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My Fiancé Cheated, But a New Love Rings!, Vol. 1

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By Ehito and Koyukomu. Released in Japan as “Konyakusha no Uwaki Genba wo Michatta no de Hajimari no Kane ga Narimashita” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Chris Craigo.

This book was all over the place, frankly. In terms of the pacing and structure – we start where a lot of villainess novels start, but then circle back over and over to pick up the backstory, most of which is shoved into the “side stories” after the bulk of the book. In terms of the characterization – Sophelia and Livionis may be the only two people in the book who are not completely bananas, and that’s only by a matter of degree. And in terms of tone, where we’re shown the wretched and soul-crushing life that Sophitia has had to date, but we also get a love story so utterly cheesy that even the narrator turns into Tearmoon Empire’s narrator halfway through and starts mocking them. Hell, even the horse is sick of them. The horse, by the way, gets a narrative POV for a bit. As I said, this is all over the place. I loved it.

Sophitia von Lotus, the fiancee of the Prince Regent, screams loudly as she comes across her fiance in bed with her younger sister. Except this all appears to be part of a master plan that everyone in the world is in on (except, perhaps, the fiance and the sister) to rescue her from her crappy life. Especially her knight, Livionis Warrion, who has been madly in love with her for several years, ever since the traditional “meet while hiding at a tea party” childhood moment. Now there’s no time to lose, as they fake their death and flee the country. While the rest of the country deals with the fallout, Sophie and Livio (as they rechristen themselves) find themselves dealing with something neither of them were prepared for – they’re both adorable dorks embarrassed at the slightest thing.

As I said above, the main plotline is only about 2/3 of the book, with the rest being side stories that fill in the backstory. Which tells us that the king and queen are sociopaths, but good guys, Sophie’s family and fiance are sociopaths, but bad guys, and every single knight in the regiment has been drafted into the Sophitia fan club, because it turns out the king was not raising her as a fiance to be a good little wifey, he was raising her to run the kingdom as he knew his son was a prat. Everyone else also knew this, but no one else bothered to tell Sophitia, so she gradually ground her sense of self-worth into spackle. The main reason to get this volume is the sheer chasm that separates the way that everyone treats this young woman with the goopy schmoopy romance she ends up in with her gorgeous knight (we’re told he’s gorgeous every three pages, so I feel I can bang it in here). Special mention must go to the king and queen, whose relationship I can only describe as “toxic (affectionate)”.

I have a feeling that the next volume will be a bit more normal, though the addition of a runaway king (different king) and his magic-obsessed fiancee will help keep it from just being days of nothing but blushing. Fans of villainess books should definitely check this out.

I Abandoned My Engagement Because My Sister is a Tragic Heroine, but Somehow I Became Entangled with a Righteous Prince, Vol. 3

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By Fuyutsuki Koki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Higeki no Heroine Buru Imōto no Sei de Konyaku Hakishita no Desu ga, Naze ka Seigikan no Tsuyoi Ōtaishi ni Karamareru you ni Narimashita” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Sarah Moon. Adapted by Veles Svitlychny.

This is the final volume in the series, and I get the sense that the author knew this and was rushing to fit everything in. They didn’t quite make it – there’s a brief bit at the start where they’re inviting guests for the wedding and discuss whether her parents should get an invitation, but nothing comes of it and they’re never mentioned again. Jill fares slightly better, and while I was a bit dubious about her conversion in Book 2, I remind myself that a lot of people in toxic environments become very different when removed from that environment. You could say the same thing about Lingsha, for that matter, only this volumes brings the toxins to the foreground. Yes, after grumping about her being a “Shampoo” sort of Chinese stereotype in Books 1 and 2, we now get even more of them. Fortunately, it’s not as bad as it sounds.

Leia (alas, not a single Star Wars joke in the book) and Eric are ready to announce their engagement. The King and the ministers seem to take it well. But the nobility is another story, especially as they’ve just had a lot of power stripped from them. Margrave Linboldt is very unhappy that the sister of a traitor and attempted murderer is going to be the future Queen, even if she is a Saint. And then there’s the envoy from the land of Ren, who is incredibly strong, incredibly smug, and seems to want to annoy everyone as much as possible – his minder most of all. He’s there to take his little sister Lingsha back to Ren with him (which she doesn’t want), or, as a compromise, to have Lingsha marry Eric and Leia return with him to the Empire, which has no saints. Is his incredibly aggravating plan all it seems to be?

Obviously it’s not, but there’s enough ambiguity that we’re left wondering what exactly is happening. I do like how Jill, who I described in my review of the first book as the most annoying character I’d seen in a “villainess” book, keeps being relevant to the plot. Just because she’s been convicted and sent to a convent doesn’t mean that her role is over – this world does not have convenient magic-sealing powers, and as it turns out someone whose powers are “untraceable poison” is very valuable to those who have people who need poisoning. That said, the danger here can’t be TOO dangerous. We know that we’re going to end with a wedding and a happily ever after, so we can’t have Jill be kidnapped, or Lingsha be kidnapped. Heck, the moment Lingsha’s brother was killed, my first reaction was sarcasm. And that’s fine, I really don’t need THAT much depth or tragedy in what is essentially a story about two people who are almost exactly alike realizing they love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together.

As far as I can tell, this is a rare villainess series which does not have an anime in the pipeline. Probably for the best. This was fun, but I am happy it ended here.

The Manga Review: School’s Out for Summer

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Before I get to this week’s links, I want to share some great news: MJ Beasi, webmaster and founder of Manga Bookshelf, can add another title to their impressive resume: author! MJ’s novel I Was a Teenage Death God will be published by Page Street YA in 2026. The novel  sounds like it would make a swell manga:

For Charlie, stealing life from high school randos is an okay price to ensure their twin sister and best friend-slash-crush remain off-limits to Lou, the ghost who’s been threatening Charlie their whole life. When Lou’s demands go too far, Charlie resorts to extreme measures to get a handle on their own powers. Though crossing state lines to meet strangers from the internet might seem like a great idea, Charlie’s literal road trip to self-discovery sets them and everyone they love on a collision course with a dark family legacy not even their mom’s Toyota can outrun.

The book is the first in a two-part series. Congratulations, MJ!

NEWS AND VIEWS

The 2025 Eisner Award nominations are in! Among this year’s picks for Best U.S. Edition of International Material—Asia are Search and Destroy, an adaptation of Osamu Tezuka’s Dororo, and Last Quarter, a supernatural romance by Ai Yazawa. [San Diego Comic-Con International]

And speaking of the Eisners, ICv2, The Beat, and SOLRAD all made this year’s short list for Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism. [San Diego Comic-Con International]

Matt Schely highlights the winners of the 49th annual Kodansha Manga Awards. [Otaku USA]

The last volume of Akiro Hiiragi’s manga adaptation of The Devil Is a Part-Timer! will arrive in stores next month. [Otaku USA]

Brigid Alverson parses the April 2025 Circana Bookscan Top 20 Adult Graphic Novels list. [ICv2]

Wrestling fans rejoice: the Kyodo Printing Company will be publishing a new deluxe version of Baki the Grappler for English-speaking audiences. [The Outerhaven]

The Mangasplaining team is back in action with Naoya Matsumoto’s monster battle manga Kajiu No. 8. [Mangasplaining]

REVIEWS

Over at The Comics Journal, Jacob Ahana-Laba introduces American readers to Rapid Commuter Underground… Kara Dennison offers a sneak peak at Yan, a new series from the creator of Oldman… Lauren Orsini lists her 10 favorite (and least favorite) manga of the year so far… Demelza gives high marks to The Apothecary Diaries Art Book… and Gabriel Rodriguez calls Berserk “the most beautiful story ever told.”

New and Noteworthy

Complete, OOP, and Ongoing Series

Accel World: Fourth Acceleration

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

It’s been about 21 months since the last volume of Accel World, but I swear it feels longer. This series is starting to feel like a singularity to me, where the closer we get to the finale (and Kawahara has said that we’re in the final arc), the slower things get, and the denser the fight scenes and exposition becomes, till eventually we’re crushed to death waiting for Haruyuki to give “I like you but as a friend” conversations to about nine different girls and finally go visit that goddamn farm. So, as you can imagine, when we got about 4/5 of the way through the book and I saw “to be continued”, followed by an extended side story featuring a character who will only be relevant next volume, I screamed a bit. Apparently she’s the star of the Accel World movie, but, well, I didn’t see that. Indeed, this appears to function as a prologue to that movie, showing her tragic past leading up to her tragic present. It’s not bad, but not what I want to read.

When we last left Brain Burst, a large number of minor characters were undergoing total point loss and losing all their memories of the game. Fortunately… or perhaps not… they’re saved by those over the top linkers who showed up at the cliffhanger of the last book. Then THEY start killing folks… well, virtually killing them. Only Silver Crow can manage to stand up to one of them for more than five minutes, and it’s clear that the other guy is holding back. It eventually becomes clear that they’re from a new “game”, Dread Drive 2047, which is a MOBA (I assume gamers know what that means), and that they’ve been told to attack Brain Burst. Because, as becomes clear when Haruyuki is finally able to talk to everyone, both groups have been told only one “world” can survive, the other will have EVERYONE lose all their memories.

There’s a lot of discussion, as you can imagine, about whether those who have suffered “total point loss” can still be saved, after we’ve seen at least three people who had that happen to them but are still in Brain Burst. Sadly, it looks very, very unlikely. It also reminds us that a lot of these players are best friends and also dating – one girl who has her best friend/possible boyfriend suffer total point loss refuses to log out right away, as she was video calling with him and knows it would crush her. It’s a really tragic part of this series that doesn’t quite reach the ACTUAL deaths in Sword Art Online, but packs a good punch. The other interesting thing in this volume is the idea of exactly what these games are, in the end. Metatron wonders why they were created, why they have to sacrifice one game so that the other can survive… it’s a bunch of questions we’ve had since the start of the series, and we may FINALLY get to answer them soon.

Lastly, pardon me for being an old crank, but I really hate the art for this series. There’s very little fanservice in the actual text anymore, so the artist makes up for it by going overboard with the proportions and shower scenes. That said, this should scratch our Accel World itch till February 2027 or so.

Manga the Week of 5/21/25

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SEAN: Hello, children. Are you ready for Manga the Week of 5/21/25? Then we’ll begin.

MICHELLE: Good morning, Mr. Gaffney~!

SEAN: Airship has four print volumes out next week, as we see Modern Villainess 6, She Professed Herself Pupil of the Wise Man 13, The Strange Adventure of a Broke Mercenary 11, and Sword of the Demon Hunter 9.

And digitally, Airship has The Villainess and the Demon Knight 3 and Witch and Mercenary 3.

Ghost Ship has She’s the Strongest Bride, But I’m Stronger in Night Battles 3.

Ize Press has two debuts. Murderous Lewellyn’s Candlelit Dinner features a series of murders happening in our main character’s neighborhood. He doesn’t really care, though, till he meets his new neighbor.

ASH: Hmmm. Sounds suspicious.

SEAN: The Villainess Is a Marionette may be Korean, but the plot sure sounds familiar to readers of Japanese villainess books. Our heroine wakes up in the body of a novel’s villainess… only she’s already done this once before. This is her THIRD life, and she’s determined to fight fate this time.

ASH: I wish her luck!

SEAN: Also from Ize Press: A Business Proposal 9, Kill the Villainess 2, The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine 4, Solo Leveling 12, The Villainess Turns the Hourglass 7, Unholy Blood 6, and The World After the Fall 10.

J-Novel Club has two light novel debuts. Well, one is a spinoff. Ascendance of a Bookworm: Hannelore’s Fifth Year at the Royal Academy (Honzuki no Gekokujou: Hannelore no Kizokuin Gonensei) is a continuation of the main series after the final volume, but Rozemyne is now a supporting player and the main character is Hannelore!… oh god, poor Hannelore. She is not ready to be a main character.

ASH: Hee! This should be fun.

SEAN: The Tiny Witch from the Deep Woods (Mori no Hashikko no Chibi Majo-san) is about a teenage girl who learns about medicine from her mother while living in a remote forest. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes, as it often does to teenage girls in these sorts of books, and she has to set out to learn more far from the forest.

ANNA: I was hoping she could remain in the woods and devote herself to making jam and/or medicines.

ASH: That would have been nice.

SEAN: Other light novels from J-Novel Club: The Diary of a Middle-Aged Sage’s Carefree Life in Another World 6, From Villainess to Healer 3, Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother 4, The Great Cleric 11, Let This Grieving Soul Retire 7, A Livid Lady’s Guide to Getting Even 6, and You Were Experienced, I Was Not: Our Dating Story 7.

And for manga we see An Archdemon’s Dilemma 12, Cooking with Wild Game 11, Jeanette the Genius 2, and Oversummoned, Overpowered, and Over It! 8.

Kaiten Books has a digital manga debut. Two Months Left to Live in Another World (Yomei Nikagetsu no Isekai Kenkouhou) runs in Isekai Comic, and has In Another World in its title, so you know what it is. A martial-arts master is now 82 and needs skilled nursing care to get by. Then one day, while being taken to the ER, he and his nurse end up… in another world! (See, you did know what it was.)

ASH: I am shocked by this turn of events.

SEAN: No debuts for Kodansha Manga. In print, we see Don’t Toy with Me, Miss Nagatoro 19, Dra-Q 3, Go! Go! Loser Ranger! 13, I Was Reincarnated as the 7th Prince so I Can Take My Time Perfecting My Magical Ability 15, Life Lessons with Uramichi Oniisan 5, and ORIGIN 10 (the final volume).

And digitally we get The Great Cleric 14, Hozuki’s Coolheadedness 26, My Wife is a Little Intimidating 11, and Yamaguchi-kun Isn’t So Bad 10.

One Peace Books gives us Tales of the Tendo Family 6.

ASH: I should check in with this series again.

SEAN: No debuts for Seven Seas, but we do see Blood Night Market 2, A Cat from Our World and the Forgotten Witch 5 (the final volume), Choking on Love 2, Chronicles of an Aristocrat Reborn in Another World 12, Home Sweet Home 2, I’m in Love with the Villainess 8, It Takes More Than a Pretty Face to Fall in Love 2, and My Wife Has No Emotion 8.

MICHELLE: I should check out Choking on Love and Home Sweet Home before I get too far behind.

SEAN: Square Enix Manga debuts Love in the Palm of His Hand (Chameleon wa Tenohira ni Koi wo Suru), a BL series from Gangan Bliss. A wannabe actor who keeps failing auditions meets a young man who has hearing loss, and discovers the wonders of sign language.

MICHELLE: This looks potentially great.

ASH: I am intrigued!

SEAN: Steamship debuts Adored By an Elite Officer: Could This Be Love? (Elite Jieikan ni Dekiaisareteru… Rashii desu?), a josei series from Eternity. A young woman loses her job and is dumped on the same day. Then she runs into her old childhood friend, now a member of the JSDF… and he proposes?

ANNA: Josei, do you say?????

SEAN: Steamship also has Loving Moon Dog 2.

Tokyopop has new volumes. I Was Reincarnated as the Heroine on the Verge of a Bad Ending, and I’m Determined to Fall in Love! 4, A Tail’s Tale 3, and Trapped By His Love: The Duke’s Unexpected Bride 2.

Viz Media debuts Cosmos, a seinen title from Sunday GX. A high school boy discovers his classmate is an alien wearing a human skin! This leads him to get caught up with an insurance investigator who wants him to help her track down more aliens.

ANNA: I have to admit I wasn’t super compelled by the alien angle but I’m intrigued by insurance investigations!

ASH: I will admit to being curious.

SEAN: Viz also has After God 4, Hirayasumi 5, Hunter x Hunter 3-in-1 2, Jujutsu Kaisen 26, Mobile Suit Gundam Thunderbolt 23, Mujina into the Deep 2, and Trillion Game 5.

No debuts for Yen On, but we do see The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten 8.5, Classroom for Heroes 4, High School DxD 16, Kusunoki’s Garden of Gods 2, Monsterholic 2, Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World 14, Secrets of the Silent Witch 6, and Sentenced to Be a Hero 4.

And… yeah, that’s it. All the Yen Press stuff got bumped. Now, write down in your notebook what manga you want to buy at the Scholastic Book Fair.

ANNA: I also want to buy one of those sticks with a pointing hand and maybe a holographic ruler.

ASH: Book fairs are the best.

Alya Sometimes Hides Her Feelings in Russian, Vol. 7

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By Sunsunsun and Momoco. Released in Japan as “Tokidoki Bosotto Russia-go de Dereru Tonari no Alya-san” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Matthew Rutsohn.

I think I’ve mentioned before about how, when I saw that this series was licensed, I called it “The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Russian”. As it turns out, after seven volumes, the two series are not all that comparable except in the shallowest way. Alisa and Masachika could only wish their life was as easy as the couple in that series. Instead, we have a series where the tragic backstory is just not going away, and cannot be easily resolved with a trip back to the old hometown. Masachika still despises himself, Alya doesn’t know what love is and is hoping to be handed the answer in an easy to understand form, Maria suddenly realizes that the boy she fell in love with all those years ago is a young man with a libido, and for all that Yuki wants to show off she’s healthier now, if she overdoes it, not only does she feel worse, but everyone around her overreacts. There is so much drama.

If you know how anime and manga romantic comedies work, you knew this was coming. We’ve had the cultural festival, and so now it’s time for the sports festival. Which, of course, means another dramatic competition between the two student council rivals. Alya and Yuki have to participate in a cavalry battle, which might actually favor Alya provided Yuki doesn’t stack the deck and also be far more clever than her brother. But what are the chances of that happening? There’s also the problem of Masachika getting more popular after the events of the last book – in particular, his piano talent is now public, which just fills him with more despair as he feels that being good at something requires caring and working hard to achieve it. And Alya is starting to realize that there is something very, very wrong with Masachika’s family, but he won’t tell her what it is yet. However, most of this is the last quarter of the book.

If you’re familiar with this series, you know what the first 3/4 of this book is. Otaku references, in jokes, and fanservice. To be fair, they’re all handled pretty well here. I enjoyed the character of Elena, who is the classic “pervert girl who overdoes it because she’s secretly not”, and who gets along very well with Masachika because, unlike Masha or Alya, he can be himself around her. And yes, Yuki hops naked into the tub with her brother, which made me sigh. Honestly, I’d be more annoyed if I thought she was part of the romantic rivals, but I know she’s not, so it’s just a mild irritant. The best parts of the book involve Alya and Masha, who are both falling harder and harder for Masachika, and the collision when that comes out is going to be epic, and hopefully not as explosive as the collision involving Masachika and Yuki’s family.

So good stuff, even if it does feel a bit as if the author is pushing the inevitable resolution of this plot further and further away as the series gets more and more popular. Ah well. At least there are boob jokes. SO MANY boob jokes.

Long Story Short, I’m Living in the Mountains, Vol. 1

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By Asagi and Shino. Released in Japan as “Zenryaku, Yama Kurashi wo Hajimemashita” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by N. Marquetti.

As I’ve said before, I tend not to read the blurbs for books before I start them. As a result, I started this book assuming that it took place in some fantasy world a la every other isekai, with giant chickens being one of the commonplace things you see around there. Then our protagonist starts talking about getting TV and internet, and I reasoned, oh, hey, I was wrong, it’s just a normal Japan novel, only a bit weird. As the author states in the afterword, this turns out to not be correct either. This seems to be a strange mostly-Japan world, but with unseen gods, who seem to be selling mythological animals to anyone who happens to buy a mountain and be dealing with severe psychological issues. Does it work? Yes, mostly, though I think how much you enjoy this will depend on how much you like straight up “slow life”. This is not a slow life fake out, at least not yet. We’re here for the man and his birds.

Sano Shokei has just been dumped by his fiancee. It was a big enough thing, we find out later, that he got a sizeable payoff from her family as an apology. As a result of wanting to get the hell away from anyone who knows who he is and might pity him, he proceeds to buy two mountains and move to one of them. He also buys three checks that he gets at a spring festival, who weirdly have lizard tails. Also weirdly, they grow very big very fast, and they seem to like eating snakes. And bugs. And boars. Are they really chickens? What’s more, there are other mountains on either side of his, both of which are owned by someone fleeing a bad relationship and both of whom have animals that seemed to be normal but may actually be mythological monsters. But does it really matter in the end? They’re good birds.

The author straight up says in the afterword this is not going to have romance in it, which is a very good thing, I think, especially after meeting Sano and the other owners of the various mountains. At one point Sano wonders if he’s suffering from depression, and after seeing him through this entire book, putting down his appearance and personality and breaking down in tears when he gets drunk and thinks about his ex, I’d have to say yes. Aikawa, meanwhile, had a stalker after him for so long he has a violent fear of women (which makes it ironic that he has a lamia as one of his pets). And Katsuragi is prone to panic attacks and had an abusive boyfriend, though her behavior when she sees the very attractive Aikawa… as well as her behavior when she sees Aikawa’s friendship with Sano… suggests she may be the comic relief of this series. Well, when it isn’t the birds.

This is 8 volumes and counting in Japan, and a glance at future covers suggest it’s not really going to change from what it is. If you want to read a man tending his mountain with his giant chickens, this is right up your alley. If you’re not fond of the giant chicken genre, this won’t change your mind.

Pick of the Week: Witches, Dancers… and Giant Chickens?

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MICHELLE: I’m dreadfully behind at this point, but I really liked what I’ve read of Wandance so far, so the latest volume is what I’m most looking forward to, this week.

SEAN: I’ll go for the new volume of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, which I can always count on to be wonderful.

ASH: I don’t know if it’ll be wonderful, but I am intrigued enough by the prospect of retreating to the mountains to live with giant chickens that, long story short, I’m going to go with Long Story Short, I’m Living in the Mountains.

ANNA: I’m going to go for Merry Witches’ Life because I’m intrigued by the premise of this josei series.

KATE: As usual, I’m late to the party, but two titles caught my eye: Merry Witches’ Life—because you can never have too much josei—and Dr. Mashirito’s Ultimate Manga Techniques—because even a manga critic can learn something useful from a how-to book.

The Legendary Witch Is Reborn As an Oppressed Princess, Vol. 4

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By Touko Amekawa and Kuroyuki. Released in Japan as “Shiitagerareta Tsuihou Oujo wa, Tenseishita Densetsu no Majo deshita: Mukae ni Koraretemo Komarumasu. Juuboku to no Ohirune wo Jamashinaide Kudasai” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Jeremy Browning.

This series has pretty much shown itself to be “mystery of the day”, with the main plot usually only cropping up near the end. We see Claudia and Noah go to a country that is having a problem, they investigate the problem, they solve the problem more or less, and they return to home base. That’s also what happens here, with some nice little twists to keep the reader guessing. And, unlike a lot of other light novels where the twists are obvious and meant to be so, these are actually hard to guess till almost the reveal. That said, we can’t quite get away from the main plot, and the fact that it’s been seven years since the start of the series, and Claudia is seven years older, and yet she still can’t use magic for extended periods without having to nap for days. Stronger steps are needed.

This book is essentially “Claudia and Noah do Arabian Nights”, though thankfully the problematic aspects that could arise from that are kept to a minimum. After being knighted by Claudia on his 16th birthday, there is an attack on the castle’s barrier by a raging griffin, who is taken down when it tries to attack Claudia… and promptly turns to solid gold. This prompts the two of them to head to the kingdom of Sharavia, a desert oasis which also has a legendary Golden Falcon that is apparently the savior of their kingdom… and might also turn things to gold. Unfortunately, on arriving there, they find the king has gone undercover to look for the treasure, which has been stolen… and he needs Noah to take his place as King. As for Claudia, she’s headed to the harem…

I did say “kept to a minimum”, not eliminated. There is a harem here, though, because this is still a romantic story for women to a degree, the king only has one true love that he visits – whether that’s the current king or Noah, of course. There’s also a grand vizier type, though the series cleverly tries to dance around how trustworthy he’s actually meant to be. He’s very good at chipping away at Noah’s stoic “I am merely my lady’s servant, there is nothing between us” exterior, pointing out (as so many light novel readers are quick to point out to supposedly asexual protagonists who say they’re not in love LOOKING AT YOU ROZEMYNE) that everything he describes about how he feels about Claudia is love. As for her, she’s far more explicit in saying she loves him, but that’s possibly as she’s still under the impression that eventually she will die and she wants him to live on without her. And honestly, given the cliffhanger ending of this book, that day may come sooner rather than later.

Now that we’re caught up on 7th Time Loop, the author’s other series, I’m pleased we still have a bit to go with this one. That is assuming the author does not kill of Claudia and just have 200 blank pages next time. Unlikely.

Abducted Princess Running Rampant: Wielding Forbidden Magic in the Demon King’s Castle

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By Hiroshi Nagamatsu and Tsubame Nozomi. Released in Japan as “Maou ni Sarawareta Kiyoshi Oujo desu ga, Maoujou Gurashi ga Hima datta no de Kinki Mahou de Abaremasu” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Shaun Cook.

As I was about two-thirds of the way through this book, I wondered what it was about it that felt weird to me. I kind of hated the pacing, and thought that the author was getting distracted by having its heroine wander around rather than trying to advance the plot. Then, as I came to the very end, I realized the truth: this is only one volume. It’s pretty rare that we get a single volume series from JN-C, and of course it’s possible that they know something we don’t and it has a secret anime coming soon or a second volume in the works soon. But I kind of doubt it. There’s nothing in here that makes me want to read the further adventures of. As a one-volume series, this was OK. That abducted princess runs rampant, and then we all go out for tea.

Princess Mil Arphilia has valuable appraisal magic, and so she’s almost never let out of the castle by her overprotective father except under ludicrously heavy guard. Her dream is to be an adventurer, just like all the one’s she appraised over the years. But alas, her level’s not that great, as there’s a limit to what you can do fighting humans. Then one night, she’s abducted by the demon lord, who wants her… to do the exact same thing, only for his demon soldiers. At first, she’s delighted to see all these new species of demons she’d only read about previously, but gradually she starts to realize that she’s doing the exact same thing she did before, only with no other princess duties, AND she’s still trapped in a castle. Fortunately, surrounded by monsters, she can now level up seriously.

The best part of the book, in my opinion, is the second quarter, where Mil wanders around the castle and makes herself ludicrously strong and powerful because no one’s been told to watch over her closely. She also runs on “will this be really cool or not?”, so has no problems learning the darkest magic that can easily murder whole cities and think nothing more than “this will be handy when trying to get rid of today’s garbage”. After she inevitably escapes, thanks in part to a highly amusing demon whose mindset is “I am overly literal but only when it amuses me”, the rest of the book is less compelling, as she gradually visits various places and picks up new party members, including the shy sheltered mage, the gruff but lovable beast woman, and the demon lord’s daughter, who immediately gives off “I am a tsundere who is going to fall in love with the princess” vibes, so fast in fact that the other two comment on it.

Alas, one volume, so no yuri here. I don’t regret reading this, but if it does ever get more to it, I feel no real drive to get more of it.