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Manga the Week of 11/4/20

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SEAN: November, and there’s still a lot coming out every week.

And we start with a bang, as Dark Horse has the manga version of the highly-acclaimed series Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken! (Eizouken ni wa Te wo Dasu na!). From Gekkan Spirits, it’s a fantastic look at goofy eccentrics trying to make their own anime.

ASH: I’ve definitely heard good things about the anime; hopefully the manga will be good, too!

MJ: That sounds kind of fun!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has a lot of print this week. Two debuts, By the Grace of the Gods (now with an anime) and I Shall Survive Using Potions! (the manga version).

Also in print: An Archdemon’s Dilemma 8, Ascendance of a Bookworm 2 (manga version), Infinite Dendrogram 9, The Magic in This Other World Is Too Far Behind! 9, and My Next Life As a Villainess! 4.

ASH: I’m really happy to see so much print coming out from J-Novel Club.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is Fushi no Kami: Rebuilding Civilization Starts With a Village (Fushi no Kami ~ Henkyou kara Hajimeru Bunmei Saiseiki ~). A young man is reincarnated in another world, but he doesn’t have cool magic or sword powers, and the world is medieval. He wants modern civilization! Can he find it?

And there’s also the 5th Marginal Operation manga.

Kodansha debuts in print That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Trinity in Tempest, another spinoff of the popular series.

Also in print from Kodansha: Fate/Grand Order – mortalis:stella 2, Fire Force 20, O Maidens in Your Savage Season 8, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 14, Welcome to the Ballroom 10, and Yuri Is My Job! 6. Wait, Welcome to the Ballroom still exists?

MICHELLE: Apparently! It’s been almost three years since volume nine came out.

ASH: Wow, that has been a while! O Maidens in Your Savage Season is the series that has my attention here, though.

SEAN: Digitally the debut is Otherworldly Munchkin: Let’s Speedrun the Dungeon with Only 1 HP! (Isekai Man Chikin -HP 1 no Mama de Saikyou Saisoku Danjon Kouryaku-), a Suiyoubi no Sirius series about a brother killed protecting his sister who’s reincarnated in a fantasy world… as is his sister, who he still has to save.

Also digital: All-Rounder Meguru 17, Cells at Work: Bacteria! 5, GTO Paradise Lost 13, Magical Sempai 7, My Boss’s Kitten 7 (the final volume), My Sweet Girl 11, Our Fake Marriage 4, Shaman King: Flowers 3, Shaman King: Red Crimson 2, and Smile Down the Runway 15.

MICHELLE: I should really check back in with My Sweet Girl. It was getting kind of good when I left off.

SEAN: One Peace has a 10th volume of Hinamatsuri.

Seven Seas debuts, in print, Yes, No, or Maybe?, a BL light novel about the television industry.

ASH: I might get around to reading this now that it’s in print.

MJ: Okay, I might be interested in this.

SEAN: Also coming out: Fairy Tale Battle Royale 4, The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru 2, Shomin Sample 13, Skeleton Knight in Another World 8 (digital version), and Who Says Warriors Can’t Be Babes? 2.

ASH: I only just recently read the first volume, but I’m interested in reading more of The Legend of Dororo and Hyakkimaru. Osama Tezuka’s original Dororo is one of my favorites.

SEAN: Tokyopop debuts Ossan Idol! (Ossan (36) ga Idol ni naru Hanashi), an adaptation of a novel that runs in Comic Pash!. A Middle-Aged Man, bullied most of his life, turns his life around and gets buff, cool and handsome… but is unaware of this. Now he’s been scouted. This looks pretty fun.

MICHELLE: It does!

SEAN: Vertical has the 5th Bakemonogatari manga and Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 4.

No debuts for Viz, just the usual powerhouses. There’s Black Clover 23, the 2nd Bleach: Don’t Fear Your Own World light novel, Daytime Shooting Star 9, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba 18, Dr. STONE 14, Haikyu!! 41, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure Arc 4 7, Kaguya-sama: Love Is War 17, Love Me Love Me Not 5, My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 8, The Promised Neverland 17, Samurai 8 4, Shortcake Cake 10, Snow White with the Red Hair 10, and World Trigger 21.

MICHELLE: Yep, I’ll definitely be reading a bunch of these. I’m probably the most excited for Haikyu!!.

ASH: I’m following quite a few of these, too!

ANNA: I am also happy about many of these ongoing series!

SEAN: Yen On has three ongoing titles: May These Leaden Battlegrounds Leave No Trace 2, A Sister’s All You Need 8, and That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime 9.

As for Yen Press, the “debut” is Sword Art Online Progressive: Barcarolle of Froth, the continuation of Progressive’s manga with a new artist, covering the series’ third novel.

There’s also Final Fantasy: Lost Stranger 5, The Royal Tutor 14, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts 11, and That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime: The Ways of the Monster Nation 2.

ASH: I really need to catch up with Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts; I enjoyed the early volumes, but have fallen behind.

SEAN: See? That’s a lot.

Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town, Vol. 3

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

This book continues to get the little things right. The humor is still very solid, and the main reason to read the series. The characterization is not really deep but it is fun, and it was nice to see the one main character I dislike get buried upside down in the dirt by the end of the book. The individual; situations, scenes, etc. are well-handled, and I really like the way that the action scenes are not just “Lloyd does everything” but have the rest of the cast all taking turns to take down the monster. That said, I have concerns about the main plot of the series… does it have one? There are more dark hints of future badness, as we meet another of Lloyd’s hometown friends who seems to be working for a Big Bad, but… look, this is a book where our hero is sent to a hotel in the country to be a bellboy. And it’s only Vol. 3.

An acquaintance of Chrome’s who is an ex-military man who now owns a hotel is desperate for staff, and so Lloyd is loaned out for their holiday season. Naturally, Lloyd is a one-man staff just by himself, instantly doing everything. Also naturally, all the rest of the cast separately make their way there as well. Riho wins at the horse races and treats herself to a luxury hotel; Selen is attending an arranged marriage meeting, much to her irritation; Allan is ALSO attending an arranged marriage meeting, and the dots can be fairly easily connected; and there’s a mysterious being draining the life force of people in the area, so Mena and Phyllo get sent to investigate. As it turns out, lots of people are investigating this. Good thing that Marie arrives to be a master detective. Which she totally is, uh huh. She’s not just here to see Lloyd or anything.

So there is a plot of sorts to this book – investigating who is behind the tree monsters that are draining life forces. Sadly, the culprit is not hard to guess. More importantly, aside from occasional hints that bad things will happen in a later book, I’m not sure where this series is headed. The second book added in a fighting tournament, and the third book took us on the road, so clearly “life at military academy” is not the goal here. Of course, the goal is Lloyd and his unique combination of total overpoweredness and ridiculous self-deprecation. And I do appreciate that the other characters are allowed to do their own thing and are not just a harem (though there’s aspects of that as well). It just sometimes feels like the fastest paced “slow life” series around. I wish it had more at its core than “be silly”.

Which is an odd thing to say about a broad comedy, and it’s possible I’m just being too grumpy. For most people, this is a fun and goofy comedy with lots of cute girls. Oh yes, and Lloyd too. Who, for this volume only, I like to imagine is voiced by Keith Moon.

The Genius Prince’s Guide to Raising a Nation Out of Debt (Hey, How About Treason?), Vol. 4

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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.

The title continues to be increasingly archaic, as there’s not even any scenes of Wein bemoaning how he can’t pawn his nation off on someone else and relax here. Indeed, he’s so busy he can’t even spare the time to go to the Empire’s Summit Conference, where the three brothers vying for the title of Emperor (and Lowellmina, who is also vying for the title but not officially) are getting together to try to hash things out. In reality, it’s mostly posturing, so Wein decides to send his little sister Falanya, who needs to gain some independence and become her own person. This succeeds beyond everyone’s wildest dreams; however, as is always the case with this series, events spiral out of control fast and Wein’s presence is required to stop what might be a very nasty conflict. And stop his sister getting married off. Oh yes, and defend himself from the charge of poisoning the eldest prince. Any sane man would collapse from the strain.

The highlight of the book was the journey that Falanya makes over the course of it. We’ve seen her briefly in the first three books, getting taught politics and history and being very bored with it, and also having a massive brother complex. This does not go away here (though thankfully it’s familial in nature – Wein/Ninym is Falanya’s OTP), but this book does see her forced to grow up fast, as well as fend off unseen assassins (OK, her bodyguard does this), unwanted proposals, evil princesses out to steal her brother (well, “evil” is perhaps incorrect here) and, most importantly, become fascinated with debate and parliamentary procedure to the point that, when the city the conference is in is in danger of being conquered, she can rally the populace with stirring speeches and save the day. She is fantastic all round here. And getting more like her brother every day.

As for Wein, I give him credit for actually staying home for a while, as I was thinking we’d get some comedy here of him secretly tailing Falanya because he’s worried. That doesn’t happen, but he does end up running himself ragged, having to race to the conference after all and then getting roped into the political nightmare that it happens to be. He’s in good form here, trying to gauge what everyone wants while not giving anything away himself. The Genius Prince books also have a very nice habit of one big surprising scene 3/4 of the way through each book, and the surprise this time is that it does NOT end with a corpse, but things are still very bad for Wein. I also like how his collapse near the end is not really part of a secret double-bluff or anything – it’s just exhaustion finally catching up with him. And it does allow us to see Ninym being something other than stoic and cool.

Overall, this is perhaps the best volume to date in a series that’s already excellent. Very highly recommended.

Konosuba: An Explosion on This Wonderful World! Bonus Story: We Are the Megumin Bandits!

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By Natsume Akatsuki and Kurone Mishima. Released in Japan as “Kono Subarashii Sekai ni Bakuen wo!” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

Of course, this is just the 4th volume of the Megumin spinoff, really. But since it’s now caught up with the main series and is no longer a prequel (or possibly as the original was announced as a trilogy), we get a “Bonus Story” with more Megumin shenanigans. Yunyun is here as well, though the expansion of the cast means that she doesn’t really get a chance to do much other than play the tsukkomi and be pathetic. And, alas, Cecily is back as well, and continues to be the worst nun ever. That said, as the 10th volume of the main series hinted, we get a new addition to the group. Princess Iris is sneaking away from the royal residence every day, and quickly insinuates herself into Megumin’s group as the muscle (she certainly has the sword skills). Add a very reluctant thief, and you have all you could ever want in a KonoSuba spinoff.

The “plot”, such as it is, takes place mostly around Vol. 9 of the main series, though the last quarter or so takes place around the 11th book. Megumin has discovered Chris and Kazuma pulling off one of their Silver Haired Bandit raids, and finds herself fired up about the idea of stealing in order to defeat bad people (and also strangely attracted to the masked assistant). She decides to form her own group, quickly rounding up those I mentioned above… including Chris, who as you can imagine feels very awkward about all of this. After a brief detour where they try to figure out who a blond, handsome adventurer of legend is (it’s pretty obviously Dust, though the legend, as you might guess, is quite wrong in many places), they end up taking on a rival of Darkness’s who has a herd of monsters around her mansion deep in the forest. There has to be a reason, right?

There are a few flaws here. The last chunk of the book is back to Kazuma’s POV, which is fine but is not really what I signed up for with this Megumin-driven spinoff. And, as with the main series hinting about this series before we got it in English, the spinoff series hints about another as yet unlicensed spinoff series, this one starring Dust, that is familiar with Japanese readers. Mostly you get the fact that Yunyun and Dust have had adventures before, and she’s not happy about it. On the other hand, the parts of the book with Megumin thinking about her current state are excellent. She’s newly in love with Kazuma, but isn’t quite sure how that works, or even why she fell for him. She’s also trying to figure out how to be a “leader”, and Kazuma, who is mostly in non-dirtbag mode in this book, gives her some excellent advice. Fans of their pairing will be happy with this book.

There’s one more book in the series, which I’m sure we’ll get relatively soon. Till then, this is a solid KonoSuba spinoff with lots of laughs and some good Megumin character development.

Pick of the Week: Traveling Manga

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SEAN: I am torn between two manga with really nice art this week. Shikimori’s Not Just a Cutie and Heterogenia Linguistico both make me want to judge books by their covers. I’ll make them a co-pick.

MICHELLE: I’m keen to get caught up on The Girl from the Other Side, but I too am charmed by the cover of Heterogenia Linguistico, so will make that my official pick this week.

ANNA: I’m going to signal my intentions of getting caught up on The GIrl from the Other Side and make that my pick!

KATE: The last two volumes of Girl from the Other Side have been such colossal downers that I’m going to highlight a different Seven Seas title this week: Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World, a handsomely illustrated, utterly charming manga about a plucky human who’s passing through a world of monsters, demons, ghosts and spirits, making friends and casting spells along the way. It’s the kind of all-ages series that adult readers can appreciate for the craftsmanship and young readers can appreciate for its emotional honesty and down-to-earth humor. Why this isn’t on more people’s radar, I don’t know, but Nicola is Eisner-worthy. Just sayin’.

ASH: I don’t think I can put it much better than Kate already has, but Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World is a truly wonderful and absolutely delightful series. While debut-wise I’m curious about Heterogenia Linguistico, my heart goes to Nicola this week.

MJ: Okay, I really didn’t have a pick this week, but you all have convinced me that I absolutely need to check out Nicola Traveling Around the Demon’s World. So I guess that’s that. I’m doing it.

Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen, Vol. 5

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By Keishi Ayasato and Saki Ukai. Released in Japan as “Isekai Goumon Hime” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America Yen On. Translated by Nathaniel Hiroshi Thrasher.

I have been preparing myself since the start of the first book for the fact that this series, which has an awful lot of gore, death, and icky things happening to everyone in the world, is going to have characters I care about die in horrible ways. That said, the author knows how to keep us coming back, and while Hina may have spent one of the volumes on ice, for the most part the main cast has made it though with a lot of pain and maiming but with their essential selves intact. That changes big time in this volume, in ways both surprising and not so surprising. No one is going to gasp at the idea that Izabella, the one noble Paladin in a corrupt church, is not going to have a fun time, and that turns out to be the case. Far more surprising it the fates of our two Torture Princesses themselves, as we get a book that sounds like it’s the penultimate volume (it’s not).

This volume picks up right where the last left off, with the reveal of the church’s big secret. After escaping thanks to Izabella making a noble sacrifice of herself, the rest of the cast go off to let the Butcher out of the gibbet Elisabeth left him in. Anyone surprised he isn’t there doesn’t know either the Butcher or books like these. Instead he leaves them a clue that takes them over the ocean to this world’s equivalent of the South Pole, where they might find the Saint – who everyone agrees they need to kill if they are to stop the world being completely annihilated. Fortunately, they have some allies here, as the Beastmen (mainly Lute) have also been led here. Unfortunately, the Church is here too, with yet another creepy child who essentially gives Kaito a Trolley Problem that he proves unable to solve. Then of course, we see what the Butcher has really been doing, and finally meet the Saint… which is not good news for our title character. Either of them.

I have to admit, Jeanne went from villain to ally awfully fast, and the book lampshades that it’s mostly due to Izabella. I’d been expecting Very Bad Things to happen to her for a while, so my only surprise here is that it wasn’t as bad as I expected. It did give Jeanne some nice character development that might have gone somewhere were it not for the end of the book. There’s also some lovely imagery regarding the Suffering Saint, who is less the Lamb of God taking on the sins of the world and more simply tired and worn. She wants a change, which Jeanne and Elisabeth are here to provide. Fortunately, Elisabeth and Kaito are very clever, so our heroes do find some way to carry on – it causes Kaito monumental pain, but let’s face it, that’s become almost a gag for humor purposes by this time. Now all he and the others have to do is stop the rest of the world going to war.

The first three books were an arc, and I suspect the same is true of the second three, so I’m pretty sure we’ll get an even more grandiose climax in the next volume. Till then, enjoy this dark, pitiless world and the creepy yet strangely awesome cast that walk through it. (Also, does anyone else get Jimi Hendrix in their head when they see Izabella?)

Blue Flag Vol. 3

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Blue Flag Volume 3 by KAITO

Blue Flag continues to be an incredibly nuanced and introspective look at teenage life with an unconventional love quadrangle that shows characters intersecting in different ways, producing moments of self-reflection. As the volume opens Taichi has redeemed himself from a trauma in his childhood by saving a kitten from being struck by a car – only for his old friend Toma to break his leg saving Taichi. Toma’s stuck in the hospital and unable to lead his high school team to victory in the baseball championships but one of the biggest conflicts in this volume isn’t due to physical pain as Taichi’s crippling insecurity causes him to lash out at the people around him. Having an event that he genuinely feels guilty about causes him to feel even worse about himself.

Blue Flag Volume 3

Toma betrays his own feelings when Taichi comes to apologize, saying that Taichi’s life is more important than baseball and then attempts to cover it up by saying that Taichi is his best friend. Taichi is so used to comparing himself to Toma unfavorably that he’s not even able to really process this information, and it seems like his insecurity is preventing him from acknowledging the genuine friendship that Toma is offering. Taichi even lashes out at Futuba when she attempts to comfort him, pointing out that he’s only a means to an end for her crush on Toma. Masumi steps in to help Futuba process her feelings for both Taichi and Toma, but I hope in future volumes she gets a little more of the spotlight herself, instead of being a default teenage relationship counselor for the other kids.

Throughout this volume KAITO’s art portrays teenage drama and introspective moments with the same amount of facility and care. While there are plenty of dramatic incidents in each volume as the protagonists start trying to figure out who they are and what they want in terms of romantic relationships, it is clear to see that they are moving forward. While Taichi’s self-loathing is still ensnaring him he’s still moving forward in terms of having more of a genuine connection with other people than he’s had before. I’m hoping that these friendships help him feel better about himself and his place in the world as the series develops.

Ao Haru Ride, Vol. 13

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Ao Haru Ride Volume 13 by Io Sakisaka

I have this issue sometimes when I really like a series and the final volume comes out, I tend to procrastinate reading it a little bit just because I don’t want the series to end. So the last volume of Ao Haru Ride has been sitting in my house for a couple weeks now before I decided to read it. This was a very satisfying concluding volume that showed the main characters settled into a relationship in a very adorable way that contrasts nicely with all the sadness and difficulty that they faced along the way.

Ao Haru Ride 13

Futuba and Kou are now firmly a couple and dealing with new issues, such as her wanting more reassurance about his feelings for her, and figuring out that while he might not verbalize his feelings as much he cares for her a great deal. As a couple with an established relationship they can even help out with Kominato’s extremely transparent plan to confess to Murao by agreeing to go on a double date that just coincidentally is happening on Valentine’s Day. While Futuba and Kou are plenty adorable with each other, the pain of the past isn’t forgotten, as seen in a misunderstanding when Futuba can’t find Kou at on the first day of school and is frightened that he’s disappeared again the way he did in the past. There were enough chapters showing Kou and Futuba in their new lives as a couple that felt like they were settled down with each other but looking forward to the future in the best way possible. The volume concluded with a surprise Strobe Edge bonus story, and it was a real treat to see those characters again. Ao Haru Ride dealt with teen romance in a complex way, layered with themes of loss and nostalgia that made it much more meaningful than the typical shoujo romance.

I Shall Survive Using Potions!, Vol. 5

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By FUNA and Sukima. Released in Japan as “Potion-danomi de Ikinobimasu!” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hiroya Watanabe.

The series that makes me eat my words on a regular basis is back, and it continues to be the most FUNA series out there. Make My Abilities Average! may be more popular and have the anime, but this is straight no chaser stuff, with Kaoru, perhaps hearing me say last time that she was getting more normal, breaking out the personality traits that caused the 2nd volume to scare me so much. As with other works by the author, the attitude extends to every other woman she’s met (men are immune, with Emile being an exception), as Francette is eager to use her sword to remove limbs at the slightest excuse, Emile and Belle are perfectly trained freedom fighters, and even Mariel, the victim in the last book whose family were all killed off by an evil guy, we now find has the combination of being the head of the family, a friend of the Goddess, and the ability to talk to animals still being around has making her terrifying. Kaoru is not alone.

Theoretically Kaoru is still looking for a husband, though again the fact that she perpetually looks like a twelve-year-old is pretty much a nail in the coffin that she chooses to ignore. In reality, she’s settled in at this coastal city, happily selling her knick-knacks. Sadly, the world has caught up to her, as folks from her previous countries are investigating her shop to see if she is the Angel o the Goddess after all, and disguises and denial can only confuse them for so long. Then Layette decides, and not without cause, that she’s become too spoiled, and wants to go out without Kaoru sometimes. While this starts out as an amusing story showing off the overprotectiveness of everyone around her, it goes south fast when more goons arrive to kidnap Layette, and they’re not above nearly killing her orphan friends to do so. Honestly, after this, helping Mariel avoid getting married is a relaxing jaunt by comparison.

As with the second book, the 5th book revolves around a scene that makes you rear back a bit, layette’s attempted kidnapping. She had befriended several orphan kids earlier when exerting her independence (which I suspect is now gone, sadly) unleashes the fury of both Francette and Kaoru, Francette in particular as she was briefly away from guard duty using the necessary when this happened and curses her bodily functions. Kaoru is perfectly happy to torture bandits and hired goons to get the answers she needs, to the point where Francette cuts their arms off and Kaoru says she can reattach them… if they cough up info. It’s seriously terrifying, and reminds you what a loose cannon she is compared to Mile or Mitsuha. The latter half of the book ties all these plots together, as Kaoru discovers that those behind the kidnapping are the priests from the religious country she helped destroy. So she and her gang are headed back to the place where she began, this time hopefully with fewer cure-all medicines.

Make no mistake about it, this is still primarily funny. Indeed, it’s the humor that makes the rage and fury all the more jarring. It’s also hinted that Mariel, who regards Kaoru more as a god than as an angel, is perfectly happy to solve Kaoru’s relationship issues in yuri ways, though I doubt the book is going that way – FUNA tends to avoid romance in general. If you can stomach a lot of torture of bad guys, Potion Girl is still your go to source for the darker side of the overpowered little girl story.

In the Land of Leadale, Vol. 1

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By Ceez and Tenmaso. Released in Japan by Famitsu Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Jessica Lange.

I have to admit “it’s sort of like Overlord meets Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear” is not a sentence I thought I’d be typing, and yet here we are. In the Land of Leadale manages to use a bit of the premise and a few of the logistics of Overlord, but is decidedly non-evil in tone, and in the end is far more concerned about its heroine walking leisurely around this world and being superpowered. Indeed, its “isekai” premise doesn’t come up as often as I’d expect – it’s there mostly for Cayna to make comparisons about how things were in the game compared to her life in the land she now finds herself in, and to occasionally go overboard with stats (as this genre is wont to do), but Cayna is for the most part quite happy to be in Leadale, especially as she is now, and her goal, after realizing how different things are now from the game proper, is simply to go around and talk to people. And occasionally show that she is superhuman compared to everyone else. Much like Kuma Kuma Kuma Bear.

We only get a few bits and pieces of the life Keina Kagami had in Japan before this. She apparently has lost her parents, and is in a hospital bed, where she has been for several years (she mentions not getting to the end of elementary school). Fortunately, she has the VR game Leadale to entertain her, and she has grown to be one of the thirteen strongest players. Then one day a power outage takes out her life support briefly, and she dies… only to be reborn in Leadale as Cayna, her high-elf character. She is rather puzzled as to how she’s in a world based on her game, especially as this world seems to be two hundred years AFTER the game’s own timeline. Now she has to go around, investigate, track down the NPCs she made… erm, pardon me, her three children, and see if she can figure out what happened. Then, when she does get an explanation, she moves on and decides to simply live here as a superpowered ancient high elf woman (who still looks like a teenager, of course.)

The character voice of Cayna is tremendous, and kudos to Jessica Lange, the translator. Admittedly you might call it a flaw – Cayna sounds nothing like a bedridden, near-death Japanese teen might sound, but sounds exactly like you’d expect a flighty and practical high elf to sound. She’s mostly unflappable, though there are things that can set her off, such as when she unintentionally shows off her kick attack by shouting the attack name like a 13-year-old. She starts off in a backwater village and rapidly starts helping to cleanse its forest of monsters, upgrading its wells, and adding a public bath. By the end of the book she’s gone to the capital to meet her kids (two other high elves and an adopted dwarf), each of whom are still alive by dint of being from long-lived races. Unfortunately, what she finds is that the game ended, and that the 12 other top players all gathered for a final farewell, lamenting they weren’t thirteen. (This is why I mentioned Overlord.)

So what happens next? Well, she can always be an adventurer – she helps to catch an errant Prince who is constantly running away from home, and the end of the book has her guarding a merchant party from bandits (and suggesting that there may be other people here she knew from the game). Mostly, though, you want to read Vol. 2 and more because it’s fun to listen to Cayna’s narrative voice and see her going around being ludicrous. An excellent addition to the “slow life” genre.