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Observation Records of My Fiancée: The Misadventures of a Self-Proclaimed Villainess, Vol. 1

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By Shiki and Wan Hachipisu. Released in Japan as “Jishō Akuyaku Reijō na Konyakusha no Kansatsu Kiroku” by Regina Books. Released in North America by Hanashi Media. Translated by Ethan Holms.

I am, frankly, a little sick of every new villainess book forcing me to say how much it reminds me of My Next Life As a Villainess. And given that this book stars a dumbass who everyone loves, that’s a trap that I want to avoid. So let’s try something else. You know the works of Sarasa Nagase? The kind where the clever heroine has to think on her feet and not let her guard down for a minute or else fate will slot everything back into place and she’ll be killed? And this is helped along by an evil but equally clever heroine? This series is the mirror opposite of that. Both the villainess and the heroine are desperately trying to NOT fight fate, for reasons that we don’t really find out in this volume, but the problem is that they are both not particularly clever, so fate is constantly changed so that things are better. Congratulations on falling face first into success.

While visiting his fiancee on her eighth birthday, the Crown Prince Cecil is rather surprised to hear her say that she’s actually a villainess, and she will do her best to grow up to be a fantastic one so that he can dump her and her family will fall into ruin. And she can go ‘GAH!”. (The “GAH!” is very important!) Cecil is baffled by all this talk of “otome games” and “routes”, but he finds Bertia amusing and interesting, which frankly almost nothing does as he’s the most jaded ten-year-old in the world. Each chapter in the book is “one year later”, and we see that Bertia’s schemes and plans do things like tell everyone where those trying to overthrow the country really are, or making sure that people get together with their true loves, or telling Cecil enough information that they can stop a deadly plague. Isn’t she actually sweet as pie? Why does she want to be a villainess? And what’s with the new girl named (sigh) Hironia?

I read the first volume of the manga when AlphaPolis put it out here, and reviewed it in a Bookshelf Brief where I mentioned Cecil was who interested me most. That goes double for this first book, though Bertia is also interesting for reasons that I don’t think we’ll get explained till the next book. Cecil regards Bertia as a fun toy when he’s a kid, but as he grows older and grows to appreciate her as a person… he’s still not quite there. It’s mentioned many times that Cecil is fundamentally broken, and that gets more clear as we get closer to the climax, when we realize that Cecil has never expressed any affection for Bertia besides “you are my fiancee”, and that he doesn’t really get that he’s fallen in love with her at ALL. We never get Bertia’s POV, for reasons that, again, I think will make more sense in Book 2, but I think she has realized her feelings, but is desperate to avoid them for the sake of the greater good.

This is a series that will end next time, though I think there’s a sequel that Hanashi Media has also licensed with their marriage. Till then, this is a fun Villainess book that starts off very wacky and gets increasingly less so as the book goes on.

Pick of the Week: The Summer Hikaru Is Published

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MICHELLE: Kaze Hikaru! I am tempted to say “Enough said,” but there’s also the third and final volume of Guardian that’s very high on my list.

SEAN: Yeah, we only get to do this once a year, so it’s definitely Kaze Hikaru this week. Though I am also interested in <Guardian.

ANNA: Kaze Hikaru, no question!

ASH: As far as debuts go, I find The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store is the one that intrigues me the most. But, yeah, I shall also join in with a hearty Kaze Hikaru!

KATE: Do I even need to say it? Kaze Hikaru! The release schedule is frustrating, but I’m grateful that VIZ has stayed the course with this lovely, lively, and sometimes heartbreaking series.

The Oblivious Saint Can’t Contain Her Power: Forget My Sister! Turns Out I Was the Real Saint All Along!, Vol. 3

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By Almond and Yoshiro Ambe. Released in Japan as “Mujikaku Seijo wa Kyō mo Muishiki ni Chikara o Tare Nagasu: Imadai no Seijo wa Anede wa Naku, Imōto no Watashi Datta Mitai Desu” by Earth Star Luna. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Dawson Chen.

It’s never a good sign when I’m checking Amazon Japan to see how long a series has left to go. Fortunately, this series looks like it ends with the 4th volume, so I guess I’ll finish it. It’s not doing anything wrong per se, and doesn’t have random slavery or the usual light novel turnoffs, but it’s a damp wet towel of a book. Our heroes hear of a setback, think of a plan, and the plan, for the most part, goes swimmingly. The bad guys are really bad, the good guys are really good, with the exception of Teodore being a standard “glasses sadist” for laughs. There are one or two exceptions, which I’ll get to later, but if I’m being honest, the most interesting and exciting part of the book was when this volume’s antagonist snaps and decides to start choking Carolina to death in front of royalty and hundreds of people. Dumb, but exciting.

Carolina’s father arrives with bad news: Archbishop Mills is on his way to the kingdom and wants an audience with Carolina, likely to try to get her to come back to Celestia. Unfortunately, they’re not quite ready to reveal how powerful she is to the world yet. So they try several stopgap measures. She puts off her decision while she “thinks about it”, they investigate the bishop for his horrible crimes (can’t have a light novel without a Church of Evil, though in this case it’s just one Bishop of Evil), and create a Saint for their own Empire. Unfortunately, while they get enough support to do this, they can’t just make it Carolina, especially since her power is a secret. There’s going to be a magic competition. And her main opponent is Monica, the noble girl who despises her.

So there are a couple of bits that weren’t too bad, most of which revolve around accepting that sometimes people change, and sometimes kids can’t change situations because they’re kids. Marisa and Owen both had terrible childhoods that left them with many regrets, and indeed we saw Marisa’s younger sister of terrible in the last book. But they need people to vote for their new Saint idea, and that means she has to talk to her OLDER sister, who also treated her like crap. Then she finds… her sister happily married, and love has softened her, and she deeply regrets what she did and apologizes. Marisa really doesn’t know how to take this. As for Owen, it turns out that his brother’s disinterest was not that in the slightest, but just a massive miscommunication, and now the two of them are getting along again. Now, both of them credit Carolina for basically making them nice enough to reach out and make amends, but I’m used to perfectly pure heroines.

I didn’t mention Flora at all, but the final volume has basically one question: will she be saved or will she die? We’ll find out. Bet the answer is the obvious one.

The Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival, Vol. 2

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By Harunori Biyori and Hitaki Yuu. Released in Japan as “Otome Game no Heroine de Saikyō Survival” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Camilla L.

Fans of this series may be surprised that I’m reading the second volume of this book, but they’ll be even more surprised that I’m looking forward to the third. It’s rare I get a series I enjoy so much which is filled with things that normally annoy me. First of all, Villainess fans must be going nuts reading this, as there’s really very, very little of the actual otome game plot here, though we do meet another villainess (more on her later). There are stats. So many stats. I raised my endurance stat +2 just reading this volume. And of course this is an incredibly dark book in which we meet a cast of about twenty new minor characters and by the end of the book almost all of them are dead by the hands of our heroine, who perhaps does not quite deserve that moniker anymore. They even get little backstory flashes right after they’re killed to make it more tragic. So why do I like it? It’s compelling.

Having survived, barely, her life and death battle at the end of the first novel, Alia is now apprenticed to a dark elf named Cere’zhula, who was also the master of the woman who tried to kill Alicia and take her “heroine” place back at the start of the series. Alia ends up actually confessing almost off of this to her new mentor, and ends up being a much better apprentice, if somewhat… eccentric. Unfortunately, only a few months in, a nasty guy shows up and tries to blackmail Cere’zhula into doign an assassination job for him. Rather than get used as blackmail fodder, Alia offers to do the job herself… and then discovers that the Assassin’s Guild don’t trust her a lick. So, I mean, she goes through with the initial “kill these mooks’ test, and then does the actual dangerous assassination job, but she has a far greater goal in mind: killing the entire guild, who are now her enemies.

There is one big reason to read this new book. Just as, in the first book, the main enjoyment was the relationship between the heroine and the first “villainess”, Elena, here it’s between Alia and another villainess, Karla. And while Elena stands a chance of actually surviving the books, Karla may actually end up being the final boss. To be fair, her backstory is essentially “Sakura Matou with less rape but more torture”, but she is absolutely a hoot, absolutely a psychopath, and bonds IMMEDIATELY with Alia, who she not only sees as a kindred spirit (she’s right there, Alia is not remotely an empathic person) but also as someone who will be able to kill her – and not kill her so she dies pathetically, like her family could have done, but kill her so that her death has MEANING. She’s absolutely horrible, and I can’t take my eyes off her.

By the end of the second book, Alia seems done with Assassining, at least for now. Where she’ll end up, who knows, but the 8th in the series just came out in Japan, so it will be a bit. This is dark as pitch, but I’m sticking with it.

From Two-Bit Baddie to Total Heartthrob: This Villainess Will Cross-Dress to Impress!, Vol. 1

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By Masamune Okazaki and Hayase Jyun. Released in Japan as “Mob Dōzen no Akuyaku Reijō wa Dansō Shite Kōryaku Taishō no Za wo Nerau” by TO Books. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Caroline W.

If I had a nickel for every villainess book that I read and thought that it was clearly influenced by My Next Life as a Villainess… well, I’d have about 50 cents or so. Which is still a lot! Fortunately, most authors know that they can’t simply straight up photocopy Katarina Claes onto the villainess of the hour, even as the whole “reverse harem starring a clueless protagonist who does not realize what she’s doing to the rest of the cast” plot is present and correct. Katarina is the cheerful, empathic oblivious type. Someone like Yumiella is the stoic, overpowered oblivious type. And now we have Elizabeth Burton (a name as subtle as you’d expect from someone with the pen name Masamune Okazaki), who is also strong, and also cheerful, but goes in a totally different direction. That’s her on the cover. In the center, between the two pretty guys. Does that means this is trans? Or yuri? Well… not really? Not yet?

So yes, as is standard for this genre, Elizabeth Burton eats a horrible bell pepper one day, which triggers memories of her past life in Japan, where she was a fan of the otome game “Royal LOVERS”… where Elizabeth Burton, the fiancee of the second prince, was a minor villain who was doomed, in the second prince’s route, to be rejected and likely live her life alone and unloved. Well, that just won’t do. Unfortunately, all the love interests in this game are bishonen, so she can’t exactly compete once the heroine inevitably arrives in ten years’ time. So Elizabeth, showing a startling, terrifying lack of common sense, decides to cut off her hair, dress in a boy’s outfit, get really buff and strong, become the perfect handsome playboy, and seduce the heroine. Oddly, her family and the kingdom put up only token resistance. That said, she has a problem: the love interests don’t care if she looks and acts like a man. They’re smitten.

Is this yuri? Not really. The heroine only shows up at the very end to be the cliffhanger. What’s more, Elizabeth has put ZERO thought into this beyond “seduce the heroine”, has no plan for what happens after that, and denies at first that she’s gay… then backs off and says she’s not sure. Is it trans? Not really that either. Elizabeth, aka Lizzie, dresses and acts like a boy but uses her real name, never denies she’s a woman, and gets annoyed when other people try to call her a man. Is this a weird little genderqueer thing? Boy howdy yes. She doesn’t fall for anyone here, thought Edward (the first prince, who is the ‘beautiful but sickly’ sort) comes close to breaking her facade, but the three male love interests (I’m ignoring her adopted younger brother) certainly fall hard for her… to the point that they all dress in women’s dresses at the big dance in the hopes of attracting her. Again, while this gets some shocked stares, there are no repercussions and no real opposition to it. It’s mentioned that men will get married but have male lovers (women with female lovers is NOT mentioned, I note). Basically, this world seems very casual about a lot of things.

I spoiled myself a bit by looking at the (still ongoing) webnovel, and the second book in the series should bring us a bit more yuri as not-Maria Campbell hits the scene. Till then, temper your expectations if you want this to be anything other than “reverse harem with clueless heroine”, but the heroine herself makes it worth the read.

Manga the Week of 8/14/24

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SEAN: Typing out Manga the Week of in the short break between killer thunderstorms.

ASH: There have been a few, haven’t there?

SEAN: Debuting in print for Airship is Too Many Losing Heroines! (Make Heroine ga Oosugiru!), whose anime is currently getting a very large animation budget. It’s a romcom about (sigh) a plain, boring guy who suddenly finds that all the hot, popular girls in his class are confessing to the guys they like… and being shot down! What’s going on here?

ASH: Only time will tell, I’m sure.

SEAN: Also in print: Reincarnated as a Dragon Hatchling 7, Trapped in a Dating Sim: The World of Otome Games is Tough for Mobs 12, and The Weakest Tamer Began a Journey to Pick Up Trash 7.

And for early digital we see 7th Time Loop: The Villainess Enjoys a Carefree Life Married to Her Worst Enemy! 6 and There’s No Freaking Way I’ll be Your Lover! Unless… 5.

Denpa Books has a 5th omnibus of Nana & Kaoru.

From Ghost Ship, 2.5 Dimensional Seduction 11 and Inside the Tentacle Cave 3. And, in Mature Seven Seas titles, we get Killing Stalking: Deluxe Edition 7.

ASH: I really need to get around to giving Killing Stalking a try.

SEAN: There’s a GIANT PILE of J-Novel Club debuts for next week, all light novels. We’ll start with The Fake Hero Crashes the Party (Kono Hi, “Itsuwari no Yūsha” dearu Ore wa “Shin no Yūsha” dearu Kare wo Party Kara Tsuihōshita) stars two boyhood friends, one of whom is the hero… and one of whom is, unbeknownst to anyone else, “Fake Hero”. After the obligatory banishing from the hero’s party, can this “bad guy” find a way to do good?

The Hero and the Sage, Reincarnated and Engaged (Eiyū to Kenja no Tenseikon) stars two soldiers who fought for years for their respective nations, but the rivalry was never resolved as one passed away. Now they’re reincarnated, and really want to fight to resolve their rivalry! Clearly, the best way to do that is to get engaged.

The Poison King: Now that I’ve Gained Ultimate Power, the Bewitching Beauties in My Harem Can’t Get Enough of Me (Doku no Ō: Saikyō no Chikara ni Kakusei shita Ore wa Biki-tachi wo Shitagae, Hatsujō Harem no Ō to Naru). A boy inherits a curse from his late mother, which means everyone except one loyal maid despises him. When a doctor examines him and shows him how to overcome the curse, he discovers his other true power: get every woman he knows to want to have sex with him. This is one of THOSE books.

ASH: There have been a few, haven’t there?

SEAN: The Reincarnation of the Strongest Exorcist in Another World (Saikyō Onmyōji no Isekai Tenseiki) is… um,. honestly, the title should tell you exactly what’s going to happen. Reincarnated as a noble, supposedly no magic, but he has SORCERY, which is so much more powerful. I bet he goes to a magic academy too.

The Royal Hostage Has Vanished: The Black Wolf Knight Yearns for the Persecuted Princess (Hitojichi Hime ga, Shōsoku wo Tatta. Kuro Ōkami no Kishi wa Rinkoku no Shiitagerareta Hime wo Zenryoku de Aishimasu) is the one J-Novel Heart title in this list. A knight goes to retrieve a princess offered up as war reparations, only to find she’s been abused most of her life, and is also now dead. Stunned, he returns home… to find a mysterious young woman who looks a lot like this princess.

ASH: Unsurprisingly, it’s the Heart title that interests me the most out of those.

ANNA: yeah.

SEAN: There’s also a pile of ongoing titles. We see Butareba -The Story of a Man Turned into a Pig- manga volume 3, DUNGEON DIVE: Aim for the Deepest Level 8, Enough with This Slow Life! I Was Reincarnated as a High Elf and Now I’m Bored 7, The Faraway Paladin manga volume 12, Goodbye, Overtime! This Reincarnated Villainess Is Living for Her New Big Brother manga volume 2, Holmes of Kyoto 19, The Invincible Summoner Who Crawled Up from Level 1: Wrecking Reincarnators with My Hidden Dungeon 2, Management of a Novice Alchemist 2, Now I’m a Demon Lord! Happily Ever After with Monster Girls in My Dungeon manga volume 7, Peddler in Another World: I Can Go Back to My World Whenever I Want! 8, and A Surprisingly Happy Engagement for the Slime Duke and the Fallen Noble Lady 2 (the final volume).

ASH: That list really does keep going.

SEAN: Kodansha has no print debuts, but we do see The Fable Omnibus 3, Gazing at the Star Next Door 3, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World 10, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 8, Pass the Monster Meat, Milady! 5, Quality Assurance in Another World 9, Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement 8, The Seven Deadly Sins: Four Knights of the Apocalypse 13, Sketchy 3, Wandance 10, Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun 9, and Wistoria: Wand and Sword 8.

MICHELLE: Insert obligatory remorse for not yet having read Iruma-kun.

ASH: It feels like it’s been a while since we’ve seen so much print from Kodansha all at once.

SEAN: The digital debut is That Beauty Is a Tramp (Sono Bijin (Otoko) Fushidara ni Tsuki), a josei title from Comic Tint. A woman traumatized by a past incident wants a boyfriend, but any man who touches her causes her to reject them. Then she meets an androgynous model. Can he help her out? This is from the author of Such a Treacherous Piano Sonata.

Also digital: Gang King 20, Giant Killing 44, I Have a Crush at Work 5, Medaka Kuroiwa is Impervious to My Charms 13, and Tokyo Tarareba Girls Returns 2 2.

One Peace Books has Usotoki Rhetoric 8.

MICHELLE: I need to get back on this series.

ASH: I’ve been enjoying it!

SEAN: Seven Seas has, in their danmei line, the 3rd and final volume of Guardian: Zhen Hun. There’s also a special edition with posters, stickers, etc.

MICHELLE: Over already?! Waah.

SEAN: Two debuts from Seven Seas. The Concierge at Hokkyoku Department Store (Hokkyoku Hyakkaten no Concierge-san), a seinen manga from Bic Comic Zoukan. A new employee finds that her department store caters to talking animals!

ASH: This looks like it could be fun.

ANNA: Sounds amusing!

SEAN: Killer Shark in Another World (Isekai Kuimetsu no Same) is a seinen title from Comic Valkyrie. A young girl is a terrible summoner who everyone mocks… till she summons a monster that can transform into B-movie sharks. This is one of THOSE books, though in a different way than The Poison King.

Also from Seven Seas: CANDY AND CIGARETTES 9, Classroom of the Elite 11, Failure Frame: I Became the Strongest and Annihilated Everything With Low-Level Spells 8, How Heavy are the Dumbbells You Lift? 15, Life with an Ordinary Guy Who Reincarnated into a Total Fantasy Knockout 4, Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation 19, My Cat is Such a Weirdo 4, and Yokai Cats 8.

Square Enix Books has The Girl I Like Forgot Her Glasses 11, The Ice Guy and the Cool Girl 6, and My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! 14.

ANNA: I need to read more Ice Guy and Cool Girl.

SEAN: Steamship has a manga debut. Alpha Wolfgirl x Omega Wolfboy (Oukami α-san to Oukami Ω-kun) is a josei title from Jour that asks “what if A/B/O but het?”.

ASH: Hmmm.

ANNA: I dunno.

SEAN: SuBLime has Don’t Be Cruel: plus+ 3 and Given 9 (the final volume).

ASH: Given is another one I’ve been enjoying but need to catch up on.

ANNA: Same!

SEAN: Udon Entertainment has a debut. More than a Married Couple, but Not Lovers (Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman) is a seinen series in Young Ace. A school forces its students to do mandatory couples training, where they have to prove – under surveillance – they can live with another person. But our hero’s other person… is a gyaru! Horrors! This is an omnibus of the first 2 volumes.

ASH: Oh, my!

SEAN: Debuting from Viz is Deadpool: Samurai—The Official Coloring Book. It is what it says.

They’ve also got Akane-banashi 7, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu Academy 3, I Want to End This Love Game 3, Kaze Hikaru 32, My Hero Academia: Team-Up Missions 5, Pokémon: Sword & Shield 10, Sakura, Saku 4, Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle 25, Splatoon 3: Splatlands 2, and Star Wars: The High Republic: Edge of Balance 3.

MICHELLE: It’s time for the annual rejoicing about Kaze Hikaru!

ASH: Huzzah!

ANNA: Yay!!!!

SEAN: And Yen Press has three J-Novel Club titles for print. We get Ascendance of a Bookworm Part 3 Volume 2 (that’s the manga), By the Grace of the Gods 11, and Seirei Gensouki: Spirit Chronicles 11.

So it turns out the cat titles are here, not in the last Manga the Week of. Rejoice!

ASH: Woo!

Young Lady Albert Is Courting Disaster, Vol. 7

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By Saki and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Albert-ke no Reijō wa Botsuraku o Goshomō Desu” by Kadokawa Beans Bunko. Released in North America by J-Novel Heart. Translated by Ray Krycki.

Sometimes tropes are so omnipresent that I automatically assume they’ll be there, and I get tripped up when they don’t actually happen. This volume kicks off its plot when a young girl shows up, with red hair the color of Adi’s, and says that he’s her father. Naturally, my first thought was: girl from the future. This is despite the fact that she clearly doesn’t recognize Mary, Alicia, o the rest of the cast. But no, there is no time travel here. Instead we are once again dealing with a more common light novel subtrope, which is the idea that if you’re going to be a noble, you’d damn well better be a GOOD noble who cares about others. The actual backstory for this girl is more down to earth – she’s from a country that doesn’t give a crap about its poor, and it broke her family apart. This infuriates Mary and Alicia, who by their nature are shiny, honest people and can’t stand the idea of abusing power. Even if it’s justified in their head.

The other major plotline in this volume is that Mary Albert is pregnant. This is a happy surprise for her and Adi, but it’s also something they want to keep under wraps for the time being, as there are certain people who will make far too big a deal out of it. Like, new national holiday big. Fortunately, this strange little girl arrives and proceeds to distract everyone as they try to figure out whose child she is (I appreciate the fact that everyone knows Adi is so in love with mary that there’s no way it’s his secret child). Unfortunately, when they find out her exact circumstances, a field trip is in order. Which also consists of her brothers. And Patrick and Alicia. And Parfette and Gainas. And they all converge on one unfortunate lord who believes wholeheartedly that breeding is everything and poor people deserve to be abused. The odd thing is that he believes it to an extreme degree, rather than just being plain old evil about everything.

One thing I really appreciate about Mary Albert is that, despite being reincarnated in an otome game, etcetc., and being generally a very nice person, she is allowed to *behave* like an arrogant villainess, snikping and grumbling at people and acting like she’s going to let out with an OHOHOHOHOHO any moment – though she never does so. In a world with ditzy villainesses, acting villainesses, villainesses with PTSD, it’s nice to see one who doesn’t have a complete personality change even as she plots her doom. Actually, the plotting her doom thing seems to have gone well and truly tits up in this book, as her brothers renounce their claim to the head of the family, leaving it for her. This is unsurprising, but I think she’ll do a good job. I do appreciate how, even now that we’re close to the end, she still cares a lot about what happens to her fantasy fried chicken restaurants, and worries now that she’s given it to twisted friend 31 and twisted friend #2. (I worry as well.)

The next book is the last. I’ll miss this series, one of the first villainess books to come out in Japan. It was overshadowed by Bakarina, but Mary Albert accomplished a lot more. I wish her and her husband and her second and third wives well. What, they’re not her wives? I feel evidence suggests otherwise.

The Evil Queen’s Beautiful Principles, Vol. 2

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By Reia and Haduki Futaba. Released in Japan as “Akutoku Joo no Kokoroe” by Kadokawa Books. Released in North America by Airship. Translated by Faye Cozy. Adapted by Abigail Clark.

I will admit, the direction of this second volume surprised me. I was expecting there to be a lot more struggle against the evil families who were behind her parents’ death. I was expecting at least one betrayal from a close ally I got none of that. If anything, her revenge was nearly pitch-perfect. But what I’d forgotten is that this second volume is also the final volume, which means that the revenge can’t be the point. The point is Luxeria’s own character growth, and also whether this book turns out to be a tragedy or not. It’s touch and go for a while, and you can argue that the resolution is a bit out of nowhere. But I think it’s thematically appropriate. A queen who has been unable to trust anyone, whose only friend was damaged because of her, whose true love she had to (supposedly) kill. The big question is here not will she get her revenge, the big question is whether she’ll survive it.

After the shocking coronation events, Luxeria is determined to continue investigating the other marquess houses to find out what skeletons they have in their closet, and also to prove what she already knows – that they killed her parents. That said, there are also more dangerous things going on. Children are getting kidnapped all over the land, and it might have something to do with the mysterious circus that’s always in town when it happens. Some of the marquesses are garden-variety assholes, one of whom is so banally evil that his own wife, on finding he’s been arrested, gives all the evidence they need to execute him, then drinks poison so she can end her terrible life. Worst of all,. there’s still the fact that Luxeria’s magic is slowly killing her, and all the allies that she has around her can’t save her because she’s mind controlling them into forgetting she has symptoms at all.

The title is not just for show here. The queen absolutely goes to town on everyone who was plotting against the royal family, be it actual assassination, or merely garden-variety apathy. The heads of family, and all their relatives, are executed. One or two folks turn evidence against their families, so she lets them live, but they have their identities magically changed, and they can’t even reveal their new self to their best friends. And this all weights heavily on her. Even as she is surrounded by people who are helping her, who share her hopes and dreams, who love her, she cannot help but see herself as walking a path to damnation. There are odd moments in this book where she just starts laughing maniacally out of nowhere, like a stereotypical “villainess”. But that’s what she thinks she is. She wants to feel exultation that she’s managed to avenge her parents, but she just feels empty. It’s all performative. Fortunately, thanks to the two people closest to her (and oh my GOD I wish we had an OT3 here, but alas), the worst case is avoided, but this book gets pretty dark.

It ends happily, though. Probably a little TOO happily. But hey, I’ll forgive it, since it’s the last book. Short and not-so-sweet.

Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World for My Retirement, Vol. 5

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By FUNA and Keisuke Motoe. Released in Japan as “Rōgo ni Sonaete Isekai de 8-Man-Mai no Kinka o Tamemasu” by K Lanove Books. Released in North America by Kodansha Books. Translated by Luke Hutton.

(A reminder that the English Vol. 5 is the equivalent of the Japanese Vol. 6.)

I feel at this point that I need to apologize to Mile and Kaoru. I’ve talked before about how all three FUNA heroines are basically agents of chaos who have large body counts to their names, which is true on the face of it. However, Mile (very much so) and Kaoru (somewhat) have people who are around them most of the time, who are there to hear the worst of their atrocities and talk them down. Mitsuha, on the other hand, spends a great deal of these books by herself, wandering all over the land with her teleport powers and with no one to stop her but a tween girl who usually would rather be joining her in the chaos instead. Mitsuha may whine about looking perpetually twelve, but she’s by far the least mature of the FUNA three, and will happily throw intruders on her property onto a remote island for the rest of their lives just because. She’s fricking terrifying.

There’s a new artist, though one that may be familiar – it’s the manga artist, now pulling double duty. As for the “plot”, as usual with this author it’s essentially whatever they feel like doing. Mitsuha manages to get herself a ship to repair/study by posing as a goddess and rescuing sailors from a wrecked ship… which she then has “ascend to heaven”. She gets another teenager to run another company selling luxury goods for her, though at least this one is not an orphan. And she continues to avoid the king and prince on this new nation, who are by now desperate to meet her, and continue to use their secret identities to try to corner her. This goes about as well as you’d expect. People that try to force Mitsuha to do what they want end up longing for a quick and painless death.

There’s minimal gunplay in this book, despite the cover art. But that’s fine, as Mitsuha has shown that she can completely upend all of society without needing to bother with guns. There are so many scenes in this book that come down to “roaring rampage of revenge”, and while with Mile, and especially Kaoru, such displays only really get out of hand when they’re upset or emotionally compromised, Mitsuha doesn’t really have that. Mitsuha spends most of the book happy, making jokes and puns, and laying economic waste to everything around her. She cares about some of the people around her, mostly Colette, but she’s also very casual about “if things go south I’ll just abandon them” when she makes new alliances. I don’t think this is intentional, but I think that the death of Mitsuha’s family has arrested her development and also her moral sense (her brother’s teachings didn’t help). If this was a different series, I’d say it’s a setup for a massive amount of hubris and karma bringing Mitsuha down. But this is not that kind of series. She’s just like that.

This is light, frothy fun provided you don’t take it remotely seriously. As always.

Pick of the Week: Farewell, Alpha

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SEAN: My pick this week is the final volume of Yokohama Kaidachi Kikou, a series that I never thought would get licensed and I am delighted that it did.

MICHELLE: I’ve been playing a lot of Monster of the Week lately, so a story about a supernatural consultant who’s investigating a creepy house with a creepy room is right up my street. The Strange House for me!

KATE: I second Sean’s pick: Yokohama Kaidachi Kikou was on my radar for YEARS before it was licensed, and it’s better than I’d hope it would be. Like Station Eleven, this is a story about a post-apocalyptic world where the few survivors find meaning by hanging on to small but important rituals. I know I’m making it sound like a major downer, but Yokohama Kaidachi Kikou isn’t the least bit depressing; if anything, I find each new volume makes me feel just a little more hopeful about the future.

ASH: Yokohama Kaidachi Kikou is absolutely a solid choice. And now that the series has been fully released, I plan on spending some time with it. But I’m also going to second Michelle’s pick; The Strange House sounds like something I should be reading, too.

ANNA: I’m convinced to give Yokohama Kaidachi Kikou a try!