would be even darker than it already is.) The book ends up being about Hinami, whose “mask”, as it turns out, is pretty obvious to most of the rest of the class, particularly Tama-chan, who feels responsible for Hinami having to go as far as she did. Notably, aside from one or two brief meetings, Hinami and Tomozaki barely interact here. I imagine readers ended up being pretty unnerved.

That said, I have to agree with Tomozaki: I desperately want to know more about the real Aoi Hinami, and she’s still my favorite reason to read this book, as I find her fascinating. (As for who Tomozaki should date, well, let’s leave that for now.) For a series that started off as “what if My Youth Romantic Comedy but milder”, it’s really started to come into its own. I can see why it got the anime.