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My Stepmom’s Daughter Is My Ex: “You, More Than Anyone Else”

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By Kyosuke Kamishiro and TakayaKi. Released in Japan as “Mamahaha no Tsurego ga Motokano datta” by Kadokawa Sneaker Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

So first of all, I’m going to be blithely ignoring the cliffhanger ending of this one, as well as its “oh no, it ends sadly after all” implications. First of all, no it doesn’t, and secondly, now that this series is down to once a year, we’re not gonna have to worry about it for a long, long time. Instead, let us revel in this book, which gives us a whole heaping helping of Isana. We even get a flashforward about four years, seeing her talking with a junior and seemingly having her life a lot more together than she does now. We also get a new girl added to the mix, who does us the courtesy of falling for Mizuto immediately, and so hard that he actually notices and rejects her. Of course, no fear, that takes the entire volume, because yikes, he’s still Mizuto. When Yume calls him Enemy of All Women she’s not kidding. This guy will be cripplingly nice at you until you have no recourse but to fall over dead.

It’s the Culture Festival, and Mizuto’s class needs to come up with something nifty. an escape room is a good idea… that everyone else is also doing. But hey, maybe if they have art by Isana! Yes, she’s outed at last for being a brilliant artist by hyperactive, scatterbrained Yoshino, and will thus be doing art for the day. She’s already stressed enough, as she has a job offer to do a light novel series, but is afraid of taking that big step. Meanwhile, Yume and her student council election rival are in charge of the entire festival, meaning Yume’s stressing out a bit as well. And then there’s the girl writing the play for her freshman class, who is a great writer who lacks passion, and ends up having Mizuto making some really good but really ill-timed advice. As for Mizuto… well, same ol’ same ol’.

This series has always been really heavy on the fanservice, but I was very impressed with this book, which not only stars Isana in terms of the plot but in terms of the artwork. Isana wears farmer’s overalls that emphasize her chest… and then back in her room, wears them without a bra or shirt. Towards the end of the book, we also see her in her underwear. The big fanservice, of course, cannot actually be drawn, alas, but at least she got her groove back. I also really liked her mother, who is well aware of Mizuto’s “kindness” in helping his friend being incredibly cruel in many ways as well. He deserved to be hit, to be honest. The idea they have for the escape room, with it essentially turning into a multiple endings sort of thing, is quite clever. Best of all is Isana coming to terms with the fact that people like her art, and while it may be embarrassing, it’s her, and she needs to embrace it.

And now we wait, and see if the author actually does pull the trigger on that cliffhanger. Till then, this is saucy romcom fun.

Pick of the Week: When the Legends Write Manga

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SEAN: In a battle between legendary manga authors, it is hard to choose. Billy Bat has more buzz, though, so I’ll go with that.

MICHELLE: There’s a lot of good stuff out this week! I’m intrigued by Billy Bat and Secondhand Sisters, but I’m No Angel takes the spot by virtue of Ai Yazawa, alone.

KATE: C’mon, gang, you could write this for me: Billy Bat is my top pick! If I was feeling a little more spendy at the comic book shop, though, I’d add I’m No Angel and Secondhand Sisters to my shopping basket.

ASH: Yes, to all of the above! But I’d also like to add The Delinquent and the Transfer Student to my pile; it looks like it should be delightful.

ANNA: This is a pretty amazing week, I’m for sure interested in I’m No Angel and Secondhand Sisters, but I’ve also got to go with Billy Bat!

The Petty Villain Plays by the Rules: Rewriting This Otome Game with Honest Work!, Vol. 2

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By MIZUNA and Ruki. Released in Japan as “Yarikonda Otome Game no Akuyaku desu ga, Danzai wa Iya nano de Mattou ni Ikimasu” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

This continues to be in my Top 5 “I’m enjoying this far more than I thought I would, and possibly more than I should be” titles. Its biggest flaw is its pace. It’s not slow life – there’s a lot going on here, most of it involving princes and other high nobles – but it is definitely slow writing. This thing is fourteen volumes and counting in Japan, and by the 14th book he still doesn’t really look much older than he is in this book, which is to say six. This despite the fact that he meets his wife in this volume and officially gets engaged. While also, erm, causing a major international incident. Which, to be fair, he was gonna have to do anyway. Kinda hard to solve the other kingdom’s problems without going full ham. especially in this series.

After training in martial arts with his tutor and his father, and in magic with his other tutor (and accidentally revolutionizing all magic… again), Reid and his dad are off to the neighboring kingdom of Lenarute, home of the Dark Elves, where he’ll be meeting his fiancee… who is also six years old. Unfortunately, the Dark Elves are in a massive power struggle between the King and the traditional Evil Noble Who Wants Power And Also Things To Be The Way They Used To Be. Sadly, evil noble has poisoned his fiancee’s brother against Reid, turning him into a proud arrogant brat. So when Reid is forced to have a sword battle with him, he’s asked to humble the prince a bit. Not a problem. Unfortunately, the prince and the Evil Noble decide to make Reid mad by insulting his slowly dying mother. THIS is a problem. For them.

Most of this book runs on a six-year-old accidentally being really smooth, far too smooth than someone his age should be. That’s a pretty good gag, and it helps that we already know his future wife (she was the lost girl in the town in Book 1, hiding her elf ears.) But there are other really good gags, mostly character based. Farah (his fiancee) is adorable, and also shows her positive emotions by wiggling her ears, something she’s very bad at turning off. Her bodyguard, Asuna, is a battle junkie, and oh my God I wish Diana was not already in a relationship with her childhood friend, because Asuna and Diane would make an AMAZING lesbian power couple. There’s also a bittersweet side story from the POV of Reid’s mother, who wants to be an active, teasing mom who loves her kids, but is simply too bedridden, and she hates it. She also gets the funniest gag in the book, at the end of her chapter.

Basically, this is better than I expected – again. Despite it being nearly 400 pages, and the author STILL couldn’t finish the arc. I’ll read another one.

Unsung Epics of the Hero’s Journey, Vol. 1

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By Hachigatsumori and Nat. Released in Japan as “Yuusha no Tabi no Uragawa de” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by MPT.

It’s been interesting coming at all these fantasy light novels based on Japanese RPGs (which are in turn based on Japanese folklore) without really having played them. The idea of the hero going off to defeat the demon lord, and of course they’re accompanied by the warrior (who is usually “the hero, only not quite”), the cleric (healer girl), and the mage (varies the most, this one seems to be a sad sack of a man) is not one I have played, but I have read enough of these so that it’s as old hat as the author wants it to be. As such, and as you can no doubt tell by the title, this isn’t about the hero. They weren’t even in the original webnovel, and only get a few tiny scenes here. Instead, we follow another cleric and adventurer as they try to stop a prophecy from coming true… though both of them also have their own hidden agenda and hidden tragedies.

Rhuys is a young cleric who is trying to find a strong swordsman as she knows of a prophecy: the newly anointed hero will be killed off early in her journey, leading to devastation for the world. In a rundown tavern, she finds Ariagnée, who is very strong and very cool and wears a strange black gauntlet on her left hand. Everyone is already a bit on edge as the hero, who is supposed to be chosen every 100 years, has been chosen after only ten. Something weird’s going on. Rhuys asks Ariagnée to travel to where the hero is going to be ambushed and take care of the bad guys before the fact, which Ariagnée agrees to partly for hidden motives of her own, but also partly as Rhuys is cute. As they journey on, each one learns about the other’s secret past and horrible backstories, which both tie in with the reason that this hero journey has come so early this time around.

There is definitely yuri here, for those who seek it out, but this is not a romance per se; the focus is on the adventure. Both our heroines are pretty messed up, with Rhuys hiding her true powers and wracked with guilt over her childhood, essentially having become a very passive death seeker. Ariagnée has a past that is not as secret as perhaps it should be – I guessed a lot of it before the reveal – but that doesn’t make it less compelling in terms of the overall narrative. The two of them do make a very good team, and hopefully couple. I will admit that the big fight in this book, which takes up a large chunk of the back half, felt far longer than I would have written it. But this is a fantasy thriller, not a psychological drama or a yuri romance, so it makes sense there’s lots of sword battles and hidden moves and the like.

As with most Dre books, this reads like a one-shot but there’s more. Will we actually meet the hero? Who knows, but the hero certainly isn’t why we’re reading this. We’re reading for the lead couple.

The Fearsome Witch Teaches in Another World: Behold the Growth of My Students

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By Mitsuru Inoue and Suzuno. Released in Japan as “Isekai Teni Shite Kyoushi ni Natta ga, Majo to Osorerarete Iru Ken” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Gierrlon Dunn.

It’s not a secret that this series definitely has an Agenda with a capital A. The most obvious part is trying to convey how to teach people, how to talk with kids and understand their own varied issues, etc. That certainly applies here as well, but the author also seems determined to kick back against all the cliches that you seem to see in light novels in this sort of world. Getting an arranged marriage without your consent to someone decades older than you? No you’re not. Country determined to prove that Magic A Is Magic A? No it’s not. Are those nobles who insist only those of the upper class can use magic and that filthy commoners should know their place? We’ll put a stop to that. Oh look, those dwarfs only care about magical weapons rather than using magic itself? Not gonna happen. Aoi is here to drag everyone into modern times with the best magic, and she will beat up the world to do so.

As with Tearmoon Empire, this series has trouble figuring out where to end a book. The first third of the book wraps up the trip to the Holy Maple Leaf Empire, as Aoi has to travel to Shenley’s home because her father has decided to pull her out of school. Naturally this pisses Aoi off, especially when she discovers a) he’s ignoring all her other accomplishments, b) he’s ignoring Aoi, and c) he’s marrying Shenley off to the one guy who didn’t grow to love her magic in the 2nd book. Needless to say, “Aoi Being Very Aoi” solves all these problems. The larger part of the book is essentially this world’s version of the culture festival, only it’s an international event, with the world leaders coming to see what cool magic tricks Fiddich Academy has come up with now. As such, it’s mostly the teachers who are stressed about presentations. No worries, though, Aoi is here to help.

There’s a lot of family stuff in this book. Once Shenley’s dad is given a talking to, he travels to the academy to see exactly what Shenley has been going through, and ends up sympathizing far more with her. (It helps that under Aoi’s tutelage she’s becoming a genius.) Dean’s mother is the classic “education mama” for whom no amount of good things is enough, you can always do better. (Admittedly, that plot will have to be resolved in Book 4, because we’re ending in the middle of an arc again.) Felter’s dad is, unsurprisingly, a guy who lives only for battle, and essentially comes every year to beat his son up and is now intrigued at this tiny powerful woman. And there’s even the commoner kid who Aoi teaches magic to show that it has nothing to do with breeding, whose dad may help pave the way for her to spread magic even further. Aoi may beat up a lot of her problems, but she’s also good at negotiation, bartering, and everything except common sense and facial expressions.

As ever, if you hate OP folks who win easily all the time, avoid avoid avoid. Otherwise, this series remains a lot of fun, and Aoi is ridiculous.

Sister Mafioso: O God, Let This Lie Stand

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By Adachi and Kyozip. Released in Japan as “Gisou Shi Shita Moto Mafia Reijou, Nidome no Jinsei wa Zettai ni Ikinobimasu ~Kamisama, Douka Kono Uso dake wa Minogashite Kudasai~” by Dre Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Emily Hemphill.

It’s been a while since we’ve had a straight up thriller light novel. Oh sure, this is in the Heart imprint, and the romance is there, but the romance is not why you read this. You read this worrying that our heroine is about to die, and you do so for almost 300 pages. There’s lots of lies and deception, there’s a truly horrible family that does some truly horrible things (woe to the woman who poses as our heroine, you don’t want to know how she turns out), there is a very high body count, and there’s a lot of people who hate themselves. And of course, as the title might tell you, when I say family I mean “Family”. Like the Hotel California, our heroine discovers that you can check out any time you want (figuratively), but you can never leave.

In a remote nunnery, Novice Sister Dina Tosca has been there for ten years, being a pious young nun in training. Unfortunately, a ne’er-do-well comes looking for a Dina Ferletti, a blonde daughter of a mafia don who went missing ten years ago and was presumed dead. Now, Dina Tosca is not blonde, and she’s a year younger than the other Dina is supposed to be, but that’s good enough for the Ferletti family, who kidnap her and drag her back to the current head of the family, Aurelio… and if it tursns out not to work, well, they can always kill her. Fortunately, there’s a mole in the Forletti family who’s trying to take them down, and he wants to help Dina. Though to do so she’ll have to pose as Dina Ferletti. Which should not be hard, as well, she really *is* Dina Ferletti, and she really doesn’t want to tell her new ally as he may just kill her.

There’s some good intrigue here, much of it nasty. Dina’s dinner with her brother and his lover turns out to be “do you remember the right way to eat to avoid being poisoned?”, and when another “Dina Ferletti” shows up, our Dina worries that, even if she is the real deal, she may not be real enough. The romantic leads are both good, but my favorite character may be Luca, a member of the family who brought Dina there and who doesn’t like Teodoro… and the feeling is mutual. He’s the classic “I am mostly a terrible person, but I am also attracted to the main heroine” sort, and I was delighted by his character arc. Let’s also say that he and Teodoro are very lucky this is the Heart line and not the Knight line. If there’s a weakness it’s Aurelio, whose backstory didn’t really resonate for me, as well as a bit TOO much “are they really poisoned this time” set pieces.

This is very much told in a single volume… but it’s Drecom, so you know they were asked to write another, and it’s coming. If you like a good dark action thriller, this is right up your alley.

Manga the Week of 6/3/26

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SEAN: It’s June, and a young man’s fancy lightly turns to thoughts of what manga is coming out next week, because young men are idiots like that.

MICHELLE: Snerk.

ASH: I mean…

SEAN: Yen Press have one straggler from May, the 5th volume of Is the Order a Rabbit?.

Two debuts for Viz Media. I’m No Angel (Tenshi Nanka ja Nai) is an ancient shoujo manga from the early 90s written by someone named… oh, right, Ai Yazawa. It’s even earlier than Neighborhood Story, and ran in Ribon. Viz is releasing it in omnibus format. A girl runs for student council when she hears her crush is also doing so, but once they’re on the council she discovers he likes… their teacher? This is very Ai Yazawa.

MICHELLE: Ooh.

ASH: I am thrilled that we’re getting even more of Yazawa’s work!

ANNA: Nice!

SEAN: Shinobi Undercover (Shinobigoto) is the newest “successful enough to get a print release” Shonen Jump series. A ninja is assigned to attend high school, which is a shame, as he’s great at being a ninja but terrible at being a social animal. Now he’s got to guard a girl beset by assassins.

ASH: These things happen sometimes.

SEAN: Also from Viz: Astro Royale 6 (the final volume), The Bugle Call: Song of War 7, Chainsaw Man 21, Dark Gathering 18, The Elusive Samurai 20, Ichi the Witch 3, Let’s Do It Already! 9 (the final volume), Magical Girl Dandelion 2, Nana 25th Anniversary Edition 4, Pink Candy Kiss 5, A Star Brighter than the Sun 6, and Tamon’s B-Side 11.

MICHELLE: Some good shoujo, here!

ASH: Forsooth!

ANNA: Always nice to have a good shoujo week!

SEAN: Udon Entertainment have the 5th volume of Daigo The Beast: Umehara Fighting Gamers!.

Tokyopop debuts I Picked Up a No-Good, Useless Prince (Danzaisareta Dame Ouji, Hiroimashita), a Comic Gardo title based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel. A spoiled young prince finally pisses off too many people, and is reduced to being a commoner. Now he’s met a young woman who adores royal drama and fangirls him. (Yes, I know. The digital debuted a week earlier and I misread it. Print is this week.)

It also gives us Boyfriend, Sometimes Girlfriend 3. (See above.)

Steamship have Healer for the Shadow Hero 4.

Square Enix Manga have the 7th volume of Always a Catch!.

Seven Seas have a danmei debut, Golden Terrace. This apparently came out from a smaller publisher in 2022, but Seven Seas is redoing the translation and it has new illustrations. Two rivals are forcibly engaged, but they’ve got a secret backstory.

MICHELLE: Oh, yes! I have the Peach Flower House edition of this.

ASH: Nice!

SEAN: Also danmei: Run Wild: Sa Ye 5

And in “Japanese novel but not Airship”, we get The Twelve Kingdoms Book 5 – A Thousand Miles of Wind, the Sky at Dawn.

ASH: Still very in love with this series.

ANNA: I need to get caught up!

SEAN: And in “Not danmei but Korean”, we get Lout of Count’s Family 8.

Seven Seas’ manga debuts start with The Delinquent and the Transfer Student (Sukeban to Tenkousei). This Web Action yuri series stars a yanki girl and a cute smol bean who enjoys making her say cute things.

ASH: Sounds like a series I would enjoy.

SEAN: The Exiled Heavy Knight Knows How to Game the System (Tsuihousareta Tensei Juu Kishi wa Game Chishiki de Musousuru) is based on an as-yet unlicensed light novel, and also had an anime. It runs in Young Magazine Web, and is coming out in 2-volume omnibuses. Our hero… sigh… get the wrong gacha job when he comes of age, and is disowned and exiled. But… sigh… it’s secretly the STRONGEST gacha job!

Sea Melt Lover is a BL one-shot from a magazine called Equal. In a world where beastmen keep humans as pets and sex slaves, one escapes, and is protected by an honorable beastman.

Also from Seven Seas: The Beast King: Master of Medicines 2, The Feisty Omega and His Twin Mates 4, Ghost and Witch 2, I Got Married to the Girl I Hate Most in Class 6, and Low Tide in Twilight 2.

Kodansha Manga have one print debut. Secondhand Sisters (Kemutai Ane to Zurui Imouto) is a josei title from Kiss. An older sister whose younger sister has “borrowed” everything from her and never given it back – including, years ago, her boyfriend – sees her again at their mother’s funeral and finds things starting up all over again. Expect DRAMA here.

MICHELLE: Always here for josei, though!

ASH: Josei drama is great.

ANNA: Very interested in this!

SEAN: Also in print: The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 13, Initial D Omnibus 10, Shugo Chara! 20th Anniversary Edition 2, Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 20, and You Can’t Bluff the Sharp-Eyed Sister 4.

MICHELLE: And Iruma! This is a good week!

SEAN: Kodama have Baki the Grappler Perfect Edition 17 and 18, Me and the Alien Mumu 3, and Sun-Ken Rock Perfect Edition 2.

Kana have a debut folks have wanted for years. Billy Bat is a seinen manga from Weekly Morning by the legendary Naoki Urasawa. A Japanese-American artist in the late 40s worries he plagiarized his popular bat detective from a drawing he saw in Japan, so he goes there to find the original artist.

ASH: I’m a fan of Urasawa’s work in general and am aware of the demand for this series in particular.

ANNA: Wow, I’m excited for this.

SEAN: They also have a 2nd volume of Blades of the Guardians and a 3rd City Hunter omnibus.

ASH: Excellent.

SEAN: No debuts for J-Novel Club. In light novels, they have Even Exiled, She’s Still the Beloved Saint! St. Evelyn’s Weird and Wonderful Friends 3 (the final volume), How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom: Short Story Chronicles (the final volume?), and I Parry Everything 10.

For manga they have The Coppersmith’s Bride 7, Looks like a Job for a Maid! The Tales of a Dismissed Supermaid 4, Private Tutor to the Duke’s Daughter 5, and The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World 9.

Ink Pop debut Our Aimless Nights (Yoru no Manimani), a sweet romance from Web Action. Outgoing girl. Shy boy. Every night, they meet at the convenience store.

ASH: There are worse places to meet.

SEAN: And they have the 4th and final volume of I Wanna Be Your Girl.

That’s it, as Airship are taking a week off, apparently. What manga is there to distract you from life?

The Too-Perfect Saint: Tossed Aside by My Fiancé and Sold to Another Kingdom, Vol. 6

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By Fuyutsuki Koki and Masami. Released in Japan as “Kanpeki Sugite Kawaige ga Nai to Konyaku Haki Sareta Seijo wa Ringoku ni Urareru” by Overlap Novels f. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Amelia Mason. Adapted by Shaenon K. Garrity.

I suppose if you’re going to have a romantic age-gap romance, you might as well lean right away into the fact that it’s very problematic. From the moment that Philia hears about Lena’s engagement to the knight Elmhardt, an engagement that was arranged right after Lena was born, and when Elmhardt was already a young man, her reaction is essentially the reader’s: what the heck? As it turns out, the engagement mostly comes down to a whole heaping helping of guilt from almost all parties – even Lena, whose innocent question to her fiance several years ago led to him just giving up and avoiding her. But Lena’s an adult now, at least by the standards of this world, and the book makes it very clear that everyone’s been going around doing things without asking what she wants. Fortunately, Philia, who is learning about this strange thing called friendship, is different.

Despite the fact that things are still fraught after the events of the last book, there’s a pilgrimage coming up, and Osvalt is in charge of it. The neighboring country of Alectron journeys there for religious reasons. Unfortunately, Philia also hears that assassins are plotting to kill her – again. So they’re adding lots of extra security, including knight (and friend of Leonardo) Elmhardt, who it turns out is Lena’s fiance. Though both of them seem very uncomfortable about it. After an attack on Philia (maybe?) by monsters, it turns out that the assassin is using a magical tool that’s been stolen from the kingdom’s vaults… a tool that was also used years ago, when there was a coup attempt. Which also involved the current king of Alectron. And Elmhardt.

I mentioned the friendship thing earlier, and it may be my favorite moment of the book. Lena’s been around from the start, but she’s basically been fulfilling a “maid/bodyguard” role. Philia has her mother and sister, she has other saints who are more like disciples, and she also has Erza, but she hasn’t been around for a while. More importantly, Philia is still having to deal with normal human emotions after repressing them for her entire life, so the idea that she cares about Lena and wants what’s best for her is more important than it normally would be. There’s also a convoluted plot and backstory here, which mostly checks out fine, though it feels like an excuse for romantic conflict more than anything else. If there’s a flaw here it’s probably Lena, who’s simply too nice about the whole thing – yes, even when she’s furiously attacking near the end – and who I wish would at least kick back a little against a setup she’s had since birth.

Still, overall this was solid. And next time we have Mia’s wedding. Which I’m sure will be trouble-free and totally boring. Right.

In Another World with Household Spells, Vol. 5

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By Rika and HIROKAZU. Released in Japan as “Isekai ni Kita kedo, Seikatsu Mahou shika Tsukaemasen” by Mag Garden Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by sachi salehi.

For once, Patience ends up having a really good volume with minimal chaos. Sure, her summer vacation keeps getting interrupted with visits to every single noble family around, but as is pointed out to her, this is what noble girls her age are supposed to be doing, in preparation for her coming out party in a couple of years. It’s all about connections, and while she has made many connections with the eccentric nerd population of the school, her female friends pretty much consist of Princess Margaret and her relatives. What’s more, given this is one of those noble families in a magic academy books, everyone’s getting engaged when they’re eleven or twelve, and the option of “don’t get married but have a career instead” is likely not going to be happening. Alas for Patience, most of her suitors are obsessed nerds. Or literal royalty. Fortunately, there’s one exception, and he’s the one she is starting to fall for. A bit. Maybe.

Patience and her two brothers are headed off to Samuel’s family territory, which is near the sea. You know what that means, especially with that cover. Beach time! Which means it’s time for Patience to buckle down and invent waterproof swimsuits, even if she has to make them more modest than she’d like, and also use monster materials that gross her out a bit. The territory also has an extensive set of ruins, which are actually in very good shape, from the country’s shrouded past of war. Indeed, some of the ships shown in the murals are so advanced Patience suspects they were invented by other folks reincarnated from Japan. Elsewhere, she’s making dyes, making pool floats, and avoiding Albert’s father, who remains so obsessed with music he would happily marry an eleven-year-old just to lock her away. Fortunately, even her marriage-happy aunt realizes this is not the marriage Patience wants.

I appreciate that Patience, as she grows up, is getting some character development. For all that she suspects her poor horse-riding is due to the OG Patience’s reticence, in reality it’s likely more due to her just being too skittish of the horse, which is therefore skittish of her. That said, Patience is very much an “if all you have is a hammer” sort of character, so it should not come as a surprise to find that the solution is Household Spells. She also starts to realize that, Japanese knowledge or no, she’s very sheltered when it comes to THIS world, and like most nobles she has no idea what the value of money is here, or how she looks when she walks into a normal store dressed as she usually does. And it’s just going to get fancier, as she finally gets some good news about her father… who stays behind the entire book, so how that plays out will have to wait.

Technically this is a two-parter, as the rest of her obsessed alchemy friends have only just arrived to explore/excavate the ruins. We’ll see that next time. Stay strong, Patience, and stop using the word shotacon.

Tearmoon Empire: Short Story Collection, Vol. 1

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By Nozomu Mochitsuki and Gilse. Released in Japan as “Tearmoon Teikoku Monogatari” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Madeleine Willette.

It’s honestly rather surprising that we haven’t had one of these yet for Tearmoon Empire. Other light novel series are very fond of their .5 volumes or added bonus story collections – hell, Spy Classroom almost has more short story collections than regular volumes. But Tearmoon Empire has pretty much been too busy with Mia trying to save history and make it so she’s not guillotined, poisoned, or does not otherwise live to see her grandchild grow up. As a result, we not only have this collection, which seems to go up to about the 9th or 10th book in the series in terms of the timeline, but there’s a second already out in Japan. I’m not certain if they’re bookstore exclusive-type short stories or if they’re written for this volume. One thing is for sure, though, which is that while Tearmoon Empire is hilarious, and also a thriller, and sometimes a mystery, one of the things it does best is show off that doing good things, and paying it forward, makes everyone happier.

There are too many short stories here to give a breakdown as I sometimes do. I will therefore note some of my favorites, starting with the wraparound plot. Empress Mia, now a grandmother, is having trouble sleeping because her husband Abel is away visiting Sion, no doubt for another sword battle. As it turns out, Bel is also awake, mostly so she can get into mischief. To prevent this, Mia starts telling Bel old stories from back in her teenage years, i.e. around Book 1-10. Anne later shows up, and the whole vibe of these sections is just so nice to see. Seeing Mia at rest, having accomplished what she set out to do, and everyone else living their best lives, just puts a big silly grin on your face. I also loved the glimpses into Mia’s mother, and how this passes down into the wedding dress she shows her father before she marries Abel.

There’s also another ongoing plotline throughout this, which has to do with how Mia’s story is being retold. I’ve talked before about who I think the identity of the snarky narrator of this series is, and while we don’t delve into that we do get two other strands of the story escaping from the bounds of reality. Mia and company go to see a theater group putting on a “fictional” play that seems a little too real to Mia… it’s her life, right down to the time travel! The writer seems to get divine inspiration, rather than it being sinister, but I did love Mia wondering when she’ll tell Abel the truth about herself, as she knows she’ll have to one day. The other subplot shows Mia trying to stop everyone overselling her accomplishments – Elise’s history books have Mia literally flying, something that causes the actual Mia to cringe in embarrassment. She reassures herself that everyone will realize it’s exaggerated. That does not, in fact, happen. Sorry, Mia, you’re just that amazing to everyone. Even Ludwig. (The fountain pen gift, and how Mia makes him accept it, was also brilliant.)

Basically, these stories put a smile on your face and a song in your heart. Now let’s get back to the main plot, as if Mia is killed off in Book 17 all this may be irrelevant.