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Too Many Losing Heroines!, Vol. 6

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By Takibi Amamori and Imigimuru. Released in Japan as “Make Heroine ga Ōsugiru!” by Gagaga Bunko. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Hayame.

I think these volumes have started to hit their stride, in that I’m no longer incredibly annoyed with the main characters quite as much anymore. It helps that, for the most part, when I want to roll my eyes at Nukumizu, someone is there to do it for me. The conceit of this series is that its male lead is very familiar with the concept of light novel harem romcoms, but he’s also a normal teenage boy, and so, like all normal teenage boys, too dim to understand flirting and attraction towards him (a healthy dose of self-loathing helps too). The girls, meanwhile, are all very aware that they’re in a harem romcom, and are trying their best, but… (waves vaguely at Nukumizu). There’s a running gag which comes up a few times here where the girls try to have a romantic, sweet moment, and Nukumizu just watches as it goes right over his head, and they say “that right there…” to him. He never gets it. That right there is why this series is ongoing.

Yes, that’s Tsukinoki on the cover art, which means that for the first time we’re not seeing a Losing Heroine. That said, it’s the last time we’ll be able to see her, as graduation is here, and she and Tamaki are worrying about getting into university more than the current romcom plot. The current romcom plot is that Lemon has asked Nuzumiku out on a date, and after taking him to the aquarium and watching him be completely confused about why she would be doing this, she confesses she wants to quit her clubs. Plural. Both track and the lit club, which would be bad news for him and Komari. They end up making a bet – if he can beat her in a race, she’ll stay with both clubs. Of course, she’s an outstanding athlete who could compete in Nationals, and he’s a skinny, out-of-shape nerd. So she gives him a handicap… which likely still won’t be enough.

As noted above, this is not Tsukinoki’s book but Lemon’s, though the other girls all get a good scene or two. My favorite was Shikiya, who realizes that, like Araragi, Nukumizu is a guy who would “save anyone”, and she likes that a lot less than Senjougahara did. Lemon, meanwhile, is dealing with an issue she’s had before – she’s simply too good at track, and the coaches are understandably concentrating on her to get the school some notice and to get her into Nationals. She, however, is worried about all the other track girls, who are not as good as her and therefore not getting the attention. Of course, as it turns out none of the girls feel resentment towards her at all, mostly as Lemon is a sweetie pie who has not a single selfish bone in her body. Once he wins (sorry to spoil, but come on, this IS still a light novel), he solves the problem by telling her to be more selfish. The girls not being as good as she is is not her problem. Go for the gold. Too bad love isn’t like a track meet, no matter how much she tried to make it so.

So now our leads head into second year, and I bet that means a new character being introduced who’s a giant flaming loser of a girl. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged, Vol. 6

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By Washiro Fujiki and Heiro. Released in Japan as “Eiyū to Kenja no Tensei Kon: Katsute no Kōtekishu to Konyaku Shite Saikyō Fūfu ni Narimashita” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Joey Antonio.

Still enjoy this series, still very hard to review without repeating myself. Boy, these two kids are overpowered and in love, and it’s not clear which is more important, though I will admit in this volume the OP outweighs the flirting. That’s because they spend a large chunk of the book apart – Raid heads back to the Second World to get help to save the First World, while Eluria stays behind to make sure that things don’t get any worse than they already are. But on the bright side, they’ve moved up to cheek kisses and forehead kisses, which means they may actually go all the way around Volume 62. Which we may actually get – the author says this was supposed to end with Book 4, but the manga took off, so now we have 6, and it’s still not done. Possibly as the author is still searching for anything that can make our two leads break a sweat – it doesn’t happen here, for sure.

After dealing with the “hero” Valtos, who like most jerks that run into Raid and Eluria has turned into comedy relief, our main characters are faced with a big issue – they just don’t have the people to fix everything. As such, Raid returns to his own world to enlist help from other nations. Unfortunately, when he gets there, he’s promptly arrested and accused of treason, because most everyone (including me) forgot about the plot of the first two books, which is that Raid has the skills to be a special-class magician, and the deeds, but a lot of people still really, really hate him and his non-magic using self. But that’s fine, Raid can use this to his advantage, with the help of a good old fashioned filibuster that offers the nations of this world that haven’t had war in a long, long time something they crave – new land in another world.

The author says they love to write Millis as she can lighten up any situation, and it’s true that she still gets the bulk of the comedy. Especially when she finally figures out what everyone else knew in Book 5, which is that supposedly she married Wisel – something that shocks and embarrasses her in equal measure. I did appreciate that Eluria took the time to sensibly talk with the freaking out Millis about what to do next, and guided her towards the right solution – put it on hold till she’s ready to deal with it and decides whether she really does like him romantically. Eluria can be a smart cookie when she’s not being used for comedy relief herself, as not only does she have her usual trouble waking up, but also her brilliant solution to the monsters attacking from across the sea is so brilliant it means she can’t go wild in combat… unlike Raid, who gets to terrify everyone by showing off.

This series is never going to get deep or tragic, but if you want more of the same, it is absolutely that.

The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: The Official History of the Continent of Platy

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By Sasara Nagase and Mitsuya Fuji. Released in Japan as “Yarinaoshi Reijō wa Ryūtei Heika o Kōryaku-chū” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by piyo.

There’s no afterword in this book to confirm it, but I imagine writing this book must have been so cathartic for the author. They not only write this series but also I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss, and both of those series rely on the basic fact that our heroine is one step away from everything falling apart, and that if she doesn’t save the day when a Bad End will ensue. This book, which is a short story volume but also serves as a prequel to the whole series, is that Bad End. The end of the book features a cast of characters page, and it’s a big cast. Almost everyone has a “Died Age xx” next to their name, with only three exceptions. This ends up being quite refreshing. You don’t need to worry about how they’ll get out of this one because you know everyone’s gonna die tragically. This is why Jill ended up back in time.

Speaking of Jill, she’s barely in this book, though she does feature more heavily near the end. The bulk of it is showing us one of the characters from the main series whose destiny Jill managed to change by punching things very hard, and then showing us that original destiny. We see how his relationship with Sphere was, how horrible the Goddess can be, and how most people simply assume he’s a pedophile. We see Risteard, desperately trying to make sure Hadis becomes a good ruler, end up being forced into a revolt and being unable to save his little sister from killing herself. We see what happens when Natalie goes through everything she went through in the main series but without Jill’s interference. (It goes much the same way, apart from her dying.) Minerd dies. The entire academy Jill taught at is slaughtered. Vissel’s misplaced love for his brother leads to Hadis finally snapping. And then we get the Kratos side of things. It doesn’t get any better.

For all that the book is filled with people dying full of regrets when they’re not possessed by evil, there are heartwarming moments in here where we see that, with the presence of a dragon consort, things can be different. Hadis’ family is capable of affection for each other when they’re not busy living in a Game of Thrones. The Cervel family are all battle lunatics but also love each other deeply. Rufus and Gerald are both seen as noble and good princes who want to find a way to break the whole “incest curse”, before the curse takes hold and they both turn to the dark side. Zeke and Camila remain exactly who they’ve always been no matter what the timeline. And then there’s Jill, who may be in love with Gerald here (somewhat to her detriment), but is otherwise exactly the same. She’s so great.

This is nearly 400 pages, so there’s a lot of Bad End here. Now that we’ve gotten it, though, much of the main storyline is recontextualized, and I hope we get back to the main series soon so we can stop a lot of this happening.

Pick of the Week: Retro Isekai

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ANNA: It is hard for me to focus on anything after Thanksgiving break, because I’m really looking forward to even more vacation time, but one thing that keeps me warm is thoughts of excellent fantasy stories like Twelve Kingdoms and Fushigi Yuugi: Byakko Senki, so those are my picks for the week!

MICHELLE: I’m also glad to see another volume of Fushigi Yuugi: Byakko Senki coming out with less of a wait than last time, so I’ll make that my official pick this week!

ASH: The Twelve Kingdoms, absolutely! I’m also curious about Bone Ash as Tow Ubukata has previously written some interesting things, but I probably won’t have time to read it any time soon.

SEAN: Yeah, it’s hard to go wrong with a new volume of Twelve Kingdoms.

Miss Blossom’s Backward Beauty Standards: Give Me the Ugly Crown Prince!, Vol. 1

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By Sankaku Mikaduki and riritto. Released in Japan as “Bishuu Abekobe Isekai de Busaiku Outaishi to Kekkonshitai!” by DRE Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Olivia Plowman.

(I spoil a plot point in this review at the end of the summary, but the plot point comes up fairly early in the book. But I will still warn folks.)

Generally speaking I usually try all the titles J-Novel Club sticks in their Heart imprint, but I will admit I was a bit wary about this one based on the plot description. That wariness only increased when I started to read the book, which at times reads like the author was given the backstory of the world on a dare. The afterword suggests that “a world where ugly is handsome and handsome is ugly” is a genre, which came as a surprise to me, and the fact that it only applies to men made me roll my eyes until they hurt. Despite all that, the writing is breezy and fun, the heroine is goofy yet also likeable, and the mashup of about five different types of light novel plot ends up helping a lot more than it hurts, as it turns out that our protagonist may be the only one here with memories from Japan, but she’s not the only one trying to figure out this new world.

Cocolette Blossom wakes after suffering from a terrible illness and almost dying, with memories of her past life in Japan. She finds that she’s an absolutely gorgeous child! And that she’s in some vaguely European fantasy world, just like Japanese light novels and games! Since she was an otaku with no real life romance before, her goal in this new world is to marry a hottie bishonen. Then comes the bad news. In this world, apparently, men who are considered handsome have orc-like faces with thick eyebrows, which those with bishonen looks are considered so ugly that women literally pass out in horror when they meet them. But that’s not going to stop her! She’s going to meet the Crown Prince, who is considered one of the ugliest in this world, and romance him and get her bishie! Just one problem – this is not the crown prince’s first go round through this timeline.

Yes, that’s right, while our heroine is doing a reincarnation fantasy, her romantic partner Raphael is trapped in a Villainess time-loop fantasy. As it turns out, both of these plot points coming together is what actually saves the day – we learn about the first timeline in flashbacks from Raphael’s viewpoint, and it is a bit ridiculous how everyone that he comes into contact with ends up either unhappy or dead. But with the addition of Cocolette, suddenly almost everything is well again! I say almost everything as this is a still a man who has been called ugly and horrible through TWO lives, and getting him to accept someone loves him is a hard road to hoe. As for the “handsome men are ugly” plotline, there is an actual plot-related reason for this, but I still can’t help but feel that it’s not really doing everything it could with “standards reversed”.

The second volume of this has a wedding on the cover, so I’m not sure if it will even make it to DRE Novels’s three-volume cut-off, but I’ll try it. Good writing and characters help get past an iffy central plot.

Bookshelf Briefs 11/29/25

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Bride of the Death God, Vol. 1 | By Hako Ichiiro | Square Enix Manga – This one took me by surprise. I knew nothing about it, and the start of the story made it seem like this was going to be the story of a too-kind-for-his-own-good death god and the sweet, fragile girl whose life he can’t bear to end. Which is true! Except for the sweet, fragile girl part. Trying not to spoil too much, but Aibi is fascinating, and the best reason to read this. And, as it turns out, the fact that this extends beyond a one-shot (it clearly was originally written as one) means we get to see the two of them interact with others, such as the guy who’s used to dealing with supernatural shit but has no real clue how to deal with whatever their (handwave) whatever is. If you read Teasing Master Takagi-san and wondered what if it had scythes, check this out. – Sean Gaffney

The Lying Bride and the Same-Sex Marriage Debate, Vol. 1 | By Kodama Naoko | Seven Seas – How much you enjoy this depends how much you enjoy the plot advancing by two people not talking to each other. Rei is gay but without a partner, and is somewhat sick of being buried in projects at work as everyone’s getting married or having kids. Then one day Saya, an old co-worker Rei liked who left to get married, asks if she can stay at her place. This could be solved if Saya could explain why things are going so badly with her husband, or if Rei could simply explain that she’s gay. But that’s not how this author does things, and it’s not why people read them. They read them for two tortured souls wanting to make out but not doing so for very good reasons. This ends next volume, and I’m sure things will work out. Eventually. – Sean Gaffney

Mechanical Marie, Vol. 1 | By Aki Akimoto | Yen Press – I actually read this before getting spoiled by the anime that is currently running. I didn’t really read up on the series, and assumed that it starred an actual robot girl. But no, our male lead, after years of being attacked by everyone he knows and being unable to trust, wants a robot to protect him, never mind that the technology is not there yet. So Marie, who is not a robot but is emotionless (well, mostly) and also a martial artist who is ludicrously strong, is brought in and told “pretend to be a robot, or else.” The premise is frankly ridiculous, but the heartwarming moments between the two leads as they grow to trust each other and as we learn Marie is not as stoic as she’d like to be makes it kind of sweet. I’d like to read another one of these. – Sean Gaffney

My Hero Academia, Vol. 42 | By Kohei Horikoshi | Viz Media – After all is said and done, and the villains are finally vanquished, and the city is somewhat restored, it’s time for our heroes to go back to school. Alas, the series is over, so sad news for those who wanted Izuku’s junior and senior year. He’s already got his hands full dealing with the author’s decision to make him quirkless again, as well as the decision to make him, eight years later, a teacher, a plot point that went over a lot better in Japan than it did here. And then there’s that extra chapter added just for the volume, presumably written after bodyguards were posted around Horikoshi, resolving the last remaining plot point in the series: who ends up together? It’s pretty clear, but then I do ship it. I’ll miss these lovable teen heroes. – Sean Gaffney

Tsumiki Ogami’s Not-So-Ordinary Life, Vol. 2 | By Miyu Morishita | Viz Media – This remains one of the sweeter manga I’ve read. If you like demi-human manga as well as cute slow-burn “I kinda like you” romance, it’s absolutely the title for you. We see Tsumiki struggle to make cookies (it’s the claws…), help the class’s resident medusa locate her glasses (which keep her turning everyone to stone), visit a sick Yutaka (and get far too close to him), and, in the back half of the volume, help coordinate the school’s culture/athletic festival. I will warn folks that there’s not much depth here—everyone is far too nice for that. But if you’re sad Komi Can’t Communicate is ending soon, and want a replacement, this one could easily fit the bill. Though the cliffhanger promises someone less nice? – Sean Gaffney

Who Killed the Hero?, Vol. 2

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By Daken and toi8. Released in Japan as “Dare ga Yuusha wo Koroshita ka” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Kim Morrissy.

(I won’t be spoiling too much about this book, but by necessity this does spoil a big reveal for the FIRST book, so beware that.)

It’s always tricky when you write a perfectly self-contained novel that gets so popular you have to write a sequel to it, and it’s even trickier when you are an author who is known to a certain degree for clever plot twists. By now anyone who picks up the second volume of this book will be sitting back and saying “well, go on, impress me”. When I heard about the plot for this book, I wondered if it was a prequel to the previous book, showing one of the many failed parties that the Prophet tried to gather together who failed to defeat the demon lord. And that’s kinda sorta true. But for the most part this book wants to explore what the idea of a hero and heroism is, and whether it’s something that some people have and some people don’t or if it all depends on circumstances. Because the hero’s party we see here have a reputation that is, shall we say, less than ideal.

The bulk of this book takes place right before the events of the first in the series. The Prophet is searching for someone who can be a hero, unite the Sword Saint, the Holy Maiden, and the Great Sage (who, you may recall from Book One, have shall we say DIFFICULT personalities), defeat the demon lord and save humanity. This is hard, and she’s tried to do this a large number of times, including the noble knight Carmine, whose corpse we see as this book starts. But we also see another party, which also looks DIFFICULT. They’re led by a man named Leonard, who is, not to put too fine a point on it, an asshole. He only believes in the power of money, he demands ten times the requested fee to be paid before he does a job, and if a cute li’l orphan tries to join the retreat at the last minute? Well, cute li’l orphan will cost extra, of course. He’s the OPPOSITE of a hero… or is he?

Since we have read the first book, and therefore know its plot twists, we’re allowed to take a much closer look here at the character of the Prophet, aka the Queen. We see her morbid fascination with Leonard’s party, which is literally the opposite of the actual Hero’s party from the first book (Leonard is a weirdo, and he has three relatively normal companions). As it turns out, though, they’re much more closely linked than she expects. Seeing her desperation and despair as the search goes on, especially since the nature of the time loops mean there’s no one who she can talk to about it, is touching and makes me go along with the somewhat unrealistic final page. As for Leonard himself, we guessed it was an act from the start, but he’s also the best character in the book, having both a lot of cynical common sense but also an idealistic goal that he knows will probably end in his death. Even assholes can still be heroes.

There’s a third volume to this, and I’ve no idea how it will be intermingling with the first two. But the author has my respect enough that I’ll definitely check it out.

Victoria of Many Faces, Vol. 3

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By Syuu and Nanna Fujimi. Released in Japan as “Tefuda ga Ōme no Victoria” by MF Books. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andria McKnight.

With the first two books, they felt self-contained, and yet the series continued on. This third book very pointedly leaves several plot threads open for the future, and so naturally there hasn’t been a new book in almost two years – we’re caught up. (The webnovel is ongoing, but by now we know how little that means). It’s a shame, as this is still a fun little series, even if its core is getting rather serious. The series started with Chloe, aka Victoria, aka Anna, trying to escape from a forced life of espionage, to the point where she literally fled the country and then the continent to get away. By the end of this third volume, both she and her husband are strong-armed into working for the government again – with the prince essentially saying that it’s OK because he won’t use their powers for evil. What’s more, their incredibly talented adopted daughter Nonna, who can’t seem to stop learning how to be a top spy, is probably also going to become a top spy. getting out is hard.

While things have settled down for Victoria, Jeffrey and Nonna, things are very much not settled down in the kingdom they live in. The discovery of the gold mine has led the country whose doorstep it’s on to start making rumbling noises about war. What’s more, Prince Carlos’ wife Delphine has had two attempts on her life recently. And Delphine’s body double was accidentally outed on a recent spy mission and her face is disfigured enough that she won’t be able to do the job in time. So Victoria is asked to step in, be Delphine’s body double, and find out who’s trying to kill her. Meanwhile, Jeffrey and Clark (you remember Clark, the childhood friend in love with Nonna?) are going to the border to negotiate peace. All of this leaves Nonna a free to be an agent of chaos, which is pretty much the best reason to read the book.

Victoria is still the star, and does a lot of great stuff here, but Nonna is the main reason this book remains fun rather than harrowing. Victoria’s plot is relatively serious, and ends up rebounding on her at the end when she proves to be too good at bonding with Princess Delphine. Nonna, meanwhile, is not allowed to go to the palace because her mother is undercover, so ends up curing her grandmother of her mental and physical frailties by virtue of accidental physical therapy, learning how to fight even better and also pick locks, and of course end up involved in the palace stuff anyway when a riot breaks out during a festival and she basically parkours her way into the thick of things. The most annoying part of the book is that Clark proposes to her, and she accepts (though specifies it needs to wait till she’s older, thank God)… but we don’t see this scene, we just see Nonna telling her parents about it. Given there are multiple narrators in this book, what gives?

Now, I do think we will get a 4th book soon, mostly as there’s an anime coming. For now, though, please enjoy the plight of a woman who just wants to settle down and raise sheep but her daughter has turned into a ninja.

Manga the Week of 12/3/25

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SEAN: It’s the last month of 2025, but there’s still plenty to go.

ASH: How did this even happen???

SEAN: Yen On has two one-shot debuts. Bone Ash is a novel from the creator of Psycho-Pass and Mardock Scramble. A manager of a building site that’s going up investigates rumors of fires at the site, and ends up in a horror novel, basically.

ASH: Okay, that seems like one I should probably read.

SEAN: Lila and the Winds of War is a novel from a different famous Japanese sci-fi author, and it’s about an orphaned girl living with an immortal being who tries to protect her homeland.

ASH: This one, too! (Uh-oh, seems to have found my number…)

SEAN: Yen On also has I Got a Cheat Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too 7 and Secrets of the Silent Witch 7.

No debuts for Yen Press, but we see The 13th Footprint 2, The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams of a Quiet City Life II 3, Cheeky Brat 15, The Color of the End: Mission in the Apocalypse 3, I Kept Pressing the 100-Million-Year Button and Came Out on Top 7, The Saga of Tanya the Evil 27, Spice and Wolf Collector’s Edition 2, To Save the World, Can You Wake Up the Morning After with a Demi-Human? 8, and Yowamushi Pedal 28.

MICHELLE: Man, I haven’t read Yowamushi Pedal in ages.

ASH: It’s been a while since I have, too, but I still thoroughly enjoy it when I do.

ANNA: My kids were really into it at one time!

SEAN: Viz Manga debuts Kaiju No. 8: Relax, the obligatory gag manga spinoff that really popular Jump titles always seem to get.

Also from Viz: Astro Royale 3, The Bugle Call: Song of War 4, Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki 3, Let’s Do It Already! 7, Marriage Toxin 10, My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions 7, Nana 25th Anniversary Edition 2, Queen’s Quality 24, Spy x Family 15, A Star Brighter Than the Sun 4, Wolf Girl and Black Prince 16 (the final volume), and Yona of the Dawn 45.

MICHELLE: Oh, a new Byakko Senki! And other good shoujo, too.

ASH: Indeed! Some really great releases.

ANNA: Yay for more Byakko Senki!

SEAN: Tokyopop has the 2nd volume of Boyfriend, Sometimes Girlfriend.

Titan Manga debuts Stray (Haguremono), a one-shot seinen manga from Manga Goraku. A man who served time for a crime he was innocent of gets out of prison and meets Hana, a daughter he didn’t know about. Together, they uncover a conspiracy. This is getting rave reviews.

ASH: I wasn’t previously aware of this one, but I am intrigued!

ANNA: Huh, interesting.

SEAN: Steamship has a 10th volume of Fire in His Fingertips: A Flirty Fireman Ravishes Me with His Smoldering Gaze.

Square Enix Manga gives us Holoearth Chronicles Side:E Yamato Phantasia 2 and A Man and His Cat 14.

Seven Seas has a couple of debuts. I Won’t Let Mistress Suck My Blood (Goshujin-sama ni wa Suwasemasen!) is a yuri series from Manga Life STORIA Dash. A woman looking for work finds a job as a maid in a spooky mansion. But is her mistress all that she seems?

ANNA: I don’t know, this all sounds perfectly normal to me.

SEAN: Far From Romance (Romance ni wa Hodo Tooi) is a BL one-shot from Dear +. A quiet IT guy in a small remote town finds his world upended when an extroverted Brit arrives – and seems to know him?

ASH: Those could both have some potential.

SEAN: In danmei, Seven Seas has Ballad of Sword and Wine: Qiang Jin Jiu 6 and Lout of Count’s Family 6.

In non-Airship novels, we see The Twelve Kingdoms 3.

ASH: Yes!!!

ANNA: Woo!!!

SEAN: For manga, we see How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift? 19, I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 4, I’m the Evil Lord of an Intergalactic Empire! 7, It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love 4, Last Game 11 (the final volume), Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 8, and Rozen Maiden Collector’s Edition 4.

No debuts for Kodansha Manga, but they have Grand Blue Dreaming 23, The Heroic Legend of Arslan 21, Hitorijime My Hero 16, Initial D Omnibus 8, Kusunoki’s Flunking Her High School Glow-Up 5, Roar: A Star in the Abyss 3, A Sign of Affection 12, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 17.

MICHELLE: Some good stuff.

SEAN: And in digital volumes we get SHAMAN KING: THE SUPER STAR 10 and Tying the Knot with an Amagami Sister 19.

Kodama, determined to drown everyone in this title, have the 5th and 6th Baki the Grappler omnibus.

ASH: I hope it works out for Kodama!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print volume, a manga. We get My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! ―AO― 9.

No debuts for J-Novel Club. For digital light novels, we see The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 8, The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 8, The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged 6, In Another World with Household Spells 3, and My Friend’s Little Sister Has It In for Me! 11.

And digital manga includes Cooking With Wild Game 12, I’m a Noble on the Brink of Ruin, So I Might as Well Try Mastering Magic 5, The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1 5, Isekai Tensei: Recruited to Another World 12, Sweet Reincarnation 12, and A Wild Last Boss Appeared! 8.

Inklore debuts Heaven Official’s Blessing (The Comic), the webtoon version of the bestselling danmei.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: Hanashi Media has a pile of light novels, as we get The Abandoned Reincarnation Sage 2, I Got Reincarnated as a Cultist Mob in an Eroge Full of Maniacs with Death Wishes 2, I’m Just a Villager, So What? 2, and Tsukimichi: Moonlit Fantasy 10.

Ghost Ship debuts The Cuckolding Wizard’s Adventure (Netori Mahoutsukai no Bouken) is a seinen manga from Manga Cross. A wizard is recruited into the hero’s party… and begins screwing all the women in the party… and their enemies who are women as well!

Also from Ghost Ship: The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, REALLY Love You 16.

Dark Horse Comics has Gunsmith Cats Omnibus 3 and Planetes Deluxe Edition 2.

ASH: The first Planetes volume was really something special even among all the various deluxe editions that are being published these days.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has a spin-off: The Do-Over Damsel Conquers the Dragon Emperor: The Official History of the Continent of Platy. This is a Bad End short story volume telling us what would happen if Jill had not gone back in time and become the Dragon Consort.

Cross Infinite World also has Onmyoji and Tengu Eyes 4.

Airship’s print debut is I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class (Class no Daikirai na Joshi to Kekkonsuru Koto ni Natta), a romcom title, as you might have guessed. Two high school rivals are forced to marry due to family politics. Now they have to live together, share meals, and share a bed! But they hate each other! Right?

Also in print: Restaurant to Another World 6.

Airship’s digital debut is Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World (Tensei Kizoku no Isekai Boukenroku – Jichou o Shiranai Kamigami no Shito). Seven Seas has released the manga for years, and we’ve also had the anime. Now we get the light novel. The title is the plot.

They’ve also got ROLL OVER AND DIE: I Will Fight for an Ordinary Life with My Love and Cursed Sword! 5.

December only gets busier from now on. What are you buying?

Her Royal Highness Seems to Be Angry, Vol. 2

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By Kou Yatsuhashi and Mito Nagashiro. Released in Japan as “Ojou Denka wa Ookari no You desu” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by Tokyopop. Translated by Katie Kimura.

This is one of those books that’s stacked towards the back, and for the first, oh, three-quarters of it, I was worried we’d have another volume that did not live up to its title. I mean, don’t worry, Leticiel does end up going to town on a bunch of high school bully girls, but that’s still in her standard stoic, unemotional way. Heck, even when she’s in a battle to the death against supposedly long extinct enemies, she’s cool as a cucumber. But thankfully, there’s still her absolutely terrible family to content with, and their actions near the end show that, thank God, Her Royal Highness FINALLY Seems to Be Angry. That said, that rage may end up attracting attention she doesn’t want, as we lose one prince but gain another, and I think I can define him as “intrigued”. But yeah, for the most part in this volume Her Royal Highness is dealing with the traditional enemy of high school girls: exams.

After the events of the last book, the prince, Rocheford, is sequestered at the palace and apparently barely coherent. The King apologizes to Leticiel, and asks what she wants. She’s quick to take advantage of that: she wants 1) her engagement broken, 2) a house where she can live apart from her family, 3) a research lab, and 4) most importantly, access to any book in the kingdom. She gets all this but the last – she can’t see the forbidden archive, but otherwise everything is good. (The book strongly implies the answers she needs are in the forbidden archive.) So now she’s on her own (with her maid and butler, of course), and ready to go back to avoiding classes, though she does take the time to help an abused young classmate with “too much magic” disease from being bullied. Unfortunately, just because she gets away from her terrible mother doesn’t mean she stops being terrible…

The most intriguing part of the book is Drossell, who is not quite as dead as I may have thought after reading Book 1. We get a little more information about her in this book, partly as Leticiel has started to have memory flashes of her “Drossell” life, which mostly include playing with a young boy named Alec. More intriguing are the POV chapters from her twin sister Christa, where we hear more about what broke their relationship, why Christa started to get fanatically jealous of her, and what happened to Alec. It’s interesting because it definitely implies that Leticiel is going to have to make piece with her Drossell body, but also as it appears that one reason everyone’s sort of OK with her complete personality change is that this is the SECOND time it’s happened. I had assumed Christa was going to be the traditional evil sibling in this series, but I now suspect that getting these two to make up may be one of the big goals.

I am sincerely hoping the third volume does not get delayed a year, as it’s hard when they’re so far apart to remember everything. Still, a decent read, and I think it only runs to 5 books, so not a huge money sink.