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Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend

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By Hajime Kamoshida and Keji Mizoguchi. Released in Japan as “Seishun Buta Yarou wa Dear Friend no Yume wo Minai” by Dengeki Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Andrew Cunningham.

And so the Rascal books come to an end (leaving aside any short story or side story collections) with a volume just as short as the previous one. The main conflict from the last few books gets solved fairly quickly and easily, so much so that we realize that it was a fakeout, and we’re right, as the real conflict is with Sakuta himself. Well, that and maybe the publishers. I’ve talked before about how the series has always felt a little artificially extended after the 9th book, and that Sakuta in college but still dealing with all the Adolescent Syndrome stuff felt tacked on. Turns out Sakuta agrees with me – no, not the Sakuta we’re familiar with, but his alternate-world “perfect” Sakuta, who has come by to let him know that there are many and infinite alternate realities around them, and they all think Sakuta sucks, because he’s managing to break all of them.

When we last saw Sakuta, everything was terrible as Mai announced to the world that she was Touko. Now he has to make things right, which involves getting deep into the heart of Miori’s relationship with Touko and why her repressed feelings are actually making things worse. This is resolved, and thanks to Mai doing a quick “this was all an April Fool” bit, no one believes that she’s Touko anymore (including Mai herself). Unfortunately for Sakuta, all the OTHER reality-altered dreams are still present and correct – there are two Kaedes, Yuuma is dating Rio, etc. As it turns out, Miori is more than just the last in a string of women Sakuta has to help, she’s a dimensional nexus point of sorts. While everyone else has alternate versions of themselves (which we’ve seen with the alt-Sakuta), there is only one Miori. That said, most of this has little to do with Sakuta’s actual problem – how does he fix everything?

Despite the fact that this seems like the 15th book in a row where Sakuta takes a lot of public transportation lovingly described until a solution occurs,. there are things I really enjoyed here. Touko’s final song being a palindrome made it very life affirming, and I wish Miori luck in finding a Touko who isn’t dead. I also liked Sakuta’s discussion with the alt-Kaede, and her own simple solution to his “problem”. His problem is phrased as “grow up”, and the solution is pretty neat, and ties into something we’ve known about Sakuta from the very start – I appreciate how this fixes everything. The biggest issue with the book, and possibly why the last two were so short (well, that and artist illness) is that it’s padded out. Sakuta goes round in circles a lot here, and at one point takes us on a tour of iconic Rascal Does Not Dream locations. Like his alternate self, I wanted Sakuta to get with it and solve everything, not mope around.

The book ends with an epilogue set two years later, with stuff I really liked as well as a few things I’m eeeeh on (why do people love student/teacher relationships? Who are not students?). Sakuta and Mai are still exactly the same as before only with all their issues resolved – sorry, no engagement, marriage, or honeymoon scenes. Basically, everyone has grown up. Rascal went on too long, just like its hero, but I liked it a lot.

The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady, Vol. 8.5

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By Piero Karasu and Yuri Kisaragi. Released in Japan as “Tensei Oujo to Tensai Reijou no Mahou Kakumei” by Fujimi Fantasia Bunko. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Haydn Trowell.

Ah, the good old .5 volume. This one even helps us out by telling us where most of the original short stories were seen – they were in Fujimi Shobo’s Dragon Magazine, which frequently has short story extras for its popular series. This is good news, as it means they’re all chunky short stories written for an attentive audience, rather than, say, the “these are all 2-3 page stories written for bookstore giveaways” short story volumes. In fact, I’d say this is just as strong as the regular volumes, and some of the stories I’d call essential. They mostly, with the exception of the first, examine life after Euphie takes the throne, and deal with the fallout of what comes from that. As we saw in the last volume, it’s still ongoing and nasty, and is destroying a number of families and lives. That said, we know where our sympathies lie, because the families whose lives are getting destroyed are trying to marry Euphie off to a man and still hate Anis.

The stories: 1) Near the start of their relationship, Anis shows Euphie how she collects spellstones, and they have a nice bath and are attracted to each other; 2) Anis tries to repair her relationship with her mother, which is difficult as they’re both very awkward and blame themselves for everything that happened between them; 3) Ilia’s family has gotten rid of her abusive parents, and are trying to get her to come back to them and marry her cousin, but Lainie isn’t going to let that happen; 4) in an original story for the book, Anis tries to ruffle Euphie’s coolness by being her maid for the day; 5) We get Tilty’s backstory as she tries to avoid reconciling with her father; 6) Halphys is getting married but a surprise succession change may mess things up for her at the last minute; 7) In another original story for the book, Euphie asks Anis if she can sometimes wear nice dresses and actually socialize.

The relationship between Anis and Euphie has always tried to toe the line between “codependent, but in a good way” and “codependent, but in a terrible way”. There’s a scene in Halphys’ story where a noble admits he’s abdicating simply as Euphie terrifies him, and given what happened in Book 8, I absolutely get it. Anis may get upset that Euphie always seems to be the dominant one in their love, but that’s more down to Anis’s embarrassment, whereas with Euphie being overly affectionate is how she holds on to what’s left of her humanity. The best story, I thought, was Tilty’s, where we meet her father and realize that they’re the classic case of two people trying to be considerate of each other who only end up hurting each other instead. It’s a must read if you like her character.

Hopefully we’ll get the 9th book a bit faster than we got this one. Another great volume in a series I really love.

An Archdemon’s Dilemma: How to Love Your Elf Bride, Vol. 20

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By Fuminori Teshima and COMTA. Released in Japan as “Maou no Ore ga Dorei Elf wo Yome ni Shitanda ga, Dou Medereba Ii?” by HJ Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

I wouldn’t go so far as to call this a short story volume, but its main plot is definitely a framing device meant to set off each chapter. Mostly what we get here are flashbacks giving us insight into other characters, some of them very important and some of them mostly new to us. The reason for this, of course, is that Zagan is dead, per the cliffhanger of the last volume. Well, OK, probably not, but he does not appear in this volume, and Nephy, who is holding down the fort, only shows up in one scene. Of course this means that the overly sweet romance that was why we all started to read this series is once again in short supply. This is not unique to this author. A lot of light novel and manga authors start off writing something only to find, 20-odd volumes in, that it’s become an epic shonen battle series. Mostly as authors are (mentally) teenage boys.

So yes, Zagan is dead, but nobody really believes he’s DEAD dead. Least of all Nephteros, who has decided to go on a quest to revive Zagan, along with her beloved Richard. Their investigation shows that it’s mostly that Zagan’s soul is lost, and fortunately they have a soul-finder guy, but he’s hard to convince, plus he’s busy, um, imitating the Archangel Michael to such a good degree that the actual article begins to despair. What’s more the core group has already lost Shax, who is forced to ally with the enemy given that Kuroka has been captured. Who is the enemy really? Well, as it turns out, the enemy is a lot of people, and has interacted with our cast a number of times. That said, it may end up being Asmodeus who holds the key to resolving all this.

I jokes online that the big twist at the end of the series was that every single character would turn out to have been secretly Marchiosas, and while it’s not quite as bad as that, he does show up everywhere. The stories we get are a) Bifrons being a generally terrible person, investigating Zagan, and meeting a young girl who… kind of sort of led to Nephteros; Richard’s Sacred Sword, Camael, telling of her past as a seraph and what has led her to try to protect Marchiosas at all costs; Michael/Andrealphus going back to his home only to find his entire life has been usurped by a demon; and Asmodeus/Lily’s backstory, and why she’s so obsessed with getting those soul gems. As with most short story books, even the ones that aren’t quite, the best stories are near the end – Lily is definitely the highlight of the book. That said… I kinda want to get back to awkward handholding.

We’ve been told that next volume will be all battles, so I’m not getting that anytime soon. Enjoy this shonen battle novel that used to be something else.

Pick of the Week: End of January Picks

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SEAN: Nothing really leaps out at me this week, so I’m going to choose the new volume of The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons, which has been one of the bigger pleasant surprises of my recent light novel reading.

KATE: I’m stoked for a new installment of Asadora!, which is zippy and fun. I have no idea if Urasawa will ultimately stick the landing with this series, but for now I’m still enjoying it. Plucky heroines for the win!

MICHELLE: I’m in the same boat as Sean, but will go for The Strange House this week.

ASH: This week, I’m curious about Path From Tanuki Temple the most. Color manga isn’t as much of a rarity as it once was, but it’s still rather uncommon. Plus, you know, I find it hard to resist yokai manga.

Manga the Week of 1/28/26

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SEAN: January may be ending, but of STUFF to get through.

ASH: How? Already??

SEAN: Yen On has a bunch of ongoing light novels. We get Ishura 10, I’ll Become a Villainess Who Goes Down in History 3, King’s Proposal 7, The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady 8.5, Rascal Does Not Dream of a Dear Friend (the 15th and final volume), Sugar Apple Fairy Tale 9, and Wolf & Parchment: New Theory Spice & Wolf 11.

Yen Press has a license rescue, as we get a 3-in-1 hardcover omnibus of Battle Royale Deluxe Edition. The OG death game manga, this will be great news for people who are not me, as I hate things like this.

MICHELLE: I think I may have the novel around here somewhere.

ASH: The novel is great and definitely my preferred version of the story.

SEAN: And there’s also the 2nd Sword Art Online Unital Ring.

Viz’s debut is Disney Twisted-Wonderland: Usurper from the Wilds, a novel based on the franchise. This is basically The Lion King version of the title.

And they also have Princess Mononoke Film Comic: All-in-One Edition, a massive 850-page hardcover.

They also have Asadora! 9, Boy’s Abyss 12, Firefly Wedding 5, and JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Part 7–Steel Ball Run 5.

ASH: Yeah, JoJo!

Tokyopop gives us The Margrave’s Daughter & the Enemy Prince 6.

Titan Manga has The Raven Dark Hero 2

Steamship has the 4th and final volume of The Yakuza and His Omega: Raw Desire.

Seven Seas have two danmei titles, Case File Compendium: Bing An Ben 7 and Heaven Official’s Blessing: Tian Guan Ci Fu (Deluxe Hardcover Novel) 8 (the final volume).

Debuting on the manga side is My Former Student Is a Hunk?! (Oshiego-kun to wa Dekimasen), which runs in Monthly Magazine Base. A 35-year-old teacher is startled when her former student, who is now 18, tall, and buff, proposes to her! Right, he was the kid who kept saying he would marry her for years and she kept saying “when you turn 18”. She never expected him to turn into THIS! This was originally a Twitter comic.

ASH: Uh-oh!

SEAN: Also from Seven Seas: Free Life Fantasy Online: Immortal Princess 12, Let’s Buy the Land and Cultivate It in a Different World 9, ROLL OVER AND DIE 7, The Strange House 5, and The Titan’s Bride 8.

MICHELLE: Something mildly creepy (presumably) like The Strange House sounds appealing, at present.

SEAN: Manga Mavericks debuts Path From Tanuki Temple, an indie manga that I believe is full color. A princess raised in seclusion wants to see the world. That always goes well.

ASH: Scrappy tanuki princess in full color? That’s absolutely something I will read. I’ve really been enjoying Manga Mavericks’ indie releases.

SEAN: Last Gasp has the 2nd Ultra Heaven.

ASH: A good time for me to get around to reading the first volume!

SEAN: KUMA may have some debuts (Denpa/Kuma is switching printers atm, so dates are more in the air than usual). Betrayers Love Song (Uragirimono no Love Song) is a childhood friends-turned-rivals mafia title. It runs in Be x Boy Gold.

Only My Psycho is a BL title from i Hertz, and done in one. Hit squad partners turned lovers.

MICHELLE: Huh.

SEAN: Kodansha’s debut is Sayuri, which is from the author of Hi-Score Girl but is far more of a horror/tragedy. A family moves into a terrific house, only to find a spirit haunting it. This is done-in-1, and ran in Comic Birz.

Also in print: GAEA-TIMA the Gigantis 5, Honeko Akabane’s Bodyguards 7, Omega Megaera 2, Shangri-La Frontier 20, and Shimazaki in the Land of Peace 7.

Digitally we see Anyway, I’m Falling in Love with You 11, Drops of God: Mariage 14, I Want to Hold Aono-Kun So Badly I Could Die 13, ONIMAI: I’m Now Your Sister! 10, and Our Fake Marriage: Rosé 4 (the final volume).

J-Novel Club has two print titles. We get My Instant Death Ability Is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me! 10 and Reborn to Master the Blade 8.

No digital debuts for JNC. For light novels, we get The Amazing Village Creator 2, Blade Skill Online 3, The Bladesmith’s Enchanted Weapons 3, The Blue Sea of Marielle Clarac (the 13th in the series), Chivalry of a Failed Knight 8, and Old Knight, New Post 2.

The sole manga volume is Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! 2.

Ize Press has a giant 900-page novel, DARK MOON: THE BLOOD ALTAR. An adaptation of the webtoon, this is vampires, baby, and also Enhypen, who are the Kpop band that are connected to it.

Ghost Ship debuts A Reincarnated Carrier’s Strategy for Another World (Tensei ni Hakobijin no Isekai Kouryakuhou), which runs in Young Champion Web. A guy is reincarnated and gets to choose his class, but chooses “carrier”, the weakest one, so that he’s not tied to anything. Then he starts meeting women who need his help. And his “help”, given this is a Ghost Ship title.

I don’t cover FAKKU titles, but for those curious about the Nana & Kaoru: Black Label spinoff, it has moved from Denpa to that imprint. The 3rd volume is out next week.

ASH: Well, that’s good to know.

SEAN: Cross Infinite World has the 6th volume of Even Dogs Go to Other Worlds.

Airship, in print, has I’m the Heroic Knight of an Intergalactic Empire! 4.

And for early digital… well, wait, this is ONLY digital. No print is planned. We debut When a Clueless First-Person Shooter Player Falls into Another World (Manuke na FPS Player ga Isekai e Ochita Baai). The title is the plot. FPS guy in a fantasy/magic world.

ASH: Seems like we’ve heard that somewhere before.

SEAN: For actual early digital we get Sword of the Demon Hunter: Kijin Gentōshō 12 and Witch and Mercenary 5.

Hooray, slightly smaller! What are you buying?

Magical Buffs: The Support Caster is Stronger Than He Realized!, Vol. 1

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By Haka Tokura and Eiri Shirai. Released in Japan as “Zatsuyou Fuyojutsushi ga Jibun no Saikyou ni Kidzuku Made” by M Novels. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Maddy Willette. Adapted by Rei Geronimo.

I’ve gotten very used to light novels that are complete in one volume, explaining everything and resolving the plot, then having six more books after that as it caught popularity and the author has to suddenly come up with more plot and more characterization. It’s not very often I run into the exact opposite, though. This book features a main character with one of the biggest cases of self-hatred I have ever seen (and given I read light novels on the regular, you know it’s pretty bad). He has a childhood friend who is obsessed with him but also seems to have a bit of tragic backstory, and I was certain that by the end of the book we would hear about whatever it was that made the two of them like this to begin with. That does not happen. Instead, we get the guy doing the usual OP stuff (this is a “thrown out of the hero’s party” series, so of course), and then it just stops. To be continued.

Our main character is Wim, who is a support caster with a prominent “Abenteurer’s” party, and as you have guessed if you know this genre, the arrogant swordsman cruelly throws him out to that he can have his party consist entirely of women and him. (The one who replaces Wim, Sophia, rapidly comes to regret this.) Wim, unfortunately, has the self-worth of a sack of manure, so merely goes to the tavern he frequents and drowns his sorrows. Fortunately, he’s met by his childhood friend Heidemarie, who is a prominent member of the strongest party in the city. She wants him to visit them and show off his stuff. As does their leader Camilla, an Amazonian woman who screams badass. Wim has no idea what they see in him. After all, he’s only a support caster, an occupation that is useless unless you’re a multitasking genius. Good thing…

This book is not without its merits. I really did want to understand Wim, who really cannot even accept any praise or compliments without curling in on himself. Heidemarie also clearly has some issues. At first I thought she was the comedy stalker wannabe girlfriend, but as the book goes on it becomes clear that a) keeping tabs on him at all times may be smart, and b) she has almost given up on getting him to notice her. That said… at the climax of the book, we finally get to see his super special skill that only comes out when everyone’s life is on the line (we briefly saw it in a prologue, but it was hidden from us), and it basically turns out to be overclocking his brain to think faster, which most people cannot do but he is Stronger Than He Realized. It’s setting up for a flashback or for us to find out what happened to him to make him this way… but nope. He saves the day, he crashes and wakes up in a bed and is thanked by everyone, cue side stories, the end. It is almost comically unsatisfying as a single volume.

The series seems abandoned at 3 volumes, which for once may not be M Novels’ fault. The author seems to have abandoned it for another popular subgenre, as their webnovel page is filled with noble daughters having their engagements broken and then finding new love. More importantly, this has a manga, also by Seven Seas, and that seems to be far more popular, and is ongoing. Might be best to read that if you want more, rather than reading this book on a Wim.

From Old Country Bumpkin to Master Swordsman: My Hotshot Disciples Are All Grown Up Now, and They Won’t Leave Me Alone, Vol. 9

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By Shigeru Sagazaki and Tetsuhiro Nabeshima. Released in Japan as “Katainaka no Ossan, Kensei ni Naru: Tada no Inaka no Kenjutsu Shihan Datta noni, Taisei Shita Deshitachi ga Ore o Hōttekurenai Ken” by SQEX Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Hikoki.

For the first few books of the series, each one focused on one of the women that Bel used to teach who has now fallen in love with him, as well as dealing with Bel’s phenomenally low self-regard. Now that we’ve cycled through everyone, and Bel has… started to deal with getting more self-confident (he still backslides a lot), we get to cycle through the heroines again, and the theme seem to be each of them dealing with a personal issue. For Allucia it was her sword breaking and her attachment to it, and now we have Surena, who has a much more serious issue (the monster that killed her parents has lodged itself on a mountain and is going after passersby) but who also suffers from being the heroine we care about least. Sorry, but since she’s always off being an adventurer, she’s way behind in the Bel sweepstakes. Still, she tries.

As Bel goes about his day, taking the time to look over Ficelle’s class and see that she’s actually teaching them magic swordplay properly now… not that that makes it any easier to get, as Mewi is finding out… he finds Surena coming to his house. She explains that she’s taking on what is likely to be a very dangerous mission, and she wanted to touch base with him just in case she doesn’t return. A while later, Bel is rather upset to hear she has not in fact returned. and Allucia, who may hate her romantic rival but doesn’t hate Surena the adventurer, swings it so that Bel can “take a vacation” and find out what’s happened to her. And it turns out what’s happened is a tough invisible named monster who’s almost entirely impervious to blades… and who both Bel and Surena recognize.

Speaking of characters we don’t usually see in the narrative, this book actually gets Lucy to leave her office and do something for a change, mostly as it turns out sending non-magical sword users to take on a monster who uses mana to kill its opponents is not the brightest idea. The book also shows off why we usually don’t have Lucy along, though – leaving aside that she’s not attracted to Bell and therefore can’t push the wife question at all (speaking of which, Surena gets little sisterzoned, alas), but it becomes very clear that she’s holding back, partly so as not to cause an international incident, but mostly as she’s too OP for this book. We already have Belgrieve as the very, very powerful swordsman who refuses to admit it, we don’t need a very, very powerful mage who revels in it.

The 10th volume only came out in Japan last month, so it will be a while before we see it here. In the meantime, rest assured, everything is exactly the same with these folks, for better or worse.

Heroine? Saint? No, I’m an All-Works Maid (And Proud of It)!, Vol. 5

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By Atekichi and Yukiko. Released in Japan as “Heroine? Seijo? Iie, All Works Maid desu (ko)!” by TO Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Matthew Jackson. Adapted by Michelle McGuinness.

I’ve said this before about TO Books’ output, but it bears repeating: a lot of their books are just too long. Now, I don’t mind this when the writing justifies the length, with series such as Ascendance of a Bookworm, where you could argue they needed to be even longer. But as I was reading the latest volume of All-Works Maid, I kept checking the page count to see how long there was to go. Like a lot of webnovel-to-print books, tighter editing is required but not always given. This is especially frustrating given the clever conceit of this book, where we start a whole new setup and then discover over the course of the book that the setup is not going to work at all and we have to go back to basics. I like the idea of starting a plot only to stop and say “nah, nevermind” when it’s deliberate, but combined with the flabbiness of the volume it does feel a bit frustrating.

After the attack the last volume, Melody has decided on a course of action. She – or rather Cecilia, her alter ego – is going to transfer into the academy, so that she can protect Luciana from whatever darkness is coming after them. Now, getting in is not a problem – she has people who can pull all sorts of strings for her, and she is a natural genius. As for the dark mana monsters that we saw last time, they too are lying low… mostly as their mistress is busy figuring out that otome gaming is hard when someone’s already broken the plot. It doesn’t help that there are simply too many villainesses walking around, and the narrative can’t contain ALL of them. Unfortunately, what ends up crippling Melody/Cecilia is something that a lot of AP-course high school kids have to deal with – overextending herself and not being able to be who she really is as she’s too busy being who she isn’t.

As I said, I do like the conceit of the plot twist here. As good an idea as Melody joining the students as Cecilia is, it detracts from the theme of the books as a whole, which is MAID. More Cecilia means less Melody, and that’s very bad for Melody. This is handled comedically at first, as Melody is horrified to find that Micah and Rook have been trained so well that, strictly speaking, she doesn’t have to be a maid in the evening at all. As the book goes on, though, and we see continual scenes of Melody going to bed and being unable to fall asleep, we start to get an idea of where it’s headed – collapse. I did also appreciate that while turning back into Melody full-time did temporarily give her a boost of adrenaline, it did not completely fix the issue, and she still needed sleep and food. I also really liked the new addition to the cast, an artist who wants to avoid her father’s struggles but also is consumed by the ART… and who may be able to spot the thread connecting Cecilia with Melody.

This is 8+ books in Japan, so they’ll have lots of time to plot and scheme in the future. But when they do, it will with with Melody maiding it like she’s never maided it before.

Zero Damage Sword Saint: I Enrolled in a Magic School and Wound Up in a Contract with the Demon Queen, Vol. 2

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By Isle Osaki and kodamazon. Released in Japan as “Kougekiryoku Zero kara Hajimeru Kenseitan: Osananajimi no Oujo ni Suterare Mahou Gakuen ni Nyuugakushitara, Maou to Keiyakusuru Koto ni Natta ” by Overlap Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Stephanie Liu.

I’ve talked before about McDonald’s books, and this series absolutely fits the bill. Some people read to stimulate their brain, to be drawn in by compelling plot and rich characterization. And some people just want to see the bland hero who could almost be themselves if they were in this world defeat every monster, get every girl, and have everyone think “gosh, I made fun of him before, but now he’s so awesome, I feel frustrated and humiliated”. This lacks the latter part, which may be why I’m enjoying it more than a lot of those “revenge on my high school classmates” books. Eugene continues to be the least interesting thing about this, but his supporting cast at least keeps me reading, and I’ll take a flyer on another book. The very definition of “It’s OK, I guess”.

We start with a POV from Sara, the student council president and Eugene’s former partner, showing how difficult it is to be a saint candidate, but more importantly how head over heels she is for Eugene. This helps to explain why all of a sudden she’s decided to accompany Eugene on his dungeon quests… because she’s seen how close he’s getting with Sumire, the isekai’d ifrit girl, and doesn’t want her getting too close. Sumire and Sara both regard each other as gorgeous women who could easily seduce anyone they wanted, but sadly this isn’t that kind of book, so rather than having belligerent sexual tension they just get jealous and “grr” a lot. That said, while both Sumire and Sara are very good at helping to get past monsters, in the end the main reason they’re doing so well is that Eugene can use Eri’s dark mana… and a nasty surprise awaits him at Level 100.

There is a good deal of plot involved here. Now that Eugene is accomplishing things and has dropped the “woe is me” attitude from the first book, we are reminded of his lineage, and also the power of working very hard, attack mana or no, so he is clearly a Man Of Destiny ™. There’s also some amusing angel/demon backstory here, as of course Erinyes is fallen, and she has a cute comedic conversation with the angel responsible for monitoring the dungeon battles. That said, the biggest plot advance was in the romantic potential. Last review I said Sumire better hope there’s polyamory in this world or else she’s doomed. Lo and behold… that said, calling it polyamory feels a bit much, given the poly ships we see here run on the women all hating each other but begrudgingly agreeing to share. “Harem” is more apposite right now. Most importantly, though, Eri can’t leave her prison (with an exception or two covered in the book), so when the book ends with Eugene being called home to visit his family, only the two public girlfriends get to accompany him.

Will we get the full backstory of his ex next time? Probably, and I bet she eventually joins the harem. Which I’m hoping gets closer to a polycule, I’d like some of these girls to actually like each other. For fans of light novels who want light, easy, and with a bit of fanservice.