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Silver Spoon, Vol. 15

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By Hiromu Arakawa. Released in Japan as “Gin no Saji” by Shogakukan, serialized in the magazine Weekly Shonen Sunday. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Amanda Haley.

It took a long time for Silver Spoon to draw to a close in the pages of Weekly Shonen Sunday. Chapters would come out 2 or 3 at a time and then the series would go on hiatus for another 6 months. Rumor had it that the author was dealing with personal issues (and she was also drawing The Heroic Legend of Arslan at the same time). That said, the announcement that the series would be ending came as a surprise to fans, who found the ending a bit rushed. Thankfully, it reads better in volume form, and it’s a good ending, although having paired up Hachiken and Mikage at last Arakawa is prepared to lean back on making fun of them, which she’s far more comfortable with – by the final chapter the two still aren’t married, even while others from the series have children already. Still, it was never really about the romance, it was about the farming, and there’s plenty of that here.

This assumes, of course, that Hachiken can pass his exams. As always with him, it’s not his actual intelligence that’s the issue but his hideous luck, which is even worse than usual – he’s hit by a car and breaks his leg, and the exams are in the deep snow. Fortunately, he does indeed pass and everyone gets to graduate, with several pages of the main cast spouting off where they’re headed next, ranging from college (Hachiken, Mikage) to taking over the family farms (most of the others) to unemployed, as Yoshino was not able to hook up a cheese-related job that wasn’t suspicious by graduation, so is simply moving to France for a while. We then flash forward a few years, showing everyone’s futures, and see Hachiken heading into Russia for his business, where he’ll be working with a very familiar face…

I enjoyed the fact that Komaba appears at the end here, and is still interested in baseball. His arc was so important for the development of Hachiken and Mikage, and also served to reinforce the idea that financial success in a business like farming is not remotely guaranteed. The other fates of the character range from amusing (Yoshino’s French boyfriend, Tokiwa being married with a kid) to a sort of happy stasis (Hachiken and Mikage, who want to wait till he has financial stability till they get married, so have essentially stayed exactly the same). And Hachiken’s future is also in pigs, and farms, and Silver Spoon, in the end, has been about modern farming and the ways to keep it going even as technology, economic crises, and other problems make the job of “farmer” more of an anachronism. I think Hachiken will make it eventually… though he’d better factor is luck into their business plan somewhere.

At last all of Silver Spoon is out in English, after years of me begging Viz to license it. It ended up with Yen Press instead, who did a good job with it – my constant tweets of “why is this not licensed – right, it’s a farming manga” proved wrong but also right. It has been licensed. And it’s an amazing farming manga.

Knight of the Ice Vols 2 and 3

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Knight of the Ice Volumes 2 and 3 by Yayoi Ogawa

This series is rapidly becoming one of my favorite pandemic distraction manga, and I started it fully enthusiastic for a new Ogawa manga. I haven’t felt disappointed so far! The first volume did a good job setting up tiny magazine editor Chitose’s secret relationship with her childhood friend renowned figure skater Kokoro. While this is certainly a josei series, Kokoro’s extreme shyness and sheltered secret otaku lifestyle makes the romance aspect of the manga as slowly developing as any series with high school protagonists. This is a comfortable pace for the reader, because after the first volume the series is able to settle in for a little bit and introduce more of the supporting cast and further explore the world of high-stakes international figure skating.

Given that Chitose’s boss Sawada seems to be taking an unusual interest in one of his junior employees, it isn’t too surprising that she gets caught sneaking off in order to cast her magical girl spell on Kokoro right before he competes. When a fan spots Chitose and Kokoro together and starts posting rumors online, Kokoro’s dynamic and scary manager Moriyama invents the cover story that Chitose is part of Kokoro’s coaching team. As Chitose spends more consistent time with Kokoro, she begins to be more aware of her feelings and it is clear that Kokoro is using his feelings for his oldest friend to motivate him to perform even better in his sport. At the same time Sawada has an uncanny knack for popping up whenever Chitose is experiencing a moment of extreme distress.

As the figure skating season unfolds, Kokoro is able to turn in some of his best performances thanks to some unorthodox motivation from Chitose, but he’s also plagued by a nagging injury. While the slowly developing romance between Chitose and Kokoro keeps moving forward (there are kisses on the cheek!), I found myself enjoying the quirky supporting cast in the series more and more. Moriyama’s blunt pronouncements about just how far Kokoro can go with his potential relationship certainly provide a contrast to the more innocent romance that’s happening. Kokoro’s twin sisters intervene when another skater is about to get taken advantage of, and if Kokoro doesn’t have enough pressure to deal with it becomes more clear that his career and public image is being controlled behind the scenes by his father. Chitose is starting to become more confident about advocating for herself and her own feelings. Between skating drama, romance, family issues, and Ogawa’s quirky humor there’s plenty to keep a reader entertained in Knight of the Ice.

Pick of the Week: Waves, Sneezes, and Flags

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MICHELLE: It’s all about the W’s for me this week. Wotakoi and Whisper Me a Love Song are high on my list, but I’m most excited to continue the story of Wave, Listen to Me. The digital releases paused to allow the print version to catch up, so it has been a long time! Honorable mention to non-W Blue Flag, as well.

SEAN: I’ll go with a double dose of light novels this week. Ongoing, no question it’s the new Ascendance of a Bookworm that has my pick. But we’re also seeing the debut of In the Land of Leadale, which has intrigued me since it first was announced, if only for the gorgeous covers. (Remember around four years ago, when we were desperate for any light novels with a female protagonist? Those days are happily long gone.)

KATE: Achoo! It’s Sneeze for me, as I’m really curious about Naoki Urasawa’s short game. I’ve enjoyed Master Keaton and Pineapple Army, two series that are more anthologies than epic sagas, so I’m cautiously optimistic about Urasawa’s ability to tell a self-contained story.

ASH: My wallet will certainly be hurting this week; I’m reading so much of what is being released! In addition to everything that everyone else has mentioned so far, I’ve also got my eyes on the (print) debut of Heaven’s Design Team.

ANNA: There’s a lot of manga coming out this week that sounds interesting, but I think for me more Blue Flag is what I’m most excited about.

The Devil Is a Part-Timer!, Vol. 17

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By Satoshi Wagahara and 029. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen Press. Translated by Kevin Gifford.

Even more than the last volume, this one gives off the feeling of an author who has been told precisely when his series will be ending. We have five more to go, including this one. As such, it’s far more concerned with the future of the main cast than previous books, as well as pointing blinking arrows at one of the main unanswered questions of the series: why is Maou so dedicated to working his way up the McRonald’s ladder? Shouldn’t he be more worried about Enta Isla? The ongoing battle against God gets shunted to the last fifth of the book (which is quite good, don’t get me wrong), leaving the bulk of it focusing heavily on Maou having the 23-year-old equivalent of a mid-life crisis. He still hasn’t answered Chiho, Emi continues to give him the most mixed signals imaginable, and he’s also reached a crisis point at his job: he failed the managerial exam. Like most huge corporations, they won’t tell him why. Does Maou have what it takes to lead?

It’s a bigger problem than you’d think. He can’t retake the exam for a year. And he has to be recommended again, which is a problem, as Kisaki, who graces the front cover, is being promoted. She’s not leaving the store per se, but she won’t be managing anymore, meaning she won’t be able to help guide Maou’s career. Indeed, she seems far more concerned about her own dream of opening an upscale coffee bar. That said… that dream might include Maou. As well as Sariel, surprisingly, who Kisaki points out is very good at managing money, hopelessly devoted to her, and won’t actually lay a hand on her – the perfect lackey. (This seems cruel, but Sariel is really too pathetic to sympathize with.) That said, Maou simply can’t accept right now – not with everything else in his life up in the air, including monstrous lizards invading Japan, injured chickens, and White Day chocolates needing to be purchased.

One theme of the entire series has been that Maou is excellent at leadership skills when they involve concrete things that need doing, but he’s very bad at reading the emotions and hearts of anyone he deals with. This is especially proven in the scene where he gives out the White Day chocolates – he thinks of everything, including getting chocolate for people who only gave it to him indirectly (coughEmiliacough), then proceeds to ask Emilia to help him go to the demon territories, which sounds to everyone (including her) like he’s taking her on a date and going back to his place. He is dull when it comes to love and romance. Which is why he hasn’t answered Chiho either. Fortunately for him, the crisis at the end of the book will likely make it OK to forget about that again for a bit. They really DO need to clear up Enta Isla first.

There’s even a bonus short story here, which was not in the Japanese volume, showing off Maou’s terrible fashion sense. Assuming Devil Is a Part-Timer fans have not spoiled themselves on what happens next, this should be a great pickup for them.

A Mysterious Job Called Oda Nobunaga, Vol. 2

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By Kisetsu Morita and Kaito Shibano. Released in Japan as “Oda Nobunaga to Iu Nazo no Shokugyou ga Mahou Kenshi Yori Cheat Datta Node, Oukoku o Tsukuru Koto ni Shimashita” by GA Novels. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Alex Wetnight.

I feel like this review should be very short. It should essentially be “everything I said last time, but EVEN MANLIER”. I’ve said this about a few light novels in the past, but the Job Called Oda Nobunaga series really does feel like it’s written for a very specific type of fan. They hang out on internet forums, wondering why the male leads in these books are all such weak-ass wimps. They read harem manga and ask themselves why he doesn’t just bang everyone. They want a hero who kicks ass, takes names, makes love… I have very good news for them. Aside from cutting away before actual sex scenes, this book is basically exactly what they’ve been yearning for all this time. Alsrod, over the course of the 6-7 years or so this book takes place in, ends up as Regent to the King that he’s basically helped install, while finding time for some more wives and lovers.

Last time I mentioned that Alsrod had finally met someone who also had a famous Japanese warrior as their profession, and wondered if they might actually force him to fail or do badly at something. I feel embarrassed for even mentioning it, because by Page 7 or so he’s already won her to his side and bedded her. Over the course of the book he also takes as a lover his werewolf spy, weds the King’s younger sister (who, thankfully, has to wait for the loving – apparently 15 is old enough but 13 is not), is enchanted by a dragonewt tea merchant who he also beds and proposes to (she says no), and towards the end we get a meek and self-deprecating young woman, the daughter of another of his vassals, who simply wants to be a good mother to strong children. Given all these women (remember, he still has his childhood friend, the strong-willed daughter of another Lord, and another concubine from a northern area), it’s a wonder he finds the time to keep conquering. However, no fear, there’s plenty of that as well.

Again, this falls into the “this sounds absolutely vile but is strangely readable” category. It helps that most of the women he ends up with are also in major positions of power – indeed, his childhood friend and the Akechi Mitsuhide general both don’t want to be an official wife because they want to fight at his side. Oda Nobunaga is there as well, of course, in the back of Alsrod’s head, but he is getting strangely less and less relevant, and as the book goes on his advice is getting heeded less and less. Possibly the most interesting part of this book is that we meet three more “occupations” along the same lines – Kunitomo Shuu, Sen no Rikyuu, and Takeda Shingen – and it seems that this land is essentially an afterlife for these famous folks. As for the battles… well, they’re OK. They’re sword fights. You know how it goes.

The end of the book has another rival appear, Takeda Shingen, but given Alsrod has already captured the girl with that “job” by the end of this book, I suspect she will simply be added to the pile of wives. That said, I’m not entirely certain this book will end with Alsrod triumphant. It continues to mirror somewhat events in Nobunaga’s life… which did not have him winning the day in the end. The third book is the final one – will it actually kill Alsrod off to teach readers a lesson about hubris? Or will he stand victorious with his many, many women at his wide? If this were a long-runner I’d be dropping it, but three volumes seems just about right.

Accel World: Sun God of Absolute Flame

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By Reki Kawahara and Hima. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jocelyne Allen.

In general, one step forward and two steps back is the Accel World way, so I will admit that when we finally got to the big villain reveal here I was half expecting that they had in fact sabotaged the video card that Chocolat Puppeter had, or altered the footage, or what have you. Fortunately, Kawahara still knows how much is too much and how much is just enough. This may come as a surprise to those of you who just read ten straight volumes of Sword Art Online: Alicization, but hey. But yes, the plan to reveal White Cosmos as the masterminds of all the bad things in Accel World is finally borne to fruition here. Of course, there’s just one slight problem with that, which is that in order to do so, all the major players in Brain Burst are gathered in one place. It’s the perfect time to do some culling. And White Cosmos is super powerful, even though, to my annoyance, Kuroyukihime’s sister did not show up for this big battle. Basically, expect deathtraps.

There are a lot of the things I like about Accel World here. The cast all get some cool things to do. Chocolat Puppeter gets to fulfill her role as the one with the evidence. Sky Raker and Silver Crow end up making a great flying team, and Fuko in general gets a lot to do in this book. There’s suggestions throughout that there was a lot of history in this game Haruyuki missed before he was given it, and while he knows a lot of it, he doesn’t know all of it. (In particular, every single player seems to think of themselves as Fuko’s rival.) Haruyuki’s “gosh, why am I so weak and bad” mindset is virtually absent here, mostly admittedly due to the fact that there’s no time to think in this book, but the ending is fantastic, with his realization that Kuroyukihime is in fact upset and depressed, and his overture of food to cheer her up is very sweet – that said, I doubt that the cliffhanger ending we see here is going further than snuggling.

Of course, this is still Accel World, so there are also several things I wasn’t too fond of here. I’m never going to love Hima’s oversexualized tweens artstyle, and the fact that the series seems determined to show the girls “naked” behind their avatars (while Haruyuki gets to keep his shirt) and the huge chests of some of them – the fanservice in this series is ludicrous to the point where it’s hard to read in public without getting arrested. And Kawahara admits this next one himself – we’re spending more time in the game, which is okay – I mean, it’s the subject of the series – but at the expense of the real lives of these characters, and he’s absolutely right – I do want to see the group all go to Haruyuki’s farm, or the elections, or all the things he set up that have been in stasis because of these endless fighting arcs. It can be grindingly exhausting.

That said, this problem may be solved very fast unless Silver Crow and Sky Raker can do something, as most of the rest of the good guys are in a nasty deathtrap that will be hard to escape. Fortunately, we get Vol. 23 soon, and let’s look at the cover art… (sighs, slaps forehead). Maybe we’ll get 23 soon.

Manga the Week of 10/21/20

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SEAN: Is this Phase Three of Manga reopening?

Cross Infinite World gives us a third volume of I Became the Secretary of a Hero!.

J-Novel Club has Ascendance of a Bookworm 9, Campfire Cooking in Another World 8, and the fourth Marielle Clarac book, The Wedding of Marielle Clarac.

ASH: I’m definitely behind on Ascendance of a Bookworm, but I’ve been enjoying the series.

SEAN: Kodansha seems to be making up for the lack of print lately. There are two print debuts. Heaven’s Design Team (Tenchi Souzou Design-bu) we’ve seen before digitally, it’s about animals designers with a bunch of questions for God. It runs in Morning Two.

MICHELLE: It’s not bad, but perhaps the most interesting thing about it is that it’s co-written by Tsuta Suzuki, creator of the supernatural BL series A Strange & Mystifying Story.

ASH: Even though I’ve really been looking forward to giving this one a try, I had somehow completely missed that connection, Michelle!

SEAN: Whisper Me a Love Song (Sasayaku You ni Koi wo Utau) is a ‘cute girl falls for her sempai” series from Comic Yuri Hime.

MICHELLE: It does indeed look cute.

ANNA: Nice.

SEAN: Also in print: Chobits 20th Anniversary Edition 2, Perfect World 3, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon 10 (the final volume), Rent-a-Girlfriend 3, Sweat and Soap 4, Wave, Listen to Me! 4, Wotakoi: Love Is Hard for Otaku 4, and Yuzu the Pet Vet 3.

MICHELLE: Super excited for more Wave, Listen to Me! and Wotakoi!

ANNA: I’m so behind on Wave, Listen to Me! but I want to read it someday!

ASH: Oh, Kodansha really is making up for the lack of print! I’m reading (or have read) most of these.

SEAN: Digitally there are also debuts. Shaman King: Flowers is a sequel to the original series, and ran in Jump Kai.

The Writer and His Housekeeper (Shousetsuka-sama wa, Monmon Shitagaru) is a josei series from Kodansha’s Ane Friend. Woman who housekeeps for an eccentric erotic novelist finds herself moving in with him when her place burns down. Not my thing, but hey.

MICHELLE: Yeah, this’ll be a pass from me.

ANNA: I love josei but am not into the whole servant thing.

SEAN: Lots of other digital-only titles. Cosplay Animal 14 (the final volume), Dolly Kill Kill 7, Fairy Tail: Happy’s Heroic Adventure 6, GE: Good Ending 10, Heroine for Hire 2, Kakushigoto 8, Shaman King: Zero 2, and Shojo FIGHT! 13.

MICHELLE: I have fallen quite far behind on Shojo FIGHT!, alas.

Seven Seas has no debuts, but plenty of ongoing series. We get Alice & Zoroku 7, Arifureta 10 (print version), Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average?! 4 (manga version), Getter Robo Devolution 5 (the final volume), Himouto Umaru-chan 11, Love Me for Who I Am 2, Reincarnated As a Sword 4 (manga version), Restaurant to Another World 5 (early digital), and Wonderland 6.

ASH: I somehow haven’t actually read the first volume of Love Me for Who I Am yet; I should probably fix that.

SEAN: Udon has the 13th and final volume of Persona 4.

Vertical has a 2nd volume of The Daily Lives of High School Boys.

Viz gives us Sneeze: Naoki Urasawa Story Collection, which has eight short stories that mostly ran in Big Comic Spirits. Obviously, a must buy for Urasawa fans.

ASH: I’m really curious to see how Urasawa does with shorter manga, having previously only read his multi-volume works. (Well… unless you count Pineapple Army…)

MJ: I guess I’m in for this.

SEAN: They’ve also got two box sets: The Legend of Zelda Legendary Box Set (5 volumes, in Hardcover, with a “treasure chest” box) and Tokyo Ghoul: re Complete Box Set (16 volumes, comes with a poster).

ASH: That is a very pretty looking Zelda box set.

And we also have Blue Flag 4, Golden Kamuy 18, and Ultraman 14.

MICHELLE: Yay for Blue Flag!

ANNA: Also behind on this, gotta get to reading.

MJ: Oh no, same.

MICHELLE: Honestly, I live in a constant state of “Behind on this, gotta get to reading.”

ASH: Glad to see more Blue Flag and Golden Kamuy, too, though I’m also a little behind on those series.

SEAN: A lot of Yen’s October releases got delayed to later weeks. The ones that kept the same release date must be the STRONGEST Yen Press releases!

This includes no less than THREE debuts from Yen On. The first is long, long awaited by many horny anime fans. High School DxD has had its manga coming out here for a while, but finally we get the novels. Issei is contracted to a demon and getting involved with Fallen Angels, but what he really wants is a harem.

In the Land of Leadale (Leadale no Daichi nite) starts off with a woman who gets in a horrible accident… but doesn’t die. She is on life support, though, and her VR Game Leadale is a comfort. However, having now passed away, she finds herself in that same game world… 200 years after the events of the game! I’ve heard this is similar to Overlord, only without the evil.

Lastly we have a one-shot, Three Days of Happiness (Mikkakan no kōfuku). A college student sells thirty years of his life, for both cash and to try to find something worth living for. This sounds like it’s for fans of Makoto Shinkai’s earlier, more depressing titles.

ASH: Oh, is that me? That might be me.

SEAN: Also out from Yen On: Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody 12, The Greatest Demon Lord Is Reborn As a Typical Nobody 4, High School Prodigies Have It Easy Even in Another World! 2, and Re: Zero 14.

Yen Press has an expensive but no doubt gorgeous artbook due out next week: Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Official Artworks. Based on the game, Yen also released a manga side-story of this world a few months back.

Yen also has Bestia 2, The Monster and the Beast 3, RaW Hero 3, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 2, and Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun 5.

ASH: I’ll be picking up Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun for sure. And probably The Monster and the Beast, too.

SEAN: Is this too much? Or just enough?

Baccano!: 1931 Another Junk Railroad: Special Express

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By Ryohgo Narita and Katsumi Enami. Released in Japan by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Taylor Engel.

It’s nice to see Baccano! returning to the 1930s, which has always felt like Home Base. This volume has an odd history (get used to me saying this). Before the anime came out there was an audio drama of the Flying Pussyfoot books, and Narita wrote a short novel as a bonus for the CDs. The short novel was then used by the anime when it came out the following year for three OAVs at the end of the story. Then, two years after that, he expanded the short novel into the novel that you see here. And given that it was always meant to be something of a bonus feature, it’s no surprise that this book is filled with references to past novels, even above and beyond the fact that it’s a semi-sequel to the other Railroad arcs. Indeed, I would say that if you read Vols. 2 and 3 and then try to jump ahead and read this as a pure sequel, you will be very unhappy. Because this is also a sequel to several other books.

As with all Narita novels, there are several things going on at once in this book, but the “main” storyline is Chane trying to figure out life after her father has been taken into custody by the FBI. She’s left a message for Claire, but it’s unclear what the message means… to both him and in her own mind. What’s more, Chane, who has spent her entire life being betrayed and used, even by the one man that she wholly trusts, finds the very idea of Jacuzzi’s idealistic niceness baffling. Later books in the timeline (which we’ve read earlier in the series) show how joining up with Jacuzzi’s crew and falling in love with Claire is the best thing that’s ever happened to her, and this book shows that evolution. We also get introduced to Graham, who, again, we’ve already been well acquainted with in previous books. More importantly, the fact that this is Book 14 in the series allows Narita to reveal a couple more immortals who happened to be on the train that we never saw…

Now that Narita is allowed to have his bad guy front and center, he’s clearly reveling in it. Fermet is simply terrible throughout this entire book. We know, having read the 2002 books, that he will be terrible in the future as well. And, given that Huey explicitly says that Fermet killed his wife, we know that he’s going to be terrible in the past. Fortunately, Elmer is here to help out somewhat (and there’s a tie-in to the Baccano! DS game here as well, which I won’t even get into…), but given that Elmer is broken as well, that’s not exactly a comfort. Fortunately, this is balanced out by the sweetness surrounding Chane and Jacuzzi’s gang, as well as seeing an epilogue for Rachel, who is allowed to dress in something other than khakis (though the anime missed that) and give love advice to Claire.

So, having been thoroughly spoiled by this book and the previous one, it’s time to go read the ending no one wants to read. Well, that’s not quite true. In all of Baccano fandom, the next book and 1711 may be the most awaited books in the entire series. Back to 1710 next time, where everything is smiles and happy times. Till then, enjoy this book that feels like a DVD extra but is still a lot of fun.

Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, Vol. 4

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By Natsume Akimoto and Kakao Lanthanum. Released in Japan as “Sentouin, Hakenshimasu!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Noboru Akimoto.

This is still very much your typical volume of Combatants Will Be Dispatched!, where everyone is terrible above and beyond the call of duty. But there are glimmers of the future here, a sign that perhaps the series is not simply destined to be “KonoSuba’s first, crappier draft”. A bit more attention is paid to the ongoing plot of the series itself, with a revelation that this is not simply Six and company scouting an alien planet for the lulz, it’s because Earth is genuinely going ecologically batshit and the evil organization is trying to find a new home for everyone. That said, it doesn’t have to be Six personally, and the other subplot that matters is that there are a bunch of evil overlords who want their boytoy back home with them and are fine with leaving the worldbuilding to someone else. For any other light novel protagonist this would be heaven on Earth, but Six is decidedly uninterested in a harem, content to stay on this world with Alice. Is he getting soft?

As you can see by the cover, this volume’s “Heroine” is Lilith, one of the three evil overlords Six works for. He specifically requested her because she’s the mad scientist, and that’s just what they need right now, if only to stop their bases getting blown up. Sadly, she’s just as useless as everyone else that is in this book, and she also has all the character flaws that go along with her archetype. She’s also grumpy as Six, while happy to banter with her and also happy to threaten to sexually assault her, is not all that into her. Even worse, Alice, her own creation, is going through a rebellious stage, being crankier than usual. While Lilith is there, they dig for water (triggering a slime monster), try to get the poop of a giant sparrow for fertilizer (triggering Snow’s greed at the shiny things in its next), summon an actual angel (which terrifies everyone but Alice, who insists she’s a cosplayer), and battle the Demon Lord’s armies again, just so Rose can ask him why they’re staying at her old holiday home.

As you can see, the goal of this series is still laughs first and foremost. Usually of the “dear lord” variety – there really is a lot of discussion of pee and poop here, and one scene showing how the kingdom uses orcs horrifies Six and Lilith so much that they’re almost ill (and we’re in hysterics). But as I said, the series is starting to get a hang of its characterization. Six’s problem is that, when you get right down to it, he’;s an asshole but he isn’t evil. And what’s more, everyone around him knows it. It’s only gotten worse since he’s arrived on this planet, but that doesn’t seem to bother him much. Being separated from Alice does, though – they aren’t a romantic couple (there really aren’t any in this series, mostly as Six is uninterested and everyone is terrible) but their bond and banter is still the best reason to read the series. They sound like best friends.

As always, this series is not for everyone. Stay away if puerile stuff makes you roll your eyes. But I think it’s finally hitting its groove, and I can actually read it without seeing what the author later ripped off for KonoSuba.

The Sorcerer’s Receptionist, Vol. 1

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By Mako and Maro. Released in Japan as “Mahousekai no Uketsukejou ni Naritaidesu” by ArianRose. Released in North America digitally by J-Novel Club. Translated by Roko Mobius.

There have been an awful lot of Japanese fantasy novels released over here in the last few years, be they isekai or straightforward fantasy. One thing common to many of them is the Guild, the place where adventurers go to get their dungeon crawling or monster hunting assignments. Said guild is almost always staffed by a beautiful young woman, there to give out work, cheer our heroes on, and worry when they don’t return on time or come back beat up. Sometimes they’re also love interests, but more often they tend to simply be minor supporting characters. After all, it’s just receptionist work, right? Wrong. The Sorcerer’s Receptionist is here to show you how much work and power is needed to actually be in that position, which is not one for mere pretty faces. Our heroine may fall in love with the job at a young age for mostly aesthetic reasons, but by the time she arrives at magic school she is ready to give it her all and be number one! Well, OK, number two…

Our heroine is Nanalie, and this first volume sees her journey from the first years of magic school all the way to settling into her dream job at the Harré Sorcerer’s Guild. The first half of the book will be familiar to anyone who’s read a magical academy story, and Nanalie is very much the bookish, studious, tries-too-hard sort. She’s got rare ice magic (which gives her the blue hair we see on the cover) and a cool wolf familiar, and yet most of the book is dedicated to her constant frustration at always being second in class to the arrogant Alois Rockmann, who is her self-proclaimed nemesis. The two of them spend the entire time at school not getting along, setting each other on fire/freezing them, etc. Because yeah, this is not only the story of a young woman’s dream career, it also has a romance to it. Which everyone can see except Nanalie herself.

It is honestly rare to see a title where everyone else in the cast knows that they’re in love except the protagonist and not have it be irritating. Likely as this is mostly the standard harem guy “I am oblivious because the plot requires it” sort. But Nanalie’s obliviousness to love works in the context of the story – she is extremely career driven to the point where social interaction is sometimes difficult for her, and the guy who supposedly loves her spends the entire time they’re together badmouthing and abusing her. Enemies to Lovers is a very popular trope, after all. It’s still one-sided at the end of this book, though, as Nanalie is far more concerned about things like tracking down a woman’s missing husband and notifying the right people about the demon that’s lurking in the woods.

This is a long book for a light novel, but it doesn’t feel like it’s meandering. I really enjoyed the emphasis it gave to “it’s not just a secretarial job” in regards to guild receptionists, and also shows young women becoming knights, or sorcerers, rather than just getting married right out of school. And Nanalie is fun in a way that might remind you of a certain bushy-haired girl in a series we don’t talk about anymore. Definitely looking forward to more.