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Pick of the Week: Endings and Beginnings

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SEAN: There’s a lot of good stuff coming out, but I feel the pick of the week has to go to the final volume – the 50th! – of a series I never thought we’d see over here, even if only digitally. My pick goes to Chihayafuru.

MICHELLE: You are absolutely correct. I’m so grateful to Kodansha for releasing it in its entirety!

ASH: I am likewise very happy that Chihayafuru has been completely translated, but as far as debuts go, I can’t seem to pass up a josei tale of vengeance, so I’ll be making Roar: A Star in the Abyss my official pick for the week.

ANNA: I’m with Ash this week, josei vengeance does sound delightful, so Roar: A Star in the Abyss is my pick as well.

Welcome to Monstrous Miss Sophie’s Enchanted Salon of Healing, Vol. 1

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By Sachi Konzome and Harenochihareta. Released in Japan as “Bakemono Jou Sophie no Salon: Gokigenyou. Kawa Ichimai nara Naosemasu wa” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by Cross Infinite World. Translated by Dawson Chen.

There have been any number of series about healers in the light novel world, and there is a powerful one in this book as a supporting character. But the reason this book works so well is that Sophie’s healing, the thing that causes her to set up her business, is relatively weak. She can only heal skin deep problems. But skin deep problems are an issue for so many people, and one that is not easily solved, especially in this “magic fantasy” style world. Scars can prevent marriages, can harm familiar relations, can affect someone’s job. And Sophie is someone who can deeply understand that – not just because of her own skin condition, but (yes, surprise, surprise) of her past from Japan, where her daughter suffered from a similar condition. The dignity of everyday life, the little joys of fashion and being attractive, or even just the desire to get the hell away from an abusive stepfamily – all those can be affected by scars.

Mariko is a young woman who had a very rough life. She married young and had a child young, and then her husband died. Her daughter had a skin condition, and was bullied throughout her school life. And then, when her daughter has finally found a career and gotten married, Mariko suffers a fatal stroke. She wakes up as Sophie Olzon, a 17-year-old young woman who has apparently just “fallen” out of her bedroom window, fortunately escaping death. Sophie has a skin condition (which the novel’s illustrations really try to avoid showing more than once, preferring to have her veiled face just look slightly dark) where the skin all over her body is covered in boils, sores and pus. Also, her magic is weak. She had fallen in love and gotten engaged… only to find that her fiance loved someone else and was being bought off by her well-meaning father. So she threw herself out her window. However, now she has 57-year-ol Mariko’s memories as well, and so knows exactly how to cope with this – helping others.

This book amounts to a short story collection with wraparounds involving Sophie’s life. Each chapter we meet a new person, and Sophie has to hear their tragic backstory, because the more she can visualize what happened and identify with the person, the better the healing goes. We see princesses with a curse, noble ladies whose houses have been usurped by a new stepmother/sister, actresses whose arrogance got them knifed, and exotic dancers who have to deal with a baby and still try to arouse men. We even see one of Sophie’s former classmates, who was briefly sympathetic but gave in to peer pressure. That said, Sophie is the best reason to read this. Mariko’s memories do not magically make Sophie better – she spends all of this book still dealing with the crushing despair of having to spend her life like this, and at one point heals someone so much she almost dies from mana loss. Oh yes, and the guy who’s clearly meant to be her love interest does not really understand emotions. At all.

Basically, this series is an emotional roller-coaster and I was quite moved a lot of the time. Also, it ends with the second volume, so I assume things will eventually look up. Till then, please enjoy our heroine healing others because she cannot heal herself. (Also, bonus points for using a fantasy version of The Pickwick Papers to try to get her hard-headed healer friend to understand the foibles of human life.)

The Apothecary Diaries, Vol. 14

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By Natsu Hyuuga and Touko Shino. Released in Japan as “Kusuriya no Hitorigoto” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Kevin Steinbach.

This fourteenth book dropped in English at the same time as the second anime season is reaching the climax of the fourth book, and it felt like a bit of a wrench to try to get my mind back into this point in the series, as we have moved far beyond the events of that (admittedly fantastic) book. After the short story volume we had last time, this one is mostly setup, though some of the setup comes directly from those short stories, so of course you cannot skip them. The ominous foreshadowing that we had in Book Four with Shisui’s warning made me worry as we seem to be getting some ominous foreshadowing in this book as well, this time of a possible smallpox outbreak. But really, a lot of this book is meant to convey how time is passing – Chou-u has now grown taller than Maomao, to her dismay. And what’s more, Verdigris House may finally have a successor. Mostly as staying in her current position is too dangerous.

As with many Apothecary Diaries books, this is divided into several interconnected story arcs. In the first, a meeting of the named clans is an excuse for Lahan to get Maomao to solve an old mystery, and for Maamei to try to get Basen engaged to Lishu. Then there’s a theft at Verdigris House, and Joka’s room has been ransacked. No prizes for guessing what they were after, and she makes a decision to step back as a courtesan and train to become the new Madam… which, as Pairin might soon be bought out by Lihaku, leaves Maomao with mixed feelings as all her big sisters are leaving her. Then we see two new medical students join the backroom staff, one of whom turns out to have a connection to the smallpox-scarred doctor who works in the pleasure district. And finally, a hunting trip which includes Maomao and Jinshi (yes, the parallels are deliberate) goes awry when it turns into an attempted revenge murder… and Tianyu, Maomao’s male counterpart, is heavily involved.

I know that the author gets comments on their webnovel site about things, but I’m not sure how closely they follow the fandom arguments and shipping. It would not surprise me if it’s pretty close. Leaving aside the slow burn Jinshi and Maomao (no, they still haven’t done it), this volume is a shipper’s paradise… and also a ship sinker’s paradise. For pro shipping, we get Basen’s family doing their level best to try to get their shy boy engaged to the girl he loves (who does not appear in this book, but I’m sure she’ll pop up again soon). We see Lihaku and Pairin are still going at it hammer and tongs, and Maomao helps us understand he not only has to save money to buy her out, he ALSO has to use money to be a regular customer of hers. We’re talking a LOT of money. And then there’s the teased Lahan’s Brother/Yao pairing we saw hinted last time, which would solve so many problems… so it’s a shame that he’s fallen head over heels for the lesbian. Just because she remembered his name. Ah well, I’m the only Yao and En’en fan out there, it seems, so no one else will care.

As always, I skipped some stuff, most notably Chue finding someone so twisted she decides to train him as her successor. Basically, this is a great volume of the series, and fans will be quite happy, unless they want Jinshi to man up, because we’re still working on that.

The Ideal Sponger Life, Vol. 15

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By Tsunehiko Watanabe and Jyuu Ayakura. Released in Japan as “Risou no Himo Seikatsu” by Hero Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

It’s been about a year and a half since the last volume of this series, which is not a long time compared to some other light novels. But honestly, the biggest plot in this volume hearkens back to the 12th book, which was two years ago. And I had to leaf back through my reviews, because it felt like it was even further back. I have always enjoyed that this series is about political finagling and not about Zenjirou getting his end away all the time. But the trouble with that is that there is a lot of stuff we have to remember. I’m having enough trouble staying current with Zenjirou meeting with the ice giants, I don’t need to crack open three volumes ago to remind me who that fighting young priest who can talk to the young was. Fortunately, if the church has their way, I may not need to have to remember the fighting young priest much longer.

We open with Zenjirou and Yngvi being taken to the far north via Santa’s sleigh, which functions very much like an airplane – which also means Zenjirou accidentally shows off his otherworldly knowledge to Freya’s brother a bit too much. The meeting itself is interesting, involving a loss of raw materials and the need to open a hole to another world to solve the issue – I could swear I’ve seen that plotline before. Then we go back to Capua, where Yngvi is searching for a second wife, and hopes to find her among Aura’s maids – all of whom are noblewomen, remember. The big plotline, though, is that Priest Yan has been captured by the church and is about to be executed. Normally you’d expect Aura to regard that as somebody else’s problem, but that priest has a very interesting trait that brings out the mad scientist in her…

Given that it took forever to come out, this is quite an enjoyable book. The Priest Yan subplot is one I don’t want to spoil but it’s great, with a terrific punchline, and shows off Aura’s cunning to its fullest effect. I also like the continuing attempt that she and Freya have of feeling out each other – Freya is always coming up short, as she herself says, but she, with Zenjirou’s help, comes up with a clever idea that can actually make her some money to have her lands turned into a proper port faster. And then there’s Zenjirou himself, who has a few screw-ups in this book, but for the most part the one issue he has to deal with is his compassion, and how it’s going to be tested given that they’re going to be going to war at some point… which is the reason Aura is letting all this happen in the first place.

All this and the idiot maids being more sensible than usual this time around (honestly, by now, they’re the veterans in the group – it’s just they never want to leave.) I’m not sure if it will be 18 more months till Book 16 (it’s not out in Japan), but I’ll definitely try to remember what happened when it does appear.

The Manga Review: Hark the Herald!

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Big news from Anime Herald: the popular website will launch a companion magazine in October! Site founder and editor-in-chief Samatha Ferreira noted that the inaugural issue will celebrate Anime Herald’s fifteen-year history with reprints of “eight classic articles” but will also feature nine new essays from well-known journalists and critics in the field including Lynzee Loveridge, Daryl Surat, Chiaki Mitama, Erica Friedman, Red Bard, Borealis Capps, and Lucas DeReuyter. You can pre-order a print or digital copy by clicking here; the print version will retail for $17.95, while the digital version will have a “a suggested price of $12.75.”

NEWS AND VIEWS

Party like it’s 2007! Yen Press just announced that it would be releasing a deluxe box-set edition of Fruits Basket in November. [ICv2]

Justin and Helen round up the latest manga licensing news. [The OASG]

Naina Singh posts a thoughtful analysis of how Indian characters are depicted in Toboso Yana’s long-running series Black Butler. [Anime Feminist]

Elliot and Andy discuss The 100 Girlfriends Who Really, Really, Really, Really, Really Love You. [Screentone Club]

Helen, Kory, and Apryll dedicate their latest podcast to Kowloon Generic Romance and Neighborhood Story. [Manga in Your Ears]

On the latest Manga Machinations episode, the gang convenes a round table on Fumi Yoshigana’s Tamaki and Amane, then checks in on one of my personal faves, Irie Akie’s Go With the Clouds, North by Northwest. [Manga Machinations]

REVIEWS

Erica Friedman gives Does It Count If You Lose Your Virginity to an Android? a solid B…. Beneath the Tangles publishes a team review of Girl Crush, a new series about Japanese teenagers trying to break into the K-Pop industry… Johanna Draper Carlson checks in on some of her favorite ongoing food manga as well as some cute cat series… and Sarah just persuaded me to pick up Love in the Palm of His Hands.

New and Noteworthy

Complete, OOP, and Ongoing Series

Management of a Novice Alchemist, Vol. 5

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By Mizuho Itsuki and fuumi. Released in Japan as “Shinmai Renkinjutsushi no Tenpo Keiei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Sean McCann.

This book manages to have the plot that I thought we were going to have in the last book. Actually, this book sort of wraps up all the intertangled plots from the other four, and also tells us that some things that we thought were unrelated, such as the visit from Nord last time, were actually a clever scheme. That said, most importantly, Sarasa and Iris are now married. They go into this a lot in this book, to the point where I’ve stopped finding it baffling and finally get it. There is gay marriage in this world. It’s pretty rare. But Sarasa is, frankly, such a great catch that everyone is fine with Iris marrying her, including her family. Sarasa isn’t romantically interested in Iris (I get the feeling Iris is OK with it being romantic, but she doesn’t push), but this marriage allows her to basically stay with her new “family” forever. And she also gains the cutest little sisters in the world. Who like her more than their actual sister.

Sarasa’s shop has two surprise visitors, one more so than the other. The bigger surprise is Prince Ferrick, who makes everyone nervous as they’re all sensibly concerned with accidentally saying something wrong in front of royalty. He turns out to have a huge bald spot, and wants a hair restorer that will require going into the mountains during winter to get ingredients. Following this visit, Baronet Kahku shows up, and if you’ve ever read any light novel with evil nobles, you know exactly what he’s like. He tries to bully Sarasa, which does not work at all. But it does worry her enough that she takes Lorea with her when they all go hunting for ingredients. Unfortunately, the Baron is not finished trying to get his way, and may even resort to… murder. That said, Sarasa has taken out giant monsters and kicked hellflame grizzlies, so we shouldn’t worry too much.

Not to be a broken record, but the best part of these books for me is the dissonance between Sarasa’s somewhat laid-back, deadpan narrative voice and everything else about her. She tries to insist that she’s just a cute teenage alchemist just starting out, but everything she’s ever done belies this. Indeed, this was true even before the series started. Maris, an alchemist we briefly saw a while ago, is in this book, mostly as a kind of comic relief, but she’s also there to remind us how different Sarasa is from EVERYONE else. Maris calls her a “walking exception”, and it’s a fantastic name. There’s also the dissonance between Sarasa trying to pretend that she’s a cool, uncaring alchemist who only cares about making money and the fact that whenever anything happens when her loved ones can see it, she turns pretty soft. (Bandits will remember, of course, what she’s like when she’s on her own). Sarasa gaining a family is not only the best thing to happen to Iris, but to Sarasa as well. And Kate. And Lorea. Yay for an asexual, aromantic lesbian polycule!

The next volume suggests she’s heading back into the capital, so we may see her master again. That said, I’m sure she won’t stay away long. This is a weird but fun series.

Manga the Week of 6/4/25

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SEAN: (insert June-related manga joke here)

ASH: (witty response)

SEAN: Airship has only one print title, Adachi and Shimamura 99.9.

ASH: I had to check, but that is indeed the correct volume number.

SEAN: And for early digital they have I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! 3 and Loner Life in Another World 12.

Fantagraphics has a 2nd volume of Search and Destroy.

ASH: Excited for this!

SEAN: J-Novel Club has one print title out next week, Reborn to Master the Blade 6.

No debuts for J-Novel Club, but we see (on the light novel side) An Archdemon’s Dilemma 19, The Boy Who Ruled the Monsters 3, The Brilliant Healer’s New Life in the Shadows 6, Imperial Reincarnation: I Came, I Saw, I Survived 2, An Introvert’s Hookup Hiccups 10, Lady Bumpkin and Her Lord Villain 4, and My Next Life as a Villainess 14.

And for manga we get Ascendance of a Bookworm Arc 4 Volume 3, Forget Being the Villainess, I Want to Be an Adventurer! 4, A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even 4, and Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 4.

Kodansha debuts, in print, Attack on Titan 35: FLY Collector’s Box Set, a huge collection of post-series stuff and artbook stuff and everything else that fans of this series will want to wallow in.

ASH: I’m past my Attack on Titan days, but that does sound like a nice set.

SEAN: Another print debut: Roar: A Star in the Abyss (Roar: Naraku no Heroine), a josei title from Palcy. From the creator of Guilty, this is along the same lines. A girl who grew up happy on a remote island now finds herself a star, being manipulated by everyone around her. Is revenge the only answer? (Yes.)

MICHELLE: Could be interesting! Not that I have yet managed to finish Guilty…

ANNA: I haven’t even started Guilty but I enjoy revenge!

ASH: Likewise, actually.

SEAN: Also in print: The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity 7, Initial D Omnibus 6, MOBILE SUIT GUNDAM THE ORIGIN MSD Cucuruz Doan’s Island 5 (the final volume), A Sign of Affection 11, WIND BREAKER 11, and Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 14.

MICHELLE: Yay, Iruma.

ANNA: Need to get caught up on A Sign of Affection.

SEAN: And for digital we get The Café Terrace and its Goddesses 17, Chihayafuru 50 (the final volume), Killing Line 3, Sayabito: Swords of Destiny 6, Shangri-La Frontier 21, and Those Snow White Notes 29.

MICHELLE: Okay, now I really REALLY need to read Chihayafuru.

ANNA: Wow. Me too. I think I have been digitally hoarding the first 18 volumes or so.

SEAN: Nakama Press has the first two volumes of Infini-T Force: Arc to the Future (Infini-T Force – Mirai no Byousen), which runs in Heros (yes, that’s the spelling). A girl gets a wish-granting pencil, and calls upon Gatchaman, Tekkaman, Casshern, etc. in this sentai mega-crossover.

MICHELLE: Gatchaman (or Battle of the Planets, technically) was extremely important to me becoming a manga fan, but I am still not sure I am up for this, if the *rest* of the Science Ninja Team is not present.

ANNA: I too have very fond memories of Battle of the Planets.

SEAN: One Peace Books has I Hear the Sunspot: Four Seasons 3.

ASH: As usual, I’m behind, but I do enjoy this series.

No debuts for Seven Seas. We see new volumes, though. Crossplay Love: Otaku x Punk 12, The Dungeon of Black Company 12, I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 2, Killer Shark in Another World 4, My Kitten is a Picky Eater 4, Pandora in the Crimson Shell: Ghost Urn 20, Tokyo Revengers: A Letter from Keisuke Baji 4, and A White Rose in Bloom 4.

ASH: I need to read more of A White Rose in Bloom.

SEAN: They also have two danmei or danmei-adjacent books: Legend of Exorcism: Tianbao Fuyao Lu 2 and Lout of Count’s Family 4.

Square Enix Manga debuts On and Off: Work-Life Imbalance (Kaisha to Shiseikatsu: On to Off), a josei title from Gangan Pixiv from the creator of Ottoman: Henshin Hero Husband. An androgynous young man and a glasses-wearing young woman are co-workers… but after work, he dresses as a gothic lolita, and she dons punk fashions! When they meet up… they don’t recognize each other! This looks cute.

MICHELLE: Potentially interesting!

ANNA: It does sound cute!

ASH: I’d read it without much prompting.

SEAN: Square Enix also has the 12th and final volume of The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses.

From Steamship, we see Loved by Two Fiancés 3 (the final volume) and The Villainess and the Demon Knight (manga version) 4.

Tokyopop debuts Imitation Play, a one-shot BL title that ran in from RED. A bar manager nurses a doomed crush on a guy who just broke up with his girlfriend… but is it doomed?

Wails of the Bound: Return is, well, more Walls of the Bound. ABO fans will be happy.

The Wizard: When Words Kill is a danmei novel that appears to be another in the popular “police procedural but with magic” genre that danmei enjoys.

MICHELLE: Hm.

SEAN: Tokyopop also has a 4th volume of The Margrave’s Daughter & the Enemy Prince.

Udon Entertainment has, according to retailers, Veil, a josei manga from Comic Ruelle. A policeman meets a runaway heiress, and he gets her a job. This will be in full color! Let’s see if it comes out this time!

ASH: I have hope!

SEAN: They also have a big old artbook. LOVE – Arco Wada FATE Art Works is dedicated to Fate/Extra, so if you love Nero this is for you.

Two debuts for Viz. The Bugle Call: Song of War (Sensou Kyoushitsu) is a shonen series from Jump Square. Have you ever wished the Pope could rescue you from your horrible life and tell you to lead a crack military squad? No? Probably for the best, it sounds like a bad job.

ASH: I’ll admit that I am vaguely curious about supernaturally weaponized music.

Kill Blue is a Weekly Shonen Jump title about a hardboiled assassin who is somehow turned into a teenager again? can he survive the horrors of middle school?

MICHELLE: This sounds like it could be fun!

ANNA: Yes, sounds amusing.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Boruto: Two Blue Vortex 2, Dandadan 13, Dr. STONE 27 (the final volume), Kaiju No. 8 13, Let’s Do It Already! 5, Marriage Toxin 7, My Hero Academia 41, One Piece 3-in-1 35, Rainbow Days 16 (the final volume), A Star Brighter than the Sun 2, and Yona of the Dawn 44.

MICHELLE: Those last two, for sure!

ANNA: Yay!!!!

ASH: Always glad for more Yona.

Yen On has a number of titles that slipped from May. We see Date a Live 14, The Girl I Saved on the Train Turned Out to Be My Childhood Friend 8 (the final volume), The Hero Laughs While Walking the Path of Vengeance a Second Time 8 (the final volume), I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss 10, King’s Proposal 6, Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- 27, and The Unimplemented Overlords Have Joined the Party! 4.

Yen Press has two debuts. Desperate March for Love (Koi no Zetsubou Koushinkyoku) is a yuri one-shot from Harta. A girl asks her crush out, and she accepts!… but seems far too casual about the whole thing. Can our heroine convince her true love that this IS a true love?

The Skeleton Enchanted by the Cursed Blade: The Greatest Demon Lord, Who Conquers the Dungeon and Commands an Invincible Army (Youtou ni Miirareshi Skeleton ~Meikyuu wo Shihaishi, Muteki no Gunzei wo Hikiiru “Saikyou” no Ken Maou~) runs in Young Animal Zero, and is exactly what you’d expect a series with that title that runs in that magazine to be like. It’s also a “weak to strong” title, and filled with fanservice.

They also have Hell Is Dark with No Flowers 2.

(insert wry comment that reminds folks to buy things here)!

Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~ Short Story Collection, Vol. 3

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By Tappei Nagatsuki and Makoto Fugetsu. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Tanpenshuu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.

This book starts with three more short stories that take place in that period between Arc 2 and 3, and I get the sense that the author knows that they are running out of stories that can really fit in there. The short stories in this book all appeared in Monthly Comic Alive sometime in the “Arc 3” publications, but this volume came out at the end of Arc 4, so the average Re: Zero reader, except for hardcore Rem fans, are likely really hoping to get something else in this series. Fortunately, I have good news for you. Not only does the back half of this volume move away from Roswaal’s mansion, but the next two volumes after this also move on to feature characters OTHEr than the Emilia Camp. Which is good, as the story that takes up the most space in this book is also the best one, showing off the tween years of our favorite silver-haired merchant.

This book has five short stories: 1) A famous chef with tons of rumors swirling around them is coming to the mansion… but he only serves women! To solve this problem, Natsumi Schwartz makes her glorious debut; 2) We get Petra’s POV on her life to date, attitude towards people and fashion, and that annoying new guy who’s hanging around the village; 3) We get a day in the life of Rem, which also shows us (again) how dangerous of a lightweight she is when it comes to alcohol. 4) Ten years before the series starts, we see a 12-year-old Anastasia Hoshin taking the financial world by storm… at least until she’s kidnapped by slavers; 5) a little while before the main series, Priscilla hears about a village where people are vanishing, and she, Al, and Schult investigate.

Anastasia’s story is twice as long as the others, but that’s fine, as it’s the best. It does give the impression of being the third part of an ongoing series, but it shows Anastasia being clever, Ricardo being badass, and introduces us to the Cat siblings, complete with an unhinged Mimi (OK, Mimi is always unhinged). Part of it was also mentioned in one of the anime episodes. I also enjoyed the story with Petra, which helps to give her some depth before she returns in the fourth arc. The first story had a twist that was very predictable, but Subaru cross-dressing was the main feature anyway, and I suspect we have not seen the last of “her”. The weakest stories were Rem’s and Priscilla’s, which weren’t bad but just did not really add much beyond what we already knew about them.

Again, I wish we’d gotten this in the publication order in Japan, but beggars can’t be choosers. Next time we get a good look at Felt, which is desperately needed, so I look forward to that. Re: Zero fans should have a lot of fun with this.

The Reincarnator and the Goblin Maiden’s Happily Ever After: Using a Past Life to Keep a Joyful Wife, Vol. 3

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By Shinten-Shinchi and Tokima. Released in Japan as “Goblin Reijō to Tensei Kizoku ga Shiawase ni Naru Made: Konyakusha no Tame no Zense Chishiki no Jōzu na Tsukaikata” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Geirrlon Dunn.

I am noticing that a lot of these light novel romances, particularly in the “J-Novel Heart” line, tend to wrap up in three volumes. It seems like a natural ending point, and I’ve grown very used to seeing the classic “couple in wedding gear” cover on that third book. We don’t get that here, because Gino and Ana are already married (instead you get one of their few moments of downtime in the book), but I am pleased that the author has realized this is the time to stop. Mostly, it needs to stop before it becomes a shonen manga. As Gino reveals more of his true abilities, and Ana learns just how powerful her magic really is, they are forced to go up against the king, and also go to war with another country. The book ends with Ana being named a literal saint. Where does one go from there? Best to wrap it up.

Gino and Ana have been gifted new territory… which just had the most important people leave it. Yup, he’s being set up to fail again, so that they can justify having him divorce Ana and getting her properly married to a prince. This is the danger of curing your wife’s condition and showing off the beauty she always had. Fortunately, they’re both very clever and are able to get the territory running smoothly. And then the king is, supposedly, tragically killed on a coach journey. And the queen and crown prince are, tragically, also supposedly dead. Which means the first prince is now the king. He’s already sent assassins to try to kill Gino, that didn’t work. Now he’s going to send Gino to fight in a pointless war. Does this happy couple ever get to relax?

As with so many other romance novels, the unstated message here is “communicate with your spouse!”. Despite growing increasingly more powerful and confident, the pair are still beset by doubts constantly, and therapy can only do so much. Ana, in particular, has PTSD from Gino dumping her in the last book, and is convinced it will happen again if she ever disobeys him. This despite the fact that she was the top military strategist in their school, and also has enough magic power to reduce a battlefield to molten lava. Fortunately, they both get over it by the end of the book. I also liked the subplot with Lady Francess, which reminds people that, as much fun as it’s been seeing Ana’s mother be the power behind everything in the country, sometimes women want to actually run things. I’m not sure that I buy not executing her with the rest of her family, but hey. I also appreciated, once again, the crown prince becoming a better person through the power of therapy. More therapy in light novels!

All this and references to Sailor Moon, Naruto, Jesus, Buddha, and magical stuffed animal bodyguards that will make readers think of Bookworm. This was a solid series, I’m happy to have read it.

Ascendance of a Bookworm: Hannelore’s Fifth Year at the Royal Academy, Vol. 1

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By Miya Kazuki and You Shiina. Released in Japan as “Honzuki no Gekokujou: Hannelore no Kizokuin Gonensei” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by quof.

I’ll be honest, I was a bit worried about this title. I have mentioned before that I get very uncomfortable about books where the key feature is “let’s embarrass the main character”, and Hannelore seems to run on that half the time. I was expecting to be cringing a lot. And, well, I wasn’t wrong, to a degree. Especially in the first half, it can be difficult to watch Hannelore attempt to be the waif-ish romantic heroine in a duchy filled with meatheads who only care about fighting. That said, given that we’re getting Hannelore’s POV for an extended period, we get to see a far deeper side of her here, and we discover that she’s not really as far away from the Dunkenfelger default as she pretends to be. We especially see this in the second half of the book, where things go completely bananas and Hannelore shows that it’s not just Rozemyne that can accidentally derail an entire country.

Hannelore shows up for her penultimate year at the academy with a few new complications in her life. After the disaster with the bride-stealing ditter, she has been assigned two fiances from within the Duchy – Rasantark, a typical hot-headed, not-so-bright knight guy, and Kenntrips, a milder, smarter sort. Both grew up with Hannelore and both are in love with her, something that she only finds out as this book goes on. This is to avoid her being snatched away by Sigiswald, who’s an Aub now but still appalling, and still thinks he deserves whatever he wants. Oh yes, and Ortwin, of Drewanchel, *also* proposes to her. The trouble is that none of this surfeit of fiances is who she wants – she’s still carrying a torch for Wilfried. So she decides now is the time to make her feelings clear… and things get weird.

I don’t want to spoil too much about the last half of the book, which comes as a genuine surprise. I will say that it seems to put a nail into the coffin of Hannelore and Wilfried. We see what his future is expected to be, and we also see him trying to convey to Hannelore without actually saying anything that his reputation is actually FAR worse than is publicly known. He indicates that if had been a year earlier he might have said yes… but the Wilfried of a year earlier was far more bratty, immature and impulsive, and that would just be a bigger disaster. The other great thing about this book is Hannelore’s character development, as she’s made to see, over and over again, how her tendency to play all her cards close to her chest and not give away what she’s feeling just makes everyone around her uncomfortable and distrusting, especially after the ditter last year. By the end of the book she’s grown and learned how to lead better… and she’ll need it, as the cliffhanger of the book is (I’m paraphrasing) “My lady, you are fucked.”

The second volume of this sequel (it’s a full sequel, Rozemyne is here but in support – and she’s also clearly the best person to marry Hannelore, except she has Ferdinand and, as far as I can tell, gay people don’t exist in this universe) has just been announced for this August, so it’ll be a year till we see it. I expect the third short story collection will be next. Bookworm fans should love this.